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5,700 | India Prime Minister Modi inaugurates controversial dam project | MUMBAI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India s biggest dam on Sunday, ignoring warnings from environment groups that hundreds of thousands of people will lose their livelihoods. The controversial Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river in the country s western state of Gujarat that will provide power and water to three big states was dedicated to the people of India by Narendra Modi. The project has been beset by controversies since the laying of the foundation stone by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961. The construction of the project began in 1987. The dam is the second biggest dam in the world after the Grand Coulee Dam in the United States. Ahead of the inauguration Modi said in a tweet, This project will benefit lakhs of farmers and help fulfill people s aspirations. (1 lakh = 100,000) The dam is expected to provide water to 9,000 villages and the power generated from the dam would be shared among three states - Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), led by social activist Medha Patkar, has been protesting against the project, raising several environmental concerns. Construction on the dam had been suspended in 1996 following a stay by the Supreme Court which allowed work to resume, four years later, but with conditions. Patkar and her supporters started the protest against the inauguration of the dam on Saturday and the opening of its gates which would raise the level of water and risk displacing several villages. Today is a very sad day for India, and for one of our biggest peoples movements and struggle - the Narmada Bacchao Andolan, Ravi Chellam, executive director at Greenpeace India said in a statement. The Sardar Sarovar Project... signals ruin not development for tens of thousands of unsuspecting, hapless and poor farmers, Chellam added. | 1 |
5,701 | WATCH TUCKER CARLSON DESTROY Racist Flamethrower For Questioning “Hero” Label For White OSU Cop [VIDEO] | Author, filmmaker and social media sh*t-storm starter Tariq Nasheed, is an unashamed and outspoken racist on Twitter. Yesterday, after the black, Muslim, Somalian immigrant terrorist used a vehicle and a butcher knife to attack innocent students on the Ohio State University campus. Within one minute of encountering the terrorist, a white police officer Alan Horujko shot and killed the terrorist before he could harm or kill more people. Officer Alan Horujko ordered the attacker, later identified as Abdul Razak Ali Artan, to drop the butcher s knife and then shot him when he didn t obey the command, university president Michael Drake said. The officer encountered the individual by 9:53 the subject was neutralized by 9:53, Drake said, underscoring how quickly events unfolded.Director of Ohio State s Department of Public Safety Monica Moll echoed Drake s sentiments, saying Horujko is owed a debt of gratitude. FOX NewsOhio State police officer Alan Horujko. (Ohio State University Police via AP)Tariq Nasheed took to Twitter to criticize the media who called the white cop a hero :So white officer Alan Horujko who shot and killed the Black Somali stabbing suspect in Ohio is being paraded as a hero. Thats interesting Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) November 28, 2016Nasheed refers to police officers as, race soldiers in this tweet about the black, Muslim, ex-con, wife and kid beater who had a criminal history of attacking cops, who was killed by a police officer after he shot at them:NC is an open carry state yet race soldiers can execute Black ppl in possession of a gun,by ASSUMING if the gun is legal or not #KeithScott Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) November 30, 2016Here Nasheed defends the excessive use of the word racist which many feel has been so overused that it has lost its relevance:Many white supremacists now are trying 2 create this narrative that the word "racist" is ineffective. Thats not true https://t.co/UOVpmZs29K Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) November 28, 2016 | 0 |
5,702 | Pass-through businesses to see cuts under tax plan: Steven Mnuchin | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The majority of small businesses and non-corporate enterprises known as “pass-throughs” would see a significant tax cut under the Republican tax plan, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday. “Ninety-eight percent of the number of pass-throughs have $500,000 or less of income ... those people will get substantial reductions,” Mnuchin said in a CNBC interview after a key Republican senator earlier this week objected to the current plan over the issue. On Thursday the House of Representatives approved a broad package of tax cuts. | 1 |
5,703 | Russia's RT America registers as 'foreign agent' in U.S. | MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Kremlin-backed television station RT America registered Monday with the U.S. Department of Justice as a foreign agent in the United States, the outlet s editor in chief said and the Department of Justice confirmed later in the day. U.S. intelligence agencies said in a report in January that the television station, which broadcasts on cable in the United States, is Russia s state-run propaganda machine and that it contributed to the Kremlin s campaign to interfere with last year s presidential election in favor of Republican Party candidate Donald Trump. After that report, the Department of Justice insisted that RT America comply with registration requirements under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). Under the act, RT will be required to disclose financial information. Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations of election meddling and said it views the actions against RT as an unfriendly act. But RT s editor in chief, Margarita Simonyan, said on Monday that it would comply with the demand in order to avoid further legal action by the U.S. government. Between a criminal case and registration, we chose the latter. We congratulate American freedom of speech and all those who still believe in it, Simonyan said on Twitter. The Department of Justice confirmed that it received a registration from T&R Productions LLC, which has operated studios for RT, hired and paid U.S.-based employees and produced English-language programming. Americans have a right to know who is acting in the United States to influence the U.S. government or public on behalf of foreign principals, said acting Assistant Attorney General Dana Boente. In October, Twitter announced it would no longer allow advertisements from RT and another Kremlin-backed news organization, citing intelligence that the television station participated in efforts to influence the election. FARA requires foreign governments, political parties and the lobbyists and public relations firms they hire in the United States to register with the Department of Justice. FARA was first passed in 1938 in the lead up to World War Two in an effort to combat German propaganda efforts. Foreign government-owned news organizations, including China Daily, the English-language newspaper owned by China s government, register under FARA. The law applies to companies that are owned or controlled by foreign governments. The United States and Russia are engaged in a back-and-forth over foreign agent registration. Russia s parliament warned on Friday that some U.S. and other foreign media could also be declared foreign agents in response to the actions against RT, requiring them to regularly declare full details of their funds, financing and staffing. U.S. government-sponsored Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), CNN and Germany s Deutsche Welle could all be affected by the retaliatory measures, a senior Russian lawmaker said earlier on Monday. While traveling in Asia, Trump touted the relationship between himself and Russia and posted on Twitter that improved relations with the country would a good thing, not a bad thing. | 1 |
5,704 | Post-election, critics hope Germany's hate speech law can be revised | BERLIN (Reuters) - Critics of a new hate speech law in Germany are upbeat that it can be revised after its Social Democratic sponsors vowed to drop out of the ruling coalition following last month s national election and go into opposition. The German parliament in June approved legislation that will allow authorities to fine social media networks up to 50 million euros if they fail to remove hateful postings promptly, despite warnings that the law could limit free expression. Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives will start talks in coming weeks on forming a new coalition with the environmental Greens, who abstained from voting for the law, and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), who opposed it outright. Germany has some of the world s toughest laws covering defamation, public incitement to commit crimes and threats of violence, with prison sentences for Holocaust denial or inciting hatred against minorities. But few online cases are prosecuted. The new law, which came into effect on Oct. 1, gives social media networks 24 hours to delete or block obviously criminal content and seven days to deal with less clear-cut cases, with an obligation to report back to the person who filed the complaint about how they handled the case. Failure to comply could see a company fined up to 50 million euros, and the company s chief representative in Germany fined up to 5 million euros. Opponents argue the law could damage free speech because the threat of fines will prompt social media companies to censor more content than really necessary. Facebook and Twitter and other social media platforms are scrambling to adapt to its requirements and avoid hefty fines that the law forsees in the event of violation. The departure from government of Justice Minister Heiko Maas, an SPD member and main driver behind the new hate speech law, offers critics a new chance to get the law overturned or at least revised, according to politicians and industry groups. Nicola Beer, secretary general of the FDP, vowed in a Tweet to make the law the shortest-ever in force. Konstantin von Notz, digital spokesman for the Greens, told Reuters his party would press for a new start in many policy areas, including the hate speech law and cyber security. Bernhard Rohleder, head of the IT industry association, told the Handelsblatt newspaper on Monday that if it succeeded in forming a government, the new coalition should correct the mistake and eliminate the law without replacement. Marie-Teresa Weber, who heads the group s consumer law and media policy department, said the legal experts considered the law unconstitutional. The new coalition should rescind it before the courts do so, she said. Parliamentary experts said it might be tough to overturn the law completely, but it would likely to be tweaked in coming years once authorities begin to implement it. Affected individuals or companies could also challenge it as unconstitutional, they said. | 1 |
5,705 | U.S. Senate Passes Bipartisan Bill Claims to Facilitate ‘Better Public Access’ to Gov’t Records | 21st Century Wire says..We ll believe it when, and if we are even allowed to see it (redacted) Mary Clare Jalonick AP/All GovWASHINGTON The Senate on Tuesday backed legislation to make it easier for Americans to obtain government records.The bipartisan bill, passed by voice vote, would require federal agencies to consider the release of government information under a presumption of openness as opposed to a presumption that the information is secret.The legislation aims to reduce the amount of exemptions the government uses to withhold information and would create a single portal through which individuals can submit a Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, request. Currently, FOIA requests are handled by each separate agency, each with its own rules about how to submit a request. Today s vote sends a clear message that the American people have a fundamental right to know what their government is doing, Cornyn said.( ) We cannot leave it to the next president to decide how open the government should be, Leahy said. We have to hold all presidents and their administrations accountable to the highest standard. Republicans in Congress have complained that the Obama administration hasn t been fully transparent in sharing records with lawmakers and the public, while the White House has criticized Congress for exempting itself from the requirements. FOIA does not apply to Congress.The House passed a similar bill in January. Because the two bills are not identical, the House will have to act again to send the legislation to President Barack Obama. Maryland Rep. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, urged Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to promptly pass the Senate bill, saying FOIA reform is long overdue Continue this story at All GovREAD MORE FOIA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire FOIA Files | 0 |
5,706 | BRITISH WOMAN LOSES VIRGINITY To Asylum Seeking Rapist On Her Way To Church | Europe is likely not going to be a top destination for families with young daughters, and they have no one to blame but themselves for this idiocy. Political correctness will be the death of Europe as we know it. Do Americans have the fortitude to stop the bleeding here, before the invasion of foreigners on our soil is officially out of control? PREDATORY asylum seeker who chillingly raped a 21-year-old devout Christian woman next to a church was starting a 10 year jail sentence today.Eritrean-born Mebrehtom Abrha, 25, stalked the vulnerable virgin for 10 minutes as she walked through Liverpool city centre to her boyfriend s house at 6am last July 19.Liverpool Crown Court heard he dragged her off the pavement and into a grassy area before raping her twice in a harrowing four-minute ordeal.The terrifying attack left the devout Christian angry at God and fearing she had contracted HIV, an appalled judge was told.Abrha, who lived in Liverpool before fleeing to Birmingham, was arrested following a BBC Crimewatch appeal on October 12.Today he started an extended sentence of 10 years imprisonment with a further five years on licence as his victim told the court: I felt ashamed, dirty and unclean. Going to church has always been in an important part of my life but since the attack I was not able to go to church for many months. I was angry at God and I was angry at myself for feeling this way. The victim also admitted the attack caused her to end her relationship with her boyfriend, adding: I have lost any desire to do anything in my life. I feel terrified in the shower. I get the feeling that someone is going to get me and I start to panic. The victim who cannot be named for legal reasons had been out clubbing on Saturday July 18 last year and agreed to meet her boyfriend the following morning.Prosecutor David McLachlan told the court she could not get a taxi so opted to walk the mile-and-a-half route.Despite warnings to not cut through the park from her boyfriend, she did and was confronted by the East African man who dragged her off into a wooded area nearby.He then subjected her to a horrific attack, ripping open her dress before raping her and chillingly walking away.Afterwards the woman covered in dirt and with injuries to her back and neck ran to her boyfriend s house and he raised the alarm.Michael O Brien, defending Abhra, read out part of a letter of apology from his client, which went: This was an un-Christian act and I did a horrible thing to this woman. I ask for forgiveness. Ahbra was granted asylum for five years in June 2014 after claiming he was forced to flee his native country after being conscripted to the Eritrean army aged 18.Ahbra, who has no previous convictions and spoke through a Tigrignan interpreter, claimed he had no memory of the attack as he was too inebriated.Ahbra held his hand to his eyes as David Aubrey QC sentenced him before he made the sign of the cross as he was led down in to custody.Judge Aubrey told him: You watched her, you followed her, pursued her, threatened her and raped her before, somewhat chillingly, walking away calmly. I cannot ignore the tragic irony of this case that you attacked her next to a church. Afterwards Merseyside Police Det Insp Terry Davies said: There is no doubt that this had had a significant impact on his young victim, who will now have to live with this for the rest of her life. Via: Express UK | 0 |
5,707 | Illinois risks rating cut to junk even with budget: Moody's | CHICAGO (Reuters) - Even if Illinois’ House of Representatives takes action to enact a new budget on Thursday, the state still risks a downgrade in its credit rating to junk, Moody’s Investors Service warned on Wednesday. The Democratic-controlled House on Thursday will attempt to overturn Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s vetoes of spending and tax increase measures aimed at ending the state’s unprecedented two-year budget impasse. Moody’s said it placed Illinois’ Baa3 rating, which is one step above the junk level, on review for a possible downgrade. The $36 billion fiscal 2018 budget and $5 billion income tax increase passed by lawmakers over the extended Fourth of July holiday weekend, may fall short in addressing the state’s financial woes, particularly its huge unfunded pension liability and $15 billion unpaid bill backlog, according to Moody’s. “On both those fronts, it’s not yet clear if the legislation being enacted will have a substantial and clear positive effect,” said Moody’s analyst Ted Hampton. A stalemate between the Rauner and Democrats who control the legislature has left the nation’s fifth-largest state without a complete budget for two-straight fiscal years. Since fiscal 2018 began on Saturday, the House and Senate in bipartisan votes passed budget bills to avoid Illinois becoming the first-ever U.S. state whose credit is rated junk. Rauner vetoed the bills on Tuesday only to have that action quickly overridden by the Senate, leaving the fate of the budget in the hands of the House. Prior to Moody’s announcement, Rauner said his Democratic opponents should prioritize the opinions of Illinois residents over credit ratings agencies. “Don’t listen to some Wall Street firm,” Rauner told reporters Wednesday at a Chicago event. “That’s not what matters.” The governor also said he is working to sustain his vetoes. “I can tell you this, we are doing everything we can to push that my veto is not overridden,” he said. He lashed out at those who defied his wishes by voting for the Democrats’ budget package, including 15 House Republicans. “What we have is a continuing failure by elected officials in Springfield on both sides of the aisle that’s been led by Speaker Madigan for 35 years,” Rauner said, referring to House Speaker Michael Madigan. “The system is broken.” House Republican Leader Jim Durkin told Reuters that he and Rauner are attempting to persuade House Republicans supporters of the Democratic tax hike to reconsider their votes because “there’s a better deal to be had.” But Durkin stopped short of predicting the overrides could be blocked. “I think the Democrats, if they want to get it done, find the votes,” Durkin said. “I’ve seen this before.” Durkin said he had no plans to take punitive actions against those Republicans for their votes, but predicted “it’s definitely a possibility” some will face primary challenges from the Republican Party’s anti-tax wing in the 2018 elections. Illinois has relied on court-ordered and state-mandated spending to keep operating. The absence of a fiscal 2018 budget shuttered major transportation projects and forced the state out of the lucrative Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries. | 1 |
5,708 | CHARLOTTE #BlackLivesMatter Update: SUB-HUMAN BLACK MOB Brutally Beats Young White Man Begging For Mercy In Parking Garage [VIDEO] | Because if you re a young White guy walking through a parking lot by yourself at night in Charlotte, you deserve to be attacked by a pack of sub-human cowards right? Nothing says let s fix racism like a pack of black guys beating and stomping on a White guy who s all by himself, just for the fun of it ***WARNING***GRAPHIC Images***#CharlotteProtest Beating man begging for mercy in parking garage. @AC360 @seanhannity @BretBaier Credit:Lenard Bennett (facebook) @ncnaacp pic.twitter.com/YWHEU2UV1n Queenie (@LibertarianQn) September 22, 2016 | 0 |
5,709 | OBAMA VENUE ONLY HALF FULL for Chicago ‘Summit’…Michelle Bashes Trump and Men as ‘Babies’… | Who is Michelle Obama to speak of men? She just offended them in a big way and took more veiled swipes at President Trump to the delight of the audience at the first Obama Foundation summit at the Marriott Marquis in Chicago.The Obamas headlined the first Obama Foundation international summit in Chicago where the turnout barely filled the venue halfway This is great news!Former First Lady Michelle Obama said men feel they are entitled and women protect them too much.She told the first Obama Foundation international summit men are raised to be babies while women are brought up to be strong. It s like the problem in the world today is we love our boys, and we raise our girls, Obama said. We raise them to be strong, and sometimes we take care not to hurt men and I think we pay for that a little bit.At the 28:50 point she takes a veiled swipe at President Trump She clearly relishes in bashing Trump in a very arrogant way.At the 44:40 point she complains about how horrible it was to live in the White House Gimme a break!At the 47:20 point she discusses how she feels men are babied She s the definition of bitter Are we protecting our men too much so they feel a little entitled and self-righteous sometimes? But, that s kind of on us too as women and mothers, as we nurture men and push girls to be perfect. The former First Lady told men y all should get you some friends to develop a support network in the same way women do. Talk to each other, because that s the other thing [women] do we straighten each other out on some things, our girlfriends, she said. It s powerful to have strong men, but what does that strength mean? You know, does it mean respect? Does it mean responsibility? Does it mean compassion? Barack Obama kicked off the first-ever Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago, a two-day event that aims to inspire a new generation of leaders on Tuesday.They couldn t even attract a full house with Prince Harry in attendance:Read more: Daily Mail | 0 |
5,710 | Catalonia independence drive second largest concern after unemployment: poll | MADRID (Reuters) - The independence drive in Spain s northeastern region of Catalonia has become the second largest worry for Spaniards, after unemployment, surging from the ninth biggest concern in September, an official poll showed on Tuesday. The political crisis between Catalonia and the central government reached a head Oct. 1 after regional leader Carles Puigdemont called a vote on independence, considered illegal by Madrid, then declared secession before being fired and replaced. Some 29 percent of those surveyed said that Catalonia s push for secession was Spain s largest problem in a poll taken Oct. 2 to Oct 11, up from just 7.8 percent in a previous poll taken at the beginning of September. Unemployment, the second highest in Europe, was still 66.2 percent of Spaniard s key concern. If a national election was held today, the ruling People s Party (PP) would hold on to its minority government, with 28 percent of the vote, according to the survey, down from 28.8 percent when it was last taken in July. Market-friendly Ciudadanos, originally based in Catalonia, saw support rise to 17.5 percent in October from 14.5 percent in July, while the Socialists would remain the second largest party in parliament with 24.2 percent compared to 24.9 percent previously. Some 2,487 people were surveyed as part of the poll. | 1 |
5,711 | Obama Just Completely F*cked Over Trump’s ‘Muslim Registry’ Plan | Donald Trump was really looking forward to using a dormant regulation as the basis for his Muslim registry. While The Donald planned to resurrect the Bush-era National Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) a program that was condemned heavily for targeting Muslims Obama decided that he might as well just eliminate it before Trump can make good on his promise to bring it back.On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security published a new regulation that completely eliminates NSEERS, which has lain dormant since President Obama suspended the program in 2011:The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is removing outdated regulations relating to an obsolete special registration program for certain nonimmigrants. DHS ceased use of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) program in 2011 after finding that the program was redundant, captured data manually that was already captured through automated systems, and no longer provided an increase in security in light of DHS s evolving assessment of the threat posed to the United States by international terrorism. The regulatory structure pertaining to NSEERS no longer provides a discernable public benefit as the program has been rendered obsolete.Accordingly, DHS is removing the special registration program regulations.The best part? This new rule takes effect almost immediately, so there is nothing at all Trump can do to stop Obama from scuttling his hopes of using NSEERS to create his Nazi-esque program.This seems to be a response to a plea from New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to President Obama. In a letter addressed to the President, Schneiderman pointed out (very correctly): We can t risk giving President-elect Trump the tools to create an unconstitutional religious registry. Schneiderman praised the President s decision Thursday: This is a win for civil rights and for smart, effective law enforcement, as well as for the strong coalition of advocacy organizations and others who fought to dismantle this discriminatory tool, he said. My office will continue do everything it can to protect the rights of all New Yorkers, and ensure equal justice under the law for all, regardless of religion or national origin. If Trump wants to create a Muslim registry and he really, really does he s going to need to find another way to do it.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images | 0 |
5,712 | Hillary EVISCERATES Trump’s Abortion Comments In Absolutely PERFECT Tweet Storm | Donald Trump is an absolutely despicable human being, and, believe it or not, he just sunk even lower. Trump, while talking in a Town Hall on MSNBC, has indicated that he wants to ban abortion outright and punish women who seek them to boot. Well, anyone with a shred of decency knows that punishing women for seeking reproductive healthcare is absolutely deplorable, and Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton took to Twitter to say just what we are all thinking about Trump s horrible anti-woman rhetoric.First, she reminded us that this man could become president, and how dangerous that prospect is:Just when you thought it couldn't get worse. Horrific and telling. -H https://t.co/Qi8TutsOw9 Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 30, 2016We can t let someone with this much contempt for women s rights anywhere near the White House.https://t.co/OjU9gRwsxo Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 30, 2016After that, she reminded us not to believe Trump when he inevitably tries walking these comments back:Maya Angelou said: "When people show you who they are, believe them." Trump can try to walk back his words, but we heard him loud and clear. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 30, 2016Then, Clinton went on to point out the dangerous absurdity of punishing women for abortion and making them criminals:Even by his impossibly low standards, @realDonaldTrump's suggestion that women be punished for seeking abortion is abhorrent. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 30, 2016Remember: If you make abortion a crime, you make women who seek abortions criminals. You put one in three women at risk. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 30, 2016Hillary then reminded us that Trump isn t the only Republican who thinks this way, he s just the only one who has said it outright:The fact is, Trump isn't that different from every other Republican candidate who would also outlaw abortion. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 30, 2016We were then reminded that many women specifically women in financial straits and minority women are already being punished with lack of access to reproductive healthcare:Women, especially low-income women and women of color, are already being punished by GOP-led efforts to stigmatize and restrict health care. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 30, 2016Every woman regardless of income or zip code deserves access to health care. If you don't get that, you have no business being president. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 30, 2016And lastly, but also most importantly, Hillary Clinton reminded us what we must do to stop Trump: VOTE:At this point, Donald Trump has insulted the vast majority of Americans. The good news is, there's something we can all do about it: Vote. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 30, 2016Hillary Clinton is spot on with this. Trump, and the entire GOP, are downright dangerous to women everywhere. The only way to stop this madness is to VOTE BLUE, no matter what, in November.Featured image via Instagram | 0 |
5,713 | George Takei Has PERFECT Response To Trump’s Demand That ‘Hamilton’ Apologize To Mike Pence | Donald Trump made this way too easy for George Takei.On Saturday morning, Trump lashed out at the cast of Hamilton because the audience booed Mike Pence before the play on Friday night, and the cast delivered a short message afterwards declaring their hope that he learned something from watching.First, Trump whined about so-called harassment, and complained about how this should not happen. Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing.This should not happen! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016Then he demanded an apology from the cast for somehow violating Pence s safe space.The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016Trump was immediately mocked for his posts, but the award for best response goes to actor George Takei, who masterfully turned Trump s second Twitter post against him as a message from the nation.AMERICA must always be a safe and special place. The Trump administration has been very cruel to many good people. Apologize! https://t.co/ndavyD3su6 George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 19, 2016That s right. Trump is being a massive hypocrite as usual, and it came back to bite him on the ass.But Takei wasn t done.If Trump gets upset at a NY theater audience booing his VP, imagine what he ll feel like on inauguration when millions cry out against him. George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 19, 2016The Internet responds quickly pic.twitter.com/jhtb4BSDIe George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 19, 2016I wonder if Pence went to Hamilton to take our focus off the Trump University fraud settlement. This administration is morally bankrupt. George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 19, 2016For a year and half, Donald Trump has used offensive hate speech and divisive rhetoric. He has insulted just about every group in America, but he expects everyone to respect him and Pence now.They are pathetic and disgraceful and deserve all the ridicule they are getting from the American people.Featured Image: Wikimedia | 0 |
5,714 | Watch: Joe Biden Just Wrecked Trump In Six Words And It’s Hilarious | Former Vice President Joe Biden was asked on Monday by Matt Lauer on NBC s Today to name something specific that Donald Trump has been doing well. Well, that seems like a trick question since Trump has passed no major legislation and reaches across the aisle only to take shots at Democrats in his Twitter timeline during his morning rage-tweets, so Biden struggled to find something, anything, that Trump has done well since taking office. I think there s a number of things he s doing well. But even the things he s doing well, it s how he does them, Biden said. It s more the tone of this administration that bothers me, he continued. With all due respect, you haven t come up with one thing you think he s doing well, Lauer said. Well, I think he married very well, Biden joked.Although, Biden didn t mention which of Trump s three marriages he s speaking of. Trump s first marriage to Ivana ended after he had an affair with Marla Maples. Trump went on to marry Maples, then they divorced. Trump is currently married to Melania. All three of Trump s wives are former models. Trump is a former reality show star. But, in all instances, he did marry up, since there is no down that Trump hasn t hit yet.After struggling to come up with something, Biden eventually praised Trump s choice of keeping military personnel stationed in the Middle East that was there at the end of the Obama administration.Watch:"What do you think Trump is doing well?""I think he married very well."Joe Biden answers questions on @TODAYshow https://t.co/F6EKxHe64M NBC News (@NBCNews) November 13, 2017In January, Biden had some advice for Trump. Grow up, Donald, Biden said of the 71-year-old man baby. Grow up. Time to be an adult, you re president. You gotta do something, show us what you have, Biden added.After speculation of Biden running for president in 2020, he admitted on Monday that he isn t ruling it out, but added he could not accept the nomination if it was given to him right now.Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. | 0 |
5,715 | Illinois Senate votes for $454 million higher-education package | CHICAGO (Reuters) - For the second time in two weeks, the Illinois Senate moved to loosen the financial death grip on the state’s higher education system, which has been starved of operating revenue by a record-setting, 11-month state budget stalemate. The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved and sent to the House of Representatives a $454 million spending package for eight public universities, community colleges and low-income students dependent on Monetary Award Program grants. The bipartisan move, which could stave off mass layoffs at several state universities, builds on a $600 million, higher-education appropriation that Republican Governor Bruce Rauner signed on April 25. Thursday’s action also represents another encouraging break in the state’s acrimonious budget fight between the governor and Democrats, who control the state legislature, as they face a scheduled legislative adjournment at the end of May. “We have since found more dollars which we can appropriate to our universities to make them more competitive, to make them more viable and to give them a bridge going forth into the 2017 budget,” said state Senator Donne Trotter, a Chicago Democrat and a sponsor of Thursday’s legislation. The latest appropriation was supported financially by companion legislation that passed the Senate on Thursday authorizing Rauner’s administration not to repay $454 million borrowed from state special-purpose funds during the 2015 fiscal year. Without legislative action, that amount would have had to be repaid June 30 from the state’s main operational fund. The approach drew isolated claims of budgetary sleight of hand during floor debate. “This is ridiculous, swapping money from one pocket to another, saying you have it when you don’t,” said state Senator Kyle McCarter, a Republican from Lebanon, Illinois, a rural enclave nearly 300 miles southwest of Chicago. The Senate-passed legislation cannot be acted on by the House until Tuesday at the earliest when that legislative chamber is scheduled to reconvene. The respite for the state’s higher-education system comes after its community colleges received rating downgrades and negative outlooks by Moody’s Investors Service in recent weeks, and Chicago State University had faced the threat of possible closure. | 1 |
5,716 | China says damage to 'one China' principle would impact peace | BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) - China warned on Wednesday that any interference with or damage to the “one China” principle would have a serious impact on peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, as Taiwan said maintaining peace was in everyone’s interest. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday the United States did not necessarily have to stick to its long-standing position that Taiwan is part of “one China”, further upsetting China which was already angered by Trump’s earlier telephone call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. The issue is highly sensitive for China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province, and Beijing expressed “serious concern” about Trump’s remarks. An Fengshan, a spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told a regular news conference the Taiwan issue was about China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “Upholding the ‘one China’ principle is the political basis of developing China-U.S. relations, and is the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” he said. “If this basis is interfered with or damaged then the healthy, stable development of China-U.S. relations is out of the question, and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait will be seriously impacted,” An said. Taiwan’s policy-making Mainland Affairs Council said peaceful relations were a mutual responsibility across both sides of the Taiwan Strait. “Taiwan has repeatedly stressed that maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and throughout the region is in the best interests of all parties,” said council spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng. “Taiwan places equal weight on the development of Taiwan-U.S. relations and cross-strait relations.” China is deeply suspicious of Tsai and her ruling Democratic Progressive Party, believing they want to push for the island’s formal independence, a red line for Beijing. China has repeatedly warned that hard-won peace and stability across the narrow strait that separates them could be affected by any moves toward independence. “I think the facts tell these people that Taiwan independence is a dead end,” An said. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and some state media have suggested after Trump’s remarks that a military solution may now be needed. A senior U.S. defense official said on Tuesday Taiwan’s defense spending had not kept pace with the threat posed by China and should be increased. Taiwan’s annual defense spending has not hit 3 percent of its gross domestic product in recent years, which some military and political experts in Taiwan have said should be a minimum level. “Taiwan’s defense spending factors in external threats and the nation’s annual budget,” Taiwan defense ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi told Reuters. “Our premier has said previously that the cabinet can look to use a special budget to meet defense needs in an emergency situation.”In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the United States needed to handle the Taiwan issue cautiously to avoid ties with China receiving unnecessary interference. “As for the so-called issue of Taiwan being threatened, I think we’ve said many times that we oppose the United States and Taiwan having any form of official contacts or military relations,” Geng told a daily news briefing. | 1 |
5,717 | “RACIST” President Jackson To Be Replaced With Black Female Representing “Struggle For Racial Equality” On $20 Bill | Obama has filled his cabinet with radical yes men and women who hold similar anti-American, leftist views. His radical Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew is no exception. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is expected to announce this week that Alexander Hamilton s face will remain on the front of the $10 bill and a woman will replace Andrew Jackson on the face of the $20 bill, a senior government source told CNN on Saturday.Lew announced last summer that he was considering redesigning the $10 bill to include the portrait of a woman. The decision to make the historic change at the expense of Hamilton drew angry rebukes from fans of the former Treasury Secretary. The pro-Hamilton movement gained steam after the smash success of the hip-hop Broadway musical about his life this year.Those pressures led Lew to determine that Hamilton should remain on the front of the bill. Instead, a mural-style depiction of the women s suffrage movement including images of leaders such as Susan B. Anthony will be featured on the back of the bill.Along those lines, Lew also plans to announce this week that Andrew Jackson a less beloved former president whose face graces the front of the $20 bill will be removed in favor of a female representing the struggle for racial equality, according to the government source.That decision would place a female on one of the most widely circulated bills in the world. But the historic change placing a female on the front of the $20 note won t come for more than a decade, the source said, since the process for changing the design of that note is still in the early stages.While some pointed to the many accomplishments and qualities of Hamilton for why he should stay on the currency printed by the very Treasury the man created, the more popular argument for the Founding Father s retention was an argument about how awful the man on the $20 dollar bill was.The Daily Beast described Jackson as villainous and linked to a February article that called him a mass murderer. The New York Post argued that Old Hickory may well have been our most racist president and was a vicious, power-mad kook. So a lot of folks really don t like the victor of the Battle of New Orleans. They hate him for owning slaves. They hate him for taking the side of the masses against financial experts. They hate him for ignoring laws and enforcing his own will when it came to policy decisions.And they hate Jackson most of all for his treatment of American Indians.These are pretty strong views, but Jackson s critics usually fail to comprehend important aspects of U.S. history in their denunciations of the rough-and-tumble general.For one, Jackson was not the only important American to own slaves. Far from it. For example, as most people should know, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were slaveholders. Both Washington and Jefferson are respectively featured on two different forms of currency and have large, imposing monuments dedicated to their memory in Washington D.C.There are no calls for their erasure from our coins or demolishing their monuments.Fewer people know that the Cherokee victims of Jackson s Indian Removal Act also owned slaves.There are no calls for renaming places and monuments designed to honor the Cherokee people.When it comes to Jackson s controversial handling of the Second Bank of the United States, it helps to realize the motives behind the president s actions. Jackson was opposed to the Central Bank not out of cookery but because he saw it as an undemocratic institution which did not care for the interests of the common man. Via: Daily Caller The soonest that a new $20 note will be issued is 2030, the source said, citing a lengthy process convened by the Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence steering committee, which includes representatives from the U.S. Secret Service, the Treasury, and the Federal Reserve. Via: CNN News | 0 |
5,718 | ‘Safe’ Nuclear Power Plant Continues To Leak Radioactive Waste, Corporate Greed To Blame | The Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York is under investigation, again, because of yet another leak of tritium, a dangerous waste byproduct:The amount of radioactive tritium leaking from the Indian Point nuclear power plant is growing, officials said Wednesday, prompting Gov. Cuomo to launch a multiagency probe into operations at the troubled plant.New samples from groundwater monitoring wells show 80% higher concentrations of tritium compared with when the leak was first reported Saturday.Cuomo had already ordered the state health and environmental conservation commissioners to investigate the incident. But on Wednesday, he ordered a more sweeping investigation that also includes the Department of Public Service.The private company that runs the plant, unsurprisingly, said that there s no threat to the public but that s what nuclear power plant operators always say even after rates of cancer and birth deformities go up in nearby towns.Entergy spokesman Jerry Nappi said the contaminated water was not going into the nearby Hudson River or sources of drinking water. Some organizations who are longtime opponents of nuclear power will take opportunities to try and frighten the public, said Nappi. The fact is this issue did not and cannot impact human health or any aquatic life in the river. Frighten the public indeed. And I m not even going to bring up the ongoing disaster in Fukushima.Advocates for nuclear power say that it is a safe technology and certainly not as dangerous as fossil fuels. But putting aside the massive problem of storing nuclear waste (a problem we have not even come remotely close to solving, by the way), the single greatest danger of nuclear power is what we are seeing at Indian Point: human error and corporate greed.As the energy companies that run these power plants look to squeeze more money out of their facilities, they cut corners. Those cut corners inevitably result in accidents that end up irradiating the surrounding environment. Then the power companies throw up their hands and claim it couldn t have been avoided, spend millions to crush lawsuits and give their CEOs giant bonuses for a job well done.This is a similar pattern to what we ve seen at coal mines that suffer avoidable explosions and cave-ins as well as at oil companies that continue to use bomb trains with little to no regard for the towns they threaten to vaporize. The money lost to these accidents is less than the money made by cutting corners so there is every incentive to place the public s health at risk. It s not like the executives live or work near the areas impacted by their greed, after all, so who cares if a few hundred kids get thyroid cancer from a little extra something in their drinking water?Sure, nuclear power CAN be safe when done properly. But as long as Privatize the gains, socialize the risk remains the status quo with no possibility of prison time for greedy executives, nuclear power will remain an existential threat to everyone living anywhere near safe power plants like Indian Point.Featured image via screen capture. | 0 |
5,719 | Clinton need not give sworn testimony over emails: U.S. judge | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton does not need to give sworn testimony in a lawsuit brought by a conservative watchdog group over her use of an unauthorized private email system while she was U.S. secretary of state, a judge ruled on Friday. Clinton must instead respond in writing within 30 days to questions submitted by Judicial Watch, a group that has long been critical of her conduct and which is suing the Department of State over Clinton-era records. Judge Emmet Sullivan’s ruling in U.S. District Court in Washington is likely to be a relief to Democrats, who did not welcome the prospect of Clinton having to submit to hours of questioning by lawyers in the middle of her campaign for the Nov. 8 election against Republican Party candidate Donald Trump. Clinton, who served as the country’s top diplomat from 2009 to 2013, has apologized for her decision to use the unorthodox email set-up, which had the effect of shielding her communications from public-records laws until the arrangement came to light last year. Voters have said in opinion polls that the email server issue contributes to impressions that Clinton is untrustworthy. The U.S. Department of Justice concluded last month there were no grounds to prosecute Clinton for the arrangement following a year-long investigation. Sullivan has allowed Judicial Watch to obtain sworn testimony in sometimes testy exchanges with several Clinton aides in recent months, saying the court needs to establish whether the server was set up to thwart the Freedom of Information Act. But the judge agreed with Clinton’s lawyers that former high-ranking government officials can be ordered to give sworn testimony only in “exceptional circumstances.” Sullivan also allowed Judicial Watch to get sworn testimony from a former State Department official named John Bentel. According to a scathing report by the State Department’s inspector general, Bentel, then a technology official in Clinton’s office, told junior staffers to never speak of Clinton’s email server again after they raised concerns. Bentel and his lawyer have declined to comment on the episode. A spokesman for Clinton could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday. Judicial Watch said it was happy with the ruling. “We will move quickly to get these answers,” Tom Fitton, the group’s president, said in a statement. “The decision is a reminder that Hillary Clinton is not above the law.” | 1 |
5,720 | HILLARY STUMBLES AND STUTTERS When Asked About Black Friends: “I have a crew”…”They’ve tried to expand my musical tastes” [Video] | Clinton Stumbles Way Through Answering Most Meaningful Conversation She Had With an African American | 0 |
5,721 | Zambian president urges unity as government, opposition prepare for talks | LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Friday called for unity among political groups ahead of talks between the government and the opposition aimed at reconciliation after a political crisis earlier this year. The leader of the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND), Hakainde Hichilema, was arrested with five others in April and charged with plotting to overthrow the government after his convoy failed to make way for Lungu s motorcade. The case stoked political tensions in Zambia, a major copper producer and seen as one of Africa s more stable and functional democracies, following a bruising election last year. Hichilema was freed from prison in August after the state dropped the charges, to pave the way for dialogue between the two sides following mediation by Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland. Scotland s special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is in Zambia and has separately held talks with Lungu, Hichilema and other opposition leaders. In an address at the opening of the national assembly, Lungu said Zambians could disagree and quarrel but would always remain one. The factors that unite us are much greater than those that seek to divide us, he said. Opposition UPND members of parliament, who boycotted Lungu s last address, attended Friday s session, saying their attendance would give confidence to the process of dialogue. The UPND MPs took this decision in the interest of the country in view of the forthcoming political dialogue, their spokesman Jack Mwiimbu said in a statement. | 1 |
5,722 | Economists Warn Trump Would CRASH The Global Economy | The possibility of Donald Trump being elected President of the United States represents a clear and present danger to the global economy, according to a new report from economists a Citigroup.The election of Trump could easily trigger a meltdown, they say. A Trump victory in particular could prolong and perhaps exacerbate policy uncertainty and deliver a shock (though perhaps short-lived) to financial markets, a team led by chief economist Willem Buiter wrote in the Thursday note. Tightening financial conditions and further rises in uncertainty could trigger a significant slowdown in U.S., but also global growth. According to Citi, a conservative estimate of what would happen to the economy should Trump become president implies that global GDP growth could fall easily below its benchmark of 2% for a global recession.By comparison, the economists said Hillary Clinton winning would likely keep the American and world economies growing at the steady rate they are growing at. A recent report from the credit reporting agency Moody s also saw the Trump campaign as a threat towards the world economy.Objective analysis of stock market returns has shown that they perform better under Democratic presidents than with Republican ones. Of the last five presidents, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has done better with Clinton and Obama than Reagan and the two Bushes. The only president to have the market at a lower number than when he first came in is George W. Bush.Many of Trump s economic team are former members of Bush s inner circle but Trump has failed to offer much in the way of substance about his economic plans if elected. He, instead, has more often than not simply shot off his mouth to whatever television journalists he was speaking to at the moment.Trump has indicated an unusual willingness to go after America s international allies, most notable NATO, while espousing support for the regime of Russia s Vladimir Putin.Featured image via Flickr | 0 |
5,723 | Families of San Bernardino shooting sue Facebook, Google, Twitter | LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Family members of three victims of the December 2015 shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California, have sued Facebook, Google and Twitter, claiming that the companies permitted Islamic State to flourish on social media. The relatives assert that by allowing Islamic State militants to spread propaganda freely on social media, the three companies provided “material support” to the group and enabled attacks such as the one in San Bernardino. “For years defendants have knowingly and recklessly provided the terrorist group ISIS with accounts to use its social networks as a tool for spreading extremist propaganda, raising funds and attracting new recruits,” family members of Sierra Clayborn, Tin Nguyen and Nicholas Thalasinos charge in the 32-page complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Wednesday. “Without defendants Twitter, Facebook and Google (YouTube), the explosive growth of ISIS over the last few years into the most feared terrorist group in the world would not have been possible,” the complaint said. Spokeswomen for Twitter and Google declined to comment on the lawsuit. Representatives for Facebook could not immediately be reached by Reuters on Thursday afternoon. Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, opened fire on a holiday gathering of Farook’s co-workers at a government building in San Bernardino on Dec. 2, 2015, killing 14 people and wounding 22 others. Farook, the 28-year-old, U.S.-born son of Pakistani immigrants, and Malik, 29, a Pakistani native, died in a shootout with police four hours after the massacre. Authorities have said the couple was inspired by Islamist militants. At the time, the assault ranked as the deadliest attack by Islamist extremists on U.S. soil since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In June 2016, an American-born gunman pledging allegiance to the leader of Islamic State shot 49 people to death at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, before he was killed by police. In December 2016 the families of three men killed at the nightclub sued Twitter, Google and Facebook in federal court on allegations similar to those in the California lawsuit. Federal law gives internet companies broad immunity from liability for content posted by their users. A number of lawsuits have been filed in recent years seeking to hold social media companies responsible for terror attacks, but none has advanced beyond the preliminary phases. | 1 |
5,724 | Ivanka Finally Breaks With Daddy, Strongly Denounces White Supremacists (TWEETS) | When Donald Trump was elected, many hoped that his daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, would be a moderating influence when it came to tamping down on a far-right agenda. However, those of us who held out that hope were disappointed time and time again. Trump hired white supremacists to work in the West Wing of the White House in the form of open white nationalist Stephen K. Bannon as his Chief Strategist, anti-immigrant extremist Stephen Miller as his speech writer and immigration policy adviser, and neo-Nazi Sebastian Gorka as a Senior Adviser. Trump also promptly attacked the LGBTQ community a group of people Ivanka has been openly supportive of. Therefore, it was concluded that Ivanka and Jared could not reign in Trump s worst instincts.Ivanka has been totally silent when it comes to her father s bigotry, and has even defended him when it comes to people calling him out for being a misogynist. However, it seems that the white supremacist violence that resulted in several deaths in Charlottesville, Virginia this weekend was too much for her. While Trump himself gave a tepid response from prepared remarks regarding this tragedy that was a direct result of open bigotry, Ivanka took to Twitter to denounce the hate and to call out neo-Nazis and white supremacists. She tweeted:1:2 There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis. Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) August 13, 20172:2 We must all come together as Americans and be one country UNITED. #Charlottesville Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) August 13, 2017Make no mistake Ivanka will NOT call her father out for not strongly condemning this. She has to know he s a racist. After all, she s his daughter, and she watched the kind of campaign he ran just like the rest of us. But, credit must be given where credit is due. It is likely not easy to break with one s father in a family that operates the way the Trumps do. So, in this instance, way to go Ivanka. Maybe your father will take a cue from you and speak out in a more direct and appropriate way. I won t hold my breath on that one, though.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images | 0 |
5,725 | OBAMA’S OPEN BORDER POLICY COMES WITH SERIOUS NATIONAL SECURITY CONSEQUENCES: Iraqi Military Trainer Caught Crossing US-Mexico Border | This is just one we caught crossing the border. What about the thousands we haven t caught or that we haven t heard about? Nothing to see here Breitbart Texas exclusively obtained leaked information on the Iraqi man who was apprehended while illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas on February 12, 2015.The Border Patrol agent responsible for interviewing the subject initially expressed concerns that the Iraqi was sent by Russia, largely due to the Iraqi man s history as a military trainer, his speaking several languages, including Russian, and his having lived in Crimea, according to one of the leaked documents. Breitbart Texas was provided with two documents by a federal agent who works under the umbrella of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The agent insisted on remaining anonymous.The Iraqi man is named Ahmed Adnan Taha, Al Khafaji. His date of birth is 6-25-84. He has one sister in the U.S., one in Turkey, three brothers in Turkey, one in Ukraine, one in New York State, and three brothers in Iraq, according to the leaked documents.The Iraqi told U.S. authorities that he spoke fluent Russian and lived in Crimea prior to the Russian invasion. He further stated that a Ukrainian paid $4,000 for him to get to the U.S., however, the Iraqi refused to identify the Ukrainian to U.S. authorities.The public statement given by Border Patrol at the time of the Iraqi s apprehension stated, On Thursday, February 12, 2015, RGV Border Patrol Agents encountered an adult Middle Eastern male south of Pharr, Texas. The subject was taken into custody and transported to the Border Patrol station for further processing. The subject was setup for Expedited Removal back to his country of origin and transferred to the custody of ICE/ERO. Breitbart Texas recently asked the Border Patrol agency about the specifics in this report and their spokesman for the Rio Grande Valley Sector (RGV) responded, All record checks were conducted, our federal partners did interview the subject with no derogatory information being found. It is significant to note that Border Patrol processing an individual does not mean that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actually deported the individual.Breitbart Texas provides images of both leaked documents below. The second document contains copy-and-pasted information from the official report, according to the federal agent who provided the information. The typos in the report were contained in the original and therefore included. Breitbart Texas redacted the TECS ID number.Via: Breitbart News | 0 |
5,726 | BREAKING: TRUMP CHOOSES Pro-School Voucher, Kasich Supporter, Billionaire Clinton Foundation Donor For Education Secretary | But parent activists are suggesting Trump is getting the wrong advice from his transition team.Writing at Townhall, Indiana activist and researcher Erin Tuttle and American Principles Project education fellow Jane Robbins assert Trump s transition team may be ignoring the concerns of the most populist movement American politics has seen since Reagan: the parents and teachers fighting Common Core. Citing many of the reported potential candidates associations with ardent Common Core supporter Jeb Bush, Tuttle and Robbins note:West Michigan Politics reported that, like Donald Trump himself, the DeVos family has donated to the Clinton Foundation:Bloomberg also reported in July of 2015 that former President Bill Clinton often earned higher speech fees, especially abroad. Amway paid him $700,000 for a February 2013 speech in Japan. A report at the Detroit News in July states that DeVos, a former Michigan Republican Party chair, was an at-large delegate for pro-Common Core Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Kasich received a grade of F at The Pulse 2016 for his support of the controversial standards. The former presidential candidate referred to parent activists in his state fighting against the Core as a runaway internet campaign. Let s just say that I will be a more than interested bystander at the convention, DeVos said.Karen Braun who heads up Stop Common Core in Michigan wrote: DeVos involvement with GLEP which supports Common Core and with the Foundation for Excellence in Education should make any denunciation of Common Core from DeVos lips suspect, Vander Hart concludes.Braun also tells Breitbart News because DeVos refused to support Trump at the Republican National Convention, she is skeptical of whether she would commit to Trump s stated goal of removing the federal government from education. Disloyalty should not be rewarded with a cabinet post, Braun asserts. Her lobby group, GLEP, supports common core and P-20 competency based education or so called school choice. I hope President-Elect Trump and the rest of the transition team think long and hard about this appointment. Many of you are asking about Common Core. To clarify, I am not a supporter period. Read my full stance, here: https://t.co/qB2nAXvX0B Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVos) November 23, 2016Frank Cannon, president of American Principles Project, also released the following statement:For entire story: Breitbart News | 0 |
5,727 | U.S. captures suspected Benghazi attack militant | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. forces have captured a militant who is believed to have played a role in a 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, U.S. officials said on Monday. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that U.S. Special Operation Forces captured the militant in Libya in the past few days. Two of the officials identified him as Mustafa al-Imam and said he had played a role in the attack and the ambassador s death. The officials said the man was now in the custody of the Department of Justice and being transported back to the United States by the military. They added that the operation was authorized by President Donald Trump and had notified the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord. In a statement, Trump said al-Imam will face justice in the United States for his alleged role in the September 11, 2012 attacks. [nW1N1N000Y] Attorney General Jeff Sessions said al-Imam was now in custody and the United States would continue to investigate and identify those who were involved in the attack. The appropriate Congressional committees and the families of the Americans killed in the 2012 attack had also been notified, the officials said. The attack on the embassy was the topic of numerous congressional hearings, with Republican lawmakers critical of the way in which then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton responded to the attack. Earlier this month, U.S. prosecutors opened their case against the suspected ringleader, Ahmed Abu Khatallah. Khatallah had been awaiting trial since 2014, when he was captured by a team of U.S. military and FBI officials in Libya and transported on a 13-day journey to the United States aboard a Navy vessel. Militants have exploited chaos following Muammar Gaddafi s 2011 downfall. Islamic State took over Sirte in early 2015, turning it into its most important base outside the Middle East and attracting large numbers of foreign fighters to the city. Islamic State militants has shifted to desert valleys and inland hills southeast of Tripoli as they seek to exploit Libya s political divisions after their defeat in Sirte. The United States has been carrying out strikes against the militant group in Libya, striking more than a dozen militants in September. | 1 |
5,728 | U.S. steps up pressure on Europe to boost defense spending | MUNICH (Reuters) - The United States on Saturday redoubled its longstanding demand that Germany and other European countries spend more on defense, saying their failure to meet NATO’s 2 percent military spending target was eroding the foundation of the Atlantic alliance. “When even one ally fails to do their part, it undermines all of our ability to come to each other’s aid,” U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told the Munich Security Conference, even as he assured NATO allies of Washington’s unwavering support. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Germany remained committed to reaching the NATO target, but that it would be hard to boost its defense budget quickly by the 25 billion euros ($26.5 billion) that would be required. Germany now spends about 1.2 percent of gross domestic product on the military. He called for a broader approach that also addressed security risks such as climate change, and said Germany should get credit for the 30 to 40 billion euros it is spending to integrate over a million refugees, many of whom were displaced as a result of failed military interventions of the past. “We are taking these people in and integrating them and preventing them going to other parts of the world as ‘freedom fighters’,” Gabriel said. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the conference that Europe needed to better integrate its fragmented defense industry, but that this remained a political challenge for countries seeking to protect their own industries and jobs. EU Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska told a closed-door session that “we must progressively build a defense union in Europe”, according to one of those present. EU militaries operate 19 types of armored infantry fighting vehicles, compared with one in the United States, while 25 billion euros of defense spending are wasted every year, according to European Commission data. Gabriel also questioned the wisdom of pegging the NATO military spending target to gross domestic product, noting that Greece met the goal, but was having trouble paying its pensions. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told the conference that it was important to focus increased spending on equipment needs, rather than military pensions. “The question is not funding NATO or changing budgets, but how Europe can ... improve its deployability without creating a European army,” he said. | 1 |
5,729 | FCC to loosen TV, newspaper ownership rules | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission wants to rollback landmark media ownership regulations that prohibit owning a television station and newspaper in the same market and making it easier to acquire additional TV or radio stations, Chairman Ajit Pai said on Wednesday. If approved at the FCC’s November meeting, the move would be a win for newspapers and broadcasters that have pushed for the change for decades, but was criticized by Democrats who said it could usher in a new era of media consolidation. The FCC in 1975 banned cross-ownership of a newspaper and broadcast station in the same market, unless it granted a waiver, to ensure a diversity of opinions. The rule was made before the explosion of internet and cable news and Republican President Donald Trump and Pai have vowed to reduce government regulation. “We must stop the federal government from intervening in the news business,” Pai told a congressional panel, noting that many newspapers have closed and many radio and TV stations are struggling. Pai moved earlier this year to make it easier for some companies to own a larger number of local stations. Pai said the marketplace no longer justifies the rules, citing Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) dominance of internet advertising. “Online competition for the collection and distribution of news is greater than ever. And just two internet companies claim 100 percent of recent online advertising growth; indeed, their digital ad revenue this year alone will be greater than the market cap of the entire broadcasting industry,” Pai said. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat, said at the hearing Wednesday the move would lead to further consolidation in the media business and should be opposed. There are three Republicans and two Democrats on the panel. Pai also proposes to make it easier for companies to own multiple TV and radio stations in the same market and he would allow two local stations among the top four in a market to petition the FCC to merge. The Pew Research Center said in June total weekday circulation for U.S. daily newspapers fell 8 percent in 2016, marking the 28th consecutive year of declines, while Sunday circulation declined to 38 million, the lowest levels since 1945. Newspaper ad revenue in 2016 fell to $18 billion, down from $49 billion in 2006. News Media Alliance Chief Executive David Chavern said newspapers need economies of scale to complete. He praised Pai’s move, saying the current rules “do not make sense, particularly when newspapers compete with countless sources of news and information every day.” The National Association of Broadcasters said it backs Pai’s plan, noting that policymakers have approved numerous “mega-mergers” among phone, cable and satellite programmers “while at the same time blocking broadcast/newspaper or radio/TV combinations in single markets.” The group added “this nonsensical regulatory approach has harmed the economic underpinning of newspapers, reduced local journalism jobs, and punished free and local broadcasters at the expense of our pay TV and radio competitors.” Free Press, an advocacy group, said the proposal would make it easier for Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc (SBGI.O) to complete its $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media Co (TRCO.N) with fewer divestitures. The “disastrous proposal is tailor-made for Sinclair and other giant broadcast chains that push often slanted or cookie-cutter content over the public airwaves,” the group said. | 1 |
5,730 | Backlash among German MPs against parliamentary Twitter ban | BERLIN (Reuters) - German lawmakers have protested after Wolfgang Schaeuble, the new president of the Bundestag, announced a ban on sending tweets from inside the parliament chamber. In a letter published in German media on Thursday, the former finance minister told lawmakers that using devices to photograph, tweet or send messages from the plenary chamber is inappropriate to the proceedings of the Bundestag . German politicians are far behind other countries in addressing voters via Twitter s short messaging service, and none comes close to U.S. President Donald Trump - but the measure has not gone unprotested. This is not going to be the last word on the matter, tweeted conservative lawmaker Dorothee B r, who with more than 64,000 followers is among the biggest Twitter stars of German politics, proving her adeptness with a winking smiley and a string of hashtags. You can watch parliamentary sessions live, but we can t tweet from it, tweeted her liberal colleague Frank Sitta. Would a handwritten letter from inside be ok? It makes no sense! It was not clear if either of those tweets had been sent from the parliament chamber. The backlash comes after an election which heard promises to address Germany s relative slowness in adopting the latest digital technologies. Politicians fear the industrial and export titan s strength risks being undermined by more nimble digital upstarts from Silicon Valley. During his decade at the finance ministry, Schaeuble earned a reputation for ruthlessly policing indebted euro zone states budgets. Lawmakers chose him for his new job in the hope he would ably discipline a parliament that since September s national election is more fragmented than ever before. | 1 |
5,731 | Russia ready to consider easing arms embargo for Libya: Ifx cites diplomat | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is ready to consider easing an arms embargo for Libya, the Interfax news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying on Wednesday. Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj said this month he was hopeful that a U.N.-imposed arms embargo would be partially lifted against some branches of the country s military. The Libyan government is allowed to import weapons and related materiel with the approval of a U.N. Security Council committee overseeing the embargo imposed in 2011. | 1 |
5,732 | comeys october surprise blows up in his face as democrats drop the hammer on fbi boss | us admits afghan strike likely caused civilian deaths sat nov pm military in this photograph taken on september an afghan pilot stands next to a line of usmade md helicopters in kabul photo by afp
the commander of us forces in afghanistan has promised an investigation into the recent death of more than afghan civilians including women and children in an airstrike
general john nicholson said saturday that the airstrike on the village of buz kandahari just outside the northern city of kunduz on thursday would be probed
three taliban leaders were supposed to be targeted in the raid but the forces met significant enemy fire from multiple locations and called for help from a us aircraft which left civilians including children dead
an initial investigation has determined that efforts near kunduz on november to defend afghan national defense and security forces likely resulted in civilian casualties nicholson said in a statement we will work with our afghan partners to investigate and determine the facts and we will work with the government of afghanistan to provide assistance
the targets were highranking elements of the takfiri group that were supposed to be hit in their houses according to afghan defense ministry spokesman dawlat waziri
they werent ordinary people who had gathered they were leading fighting in kunduz they were the commanders of their military commission waziri said
taliban militants were removed from power following the usled invasion of afghanistan but they have stepped up their activities in recent months attempting to overrun several provinces
afghan forces have been engaged in fierce clashes with taliban to contain the ongoing insurgency across various parts of the violencewrecked country
the rising violence in afghanistan comes despite the presence of thousands of foreign troops in the country loading | 1 |
5,733 | Trump says he can end Iran deal if no action to fix it soon | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he wants to see action to fix the flaws he sees in the Iran nuclear deal in a short period of time, adding that he could end the deal instantaneously. We ll see what happens over the next short period of time and I can do that instantaneously, Trump told reporters when asked why he did not choose to scrap the deal now. I like a two-step process much better, said Trump, who was speaking shortly after he announced he would not certify the 2015 deal, aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, in a major shift in U.S. policy. | 1 |
5,734 | Some lawmakers talk gun control after Florida shooting, scant hope for change | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history prompted calls on Sunday by some members of Congress for legislation to tighten control of weapons sales, although there were slim hopes for much change after 50 people were killed at a gay nightclub in Florida. Democratic Senator Robert Casey said he would announce a bill on Monday that would ban anyone convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime from owning a firearm. Under current law, those with felony convictions are prohibited from buying or possessing a gun, but those convicted of misdemeanor hate crimes are not. Casey planned to make the announcement in his home state of Pennsylvania after a meeting with members of Pittsburgh’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Lawmakers, including some Republicans, have sought some gun restrictions after earlier mass shootings, but even minor changes failed to gain enough support to become law. Backed by the powerful gun lobby, many members of Congress see controls of weapons sales as a threat to Americans’ constitutional rights. Other Democrats also called for Congress to act after Sunday’s attack in Orlando, some in strong terms. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said the killings would prompt debate but not action. “The bottom line is that we allow dangerous people to buy guns in America and that has got to change,” he said. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said the “epidemic” of gun violence would continue if Congress does not act and also said lawmakers shared responsibility. “Congress has become complicit in these murders by its total, unconscionable deafening silence,” he said in a statement. “This doesn’t have to happen but this epidemic will continue without end if Congress continues to sit on its hands and do nothing – again.” A gunman killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in Murphy’s home state, Connecticut, in 2012. The suspected Orlando attacker, identified as Omar Mateen, 29, a U.S. citizen who was the son of immigrants from Afghanistan, was carrying an AR-15 style assault rifle and a handgun, authorities said. The shooter in Newtown also had an AR-15. Many Republicans, including the presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump, focused on the threat from Islamist militants after the shooting, citing reports that Mateen was inspired by Islamic State. The FBI said Mateen had twice been interviewed after making comments to co-workers indicating he supported militant groups, but neither led to evidence of criminal activity. | 1 |
5,735 | Holiday cheer boosts Amazon, Macy's and other retail stocks | SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shares of Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Macy s Inc (M.N), Kohl s Corp (KSS.N) and other U.S. retailers rose on Friday on early signs that consumers are on track to spend more this holiday shopping season than in previous years. Although there were few signs of the frenzy that had been a hallmark of the start to the crucial U.S. shopping season in years past, known as Black Friday, industry watchers were upbeat. The turnout this morning has been relatively slow but it is still the best we have seen in three years, said Burt Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resources Group, citing improving consumer confidence, a strong job market and healthy housing prices. We expect it to pick up as the day progresses. Adobe Analytics forecast online Black Friday sales of $5 billion, which would be a record high. Online retailers will rake in an additional $6.6 billion on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe. Amazon, the world s largest online retailer, rallied 2.6 percent to a record high, bringing its gain in 2017 to nearly 60 percent. It offered its own Black Friday deals and revealed a preview of its Cyber Monday discounts. Brick-and-mortar stores and their investors are hoping that a strong labor market and rising home prices will increase the turnout between Thursday s U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas, a period that can account for as much as 40 percent of total annual sales and make or break a retailer. [nL1N1NU0GH] Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), Macy s and others have beefed up their online sales platforms and boosted discounts for online orders in a bid to stem market share losses to Amazon. It s the big box retailers last stand against the digital revolution, said Jake Dollarhide, Chief Executive of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It s their last chance to say, This is still our season . Shares of Macy s, which has suffered from falling sales for several quarters, jumped 2.1 percent, while Gap Inc (GPS.N) added 1.6 percent and Kohl s rose 1 percent. Instead of curtailing spending, consumers are coming out of their bunker, said Chad Morganlander, a portfolio manager at Washington Crossing Advisors in Florham Park, New Jersey. Nonetheless, the trend of retail preferences of the consumer is not going away. Retailers appeared to be discounting their products less than in previous years, said Thomson Reuters retail analyst Jharonne Martis after visiting a mall in New York. They are going into the holiday season more confident, knowing that consumers want their merchandise, Martis said. Not all retailers shared in Friday s holiday cheer: Target Corp (TGT.N) fell 2.8 percent, with analysts noting that it closed its stores for several hours overnight even while many rivals stayed open. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (BBBY.O) slipped 1.9 percent. | 1 |
5,736 | Meet The CA Sheriff Who Won’t Be Bullied By Obama And Illegal Immigrant Activists Who Believe The Laws Don’t Apply To Lawbreakers | If you have a system that rewards you for being a victim, it s subject to abuse. Sheriff Donny YoungbloodThat kind of stance has won him enemies in California s immigrant-rights movement and frequent comparisons to Joe Arpaio, the brash Arizona sheriff notorious for his workplace raids and ID checks.Youngblood, 64, said he isn t trying to make headlines. The Vietnam War veteran, who grew up working in the potato sheds around Bakersfield, said he s happier hiking or riding his quarter horse, Sparky.He lives in the same modest suburban neighborhood where he grew up, on Bakersfield s now heavily Latino Eastside, and bristles at accusations that his policies encourage racial profiling, pointing out that a third of his deputies are Latino.As he drove through town on a recent morning, past oil derricks, gated golf courses and strip malls lined with Mexican restaurants and carnicerias, Youngblood outlined his philosophy on immigration.The federal government should start enforcing immigration laws or write new ones, he said. He criticized President Obama s new deportation policies, which say most immigrants who have not committed serious crimes and have fewer than three minor crimes on their records should not be priorities for removal. You re in this country illegally and we re going to give you three bites of the apple? That s three victims! Youngblood said. If you commit crimes, you oughta go. Youngblood s defiant views have made him a rare voice of dissent in what has become the nation s most welcoming state for people in the country illegally.At a time when the Democrat-controlled Legislature has moved to allow such immigrants to drive, practice law and pay in-state college tuition passing 26 immigrant-friendly laws last year alone, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures Youngblood is an outlier.He has largely refused to sign paperwork that immigrant crime victims need to apply for U visas, which allow some victims to stay in the country lawfully. As president of the Major County Sheriffs Assn., a national advocacy group, he has asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to share data with police so patrol officers can determine whether the person they stop may be in the country illegally.Youngblood said his department began following the Trust Act last year on the advice of county attorneys. But he said he reserves the right to violate it. If ICE calls me and says, You have someone there who has committed this heinous crime, and we really need you to hold them, I m probably going to hold them, he said.Youngblood s approach has been celebrated by those who believe, as he does, that Obama has been too lax on immigration enforcement.And it has made him the target of activists who accuse him of setting his own immigration policy and of sowing fear among the estimated 66,000 immigrants in this rural county illegally. People are scared, said Lorena Lara, an immigrant who was brought to the country illegally by her farmworker father and who now works for a community organizing group called Faith in Action Kern County. They re afraid to call the police because they think they might be deported. Immigrant advocates have been pushing for more protections and political representation in the Central Valley since Cesar Chavez launched the modern immigrant-rights movement in the grape fields here half a century ago. In recent years, Kern County has been the scene of tense standoffs between protesters on opposing sides of the immigration debate, including a well-publicized shouting match outside the Bakersfield office of Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy in 2013.The majority of Kern County residents are Latino, but it wasn t until the 1990s that a Latino was elected to the Bakersfield City Council or the Kern County Board of Supervisors. (Political scientists point out that Latinos make up only about a third of registered voters and tend to turn out for elections at much lower rates than their white counterparts.)Youngblood says his views are in line with the conservative voters who have put him in office three times since 2006. Their ideas about immigration and government couldn t be more different than the electorate in Los Angeles, he added, even though Kern borders Los Angeles County. We are right-of-the-center on things, he said. I always say Kern is a county that ought to be in Arizona. Not far from Youngblood s home, Jose and his wife live in a run-down gray bungalow. There s a large portrait of the Virgin of Guadalupe in the living room and a dirt yard out front. On a recent evening, as the couple cleaned up after a long day in the fields, a locomotive screeched on nearby tracks.The couple came here from Mexico nine years ago to find work. Jose, who didn t want to give his full name because he said he fears retaliation from the sheriff, now earns $9 an hour picking almonds and oranges. He made $9 a day as a bus driver back home.Jose said that in 2013 he and his wife were attacked by armed robbers while they slept. The thieves stole everything of value and beat Jose for an hour, shattering his ribs.Organizers with the United Farm Workers encouraged Jose to apply for a U visa, saying he had a slam-dunk case. The crime was sufficiently severe, they said, and he had cooperated with the sheriff s deputies who responded to the 911 call.To apply for the visa, immigrants must present a declaration from the law enforcement agency that investigated the crime saying that they were or will be helpful.The Bakersfield Police Department, like most agencies in the nation, has a policy of signing all U visa declarations. Youngblood doesn t.Out of 160 requests between 2012 and 2014, he signed just four, according to Sheriff s Department records. I think he has something personal against Latinos, said Jose, who prays that Youngblood will find it in his heart to reconsider. We are at his mercy, he said.Youngblood said he hasn t signed most declarations because he doesn t believe in the premise of the law. If you have a system that rewards you for being a victim, it s subject to abuse, he said.The sheriff s stance has won him supporters, such as Ellen Fluhart, 70, a retired rancher who lives in the northeastern part of the county. She said Youngblood s decision not to sign U visa petitions is his prerogative. Fluhart said Youngblood s views are refreshing in a state where politicians have passed bills that she says encourage unlawful immigration. They broke the law, Fluhart said. They shouldn t be rewarded. Tensions between law enforcement and immigrant laborers in this community go back decades, said Gonzalo Santos, a sociologist at Cal State Bakersfield. In the 1930s, sheriff s officials deputized farm owners so they could use their badges to shut down labor protests, Santos said. Some farmworkers were killed.Now the department is intervening in immigration matters, said Santos, who called Youngblood a rogue sheriff. Youngblood argues that Brown and the Legislature were interfering when they passed the Trust Act. Conflicting state and federal mandates put sheriffs like him in the crosshairs, he said. It s unfair, because the law is so unclear, Youngblood said. Really what we re looking for is clear law, clear direction. Via: LA Times | 0 |
5,737 | Trump says waterboarding 'works' but will defer to Cabinet: ABC interview | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, asked about the practice of waterboarding as an intelligence-gathering tool, said: “Absolutely I feel it works,” but added he would defer to his Cabinet on whether to use it. Trump told ABC in an interview to be broadcast later on Wednesday he would rely on the advice of CIA Director Mike Pompeo and U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, among others, about using the illegal technique. “And if they don’t want to do it, that’s fine. If they do want to do it then I will work toward that end. I want to do everything within the bounds of what we’re allowed to do if it’s legal ... Do I feel it works? Absolutely I feel it works.” Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, signed an executive order in 2009 banning waterboarding - a form of simulated drowning - and other Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, which are denounced by many lawmakers and rights groups as torture. | 1 |
5,738 | Treasury watchdog finds Mnuchin's private jet trips broke no law | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior lawyer at the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of the Inspector General said on Thursday he found “no violation of law” in Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s use of private jets for seven official trips, but called for better cases to be made in future for such travel by Trump administration officials. But the report by OIG counsel Rich Delmar found the department offered insufficient justification for the use of a government plane and recommended future requests provide more detail. (bit.ly/2fUVFQP) Mnuchin’s use of a plane at taxpayer expense to travel to Kentucky in August with his wife to view the solar eclipse and speak to business leaders prompted an outcry from Democratic party lawmakers and spurred the Treasury’s watchdog agency to examine whether it violated travel or ethics policies. Cabinet members rarely use government planes or chartered aircraft for domestic travel, but the practice has received significant attention in the wake of Mnuchin’s trip. On Friday, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned after an outcry over his use of private charter planes for government business at a cost of nearly $52,000. Mnuchin said on Sunday he did not regret using a government plane for the Kentucky trip, calling it “completely justifiable.” “It was approved by the White House and there were reasons why we needed to use that plane that are completely justifiable,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. Mnuchin told NBC that he would only use a private plane for government purposes “if either there was a national security issue or we couldn’t get somewhere.” The Treasury Department has described Mnuchin’s trip in August as official government travel. Mnuchin spoke to business leaders in Louisville and visited Fort Knox, the site of significant U.S. gold reserves. Mnuchin and his wife, Louise Linton, also viewed the Aug. 21 solar eclipse in Kentucky with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and others. Public uproar over the trip began to mount after Linton posted a photo of herself deboarding the plane on social media and listed the expensive designer brands she was wearing in the caption. “I recommend that the OIG advise that future requests be ready to justify government air in greater detail, especially regarding cost comparisons and needs for security and other special factors,” Delmar said in his report. | 1 |
5,739 | Lying Liar Behind ‘Baby Parts’ Videos Rejects Plea Deal, Demands Apology (VIDEO) | David Daleidan, the ringleader for the deceptively named Center for Medical Progress, is foolishly rejecting a plea deal after being indicted by a Texas grand jury for the illegal activities he took part in to create the infamous baby parts videos used in an attempt to discredit and destroy Planned Parenthood. Daleidan surrendered to police on Thursday, and held a press conference in which he held steadfast to his stance that the beloved women s health organization is some kind of grotesque baby part mill. As he spoke to the huge crowd by the courthouse, Daleidan told them: I think we all know that every day that goes by that the Texas authorities do not prosecute Planned Parenthood for their illegal trade in baby parts, they are sending a message to the entire country. The state of Texas right now is open for business in baby body parts. Daleidan s attorneys spoke to the media, insisting that their client would not be making any kind of plea deal with prosecutors, even though he would get no jail time, only probation. They went on to have the gall to actually put Daleidan s work on par with that of people from 60 Minutes. If we re going to be prosecuting undercover journalists, we are sending ourselves down a very, very dark path. This is fully in the tradition, a long storied tradition, of undercover journalism. Well, real investigative journalists don t doctor videos, and real journalists don t break the law, which Daleiden and his organization of rabidly anti-choice zealots did repeatedly. That was when the lawyer actually had the nerve to demand that Daleiden receive an apology for being charged in the first place: What we want is an apology. He deserves an apology at this point. He is innocent of those charges. No, what he deserves is a jail cell, and hopefully at the end of his trial, that is exactly what he gets.Watch the video below:Featured image from video screen capture via Raw Story | 0 |
5,740 | Democrat Examines Trump’s Latest Twitter Meltdown, Asks The ONE Question We Were ALL Wondering (DETAILS) | Donald Trump s presidency is still one of the most baffling train wrecks Americans have seen in a long time. If his racist, misogynist rhetoric and pathological lying weren t enough to raise concerns about, his Twitter activity alone should have prevented people from voting for him and for those that had hope for him, he s been busy proving them wrong every single day since he got in the White House.He hasn t even lasted a month in his new role yet, and already people are scrambling to find ways to get rid of him before he destroys the country. With his massive amounts of inhumane executive orders and reckless handling of world affairs, Trump s mental competency is under scrutiny and for good reason.On Saturday, Trump launched into one of his insane Twitter fits, and this time he was more incoherent than ever. He not only whined about FAKE NEWS and the New York Times, but he attacked the so-called judge who dared to block his disgusting Muslim ban. Oh, and let s not forget about the fact that Trump also shared a fake article about Kuwait, forcing the country to respond and the situation to erupt in chaos before the situation was corrected.Given the emotional roller coaster that the Trump presidency has already become in such a short amount of time, many people are calling for him to have a psychological review and one of those people is Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), who took a look at Trump s Twitter tantrum and asked the question we ve all been wanting to know. Here it is: Should he get a mental health exam? Hell YES. A few hours later, Lieu fired back at Trump again for posting yet another weird, narcissistic tweet: his campaign slogan, Make America Great Again. It would be in America s best interest if Trump were professionally evaluated. Lieu is not the only politician calling for a psychological review, either. Earlier this week, top Democrat Nancy Pelosi spoke out in support of having mental evaluations for presidents which we all know would have destroyed every chance Trump had.Like him or hate him, Trump is not well and being in his role is not only dangerous for him, but for the rest of the world.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images | 0 |
5,741 | Russia says North Korea's latest missile launch flouted U.N. resolutions: Ifax | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that North Korea s latest missile test violated United Nations Security Council resolutions, the Interfax news agency reported. Moscow called on all sides to show restraint, Interfax quoted Maria Zakharova, the foreign ministry s spokeswoman, as saying. Pyongyang fired a missile that flew over Japan s northern Hokkaido far out into the Pacific Ocean on Friday, deepening tension after its recent test of its most powerful nuclear bomb. | 1 |
5,742 | Looming national security laws raise fresh fears for Hong Kong's freedoms | HONG KONG (Reuters) - Amid calls from Hong Kong s pro-Beijing elite for sweeping new national security laws, government advisers and lawyers say the legislation is likely to be tougher than proposals shelved 14 years ago, raising fears about the city s cherished freedoms. Those demanding urgency for the long-delayed Article 23 are using a fledgling independence movement in the former British colony as justification even though the independence debate would have been allowed when Article 23 was first proposed in 2003. Lawyers, diplomats and activists fear the new pressure could lead to legal overkill in an open city already struggling with increased interference from Beijing s Communist Party rulers. We can see an intolerance from the central authorities over any kind of independence discussion, said Simon Young, a professor at the University of Hong Kong law school. In this atmosphere, there is a concern that we could end up with something that criminalizes even the advocacy of independence, something that goes much further and is tougher than the previous proposals. Kevin Yam, of Hong Kong s Progressive Lawyers Group, said it was vital to win the argument against independence by persuasion and debate, rather than a sweeping new law that curbs freedoms. If the government goes too far, it will undoubtedly have a chilling impact on Hong Kong, he said. This is of great concern. The government, in response to Reuters questions, did not provide information on when or how it would kick-start legislation, but said it will seek to create a favorable social environment for the community to handle this constitutional obligation ... in a positive manner. Hong Kong, a free-wheeling global financial hub, has been ruled under a one country, two systems formula since Britain handed it back to China in 1997, guaranteeing freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, including an independent judiciary and freedom of expression. Those freedoms are outlined in the Basic Law, a mini-constitution that also demands the city pass its own law covering treason, secession and subversion against Beijing. But many see Beijing increasingly involved in Hong Kong s affairs, such as the shadowy detention in 2015 of five Hong Kong booksellers who sold gossipy material critical of Beijing, and a legal interpretation from the Chinese parliament that eventually led to the disqualification of six democratically elected lawmakers. The calls to enact Article 23 follow that pattern, they say. Previous government proposals outlawed incitement to violence but sought to protect political debate. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest against Article 23 in 2003, forcing the government to shelve it. Months-long pro-democracy demonstrations in 2014 further heightened political sensitivities surrounding the legislation, and the government has not set a firm timetable to re-introduce it. But now pressure is mounting on Hong Kong to push through the laws after mainland officials expressed concerns in both public and private meetings. Senior Chinese parliamentarian Li Fei used a visit to Hong Kong last week to warn that Article 23 was a duty that can t be shirked while the chief of China s Liaison Office in the city also called for action. Many risks and potential hazards that would affect or even threaten national sovereignty, security and developmental interests have not been effectively eliminated or prevented, Liaison Office chief and Communist Party Central Committee member Wang Zhimin told pro-establishment lawmakers, according to his office s website. Chinese President Xi Jinping took what some saw as a harder line on Hong Kong s future during his visit in July to mark the 20th anniversary of the handover from the British. Challenges and threats to China s sovereignty and power, or the use of Hong Kong as a base for infiltration and sabotage, were acts that crossed the red line and were absolutely impermissible , Xi said. Two members of Hong Kong s executive council - effectively the cabinet of leader Carrie Lam - have told Reuters that the 2003 bill would almost certainly have to be updated to reflect the fresh concerns. The city s independence movement, which has largely gone underground after most of its young leaders were charged for their roles in various protests, did not exist in 2003. Executive Council member Regina Ip - who pushed the previous bill as Hong Kong s then-security chief - said she could not say if the old proposals were sufficient in 2017. We must review any proposed legislation against the evolving security situation... that is only natural, she said. Her colleague and moderate democrat Ronny Tong said he believed, realistically, any new laws could draw the line at organized efforts to promote independence. If the last version were to be passed, in fact it would not stop ... what is done by the students, because they are not advocating violence, he said. Hong Kong people are getting more and more intolerant of Beijing, and they (Chinese rulers) don t like that at all. Even short of independence, they feel that something needs to be done ... to try to make people more respectful to Beijing. | 1 |
5,743 | Trevor Noah Brutally Dropkicks Ted Cruz For His ‘Jackass’ Response To The Brussel’s Bombings (VIDEO) | Daily Show host Trevor Noah got brutal with Ted Cruz over his appalling response to the bombings of EU capital Brussels this week, an attack in which dozens (including Americans) lost their lives.The Republican presidential hopeful, currently coming second in the race to Donald trump, launched an all-out attack on President Obama in the wake of the attacks. First, Cruz railed against Obama for not flying immediately to Brussels when not even European leaders responded this way. Secondly, Cruz issued a hysterical demand for police to patrol and secure Muslim-American neighborhoods, effectively placing Muslim citizens in a police state.The idea drew a swift and sharp response from President Obama, who reminded the Texas senator:As far as the notion of having surveillance of neighborhoods where Muslims are present, I just left a country that engages in that kind of neighborhood surveillance. Which, by the way, the father of Senator Cruz escaped for America, the land of the free. The notion that we would start down that slippery slope makes absolutely no sense.The President was backed up by furious comments from NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton, who saw the consequences when his police force implemented similar tactics in the past. He said: He doesn t know what the hell he is talking about To be frank with you, while he s running around here, he probably has some Muslim officers guarding him. Now Trevor Noah has piled in with a brutal dropkick of Ted Cruz over the matter, which begins: First of all, you re a sanctimonious jackass, Second of all, President Obama doesn t need to go to Belgium for them to know that he s an ally. It s not like all the European presidents went to Belgium after the attacks and they re within driving distance. Then Noah turns to the President s comments that we cannot let terrorists achieve their core aim which is to sow terror in us, saying: It s very important for us to not respond with fear. Then, turning to Cruz s attempt to do exactly that, by in turn terrorizing the American Muslim community in response, Noah says: Unfortunately, there are always those who use these times to score political points, Adding, Terrorists win when we allow them to disrupt our way of life. While Cruz may persuade the right-wing of his party that persecuting American Muslims for the actions of a handful of Muslims in Belgium is a good idea. But he will not win that argument with the wider country and that s why this dropkick is so brutal, because it s true.Featured Image via Screengrab | 0 |
5,744 | U.S. seeks ship ban over North Korea violations, Moon postponing drills | UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has called on the U.N. Security Council to blacklist 10 ships for circumventing sanctions on North Korea, documents showed on Tuesday, while South Korea s President suggested delaying military exercises with Washington to ease tensions ahead of next year s Winter Olympics. Documents seen by Reuters said the 10 vessels had been conducting ship-to-ship transfers of refined petroleum products to North Korean vessels or transporting North Korean coal in violation of U.N. sanctions imposed over Pyongyang s nuclear and missile programs. The ships would be blacklisted - meaning countries would be required to ban them from entering their ports - if none of the 15 members of the Security Council s North Korea sanctions committee object by Thursday afternoon. North Korea is under a U.N. arms embargo and the Security Council has banned trade in exports such as coal, textiles, seafood, iron and other minerals to choke funding for Pyongyang s missile and nuclear programs. In September, the council put a cap of 2 million barrels a year on refined petroleum products exports to North Korea. The ships targeted for blacklisting were Xin Sheng Hai (flag unknown); the Hong-Kong-flagged Lighthouse Winmore; the Togo-flagged Yu Yuan; Panama-flagged Glory Hope 1 (also known as Orient Shenyu), Kai Xiang, and Billions No. 18; and the North Korean-flagged Ul Ji Bong 6, Rung Ra 2, Rye Song Gang 1, and Sam Jong 2. Four ships were designated for carrying coal from North Korea by the council s North Korea sanctions committee in October. The United States has led a drive to step up sanctions on North Korea in response to Pyongyang s efforts to develop nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States. In Ottawa on Tuesday, Canada and the United States said they would co-host a foreign ministers meeting in Vancouver on Jan. 16 to demonstrate international solidarity against North Korea s nuclear and missile tests. Representatives of the countries that sent troops or other military support to the U.N.-backed effort to repel North Korean forces after the 1950 invasion of South Korea will attend. Japan, India and Sweden will also attend, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. We can t talk unless North Korea is ready to talk, Tillerson told reporters after meeting with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. What s important for North Korea to know is that this pressure campaign will not abate, we will not be rolling any of it back, it will only be intensified as time goes by, and it will remain in place until they agree to give up their nuclear weapons and allow us to verify the fact that is what they have done, he said. Freeland said the world had to demonstrate to North Korea that it was united in condemning Pyongyang s actions. The international pressure campaign - we believe it s going to be successful, and a successful outcome of the international pressure campaign is a diplomatic engagement, Freeland said. Washington has warned that all options are on the table, including military ones, to prevent North Korea s missile development. On Friday, Tillerson had urged North Korea to carry out a sustained cessation of weapons testing to allow the two countries to hold talks. North Korea paused its missile testing for more than two months before firing a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile in late November. U.S. officials say it has given no indication it is willing to discuss giving up its nuclear program and Pyongyang has repeatedly denounced U.S. and South Korean military drills, which it says are a prelude to invasion. On Tuesday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he was willing to ease tensions ahead of next year s Winter Olympics in South Korea by delaying joint military exercises. It is possible for South Korea and the U.S. to review the possibility of postponing the exercises, he told NBC News. I ve made such a suggestion to the U.S., and the U.S. is currently reviewing it. However, all this depends on how North Korea behaves. A spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command, Commander Dave Benham, declined to discuss any plans for exercises. Earlier on Tuesday, Japan and South Korea, both U.S. allies, urged China to put more pressure on North Korea. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said after talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha that China - North Korea s neighbor and only big ally - was implementing Security Council resolutions but could do more. China routinely says it is meeting its U.N. obligations on North Korea and has urged all sides to pursue dialogue. The U.S. Navy s top officer, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson, said on Tuesday that vessels from the eastern Pacific could be moved to reinforce U.S. naval power in Asia as Washington contends with increased threats in the region and accidents that have weakened its maritime force. China has been irritated by stepped-up U.S. naval deployments in the Pacific and along with Russia has proposed that Washington and Seoul halt major military exercises in exchange for North Korea freezing its weapons programs. Washington has warned North Korea it would be totally destroyed in the event of war and on Monday U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a new national security strategy stressing the need to deal with the challenge posed by Pyongyang. This week Washington publicly blamed North Korea for a massive worldwide cyber attack in May that crippled hospitals, banks and other companies. A White House official said on Tuesday that Facebook Inc and Microsoft Corp disabled a number of North Korean cyber threats last week. Researchers say a series of cyber attacks has netted North Korean hackers millions of dollars in virtual currencies like bitcoin, with more attacks expected, as international sanctions drive the country to seek new sources of cash. | 1 |
5,745 | Liberal Nobel Prize Winning Economist: Hillary Clinton Is MORE Liberal Than Obama | Over the last decade or so, a handful of people have become what you might call economic rock stars, at least for liberals. Robert Reich, Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz grab the attention of liberals when they talk about income inequality, taking corporate influence out of politics and a more equitable tax structure.Bernie Sanders had talked about bringing on Stiglitz and Reich, if he were to win the presidency. In other words, these are men who have all the credibility in the world when it comes to evaluating political candidates and Nobel Prize winning economist Stiglitz believes that if Clinton wins, we are in for an even more liberal agenda than Obama has had.To be fair, Stiglitz is an advisor to Clinton s campaign, but he rarely tones down his progressive rhetoric, no matter who he s talking to or about. With Clinton, though, he gets quite specific in an interview with Slate Magazine. Stiglitz believes that in the years since Bill Clinton left office, the country has changed and that we are far more focused on income inequality, something he believes Hillary Clinton will do something about:Where do you situate Hillary Clinton ideologically in terms of economics?I think that s a good question. I think the world today is different from where it was 20 years ago, and the issues are being framed considerably differently. For instance, I think there s a recognition that inequality is a much bigger problem. I think she is much more concerned about more progressive taxes and dealing with tax avoidance of multinational corporations. I think she is very committed to that. I think progressives are not against trade, but they are concerned with trade agreements that are pushed by corporations, for their interests, by and for corporations. That is what we have in the form of TPP. I think it is a good thing that she has come out against that.Stiglitz also believes that the very fact that Clinton is pragmatic something she s often criticized for on the left will keep he on the right track:One of the progressive concerns about Clinton has been that the Clintons are enmeshed with this sort of global, financial elite through their foundation, and just through the circles they travel in.I understand those concerns, and I guess part of the answer to that is the reality of 2016 is that the Senate Banking Committee has people like Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren, and Jeff Merkel, and you are not going to get through legislation that is a sell out to Wall Street. Knowing that, and knowing that she does not want to fight within her party, I think she is pragmatic enough. The criticism occurs because she s been, you might say, too pragmatic. The fact is she is pragmatic enough to know that these people will not tolerate the kind of sell-out that I think many people have seen in previous administrations. I think it is unlikely that we will get policies that stray too far from the progressive agenda.Stiglitz credits Bernie Sanders with Hillary Clinton s more progressive policies. As for Clinton compared to Obama:More conservative than Hillary, yes. I think his temperament is basically more conservative and he did not go as far on Dodd-Frank as many people wanted. He opposed some of the key provisions that eventually got in the bill.For those who are still worried that Hillary Clinton will take on the more neoliberal policies of her husband, remember that times have changed and that we are no longer a center right nation. If anything, we are center left, and Clinton knows that if she disappoints the growing progressive wing of the Democratic party, she is doomed to just one term.Featured image via JP Yim/Getty Images. | 0 |
5,746 | Rebels kill 15 peacekeepers in Congo in worst attack on U.N. in recent history | GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Suspected Ugandan rebels killed at least 15 Tanzanian U.N. peacekeepers and wounded 53 others in a raid on a base in Congo that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called the worst attack on the organization in recent history. Tanzania s President John Magufuli said he was shocked and saddened by the deaths, which come amid rising violence against civilians, the army and U.N. troops in Democratic Republic of Congo s eastern borderlands. The U.N. chief said the attack constituted a war crime and called on Congolese authorities to investigate and swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice . I want to express my outrage and utter heartbreak at last night s attack, Guterres told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York. There must be no impunity for such assaults, here or anywhere else. The United Nations Security Council condemned the attack on Friday and held a moment of silence for the victims. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert wrote on Twitter that the United States was appalled by the horrific attack . U.N. troops were still searching for three peacekeepers who went missing during the more than three-hour firefight that broke out at dusk on Thursday evening, Ian Sinclair, the director of the U.N. Operations and Crisis Centre, said. U.N. officials said they suspected militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) staged the assault on the base in the town of Semuliki in North Kivu s Beni territory. The ADF is an Islamist rebel group that has been active in the area. Congo s U.N. mission, MONUSCO, said it was coordinating a joint response with the Congolese army and evacuating wounded from the base. Five Congolese soldiers were also killed in the raid, MONUSCO said in a statement. Congo s army said only one of its soldiers was missing, however, while another had been injured, adding that 72 militants had been killed. Rival militia groups control parts of mineral-rich eastern Congo nearly a decade and a half after the official end of a 1998-2003 war in which millions of people died, mostly from hunger and disease. The area has been the scene of repeated massacres and at least 26 people died in an ambush in October. The government and U.N. mission have blamed almost all the violence on the ADF but U.N. experts and independent analysts say other militia and elements of Congo s own army have also been involved. In response to the growing unrest, and in an effort to protect civilians, the U.N. s Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix said MONUSCO had stepped up its activities in the area. They don t want us there. And I think this attack is a response ... to our increasingly robust posture in that region, he told reporters. Thursday s raid was the third attack on a U.N. base in eastern Congo in recent months. Increased militia activity in the east and center of the country has added to insecurity in Congo this year amid political tensions linked to President Joseph Kabila s refusal to step down when his mandate expired last December. An election to replace Kabila, who has ruled Congo since his father s assassination in 2001, has been repeatedly delayed and is now scheduled for December 2018. Established in 2010, MONUSCO is the United Nations largest peacekeeping mission and had recorded 93 fatalities of military, police and civilian personnel. | 1 |
5,747 | Factbox: What Trump has said about the United Nations | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver his first speech before the United Nations on Tuesday, when he is expected to pitch his America First foreign policy vision. Trump has been critical of the United Nations and complained about the cost to the United States of helping to fund the 193-nation body. Below are some comments he has made about it over the years. Remarks at lunch with U.N. Security Council Ambassadors April 24, 2017 The United States, just one of 193 countries in the U.N., pays for 22 percent of the budget and almost 30 percent of the United Nations peacekeeping, which is unfair. I also want to say to you that I have long felt the United Nations is an underperformer but has tremendous potential. There are those people that think it s an underperformer and will never perform. Twitter Dec. 26, 2016 The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad! American Israel Public Affairs Committee speech March 21, 2016 Which brings me to my next point, the utter weakness and incompetence of the United Nations. The United Nations is not a friend of democracy, it s not a friend to freedom, it s not a friend even to the United States of America where, as you know, it has its home. And it surely is not a friend to Israel. Twitter Oct. 3, 2012 The cheap 12 inch sq. marble tiles behind speaker at UN always bothered me. I will replace with beautiful large marble slabs if they ask me. Twitter Oct. 6, 2011 Why is the UN condemning @Israel and doing nothing about Syria? What a disgrace. Twitter Sept. 8, 2011 Why is the UN planning to attack @Israel s sovereignty and ignore Iran s nuclear program? The US should look at future funding. Senate committee hearing on renovation of U.N. headquarters July 21, 2005 I am a big fan, a very big fan of the United Nations and all it stands for. I cannot speak as to what has been happening over the last number of years because it certainly has not been good, but the concept of the United Nations and the fact that the United Nations is in New York is very important to me and very important to the world as far as I am concerned. | 1 |
5,748 | Watch Desperate Americans Literally BEG Justin Trudeau To Run For POTUS (VIDEO) | As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to prove that he s an all-around amazing person, he s become admired far beyond Canada s borders.Earlier this week, Trudeau was confronted by some very passionate Americans while stopping at a deli in New York City, which Trudeau was visiting to announce that Canada would seek a UN Security Council seat in 2021. Having spotted the Prime Minister and desperate to escape the horrifying U.S. presidential election, these Americans spoke for many of us when they approached Trudeau and asked, Could you run for president here? And why wouldn t they want him to help rescue us from the possibility of Republican front runner Donald Trump?! He s the exact opposite: he s already increased taxes on the wealthy, welcomed Syrian refugees into his country, become an outspoken feminist and is just as interested in climate change as President Barack Obama. The prospect of President Trump is such a threat, that another candidate in addition Democrat candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders would be a tremendous relief.Trudeau gently explained to those two Americans why a presidential run wasn t a possibility for him: It s very simple, I m not American-born. But these Americans weren t ready to take no for an answer. One of them quickly countered, Ted Cruz can do it. Trudeau reminded them that Cruz was born as an American because although Cruz was born in Canada, his mother was an American citizen.Then Trudeau s admirers began to get desperate. One of the men said, All our guys are so bad, you ve gotta believe us. We ve met em all they re so terrible. Please. His companion added, They re boring, weird. We have to settle for them. Please. Trudeau stood firm and said, You know what, I have tremendous confidence in the American people. Then, both men literally dropped down to their knees and pleaded with Trudeau: We ll do anything. We re begging you. We re literally begging you. Trudeau simply responded, I don t know if you noticed, but I actually have a job, and it s a pretty good one. He then patted one of the kneeling men on the back and continued on his way.This just happened to @JustinTrudeau in a NYC cafe: @cnn @ABC @HuffingtonPost @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/BuceWMnGge Stephen Ward (@_stephenward) March 17, 2016Here s another view:Justin Trudeau dans un resto de Manhattan. Ces 2 Am ricains le supplient de se lancer dans la course pr sidentielle! pic.twitter.com/QgrrEdVaIj Marie-Jo lle Parent (@mariejoelle) March 17, 2016CBC News believe it s possible that the two men in the clips are actually pranksters that have shown up at other U.S. presidential campaign events (putting the statement We ve met em all into context). The duo resembles the two men who wore Nazi-like armbands to a Trump event (with a pro-Trump logo instead), a man who interrupted a Marco Rubio rally to accuse the Florida senator of stealing his girlfriend, and a man who sat behind Hillary Clinton with a Settle for Hillary. Whether or not this was a stunt, it very much reflects where America is at right now. Most of us are looking to anyone who could save this country from Donald Trump and judging from the amount of supporters Trump has gathered, we wish we had as much faith in our fellow Americans as Trudeau does. Featured image via video screen capture | 0 |
5,749 | Cleveland police say no shots fired on vehicle near Cleveland convention | CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Police in Cleveland said that no gunshots had been fired on a transport vehicle near the site of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday following a Reuters report of gunshots. “There were no shots fired on any of our police transport vehicles right now near the Quicken Loans Arena,” officials said in a statement released by the Joint Information Center overseeing security at the four-day event. “We called all transport vehicles. They reported all clear.” Earlier, a Reuters reporter standing near a police officer heard radio traffic stating that shots had been fired. Asked about the radio traffic, officers on the street said shots had been fired at a police transport about half a mile (0.8 km) from the arena. | 1 |
5,750 | U.S. securities regulator says 'disappointed' by retirement advice rule | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The sole Republican member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Michael Piwowar, expressed deep skepticism about a retirement advice rule that the Labor Department released on Wednesday, a sign of potential conflict over the long-awaited regulation. “I am disappointed that the rule announced today seems to ignore the chorus of voices that questioned whether it will restrict middle-class families’ and minority communities’ access to professional financial advice by making retirement advice unaffordable,” Piwowar, an SEC commissioner, said in a statement. “I am fearful that those concerns, which were widely and bipartisanly held, will prove to be true once the rule becomes effective.” The SEC, the country’s chief securities regulator has been crafting its own rule on retirement advice for years. Some lawmakers and industry members had said that the Labor Department, which oversees retirement laws, should hold off until that rule was finalized. Under the Labor rule that takes full effect Jan. 1, 2018, brokers would have to follow a fiduciary standard, acting in clients’ best interests when advising about retirement accounts. It aims to end potential conflicts of interest by brokers who advise on individual retirement accounts, and to protect consumers from buying unnecessary investment products. But after a draft was released last year, members of both political parties, along with financial services firms, expressed concern that the rule would drive up costs and put professional advice out of reach for middle and lower-income people. | 1 |
5,751 | U.S. lawmakers probe Fed cyber breaches, cite 'serious concerns' | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee has launched an investigation into the Federal Reserve’s cyber security practices after a Reuters report revealed more than 50 cyber breaches at the U.S. central bank between 2011 and 2015. The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology on Friday sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to express “serious concerns” over the central bank’s ability to protect sensitive financial information. The letter cited the Reuters report, which was based on heavily redacted internal Fed records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The redacted records did not say who hacked the bank’s systems or whether they accessed sensitive information or stole money. “These reports raise serious concerns about the Federal Reserve’s cyber security posture, including its ability to prevent threats from compromising highly sensitive financial information housed on the agency’s systems,” said the letter, signed by House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, and Barry Loudermilk, a Georgia Republican and chairman of the panel’s oversight subcommittee. A Fed spokesperson said the central bank had received the panel’s letter and “will respond to it.” The panel asked the Fed’s national cyber security team - the National Incident Response Team - to turn over all cyber incident reports in unredacted form from Jan. 1, 2009, to the present. It also asked for incident reports from the Fed’s local incident response teams. Global policymakers, regulators and financial institutions have become increasingly concerned about the security of the international banking system after a string of cyber attacks against banks in Bangladesh, Vietnam and elsewhere linked to fraudulent transaction messages sent across the global financial platform SWIFT. The probe into the Fed’s security practices followed a separate inquiry by the same committee into the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s handling of the cyber theft of $81 million from one of its accounts held by the central bank of Bangladesh. The committee said it has jurisdiction over the Fed’s cyber security because the panel is tasked with oversight of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency responsible for developing federal cyber security standards and guidelines, under a 2014 federal information technology law. The panel also requested a “detailed description of all confirmed cyber security incidents” from 2009 to the present, all documents and communications referring or relating to “higher impact cases” handled by the Fed’s NIRT team, all documents and communications with the Fed’s Office of Inspector General related to confirmed cyber incidents, and an organizational chart detailing the Fed’s top cyber security personnel. The committee requested a response to its inquiry by June 17. (Click here to read the letter: tmsnrt.rs/1VBXvSz) The Fed’s computer systems hold confidential information on discussions about monetary policy that drives financial markets. The central bank’s staff suspected hackers or spies were behind many of the breaches, the records obtained by Reuters show. The Fed had declined to comment on the records, which represent only a slice of all cyber attacks on the central bank because they include only cases involving the Washington-based Board of Governors, a federal agency that is subject to public records laws. (For a graphic on the Fed security breaches, see: tmsnrt.rs/1TxSu8R) | 1 |
5,752 | TRUMP RESPONSE TO LEFTIST THREATS: “Get Off My Lawn” | It s actually quite refreshing to see someone on the right who is unafraid to take off the gloves. His message to those who support amnesty is pretty clear and he s not backing down to political pressure from the left. Firing back at Univision for its refusal to air his Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, the outspoken mogul and GOP presidential candidate has barred anyone who works for Univision from the greens of his Miami golf course.In a letter Friday to Randy Falco, Trump advised the Univision CEO that under no circumstances is any officer or representative of Univision allowed to use Trump National Doral, Miami its golf courses or any of its facilities. Trump also demanded that Falco, whose company s Miami office is next door to Trump National Doral, immediately stop work and close the gate which is being constructed between our respective properties. Trump gave Falco one week to take care of that matter, or we will close it. The letter was dispatched a day after Univision declared it was canceling its coverage of the Miss USA pageant July 12 on its UniMas network as well as the Miss Universe pageant, which had been scheduled to air on the flagship Univision channel next January, and was severing its business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization, which produces both pageants. The reason: what Univision called insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants recently voiced by Trump, a part owner of Miss Universe.During his presidential campaign kickoff speech last week, Trump had portrayed immigrants from Mexico as bringing drugs, they re bringing crime, they re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people. He also called for building a wall along the southern border of the U.S. The remarks drew condemnation from the Mexican government as biased and absurd, and sparked Univision s announcement.Trump, who has said his criticism was directed against U.S. policymakers, not the Mexican people or its government, stated Thursday that Univision would be defaulting on an ironclad contract if it doesn t air the pageants. He pledged to take legal action against the company.He also accused the New York-based Univision of having ties to Mexico that led the network to submit to pressure from Mexican leaders to punish him for pro-U.S. positions he expresses as a presidential candidate. They don t want me saying that Mexico is killing the United States in trade and killing the United States at the border, Trump had said.In a P.S. to his letter, which was addressed to Univision s Manhattan headquarters, Trump continued on that track. Please congratulate your Mexican Government officials for having made such outstanding trade deals with the United States, he wrote Falco. However, inform them that should I become President, those days are over. We are bringing jobs back to the U.S. Also, a meaningful border will be immediately created, not the laughingstock that currently exists. The letter was signed, Sincerely, Donald J. Trump. When asked for comment on Trump s letter, Univision seemed to be treating it as par for the course.A memo to Univision management on Thursday directed that, as part of the company s decision to cut ties with Miss Universe, employees should not stay at Trump properties while on company business or hold events/activities there. | 0 |
5,753 | interview the asiapacific perspective with broc west | corbett comment
on friday october th fbi director james comey dropped a political bombshell just days out from the presidential selection
many theories have so far been floated about why the fbi director issued this letter just days before a national selection some of them including the idea that comey is struggling against an internal insurrection of agents disgruntled by his earlier decision not to prosecute clinton seem to have a basis in reality others including the idea that comey is an agent of the russians working in collusion with putin and trump to put a kremlin puppet in the white house do not
but what seemingly everyone has missed with regard to the letter is that it was issued just four days after another bombshell piece of information
for the video version of this report please click here
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5,754 | Death toll from Somalia bombings rises to 358 | MOGADISHU (Reuters) - The number killed in twin bombings in the Somali capital Mogadishu last weekend has risen to 358, the government said late on Friday. As well as the confirmed death toll, 228 people were injured in what was the deadliest attack in the country s history, Somalia s news agency quoted the information and internal security ministers as saying. | 1 |
5,755 | HILARIOUS! President Trump BEGS Hillary To Run In 2020 At Press Conference…”PLEASE RUN AGAIN!” [VIDEO] | FOX News reporter John Roberts told President Trump that in an earlier interview, Hillary Clinton said she did not believe that the players taking a knee in the NFL was about disrespecting the flag. Roberts mentioned that Trump fired back in a tweet that he hoped Hillary would run again in 2020. Trump interrupted to say: Oh I hope Hillary runs! Is she going to run? Please, Hillary, run again! Trump responded that her way of agreeing with the players disrespecting our flag is the reason she lost the election, saying, Well, that s why she l the election. I mean honestly, it s that thinking is why she lost the election. Trump said that he believes that Hillary s statement in itself, is very disrespectful to our country. Watch:Will someone please tell Crooked Hillary that America doesn t care about her opinion, and if we did, we would have elected her as our next President. Here s the hilarious tweet from President Trump on Monday morning that John Robert s was referring to: I was recently asked if Crooked Hillary Clinton is going to run in 2020? My answer was, I hope so! I was recently asked if Crooked Hillary Clinton is going to run in 2020? My answer was, "I hope so!" Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2017 | 0 |
5,756 | Trump Team Allegedly Offering Government Appointments To Entertainment Scouts | The Trump team has shown one thing in the last month they are the worst when it comes to draining the swamp. They have packed the cabinet with the biggest, ugliest swamp monsters, whether they be charter school billionaires or Goldman Sachs executives.Just when you thought it couldn t get any slimier, it gets way worse.Apparently, the Trump team is having a hard time finding entertainers for the upcoming inauguration. No one and that means no one wants to be associated with that freak show. Not even jail-bait loving Ted Nugent has signed on to help. So naturally, Trump is desperate, lest his ego suffer a blow.The Trump team is so desperate, that they are actually offering government appointments to those who can find and secure entertainment for the inauguration. According to sources who spoke to The Wrap:Donald Trump s inaugural committee is scrambling to lock in A-list Hollywood performers for the parties celebrating him and having a rough time booking big names, two insiders tell TheWrap. Both said that Trump inaugural committee members have contacted them in recent days offering cash or even a government appointment if they could deliver marquee names.Of course, the team denied this was happening, saying they are instead organizing an exciting and uniting celebration of freedom and democracy while following all rules, regulations and appropriate standards of conduct. Jenn Topper, the spokeswoman for the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan organization focused on transparency and accountability in government, said, Without knowing more specifics about the arrangements, it s difficult to say whether this would violate ethics laws or rules, but it certainly raises questions. Imagine if Hillary Clinton offered government jobs to entertainment scouts. Then again, Hillary Clinton wouldn t have a problem booking big-wigs to attend her inauguration.Donald Trump is already using his newfound power to offer kickbacks to his personal business and to those who help his image. he has no clue what he s getting himself into, but he likes the attention and the ego bolstering (even if it comes at the expense of our democracy).Featured image via Steve Pope/Getty Images | 0 |
5,757 | Most Americans want Obama to nominate Scalia's replacement: Reuters/Ipsos | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A majority of Americans believe it should be up to President Barack Obama to nominate the next U.S. Supreme Court justice, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found on Thursday, with opinion divided along ideological party lines. The death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia last week sparked an intense debate between Republicans and Democrats over whether Obama, a Democrat, should nominate Scalia’s replacement before he leaves office, or whether the seat should be left open until a new president takes office in January. Concerned that any appointee Obama selects would tip the nine-justice court in liberals’ favor, Republicans in the U.S. Congress and on the presidential campaign trail have said the replacement should be chosen by the next president. The White House has said Obama intends to do as the U.S. Constitution requires and “move promptly” to nominate a successor. The nominee must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The poll showed that 54 percent of Americans believed Obama should make the nomination. The support overwhelmingly came from Democrats, with 81 percent of them saying they supported Obama nominating Scalia’s successor. Among Republicans, only 27 percent said they either strongly or somewhat supported Obama making the pick. Democrats and Republican also had different priorities when it comes to picking a Supreme Court nominee, according to the poll. A majority, or 67 percent, of Democrats said they wanted someone pragmatic and willing to compromise, with 53 percent of Republicans saying they wanted someone ideologically pure. Despite its polarizing effect, the Supreme Court issue does not appear to be a priority issue for voters surveyed. More Americans think the executive and legislative branches of government wield greater influence than the judiciary, the poll showed, and fewer than 10 percent thought nominating justices to the high court was a presidential duty most relevant to them. A third of those surveyed said they were not aware of Scalia’s death, which first made headlines on Saturday. The poll of 1,108 adults, including 460 Democrats and 426 Republicans, was conducted Tuesday to Thursday. It had a credibility interval of about 5 percentage points. | 1 |
5,758 | U.S. rebuffs Koch-controlled coal company's bid for royalties | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration has rejected a plea by billionaire investor William Koch to refund as much as $14 million in royalties on a now-shut Colorado mine, according to a letter explaining the decision. The Interior Department last week ruled that Oxbow Mining, a subsidiary of Koch-controlled Oxbow Carbon LLC, is not entitled to a ‘royalty rate reduction’ since the move would do nothing to return the mine to life. Reducing royalty rates has been a tool used by the federal government for decades when maximizing coal production was part of a national energy policy. Oxbow closed its Elk Creek site in western Colorado two years ago after setbacks such as a fire and partial collapse made working the underground mine too costly, according to the company and regulatory paperwork. Oxbow has said it has no plans to reopen the facility, which once employed more than 200 people. Machinery is being sold for scrap and the mine is ready to be sealed, according to regulatory paperwork. “These circumstances indicate that a royalty rate reduction will not expand recovery or promote further development of the leases,” the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management wrote last week in a letter made public on Monday. ‘Royalty rate reduction’ and other such programs meant to promote coal production on public lands are now under scrutiny since President Barack Obama has vowed to curb the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels, which contribute to global warming. William Koch was an heir to the Fred C. Koch family fortune, and two of his brothers, Charles and David, are leading figures in conservative politics. While William Koch is not as politically prominent as his brothers, he has been a significant political donor to conservative causes in the past. A spokesman for Koch and Oxbow did not immediately respond to a call for comment. Rocky Mountain coal has been valued at $35 a ton or more in the last several years, according to a Reuters review of Energy Information Administration data. Because the BLM recommends a royalty rate reduction on 13.1 million tons of coal, the decision positions Oxbow to receive at least a $14 million refund on fuel mined since 2012, according to a Reuters calculation. | 1 |
5,759 | the chronovisor a device used to look into the future and past | cyrus mistry joins aap tata sons shortlists candidates for chairmans post posted on tweet image via intodayin
ousted chairman of tata sons cyrus mistry today joined the aam aadmi party speaking to the media cyrus mistry said the media government regulators or politicians no one is supporting me in fighting against the injustice i have faced kejriwalji is my only hope so i joined the aap
speaking at the occasion aap supremo and delhi cm arvind kejriwal said having worked at tata steel several years ago i have firsthand experience of how the board of directors of tata sons did not allow me to work that is the reason i quit tata steel
just like cyrus mistry i also took up the top job in delhi because there were no other suitable candidate i empathize with cyrus mistry when he says that ratan tata did not allow him to do work in a similar way narendra modi and najeeb jung do not allow me to do work in delhi he added
why should someone be fired for choosing to close loss making uk steel business first take care of indians before subsidizing british citizens ratan tata is a british agent even aap does not fire its leaders so fast he declared
meanwhile our correspondent overheard this discussion between cyrus mistry and rajdeep sardesai
rajdeep sardesai so what i understand mr mistry is that you are concerned about the rising intolerance by the majority against the minorities in india
cyrus mistry no i only said that i am concerned about the rising intolerance of the majority shareholders in tata sons against minority shareholders like me
meanwhile aap leader ashutosh took to twitter to blast tata sons
as per cyrus mistry tata motors nano plant in gujarat is making losses even industrialists in gujarat are losing money is this the gujarat model will modi answer he tweeted
cyrus mistry spoke about risk of impairment in tata steal will ratan tata answer read his second tweet
why was cyrus mistry not given a free hand to run tata suns will the bored answer said his third tweet
a source who did not wish to be identified told our correspondent that tata sons is also planning to fire cyrus mistry from the board of directors and has already found his replacement
after ratan tata asked for a versatile candidate with expertise in several fields and who is not afraid to speak his mind a consultant suggested the name of justice katju but ratan tata was not pleased at the prospect of being called an idiot in a board meeting and so vetoed the proposal instead congress leader ahmed patel will be filling this post
according to our source the tata sons board was very impressed with ahmed patel after he told them that rather than abrupt firing they should have kept planting stories in the media like ratan tata unhappy with cyrus mistrys decision to close down tata steel uk business
this along with his ability to effectively manage a family trust and also manage a professional ceo without letting him drift from the groups ethos and culture earned him a board seat
further according to our source several names came up during the latest board meeting to pick a new chairman ahmed patel suggested the name of dr manmohan singh but ratan tata vetoed it saying he wanted a person who could be a brand ambassador for the tata group
currently there are persons who are frontrunners in the race for chairman one is arvind kejriwal several board members think that he will be a suitable candidate because he can just give speeches visit offices and be a brand ambassador while the actual work could be left to the board
another name doing the round is chetan bhagat given his iit iim qualifications along with his versatile persona of being an author columnist screenwriter television personality and motivational speaker several board members think he is the perfect candidate for the heavily diversified salt to software conglomerate further he is good with numbers an area the tata group is struggling at this point in time | 0 |
5,760 | Trump names China critic Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Robert Lighthizer, an official in the Reagan administration and harsh critic of China’s trade practices, to be his chief trade negotiator, responsible for better deals aimed at reducing U.S. trade deficits. Trump, who promised during his presidential campaign to renegotiate international trade deals like NAFTA and punish companies that ship work overseas, said in announcing his choice that Lighthizer would help “fight for good trade deals that put the American worker first.”Lighthizer is a former deputy U.S. trade representative under former Republican President Ronald Reagan who helped to stem the tide of imports from Japan in the 1980s with threats of quotas and punitive tariffs. His return to the agency follows nearly three decades as a lawyer representing U.S. steelmakers and other companies in anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases. Lighthizer has argued that China has failed to live up to commitments made in 2001 when it joined the World Trade Organization and that tougher tactics are needed to change the system, even if it means deviating from World Trade Organization rules. “Years of passivity and drift among U.S. policymakers have allowed the U.S.-China trade deficit to grow to the point where it is widely recognized as a major threat to our economy,” Lighthizer wrote in 2010 congressional testimony. “Going forward, U.S. policymakers should take these problems more seriously, and should take a much more aggressive approach in dealing with China,” he wrote. Lighthizer is regarded as an experienced tactician with an intimate knowledge of trade tools that were widely used before the WTO was created in 1995, including “Section 301” tariffs used to stem a tide of imports of Japanese steel and vehicles in the 1980s. During his tenure, Reagan struck the 1985 Plaza Accord currency deal with Japan, Germany and other major trading partners that brought down the dollar’s value and encouraged more foreign companies to set up U.S. manufacturing plants. “Bob Lighthizer is very smart, very strategic and totally fearless,” said a Washington attorney who has worked with him for three decades but asked not to be named. “You can expect him to use every tool available to create leverage to get China and anyone else to stop the cheating. He is no fan of the WTO.” Still, Lighthizer is not expected to be the Trump administration’s leading voice on trade policy. Last month, Trump’s team said that task would fall to the U.S. Commerce Secretary nominee, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross.. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has also named Peter Navarro, an economist and adviser who has urged a hard line against China, as the head of a newly formed White House National Trade Council. | 1 |
5,761 | Elizabeth Warren Just Ripped The S.E.C. Apart For Allowing A Criminal Back On Wall Street | Senator Elizabeth Warren is pissed and she is letting the Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) know it in no uncertain terms.Her anger stems from S.E.C. regulators (I use that term loosely) decision to allow billionaire Steve Cohen to form a new hedge fund firm even though he is not supposed to have anything to do with the industry for two years. The Wall Street mogul was punished after he failed to properly supervise one of his employees who is now in federal prison for insider trading. Cohen s firm pleaded guilty to securities fraud and paid a $1.8 billion fine.Cohen managed to escape criminal charges (SHOCKING!) by agreeing to return all of the firm s outside money, renaming it Point72 Capital and signing an agreement vowing not to manage anyone s money or employees who are managing other people s money until 2018.Unfortunately, the agreement did not prevent him from owning a firm that profits off of other people. So, he waited a mere months before forming a new firm, Stamford Harbor Capital, to do just that. This enraged Senator Warren and she sent a letter to the S.E.C. on Thursday morning ripping them apart for allowing Cohen s new firm to register with them. The Senator said that in doing so they are allowing the firm to make a mockery of the S.E.C. s core mission to protect investors : The Commission has permitted a recidivist hedge fund manager, well-known for his former company s willingness to evade and ignore federal law, to once again profit from and potentially exploit investors. This is an unacceptable outcome from the nation s primary enforcer of securities laws the latest example of an S.E.C. action that fails to appropriately punish guilty parties, deter future wrongdoing, and protect investors. It is absolutely infuriating that the S.E.C., who is supposed to be protecting us from predators on Wall Street, has allowed this criminal to open another firm. Make no mistake, just because he wasn t charged doesn t make him any less of a criminal. For far too long hedge-fund managers have been allowed to get away with robbing the rest of us blind. Cohen just spit on the S.E.C. and they are standing by and taking it.So, in other words, it is business as usual on Wall Street. Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 0 |
5,762 | Russia protests to U.S. 'shameful' theft of consulate flags | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia protested to the United States on Wednesday after it said Russian flags were stolen from its consulate in San Francisco, a charge that Washington immediately disputed. Russian staff left the consulate last month after Washington ordered Moscow to vacate some of its diplomatic properties, part of a series of tit-for-tat actions as relations sour between the two countries. U.S. officials have since occupied administrative parts of the compound. Russia said last week they had broken into residential areas and it threatened retaliation over what it called an illegal act. The latest shameful event. In San Francisco (Russian) flags have been stolen from the building of @ConsulRussiaSF, the Russian embassy to the United States said on its Russian-language Twitter account. We demand the American authorities return our state symbols, it said alongside pictures of a bare flagpole on top of the consulate building. The U.S. State Department offered a different account of events. The flags at the former Russian consular properties in San Francisco were respectfully lowered and are safely stored within each of the buildings, a State Department official said in an email. The Russian embassy in Washington was not immediately available for comment. Russian news agencies cited the Russian embassy as saying it had lodged a formal protest over the incident. A strong protest was sent to the American side in relation to Russian flags being torn down at our diplomatic properties in San Francisco, which are under the control of U.S. authorities, Interfax news agency quoted the embassy as saying in a statement. We consider this as an extremely unfriendly step, the embassy said. | 1 |
5,763 | Serbian, U.S. army paratroopers jump together to boost ties | BELGRADE (Reuters) - Paratroopers from Serbia and the United States jumped side-by-side just north of Belgrade on Friday as part of a training tailored to bolster ties between the Balkan country and NATO. The exercise dubbed Winter 2017, may raise eyebrows in Moscow which wants to keep Serbia, a Slavic and Orthodox Christian ally under its umbrella, and is worried over possible NATO expansion in the Balkans. It is also a long way from 1999 when NATO bombed what was then Yugoslavia because of its policies toward Kosovo. Although the European Union is Serbia s single largest trade partner and investor, Russia controls its oil and gas supplies. Moscow has also sought to bolster military ties with Belgrade with the donation of six MiG-29 fighter jets. Serbia is one of the few Balkan countries not in the 28-member NATO which is hugely unpopular there due to its 1999 bombing campaign. Alliance troops are still deployed in Kosovo, Serbia s former southern province, whose 2008 independence has not been accepted by Belgrade, Russia, China and some EU members. But joint exercises take place anyway. After more than 100 paratroopers from Serbian elite brigades and the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade landed on a grassy runway of a small airport near Belgrade, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic dubbed the drill part of confidence-building activities. The other (goal) is the creation of cooperation, partnerships and friendships (in areas that) we were not always able to boast about in the past, Vucic told reporters. In 2006 Serbia, which maintains military neutrality, joined NATO s Partnership for Peace program and in 2015 it signed the Individual Partnership Action Plan - the highest level of cooperation for countries not aspiring to join. Although it strives for a balance between Moscow and the West, rejecting calls from U.S. officials to pick its side, Serbia in 2017 had 13 military drills with NATO or its members, seven with the U.S. and only two with Russia. | 1 |
5,764 | Brazil's Meirelles has hired media team ahead of 2018 election: sources | BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil s Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles has hired social media experts to boost his image ahead of the 2018 election, three sources told Reuters on Wednesday, the strongest sign yet that the former banker is seriously eyeing a run for president. Meirelles hired analysts linked to the Get lio Vargas Foundation (FGV) think tank to study his social media presence on a daily basis and build a communication plan, said one of the sources. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. They have been working for Meirelles for more than three months, two of the sources said. The Finance Ministry s press office declined comment on Meirelles behalf. The finance minister s potential candidacy adds to political uncertainty ahead of a presidential election marked by a strong anti-establishment climate and a lack of clear favorites. Meirelles, praised by investors for leading a market-friendly agenda of economic reforms, would have to leave his post by April, six months before the election, and could face a wide field of competitive candidates in a first-round vote. One of the analysts hired by Meirelles works alongside the ministry s official communication team in Brasilia, although the FGV team has not received any public funds for supporting his potential candidacy, two of the sources said. The team includes Thomas Traumann, a former spokesman for impeached President Dilma Rousseff, according one of the sources and another person familiar with the matter. Traumann confirmed to Reuters that he had consulted for Meirelles under private contract since 2015, but he did not work for the Finance Ministry. He declined to comment on potential preparations for next year s presidential race. The Finance Ministry said FGV has offered consultancy on social media to the ministry as part of a 40-year-long initiative of institutional support, without any connection to the 2018 campaign. A ministry spokeswoman, who asked not to be named in accordance with ministry policy, said it had no relationship with Traumann. FGV said it had not signed a contract with the Finance Ministry or Meirelles. Reuters reported late in August, citing a source close to Meirelles, that Meirelles wanted to run for president but knew he would have a strong chance only if the economy improved substantially after two years of recession. Congressmen from his Social Democratic Party (PSD) last month heard from Meirelles that he felt honored to have his name floated as a potential candidate. Other potential candidates from within President Michel Temer s fragmented coalition include the governor of Sao Paulo state, Geraldo Alckmin, and Sao Paulo Mayor Joao Doria. Meirelles opened a Twitter account in June to publicize his actions as minister and has recently left the door open for a potential candidacy, saying he would take a decision on the race by April. About 2 percent of voters have declared their intention to vote for him, according to a recent Datafolha poll. A civil engineer by training, Meirelles is the former president of BankBoston, which was eventually acquired by Bank of America Corp, and a former president of Brazil s central bank. | 1 |
5,765 | Trump’s Words To Megyn Kelly In 2011 Just Came Back To Haunt Him, Big Time (VIDEO) | Donad Trump s words to Megan Kelly in a 2011 interview about the Republican debates are coming back to haunt him big time today, and reveal the real reason he s backing out. He s scared of her.Trump was railing at the quality of debate moderators at the time, stating that they were unaware of the big issues and failing to grill candidates sufficiently. Kelly asked: Do you really think you re a better moderator than I am? To which Trump responded: No, I could never beat you. That wouldn t even be close. That would be no contest. You have done a great job, by the way, and I mean it. Flash forward a few years, and when Kelly applied that no-nonsense moderation to Trump himself, he didn t feel quite so complimentary. In fact, he fully freaked out.First he began hate-tweeting her.Then he claimed she must have been on her period, on national television, in a bid to undermine her.And after refusing to end his relentless vendetta against her, now he is set to boycott Fox s Republican debate on Thursday night. He is literally unable to face Kelly. While happy to rail against her in the media, and launch playground bully-style hate-tweets at her on social media when it comes to going up against her face to face, he s bailing.If Trump cannot face a few tough questions from Megan Kelly, how on earth would he handle tough talks with Putin, or Iran, or China or even Congress? The trust fund tycoon has lived the sort of pampered life where his cash normally protects him from dealing with those who hurt his ego or un-nerve him. As President of the United States, a far tougher skin and sureness of character is required neither of which Donald Trump possesses.Featured Image via Screengrab | 0 |
5,766 | China will stick to supply side structural reform, overcapacity reduction efforts | BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping said China will stick to supply side structural reform and maintain overcapacity reduction and deleveraging efforts. Xi made the comments in a speech at the beginning of a Communist Party congress. | 1 |
5,767 | Ted Cruz Doesn’t Want Transgender People To Pee Unless They’re At Home (VIDEO) | Ted Cruz is trying to differentiate himself from Republican front runner Donald Trump by any means possible. Recently, Trump shocked everyone by calling controversial anti-trans bathroom bills discriminatory and stating that transgender individuals should be allowed to use whatever bathroom they feel corresponds to their identity. Meanwhile, Cruz has decided to go the complete opposite way as his rival, ramping up the bigotry. His latest comments are transphobia at its worst.While in Indiana last weekend, Cruz was filmed talking about his bathroom policies, making it perfectly clear that he is on board with divisive anti-trans bathroom legislation. Despite that fact that no trans person has ever attacked anyone in a bathroom, Cruz insisted that the only bathrooms trans people should be able to use are the ones in their own homes. The Texas senator told reporters: Every one of us has the right to live our lives as we wish. Then, Cruz s lack of intelligence resulted in an epic contradiction. If any one of us wants to dress up as a woman or man and wants to live as woman or man and believes that we might be something other than what we were born, God has made each of us with free will and the ability to choose to do that if man to wants to dress as a woman, and live as a woman, and have a bathroom at home. A reporter clarified with the presidential hopeful, So, then they shouldn t use the bathroom out in public? Yes, exactly. Cruz drove his bigoted point home: You don t have a right to intrude upon the rights of others because whether or not a man believes he s a woman, there are a lot of women who would like to be able to use a public restroom in peace without having a man there and when there are children involved, you don t have a right to impose your lifestyle on others. Here s the video, courtesy of the American Bridge:Cruz has definitely amped up his anti-trans rhetoric over the last few days. The GOPer recently released an ad about transgender people using public restrooms with the message it s not appropriate, it s not safe and has also made anti-trans jokes insulting Donald Trump. In the same weekend that this awful video was taken, Cruz called transgender protections political correctness on steroids. Cruz has also voiced his support for North Carolina s bathroom laws, which prevent transgender people from using the restroom they re most comfortable with.If you care anything for the LGBT community and their right to freedom, Ted Cruz is definitely making himself out to be one of the community s biggest threats.Featured image via Joe Raedle / Getty Images | 0 |
5,768 | Desperate For Members, White Supremacists Beg Rally Goers To Make It ‘Sexy’ – No Joke | By now, everyone is aware of how Donald Trump s openly white supremacist campaign and subsequent presidency has mainstreamed the most extreme of the fringe right-wing. Despite this fact, though, these people are hardly popular. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that as these freaks are holding what is sure to be one of their biggest rallies in a really long time likely more than ten years , they are desperate to make sure it s a hit. How are they planning to do this? By making it, quote, sexy. In bigoted alt-right language, though, that simply means, no fat people allowed. One of the organizers of the white supremacist Unite the Right rally that is to take place in Charlottesville, Virginia, Andrew Anglin, is the piece of sh*t who runs the white supremacist internet hole The Daily Stormer. He said, via a blog post, that he expects his fellow neo-Nazis to be sexy, and that they have to go to the gym. Anglin goes on to sternly warn against baggy clothes and other typical fat attire: The worst look ever is a baggy T-shirt. Wear fitted T-shirts, where the sleeve goes to the middle of your bicep. It should not hang lower than base of your member. Anglin then models an outfit in some sort of store mirror, with the following description of how his members should present themselves: Jean [sic] should also be fitted. Not tight, just fitted. In the photo those are actually shorts I would not wear pants that loose-fitting. And that s another thing: don t ever wear shorts. Serious men in serious situations are not wearing shorts.Americans have an obsession with this baggy stuff, and it always looks bad. No matter what, it looks bad. Even if everyone else is doing it. And in case his readers didn t get it the first couple of times, Anglin then goes all in, saying:Fat people should be allowed to join groups and be involved in rallies, but we need to create a culture where we don t necessarily shame people, but do look at them and expect them to get it together. We should help people get it together. I m working on my biggest diet guide ever, which I think will help the overweight and skinny alike, even if they ve minimal time for exercise.Continued obesity should not be tolerated.Surely, a lot of our target demographic is going to be out of shape, which is why we need a culture of fitness. People should go to the gym together. Help each other with diet.Do not look scraggly. I won t tell you how to cut your hair, but I do believe men s hair looks better short, and beards look better well-trimmed.On top of this, Anglin reveals himself to be extremely misogynistic, and insists that women be shunted to the side. He also says that he, himself, has, quote, problems with women. He does want to be appealing to the fairer sex, though, and wants his rank and file white supremacists to be the same:Look good.It is very important to look good.We must have Chad Nationalism. That is what will make guys want to join us, that is what will make girls want to be our groupies. That will make us look like bad boys and heroes. That is what we are going for here.I cannot stress the point hard enough I m hitting italics again we need to be extremely conscious of what we look like, and how we present ourselves. That matters more than our ideas. If that is sad to you, I m sorry, but that is just human nature. If people see a bunch of mismatched overweight slobs, they are not going to care what they are saying. Of course, Anglin and his disgusting cohorts will use the promise of hot women as a way to drag people into their despicable ideology.This is all an obvious and explicit message of , no fatties allowed, you make us look bad. Then again, it makes sense. People like Anglin and another prominent alt-right leader, Richard Spencer, are trying to rebrand the extreme, bigoted right. they cannot do that if they associate themselves with uneducated, fat, toothless, trailer park dwellers who most people think of when they think of the racist right.It doesn t make it right, and all of what they are doing and what they are about is as wrong as it comes. However, it seems that for a so-called movement that is still very unpopular and disgraceful even in many GOP circles, they d be trying to get all the numbers they can, no matter what the people attending look like.Then again, these people are white supremacists, and there is nothing rational about them or anything they do.Featured image via Facebook | 0 |
5,769 | COL RALPH PETERS Rips Into Obama On “Fantasy World” Mishandling Of ISIS And The War On Terror [Video] | This is a great take on the foreign policy of the Obama administration! | 0 |
5,770 | Trump's Fed nominee has history of benefiting from bailouts | (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s pick to lead bank supervision at the Federal Reserve benefited from the government bailing out or rescuing two banks during the 2008 financial crisis, but that may not prevent his confirmation by a U.S. Senate controlled by a business-friendly Republican party, policy analysts told Reuters in recent days. Randal Quarles, a former Wall Street lawyer and U.S. Treasury official who now runs an investment firm, was part of a team that invested in troubled or failed banks while he was an executive at private-equity firm Carlyle Group LP (CG.O). Those investments earned hundreds of millions of dollars for Carlyle, profits that would not have been possible without government support. A spokesman for Quarles did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Carlyle declined to comment. Democrats including Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown have said they intend to scrutinize Quarles’ ties to Wall Street during his confirmation hearing. Senator Elizabeth Warren described him as “straight off the Wall Street assembly line” in announcing her opposition in a statement. But both the White House and Congress are controlled by Republicans, who have the ability to approve Trump’s nominees with a simple majority after Senate rules were changed in 2013. Under previous rules, the party in power would have needed at least 60 votes. Quarles is viewed by many policy analysts as a business-friendly pick who benefits from having experience in the federal government and his business ties are unlikely to be viewed by senior senators his Wall Street ties as a handicap. “Profiting in the markets isn’t a scarlet letter in this Congress,” said Isaac Boltansky, director of policy research at Compass Point Trading & Research LLC, in Washington. Before launching The Cynosure Group in 2014, Quarles was a partner and managing director at Carlyle. While there, he played a key role in making a $75 million investment in Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc (BPFH.O), and was also part of a group that decided to jointly acquire failed lender BankUnited Inc (BKU.N) from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), alongside private equity peers Blackstone Group LP (BX.N), Centerbridge Partners LP and WL Ross & Co, as well as banker John Kanas. Months after Carlyle’s equity infusion, Boston Private received a $150 million bailout from the Treasury Department, which it later repaid. Those taxpayer funds helped the firm weather the financial crisis, and allowed Carlyle to sell off its stake over time for a total of $150 million, effectively doubling its money, according to a Reuters review of share sales the firm disclosed in regulatory filings. The FDIC had absorbed BankUnited’s losses at an estimated cost of $4.9 billion before selling healthier assets to the private equity consortium for $945 million. BankUnited later went public, with Carlyle selling shares worth around $428 million in portions through 2014, according to Reuters’ analysis of its disclosures. The tallies do not account for dividends or other undisclosed costs. Carlyle would not provide precise numbers for returns on those investments. Involvement with taxpayer bailouts helped sink the earlier nomination of General Electric Co (GE.N) executive David Nason for the Federal Reserve supervisory position. Nason withdrew from vetting after Republicans criticized him for having structured the bailout program inside the Treasury Department during the Bush administration. But Wilbur Ross, whose WL Ross & Co was part of the consortium that invested in BankUnited alongside Carlyle, successfully became U.S. Commerce Secretary. Quarles’ history on Wall Street may be a talking point during his confirmation hearings, but it is unlikely to bring down his nomination, lobbyists and financial regulatory lawyers said. “At the end of the day, it’s really a ‘nothingburger,’” said Bob Kurucza, a partner in Goodwin Procter’s financial industry and investment management practice. | 1 |
5,771 | Russia says Trump's 'aggressive' stance on Iran doomed to fail | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump chose not to certify a deal on Iran s nuclear program that there was no place in international diplomacy for aggressive rhetoric, and such methods were doomed to fail. Trump s announcement once again underlines the inadmissibility of using aggressive and threatening rhetoric in international relations, Russia s foreign ministry said in a statement It is a hangover from the past, which does not correspond to modern norms of civilized dealings between countries, the statement said. We viewed with regret the decision of the U.S. President not to confirm to Congress that Iran is fulfilling in good faith the nuclear deal, the statement said. We expect that this step will not have a direct effect on the progress of implementation of the agreements, although, clearly, it does not correspond to the spirit and letter, of the nuclear deal. Iran was strictly abiding by the terms of the deal, and the agreement was already making a contribution to making the world safer, it added. In any event, regardless of the decisions of individual parties to the agreement, it is not possible to return to a situation which previously existed around the Iranian nuclear program, the statement said. In particular, there can be no talk of a renewal of sanctions via the U.N. Security Council. Russia remains committed to ... (the Iran nuclear deal), wants it to be preserved and will continue to fulfill all its obligations under the deal. We call on all the other participants to do the same, the ministry said. | 1 |
5,772 | China urges North Korea to stop persisting on a dangerous course | BEIJING (Reuters) - China s Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged North Korea to stop persisting on a dangerous course and called on the United States to stick to promises of non-aggression towards Pyongyang, according to a statement release by the ministry on Friday. No matter the changes in circumstance, no matter how long it takes, not matter the difficulties we face, China will always persist in the goal of denuclearizing the peninsula, in moving towards talks, Wang said, speaking at the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday. | 1 |
5,773 | Sounds detected not from missing Argentine submarine: navy spokesman | BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Sounds detected by probes searching for a missing Argentine submarine in the South Atlantic on Monday did not come from the vessel, navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told reporters. The finding dashed hopes that the search and rescue operation was zeroing in on the ARA San Juan, which was carrying 44 crew and gave its last signal five days ago after earlier reporting an electric malfunction. | 1 |
5,774 | FATHER HOSPITALIZED After Telling SHARIA PATROL To Stop Threatening Wife And Daughter For Violating Dress Code | The EU has opened the floodgates to Muslims from the Middle East and Africa who have no interest in assimilating. Did anyone really believe they would be able to maintain their history and their culture? Remember when people dreamed about going on a European vacation?Austrians fear parts of Vienna are becoming no-go areas after a father was attacked by a Sharia patrol when he told them to stop threatening his wife and daughter for not being correctly dressed.As various factions of migrants stake claims to territory in the city, it has been reported that the self-styled Sharia patrols have been visiting clubs and bars in the Millennium City area to make sure Chechen women were properly dressed and acting appropriately.However, when one Austrian man tried to step in to stop the patrol from hassling his Chechen wife and daughter, he ended up being hospitalised.It came as violence escalated across Vienna at the weekend, with more than 50 young men from the Afghan and Chechen communities clashing in the city centre.The gang had attacked each other with planks of wood, iron bars and knives. Two of those injured are in intensive care and their condition is described as critical.Police say that the row which involved around 40 people from Afghanistan attacking 10 from Chechnya had centred around a social media row on Facebook.Six of the alleged asylum seekers from Afghanistan have been arrested. The rest have escaped.Local couple Thomas and Manuela Sonntagfruh, standing on the bloodstained ground after the carnage at the weekend, said: It is quite common that young people might argue, but something like this just isn t normal. The latest incident follows on from mass punch-ups not only in other parts of Vienna, but also in the cities of Linz, Graz, Sankt Polten and in Salzburg. Via: Daily Mail | 0 |
5,775 | Bombs kill at least 17 people in Somali capital Mogadishu | MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Two car bombs killed at least 17 people in Somalia s capital Mogadishu on Saturday, police said, two weeks after a huge truck bomb killed hundreds of civilians in the city. Islamist group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attacks on Saturday. A suicide car bomb was rammed into a hotel, Nasahablod Two, about 600 meters from the presidential palace, and then armed militants stormed the building, police said. A few minutes later, a car bomb exploded near the former parliament house nearby. Ali Nur, a police officer, told Reuters 17 people, mostly policemen, had died in the blasts. Security forces have entered a small portion of the hotel building ... the exchange of gunfire is hellish, he said. The police personnel who died had been stationed close to hotel s gate. The dead also included a former lawmaker, he said. Fighting continued to rage inside the hotel after the blast and police said the death toll was likely to rise. Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Amin ambulances, told Reuters the emergency service had carried 17 people injured from the hotel bombing. A huge cloud of smoke rose over the scene and a Reuters witness saw over a dozen wrecked cars and bloodstains in front of the hotel. Sporadic gunfire could be heard. Islamist group al Shabaab, responsible for scores of such attacks in the country s long civil war, said it carried out Saturday s bombings. We targeted ministers and security officials who were inside the hotel. We are fighting inside, Abdiasis Abu Musab, the group s military operations spokesman, told Reuters. He said the hotel belonged to Somalia s internal security minister, Mohamed Abukar Islow. Al Shabaab is fighting to topple Somalia s internationally-backed government and impose its strict interpretation of Islam s sharia law. Bombs in Mogadishu two weeks ago killed at least 358 people, the worst such attacks in the country s history, igniting nationwide outrage. Another 56 people are still missing, believed to have been burnt without a trace. Al Shabaab was widely suspected, but has not claimed responsibility after thousands of Somalis poured onto the streets to protest. Al Shabaab s attacks are growing in frequency and size, as a 22,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force prepares to begin withdrawing. In 2016, 723 people died in 395 bomb attacks in Somalia, according to a report produced earlier this year by Nairobi-based think tank Sahan Research. | 1 |
5,776 | Czech election winner Babis meets anti-EU party in hunt for viable government | PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech billionaire Andrej Babis s ANO party met an anti-European Union, anti-immigration group on Thursday in search of a coalition partner as it struggles to convert a huge election win into a majority government. ANO won three times the votes of its nearest rival in last weekend s election that saw a popular swing from mainstream traditional parties towards outsiders, echoing a recent shift in Europe in favor of anti-establishment groups. But with Babis facing potential fraud charges, which he denies, most parties have ruled out any tie-up with ANO although it won over many voters with pledges to run the state like a business and weed out political corruption. The post-election limbo raises the risk that the 2018 state budget might not be approved within the deadline of year-end and kept open the possibility that ANO could opt for minority rule supported by far-left and far-right factions. On Thursday, ANO met the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, which won 22 seats to ANO s 78. ANO has so far ruled out a block with the SPD but the two have found common ground on curbing immigration, a referendum law and welfare reform. ANO deputy chief Jaroslav Faltynek declined to say whether it would seek SPD support in a coalition or for a minority government. We have not spoken with the SPD about a government today. We issued a clear stance, even before the election, that we would not form a government either with SPD or KSCM (Communists), he told reporters. Police are looking into whether Babis hid ownership of a convention centre that received a 2 million-euro EU subsidy in 2008 though it was intended for small businesses. He says the investigation was part of efforts to push him from politics. Babis has called single-party government unrealistic and says he aims to have a coalition by Christmas. He has been talking to the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats, ANO s partners in the outgoing government, the SPD, Communists, conservative Civic Democrats and the liberal Pirates. Turning to the SPD could raise eyebrows in Brussels as the party has demanded a referendum on membership in the EU, a risky move in the eurosceptic-leaning country of 10.6 million people. | 1 |
5,777 | Pictures of the Year: A picture and its story | (Reuters) - Reuters photographers witnessed the biggest stories of 2017 from Donald Trump s first year as U.S. president to the flight of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, from Venezuela s crisis to the fall of Islamic State and a tower block inferno in London. This feature presents some of their strongest images. It also gives the photographers a chance to tell the stories behind their pictures and explain in their own words how the images were taken. They talk about trekking through the night in South Sudan and flying over the Pacific Ocean to photograph a total eclipse. They talk about watching drowning migrants being rescued in the Mediterranean and finding the best vantage point to capture Air Force One as it takes off from Las Vegas in the wake of the worst gun massacre in recent U.S. history. Through it all, the photographers raise a question that shows how close they were to the action: in moments of crisis, should they take pictures or try to help? It is always hard to come to the realization that I am most helpful when I am taking pictures, said photographer Jonathan Bachman on his image of residents wading through flood waters from Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston. As an observer of suffering you have to believe that your images can make a difference. Not all of the images are serious, of course. Some are quirky and fun and the boy who was enjoying mowing the White House lawn so much that he ignored Trump is just one example. | 1 |
5,778 | Egypt wants outside experts to help settle Nile dispute | ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Egypt said on Tuesday it had suggested to Ethiopia and Sudan that they all call in international experts to help settle a dispute on an Ethiopian dam project on the river Nile. Egypt fears the hydroelectric scheme will restrict the waters flowing down from Ethiopia s highlands, through the deserts of Sudan to its fields and reservoirs. Ethiopia, which wants to become Africa s biggest power exporter, says it will have no such impact. Ministers from Ethiopia and Egypt met on Tuesday to try to resolve a disagreement over the wording of a report on the environmental impact of the $4-billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is still being built. But Egypt s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said they had not managed to reach a breakthrough since the three nations last met in November. From a practical perspective, we have to recognize that technical deliberations ... have not (yielded) sufficient results to enable the process to move forward, Shoukry told journalists after the meeting in Addis Ababa. He suggested the countries call in outside experts, without going into details. Officials who took part in the sessions said Egypt had suggested involving an international body such as the World Bank. Ethiopia s foreign minister, Workneh Gebeyehu, told the same press conference he was looking for a win-win situation, but did not comment on the Egyptian proposal. Countries that share the river have argued over the use of its waters for decades - and analysts have repeatedly warned that the disputes could eventually boil over into conflict. Sudan and Ethiopia say Egypt has refused to accept amendments that they had put forward to the environmental report. Another source of disagreement is whether Ethiopia should be allowed to complete construction of the dam before the negotiations over ensuring water flows have finished. Egyptian officials say this would violate an agreement signed by all three countries in 2015 meant to ensure diplomatic cooperation. | 1 |
5,779 | Why Sheriffs Are Calling Obama’s Release Of Over 6,000 Federal Prisoners “Biggest Sham” | If there s one thing we do know to be true about Barack Hussein Obama, the safety of the American people is not one of his priorities If [the Obama administration is] not capable of making honest and prudent decisions in securing our borders, how can we trust them to make the right decision on the release of prisoners who may return to a life of crime? Local sheriffs across America are voicing concern for the safety of the citizens they ve sworn to protect after the biggest one-time release of federal inmates in U.S. history though advocates of criminal justice reform maintain the release is being handled responsibly.The 6,112 inmates were released from federal prison at the beginning of November in response to a decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission to reduce sentences for most drug trafficking offenses and apply them retroactively. It coincides with a broader and bipartisan push for rethinking federal sentencing.But the mass release raises immediate practical questions about how the ex-inmates can adjust. There s no transition here, there s no safety net. This is the biggest sham they are trying to sell the American people, Sheriff Paul Babeu of Arizona s Pinal County told FoxNews.com. On average these criminals have been in federal prison for nine years you don t have to be a sheriff to realize that a felon after nine years in jail isn t going to be adding value to the community. A third are illegals and felons so they can t work. What do we think they are going to do? said Babeu, also a congressional candidate.The government is in fact trying to guide the transition for many. The Justice Department says 77 percent of exiting inmates are already in half-way houses or home confinement.But local law enforcement officers have deep reservations, as the initiative ramps up quickly.The November inmates are the first of approximately 46,000 who may have their cases reviewed. Of those released in the first round, the Department of Justice says 1,764 were to be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation proceedings.Sheriffs on the border front-lines were skeptical of the deportation claim. The promise is they re going to be turned over to ICE and deported. Anyone who thinks there s any likelihood of them leaving the U.S. think again, Babeu said, before saying the president should be held responsible for any crimes committed by those released.Other sheriffs also challenged the claim that those being released are not a risk to communities. If [the Obama administration is] not capable of making honest and prudent decisions in securing our borders, how can we trust them to make the right decision on the release of prisoners who may return to a life of crime? Sheriff Harold Eavenson of Rockwall County, Texas, told FoxNews.com. I d be amazed if the 6,000 being released are non-violent. Sheriff Harold Eavenson While the average number of inmates being released to any one state is 80, Texas is slated to receive 597 inmates.The inmates in question had been incarcerated on drug offenses, but the severity of the cases ranged broadly. An Associated Press review last month found while many were low-level drug dealers, some had prior convictions for robbery or were involved in moving serious drugs like cocaine and heroin. WGME in Maine also reported that the group includes a former drug kingpin previously listed as one of America s Most Wanted, after his 20-year sentence was reduced. For them to tell me or tell citizens that they re going to do a good job and these inmates are non-violent, when in many instances drug crimes, drug purchasing, drug trafficking are related to other, violent crimes I d be amazed if the 6,000 being released are non-violent, Eavenson said.A Justice Department official told reporters at an October briefing that the DOJ was conscious of public safety when granting each inmate early release, adding that every prisoner who applied under these new guidelines underwent a public safety assessment. The DOJ says that the reductions were not automatic, and that as of October, judges denied approximately 26 percent of total petitions. Via: FOX News | 0 |
5,780 | when cia and nsa workers blow the whistle congress plays deaf | a vote for hillary is a vote for world war do you stand with her nuclear holocaust paul joseph watson october comments
do you stand with her nuclear holocaust
hillary clinton has vowed to use military assets against russia if moscow is merely suspected of having engaged in a cyber attack
hillary clinton has already proven that she is a sociopathic warmonger her bloodthirsty zeal to overthrow gaddafi in libya directly led to the rise of isis the international migrant crisis and a wrecked continent
if she is elected hillary will push for arming jihadist rebels in syria with even more sophisticated weaponry and a no fly zone over the country an effective declaration of war on the syrian government and its ally russia
a vote for hillary clinton is a vote for world war three jill stein if hillary gets elected were going to war with russia a nuclear armed power pictwittercommpjvswy
paul joseph watson prisonplanet october
hillary clinton is george w bush thats why she is supported by a plethora of never trump neocons who are salivating over the prospect of getting back into power and launching new wars of aggression
except this time the enemy wont be saddam hussein gaddafi or any other third world nation with a flimsy virtually nonexistent army
the enemy will be russia a country with a million man army and a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons
it is important to not fall prey to normalcy bias just because there hasnt been a major conflict in most our our lifetimes doesnt mean it cant happen the history of humanity is the history of warfare
a vote for hillary is a vote for world war
make this message go viral by sharing this video because nuclear war is progressive httpstcobwybmzbkrn pictwittercomugrig
paul joseph watson prisonplanet october
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5,781 | Trump Administration Surrenders; Staffers Are Already Passing Around Their Resumes (Details) | The last two weeks of Donald Trump s presidency have been riddled with bombshell after bombshell over his Russia scandal, and it s definitely taking a toll on his administration. Apparently, things in the White House have gotten so grim that staffers are looking forward to the end and have already started to send out their resumes.The Washington Post reported that ever since Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, the mood in the White House has been worse than ever. The staffers have felt paralyzed and senior officials have been moping around with funeral looks on their faces. While Trump s staffers feel absolutely helpless as their boss continues to become more erratic and create more PR nightmares, the POTUS has only become more furious and frustrated at his staff for not being able to keep up.The Post wrote:Some White House staffers have turned to impeachment gallows humor. Other mid-level aides have started reaching out to consultants, shopping their resumes. And at least one senior staffer has begun privately talking to friends about what a post-White House job would look like, according to two people close the staffer.Another report by TIME magazine said something similar, stating that West Wing aides have started shopping r sum s to think tanks, super PACs and corporate communications firms. And when you think of what these staffers have had to deal with, it s no wonder. According to one mid-level aide, staffers are exhausted and have no hope that conditions under Trump s chaotic leadership will improve: Just when you think the pace is unsustainable, it accelerates. The moment it gets quiet is when the next crisis happens. This news also comes on the heels of rumors that Trump is considering a major staff turnover in the near future which may include senior aides like chief of staff Reince Priebus, press secretary Sean Spicer and communications director Mike Dubke. Clearly, the chaos is far from over.Featured image via Pool / Getty Images | 0 |
5,782 | EU drugs agency, seeking staff, warns of Brexit budget hit | LONDON (Reuters) - Europe s drugs regulator has issued a 31.8 million-pound ($42 million) tender for temporary workers and warned it could face a major budget hit as it struggles with the fallout of Brexit, which will uproot it from London. Based in London s Canary Wharf since 1995, with a staff of around 890, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) acts as a one-stop-shop for approving and monitoring the safety of drugs across Europe. The agency has been applauded by drug companies and patient groups for streamlining Europe s drug approval process but its ability to operate smoothly is now being challenged by the enforced move to a new location from March 2019. EMA is anticipating staff losses which will not only challenge the agency s operability but could also result in a major deficit in its budget, the organization said in a statement on Friday, after a meeting of its management board. If operations are delayed or have to stop there could be a dramatic drop in fee income from companies that pay to have their products reviewed, which could be exacerbated by the cost of replacing staff, many of whom are expected to quit rather than leave London. Such shortfall would need to be made up from the (European) Union budget, the EMA said. Executive Director Guido Rasi told Reuters in an interview earlier this week that crucial work, from approving new drugs to running safety checks, would be put at risk if politicians picked an unsuitable new location. Preparing for the fallout of the move and the impact of Britain leaving the European Union is already creating extra work for the EMA and forcing it to cut back on some non-critical activities. Although the EMA regularly employs temporary workers, the scale of the new staffing tender is unusually large. The tender documents call for bi-lingual and multi-lingual staff with administrative, scientific, regulatory and legal expertise to work in the EMA's current London office. (tinyurl.com/yc29jj7b) The agency must be based in an EU country and political leaders are set to decide in a vote on Nov. 20 on a new location among 19 cities vying to host the organization. A staff survey last week found that between 19 and 94 percent of employees were likely to leave after the move, depending on which location was chosen. Picking Amsterdam, Barcelona, Vienna, Milan or Copenhagen as the new headquarters would be the best option for retaining staff, the survey found. | 1 |
5,783 | AUTHOR OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS BRAGS ABOUT GIVING $1 MILLION To Baby Body Parts Harvester | Because ripping babies from the womb and then carefully separating their body parts so as to procure top dollar from their vendors is very nobel indeed Just don t expect my children to ever read a book that was written by you, illustrated by your wife, or to watch a movie that is affiliated with one of your books. The children s author known as Lemony Snicket says he s donating $1 million to Planned Parenthood.Daniel Handler made the announcement this week on his Twitter feed, (at)DanielHandler. He notes the donation to the women s health care provider is on behalf of him and his wife, illustrator Lisa Brown. He says they ve been very fortunate and good fortune should be shared with noble causes. @DanielHandler @lisabrowndraws @PPFA Killing babies and selling their body parts for profit How very noble! @thesamsorboshow @Pray_4_Life 100% FED UP! (@100PercFEDUP) October 2, 2015Planned Parenthood defends the practice as the legal donation of tissue to research firms. It says the not-for-profit tissue donation programs support lifesaving scientific research.Handler s Lemony Snicket novels, A Series of Unfortunate Events, have sold millions of copies. Via: The Blaze | 0 |
5,784 | CNN FINALLY Does Its Job, Hammers Trump With His Illegal Donations (VIDEO) | CNN s Alisyn Camerota did something on Wednesday that s almost unheard of from CNN: She called out Donald Trump on his many, many scandals and in particular, the pay and play scandal involving Trump s bribing of Florida s Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi, who, after receiving a donation from Trump, dropped an investigation into Trump University.This isn t an allegation. Trump paid the donation, and he paid an IRS fine of $2,500 for breaking the law. Still, the media generally only talks about the Clinton Foundation or Clinton emails, both of which have amounted to absolutely nothing.Trump s entire narrative, when it comes to Hillary Clinton, is to paint her as crooked Hillary, a moniker that, despite sounding like it comes from a third grade bully who s been held back a few times, is sticking. That nickname is pure projection, though. It s Trump who s crooked and Camerota pointed it out: Congressman, Camerota said, don t you think the American public cares about breaking the law? Well, these are technicalities in many cases, (Rep. Chris Collins R-NY) Collins said, as he pointed out on the recent Bondi one. He was solicited for a donation, he told his clerk to do it. She wrote it out of the wrong checking account. Source: Raw StoryThen, back to crooked Hillary, Collins tried to make the claim that she did it too, which is completely untrue, since while some donors to the Clinton Foundation did ask for meetings, most were told to go through regular channels. With Trump and Bondi, however, it was clear quid pro quo. He gave her money and she dropped the case against him. For that, both parties should be in jail.Camerota pressed on: Let s look back, she said, pointing out that in 1985, Trump was caught exceeding legal campaign donation limits by funneling funds through 18 subsidiary companies, which is technically legal, but is essentially a corporate version of the crime that sent right-wing provocateur Dinesh D Souza to federal prison.Cameron went on to describe actual illegalities that Trump has been fined for. Isn t this the very definition of payola? Camerota asked. Payola is the practice of bribing someone to use their influence to promote your particular interest. How does this differ? Collins kept on with his both sides do it argument until Camerota astutely mentioned the one key difference: what Trump did was illegal. What Clinton did wasn t. Who s the crooked candidate again?Here s the interview:GOP Rep. Chris Collins says Clinton has always been someone with her hand out for donors https://t.co/dH2DDZP72k pic.twitter.com/YuxTgFpbcm CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) September 7, 2016If only we could get the rest of the media, or for what that s worth, the rest of CNN, to do their jobs. If you notice, even the tweet from CNN tried to make Clinton the criminal subject of the interview, not Trump. In other words, don t hold your breath for a better CNN, but Camerota was a breath of fresh air.Featured image via video screen capture. | 0 |
5,785 | Here’s How The Trump Campaign Can Still Win And Why They Probably Won’t | Dubbed the missing white voters, Nate Silver s FiveThirtyEight wrote an in depth analysis of what Donald Trump needs to do in order to win: Register between 5 to 47 million white voters starting now until election day.Here s a scary stat for Democrats: In 2012, President Obama won re-election by almost 5 million votes, but about 47 million eligible white voters without a college degree including 24 million men didn t bother to vote. In 2016, these nonvoters are part of the demographic that is most strongly in favor of Donald Trump.If Trump rouses even a fraction of these notoriously disaffected Americans like this grease-smudged, 61-year-old first-time voter in western Pennsylvania he could surge to victory. There s just one catch: If we re on the cusp of a blue-collar Great Awakening, it s not yet showing up in the registration data.In other words, Trump has all this support from this major demographic that could deliver him to a landslide victory but they aren t registered. These missing white voters are literally the key to Donald Trump s success, and they hold the key to the swing state vote:If Trump were able to activate merely one of every eight of these missing whites to vote for him, he would wipe out Obama s 2012 margins in three states Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania and win both the Electoral College and the popular vote. If he were able to activate one of every five, he could add Virginia, Nevada, Iowa and New Hampshire.So, in order to merely catch up to President Obama, Trump needs to register at least 5 million more people. Considering registration among nonwhite voters (who overwhelmingly favor Hillary Clinton) is up in battleground states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina (compared to white registrants), and Clinton is gaining with white women, Trump has even more to go.If Trump hopes to overtake Obama s numbers in the crucial swing states, he better hurry up.The voting registration deadlines in Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio are on October 11, less than two weeks away. In less than three weeks, Virginia and Nevada will reach their deadlines, October 18.Here are the dates of individual state deadlines.In other words, the Trump campaign has 18 days to register at least 5 million white voters in 5 swing states, which translates to 277,777 voters a day.Considering his horrendous excuse for a ground game, that won t be an easy feat.As of right now, Democrats have the upper hand in Pennsylvania and Virginia, where metropolitan, non-white registrants are trouncing rural whites.FiveThirtyEight finds that Trump s shoddy ground game, mixed with laziness enabled by the RNC, hurt his chances greatly:So what s going on? It could be that Trump is motivating slightly more new voters against him than for him. Or, perhaps more likely, it could be that white working class voters are out there to be activated, but Trump s campaign and the Republican National Committee have waited until too late to build the analytics and ground infrastructure necessary to identify and register them. That s where Clinton and the Democrats have excelled.So with less than three weeks to go until more than half the states end the registration process, the Trump campaign has already hit a wall (no pun intended). Democrats shouldn t get too excited. The chances that a massive voter turnout on election day could propel Trump to the presidency is a possibility. Democrats need to keep up their registration efforts, and launch a Get Out the Vote movement of equal or better proportions.Featured image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images | 0 |
5,786 | Trump offers national security adviser post to Vice Admiral Harward: sources | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration has offered the job of White House national security adviser, vacated by former U.S. intelligence official Michael Flynn, to Vice Admiral Robert Harward, said two U.S. officials familiar with the matter on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if Harward, a former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command who has Navy SEAL combat experience, had accepted the offer, according to sources. A White House spokesperson had no immediate comment. Flynn resigned on Monday after revelations that he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before President Donald Trump took office. Losing his national security adviser so soon after taking office is an embarrassment for the new Republican president, who has made national security a top priority. Harward, a Rhode Island native who went to school in Tehran before the Shah was toppled in 1979, did a tour on the National Security Council under former Republican President George W. Bush, working on counterterrorism. He also has combat experience on SEAL teams and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Harward now works as an executive for defense contractor Lockheed Martin, with responsibility for its business in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East. | 1 |
5,787 | Islamic State calls slain Muslim American soldier an 'apostate' | DUBAI (Reuters) - Islamic State on Sunday condemned as an “apostate” a U.S. Muslim soldier killed in Iraq whose story has re-ignited debate in the 2016 presidential election on the role of Muslims in American life. Dabiq, the militant group’s online magazine, showed a picture of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan’s tombstone in Arlington National Cemetery with a caption, “Beware of Dying as an apostate.” An accompanying article, penned by an unnamed “American convert in the Islamic State,” urged Muslims to resist Western influences and to either migrate to Islamic State-controlled lands or carry out lone attacks. “Reject these calls to disunity and come together. Live the life of Islam, for which you have already left the path of falsehood,” the militant wrote. “You are behind enemy lines, able to strike them where it hurts them most,” the article added. Khan’s death in a bomb attack in Iraq in 2004 re-emerged as an election issue when his father gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday in which he paid homage to his son. Khizr Khan, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani origin and a Muslim, also criticized Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for proposing a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and asked if the candidate had read the U.S. Constitution. Trump rejected the criticism and questioned whether the soldier’s mother was allowed to speak during the couple’s appearance at the podium. Ghazala Khan later said the outspoken billionaire was ignorant of Islam and of sacrifice. Trump has stoked outrage during his unorthodox campaign by supporting racial profiling for Muslim Americans in the wake of a deadly shooting by a U.S.-born Muslim man killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando in June. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, has said the comments and other pointed remarks about American minorities show Trump is unfit to be president. | 1 |
5,788 | MARINE ARRESTED FOR Complaining About Government On Facebook Is Suing Government [VIDEO] | This is some pretty surreal stuff In the four years since the start of Operation Vigilant Eagle, the government has steadily ramped up its campaign to silence dissidents, especially those with military backgrounds.The case of 26-year-old decorated Marine Brandon Raub who was targeted because of his Facebook posts, interrogated by government agents about his views on government corruption, arrested with no warning, labeled mentally ill for subscribing to so-called conspiratorial views about the government, detained against his will in a psych ward for standing by his views, and isolated from his family, friends and attorneys is a prime example of the government s war on veterans.Raub s case exposes the seedy underbelly of a governmental system that is targeting Americans especially military veterans for expressing their discontent over America s rapid transition to a police state. Via: Conservative Post | 0 |
5,789 | WHOA! MSNBC Let Sheila Jackson Lee Do Entire Interview With…A Nosebleed? [Video] | Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee did an entire interview on MSNBC Monday morning with what appeared to be a nosebleed dripping down her lip Why didn t anyone at MSNBC tell her to wipe her nose when she was off camera? Notice at the beginning of the interview, a staffer is off camera trying to tell her about the problem but she shoos the person away MSNBC Anchor Chris Jansing did the entire interview with Lee like this!Sheila Jackson Lee Does Entire MSNBC Interview With A Nosebleed #TRUMP #CyberMonday #MondayMotivaton #FakeNewsTrophy #CFPB #TheStorm #FollowTheWhiteRabbit #TickTock @LowInfoTweeter pic.twitter.com/MACn5ZdLoK John Dee -Deplorable (@GaltsGultch) November 27, 2017Daily Caller reported: Get away, she said when MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing cut to her camera, while motioning for someone to get out of the camera shot.The unidentifiable liquid underneath her nose was immediately visible and stayed there throughout the interview, which lasted just under ten minutes. It s not totally clear what the liquid is, but based on the placement underneath the nose and the dark color, we can only guess that it is a nosebleed.The MSNBC producers apparently didn t think to do Jackson Lee a favor and tell her to wipe her nose while they weren t showing her on screen. The good news is that the supposed nose bleed matched the color of Jackson Lee s red blazer. | 0 |
5,790 | Trump Tries To Shake Polish First Lady’s Hand, She Refuses To Touch Him (VIDEO) | Poland is acting like they don t quite like fascists or something. While some have criticized Andrzej Duda for arranging a cheering crowd (complete with a Confederate flag) to make poor besieged snowflake Donald Trump feel safe enough from criticism that he was willing to visit,it was worth it. It was so worth it.Humiliating Trump is becoming something of a sport among world leaders, whether they are dominating the handshake game, trolling him on Twitter, or even just letting him speak.Shortly into his remarks on Thursday, Trump majorly undersold Hitler and Stalin s invasions of Poland, calling them tough and trouble remarks that baffled literally anyone who has opened a history book and realizes how horrific these events were.To top things off, Trump managed to once again find himself humiliated by a woman a huge blow for the kind of guy who thinks women aren t people.Today s example of how little the rest of the world respects Donald Trump is sponsored by Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda, who apparently decided to follow Melania s numerous examples and refuse to touch his hands.Though Trump was able to shake her husband s hand, the First Lady didn t want his greasy, smallish p*ssy-grabbing hands anywhere near her. As Trump attempts to shake her hand, she walks straight past without even looking at him and warmly greets Melania first. The most beautiful part is Donald Trump s expression.Our President is a joke and we re still waiting for a punchline that will never come. It s time to remove him from office so we can begin undoing the damage he has done, is doing, and will do.Watch it below:The latest installment in the @realDonaldTrump handshake saga: Do you think he was snubbed by Poland's First Lady?https://t.co/l5lZ2oMYLq pic.twitter.com/Scm4pUB6e3 Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) July 6, 2017Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
5,791 | PRESIDENT TRUMP’S Sr. Staff Member Omarosa Manigault Marries Democrat Pastor At Trump’s DC Hotel Amid Death Threats [VIDEO] | Omarosa Manigault, a senior staff member of President Donald Trump s administration and a former Apprentice cast member, got married in Trump s Washington DC hotel this morning.Omarosa has been a staunch defender of her boss President Donald J. Trump. The video of her appearance on The View, where she single-handedly destroyed Joy Behar and crew went viral the day after her appearance. Please enjoy:About 70 people attended the wedding in the hotel s Presidential Ballroom, which was followed by a brunch and reception.Donald Trump and other White House senior staff remained at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida following Chinese President Xi Jinping s visit and after the US airstrike on Syria. The couple exchanged vows at an intimate private ceremony and the celebration went forward without incident despite Omarosa s concerns about death threats.Last week, Omarosa received $25,000 worth of merchandise from Kleinfeld Bridal after appearing on the television show Say Yes to the Dress, The Hill reported.The former reality television star postponed and relocated her upcoming wedding to Pastor Newman because of concerns about her safety and backlash from her fianc s church.She was supposed to get married on March 25 at the church her fianc oversees, The Sanctuary @ Mt. Calvary, in Jacksonville, Florida.But sources close to Omarosa revealed to DailyMail.com that an onslaught of death threats and safety concerns caused her to delay her nuptials and move the ceremony to Washington, DC.Via: Daily Mail | 0 |
5,792 | Pakistan rejects role of 'scapegoat for U.S. failures' in Afghanistan | KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan has rejected U.S. criticism of its efforts to fight terrorism, saying it should not be made a scapegoat for the failure of the U.S. military to win the war in Afghanistan. U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his policy for Afghanistan on Monday, stepping up the military campaign against Taliban insurgents and singling out Pakistan for harboring them. U.S. officials later warned that aid to Pakistan might be cut and Washington might downgrade nuclear-armed Pakistan s status as a major non-NATO ally, in order to pressure it to do more to help bring about an end to America s longest-running war. Pakistan s powerful military chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, met U.S. Ambassador David Hale on Wednesday and told him Pakistan was actively working for peace in Afghanistan. We have done a lot ... and shall keep on doing our best, not to appease anyone but in line with our national interest and national policy, Bajwa was quoted in an army press statement as telling Hale. Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif added his voice to a chorus of indignation over the U.S. criticism, reiterating Pakistan s denial that it harbors militants. They should not make Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures in Afghanistan, Asif said in an interview with Geo TV late on Tuesday. A group of influential Pakistani clerics including Sami-ul Haq, who runs a Islamic seminary where many senior Afghan Taliban studied, angrily condemned the United States. America is the enemy of the Muslim ummah (community), Haq told a press briefing along with other clerics who preach a jihadist doctrine. The government of Pakistan should quit the alliance for war against so-called terrorism, Haq added. The heavens will not fall if America gets angry with us. Pakistan has for years been battling homegrown Islamist militants who are seeking to overthrow the state with bomb attacks and assassinations. But critics say the Pakistani military nurtures other Islamist factions, including the Afghan Taliban, which are seen as useful to Pakistan s core confrontation with old rival India. Asif said Pakistan had suffered great losses from Islamist militancy - the government estimates there have been 70,000 casualties in militant attacks, including 17,000 Pakistanis killed - since Pakistan joined the U.S. war on terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The relationship between the two countries has endured periods of extreme strain during the past decade, especially after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed by U.S. special forces in Pakistan in a 2011 raid. Last year, a U.S. drone strike killed then-Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in southwestern Pakistan, an attack Islamabad protested as a violation of its sovereignty. Pakistan has denied knowledge that either bin Laden or Mansour were in the country. | 1 |
5,793 | How Electable Is Bernie Sanders? A Skeptic’s Response To Robert Reich’s New Pro-Bernie Video | The great Robert Reich posted a new whiteboard video this week in which he makes a case in support of Bernie Sanders by reacting to claims made by Bernie Sanders skeptics Democratic voters who aren t convinced Bernie is The Guy. I hasten to underline that while I m a Bernie skeptic, I m not a Hillary Clinton supporter either, though I do intend to vote for either Bernie or Hillary in June s California primary, as well as for the Dem nominee in the general election. Obviously. I d also like to repeat that I think Reich is one of the great left-wing political thinkers of our time. Now that the obligatory qualifiers are out of the way, Reich is off base with several of his counterpoints to Bernie skeptics.Let s take a look.1) He d never beat Trump or Cruz. Reich s response suggests that Bernie does indeed have a polling advantage over the Republicans in the general election, more so than Clinton. Unfortunately, Politifact determined that Bernie s version of this assessment is flatly False. While Sanders and Clinton each lead Trump, specifically, in the general election according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, Sanders trails both Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, while Clinton performs slightly better. PPP, meanwhile, shows Sanders losing to Trump, Cruz and Rubio while Clinton defeats all three. Additionally, and this is crucial to understanding the general election differences between the Democratic hopefuls, voters have been following Hillary Clinton for 35 years and yet she still performs better, scandals and all, than Sanders against the GOP in most polls. Sanders, meanwhile, is a relative unknown, so it s too early to tell how he ll do after the GOP begins to relentlessly attack him.2) Congress would reject his ideas. Reich reminds us that if Congress remains in the hands of the Republicans, Hillary Clinton wouldn t be able to do much legislatively either. Actually, that s not necessarily true. Clinton s agenda is decidedly more moderate, so while she s sure to run up against significant GOP opposition, it ll be easier for her to shake loose centrist and center-right Republicans, as well as blue dog Democrats who would otherwise oppose Sanders significantly more leftist ideas.Reich goes on to say that Bernie could bring about a Democratic majority in Congress if! his political revolution works out. That s a super-colossal if. First of all, no revolution this year will change any gerrymandered districts. Secondly, let s suppose Sanders rides a massive wave of support into the White House with very long coattails. He d need a roughly 70-seat Democratic majority in the Senate to pass his single-payer proposal, for example.Why 70 and not 60? Blue dog Democrats. The blue dogs successfully killed the public option in 2009 and would surely join the Republicans in filibustering Bernie s single-payer legislation, hence the extra 10 votes above and beyond the 60 required to break the filibuster. Realistically, the only thing that might be able to spark a 70-seat majority (the House is totally different story, by the way) is another major financial crisis or another groundbreaking event that d compel voters to choose Democratic candidates across the board.3) America would never elect a socialist. Reich makes the off-the-shelf argument that there are many popular socialist programs in the United States, therefore Americans love socialism. Wrong. American voters love socialism, yes, but they don t know they do. And this argument about public schools and roads has been used since forever without successfully nudging very many voters leftward. Trust me, I ve tried it many, many times.Socialism, as we observed when Obama was falsely accused of pushing it in 2009, is still intensely demonized as being the same as communism (it s not) and, in some cases, Republicans have erroneously conflated it with the Nazis, aka National Socialists. (Just because socialism is in the name of the party founded by Hitler doesn t mean it s really socialist. Likewise, hot dogs don t contain actual dogs.)When the Republicans launch their relentless attack on Sanders democratic-socialist platform, it ll be another swift-boating like we observed in 2004, only it ll be more relentless. Some undecided moderate voters in swing states the people who decide elections in the polarized modern era might be convinced to vote Sanders, but it s a long shot. These are picky, old-fashioned voters in states like Pennsylvania and Missouri. Bottom line: Softening the American voters negative attitudes about socialism will take much longer than nine months.4) His single-payer proposal would require raising taxes on the middle class. I m with Reich and Sanders on this one. It s a bogus argument, pushed by skeptics and Hillary supporters alike. According to Sanders numbers, middle class families would pay less per year for healthcare and therefore end up saving money in spite of a modest tax hike. The trouble, however, is getting Congress to support a tax hike on the middle class. See also #2.5) His plan for free college tuition would mean colleges would be run by government rules. I haven t heard any Democratic skeptics saying this, but I might ve just missed them. Nevertheless, I again agree with Sanders and Reich here. There s nothing in Sanders proposal, or Obama s two-year-college plan, for that matter, showing that colleges would have to kowtow to the federal government.6) He s too old. Reich believes 74 is the new 64 and, honestly, I m not concerned about Bernie s age at all. As long as his would-be vice presidential nominee is strong, it s a non-issue. However, this will be an area the Republicans will use to attack Sanders, but it won t matter all that much. John McCain s age was only modestly relevant due to his battle with skin cancer. Sanders, on the other hand, seems quite energetic and healthy.So, all told, three of Reich s counterpoints to skeptics aren t particularly strong, while one counterpoint against middle class tax hikes is directed at hardline pro-Hillary people (not mere skeptics) as well as Republicans, and the final two are counterpoints to arguments I haven t really heard coming from Bernie skeptics.All in all, it still seems like a Sanders victory and a subsequent Sanders presidency would be a long shot. Not impossible, but risky from the standpoint of overcoming significant electoral and political hurdles, as well as the current status of the (obscenely gerrymandered) Congress. Democrats ultimately have to decide whether Sanders agenda is worth risking a possible Republican victory in November.// < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]>Bernie skepticsHow to respond to Bernie skeptics? Watch our latest video to find out.Posted by Robert Reich on Tuesday, January 26, 2016Featured image via video screen grab | 0 |
5,794 | WATCH: Chris Wallace NAILS Trump For Touting Jobs Reports He Once Called ‘Phony’ | Donald Trump is the ultimate hypocrite and Fox host Chris Wallace called him out for it on Sunday.During the campaign, Trump repeatedly bashed positive monthly jobs reports by claiming that they were somehow being faked by President Obama to make it appear that the economy was improving under his watch. Trump dismissed the low unemployment rate as well, claiming that he heard that it was much higher, as high as 42 percent, which is an outrageous lie.Chris Wallace played footage of this while interviewing Trump s chief economic adviser and former Goldman Sachs executive. You know, the same Goldman Sachs that Donald Trump repeatedly vilified during the campaign because of Hillary Clinton s ties to them.Anyway, Wallace pointed out that while Trump is touting the recent February jobs report that shows the economy added 235,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dropped from 4.8 to 4.7 percent, he is clearly being a hypocrite because he called previous jobs reports phony. If that s true, why should we believe these numbers? Wallace demanded to know before noting that Trump inherited a strengthening economy from the Obama administration. And the fact is, did you inherit an economy that has been for the last 18 months somewhere between 4.6 and 5 percent unemployment? Of course, rather than admit that Trump is full of shit, Cohn ignored the question and made it sound like Trump is an economic hero. The economy continues to grow and we are doing out part, Cohn said before claiming that CEOs are telling Trump that they are adding jobs because of him. We are creating these jobs because of you, Mr. President, and your policies. Which have not, yet, come into any sort of effect.Here s the video via YouTube:The bottom line is that the economy is continuing to grow because of President Obama s economic policies. Many of the investment plans that companies are announcing right now were in motion well before the election in November. But Trump has been desperately trying to take credit for the economy.So let s all remember how Trump is currently taking credit for all the good economic news. Because once the economy implodes under his watch, he ll definitely try to blame the black guy for it.Featured Image: Screenshot | 0 |
5,795 | Trump TRASHES Sean Spicer’s Cell Phone Checks, Signals Trump Team Implosion (VIDEO) | The Trump team is caving in on itself, and Donald Trump s latest comments certainly won t help.Earlier today, Trump appeared on Fox & Friends where he blatantly criticized White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Addressing the mysterious and numerous leaks that have been coming out of the White House, Spicer was reported to be checking the professional and personal cell phones of White House staffers in the West Wing to make sure they weren t involved in leaking any information. It was a drastic move, and we ve never seen such distrust within an administration, and yet Trump still claims everything in the White House is running like a well-oiled machine. But something tells us that after Spicer hears what Trump just said, things are going to change.In his exclusive White House interview, Trump admitted that he wouldn t have handled the leaks the way Spicer did. Steve Doocey asked Trump: Sean Spicer asked his communication team, Alright come on in everybody. Put your phone right over there. We have a leaker here. We re gonna have the White House lawyer look at your phones. How intent are you on finding who the leaker or leakers are in your administration? Not just your communications team, but over at the State Department, maybe the intel community, everywhere? Trump first bragged about how great his press secretary was (even though there have been several reports that state Trump is unhappy with Spicer s performance and would rather replace him with a woman). He said, Well first of all, Sean Spicer is a fine human being. He s a fine person. Then Trump criticized Spicer: I would have done it differently. I would have gone one-on-one with different people. I would have handled it different than Sean, but Sean handles it his way, and I m OK with it. Hinting that he felt Spicer was going far too easy on staffers, Trump joked that if it were up to him, there are things you can do that are a hell of a lot worse. You can watch Trump throw his press secretary under the bus below: Featured image via Chip Somodevilla and Gary Gershoff / Getty Images | 0 |
5,796 | North Korean envoy ignores U.S. call for testing freeze in U.N. speech | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea s ambassador to the United Nations on Friday ignored a U.S. call for a cessation of weapons testing to allow for talks with Pyongyang on its nuclear program and said his country would not pose a threat to any state, as long as its interests were not infringed upon. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier told a meeting of the U.N Security Council on Pyongyang s nuclear and ballistic missile programs that a sustained cessation of North Korea s threatening behavior was needed before talks could occur between Washington and Pyongyang. North Korea s U.N. ambassador, Ja Song Nam, made no mention of Tillerson s call in his speech to the session, which he called a desperate measure plotted by the U.S. being terrified by the incredible might of our Republic that has successfully achieved the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force. | 1 |
5,797 | Ivanka Trump’s Dress Was Nice, But There Was One MAJOR Problem With It (VIDEO) | A consistent theme among Donald Trump s rhetoric, and last night s address to Congress was no different, is economic nationalism, which means buy and hire American. As usual, though, the words were contradicted by his own family s actions, and in particular, his favorite child, Ivanka, who wore a lovely dress that was made, of course, in the United Kingdom and designed by a French designer.Getting ready to leave The White House with @realdonaldtrump as he prepares to address Congress #JointSession pic.twitter.com/vlR1wPHGkK Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) March 1, 2017Ivanka Trump, the President s eldest daughter who is said to be his favourite child, wore a fuchsia dress by French designer Roland Mouret which cost $1868 ( 1772) to the prestigious event which saw her father promise a new chapter of American greatness and launch barbed attacks on illegal immigrants.A representative for the acclaimed designer, Roland Mouret, told The Independent the Rawlings Dress which was worn by the first daughter was produced in the UK.Source: IndependentNot everyone thought the dress was appropriate because it was cocktail length rather than formal, and it showed her shoulders after Michelle Obama was so widely criticized on the right for daring to show her arms. Ivanka s bra strap was also showing.@IvankaTrump @brianstelter @realDonaldTrump You re wearing a cocktail dress to the joint session?! Karen Dawn Zachary (@KarenDZachary) March 1, 2017.@IvankaTrump You post a lot of prom-night photos. @brianstelter https://t.co/c13gGIiNGx (@y2k7s) March 1, 2017@IvankaTrump Hate to be the one that points this out, but the right sleeve of your dress is missing & your bra strap is showing. Just saying Marguerite (@margcellent) March 1, 2017@IvankaTrump @realDonaldTrump You re dressed inappropriately as is Melania #oneshoulder #sparkles Al Farr (@pepperdaze) March 1, 2017The real problem with the optics, of course, isn t even about the questionable choice in dress style, it s about the fact that like almost everything that has Trump s brand, it was made outside the United States while Trump is pushing an agenda of nationalism. It s hypocrisy at its worst and rather than apologize for it, the Trumps flaunt it, just like they flaunt the ethics surrounding the presidency.Featured image via Twitter screen capture | 0 |
5,798 | Three arrested after hanging anti-Trump banner near Cleveland convention | CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Three women were arrested on Tuesday after climbing a flagpole near the site of this week’s U.S. Republican National Convention and hanging a banner protesting the party’s presidential candidate, Donald Trump. “Don’t Trump our communities,” read the banner hung near Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Using a ladder truck, fire officials brought down the protesters and the banner, which also had an anti-fracking message. “They actually climbed the flagpole and hung a banner and our officers responded and made the arrests,” Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told reporters. “They were arrested for criminal mischief.” He did not identify the people arrested. A Reuters witness who saw the incident said they were all women. A total of five people have now been arrested during the convention and its run-up; earlier one man was arrested for trying to steal a police officer’s gas mask and a woman was arrested on an outstanding warrant unrelated to protest activity. The convention, which began on Monday and runs through Thursday, has been marked by largely peaceful protests so far. The event will formally anoint Trump, a wealthy New York real estate developer, as the Republican nominee to face Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 presidential election. “We are still making sure that we don’t let our guard down,” Williams said, adding that the department’s strategy was to try to de-escalate tense situations. “There is no need to do anything unless there is violence perpetrated against somebody.” | 1 |
5,799 | Rudy Giuliani Turns Into A Blithering Idiot When Confronted By CNN Host (VIDEO) | During a live CNN interview with Rudy Giuliani, host Chris Cuomo held the former New York Mayor s feet the fire over his justification for Donald Trump s most recent controversial remarks. Giuliani asserted, like Donald did, that Hillary Clinton will abolish the Second Amendment. That s not legally possible but Giuliani ran with it.At one point, Cuomo asked Giuliani if Trump becomes President of the United States, is that going to be your position, is that he goes out, he ll says things and then you ll come on and say what he actually meant? Cuomo then brought up Trump s recent jaw-dropping claim that President Obama and Hillary Clinton founded ISIS. That remark is peculiar in more than one way. Trump is featured in at least two ISIS recruitment videos.However, Giuliani called Trump s claim legitimate political commentary. Cuomo responded, saying, But it s not true, then went on to compare Trump s remarks to his Second Amendment people threat toward Hillary Clinton. It s part of a pattern, Cuomo said. I don t control what comes out of his mouth. The man has blacklisted me, won t come on this show because he doesn t like answering questions about what he says. It s a pattern of the press exaggerating what he says, Giuliani said, likely attempting to blame the Liberal Media . He s saying my coverage is rigged, Cuomo said. Do you think my coverage is rigged? I think a lot of coverage is rigged, Giuliani responded. How is it rigged? Cuomo said. This comes out of his mouth and you have to apologize for it. I m telling you he didn t say words of violence! Giuliani declared. You say things in a lot of ways. This is what the man does, Cuomo remarked. He says things that are either casual or hyperbolic to impress the crowd. And then they go too far and he refuses to apologize and blames the media. It s happened at least 10 times that I can name right off the top of my head. Raw Story uploaded a few of the clips.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAEnSJcAJJY][youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ijfm4SXc94][youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctK2taY5SH0]Giuliani said that Donald not releasing his taxes is a problem but not much of an issue compared to Hillary Clinton s handling of emails. Cuomo countered that, too, with facts Giuliani disregarded by making accusations which he could not back up. Giuliani, throughout the whole interview, stammered while trying to justify his candidate s appalling rhetoric.Donald does not have the ability to apologize and move on. That prompts each of his controversial remarks to linger on in the media. When he s held accountable for the words that come out of his mouth, he then blames the media for quoting him verbatim.Featured image via screenshot | 0 |
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