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After learning she had a high genetic risk for breast cancer, Dane’e McCree, like a growing number of women, decided to have her breasts removed. Her doctor assured her that reconstructive surgery would spare her nipples and leave her with breasts. It did. But while Ms. McCree’s rebuilt chest may resemble natural breasts, it is now completely numb. Her nipples lack any feeling. She cannot sense the slightest touch of her breasts, perceive warmth or cold, feel an itch if she has a rash or pain if she bangs into a door. And no one warned her. “I can’t even feel it when my kids hug me,” said Ms. McCree, 31, a store manager in Grand Junction, Colo. who is raising two daughters on her own. Plastic surgeons performed more than 106, 000 breast reconstructions in 2015, up 35 percent from 2000. And they have embraced techniques to improve the appearance of reconstructed breasts and give them a more natural “look and feel” — using a woman’s belly fat to create the new breast, sparing the nipple, minimizing scarring with creative incisions and offering enhancements like larger, firmer lifted breasts. Doctors often promise patients that their reconstructed breasts will look even better than the breasts they had before. But they often describe the potential consequences of the surgery in ambiguous terms. Women say the fact that sensation and sexual arousal will not be restored is not made clear. The main problem is using the word “feel,” said Dr. Clara Lee, an associate professor of plastic surgery at Ohio State University who does reconstructive breast surgery. Surgeons who use a woman’s own tissue to recreate a breast might tell the patient that it will “feel” like a natural breast, referring to how it feels to someone else, not the woman. “We don’t always mean what’s important to the patient,” Dr. Lee said. “Our focus has been on what women look like,” said Dr. Andrea L. Pusic, a plastic surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center who specializes in breast reconstruction and studies patients’ quality of life after breast surgery. “What it feels like to the woman has been a kind of blind spot in breast surgery. That’s the next frontier. ” The focus on how breasts look and feel to other people, rather than how they feel to the patient, speaks to the fact that women are still largely judged by their appearance, said Victoria a professor and the head of feminist, gender and sexuality studies at Wesleyan University. “There’s such a strong cultural gaze at women’s breasts,” Dr. said. “It does raise the question: Who is breast reconstruction for?” Adding to the confusion has been the excitement over surgical innovations, particularly “ ” mastectomies. During a traditional mastectomy, doctors remove the nipple and scoop out breast tissue, causing considerable nerve damage. But now, in certain cases, the nipple can be spared, raising hopes that some feeling will be preserved. The actress Angelina Jolie wrote about her preventive double mastectomy in a New York Times in 2013, inspiring other women at high risk of breast cancer to have their breasts removed. But the surgery has yet to fulfill its promise, and in most cases, sensation is not restored. For many women, the loss of sensation in their breasts can be devastating. “No one said, ‘You will not have sexual arousal in your chest again,’” Ms. McCree said. “I thought that because I was able to keep my nipples and the blood supply, I’d keep my feeling. ” Eve Wallinga, 60, a cancer survivor from St. Cloud, Minn. said many women who choose mastectomies believe that reconstructive surgery will make them “whole” again and are not told that the sensation lost during the surgery is unlikely to come back. “They go into it thinking everything will be the same when they come out — they’ll just have stuffing in their breasts,” Ms. Wallinga said. “Some are very angry and upset, and say, ‘Why wasn’t I told?’ They feel very betrayed. ” The lack of sensation is potentially dangerous. Women who have had mastectomies and reconstruction surgery have sustained severe burns on their breasts from heating pads, hair dryers, curling irons, sunbathing and overly hot showers. Several women interviewed recounted times when they had not realized a bra was cutting into their skin until they saw blood. Many described embarrassing “wardrobe malfunctions,” when a bathing suit or shifted to reveal part of their breast without their knowing because they did not feel the air on their exposed skin. A doctor recalled a patient who had burned herself while draining hot pasta for dinner she did not realize she was hurt until she saw red marks on her skin in the shower several hours later. Some women described losing the sense of the position of their breasts. “It’s not just about the sexual arousal, it’s the awkwardness,” said Cathy Balsamo of Berkeley Heights, N. J. “You can’t figure out your space — almost like you’re bigger than you really are. It’s a bizarre feeling. ” She added, “When I put on a sports bra, I have to look in the mirror and focus on the breasts to make sure they’re in the pocket where they belong. ” Nerve damage during mastectomies can create pain syndrome. Some women experience tingling sensations, and others have debilitating pain. Patients say physicians minimize the condition, even though it is fairly common, affecting anywhere from 25 percent to 60 percent of mastectomy patients, according to published studies. Michelle Lamon Romero, 45, of East Longmeadow, Mass. said she had been incapacitated by pain since having a double mastectomy two years ago. She lost her job and now relies on a cocktail of five drugs to keep the pain at a manageable level. “The surface of the skin is numb — if you run a needle over it, I can’t feel it,” Ms. Romero said. “But I can feel the pain underneath just radiating everywhere. ” She added that her plastic surgeon had told her that she was an anomaly and that “this isn’t real, it’s all in your head. ” Other patients Ms. Romero has met through Facebook have had the same experience. “So many women who join are just relieved to know they’re not alone,” Ms. Romero said. “They all start out the same way: ‘My doctor told me I was crazy. ’” Most surgeons agree that the best chance for sensory restoration after a mastectomy is a procedure that uses a woman’s own body tissue rather than an implant because nerves have a better chance of regenerating in natural tissue. The procedure has produced modest results. If sensation returns, it is usually limited to the perception of pressure, without improved sensation related to touch, temperature or sexual arousal. “It’s a shadow of the degree of sensation that people had before,” said Dr. Edwin G. Wilkins, a plastic surgeon at the University of Michigan who is running a large study on reconstruction outcomes and complications with Dr. Pusic. “It’s a poor substitute. ” Dr. Aldona J. Spiegel, a plastic surgeon in Houston who has pioneered techniques to reconnect nerves in the breast and restore sensation, said the procedure remained promising. “I tell patients that if I am able to reconnect nerves in the reconstructed breast, it will improve the sensation. But I never tell them it will be normal,” Dr. Spiegel said. She added that many of her patients had shown “very significant improvement. ” One of her patients, Karen Holt, 65, a retired principal from Houston, had her left breast removed and reconstructed from her own tissue 14 years ago. Ms. Holt knows she’s unusual, she said, but claims she has “just about as much erogenous sensation in the left breast as in the right. ” But doctors say such results are rare. “You don’t want to give people false hope,” said Dr. Frank J. DellaCroce, a plastic surgeon and a founder of the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery in New Orleans. Restoring sensation is “one of those things that’s regarded as the holy grail of breast reconstruction,” he said. “But no one has shown in any scientific article to date that we’re able to return sensation in any reliable way. ” Dr. Christine Laronga, a breast oncologist at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. said she tried to make clear to patients that feeling would not be restored after reconstruction, telling them, “It may look like a breast, but it won’t feel like a breast. ” While doctors agree on the need for a mastectomy procedure that spares nerves, they note that the goal of the surgery is to make sure the cancer is gone. There is also a risk that efforts to restore sensation will trigger a pain syndrome. “It’s a very tricky area,” said Dr. Ida K. Fox, a plastic surgeon at Washington University in St. Louis who specializes in breast and hand surgery. “You don’t want to restore sensation and give someone chronic pain. ” Ms. Balsamo, 50, who had a double mastectomy after testing positive for a genetic mutation that increases breast cancer risk, said she did not regret the surgery, but wished she had been better informed. “I just wish I had known,” Ms. Balsamo said. “They said there’s going to be a difference in the sensation — not that there wouldn’t be any. Before you go in, shouldn’t you know the facts?” | 1 |
1. Check off all the home remedies for a cold you have tried: Keeping your eyes closed while you raise both eyebrows and moan. Dunking your head in a boiling-hot toilet. Sneezing into a glass of bleach, then re-inhaling all the dead germs. Touching Plymouth Rock. Having a healthy person whisper the words “goodbye sickness” directly into your nasal passage. Pinching off your organs until you isolate the one that’s causing the cold, then permanently tying it off. Hot bowl of quarters. Trading in gold for cash. Dedicating your life to Christ. Trusty, job-creating coal. Eating an entire loaf of bread. Sitting down for a little while longer. Laying a warm washcloth on your bumper and driving south. Get results Results for How Many Of These Home Remedies For A Cold Have You Tried? You Have Tried All Of The Known Home Remedies For A Cold! The good news is that you have tried all the home remedies for a cold. The bad news is that it sounds like none of them worked, and if that's true, then there can be no two ways about it: You are going to die of this cold. Rough luck! Share Your Results | 0 |
Khaled Khatib, a Syrian rescue worker who served as a cinematographer on the documentary short “The White Helmets,” has been barred by American officials from traveling to Los Angeles for Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony, according to the Associated Press. The AP reported that the Department of Homeland Security blocked Mr. Khatib after discovering “derogatory information” about him. Mr. Khatib had planned to fly from Istanbul to Los Angeles on Saturday. The AP said he had been detained earlier in the week by Turkish officials for undisclosed reasons, and that he needed a passport waiver to travel to the United States, which was denied. Raed Saleh, the leader of the White Helmets, was also to attend the Oscars there was no indication that his plans were upended. Mr. Khatib had planned to attend the ceremony after the Trump administration’s travel ban was lifted. The ban had halted or slowed travel from seven countries, including Syria, but it was frozen by the courts. A member of the White Helmets, a group that searches for survivors in the rubble of buildings, Mr. Khatib also filmed the group’s rescue efforts for the film, which was made for Netflix and directed by Orlando von Einsiedel. In an interview with The Times earlier this month, Mr. Khatib said he hoped his appearance at the Oscars would convey the urgent message of the movie, and pressure President Bashar ’s regime and the Russian government to stop bombing Syrian civilians. Representatives for the filmmakers and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not immediately respond to requests for comment. | 1 |
Americans love their pets. of all households in the United States have at least one. That includes 86 million cats and 78 million dogs, according to the American Pet Products Association, and the total climbs to 310 million when you include all the birds, fish, small animals, horses and reptiles. But suppose you are in the minority. Should you get a pet? Here’s a checklist. Philip Tedeschi, the executive director of the Institute for Connection at the University of Denver, said the motives for getting a pet could be complex. If you don’t fully understand the reasons, that can lead to problems. For instance, a owner driven by profound loneliness or isolation might be incapable of evaluating whether the pet is being treated properly. Owners have to be aware of their pet’s social and emotional needs. Otherwise the animal might behave in an antisocial or way. “The old adage that you have to love yourself to love someone else or that you need to be healthy to be in a healthy relationship can apply to our relationships with animals,” he said. The average cost of veterinary care per household in 2011 was $375, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. Consider, too, the costs of unforeseen illnesses or injuries and the need for extra care. Add food, boarding, grooming and toys, and you can expect to tack on several hundred dollars more a year in expenses. When it comes to adopting a dog or a cat, “you will probably have this pet longer than your car, your job and possibly even longer than your current relationship,” said Arden Moore, who hosts “Oh Behave,” a podcast on Pet Life Radio. • Is anyone at home allergic to animals? • How tolerant are you about shedding, dander and pet messes? How much do you value an immaculate home? • Are there children at home? If so, how old are they? Will they be compatible with a pet? • Where will you get your pet? People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recommends rescuing stray animals or adopting from a shelter. • Do you live in an apartment or a house? Can you provide the amount of space that a pet will need to be comfortable? • Do you have friends, neighbors or relatives who could look after your pet while you are away? • Would your lifestyle and work schedule allow you adequate time to interact with your pet? Do you travel often? | 1 |
Vice Media announced on Tuesday that it will begin broadcasting its daily HBO newscast on Sept. 26. The show, called “Vice News Tonight,” will run weeknights for 48 weeks a year. Josh Tyrangiel, who was previously the editor of Bloomberg Businessweek and chief content officer for Bloomberg Media, was hired by Vice last October to oversee the show. The daily show is part of Vice’s broader ambitions to make its programming available across the media spectrum. The company, which started as a free punk magazine in Montreal in 1994, introduced its own cable channel, called Viceland, this year. It is not clear what size audience the channel attracts, but Vice plans to release ratings for it next month. Vice recently announced an agreement with ESPN to produce and distribute films and other programs. In the last several years, the company has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in financing and signed deals with major media companies including Rogers Communications, a Canadian media conglomerate. It has also pushed to expand its presence internationally, announcing multiplatform deals with the Times of India Group and the Moby Group, a Middle Eastern media group. Vice already produces a weekly newsmagazine show for HBO, called “Vice,” which began in 2013. In a statement, Mr. Tyrangiel said he wanted to make broadcast news more appealing to young viewers. “We’re going to have to earn people’s time and attention with great reporting and original forms of storytelling,” he said. Plans for “Vice News Tonight’’ were first announced in March 2015. At the time, Richard Plepler, chief executive of HBO, said the show would debut that year. A spokesman for Vice Media said in an email that the show was “on schedule. ” Vice has been on an aggressive hiring push in the last year, snapping up dozens of journalists from news organizations including MSNBC, the BBC, The Guardian and The New York Times. Along with Mr. Tyrangiel, the company has hired Nellie Bowles, a technology reporter from The Guardian, and Madeleine Haeringer, an executive producer at MSNBC and veteran of NBC News. Vice promoted Mr. Tyrangiel in May to run all of the company’s news operations as part of a reorganization of the division. It also laid off roughly a dozen employees. | 1 |
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“IT’S like a little present to myself,” said Waterford man Kenneth Muldoon, unwrapping a pack of Marlboro cigarettes like a child on Christmas morning.
Muldoon, 23, is a regular smoker but is limited to smoking hand-rolled cigarettes due to also being too broke to afford ‘real fags’, most all the time.
Resorting to ‘making do’ with rollies that look like the inside of a bookie’s pen, Muldoon splashes out on proper cigarettes every four weeks or so, or whenever he has a spare tenner in his pocket or if he just feels that his lungs are due ‘a treat’.
“Rollies are alright, but it’s like putting together a Kinder Surprise toy every time you want a smoke,” explains Muldoon.
“And they’re a nightmare when you’ve a few pints on board, trying to put together a cigarette like Lego with a filter stuck in the corner of your mouth while you get bumped by people from all sides. So it’s nice to just open a pack and boom; there’s a smoke waiting for you. Open it again, there’s another! And another and another! It’s just the most magical experience in the world”.
Muldoon also states that real cigarettes seem healthier, and are basically good for you if you smoke enough of them. | 0 |
A federal judge on Friday gave final approval to a $25 million agreement to settle fraud claims arising from Donald J. Trump’s education venture, Trump University, rejecting a objection to the deal. The judge, Gonzalo P. Curiel, in San Diego, issued his order after considering a challenge from Sherri Simpson, a former Trump University student from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. whose lawyers say she should have had a chance to opt out of the settlement and individually sue President Trump, perhaps forcing a trial. The civil settlement was not enough for Ms. Simpson, who wanted to see Mr. Trump tried on criminal racketeering charges. She also wanted an apology. But Judge Curiel, in his ruling, sided with the plaintiffs’ lawyers, who had urged him to approve the agreement, saying it was the best possible outcome for roughly 3, 730 students. They could recoup more than 90 cents on the dollar of what they spent at Trump University. “The court finds that the amount offered in settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable, and accordingly concludes that this factor weighs in favor of final approval,” wrote Judge Curiel, who approved the agreement and dismissed the objection in a order. It is subject to appeal. The approval of the settlement, assuming it stands, brings to a close a case that garnered outsize national attention during Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign. He faced two suits in California and one in New York brought by Eric T. Schneiderman, the state attorney general. The suits contended that Trump University students had been cheated out of thousands of dollars in tuition through sales techniques and false claims about what they would learn. Mr. Trump and his lawyers continued to deny those claims, even after the settlement was first announced in November, soon after his election. Mr. Schneiderman, in a statement, said the settlement would provide “relief — and hopefully closure — to the victims of Donald Trump’s fraudulent university. ” The plaintiff’s lawyers — who said they would waive their fees after years of litigating the case — applauded the decision, with one of them, Jason Forge, saying in an interview that it would be “bulletproof” if appealed. Mr. Forge said he was satisfied that former students, some of them elderly, would receive sizable payments as a result of the deal. “Once in a long while, this profession yields some good feelings,” he said. “This is one of those times. ” As they pushed for approval of the settlement, the plaintiffs’ lawyers said that the objection could cause delays in settlement checks being distributed or disrupt the deal by exposing Mr. Trump to individual lawsuits from former students like Ms. Simpson. “What she is looking for is an apology, and you can’t get that,” Patrick Coughlin, another of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, said at a court hearing on Thursday. Ms. Simpson’s lawyer, Gary Friedman, argued in court on Thursday that it was “not fair” for the case to reach “the point of settlement and say, ‘We’re not giving you the chance to opt out. ’” When Judge Curiel reiterated during the hearing that a jury trial could lead to less favorable results, Mr. Friedman said, “That is a risk analysis that Sherri Simpson has the right to make. ” It is unclear if Ms. Simpson will appeal, and Mr. Friedman did not return messages seeking comment. In a court filing last week, Mr. Trump’s lawyers asked the judge to give final approval to the settlement. Mr. Trump was motivated to agree to the sweeping deal because it would resolve the claims and avoid trial. His lawyers did not respond to request for comment. Mr. Trump rebutted the fraud claims during his presidential bid, at one point questioning Judge Curiel’s impartiality based on his Mexican heritage. He pointed to positive reviews of the program and vowed to reopen the university after what he said would be a victory at trial. His political opponents seized on the allegations, and angry former students — including Ms. Simpson — spoke out, painting Mr. Trump as a huckster who had conned ordinary people for personal profit. After his election in November, Mr. Trump reversed course and agreed to pay $25 million to resolve the litigation. He did not admit fault, and he maintained in posts on Twitter after the settlement announcement that he “did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. ” The case was scheduled to go to trial late last year, setting up a situation in which Mr. Trump would have probably had to testify during his transition to the White House. At trial, Mr. Trump would have faced reams of evidence about the business practices of Trump University. Dozens of students and instructors wrote sworn statements describing their experiences, with some calling it a fraud or describing how they were taken advantage of. Other materials, among them sales playbooks, described a technique that used “the roller coaster of emotions” to persuade students to pay for courses costing as much as $35, 000 for the “Gold Elite” program. The plaintiffs’ lawyers were surprised and disappointed that Ms. Simpson objected to the settlement, fearing that it would delay payments to other students for months, if not years. Judge Curiel, who has overseen the case for the last four years, said at the hearing Thursday that the amount of money the plaintiffs would recover in the settlement was “extraordinary. ” He said there would be significant hurdles to reaching a similar settlement during a trial. Ms. Simpson’s lawyers argued that a 2015 notice to students about the case gave the impression that they would have an opportunity to be excluded from a settlement at a later date. The lawyers say that it was abundantly clear that students were required to opt out in 2015, and that Ms. Simpson’s lawyers mischaracterized the notice. Judge Curiel wrote in his decision that t there is “no blanket rule that due process requires a opportunity. ” In 2010, Ms. Simpson, who is a lawyer herself, spent about $19, 000 on Trump University programs. After the agreement was announced, she submitted a claim to partake in the settlement, before filing the objection. In an interview earlier this week, Ms. Simpson said she hoped her objection would not “blow up the settlement. ” But she said she believed she could fare better at trial. “For him to go out there and say, well, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong,’ it’s disgusting,” she said. “I want an apology. ” | 1 |
Region: Russia in the World As the world now knows, British bank NatWest, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland group, has told Russian media outlet RT that it should take its business elsewhere. Initially it was reported that the bank had “frozen” RT’s accounts, meaning it had impounded the money, but it now says that the accounts have merely been closed, meaning that RT can withdraw its money – provided it then takes it to another bank . NatWest, and the rest of the Royal Bank of Scotland group, are effectively owned by the British government, which acquired the majority share in 2008 to prevent it collapsing. As RT is also state-owned, it has been inferred that this is another form of sanction. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson denies this, but he also denies several of his chidren, several parts of his ancestry and practically everything else he has ever written or been recorded saying. It has also been suggested that this move, which came without warning, was connected with potential fines against the bank for holding money considered “dirty” by association with Russia – though the government fining itself to pay itself seems unlikely. It may therefore be simply a publicity stunt – the UK has to be seen to be acting against Russia as part of the sanctions regime, and may be perfectly happy for RT to take its business to a private UK bank, or even another publicly-owned one, having done its bit of public posturing. However the real reason for this move is not sanctions against the Russian state. It is because a seemingly unimportant event has the potential to shake the foundations of the United Kingdom – and those in the corridors of power have just woken up to it. The closing of RT’s accounts, if it finally happens, may simply be a symbolic gesture, but it may be the precursor to a more serious crisis, which no one thought they would ever see again. The subtext beneath the subtext From October 15-18 Kyril, Patriarch of Moscow, visited the United Kingdom. There is a growing Orthodox diaspora in the UK, as there is in all Western countries, and also a small but well-established British-born Orthodox community and a number of majority British, English-language parishes . However Orthodoxy is still a very small religion there – though figures are hard to come by, no more than 7 % o f the population would curently identify themselves as Orthodox, despite the large Greek Cypriot community which owns the plurality of the UK’s Orthodox churches. The Church of England adheres to a doctrine called Branch Theory – the idea that various different Christian “denominations”, as they call them, are branches of the same basic church. Consequently religious leaders in general are treated with respect, even if people greatly disagree with their faith. When Pope John Paul II visited the UK in 1982 he was treated as a pop star, despite a few insignificant protests by Protestant or far-right groups. No particular fuss is made when leaders of other faiths enter the country from abroad, despite the hysteria surrounding so-called “Muslim hate preachers” who are no more radical than the Bible-bashers who have the greatest objection to them. But how was Patriarch Kyril treated? With respect by those who met him – but not by the media or the political class. When Archbishop Makarios, who had been a politician in public office contrary to the Canons of the Church, visited the UK in the 1970s he was shown entering churches and attracting crowds who cheered him so hard they damaged the buildings. Patriarch Kyril was presented as an apologist for Vladimir Putin and Russia’s alleged actions in Syria, who had been sent on a propaganda mission . The Patriarch was not in the UK to talk politics, and there is no suggestion that he actually did so. The focus of his visit was to finally consecrate the Russian cathedral at Ennismore Gardens, London, a former Anglican church which the Russian church has been using since the 1950s. But the thing which most upset certain commentators was the fact that he was due to have an audience with the Queen, as visiting dignitaries usually do . The implication of the widespread concern about the Queen agreeing to this private meeting was that she was sympathetic to Russia’s position on Syria. The UK has a constitutional monarchy, and consequently the Queen does not dictate government policy. If the Queen has a personal position on anything she will only make it public if she feels her government is making a serious error and will not listen to reason – which has happened only once during her 64-year reign, when she famously let it be known that she felt Margaret Thatcher’s policies were damaging the social fabric of the country. So why should the press and politicians be so outraged about the possibility of Patriarch Kyril giving the Queen opinions she can read on the internet, or in some of the hundreds of letters she receives daily from disgruntled citizens? Because they are trying to disguise the real reason for their fear. It has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with the Orthodox Church, which happens to be the majority religion in Russia. No one minds ordinary citizens taking an interest in Orthodoxy. But the Royal Family? That’s a different question entirely. The invisible heart of the state The Queen is not only a monarch but the head of the Church of England. Though it seems anomalous to others that a church is run by a secular ruler, who could not even be ordained a bishop in that church if she wanted to, this is the way it has been since Henry VIII broke with Rome in 1534 so he could get a divorce. The state that became the UK was built on the Anglican faith and the political assumptions that went with that, despite the non-Anglican majorities in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. For three hundred and fifty years the “Catholic Powers” were seen as national enemies in the same way the “Iron Curtain” countries were in the second half of the twentieth century. Consequently each member of the Royal Family is also obliged to uphold the primacy of the Church of England, whether they are religious or not. From time to time, this has created problems. The Abdication Crisis of 1936 was caused by the King of England wanting to marry a twice-divorced woman, which the church considered a no-no at the time . Similarly, Tony Blair only announced his conversion to Roman Catholicism after he had resigned as Prime Minister, because the PM is included in the line of succession to the throne, and could be an atheist but not a Papist in that role. The question of whether the Church of England accepts divorce and remarriage – which is not at all clear cut – has reared its head several times in recent years due to the marital problems of the Royal Family. Prince Charles and Princess Anne have divorced and remarried, each time conducting their second marriages outside the Church of England. If Charles does eventually succeed to the throne, the question of whether he can be head of the Church of England whilst divorced and remarried outside it will come back to the forefront. In 1977 a story went round the press that Charles was about to marry Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg. According to sources close to the action a marriage had actually been arranged behind the scenes, but did not proceed because the princess refused to give up her Roman Catholic faith, as she would be obliged to do to marry the future king under the Act of Succession of 1701. However Buckingham Palace responded to the reports by saying that Charles didn’t even know the princess, a ridiculous assertion, as all Europe’s royals are related and attend functions where they meet each other. This demonstrates how deep the fear of rocking the constitutional boat by not supporting the C of E runs . The Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, was born and baptised Orthodox, as a Prince of Greece. He renounced his Faith to marry Princess Elizabeth, as she then was, and regularly attends Anglican services with the rest of the family. However it is an open secret that he has returned to Orthodoxy privately. He is known to make very generous donations to Orthodox churches and causes and is a patron of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge. Prince Charles also has a longstanding interest in Orthodoxy: amongst other expressions of it, he has refused to join the Freemasons, despite this being expected of members of the British upper class. When the Queen met the Pope on his 1982 visit it caused some comment, but nothing like the controversy provoked by her meeting Patriarch Kyril. If the UK ever started to support Putin’s position on anything it would not be the end of civilization as we know it. If the heir to the throne converted to his father’s ancestral faith, and the link between the state and the Church of England was forcibly broken, it would call the whole political basis of the UK into question. That is a can of worms no one dares open – for which RT is now being made the scapegoat, because no one is prepared to publicly discuss just how big a question this seemingly abstruse point really is. Foreign is the new cancer British banks are entitled to freeze accounts under certain circumstances. If an account contains the proceeds of crime, these can now be impounded by the courts. Similarly it is a criminal offence in the UK, under the Terrorism Act 2000, to provide financial or any other support to terrorists, regardless of what the UK government itself does . Banks are terrified of this law, and interpret it with a strictness which is itself illegal. There have been many instances of ethnic minority commuity organisations being unable to open bank accounts unless they sack their officers and appoint British people, on the grounds that simply by being run by foreigners they might be laundering money for terrorists. So if there is any hint of impropriety about an organisation run by a foreign state, they will naturally review that information to protect themselves. But it is usually the courts who impound the proceeds of crime. The arbitrary closure of RT’s accounts, without explanation, therefore implies that it is being accused of sponsoring terrorism. Theresa May’s response that “ it is for them [the bank] to decide who they offer services to based on their own risk appetite ” suggests that this is exactly what the government wants to accuse it of. Who said anything about risk being the reason, and how does the government know about the decisions the bank makes on individual acco u nts and the reasons for them? So the assumption that this is about Syria suits the narrative we have heard to date. But if so, why now? Has the bank only just become nervous of being fined by its own owners? Is it only now aware of the sanctions regime, or the British government’s position on this conflict? The Church of England, the pillar on which the British state was built, has long had ostensibly good relations with the Orthodox communities in the UK. Many Orthodox parishes worship in former or still-functioning Anglican churches, and successive Archbishops of Canterbury have expressed their respect for Orthodoxy. Until, that is, the Church stops being a weird foreign sect. Then it becomes a threat which has to be dealt with, and always is. In 1988 the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in the UK, Archbishop Methodios, was deposed for “coveting other thrones”, whatever that may mean. It was widely believed that the real reason was because the Church of England objected to him receiving a number of its priests and many ordinary parishioners. He was replaced by Archbishop Gregorios, who began by stating publicly many times that he did not encourage people to convert to the Church he served. A student in Greece wrote a thesis about the deposition of Archbishop Methodios, which the university not only refused to publish but used as an excuse to kick him out of university. The website of the Greek Archdiocese in the UK makes no mention of why Methodios ceased to be bishop, or what he did subsequently, despite the fact he lived another eighteen years as a titular bishop . Now the head of another Orthodox national jurisdiction has visited the UK and been vilified in a way unprecendented for a religious leader since Catholics were allowed back into the country. Rather than being met with protests from angry Britishers, he was received with the traditional courtesy of religious leaders. His potential to destabilise the state does not derive from his connections but from the potential willingness of members of the officially Anglican Royal Family to embrace his Faith. So that Faith must be presented as politically dangerous, its hierarchs as political stooges, to scare people, and their Royal Family, away from it. RT has been inundated with messages of support from UK citizens. Most of these assume that the bank’s decision is politically motivated. Indeed it is – but it is the identity of the UK and its institutions, rather than whether you think Assad is a terrorist, which is the political issue driving it.
Seth Ferris, investigative journalist and political scientist, expert on Middle Eastern affairs, exclusively for the online magazine “ New Eastern Outlook ”. Popular Articles | 0 |
John Glenn, a son of Ohio who was hailed as a national hero and a symbol of the space age as the first American to orbit Earth, then became a national political figure for 24 years in the Senate, died on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. He was 95. Ohio State University announced his death. Mr. Glenn had recently been hospitalized at the university at the James Cancer Center, though Ohio State officials said at the time that admission there did not necessarily mean he had cancer. He had replacement surgery in 2014 and a stroke around that time. He had kept an office at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, which he helped found, and also had a home in Columbus. In just five hours on Feb. 20, 1962, Mr. Glenn joined a select roster of Americans whose feats have seized the country’s imagination and come to embody a moment in its history, figures like Lewis and Clark, the Wright brothers and Charles Lindbergh. To the America of the 1960s, Mr. Glenn was a Midwesterner, raised in Presbyterian rectitude, nurtured in patriotism and tested in war, who stepped forward to risk the unknown and succeeded spectacularly, lifting his country’s morale and restoring its . It was an anxious nation that watched and listened that February morning, as Mr. Glenn, 40 years old, a Marine Corps test pilot and one of the seven original American astronauts, climbed into Friendship 7, the tiny Mercury capsule atop an Atlas rocket rising from the concrete flats of Cape Canaveral in Florida. The Cold War had long stoked fears of nuclear destruction, and the Russians seemed to be winning the contest with their unsettling ascent into outer space. Two Russians, Yuri A. Gagarin and Gherman S. Titov, had already orbited Earth the year before, overshadowing the feats of two Americans, Alan B. Shepard and Virgil I. Grissom, who had been launched only to the fringes of space. What, people asked with rising urgency, had happened to the United States’ vaunted technology and spirit? The answer came at 9:47 a. m. Eastern time, when after weeks of delays the rocket achieved liftoff. It was a short flight, just three orbits. But when Mr. Glenn was safely back, flashing the world a triumphant grin, doubts were replaced by a broad, new faith that the United States could indeed hold its own against the Soviet Union in the Cold War and might someday prevail. No flier since Lindbergh had received such a cheering welcome. Bands played. People cried with relief and joy. Mr. Glenn was invited to the White House by President John F. Kennedy and paraded up Broadway and across the land. A joint meeting of Congress stood and applauded vigorously as Mr. Glenn spoke at the Capitol. In his political history of the space age, “ … The Heavens and the Earth,” the author Walter A. McDougall described Mr. Glenn’s space mission as a “national catharsis unparalleled. ” “It seemed that he had given Americans back their ” Mr. McDougall added, “and more than that — it seemed Americans dared again to hope. ” Mr. Glenn was reluctant to talk about himself as a hero. “I figure I’m the same person who grew up in New Concord, Ohio, and went off through the years to participate in a lot of events of importance,” he said in an interview years later. “What got a lot of attention, I think, was the tenuous times we thought we were living in back in the Cold War. I don’t think it was about me. All this would have happened to anyone who happened to be selected for that flight. ” Mr. Glenn did not return to space for a long time. Kennedy thought him too valuable as a hero to risk losing in an accident. So Mr. Glenn resigned from the astronaut corps in 1964, became an executive in private industry and entered politics, serving four full terms as a Democratic senator from Ohio and in 1984 running unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination. Finally, 36 years after his Mercury flight, in the last months of his final Senate term, he got his wish for a return to orbit. Despite some criticism that his presence on the mission was a political payoff, a waste of money and of doubtful scientific merit, the hero of yesteryear brought out the crowds again, cheering out of nostalgia and enduring respect as he was launched aboard the space shuttle Discovery on Oct. 29, 1998. At 77, he became the oldest person to go into space. In retirement from the Senate, Mr. Glenn lived with his wife of 73 years, Anna (he always called her Annie) in a suburb of Washington in addition to Columbus. Ohio State University is the repository of papers from his space and political careers. “John always had the right stuff,” President Obama said in a statement on Thursday, “inspiring generations of scientists, engineers and astronauts who will take us to Mars and beyond — not just to visit, but to stay. ” John Herschel Glenn Jr. was born on July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, Ohio, the only son of a railroad conductor who also owned a plumbing business, and the former Clara Sproat. A few years later, the Glenns moved to New Concord, a small town in southeastern Ohio with a population of little more than 1, 000. “It was small but had a lot of patriotic feeling and parades on all the national holidays,” Mr. Glenn once said. “Wanting to do something for the country was just natural, growing up in a place like New Concord. ” Like most everyone else there, the Glenns lived through the hard times of the Depression, instilling in their son a rigid moral code based on their own example and saw him through an boyhood. He played trumpet, sang in the church choir, washed cars for pocket money and worked as a lifeguard. In high school (now named for him) he was an honor student and lettered in football, basketball and tennis. He still had time to court his high school sweetheart, Anna Margaret Castor, the doctor’s daughter. It did not matter that she stammered she was his girl, and he loved her. They married in April 1943, and he often called her “the real rock of the family. ” From the time they came to public attention, and throughout the turbulence of spaceflight and politics, John and Anna Glenn each seemed the other’s center of gravity. Not until much later did she undergo intensive therapy that virtually cured her stammer, enabling her even to give speeches in public. Mr. Glenn is survived by his wife two children, Carolyn Ann Glenn of St. Paul and John David Glenn of Berkeley, Calif. and two grandsons, Daniel and Zach Glenn. Mr. Glenn began his journey to fame in World War II. In 1939, he enrolled at Muskingum College in his hometown to study chemistry, but he took flying lessons on the side. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, he signed up for the Naval Aviation cadet program and after pilot training opted to join the Marines. As a fighter pilot, he flew 59 combat missions in the Pacific, earning two Distinguished Flying Crosses and other decorations. Mr. Glenn saw more action in the Korean War, flying 90 combat missions and winning more medals. He put his life on the line again as a military test pilot in the early days of supersonic flight. In 1957, just months before the Soviet Union launched its first Sputnik satellite, he made the first transcontinental supersonic flight, piloting an Crusader from Los Angeles to New York in record time: 3 hours 23 minutes 8. 4 seconds. Then, in 1959, newly promoted to lieutenant colonel, he heeded a call for test pilots to apply to be astronauts for the fledgling National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He and six other pilots were selected in April of that year. (The original Mercury 7 included Mr. Glenn, Mr. Shepard, Mr. Grissom, Walter Schirra, Gordon Cooper, Deke Slayton and M. Scott Carpenter. Mr. Glenn was the last surviving one.) All seven men were eager, competitive and ambitious, but none more so than Mr. Glenn. Tom Miller, a retired Marine general and close friend since they were rookie pilots in World War II, recalled that Mr. Glenn was so determined to be an astronaut that he applied weight to his head to compress his height down to the maximum for the first astronauts. “He wasn’t going to miss a trick,” Mr. Miller said. “He’d be sitting down reading with a big bunch of books sitting on his head. ” But his determination did not win him the assignment to be the first American astronaut to fly. He had to wait out the suborbital flights by Mr. Shepard and Mr. Grissom in 1961 before his turn came. In his 1999 memoir, written with Nick Taylor, he admitted he was sorely disappointed when Mr. Shepard was tapped for the first flight. As the oldest and most articulate of the astronauts, Mr. Glenn had attracted a big share of the publicity. He said that he had “worked and studied hard dedicating myself to the program” and that he thought he had a “good shot” at being first. In a letter to a NASA official, Mr. Glenn wrote, “I thought I might have been penalized for speaking out for what I thought was the good of the program. ” At this time, as Mr. Glenn often recalled, he never anticipated that his orbital flight would be the one that most excited the public, satisfying the nation’s hunger for a hero. Tom Wolfe wrote of that time in the 1979 book “The Right Stuff,” a phrase for coolness in the face of danger that has passed into the idiom. He described Mr. Glenn as excessively pious, scolding his fellow astronauts about their escapades while openly lobbying to be the first of them to fly. “He looked like a balding and slightly tougher version of the country boy you ever saw,” Mr. Wolfe wrote. “He had a snub nose, eyes, hair and a terrific smile. ” Mr. Glenn said he liked the book but not the 1983 movie based on it, in which he was portrayed by Ed Harris. “Most of his account was reasonably factual, although I was neither the pious saint nor the other guys the hellions he made them into,” he told Life magazine in 1998. “Hollywood made a charade out of the story and caricatures out of the people in it. ” The 1962 space mission came after two months of one postponement after another, sometimes for mechanical problems, often for bad weather. Once Mr. Glenn had to wait six hours, fully suited, in the cramped Friendship 7 capsule before officials called off the launch. But he projected confidence. “You fear the least what you know the most about,” he said. On the 11th scheduled time, all was “go,” and the rocket lifted off from Pad 14 at Cape Canaveral. “Godspeed, John Glenn,” his fellow astronaut Scott Carpenter said through a microphone at mission control. The flight stopped the nation in its tracks people watched on television, listened on the radio and prayed. At the end of the first orbit, an automatic control mechanism failed, and Mr. Glenn took over manual control. He would see three sunsets in a brief time. He puzzled for a while about “fireflies” outside his window. NASA later determined that it was his urine and sweat, which was being dumped overboard and turned to frozen crystals glowing in sunlight. A faulty warning light signaled that the capsule heat shield, designed to protect it in the fiery descent back to Earth, had come loose and might come off during . The signal was erroneous, but no one could be sure. Ground controllers ordered that a retrorocket unit attached under the heat shield by metal straps not be jettisoned after firing in order to give added protection and reduce the risk of premature detachment of the heat shield. This was Mr. Glenn’s first real clue that something was amiss. As Friendship 7 plunged through the atmosphere, the astronaut’s recorded heartbeat raced as one of the metal straps came loose and banged on the side of the capsule. “Right away, I could see flaming chunks flying by the window, and I thought the heat shield might be falling apart,” he wrote after the flight. “This was a bad moment. But I knew that if that was really happening, it would all be over shortly, and there was nothing I could do about it. ” The capsule splashed down in the Atlantic off the Bahamas, where a Navy destroyer was waiting. Mr. Glenn radioed, “My condition is good, but that was a real fireball, boy. ” In the flush of fame, Mr. Glenn toured the country publicizing the space program, visiting aerospace plants and waving to cheering crowds and signing autographs. But he always had his eye on another flight into space. He kept asking NASA officials about a new flight assignment and was routinely stonewalled. Not yet, they said. Kennedy’s reservations about risking a hero’s life were disclosed years later. Frustrated, Mr. Glenn resigned from NASA in early 1964. But an idea for a new career had been planted in his mind. One night in December 1962, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy invited the Glenns to dinner at his home in McLean, Va. In the course of the evening, the attorney general suggested that Mr. Glenn run for public office. With the backing of a powerful Kennedy, he might have a good chance at a Senate seat from Ohio in the 1964 election. Mr. Glenn’s parents happened to be among the few Democrats in New Concord, and Mr. Glenn once recalled that he had developed an abiding interest in political affairs from his high school civics teacher, Harford Steele. Mr. Glenn eventually took the advice, but had to quit the race after being seriously injured in a bathroom fall. He spent the next decade working as an executive of the Royal Crown Cola Company. He still had the space itch, though, and inquired about a possible place on one of the Apollo missions to the moon, but NASA gave him no encouragement. “Yeah, I would have liked to go to the moon,” he said in later years. “But I didn’t want to stick around being the oldest astronaut in training just hoping to go to the moon. So I went on to other things, and that was a decision I lived with. ” After Robert Kennedy’s assassination in 1968, Mr. Glenn headed a bipartisan lobbying group called the Emergency Committee for Gun Control. President Lyndon B. Johnson later signed the Gun Control Act of 1968, placing some restrictions on firearms. In 1970, Mr. Glenn ran again for the Senate, but lost in the Democratic primary to Howard M. Metzenbaum. Mr. Glenn won the primary four years later and breezed to victory in the general election, beginning a Senate career. Over the years, Mr. Glenn earned the respect of Senate colleagues as an upright, candid and diligent legislator. Senator Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida, described Mr. Glenn as a “workhorse” who was especially well informed and a forceful voice on defense issues. “When he speaks, you know he’s speaking on a subject of which he has a command and a reason for speaking,” Mr. Graham said shortly before Mr. Glenn’s return to space. As a senator, Mr. Glenn developed an expertise in weapons systems, nuclear proliferation issues and most legislation related to technology and bureaucratic reform. He generally took moderate positions on most issues, though in his last two terms his voting record became more liberal. He was an enthusiastic supporter of President Bill Clinton. He drew admiring audiences in his run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984, but his wooden speaking style and lack of a cogent campaign message were blamed for his poor showing at the polls. After losses in several states, he dropped out of the race, which former Vice President Walter F. Mondale won before President Ronald Reagan overwhelmed him in the general election. The one blemish on Mr. Glenn’s political reputation came in the 1980s, when he was one of five senators present at a meeting with federal regulators concerning accusations of savings and loan association fraud against Charles H. Keating Jr. a former Ohioan. The meeting smacked of impropriety and political pressure. Because Mr. Glenn had no further contact with Mr. Keating, who eventually was sent to prison, the Senate decided that he did nothing deserving discipline. As a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Mr. Glenn developed the medical rationale used in arguing his case for a return flight in space. He offered himself as a human guinea pig in tests of the physiological effects of space weightlessness, like loss and cardiovascular, muscular and immune system changes, and how they seem to be comparable to the usual effects of aging. Mr. Glenn’s return to space in 1998 drew criticism. But the astronaut was not to be denied, and his heroic image, and reawakened memories of the early space age, attracted launching crowds on a scale not seen since astronauts were flying to the moon. Still healthy and vigorous, though not as agile as in 1962, Mr. Glenn embarked on his second venture in space, as he said in an interview, to show the world that the lives of older people need not be dictated by the calendar. In recent years, honors continued to come his way: the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland was renamed the John H. Glenn Research Center. In 2012, about a week before the 50th anniversary of the Friendship 7 flight, a reporter found the Mr. Glenn in full voice and clear mind, but regretting that he had sold his airplane the month before. Their aging knees had made it difficult for him and his wife to climb on the wing to get into the cabin of their Beechcraft Baron. For years they had flown it on vacations and back and forth to Washington. Though his airplane was gone, Mr. Glenn was pleased to say several times that he still had a valid pilot’s license. Mr. Glenn was a flier, almost to the end. In one of the interviews at this time, he was reminded that Mr. Wolfe, the author, had recently judged him “the last true national hero America has ever had. ” Mr. Glenn gave another of his dismissive responses: “I don’t think of myself that way,” he said. “I get up each day and have the same problems others have at my age. As far as trying to analyze all the attention I received, I will leave that to others. ” | 1 |
White House press secretary Sean Spicer has said that contrary to media reports, Donald Trump did not reject a handshake from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, adding that he simply did not hear her request. [Having given Shinzo Abe a 45 minute handshake, Donald Trump refuses to shake hands with Angela Merkel pic. twitter. — Nick Hilton (@nickfthilton) March 17, 2017, Following a meeting with the media in the Oval Office, mainstream media reports suggested that Trump had refused Merkel’s offering of a handshake, although Spicer has confirmed this was just a misunderstanding. “I do not believe he heard the question,” Spicer told the German newspaper, Der Spiegel after video footage showed Merkel leaning towards Trump and asking him whether they would like to shake hands. On meeting other leaders in the Oval Office, including UK Prime Minister Theresa May, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump posed for photos with the trademark presidential handshake. However, Trump told the media that despite reports from the “fake news” media, the pair had a “great meeting,” adding that “Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO and the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides. ” Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes … .. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2017, … vast sums of money to NATO the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2017, Trump has previously described Merkel’s policy of letting millions of unvetted migrants into Europe as a “catastrophic mistake,” while Merkel has attacked Trump’s proposed travel ban, arguing it is “unjustified. ” When asked in January whether he would support Merkel’s run for reelection later this year, Trump refused to comment, although he described her as “great, great leader” for whom he had “great respect. ” You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart. com. | 1 |
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. An attack by suicide bombers at Istanbul’s largest airport killed at least 36 people and wounded 140 more, according to the Turkish justice minister, Bekir Bozdag. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the Turkish prime minister said early indications point to the Islamic State. _____ 2. The final report from the House Select Committee on Benghazi, established to investigate the deadly attacks in 2012 on an American compound in Libya, found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Hillary Clinton, then the secretary of state. But the report, after an inquiry lasting two years and costing an estimated $7 million, had plenty of criticism for government agencies that, it said, failed to grasp how dangerous the Libyan city was at the time of the attacks. Above, Representative Trey Gowdy, who led the committee. _____ 3. European leaders urged Britain to consummate its vote last week to leave the European Union, with one saying that Britain and Europe could be “married, or divorced, but not something between. ” But the leaders of the “Leave” campaign seem to have no idea what to do after their victory, our analyst writes. Above, Prime Minister David Cameron, center, who has said he would step down. Here’s our guide to what has happened so far. _____ 4. Pat Summitt, above, who won eight national basketball championships and more games than any other Division I college coach, male or female, died Tuesday at 64. In the course of her enormously successful career, she transformed the face of American women’s sports, drawing national audiences to women’s college basketball for the first time. Summitt was legendarily tough: When she dislocated her shoulder in 2008, she tried for more than an hour to reset it herself before finally calling a doctor. _____ 5. Speaking in Pennsylvania, Donald J. Trump vowed to rip up international trade deals and take a hard line against Chinese monetary policy, returning his focus to the economic grievances that have fueled his campaign. He framed his approach as a sharp contrast to the policies of “a leadership class that worships globalism,” and warned that his presumptive Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, would “betray” those who support her. _____ 6. On July 4, a NASA spacecraft will finish a nearly 1. trip to Jupiter, dropping into the gas planet’s gravitational field and assuming orbit. At least that’s the plan. Juno, which has undergone a journey to learn more about the solar system’s largest planet, will be the first craft to orbit Jupiter in more than a decade. But if anything goes wrong, it’ll be impossible to react in time: Radio signals take 48 minutes to travel from Jupiter to Earth. _____ 7. Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would have provided $1. 1 billion to fight the Zika virus. They said Republicans had sabotaged the bill by adding partisan provisions, like one that included a ban on direct government financing for Planned Parenthood. The legislation’s failure highlighted how partisan gridlock can hurt the government’s ability to respond to a public health emergency. There are 3, 000 species of mosquitoes but in the Americas, only two are known to carry the Zika virus. In the United States, six mosquito species are particularly concerning. _____ 8. “I’m interested less in what qualifies something as black photography, black art, black cinema, as I am in seeing what comes of agency on the part of black artists. I’m interested in seeing what comes out of their heart and mind and soul. ” That’s Sarah Lewis, a Harvard professor who guest edited a recent issue of the photography magazine Aperture that was devoted to the black experience. She discussed the project with our Briefing picture editor, Sandra Stevenson. Above, a photo from the project. _____ 9. Amazon has competed directly with print books for some time, but on Tuesday it made a tweak to its Kindle software that borrows from the feature set of a paperback. The new interaction, called Page Flip, mimics the habit of sticking one’s thumb into a book to mark a page. Amid all the recent talk of print’s resilience, Amazon is taking a page from its competitors’ … well, you know. _____ 10. 2016 has been filled with film sequels that have arrived at least a decade after the original. Some of the franchises have fared well upon their return: “Finding Dory,” the sequel to “Finding Nemo” (2003) has broken the box office record for a Pixar movie, raking in $286 million. Others have been less welcome. Our critic wrote that “Independence Day: Resurgence,” released last week, was plagued by “lackluster, sometimes abysmal, writing,” and, with an opening of $41 million, the film did not exactly set the box office aflame. _____ 11. We’ve put together a guide on how to respond to attacks by wild animals — alligators, bears, sharks and mountain lions. Shark attacks can be countered by pounding them on the nose and scratching at their eyes and gills. But to avoid the encounter altogether, leave your shiny jewelry on your beach towel and avoid swimming at dawn, at dusk or at night. _____ 12. Some animals are not a summertime threat in fact, they’re more likely to be threatened. The sunny season, with its thunderstorms and its fireworks, is a tough time for dogs. Some estimate that at least 40 percent of them experience noise anxiety. Animal behavior specialists differ on what should be done to soothe agitated pets, but a new drug, Sileo, garnered mostly good reviews from animal owners. _____ Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s last night’s briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes. com. | 1 |
ATLANTA — It is 3 in the afternoon, and Anthony Palmer, 62, is behind the wheel of the retrofitted and rebranded bread truck that is Anthony’s Rolling Store. Today his wares include vegetable oil, cornstarch, oatmeal pies, ramen noodles, ice cream, Slim Jims, doughnuts, ChapStick, Dial soap, little cigars, chips, fruit punch and Saltine crackers. He has a sign declaring that he accepts food stamps. He has the program from his wife’s funeral in 2015 taped above his seat. The photograph on the cover shows Elizabeth Palmer on the edge of a smile, as though acknowledging that life is not all drudgery and pain. Mr. Palmer pulls up in front of a Boys Girls Club, close to where Techwood Homes, the nation’s first housing project, stood before it was demolished ahead of the 1996 Olympic Games. “Kids,” a woman cries, “the rolling store’s here!” The little ones come out in their school uniforms, twirling braids, choosing carefully from the bags of salty junk on display, hands reaching up to put their money up on the ledge of the little window by the back wheels. The teenagers are tall enough to lean into the window almost conspiratorially. They look like penitents at confession. Mr. Palmer, half obscured in the truck’s interior, calls each of them sir or ma’am. He teaches respect by respecting them first. A teenage boy asks for blunts. “No, sir,” the proprietor said. Mr. Palmer’s truck is among the last of a small and dying tradition in this section of black Atlanta, just west and northwest of downtown. In the 1970s and ’80s, there were rolling stores all over neighborhoods like English Avenue and Vine City, stocked with all of the fixings for a real supper, recalled Greg Morgan, the owner of a convenience store in a notoriously rough area called the Bluff. “Fatback, hog maw, pig knuckles,” he said. “It was a thriving thing, and it was a moneymaking thing. ” Mr. Morgan has a number of theories as to why the rolling stores are disappearing, including regulation from city officials and a hunch that home cooking is yet another dying tradition around here. More broadly, the disappearance of the rolling stores may simply be a result of the relentless and multifarious pace of change in Atlanta, one of those American cities that move and morph at the pace of the nation itself. It is a reality Mr. Palmer has embraced. He didn’t have much choice. But then again, who does? “When times change,” he said, “you’ve got to change with the times. ” He grew up in Herndon Homes, another public housing complex nearby, in a neighborhood that had gone from white to black by midcentury. His father was a barber, and when he died, Mr. Palmer, who had never learned to cut hair, opened his first convenience store in the old barbershop, across the street from the projects. Before that, Mr. Palmer had done menial labor on the nearby campus of Georgia Tech, earning a pittance. In his first weeks in retail, he said, “I was making almost $2, 500 a week — like, $1, 200 in food stamps and $1, 200 in cash. “I couldn’t believe it,” he continued. “I thought those times were going to last. ” They didn’t. He was forced to move the store to a less advantageous location. The competition grew stiff. He quit the store and opened a game room, set among the project’s apartments. Then the city bought out the game room and all of Herndon Homes in anticipation of tearing it all down. It was part of a larger project, now nearly fully realized, to replace the city’s traditional public housing. Many housing units have been replaced with communities that mix and subsidized units, in an attempt to break up what many saw as concentrated warrens of dysfunction and poverty. In 2006, Mr. Palmer took the money the city had paid him for the game room and paid $5, 000 for the old bread truck. He bought a generator and a refrigerator, and stocked it with perishables — milk, eggs, bread, meat. He took the truck through Herndon Homes, before they were knocked down, and rolled daily among the new apartments — clean, brick, rectilinear, blandly handsome — where Techwood Homes used to be. It beat working behind a traditional counter, where he and his wife would have to stand from 7 a. m. to 11 p. m. every day. With the truck, he said, “I could go move around, make $200, $300 in a day, and then go lay down at home. ” In 2010, the Atlanta Housing Authority demolished Herndon Homes. Since then, the project has been a big empty lot, though there are plans to turn it into a new “urban community” with a fitness center and retail. Today, Anthony’s Rolling Store mostly moves around where the old Techwood project used to be. Some of the old families moved back to the subsidized homes. It seems that nearly everybody has his cell number. Mr. Anthony they call him. Mr. Anthony, my mother wants you to come by, they say. Mr. Anthony, do you have any drinks? At his approach, they run down the stairs with their dollars. Derrick Butler, 42, who lives in the suburbs now, was outside one such building. His mother, who raised him in Techwood, just died. He ordered Nutty Buddies, a Big Dipper, a strawberry shortcake ice cream bar and oatmeal pies. To Mr. Butler, the rolling store is a reminder of the informal ways in the old Techwood: how somebody would be evicted and the kids would use the abandoned mattresses for wrestling matches. How his mother would go down to the community center and cook ribs, chicken and fish. It was by no means perfect, he said. “But it was family. My mother knew every drug dealer, every gang member and every police officer. ” They knew she would not abide them roping her son into trouble. Mr. Palmer drove away and said Mr. Butler’s mother was an exceptionally good woman, one of the few people he had extended credit to. A few minutes later, a young man was short $1. 25, and Mr. Palmer let it ride. “He usually pays me back,” he said. “He’s pretty good. ” The truck rolled on. These days, Mr. Palmer’s energy is waning. His generator broke, the refrigerator is out, and he no longer keeps milk and eggs. He talks, somewhat fancifully, about turning over the truck to a nephew and monitoring the business from home with an internet camera. He still grieves for his wife. She kept the books, and they loved each other. “She used to tell me all the time, ‘I don’t know what I’d do if you died first,’” he said. “I used to pay it no attention. Now that she’s gone, I know what she was talking about. ” His son, Anthony Jr. 30, is autistic, and Mr. Palmer spends most of his time looking after him. “There are a lot of stories about black men not taking care of their children,” he said. “But they don’t tell the stories about the good men taking care of their children. ” The truck does not roll as much as it used to — just a few hours a week. The Atlanta Falcons are building their new football stadium just down the road. It looks like a cut diamond, or like some futuristic building on Mars. Everyone is talking about neighborhood revitalization. Mr. Palmer can envision the day when the threadbare old houses like his are replaced by condos with fitness centers. It bothers him some. But sometimes he talks as though change in the city is a force too powerful to be judged, but rather something at which to marvel, like a storm. “Man, I done seen children grow up and have babies, and come back, and I don’t even know who they was,” he said. “They’ll say, ‘You know, I used to buy honey buns off your truck. ’” | 1 |
ROME — An earthquake, believed to be the strongest to hit Italy since 1980, struck the center of the country on Sunday, four days after two quakes severely damaged buildings and left thousands homeless in the area. The temblor on Sunday also caused fresh damage to the towns destroyed by a quake that killed nearly 300 people in August. The quake, which had a magnitude of 6. 5, according to Italy’s national geophysical and volcanology institute, struck at 7:41 a. m. with its epicenter near Norcia. It was felt as far away as Bolzano in northern Italy and Puglia in the south, according to Italian news reports. Most of the towns in the area had already been evacuated after the recent seismic activity, so there were no immediate reports of deaths. About 20 people were injured but none killed, said Fabrizio Curcio, the head of Italy’s civil protection department. “It was an important earthquake,” he said. Helicopters were taking people to hospitals because some roads had been closed off, Mr. Curcio said. teams were converging on the area, he added, and mayors were verifying the conditions of residents in smaller hamlets. As night fell, emergency teams worked to transfer residents of the stricken areas to temporary dormitories and hotels in outlying areas, overcoming the resistance of those who preferred to remain near their homes, Mr. Curcio said. “This was a 6. 5 — we haven’t had an earthquake of this magnitude since 1980 — so there are a series of controls we have to carry out,” he said, adding that people would be assisted better outside the earthquake areas. Electrical power was out for many thousands of residences, many roads were blocked by debris or cracks, and several sections of the Via Salaria, the most important highway in the area, were not accessible, Mr. Curcio said. Emergency workers were preparing to work through the night to clear roads of debris. “It will be a difficult night,” Mr. Curcio said after meeting with the mayor of Norcia, Nicola Alemanno, and Vasco Errani, the government’s point man for the earthquake reconstruction program in Norcia. Mr. Curcio said he hoped people would not spend the night in their cars or in makeshift camps and would opt for more stable accommodations. “There is no reason to suffer,” he said. Mr. Alemanno estimated that at least 3, 000 residents of the town had been left homeless. Other mayors were still tallying numbers of those left homeless in their own towns. Mr. Errani, who was appointed after the August quake, said Sunday’s earthquake had “changed the scenario, and even more the spirit and the soul of people,” he said. “We must remain calm to face the situation,” he added. Aftershocks continued throughout the day, and the geological institute registered about 200 in the first 10 hours after the morning 6. 5 quake, at least 15 of them with a magnitude measuring over 4. The mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, ordered schools to remain closed Monday to allow for checks on their stability. At a news conference, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi vowed to rebuild damaged areas. “We will rebuild everything — homes, churches, businesses,” he said. Italy has been urging the European Commission to give it more leeway in meeting targets for its budget deficit, citing greater costs incurred by its response to the migrant crisis and to the fallout of the earthquakes. The Italian government allocated 40 million euros, about $44 million, to the stricken zones after Wednesday’s quakes, and on Sunday Mr. Renzi said more would be set aside to deal with the fresh damage. “We will broaden the crater zone so no town must fear it might be left out,” he said. “We can’t give back a smile to those who in this moment think they have lost everything,” said Mr. Renzi, who noted that the earthquake had been felt by many Italians. He called on citizens to be strong and show solidarity. “Italy has its limitations and defects, but in these circumstances it gives the best of itself,” he said. Italian news media showed images of the cathedral and basilica of St. Benedict in Norcia, where damage to the historic center was extensive. “Right now, the most important thing is to assist people,” Mr. Curcio said. Television crews for the Italian state network RAI and Sky News had remained in the area after Wednesday’s tremors, and provided live images with billows of dust from crumbled buildings in the background. The few residents of Norcia who had remained in town because their houses had withstood the previous quakes wandered the streets, startled and frightened. One television broadcast showed a group of nuns running into the main square where they later led prayers, with residents kneeling around them, in front of a statue of St. Benedict. The earth continued to tremble in the first minutes after the quake as reports of damage in various towns began to be tallied. In Ussita, a town near the epicenter of Wednesday’s quake, “90 percent of the houses have crumbled,” Mayor Marco Rinaldi told Italian television. In Amatrice, the town hardest hit in the August earthquake, the facade of the church of Sant’Agostino collapsed. “Everything has been destroyed. The towns no longer exist,” said Aleandro Petrucci, the mayor of Arquata del Tronto, another ghost town since the August quake. In Rome, both of the main subway lines were temporarily closed to check for damage, Italian news outlets reported. Paolo Messina, the director of the Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering at Italy’s National Research Council, said Sunday’s earthquake was linked to the quakes in August. “It’s a complex situation, where a fault is breaking in sections,” he said. On one hand, the repeated quakes were positive, “because if it occurred all at once the magnitude would be much higher,” he said in a telephone interview. “At the same time, it is causing terrible damage. ” It was impossible to determine the course of the seismic activity, he added. “We don’t know how much energy has accumulated in this fault over the centuries, so we don’t know how much needs to be discharged,” he said. One shaken resident of Ussita, who had already lost her home, told the Italian news media: “We don’t know what to do anymore. ” The earthquake wants to kill us. ” | 1 |
Home › POLITICS › CLASSIFIED MALFEASANCE: CLINTON & AIDES JEOPARDIZED NATIONAL SECURITY CLASSIFIED MALFEASANCE: CLINTON & AIDES JEOPARDIZED NATIONAL SECURITY 0 SHARES
[11/3/16] The WikiLeaks e-mail releases are not the only revelations Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Campaign team are cursing these days. Official State Department documents released pursuant to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and lawsuits are also delivering severe body blows to Team Clinton’s White House aspirations.
On Wednesday, Judicial Watch, the government accountability watchdog group, released nearly 70 pages of Department of State (DOS) records confirming that, while secretary of state, Hillary Clinton and her top aides, Deputy Chiefs of Staff Huma Abedin and Jake Sullivan, received and sent classified information on their non-state.gov e-mail accounts. Former Secretary Clinton has repeatedly denied — in interviews, debates, testimony, and speeches — that she divulged any classified material, even though the e-mail evidence and FBI Director James Comey’s testimony contradict that claim. At other times she has fudged, waffled, and evaded questions on this subject, bringing to mind the infamous weasel quote of her husband, then-President Bill Clinton, “It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.”
The new Judicial Watch e-mails are completely separate from the WikiLeaks e-mails, which the Clinton campaign and its allies have tried to discredit by claiming, without foundation, that they are the product of a Russian intelligence operation. The Judicial Watch documents were obtained recently in response to a court order from a May 5, 2015 lawsuit filed against the DOS after it refused to cooperate with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. That request was seeking: “All emails of official State Department business received or sent by former Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin from January 1, 2009 through February 1, 2013 using a non-‘state.gov’ email address.”
The newly released documents, which are now also available on the State Department website, were obtained after the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the watchdog group in January ( Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State ).
There are thus no grounds for questioning the provenance or authenticity of these recent Clinton e-mail revelations, since they come directly — albeit very reluctantly — from the State Department. Among the new documents are e-mails showing that Hillary Clinton used the clintonemail.com system to ask Huma Abedin (also on a non-state.gov e-mail account) to print two March 2011 e-mails that were sent from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (using the moniker “aclb”) to Jake Sullivan on Sullivan’s non-state.gov e-mail account.
The Obama State Department has redacted the Blair e-mails under the FOIA Exemption (b)(1) rule which allows the withholding of classified material. The material is marked as being classified as “Foreign government information” and “foreign relations or foreign activities of the US, including confidential sources.” The irony is beyond rich, is it not? Secretary Clinton says she didn’t send any classified material by private, unsecured e-mail — while the State Department refuses to release certain of her private e-mails, claiming exemption because, says DOS, the e-mails contain classified information. Reasonable observers might be inclined to take that as an official confirmation that Hillary Rodham Clinton has lied and weaseled — repeatedly, and under oath — on this important national security matter. Is there any other reasonable way to view it?
In another private e-mail, Clinton asks Huma Abedin how appointments in Washington, including a four-hour meeting concerning the Obama/Clinton war on Libya, would affect her vacation schedule in the Hamptons, the fabulous playground of the ultra-rich. As an aside, the Clintons have been longtime seasonal residents of the Hamptons, where many of their Wall Street and Hollywood billionaire cronies (and donors) own eye-popping mansions on sumptuous estates. Hillary, who regularly tries to make political hay by verbally attacking the rich “one percent,” apparently suffers no qualms of conscience about taking millions of dollars in speaking fees from the most notorious of the one percenters at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Blackstone, etc. Nor do she and Bill flinch at spending $50,000 per week for a beachfront mansion in the Hamptons near their movie mogul pal (and campaign contributor) Harvey Weinstein. Their populist rhetoric and faux working-class appeals notwithstanding, the Clintons are happiest and most comfortable consorting with the top one percent of the top one percent. But back to the e-mails. Responding to a message that details the sensitive Libya meetings in Washington, D.C., Clinton e-mails Abedin on August 26, 2011: “Ok. What time would I get back to Hamptons?” As with tens of thousands of Clinton DOS e-mails, this discussion relative to classified meetings, plans, and official policies, took place on private, unsecure e-mail accounts. Post navigation | 0 |
Происшествия
Чем ближе выборы, тем сильнее нервничают кандидаты в президенты США. Особенно тяжко приходится Трампу — мало того, что он в рейтингах отстаёт от своей конкурентки, так ещё и владеть собой не приучен. Взять, хотя бы, недавнюю историю с негром… пардон, афроамериканцем, который взял да и заявился на митинг Трампа, размахивая каким-то письмом.
Поскольку сторонники Трампа, как правило, белые, то при виде афроамериканца кандидат в президенты испытал ощущение, которое психологи называют мудрёным термином “когнитивный диссонанс”. Можно было бы, конечно, прямо спросить у неожиданного визитёра, кто он такой и что ему надобно, но телепаты в расспросах не нуждаются. Пронзив орлиным взором пытающегося обратить на себя внимание негра, Трамп сразу понял: этот человек подослан конкурентами, которые заплатили ему за хулиганскую выходку полторы тысячи долларов. Почему именно полторы? Вероятно, в Америке установлены именно такие тарифы на мелкое хулиганство на митингах: полчаса побуянил, зато потом денег хватит на месяц скромной жизни. Так или иначе, Трамп разнервничался и завопил: “Уведите его!”.
Охранники немедленно подхватили афроамериканца под руки и утащили прочь. Охранники у Трампа к этому делу вполне привычные: они то и дело кого-то выгоняют. Например, 25 августа они выставили с пресс-конференции журналиста Хорхе Рамоса, потому что Трампу не понравилась его эмоциональность. Вероятно, и инцидент с афроамериканцем так и остался бы одним из эпизодов в бесконечной цепи проявлений самодурства миллиардера-политика, если бы за кулисами не выяснилось нечто совсем неожиданное.
Оказалось, что изгнанный афроамериканец Си Джей Кэри мало того, что пришёл на митинг совершенно бесплатно, так он ещё и преданный поклонник Трампа с 1992 года. У него даже есть значок Республиканской партии. А в письме, которым он так размахивал, содержится бурное возмущение нехорошими лжецами “Хилари и Обамой”. Но самое интересное – это то, что даже после весьма невежливого обращения Си Джей Кэри не изменил мнения о своём кумире и будет за него голосовать.
Можно представить, как отреагировали бы западные СМИ, случись эта история в России: в ход пошли бы и заезженные клише о “рабском менталитете”, и обвинения в отсутствии цивилизованности, и прочий арсенал штампов, не обновлявшийся с времён холодной войны. То ли дело США, там выходки разбушевавшегося Трампа проходят под рубрикой “Эксцентричность миллиардера”, и все мило улыбаются. Своё, как известно, не воняет. | 0 |
Okay, that’s a lie, I LOVE to say I told you so — and especially when it’s bad news about Twitter. Today’s quarterly release from Twitter was incredibly grim. The only thing worse than their fourth quarter performance is their future outlook. This doesn’t come as any surprise to my regular readers, who will recall that I declared Twitter to be in rigor mortis at the end of 2016. This death spiral kicked off when I was unjustly banned by Twitter just before I hosted a Gays for Trump party at the RNC. Far from shutting me up, Twitter catapulted me onto television. Enjoy this CNBC clip from Cleveland. I was having a great hair day, just like every day. Maybe Twitter and the thugs of Berkeley will put their notes together and figure out that trying to shut me up just gives me a bigger platform. Fat chance! Twitter will never learn their lesson. Just this week the company has introduced new features designed to “combat abuse and harassment” which in reality translates as banning conservatives and killing fun. Bret Easton Ellis is right — if Jack Dorsey had any sense he would give me my account back and kick off all those whiny and boring professional victims like Leslie Jones and Ben Shapiro. Twitter’s management team — the few stragglers who haven’t recently quit or are planning their exit now after this dismal earnings release — think I’m the . I think that’s going too far, but I will cop to being the . Jack Dorsey has run Twitter into the ground with no signs of stopping. If Twitter had just followed my 10 suggestions to save the company, imagine the wonderful shape it would now be in! Instead we’re in the current mess. Perhaps Twitter will be the first publicly traded corporation to open a Patreon account or run a Gofundme campaign. I’m hearing rumors, and they are almost certainly just rumors given how Twitter’s investors would react to this news, that the company might be forced into the most humiliating ending of all: transformation into a . Surely not. But it would be a fitting end to a company that always cared more about lunacy than making money. Good riddance. DANGEROUS is available to now via Amazon, in hardcover and Kindle editions. And yes, MILO is reading the audiobook version himself! Follow Milo Yiannopoulos (@Nero) on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Hear him every Friday on The Milo Yiannopoulos Show. Write to Milo at milo@breitbart. com. | 1 |
LONDON — As American allies across Europe and Asia brace for President Trump, Britain stands out for the degree to which it is proceeding as if little has changed. The country, consumed with managing “Brexit” and its associated domestic political dramas, appears to have taken relatively few steps to prepare for the geopolitical earthquakes that Mr. Trump could bring to the international and European orders on which Britain relies, and that his proposals would undermine. “The people at the top of our system, whether they’re politicians or officials or journalists or think tankers like me, we’re all totally focused on Brexit,” said Charles Grant, who heads the Center for European Reform. “We haven’t thought about Trump as much as we should have. ” It is possible that Prime Minister Theresa May, by throwing in her lot with Mr. Trump, could ride out any changes to the international order. But if that approach does not succeed, it could have severe consequences both for her nation and for the world that Britain plays a role in keeping together. Mrs. May has sought to win over Mr. Trump, whom she will visit this week, just as her European counterparts are exploring more fundamental questions about American reliability. “The British debate on Trump is over very trivial stuff, like who Trump spoke to before May, and the German debate is over the future of the liberal order in the West,” said Mark Leonard, the director of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Steinmeier, the German foreign minister, wrote in a column this week for the German newspaper Bild that, with Mr. Trump’s election, “the old world of the 20th century is gone” and that Germany could confront drastic changes. François Hollande, the French president, said last month that Mr. Trump’s election “opens a period of uncertainty. ” British leaders, Mr. Leonard said, have not accepted the view, growing in other European governments, “that our prosperity and security are based on an international architecture that’s now being threatened. ” “There’s an assumption that’s all going to remain,” he continued. Since Britain’s decline from a global power in the years just after World War II, the country’s foreign policy has rested on two pillars. First is the partnership, which allows Britain to project its power and safeguard its interests globally. Second is European unity, which is essential for Britain’s economic prosperity and, by removing the diversions of European conflict, frees up Britain to act on the world stage. But both of those pillars could now be crumbling under the strain of European populism, Russian resurgence and particularly Mr. Trump’s threats to step away from Europe. Britain’s challenge is not just that each of those elements is coming under strain. Mr. Trump’s avowed opposition to the European Union has put them in direct conflict. For instance, Mr. Trump offered to reward Britain’s exit from the European Union with a speedy trade deal. But this risks encouraging more exits from the bloc and possibly its disintegration. The resulting turmoil on the Continent, which includes several top British trading partners, could risk harming Britain’s economy far more than an American trade deal would help. Mr. Trump’s proposed alignment with Russia poses a similar quandary. Germany and other leading European powers oppose such a realignment, which they fear would open the way for Russia to dominate Eastern Europe, breaking the Continent’s unity on security matters. Mrs. May remains hawkish on Russia. But it is unclear whether she would oppose Mr. Trump on the matter, particularly as she more fully ties her fate to the alliance. “If America eases up on Russia, Britain will be under heavy pressure to pick the United States, not to side with Merkel,” said Robin Niblett, the director of Chatham House, a think tank, referring to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. Mrs. May is increasingly focused on maintaining the alliance with the United States, the world’s largest economy and military power. Whereas leaders such as Ms. Merkel have responded sharply to criticism from Mr. Trump, Mrs. May has been more forgiving. For example, she overlooked Mr. Trump’s decision to meet with Nigel Farage, a former leader of the fringe U. K. Independence Party, before speaking with her. Even if Mrs. May succeeds in upholding the alliance, it is unclear that her government is preparing for the range of more seismic changes that Mr. Trump’s election and other events could bring. Jeremy Shapiro, an American and the research director for the European Council on Foreign Relations, said he had struggled to convince British officials that the old order is “eroding all around them. ” Mr. Shapiro paraphrased the “dominant” British view of Mr. Trump as, “We didn’t want him, but pressures of the presidency, checks and balances, our expert tutelage will socialize him, and it’ll be O. K. ” British hopes, he added, often rest on Senator John McCain’s persuading of Mr. Trump to drop his controversial plans and revert to traditional positions such as upholding European unity. Mr. Shapiro said he had been unable to convince British officials that Mr. McCain, whom Mr. Trump has publicly mocked, was an unlikely savior. Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of war studies at King’s College London, said there was a simple reason that British leaders never seemed to discuss their backup plan should they fail to moderate Mr. Trump. “There isn’t a Plan B,” he said. Preparing for life without American support, British leaders worry, could send the message that the United States can safely withdraw, risking exactly the outcome Britain wishes to avoid. “This has always been the problem,” Mr. Freedman said, because it leaves Britain unprepared for a situation that could be deeply destabilizing — much as it failed to prepare for Brexit. Brexit has focused attention inward, on political dramas and on the countless challenges of negotiating Britain’s exit from the European Union. “We’re going through a very solipsistic moment,” Mr. Leonard said. This has led the British to behave “as if the only independent variable is Britain leaving the E. U. and the manner in which it’s done. ” This is shaping British foreign policy in other ways. “There’s always going to be a question of whether we’re better off using our political capital to advance the international security order or to try to get a good trade deal,” Mr. Leonard said. Britain’s party politics also distract. Mrs. May is only barely holding together the governing Conservative Party, leaving her overwhelmingly focused on managing divisions that are mostly about Brexit and migration. Both she and her foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, have spent their careers focused on domestic issues. The opposition Labour Party is riven by its own divisions. Its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, tends to be skeptical toward Britain’s global role. As a result, there are no major voices in British politics who have an interest, either ideological or political, in addressing the country’s foreign policy challenges. Britons’ view of their country as a pillar of a European and world order, rooted in their experience of standing up to fascism and militarism in World War II, is also shifting. “Until quite recently, we saw ourselves as of the European order, but we don’t sort of see ourselves in that way anymore,” said Mr. Freedman, the King’s College professor. This has accelerated with the enmity toward immigration, which has focused politics inward and portrayed the outside world as something to guard against rather than to protect and uphold. That has ramifications beyond Britain. Even after Brexit, the country remains important for upholding the postwar order in Europe, where it is the largest economy after Germany and the biggest military spender after Russia. If its horizons continue to narrow, that will contribute to the Continent’s continuing fracturing on economics and opposition to Russian power. Mr. Niblett, the Chatham House chief, said he was worried Britain would become the “weak link” on European sanctions on Russia for its annexation of Crimea. “The U. K. which traditionally sees itself as upholding the spine of Europe toward Russia, is pulling itself out of that role,” Mr. Niblett said. Other European states are already preparing for the possibility that the Continent can no longer rely on Britain, Mr. Leonard said, on issues from Russia to the Iran nuclear deal to global free trade. “They don’t know if Britain’s going to be there or not,” he said. | 1 |
activists reacted immediately to Donald Trump’s choice of Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat. [“He represents an existential threat to legal abortion in the United States and must never wear the robes of a Supreme Court justice,” an online statement from NARAL read. Other organizations agreed. “Donald Trump’s nominee, Neil Gorsuch, has an alarming history of interfering with reproductive rights and health. He ruled that bosses should be able to deny women access to birth control coverage,” wrote Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards in a fundraising letter calling for supporters to donate. The organization also debuted a hashtag #NoRoeNoGo for activists to share. Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune, described Gorsuch as “more extreme than Justice Scalia. ” “Gorsuch has proven himself hostile to environmental protection, women’s rights, and the rights of workers and cannot be trusted to protect our air, our water, or our communities,” he said in a statement. Climate change alarmist group NextGen also opposed Gorsuch’s nomination in a statement from billionaire funder Tom Steyer. “In light of Trump’s despotic tendencies and Russia’s role in his election, the Senate must reject any nominee whose allegiance to our Constitution and our most fundamental rights is in doubt,” he wrote in a statement. | 1 |
Kurds decide to get on US nerves 07.11.2016 | Source: AP Photo Falah Bakir, Head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (in Iraq) Department of Foreign Relations, reported, that he had asked for military and humanitarian aid while meeting with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov. 'We asked for humanitarian aid to render support to refugees, that came to the Iraqi Kurdistan from other regions of the country, as well as from Syria,' Bakir said. The situation in the Kurdish area of Iraq has reached its critical point. Have they addressed someone else, or just Russia? Anton Mardasov, a military expert at the Institute of Innovative Development, head of the Department of the Middle Eastern conflicts , commented Pravda.Ru on the issue. The Iraqi Kurds had great relations with the Soviet Union , at the time Primakov headed the Kurdish direction. Masud Barzani (President of the Kurdish autonomy in Iraq)studied in the USSR. Thus, there are some ties. But any deliveries to the Iraqi Kurdistan require agreement with the central Iraqi government in Baghdad. For the moment it's not quite clear what the Kurds are asking for. It should be noted that there are several US military facilities in Kurdistan. What is more, huge oil industry is operating in the Iraqi Kurdistan, it means they do not have financial difficulties and can afford buying everything they need. Thus, I believe it's a political step. Maybe they'd like to get on the Americans' nerves. The situation is very difficult. So, we should cooperate and carry on a diplomatic and political dialogue, but real steps should be calculated very thoroughly. Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru | 0 |
LOL! MAD magazine designed HILARIOUS movie poster based on #PodestaEmails for Hillary’s new flick Posted at 12:55 pm on October 27, 2016 by Sam J.
Don’t think Hillary is going to find this particular poster from MAD all that funny …
but we laughed.
— MAD Magazine (@MADmagazine) October 27, 2016
Admit it, you’d go see this movie just because of the movie poster. Trending | 0 |
Hillary Clinton’s bout of pneumonia and the criticism of how little she and her opponent, Donald J. Trump, have made public about their medical histories thrust questions of transparency about health to the center of the presidential campaign this week, with both candidates promising to release more detailed records in the coming days. While the public scrutiny of modern campaigns has made speculation about the health of presidential candidates more relentless, concerns about the fitness of candidates for office have long been a hallmark of American politics, with many hopefuls trying to conceal their maladies and opponents doing their best to exploit signs of weakness. From brushing off gunshot wounds to working through paralysis, presidents, and those seeking the office, have been no strangers to challenging ailments. Here are a few of history’s most prominent examples. The revelation that Mrs. Clinton had pneumonia instantly drew comparisons to William Henry Harrison, the ninth president, whose tenure was the shortest in the country’s history. Harrison died from pneumonia, according to his doctor, in 1841, a month after delivering a inaugural address on a blustery day. Being underdressed in bad weather was blamed for causing an illness that quickly spiraled out of control. Doctors treated him with opium and other medications that proved to be useless. Historians continue to debate the true cause of Harrison’s death, and some scholars have wondered whether his history of dyspepsia, rather than pneumonia, was really to blame. According to one theory, the White House’s lack of a proper sewage system may have contaminated its water supply with pathogens that poisoned the president. _____ Mrs. Clinton’s campaign said that she had wanted to push through her pneumonia after it was diagnosed last Friday. For Douglas Brinkley, a Rice University historian, the urge to put politics before health echoed Theodore Roosevelt. In 1912, Roosevelt, a former president, was running again with the Progressive “Bull Moose” Party when he was shot in the chest before he was to deliver a speech in Milwaukee. The manuscript of the speech, which was in his coat pocket, cushioned the blow and saved his life. Gritting through the pain, he delivered a shortened version of the speech anyway, declaring, “It takes more than that to kill a bull moose. ” “He thought if he went to a hospital and seemed infirm, it would lower his chances of winning,” Mr. Brinkley said of Roosevelt, who ultimately lost the election. _____ President Woodrow Wilson had a debilitating stroke in 1919, leaving him incapacitated and raising questions about who was really running the executive branch. Scholars such as Edwin A. Weinstein, a neuropsychiatrist, spent years studying Wilson’s old correspondence to determine that he had experienced smaller strokes dating back to 1898, which might have foreshadowed his health problems later in life. Transparency was particularly problematic at the time, as Wilson’s wife, Edith, and his doctor allegedly orchestrated a to prevent the public from learning about his deteriorating condition. _____ Health was always something of a concern for Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was partly paralyzed and was vigilant about keeping his wheelchair hidden from the public. But it was when he sought his fourth term as president in 1944 that his opponents seized on his diminished strength and failing faculties in hopes of finally defeating him. Documents in Roosevelt’s presidential library show how the “whispering campaign” of his rival Thomas E. Dewey tried to paint Roosevelt as a “tired old man,” and how Roosevelt campaigned more aggressively to demonstrate that he still had vigor. Privately, Roosevelt’s doctors had warned that he had high blood pressure and was at a high risk of heart failure. In April 1945, Roosevelt collapsed and died from a cerebral hemorrhage. _____ In 1960, John F. Kennedy declared himself the “healthiest candidate for president in the country. ” But despite his youthful good looks, Kennedy was battling a variety of ailments, including Addison’s disease, an autoimmune disorder that affects the adrenal glands. Despite efforts by his family to hide the disorder, which can be pathologists who conducted his autopsy revealed in 1992 that Kennedy, who was assassinated at the age of 46, had been taking hormone replacement supplements to control the rare condition. Some suggested that he might have lost the 1960 election to Richard M. Nixon if the extent of his health problems had been known. A more extensive batch of medical records made public in 2002 showed that Kennedy also lived in considerable discomfort, taking painkillers, agents, stimulants and sleeping pills. He was also hospitalized for back and intestinal problems and had osteoporosis. _____ The oldest president ever to take office, Ronald Reagan endured an assassination attempt and the removal of cancerous polyps from his colon. Some historians have blamed the colon surgery, in 1985, for poor decisions Reagan made related to the scandal while he was recuperating. Reagan transferred power briefly to Vice President George Bush, but rushed back to work. “Reagan made a serious mistake in taking back his powers and duties,” said Robert Gilbert, an emeritus professor of political science at Northeastern University and an expert on illness in the White House. According to Mr. Gilbert, Reagan’s aides prevented people from seeing him because he was unwell, and he made decisions while hospitalized that he later did not remember. | 1 |
Climate change has increased the likelihood of torrential downpours along the Gulf Coast like those that led to deadly floods in southern Louisiana last month, scientists said Wednesday. Using historical records of rainfall and computer models that simulate climate, the researchers, including several from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, found that global warming increased the chances of such intense rains in the region by at least 40 percent. “But it’s probably much closer to a doubling of the probability” of such an event, or a 100 percent increase, said Heidi Cullen, chief scientist for Climate Central, the research organization that coordinated the study. “Climate change played a very clear and quantifiable role,” she added. A storm carrying large amounts of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico stalled over southern Louisiana in bringing several days of apocalyptic rain — up to two feet in 48 hours — that caused record flooding in Baton Rouge and elsewhere. The authorities said 13 people were killed and about 55, 000 homes and 6, 000 businesses were damaged in what is now considered the nation’s worst natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy, the storm that hit the Northeast in 2012. Gov. John Bel Edwards, who was forced to flee the flooding with his family, said damage was expected to be close to $9 billion. Climate scientists have long said that a warming atmosphere and oceans should lead to more intense and frequent rainstorms, because there will be greater evaporation, and warmer air holds more moisture. But until recent years most scientists have said it was not possible to link any single event to climate change. That is changing with the development of attribution studies, which use statistical analysis and climate modeling to compare the likelihood of an event occurring before industrialization, when there were essentially no emissions, and now, when the world is putting tens of billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air each year. Normally such studies can take months, largely because of the computer time required to run climate simulations. But the Louisiana study is the latest “ ” research intended to determine the effect, if any, of climate change as close to the event as possible, to help inform policy makers and the public. To speed the research, World Weather Attribution, the research team that conducted this study, used models that have already been run. They were developed by NOAA scientists at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N. J. and are sophisticated enough to capture the many different elements that contribute to weather in the Gulf Coast region, said Karin van der Wiel, a research associate at the laboratory. “Hurricanes, frontal systems, thunderstorms — there are so many different ways to get a lot of precipitation” in the region, Dr. van der Wiel said. “It’s very important that the models realistically represent the weather. ” World Weather Attribution has conducted several similar studies in the past two years, including one earlier this year that linked floods in France in April to climate change. But the Louisiana study was the most difficult one yet because of the many factors involved for the Gulf Coast, said Geert Jan van Oldenborgh, a member of the team from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. This was the first time that NOAA has participated in a rapid attribution study. Monica Allen, a NOAA spokeswoman, said the agency would consider taking part in future studies. “Researchers, communities and businesses alike see the value in these analyses,” she said. “They help us grapple with what has happened and strengthen our ability to stay resilient to future events. ” Barry D. Keim, Louisiana’s state climatologist and a professor at Louisiana State University, said that while he was not familiar with World Weather Attribution’s methods, “I’m just not convinced that we can attribute any single event to climate change. ” Nonetheless, he said, “there are some general consistencies between this event and climate change. ” | 1 |
LONDON — Edward Enninful, the creative and fashion director of the American magazine W, is set to replace Alexandra Shulman as editor in chief of British Vogue, its parent company, Condé Nast, confirmed on Monday. The first man and the first black editor to take the helm of Britain’s most powerful fashion publication in its history, Mr. Enninful will begin his new role Aug. 1. A top stylist and acclaimed fashion director who migrated to Britain from Ghana as a child, the Mr. Enninful is known for his cheerful demeanor, his legendary fashion covers and for having an army of loyal fans in and out of the fashion business. He received an Order of the British Empire in June for his services to diversity in the fashion industry. Condé Nast’s international chairman and chief executive, Jonathan Newhouse, called Mr. Enninful “an influential figure in the communities of fashion, Hollywood and music which shape the cultural zeitgeist,” and added that “by virtue of his talent and experience, Edward is supremely prepared to assume the responsibility of British Vogue. ” The appointment comes three months after Mr. Newhouse named another man, Emanuele Farneti, to the helm of Italian Vogue, following the death of Franca Sozzani. Mr. Enninful was an unexpected choice. Here are four things to know ahead of his arrival at British Vogue’s headquarters in Hanover Square: Born in Ghana, Mr. Enninful was raised by his seamstress mother in the Ladbroke Grove area of London, alongside five siblings. At 16, he became a model for the British magazine after being scouted while traveling on the Tube, London’s subway system. He has called modeling his “baptism into fashion. ” By 17, he was assisting on photography shoots for the publication with the stylists Simon Foxton and Beth Summers. In 1991, at 18, he took over from Ms. Summers as fashion editor, making him one of the leaders of a major fashion publication. He also obtained a degree from Goldsmiths, University of London. After two decades at Mr. Enninful worked for Italian Vogue, American Vogue and most recently W, where he was credited with bringing a more conceptualized, quirky and aesthetic, buoying declining advertiser interest in the magazine. Mr. Enninful was a driving force behind the “grunge” movement of the 1990s, and he became a contributing editor to Italian Vogue in 1998. He spearheaded the magazine’s “Black Issue,” declaring his intention to end the “ that dominates the catwalks and magazines. ” The issue was so successful that Condé Nast printed an extra 40, 000 copies. Another notable shoot depicted Linda Evangelista in Chanel, her face wrapped in bandages, as if she’d just had plastic surgery. Outside his editorial work, Mr. Enninful has guided many of the biggest fashion brands on their advertising campaigns, including Giorgio Armani, Christian Dior, Dolce Gabbana, Mulberry, Valentino, Calvin Klein, Fendi, Gucci, Hugo Boss and Missoni. In 2014, Mr. Enninful received the Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator at the British Fashion Awards. The prize commemorates a stylist, makeup artist, photographer, art director or producer for outstanding contributions to the sector. There are few individuals as supremely well connected as Mr. Enninful, who rose through the ranks alongside peers such as the makeup artist Pat McGrath, the photographer Mario Testino and the supermodels Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. His Rolodex extends far beyond the realms of fashion: His social media accounts groan under the weight of regular congratulations and mutual proclamations of adoration by celebrities including Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Pharrell. His Twitter profile depicts him standing with Michelle Obama. He is generally known to be gracious and friendly, characteristics that are not traditionally associated with the fashion industry’s uppermost echelons. Although there are a handful of notable exceptions, the fashion industry has a dearth of black power players, and that had been a source of immense frustration for Mr. Enninful, who has made a considerable effort to improve things. He has made headlines with accusations of racism, including after he was assigned to sit in the second row at a couture show in Paris in 2013 when white “counterparts” were in the first. Last year, he wore an Alexander McQueen suit and a Turnbull Asser shirt to the ceremony for his O. B. E. awarded as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s annual birthday honors, for his services to diversify the sector. He brought along his family, and his close friend Naomi Campbell to Buckingham Palace and described the moment as “one of my proudest. ” “If you had told my self that this would one day be possible, He wouldn’t have believed you,” he wrote on Instagram. He celebrated at the private Mark’s Club in the Mayfair neighborhood. With his appointment at British Vogue, Mr. Enninful will be the first nonwhite man to edit a mainstream women’s fashion magazine. | 1 |
Conservative Tribune
Voters don’t typically think much about the voting machines they’re using, but this election season, what kind of voting machine used might end up being critical in how the election turns out.
That’s because Smartmatic, a U.K.-based technology company that provides voting machines to countries around the world, has deep connections to leftist billionaire George Soros .
Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, the chairman of Smartmatic, is on the board of Soros’ Open Society Foundations . He was the former vice chairman of Soros’ Investment Funds and the deputy secretary general of the United Nations when he worked as Kofi Annan’s chief of staff.
Malloch-Brown has also worked with consulting firms that have ties to Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and husband, Bill. He was an international partner with the Sawyer-Miller consulting firm, and he was also a senior adviser to FTI Consulting, which handled communications under contract for Bill Clinton’s 1992 run for the presidency.
Top Clinton adviser Mandy Grunwald is a Sawyer-Miller alum. Grunwald was in charge of the firm’s communication contract for former President Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential run. She also headed up communications for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid.
Jackson Dunn, senior managing director with FTI Consulting, worked as an aide to both Bill Clinton and Hilllary Clinton.
Those are troubling connections.
Smartmatic claimed it had provided 15 states and the District of Columbia with voting machines: Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. So be on the lookout for signs that your precinct is using Smartmatic products.
Smartmatic’s website included a graphic describing how the company has contributed to U.S. elections from 2006 to 2015 with “57,000 voting and counting machines deployed” and “35 million voters
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By Brandon Turbeville Anti-fluoridation activists in Georgia received a major boost of support when former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under Jimmy Carter, Andrew Young, sent a letter to... | 0 |
Esteban Santiago Ruiz, the gunman who killed five and injured six in Fort Lauderdale Airport last week, had previously booked a flight to New York on December 31, but he canceled the flight and flew to Florida instead. [ABC News cites law enforcement authorities confirming that Santiago bought a ticket to New York City for New Year’s Eve. They do not have a clear reason why he decided to change his trip, though they suspect that “the highly visible presence of NYPD officers throughout the city on New Year’s Eve could have been an effective deterrent. ” There is no evidence that Santiago went beyond buying the plane ticket, such as arranging for lodging. He did not appear to book lodging in Florida, either, though he has family in the area. Older brother Bryan Santiago told the Orlando that Esteban Santiago has a in Naples, Florida, due west of Fort Lauderdale, and that the two had spoken shortly before the attack. “He called my older brother, and my brother told him ‘Come to Naples anytime you want. There is always a place for you to stay with me,’” Bryan Santiago said. The FBI has yet to confirm a motive for Santiago’s attack. On Saturday, the FBI special agent in charge of the investigation, George Piro, told reporters that they had not found any evidence that Santiago had been consuming jihadist content on social media. “We’re looking over all of his social media, things like that. It’s giving us a picture of the individual, but it’s way too early for us to rule out anything,” Piro said. Santiago had mentioned the Islamic State to authorities before the attack, however. In November, Santiago visited the FBI offices in Anchorage, Alaska, where he had been living, to declare that the U. S. government was forcing him to watch Islamic State videos and fight for the Islamic State. The FBI confiscated his registered firearm and, after a psychological evaluation, eventually returned it. Police have not confirmed whether this weapon was the one used in the attack. Aside from the Islamic State references to the FBI, few leads appear to indicate that Santiago was a radicalized terrorist. Alaska’s only mosque, the Islamic Community Center of Alaska, told the Miami Herald it has “no connection with this guy whatsoever,” and no witnesses have claimed Santiago ever attended the mosque or spoke of Islam to them. Bryan Santiago told the Santiago has “never been a Muslim. He’s always been a Christian,” and that the keffiyeh scarf he is seen wearing in a photo circulating online was a “souvenir he bought in Iraq when he was serving in the military. ” Bryan Santiago did confirm that his brother had confided in him about his concerns regarding the CIA. “He started talking to me, you know, that he’s seeing … weird things, that he’s hearing voices, that the government is using him … that the CIA is sending him secret codes to his laptop, and that he don’t want to do that. ” Bryan Santiago said he told his brother to “go to the church or to psychologist or something. ” Santiago served nearly a decade in the U. S. armed forces, first in the Puerto Rico National Guard and then the Alaska National Guard. He was deployed to Iraq in 2010, reportedly diffusing improvised explosive devices, and two of his company were killed in that deployment. Multiple relatives have told various news outlets that his deployment to Iraq appeared to change him. Michelle Quiñones told ABC News that Santiago sought help from the Department of Veterans Affairs following his return from Iraq in 2011. “We had let veterans know that he was having some mental problems, that he wasn’t feeling alright and they did nothing,” she asserted. Santiago is facing the death penalty for the mass murder he allegedly committed on Friday, and is currently being held on suicide watch. With no more than $10 in his bank accounts, Santiago cannot afford a lawyer, and the government has provided public legal counsel. His family hopes to save him from capital punishment given years of apparent mental illness. “We are struggling to prove that he had mental problems, that he communicated them and asked authorities for help, and due to that these criminal charges are not viable,” Brian Santiago told the Primera Hora. The mayor of the Santiago family hometown of Peñuelas, Puerto Rico, Walter Torres Maldonado, has offered financial aid to the family should they seek to travel to Florida, as well as psychological counseling should they need it. | 1 |
Islamic State jihadis fighting to establish a caliphate in Marawi, the Philippines’ only “Islamic city,” released a video this week showing the complete destruction of the city’s St. Mary’s Cathedral. [Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists affiliated with the local jihadi outfits, Maute group and Abu Sayyaf, overran the city in May, taking Christians hostage, killing anyone who could not recite Quranic verses, and flying the Islamic State flag over the city’s mosques. President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a martial law period over the entire island of Mindanao, where Marawi is located, and has launched an airstrike offensive against the terrorists. Philippine authorities believe that many of those fighting in Marawi are not indigenous jihadis but foreigners who have traveled to the Philippines to help establish an ISIS caliphate there. ISIS’s Amaq News Agency has helped bolster this belief by releasing two propaganda videos from Marawi. The latest, released this week, shows ISIS jihadis within St. Mary’s Cathedral. Shot in a style similar to videos that showed the destruction of the Mosul Museum in Iraq, the terrorists tore down all the statues within the Roman Catholic church, breaking them apart with hammers and stomping on them. They took down the large cross that adorns the church, as well as trampling the baby Jesus and tearing apart a photo of Pope Benedict XVI. The terrorists then set the building on fire: “That is blasphemy! It’s unacceptable. It’s obvious that their actions are really out of this world. It’s demonic,” Bishop Edwin de la Peña of Marawi said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, according to the Philippine Inquirer. “We are angered by what happened. Our faith has really been trampled on. ” De la Peña had previously confirmed the abduction of Vicar General Father Teresito Soganub, along with a number of other church officials and believers in the church at the time. “It happened in fact on the eve of Mary’s feast: we ask her for help” because “only she can come to our aid,” de la Pena said in a statement. “We also make an appeal to Pope Francis to pray for us and to ask the terrorists to release the hostages, in the name of our common humanity. ” The terrorists featured Soganub in a video released last week, in which the priest stands before a pile of rubble and implores Duterte to cease the airstrike campaign against ISIS or they will kill all the hostages. Following the release of that video, Amaq published another short film showing terrorists fighting on the streets of Marawi, greeting each other with “Allahu akbar. ” The Inquirer notes that some of those seen in the latest video appear to be teens and young adults, fitting the profiles of the terrorists that eyewitnesses have provided the media. Philippine police and military officers tell reporters their intelligence suggests that they have no plans of fleeing and have stockpiled weapons and food in the city, expecting an extended battle. “There are underground tunnels and basements that even a (bomb) cannot destroy,” Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez, head of the military command in Western Mindanao, told the BBC. While the struggle to liberate the city of its ISIS presence continues, police announced one major breakthrough on Tuesday: the arrest of senior leaders of the Maute group who had attempted to flee to Davao, the Mindanao city where President Rodrigo Duterte governed as mayor for 22 years and continues to call home. Among those arrested was Cayamora Maute, the father of the Maute brothers who gave the terrorist group its name. Duterte is now offering a five million peso ($101, 040. 75) reward for each of the Maute brothers, Abdullah and Omar, the leaders of the local terrorist group. The government is also offering twice that for the capture of Isnilon Hapilon, the head of Abu Sayyaf. The United States has also placed a $5 million bounty on Hapilon. Both Maute and Abu Sayyaf have pledged allegiance to ISIS caliph Abu Bakr and appear to be working together in Marawi. One Islamist group that has not joined forces with the ISIS affiliates, however, is the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and its affiliate, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Both are Muslim separatist groups that have supported Duterte since his presidential candidacy was announced, largely due to his regard for Muslims in the nation’s south. The MNLF has offered to fight alongside the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against ISIS. The MILF has called for the release of Father Soganub, citing his efforts to foster interfaith trust. | 1 |
Wayne MADSEN | 11.11.2016 | WORLD The Clintons and Soros launch America’s Purple Revolution Defeated Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is not about to «go quietly into that good night». On the morning after her surprising and unanticipated defeat at the hands of Republican Party upstart Donald Trump, Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, entered the ball room of the art-deco New Yorker hotel in midtown Manhattan and were both adorned in purple attire. The press immediately noticed the color and asked what it represented. Clinton spokespeople claimed it was to represent the coming together of Democratic «Blue America» and Republican «Red America» into a united purple blend. This statement was a complete ruse as is known by citizens of countries targeted in the past by the vile political operations of international hedge fund tycoon George Soros. The Clintons, who both have received millions of dollars in campaign contributions and Clinton Foundation donations from Soros, were, in fact, helping to launch Soros’s «Purple Revolution» in America. The Purple Revolution will resist all efforts by the Trump administration to push back against the globalist policies of the Clintons and soon-to-be ex-President Barack Obama. The Purple Revolution will also seek to make the Trump administration a short one through Soros-style street protests and political disruption. It is doubtful that President Trump’s aides will advise the new president to carry out a diversionary criminal investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s private email servers and other issues related to the activities of the Clinton Foundation, especially when the nation faces so many other pressing issues, including jobs, immigration, and health care. However, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said he will continue hearings in the Republican-controlled Congress on Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, and Mrs. Clinton’s aide Huma Abedin . President Trump should not allow himself to be distracted by these efforts. Chaffetz was not one of Trump’s most loyal supporters. America’s globalists and interventionists are already pushing the meme that because so many establishment and entrenched national security and military «experts» opposed Trump’s candidacy, Trump is «required» to call on them to join his administration because there are not enough such «experts» among Trump’s inner circle of advisers. Discredited neo-conservatives from George W. Bush’s White House, such as Iraq war co-conspirator Stephen Hadley, are being mentioned as someone Trump should have join his National Security Council and other senior positions. George H. W. Bush’s Secretary of State James Baker, a die-hard Bush loyalist, is also being proffered as a member of Trump’s White House team. There is absolutely no reason for Trump to seek the advice from old Republican fossils like Baker, Hadley, former Secretaries of State Rice and Powell, the lunatic former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, and others. There are plenty of Trump supporters who have a wealth of experience in foreign and national security matters, including those of African, Haitian, Hispanic, and Arab descent and who are not neocons, who can fill Trump’s senior- and middle-level positions. Trump must distance himself from sudden well-wishing neocons, adventurists, militarists, and interventionists and not permit them to infest his administration. If Mrs. Clinton had won the presidency, an article on the incoming administration would have read as follows: «Based on the militarism and foreign adventurism of her term as Secretary of State and her husband Bill Clinton’s two terms as president, the world is in store for major American military aggression on multiple fronts around the world. President-elect Hillary Clinton has made no secret of her desire to confront Russia militarily, diplomatically, and economically in the Middle East, on Russia’s very doorstep in eastern Europe, and even within the borders of the Russian Federation. Mrs. Clinton has dusted off the long-discredited ‘containment’ policy ushered into effect by Professor George F. Kennan in the aftermath of World War. Mrs. Clinton’s administration will likely promote the most strident neo-Cold Warriors of the Barack Obama administration, including Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, a personal favorite of Clinton». President-elect Trump cannot afford to permit those who are in the same web as Nuland, Hadley, Bolton, and others to join his administration where they would metastasize like an aggressive form of cancer. These individuals would not carry out Trump’s policies but seek to continue to damage America’s relations with Russia, China, Iran, Cuba, and other nations. Not only must Trump have to deal with Republican neocons trying to worm their way into his administration, but he must deal with the attempt by Soros to disrupt his presidency and the United States with a Purple Revolution No sooner had Trump been declared the 45 th president of the United States, Soros-funded political operations launched their activities to disrupt Trump during Obama’s lame-duck period and thereafter. The swiftness of the Purple Revolution is reminiscent of the speed at which protesters hit the streets of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, in two Orange Revolutions sponsored by Soros, one in 2004 and the other, ten years later, in 2014. As the Clintons were embracing purple in New York, street demonstrations, some violent, all coordinated by the Soros-funded Moveon.org and «Black Lives Matter», broke out in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Oakland, Nashville, Cleveland, Washington, Austin, Seattle, Philadelphia, Richmond, St. Paul, Kansas City, Omaha, San Francisco, and some 200 other cities across the United States. The Soros-financed Russian singing group «Pussy Riot» released on YouTube an anti-Trump music video titled «Make America Great Again». The video went «viral» on the Internet. The video, which is profane and filled with violent acts, portrays a dystopian Trump presidency. Following the George Soros/Gene Sharp script to a tee, Pussy Riot member Nadya Tolokonnikova called for anti-Trump Americans to turn their anger into art, particularly music and visual art. The use of political graffiti is a popular Sharp tactic. The street protests and anti-Trump music and art were the first phase of Soros’s Purple Revolution in America. President-elect Trump is facing a two-pronged attack by his opponents. One, led by entrenched neo-con bureaucrats, including former Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency director Michael Hayden, former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, and Bush family loyalists are seeking to call the shots on who Trump appoints to senior national security, intelligence, foreign policy, and defense positions in his administration. These neo-Cold Warriors are trying to convince Trump that he must maintain the Obama aggressiveness and militancy toward Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, and other countries. The second front arrayed against Trump is from Soros-funded political groups and media. This second line of attack is a propaganda war, utilizing hundreds of anti-Trump newspapers, web sites, and broadcasters, that will seek to undermine public confidence in the Trump administration from its outset. One of Trump’s political advertisements, released just prior to Election Day, stated that George Soros, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, and Goldman Sachs chief executive officer Lloyd Blankfein, are all part of «a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities». Soros and his minions immediately and ridiculously attacked the ad as «anti-Semitic». President Trump should be on guard against those who his campaign called out in the ad and their colleagues. Soros’s son, Alexander Soros, called on Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner, to publicly disavow Trump. Soros’s tactics not only seek to split apart nations but also families. Trump must be on guard against the current and future machinations of George Soros, including his Purple Revolution. | 0 |
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. President Obama angrily responded to a speech Monday by Donald J. Trump in which Mr. Trump appeared to broaden his proposal to bar Muslim immigrants. Mr. Obama called the Republican presidential candidate’s comments about the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. “dangerous. ” Mr. Trump’s appeal to fear breaks with the way most American political leaders have reacted to this kind of crisis, but his stance on guns may help his outreach to Democrats. _____ 2. Harrowing accounts of the attack, which left 49 people dead, continued to surface: “I look over, and he shoots the girl next to me. And I’m just there laying down and I’m thinking, ‘I’m next, I’m dead,’ ” said Angel Colon, who was shot multiple times. Doctors spoke of bleeding patients lining hospital hallways after arriving in trucks and cars, and on foot. _____ 3. The F. B. I. investigation turned to the second wife of the Orlando gunman, Omar Mateen, to determine whether she had been aware of his plot. The wife, Noor Zahi Salman, is not in custody, but indicated she had accompanied him on one trip to the club and to buy ammunition, and tried to talk him out of waging an attack, a senior law enforcement official said. _____ 4. In France, the killings of a police officer and his companion on Monday by a a assailant who swore allegiance to ISIS have raised new concerns about radicalization and the handling of people convicted of activities. The attacker was a Frenchman who was previously found guilty of aiding a group planning terrorist activities, but he was released immediately after his trial ended in 2013. _____ 5. As Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders met privately amid the largely inconsequential primary contest in the District of Columbia, the Democratic Party confirmed that Russian hackers had breached the computers of the Democratic National Committee for roughly a year. The targets included the trove of opposition research against Donald J. Trump. _____ 6. internet can be defined as a utility, a federal appeals court ruled. The decision upheld net neutrality rules by the F. C. C. that signal a shift in how the government views broadband: as a service that should be equally accessible to all Americans, rather than as a luxury. Companies are banned from blocking or slowing the delivery of internet content to consumers, and they’ve indicated they may pursue their case all the way to the Supreme Court. _____ 7. Disney is sharing the keys to the Magic Kingdom with China’s Communist Party — at least in Shanghai, where a new resort that will be four times as big as Disneyland opens on Thursday. The Disney has given the country’s government an unusual role in running the park and, in doing so, has set the pace for how other multinational companies can do business in there. _____ 8. An influential critic’s refusal to review the new “Ghostbusters” film — starring women in the lead roles — drew more than a million views on YouTube and lots of comments essentially blasting him as a misogynistic jerk. But when our writer dug deeper, he found the reviewer’s positions to be less polarizing than he expected — a reminder that, in this age of speedy public judgment, withholding expectations can be worthwhile for all parties. _____ 9. Let’s take a moment to remember the beehive — not the insect nest, but the 1960s hairstyle made possible by hair spray, and lots of it. The do’s creator, Margaret Vinci Heldt, died on Friday at 98. Ms. Heldt was an hairstyling celebrity when she created the look, which was inspired by a black hat and has never really gone away, even making it onto the heads of Beyoncé and Adele. _____ 10. Lastly, here are a couple of weasels ( ferrets, specifically). They might look cute, but they are also remarkable predators. Badgers, ferrets and otters are part of the mustelid family: carnivores who are capable of competing for food with much larger predators like big cats, wolves and bears. Maybe it’s time to rethink what it means to call someone a weasel. _____ Jonah Engel Bromwich contributed reporting. _____ Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s last night’s briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes. com. | 1 |
NATURE Vs. BAYER - Animals Invade Corporate HQ Share on Facebook Tweet
More than a hundred animals invaded the office of Bayer in Brussels to protest its intensive lobbying for TTIP and denounce their corporate power consolidation in acquiring Monsanto for $66 billion.
EZLN is a group of activists who are keen to reveal corporate dirty secrets by bringing nature back into those dirty offices.
"We'll point out every guilty lobby in this city so that everybody knows where and when they act" - says Sous-Colonel Orang Outan.
Something more to say ? YES : STOP TTIP ! [watch video below] | 0 |
opednews.com - Advertisement - I am a progressive who will NOT be sheeple herded into voting for HillaryClinton. The Democratic Party remains too firmly wedded to war and Wall Street. In its current condition of corrupt dependence millions of Americans will continue in worsening condition even if the Democrats win the presidency and Congress. We progressives have been marginalized by "educational" propaganda, non-exposure to negative facts and alternatives to the point where our numbers are too small to be influential. The counter -- argument, "What would happen if all of you progressives refrained from voting for Clinton and Trump won?" can not be universalized. It does not confer sufficient probability on the conclusion "I, a progressive, should vote for Clinton" for any progressive to accept it. We are just too few. Democrats have performed so poorly for millions of Americans since the first Clinton regime that it is certain we (including middle income, professionals) will continue to lose relative financial position and sufficient income for a stable life, rather than prosper, under a Clinton Administration. Stubborn, Marginalized Old Progressive License DMCA All progressives and any peace -- loving liberal democrats, even nationalist Republicans should insist, as a condition of getting our votes, that Clinton offer a stand - still cease fire unless fired upon peace truce to all opponents, Sunni and Shia, we are fighting against in person (or by aid to another local side) in all disputed lands, (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, etc.) in exchange for the same by these groups, AlQaeda, ISIS, etc. Our offer should include an embargo against our selling any more weapons to contested governments in those lands in exchange for the opponents' promise to publicly discourage any obstruct further terror attacks in western countries. These wars must stop now with a World Peace, Re-partition and Resettlement conference to follow. - Advertisement - | 0 |
Russia’s upper house approves suspension of plutonium deal with US 26 October 2016 TASS Putin submitted a draft law on suspending the agreement to the State Duma on October 3. Facebook usa , russia , conflict
The Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, unanimously approved at a plenary meeting on Wednesday a law on suspending the Russian-US plutonium disposal agreement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted a draft law on suspending the agreement between Russia and the United States on plutonium disposal to the State Duma on October 3 after signing a relevant decree.
Apart from the direct provisions on suspending the plutonium deal, the draft law lists the conditions for the possible resumption of the accords. Among them is Washington’s cancellation of the Magnitsky Act, all anti-Russian sanctions, compensating for the damage sustained by Moscow and reducing US military infrastructure in NATO countries.
First published by TASS . | 0 |
Does this piss off Conservatives, Liberals or both? Is there a way to upload this as a regular image for GLP to use? Anonymous Coward Re: Does this piss off Conservatives, Liberals or both? Page 1 09/28/16 2 09/30/16 3 08/24/12 5 "Godlike Productions" & "GLP" are registered trademarks of Zero Point Ltd. Godlike™ © 1999 - 2015 Godlikeproductions.com Page generated in 0.005s (7 queries) | 0 |
President Donald Trump’s successful appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court is a major achievement that not even his critics can deny, one that has been a tremendous credit to Trump, with no political downside. [Last week the justices concluded their final sitting of the Court’s annual term. (Supreme Court terms begin in October and go through June last week was the final week of oral arguments for October Term 2016.) It was the first sitting in over a year where the Court had its full complement of nine justices hearing cases. And this Monday saw the first set of weekly orders in which Justice Gorsuch voted on the Court’s decisions. Supreme Court appointments are a major issue in every presidential campaign. This has been especially true since 1965, when the Court began a steady line of cases that invented new constitutional rights through the doctrine of substantive due process, a doctrine universally criticized by conservatives as blatant judicial activism and a usurpation of the role of elected lawmakers. But in 2016, nominations to the High Court took on a singular importance. With the unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia — an icon of legal conservatives — the stakes for all Americans became . The Court is divided on the role of unelected judges in America’s democratic republic, and following Scalia’s death, the 2016 presidential election became in part a referendum on the Supreme Court and the meaning of U. S. Constitution. Trump responded in masterful form. He pledged to fill Scalia’s seat with a justice in the mold of Scalia. He issued a list of potential justices that included names that are favorites for conservatives. He then expanded that list to 21 with still more superstar names, including Gorsuch. The Republican nominee benefited greatly in the general election from this issue. Polls showed that 21 percent of voters said the Supreme Court was the most important factor in their vote. Those voters broke 57 to 40 for Trump, making it a issue in his favor. As president, Trump earned highest marks on his handling of the appointment. He rolled out the Gorsuch nomination with great fanfare in a East Room event. Conservative legal leaders praised Gorsuch, and even major liberal legal groups acknowledged that Gorsuch was extremely for the High Court. Gorsuch delivered a flawless performance during his hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Nonetheless, Sen. Chuck Schumer ( ) led a filibuster against Gorsuch, persuading most of his party to join him. In response, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( ) rallied his caucus to invoke the “nuclear option” to abolish Democrats’ recently invented cloture threshold for Supreme Court nominees, restoring over 200 years of Senate practice. Neil Gorsuch was sworn in as the 101st associate justice of the Supreme Court on April 10, 2017. He was, therefore, able to participate in the Court’s April sitting for the final oral arguments of the term, quickly establishing himself as an active — and humorous — addition to the bench. From first to last, every detail of Trump’s successful appointment of Gorsuch to the Supreme Court was an unmitigated victory. Even Saturday Night Live could not deny that reality. In a recent skit where SNL mocked the president, Trump impersonator Alec Baldwin asks the actor portraying Vice President Mike Pence for a list of everything the president had accomplished in his first 100 days. The VP impersonator responds with a list containing only one item: nominating Gorsuch. While the president can cite numerous accomplishments, from immigration to the Keystone pipeline, to restoring state control over education, to rolling back burdensome regulations on business, the Left denies all those by casting them in a negative light. But as opposed as liberal groups were to Gorsuch’s bipartisan confirmation, they cannot deny it was a tremendous victory for Trump. Trump promised more than appointing a single conservative to fill a single Supreme Court vacancy his promise is to always nominate only originalists to the nation’s highest court. With growing rumors that Justice Anthony Kennedy could retire this summer — and with the virtual certainty that there will be one or two more vacancies over the next four years, regardless of whether it occurs in 2017 — the president will have ample opportunity to continue keeping his promise, and to reap the political benefits of those repeat victories. Ken Klukowski is senior legal editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @kenklukowski. | 1 |
“Pizza Party Ben,” a popular comedy account and friend of former Breitbart Senior Editor Milo Yiannopoulos, was suspended without warning on Twitter early Friday. [Attempting to view the account, which had nearly 70, 000 followers, will return users with a suspension notice, puzzling fans on the platform as to why he was removed. “This is my only post that was out of the ordinary yesterday,” claimed Ben in an email to Breitbart Tech, citing a tweet he had posted sarcastically declaring, “I’m Muslim now. ” Pizza Party Ben has previously written for Breitbart News. Several Twitter users both protested and mourned Ben’s suspension on Friday, with many pointing to the account as simply the next victim of the platform’s suspension rate for conservatives, libertarians, and free speech activists. Good morning to everyone except whoever suspended this patriot pic. twitter. — Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 31, 2017, Come back @PizzaPartyBen! pic. twitter. — Mike Cernovich 🇺🇸 (@Cernovich) March 31, 2017, Our President can get @PizzaPartyBen’s Twitter account restored. @realDonaldTrump @POTUS > #FreePPB, a loyal subject, an innocent jokester. — MILO Magazine (@MiloWear1A) March 31, 2017, . @PizzaPartyBen did nothing wrong #FreePizzaPartyBen #FreePPB pic. twitter. — David Hirst (@d_hirsty) March 31, 2017, @Jack banned @PizzaPartyBen because Ben became a Muslim l! You’re a bigot, Jack! — DJ ALASKANBASED3X (@AlaskanBased) March 31, 2017, ICE finally got him. @PizzaPartyBen, — Mitch (@kitchmamps) March 31, 2017, PizzaPartyBen suspended pic. twitter. — Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) March 31, 2017, Today we are all @PizzaPartyBen pic. twitter. — Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) March 31, 2017, The Republic of Kekistan demands freedom for the POW @PizzaPartyBen, — Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) March 31, 2017, Pay respects to @PizzaPartyBen fallen veteran of the Great Meme War. #kek #Kekistan #MAGA #PizzaPartyBen #FreeBen pic. twitter. — Dan 🇺🇸 (@DanSlovakdijock) March 31, 2017, . @PizzaPartyBen converts to Islam, gets a lifetime ban hours later. Coincidence? I think not! pic. twitter. — The Swog Blog (@TheSwogBlog) March 31, 2017, “Twitter suspending @PizzaPartyBen for literally no reason is almost as sad as site owned by Saudi Arabia claiming to promote free speech,” posted one account. Twitter suspending @PizzaPartyBen for literally no reason is almost as sad as site owned by Saudi Arabia claiming to promote free speech. — God Emperor Trump (@realGETrump) March 31, 2017, “Why are pedophiles on here but you suspend my friend?” asked another user, tagging Twitter CEO and activist Jack Dorsey in the post. I want my @PizzaPartyBen back! !! @jack @Twitter why did you suspend him? Why are pedophiles on here but you suspend my friend? — Saltwater ❤️ P (@SWFLBeachBabe) March 31, 2017, Pizza Party Ben joins a long list of prominent conservatives and libertarians who have been suspended on Twitter, including Milo Yiannopoulos, rapper Azealia Banks, pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli, DNC hacker Guccifer 2. 0, a Saudi women’s rights group, a game developer who criticized Islam, another game developer who called for mosque surveillance, a conservative lawyer, and even Twitter’s free competitor, Gab. Breitbart Tech reached out Twitter regarding the suspension but have yet to receive a response. Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook. | 1 |
Idiocracy is upon us.
A young man wearing virtual reality headset seemingly forgets that he is indeed standing in a store, and while climbing a virtual tree, he not only falls in the game, but immediately takes a face plant into the ground.
As he begins to pick himself up off the ground, the attendant at the virtual reality station walked over to him, unable to hold back laughter, and asked, “Are you okay?”
Another person asked from behind the camera, “Do you want to keep going?”
Personally, I’m not sure he’s ready. Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
We encourage you to share and republish our reports, analyses, breaking news and videos ( Click for details ).
Contributed by Ryan Banister of The Daily Sheeple . | 0 |
November 2, 2016 555 Russian and Turkish military chiefs meet in Moscow today as Russia publicly demands withdrawal of all Jihadis from Aleppo. Share on Facebook Following the failure of the Al-Qaeda attempt to break the siege of the Jihadi held district of Aleppo, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is giving the Jihadis in eastern Aleppo what is effectively an ultimatum. The terms of this ultimatum have been set out by General Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the Russian military’s General Staff: “Taking into account that our American colleagues are incapable of separating the opposition from terrorists, we appeal to all the leaders of armed groups directly to stop combat actions and leave Aleppo with their arms.” (bold italics added) To this end two corridors have been opened to enable the Jihadis to retreat, one heading towards the Turkish border, and the other heading to the Al-Qaeda controlled western Syrian city of Idlib. In addition there are a further six humanitarian corridors for civilians to use if they want to leave. Gerasimov is currently engaged in meetings in Moscow with General Hulusi Akar , the Chief of the Turkish military’s General Staff, who is currently visiting him in Moscow. Having despaired of getting the US to separate Al-Qaeda/Jabhat Al-Nusra from the other Jihadis in Aleppo, and getting them to withdraw, it is likely the Russians are trying to agree the same thing with the Turks. Indeed Gerasimov’s comments today essentially say as much. Given that the Jihadis fighting in Syria totally depend on Turkey for their supplies, if the Turkish leadership tells them to quit eastern Aleppo there is a possibility that they may finally accept that the game is up and heed the call. The same thing has after all recently happened in other Syrian towns and cities, including in the formerly Jihadi controlled suburbs of Damascus. Note that Putin’s ultimatum is phrased differently from the way it was before. The Kerry-Lavrov agreement of 9th September 2016 offered the non Al-Qaeda Jihadis the option of staying in eastern Aleppo after they had separated themselves from Al-Qaeda/Jabhat Al-Nusra, who the agreement implicitly required to leave. In the subsequent discussions in the UN Security Council that took place around the proposed French Resolution, the Russians made it clear that the Al-Qaeda/Jabhat Al-Nusra was required to leave, and this was the demand the UN envoy Staffan de Mistura supposedly supported, though as I have discussed previously the terms under which he did it actually nullified it. Now Putin through Gerasimov is demanding that all Jihadi fighters in eastern Aleppo leave, irrespective of whether they belong to Al-Qaeda/Jabhat Al-Nusra or not. In other words over the course of the autumn, as the US has hesitated and reneged on its promises, the Russians have quietly raised their demands. They now want Aleppo totally rid of Jihadi fighters and handed over entirely to the Syrian government. This was surely the Russian objective all along, but it has now been made clear. As to what happens if the Jihadi fighters in eastern Aleppo reject this demand, Gerasimov pointed it out to them : “The militants’ efforts to break loose from the city have failed. The terrorists have suffered huge losses in manpower, weapons and equipment. They are unable to pull out of the city.” In other words the Jihadis in eastern Aleppo are trapped with no way out and no-one is coming to their rescue. According to RT’s Arabic service (as reported by the Iranian news agency Fars) the Jihadis have themselves admitted that they suffered casualties (dead and wounded) numbering between 2,200 and 2,500 men in their failed attempt to break the siege of eastern Aleppo over the last few days. Meanwhile the Syrian aligned Al-Masdar news agency is reporting that it has been told by a Syrian army source that following the deployment of elite and Special Forces troops to Aleppo, if the Syrian army returns to the offensive “unlike the previous offensives in Aleppo City, this assault will not be halted for any reason.” Gerasimov is reported to have said that the ceasefire to enable the Jihadis to retreat from Aleppo will take effect at 9:00 am local time on Friday 4th November 2016, and will expires at 7 pm on the same day. However if the Jihadis agree to leave Aleppo and take actual steps to do so, that period will presumably be extended. Much will probably depend on the outcome of the talks General Gerasimov is having with General Hulusi Akar today. | 0 |
We Are Change
Senator Bernie Sanders is demanding President Barack Obama stand by his commitment to curb climate change by stopping the Dakota pipeline.
In a statement issued on his official U.S. Senate website , Sanders — who garnered over 11 million votes in the Democratic presidential primary — asked Obama to halt construction of the pipeline until federal officials properly conduct a cultural and environmental review.
“It is deeply distressing to me that the federal government is putting the profits of the oil industry ahead of the treaty and sovereign rights of Native American communities,” Sanders wrote. “Mr. President, you took a bold and principled stand against the Keystone pipeline – I ask you to take a similar stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline.”
“To my mind, the [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] should have never approved this project on an expedited process in the first place,” he continued.
The Vermont senator also called on the president to send federal observers to the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site to ensure the protection of First Amendment rights for Native Americans fighting for their sovereign land and water.
“I urge you to take all appropriate measures to protect the safety of the Native Americans[ sic ] protesters and their supporters who have gathered peacefully to oppose the construction of the pipeline,” Sanders stated. Sanders also reiterated the necessity of preserving the environment, and pointed out the pipeline’s potentially hazardous effect on the climate.
“According to one report, burning the oil transported through the pipeline would produce carbon emissions equivalent to 21 million cars or 30 coal plants,” Sanders wrote. “If we have any hope of avoiding the worst consequences of climate change, we should not be building new oil pipelines that lock us into burning fossil fuels for generations to come.”
The letter comes on the heels of state and local law enforcement, along with national guardsmen and private security forces brutalizing indigenous water protectors on Thursday. Videos widely circulated on social media showed law enforcement officers using pepper spray and LRAD sound cannons on Standing Rock protesters. Approximately 140 water protectors engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience were arrested by police in riot gear following the confrontation.
Click here to read Sanders’ full letter.
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GENEVA (AP) — The State Department says the United States is boycotting a session at the U. N. Human Rights Council that focuses on Palestine and other Arab occupied territories, saying it is biased against Israel. [State Department spokesman Mark Toner in a statement took aim at a recurring agenda item at the council, which focuses on Israel and the Palestinian territories — the only one of its kind to focus on a single country at every HRC session. It was taking place Monday. Toner also said the United States would vote against every resolution that might be put forward under the agenda item. Earlier, the U. N.’s special rapporteur on rights in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, Michael Lynk, decried how “illegal settlement enterprise has moved at an alarming pace” this year. | 1 |
All Governments Lie | 0 |
Archives Michael On Television If Hillary Clinton Is Charged With Obstruction Of Justice She Could Go To Prison For 20 Years By Michael Snyder, on October 30th, 2016
In the world of politics, the cover-up is often worse than the original crime. It was his role in the Watergate cover-up that took down Richard Nixon, and now Hillary Clinton’s cover-up of her email scandal could send her to prison for a very, very long time. When news broke that the FBI has renewed its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, it sent shockwaves throughout the political world . But this time around, we aren’t just talking about an investigation into the mishandling of classified documents. I haven’t heard anyone talking about this, but if the FBI discovers that Hillary Clinton altered, destroyed or concealed any emails that should have been turned over to the FBI during the original investigation, she could be charged with obstruction of justice. That would immediately end her political career, and if she was found guilty it could send her to prison for the rest of her life.
I have not seen a single news report mention the phrase “obstruction of justice” yet, but I am convinced that there is a very good chance that this is where this scandal is heading. The following is the relevant part of the federal statute that deals with obstruction of justice …
Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsified, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under Title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.
If Hillary Clinton is sent to prison for 20 years, that would essentially be for the rest of her life.
I have a feeling that the FBI is going to find a great deal of evidence of obstruction of justice in Huma Abedin’s emails. But unfortunately there is not likely to be a resolution to this matter before November 8th, because according to the Wall Street Journal there are approximately 650,000 emails to search through…
As federal agents prepare to scour roughly 650,000 emails to see how many relate to a prior probe of Hillary Clinton ’s email use, the surprise disclosure that investigators were pursuing the potential new evidence lays bare building tensions inside the bureau and the Justice Department over how to investigate the Democratic presidential nominee.
Metadata found on the laptop used by former Rep. Anthony Weiner and his estranged wife Huma Abedin, a close Clinton aide, suggests there may be thousands of emails sent to or from the private server that Mrs. Clinton used while she was secretary of state, according to people familiar with the matter. It will take weeks, at a minimum, to determine whether those messages are work-related from the time Ms. Abedin served with Mrs. Clinton at the State Department; how many are duplicates of emails already reviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and whether they include either classified information or important new evidence in the Clinton email probe.
Of those 650,000 emails, an inside source told Fox News that “ at least 10,000 ” would be of interest to the investigation.
At this point, FBI officials have not even begun searching through the emails, because a search warrant has not been secured yet. The following comes from CNN …
Government lawyers haven’t yet approached Abedin’s lawyers to seek an agreement to conduct the search. Sources earlier told CNN that those discussions had begun, but the law enforcement officials now say they have not.
Either way, government lawyers plan to seek a search warrant from a judge to conduct the search of the computer, the law enforcement officials said.
But the FBI is reportedly already searching a laptop that was co-owned by Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin, and no warrant was necessary for that search because Weiner is cooperating with the FBI.
Many have been wondering why FBI Director James Comey would choose to make such a bold move just over a week until election day. Surely he had to know that this would have a dramatic impact on the election, and it is unlikely that he would have done so unless someone had already found something really big. In addition, Comey was reportedly eager to find an opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of his peers at the FBI. The following is an excerpt from a Daily Mail article that was written by Ed Klein, the author of a recently released New York Times bestseller about the Clintons entitled “ Guilty As Sin “…
‘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.
So what happens next?
In the most likely scenario, the FBI will not have time to complete the investigation and decide whether or not to charge Hillary Clinton before the election. This means that we would go into November 8th with this scandal hanging over the Clinton campaign, and that would seem to be very good news for Donald Trump.
However, it is possible that once the FBI starts searching through these emails that they could come to the conclusion very rapidly that charges against Clinton are warranted, and if that happens we could still see some sort of announcement before election day.
In the unlikely event that does happen, we could actually see Hillary Clinton forced out of the race before November 8th.
Once again, this appears to be very unlikely at this point, but it is still possible.
If Clinton was forced to step aside, the Democrats would need to come up with a new nominee, and that process would take time. In an article later today on The Most Important News I will reveal who I believe that nominee would be.
In such a scenario, the Democrats would desperately need time to get their act together, and so we could actually see Barack Obama attempt to delay or suspend the election . The legality of such a move is highly questionable, but Barack Obama has not allowed a little thing like the U.S. Constitution to stop him in the past.
This week is going to be exceedingly interesting – that is for sure.
The craziest election in modern American history just keeps getting crazier, and I have a feeling that even more twists and turns are ahead.
It sure seems ironic that Anthony Weiner is playing such a central role this late in the story, and I can’t wait to see what is in store for the season finale. October 30th, 2016 | Tags: 2016 Election , 2016 Election Delayed , 2016 Election Suspended , Anthony Weiner , Barack Obama , Clinton , Donald Trump , Election Delay , Election Delayed , Election Suspended , Hillary , Hillary Clinton , Hillary Clinton Email Scandal , Hillary Clinton FBI Email Investigation , Hillary Clinton Going To Jail , Hillary Clinton Going To Prison , Hillary Clinton Lock Her Up , Hillary Clinton's Crimes , Huma Abedin , North Carolina , Obama , Obstruction Of Justice , Trump | Category: Commentary aldownunder
If Hillary Clinton Is Charged With Obstruction Of Justice She Could Go To Prison For 20 Years
Lets hope so biglipnagger
There is no way the machine will let her go to prison. Just not gonna happen. K
Here is my prediction, one of three. 1.The FBI still decides not to fiile charges. 2. The Attorney General refuses the charges, if the FBI files them. 3. Obama pardons her, if all else fails. A corrupt Government, will never let one of their own, go to jail. Wish I still believed there was justice, in this Country. MeMadMax
Most likely kaine will be thrown on top of the woodpile.
But there is nothing that says we MUST have a democrat participating in the elections and we still have three other candidates.
In fact, if the democrats want to survive, it would behoov them to throw hillary under the bus, even disenfranchise her from the dem party instead of trying to push one of the most toxic candidates in history.
But dems havent shown one iota of reason since they got “their man” in the white house. In fact, that man took the dem party and twisted it into a monster.
All it will take is one of the higher ups to say enough is enough. If there are any higher up dems left that are not under the control of demon in the whitehouse… carlcasino
The Demon is NOT in the white house ! He is just the Soro’s sock puppet. Rob
I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope….. carlcasino
I’m giving odd’s that the Clinton Crime Cartel will skate –Again ? Any takers at 10:1 | 0 |
We are Gulag Bound / *Resisters' Log* / Weekly Featured Profile – Shane Brinton Weekly Featured Profile – Shane Brinton 35 pm by Trevor Loudon Leave a Comment 0
Shane Brinton is a Labor Representative at California Nurses Association , living in Sacramento , California .
He has been a grassroots community organizer ever since he was a teenager in Arcata , Northern California . He has been involved with The Placebo , Democracy Unlimited , the Tenants Union of Humboldt County , the Redwood Peace & Justice Center , Food Not Bombs and a number of other organizations and causes. He has also managed the campaigns of several local Progressive candidates.
In 2004, Shane Brinton , Arcata , served on the National Council of the Young Communist League USA .
A 2004 copy of the League’s Dynamic , carries a fiery anti-war speech he delivered at a peace demonstration in Eureka . In one paragraph he rails against corporate America, urging workers to rise up against their bosses saying, “It is [the CEO’s] employees, the rank and file workers, who actually produce the products and provide services that the CEO profits from.”
In 2005, Brinton was a US delegate to the communist World Festival of Youth and Students in Venezuela , with 15,000 other young people.
Later, Brinton became involved in Democratic Party politics and was elected to the state Central Committee as part of a “Progressive slate.”
In 2013, Shane Brinton was mayor of Arcata and on leaving that position worked for SEIU . Gulag-wide Bulletins from Sovereignty Unbound We respect your privacy, time, and inbox. Track us Down @GulagBound Like the Gulag There are many important matters that Gulag Bound itself is not treating on a daily basis. For that reason we suggest The Globe & Malevolence and the sites shown under "Key Links in our Chains," below. Your Daily Intelligence Brief MattSkosh on Secret Service Agents Pay a Visit to Anti-Obama Artist Sabo Tags activism Agenda 21 anti-American revolution authoritarianism Barack Hussein Obama II candidate eligibility collectivists & propaganda communisty organizations corruption crisis strategy Democrat finance & banking fraud George Soros globalism - NWO global Marxist-fascist movement government domination of resources history illegal immigration Islam Islamism jihad jihadism Israel kleptocracy labor unions Marxism Marxofascism Marxstream media Military Mitt Romney Obamacare health control Occupy Wall Street race-baiting/racism Republican Right of Private Property Russia Sovereignty Tea Party terrorism U.S. Congress U.S. Constitution U.S. Presidency (POTUS) United Nations (UN) video violence voting youth & education Sabotage What good will it do, to protect the United States of America, or our presumed interests against the aggressiveness of China, Russia, or Islam, if, partially in fear of these threats, we lose our free and independent nation to the stealth imperialism of transnational and global governance? As America threatens to shatter, we must see how a semi-covert, global, cartel collective and their NWO in the USA ("progressive" neo-Marxists and neo-fascists corporatists, updated with 21st Century techniques and technology) intentionally perpetrate this sabotage, while we patriots try to prevent it. Have a look around our camp, as we struggle to survive. - your tour guide Archives Militarization in America About DHS militarization, see the new, breakthrough analysis from James Simpson, " Police Militarization, Abuses of Power, and the Road to Impeachment " and our earlier, "Marxist President’s Military Exercises in These U.S. Cities; Yours One?"
About the trajectory of this, we must pray, communicate, keep calm, and do not become the first to engage. If it comes to it, do not even respond in kind, until after the after the first times that extreme, anti-American violence is done by them. It calls for an attitude of self sacrifice -- first cheek, second cheek, then no more.
And speak out about the potential and strategic "sense" of the Obama/NWO's DHS carrying out false flag missions of violence, blaming it on American patriots, perhaps upon our militia movements.
We are in a real war, right now (of which others and I have been trying to alert fellow Sovereign Citizens for years) and the prime war is for the minds, hearts, and wills of the American People. We are opposed by an anti-American insurrection using any means of power (see Gramsci, Frankfurt School) including government power, as they are granted that opportunity. | 0 |
The Hill remarks on the high volume of leaks from the Trump White House, to the dismay of President Trump’s allies and the delight of adversarial journalists:[Barely a day goes by without some unusual tale emerging from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Recent examples in a single New York Times story included the assertion that White House aides have held meetings in the dark because they can’t figure out how the lights work and that the president is fond of watching television alone in his bathrobe. Trump took to Twitter to assert that the Times “writes total fiction” about him, while White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted that the president does not even own a bathrobe. More serious matters have been leaked as well, such as descriptions of Trump’s call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Trump apparently said a U. S. deal on refugees, agreed to by President Obama, was “the worst deal ever,” and told Turnbull their conversation was “the worst call by far” among several he had held with world leaders that day. “There have been a ton of leaks. It seems that everyone has their own leaking apparatus,” said one of the dismayed Trump allies. “I don’t know how it affects morale, but it is certainly a distraction. They have 55 firehoses aimed at them. Enough of the palace intrigue!” The Hill reports on speculation the leaks are part of a struggle for supremacy between White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and strategist Steve Bannon (formerly of Breitbart News). “Insiders” shot this theory down as an “oversimplification,” arguing that Priebus and Bannon get along much better than the press tends to portray them. Another theory is that knives are coming out for White House press secretary Sean Spicer, whose friends are presumably pushing back to protect him. The Huffington Post proposes that the leaks are coming from veteran officials who are “alarmed by the president’s conduct,” because while some of the leaks are “based on opposition to his policies,” many others “appear motivated by a belief that Trump’s words, deeds, and Tweets pose a genuine threat. ” Actively sabotaging an administration one is supposedly concerned about would be a remarkably selfish and even dangerous strategy, which makes it entirely plausible for Washington lifers. The Huffington Post implies that “widespread leaks and warnings from the national security establishment” over Steve Bannon’s membership in the National Security Council might have played a role in the Yemen raid that went wrong on January 29th. The American people should feel no sense of appreciation or gratitude for those who put American troops in jeopardy and harm our national interests because they want leverage over the president. CNBC cites the advent of an encrypted messaging platform called SecureDrop during the 2016 election cycle, plus the increasing use of various other secure communication systems, as one reason for the high volume of leaks. “It’s hard to name a news organization that has not gotten in touch with us about installing SecureDrop in the past six weeks,” Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said of his organization’s popular tool. He said he thought “general fear that Trump could turn the U. S.’ surveillance on the press” combined with “unrest” in the administration was driving interest in SecureDrop. That’s an interesting contrast with how the press managed only a few days of outrage after President Barack Obama really did turn government surveillance systems on them. “I don’t think it’s impossible that a combination of leaks, and whistleblowers and investigative journalism eventually lead to the downfall of Trump,” Timm added. There might be some manufactured drama in all that talk of encrypted communications. As Randy Evans of the Republican National Committee pointed out to the Huffington Post, leakers aren’t usually caught by wiretapping or email monitoring. The preferred method is the “ test,” in which bits of juicy information are given to suspected leakers, and the boss watches to see which tidbits turn up in the press. President Trump himself has blamed the leaks on “Obama people” left over from the previous administration, in particular citing his leaked phone conversations with the leaders of Australia and Mexico. “It’s a disgrace that they leaked because it’s very much against our country. It’s a very dangerous thing for this country,” Trump told Fox News. | 1 |
SAN FRANCISCO — The board of Uber is confident in its chief executive, Travis Kalanick, board member Arianna Huffington said on Tuesday, providing a show of support as the embattled company seeks to repair its reputation. Ms. Huffington made her remarks in a conference call with reporters that Uber announced only hours before. During the roughly call, executives also laid out a multipart plan to get the reeling company back on track after a series of revelations about its business practices and internal unrest that have damaged its image. Of paramount importance, the company stressed, is Uber’s search for a chief operating officer to help Mr. Kalanick. In addition, Uber is overhauling its human resources department, improving its relationships with drivers, and soliciting feedback from concerned employees. The company also plans to release a report on the diversity of its work force this month, and will conclude an investigation into its workplace culture by the end of April. “The board is confident in Travis, and we are proceeding ahead with the search for the C. O. O. ,” Ms. Huffington said during the call. “Put very simply, change starts at the top. ” Because Uber rarely puts together such calls for the news media, the one on Tuesday reflects how the company is working to seize control of its image after a rough start to the year. In recent weeks, Uber’s reputation was badly damaged after a former employee published a scathing blog post detailing what she said was a history of sexual harassment and systemic issues in the company’s human resources department. Separately, Uber faced criticism for its program to deliberately deceive law enforcement using a software tool called Greyball, The New York Times reported. Mr. Kalanick, who helped found Uber in 2009, also came under fire for how he had influenced the culture of the company. After a video of Mr. Kalanick arguing with an Uber driver recently leaked on the internet, Mr. Kalanick apologized and said he would seek leadership assistance. Several executives, including president Jeff Jones, have since left the company. Mr. Kalanick was not present during the conference call. Ms. Huffington, who joined Uber’s board last year, was joined on the call by Liane Hornsey, the recently hired head of human resources, and Rachel Holt, the head of Uber’s business in the United States and Canada. In the call, Uber said it expected that Mr. Kalanick would be highly collaborative with any executive hires. Bill Gurley, a venture capitalist and longtime Uber board member, is helping to lead the executive search for the chief operating officer, as is Ms. Huffington. Asked whether Mr. Kalanick would be willing to step down if asked, Ms. Huffington said the company’s leadership has not discussed the “hypothetical” situation. “It’s clear that both Uber and the entire industry would not be where we are today without Travis,” Ms. Huffington said. Beyond providing assistance to Mr. Kalanick, Uber said it had significant work to do to repair what appears to be a culture badly damaged by infighting and harassment. Ms. Hornsey said Uber had held more than 100 “listening sessions” with employees across the company, and had set up a hotline for anonymous complaints from employees for sensitive subjects. She also noted the recent hiring of a global head of diversity, Bernard C. Coleman III. Uber plans to publish its first diversity report breaking down the gender and ethnic makeup of its work force by the end of March. Uber also is working to change its feedback system in human resources, which many current and former employees had criticized as unfair and opaque. “Too much time is spent looking backward rather than forward,” Ms. Hornsey said of the system. “We need to change it. ” A companywide investigation into Uber’s workplace practices, which is being conducted by Eric H. Holder Jr. the former United States attorney general, is expected to conclude by the end of April. Ms. Huffington said the company would honor the results of the investigation and abide by any changes recommended. Despite Uber’s culture problems, Ms. Holt said the company’s business remains healthy. Last week in the United States, riders took more trips with Uber than in any previous week, she said. “In our most mature country, we’ve grown faster in the first 10 weeks of 2017 than in the first 10 weeks of 2016,” Ms. Holt said during the call. “Looking at less mature regions like Latin America, trips were up 600 percent in February, year on year. ” Uber, which has raised billions of dollars in capital, is privately valued at close to $70 billion. Employees and investors were shaken early this year when a campaign to delete the app sprung up, following concerns that Uber was trying to capitalize on a New York taxi work stoppage. About half a million people requested deleting their Uber accounts over the course of that week, according to three people familiar with the company’s internal metrics who asked not to be named because the numbers are confidential. Those deletions have slowed drastically in recent weeks, and the company continues to add new users on a weekly basis, one of the people said. Aside from internal changes, Uber said it would continue to work on improving relationships with drivers, who are freelancers that the company does not employ . “We need to bring more humanity to the way we interact with drivers,” Ms. Holt said, noting changes in how Uber would treat rider feedback and how the company considers a driver’s history on the platform. | 1 |
Saturday, on the Fox News Channel’s “Justice,” counselor to President Trump Kellyanne Conway weighed in on former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s recent reemergence, saying it shows the Democratic Party has “no game. ” “[P]eople are annoyed [Clinton] is back in the scene. I’m actually leaning into it a little bit these days. Because … it’s a stark reminder that the Democrats [have] no game,” Conway told host Judge Jeanine Pirro. Pirro then asked who the Democratic leader was, to which Conway replied, “Is it Tom Perez, who bears the title of DNC Chair? Is it [Senator] Bernie Sanders ( ) who’s out there with his supporters booing Tom Perez? Is it Hillary Clinton, who won’t go away and saying she’s going to start a political action committee, as if people want her to revisit the campaign?” “The Democratic Party, as far as I can see, Jeanine, is just this collection of ad hoc protesters. … There’s no cohesive or coherent message. There’s no true leader,” she added. Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent | 1 |
Pope Francis said on Sunday that Christians and the Roman Catholic Church should seek forgiveness from gays for the way they had treated them. Speaking to reporters aboard a plane taking him back to Rome from Armenia, the pope also said the church should ask forgiveness for the way it has treated women, for turning a blind eye to child labor and for “blessing so many weapons” in the past. In an hourlong freewheeling conversation that has become a trademark of his international travels, Francis was asked by a reporter if he agreed with recent comments by a Roman Catholic cardinal from Germany that the church should apologize to gays and if an apology was made more urgent by the killing of 49 people at a gay club in Florida this month. Francis, looking sad, recalled church teachings that homosexuals “should not be discriminated against. ” “They should be respected, accompanied pastorally,” he said. Then he added that he thought the church should apologize not only to gay people it had offended, but also to the poor, to women who have been exploited, and to children who have been exploited by being forced to work. “It must apologize for having blessed so many weapons,” Francis added. The church teaches that gay tendencies are not sinful but that gay acts are, and that gays should try to be chaste. The pope repeated a slightly modified version of the “Who am I to judge?” comment he made about gays on the first foreign trip after his election in 2013. “The questions is: If a person who has that condition, who has good will, and who looks for God, who are we to judge?” he said. A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said that the pope’s reference to “that condition” referred not to a medical condition but to “a person in that situation. ” In Italian, the word condition can also mean situation. “We Christians have to apologize for so many things, not just for this (treatment of gays) but we must ask for forgiveness, not just apologize. Forgiveness — Lord, it is a word we forget so often,” he said. Francis has been hailed by many gay people for being the most merciful pope toward them in recent history, and conservative Catholics have criticized him for making comments that they say are ambiguous about sexual morality. He told reporters on the plane that “there are traditions in some countries, some cultures, that have a different mentality about this question (gays)” and that there were “some (gay) demonstrations that are too offensive for some. ” But he suggested that those were not grounds for discrimination or marginalization of gays. The pope did not elaborate on what he meant by seeking forgiveness for the church “having blessed so many weapons,” but it appeared to be a reference to some Catholics who have actively backed wars in the past. In other parts of the conversation, Francis said he hoped the European Union would be able to give itself another form after Britain’s vote to leave. “Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water,” he said. “Let’s try to things, to . ” | 1 |
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is weighing a military plan to directly arm Syrian Kurdish fighters combating the Islamic State, a major policy shift that could speed up the offensive against the terrorist group but also sharply escalate tensions between Turkey and the United States. The plan has been under discussion by the National Security Council staff at a moment when President Obama has directed aides to examine all proposals that could accelerate the fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Mr. Obama has told aides that he wants an offensive well underway before he leaves office that is aimed at routing the Islamic State from Raqqa, the group’s de facto capital in northern Syria. Deciding whether to arm the Syrian Kurds is a difficult decision for Mr. Obama, who is caught in the middle trying to balance the territorial and political ambitions of Turkey and the Syrian Kurds, two warring American allies that Washington needs to combat the Islamic insurgency. Directly providing weapons for the first time to the Syrian Kurds, whom American commanders view as their most effective ground partner against the Islamic State, would help build momentum for the assault on Raqqa. But arming them would also aggravate Mr. Obama’s already tense relations with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The United States and Turkey sharply disagree over Syria’s Kurdish militias, which Turkey sees as its main enemy in Syria. The plan has filtered up through the Pentagon’s Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East. It calls for providing the Syrian Kurds with small arms and ammunition, and some other supplies, for specific missions, but no heavy weapons such as antitank or antiaircraft weapons. American officials note that the proposal has not yet been presented at the administration’s highest levels for decision. White House officials declined to comment on it. The review of the military plan comes as American commanders fear that their timetable to take Raqqa was set back after Turkey recently plunged into Syria with ground forces for the first time. The Turkish offensive cut off a crucial Islamic State supply route but also rolled back the territorial gains of Kurdish militias, who despite help on the ground from American Special Operations advisers have criticized the United States for allying with Turkey. American commanders view the plan to arm the Syrian Kurds, whose population straddles the border with Turkey, as an incentive to keep them on board for the fight against the Islamic State. Asked if the recent volatile military and political situation around the border had slowed the pace for taking Raqqa, Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the head of Central Command, said last week that it might have. “We don’t necessarily control the timeline ourselves,” General Votel told a security conference here sponsored by the Institute for the Study of War. Associates of General Votel say he has expressed much greater concern in private over maintaining momentum in the fight against the Islamic State, especially if the Syrian Kurds and Turkey continue to clash with each other. General Votel said last week, “We have to play a leadership role on both sides” — Turks and Kurds — “and keep focus on the mission to defeat ISIS. ” In the past two years the Pentagon has provided small arms, ammunition and other supplies to a group acceptable to Turkey — the Syrian Arabs, a minority in the umbrella group that is fighting the Islamic State. About 350 resupply deliveries have been made by air or by land to the Syrian Arab militias, according to the American military command in Iraq. But out of deference to Turkey, the United States has not directly armed the Kurdish fighters themselves. Many analysts say the Pentagon’s support to the Syrian Arabs is basically cover for aid to the Syrian Kurds, who call the shots in the wider alliance, coordinate airstrikes with the United States, and are considered the most capable fighters. But arming the Kurds directly, even for just specific missions, would still be a significant shift practically and symbolically. “If this happened, the fig leaf would disappear and it would be a very serious, contentious issue between the two countries,” said Soner Cagaptay, a specialist on Turkey at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Five senior American officials who have been briefed on the proposal discussed it on the condition that they not be identified because the plan is still under review. They all said that any direct aid to the Kurds would be one piece of a larger strategy to defeat the Islamic State in Syria. One practical goal of the plan is to equip the Syrian Kurds after their spearheading of several fiercely fought battles against the Islamic State in the past several months, starting near Syria’s border with Iraq to, most recently, the strategically important city of Manbij, where the terrorist group had established processing centers for hundreds of newly arrived recruits. The city was also a final for more seasoned fighters heading back to Europe through Turkey. The Kurds have also recently lost one regular source of arms — the Syrian government — as a result of the political rapprochement between Turkey and Russia, and clashes between Kurds and Syrian Army troops. Politically, the aid would also seek to assuage the hard feelings the Syrian Kurds have felt toward their American allies since the Turkish offensive into Syria, American officials said. Just last week, American Special Operations forces arrived in northern Syria to work alongside Turkish troops combating the Islamic State, the Pentagon said Friday, emphasizing that the approximately three dozen Americans would serve in an “advise and assist” capacity. Turkish news outlets reported this month that Mr. Erdogan had suggested that his country was prepared to conduct a joint operation with the United States to defeat the Islamic State in Raqqa. American officials, however, have played down that discussion, and have said the United States is still trying to figure how to assemble enough ground forces to take back Raqqa. Across the border in Iraq, security forces will be ready to push into Mosul in October, the top American general said Monday. Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters traveling with him aboard a United States military aircraft that the final decision on when to retake Mosul rests with Prime Minister Haider of Iraq, according to Reuters. The general added that “our job is to actually help the Iraqis generate the forces and the support necessary for operations in Mosul, and we’ll be ready for that in October. ” | 1 |
Published on May 1, 2016 by CBS Sunday Morning There is a place in Minnesota that has the feel of small town America, but if you want to get to the Northwest Angle, travelers have to leave the U.S. and go through Canada to get there. Lee Cowan explains a geographical quirk along the northern border. Share this: | 0 |
Your phone has just become home to a tiny little collection of modern art. On Wednesday, the Museum of Modern Art announced that it had acquired the original set of 176 emoji for its permanent collection. These glyphs, designed for pagers made by the Japanese mobile provider NTT DoCoMo and released in 1999, were the first pictographs to make their way into mobile communication. It would take another decade for emoji to explode into an American phenomenon, when Apple integrated its first emoji set for the iPhone in 2011. There are now nearly 2, 000 standardized emoji. The emoji we recognize now as the slick, round yellow smiley face was just a rudimentary line drawing back then, with a little rectangular box for a mouth and two carets for eyes. Looking back at old emoji feels a bit like trying to read pictographs from an ancient civilization. But look close enough, and you’ll find tantalizing hints about the assumptions embedded in modern online communication. The original emoji, designed by Shigetaka Kurita, are each made within a grid that is just 12 pixels wide and 12 pixels long. First rendered in black and white, within a few years each emoji was painted one of six colors — black, red, orange, lilac, grass green and royal blue. Many of these symbols are illegible, their mysteries only revealed with the help of a translator. The red circle with three lines stands for “hot spring” the amorphous purple blob, perhaps fittingly, translates to “art. ” Others are stultifying in their literalness — simple digital translations of existing symbols. There are the 12 astrological signs, the four playing card suits, a “no smoking” symbol, a bathroom sign. But there are glimmers, too, of the whimsical, figurative, emotive glyphs that have come to dominate online culture. There are lots of hearts, a closed fist, a cat and a dog. One of the most compelling modern emoji — a pair of googly eyes that’s used to convey a range of meanings, from shock to conspiratorial speculation — has its roots here. And some of the simplest symbols have taken on a whole new life in a modern context: The original emoji meant to evoke a smoking sign has been retooled into a colorful, realistic rendering that resembles a real cigarette smoldering between a person’s fingers. Some early emoji take cues from manga, the Japanese graphic novel genre — a light bulb signifying an “aha” moment and a bomb with a lit fuse. But the dominant inspiration on display is corporate synergy. Many of these emoji were created not for people eager to connect but for companies hoping to reach potential customers. DoCoMo used emoji to deliver weather reports to pager users (hence the sun, lightning bolt, umbrella and snowman emoji) and direct them to local businesses the hamburger symbolized a joint, the martini stood for a bar, and the high heel indicated a clothing shop. DoCoMo also partnered on its first emoji set with the Japanese ticket seller Pia and the restaurant review company Zagat, and these old corporate deals remain baked into the DNA of internet culture. Modern smartphone keyboards still offer an emoji for the word “soon” under a right arrow, an old Pia symbol for a show that’s about to begin. MoMA’s acquisition adds the emoji set to a growing collection of digital objects, including the @ symbol and a selection of video games. When MoMA acquired the @ symbol in 2010, Paola Antonelli, the senior curator in the department of architecture and design, called it perhaps “the only truly free” object in MoMA’s collection. The addition of the @ sign “relies on the assumption that physical possession of an object as a requirement for an acquisition is no longer necessary” to the museum, she wrote. It has freed curators to “collect” objects too large to fit within the building (like, say, satellites) and works too ephemeral to hang like a painting (like emoji). This emoji set was acquired through a licensing agreement with DoCoMo that lets the museum display the images in a range of forms. Starting in December, MoMA will show the emoji in the museum lobby, in a display that incorporates both graphics and animations. Ms. Antonelli said that MoMA hopes to obtain more emoji eventually. “In a sense, what we’ve really acquired is a new communication platform,” she said. “But at the same time, the emoji themselves are ideographs, one of the most ancient ways to communicate. I love how the centuries are connected in that way. ” Emoji evoke art forms both ancient and modern, from hieroglyphics to manga. Their novelty is in how they’re deployed. As emoji are traded and spread and remixed by users, they become the medium for an collaborative art project. Emoji may have started at DoCoMo and risen to the MoMA, but they belong to everyone and to no one. | 1 |
RIO DE JANEIRO — The same shouts can be heard throughout the Summer Olympics, from table tennis and fencing to swimming and beach volleyball events: Silêncio! Shh! While every sport has its own custom for when it is appropriate to cheer and when quiet is expected, none of that applies here. The Rio Games have only just begun, but already the exuberance of local fans has collided with athletes’ and officials’ pleas for silence. “We are not used to this in table tennis,” said Galia Dvorak of Spain, who acknowledged that she had been shocked and unnerved by jeers from Brazilian fans during her match. She added, “It was just weird. ” At the Olympic Aquatics Stadium, an official twice requested silence from the crowd before a butterfly race that featured the Brazilians Daiene Dias and Daynara de Paula. Fans contained themselves just long enough for the races to start before resuming their screaming. At the beach volleyball court, fans whistled and jeered when a Canadian team served. The announcer asked them to cheer for everyone. During a men’s fencing event, raucous Brazilian fans tossed aside the sport’s typically convoluted rules of decorum — cheering is all right, but only at certain moments — as they shook the stands with continuous spasms of celebration and booed anyone who notched a point against one of their own. “It’s an incredible feeling when you enter this arena,” the Brazilian fencer Ghislain Perrier said after losing his bout. “You feel all the power of the Brazilian people. ” The fans’ presence has been most striking, though, at the table tennis arena. Outside a select few countries, the sport struggles to draw fans and generate excitement. Players in the sport value silence, which allows them to hear the way the ball bounces off an opponent’s paddle and to react more smoothly to a shot. The tenor of the match on Sunday night between Hugo Calderano of Brazil and Tang Peng of Hong Kong revealed itself before a single point was played. Calderano, 20, entered the arena like a gladiator, hearing his name bellowed in unison from the stands, and when Tang, 35, hit a shot into the net, the crowd let out an overjoyed roar of approval. On it went through the match, just like this: every time Calderano scored, an elated scream each time Tang erred, yelps of joy. In the realm of table tennis — a subtle sport often likened to chess — these were vividly unusual scenes. But such displays had been going on at the Olympic table tennis pavilion all weekend. “It’s usually a more serious sport,” Anderson Monteiro, 40, a casual table tennis fan from Rio de Janeiro, said as he watched Calderano play. “I think it’s fantastic. It’s wonderful. It’s typically Brazilian. ” Alexandre Araújo, a press officer for the Brazilian table tennis squad, tapped his chest as he explained that the fans had “come with a football heart. ” On Sunday, fans hissed when Tang prepared to serve, forcing him on one occasion to step away from the table. That made the fans boo louder. They stopped only to sing to Calderano, “Vou te apoiar, Hugo!” (“I will support you, Hugo! ”) On Saturday afternoon, while Caroline Kumahara of São Paulo was on her way to losing her match to an opponent from Luxembourg, the Brazilian fans kept their spirits up, doing the wave, rattling noisemakers and serenading her with encouragement, like “eu sou brasileiro, com muito orgulho, com muito amor!” (“I am Brazilian, with much pride, with much love! ”) “Brazilians are like this,” Kumahara said afterward. “They are always happy, always making fun of everything. This is normal for them. ” It has been highly abnormal for the players, though. On Saturday morning, Gui Lin, the other woman representing Brazil in singles, stepped away from the table at one point to motion to the stands to quiet her vocal fans — a rather extraordinary move in the wider context of sports. Gui, who said she appreciated the cheers, nevertheless seemed uneasy afterward as she described table tennis as a sport “where you have to be quiet” and the noise as a sign of disrespect. “They have to focus,” Gui said of her opponents, “and there are three other tables playing, and I thought it wasn’t right to disturb the others because of me. ” Gui’s opponent, Dvorak, blamed the crowd’s jeers for her loss in the first game. “Like in other countries, like in China, they cheer a lot, but never against the opponent,” Dvorak said. “They cheer for their players, but never making this ‘ooh’ against you. ” Noting the atypical atmosphere at his own match Saturday afternoon, Gustavo Tsuboi of São Paulo guessed that, for all their enthusiasm, most of the Brazilian fans on hand were not familiar with the customs of the sport. “It’s unusual how they react,” said Tsuboi, who said he loved the additional energy. “We are used to having events only with people who already know our sport. ” Not all were peeved. Tommy Danielsson, the Luxembourg coach, said: “I find it very nice when the audience gets involved. We need this. People can see that this is not just a hobby game you play in a garage at home. ” The atmosphere Sunday supported that assertion. The crowd grew more engrossed, and more animated, as the match entered its late stages and it seemed that Calderano, the player in the world, might produce a victory over Tang, ranked 15th. Gui had slipped into the stands before the final game, taking a seat in the second row. As she watched the final points — Tang banging away to stay alive, Calderano parrying his efforts — she rubbed her palms nervously in front of her mouth. When Calderano secured the winning point, sending the crowd into a prolonged roar, Gui jumped out of her seat and pumped her fists in the air. The fans whooped and applauded and pounded their feet, and she clapped along with them, perfectly in rhythm. | 1 |
On Friday, Kraft Heinz seemed determined to press ahead with a $143 billion takeover bid for Unilever, an ambitious campaign that would have put dozens of the names in consumer households around the world under one roof. But less than 48 hours later, Kraft Heinz’s board — including Warren E. Buffett and the billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann — decided to walk away. The alternative would have been to pursue a public and possibly costly fight against Unilever, a bulwark of British and Dutch business. Instead, the two consumer goods giants said on Sunday that Kraft Heinz had withdrawn its takeover bid after an agreement on friendly terms. As a joint statement from the companies put it, “Kraft Heinz has the utmost respect for the culture, strategy and leadership of Unilever. ” The announcement swiftly ended what had been poised to become the biggest instance of consolidation within the food and consumer goods industry, at a time when giants in the fields have been looking to combine to command more space on grocery shelves. A combination of Kraft Heinz, itself the product of a and Unilever would have sold everything from Heinz ketchup and Oscar Mayer hot dogs to Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Dove soap and Lipton tea. Kraft Heinz surprised the world when it disclosed on Friday, at the behest of the British merger regulator, that it had made a bid for Unilever. The disclosure came after a report in The Financial Times’s Alphaville blog said the two companies had held talks. Unilever quickly responded by saying that the $143 billion offer, a roughly 18 percent premium on the company’s closing stock price on Thursday, was too low and that it saw no reason to engage in talks. Kraft Heinz had approached Unilever only a few weeks before and had hoped to court its target in private, according to people with knowledge of the talks. Much of the food world had prepared for a potentially aggressive campaign by Kraft Heinz, whose backers at the Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital have long been known as swashbuckling deal makers eager to build up titans in the food and beverage industries. Along with Mr. Buffett, 3G had engineered a takeover of Heinz in 2013 and then Heinz’s merger with Kraft two years later, each in a deal. By late last year, analysts and investors were speculating that Kraft Heinz was on the hunt for yet another major acquisition, although talk at the time centered on companies like Mondelez International, the former candy business of Kraft. Unilever, with its mix of food and household goods, had not been on many analysts’ radar screens, although they said its international profile and its strength in emerging markets would have complemented Kraft Heinz’s heavy focus on the United States. Shares of Kraft Heinz jumped more than 10 percent on Friday while those of Unilever rose 15 percent, suggesting that investors in both were eager for a union. While many on Wall Street had assumed that Kraft Heinz and 3G were prepared to fight for Unilever, Kraft Heinz and its backers had little desire to wage such a battle. That stands in contrast with how InBev, the beer company, pursued Anheuser Busch in 2008: InBev was prepared to oust Anheuser’s board before agreeing to raise its offer and reach a friendly deal. Discussions among senior executives at Kraft Heinz and Unilever, as well as their advisers, underscored that Unilever was unwilling to proceed at any price. Moreover, the British government had expressed concern about the potential acquisition, citing the treatment of another British icon, Cadbury, after its takeover by Kraft in 2010, including accusations that Kraft reneged on promises to maintain hundreds of British jobs after the deal closed. The chairman of Parliament’s business committee, Iain Wright, said on Friday that “a lot of very good British companies will be subject to fire sales without taking into account their performance and quality. ” One concern was 3G’s traditional playbook of extreme down to replacing workers’ personal printers with communal ones and selling off extravagances like corporate jets. Unilever has been known for years for its commitment to environmental sustainability, although its chief executive, Paul Polman, has recently pushed for more initiatives as well. While Kraft Heinz had been prepared to make a number of concessions — including raising its offer and keeping Unilever’s headquarters in London and Rotterdam — the appetite among Mr. Buffett, Mr. Lemann and other directors for waging a fight waned, leading to the decision on Sunday morning to withdraw. That move came well ahead of a deadline set by the British takeover panel Kraft Heinz had to make a firm offer by March 17. “Kraft Heinz’s interest was made public at an extremely early stage,” Michael Mullen, a spokesman for Kraft Heinz, said in a statement. “Our intention was to proceed on a friendly basis, but it was made clear Unilever did not wish to pursue a transaction. ” Kraft Heinz has been advised by Lazard and the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton Garrison Unilever received advice from the banks Centerview Partners, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Deutsche Bank. | 1 |
WASHINGTON — In the seventh hour of questioning this week — after a practiced bit from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” but before the meditation on horses — the Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch veered, somehow, to the matter of mutton busting. Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, wanted to hear about the Denver rodeo. And Judge Gorsuch, elusive all week as Democrats have strained to pinpoint his judicial leanings, turned instantly expansive. “Mutton busting, as you know, comes sort of like bronco busting for adults,” he began on Tuesday. “You take a poor little kid, you find a sheep and you attach the one to the other and see how long they can hold on. ” He went on. “ … You know, it usually works fine when the sheep has got a lot of wool and you tell them to hold on — I tell my kids hold on you know? Really get in there, right? Get around it … ” The Democrats stared blankly. “ … Because if you sit upright, you go flying right off, right? So, you want to get in. But the problem when you get in is that you’re so locked in that you don’t want to let go, right? And so, then the poor clown has to come and knock you off the sheep. ” Judge Gorsuch smiled. “We can talk mutton busting all day,” he said. They may as well have. As Judge Gorsuch glided through the third day of his hearings on Wednesday, suffering few slips and answering no question he did not wish to, Senate Republicans were eager to assist. There is a rich tradition of Republicans and Democrats making life easier on their preferred nominees, tossing congressional pool noodles to a judge who might flounder, at least somewhat, under questioning from the other party. But this year, Republicans have elevated the practice to high art — supplying extra cushioning for a nominee who does not appear to need it and adding a measure of levity to a process that virtually all inside the Capitol agree will end with a confirmation. On matters fraught and frivolous, Senate allies have coaxed Judge Gorsuch to the safest of verbal eager to defuse Democratic lines of attack with whimsy and digressions. “Do you think your writings reflect a attitude against regulations?” Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah asked on Wednesday. “No, Senator,” the judge said. “I don’t either. ” In other moments, they have urged Judge Gorsuch to remind the public that no one, even the president, is above the law, or to make clear that his rulings in workers’ rights cases — an area of concern for Democrats — were rendered only in service of the law. More memorable were the flourishes that strayed far from judicial doctrine: “Would you tell me where your favorite fishing stream is?” “Is it true that you have been endorsed by John Elway?” “Jury duty. Have you ever been called up?” That question, from Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, earned an audible laugh from Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota. “No, I just thought it was very odd questions for this, but it’s great,” Mr. Franken said, as eyes turned his way. “I’m sorry I laughed. I just — it caught me. ” Moments later, after Judge Gorsuch’s answer (he has served) Mr. Franken chimed in again. “That was a great question,” he said flatly. “Thanks, Al,” Mr. Flake said. “Appreciate it. ” Yet it was Mr. Flake’s earlier curiosity — sparked by his teenage son, he said, and a internet meme — that attracted more attention: Would Judge Gorsuch rather fight “100 horses or one duck?” Judge Gorsuch took no position on Horse v. Duck, demonstrating his unflinching commitment to avoiding declarative statements about matters that could one day come before the court. But he did not hesitate during another exchange, with Mr. Cruz, who seemed to revel in inside jokes and winking asides during his allotted 30 minutes of questioning. “What is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything?” Mr. Cruz asked at the top of his allotted time. “” Judge Gorsuch said. (The pair explained at some length that this was a reference from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. ”) Mr. Cruz later asked about the jump shot of Justice Byron R. White, Judge Gorsuch’s legal mentor, a former football star who was also known to swing elbows on the basketball court. Then there was the rodeo. “As a Texan,” Mr. Cruz said, gazing admiringly at Judge Gorsuch for much of his testimony, “I think everyone’s life can be rendered richer by going to the rodeo. ” Mr. Franken, the next lawmaker up after the nominee’s explanation of mutton busting, wondered aloud about animal abuse laws in Colorado. But most Democrats seemed to accept their colleagues’ gambit during the proceedings, at least grudgingly. Beginning his second round of questioning on Wednesday, Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, summarized what the Judiciary Committee had learned from Republicans’ questions so far: “We know your love of and rodeos and family. ” “I know that senatorial assignment,” he added. “I’ve been there myself. ” | 1 |
Friday night, the Facebook Mark Zuckerberg went on his vast social network to convince an expanding chorus of critics — including the departing president of the United States — that he wants to combat the “fake news” that is running wild across his site and others, and turning our politics into a paranoiac fantasy come to life. “We’ve been working on this problem for a long time and we take this responsibility seriously,” he wrote. “We’ve made significant progress, but there is more work to be done,” he continued, listing various steps Facebook was taking, like making it easier to report bad information and enlisting organizations. It was heartening to hear, especially after his earlier assertion that it was “crazy” to believe that misinformation on Facebook had affected the presidential election in any real way — despite copious evidence that it was disturbingly in the mix, whether it directly swung the result or not. But as Mr. Zuckerberg went on to say that Facebook had to be careful not to mistakenly block “accurate content,” he added this: “We do not want to be arbiters of truth ourselves,” which was why he said Facebook would continue to rely on “our community and trusted third parties. ” His statement pointed up how much Facebook struggles to find the balance between its mission to be a utopia for its 1. 8 billion users and its responsibility to protect them from all that is defamatory, dangerous (like terrorist propaganda) and untrue. But more to the point, it appeared to buy into the notion that truth is relative at a time when that notion has to finally go away. Do you really need an outside arbiter to determine whether a video suggesting — without basis — that Hillary Clinton was involved in John F. Kennedy Jr. ’s fatal plane crash in 1999 should be allowed to stand? Really? Truth doesn’t need arbiters. It needs defenders. And it needs them now more than ever as the American democracy staggers into its next uncertain phase. With a mainstream news media that works hard to separate fact from fiction under economic and political threat, Facebook — which has contributed to that economic threat by gobbling up so much of the online advertising market — is going to have a special responsibility to do its part. Just imagine what things will look like if the unsavory elements that tore through the 2016 election — false narratives, fake news and aggressive efforts to delegitimize traditional journalism — come back into play as Donald J. Trump presses to enact his agenda. If the past week provided any indication of where politics are going, the next four years are going to require an effort to keep the national conversation honest. The national security adviser Mr. Trump named last week, Michael T. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, has subscribed to the conspiracy theory that Shariah law is taking root in the United States (it isn’t) contributing to his insistence that Americans have every reason to view Islam as “a threat. ” He recently used Twitter to circulate a fake news item that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was sitting on evidence from Anthony Weiner’s laptop that would “put Hillary and her crew away for life. ” Mr. Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, has falsely claimed that hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants are successfully crossing the border annually. Then there was the announcement by the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones that Mr. Trump had called to thank him and his radio and internet audience for their support in the campaign. Add to that the fact that Mr. Trump was the most prominent promoter of the false notion that President Obama wasn’t born here, and didn’t hesitate to repeat the outrageous suggestion that the father of Senator Ted Cruz was linked to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Then consider what it may look like when Mr. Trump pursues policies regarding Muslim immigrants and undocumented immigrants. It’s not so outlandish to envision Mr. Trump’s attempts to sell his plans getting a lift from the likes of Mr. Jones or a fake site out of Macedonia — perhaps claiming that Democrats are working with ISIS to use undocumented immigrants to poison local water supplies or some such. President Obama seemed to have had something like that in mind when he told reporters in Germany on Thursday, “If we are not serious about facts and what’s true and what’s not,” and “if we can’t discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems. ” Mr. Obama knows of what he speaks. He had to muddle through the first wave of this. You might remember how his health care plan was marred by a false accusation that the plan included death panels that would decide who lived and who died based on their “level of productivity to society,” as former Gov. Sarah Palin put it (on her Facebook page! ). The false “death panel” allegation was partly based on proposals to reimburse doctors for optional consultations with families over care decisions. The accusations took on such power that even Newt Gingrich signed on to the falsehood despite the fact that he had previously expressed bullish support for planning. (He explained himself in a 2009 letter to The New York Times.) News organizations, including this one, debunked the myth. But the bill’s authors stripped out the provision just the same. And by then the “death panel” fiction had negated any shot at a reasoned, ideological debate — you’re joining the Democrats’ plan to kill our infirm children and parents?! As Dan Pfeiffer, who was the president’s chief communications strategist at the time, so grimly put it to me last week, “The faux death panels were the canary in the coal mine about the coming death of truth. ” Things have advanced since then. Today’s fake news is limited only by the imaginations of its inventors and the number of shares it can garner on Facebook or Twitter. (To wit: The one million shares of the preposterous notion that Mrs. Clinton secretly sold weapons to ISIS. BuzzFeed News — which has excelled at illuminating the fake news problem — highlighted that example in its alarming analysis showing that during the campaign cycle fake news was shared among Facebook users more often than real news was.) That’s why people who care about the truth — citizens, journalists and, let’s hope, social media giants like Facebook, too — will have to come up with a solution to this informational nihilism, fast. It’s easier said than done. The combination of attacks seeking to delegitimize serious news organizations and a drop in overall trust in the news media has made many people wary of legitimate . And, as my colleague John Herrman noted last weekend, politicized voices can easily drown honest journalism all too easily on social media. There is growing talk of an ambitious journalistic collaboration to beat back the tide. Industry thinkers and leaders are coming together online to brainstorm solutions, as Jeff Jarvis, the City University of New York journalism professor, and Eli Pariser, the Upworthy have done. (Check them out online.) And I’d say it’s high time that television news — with its audiences — gets into the act with more than just token gestures at . But this much seems clear: The moment calls for some sort of hyperfactual counterinsurgency that treats every false meme as a baby Hitler to be killed in its crib with irrefutable facts. So hey, Zuck, let’s roll. | 1 |
Traffic congestion and skyrocketing housing prices have caused approximately 46 percent of the Bay Area’s millennial residents to start looking at potentially exiting the increasingly unlivable region. [The findings were part of a new poll released by the Bay Area Council on Thursday which also showed that 40 percent of Bay Area residents say they want to move away from the area over the next few years. That figure is up by 12 percent from last year’s report from the Bay Area Council which found that 34 percent of residents wanted to exit. “It turns out that we were wrong about millennial preferences, the stories were wrong that millennials wanted to live in a environment and that it would be OK to raise families in a condo,” Micah Weinberg, president of the Bay Area Council’s Economic Institute, said, according to the East Bay Times. “Millennials are putting off family formation, but when they have a family, they want what their parents had: a house on a nice lot pretty close to work. ” The council reportedly polled 1, 000 residents across nine Bay Area counties in late January for its annual survey including Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano Counties. Asked which direction those polled believe the Bay Area is going, the Council found that 42 percent believed it was going down the “wrong track,” an increase of 15 percent since 2014. The council also found that most of the people polled, 26 percent, have household incomes greater than $150, 000 annually. Breitbart News previously reported that the housing affordability crisis in the Bay Area has caused many small businesses to lose their employees as workers have been forced to leave the region for more affordable neighborhoods. Last year, in neighboring Palo Alto, a tiny shack was listed for sale at $1. 98 million. Around the same time, a rotting, wooden earthquake shack located close to San Francisco’s Mission district sold for $408, 000. Follow Adelle Nazarian on Facebook and Twitter. | 1 |
The Times of Israel reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday slammed The New York Times for publishing an opinion piece written by jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti without noting he is serving multiple life terms for the murder of Israelis. [The prime minister said that referring to Barghouti solely as a politician, as The New York Times did, would be akin to calling Syrian President Bashar Assad “a pediatrician. ” “I read, on Sunday, the article in the New York Times that presents Marwan Barghouti as a ‘parliamentarian and leader,’” said Netanyahu on a visit to the southern city of Dimona. “Calling Barghouti a leader and parliamentarian is like calling [Syrian President Bashar] Assad a pediatrician. ” Netanyahu was corrected by a member of his audience who pointed out that Assad actually trained as an ophthalmologist. The civil war in Syria has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions. Read more here. | 1 |
Orthodox Jews in black coats and skullcaps danced with Arabs in flowing robes and checkered kaffiyehs at a Hanukkah celebration over the weekend in Bahrain, a monarchy whose king has sanctioned celebrations of the Jewish holiday. Video of the celebration, which included a Jewish delegation giving a large silver menorah to Arab dignitaries and members of both groups dancing together, appeared on Monday on YouTube, where many commenters lauded the multicultural celebration. The event drew the ire of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, which called the celebration a “humiliating and disgraceful display” in a statement. “The positive energy that there was tonight needs to be spread around,” an unidentified Jewish man tells the group in English before handing over the menorah, which he called symbolic. “The symbol is that hopefully through this night we can bring infinite light to the world. ” The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that Bahraini officials hosted the Hanukkah ceremony on Saturday, the first night of the holiday, and that it was attended by members of the country’s small Jewish population, foreign businessmen and “other local Bahrainis. ” The identities of the members of either delegation could not immediately be determined, but American Orthodox Jews suggested online that the Jewish group might have been backed by Eliezer Scheiner, a businessman and philanthropist from Brooklyn. Calls to Mr. Scheiner were not answered. In 2015, King Hamad bin Isa of Bahrain invited European Jewish leaders to conduct a Hanukkah ceremony in the capital, Manama, the first such ritual performed in the country since 1948, according to the Conference of European Rabbis. “Here in Bahrain members of all the religions live with no fear, and we will continue to allow Jews to live peacefully and quietly, maintaining their lifestyle, their customs and the commandments of their religion without any fear,” the king said at the time. There are fewer than 50 Jews living in Bahrain, but the king has embraced them, adding Jews to his Shura Council, which advises him, and appointing a Jewish woman, Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo, as ambassador to the United States in 2008. She is the first Jewish ambassador posted abroad by any Arab country. In a statement, Hamas criticized the celebration in light of a recently passed United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s construction of settlements in disputed territory. “In light of the increasing pace of international sympathy for the Palestinian cause and support for the rights of the Palestinian people, and the growing international boycott of the Zionist entity movements in all forms, that a group of dignitaries and traders in the State of Bahrain hosted a Jewish, Zionist, racist, extremist delegation and danced with them is a humiliating and disgraceful display,” the group said in a statement posted on Twitter. | 1 |
Email
Julian Assange claims that Hillary Clinton’s campaign used hackers to attack WikiLeaks’ servers. WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief says that despite the Ecuadorian embassy shutting down its internet to stop accusations of interference in U.S. elections, his organisation will keep on publishing until the elections are over.
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“Everyday that you publish is a day that you have the initiative in the conflict,” Assange said via telephone at a conference in Argentina on Wednesday. Scroll Down For Video Below!
The whistleblowing website has been releasing emails from Clinton’s campaign chair, John Podesta, on a daily basis since early October. Assange claimed the release “whipped up a crazed hornet’s nest atmosphere in the Hillary Clinton campaign” leading them to attack WikiLeaks.
“They attacked our servers and attempted hacking attacks and there is an amazing ongoing campaign where state documents were put in the UN and British courts to accuse me of being both a Russian spy and a pedophile,” he added.
Ecuador’s decision to shut down his internet was described by Assange as a “strategic position” so that its “policy of non-intervention can’t be misinterpreted by actors in the US and even domestically in Ecuador.” He said he was sympathetic with Ecuador, insisting they face the dilemma of having the US interfere with their elections next year if they appear to interfere with the US elections next month. MORE: #WikiLeaks has activated contingency plans after #Assange 's internet link was intentionally cut off https://t.co/octsMseme1
— RT (@RT_com) October 17, 2016
Assange, who claimed the embassy will be without internet until the election is over to avoid accusations of interference, said he did not agree with Ecuador’s decision but did understand it. WikiLeaks will not be affected by the decision as they do not publish from Ecuador, he said.
He did, however, reject the idea that WikiLeaks is interfering with the US election, claiming, “this is not the interference of electoral process, this is the definition of electoral process – for media organizations and, in fact, everyone to publish the truth and their opinion about what is occurring. It cannot be a free and informed election unless people are free to inform.”
He also attacked US TV networks, many of whom he accused of being “controlled by Clinton supporters.“ We were fastest on #Podestaemails6 , faster than @wikileaks , and the US conspiracy machine can’t handle it https://t.co/njAae50qDd
— RT (@RT_com) October 13, 2016
The Podesta emails will make no difference to the election result, according to Assange. “I don’t think there’s any chance of Donald Trump winning the election, even with the amazing material we are publishing, because most of the media organizations are strongly aligned with Hillary Clinton,” he said.
Assange said journalists and people who work in the media are predominantly middle class and view Trump as representing “what in their mind is white trash.” | 0 |
For years, the standard knock on this economic expansion has been twofold: Growth has been slow, and big businesses and wealthy investors have been its major beneficiaries, rather than wage earners. And it has been a fair criticism. At least until recently. The growth rate is still disappointingly slow, but that second part no longer appears to be true. After all these years, the fruits of the recovery are now being delivered more broadly. While all the attention is focused on new census data confirming the change, it is actually a broad range of evidence that makes the case compelling. The most decisive evidence of improving fortunes is found in new census data released Tuesday showing that median household income rose a whopping 5. 2 percent in 2015, to around $56, 500. According to that data, incomes rose for black families, white families, Hispanic families and families. It rose for young people and in households headed by adults and older people. In short, the improvement was across the board to a remarkable degree. Those new census numbers don’t come as a complete shock. And there’s little reason to think they’re a statistical aberration. Rather, they are broadly consistent with a body of evidence that shows incomes for the mass of Americans have finally started to rise in a meaningful way. One dirty secret of economic analysis is that there is no perfect way to measure the financial of 320 million Americans. Every measurement of income is flawed in its own way. So the best we can do is look at how people are doing from a range of measures, understand the differences among them and what they show. For example, the median household income numbers released Tuesday aren’t adjusted for changes in the size of a typical household. Two individuals making $50, 000 and living separately form two households if they move in together, they form a single household. Shifts in how many people marry, divorce or cohabitate can shift the apparent median household income without changing the underlying economic of the middle class. You could look at income measures per person rather than per household, such as disposable personal income data compiled by the Commerce Department. But because that is an average, it can mask shifts in distribution. If a billionaire like Bill Gates walks into a bar, the average wealth of the people therein will be astronomical, but it doesn’t mean the typical patron can now afford to switch from drinking Miller Lite to Dom Pérignon Champagne. Flaws acknowledged, that measure has showed consistent annual real income growth since the start of 2014, and that number is up 10. 3 percent since the expansion began in . Or maybe you want to focus more on the status of wages, rather than broader measures of income. After all, it is people’s earnings from a job, rather than from a pension or investments, that reflect underlying economic conditions. One way of looking at that is the Labor Department’s data on average hourly earnings for nonsupervisory employees, a longstanding data series on what working stiffs take home in wages. It has also been rising, at around a 2. 5 percent rate before factoring in for inflation, which has been low enough to make that extra 2. 5 percent in hourly pay add up to a gain in purchasing power. Part of the story behind the good median income numbers for 2015 is that oil prices fell sharply that year, pulling down inflation and helping the income gain look higher. Or maybe you want to adjust shifts in income for things like the value of tax credits and social welfare benefits, and the value of health care and other benefits received. The Congressional Budget Office does that math — but with such long time lags that the 2013 numbers were published only recently. So how does the current economic expansion stack up according to some of the more readily available measures of income? How did Americans fare in the period from 2010 to 2015, for example, compared with the periods following the end of the previous two recessions (that would be and )? The 5. 6 percent rise in median household income from 2010 to 2015 is a great deal better than in the expansion and somewhat worse than in the recovery. Using average hourly earnings for nonsupervisory workers, the and current expansion are about the same, compared with no gain in the . Both the poorest and richest Americans did better in the 1990s but worse in the . Interestingly, that pattern reverses when looking at personal income. That measure was strongest in the perhaps reflecting strong income gains at the top of the ladder (there’s Bill Gates walking into a bar again). So the good news is that this expansion is generating stronger income growth for typical American families than they experienced in the early part of this century. The bad news is that it falls short of the results from the . The time horizon used here — — understates the strength of that expansion, because the economy was in an boom from 1998 to 2000. The median household still makes 1. 6 percent less in terms than it did in 2007, before the global financial crisis. It’s worth celebrating the real progress finally being made in getting the benefits of the expansion spread more broadly. But we will need the caveat that it isn’t hard to find evidence that the gains could be stronger still. | 1 |
Thomas J. Perkins, who nurtured Silicon Valley’s venture capital industry into a force that later helped foster the growth of companies like Google and Amazon, died Tuesday night at his home in Marin County, Calif. He was 84. His longtime assistant, Kathy Daly, said Mr. Perkins died after a prolonged illness, which she did not specify. Mr. Perkins the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers in 1972, at a time when parts of Silicon Valley were still fruit orchards. Mr. Perkins and his partners popularized a model of investment that involved putting small amounts of money into promising young in return for a stake in the companies, giving them advice and counsel to spur their growth. Some of the investments turned into gigantic hits. Mr. Perkins had said that his favorite investment was Genentech, a biotechnology company that has since been acquired by Roche. Over time, Kleiner Perkins — and its home on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, Calif. — became a destination for other venture capitalists. Mr. Perkins helped recruit venture capitalists like John Doerr to his firm, leading to investments in a new generation of technology companies, including Netscape, AOL, Amazon and later Google. The firm’s success transformed Silicon Valley and the technology and biotechnology industries, leading to a proliferation of venture firms in the region and creating an ecosystem of investment in that today remains unrivaled in any other part of the world. Later in his life, Mr. Perkins was embroiled in several controversies. In 1996, he was convicted in France of involuntary manslaughter from a yacht collision. In another, he stepped down from the board of in 2006 after he said the company had used illegal methods to obtain his phone records. The allegations led to the resignation of H. P.’s chairwoman and an overhaul of the board. He also publicly broke with Kleiner Perkins in 2014 after writing an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal in which he compared the “progressive war on the American 1 percent” to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. The comments set off a firestorm, and the firm moved to distance itself from Mr. Perkins, who later apologized for his language. David A. Kaplan, who wrote a biography of Mr. Perkins titled “Mine’s Bigger: The Extraordinary Tale of the World’s Greatest Sailboat and the Silicon Valley Tycoon Who Built It” (2007) said in an interview on Thursday that Mr. Perkins’s “legacy won’t be helped by all the excessive things he said in recent years and the grudges he nursed,” though he was a “seminal figure” for Silicon Valley. In a statement on Thursday, two other Kleiner Perkins Brook Byers and Frank Caufield, said Mr. Perkins had “defined what we know of today as entrepreneurial venture capital by going beyond just funding to helping entrepreneurs realize their visions with operating expertise. ” Mr. Perkins was flamboyant with his wealth, though he had said that he was a multimillionaire and not a billionaire, as many believed. At one point he was an avid collector of Bugatti cars at another, he commissioned a clipper yacht called the Maltese Falcon, telling the CBS program “60 Minutes” in a profile that it had cost at least $150 million and less than $300 million. That lifestyle was the backdrop to one of several books he wrote, a novel titled “Sex and the Single Zillionaire” (2006) which featured a yacht on its cover. For the book, Mr. Perkins had guidance from the romance novelist Danielle Steel, whom he married in 1998 the marriage ended in divorce. He dedicated the novel to her. Thomas James Perkins was born on Jan. 7, 1932, and grew up in White Plains in modest circumstances, attending White Plains High School. His father, Harry, worked for an insurance company, and his mother, Elizabeth, was an occasional seamstress. He became interested in technology early. In a 2007 autobiography, “Valley Boy: The Education of Tom Perkins,” he wrote that as a youth he assembled television kits and had planned to be a TV repairman. Accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he studied electrical engineering and computer science, earning his bachelor’s degree in both. He later received an M. B. A. from Harvard Business School. After working for a time for Sperry Gyroscope Company in Great Neck, on Long Island, he moved to California, where he worked in the technology industry for a decade He joined H. P. in the 1960s, working for the company’s founders, David Packard and William Hewlett. In his autobiography, Mr. Perkins wrote that Mr. Packard and Mr. Hewlett “were restless and driven men. ” “Their aspirations always reached beyond the present success,” he added, noting that he had been “fortunate to have come knocking on their door. ” When Mr. Perkins and Eugene Kleiner founded Kleiner Perkins in 1972 (Mr. Byers and Mr. Caufield joined later) Silicon Valley knew little of venture capital, and the men had the field largely to themselves, investing in fledgling companies like Tandem Computers, Applied Materials and Genentech. Mr. Perkins later stepped away from active venture investing and joined several corporate boards over the years, including Compaq Computer and News Corp. Compaq was purchased by H. P. in 2002, and Mr. Perkins joined H. P.’s board in 2005, not long before its chief executive at the time, Carly Fiorina, was fired. Mr. Perkins supported Ms. Fiorina’s recent run for the Republican presidential nomination. Before his marriage to Ms. Steel, Mr. Perkins was married to Gerd a Norwegian whom he had met skiing near Lake Tahoe, until her death in 1994. He is survived by two children from that marriage, a son, Tor, and a daughter, Elizabeth. | 1 |
usapoliticsnow admin 2016 Election , US News
Broward County is one of the largest swing counties in Florida. It would not take much voter fraud there to flip it.
The voter fraud whistle-blower is a former Secretary of Elections Department employee and she has filled out a sworn affidavit:
You can read the affidavit here. The affidavit by Chelsey Marie Smith accuses Broward County officials of filling out blank absentee ballots to officials who she saw filling the ballots out at the Supervisor of Elections headquarters. Smith said she was asked to deliver numerous ballots to a secret locked room where employees were filling out the absentee ballots. At first she was not clear as to what was happening. When she finally clearly saw what was up and reported it, she was terminated and told to never come back!
After being caught red-handed engaging in voter fraud, Broward Country FL Sec of Elections Brenda Snipes claimed staff were “replicating damaged ballots” in the locked secret room without official monitors present. Yeah, that was a good one Brenda!
According to the whistle-blower, the massive voter fraud went on day after day and included what had to be thousands of ballots. Brenda Snipes is already under lawsuit for deliberately misprinting absentee ballots! Why is she still around?
Donald Trump is currently preparing a lawsuit against Snipes and the FL State Attorney investigators are actively reviewing the voter fraud case. Secretary of Election employees in Broward County, FL caught filling out absentee ballots! #FloridaFraud pic.twitter.com/MqjmFtDXHX
— Mike Cernovich 🇺🇸 (@Cernovich) November 4, 2016
Recently, numerous Florida voters have complained that they have not been receiving their absentee ballots. It seems we have found where some are going! How many other counties have a secret locked room!!
Democrats live by an “ends justify the means” mentality. Cheating and stealing is of no issue to them as long as the outcome is the one that they want! Voter Fraud is entirely legitimate to them.
UPDATE:
Fox News reported that the Florida GOP has also filed a voter fraud lawsuit for illegally opening absentee ballots!
The state GOP alleges that officials in Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, have been opening tens of thousands of vote-by-mail ballots prior to them being cleared for counting.
Chairman Blaise Ingoglia told Shapiro that “Florida law prescribes that when the supervisor of elections takes in all these ballots, they have to be approved by the canvassing board.”
Therefore, the officials have no legal authority to open the ballot envelopes.
Ingoglia said none of the ballots had been approved, so the party will be filing a lawsuit at 9 a.m. ET Thursday if county officials do not respond to his complaint by close-of-business on Wednesday.
Source: www.ihavethetruth.com | 0 |
By Justin Gardner
Establishment figures on the left and right, such as Marco Rubio , are beginning to publicly fret about Wikileaks and what it could do to them. For now, the attention is on Hillary Clinton, whose corruption and true positions have been exposed on a number of issues .
Clinton’s long career in the highest levels of government has given Wikileaks plenty of material to publish, while Donald Trump’s character as an arrogant woman-groper is being revealed from his time in the entertainment business.
Julian Assange said he does have some information about Trump, but there is a strange reality there:
“I mean, it’s from a point of view of an investigative journalist organization like WikiLeaks, the problem with the Trump campaign is it’s actually hard for us to publish much more controversial material than what comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth every second day,” Assange said.
The horrible prospect of Trump or Clinton – both highly disliked by the populace – becoming president is the result of a system that is indeed rigged into a two-party dictatorship with the illusion of choice. Ben Swann explains some of it here .
One of the more worrying revelations – or should we say, “confirmations” – from the Podesta Emails is Clinton’s allegiance to the Israeli lobby . Her top foreign policy aide reminded her not to say anything publicly to offend “Bibi,” and she wrote a letter against the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) against Israel on behalf of her mega-donor, Haim Saban.
This allegiance to the Israeli lobby means that Clinton’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will largely echo that of Israel’s government, including its settlements on Palestinian lands and its treatment of Gaza as a giant prison camp.
For decades, various presidents have claimed to be working on “peace accords” with the Israelis and Palestinians, while the U.S. military-industrial complex reaps billions from Israel’s militarism and use of U.S.-made weapons in repeated Gaza massacres.
Why wage peace when war is so profitable, in the monetary sense and in the enablement of absolute State power?
In one email, we see the kind of deceit presidents will engage in to maintain the narrative of “pursuing peace.”
From MondoWeiss :
“ Here’s the context. In a March 2015 email, right after Netanyahu’s victory in the Israeli election, Clinton foreign policy aide Jake Sullivan passed along a Times article in which Netanyahu offered a mild apology for his racist election-eve warning to Jewish voters that Palestinians were coming out to the polls “in droves,” and in which he flipflopped on his promise that no Palestinian state would be established on his watch. Per the Times:
The two-state solution “remains our goal today, because it is the only way to secure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state,” [Netanyahu] added.
Sullivan comments [from hacked Podesta emails]:
Unsurprisingly, Pragmatic Bibi makes an appearance.
Clinton steps right in: This is an opening that should be exploited. A Potemkin process is better than nothing. ” For those who many not be familiar with the word, “Potemkin” or Potemkin village means constructing something to deceive others into thinking a situation is better than it really is. Merriam-Webster says, “especially one presented for the purpose or propaganda.”
As Weiss points out, we’ve had a Potemkin process for 20 years already, so Clinton would merely continue using events to perpetuate the false hope of a “peace accord.”
Michael Omer-Man, former news desk manager for the Jerusalem Post, had strong words for Clinton :
“It’s hard to imagine a more troubling statement about Israel/Palestine from a politician who will in all likelihood be the next president of the United States, even if it represents only part of her thinking on the region…
when American politicians like Hillary Clinton say that the façade of a peace process is better than no process, they mean it is better for the United States and Israel, not for Palestinians. A Potemkin peace process expressly means maintaining the status quo of occupation and oppression while neutralizing any consequences Israel might face for its actions.”
For establishment figures like Hillary Clinton, the illusion of a peace process is more important than actually pursuing peace. Maintaining the narrative while profiting from conflict is the modus operandi of the two-party dictatorship.
Source: The Free Thought Project
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White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon and his economic nationalism remain at the forefront of the Trump administration’s policy agenda despite a media narrative predicting Bannon’s immediate doom, former Trump campaign advisor Robert Wasinger writes. [From the Hill: The reports of Steve Bannon’s demise have been greatly . The media has pilloried Steve Bannon to the point of utter exhaustion, both ours and theirs apparently. After a solid month of insisting that Bannon and his brand of economic nationalism were on the way out of the White House, he remains in place, and the president continues to emphasize the themes that won him the election in November — much to the consternation of the Washington set whose reputation depends upon the presumption that they have an inside line to the inner workings of power in the nation’s capital. The mainstream media spin on Bannon’s loss of influence and relevance has been achieved primarily by glossing over inconsistencies in their own narrative about his role and influence in the White House, and, more insidiously, by introducing into their narrative a total caricature of the “America First” themes whose political resonance they have so badly underestimated. For the rest of the article, click here. | 1 |
Sen. Rand Paul ( ) told reporters Monday afternoon that former Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice “ought to testify under oath” after Bloomberg News’s Eli Lake revealed that, during the presidential transition, she deliberately sought to “unmask” President Donald Trump’s associates from intelligence surveillance. [Paul called the reports that Rice made dozens of requests to learn more about the identities of anonymous people thought to be close to the Trump transition team, inadvertently caught on tape during investigations into foreign persons of intelligence interest, “enormous news. ” “If it is allowed, we shouldn’t be allowing it. I don’t think we should discount how big a deal it is that Susan rice was looking at these,” Paul told the assembled reporters. The Kentucky Senator then cut to the heart of the growing political fight behind what President Trump has called “wiretapping. ” “She needs to be asked, ‘did President Obama ask her to do this?’ I think she ought to testify under oath on this,” Paul opined. Paul also tried to tie Monday’s revelations about Rice to the slew of leaks on the topic around the time of the handover of the White House. “I think she should be asked under oath, did she reveal it to the Washington Post?” he asked. Paul, long a critic of this type of warrentless intelligence wiretapping and its potential to capture the communications of American citizens, was quick to tie the issues together. “I don’t think you should be allowed to listen to Americans’ conversations without a warrant,” Paul said. “They are targeting a foreigner, and because they are targeting a foreigner they are gathering all of this information on Americans. ” “A million Americans are apparently caught up in these incidental conversations,” Paul continued. “Everybody in the Trump Administration transition, they could basically look at those conversations. ” | 1 |
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration effectively banned the antibacterial chemical triclosan from soaps. But you can you still find it in your toothpaste. That’s because the toothpaste brand, Colgate Total, convinced the F. D. A. that the benefit of triclosan in toothpaste outweighs any risks. Toothpastes that contain triclosan have been “demonstrated to be effective at reducing plaque and gingivitis,” said Andrea Fischer, an F. D. A. spokeswoman. Before approving the toothpaste in 1997, the agency requested that the company conduct toxicology studies, and the F. D. A. ultimately decided it was safe and effective. “Based on scientific evidence, the balance of benefit and risk is favorable for these products,” Ms. Fischer said on Tuesday. Colgate Total is the only toothpaste in the United States that contains triclosan. For some critics, the decision to take triclosan out of topical products but leave it in an oral product is a bit of a . “We put soap on our hands, and a small amount gets into our body,” said Rolf Halden, a director for environmental security at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, who has tracked triclosan for years. But through the gums, “chemicals get rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. ” In a statement, a spokesman, Thomas DiPiazza, said the product had a far more rigorous safety review than other toothpastes. When the company sought approval to use triclosan in 1997, it conducted a comprehensive evaluation of human safety of triclosan as part of its new drug application. The review included “carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, eye and skin irritation, and short term and long term toxicity,” he said. The original F. D. A. submission for Colgate Total included more than 100 toxicology studies, and the company provides monitoring and safety updates annually, said Colgate. “The full weight of scientific evidence amassed over 25 years continues to support the safety and efficacy of Colgate Total,” Mr. DiPiazza said. The antimicrobial triclosan was first used by surgeons to sterilize hands before operating. But amid a rash of germ phobia in the late 1990s, consumer products firms began adding the chemical and others like it to everything from soaps and deodorants to laundry detergents and even baby toys. When Colgate added triclosan to its toothpaste, debuting Colgate Total in 1997, it created a blockbuster, quickly gaining market share to become a best seller. What happens when you add triclosan to toothpaste? In 2013, an independent review of 30 studies by The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews concluded that toothpastes with triclosan and fluoride outperformed those with only fluoride on several counts. When used for six to nine months, toothpastes reduced plaque severity by 41 percent more than fluoride pastes alone. The combination reduced gum inflammation by 22 percent more and gum bleeding by 48 percent more than fluoride alone. For the truly dedicated, two to three years of using triclosan toothpaste showed a 5 percent drop in cavities compared with brushing with fluoride paste alone. But soon experts began to worry that widespread exposure to germ fighters in everyday products could lead to new strains of resistant bacteria. Studies in animals have shown that triclosan and similar chemicals can disrupt the normal development of the reproductive system and metabolism. Last week’s decision by the F. D. A. to ban triclosan in soaps came after experts pushed the agency to regulate antimicrobial chemicals, warning that they risk scrambling hormones in children and promoting infections. Responding to the F. D. A. decision, Mr. DiPiazza noted that the recent F. D. A. review was less rigorous than the agency’s 1997 review. Furthermore, he said, “the agency did not conclude that triclosan in soap was unsafe or ineffective,” just that soap manufacturers had not submitted adequate safety evidence or proof that their products were more effective than soap. He also cited the Cochrane review study that demonstrated the clear benefits of triclosan toothpaste, with no health risks. “There do not appear to be any serious safety concerns” after three years of use, the Cochrane authors concluded. But Dr. Halden, the scientist from Arizona State, said that the Cochrane review wasn’t looking at the most serious health concerns. The review wasn’t “designed to look at hormonal effects, nor did they carry on long enough to measure the outcomes we are concerned about such as endocrine disruption,” Dr. Halden said. Mae Wu, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which filed a lawsuit in 2010 to force the F. D. A. to decide about antibacterial soaps, thinks consumers should avoid using triclosan toothpaste. “It’s aimed at preventing gingivitis, so if you’re at risk of that you might consider it,” Ms. Wu said. “But for anyone else, it may do more harm than good. ” What do dentists think? Dr. Richard Niederman, a dentist and the chairman of the epidemiology department at the New York University College of Dentistry, isn’t particularly worried about his patients’ using toothpaste. However, Dr. Niederman, whose university has received funds from Colgate for programs in New York City, said consumers had the option to switch to other products containing stannous fluoride. Stannous fluoride is an antimicrobial that also helps rebuild tooth enamel. “I would tell my patients if they are concerned about triclosan that stannous fluoride is also very effective for reducing plaque and gingivitis,” said Dr. Niederman. Asked why he wasn’t worried about toothpastes, he said, “I’m not an alarmist. ” | 1 |
WASHINGTON — The S. S. Andania, plain and sturdy, pulled into New York Harbor on April 11, 1923, after a slow journey from Liverpool, England. In a cabin was a Irishman named Richard Michael Cawley, fleeing poverty and war. The son of a tailor from a rural village, Mr. Cawley, then 20, had come of age during a guerrilla conflict. Now, with Irish fighting Irish, he had made his way to America to join his older brother and uncle. He would settle in Chicago, a city bursting with Irish Roman Catholic life marry a teacher find work as a streetcar driver and sing ballads by the piano on Saturday nights. He would become an American citizen, march in St. Patrick’s Day parades and visit Ireland, looking, one cousin marveled, like “a real Yank. ” It is a familiar American tale, except for this: Mr. Cawley’s grandson and namesake, Michael Richard Pence, is the vice president of the United States, which is in the thick of a roiling immigration debate. On Thursday, Mr. Pence, wearing a spray of shamrocks in his lapel, welcomed Enda Kenny, the Irish prime minister, for breakfast at the vice president’s residence as part of the White House’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities. For Mr. Pence — who calls his grandfather “the proudest man I ever knew, and the best man I ever knew” — and his family, it is a deeply personal celebration. “He’d be busting his buttons, that’s what he’d say,” Mr. Pence’s mother, Nancy Pence Fritsch, 84, said of her father, who died in 1980. The story of Mr. Cawley — pieced together from interviews with historians and relatives in the United States and Ireland, as well as archival documents — is one of family ties and a man whose experience had an impact on Mr. Pence. Some facts have been lost to time memories do not align perfectly with the written record. When Mr. Pence was a toddler, overshadowed by talkative older brothers, his grandfather taught him to recite “Humpty Dumpty” in Gaelic. As a boy, he shared the older man’s admiration for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Franklin D. Roosevelt, though both eventually left the Democratic Party. He inherited Mr. Cawley’s sense of humor and easy manner, Mr. Pence’s oldest brother, Gregory Pence, said — qualities that helped him thrive in politics. Mr. Pence declined to be interviewed a spokesman, Marc Lotter, when asked about Mr. Cawley’s immigration status, said he “entered this country through Ellis Island. ” Barry Moreno, the librarian and historian at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, reviewed the ship’s manifest and other records and said Mr. Cawley’s paperwork — including a 1936 document stating that he had been “lawfully admitted” — appeared to be in order. Mr. Cawley’s journey does not offer a precise parallel to those of today’s refugees escaping nations like Syria. Mr. Lotter said President Trump’s efforts to restrict immigrant travel would not have applied to Mr. Cawley because “Ireland is not compromised by terrorism. ” But with Mr. Pence defending the president, and the Irish divided over Mr. Trump, it is difficult not to view Mr. Cawley’s experience through the prism of current events. In a recent speech to Latino leaders, Mr. Pence pledged that he and Mr. Trump would “show great heart every step of the way” regarding immigration, before recounting his ’s farewell to her son. “She told him she was going to get him a ticket to America,” Mr. Pence said, “because, she said, ‘There’s a future there for you. ’” Born on Feb. 7, 1903, Mr. Cawley was the third of six children, Irish census records show. The family lived in Doocastle, County Mayo, in a small cottage on a hill outside a village called Tubbercurry, in County Sligo. Older villagers still remember his father as “Dick the Tailor. ” The Sinn Fein nationalist party declared Ireland’s independence from Britain in 1919, setting off a guerrilla war between Irish and crown forces. That included the notorious British “Black and Tans” paramilitary group, which waged a night of terror in Tubbercurry in October 1920, burning buildings, including church parish halls, according to Michael Farry, an Irish historian who has documented the war in Sligo. In December 1921, Britain and Ireland signed a peace treaty, only to have civil war break out six months later among the Irish. Then, according to a handwritten ledger from Irish military archives, Mr. Cawley enlisted in the Irish Free State’s army. He felt “pushed into” serving, Mrs. Pence Fritsch said, and was reluctant to fight his countrymen. With little prospect of work, he fled to England, she said, to earn his way to America. The ship’s manifest lists him as a coal miner, with an address near Manchester, and says his brother paid for his passage. In the United States, and sentiment was flaring. A Congress had passed the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, a restrictive immigration law strongly opposed by many Democratic politicians. Monthly quotas allowed more British immigrants than Irish, who were welcomed as English speakers but faced some suspicion of being radicals. (On the day Mr. Cawley’s ship arrived, The New York Times carried news of Irish rebels.) Many Irish immigrated through Canada. And it might have been easier to gain entry to the United States with a British address, said Richard White, a Stanford historian who has chronicled his own grandfather’s illegal immigration from Ireland to Chicago in 1924. Passing through Ellis Island, Mr. Cawley would have answered an immigration officer’s routine questions, noted on the ship manifest. He was neither sick nor an anarchist, the manifest said. He had the equivalent of $23. And though records show he did not become a citizen until 1941, a decade after he married, historians say that was typical many Irish came to America not quite sure they would stay. While his brother James made his life in New York, Mr. Cawley settled in Chicago. It was a “fully developed Catholic world” of churches, schools and a heavily Irish Democratic political machine, the historian Ellen Skerrett said. In 1927, he was hired as a motorman for the Chicago Surface Lines, a streetcar service later absorbed by the Chicago Transit Authority, which still has Mr. Cawley’s insurance card on file. He held that job, eventually driving a bus, for more than 40 years. By 1931, records show, he had married Mary Elizabeth Maloney, a teacher and American whose family hailed from Doonbeg, County Clare. (In 2014, Mr. Trump bought a golf course there.) With Mrs. Cawley’s widowed mother, they moved into a tidy brick “ ” — tenants, often relatives, rented the second floor — on the South Side. When Mrs. Pence Fritsch, born in 1932, was a baby, her father went home to see his dying mother. “He was gone so long,” she said, “my mother worried he wouldn’t come back. ” There was not much Irish life in Columbus, Ind. where Mr. Pence grew up as one of six children. (His father died in 1988, and his mother remarried.) Mr. Cawley was 56 when Mr. Pence was born. “I think he was partial to Michael,” Mrs. Pence Fritsch said of her father, “because he was named after him. ” Holidays meant trips to Chicago. In high school in the 1970s, Mr. Pence would regale friends with an imitation of his grandfather’s soft brogue. By this time, his grandparents were retired and traveled frequently to Ireland. In 1981, not long after his grandfather died, Mr. Pence made his own pilgrimage. The trip was deeply emotional, said Trish Tamler, a cousin of Mr. Pence’s who accompanied him to Tubbercurry. “It was just something that we all treasured,” she said. “We were just all so fascinated with the history. ” By this time, Mr. Pence had left his Catholic faith to embrace evangelical Christianity, a decision that would redefine him as one of the nation’s most religious and culturally conservative legislators. Grappling with immigration policy, he often invoked his grandfather — including in 2006, when he tried unsuccessfully to unite Republicans around a compromise that conservatives attacked as amnesty. “He got off that boat an Irish lad, he died an American, and I am an American because of him,” Mr. Pence said then. He also warned conservatives to demonstrate “that we believe in the ideas enshrined on the Statue of Liberty. ” Yet he also took tough stances, pleasing the right. A decade before Mr. Trump proposed a border wall with Mexico, Mr. Pence backed a bill that led to the construction of about 700 miles of fencing. As governor, he barred Syrian refugees from Indiana, citing fear of terrorism. In 2013, Mr. Pence took his wife, Karen, and their three children on vacation to Ireland, stopping in Doonbeg, where Hugh McNally, a distant cousin, runs a bar. “They want to hold on to an identity,” Mr. McNally said. Now, amid the tensions over Mr. Trump’s immigration policies, Mr. Pence says his grandfather taught him a powerful lesson: “If you work hard, play by the rules,” he told the Latino leaders, “anybody can be anybody in America. ” | 1 |
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It’s another smoking gun in the North Carolina Republican Party’s fight against minority voting rights, which has now moved from the statehouse , into the courthouse and finally into election supervisory boards where newly leaked public records emails prove that the GOP’s policies of racism are overtly aimed at a white’s-only vote at the ballot box.
A North Carolina Republican elections board supervisor closed down Sunday early voting specifically to appease their GOP bosses, who argued that too many African-American voters would vote together in traditional “souls to the polls” events.
This completely incontrovertible finding is sure to draw a swift reaction from the Department Of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and hopefully renewed coverage under the Voting Rights Act. Of course, they won’t announce anything about their investigation during the 60-days before voting finishes on November 8th. Reuters broke the news :
Bill McAnulty, an elections board chairman in a mostly white North Carolina county, agreed in July to open a Sunday voting site where black church members could cast ballots after services, the reaction was swift: he was labeled a traitor by his fellow Republicans.
“I became a villain, quite frankly,” recalled McAnulty at a state board of elections meeting in September that had been called to resolve disputes over early voting plans. “I got accused of being a traitor and everything else by the Republican Party,” McAnulty said.
Following the blowback from Republicans, McAnulty later withdrew his support for the Sunday site. In an interview with Reuters, he said he ultimately ruled against opening the Sunday voting site in Randolph County because he had “ made a mistake in reading the wishes of the voters .” He declined to discuss the episode further.
North Carolina Republicans can’t win with ideas, so it appears that they have completely given up on democracy for the sake of winning. Politics isn’t just a popularity contest; our electoral system is rooted in the sacred covenant that everyone has a voice in how our country is run.
As usual, the Republican voter suppression squad turned to the old trope of “wasteful and unnecessary” spending as the illegitimate justification to try and suppress minority votes.
In two emails, on Aug. 11 and Aug. 14, Woodhouse urged Republicans serving on county election boards to follow the “party line” on curtailing the early voting period. “Many of our folks are angry and opposed to Sunday voting,” he wrote. “Six days of voting in one week is enough. Period.” Keeping polling sites open for the full 17-day early voting period “ may be wasteful and unnecessary ,” he added.
The North Carolina Republican Party and its elected officials have set the gold standard for racially-driven dirty politics, and they’re not even slightly afraid to banter with each other openly about it.
Fortunately, the Democratic Party fought back and while they could not prevent every instance of voter suppression, it has resulted in more early voting access rather than the GOP’s plan of less.
“Those who wanted to suppress the vote, they’re going to fail,” he said at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in Raleigh. “Right now, there are more one-stop early vote sites in North Carolina than ever before.”
With only five days remaining in the race, North Carolina poll averages show a dead heat between Democrats and their vote suppressing opponents in the Republican party in the presidential race.
If you witness voter suppression at the polls, don’t hesitate to call 866-OUR-VOTE. | 0 |
Written by Jacob G. Hornberger A dispute that is taking place between Saudi Arabia and Egypt indirectly demonstrates the nature of US foreign aid. After dumping a walloping $25 billion in foreign aid to help the Egyptian military dictatorship’s economic woes, the Saudis are hopping mad. Why? Because last month in the United Nations, contrary to Saudi Arabia’s wishes, Egypt voted in favor of a Russian resolution on Syria. In the world of foreign aid, that’s a super no-no. When a regime has received $25 billion from another regime, it is expected to vote the way its benefactor wants it to vote. In a remarkable admission regarding foreign aid, at least in this particular case, the New York Times, in an article on the matter, wrote, “The Saudis may have thought they were buying loyalty….” The Times article pointed out that to punish the Egyptians for their independence, “The state-owned Saudi oil company, Aramco, postponed a promised shipment of 700,000 tons of discounted oil in October, and the spokesman for Egypt’s oil ministry said the fate of November’s shipment remains unknown.” Although the New York Times would probably be reluctant to describe US foreign aid in the same way, that’s precisely what it is — a way to purchase “loyalty” from foreign regimes, including dictatorships. The US government loves to put foreign regimes on the federal dole because once that happens, US officials know that they have bought them, lock, stock, and barrel. Once a regime is on the dole, it inevitably becomes dependent on it. The racket works like this: The IRS collects money from hard-pressed US taxpayers, which US officials use to send millions of dollars in foreign aid to foreign regimes. The foreign regimes then use the money to buy weaponry to fortify their hold on power or to just to line the pockets of government officials. It doesn’t matter to US officials what the tyrants do to people within their country. They can abuse them, incarcerate them, torture them, or kill them. None of that matters to US officials. What matters to US officials is the international arena. Like votes in the UN. Or just public support for US invasions, coups, interventions, assassinations, kidnappings, and the like. That’s when US officials expect “loyalty,” in the form of blind support, which was what Saudi Arabia was expecting from the Egyptian tyrants. And heaven help any nation that takes the “wrong” position. The US will respond in the same way the Saudis have responded to the Egyptians. It will threaten to do very bad things to the nation that opposes a U.S invasion, coup, or resolution within the UN. When a nation is on the US dole, US officials expect “loyalty.” Americans can’t do anything about foreign aid by the Saudi government. But they can do something about US foreign aid. What they should do is demand that it be ended, immediately. the Future of Freedom Foundation . Related | 0 |
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Energetic Report from October 24th, 2016 Yesterday evening after I had recovered somewhat from the steady, heavy blast of energy, and my headache, dizziness and nausea had subsided, Georgi called me to come look out of the window and there we saw a beautiful rainbow in the north-east. It was a vertical pillar of rainbow stripes that rose up into the sky before melding into a sea of deep grey cloud cover – a storm had just rolled through. We were both happy to see this rainbow but at the same time we noticed there was something in the air that was very unusual. We felt a palpable change in the energy all around, and within the space of a couple of minutes it was as if everything was bathed in a blanket of soft, gentle golden light. Two more minutes and everything radiated a deep luminescent golden glow! It continued to deepen in intensity and suddenly the entire sky and every solid object was illuminated. White clouds had formed and were absorbing this luminosity from somewhere. This light did not come from our Sun; it was as though light was radiating out from the prana molecules themselves. Gold prana everywhere! The Sun was hidden behind a heavy bank of grey clouds to the west and it’s light was just not present. And the glow intensified even further! Everything was covered in a deep and luminous gold and emanated an energy that was soft, gentle, peaceful and yet powerful, warm and loving. It was as though everything reflected a reality made of pure divine presence. It was heaven-sent and we witnessed it all unfold in its magnificent and stunning beauty. We were both in awe of this vision before us and it wasn’t until we received this message from the Elohim that we realized that this light was the magnificent Resurrection Flame . We are certain others among you have seen or will see this light this week. We are with you all. Much love, Carla and Georgi Clarification The proton stream that is now flowing from the Central Sun via the massive coronal hole of our sun since October 24th, 2016 is different from the Resurrection Flame that is also coming from the Central Sun/Source. This is very important to observe. The latter consists of highest frequencies of light beyond the 5D, actually from the 12th dimension, while the protons are conscious God’s particles that are the building elements of space-time and of all forms in 3D, 4D and lower 5D. This includes the creation of matter, all elements and substances, in 3D as we know it from the current holographic model on the earth. In order to illustrate how important the protons are for life, I must make you aware of a well-known fact in bio-sciences that has not been fully understood by most scientists before I explained its paramount importance in my pivotal book Volume III on bio-science and medicine. The entire metabolism in the cell and in the human organism that keeps the biological bodies alive represents a complex redox-cascade of biochemical reactions and cycles which are the major topic of biochemistry. The final product of these chemical processes is the degradation of the three major food classes – carbohydrates, proteins and fatty acids – and the separation of protons from water and the food chain in the mitochondria. These protons are then expelled on the outer side of the mitochondrial membrane and build a powerful proton gradient of more than one million voltmeters across this membrane. In fact, such electromagnetic (EM) gradients are built around all cellular and intra-cellular membranes and these gradients are the driving force – the vis vitalis – of organic matter, organic life. As I have written a lot in the past, I am the first scientist who has grasped the importance of the electromagnetic gradients in the cell and the organism and how they operate as powerful spherical capacitors . The entire chemical energy stored in the food (minus the heat (thermodynamic energy) that is emitted to the environment) is utilized in the body via the cell metabolism and is then transformed into electromagnetic energy of transmembrane EM gradients . The latter drive the entire cell regulation and body metabolism by releasing their energy in form of action potentials which can be easily measured, for instance, as ECG and EEG. Organic life, including the human body, is thus an energetic system based on a constant energy exchange between the chemical energy stored in the food and the electromagnetic energy stored as membrane potentials (gradients) across all biological membranes. In other words, our body is a very complex and fine-tuned electromagnetic system and not a biochemical system as present-day science wrongly assumes and exclusively describes. This is the greatest theoretical breakthrough in the history of bio-sciences that transforms them into a true biophysics based on the Universal Law and explains how the biological body is actually regulated. This includes the acceptance of higher dimensional operational systems beyond the electromagnetic spectrum and builds the scientific foundation and explanation of the Light Body Process (LBP) and how the human carbon-based body is transformed into crystalline light body in the course of the ascension process. Hence this message from the Elohim has a profound theoretical background rooted in the new Science of the Universal Law. In fact, we have published a few messages from the Elohim in the past that have announced similar powerful proton streams on this planet but the latest one is unique insofar as it is combined with the all-pervading Flame of Resurrection that has now triggered the long-awaited Reset of this 3D holographic model and its transfiguration to a higher dimensional multi-reality. As the End Time has always been described as the Time of Revelations , also known as Apocalypse in Greek as first mentioned in the Bible, we are very happy to announce the final stage of the End Time that will very soon lead to the final ID shift and our ascension. George The Elohim Message We are the Elohim and we greet you with the loving warmth of great love. There is a proton flow greeting all of humanity, and all of Gaia, coming from the Great Central Sun and moving through the space-time portal that is your Sun. This and every proton stream has a profound impact on each aspect of creation and it is no exception here within your third dimensional reality. Streams upon streams of charged consciousness flood space-time and this energy reaches all elements at the quantum level. This is an expanded consciousness, the conscious awareness of Creation itself. It is the time of the Revelations and this proton stream is the fuel for this sacred moment in time that is rightly called a re-set and that is the projected expansion of awareness proclaimed through the millenia. Bring forth now new confidence in the living intelligence of the Light! There was great all-pervasive golden light today (October 24th) – flooding, penetrating and balancing energetic systems that are founded in light principle – this was magnificent was it not? The golden light is the light of the resurrection. It moves to re-empower your body-mind-spirit system through the power chakra, the solar plexus and it does so at the quantum level. This is why you and many others felt extreme nausea this day and this is why the proton stream is the fuel for the reactivation action of the Resurrection of Life . Your reality is changing, one proton at a time. The proton is the conscious God particle, the God-energy if you prefer, that is needed to re-instill the divine blueprint in each and every expression. Restoration of the divine blueprint precedes balancing, and healing, in all life forms. This cherished moment is a gift for you to experience in full consciousness; the healing power of God’s light, the light of Creation, the light which is founded in eternal love. Remember, you are created from these elements and therefore your highest expressions and grandest achievements are founded in love. We are the Elohim and we love you for ever. Share: | 0 |
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"USA! USA! USA!" they chanted together in the Hilton Ballroom as the results came in. Who needs polls? They never gave him a chance but now we have it: President Donald Trump. Not only were the polls spectacularly wrong (who will ever trust this particularly bankrupt form of moralising presumptive analysis and telling us how we do and should feel?) but also the pundits who were not just arrogant about the fact that Trump had no chance but also were hopelessly out of touch with what America was thinking across its societal spectrum, what it wanted, what was felt deep in its blood.
It is a rejection of the liberal consensus the entire West has wallowed in since the 90's and a rejection of Obama and the false hope he decried, the impotent nature of US political leverage around the world and the rejection of brazen corruption and questionable ethics as typified by "Crooked Hillary".
The world must live with it; democracy has spoken and they're going to have to get over the words President Trump. Some will head for the hills, some will run to Canada, others will continue to cry but as Obama said yesterday, regardless of the result "tomorrow the sun will still shine."
This is a cry for American exceptionalism and like him or not Trump typifies that. He is committed to education, and demands high performance. Selling well is an admirable skill for a President to have. Negotiating with Congress, internationally, etc., is exceptionally useful. Trump has taken beatings financially and come out smelling like a rose.
Trump's business experience involves negotiations with business leaders and even governments around the world, and he likely has connections behind the scenes that surpass those of simply purely political candidates -- this gives him keen, realistic insights into economics in different parts of the world, as well as additional avenues to pursue trade agreements, and even perhaps some nuanced insights of particular financial weaknesses of possible global competitors, not to mention experience and insight into the partnerships and/or antagonism between different industries and particular governments.
MORE... Trump's sexual predator characteristics - His Grandfather was a pimp, but at least he paid the women he hired The significance of the GOP's attempted purge of Donald Trump Trump, Turkey, and police tyranny: The crisis of Imperialism finds political expression An America in denial This vote comes down to the reckoning that for too long, politicians have sold the American people out to foreign nations and global industry. What Donald Trump is doing is representing the absolute heartbreak and anger and frustration at a government gone mad and it seems the Left completely underestimated that in their vitriol in crying #NeverTrump and portraying him as the devil incarnate.
Although it is entirely true that Trump is ostentatious and has his mistakes, he brings something to the Presidential table no other candidate had before; he speaks his mind.
America clearly is sick of weasel politicians who are too afraid to say what people want to hear, they want the facts straight.
President Trump isn't cut from the political class, that class which is entrenched in its self-interest and has let the country down time and time again. Ross Perot once said that we need somebody to clean out the stables, a corrupted, ethically questionable President is therefore not the answer in order to accomplish that and I'm not talking about Donald Trump.
Trump is a pragmatist in an era of rapidly approaching chaos, he is not a social engineer, a think tanker who wants to please those lining his bank accounts. The liberal Democratic policies of Obama, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and their company created a climate that has led to this decision today.
So what if his language is intemperate and insulting? Even lacking in nobility from time to time? How can a true changemaker be straitjacketed by politically correct chains if he or she must express the will of the people, uncomfortable concerns that lie dormant for far too long?
Obama won because conservative voters stayed home. He had promise and he let so many down, what did Clinton have? And that is why conservative voters had to get out and vote.
Trump prefers isolationism on a world scale, Clinton voted to take us to war in Iraq and to overthrow Libya's Gaddafi, all in the guise of being "muscular."
Perhaps today's landmark and historic decision is not so much about Trump's strengths and power but more about the crippled weakness of the country in 2016 and you simply cannot blame him for that. | 0 |
After more than five years of investigations and negotiations, the curious case of MF Global is finally closed. On Thursday, federal regulators announced a $5 million settlement with Jon S. Corzine, who ran MF Global when it collapsed into bankruptcy in 2011 and lost more than $1 billion in customer money. The settlement, reached unanimously at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the waning days of the Obama administration and approved by a federal judge this week, caps a spectacle that derailed Mr. Corzine’s career and spurred a number of congressional, criminal and regulatory investigations. The regulatory case arose in 2013, when the commodities agency sued Mr. Corzine, a Democratic former New Jersey senator and governor, saying he had failed to “diligently supervise” the firm as it jeopardized the clients’ accounts. The agency did not directly link Mr. Corzine, 70, to the missing money, but it did accuse a employee in Chicago, Edith O’Brien, of “aiding and abetting” the misuse of customer money, saying she allowed it to be used to plug holes in MF Global’s own accounts. To resolve the case, Mr. Corzine has agreed to pay the $5 million penalty out of his own pocket. While the sum is manageable for someone who reaped many millions of dollars as a top Goldman Sachs executive before pursuing a career in politics, it is an unusual step. In other federal cases involving Wall Street, insurance money often covers settlement amounts, sparing the executives themselves. While Mr. Corzine was willing to settle the case, Ms. O’Brien nearly took it to trial. But in recent weeks she, too, agreed to settle, striking a deal that has imposed a $500, 000 penalty and an prohibition on her associating with a futures broker like MF Global. Mr. Corzine agreed to a harsher undertaking — accepting a lifetime prohibition from leading a futures broker or registering with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In effect, that means he will not personally trade other people’s money in the futures industry, except for smaller trades under certain threshold limits. Mr. Corzine, in theory, could still operate a hedge fund that does futures trading, and he could trade for his own account. The settlement also does not prevent him from trading in other markets. “This resolution demonstrates the importance that the commission attaches to customer protection, which has long been a hallmark of our mission,” Aitan Goelman, the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission enforcement division, said in a statement announcing the settlement. The settlements, the contours of which were reported by The New York Times in October, bring a close to the MF Global ordeal. The criminal investigations ended with the conclusion that MF Global employees did not intentionally break the law. Just last year, Mr. Corzine settled much of the private MF Global litigation. And a trustee has long recovered the missing customer money (much of it wound up at MF Global’s banks and clearinghouses) and made whole the farmers and hedge funds whose accounts were raided in the firm’s final days. In a statement on Thursday, Mr. Corzine said, “As the C. E. O. of MF Global in 2011, I have accepted responsibility for its failure, and I deeply regret the impact it had on customers, employees, shareholders and others. ” He added: “I remain gratified that several years ago all customer money was recovered and returned to MF Global customers. ” His lawyer, Andrew J. Levander, said: “Mr. Corzine has given more than 10 days of testimony under oath, and these matters have been investigated exhaustively by two U. S. attorney’s offices, the F. B. I. the S. E. C. the C. F. T. C. Finra and Congress. ” (Finra is the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.) And yet, Mr. Levander said, “None of these investigations have led to allegations that Mr. Corzine engaged in any kind of intentional misconduct or fraud, or that he was at any time not truthful in his many hours of testimony. ” The case also concludes a political challenge for the commodities agency, which came under fire for not preventing a breach of customer money at a firm it regulated. Compounding the pressure, Mr. Corzine was a sensitive target, a prominent Democrat who has been a confidant of leaders in Washington and on Wall Street. Against that backdrop, the agency extracted the $5 million payout from Mr. Corzine, a sum far greater than what it could have expected to win if he had been found liable at trial. During negotiations with Mr. Corzine last year, the commission also strengthened aspects of the deal after some of the agency’s commissioners questioned it, The New York Times reported at the time. The case against Mr. Corzine was among the agency’s biggest enforcement actions in the Obama administration. And after MF Global’s demise, on Halloween in 2011, the commodities agency used the episode to tighten the rules for protecting customer money. The disappearance of the money from MF Global unnerved the futures industry and raised broader concerns about the safety of customer funds across Wall Street. Further review showed that MF Global’s financial straits left it vulnerable to a breach. Mr. Corzine joined MF Global as chief executive and chairman in 2010 after the firm had lost money in each of the previous three years. In hopes of returning the firm to profitability — and perhaps transforming it into a miniature Goldman Sachs — Mr. Corzine placed a large wager on European sovereign debt at a time when investors feared defaults in the eurozone. Although his bet ultimately would have been profitable for MF Global, and the European bonds paid out for other firms that bought the debt, it was not enough to save the firm from unrelated woes. MF Global’s auditor, for example, made the firm write down the value of a significant future tax benefit, a move that appeared to unnerve MF Global’s investors as well as ratings agencies. And after a series of ratings downgrades, the firm started to unravel. In MF Global’s final days, it overdrew an account at JPMorgan Chase, one of its banks, and scrambled to patch that hole. That is when the improper transfers of customer money accelerated, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s complaint. Minutes after learning of the overdrawn account, Mr. Corzine told Ms. O’Brien that meeting the bank’s demands was “the most important thing” she could get “done that day. ” Ultimately, in the chaos and confusion of those final days, customer money was transferred to JPMorgan. And yet, Mr. Corzine was not accused of instructing Ms. O’Brien to use customer money for this purpose. According to court records submitted by his lawyers, Mr. Corzine was not told that the firm was at risk of violating the rules until the eve of the bankruptcy, after the breach had happened. In an email, Ms. O’Brien told Mr. Corzine that the transfer to JPMorgan was a “house wire,” meaning it came from the firm’s accounts. In the years since, Mr. Corzine has visited Central America for a humanitarian project and has traded with his own money. His philanthropic efforts have included working with Covenant House, a nonprofit focused on helping homeless children. “With this matter resolved,” he said, “I am eager to move forward and plan to spend my time focused on issues that have always been important in my life: my family, community and philanthropic causes, and markets. ” | 1 |
Cayenne pepper may be the miracle first-aid spice that no one knows about! Stop bleeding in 10 seconds with this simple trick!
Cayenne pepper does much more than just add spice to culinary dishes. This miracle working substance can also stop bleeding in less than one minute under most circumstances. It works miracles because cayenne pepper reacts with the body to equalize the blood pressure. This means that cayenne will keep the extra gushing of pressure from becoming concentrated in the wound area as it normally is. Blood will instead quickly clot when the pressure is equalized.
Topical Application
Cayenne can be sprinkled directly onto the wound with absolutely no modification. You can also dissolve it in a bit of water and saturate a piece of gauze to be placed over the wound area.
Internal Application
Cayenne pepper can also be taken orally. Dissolve a teaspoon of cayenne in one cup of water and drink it down. If the taste of this seems like a bit too much, simply dissolve a teaspoon of cayenne into the juice of half a lemon and a dash of maple syrup.
Other Uses
While cayenne can stop bleeding from exterior wounds, it also works for internal hemorrhages inside the nose, stomach, and throat if taken orally. Cayenne can also work to improve blood circulation, assist digestion, stimulate perspiration and saliva, and lessen pain from swollen or arthritic joints and limbs.
Cayenne salves are great as deep heating balms for cramps, stiff neck, arthritis, sore muscles, etc. Make your own cayenne salve with olive oil, cayenne, oil of wintergreen, pure distilled mint crystals, and beeswax. | 0 |
As criticism rained down on Matt Lauer, the NBC anchor whose handling of a presidential forum on Wednesday received an onslaught of poor reviews, there was one select group of television journalists whose reaction ran along simpler lines: Gulp. For the anchors chosen to preside over this fall’s presidential debates, the excoriation of Mr. Lauer was a call signaling what modern viewers now expect from a moderator — and a stark example of how media figures can become partisan flash points in a election. On Friday, for the second straight day, aides to Hillary Clinton accused Mr. Lauer of being unfair to their candidate, blasting out a email saying he “let Donald Trump walk all over him. ” Borrowing a page from Mr. Trump’s playbook, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign asked supporters to donate because “we have to do what the press won’t. ” Conservative websites like Breitbart News portrayed the attacks on Mr. Lauer as a pressure tactic, saying that the criticism could encourage future moderators to go easier on Mrs. Clinton — and be tougher on her opponent. Mr. Trump, for his part, declared at a rally, “I thought Matt Lauer did a very good job. ” All this foreshadows more scrutiny, and perhaps anxiety, for the debate moderators — Anderson Cooper of CNN, Lester Holt of NBC, Martha Raddatz of ABC and Chris Wallace of Fox News — whose encounters with the candidates could draw record audiences. Mr. Wallace, asked on Fox News this week if he was excited or nervous about his debate gig, flashed a sly smile. “The answer is yes,” he replied dryly. His fellow moderators have not discussed their preparations. But Bob Schieffer, the veteran CBS anchor who moderated presidential debates in 2004, 2008 and 2012, said in an interview that several had reached out to him for counsel. Citing professional decorum, he declined to name names, but said they had expressed variations on the same joke: What have I gotten myself into here? “It’s different from the kind of scrutiny that I’ve gotten,” Mr. Schieffer said, referring to the glaring spotlight on this year’s moderators. “It’s just exponentially more. ” Mr. Wallace raised eyebrows after saying that he did not consider — or “” in his words — to be a central component of his moderating role. His comments circulated again in the days after what was arguably Mr. Lauer’s most memorable misstep, when he failed to challenge Mr. Trump’s false claim that he had opposed the Iraq war. The notion of a moderator as a “is too simplistic,” said the Rev. John I. Jenkins, the president of the University of Notre Dame and a board member of the Commission on Presidential Debates, the nonpartisan group that oversees the events. “What a good journalist does is ask questions that challenge the candidate to explain. ” “The moderator can’t do it all the onus falls on us a little bit, as the body politic,” to determine if a candidate is plausible, he added. “The moderator can make a mistake by being the voice of God, saying, ‘Here’s the way it is. ’” He said he did not watch the NBC forum. But he added that the commission had sought out moderators who would facilitate a civil and sober discussion — “It sounds a little moralizing, but I’m a priest, so indulge me,” he said — in contrast with what he considered flashier, less substantive debates during the primaries. is an increasingly visible tool of the modern political press, particularly in a campaign where candidates frequently bend facts and audiences often rely on partisan news outlets to interpret them. There is also the presence of Mr. Trump, a candidate who freely dissembles in a manner rarely seen in a presidential campaign. Still, Mr. Schieffer, of CBS, said he believed that “the chief should be the candidates. ” “If one of them says something wrong, or inconsistent with what they have said previously, the other candidate should have the first opportunity to call them on it,” Mr. Schieffer said. Failing that, he added, “it’s the moderator’s responsibility to set the record straight. ” Mr. Lauer spoke with Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump so he could not rely on the candidate’s opponent to jump in to contradict a dubious claim. Asked about Mr. Lauer’s performance, Mr. Schieffer demurred, saying, “I’m not in the habit of piling on. ” Others were less shy in the wake of the broadcast. Representative Charles B. Rangel of New York and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, speaking at the Capitol, expressed annoyance at what they saw as Mr. Lauer’s lackluster attempt to hold Mr. Trump accountable for some of his more unusual comments. “He missed the whole boat,” Mr. Rangel said, referring to Mr. Lauer. Jennifer Palmieri, Mrs. Clinton’s communications director, contacted NBC News executives to discuss Wednesday’s forum, according to two people familiar with the discussion. Internally, the Clinton campaign believed the backlash against NBC could ultimately be beneficial, if the moderators of the coming debates are on eggshells about ensuring equal treatment and holding Mr. Trump to account. Mrs. Clinton, for her part, was already in a motorcade to her home in Chappaqua, N. Y. when Mr. Trump appeared with Mr. Lauer. While the Democratic nominee did not consider Mr. Lauer’s questions out of bounds, she did relish the subsequent coverage of the event that suggested Mr. Trump had gotten off easy, said a person familiar with her thinking. On Friday, the chairman of NBC News, Andrew Lack, sent an upbeat memo to his staff that declared the forum a success, noting that the event had generated days of headlines about Mr. Trump’s praise of the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, and criticism of the American military leadership. “Matt did a tremendous job — driving one of the most serious discussions to date on these topics,” wrote Mr. Lack, who is close with Mr. Lauer. The pressure on NBC News, however, is not likely to relent: the network’s evening news anchor, Mr. Holt, is set to oversee the first presidential debate, set for Sept. 26 at Hofstra University on Long Island. Mr. Schieffer, who at 79 has watched more than a ’s worth of debates, said he had faith that this year’s moderators would be prepared. But, Mr. Schieffer added: “There won’t be a perfect debate. There hasn’t been one yet. ” | 1 |
On Saturday, former Vice President Joe Biden railed against the “disorienting” and “disheartening” “forces of populism” at home and abroad and implied that Donald Trump legitimized “hate speech” during the 2016 presidential election. Speaking at Cornell University’s Convocation ceremony, Biden conceded that “globalization has cost some” people their livelihoods” and that is why the last election proved that “playing to their fears rather than their hopes and better angels” can still be a “powerful political tool. ” He spoke about the “the forces of populism not only here but around the world” that called “to close our nation’s gates against the challenges of a rapidly changing world. ” Though he said the rise of populism was “disorienting” and “disheartening,” Biden argued that it was just a “temporary state of affairs. ” Biden then implied that Trump, in the last election, “churned up some of the ugliest realities that still remain in our country” along with the “coarsest rhetoric” and “darkest emotions. ” “I thought we had passed the days where it was acceptable for political leaders at local and national levels to bestow legitimacy on hate speech and fringe ideologies,” Biden said. He said since the “world is changing so rapidly, there are a lot of folks out there who both are afraid and susceptible to this kind of negative appeal. ” “The immigrant, the minority, the transgender — anyone not like me became a scapegoat,” Biden said, again taking swipes at Trump without naming him. “Just build a wall. Keep Muslims from coming into the United States. ” He also urged the graduating seniors to “fight the urge to build a and echo chamber of yourself online. ” “Living in your screens encourages shallow and antiseptic relationships that make it too easy to reduce the other to stereotypes,” he said. Last week, Biden, who may decide to run for president in 2020 and would need strong support from black Democrats if he does indeed make a run at the White House, echoed similar themes when he addressed graduates of Morgan State University, a historically black college. Biden implied that Trump stoked “our darkest emotions” and added that “we saw just how much of a grip racism and sexism has on America” in the last election, “Even you were surprised that by the way racism was embraced as a political tool on a national level,” Biden told the students at the historically black college. Biden told the audience that “black lives do matter” and “it has to be said. I’m not being solicitous. ” The former vice president said last week that racism “is still deeply embedded in our culture” and spoke about racism in police departments, education, housing, and the hiring process. “No one has to tell you about the daily indignities of discrimination,” Biden said, telling the graduates that he knew they lived it in “subtle ways. ” | 1 |
November 4, 2016 College Classmate Reveals HORRIFIC Story Of Time Trump Hit His Son In The Face Inside Their Dorm
Scott Melker is a Miami-based DJ who reportedly attended the University of Pennsylvania at the same time as one of the sons of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Melker recently shared a disturbing story on Facebook in which he claims that Trump very casually physically assaulted Donald Trump Jr. in front of his classmates, as well as the troubling behaviors of Don Jr., who he described as “a drunk” who earned the nickname “Diaper Don.” Image via Facebook
Before we get ahead of ourselves, we should, of course, take it for what it is worth. This is just one man’s account, and for all we know, Melker could have made the whole thing up. But Melker’s account doesn’t come across as exaggerated, the alleged interaction, while disturbing, seems very understated.
And here’s what we do know about Trump.
He has bragged on video about how he felt his “star” status gave him permission to routinely sexually assault random women by kissing them and grabbing their genitalia against their will.
Trump has also been accused of committing numerous sexual assaults against women, including raping two young teenage girls.
And according to his first wife, Trump did not have the best of relationships with his three oldest children. During a benefit a few weeks ago, Ivana Trump told the crowd that she “brought up the children singlehandedly. Donald wasn’t really interested in children until he could talk business with them.”
With so many deep character flaws, it’s not exactly a stretch of the imagination that he would physically lash out as well.
If this story turns out to be true, it could explain a lot about why Trump’s two oldest sons are the way they are, and it could foretell a very troubling future for Trump’s youngest son Barron, who is only 10 years old.
Featured image via YouTube /Alex Wong/Getty Images) Share this Article! | 0 |
Here's something interesting from The Unz Review... Recipient Name Recipient Email =>
“If I don’t win, this will be the greatest waste of time, money and energy in my lifetime,” says Donald Trump.
Herewith, a dissent. Whatever happens Tuesday, Trump has made history and has forever changed American politics.
Though a novice in politics, he captured the Party of Lincoln with the largest turnout of primary voters ever, and he has inflicted wounds on the nation’s ruling class from which it may not soon recover.
Bush I and II, Mitt Romney, the neocons and the GOP commentariat all denounced Trump as morally and temperamentally unfit. Yet, seven of eight Republicans are voting for Trump, and he drew the largest and most enthusiastic crowds of any GOP nominee.
Not only did he rout the Republican elites, he ash-canned their agenda and repudiated the wars into which they plunged the country.
Trump did not create the forces that propelled his candidacy. But he recognized them, tapped into them, and unleashed a gusher of nationalism and populism that will not soon dissipate.
Whatever happens Tuesday, there is no going back now.
How could the Republican establishment advance anew the trade and immigration policies that their base has so thunderously rejected?
How can the GOP establishment credibly claim to speak for a party that spent the last year cheering a candidate who repudiated the last two Republican presidents and the last two Republican nominees?
Do mainstream Republicans think that should Trump lose a Bush Restoration lies ahead? The dynasty is as dead as the Romanovs.
The media, whose reputation has sunk to Congressional depths, has also suffered a blow to its credibility.
Its hatred of Trump has been almost manic, and WikiLeaks revelations of the collusion between major media and Clintonites have convinced skeptics that the system is rigged and the referees of democracy are in the tank.
But it is the national establishment that has suffered most.
The Trump candidacy exposed what seems an unbridgeable gulf between this political class and the nation in whose name it purports to speak.
Consider the litany of horrors it has charged Trump with.
He said John McCain was no hero, that some Mexican illegals are “rapists.” He mocked a handicapped reporter. He called some women “pigs.” He wants a temporary ban to Muslim immigration. He fought with a Gold Star mother and father. He once engaged in “fat-shaming” a Miss Universe, calling her “Miss Piggy,” and telling her to stay out of Burger King. He allegedly made crude advances on a dozen women and starred in the “Access Hollywood” tape with Billy Bush.
While such “gaffes” are normally fatal for candidates, Trump’s followers stood by him through them all.
Why? asks an alarmed establishment. Why, in spite of all this, did Trump’s support endure? Why did the American people not react as they once would have? Why do these accusations not have the bite they once did?
Answer. We are another country now, an us-or-them country.
Middle America believes the establishment is not looking out for the nation but for retention of its power. And in attacking Trump it is not upholding some objective moral standard but seeking to destroy a leader who represents a grave threat to that power.
Trump’s followers see an American Spring as crucial, and they are not going to let past boorish behavior cause them to abandon the last best chance to preserve the country they grew up in.
These are the Middle American Radicals, the MARs of whom my late friend Sam Francis wrote.
They recoil from the future the elites have mapped out for them and, realizing the stakes, will overlook the faults and failings of a candidate who holds out the real promise of avoiding that future.
They believe Trump alone will secure the borders and rid us of a trade regime that has led to the loss of 70,000 factories and 5 million manufacturing jobs since NAFTA. They believe Trump is the best hope for keeping us out of the wars the Beltway think tanks are already planning for the sons of the “deplorables” to fight.
Moreover, they see the establishment as the quintessence of hypocrisy. Trump is instructed to stop using such toxic phrases as “America First” and “Make America Great Again” by elites who think 55 million abortions since Roe is a milestone of moral progress.
And what do they have in common with a woman who thinks partial-birth abortion, which her predecessor in the Senate, Pat Moynihan, called “infanticide,” is among the cherished “reproductive rights” of women?
While a Trump victory would create the possibility of a coalition of conservatives, populists, patriots and nationalists governing America, should he lose, America’s future appears disunited and grim.
But, would the followers of Donald Trump, whom Hillary Clinton has called “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic … bigots,” to the cheers of her media retainers, unite behind her should she win?
No. Win or lose, as Sen. Edward Kennedy said at the Democratic Convention of 1980, “The work goes on, the cause endures.”
Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of the new book “The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority.”
Copyight 2016 Creators.com. | 0 |
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Crosby J. Gardner has never had a girlfriend. Now 20 and living for the first time in a dorm here at Western Kentucky University, he has designed a experiment to find her. He ticks off the math. Two meals a day at the student dining hall, three courses per meal. Girls make up 57 percent of the 20, 068 students. And so, he sums up, eyes triumphant, if he sits at a table with at least four new girls for every course, he should be able to meet all 11, 439 by graduation. “I’m Crosby Gardner!” he announces each time he descends upon a fresh group, trying out the script he had practiced in the university’s autism support program. “What is your name and what is your major?” The first generation of college students with an autism diagnosis is fanning out to campuses across the country. These growing numbers reflect the sharp rise in diagnosis rates since the 1990s, as well as the success of interventions and efforts to include these students in mainstream activities. But while these young adults have opportunities that could not have been imagined had they been born even a decade earlier, their success in college is still a long shot. Increasingly, schools are realizing that most of these students will not graduate without comprehensive support like the Kelly Autism Program at Western Kentucky. Similar programs have been taking root at nearly 40 colleges around the country, including large public institutions like Eastern Michigan University, California State University, Long Beach, the University of Connecticut and Rutgers. For decades, universities have provided academic safety nets to students with physical disabilities and learning challenges like dyslexia. But students on the autism spectrum need a web of support that is far more nuanced and complex. Their presence on campus can be jarring. Mr. Gardner will unloose monologues — unfiltered, and repetitive — that can set professors’ teeth on edge and lead classmates to snicker. When agitated, another student in Western Kentucky’s program calms himself by pacing, flapping his hands, then facing a corner, bumping his head four times and muttering. One young woman, lost on her way to class and not knowing how to ask for directions, had a panic attack, shaking and sobbing violently. Autism affects the brain’s early development of social and communication skills. A diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder can encompass an array of people, from the moderately impaired and intellectually nimble like Mr. Gardner, a junior majoring in biochemistry, to adults with the cognitive ability of . Until 2013, students who could meet college admission criteria would most likely have received a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome, which has since been absorbed into autism spectrum disorder. The social challenges of people on the spectrum can impede their likelihood of thriving not only in college, but also after graduation. Counselors in programs like Western Kentucky’s not only coach students who struggle to read social cues, but also serve as advocates when misreadings go terribly awry, such as not recognizing the rebuff of a sexual advance. When a professor complains about a student who interrupts lectures with a harangue, Michelle Elkins, who directs the Western Kentucky program, will retort: “I am not excusing his behavior. I am explaining his brain function. ” At suppertime, the dining hall at Western Kentucky’s student union is crowded, clamorous and brightly lit. Students in the Kelly program, who often have sensory hypersensitivities as well as social discomfort, usually prefer eating alone in their rooms. But one night this fall, some gathered for a weekly dinner with peer mentors — students hired by the program to be tutors and social guides. The Kelly students tentatively approached a meeting place in the lobby. As they recognized their mentors among the milling crowd, relief flooded their faces. The meal began awkwardly. One Kelly student buried himself in a textbook. Another gazed around the dining hall, humming. Gradually, the mentors drew them out. How was your day? Have you tried any clubs? Jacob, a freshman from Tennessee who is in a Chinese immersion curriculum and asked that his last name not be used to protect his family’s privacy, said he had joined the French, Spanish and German clubs. “When do you sleep?” I inquired with a smile. A few mentors laughed appreciatively. Jacob looked puzzled. “I don’t get the humor in that question,” he said. When the topic shifted to a social event coming up at the center — a video game party — conversational was guaranteed. Even so, as various games were suggested, the dinner table exchanges were more proclamation than conversation: “In my opinion, Pokémon Go is a stupid idea,” Mr. Gardner shouted. Ms. Elkins fixed him with a look. “Good you added, ‘in my opinion,’ Crosby,” she said. The autism program’s home, a clinical education building at the edge of the university, is a peaceful, dimly lit haven from the churning campus. The 45 undergraduates in the program spend three hours a day here, four days a week. They study, meeting with tutors, and confer with counselors and a psychologist to review myriad mystifying daily encounters. The counselors maintain ties with dorm supervisors, professors and the career center, mediating misunderstandings. By 2019, the program, which started with three students a little over a decade ago, anticipates being able to admit 77 students. Like most such programs on other campuses, it charges a fee W. K. U. ’s is $5, 000 a semester, much of which may be covered by federal vocational rehabilitation funds. In addition to shoring up academic and organizational skills, the program aims to ease students into the social flow of campus. This year, group discussions will tackle topics that include sex and dating. Some of these students have enough to feel the excruciating loneliness of exclusion. “One student told me, ‘I was so excited about college because I hear you don’t get bullied there, and I don’t know what that’s like,’” said Sarah the program’s manager. Others remain relatively oblivious to the social world surging around them. Impulse control is an issue for many of these students: They will stand up and abruptly leave class. Some need reminders about basic hygiene. Because having a roommate can be unnerving, most have single rooms in the dorms. But they all have the requisite academic ability: Before applying to the support program, they must be admitted by the university. Some are exceptionally bright. “I have a 4. 0 G. P. A. but David leaves me behind in the dust,” Liz Ramey, 19, a student mentor, said of David Merdian, a Kelly sophomore who studies mathematical economics with a concentration in actuarial science. With the program’s help, some of the students, most of whom are male, can enter the university directly from high school. Others first try community college. After Kaley Miller graduated from high school, relatives, who did not believe she could live independently, put her in a group home and then a residential home with elderly adults, where she spent her days doing factory piecework. Finally, at a psychiatrist’s suggestion, Ms. Miller’s parents decided to let her try a college that provided support for students on the spectrum. When she moved into a W. K. U. dorm, Ms. Miller, 24, a junior and a meticulous art student, reacted in wonderment. “There were so many people my age and everyone was so normal,” she said. In 2012, Andy Arnold, who was given an autism spectrum diagnosis as a child, enrolled as a freshman at Western Kentucky. “It was terrifying,” he recalled. “I was anxious and went off my meds. I’d forget to shower and brush my teeth. I would do rituals, like walking around outside the dorm. I kept grabbing at the back of my neck. “I started skipping classes. I didn’t really know how to study, so I fell behind quickly. I ate too much. I behaved irrationally to people. ” He dropped out. He lived at home, taking online courses for a few years, then reapplied to W. K. U. Now 23, he is back at school — and this time, he is in the autism support program. “I feel less panicky,” Mr. Arnold said. “I like getting to know people here at the center. We have something in common. ” It is hard to know how many students with autism attend schools. A 2012 study in the journal Pediatrics found that about 50, 000 teenagers with the diagnosis turn 18 each year and 34. 7 percent attend college. Without support, though, few graduate. That is in part because many students with an autism diagnosis do not step forward, fearing stigma. Some experts speculate that for every college student on the spectrum who identifies himself or herself with a diagnosis, there may be two more who are undisclosed. But as the growth of the neurodiversity movement prompts people on the spectrum to define themselves as different but not deficient, more students are emerging from the shadows. The Bridges to Adelphi program at Adelphi University in Garden City, N. Y. serves about 100 students with autism. At the University of Texas in Dallas, 450 students with the diagnosis have registered for services with the Student AccessAbility office. Their presence on campuses is also a testament to the tenacity of families and disability advocates who, since the 1990s, when awareness of autism began to mushroom, have pressed for earlier diagnoses and interventions. Much of that battle unfolded in public secondary schools, leading to more services. Over the last decade, officials at mainstream universities began realizing that growing numbers of spectrum students were being admitted — and, like Mr. Arnold, were foundering. It was one thing for administrators to authorize accommodations like extra time on tests for students with dyslexia or attention deficit disorder. But how should they bolster students whose behavior was the primary expression of the disability — who could not stop shouting out answers in class and feared dorm showers? And so the new autism support programs vary in emphasis. Some are based in disability resource centers, while others are in mental health offices, focusing on social skills and anxiety reduction. “Our mission is to help them transition into the university, be successful here, and then transition out of the university to be successful in adult life,” said Pamela Lubbers, who directs one of the country’s most structured, coordinated programs, with 17 students, at Brunswick. Ms. Lubbers meets weekly with students, working them through a standardized “to do” checklist to help them identify tasks to feel less overwhelmed, review their goals (“Describe the best social interactions you had this week”) and . (“You think you left your I. D. on the campus bus. What steps will you take to find or replace it? ”) But even with support, these students often need extra time to graduate. Indeed, many do not make it that far. Some crumble under academic and organizational stress. Others succumb to campus allures like alcohol and drugs. And others are expelled on sexual harassment grounds. They are so eager to fit in that they may, for example, comply with the demands of a bully who says, “ ‘I’ll be your friend and go to dinner with you every night next week if you kiss that girl,’” said Jane Thierfeld Brown, who consults with families and colleges about supporting students on the spectrum. But with support, there are also those, like Ryan Hodges, who surpass expectations. Mr. Hodges received his diagnosis at age 4. “In high school did we know he’d go to college? No,” said his father, Jeff, a Nashville businessman. “Did we hope? Yes. ” They set their sights on W. K. U. because of the program. Now 23, Ryan has grown immeasurably in social confidence, his father said, and is on track to graduate at the end of this semester. Whether they are prepared for the next transition remains an open question. Most programs do not keep tabs on their students after graduation. Despite the career coaching offered for Kelly students, some still cannot present themselves well in job interviews. Living at home again, unemployed, they may regress. “The goal is not necessarily a college degree but becoming an independent, successful adult,” Dr. Brown said. “And a bachelor’s degree doesn’t guarantee that. ” Still, many graduates from Western Kentucky’s program are employed. Mrs. who stays in touch with some through social media, mentions one who works in film, others in technology, some in retail, and another who is applying for graduate school in physics. What about their social lives? Mrs. paused and looked at her lap. “Sometimes I’m too scared to ask,” she said. Always with an eye toward life after college, the program encourages students to learn practical skills. Hence Western Kentucky’s weekly trip to Walmart. One recent Friday afternoon, Mrs. drove seven students in the program’s van, which resounded with cheerful non sequiturs. “I don’t mean to be rude but could you not talk now?” one student told another. “Your voice is very loud in my head!” Mrs. pulled into the parking lot and nudged the students out of the van. They ambled toward the store, blithely indifferent to incessantly roaming cars. Then she waved and drove off, leaving them to tackle the Walmart Supercenter on their own. In a frenzy, the group scattered. Some boys barreled up and down aisles, flinging items at random into their clattering shopping carts. Essentials: Twix. Strawberry Twizzlers. Doughnuts. Frosted cookies. of Coke. Slippers. Napkins. Pokémon cards. More Pokémon cards. One boy decided he wanted to reheat chicken wings in his dorm. He needed a baking tin. But that meant locating the cookware aisle. Which meant finding an employee, then asking for directions. Scary! Checking out was another challenge. For the students’ entire lives, their purchases had been paid for by adults. Now they were peering at register totals, fumbling for credit cards, swiping and swiping, then attempting the chip system, one way and then the other, forgetting PINs. Over all, they did just fine. They reassembled outside, sweating and smiling, surrounded by the fruits of their considerable shopping labors. Ms. Ramey, the student mentor, picked them up. On the drive back to school, the students toggled between yakking about their shopping victories and falling silent, drained. Ms. Ramey pulled up to their dorms, one by one. One by one, they unloaded their bags and, without so much as a “thank you” or even “goodbye,” set off. “Have a good weekend!” she kept prompting. Startled, each boy looked back at the car, bewildered. Another missed social cue? Oh, right! Jolted, some remembered to smile, and even to wave farewell. | 1 |
Since Sarah Palin is like herpes and will never quite go away, people in the media still seem interested in her and her famous word salads. For whatever reason (trolling?), the Washington Post recently asked the quitting snow grifter to write an op-ed piece on the significance of Hillary Clinton being picked as the first woman president should she win the Nov. 8 election. Palin was among a number of women invited to write pieces reflecting, in some personal way, on the meaning and significance of the election of the first woman as president.
“Obviously, a Clinton victory is not assured,” cautioned Michael Larabee, the op-ed editor for the Washington Post . “But we’re hoping to gather the essays in advance so we can share them quickly if she is elected.”
This is when the verbal diarrhea really hit the floor. She took her word salad game to new heights :
Media mocks Trump’s “rigged election” warning to its own peril.
More evidence in my inbox, this time from the Washington Post requesting I write an op-ed commemorating their coronation of Hillary – 10 days from now. This is hilarious!
Good ol’ reliable WaPo – continuing its embarrassing fail that’s reminiscent of their forced correction after irresponsibly, absurdly claiming I joined Al Jazera; announcing to the world their goal was to not mention my name in print for an entire month (oh, what a blessed month that was!) and relentlessly suggesting my (and other Conservatives) irrelevancy in national discourse – assuming I’d participate in their in-the-tank shenanigans for the Globalists.
No, Mr. WaPo Editor, can’t say I’m interested in writing for you. But I’d love a copy of your pre-printed post-election edition shipped to me in Alaska. Your bold “Clinton Defeats Trump” headline will be framed right next to another old rag we’re all familiar with…
There has to be a statute of limitation on the victim card, which Sarah has been using for 8 years. Ever since she lost, it’s been one aggrevieved statement after another. Now she is doing double duty: Falsely claiming the Washington Post is “coronating” Hillary (they weren’t) and falsely claiming they are out to get her (they aren’t).
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NORTH BRUNSWICK, N. J. — Jolted into action by a wave of hate crimes that followed the election victory of Donald J. Trump, American Muslims and Jews are banding together in a surprising new alliance. They are putting aside for now their divisions over Israel to join forces to resist whatever may come next. New groups are forming, and interfaith coalitions that already existed say interest is increasing. Vaseem Firdaus, a Muslim who has lived in the United States for 42 years, spent Friday night at a Shabbat dinner for members of a women’s group called the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, in a home here filled with Jewish art and ritual objects. Until Mr. Trump was elected president, Ms. Firdaus, who is 56 and a manufacturing manager at Exxon Mobil, felt secure living as a Muslim in America. She has a daughter who is a doctor and a son who is an engineer, and she recently traveled to Tampa with her husband looking to buy a vacation home. But Mr. Trump’s victory has shaken her sense of comfort and security. After joining in blessings over challah and sparkling grape juice (instead of wine, out of consideration for the Muslims) Ms. Firdaus talked with four Jewish women she had never met before, balancing plates of Indian food on their laps. They found that the spate of hate crimes and the ominous talk by Mr. Trump or his advisers about barring Muslims from entering the country and registering those living here had caused all of them to think about Germany in the years before the Holocaust. “When did you know it was time to leave?” Ms. Firdaus asked one woman who had just recounted how her relatives had fled the Nazis. “The ones that didn’t leave are the ones who went to Auschwitz. ” The Jewish women tried to convince her that they would not let it come to that. “If Muslims have to register, we’re all going to register,” said Mahela who is helping to build the first West Coast chapter of the Sisterhood in Santa Barbara, Calif. “You’ve got to believe it, sister. ” Groups are reaching out not just to clergy members, but also to laypeople, including business executives, students and women. Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the League, said in a recent interview: “Jews know what it means to be identified and tagged, to be registered and pulled aside. It evokes very deep emotions in the Jewish community. ” Mr. Greenblatt received a standing ovation when he declared at his organization’s conference in Manhattan last month that if Muslims were ever forced to register, “that is the day that this proud Jew will register as a Muslim. ” “All of us have heard the story of the Danish king who said if his country’s Jews had to wear a gold star,” he said, “all of Denmark would, too. ” Nearly 500 Muslim and Jewish women, many wearing head scarves and skullcaps, gathered on Sunday at Drew University in Madison, N. J. in what organizers said was the largest such meeting ever held in the United States. It was the third annual conference of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, a group that now claims 50 chapters in more than 20 states. The first conference two years ago drew only 100 people. The women spread out inside an enormous sports complex and met in clusters to study sacred texts on the racquetball courts, practice techniques in the dance studio and, in the bleachers, discuss how to talk to friends whose impression of Islam had been shaped entirely by news of terrorist attacks. Over lunch and in the hallways, they traded stories about the latest ugly outbreaks back home: a brick thrown through the window of a restaurant in Kansas, apartments of Muslim families in Virginia hit with eggs and graffiti, swastikas scrawled on synagogues and in a playground in New York. Sisterhood chapters keep track of the incidents on their Facebook pages and other social media. “Ignorance is one of the key triggers of hate,” said Sheryl Olitzky, the group’s executive director, in her opening remarks. “We need to show the world that we are Americans. We are here because we love each other and we’re overcoming hate. ” Ms. Olitzky, a marketing executive whose husband and two sons are rabbis, started the first Sisterhood women’s meeting in New Jersey six years ago on the theory that “women navigate the world through relationships. ” She baked the challah and hosted the Shabbat dinner on Friday night at her home. The Sisterhood is one of several groups expanding their work on relations: The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding started an initiative to elevate Muslim condemnations of terrorism, which are often ignored by the news media. The League is increasing its work against bigotry. “It’s the Trump effect,” said Imam Abdullah Antepli, the chief representative on Muslim affairs at Duke University, who attended the women’s conference with his wife. “I see the Muslim community even more eager to reach out and to put aside the grievances of the past. ” The most prominent new initiative is a Advisory Council whose are Fortune 500 chief executives: Farooq Kathwari, of the furniture company Ethan Allen, who is Muslim, and Stanley Bergman, of the medical products distributor Henry Schein, who is Jewish. The council, which was forming as Mr. Trump’s campaign was gaining steam, includes both Democrats and Republicans. It was created by leaders of the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of North America in an effort to have influence on public policy. The group intends to oppose a registry, support immigrants and refugees, and push for accommodating religious practices in the workplace. Despite the new cooperation, tensions over Israel continue to flare up. Several Jewish groups, including the League, recently declared their opposition to a bid by Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who is a Muslim, to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee, because of critical statements he has made about Israel. And the embrace of Muslims is hardly universal. A few Jewish groups have applauded Mr. Trump’s hard line on Muslims, and cheered his choice of Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn to be national security adviser. The retired general has called Islam “a cancer” and a “political ideology” masquerading as a faith. The selection of General Flynn prompted the usually stoic Ms. Firdaus to rethink her situation. She abandoned the plan to buy a vacation home in Tampa, or anywhere in the United States, at least for now. Instead, she and her family will spend Christmas vacation in Toronto, where they intend to open a bank account and look for a condominium to buy — just in case they have to flee. Attending the Sisterhood conference on Sunday, however, Ms. Firdaus said she was feeling a bit more optimistic. She was surrounded by Jews who pledged not to abandon Muslims. Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, brought the women to their feet cheering with stories of how in history’s darkest times, love had conquered hate. “Sitting here makes you feel it’s really not so hopeless. This is food for the soul,” Ms. Firdaus said. “But there were 60 million people who voted for Trump. I’m not ready to leave, but you have to have a plan. ” | 1 |
Taming the corporate media beast The Ossetians: From Nomads and Warriors to the Artists of the Caucasus
A people that miraculously survived in the mountains after the Tatar-Mongolian invasions of the Middle Ages, today the Ossetians are renowned for being the creative intelligentsia of the Caucasus and the custodians of an unusual form of Christianity RBTH
For Alik Pagayev, an Ossetian who manages a troupe at the Narty Theater in Vladikavkaz, creativity is in the blood of his people.
”I was born in a mountain village and we had this joke: 'Throw a balalaika out of your window, anyone who catches it can play it,” he says.
Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, a small republic on Russia’s southern edge bordering Georgia, is called the “Caucasian St. Petersburg.” No other city in the North Caucasus has so many creative people: artists, photographers, designers and performers.
Creative abilities, however, are not the only national trait of the Ossetians. Pagayev says that every Ossetian has military skills and talents for working with horses in their blood. Creative abilities are not the only national trait of the Ossetians. Alik Pagayev says that every Ossetian has military skills and talents for working with horses in their blood. Source: Anastasia Stepanova
Open-mindedness to new cultures
The Ossetians are descended from Iranian-speaking nomads – the Scythians and the Sarmatians. In historical writings from the 2nd century A.D. these tribes were known for their serious military and political might.
By the 11th century A.D. the medieval kingdom of Alania had been established in the region. Its inhabitants were famous for their military skills: The main army consisted of the cavalry. Despite their glorious reputation, the Alans could not fight off the Tatar-Mongolian invasion and in the 14th century they were practically destroyed as a people. Only few hundred Alans remained in the mountains. However, the nation managed to survive and later it successfully assimilated in Russia.
According to a 2010 census, today there are almost 700,000 Ossetians in the world, most of whom live in Russia. Most Ossetians live in North Ossetia (459,600 people), while in Moscow there are 7,900 Ossetians and in St. Petersburg slightly over 3,000.
While 45,900 Ossetians live in the disputed territory of South Ossetia (recognized by just three nations, with the rest of the world continuing to see it as part of Georgia), they also live in Russia’s other Caucasian republics. In Kabardino-Balkaria there are more than 9,000 Ossetians, in the Stavropol Territory there are almost 8,000 and there is even a separate Ossetian village in Karachay-Cherkessia with 3,100 inhabitants. There are also Ossetian diasporas in other countries. In Turkey the fraternity counts 37,000 members and in Georgia – 14,300 outside South Ossetia.
”The Caucasus started to become a part of Russia in the 18th century. Our republic was one of the first,” explains Anna Kabisova, a photographer and photojournalist. osetia_woman_working.jpg ”The Ossetians are Christians. So it is easier for them, in comparison to the Muslim republics, to find common ground with the Russian population.” Source: Archive photo, 19th century
”The Ossetians perceived these changes as a salvation since it is difficult to survive in the mountains and the intelligentsia understood that it was important to develop. A step towards Russia implied opportunity. Back then many Ossetians went to study in St. Petersburg. That is how this place acquired many artists, sculptors and then its own influential art school, its own distinguishing style,” she said.
In her view, such open-mindedness to new cultures is also a national trait. ”The reason lies in religion. The Ossetians are Christians. So it is easier for them, in comparison to the Muslim republics, to find common ground with the Russian population.”
Pies, beer and offerings to the gods
Actually, the Christianity found in the republic is not entirely traditional. Pagan beliefs are also strong here. The Ossetians have dozens of popular religious celebrations with various rituals. There are symbolic peace sacrifices, for example, slaughtering a chicken or a sheep for guests at a feast.
The famous Ossetian national pies are sacred food. These round, thin pies with meat, cheese and potatoes in the Ossetian worldview represent the sun. During a holiday each family places three pies on the table. They also have local breweries. anna_kabisova_b.jpg ”The Caucasus started to become a part of Russia in the 18th century. Our republic was one of the first,” explains Anna Kabisova, a photographer and photojournalist. Anna Kabisova
For many occasions women brew beer according to the national recipe. The Ossetians have their own Oktoberfest. Each October Vladikavkaz holds an Ossetian beer festival/competition, to which Ossetians come from Russia and other countries. The drink, in its aspect and taste, is similar tokvas, the Russian malt drink, and is around 1.5-2 percent alcohol.
The beer is brewed in a large cauldron over a fire. Its main ingredients are the typical ones: hops, malt. But there are also special ones such as lamb ribs and sugar – there are many different recipes.
Not merchants
”Ask me what I hate doing most and I'll respond: trading,” says Alik Pagayev, describing the national character. "The Ossetians don't have an entrepreneurial spirit. We have many talented artists, good athletes, especially in freestyle wrestling, horse breeders, but commerce is really not our thing.” ”Ask me what I hate doing most and I'll respond: trading,” says Alik Pagayev, describing the national character. Source: Archive photo, 19th century
Pagayev also says that tolerance and tact are two other national traits.
”I worked in [the neighboring republic of] Kabardino-Balkaria for three years and could not get used to the fact that they speak their national language. I would go to someone's house and they would speak their own language. I wouldn't understand anything and someone would have to translate the general meaning of the conversation.
”In Ossetia it's not like that. If there’s even one guest among us, we speak Russian. A friend of mine from Chechnya would often visit us and once he heard people speaking Ossetian on a street in Vladikavkaz. He was surprised because he had thought that we always speak Russian.” vladikavkaz_lori- 39468-a6_b.jpg Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, a small republic on Russia’s southern edge bordering Georgia, is called the “Caucasian St. Petersburg.” Source: Lori/Legion-Media
In fact, Pagayev explains, there are some young people who do not even know their national language, which he says is sad.
”Our language must be preserved. At home my children speak only Ossetian. If I hear them speak Russian, I tell them, 'You'll speak Russian where you have to, but at home speak your native language,'” he says.
Another important national trait is learning, he explains: ”People always wonder: A young guy from a remote mountain village goes to study in St. Petersburg or Moscow and in two years he fully integrates, speaks Russian without an accent and produces good results in his studies. This is an important trait. I think this is what helped our people survive the difficult times.” | 0 |
Matthew C. Makel et al., Science Direct, October 31, 2016
Abstract
Male–female ability differences in the right tail (at or above the 95th percentile) have been widely discussed for their potential role in achievement and occupational differences in adults. The present study provides updated male-female ability ratios from 320,000 7th grade students in the United States in the right tail (top 5%) through the extreme right tail (top 0.01%) from 2011 to 2015 using measures of math, verbal, and science reasoning. Additionally, the present study establishes male-female ability ratios in a sample of over 7000 7th grade students in the right tail from 2011 to 2015 in India. Results indicate that ratios in the extreme right tail of math ability in the U.S. have shrunk in the last 20 years (still favoring males) and remained relatively stable in the verbal domain (still favoring females). Similar patterns of male-female ratios in the extreme right tail were found in the Indian sample. | 0 |
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Seven Congolese Army officers have been arrested and charged with war crimes after a video surfaced last month that appeared to show uniformed soldiers opening fire on a group of civilians in a massacre that left at least 13 people dead, the military’s auditor general said on Saturday. The video depicts a squad of soldiers gunning down a group of people, which included women and possibly children, in Congo’s Province. Most of the victims were unarmed, though a few men appeared to be holding slingshots. Several analysts who saw the video said that it revealed a massacre of civilians and that the video could be used as evidence of war crimes. “In connection with this video, we have found seven suspects, all are F. A. R. D. C. elements, who are currently in detention,” said the auditor general, Gen. Joseph Ponde Isambwa, using an abbreviation for the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The officers, he said, had been charged with several crimes including “war crime by murder, war crime by mutilation, war crimes by cruel inhuman and degrading treatment and denial of an offense committed by persons subject to military jurisdiction. ” Among those arrested was Sgt. Maj. Maneno Katembo, a rifleman who is believed to have recorded the video. Congo has a history of atrocities, including gang rapes and the slaughtering of civilians. The government initially labeled the video a hoax, before reversing itself and ordering the officers’ arrest. The country is nearly lawless, and the government forces are known to be brutal, underpaid and among the most dreaded. On Monday, two United Nations officials — an American and a Swede — were kidnapped along with four Congolese also in Province. On Saturday, the United Nations mission in Kinshasa released a statement expressing concern over reports of renewed fighting in the restive region. | 1 |
As the movement continues to grow and expand in the Age of President Trump, a new generation of energized voters and young people will do well to arm themselves with the intellectual firepower of the giants upon whose shoulders today’s movement rests. [Here, then, are seven conservative classics that should be on every American’s bookshelf: 1. Ideas Have Consequences by Richard Weaver, Originally published in 1948, Ideas Have Consequences foresaw the corrosive influences of moral and cultural relativism decades before the Left harnessed those forces to undermine Western civilization. One of America’s greatest conservative intellectuals and an esteemed rhetorical scholar, Richard Weaver erected an intellectual fortress around Absolute Truth long before progressives mounted their frontal assault on notions of right versus wrong, good versus evil. 2. The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek, In the age of Bernie Sanders, today’s young generation of socialists would do well to read Friedrich Hayek’s 1944 classic broadside against socialism, The Road to Serfdom. A member of the Austrian School of economics and a winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, Hayek warned of the totalitarian realities of socialism’s conceits. As he put it elsewhere: “A claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers. ” 3. The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom, Long before rioters sparked violence at UC Berkeley, a University of Chicago professor named Allan Bloom lit academia ablaze with this 1987 classic taking the professoriate to task for eroding higher education curriculum with progressive pablum. A staunch defender of the classical “canon” of great works every thinking person must read, Bloom explained how the intellectual corruption of the humanities and arts led to an erasure of students’ understanding of the proper moral order that undergirds Western Civilization. 4. A Choice Not an Echo by Phyllis Schlafly, The late great matriarch of modern conservatism, Phyllis Schlafly, did more to advance and win the battle of ideas than many young conservatives understand. The tip of her intellectual spear, A Choice Not an Echo, reshaped the contours of American conservatism and has sold an astounding three million copies since its release over a ago. The original crusader, Schlafly’s book argued that conservatives must be willing to fight for a voice within the Republican Party’s establishment leadership and helped pave a path for Barry Goldwater’s nomination. 5. Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman, Nobel economist Milton Friedman redefined the field of economics. In addition to being an intellectual titan, he was a sterling writer with a knack for distilling complex topics with wit and clarity. Any Nobel Prize winner who can string together a sentence like this deserves to be read: “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand. ” 6. A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell, There are no “bad” Thomas Sowell books, so we could have easily recommended many of his other classics. But A Conflict of Visions crystalizes the stakes involved in the clash between conservative and progressive ideologies — and how radically different outcomes are when one side prevails over the other. One of America’s most lucid conservative economists, Sowell’s book draws upon everything from Rousseau to Hobbes to Adam Smith to illustrate the intellectual impulses that drive conservatives and progressives to think and act the way they do. 7. Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Hailed as one of the greatest nonfiction books of the twentieth century, Gulag Archipelago is the account of Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s eight years spent as a prisoner inside the Russian gulags for criticizing Stalin and the Soviet Communist system in his private letters. A winner of the Nobel Prize in literature, Solzhenitsyn’s ability to combine lyrical prose with piercing reportage of communism’s moral horrors are virtually without equal. | 1 |
Is Hillary Clinton’s Entourage Involved In A Satanic Pedophile Ring? Is Hillary Clinton’s Entourage Involved In A Satanic Pedophile Ring? Jean-Batave Poqueliche
Jean-Batave is a martial artist from the viking stronghold of Normandy, France. He travels the world looking for new fighting techniques and new beautiful women. Eastern Europe taught him everything he knows and is his second home. His column runs every Thursday. November 8, 2016 News
The latest batch of the Podesta emails shared by Wikileaks add a darker dimension (if it was even possible) to the sordid culture of corruption, lies and depravity that surrounds Hillary Clinton, explaining why the FBI has been calling her for quite some time now, the “Antichrist personified” .
It is a possibility that Hellary’s clique attends and organizes Satanic rituals, involving mock-up scenes of cannibalism and sexual abuse involving children.
One of the emails directed at Tony Podesta (John Podesta’s brother) contains the following sentence:
“I am so looking forward to the Spirit Cooking dinner at my place.
Do you think you will be able to let me know if your brother is joining?”
This really does not sounds like much until you discover the author of this invitation. She, who walks in the footsteps of the Beast
This is the woman who sent the email, Marina Abramovic. Dressed in red and holding the skinned head of a dead goat, a clear reference to the occult character Baphomet
There is proof that the Clinton Foundation directly transferred Abramovic ten thousand dollars in at least one instance for her “services.” Abramovic carving a pentagram in the flesh of her stomach with a blade to show her artistic side
A self-proclaimed artist, Abramovic hails from Serbia and regularly organizes “performances” and events using what she calls “Spirit Cooking”.
This “spirit cooking” includes mixing semen, breast milk, urine or fresh blood before consuming it or splattering it over various things such as life-sized representations of young children, like shown below:
This performance included spelling with the body fluids, the following stanza:
With a sharp
knife cut deeply into the
middle finger of your
left hand
eat the pain.
Other examples of her “art” (nowadays any revolting expression of bad taste if sporting the correct pair of problem glasses) include public dinners, where politicians, Hollywood stars, singers and decision makers gather to eat cakes that depict a naked human corpse or feast on the fake (I hope by all that is sacred) blood contained in a coffin where swims another human body. Celebrities that use demonic symbols in their persona such as Lady Gaga rush to participate to Abramovic’s events Another heavy user of the occult symbols, Jay-Z, is a big fan of Marina
These codes are all directly copied from rituals such as black masses or Sabat night reunions and popularized by figures such as Aleister Crowley from whom Abramovic draws direct inspiration.
It is part of this growing phenomenon where the elites and celebrities close to power get caught, intentionally or not, showing symbols celebrating the ancient Babylonian rites or the worship of the Devil. On November the 4th, Clinton chose Jay-Z in a last bid to draw crowds to her empty rallies. Coincidence? Innocent children involved in that mess
There is hard evidence that Bill Clinton traveled at least 26 times (sometimes without his bodyguards, it is all in the pilot logs) to billionaire and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s Island on board his plane, dubbed the “Lolita Express,” as it is in this plane that the guests could allegedly have sex with minors.
With this in mind, it is disturbing to notice that other Podesta emails refer to children as being the “entertainment” at pool parties almost entirely attended by middle-aged men involved in politics. Other emails involve strange references to food such as “pizza”, “cheese”, $65,000 worth of “hot dogs” for a party that attendees “dream of” and “recipes” that many sources suggest are code words for orgies involving minors and extremely young children. You can read more about it here . The Whole Clinton Bag of Crooks reeks of unnatural sexual behaviour and reproachable acts and we will certainly know much more in the days to come, as Hillary Clinton is still under FBI investigation as we speak. This follows the scandal surrounding Huma Abedin (Clinton’s right hand and confidant) and her estranged husband, sex offender and champion one-handed texter, Anthony Weiner. It will take some time before they go through Weiner’s 650,000 emails and decide of a course of action regarding these dark revelations and other atrocities of the Clinton crime family. La plus belle ruse du diable est de vous persuader qu’il n’existe pas Drawing by Ben Garrison
These heavy accusations of Satanism remind us of the sexual blackmail practices said to take place among the popular hip-hop and Hollywood communities, as Roosh described in his related article , or other rumours linked to suspicious reunions involving the secret ceremonies of the elite such as the ones of the Bohemian Grove or the Rothschilds’ parties of the 70s.
If those recent speculations turn out to be true, it could have the effect of a bomb and mean a revolution.
Observe the symbols of cannibalism, eerily similar in the three following pictures. Those are respectively: a scene of the Rothschild’s “surrealistic bal,” a painting hanging in John Podesta’s office and one of Abramovic’s dinners:
I will let you be the own judge of the conclusions inspired by those images. My father is a very Cartesian fellow and a saying of his comes to mind:
Just like Saint Thomas,
I only believe in what I see.
And what I see unsettles me. | 0 |
Hillary Will “FIX” Obama’s Failed Economy by RECYCLING His FAILED POLICIES Hillary Will “FIX” Obama’s Failed Economy by RECYCLING His FAILED POLICIES Politics By Amy Moreno October 27, 2016
Hillary can’t admit to the American people how BAD the Obama economy is.
She has to “tip toe” around it so she doesn’t offend Mr. Thin-Skin.
Although, it doesn’t matter much what Hillary says because she has no idea how to fix it.
Her plan is to recycle his failed policies as “new failed policies” and round and round we go.
From Investors.com
Election 2016: If you want to know how bankrupt the Democratic Party is today of pro-growth ideas, check out Hillary Clinton’s latest speech on the economy. She has absolutely nothing new to offer that President Obama hasn’t already tried.
Clinton admits in her speech that things aren’t all they should be in the economy after seven-plus year of Obamanomics. “The challenges we face are significant,” she said. She even took a couple subtle digs at Obama, complaining about “long-term neglect” of poor communities and the fact that the unemployment gap between blacks and whites has been widening, whereas it was narrowing when her husband was in the White House.
So what are the “big, bold” ideas she said she’d implement that will “drive growth”? Spend more money on infrastructure, raise taxes on the rich, impose more mandates on businesses that raise the cost of labor, make college cheaper and saddle the economy with more regulations.
Is Clinton really not aware that this is exactly what Obama prescribed, and that his policies have produced the worst economic recovery in history?
Her biggest idea is to make “the biggest investment in American infrastructure in decades,” saying that will create “millions of good paying jobs.”
Apparently she’s forgotten that Obama’s stimulus plan included, as Obama put it, “the largest new investment in our nation’s infrastructure since Eisenhower built an interstate highway system in the 1950s.”
How did that work out for jobs? We’ve had one of the slowest rates of job growth since the Great Depression, and annual economic growth never topped 3%. Oh, and according to Hillary, our roads and bridges are still crumbling.
Clinton also says she wants to invest in “advanced manufacturing.” But Obama has already nearly doubled spending on this — as part of his plan to create a million manufacturing jobs in his second term. (Manufacturing jobs have climbed only 330,000 since he made that promise.)
Other “bold” Clinton ideas are also straight out of the Obama playbook: She wants a “cleaner, more resilient power grid,” free child care, paid maternity leave, more power to unions. She wants to expand on the growth-killing Dodd-Frank bill.
Plus, of course, she wants to raise taxes on the rich, as if Obama hasn’t already done that several times.
What’s most amusing about Clinton’s speech, however, is her claim that cutting taxes and reducing regulations as a growth strategy “has been proven wrong again and again.”
In fact, the strongest periods of growth in the past three decades occurred during the tax-cutting, deregulating Reagan years, and after Bill Clinton agreed to cut taxes and deregulate the banking industry. In the 1960s, it was the result of Kennedy cut taxes.
The inconvenient truth here is that not one of the items on Clinton’s list will do anything to get the economy out of its Obama-induced malaise. This is a movement – we are the political OUTSIDERS fighting against the ESTABLISHMENT! Join the resistance and help us fight to put America First ! Amy Moreno is a Published Author , Pug Lover & Game of Thrones Nerd. You can follow her on Twitter here and Facebook here . Support the Trump Movement and help us fight Liberal Media Bias. Please LIKE and SHARE this story on Facebook or Twitter. | 0 |
Hot Mic Leak From CBS Sports Announcer Reveals Real Reason Players Are Kneeling
Respect has skyrocketed in the past few years. In fact, the only time respect for police was higher was in 1967.
Only 56 percent of Americans said they had respect for police in 2004. Just last year, only 64 percent of Americans claimed they respected police. Advertisement - story continues below
The numbers were shocking, especially in light of recent officer-involved shootings, which have sparked protests all around the country. The Black Lives Matter group rallied in large cities, sparking violent protests and forcing cities to enact a curfew for the safety of their residents. Hundreds of people marching in North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and other states chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot!” grabbed the media’s attention.
Even the presidential campaigns focused on how to fix relations between police and the communities they serve.
So do these new numbers show that the Black Lives Matter movement is not achieving what it set out to accomplish? As more protests and rallies erupt around the country, Americans respect police more and more.
Maybe it’s time for the Black Lives Matter group to try a new approach. Advertisement - story continues below | 0 |
On Breitbart News Sunday, the Angel Moms who lost children or other loved ones to illegal alien crime said that the Trump administration plans to support a program aimed at helping American families devastated by illegal immigration put their lives back together. [Hundreds of programs assist illegal aliens, but not a single program exists specifically to help American victims of illegal alien crime, they told SiriusXM host Matthew Boyle. Organized by the Remembrance Project’s Maria Espinoza, the Angel Moms described the immense emotional and financial costs burdening their families — and government’s complete indifference. “The national program we put forth — Mr. Trump is the only candidate who met with us, of course, but also who agreed to support the Remembrance Project national program that would help with burial, medical, and counseling expenses,” said Espinoza. “Also, what’s very important that people don’t understand that in so many cases, our families are being because they’re being misguided in the court system. Either activist judges, or activist prosecutors — so we really need someone to help and guide our families. ” “Who can afford an attorney for themselves? And here illegal aliens get one. If they murder an American, they are given two attorneys to protect them, to defend them,” she added. Ruth Johnston Martin, whose husband was shot by an illegal alien, said there is not one government program out there to help those suffering a loss due to illegal alien crime. “Well, first of all, everyone listening has a family. Just imagine waking up one day and having one of those family members ripped away from you in such a violent and horrifying way. You’re never the same. You need that counseling,” she said. “You have to understand the depression that sets in — these individuals need something, someone to reach out to. Someone that’s going to circle the wagons around them. That program will be that source. It’s a resource. And you know, it is true — there’s over 300 programs for illegal aliens,” Martin continued. “But there’s nothing to help the families of those who have lost loved ones at the hands of these individuals. So they don’t have to suffer in silence. They have someone they can reach out to. ” “There’s many that just go into a state of depression. There are some that commit suicide. There are some that go to drinking. It doesn’t have to be that way,” she said. “They need the assistance, and it’s about time we had a president that says, ‘You know what, you’re an American. We’re here for you. We’re here to assist you.’ And that is exactly what he will do. ” Laura Wilkerson, who summoned the strength to tell the story of her son Joshua’s violent death at the hands of an illegal alien classmate over and over again, said the trauma can leave one unable to live a normal life, or even do everyday tasks. “When you lose a child, and the trauma that is involved with Josh’s case, you are just absolutely broken to the core. You don’t know if you can breathe. I mean really, it’s a start to learn to breathe all over again and learning to crawl, and then to walk,” she said. “You feel like an infant. Your mind knows that you’re not, but you can’t help but have the trauma with it. ” “I sat in the trial and watched this kid who was just excited about what he did to Josh, and he got up off the stand and demonstrated to the district attorney about how he strangled Josh, and he never had an ounce of remorse. And, this was two years after Joshua died,” she said. “It was two years before it was brought to trial. And then you sit there and watch him just excited about what he did to Joshua. You’ve never been faced with the evil, and with the trauma. ” “My husband and I own a small business, and it’s very hard to — you know, you’re scrapping and fighting every day to make it anyway, and you can’t do the things you used to do. And it takes you a long time to process that your child is not coming back, ever, and then on top of that to just do daily things. I couldn’t make a meal for my family for probably about a year and a half,” she said. “You know something’s messed up, and you just can’t do it. ” “Everything becomes like climbing a mountain, and you really need help,” she added. Legal immigrant Agnes Gibboney, whose son Ronald da Silva was murdered in 2002 by an illegal alien, said families desperation need lawyers in their corner when fighting for justice. “With this national program to allow families to have legal representation, so your rights won’t be violated in a court of law,” she said, adding she only had the prosecutor to look out for her. “Everything went wrong. I was not allowed to say my impact statement. I was not allowed to address the court. I was not allowed to get the probation hearing report. And when I called them to ask how come I didn’t get it, they said, ‘My boss told me not to talk to you,’ and hung up. ” Wilkerson said she paid out of her own pocket for an attorney just to sit through the trial of her son’s murderer. “They didn’t want me to sit in the trial, and I had to hire an attorney just to make that happen. ” She “couldn’t imagine” not being present in the courtroom while others heard about the death of her son. Breitbart News Sunday airs weekly from 7 PM to 10 PM EST on SiriusXM Patriot 125. LISTEN: | 1 |
November 1, 2016
Political commentators the world over have been amazed to see that an indie ballad by aspiring singer songwriter James Berk, performed last night at an open mic night in Hertford, has gone some way to creating a world free from war and negativity.
Minutes after Berk sang the opening line (‘no war, let’s have peace, let’s have peace in the west and the east’), Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump reportedly ate a vegan lasagne and drew a watercolour drawing of a rainbow together, then decided to abandon their futile sparring and hand the presidency over to Greenpeace.
As Berk moved on to the bridge, (a whispered repetition of ‘fuck the Tories, fuck the Tories’ over a grittily strummed G chord), Theresa May issued a statement that she and her party had been wrong over a lot of things, and were immediately going to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Israel, as well as scrapping trident.
Bashed Al-Assad joined in minutes later, going on to the streets of Aleppo to hand out cornettos.
Julian Smith, who puts on the night, said ‘it’s great to see that there’s a whole host of emerging talent in Hertford, everything from acoustic acts like James, to spoken word poets, to great rock bands like ‘Jenny and The Farmer’s Sons’. I think the world peace that James has created proves that the night is well worth the £5 entry fee.’ | 0 |
De Kennedy a Obama, más de medio siglo de debates en EEUU (vídeos) Sin embargo, posteriormente se descubrió que 91.000 eran completamente inocentes. También la Secretaría de Florida informó posteriormente que entre los electores del Estado había 59.019 encarcelados, 17.000 fallecidos y 27.000 personas que habían votado más de una vez. Ya era tarde, pues George W. Bush superó al candidato demócrata Al Gore por 537 votos que dieron la victoria final al Partido Republicano. El fraude había sido consumado. Tampoco todo había sido limpio en las elecciones presidenciales de Barack Obama en 2008, según los observadores republicanos y la investigación realizada por la CNN. Resulta que el candidato Obama recibió el apoyo de la Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN), que funciona en 100 ciudades en EEUU y tiene unos 500.000 miembros dedicados al apoyo a los más necesitados. Los investigadores llegaron a la conclusión que ACORN registró a miles de personas para que votasen por Obama, muchos de cuales estaban muertos, no existían o tenían una dirección falsa. ✒Opinión: La guerra sucia en las elecciones norteamericanas – lee más en: https://t.co/tpPtlp6V8O pic.twitter.com/pA834GOc1P — Sputnik Mundo (@SputnikMundo) 19 de octubre de 2016
El 'think tank' Pew Research Center, con sede en Washington, encontró también irregularidades en las elecciones en el 2012, en las cuales fue elegido Barack Obama. Resultó que cada octavo votante registrado no podía emitir su voto. En aquel entonces, más de 1,5 millones de votantes muertos 'depositaron' su voto y unos 2,75 millones de habitantes participaron dos veces en la votación. Tomando en cuenta todos estos antecedentes históricos, no son nada extrañas o exageradas las sospechas del actual candidato republicano Donald Trump de que las elecciones del próximo 8 de noviembre puedan ser fraudulentas, especialmente en Chicago, Filadelfia o Saint Louis. También Trump está sospechando que los 51 millones de ciudadanos norteamericanos no registrados (24% de los potenciales votantes) podrían ser utilizados para el robo de votos. © REUTERS/ Dave Kaup El sistema quiere imponer a Hillary en la Presidencia Recientemente la organización Project Veritas Action, cuya misión es "investigar y exponer la corrupción, deshonestidad, fraudes", dirigida por el activista conservador James E. O'Keefe III, lanzó el tercer vídeo sobre el fraude electoral confirmando la participación de Hillary Clinton. En el primer vídeo, se muestra cómo los organizadores de la campaña de Clinton están usando la violencia para desacreditar los mítines y reuniones de los partidarios de Trump. En el segundo vídeo, se expone paso por paso la estrategia del Partido Demócrata para lograr el fraude electoral a favor de Hillary que en general habían usado los demócratas durante los últimos 50 años. Finalmente, en el tercer documento filmado se presentan las comunicaciones electrónicas entre Clinton, la Convención Nacional Demócrata y la ONG American Unites for Change para organizar eventos políticos desacreditando a Trump.
También la táctica de ensuciar al candidato rival no es nada nueva para los demócratas. La penúltima vez la usaron contra Mitt Romney en 2012, cuando los medios globalizados lo presentaron como un 'racista diabólico', un 'sexista brutal' que quiere que las mujeres retornen a la sumisión de los años 50, 'viejo homofóbico' etc. Entonces los actuales insultos a Trump, como 'estúpido', 'ignorante', 'racista', 'sexista' o 'delincuente sexual', 'vicioso' es parte del juego electoral incorporado por los medios de comunicación globalizados y corporativos para la promoción del candidato seleccionado por el Sistema o el establishment y la destrucción de su contrincante, que no satisface en este momento las necesidades y las aspiraciones de aquel 1% de los dueños de América. © REUTERS/ Brian Snyder Donald Trump, el bufón útil del Sistema Norteamericano De allí surge el dilema. Ambos candidatos, tanto Hillary como Donald han sido lanzados al ruedo electoral por el sistema con el propósito inicial de utilizar a Trump para facilitar la victoria de Clinton. Sin embargo, los propósitos del sistema podrían variarse debido a la dinámica de la campaña electoral, surgimiento de cambios geopolíticos en el mundo o las condiciones económicas tanto internas como externas y la flexibilidad de adaptación de cada candidato a las nuevas necesidades políticas y las expectativas del momento. Lo que está absolutamente claro es que los dos candidatos trabajan para el mismo 1%, es decir, para el sistema.
Lea más: WikiLeaks revela que un periodista sugirió al jefe de campaña de Clinton "sacrificar" a Trump
Basta revisar la actitud de los Rothschild hacia ambos candidatos. En mayo del 2016, Lynn Forester de Rothschild ofreció una cena de 100.000 dólares por persona para recolectar fondos para Hillary Clinton. A la vez, el hombre de confianza de la familia Rothschild, el multimillonario Wilbur Ross organizó un 'lunch' que costaba 25,000 dólares el plato para apoyar al candidato Trump. La familia Rockefeller se considera la creadora de Hillary Clinton como una lideresa política. Judicial Watch publicó un memorándum de 1993 de John David Rockefeller IV a Hillary Clinton donde expone los detalles de la Reforma de Salud que posteriormente Hillary Clinton intentó poner en práctica infructuosamente. © REUTERS/ Joe Skipper Donald Trump el candidato Frankenstein de los republicanos A la vez, la familia Rockefeller ayudó a Donald Trump, según el periodista Baxter Dmitry (News, US), a comprar en 1987 el 93% de las acciones del casino Resorts International, creado a comienzos de 1950. El periodista Andrew St. George reveló en 'The Spotlight' (30 de octubre 1978) que Resorts International fue controlado por los hombres de las familias Rockefeller y Rothschild y administrado por los agentes de la CIA y Mossad que, en los años 60, usaban el dinero lavado para financiar la lucha contra la Cuba de Fidel Castro.
Tema: Normalización de las relaciones entre Cuba y EEUU
En fin, todo esto demuestra que tanto Donald Trump como Hillary Clinton trabajan para el sistema o como se dice popularmente en EEUU, para los 'bad guys'. El problema ahora consiste en seleccionar al líder más útil actualmente para el establishment norteamericano. El discurso internacional de Hillary, apodada 'The Queen of War and Chaos' está aparentemente cargado de amenazas de guerra. Ella misma se da cuenta de que Estados Unidos no está preparado para una confrontación con Rusia y China. La carta de 88 generales en retiro apoyando a Trump está demostrando que los militares prefieren el tono más moderado, aunque no menos belicoso que el de Hillary. — Sputnik Mundo (@SputnikMundo) 5 de octubre de 2016
El candidato republicano declaró recientemente: "Bajo mi administración pondremos fin a la débil política exterior de los últimos ocho años, reconstruiremos nuestras Fuerzas Armadas, le daremos a nuestros soldados reglas de combate claras". Y en una reunión en Phoenix, Trump aclaró, para que nadie se hiciera ilusiones de su aparente pacifismo: "Yo soy más militarista que todos los que están reunidos en la esta sala". Hillary Clinton está amenazando a Venezuela y Donald Trump ya anunció en un mitin en Miami, adoptando la postura de Benito Mussolini, que acabaría con la dictadura de Castro en Cuba y con la de Maduro en Venezuela. También prometió apoyar a "todos los pueblos oprimidos en el hemisferio", lo que sería una referencia a los ecuatorianos y bolivianos en la interpretación tanto de Hillary como de Donald. Capitana Clinton vs. Iron Trump: debate presidencial al estilo Marvel En resumidas cuentas, como dicen los árabes, los dos candidatos representan el mismo caballo con diferente montura. Las promesas de Trump de revisar los tratados de libre comercio y hacer regresar el trabajo manufacturero e industrial a Norteamérica representan una demagogia, pues todos los tratados están regidos por las leyes internacionales que no se pueden cambiar fácilmente. Para la construcción del muro adicional con México se necesitaría una fuerte inversión, de la cual no dispone la Reserva Federal y México, en su turno, no aportaría ni un centavo. Tampoco le conviene a Washington la salida de EEUU de la OTAN, pues la Unión Europea se acercaría inmediatamente a Rusia, que le aseguraría su seguridad energética. | 0 |
Homeless TRUMP Supporter Guards Donald Trump’s Star on Hollywood Blvd page: 1 On Wednesday a violent leftist smashed Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The culprits used a sledgehammer to destroy Donald’s star. The person who was watching Trumps star had an anti-immigration sign and is pro-trump. Later another homeless man took up the watch to keep Trumps star on Hollywood BLVD safe. From the video it looks like the star had already been replaced. Could this be a plant? And has Trump secured the homeless vote? Everybody's looking for a gimmick, and their 15 minutes of fame. Sad, really. Really sad. Maybe he wants a home. Another stinkin' deplorable. link Ill bet Hillary laughs at him because he is homeless and like Trump. I would give him money if I lived there. The violent destructive liberals just cant stop stealing signs, spray painting buildings and now vandalizing a sidewalk, wow but not surprised, the liberals have been so dirty not only Hillary and her supporters but her whole entourage that it makes this years election a new low in lows and sets a really bad example for the next election. | 0 |
by Yves Smith
Yves here. This is a very important video from the Real News Network , and I wish there were a transcript, so do take the trouble to listen to it.
One of the reasons for the ferocity of the howling from the Democratic Party hackocracy in the wake of the unexpected Trump vicory is that they are effectively cornered animals. As political scientist Tom Ferguson explains, the Democrats can’t get the number of voters they need with their traditional coalition of Big Finance money plus identity politics without delivering tangible benefits to workers, which they have abjectly failed to do. But the power of mone in the Democratic party makes it well nigh impossible for them to devise the sort of populist policies that would appeal to voters that Trump has successfully peeled off.
Ferguson also has some important exit poll and early, granular data that debunks some cherished Democratic party myths. For instance, playing the gender card wasn’t as successful as the media would lead you to believe.
Ferguson, who has been a consistent critic of the Democrats from the left, does not rule out the idea that Trump could deliver on policies that would make him popular, most important, ones that would create more jobs and improve wages. One expert close to the Sanders camp came to the same view separately months ago. So while Trump may be stymied, or may never have been sincere about his battle call to downtrodden workers, it’s a mistake to rule out the possibility that he will continue to succeed despite the odds and his glaring character defects. 0 0 0 0 0 1 | 0 |
Over the last few days of the race, Donald J. Trump intends to travel all over the country. He’’s going to Florida, North Carolina, Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and even Minnesota, he said Saturday. It’s an impressive travel schedule, but it may reflect the biggest challenge facing him right now: It’s still not clear exactly where and how he would win. Hillary Clinton has a consistent and clear advantage in states worth at least 270 electoral votes, even if the race has undoubtedly tightened over the last few weeks. But even that understates the challenge facing Mr. Trump’s campaign: It’s not at all obvious where he has his best chance of breaking through, making it harder for him to concentrate his efforts over the last days of the campaign. This is not to say that Mr. Trump can’t win. The polls could be off across the board.’ ”But even if he wins Arizona, Iowa, Ohio, Utah, North Carolina, Florida and New Hampshire, he’s still short of a victory.” ”He’s not assured to win any of those states, to be clear — although he’s a clear favorite in Iowa and Utah at this point. He has trailed in more live interview polls of North Carolina and Florida than he has led, although the national race has tightened since many were taken.” ’But he would still need to win one of the following states: Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, Virginia, or perhaps New Mexico or Minnesota. Of all of these states, the only one where Mr. Trump has really been close in the polls is Nevada. But Nevada is also the state where we know the most about the results because of early voting, and it hasn’’t brought good news for Mr. Trump. Democrats have largely replicated the turnout from 2012 (when President Obama ultimately won the state by about seven points) thanks in no small part to a strong turnout among Hispanic voters. Many analysts, like the Nevada politics guru Jon Ralston, have concluded that Mr. Trump has basically lost the state already. This might seem difficult to reconcile with the polling, but Nevada is a state where pollsters have underestimated Democrats in the past. One theory is that the polls are not very good at capturing the most Hispanic voters. And indeed, the polls showing Mr. Trump ahead in the state have shown a smaller lead for Mrs. Clinton among nonwhite voters than seems plausible, particularly given his rhetoric against Hispanic immigrants. Perhaps Mr. Trump will mount a huge comeback in Nevada on Election Day. Or maybe Democrats are much weaker among registered Democrats or unaffiliated voters than most analysts believe.’ ”But if Mrs. Clinton does indeed have a big advantage in Nevada, then his chances start looking very bleak: He’s at a disadvantage in the polls of all of the other states that could put him over the top.” ”What’s more, it’s not really clear where he has his best chance — something reflected in Mr. Trump’s unfocused push.” ”Pennsylvania seemed like Mr. Trump’s best option earlier in the year, but he hasn’t led a live interview poll there since the summer. The final nonpartisan live interview polls there show Mrs. Clinton ahead by a comfortable margin of four to six points. The state will probably be close, but it’s quite clear that she has the edge.” ’Wisconsin is another state that seemed as if it could be promising for Mr. Trump. It has a large population of white Democrats, just as Iowa does, and Mr. Trump is running well in Iowa. But he has struggled among voters in the Milwaukee suburbs.’ ”The race could tighten if these voters return to his side, but he hasn’t led a live interview poll there all year.” ’Michigan could be a more interesting option for Mr. Trump. It was the most Democratic of all of these states in the 2012 election, and he hasn’t led a poll there all year either. But recent polls have shown a relatively tight race there.’ ”Mrs. Clinton visited the state on Friday, and President Obama will visit on Sunday and Monday, and Mrs. Clinton will make another stop on Monday, so clearly the Clinton campaign thinks there’s some softness there. That said, if the election comes down to whether Mr. Trump can score an upset in Michigan, he’s in a lot of trouble. It seems hard to imagine he could carry the state without also carrying Pennsylvania.” ’Colorado is a notch tougher than any of those states. The demographics and polling are both tough for Mr. Trump. It has one of the populations in the country, along with a large Hispanic population. There was one recent poll that showed a tied race in Colorado, but most have shown Mrs. Clinton with a lead. Like Nevada, Colorado is also a state where the Democrats have outperformed their final poll numbers in every presidential election since 2004. The early vote numbers are strong for the Democrats there as well. Virginia is like Colorado: Neither polls nor demographics seem promising for Mr. Trump. Ultimately, the fact that the race is close in North Carolina is a very strong indicator that Mrs. Clinton has a big lead in Virginia.’ ”Then there are states like Minnesota and New Mexico. The polls have not shown an especially tight race, and Mrs. Clinton is not campaigning or airing advertisements there. Mr. Trump’s team has held out some hope of winning, but these states seem especially unlikely to decide the election.” ”Again, the polls are close enough that the possibility of a victory for Mr. Trump is still quite real. But it’s just not clear exactly how or where he would break through. It doesn’t seem that the Trump campaign knows either.” | 1 |
Email
History should tell us that writing scolding, even scornful letters, to electorates as part of a conversation for persuasion do not work. They are even less effective when coming from outside that electorate, however well-intentioned. Non-voters should be careful to judge and lecture.
Consider the attempt on the part of The Guardian to mount its electoral high horse prior to the 2004 Presidential elections in the United States. The prospect of another four years of George W. Bush was hard to stomach for the editors, hence their disruptive project. Operation Clark County was advertised as an effort to write “to undecided voters in the crucial state of Ohio.” The experiment had more than a degree of condescension, slanted, as it were, to the superior across the pond wisdom.
Instead of providing a platform of sobriety, it simply supplied patriotic fuel to US voters to confirm their positions. No one was going to be telling them what to do. Their president was a fool, but was their fool. As one letter went, “We Ohioans are an ornery sort and don’t take meddling well, even if it comes from people we admire and with their sincere goodwill. We are a fairly closed community overall.” [1] Even the New York Times came forth with an unmistakably frank headline: “British Two Cents Draws, in Sum, a Two-Word Reply: Butt Out.” [2]
Nobel Prize winner and former president of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, should be more attuned with that recent history. But instead, he has decided to wade into the US elections with another letter of scorn, another experiment in persuasion. To add weight and magnification to the appeal, he is seeking the signatures of fellow Nobel Prize laureates. The direction of this letter promises to be simple: whatever you do, people of the US, don’t vote for Donald Trump next month.
During a brief visit to the northern Australian town of Darwin, Ramos-Horta explained how he and his friends, “Nobel Peace Prize laureates, are extremely concerned with the tone of a presidential candidate Donald Trump in making disparaging remarks about migrants, about Muslims, and refugees.”
Ramos-Horta insisted that the rise of such a figure was “extremely worrying for all of us and it does not serve US interests.” Along with his fellow laureates, he was hoping to pen a letter that would “alert American public opinion that the world … cannot afford extremism coming from the White House itself.”
Ramos-Horta provides us a fairly typical, if rusted view, of world power. Empires need the wise and clever to lead them, being repositories of responsibility. Lunacy has no place. “The US is an indisputable global power and global powers have to be led with prudence, with enormous wisdom.”
What of the brakes of moderation and restraint offered by a critical, at times unreasonable Congress, including other measures so carefully thought through by the Republic’s Founding Fathers? We have seen such brakes bringing the Republic to a screeching halt on occasions, notably during the Obama years. These are polarized times in US politics, and not even the supply of finance to public servants is sacred.
This is of little interest to Ramos-Horta, who is convinced that a Trump presidency would have Congress in his deceptively deep pocket to wage war with impunity and engage in a pattern of global mischief making.
“Whatever the US president and US congress may decide on some measure of issues internationally can enhance peace, but can provoke instability and world disorder.” Not that the record book on peace, stemming from US foreign policy in recent years, has been particularly enhancing.
Having dumped generously on Trump, Ramos-Horta admits a swooning admiration for Hillary Clinton, his preferred White House occupant. If there is a candidate bound to embark on more aggressive stances, be it towards Iran or Russia, few could come close. Her recipe is for greater, not lesser belligerence. Free world boisterousness indeed.
Taking leave of his senses, Ramos-Horta suggested that she was “outstanding” and “sensitive to the rest of the world”. With baffling adolescent gullibility, the Nobel Prize laureate saw a Clinton “extremely sensitive to education for poor people, for children”.
A sense of balance might have been appropriate at that point: questionable donations from despotic regimes to the same, supposedly helpful foundation open to helping the indigent and illiterate; or security breaches; or compromised arrangements with Wall Street. The world of power is dark, and maze ridden, and at the end of it usually lurks a Clinton apology.
A Clinton presidency would hardly be that prudent, nor particularly wise, but that is the Ramos-Horta verdict, his own variant of an external endorsement that is bound to fall on deaf ears in the United States. Any ears who receive the message will be dismissive. From a man whose country suffered an occupation that will, in time, find its way into the books of notable genocides, endorsing such a Clinton can hardly be prudent. But then again, power of the massive sort rarely is.
Notes. | 0 |
Call of Duty is going back to its roots with Call of Duty: WWII, “a bold cinematic experience that captures the unforgettable heroism of the soldiers who fought together in a war that changed the world forever. ”[In Call of Duty: WWII, players will take on the role of Ronald “Red” Daniels, a member of the US 1st Infantry Division across the European theatre of World War II. “Joining Allied forces from the U. K. and the French Resistance, across the beaches of Normandy, to the liberation of Paris and ultimately into Germany, the squad must fight alongside a global and diverse cast of characters to achieve victory,” publisher Activision states. Sledgehammer Games and Studio Head Glen Schofield noted the developers “want to respect this great generation of soldiers, tell a realistic story set in a true inflection point in human history, and deliver the best experience of our careers. ” and Studio Head Michael Condrey stated, “The team is dedicated to delivering on the intense nature of war that focuses on the heroism and sacrifice of soldiers in WWII. Our rich narrative driven, campaign, and engaging and innovative multiplayer experience immerse players into the boots of a soldier fighting for freedom in a world on the brink of tyranny. ” A number of new features are coming to the franchise’s multiplayer with WWII. According to Activision, players can look forward to: • HEADQUARTERS, Offering a robust social space dedicated to engagement off the frontlines, Headquarters paves the way for avenues of Multiplayer interaction, recognition and awards unlike anything experienced in the franchise to date. • DIVISIONS, A new way to engage in a player’s Multiplayer career — Divisions immerse players in the heroic journey of enlisting in the world’s most historic war. Choose from a variety of Divisions, including Infantry and Armored Divisions. • WAR MODE, A new Multiplayer experience that immerses players in iconic World War II battles, where Allied and Axis clash in gameplay in the fight for strategic objectives. • BOOTS ON THE GROUND GAMEPLAY, Multiplayer marks a return to iconic boots on the ground Call of Duty gameplay that fans know and love, featuring an arsenal of World War weapons, and intense action. More multiplayer details are scheduled to be revealed at E3 in June. Condrey also teased a new mode that “delivers a unique storyline that’s an take on Nazi Zombies that we think fans are going to love,” although players will have to wait for further information on this mode until a later date. Activision says an invitation for the game’s closed beta later this year will also be given to those who . Call of Duty: WWII releases November 3 on Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC. | 1 |
WASHINGTON — President Obama struck back at Russia on Thursday for its efforts to influence the 2016 election, ejecting 35 suspected Russian intelligence operatives from the United States and imposing sanctions on Russia’s two leading intelligence services. The administration also penalized four top officers of one of those services, the powerful military intelligence unit known as the G. R. U. Intelligence agencies have concluded that the G. R. U. ordered the attacks on the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations, with the approval of the Kremlin, and ultimately enabled the publication of the emails it harvested to benefit Donald J. Trump’s campaign. The expulsion of the 35 Russians, who the administration said were spies posing as diplomats and other officials, and their families was in response to the harassment of American diplomats in Russia, State Department officials said. It was unclear if they were involved in the hacking. In addition, the State Department announced the closing of two waterfront estates — one in Upper Brookville, N. Y. and another on Maryland’s Eastern Shore — that it said were used for Russian intelligence activities, although officials declined to say whether they were specifically used in the hacks. Taken together, the sweeping actions announced by the White House, the Treasury, the State Department and intelligence agencies on Thursday amount to the strongest American response yet to a cyberattack. They also appeared intended to box in Trump, who will now have to decide whether to lift the sanctions on Russian intelligence agencies when he takes office next month. Mr. Trump responded to the Russian sanctions late Thursday by reiterating a call to “move on. ” But he pledged to meet with intelligence officials, who have concluded that the Russian hacking was an attempt to tip the election to Mr. Trump. In an earlier statement from Hawaii, Mr. Obama took a subtle dig at Mr. Trump, who has consistently cast doubt on the intelligence showing that the Russian government was deeply involved in the hacking. “All Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions,” Mr. Obama said, and added that the United States acted after “repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U. S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior. ” He issued a new executive order that allows him, and his successors, to retaliate for efforts to influence elections in the United States or those of “allies and partners,” a clear reference to concern that Russia’s next target may be Germany and France. Already there are reports of influence operations in both. Mr. Trump’s position is at odds with most members of his party, who after classified briefings have called for investigations into the combination of cyberattacks and information warfare used in the 2016 campaign. Mr. Trump has largely stuck to the theory he set forth in a debate with Hillary Clinton in September, when he said the hacks could have been organized by “somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds. ” Russia criticized the sanctions and vowed retaliation. “Such steps of the U. S. administration that has three weeks left to work are aimed at two things: to further harm ties, which are at a low point as it is, as well as, obviously, deal a blow on the foreign policy plans of the incoming administration of the ” Dmitri S. Peskov, the spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin, told reporters. Konstantin Kosachyov, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian Parliament, told Interfax that “this is the agony not even of ‘lame ducks,’ but of ‘political corpses. ’” Despite the international fallout and political repercussions surrounding the announcement, it is not clear how much effect the sanctions will have, except on the ousted diplomats, who have until midday Sunday to leave the country. G. R. U. officials rarely travel to the United States, or keep assets here. The four Russian intelligence officials are Igor Valentinovich Korobov, the chief of the G. R. U. and three deputies: Sergey Aleksandrovich Gizunov, Igor Olegovich Kostyukov and Vladimir Stepanovich Alexseyev. The administration also put sanctions on three companies and organizations that it said supported the hacking operations: the Special Technology Center, a signals intelligence operation in St. Petersburg, Russia a firm called Zorsecurity that is also known as Esage Lab and the Autonomous Noncommercial Organization Professional Association of Designers of Data Processing Systems, whose lengthy name, American officials said, was cover for a group that provided special training for the hacking. Still, the sanctions go well beyond the modest sanctions imposed against North Korea for its attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment two years ago, which Mr. Obama said at the time was an effort to repress free speech — a somewhat crude comedy, called “The Interview,” imagining a C. I. A. plot to assassinate Kim the country’s leader. The sanctions are not as biting as previous ones in which the United States and its Western allies took aim at broad sectors of the Russian economy and blacklisted dozens of people, some of them close friends of Mr. Putin’s. Those sanctions were in response to the Russian annexation of Crimea and its activities to destabilize Ukraine. Mr. Trump suggested in an interview with The New York Times this year that he believed those sanctions were useless, and left open the possibility he might lift them. The F. B. I. and the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday also released samples of malware and other indicators of Russian cyberactivity, including network addresses of computers commonly used by the Russians to start attacks. But the evidence in a report, in which the administration referred to the Russian cyberactivity as Grizzly Steppe, fell short of anything that would directly tie senior officers of the G. R. U. or the F. S. B. the other intelligence service, to a plan to influence the election. A more detailed report on the intelligence, ordered by Mr. Obama, will be published in the next three weeks, though much of the information — especially evidence collected from “implants” in Russian computer systems, tapped conversations and spies — is expected to remain classified. Several Obama administration officials, including Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. have suggested that there may also be a covert response, one that would be obvious to Mr. Putin but not to the public. While that may prove satisfying, many outside experts have said that unless the public response is strong enough to impose a real cost on Mr. Putin, his government and his vast intelligence apparatus, it might not deter further activity. “They are concerned about controlling retaliation,” said James A. Lewis, a cyberexpert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. But John P. Carlin, who recently left the administration as the chief of the Justice Department’s national security division, where he assembled cases against North Korean, Chinese and Iranian hackers, called the administration’s actions a “significant step that is consistent with a new model: When you violate norms of behavior in this space, we can figure out who did it and we can impose consequences. ” The Obama administration was riven for months by an internal debate about how much of its evidence to make public. In interviews for a New York Times investigation into the hack, several of Mr. Obama’s top aides expressed regret that they had not made evidence public earlier, or reacted more strongly. None said they believed it would have affected the outcome of the election, however. In recent weeks, Mr. Obama decided that the authorities he created in April 2015 to retaliate against states or individuals that conduct hacking after the Sony attack did not go far enough. They made no provision issuing sanctions in response to an incursion on the electoral system — an attack few saw coming. So he ordered his lawyers to amend the executive order, specifically giving himself and his successor the authority to issue travel bans and asset freezes on those who “tamper with, alter, or cause a misappropriation of information, with a purpose or effect of interfering with or undermining election processes or institutions. ” The administration has not publicly criticized how its own officials handled the case. But the Times investigation revealed that the F. B. I. first informed the Democratic National Committee that it saw evidence that the committee’s email systems had been hacked in the fall of 2015. Months of fumbling and slow responses followed. Mr. Obama said at a news conference that he was first notified early this summer. But one of his top aides met Russian officials in Geneva to complain about activity in April. By the time the leadership of the committee woke up to what was happening, the G. R. U. had not only obtained emails through a hacking group that has been closely associated with it for years, but, investigators say, also allowed them to be published on a number of websites, including a newly created one called DC Leaks and the far more established WikiLeaks. Meanwhile, several states reported the “scanning” of their voter databases — which American intelligence agencies also attributed to Russian hackers. But there is no evidence, American officials said, that Russia sought to manipulate votes or voter rolls on Nov. 8. Mr. Obama decided not to issue sanctions earlier for fear of Russian retaliation ahead of Election Day. Some of his aides now believe that was a mistake. But the president made clear before leaving for Hawaii that he planned to respond. | 1 |
Email
In an age where information can be spread to millions of people within seconds, it’s often difficult to separate fact from fiction. That was certainly the case a few months ago when a controversial photo of President Obama began to circulate online, with many insisting that the image was the real, unedited deal. But today that picture was officially debunked: The photo of Obama with a speech balloon saying “Islam is my main thing” has been proven to be doctored.
Wow. This is a good reminder to take everything you see on the internet with a grain of salt!
Take a look at the photo in question above. In it, you can clearly see Obama proudly declaring his unshakeable Islamic faith.
At first glance, the photo looks like pretty clear evidence that Obama may be Muslim and confirms the suspicions of his most far-right critics, who insist the president has been dishonest with the public about his true religious beliefs. But when the image went viral on Twitter, one user pointed out a possible sign of doctoring:
Many users agreed that the photo appeared to have been manipulated in some way and asked for an expert to weigh in. A graphic designer named Brendan McCann, whose Twitter bio says he’s been in the industry for over a decade, quickly answered the call.
But it was Snopes that officially put the matter to rest. After scouring the internet far and wide, they were able to dig up the original version of the photograph, taken during one of the president’s official White House photo ops, and there’s no speech balloon upholding the teachings of the Quran anywhere in sight.
Take a look at the two images side by side to see how the effect was achieved:
Well, there you have it. It looks like whoever made this image took some of the space from above the president’s head and used it to overlay the speech balloon on top. It’s a powerful effect, but it’s definitely not real. Remember: When it comes to the internet, always question your sources! | 0 |
BERLIN — The Berlin police said early Tuesday that the killing of at least 12 people and the wounding of dozens more when a truck plowed through a Christmas market on Monday night was “a suspected terrorist attack. ” In a statement, the police added that they were working swiftly and with “necessary care” in the investigation. The truck jumped the sidewalk about 8 p. m. near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, whose jagged spire, a reminder of the bombings during World War II, is one of the most symbolic sites in Berlin. The police said they later arrested a man near the scene who was suspected of driving the truck, which had been stolen from a worksite in Poland about a drive from Berlin. A passenger, identified by the authorities as a Polish national, was found dead in the cab. There was no claim of responsibility, but the episode immediately evoked the attack in July in Nice, France, when a truck driver ran over and killed more than 80 people during Bastille Day celebrations. The impact scattered people who just moments before had been shopping and drinking mulled wine amid stands that sell Christmas gifts, sweets and sausages. At least 45 people were injured, including several with severe wounds, the authorities said. “People were sitting holding their heads, there were pools of blood on the floor,” said Emma Rushton, a British tourist, who was visiting Berlin for the first time and who watched as the truck crushed a stand right in front of her. Though it was never clear if the driver in Nice was linked to the Islamic State, the group’s exhortations to run over its enemies seemed to have inspired the killer, who had a long history of disturbed and violent behavior. If the Berlin attack turns out to have been carried out by someone who entered Germany as a migrant, it could produce yet another political crisis for Chancellor Angela Merkel. Ms. Merkel has been sharply criticized for allowing one million migrants to enter the country, often without any screening or background checks. Heiko Maas, Germany’s justice minister, said that federal prosecutors had taken over the investigation of the episode, an indication that the authorities suspected terrorism. Andreas Geisel, Berlin’s top security official, initially insisted it could have been either an attack or an accident. And Thomas de Maizière, Germany’s interior minister, refused to use the word “attack” in an interview with the public broadcaster ARD. “The words we choose have a psychological effect on the whole country,” Mr. de Maizière said. “I am consciously avoiding using the word ‘attack,’ although there is a lot that points in that direction. ” Officials in Washington were less cautious in their characterization, based on similar attacks that the Islamic State seems to have inspired before, like the one in Nice. “The United States condemns in the strongest terms what appears to have been a terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin,” the National Security Council said in a statement. Since Ms. Merkel’s decision in the summer of 2015 to throw open Germany’s borders to migrants and refugees, her country has grown jittery and concerned by security threats and the challenges of integrating the newcomers. An attack on a Christmas market would be likely to provoke particular ire. Christmas markets are a beloved German tradition that open on the first Sunday of Advent and attract thousands of visitors throughout December until Christmas Eve. Coming only days before Christmas, the crash left Germans numb and unnerved after months marked by a steady uptick of episodes, increasing in lethality. The year opened with scores of sexual assaults in Cologne for which migrants were blamed and reports of a threatened attack on Munich’s main railway station. Since February, four terrorist attacks have been carried out in Germany by people who said they were motivated by the Islamic State, two of them refugees. One refugee injured five passengers on a train near Würzburg, and the other wounded 15 people when he detonated a bomb in his backpack near a concert in Ansbach. The attacks have helped to feed a growing populist movement and have helped the nationalist Alternative for Germany party gain strength, with representation in half of the country’s 16 states. Ms. Merkel said on Monday she was in contact with Mr. de Maizière, the interior minister, and the mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller. “We mourn the dead and hope the many injured can be helped,” the chancellor’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said on Twitter. The police in Berlin said that a man had been found dead in the passenger seat of the cab of the truck, which had Polish license plates. Ariel Zurawski, whose company owns the truck, said in a telephone interview that his cousin had been driving it and was a reliable individual who would not be capable of a deliberate act of terrorism. “I vouch for him. He’s my cousin and I’ve known him for ages. I trust him completely,” Mr. Zurawski said. “He’s very dedicated to his job. He’s a very experienced driver and always takes great care of the equipment. ” Mr. Zurawski said he had spoken to his cousin around noon and everything was fine, but he added that his cousin’s wife had been unable to get a hold of him when she called him about four hours later. “That was already a bad sign,” he said. Firefighters at the site could be seen surrounding the trailer of the truck, parked on the square at the base of the tower of the church. Emergency vehicles surrounded the square, which sits between two main streets that run through the heart of West Berlin. “It’s terrible to see this scene,” Mr. Müller said. “It’s exactly what we did not want to see in Berlin. ” | 1 |
A group of French suburbs, including one with past links to violent extremism, have experienced another night of violence and arson after a resident was reportedly assaulted while in police custody. [Daytime protests followed by nighttime attacks have followed the arrest on Thursday of a man identified as ‘Theo’ who according to claims was penetrated anally with a police truncheon while under arrest. While police report violence in the French suburb of after Theo made a plea from his hospital bed for calm, attacks have spread to other areas. Paris suburbs, including Montfermeil, Villepinte, and experienced attacks on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, reports Le Figaro, with police stations attacked, Molotov cocktails thrown, and bins set alight. These suburbs of the heavily region of Paris have become well known for violence, drug crime, and religious extremism. Terror raids in the area followed the 2015 Paris Bataclan Attacks. Officers would not give the exact number of cars torched overnight, but gave a figure of “around 20” destroyed over what has come to be known in France as the “Theo Affair”. Police made 17 arrests on Tuesday night, five of which took place in the suburb where Theo lives. The arrests were predominantly for “outrages” against public order, damage by violent means, and violence against a person holding public authority. A number have been hospitalised or injured, including “several” children who suffered carbon dioxide poisoning after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a nursery school, and a bus driver whose vehicle was attacked. The violence came hours after French President François Hollande, soon to leave office with the coming elections in which he is not seeking reelection, travelled to meet Theo. Speaking to a camera during the visit, the President praised the young man for having been “always known for his exemplary behaviour”. An investigation into what happened to Theo while under arrest continues. Four special police officers were arrested after he claimed a truncheon was forcibly inserted into his buttocks, causing “serious” injury. One has been charged with rape. | 1 |
BRUSSELS — The whole operation took less than 10 minutes. Three people drove a van up to Belgium’s main forensic storehouse at 2 a. m. cut through a perimeter fence, smashed the windows, and placed bottles of accelerant inside. The fire they set destroyed much of the nation’s chief forensic laboratory, including its entire cache of hair samples and thousands of other pieces of evidence critical to the prosecution of hundreds of criminal and terrorism suspects. The Aug. 29 arson, in which no suspects have been publicly identified, has cast the troubled criminal justice system of this tiny country — the biggest per capita exporter of foreign terrorists in Western Europe — into even deeper turmoil. It has also added to mounting concerns about Belgium’s weak security systems, including at its nuclear sites. The country was used as the base to plot the attacks in Paris last November and was then itself hit by attacks in March that killed 31 people in Brussels at the international airport and on the subway. Belgium’s ability to prosecute hundreds of criminals and terrorists may now be severely impeded, say justice officials, who have only reluctantly begun releasing information about the extent of the damage. Prosecutors and lawyers fear that all of the cases in which DNA evidence has been used may encounter difficulties during trials. That includes many of the 400 terrorist investigations, including about 15 related to the Paris and Brussels attacks. The full extent of the troubles may not be known until the cases actually start coming to trial next summer. For now, prosecutors say they have not yet been made aware of cases in which evidence has been lost. Sébastien Courtoy, a Belgian lawyer who specializes in defending terrorism suspects, said, “Of course, prosecutors are not going to come out with it themselves that evidence is lost. ” He said that in some cases, his clients were fighting allegations based solely on forensic evidence, and that he would be “requesting to see the evidence. ” The staff at the lab has yet to complete a full inventory, said Jan De Kinder, director of the National Institute of Forensics and Criminology, or NICC as it is known by its acronym in Dutch. But he said six of 10 research laboratories were severely damaged and estimated that thousands of pieces of physical evidence were lost in the fire. The bulk of the evidence was already analyzed and digitized and stored on a computer server not on the site, he said. But justice officials say it is not clear if the courts will accept digitized evidence alone if the physical evidence is destroyed. According to the Brussels prosecutor’s office, it is up to a judge to determine whether a digital copy of a lost piece of physical evidence has the same value. “So far this has never posed any problems,” said Ine Van Wymersch, a spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutor’s office, which is handling the criminal investigation of the arson. But Thierry Werts, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor, acknowledged that the crime lab has “thousands and thousands of forensic evidence pieces” from terrorism investigations, including from the Paris network. “If they’re completely destroyed, then that can be troublesome for all of our cases that are concerned,” he said. “If they’re only in part destroyed, then we’ll have to redo the analysis. ” Mr. Courtoy pointed to a number of terrorism cases that could potentially be affected. One involves his client Mehdi Nemmouche, who has been charged in an attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels in 2014. His DNA was found at the museum, the authorities say, and was stored at the lab. Another is that of Mohamed Abrini, the man in the hat at the airport bombing, who is suspected of having participated in the Paris and Brussels attacks. His DNA was found in most of the in Brussels, the authorities say. And then there is the case against Yassine Atar, a suspected member of the Brussels terrorist network who authorities say helped hide Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the Paris attacks who was captured after an intensive manhunt. Nitrogen that could be used in making bombs was found on Mr. Atar’s hair and his beard, the authorities say, samples of which were sent to the lab for analysis. Mr. Abdeslam was extradited to France this year, and his case may not be affected by what was lost in the fire because he will be prosecuted there, and much of the evidence was gathered in France. Still, Mr. Abdeslam’s Belgian lawyer, Sven Mary, expressed consternation at the lack of security at a government facility housing the forensic evidence of thousands of cases. Mr. Mary said in a telephone interview that the destruction of evidence at the lab posed “an enormous problem” for the Belgian justice system. “How can a defendant demand a second opinion of forensic evidence that doesn’t exist anymore?” Mr. Mary said. The Brussels prosecutor’s office has yet to identify any suspects. But Brice De Ruyver, a professor in criminology at Ghent University, said “this looks more like gangsters from the organized crime world” than terrorists. But officials and experts noted that the line between Belgium’s criminal and terrorist networks is increasingly blurred. They have been critical of the lack of security around a lab that handles thousands of cases a year for the federal police and the Belgian intelligence services. On the night of the attack, security at the site consisted of a fence and video cameras. There was no active security on site, said Mr. De Kinder, the institute’s director. Security appears to be even worse at private research laboratories that the government also depends on. On the night of March 16 of this year, an arson attack was committed against a DNA laboratory in Charleroi, destroying evidence. The same lab was also attacked in 2001 and 2003, when it was destroyed and then rebuilt. The DNA laboratory of the Ghent University, which also does forensic research, was attacked in May 2005. The latest arson attack puts Belgium’s security measures under renewed scrutiny, particularly at its nuclear sites. The series of attacks since March has prompted worries that terrorists are seeking to attack, infiltrate or sabotage nuclear installations or to obtain nuclear or radioactive material. Last year, the authorities seized surveillance video of a Belgian nuclear official from the apartment of a suspect linked to the Paris attackers. Belgium’s nuclear facilities have a record of breaches, prompting warnings from Washington and other foreign capitals. In 2013, two people scaled the fence at a Belgian research reactor, broke into a laboratory and stole equipment. In 2014, an unidentified person walked into a plant, turned a valve and drained 65, 000 liters of oil used to lubricate reactor turbines, knocking the reactor out of commission for five months. And this year, the computer system of the country’s nuclear agency was hacked and shut down briefly. According to the board of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes, which counts 66 members in 36 countries, no international guidelines exist for providing security at forensic research institutes. “Security procedures are based on national regulations,” the board stated. Addressing the arson in Belgium, the board said European forensic cooperation “ensures continuity of forensic services after any incident. ” But it added that after this “regrettable incident,” security should be reassessed. | 1 |
California’s State Senate passed SB 54 on Monday, rocketing the state one step closer to becoming an official “sanctuary state. ”[Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León’s sanctuary bill passed on a straight vote, according to the Sacramento Bee. Strong pushback from law enforcement led to several amendments before the bill passed. The bill was first introduced as an “urgency” measure, as De León argued the Trump administration presented a threat to those in the country illegally. The Senate President later pulled the “urgency” status to lower the standard for passage, but at the cost of delaying the bill’s implementation to January 1, 2018. President Donald Trump has put sanctuary cities on notice that they could lose federal funding if they chose to continue to defy federal immigration authorities. In February the President called California a sanctuary state that is “out of control. ” De León declared that “half” of his family were in the United States illegally, and lashed back at Trump during an interview on KPCC 89. 3. In the interview he admitted “the vast majority of immigrants” have used fraudulent Social Security numbers. “SB 54 shields child abusers, human traffickers, and elder abusers from deportation and guarantees their return to our communities, and that’s why our fight must continue,” said State Senator Joel Anderson ( ) in an email to supporters after voting against the bill. “Over 31, 000 Californians signed our petition and helped force the author to amend SB 54 so that murderers, rapists and child molesters would not be shielded from federal immigration authorities, but as long as felons are protected, we cannot stop fighting. ” Anderson called the bill “the greatest threat to dreamers,” according to the Bee. Maryland has also been working on passing a sanctuary state law. The made national headlines in recent days on allegations that two illegal alien students had raped a young teenage girl in a school bathroom. Last week, Attorney General. Jeff Sessions warned that sanctuary jurisdictions could lose their portion of $4. 1 billion in grants from the Department of Justice if they fail to comply with federal immigration law. He said that more than 200 jurisdictions had refused to honor ICE detainer requests in just one week. “The charges and convictions against these aliens include: drug trafficking, hit and run, rape, sex offenses against a child and even murder,” said Sessions. SB 54 now moves on to the State Assembly, where it is expected to pass and be signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown. Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana | 1 |
NBC affiliate WRCB TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee has inadvertently posted election night results. The results page appears to be similar to what mainstream news networks display on election night, including Presidential and Congressional results, the popular vote count, electoral votes, and percentage of precincts reporting.
The page, a screen shot of which has been sourced from internet archive site The Wayback Machine , is posted below and shows totals for the upcoming Presidential race. It announces Hillary Clinton as the winner.
As Jim Stone notes, the page was pulled directly from the WorldNow.com content management platform utilized by major networks like NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox and appears to be a non-public staging area for news and election results.
The original page has since been reset.
( Click here for full size image )
Though the results information appears on an FTP server at WorldNow.com, media companies like NBC’s WRCB TV utilize the platform, also know as “Frankly,” to power their news content. This can be verified directly a the WRCB web site by scrolling to the very bottom of the page footer which notes that it is, “Powered By Frankly.”
In addition to national results, Jim Stone has identified another page at the WorldNow.com FTP server that appears to show the State-By-State Presidential election results. This page is also accessible in archive format at WayBack Machine with a line by line breakdown available at Stone’s website.
Of interest is that the State-By-State results indicate a Hillary Clinton win in states like Texas (42% to 40%), Florida (44% to 40%) and Pennsylvania (44% to 40%) which have all been identified as states Clinton must steal to win the election .
Do these latest election “results” confirm that the fix is in and the vote is rigged?
If so, then we are no longer looking at an election where our votes will count, but rather, a selection where the winner is determined by those who count the votes.
Related:
Will Barack Obama Delay Or Suspend The Election If Hillary Is Forced Out
“Executive Orders for Sale”: Leaked Email Shows Hillary Auctioning Off ‘Laws’ To The Highest Bidder
Watch This Incredible Video And Decide For Yourself: Did Hillary Clinton Cheat At The Last Debate By Using An Embedded Tablet Device In Her Podium?
Are you ready for the disaster that will follow this election? | 0 |
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