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WASHINGTON — Thirty years as a union boss in Indiana have given Chuck Jones a thick skin. But even threats to shoot him or burn his house down did not quite prepare him for becoming the target of a verbal takedown by the next president of the United States. In what one Republican strategist described as “cyberbullying,” Donald J. Trump derided Mr. Jones on Twitter, accusing him of doing “a terrible job representing workers” and blaming him for the decisions by companies that ship American jobs overseas. The Twitter message from the at 7:41 Wednesday night, and a second one urging Mr. Jones to “spend more time working — less time talking,” continued Mr. Trump’s pattern of digital assaults, most of them aimed at his political rivals, reporters, Hollywood celebrities or female accusers. On Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump used Twitter to assail Boeing for escalating costs on the development of a new Air Force One. But rarely has Mr. Trump used Twitter to express his ire at people like Mr. Jones, the president of United Steelworkers Local 1999, who described himself on Thursday as “just a regular working guy. ” With the full power of the presidency just weeks away, Mr. Trump’s decision to single out Mr. Jones for ridicule has drawn condemnation from historians and White House veterans. “When you attack a man for living an ordinary life in an ordinary job, it is bullying,” said Nicolle Wallace, who was communications director for President George W. Bush and a top strategist to other Republicans. “It is cyberbullying. This is a strategy to bully somebody who dissents. That’s what is dark and disturbing. ” Robert Dallek, a presidential historian, called the verbal attack unprecedented and added: “It’s beneath the dignity of the office. He doesn’t seem to understand that. ” Frank Sesno, a former CNN Washington bureau chief and now the director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, said Mr. Trump’s willingness to weaponize his Twitter feed, especially against people who are not political rivals, could produce a chilling effect on people willing to publicly criticize the president. “Anybody who goes on air or goes public and calls out the president has to then live in fear that he is going to seek retribution in the public sphere,” Mr. Sesno said. “That could discourage people from speaking out. ” Wednesday night’s Twitter message from Mr. Trump came after Mr. Jones, on the CNN program “Erin Burnett OutFront,” challenged the ’s claims. Mr. Jones challenged Mr. Trump’s claim to have saved 1, 100 jobs in Indiana at Carrier Corporation from being shipped overseas and said that 350 of those jobs were already staying in the United States. As Mr. Jones spoke, a graphic flashed across CNN’s screens at 7:20 p. m. referring to something Mr. Jones said earlier in the week: “Carrier Union Boss: Trump Lied His A** Off. ” Less than 20 minutes after Mr. Jones’s interview ended, Mr. Trump’s Twitter message appeared. Mr. Jones said he had just walked back into his house and hung up his coat when he got a call from a friend. “Trump’s hammering you on a tweet,” the friend said, prompting a laugh from Mr. Jones. In the control room at CNN, a planned story on immigration was scrapped, and a booker went scrambling to get Mr. Jones back on the air to respond. Mr. Trump’s message to his 17 million Twitter followers set off threats and other harassing calls to Mr. Jones. One caller left five messages, and two secretaries answering phones at the local’s headquarters have been similarly swamped. “It’s riled the people up,” Mr. Jones said. “A lot of the people who have called and been not very nice to me, they have been quite clear that they are Trump supporters and I’m an ungrateful . ” Mr. Jones refused on Thursday to back down from his criticism of Mr. Trump. And he shrugged off Mr. Trump’s claim that he had not done enough to help the workers his union represents. “Hell, I know what I did for the last 30 years,” Mr. Jones said, noting his work on behalf of pensions and salaries that average $23 per hour. But Mr. Jones also said that he and the have been on the same side when it comes to trying to protect the livelihoods of workers. He said he would happily collaborate with Mr. Trump to try to save the 550 Carrier jobs still scheduled to be moved to Mexico. “If he in fact called today, and said, ‘Let’s get together to save the 500 jobs,’ I’d be glad to do anything I possibly could to work with him in any fashion,” Mr. Jones said. “I don’t foresee that happening. ” Veterans of the White House say they do not know what to expect from Mr. Trump, whose actions since the election have broken with many presidential norms. David Axelrod, who was a senior adviser to President Obama, said he always advised the current occupant of the Oval Office to be mindful of the extra power that his words carried once they were amplified by the most powerful megaphone in the world. “What you may think is a light tap is a howitzer,” Mr. Axelrod said. “When you have the man in the most powerful office, for whom there is no target too small, that is a chilling prospect. He has the ability to destroy people in 140 characters. ” Throughout the campaign, Mr. Trump dashed off Twitter messages in response to what he saw on television, sometimes calling out specific television personalities like Megyn Kelly or Joe Scarborough by name. Mr. Trump has not stopped since he won the election. When he abruptly took to Twitter on Nov. 29 to attack those who burn the American flag, it happened shortly after a “Fox Friends” segment about a incident. In recent weeks, Mr. Trump retweeted several people who were bashing the CNN reporter Jeff Zeleny, and he has been critical of “Saturday Night Live” and the show’s Trump impersonator, Alec Baldwin. Whether Mr. Trump will continue to use Twitter as president is unclear, though few people inside or outside Mr. Trump’s orbit believe he will give up his digital connection to millions of followers. Two spokesmen for Mr. Trump did not respond to emails seeking comment on his Twitter message about Mr. Jones. If he continues to tweet, Mr. Trump may discover that his words carry new weight and are given new meaning when they come from the White House. Ms. Wallace said he may end up having meetings with world leaders that do not go well, and be tempted to tweet his disapproval. “It’s irrevocable what you put out in a tweet. It’s not like you can take it back,” Ms. Wallace said. But she added that she does not expect Mr. Trump to change his behavior once he is inaugurated. “There can be a transformation when you get into the office, but it’s usually on policy, not behavior,” she said. “I’m not sure that the office will change his nature. ” | 1 |
CNN checked in on the surveillance story Monday morning and seemed profoundly confused about what is actually going on:[An incendiary idea first put forward by radio host Mark Levin is now burning across Washington, fanned by President Trump’s tweets and a huge number of supportive commentators and websites — even though the facts don’t back up the conclusion. Breitbart News has given the conspiracy theory a name: “DeepStateGate. ” Others are going with “ObamaGate. ” And Fox News host Sean Hannity is asking: “What did OBAMA know and when did he know it? ??” Levin’s original idea, advanced on Thursday, was that former President Barack Obama and his allies have mounted a “silent coup” against Trump using “police state” tactics. Levin news stories that supported his thesis and omitted information that cut against it. The next day, Rush Limbaugh echoed Levin’s “silent coup” language, and Breitbart columnist Joel Pollak published an “expanded version of that case. ” That’s how the idea reached Trump’s radar. The Breitbart article “circulated” in the West Wing, a White House official told CNN’s Jeff Zeleny, and the information “infuriated” Trump. To be clear, Levin and Limbaugh and Pollak didn’t publish any original reporting. They merely claimed to have connected some dots. [Emphasis mine] Perhaps CNN’s writers should read their own copy more carefully and save themselves some befuddlement. This isn’t an “incendiary idea put forth by radio host Mark Levin,” columnist Joel Pollak, or Joel’s merry sidekick, Yours Truly. We’re all just reading stories the mainstream media pumped out with frantic speed over the past few months. You made DeepStateGate happen, mainstream media. You ran scuttlebutt from your old pals in the Obama administration to keep your precious “Russia stole the election from Hillary!” narrative alive. You led your readers to believe it was all hard news, based on solid intel from trustworthy sources. As I noted on Sunday, sometimes you buried “this is all groundless hearsay” disclaimers six paragraphs into the stories, but the headlines screamed about the wiretaps that angered President Trump. Here, for example, is a nice catch from raconteur Raheem Kassam, the editor of the Breitbart London division of Breitbart News: Mmmhmmm. pic. twitter. — Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) March 6, 2017, That headline, “Wiretapped Data Used in Inquiry of Trump Aides,” was most assuredly not a production, and it’s not even slightly ambiguous about the existence of wiretapping. Jeff Dunetz at The Lid couldn’t help noticing that the exact same reporter who wrote that New York Times piece in January is now claiming, right in his headlines, that Trump has “no evidence” of the very same wiretaps he reported as established fact just two months ago. “This is the ultimate in liberal media bias. In January Michael S. Schmidt perpetuated the rumor that team Trump had Russian connections, and to support his point he said that Trump’s people were wiretapped. However when President Trump claimed his people were wiretapped, the same guy, Michael S. Schmidt, said there was no evidence,” Dunetz observes. This is backpedaling on a scale one would only expect to see if a pack of velociraptors appeared at the finish line of the Tour de France. It doesn’t help that reporters slipped a few “none of this can be confirmed” caveats into their stories — caveats that were, of course, left out by the many social media loudspeakers that blasted their incendiary headlines into Twitter streams and Facebook feeds. There were always cracks in the media’s stories. As of yesterday, the cracks became more important than the stories. Suddenly the media is shrieking at us for daring to take their coverage seriously. The problem with major media coverage of intelligence stories is that top officials and policymakers always have more information than the public. The mainstream press has gone so berserk with anonymous leaks since Trump won the 2016 election that We the People have no logical means of fully evaluating anything they write. We don’t know who the sources for these stories are, or what their agenda is — although skeptical readers can guess, based on how most of these anonymous leaks cut against the new White House. Kellyanne Conway made this point on Fox Friends Monday, when she argued that President Trump “has information and intelligence that the rest of us do not”: ”He’s the President of the United States. He has information and intelligence that the rest of us do not.” — @KellyannePolls pic. twitter. — FOX friends (@foxandfriends) March 6, 2017, We’ve heard such assertions many times before, from both sides of the partisan divide. For example, the defenders of NSA surveillance operations insisted they were useful for preserving national security, but they couldn’t give us the classified details that would prove it. Critics had the same problem from the opposite direction. Many national security and law enforcement debates end with assurances that our top men and women know things they can’t tell us about. Until now, media coverage has been driven by anonymous leakers who assured us they know things they can’t tell us about, peddling a few juicy tidbits they weren’t supposed to talk about. The President of the United States is very well situated to play that game too. If Trump is strictly going by the reports from big media outlets and their favorite leakers, whose fault is it that he became convinced the Obama administration was spying on him? Mark Levin hit that point in his response to the CNN article: I simply put together the stories that YOUR profession reported, on the public record. Do you deny there were two FISA applications? Do you deny the first was turned down? Do you deny the second was approved? It’s called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. It is about surveillance. The fact that we cannot discern all the details because of the secrecy, except for what the media have revealed and selective leaks by the government, should cause you to want to know more, not to trash those who point it out. And yes, we can make several logical implications based on events and experience. A FISA application is a big deal. One, or two in this case, that involve campaign surrogates, or a server or computer related to a candidate or campaign, etc. is a big deal. President Obama’s statement is not a definitive statement of anything, other than he, personally, did not order a wiretap, which I never claimed. But that does not mean he was unaware of surveillance activity by several of his departments, even through routine reports to the president, such as the Daily Intel Briefing or information conveyed to him or his staff via the Justice Department re the FBI activities. Levin noted that in the course of denying any FISA surveillance was conducted against Trump Tower, James Clapper also said “no connections between the Russians and the Trump campaign have been found. ” That is … rather different from the conclusion one would reach by ingesting mainstream media coverage over the past few months, isn’t it? Perhaps CNN should take a break from sneering at “ conspiracy theories” and take a look at what blogs have been saying about the story. Until yesterday, they were firmly convinced that extensive surveillance was conducted against Trump and his campaign, and it produced all kinds of damaging information. President Trump is gambling a good deal of credibility with his accusation of Obama wiretapping. The Obama officials and Big Media outlets sitting across the table from him don’t have much credibility to ante up against him. Complicated controversies usually have complex outcomes, so the smart bet is that both sides will end up with something that allows them to claim vindication, and we’ll most likely have another credibility smackdown. Meanwhile, we’ll probably see a sharp decrease in reports based on leaked material the media insisted was genuine, right up until the moment Donald Trump believed them. | 1 |
Email
A Saudi prince has urged Americans not to vote for Donald Trump in the upcoming general election. He practically beggs the people to give their votes for Hillary Clinton. For us, this is a HUGE reason NOT TO VOTE FOR HILLARY! She got $50 million from this man. I guess you know what am I talking about. Do not let their cooperation continue, because it is going to end up bad for America. Lets choose a true patriot and see where would our country go! I am sure it is going to be much better than crooked Hillary’s road.
Turki al-Faisal, who served as Saudia Arabia’s ambassador to the US from 2005 to 2007, spoke against the presumptive Republican nominee during a foreign policy dinner in Washington, DC on Thursday.
He blasted Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US, which the billionaire first formulated in December last year before renewing his vow on Wednesday.
‘For the life of me, I cannot believe that a country like the United States can afford to have someone as president who simply says, “These people are not going to be allowed to come to the United States,”’ Turki said according to the Huffington Post.
‘It’s up to you, it’s not up to me,’ Turki added. ‘I just hope you, as American citizens, will make the right choice in November.’
The gulf nations represent three of the largest donors to the foundation, but that is hardly the extent of their ties to the Clintons. Qatari, UAE, and Saudi firms paid Bill Clinton millions of dollars for speeches during the time Hillary served as secretary of state, when she also approved weapons deals with all three countries worth billions of dollars to U.S. defense firms, many of which are also Clinton Foundation donors.
Bill Clinton has praised the Qataris as “intelligent, forward looking” investment partners for their collaboration on Clinton Foundation projects. One of Hillary’s top advisers, Cheryl Mills, served on the board of the New York
University campus in Abu Dhabi. Bill Clinton is the friend and former classmate of Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, who recently attended a lavish Clinton Foundation conference in Marrakech, hosted by the King of Morocco. The Bill Clinton presidential library in Little Rock was funded in part by a $10 million from the Saudi Royal family.
Turk, who went to Georgetown University in Washington, DC, isn’t currently part of Saudia Arabia’s government but serves as the chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, a cultural organization that conducts research in politics, sociology and heritage. | 0 |
Hillary Clinton, FBI and the Real November Surprise
By Pepe Escobar "As bad as it is the folks above the President make the decisions. They may have decided on Trump. These things do not happen by accident." " Sputnik " - Thus spoke a high-level US business mover and shaker with secure transit in rarified Masters of the Universe-related circles, amidst the utter political chaos provoked by head of the FBI James Comeys latest bombshell.
Its virtually established by now that US Attorney General Loretta Lynch told Comey not to release his letter to Congress. But Comey did it anyway. If he had not, and a scandal would inevitably spring up after the US presidential election, Lynch would be perfectly positioned to deny she knew anything, and Comey would be on the firing line.
Lynch is a certified Clinton machine asset. In 1999 then-President Bill Clinton appointed her to run the Brooklyn US Attorneys office. She left in 2002, taking the private practice revolving door. She was back to the Brooklyn office in 2010, urged by Obama. Five years later she became the 83rd US Attorney General, replacing the dodgy Eric Holder.
A plausible case has been made that Comey took his fateful decision based on a serious internal revolt at the FBI led by key people he trust as well as being egged-on by his wife.
Yet one of the key questions that refuse to go away is why the FBI waited until 11 days before the US presidential election to supposedly "find" an email trove on certified sexting pervert Anthony Weiners laptop.
A Deal With Donald?
The business source, although unsympathetic to the Clinton machine, especially in foreign policy, is a realpolitik practitioner, not a conspiracy theorist. He is adamant that, the FBI reversal could not have happened without orders above the President. If the Masters [of the Universe] have changed their mind, then they will destroy Hillary.
He adds, they can make a deal with Donald just like anyone else; Donald wins; the Masters win; the people think that their voice has been heard. And then there will be some sort of (controlled) change.
Whats paramount in the whole soap opera is the faith in the US political system as corrupt as it may be must endure. That mirrors the faith in the US dollar; if confidence in the US dollar fails, the US as a hegemonic financial power is no more.
The source is equally adamant that, it is almost unprecedented to see a cover-up as extensive as Hillarys. A secret meeting between Bill Clinton and the Attorney General; the FBI ignoring all evidence and initially clearing Hillary to near rebellion of the whole of the FBI, attested to by Rudolf Giuliani whose reputation as a federal prosecutor is unquestioned; the Clinton pay for play foundation. The Masters are troubled that this is getting out of hand.
The record shows that the Masters do not usually have to go to such lengths to protect their own. They did manage to save Bill Clinton from the Monica Lewinsky perjury and keep him in the presidency. The Masters were not attacked in this case. They even got away with the 1987 cash settlement crash and the theft surrounding the Lehman debacle. In all these cases there were no overarching challenges to their control, as we see now open to the public by Trump. They antagonized and insulted the wrong man.
All Aboard the Huma Train
Hillary Clinton is not at the center of Comeys jaw-dropping October Surprise; its actually her right-hand woman and ersatz daughter Huma Abedin. This early January essay on Huma Abedin contains plenty of nuggets out and about some of them positively eyebrow raising.
In case Hillary Clinton becomes the next President of the United States (POTUS), Abedin, alternatively known as Princess of Saudi Arabia, will most likely become Hillarys chief of staff the power behind running all White House operations.
A glimpse of the FBI-Huma Abedin connection is available here . Abedin was granted Top Secret security clearance for the first time in 2009, when Hillary named her deputy chief of staff for operations. Abedin later said she did not remember being read into any Special Access Programs (SAPs).
Its crucial to remember that one of Abedins emails was [email protected]. Crucial translation: she was the only high-level State Dept. aide whose emails were hosted by the notorious Subterranean Clinton Email Server which she claimed she didnt know existed until she heard about it in the news.
Abedin swore under oath in a lawsuit brought against the State Dept. by Judicial Watch that she had handed over all of her laptops and smart phones that could host emails relevant to the Subterranean Email Server investigation.
That may not have been the case. The laptop at the center of Comeys bombshell was shared by Abedin and her husband Wiener before they split. If Abedin lied, she could face up to five years in jail for perjury. As if the whole illegal email-cum-sexting saga was not sordid enough, the climax now seems to have turned into a mixed wrestling match between the former couple, with the big prize being the slammer.
The FBI has finally obtained a warrant and is now frantically searching no less than 650,000 Abedin emails found on sexting freak Wieners laptop; the objective is to exactly determine which ones came from the Subterranean Email Server.
As if this was not demeaning enough, the FBI continues to conduct an investigation on the Clinton Foundation. As former Assistant Director of the FBI Tom Fuentes said , The FBI has an intensive investigation ongoing into the Clinton Foundation the investigation would go forward as a comprehensive unified case and be coordinated, so that investigation is ongoing and Huma Abedin and her role and activities concerning Secretary of State in the nature of the foundation and possible pay to play, thats still being looked at now.
Whatever happens until election day, US voters will have to consider the startling fact they may choose a next POTUS that is the subject of a wide-ranging comprehensive unified FBI investigation.
A Rotten, Rigged System?
A former federal public corruption prosecutor volunteers a plausible take on Comeys action. In a nutshell, FBI agents investigating Weiners sexting and they are a different set of agents investigating Emailgate saw evidence of State Dept emails on his laptop. Comey knew he needed a search warrant to comb the emails at Wieners computer. So he pre-empted the inevitable subsequent hype by sending out a vague letter to the Hill that in the end left everyone even more confused.
That interpretation though may be only scratching the surface. Deeper and deeper, it seems that Comeys decision was really precipitated by the senior FBI agents insurgence fed up with the extreme carelessness Hillary cover-up. Theyve got to have some surefire material on the Clinton (cash) machine that never saw the light.
Comey could have just waited to say something after the election; after all the FBI maintains they had checked all Clinton emails, including deleted ones, not to mention the Podesta emails. So the emails on sexting Wieners laptop may be no more than a limited hangout.
A much more plausible explanation is that Comey had to do it not only because of the FBI internal revolt (or because he had an urge to upstage WikiLeaks?) He had to do it because the rot goes way beyond the Clinton pay to play racket and involves virtually the whole system, from the deep recesses of the Obama administration to the War Party scam, the Department of Justice, the CIA and the FBI itself.
What next? Brace for impact; it may well be the ultimate November Surprise. | 0 |
Turkey Targets Christians – World leaders, the media, and human rights groups remain SILENT Oct 27, 2016 Previous post In the last four years, more than 100 Christian pastors and other religious officials have been deported from Turkey, and banned from reentering. “When Jesus reached 30 years of age, Allah gave him the duty of being a prophet. He then began inviting people to believe in Allah.” — Turkish textbook on Christianity. “[R]eligious minority students are faced with the option of taking the class or sitting alone somewhere else on the school premises during the classes, thus separating them from their peers and singling out their religious differences.” — U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Turkey Textbook Report. It is high time that the activists of the global “human rights community” condemned or at least publicly discussed this “culture of hate” in the Muslim communities — and particularly the Christianophobia.
American pastors in Turkey are being arrested hand over fist.
American Pastor Andrew Brunson, of the Resurrection Protestant Church, was arrested in Izmir (Smyrna)on October 7 alongside his wife, Norine Lyn Brunson, for “threatening the national security of Turkey.” Brunson is expected to be deported in 15 days. The couple is still being held in detention.
Turkish authorities also seized the residence permit of Ryan D. Keating, an American student pursuing a PhD in the philosophy of religion at Ankara University. Keating is a Christian who heads the Ankara Refugee Ministry for the Kurtulus Church. While he was leaving Turkey for work purposes, he was told at the airport that his residence permit in Turkey had been cancelled in September for “national security”, meaning that he will not be able to reenter the country. His wife and children are still in Ankara.
Yet another American Protestant pastor, Patrick Jansen, was not allowed to reenter Gaziantep, where he served. And still another American Protestant was ordered to leave Turkey upon landing at the airport.
They are not the first. In the last four years, more than 100 Christian pastors and other religious officials have been deported from Turkey — the visas of some of them were not renewed or were completely cancelled. They have been banned from reentering.
Pastor Brunson had also been exposed to an armed attack in front of the church in 2011, by a Turkish Muslim from the city of Manisa who shouted: “Al-Qaeda will bring you to account”, called members of the congregation “traitors” and threatened them with “bombing the church in Manisa.”
In the meantime, the Protestant Life Bridge Church, in the southern city of Antakya (Antioch), has been closed and sealed upon a complaint of the National Education Directorate and the order of the governor’s office for “giving education illegally.” The church, officials of which are also American citizens, was giving Bible lessons to its members.
The congregation has started looking for a new place to hold their Sunday services, the Turkish Christian news channel SAT-7 TURK reported on October 8.
The Protestant community in Turkey has been exposed to discrimination and persecution for a long time.
According to a global report by the organization Open Doors,
“Persecution of Christians is more than just physical violence. It is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon that involves many aspects such as various forms of cultural marginalization, government
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In this image provided by the Pairi Daiza park, giant panda holds her newborn baby in her mouth at the park in Brugelette, Belgium, on June 2, 2016. © AP
Belgium and China have celebrated 45 years of diplomatic relations with a panda themed painting contest. An award ceremony marked the 45th anniversary of bilateral relationship between China and Belgium as well as the birth of a giant panda in the latter.
The ceremony held by Belgium Pairi Daiza Zoo included a contest on giant panda-themed artworks to strengthen friendship and people-to-people exchange between the 2 countries.
After speeches circling around Sino-Belgian relations, the event concluded by announcing the 10 winners of the contest. The competition had accepted 980 entries including 431 paintings and 549 photos of outstanding artistic quality. Loading ... | 0 |
Home › SOCIETY | US NEWS › STATE OF GEORGIA FIRES PASTOR BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH; GOVERNMENT DIDN’T “APPROVE” BIBLICAL SERMONS STATE OF GEORGIA FIRES PASTOR BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH; GOVERNMENT DIDN’T “APPROVE” BIBLICAL SERMONS 0 SHARES [10/27/16] In the latest turn of events in the United States Government’s war against Christianity, a Pastor is now being required by a Federal court to turn over the transcripts and notes of all of the sermons he has ever conducted. A minister who was hired by the Georgia Department of Public Health was recently fired because of his faith, and sermon contents. Dr. Eric Walsh, a Seventh-day Adventist lay minister, is suing the State of Georgia Department of Public Health for religious discrimination.
A very simple question should cross your mind as you read this report, should my pastor’s sermons be approved by the Government or God?
The state of Georgia inquired that the pastor relinquish his sermons to the government, according to federal court documents.
“Please produce a copy of your sermon notes and/or transcripts,” Attorney General Samuel Olens wrote to attorneys representing Dr. Eric Walsh.
Dr. Walsh refuses to comply with the request because in May 2014, when Walsh was hired by the District Health Director; another government official asked him to submit copies of his sermons for review. He complied, and two days later he was fired.
His attorneys said the government was curious about sermons Dr. Walsh delivered on health, marriage, sexuality, world religions, science, and creationism. He also preached on what the Bible says regarding homosexuality.
Since the event, Dr. Walsh has filed a federal lawsuit charging state officials with engaging in religious discrimination.
“He was fired for something he said in a sermon,” attorney Jeremy Dys told me. “If the government is allowed to fire someone over what he said in his sermons, they can come after any of us for our beliefs on anything.”
Dr. Walsh has assembled a powerhouse legal team comprised of Parks, Chesin & Walbert along with First Liberty Institute, one of the nation’s most prominent religious liberty law firms. Post navigation | 0 |
TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Lost jobs, empty storefronts and shrinking populations. It’s an image of rural America ingrained in many people’s minds, and one that was often reinforced in the election. The reality is far more complex and can be seen — and smelled, in the paint — inside a Clif Bar factory that opened here last summer in Idaho. The largest yogurt plant in the world is here, too, opened in 2013 by Chobani, the Greek yogurt giant, in a vast space of whirring robots, steel tanks and 1, 000 employees. New manufacturing jobs and population growth have bolstered southern Idaho, bucking the pattern, and the perception, of rural struggle. But the surge only underscores the deeply uneven world of what economists call America, where the recession never ended in some places and is barely remembered in others. Of nearly 2, 000 rural counties in the United States, about 60 percent added jobs last year, while 40 percent contracted, according to federal figures. In such a brutal calculus, economists and local politicians said, little things add up fast: like being close enough to a big city, but not so close as to be crushed by the competition having good access by air and highway for passengers and freight and then having enough trained workers if and when new companies knock on the door. When those gears all mesh, the sweet spot can be sweet indeed. In the region of Idaho anchored by Twin Falls, unemployment is 3. 2 percent — lower than booming Seattle or Idaho’s biggest city, Boise. A kind of ripple effect from prominent companies like Clif and Chobani has forced other companies to raise wages and benefits. fliers are printed daily and handed out to people visiting private social services groups. “Costco is busier, you can’t go into a restaurant on a Friday night without a wait, and developers are trying to keep up,” said Shane Pickup, 28, a project manager who grew up in the area and now lives with his family just east of town. “Just yesterday at work, my boss and I were talking about developing a new neighborhood,” he added. “This is not what Americans think rural America looks like. ” Geography helps explain what has happened. Twin Falls, population 47, 000, is a place where rows of hay and feed corn brush right up against the edge of town, but it’s also the biggest community for a hundred miles in any direction, which makes it a shopping hub. Five new hotels have opened since the end of the recession, and more than 80, 000 people a day drive in to work or shop. It’s a firmly Republican area in a state where President Trump won 42 of 44 counties, and it’s growing. From 2000 to 2015, Twin Falls County’s population increased by almost 25 percent — twice as fast as the nation’s. But above all else, city leaders, business owners and residents say, it’s a practical place, where the old values of hardball competition shape political life. If an idea gets in the way of economic growth, it should be discarded. “Economic development is a blood sport, and I mean that in every single way you can think of it,” said Travis P. Rothweiler, the city manager. Across the country, spots off the beaten path have always found a way to thrive. Bend, Ore. pulled itself up from a collapse of the timber industry by reinventing itself as a place where technology and wilderness could rub shoulders. REI, the outdoor outfitter, moved into a former lumber mill. In other places, like northern Idaho and upstate New York, health care became a niche thanks to Canadians heading south for medical procedures. Moab, Utah, thrived by turning itself into a profitable tourism destination for mountain bikers. What went right in southern Idaho started and ended with the rich volcanic soil. With irrigation, the black dirt was splendid for growing crops, from potatoes to alfalfa, that in turn fed the dairy cows that grew up in what became known as the Magic Valley. Idaho is the state, after California, Wisconsin and New York, and of that industry is clustered within 75 miles of downtown Twin Falls. That’s why Chobani came. The company now buys up to 60 tanker trucks of milk a day from local farmers — 8, 000 gallons of milk per truck — to keep its operation going. Clif Bar, which uses mostly organic ingredients, just reached an agreement to buy its first supply of locally grown organic oats. Chobani pays its workers an average of about $15, while Clif starts at $15: more than twice the minimum wage in Idaho, $7. 25. But the success of Twin Falls poses risks for other rural towns. In its heady growth spurt, Twin Falls is sucking the oxygen from some smaller, struggling communities farther out in the country as retailers and restaurants cluster in the center. Rows of closed downtown stores in nearby places like Buhl stand in sharp contrast to Main Avenue in Twin Falls, where businesses like the Twin Falls Sandwich Company are packed with hungry customers. Idaho’s rural population as a whole fell by more than 5 percent from 2000 to 2015, according to an analysis by Headwaters Economics. “Seems like everything is moving to Boise or Twin Falls,” said Janice Jacobson, 56, the manager of the King’s discount store in Gooding, a town of about 3, 500 people 45 minutes from Twin Falls. King’s, a chain of department stores that has been in business around the West since 1915, announced in February that it would close, unable to compete. Housing construction also never fully recovered from its boom years before the recession, leaving a shortage and prices that were out of reach for Cody and Becky Murphy. “It’s really booming. It’s a good town to be in,” said Mr. Murphy, who works for Idaho Power. But for what they could afford — and given the space requirements for them and their two small children — the housing options were few. “Absolute trash,” Ms. Murphy said, describing the homes they looked at. So after living for seven years in a tiny house owned by Mr. Murphy’s parents, the family moved this year into a home built by a local social services group, and by the Murphys themselves, who shingled the roof and helped frame doors as part of the deal. Labor issues also show the tenuousness of the situation. Much of southern Idaho’s growth since the recession has been linked to dairy products. And most of the workers in the dairies that supply that raw material are mostly from Mexico. “You can’t talk about success in Idaho without talking about labor,” said Bob Naerebout, the executive director of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association. Chobani’s founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, said his company had worked with Idaho colleges to provide technical training for workers to solve its own labor shortage as its factory was going up. He said he saw a huge opportunity for Idaho to build on food technology and safety as a larger industry cluster if partnerships and training could continue. “Our biggest challenge is that we have to find a way to keep the young in Idaho,” Mr. Ulukaya said. Shawn Barigar, the mayor of Twin Falls, said his community could not afford to lose any workers. The battle for survival, he said, whether rural or urban, will allow for only the strong and determined to survive and prevail. “Whatever might be in the future, I think there are ways to adapt and not go away,” he said. | 1 |
Don’t look at Tom Brady next to Joe Montana or Otto Graham. Compare him to Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers. [Mark Wahlberg, no stranger to scary movies (Fear) left early believing the sequel’s draw already dead. But killing Brady proves about as easy as killing Jason. He comes back, again and again and again. Down 25 points in the third quarter, the quarterback engineered the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. Like Ringo, he relied on a little help from his friends. Julian Edelman’s circus catch in triple coverage, Dont’a Hightower’s strip sack leading to a quick Danny Amendola touchdown, and the Pats D pushing the Falcons out of range to force a punt in the fourth quarter all made the impossible possible. But mainly, it was Brady. And all the while, you could hear the creepy Halloween piano tinkling in the background. He threw for 466 yards, shattering a Super Bowl record held for 17 years by Kurt Warner, and completed 43 passes to set another record. He threw for 195 yards in the fourth quarter, slashing the Atlanta Falcons secondary and cutting out the heart of the team’s fanbase. By the time the silver dollar landed on heads, the conclusion, like so many horror endings, seemed a fait accompli. We saw him kill the St. Louis Rams, Carolina Panthers, and Seattle Seahawks similarly. Fans of horror know that in the sequels the similar gets done more spectacularly. So, midway through the third quarter, when the Falcons enjoyed a 99. 6 percent win probability, Tom Brady decided that he liked those odds and did what Tom Brady does. That was Super Bowl 51. That was the last 15 or so seasons. “We all brought each other back,” the Super Bowl MVP, reverting from slasher villain to his alter ego, reflected after the game. “We never felt out of it. ” But the surreal sight of Brady: Part 5, like watching any number of horror sequels, made everyone feel out of it. | 1 |
Donald Trump’s merry band of supporters are surely not known for being the brightest crayons in the box. If anything, they tend to be a dull gray. The GOP nominee himself has even bragged about his loyal following of “poorly educated” dumbasses from across the country. His most fervent backers tend to have shoe sizes with larger numbers than their IQs.
However, what Trump’s followers are known for is their tendency to plan for retaliation if Hillary Clinton wins the presidential election on Tuesday. They have promised a civil war and bloodshed if Trump loses, which they are convinced could only happen if the election is rigged. When you combine these two traits, a penchant for violence and good old-fashioned stupidity, the result can sometimes be terrifying. Other times, it can be downright laughable.
This would be a prime example of the latter.
Meet John. John vehemently supports Trump and his plan to “Make America Great Again.” Fearing a Clinton presidency, he has decided that if she wins the White House, he will have no choice to engage in an act of “civil disobedience.” You know, to show the government that he means business and all. Consequently, this brilliant man has managed to come up with the dumbest act of “civil disobedience” ever.
So just what does John the genius plan to do? He’s going to block the drive-thru at McDonald’s. After all, this is where all the illegal immigrants are working. That’s it. That’s his scheme in its entirety. Blocking the drive-thru at McDonald’s. Because, that’ll show ’em, dammit! John, 67, says if Trump loses he’ll do civil disobedience like blocking the drive-thru of McDonald’s where illegal immigrants work. pic.twitter.com/pESFnD83E2
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 5, 2016
Trump supporters certainly don’t represent the best and brightest that America has to offer. But despite the fact that the majority of them are idiots, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to fill out a ballot. These people will be voting. The only way to keep these racist morons from deciding the fate of the country is for Democrats to turn out in droves on Tuesday and defeat Trump in a landslide…even if it does mean that grabbing breakfast at McDonald’s may take a little longer than usual on Nov. 9 due to a crazy guy blocking the drive-thru.
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Citi’s chief political analyst, Tina Fordham has had a busy month.
At the start of October – when Trump’s victory odds were in the gutter and a Clinton presidency had been priced in – in a hotly debated statement, she suggested that the establishment may be approaching the US presidential completely incorrectly: “This is an unusual juncture but we keep looking at it through the same kinds of lenses. What if it’s all wrong because society, technology, opinion polling methods, and everything else don’t capture marginalized voters in the way they might once have?”
According to Fordham, the US presidential race felt more like an election in a developing nation where public distrust in government is high and conspiracy theories are rife. Markets seem unaware how much that low trust raises the risk of an anti-establishment vote. Fordham has focused on the Gallup World Poll on public health, which analyzes two decades’ worth of health records of Trump supporters. The numbers show a correlation between the increase in the number of people going through difficult times – as measured by suicide rates, depression, mental illness and drug addiction – and the rise in Trump’s popularity, Fordham said.
“This is the kind of thing that investors just don’t normally run into, but it provides another useful way to think about things because income inequality is necessary but not sufficient,” she said. “There is something more subtle going on about public expectations and exhaustion and a sense of corruption, elite abuse of power, and lack of control.”
Her conclusion was troubling for Clinton fans: “ I’m getting this Brexit-y feeling and I know other investors are as well,” she said. “The thinking is: I didn’t expect Brexit, so I better assume Trump is going to win. That element of investor psychology is at play here.”
She followed up on Monday , when she predicted that the FBI’s Friday announcement “could have a meaningful impact on the presidential race” and cautioned that this may not be the end of it: “we continue to emphasize the potential for more Black Swan events emerging making things more complicated for forecasters and pollsters.”
Today, in her latest media appearance, Fordham has penned an Op-Ed for the FT, looking at the post-election landscape and warning that “ Investors face political risk whoever wins in the US election .”
She first analyzes if a a Clinton victory will “mean business as usual for America and the global order” and responds: “ Not so fast.”
Investors should brace themselves for the new form of advanced economy political risk, what ever the outcome of the US presidential election.
First, any market relief from a victory for Mrs Clinton over Donald Trump, her Republican opponent, will almost certainly be followed by the realization that a divided Congress will mean a return to gridlock and brinkmanship over the debt ceiling with little prospect for reform.
More broadly, following the vote in the UK to leave the EU, the rise of Mr Trump and, according to a YouGov study, authoritarian populism, politics in advanced economies are having what might be termed an emerging markets moment. Vox populi risk, a concept I formulated in 2012 after a wave of protests, coups and the rise of non-mainstream political parties, has become a global phenomenon.
She then notes that “the economic and market implications of advanced economy political risks are more likely to become systemically significant than their emerging markets counterparts. According to the International Monetary Fund’s recently published World Economic Outlook, political risk in the advanced economies has become the biggest threat to global growth.”
Specifically, she envisages the Trump campaign:
From threats to jail opponents on corruption charges to the proliferation of conspiracy theories, the Trump campaign and its supporters have borrowed heavily from the EM political playbook, sowing doubts not only about his opponent’s suitability for office but also about US political institutions. A majority of Republicans now say they believe the election will be rigged, according to data from Pew Research Center, despite the lack of any precedent in US election history for such claims.
Reverting to her notion that the US election looks a lot like that of a developing nation, she notes that “ what links this advanced economy political risk with its EM cousin is low trust in institutions and elites — political and business elites, “experts”and the media. It is trust, plus belief in the future, not growth alone, that immunizes the body politic against the populist virus. The collapse of trust is also evident in the sheer number of outright lies the fact-checking website Politifact has tracked during the campaign. If everything is bogus than anything goes .”
There are also the market implications:
The reaction of financial markets may be the starkest illustration of this change in trend. According to the Brookings Institution, the effect of Mr Trump’s candidacy has been to give rise to price movements suggesting that a Trump victory would reduce the value of the S&P 500 and lead to a 25 per cent decline in the Mexican peso, as well as pricing in future volatility.
However, Fordham’s punchline has little to do with a Trump victory, but rather the consequences of another Clinton presidency:
Mr Trump may be heading for defeat but the prevalence of low trust, identity politics and demographic divides across the developed world suggests that he will not be the last non-mainstream candidate to come close to power . This constellation of risks will be in evidence before elections next year in Germany, France and the Netherlands, and will have a significant impact on Brexit negotiations. Moreover, a Clinton presidency is highly likely to be marked by near-continuous investigations as well as the risk of impeachment.
If Citi is right the pre-election circus, and endless drama and theatrics is just the beginning of what is about to be unleashed, a world in which the political realities of DM and EM worlds will converge: “The new normal in advanced economies looks a lot like the emerging markets’ old normal, but with considerably higher stakes for the global economy.” We encourage you to share and republish our reports, analyses, breaking news and videos ( Click for details ).
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Polls in the French presidential race are tightening as Emmanuel Macron’s campaign gets off to a lacklustre start and more voters come out in support of Marine Le Pen. [According to a new poll from released Thursday, the gap is narrowing between presidential candidate Macron and rival Le Pen, with Macron losing two percentage points in just two days, L’Express reports. Macron dropped below 60 per cent to 59 per cent, with Le Pen at 41 per cent. The survey was carried out multiple times since February and Le Pen has only crossed the symbolic 40 per cent mark twice. In the first polling after they had made it through to the second round, the En Marche! candidate had polled at 65 per cent of voting intentions, compared with 35 per cent for Le Pen. Macron’s sudden drop in the polls could be linked to his PR disaster earlier this week when he visited a Whirlpool factory in his hometown of Amiens which is under threat of closure due to outsourcing. Upstaging the planned visit, Le Pen met with the plant workers and was greeted with cheers and staff lining up for selfies. Several hours later when Macron arrived he was met with whistles, boos, and chants of “Marine for President!” Polling firm Elabe has produced a poll that presents another reason for Macron’s decline. According to the survey, only 43 per cent of those surveyed thought that Macron’s campaign had gotten off to a good start. Fifty per cent said Le Pen’s campaign had started strong immediately after the first round results. Not even Macron’s own supporters felt their candidate had started strongly, with 17 per cent believing the campaign could have started better. Le Pen and other candidates in the first round have accused Macron of being a member of the establishment and the global elite due to his background in the world of investment banking. Macron’s views were slammed by Le Pen in her victory speech Sunday evening when she framed the second round race as a debate between globalism and patriotism, saying the “survival of France” was at stake. Ms. Le Pen has also made it clear that as president she would be tough on security issues including a proposal to detain domestic radical Islamists and deport foreign radicals. Macron, by contrast, has said that such a move would harm intelligence gathering and has said that terrorism should be considered a part of daily life in France. Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson@breitbart. com | 1 |
Over the past week there has been an escalating feud between the executive and judicial branches of the U. S. government. When a Federal District Court judge in Seattle, James Robart, blocked President Trump’s travel ban, Trump went on the attack, calling Robart a “ judge,” the ruling “ridiculous” and the courts “so political. ” Even “a bad high school student would understand” why his ban should stay in place, the president said. Trump’s own nominee to the Supreme Court called the president’s comments “demoralizing” and “disheartening. ” When one story on the deepening drama ran on the home page, a reader noticed that its home page headline referred to the executive branch merely as the “U. S. ” The story’s digital headline read: “Justice Department Urges Appeals Court to Reinstate Trump’s Travel Ban,” while the home page version was: “U. S. Urges Court to Revive Ban Hearing Set for Tuesday. ” The public editor’s take: That’s a good catch. I’m sympathetic to headline writers, who are constricted by space limitations as they try to convey ideas clearly and accurately. And in most usage, referring to the executive branch U. S. is appropriate. In this case, it’s misleading. Trump also continued his onslaught of the news media, claiming that it plays down coverage of terrorist attacks. The White House even released a list of 78 attacks it claimed the media undercovered. Several readers wrote in to ask The Times to push back, which the paper did, publishing a compilation of the attacks that the paper has covered thoroughly. It did so, however, to the chagrin of some other readers. The public editor’s take: I am in full agreement. Playing defense is not the position The Times wants to find itself in — not over frivolous charges, anyway. If Trump or his administration challenges the thrust of a story based on anonymous sources, The Times has an obligation to explain itself to readers. Otherwise, taking such bait is just a distraction. Trump also targeted The Times specifically this week through his favorite medium, Twitter. This prompted several readers to ask whether The Times could take legal recourse against the president. The public editor’s take: I went out looking for answers from a pair of knowledgeable legal hands, and here’s what I found: The president has broad immunity from civil claims arising from the performance of his official duties. There is a convoluted legal argument over how broad. The matter of whether a judge would classify “tweeting” as an official duty remains untested. I’m guessing no lawsuit from The Times is coming anytime soon. Nor should there be one, in my view. That would be a waste of resources and would cast the news organization in opposition to the president. Its job is to cover him, fairly and aggressively. A line in a column about Kirsten Gillibrand and the left raised the eyebrows of a couple readers for its perceived sexism. The public editor’s take: Hmmm. I’m alert to coverage with sexist overtones and I’ll be writing more in the future — so keep those letters coming. In this case, my antenna didn’t go off. I took Ginia Bellafante’s pudding reference as the wry commentary of a columnist — a category of journalist that enjoys more leeway. Several readers this week also took issue with The Times’s explanation for the rating of the film “Sophie and the Rising Sun”: “Rated R for interracial sexy time. ” We took this question to Stephanie Goodman, the film editor, for an explanation. The public editor’s take: A little levity in movie ratings? Seems like a little fun to me. Finally, a lifelong reader of The Times passed away recently, and his granddaughter wrote in to tell us how much he appreciated the paper till his final day. Perhaps some reading indoors, in memory of Shanahan’s grandfather, would help those of us in the Northeast brave the snow. Updated 11:00 a. m. February 10, to include Trump’s latest attack on The Times, earlier Friday morning. | 1 |
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A Trump presidency will have implications for NATO Donald Trump could reassess America’s foreign policy priorities, and that would almost certainly lead to a new strategic role for NATO – including a greater emphasis on fighting terrorism abroad Donald Trump could reassess America’s foreign policy priorities, and that would almost certainly lead to a new strategic role for NATO – including a greater emphasis on fighting terrorism abroad.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg responds to a question about the U.S. elections at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Nov. 9. Photo: AP
Shortly before the 2016 presidential election in the U.S. , when most European and American politicians expected the victory of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton , NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced his plans to increase the combat readiness of the Alliance’s troops in Europe.
In addition, he said that NATO should respond to the policy of its key opponent, Russia. However after the victory of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the American presidential race, Stoltenberg changed his priorities and called on NATO to fight with terrorism first and foremost, relegating the containment of Russia to the secondary agenda. ;
With Trump coming to the White House, Washington is likely to reassess its foreign policy priorities, which also could lead to changes in NATO’s military strategy. Will the North Atlantic Treaty Organization deploy rapid deployment troops? Most importantly, who will pay for this under Trump?
Read the Q&A with Dmitri Trenin: " Trump's presidency and the future of US-Russia relations " Anyway, there are some controversial ideas in the pre-election statements of the U.S. President-elect on the country’s national security and the necessity to reassess its military doctrine. Specifically, the new American leader admitted the possibility of using torture in the cases of those suspected of terrorism. Moreover, he said that using nuclear weapons against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Greater Syria (ISIS) would be a potential option. At the same time, he criticized Obama’s policy toward Iran and North Korea , two states that could pose nuclear challenges to the world.
Amidst this rhetoric, Trump’s statements about security look very disjointed. According to his logic, security is never free and every country should pay for it by itself. At the same time, he believes that America should not impose its universal values on those who don’t agree with them.
So, Trump is an outsider, a populist and a contrarian. He is alien to the American establishment. That’s why he can afford to violate the rules of the current political system – but only up to a point. Such a wanton approach is more difficult when it comes to foreign policy. However, the U.S.-President-elect identified himself as a pragmatist. He has not ruled out that he will be driven by pragmatic calculations in his defense politics. And establishing a European defense system will test his pragmatism.
If Europeans seek an American-led defense, they will have to pay for it. If the European Union believes that Moscow poses a threat to Eastern Europe, it is Brussels that should create the necessary infrastructure for the deployment of American forces. According to Trump’s logic, NATO itself should be more self-reliant in fostering European security.
So, Trump looks like a typical and cynical realist. He repeatedly criticized the Obama administration’s policy in Syria and Iraq: The U.S. campaign against ISIS failed, and now the prospects for the Mosul military operation against the terrorists are in limbo. Most importantly, American troops are fighting in Iraq.
Probably, Trump expects the EU to play a greater role in the international coalition against ISIS and more rigorously shoulder the burden of the war in the Middle East . It is not ruled out that the new American president will fight with Islamic terrorism with greater tenacity and will try to involve other stakeholders, including Russia. Such an approach will allow him to boost his rankings amidst the failures of the previous administration to tackle terrorism. After all, it could be interpreted as his decisiveness in defending the American national interest.
It is quite likely that Trump will agree on constructive and large-scale cooperation with the Kremlin in Syria and will try to bring NATO's forces to the operation. In this context, the prompt creation of additional forces of rapid deployment, which would be ready to take part in clashes in the Middle East by spring 2017, would surely benefit Trump.
Notwithstanding the paradox, the force structure proposed by Stoltenberg cannot seriously threaten Russia. It is likely that both NATO's Secretary General and the Head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, understand this. While the latter recently called once again for the creation of a European army , it will also be incapable of changing the situation and influencing the balance of power in the region.
In case of Russia's intervention in Eastern Europe or NATO's attack on Russia, the war will be rapid and mobile with nuclear deterrence weapons playing the key role. According to the forecasts of Western military experts, the Baltic capitals might fall in two-three days while Prague and Warsaw could fall in 7-10 days after the beginning of the conflict.
It is also seems unlikely that NATO would deploy thousands of its military on Russian borders to pressure the Kremlin or threaten it in case of escalation in Ukraine or the Baltic States . The countries of Eastern Europe simply do not have an infrastructure to accommodate such a large number of forces. Not more than 100,000 people took part in the largest NATO military drills in Eastern Europe over the last 25 years. And they were located in different countries.
Recommended: " Why Russia has no reason to celebrate a Trump presidency yet " Creating such infrastructure, which would be vulnerable to tactical nuclear weapons due to the close proximity to Russian borders, might take more than a year. Although Lithuania and Estonia are already financing the bases in Sauliai and Ämari, the number of airplanes located there is not high.
Thus, the new American leader might carry out a very pragmatic policy regardless of his populist rhetoric. He is likely to attempt a reset in Washington's relations with Moscow and might change the U.S. policy in Ukraine.
At the same time it is not correct to consider Trump a "friend of the Kremlin" as some Russian politicians do. Trump is protecting U.S. national interests, not Russia's and is following the principles of Realpolitik .
He seeks to extricate his country from unnecessary expenditures, the threat of terrorism and boost the U.S. economy. If Russia can partly contribute to these efforts, the cooperation will be possible. If American national interests clash with those of Russia, then cooperation will not be possible.
Trump will not forget about Europe, which the U.S. has guarded since 1945. He will act pragmatically because cooperation with Brussels in the Middle East is important for fighting terrorism. In addition, Brussels will remain an irreplaceable partner for the U.S. in case of escalation of tensions with Russia over Ukraine.
That's why the creation of new rapid deployment contingents and system of European forces coordination, as well as increasing their mobilization capability, will be beneficial for Trump. Of course, if it will be Brussels that funds these initiatives, not Washington.
The ;opinion ;of the author may not necessarily reflect the position of Russia Direct or its staff. | 0 |
On the campaign trail, Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has sold himself as a businessman who has made billions of dollars and is beholden to no one. But an investigation by The New York Times into the financial maze of Mr. Trump’s real estate holdings in the United States reveals that companies he owns have at least $650 million in debt — twice the amount than can be gleaned from public filings he has made as part of his bid for the White House. The Times’s inquiry also found that Mr. Trump’s fortunes depend deeply on a wide array of financial backers, including one he has cited in attacks during his campaign. For example, an office building on Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, of which Mr. Trump is part owner, carries a $950 million loan. Among the lenders: the Bank of China, one of the largest banks in a country that Mr. Trump has railed against as an economic foe of the United States, and Goldman Sachs, a financial institution he has said controls Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, after it paid her $675, 000 in speaking fees. Real estate projects often involve complex ownership and mortgage structures. And given Mr. Trump’s long real estate career in the United States and abroad, as well as his claim that his personal wealth exceeds $10 billion, it is safe to say that no previous major party presidential nominee has had finances nearly as complicated. As president, Mr. Trump would have substantial sway over monetary and tax policy, as well as the power to make appointments that would directly affect his own financial empire. He would also wield influence over legislative issues that could have a significant impact on his net worth, and would have official dealings with countries in which he has business interests. Yet The Times’s examination underscored how much of Mr. Trump’s business remains shrouded in mystery. He has declined to disclose his tax returns or allow an independent valuation of his assets. Earlier in the campaign, Mr. Trump submitted a federal financial disclosure form. It said his businesses owed at least $315 million to a relatively small group of lenders and listed ties to more than 500 limited liability companies. Though he answered the questions, the form appears to have been designed for candidates with simpler finances than his, and did not require disclosure of portions of his business activities. Beyond finding that companies owned by Mr. Trump had debts of at least $650 million, The Times discovered that a substantial portion of his wealth is tied up in three passive partnerships that owe an additional $2 billion to a string of lenders, including those that hold the loan on the Avenue of the Americas building. If those loans were to go into default, Mr. Trump would not be held liable, the Trump Organization said. The value of his investments, however, would certainly sink. Mr. Trump has said that if he were elected president, his children would be likely to run his company. Many presidents, to avoid any appearance of a conflict, have placed their holdings in blind trusts, which typically involves selling the original asset, and replacing it with different assets unknown to the seller. Mr. Trump’s children seem unlikely to pursue that option. Richard W. Painter, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota and, from 2005 to 2007, the chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, compared Mr. Trump to Henry M. Paulson Jr. a former chief executive of Goldman Sachs whom Mr. Bush appointed as Treasury secretary. Professor Painter advised Mr. Paulson on his decision to sell his Goldman Sachs shares, saying it was clear that Mr. Paulson could not simply have placed that stock in trust and pretended it did not exist. If Mr. Trump were to use a blind trust, the professor said, it would be “like putting a gold watch in a box and pretending you don’t know it is in there. ” “I am the king of debt,” Mr. Trump once said on CNN. “I love debt. ” But in his career, debt has sometimes gotten the better of him, leading to at least four business bankruptcies. He is, however, quick to stress that these days his companies have very little debt. Mr. Trump indicated in the financial disclosure form he filed in connection with this campaign that he was worth at least $1. 5 billion, and has said publicly that the figure is actually greater than $10 billion. Recent estimates by Forbes and Fortune magazines and Bloomberg have put his worth at less than $5 billion. To gain a better understanding of Mr. Trump’s holdings and debt, The Times engaged RedVision Systems, a national property information firm, to search publicly available data on more than 30 properties in the United States. The Times identified these assets through Federal Election Commission filings, information provided by the Trump Organization and records, such as filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The search covered thousands of pages of public information, including loan documents, land leases and property deeds. It concentrated on Mr. Trump’s commercial holdings, including office towers, golf courses, a vineyard in Virginia and even an industrial building in South Carolina that he ended up with after a troubled business venture involving Donald Trump Jr. The inquiry also examined some of Mr. Trump’s residential properties, including his penthouse apartment on Fifth Avenue and a house he owns in Beverly Hills, Calif. The examination did not include Mr. Trump’s dealings outside the United States. That Mr. Trump seems to have so much less debt on his disclosure form than what The Times found is not his fault, but rather a function of what the form asks candidates to list and how. The form, released by the Federal Election Commission, asks that candidates list assets and debts not in precise numbers, but in ranges that top out at $50 million — appropriate for most candidates, but not for Mr. Trump. Through its examination, The Times was able to discern the amount of debt taken out on each property, and its ownership structure. At 40 Wall Street in Manhattan, a limited liability company, or L. L. C. controlled by Mr. Trump holds the ground lease — the lease for the land on which the building stands. In 2015, Mr. Trump borrowed $160 million from Ladder Capital, a small New York firm, using that lease as collateral. On his financial disclosure form that debt is listed as valued at more than $50 million. Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, said that Mr. Trump could have left the liability section on the form blank, because federal law requires that presidential candidates disclose personal liabilities, not corporate debt. Mr. Trump, he said, has no personal debt. “We overdisclosed,” Mr. Weisselberg said, explaining that it was decided that when a Trump company owned 100 percent of a property, all of the associated debt would be disclosed, something that he said went beyond what the law required. For properties where a Trump company owned less than 100 percent of a building, Mr. Weisselberg said, those debts were not disclosed. Mr. Trump, for example, has a 50 percent stake in the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. In 2010, the company that owns the hotel refinanced a $190 million loan, according to Real Capital Analytics, a commercial real estate data and analytics firm. Mr. Weisselberg said that a Trump entity was responsible for half the debt, and that all but $6. 4 million of the loan had been paid off. The Times found three other instances in which Mr. Trump had an ownership interest in a building but did not disclose the debt associated with it. In all three cases, Mr. Trump had passive investments in limited liability companies that had borrowed significant amounts of money. One of these investments involves an office tower at 1290 Avenue of Americas, near Rockefeller Center. In a typically complex deal, loan documents show that four lenders — German American Capital, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank UBS Real Estate Securities Goldman Sachs Mortgage Company and Bank of China — agreed in November 2012 to lend $950 million to the three companies that own the building. Those companies, obscurely named HWA 1290 III LLC, HWA 1290 IV LLC and HWA 1290 V LLC, are owned by three other companies in which Mr. Trump has stakes. Ultimately, through his investments, Mr. Trump is a 30 percent owner of the building, records show. Vornado Realty Trust owns the other 70 percent and is the controlling partner. A similar ownership structure is in place at 555 California Street in San Francisco, formerly the Bank of America Center. There, Pacific Life Insurance Company and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company lent $600 million in 2011 to a limited liability company of which Vornado owns 70 percent and Mr. Trump owns 30 percent. Green Street Advisors, a real estate research firm, estimates the combined value of the two buildings to be about $3. 7 billion. On a smaller scale, Mr. Trump also has a 4 percent partnership interest in a company that has an interest in a large Brooklyn housing complex, and owes roughly $410 million to Wells Fargo, according to Bloomberg data. The full terms of Mr. Trump’s limited partnerships are not known. The current value of the loans connected to them is roughly $1. 95 billion, according to various public documents. Mr. Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, said that neither Mr. Trump nor the company were responsible for the debt associated with the limited partnerships. Still, as with all of the properties in which Mr. Trump holds an interest, the value of the buildings as well as the terms and magnitude of their debt could have a major impact on his personal fortune. Mr. Trump, Mr. Weisselberg added, was liable for a “small percentage of the corporate debt” listed on the federal filing but would not elaborate. Other instances in which Mr. Trump could be personally responsible can be found in public filings. He guaranteed as much as $26 million for the loan taken out against his land lease at 40 Wall Street, money the lender could take if certain things went wrong. The United States Office of Government Ethics, which reviewed Mr. Trump’s financial filing before the F. E. C. released it, said it does not comment on submissions by individual candidates. The agency’s procedures for staff members reviewing presidential submissions, a copy of which was obtained by The Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, say the Office of Government Ethics does not audit reports for accuracy. “Disclosures are to be taken at ‘face value’ as correct, unless there is a patent omission or ambiguity or the official has independent knowledge of matters outside the report,” the procedures say. Tracing the ownership of many of Mr. Trump’s buildings can be a complicated task. Sometimes he owns a building and the land underneath it sometimes, he holds a partial interest or just the commercial portion of a property. And in some cases, the identities of his business partners are obscured behind limited liability companies — raising the prospect of a president with unknown business ties. At 40 Wall Street, Mr. Trump does not own even a sliver of the actual land his ground lease gives him the right to improve and manage the building. The land is owned by two limited liability companies Mr. Trump pays the two entities a total of $1. 6 million a year for the ground lease, according to documents filed with the S. E. C. The majority owner, 40 Wall Street Holdings Corporation, owns 80 percent of the land New Scandic Wall Limited Partnership owns the rest, according to public documents. New Scandic Wall Limited Partnership’s chief executive is Joachim Ferdinand von a businessman based in Europe, according to these documents. The people behind 40 Wall Street Holdings are harder to identify. For years, Germany’s Hinneberg family, which made its fortune in the shipping industry, controlled the property through a company called 40 Wall Limited Partnership. In late 2014, their interest in the land was transferred to a new company, 40 Wall Street Holdings. The Times was not able to identify the owner or owners of this company, and the Trump Organization declined to comment. Mr. Trump has ground leases on several other properties, including a golf course in New York’s Hudson Valley and retail space in Midtown Manhattan. Private owners are also behind these leases, their identities sometimes obscured by L. L. C. s. Mr. Trump’s status in these situations is indicated by the word tenant, which is listed under his signature on many of the relevant documents. Mr. Trump also holds a ground lease on the Trump International Hotel in the Old Post Office building in Washington, a few blocks from the White House. The federal government, which owns the land, gave a lease to Trump Old Post Office, a limited liability company controlled by Mr. Trump and members of his family. In return, the government receives a minimum of $3 million a year from the company. Mr. Weisselberg said that despite his holdings, Mr. Trump should not be held to the same standards that might apply to the heads of companies in highly regulated industries. “If you take away all the fancy stuff and so on and so forth, and the ratings, you are basically down to a closely held business that is fundamentally different from IBM or Exxon,” Mr. Weisselberg said, quoting from an email he had received from Donald F. McGahn, a lawyer and former chairman of the F. E. C. who advised Mr. Trump on his federal filing. Mr. McGahn did not return calls for comment. Others disagree. Mr. Trump’s opaque portfolio of business ties makes him potentially vulnerable to the demands of banks, and to business people in the United States and abroad, said Professor Painter, the former chief White House ethics lawyer. “The success of his empire depends on an ability to get credit, to get loans extended to his business entities,” he said. “And we simply don’t know a lot about his financial dealings, here or around the world. ” | 1 |
HAKONE, Japan — In 1967, Mie Hama was Hollywood’s newest sex symbol. That year, the Japanese film star appeared alongside Sean Connery in the James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice,” playing 007’s bride, Kissy Suzuki. She was also featured in Playboy, which proclaimed her “the Brigitte Bardot of Japan. ” Yet, Ms. Hama never appeared in another Hollywood film. A few years later, she walked out of her contract with the Japanese studio Toho to marry and raise a family, telling dumbfounded executives that she wanted “a normal life. ” She remained a celebrity in Japan but completely revamped her public image, becoming a television and radio host, an advocate for preserving old farms and farming techniques, a connoisseur of folk art and the author of 14 books — on manners and — that have proven enormously popular among women. For decades, she seldom talked about the 007 film and her status as one of Asia’s first Bond girls (along with her Japanese Akiko Wakabayashi). But now, as “You Only Live Twice” turns 50, she has become more willing to reflect on her bittersweet moment of global stardom, and her decision to discard that in search of something more authentic and personal. “It was an honor to be a Bond girl, but once was enough,” Ms. Hama, now 73, said in an interview at her home in this quiet mountain resort town. “I didn’t want that image to stick with me. I am actually a subdued and steady person, but I felt that somewhere beyond my control, others were creating a character named ‘Mie Hama. ’” Even a later, Ms. Hama (who pronounces her name ) seems to intentionally distance herself from her former movie actress persona. She wore a quietly elegant kimono, her hair boyishly cut above her ears, a far cry from the image of a beauty that made her one of the heroines of the golden age of Japanese film in the early 1960s. Her home, made from lumber that she collected from old farmhouses, is decorated like a museum of Japanese traditional crafts, with large pottery urns, stenciled fabrics and paintings of nearby Mt. Fuji on display. Absent is any poster, photograph or other hint of her prolific film career in Japan, or of her brief moment in the world limelight as a Bond girl. “That is all stored somewhere in the basement,” she said. “I don’t like to dwell on the past. ” Ms. Hama said she never felt at ease on the silver screen. Born in a Tokyo family whose small cardboard factory burned down in World War II, she grew up poor. She was working as a ticket puncher on a bus at 16, when Toho discovered her. She quickly became a major star in Japan but spent much of her free time trying to escape on backpacking trips to Europe and India, where she said she agonized over whether to stay in acting. She had already starred in almost 70 movies, monster films to teen romances, when she was asked to audition for the Bond film in 1966. She said she thought the director, Lewis Gilbert, picked her because he had seen “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” a 1962 Japanese monster movie in which Ms. Hama played Kong’s love interest. “I had never seen a 007 movie, and had no idea 007 was such a huge international hit,” she recalled. She didn’t realize what she had gotten herself into until arriving in London, when someone from the studio demanded a look inside her suitcase. She obligingly opened it to reveal some and bluejeans, she said. “You’re a Bond girl now,” she recalled being told. “The clothes you wear, the jewelry you put on, we will manage all of that. ” The next day, expensive dresses began appearing at her hotel room door. “Everything from my weight to the height of my heels was decided,” she said. “It may have looked glamorous, but for me, it was all a huge ordeal. ” During this lonely time, she said she received important emotional support from her Sean Connery, whom she described as a kindred spirit from a background. She said Mr. Connery became a role model, a professional who was down to earth off camera, but who could magically turn into the dapper superspy at the shout of “Action!” “I was just a girl,” she recalled. “Every morning, he asked if I was having any trouble. He also had a tough life before becoming a star, so he understood me. ” Even today, she still respectfully calls him “Sean . ” She said she now regrets not trying to speak with him more or get to know him. She never met Mr. Connery again after the movie’s release. (Mr. Connery declined to comment for this article through a representative, who said he was retired.) In Japan, where much of the movie was filmed, the role increased Ms. Hama’s cachet by catapulting her into the tiny pantheon of Japanese actors who had made it in Hollywood, including Toshiro Mifune and Machiko Kyo. It also helped cement her image: At she stood shoulder to shoulder with many of Japan’s male leads. “Mie Hama was seen as a modern beauty able to hold her own with actresses in the West,” said Sota Setogawa, author of several books on postwar film. “It turned out that that was not the real Mie Hama, but just an image. ” It was an image that Ms. Hama tried for a time to maintain. Photos from this era invariably show her clad in a white bikini. She played a role in at least one subsequent film made in Japan, appearing as the villainous foreign agent Madame Piranha in the 1967 “King Kong Escapes. ” But she said she turned down many offers from Hollywood to play a similar role. She dropped out of films altogether to marry a television executive — they remain married to this day — and have her four children. She said she was looking for something but didn’t yet know what. At 40, she said, she finally had her epiphany while driving through rural Japan. She came across an old farming village that was being torn down to build a dam. She yelled at her driver to pull over and was heartbroken to meet an old woman being forced out of her home. “Japan was giving up its real self in its rush for economic development,” Ms. Hama said. “I realized that Japan had to get back to its real self. And so did I. ” She said she spent the next three decades telling fans to value what is authentic in Japan, and in themselves. In her most recent book, “Solitude Can Be a Wonderful Thing,” she encourages other women to live in a way that is true to themselves, even if others oppose it. “It can be lonely to live on your own terms, but it is the way to real happiness,” she said. “My experiences have taught me that. ” | 1 |
WASHINGTON, D. C. — Vice President Mike Pence addressed a sea of nearly 20, 000 people at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference on Sunday, where he spoke of the “unbreakable” bond between the United States and Israel. [Pence also assured those gathered that his administration would subdue the Iranian regime’s destabilizing efforts in the region, vowing that the atrocities which haunt the Jewish people from the past would never again manifest itself. He also reiterated President Donald Trump’s promise to move the U. S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “After decades of simply talking about it, the President of the United States is giving serious consideration to moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” Pence said. Last month, Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said his administration was looking at the move “very, very strongly. ” He also said, “We’re looking at it with great care. ” Pence noted that while talks between the Israelis and Palestinians would require some compromises, “President Trump will never compromise the safety and security of the Jewish State Israel. ” The Islamic Republic of Iran’s destabilizing efforts in the Middle East have been a major concern for America’s regional allies. But the threat has not been greater for any nation than for Israel, the subject of death chants at Iranian schools that attempt to indoctrinate youth against the leader of the free world. The people of Iran, however, are a separate entity from the regime and also suffer under the oppression of the Islamic regime. “The Ayatollahs in Tehran openly admit their desire to wipe Israel off the map and drive its people into the sea,” Pence said. “America will no longer tolerate Iran’s efforts to destabilize the region and jeopardize Israel’s security,” Pence assured. He told them that “under President Donald Trump, the United States of America will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. This is our solemn promise to you, to Israel, and to the world. History attests that enmity toward the Jewish people often turns from evil thought to evil action. ” The vice president was moved to tears as he related the gripping story of his meeting with a Holocaust survivor during his visit to the first Nazi concentration camp in Dachau, Germany, last month, after attending a security conference there. His tour guide, Abdi Noor, 93, had been imprisoned in Dachau as a boy. Pence described the hellish torment Noor had experienced as a slave in the Nazi camp. Then, he described the defining moment of his trip. “Then he stopped, looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said words I’ll never forget. He said, ‘Then the Americans came.’ I was so proud. Those words underscored the imperative of American strength, and they powerfully remind us of the immutable bond between our people and the people of Israel,” Pence said. He added, “Under President Trump’s leadership, America will be strong, stronger than ever before. ” Before Pence took the stage, virtuoso Hagai Shaham played Israel’s national anthem, the “Hatikvah,” on the violin. The Nazis had forced Jews to play violins as they witnessed their fellow Jews march to their deaths in gas chambers. At one point during Shaham’s performance, the crowd lent their voices to the sound of the instrument and sang the words to the song, which means “The Hope. ” Pence finished his speech by telling those gathered, “I know with all of my heart that with your help, with God’s help, and with the strong leadership of President Donald Trump, our nations and our peoples will remain forever friends, and we will go forth together to meet the glorious future that awaits. Thank you. God bless you, God bless Israel, and God bless the United States of America. ” Follow Adelle Nazarian on Facebook and Twitter. | 1 |
BODY BLOW: For a puppet of a loser no one’s ever heard of, Evan McMullin hits back pretty hard Posted at 11:45
Though some suggest the Mormon Mafia was responsible for his rise to power, Evan McMullin nevertheless has made an amazing showing so far in Utah, managing to best both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in one poll.
That momentum put him on Trump’s radar at last. On Saturday, the GOP nominee wrote off McMullin as “a puppet of a loser” whom no one’s heard of. You saw this coming. Trump and Pence finally go after @Evan_McMullin . Trump calls him @BillKristol 's puppet. pic.twitter.com/GKExwfDXZK
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) October 30, 2016 I believe this is the first time Trump has said anything about @Evan_McMullin . Chose to ignore him — until he couldn't.
— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) October 30, 2016 The funniest thing about Trump's attack here is his claim that @Evan_McMullin is "going from coffee shop to coffee shop" to win Utah.
— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) October 30, 2016 @Joel_Searby @realDonaldTrump @Evan_McMullin He's just jealous of your effective coffee shop campaign…in Utah
Word is the Mormon Mafia drove the caffeinated beverage racket almost clean out of the state, but residents are anything but low energy election. Trending
For a puppet, it turns out McMullin can punch back pretty hard. . @realDonaldTrump , Yes you’ve never heard of me because while you were harassing women at beauty pageants, I was fighting terrorists abroad. https://t.co/hNDTWn3HPN
— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) October 30, 2016
That tweet racked up more than 6,000 likes in under an hour, so someone, somewhere must know who he is. @TheRickWilson Congrats to @Evan_McMullin . You know you've made an impact when Trump starts insulting you. | 0 |
Russian oil giant Rosneft to restore Romanov palace near St. Petersburg The residence, which is in a state of disrepair, will be rented to the Russian oil corporation for 99 years and will be opened to tourists following restoration. Facebook rosneft , RBTH Daily , romanov dinasty , st. petersburg The Ropsha Palace was built by decree of Peter the Great. Source: Lori/Legion-Media
The Ropsha Palace, an 18th-century residence near St. Petersburg built by order of Peter the Great, is to be rented to the state-owned Rosneft oil corporation for 99 years.
Making the announcement on Oct. 25, Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky said that the company will restore the palace, which is in a state of disrepair, and will create access for tourists to the estate after restoration. What is the palace famous for?
The Ropsha palace and park ensemble is an 18th-century architectural monument and a former residence of the Romanov imperial family. The estate was built by decree of Peter the Great and was intended to resemble Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic). Later, during Empress Elizabeth's reign, Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli designed a new two-story palace on the site. A large-scale park was cultivated around it.
After Catherine II (the Great) usurped her husband Emperor Peter III, she sent him to Ropsha where he died in mysterious circumstances.
The Ropsha Palace before 1917 / Source: public domain
Following the October Revolution the palace was nationalized, and in 1944 it was burned by the retreating German troops. After the war the estate was restored and it was used for military purposes: First the summer unit was stationed there, then the chemical protection battalion from the Leningrad Military District.
In various periods a fish hatchery was located at Ropsha, as well as a cattle-breeding farm, a poultry farm and other agricultural structures.
In the 1960s the palace was placed under state protection and at the end of the 1970s it was mothballed. How much will it cost to restore the ruins?
Despite the fact that since 1990 the Ropsha palace and park ensemble has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list and is a monument of federal significance, most of the buildings on the estate are in ruins.
The palace after the fire / Source: Kommersant
The palace was severely damaged by several fires in the late 1980s and early 1990s. And in 2015 five columns in the palace's portico collapsed. Afterwards, the Russian Culture Ministry allotted 15 million rubles ($241,000) for urgent work to save the monument.
St. Petersburg officials say that many monuments in Ropsha are heavily damaged and some, such as bridges and hydraulic structures, are completely destroyed. This means the overall cost of the restoration may exceed five billion rubles ($80 million). Why is the state looking for investors to restore the monuments?
Since the high costs and great difficulties in restoring cultural heritage objects do not always permit the state to carry out the work using budget resources, commercial enterprises and patrons are often invited to fund the restoration projects.
The palace after the fire / Source: Kommersant
For example, VTB Bank and the Gatchina Alcohol Factory financed most of the restoration of the Gatchina Palace near St. Petersburg, although the monument remained a government property.
The state can decide to auction or rent cultural heritage objects and dictate the conditions for their renovation. Privatization of local, regional and even federal monuments has existed since Jan. 1, 2008.
There are more than 100 examples of privatized monuments with conditions for their restoration. For example, the recently opened New Holland complex in St. Petersburg was reconstructed with the help of Roman Abramovich's New Holland Development. | 0 |
There is talk of Breitbart bureaus opening in Paris, Berlin and Cairo, spots where the populist right is on the rise. A bigger newsroom is coming in Washington, the better to cover a whose candidacy it embraced. Mainstream news outlets are in the wake of being shocked by Donald J. Trump’s election last week. But the team at Breitbart News, the opinion and news website that some critics have denounced as a hate site, is elated — and eager to expand on a victory that it views as a profound validation of its cause. “So much of the media mocked us, laughed at us, called us all sorts of names,” Alexander Marlow, the site’s editor in chief, said in an interview on Sunday. “And then for us to be seen as integral to the election of a president, despite all of that hatred, is something that we certainly enjoy, and savor. ” Breitbart not only championed Mr. Trump its chairman, Stephen K. Bannon, helped run his campaign. On Sunday, Mr. Trump named Mr. Bannon as his chief White House strategist and senior counselor, further closing the distance between Breitbart’s newsroom and the . Those who consider Mr. Trump, who has vilified the news media, a threat to the free press view Mr. Bannon’s appointment as more cause for alarm. Critics say Breitbart now has the potential to play an unprecedented role in a modern presidency, as a weaponized media adjunct for the White House. “It will be as close as we are ever going to have — hopefully — to a media enterprise,” said Kurt Bardella, a former Breitbart spokesman who quit the site this year, saying it had turned into a de facto “super PAC” for Mr. Trump. Breitbart has been denounced as misogynist, racist and xenophobic, and it served as a clearinghouse for attacks on Mr. Trump’s adversaries, spreading unsubstantiated rumors about Hillary Clinton’s health and undermining its own reporter, Michelle Fields, after she accused Corey Lewandowski, then Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, of assaulting her. The site frequently boasts about knowing the pulse of its readers. News articles with evocative headlines, like “Paris Streets Turned into WARZONE by Violent Migrants,” are frequently followed by comments from readers about “the enemy within,” migrant “scum” and the “ media. ” Breitbart’s writers often vilify the Black Lives Matter movement, emphasizing what they say is a wave of “ crime. ” But the site’s influence on social media, where more and more Americans now consume information, has been palpable. On election night, Breitbart’s Facebook page received the number of user interactions on the entire platform — beating Fox News, CNN and The New York Times. Mr. Marlow, the editor, praised Mr. Bannon on Sunday, saying, “Steve understands the voters, the American people, better than just about anyone. ” But he rejected the premise that Breitbart could become an American version of Pravda. “Our loyalty is not going to be to Donald Trump our loyalty is to our readers and to our values,” Mr. Marlow, 30, said. “That’s regardless of what role Steve has. ” “If Trump runs his administration and honors the voters who voted him in, we’re all good,” Mr. Marlow added. “But if he is going to turn his back on those values and principles that drove his voters to the polls, we’re going to be highly critical. We’re not going to think twice about it. ” For now, Breitbart is supporting the . Its Day coverage has been, if anything, emboldened: “Meltdown Continues: Wave of Fake ‘Hate Crimes’ Sweeps Social Media,” read a headline on its home page on Sunday, attempting to cast doubt on a wave of reports of intimidation and harassment by Trump supporters. “ Crybabies March by Thousands Nationwide,” read another. The site’s expansion of political coverage comes at a time when other news outlets in Washington are concerned about staying relevant with readers — and girding for tensions with a who denounces reporters as dishonest, or worse. A spokesman for the White House Correspondents’ Association, which coordinates press coverage of the White House, declined to comment on Mr. Bannon’s appointment. Andrew Breitbart, the site’s founder, who died in 2012, “used to talk about the complex,” recalled Ben Shapiro, Breitbart’s former editor at large. “It’s hard to think of a more complex than Breitbart and the Trump team,” Mr. Shapiro said. “I’ll be fascinated to see if there are any points of departure, any points of criticism at all. ” Outlets like Fox News, which has a large Republican audience, insist that Breitbart is no competitor, saying that an outlet with few known personalities can hardly compete with television networks that reach tens of millions of homes. Breitbart receives far fewer unique web visitors than Fox News’s digital sites, according to statistics from comScore. Still, its Facebook audience has more than doubled in the last year, and it frequently sets the agenda for social media users with their own mass followings. The site has spotlighted nationalist views and conspiracies once relegated to the fringe. Larry Solov, Breitbart’s chief executive, declined on Sunday to provide revenue figures for the site. Nor would he comment on whether Mr. Bannon, a former Goldman Sachs banker, retains a financial stake. (Mr. Solov is a part owner, along with Andrew Breitbart’s estate and the family of Robert Mercer, a wealthy Trump donor.) Speaking by telephone from Hearst Castle in California, which he was visiting for a postelection vacation, Mr. Solov said that his teams had been flooded with résumés from reporters and even some aspiring journalists with no experience, “who feel motivated and energized. ” “We’ve built a community, and I really emphasize that,” Mr. Solov said. “People come to us because they feel they belong to something. ” Mr. Marlow, the editor, said the site’s international expansion was tied to upcoming elections in France and Germany. He said that Breitbart planned to support the candidacy of Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s National Front party. “There’s an underserved readership” in Europe, Mr. Marlow said, before referring to the recent “Brexit” vote. “It’s the same readers who had been ignored in Britain and had been ignored in the United States. ” On Sunday, with Mr. Bannon elevated to one of the country’s most powerful positions, the site took on a celebratory air. Linking to a story about Mr. Bannon’s new role, the @BreitbartNews Twitter account wrote, to its more than 400, 000 followers: “What a time to be alive. ” | 1 |
Is This Why Comey Broke: A Stack Of Resignation Letters From Furious FBI Agents Source: Zero Hedge
Conspiracy theories have swirled in recent days as to why FBI Director James Comey reopened Hillary's email investigation after just closing it back in July concluding that, although Hillary had demonstrated gross negligence in her establishment of a private email server, that "no reasonable prosecutor" would bring a case against her. Democrats, after lavishing Comey with praise for months on concluding his investigation in an "impartial" way, have since lashed out at him for seeking to influence the 2016 election cycle with Hillary herself describing his recent actions as "deeply troubling". Republicans, on the other hand, have praised Comey's recent efforts as an attempt to correct a corrupt investigation that seemingly ignored critical evidence while granting numerous immunity agreements to Clinton staffers.
According to the Daily Mail , and a source close to James Comey, the decision, at least in part, came after he "could no longer resist mounting pressure by mutinous agents in the FBI" who "felt that he betrayed them and brought disgrace on the bureau by letting Hillary off with a slap on the wrist."
James Comey's decision to revive the investigation of Hillary Clinton's email server and her handling of classified material came after he could no longer resist mounting pressure by mutinous agents in the FBI , including some of his top deputies, according to a source close to the embattled FBI director.
'The atmosphere at the FBI has been toxic ever since Jim announced last July that he wouldn't recommend an indictment against Hillary,' said the source, a close friend who has known Comey for nearly two decades, shares family outings with him, and accompanies him to Catholic mass every week.
'Some people, including department heads, stopped talking to Jim, and even ignored his greetings when they passed him in the hall,' said the source. 'They felt that he betrayed them and brought disgrace on the bureau by letting Hillary off with a slap on the wrist.'
According to the source, Comey fretted over the problem for months and discussed it at great length with his wife, Patrice.
He told his wife that he was depressed by the stack of resignation letters piling up on his desk from disaffected agents. The letters reminded him every day that morale in the FBI had hit rock bottom.
'The people he trusts the most have been the angriest at him,' the source continued. 'And that includes his wife, Pat. She kept urging him to admit that he had been wrong when he refused to press charges against the former secretary of state.
Though we're sure there are many facets behind Comey's decision making process, we can all be quite certain, at this point, that he's not motivated by a desire to make friends having now alienated just about everyone in Washington, both in law enforcement and in both political parties. In fact, after Tim Kaine just last week praised Comey as a "wonderful" career public servant with the "highest standards of integrity" ....
...everything has now been turned on it's head with Hillary calling his latest moves "unprecedented and deeply troubling"...seemingly implying an attempt, on the part of Comey, to "rig" the election from Trump .
Meanwhile, President Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch are apparently also "furious" with Comey over his recent decision.
His announcement about the revived investigation, which came just 11 days before the presidential election, was greeted with shock and dismay by Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the prosecutors at the Justice Department.
'Jim told me that Lynch and Obama are furious with him,' the source said.
'Lynch and Obama haven't contacted Jim directly,' said the source, 'but they've made it crystal clear through third parties that they disapprove of his effort to save face.'
And while the decision to reopen the case may appease FBI agents and republicans, in the short-term, we suspect it does very little to restore overall faith in his competence. As such, we continue to question just how long Comey can hold out before being forced to resign his post. At a bare minimum, in light of his continued questionable judgement and serious doubts raised about the integrity of the first investigation, we fail to understand how an independent investigation into Hillary's email server isn't warranted.
OOOOh! The remorse! The GUILT ! I can almost feel it from here!
Get off it, ....you jabbering, fast talking, asshole.
Statements? ... 'Reopening investigations' (Is that a maybe you wiil have a couple of interns fiddle with Emails a little longer?) and then having legal promptly announce they will take MONTHS and MONTHS to complete the case? .... We Have AN ELECTION LOOKING AT US! ..We need to know who the bad guys are. But, then we already know, don't we?
No, a resignation is in order. .. Declare a 'conflict of interest' and turn states evidence would be more like it. .... You - Are - A - Crook Dir Comey.
I know ZHers are getting tired of seeing this but for the benefit of any little clueless FBI junior G-Men out there that can still read English: | 0 |
United States Reformation or Fracture?
By Thierry Meyssan Observing the US presidential electoral campaign, Thierry Meyssan analyses the resurgence of an old and weighty conflict of civilisation. Hillary Clinton has just declared that this election is not about programmes, but about the question ŤWho are the Americans?ť. It was not for reasons of his political prgramme that the Republican leaders have withdrawn their support from their candidate, Donald Trump, but because of his personal behaviour. According to Thierry Meyssan, until now, the United States was composed of migrants from different horizons who accepted to submit to the ideology of a particular community . This is the model which is in the process of breaking down, at the risk of shattering the country itself. " Voltaire " - During the year of the US electoral campaign that we have just weathered, the rhetoric has profoundly changed, and an unexpected rift has appeared between the two camps. If, in the beginning, the candidates spoke about subjects which were genuinely political (such as the sharing of wealth or national security), today they are mostly talking about sex and money. It is this dialogue, and not the political questions, which has caused the explosion of the Republican party whose main leaders have withdrawn their support from their candidate - and which is recomposing the political chess-board, awakening an ancient cleavage of civilisation. On one side, Mrs. Clinton is working to appear politically correct, while on the other, ŤThe Donaldť is blowing the hypocrisy of the ex-ŤFirst Ladyť to smithereens.
On one side, Hillary Clinton promises male / female equality - although she has never hesitated to attack and defile the women who revealed that they had slept with her husband and that she is presenting herself not for her personal qualities, but as the wife of an ex-President, and that she accuses Donald Trump of misogyny because he does not hide his appreciation of the female gender. On the other, Donald Trump denounces the privatisation of the State and the racketing of foreign personalities by the Clinton Foundation to obtain appointments with the State Department the creation of ObamaCare not in the interest of citizens, but for the profit of medical insurance companies - and goes as far as to question the honesty of the electoral system.
I am perfectly aware that the way in which Donald Trump expresses himself may encourage racism, but I do not believe for a second that this question is at the heart of the electoral debate, despite the hype from the pro-Clinton medias. It is not without interest that, during the Lewinsky affair, President Bill Clinton apologised to the Nation and convened a number of preachers to pray for his salvation. But when he was accused of similar misconduct by an audio recording, Donald Trump simply apologised to the people he had upset without making any appeal to members of the clergy. The currrent divide re-awakens the revolt of Catholic, Orthodox and Lutheran values against those of the Calvinists, mainly represented in the USA by the Presbyterians, the Baptists and the Methodists.
While the two candidates were raised in the Puritan tradition (Clinton as a Methodist and Trump as a Presbyterian), Mrs. Clinton has returned to the religion of her father, and participates today in a prayer group composed of the army chiefs of staff, The Family, while Mr. Trump practises a more interior form of spirituality and rarely goes to church. Of course, no-one is locked into the systems in which they were raised, but when people act without thinking, they unconsciously reproduce these systems. The question of the religious environment of the candidates may therefore be important.
In order to understand the stakes of this game, we have to go back and look at 17th century England. Oliver Cromwell instigated a military coup detat which overthrew King Charles 1st. He wanted to install a Republic, purify the soul of the country, and ordered the decapitation of the ex-sovereign. He created a sectarian régime inspired by the ideas of Calvin, massacred thousands of Irish Papists, and imposed a Puritan way of life. He also created Zionism he invited the Jews back to England, and was the first head of state in the world to demand the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. This bloody episode is known by the name of the ŤFirst British Civil Warť.
After the monarchy had been reinstated, Cromwells Puritans fled from England. They set up in Holland, from where some of them left for the Americas aboard the Mayflower (the ŤPilgrim Fathersť), while others founded the Afrikaneer community in South Africa. During the War of Independence in the 18th century United States, we saw a resurgence of the struggle of the Calvinists against the British monarchy, so that in current manuals of British History, it is known as the ŤSecond Civil Warť.
In the 19th century, the American Civil War opposed the Southern States (mainly inhabited by Catholic colonists) to the North (mostly inhabited by Protestant colonists). The History of the winning side presents this confrontation as a fight for freedom in the face of slavery, which is pure propaganda. The Southern states abolished slavery during the war when they concluded an agreement with the British monarchy). As a result, we once again saw the revolt of the Puritans against the Brititsh throne, which is why some historians speak of the ŤThird British Civil Warť.
During the 20th century, this interior confrontation of British civilisation seemed over and done with, apart from the re-appearance of the Puritans in the United Kingdom with the Ťnon-conformist Christiansť of Prime Minister David Lloyd George. It was they who divided Ireland and agreed to create the Ť Jewish national homelandť in Palestine.
In any case, one of Richard Nixons advisors, Kevin Philipps, dedicated a voluminous thesis to these civil wars, in which he noted that none of the problems had been solved, and announced a fourth confrontation [ 1 ].
I have no doubt that Mrs. Clinton will be the next President of the United States, or that if Mr. Trump were to be elected, he would be rapidly eliminated. But over the last few months, we have witnessed a large electoral redistribution within an irreversible demographic evolution. The Puritan-based churches now account for only a quarter of the population, and are swinging towards the Democrat camp. Their model looks like a historical accident. It disappeared in South Africa, and will not be able to survive much longer, either in the United States or in Israël. Beyond the Presidential election, US society will have to evolve rapidly or split once again. In a country where the youth massively rejects the influence of the Puritan preachers, it is no longer possible to displace the question of equality. The Puritans envisage a society where all men are equal, but not equivalent. Lord Cromwell wanted a Republic for the English, but only after he had massacred the Irish Papists. This is how it is at the moment in the United States all citizens are equal before the law, but in the name of the same texts, black people are systematically condemned, while attenuating circumstances are found for white people who have committed equivalent crimes. And in the majority of states, a penal condemnation, even for a speeding ticket, is enough to cancel the right to vote. Consequently, white and black people are equal, but in most states, the majority of black people has been legally deprived of its right to vote. The paradigm of this thought, in terms of foreign policy, is the Ťtwo-stateť solution in Palestine equal, but above all, not equivalent.
It is Puritan thinking that led the administrations of preacher Carter, Reagan, Bush (Sr. and Jr. are direct descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers), Clinton and Obama to support Wahhabism, in contradiction to the declared ideals of their countries, and today, to support Daesh.
A long time ago, the Founding Fathers built communities in Plymouth and Boston which were idealised in the US collective memory. And yet the historians are formal they claimed to be creating the ŤNew Israëlť, and chose the ŤLaw of Mosesť. They did not place the Cross in their temples, but the Tables of the Law. Although they are Christians, they attach more importance to the Jewish scriptures than the Gospel. They oblige their women to veil their faces and re-established corporaI punishment. Thierry Meyssan , French intellectual, founder and chairman of Voltaire Network and the Axis for Peace Conference. His columns specializing in international relations feature in daily newspapers and weekly magazines in Arabic, Spanish and Russian. His last two books published in English : 9/11 the Big Lie and Pentagate . Translation - Pete Kimberley
[ 1 ] The Cousins Wars , Kevin Philipps, Basic Books, 1999. | 0 |
Like clockwork, Sara and James Cook paid $452 a month for life insurance. That is, until a letter arrived last year telling the elderly Georgia couple the premiums on the policy they’d had for 25 years were rising sharply. They held a universal life policy, a popular type that includes an investment account that accumulates cash when interest rates are high. But with rates at historic lows, it was being drained — quickly. When the Cooks’ daughter, Jo Ann Sparks, asked an expert to explain her options, she recalls: “He said to me, ‘Please don’t take this the wrong way and, not to be morbid, but your mother needs to die. ’” Around the world, life insurers are wrestling with existential questions. Interest rates are near zero, and in some places have turned negative — unprecedented until recent years. It is contributing to a crisis moment for a business once considered a bedrock of financial stability and an industry that supports the retirement of millions. In particular, companies that sell policies that run for decades, like life and care insurance, face a twofold challenge: how to fund policies that were sold back when their actuaries couldn’t envision a world of interest rates below 8 percent, and what to sell now, when those same actuaries can’t envision an appreciable rise in rates anytime soon. People who bought universal life policies in the 1980s and 1990s — some of which guaranteed annual returns of 4 percent or more — are seeing their premiums soar. It has precipitated about a dozen lawsuits against insurers, some seeking status. Many of the lawsuits claim that the insurers are raising their rates to force people to drop their policies entirely, often when they are too old to buy replacements. A canceled policy means an insurer gets to keep years of premiums without facing a future payout. Low interest rates are a big part of this new pressure on insurers their earnings are being squeezed. But in recent years insurers have also undertaken various financial maneuvers to pay dividends to their shareholders despite their low earnings. Now, some say, policyholders like the Cooks are having to pay for that. While the Federal Reserve bumped up interest rates late last year, yields in the bond market continue to remain at depressed levels. In recent weeks, the yield on the Treasury note slid to a record low of 1. 358 percent. Very low interest rates cut both ways. They are good for home buyers and corporate borrowers, who can get cheap loans. But for life insurers — where more than of the industry’s $6. 4 trillion in invested assets are parked in bonds — low rates like these can be calamitous. If, say, an 8 percent bond from the 1990s matures, the cash must be reinvested in something new. But now, a similar bond may pay only 2 percent. The insurance policy sold to a customer back in the 1990s guaranteed a 4 percent return. It adds up to a vexing math problem: how to back a promise of 4 percent in a world. The predicament crosses borders. This year, the head of Allianz of Germany, the largest insurer in Europe, called the move by the European Central Bank to slash rates to zero “a catastrophe. ” And last year, several Japanese life insurers acquired American insurers. But that says more about the weakness in Japan than it does about the strength of the American insurers. Japan, like Germany, now has negative interest rates — so interest rates in the United States are considered high. In the United States, in the hope of staving off a reckoning, some insurers have stopped selling certain products, and have raised what policyholders must pay for some existing policies. And they have moved into riskier investments in search of higher returns. Last year, MetLife, the nation’s largest insurer, reported a 46 percent drop in its profits, not because of low interest rates but because of poor performance in the company’s hedge fund and private equity investments. Although performance has improved somewhat, MetLife now says it will drop most hedge fund investments. Universal life insurance was invented in the 1970s as an alternative to popular, term life insurance. A term life policyholder buys coverage that expires at the end of a term, usually one to 30 years. Universal policies typically cost more, but the coverage never expires and the buyer gets both a fixed death benefit and a “cash value” account, designed to earn interest. Money in the account can be used to help pay the policy’s premiums. But there is a risk: If the account gets used up paying those costs, the policy can lapse and coverage ends. Universal life insurance policies sold today do not guarantee returns of 4 percent or more. Instead, many policies are loosely tied to the growth of the stock market. Still, in the United States, some doomsayers warn that big trouble is ahead. “The word ‘insolvency’ hasn’t been said very loudly, but certainly on the street people are concerned about insurance companies and their promises and the ways they are trying to avoid keeping their promises,” said J. Robert Hunter, a former Texas insurance commissioner who is now the director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America, an advocacy group. Others dispute such alarmist sentiments. They argue that the life insurance industry today is already vastly different from the industry your grandfather knew. The companies, they say, are better capitalized than they have been in a decade, and the big ones have gone into new lines of business, offering a plethora of insurance and asset management products and services. “We don’t have a scenario for the industry,” said Laura Bazer, a senior credit officer at the ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service. But in recent years, even as low interest rates ate into the industry’s profits, some companies engaged in complex financial maneuvers that enabled them to pay hefty shareholder dividends. Normally, life insurers cannot pay shareholder dividends unless their balance sheets are flush. These maneuvers involve shifting a company’s future obligations to policyholders into special financial vehicles that do not appear on the insurer’s balance sheets. Many of the moves were made with the blessing of state regulators who, in some cases, waived accounting rules or also approved the dividends. For instance, one British company told investors in 2011 that it used techniques like these to navigate around “redundant” American insurance regulations requiring it to hold “excess” reserves for future claims. The firm’s American subsidiary, Banner Life Insurance, then sent the parent company “extraordinary dividends” totaling $785 million. But now some Banner policyholders are being told their monthly payments must rise as much as sixfold, prompting a lawsuit that accuses Banner of raiding customers’ accounts to pay the dividends. Banner said in court filings that the Maryland Insurance Administration had reviewed and approved the dividends, as well as the calculations justifying them. In a similar vein, this spring, Axa Equitable Life Insurance raised the monthly payments on about 1, 700 universal life policyholders who were over 70 and whose policies had a face value of over $1 million. Axa said the increase was necessary because its customers were dying sooner than it expected. Some policyholders question that argument, saying the increases were aimed at improving Axa’s bottom line. Axa, which has been increasing its dividend payouts for shareholders, projects that the premium increases will raise its profits by approximately $500 million, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan this year by a policyholder. In its court filings, Axa included a letter from the New York State Department of Financial Services that found the proposed increase for the small group of policyholders to be “unobjectionable” and that the higher charges did “not reflect an increase in your profit goals. ” In a statement, Jennifer Recine, an Axa spokeswoman, said the company believed that the lawsuit had no merit. Similar problems are playing out in the care insurance business, which has sold policies designed to pay for nursing homes, facilities and home health. Today, however, care insurers face accusations of badly underpricing their policies as costs skyrocket. Many have either left the industry or severely reduced benefits. The remaining players, contending with low interest rates, are getting state regulators across the country to approve big premium increases. Twelve years ago, Louann Sherbach, of Amityville, N. Y. bought a care policy from Genworth. “I was assured when I purchased the policy, even though the premium was high for me at $2, 300 a year, that the premium would not increase,” said Mrs. Sherbach, 65, who recently retired as an administrative director for a day care center. About a month ago, the rate increased to $3, 700. “That’s outrageous! I can’t afford that,” she said. After paying $27, 000 in premiums over the years, Mrs. Sherbach dropped the policy, believing she was walking away . “I feel like they mismanaged my money to pay other people’s claims and now I have nothing,” she said. But after being asked about Mrs. Sherbach’s situation, a spokeswoman for Genworth said the company was voluntarily giving customers like Mrs. Sherbach who canceled their policies new coverage, reflecting the premiums already paid. “If a policyholder had paid $27, 000 in premiums and did not have any claims,” wrote Julie Westermann, a spokeswoman for Genworth, in an email, then that customer “would have a maximum available benefit of $27, 000. ” For Ms. Sparks — whose elderly parents, the Cooks, faced the near doubling of their life insurance bill — the insurance company’s strategy was clear: persuade her parents to simply walk away from the policy, despite a of paying in. “There’s no doubt in my mind that they were trying to get us to drop the policy,” Ms. Sparks said. She said the insurer, Transamerica Life Insurance, sent the family charts showing the financial damage her parents would suffer if her mother lived a few more years. The charts showed that keeping the policy at the higher monthly payments “would have wiped them out for everything they had,” Ms. Sparks said. In recent years, Transamerica has used a series of complex financial transactions to shift a large share of its obligations to policyholders into vehicles. That allowed it to send about $2 billion in “extraordinary dividends” to its corporate parent in the Netherlands, Aegon. That left a hole in Transamerica’s finances, which policyholders like the Cooks are now being forced to fill, according to one of several federal lawsuits filed against the insurer seeking status. Lawyers in those cases are seeking an injunction to block the rate increase. Transamerica said it was “in full compliance with its contractual obligations, and intends to contest vigorously the recently filed litigation. ” After months of considering their options, the Cooks ultimately decided to drop their life policy, walking away from the $55, 000 that they had spent on it over the last 25 years, Ms. Sparks said. They took the remaining cash in the account, which totaled $4, 100. | 1 |
LONDON — In one of the most consequential diplomatic events in Britain since World War II, Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday sent formal notice of the country’s intention to withdraw from the European Union, starting a tortuous divorce littered with pitfalls for both sides. Mrs. May said in Parliament that she was invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, putting Britain on track to leave the European Union in 2019 and raising a host of thorny issues involved in untangling a relationship. In addition to a welter of trade and customs matters, the Conservative government faces the prospect of a new independence referendum in Scotland, where a majority voted to remain in the European Union, and deep worries about the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland. Just before 12:30 p. m. Britain’s top envoy to the European Union, Tim Barrow, walked to the office of Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, and handed him a letter with the official notification. Mr. Tusk then posted on Twitter acknowledging receipt of the letter. Mrs. May told Parliament, “Today, the government acted on the democratic will of the British people, and it acts too on the clear and convincing position of this house. ” “The Article 50 process is now underway,” she added, “and, in accordance with the wishes of the British people, the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union. ” She added: “This is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back. ” She cited the “enduring power of the British spirit. ” And she painted a vision of a “truly global Britain, the best friend and neighbor to our European partners, but a country that reaches beyond the borders of Europe, too. ” With this step, Mrs. May enters what William Hague, a former foreign secretary, called “the most complex divorce ever in history. ” She begins the process with limited leverage, having made clear that establishing control of immigration takes priority over membership in the European Union’s single market or customs union. As a result, analysts say, she has frequently stressed her willingness to walk away from the table if a good deal proves elusive, leaving European Union negotiators wondering whether she is serious or trying to bluff her way into a stronger negotiating position. “I think they would prefer a deal,” Anand Menon, a professor of European politics and foreign affairs at King’s College London, said of the British government, noting the high economic stakes. Nevertheless, he said, “I still think they are readier to walk out than most people accept. ” Given her negotiating “red lines,” the difference between whatever deal Mrs. May can secure and no deal at all may turn out to be relatively small. Blaming the Europeans for a collapse of the talks might be easier, politically, than bringing a weak agreement to Parliament. The politics are so toxic, Professor Menon added, that they make a disorderly departure from the bloc — often likened to walking off a cliff edge — plausible. “It’s ugly and so frighteningly horrible, that I can’t quite believe it’s happening,” he said. European leaders have emphasized that Britain cannot “cherry pick” the rules and regulations it likes, and certainly cannot expect to have a better deal than countries that remain in the bloc. The last thing they want to do is lend greater momentum to the centrifugal forces already threatening to tear apart the European Union. Mr. Tusk said at a news conference in Brussels that there was “no reason to pretend this is a happy day,” and that Britain’s plans to depart the bloc would only leave the 27 remaining members “more determined and more united. ” He added, “We already miss you. ” Manfred Weber, a German lawmaker and a powerful conservative in the European Parliament, wrote on Twitter that “from now on, only the interests of the remaining 440 million Europeans count for us. ” He later added, “If you leave the EU, you lose the associated benefits. ” What makes the looming confrontation so dangerous is that both sides stand to lose economically in the event of a breakdown. From agriculture to aviation, from fisheries to pharmaceuticals, Britain’s economy has been shaped by membership in the European Union, its main trading partner. With its single market — the world’s largest — and its customs union, the European Union ensures trade across frontiers in goods and some services. Without a deal, Britain faces customs checks at its borders and tariffs on imports and exports, not to mention the relocation of at least part of its lucrative financial services sector. But Britain is a big market for Continental Europe, too: Germany alone exports 800, 000 vehicles there every year. Though London’s dominant financial services sector is hardly popular, many businesses on the Continent rely on its deep capital markets. Britain is one of only two significant military powers in the bloc — the other is France — and has valuable security and intelligence capabilities that elevate Europe on the global stage. In her letter to Mr. Tusk, Mrs. May argued that without an overall agreement, “our cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism would be weakened. ” Her officials later denied that this was a threat by Britain, arguing that it reflected the fact that some cooperation on policing issues was conducted through European Union channels. But Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s negotiator for Britain’s exit, said there could be no “ ” in talks between such issues and trade. “I think that the security of our citizens is far too important,” Mr. Verhofstadt said. To make matters more difficult, the final deal will require votes in perhaps 38 legislatures across Europe, as well as in the British Parliament. It is even possible that the negotiations could founder over the issue of money before they really get underway. Michel Barnier, the negotiator appointed by the European Commission, wants to resolve the terms of the departure before moving on to future trade ties. The commission estimates that Britain owes as much as $64 billion in future spending commitments and pension entitlements for European Union officials. Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, has rejected that idea, invoking the memory of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who in 1984 demanded — and received — her “money back” from European partners in another acrimonious negotiation. Diplomats say a collapse over money matters can be avoided if specifics are left until the end of the talks, when the parameters of a trade deal are known. European officials seem open to that idea of reaching agreement on the principles and methodology of calculating what Britain owes, based on commitments undertaken while it was a member. That would allow Mrs. May to justify payments as part of a deal allowing continued access to European markets. Joachim director of the Europe program at the Bertelsmann Foundation, a research institute based in Germany, said the best prospect of achieving agreement was a broad discussion, including defense and security cooperation, an area where London has something to offer at a time when NATO’s role is being questioned. “If you go narrow, it is tremendously difficult,” Mr. added. “It will not bring the problem to a conclusion in two years. ” He said he believed one danger was the “illusion” among some in Brussels that the European Union was “strong enough to live without the Brits,” who still have significant economic and military power. Another is the illusion among some Britons that they can dictate the terms of a deal. Professor Menon, too, said he thought the messages from some British politicians, reinforced by tabloid newspapers aggressively for the exit, were destructive. “The British people now think that Europeans will be stupid if they don’t give us a good deal, because it’s in their own interest,” he said. Time will be a problem, too. British businesses want a transition period to adapt to the circumstances after withdrawal, but this requires an agreement on what Britain would transition to after 2019. And unless all this is decided quickly, it will be of little use companies will not be able to wait long into 2018 before assuming the worst outcome and acting accordingly, even if that means a sharp economic adjustment. “Whatever happens, she is not going to have a great deal,” Professor Menon said, referring to Mrs. May. “It is still going to involve a lot of pain, given that we are outside the customs union and the single market. ” | 1 |
Employees at a Florida McDonald’s have redecorated their restaurant in blue for National Police Week after backlash from the community for removing the decorations. [Workers originally put up blue ribbons and blue stripes throughout the McDonald’s on North Orange Avenue in Green Cove Springs to honor local police officers for National Police Week but took the decorations down because of an order from the McDonald’s corporate office, WJXT reported. Someone apparently filed a complaint with McDonald’s corporate office, which responded that the store could not keep up the display due to the company’s “no sign rule” barring decorations inside the store. The employees complied with the corporate office’s decision, although they were not happy about it. Customers at the Green Cove Springs McDonald’s were also unhappy with the decision. “I think it’s cruel for people to do things like that,” customer Mary Tillman said. “I think we live in a time where we let political things get in the way of what really matters and I think the whole purpose of this is to honor those fallen officers,” Chandler Steele, another customer at the store, said. WJXT reached out to McDonald’s corporate headquarters, which responded that “the McDonald’s in Green Cove Springs is locally owned and operated” and declined to comment any further on the matter. Employees told the news station Monday evening that they received permission to put the blue decorations back up, although it was not clear whether corporate decided to allow it or if the local owner approved of the decision. A spokesperson for the Green Cove Springs Police Department said the McDonald’s had always supported law enforcement. National Police Week runs from May 21 this year, according to the event’s website. Other Florida McDonald’s locations have supported law enforcement in the past. On National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day back in January, all Florida stores gave law enforcement officers a free Extra Value Meal to thank them for their service. | 1 |
A new proposal by a Republican lawmaker would sell United States citizenship to foreign nationals to fund the building of a wall along the U. S. Border. [In a new plan by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher ( ) current legal immigration policy would be changed to fund President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall construction plans. Rather than eliminating the diversity lottery altogether, as immigration hawks have requested, Rohrabacher’s plan changes which foreign nationals are given the 55, 000 visas every year under the current system. Under Rohrabacher’s proposal, the 55, 000 Green Cards awarded to foreign nationals would be replaced by a system for those able to pay a $1 million fee. The only requirement for essentially buying the Green Card would be “good character,” Rohrabacher told the Washington Examiner. Once the foreign national is in the U. S. for two years, the plan guarantees a pathway to citizenship. Center for Immigration Studies Director Mark Krikorian told Breitbart Texas the plan was “absurd,” as it did not lower any legal immigration levels, thus not dealing with the concerns of Trump’s base when it comes to the immigration issue. “Just because you have money, does not mean you’re going to become a better American,” Krikorian said in an interview. “Yes, you’re less likely to use welfare … but that’s not what this is all about though. That’s part of the issue, but not all of it. ” “They figure this is a compromise,” Krikorian continued. “But we don’t get any reduction in [immigration] numbers with this. [Republicans] don’t realize that reducing the numbers is the entire point. ” The plan by Rohrabacher is similar to a visa system that already exists and has been panned by immigration hawks, known as the visa. With the visa program, 10, 000 foreign nationals can come to the U. S. — and bring their entire family with them — so long as they claim to invest at least $500, 000 and create 10 American jobs. Eventually, those foreign nationals on visas can apply for U. S. citizenship. Immigration expert John Miano, told Breitbart Texas that Rohrabacher’s plan, like the visa, creates a special pathway for wealthy foreigners without any requirement that they commit to the U. S. “There’s something not right about grabbing the world’s rich people and bringing them to America,” Miano said. “They have no commitment to the country. ” “If you’re going to buy people off, you have to have people who are going to pick up the guns and defend the nation, not people who are trying to find the most secure place to keep their money,” Miano continued. Krikorian said he supports a border wall funding plan being pushed by Rep. Mike Rodgers ( ) where illegal immigrants’ remittances are taxed. “There are any number of ways to fund the borders,” Krikorian said. Rohrabacher’s visa plan is not the only GOP immigration proposal opposed by immigration hawks. Sen. John Cornyn’s ( ) proposal to potentially triple the number of foreign nationals who enter the U. S. under the visa every year similarly received pushback, as Breitbart Texas reported. “It’s remarkable that these guys just don’t get it,” Krikorian said. John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder. | 1 |
While promoting “American Race,” his new television series dealing with race in America on Thursday’s edition of CBS’ “The Late Show,” NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley said that he believes illegal immigrants are “getting a bad rap” in America. “[W]e do talk about undocumented immigrants, who I think are getting a bad rap in this country. They’re here. They’re working their behind off. They do a lot of work the blacks and whites don’t want to do,” Barkley told host Stephen Colbert Thursday. Barkley later added that the undocumented family he spoke with while filming the show sees a stronger stance on illegal immigration under President Donald Trump. “I asked them … what’s the difference between President Trump and President Obama? And they said, ‘Well, there’s a big difference.’ Because under President Obama, they only got deported for felonies. With President Trump, they can even get deported for misdemeanors, so clearly that’s a huge difference,” he explained. Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent | 1 |
Elections only work if the population consents to the legitimacy of the other side’s victory, and that’s why Donald Trump’s sour grapes rhetoric about voter fraud is so dangerous. Trump, of course, isn’t alone in his degenerate thinking, but honestly, he’s got the biggest stage to preach it from.
And he’s only ramped that rhetoric up as the polls have shown his campaign going downhill. It’s not enough to make me comfortable — I hope that American liberals get out and vote against him — but it’s enough to make Trump feel the burn. His claims of voter fraud are little more than whining, but that doesn’t stop people from believing claims like the one he made at a Colorado rally on Saturday, where he said election officials would throw away mail-in ballots if they don’t “like” them. “Real Problem”
However, it’s worth analyzing his previous claims all the same. Trump claimed that an International Cabal of Bankers is conspiring with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim to “rig” the American election and bring a permanent end to the United States . If this sounds completely insane to you, that’s because it is.
However, it’s worth noting the things that the average American is going to miss in that statement.
For instance, “international cabal of bankers” is pretty transparent talk for “Jews.” One of the major conspiracy theories of these Antisemitic loons is the International Jewish banker conspiracy — it’s so important that it has its own fiction novel devoted to it (it was one of Henry Ford’s favorite books): Protocols of the Elders of Zion . In fact, when I typed “cabal of international bankers” in Google, it helpfully suggested “elders of zion” as a related search. Given his voter base consists of white nationalists, the KKK, neo-Nazis, and racists in general, it shouldn’t surprise you to learn he might as well be quoting from the seminal work of Antisemitism.
And if you think I’m reading too much into this, let me remind you that his foreign policy advisor allegedly said that the Nazi ovens were “too small” to kill six million Jewish people . His alt-right supporters have savaged Jewish reporter simply for being Jewish . Antisemitism swirls around the man.
Trump’s latest made up accusations aren’t couched in the same extremely transparent and Antisemitic rhetoric that his usual accusations are. Instead, they’re the sort of straightforward nonsense that we’ve come to expect from Agent Orange when he attempts to speak a mind he doesn’t have.
While speaking before a Colorado rally on Saturday, Trump told the audience that election officials are going to “throw out” mail-in ballots they disagree with, saying:
“I have real problems with ballots being sent. People say, oh, here’s a ballot, bing. Here’s another ballot, throw it away. Oh, here’s one I like, we’ll keep that one.” Trump talks voter fraud in Colorado; says he has a "real problem" with mail in ballots. (h/t @ergold ) pic.twitter.com/FS0LUOhIVc
— Ali Vitali (@alivitali) October 29, 2016
Trump seems to think that there are going to be a “lot of people watching” to make sure that the ballots are correct, which is utterly delusional at best and disastrous at worst. These walking poster children for Dunning-Kruger have no idea what they’re doing; they’re armed, emotionally charged, racist, clueless, and out to protect “their country”— which doesn’t include people like me.
Perhaps they should all wear brown shirts, too. That way, police know who to remove once they’ve cast their vote.
“We’re trying to have some pretty good supervision out there,” he warned.
Sure you are. If by “supervision” you mean people carrying out voter intimidation. Because that’s exactly what’ll happen.
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As election returns poured in and panic became palpable for Democrats in New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio held fast. Hillary Clinton would be president, they told increasingly uneasy crowds on Tuesday night at what would have been her victory party in Midtown Manhattan. But by Wednesday morning, Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio, both Democrats, were coming to grips with their new reality: Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee soundly rejected by New York City voters, had been elected president, and his triumph would likely have profound effects on their administrations. For Mr. de Blasio, the election was a stunning repudiation of his most cherished notions about a national shift to policies. For Mr. Cuomo, the failure of Democrats to win even a slim majority in the New York State Senate — as Republicans outside the city rode Mr. Trump’s coattails to victory — portended years of difficulty in Albany. In separate comments on Wednesday, they each stressed the common ground they could find with Mr. Trump as New Yorkers. “Today is an emotional day for me,” Mr. Cuomo said, speaking by phone on NY1. He said he called Mr. Trump to congratulate him and “talked about issues for New York,” such as building and infrastructure. Mr. Cuomo said that Mr. Trump’s identity as a New Yorker would be “a bonus. ” Mr. de Blasio, speaking from a podium in Blue Room of City Hall shortly before, offered a similar message. In tones that were by turns quavering, conciliatory and subtly defiant, he spoke of the election as if it were a challenge to overcome, even as he vowed to work with a future Trump administration. “I take solace in the fact that the is a New Yorker, and I hope and trust he will remember the lessons of a life lived in New York City,” Mr. de Blasio said, invoking infrastructure projects as a possible area of collaboration. It was a common refrain among local officials seeking to guess at the effect of Mr. Trump’s election on New York. Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from Brooklyn, who is often spoken of as a potential challenger to Mr. de Blasio for in 2017, said that because of Mr. Trump’s ties to New York a Trump presidency “may surprisingly yield less hostility than we’ve seen from other Republican administrations,” especially on transportation and public safety. Councilman Joseph C. Borelli, a Staten Island Republican and Trump supporter who was helping to serve as a liaison between Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Trump on Wednesday, said the “looks at cities sort of the way a developer would” and would find common ground with the mayor. Mr. de Blasio planned to offer personal congratulations to Mr. Trump by phone, but as of late Wednesday had yet to do so. But gone for the moment was any sense of a liberal wave cresting across the country. In its place was the dawning realization that for the next four years, both Democratic leaders and their allies were likely to find themselves playing defense against the rising Republican tide in Washington and a sustained Republican wall in Albany. Though absentee ballots in two State Senate races on Long Island were still being counted, Republicans appeared poised to keep 31 seats in the chamber. With seven Democrats making up an independent breakaway group and another who sits with the Republicans, the control of the body appeared unlikely to shift from Republican control, despite Mr. Cuomo’s endorsements in key races. But Mr. Cuomo seemed resolved to begin : He indicated on Wednesday that he intended to take a pragmatic approach to the new powers in Washington. Brushing off a question about whether he was concerned about the future Trump administration, he said on NY1 that he had “a very good conversation” with Mr. Trump by phone. Tuesday’s results also created a complicated calculus for Mr. Cuomo, who has long been close to the Clintons, and who campaigned on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf this year. If Mr. Trump pursues policies in the White House, Mr. Cuomo could find himself one of a handful of liberal bulwarks against Washington. That would cheer some on the left. “The problem is, a State Senate would carry Trump’s agenda,” said Bill Lipton, the political director of the Working Families Party. “The governor didn’t do enough to support Senate Democrats, but he can still press them to unite into a majority conference. ” For Mr. Cuomo, a more distant prospect is also looming: With his biggest obstacle to the White House, Mrs. Clinton, cleared from the field, Mr. Cuomo may emerge as a presidential contender in 2020. As a centrist Democrat facing a hotheaded electorate, however, his prospects are far from clear. For Mr. de Blasio, Tuesday’s results did not suggest any new difficulty in his looming fight. Democrats in the city overwhelmingly voted for Mrs. Clinton, and potential primary opponents may be wary of challenging a sitting Democratic mayor when there are bigger adversaries in Washington. “I don’t think this dramatically changes anything in the mayoral race,” said Bruce N. Gyory, a Democratic political consultant. The biggest challenge coming out of this election in relation to the mayor is not the politics, said Mr. Gyory, but the double blow of Mr. Trump — who this year called Mr. de Blasio the “worst mayor” in city history — and Republican opposition in Albany. “They think that running against de Blasio is what helped them win the majority, so they’re liable to keep kicking him,” he said of the State Senate. But much of his agenda — including mayoral control of public schools, restoring tax breaks to spur affordable housing development, police transparency and voting reforms — are likely to face stiff resistance in the newly emboldened State Senate. And Mr. de Blasio may find he needs to “temper his progressive identity, and go more toward the pragmatic on what he has to do for the city” when dealing with Washington, said George Arzt, a Democratic strategist. Pragmatism, however, has its limits it remains to be seen if the mayor and the governor use Mr. Trump’s victory as impetus to their acrimonious relationship. Gerald Benjamin, a political scientist at the State University of New York at New Paltz, said the shared set of antagonists “could drive the mayor and the governor together,” though no signs of a thaw were immediately apparent. “Anything is possible in politics,” said Ken Sunshine, a veteran Democratic activist and public relations executive who counts both men as friends. “Look what just happened in the last 24 hours. ” | 1 |
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( ZHE ) Before the recent torrent of daily Podesta email dumps brought renewed attention to Wikileaks (and accusations Julian Assange was working with the Kremlin despite his recent denial, which ultimately cost him his internet access), the media’s attention was closely focused on the recently emerged hacker known as Guccifer 2.0, who claimed to be behind the hacking of the nearly 20,000 Democratic National Committee emails and other documents distributed over the summer by WikiLeaks, and who likewise was accused of cooperating with Russia.
Earlier today, after a two week silence, Guccifer 2.0 reemerged, with a post on his blog , in which he alleges that he has information from inside the Federal Election Commission, according to which “democrats may rig the elections.” He then adds “this may be possible because of the software installed in the FEC networks by the large IT companies.”
“INFO FROM INSIDE THE FEC: THE DEMOCRATS MAY RIG THE ELECTIONS
“I’d like to warn you that the Democrats may rig the elections on November 8. This may be possible because of the software installed in the FEC networks by the large IT companies.
“As I’ve already said, their software is of poor quality, with many holes and vulnerabilities.
“I have registered in the FEC electronic system as an independent election observer; so I will monitor that the elections are held honestly.
“I also call on other hackers to join me, monitor the elections from inside and inform the U.S. society about the facts of electoral fraud.”
It is unclear what FEC information the hacker was in possession of, or was referring to, and how he intends to observe the elections. A recent video by Bev Harris of BlackBoxVoting provided a real-time demo of the GEMS vote-fraud system, “fraction magic,” an election theft mechanism with context and explanation. There is much more detail on the BlackBoxVoting website . Sign up for the free Anti-Media newsletter the establishment doesn't want you to receive
The demonstration below used a real voting system and real vote databases and takes place in seconds across multiple jurisdictions. Over 5000 subcontractors and middlemen have the access to perform this for any or all clients. It can give contract signing authority to whoever the user chooses. All political power can be converted to the hands of a few anonymous subcontractors. It’s a product. It’s scaleable. It learns its environment and can adjust to any political environment, any demographic. It runs silently, invisibly, and can produce plausible results that really pass for the real thing.
It is possible that this is the process that Guccifer is referring to, although we are merely speculating. We are confident he will provide more detail shortly.
While we wait, watch the following video explaining how elections can be (and perhaps are) rigged. | 0 |
On this weekend’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” while discussing the newly elected Democratic National Committee chairman and former Obama Labor secretary Tom Perez, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Perez did not “understand what’s going on in America. ” Lewandowski said “They have now put someone in the chairman of the Democratic party who doesn’t understand what’s going on in America. They would have had an opportunity to pick a candidate that understood what middle America is about and not someone who’s just concerned about the East Coast or West Coast. And instead what we’ve seen is more of the same from the Democratic Party, which caused them to lose this election at the presidential level. ” ( The Hill) Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 1 |
Email Print It seems like everyone associated with the Clintons has become immune to common sense. The Obama Justice Department will not do anything to hold this woman accountable, even though far better people than her have had their careers ended over similar crimes. However, the NYPD isn’t under Clinton or Obama’s control. Erik Prince, Blackwater Founder and Former Navy Seal, told Breitbart what the NYPD’s approach might be. According to some of his well-placed sources in the NYPD, Prince told Breitbart the following: “The NYPD wanted to do a press conference announcing the warrants and the additional arrests they were making [in the Anthony Weiner investigation] but they received ‘huge push back’ from the Justice Department.” as per Breitbart . Why is the NYPD involved in the Clinton case? Well, they weren’t originally, but they made the initial discovery of the new Clinton emails on Anthony Weiner’s laptop. Judging from the amount of information they found on the laptop, it seems the FBI and the State Department had insiders protecting Clinton. Allegedly, the criminal activity found on that laptop is enough to make Al Capone blush. “They found State Department emails. They found a lot of other really damning criminal information, including money laundering, including the fact that Hillary went to this sex island with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Bill Clinton went there more than 20 times. Hillary Clinton went there at least six times,” Prince said. Prince even gave some insight as to why FBI Director Comey decided to re-open the investigation. In a nutshell, the NYPD forced his hand. “The amount of garbage that they found in these emails, of criminal activity by Hillary, by her immediate circle, and even by other Democratic members of Congress was so disgusting they gave it to the FBI,” Prince said. “They said, ‘We’re going to go public with this if you don’t reopen the investigation and you don’t do the right thing with timely indictments,’” Prince explained. “NYPD was the first one to look at that laptop,” Prince elaborated. “Weiner and Huma Abedin, his wife – the closest adviser of Hillary Clinton for 20 years – have both flipped. They are cooperating with the government. They both have – they see potential jail time of many years for their crimes, for Huma Abedin sending and receiving and even storing hundreds of thousands of messages from the State Department server and from Hillary Clinton’s own homebrew server, which contained classified information. Weiner faces all kinds of exposure for the inappropriate sexting that was going on and for other information that they found.” Allegedly, some of the crimes the emails reveal include money laundering, lying, and even sex trafficking young children. The NYPD doesn’t mess around, so they have appointed a new, unbiased, prosecutor in order to investigate these claims by Erik Prince. If only Lynch’s Justice Department knew how to make unbiased appointments. The warning for the voters is simple: if Hillary Clinton is elected, there will a constitutional crisis on our hands. She may very well be the first President to be indicted before her first day in the Oval Office. If these criminal accusations are true, they will lead to such staggering events. It would make Watergate seem like a walk in the park. But, its not too late to do the right thing and avoid all of this. Vote Trump and Hillary will be where she belongs — in prison. What do you think about these new allegations about Hillary and Bill they have allegedly found on Mr. Weiner’s laptop? Please share the story on Facebook and tell us because OUR voice is YOUR voice!
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A drone worth $1. 5 million disappeared from an Arizona army base after its launch on Tuesday. [The Shadow unmanned aircraft disappeared on a training flight after the drone lost “connection with the ground station,” the Associated Press reported. Soldiers part of the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion from Joint Base in Washington state launched the Shadow Tuesday evening from Fort Huachuca before it lost communication. The drone was launched as part of a training mission. “Despite considerable efforts to locate the missing Shadow, it has not been found and is thought to have disintegrated upon impact somewhere in the local area,” the Army said in a statement. The Shadow is a airborne reconnaissance system that can “fly for eight to nine hours and cover a distance of 125 kilometers,” the Army Times reported. It weighs 450 pounds, has a fuel capacity, travels about 134 miles, and has a wingspan of 20 feet. | 1 |
Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: • The Trump administration faced new turmoil over new disclosures of contacts top aides had with Russian officials during the presidential campaign or prior to the inauguration. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the top U. S. law enforcement official, recused himself from any investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, while denying that his dicussions with a Russian official last year were related to the campaign. And the White House disclosed that the ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn and Jared Kushner, the president’s and senior adviser, also met with the Russian ambassador in December. The outgoing Obama administration had scrambled to preserve intelligence about the Trump campaign’s possible contacts with Russia by spreading the information across the government. _____ • China’s biggest yearly political meetings, the “two sessions” of Parliament and party leaders, are set to begin in Beijing. Among the thousands of delegates are a number of billionaires, whose combined fortunes amount to $500 billion, nearly the G. D. P. of Sweden. President Xi Jinping may be maneuvering to bend the party’s unwritten retirement rules to retain an ally — and create a precedent for himself. _____ • China is ratcheting up pressure on South Korea over its plans to deploy a U. S. missile defense system to protect itself from a North. Meanwhile, there were new twists in the case of Kim the half brother of the North’s leader. A North Korean diplomat, above, claimed he had actually died of heart failure, refused to acknowledge that the victim was Kim ’s half brother and called on Malaysia to provide evidence for its account that he had been poisoned with the nerve agent VX. Malaysia condemned the use of a chemical weapon in a public place. Today’s episode of The Daily, our audio news report, discusses North Korea’s ruthless strategies. Listen from a computer, on an iOS device or on an Android device. _____ • A rights group says President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines should face prosecution for inciting killings in his bloody drug crackdown. A strong case could be made at the International Criminal Court “that crimes against humanity have been committed,” said the Australia director at Human Rights Watch. _____ • “We’re used to a little bit of heat. But this was at another level. ” That’s a climate change researcher in New South Wales, Australia, where heat waves and wildfires over the past two months have pushed temperatures as high as 113 degrees Fahrenheit. The researchers found record highs are now 50 times more likely than in the past. _____ • And in China, some say the proliferation of clones of famous foreign buildings has gone too far. By one reckoning, there are 10 White Houses, four Arcs de Triomphe, a couple of Great Sphinxes and at least one Eiffel Tower. The current debate was set off by a replica of London’s Tower Bridge in the eastern city of Suzhou, publicized as “even more magnificent than the real one. ” • Shares of Snap Inc. valued at $24 billion in its public offering, jumped 40 percent in the company’s first day of trading. • Wall Street has been on an upward trajectory since Election Day. Our columnist looks at what the Trump effect and booming markets mean for the global economy. • China and Hong Kong accounted for 87 percent of the counterfeit goods seized by the U. S. Customs and Border Protection in 2015, according to a report. • A U. S. judge ordered Harvard to reveal records related to a major donor, Charles C. Spackman, a South Hong Kong businessman who leads a global investment holding company. • China’s solar power industry had a total output of $48. 8 billion in 2016, up 27 percent, and exported about $13. 8 billion worth of solar panels. • U. S. stocks were weaker. Here’s a snapshot of global markets. • Emperor Akihito is in Vietnam, making the first visit ever by a Japanese emperor. He met with the families left behind by former Japanese soldiers expelled years after World War II. [Associated Press] • The Islamic State released a video that purported to show Uighur fighters training in Iraq and vowing to return home and “shed blood like rivers,” possibly the terrorist group’s “first direct threat” against China. [Agence ] • Tornadoes lashed the American Midwest, killing at least three people and leaving a trail of splintered homes, razed businesses and power failures. [The New York Times] • In India, a leader of the women’s wing of the governing party was arrested in a “baby trafficking racket. ” [Reuters] • The U. S. military conducted airstrikes on suspected Qaeda militants in Yemen, the first since an commando raid in January. [The New York Times] • The Saudi king prayed with President Joko Widodo of Indonesia at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Southeast Asia’s largest mosque. [Jakarta Post] • Matt Lauer, the host of NBC’s Today Show, was revealed as the mystery buyer of a sprawling lakefront property in New Zealand. [TVNZ. com] • Two activists who call themselves “meatball sweethearts” are fighting fat shaming in Taiwan, where 45 percent of adults are classified as overweight. [BBC] • Did China buy better soccer? Play begins today in the Super League, packed with international stars. [Reuters] • Feeling groggy? Here’s our guide to getting a better night’s sleep. • Recipe of the day: For a filling, meatless meal, a cabbage and potato gratin gets the job done with style. • In Bangkok, exorcisms are cheap and ghosts are woven into the fabric of daily life, writes the author Lawrence Osborne of his adoptive city. What’s more, he says, a foreigner is only there, a “ghost” of a different kind. • New Orleans may be known for Mardi Gras, but Mobile, Ala. dates its Carnival celebration to 1703, 15 years before the Louisiana city was founded. Iceland endured a mock constitutional crisis last week after the president, Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson, jokingly told a class of high school students that he would like to ban pineapple pizza toppings. An uproar on social media ensued, Mr. Johannesson retracted his proposal. He wrote in a statement that “presidents should not have unlimited power,” adding that he “would not want to live in such a country. For pizzas, I recommend seafood. ” Unlike Mr. Johannesson, Saparmurat Niyazov, the Turkmenistan president who died in 2006, stood out as a head of state who used his office to impose his personal preferences on citizens. He renamed January after himself. April was renamed after his mother. Mr. Niyazov also banned circuses and video games. And he had a golden rotating statue of himself installed in Ashgabat, the capital. His successor, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, relocated the statue and ordered his own built. Last month, he was winning 98 percent of the vote. Patrick Boehler contributed reporting. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. What would you like to see here? Contact us at asiabriefing@nytimes. com. | 1 |
Written by b kenneth mcgee Monday, 14 November 2016
President-elect Donald Trump announced today that in appreciation of Vladimir Putin's help in his election that he will, after his inauguration, give Russia the states of Alaska and Hawaii. "I am throwing in Christie," said Trump, "for shits and giggles. I have many others now to get my McDonalds."
Trump also announced several other appointments in his new administration including that of Larry the Cable Guy to the post of UN Ambassador and David Duke to be the new head of Health and Human Services. I have also promised diversity in my new administration and to this end I am appointing my friend and loyal supporter Ben Carson to the post of receptionist at the front desk at the White House."
In related news, Trump has informed Fox News he would not be living at the White House. An anonymous source has told Fox that Melania Trump told close confidantes after her visit there, "I do not live in such a place! Don't come this far to live like trailer trash!" Make b kenneth mcgee's day - give this story five thumbs-up (there's no need to register , the thumbs are just down there!) | 0 |
An outbreak of a illness that has been linked to foods packaged by a processing plant in Washington State has prompted a voluntary recall of frozen fruits and vegetables marketed under 42 brand names. The scale of the recall reflects the severity of the outbreak of the illness, listeria, and of concerns about how the contaminated food might have “trickled down” into other products, said Brittany Behm, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The processing plant, CRF Frozen Foods in Pasco, Wash. has voluntarily recalled more than 350 frozen foods — including carrots, onions, peaches and strawberries — that were sold in all 50 states and Canada. The recall began on April 23, with 11 frozen vegetables, but was significantly expanded on May 2. Eight people sickened with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes have been confirmed since 2013 — six in California and one each in Maryland and Washington, Ms. Behm said. All of the cases, involving patients 56 to 86 years old, resulted in hospitalizations. The two people from Maryland and Washington died, but the authorities did not directly attribute their deaths to listeria because they may have already had weakened immune systems or other illnesses, Ms. Behm said. Listeria primarily affects newborns, older adults, pregnant women and adults with weakened immune systems. Symptoms can include a headache, stiff neck, confusion, fever and muscle aches. Some of the affected products were sold under brand names such as Earth’s Pride, Panda Express, Signature Kitchens and Trader Joe’s, CRF said. The number of illnesses may have been suppressed because the foods were cooked first, killing the bacteria. The first diagnosis came in September 2013 and the most recent was in March. The C. D. C. said epidemiologic and laboratory evidence pointed to CRF as one “likely source” of the outbreak. Investigators were trying to determine if food sources used to make the products at the plant could explain some of the illnesses. It was not clear how many packages were affected by the recall. A spokesman for the company, Gene Grabowski, did not respond to a phone call on Friday. He told The Associated Press that the CRF plant closed two weeks ago and that the company was trying to pinpoint the source of the contamination. The website Food Safety News reported that Food and Drug Administration inspectors visited the plant March and found chipped and cracked pieces of plastic on parts of equipment that came into contact with onions, among other violations. “The materials and workmanship of equipment and utensils does not allow proper cleaning and maintenance,” the inspection report said. The expanded recall included all of the frozen products manufactured or processed at CRF’s plant since May 1, 2014, the company said. All of the affected products have “best by” or “sell by” dates between April 26, 2016, and April 26, 2018. Federal officials are concerned that consumers will not look closely at their frozen foods to see if they are on the recall list because those products do not expire as quickly as other goods, Ms. Behm said. | 1 |
President Donald Trump will release a new executive order on immigration Monday morning, sources with knowledge of these matters tell Breitbart News. [The new order comes after the first one — temporarily suspending the refugee program and barring travel into the United States from seven countries — was met with backlash in the court system, with a district court and the ninth circuit court of appeals shutting it down. This new order is slightly different from the first one, sources say, and moves Iraq — one of the seven countries from the first order — to a different category. It’s not entirely clear what the new category is or how Iraq will be handled in this new order at this time. It’s also unclear what other changes may be made from the first order, including in particular how the new one will handle the refugee program. When Trump rolled out his first order, he was met with weekend protests in airports nationwide by progressive activists and members of the Muslim community in his first full weekend as president. Then acting Attorney General Sally Yates refused to enforce the order, and President Trump swiftly fired her for failing to serve the Department of Justice honorably by enforcing the law as she previously had agree to do when she accepted the position. Since then, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama has been confirmed as the new Attorney General and sources tell Breitbart News that he and other cabinet members including Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly — a former Marine Corps general who led U. S. Southern Command before his nomination and confirmation — have been consulted on this executive order. At a White House press briefing back on Feb. 23, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the new order was “finalized” and the administration was working to implement it. “What we are doing is now in the implementation phase of working with the respective departments and agencies to make sure that when we execute this, it’s done in a manner that’s flawless,” Spicer said. While Spicer also made clear that the administration believes the first order was lawful, done in compliance with U. S. code and authority granted to the president, and that it will succeed eventually in the legal process in overturning the ninth circuit ruling, he said that the new order does take into account the appeals court’s decision. Spicer said: We’ve taken the Court’s opinions and concerns into consideration, but the order is finalized. It’s now awaiting implementation. What we want to do is make sure that we’re working through the departments and agencies so that any concerns or questions are handled on the front end. But we are acting with appropriate haste and diligence to make sure that the order is done in an appropriate manner. It was originally thought that President Trump would sign the new order on Wednesday this past week, but reports surfaced that he called it off amid the positive reception he received after his highly successful address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. | 1 |
Mark Sanchez found a job. Mike Glennon found a job. So did Josh McCown and E. J. Manuel. But Colin Kaepernick, who led the 49ers to the Super Bowl just four years ago, remains unemployed. Is Kaepernick not qualified to play quarterback in the N. F. L. anymore? Or is it something else? Some skeptical fans are wondering if the quarterbacks who have landed jobs with teams have one significant asset that Kaepernick does not have: They all stood for the national anthem last season. Kaepernick knelt in protest against racism and police brutality. That decision was unpopular with a segment of N. F. L. fans, and perhaps a larger segment of traditionally conservative N. F. L. owners. It even drew a rebuke from Donald J. Trump when he was a presidential candidate and later as president. Similar vexing questions were raised a few years ago when Michael Sam, an linebacker in college, was all but ignored by N. F. L. teams after he publicly came out as gay. He was never regarded as a potential star, but many fans found it curious that such a successful college player could not play a down in the N. F. L. Joe Thomas, a tackle for the Browns, believes that teams just don’t want to deal with the potential distraction of having Kaepernick on their roster. “Teams don’t currently view him as a starting QB, and NFL teams accept ZERO distractions from their backup QB,” Thomas said on Twitter. Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman said on ESPN that he was “sure” Kaepernick was being blackballed. Kaepernick has continued to tweet about social issues in recent days, but has been mostly silent about his job search. Spike Lee, the filmmaker and sports fan, called Kaepernick’s “mad fishy. ” But the 49ers were terrible last season, and Kaepernick has not matched the numbers he put up in the early part of his career. Could his unemployment be based more on his ability than his politics? A good catchall statistic to evaluate quarterbacks is adjusted yards per pass, which rates passing ability while factoring in touchdowns and interceptions. Last season, the Super Bowl quarterbacks, Matt Ryan and Tom Brady, led the league at 10. 1 and 9. 3. Anything over 8 is very good most solid quarterbacks land somewhere in the 7s. Kaepernick took over the Niners’ starting job when Alex Smith sustained a concussion in 2012 and put up a figure of 8. 6, the best in league, before his trip to the Super Bowl. He made the playoffs again the next season at 7. 8. But his numbers then took a downturn. In 2014, he posted a 6. 9, and the Niners were . He was benched the next season, but regained his starting job last year. Unfortunately, the Niners had become terrible in the interim, and Kaepernick was . Still, his adjusted yards per pass was a respectable 7. 2. In the Kaepernick opted out of his contract, hoping for a better situation. So far, that situation has not arrived. Looking at the other players who found spots, Sanchez has never exceeded 7. 1 in adjusted yards per pass in his career and has been mostly in the 5s. Glennon, also signed by the Bears, has a lifetime figure of 6. 4, and McCown, signed by the Jets, is at 6. 0. Manuel, now with the Raiders, regularly puts up 5s and 6s. It’s not as if most of these players have huge upsides. Kaepernick is 29, Sanchez is 30 and McCown is 37. The 49ers will try the Brian Hoyer, who had a decent year with the Bears, to replace Kaepernick, with Matt Barkley (career adjusted yards per attempt 4. 7) as backup. The website Spotrac, which evaluates sports contracts, sees Kaepernick as still having significant value. First, it compares him to four similar players who signed contracts at about Kaepernick’s age: Brock Osweiler, Sam Bradford, Nick Foles and Robert Griffin III. It then assesses his statistics and finds that his numbers are 11 to 14 percent better than that group’s, particularly his very low interception rate, just 0. 4 per game. That leads Spotrac to estimate his value as $14 million a year. The $14 million may or may not be forthcoming. And Kaepernick’s knee, not his arm, may be the deciding factor. | 1 |
Scott Adams has gone climate denialist in his latest Dilbert strip, causing liberal heads to explode.[ Some of his old fans just aren’t happy at this betrayal of The Cause: it’s a shame to see this as I used to think he was very funny. The Way of the Weasel was an awesome book. it could be dementia — that is a thing that happens to people On Scott Adams, his comic strip and thought processes have pretty clearly jumped the shark, No doubt it is an accident of the pen. But the “climate scientist” in the cartoon bears more than a passing resemblance to Michael Mann, globally renowned inventor of the “Hockey Stick” and winner — or so he used to claim till he got rumbled — of the Nobel Prize. As Homer would say, this cartoon is funny because it’s true. In fact it sums up pretty much everything the layman needs to know about the state of climate “science” and how it abuses the public trust. So, it starts with truths which are widely accepted — “the basic science of physics and chemistry”. Then — like a street magician or a confidence trickster — it slips quickly from the realm of evident truth into a world of illusion: “We put that data into dozens of different climate models and ignore the ones that look wrong to us. ” Anyone who questions this groupthink is labelled a “science denier. ” But as Adams has grasped it has nothing to do with science. Rather it’s about the politically driven misapplication of models which have no basis. This cartoon is by no means Adams’s first brush with WrongThink. In September last year, he caused more liberal heads to explode by publicly switching his allegiance from Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump. One of his cannier insights was that Trump’s bluster is actually a sign of emotional intelligence and skills rather than a sign — as the progressives continue to believe — that he is a dangerous lunatic. Trump “paces” the public — meaning he matches them in their emotional state, and then some. He does that with his extreme responses on immigration, fighting ISIS, etc. Once Trump has established himself as the biggest on the topic, he is free to “lead,” which we see him do by softening his deportation stand, limiting his comment to Chicago, reversing his first answer on penalties for abortion, and so on. If you are not trained in persuasion, Trump look scary. If you understand pacing and leading, you might see him as the safest candidate who has ever gotten this close to the presidency. That’s how I see him. “Dilbert has gone fascist“ Salon’s Amanda Marcotte responded, with typical verve, wit and lightness of touch. Then in March this year, the blackshirted cartoonist caused further outrage by composing one of the best essays ever written as to why the claims of climate alarmists should be taken with a huge pinch of salt. It was titled How To Convince Skeptics That Climate Change Is A Problem. Here are two of my favorite entries: Don’t tell me how well your models predict the past. Tell me how many climate models have ever been created, since we started doing this sort of thing, and tell me how many have now been discarded because they didn’t predict correctly. If the answer is “All of the old ones failed and we were totally surprised because they were good at hindcasting,” then why would I trust the new ones? and, If skeptics make you retreat to Pascal’s Wager as your main argument for aggressively responding the climate change, please understand that you lost the debate. The world is full of risks that might happen. We don’t treat all of them as real. And we can’t rank any of these risks to know how to allocate our capital to the best path. Should we put a trillion dollars into climate remediation or use that money for a missile defense system to better protect us from North Korea? Needless to say, this also caused liberal heads to explode. Here’s a sample from one particularly virulent climate activist. None of Adams’ concepts are supported in any manner. He produces no research tied to it. There is no rigorous method applied to rationalize it. It’s little more than cultish ramblings validated by a small loyal following acquired through his previous success as a cartoonist. As Adams must be painfully aware by now, when you’re taking flak it means you’re over the target. Carry on Scott! | 1 |
The new regent at the University of Colorado, Heidi Ganahl, has made a strong push for more intellectual diversity on college campuses, claiming that the lack of conservatives is a national problem. [Ganahl claims that she wants to address the lack of conservatives on the faculty at the University of Colorado in her new role as the university’s regent. “Well, I think that’s a national problem,” Ganahl said. “So it’s something that I certainly want to dig into a bit and address and make sure that students are hearing both sides of the story. It’s very important to me. ” Ganahl suggested creating classroom environments in which a conservative and a liberal teach together. She claims that setup has already been widely popular with students. “And the kids love it. It’s always full, there’s always a waiting list to get a class, and that’s just an example of how students really do want to hear both sides of the story and have feisty debate about tough issues and have conversations about things that they really need to figure out where they stand on,” she explained. Ganahl believes that classes will provide students with the opportunity to engage with a wider array of political perspectives. Ganahl also defended Breitbart editor MILO, claiming that students should have the right to invite controversial speakers to campus without fear of academic or social repercussions. “Well, I think that student groups invited him and sponsored his appearance, and we need to recognize their right to bring a variety of speakers and events to campus,” Ganahl said, adding that UC is a place “where open debate, discussion, are encouraged, even from speakers that we disagree with or may have views that we don’t all agree with. ” | 1 |
US vs. Russia in Syria: A Battle to Control the Truth Source: Truth Out
The US corporate media never fail to report on Russian opportunism and its atrocities in various world conflicts. Objectively speaking, Putin's actions are not that different from Obama's, but Americans tend to see their presidents as benevolent.
President Obama during a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the opening day of the United Nations General Assembly, on September 28, 2015. (Photo: Doug Mills / The New York Times)
There is a dangerous leader heading an irrational state who is deploying forces to Syria he insists are fighting terrorists. His decisions have led to numerous civilian casualties and the threatening of nuclear confrontation with his nation's ideological foe. Domestically, his administration has jailed journalists and silenced critics in government , and since WWII, his country's intelligence services have meddled in the elections of dozens of countries and are now contemplating a cyberattack on its hegemonic rival. His administration maintains alliances with corrupt juntas and religious fundamentalists while championing domestic and foreign policies that have done little to rein in the country's violent nationalism, intolerant nativism, police brutality and enriching of the few at the expense of the many.
His name is Barack Obama. One could certainly be forgiven in thinking it was Vladimir Putin, since his justifications for Russian policy are strikingly similar.
While the US corporate media frantically reports on Russia's actions in Ukraine and Syria, it appears content with the havoc wreaked by its Nobel Peace Prize president in sundry countries across three continents. For well-established reasons rooted in exceptionalism and indoctrination, the US mainstream media cannot refer to Obama and his administration in the same terms used to describe Putin.
Whereas The New Yorker can run a headline that states, " Putin, Syria, and Why Moscow Has Gone War Crazy ," it is unfathomable to think of the US press referring to the Obama administration's policies in similar language. In fact, the article's author, Joshua Jaffe, appears bewildered with Russia's policies in the Middle East and Europe, especially the Russian Defence Ministry's announcement on October 8 that it had deployed nuclear warheads to Kaliningrad. The fact that Kaliningrad is part of Russia aside, Jaffe writes that, "Projecting a half-lunatic readiness to blow up the world is, in essence, a cover operation: a way to make a lot of noise while the Kremlin goes about creating a lot of new facts on the ground, whether in Syria or the Baltics."
If this Russian move is irrational, wouldn't Obama's actions -- supporting ill-defined rebel groups in Syria, signature strikes in Pakistan and indiscriminate Saudi bombing in Yemen -- be irrational as well? And in any state where the press was doing its job, wouldn't a look at US nuclear policy -- by sheer quantity of warheads, one that could be categorized as "readiness to blow up the world" -- and its citizens' attitudes toward weapons of mass destruction be prudent? It is unlikely that such a critical look will come anytime soon from the submissive US mainstream media, however. Though much has been written about Putin's clampdown and control of the Russian press, corporate US media outlets are hamstrung by the monopoly that six corporations have on the American "marketplace of ideas."
This is not to exonerate or extoll Putin. On the contrary, Putin is an opportunist bent on increasing his power and influence. But so is Obama and any other (future) US president, be it Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. One can only dream that the same measures that the US press takes in detailing Russian atrocities in Syria could be applied to US atrocities there, and also in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen and Somalia. But the US corporate media and populace seem to believe that Russia's intentions are malicious, while the United States' intentions are benevolent. This why US bombings of civilians in Syria are described as "mistakes," whereas the aim of Russian bombing can only be "terror." For example, the bombing of a UN convoy in September that Russia says was accompanied by terrorist elements was reported in the US press as a targeted strike against civilians.
Russia may very well target civilians. The tragedy of Aleppo is well-documented. The point here is not to justify Russian actions. It is to question why the US mainstream media accept the Obama administration's assertions that Russia's bombs are aimed at civilians, while US bombs are not. One could argue that both Russia and the US are guilty of civilian bombings, since distinctions between rebel, terrorist and civilian are blurred in civil war. But this would challenge the notion of benevolent intentions that are at the core of American exceptionalism. Interestingly, those who have bothered to look into Obama's abovementioned signature strikes will find that tolerance of civilian casualties is at the heart of that policy. And if a Martian -- bereft of any understanding of nationalism or exceptionalism, but well-versed in international Human Rights Law -- were to take a cursory look at the last 50 years of US foreign policy, he might conclude that the US does, in fact, target civilians .
A cynic would claim that the truth here does not matter. It is what people believe to be the truth that reigns supreme. To this end, both the American and Russian mainstream media and governments are presenting a one-sided version of atrocities that aims to vilify the other.
To address this dangerous trend, I presented a paper at Penza University in southern Russia on October 12, examining the language the Western media use to castigate and dehumanize Putin. The paper, " Language as a Weapon: How Western Journalists Portray Russian Policy ,"was given at a conference titled, "Language. Law. Society." After completing my talk, I fielded a question from a Russian academic regarding the role of the US as a world police force. This is a common question in the former Soviet Union and is trumpeted in the Russian press. My answer was that the US would never be a world police force, as it intervenes only in those areas where its vital economic interests are at stake. The main point being that the US corporate media do not accurately describe these interventions as power moves that waste large amounts of civilian life. Instead, the corporate media too often act as a public relations firm for the US government, repeating hollow rhetoric about freedom, liberty, democracy and the open market. The man responded that I should move to Russia, since the Russian press also make similar hollow claims in support of Putin.
Nobody would argue that Putin does not control the Russian media, and that his distorted version of the truth prevails. But one should question why, in a "free" society like the US, Obama's distorted version does, too. Share This Article... | 0 |
3454 Views November 07, 2016 15 Comments Guest Posts The Saker
by Oleg Maslov
The time has come for the country with the largest economy and military in the world will soon go to the polls to choose a new leader for itself. Americans will elect a new president on November 8, 2016. However, the two main candidates running for the office of president in the general election have never been more different from each other. Hillary Clinton has lived in the White House as First Lady for 8 years, served as a senator, ran for president in 2008, and served as Secretary of State during Barack Obama’s first term, during which she oversaw the NATO intervention in Libya and the Benghazi crisis – in other words, a career politician. On the other hand, Donald Trump has never served in public office, instead dedicating his life to many different business ventures, some of which became runaway successes and others short-lived failures.
Both candidates boast considerable strengths and face off against damaging scandals. Clinton has been touted as the ‘most qualified candidate for the job’ and has decades of experience in and around the center of power in Washington. However, she is currently under investigation by the FBI for potentially mishandling classified information after using a private email server to send and receive emails while Secretary of State, faced allegations of corruption relating to donations from foreign entities to the Clinton Foundation in return for political favors, responded to leaked email suggested that the Democratic National Convention colluded with major media companies against Democratic primary rival Bernie Sanders, and dealt with ongoing accusations of husband Bill Clinton’s sexual relations and infidelities. On the other hand, Trump has pointed to his wealth to promote himself as a self-made billionaire capable of hard negotiations and used his status as a political outsider status to make his promise to change to the establishment believable. He has also been the target of sexual harassment allegations, responded to claims that some of his failed businesses may have been scams, battled accusations of involvement with white supremacy groups, and is the only candidate for president from a major party not to release tax information since Gerald Ford.
Comparing the individual factors and history of both candidates gives us considerable information for analysis, but what effect will the policies of the candidates bring to the world once they enter office? In the following sections, we pit Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in a head-to-head comparison, analyzing the likely outcomes of their policies on global conflicts, the world economy, American social and business conditions, the future of Europe, and US relations with Russia and China.
Global Conflicts
Hillary Clinton
The former Secretary of State has been labeled by some analysts as a representative of the ‘hawks’ in Washington, or the group of influencers who are pro-war and closely connected with the American military industrial complex. Hillary Clinton voted for the American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Senator and spearheaded the American push for the NATO-imposed ‘no-fly zone’ in Libya as well as the US support for ‘moderate rebels’ in Syria as Secretary of State in the Obama administration.
A vote for Hillary is a vote for continuing the foreign policies of the Obama administration, including the expansion of NATO activities in Eastern Europe, intensifying American actions against the government of Bashar al-Assad, ramping up US naval might in the South China Sea, and arming and supporting Saudi Arabia in its military operation against Yemen.
One policy favored by Hillary Clinton adequately sums up the potential effects of a Clinton administration on global security: Hillary Clinton has publicly advocated for the implementation of a ‘no-fly zone’ and ‘safe zones’ within Syria. Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of State, succinctly outlined the consequences of such a policy last month when he explained to the US Senate that carrying out this policy would require the United States to “go to war against Syria and Russia”, something unequivocally negative for both regional and global security and something which will certainly exacerbate tensions in Syria rather than relieve them.
Trump expresses the greatest fear that such a policy may bring when he says that such proposals may start World War III.
Much can be written on the other conflicts mentioned, but the general trend is relatively apparent – a Clinton presidency would continue aggressive American policies which only increase tensions and create the possibility for a spark to light the powder keg of conflict.
Donald Trump
If a Clinton administration would be predictably aggressive, a Trump administration would be an unpredictable wild card for global security. Many point to Trump’s open call for good relations between the US and Russia, even for cooperation between the two countries in tackling the Islamic State, as a sign of a period of peace and stabilization of the global security climate under a Trump administration. However, others react with alarm when they hear Trump criticize the usefulness of NATO or seemingly advocate for the proliferation of nuclear weapons, although these apparent Trump policies are often taken out of context.
Trump has consistently called for an increased ‘sharing of the burden’ from NATO partners and other American partners, notably Japan and South Korea. His campaign claims that the remarks that Trump made about the usefulness NATO and the proliferation of nuclear weapons was an extreme example meant to show the necessity of convincing American partners to pay more for the US military umbrella and that Trump has no intention of disbanding NATO or allowing states like Saudi Arabia or Japan to get nuclear weapons.
However, if Trump’s drive to push more of the financial burden of US military protection onto allies were to fail, he may be forced to carry out his promises, at least to some degree, if only to save face. Trump’s public intentions to mend ties with Russia and pursue cooperation in Syria combined with the potential for a weaker US presence in Europe may in fact encourage Russia to act more aggressively in pursuing their own interests in Europe and the Middle East.
One country has been disproportionately targeted by Trump – China. Trump has campaigned on the idea that China has been playing the United States for a sucker and that the US-Chinese relationship has been beneficial mostly for one side. His promises to renegotiate trade deals with China (which could be potentially quite harmful for China) could well have to be enforced by naval power projection, and Trump may end up following many of the same naval policies in the South China Sea as the Obama administration. This would, of course, raise tensions between the United States and China.
Trump’s proposals and policies have not been thoroughly tested and their success at stabilizing the world situation are far from assured. Although Trump tends to appear more interested in fostering peace and cooling down global conflict, the tensions created by his policies, especially with respect to China, may in fact increase the possibility of conflict, showing just how unpredictable a Trump administration may be.
World Economy
Donald Trump
Trump has positioned himself as a pro-business candidate that will stimulate the US economy, and many of his proposed policies could potentially have positive effects. However, Trump’s heavy criticism of global trade agreements, including the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific-Partnership (TPP), as well as Trump’s intention to force American companies to bring their business operations back from other countries in an attempt to reverse the process of ‘offshorization’ may well benefit the American economy, but may in fact deal some heavy damage to the global economy.
Policies that benefit the United States directly, such as encouraging auto manufacturers to return production to American soil by raising tariffs on autos made by American companies in other countries, will have a negative effect on other countries. Agreements such as the TTIP would certainly raise global economic activity, despite the fact that they benefit one side over the other, and would raise the level of global economic activity. It follows that delaying or disrupting negotiations on these agreements may lead to more negative consequences for the world economy as a whole.
Trump’s public call for better relations with Russia may have the effect of reducing or even removing sanctions thereby restoring former business between Russia and Europe as well as creating new business relationships which compensate for negative effects of other policies on the world economy. Further, if Trump’s promises for peace and stabilization of global conflicts is carried out, economic activity and innovation would continue without any obstacle.
Hillary Clinton
A Clinton administration would continue to develop the economic strategy initiated by the Obama administration, including liberal policies toward corporate offshoring and advancement of global trade deals such as TTIP and TPP. In essence, these policies would produce slow but stable growth for the world economy. Maintaing the sanctions on Russia would restrict global growth but if negotiations on either TTIP or TPP would result in an agreement, the resulting economic activity would more than make up for that lost business.
The Clinton administration may appear to offer better opportunities for the global economy, but one major factor still needs consideration. Clinton’s preference for resolution of conflicts by military means, seen most acutely in her proposals for resolving the Syrian situation, have a high potential to lead to a wider conflict with Russia and Iran, and ultimately may lead to a third global war, a war in which the main adversaries have a vast amount of deliverable nuclear weapons as well as a protocol for using them, should the need arise.
Needless to say, any conflict in which nuclear weapons are used is unequivocally negative for the global economy in the short term, if a global economy even remains after the dust has settled. If a global war remains conventional or if nuclear weapons are used in limited capacity, the prospect for global economic growth in the medium term is quite positive given the need to rebuild the affected countries, but the loss of life, destruction of productive infrastructure and buildings, and long term psychological and social effects far outweigh the economic growth related to rebuilding what was lost.
US Social and Business Conditions
Hillary Clinton
As the status quo candidate, Hillary Clinton represents a future similar to the present conditions with small but noticeable changes. Although controversial, Obama’s healthcare plan, commonly referred to as ‘Obamacare’, did bring healthcare insurance to more Americans. Clinton will most certainly continue developing Obamacare, which may improve the lives of many people. Hillary has also proposed a plan to finance higher education for students whose household earns a combined income of less than $125,000 per year, something seen as positive for standard of living and development of future business conditions.
Clinton’s willingness to accept more refugees from the war torn Middle East may increase already palpable social tensions by increasing competition for low-wage jobs and undermining social cohesion. The liberal policies of allowing companies to seek lower cost labor in other countries will continue to send jobs out of the United States, leaving university graduates, already suffering from low employment rates, with even fewer work opportunities.
Despite meeting with mothers of black teens killed by police, Hillary has no practical solution for addressing the growing issue of perceived racial prejudice by police officers. Neither does Donald Trump for that matter.
Donald Trump
Trump’s strongest potential option for improving the social and business conditions in the US is his promise to force American companies to bring production back to the United States. Fulfilling this promise would create many jobs in the US and alleviate the millennial unemployment problem, all the while raising wages and the overall standard of living. Although xenophobic and perhaps even racially charged in nature, Trump’s intention to limit immigration may also create more low-wage opportunities for American citizens.
Trump has called for an increase in paid maternity leave, something which may quality of life for average people. One of his main campaign promises is to revise and simplify the tax system. If done properly, this policy will make filing taxes easier for normal citizens and businesses as well, improving business conditions and potentially creating more jobs and economic activity.
On the other hand, Trump is widely seen as a candidate who represents white male superiority and the mere fact of a Trump administration may cause an increase in already palpable social tensions, potentially even leading to open protest from Muslim or Hispanic groups among others at his presidency. The Clinton campaign has worked to paint Trump as a white supremacist and misogynist, and often successfully so. Despite the potential economic benefits of a Trump presidency, the potential explosion of social tensions may cause an overall negative social and business situation in the United States. Of course, a Trump administration will recognize this danger and will make every attempt to prevent it.
The Future of Europe
Donald Trump
A Trump presidency would entail a major reversal of policies for many Eastern European countries, including the Baltic States, Poland, and Ukraine, when it comes to European relations with Russia. Trump has not only publicly questioned the utility of NATO, but has also called for better relations with Russia, both concepts which are anathema to many Eastern European nations. If Trump were to decrease the American footprint in Europe and to attempt to build better relations with Russia, many European nations would be forced to rethink some of their main strategic objectives at the very least. The current government of Ukraine would be one of the biggest losers in Europe should Trump become president and may even be pushed out of power, either peacefully or forcefully, should Trump choose to sacrifice American support for Ukraine in exchange for better relations with Russia, including recognition of Crimea as Russian territory.
A decrease in US forces on mainland Europe as well as American engineered political obstacles to cooperation between Europe and Russia would naturally lead to a blossoming of relations between Europe and Russia. Under a Trump presidency, one may expect a significant rollback of European sanctions on Russia and significant growth in Russia-Europe trade and relations. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Parliamentary Assembly for the Council of Europe (PACE) would regain influence in regulating Europe-Russia relations. European-Chinese relations would also grow dynamically as ‘Silk Road’ projects through Russia would take on new relevance.
Many so-called ‘Euroskeptic’ movements and otherwise ‘right of center’ political groups would gain influence and perhaps even become part of the mainstream political configuration. Parties like Marine Le Pen’s Front National, Alternative fuer Deutschland, Austria’s Freedom Party, and Golden Dawn in Greece could make a grand entrance into mainstream politics while ruling parties in Hungary and Italy could become even more entrenched. Pushed forward by Brexit, this trend would bring considerable momentum behind the a drive for the dissolution of the European Union, at least for the monetary union, but this remains unlikely.
A Trump presidency may even allow for the start of negotiations between Europe and Russia on a comprehensive trade and political agreement to regulate relations. Numerous politicians, including Francois Mitterand and Vladimir Putin, have spoken about a free trade zone stretching from Lisbon to Vladivostock, but if China has any say in the matter, the zone will extend to Singapore and cover the entire supercontinent of Eurasia. If this concept were to ever become reality, European nations would gain influence over developing nations and receive access to valuable and profitable investment opportunities.
Further, any major agreement between the United States and Russia on Middle Eastern policy would entail a significant slowdown of the current migration crisis as well as a noticeable reduction in terrorist related activity. Europe may even join a coalition of the US and Russia to fight terrorism. Lastly, US missile defense systems in Poland and Romania are likely to be dismantled.
Hillary Clinton
A Hillary Clinton presidency would entail business as usual with Europe and a continuation of the current trends and policies initiated by the Obama administration. The major features of a Clinton presidency would include continued military build-up in Baltic states, continuation of European sanctions against Russia, increased support for the Ukrainian government, increased media hype about the Russian military threat, and a further break-down in the systems that govern Europe-Russia relations, such as the OSCE and PACE.
A Clinton presidency would entail an increase in the number of American troops in mainland Europe as well as an increase in joint US-European defense projects, including expansions of the missile defense project. More US-led NATO troops, groupings, and exercises would take place in the Baltic countries and a Clinton administration would push for Sweden and Finland closer to NATO, with the ultimate purpose to convince the Scandinavian countries to join the military block. Expect increased media reports about air force interceptions and Russian submarine scandals.
Any European Union political party that has a neutral or favorable position to Russia will come under increased scrutiny and will face attacks on multiple fronts, mostly through the media. The EU will work to make examples of governments such as Hungary, Greece, and Italy that actively resist sanctions against Russia and attempt to circumvent sanctions by making their own economic arrangements with Russia.
Europe will be pressured to sign TTIP and will most likely become more and more dependent on the United States for economic and political policy. More LNG terminals will be built on the European mainland so that European countries can import natural gas from America and Qatar so that dependence on Russia is decreased. China will place less of an effort on the Silk Road overland trade route and will have to make a different trade arrangement with Europe.
Middle East migration numbers will continue in full force as US policy in the Middle East will continue to favor interventionist hawks, forcing reluctant European nations to accept more and more refugees from Middle Eastern nations. The threat of terrorism will remain high and terrorist attacks are likely to occur again on European soil.
US Relations with Russia and China
Hillary Clinton
A Clinton administration will continue to play a double game with China, continuing the liberal policies of offshoring production to Chinese companies and maintaining a strong trade relationship on the one hand, but encircling China militarily with naval hardware and trade partnerships with local Chinese rivals. China will have a difficult time trying to push its goods to Europe through the Eurasian continent as the US will actively block attempts to create a Silk Road structure leading either through Russia or through Iran. However, on the surface, the US will continue to maintain a careful policy of wary respect toward China, never making overt insults or provocations and maintaining an air of pretentious respect.
Relations with Russia will be characterized by increased support to Russia’s enemies in Ukraine and Syria, as well as attempts to undermine the governments in Belarus and Central Asian countries. President Clinton will push European allies to increase economic pressure on Russia and media coverage of Russia from all ideological sides of American media will turn increasingly negative. All of this will take place while the United States will continue to do business with Russia as usual, buying rocket engines, space transport services, grain, and even certain types of weapons as if there was no issue in bilateral relations.
Donald Trump
The strategic economic goals of a Trump presidency would almost immediately begin to cause problems for Chinese-American relations. If Trump acts on his promises to raise tariffs for American companies producing goods in foreign countries and then shipping them to the US, many businesses with manufacturing operations in China will be forced to shut down their Chinese subsidiaries, causing significant losses for China. China would potentially experience a major economic downturn as many of its factories and industrial centers would be forced out of business. China would not leave such an unkind gesture unanswered and would most likely sell a significant portion of its US Treasury bills and bonds on the market, or simply demand early payment, leading to a period of financial troubles for the US.
American-Russian relations would potentially enter into a new and unprecedented period of mutual understanding and cooperation. President Trump would work to open Russia’s massive market even further to American companies and would deepen partnerships between the US and Russia in areas like space exploration and development, energy distribution and marketing, and perhaps even reopen programs focusing on purchase and delivery of Russian military hardware to groups supported by the Pentagon, including the program to arm and train the Afghan military with Russian helicopters.
In all, both candidates offer substantially different visions of the future, and it is up to individual voters to decide which vision appears more rational and beneficial for both the United States and the world at large. The Essential Saker: from the trenches of the emerging multipolar world $27.95 | 0 |
LONDON — Ecuador and Sweden have agreed to allow Julian Assange to be questioned by Swedish prosecutors inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, in a possible breakthrough to a impasse, Ecuador said on Thursday, but no date for the interview was announced. The Ecuadorean attorney general delivered a document agreeing to a request by the Swedish prosecutor to question Mr. Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, who is wanted by Sweden for questioning to respond to allegations of rape made against him, accusations he denies. Mr. Assange was granted political asylum by Ecuador in 2012 after his appeal against extradition to Sweden was denied, and he has been confined to the embassy ever since. He says he fears that if he is sent to Sweden, he will then be shipped to the United States, where he could be charged with espionage offenses. WikiLeaks has published damaging and confidential information from the United States and many other governments, and recently, Mr. Assange and the organization attracted attention after the distribution of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and his statements criticizing Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee. Although there is no open indictment against Mr. Assange in Washington, he and WikiLeaks are the subject of an investigation in the United States. Mr. Assange has previously offered to be questioned by the Swedish authorities inside the embassy, but prosecutors had insisted until last year that he be interviewed in Sweden. Karin Rosander, a spokeswoman for the Swedish prosecutor’s office, said that the investigation was almost finished but that “the interview with the suspect has been missing all the time. ” Mr. Assange’s lawyers in Sweden recently made a new appeal to drop the arrest warrant against him, citing the “passivity” of the Swedish prosecutor in trying to question him. He is sought for questioning to see whether he should be charged with “minor rape” after an episode in 2010 in Sweden. Earlier allegations of sexual abuse were dropped because of the statute of limitations. A statement issued in Ecuador said, “In the coming weeks, a date will be established for the proceedings to be held at the embassy of Ecuador in the United Kingdom. ” The statement said that Ecuador and Sweden had signed “an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters” in December, “which provides the legal framework for the questioning. ” Ms. Rosander said a formal request from Sweden to question Mr. Assange at the embassy, first submitted in January, with a reminder sent in June, asked for the interview to be conducted by a Swedish prosecutor and a police officer. Thomas Olsson, a member of Mr. Assange’s legal team, told Radio Sweden that he believed the investigation would be shut down. “It’s hard to imagine that any of the involved parties will have a clear memory of what happened six years ago,” Mr. Olsson said. “Another consequence of the delay is that several of the accusations are now barred due to the statute of limitations. We can’t see any other outcome for this investigation than that it be shut down. ” In February, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations ruled that Mr. Assange was being arbitrarily detained and should be released freely and with compensation for the violation of his rights. The opinion was nonbinding and has been rejected by Britain and Sweden. “Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry reiterates its commitment to the asylum granted to Julian Assange in August 2012,” the statement from Ecuador said, “and reaffirms that the protection afforded by the Ecuadorean state shall continue while the circumstances persist that led to the granting of asylum, namely fears of political persecution. ” | 1 |
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The removal of residents from besieged communities in Syria bogged down again on Sunday after rebels opposed to the agreement set fire to buses that were supposed to carry evacuees, while Security Council diplomats signaled that they had reached a compromise deal to send United Nations monitors to oversee the evacuations. The feuding in Syria and at the United Nations underlined the complexity of the war in Syria, where coalitions of forces on the ground receive support from a range of opposing backers whose agendas often clash. Turkey and Russia brokered the initial deal to remove civilians and fighters from the last districts of eastern Aleppo, but its implementation has been hampered by parties who opposed the deal and wanted to have residents of other besieged communities evacuated as well. At the United Nations, Russia had threatened to block a Security Council resolution, drafted by France, that called for sending international observers to Aleppo. But after more than three hours of negotiations on Sunday, diplomats emerged from the Council chambers saying that they had reached a compromise and that they would vote on it Monday morning. The deal would send United Nations monitors to observe the evacuation process after consultations with “interested parties,” which means that observers could in theory be turned down by soldiers and militias on the ground. Senior United Nations officials have repeatedly said that they have sought Syrian government permission to be present during the evacuation process, and that they have not received it. “This would give us collectively the tools to avoid another Srebrenica,” said François Delattre, the French ambassador, referring to the massacre of civilians in that besieged city in Bosnia in the Balkans war over 20 years ago. The measure demands that the warring parties “provide these monitors with safe, immediate and unimpeded access. ” Samantha Power, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, said she expected the resolution to be approved unanimously. She said she hoped monitors would be sent immediately to accompany civilians who want to leave on buses, and to monitor their treatment at checkpoints. Earlier in the day, before walking into negotiations, Vitaly I. Churkin, the Russian ambassador, had said United Nations staff members should not be told to “go wander around the ruins of Aleppo without proper preparation. ” Mr. Churkin told reporters on the way into the Security Council chambers: “It has disaster written all over it. This is a provocation. ” He declined to answer questions after the consultations had wrapped up. There are hundreds of United Nations civilian staff members stationed in cities in Syria who could be deployed as monitors, the United Nations said. At the moment, only monitors from the International Committee of the Red Cross and their local partners with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are on the ground. They do not report to the Security Council. The United Nations did not help broker the evacuation agreement, but its officials have been pleading for access to the process to investigate reports of atrocities, which have included suspected killings by forces of scores of people in eastern Aleppo. The United Nations secretary general, Ban last week described the area, which has been besieged for months and heavily bombarded by Syrian forces, as “a synonym for hell. ” Last week, the United Nations’ top envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said that he had repeatedly asked the Syrian government for permission to allow United Nations staff members to witness the evacuation of civilians and fighters — but that no permission had been received. On Sunday, his humanitarian adviser, Jan Egeland, repeated that call. “It is important that there are third parties present to witness and assist,” Mr. Egeland wrote in an email. Carrying out the evacuations requires the cooperation not just of foreign powers but also of the loose coalitions of fighters in Syria. Fighting for President Bashar are Syrian soldiers, the Hezbollah militant group from Lebanon, and other Shiite militias from Iraq and elsewhere. They receive support from Iran and Russia, which has been launching airstrikes on insurgent communities. On the other side is a patchwork of Sunni rebel militias, including some extremists, who have received support from the United States, Turkey and Persian Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Nearly six years into the war, both sides have resorted to siege tactics, surrounding communities populated by their foes and bombarding them. The evacuation of eastern Aleppo was to begin on Wednesday, but it was aborted after gunfire on the route. Convoys of ambulances and buses began on Thursday to bring about 3, 000 civilians and fighters out of eastern Aleppo. At the same time, another convoy headed for two Shiite villages in Idlib Province, Fua and Kfraya, that are surrounded by Sunni rebels, but their way was blocked. By Friday morning, the evacuations had stopped. They resumed on Sunday. Syrian state television reported that one convoy had reached eastern Aleppo, where thousands of people are waiting to be evacuated. But rebel gunmen attacked the convoy heading to the Shiite villages, setting a number of the buses on fire. Late Sunday night, Robert Mardini of the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Twitter that evacuations had resumed. Videos posted online showed gunmen near the buses shouting “God is great” and using derogatory terms for Shiites. After the buses heading to the Shiite villages were burned, and a driver killed, according to Mr. Egeland, forces prevented buses from leaving eastern Aleppo, according to residents reached inside the neighborhood. A resident of eastern Aleppo reached by phone said that he had been waiting for hours on a packed bus to leave the neighborhood, but that the government checkpoint would not let them pass. “This is the third time I have tried to leave,” said the resident, who gave only his first name, Saleh, for safety reasons. “There is a sense of fear among the people here. ” | 1 |
The death of the American Dream may be killing many young white Americans. [The death rates for young Americans increased substantially from 1999 to 2014, according to a recent report in The Lancet. Much of that increase was driven by the increase in mortality of white women aged 25 to 35. On average, old white women experienced an increased death rate of 3% per year from 1999 to 2014, according to the report. men had an increase annual mortality increase of 1. 9%. All other ethnic groups, apart from Native Americans, experienced a decline in mortality rates. Bloomberg News has a long feature look at this disturbing trend. The fates of the and those who graduate from universities diverge in dire ways. white Americans without degrees are at increasing risk of dying, a trend driven not only by drug use but also by alcoholism, suicide, and slowing progress against heart disease and cancer. Outcomes may worsen further as millennials — Johnson’s generation — grow older. “America is not a great place for people with only a high school degree, and I don’t think that’s going to get better anytime soon,” said Angus Deaton, a Nobel Princeton University economist. It’s too soon to tell whether millennials will die at higher rates in middle age than today’s to said Anne Case, a Princeton economist who identified the “deaths of despair” trend with Deaton, her spouse and . But in stories like Johnson’s, there are reasons to worry. In other words, there’s reason to suspect that this is just the beginning. A recent survey of millennials found that white millennials are far less likely to believe in some of the basic features of the American Dream. Only 46 percent of younger whites agree with the statement that “I believe that everyone can achieve their dreams if they try hard. ” For black millennials, the figure is 59% for hispanics 56% for asians 55%. White millennials are also more likely to agree with the statement that “the American Dream is no longer a possibility for most Americans no matter how hard they work. ” It is not surprising, then, that the increase in death rates of young white Americans is driven by suicides and accidents — which are largely deaths due to . The Lancet report points out that there are few precedents for such large increases in mortality in developed countries. “The magnitude of such increases is as large as those in two public health emergencies in the past: the substantial mortality increases in Russia during the 1990s and increases in mortality in individuals aged years at the height of the AIDS epidemic,” the report concludes. To paraphrase a groundbreaking article by Masha Gessen on the Russian death crisis, if this is correct — that white Americans are dying of despair, as they seem to be — then the question is: why have young white Americans been so overcome with despair in the 21st century? Bloomberg quotes researchers Case and Deaton: Case and Deaton have a theory for why mortality has risen for whites. For all the debate over whether college is worthwhile, high school graduates who go straight into the workforce have higher unemployment, weaker wage growth, and less chance of marrying than their predecessors and educated peers. Community supports have broken down, and as disadvantage snowballs, premature deaths rise. This, however, only raises more questions. Why have the economic and social conditions of young whites, particularly those without a college degree, become so dire? And why isn’t more of an alarm being raised about what appears to be the greatest public health emergency in the U. S. since the AIDS crisis? The Lancet study calls for “a rapid public health response” to avert further premature deaths. But what, if anything, can be done about people dying of broken hearts and shattered dreams? | 1 |
41 Shoina is a village drowned up to the waist in sand. Its denizens are quite fatalistic about it, and their only means of protection is leaving their door open for the night, as they can never be sure if they can open it in the morning. The village of Shoina is situated beyond the Arctic Circle, 1,400 kilometers north of Moscow. This tiny settlement is known for its sands, which appeared here over 50 years ago and have been waging a relentless offensive against humans ever since, depriving them of living space. How did they appear, and where else in Russia can you find unusual places like this? Solve the mystery, on RTDoc. SUBSCRIBE TO RTD Channel to get documentaries firsthand! http://bit.ly/1MgFbVy FOLLOW US RTD WEBSITE: http://RTD.rt.com/ RTD ON TWITTER: http://twitter.com/RT_DOC RTD ON FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/RTDocumentary RTD ON DAILYMOTION http://www.dailymotion.com/rt_doc RTD ON INSTAGRAM http://instagram.com/rt_documentary/ RTD LIVE http://rtd.rt.com/on-air/ Leave a Reply Login with your Social ID Your email address will not be published. Name | 0 |
Alaska Airlines Makes History with First Bio-Fueled Commercial Flight Nov 22, 2016 0 0
Using renewable bio-fuel made from sustainable forest wastes of branches and bark from the Pacific Northwest, Alaska airlines made history this week. A flight from Tacoma, WA to Washington, D.C. used only biofuel to carry its passengers.
Alaska airlines will have removed much of its traditional fuel from its fleet by the year 2020 under its sustainability plans and claims it is the first airline to use a wood-based alternative fuel on a commercial passenger flight.
Alaska Air says it used 1,080 gallons of the biofuel on the flight. Though bio-fuels are much more expensive to burn that traditional petroleum-based fuels for now, they burn cleaner and don’t require fracking, cause oil spills, or cause other environmental disasters in order to support the commercial aviation industry.
Traditional jet fuel is a hydrocarbon, almost exclusively obtained from the kerosene fraction of crude oil. Two types of fuels are used in commercial aviation: Jet-A and Jet A-1. Fuel specifications for aviation fuels are very stringent. As greener fuels are developed, the aviation industry will have to change also, adapting their rules to allow biofuels like the ones that airlines are starting to test.
Solar airplanes are also in development, but there are no commercial flights using solely solar, just yet.
Though there are numerous plants that would lend themselves to the sustainable creation of bio-fuels, hemp could be one of the most successful. It grows easily (like a weed), and requires no pesticides to cultivate. Researchers at University of Connecticut have found that the fiber crop Cannabis sativa, known as industrial hemp , has properties that make it very attractive as a raw material, or feedstock, for producing biodiesel – a sustainable diesel fuel made from renewable plant sources.
Many experts argue that a single farm growing Cannabis could produce enough fuel to power their whole farm with the oil from the seeds they produce.
Richard Parnas, a professor of chemical, materials, and biomolecular engineering who led the study says ,
“For sustainable fuels, often it comes down to a question of food versus fuel,” says Parnas, noting that major current biodiesel plants include food crops such as soybeans, olives, peanuts, and rapeseed. “It’s equally important to make fuel from plants that are not food, but also won’t need high-quality land.”
Though Alaska’s first commercial flight using a managed-forests’ ‘waste’ is a step in the right direction, far too many forests are clear-cut to be relying solely on forest debris to replace petrochemically made fuel for the entire globe. Cannabis could be a great alternative. | 0 |
1549 Views November 01, 2016 8 Comments Guest Posts The Saker
by Ghassan Kadi
My American friend Roger is a staunch Democrat supporter. He is in his seventies and has always voted Democrat.
Him and I have had countless discussions over the many years that we have known each other. His paternal roots are Arabic and he sees himself to be on the “left” side of politics, anti-Israel lobby, anti-Empire, but of late, him and I have not been able to see eye-to-eye on the Trump-Clinton race to the Whitehouse issue.
He is with the view that Obama has inherited a financial and military disaster and did the best he could, and that he should not be blamed for his failure to “perform” as many did after his elaborate and successful “yes we can” slogan. He supported Obama-care and other domestic reform policies, and this is perhaps where Roger and I stop to agree and start to disagree.
Many, including Roger, look at the appalling record of the Republican American Party and try to paint a tainted image of it. The party that is affectionately called the Grand Old Party or the GOP by its own staunch supporters certainly has enough such records to put it up there with charges of global mayhem and genocide. The GOP has given birth to monsters; people like Nixon, the Bushes, and of course, who can forget Dr. Kissinger? McCain is another character that comes to mind; one that no thinking man could trust with a dog, a Federal Senator who commands self-given authority that no one seems to be able to either understand the mandate of, or challenge.
At the end of the infamous line Republican line, well at least thus far, enter Donald Trump. And what a character he is? Need one say more?
God forbid if this article may be read like a defense of the GOP. The GOP is run by the rich and the privileged, and as described by George W. Bush himself, by “the haves and have more”. It is the party of Dick Cheney who saw in Iraq an opportunity to generate contracts for Haliburton. If tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis had to die for him to achieve his objective, he would not and did not blink.
This is the party that condones and feeds Christian Zionists. It is the party that has huge control over the media. It is the party that runs the world like it is a business enterprise.
Sadly, and whether the rest of the world likes it or not, until the current global status quo changes, no political party in the world affects the rest of the world like the ruling party in the United States. Whilst elections in other countries are by-and-large domestic affairs that affect domestic politics of the country concerned, American elections have implications that are not only domestically bound, but have a much further global reach that encompasses every corner of the world.
As a non-American, personally, I am much more concerned about the wider global implications of American politics than the domestic ones. This is not to say that I am indifferent about America and the American people. As a matter of fact, not only do I have close friends who live in America, but also close family members there, and I have grave concerns for all mankind in every corner of the globe, by my interest in American politics remains focused on foreign policy matters; and to this effect, I am only able to relate to the choice between the major two American parties from the perspective of their foreign policies.
As America insists to be the world police and the unrivalled superpower, a stature many Americans are refusing to accept that they have already lost, it must accept what comes with it and concede that the rest of the world is hoping that the American people will choose the better candidate as the new president; or should I say the one who is less harmful to the world.
In between Donald and Hillary, who fits the less-harmful bill? This is the question.
Enough has been recently said about Hillary’s health to write a horror novel. Her “mini-strokes” and “alleged” recent case of pneumonia have made headlines as big, if not bigger than her infamous hidden emails, allegations of involvement in the murder of an American Ambassador and even selling arms to ISIS. Very recently however, the issue of the emails is resurfacing again, and very late in the campaign, perhaps late enough to serve Hillary with a knock out.
However, her zeal to reach the Whitehouse seems to have been in her mind even before Bill’s (her husband) Monica scandal back in 1998. Hillary was prepared to publicly support Bill, appear to “forgive” him and move on, because she had a bigger fish to fry; the Whitehouse. She somehow managed to hush down all other sex offence allegations against Bill, all the while, and hypocritically, trying to score mileage from similar allegations against Trump.
Her unabated lust for power will not stop at anything for as long as she ends up at the helm, the first female American President, even if she has to be Commander In Chief from behind the control button of a wheelchair.
There are even observations and allegations that many people who have campaigned against her have died under suspicious circumstances. Whether this mystery is going to be taken up by main stream media just on the eve of the elections to serve her with yet another under-the-belt knock out remains to be seen.
Her uncontrollable laughs and hysterical facial expressions leave many questions unanswered.
In between the two front runners Donald and Hillary, it is hard to say that she presents herself as the sane and rational choice.
Is there a party-based distinction on foreign affairs matters? Perhaps now, but not historically.
For some reason, the American Republican Party is seen as the party of the hawks and the Democrats are seen as the doves. But are they?
To answer this question in an unbiased manner, we ought to look back at history. Notwithstanding the colourful history of the GOP, the Bushes; father and son, Cheney, the NeoCons and Co., what is really the history of the American Democratic Party?
A few landmark historical decisions make it very clear. So let us start with current events before we dwell into recent history that some might have chosen to forget.
The “War On Syria” was the brainless child of the so-called “Arab Spring”, a spring that was heralded by the visit of an American President to Cairo and a speech he made to Sunni Muslim clergy at Al-Azhar University. The President’s name is Barak Obama, and he is a Democrat. Obama’s speech was a subtle endorsement for the Arab street, and to be specific to the Sunni Muslim Arab street to rise.
The Maidan phenomenon and all the events that followed in Ukraine, the anti-Russian sanctions, escalations and intimidations and the creation of a very volatile situation in Europe; a situation that remains hot and of unpredictable consequences, have all been orchestrated by the same President; Obama….a Democrat.
Last but not least, the current tension in the South China Sea is also the outcome of the same President, the incumbent Democrat; Barak Obama.
Now, let us not forget that President Obama is a Nobel Prize laureate; ironically for peace.
The American involvement in the Vietnam War started under the tenure of the sweetheart Hollywood-star like American President; JFK. It reached its climax during the LBJ administration. Both Kennedy and Johnson were Democrats.
But all of the above monstrosity is dwarfed by dropping the A-Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many strategists have argued over the last seven decades as to whether or not President Truman had no other choice to end the war quickly, but those arguments do not change the fact that two; not one, atom bombs were dropped on cities. It is pertinent to note here that the Manhattan Project generated two types of bombs, “Little Boy” (used in Hiroshima) and “Fat Man” (used in Nagasaki). It doesn’t take a genius to at least suspect that the American administration wanted to test the two types and that therefore, in their eyes, destroying Hiroshima alone was not enough.
That said, and even though no A-Bombs were dropped in Western Europe and specifically on Germany, the brutality that civilians in German towns and cities have suffered were simply acts of vengeance and many of them had no military gains to achieve.
Harry Truman was not a Republican. He was yet another Democrat.
But haven’t we forgotten the other Democrat sweetheart of the Whitehouse? The almost saint-in-waiting? The smiling Colgate-ad President Jimmy Carter.
Many see that Carter had an impeccable record of being a humanitarian of the highest degree. As a matter of fact, credit must be given to him for his post-presidency peace campaigns, and specifically for standing up for the Palestinian people and for not being silenced by the Israel lobby.
However, in reality, it was during the Carter administration that Al-Qaeda was created under the blessing and auspices of the USA. It was a criminal with a twisted mind aka Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter’s National Security Advisor, who actually established the first Jihadist army. In his narrow-minded and short-sighted vision, he thought that the best way to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan was to support and train Islamist fighters to rise against the “infidel” Communists. And even though the plot eventually generated ISIS, a monster that turned not only against the hand the fed it but also against the whole world, to this date, Brzezinski maintains that he came up with a genius master plan. Once again, Carter and Brzezinski were both Democrats.
And now, it is Clinton who is beating up the drums of war against Russia and China.
Americans may have their legitimate preferences that would make them go either for Trump or for Clinton. Supporters of each team can and do provide huge lists that make their candidate of choice the better one. Arguably, one of them could well be better for America; the truth is that as a citizen of the world, and as mentioned before, I am more interested in a President who is better for the rest of the world.
Whether Trump will trump up the military after an election win is anyone’s guess. But Clinton is beating the drums of war already. To this effect, and as we stand today, on the international arena, she is the hawk; not Trump.
Americans who are disenchanted by wars must realize that this time around, the choice to vote Democrat is an endorsement of her war aspirations.
Americans with two minds as to which way to go on the 8 th of this month ought to remember that whatever their personal, local and/or domestic issues are, the USA will not win a nuclear war against either Russia or China; let alone both combined.
Those swinging voters who easily vote for either major party depending on an array of factors, should hopefully discern that this time that a vote for Clinton is a vote for war.
If some have never voted for the GOP in the past, and more so are physically unable to vote for Trump, and/or if others are disenchanted by both major parties or actually never voted before, and if they regard both candidates as equally farcical, one would wonder as to what are waiting for to vote outside the two major parties? What caliber of Democrat and Republican candidates are such reluctant American voters waiting for to vote for a third option?
Some argue that a vote for the Greens is a wasted vote because the Greens will never make it into the Whitehouse, at least not in the foreseeable future, but in reality, any vote that does not endorse Hillary Clinton is not a wasted vote. The Essential Saker: from the trenches of the emerging multipolar world $27.95 | 0 |
Heather Dietrick, Gawker Media’s president and general counsel, has always been close to her grandfather, a prisoner of war during World War II who, she said, “has taught me a lot about fielding a lot of situations. ” She still wears his vocational high school class ring from 1943 as a reminder that people can get through anything if they are resilient. It’s the kind of inspiration that has helped Ms. Dietrick make it through the last 11 months at Gawker. These have been tumultuous times, perhaps never more so than last Friday at noon at the company’s Manhattan offices. After taking a few moments to collect her thoughts, Ms. Dietrick joined Nick Denton, Gawker’s founder and chief executive, at a companywide meeting. There they told some 200 employees that Gawker, facing a $140 million judgment from a lawsuit by the retired wrestler Hulk Hogan, had filed for bankruptcy and was putting itself up for sale. As she stood beside Mr. Denton and delivered the news, Ms. Dietrick said in an interview over the weekend, she looked at her audience. “I could tell there was initial shock, seeing everyone and looking them in the eyes. ” Ms. Dietrick and Mr. Denton spent much of the meeting answering questions and assuring the employees that the company planned to continue its operations during its bankruptcy. As has recently become customary, Ms. Dietrick did most of the talking. Since joining Gawker three years ago, Ms. Dietrick, 35, has become the main source of support during a chaotic time for the company. Most general counsels work in obscurity, but Ms. Dietrick, with the added responsibilities of president, has taken on more of a leadership role at Gawker as Mr. Denton has pulled back from the operations. Throughout the Hulk Hogan case, she has been the bridge between the newsroom and Gawker’s legal proceedings. She manages much of the company’s editorial operations and has a formal role in editorial . And though Mr. Denton is still arguably the public face of Gawker, she has been called on repeatedly to represent the company during periods of turmoil. “The place would not run without Heather,” Mr. Denton said in a recent interview. “She’s the person that holds everything together. ” In the last year, Ms. Dietrick, who has both a law degree and an M. B. A. from the University of Michigan, has had to try to steer the company through one crisis after another. Last month, the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel acknowledged in an interview with The New York Times that he was financially supporting the Hogan lawsuit and other legal cases against the company. That put Gawker at the center of a First Amendment battle that has captivated the media world while highlighting a deepening chasm between an ascendant technology industry and a journalism business buffeted by financial challenges. In the interview on Saturday, Ms. Dietrick said that Gawker began seriously considering filing for bankruptcy once Mr. Thiel’s involvement in the Hogan case became known. The pivotal moment came on Friday at around 11 a. m. after a hearing in which a Florida judge affirmed the $140 million judgment in the Hogan case and granted Gawker’s request for a stay, but under conditions that the company found too onerous, Ms. Dietrick said. The conditions included allowing Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry G. Bollea, to get liens on the company’s assets. Gawker had considered the option of filing for bankruptcy within a few days, Ms. Dietrick said. But as its lawyers in Florida provided updates on the hearing by phone, she and Mr. Denton decided the company could not wait any longer because they feared it would be unable to continue to operate otherwise. “The timeline was pushed forward a little more quickly than we expected,” Ms. Dietrick said on Saturday. “As of yesterday, it was inevitable that we were going to go through with the sale. ” The company still plans to appeal the judgment. Gawker has had its fair share of detractors, and on Twitter and in comments in news articles, some cheered the company’s fate. Ms. Dietrick said any suggestion that Gawker got what it deserved was “absurd. ” She said that the company had certainly “overstepped the line a couple of times” but that it was proud of nearly all of the stories it had done over the years. Ms. Dietrick said she was committed to staying at Gawker but acknowledged that its future was uncertain. The company said on Friday that it would conduct a sale through an auction and expected to close a deal by the end of the summer. Ziff Davis, a digital media company, has submitted an opening bid in the range of $90 million to $100 million. It was not clear whether a buyer would want all of Gawker’s sites, and it is possible that Mr. Denton might consider buying back Gawker. com at some point. Nearly everyone who works with Ms. Dietrick, who was in Hearst’s legal department before coming to Gawker in May 2013, describes her as nice. But that belies her steeliness in difficult situations. They also say she has brought a sense of professionalism and diplomacy that helps balance Gawker’s notoriously freewheeling spirit. She has built up a team of four lawyers including herself who handle vetting, contracts, licensing deals and most of the company’s other legal matters. And she has gained the trust of editorial staff members, who view her more as a partner than an adversary. Women at Gawker say they see her as an advocate at a company that has been criticized in the past for how it treats female employees. She often works on her laptop on a couch in the lounge area near the editorial team and goes out for drinks with employees. On Friday evening, she invited staff members to a rooftop gathering at her apartment building in the West Village, where she lives with her husband. People ordered pizzas and drank beer. Ms. Dietrick firmly believes in Gawker’s approach to news, current and former employees say. She is a staunch defender of the First Amendment and would rather figure out a way to tell a story than prevent it from running. “She believes in what we do as much, if not more, than I do,” said John Cook, Gawker Media’s executive editor. Last July, Gawker published an article claiming that a married male media executive had sought to hire a gay escort. The article drew a firestorm of criticism and there was considerable debate at the company about whether to remove the post. Mr. Denton ultimately decided to take it down after a vote that he said showed that the company’s management, including Ms. Dietrick, was largely in favor of doing so. But Ms. Dietrick maintained that she wanted to keep it online and that her stance was misconstrued. “I knew the world was going to have a discussion about it,” she said. “I think it’s hard to talk about things once they’ve been disappeared. ” Some colleagues suggest that her numerous roles may have stretched her too thin. “She actually has more jobs than one human should probably have,” said Hamilton Nolan, a writer who has worked at Gawker for eight years. Some in the media legal community question whether it makes sense for Ms. Dietrick to hold general counsel and president roles. Acting as both executive and lawyer, they say, can complicate privilege. Ms. Dietrick said she did not think her dual role was “that odd,” but acknowledged that the last year had been tough. “I feel like my job has been removing roadblocks,” she said. For all of the challenges, however, it is largely because of her roles at Gawker that Ms. Dietrick is now enjoying much more prominence than most general counsels ever do. “If I were her, I wouldn’t be unhappy being in her position,” said Sandra S. Baron, a First Amendment media lawyer and a former executive director of the Media Law Resource Center. “There’s nothing humdrum about what she’s doing now. ” | 1 |
Mario Chasi stood in the middle of one of the 45 corrugated steel stalls that line the former warehouse in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx where he hopes to his body shop. Mr. Chasi, a heavyset auto mechanic, is a refugee from Willets Point, Queens, a ramshackle colony of auto repair, muffler, glass and tire shops next to Citi Field. In 2013, he was among a group of business owners and mechanics evicted from the area, with its broken streets and potholes as big as a bathtub, to make way for a planned redevelopment. While the project has been stalled in court, Mr. Chasi and more than three dozen other former inhabitants of Willets Points have struggled for more than two years to convert the warehouse where he was standing last week into an auto mart of sorts called the Sunrise Cooperative. But with the construction nearly complete, Sunrise ran out of money, and filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 23. The cooperative’s last, best chance is that New York City will come to the rescue with additional financing. “I find it hard to think about what will happen if Sunrise doesn’t open,” said Mr. Chasi, who immigrated from Ecuador 15 years ago and started Cuenca Auto Body, with three employees. “I want to open as fast as possible. I’m ready to work. It’s the last hope. ” City officials said that Sunrise, which has already received more than $7 million in relocation funds, had asked for another $3 million to pay old bills, finish construction and cover its initial operating costs. But the officials were noncommital about whether more money would be forthcoming. “We have worked in good faith for years to help the get onto firm footing,” said Anthony Hogrebe, a spokesman for the city’s Economic Development Corporation. “We are staying in close contact with them to understand their needs, and the cause of the overruns. ” It would be a shame to let the Sunrise cooperative fail when it is so close to opening, Harvey Epstein said, associate director of the Urban Justice Center, which represents Sunrise. “We’re hopeful that the city’ll continue to work with Sunrise to have a cooperative in the Bronx,” he said. “It will set the model for keeping low wage businesses together, even after their neighborhood has been rezoned. ” In 2007, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg first announced plans to turn Willets Point, also known as the Iron Triangle, into the “next great neighborhood” with 5, 500 apartments, a convention center and office space. City officials regarded the auto repair enclave as an eyesore whose dusty streets flooded when it rained, but Willets Point was home to about 225 mostly businesses and 1, 700 workers who earned anywhere from $80 to $140 a day. Those kinds of industrial, jobs have not fared well amid the city’s rising tide of luxury housing and gentrification over the past 20 years. “There’s no institutional commitment in the city to preserving industry,” said Tom Angotti, a professor of urban affairs and planning at Hunter College. “But it’s been shown time and again that diverse economies are more resilient. ” In the case of Willets Point, city officials said the shops would have to move. There were protests and but in 2013, the City Council approved a $3 billion Willets Point redevelopment plan, which called for a hotel and a 1 mall next to the stadium. The developers — the Related Companies and Sterling Equities, whose principals own Citi Field and the Mets — were required to build 2, 500 apartments, 875 for low and tenants, beginning in 2025, although they had the option of paying the city $35 million to get out of the obligation. A lawsuit filed by the City Club of New York, a civic group, and some business and property owners has slowed any progress. The developers so far have lost in court, and have appealed, although the city declined to join the appeal. But under Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, the city has continued to buy land in Willets Point and to evict businesses in the area. The city has already spent $264 million of a $474 million budget for land, demolition, cleaning up toxic materials and building highway ramps. The Sunrise Cooperative also sued the city, settling in 2015, after the city agreed to provide the group with $5. 8 million to move collectively to the Bronx warehouse. Marco Neira, president of Sunrise, said the group wanted to replicate the critical mass of businesses at Willets Point that had attracted customers who knew they could find a good deal by hunting from shop to shop for the best price. Mr. Neira said he wanted to avoid what happened to printers in Manhattan, many of which failed after being forced to leave the printing district around Canal and Hudson Streets in the 1990s. Some relocated to Long Island City, where they are being forced out by development again. “All the printers in the buildings around me have been told to get out in the next year,” said Howard Weinstein, president of Candid Litho Printing, which moved to Long Island City 10 years ago and is moving again, possibly out of the city. “The number of apartment buildings going up here is out of control. ” Members of the Sunrise Cooperative said that their building in Hunts Point — and industrial section close to the Interstate 278 that is home to the city’s produce and fish markets — is unlikely to face the same sort of gentrification. The price of converting the property has soared because of delays and the cost of constructing in accordance with building and fire codes. Sunrise has exhausted its own money as well as $7. 6 million in city relocation financing. Sunrise estimates that it needs another $2 million to pay outstanding bills and finish construction and $1 million more for operating costs in the first year. Former Willets Point business owners like Mr. Chasi and Jorge Molina, who owned the House of Shocks, often set up shop in front of the Iron Triangle shops with compressors, tool bags and spare parts piled into the back of pickup trucks or vans. “I have some customers, maybe 100, waiting for the shop to open,” said Robert Aguilar, who immigrated to New York from Mexico and owned Veterans Auto Repair. “In a good year, I made $70, 000. I had been looking to buy a house. But now: nothing. What money there is goes for food and rent. ” | 1 |
Sports The National Iranian women’s inline hockey team
The national Iranian women’s inline hockey team has captured its second victory in a row at the preliminary round of the 17th edition of Asian Roller Skating Championships in China, overcoming the strong South Korean side.
On Wednesday morning, the Iranian sportswomen gained a narrow 1-0 win over the East Asian contingent in a match staged in the eastern Chinese city of Lishui.
Faezeh Modabber scored the sole goal of the game. The Iranian inline hockey players also got two other goals, but the referee disallowed them.
The Iranian outfit was scheduled to face China later in the day.
The 17th edition of Asian Roller Skating Championships started in Lishui on October 23 and will wrap up on November 1.
The sports event has brought together dozens of male and female roller skaters from various Asian countries, including China, the Islamic Republic of Iran and South Korea. Loading ... | 0 |
Tweet Widget by MOVE People
The Philadelphia-based MOVE family was horribly victimized by police in 1978 and 1985. The first atrocity led to the mass imprisonment of MOVE members; the second assault killed five adults and six children and burned down a city block. No cops have ever been punished, but the MOVE 9 remain in prison, and were this year once again denied parole. “They couldn't kill us that day, so they are trying to finish the job in these prisons.” “When You Speak Up for the MOVE 9, You Speak Up for Yourself” by MOVE People
This article previously appeared on Move 9 blogspot .
“The District Attorney never proved MOVE had killed a police officer.”
The MOVE 9 Have been eligible for Parole since August 2008, After being in prison for 30 years. We have repeatedly been denied. In June of this year (2016) , we were denied parole again , for a total of ten years past the time we should have been released. One of the reasons the parole board gave to justify not releasing us is that we are a threat to the safety of the community. This is not true. People are not afraid of MOVE People. Move People ain't strangling people to death, shooting people in the back. It ain't MOVE that killed a man in front of his fiancé and four year old child. MOVE is not drive by shooting, or terrorizing folks in the community. It's the community who is faxing, emailing, and calling the parole board asking for our release on parole.
It is the Parole Board and D.A. John Straub who continue to deny our release for no valid reason. On August 8th 1978, hundreds of cops attacked our home at 3:00am in the morning trying to kill us. They couldn't kill us that day, so they are trying to finish the job in these prisons but understand: John Straub and the Parole Board are not justified. MOVE did not go out to the Police's house to do them harm. The Cops came to our house, because a judge sent them to our house to serve bench warrants for not appearing in court not for rape, murder, kidnapping or abuse but for not appearing in court for a civil matter. Understand this: hundreds of cops were sent to our home, while we were asleep, dressed in swat gear, armed with all type of weaponry, semi -automatic weapons, fire fighters, smoke bombs, tear gas, a deluge gun, a crane and a bulldozer to serve bench warrants, for a housing code violation.
“Move People ain't strangling people to death, shooting people in the back.”
It was the Police who came to Move’s premises. They came armed to the teeth and in their frenzy to kill MOVE, they killed one of their own, and condemned us for it. We are not making this up. The evidence is clear.
The whole world witnessed the attack on the MOVE house May 13th 1985, where the house was bombed into a blazing inferno, the six adults were shot and killed and the five children were shot back into the house by police as they tried to escape the burning flames where they died . These are proven Facts. During the city’s investigation hearing, it was ruled that the cops used excessive force and the killings were wrongful deaths. Those children were our children in that house that day, yet not one cop or official connected to the bombing of our family were held accountable, responsible for these deaths like the parole board is telling The MOVE 9 we have to take responsibility for a crime when the District Attorney never proved MOVE had killed a police officer.
We have no weapons charges and the judge admitted on public radio to the caller, Mumia Abu Jamal [a radio journalist at the time], that he didn't have the faintest idea who shot the police officer. It's a fact that world renowned forensic experts Dr. Ali Hameli and Claus Speth ruled the deaths of the children HOMICIDES in a scathing report against the city, submitted to the assistant District Attorney Joan Weimer, but the grand jury did nothing.
“It's time for everybody to start speaking freely in protest of all this free wheeling injustice.”
The Move 9 have spent almost 40 years in prison for killing a cop, with no real proof. The whole world saw the Philadelphia police murder our children and family, and they have not spent a day in prison for it. But, what is the difference in these lives? Does a MOVE child not bleed, when they are shot? Does a MOVE parent not feel pain when their baby is killed, just because they are not cops or officials? Does the murder of a MOVE child, the pain of MOVE parent, the heartache of a black person's suffering still fall on deaf ears like the slaves who cried out when their babies, women and men were sold, killed, and whipped by slave owners? Ask yourself. Things may seem to have changed since those awful days, but the mentality is still very much existing.
Just look around and listen. Black lives (Don't) Matter. That's why these cops are getting away with killing Black Men, Women, and Children. That's why The MOVE 9 are still in prison almost 40 years for killing a cop, and the cops responsible for killing 11 MOVE people, five of them children, are walking around like they are clean and without guilt. It's the mentality that makes them feel nothing after killing people. Because to them MOVE lives (Don't) matter. It's time for everybody to start speaking freely in protest of all this free wheeling injustice. People must understand this necessity of speaking out now.
We are asking for people to sign The Petition we have aimed at United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch demanding that The United States Justice Dept open up an investigation into the ongoing and wrongful imprisonment of The MOVE 9. People can sign the petition at Https://causes.com/92454-free-the-move-9 . Speak out with the understanding that when speaking of MOVE, you are speaking up for yourself. It can't get better for MOVE without getting better for you.
Looking Forward To The May 2017 MOVE Conference In Philadelphia.
Ona Move | 0 |
Posted on November 7, 2016 by Eric Zuesse. Eric Zuesse On November 7th, a Morning Consult and Politico poll of early voters showed Donald Trump to be overwhelmingly viewed by early voters as being the more dangerous of the two major-Party candidates. The mega-corporation Alphabet, formerly known as Google, deserves a lot of the credit for that result, on candidate Hillary Clinton’s behalf — against, first, Bernie Sanders, and, now, Mr. Trump. Eric Schmidt, the billionaire Chairman and top executive of Alphabet Corporation, has been behind the scenes working for her campaign all along, and will be beyond being the most powerful person in the world (which he already was) if she wins. On 1 February 2016, FORTUNE bannered, “Google’s Parent Seizes Apple’s Crown As Most Valuable U.S. Company” , and that understated the reality: it’s been actually the entire world’s most valuable company ever since that time (and not merely the “Most Valuable U.S. Company”). Schmidt detailed in the recently wikileaked 2014 email to Hillary’s campaign, the means for winning both the nomination and the ultimate victory. It was an email to Hillary Clinton’s aide Cheryl Mills, dated 15 April 2014 , and was promptly forwarded by her to John Podesta, Hillary’s campaign manager. Here is just the opening of it, to indicate the types of matters it addressed: 1. Size, Structure and Timing Lets assume a total budget of about $1.5Billion, with more than 5000 paid employees and million(s) of volunteers. The entire startup ceases operation four days after November 8, 2016. The structure includes a Chairman or Chairwoman who is the external face of the campaign and a President who is the executive in charge of objectives, measurements, systems and building and managing the organization. Every day matters as our end date does not change. An official campaign right after midterm elections and a preparatory team assembled now is best. 2. Location The campaign headquarters will have about a thousand people, mostly young and hardworking and enthusiastic. Its important to have a very large hiring pool (such as Chicago or NYC) from which to choose enthusiastic, smart and low paid permanent employees. DC is a poor choice as its full of distractions and interruptions. Moving the location from DC elsewhere guarantees visitors have taken the time to travel and to help. The key is a large population of talented people who are dying to work for you. Any outer borough of NYC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston are all good examples of a large, blue state city to base in. Employees will relocate to participate in the campaign, and will find low cost temporary housing or live with campaign supporters on a donated basis. This worked well in Chicago and can work elsewhere. The computers will be in the cloud and most likely on Amazon Web services (AWS). All the campaign needs are portable computers, tablets and smart phones along with credit card readers. 3. The pieces of a Campaign a) The Field Its important to have strong field leadership, with autonomy and empowerment. Operations talent needs to build the offices, set up the systems, hire the people, and administer what is about 5000 people. Initial modeling will show heavy hiring in the key battleground states. There is plenty of time to set these functions up and build the human systems. The field is about organizing people, voter contact, and get out the vote programs. Then, for example, there’s this: Partners like Blue State Digital will do much of the fund raising. A key point is to convert BSD and other partners to pure cloud service offerings to handle the expected crush and load. d) Media (paid), (earned) and (social), and polling New tools should be developed to measure reach and impact of paid, earned and social media. The impact of press coverage should be measurable in reach and impact, and TV effectiveness measured by attention and other surveys. Build tools that measure the rate and spread of stories and rumors, and model how it works and who has the biggest impact. Tools can tell us about the origin of stories and the impact of any venue, person or theme. and this: In the case where we can’t identify the specific human, we can still have a partial digital voter id, for a person or “probable-person” with attributes that we can identify and use to target. As they respond we can eventually match to a registered voter in the main file. This digital key is eventually matched to a real person. It’s focused on controlling the outcome regardless of the actual merits of the competing candidates; and Schmidt was an ultimate insider in his knowledge of what companies Podesta should select to carry out the various parts of this operation. (Of course, those companies will then be in a privileged position, alongside Alphabet, serving a Clinton Administration.) Schmidt also was proving to Hillary that in his work for her he was entirely objective in her interests, such as by his recommending Amazon, his big cloud-computing competitor, instead of Alphabet’s own cloud-computing service. This is a bipartisan operation, for her, against any and all other candidates. Schmidt also was crucially involved in helping in 2011 to plan the coup in Ukraine that Hillary’s State Department was then working on, and which culminated successfully in February 2014 . ( Here’s Hillary’s protégé Victoria Nuland overseeing the operation and selecting on 4 February 2014 who would be leading the country after the coup: “Yats” .) This ‘democratic revolution’ “featured civic self-organization aided by the use of Internet-based social media, neighborhood initiatives, and online news sites” , and this online operation (directed mainly at rallying Ukraine’s anti-Russians, called ‘pro-EU’ people) fits precisely the “tech camps” that started inside the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine on 1 March 2013 , after Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt and Google’s and the U.S. State Department’s Jared Cohen, had deceived wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange into informing them, on 23 June 2011 , how to foment massive public demonstrations online. As planned (and, of course, Assange had no fore-knowledge of any of this), the coup ended in a very bloody ‘false-flag’ operation on 20 February 2014, in which Right Sector paramilitaries who had been trained by the rabidly anti-Russian racist Dmitriy Yarosh , and who were dressed as state-security police, shot down upon the crowd and murdered both regular policemen and the protesters, so that the bloodshed would be blamed on the man Obama was trying to oust, the democratically elected President, Viktor Yanukovych (who was lots more popular among Ukrainians than any of the subsequent top leaders of Ukraine have been). Then these Right Sector mercenaries massacred an untold number of Crimeans who had been peacefully demonstrating there in Kiev against the anti-government (called ‘Maidan’) demonstrators, and who fled back into their eight buses that had taken them there from Crimea, back now to Crimea. Yarosh’s people blocked the buses at the town of Korsun and murdered some and injured others . This terrified the people in Crimea, which had voted 75% for the very person that the Obama Administration had just overthrown. That massacre was a key precipitating-event for the plebiscite that was then held in Crimea on 16 March 2014, at which over 90% of the residents voted for Crimea to rejoin with Russia, of which it had been a part until the Soviet dictator in 1954 arbitrarily transferred Crimea to Ukraine. Right Sector thugs (now in plain clothes) were also behind the subsequent 2 May 2014 massacre of the new regime’s peacefully demonstrating opponents inside the Trade Unions Building in Odessa — the event that sparked the breakaway of yet another region of Ukraine: Donbass. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama wanted to control Ukraine because it has the longest border with Russia of any European country and would be ideal for placing missiles aimed at Moscow just a five minutes flight-time away. This was part of a plan that was started actually by U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush on the night of 24 February 1990 and which both Bill Clinton and Bush’s son advanced, as did Obama and as will Hillary — presumably to the plan’s ultimate conclusion, war against Russia. It’s a massive, decades-long, team-effort, on the part of America’s billionaires and their allied billionaires around the world; and, if Clinton wins, then it will be culminated. Eric Schmidt is key to her success in it, and will probably benefit hugely from it, if the conquest can be carried out by non-nuclear means or by ‘bluffing’ (which, of course, is being carefully gamed-out). But, just in case it goes nuclear, the people who are on the inside have already invested in nuclear bunkers for themselves and their friends and their friends’ friends . They are prepared for the worst, but hope for the best (for themselves, at least). | 0 |
A stark white background. Unfamiliar faces. phrases reducing women to their body parts. Priorities USA, the Democratic “super PAC” supporting Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, is kicking off its advertising for the general election on Wednesday with a new ad, titled “Speak,” that uses Donald J. Trump’s own statements against him to depict him as a misogynist and unworthy of the White House. It is strikingly similar to a commercial broadcast in March by Our Principles PAC, a Republican group that sought unsuccessfully to derail Mr. Trump’s march toward the party’s nomination. The two ads cast a spotlight on many of the same remarks, with one essential difference: the voice that viewers hear. The Republican ad, “Quotes,” was released just before the Florida and Ohio primaries, and sought to spur outrage at Mr. Trump on behalf of “our mothers,” “our sisters,” “our daughters. ” On the screen, seven different women take turns reading aloud Mr. Trump’s remarks, their expressions and inflections conveying their disdain, or outright disgust, for the lines they were asked to deliver. The Democratic ad, “Speak,” grew directly out of “Quotes,” after tests by Priorities USA found that of all the commercials, that one had resonated particularly well with voters that Priorities was hoping to persuade. But rather than hire actresses, Priorities said, it employed voters — male and female — who had not previously been familiar with Mr. Trump’s more offensive remarks about women. A more noticeable tweak: Rather than have them deliver Mr. Trump’s lines for him, these people merely lip sync Mr. Trump’s is the only voice heard. Message Our Principles PAC portrayed Mr. Trump’s utterances as offensive to the women in voters’ lives, appealing to viewers’ sense of chivalry, in a way. Priorities USA puts the question more directly: “Does Donald Trump really speak for you?” Priorities also brings men on camera. One, standing beside a young girl, as Mr. Trump suggests that if Ivanka Trump were not his daughter, “perhaps I’d be dating her. ” Style The Priorities USA ad includes a percolating soundtrack, but it steals slightly from the impact of the words. Our Principles let each quote sink in. Bottom Line By using audio clips of Mr. Trump’s voice, the Priorities USA ad heightens the immediate sense of authenticity. But the actresses in the Republican ad had greater freedom to add their own vocal interpretations — which hammered home the point more effectively than a gesture or arched eyebrow can accomplish on its own. | 1 |
SAN FRANCISCO — If Apple had its way, this week would play out like Christmas for . First, unbelievable anticipation. Then, great surprise. At the end, immense satisfaction. When the latest iPhone is unveiled here on Wednesday in a auditorium, it probably will instead be more like Christmas for a sneaky who long ago peeked at his present. Thanks. That’s it? Anyone who cares enough about the iPhone to know that a new model is being released this month already knows what it is supposed to be like: a little thinner, a little faster and equipped with superior cameras on the Plus model. By far the most controversial feature, however, is the one that will be missing: a headphone jack. A standard element of technology that can be traced back to 1878 and the invention of the manual telephone exchange, the jack is apparently going the way of the floppy disk and the folding map. The future will be wireless. We know about this potential absence thanks to a global information chain, one that shadows the supply and manufacturing chain that produces Apple’s products. The shadow chain is intended to ferret out Apple rumors: promoting them, discussing them and then discussing them some more, long before they become facts. This rumor mill is both a gift to Apple and a burden, a sign that it has not lost its magic and a warning that everyone is on watch for the moment it does. No other company is tracked quite so relentlessly. Under its Steve Jobs, Apple relished its ability to keep news under wraps and went to great lengths — legally and otherwise — to make sure it remained that way. “There is one more thing, and we’ve managed to keep it secret,” Mr. Jobs exulted in 1999 as he introduced iMacs in colors like blueberry and tangerine. “It’s hard to believe, but we did it. ” It was an ambition that his successor, Timothy D. Cook, underlined at a conference four years ago. “We’re going to double down on secrecy on products,” he said. Things have not quite worked out that way. “When Steve Jobs was around, there was still that hope they could surprise you,” said Gene Munster, an Apple analyst. “Today, that hope is largely gone. ” The long road to unraveling this week’s surprises began last November, less than three months after the iPhone 6s had debuted to gangbuster sales. The Japanese website Mac Otakara, considered a generally reliable source of information that has ties to the factories manufacturing the phone, wrote about Apple removing the jack in the next iPhone under the heading “rumor. ” For anyone not ready to go wireless, the story said, wired earphones would plug into the iPhone via Apple’s Lightning connector, which is typically used for charging power. Traditional headphones would presumably work through a converter. This was big. “Headphones are one of the most basic functions, so this is something that’s going to affect users of all kinds,” said Eric Slivka, editor in chief of MacRumors. com. “I immediately knew it would be an extremely controversial topic all the way until launch. ” A post on the MacRumors site, drawing from the Mac Otakara story, included a cautionary note that began, “Should this rumor prove to be true . .. ” The post received 1, 100 comments from Apple aficionados who had no doubt it was and who, in general, did not like the idea of no jack. Cellphones were once like bricks, but losing the jack so the iPhone could be even thinner was felt by some to be a bad bargain. “Any thinner and I’ll lose it into the continuum forever,” one commenter joked. MacRumors exists for these kinds of moments. So does AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, 9to5Mac and similar sites in various languages, all of which picked up the news and chewed it over. During the next six weeks, helped along by further stories on Chinese blogs, the mainstream media picked it up as well. Newsweek, sounding rather overwrought, asked, “Is Apple Ready to Kill the Beloved Headphone Jack?” A Fast Company article announced that Apple would be dropping the jack — “It’s True,” read the headline — and added that the iPhone would probably support wireless charging and be waterproof. By early January, emotions were at a fever pitch. An online petition from SumofUs. org, which more than 300, 000 people have signed, denounced Apple for creating more electronic waste — presumably, headphones that will no longer work with the iPhone and be thrown out. Some commentators explained that even if people used adapters with their old headphones, they were gaining things, too. Other commentators noted that people complained that Apple never innovated anymore, and yet here it was innovating, and people were complaining anyway. Then came the rumor that the headphone jack was not going away after all. The Chinese website Mydrivers. com published a photo of what it said were the innards of the new iPhone with the jack right there. “Has the rumor mill been lying to us?” wondered Cult of Mac. “Surely not!” Two weeks ago, with the volume of commentary picking up as the big reveal approached, even Apple’s other Steve Wozniak, weighed in. “If it’s missing the 3. earphone jack, that’s going to tick off a lot of people,” he told the Australian Financial Review. But he added a conciliatory note: “We’ll see. Apple is good at moving towards the future, and I like to follow that. ” Perhaps it is better to be forewarned about what the future holds rather than be forced to confront it abruptly. “We soften the blow,” said Neil Hughes, managing editor of AppleInsider. “Can you imagine that if no one saw it coming and Apple just dropped this on Wednesday? People would lose their minds. ” Apple, which declined to comment for this article, most likely has a different view. In late 2004, it went after several websites, including AppleInsider, saying that when they posted details about unreleased products, they were publishing stolen property. At first Apple found success in court but the ruling was sharply reversed on appeal. It was ordered to pay $700, 000 to cover the sites’ legal fees and generally looked like a bully. For several years, Apple sold a in its Cupertino, Calif. campus store that read, “I visited the Apple campus. But that’s all I am allowed to say. ” A recent Apple presentation poked fun at its extensive security measures. But even if the company can now have a laugh or two at its own expense, its philosophy has not changed. “Do you remember when you were a kid, and Christmas Eve, it was so exciting, you weren’t sure what was going to be downstairs?” Mr. Cook said when asked about the rumored Apple car at the annual shareholders’ meeting last February. “Well, it’s going to be Christmas Eve for a while. ” Apple might be the richest company in the world, and quite possibly the coolest, but feel for it for a moment. It has to keep making the iPhone exciting enough so tens of millions of people immediately buy one. Apple depends on this. Never before has a company so large and influential been tethered to one consumer product. And that product, which recently celebrated its sale, may have already hit saturation. Apple sold 40. 4 million iPhones last quarter, a drop from 47. 5 million during the same period in 2015. It was the second straight quarter of declines. “I think we’ve reached peak iPhone,” said Seth Weintraub, of 9to5Mac. But only for the moment. Even as the Apple faithful wait to see all these rumors confirmed, the scuttlebutt and speculation have started about next year’s model. It will be the iPhone’s 10th anniversary, which means the stakes are going up. “Apple is hopefully turning on the development afterburners,” Mr. Weintraub said. “We hear it wants the phone to resemble a sleek glass slab. It’s supposed to be a statement, a really big deal. ” Assuming, of course, the rumors are true. | 1 |
Calling your local lawmaker to express your opinion is generally seen as more effective than sending emails. But legislators have been experiencing such a high volume of calls from constituents recently that their voice mail inboxes have been filled to capacity. High on the agendas of callers: President Trump’s cabinet nominations and the flurry of actions taken in his first week in office. J. P. Freire, a spokesman for Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, said on Friday that the office had doubled its voice mail capacity in the past few months when it became clear that, with the new administration, “we were going to play an even larger role. ” “Certainly we have a high call volume,” Mr. Freire said. While he declined to comment on the topics discussed with constituents, he attributed some of the high volumes to Senator Hatch’s position on several congressional committees. With votes scheduled to take place on Jan. 31 on his nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, and his pick for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, online campaigns promoting telephone activism are also picking up steam. Constituents and political activists are organizing to try and influence lawmakers’ votes on the nominations, and are tagging them on Twitter or Facebook if they are unable to reach staff members by telephone. On Thursday, Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, took note of the feedback in her home state, California, with notes tacked onto her Twitter timeline by people trying to reach her and blaming telephone backlogs. At 10:17 Eastern on Friday morning, for example, no one picked up the telephone at the main number for the senator’s office in Washington. Two minutes later, when a call was placed to Ms. Feinstein’s San Francisco office, a recording said the voice mail box was full. The mailbox was still full at 1:17 p. m. But someone did pick up the phone at her office in San Diego, referring a reporter to a spokesman, said they were aware of the heavy call volume and were working on it. “All office lines in California and Washington are being answered, and voicemails are being taken down as quickly as possible,” the spokesman, Tom Mentzer, said in an email on Friday. “When phone lines are overwhelmed, we also encourage constituents to use the senator’s website to contact her online. ” This week, Concerned Student 1950, a student group named in honor of the year the first black students were admitted to the University of Missouri, promoted a telephone campaign to oppose Mr. Sessions’s nomination. It published on Twitter a register of phone numbers for key legislators whose votes could be pivotal, along with advice on who was picking up the phone and who was not. People urged others on Twitter to use the fax machine, to send emails or to reach out to their local legislators’ offices if phone lines on Capitol Hill were not being answered or if voice mail messages were no longer being accepted. Sometimes, residents expressed their displeasure about the jammed lines. Senator Cory Gardner, a Colorado Republican, was the subject of protests in his home state this week by some constituents over what they said was their inability to contact their elected official by phone, The Durango Herald reported. “I just don’t understand why Cory Gardner is not responding to the people he’s supposed to represent,” said Gail Harriss, a Durango resident who was one of about 50 protesters who converged on the senator’s office. “Especially when time is of the essence with Trump’s nominees,” the newspaper quoted her as saying. Alex Siciliano, a spokesman for Senator Gardner, said in a telephone interview on Friday that in the past week or two, the senator’s office had switched over to a system that has a “virtually unlimited” capacity that sends voice mail messages digitally to an email inbox that make it easier for staff members to work through the calls. Mr. Siciliano said later in an email: “Nothing is more important to Senator Gardner than providing the best constituent service possible to all Coloradans. Since January 1st, our office has received a large volume of emails and phone calls, and we have responded to more than 25, 000 letters and fielded thousands of phone calls. ” The Twitter timeline of Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, was littered with messages on Friday saying her phone lines were jammed. Ms Murray replied with an announcement telling people to send emails, instead. Taylor Haulsee, a spokesman for Senator Lamar Alexander, a Republican from Tennessee, said on Friday that the office was busy fielding a high volume of calls from constituents with opinions about the nominees. Bryan Watt, a spokesman for Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington State, said in a telephone interview that the office has received about 6, 000 calls this week and 5, 000 more voice mail messages, between the Washington, D. C. offices and the Seattle office. “Most of them are coming in about the nominees,” he said. “We have seven phone lines. If they are currently busy, then that person will be kicked to voice mail. ” He added, “For the most part, we are able to keep up and listen to as many people as possible. ” Perhaps the calls had some effect. Senator Cantwell announced on Thursday that she would not back Ms. DeVos’s nomination for education secretary. | 1 |
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge says Congress must pass a pending bill to close the shipping loophole allowing Chinese companies to sell lethal opioids to distributors in U. S. neighborhoods. [“We worry about weapons of mass destruction,” he told Breitbart News. “But I think 30 pounds of fentanyl in the wrong hands is a weapon of mass destruction. ” In 2014, roughly 47, 000 in the U. S. died from drug overdoses, especially from heroin and other opiates. Heroin overdose deaths more than tripled between 2010 and 2015. The bill, titled the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention, or the “STOP Act,” is being championed by Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman. Ridge, a senior advisor with the group “Americans for Securing All Packages” (ASAP) is working to halt the spread of the deadly opioid epidemic ravaging American families. Fentanyl is usually 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin — dousing the body’s opioid receptors in the brain stem, spine, and gut all at once, obliterating pain and potentially triggering an overdose. One quarter of a milligram of fentanyl can kill a person. As Breitbart News reported, deaths rose a staggering 72 percent from 2014 to 2015, with 9, 580 dying from overdoses in 2015 compared to 5, 544 in 2014. The U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grimly noted in a January report that half a million people died from drug overdoses between 2000 and 2014. “It’s been an issue that’s growing in severity for the past two or three years,” said Ridge. “Sometimes these problems have to rise to an extreme level before people start paying attention to it, although I think you started paying attention to it some time ago,” Ridge, who also served as the first Secretary of Homeland Security, told Breitbart News. “Clearly, President Trump started paying attention to it during the primary. ” “I think he’s one of a couple candidates in New Hampshire who spoke specifically about the postal loophole, which has turned out to be a front door to illicit drug trafficking, primarily from China,” Ridge continued. During a New Hampshire campaign stop in early October 2016, Trump promised he would protect Americans from a massive influx of deadly, illicit narcotics “poisoning our youth. ” The Granite State “was really the first glimpse I got at how serious a problem we have,” Trump said. “They’re poisoning our youth. They’re poisoning more than our youth — they’re poisoning everybody. But they’re poisoning our youth. It’s tough enough out there. Our youth doesn’t have a chance with what’s happening, and we’re not going to let it happen anymore,” Trump had said. “We’re going to help the people that are so badly addicted. We’re going to help them … I’m going to stop the drugs from coming in. ” Ridge wants to continue the battle against the opioid influx. “I am hopeful that, one, we continue to raise awareness — that’s what we do at ASAP — and that, two, in a town looking for some bipartisan work to do together, that they follow the president’s lead, close the loophole, and support the STOP Act which has bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate,” Ridge said. Asked what the U. S. could do to halt Chinese businesses from openly advertising that they are “happy to sell” opioids so powerful that they are considered chemical weapons to U. S. buyers, Ridge said the STOP Act would at least allow officials to inspect such packages. “The STOP Act does not pretend — does not suggest that it will eliminate, completely, the flow of illicit fentanyl from China or elsewhere,” Ridge said. “But China, according to the DEA and multiple sources, is the primary source. So we’ve got pretty much the crosshairs on that as the source. And the fact is that, if we can just get them to provide the electronic data as to who the sender is, who’s to receive it, what’s contained, what’s the way — you know, we’ve built some pretty sophisticated algorithms over the years that would at least give Customs and Border Protection enough information to question the contents to pull it aside and open it up for inspection. ” From the Associated Press: “In this Aug. 9, 2016, file photo, a bag of isobutyryl fentanyl which was seized in a drug raid is displayed at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Testing and Research Laboratory in Sterling, Va. Acting United States DEA administrator Chuck Rosenberg will visit China next week amid efforts to cut off the Chinese supply of deadly synthetic drugs, like fentanyl. China disputes U. S. claims that it’s the top source of opioids. Still, Beijing has already banned fentanyl, an opioid some 50 times stronger than heroin, and 18 related compounds. ” (AP Owen, File) “That’s what the STOP Act does,” Ridge explained. “It’s not designed to end the flow. I think one of the issues that the State Department’s got to deal with, the ambassador’s got to deal with, is much stronger diplomatic position in time. And frankly, I’d think it would be helpful to the diplomatic work that we have to do with China and other countries if [we] had bipartisan legislation that was passed and signed into law by the president. ” The epidemic has caught attention from Democratic politicians as well. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill recently opened an investigation into pharmaceutical companies’ records inquiring about the drugs’ addictive qualities and the relation to marketing campaigns. It should be noted that it may only take seven days to become addicted to opioids, according to the Utah Department of Health. One week of taking narcotic painkillers can suddenly deliver someone into a lifetime of addiction, or what’s left of it — before too many of morphine molecules bind with opioid receptors in the brain stem and shut down the user’s ability to draw their next breath. Of course, heroin addiction can slowly consume one before one realizes it has, as one user explained: I have literally never met anyone who was introduced to heroin with a needle. That’s roughly the equivalent of taking your first drink of alcohol by moonshine out of a gas can. The reality is a lot less abrupt, and a lot scarier: Most people start by popping and smoking pills. In that stage, it never seems like a problem, because you can use daily for weeks with no withdrawal effects whatsoever. “Once you’re at the stage where you’re even considering the needle, you long ago forgot about ‘squeamishness’ right along with ‘work’ and ‘everything else you ever wanted to accomplish in your life,’” the former user added. Breitbart News also asked Ridge what he would say to American families ravaged by opioid addiction. “Well, I’m glad you said — you phrased it the right way,” Ridge sighed. “Because you may have someone in your family that’s addicted. You may have an individual that’s addicted, but it affects the family, friends of the family, and the broader community. ” From the Associated Press: “In this Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, photo, Dorothy McIntosh Shuemake, mother of Alison Shuemake, cries as she clutches her daughter’s toy stuffed rabbit during an interview at her home, in Middletown, Ohio. Alison Shuemake, 18, died Aug. 26, after a suspected heroin overdose when she and her partner were found unresponsive at their home and needles were present nearby. ” (AP Minchillo) “And so, I think what we need to say to the families of those who are addicted to this — and remember, we’ve got — alcohol addiction is a huge problem,” he continued. “And more often than not, unless there’s family intervention, it’s a trip to oblivion. And I think it’s also like mental health problems. The stigma of addiction, and the stigma associated with mental health problems — we should be more tolerant in a society to accept the reality that as humans, we’re flawed, but these things do happen from time to time. ” Federal data shows that “deaths of despair,” particularly among white Americans, have risen starkly in less than two decades, as researchers Angus Deaton and Anne Case told NPR earlier in March. Whites are steadily poisoning themselves with opioids and lethal amounts of alcohol, and are committing suicide in disturbing numbers. whites account for of all U. S. suicides. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention found that seven out of every 10 suicides were committed by white men in 2015. Ridge said that communities must come together and help families hurt by addiction. “And so, as a broader community, we need to appreciate the horror that the family deals with, if they have a family member who’s addicted right now,” he said. “And, frankly, to look for ways to provide as much support and treatment as possible. ” “But I know it might be somewhat simplistic, but I know families … where there’s been addiction to drugs and alcohol,” Ridge said. “Sometimes, that intersession — and [getting] them to remediation — and get them to care, works. And sometimes it doesn’t. ” From Getty: “WASHINGTON, DC — SEPTEMBER 18: Activists and family members of loved ones who died in the epidemic take part in a ‘Fed Up!’ rally at Capitol Hill on September 18, 2016 in Washington, DC. Protesters called on legislators to provide funding for the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which Congress passed in July without funding. Some 30, 000 Americans die each year due to heroin and painkiller pill addiction in the United States. ” (Getty Images) “And what do you say to the families?” Ridge asked again. “It’s difficult to live with that in your family. And I think I understand that as an observer. I’m sure it breaks your heart, and for many people, it may break the bank as they’re trying to deal with it. But I would just encourage them to do everything they can to get the loved one that’s addicted, get them as much help as soon as possible. There has to be intervention. ” Breitbart News also asked Ridge whether the Trump administration’s strategy of cracking down on drug traffickers while expanding treatment options for those addicted to deadly drugs is effective. Ridge said it was: “I think it’s the right strategy. ” “It’s supply and demand,” he explained. “Supply: you go after those who push out the subscription — the docs that . You go after the labs. You go after the foreign sources. You go after the supply. ” “On the demand side? You have to intervene,” he continued. “You have to try to help. You have to try to rehabilitate. And some of these efforts are going to be successful — some are not. But simply talking about supply isn’t enough. And so, any effort that the government, both the state and the federal government, can do to support families and to support the kind of medical, necessary intervention — I think it’s critically important. You have to have to have it. ” “It’s a supply and demand problem. You have to attack both,” he added. Ridge also added that a suspect in New Jersey had been arrested with 30 pounds of fentanyl. “We worry about weapons of mass destruction,” he said. “But I think 30 pounds of fentanyl in the wrong hands is a weapon of mass destruction. ” Ridge pointed to a Breitbart News story explaining that more Americans had died from opioid overdoses in 2015 than they did of gun violence: “It’s about time we got serious. So, yes, the question of supply, yeah, let’s cut it off and demand — let’s try to get some intervention and reduce the demand. ” According to the CDC, “prescription opioids in the U. S. nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2014,” although a former federal prosecutor claimed painkiller and heroin addictions should be classified as “distinct” from one another. An Associated Press report revealed that drug wholesalers shipped roughly 780 million prescription painkiller pills to West Virginia alone in only six years, or 433 pills for every man, woman, and child in that state. The report also stated 1, 728 West Virginians fatally overdosed on painkilling pills in those six years. “Distributors have fed their greed on human frailties and to criminal effect. There is no excuse and should be no forgiveness,” a former pharmacist said about the painkillers’ death toll. President Trump’s budget blueprint pledged to commit some $675 million to combat drug trafficking, help lift opioid abusers out of addiction, and prevent more Americans from succumbing to the the narcotics epidemic. | 1 |
The RS-28 Sarmat missile, dubbed Satan 2, will replace the SS-18 Flies at 4.3 miles (7km) per sec and with a range of 6,213 miles (10,000km) The weapons are perceived as part of an increasingly aggressive Russia It could deliver a warhead of 40 megatons – 2,000 times as powerful as the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 By LIBBY PLUMMER and GARETH DAVIE S Russia has unveiled chilling pictures of its largest ever nuclear missile, capable of destroying an area the size of France. The RS-28 Sarmat missile, dubbed Satan 2 by Nato, has a top speed of 4.3 miles (7km) per second and has been designed to outfox anti-missile shield systems. The new Sarmat missile could deliver warheads of 40 megatons – 2,000 times as powerful as the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Scroll down for video Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly planning to replace the country’s older SS-18 Satan weapons with the new missiles amid a string of recent disagreements with the West. The Kremlin has stepped up the rhetoric against the West and carried a series of manoeuvres that has infuriated politicians in the US and UK. The pictures were revealed online by chief designers from the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau. A message posted alongside the picture said: ‘In accordance with the Decree of the Russian Government ‘On the State Defense Order for 2010 and the planning period 2012-2013’, the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau was instructed to start design and development work on the Sarmat. ‘ The RS-28 Sarmat missile is said to contain 16 nuclear warheads and is capable of destroying an area the size of France or Texas, according to Russian news network Zvezda, which is owned by Russia’s ministry of defence. The weapon is also able to evade radar. It is expected to have a range of 6,213 miles (10,000 km), which would allow Moscow to attack London and
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Happy Birthday, Hillary. You were destined to great things. And you knew it. *** I am astounded . I graduated in political science from the University of Naples, the university of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Giambattista Vico, and Benedetto Croce, in something like the 750 th graduating class; I have tried to keep up with the field as much as I could, even though I have preferred to concentrate on economics and political economy. I have always gotten along with the assumption that politics is "the art of the possible." But, let us give a good look at it. What is in this formula, if not a put down; a downgrading, so downgrading, characterization of this noble science? No wonder politics has become the art of bickering; the art of discord; the art of grasping at reefs, while we are drowning in perilous waters. No wonder, politics in the United States and much around the world has become polarized between two factions that fight for supremacy to the death. Not the death of the political class, but to the psychological and physical death of millions of people--in this country, the richest of the countries, the last best hope for mankind. Let alone the millions overseas. No wonder both the right and the left are focused on this set of policies: "Deny them their rights; take their dignity away; give them a warm soup in a cold winter night; and go to sleep in peace." What to say of this debasement of charity? What to say of this debasement of high morality? What to say of this debasement of politics? And there I was the other night, hearing and seeing the following words written on the screen of CNN, in their documentary on Hillary Clinton: - Advertisement - "Politics is not the art of the possible" politics is the art of making the impossible" possible." These are the words, not of Hillary of today or yesterday. These are the words of a young woman who breaks with tradition at the stodgy prestigious Wellesley College and becomes the first valedictorian in the history of that college. This is Hillary who is called to lead her class, not via invitation by academicians or administrators at Wellesley, but by her classmates who recognized the force of her leadership. This is Hillary Rodham, later to become Clinton, who throws away her prepared speech and delivers her oration extemporaneously: "Politics is not the art of the possible" politics is the art of making the impossible" possible." This is Hillary who is immediately recognized in the national press as a force of nature: woman's nature. This is a woman who could have been researching and writing and talking about political science for a lifetime. - Advertisement - This is a woman who could have climbed the rungs of academia with grace and ease. Instead" She preferred to practice what she had discovered at such a young age. She rolled up her sleeves and went to work to make it possible for children to have a better life than the one to which they were clearly doomed by a society in thrall of control and scarcity and fear . | 0 |
When Dr. Rachel Dubroff and her family chose their apartment at Riverside Boulevard and 63rd Street in Manhattan, they were thrilled by its picturesque views of the Hudson River. But they did not expect to have a seat to an annual event. For two years in a row, Dr. Dubroff said on Tuesday, she has spotted a whale swimming outside her living room window. Last year, she didn’t quite believe the sighting was real. But she saw a whale again on Saturday — and in the same spot again on Sunday — and news reports confirmed her hunch: The Hudson River has a resident humpback. “It was general excitement and shock,” Dr. Dubroff, 39, said, “and how thrilling that a whale can be in the Hudson, based on what we see float by sometimes. ” Indeed, the Hudson, as scenic as it is, does not scream “whale habitat. ” But experts say cleanup and conservation efforts have led to cleaner waters and an abundance of fish, amenities that have attracted at least one humpback whale to the river waters off Manhattan this month. There are other humpbacks in waters nearby. According to Jen Goebel, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whales have been spotted near New York. And the Coast Guard said in a statement on Monday that it had fielded reports of a whale sighting in northern New Jersey waters, swimming from Sandy Hook to Raritan Bay. The whale that Dr. Dubroff saw in the West 60s last weekend is thought to be the same one that has traversed the waterway, traveling to Liberty Island and to the George Washington Bridge, since it was first sighted around Nov. 9, according to the Coast Guard. Paul Sieswerda, the president of Gotham Whale, an organization that tracks marine life around the city, said the whale had been seen by New Yorkers who have captured photos and videos of it feeding and swimming. Mr. Sieswerda said that it was common to see humpbacks in the waters off New York at this time of year, as the whales finish up their feeding season and begin to think about heading south to breed in warmer waters. “The whales found this spot as a feeding ground,” he said. “Rather than go all the way up to Massachusetts and Maine, they’ve found a good feeding ground right here in New York. ” The Hudson whale, which Mr. Sieswerda nicknamed Gotham, seems to be healthy and has been exhibiting a behavior called lunge feeding, in which a whale swims forward, mouth agape, as it captures thousands of gallons of water. Inside the gulps, Mr. Sieswerda said, are likely sizable amounts of menhaden, a small forager fish that fishermen call bunker — a veritable fish buffet. A whale appearing in the Hudson is very rare, Mr. Sieswerda said, which is why he thinks this one is a solo traveler. But the whale still faces significant danger because it is swimming in waters. “It’s in a very busy area of activity, and it’s going up and down the Hudson, inside the harbor where big ships are,” Mr. Sieswerda said. “So far, it seems to be O. K. and, hopefully, can detect the boats. ” The Coast Guard has urged boaters and fishermen to slow down to avoid distressing the humpbacks, which can grow to 60 feet and can weigh around 40 tons. “When you have whales chasing the bunker, and fishermen chasing the stripers that chase the bunker, accidental interactions between whales and vessels can occur,” Jeff Ray, a deputy special agent with NOAA’s law enforcement division, said in the Coast Guard’s release. Kayakers and boaters should take extra care to steer at least 100 feet clear of any whales in the area, according to Ms. Goebel, the NOAA spokeswoman. Elsewhere, trouble can lurk for whales in shallow waters. About 80 miles from Manhattan, a humpback whale spent a week stuck in Moriches Bay, off the southern coast of Long Island, and over two days stuck in a sand bar in four feet of water. It was euthanized on Wednesday afternoon by a veterinarian with NOAA’s Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Ms. Goebel said. She added that NOAA will work with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to remove the whale’s body. Chuck Bowman, the president of the Riverhead Foundation, was among those who had helped to monitor the stranded whale while awaiting guidance from NOAA. “The good thing was 30 years ago you’d see maybe one whale off of Long Island a season,” Mr. Bowman said. “Now you see them all the time due to conservation efforts. ” But, he added, “You get a bigger population and you get a greater chance of things like this happening. ” | 1 |
Posted on September 3, 2015 by DCG | 25 Comments
These kids still understand basic biology.
Daily Mail : Almost 200 high school students in Missouri walked out of their classes to protest one a transgender student in senior year being allowed in the girls’ bathroom.
Members of the Hillsboro High School in Hillsboro, Missouri, ditched two hours of lessons to object to Lila Perry, a 17-year-old senior, being granted access to female bathrooms. Perry, who started identifying as transgender earlier this year, was using the female facilities to change for gym classes, which upset many other girls at the school.
They objected that Perry, who has not had any gender reassignment therapy, is still biologically male , Fox News reported.
Perry, who wears a wig, makeup and skirts to school, used to use a unisex facilities meant for staff – but decided for this academic year she wanted to be allowed in the girls’ bathrooms .
She said: ‘I’m not going to expose myself. I’m not a pervert. I’m a transgender woman. I’m a girl. I’m just in there to change, do my business, and… if they have any questions about being transgender, they are more than welcome to talk to me, and I’ll be happy to explain it.’
One student, Sophie Beel, told local station Fox 2 St Louis : ‘I find it offensive because Lila has not went through any procedure to become female, putting on a dress and putting on a wig is not transgender to me’.
The unrest comes as transgender issues are taking a higher profile on the national stage, partly thanks to the highly public transition of Caitlyn Jenner from her former identity as Bruce.
According to the St Louis Post-Dispatch , the protest lasted for two hours before school officials told students to go back inside.
During the demonstration, Perry was locked in a staff member’s office because there were fears for her safety.
The paper reported that some of the students protesting supported Perry’s right to use the bathroom she wants to, though most were in opposition. Tammy Sorden, a mother of a Hillsboro High student, said: ‘The girls have rights, and they shouldn’t have to share a bathroom with a boy.’ She said she objected to Perry being given what she asks for ‘while the girls just have to suck it up’.
The School Board also organized a meeting to deal with the situation, which attracted a large crowd of parents last Thursday, where school officials pointed out that denying fair access to a transgender student could bring reprisals from the federal government.
Perry has since dropped gym class due to the outcry, but still intends to use female bathrooms.
DCG | 0 |
Vice President Mike Pence cast an historic deciding vote Tuesday to confirm Betsy DeVos as the next secretary of the U. S. Department of Education. [Pence’s vote was in accordance with his post as president of the Senate. The Senate vote was with two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) voting against DeVos. As Fox News notes, Pence’s vote “marked the first time in American history a vice president has broken a tie on a Cabinet nominee’s Senate confirmation — and the first vote by a VP since 2008. ” “The Senate being equally divided, the vice president votes in the affirmative, and the nomination is confirmed,” Pence said in the Senate. DeVos has been one of the most controversial picks for President Donald Trump’s cabinet. Objections to her nomination have come from both the left, including teachers’ unions, and the grassroots base of the GOP who want to see the federal education department dismantled and oversight of education turned back to parents and local school districts. Democrats, like ranking member of the Senate education committee Sen. Patty Murray (WA) highlighted DeVos’ vast wealth and potential financial entanglements, as well as a lack of experience with the public school system. Republicans, such as Sen. Tim Scott (SC) however, said DeVos’ work in the area of school choice, to help children in school districts escape failing public schools, makes her qualified to lead an education system that is abandoning may of its students. | 1 |
GEORGETOWN, DC — An astroturf protest campaign targeted Donald Trump’s national security adviser Dr. Sebastian Gorka Monday, who appeared on a panel on cyber security at Georgetown University. Gorka branded the protesters “victims of fake news. ” “Eight out of ten times, I can read something written in the daily paper about an event that occurred the night before, and it is literally 180 degrees incorrect,” said Gorka in his remarks to the crowded room. “It is totally contrary to what happened inside the building 80 percent of the time. That’s something that has opened my eyes to the lack of true investigative journalism. ” In conclusion, Gorka said: What we are witnessing today — whether it’s RT, whether its ISIS tweets, Telegram — none of it is new. The platforms may be new, but the concepts of propaganda, dezinformatsiya, Maskirovka, none of these are true. They are just being packaged in new and far more effective ways. And this administration, with our allies and partners, including Israel, intends to take it very, very seriously. Thank you. None of the few demonstrators congregated would talk to Breitbart News when Edwin Mora asked them to share their position on camera. Mora worked with Gorka during the latter’s tenure as Breitbart News’s National Security editor. Instead, the protesters shared a document accusing Breitbart News of perpetrating fake news. No protesters responded to Gorka’s request to verbally defend their protest before the panel. Follow Adelle and Edwin on Twitter @AdelleNaz and @EdwinMora83 | 1 |
Report: Friend Has Been Going By Middle Name This Whole Fucking Time CALABASAS, CA—Astounded that it had never come up at any point in the six years they had known each other, local woman Lucy Reed, 25, reported Tuesday that her friend Nicole Silberthau had apparently been going by her middle name this whole fucking time. Teary-Eyed Tim Kaine Asks Clinton If His Hair Will Grow Back In Time For Election Day NEW YORK—His lower lip quivering while showing his running mate the uneven patches on his head where he attempted to give himself a trim, a teary-eyed Tim Kaine reportedly asked Hillary Clinton this morning if his hair would grow back in time for Election Day. | 0 |
By Zero Hedge
Earlier this month, Deutsche Bank stock was shaken following a Bloomberg report that Deutsche Bank’s hedge fund clients had withdrawn billions in margin cash from the bank’s prime brokerage unit, adding a shade of liquidity concerns to the bank’s ongoing capitalization woes. It now appears that DB has continued to hemmorhage cash with the FT reporting that the German lender’s exchange traded fund unit has seen billions in outflows as Germany’s biggest lender considers whether to sell parts of its asset management business.
Investors have pulled $8bn from Deutsche’s ETF arm so far this year . This is an unwelcome collapse after a strong performance in 2015 when the unit attracted positive inflows of $28bn, according to ETFGI, a London-based consultancy. DB’s clients have been heading for the exit after the bank was threatened with a $14bn claim by the DOJ.
“The noise around Deutsche Bank has clearly not helped its ETF business,” said a senior executive from a rival asset manager who did not wish to be named.
As the FT adds, Deutsche has put aside €5.5bn to cover potential litigation costs but the threat of a larger bill has forced it to consider selling a minority stake in its asset management arm, its best-performing division in recent years. However, efforts to raise fresh capital could be hindered by the outflows from the ETF unit, which is widely regarded as one of the crown jewels of Deutsche’s asset management operations.
To be sure, DB defended itself when a spokesman for the bank said the ETF outflows were “part of the broader industry-wide” trend away from currency-hedged ETFs. The outflows account for 10 per cent of Deutsche’s total ETF assets under management, and indeed the difficulties at Deutsche coincide with a period of upheaval across the European ETF industry. A cut-throat price war led by BlackRock and Vanguard, the world’s two largest fund managers, has forced rivals to abandon their strategic plans.
Still, the cash strapped bank may find it more complicated to unwind positions and provide the needed cash at a time when each of its moves is scrutinized under a microscope.
DB is not alone: Source, the London-based ETF provider, has been put up for sale fewer than three years after being acquired by Warburg Pincus, the private equity group. Commerzbank, Germany’s second-largest lender, has also confirmed it plans to spin off its ETF business into a separate unit.
Some industry observers believe Deutsche’s ETF business could make an attractive acquisition target for a rival looking to establish a foothold in the market. A former Deutsche employee said that efforts had been made in the past to find a buyer for the ETF unit, which has assets of $76.9bn and ranks as the fifth-largest ETF provider globally.
“We heard a lot of rumours that senior management put [the ETF business]up for sale several times but they were unable to get much traction for the price they were asking,” he said.
It wouldn’t be the first time Deutsche has tried to monetize some of its better performing assets. Following a review in 2011, the Frankfurt-based lender tried to sell large chunks of the asset management business but a potential deal with Guggenheim Partners, the US investment firm, fell apart in 2012. The bank subsequently merged the asset management division with the bank’s wealth unit, bringing the two together under the leadership of the scandal-plagued Michele Faissola whose involvmenet in a series of Monte Paschi deals has prompted the Italian government to launch an investigation into his “market manipulation” activities. As reported previously, the former investment banker is one of four executives to have led the asset management division in as many years. His involvement in the suicide of former Deutsche Banker William Broksmit was profiled here recently . Faissola’s departure from Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management last year led to another reversal: the separation of the asset and wealth management divisions just three years after they had been brought together.
Source: Zero Hedge
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WATCH: Human Rights Activists Are Targeting The China Dog Meat Festival By Travis Bille on April 24, 2016 Subscribe
If you are easily sickened by dog cruelty, prepare yourself for this story. And if you have a dog or a cat that you love, I strongly encourage you to hold them and hug them right now as you read this. I assure you my three dogs are cuddled up with me as I write it.
In Yulin, China, the government has gotten very good at looking the other way as the annual Yulin Festival brutally slaughters and consumes up to 10,000 dogs and 4,000 cats. Of course, the local government does not endorse the killing of dogs for meat. In fact, they’ve specifically said that they would ban the practice after the international outrage and online petitions sparked unwanted interest in the locals.
But though it is no longer an officially-sanctioned festival, the yearly summer solstice celebration continues, the trading continues, the dog cruelty continues, and the outrage and protests grow larger every year.
Those taking part in the festival insist that the animals come from mass breeding facilities, where they are specifically raised in humane conditions for this purpose. But a disturbing report from a Hong Kong-based group called Animals Asia says they found no evidence of any dog mass breeding facilities that could produce the animals at this level.
The implication of this is what protesters have been saying for years: the dogs are either picked up as strays or, far too often, are family dogs stolen from their homes by city dog traders. Adam Parascandola of Humane Society International (HSI) confirms that many dogs rescued by protesters and brought to them are most definitely family pets: “We’ve seen all manner of dog breeds coming in to the rescue shelters, some of them obviously someone’s pet because they still have their collars on with their names.”
Another excuse lobbed by festival-goers is that it’s no different than other people who eat beef, pork, chicken, turkey, etc. However, one of the most prominent grievances against the festival has little to do with consuming the animals and everything to do with how they are slaughtered.
In the U.S., the farming industry has been under the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act since 1958. That specific act had little oversight from the start, until Temple Grandin came in and revolutionized the industry . While the process is still not perfect, and perhaps the process of humane death can never be perfect, it nonetheless requires regularly-audited measures to ensure the least amount of suffering possible.
The Yulin Festival, however, has no such standards. Dog cruelty on display shows dogs and cats regularly shoved a dozen at a time into small cages where they await their fate. That fate is to be traded or sold, followed by a torturous death reported to include being beaten, skinned alive, electrocuted, boiled, burned, and finally eaten.
Under the guise of tradition, dog traders justify it as no different than eating turkey at Christmas. However, the summer solstice “tradition” in Yulin only really goes back to the 1990s , and the actual festival wasn’t officially started by city dog meat traders until 2009 . Most of China no longer uses dogs for meat, and younger generations are now standing with protesters to end the practice and drop the “old ways.”
As Yulin prepares for another year, the backlash prepares as well. There are many petitions on Change.org that have been going for years, some of which have millions of signatures, and many which are still active or new. Efforts are underway from WildlifePlanet.net to raise awareness, employing #Yulin2016 to bring together those opposed to the practices.
The video below is from ACTAsia for Animals , and at times is extremely graphic.
Featured image via Youtube screengrab About Travis Bille
Husband, son, dog dad, pit bull advocate, trombone player, religious studies scholar, grammar guru, amateur astrophysicist, Christian, cable TV-denier, Oxford comma apologist, Mountain Dew depository, football fan, baseball fan, climate change advocate, grill master, campaigner, writer, beer connoisseur, video game player, door knocker, book lover, music snob, hard worker, jazzer, gardener, lover, friend. Follow my dogs at MillicentBloggings.com and my other political writings at GreaterFoolSociety.com. Connect | 0 |
LOS ANGELES — In a courtroom here on Friday, the defense attorney Dick DeGuerin went on the attack on behalf of his client, the New York real estate scion Robert A. Durst, who is accused of murdering a close friend, Susan Berman, 17 years ago. Prosecutors say Mr. Durst shot her in the back of her head to prevent her from revealing what she knew about the disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen Durst. Confronting Mr. Durst’s former friend Nick Chavin, who in sensational testimony on Thursday said that Mr. Durst had admitted the killing to him, Mr. DeGuerin quickly set the tone: “It took seven months for you to come up with the story about Bob Durst confessing to you?” he said. Mr. DeGuerin was referring to conversations between Mr. Chavin and Deputy District Attorney John Lewin during seven months in 2015, when Mr. Chavin has said he was grappling with whether to tell Mr. Lewin what Mr. Durst had told him. The actual trial is still as much as a year away, and Mr. Chavin’s appearance in Los Angeles Superior Court was part of an unusual proceeding known as a conditional examination. In such an examination, prosecutors can question witnesses before a trial if they are 65 or older and in danger of dying or being killed before the case is heard. Defense lawyers can the witnesses, and the proceedings are videotaped in case the witnesses are not available to testify at trial. Mr. Chavin, 72, testified over three days about the arc of his friendship with Mr. Durst. For decades, he defended his friend against accusations he had killed his first wife and Ms. Berman. Then, he said, Mr. Durst asked him to dinner at a Harlem restaurant, Barawine, in 2014, saying he wanted to talk about “Kathie and Susan. ” The two men had finished their meal without broaching the topic. But then, on the sidewalk outside, Mr. Chavin recalled Mr. Durst saying: “I had to. It was her or me. I had no choice. ” Mr. Chavin continued, “He turned to walk away. I said, ‘You wanted to talk about Kathie.’ He kept walking away. ” Until this week, Mr. Chavin had been referred to in hearings as the “mystery witness,” because his identity had not been revealed. In explaining the need to take his testimony, Mr. Lewin told Superior Court Judge Mark E. Windham that Mr. Durst, whose net worth is estimated at $100 million, “kills witnesses. ” “When pushed into a corner,” Mr. Lewin said, as Mr. Durst watched from the defense table, “he murders people. ” During on Friday, Mr. DeGuerin repeatedly referred to transcripts of conversations between Mr. Chavin and the prosecutor, in which Mr. Chavin told different versions of what happened at the dinner. In one version, he said Mr. Durst had said nothing about his wife or Ms. Berman. In another, he said that as they were parting he reminded Mr. Durst that he had wanted to talk about the women. Mr. Durst responded, “Next time. ” Also citing transcripts, Mr. DeGuerin suggested Mr. Chavin had concocted the confession to get work from the Durst Organization, the real estate firm owned by Mr. Durst’s estranged family, and the gratitude of Douglas Durst, Robert’s brother. Mr. Chavin ultimately did not get the job. Mr. Chavin said he struggled for months over whether to reveal what had happened at the dinner with a man he once regarded as his best friend. His answers were merely an attempt to “waffle,” he said, until he came to a decision. ”I deliberated many months about what I wanted to say,” Mr. Chavin told Mr. DeGuerin. The case against Mr. Durst is circumstantial there were no witnesses to Ms. Berman’s death. And Mr. Durst has never been charged in his wife’s disappearance. Her body has never been found. In interviews with The New York Times over the past 17 years, Mr. Chavin described his friend, whom he called Bobby, as a genius who understood real estate and had a dry sense of humor and eccentric habits. Mr. Durst was a best man at Mr. Chavin’s 1988 wedding. Mr. Chavin had introduced Mr. Durst to the woman who would become his second wife, Debrah Lee Charatan. Mr. Chavin had worked for the Durst Organization his wife, Terry Chavin, had worked for Ms. Charatan before joining the company as a real estate agent. Mr. Chavin’s decision to become a prosecution witness two years ago represented a remarkable turnabout in his friendship with Mr. Durst. Mr. Chavin testified that Mr. Durst’s admission during a 2003 trial in Galveston, Tex. that he had sat in a pool of blood and dismembered the body of a neighbor shook the “primary foundations” of his belief that Mr. Durst was not violent. Mr. Durst was acquitted in that case after saying the death was an accident during a struggle to defend himself. Mr. Chavin’s friendship with Ms. Berman came first. He testified he was an aspiring musician in California fronting a band, Country Porn, in the 1970s when he met Ms. Berman, a reporter for The San Francisco Examiner. “We felt like kindred spirits,” Mr. Chavin recalled during testimony that began Wednesday. But Mr. Chavin decided in 1980 it was time to get a “day job” and moved to New York, where Ms. Berman was working as a magazine writer. Mr. Chavin got a job as an advertising copywriter. Ms. Berman introduced him to Mr. Durst, whom she had met in Los Angeles in the 1960s. Mr. Durst helped Mr. Chavin propel his career with a $ account to advertise a skyscraper built by the Durst family. Then, in February 1982, New York’s tabloids were filled with stories on the disappearance of Kathleen Durst. Ms. Berman dealt with reporters on Mr. Durst’s behalf, but confided in Mr. Chavin more than once that Mr. Durst had admitted killing his wife. “Susan said to me specifically,” Mr. Chavin recounted, “‘Bob killed Kathie. ’” He refused to believe her. In 2001, Mr. Chavin told The Times that Ms. Berman “was sensationalistic about everything. ” Nevertheless, Ms. Berman was intent on shielding Mr. Durst, Mr. Chavin testified. She said nothing could be done about Kathleen Durst’s death and they should protect their friend, he told the court. Mr. Lewin, the deputy district attorney, asked Mr. Chavin why he had never contacted the police, instead waiting until investigators approached him in 2001. “It didn’t seem it was my place,” he said. Mr. Durst stopped talking to Mr. Chavin in the after Mr. Durst’s father, Seymour, and his uncle decided to bypass Robert and designate his younger brother, Douglas, to take the helm of the Durst Organization. After a New York State Police investigator reopened the investigation into the disappearance of Mrs. Durst in 2000, Mr. Chavin told a reporter that he missed his friend and never believed that Mr. Durst had killed his wife, despite what Ms. Berman had said. “She always maintained that he confessed to her,” Mr. Chavin said. “I never bought it. ” But in December 2000, the police found Ms. Berman dead. Mr. Chavin subsequently told investigators what Susan had told him, but still insisted she was an unreliable storyteller. Eight months later, Mr. Durst was arrested in Galveston, where he was accused of murdering a neighbor in a rooming house he had rented while posing as a mute woman. Mr. Chavin was dumbfounded, but still believed his friend was innocent. Mr. Durst called Mr. Chavin from jail, asking him to come to Galveston for moral support. Mr. Chavin declined. But in 2014, Mr. Durst began calling Mr. Chavin again and the men reunited. They had dinner and talked about old times. Mr. Durst urged Mr. Chavin to sit for an interview with producers who were making a documentary for HBO about his life. Mr. Chavin testified he told Mr. Durst that participating in the documentary was a bad idea, but he persisted anyway. After the fifth part of the documentary was broadcast, Mr. Durst disappeared again. Prosecutors in Los Angeles issued an arrest warrant. He was apprehended in New Orleans on March 14, the night before the final episode aired. In that episode, Mr. Durst uttered, “What did I do? Killed them all, of course. ” | 1 |
Updated, 10:04 a. m. Good morning on this phenomenal Monday. For the first time in decades, the New York presidential primaries will be consequential to both the Democratic and the Republican nominations. “If you have a legitimate chance of victory, this is really your time,” David Birdsell, dean of the Baruch College School of Public Affairs, said of the candidates. So we’ve heard them debate our values, weigh into local politics and barnstorm our public spaces with booming speeches. It’s all to connect with New York’s diverse voters. “You’ve got liberal pockets, conservative pockets, upstate, downstate and the city,” Mr. Birdsell said. “That keeps the conversation alive . ” It’s crunchtime. Our primaries come late in the voting calendar. And we’re a state, with 95 Republican and 291 Democratic delegates up for grabs. Donald J. Trump, for one, is looking for a big win here to avoid a contested convention and push past a troubling few weeks for his campaign. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio are also fighting, particularly to peel away as many delegates as possible from Mr. Trump. And a big win in New York could help Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont fight for another day for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton. Especially if you’re part of a crucial voting bloc, New York City could shape the outcome. The fun starts Tuesday. Here’s what else is happening: Today will be just about perfect, at least in our books — sunny, glowing skies with a high near 78. In: SPF, floral and lunch outdoors. Out: Wool socks, dark colors and afternoon meetings. • The presidential race has taken on a distinctly New York character in the prelude to Tuesday’s primary. [New York Times] • The persistence of homeless people at New York City’s major transit hubs reflects an intractable problem. [New York Times] • The police are easing their handling of subway riders who beg for a MetroCard swipe. [New York Times] • Ecuadoreans in Queens react to the catastrophic earthquake that killed hundreds and injured thousands in their country. [New York Times] • New York City officers shot and killed a man in Queens. [New York Times] • Thousands of people rallied for Mr. Sanders in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, on Sunday. [DNA Info] • Scoreboard: Yankees buoy Mariners, . Mets meet Indians, . Islanders desert Panthers, (in overtime). • For a global look at what’s happening, see Your Monday Briefing. • A group exhibition of paintings and sculpture is at the Queens College Art Center in Flushing. 9 a. m. [Free] • Take a ukulele class, for beginners and experienced students, at the Jerome Park Library in the Bronx. 6 p. m. [Free] • Join the Warm Your Heart Project and knit or crochet scarves for the city’s homeless at the Mariners Harbor Library on Staten Island. 6:30 p. m. [Free] • The author Michael Cunningham speaks with Frank Delaney at the Irish Arts Center in Midtown Manhattan. 7:30 p. m. [$12] • Compete in a novice shuffleboard tournament at the Diamond in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. 7:30 p. m. [$3] • Candidate tracker: Mrs. Clinton will speak at the New York Hilton Midtown at 12 p. m. Mr. Sanders will hold a rally at Hunter’s Point South Park in Long Island City, Queens, at 5 p. m. and Mr. Trump is holding a rally in Buffalo. • For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts Entertainment guide. • Subway and PATH • Railroads: L. I. R. R. N. J. Transit, Amtrak • Roads: Check traffic map or radio report on the 1s or the 8s. • parking: in effect until April 23. • Ferries: Staten Island Ferry, New York Waterway, East River Ferry • Airports: La Guardia, J. F. K. Newark Take a long stroll in Manhattan, and you may walk past a building that an American president once called home. During the city’s brief reign as the nation’s capital, George Washington and his family lived at 3 Cherry Street in Lower Manhattan. In Kips Bay, a townhouse at 123 Lexington Avenue was the home of Chester A. Arthur and where he took the oath of office in 1881. A few blocks south, a townhouse at 28 East 20th Street (now a replica) was the childhood home of Theodore Roosevelt, the only president born in New York City. And among the others, an apartment at 142 West 109th Street in Morningside Heights was where President Obama lived when he was a junior at Columbia University. It was even available for rent in 2010. At the time the landlord did not charge a presidential premium. New York Today is a weekday roundup that stays live from 6 a. m. till late morning. You can receive it via email. For updates throughout the day, like us on Facebook. What would you like to see here to start your day? Post a comment, email us at nytoday@nytimes. com, or reach us via Twitter using #NYToday. Follow the New York Today columnists, Alexandra Levine and Jonathan Wolfe, on Twitter. You can find the latest New York Today at nytoday. com. | 1 |
VIDEOS “Emotionally f**king pissed” media blows embargo and lashes out at Trump –“f*ck him” “The meeting was a total disaster. The TV execs and anchors went in there thinking they would be discussing the access they would get to the Trump administration By Tyler Durden - 11.22.2016 @1:27 PM EST
Just yesterday Trump called a summit of all the major mainstream media executives and anchors at Trump Tower. While many expected the meeting to be an oppotunity to ask questions of the president-elect, the media elites apparently got the surprise of their lives when Trump spent the majority of the meeting attacking they’re blatant biased coverage the 2016 presidential elections referring to the room as a bunch of “dishonest, deceitful liars.” One participant in the meeting described it as a “ f—ing firing squad ” after “ Trump started with Jeff Zucker and said “I hate your network, everyone at CNN is a liar and you should be ashamed ….” We suspect that was rather less cordial than they expected.
Despite the conversation being completely off the record, many of the “emotionally fucking pissed” media anchors have decided to blow their embargoes and lash out at Trump. According to one source interviewed by the New Yorker , the meeting at Trump Tower was “fucking outrageous.” The same source also questioned how he could remain impartial after the meeting saying “ How can this not influence coverage?” …yes, because coverage was so impartial up until yesterday. Another participant at the meeting said that Trump’s behavior was “totally inappropriate” and “fucking outrageous.” The television people thought that they were being summoned to ask questions; Trump has not held a press conference since late July. Instead, they were subjected to a stream of insults and complaints—and not everyone absorbed it with pleasure. “I have to tell you, I am emotionally fucking pissed,” another participant said. “How can this not influence coverage? I am being totally honest with you. Toward the end of the campaign, it got to a point where I thought that the coverage was all about [Trump’s] flaws and problems. And that’s legit. But, I thought, O.K., let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. After the meeting today, though—and I am being human with you here—I think, Fuck him! I know I am being emotional about it. And I know I will get over it in a couple of days after Thanksgiving. But I really am offended. This was unprecedented. Outrageous!” Participants said that Trump did not raise his voice, but that he went on steadily at the start of the meeting about how he had been treated poorly. “It was all so Trump,” one said. “He is like this all the time. He’ll freeze you out and then be nice and humble and sort of want you to like him.” “But he truly doesn’t seem to understand the First Amendment,” the source continued. “He doesn’t. He thinks we are supposed to say what he says and that’s it.”
And, as the eloquent Kellyanne Conway pointed out in her opening response last night on the Megyn Kelly show, negative reactions, like the one above, went a long way toward helping Trump win the presidency.
What are the chances that the mainstream media figures out before 2020 that by relentlessly attacking Trump they’re actually helping him?
* * *
Here is our full coverage of the Trump “media summit” that was described by some as a “ f—ing firing squad”:
Earlier today we reported that in a “summit” organized by Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, executives and anchors from the major US media outlets, including CNN president Jeff Zucker, ABC News president James Goldston, Fox News co-presidents Bill Shine and Jack Abernethy, and NBC News president Deborah Turness, visited Donald Trump at his Trump Tower penthouse for an off the record meeting.
Courtesy of the Post, we have a complete list of the participants at the Trump media meeting: the hour-long powwow included top execs from network and cable news channels. Among the attendees were NBC’s Deborah Turness, Lester Holt and Chuck Todd, ABC’s James Goldston, George Stephanopoulos, David Muir and Martha Raddatz, CBS’ Norah O’Donnell John Dickerson, Charlie Rose, Christopher Isham and Gayle King, Fox News’ Bill Shine, Jack Abernethy, Jay Wallace, Suzanne Scott, MSNBC’s Phil Griffin and CNN’s Jeff Zucker and Erin Burnett.
The contents of what was discussed were initially unclear.
Now, according to the Post and Politico , we learn that the President-elect “ exploded at media bigs in an off-the-record Trump Tower powow on Monday .”
“ It was like a f—ing firing squad ,” one source told the Post.
According to the Post’s recount of the conversation, “ Trump started with Jeff Zucker and said I hate your network, everyone at CNN is a liar and you should be ashamed ….”
“The meeting was a total disaster . The TV execs and anchors went in there thinking they would be discussing the access they would get to the Trump administration, but instead they got a Trump-style dressing down,” the source added. A second source confirmed the encounter.
The Post adds that “the meeting took place in a big board room and there were about 30 or 40 people, including the big news anchors from all the networks…”
“Trump kept saying, ‘ We’re in a room of liars, the deceitful dishonest media who got it all wrong. He addressed everyone in the room calling the media dishonest, deceitful liars. He called out Jeff Zucker by name and said everyone at CNN was a liar, and CNN was network of liars .
“Trump didn’t say Katy Tur by name, but talked about an NBC female correspondent who got it wrong, then he referred to a horrible network correspondent who cried when Hillary lost who hosted a debate – which was Martha Raddatz who was also in the room.
“Gayle did not stand up, but asked some question, ‘How do you propose we the media work with you?’ Chuck Todd asked some pretty pointed questions. David Muir asked how are you going to cope living in DC while your family is in NYC? It was a horrible meeting.”
Politico adds further details, according to which “Trump complained about photos of himself that NBC used that he found unflattering, the source said. Trump turned to NBC News President Deborah Turness at one point, the source said, and told her the network won’t run a nice picture of him, instead choosing “this picture of me,” as he made a face with a double chin. Turness replied that they had a “very nice” picture of him on their website at the moment.”
Amusingly, since the meeting was off the record, meaning the participants agreed not to talk about the substance of the conversations, it means they will most likely be unable to confirm or deny the Post’s report.
Politco’s recollection of events was slightly less dramatic: The New York Post on Monday afternoon portrayed a much more heated meeting, including a quote from one source who said the encounter was “like a f–ing firing squad.” The Post also said Trump called CNN journalists “liars” and that they should be “ashamed.” The source who spoke with POLITICO characterized the meeting as less intense, and said the discussion included Trump expressing the possibility of a “reset” of the tumultuous relationship between the president-elect and the media and that all he wants is “fairness.” Asked how he defines fairness by a network executive, Trump said simply, “The truth.” But aside from the few moments of contention in the beginning, the source said the meeting was largely substantive.
Politico also adds that Trump, flanked by chief of staff Reince Priebus and campaign manager Kellyanne Conway at the table, also expressed annoyance at the protective press pool and the complaints over him ditching the press when he went out to dinner last week with his family after reporters were advised he was in for the night. But Priebus assured the attendees that the protective press pool will be taken care of and it would all work out.
Other attendees at the meeting from Trump’s team included chief strategist Stephen Bannon, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, spokesman Jason Miller, and Republican National Committee chief strategist and communications director Sean Spicer. Asked for comment, Miller referred POLITICO to Conway’s comments to reporters after the meeting, in which she echoed the sentiments made in the meeting about turning over a new leaf with the media. “There was no need to mend fences,” Conway said. “It was very cordial, very genial. But it was very candid and very honest. From my own perspective, it’s great to hit the reset button.” Conway later on Monday hit back at the New York Post report. “He did not explode in anger,” she said.
While one can have a subjective interpretation of the nuances at the meeting, one thing was clear: Trump’s attempt at a ‘reset’ will be frowned at by the media which is not used to this kind of treatment, even if the “kinder, gentler” version of events as reported by Politico is accurate.
It also means that what has already been a conventional war between the various US media organizations and Trump, is likely about to go nuclear. | 0 |
Can you imagine living in a world of darkness, a world you weren’t visually connected to? For many, this is the only reality they’ve ever known: for some, a new and terrifying experience.
Via CollectiveEvolution
Fortunately, scientists are on the brink of discovering how to use technology to restore sight to the blind. In fact, a group of surgeons from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) recently implanted the world’s first visual simulator chip into the brain of a 30-year-old blind woman. The patient, who wishes to remain anonymous, started losing her eyesight in 2008 as a result of a rare disease called Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome, which attacks the pigment in the eyes. After only a year, the disease took her eyesight from her; however, it did not take her hope. Eight years later, she can now see colours and shapes again thanks to a tiny simulator laid on the back of her brain.
How the “Technology to Beat Blindness” Works The device implanted into the patient’s brain was developed as part of the Orion I program by Second Sight . It was inspired by a similar device called the Argus II, which was released at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital in 2015 and involves a similar camera that sends images to an implant behind the eye. However, in order for the Argus II to be successful, it requires the patient to have at least some working retinal cells. The technology behind Orion I was specifically designed for those who cannot benefit from the Argus II, as it takes this concept even further by making it compatible with those who have complete blindness as well. Since the system sends signals directly to the brain, it could theoretically work to restore sight to anyone , including those who lost an eye or were blinded by cancer ( source ).
In August 2016, Dr. Nader Pouratian implanted the simulator, an array of tiny electrodes, behind this woman’s brain. The surgery took only four hours to complete and involved opening a small hole in the back of her skull and inserting the simulator onto the surface of her brain. He then placed a tiny antenna receiver, which receives signals from a computer, into this hole. Following her procedure, the patient was tested for six weeks to determine the results of her new “bionic eye.” The results have been extremely positive so far, as the patient has seen the precise signals researchers sent to her visual cortex, the area of the brain that receives images from the optic nerve.
Dr. Pouratian explained , “The moment she saw color for the first time was a very emotional experience. It touched us all very deeply as human beings. Based on these results, this system has the potential to restore sight to the blind.”
Check out this UCLA video that explains how the technology works:
Next Steps Toward Restoring the Patient’s Eyesight The UCLA doctors are now awaiting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, anticipated to be granted in early 2017, to continue their experiments using the entire Orion I program. The tests would involve the patient wearing a pair of high-tech glasses with a camera on the bridge. Using the images captured from the glasses’ camera, Orion I would send those video signals to the brain, allowing the patient to see what’s directly in front of them ( source ).
Here’s a diagram that illustrates how the program works:
Dr Robert Greenberg, chairman of Second Sight, hopes this technology will improve all manner of eye injuries: “It is rare that technological development offers such stirring possibilities. By bypassing the optic nerve and directly stimulating the visual cortex, the Orion I has the potential to restore vision to patients blinded due to virtually any reason, including glaucoma, cancer, diabetic retinopathy, or trauma.”
Final Thoughts In a world where being able to see is sometimes crucial for survival, Orion I could help transform the lives of many people suffering from blindness. This technology could provide a glimmer of hope to millions of people all over the world who never thought they’d see again. This patient’s story serves as a beautiful reminder that you can always find hope in the darkest of times and that literally anything is possible.
“I find hope in the darkest of days and focus in the brightest.” – Dalai Lama
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The head of a leading survivalist group has made several shocking allegations about the United States government building secret, cavernous underground bunkers which are earmarked for use by the global elite in the case of an imminent apocalyptic event.
A vast underground bunker under Denver Airport is ready for use by the global elite
Robert Vicino, head of the survival firm Vivos has claimed that officials from the United States have been building ‘deep underground shelters’ underneath the city of Denver for that past three decades. He claims that sources have deduced that these survival shelters have been a work in progress since 1983. The largest has space for 10,000 people who are members of the global elite. However, the general population has not be considered in these plans. "They do not have a plan for you and me, but they have a plan for themselves, ” said Vicino.
The secretive goings on underneath Denver Airport have often been the source of a great deal of speculation and is suspected to have links with the Illuminati. According to Vicino, it is, in fact, the entrance point of the secret complex which is connected to Washington DC by an underground high-speed train.
Vicino believes that the apocalyptic event the global elite have been for is imminent. "You have to ask yourself, why did Russia just have a drill for 40 million people?" he asked. But the answer might not be what people suspect. According to Vicino, the threat will not come from nuclear war but from the arrival of Planet X (also known as Nibiru) which will arrive in September 2017. When Niribu comes close to Earth, it will compromise the integrity of the naturally occurring magnetic shield around the planet, leaving the surface highly vulnerable to showers of debris and toxic radiation rays .
When questioned why the government had not forewarned the general public about this threat to the world, Vicino replied, "No government in the world is going to tell you about something life threatening unless they have a solution for you because otherwise, its going to cause a social meltdown.”
Vicino recognized that his warning was bound to attract condemnation and ridicule, but he said that he would not be deterred. "People that think it’s crazy are the ones who have not spent any time doing research. It’s easy to say 'the sky is not blue' if you have never done any research on what color the sky is. If you did not well read and sit there playing with iPhone and watching television, you are probably already a walking zombie, but they should not demean those people who have taken the time to deeply research this stuff, ” he said.
The "Evidence"
Disclose TV SOURCE | 0 |
The US’ secret drone war has largely been shrouded in mystery since its inception. Despite its secrecy there is no denying that the US drone program represents one of Obama’s most... | 0 |
DHAKA, Bangladesh — The cook was crouching in a washroom, taking refuge from the gunmen who had invaded the Holey Artisan Bakery, when he understood that there was a logic behind the killing: The people in the restaurant were being sorted. “Bengali people, come out,” one gunman shouted. When the cook, Sumir Barai, and eight other men opened the bathroom door, trembling, they saw two young men, clean shaven and dressed in jeans and . “You don’t need to be so tense,” one of the men told them. “We will not kill Bengalis. We will only kill foreigners. ” At that, Mr. Barai’s gaze flicked to the floor of the restaurant, where he could see six or seven bodies, apparently shot and then sliced with machetes. All appeared to be foreigners. The gunmen, he said, seemed eager to see their actions amplified on social media: After killing the patrons, they asked the staff to turn on the restaurant’s wireless network. Then they used customers’ telephones to post images of the bodies on the internet. Friday night’s assault on the Holey Artisan Bakery in the diplomatic district of Dhaka, in which at least 20 hostages and two police officers were killed, marks a scaling up of ambition and capacity for Bangladesh’s Islamist militancy, which has until now carried out pinpoint assassinations, mostly of critics of Islam and members of religious minorities. Among the dead from Friday’s attack, the police said, were nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, one American and one Indian. The attack also suggests that Bangladesh’s militant networks are internationalizing, a key concern as the United States seeks to contain the growth of the Islamic State. Bangladesh’s 160 million people are almost all Sunni Muslims, including a demographic bulge under the age of 25. This makes it valuable as a recruiting ground for the Islamic State, now under pressure in its core territory of Iraq and Syria. Western intelligence officials have been watching the organization pivot to missions elsewhere in the world, launching attacks on civilian targets that are difficult to deter with traditional military campaigns. “We need to take serious stock of the overall threat,” said Shafqat Munir, a research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies. “There were all sorts of warnings and signs and everything. But I don’t think anyone expected anything as audacious and as this. ” It was a slow night at the restaurant. Eighteen people had reserved seats at the Holey Artisan Bakery, whose crusty loaves of bread and piles of homemade pasta offered a respite from the sticky, clamorous city that surrounded it. Seven Italian friends had gathered around one table, and three or four at a second, recalled Diego Rossini, a chef who is from Argentina. Someone had just ordered an Italian pasta dish, and Mr. Rossini made his way to the kitchen, preparing for a much larger crowd that was expected at 9:30 p. m. But at 8:45, a young men entered, carrying heavy bags of weaponry, including grenades and long rifles. Mr. Rossini, the chef, fled to the roof. He heard screams, and shouts of “Allahu akbar,” as the gunmen sought out patrons who were hiding. “There were a lot of foreigners,” he told Canal 5 Noticias, an Argentine cable news station. “That’s who they were particularly looking for. ” Even as they killed the foreigners, the attackers were unfailingly polite and solicitous with the restaurant staff and other Bangladeshis, Mr. Barai said. They took the staff into their confidence, complaining that foreigners, with their skimpy clothes and taste for alcohol, were impeding the spread of Islam. “Their lifestyle is encouraging local people to do the same thing,” a militant said. They asked the staff to make coffee and tea and serve it to the remaining hostages. At 3:30 a. m. when Muslims eat a predawn meal before fasting, they asked the kitchen staff to prepare and serve dishes of fish and shrimp, he said. Mr. Barai recalls being puzzled by the attackers, who spoke cosmopolitan Bengali, and even some English, when conversing with the foreigners. “They were all smart and handsome and educated,” he said. “If you look at those guys, nobody could believe they could do this. ” In the predawn hours, the militants lectured their captives on religious practices, instructing the kitchen staff to say regular prayers and study the Quran. Early in the morning, the gunmen released a group of women wearing hijabs and offered a young Bangladeshi man, Faraz Hossain, the opportunity to leave, too, said Hishaam Hossain, Mr. Hossain’s nephew, who had heard an account from the hostages who were freed. Mr. Hossain, a student at Emory University, was accompanied by two women wearing Western clothes, however, and when the gunmen asked the women where they were from, they said India and the United States. The gunmen refused to release them, and Mr. Hossain refused to leave them behind, his relative said. He would be among those found dead on Saturday morning. In the hours after the gunmen appeared, hundreds of police officers massed outside the restaurant compound’s walls, but an attempted raid was repulsed by a grenade, killing two officers and injuring more than 20. Mr. Rossini, who was on the roof, frantically texted his location over social media. “It was practically impossible for the police to get in,” he said later. The restaurant was like a little fort, and the police had to wait for the army. A senior police official, speaking to a reporter on the condition of anonymity, said that the police tried unsuccessfully to establish contact with the captors, who never passed on any demands. The night crept on with painful slowness in the crowded washroom, where Mr. Barai and the eight other men were again locked in, this time by the gunmen. At 1:44 a. m. Mr. Barai messaged a cousin, who was only a few yards away, outside the police cordon. “What is the news on the outside?” His cousin typed back that a Rapid Action Battalion, Bangladesh’s elite counterterrorism squad, was now involved in the operation. “They are not doing anything right now so you people don’t become victims,” he wrote. Mr. Barai passed on the name of a who could lead authorities to the washroom. “We are here,” he typed. “If possible break the wall of the toilet and rescue us. ” As dawn approached, Mr. Barai feared that the men would suffocate in the cubicle, which measures about four feet by four feet. “Please come to the toilet quickly as it is very difficult inside the toilet. ” After that, when Mr. Barai’s cousin called his number, there was no answer the cousin, seated on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, began to sob. In an meeting at her residence, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had authorized a military raid, but that required transporting a team of commandos via from Sylhet, roughly 150 miles from the capital. Shortly after sunrise, dozens of armed personnel carriers formed columns in the lanes around the restaurant. Mr. Barai said the surviving hostages sensed that the siege was ending. During the long hours that passed inside the restaurant, the gunmen made it clear that they expected to die, Mr. Barai said. One of them calmly said as much. “You see what we did here,” the militant said, pointing to the bodies around. “The same thing is going to happen to us now. ” At 7:30 a. m. he said, the militants told them: “We are leaving. See you in heaven. ” They were getting ready to walk out the door, he said, when the commandos stormed the restaurant. | 1 |
Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: • China warned of a nuclear arms race after the U. S. began delivering parts of an advanced missile defense system, known as Thaad, to South Korea. It’s meant to counter the growing threat from North Korea, but China fears that such systems could encourage U. S. consideration of a first strike to destroy the relatively small Chinese nuclear arsenal. The tensions are creating a difficult balancing act for the Trump administration. _____ • WikiLeaks’ latest release, if confirmed, would rock the technology world and deliver a serious blow to the C. I. A. The Vault 7 documents offer details of C. I. A. hacking tools used to break into smartphones, computers and even televisions. Entirely compromised smart phones yielded the contents of encrypted messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp. WikiLeaks said the source was raising policy questions that “urgently need to be debated in public. ” Here’s a look at how vulnerable your smartphone might be to hacking. _____ • One of India’s biggest foreign charities, Compassion International, is closing operations in the country, the latest and most prominent victim of the Modi government’s crackdown on outside aid groups. Like more than 11, 000 other nongovernmental agencies, the Christian group had been blocked from access to foreign funds. Above, one of 500 partner groups that will be forced to shut down. _____ • More than 330, 000 acutely malnourished children, 3. 3 million people in need of medical care, 7, 731 cases of cholera. The U. N. secretary general, António Guterres, listed data points of desperation as he visited Somalia to make an urgent appeal for $825 million in aid for about half the population. • President Trump and his allies have for years accused China, Japan and others of protectionism. Our correspondents analyze that claim and what the Trump administration might do to reduce the U. S. trade deficit, which rose 9. 6 percent in January to a high. • ZTE, the Chinese tech giant, agreed to pay the U. S. $1. 19 billion for selling electronics to North Korea and Iran, the largest criminal fine in a U. S. sanctions case. • China releases trade data for February, and Japan announces its regular G. D. P. revision. • Beijing’s $300 billion plan to make China in a range of industries, from planes to computer chips to electric cars, is raising alarm among international companies. • Almost half of Masayoshi Son’s $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund is made up of Saudi money, prompting our financial columnist to urge a broader discussion of the fund’s plans to invest $50 billion in the U. S. • Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said the initial public offering of Saudi Aramco was on track for 2018. The Saudis plan to offer 5 percent of the company, which could raise $20 billion to $100 billion, but questions remain about transparency, privatization and . • Wall Street was lower, but oil was up. Here’s a snapshot of global markets. • Iraqi forces pushed into western Mosul, retaking a major bridge and a ransacked archaeological museum from the Islamic State. [The New York Times] • Thirty people were killed in Myanmar’s Shan State when Kokang rebels attacked a hotel, casinos and police and army posts near the Chinese border. [The New York Times] • Australia’s highest court hears a constitutional challenge to the government’s practice of detaining asylum seekers who are sent to the country from offshore camps for medical treatment. [The New York Times] • Australian police officers in Queensland saved a British woman who had been held captive by a former boyfriend for months. [The New York Times] • A new study put the number of people living in other countries as of 2015 at 15. 6 million, or one in every 20 global migrants. The top destinations: the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan. [Quartz] • Germany and Turkey have been trading barbs over free speech as campaigning heats up ahead of a Turkish referendum that could expand the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Some 1. 5 million Turks living in Germany are eligible to vote. [The New York Times] • Traffic signs of pedestrians in dresses, part of a gender equality campaign in Melbourne, Australia, are getting a mixed reception. [BBC] • “Real life” textbooks for Chinese primary schools set off intense debate over their depictions of genitalia, couples having sex and homosexuality. [South China Morning Post] • Kyle Higashioka, a catcher for the New York Yankees, grew up a quintessential Californian. He’s begun to explore his family’s roots — by learning to speak Japanese. [The New York Times] • Do you eat before you exercise in the morning? It might be worth reversing that order. • Readers responded to a touching essay by a writer who, after learning she will soon die, composed a dating profile for her husband. • Recipe of the day: Will your St. Patrick’s Day be far from a New York deli? Making your own corned beef takes just a little planning. • Paris Fashion Week is almost over. Then there’s Tokyo. Shanghai. Australia. It seems as if every country now has a fashion week — or two, like Kazakhstan, or three, like Indonesia. Above, last year’s Lagos Fashion Week, in Nigeria. • And indulge your escapist fantasies with this year’s U. S. News World Report survey of the best countries in the world. Switzerland took the top spot and Japan came in fifth. The best country for retirees was New Zealand, followed by Australia. Today, for International Women’s Day, let’s see which country tops the list of female representation in Parliament. Rwanda. Out of 80 seats in the lower house, 49 are held by women (61 percent) as are 10 of the 26 in the upper house (38 percent) according to an international organization of parliaments. Since 2003, the country has required that at least 30 percent of representatives be female. Next: Bolivia, where a 2009 measure requires women to occupy at least 50 percent of elected positions. Women now hold 69 of the 130 seats in the lower house (53 percent) and 17 of 36 in the upper house (47 percent). Cuba, in third, uses “positive discrimination,” putting women in almost half the seats in the National Assembly. Iceland, Nicaragua, Sweden, Senegal, Mexico, Finland and South Africa fill out the top 10. The U. S. is No. 104, with 83 women out of 435 representatives and 21 of 100 senators. “The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them,” the Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, told a Harvard graduating class in 2011. “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough. ” Caryn A. Wilson contributed reporting. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. What would you like to see here? Contact us at asiabriefing@nytimes. com. | 1 |
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TECH giant Apple has today kindly offered to relocate over 1,500 refugee children who were left behind at a Calais campsite, and to give them full-time work as general operatives in their many factories littered across the world.
The opportunity will help clear the remaining refugees from the ‘Calais Jungle’, while French authorities continue to demolish it from existence, like a red wine stain from a woollen rug.
It is understood the children will begin a series of in-house training courses before taking to the Apple floor to make phones, iPads and MacBook computers.
“I have always loved Apple’s sleek product design,” 9-year-old Hafez Mohammed, who was born in the same week as the first ever iPhone release, “I cannot wait to start work making such cool products with them as my father and mother are missing and I have no idea where they are”.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said he was more than happy to offer the children this fantastic opportunity as founder Steve Jobs was also Syrian, and believes he would have only been delighted to help out his fellow countrymen and women get through this difficult period of their lives.
“Who knows, we may have the next Jobs in one of the 1,500 new employees,” Cook told WWN.
The Apple offer could not have come at a better time as British Prime Minister May rejected a personal demand from Francois Hollande for Britain to accept 1,500 child migrants yesterday, leaving only child sex traffickers to pick up the tab. | 0 |
A suspect who opened fire, killing three in Fresno, allegedly said “Allahu Akbar” as police jumped on him and took him to the ground. [The shooting began around 10:45 a. m. and occurred in a sequence, one after the other. According to the Los Angeles Times, “Gunfire erupted at 10:45 a. m. in the 300 block of North Van Ness Avenue. A few seconds later, a second shooting was reported. A third shooting was reported, then a fourth. ” The suspect is Kori Ali Muhammad. He was already wanted in connection with a shooting last week, in which a motel security guard was killed. Your Central Valley reports that Muhammad’s first shot today was allegedly “into a Pacific Gas Electric (PGE) vehicle killing the passenger. ” The driver sped away and informed the police. Muhammad continued walking down the street shooting at innocents. He shot his second victim on the sidewalk and a third in a Catholic Charities parking lot before police arrived. Police Chief Jerry Dyer said Muhammad yelled “Allahu Akbar” when police took him to the ground. The Fresno Bee reports that police recovered spent . 357 shell casings — which would indicate a revolver was used — but they did not recover a gun. Chief Dyer said Muhammad’s Facebook page indicates, “He does not like white people, and he has sentiments. ” | 1 |
If you have ever seen the 1931 film of “The Front Page,” based on the jauntily cynical play, you might have been startled by the moment when a wisecracking newspaperman silences his patter to raise his middle finger at the mayor and sheriff. Is this what the New York Times reviewer Mordaunt Hall was thinking of when he wrote that the film’s humor is “frequently harsh”? Probably not. That’s because in the version of “The Front Page” that New York papers likely reviewed back in 1931, that hack keeps his middle finger in check and instead the mayor and the sheriff. As it turns out, the film seen in the United States for decades isn’t the same version that American audiences guffawed through back in the day. The one that Michael Pogorzelski and Heather Linville took out of old film cans in 2014 was surprisingly different from the familiar one. Mr. Pogorzelski, 44, is the director of the Academy Film Archive, which is part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars Ms. Linville, 38, is one of its film preservationists. In 2014, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, deposited the Howard Hughes film collection with the academy archive, and the preservationists zeroed in on “The Front Page. ” Archives are designed to store film under proper conditions, which is why collections like this sometimes land there. Other titles are piling up at the academy archive because people are dumping their films. The industry shift from film to digital has been swift and dramatic and — despite the activist efforts of the likes of Christopher Nolan and the patron saint of preservation, Martin Scorsese — film on film has almost disappeared from theaters. Even features shot on film are digitally projected. (Almost all theaters worldwide are now digital.) Last year, I started following after Mr. Pogorzelski and Ms. Linville to understand the complexities of film restoration, largely because the medium is fast becoming a relic. More than 50 years ago, André Bazin asked “What is cinema?” But what is film? It’s a question worth asking, because for most of its history, cinema was — it was shot, processed and distributed on film. The movies we watch today, by contrast, are rarely made through mechanical and photochemical processes, but with computer code, with strings of zeros and ones: bits. Each medium has its advantages, although for many lovers of film the crucial difference is its vivid, alive look. Much of the cinema I love — Buster Keaton comedies, musicals, Stan Brakhage landmarks, Charles Burnett’s masterpiece “Killer of Sheep” — was made with film. What happens to an art when its foundational medium disappears? We don’t yet know, because it’s happening right now. If you care about movies, you should be wondering. Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s play “The Front Page” first opened on Broadway in 1928. The writers were former journalists, and the story they whipped up hinges on a Chicago reporter, Hildy Johnson, who’s planning to leave the city and the newspaper racket, only to be reeled back into action by a jailbreak and his conniving editor, Walter Burns. Profane and funny, the play was a hit, and it’s returned to Broadway several times since a new production opens in October. Howard Hawks redefined it by casting Cary Grant as Walter and Rosalind Russell as his Hildy, in the 1940 dazzler “His Girl Friday. ” Hawks’s brilliant has helped eclipse the 1931 film, but the older one has charm, snap and great performances, as well as intelligent, fluid direction from Lewis Milestone, all of which can be hard to appreciate when watching battered copies of copies. The print from the University of Nevada was, by contrast, in fine shape by the time Mr. Pogorzelski and Ms. Linville started work. (The George Lucas Family Foundation footed the bill.) Yet while this restoration didn’t involve visually dramatic differences, it produced its own aha moments when, while comparing the University of Nevada copy with the Library of Congress print, they saw variations like the middle finger. In one version, a character quips about Pocahontas, while in the other the wisecrack involves Lady Godiva. Other changes involve camerawork, staging and performances. Some of the differences seemed intentional, others accidental. Ms. Linville did some sleuthing and discovered that the production files for “The Front Page” include references to several versions of the film: “Scene Take 5 — OK — English Version Print” reads one line, “Scene Take 6 — OK — Amer. Version Print” reads another. And while the budget includes costs like wardrobe ($2, 858. 53) and railroad fares ($1, 438. 28) it also refers to an American negative, a British negative and a “general foreign” negative. It was common practice to shoot multiple versions in the silent era, one for the domestic market and the rest for export. Talking pictures complicated matters, and, with subtitling and dubbing not yet a workable solution, companies shot versions. In the case of “The Front Page,” the multiples may have been shot more for cultural and censorship reasons, which may be why the middle finger isn’t in the American version. The best takes were reserved for the American version: That’s the one in which the camera crew keeps pace with a Adolphe Menjou, as Burns in another version, he slips out of frame. The other version is good, yes, but the American is the film at its greatest. The academy archive restores 40 to 70 movies a year, which means that the staff is usually handling several titles at once. When Mr. Pogorzelski and Ms. Linville started on “The Front Page,” she was already several years into restoring “Cock of the Air,” another Hughes title. Directed by Tom Buckingham, this delightful 1932 sex comedy is largely a vehicle for its female star, Billie Dove, who was Hughes’s lover back in an especially frenetic time in his movie career. She plays a French actress partial to gowns, Champagne and conquests, and the film is one long teasing encounter between her and a pilot and Lothario (Chester Morris). More frothy than scandalous, the film is best explained by the scene in which Dove runs around in a metal suit of armor while chased by Morris, who’s holding a can opener. Hughes managed to get “Cock of the Air” into theaters for its initial release despite the objections of the Production Code’s bluenoses (one deemed it “obscene and immoral”) but eventually it was heavily censored. The film’s history of censorship woes help explain how the academy preservationists ended up dealing with an uncensored yet silent master and a separate, censored audio source. Preservationists seek out both the prints and elements from different film copies, and often work with outside technicians. (Some handle the visuals, others the audio some work with photochemical elements, others with digital.) It’s like assembling a jigsaw puzzle with pieces from many copies of that puzzle — pieces that sometimes need to be shipped from France and spruced up in Los Angeles. Flaws remain because, Mr. Pogorzelski said, he has “to stretch dollars as far as they can go. ” Carrying out a “100 percent cleaning” and focusing all of the archive’s resources on one film might mean ignoring dozens of others. To help with the sound for “Cock of the Air,” the preservationists looked to John Polito, an engineer and the owner of Audio Mechanics. Together they worked on the sound using assorted elements they had gathered. After years of vainly searching for prints with the censored dialogue intact, they took the unusual step of hiring actors like Hamish Linklater to record the excised lines, using an onscreen icon to indicate what had been censored. (Mr. Polito played some piano music that had gone missing in a butchered seduction scene.) The results are probably close to what viewers saw and heard when they caught a show in 1932 at the Rialto in New York. All movies are time machines, and restoration helps bring the present together with a past that is always — as prints decay, labs close and money ebbs — moving further away. “We want to preserve films for future generations,” Ms. Linville said. “So we try to think ahead and think about what future audiences may be interested in. ” Some restorations play at festivals, museums and other places. They’re available for research, and the preservationists hope that a museum the academy has proposed will be yet another place to see them. “Even if every cinema in the world can only show digital,” Mr. Pogorzelski said, “we know there are going to be at least four theaters that the academy runs that are still going to be showing film. ” In 2011, the historian David Pierce gave a talk on silent films at an annual event in Los Angeles called the Reel Thing. At one point, he showed a 1925 photo of a few dozen Universal Pictures stars next to a stack of crates holding that season’s negatives. He asked if anyone recognized these stars and was met with mostly bafflement. We soon found out why. Twenty years after this photo was taken, Universal sent a letter to its East Coast lab ordering the destruction of all but 17 of its negatives. The studio had already lost numerous older titles in fires, and now it was junking the rest of its silent features — hundreds — having decided that most were not worth keeping. It’s no wonder that those stars were unfamiliar: Their own studio destroyed their legacy. Some legacies may be lost forever others or gain new luster when films that went missing resurface in a barn or an archive. In 2015, “Seven Sinners,” Milestone’s feature directorial debut, turned up in Australia and was passed on to the archive, which is restoring the film. Such rescue stories come wreathed in romance as a film is plucked from the brink, like a heroine pulled from train tracks at the last minute. These stories are heartening if misleading, given the industry’s habit of destroying its history, which, of course, is our history, too. What wonders existed in the 70 percent of silent features that are lost? And the problem isn’t just the past or preserving it. It’s also about access. Film prints of recent releases are now hard to see, and the big studios keep a lot of titles in the vault. Many films have never made it onto VHS, DVD or and the dream that the internet would turn into a comprehensive cinematic library remains a dream. The upbeat platitudes that have often accompanied the shift to digital tend to obscure pragmatic considerations, including that film is easier and less expensive to preserve than digital and isn’t plagued by the same obsolescence issues. That’s why, even as major studios have stopped distributing film prints, they make film copies of the elements of their new releases, including those shot on digital. Studios like 20th Century Fox may maintain digital archives of their current releases, but the “analog solution,” in the words of Schawn Belston, its executive vice president, media and library services, “is still the most trusted and has archival longevity. ” The studios can afford to safeguard their new and old titles, but an estimated 75 percent of movies in American theaters are made by independents. A few years ago, the Library of Congress and the academy released “Digital Dilemma 2,” a report on the digital preservation issues facing independent filmmakers and nonprofit audiovisual archives. “Most of the filmmakers surveyed for this report have given little thought to what happens to their work once it is completed,” the study found. Most were also not aware of “the perishable nature of digital content. ” Preservation may not be foremost in the minds of these directors — or most moviegoers — but imagine 50 years from now when another archivist asks another audience to name the stars of our digital cinema present, like our own era’s screwball beauty, Greta Gerwig. “Who?” | 1 |
On the campaign trail, long before he called the news media “the enemy of the American people,” President Trump pledged to curtail press freedom. “We’re going to open up those libel laws,” he said. The statement was puzzling, not least because opening up laws is not a thing. And if it were a thing, it would be done by legislatures or courts, not the president. Read generously, though, Mr. Trump’s statement may have meant that he intended to appoint Supreme Court justices who would vote to overturn precedents that make it hard to sue for libel. On this score, at least, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, seems destined to disappoint his patron. Judge Gorsuch’s decisions in libel and related cases show no inclination to cut back on protections for the press. Some plaintiffs, he wrote in a 2011 opinion, have reputations so poor that even serious accusations cannot damage them. Libel law, he said, is “about protecting a good reputation honestly earned. ” Judge Gorsuch added that minor inaccuracies in a news report can never serve as the basis for a libel suit, calling that “a First Amendment imperative. ” Press lawyers who have reviewed Judge Gorsuch’s decisions said they liked what they saw. “In a handful of opinions where he has weighed in on the subject, Judge Gorsuch shows no indication that he will ‘open up libel laws’ to muzzle the press, as the president appears to hope,” said Gayle C. Sproul, a lawyer with Levine Sullivan Koch Schulz in Philadelphia. Eugene Volokh, an expert in First Amendment law at the University of California, Los Angeles, said Judge Gorsuch’s commitment to free speech was not guarded or grudging. “Sometimes when judges apply the rules, you can see that they’re holding their nose,” Professor Volokh said. “He didn’t seem to be. ” The question in the 2011 case was whether a Colorado prisoner, Jerry Lee Bustos, could sue the makers of a cable television show for calling him a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a prison gang, when Mr. Bustos had merely conspired with the gang. Judge Gorsuch said there was no reason to think that Mr. Bustos’s “standing in the public eye would be improved at all by more careful explication of the true particulars of his involvement with the Brotherhood. ” A version of this issue arose during Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign, when his lawyers asked for a retraction of an article in The New York Times reporting on complaints from two women who said Mr. Trump had touched them inappropriately. Mr. Trump’s lawyers called the article libelous and seemed to threaten to sue. David McCraw, a lawyer for The Times, responded much as Judge Gorsuch had. “The essence of a libel claim, of course, is the protection of one’s reputation,” Mr. McCraw wrote. But Mr. Trump’s reputation in this area, Mr. McCraw said, could not have been harmed by The Times’s report in light of, for instance, Mr. Trump’s own statements about groping women. “Nothing in our article has had the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr. Trump, through his own words and actions, has already created for himself,” Mr. McCraw wrote. So far, there has been no lawsuit over the article. Gregg Leslie, the legal defense director for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said Judge Gorsuch did not have “an extensive history of speech and press cases. ” But the judge “consistently applied established First Amendment protections when he did get them,” Mr. Leslie said. “He also showed a willingness to uphold protections for speech rights even in controversial cases. It’s always good to see a judge do the right thing in tougher circumstances. ” Ms. Sproul said Judge Gorsuch had voted in favor of news organizations in cases, even when they involved “classically sympathetic plaintiffs, like a victim of sexual assault and by cops cleared of wrongdoing. ” In a 2007 case concerning the broadcast of a videotape of a rape, Judge Gorsuch joined an opinion dismissing a lawsuit by the victim. The court ruled that the news report concerned “a matter of legitimate public interest. ” He joined a second 2007 decision dismissing a case brought by undercover police officers on similar grounds. “Courts have generally treated allegations of police misconduct as worthy of public interest,” the decision said, refusing to carve out an exception for disclosing the identities of police officers working undercover. “We can find no precedent for such an exception, and we are not inclined to create one here merely on policy grounds,” the decision said, “despite our concerns about the safety of undercover officers and the need to avoid disincentives for entering their profession. ” Judge Gorsuch has also read other protections of the First Amendment broadly, including the right of citizens “to petition the government for a redress of grievances. ” That clause, he wrote in a 2007 case involving an unhappy taxpayer, “does not pick and choose its causes. ” “The minor and questionable, along with the mighty and consequential, are all embraced,” Judge Gorsuch wrote. Ronald K. L. Collins, a First Amendment specialist at the University of Washington, said the Supreme Court would benefit from Judge Gorsuch’s “ and informed devotion to free expression. ” “If confirmed,” Mr. Collins said, “Neil Gorsuch will be a First Amendment player — an intellectual and rhetorical force to be reckoned with. ” But Judge Gorsuch seems unlikely to use his skills to advance Mr. Trump’s agenda in libel cases, said Professor Volokh, who has known the judge for decades. “To the extent people are worried that President Trump has an project,” Professor Volokh said, “there’s nothing to suggest Neil would share that project. ” | 1 |
Heidelberg’s only Mark Twain impersonator takes his work seriously. His eyebrows and mustache are unruly, and his long gray hair overlaps his ears. He wears a white suit that is too warm in summer and not warm enough in winter. The only obvious problem with Klaus Mombrei’s performance, as he leads tour groups through the city, is something Twain himself would have found amusing: He speaks not English but his native German. “Surely there is not another language that is so slipshod and systemless and so slippery and elusive to the grasp,” Twain fumed in his 1880 European travelogue “A Tramp Abroad. ” And yet, despite his problems with German, Twain was smitten with the country. “Germany, in the summer, is the perfection of the beautiful,” he gushed. He was especially fond of Heidelberg, where he lived with his family in the summer of 1878. The city was “the last possibility of the beautiful,” he wrote, straining to surpass the superlative he had lavished on the country. Heidelberg curls up against the Neckar River in a narrow pass between a pair of mountains, like a flower preserved between two books. As Mr. Mombrei leads tours of visitors (mostly Germans) over the cobblestone streets, he likes to share a popular local legend. “I tell my groups Twain got the idea for the ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ from the Neckar,” he said. “A Tramp Abroad” includes the story of a raft journey down the river and was published several years before “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. ” Many people in Heidelberg believe, therefore, that the Neckar was the creative headwater to Twain’s Mississippi. In fact, the fictional river trip was already racing through his mind. Twain had started the novel before he went to Germany, but the draft was stalled shortly after Huck and Jim destroyed their raft in a collision with a steamship. No wonder, then, that Twain watched timber rafts rushing down the Neckar, “hoping to see one of them hit the and wreck itself. ” He was in a creative crisis. This crucial chapter in Twain’s career is often overlooked. So I set out to understand it better by retracing his footsteps in the region. Heidelberg survived World War II with only minor damage, so visitors today can still experience the romantic charm Twain found. Church towers crane above the red roofs, while the medieval main street, Hauptstrasse, meanders through the center of the city. The famous castle ruins loom high on the mountainside, a mosaic caulked with moss and tiny plants. In the afternoon, Twain and his family would gather in the castle park for beer and music. When I visited, a theater troupe was rehearsing “Kiss Me, Kate. ” Twain stayed at the Schloss hotel, the finest lodging in Heidelberg at the time. The building was on a bluff even higher than the castle, so that Twain could stand on his balcony and drink in the entire city. “I have never enjoyed a view which had such a serene and satisfying charm,” he wrote in “A Tramp Abroad. ” In the evening, Heidelberg became “a fallen Milky Way … its intricate cobweb of streets jeweled with twinkling lights. ” Today, the Schloss hotel has been rebuilt as private residences, a boring beige box floating like a Mario Block on its perch above the city. I stayed across the river at the Hirschgasse, a former student pub that Twain could see from his hotel window. In Twain’s time, the Hirschgasse was the battleground for Heidelberg University’s fencing fraternities, whose members were identifiable by their caps and facial scars. Today the Hirschgasse features two of Heidelberg’s best restaurants: the upscale French restaurant Le Gourmet and the German Mensurstube, where the tables are scratched with the signatures of former students and the walls decorated with fencing caps, sabers and old photographs. Other fraternity watering holes from Twain’s time are still in business. On the Hauptstrasse, Zum Seppl and Zum Roten Ochsen both serve German comfort food: bratwurst, cheese spaetzle and white asparagus — a springtime specialty whose nutritional value Germans like to obliterate with Hollandaise sauce and ham. The fencing duels fascinated Twain. At the Hirschgasse, he saw “the heads and faces of ten youths gashed in every direction. ” You might have expected him to foil such pointless violence with common sense and wit, but he thought the ritual deserved “a considerable degree of respect. ” Throughout “A Tramp Abroad,” Twain’s critical faculties seem somewhat dulled. He describes the German people with cliché after cliché. Twain’s Germans are orderly, clean, punctual and brave. In his letters, he praises the country’s “genuine freedom” and “superb government” at a time of political and social upheaval. The emperor was nearly assassinated twice during Twain’s visit. Twain cultivated his ignorance intentionally. “I don’t read any newspapers,” he wrote to a friend. “Ah, I have such a deep, grateful, unutterable sense of being ‘out of it all.’ ” When Twain arrived in Germany, his writer’s block had hamstrung not only “Huckleberry Finn” but also several other books, including “Life on the Mississippi” and “The Prince and the Pauper. ” And he had humiliated himself in December 1877 with an irreverent speech in Boston before some of America’s greatest literary figures: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes. “I feel that my misfortune has injured me all over the country,” he wrote to a friend. He told his mother that he needed to “fly to some little corner of Europe. ” I arrived in Heidelberg in June with some sense of Twain’s restlessness. When I told a friend that I was having trouble concentrating, he said I should stay present: open my senses to whatever was happening at the moment, and exist in the world instead of in my head. As I reread “A Tramp Abroad,” knowing that Twain had arrived in Germany under a cloud of shame and failure, it seemed to me that he had faced a similar challenge. His goal was not so much to penetrate Heidelberg and the Neckar Valley but to soak his senses in those places, to dissolve his insecurity in the scenery and to rediscover his pride and purpose. This comes through clearest in Twain’s Neckar narrative, so I followed him upriver. From Heidelberg, I took a boat to Neckarsteinach, an old town with a quartet of castle ruins. The river winds between hills like a lazy cursive signature. Time has worked slowly on its banks: The terrain is still mainly field and forest the mountains robed in thick green foliage. Every few miles our boat passed a village with teenagers and rows of simple white homes. After sundown, the buildings glowed like votive candles in the dark. The inns where Twain stayed along the Neckar have closed, but some of his favorite castle ruins are now connected with hotels. Burg Hornberg is a mountaintop fortress surrounded by terraced vineyards, with a tower so high that surely, at some point, someone must have locked a princess in it. The hotel’s impressive view of the Neckar is marred only slightly by an industrial plant. Farther downstream, you can stay at the Schlosshotel Hirschhorn, whose ruins were one of Twain’s favorite Neckar sights. “The clustered brown towers perched on the green hilltop, and the old battlemented stone wall, stretching up and over the grassy ridge and disappearing in the leafy sea beyond, make a picture whose grace and beauty entirely satisfy the eye,” he wrote in “A Tramp Abroad. ” Twain’s Neckar story is filled with these moments of sensory immersion. He luxuriates in the “green and fragrant banks,” the vineyards, the poppy fields. In these sensual descriptions, Twain’s language often turns therapeutic. The raft, he wrote, “soothes to sleep all nervous hurry and impatience under its restful influence all the troubles and vexations and sorrows that harass the mind vanish away. ” In Germany, Twain was finding the equilibrium that had deserted him at home. Writing “A Tramp Abroad” would frustrate Twain immensely: His writer’s block had not yet lifted. But in the Neckar journey, one can detect the shoots of creative rejuvenation. He spins the legend of a German knight named Sir Wissenschaft, who slays a dragon not with a sword but with a fire extinguisher — a precursor to the hero of “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. ” The greatest sign of Twain’s revival is the Neckar raft itself. Twain never rafted down the river: He traveled the region by boat, foot and train and invented the raft only later as a narrative device. It had emerged from his subconscious and back into his active imagination. And when he picked up the draft of “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in 1879, the raft was still afloat: He found a way forward by repairing Huck and Jim’s raft after the steamship accident and continuing their journey down the Mississippi. As my boat pushed upstream, I tried to absorb the greenery, the breeze, the sound of water breaking on the hull. By tuning his senses to this place, Twain started to clear his mind, and his inspiration began to flow more freely. After “A Tramp Abroad,” he would have the greatest decade of his career, publishing “The Prince and the Pauper,” “Life on the Mississippi,” “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. ” And when he got stuck or frustrated with the writing process, perhaps he remembered the quiet music of the Neckar, that narrow river whose sound “bears up the thread of one’s imaginings as an accompaniment bears up a song. ” The Hirschgasse The former dueling ground of Heidelberg University’s fencing fraternities, it is now a small luxury hotel with two of the city’s best restaurants. (Hirschgasse 3, Heidelberg hirschgasse. ). Double rooms start at 155 euros, or about $170. Burg Hornberg This ruined castle of a famous German knight is surrounded by vineyards whose wines can be tasted at the hotel restaurant. (Burg Hornberg 1, Neckarzimmern . ). Double rooms start at €110. Schlosshotel Hirschhorn One of Twain’s favorite sites, the castle ruin and hotel sit on a mountain above a medieval German village. (Schlossstrasse Hirschhorn . ). Double rooms start at €96. Zum Seppl This former fraternity watering hole serves classic German dishes like bratwurst and schnitzel. (Hauptstrasse 213, Heidelberg . ). Dinner for two with drinks, about €60. Zum Roten Ochsen This German pub displays a photo of Twain. (Hauptstrasse 217, Heidelberg roterochsen. .) Dinner for two with drinks, about €52. | 1 |
As Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia crossed the finish line in his marathon run at the Rio Olympics on Sunday, he raised his arms and crossed them in an X, a gesture of protest against his country’s government that he said could get him killed if he returned home. He is uncertain where he will go next, and what will become of his wife and two children in Ethiopia. “If I go back to Ethiopia, maybe they will kill me,” he said at a news conference after the race, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. “If I am not killed, maybe they will put me in prison. ” Ethiopia’s communications minister, Getachew Reda, told CNN that Mr. Lilesa “shouldn’t at all be worried” to return, calling him an “Ethiopian hero. ” “I can assure you nothing is going to happen to his family nothing is going to happen to him,” Mr. Reda said. An accomplished distance runner who has one of the 50 fastest marathon times, Mr. Lilesa defied an Olympic prohibition on political demonstrations to make his statement, raising his arms again in protest at an award ceremony after the race. He told reporters he had not discussed the protest ahead of time with others, including his manager, teammates and family, out of fear for his safety. Soon after his gesture, Mr. Lelisa quickly attracted supporters on social media. Antigovernment protests in Ethiopia, an American ally that has experienced stability and a growing economy over the past decade, have been growing recently, with thousands of people demanding political changes. Human rights groups say the protests have been met by brutal crackdowns by the government, including the shooting deaths of unarmed protesters. A Human Rights Watch report in June estimated that more than 400 people had been killed in seven months, almost all of them civilians. Protesters in the Oromo ethnic group, Ethiopia’s largest, say they feel marginalized. The Tigrayan ethnic group makes up about 6 percent of the population but dominates in politics, the military and commerce. “The Ethiopian government is killing my people, so I stand with all protests anywhere, as Oromo is my tribe,” Mr. Lilesa said, according to The Washington Post. “My relatives are in prison, and if they talk about democratic rights they are killed. ” Seyoum Teshome, a university lecturer in central Ethiopia, predicted that the Ethiopian government will indeed treat Mr. Lelisa like a hero, at least publicly. “They will not do anything silly against that guy,” he said. “The whole world knows about him now,” Mr. Teshome said. “If they arrest him, it will be a huge mistake and create a further disturbance. ” The Ethiopian government is known to be quite adept at damage control, using urbane officials to deflect criticism. So far, it seems to have worked. Human rights groups have complained for years about repression and brutality inside Ethiopia, but the government continues to maintain friendly ties with the West, which sees Ethiopia as a stable ally in a region that has been plagued by violent extremism and chaos. President Obama, for example, visited Ethiopia in 2015. Mr. Teshome said, however, that Mr. Lilesa’s act — crossing his arms at a moment when millions were watching him on TV — had been a blow to the carefully constructed image the government has tried to project. He said that many Ethiopians were impressed by Mr. Lelisa’s courage, and that “everybody is talking about it” in the town where Mr. Teshome lives, Woliso, and across social media. But Mr. Teshome said that on Monday, the media was not broadcasting any images of Mr. Lelisa with his arms crossed. “This was what the government was afraid of,” he said. Mr. Lelisa told reporters on Sunday he did not know where he would go next, but mentioned Kenya and the United States as possibilities, according to a video from LetsRun. com. Mr. Teshome said he expected that Mr. Lelisa would not return to Ethiopia, even if officials pledged he would be safe. “Whether they treat him well or not doesn’t make a difference he was protesting what happens to his people, the killing of his people,” Mr. Teshome said. “We are living in a dictatorial state, a totalitarian state. ” | 1 |
are Iranians supplying the IS jihadis? they were using these to attack the Iraqi forces. | 0 |
Mind over matter: Unseen world of energy now uncovered with Bioelectrophotography Please scroll down for video
Do you believe in mind over matter? A gathering of Japanese researchers from the University of Tokyo, under the supervision of Mio Watanabe, directed a series of examinations by which they figured out how to outwardly catch the energy of a man. With the help of profoundly sensitive cameras, the researchers could photo a person’s unique aura. It has been found that the “sparkle” is brightest in the morning and appears to "blur" at night. It is most obvious around the face, mouth, cheeks and neck. Do We All Have An Aura of Energy?
Specialists trust that this procedure could turn into a system for use in the determination and treatment of numerous ailments. A “blackout” gleam around certain body parts may demonstrate the beginning of a sickness or other health-related problem.
To enhance our understanding of this undetected world of energy, there are certain scientific experiments that are being carried out using a technique called bioelectrophotography. The currently proposed idea is that every one of us is constantly emitting energy, and bio electrophotography are going to help us capture these energy fields. These energy fields will show up as the light around the body, also known as your “aura” .
There have been studies done at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Laboratory which suggest that our minds may have the ability to influence the certain output of devices, or Random Event Generators (REGs). These studies give us insight into something that many people don’t even know, or believe, is there.
This research also explains why “healers” claim to have the ability to see the aura of individuals. A study led in Spain has indicated some these healers show a neuropsychological quirk known as "synesthesia", giving an important clarification of their abilities. Essentially, synesthesia is a neurological condition in which one cognitive pattern leads to another cognitive example.
“[They] have abilities and attitudes that make them believe in their ability to heal other people, but it is actually a case of self-deception, as synesthesia is not an extrasensory power, but a subjective and ‘adorned’ perception of reality”. - University of Granada
This article (Mind over matter: Unseen world of energy now uncovered with Bioelectrophotography) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with full attribution and a link to the original source on Disclose.tv Related Articles | 0 |
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The man responsible for the 2014 nude photo leak that put dozens of Hollywood women’s most private moments on public display will spend a year and a half in prison.
U.S. District Judge William W. Caldwell on Wednesday sentenced Ryan Collins, 36, to 18 months in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler announced in a news release.
Investigators have identified more than 600 victims. Jennifer Lawrence, Gabrielle Union and Kate Upton were among them, although the news release doesn’t mention them by name and, instead, references “female celebrities.”
In March, Collins was charged with felony computer hacking and agreed to take a plea deal. Collins could have faced up to five years in federal prison, but prosecutors recommended 18 months and Caldwell agreed. | 0 |
The driver of a large white truck mowed down a crowd gathered to watch Bastille Day fireworks in Nice, France, on Thursday night. Scores of people were killed and injured in what the French government has called a terrorist assault, the third major attack on the country in 19 months. • The truck, a refrigeration vehicle rented by the assailant on Monday, sped down the crowded seaside promenade in Nice around 10:45, going about 1. 1 miles eastward. The assailant exchanged gunfire with three police officers before he was shot to death. • At least 84 people were killed — including 10 children and teenagers — and 303 were wounded. Of those wounded, 121 remain in hospitals, 26 of them in intensive care. Foreigners among the dead included three Germans, two Americans, two Tunisians and a Russian. At least three other Americans were injured. • Government officials identified the assailant as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, a driver who was raised in northeast Tunisia and who moved to France around 2005. He had a minor criminal record, but he was not in a government database of radicalized militants. Neighbors in his former apartment building described him as a moody and aggressive oddball who never went to the local mosque. • The Islamic State claimed responsibility Saturday morning for the attack, calling Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel a “soldier” in its fight against “crusader states. ” But there are no signs that he had direct ties to any terrorist group. • Contrary to initial reports from Nice municipal officials that the truck was full of weapons and explosives, its cargo hold contained a bicycle and eight empty pallets, or stacking platforms. In the cab, police found an automatic 7. pistol, two fake assault rifles, a nonfunctioning grenade, and a cellphone and unspecified documents. • The French president, François Hollande has extended by three months a state of emergency established after the attacks in and around Paris on Nov. 13. It had been scheduled to expire on July 26. • France began three days of national mourning, starting on Saturday. • Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s motives for the attack, whether he had accomplices, or whether the Islamic State played any direct role. (Its claim of responsibility must be greeted with caution.) • The extent and adequacy of security preparations for the large crowds attending Bastille Day celebrations on Thursday, especially in cities outside Paris, like Nice. There was extensive security in place for the recent Euro 2016 soccer tournament. • Whether France’s intelligence and security agencies are up to the task. On July 5, a parliamentary inquiry examining last year’s attacks found widespread failures in the collection and analysis of information that could have helped prevent those assaults. | 1 |
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s advisers wrestled with an intractable problem in the spring and summer of 2015: How could they stabilize Afghanistan while preserving Mr. Obama’s longtime goal of pulling out the last American troops before he left office? As it happened, the president solved the problem for them. In early August of that year, when Mr. Obama convened a meeting of the National Security Council, he looked around the table and acknowledged a stark new reality. “The fever in this room has finally broken,” the president told the group, according to a person in the meeting. “We’re no longer in mode. ” What Mr. Obama meant was that no one in the Situation Room that day, himself included, thought that the United States — after 14 years of war, billions of dollars spent and more than 2, 000 American lives lost — would ever transform Afghanistan into a semblance of a democracy able to defend itself. At the same time, he added, “the counterterrorism challenges are real. ” As bleak as Afghanistan’s prospects were, the United States could not afford to walk away and allow the country to become a seedbed for extremists again. A few weeks later, the president halted the withdrawal and announced that he would leave thousands of American troops in the country indefinitely. It was a crucial turning point in the evolution of Barack Obama. The antiwar candidate of 2008 who had pledged to turn around Afghanistan — the “good war” to George W. Bush’s “bad war” in Iraq — had conceded that the longest military operation in American history would not end on his watch. The optimistic president who once thought Afghanistan was winnable had, through bitter experience, become the commander in chief of a forever war. He remains defensive about the lessons of that journey. “We shouldn’t assume that every time a country has problems that it reflects a failure of American policy,” the president said in an interview in September. Now, as Mr. Obama prepares to turn the war over to Donald J. Trump, a leader even more skeptical than he is about the value of American engagement in foreign conflicts, Afghanistan captures the disillusionment of a man who believed, as he put it in his 2009 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, “that war is sometimes necessary, and war at some level is an expression of human folly. ” More than any other conflict, Afghanistan shaped Mr. Obama’s thinking on the basic questions of war, peace and the use of military power. It is where he discovered his affinity for drones, sharpened his belief in the limits of American intervention, battled his generals and hardened his disdain for unreliable foreign leaders. It reaffirmed his suspicions about sending American troops into foreign conflicts and made him reluctant to use more force in Iraq, Syria, Libya and other war zones. It also chastened him about his own hopes. “When it comes to helping these societies stabilize and create a more secure environment and a better life for their people, we have to understand,” he said in the interview, “that this is a long slog. ” Mr. Obama was a state senator from Illinois in October 2002 when he famously condemned Iraq as a “dumb war. ” But in the same speech he also said, “I don’t oppose all wars. ” He was referring to Afghanistan, which he viewed as a just war to hunt down the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again,” he told the crowd that day in Chicago’s Federal Plaza. By July 2008, as the Democratic nominee for president, Mr. Obama had embraced Afghanistan as a priority over Iraq — the “good war,” in a phrase that he never actually used himself but that became so associated with his approach it was sometimes wrongly attributed to him. Mr. Obama praised the Bush administration’s troop surge in Iraq that year not because he believed that the United States could transform Iraqi society, but because he thought that reducing the violence there would allow the nation to turn its attention to Afghanistan. “This is a war that we have to win,” he declared. He promised to send at least two more combat brigades, or roughly 10, 000 soldiers, to Afghanistan. The United States was hardly on course for victory. Although there were already close to 50, 000 American troops in Afghanistan as Mr. Obama campaigned that summer, the Taliban were gaining momentum. In a bloody debacle, nine American soldiers were killed in what became known as the Battle of Wanat when the Taliban brazenly overran a remote Army outpost in the far eastern province of Nuristan. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed Mr. Obama in calling the situation in the country “precarious and urgent. ” More than 100 Americans would die in Afghanistan by the end of 2008, a larger number than in any other prior year. When Mr. Obama took office in January 2009, he ordered a quick policy review on Afghanistan by a former intelligence analyst, Bruce Riedel. But even before it was completed, he accepted a Pentagon recommendation to send 17, 000 additional troops to Afghanistan, bringing the total to nearly 70, 000 American troops on the ground. By the fall of 2009, with the Taliban showing increased strength, Mr. Obama’s military commanders, backed by the elders on his war council, including Hillary Clinton, then his secretary of state, were pressing him to go much farther. They urged on him an ambitious counterinsurgency strategy that had helped turn around the war in Iraq — a expensive doctrine of trying to win over the locals by building roads, bridges, schools and a government. The strategy, known by its acronym COIN, would require as many as 40, 000 additional American men and women in uniform in Afghanistan, his advisers told him. “There was still the afterglow of the surge in Iraq, and the counterinsurgency narrative that had made the military the savior of the Iraq war,” said Vali R. Nasr, a former State Department adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan. “I don’t believe Obama was in a position to pick a debate with the military on Afghanistan, and to assert what would be his worldview. ” “In many ways, I think, he deferred,” said Mr. Nasr, now the dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Although Mr. Obama agreed after months of internal debate to send 30, 000 additional troops to Afghanistan, he placed a strict timetable on the mission, saying they would have to be withdrawn again, starting in July 2011. His aides later said he felt hijacked by a military that had presented him with a narrow band of options rather than a real choice. Even some former military commanders agreed, saying that the troop deployments were framed in a way that made choosing a smaller number — 20, 000, for example — look like a path to certain defeat. “President Obama was asking the military for broad options,” said Karl W. Eikenberry, a retired general who served as the commander in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2007 and was later Mr. Obama’s ambassador to Kabul. But, he said, the military gave Mr. Obama only “variations” on “the more robust counterinsurgency model. ” Mr. Eikenberry, who wrote a politically explosive but prescient cable in late 2009 raising doubts about the wisdom of the surge, diagnosed a deeper problem with the policy. Was it simply to prevent Afghanistan from being a safe haven for Al Qaeda? Or was it to turn Afghanistan into another Denmark? “When he came in, everyone knew we were going to do more,” Mr. Eikenberry said. “But what we were trying to achieve was difficult to define. ” Given Mr. Obama’s innate wariness of it didn’t take long for him to grow disenchanted with the Denmark option. A few months into the surge, in the spring of 2010, David H. Petraeus, the commander of the Pentagon’s Central Command and an architect of the strategy, was briefing him on the state of the counterinsurgency campaign. Drawing on anthropology theory from the University of Chicago, General Petraeus explained to his commander in chief how neighborhoods in Kandahar related to one another. Mr. Obama listened for a while, then cut him off. “We can’t worry about how neighborhoods relate to each other in Kandahar,” he curtly told General Petraeus, according to people in the room. “Obama believes the military can do enormous things,” said Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser. “It can win wars and stabilize conflicts. But a military can’t create a political culture or build a society. ” By the end of his first term, Mr. Obama had evolved to the point that he fully embraced the concept “Afghan good enough. ” The phrase, which had been kicked around the White House since 2010, referred to the shift away from to a policy that was content with taking out the terrorists, preventing the Taliban from overrunning the country and putting a premium on getting the troops out. By that new standard, things had improved in Afghanistan. By August 2010, 100, 000 American troops were on the ground in Afghanistan and were pushing back the Taliban in some critical areas. Despite uneven progress in the military campaign, Ryan Crocker, a diplomat who had reopened the American Embassy in Kabul in 2002 and served there again as ambassador in 2011, recalled thinking, “Wow, this place looks great!” The Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011 added to Mr. Obama’s conviction that he was on the way to closing the books on the war. At midnight on May 1, 2012, Air Force One rolled out from behind a hangar at Joint Base Andrews to pick up the president for a secret trip to Afghanistan. He was going to sign a strategic partnership agreement with President Hamid Karzai that set the terms for relations after 2014, when the United States was scheduled to withdraw its combat troops and turn over Afghanistan’s security to the Afghans. Aides to Mr. Obama had advised him not to go for security reasons, but he saw it as an important milestone. The agreement promised an “enduring partnership” between the United States and Afghanistan, with pledges of American help in developing the Afghan economy and public institutions. Yet the promises obscured a starker reality: Mr. Obama had accelerated the timetable for drawing down American troops, and he was looking beyond the war. Speaking to a national TV audience from Bagram Air Base, he suggested that America’s experience in Afghanistan had come full circle. “One year ago, from a base here in Afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed Osama bin Laden,” he said. “The goal I set — to defeat Al Qaeda, and deny it a chance to rebuild — is now within our reach. ” Earlier, Mr. Obama had met for an hour with Mr. Karzai. The two had long had a rocky relationship — on an earlier trip, Mr. Obama excoriated Mr. Karzai for the rampant corruption in the Afghan government — and this session did little to improve their rapport. Mr. Crocker recalled that the president was “very aloof, almost cold, which bothered me a bit because I’d worked a solid damn year to get Karzai in a better place with us. ” Things never warmed up between them. When Mr. Karzai refused to sign a security agreement with Washington, Mr. Obama gave up on him to focus on his successor, Ashraf Ghani. The experience left a lasting imprint on the president, his aides said. He concluded that without the right partner, it was impossible for the United States to succeed, no matter how much blood and treasure it poured into a country. It was an insight that Mr. Obama applied to his relations with other countries, from Pakistan to Israel, where his poor relationships with the leaders impeded progress. “The most underappreciated part of foreign policy,” Mr. Rhodes said, “is dealing with flawed partners. ” When Mr. Obama convened his National Security Council that day in August 2015, the Taliban were regrouping again. They had carried out audacious terrorist attacks in the center of Kabul and had mounted a military offensive in the provinces of Kunduz and Oruzgan. Worse, there was a new threat in the form of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, which sprouted in the poisonous soil of Iraq after the United States left and was finding recruits in the Hindu Kush. Mr. Obama had rejected a chorus of calls in Washington to delay the drawdown, under which the residual force of American troops was to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2016. “The mantra I heard was that the president does not want to hand off to his successor the mess he inherited,” said Daniel F. Feldman, who served as the special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2014 and 2015. But as the Islamic State became a dire enough threat to return American troops to Iraq, Mr. Obama felt compelled to change course on Afghanistan. “ISIL thrived in a vacuum in Iraq and it pointed to a similar vacuum in Afghanistan,” Mr. Rhodes said. Mr. Obama, he said, was prodded by more than fear. After a long stretch of political paralysis, Afghanistan formed a government with Mr. Ghani in the presidency. For the first time since taking office, Mr. Obama felt like he had a partner with whom he could do business. The Afghan Army was taking heavy casualties fighting the Taliban, and the president believed that the United States had an obligation to help them. But as Mr. Obama’s war council met that August morning, the level of American support remained the subject of intense debate. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. a skeptic about Afghanistan going back to 2009, argued that the country would revert to chaos, regardless of how long the United States stayed there. “It doesn’t matter if we leave tomorrow or 10 years from now,” he declared, according to those in the room. He was, he conceded, a “broken record” on this issue. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, who had succeeded Admiral Mullen as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recommended that the United States maintain a military presence in Kabul, and at Bagram and a scattering of bases in the east and south. The 10, 000 soldiers in the country would carry out a singular, ruthless mission of killing suspected terrorists and keeping the country from spiraling out of control. The imperative, General Dempsey told Mr. Obama, was that Afghanistan fit into a broader counterterrorism policy from Central Asia to North Africa to extend “well beyond your presidency,” according to several officials. Mr. Obama liked that idea. It was in line, he said, with the principles he had laid out in a 2014 speech at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N. Y. where he said America would train and equip foreign armies but leave the fighting to them. He acknowledged that it would mean handing off Afghanistan to his successor as unfinished business. “This goes to the politics of what I’m leaving for the next president,” he told the group, according to one of the participants. “My interest is not to sign them up for 10 years of X,” he added, referring to troop numbers, “but to lay out a vision and to put stakes in the ground for that vision. ” Mr. Obama now seems at an uneasy peace. In the interview in September, he disputed the suggestion that his policy had failed. He had, after all, reduced the number of American troops to fewer than 10, 000 from more than 100, 000. They were training and assisting Afghan troops, even if the line between that and actual combat was sometimes blurry. The country had been broken to begin with, he said, and America was never going to fix it. “Afghanistan was one of the poorest countries in the world with the lowest literacy rates in the world before we got there. It continues to be,” Mr. Obama said. The country “was riven with all kinds of ethnic and tribal divisions before we got there. It’s still there. ” In the end, Afghanistan became the template for a new kind of warfare — a chronic conflict, across an arc of unstable states, in which the United States is a participant, if not the principal actor. At a NATO summit meeting in Warsaw in July, Mr. Obama acknowledged that this prospect would disappoint an American public still suffering from combat fatigue. “It’s very hard for us ever to get the satisfaction of MacArthur and the emperor meeting, and a war being officially over,” he said. “As commander in chief of the most powerful military in the world,” he went on, “I spend a lot of time brooding over these issues. And I’m not satisfied we’ve got it perfect yet. ” | 1 |
She had her fun and, it appears, she was ready to come home. After a brief flirtation with freedom, Ollie, a bobcat living at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, was found on Wednesday near the zoo’s birdhouse, officials said. Though they could not retrace the bobcat’s nearly adventure, officials said she might have left the property but most likely never strayed more than two miles from the zoo. “We’re just happy,” Craig Saffoe, the zoo’s curator of great cats, said at an evening news conference. Ollie’s disappearance on Monday morning reportedly led some area schools to cancel recess and inspired a slew of jokes, a Twitter parody account and grand metaphors. (She had become “a symbol of freedom and one of its last hopes in a world gone rotten,” The Washingtonian proclaimed on Wednesday night.) But for zoo officials, her capture, thanks to a tip from a visitor who spotted her crossing a walkway, offered relief. After receiving the tip, staff members at the birdhouse notified Mr. Saffoe and his colleagues, who set up live traps in the area of the sighting. “Within 15 minutes, the birdhouse keepers called us back and told us, ‘We have a bobcat in a trap up here,’” he said. Ollie was taken to a veterinary hospital, where she was determined to have suffered no harm from the adventure, save a small cut on her front left paw, said Dr. Brandie Smith, the National Zoo’s associate director for animal care sciences. “There’s no need to treat it,” Dr. Smith said. “We’re just letting her be kind of calm and safe and secure. ” Ollie will receive a full examination on Thursday, and the zoo plans to investigate how she was able to leave her enclosure, Dr. Smith added. Ollie probably never traveled far, apparently sticking close to Rock Creek, which abuts the zoo, Mr. Saffoe said. Reported sightings of her on a nearby road appeared to be credible, too, he added. “I think she wanted to go out, have a little bit of fun, see what it was like on the outside,” he said. Zoo officials said this week that they did not consider Ollie a threat to humans, but that she might pose a threat to cats, dogs and birds. Mr. Saffoe described her on Wednesday as “standoffish. ” “She’s not the cat who’s going to walk right up to you,” he said, adding that he had suspected she was nearby and watching as the zoo staff set up the trap that ultimately ensnared her. “She was just waiting to see what kind of goodies we left for her,” he said. The last animal to vanish at the National Zoo was a male agouti — a rodent — named Macadamia, said Pamela a zoo spokeswoman. He escaped for only a . The Virginia Zoo in Norfolk has not been as fortunate: It has yet to report any reliable leads in the search for Sunny, a red panda who disappeared early last week. | 1 |
Reality check media Hillary ON TAPE: Don't Hold an Election Unless You Rig It in Advance
Ms Clinton made the obseravtion about elections in occupied Palestine while speaking to a private gathering of Jewish journalists Print The Ron Paul Institute
Anyone wondering what "democracy promotion" will look like in a Hillary Clinton administration may get a taste from a new audiotape released today of Hillary addressing the editorial board of the Jewish Press back in 2006. In the tape Hillary is clearly heard telling the Jewish Press journalists present: I do not think we should have pushed for an election in the Palestinian territories. I think that was a big mistake. And if we were going to push for an election, then we should have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win.
Listen for yourselves:
Present at the meeting was Jewish Press editor Eli Chomsky, who recalls being shocked that “anyone could support the idea—offered by a national political leader, no less—that the U.S. should be in the business of fixing foreign elections.”Hillary Clinton's stated practice of taking a private position and a public position on every issue is also apparent in her comments in that same meeting on whether it was worth talking to the Syrian government. Said Clinton at the time (sounding almost like Ron Paul): You know, I’m pretty much of the mind that I don’t see what it hurts to talk to people. As long as you’re not stupid and giving things away. I mean, we talked to the Soviet Union for 40 years. They invaded Hungary, they invaded Czechoslovakia, they persecuted the Jews, they invaded Afghanistan, they destabilized governments, they put missiles 90 miles from our shores, we never stopped talking to them. ...But if you say, ‘they’re evil, we’re good, [and] we’re never dealing with them,’ I think you give up a lot of the tools that you need to have in order to defeat them…
Perhaps Hillary should come clean on how many elections she "determined who was going to win" beforehand while Secretary of State. | 0 |
President Donald Trump promised to move the U. S. embassy to Jerusalem, but a recent diplomatic spat showed why it has been so hard for him to do so. [On Monday, the Times of Israel reported that talks between U. S. and Israeli officials coordinating Trump’s upcoming visit to the Western Wall — the holiest site in Judaism — stumbled when a “senior American official” said that the area was not within Israeli control and was part of the West Bank. That is the official position of President Barack Obama’s administration, and of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, Obama’s parting shot against the Jewish state. It is not clear who, exactly, the “senior American official” was, but Israel’s Ha’aretz identified the culpable parties as “diplomats stationed at the U. S. consulate in Jerusalem. ” The consulate is located in eastern Jerusalem and has long been regarded as more sympathetic to the Palestinians. (Update: The name of the official has since been reported as David Berns, a career bureaucrat at State.) The Trump administration disavowed that official’s view. But generally, it is difficult to overstate the degree to which the career bureaucracy disapproves of moving the U. S. embassy — and not just in the State Department. There are various reasons given, from possible prejudice to peace talks with the Palestinians, to repercussions in U. S. relations with Arab and Muslim countries. Still, it is difficult to distinguish the arguments against moving the embassy from the arguments against recognizing Israel in the first place. Already, the Trump administration has been grappling with the challenge of working with Obama administration holdovers in the bureaucracy who have not yet been replaced. Add to that the fact that there are members of the “deep state” who are actively undermining the president, through leaks and other methods, and you have a formidable obstacle to progress — one to which Trump’s predecessors yielded, and which Trump alone can defeat. Joel B. Pollak is Senior at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak. | 1 |
By the time Chris Christie became governor of New Jersey, the state’s auditors and lawyers had been battling for several years to collect taxes owed by the casinos founded by his friend Donald J. Trump. The total, with interest, had grown to almost $30 million. The state had doggedly pursued the matter through two of the casinos’ bankruptcy cases and even accused the company led by Mr. Trump of filing false reports with state casino regulators about the amount of taxes it had paid. But the year after Governor Christie, a Republican, took office, the tone of the litigation shifted. The state entertained settlement offers. And in December 2011, after six years in court, the state agreed to accept just $5 million, roughly 17 cents on the dollar of what auditors said the casinos owed. Tax authorities sometimes settle for lesser amounts to avoid the costs and risks of further litigation, legal experts said, but the steep discount granted to the Trump casinos and the relationship between the two men raise inevitable questions about special treatment. “You can’t tell whether there’s something problematic, but it’s pretty striking that this one was written down so much,” said David Skeel, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School who specializes in bankruptcy law and reviewed the case at the request of The New York Times. The refusal by Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, to release his personal income tax returns has become a growing issue in the campaign. He has also boasted of his success in lowering his tax burden as a businessman, declaring last year in an interview on Fox News that only “a stupid person, a really stupid person, is paying a lot of taxes. ” By that measure, the deal with New Jersey looks remarkably shrewd. The casinos did far better, for example, than those that benefited from a program Mr. Christie introduced in 2014 under which the state agreed to consider reducing penalties for delinquent taxpayers but only if they caught up on all overdue taxes and interest. Public records do not create a clear picture of how the agreement was reached. A spokeswoman for Mr. Trump said she would be in touch regarding questions sent to her. But she did not reply further or respond to subsequent messages. Brian Murray, a spokesman for Mr. Christie, said the governor had not been aware of the tax dispute and, therefore, could not comment on the terms of the settlement. The Times discovered the agreement during a review of the thousands of documents filed in the bankruptcies of Mr. Trump’s casinos. The taxes went unpaid from 2002 through 2006, during which time Mr. Trump was leading the company as chairman and, until 2005, as its chief executive. He reaped millions of dollars in fees and bonuses from the company, even as it underperformed competitors, lost money every year and saw its stock collapse. Mr. Trump and Mr. Christie met in 2002, when Mr. Christie was the United States attorney for New Jersey. Mr. Trump’s sister Maryanne Trump Barry, then a federal judge in the state, had mentioned to Mr. Christie that her famous brother would like to meet him. They struck up a friendship. Mr. Christie was invited to Mr. Trump’s third wedding in 2005, and Mr. Trump was a prominent guest at Mr. Christie’s inauguration in 2010. They have double dated with their wives. Their bond has occasionally included financial largess from Mr. Trump. His foundation made large donations to the Drumthwacket Foundation, which finances maintenance and improvements to New Jersey’s historic governor’s residence, after Mr. Christie became its honorary chairman. Mr. Trump also made large contributions to the Republican Governors Association when Mr. Christie was its chairman. After attacking Mr. Christie during the recent Republican primary contest, Mr. Trump seriously considered choosing him as his running mate before picking Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana. But Mr. Christie has remained a vocal supporter and was given a prominent speaking role at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and Mr. Trump has given his friend the task of heading his transition committee. “Donald and I, along with Melania and Mary Pat, have been friends for over a decade,” Mr. Christie said when he endorsed Mr. Trump in February. “He has been a good and loyal friend. ” The state corporate tax at the center of the dispute went into effect in 2002. It was called the alternative minimum assessment and was created, in part, to prevent businesses from avoiding taxes through accounting maneuvers. An executive with the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey testified at a state hearing in 2003 that Atlantic City casinos saw their state tax liability quadruple, primarily because of the new alternative minimum tax, during its first year. But the Trump casinos decided the tax did not apply to them, according to court filings. After the Trump casinos filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004 for the third time, state officials noticed the company had not been filling out the required schedule for the minimum tax assessment. The Trump casinos had reported losing money and paid a little more than $600, 000 in state income taxes in 2002, and only $1, 500 in 2003. State auditors determined that the Trump casinos should have paid $8. 8 million in alternative minimum taxes for those two years, according to court records. The company filed an administrative protest with the state, but it was rejected. The company’s lawyers continued to fight the state’s claim in bankruptcy court, arguing that the tax was unconstitutional and that it should not apply to the Trump casinos because they were organized as partnerships. State lawyers also found other irregularities in the company’s tax filings. In February 2007, Heather Lynn Anderson, a deputy attorney general who specializes in tax cases, filed papers in court saying auditors had discovered discrepancies that raised “numerous additional questions regarding the accuracy” of the Trump casinos’ tax returns. The company had reported lower revenue figures on its tax returns, for example, than on filings with the State Casino Control Commission. Ms. Anderson also wrote that Mr. Trump’s flagship casino, the Taj Mahal, had reported to the casino commission that it paid $2. 2 million in alternative minimum assessment tax in 2003, which was not true. The company had paid only $500 in income taxes. The state’s claim still had not been resolved by early 2009, when the Trump casinos filed for bankruptcy protection yet again. By then, the state said the total due, with interest, had risen to $29. 4 million. Mr. Christie’s name actually appeared in the bankruptcy cases during those years, when he was the United States attorney for New Jersey, and more than a dozen briefs were filed under his name as representing the federal Internal Revenue Service in its own claims against the Trump casinos. But the case was handled by an I. R. S. lawyer. Mr. Murray, the governor’s spokesman, said Mr. Christie had no supervisory role in pursuing the agency’s claims. After Mr. Christie became governor, his friendship with Mr. Trump occasionally made celebrity news. In March 2011, The New York Post’s gossip column, Page Six, reported that the two men and their wives double dated at a luxury restaurant in Mr. Trump’s tower at Columbus Circle in Manhattan. By then, Mr. Trump had been pushed out of running the company he founded, after his efforts to hang on through bankruptcy were thwarted by investors. But he still had financial ties to the company. When he testified in support of the plan to reorganize the company without his direct leadership, Mr. Trump said he would stay “very involved” with the casino company that would continue to bear his name. He remained a large shareholder, controlling 10 percent of the company’s stock. And in October 2011, the company announced it had entered a joint venture with Mr. Trump and his daughter Ivanka to pursue online gambling should it become legal. “We think we have the hottest brand there is, the Trump brand, my personal brand,” Mr. Trump told The Associated Press. “We think it’s going to do phenomenally well. ” (The joint venture agreement expired before New Jersey approved online gambling in 2013.) Around the same time, the tone of the tax litigation softened. Ms. Anderson notified the judge in the case that the two sides were in settlement discussions. On Dec. 5, 2011, New Jersey and the Trump casino company filed a settlement agreement with the court showing that the state would accept $5 million, paid in two installments, on a tab of about $30 million. By the time of the settlement, the industry was suffering a long slide that had started in 2006. The Trump company had just sold one of its casinos, Trump Marina Hotel Casino, for $38 million. A spokesman for the attorney general’s office, Leland Moore, said the settlement was approved largely because of the risks of continuing to fight in bankruptcy court and the “concerns about the future ability of the casinos to pay their tax debts. ” The Trump casinos may not have been able to afford their long overdue taxes, but they did not turn suddenly spartan, either. They continued to rent a helicopter from Mr. Trump for $390, 000 a year, until they filed for bankruptcy again in 2014. Mr. Moore declined to release the titles of officials who approved the settlement, except to say it was agreed to by officials from both the attorney general’s office and the State Division of Taxation. Mr. Christie was close to the attorney general at the time, Paula T. Dow, whom he had appointed and who worked for him as a prosecutor at the United States attorney’s office. A week after the settlement was signed, Mr. Christie announced that he was appointing Ms. Dow to the counsel’s office of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey until he could find her the judgeship that she desired. “I think you all know that Paula Dow has been one of my most trusted advisers for the last 10 years,” Mr. Christie said at the time. The Trump casinos did agree to pay more than $1 million in other taxes that the state sought in the bankruptcy cases. Ms. Anderson, the deputy attorney general, had also prevailed over the Trump casinos in a separate case in which the company had sought a $2. 7 million refund of sales taxes. She declined to discuss the cases. But her husband, Joseph Rival, has made his thoughts publicly known. He once referred to Mr. Trump as a “tax cheat” in a Twitter post. Another Twitter commenter pushed him to say which tax Mr. Trump had cheated. Mr. Rival, a conservative voter, wrote: “The State of New Jersey. He had to pay up millions, I know the lawyer that beat him. ” On another date, he posted, “My wife’s beaten him in tax court more than once. ” The settlement was one of the last disputes in that bankruptcy case, and it was finally closed in January 2012. The following month, Page Six reported that the Christies and the Trumps were again double dating at . | 1 |
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CNN report s that protesters from around the world continue to congregate in North Dakota in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux and their struggle to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline through (or placed so as to negatively affect) tribal lands.
The issues and the divide between sides seem to be fairly conventional: Promises of jobs and economic growth motivate the pipeline's supporters. Its opponents cite environmental concerns (especially the prospective damage to tribal lands) and allege violations of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 in Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners' wheedling of land use permissions out of federal and state governments.
On balance, the opponents seem to have a good case; the supporters not much of a case at all.
For more than a century and a half the US government has selectively ignored its treaties with the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribes whenever those treaties threaten to stymie the plans of corporations with friends in government. Successfully holding Washington to its word this time might give the politicians and their cronies pause next time.
And even if letting the US government use treaties as toilet paper just because it can wasn't an incredibly corrosive idea, keep in mind that it's not just the Sioux who are getting mugged. Private land owners all along the pipeline's 1,100 mile route are feeling the pain, too. Like Keystone XL before it, ETP leverages government's power of "eminent domain" -- under the pretense that the pipeline is some kind of public service rather than the private for-profit enterprise it actually is -- to steal much of the land required to complete Dakota Access.
The go-to excuse among proponents of these "public/private partnership" type land thefts is always "jobs and economic development," but even if that excuse flew (it doesn't), it's a pretty poor one in this case. The $3.7 billion pipeline is advertised as creating a whopping 40 permanent jobs. I'm not sure how many people work at the average Wal-Mart, but it looks like more than 40 to me. How many jobs in agriculture and other sectors would Dakota Access destroy along the way? We have no way of knowing. - Advertisement -
For me, the bottom line is this: If the only way to do something you want to do involves stealing other people's stuff, you shouldn't do it. And you certainly shouldn't get government help to do it. Dakota Access is the opposite of the American way. - Advertisement - | 0 |
A high school principal in Connecticut has denounced students who chanted President Trump’s name during a recent basketball game, calling the chant “hate speech. ”[In a letter to the school, Canton High School Principal Andrew F. DiPippo insisted that chanting the president’s name at school functions will not be allowed, The Blaze reported. “While students’ right to free speech and forming educated opinions about politics and current events is a cornerstone of our educational system, the exact point where political opinion converges with disrespect, discrimination or hate speech must be separated,” DiPippo wrote in his statement. “We have a reputation as a welcoming community and these students crossed this line with their comments and have damaged our reputation,” the principal added. The chant erupted during a game between Canton and the majority black and Hispanic Classical Magnet School of Hartford. Canton school administrators officially apologized for the chant that Classical players and coaches claimed were heard throughout the game. Along with the chant, Canton officials criticized students for carrying signs with Trump on them and for having Trump campaign items among the crowd. Canton senior Nathan Christopher disputed the claims from Principal DiPippo that the chants were racist. “I understand how the chant could be interpreted, but at the end of the day we are not racist toward anyone,” he said. Classical junior, Azaria Porter, said that one of the chants included a song with the words, “He’s our president. ” Hartford school district’s acting Superintendent Leslie said such chants were “unacceptable conduct,” according to the Hartford Courant. continued saying district officials, “will take every step necessary to ensure that our students and families are protected from physical harm and emotional harassment. ” Classical won the game . Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 1 |
Bret Baier: FBI Indictment ALMOST certain in Hillary case November 03, 2016
Fox News’ Bret Baier says his sources claim that an indictment is almost certain in the new FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Baier made the claim Wednesday night during a broadcast of “On the Record” with Brit Hume. Baier: “Lot of evidence” had been recovered from Anthony Wiener’s laptop. “I pressed, again and again, on this very issue. These sources said, yes, the investigations will continues [sic], there’s a lot of evidence, and barring some obstruction in some way, they believe they’ll continue to, likely, an indictment.” Baier didn’t say exactly who would be the most most likely target of an indictment, nor the timeline. Baiser sources: Greater than 99 percent confidence that Clinton’s private email server had been hacked by at least five foreign intelligence agencies.
(WASHINGTON, DC) Citing sources at the FBI, Fox News anchor Bret Baier said the FBI’s renewed investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email server will almost certainly end in an indictment, unless some sort of “obstruction” arises.
Baier made the claim Wednesday night during a broadcast of “On the Record” with Brit Hume. He said that a “lot of evidence” had been recovered from Anthony Wiener’s laptop, and made an eventual indictment appear very likely, even if it came months after the election.
“I pressed, again and again, on this very issue,” Baier told Hume. “These sources said, yes, the investigations will continues [sic], there’s a lot of evidence, and barring some obstruction in some way, they believe they’ll continue to, likely, an indictment.”
Baier didn’t say exactly who would be the most most likely target of an indictment, and what the timeline on such an indictment would be.
Baier also said that his sources had greater than 99 percent confidence that Clinton’s private email server had been hacked by at least five foreign intelligence agencies. When FBI Director James Comey first announced last summer that no charges would be recommended regarding Clinton’s server, he said the FBI had no way of knowing whether the server had been hacked.
Clinton’s presidential campaign aggressively downplayed the severity of the renewed investigation into her private email server, and criticized the judgment of Comey for publicly announcing it.
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Obama's Weighs Options for His Final Stab at Israel In his twilight months in office, Obama seeks to undermine America’s closest ally. November 4, 2016 Ari Lieberman
Israelis and the pro-Israel community at large will breathe a collective sigh of relief when Obama leaves office. During Obama’s tenure, relations with Israel were caustic at best. Barely five months after taking office, he publicly launched a scathing attack against Israel – where he perversely insinuated a moral equivalence between Israeli and Palestinian actions – and did so in one of the most virulently anti-Semitic countries on the planet. He later skipped over Israel despite the fact that Israel was a mere 20-minute plane ride away. That was Obama’s opening salvo against America’s closest ally. It was only downhill from there.
Obama utilized high-level administration sources to leak negative information about Israel to sympathetic members of the press. In one such instance, an administration official –probably Ben Rhodes – referred to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “ chicken-Sh*t .” In another instance, Obama voiced concurrence with French president, Nicholas Sarkozy, when Sarkozy characterized Netanyahu as a “ liar .”
Often, the Obama administration would subject Israeli dignitaries to humiliating treatment during official state visits. Israel’s defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, was shamefully transformed into a persona non grata. In the most notorious incident, Obama left Netanyahu out in the cold while having dinner with Michelle and his daughters. One commentator dryly noted that Obama treated Netanyahu as though he was the president of Equatorial Guinea.
Ultimately, Obama crossed the line and received significant pushback from Democratic lawmakers and donors. Obama got the message and toned down the rhetoric but his deep-seeded animus against Israel never dissipated and relations with Israel’s prime minister remained toxic.
Tensions surfaced again during Israel’s counter insurgency campaign against the Gaza-based terror group Hamas. Obama held up a shipment of Hellfire missiles to Israel and then tried to strong-arm Israel into accepting a suicidal ceasefire agreement brokered by Turkey and Qatar, two despotic nations that support Hamas and gave aid and comfort to Islamic State terrorists.
Obama saw Netanyahu’s opposition to the JCPOA, the so-called Iran deal, as a personal attack and allowed his petulant nature to further sour relations. The so-called “settlements” were another point of contention. Obama disregarded a letter of assurance to Israel provided by the Bush administration specifying that “In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population[s] centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949…”
Bush gave implicit recognition to existing settlement blocs and the right of Israel to build within those blocs. It is also important to note that no new settlement was created during Obama’s term of office and Netanyahu had even agreed to an unprecedented 10-month moratorium on construction within the disputed territories. But nothing was ever enough for Obama who never wasted an opportunity to excoriate Israel at every turn. His parting shot was at the United Nations General Assembly. During a recent address to that contemptible body, he explicitly singled out Israel for criticism but heaped praise on the xenophobic nation of Indonesia. Obama’s moral compass had gone completely awry.
Despite the fact that Obama is in his twilight months, he can still inflict immeasurable harm on Israel. According to a report featured in the Wall Street Journal , Obama is contemplating several options, each with significant negative implications for Israel. The report noted that he will only implement those options during the transitional period after November 8, so as not to harm Clinton’s presidential prospects.
He may seek to remove tax exempt status for organizations supportive of Israeli communities living in East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. Perhaps more ominously, he may seek to impose dictates on Israel utilizing the U.N. Security Council.
In one such scenario, Obama may seek to pass a resolution condemning settlement construction and declaring Israeli communities situated in Judea and Samaria to be illegal. Alternatively, the administration may seek formal recognition of the “State of Palestine” even though such a state has no formal boundaries and rejects Israel’s existence as a Jewish state. Lastly, he is said to be considering the possibility of setting up the parameters of a future peace agreement that would entail significant Israeli territorial concessions.
The United States does not have to actively support any UNSC resolution to see the successful passage of anti-Israeli measures. It merely has to fail to exercise its veto powers. France, facing significant problems of its own in connection with its growing radicalized Muslim population, has historically been the fiercest advocate for the Palestinian Arabs. It is likely that the administration would seek to have the French submit a draft resolution and the United States would simply abstain while the permanent and non-permanent members voted, thus guaranteeing passage.
Israel has few friends on the Security Council and American collusion with a body that could arguably be considered today’s greatest purveyors of anti-Semitism, would be an act of extreme betrayal. It would also represent bad policy and would significantly complicate efforts to broker a future peace agreement.
But Israel is not without recourse. There is strong bipartisan support for Israel in Congress and lawmakers from both sides of the political divide have already expressed to the White House their strong opposition to U.N. involvement.
Some, like the Jerusalem Post’s Caroline Glick, have suggested that the Israelis can reach out to the Russians with carrots in an effort to counter Obama’s nefarious plans but this option seems to be a stretch. Moscow has always been in the pockets of the Muslim bloc and its recent vote at UNESCO in support of a resolution denying the Jewish nexus to Jerusalem, serves to reinforce this view. Moreover, even if Russia can be persuaded, relying on Putin for favors is akin to borrowing money from the Mafia and would come with a steep price.
It is ironic that with the multitude of problems currently facing the administration – spiraling healthcare costs, racial discord, cyber breaches, Russia’s seizure of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, ISIS, the meltdown in the Arab world, Iranian terrorism, China’s expansion into the South and East China Seas, the migrant crisis, immigration reform – Obama would choose to focus his negative energies on harming the Mideast’s only democracy and America’s staunchest ally. That fact, in it of itself, speaks volumes about the man. | 0 |
On this week’s broadcast of CBS’s “Face the Nation,” former secretary of defense Robert Gates said he was “in agreement” with President Donald Trump’s “disruptive approach. ” Partial transcript as follows: DICKERSON: What’s your sense overall of President Trump as an unpredictable leader? GATES: Broadly philosophically, I’m in agreement with his disruptive approach. So in government, I’m a strong believer in the need for reform of government agencies and departments. They have gotten fat and sloppy and they’re not . They are inefficient. They cost too much. I also think on the foreign policy side that there is a need for disruption. We’ve had three administrations follow a pretty consistent policy toward North Korea, and it really hasn’t gotten us anywhere. So the notion of disrupting and putting the Chinese on notice that it’s no longer business as usual for the United States I think is a good thing. Now the question is, obviously, in the implementation of disruption. On the foreign policy side, there’s the risk of being too spontaneous and too disruptive where you end up doing more harm than damage. Figuring out that balance is where having strong people around you matters. Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 1 |
Good morning. (Want to get California Today by email? Here’s the .) Today’s introduction comes to us from Adam Nagourney, the Los Angeles bureau chief. Asif Mahmood was born in a small village in rural Pakistan. He came to the United States 26 years ago to study medicine, and is today a pulmonologist in Pasadena. At age 56, he has decided to run for lieutenant governor of California. “The divisive and hateful agenda of Donald Trump compels me to run,” Dr. Mahmood said Tuesday in an interview. “I am a proud Muslim. I am a Muslim immigrant. I am from the state of California. I am a triple threat to Donald Trump. ” Dr. Mahmood will officially announce his first bid for public office Wednesday morning. The election is in November 2018. If elected, he would perhaps be the first Muslim to hold statewide office in California. That said, there are already a number of Muslims in public office across the country, including two Muslims in Congress, according to Mohammed Nadeem, the executive director of the Muslim Observer, which tracks these kinds of elections. (And in Michigan, a Muslim man is running for governor.) Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the incumbent, is barred by term limits from seeking a third term he is running for governor. This is not one of the jobs in the state, but, it can be a steppingstone for anyone hoping to run for governor. (Case in point: Mr. Newsom.) So far, only one other person, a state senator, has signaled that he’s running. Still, as a newcomer to politics, Dr. Mahmood certainly has an uphill climb here. He has retained Ace Smith, one of the state’s top Democratic political consultants, to run his race. Mr. Smith said Dr. Mahmood would probably need between $1 million to $3 million to mount a campaign, and seemed confident he could raise it. Dr. Mahmood said his experience as a doctor gave him credentials to campaign on health care reform. He did not dispute that he was a bit of a . But Dr. Mahmood said he did not think his religion would be an obstacle in California, of all states. “There might be a small segment of people who feel that way,” he said. “But I am a proud Muslim and a proud immigrant and I love America. I deal with Americans every day. And when you help them they are totally appreciative of that. ” (Please note: We regularly highlight articles on news sites that have limited access for nonsubscribers.) • Representative Devin Nunes of California said he would continue to lead a House investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, despite accusations from Democrats that he is too close to President Trump to conduct an impartial inquiry. [The New York Times] • Mr. Nunes “has surrendered his investigation’s integrity — and his own. ” [Frank Bruni | The New York Times] • Two activists whose undercover videos accused Planned Parenthood doctors of selling fetal tissue were charged with 15 felonies by California prosecutors. [Los Angeles Times] • Hundreds of protesters greeted the country’s top immigration enforcement official during a Sacramento stop. [The Sacramento Bee] • President Trump’s executive order asks the Environmental Protection Agency to rewrite the rules on nationwide carbon emissions. How will that affect California’s energy industry? [KPCC] • Even as the White House hints at a crackdown on legal marijuana, California officials are determined to tackle the challenges facing the industry. [Politico] • In a speech in San Francisco, Hillary Clinton pushed women to stand up for their rights and castigated local companies with spotty records in gender equality. [The Mercury News] • Oakland city agencies had been alerted to problems at the halfway house where four people died Monday in a fire, but did not take decisive action. [San Francisco Chronicle] • After a string of scandals, Uber continued its mea culpa tour by releasing its first report detailing the composition of its work force. [The New York Times] • Facebook borrowed from Snapchat by rolling out its own Stories feature. [The New York Times] • At 82, Shirley MacLaine reflects on the golden age of Hollywood gossip, her quest for identity and the of social media. [The New York Times] • The Raiders have one of the most loyal local followings in the N. F. L. yet that loyalty will be tested like never before. [The New York Times] • A pair of concerts is set for Los Angeles and New York this summer, featuring Fleetwood Mac the Eagles Steely Dan the Doobie Brothers Journey and Earth, Wind and Fire. The first two shows will be held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on July 15 and 16. [The New York Times] The vote to approve the Oakland Raiders’ move to Las Vegas, though expected by many, prompted outrage in the Bay Area and beyond. “See you, Mark Davis,” Ann Killion wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle. “Don’t let the door to our legendary, beautiful, thriving market hit you in the butt on the way out. ” For others, the move was a reminder of the first time the Raiders left Oakland. The team departed the Bay Area in 1982, decamping to Southern California. Los Angeles granted the team a larger cultural footprint, seen in the Raiders hats and jackets often worn by the rap group N. W. A. But the Raiders returned north 13 years later thanks to the promise of an expanded stadium. And many citizens of Raider Nation are hoping — and even outright expecting — that the team will once again return, maybe even within a decade or two. Want to submit a photo for possible publication? You can do it here. California Today goes live at 6 a. m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes. com. California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U. C. Berkeley. | 1 |
Newsbusters :
In the twelve weeks since the party conventions concluded in late July, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has received significantly more broadcast network news coverage than his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, but nearly all of that coverage (91%) has been hostile, according to a new study by the Media Research Center (MRC).
In addition, the networks spent far more airtime focusing on the personal controversies involving Trump (440 minutes) than about similar controversies involving Clinton (185 minutes). Donald Trumpâs treatment of women was given 102 minutes of evening news airtime, more than that allocated to discussing Clintonâs e-mail scandal (53 minutes) and the Clinton Foundation pay-for-play scandals (40 minutes) combined.
For this study, the MRC analyzed all 588 evening news stories that either discussed or mentioned the presidential campaign on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts from July 29 through October 20 (including weekends). The networks devoted 1,191 minutes to the presidential campaign during this period, or nearly 29 percent of all news coverage.
I would say something about how if Trump loses, the Jews are going to be blamed.
But now, there is not really any chance whatsoever that Trump is going to lose.
Honestly fam, I’m a bit salty about no pogroms.
Ah, but the Jew butthurt when Trump takes control is going to be just as beautiful as a pogrom. | 0 |
GLEN ELDER, Kan. — Doug Palen, a grain farmer on Kansas’ plains, is in the business of understanding the climate. Since 2012, he has choked through the harshest drought to hit the Great Plains in a century, punctuated by freakish snowstorms and suffocating gales of dust. His planting season starts earlier in the spring and pushes deeper into winter. To adapt, he has embraced an environmentally conscious way of farming that guards against soil erosion and conserves precious water. He can talk for hours about carbon sequestration — the trapping of gases in plant life and in the soil — or the science of the beneficial microbes that enrich his land. In short, he is a climate change realist. Just don’t expect him to utter the words “climate change. ” “If politicians want to exhaust themselves debating the climate, that’s their choice,” Mr. Palen said, walking through fields of freshly planted winter wheat. “I have a farm to run. ” Here in Kansas, America’s breadbasket and conservative heartland, the economic realities of agriculture make climate change a critical business issue. At the same time, politics and social pressure make frank discussion complicated. This is wheat country, and Donald J. Trump country, and though the weather is acting up, the conservative orthodoxy maintains that the science isn’t settled. So while climate change is part of daily conversation, it gets disguised as something else. “People are all talking about it, without talking about it,” said Miriam Horn, the author of a recent book on conservative Americans and the environment, “Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman. ” “It’s become such a charged topic that there’s a navigation people do. ” Mr. Palen — he plays his politics close to his vest but allows that he didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton — and others here in Glen Elder and across the state illustrate the delicate dance. Farmers like him focus on practical issues like erosion or dwindling aquifers. “When you don’t get the rainfall, it’s tough times,” he said. Regional politicians and business leaders speak of pursuing jobs that clean energy may create, rather than pressing the need to rein in carbon emissions. A science teacher at a community college — whose deeply religious students sometimes express doubts about the trustworthiness of science that contradicts biblical teachings — speaks to his class about the positives of scientific discovery (electricity) in order to ease into more contentious subjects (global warming). And an editor for a closely followed agriculture magazine, Successful Farming, recently made a controversial move, drawing a flurry of angry letters: He broke with longstanding policy to address climate change . “Some readers thanked us,” the editor Gil Gullickson said. “But some wondered whether we’d been hijacked by avid environmentalists. ” The climate has not always been such a partisan issue. Richard Nixon, a Republican president, set up the Environmental Protection Agency and signed the Clean Air Act. Ronald Reagan ushered in the Montreal Protocol, the first global treaty to protect the global atmosphere. Much of that consensus has broken down, in no small part because of a push by interests, together with influential Republican allies, to attack research on topics like global warming and push back on environmental regulation. That push began in earnest during the George W. Bush administration as attempts to undercut the Clean Air Act, and since then, the divide has widened. President Trump has famously said he believes that climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese, and his administration has purged nearly all mention of programs from the White House and State Department websites. It has also ordered a freeze on federal grant spending at the E. P. A. and other government agencies. The fact that the discourse has also become dominated by liberals has alienated some conservatives, including Mr. Palen. Many people here in particular resent how, in the polarized political landscape of recent years, conservative Americans have been painted as hostile to the environment. The Trump campaign successfully seized on that schism, painting Democrats as overzealous environmentalists with little sympathy for the economic realities or social mores of rural America. “Many of our federal environmental laws are being used to oppress farmers instead of actually helping the environment,” Mr. Trump quipped in a widely circulated Q. and A. on FarmFutures. com. “Farmers care more for the environment than the radical environmentalists. ” Still, “it would be a huge mistake to think people voting for Trump were voting against the environment,” Ms. Horn said. If Trump follows an aggressive agenda, she said, “there will be a big backlash in the heartland. ” In many ways, Mr. Palen sees himself as the ultimate conservationist. His the son of an immigrant from Luxembourg, was the first to farm in this stretch of Kansas. Mr. Palen grew up on the farm, took it over in his 20s, and looked to make his mark. In college, he learned of a farming technique called “no till,” which is intended to more closely mimic the natural prairie ecosystem, and was intrigued by its promise to protect his family fields from Kansas’ relentless winds and sudden downpours. The idea behind farming, he now explains to anyone who will listen, is that plowing the soil destroys its natural structure, causing it to lose its precious moisture and nutrients. That makes it vulnerable to erosion. Mr. Palen’s fields aren’t tilled. There are no neat furrows. The residue of plants from previous plantings still carpets the earth, offering a layer of protection, and his fields are never bare even after harvest. He alternates wheat and other crops with what he describes as a cocktail of grasses and leafy plants, like grain sorghum, sunflowers and alfalfa, a gesture toward the diversity of the wild prairie. “They say there’s more organisms in a handful of soil than people on the planet,” Mr. Palen said, making his way through a field between plantings. He stooped his tall frame down, dug up a clump of earth, and rolled it between his fingers. He is yet when he talks of the earth, his excitement is obvious. “See how it’s firm and holds together?” he said. “See how it doesn’t break down into goo?” farming addresses a dire problem facing American farmers: Almost 1. 7 billion tons of topsoil are blown or washed off croplands a year, according to the Department of Agriculture, resulting in billions of dollars in losses for farmers. Keeping the soil healthy and covered also reduces evaporation by 80 percent, helping farmers conserve water, the department estimates. Farmers like Mr. Palen also happen to be protecting a vast and valuable carbon sink, making him an ally to campaigners. The soil traps far more carbon in its depths than all plant and animal life on the earth’s surface, scientists estimate. A 2013 study estimated that and other restorative farming methods could achieve up to 15 percent of the total carbon reduction needed to stabilize the climate. Despite his conservationist streak, Mr. Palen has no affinity for environmentalists. He feels vilified, he says, for his continued use of chemical herbicides and pesticides. (Some organic farmers control weeds by tilling the soil, which Mr. Palen argues causes more ecological harm.) And he remains suspicious of any expansion of government regulations that ignore realities of rural America. “We want to be left alone,” Mr. Palen said. He singled out the Clean Water Rule, an E. P. A. regulation designed to protect streams and other waterways, as regulatory overreach. Washington types wanted to dictate what he could do with every creek, every puddle, on his farm, he said, putting impossible burdens on farmers. And most of them had probably never spent any time on a farm, he said. “We’re the ones working to protect the environment. We’re the ones whose lives are tied to the earth. ” Carl Priesendorf, a science teacher at Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, Mo. has learned strategies to talk about climate change without completely alienating climate skeptics. He teaches geology and meteorology. Those subjects would usually be innocuous, but not here. “I’d show the CO2 data — how we’d had the hottest year on record,” Mr. Priesendorf said. “But I get students who basically say what I’m teaching is nonsense. My car’s been keyed. I get notes from students saying they’re praying for my soul. ” One such note that he shared reads, “Know that God’s love surpasses knowledge. ” Since a particularly contentious debate in class — a student threw a book bag at him, he said — Mr. Priesendorf has taken a step back to focus on the everyday positives of science. “I ask: ‘Do you like the light bulb? Do you like electricity?’ That’s science,” he said. “Then I ease into more contentious topics, like climate change. ” That is an uphill battle. A 2013 survey found that just 8 percent of farmers in the Midwest believed that “climate change is occurring, and it is caused mostly by human activities. ” An earlier Pew Research Center poll found that only 48 percent of people in the Midwest agree with the statement that there is “solid evidence that the average temperature on earth has been getting warmer,” a number below other regions in the country. And conservatives have been pushing back against classroom standards adopted by the state of Kansas that treat evolution and climate change as scientific concepts. Last year, the United States Supreme Court declined to review a nonprofit group’s lawsuit that claimed that those standards promote atheism. But now, under a Trump administration, Mr. Priesendorf felt science itself was under fire. “If even your government starts telling your country that scientists are lying to you, it’ll be even tougher for science teachers,” he said. “I’m going to focus on keeping my students’ minds open to the possibility that the science is correct. ” Annie Kuether, a Democrat and advocate in the Statehouse and a member of the State Utilities Committee, has for years pushed for more renewable energy. One obstacle, though, is that the committee’s chairman does not believe in climate change. A St. Louis native who landed in Topeka as a young bride four decades ago, Ms. Kuether is used to working alongside adversaries. Her county voted for Mr. Trump, along with all but two counties in the state. She has sat through committee meetings where climate skeptics, including the discredited scientist Soon, blasted the science behind global warming. “Carbon Dioxide, CO2, is merely a bit player in climate change,” reads one slide Mr. Soon presented in 2013. “Rising CO2 is largely beneficial to plant and human life. ” “I remember being horrified,” Ms. Kuether said. Still, over the years, she has forged powerful business alliances by focusing, in her arguments, on jobs and the economy. She has also found increasing support from farmers and landowners who count on wind turbines and solar panels they host on their property for income. “Gradually, from a political standpoint, you can build a constituency that benefits from this industry,” said Mark Lawlor, one ally and an executive at Clean Line Energy Partners, which is building a transmission line to deliver 4, 000 megawatts of wind power from western Kansas to Missouri, Illinois and other neighboring states. “Just like grain, cattle, airplanes, wind’s another valuable resource Kansas can export,” he said, referring to Kansas’ sizable agricultural industry, as well as the Cessna Aircraft Company, which is based in Wichita, Kan. “Kansas has a lot of pragmatic folks here, and we recognize benefits. ” Kansas’ dwindling water sources have been another issue that Ms. Kuether has found strikes a nerve among voters here, whatever their beliefs on climate change. That has helped to build some support for measures to save the state’s shrinking aquifers, a lifeline for communities in western Kansas, though not yet any decisive action. In fact, her focus on the practical is a big part of what has kept getting her elected, she said, in a State Legislature where she is outnumbered by Republican lawmakers, two to one. “I’ve always felt that families have always been concerned about water — whether they’re Democratic, Republican or independent,” she said. Mr. Gullickson of Successful Farming, who usually writes about topics like pigweed, gypsum and runoff, has started to push the envelope on debates over climate change. An veteran of the magazine, where he is the crops technology editor, Mr. Gullickson said he had long been on the fence about climate change. But that began changing five years ago, when he attended a workshop where a University of Kentucky professor gave a convincing argument, backed by data. “I started looking at the evidence, at the data and what farmers were doing,” he said. “And it’s clear: The weather has become more extreme these days. And I thought, ‘I’ve never heard of any successful business publication that stayed in business by withholding information. ’” So for the first time in the storied magazine’s history, a cover story squarely addressed the science of climate change. The October 2014 piece was published under the headline, “@#$*% Weather!” “I know what you’re thinking: Climate change is just some figment of Al Gore’s imagination adopted by liberal who want to tank the U. S. economy,” Mr. Gullickson wrote. “Still, think back over some rough weather you’ve endured in recent years and ask yourself these questions,” he continued. “Are springs getting wetter? Are droughts increasing in severity? Are rainstorms increasing in intensity?” The clear answer, he said: “Yes. ” Mr. Gullickson said that he and his editor had held lengthy discussions leading up to the article’s publication. His editor in chief, Dave Kurns, was supportive, he said, but also warned that the piece could generate backlash. Mr. Kurns spoke candidly over concerns of a backlash in an editor’s note that led the issue. When he became the magazine’s editor two years earlier, he said, he had been warned, “Never use the words ‘climate change. ’” “I was told: ‘Readers hate that phrase. Just talk about the weather,’” he wrote. The industry publication, which has a circulation of 390, 000, was influenced by some of the biggest names in agriculture taking a stand on the issue, Mr. Gullickson said. The agricultural giant Cargill has started to lobby members of Congress and urged farmers to take climate change seriously, saying inaction would be detrimental to the United States economy. The response to the magazine’s take on the issues has been split. “When you start quoting ‘climate scientists’ and the United Nations,” wrote in one reader, Bill Clinger, a farmer based in Harpster, Ohio, “you are as nutty as Al Gore. ” Measures to control emissions, he said, “are just seductive names for socialist programs intended to micromanage people and businesses. ” Mr. Gullickson said some readers thanked him. “Finally, a farming magazine comes to terms with what is going on with the weather,” wrote Paul Jereczek of Dodge, Wis. Reached by phone, Mr. Jereczek, who runs a dairy farm, expressed exasperation at people’s inability to speak openly. “The phrase has become so politicized, it’s just hard to talk about,” he said. “But we talk about everything else. Even round here, protecting soil is such a hot topic right now. But we talk about the soil, saving fertilizer, that sort of thing. ” Mark Salvo, vice president at the wildlife conservation group Defenders of Wildlife, might be a walking, talking stereotype of the kind of environmentalist who so frustrates Mr. Palen. An Oregonian now based in Washington, he spent 15 years in the American West fighting to conserve fish and wildlife on public lands. But Mr. Salvo thinks he knows an unlikely — and highly sympathetic — character to bring Kansans and others together around climate change: the lesser . Known for its shock of yellow hair and bright orange cheeks, the lesser once roamed the Great Plains. Today, though, the grouse is under threat — its populations reduced to isolated pockets in western Kansas, Colorado and the Mexico border as its habitat succumbs to drought, farming, drilling and other human activity. The group has been petitioning the Fish and Wildlife Service to relist the lesser as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The bird found itself taken off the list after a lawsuit in 2014 backed by the oil and gas industry, which argues that any protective measures would mean added costs for energy developers. Mr. Salvo has found that to gain allies it doesn’t always help to start with the role climate change plays in harming the bird’s habitat. Instead, his movement has tried to find common ground, highlighting the historical heritage of the lesser . In the “Little House on the Prairie” novels, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about eating mush. Mr. Salvo also stresses how practices can be good for farming, too, backing a federal program that provides financial aid to private landowners who adopt those practices. Leaving corn stubble standing after harvest gives the birds food and places to hide, for example, while also helping farmers protect the soil. “Sometimes, to gain allies, it helps to focus on issues of common concern, to support local economic development as well as species conservation,” he said. “It helps everybody come to the table. ” Last week, Mr. Palen, the farmer, was again talking weather — if not climate change — at a conference of farmers in Salina, Kan. Sessions included “Using Your Water Efficiently,” “Making Weather Work for You in 2017” and “Building Healthy Soil With Mob Grazing,” a practice that helps to fertilize the land. And yes, Mr. Palen says, he is on board with saving the lesser . “I often think of ways I can protect their habitat,” he said. “I enjoy wildlife. ” | 1 |
Tennessee became one of the first states on Tuesday to pass legislation designed to stem the assault on free speech at its public universities. [The eight page Campus Free Speech Protection Act was signed into law by Governor Bill Haslam after passing the Tennessee House of Representatives and Senate by votes of and respectively. The law mandates that public colleges and universities in Tennessee adopt free speech policies consistent with the University of Chicago’s 2015 Stone Report. Chaired by Chicago Law Professor Geoffrey Stone, the report’s findings were adopted last year to great fanfare. Despite his emphasis on campus free speech, Professor Stone is hardly a ideologue. He clerked with archliberal Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, chaired the Board of the American Constitution Society, a leading lawyers’ association, and served on the National Advisory Council of the American Civil Liberties Union. The Tennessee law will expressly prohibit the use of “free speech zones” to limit the areas of campus on which certain viewpoints can be heard. University administrators are prohibited from rescinding the invitations from students or faculty of speakers with whom they disagree or fear will cause disruption. The law also demands campuses use the actual legal definition of “harassment” handed down by the Supreme Court, behavior “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive, and that so undermines and detracts from the victims’ educational experience, that the are effectively denied equal access to an institution’s resources and opportunities. ” According to a group instrumental in advocating free speech on campus, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) far lower standards of “harassment” are routinely used by administrators to prohibit speech that “distresses” or causes “emotional discomfort” to some students. Finally, the Campus Free Speech Protection Act will forbid discrimination in the distribution of funds for student groups and prevent faculty from being punished for what they choose to say in the classroom unless it is “not reasonably germane to the subject matter of the class as broadly construed, and comprises a substantial portion of classroom instruction. ” The law comes at a time when the ability for differing viewpoints, especially those on the political right, to be heard on campuses has come under simultaneous attack from radical leftist groups and university administrations. Conservative columnist Ann Coulter, for example, saw her invited speaking engagement at University of California Berkeley last month moved, curtailed, and finally canceled because of security concerns. The threat of leftist violence gave administrators the cover needed to add greater requirements on her event. Those same threats were made good only two months earlier when Berkeley Police and University of California security stood down while violent “ ” rioters ran rampant, assaulting students, destroying property, and forcing the cancellation of a much heralded event by News Tech Editor Milo Yiannopoulos. On the other side of the country, the same tactics, with the tacit approval of campus leadership, led to the physical assault of a professor at a ruined speaking engagement by Harvard social scientist and American Enterprise Institute scholar Charles Murray at Middlebury College in Vermont. Instead of taking a stand against this agitation and fighting for the diversity of viewpoints in their institutions, universities in recent years have imposed politically correct “speech codes” on students and faculty, restricted controversial speech to “free speech zones,” and actively torpedoed primarily student groups and invited speakers. The Tennessee law represents a growing movement by state legislatures to counter these trends in the public institutions over which they have authority. It represents perhaps the broadest combination so far passed into law of the different types of campus free speech protections being supported by advocates nationwide. In the last two years, Virginia, Missouri, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Kentucky have all adopted some version of the Campus Free Expression Act advocated by FIRE, mostly with broad bipartisan support. This relatively narrow legislation bans “free speech zones” from public universities. Several other state governments, including Berkeley’s overseer California, are now considering similar legislation. A broader piece of model legislation, promulgated by the think tank the Goldwater Institute, incorporates the reasoning of the same University of Chicago Stone Report used in the Tennessee law passed Tuesday to demand a policy of commitment to viewpoint neutral free speech protection by university administrations. This model Campus Free Speech Ac would demand university administrators punish students who disrupt invited speakers and other students exercising their constitutional right to free speech. Most controversially, it would require university administrators to suspend for a year any student twice found to have done so. Legislatures in North Carolina, Louisiana, California, Wisconsin, and Michigan are all considering versions of the Campus Free Speech Act. North Carolina’s bill has already passed that state’s House by a vote of . The new Tennessee law incorporates elements of both pieces of model legislation, but takes its own approach, foregoing the mandatory punishments for student and including protections for faculty members who say things that may offend students. In a post celebrating the passage of the bill, FIRE Executive Director Robert Shibley said: [The Tennessee law] is the most comprehensive state legislation protecting free speech on college campuses that we’ve seen be passed anywhere in the country. It is gratifying to see the Tennessee legislature take decisive action to protect the expressive rights of students and faculty, especially in light of the number of restrictive speech codes across the country and the recent controversies over speech on campus. FIRE Legislative and Policy Director Joe Cohn told Breitbart News that he was heartened by the bill’s passage and that he hoped it would inspire other state legislatures going forward. The law will take full effect on January 1, 2018. | 1 |
President Trump announced on Tuesday that Neil M. Gorsuch, a federal appeals court judge, was his nominee for the Supreme Court. Following is the transcript of the announcement, held in the East Room of the White House, as prepared by Federal News Service. Read our coverage of the announcement. TRUMP: Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. When Justice Scalia passed away suddenly last February, I made a promise to the American people: If I were elected president, I would find the very best judge in the country for the Supreme Court. I promised to select someone who respects our laws and is representative of our Constitution and who loves our Constitution and someone who will interpret them as written. TRUMP: This may be the most transparent judicial selection process in history. Months ago as a candidate, I publicly presented a list of brilliant and accomplished people to the American electorate and pledged to make my choice from among that list. Millions of voters said this was the single most important issue to them when they voted for me for president. I am a man of my word. I will do as I say, something that the American people have been asking for from Washington for a very, very long time. Today. .. (APPLAUSE) Thank you. Today I am keeping another promise to the American people by nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch of the United States Supreme Court to be of the United States Supreme Court. And I would like to ask Judge Gorsuch and his wonderful wife, Louise, to please step forward — please, Louise, Judge. Here they come. Here they come. (APPLAUSE) So was that a surprise? Was it? TRUMP: I have always felt that after the defense of our nation, the most important decision a president of the United States can make is the appointment of a Supreme Court justice. Depending on their age, a justice can be active for 50 years and his or her decisions can last a century or more and can often be permanent. I took the task of this nomination very seriously. I have selected an individual whose qualities define — really, and I mean closely define — what we’re looking for. Judge Gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline and has earned bipartisan support. When he was nominated to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, he was confirmed by the Senate unanimously. Also — that’s unanimous, can you believe that? Nowadays, with what’s going on? (APPLAUSE) Does that happen anymore? Does it happen? I think it’s going to happen. Maybe it will. Also with us tonight is Maureen Scalia, a woman loved by her husband and deeply respected by all. I am so happy she’s with us. Where is Maureen? Please, stand up. Thank you, Maureen. (APPLAUSE) Thank you, Maureen. She is really the ultimate representative of the late, great Justice Antonin Scalia, whose image and genius was in my mind throughout the process. Not only are we looking at the writings of the nominee — and I studied them closely — but he is said to be among the finest and most brilliant oftentimes the writings of any judge for a long, long time. And his academic credentials, something very important to me, in that education has always been a priority, are as good as I have ever seen. He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia with honors. He then received his law degree from Harvard, also with honors, where he was a Truman Scholar. After Harvard, he received his doctorate at Oxford, where he attended as a Marshall Scholar, one of the top academic honors anywhere in the world. After law school, he clerked on the Supreme Court for both Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy. It is an extraordinary résumé. As good as it gets. Judge Gorsuch was born and raised in Colorado and was taught the value of independence, hard work and public service. While in law school, he demonstrated a commitment to helping the less fortunate. He worked in both Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Projects and Harvard Defenders Program. Brilliance being assured, I studied every aspect of his life. He could have had any job at any law firm for any amount of money, but what he wanted to do with his career was to be a judge, to write decisions and to make an impact by upholding our laws and our Constitution. The qualifications of Judge Gorsuch are beyond dispute. He is the man of our country and a man who our country really needs and needs badly to ensure the rule of law and the rule of justice. I would like to thank Senate leadership. I only hope that both Democrats and Republicans can come together for once for the good of the country. TRUMP: Congratulations to you and your family. May God bless you, may God bless our glorious nation. Judge Gorsuch, the podium, sir, is yours. (APPLAUSE) GORSUCH: Thank you. Mr. President, thank you very much. Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, you and your team have shown me great courtesy in this process, and you’ve entrusted me with a most solemn assignment. Standing here in a house of history, and acutely aware of my own imperfections, I pledge that if I am confirmed I will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the Constitution and laws of this great country. For the last decade, I’ve worked as a federal judge in a court that spans six Western states, serving about 20 percent of the continental United States and about 18 million people. The men and women I’ve worked with at every level in our circuit are an inspiration to me. I’ve watched them fearlessly tending to the rule of law, enforcing the promises of our Constitution and living out daily their judicial oaths to administer justice equally to rich and poor alike, following the law as they find it and without respect to their personal political beliefs. I think of them tonight. Of course, the Supreme Court’s work is vital not just to a region of the country, but to the whole, vital to the protection of the people’s liberties under law and to the continuity of our Constitution, the greatest charter of human liberty the world has ever known. The towering judges that have served in this particular seat of the Supreme Court, including Antonin Scalia and Robert Jackson, are much in my mind at this moment. Justice Scalia was a lion of the law. Agree or disagree with him, all of his colleagues on the bench shared his wisdom and his humor. And like them, I miss him. I began my legal career working for Byron White, the last Coloradan to serve on the Supreme Court, and the only justice to lead the N. F. L. in rushing. (LAUGHTER) He was one of the smartest and most courageous men I’ve ever known. When Justice White retired, he gave me the chance to work for Justice Kennedy, as well. Justice Kennedy was incredibly welcoming and gracious, and like Justice White, he taught me so much. I am forever grateful. And if you’ve ever met Judge David Sentelle, you’ll know just how lucky I was to land a clerkship with him right out of school. Thank you. These judges brought me up in the law. Truly, I would not be here without them. Today is as much their day as it is mine. In the balance of my professional life, I’ve had the privilege of the working as a practicing lawyer and teacher. I’ve enjoyed wonderful colleagues whose support means so much to me at this moment, as it has year in and year out. Practicing in the trial work trenches of the law, I saw, too, that when we judges don our robes, it doesn’t make us any smarter, but it does serve as a reminder of what’s expected of us: Impartiality and independence, collegiality and courage. As this process now moves to the Senate, I look forward with speaking with members from both side of the aisle, to answering their questions and to hearing their concerns. I consider the United States Senate the greatest deliberative body in the world, and I respect the important role the Constitution affords it in the confirmation of our judges. I respect, too, the fact that in our legal order it is for Congress and not the courts to write new laws. It is the role of judges to apply, not alter, the work of the people’s representatives. A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge. .. (LAUGHTER) . .. stretching for results he prefers rather than those the law demands. I am so thankful tonight for my family, my friends and my faith. These are the things that keep me grounded at life’s peaks and have sustained me in its valleys. To Louise, my incredible wife and companion of 20 years, my cherished daughters who are watching on TV, and all my family and friends, I cannot thank you enough for your love and for your prayers. I could not attempt this without you. Mr. President, I am honored and I am humbled. Thank you very much. (APPLAUSE) END | 1 |
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