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BALTIMORE — I first met Brandon Scott the day after Freddie Gray died. It was April 20, 2015. Mr. Scott, a member of the Baltimore City Council, was quietly observing a news conference where Baltimore police officials announced the suspension of six officers involved in the arrest of Mr. Gray, a black man who sustained a fatal spinal cord injury in a police transport van. In the blighted West Baltimore neighborhood where Mr. Gray grew up, protests were growing. Mr. Gray’s death was wrenching for Baltimore a lot has transpired here since then. On the day Mr. Gray was buried, riots broke out, prompting Maryland’s governor to call in the National Guard. The fiery state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, promptly indicted the six officers on charges including murder. The city paid $6. 4 million to the Gray family. With the murder rate soaring, the mayor fired the police chief — and decided not to run for office again, as the city struggled to heal. Then came the officers’ trials, which ended this week without a single conviction. Throughout, I have repeatedly interviewed Mr. Scott. He is 32, and the vice chairman of the Council committee that oversees the Baltimore police. Before being elected in 2011, he worked in city government and the 300 Men March, an group here. On Thursday, we spoke again, about the latest developments and what has changed. Below is an edited and condensed excerpt from that conversation. Ms. Mosby’s team has just accused the Police Department of undermining the prosecution. Does that concern you? My concerns are first and foremost that moving forward, we are doing what we need to do to repair our city — to improve relations. I have spent a good deal of time over the last year working on body cameras, working on trainings with young people. The most important thing — what gets lost in all of this, is that we are talking about the loss of a life. But I will be following up with the police commissioner, even though this happened before the current commissioner, to provide a response to those claims. You mentioned body cameras. Are the Baltimore police using them? They will, just like in New York or any other major city, they’re going to be rolled out. We already have body cameras out there at this point, we are close to 200 officers. Body cameras were in the works before Freddie Gray, but most definitely it ratcheted up the pace. What else has changed? The department decided to improve the vans, so that’s a change. And I’m partnering with an organization called Community Mediation, fostering dialogue between youth and the police. Community Mediation is now mediating some internal affairs complaints. A lot of things have changed, things that people don’t see because they’re behind the scenes. I’ve talked to a lot of people who feel as though in the end, justice was not served — either for Freddie Gray or for the police. What do you say to that? I think what people must know about American justice is that the way the system is set up, you have to have a certain burden of proof and if it’s not met, then it’s not met. You can be as angry as you want to be, but you have to understand the system and respect it. What about you? Do you personally think justice was served? I can’t personalize it. Like myself, what I would do in a situation like that is talk to the family and see how they feel. If Mr. Gray’s family feels like everything, from the charges, from the state’s attorney proceeding with the trials, everything that has come out of it equals justice to them, then it’s justice. That’s a careful answer. You’ve always been so measured in answering my questions. I’m the grandson of poor farmers in rural North Carolina. I truly understand what it means for me being a young black man in this country. But I try not to be divisive, I try not to be polarizing, because that’s the last thing we need right now. We have enough of that going on. We’ve talked about changes in the city. Have you changed? Of course I have changed. I have shifted my work I’ve tried to do things a little differently. You have to be uncomfortable. If you’re not uncomfortable, if you haven’t changed the way you operate from April 2015 to now, then you’re saying the way our city was, was O. K. — and it wasn’t. So what are you doing differently? For example today, I’m on the labor committee in the City Council and we voted to send a bill to the full council raising the city’s minimum wage to $15 by 2022. I don’t think that would have happened before last April. Is Baltimore perhaps a better place now, as a result of Freddie Gray’s death? I can say that there have been changes in Baltimore for the better. But I can’t say that Baltimore is a complete better place, because we still have a lot of people dying. So Ms. Mosby never got any convictions. What, if anything, did she achieve? Many folks feel that her charging the officers would not have happened under the previous state’s attorney. That alone is a big deal for thousands of people in the city. But I would also remember — I talked to you and every other media outlet last year, I said, everyone should stay middle ground, because it’s just the beginning of the process. Are you surprised at how it turned out? I thought that at least there would be one charge that would stick with at least one officer, but I can’t say I’m surprised that it turned out the way that it did. | 1 |
Doug Casey: A Civil War Could Be in the Cards After the Election 11/03/2016
LEW ROCKWELL
( Source: The 2nd American Civil War by Richard Hubal, via MN Artists )
Nick Giambruno: The US presidential election is only days away. What are the country’s greatest problems right now?
Doug Casey: Domestically, I’d say the continual and accelerating loss of freedom, compounded by the prospect of what I suspect will be the biggest financial/economic crisis of modern times. What might that crisis be like? That’s unpredictable, although the odds are it will be unlike any others that are still fresh in people’s memories, simply because people tend to be most prepared for the things that have most recently scared them. The big problems usually come from an unexpected quarter, and/or at an unexpected time. Like the monetary crisis of 1998, that materialized in Thailand.
That said, the question remains of where to look. It could come from outside American borders, in the form of war. War is perhaps the worst thing that can happen, not only for the destruction it will cause in itself, but because it will immensely exacerbate America’s domestic problems. As Bourne famously said, “War is the health of the State.” Certainly, the US government is actively provoking other governments in a score of places around the world. The next war could be serious, not just a sports war, like those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Nick Giambruno: In 2000, the federal government’s debt was just over $5 trillion. Now, it’s about $20 trillion. It doesn’t matter who’s in power. The debt continues to grow exponentially. Unless the government makes radical cuts to welfare and the military—which won’t happen no matter who is elected—it will grow indefinitely.
If Americans are destined to be indebted serfs no matter who’s in power, do the elections even matter?
Doug Casey: If the economy goes off of the deep end over the next year—and I think it will—the US government is going to be running much bigger deficits. Spending is going to go up for welfare. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security—that’s already about two-thirds of the US government’s budget. Military spending is also going up. All that is going to go up, regardless of who wins the election on November 8.
We could easily see a trillion dollar deficit, perhaps much more. Now, where are they going to get all that money? The Chinese aren’t going to lend it to the US anymore. They’re basically going to finance the deficit by selling the debt to the Federal Reserve. And that means creating more currency units out of thin air.
But, on the other hand, the average guy—and for that matter, most businesses—aren’t borrowing money now. They’re too afraid. They don’t want to be in debt. The question is: As this comes to a real climax, are we going to have something resembling a runaway inflation in the dollar? Or are we going to have a massive credit collapse, which could be caused by defaults on bonds, house mortgages, student loans, or auto loans? I’m not sure which is going to happen. I mean, you buy a car now in the US, it costs you what a house did a couple generations ago. It all floats on a sea of debt. I’m just betting on financial chaos. That is the safe bet.
No matter which way this election goes, it’s going to be ugly.
Both candidates, Trump and Clinton, are disastrous. To me, it’s a sign of how degraded the US has become. About a year ago, they gave us a choice between Hillary, the wife of a previous president, pretty much playing the role of Argentina’s Evita, Juan Peron’s brassy wife. And Jeb Bush, the brother of one previous president and the son of another. The US has gone so far downhill that we can only choose which family dynasty we prefer to rule. If only a Kennedy, a Roosevelt, or a Rockefeller could be thrown into the mix as well… Maybe next time. Although I think we’re due for a general or two.
Elections are, quite frankly, meaningless. These two corrupt parties, the Republicrats, and the Demopublicans, run by political hacks and funded by interest groups, simply appoint the people that they want and then present the American people with the illusion of a choice. The people who run these parties have become increasingly bold and arrogant. They’re absolutely horrible creatures, the same types that used to thrive in the Soviet Union. Americans should be ashamed of themselves for treating them with any respect at all.
However, if forced to choose between the two candidates, I would definitely go for Trump, simply because he’s something of an outsider. The media, Hollywood, academia, and the Establishment hate him. And I believe he hates them. If elected, he will likely overturn a lot of apple carts in Washington and break a lot of rice bowls of people who live off the Deep State. That would be an excellent thing. It’s also possible he would retract most of Obama’s Executive Orders, and fire a bunch of supernumeraries. But he might replace them with a bunch of his own.
However, it’s clear Trump has all kinds of dangerous authoritarian tendencies—don’t forget his endorsement of torture and the killing of families of accused terrorists as a policy. He also has all kinds of really silly and destructive economic notions—he appears to think he can cut “deals” with foreign governments. That has nothing to do with the concept of free trade. He’s threatened punitive tariffs, something that would immensely aggravate The Greater Depression. Worse, since as a businessman he’s associated with the free market—unfortunately, and incorrectly—capitalism will wind up being blamed for this depression as well as a result.
Incidentally, I believe—as I have for over a year—that Trump is going to win. Why? It’s not just the immense enthusiasm of his supporters, as opposed to the lukewarm support that Hillary gets. It’s that Bernie Sanders was the other “protest” candidate in this election. His numerous and enthusiastic supporters believe—correctly—that Hillary and the Democratic machine stole the nomination from him. They’re genuinely pissed off. I believe only the most oblivious ones will vote for Hillary. A few might be mad enough to want to burn the house down by voting for Trump.
I haven’t heard anyone talking about the absence of the Bernie-istas. I don’t keep my finger on the pulse of the hoi polloi . But, if I’m right, it will result in a landslide for Trump.
Unfortunately, Trump is no libertarian—but neither is the dim-bulb candidate of the Libertarian Party. That said Trump is a lot better than Hillary—this is no time for a corrupt, hostile, elderly, debilitated, mildly demented Statist to become president. So, sure, I’d prefer Trump.
Am I going to vote for him? I don’t believe in being complicit in a criminal act, so I don’t vote.
Nick Giambruno: Please elaborate…
Doug Casey: There are at least five reasons not to vote: Voting in a political election is unethical. The political process is one of institutionalized coercion and force. If you disapprove of those things, then you shouldn’t participate in them, even indirectly. Voting compromises your privacy. It gets your name in yet another government computer database. Voting, as well as registering, entails hanging around government offices and dealing with petty bureaucrats. Most people can find something more enjoyable or productive to do with their time. Voting encourages politicians. A vote against one candidate—a major, and quite understandable, the reason why most people vote—is always interpreted as a vote for his opponent. And even though you may be voting for the lesser of two evils, the lesser of two evils is still evil. It amounts to giving the candidate a tacit mandate to impose his will on society. Your vote doesn’t count. Politicians like to say it counts because it is to their advantage to get everyone into a busybody mode. But, statistically, one vote in scores of millions makes no more difference than a single grain of sand on a beach. That’s entirely apart from the fact that officials manifestly do what they want, not what you want, once they are in office.
Nick Giambruno: What about voting for the Libertarian Party?
Doug Casey: The Libertarian Party once had a claim to being the party of principle, back in the days when people like John Hospers, Harry Browne, and Ron Paul were their candidates. Then they for some reason put forward the empty suit Bob Barr, an ex-Congressman.
It appears that the Libertarian Party has been captured by the Republicans, which is surprisingly clever on the Republicans’ part. Now they have two parties that are registered in all 50 states. It’s kind of a backup system to the regular Republican Party. They’ll need a backup since the old GOP is a dead duck.
Regarding Gary Johnson, I don’t know what his philosophical beliefs, if any, are. I suspect neither, does he. The only thing we really know is that he wants to see pot legalized on a national scale. Well, bravo. I’m all for that, even though I’m not a toker. It’s a step in the right direction toward dismantling the insane War on Some Drugs. But does he have any other libertarian tendencies? He doesn’t seem to even have a grasp of the basic principles… although he seems better than the average politician. But that’s not saying much.
I’m especially concerned about his running mate, William Weld, who’s an actual neocon. He’s an overt statist, an active promoter of warfare, welfare, taxes and regulations. He has no libertarian tendencies at all that I’m aware of. He’s a pure Deep State guy.
One thing you’ve got to say about the Democratic Party is that, while their ideas are destructive and evil, at least they’re honest about them. Democrats make no bones about being the party of socialism, and they naturally attract the envy-driven, the class warriors, the politically correct, the cultural Marxists, the race baiters, the gender Nazis, and the like. The Democratic Party is beyond redemption. It needs to be flushed. It has zero redeeming value.
The Republicans attract a different group. Religious people. Cultural traditionalists. People who generally favor what they think is the free market. They tend to be much more nationalistic and pro-military than the Democrats. But, unlike the Dems, the Reps have no real philosophical foundation. They’re basically just non-Democrats…
The Democrats can be viewed as the evil party and the Republicans as the stupid party. But they’re really just two sides of the same coin, at least when it comes to their leadership—who are all Deep State members.
The Libertarians must now be viewed, at best, as the smart wing of the stupid party. It’s a sad testimony to the nature of politics…
The situation has actually gotten out of control, and the government is so big and so powerful at this point that it can’t be reversed. Even if Ron Paul were elected, it wouldn’t do any good.
The first thing that would happen is that he would be sat down with a bunch of generals and heads of Praetorian agencies, like the FBI, the NSA and the CIA, who would inform him—politely, but firmly—how things really work. If he didn’t play by their rules, his life would be at risk. And if for some reason he dodged those bullets, he would be impeached by Congress before he had the chance to actually change anything. And if for some reason that didn’t work, the average American would be out in the street rioting, because his doggy dish was going to be broken. Don’t forget, almost 50% of Americans are net recipients of government benefits.
I’m afraid that when the looming crisis blows up, the American people— Boobus Americanus as H. L. Mencken said—is going to clamor for somebody to kiss it all and make it better. We could very well wind up with some type of a military dictatorship.
Nick Giambruno: I agree, Doug. I also do not vote. And there are far more powerful ways to vote anyway.
You can vote with your money by swapping fiat currency stored in a fractional reserve banking system (like the US dollar) for physical gold and silver.
You can also vote with your feet by leaving the country.
Instead of voting for a politician, which only creates the illusion of making a difference, those two steps can actually make a positive change in your life.
What’s your take?
Doug Casey: I agree. The thing is that all of our ancestors—all of us who are Americans—came from foreign countries. Everybody came to America because they wanted to get away from being turned into slaves in their home countries. The problem is that the US government is going in the same direction as those governments that our ancestors ran away from. Now we have to go someplace else ourselves. We have to find a new America.
I’m very pleased that I can watch all this nonsense on a widescreen in a coffee shop in Argentina and not be very adversely affected by it. Argentina, incidentally, is now going the right way from many points of view.
It’s dangerous to stay rooted in one place when the natives get restless. Ask Russians in the 20’s, Germans in the 30’s, any European in the 40’s, Chinese in the 50’s, Cubans in the 60’s, Vietnamese in the 70’s, Rhodesians in the 80’s—or Venezuelans today. And that’s just an incomplete list off the top of my head. It’s especially risky if you have some assets during real economic upset, or ideas that aren’t mainstream when there’s real political turbulence.
Nick Giambruno: Most Americans are effectively stuck in the US. So, looking at these disturbing socio-political trends, what else could happen?
Doug Casey: It’s amazing, and disturbing, that most of the young people in the US support Bernie, an avowed socialist, whose ideas are, if anything, worse than Hillary’s. But it just shows how unhappy young people are with the status quo. Justifiably unhappy.
Bernie and Trump hit the same nerve—they sensed that we’re on the edge of a revolution in this country. We really are. The situation is not unlike that before the War Between the States, very unstable.
Both sides are extremely antagonistic. People either hate Trump or they hate Hillary. It doesn’t matter who wins; the other side is going to be very, very unhappy. And with tensions already running high in the country, and racial, cultural and social clashes in the background, it almost feels like a civil war is in the cards for the US.
Of course, it seemed like we could have had a civil war back in the late 60’s and early 70’s when there were not just a few, but thousands of bombings. Not just little riots, like in Ferguson and Baltimore, but conflagrations like in Watts, DC, and Detroit, where the National Guard was raking the ghetto with .50 cals.
But the country’s prosperity was still increasing in those days. Now we’re on the cusp of The Greater Depression. Things could get ugly.
Contrary to what most believe, the US hasn’t had a real civil war yet. The unpleasantness of 1861–65 was actually a war of secession. A civil war is one where two or more groups are vying for the control of the same government, as in Spain during the 30’s, between the fascists and the communists.
But this time in the US it could turn into a real civil war. I don’t know what form it would take, but a lot of things could be really tough going: economically, financially, politically, socially, militarily. Most important, there’s a cultural divide that’s arisen in the US.
I don’t think most people are even aware of what is going on. When you walk outside, the sun is shining. Children are still playing. You can go down to the Wal-Mart and buy cheap goods. Everything looks pretty good on the surface, despite the fact everyone’s credit card is maxed out. But I think it’s all a hologram that’s about to be exposed. So, hold on to your hat. | 0 |
What if the surgeon started slicing into my knee before it was completely numb? That was my biggest fear, while weighing whether to remain alert and watch the operation on the cartilage in my right knee, or to be put to sleep, preserving my peaceful ignorance. Rational or otherwise, my reasons for staying awake — an option increasingly taken by patients, the subject of the accompanying article — prevailed. 1) I don’t like general anesthesia’s side effects. 2) For a long year, my knee pain had resisted straightforward diagnosis and treatment. I wanted an ! glimpse of the problem. 3) Ever since I was a child, I have watched when the doctor gives me an injection. Not because I am brave, masochistic or even curious. On the contrary. Looking away, I imagine something far scarier. So watching a medical procedure has always been a form of . (Related: As more patients stay awake for surgery, doctors have to watch what they say.) There I lay on the operating room table at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, jabbering nervously to the anesthesiologist, waiting for the spinal block, an injection that was supposed to render the lower part of my body numb, to kick in. I didn’t know the etiquette. Was I permitted to talk? Or would that distract everyone? How would they know when the block was working? Was I already talking too much? Was that beleaguered exasperation in the anesthesiologist’s eyes? I thought they had given me a sedative. Is this me on sedatives? A blue surgical cloth had been draped over my hips. A nurse hoisted a bare limb and began washing it with sterilizer. How odd, I thought: Why have they brought a mannequin leg into the O. R.? Maybe a Halloween joke? I peered closely and recognized the chipped summer toenail polish. Wait. That leg belonged to me. The regional block was working. My surgeon, Dr. Robert G. Marx, strode in, greeting everyone, just another day at the office. We were ready to begin. He called for music. It so happens that about seven lifetimes ago, I was a disc jockey. The experience left me a little judgmental, perhaps, about others’ musical tastes. What would I put on the playlist “Music for Watching One’s Own Surgery”? (Rod Stewart, “The First Cut Is the Deepest” Louis Armstrong, “Mack the Knife”?) It would certainly not include Dr. Marx’s choice: Rush, the Canadian band. But Dr. Marx was raised in Canada. (So many other musicians to choose from: Neil Young! Oscar Peterson! Drake! No, not Justin Bieber. Please.) Now he was bopping around, looking pumped. And there was my favorite right knee, naked, powerless in his hands. So I said nothing. To a civilian like me, arthroscopic surgery is astonishing. Although I couldn’t see what Dr. Marx was doing, he narrated as he made two incisions: one for a tiny camera, the other for a tiny instrument. Then, on an overhead monitor, video appeared. Now we could all have a good look around my knee innards. Very cool. Cartilage is relatively bloodless, shiny and white. “There’s your honker!” Dr. Marx explained, using his highfalutin medical term for the floating fragment of my medial meniscus. Whenever I attacked stairs, that piece tugged on the highly sensitive knee capsule, dense with nerves. I felt relief and affirmation. This pain had not been in my head. The fragments looked like rubbery slivers of squid sashimi, fluttering in dark video tunnels. Dr. Marx quietly pointed out that because I’d had this surgery once before (under general anesthesia) after today I would not have much medial meniscus remaining. Anxiously hanging on his every word, I did not find the news reassuring. The wistful, shimmering mirage of my 5K morning runs dimmed. But I felt better prepared for whatever the surgical outcome might be. For I could see exactly what he was talking about. Then he went after the honker and its progeny, elegantly chewing them up with an arthroscopic biter and smoothing down the edges with a shaver so that the remnants resembled a normal meniscus. Afterward, as I waited for the regional block to wear off, I was alert, with none of the chills or grogginess that bedeviled me with general anesthesia. I left the hospital a patient, with new respect for the operating room staff members. And a speech to deliver to Dr. Marx about his musical taste. | 1 |
Two-time world champion in kickboxing killed in Moscow. Video 07.11.2016 | Source: Pravda.Ru On November 6, a man was killed in the south-west of Moscow. The victim was identified as 29-year-old native of the North Caucasus region, a two-time world champion in kickboxing. Representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Irina Volk, said that the murder suspect was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport, from where he was going to fly to Baku, Azerbaijan. The 31-year-old suspect was said to be an acquaintance of the victim, also a native of the North Caucasus. The video of the incident was released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The video shows a man falling out from the driver's door of the parked car. The other man leaves the car and escapes from the crime scene. "According to preliminary reports, the men stopped by the shopping center. A conflict sparked between them in the car. Most likely, the cause of the conflict was a question of money. One of them men shot the other one in the chest from a Makarov pistol that he was possessing illegally and then escaped," Irina Volk said, Interfax reports. Immediately after the incident, the murderer booked a plane ticket. He was not allowed to board the plane at Sheremetyevo Airport and was arrested. Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru | 0 |
ROSEMONT, Ill. — An imam of a mosque in New York City and his associate shot dead while strolling following afternoon prayers. A presidential candidate calling for Muslims to be barred from entering the United States. Muslim women harassed and physically attacked in Chicago while walking to their car. During the Islamic Society of North America convention that started here on Friday, official speakers said these actions had become all too commonplace in the United States. “In this political climate, we’ve seen a normalization of bigotry,” said Altaf Husain, an associate professor at Howard University and a vice president of the society, whose convention here is the largest Muslim gathering in the United States and Canada. But Mr. Husain, expressing what he said was the sentiment of many other American Muslims, said the Obama administration had made it a priority to bolster engagement with Muslims across the country. The latest example of the administration’s engagement came Saturday night when Jeh Johnson, the secretary of Homeland Security, became the first sitting cabinet member to address the Islamic Society’s convention. Mr. Johnson said his speech was part of a sustained outreach effort that has taken him from the suburbs of Washington to Minneapolis to Los Angeles, where he has met with community leaders and visited mosques, while fielding questions about racial profiling and speech on the presidential campaign trail. In his address, Mr. Johnson told the audience that their lives were “the quintessential American story. ” He listed the contributions of American Muslims, such as the boxer Muhammad Ali and Dalilah Muhammad, who won a gold medal in the hurdles last month at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and said they were not just Muslim heroes, but American heroes. “It’s frustrating to listen to those who foment fear, suspicion and intolerance,” Mr. Johnson said, “who don’t know the mistakes of history and are in the midst of repeating them. ” Mr. Johnson said his own history had made him more sensitive to the angry speech and physical attacks directed at Muslims. He cited his grandfather, Charles S. Johnson, the first black president of Fisk University, who was called before the infamous House Activities Committee in 1949. In his testimony, he denied being a communist and defended the patriotism of who were accused of being for advocating civil rights. The irony is that the room where his grandfather testified is now the same room where the House Homeland Security Committee meets, Mr. Johnson said. “My grandfather likely testified in that hearing room to defend his patriotism now his grandson testifies in the same room to explain what the U. S. government is doing to defend our nation,” Mr. Johnson said. “This is the promise and wonder of this country. ” Mr. Johnson spoke to an audience that featured Khizr and Ghazala Khan, who made international headlines in July during the Democratic National Convention by criticizing the Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, for his proposals to bar Muslims from entering the United States. The Khans lost their son, Humayun, an Army captain, while he was serving in Iraq. Although Mr. Johnson’s speech was greeted warmly, there were several small instances of protest. A few “boos” could be heard when Mr. Johnson entered to speak, and a couple of people held up a sign protesting the Department of Homeland Security’s deportation policies. The conference also featured a heated debate among several Muslim scholars and activists about the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to counter extremism and recruitment by groups like the Islamic State. Several panelists said the government’s efforts focused on potential extremism within Muslim communities to the exclusion of white nationalist groups, which have been linked to several domestic terrorist attacks. George Selim, who heads the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Community Partnerships, said the department worked to counter the spectrum of extremism, and that his office’s work was done at the request of communities. “We focus on all forms of extremism,” he said. Despite the controversy over the programs to counter extremism, Mohamed Elsanousi, the director of the Washington office of the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, said he welcomed Mr. Johnson’s speech and the government’s help. “We need to partner with the government to address the issues of radicalization,” he said. “We cannot fight this fight alone. ” | 1 |
Tuesday on MSNBC Rep. Maxine Waters ( ) said she will not be attending President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress because she explained, “I don’t choose to honor him. ” Waters said, “This is ceremonial. And in this ceremony people lie. They smile. They shake hands. They hug each other. They honor the president. I’m not about any of that. I’m prepared to interact with the president only when he puts up his budget and his agenda that I’m going to have to fight. So let’s not talk about the ceremony in relationship to, you know, public policy, real public policy. I don’t choose to go. I don’t choose to go. I don’t choose to honor him. I’ve said that. And I won’t be a part of the ceremony. And that’s that. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 1 |
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Facing a torrent of criticism over his comments seeming to condone the hacking of Hillary Clinton’s emails by Russian intelligence services, Donald J. Trump and his allies on Thursday sought to tamp down his remarks, with Mr. Trump saying he was simply being “sarcastic. ” In public interviews and private conversations on Thursday, Mr. Trump his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana and campaign staff members contended that Mr. Trump was being facetious when, during a news conference on Wednesday, he said he hoped Russia would be able to find Mrs. Clinton’s missing emails. “Of course I’m being sarcastic,” Mr. Trump told “Fox and Friends” Thursday morning as his aides accused the news media of misconstruing his remarks. And in an interview Thursday with the conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, Mr. Pence repeatedly said that Mr. Trump was merely joking. “He went on, using a statement laced with sarcasm, to point out that there are 33, 000 missing emails, according to the F. B. I. that Hillary Clinton deleted or did not make available in the course of that investigation,” Mr. Pence told Ms. Ingraham. But the assertions that his remarks should not be taken at face value were at odds with statements put out by Mr. Trump and his aides right after his news conference on Wednesday. Those statements insisted that Mr. Trump was urging Russia to return any purloined property to the F. B. I. Aides to both Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence were clearly caught off guard by Mr. Trump’s impromptu comments on Wednesday — when he said, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30, 000 emails that are missing” — and were surprised by the swift and immediate reaction to them, especially in the news media. The extraordinary moment — in which the Republican nominee basically urged Russia, an adversary, to conduct cyberespionage against a former secretary of state — again left Mr. Trump isolated from even some fellow Republicans, struggling to explain away another comment that had dominated yet another news cycle, and not necessarily in a positive way. Ed Brookover, a Trump campaign liaison to the Republican National Committee, said that the substance of Mrs. Clinton’s emails was what was most important — not Mr. Trump’s remarks. “The truth about the emails is that Hillary’s record as secretary of state was abysmal, and her lack of security left our secrets vulnerable,” Mr. Brookover said. “Let’s hope that no foreign countries did get access to her private email account. ” On Thursday, even while trying to reframe his original comments, Mr. Trump reiterated his remarks from a day earlier that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is “a better leader” than President Obama. “I said he’s a better leader than Obama because Obama’s not a leader, so he’s certainly doing a better job than Obama is, and that’s all,” Mr. Trump said in the “Fox and Friends” interview. “But you have 33, 000 emails deleted, and the real problem is what was said in those emails from the Democratic National Committee,” Mr. Trump said. “You take a look at what was said in those emails, it’s disgraceful. It’s disgraceful. ” For the second day in a row, Mr. Trump seemed to be conflating the roughly 30, 000 emails on Mrs. Clinton’s private server during her time as secretary of state that her lawyers deleted as personal, and the roughly 20, 000 Democratic National Committee emails that were hacked. Mr. Trump’s efforts to recalibrate his original remarks Wednesday began just hours after his news conference. Mr. Trump posted on Twitter on Wednesday that he was simply urging Russia, if it had indeed hacked Mrs. Clinton, to hand her emails over to the proper authorities. “If Russia or any other country or person has Hillary Clinton’s 33, 000 illegally deleted emails, perhaps they should share them with the F. B. I!” Mr. Trump wrote. Republicans were largely muted Thursday in their defense of Mr. Trump, save for Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor, who is a supporter. “That server of hers was less secure than the D. N. C. server that was hacked,” Mr. Giuliani said at a news conference in Philadelphia, adding that he was “sure” Mr. Trump wanted the emails sent to the F. B. I. “Those emails are being held by people. They should be released before the election. ” In her radio interview Thursday morning, Ms. Ingraham asked Mr. Pence, “Should Americans be concerned that the Republican nominee is inviting a foreign government to hack into government emails?” Mr. Pence echoed the campaign’s public posture, saying several times that Mr. Trump was just being “sarcastic” — and he sought to recast Mr. Trump’s remarks. “Well, it’s absolutely not what he said,” Mr. Pence said. “What he said — what I said — was, clearly, if Russia or any foreign country was interfering or intervening or engaging in illegal activity in the United States, in our elections or otherwise, that there be serious consequences. ” At an afternoon rally Thursday in Davenport, Iowa, supporters of Mr. Trump offered almost uniform absolution for the comments, saying they believed he had been speaking facetiously. “I don’t think he was being serious,” said Tom Taylor, 68, a retiree from Wilton, Iowa. “It’s just media spin. He’s not a professional politician like the rest of them, so sometimes people misinterpret what he says. ” Still, some supporters allowed that Mr. Trump might have been imprudent in his remarks. “Maybe he shouldn’t have said that about Russia,” said Joan Watson, 63, from Walnut, Ill. “It just gives the Democrats more material for ads. I think he was just trying to get a reaction. But even if he was kidding, he knows Russia could probably do it. ” In a common refrain among the people waiting for the rally to begin, Dan Brethaner said of the comments, “That’s just Donald being Donald. ” | 1 |
Standing on the Third Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, you can almost watch a community changing before your very eyes. On one side sits a Whole Foods, spinning in its vast parking lot. On the other, a cluster of apartment towers is in the works, while the Ferrara Bros. concrete company, one of the largest in New York City, is preparing to relocate. The canal itself remains a murky Superfund site. The lone sentinel of the neighborhood’s postindustrial, days is the Batcave. A former Brooklyn Rapid Transit power station built in 1904, it was decommissioned in the 1950s and became a punk squat decades later, playing host to raucous dance parties and graffiti on practically every surface. Like many of the buildings lining the fetid waterway, it is poised for a rebirth. This year, the nonprofit Powerhouse Environmental Arts Foundation plans to break ground on a project that will provide a haven for two of the canal’s most endangered species: artists and manufacturers. The foundation plans to renovate and expand the power station, turning it into a factory of sorts for the production of art. The project, the Powerhouse Workshop, will include metalwork, woodwork, printmaking, ceramics and fiber art, as well as exhibition space. “The building has long been a destination for artists, and we wanted to keep it that way,” Katie Dixon, the foundation’s executive director, said during a recent tour of the cavernous former turbine hall. The Powerhouse Workshop will share at least one thing with its tonier neighbors: designers, namely Herzog de Meuron, the Pritzker Swiss firm, who may now qualify as the most famous architects to work within a Superfund site. In many ways, the workshop brings that firm full circle. Herzog de Meuron’s breakout project was the Tate Modern, which took the old Bankside Power Station and turned it into one of the most popular museums in London. In Brooklyn, the designers are attempting the reverse, transforming a hub of underground culture back into an industrial complex, albeit for manufacturing art. The foundation spent four years studying what to do with the power station after purchasing it in 2012 for $7 million. The initial thought was studio space, but after surveying artists, the Powerhouse team discovered a greater unmet need: fabricating the art. That need has been growing more acute, as the same real estate pressures pushing out artists are displacing the artisans and manufacturers who helped realize their work. The foundation anticipates that the project will create more than 100 jobs. Operations will spread across the existing turbine hall and a new structure that traces the form of the boiler house that stood next door before its demolition in the 1950s. “The building always seemed very incomplete without the other third,” said Ascan Mergenthaler, a senior partner at Herzog de Meuron who is overseeing the project. “Any addition should occupy the footprint of the original, so both become a whole again. ” The new structure is essentially a large rectangle imbued with Herzog de Meuron’s pyrotechnic modesty. Where the original building had a pitched roof and a pair of giant smokestacks, the new structure is flat. The original roofline will be visible, however, a ghost incised in the pattern of the facade. There had been discussions about creating new ventilation systems in the shape of the smokestacks, but that was deemed superfluous. “It’s always a very slippery slope how much you let the original building influence your designs,” Mr. Mergenthaler said. “We only take the things that make sense for operations today and throw the rest away. ” One thing the Powerhouse will not be throwing away is the Batcave’s graffiti. While the building needs considerable structural work, and a portion of the bricks will have to be removed to make repairs, any old surfaces that can be preserved will be. “It’s an incredible legacy for us to build on,” Ms. Dixon said. “There are so many layers here, we don’t want to take any away. We simply want to add our own. ” Though few individual pieces in the Batcave are particularly notable, Henry Chalfant, a graffiti expert, remarked on a recent tour how the totality of the art is what makes it special, a reminder of the “outlaw spaces” that once populated much more of the city. “It’s kind of a flashback coming in here for me, and being among all the graffiti,” Mr. Chalfant, who was a producer of the 1983 street art documentary “Style Wars,” said. The top floor of the turbine hall soars 25 feet to a roof currently open to the sky. The hope is to glass it over to create a staging ground for art in progress, as well as for events and exhibitions. The foundation, established by the philanthropist Joshua Rechnitz, has spent $400, 000 on the site so far and plans to start construction this fall. No zoning changes are required since the Powerhouse conforms to the area’s industrial use. The foundation declined to release a budget for the project, which is still out to bid. It plans to open the Powerhouse Workshop in 2020. Not far from the Powerhouse, the project is already generating excitement. At the BRT Printshop in Red Hook, Brooklyn, which produces screen prints, Luther Davis recently recalled telling some of his artist clients about the complex. “Instantly, they had ideas for new pieces and new processes, like painting on metal sheets or textiles,” Mr. Davis said. “Just imagine having all these amazing craftspeople sitting around, looking at work or sipping coffee, all the ideas they might have. You can’t do that over the phone or email. ” The Powerhouse Workshop hopes to welcome powerhouses of the art world as well as striving artists. The latter might even pay reduced fees that would be offset by the more established — and expensive — work of others. To Ms. Dixon, it is an epochal opportunity for the New York art scene. “Even Andy Warhol,” she said, “had to leave the Factory to produce his work. ” | 1 |
Top 10 toxins that are poisoning your kids
Amy Goodrich Tags: toxins , childrens health , poisoning (NaturalNews) Toxins are everywhere. They are lurking in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Young children are particularly vulnerable to the toxic effects our modern lifestyle creates. They can suffer profound and permanent adverse health effects which affect their developing brain and nervous system.A leading group of U.S. scientists, medical experts, and health organizations said that they are witnessing a dramatic increase in learning and behavioral issues in children. Therefore, they called for chemicals to be banned at the first sign of danger rather than waiting for direct, scientific proof."Our failures to protect children from harm underscore the urgent need for a better approach to developing and assessing scientific evidence and using it to make decisions," the experts said.Here are the top ten toxins that our kids are exposed to on a daily basis. 1. Mercury fillings Europe, Norway, and Sweden banned mercury-leaching amalgams nearly a decade ago. Nonetheless, dental offices across the U.S. continue to use these toxic substances in their everyday practice. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), exposure to high levels of mercury can cause lung damage, while prolonged low exposure may result in memory loss, neurological impairment, kidney abnormalities, and skin rashes. 2. Vaccines As stated by the National Vaccine Information Center , a typical child receives about 49 recommended doses of 14 toxin-laden vaccines before the age of six. Here's a short list of the most common toxic chemicals found in vaccines: formaldehyde (used to preserve dead things), mercury, aluminum (associated with Alzheimer's), GMO yeast, antibiotics, and monosodium glutamate (MSG). 3. Prescription drugs Overprescribing doctors, with close ties to the Big Pharma are a real treat when it comes to your child's safety. Writing for Blogs Natural News , Dr. Brent Hunter explained that some of these drugs are the legal versions of addictive street drugs. Take ADHD medication as an example. These commonly prescribed drugs are quite similar to drugs like meth and speed. 4. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) MSG is a common, artificial food additive with neurotoxic effects. It has been linked to numerous health problems like brain lesions, obesity, malformed organs, abnormal reproductive systems, infertility, aggression, antisocial behavior, and high cholesterol. 5. Processed and fast foods We all know that processed or fast foods are bad news . They are loaded with artificial synthetic chemicals, preservatives, nitrates and artificial colors and flavors which have been linked to a host of adverse health effects. 6. Toxins in personal care products When you read the label of personal care products such as body washes, moisturizers, deodorants, and toothpaste, you might not recognize most of their ingredients. When these chemicals seep into the skin, they can cause devastating, long-term effects. Opt for non-toxic, organic alternatives instead. 7. Toxins in Laundry detergent If your laundry detergent has a strong, nice fragrance, chances are it is packed with cancer-causing toxins. Some of these chemicals can be absorbed through your skin. 8. Toxic cleaning products "Keep out of reach of children," is not an uncommon phrase on the label of cleaning products. While we all know that they can be harmful or fatal when swallowed, Dr. Brent Hunter said that we don't need to drink them to experience the damaging side-effects. These chemicals can also end up in our body through inhalation or contact with the skin. 9. Pesticides Pesticides are everywhere. They are in our home, the environment, and the food we eat. Opting for natural pest control and organic, homegrown foods is your best chance to avoid these toxins from entering your home. 10. Soda Sodas are loaded with phosphoric acid which weakens your child's bones and teeth. Furthermore, they contain high amounts of high fructose corn syrup that causes obesity and diabetes. Sources for this article include: | 0 |
The globalists in world politics and international finance are celebrating a somber occasion in Davos, media reports indicate, as their influence on the global stage is waning rapidly in the wake of the U. K. referendum to leave the European Union and the U. S. election of Donald Trump to the presidency. [“The global economy is in better shape than it’s been in years. Stock markets are booming, oil prices are on the rise again and the risks of a rapid economic slowdown in China, a major source of concern a year ago, have eased,” Reuters’ Noah Barkin writes from Davos, Switzerland, at the annual summit of the world’s elite. “And yet, as political leaders, CEOs and top bankers make their annual trek up the Swiss Alps to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the mood is anything but celebratory. Beneath the veneer of optimism over the economic outlook lurks acute anxiety about an increasingly toxic political climate and a deep sense of uncertainty surrounding the U. S. presidency of Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on the final day of the forum. ” The Sydney Morning Herald’s Clancy Yeates has a piece detailing how this year’s World Economic Forum at Davos — at which Chinese president Xi Jinping will speak, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not — there is a focus on the “backlash” voters worldwide have delivered against globalization. “Chief executive pay has become a powerful symbol of the widening gap between the winners and losers created by globalisation, and boards must put more focus on justifying the bonuses they pay executives amid a backlash against policies,” Yeates writes. “That is the view of the chairman of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Elizabeth Proust, one of the Australian business leaders attending the powerful summit in Switzerland this week. The annual meeting of the global economic and political elite, in a town in the Swiss Alps, takes place against a backdrop of growing inequality in many countries, seen as a key driver for political shocks including Brexit and Donald Trump’s win. ” The globalists at Davos still don’t seem to fully understand what is happening, as the World Economic Forum’s website published a column from Robert Muggah of the Igarape Institute with a headline stating boldly: “Populism is poison. ” He and Misha Glenny, a writer and broadcaster, advocate for “plural cities” to defeat populism. Populism is poison. Plural cities are the antidote, says Robert Muggah https: . pic. twitter. — World Economic Forum (@wef) January 15, 2017, “If cities are to defeat populism, they need to know what it is,” Muggah and Glenny write. “According to Princeton’s Muller, at the core of populism is a profound rejection of pluralism. It is animated by two basic ideas — an opposition to diversity and a rejection of the establishment. Populists contend that outsiders threaten the national way of life and that ‘the people’ need to exclude outsiders. The antithesis of the people is, oddly, migrants. ” Populists aren’t likely to slow their winning streak any time soon. Globalization is on the decline everywhere in the world, from Guatemala — which elected a television comedian, Jimmy Morales, as its president back in late 2015 — to Italy, whose recent referendum led to the resignation of prime minister Matteo Renzi. Obviously, America just elected Donald Trump and the British voted to leave the European Union. French and German presidential elections in 2017 threaten to see the potential rise of Marine Le Pen and the possible demise of Angela Merkel all in one fell swoop. It’s unclear if Merkel will go down, or if Le Pen will win in France. But that we’re even at this point where it’s possible is remarkable in and of itself. Le Pen spent the past few days in New York City, making a surprise appearance at Trump Tower hoping for a meeting which she didn’t get with the . Merkel, meanwhile, is clearly scared enough of a potential electoral loss in 2017 that she’s skipping her regular appearance in Davos at the World Economic Forum so as to avoid providing populist opponents of her globalism with any ammunition heading into this year. It comes on the heels of her pledge to ban burkhas in her speech announcing she intends to stand for a complete reversal from a leading open borders advocate who’s perhaps singlehandedly overseen the importation of millions of Muslims into mainland Europe including Germany. The New York Times’ Michael J. de la Merced and Russell Goldman detail how the World Economic Forum has, for decades, been the exclusive annual for the world’s political, financial and cultural elites — a place where they gather together, and celebrate themselves. “The annual meeting runs on a tiered system of colored badges denoting just how important one is, or is not,” Merced and Goldman write. “White badges are for attendees able to attend any official event and make full use of the forum’s facilities. Orange badges are reserved for the 500 journalists who cover the forum, but are not allowed at some parties. Other badges, like purple ones, denote technical or support staff and limit their holders to a few areas. If that system were not complicated enough, local hotels like the Belvedere and the InterContinental often sell their own badges to the bankers and consultants who descend upon Davos — but not the forum itself — to strike deals and chat up clients. These souls camp out at the hotels, renting rooms for business meetings by day and soiree hopping at night. ” While most of the official events are things like lectures, speeches, panels and discussions, the Times writers highlight some of the “more esoteric attractions” like “a simulation of a refugee’s experience, where Davos attendees crawl on their hands and knees and pretend to flee from advancing armies. ” There are also lots of parties and schmoozing behind the scenes, where the elites bond together. “There are several official cocktail receptions, but the action really lies in a galaxy of events hosted by corporations. Some are small, intimate dinners that feature the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Bono,” Merced and Goldman write. “Others are dazzling affairs: JPMorgan Chase, for example, has previously taken over the Kirchner Museum Davos for drinks with its chief executive, Jamie Dimon, and Tony Blair, the former British prime minister. Google’s annual party at the InterContinental Hotel has become the hottest ticket in town. The investor Anthony Scaramucci, now an adviser to Donald J. Trump, for years has hosted a reception at the famed Hotel Europe featuring a sometimes list of Champagne and Bordeaux red wine. A more recent is hosted by Salesforce. com, a business software maker, whose chief, Marc Benioff, is one of the forum’s most ardent boosters. Last year’s Salesforce party included Mr. Benioff flying in scores of fresh flower leis and a band from Hawaii, as Eric Schmidt of Google and other tech notables danced in a corner. Several years ago, Sean Parker of Napster and Facebook fame, hosted an gathering that featured stuffed animal heads shooting laser beams out of their eyes. And the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska has thrown opulent gatherings at a nearby villa where the Champagne flowed freely For a nightcap, the Davos crowd traditionally retires to the Tonic Bar at Hotel Europe, sipping cocktails while the forum fixture Barry Colson leads the crowd in Billy Joel singalongs. ” At last year’s Davos, the elites were certain the people of the world would never vote for things like Brexit or Trump or the Italian referendum. In other words, all was well. “Last year, the consensus here was that Trump had no chance of being elected. His victory, less than half a year after Britain voted to leave the European Union, was a slap at the principles that elites in Davos have long held dear, from globalization and free trade to multilateralism,” Barkin wrote in Reuters. This year, though, it’s a much gloomier affair in Davos. These world elites have found out, thanks to voters worldwide, they’re no longer the center of the universe. Financial elites are losing control on the world markets while political elites are losing control of international governments and cultural elites are seeing their star power fade. “Trump is the poster child for a new strain of populism that is spreading across the developed world and threatening the liberal democratic order,” Barkin adds. “With elections looming in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and possibly Italy, this year, the nervousness among Davos attendees is palpable. ” And now, the gloomy affair in the Swiss Alps is getting even more depressing. According to Bloomberg’s Matthew Campbell and Simon Kennedy, those at Davos are even beginning to wonder if they’re “part of the problem. ” “Did the global elite’s devotion to borderless capitalism sow the seeds of a populist backlash?” reads the subhead of a recent Bloomberg piece from Campbell and Kennedy. The piece quotes Harvard professor and former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kenneth Rogoff as admitting that Davos is never correct. “A joke I’ve told 1, 000 people in the months since leaving Davos is that the conventional wisdom of Davos is always wrong,” Rogoff said. “No matter how improbable, the event most likely to happen is the opposite of whatever the Davos consensus is. ” The elites at Davos are worried as the working class folks worldwide have stormed their castles and disrupted their lovely lives, the Bloomberg writers say, and they don’t find it very funny. “The repeated failure of business and political elites to predict what’s coming — last year, that included the U. K.’s vote to leave the European Union — doesn’t strike those returning this month to the Swiss Alps as very funny,” Campbell and Kennedy wrote. “After a year in which political upsets roiled financial markets and killed off the careers of politicians, the concern for delegates attending this year’s meeting isn’t that their forecasts are often wrong, but that their worldview is. ” Populists shouldn’t take this as proof the war is over: The globalists will always try to fight back. There’s even rumblings that Party of Davos regular former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a disgraced leader who lost his own primary election back in 2014 to now Rep. Dave Brat ( ) may try for a political comeback down the road. But if past is prologue, it’s unlikely these world elites will regain power and authority over the people who took their power away in the first place. | 1 |
Cliff Sims, Special Assistant to President Trump, talked with Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM host Alex Marlow on Wednesday regarding Trump’s recent address to Congress. [“I think it was a total home run,” said Sims of the speech. “I can just tell you — the White House staff — we stayed up here last night at the office and when the President returned we all kind of huddled and welcomed him back with a pretty big round of applause and cheers. ” Added Sims, Even last night on CNN the polling on the speech was just unbelievable. percent had a positive view of the speech. percent said the policies that were in the speech would move the country in a right direction. percent said they were more optimistic after watching the speech and I think that number, in particular, is a really notable one … . Sims said he believes we are at “a unifying moment for the country. ” In terms of some of Trump’s ideas coming from the Democrat side of the aisle, said Sims, “It is not a concerted strategy in the sense of let’s find a way that we can just take issues away from them, as much as it is somebody who is finally willing to get up there and just actually be for what he actually believes in his heart, even if it doesn’t follow traditional party lines. ” Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a. m. to 9:00 a. m. Eastern. | 1 |
It began at dawn, with a Twitter post about . In a period of just over 24 hours, stretching from the early hours of Tuesday into Wednesday morning, Donald J. Trump raced through perhaps the most frenetic day of activity since the election. With a series of surprise announcements and impulsive public gestures, he brought into sharp focus the freewheeling and compulsively theatrical style he will bring to the Oval Office. There was the incendiary pronouncement about the flag: After Fox News aired a segment about protests that included Mr. Trump suggested stripping people who burned the flag of their citizenship, even though the act is constitutionally protected free speech. There were hazy but statements of policy: Mr. Trump announced a tentative pact with the company Carrier to protect some jobs at an Indiana factory, and pledged again to sever ties with his real estate empire, without offering specifics. There was a new and indiscreet round of tryouts for secretary of state, featuring reviews from the in something like real time. Having paraded David H. Petraeus, the former military commander and C. I. A. director, past a throng of reporters for a meeting on Monday, Mr. Trump dined on Tuesday with Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012 and another candidate for the job. They huddled at a French restaurant on Central Park West in Manhattan, briefly admitting the news media to take photographs of the smiling pair over scallops. On display, if not on the menu, was government à la Trump. While Mr. Trump’s focus appeared to careen unpredictably from hour to hour, the larger pattern he followed was a familiar one. As a candidate, Mr. Trump operated largely on gut instinct, with provocation as his chief tactic. Trusting few people outside a circle of intimates, Mr. Trump thrived in a daily cycle of controversy and cultivated an atmosphere of drama and division within his campaign. Much as he did during the campaign, Mr. Trump has kept the political world hanging on his every move, no matter how impetuous or trivial. He has aired his partial or fleeting thoughts, toying with the idea of making Rudolph W. Giuliani his secretary of state before appearing to lose interest. He has tolerated and even welcomed unsubtle combat over his selections, allowing a senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, to roundly attack Mr. Romney on television while he remains a top contender for the cabinet. When Mr. Trump has incited controversy — with his Twitter post, or an earlier allegation of mass voter fraud — he has declined to elaborate or justify his claims, and has left aides struggling to defend them, when they have tried at all. Mr. Trump’s method, friends and allies say, matches the reputation he built first in New York and then on reality television — less as a traditional corporate executive, like Mr. Romney, than as an eager impresario who experimented freely, welcomed conflict and flopped repeatedly. Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the House who has advised Mr. Trump, said Mr. Trump’s transition process “very much resembles the way he operated in ‘The Apprentice,’” the NBC show in which Mr. Trump functioned as an imposing protagonist subjecting aspiring entrepreneurs to contests of business acumen. Mr. Gingrich said Mr. Trump plainly relished personal contact with possible appointees and favored a leadership style. Mr. Trump did not emerge, Mr. Gingrich said, from a “corporate, staffed background,” but from a more improvisational environment. “In a lot of ways, what you’re seeing is the continuation of techniques and lessons he learned from doing what was, at one time, the No. 1 TV show,” Mr. Gingrich said. For longtime critics of Mr. Trump, the spectacle of his transition has come as a kind of nightmarish vindication, seeming to confirm their warnings about what it would mean to have a reality television star in the nation’s most powerful office. Mr. Trump’s rivals in the Republican primary campaign often criticized him as a showman and not a real executive. At a Washington dinner in 2011, President Obama ridiculed the notion that Mr. Trump could run for president, recounting an episode of “The Celebrity Apprentice” in which Mr. Trump fired the actor Gary Busey and joking, “These are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night. ” Jon Lovett, a former speechwriter for Mr. Obama who was an author of his speech belittling Mr. Trump, described a sense of horror at seeing the joke turn into reality. “It is extremely chilling that Donald Trump views the spectacle of choosing cabinet appointments in a way that is similar to deciding whether or not to fire Lil Jon or Joan Rivers,” Mr. Lovett said, referring to contestants on the show. It would be difficult to overstate the extremity of Mr. Trump’s departure from recent presidential practice. His immediate predecessors prided themselves on orderly, fastidious deliberations: George W. Bush as the first president with a business degree, Mr. Obama as a candidate branded by aides as “no drama Obama. ” Even Republicans concede that it is not clear how Mr. Trump’s approach to the transition will carry over to governing. Mr. Gingrich predicted during the Republican primary contests that a Trump administration would function as a kind of daily adventure. “If Trump does end up winning, you will have no idea each morning what’s going to happen,” he said in a January interview, “because he will have no idea. ” But enacting sweeping changes or passing even modest legislation requires intensive, sustained attention from presidents and their teams, of a kind Mr. Trump has never dedicated to matters of policy. Since the election, Mr. Trump has made only a few announcements aimed at soothing controversy or bolstering his popularity, like the Carrier deal or his pledge to preserve elements of the Affordable Care Act. But he has not situated any of his pronouncements within a larger, cohesive agenda, or answered even basic questions about them, like whether the terms extended to Carrier should be made available to other companies. Mr. Trump has appeared comparatively uninterested in a set of appointments in which his close advisers, like Mike Pence, the vice and Reince Priebus, the incoming White House chief of staff, have quietly installed Republican stalwarts. On Tuesday, after Mr. Trump raged on Twitter about his transition team announced the selection of Elaine L. Chao, a former labor secretary, to lead the Department of Transportation, and Representative Tom Price of Georgia, a conservative as Mr. Trump’s choice for health secretary. On Twitter, Mr. Trump made only one perfunctory mention each of Ms. Chao and Mr. Price, the man who would most likely be tasked with carrying out some of the ’s most important campaign promises. By comparison, on Monday and Tuesday, Mr. Trump posted on Twitter twice about the Carrier deal and five times to criticize CNN for its coverage of him. Michael O. Leavitt, a former governor of Utah who prepared Mr. Romney’s transition team before the 2012 election, said a presidential transition usually “takes on the personality of the principal. ” Mr. Trump, he said, was taking an exceptionally public approach and showing far less regard than usual for the privacy of job candidates. “This is Donald Trump doing it his way, and no one should expect any different,” Mr. Leavitt said. “That doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong — it’s just Trump. ” | 1 |
Videos Jill Stein Blasts ‘Attack-Dog’ Media, Clinton Protectionists After Daily Beast Smear The Green Party presidential candidate questioned the lack of ‘disclosure on the conflict of interest posed by Chelsea Clinton's position as a director of the corporate owner of the Daily Beast, IAC’ after The Daily Beast published an article criticizing Stein’s investments. | October 31, 2016 Be Sociable, Share! Green party presidential candidate Jill Stein delivers a stump speech to her supporters during a campaign stop at Humanist Hall in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016.
AUSTIN, Texas — Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein accused The Daily Beast, a popular news and opinion website, of hiding its ties to the Clintons after publishing an attack on Stein’s investment portfolio on Wednesday.
“ Jill Stein’s Ideology Says One Thing—Her Investment Portfolio Says Another ” declared the headline for an analysis of Stein’s investments and finances by Yashar Ali. The article suggests that Stein has millions of dollars invested in mutual funds which support industries she opposes on the campaign trail, including fossil fuels and the military-industrial complex.
“If Mr. Ali is truly interested in conflicts of interest of political candidates and their families, where is his disclosure on the conflict of interest posed by Chelsea Clinton’s position as a director of the corporate owner of the Daily Beast, IAC ?” Stein fired back in a detailed response sent to the Daily Beast prior to publication and published to her campaign website in full on Wednesday .
— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) October 27, 2016
Ali’s analysis was based on Stein’s financial disclosure filing with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, a requirement for all presidential candidates, which the office published in March. Ali also used Stein’s 2015 tax return , which the candidate released voluntarily earlier this year. Ali reported that Stein and her husband, Richard Rohrer, “have investments (with the exception of real estate) valued at anywhere from $3,832,050 to $8,505,000,” then criticized the candidate for her investment in a series of index funds or mutual funds which offer investors relatively safe and consistent returns on their money. However, in exchange for reliable earnings, investors also give up control over where their money is used.
“Like many Americans who hold retirement accounts, pension funds, or who invest in the American economy, my finances are largely held in index funds or mutual funds over which I have no control in management or decision-making,” Stein wrote in her response.
She added: “Over the years I have taken steps to divest from the worst of these holdings — transferring my checking and savings accounts from Bank of America largely to a credit union, and divesting from GE, Dupont and Merck stocks I had been given decades ago.”
While “green” mutual funds exist, Stein noted that many of these funds actually invest in fracking and biofuels, making them “not much better than the non-green funds.” She continued:
“I have not yet found the mutual funds that represent my goals of advancing the cause of people, planet and peace. Admittedly I have not spent a lot of time researching elusive ethical investments. I prefer using my time fighting for social, economic and ecological transformation, and recycling capitalist money into the fight to do so.”
She also wrote that she inherited “over a half-million dollars” from her parents, and that she’s used her investments and capital to “help build the social and political movements needed for transformative change.“
Ali’s article was designed to distract voters from larger issues of corruption within the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party, she suggested. She elaborated;
“He has created an imagined conflict of interest, perhaps to distract from the very real, harmful conflicts of interest in the Clintons’ pay-to-play schemes, back-room fundraising, and quarter-million dollar speeches for the predatory banks, health insurance industry, and fossil fuel tycoons, who have directly benefited from Hillary Clinton’s policy record as Senator and Secretary of State, as well as from Bill Clinton’s actions as President.”
In October, Forbes staff writer Dan Alexander estimated that Bill and Hillary Clinton were worth about $45 million, though he noted that their tax returns and financial disclosure filings left millions in earnings unaccounted for. In February, CNN reported that the Clintons earned $153 million in speaking fees between 2001 and the spring 2015 launch of Hillary Clinton’s latest presidential campaign.
Under Stein’s “Green New Deal” platform , the United States would transition away from foreign wars and fossil fuels by investing heavily in renewable energy.
In addition to its ties to Chelsea Clinton, The Daily Beast’s editor, Michael Weiss, has been criticized for supporting neoconservative U.S. foreign policy, including military intervention and empire building. In August, Richard Silverstein , writing for alternative media analysis site The Unz Review, noted that Weiss is frequently tapped to advocate for war on TV news programs. He wrote:
“Weiss, age 36, has been an itinerant freelance journalist and military interventionist gun-for-hire, plying his trade from Washington DC, to London, to the outlying lands of former Russian empire, to the ruins of Syria.
With his role as CNN commentator and senior editor at the Daily Beast, he is a leading light among a new young generation of neoconservative intellectuals.”
In April 2015, Stein told MintPress News that the media deliberately marginalizes third-party voices in order to keep voters from being fully informed about all their choices.
She told Carmen Russell-Sluchansky:
“It illustrates what they are terrified of. If people learn that they have an option that reflects what they want, they will vote for it. Half the population doesn’t vote because they don’t like what they see as their options.” | 0 |
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Follow us down to the bottom an enormous tunnel located near Mount Shasta...
Mount Shasta is famous all over the world for legends of Inner-Earth beings, and other subterranean mysteries. Some of the largest concentrations of underground tunnels and caves in North America are located in remote regions surrounding Mount Shasta, and only a small fraction of them have ever been explored or mapped...
In Lava Beds, northeast of Mount Shasta, there's an enormous cavern and tunnel called Skull Cave, which is so big that you could easily fly a small aircraft into it.
It was named Skull Cave because when it was first discovered it was full of bones. Tags | 0 |
S Korea coast guard opens fire on China boats 11/02/2016
PRESS TV
South Korean coast guard vessels have opened fire on Chinese trawlers allegedly fishing illegally off South Korea’s coast, prompting Beijing to censure Seoul.
On Wednesday, senior coast guard official Kim Jung-shik said the order to fire machine guns had been given during a confrontation with some 30 Chinese fishing boats.
The Chinese vessels had been allegedly operating illegally near South Korea’s Yellow Sea border with North Korea on Tuesday.
“They tried to ram our ships although we repeatedly warned them,” Yonhap news agency quoted Kim as saying.
The South Korean coast guard forces initially fired into the air but were later ordered to fire on the bows of the trawlers.
“I thought our officers would be in danger if I allowed any more resistance so we ended up using the crew service weapon,” Kim said.
Two Chinese boats were seized in the incident, which reportedly caused no casualties.
The machine gun shootout is the first of its kind since the South Korean coast guard declared in September that it would apply a “more aggressive” firearms policy with Chinese boats.
The shooting left Beijing “strongly dissatisfied” with China’s Foreign Ministry calling on Seoul to “discipline” its coast guard.
“Using destructive weapons can easily hurt fishermen and we urge the ROK (South Korea) side to … avoid using any excessive or extreme tools in their law enforcement activities,” said China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
Numerous incidents have occurred in recent years between South Korea’s coast guard and Chinese fishing boats venturing across international waters in search of fish.
On October 10, Seoul said it had lodged a formal complaint with Beijing over the alleged sinking of a South Korean coast guard vessel by Chinese fishermen on October 7.
On September 29, three Chinese fishermen died after their fishing boat was set on fire by South Korean coast guard members who threw grenades into their vessel. | 0 |
CARACAS, Venezuela — Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans dressed in white and chanting “This government will fall!” poured onto the streets of Caracas and other cities on Wednesday to demand a referendum to oust President Nicolás Maduro. Opposition leaders, addressing protesters massed along the capital’s broad main highway, promised to increase the pressure on Mr. Maduro’s government with a general strike on Friday. “This government has lost the most important thing, and that is what we have today: the people,” said Henrique Capriles, a presidential candidate and leader of the Primera Justicia Party. “Gentlemen of the government, we are giving you a deadline. ” Thousands of demonstrators rallied in many other Venezuelan cities. In Mérida, 73 people were injured during a clash between protesters and the police, Mérida’s mayor, Carlos García, said. Armed groups created to protect the government were also involved in the fighting. A police officer was shot and killed during a protest in the state of Miranda, the interior minister, Néstor Reverol, said Wednesday night. If the government does not allow the referendum to go forward, the opposition parties said they would lead a march to the presidential palace next Thursday. The protest was a powerful display of unity from the opposition, which has responded with fury to the decision last week by Venezuela’s Electoral Council to suspend the process for organizing a recall referendum. The council’s ruling, which halted the collection of voters’ signatures needed to initiate the referendum, was a sharp break with the government’s commitment until now to holding elections. “This is a dangerous new phase,” said David Smilde, a scholar of Venezuela at Tulane University and a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America. “I think the government last week really changed the game. ” “Apparently they see this as a safer line of resistance than going forward with the referendum,” he added. On Tuesday, the National Assembly voted to begin a political trial against Mr. Maduro, accusing him of carrying out a coup against the Constitution. Mr. Maduro has described the referendum drive as a coup against his elected government. Polls show that an overwhelming majority of Venezuelans, scrambling to find food and medicine in a collapsing economy, would vote to remove Mr. Maduro. “The right does not want dialogue because they want a coup and foreign intervention,” Mr. Maduro said before a small crowd of supporters gathered outside the presidential palace on Wednesday. “But here there will be no coup nor intervention. ” Mr. Maduro has responded to the opposition’s activism with calls for dialogue, which opposition leaders believe is a bid to wait them out. Mr. Maduro met on Wednesday with leaders of the different branches of government, which are all firmly under his party’s control, with the exception of the National Assembly. Photos in a Twitter message by Mr. Maduro’s spokesman highlighted the empty chair reserved for Henry Ramos Allup, the opposition president of the National Assembly, who was at the protest instead of at Mr. Maduro’s meeting. “I am not going to attend this theater, this farce,” Mr. Ramos said. The Vatican has stepped in to mediate, but it is unclear which opposition leaders, if any, will attend the first round of the discussions scheduled for Sunday on Margarita Island. The opposition has instead unified around street protests. The challenge will be to “take this outpouring and channel it into a sustained movement on the streets,” Mr. Smilde said. In the past, rivalries among opposition leaders have made it difficult for them to come together on a strategy. “They are underperforming given the level of discontent,” he said. That discontent was on full display as people streamed to the protest on Wednesday morning. “Enough of this regime, which puts obstacles to everything,” said Vanessa Furtado, 45, a schoolteacher from the poor neighborhood of Las Minas de Baruta. “There is no security, no economic or work stability. Maduro is scared. The solution here is electoral, it’s all we have. ” Elliot Manuel Pérez Medina, a college student, was disappointed that the opposition put off marching to the presidential palace on Wednesday. As he spoke, a group of armed government supporters began to surround his group of protesters. “Why are we going to talk with people who always put a gun to our head and always repress us?” he asked. But not everybody who wanted to attend the protest could do so. Miurka Castillo, 47, said she suffered from seizures this year the shortages were so severe that she cannot find the medicine she needs she spent the morning bartering flour for three pills. “Nobody wants to go more than me,” she said. “I need this government to leave. I think that would change things. ” | 1 |
By Leshu Torchin, University of St Andrews On Oct. 31, more than a million Facebook users “checked in” at Standing Rock Reservation, on the border... | 0 |
The images tell a heartbreaking story: Zika’s calamitous attack on the brains of babies — as seen from the inside. A study of brain scans and ultrasound pictures of 45 Brazilian babies whose mothers were infected with Zika in pregnancy shows that the virus can inflict serious damage to many different parts of the fetal brain beyond microcephaly, the condition of unusually small heads that has become the sinister signature of Zika. The images, published Tuesday in the journal Radiology, also suggest a grim possibility: Because some of the damage was seen in brain areas that continue to develop after birth, it may be that babies born without obvious impairment will experience problems as they grow. “It really brings to the forefront the importance of truly understanding the impact of Zika virus and the fact that we need to follow children who not only are exposed to Zika in pregnancy, but even those who don’t appear to have any complications at birth,” said Dr. Catherine Y. Spong, acting director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, who was not involved in the study. Most of the babies in the study were born with microcephaly, although three were not. Each also suffered other impairments, almost all of which emerge earlier than microcephaly because a smaller head is really a consequence of a brain that has failed to develop fully or has been damaged along the way, experts said. “The brain that should be there is not there,” said Dr. Deborah Levine, an author of the study and a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School. “The abnormalities that we see in the brain suggest a very early disruption of the brain development process. ” The scans show the range of Zika’s brain targets, some of which experts knew about, including the corpus callosum, which facilitates communication between the two hemispheres the cerebellum, which plays a significant role in movement, balance and speech and the basal ganglia, which are involved in thinking and emotion. “I think we were all aware that Zika causes brain abnormalities, but it’s been more generic,” said Dr. Rita Driggers, an associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. “Now we know more specifically what we’re looking for in terms of brain abnormalities before the microcephaly occurs. ” Together, the images provide a more detailed guide that might help doctors diagnose fetal damage earlier — possibly in the second trimester at a point early enough to help women decide whether to terminate a pregnancy, said Dr. Adre du Plessis, director of the Fetal Medicine Institute of Children’s National Health System, who was not involved in the study. At the same time, the study may eventually help doctors rule out damage caused by Zika infection. “If there’s any uncertainty on ultrasound, we’re concerned that couples that are not and don’t want to gamble might be terminating perfectly normal babies, which is of course a concern to us,” he said. “So there is a lot riding on being able to image accurately. ” One finding that surprised several experts could become an especially meaningful diagnostic clue. Many infections that target the brain produce clumps of calcium, called calcification. But in babies, calcification often occurred in an unusual place: at the intersection of the gray matter of the outer layer of the brain, the cortex, and the white matter of the layer just below that. That pattern could emerge as a particular stamp of Zika infection, experts said. Dr. Spong said that because the area involves two different types of blood vessels, it might suggest that Zika targets vascular areas. And it could signal why the virus wreaks such ruthless effects on brain development. “That is a critical area for brain formation,” Dr. du Plessis said. At the matter intersection, healthy cells “release certain chemicals that allow the neurons to find their precise destination. ” “When that gets scrambled they end up in the wrong place, they don’t function the way they should, and messaging and connectivity is severely deranged. ” Most of the babies in the study had such damage in the cortex, which plays a crucial role in learning, memory and coordination, and also continues to develop at least through infancy, suggesting that babies who seemed to emerge unscathed might be vulnerable to difficulties as they grow. Another abnormality seen in most of the babies’ brains involved the ventricles or cavities of the brain becoming so full of cerebrospinal fluid that they “blow up like a balloon,” Dr. Levine said. The ventricles may be filling with fluid because Zika is obstructing their ability to drain normally, or because damage to other brain areas leaves a kind of vacuum that the enlarged ventricles fill. The ventricles can make the head size seem normal earlier in pregnancy, Dr. Levine said. But as scans of one pregnancy taken at 36 weeks gestation show, the fluid can be so prominent that the scan shows what “looks like the skull and very little brain tissue inside it,” she said. At some point, these ventricles, “like a balloon, can pop,” she said. And if they do, “the brain will collapse on itself. ” The images come from 17 babies whose mothers had confirmed Zika infection during pregnancy and 28 without laboratory confirmation but with all indications of Zika infection. Dr. Levine worked with colleagues in Brazil, which has more than 1, 800 cases of microcephaly, to analyze images from the Instituto de Pesquisa in Paraiba in the northeastern part of the country. Three of the babies died in the first three days of life, and researchers studied autopsy reports in those cases. The images include scans of twin girls, who both developed microcephaly. The pictures show folds of overlapping skin and a sloping forehead, indications not only that the brain is smaller, but also that the forebrain has not developed normally, Dr. Levine said. Images of another baby girl show contracted hands and arms, the result of another common symptom. Zika seems to damage the nerves in a developing fetus so that sometimes “muscles aren’t developing normally because they don’t have the nerve impulses to move normally,” she said. “And then when they’re born, they’re stuck in this contracted position. ” Dr. Levine said the images suggest that Zika is like a formidable enemy able to do damage in three ways: keeping parts of the brain from forming normally, obstructing areas of the brain, and destroying parts of the brain after they form. With such a vicious and unpredictable virus, “it’s key to realize that Zika is more than microcephaly, that there’s a number of other abnormalities as they’ve shown in this paper, and its effects are going to be even more broad,” said Dr. Spong, whose agency has begun a study of what will ultimately be 10, 000 babies born in Zika epidemic areas including Brazil and Puerto Rico. “It’s going to be essential to follow them to look at their development, to look at their ability to learn, to look at hearing problems, balance problems, behavior problems, all those issues, to make sure that we don’t miss anyone. ” | 1 |
Posted on October 30, 2016 by Claire Bernish
Cannon Ball, N.D. — On Thursday, police from no less than five states sporting full riot gear and armed with heavy lethal and nonlethal weaponry, pepper spray, mace, a number of ATVs, five tanks, two helicopters, and military-equipped humvees showed up to tear down an encampment of Standing Rock Sioux water protectors and supporters armed with … nothing.
Under orders from the now-notorious Morton County Sheriff’s Office, this ridiculously heavy-handed standing army came better prepared to do battle than some actual military units fighting overseas.
But the target of their operation — a group of slightly more than 200 Native American water protectors and supporters opposing construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline — never intended to do battle with the armed, taxpayer-funded, corporate-backed, state-sponsored aggressors.
Reports vary, but no less than 141 people were arrested Thursday, and — according to witnesses — police marked numbers on arrestees’ arms and housed them in cement-floored dog kennels , without any padding, before they were transported as far away as Fargo.
“It goes back to concentration camp days,” asserted Oceti-Sakowin coordinator Mekasi Camp-Horinek, who, along with his mother, was marked and detained in a mesh kennel, reports the Los Angeles Times .
Although Thursday’s incident remained relatively peaceful for some time, with only shouts, chants, and occasional attempts by water protectors to convince this standing army to examine its motives and reconsider, clashes nonetheless broke out — solely because of gratuitous police aggression.
After facing off for a couple hours, these militant cops began closing in on the water protectors to shut down the Treaty of 1851 camp — in reference to the Fort Laramie Treaty of that year, which established a large parcel of land designated exclusively Native American territory not to be disturbed by the U.S. government. Prior to his arrest, Camp-Horinek had established the camp, stating, as cited by Indigenous Rising :
“Today, the Oceti Sakowin has enacted eminent domain on DAPL lands, claiming 1851 treaty rights. This is unceded land. Highway 1806 as of this point is blockaded. We will be occupying this land and staying here until this pipeline is permanently stopped. We need bodies and we need people who are trained in non-violent direct action. We are still staying non-violent and we are still staying peaceful.”
Despite the water protectors’ commitment to nonviolence, the militarized police response went as would be expected — horribly awry.
“A prayer circle of elders, including several women, was interrupted and all were arrested for standing peacefully on the public road,” stated a press release from Indigenous Environment Network. “A tipi was erected in the road and was recklessly dismantled, despite law enforcement statements that they would merely mark the tipi with a yellow ribbon and ask its owners to retrieve it. A group of water protectors was also dragged out of a sweat lodge ceremony erected in the path of the pipeline, thrown to the ground, and arrested.”
Claims to the contrary by Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier aside, Native American and Indigenous water protectors and supporters have refrained from violent acts on the whole, preferring instead peaceful prayer vigils and acts of civil disobedience.
No matter how peacefully the opposition acts, armed defenders of Big Oil interests seem determined to brutalize , disrespect, and generally incite and inflict violence against those who desire unsullied water for generations to come.
In fact, at the beginning of September, a private security firm hired by Energy Transfer Partners, the company responsible for pipeline construction, indiscriminately unleashed vicious attack dogs on water protectors, press, and supporters — for reasons as yet unknown.
During the savage attack, a pregnant woman, young girl, and many others suffered serious dog bites thanks to the ineptitude of the dogs’ handlers. Afterward, a warrant for inciting a riot was issued Democracy Now! journalist Amy Goodman — for doing her job, filming events as they happened — though charges were subsequently thrown out.
Although ETP and some law enforcement officers defended the barbarous actions of the private security mercenaries, the Guardian now reports that — because the guards lacked proper licensing — they could now face criminal charges. On Wednesday, the Morton County Sheriff’s Office made the determination that “dog handlers were not properly licensed to do security work in the state of North Dakota.”
Bob Frost, owner of Ohio-based Frost Kennels, told the Guardian , “All the proper protocols … were already done. I pulled my guys out the next day because we weren’t there to go to war with these protesters.”
Frost insisted he had cooperated with authorities investigating the incident — but the sheriff’s department disagrees. Seven handlers and dogs were deployed to the scene in early September, allegedly in response to reports of trespassers; but, according to the Guardian , police have only managed to identify two people.
The sheriff’s department claims Frost has not provided necessary information, and unnamed security officials cited in the report said that “there were no intentions of using the dogs or handlers for security work. … However, because of the protest events, the dogs were deployed as a method of trying to keep the protesters under control.”
In a statement cited by the Guardian , Morton County Captain Jay Gruebele said, “Although lists of security employees have been provided, there is no way of confirming whether the list is accurate or if names have been purposely withheld.”
Water protectors, in the meantime, are left to deal with absurdly disproportionate state violence — and the altogether unacceptable, disrespectful, and demeaning insult of being relegated to dog kennels after being arrested for exercising their rights.
As Lakota Country Times editor Brandon Ecoffey wrote in an editorial Thursday,
“Over the course of the last several months the abuse of detainees by Morton County Law Enforcement has overstepped every boundary guaranteed by the American constitution. Water protectors have been seen being bound and hooded by police. People are being stripped searched and abused within their jail for misdemeanor crimes. And police have employed the use of mass surveillance through drones on the protector camps. This isn’t a war zone this is North Dakota.” Don't forget to follow the D.C. Clothesline on Facebook and Twitter. PLEASE help spread the word by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks. Share this: | 0 |
Donald J. Trump lashed out on Tuesday in the aftermath of a disappointing first debate with Hillary Clinton, scolding the moderator, criticizing a beauty pageant winner for her physique and raising the prospect of an attack on Bill Clinton’s marital infidelities in the final stretch of the campaign. Having worked assiduously in recent weeks to cultivate a more disciplined demeanor on the campaign trail, Mr. Trump cast aside that approach on Tuesday morning. As Mrs. Clinton embarked on an ebullient campaign swing through North Carolina, aiming to press her newfound advantage, Mr. Trump vented his grievances in full public view. Sounding weary and impatient as he called into a Fox News program, Mr. Trump criticized Lester Holt, the NBC News anchor, for asking “unfair questions” during the debate Monday evening, and speculated that someone might have tampered with his microphone. Mr. Trump repeated his charge that Mrs. Clinton lacked the “stamina” to be president, a claim critics have described as sexist, and suggested that in the future he might raise Mr. Clinton’s past indiscretions. Defying conventions of political civility, Mr. Trump leveled cutting criticism at a beauty pageant winner, Alicia Machado, whom Mrs. Clinton held up in Monday night’s debate as an example of Mr. Trump’s disrespect for women. Mr. Trump said on Fox he was right to disparage the former Miss Universe because of her weight. “She was the winner and she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem,” said Mr. Trump, who was the pageant’s executive producer at the time. Mrs. Clinton has already been broadcasting an ad highlighting crude remarks from Mr. Trump about women she answered his taunts about her marriage with a rhetorical shrug, telling reporters Mr. Trump was free to run whatever kind of campaign he preferred. On board her campaign plane, she plainly relished her moment of apparent triumph, and poked fun at Mr. Trump’s morning lamentations. “Anybody who complains about the microphone,” she said, “is not having a good night. ” Mr. Trump’s setback in the debate represents a critical test in the final six weeks of the race. Having drawn closer to Mrs. Clinton in the polls, Mr. Trump now faces an intensified clash over his personal temperament and his attitudes toward women and minorities — areas of grave concern for many voters that were at the center of the candidates’ confrontation on Monday. Against Mr. Trump’s brooding, Mrs. Clinton cut a strikingly different profile on the campaign trail on Tuesday, emerging emboldened from her encounter with the Republican nominee. At a rally in Raleigh, N. C. Mrs. Clinton, brandishing her opponent’s debate stumbles, assailed Mr. Trump’s comments suggesting he avoided paying taxes and welcomed the 2008 financial crisis as a buying opportunity. “What kind of person would want to root for nine million families losing their homes?” Mrs. Clinton asked the crowd. “One who should never be president, is the answer to that question. ” Having shaken at least temporarily the malaise of the past month, Mrs. Clinton must seek to gain a durable upper hand over Mr. Trump, who before the debate had been delivering a more focused message on trade, immigration and national security. Mr. Trump’s comportment on Tuesday threatened to undermine his gains of the past month, and recalled his practice during the Republican primaries and much of the general election of belittling political bystanders in language that alienated voters, like attacking the Muslim parents of an Army captain killed in Iraq and a Hispanic federal judge. It remains to be seen if Mr. Trump will approach the remainder of the race with the unfiltered abandon of his comments Tuesday morning. By the day’s end, Mr. Trump had returned to a caustic but somewhat more conventional script, attacking Mrs. Clinton in bitter language at a rally in Melbourne, Fla. Blasting Mrs. Clinton as a “vessel for her friends, the donors,” Mr. Trump exhorted the crowd, “We’re going to get rid of that crooked woman. ” And Mr. Trump again complained at the event about how he had been treated by Mr. Holt, whom he referred to as “the M. C. ” The fear among Republicans is that Mr. Trump will confront adversity by continuing to swing impulsively at politically inopportune targets, dragging the party again into needless and damaging feuds, as he did for most of the summer. The notion of raising Mr. Clinton’s infidelity is particularly controversial among Mr. Trump’s advisers, who have sent conflicting signals about that line of attack. Kellyanne Conway, Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, said in a CNN interview that he deserved credit for holding back from that particular subject, saying Mr. Trump had been “polite and a gentleman. ” But Rudolph W. Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and a close confidant of Mr. Trump’s, called for a far harsher approach. Mr. Trump, he told a reporter for the website Elite Daily, had been “too reserved” in his confrontation with Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Giuliani recommended attacking Mrs. Clinton for having questioned Monica Lewinsky’s credibility in claiming an affair with Mr. Clinton. He also called Mrs. Clinton “too stupid to be president. ” Mr. Giuliani has his own complex marital history: He is on his third marriage as mayor, he surprised his second wife by announcing his plans to separate from her at a news conference. Should Mr. Trump follow the path prescribed by Mr. Giuliani, it could transform the final six weeks of his candidacy into an onslaught of unrestricted personal vituperation — a risky course that would probably please Mr. Trump’s political base at the cost of his broader appeal. But Democrats signaled on Tuesday that they would welcome an extended battle with Mr. Trump over matters of temperament and personal character. Priorities USA Action, a “super PAC” supporting Mrs. Clinton, released a television ad highlighting a debate exchange in which Mr. Trump said his temperament was his “strongest asset,” along with clips of Mr. Trump using obscene and violent language. And Mrs. Clinton’s running mate, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, said in a television interview that Mr. Trump had appeared “flustered” and “ran out of gas. ” During a campaign stop in Orlando, Fla. Mr. Kaine suggested that Mr. Trump was too unsteady for the White House. “If you’re that rattled in a debate,” he said, “try being president. ” Still, among Mr. Trump’s core voters, there is clearly an appetite for blunter and more personal attacks on Mrs. Clinton, and at his rally in Florida, several said they hoped Mr. Trump would be harsher in the next debate. “I’m glad he was a gentleman,” said Fran Hadjilogiou, 75, of Indian Harbour Beach. “He should just go get her next time. ” Jim Clapper, 66, of Palm Bay, said he hoped Mr. Trump would bring up Mr. Clinton’s infidelity “every chance he gets. ” “He ought to bring it up every day so that the young people in this country know what went on with that family,” Mr. Clapper said. | 1 |
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Just in case anyone might be tempted to defend their denial by latching onto the now-laughable proposition that the US Army going with an openly lesbian general was a fluke or that the US Navy naming a new warship after famed gay rapist Harvey Milk was an anomaly or that Army Cadets being pressured into crossdressing was a weird little mistake that somehow slipped through the cracks of an otherwise honorable and good approach to reality, we keep getting wave after wave after tsunami after avalanche of crystal clear confirmation of the US military’s proud, headlong plunge into oblivion (and oblivion advocacy, of course).
The latest example of God-given uber-clarity on the matter comes in the form of a lovely little article entitled First transgender soldiers seek formal Army recognition , wherein AP reports (with bold emphasis added):
Within weeks of the Pentagon allowing transgender service members to serve openly, Army officials said 10 soldiers have formally asked to be recognized as their new, preferred gender. The small number represents only those who have publicly said they are transgender, and doesn’t include soldiers who may be considering or beginning gender transition or those who don’t yet want to make an official paperwork change. Gen. Mark Milley, chief of staff of the Army, said the key now is to educate the force, particularly commanders who will have to make decisions about soldiers in their units who request a gender change. “Is the army ready? Well, we are educating ourselves, and we are trying to get ready,” Milley said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We’re well-past the issue of debating and arguing about transgender. We are now into execution, to make sure the program is carried out with diligence, dignity, respect.” Dignity and respect, eh? Do tell. So the US military is now of a mind that the Christian worldview is inherently anti -dignity and anti -respect. Anti-kittens, anti-rainbows, and anti-love, too, I’m sure. That’s how anti-Christ perspectives roll: They tar the Christian worldview (and the God whose Nature it reflects) as mean and evil. They make good evil and evil good. At least they try to anyway. [insert “ U! S! A! ” chant here] Now back to the AP article: The Pentagon policy took effect Oct. 1, and Army Secretary Eric Fanning approved the service’s new transgender guidelines earlier this month. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced in June that he was ending the ban on transgender individuals serving openly in the military. Transgender troops are now able to receive medical care and begin changing their gender identifications in the Pentagon’s personnel system. Next year, the military services will begin allowing transgender individuals to enlist, as long as they meet required standards and have been stable in their identified gender for 18 months. “We’re monitoring implementation closely, and everything we’ve seen so far points to a military organization fully committed to treating everyone equally and providing medically necessary care to all troops, not just some,” said Aaron Belkin, director of the California-based Palm Center, an independent research institute. “My conclusion, so far, is that implementation has proceeded smoothly and successfully.” . . . Milley said the Army numbers so far are low, but the service doesn’t track the number of soldiers who may be starting the gender transition process. “We may not know the full scope yet,” said Milley. “Others that may consider themselves as transgender but haven’t self-identified publicly may be holding back because they want to see how things progress.”
Progress.
That’s the name of the game, isn’t it?
The US Army is committed to progress.
Explicitly anti-Christian progress, of course.
The US Army is at war.
With God.
And His people.
That’s how these fights always end in God’s cosmos.
That’s how they always unfold in His creations of time and history.
So take heart, Christian.
Either way – whether through the beauty of a repentant and restored America being spared judgment and finding life again in loving, willful subjugation to Christ as King, or by way of King Jesus breaking yet another in a long line of unrepentant, proud, God-hating cultures to pieces under the weight of His unbreakable Law , His people always win and His Kingdom always advances…all by His grace and all for His glory.
Article reposted with permission from Fire Breathing Christian shares | 0 |
Dems sue GOP over Trump's 'rigged' complaints Claim argument designed to suppress vote in minority communities Published: 33 mins ago
(CNN) The Democratic National Committee is suing the Republican National Committee for aiding GOP nominee Donald Trump as he argues that the presidential election is “rigged,” claiming that Trump’s argument is designed to suppress the vote in minority communities.
The suit, filed Wednesday in US District Court in New Jersey, argues that the RNC has not sufficiently rebuked Trump for the line of attack, which he has used as a rallying cry and is assumed to be a way to explain away a potential loss on Election Day.
What (more) we’ve learned about Clinton’s circle, Neera Tanden from email hack | 0 |
WASHINGTON — As Senate Republicans embark on a flurry of confirmation hearings this week, several of Donald J. Trump’s appointees have yet to complete the background checks and ethics clearances customarily required before the Senate begins to consider nominees. Republicans, who are expected to hold up to five hearings on Wednesday alone, say they simply want to ensure that the new president has a team in place as soon as possible. “I believe all the ’s cabinet appointments will be confirmed,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said. But Democrats are calling for the process to be slowed and for the hearings to be spread out. That, they say, would allow more time to vet the nominees. “Our first overarching focus is getting tax returns and ethics forms,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota. In a letter to Senators Chuck Schumer of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the leader of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter M. Shaub Jr. said on Friday that “the announced hearing schedule for several nominees who have not completed the ethics review process is of great concern to me. ” He said the packed schedule had put “undue pressure” on the office to rush its reviews of the nominees and he knew of no other occasion in the office’s four decades when the Senate had held a confirmation hearing before the review was completed. Mr. Schumer responded on Saturday by saying that the letter had made clear that the Trump transition team colluded with Senate Republicans to “jam through” the nominees. Several of the nominees are millionaires or billionaires and have vast webs of financial interests that must be untangled. The Trump transition team issued a statement on Saturday evening defending its handling of the nomination process. Richard W. Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who served as chief ethics counsel to President George W. Bush, said he thought none of the nominees could receive a full vote on the Senate floor before the vetting was complete. Norman Eisen, Mr. Obama’s ethics counsel in his first term, said the paperwork delays were “totally . ” The status of the background checks and ethical clearances can change by the day. Republicans say they expect the missing documents to be submitted for all the nominees eventually. The hearings are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, with testimony from Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the nominee for attorney general, and Gen. John F. Kelly, the pick for homeland security secretary. On Wednesday, the parade of nominees is expected to include Rex W. Tillerson, the choice for secretary of state Betsy DeVos, the pick for education secretary and Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas, the nominee to lead the C. I. A. Later in the week, the billionaire investor Wilbur L. Ross Jr. chosen as commerce secretary, and Andrew F. Puzder, the labor secretary pick, are scheduled to come before congressional panels. While some of Mr. Trump’s nominees, notably Representative Tom Price of Georgia, the choice for health secretary and an ardent opponent of the Affordable Care Act, are certain to receive hostile receptions, large numbers of Democrats will probably vote for many others. Still, Democrats are preparing a furious assault against the nominees by going after the himself and trying to drive a wedge between them over his most incendiary promises, like banning Muslim immigrants and bringing back torture. “Where will they come down?” Mr. Schumer, the new Democratic leader, asked in an interview. “Will they try to persuade the president that’s the wrong way to take America?” Democrats plan to keep the focus on the to a degree with few historical parallels. New presidents usually serve as a backdrop this year, by contrast, Mr. Trump’s words will loom over the hearings as Democrats press the nominees to take a position on them. Democrats have little chance of blocking any of the nominees, having given up the use of the filibuster in such cases when they were in the majority, but they say Mr. Trump has handed them ample political ammunition. Mr. Sessions is certain to be asked whether he, as attorney general, would make good on Mr. Trump’s pledges to get a special counsel to “jail” Hillary Clinton over her email server. General Kelly can expect questions about whether he favors Mr. Trump’s call to build a wall on the Mexican border and create a database on Muslims. Mr. Pompeo is likely to be asked about his views on Mr. Trump’s support for waterboarding and his skepticism about the intelligence agencies’ findings on Russian election meddling. Mr. Tillerson will probably face a grilling over Mr. Trump’s vow to “cancel” the Paris climate accord. Mr. Tillerson has spent hours trying to quietly assure lawmakers that he would take a more distant stance than Mr. Trump on the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, with whom Mr. Tillerson had close relations as the head of Exxon Mobil. The Trump transition team, which did not comment on the background checks, is bracing its nominees for questions about the ’s more controversial positions, according to people with knowledge of the preparations. But officials would not say what tack the nominees would take in responding. “I have no doubt that the and a number of his comments will come up,” said Sarah Isgur Flores, a spokeswoman for Mr. Sessions’s confirmation team. “But Senator Sessions has a long record of service himself. ” Mr. Sessions will testify before the Judiciary Committee, which is generally friendly territory for sitting senators. But he is likely to face blistering questions from Democrats who are concerned about his civil rights record. In the 1980s, racially charged accusations derailed his nomination to a federal judgeship. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said she would press Mr. Sessions to say where he stood on Mr. Trump’s pledges to have a special counsel further investigate Mrs. Clinton’s emails. “Hillary’s situation is done, and other than some kind of gross retribution, there’s no reason for that to even be something to look at,” Ms. Feinstein said in an interview. By posing tough questions, said Sarah A. Binder, a political scholar at George Washington University, Democrats will try to lure the nominees into inflicting political damage on themselves by adopting some of Mr. Trump’s more divisive language. She said the terrain was so risky that the nominees might be better served by adopting a stance usually seen only from judicial nominees: “Don’t take a position. ” Democrats intend to use all the procedural moves available to slow the process on the Senate floor, possibly spending up to 30 hours per nominee, denying Mr. Trump a full cabinet when he takes office. Republicans are indignant. “Holding up confirmations just for delay’s sake is irresponsible and it is dangerous,” said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas. He added, “This is a dangerous world we are living in, and why in the world would we want to make it even more dangerous just to let our colleagues delay for delay’s sake Trump getting to fill his cabinet, particularly these important national security offices?” | 1 |
ATHENS — In Greece’s biggest peacetime evacuation ever, about 72, 000 people left their homes in the city of Thessaloniki on Sunday as experts defused and removed a World War II bomb from below a gas station. Hundreds of police officers in Thessaloniki, the country’s city, began knocking on doors early in the morning to remind residents within a radius of two kilometers, about 1. 2 miles, to leave their homes. Though residents had been given several days’ warning, with leaflets posted around the city and an online campaign by the local authorities, some were reluctant to leave and had to be convinced by the police that their properties would remain intact. “The security measures might be excessive, but it’s better to be excessive and be safe,” Greece’s public order minister, Nikos Toskas, warned in a televised message. The bomb was found last week under the gas station during excavation work aimed at expanding storage tanks. It was about five feet long and weighed about 550 pounds — of which was explosive, and the rest casing. The bomb had been dropped onto Thessaloniki by Allied forces in 1943 or 1944, toward the end of Greece’s occupation by Nazi Germany, according to the Greek news media. On Sunday, residents were transported by bus to schools and sports venues. Greek television broadcast images of bemused pensioners, many of whom lived through the Nazi occupation of Greece, sitting on plastic chairs and drinking bottled water provided by the local government. Others carried pet cats in boxes through empty streets or led children by the hand as army officers stood guard near the gas station. Hundreds of refugees who have been living at a former toilet paper factory, including many Syrians who fled strife in their country, were taken by aid workers to the city’s archaeological museum for the day. They were given snacks and taken to see the artifacts, aid workers said. “The refugees accepted the situation with stoicism and understanding,” Vassilis Karambidis, who runs the center, told Greece’s news agency. “There were no protests, and those who were reluctant initially ultimately came round to the need to vacate the center. ” Over the course of an hour and a half, three Greek military pyrotechnic experts defused the bomb in an operation that “went very smoothly,” Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the regional governor, told reporters. He had declared a state of emergency in the city for the operation, suspending train routes and church services. The bomb was loaded onto an army vehicle and taken to a military shooting range near the city to be destroyed, Mr. Tzitzikostas said. About five hours after the defusion, residents started returning home. A local military spokesman, Colonel Nikolaos Fanios, played down the operation, noting that army experts had defused similar bombs found near the city’s international airport in the past. “This is a routine event for the army,” he told the Greek news media. The discovery of the bomb in a densely populated area, however, made Sunday’s evacuation necessary, he said, noting that an accidental explosion would have resulted in deaths within the radius. | 1 |
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. _____ 1. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said she would accept the recommendations of prosecutors and the F. B. I. about whether to bring charges against Hillary Clinton over her private email server. Ms. Lynch’s statement came after she was criticized for meeting with Bill Clinton at an airport this week. She said the encounter was unplanned and they did not talk about the case. But Republicans and some Democrats said it raised questions about the integrity of the email investigation, which hangs over the presidential election. _____ 2. What should we expect from the Republican convention, just two weeks away? It won’t be “boring” like previous ones, pledged Donald J. Trump, who also said he won’t speak every night. Beyond that, the usually polished and choreographed affair is in flux. But if Mr. Trump’s comments at a Thursday event were any indication — he suggested that a plane overhead was a Mexican aircraft ready for an “attack” — his style may be hard to avoid, even if he’s planning to hew more closely to a script. _____ 3. The number of civilians killed by U. S. airstrikes outside conventional war zones since 2009 is between 64 and 116 people, the Obama administration said Friday. The number comes from 473 strikes that took place between Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009 and the end of 2015, and it is much lower than estimates from independent watchdogs. Mr. Obama also issued an executive order requiring the government to disclose the number of civilian deaths annually. Above, a protest against drone strikes in Pakistan. _____ 4. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack in which armed men took hostages in a restaurant in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. A kitchen worker said eight to 10 men entered the restaurant — where about 20 foreigners were dining — opened fire and detonated several explosives. Two police officers were killed in the standoff. The State Department said all its American employees there were safe. _____ 5. If you’re carrying dollars in your wallet, they’re worth more than they were last week — but that’s not necessarily a good thing. Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has investors dumping the pound and the euro, and turning to American currency instead. But that makes U. S. imports more expensive on the global market, complicating the American economy’s already fragile expansion. _____ 6. Austria will have a on its presidential election, in which a candidate, Norbert Hofer, above left, narrowly lost to Alexander Van der Bellen of the Green Party in May. The situation reflects the wider turmoil in Europe over immigration, which was also a prominent issue in Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. Mr. Hofer and his party, the Freedom Party, had campaigned heavily on the migrant issue. _____ 7. Tighter security at airports doesn’t necessarily make us safer — as seen in the attacks on Tuesday at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, where three suicide bombers killed 44 people and wounded hundreds of others. Vehicle screenings begin a mile from the airport and people go through security before they enter the terminal, which is where the attackers were initially turned away, but later returned with guns. Here’s a look at how a typical U. S. airport compares with those in Istanbul and other places. _____ 8. A Mississippi law that would have protected people who object to marriages on religious grounds was struck down by a federal judge minutes before it was to take effect. The judge, Carlton W. Reeves, called it “a vehicle for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. ” Some state leaders pledged to appeal, though the state’s Democratic attorney general expressed reservations. _____ 9. Yuliya Stepanova, above, a Russian athlete who blew the whistle on doping and got other athletes from her country barred, will be among the few from her nation, if any, who can compete at the Olympic Games in Rio. The sport’s governing body ruled that she can compete, and if Olympic officials agree, it’s still an open question whether she would represent Russia — which she fled two years ago — or be a neutral athlete. _____ 10. Gay Talese, above, the storied journalist and author, is defending his coming book, “The Voyeur’s Motel,” after an article raised questions about key facts. It’s a reversal of his initial response to the discrepancies, in which he called the book’s credibility “down the toilet. ” The issue relates to the veracity of the central character, who said he had spied on his motel guests for years. _____ 11. Mosha, a elephant in Thailand, got her ninth artificial leg this week. She lost her leg when she stepped on a land mine at just 7 months old in a part of Myanmar where rebels have been fighting the government for decades. She’s among more than a dozen elephants who have been wounded by land mines in the region. _____ 12. Ah, the Fourth of July. It’s a time to celebrate our nation’s independence, perhaps gathering with family and friends for a barbecue before admiring fireworks at dusk. But there’s an unpleasant side to the holiday: a history of ghastly injuries and, sometimes, death — generally because of those same fireworks. So have a great holiday weekend and, please, be safe! _____ 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 |
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Iranians spend 4.5% of their annual earnings on beauty products, three times more than their European counterparts, as per official statistics. The Germans spend 1.5% and the French and British 1.7% of their income every year on cosmetics.
According to data from the Iranian Association of Cosmetics, Toiletries and Perfumery Importers, Iran accounts for $2.1 billion of the Middle East’s $7.2 billion beauty products market–second in the region after Saudi Arabia, the Persian daily Shahrvand reported.
It is said that there are 15 million consumers for cosmetic products in Iran. Dividing the annual turnover by this number shows that each consumer spends $140 on cosmetics per year. Germany’s online statistics portal (Statista) states that the per capita cosmetic spending in Europe is €90 ($99) on average. The index is $173.5 in Germany, $176 in France, $177 in Britain, $169 in Italy and $150 in Spain.
If the raw figures alone are taken, Iranians spend less than Europeans on make-up products. But the results change as other parameters such as the price of products and household average earnings are taken into account as well.
As confirmed by the Iranian Association of Cosmetics, Toiletries and Perfumery Importers, 70% of the cosmetics in the market are smuggled into the country and often sold at a lower price than they would be if they were legally imported, not to mention the health risks contraband products are likely to pose. Europeans on the other hand pay the real price of the products which includes tax and are thus more expensive.
MORE... Pakistani warships berth in Iran’s port as part of amicable relations, joint drills President Rouhani’s “open-door” economic policy: Recipe for indebtedness, deindustrialization and dependence Iranian Nowruz: A new day has come! Moreover, the spending has to be measured as compared to the average earnings. Based on Gallup Incorporation’s opinion polls, Iranians’ median per capita income has been estimated as $3,100 while that of the Germans, French and British $14,000, $12,500 and $12,300 respectively. The Spanish and Italians earn $6,800 and $7,200.
This means that Iranians spend 4.5% of their income on beauty products while the figure is 1.5% for Germans, 1.7% for the French and British, 3% for Italians and 2.5% for the Spanish.
These calculations show that people in Iran spend three times as much on cosmetics as German, French and British consumers.
Cosmetic Surgery
Additionally, Iran’s Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons’ Association has announced that 80,000 cosmetic surgeries are performed each year constituting 0.3% of the operations in the world. This is a rather large percentage given that only 1.08% of the world population lives in Iran. Besides, the figure is said to be approximate due to the absence of an official registration system and the fact that other types of beauty surgeries such as body contouring and facial rejuvenation, among many others, are not included.
Data from the Central Bank and the Statistics Center of Iran suggest that cultural pursuits constitute a small portion of Iranian household expenditure. The reports indicate that each family spent only 2% of their income on recreation and cultural activities in 2015, less than half their expenses on cosmetic products.
Iran’s share of the world book market is 0.1% which is one-third the country’s share of the cosmetics market. The $2.1 billion incurred on beauty products is said to equal Japan’s cinema turnover and exceeds that of Bollywood and the UK’s film industry.
Culture, cinema and books don’t comprise high-income businesses in Iran while cosmetic surgeons and beauty product dealers make fortunes on their business. | 0 |
PARIS — On an upper floor of the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, the manse formerly occupied by the banking Rothschilds, a line of sweating models fiddled with the rings in their lips and the septums of their perfect noses, and waited to have their lip gloss reapplied. They chatted among themselves, fanning one another with torn bits of cardboard in the close, sticky corridor and examining their nails, which had been sharpened to talons and encrusted with miniature gems. They received compliments with the languorous equanimity of court ladies, which for a night they were. Not for the first time, and surely not for the last, the thought occurred that the European fashion shows, with their ritual peregrinations from palace to palace, were not so different from the French court, which took its pomp and circumstance on the road at regular intervals. The thought occurred with particular force Wednesday evening because Rihanna — pop megastar, fledgling designer — had decreed that the look she wanted for this, her Fenty show for the German sportswear giant Puma, was Marie Antoinette “if she was going to the gym. ” Rihanna was in a chamber two rooms back. She was wearing a pink of her own design, twirling a long strand of pearls and receiving guests who had come to pay court: journalists executives Pinault, chairman and chief executive of Kering, which owns Puma. (“The collection is very interesting,” he said gamely, on his way to the salons downstairs where the show would eventually begin.) Attendants were barking out orders — “Nails, nails, we need nails! We’re losing nails!” — but Rihanna was serene and unusually humble for a reigning monarch, which, for the evening at least, she was. “I would never expect that I would be allowed in Paris to show a collection this early as a designer,” she said. “That wasn’t a thing that I expected at all. I couldn’t believe — I still right now can’t believe it happened. ” When the time came for the show to start, the models sashayed through, fanning themselves coquettishly, their chinoiserie boiler suits and filmy, frilly windbreakers dipping off their shoulders. The reaction from those outside the court, from the queen’s subjects, was rapturous (on Twitter, a sampling: “I love this” “LIFE GIVING” “The look of the century”) and the designer, who took the final lap herself, did so with a giant smile on her face. Earlier in the evening Rihanna had been asked if she related to Marie Antoinette and she nodded. “She was very dramatic,” she replied. | 1 |
Putin Says Election Hacking Accusations are Political Ploys October 27, 2016 Putin Says Election Hacking Accusations are Political Ploys
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday American politicians were whipping up hysteria about a mythical Russian threat in the U.S. presidential campaign as a ploy to distract voters from their own failings.
Putin, addressing an audience of foreign policy experts gathered in southern Russia, said he found it hard to believe that anyone seriously thought Moscow was capable of influencing the Nov. 8 election.
The U.S. government has formally accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations, while Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has accused Republican rival Donald Trump of being a Putin "puppet". Article by Doc Burkhart , Vice-President, General Manager and co-host of TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles Got a news tip? Email us at Help support the ministry of TRUNEWS with your one-time or monthly gift of financial support. DONATE NOW ! DOWNLOAD THE TRUNEWS MOBILE APP! CLICK HERE! Donate Today! Support TRUNEWS to help build a global news network that provides a credible source for world news
We believe Christians need and deserve their own global news network to keep the worldwide Church informed, and to offer Christians a positive alternative to the anti-Christian bigotry of the mainstream news media Top Stories | 0 |
VIENTIANE, Laos — President Obama has grown accustomed to having his foreign travels overshadowed by terrorist attacks or police shootings. This might be the first time one of his trips has been marred by bad manners. On his final visit to Asia as president this week, Mr. Obama had intended to confront America’s wartime legacy in Laos and to reaffirm his strategic pivot to the region. Like all presidential trips, it has been meticulously planned to showcase achievements: a partnership with China and vigorous American engagement with China’s neighbors. But in four messy days, the president lost the clear message choreographed by his advance team. There was the chaotic arrival ceremony in China, in which missing aircraft stairs unexpectedly trumped the theme of global warming. And then, an ugly personal outburst that prompted Mr. Obama to cancel a meeting with the new leader of the Philippines, an ally the United States will need in the coming contest with China for regional influence. On Tuesday, the White House scrambled to limit the fallout from skipping a meeting with Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines’ president. Mr. Obama pulled the plug after hearing that Mr. Duterte had unleashed a profane diatribe against him, threatening to repeat it to Mr. Obama’s face if he dared ask him about recent extrajudicial killings in his country. Mr. Obama is dealing with other headwinds, not least that he is a leader in the last five months of his term. Back home, his struggles are viewed through the unforgiving lens of politics. Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee, tweeted that the Chinese snubbed Mr. Obama and that Mr. Duterte called him a “’u2009‘son of a whore.’ Terrible!” For a president eager to burnish his legacy, the trip has in fact yielded progress on several fronts, most notably climate change. But the miscues illustrate how poor planning, or even plain bad luck, can undermine a president’s performance abroad. Worse, the dispute with Mr. Duterte carries genuine risks for the United States, given the sensitive role of the Philippines as an American treaty ally that is engaged in an increasingly dangerous standoff with Beijing over maritime claims in the South China Sea. Scrapping the meeting, American officials insisted, was less an expression of Mr. Obama’s pique than a recognition that the news media would treat it as a spectacle. “All of the focus was on those comments,” said Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser. “We felt that did not create a constructive environment for a bilateral meeting. ” Mr. Rhodes insisted that the alliance between the United States and the Philippines was “rock solid” the two countries work together on a range of issues, from drug interdiction to counterterrorism. He said it was possible that Mr. Obama might run into Mr. Duterte anyway, since the two are attending a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations here in Vientiane. Hillary Clinton said Mr. Obama’s decision to cancel the meeting was “exactly the right choice. ” She said the president was likely to raise concerns about extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers, “and when the president of the Philippines insulted our president, it was appropriate in a very way to say, ‘Sorry, no meeting. ’’u2009” Mr. Duterte seemed eager to defuse the situation. In a statement, he said he regretted that his comments “came across as a personal attack on the U. S. president. ” He said he had overreacted to reports that said Mr. Obama planned to lecture him in their meeting about his unorthodox methods in combating the drug trade. “We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions,” Mr. Duterte said, “and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries. ” For Mr. Obama, it was an unseemly distraction from what he hoped would be a somber day of remembrance and reconciliation. The first president to visit Laos, Mr. Obama came with a pledge to double American aid, to $30 million a year over three years, to help Laotians find unexploded bombs in their forests and fields. The United States dropped more than two million tons of explosives on this country during its secret war from 1964 to 1973, a legacy Mr. Obama said too few Americans understood. “As one Laotian said, the ‘bombs fell like rain,’’u2009” he said to a polite audience at the Lao National Cultural Hall. There was no evidence that Mr. Duterte’s tiff with Mr. Obama mattered much to Laotians. But it could matter more to relations than Mr. Rhodes’s reassuring words suggest. Mr. Duterte appears determined to carve out a more independent foreign policy than his reliably predecessor, Benigno S. Aquino III. He has talked about trying to settle an impasse with China over the Scarborough Shoal, a disputed clump of rocks in the South China Sea. The United States worries that China will use its influence to pressure its neighbors into agreements over disputed reefs and shoals throughout the South China Sea that could eventually hinder the freedom of navigation for American ships. Mr. Rhodes said the United States would give the Philippines leeway to negotiate an agreement with China, with the important caveat that it adhere to international law. That is a message Mr. Obama would likely have given Mr. Duterte in person. “We should prepare for a wild ride since the constantly changing outbursts of President Duterte undermine the stability of the government’s foreign policy, including U. S. relations,” Ramon Casiple, head of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform in Manila. The diatribe against Mr. Obama, he said, was “kneejerk as an outburst, but calculated to produce a certain breathing space for negotiations with China. ” Mr. Obama had his own awkwardness with the Chinese when he arrived at a Group of 20 summit meeting Saturday. A dispute over who would drive the staircase to the doorway on Air Force One forced him to exit from a door in the plane’s belly. White House officials attributed the dispute to inexperienced, overzealous security officials rather than any premeditated effort to humiliate Mr. Obama. But the images of Chinese guards shouting at reporters and hassling the president’s national security adviser, Susan E. Rice, added to the sense that the Chinese were sticking a thumb in his eye. As with the Philippine affair, administration officials said the airport scene would have no spillover effect. Mr. Obama himself described the visit as “extraordinarily productive,” noting that he and President Xi Jinping had continued their landmark collaboration on climate change. “None of this detracts from the broader scope of the relationship,” he said. And yet, administration officials showed delight in the fact that when Mr. Obama left Hangzhou on Monday evening, the Chinese moved a shiny staircase with blue lighting to the side of Air Force One. | 1 |
A Russian politician and prominent critic of Vladimir Putin, Denis Voronenkov, was killed in the streets of Kiev on Wednesday, having fled Russia last October in fear of his life. [Voronenkov — a former Russian MP who had previously testified against the former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, and criticized Vladimir Putin’s policies — was shot three times with a 9mm handgun in broad daylight in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. His bodyguard, a Ukranian security agent, was also shot and remains in the hospital but managed to return fire and fatally wound the gunman, who has not yet been identified. Voronenkov and his wife Maria Maksakova fled Russia in October last year, citing the ‘schizophrenic’ Russian government as their reason. The couple recently had a son, whose first birthday will be in April. Following the incident, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko described it as “an act of state terrorism” undertaken by the Kremlin. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refuted the claims, stating that “all falsehoods that can already be heard about Russian involvement are absurd. ” The murder was quickly denounced as an act of Russian violence, with Ukranian MP Volodymyr Ariev accusing Putin of “spreading fear all over the world”: New Litvinenko case. Former Russian MP Voronenkov shot to death in Kyiv right on the street. Putin spreading fear over the world. — Volodymyr Ariev (@VolodymyrAriev) March 23, 2017, Meanwhile, Ilya Ponomarev, another former Russian MP exiled in Ukraine and fellow critic of Putin, confirmed he had been on his way to meet Voronenkov before hearing news of his murder. “There are no words,” he wrote: Денис Вороненков убит в у Премьер Паласа. Он шёл на встречу со мной. Нет слов. Охранник успел ранить … https: . — Ilya Ponomarev (@iponomarev) March 23, 2017, It will likely heighten tensions existent between Russia and the Ukraine since Putin illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. In his final interview with Radio Free Europe last month, Voronenkov compared Russia to “Nazi Germany” while denouncing the annexation of Crimea as “illegal” and a “mistake. ” “In Russia, there is a system of total fear,” Voronenkov said in the interview. “Like in George Orwell’s book [1984] right now these are times of total lies, when speaking the truth is [labeled] extremism. ” Voronenkov’s murder is one of a number of unexplained deaths of Russian dissidents in recent years. In February, thousands marched in the city of Moscow to commemorate the death of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered outside the Kremlin two years ago. Other influential Russian figures have also died in mysterious circumstances during recent years, including former Putin adviser Mikhail Lesin, businessman Alexander Perepilichny, and FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko. All figures appeared to pose a threat to Russian governmental interests. You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart. com. | 1 |
According to four newly filed lawsuits in Arizona, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and the Republican Party are conspiring to intimidate and suppress minority voters.
Documents filed cite the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which prohibit the intimidation and suppression of minority voters.
The GOP, Trump and Roger Stone are accused of “conspiring to threaten, intimidate, and thereby prevent minority voters in urban neighborhoods from voting in the 2016 election.”
Democrats are asking courts to declare the Republican “exit polling” and “citizen journalist” initiatives illegal as a relief for this alleged intimidation.
Could this merely be a publicity stunt to attempt to curb the election in Clinton’s favor? Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
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By Hrafnkell Haraldsson on Mon, Oct 31st, 2016 at 7:59 am In Donald Trump "you have a candidate who is frequently saying 20 false things in a day, up to 37 on some days." Share on Twitter Print This Post
CNN’s Brian Stelter calls Donald Trump a “uniquely fact-challenged candidate,” which is a prelude to introducing Daniel Dale, Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star , who fact checks every single word Trump utters and tallies them up for his paper .
Dale says most fact-checkers look at two or three things Trump says, “meticulously fact-checks them and posts an article,” but “that doesn’t work when you have a candidate who is frequently saying 20 false things in a day, up to 37 on some days.”
For example, Dale tallied 35 Trump lies on Tuesday, October 25: Donald Trump said 35 false things yesterday. #TrumpCheck pic.twitter.com/EwfYFEDFx9
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 26, 2016
Which, as Dale pointed out , followed “his record-tying 37 false claims on Monday,” not coincidentally, a day on which Trump called fact checkers “scum.”
Watch courtesy of CNN’s Reliable Sources: "There is a massive imbalance in the frequency of dishonesty." @DDale8 says Trump lies a lot more than Clinton https://t.co/Kp6KvPNtmO
— Reliable Sources (@ReliableSources) October 30, 2016
The mainstream media likes to play the false equivalence game but there is no equivalence between Trump and Clinton. As Dale told Stelter, “There is a massive imbalance in the frequency of dishonesty.” Trump, says Dale, “is not a normal political liar.”
For example, look at the presidential debates , in which Dale found 104 Trump false statements as opposed to 13 by Clinton.
Dale’s judgment is that “there is no comparison in her level of accuracy with her opponent.”
Trump also lies “pointlessly,” argues Dale, explaining to Brian Stelter that,
“He gets things wrong where there is no political advantage to be gained and in those cases, it is not clear whether he’s lying or confused or unwilling to take the time to learn the facts.”
This was Mark Cuban’s complaint, of course, that Trump has no interest in learning.
In the end, it matters less why Trump lies than that he does, especially since he is busily convincing his base that Hillary Clinton is the dishonest candidate. And it is working. This is a trope frequently repeated by Trump’s supporters. You can correct them as often as you want; it will have no effect.
The lie has taken hold – one of many – many more than you likely expected, and observational bias takes care of the rest. The Trump base is effectively lost to our shared reality, and as Dale tweeted last night,
“If Trump loses, the Smart Republican Excavation is going to have to involve some long, hard base re-education.”
Given the GOP’s history with facts, good luck with that.
Image: Screen capture Twitter | 0 |
iTS DARK ALRIGHT . In a sad twist of fate these black people in power are doing more to damage black people 's reptutation than any white people ever could . Whats wrong with them ?? Where are they in the streets complaing about corruption ???? Where are they at the voting booths voting against it ?? Thats what you get when you back the very people who fought hard to keep them slaves and i might add where the KKK . They need to wake up fast . | 0 |
vivienda
Las comunidades de vecinos son un hervidero de gente y personalidades, cada una diferente a las demás. ¿Tú de qué tipo eres? Con este test, te ayudamos a descubrirlo.
1. Hay que pagar, entre toda la comunidad, una rampa de acceso para un vecino minusválido. ¿Qué haces?
A. Muestras tu disconformidad y alegas que no es culpa tuya que todavía no se hayan inventado las sillas de ruedas voladoras. Como alternativa, propones que sus familiares lo suban por la ventana con una cuerda. “Así subí yo el sillón y va de puta madre”, añades.
B. Accedes, a condición de que el vecino minusválido vaya a ver tu obra “Desenfrena 2”, un espectáculo que, según tú, “mezcla el clown, la improvisación y toneladas de buen rollo”. El vecino minusválido va, pero no puede entrar porque la hacéis en el sótano de un bar de La Latina.
C. No has respondido a la circular que te metieron por debajo de la puerta para comunicártelo. Como tampoco respondiste a la de hace tres meses, en la que se te informaba de que se iba a reformar el ascensor, ni a la de hace un año, en la que se te recordaba que llevas dieciocho meses sin pagar los gastos de comunidad y sin responder a ninguna circular.
D. Afirmas estar totalmente de acuerdo, pero indicas que, antes de comenzar el proyecto, te gustaría “conocer la opinión de las bases y de todos y cada uno de los españoles, esa es la única forma de avanzar hacia el cambio”. El vecino minusválido sigue esperando a día de hoy a que te decidas.
2. El resto de vecinos se ha quejado de ti, ya sea por ruidos, malos olores u otras conductas molestas. ¿Cómo actúas?
A. Dices que es imposible que hayan oído la televisión, la minicadena o el transistor, pues llevas meses sin encenderlos por no gastar. Como mucho, te oirían a las dos de la mañana destrozando a hachazos un mueble para hacer leña con él, “que la calefacción no la regalan”.
B. Les explicas que has convertido tu piso en un espacio “off” de teatro y que no puedes controlar los aplausos y los vítores del público. En realidad, los vecinos se quejan de tus sollozos y tus súplicas cuando no va ni una persona a ver tu nueva obra: “Insomnium”, un thriller psicológico de sólo 3 minutos de duración.
C. Iban a meter un escrito oficial por debajo de tu puerta para comunicártelo, pero ya no caben más cosas, hay unas 587 cartas y circulares que sigues sin leer.
D. Les reúnes a todos y, con la voz entrecortada por las lágrimas, aseguras que la situación es fruto de una conspiración de El País y otras grandes compañías.
3. La vecina de al lado está sufriendo un incendio en su piso. ¿Cuál es tu reacción?
A. Aprovechas las llamas que salen por el balcón de la mujer para descongelar unas croquetas que no habías cocinado hasta ahora “porque el aceite tampoco lo regalan”, Una vez que la vecina ha fallecido devorada por las llamas, le das el pésame a sus hijos y les pides que te abonen los 25 céntimos que un día le dejaste a la señora en el súper.
B. Llamas a los bomberos y, cuando llegan, no te separas de ellos para preparar tu nuevo papel en “Fuego en la piel”, una comedia romántica que narra la historia de amor entre un bombero y una mujer que se está quemando viva, y que estrenarás dentro de poco en el desván del Bar Pruden e Hijos.
C. Tu vecina se resigna a morir y ni siquiera trata de pedirte ayuda. Sabe que no harás absolutamente nada.
D. Medio barrio observa el suceso desde la calle, así que sales a la ventana y aprovechas para dar un discurso de media hora sobre los beneficios del mestizaje ideológico.
4. Te toca ser el nuevo presidente de la comunidad de vecinos. ¿Cómo te desenvuelves con el nuevo cargo?
A. Lo primero que preguntas es dónde está tu coche oficial y tu tarjeta black.
B. En las juntas de vecinos, ya les has interpretado tus obras “5 microsegundos con Mario”, “Los monólogos de la crisis” y “What happened to our love?”. En una semana, medio edificio ha empezado a buscar otro piso al que mudarse.
C. Los vecinos llevan esperándote 4 horas, 56 minutos y 27 segundos en la primera reunión que debías presidir. Comienzan a sospechar que no vas a asistir.
D. Diecisiete vecinos se amotinan contra ti, negándose a reconocerte como presidente de la comunidad. Entre lágrimas, acabas dimitiendo y llamas a Jordi Évole por si le interesa una entrevista sobre el tema.
Mayoría de respuestas A: Eres el vecino rata . Es ridículo que te hayamos incluido en el test porque no vas a leer esto jamás, llevas más de tres años sin encender el ordenador por no gastar electricidad.
Mayoría de respuestas B: Eres el vecino actor de microteatro , sueñas con despuntar sobre los escenarios pero, por ahora, no te llega ni para pagar el teléfono.
Mayoría de respuestas C: Eres el vecino muerto . Nadie sospechó del terrible olor que salía de tu casa desde hacía meses porque, antes de fallecer, se te conocía como el vecino guarro.
Mayoría de respuestas D: Eres Pedro Sánchez . | 0 |
November 2, 2016 at 9:44 am
{Texas} This is most important that you share this video with the World.This is how easy it is to steal elections and this is what they have been doing for years .This is why the elections never change this country.I am absolutely angered by this revelation / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fob-AGgZn44 | 0 |
EMAIL US: [email protected] Home › POLITICS | US NEWS › GEORGE SOROS: TRUMP WILL WIN POPULAR VOTE IN ‘LANDSLIDE,’ HILLARY’S ELECTORAL VICTORY IS ALREADY ‘A DONE DEAL’ GEORGE SOROS: TRUMP WILL WIN POPULAR VOTE IN ‘LANDSLIDE,’ HILLARY’S ELECTORAL VICTORY IS ALREADY ‘A DONE DEAL’ 0 SHARES
Even Republican politicians and former politicians are telling Trump to knock off such talk .
But, as usual, Trump’s shrewdness and defiance of standard political decorum – in which the “opposition” party merely rolls over and surrenders in the face of Democratic pressure – is winning the day.
None other than billionaire investor and longtime Democratic supporter George Soros has said that the fix is literally in for the election, in favor of Clinton – no matter how much of the popular vote, and from which battleground states, Trump captures.
As reported by Top Right News and other outlets, during a recent interview with Bloomberg News , Soros – a Democrat mega-donor – openly admitted that Trump will win the popular vote in a “landslide.”
However, he said that none of that would matter, because a President Hillary Clinton is already a “done deal.”
In the interview, which is now going viral, Soros says with certainty that Trump will take the popular vote, despite what the polls say now (which are completely rigged to oversample Democrats ), but not the Electoral College, which will go to Clinton.
When the reporter asks if that is already a “done deal” – that Clinton will be our next president no matter what – Soros says “yes,” and nods his head.
Is Soros just making a prediction out of overconfidence? Or does he truly know something most of us don’t know?
In a recent column , Natural News founder and editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, says that Soros and Democrats have “bribed electoral college representatives” in a bid to “fix” the election outcome in favor of Clinton. In truth, that would be the only way it could be done, short of massive voter fraud through electronic balloting, as some reports have already claimed .
Adams further pointed out that Soros was one of the main money men behind the Black Lives Matter movement, which is being blamed for generating hatred and mistrust of police officers all around the country – some of which has led to the deaths of several officers already.
Soros also funds left-wing websites and groups that locate, pay and deploy volunteer “agitators” at Trump rallies, to start fights and engage in physical violence against Trump supporters (acts that the establishment media then blames on Trump ).
But aren’t electors legally obligated to cast a ballot for the presidential candidate who won the majority vote in that elector’s district? No, they’re not. Nine-nine percent of electors have done what they’re supposed to do throughout our history, but this is no ordinary election
Per Archives.gov , there is no constitutional provision or federal law requiring electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote. Rather, these pledges fall into two categories: State law and those who are bound by promises made to respective political parties.
In the past, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution doesn’t require electors to be completely free to cast ballots as they please and, therefore, respective political parties may “extract pledges from electors to vote for the parties’ nominees,” Archives.gov notes. Some state laws hold that “faithless electors” could be subjected to fines or disqualification for casting an invalid ballot, and could then be replaced by a substitute elector.
“The Supreme Court has not specifically ruled on the question of whether pledges and penalties for failure to vote as pledged may be enforced under the Constitution. No Elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged,” said Archives.gov.
The site notes that throughout our history, 99 percent of electors have voted as required. But this is no ordinary time, and it’s no ordinary election . And Democrats (and the establishment media) have already proven that they will do anything to stop a Trump presidency. Plus, establishment Republicans don’t want Trump either, so you can bet they wouldn’t balk at or challenge the buying off of electors. Post navigation | 0 |
Man loves saying things are 'al dente' 02-11-16 A MAN uses the expression ‘al dente’ wherever possible, it has emerged. 25-year-old estate agent Julian Cook uses the term a lot because it makes him feel refined and clever, even if he does not know what it means and just thinks it is a general term for luxury. He said: “This pasta is perfectly al dente. So are the accompanying vegetables. “This glass of wine is al dente too.” Cook has also described his car and his dog as being al dente. His girlfriend Emma Bradford said: “It all started when he seriously undercooked some pasta and I said it was al dente so that he wouldn’t feel bad. I could see from the way he looked at me it was like a lightbulb had gone on in his head. “Last night he told me his wants to start a nightclub called Al Dente. I just said it sounded really good.”
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Obama's DOJ Also Obstructed Clinton Foundation Investigation October
We now know that Lynch and Obama's DOJ are obstructing the investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails. The biased media is predictably spinning this as the FBI being in the wrong and Hillary's backers at the DOJ being in the right.
But it also appears that the DOJ was obstructing any investigations of Hillary. Including that of the Clinton Foundation.
The FBI field office in New York had done the most work on the Clinton Foundation case and received help from the FBI field office in Little Rock, the people familiar with the matter said.
In February, FBI officials made a presentation to the Justice Department, according to these people. By all accounts, the meeting didn’t go well.
Some said that is because the FBI didn’t present compelling evidence to justify more aggressive pursuit of the Clinton Foundation, and that the career public integrity prosecutors in the room simply believed it wasn’t a very strong case. Others said that from the start, the Justice Department officials were stern, icy and dismissive of the case.
“That was one of the weirdest meetings I’ve ever been to,” one participant told others afterward, according to people familiar with the matter.
Justice Department officials told the FBI at the meeting they wouldn’t authorize more aggressive investigative techniques, such as subpoenas, formal witness interviews, or grand-jury activity. But the FBI officials believed they were well within their authority to pursue the leads and methods already under way, these people said.
Of course the DOJ wouldn't authorize investigations of the Democratic Party's chosen. That's the type of elemental corruption at work in the system. | 0 |
By Rmuse on Sat, Oct 29th, 2016 at 3:23 pm He is taking the conspiracy theories and obstruction that dogged his presidency from day one and throwing them back in Republicans' faces. *The following is an opinion column by R Muse*
Although this campaign season has been interesting, to say the least, there is something happening one never thought would occur. After spending nearly eight years demonizing, obstructing, and criticizing every and anything about the President of the United States, Republicans desperate to save their jobs are beginning to tout their “ imagined ” close ties to the Democratic President whose approval rating and popularity are growing.
It is hypocritical, to say the least, and at some point a result of a toxic Republican candidate for the presidency, but for some GOP candidates it is a very dangerous strategy. If any Republican believed President Obama would allow them to take advantage of him after spending eight years assailing him as illegitimate and corrupt, they were sadly mistaken and underestimated the commander in chief’s tolerance during an election.
The President is using the final two weeks before the election to decimate Republicans for either “ belated rejection ” or continued support of Donald Trump. President Obama is also reminding Republicans that “ Donald Trump is the endpoint of eight years of [GOP] toxic hostility .” It may be a tad of an exaggeration to claim that “ Obama seems determined to spend the last two weeks of the election laying waste to every Republican who ever crossed him ,” but he is getting some well-placed and well-warranted shots at Republicans.
Two Republican hypocrites hoping to take advantage of the President’s approval ratings have been some of his harshest critics; so it likely stunned the President that they are boasting working closely with the man they obstructed, opposed, and attempted to get rid of.
Ohio Senator Rob Portman had the temerity to run a campaign ad boasting about working closely with the President “to break the grip of heroin addiction.” President Obama took the time to excoriate Portman for,
“ Finally withdrawing his support from Donald Trump ,” but only “ After looking at the polling. Now that it’s politically expedient. But he has supported him up until last week? So I guess it was OK when Trump was attacking minorities, and suggesting that Mexicans were rapists … and insulting Gold Star moms, making fun of disabled Americans. I guess that didn’t quite tip it over the edge. Why was that OK? And now he says he will vote for the vice-presidential nominee instead, except that guy still supports Donald Trump. ”
The President was a little more exercised after learning that the man who called the President “ one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times,” California Republican Representative Daryl Issa, is sending out campaign mailers with the President’s face on them and boasting about his close work with President Obama “ to protect victims of sexual assault .”
Daryl Issa is in a fairly competitive race compared to past elections and he certainly has earned the President’s wrath after obstructing progress and wasting taxpayer money on Issa-created scandals. During a fundraiser in La Jolla California Sunday last, the President assailed Issa for having the audacity to use a campaign mailer with the President’s image on it. The President said,
“ Issa’s primary contribution to the United States Congress has been to obstruct and to waste taxpayer dollars on trumped-up investigations that have led nowhere. This is now a guy who, because poll numbers are bad, has sent out brochures with my picture on them touting his cooperation on issues with me. Now that is the definition of chutzpah.”
As remarked by Tim Murphy at Mother Jones, President Obama is not just evening up the score with Republicans who made his tenure miserable, “ He is attempting to have the last word on the personal and political fights of the last eight years—to take the conspiracy theories and obstruction that dogged his presidency from day one and throw them back in Republicans’ faces .”
The President clearly has a lot of “ words ” to harangue Republicans with. He said ,
“ Here’s the thing. For years, Republican politicians and the far-right media outlets have pumped up all kinds of crazy stuff about me. About Hillary. About Harry. They said I wasn’t born here. They said climate change is a hoax. They said that I was going to take everybody’s guns away! They said that while we were doing military exercises that we’ve been doing forever, suddenly this was a plot to impose martial law. This is what they’ve been saying for years now! So people have been hearing it they start thinking well maybe it’s true! And if the world they’ve been seeing is I’m powerful enough to cause hurricanes on my own and to steal everybody’s guns in the middle of the night and impose martial law—even though I can’t talk without a ‘prompter—then is it any wonder that they end up nominating somebody like Donald Trump?
And the fact is that there are a lot of politicians who knew better. There are a lot of senators who knew better but they went along with these stories because they figured you know what this’ll help rile up the base, it’ll give us an excuse to obstruct what we’re trying to do, we won’t be able to appoint judges, we’ll gum up the works, we’ll create gridlock, it’ll give us a political advantage. So they just stood by and said nothing and their base began to actually believe this stuff. So Donald Trump did not start this. Donald Trump didn’t start it, he just did what he always did which is slap his name on it, take credit for it, and promote it. That’s what he always does. And so now, when suddenly it’s not working and people are saying wow this guy’s kind of out of line, all of a sudden these Republican politicians who were okay with all this crazy stuff up to a point suddenly they’re all walking away. Oh, this is too much. So when you finally get him on tape bragging about actions that qualify as sexual assault and his poll numbers go down, suddenly that’s a deal-breaker. Well what took you so long! What the heck! What took you so long! All these years!”
The Mother Jones piece made out like President Obama is seeking retribution, or “ revenge ” against Republicans for their impropriety as legislators over the past eight years. Without knowing what goes on in the President’s head to motivate his campaign rhetoric; that is a hard call to make with any surety. Barack Obama does not strike one as being vindictive.
The President is, though, an accomplished campaigner and as his tenure in the White House is winding down and Republicans are struggling to find an identity apart from Donald Trump, it is prudent of the President to remind voters exactly what Republicans are about and what they are about is precisely why Donald Trump is their standard bearer; and why Republicans are hypocrites for both abandoning Trump and embracing the man they obstructed and tried to remove from the White House. | 0 |
Tweet (Image via youtube.com)
Deepavali is here, which naturally means plenty of sweets and crackers and, even more naturally, a visit to the doctor due to overeating or burn-related injuries for some of you.
But this column firmly believes it is always better to be safe than try to be spectacular and look for some smart-Aleck jokey end to this sentence. Keeping in line with this thinking, we urge you celebrate the upcoming festival in a responsible manner without going overboard on festivities or snacking.
And here is a simple recipe for a healthy Deepavali sweet, oats peanut ladoo (ugh), and a small emergency reckoner on what to do when bursting crackers (Scream).
Oats peanut ladoo:
Before you get down to make this, you have to answer the very basic question whether it is ladoo or laddu. No, the actual question you should be asking is: Why oats ladoo? To be precise, why at all oats? When the world eventually is destroyed, global warming or ecology disasters will not be the cause, oats is most likely to be the culprit. Rampant use of oats in food will make many people give up the all-important desire to live. But oats is expected to figure in anything that is deemed to be healthy (come to think of it, oats soap and shampoo may not be far away).
But wait, we are here to make ladoo and not rant against the rising problems of oats.
Ingredients for oats peanut ladoo: 1 cup oats, 1 cup peanut, 2 cups of grated jaggery, cardamom, cashewnuts, 1 cup and a standard instagram account.
1. Heat the oats in low medium flame until it gets golden brown. Have you ever noticed that whatever you are trying to make, the recipe always tells you to heat whatever you are trying to heat till it becomes golden brown?
2. Now heat the peanut in similar low flame until it becomes peacock blue. Just kidding. Heat till golden brown only.
3. Luckily, jaggery is kind of golden brown. No need to heat it.
4. Put the oats and peanut together into a mixie and run the blender.
5. Oops, wait. In your hurry to get on with it, you ran the blender without closing it. Now go clean the mess you created.
6. Close the lid firmly and run the blender till the oats and peanut are finely commingled.
7. Wonder what the heck is commingled.
8. Now remove a portion of oats-peanut mix and keep it aside. Add to the remaining portion in the jar some jaggery. Run the blender till they are finely mixed. Now make a similar blend out of the removed portion too.
9. Spread the fresh mix on a plate and start making ladoo balls out of them. Since you are making them the balls will come off and not stick together.
10. No worries, nobody gets it right on the first attempt. Also, it is a good excuse not to consume oats peanut ladoo, which, to tell you a fact, was never going to taste great.
PS : In the few seconds they stay as ladoo balls, make sure to photograph them and put it on your instagram account.
PS 2: Not that it would have mattered, but we forgot to add cardamom and cashew to the mix.
Now, dos and don’ts during bursting crackers:
1. It is always advisable to burn crackers in an open and spacious place. Ideally, take on rent MA Chidambaram Stadium.
2. If your neighbours have pets, out of the general kindness to those hapless animals, ask your neighbours to take them elsewhere so that you can burst crackers in peace. Those infernal dogs, at any rate, are never going to stop barking when you are busy preparing notes for your presentation. So there!
3. Don’t set off fireworks near electrical transformers unless otherwise your idea is to set off even more spectacular fireworks that will make the entire neighbourhood watch transfixed.
4. Whenever you set out to burst crackers, have a bucket of water nearby so that it will come handy for you to trip over it when running away from the splinters of that saram . Statistically, more persons are treated for injuries after sprawling down than for fire burns on Deepavali.
5. In the event of burn injuries, take care to roll the victim in a wet rug and throw him/her into a swimming pool. If the injury is not serious, he/she should emerge out quickly. If he/she sinks, either the injury is serious or he/she doesn’t know swimming. Either way you are innocent.
6. Prepare a small medical kit with plasters and Burnol in them well ahead of Deepavali and keep it aside, so that when you set out to burst crackers on the Deepavali day you can basically spend your time looking for it.
7. Avoid vengaiya vedis . Remember those ball-shaped vengaiya vedis are banned. Most likely because they resembled oats ladoo.
PS : Happy Deepavali! | 0 |
October 30, 2016
David Cameron has announced plans to curb the flood of European migrant workers, specifically mythological 4th-century Greek bishops, from invading our homes. The Prime Minister has promised to apply an ‘emergency brake’ on rotund present-givers who have been sneaking across our borders with the aid of a magical flying sleigh and a blithe disregard for passport control.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: ‘We need to beware of Greeks bearing gifts – or pretty much anyone from Eastern Europe – smelling of mince pies. We can’t just have quasi-mystical figures coming over here, parking their clapped-out reindeer wherever they want, stealing our low-wage jobs – jobs which could easily be filled by a British Druid or Boggart – and blackmailing hard-working British families into plying them with sherry.’
Some children have expressed their disappointment that the festive season will be minus one pivotal figure. Yet Mr Cameron has committed to an in/out referendum, in 2017, over whether stockings will be filled. Tory backbencher Bernard Jenkin has suggested Parliament pass a law introducing a cap on beards, rosy cheeks and Polish tooth fairies, while a tweeted offer from former minister Brooks Newmark to ‘fill your stockings any time you like, sweetie pie’ was hastily withdrawn, as indeed was Mr Newmark himself.
Outgoing European Commission head, Jose Manuel Barroso, has warned of the ‘historic mistake’ the UK would make if it outlawed Father Christmas. ‘The UK signed up to the laws of the EU, which specifically permit the free movement of labour,’ he said. ‘Any traffic infringements Santa may commit are a matter for the international air traffic control authorities.’
However Nigel Farage countered: ‘Santa has long be associated with increased crime, elf trafficking and prostitutes – or ‘ho ho ho’s’, as he calls them. Arbitrarily deciding who is naughty or nice is just the sort of thing a European bureaucrat would support. And it’s typical of those Eastern Europeans that he only works seasonally, then swans off back to Lappland, wherever that is, leaving us to clear up the mess. We propose to simply keep white Christmas white, you know what I mean’. 30th, 2016 by Wrenfoe Wrenfoe | 0 |
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October 28, 2016 The Mothers by stclair by | 0 |
On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” CNN anchor Jake Tapper stated that there are “fair critiques of the media when it comes to, especially, running a lot of the Trump rallies early on, start to finish, no editorial comment,” something every cable news network did. Tapper said, “I think that there’s certainly … fair critiques of the media when it comes to, especially, running a lot of the Trump rallies early on, start to finish, no editorial comment, just like, what is this? What are we doing here? And CNN did that. Fox did it. MSNBC did it. And my boss, Jeff Zucker, has acknowledged that we did that too much, early on. I think that some of the toughest interviews that were done of President Trump, and Hillary Clinton for that matter, were on CNN. ” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett | 1 |
Massachusetts +11% New York +10%
When home prices rise for years, foreclosure filings become rare because defaulting homeowners can usually sell the home for more than they owe and pay off the mortgage. The problem arises when home prices fail to rise locally, and it balloons when home prices fall. We’ve seen that last time around. After bouncing along super low levels during Housing Bubble 1 through 2005, foreclosure filings skyrocketed during the housing crash starting in 2006. At first it was just an uptick that no one paid attention to. By 2008, it helped take down the financial system.
Foreclosure filings peaked in late 2009, began dropping in 2010, and then tapered down to 2006 levels as foreclosures were processed, and as the home price surge of Housing Bubble 2 made new defaults less likely. But the spike in October stands out as much as those in the early phases of the housing bust in 2006 and 2007. Note the blue bar on the right :
While some states are still trying to digest the foreclosures from the last housing crisis, according to Daren Blomquist, senior VP at ATTOM, “the foreclosure activity increases in states such as Arizona, Colorado and Georgia are more heavily tied to loans originated since 2009 ”:
“The loans used in this housing recovery that appear to be most susceptible to foreclosure are those such as FHA and VA with low down payments. Our data shows FHA and VA loans combined represent 49% of all active foreclosure inventory for loans originated in the seven years ending in 2015.”
This chart shows the soaring proportion of FHA and VA mortgages issued since 2009 among the active foreclosure inventory.
On average across the nation, the foreclosure rate was one foreclosure filing for every 1,258 housing units. But in some states, the foreclosure rate was much worse. Here are the “top” ten: Delaware: one in every 355 housing units New Jersey: one in every 564 housing units Maryland: one in every 679 housing units Illinois: one in every 704 housing units South Carolina: one in every 801 housing units Nevada: one in every 826 housing units Florida: one in every 895 housing Ohio: one in every 930 housing units Pennsylvania: one in every 1,018 housing units Georgia: one in every 1,028 housing units.
And here are the “top” ten highest foreclosure rates among the 216 metropolitan areas with a population of over 200,000: York-Hanover, PA: one in every 274 housing units Atlantic City, NJ: one in every 301 housing units Rockford, IL: one in every 481 housing units Columbia, SC: one in every 498 housing units Trenton, NJ: one in every 499 housing units. Reading, PA: one in every 542 housing units Chicago, IL: one in every 571 housing units Dayton, OH: one in every 573 housing units Philadelphia, PA: one in every 597 housing units Salisbury, MD: one in every 625 housing units.
These “foreclosure filings” are based on data that ATTOM gathered in 2,200 counties where over 90% of the US population lives. They include data on the three phases of foreclosure: Foreclosure starts: lender issues Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS) Auction notices for future public foreclosure auctions: Notice of Trustee’s Sale (NTS) and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NFS); Real Estate Owned (REO) properties that have been foreclosed on and were repurchased by a bank at auction and are now held by the bank.
Broken down based on these three phases of the foreclosure process:
Foreclosure starts jumped 25% in October from the prior month, to 43,352. While still down 11% year-over-year, it was the highest monthly increase in foreclosure starts since December 2008.
Foreclosure starts increased even year-over-year in 23 states and Washington D.C. In some states they soared. The “top” five: Colorado +71% | 0 |
Thursday between NCAA tournament games, CBS and TNT basketball analyst Charles Barkley reacted to Duke Blue Devils Head Coach ripping “stupid” North Carolina’s House Bill No. 2, saying LGBT people, Muslims and immigrants are now “getting to feel what black people feel” in regards to discrimination. These comments come just days after Barkley said he was “disappointed in the Muslim ban. ” “No. 1, I really admire and respect coach Krzyzewski because he doesn’t have to do anything. He’s already a living legend. He’s got more money than he’s ever gonna spend, but I really appreciate him standing up for my gay friends,” Barkley said. “Now, my point, as a black man,” he continued, “I am against any form of discrimination whether you’re gay, Muslim, Hispanic, Jewish, whatever, and, if people in position of power don’t support these people, they’re gonna be left in a lurch by themselves. ” Barkley later added, “All these other groups are getting to feel what black people feel like now. With the Muslim ban, they’re deporting these immigrants, white folks are actually getting an opportunity to feel what black people have always felt. Discrimination is wrong in any shape whatsoever. ” Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent | 1 |
Un exfutbolista brasileño pasará nueve años en prisión por transportar 800 kilos de marihuana 00:25 GMT
Marcelo Pletsch fue detenido cuando transportaba 793 kilos de marihuana en un camión. Ina Fassbender Reuters
Marcelo Pletsch, un exfutbolista brasileño que se vio involucrado en un delito de tráfico de drogas en su país, ha sido condenado por ese delito a pasar nueve años y dos meses en prisión, informa Sport Bild .
En noviembre de 2015, la Policía Militar de Brasil interceptó el camión que conducía Pletsch cerca de Toledo, su ciudad natal. Tras registrar el vehículo, las autoridades descubrieron que transportaba 793 kilos de marihuana, con lo cual fue inmediatamente detenido. R ecorrido como futbolista
Este antiguo deportista comenzó su carrera en el equipo de fútbol Ceará, pero pronto dio el salto a Europa. Sus mejores años como profesional transcurrieron en Alemania, donde vistió las camisetas del Borussia Moenchengladbach y el 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
Michael Klinkert, quien fuera compañero de Marcelo Pletsch en el Gladbach, aseguró al conocer la noticia: "No lo puedo creer. Capaz estaba en el lugar y momento equivocado". | 0 |
Google "Donald Trump, pedophile" | 0 |
By Brandon Turbeville In the latest development in the Johnson & Johnson talcum powder saga, a St. Louis jury has awarded a California woman over... | 0 |
Among the senseless beatings inflicted on reality during the presidential debate on Monday night was the discussion of New York City’s tactics. Donald J. Trump attributed a nonexistent increase in murder to actions that never happened, namely, the ending of the practice by, variously, “a judge, who was a very judge,” and the “current mayor. ” This was multilayered fiction. Murder declined. A judge did not end . Neither did the current mayor. In fact, the Police Department began to drastically curtail its use in 2012, under the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, an independent. This is well documented but only lightly noticed. On July 9, 2012, an editorial in The New York Post warned that the reduction in its use would lead to “more blood in the street. ” By the way, did more blood run in the street? No, less blood did. Murder is down 32 percent since 2011, the last year of the old era, having dropped to 352 homicides in 2015 from 515 in 2011. In the same period, stops were down by about 97 percent, said J. Peter Donald, a spokesman for the department. During the debate, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, alluded to a few of these numbers. Mr. Trump, her Republican opponent, started shouting. “Under the current mayor, crime has continued to drop, including murders,” she said. “So there is — — ” “No, you’re wrong,” Mr. Trump interjected. “You’re wrong. ” “No, I’m not,” Mrs. Clinton said. “Murders are up, all right,” Mr. Trump said. “You check it. ” All right, as Mr. Trump said, let’s check it. A Google search for “Historical New York City Crime Data” will bring you to a site with charts of serious felonies. Frisks went down. So has murder, a steady decline that has continued, with slight annual variations, through this year. In the used by Mr. Trump, those details land upside down. Also, he repeated a more common mistake about the decline of the tactics, attributing it to a federal judge hearing a lawsuit against the city, and to Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, who succeeded Mr. Bloomberg in 2014. “It was terminated by the current mayor,” Mr. Trump said. Actually, no. Last year, the city police conducted 22, 939 stops, or about 63 a day. So was not terminated by Mr. de Blasio, or by anyone else for that matter. It’s true that the use of the tactic has declined. During the mayoralty of Mr. Bloomberg, the number of reported stops skyrocketed, but then was scaled back as the city faced pressure from the litigation, brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights. By the end of 2013, the year Shira A. Scheindlin, the federal judge hearing the case, ruled that the city’s wholesale search practices violated the Constitution, the number of stops had declined by 72 percent from its peak in 2011. “But had a tremendous impact on the safety of New York City,” Mr. Trump said during the debate. “Tremendous beyond belief. So when you say it has no impact, it really did. It had a very, very big impact. ” During the era praised by Mr. Trump, about 90 percent of the people who were stopped were young black or Latino men who had committed no crime whatsoever, according to police data. Of those few who were arrested, the vast majority were charged with nothing more serious than possession of marijuana, not having guns. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people were being stopped every year so that the city could arrest tens of thousands for having weed. Applied almost exclusively to minorities, the tactics in New York became an elephantine government project that wasted time and money, degrading both to the personhood of the men and women who were stopped and to the professionalism of the people doing the stopping. It was poor social hygiene, not defensible as a matter of law or as effective law and order. As Mr. Trump said, it was “tremendous beyond belief. ” Just so. | 1 |
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told Breitbart News Thursday Sen. Marco Rubio (R. .) is the only Republican member of his committee he suspects could vote against the confirmation of former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of state. [“I am not aware of anyone else who has the concerns of Rubio,” said Sen. Robert P. Corker Jr. (R. .) who became the chairman in 2015 after the Republicans won the Senate majority in the 2014 midterms. ”You’re going to have to speak to Senator Rubio about that. ” Corker said it was his understanding that Rubio was going to line up time to meet with Tillerson before the committee votes. Republicans hold a advantage in the Senate, so three Republican defections spell defeat for any of Donald J. Trump’s nominees. Corker said he is confident that Tillerson has the votes for confirmation because a number of Democrats, whom he would not name, have reached out to him about Tillerson and they have signaled a willingness to support his confirmation. Rubio told reporters after a closed door meeting of the Foreign Relations Committee that he has not made a decision. “I’ve got some things I got to work through,” the Florida senator said. “We have to work through the process, when we are ready to announce, you’ll be be the first to know,” he said as he watched elevator doors close, momentarily blocking his escape. Rubio met with Tillerson Monday, but the senator would not say whether there would be another meeting. The chairman said the reason Tillerson’s second day of testimony was cancelled was to create space for office visits — and his belief that each senator got enough time asking questions. “Every committee member got at least 24 minutes yesterday,” he said. Another committee chairman told Corker his senators got one round of five minutes each and that was it. In his questioning of Tillerson, Rubio was combative, especially on the subject of Russian president Vladimir Putin. In a typical exchange, Rubio, the lawyer, asked Tillerson, the engineer, if he agreed that Putin was killing political opponents in Russia and overseas. Tillerson: I do not have sufficient information to make that claim. Rubio: Are you aware that people who oppose Vladimir Putin wind up dead all over the world? Poisoned and shot in the back of the head? Do you think that was coincidental? Or do you think it is quite possible or likely — as I believe — that they were part of an effort to murder his political opponents? Tillerson: Well, people, who speak up for freedom in regimes that are oppressive are often at threat and these things happen to them. In terms of assigning specific responsibilities, I would have to have more information. As I have indicated, I feel its important that in advising the president, if confirmed, that I deal with facts that I deal with sufficient information, which means having access to all information and I am sure there is a large body of information that I have never seen because it is in the classified realm. I look forward upon being confirmed becoming fully informed. But, I am not willing to make conclusions on what is publicly available or publicly reported. Rubio: None of this is classified, Mr. Tillerson. These people are dead. Political opponents — Tillerson: Your question was people, who were directly responsible for that. I am not disputing that these people are dead. Corker said he was concerned that in Wednesday’s testimony, there was the impression left that Tillerson lied about whether or not he or Exxon Mobil lobbied against economic sanctions levied on Russia in response to Russian annexation of Crimea and other parts of eastern Ukraine. Tillerson testified that he and his company did not lobby against the sanctions, but the ranking member of the committee, Sen. Robert Menendez (D. . J.) confronted Tillerson with documents Exxon Mobil filed to report its lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. The New Jersey senator said he was confused as to how Tillerson could testify that he did not lobby the sanctions bill, sponsored by Mendendez, if his company reported that it was in fact lobbying on the issue. Corker said it was all a misunderstanding with which he was familiar because Tillerson called him about his problems with the sanctions bill. The chairman said Tillerson’s problem was that American sanctions and European sanctions were different, and that while Exxon Mobil ongoing operations in Russia were allowed to continue, the wording of the American sanctions made it more difficult to manage the operations, which were allowed. Also, it would have made it more difficult to protect the safety of the 500 personnel working on the projects. All Tillerson wanted was for the American sanctions to match the wording in the European Union sanctions, Corker said. “It was not to lobby against the sanctions, but to point out that the Europeans were doing it in a much better way,” he said. Corker said he plans on checking with his committee members about timing a vote on the Tillerson confirmation, which could come as early as next week. | 1 |
Julian Assange has claimed the Hillary Clinton campaign has attacked the servers being used by WikiLeaks. Despite the Ecuadorian embassy shutting down his internet until the US election is over, the website will continue publishing, according to Assange. “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.
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.
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.”
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.”
Source: RT News | 0 |
in: War Propaganda , World News (image credit: AP) The battle for Mosul is more about redeploying thousands of US-supported ISIS fighters to Syria, along with perhaps letting Turkish forces move in to control evacuated areas. Erdogan long coveted Mosul. He may think now’s his chance to seize the city and its lucrative oil reserves, claiming it’s a buffer zone against Kurdish fighters, similar to his northern Syria occupation. According to Syrian parliamentarian Hohammad Kheir Akam, “(t)he US has opened a southern side of Mosul (corridor) to the terrorists to” let thousands of its fighters enter Syria. US-led coalition warplanes easily spot their convoys. Yet they’re allowed to move freely – America supporting terrorists it claims to oppose. Iraqi Ansarullah al-Nujaba Movement spokesman Hashem al-Moussavi said “Washington is still continuing its military support for the terrorists in” his country, airdropping them weapons and other supplies. “Our forces have filmed US aircraft while dropping military aids for” ISIS terrorist fighters, he said. Iraq’s Hassan Abdel Hadi said government forces are concerned about US aerial attacks, impeding their advance to ISIS-controlled areas. “Unfortunately, there are still some people in Iraq who have been deceived by the US-led coalition, while Washington supports ISIL and is trying to compensate for the damage done” to their fighters by government forces, he explained. Last Friday, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman General Igor Konashenkov said US-led coalition warplanes struck a funeral procession. “Dozens of Iraqi civilians died, including women and children,” he explained. “Russian reconnaissance pinpointed two jets conducting airstrikes on Daquq, located 30 kilometers to the south of Kirkuk, where, according to our data, there are no ISIS fighters,” – a willful war crime. They’re “almost a daily routine for the (US-led) international coalition. Too often weddings, funerals, hospitals, police stations, and humanitarian convoys are being hit by the coalition warplanes.” Russian General Sergey Rudskoy said “(w)e are closely monitoring the situation around Mosul. So far we see no substantial progress in liberating this city from…ISIS” since operations began on October 16 – because no effort is made to do it. Last week, a coalition airstrike targeted a mosque south of Kirkuk, killing over a dozen women and children. A southern Mosul girl’s school was struck. US-led coalition warplanes were operating in the area, clearly responsible for what happened. On October 25, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported over 60 civilians killed, over 200 others injured on airstrikes on residential areas in Mosul – locations where no ISIS fighters were present. So far, no fighting inside Mosul was reported. By the time, so-called liberating forces enter the city, ISIS fighters will be gone – redeployed to Syria to combat government troops and civilians. Moscow letting this happen without resistance so far makes the battle to liberate Syria harder. Is an offensive planned to rectify this blunder, compounded by failing to launch airstrikes against al-Nusra terrorists in eastern Aleppo since October 18? According to General Rudskoy, Russian Aerospace forces are monitoring the situation in the area of the Syrian-Iraqi border day and night with the help of unmanned aerial vehicles and other reconnaissance means.” “Russian planes are on patrol missions in the airspace and are ready to immediately deliver strikes against terrorists.” Aerial operations “in a 10-km zone around Aleppo” remain suspended. “The moratorium…will be extended.” The longer Russia delays full-scale aerial operations against US-supported terrorists infesting eastern Aleppo, the harder the struggle ahead to liberate the city and all key parts of Syria. Submit your review | 0 |
Christine t October 28, 2016 @ 2:59 pm
Why oh why did they vote that POS Trudeau in. At least possible good news in Germany 3 parties are clubbing together and possibly the fat frau could be gone in a week. Mind you uk daily xpress always puts out rubbish headlines. Dont know who the Peto Party are in Germany but there are another bunch of traitors and strangely enough have 65% of the votes in one town where theyre using public dollars to build mosques. Germans need to break out the clubs on that lot | 0 |
Migrant Crisis Disclaimer
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Anyone suggesting or promoting violence in the comments section will be immediately banned, permanently. Daily Stormer Presents: Dr. David Duke © Copyright Daily Stormer 2016, All Rights Reserved | 0 |
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter “Decades ago, visitors from other planets warned us about where we were headed and offered to help. But instead, we, or at least some of us, interpreted their visits as a threat, and decided to shoot first and ask questions after.” The quote above comes from Paul Hellyer, former Canadian defence minister. ( source ) Based on all of my research into this topic, which has been conducted for more than 10 years, I’ve come across a number of apparent instances where these UFO’s completely avoided our aircfract, commercial or military. Their (the UFO) actions, based on all the documentation out there, always seem to be evasive in nature, regardless of whether these craft are human controlled, or extraterrestrial controlled. On the other hand, it’s not the same for the human race. When an unknown object enters into sensitive airspace, it’s going to be known about, and it’s not uncommon for military agencies to scramble jets in order to take a look. This is something that’s been very well documented, based on my estimates, this is something that’s happened thousands of times around the world for decades. “The nations of the world are currently working together in the investigation of the UFO phenomenon. There is an international exchange of data. Maybe when this group of nations acquires more precise and definite information, it will be possible to release the news to the world”– General Carlos Castro Cavero, Spanish Air Force General (0) Another common question that comes about when it comes to crashed craft, is if they are so advanced, how have we been able to bring some of them down? Roswell was not the only incident, I believe this to have happened several dozens of times, and I’m not the only one. From what I’ve looked into, they could disable guided missiles, nuclear weapons and electronic equipment, but were not well prepared for anti-aircraft fire (guns). I’m not quite sure if things have remained the same. Below are the words of Dr. Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut and the 6th man to walk on the moon, clearly I am not alone in my research and beliefs. We now have statements from hundreds of credible whistleblowers on the topic of UFOs and Exxtraterrestrials. “Yes there have been crashed craft, and bodies recovered… We are not alone in the universe, they have been coming here for a long time.” ( source ) ( source ) “I happen to be privileged enough to be in on the fact that we have been visited on this planet, and the UFO phenomenon is real.” ( source) So, What Happens When They Are Tracked On Radar? When the FAA tracks them on radar, a protocol is followedT hey report it to data collection centers, one of them being the Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies. (1) But evidence suggests that it’s not so simple as just following protocol. Retired FAA Senior Division Chief, John Callahan, shared his experience with regards to a specific UFO incident, you can watch hat b read more about that here . Representatives from the FBI and CIA showed up to find out more about the incident, and to obtain all documentation and video footage. Bigelow Aerospace Director, Mike Gold, recently expressed that he is glad somebody is taking the reports, because it is a “serious issue,” but he also said that he could not comment on what they do with them. To see that interview, click here . “If one thing is glaringly obvious, it is that the UFO phenomenon is global and has included many military encounters.”– Richard Dolan, Author, Historian, UFO Researcher. (0) So, what happens when UFOs are tracked on military/defence agency radar? Well, the first thing that happens is that it is recorded and documented. Documents regarding UFOs and the tracking of them on radar have been declassified within the past few years, there are countless examples from multiple agencies, like the NSA. ( source ) If something is violating your airspace, and performing maneuvers that defy our understanding of physics, maneuvers that no known air craft can perform, you’re going to want to take a closer look. As UFOs do present a number of defence, national security and air safety issues. One case in particular I’d like to start out with is the incident over Tehran, Iran. This incident occurred on the night of September 18th, 1976. A four page U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency and NSA report describes the encounter in detail. Furthermore, both of the pilots involved discussed the event years later. (source) What happened on this night is an example of what has happened multiple times with regards to military encounters with UFOs. Residents of the city noticed a big bright object in the sky. The airport traffic controller also noticed, “it was an intensely bright object that was not supposed to be there.” The Iranian Air Force was contacted (at the time they were a close ally of the United States, under the rule of the Shah), and they dispatched two F-4 fighter jets to check out the object. The United States took this encounter very seriously, a report of what happened was sent to multiple national security officials AND U.S. President Gerald R. Ford, CIA Director George Bush, and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, among others. (0) Both of the F-4 interceptor pilots reported seeing the object visually, it was also tracked on their airborne radar. Both planes experienced critical instrumentation and electronics go offline at a distance of twenty-five miles from the object. Here is an excerpt from the report: “As the F-4 approached a range of 25 nautical miles it lost all instrumentation and communications. When the F-4 turned away from the object and apparently was no longer a threat to it, the aircraft regained all instrumentation and communications. Another brightly lighted object came out of the original object. The second object headed straight toward the F4. ” (source) The report also described how a smaller object detached from the bigger object, turned inside the arc of the F-4 itself, and then regained the original object. This incident lasted for several hours. I decided to use this example because it has a number of declassified supporting national security documents, which goes to show how serious this event was taken. Another significant event occurred over NATO’s Aviano Air Base in Italy, on July 1, 1977. During this event, several U.S. Air Force personnel saw a UFO hovering outside of the base perimeter. While the object was there, the facility lost electrical power. (5) From November 9th through December 18th in 1978, several major UFO events occurred over the oilfields of Kuwait. They also appeared to disrupt major electrical equipment in this case. This event received major attention from the Kuwaiti government, as well as the U.S. government and Embassy. (6)(0) According to Richard Dolan, one of the world’s leading UFO researchers, perhaps the most dramatic of all were two encounters that year on December 16th by the Chilean Air Force: “Two pilots on a training mission, each flying an F5 fighter aircraft, tracked the object on their airborne radar. It gave a return equal to ten or more aircraft carriers-except this object was in the air, not floating on the water. Each pilot assumed his radar equipment was faulty, until he learned that the other pilot was also getting the same return. Not only this, but ground radar from a nearby airport also picked up the object and confirmed its huge size. The pilots also saw the object with their own eyes. One pilot later said that at a distance of twenty miles, it looked “like a plantain banana swathed in smoke.” The pilots were frightened, having no missiles or weapons. As they approached the massive object, which had been motionless all this while, it took off at an unimaginable speed. All at once, it vanished from the three radar screens.”(7)(0) The very next morning the Chilean Air Force scrambled some F5 fighter jets to intercept another very large UFO. The pilots described this one as very bright, and very large. The Chilean Air Force has officially acknowledged these events, but could not explain what had occurred. (7)(0) On May 19, 1986, there was a large portion of Brazilian airspace that was constantly occupied by UFOs. The Brazilian air-force constantly scrambled their jets to get a closer look at what they were picking up on radar. Here is a quote from the Brazilian Minister of Aeronautics, Brigadier General Otavio Moreira Lima: “At least 20 objects were detected by Brazilian radars. They saturated the radars and interrupted traffic in the area. Each time that radar detected unidentified objects, fighters took off for intercept. Radar detects only solid metallic bodies and heavy (mass) clouds. There were no clouds nor conventional aircraft in the region. The sky was clear. Radar doesn’t have optical illusions. We can only give technical explanations and we don’t have them. It would be very difficult for us to talk about the hypothesis of an electronic war. It’s very remote and it’s not the case here in Brazil. It’s fantastic. The signals on the radar were quite clear.” (8)(0) I’d also like to point out that UFOs have been seen and coincide with the deactivation of nuclear missiles and nuclear missile facilities all over the world. Below is a video of Robert Hastings , you can look into him if you want to learn more. The list goes on and on, UFOs tracked on radar and military jets scrambled to check them out is nothing new. I hope I’ve given you a good amount of info to further your research if interested. Dozens and dozens of governments have recently released their UFO files, admitting to the phenomenon being real. You can access the United Kingdoms latest batch that was released in June 2013 here . According to U.S. defense records, an interesting sighting of a UFO was reported by the Ghana Air Force on July 27, 1987. It was a large, silent object which the pilot described as two or three times large than a Boeing 747. He said that the “object dropped altitude, then gained altitude, then was replaced by small bluish lights arranged in a circular formation.” (9)(0) Below is a quote from Paul Hellyer, X Canadian Defence Minister describing another documented case. “In one of the cases during the cold war, 1961, there were about 50 UFOs in formation flying South from Russia across Europe. The supreme allied commander was very concerned and was about ready to press the panic button when they turned around and went back over the North Pole. They decided to do an investigation and they investigated for three years and they decided that with absolute certainty that four different species, at least, have been visiting this planet for thousands of years. There’s been a lot more activity in the past two decades, especially since we invented the atomic bomb. They are very concerned about that and if we will use it again, because the whole cosmos is in unity and it affects not just us but other people in the cosmos. They’re very much afraid that we might start using atomic weapons again and this would be very bad for us, and them also.” – Paul Hellyer ( source ) What Do They Look Like When The Pilots See Them? “If it does indeed turn out that there is relevant physical evidence, if this evidence is carefully collected and analyzed, and if this analysis leads to the identification of several facts concerning the UFO phenomenon, then will be the time for scientists to step back and ask, what are these facts trying to tell us? If those facts are strong enough to lead to a firm conclusion, then will be the time to confront the more bizarre questions. If, for instance, it turns out that all physical evidence is consistent with a mundane interpretation of the causes of UFO reports, there will be little reason to continue to speculate about the role of extraterrestrial beings. If, on the other hand, the analysis of physical evidence turns up very strong evidence that objects related with UFO reports were manufactured outside the solar system, then one must obviously consider very seriously that the phenomenon involves not only extraterrestrial vehicles but probably also extraterrestrial beings.” ( source ) The quote above comes from Peter Andrew Sturrock , a British Scientist, and an Emeritus Professor of Applied Physics at Stanford University. Sturrock and a number of other notable scientists around the world came together during the 1990’s in order to examine the physical evidence that is commonly associated with the UFO phenomenon. One example used by Sturrock in his analysis, was a photo taken by two Royal Canadian Air Force pilots on August 27th, 1956, in McCleod, Alberta, Canada. ( “Physical Evidence Related To UFO Reports”– The Sturrock Panel Report – Electromagnetic Effects ) ( source ) ( source ) The pilots were flying in a formation of four F86 Sabre jet aircraft. One of the pilots described the phenomenon as a “bright light which was sharply defined as disk-shaped,” that looked like “a shiny silver dollar sitting horizontal.” Another pilot managed to photograph the object, as you can see to the left. The sighting lasted for a couple of minutes, and this specific case was analyzed by Dr. Bruce Maccabee, who estimated (from available data) that the luminosity of the object (the power output within the spectral range of the film) to be many megawatts. The Sturrock Panel also found it to be the case that a strong magnetic field surrounding the phenomenon or object was a common occurrence. Maccabee published his analysis in the Journal of Scientific Exploration (“Optical Power Output of an Unidentified High Altitude Light Source,” published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration, vol. 13, #2, 1999). He also published one in 1994 titled “Strong Magnetic Field Detected Following a Sighting of an Unidentified Flying Object,” in the same journal (8, #3, 347) Dr. Jacques Vallee, notable for co-developing the first computerized mapping of Mars for NASA, and for his work at SRI International on the network information center for ARPANET , a precursor to the modern Internet, also published a paper in the Journal of Scientific Exploration titled “Estimates of Optical Power Output in Six Cases Of Unexplained Ariel Objects With Defined Luminosity Characteristics.” ( source )( source ) This particular case is also referenced in this paper. “Behind the scenes, high ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense.” Former head of the CIA, Roscoe Hillenkoetter, 1960 (source, NY Times) It’s only now that more people are starting to become aware of this information. Here is a quote from Senator Barry Goldwater before the de-classification of all of these files: “This thing has gotten so highly-classified… it is just impossible to get anything on it. I have no idea who controls the flow of need-to-know because, frankly, I was told in such an emphatic way that it was none of my business that I’ve never tried to make it to be my business since. I have been interested in this subject for a long time and I do know that whatever the Air Force has on the subject is going to remain highly classified.” – Senator Barry Goldwater , Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee (source) Below is a great clip from author and researcher Richard Dolan , taken from The Citizens Hearing On Disclosure summing it all up in one short speech. For more information on the UFO/Extraterrestrial topic, and for more articles on the subject by CE, click HERE . Sources: | 0 |
AMERICANS DESPERATELY TRYING TO REMEMBER ELECTION SAFE WORD Nov 2, 2016
Washington, D.C. (SatireWire.com) – Pushed to the limits of pain by an election that was initially entertaining but has clearly gotten out of hand, Americans today are frantically trying to remember the safe word that will stop this sadistic presidential race before it ends badly.
“Honestly, at first I thought it was just a little role-playing,” said Jessica Riley, 44, of Austin, Texas. “Donald Trump as President Trump? I was like, ‘It feels so wrong, but I can’t turn away.’ But then the FBI jumped into the race with more emails and suddenly I was like, ‘Oh God no, Donald Trump actually is going to be president! Apple! Baseball! Putin!’”
“Honestly, I can’t think of what it was!” added desperate 28-year-old Clay Toombs of Charlotte, N.C. “Pineapple? Oklahoma? Mussolini? Just please stop! And no I am not kidding, and no I am not saying this because I really want you to keep going! I mean it!”
W ith the election only days away, voters said they probably should have ended this dark, ‘50 Shades of Orange’ fantasy sooner, but conceded they didn’t recognize how abusive things would become.
“OK, intially it did spice things up,” said Seattle resident Taylor Bryant, 38. “Trump was really pushing the boundaries. He was into all the kinky stuff like gagging the press, handcuffing immigrants, stop and frisk. Plus he had this whole prison fantasy with Hillary. But then he got over-the-top dirty – pussy grabbing, blood coming out of her wherever, and, c’mon, suggesting he’d like to get it on with his daughter?
“I draw the line at scarring,” Bryant added. “I don’t want any visible scars, and right now I feel scarred for life.”
Like many voters, D.T. Fillion, 56, of Clemson, S.C., said he wishes the election campaign had never taken place.
“If what happened in 2016 could stay in 2016, that’d be great,” he said. “We’ll just say it was a phase. And hope my kids don’t find out.”
Carolyn Frate of Brooklyn, meanwhile, said she’s no longer excited by either candidate.
“If we could just have Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, I know that would be, like, the electoral missionary position, but right now I could do with boring,” she said.
For the record, the safe word is “Vote.”
© 2016 SatireWire.com | 0 |
During Saturday’s “Cavuto on Business,” former Nixon and Ford speechwriter, actor and author Ben Stein said in a discussion about James Comey’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing that President Donald Trump did not do anything wrong because he did not order Comey to stop the investigation into Russian collusion. “Trump didn’t do anything wrong,” Stein declared. “He did not order Comey to stop the investigation. He did not order anybody to stop the investigation. The bottom line is that these leaks are all BS. ” Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent | 1 |
Zoltán Kovács, official spokesman for the office of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, claims the “rigged media” turned his prime minister “into a racist overnight” by deliberately misrepresenting his recent comments on ethnicity. [During his speech, Prime Minister Orbán clarified his recently reported comments on the importance of preserving Hungary’s “ethnic homogeneity” by saying, “Of course, we Hungarians are heterogeneous … even if you read the names [in this room] you’d have everything from Bunjevci to Swabian [a reference to ethnic groups in the region]”. “[T]his is a colourfulness within certain limits, [but] we are all from one civilisation … Of course, as we learned from St. Stephen, we welcome everyone. ” By mischaracterising this as a call for a monoracial society along National Socialist lines, says Kovács, the “liberal media” provide “a perfect example of quoting out of context to deliberately twist the meaning and swindle the reader”. He added that “many of the journalists who ran with that distorted version of events never heard or read the speech”. Kovács asserts that “the loud, press simply don’t have ears to hear the real meaning of a statement and refuse to report the full picture. Instead, these journalists with an agenda quote out of context and crop the photo” — a reference to a previous incident of media distortion from 2015. “Set aside the manipulative editing on the part of the journalist and you know that PM Orbán called for the preservation of ethnic homogeneity according to our ‘colourful’ European tradition and history … That’s a big difference. Too bad the rigged media is so blinded by their own bias that they can’t see the difference or don’t want to. ” The Oxford Dictionary defines “ethnicity” as “the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition” — an umbrella which could easily encompass a society, if not a one. Given the context provided by Kovács, the Hungarian prime minister’s comments may be understood to reflect similar views on “Hyphenated Americanism” expressed by U. S. President Theodore Roosevelt, whose likeness adorns Mount Rushmore today. “There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalised Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalised Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all,” he said in 1915. “The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities an intricate knot of or each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic. ” | 1 |
U. S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions vowed to eradicate the hyperviolent transnational criminal gang during a speech he gave while in New York. [Sessions visited Long Island on Friday to deliver a message of hope to the area embattled by The New York Times reported. Speaking at the United States Courthouse in Central Islip, Sessions had a very simple message for : “We are targeting you. ” “The motto is kill, rape and control,” Sessions said. “I have a message to the gangs that are targeting our young people: We are targeting you. We are coming after you. ” The trip by Sessions to Long Island comes after four teenagers were found brutally murdered near a soccer field on April 13. Before Sessions arrival, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced on Wednesday that a new unit had been created by the New York State Police to combat . The announcement by Cuomo came just as officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that Long Island is home to over 200 “hardcore members” of . However, on Friday some 200 protesters gathered at the courthouse to voice their distaste for Sessions and the Trump administration’s tough stances on illegal immigration. Rep. Peter T. King ( ) who invited Sessions to Long Island to meet with local law enforcement, was visibly upset by the protesters. “They should be on their knees thanking him, not out there protesting,” King said. “It’s shameful, it’s disgraceful that leaders in the community would criticize the attorney general. ” On March 2, 13 members, 10 of whom were illegal aliens, were indicted for the murder of two girls and five other individuals in Brentwood, NY. Sessions said that securing the border and restoring lawful immigration is key to combatting gangs like . “We cannot continue with this transporting across our border illegal immigrants who have not been properly vetted and actually are part of criminal organizations,” Sessions said. A poll published on Monday by Rasmussen Reports found that 47 percent of those surveyed agreed that should be designated as a terrorist organization while only 17 percent disagreed and 35 percent were unsure. The move to designate as a terrorist organization was supported by both Republicans and Democrats surveyed. Ryan Saavedra is a contributor for Breitbart Texas and can be found on Twitter at @RealSaavedra. | 1 |
After hours at the Brooklyn Museum on Friday night, hundreds of young people bopped along while a D. J. cycled through the summer’s hottest rap and RB songs. As the event reached its climax, the ubiquitous opening notes of a guaranteed crowd pleaser — “Work,” by Rihanna, featuring Drake — vibrated through the room. But when the vocals on the demo recording started, it was obvious that this wasn’t the version that spent nine weeks as the No. 1 song in the country. In place of Rihanna, the nimble, addictive patois was delivered by PartyNextDoor, 23, the Canadian producer and RB singer who wrote the song’s melody and helped to usher in a pop moment deeply indebted to the Caribbean. PartyNextDoor, gliding through the crowd to the D. J. booth, was not there to celebrate his role in the song of the summer, however, nor was he touting his contributions to Drake’s latest album, “Views,” which spent 12 weeks atop the Billboard chart. “PartyNextDoor 3,” his own new album, had just been released, capping one of the more quietly influential runs of 2016. Now he was, somewhat reluctantly, the main attraction. As the first artist signed to Drake’s OVO Sound label, a partnership with Warner Bros. in 2013, PartyNextDoor has had his fingerprints on every Drake release since, in addition to the steady flow of slurry, nocturnal RB under his own name. But Drake casts a wide shadow, and PartyNextDoor (born Jahron Anthony Brathwaite) has thus far been comfortable in the shade. “You don’t really know anything about me, and that’s how I like it,” he said in a rare interview before the album release party. But with credits on a No. 1 song — as well as friends and collaborators like Drake, Rihanna and Kylie Jenner — come more expectations. PartyNextDoor acknowledged that while his new album might not be his solo breakthrough to the pop mainstream, he hopes it is a step further. “More people’s eyes are on me now,” he said. “The people are literally watching me find my voice. ” So far, that voice has been malleable: and full of bravado, slipping easily into cadences (“Recognize”) or pure and sweet, leaning more toward soul (“Joy,” a highlight from the new album). Most often, it is carnal and as on “High Hopes,” the decidedly noncommercial intro to “PartyNextDoor 3,” which just sounds (to say nothing of the lyrics). In daylight, PartyNextDoor was more sitting at the kitchen table of a Airbnb rental in Midtown Manhattan as he rolled a blunt on a takeout sushi container. He wore a styled with safety pins, a nose ring and a folded bandanna around his skinny blond dreads. Prone to long pauses, as if avoiding verbal traps, he left more sentences dangling than he finished. Yet, after a string of niche projects that built his name and a dedicated online following, PartyNextDoor has become resigned to the fact that more visibility is a must for his career to progress. “From here on, I will try to do better at interacting with my fans,” he wrote in a note revealing the new album. Previous attempts at putting himself out there have been bumpy at best. This year, PartyNextDoor found himself drowning in internet drama after posting an Instagram with a rumored ex, the singer Kehlani. (“No one knows the details, and I don’t care to defend myself,” he said.) Not long after, he was caught up with the Kardashians after a series of paparazzi photos and a subsequent music video surfaced, featuring him in the company of Ms. Jenner, the youngest sister. Asked if he had actively courted TMZ attention by casting a reality star as his love interest, PartyNextDoor would only say, “I’m grateful that really pretty girls like my music, and social media just happens to like really pretty girls. ” While flaunting a Kylie endorsement is one thing, he is less willing to chase what’s hot musically. Raised in what he called a “super Jamaican household” in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga, PartyNextDoor has long peppered his songs with dance hall sirens and slang. But recently, he has leaned into his Caribbean roots on “Work” and “Sex With Me,” another Rihanna track, along with Drake’s “With You,” a shimmering summer gem from “Views. ” “Not Nice,” a thumping single from “PartyNextDoor 3,” has a similar vibe, and given the album’s summer release and the trendiness of the sound, an entire record in that mold might have made sense. But a few songs aside, “PartyNextDoor 3” favors a grim, palette. “I could make a PartyNextDoor album that’s clean, all hits,” he explained. “That’s not what I care about doing. ” The same goes for being a pop songwriter, he said. After dropping out of high school at 17, he signed a publishing deal to write for others, well aware that that wasn’t his ultimate goal. He met Rihanna last year, during a writing camp at her Malibu home. “The first feeling I got was, ‘Why am I here? ’” he recalled. “All these guys have made hits already. ” But he was determined to create streamlined songs for her, requiring a different process than his looser, more experimental productions. Even “Work” was not an immediate fit. Despite Rihanna’s Bajan heritage, “her label didn’t care for Caribbean music at the time,” PartyNextDoor said. He and Drake considered keeping the track, or giving it to Alicia Keys, but Rihanna’s team came around “when it was all that she could sing around the house,” he said. “She fought for it,” he continued. “She said, ‘This is my family’s favorite song. ’” Collaborating with Drake may seem more fraught from the outside. During his chart dominance, Drake has been dogged by ghostwriting accusations, and observers have wondered whether OVO Sound, also home to Majid Jordan and Roy Woods, is just his “personal hit factory,” having not yet minted a star near the boss’s level. (Drake’s previous RB collaborator the Weeknd, by contrast, set out for — and achieved — pop stardom on his own.) PartyNextDoor insisted that their partnership was mutually beneficial. “I openly share music with Drake, especially when it’s time for him to have a project,” he said. At the same time, “I have an older brother I can text anytime, someone who’s super invested because my name is tied into his. “It’s just creatives cooking,” he continued of their work together. “If he sees something in a song of mine that he feels he can spin around and make better, who am I to say I’m going to selfishly keep it? As a fan of music, that’s wrong. ” He added, “Of course I want to be a superstar, but it doesn’t happen overnight, and I see that from having a mentor. ” The two work in harmony, not in lock step, each playing his role. “We have similar stories, but not the same story,” PartyNextDoor said. “Being a fan got me to him, but he needs me to be me. I need to be me. ” | 1 |
WASHINGTON — Rival factions of Republicans are locked in an increasingly caustic and public battle to influence Donald J. Trump’s choice for secretary of state, leaving a prominent hole in an otherwise quickly formed national security team that is unlikely to be filled until next week at the earliest. The debate inside Mr. Trump’s wide circle of formal and informal advisers — pitting supporters of one leading contender, Mitt Romney, against those of another, Rudolph W. Giuliani — has led to the kind of dramatic airing of differences that characterized Mr. Trump’s unconventional and often squabbling campaign team. And it traces the outlines of the enduring split in the Republican Party between establishment figures who scoffed at Mr. Trump’s chances of victory and the insurgents who backed him as a disrupter of the Washington power structure. The most publicly vocal faction has been the group opposed to Mr. Romney, which has questioned whether he would be loyal after his searing criticism of Mr. Trump during the campaign. But Mr. Trump himself has told aides that he believes Mr. Romney “looks the part” and would make a fine secretary of state, a senior Trump official said on Thursday. Mr. Trump, who is always difficult to read and is capable of changing his mind at any minute, has also praised Mr. Giuliani in recent conversations with acquaintances. Even Thanksgiving did not provide a reprieve from the extraordinary public efforts to cast doubt on Mr. Romney. Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said on Twitter that she had received “a deluge” of concern from people warning against picking Mr. Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts governor. Those raising concerns about Mr. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and an early and loyal supporter of Mr. Trump, have said they fear that his tangle of foreign business ties could lead to a damaging confirmation battle. They also worry that Mr. Giuliani lacks the vigor for the job. Both Mr. Romney and Mr. Giuliani have made their interest in the role known to Mr. Trump. But while Mr. Giuliani has been very public about his intentions — angering Mr. Trump at times with his statements — Mr. Romney has been more reserved. The split over the two men has opened the door for another candidate altogether. One potential pick Mr. Trump and his team have entertained is Gen. John F. Kelly of the Marines, a former head of the United States Southern Command. Others are David H. Petraeus, the retired general and former C. I. A. director, and Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, according to two people involved in the process. Asked about Mr. Trump’s deliberations, a spokesman, Jason Miller, said in an email Thursday, “The is meeting with a number of potential selections for this important position who share his America First foreign policy — some of whom have been made public and others who have not — and the will make public his decision when he has finalized it. ” Mr. Romney would represent a departure from the Mr. Trump has already picked for his national security team. But aides like Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, have expressed doubts about Mr. Romney’s loyalty given his denunciation of Mr. Trump as a “phony” and a “fraud. ” Mr. Bannon and others have told colleagues they fear that a State Department under Mr. Romney could turn into something of a rogue agency. Asked to explain her Twitter post about Mr. Romney, Ms. Conway said that while she trusted Mr. Trump’s judgment, she found it notable that the most outrage directed at Mr. Trump from the party’s “is not against something he said, but something he may do. ” In another post, she said that being “loyal” was an important characteristic for a secretary of state. Others hoping to catch Mr. Trump’s ear have taken their message to a place they know he is likely to absorb it: cable news. Joe Scarborough, the MSNBC host, who has spoken with Mr. Trump about his concerns that Mr. Giuliani would not be confirmed by the Senate, has taken to making those arguments on a daily basis on his morning show, which he knows Mr. Trump watches. Others, like Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker, and Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, have gone on television to try to dissuade Mr. Trump from picking Mr. Romney. Mr. Huckabee, who said during the 2008 presidential campaign that Mr. Romney reminded voters of “the guy who laid them off,” told Fox News on Wednesday that picking Mr. Romney would be “a real insult” to Mr. Trump’s supporters. Mr. Giuliani is a favorite of the Republican voters who turned out in large numbers to lift Mr. Trump to victory. Sean Hannity, a Fox News host whose opinion Mr. Trump often privately solicits, has also been deeply critical of Mr. Romney on his show. Shortly after the election, Mr. Giuliani told associates that he believed the job was his. He had communicated to Mr. Trump’s top advisers that it was the only post he was interested in, according to the people briefed on the discussions. But he began to run afoul of Mr. Trump when he told a Wall Street Journal forum that he would probably be a better candidate than John R. Bolton, who served as one of George W. Bush’s ambassadors to the United Nations. And when reports surfaced about Mr. Giuliani’s foreign business entanglements and highly compensated speechmaking, Mr. Trump grew even warier. His firm, Giuliani Partners, has had contracts with the government of Qatar, and Mr. Giuliani has given paid speeches to a shadowy Iranian opposition group that until 2012 was on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. As a backup plan, some of Mr. Trump’s aides encouraged him to meet with Mr. Romney. Though some in Mr. Trump’s inner circle, like Reince Priebus, his choice for chief of staff, thought that such a meeting would anger the ’s supporters, Mr. Trump went ahead. In the meantime, he started sounding out Mr. Giuliani on a different post, director of national intelligence. Mr. Trump’s advisers have discussed the role for Mr. Giuliani, but there has been no indication he wants it. What many people believed would be a perfunctory meeting with Mr. Romney last weekend at Mr. Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, N. J. turned into something more substantial. Mr. Trump liked Mr. Romney quite a bit, and was intrigued by the possibility of such a option to represent the country around the globe, advisers to Mr. Trump said. The following day, Mr. Giuliani met with Mr. Trump and urged him to make a decision in one direction or the other. Mr. Romney, who was mocked in 2012 when he described Russia as the greatest geopolitical foe of the United States, has seen his stock in the Republican Party rise since his loss to President Obama, although he is still viewed skeptically by the party’s . His allies believe that his position on Russia has been vindicated, but it is starkly at odds with Mr. Trump’s stated desire for a better relationship with the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin. Privately, Mr. Giuliani has expressed his frustration at going from for secretary of state to a contender who has to convince Mr. Trump of his strengths. He is particularly irritated over the focus on his business ties. The option of a third person like General Kelly has gained currency in recent days inside the transition team. A respected leader, General Kelly served as the senior military assistant to former Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta. He led the Southern Command, responsible for all United States military activities in South and Central America, for four years under Mr. Obama. And his appointment would fit Mr. Trump’s inclination toward putting people with combat experience in senior foreign policy roles. | 1 |
the national laws passed during the height of fear of terrorism, opened the door for many of our rights being taken from us. Fear is their greatest tool, when we are afraid we are irrational creatures. | 0 |
2909 Views November 11, 2016 29 Comments Guest Posts The Saker
by Pepe Escobar Donald Trump’s red wave on Election Day was an unprecedented body blow against neoliberalism. The stupid early-1990s prediction about the ‘end of history’ turned into a – possible – shock of the new.
The new global nativism? Perhaps a new push towards democratic socialism? Too early to tell.
Once again. A body blow, not a death blow. Like the cast of The Walking Dead , the zombie neoliberal elite simply won’t quit. For the Powers That Be/Deep State/Wall Street axis, there’s only one game in town, and that is to win, at all costs. Failing that, to knock over the whole chessboard, as in hot war.
Hot war has been postponed, at least for a few years. Meanwhile, it’s enlightening to observe the collective American and Eurocrat despair about a world they can’t understand anymore; Brexit, Trumpquake, the rise of the far-right across the West. For the insulated financial/tech/think-tank elites of liquid modernity, criticism of neoliberalism – with is inbuilt deregulation, privatization a-go-go, austerity obsession – is anathema.
The angry, white, blue collar Western uprising is the ultimate backlash against neoliberalism – an instinctive reaction against the rigged economic casino capitalism game and its subservient political arms. That’s at the core of Trump winning non-college white voters in Wisconsin by 28 points. Blaming “whitelash” , racism, WikiLeaks or Russia is no more than childish diversionary tactics.
The key question is whether the backlash may engender a new Western drive towards democratic socialism – read David Harvey’s books for the road map – or just nostalgic nationalism raging against the neoliberal Washington/EU/NAFTA/ globalization machine.
Read my lips: much lower taxes
Trump is proposing to turn the tables on the neoliberal game. Throughout his campaign he criminalized free trade – the essence of globalization – for decimating the American working class, even as US businesses blamed free trade for forcing them to squeeze workers’ wages.
So let’s see how Trump will be able to impose his priorities. In parallel to addressing the appalling structural decline in US manufacturing, he wants to pull a China: a massive $1 trillion infrastructure project over 10 years via public-private partnerships and private investments encouraged by lower taxes. That’s supposed to create a wealth of jobs.
Lower corporate taxes in this case translate into a whopping $3 trillion over 10 years, something like 1.6 percent of GDP. That would be the way to incite huge multinationals to repatriate the hundreds of billions of dollars in profits stashed abroad. This fiscal shock would create 25 million jobs in the US over the next 10 years, and propel a 4 percent growth rate.
And then there’s the protectionist drive that will renegotiate NAFTA and kill TPP for good. Not to mention raising import tariffs over manufactured products (many by de-localized US multinationals) imported from China and Mexico.
It’s open to fierce debate how Trumponomics will manage to square the circle; with more economic growth fueled by less taxes, imports will rise to satisfy internal demand. But if these products are subjected to stiffer tariffs, they will become more expensive, and inflation will inevitably rise.
Anyway, the bottom line of protectionist Trumponomics would be a huge blow against global trade. Deglobalization, anyone?
Asia braces for impact
Predictably, the heart of deglobalization will be the Trump-China relationship. Throughout the campaign, Trump blamed China for currency manipulation and proposed a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports.
In Hong Kong banking circles, no one believes in it. Key argument: the already strapped basket of “deplorables” simply won’t have the means to pay more for these Chinese imports.
Another thing entirely would be for Trumponomics to find mechanisms to hurt US companies that de-localize in Asia. That would translate into serious problems for outsourcing Meccas such as India and the Philippines. Outsourcing in the Philippines, for instance, serves mostly US companies and attracts revenue as crucial to the nation as total Filipino worker remittances from abroad, something like 9 percent of GDP.
It’s quite enlightening in this context to consider what Narayana Murthy – founder of Indian IT major Infosys – told the CNBC TV-18 network; “What is in the best interest of America is for its corporations to succeed, for its corporations to create more jobs… to export more… so I’m very positive.”
our months ago Nomura Holdings Inc. issued a report titled “Trumping Asia” . No less than 77 percent of respondents expected Trump to brand China a currency manipulator; and 75 percent predicted he will impose tariffs on exports from China, South Korea and Japan.
So no wonder all across Asia the next months will be nerve-wracking. Asia – and not only China – is the factory of the world. Any Trump trade restriction over China will reverberate all across Asia.
Brace for impact: deglobalized Trumponomics vs. Neoliberalism will be a battle for the ages. The Essential Saker: from the trenches of the emerging multipolar world $27.95 | 0 |
1597 Views October 28, 2016 8 Comments Guest Posts The Saker
by Peter Koenig
Imagine, Donald Trump would accede to the US Presidency, an unlikely event with the presstitute media relentlessly slamming, slashing and demonizing him, not unlike they do with President Putin – while cheering no-end for the warmonger Killary, no matter what atrocities she has on her hands and body, no matter that blood is dripping out of her mouth every time she opens it – like Iraq, Libya, Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan, Sudan – and more, much more. They, the elite, the military-security complex, the financial mafia, want more blood, more than is already covering the entire current Obama Administration’s structure of psychopaths. Blood is weapons, blood is money, blood is more profit, blood is good for business – so said the Washington Post, just slightly translated from ‘war is good for business’. The warmongering MSM (mainstream media) also propagate for more weapons to enrich the military-security complex that pays them. But just for a moment, let’s assume, Trump would get elected with such a large margin that voter fraud would be difficult to manage.
Trump is sending a different narrative from that of eternal war. Trump seems to be looking into a different direction. He essentially says – stop the conflict with Russia, make Russia a partner, stop outsourcing jobs, bring them back, give labor back to Americans, slash the unemployment rate – which is, of course, everybody knows, way above the silly fabricated 5%. The reality is that unreported but real unemployment in the US is hovering between 22% and 25%, a real hammer for the economy, increasing anger and unhappiness and crime. Trump also says in the same vein as bringing back jobs – STOP globalization, restrain NATO, rein in the banks – yes, Wall Street, the Goldman Sachs-es and Co. of this world of fake pyramid money, dominated by the Rothschild-Rockefeller-Morgan clan. Trump says, let’s have a financial system that works for the people.
Does he mean it? – I don’t know. Could be true. Most of what he says makes sense for America, for Americans – and by extension for much of the rest of the world, especially Europe, the genuine Europe, not the puppet-commandeered Europe. He also says a lot of outright discriminatory and xenophobic rubbish – like building a wall separating Mexico from the US of A, emulating Israel; and propagates a crackdown on Moslems. Does he mean it? Or does he want to please potential voters? – Such statements are indeed dangerous rubbish, but they are secondary to all the other things that are PRIORITARY, as they would help restore American society, workforce, dignity – most important: DIGNITY. Dignity is important for Americans to wake up to realize that they are living in a country that wastes their money, the peoples’ resources – on countless criminal wars around the world, feverishly racing towards Full Spectrum Dominance to benefit a few. The secondary stuff is important too, but can be dealt with in parallel by Americans that have come to senses.
Trump is in many ways like France’s Marine LePen, representing the extreme right, and therefore, no matter what sensible things she says and has on her agenda to do – and I don’t doubt one minute that she means what she says – like EUREXIT and send NATO to hell – she is still framed by the ‘left intellectuals’ – if such a thing still exists in our neoliberal universe – as a discriminatory xenophobe who would expel all ‘colored’ and ‘veiled’ foreigners. Of course, that’s bad. But let her first initiating France exiting from the EU, the Euro and NATO – the likely salvation of Europe, then tackle the other issues. First comes first. A true intellectual left would have to understand that – and not bend to the presstitute promoted clichés.
Trump has enough money power. He doesn’t have to bend to the military security complex, to the banks, to the Obamacare pharma-fiefdom. He doesn’t really have to bend to anybody. That worries the elite. He is independent. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. In no case could he be worse than Hillary – the killer – so much can be read from every word she says. Her pattern of pathology – “We came, we saw, we won” , when she saw the bloodstained image of the NATO-slaughtered Ghaddafi – indicates that she would not stop from pressing this infamous Red Button of Death and total world annihilation – perhaps even repeating that same smirk, , “We came, we saw, we won” .
Now let’s go to the next hypothesis, assuming Trump would be elected and ‘they’ – the elusive high-powered small elite that pulls the strings on Washington and the White House’s overseas puppets, and let’s assume ‘they’ would let him live, at least for a while, Trump might be doing ‘irrational’ things in the eye of the Beltway slaves. Recognizing the perils for his own country and those for his neighbor, Canada, Mr. Trump might call on the western stooges, in Europe particularly, who for the sake of brown-nosing the naked king in Washington, are prepared to sell-out 500-plus million European and their future generations to the most nefarious trade deals the world has ever known – CETA, TTIP and TiSA (let alone the TPP, where 12 Pacific countries are about to kiss ass in Washington) – telling them to come to senses, think democracy and stop the deals that 80% or more of Europeans despise and reject.
As a parenthesis and philosophically speaking, one could say that given the hundreds of years of colonization around the globe, of shameless exploitation, of raping and killing millions of people throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America, that these trade ‘deals’ are Europe’s historically deserved heritage.—– The Saker wrote a great essay on the aberration of this upcoming election and what might follow after the election, “The US Is About To Face The Worst Crisis in Their History” – http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45729.htm . One of the article’s commenters pinned it down to the point: “ If Trump does become Commander in Chief, his first job will be securing his life. Those who really run the show in the US will stop at nothing to safeguard their empire. Truly the US is at a cross roads and by extension the world. Times are really scary .”
What Trump says he would do during his first 100 days in office, he presented in a groundbreaking speech at Gettysburg, Pa. this past weekend, is for the most part truly astounding http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2016/10/24/donald-trump-delivers-a-powerful-policy-speech-on-his-first-100-days-in-office/ . It is not less than revolutionary, because no US politician, let alone a Presidential candidate or President has said something for the most part so sensible as did Presidential candidate Trump. Summarizing, he promises bringing back overseas jobs, would prevent the continued outsourcing of the American production processes, bring order to the crime-ridden communities, he would seek friendly partnership with Russia, defusing the WWIII threat – and he would tackle, restrain and control the corrupt banking system, including the endless money-making machine, the privately owned, Rothschild dominated FED. – That is a challenge other Presidents have failed to master, including Lincoln and JFK. We know how they ended.
Trump has already hinted that to revive the American economy the zero-interest policy may have to be changed, so that banks become more responsible. The owners off the system would hardly allow Trump’s interference in their obscene profit-making scheme. They’d rather at their calling let the bomb loose. A sudden change of this policy would hit many over-stretched banks like a bombshell – reminiscent of 2008 Lehman Brothers, just magnified by a factor of 10. There are currently at least three, possibly five Wall Street giants that are on the edge. They get by, because of the FED’s zero interest policy- and they make sure that this doesn’t change, as several if not all of them are part of the private FED system. Would Trump dare touching this system? – It’s a deadly challenge. He knows it.
This time there may be more at stake then just another banking collapse, a planned emulation of the 2007 / 2008 crisis, where Wall Street was copiously rewarded for its excesses by tax-money bail-outs. Be aware, this time it would not be tax-payer’s money that would rescue the Too-Big-To Fail (TBTF) banks, but it would be YOUR money, your deposits, your savings, your pension funds, possibly even your shares if you have any in the bank being ‘collapsed’ – and the process would be called ‘bail-ins’.
The (western) world is under the hegemon of a privately-owned money system, the US-dollar – and most people don’t even know it. The accent is on the western world , because the east, comprising Russia, China, the SCO countries (Shanghai Cooperation Organization – comprising China and Russia and most of the Central Asian former Soviet Republics, plus Iran and Pakistan – and others are waiting in the wings), the EEU (Eurasian Economic Union), as well as most of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), are forming their own eastern economic and monetary block. – I have said this before, but will repeat it for readers to realize – this ‘economic block’ – is largely, if not entirely, delinked from the dollar scheme. It consists of about half the world’s population and one third of the world’s GDP, a solid GDP that is. In contrast to the western, especially the US GDP; in the eastern block much of the GDP is based on real labor output and manufacturing.
In reality, this eastern economic power block which is also displaying the world’s largest economic development potential, since history remembers, the New Silk Road – or the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) economic development scheme, stretching from Vladivostok to Lisbon (if Europe chooses to participate), does not need the west anymore. The OBOR project has already begun. It represents a view into the future, with job opportunities and the outlook for a truly better life for hundreds of millions, possibly billions of people during coming generations – a dynamic vision for the future. The east is where the future lays.——-
Donald Trump as President notwithstanding, a new western well-planned banking collapse may start in the US, the ramifications and impact would be felt around the globe – sinking millions, hundreds of millions of people into poverty, misery, the like we haven’t seen in recent history. The banks ‘depositors’ money might not be enough. The reptiles are hungry. They might privatize public properties, infrastructures, roads, ports railways, health care, education, pensions, natural resources – anything that is still in the hands of the people. If Greece is a reminder, then think of Greece blown up by a factor of 1000 – all around the globe, touching in extremis the vulnerable people of the vulnerable countries – billions of people. While the money flows again from the poor to the rich, to an ever-shrinking pool of super-rich; widening the rich-poor gap to a disgusting yawn. Leaving the 99.99 % – by now the 99. % ever more powerless, having to fend for sheer survival – seeking refuge in ‘better lands’ – It’s a war by money. Canons, bombs and guns could rest – for a while.
For years, I have felt the Empire will have to be brought down from inside – from the people who can’t take it anymore, from an internal revolt that eventually would break the worldwide extended monster’s back. Rome and most subsequent empires have fallen this way. It may still happen. But now I side more with The Saker’s theory, namely that the defeat may come from a combination of inside revolt and outside forces, not so much military forces, but economic forces. In theory, it could happen tomorrow. Just imagine, the one third of world-GDP-countries would drop all their dollar reserves, all the dollar denominated international contracts, all dollar issued trade agreements – and in particular, abandon at once the unwritten rule of hydrocarbons to be traded only in US-dollars. It would most likely wipe out the western economy.
This will not happen, of course. Simply, because the One Third GDP holders do not want to destroy the economy of the rest of the world, especially the so-called developing and emerging countries, many – or most of them – eventually to become allies of this eastern block that promises peaceful co-existence rather than the current western pattern of ever multiplying wars and conflicts – a sheer dollar-fed killing spree, with destruction and weapons manufacturing no end.
The Power of Money. Would Donald Trump, as President, himself a moneyed powerhouse, survive such a calamity? In fact, would he be able and strong enough to veer the ship around, guiding the world away from such destructive scenarios and towards peace and cooperation between East and West? – Or is the train already too far out of the station? – No telling at this time. The signals are certainly not good. But, let’s put in a grain of optimism and ‘bank’ on a positive strand of dynamics fueled by an increasing human consciousness – one that would not allow Hillary to push the Death Button.
Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a former World Bank staff and worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He writes regularly for Global Research, ICH, RT, Sputnik, PressTV, The 4th Media, TeleSUR, TruePublica, The Vineyard of The Saker Blog, and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance . The Essential Saker: from the trenches of the emerging multipolar world $27.95 | 0 |
Email Print One of my top candidates for Attorney General just gave Hillary Clinton a little truth bomb for dinner. While appearing with Megyn Kelly and discussing the reopening of the FBI investigation against Hillary Clinton, Gowdy said Hillary’s attitude and defensiveness is “…just too rich.” In essence, she is getting exactly what she deserves… Gowdy stated something I commented on earlier in the day, stating, “The same person who went to great lengths to make sure that these emails were private now, all of a sudden, wants it all made public.” This is grandstanding by Hillary, nothing more. As an attorney, and as Secretary of State, Hillary knows the FBI CAN NOT release any information about an ongoing investigation. She also knows that due to the complexity of the case, it could take months before We the People hear anything from the FBI about this investigation. This is nothing Comey is doing to hurt her in the campaign or any type of conspiracy, this is just how the system works. The arrogance of Clinton is now demanding we get that information immediately, which would mean expediting her case and devoting thousands of extra man hours, probably all overtime, at tax payers expense! That, my friends, is what we would call privilege. And I don’t want to hear her argument that because she is running for president she is entitled because We the People were also supposed to be entitled to a Secretary of State that was not corrupt! Hilary wrote this narrative on her own. She decided to use a private server for government communications, something NOBODY else in our government was doing or was allowed to do. She broke the rules, and now that there is an attempt to hold her accountable for it, she wants exceptions. Gowdy is right, this is rich, because if Hillary had simply followed the rules, she would not be in this mess in the first place! But, then again, there is a reason we have jails… because criminals never follow the rules! And Mr. Gowdy, if Hillary truly gets what she deserves, her address will be changed to one of those prisons very soon! What did you think of Gowdy’s response to the reopening of the case against Hillary Clinton? Please share this story on Facebook and tell us because we want to hear YOUR voice! Join us on Facebook to Stop The Takeover. Click on the button to subscribe. Leave a comment... | 0 |
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Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: • The focus is on Mexico as the ramifications of President Trump’s new immigration orders begin to play out on border security and trade. Some of the most significant new elements are protections for children and far more extensive deportations of adults. Today’s episode of The Daily podcast looks at what we know and don’t know about the new orders. Listen from a computer, an iOS device or an Android device. Protests, boycotts and public anger in Mexico are complicating a visit from the U. S. secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and the secretary of homeland security, John F. Kelly. _____ • There are more signs of turbulence inside the Trump administration. The education secretary, Betsy DeVos, resisted signing an order to rescind protections for transgender students, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Mr. Trump insisted, Republican insiders said. And thousands of pages of newly released emails show that Mr. Trump’s top environmental official, Scott Pruitt, above, worked closely with major oil and gas companies and political groups to roll back environmental regulations when he was Oklahoma attorney general. In the department: News coverage of Mr. Trump has probably eclipsed that of any other single human being. _____ • The U. S. commander for the Middle East said more American troops would speed the campaign against the Islamic State in Syria. In recent weeks, the Iraqi government recaptured the eastern part of Mosul, a major victory against the Islamic State in Iraq. A New York Times reporter describes a city torn in half in the video above. Military figures carry a great deal of weight in the Trump administration, with senior veterans in the top three security jobs all from a generation of leaders from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. _____ • The public killing of Kim the estranged elder brother of North Korea’s leader, is evolving into an geopolitical whodunit. The Malaysian police named a senior North Korean diplomat as wanted for questioning, pointing to possible government involvement in his death. The police also said the women suspected of being the assassins — one from Vietnam, the other from Indonesia — had been trained to wipe toxins on the victim’s face and then wash their hands. _____ • “It’s been a long time coming. ” That was Benjamin Netanyahu as he became the first Israeli prime minister to make an official visit to Australia. He was welcomed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, but there was pushback over Israeli settlement building. The third issue of our Australia newsletter looks at what Americans get wrong about the country. _____ • And scientists announced a remarkable discovery: a dwarf star that has not one but seven planets that could potentially harbor life. “I think that we have made a crucial step toward finding if there is life out there,” an astronomer said. • profits for Qantas fell 7. 5 percent to $656 million, driven down by “challenging” international conditions. • Even as President Trump espoused in his presidential campaign, his businesses filed dozens of new trademarks in China, Mexico, India, Indonesia and other countries. • Dispensing Brexit advice is a booming industry. Advisers from both the Leave and Remain camps can command high fees for guiding business and the British government. • U. S. markets were mixed. Here’s a snapshot of global markets. • More than 33, 000 current and former Hong Kong police officers rallied in support of seven colleagues who were jailed for assaulting an activist during the city’s 2014 Occupy protests. [South China Morning Post] • Donald Tsang, a former Hong Kong chief executive, will appeal a sentence for misconduct. [The New York Times] • U. S. agents fighting cigarette smuggling made their own web of shadowy cigarette sales to finance undercover investigations and to pay informants, according to court records and people close to the operation. [The New York Times] • A small band of activists protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline remained camped along the banks of the Missouri River and seemed likely to be arrested after a deadline for them to leave had passed. [The New York Times] • Uzbekistan released a journalist it had imprisoned for 18 years. He and a colleague, who remains in prison, are thought to have been held longer than any other journalists in the world. [BBC] • A women’s group in China, Feminist Voices, was banned from its Weibo social media platform for 30 days after it posted an article about a women’s strike planned in the U. S. [The New York Times] • How China’s government really works: We interview Sebastian Heilmann, the author of a newly updated guide to how ministries and officials guide the economy, provide services and formulate new policies. [The New York Times] • Taika Waititi, the director of “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” was named New Zealander of the Year. [New Zealand Herald] • New research shows that language lessons actually start in the womb. • Recipe of the day: A classic baked, cheesy pasta can be improved by broccoli, a little spice — and a sheet pan. • In a momentous N. B. A. the Los Angeles Lakers put Magic Johnson in charge of the team’s front office. A M. V. P. during his Hall of Fame career with the Lakers, Mr. Johnson called his new position a “dream come true. ” • Seijun Suzuki, a Japanese filmmaker whose surreal visuals and bold action sequences influenced directors like Quentin Tarantino and Jim Jarmusch, died at 93. • The precious cargo of a Arab trading ship that sank while sailing from China will go on display in the U. S. for the first time. Six years ago, a planned U. S. exhibit was canceled amid ethical concerns over how the wreckage was salvaged. Down in New Orleans, the annual party leading up to Mardi Gras will be in full swing over the coming days, culminating next week on Fat Tuesday. One of the highlights is the parades by social clubs known as krewes. Riding on lavishly decorated floats, krewe members toss beads, plastic cups, coins and other “throws” to revelers lining a route that usually runs for several miles. Tonight’s parades include the Krewe of Muses, an organization named after the goddesses of arts and sciences in Greek mythology. (Nine of New Orleans’s streets — including Calliope, Melpomene and Terpsichore — were also inspired by the daughters of Zeus.) Muses is one of the city’s newer krewes, parading for the first time in 2001. (Rex, one of the oldest, was founded in 1872.) Like many krewes, Muses is involved in charitable efforts in the community, but it is particularly known for the ornate shoes it throws — or gently hands — to the crowds. Its floats, including one resembling a giant shoe, often have a satirical theme, and unlike other krewes, it does not have a king or queen. Instead, the group has an Honorary Muse. This year, it’s the journalist Tamron Hall. Chris Stanford contributed reporting. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. What would you like to see here? Contact us at asiabriefing@nytimes. com. | 1 |
INDIANAPOLIS — As the presidential race came to Indiana, candidates of both parties seized on a fresh example in this industrial state of factory jobs being shipped abroad. “Is anyone here from Carrier?” Donald J. Trump called out in Evansville, Ind. last week, referring to the Carrier Corporation’s closing of factories that make heating and units. “They let go of 1, 400 people to move to Mexico,” Mr. Trump said. “And you know what? They have to pay a consequence. ” At a union rally the next day at the State Capitol, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont thundered a message to the chief executive of United Technologies, Carrier’s parent company. “Stop the greed,” he shouted. “Stop destroying the middle class in America! Respect your workers!” The picture of manufacturing decline and retreat has become a driving narrative of the presidential race, spawning economic populism on both the left and the right. Yet Indiana, which holds its primary on Tuesday, defies an easy picture of Rust Belt decline. By many measures, the state is humming economically, offering a contrarian reality to the gloomy scenario that the presidential candidates are presenting to motivate voters. With nearly one in five jobs in manufacturing, the highest share of any state, Indiana’s gross domestic product is accelerating faster than any of its Great Lakes neighbors, according to the latest figures from the Commerce Department. Unemployment at the end of last year was 4. 4 percent, below the national average of about 5 percent. Even though the figure has ticked up in 2016, economists attribute the increase to the large number of people returning to the work force, including job seekers moving to Indiana. Factories in heavily industrial Elkhart County, a center of recreational vehicle manufacturing where unemployment has been significantly reduced, have resorted to calling a homeless shelter to look for workers. The Indianapolis region is growing faster than Chicago, Cleveland or Detroit, and personal income statewide rose 3. 6 percent last year, faster than the national average. “The economy here in terms of the data is as good as it’s been in a generation,” said Michael J. Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. Mr. Hicks said that if measured by the value of goods produced, manufacturing has never been stronger in Indiana. The boom in the auto industry has played a big role in this because of the many parts factories in the state. Factory jobs have declined, he added, but not because of trade deals with other countries as Mr. Trump and Mr. Sanders assert, but because Indiana factories are increasingly efficient and fewer workers are needed. “Manufacturing employment peaked in 1973,” he said, adding that since then the productivity of Indiana factory workers has climbed 250 percent. “We need far fewer workers, and a very different type of worker, too. ” In Warsaw, Ind. for example, a global center for manufacturing orthopedic devices, the workers are highly specialized. Despite increases in productivity, wages have stagnated in step with national trends, feeding widespread anxiety about the future. Candidates in both parties have channeled these fears at targets ranging from immigration to trade deals to the government. And Indiana economists point to pockets of weakness within the state. Like other Midwestern states, Indiana’s rural counties are emptying: Of the state’s 92 counties, 54 lost population in 2015, according to the Business Research Center at Indiana University. “Connersville in Fayette County, which was once called Little Detroit, they had close to 2, 000 manufacturing jobs and now are down to about 400,” said Timothy Slaper, an economist at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. Patti and Richard Schwalm, owners of a machine shop in rural Henry County, an hour’s drive east of Indianapolis, said they had to cut their staff to three employees in recent years. They blamed President Obama for hurting the manufacturers that are their clients. The Schwalms plan to vote for Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in the Republican primary. Pressed for details about Obama administration policies that hurt manufacturing, Ms. Schwalm acknowledged, “The problems we have are 50 years in the making. ” Todd Witte, who works in a factory in Fort Wayne, Ind. plans to vote on Tuesday for Mr. Sanders because of the senator’s opposition to trade deals and his history of walking union picket lines. If Mr. Sanders is not the Democratic nominee, Mr. Witte said, he will probably vote for Mr. Trump if he is nominated. “I like his views on the Second Amendment,” he said. “In our local, they’re either Bernie Sanders or Trump supporters. ” Mr. Witte was in attendance on Friday when Mr. Sanders addressed members of his union, the United Steelworkers, who were protesting the Carrier layoffs. Even as Mr. Sanders delivered a speech about the cost of trade deals, many union members in the crowd who did not work for Carrier said they were personally doing fine. Mr. Witte’s plant, owned by Dana Holding Corporation, plans to grow to 900 hourly workers from 535 in the next few years, according to Tom Herendeen, president of the United Steelworkers Local 903, who also attended the rally. “We’re doing great,” he said. “We have a lot of new business coming in. ” Carrier’s decision to lay off 2, 100 workers at two factories gained national attention in February when a video of an executive icily delivering the news to workers generated more 3. 5 million views. Mr. Trump took to criticizing the company and threatening high tariffs that he promised would force Carrier to reverse itself. “They’re going to call me and say, ‘Mr. President, Carrier has decided to stay in Indiana,’” he told the crowd. His protectionist policies, which go against decades of Republican orthodoxy, have brought the issue of trade and its potential costs to workers to the fore of the presidential race. Hillary Clinton has backed off her earlier support of the Partnership deal, and during a visit here she vowed to take on China for dumping steel. Because the loss of manufacturing jobs has many factors and predates the latest international trade deals and the rise of China, economists say that steep new tariffs, such as those promised by Mr. Trump, will not restore jobs. Mr. Hicks, the Ball State economist, predicted that Indiana will have 125, 000 new openings in manufacturing jobs, in part because of retirements, each year in the next decade. “By way of comparison,” he wrote in a blog post, “we will only have 70, 000 high school graduates per year. ” | 1 |
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — On the grounds of the Old State Capitol here, where nearly 160 years ago, Abraham Lincoln held forth on “a house divided,” Hillary Clinton on Wednesday lamented the Party of Lincoln’s transition to the Party of Trump, casting the present moment as an indelible stain on Republican history. Yet even as she savaged Donald J. Trump as an existential threat to American democracy, a week before Republicans plan to nominate him for president in Cleveland, Mrs. Clinton set off on a delicate balancing act of her own. She waded with care into the thickets of national reckonings over police violence and violence against the police, hoping to position herself as an unlikely agent of harmony. And in an uncharacteristic admission, Mrs. Clinton assumed responsibility for at least a small measure of the fractiousness in the national discourse. “I cannot stand here and claim that my words and actions haven’t sometimes fueled the partisanship that often stands in the way of our progress,” she told a small audience that crowded beneath a grand ceiling here. “So I recognize I have to do better, too. ” Though Mrs. Clinton has for weeks stressed unity as the binding theme of her campaign — making speeches in front of “Stronger Together” signs — the staging on Wednesday was particularly unsubtle. She immediately invoked President Lincoln, quoting from his speech on June 16, 1858. She spoke slowly and sternly, as if narrating a documentary, railing against a litany of national hardships: gun violence, economic inequality, an overreliance on the police to remedy societal ills. She suggested reassuringly that America had overcome much more than its recent pain and political fury. “The challenges we face today do not approach those of Lincoln’s time. Not even close,” she said. “But recent events have left people across America asking hard questions about whether we are still a house divided. ” For a candidate not known for soaring oratory, and often not especially comfortable pursuing it, the venue was something of a risky choice, inviting comparisons to some of the most stirring speakers in American history. Nearly a century and a half after Lincoln condemned slavery here, Senator Barack Obama stood before the Capitol in February 2007 to announce his bid for president. Mrs. Clinton’s aides had billed this speech as a major address, hoping to build on remarks last week before black clergy members in Philadelphia, when she urged white Americans to “do a better job of listening when talk. ” She did touch on the deaths of black men in Louisiana and in Minnesota, and the deaths of five police officers in Dallas, reciting all of their names. She also cited the deaths of five Latinos in episodeslast week. But during her remarks, Mrs. Clinton trained her attention largely on Mr. Trump, whose campaign she called “as divisive as any we have seen in our lifetimes. ” In perhaps her most zealous flourish, she noted that Mr. Trump had suggested Tuesday night that he could relate to systemic bias against black Americans because “even against me, the system is rigged. ” “Even this, the killing of black people by police, is somehow about him,” Mrs. Clinton said. As the Republican Party prepares to nominate Mr. Trump next week, Mrs. Clinton seemed inclined to highlight the consequences of that choice at every opportunity. She mocked Mr. Trump’s reference last week to “Article 12” of the Constitution, which does not exist, and wondered about giving him access to the levers of power. “Imagine if he had not just Twitter and cable news to go after his critics and opponents, but also the I. R. S. — or for that matter, our entire military,” she said. As she moves to portray Mr. Trump as a purveyor of national chaos, Mrs. Clinton is also seeking to bridge a divide in her own party. Her campaign is hopeful that the endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Tuesday will help bring Democrats together in earnest before the party’s convention in Philadelphia in two weeks. Implicit in her comments on Wednesday was a plea for empathy, even for political opponents — a striking gesture from Mrs. Clinton, who has long inspired intense partisan passions and was criticized last year for saying in a debate that Republicans were the “enemy” she was proudest to have made. “Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of Donald Trump’s supporters,” said Mrs. Clinton, who speaks often of her family’s roots. (Her father owned a small drapery business in Chicago.) “We may disagree on the causes and the solutions to the challenges we face,” she continued, “but I believe, like anyone else, they’re trying to figure out their place in a America. ” Wrapping up, Mrs. Clinton strayed from her prepared text to describe a song from the musical “Hamilton,” which she saw for the third time on Tuesday, telling the crowd that history had its eyes on how Americans respond to this moment. Then she quoted Lincoln once more. “If we do the work, we will ‘cease to be divided,’” she said. “We, in fact, will be indivisible — with liberty and justice for all. And we will remain — in President Lincoln’s words — the last, best hope of earth. ” | 1 |
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November 6, 2016 Greatest Basketball Player Of Our Era To Help First Woman President Beat Biggest Asshole Of All Time Google Pinterest Digg Linkedin Reddit Stumbleupon Print Delicious Pocket Tumblr
He is perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time, certainly of the current era, and he’s with her.
Cleveland’s LeBron James has announced that he will be stumping for Hillary when she makes a stop in the crucial city in one of the most hotly contested battleground states in the country. James and Clinton will appear together at a get-out-the-vote rally at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio in the late afternoon. This will be James’s first appearance with Clinton. In fact, a source says, the two have never met. James – a hero to many Ohio sports fans, especially in the African American community – could prove helpful to Clinton’s effort to win the state’s 18 electoral votes. While Clinton is handily beating Donald Trump among African American voters, she is struggling to gin up enthusiasm. According to the 2010 census, 53 percent of Clevelanders are African American.
The stakes could not be higher. If Clinton can win Ohio, there is almost no scenario in which Trump can win. If Ohio goes for Trump, then he has a real shot of becoming president. As Ohio’s biggest star (sorry, John Kasich), James has a lot of power to motivate people to get out and vote. It could be a difference-maker in a tight election.
James’ decision to stump with Hillary comes after other big-name celebrities publicly expressed their support for her campaign. Just days ago, musical power couple Beyonce and Jay Z held a concert in support of Clinton. The star power has spooked Trump’s campaign, as evidenced by the fact that they are claiming the celebrities backing Hillary give her an “unfair” advantage. Trump, a man who once okay’d a DJ calling his daughter a “piece of ass” and who bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy,” went so far as to lament the language used in some of Jay Z’s songs.
“He used every word in the book last night,” Trump said. “He used language last night that was so bad and then Hillary said, ‘I did not like Donald Trump’s lewd language.’ My lewd language. I tell you what, I’ve never said what he said in my life.”
Eye roll.
Meanwhile, in related news, Trump will be campaigning with his own star power tonight. The cream of the crop. The best of the best. The A-lister…Ted Nugent. A man who once “ joked ” about shooting Hillary Clinton with a machine gun.
“Obama, he’s a piece of shit. I told him to suck on my machine gun. Hey Hillary,” he continued. “You might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch.”
Yeah, Trump sure seems concerned about what language musicians use.
Featured image via Jamie Sabau/Getty Images Share this Article! | 0 |
We Are Change
A man posing as a construction worker destroyed Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a pickaxe and a sledgehammer early Wednesday morning, as bystanders stopped and watched.
The vandalism was captured on video shortly before 6 a.m. The star, Trump’s name, and the camera icon sitting in the center were all destroyed. The cost of the damage is estimated to be around $2,500.
The vandal identified himself as “Jamie Otis,” to Deadline Hollywood, and explained that he was planning to “extract the star to auction it off and raise funds” for the women who have accused Trump of being sexually inappropriate. He chatted casually with a person who filmed the incident on his cellphone.
By the time that police arrived, the man had already left. He is described as a white male, and left behind the pick, sledgehammer, a construction hat, and vest, USA Today reports.
“We’re reviewing surveillance footage from local businesses and when the case is completed, it will be submitted to the district attorney for filing of a felony vandalism charge,” Officer Norma Eisenman told USA Today.
The star was dedicated in 2007, and sat at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. by the Dolby Theatre — across the street from the busy Hollywood & Highland shopping and entertainment center. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has said in a statement that Trump’s star will be replaced immediately, and work has already began on it — though it will have to sit for a couple of days before it can be polished.
“When people are unhappy with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways than to vandalize a California state landmark,” Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Leron Gubler said. “Our democracy is based on respect for the law. People can make a difference by voting and not destroying public property.”
Gubler added that they intend to prosecute the vandal to the fullest extent of the law when he is located.
The star has been a target of vandalism throughout the election season, by people repeatedly spray painting it — and even defecating on it.
In February, the star was defaced with a large black swastika.
Someone painted a swastika over Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star https://t.co/FvSKy7CuyY pic.twitter.com/k1Mw5irqcs
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 1, 2016
In May, someone spray painted a large mute sign over it.
Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of #Fame star was just enhanced with a muted #sign painted by Norwegian #artist Pøbel. pic.twitter.com/kBqQeJic5l
— All Public Art (@allpublicart) May 9, 2016
It has disgustingly been covered in both human and animal bodily waste.
Donald Trump's star on Hollywood walk of fame … covered in dog poop https://t.co/xDRH6Wea45 pic.twitter.com/lOB8gV2GjB
— NTXProgressive (@NTXProgressive) April 5, 2016
I spit on Trump's walk of fame star pic.twitter.com/BJ66IiGbQt
— Anna Švercl Hetzer (@anna_hetzer) March 13, 2016
I didn't even know Trump had a star on the Walk of Fame, but we discovered it this weekend… covered in urine. pic.twitter.com/bTTu0FvXuj
— Ken Peters (@brand_BIG) March 22, 2016
In June, it was vandalized again.
Folks wrote on Trump's star. I'm tripping. I'm not sure if y'all can see that but it says "F Donald Trump" pic.twitter.com/bgcb0ox92Z
— Juice Welch (@GrapeJuiceMe) June 7, 2016
A picture I took of Donald Trump's star on the Walk of Fame in LA a few months ago pic.twitter.com/FnuKhRY7n4
— Khalid (@WorldOfK_) March 10, 2016
In July, a protester and street artist who goes by the name “Plastic Jesus” built a tiny wall out of concrete around the star. The wall was complete with barbed wire and “keep out” signs.
“Hollywood sight-seers on the famous walk of fame were confronted with an unusual edition to Trump’s Famous Star. Someone had built a 6? tall grey concrete wall around it. Complete with ‘Keep out’ signs and topped with razor wire. The unofficial addition to the iconic star appeared early Tuesday afternoon, to the amusement of onlookers,” Plastic Jesus wrote of the wall on Instagram.
Street artist Plastic Jesus surrounds Donald Trump's star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame with a tiny barbed wire wall pic.twitter.com/nhk64pRCck
— BBC Newsbeat (@BBCNewsbeat) July 21, 2016
Anyone with information about Wednesday’s vandal is asked to call the Los Angeles Police Department at (213)972-2971.
The post VIDEO: Trump’s Hollywood Star Smashed by Lunatic with Sledgehammer appeared first on We Are Change .
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Some companies, including Exxon Mobil, say the economics of climate change are too hard to predict for them to give investors hard numbers about the business impact of global warming. Federal regulators may disagree and are considering requiring Exxon to do just that for the value of its oil reserves. Now a legislative effort by a Florida congressman to prevent such a move by the federal government has become an unexpected flash point in the battle over disclosing risks — with potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in the balance. The congressional measure, an amendment to an appropriations bill, originally introduced in July by Representative Bill Posey, a Florida Republican, has been picked up in the Senate version of the legislation. Because the bill is tied up in a partisan debate over spending, there is no certainty the amendment will pass. But at a time when many Republicans dispute the very notion of climate change, the Posey measure has focused the debate over whether it is reasonable — or even possible — to expect companies to put a price tag on the environmental impact of climate change. Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, has called climate change “a hoax” and promises to slash environmental regulations to bolster economic growth. The issue is not limited to Exxon and oil companies. The Posey amendment would allow real estate companies to stay mum on the risks posed to waterfront properties by rising seas, for example, and let food companies leave the impact of future water shortages unaddressed. “Whether it’s oil, apparel, clothing, utility — almost everything in our economy is built off of some use of natural resources, and the risks they face are substantial,” said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres, a nonprofit organization that works with some of the world’s largest investors on climate change issues. But some companies, including Exxon, contend that the economics of climate change are unpredictable and that global growth will continue to create demand for resources, making it even more difficult to come up with hard numbers. Representative Posey is among those who say the federal government has no business forcing businesses to try. He accuses the financial regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, of pursuing a political agenda by pressing companies to quantify climate risks. “These politically motivated and mandated disclosures are not about protecting investors, they are about shaming companies, or at least attempting to shame companies, into adopting their agenda,” he said in July. “It is a waste of resources for the companies, for their shareholders, and for the S. E. C. ,” said Mr. Posey, who has accepted donations from oil and gas companies. George Cecala, a spokesman for Mr. Posey, did not respond to requests for further comment. Advocates of fuller corporate disclosure say the sums at stake are vast. Even under a plan that would limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius — a goal agreed to as part of the Paris deal — climate change could wipe out $1. 7 trillion of global financial assets, according to a study published earlier this year in the journal Nature. “How could anybody tell the S. E. C. to ignore the climate?” Ms. Lubber of Ceres said. The issue has been for investors, corporate executives and environmental leaders gathered in New York this week for Climate Week, an annual showcase tied to the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. Discussions here have been galvanized by news that more than 20 world leaders had ratified the Paris climate accord on Wednesday, all but ensuring that the agreement will be adopted by the end of the year. And Exxon’s acknowledgment that the S. E. C. was asking about its accounting gave further hope to proponents of fuller disclosure. Already, a shift in the global energy landscape, brought on partly by a surge in drilling in United States oil and gas shale fields, has brought about a slump in fuel prices, calling into question the viability of future oil projects in places like the Arctic and deepwater oceans. And scientists estimate that as much as of the world’s coal, oil and gas reserves must remain in the ground if the world has a shot at keeping carbon emissions under levels set by the Paris climate accord — unless there is a technological breakthrough in capturing carbon and keeping it out of the atmosphere. Exxon and its American oil industry peers have been reluctant to estimate the risks to their balance sheets. That contrasts with oil companies in Europe, which have been writing down the value of their assets over the last two years as oil prices plummeted. Energy experts say that is largely because international financial reporting standards require more detailed reporting on asset valuations than the standards in the United States. Last year, Statoil, the Norwegian oil giant, wrote down the value of its North American shale and oil sands assets by $4 billion. Royal Dutch Shell reported a of more than $8 billion. “The rules are different, the relationships between the companies and governments are different, and Europe has clearer carbon policies,” said Michael Webber, associate director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. Exxon Mobil, which has accumulated assets over decades, has long argued that its executives take a long view that includes periods of both low and high commodity prices that swing as a matter of normal course. In its filings to the S. E. C. Exxon Mobil has reported that it has its major assets and expects that future cash flow could sustain even its most economically challenged oil and gas fields. The company has conceded that a future of assets is possible if its projections change. Still, most oil companies, including Exxon Mobil, predict that oil and natural gas prices will recover over the next few years and that demand for those fossil fuels will continue to increase along with growing populations and middle classes in emerging markets. The companies also say that projections are difficult without knowing what future regulations will entail, or how new technologies might help curtail greenhouse gas emissions. “This is like being blindfolded, shooting in the dark at a moving target,” said Fadel Gheit, a senior energy analyst at Oppenheimer Company. The one certainty is that the United States oil industry is already under severe financial pressure. Last year, American petroleum producers wrote down $177 billion in assets, according to a recent report by IHS Energy. Exxon Mobil is in far better financial condition than most other companies in the industry. But this year the company, stretched by debt, lost its AAA credit rating. And while the fossil fuel companies may face the biggest climate change risks, the need for financial disclosure stretches to other industries, said Mark Campanale, founder and executive director at Carbon Tracker, a financial think tank that focuses on energy and climate change. “Banks are lending to fossil fuel projects, and ports and railroads are being built to handle coal, and that’s not viable,” Mr. Campanale said. “We’re talking about a highly disruptive transition, and companies aren’t properly disclosing what that transition will look like. ” Efforts are now afoot to set standards for disclosing climate change risks, most notably by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, a nonprofit group whose chairman is Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York mayor. The board estimates that there are significant climate risks for most companies it tracks, which represent $27. 5 trillion, or 93 percent, of United States stocks as measured by market value. Some companies have led the way with disclosure. The global agriculture giant Adecoagro, in an April 2015 S. E. C. filing, reported that drought had reduced yields for its corn and soybean harvest by as much as 31 percent, and warned that “the occurrence of severe adverse weather conditions, especially droughts, hail, floods or frost or diseases are unpredictable and may have a potentially devastating impact” on future agricultural production. Jean Rogers, chief executive of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, says more companies should acknowledge the threat. “Climate risk is the most ubiquitous risk out there,” Ms. Rogers said. “There’s no excuse anymore. We know what the risks are, industry by industry. ” | 1 |
Ratings for the 89th annual Academy Awards slid for a second consecutive year as a slew of wins for La La Land, a shock Best Picture win for Moonlight and a game host in Jimmy Kimmel couldn’t move the needle this year. [According to Deadline, the 49 minute Oscar broadcast on ABC averaged a 22. in metered market results, in the “early” numbers, marking a for the show. The Hollywood Reporter notes that figure is down around four percent from last year’s telecast, which drew a 23. 4 rating in the early numbers. Last year’s broadcast ultimately drew 34. 4 million viewers, enough to make it the third Oscars ever, so the lower initial numbers could mean this year’s broadcast drew even less total viewers. Sunday night’s ceremony featured plenty of Trump jokes from host Jimmy Kimmel, political statements from some of the honorees and presenters and one major upset. At the tail end of the nearly show, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway mistakenly named La La Land the winner of the night’s biggest award, when Moonlight had actually won. La La producer Jordan Horowitz paused midway through his acceptance speech to announce that a mistake had been made and called the cast and producers of Moonlight to the stage to hand them his Oscar. ’La La Land’ producer: ”There’s a mistake. ’Moonlight’ you guys won Best Picture. This is not a joke.” #Oscars pic. twitter. — Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 27, 2017, The night also featured fiery political speeches from Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, who blasted Trump’s proposed temporary immigration ban in his acceptance speech for Best Foreign Language Film, and from Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, who criticized Trump’s proposal to build a wall on the U. S. border. As for the awards: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) took home the Best Actor prize while Emma Stone (La La Land) won Best Actress. Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) won Best Supporting Actor and Viola Davis (Fences) won Best Supporting Actress. Damien Chazelle (La La Land) won Best Director, and the musical also picked up awards for Best Original Score, Best Original Song and Best Cinematography. Stay tuned for updated ratings later Monday, and see more from the 89th Academy Awards at the Breitbart News livewire. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum | 1 |
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Trump “You Can’t Read 650k Emails in 8 days, Hillary is GUILTY!” Trump “You Can’t Read 650k Emails in 8 days, Hillary is GUILTY!” Breaking News By Amy Moreno November 7, 2016
Trump weighed in on the CORRUPTION FIASCO created and perpetuated by the FBI.
Comey, the DISGRACED FBI director, re-opened the email investigation into Hillary Clinton’s CRIMINAL mishandling of classified emails after finding 650K NEW emails on Anthony Weiner’s computer that were “directly tied” to Hillary’s case.
As Hillary began TANKING in the polls, Comey came out and said, “Oh, whoops, nothing to see here, Hillary’s fine, no charges!”
Now, how the hell do you go through 650K emails in 8 days, when previously it took the FBI over a YEAR to go through 53k?
It doesn’t happen.
We all know that the RIGGED SYSTEM which Hillary used to STEAL the primary is the SAME RIGGED SYSTEM she uses to keep her out of jail.
There are countless GOOD people rotting away in prison for doing a TINY FRACTION of what Hillary did.
How is that fair?
In addition, we just learned that Hillary Clinton had her MAID printing off classified documents for her.
That’s right, he MAID, for the love of god.
Also, the FBI says that at least 5 foreign countries hacked her system.
…and this criminal-harpy is running for president?
No. Over 80% of Americans believe Hillary is GUILTY.
SAY NO to this vile crap, AMERICA.
From Politico:
Reacting to news that the FBI won’t change its determination in the Hillary Clinton email probe, Republican nominee Donald Trump made it clear he still regards her as guilty and is convinced she will ultimately face justice.
“You can’t review 650,000 emails in eight days,” Trump said Sunday in an appearance at the Freedom Hill Amphitheater. “You can’t do it folks. Hillary Clinton is guilty.”
This is a movement – we are the political OUTSIDERS fighting against the FAILED GLOBAL 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 |
Assuming Senate Democrats cannot torpedo his confirmation, Neil Gorsuch will be a welcome addition to a Supreme Court often divided over questions of policing, law enforcement, and criminal justice. [The Court’s four liberals — Justices Ginsberg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan too often think of themselves as super legislators rather than judges when they do their opinions reflect their personal proclivities rather than the strict letter of the law. Not so Neil Gorsuch, who prides himself on deciding cases based on the law rather than the outcome he would prefer. In his remarks at the White House, when President Trump nominated him, he said that “A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge, stretching for results he prefers rather than those the law demands. ” Gorsuch may not have been accusing the four SCOTUS liberals of being bad judges — he is too polite to do that — but his remarks set him far apart from the ideal liberal judge, who cares little about what the law says, but instead cares a lot about the outcome and its impact on his favorite issues and perceived victims. Liberals’ view of judging was confirmed in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee released this week, when some 100 liberal organizations predictably demanded that Gorsuch not be confirmed because he is not sufficiently sympathetic to “workers’ rights, immigration, women’s health, LGBT rights, police misconduct, students with disabilities, corporate bias, money in politics, environmental protection and voting rights. ” Which is exactly Gorsuch’s point: treat everybody equally under the law, regardless of who they are, and don’t go beyond what the written law provides. A review of opinions Gorsuch as written or joined while on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, together with speeches he has given, indicates that as a Supreme Court justice, he would likely be admired by the law enforcement community. Not because he is “ ” or “ offender,” but because he would be “ . ” In other words, law enforcement will likely approve of his jurisprudence more for what he is not than what he is — and what he is not is why the liberals don’t think he should be confirmed. That is, he rules predictably, according to the law, rather than trying to favor those the liberals think need an advocate. That is also not to say that he will be a inalterably strident justice. His Tenth Circuit opinions include cases where he ruled in favor of police officers, and cases where he ruled against them who, for whatever reason, deserved being ruled against. First, Gorsuch believes that there are far too many laws — 5, 000 or so “with hundreds of new statutory crimes inked every few years,” as he told the Federalist Society in 2013, which, he said “does not begin to count the thousands of additional regulatory crimes buried in the federal register. There are so many crimes cowled in the numbering fine print of those pages that scholars actually debate their number. ” Reform of the criminal code is a job for Congress, not the Court, but intelligent critique from a thoughtful Justice might inspire somebody on the Hill to get started with the project. Gorsuch’s critique of the criminal justice system seems confined to the above point rather than the left’s view that the system is laden with racism and that the police tend to disproportionately arrest minorities, the poor and minor drug offenders, resulting in what liberals refer to as “mass incarceration. ” It is on this point that the left will focus its opposition to his confirmation, among others. In an early critique of his record, for example, People for the American Way wrote that “at a time when the abuses of our criminal justice system are becoming a national crisis, we cannot confirm a justice who does not understand the role of the Supreme Court to protect the most vulnerable among us. ” Gorsuch may be bad news for People for the American Way, but he is good news for law enforcement. Second, Gorsuch has a solid record on cases, an issue often addressed by the courts he generally, but not always, takes a enforcement position. In a 2013 case, he sided in the majority in a split, finding the use of a Taser resulting in the death of an offender was a reasonable use of force under the circumstances. In an earlier case, in 2006, Gorsuch, in a dissent in an en banc civil case against an officer, in which he was joined by four other judges, asked whether any use of force, no matter how slight, might result in a finding that the force was excessive. But by no means did he always rule on the side of the police — in at least two other cases, he found the use of force was excessive and that the officers in question were not entitled to qualified immunity. In another case involving a kid who kept his class amused by forcing air into his stomach and producing loud burps — much to the annoyance of his teacher — Gorsuch dissented from the ruling, finding the police were immune from a civil suit when they arrested and detained him, writing that the teacher went overboard by failing to properly discipline the child and had him arrested by police. A 2012 case is a good indicator of Gorsuch’s strong conviction that criminal laws should not be interpreted in such a way as to jeopardize innocent conduct, just because that conduct can be squeezed between the words of a statute. The case in question involved a felon charged with possessing a gun in violation of a statute which prohibits the “knowing” possession of a firearm by a felon. Gorsuch, in his opinion, reminds us that plenty of minor crimes may technically involve felony convictions even if no jail time is included, so that the convicted defendant may not know he was guilty of a felony. “There can be fewer graver injustices,” wrote Gorsuch, “in a society governed by the rule of law than imprisoning a man without requiring proof of his guilt under the written laws of the land. Yet that is what Capps (the precedent relied on by the prosecutor) permits, excusing the government from proving an essential element of the crime Congress recognized. ” Even if Gorsuch’s narrow reading of the criminal law is sometimes more favorable to the criminal defendant than the prosecutor, those in the criminal justice and law enforcement communities will find his approach a refreshing, and consistent, change from the liberal view that the law should be read more as the judge wishes it had been written, or even by finding some obscure reasoning in the legislative history, or a comment from a member of the legislature that enacted it, giving it a broader interpretation than the written words. | 1 |
Anyone inclined to find joy when a president’s taste collides with yours had a lot to choose from with Barack Obama. There was the time he dropped by the Los Angeles garage where the comedian Marc Maron records his podcast or when he sat between the two ferns where Zach Galifianakis pretends to be a boob hosting a talk show. At the 2015 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, he did a bit with Key as Luther, Mr. Obama’s fictional but legitimately irate “anger translator” from “Key Peele. ” He called Kanye West a jackass, invited Miranda to the White House Poetry Jam to perform a song from “Hamilton” before “Hamilton” was even a thing, and, for two straight years, dropped thoroughly convincing Spotify playlists. That doesn’t even include the New York Review of Books conversation (in two parts!) between him and the novelist Marilynne Robinson. They talked about … about … well it’s just sobering and oracular, and you should read it. But of all the culture Barack Obama has been a part of, inspired, commented on or cultivated, of all the ways in which the culture seemed to evolve around — and unconsciously respond to — him, the thing that says so much about his unprecedented relationship to art and popular culture is actually, in the vast scheme of things, just a footnote. Which is to say it’s pretty small yet so illustrative of his sense of respect, professionalism and awe. It was the time he was emailed for a quote. The occasion was the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors. The inductees included Carole King, who sat in the balcony between her fellow inductee George Lucas and the first couple. And during Ms. King’s tribute, out came Aretha Franklin, who sat at a piano in a fur coat and sang “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” the classic Ms. King wrote, and Ms. Franklin released in 1967. Her appearance was pretty much expected. The shock was how powerfully good, at 73, Ms. Franklin sounded — so good that you worried ecstasy would send Ms. King toppling off the balcony, so good that Mr. Obama wiped tears from his eyes. For a critical profile of Ms. Franklin in The New Yorker, its editor, David Remnick, reached out to the president. As a critic, I feel a duty to point out that that’s an unusual move. Mr. Remnick is also, among other things, a critic. He knows Ms. Franklin’s worth as an American treasure and that it has no price. He’s more than equipped to sum her up. But he outsourced that job. To the president of the United States. And if you got to that section of that story and considered rolling your eyes (“When I emailed President Obama about Aretha Franklin and that night … ”) you immediately retreated when you read what Mr. Obama wrote in response. “Nobody embodies more fully the connection between the spiritual, the blues, R. B. rock and roll — the way that hardship and sorrow were transformed into something full of beauty and vitality and hope,” he wrote back, through his press secretary. “American history wells up when Aretha sings. That’s why, when she sits down at a piano and sings ‘A Natural Woman,’ she can move me to tears — the same way that Ray Charles’s version of ‘America the Beautiful’ will always be in my view the most patriotic piece of music ever performed — because it captures the fullness of the American experience, the view from the bottom as well as the top, the good and the bad, and the possibility of synthesis, reconciliation, transcendence. ” Mr. Remnick wrote to him because he knew that Barack Obama would deliver. Mr. Remnick asked for two cents. The president gave him a dollar. Mr. Obama, for nearly all of his tenure, was fully aware of, interested in, and knowledgeable about popular culture, even as it grew impossible to take it all in. He tried: sports, movies, television, the internet, music, books. He was protean and catholic. He was thoughtful and cool and yet far from it. He was a version of America’s dad and the dad some kids wished theirs could be: fit for world leadership, fit for a sitcom. Lots of smart people are poring over Mr. Obama’s record to divine a legacy. Which policies will last? How did he change the job? How did he distinguish himself? But this was a presidency whose few faint whiffs of scandal included being surreptitiously videoed last year by Usher dancing listlessly to Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” which was more than a year old. So to be fair: It’s an addictive song, and he moved like someone who had been dancing to it since it came out. In other words, Mr. Obama’s place in popular culture has always felt new, alive and mostly underappreciated. Obviously, other presidents have had a relationship with American culture. Television was in its creative infancy when Dwight D. Eisenhower entered office in 1953, and he took quick advantage of the power of its immediacy. When John F. Kennedy turned 45, he received American history’s most famous “Happy Birthday” from Marilyn Monroe. But it was tragedy and a glamorous wife that ensured Kennedy’s legacy in popular culture. Richard Nixon disliked “All in the Family” and was an avid moviegoer, who according to Mark Feeney’s surprising book “Nixon at the Movies,” watched about 500 films during his presidency. Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood actor before he was a politician, and, as a candidate, Bill Clinton made a lot of sense on MTV and Arsenio Hall’s talk show. But has any president been as conversant in the art and popular culture of this country as Barack Obama? Who has been as committed to opening up the White House to the sorts of artists he has? Lunches with the novelists Zadie Smith, Barbara Kingsolver, Junot Díaz, Dave Eggers and Colson Whitehead. One lunch, actually. That was one lunch. Initiative summits that included Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, Ludacris, Rick Ross, Pusha T. Common and Chance the Rapper. (So many different rappers and RB singers have come through the White House in the last eight years that the BET Awards could sue for copyright infringement.) Last year, Barack and Michelle Obama hosted “Jazz at the White House,” which featured appearances by so many magnificent, important people that to type out all the names — Chick Corea, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ms. Franklin, for openers — is to make a very fancy shopping list. Mr. Obama brought all kinds of art and culture into the White House, and he sought culture out. At the same time, how we experience that art and culture, changed as much as the culture itself. When he entered office, in 2009, Netflix was a service. Now it’s a major reason we no longer watch TV we scarf it down. But that disruption — from channels and networks to platforms and apps — also unleashed TV that looked more like America: more nonwhite characters, more women, more gays. He presided over an era in which television and movies grappled with the meaning and meaninglessness of race, whether to laugh at it or take it seriously or ignore it altogether, whether the idea of a postracial America was ever possible, as though electing a black man for eight years erases the traumas of 400. To that end, “30 Rock” was the great situation comedy — a workplace farce, on and loosely about NBC, that hit its stride in 2008 and ran until 2013. Not so secretly, it was about the insurmountable work of race and gender. Meanwhile, the American movie industry went all in on franchises and sequels while leaving art and humanity for TV. But the “Fast and Furious” movies did bounce off the assembly line. The series started in 2001, essentially died in 2003, and came roaring back to life at the start of Mr. Obama’s first term and is ludicrously yet thankfully on the verge of an eighth installment. The protagonists are car thieves turned action heroes, who are mostly black, Asian, Latina or racially ambiguous. These aren’t great movies. But they’re great, fun: serious and without too much (or any) . And they take an issue that Hollywood has always struggled with — what to do with all these talented, interesting people of color? — and laughs at it. What to do? It’s not that hard: Let ’em drive. Mr. Obama had his priorities straight, of course. Pop culture and art aren’t aspects of American life that should dominate a presidency. They have little to do with the business of governance. But Mr. Obama has always seemed to understand the importance of culture as mirror, window, escape hatch and haven. The Obamas were catholic in their tastes not because they had to be, but because that’s what we should be: open. Their minds were open, their hearts were open, their arms were open — to the Willie Nelsons, the Beyoncés, the Junot Díazes, to all kinds of excellence. One of the happiest cultural events I’ve ever watched was the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony in November. The honor went to 21 men and women, from Robert De Niro and Tom Hanks and Michael Jordan to Cicely Tyson and Diana Ross and Ellen DeGeneres. Bill and Melinda Gates were honored. So were Maya Lin and Robert Redford. Mr. Obama had good material for most of them — philanthropists, movies stars, architect, alike. And, as he so often does and gets nary enough credit for, he delivered it with perfectly timed drollery. (He could easily enjoy a second career as a comedian.) These people meant something to him. His joshing notwithstanding, a few of them appeared to mean everything. The knock on Mr. Obama was that he was dry and aloof. Perhaps but not always. He understood what laughter could do. He knew the power of songs. He knew the power of singers, even if the only person doing the singing was, at first, only him. In 2015, at the memorial service after the Charleston massacre, he takes a dramatic, deliberative pause before intoning the lyrics to “Amazing Grace. ” He starts and the choir behind him rises, out of surprise. You can tell he’s not singing because he thinks his baritone sounds good. He’s singing because something’s come over him, the way it does me, the way it does lots of people. What appears to have come over him at that memorial is both a sincere holiness and a rare, powerfully particular recognition of the glory and tragic risk of being black and American: He had to sing. In that moment, that song was all he seemed to have. That’s not a sensation you go looking for. It finds you. Good historians tend to know the right moment to evaluate a president’s place. They wait until the office is behind him, for the right mix of distance and scholarship. In the meantime, Barack Obama’s performance as president — meaning the performance he gave in the role of president of the United States — was flawless. Culturally speaking, he didn’t use his office to lift up, enlighten and entertain so much as share it. He wrote to David Remnick that he loved Ray Charles’s version of “America the Beautiful” because “it captures the fullness of the American experience, the view from the bottom as well as the top, the good and the bad, and the possibility of synthesis, reconciliation, transcendence. ” The man knows his country and his Ray. But it’s entirely possible to read that quote and catch a chill because Mr. Obama could easily have been writing about himself. | 1 |
in: Politics , War Propaganda If you want to see war without end, vote for Hillary Clinton. It is tremendously ironic that Hillary Clinton and the mainstream media have attempted to portray Donald Trump as “dangerous” and “temperamental”, because it is Clinton that actually has a long history of being emotionally unstable. She has a temper that is absolutely legendary, and she has been cussing out the men and women in her security detail for decades . Hillary Clinton played a key role in starting the civil war in Syria, thanks to her Libya is a post-apocalyptic wasteland today, and now she is picking a fight with the Russians before she has even won the election. Of all the candidates there were running for president this election cycle, there was nobody that was even close to as dangerous as Hillary Clinton, and if she wins the election I am fully convinced that World War 3 will begin before her time in the White House is over. Someone that shares this opinion with me is Donald Trump. According to Reuters , Trump recently stated that we are “going to end up in World War Three over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton”… On Syria’s civil war, Trump said Clinton could drag the United States into a world war with a more aggressive posture toward resolving the conflict. Clinton has called for the establishment of a no-fly zone and “safe zones” on the ground to protect non-combatants. Some analysts fear that protecting those zones could bring the United States into direct conflict with Russian fighter jets. “What we should do is focus on ISIS. We should not be focusing on Syria,” said Trump as he dined on fried eggs and sausage at his Trump National Doral golf resort. “You’re going to end up in World War Three over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton.” In order to have a no-fly zone in Syria, you would have to enforce it. And in order to enforce it, you would have to be willing to shoot at the Russians. According to National Intelligence Director James Clapper , that could have dire consequences… Russia could shoot down a U.S. aircraft if a no-fly zone were imposed over Syria, National Intelligence Director James Clapper said Tuesday. “I wouldn’t put it past them to shoot down an American aircraft if they felt that was threatening to their forces on the ground,” Clapper said, speaking with CBS’ Charlie Rose at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York about several national security issues. Of course Clapper is not alone in that assessment. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Francis Dunford, says that imposing a no-fly zone over all of Syria “would require us to go to war” … “Right now, Senator, for us to control all of the airspace in Syria it would require us to go to war, against Syria and Russia,… That’s a pretty fundamental decision that certainly I’m not going to make.” ( Senate Armed Services Committee, September 22, 2016, emphasis added) But Hillary Clinton is unwavering in her position that this is what she wants. You see, the truth is that Hillary Clinton wants to win the war that she started in Syria. Back in 2011, she spearheaded an effort along with Saudi Arabia and Turkey to try to use the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East as an opportunity to try to overthrow President Assad in Syria. If it wasn’t for her meddling, millions of refugees would not be pouring into Europe and elsewhere, and there would be no “humanitarian crisis” in Syria at all. Thanks to Russian intervention, the war in Syria is not too far from being over, but the Obama administration is desperate to keep it going. They understand that if Assad is victorious that all of their efforts for the last five years have been wasted, and that is why they are so determined to keep Aleppo from falling. Without Aleppo, many of the jihadist rebels that the Obama administration has been supporting won’t have anywhere to hide. So the Obama administration has actually been considering direct strikes against the Syrian military, and the Russians have already said that they will not allow this to happen . If Obama is insane enough to order airstrikes against Syrian forces and the Russians start shooting back, that could set off a chain of events that could rapidly spiral completely out of control. One recent survey found that current American leadership has a 1 percent approval rating in Russia right now, and the Russians dislike Hillary Clinton even more than they dislike Barack Obama. The Russians know that if Hillary Clinton is elected that it is quite likely that they will have to fight a war with us, and that is why they desperately want Donald Trump to win in November. You can see this outlook reflected in comments that Russian President Vladimir Putin recently made about the two candidates … “Mrs. Clinton has chosen to take up a very aggressive stance against our country, against Russia. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, calls for cooperation – at least when it comes to the international fight against terrorism,” Putin said. “Naturally we welcome those who would like to cooperate with us. And we consider it wrong, that we always have to be in conflict with one another, creating existential threats for each other and for the whole world,” Putin noted. Anyone that watched the three presidential debates could see that Hillary Clinton is absolutely seething with animosity for Russia. The thought of her finger on the nuclear trigger is almost too terrible to contemplate, but it may soon become a reality. And even now, the Obama administration and our NATO allies are shifting forces into position for a confrontation with Moscow. This week it is being reported that NATO troops will soon be sent to Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania … Nine hundred US troops are to be sent to eastern Europe next year as America’s troubled relationship with Russia enters new, uncertain territory. A US-led battle group of NATO allied soldiers will be sent to Poland as part of the multi-nation operation. British forces will lead one of the four battle groups in Estonia, Canada will spearhead the presence in Latvia and Germany will be present in Lithuania. In addition, Infowars is reporting that U.S. Marines will soon be stationed in Norway near the border with Russia… After accepting a Pentagon proposal, Norway will host US Marines at a base near the Russian border as Russia deploys nuclear-capable ships to Kaliningrad. A rotating force of approximately 330 Marines will be stationed at an airfield in the city of Vaernes, just outside Trondheim, beginning in January. Norway and Russia share an 122-mile border in the Arctic. “The US initiative to augment their training and exercises in Norway by locating a Marine Corps Rotational Force in Norway is highly welcome and will have positive implications for our already strong bilateral relationship,” said Norwegian Defense Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide. Most Americans aren’t aware of any of this, nor do they really care about our relationship with Russia. But in Russia things are completely different. The possibility of war with the United States is the biggest news story over there these days , and feverish preparations are being made for a potential nuclear confrontation … Russian authorities have stepped up nuclear-war survival measures amid a showdown with Washington, dusting off Soviet-era civil-defense plans and upgrading bomb shelters in the biggest cities. At the Kremlin’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Cold War is back. The country recently held its biggest civil defense drills since the collapse of the U.S.S.R., with what officials said were 40 million people rehearsing a response to chemical and nuclear threats. I know that I have been writing about this over and over , but the truth is that we are on a path to war with Russia, and the election of Hillary Clinton would greatly accelerate the march toward war. In my controversial new book , I expressed my belief that war with Russia is coming, but at the time that I wrote it I didn’t know how the election would turn out. At this point it looks like Clinton is very likely to win on November 8th, and that would be absolutely disastrous for our relationship with Russia. If you are reading this and you are considering voting for Hillary Clinton, please don’t do it . We simply cannot afford to have an emotionally unstable warmonger with a violent temper in the White House at this critical time. If the American people do choose Hillary Clinton this November, I believe that it will be a choice that they will bitterly, bitterly regret in future years. Submit your review | 0 |
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s first weekend in office unfolded much the way things often did during his campaign: with angry Twitter messages, a familiar obsession with slights and a series of meandering and at times untrue statements, all eventually giving way to attempts at damage control. The problem is that what works on the way to the White House does not always work once a candidate gets there. To the extent that there was a plan to take advantage of the first days of his administration, when a president is usually at his maximum leverage, Mr. Trump threw it aside with a decision to lash out about crowd sizes at his swearing in and to rewrite the history of his dealings with intelligence agencies. The lack of discipline troubled even senior members of Mr. Trump’s circle, some of whom had urged him not to indulge his simmering resentment at what he saw as unfair news coverage. Instead, Mr. Trump chose to listen to other aides who shared his outrage and desire to punch back. By the end of the weekend, he and his team were scrambling to get back on script. New presidents typically find the adjustment from candidate to leader to be a jarring one, and Mr. Trump was not the first to get drawn into the latest flap in a way that fritters away whatever political good will comes with an inauguration. Former President Bill Clinton got off to a tough start by engaging on issues that were not central to his agenda, most notably gays in the military, and took a while to learn how to focus on his highest priorities. But Mr. Clinton showed none of the combativeness and anger of Mr. Trump. “The adjustment from private citizen to running the country is unbelievably hard,” said Dan Pfeiffer, a longtime adviser to former President Barack Obama. He said that what people, even new presidents, often fail to fully understand “is that after you stand out there in the weather and take the oath of office in front of an adoring crowd, you walk into that building and you are in charge of the free world. ” At first, at least, Mr. Trump seemed to be resisting the notion that he should adjust his approach now that he is in office. After all, his pugilistic style was a winning formula, one that got him to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the first place. Many of his supporters cheer him taking on the establishment. And some allies said any blowback would not matter long anyway. “Ultimately this is about governing,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has advised Mr. Trump. “There are two things he’s got to do between now and 2020: He has to keep America safe and create a lot of jobs. That’s what he promised in his speech. If he does those two things, everything else is noise. ” “The average American isn’t paying attention to this stuff,” he added. “They are going to look around in late 2019 and early 2020 and ask themselves if they are doing better. If the answer’s yes, they are going to say, ‘Cool, give me some more. ’” That is the long view and ultimately perhaps the most important one. The short view from many political professionals is that Mr. Trump’s debut was not a success. The president himself seemed to be trying to find a way forward as the weekend proceeded. He danced to “My Way” on Friday night and did it his way on Saturday, but by Sunday he seemed to be trying something different. A day after waves of opponents gathered in Washington and cities around the nation and world to protest his presidency, Mr. Trump began Sunday still in a mood to push back. “Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election!” he posted on Twitter in the morning. “Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly. ” Kellyanne Conway, his counselor, contributed to the combative mood in an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd when she described the falsehoods that the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, had told reporters Saturday night as “alternative facts” — an assertion that lit up Twitter. However, Mr. Trump later adopted the more demeanor that presidents typically take. “Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy,” he wrote on Twitter. “Even if I don’t always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views. ” Mr. Trump faces a challenge few of his predecessors have confronted. Having won an Electoral College victory but not the popular vote, he entered office with less public support in the polls than any other president in recent times. After a transition in which he did relatively little to reach out to his opponents on the left and they hardly warmed to him, he found hundreds of thousands of protesters chanting just a few blocks from his new home on the first morning he woke up there. That has left the new White House feeling besieged from Day 1, fueling the president’s grievances and, in the view of some of his aides, necessitating an aggressive strategy to defend his legitimacy. “The point is not the crowd size,” Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, said on “Fox News Sunday” before the mood began to soften. “The point is that the attacks and the attempts to delegitimize this president in one day — and we’re not going to sit around and take it. ” Mr. Trump grew increasingly angry on Inauguration Day after reading a series of Twitter messages pointing out that the size of his inaugural crowd did not rival that of Mr. Obama’s in 2009. But he spent his Friday night in a whirlwind of celebration and affirmation. When he awoke on Saturday morning, after his first night in the Executive Mansion, the glow was gone, several people close to him said, and the new president was filled anew with a sense of injury. He became even more agitated after learning of a pool report by a Time magazine reporter incorrectly reporting that a bust of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office. (The reporter, Zeke Miller, did not see the bust and, after realizing the error, quickly issued a correction and apology.) While Mr. Trump was eager to counterattack, several senior advisers urged him to move on and focus on the responsibilities of office during his first full day as president. That included a trip to the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency, where he had been coached to demonstrate support of the agency and criticize Senate Democrats for delaying confirmation of his nominee to lead it, Mike Pompeo. The advisers left thinking he agreed. But Mr. Spicer, who often berated reporters for what he called biased coverage during the campaign, shares Mr. Trump’s dark view of the news media and advocated an declaration of war. After racing through his words of reconciliation at the C. I. A. in Langley, Va. Mr. Trump launched into a rambling, unscripted discussion that drifted to the topic of crowd size, making a series of verifiably false claims. Mr. Spicer then went to the White House briefing room for his first turn at the lectern and issued a blistering attack on reporters, made his own false claims and then stormed out without taking questions. Some of the president’s supporters found the first weekend troubling. L. Lin Wood, a prominent libel lawyer who was a vocal defender of Mr. Trump’s on Twitter during the campaign, said that he considered it a dangerous debut. “To someone who believed we might have a good opportunity to change, it’s just a terrible start. Because he’s got a long way to go,” Mr. Wood said. “This is going to go downhill quickly if it’s not changed, and that’s not good for any of us. ” | 1 |
MOSCOW — Vladimir V. Putin, Russia’s president, hardly misses a chance to talk tough on terrorism, once famously saying he would find Chechen terrorists sitting in the “outhouse” and “rub them out. ” He and President Trump, notably dismissive of political correctness, would seem to have found common language on fighting terrorism — except on one point of, well, language. During his campaign, Mr. Trump associated Islam with terrorism and criticized President Obama for declining to use the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism. ” However, Mr. Putin, whom Mr. Trump so openly admires for his toughness, has, for more than a decade, done exactly what President Obama did. He has never described terrorists as “Islamic” and has repeatedly gone out of his way to denounce such language. “I would prefer Islam not be mentioned in vain alongside terrorism,” he said at a news conference in December, answering a question about the Islamic State, a group he often refers to as “the Islamic State,” to emphasize a distinction with the Islamic religion. At the opening of a mosque in Moscow in 2015, Mr. Putin spoke of terrorists who “cynically exploit religious feelings for political aims. ” In the Middle East, Mr. Putin said at the mosque opening, “terrorists from the Islamic State are compromising a great world religion, compromising Islam, sowing hatred, killing people, including clergy,” and added that “their ideology is built on lies and blatant distortions of Islam. ” He was careful to add, “Muslim leaders are bravely and fearlessly using their own influence to resist this extremist propaganda. ” And, this being Russia, the failure to adhere to this interpretation is a prosecutable offense: The Russian news media are required by law to note in any mention of the Islamic State that the reference is to a banned terrorist organization of that name, lest it be misconstrued as denigrating religion. Mr. Putin does not take this stance to soothe the feelings of Western liberals, a group he dismisses as hypocritical in any case. “Putin prides himself on Russia’s intelligence capabilities,” the Brookings Institution wrote in a study of the early formation of his counterterrorism policies. “Russian leaders think they know their enemy,” and it is not the governments of majority Muslim countries such as Iraq and Iran, or the majority of Muslims living in Russia. Instead, Russian counterterrorism strategy focused on financing and militarily backing moderate Muslim leaders, with the breakthrough in the Chechen war coming when the region’s imam, Akhmad Kadyrov, allied with the Russian military. His son, Ramzan Kadyrov, leads the region today. While embracing Islamic leaders as a centerpiece of its counterterrorism strategy, however, the Kremlin did not avoid drawing distinctions along religious lines. The Russian government backed the Kadyrov family’s campaign to revive traditional Sufi Islam in Chechnya as a counterweight to the more austere Wahhabi denomination professed by many separatists. The Wahhabi strain was outlawed in another restive, predominantly Muslim province, Dagestan, and its adherents are persecuted in Russia, rights groups say. Still, the alliance with moderate Islamic religious leaders became important in pacifying Chechnya and other North Caucasus regions, which have ceased to pose a serious security threat to Russia. “Putin rules a multiconfessional country,” Orkhan Dzhemal, a commentator on Islamic affairs, said in a telephone interview, noting that in the United States, in contrast, Muslims are not a powerful political force. “He cannot say ‘Islamic terrorism’ for a simple reason. He doesn’t want to alienate millions of Russians. ” The term preferred in Russian political parlance is “international terrorism. ” In a phone call on Friday, President Trump and Mr. Putin discussed “real cooperation” in fighting terrorist groups in Syria. They could agree on an enemy. But the Kremlin statement described a “priority placed on uniting forces in the fight against the main threat — international terrorism. ” | 1 |
On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” Representative Ted Lieu ( ) offered President Trump wanting to “distract” people from “possible collusion with Putin” as a possible suggestion for the missile strike against Syria. Host Bill Maher asked Lieu how Trump going against Russia to launch the strike on Syria “fit into the Republican — the liberal idea that he was installed by Putin as a stooge to do whatever Putin wanted? This is not what Putin wanted. ” Lieu responded, “If you’re facing possible collusion with Putin, you might just want to distract people. ” He added, “It might be, we don’t know. I’ve learned to not predict Donald Trump. But, in this case, what he did was not only unconstitutional, there’s no strategy. We don’t know what were doing in Syria, how long we’re going to be there. He’s got US ground forces there now that are more at risk of being attacked because he just attacked Assad. He has to tell the American people what we’re doing in Syria, he has not done that. ” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett | 1 |
Voters Report Their Votes Switched from Trump to Hillary in Texas! Oct 28, 2016 Previous post
In a year where many are concerned with voter fraud, some Texas voters are complaining that their early votes were switched to help Hillary Clinton.
At least two Texans posted to Facebook that when they voted a straight Republican ticket, it registered their votes for Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. Those two leftists are definitely not Republicans.
These two apparently aren’t isolated events either. New polls show the race tightening in Texas, this appears to have catapulted the leftists to do everything they can to give Hillary the edge. They will do anything they can to help her win, even if it means stepping on our rights.
In the video below, InfoWars went to the Texas Board of
FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK LINK | 0 |
MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas — A series of recent gun battles and executions in this border city and in Rio Bravo led to nearly a dozen deaths as clashes with military forces and internal turmoil within the Gulf Cartel is reaching a boiling point. [The violence began last week in the Buena Vista neighborhood of Matamoros when cartel gunmen clashed with military and police forces. As usual, the fighting led to blockades, where cartel gunmen hijacked various vehicles to choke chances of police pursuit down main avenues. In Rio Bravo, troops killed several gunmen throughout the city. The fighting and a series of apparent executions in both Matamoros and Rio Bravo led to the death of several men who are all believed to be part of one of the various factions that make up the Gulf Cartel. In the downtown area of Matamoros, authorities responded to a local business where they found four men killed. The four cartel members had all been shot in the head . In a separate attack, a team of gunmen killed three men in a second ordered hit. One of the victims was a drug dealer while the other two remain unknown. A local college student was struck by a stray bullet and died shortly after. In Rio Bravo, Mexican marines killed two gunmen who were fleeing from authorities after they murdered a married couple. The couple was gunned down after getting in a car crash with the cartel gunmen. Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J. A. Espinoza” from Matamoros, Tamaulipas and “A. C. Del Angel” from Reynosa, Tamaulipas | 1 |
We’re now three years and seven shows into the phenomenon. It’s time to begin drawing conclusions from this continuing experiment. You’ll recall that NBC began the parade in December 2013 with “The Sound of Music Live! ,” which starred Carrie Underwood as Maria. A year later came “Peter Pan Live! ,” also on NBC, and last December the network served up “The Wiz Live!” Fox got into the act this year with “Grease: Live! ,” “The Passion” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” and on Wednesday night NBC resumed its December tradition with “Hairspray Live!” [ Review: “Hairspray Live!” Had Power Voices but Still Lacked Power ] Let’s cut to the chase: “The Wiz” was the best by far. But in terms of ratings, which is what this is really all about, “The Sound of Music” is the king (more than 18 million viewers) fueled no doubt by a curiosity factor, since it was first. “Grease” is second at about 12 million, then and “The Wiz” at 11. 5 million. Preliminary numbers for “Hairspray” put it somewhat behind those. But in general the bloom seems to be off the rose, and these musicals are settling into a ratings zone. So maybe the phenomenon continues indefinitely, maybe not. But at this point, we have a pretty good idea of how to make them work. Among the poorest ratings performers and least watchable productions was Fox’s “Rocky Horror” in October, which was not performed live. That made it little more than a remake of the 1975 film version, a wonderful cult favorite built around a performance by Tim Curry. Laverne Cox had the unenviable job of stepping into his shoes as and never looked as if she was doing more than imitating her onscreen predecessor, something that was true of the rest of the cast as well. And for the viewer the enterprise lacked that little bit of spark that comes from knowing you’re watching a live performance. Granted, these are heavily regimented productions with little risk of a catastrophic misstep, but still — it’s fun to dream. Ms. Underwood, the country singer and “American Idol” winner, was the unfortunate sacrificial lamb who proved this point in “The Sound of Music. ” She has a nice voice, but it’s not a stage voice, the kind a classic musical requires. (Also, she’s not an actress.) Anyone thrown into one of these productions as to attract viewers — and the ratings suggested that Ms. Underwood, with her substantial fan base, did attract viewers — is in danger of seeming inadequate next to whatever veteran stage actors are in the show. Ms. Underwood’s weaknesses were only underscored by the presence of Laura Benanti and Audra McDonald. Similarly, Allison Williams, as Peter Pan, was even more of a dud when compared with like Kelli O’Hara and Christian Borle. can work, but only when the production plays to the strengths of those performers. “The Wiz” did — its score was just right for Mary J. Blige and other recording artists in that cast. And Jennifer Hudson, who has starred on Broadway but is better known for her screen and singing careers, was a “Hairspray Live!” highlight, belting out powerful numbers like “I Know Where I’ve Been” and “Big, Blonde and Beautiful. ” Several of these productions, especially “Grease” and “Hairspray,” have gone to downright desperate lengths to try to make an impact on social media and with young demographics (or at least, young demographics that condescending TV executives apparently define as “too stupid to appreciate art for art’s sake”). “Hairspray” kept pausing to introduce us to its squad and to check in on viewing parties in various cities. It’s as if the producers don’t trust the musical itself to be interesting. The thing is, all of these works, even the pop ones like “Grease” and “Hairspray,” have story lines. Some of those stories, like the one in “Hairspray,” are pretty powerful if they’re left alone. But if they’re interrupted so we can hear from supposed fans dressed in period clothes at a viewing party in Philadelphia, they have no chance. “Grease” had a live audience viewing parts of the show. So did “Hairspray. ” But both of these productions sent their casts galloping about from set to set, so the audience wasn’t always there. And when it was present, it sometimes was more cheerleader than audience, whooping it up in a way that called attention to itself. Who wants to tune in a TV show to watch people watching other people perform? Either figure out a higher purpose for a live audience or jettison it, please. “Grease” went by in a blur of blandness. So did “Rocky Horror. ” But people will be talking about Ms. Hudson’s chilling “I Know Where I’ve Been” for a long time. And “memorable” doesn’t necessarily mean “wonderful. ” It can also mean “debatable. ” What other performance are people still talking about? Christopher Walken’s odd Captain Hook in the “Peter Pan. ” Was he lost, dazed, confused? Or slyly brilliant? Hard to say, but kudos for the casting decision. Harvey Fierstein, in contrast, was a safe choice for Edna Turnblad in “Hairspray,” since he played the part on Broadway. Sure, it’s fun to hear his growly voice, but the selection felt like an opportunity missed. | 1 |
Rapper Common and indie rock band The National are set to host a benefit concert for Planned Parenthood in Washington, D. C. on January 19, the day before Donald Trump is sworn into office. [The free concert, billed “Show Up! A Concert for Reproductive Health, Freedom + Justice,” will take place at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D. C. Organizers All Access promise special guests, elected officials and other activists will join in on the concert. “We plan to send a clear message to the incoming administration that millions of people across this country are prepared to fight attacks on reproductive health care and abortion services,” Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards said in a statement. The concert is one of several protest events planned around Trump’s inauguration. On January 21, thousands of demonstrators are expected to participate in the Women’s March on Washington, including celebrities like Katy Perry and Cher. “Women should be able to make their own decisions regarding their bodies and health,” the National’s frontman Matt Berninger said in a statement. “This is a basic human right, and we’re at the very beginning of a long and tough battle to defend these basic rights. A concert in D. C. inspiring people to take action, seems like a pretty good way to kick it off. ” This isn’t the first concert hosted by the All Access Coalition. In September, the group planned a concert featuring singer Sia and Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones in Cleveland, Ohio. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum | 1 |
Despite CEO Jeff Bezos’s political battles with Donald Trump, Amazon is going by pledging to hire 100, 000 U. S. employees with full benefits to launch its grocery markets, which are expected to offer drone delivery services. [Amazon. com (OTC: AMZN) currently has about 180, 000 employees in the United States and over 306, 000 full and employees worldwide. That represents about a 33 percent increase over the 230, 800 at the end of 2015. With 600 percent employment growth in the last 5 years, Amazon’s employee base is now 3 times Microsoft’s direct workforce and over 4 times Google parent Alphabet’s 70, 000 employees. Unlike other tech companies that are automating away employment or replacing Americans with foreigners, Amazon is accelerating hiring. Most of Amazon’s U. S. growth has been at its 18 “Fulfilment by Amazon” service centers. Although the centers open with employees, Amazon’s CFO Brian Olsavsky recently stated that due to expansion factors, the company is converting more temporary employees to positions. The next big phase for Amazon’s growth will be the of 1, 800 “Amazon Go” grocery stores, which will feature clerkless shopping. The company opened its pilot store at one of Amazon’s downtown Seattle headquarters buildings. Food options include fresh produce, frozen foods, packaged grocery and prepared food options. Only Amazon “blue badge” staffers can enter right now, but ARS Technica reported that the stores will be soon be open to Amazon Prime members who download a smartphone app. Through a combination of cameras and sensors powered by machine learning to track users’ activity, Amazon Go users can and their account will br billed as they walk out of the store. With a huge inventory of apartments with vacant ground floor retail space dotting most major cities, Amazon Go will have no problem rolling out their concept nationally. In a move apparently timed to the public launch of Go, Amazon filed a Federal Communications Commission application for a Special Temporary Authority permit to use of an indoor and outdoor wireless communications system in Seattle and rural Washington. The application states: “Amazon seeks FCC experimental authority to evaluate prototype equipment and associated software designed to support innovative communications capabilities and functionalities. ” It is signed by former NASA astronaut Neil Woodward, who manages of flight test and certification for Amazon Prime Air. Amazon’s application also “seeks to collect sufficient data within that time frame to assess the performance and reliability characteristics of prototype equipment and software to determine if additional research is needed and should be scheduled. ” Rumors in the tech world suggest the system will support Amazon Go drone deliveries. Amazon has already started making its first drone package deliveries in the UK, but Federal Aviation Administration regulations have limited the tech giant’s ability to conduct tests in its home market. Amazon patents applications include a “collective UAV” that would combine a flock of drones to pick up and deliver heavier items. | 1 |
Prosecutors in Ukraine are investigating whether a member of Parliament committed treason by working with two associates of President Trump’s to promote a plan for settling Ukraine’s conflicts with Russia. In a court filing on Tuesday, prosecutors accused the lawmaker, Andrii V. Artemenko, of conspiring with Russia to commit “subversive acts against Ukraine,” in particular by advancing a proposal that could “legitimize the temporary occupation” of the Crimean peninsula. Russia forcibly annexed the peninsula in 2014, a step that Ukraine, the United States and other governments have refused to recognize Mr. Artemenko said his proposal would allow Ukraine to formally cede control of the territory to Russia, at least temporarily. Yuriy Lutsenko, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, posted a copy of the court filing to his Facebook page on Tuesday with the statement “Ukraine’s integrity is above all else. ” Mr. Artemenko’s plan, reported on Sunday by The New York Times, outlines a series of steps meant to bring to an end the rebellion by separatists in eastern Ukraine, and to resolve the dispute over Crimea by allowing voters to decide whether to lease the peninsula to Russia for 50 or 100 years. Settling those issues could give the Trump administration a path to lift sanctions against Russia. Mr. Artemenko traveled to New York in January to discuss the plan with Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, and with Felix H. Sater, a business associate of the Trump Organization who scouted business opportunities in Russia for the company as recently as 2015. Mr. Cohen said he delivered the proposal to the White House in a sealed envelope in early February. Mr. Artemenko, a politician who has tried to brand himself as a populist, has not been arrested or formally charged with a crime. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Ukrainian news outlet Strana. ua quoted him as saying that the investigation was “politically motivated. ” “I’m not going anywhere, and will meet with investigators to explain my position,” he was quoted as saying. Mr. Artemenko has claimed he received encouragement from the Russian authorities for his effort, but the Kremlin has denied any knowledge of his proposal. He has also claimed to have evidence of corruption that could help lead to the ouster of the Ukrainian president, Petro O. Poroshenko. The Trump administration has sent mixed signals concerning the war in Ukraine, which has cost more than 10, 000 lives. White House officials have suggested that they would be open to lifting sanctions against Russia, but they have also demanded that Crimea be returned to Ukraine. Word of Mr. Artemenko’s peace plan has prompted outrage among many officials in Ukraine. Some accused him of being a secret Russian agent, and there have been calls for him to relinquish his seat in Parliament. On Monday, fellow Radical Party lawmakers voted unanimously to expel him from the party. The suggestion that Crimea be handed over to Russia legally, even for a limited time, particularly outraged Crimean Tatars, the ethnic group in Ukraine whose members consider the peninsula their historic homeland. Refat Chubarov, a Tatar member of Parliament, wrote on Facebook that Mr. Artemenko should be stripped of his parliamentary immunity and arrested. “Given the continued Russian occupation of Crimea,” he wrote, “which is characterized by the total suppression of the rights and freedoms of the Crimea Tatar people violent kidnappings and killings of peaceful citizens arrests of Crimean Tatar citizens and attacks on their homes and families as well as the persecution of journalists, the actions of Andrii Artemenko are unequivocally qualified as treason. ” | 1 |
WASHINGTON — The resignation of Michael T. Flynn as national security adviser caps a remarkably tumultuous first month for President Trump’s White House that has burdened the early days of his presidency with scandal, legal challenges, personnel drama and questions about his temperament during interactions with world leaders. Mr. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, lasted only 24 days before his tenure was cut short by an admission that he had misled the vice president and other White House colleagues about the contents of a phone call with the Russian ambassador to the United States. The resignation on Monday night and the continuing turmoil inside the National Security Council have deeply rattled the Washington establishment. Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, railed against the administration on Tuesday, decrying the “dysfunction” of the country’s national security apparatus and accusing the White House of being a place where “nobody knows who’s in charge and nobody knows who’s setting policy. ” Gen. Tony Thomas, head of the military’s Special Operations Command, expressed concern about upheaval inside the White House. “Our government continues to be in unbelievable turmoil. I hope they sort it out soon because we’re a nation at war,” he said at a military conference on Tuesday. Asked about his comments later, General Thomas said in a brief interview, “As a commander, I’m concerned our government be as stable as possible. ” But Mr. Flynn’s departure just added to the broader sense of chaos at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In record time, the 45th president has set off global outrage with a ban on travelers from countries, fired his acting attorney general for refusing to defend the ban and watched as federal courts swiftly moved to block the policy, calling it an unconstitutional use of executive power. The president angrily provoked the cancellation of a summit meeting with the Mexican president, hung up on Australia’s prime minister, authorized a commando raid that resulted in the death of a Navy SEAL member, repeatedly lied about the existence of millions of fraudulent votes cast in the 2016 election and engaged in Twitter wars with senators, a sports team owner, a Hollywood actor and a major department store chain. His words and actions have generated almost daily protests around the country. “I’ve never been so nervous in my lifetime about what may or may not happen in Washington,” said Leon Panetta, a Democrat who served as chief of staff, secretary of defense and C. I. A. director during a career that spanned nine presidents from both parties. “I don’t know whether this White House is capable of responding in a thoughtful or careful way should a crisis erupt,” he said in an interview on Tuesday. “You can do stuff over a period of time. But at some point, I don’t give a damn what your particular sense of change is all about, you cannot afford to have change become chaos. ” Mr. Trump’s allies note that the president has moved forward in areas that are more typical of the early days of a administration. Mr. Trump nominated a Supreme Court justice 12 days into his tenure, and has issued a dozen executive orders, including ones to limit the influence of lobbyists, reduce regulations, pare the Affordable Care Act, move forward on pipeline construction, end trade deals and speed up deportations. Those accomplishments are catnip for the president’s most fervent supporters across the country, said Sara Fagen, who served as a senior aide and political director for former President George W. Bush. The perspective on the White House is very different far outside the interstate freeway that rings Washington, she said.’ ”“If you’re someone inside the Beltway, you think it’s been really rocky,” she said. “If you are outside the Beltway, you think, ‘That’s why we sent him there.’ There has been a lot of chaos and a lot of growing pains, but they have gotten a lot done. ”” ’Still, half of the president’s cabinet has yet to be confirmed by the Senate, and several other key White House aides have become lightning rods for daily mockery by comedians. It all has official Washington reeling and exhausted as it tries to make sense of — and keep up with — the nearly constant tornado of activity swirling around the president and his advisers. “If you had Obama, you’ve got Trump,” said John Feehery, a veteran Republican strategist, who compared the last several weeks to the chaotic start to Newt Gingrich’s tenure as speaker of the House in 1995. “Newt never settled down. It was always one crisis after another,” Mr. Feehery recalled. “This might be the new normal. People will start getting used to the new normal, but will also be exhausted by it. ” As a candidate, Mr. Trump promised to move quickly to stop illegal immigration, bring jobs back, end trade deals and reduce crime. Central to his campaign agenda was his pledge to be a disruptive force in Washington — and he has certainly done that. Since winning the election, Mr. Trump and his closest aides have embraced the turmoil, viewing it as evidence of their aggressive efforts to fundamentally reorient the government. The West Wing also uses the chaos as a tactical weapon, believing that the flurry of presidential tweets, controversial statements during the afternoon briefing and surprise executive actions work to keep their adversaries, the media and others off balance. On Tuesday, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, happily kept reporters waiting while he did “a quick recap of the president’s activity,” proceeding to offer a long list of meetings and phone calls with foreign leaders, female entrepreneurs, local officials and educators. Yet the disruptions have come at a cost: the president has so far made little progress on legislation that would repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. The White House has not proposed a promised infrastructure bill to repair deteriorating roads, bridges and tunnels. And the president’s aides have not yet drawn up plans for an overhaul of the nation’s tax code. “It’s pretty predictable,” Mr. Feehery said. “This guy has never been in government before and he promised to be disruptive. ” It may also have consequences for Mr. Trump’s ability to help Republicans win in the 2018 midterm elections. And Republican campaign experts acknowledge that his chances for winning may hinge on his ability to contain the White House frenzy. “You are processing so much information in a day now. This stuff would have doomed anyone else, just one or two of them,” said Thomas M. Davis, a former Republican member of Congress from Virginia. “They have got to produce something. If all you’ve got is a bunch of executive orders and a Twitter feed, you don’t want to go into an election like that. ” Kevin Madden, who served as a senior adviser to Mitt Romney during both of his presidential campaigns, said Mr. Trump’s voters in 2016 wanted him to overhaul an establishment in Washington, which they view as long on promises, long on process but short on action. “Voters certainly asked for change. They certainly wanted to see disruption,” Mr. Madden said. “But if change begins to look like confusion and disruption morphs into disorder, you risk losing a certain level of confidence with voters. ” | 1 |
TEL AVIV — The Israeli Prison Service released a video on Sunday that appears to show Palestinian terrorist and wannabe politician Marwan Barghouti secretly eating a candy bar and other food in the bathroom of his cell while purportedly leading a hunger strike. [Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences, was filmed eating on two separate occasions. The first time on April 27 shows him unwrapping cookies from a hiding place in the bathroom and then eating it while sitting on the toilet. He then tries to conceal the fact by washing his hands and face and hiding the wrapper. On the second occasion on May 5, Barghouti is filmed eating a candy bar and salt. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan slammed Barghouti as a “murderer and a hypocrite” for eating while leading a hunger strike. “As I said from the very beginning, this hunger strike was never about the conditions of the convicted terrorists, which meet international standards. It is about advancing Marwan Barghouti’s political ambitions to replace Abu Mazen,” Erdan said, referring to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas by his nickname. Barghouti is seen as a major contender to succeed Abbas. “Barghouti is a murderer and hypocrite who urged his fellow prisoners to strike and suffer while he ate behind their back. Just like he lied to the world when he wrote in the New York Times that he decided to strike in order to protest he lied to the Palestinian public when he claimed to be striking. Israel will not give in to extortion and pressure from terrorists,” Erdan said. Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said Barghouti’s eating proved that the hunger strike is nothing more than “a media stunt, which seeks to glorify terrorists with blood on their hands. ” According to Palestinian sources, there are 1, 500 hunger strikers in Israeli prisons. The goal of the hunger strike is supposedly to improve prison conditions. Demands include resuming a second monthly visit by family members (originally cancelled by the International Committee of the Red Cross over budgetary concerns) restoring academic studies for prisoners, and allowing additional TV channels and cell phones in security wings. Barghouti served as chief of the Tanzim armed wing of Fatah and is the founder of the terror group the Martyrs Brigade. In 2004, he was found guilty of ordering terror attacks in three different locations and was implicated in another four. | 1 |
Well, in a long list of documented lies, coverups and criminal activity , Barack Hussein Obama Soetoro Sobarkah continues to get busted, demonstrating that the man is a pathological liar , which makes him mentally unstable and unfit for office ( not that he was qualified in the first place ).
First, let's review what Obama said. Michael Bastasch reports :
The White House knew President Barack Obama had emailed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email account that was run out of an unsecured server in her New York home, according to emails released by WikiLeaks.
Obama told CBS News in March 2015 he learned of Clinton's private server the way basically all Americans did, " through news reports ." But emails hacked from Clinton campaign chair John Podesta's Gmail account suggest the White House already knew about Clinton's private email server.
"They know POTUS and HRC emailed," Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri wrote to aides in March 2015 — about a month before Clinton announced she was running for president in 2016.
So, how did Obama find out about Clinton's illegal email server ? The same way most Americans do, "through new reports;" at least that is the lie he told.
So, how do we know he's lying? First, his lips are moving. Second, is the documented evidence of a March 7, 2015 email from Josh Schwerin to Jennifer Palmieri, Kristina Schake, Nick Merrill, Jesse Ferguson, which reads, "Jen you probably have more on this but it looks like POTUS just said he found out HRC was using her personal email when he saw it in the news."
And what was the reply?
"we [sic] need to clean this up – he has emails from her – they do not say state.gov."
That reply came from none other than Cheryl Mills, who wrote to John Podesta.
Does anyone else think Josh had to change his cell phone number after this?
This is right along the lines of the lie Obama told when he said, "If You Like Your Health Care Plan, You Can Keep It" .
Anyways, this is what we have come to expect from those who are supposed to serve the people in government, but we should not expect such and should not allow it to continue. Rather, we should be demanding that justice prevail in all things and deal with these people not just by getting them out of government, but by bringing a just punishment on them for what they have done and sending a message to anyone else that chooses to engage in this behavior while in public service that they will receive the same treatment. shares | 0 |
Gene Wilder, who established himself as one of America’s foremost comic actors with his delightfully neurotic performances in three films directed by Mel Brooks his eccentric star turn in the family classic “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and his winning chemistry with Richard Pryor in the smash “Stir Crazy,” died early Monday morning at his home in Stamford, Conn. He was 83. A nephew, the filmmaker Jordan confirmed his death in a statement, saying the cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Mr. Wilder’s rule for comedy was simple: Don’t try to make it funny try to make it real. “I’m an actor, not a clown,” he said more than once. With his haunted blue eyes and an empathy born of his own history of psychic distress, he aspired to touch audiences much as Charlie Chaplin had. The Chaplin film “City Lights,” he said, had “made the biggest impression on me as an actor it was funny, then sad, then both at the same time. ” Mr. Wilder was an accomplished stage actor as well as a screenwriter, a novelist and the director of four movies in which he starred. (He directed, he once said, “in order to protect what I wrote, which I wrote in order to act. ”) But he was best known for playing roles on the big screen that might have been ripped from the pages of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. He made his movie debut in 1967 in Arthur Penn’s celebrated crime drama, “Bonnie and Clyde,” in which he was memorably hysterical as an undertaker kidnapped by the notorious bank robbers played by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. He was even more hysterical, and even more memorable, a year later in “The Producers,” the first film by Mr. Brooks, who later turned it into a Broadway hit. Mr. Wilder played the accountant Leo Bloom, who discovers how to make more money on a bad Broadway show than on a good one: Find rich backers, stage a production that’s guaranteed to fold fast, then flee the country with the leftover cash. Unhappily for Bloom and his fellow schemer, Max Bialystock, played by Zero Mostel, their outrageously tasteless musical, “Springtime for Hitler,” is a sensation. The part earned Mr. Wilder an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor. Within a few years, the anxious, popeyed Mr. Wilder had become an unlikely movie star. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as the wizardly title character in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971). The film was a disappointment, partly because of parental concern that the moral of Roald Dahl’s story — that greedy, gluttonous children should not go unpunished — was too dark in the telling. But it went on to gain a devoted following, and Willy Wonka remains one of the roles with which Mr. Wilder is most closely identified. His next role was more adult but equally strange: an otherwise normal doctor who falls in love with a sheep named Daisy in a segment of Woody Allen’s “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask,” in 1972. Two years later, he reunited with Mr. Brooks for perhaps the two entries in either man’s filmography. In “Blazing Saddles,” a raunchy, spoof of Hollywood westerns, Mr. Wilder had the relatively quiet role of the Waco Kid, a boozy who helps an improbable black sheriff (Cleavon Little) save a town from railroad barons and venal politicians. The film’s humor may have lost some of its edge over the years, but Mr. Wilder’s next Brooks film, “Young Frankenstein,” has never grown old. Mr. Wilder himself hatched the idea, envisioning a film faithful to the look of the Boris Karloff “Frankenstein,” down to the laboratory equipment, but played for laughs rather than for horror. He would portray an American man of science, the grandson of the infamous Dr. Frankenstein, who tries to turn his back on his heritage (“that’s ”) but finds himself irresistibly drawn to Transylvania to duplicate his grandfather’s creation of a monster in a spooky mountaintop laboratory. Mr. Brooks’s original reaction to the idea, Mr. Wilder recalled, was noncommittal: “Cute. That’s cute. ” But he eventually came aboard as director and and the two garnered an Oscar nomination for their screenplay. Serendipity played a role in the casting. Mr. Wilder’s agent asked him to help find work for two new clients, and thus Marty Feldman became Frankenstein’s assistant, Igor (“that’s ”) and Peter Boyle the monster. Madeline Kahn, whose performance as the chanteuse Lili Von Shtupp had been a highlight of “Blazing Saddles,” played the doctor’s socialite fiancée. Cloris Leachman was Frau Blücher, the sound of whose name caused horses to whinny in fear. The name Blücher, Mr. Wilder said in a 2008 interview with The San Jose Mercury News, came from a book of letters to and from Sigmund Freud: “I saw someone named Blücher had written to him, and I said, ‘Well, that’s the name. ’” And Mr. Wilder certainly knew a lot about Freud. His first of many visits to a psychotherapist is the opening scene in the memoir he published in 2005, “Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art. ” “What seems to be the trouble?” the therapist asks. “I want to give all my money away,” he says. “How much do you have?” “I owe three hundred dollars. ” Soon the jokes and evasions give way to the torments of sexual repression, guilt feelings and his “demon,” a compulsion, lasting several years, to pray out loud to God at the most embarrassing times and in the most embarrassing places. But never onstage or onscreen, where he felt free to be someone else. Gene Wilder was born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee on June 11, 1933. His father, William, a manufacturer and salesman of novelty items, was an immigrant from Russia. His mother, the former Jeanne Baer, suffered from rheumatic heart disease and a temperament that sometimes led her to punish young Jerry angrily and then smother him with regretful kisses. He spent one semester at the Military Institute in Hollywood. His mother saw it as a great opportunity in reality, it was a catch basin for boys from broken families, where he was regularly beaten up for being Jewish. Safely back home after that misadventure, he played minor roles in community theater productions and then followed his older sister, Corinne, into the theater program at the University of Iowa. After Iowa, he studied Shakespeare at the Bristol Old Vic Theater School in England, where he was the first freshman to win the school fencing championship. He next enrolled part time at the HB Studio in New York, while also serving a Army hitch as an aide in the psychiatric unit of the Valley Forge Army Hospital in Pennsylvania — an assignment he requested because, he said, “I imagined the things I would see there might relate more to acting than any of the other choices. ” He added, “I wasn’t wrong. ” After his discharge, he won a coveted spot at the Actors Studio, and it was then that he adopted the name Gene Wilder: Gene for Eugene Gant, the protagonist of Thomas Wolfe’s “Look Homeward, Angel,” and Wilder for the playwright Thornton Wilder. In his first major role on Broadway, Mr. Wilder played the chaplain in a 1963 production of Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children. ” The production ran for less than two months, and he came to believe that he had been miscast. The good news was that he met the boyfriend of the star, Anne Bancroft: Mel Brooks, who wore a pea coat the night he met Mr. Wilder backstage and told him, “You know, they used to call these urine jackets, but they didn’t sell. ” So began the conversation that ultimately led to “The Producers. ” Mr. Wilder’s association with Mr. Brooks led, in turn, to one with Richard Pryor, who was one of the writers of “Blazing Saddles” (and Mr. Brooks’s original choice for the part ultimately played by Mr. Little). In 1976, Mr. Pryor was behind Mr. Wilder and Jill Clayburgh in “Silver Streak,” a comic thriller about murder on a transcontinental train. The two men went on to star in the 1980 hit “Stir Crazy,” in which they played a hapless pair jailed for a crime they didn’t commit, as well as “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” (1989) and “Another You” (1991). Mr. Wilder’s first two marriages, to Mary Mercier and Mary Joan Schutz, ended in divorce. In 1982, he met the “Saturday Night Live” comedian Gilda Radner when they were both cast in the suspense comedy “Hanky Panky. ” One evening, he recalled in “Kiss Me Like a Stranger,” he and Ms. Radner innocently ended up at his hotel to review some script changes. The time came for her to go instead, she shoved him down on the bed, jumped on top of him and announced, “I have a plan for fun!” He sent her home anyway — she was married to another man — but before long, they began a relationship. By his account, Ms. Radner was needy, obsessed with getting married and, once they married in 1984, obsessed with having a child, a project that ended in miscarriage just months before she learned she had ovarian cancer in 1986. Of their first year of living together, he wrote: “We didn’t get along well, and that’s a fact. We just loved each other, and that’s a fact. ” He left, only to find that he needed to go back. Ms. Radner died in 1989. “I had one great blessing: I was so dumb,” Mr. Wilder once said of her last years. “I believed even three weeks before she died she would make it. ” In memory of Ms. Radner, he helped to found an ovarian cancer detection center in her name, in Los Angeles, and Gilda’s Club, a network of support centers for people with cancer. He also contributed to a book, “Gilda’s Disease” (1998) with Dr. M. Steven Piver. Mr. Wilder himself developed ’s lymphoma in 1999. With chemotherapy and a transplant, he was in remission by 2005. In 1991 Mr. Wilder married Karen Boyer, a hearing specialist who had coached him in the filming of “See No Evil, Hear No Evil,” in which his character was deaf and Mr. Pryor’s was blind. She survives him, as does a daughter from an earlier marriage. His sister died in January. Even before he became ill, Mr. Wilder had begun slowing down. He made his first and last attempt at a television series, the and comedy “Something Wilder,” in 1994. He returned to the theater in 1997 in a London production of Neil Simon’s “Laughter on the 23rd Floor. ” In 1999 he was a writer for two TV movies in which he starred, “Murder in a Small Town” and “The Lady in Question,” playing a theater director turned amateur sleuth. In 2001 he appeared at the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut in a program of farces. Shortly after appearing in an episode of “Will Grace” in 2003 — he won an Emmy for that role — he declared that he had retired from acting for good. “I don’t like show business, I realized,” he said in 2008. “I like show, but I don’t like the business. ” He was by then enjoying a new career as a novelist. His “My French Whore,” published in 2007, was the story of a naïve young American who impersonates a German spy in World War I. (“Just fluff, but sweet fluff,” the novelist Carolyn See wrote in her review in The Washington Post.) It was followed by two more novels, “The Woman Who Wouldn’t” and “Something to Remember You By,” and a story collection, “What Is This Thing Called Love?” But it was, of course, as an actor that Mr. Wilder left his most lasting mark. In his memoir, he posed a question about his life’s work, then answered it: “What do actors really want? To be great actors? Yes, but you can’t buy talent, so it’s best to leave the word ‘great’ out of it. I think to be believed, onstage or onscreen, is the one hope that all actors share. ” | 1 |
President Barack Obama has less than 70 days to achieve one of the key goals that will define his legacy: close the Guantanamo Bay military prison.
There are 60 prisoners at Guantanamo. Twenty of them were cleared by the Obama administration and could be freed.
Of course, the specter of a Donald Trump presidency has those who pushed for the closure of Guantanamo frightened because Trump said he would bring new prisoners to the facility. What if Obama had closed the facility years ago? Would this even be a possibility?
Joining me on the “Unauthorized Disclosure” podcast, journalist Andy Worthington talks to me about the final push to close Guantanamo. He is the co-founder of the “ Close Guantanamo ” campaign. He also is a musician, who wrote a song for his band, Four Fathers, about closing the military prison. His work can be found here .
The interview starts at the 30:00 mark. Later in the interview, we go on a bit of a tangent and spend a few minutes addressing the rise of far-right elements in the United States and the United Kingdom, particularly because Worthington is based in the U.K.
Below is a partial transcript of the interview:
GOSZTOLA: What do you plan to do during final days of President Obama’s presidency to push for the closure of Guantanamo, especially now that Donald Trump is president and open to torture and possibly even bringing more prisoners to Guantanamo?
WORTHINGTON: I’ve been working on the Guantanamo issue for over ten years, and it’s always been my intention to try and get it closed. So, back in January 2012, when it was the tenth anniversary of the opening of the prison, I setup a campaign and website called “Close Guantanamo” with the attorney Tom Wilner, who represented the Guantanamo prisoners in their Supreme Court cases in 2004 and 2008.
What we did this year, 2016, is we setup a countdown to close Guantanamo. So we counted down the last year of the presidency, and every 50 days we have these posters that they could print off that they could stand with, they could send in to us, and we put them on to the website and on social media. We’ve had over 500 celebrities and people across the U.S. and around the world sending in photos every 50 days.
Of course, we’re now into the very last ten weeks of Obama’s presidency so what I am trying to do is just to keep the pressure on as we’ve been doing all year just to try and keep President Obama aware that people are watching. Obviously, he doesn’t need any telling. After the election result, it’s more urgent than ever. If he really does want to close the prison, he needs to do everything that he can in his power to do it before he leaves office because, as you say, Donald Trump has said on the campaign trail that he wants to keep it open. He wants to send Americans there to be prosecuted. He wants to reintroduce torture.
Now, we also know that Donald Trump, to be generous, is a colossal windbag, and that it’s not necessarily true that the things he says he means. But he is now the president. The Republican Party that he nominally is the president of is in control of the Senate and the House, and there are some very unpleasant characters in the Republican Party, who love Guantanamo and who would love to reinstitute torture.
I think it’s fair enough at this point for people to be genuinely worried that any progress that has been made toward the closure of Guantanamo is going to hit a very sticky patch with the inauguration of Donald Trump.
GOSZTOLA: I get the real sense that we shouldn’t take any chances here, that perhaps the human rights community could get to Donald Trump and convince him that Guantanamo needs to be closed. We already see figures surrounding him like Rudy Giuliani and also, a quite goonish character, Tom Cotton, who is a senator, and former veteran, who has incredible bloodlust.
WORTHINGTON: He’s a dreadful individual. It’s so out of control that kind of massive enthusiasm for Guantanamo and the hysteria and the exaggeration about the people who were held there. Any rational analysis of Guantanamo has always has always accepted there are a handful of significant people there, but the majority of people there never were. It’s awful the things he’s been saying.
But you know, I’m really worried about the kind of people we’re hearing that are gathering around Donald Trump. I thought we’d seen the last of Rudy Giuliani and people like that. I’m hearing people mention John Bolton. Surely not. Surely, we’re not going to put up with him again. But who knows?
GOSZTOLA: The neoconservatives, as they call them, ran away from Donald Trump, but it seems they may be coming back, as it’s their only way to have access to power. So let’s talk about the critical issue of the human beings, who still remain captive at Guantanamo. I know you’ve done some recent work on Abu Zubaydah. Just so people can have a case within our interview to think about, and to think about the critical importance of closing Guantanamo and what’s at stake, talk about how he was denied release and what we know about how he was treated.
WORTHINGTON: I suppose I should really start out by breaking down who is at Guantanamo, these 60 men. Twenty of them have been approved for release by two review boards, one back in 2009. There are still a handful of men approved for release then, who haven’t actually been freed. The rest of them were approved by a review board that’s been taking place over the last few years, the Periodic Review Board, which is like a parole board. People have to demonstrate they show contrition for what they did, and they want to have constructive peaceful lives if they’re released.
That process has been involving at Guantanamo, who isn’t already approved for release or facing trial. And just ten men are facing trials. So, at present, of those people held, there are 30 men, who have had these reviews, that have said on balance we’ve reviewed their cases and we’re still going to carry on holding them but we’re not putting them on trial.
Abu Zubaydah is one of those people. He was the person that the Bush administration’s CIA torture program was created for. He was the first victim of that. He was someone who was outrageously hyped up by the Bush administration as somebody close to Osama bin laden, involved in 9/11 attacks. Number three in al Qaida was what they were saying at the beginning, even though there were people in the intelligence community who knew from the beginning that this simply was true about him
But they tortured him abominably, waterboarded him on 83 occasions, destroyed him in some ways. He has fits, is in a pretty terrible way. All of this was for somebody that was who they said he was. The U.S. government eventually backed down and said they didn’t think he knew about the 9/11 attacks. He wasn’t a member of al Qaida. They’re still trying to suggest that he was part of some kind of militia that would enable to say he was an enemy of the United States.
The thing about Zubaydah is obviously, as with everybody held, the terrible things that happened should not have happened. Skilled interrogators would have been able to sit down with these guys without laying a finger on them and get information from them. Then we would have been able to have trials that would have been acceptable. But this is a kind of revisionism of history that didn’t happen—Terrible things happened instead.
This man was a facilitators for an independent training camp that had some involvement in militarily training and some people that were trained there it seems went away and became involved in plots. So it’s not that there isn’t a case against him on some level, but whether he actually constituted an enemy of the United States, I couldn’t really say.
But there he is in Guantanamo, and like all these to moral or other degrees were mistreated and who may or may not have done things in some way against the United States, he’s had this review process, and they’ve said, well, no, we’re not going to approve him for release. He’s now eligible for further reviews, as are all the other men who had their ongoing imprisonment upheld.
Now, these reviews were initiated several years ago by an executive order that President Obama. They involve the Defense Department, the intelligence agencies, all the major government departments. So it’s an ongoing process unless, of course, a new government decided they were not interested in them, and we don’t know where President-To-Be Donald Trump stands on the periodic review boards or where the people gathering around him stand on them. But I think it would be fair to say there will be a certain amount of hostility toward them. What I don’t know is how much within these departments of the kind of unchanging people who do the work, regardless of who the government is, how much there will be feedback within these various departments and agencies about what they think is the usefulness or not of reviewing people.
I think it’s fair to say that we’re fortunate—those of us who want to see Guantanamo closed—that President Obama has done so much in recent years to reduce the population.
GOSZTOLA: There’s been a lot of promising developments, especially in the last year, but at the last time, you see a real failure because now with the election of Donald Trump the Obama administration has left the door open for the military to keep using it as a facility. Right now, as I understand it, some of the camps are being transformed into mental health or hospital facilities. Still, easily, you could put the brakes on that. Donald Trump could use that again for what we already have read about in your reporting and other books.
WORTHINGTON: I have to say, although the worst case scenario could happen in anything we think of, when we look at Donald Trump and these figures within the Republican Party who want power and influence—There are very strong arguments I suspect will be made by career bureaucrats, by lawyers, and certainly of course by NGOs. I would not expect silence from the liberal media. I would think there would be a lot of voices discussing very loudly how inappropriate it would be, for example, to send anyone new to Guantanamo.
President Obama, to his credit, he always treated it as a legacy issue. He never sent anybody there. Every time that some terrorist suspect was apprehended, pretty much wherever it was, these Republicans, the kind of people now jockeying for power, would have been saying send this person to Guantanamo. Give him the works. Torture them. All of this stuff, and ridiculous, and he never did.
This isn’t just some kind of humanitarianism that can be easily dismissed. The truth is if you apprehend a terrorism suspect and what to give them a trial then do it in federal courts. Because federal courts have a long and capable history of doing it. What everybody needs to remember and what even the great cheerleaders for Guantanamo actually know when you put them on the spot is that when Guantanamo was setup there were still federal court trials taking place successfully for people accused of terrorism. The same happened throughout the Obama administration.
Really when you step back and look at it and strip away the hysteria, Guantanamo is an aberration. It’s a broken place that doesn’t work. It would be very hard to make a case. We’re not thankfully in the middle of a national emergency like we were in the wake of 9/11.
There is no clear and present danger to the nation that would justify people saying, I know what the rules are that normally reply, but the thing that’s happening to us is so awful that we must throw away all those ways of behaving and do this terrible thing. There isn’t actually any pressure for doing that that is justifiable. I think that it would be difficult for them to justify it, and there would be a lot of resistance institutionally. But you know, who am I to know? If people take over with an aggression and craziness, it’s possible they can steamroll everything before them.
GOSZTOLA: You also are a singer, and you have a band. I wanted to have you share the work you’ve been doing. It’s called the Four Fathers. You recorded a song particularly for the campaign to close Guantanamo.
WORTHINGTON: I’ve kind of revisited something I’ve done before, which is to sing about something of importance to me. You actually made a “Protest Song of The Week” awhile back, the song I wrote for Shaker Aamer who was the last British resident in Guantanamo who I was campaigning to release. I came up with another song fairly recently. Earlier this year was when I came up with it, about Guantanamo.
That kind of fell into place that here’s this sunny, bouncy tune, which I think is probably appropriate for what this corner of the Caribbean should be, and then I basically just sang about what’s happened at Guantanamo since the prison was setup. I kind of distilled into verse what I’ve always understood about it—how the Bush administration chose it to be beyond the law, said they could torture and abuse people, when they tortured and abused people they told lies, they had the nerve to then present these lies that people told under torture and abuse as though they were the truth.
And then the last verse of the song, which I’ve used in the campaign video for the “Close Guantanamo” campaign is about President Obama’s struggles to close Guantanamo and what seems to be his failure to be able to do so. I hope people will like the song. I think it tells the story well and in a good manner. It would be lovely if you could play it to your listeners.
Listen to “Close Guantanamo”:
The post Interview: Andy Worthington On Final Push To Close Guantanamo appeared first on Shadowproof .
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Most Sunday mornings, throughout my childhood near Geneva, my father would drive me to a spot we had never been before. Switzerland occupies about 16, 000 square miles. Squeezed between France, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria and Germany, it is divided into 26 cantons, each influenced by the country it is closest to. All are both fiercely independent and utterly loyal to the Swiss confederation. We explored much of the region where we lived, and that forged a nomadic spirit that has stayed with me. After high school, I moved to New York, where I’ve lived for the last 30 years. My father died in 2003 three weeks later, my son, Sébastien, was born. I began to long for the stunning Alpine landscapes of my youth. Whenever possible, we traveled back to my mother’s house in Genthod, near Geneva, but I yearned to share more with Sébastien as he grew. A dual citizen who spoke French at home, Sébastien, now 12, was curious about Switzerland. (He had been switching to English in our conversations, perhaps out of a growing preteen defiance.) So before adolescence claimed him, I decided to take him around the country last summer. The plan was to choose spots to evade the August crowds and explore cantons where each national language — French, Italian, German and Romansh — was spoken and celebrated. Going by train, I thought, would give us a chance to focus on each other and see the countryside at its most tranquil. Halfway through our journey, though, I wondered if we would make it to the end. “I’m bored to death,” said a breathless Sébastien as we hiked down through the steep terraced vineyards of Lavaux, between Lausanne and Vevey. Really? Below us, an undulating flow of greenery cascaded toward a perfectly still lake. On the other side, France was shrouded in sheer morning fog, pierced only by the colossal range of the Alps. Vineyards have existed on these slopes since Roman times, but monks planted most of the 2, 400 acres on terraces during the 11th century. In 2007, the region’s terraced vineyards, deemed a “cultural landscape,” became a Unesco World Heritage site. But my son was furious. In order to catch the early train from Geneva to Vevey, I woke him, a risky endeavor. Somehow I had gotten him to leave his computer behind — no small feat. He puffed and grumbled until, seated at the Auberge de l’Onde, in the village of St. I asked if he wanted to taste the wine. He perked up and we sipped the fruity, perky local chasselas. But it was the perch filets meunière that elicited the first smile of the day. I had high hopes for our next stop, Fribourg, a town founded in 1157 on a sandstone cliff, with a quirky bilingual identity, a Jean de Saint Phalle gallery and a large student population. Alas, the gallery was closed and Sébastien was checked out. He plunged into his phone, and I left our hotel alone. On the cobblestone square, I was surprised to find several hundred soldiers in fatigues. Barely older than my son, these new recruits had just started their first mandatory stint in the Swiss Army and were listening to a speech on terrorism. It was reassuring to hear that Switzerland didn’t take its peace for granted (its last war was in 1847). “I’ll serve in Switzerland if they have a computer department,” Sébastien said at dinner, thrusting his long fork into the bubbly fondue (half Gruyère, half Vacherin). I regaled him with memories of my father, who would don his uniform, pick up the rifle every soldier stored at home and head to the annual training course. The fastest way from Fribourg to Locarno, and its home canton of Ticino, actually led us through Italy. At the stop in Domodossola, 10 cars’ worth of travelers tried without success to squeeze into the rickety train to Locarno. “Benvenuto in Italia!” I said, finally seated in a longer train that replaced the first. “You speak Italian?” Sébastien asked. “Sì,” I said, realizing he knew nothing of my years of study. Two hours later, we landed in Locarno, with its palm trees and bougainvillea. At lunch, I showed off, babbling with the restaurant owner to persuade him to make a pasta sampler for my hungry tween. “How do you say, ‘cool’?” Sébastien asked. Our next destination was Swissminiatur, a park in Melide, on Lake Lugano (one of over 130 lakes in Ticino) that houses miniature models of Swiss monuments. We hopped on two more trains for a few minutes each to get there. As a youngster, I had taken the precision of the train system for granted, but now with a tight schedule, I was grateful. “That’s attention to detail,” said Sébastien, admiring the model of Geneva’s St. Pierre Cathedral. “Andiamo al lido! Let’s go to the beach,” I said on our way out. It turned out to be more a lawn than a beach, but soon we were bobbing along in the cool water. For centuries, artists and writers have lauded the beauty of the Swiss lakes. “The mirror where the stars and mountains view the stillness of their aspect in each trace,” Lord Byron wrote. To me, the opaline ripples hold memories of my father, who sailed competitively, beating Ted Turner at the 5. 5 meter 1972 world championship. On Sunday nights, he would bring home twisted, drenched spinnakers to all over the house, forming silky red or blue labyrinths. That night in nearby Morcote, the skies opened, and we admired the running of the waiters, umbrella in one hand and steaming pasta dish in the other. We wouldn’t see the sun until more than a whole day later, in in the canton of Graubünden, where Romansh, a descendant of Latin, is spoken. And it was on the way there, crawling under steady rain, that Sébastien asked if he could go home. Too many trains and the steady pull of his “internet friends” had worn him down. As I pointed to one vista after another, he barely looked up from his phone. Had I been more sensitive to the beauty of the landscapes at age 12? Probably not. I pondered if we should abort the trip, but decided to stick with it. The next day, I woke up to the clicks of a camera. “Trying the panorama,” he said, pointing his phone out the window. We were staying at the Hotel Waldhaus a stately white chateau with green shutters, built in 1908 and still owned by the same family. The trick was to capture the steely gray Lake Sils, Lake Silvaplana and the rocky Piz Corvatsch mountain in the same frame. Downstairs, the breakfast buffet was a study in satisfying Swiss cuisine: mountain cheese, redolent of summer grass bündnerfleisch ( beef) and even a honeycomb the size of a road map. “It’s the Grand Budapest Hotel,” Sébastien said. It seemed he was in a better mood. The serious hikers had already left, but Werner Zinsli, a local guide, was waiting. “Allegra!” he said in Romansh, and as we hiked toward the Val Fex, he recounted the struggle to keep this local language alive. The faint chime of cowbells accompanied our steps. A light wind breathed through immense larch trees. This was the ideal Alpine landscape — silvery river below, ice tongues and patches of snow above — that inspired Nietzsche, who summered in the area. “See Maienfeld on the other side?” said Mr. Zinsli to Sébastien. “That’s the village that inspired the author of ‘Heidi’. ” (He didn’t quite have it right: The village was Grevasalvas, a location for the TV version of “Heidi. ”) After two hours, we refueled with rösti and local bratwurst served outside Hotel Fex on a tablecloth. “What’s going on here?” asked Sébastien a day later, as we rolled our bags through the village of Appenzell, a mere 12 miles from Austria. Couples of all ages, some in lederhosen and traditional dresses, danced joyously to the sound of accordions, trumpets and string instruments. Farther away, we heard a choir’s wrenching yodels, traditional wordless songs alternating between falsetto and chest voice. Between the geraniums in the windows, the immaculately painted facades and the costumes, we seemed to have stumbled onto a theater set. “It’s a Dr. Seuss scene,” Sébastien said. But we found Appenzell and its folk music festival endearing. At dinner we munched on macaroni with creamy Appenzeller cheese at Appenzell, on the wide Landsgemeindeplatz, the village square where inhabitants come together on the last Sunday of April to vote we discussed direct democracy and how the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden was the last of the 26 cantons to grant women the right to vote on issues in 1991. It seemed fitting to end with the world’s steepest cogwheel railway up Mount Pilatus near Lucerne. We heard marmots cry on the way up, and at dusk we encountered our first ibex, the mountain goat that haunted the folktales of my childhood. “Cool,” Sébastien said. I never again brought up his desire to get home early, and he didn’t, either. I had pretended to be strong and steadfast. And that was all he needed. A Swiss Travel Pass (swisstravelsystem. com) provides access to all rail, boat and bus travel, as well as 50 percent off most mountain excursions. The price depends on the number of consecutive travel days, and the family card can be added free if one parent purchases one adult Swiss Travel Pass. For example, for eight days, the adult fare is $388 in second class $621 in first. Children and adults will enjoy strolling through Swissminiatur (Via Cantonale, Melide swissminiatur. ) whether they recognize the monuments or not. We enjoyed cooling off at the Lido di Melide (Via alla Bola 10, Melide melide. ch) an enclosed resort area with a cafe and playground. The Engadin region (engadin. stmoritz. ch) has many trails for hikers of all levels. Our walk in the Fex Valley was a nice introduction. Most travelers hop to the summit of Mount Pilatus (pilatus. ch) on the cogwheel train (May to November) or cable car, and come back down. But spending the night at 7, 000 feet brought me my very first ibex sighting. Hôtel Au Sauvage ( 12, Fribourg . ch) is a family owned boutique hotel set in the lower part of the old town, steps from the bucolic River Sarine. Doubles start at 240 Swiss francs, or about $247. Albergo della Posta (Piazza Grande, Morcote . ) is a simple inn with a superb terrace hanging over Lake Lugano. Doubles start at 110 francs. We loved the Waldhaus Hotel (Via da Fex 3, . ) for its stunning views, but also its family run hospitality. Doubles start at 480 francs. There’s probably no better seat to watch the historic annual voting session in April on the Landsgemeindeplatz than the flowery Appenzell (Hauptgasse 37, Appenzell . ch) where doubles start at 250 francs. It’s worth spending the night at Hotel (Schlossweg 1, Kriens pilatus. ) for the sunset and to catch a sighting of ibex or marmots out in the meadows. Doubles from 170 francs. Lunch for two at the brasserie at L’Auberge de l’Onde (Chemin Neuf, St. aubergedelonde. ) starts at 60 francs. We had trouble finishing the “small” portion of the fondue (25 francs) at Café du Midi (Rue de Romont, 25 lemidi. ch). Lunch served outside in the middle of the Fex Valley at Hotel Restaurant Fex (Fexerstrasse 73, . ch) was a highlight. Lunch for two from 42 francs. | 1 |
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Just one week before America decides whether or not to elect Donald Trump, one of his supporters decided to help get his message out by torching a black church and defacing its wall with the words “Vote Trump.”
“When firefighters arrived at Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church Tuesday night, they found it in flames, and the Vote Trump slogan written in silver spray paint on the outside wall of the church,” Mark Rigsby of Mississippi Public Broadcasting reports.
“Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons calls this a hate crime — an attempt to frighten voters just days before the presidential election.”
Trump has yet to condemn the attack, or even mention it.
Mississippi has been the host of many decades of violence directed at African Americans. During the Jim Crow era, acts of terror committed against black Mississippians was disturbingly common. It seems for at least one Trump supporter, the term “Make American Great Again” means returning to that dark time.
But rather than let this disgusting display of intolerance be the story, Americans got to work. In just hours, a verified GoFundMe account was set up by concerned citizens and thousands of dollars began to pour in to help rebuild.
It’s goal was to raise $10,000. It likely wouldn’t be enough to repair all of the damages inside and outside of the church, but it would be a start. Instead, people gave over $150,000. And perhaps even more remarkably, the entire world appeared ready to reject the deplorable racism and bigotry that led to this act. The campaign’s organizer updated the campaign by saying that people from all faiths (and none at all) and many countries have contributed:
Responses have been pouring in from all over the world, and they’re truly extraordinary. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, atheists and many more, from all over the United States and many other countries.
And according to GoFundMe’s VP of Communications and Policy Dan Pfeiffer, this campaign is perhaps the fastest growing in the history of the site. This one right here is verified and one of our fastest growing history https://t.co/E4smWW2s7d https://t.co/xIQWY4ulsV
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) November 3, 2016
A slogan that has often been used to counter Trump’s message of cynical bigotry comes to mind: Love trumps hate.
Featured image via GoFundMe | 0 |
We live in the golden age of wellness vacations, where taking time off is all about becoming a better person. When I was 22, I used to have a fantasy about going away to a sanitarium, like in “The Magic Mountain. ” I would do nothing but sit on balconies, wrapped in steamer rugs, and go to the doctor, avoiding the rigors of the real world and emerging after a short period brighter, happier, better. I’m beginning to think this was a prescient impulse. Over the decades we have embraced a widening and diverse array of practices and traditions, but the idea that we can be improved — in mind, body or spirit — has remained a constant. That this could be accomplished with money and in an allotted parcel of time has become increasingly popular with a generation reared in a maximalist minimalist moment that, as with fashion and interior design, demands grandiose, freedom from the world. If stuff was once an indicator of security, now the very lack of it — of dust, of furniture, of body fat, of errant thoughts — defines aspiration. A glamorous exercise in pricey has become the logical way to spend one’s leisure time. We live in a golden age of the “wellness vacation,” a sort of hybrid retreat, boot camp, spa and roving therapy session that, for the cost of room and board, promises to refresh body and mind and send you back to your life more whole. Pravassa, a “wellness travel company,” summarizes its (trademarked) philosophy as “Breathe. Experience. Move. Mindfulness. Nourish. ” (The Kripalu Center for Yoga Health, a wellness retreat in New England, boasts the eerily similar tagline: “Breathe. Connect. Move. Discover. Shine. ”) A trip to Thailand with Pravassa includes a travel guide — who works, in her day job, as a “ psychotherapist” in Atlanta — as well as temple pilgrimages at dawn and, more abstractly, the potential to bring all that mindfulness back home with you. Selfies are not only allowed but encouraged. Whatever happened to a good book and a martini? If in the recent past people’s idea of a vacation conjured images of Caribbean resorts and swingers’ parties, the idea of taking time off as a means of still has strong precedents. For as long as Americans have worked regular hours, many have tried to make good spiritual use of their time off. As Cindy Aron explains in her comprehensive “Working at Play: A History of Vacations in the United States,” the modern notion of “vacation” was initially the purview of the wealthy, and inextricably bound up with the idea of health. Hubs like Niagara or Saratoga were wholesome retreats from the dirt (and populations) of cities, where the air and water were both rarefied. In the century, a class of vacationers emerged and gradually changed the retreats into the more democratic — and — destinations we know today. The concept of a purely fun break came later. Spiritual retreats were less and, when under the rubric of religious communities (as many of the 19th and 20th centuries were) actively salutary. The new wellness vacations are a kind of steroidal response to movements like Chautauqua, founded by Methodists in the 19th century to encourage lifelong learning and spiritual growth. In beautiful compounds, attendees could — and indeed, still can — take classes and hear music and sermons. For many Americans, the opportunity for continuing education, communion with nature and polite, wholesome society — absent of evils like alcohol or dancing — would have been a luxury indeed. But sophisticates like Sinclair Lewis and H. L. Mencken mocked the earnestness of communities like Chautauqua Lewis described this learning as “nothing but wind and chaff and . .. the laughter of yokels. ” Lewis is lucky that those early Chautauquans didn’t have smartphones. The wellness vacation in its current form is all the easier to mock: As has ever before been the case, spirituality plus money makes for an open target, but add in the fact that nothing really counts today unless everyone witnesses it. If an enlightenment retreat happens in a forest and nobody’s there to Instagram the sunrise, does it even exist? Our idea of spirituality and mindfulness also includes the attempt to project these ideas by distilling them to images of multihued juices and toned women striking poses in silhouette against stunning natural backdrops. If this projection is a mark of sophistication and privilege, so much the better. The humanist founders of Esalen were genuinely dedicated to the expansion of consciousness that the Big Sur retreat should become a byword for trendy spiritual (and an ambivalent punch line on “Mad Men”) is a sign of its importance. As ideas, like the “Pray” portion of Elizabeth Gilbert’s popular book, move into the cultural mainstream and lose their purity — as they become inextricably tied up with capitalism, really — it’s easy for us, to sneer. I, however, get the appeal. For all the spiritual work, and all the hikes, and all the sunrise yoga, and all the once you get there, as with my childhood sanitarium fantasy, you don’t have to make many decisions. Wellness vacations are planned for you, companions allocated, menus chosen. Even your breathing is dictated. We crave direction helplessness is truly the ultimate luxury, a philosophy that has by now entered the mainstream. And yet, read another way, the point is to pay people to wait on you, while feeling great about it. But why should anyone be blamed for wanting to, quite literally, better themselves? Karl Lagerfeld counts exercise and vacations as two of the many things he despises. More mysteriously, I once heard Werner Herzog give a talk in which he dismissed the notion of yoga practice, saying definitively, “It’s not my culture. ” Clearly, to the elderly German director, there is something inherently distasteful in the notion that you could take up an ancient practice, throw in some expensive leggings and call yourself evolved. Then again, the Germans gave us the “The Magic Mountain,” and the resort on which Mann based his fictional sanitarium now houses participants at the World Economic Forum in Davos. | 1 |
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Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said the UK will be “perfectly OK” even if the European Union (EU) refuses to conclude a bilateral agreement with it after Brexit — although he added he is sure an agreement will be made. [“We would be perfectly OK if we weren’t able to get an agreement, but I’m sure that we will,” he told ITV’s Peston On Sunday. “Our partners and friends around the EU desperately want this thing to work. They don’t want more misery they don’t want to fall out with the UK” he said. ICYMI those @BorisJohnson comments claiming the UK would be ”perfectly okay” without a trade deal with the EU #Peston pic. twitter. — Peston on Sunday (@pestononsunday) March 12, 2017, The Foreign Secretary’s comments come just days after Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó warned the EU that seeking to “punish” the British people for backing Brexit would be a “suicidal strategy” liable to drive UK business abroad to the United States and growing economies around the world. “We need to avoid a situation whereby the EU goes to the back of the line for Britain” he said. “Losing such a partner and giving it away to others would be a suicidal strategy. ” The UK has been laying the groundwork for raft of new trade agreements once it is out of the EU, which does not allow to conduct their own trade policy. David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, assured the public that “The whole of Whitehall every single [government] department” was working on a contingency plan in case a agreement cannot be negotiated. Davis told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that he shared the Foreign Secretary’s view that a “no deal” situation was not “remotely likely” on Sunday morning, however, emphasising that “The whole government … have been engaged with every country in Europe and of course the [EU] institutions”. #Brexit secretary David Davis says government is working on contingency plan if deal can’t be reached with EUhttps: . #marr pic. twitter. — BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) March 12, 2017, “It’s going to be tough,” he said, “but it’s in absolutely everybody’s interests that we get a good outcome”. Addressing rumours that Remainer MPs are plotting to claim a veto over Brexit by backing House of Lords amendments to the government’s bill authorising the activation Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which formally begins the exit process, Davis asserted that this would not be democratically acceptable. “What we can’t have is either house of Parliament reversing the decision of the British people,” he said. “They haven’t got a veto [ … ] The decision has been made. The British people made the decision on June 23rd last year. ” | 1 |
“El mejor lugar para observar estrellas fugaces de OT” SELECCIÓN DE RESEÑAS Y RECOMENDACIONES DE USUARIOS «El mejor lugar para observar estrellas fugaces»
★★★★
A sólo 10 minutos de Barcelona, en Sant Just Desvern, el mirador de Sant Nicanor es un espectáculo para los amantes de las estrellas fugaces. Situado junto al antiguo plató donde se grababa Operación Triunfo, es relativamente fácil observar a algún exconcursante arrastrado por la nostalgia y el éxito efímero. Nosotros tuvimos suerte y vimos un Ramón de OT3, una Idaira de OT4 y un Chipper de OT6.
MELISSA SERRAT «Una sombra de lo que fue»
★
Hubo una época dorada en el Gorgorito’s en la que los intérpretes sentían la música. Lamentablemente, eso pertenece al pasado. Gregorio se ha acomodado en los boleros más populares. Desde que se juntó con una chica más joven no transmite la pasión de antaño. Tampoco Charo, que interpretaba como nadie a Paloma San Basilio, parece sentir la letra de Juntos. Quizá el único que se mantiene fiel al espíritu gorgoritero sea Sebas. Su Tractor amarillo continúa siendo el símbolo de la Barcelona divorciada.
JORGE CARDONA
Estación de Bicing de Aribau/Diputació «Historia y tradición en el centro de la ciudad»
Esta estación de bicicletas municipales fue una de las primeras en instalarse en la Ciudad Condal. Las mismas bicicletas estropeadas, los mismos problemas para sacarlas… Acercarte allí te teletransporta automáticamente a los locos 2007. Parece que en cualquier momento vaya a aparecer algún joven de la época, con sus vaqueros y sus zapatillas, con su iPhone, escuchando lo último de Miley Cyrus… Aaah, ‘those were the days, my friend…’
RAMIRO CARMONA | 0 |
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