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German Ministry Wants Migrants Returned to Africa: Report Reuters, November 6, 2016
The German Interior Ministry wants to stop migrants ever reaching Europe’s Mediterranean coast by picking them up at sea and returning them to Africa, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported on Sunday.
In what would be a huge shift for a country with one of the most generous asylum policies, the ministry says the European Union should adopt an Australian-style system under which migrants intercepted at sea are sent for processing at camps in third countries.
“The elimination of the prospect of reaching the European coast could convince migrants to avoid embarking on the life-threatening and costly journey in the first place,” the paper quoted a ministry spokeswoman as saying.
“The goal must be to remove the basis for people-smuggling organizations and to save migrants from the life-threatening journey.”
The ministry’s proposal calls for migrants picked up in the Mediterranean–most of whom set off from conflict-torn Libya–to be sent to Tunisia, Egypt or other north African states to apply for asylum from there.
If their asylum applications are accepted, the migrants could then be transported safely to Europe.
{snip} | 0 |
The Core New Mexico education secretary who once served as a staffer in former Gov. Jeb Bush’s administration in Florida is no longer a candidate for assistant secretary of the U. S. Education Department, reports Politico. [Hanna Skandera’s name was pulled from consideration for the position, the report says, because about a dozen Senate Republicans “were skeptical that they could ever vote yes” to confirm her, due to her support for the highly unpopular Common Core standards. Skandera was deputy education commissioner under Jeb Bush and also a senior policy adviser and deputy chief of staff at the education department under former U. S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who served under President George W. Bush. Like Jeb Bush, Skandera is a proponent of the Common Core standards. She is head of the governing board of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) one of the two federally funded test consortia that developed assessments aligned with Common Core. President Donald Trump campaigned on getting rid of the Common Core standards, and a network of grassroots citizens across the country are vehemently opposed to the federalized program that was introduced in President Barack Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill. Emmett McGroarty, a senior fellow at American Principles Project, released the following statement: We applaud the Administration and the Senate for scuttling the nomination of Hanna Skandera due to her past support for Common Core standards and testing. Parents, students, and teachers detest Common Core because it locks children into an inferior education. As President Trump has said, Common Core “is a total disaster. ” We urge the Administration to look for appointees committed to achieving the President’s vision that “education has to be at a local level. We cannot have the bureaucrats in Washington telling you how to manage your child’s education. ” Though U. S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has funded and served organizations that promote Common Core — including Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education — since her nomination, she has denied she supports the controversial standards. DeVos, nevertheless, has surrounded herself with advisers and staff who have ties to Bush’s foundation, as well as to Indiana, where Common Core was repealed, but then simply “rebranded. ” The secretary recently said the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) “essentially does away with the notion of a Common Core,” a statement many grassroots parent activists still battling against the Core in their states have rejected. Upon DeVos’s nomination, KOB4 in Albuquerque reported Skandera praised Trump’s pick, saying that while she did not know her well, she believed DeVos’s policies would not change Common Core in New Mexico. Breitbart News reached out to the press office at the U. S. Education Department to confirm the report but received no response. | 0 |
Tuesday 8 November 2016 Daily Mail forced to lie down in darkened room after confirmation Prince Harry’s girlfriend is mixed-race
The Daily Mail has been forced to go and lie down in a darkened room for a while after learning that Prince Harry’s new girlfriend is one of those ‘brown ones’.
Doctors were called after the newspaper reported feeling faint at reading the Kensington Palace statement confirming the relationship.
The Daily Mail explained, “I know we’ve been reporting the relationship for days, but we’d hoped against hope it wasn’t really true.
“Sure, we’ve trawled her entire career and social feeds going back years to find video clips and photos that might make her look unsuitable as a girlfriend for a member of our royal family, all without ever saying it’s just because she’s a brown foreigner – but you kinda knew that, right?
“I mean, we can’t just say we don’t like her because she’s brown and foreign. Otherwise, we’d probably find our editor Paul Dacre being reported to himself in his other role at the Press Complaints Commission. That wouldn’t be good for anyone.
“But now it’s bloody well confirmed she’s definitely going out with him, and.. well… oh hear, I’m coming over all faint again.
“Do you realise that any child they might have would be 6th in line to the throne?! Can you imagine, a BROWN king!!”
At that point the doctors asked us to leave so they could administer an emergency sedative. | 0 |
geoengineeringwatch.org
Defections from the ranks of the power structure continue to build. A group of CDC (Center for Disease Control) whistleblowers is now putting pressure on CDC management to start telling the truth about the systemic corruption and public deception that this government organization represents. Yet more truth-tellers will likely come forward as the CDC ship goes down. A Harvard University publication states this about climate engineering: "it can help us combat the worst effects of climate change." How blatant can the betrayal from academia become? Massive geoengineering aerosol spraying operations around the globe continue decimate Eath's climate and life support systems. A former NASA engineer (now working with Geoengineering Watch) gives an extremely alarming report on our disintegrating ozone layer (primarily caused by climate engineering). Madagascar is starving due to geoengineering induced record droughts. Rapidly rising sea levels are chewing away at Africa's coastlines. Sea ice at both poles is at record low levels, and US generals say they can win WWlll with Russia. Where does this road lead? The latest installment of Global Alert News is below.
Credibility is absolutely essential in the fight to expose and halt climate engineering , as well as the fight for the greater good. We must all abandon preconceptions and ideology in exchange for verifiable front-line facts. Anything short of this is completely counterproductive to the causes we claim to be fighting for. We must all stand on a foundation of facts, and make our voices heard . DW Very dedicated activists help to sound the alarm at yet another event. This one took place at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds on October 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. My most sincere gratitude to Brian Schuler, Jamie Lee and Melanie Moran for their efforts at this event. Leave a Reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Name * Website Comment You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""><abbr title=""><acronym title=""><b><blockquote cite=""><cite><code><del datetime=""><em><i><q cite=""><strike><strong> VISITORS | 0 |
SYDNEY, Australia — The Great Barrier Reef in Australia has long been one of the world’s most magnificent natural wonders, so enormous it can be seen from space, so beautiful it can move visitors to tears. But the reef, and the profusion of sea creatures living near it, are in profound trouble. Huge sections of the Great Barrier Reef, stretching across hundreds of miles of its most pristine northern sector, were recently found to be dead, killed last year by overheated seawater. More southerly sections around the middle of the reef that barely escaped then are bleaching now, a potential precursor to another that could rob some of the reef’s most visited areas of color and life. “We didn’t expect to see this level of destruction to the Great Barrier Reef for another 30 years,” said Terry P. Hughes, director of a center for coral reef studies at James Cook University in Australia and the lead author of a paper on the reef that is being published Thursday as the cover article of the journal Nature. “In the north, I saw hundreds of reefs — literally of the reefs were dying and are now dead. ” The damage to the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s largest living structures, is part of a global calamity that has been unfolding intermittently for nearly two decades and seems to be intensifying. In the paper, dozens of scientists described the recent disaster as the third worldwide mass bleaching of coral reefs since 1998, but by far the most widespread and damaging. The state of coral reefs is a telling sign of the health of the seas. Their distress and death are yet another marker of the ravages of global climate change. If most of the world’s coral reefs die, as scientists fear is increasingly likely, some of the richest and most colorful life in the ocean could be lost, along with huge sums from reef tourism. In poorer countries, lives are at stake: Hundreds of millions of people get their protein primarily from reef fish, and the loss of that food supply could become a humanitarian crisis. With this latest global bleaching in its third year, reef scientists say they have no doubt as to the responsible party. They warned decades ago that the coral reefs would be at risk if human society kept burning fossil fuels at a runaway pace, releasing greenhouse gases that warm the ocean. Emissions continued to rise, and now the background ocean temperature is high enough that any temporary spike poses a critical risk to reefs. “Climate change is not a future threat,” Professor Hughes said. “On the Great Barrier Reef, it’s been happening for 18 years. ” Corals require warm water to thrive, but they are exquisitely sensitive to extra heat. Just two or three degrees Fahrenheit of excess warming can sometimes kill the tiny creatures. Globally, the ocean has warmed by about 1. 5 degrees Fahrenheit since the late 19th century, by a conservative calculation, and a bit more in the tropics, home to many reefs. An additional kick was supplied by an El Niño weather pattern that peaked in 2016 and temporarily warmed much of the surface of the planet, causing the hottest year in a historical record dating to 1880. It was obvious last year that the corals on many reefs were likely to die, but now formal scientific assessments are coming in. The paper in Nature documents vast coral bleaching in 2016 along a section of the reef north of Cairns, a city on Australia’s eastern coast. Bleaching indicates that corals are under heat stress, but they do not always die and cooler water can help them recover. Subsequent surveys of the Great Barrier Reef, conducted late last year after the deadline for inclusion in the Nature paper, documented that extensive patches of reef had in fact died, and would not be likely to recover soon, if at all. Professor Hughes led those surveys. He said that he and his students cried when he showed them maps of the damage, which he had calculated in part by flying low in small planes and helicopters. His aerial surveys, combined with underwater measurements, found that 67 percent of the corals had died in a long stretch north of Port Douglas, and in patches, the mortality reached 83 percent. By luck, a storm stirred the waters in the central and southern parts of the reef at a critical moment, cooling them, and mortality there was much lower — about 6 percent in a stretch off Townsville, and even lower in the southernmost part of the reef. But an Australian government study released last week found that over all, last year brought “the highest sea surface temperatures across the Great Barrier Reef on record. ” Only 9 percent of the reef has avoided bleaching since 1998, Professor Hughes said, and now, the less remote, more heavily visited stretch from Cairns south is in trouble again. Water temperatures there remain so high that another round of mass bleaching is underway, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority confirmed last week. Professor Hughes said he hoped the this time would not be as serious as last year’s, but “ bleaching is in Australia. ” The central and southern part of the reef had already been badly damaged by human activities like dredging and pollution. The Australian government has tried to combat these local threats with its Reef 2050 plan, restricting port development, dredging and agricultural runoff, among other risks. But Professor Hughes’s research found that, given the high temperatures, these national efforts to improve water quality were not enough. “The reefs in muddy water were just as fried as those in pristine water,” Professor Hughes said. “That’s not good news in terms of what you can do locally to prevent bleaching — the answer to that is not very much at all. You have to address climate change directly. ” With the election of Donald J. Trump as the American president, a recent global deal to tackle the problem, known as the Paris Agreement, seems to be in peril. Australia’s conservative government also continues to support fossil fuel development, including what many scientists and conservationists see as the reef’s most immediate threat — a proposed coal mine, expected to be among the world’s largest, to be built inland from the reef by the Adani Group, a conglomerate based in India. “The fact is, Australia is the largest coal exporter in the world, and the last thing we should be doing to our greatest national asset is making the situation worse,” said Imogen Zethoven, campaign director for the Australian Marine Conservation Society. Australia relies on the Great Barrier Reef for about 70, 000 jobs and billions of dollars annually in tourism revenue, and it is not yet clear how that economy will be affected by the reef’s deterioration. Even in areas, large patches of the Great Barrier Reef survived, and guides will most likely take tourists there, avoiding the dead zones. The global reef crisis does not necessarily mean extinction for coral species. The corals may save themselves, as many other creatures are attempting to do, by moving toward the poles as the Earth warms, establishing new reefs in cooler water. But the changes humans are causing are so rapid, by geological standards, that it is not entirely clear that coral species will be able to keep up. And even if the corals do survive, that does not mean individual reefs will continue to thrive where they do now. Coral reefs are sensitive systems, built by unusual animals. The corals themselves are tiny polyps that act like farmers, capturing colorful plants called algae that convert sunlight into food. The coral polyps form colonies and build a limestone scaffolding on which to live — a reef. But when the water near a reef gets too hot, the algae begin producing toxins, and the corals expel them in turning ghostly white. If water temperatures drop soon enough, the corals can grow new algae and survive, but if not, they may succumb to starvation or disease. Even when the corals die, some reefs eventually recover. If water temperatures stay moderate, the damaged sections of the Great Barrier Reef may be covered with corals again in as few as 10 or 15 years. But the temperature of the ocean is now high enough that global mass bleaching events seem to be growing more frequent. If they become routine, many of the world’s coral reefs may never be able to themselves. Within a decade, certain kinds of branching and plate coral could be extinct, reef scientists say, along with a variety of small fish that rely on them for protection from predators. “I don’t think the Great Barrier Reef will ever again be as great as it used to be — at least not in our lifetimes,” said C. Mark Eakin, a reef expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in Silver Spring, Md. Dr. Eakin was an author of the new paper and heads a program called Coral Reef Watch, producing predictive maps to warn when coral bleaching is imminent. Even though last year’s El Niño has ended, water temperatures are high enough that his maps are showing continued hot water across millions of square miles of the ocean. Kim M. Cobb, a climate scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology who was not involved in the writing of the new paper, described it and the more recent findings as accurate, and depressing. She said she saw extensive coral devastation last year off Kiritimati Island, part of the Republic of Kiribati several thousand miles from Australia and a place she visits regularly in her research. With the international effort to fight climate change at risk of losing momentum, “ocean temperatures continue to march upward,” Dr. Cobb said. “The idea that we’re going to have 20 or 30 years before we reach the next bleaching and mortality event for the corals is basically a fantasy. ” | 1 |
President Donald Trump has decided to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, according to a report from Axios reporter Jonathan Swan citing two sources with knowledge of the decision. [The news was confirmed by several mainstream media outlets. On Twitter, Trump indicated that an announcement was coming soon. “I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days,” he wrote. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” The decision wreaks havoc on former President Barack Obama’s legacy as president, despite pleas from world leaders for the United States to show leadership on climate change and remain in the agreement, Trump’s decision fulfills a key campaign promise to supporters of his run for president, widely supported by Republican members of congress who felt that the treaty unfairly jeopardized the American economy. Opponents of the climate deal were concerned after White House economic advisor Gary Cohn told reporters that the president was “evolving on the issue” during his trip overseas. His daughter Ivanka and Jared Kushner reportedly channelled support for the deal behind the scenes at the White House, encouraging climate change activists that Trump might change his mind. Trump’s Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former Exxon CEO, also supported remaining in the treaty. On May 9th, Obama defended his climate change legacy, calling the agreement “the one that will define the contours of this century more dramatically perhaps than any other. ” In October 2016, Obama described the deal as “the best possible shot to save the one planet we’ve got. ” New York and Washington elites agreed, downplaying the future of coal as an energy source and urging more federal subsidies for wind and solar investments. Trump’s EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt and White House senior advisor Stephen K. Bannon urged the president to keep his campaign promise to kill the agreement and put American energy and job growth first. | 0 |
Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, testifying in the Senate on Monday, attempted to defend her decision to defy President Donald Trump’s executive order suspending travel from several countries in January. [Yates told the Senate Judiciary Committee that her decision was made “not purely as a policy matter,” but suggested that she had been guided by “statements” that were made “contemporaneously or prior” to the order. She did not specify which statements she meant, but several of the judges who have blocked the executive order — and its less ambitious successor — have referred to statements made by Trump on the campaign trail about a “Muslim ban. ” Under questioning, Yates admitted that “people of goodwill can make different decisions about this” — having just argued, moments before, that the conclusion of the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel was so wrong that it had to be overruled. Sen. John Cornyn ( ) was the first to question Yates: Cornyn: Ms. Yates, this is the first time that you’ve appeared before Congress since you left the Department of Justice, and I just wanted to ask you a question about your decision to refuse to defend the president’s executive order. In the letter that you sent to Congress, you point out that the executive order itself was drafted in consultation with the Office of Legal Counsel, and you point out that the Office of Legal Counsel reviewed it to determine whether, in its view, the proposed executive order was lawful on its face, and properly drafted. Is it true that the Office of Legal Counsel did conclude it was lawful on its face, and properly drafted? Yates: Yes, they did. The Office of — Cornyn: And you overruled them? Yates: I did. The Office of Legal — Cornyn: What is your authority to overrule the office of legal counsel whether it comes to a legal determination? Yates: The Office of Legal Counsel has a narrow function and that is to look at the face of an executive order to determine purely on its face whether there is some set of circumstances under which at least some part of the executive order may be lawful. And, importantly, they do not look beyond the face of the executive order, for example, at statements that are made contemporaneously or prior to the execution of the E. O. that may bear on its intent and purpose. That office does not look at those factors. And in determining the constitutionality of this executive order, that was an important analysis to engage in, and one that I did. Cornyn: Well, Ms. Yates, I thought the Department of Justice had a tradition of defending a presidential action in court if there are reasonable arguments in its favor regardless whether they may prove to be ultimately persuasive — which, of course, is up to the courts to decide and not you, correct? Yates: It is correct, but not often times, but not always, the Civil Division of the Department of Justice will defend an president or an action of Congress if there is a reasonable argument to be made. But in this instance, all arguments have to be based on truth. Because we’re the Department of Justice. We’re not just a law firm. We’re the Department of Justice. Cornyn: You distinguish “the truth” from “lawful”? Yates: Yes, because in this instance, in looking at what the intent was of the executive order, which was derived, in part, from an analysis of facts outside the face of the order, that is part of what led to our conclusion that it was not lawful, yes. Cornyn: Well, Mrs. Yates, you had a distinguished career for 27 years at the Department of Justice. And I voted for your confirmation because I believe you had a distinguished career. And I have to tell you that I find it enormously disappointing that you somehow vetoed the decision of the Office of Legal Counsel with regard to the lawfulness of the president’s order, and decided instead that you would countermand the executive order of the President of the United States because you happen to disagree with it as a policy matter. I just have to say that. Yates: I appreciate that, Senator. And let me make one thing clear. It was not purely as a policy matter. And in fact, I remember my confirmation hearing. And in an exchange that I had with you, and others of your colleagues, where you specifically asked me in that hearing that if the president asked me to do something that was unlawful or unconstitutional, and one of your colleagues — or even that would reflect poorly on the Department of Justice, would I say no? And I looked at this. I made a determination that I believed that it was unlawful. I also thought that it was inconsistent with the principles of the Department of Justice. And I said no. And that’s what I promised you I would do. And That’s what I did. Sen. Dick Durbin ( ) rode to Yates’s rescue, citing three federal courts that had agreed with Yates, blocking the executive order on the grounds that it was improperly motivated by religious discrimination. Durbin did not mention, however, that a federal judge in Boston had declined to block the executive order, ruling that the president was well within his authority, and that the order satisfied the legal standard of “rational basis” review: Here, the President has exercised his broad authority under 8 U. S. C. § 1182( f) to suspend entry of certain aliens purportedly in order to ensure that resources are available to review screening procedures and that adequate standards are in place to protect against terrorist attacks. Under questioning from Sen. Ted Cruz ( ) Yates said that the statute authorizing Trump’s executive order was superseded by a later statute prohibiting religious discrimination, and that the fundamental issue was the constitutionality of the order. Cruz replied that the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) had reviewed the executive order for its lawfulness. Yates said she was not convinced that the order was lawful, and she had to look “outside the face of the document. ” “It was appropriate for us to look at the intent behind the president’s actions,” Yates said. Later, however, she allowed: “People of goodwill can make different decisions about this. ” How that squared with her earlier argument that arguments in favor of the executive order were not based on truth, she did not explain. Sen. John Kennedy ( ) asked her to clarify, and Yates said that she would have had to argue that the intent had not been discriminatory, which she did not believe that she could do. Sen. Kennedy then asked whether she would have declined to defend an act of Congress that used exactly the same language, and she said yes. She cited the previous example of the Department of Justice declining to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. Sen. Kennedy pointed out that that had been a political decision. “Who appointed you to the United States Supreme Court?” Kennedy asked. BOOMSen Kennedy to #SallyYates: “Who appointed you to the Supreme Court?” Then, watch Sally look for help @ end! pic. twitter. — BostonBobblehead (@DBloom451) May 8, 2017, Yates also did not explain why she had chosen to veto the executive order, rather than resigning. President Trump later fired her. Update: websites and social media are celebrating Yates’s exchange with Cruz, as if she “schooled” him. Yates cited the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which has never been interpreted to overrule the president’s broad authority under 8 U. S. C. 1182( f) to determine immigration policy — a statute that Yates failed to name when Cruz asked her about it, yet which is central to the executive order. Joel B. Pollak is Senior at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak. | 1 |
posted by Eddie The nuclear disaster has contaminated the world’s largest ocean in only five years and it’s still leaking 300 tons of radioactive waste every day. What was the most dangerous nuclear disaster in world history? Most people would say the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, but they’d be wrong. In 2011, an earthquake, believed to be an aftershock of the 2010 earthquake in Chile, created a tsunami that caused a meltdown at the TEPCO nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan. Three nuclear reactors melted down and what happened next was the largest release of radiation into the water in the history of the world. Over the next three months, radioactive chemicals, some in even greater quantities than Chernobyl , leaked into the Pacific Ocean. However, the numbers may actually be much higher as Japanese official estimates have been proven by several scientists to be flawed in recent years. If that weren’t bad enough, Fukushima continues to leak an astounding 300 tons of radioactive waste into the Pacific Ocean every day . It will continue do so indefinitely as the source of the leak cannot be sealed as it is inaccessible to both humans and robots due to extremely high temperatures. It should come as no surprise, then, that Fukushima has contaminated the entire Pacific Ocean in just five years. This could easily be the worst environmental disaster in human history and it is almost never talked about by politicians, establishment scientists, or the news. It is interesting to note that TEPCO is a subsidiary of General Electric (also known as GE), one of the largest companies in the world, which has considerable control over numerous news corporations and politicians alike. Could this possibly explain the lack of news coverage Fukushima has received in the last five years? There is also evidence that GE knew about the poor condition of the Fukushima reactors for decades and did nothing. This led 1,400 Japanese citizens to sue GE for their role in the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Even if we can’t see the radiation itself, some parts of North America’s western coast have been feeling the effects for years. Not long after Fukushima, fish in Canada began bleeding from their gills, mouths, and eyeballs. This “disease” has been ignored by the government and has decimated native fish populations, including the North Pacific herring. Elsewhere in Western Canada, independent scientists have measured a 300% increase in the level of radiation. According to them, the amount of radiation in the Pacific Ocean is increasing every year. Why is this being ignored by the mainstream media? It might have something to do with the fact that the US and Canadian governments have banned their citizens from talking about Fukushima so “people don’t panic.”
Further south in Oregon, USA, starfish began losing legs and then disintegrating entirely when Fukushima radiation arrived there in 2013. Now, they are dying in record amounts, putting the entire oceanic ecosystem in that area at risk. However, government officials say Fukushima is not to blame even though radiation in Oregon tuna tripled after Fukushima . In 2014, radiation on California beaches increased by 500 percent. In response, government officials said that the radiation was coming from a mysterious “unknown” source and was nothing to worry about.
However, Fukushima is having a bigger impact than just the West coast of North America. Scientists are now saying that the Pacific Ocean is already radioactive and is currently at least 5-10 times more radioactive than when the US government dropped numerous nuclear bombs in the Pacific during and after World War II. If we don’t start talking about Fukushima soon, we could all be in for a very unpleasant surprise.
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In 2005, the year John G. Stumpf became president of Wells Fargo, Julie Tishkoff, then an administrative assistant at the bank, wrote to the company’s human resources department about what she had seen: employees opening sham accounts, forging customer signatures and sending out unsolicited credit cards. She kept complaining for four years, and she was not alone. For years similar or identical complaints from Wells Fargo workers flowed in to the bank’s internal ethics hotline, its human resources department, and individual managers and supervisors. In at least two cases in 2011, employees wrote letters directly to Mr. Stumpf — who became the company’s chief executive in 2007, and its board chairman in 2010 — to describe the illegal activities they had witnessed. Since the ethics scandal erupted in public last month, Mr. Stumpf has testified twice in front of Congress that he and other senior managers only realized in 2013 that they had a big problem on their hands — two years after the bank had started firing people over the issue. Now, regulators, lawmakers, current and former employees, and others are asking: How was it that this drumbeat of complaints did not set off loud alarm bells earlier? And why have the brunt of the firings fallen on workers, not on the managers and executives who shaped the company’s aggressive sales culture? “It appears that there were activities going on that indicate you may have known much earlier” than 2013, Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California, said while questioning Mr. Stumpf in a House Financial Services Committee hearing last month. Ms. Waters pointed to court filings from 2008 from employees who tried to blow whistles, and to a Wells Fargo sales quality manual that was updated in 2007 — just months after Mr. Stumpf became chief executive, and with his executive guidance — to remind employees that they needed to obtain a customer’s consent before opening an account. Ms. Tishkoff was fired in 2009. At least two of her supervisors were aware of her complaints and ignored them, according to a wrongful termination lawsuit she filed against Wells Fargo in 2011. Those supervisors remain with the bank and are now regional presidents, responsible for overseeing thousands of workers at hundreds of branches. And since Sept. 8, when Wells Fargo said it would pay $185 million in fines for opening as many as two million customer accounts and credit cards without authorization, dozens of former employees have stepped forward to tell stories like Ms. Tishkoff’s — describing the company’s toxic sales culture and their own thwarted efforts to use the bank’s internal channels to draw attention to the scope of the problem. “Everybody knew there was fraud going on, and the people trying to flag it were the ones who got in trouble,” said Ricky M. Hansen Jr. a former branch manager in Scottsdale, Ariz. who was fired after contacting both human resources and the ethics hotline about illegal accounts he had seen being opened. Wells Fargo says that it investigates all complaints of impropriety from its ethics hotline or other channels. But it added that until 2013, it handled each complaint about account fraud individually. It was not until three years ago that the company realized it had a broader problem, according to Mary Eshet, a Wells Fargo spokeswoman. At that point, Wells Fargo began an internal investigation. By then, though, the issue had caught the attention of prosecutors and regulators. In May 2015, the Los Angeles city attorney filed a sweeping lawsuit against Wells Fargo over its creation of unauthorized accounts. Last month, the bank settled that case and two related actions brought by federal regulators. Ms. Eshet cited the steps the company took in response to the scandal, including its move this month to drop the aggressive sales goals that employees said created pressure to act unethically. “We have made fundamental changes to help ensure team members are not being pressured to sell products, customers are receiving the right solutions for their financial needs, our culture is upheld at all times and that customer satisfaction is high,” Ms. Eshet said. But former employees whose cases are detailed in lawsuits against the bank say that many of the managers at the branch level and above who heard their ethics complaints did nothing and are still there. Between 2011 and this year, Wells Fargo terminated the employment of 5, 300 workers for creating as many as two million unauthorized bank and credit card accounts around 10 percent of those worked at the branch manager level or above, according to the bank, but only one — an area president — had a management role. In 2009, Yesenia Guitron, a banker in the Northern California town of St. Helena, filed reports to her branch manager, to her branch manager’s boss and to Wells Fargo’s ethics hotline about a colleague who she said was opening and closing accounts without customer permission. Those and other fraudulent acts continued despite her complaints, and were openly tolerated by the branch’s management, Ms. Guitron told Wells Fargo’s human resources department. In 2010, Ms. Guitron was called into her boss’s office and told she was being fired for insubordination. Ms. Guitron filed a wrongful termination lawsuit, submitting into the public record thousands of pages of documents and testimony from multiple branch workers about the unethical acts they said they witnessed. The court sided with Wells Fargo and dismissed the case in 2012. Ms. Guitron had an “objectively reasonable” belief that the bank had acted fraudulently, but Wells Fargo still had grounds to fire her because she fell short of her sales goals, the judge ruled. Pam Rubio, the manager of the branch where Ms. Guitron worked, is now a private banker at Wells Fargo, managing money for wealthy clients. Also still with the bank is Greg Morgan, the regional manager whom Ms. Guitron approached about the problems at her branch. He was promoted last year and is now Wells Fargo’s regional president of the San Francisco market. (Neither Ms. Rubio nor Mr. Morgan responded to requests for comment.) “We agree with the judge’s finding that her claims of retaliation had no merit,” Wells Fargo said in a written statement. Wells Fargo said that Ms. Tishkoff was terminated “for falsifying expense reports” and that the bank “does not tolerate retaliation against team members who report their concerns. ” Ms. Tishkoff’s side of the story is that she accidentally submitted several expense items twice and that the company used that as a premise to fire her. The case was settled in 2012, according to Ms. Tishkoff’s lawyer, who said the terms of the deal prevented her from speaking publicly about it. As outrage over the bank’s actions has grown, frustrated former employees have said the bank should have heeded what they have said were widespread warnings and taken action much earlier — a fact Mr. Stumpf acknowledged at a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee. “We should have done more sooner,” he said. That answer does not satisfy Mr. Hansen, the former branch manager in Scottsdale, who said he was fired for speaking up. Mr. Hansen started at Wells Fargo in 2008 and worked his way up to a management job. A number of his region’s top performers openly cheated, he said, but in 2011, while stationed away from his branch to cover for a colleague, he came on a particularly egregious case: The branch’s bankers were inventing fake businesses and opening accounts in their names, he said. “I called H. R. and said, ‘What do I do? ’” Mr. Hansen recalled. “And they said, ‘Go to the ethics hotline. ’” “They said that if we knew about fraud going on and did not report it, we could be terminated for that,” he said. Mr. Hansen said he called the ethics line. The investigator asked for specifics, such as the account numbers and the names of the bankers who opened them. Mr. Hansen said he pulled up the accounts to gather that information. One month later, he was fired for improperly looking up account information. “They said, ‘Are you aware that what you did was an ethics violation? ’” Mr. Hansen recalled. Incensed, Mr. Hansen sent an email in 2011 to Mr. Stumpf and several human resources executives describing what he had witnessed. The company responded by offering to rehire him in a reduced role, making $30, 000 less than he had before. He took the job because he needed one, he said, but quit two years later from the stress of working in what he considered to be an unethical place. Rasheeda Kamar, a former branch manager in New Milford, N. J. also sent Mr. Stumpf a letter in 2011, the day she learned she was going to be fired for falling short of her branch’s sales goals. Bankers were reaching those goals artificially, she warned him: “Funds are moved to new accounts to ‘show’ growth when in actuality there is no net gain to the company’s deposit base. ” Her letter, like Mr. Hansen’s, was sent two years before Mr. Stumpf says he became aware that such activity was prevalent. Ms. Kamar said she felt vindicated last month, when Wells Fargo admitted that thousands of its workers had acted illegally — until she read a quotation from Mr. Stumpf blaming the bank’s employees, not its corporate culture, for the fiasco. “I thought, ‘How dare he? ’” she said in an interview. “They knew, and they turned a blind eye. ” She forwarded her 2011 email to Mr. Stumpf to Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, who quoted it to Mr. Stumpf when the Senate Banking Committee grilled him. “I don’t remember that one,” Mr. Stumpf replied. | 1 |
European Media Jihad Against Geert Wilders As they lose their grip, the political and media elites are getting desperate. November 4, 2016 Robert Spencer
The mainstream media in Western Europe and North America isn’t even pretending to be an objective news source anymore; instead, “journalists” are working openly to quell what looks increasingly, on both sides of the Atlantic, like a popular revolution against the hegemony of the self-appointed political and media aristocracy that seems hell-bent on driving Western civilization over the cliff. And so it’s time for another round of their Two-Minutes Hate against Dutch politician and freedom fighter Geert Wilders.
Wilders has yet again gone on trial in the Netherlands for “hate speech,” and this time the case against him is especially flimsy: as Europe is roiled by the criminal activity of Muslim migrants, he is being accused of “hate speech” for saying that the massive influx of immigrants from Morocco (from which most of the Muslim migrants in the Netherlands come) has to be stopped.
This trial could very easily backfire on the Dutch inquisitors, and make Wilders more popular than ever with the people of the Netherlands and Europe in general, as they are increasingly fed up with the political and media elites’ forcing them to accept a massive influx of Muslim migrants that ensures a future only of civil strife, bloodshed, and Sharia oppression.
Consequently, those elites are trying desperately to shore up their position. Wilders chanted “No more Moroccans” at a rally. The horror! To any sane person, this means “Stop the influx of Moroccan immigrants who only inflate crime rates and welfare rolls.” To the media, which at this point is quite insane, insofar as insanity means an inability or refusal to accept reality, this means “Genocide!”
And so, in this Deutsche Welle (DW) piece by freelance “journalist” Teri Schultz, we’re told that European Parliament lawmaker Cecile Kyenge, who was born in Congo, had “numerous racial slurs - not to mention, bananas, literally - thrown at her, along with suggestions she go back to ‘her country.’” Does this have anything to do with the crime and civil strife that are the foundations for Wilders’ position? Of course not, but Wilders, Schultz tells us, is (of course) “far-right,” that all-purpose and meaningless semaphore that serves only to signal to right-thinking Deutsche Welle readers that Wilders is, as far as the media elites are concerned, unsavory, and must be opposed and shunned, his positions left unexamined.
Schultz contacted me to serve as the villain of her piece, being sure to tell her hapless readers that I am “known for extreme anti-Islam views,” to make sure that if any of them are foolish enough to find themselves agreeing with me, they will immediately reverse themselves and get their minds right. The term “extreme” also, since the Western governing class unanimously refers to jihad terrorists as “extremists,” also implies that I am a terrorist.
After the article came out, I challenged Schultz on this; she replied: “I don’t think even you would consider your views ‘mainstream’, do you?” I responded: “Absolutely yes. My views were the broad mainstream in the Western world from 632 AD until the 1960s. What changed? Not Islamic teaching.” To that she said: “Okay. You’d have to argue it with another expert, which I am not. But thanks again for contributing.” Indeed, she is just a mouthpiece for the views the political and media elites want us to hold.
In any case, Schultz’s article merely reveals the desperation of the ruling class and the self-appointed opinion-shapers. They can call those of us who wish to defend the people and culture of Europe and North America “far-right” and “extreme” every day (and they do), but the public can see with their eyes what is happening. Wilders’ popularity isn’t growing because he is a charming fellow (which is, of course, not to say that he isn’t). It’s growing because he speaks the truths that the political and media elites are in a frenzy to obscure.
And it’s only going to get worse for them: the Brexit vote and the Trump candidacy (whether he wins or loses) shows that their hegemony is beginning to be challenged. Those challenges will continue, and grow. They will before too long be decisively voted out and repudiated. | 1 |
CAIRO — Unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets on a police minibus as it passed through a Cairo district early on Sunday, killing eight plainclothes officers in an ambush that was later claimed by the Islamic State. It was the deadliest attack on Egypt’s security forces in the capital in months, and a sharp reminder of the continuing threat from Islamist insurgents while President Abdel Fattah is under increasing scrutiny for his harsh crackdown on political dissent. Although the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility could not be independently verified, its format and language were consistent with earlier statements from the group. The Islamic State also claims to have downed a Russian passenger jet that crashed into the Sinai Desert in October, killing 224 people. The Egyptian Interior Ministry said in a statement that four assailants had fired on the unmarked police minibus as it passed through Helwan, an industrial center on the southern edge of greater Cairo. The police officers were on routine security duties, the ministry said. Images on social media showed the bloodied bodies of the officers, dressed in shirts and jeans, slumped in and around a white vehicle that was raked with bullet holes. In a statement circulated on social media, the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, said that “soldiers of the caliphate” had carried out the attack in retaliation for the imprisonment of “pure women” in Egyptian jails — a common justification for violence by Egyptian militants. The group identified one of the dead officers and said the attackers had taken guns from the police before escaping unhindered. Hours later, Egyptian security officials said they had tracked the assailants to a hilly area on the edge of Helwan, which they said had been sealed off as they conducted a search. Islamist insurgents based in Sinai have been fighting the Egyptian government for years, but the scale and frequency of attacks increased after the military ousted the elected president, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, in July 2013. Fighting has been mostly confined to Sinai, where the Egyptian military has a heavy presence and which is mostly sealed off to the news media. But violence has occasionally spilled over into Cairo, usually in gun attacks and small bombings. In November, four police officers at a checkpoint in Cairo were killed in a gun attack that was also claimed by the Islamic State. By lunchtime on Sunday, a funeral was underway for the slain officers, who were honored with coffins at a service attended by the interior minister, Maj. Gen. Magdi and a row of police commanders. Fears over the spread of the Islamic State, which is based in Syria and Iraq but also has a muscular presence in Libya, have helped ensure Western support for Mr. Sisi even as he faces renewed criticism for a harsh, crackdown on political dissent in Egypt. More than 1, 200 people were arrested last month after public protests over the transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. Almost 600 of them have been formally charged, according to rights groups. Mr. Sisi’s popularity has also been damaged by public anger at repeated episodes of police brutality, often over trivial matters, that have resulted in the deaths of ordinary citizens. Spontaneous street protests erupted twice in recent months after officers shot and killed people in separate arguments over a taxi fare and a cup of tea. The Interior Ministry, which controls the police, was criticized by Egypt’s only media union after two journalists were arrested during a police raid on the union’s headquarters on May 1. The furor over the arrests, which built steadily during the week, was to be debated in the Egyptian Parliament on Sunday, the state Al Ahram newspaper reported on its website. Most newspapers did not publish blackened front pages on Sunday to protest the arrests, as the union had said they would. | 0 |
In this week’s podcast, the actress Ruth Negga (“Loving”) reads “My Touchstone and a Heart of Gold,” the story of a woman who realizes that loving her means loving her tortoise, too. You can listen to her reading using the player above, or find the episode on iTunes and Google Play Music. The author, Caroline Leavitt, is a novelist. Her book “Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You” was a New York Times best seller. You can find her on Twitter. Ms. Negga’s latest movie, “Loving,” was released last week. The film tells the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, whose Supreme Court case led to the unanimous decision that marital laws were unconstitutional. | 0 |
Belvedere Castle in Central Park looks indestructible, a fortress of stone presiding over the Great Lawn. But the leaks like a sieve. “Rain pours into the building,” Douglas Blonsky, the president and chief executive of the Central Park Conservancy, the park’s private custodian, said on a recent tour. The Conservatory Garden on Fifth Avenue still blooms with flowers, but the cracked paving hasn’t been touched since the 1930s, and its elegant geyser fountain requires constant repairs on plumbing that dates to the Robert Moses era. The Ravine near 104th Street, with its rushing waterfall, has pools clogged with sediment and needs dredging. Central Park this summer may seem a bucolic oasis, and it is widely considered one of the nation’s most successful urban parks. Yet beneath the surface, experts say, it is suffering the debilitating effects of time and modern use, and it will decay further unless its historic structures and landscapes are restored. On Thursday, the Central Park Conservancy is set to announce an ambitious $300 million and improvement effort. The conservancy’s plan, “Forever Green: Ensuring the Future of Central Park,” might sound excessive, an effort by rich New Yorkers to spruce up their backyard when other neighborhoods are in dire need of better open spaces. Only four years ago the conservancy received $100 million from the hedge fund manager John A. Paulson. But others argue that the park has been a victim of its own success. As it has been improved over the years, the number of annual visitors has mushroomed to 42 million, from 12 million in 1981. “It’s being trampled to death — visitation now is heavier than ever in its history,” said Adrian Benepe, the former New York City parks commissioner who is now the director of city park development at the nonprofit Trust for Public Land. “This is America’s great work of art of the 19th century because it set a standard for what a great urban park should be that has been copied all around the world. ” Some have said that Central Park’s success in securing private support only highlights the need of parks all over the city for public dollars. “It’s a reminder that the city should be investing more of its budget in parks,” said Daniel L. Squadron, a Democratic state senator. “The fact that some conservancies are able to solve it doesn’t reduce the need to do more. ” But others counter that the private support of Central Park enables the city to spend public dollars in other boroughs. “It frees up the city to put its capital dollars into other parks,” Mr. Benepe said. To this end, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan in 2014 to spend $285 million over four years to improve parks in poor neighborhoods and last year struck a deal with eight of the largest park conservancies to donate expertise, workers’ time and cash to those areas. “Central Park really has happened without tax payer debt service,” said Tupper Thomas, the executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, an advocacy organization. “They’ve set the precedent that you can give money to parks privately. ” Ethan Carr, a landscape historian and preservationist, said the park requires ongoing repair. “There were decades of deferred maintenance,” said Mr. Carr, who edited the eighth volume of the Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted, the social reformer who designed Central Park with the English architect Calvert Vaux. “That’s a tremendous burden of upkeep, and the conservancy has taken that on. ” The conservancy has served as the steward of Central Park since 1980 and today has an annual budget of $65 million for operating and capital expenses, 25 percent of which comes from the city through a management agreement that was renewed in 2013. (The conservancy must raise the remaining 75 percent privately.) It has already raised $112 million toward its $300 million goal, which includes a $25 million gift from the Thompson Family Foundation that will fund the restoration of Belvedere Castle and the park’s Children’s District, including the Dairy, Kinderberg, and Chess and Checkers House. The intention of the park’s designers went well beyond pastoral scenery to promoting a civilized, improved life for citizens. The Dairy at the southern end, for example, was constructed in 1870 as a place where farmers could bring children fresh milk. Today the structure needs new doors, windows, and stairs floors sag and the loggia could use a paint job. The Naumburg Bandshell, a site of free concerts, needs a new facade, stage and upgraded infrastructure. The new campaign also aims to return arches, bridges and waterways to the original vision of Olmsted and Vaux, much of it inspired by woodlands in the Adirondacks and the Catskills, as depicted in art from the period, like Asher Brown Durand’s painting “Kindred Spirits. ” The designers “wanted the North Woods to be the Adirondacks for people of New York City who couldn’t afford to go to the Adirondacks,” Mr. Blonsky said. Olmsted and Vaux were also meticulous managers of the park, though they found themselves ousted by Boss Tweed and frustrated by having to put the park back in order when they returned after his tenure. “The natural underwood has been grubbed up,” Olmsted wrote at the time, “the trees, to a height of 10 to 15 feet, trimmed to bare poles. ” “Forever Green” hopes to rebuild the landings surrounding the boat pond, some of which disappeared 100 years ago and were redone in the ’70s in a different style “We even brought the pitch pine back,” Mr. Blonsky said, referring to a type of tree. The landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh said the conservancy’s efforts represent a growing recognition of the importance of city parks by the private sector. “Private philanthropy is making extraordinary contributions to support and build urban parks at an unprecedented scale across the nation,” he said. Mr. Paulson, whose 2012 gift amounted to the largest monetary donation in the history of New York City’s — and possibly the nation’s — park system, said that of all his philanthropic activities, his investment in the conservancy “has had the highest impact by positively affecting more people per dollar invested than any other organization. ” Mr. Blonsky said that Mr. Paulson’s gift had been “transformative,” enabling the conservancy to start on many infrastructure projects and leverage other funds. Part of the goal of “Forever Green” is to make the park more . (The conservancy already turns fallen leaves into compost and recycles its garbage.) Ultimately, all the refurbishment may not be visible to the eye, like redoing a shore edge replacing the invasive Japanese knotweed with varied plant material or caring for the many species of trees, including willow, locust, dawn redwood, maple, oak and London plane. But parks all over the world will be learning from these efforts. The conservancy has long made a point of training park users and managers. Three years ago, the conservancy formalized this effort by establishing an educational arm: the Institute for Urban Parks, which is exploring a partnership with organizations like the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Despite having started at the conservancy 31 years ago — as a landscape architect — and having logged about six miles a day walking the park, Mr. Blonsky seems to retain a child’s sense of wonder about the place. “You’d never know you’re in the middle of Manhattan,” he said, as he trudged up a dirt path. “That’s the beauty of the park. It was all done to look like it was God’s work. ” | 1 |
November 20, 2016 - Fort Russ News -
- 902.gr , translated by Tom Winter -
"Behind the fiestas and the photo ops, Mr Obama, you came unwanted and you left unwanted" said the statement of the Federation of Greek Women on the visit of the US President. The statement criticizes the fact that Barack Obama "pronounced benedictions to our "left" prime minister for "reforms that bled the Greek people" and notes that "the US has a major share of responsibility for the massacre, not only of our own people, but also the peoples of the world." Details of the Communication: Mr. Obama came to Greece reading beautiful words ... He came equipped with "mirrors for the natives" with shameless and cheap flattery for the sacrifices of the Greek people and with an Ode to Democracy 'made in Greece' dripping from his lips. The outgoing US president had good words for our "left" prime minister for the "reforms" that bled the Greek people, apparently recognizing in Mr. Tsipras a kindred spirit (albeit at a lower level). He certainly avoided telling us that the "democracy," he so often mentioned has proved most convenient for exploiters of our toil. It is the "democracy" soaked through in child poverty and misery. It is the "democracy" of refugees and wars, the "democracy" of imperialist interventions from Ukraine to the Middle East and Africa. It is the "democracy" of the employers' terrorism, labor flexibility, one job for each two and three employees. It is the "democracy" that has many living on crumbs or the soup kitchens, while a trillion. euro of capital is concentrated in Greece on our slaving, and still looking to find where to invest to give more profits to monopoly groups. It is the "democracy" that supports an alliance of wolves and a mutual extermination system. This is the "democracy" concealed in the pat words of Mr. Obama And, of course, he shoved under the carpet what the Greek people know well, but that our Greek Prime Minister preferred to "forget:" that the US has a major share of responsibility for the massacre, not only of our own people, but also people of all the world, rapidly now extending to every corner of the globe. No family woman should fall into their snare! We, the women of the radical women's movement do not want, and can not be fooled by, the supposed gifts that the former "President of the World" came to offer us. We are the first to know that the famous egalitarianism of "democracy" he praised us for does not mean equality of standing! Instead, it is the most deceptive wrapping of our occupational and social inequity. We, the women of daily toil not accept the lure of supposedly "democratic" and "peaceful" declarations serving only the imperialist plans in our region and creating an immediate danger to our lives and future. We, the women who participate in associations and groups of IAHS have had enough fine words from wherever they come from. We will not succumb to the deadly lullaby of false hope and insidious complacency. We constantly exhibit with our participation in the daily struggle our desire for a life without exploitation and oppression, without wars, and without their attendant refugees. Behind the fiestas and the photo ops, you came unwanted and you left unwanted, Mr. Obama! Follow us on Facebook!
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Trump Raises Concern Over Members Of Urban Communities Voting More Than Zero Times ATKINSON, NH—Warning supporters that the troubling practice could affect the outcome of the election, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump expressed strong concern Friday that members of urban communities were voting more than zero times, sources reported. Nation Puts 2016 Election Into Perspective By Reminding Itself Some Species Of Sea Turtles Get Eaten By Birds Just Seconds After They Hatch WASHINGTON—Saying they felt anxious and overwhelmed just days before heading to the polls to decide a historically fraught presidential race, Americans throughout the country reportedly took a moment Thursday to put the 2016 election into perspective by reminding themselves that some species of sea turtles are eaten by birds just seconds after they hatch. Report: Election Day Most Americans’ Only Time In 2016 Being In Same Room With Person Supporting Other Candidate WASHINGTON—According to a report released Thursday by the Pew Research Center, Election Day 2016 will, for the majority of Americans, mark the only time this year they will occupy the same room as a person who supports a different presidential candidate. Most Hotly Contested Down-Ballot Measures Of 2016 As Americans head to the polls, they will be presented with a number of issues to vote on besides choosing their representatives. The Onion gives voters an advance look at which measures will be included on the ballots in which states. New Heavy-Duty Voting Machine Allows Americans To Take Out Frustration On It Before Casting Ballot WASHINGTON—Saying the circumstances of this year’s presidential race made the upgrade necessary, election commissions throughout the country were reportedly working to install new heavy-duty voting machines this week that will allow Americans to physically take out their frustrations on the devices before casting their votes. Clinton Staff Readies EMP Launch To Disable All Nation’s Electronic Devices NEW YORK—In an effort to prepare for any new revelations that might emerge about her emails during her tenure as secretary of state, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton reportedly told her staff Tuesday to ready the launch of several electromagnetic pulses to disable all of the nation’s electronic devices. End Of Section | 0 |
WORCESTER, Mass. — A freshman tentatively raises her hand and takes the microphone. “I’m really scared to ask this,” she begins. “When I, as a white female, listen to music that uses the N word, and I’m in the car, or, especially when I’m with all white friends, is it O. K. to sing along?” The answer, from Sheree Marlowe, the new chief diversity officer at Clark University, is an unequivocal “no. ” The exchange was included in Ms. Marlowe’s presentation to recently arriving students focusing on subtle “microaggressions,” part of a new campus vocabulary that also includes “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings. ” Microaggressions, Ms. Marlowe said, are comments, snubs or insults that communicate derogatory or negative messages that might not be intended to cause harm but are targeted at people based on their membership in a marginalized group. Among her other tips: Don’t ask an Asian student you don’t know for help on your math homework or randomly ask a black student if he plays basketball. Both questions make assumptions based on stereotypes. And don’t say “you guys. ” It could be interpreted as leaving out women, said Ms. Marlowe, who realized it was offensive only when someone confronted her for saying it during a presentation. Clark, a private liberal arts college that has long prided itself on diversity and inclusion, is far from the only university stepping up discussions of racism and diversity in orientation programs this year. Once devoted to ice cream socials, tutorials on campus technology systems and advice on choosing classes, orientation for new students is changing significantly, with the issue taking on renewed urgency this year as universities increasingly try to address recent racial and ethnic tensions on campuses as well as an onslaught of sexual assault complaints. In addition to diversity sessions, many campuses train students on exactly what constitutes sexual consent as well as how to intervene when they see fellow students drinking excessively or poised to engage in nonconsensual sexual behavior. A bystander intervention presentation for arriving freshmen at Wesleyan University last Thursday — “We Speak We Stand” — featured students acting out fictional episodes of campus sexual violence, harassment and problematic drinking, with examples of how to intervene. “Each of you has the power to bring to light sexual violence in our community,” one student told the group. Fresh on the minds of university officials are last year’s highly publicized episodes involving racist taunts at the University of Missouri — which appear to have contributed to a precipitous decline in enrollment there this fall. “That closes your doors,” said Archie Ervin, the vice president for institute diversity at Georgia Institute of Technology and president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. “If you have sustained enrollment drops and disproportionately students such as the state legislature can’t make up the gap. ” At the University of officials have put together a diversity presentation as a pilot program this year for 1, 000 freshmen — whom some colleges refer to with the term students. That program, expected to cost $150, 000 to $200, 000, follows incidents on campus last year. In one, a racist note was slipped under a black student’s door, prompting Patrick Sims, the university’s vice provost for diversity and climate, to post an emotional video on YouTube titled “Enough Is Enough. ” Lori Berquam, the university’s dean of students, said in an interview that the sessions would try to address the fact that some students in Wisconsin, a predominantly white state, had little exposure to people of other races until they got to Madison. “It would not be for a student to join us from the state of Wisconsin having had zero people of color in their high school,” Dr. Berquam said. In August, the University of Wisconsin system, which includes the Madison flagship and 25 other campuses, said it would ask the State Legislature for $6 million in funding to improve what it called the “university experience” for students. The request includes money for Fluent, a program described as a systemwide cultural training for faculty and staff members and students. But that budget request has provoked controversy. “If only the taxpayers and families had a safe space that might protect them from wasteful U. W. System spending on political correctness,” State Senator Stephen L. Nass, a Republican, said in a statement issued by his office, urging his fellow lawmakers to vote against the appropriation. Mr. Nass’s objection to spending money on diversity training reflects a rising resistance to what is considered campus political correctness. At some universities, alumni and students have objected to a variety of campus measures, including diversity training “safe spaces,” places where students from marginalized groups can gather to discuss their experiences and “trigger warnings,” disclaimers about possibly upsetting material in lesson plans. Some graduates have curtailed donations, and students have suggested that diversity training smacks of some sort of Communist program. The backlash was exemplified recently in a widely publicized letter sent to new freshmen at the University of Chicago by the dean of students, John Ellison. He warned that the university did not “support trigger warnings, we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual safe spaces where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own. ” Still, the push to respond to complaints about subtle cultural insensitivity, as well as more overt racist behavior, continues on campuses across the country. About 75 chief diversity officers have been hired by colleges and universities in the past 18 months, according to Dr. Ervin’s organization. Ms. Marlowe, a lawyer who most recently was diversity officer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, was also recruited by two other colleges this year before settling at Clark, a manicured campus of about 3, 000 students an hour west of Boston in this heavily city. Her presentation on Aug. 27 aimed to help students identify microaggressions and to teach them how to intervene when they observe one. Microaggressions can be verbal, nonverbal or environmental, she said. “What’s an environmental microaggression?” Ms. Marlowe asked the auditorium of about 525 new students. She gave an example. “On your first day of class, you enter the chemistry building and all of the pictures on the wall are scientists who are white and male,” she said. “If you’re a female, or you just don’t identify as a white male, that space automatically shows that you’re not represented. ” A nonverbal microaggression could be when a white woman clutches her purse as a black or Latino person approaches. Another subset of microaggression is known as the microinvalidation, which includes comments suggesting that race plays a minor role in life’s outcomes, like “Everyone can succeed in this society if they work hard enough. ” For Clark students like Noelia Martinez, a Massachusetts resident who was born in Puerto Rico to Dominican parents, the session was an epiphany. “It helped me understand what I’ve been going through all of my life, basically,” she said, describing how she had endured stinging comments such as “You’re a really good student for a Hispanic. ” But Ms. Martinez, a sophomore transfer student, also realized that she, too, was guilty of microaggressions, because she frequently uses the phrase “you guys,” she said. “This helped me see that I’m a microaggressor, too. ” The presentation elicited a lively session, during which students asked about the N word, discrimination against white people and men, and the definition of “Asian. ” Ms. Marlowe said she questioned the validity of the concept of reverse racism, arguing that racism is a system in which a dominant race benefits from the oppression of others. But some students appeared slightly confused. “When you use the term ‘ ’ as a white woman, are you saying that you can choose your race?” one white male student asked. “I’ll give you an example,” Ms. Marlowe said. “I went to a conference. I was talking to this man. I thought he was black. I was talking about diversity and social justice. ” “He said, ‘I’m Cuban,’” Ms. Marlowe told the crowd. “I assumed he was black because he was the same skin complexion as me, and the same type of hair. ” But, Ms. Marlowe said, while it is sometimes difficult to identify a person’s racial or ethnic background based on appearance, she does not believe that gives license to people like Rachel A. Dolezal, the white woman who claimed to be while working for the N. A. A. C. P. in Spokane, Wash. “You can’t say you’re black if you’re not, historically. ” The student still seemed confused. “Maybe we can unpack it afterward,” Ms. Marlowe told the student. “You want to come see me afterward?” | 1 |
A professor at the University of Arizona who conducts research on science education is arguing that students should be taught “queer theory” in elementary school. [Kristin Gunckel, a professor at the University of Arizona, argued on behalf of introducing “queer theory” into American elementary school curriculum in a recent lecture that took place last month. “Queer theory,” according to Gunckel, examines why heterosexuality is portrayed as the “only normal and natural form” for human beings. “It challenges categorical thinking and specifically aims to disrupt the binary,” she wrote. “Queer theory examines how the social construction of sexuality is normalized so that heterosexuality is portrayed as the only normal and natural form of being human. ” “Queering science education means exploding binary gender and sexuality constructions, collapsing heteronormativity, and opening spaces within science education for the marginalized identities,” she adds. Heteronormativity is defined as “denoting or relating to a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation. In an academic research paper, Gunckel wrote that “school science plays a strong role in silencing queer identities and limiting science knowledge and learning. ” “In elementary school, it means not hiding sexuality from children. At all levels, it means providing space within the curriculum for students to see themselves and their families. Queering science education means making the invisible visible,” Gunckel wrote. Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart. com | 0 |
What Does Trump’s Victory Mean For NATO? NPR. Charles flags the close, which is an unusually pointed admission of the basis of our imperialist project.
Brexit
Turkey is swiftly heading towards a regime of terror Bangkok Post (furzy)
Trump Transition. I am trying, and hope you will help in comments, in pulling the noise out of the signal regarding what Trump will actually do when he becomes President and whether it will succeed, “success” consisting first of it being implemented and second, making him and his Administration appear to be legitimate (as in keeping campaign promises, delivering tangible benefits to voters or powerful interest groups he needs on board). Despite all the changes in messaging over the course of his campaign, Trump was consistent on immigration, trade and lack of infrastructure investment, and depicted all three as ways to improve conditions for workers. And political scientist Tom Ferguson says that the data shows that the propensity to vote for Trump was highly correlated with voters giving negative answers to questions like whether the economy or the job situation had gotten better.
Trump and Sanders found power lying in the street by virtue of both parities abandoning high employment levels and wage growth as major policy goals. But if Trump is to deliver on his promise of delivering on those goals, he is at odds with much of his own party, which is keen to keep workers weak and preserve free trade (the corporate Republicans, particularly ones whose constituents include globalized businesses like autos, for the obvious patronage reasons; libertarians, out of ideology). Given that trade policy and immigration enforcement are areas in which the President has considerable latitude, whether and how he engages in these fights will be early tests of whether he intends to and is able to execute.
Finally bear in mind that Trump not only has a thin bench staff wise, but also intellectually. Many of his sources of advice are ideologues who like the Brexiters in the UK, may cheerily recommend changes which might sound ducky (to them) without having the foggiest clue that the operational implications are nightmarish. For instance, I’m told the Trump transition team on policy is apparently planning on recommending that the US exit Nafta and the WTO on the first day of the Trump presidency. Pray tell, have they looked into what this means for US customs, and for US exporters dealing with foreign customs?
In other words, the right wing think tank types that the Trump team is relying on runs the risk of being as clueless about issues of organizational capacity as the Greeks were who thought they had a trump card (pun intended) in a Grexit (for those new to Naked Capitalism, we had an extensive series of posts on this topic, see here , here and here for some examples).
So for instance, see this BBC story:
Trump likes main Obamacare provisions ‘very much’ , specifically, covering pre-existing conditions and letting children up to age 26. The story describes how the Republicans might oppose Trump:
Complicating the matter is that a “revise and reform” effort may not fly with Mr Trump’s ardent supporters and the cadre of arch-conservative politicians in Congress, who want to tear up the law “root and branch”.
Mr Trump often broke with Republican orthodoxy while campaigning and didn’t pay a political price. He may learn that as president he won’t get far without his party establishment’s help.
In WSJ Interview, Trump Says He Is Willing to Keep Parts of Health Law Wall Street Journal. Note the heavy emphasis on job creation. This had been the Democratic party lode star through the Carter era. He also defines Pence’s job, which is to help on health care and sell Trump policies to Congress. This is similar to the role Joe Biden played. And he rejected the Administration “find those moderate Syrians” strategy. | 0 |
The police in Turkey have arrested the man accused of carrying out a deadly attack on an Istanbul nightclub early on New Year’s Day, killing 39 people, including a police officer and 25 foreigners, according to the semiofficial Anadolu news agency as well as Turkish news reports. The news agency said that a police raid on a residence in the outlying Esenyurt district of Istanbul had resulted in the capture of Abdulgadir Masharipov, whom the authorities described as an Islamic State militant of Uzbek nationality, along with four other people. The others were a man of Kyrgyz nationality and three women, whose nationalities were not given, Anadolu said. Turkish news organizations posted photographs of the suspect in custody, showing him bruised and with fresh blood on his clothing and face. He had reportedly been injured while carrying out the deadly attack on the Reina nightclub on the Bosporus. An estimated 69 people were wounded by the attacker, who went on a shooting rampage with a rifle inside the crowded and popular venue. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack the next day and said in a statement that it had been carried out “in continuation of the blessed operations that the Islamic State is conducting against Turkey, the protector of the cross. ” The Turkish authorities quickly identified the suspect from television, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to bring him to justice. Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, posted a Twitter message congratulating the country’s interior minister on the arrest. “In the name of our nation, I thank primarily our minister, Suleyman Soylu, our police and intelligence organizations who captured Reina assailant,” he wrote. The district where the suspect was captured, Esenyurt, on the European side of Istanbul, is a former slum that has been rapidly redeveloped with new apartment blocks housing many refugees and migrants. Turkish news reports said Mr. Masharipov was with his son when he was captured, and news video showed one of the suspects being attacked at the arrest scene. The suspect identified as a Kyrgyz national was seen lying handcuffed on the ground, with a police officer’s boot holding his head down. | 0 |
Trending Articles: Trending Articles: Clinton Campaign Chair Had Dinner With Top DOJ Official One Day After Hillary’s Benghazi Hearing Zero Hedge
In the latest revelation sure to reignite accusations of collusion between the Clinton campaign and the DOJ, among the recent batch of hacked emails released by Wikileaks, we learn that the day after Hillary Clinton testified in front of the House Select Committee on Benghazi last October, John Podesta, Hillary's campaign chairman met for dinner with a small group of well-connected friends, including Peter Kadzik , who is currently a top official at the US Justice Department serving as Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs.
Peter Kadzik, with lobbyist Tony Podesta, brother of John Podesta .
The post-Benghazi dinner was attended by Podesta, Kadzik, superlobbyist Vincent Roberti and other well-placed Beltway fixtures. The first mention of personal contact between Podesta and Kadzik in the Wikileaks dump is in an Oct. 23, 2015 email sent out by Vincent Roberti, a lobbyist who is close to Podesta and his superlobbyist brother, Tony Podesta. In it, Roberti refers to a dinner reservation at Posto, a Washington D.C. restaurant. The dinner was set for 7:30 that evening, just one day after Clinton gave 11 hours of testimony to the Benghazi Committee .
Podesta and Kadzik met several months later for dinner at Podesta’s home, another email shows . Another email sent on May 5, 2015 , Kadzik’s son asked Podesta for a job on the Clinton campaign.
As the Daily Caller notes , the dinner arrangement "is just the latest example of an apparent conflict of interest between the Clinton campaign and the federal agency charged with investigating the former secretary of state’s email practices." As one former U.S. Attorney tells told the DC, the exchanges are another example of the Clinton campaign’s “cozy relationship” with the Obama Justice Department.
The hacked emails confirm that Podesta and Kadzik were in frequent contact. In one email from January, Kadzik and Podesta, who were classmates at Georgetown Law School in the 1970s, discussed plans to celebrate Podesta’s birthday. And in another sent last May, Kadzik’s son emailed Podesta asking for a job on the Clinton campaign.
“The political appointees in the Obama administration, especially in the Department of Justice, appear to be very partisan in nature and I don’t think had clean hands when it comes to the investigation of the private email server,” says Matthew Whitaker, the executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a government watchdog group.
“ It’s the kind of thing the American people are frustrated about is that the politically powerful have insider access and have these kind of relationships that ultimately appear to always break to the benefit of Hillary Clinton ,” he added, comparing the Podesta-Kadzik meetings to the revelation that Attorney General Loretta Lynch met in private with Bill Clinton at the airport in Phoenix days before the FBI and DOJ investigating Hillary Clinton.
Kadzik's role at the DOJ, where he started in 2013, is particularly notable Kadzik, as helped spearhead the effort to nominate Lynch, who was heavily criticized for her secret meeting with the former president.
A Long, Friendly History
Podesta and Kadzik have a long history, one which has surprisingly gone mostly unnoticed during the ongoing Clinton email scandal. As DC helps summarize, Kadzik represented Podesta during the Monica Lewinsky investigation. And in the waning days of the Bill Clinton administration, Kadzik lobbied Podesta on behalf of Marc Rich, the fugitive who Bill Clinton controversially pardoned on his last day in office.
That history is cited by Podesta in another email hacked from his Gmail account. In a Sept. 2008 email , which the Washington Free Beacon flagged last week, Podesta emailed an Obama campaign official to recommend Kadzik for a supportive role in the campaign. Podesta, who would later head up the Obama White House transition effort, wrote that Kadzik was a “fantastic lawyer” who “ kept me out of jail.”
As the DC Chuck Ross notes, it is unclear to which case Podesta was referring and whether he was joking about prison. But Podesta was caught in a sticky situation in both the Lewinsky affair and the Rich pardon scandal. As deputy chief of staff to Clinton in 1996, Podesta asked then-United Nations ambassador Bill Richardson to hire the 23-year-old Lewinsky . In April 1996, the White House transferred Lewinsky from her job as a White House intern to the Pentagon in order to keep her and Bill Clinton separate. But the Clinton team also wanted to keep Lewinsky happy so that she would not spill the beans about her sexual relationship with Clinton.
Richardson later recounted in his autobiography that he offered Lewinsky the position but that she declined it.
Podesta made false statements to a grand jury impaneled by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr for the investigation. But he defended the falsehoods, saying later that he was merely relaying false information from Clinton that he did not know was inaccurate at the time. “He did lie to me,” Podesta said about Clinton in a National Public Radio interview in 1998. Clinton was acquitted by the Senate in Feb. 1999 of perjury and obstruction of justice charges related to the Lewinsky probe. Kadzik, then a lawyer with the firm Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky, represented Podesta through the fiasco.
Podesta had been promoted to Clinton’s chief of staff when he and Kadzik became embroiled in another scandal.
Kadzik was then representing Marc Rich, a billionaire financier who was wanted by the U.S. government for evading a $48 million tax bill. The fugitive, who was also implicated in illegal trading activity with nations that sponsored terrorism, had been living in Switzerland for 17 years when he sought the pardon. To help Rich, Kadzik lobbied Podesta heavily in the weeks before Clinton left office on Jan. 20, 2001. A House Oversight Committee report released in May 2002 stated that “Kadzik was recruited into Marc Rich’s lobbying campaign because he was a long-time friend of White House Chief of Staff John Podesta.”
The report noted that Kadzik contacted Podesta at least seven times regarding Rich’s pardon.
On top of the all-hands-on-deck lobbying effort, Rich’s ex-wife, Denise Rich, had doled out more than $1 million to the Clintons and other Democrats prior to the pardon. She gave $100,000 to Hillary Clinton’s New York Senate campaign and another $450,000 to the Clinton presidential library.
Kadzik's current role
In his current role as head of the Office of Legislative Affairs, Kadzik handles inquiries from Congress on a variety of issues. In that role he was not in the direct chain of command on the Clinton investigation. The Justice Department and FBI have insisted that career investigators oversaw the investigation, which concluded in July with no charges filed against Clinton.
But Kadzik worked on other Clinton email issues in his dealings with Congress. Last November, he denied a request from Republican lawmakers to appoint a special counsel to lead the investigation .
In a Feb. 1, 2016 letter in response to Kadzik, Florida Rep. Ron DeSantis noted that Kadzik had explained “that special counsel may be appointed at the discretion of the Attorney General when an investigation or prosecution by the Department of Justice would create a potential conflict of interest.”
DeSantis, a Republican, suggested that Lynch’s appointment by Bill Clinton in 1999 as U.S. Attorney in New York may be considered a conflict of interest. He also asserted that Obama’s political appointees — a list which includes Kadzik — “are being asked to impartially execute their respective duties as Department of Justice officials that may involve an investigation into the activities of the forerunner for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. ”
It is unknown if Kadzik responded to DeSantis’ questions.
Kadzik’s first involvement in the Clinton email brouhaha came in a Sept. 24, 2015 response letter to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley in which he declined to confirm or deny whether the DOJ was investigating Clinton. Last month, Politico reported that Kadzik angered Republican lawmakers when, in a classified briefing, he declined to say whether Clinton aides who received DOJ immunity were required to cooperate with congressional probes.
Kadzik also testified at a House Oversight Committee hearing last month on the issue of classifications and redactions in the FBI’s files of the Clinton email investigation. Share This Article... | 1 |
Tweet Home » Gold » Gold News » The Fundamentals Will Push Gold & Silver To Spectacular Levels – GATA Chairman
For now the big accumulators of physical gold (China, Russia, India) are content with the current rigged market price of gold as long as the west can continue to make deliveries into these countries. But at some point the west’s “cupboard” will be bare and big buyers will see what the Comex really has in its vaults. It’s at that point when the precious metals market will become interesting… From PM Fund Manager Dave Kranzler :
“Some sort of Black Swan event will come out of nowhere and cause an explosive move in gold and silver” – Bill Murphy on Shadow of Truth
In the absence of intervention, gold and silver would be trading at a level that is a few multiples higher from they “trade” now. At some point, some entity will want to take possession of a big “chunk” of gold or silver and will stand for delivery of the physical with the intent to remove that gold or silver from Comex vaults.
For now the big accumulators of physical gold (China, Russia, India) are content with the current rigged market price of gold as long as the west can continue to make deliveries into these countries. But at some point the west’s “cupboard” will be bare and big buyers will see what the Comex really has in its vaults. It’s at that point when the precious metals market will become interesting.
There is always the threat that the Shanghai Gold Exchange begins arbitraging out the price difference between the physical market (eastern hemisphere) and paper market (Comex, LBMA). Currentlysilver trades in China’s physical settlement market (Shanghai Futures Exchange) at a significant premium to the price on the COMEX paper market. The week of October 17, 2016 the average difference was well above $0.80 per ounce. This represents approximately a 45% difference.
How large must the difference become before the physical market naturally overwhelms the paper market? The difference in the physical gold market is not quiet as dramatic as the physical silver market, but it seems a natural progression will occur in the not too distant future.
The physical market is filled with people that are not interested in paper contracts. These people are in real markets located in the eastern hemisphere – China, India and other countries. In these countries gold is either part of the culture or there is an understanding of gold’s role as a currency.
In today’s episode with GATA/LeMetropolecafe.com’s Bill “Midas” Murphy about the extreme intervention in the precious metals market and the catalysts that will eventually override the Central Bank intervention. On Sale At SD Bullion… This Week Only… | 0 |
«El arte de la guerra»
Pactos claros, larga sujeción por Manlio Dinucci El presidente estadounidense Barack Obama se felicitó, con toda razón, por los « pactos claros [y la] larga amistad » entre su país e Italia. En efecto, ese Estado soberano europeo está de hecho atado de pies y manos, por una serie de tratados y su comportamiento constante en la práctica, a su amo estadounidense.
Red Voltaire | Roma (Italia) | 28 de octubre de 2016 français italiano English Después de llamar a los italianos a votar « Sí » en el referéndum, inmiscuyéndose así en nuestros asuntos internos sin que la oposición parlamentaria italiana emitiera la menor protesta, el presidente estadounidense Barack Obama confirmó a su « buen amigo Matteo » [Renzi] que Estados Unidos tiene con Italia « pactos claros, una larga amistad ».
No cabe duda de que los pactos son claros, sobre todo el Pacto Atlántico, con el que Italia se subordina a Estados Unidos. El Comandante Supremo de las fuerzas aliadas en Europa es siempre un militar estadounidense nombrado por el presidente de Estados Unidos, y todos los mandos claves de la alianza están en manos de Estados Unidos.
Al término de la guerra fría, luego de la desintegración de la URSS, Washington proclamaba la
«importancia fundamental de preservar la OTAN como canal de la influencia y de la participación estadounidenses en los asuntos europeos, impidiendo la creación de dispositivos únicamente europeos que minarían la estructura de mando de la Alianza».
Por supuesto, donde Washington habla de « la estructura de mando de la Alianza », hay que entender que en realidad se refiere a la posición de mando de Estados Unidos en el seno de la OTAN. Ese concepto fue reafirmado por el secretario general de la alianza atlántica, Jens Stoltenberg, en la reciente mesa redonda sobre la « gran idea de Europa », cuando afirmó:
«Tenemos que garantizar que el fortalecimiento de la defensa europea no se convierta en una OTAN bis, que no se convierta en una alternativa a la OTAN.»
Para garantizar que eso no suceda está el hecho que 22 de los 28 países de la Unión Europea (21 de los 27, después de la salida del Reino Unido) son miembros de la OTAN, que está a su vez bajo el mando de Estados Unidos, alianza que la Unión Europea reconoce como « cimiento de la defensa colectiva ».
La política exterior y militar de la Unión Europea está así fundamentalmente subordinada a la estrategia estadounidense, sobre la que convergen las potencias europeas cuyos conflictos de intereses pasan a un segundo plano cuando entra en juego su interés fundamental: mantener la dominación de Occidente –cada vez más tambaleante ante el surgimiento de nuevos actores estatales y sociales. Basta con detenerse a pensar que la Organización de Cooperación de Shanghai (OCS), fruto del entendimiento estratégico entre China y Rusia, dispone de recursos capaces de convertirla en el área de integración económica más grande del mundo.
En el marco de la estrategia de Estados Unidos y la OTAN –según documenta la propia Casa Blanca–, Italia se destaca como « aliado sólido y activo de Estados Unidos ». Así lo demuestra el hecho que « Italia alberga más de 30 000 militares y funcionarios civiles del Departamento estadounidense de Defensa en diferentes instalaciones existentes por todo el país ».
Italia es, al mismo tiempo, « socio de Estados Unidos para la seguridad mundial », ya que proporciona fuerzas militares y financiamiento para una amplia gama de « desafíos »: en Kosovo, Afganistán, Irak, Libia, Siria, así como en el Mar Báltico y en otras áreas, donde quiera que haya estado o que se encuentre implicada la maquinaria de guerra EEUU/OTAN.
Hay otro ejemplo que confirma la naturaleza de la relación entre Estados Unidos e Italia: probablemente el próximo 8 de noviembre, van a llegar a la base de Amendola, en la región italiana de Apulia, los 2 primeros ejemplares de los 90 aviones de guerra F-35 , fabricados por la compañía estadounidense Lockheed Martin, que Italia se comprometió a comprar.
El costo de la participación italiana en el programa F-35 , sólo como socio de segundo nivel, aparece oficialmente cuantificado en la Ley de Estabilidad de 2016 : 12 356 millones de euros provenientes de los fondos públicos, más otros gastos que habrá que destinar a las continuas modificaciones que necesitará este avión de guerra, que ni siquiera es todavía plenamente operativo y necesitará constantes actualizaciones.
A pesar de ello, confirma el sitio web especializado Analisi Difesa , Italia tendrá una « soberanía limitada » sobre los F-35 de su propia fuerza aerea. Una ley estadounidense prohíbe que los programas informáticos de gestión de los sistemas de combate de esos aviones se transfieran a otras partes. Eso significa que Estados Unidos tendrá bajo su control los F-35 de la fuerza aérea italiana, aeronaves concebidas para el uso de las nuevas bombas nucleares B61-12 que el Pentágono planea desplegar contra Rusia, para sustituir las actuales B-61 , en nuestro territorio « nacional ».
Manlio Dinucci Fuente
Il Manifesto (Italia) | 1 |
Maintaining an overall positive energy in ones home is vital for ensuring all members of the family are happy and healthy at all times. The presence of negative energy can quickly cause tensions and arguments. There are many different ways that have been written about to attempt to detect and eliminate these elusive negative energies, many are complicated, but one method simply involves using a glass of water.
A Glass of Water Can Detect Negative Energy In Your House
Water is a useful tool in this context because it relates to the way in which people absorb energy, both negative and positive. Every action in a person's life, as well as their interactions with others, has an effect on their energy and all these pieces combine to determine one's overall mood and how content they are. Negative energies have been linked to a range of mood disorders such as anxiety and depression that can quickly have a destructive impact on day to day life, so it is important to investigate and resolve the source of the negativity as quickly as possible .
It can sometimes be difficult to identify this source so it can be useful to have an arsenal of tricks to locate where the negative energy is emulating from. Vinegar, salt, and water are required as well as a large cup to mix them in. In equal parts (so 1/3 of the cup each) add the ingredients to the cup and mix well using a metal spoon or something similar. If one area of the building had been particularly eery or suspicious then, the glass should be placed in this location and covered with glad wrap. After leaving for at least 24 hours, it can be inspected to see if any signs of negative energy have been recorded. Marks on the outside of the glass or changes to the appearance of the liquid are examples, but any change to the glass or liquid is a good indicator that negative energy is emitting from nearby.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
Disclose TV SOURCE | 0 |
“Wikileaks is the Mossad, Stupid, Not the Russians, We are playing them like a fiddle…” Assange (sort of) ‹ › Dr. Kevin Barrett, a Ph.D. Arabist-Islamologist, is one of America’s best-known critics of the War on Terror. He is Host of TRUTH JIHAD RADIO ; a hard driving weekly LIVE call in radio show. He also has appeared many times on Fox, CNN, PBS and other broadcast outlets, and has inspired feature stories and op-eds in the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Chicago Tribune, and other leading publications. Dr. Barrett has taught at colleges and universities in San Francisco, Paris, and Wisconsin, where he ran for Congress in 2008. He currently works as a nonprofit organizer, author, and talk radio host. Iranians had every right to take over US embassy By Kevin Barrett on November 3, 2016 The “Den of Espionage” – the former US Embassy whose top floor was a maze of wiring that tapped every phone call in Iran (click HERE to watch The Debate)
I think Americans ought to storm and occupy our own NSA, FBI, CIA and Pentagon (as well as the Federal Reserve, CFR, Trilateral Commission, Goldman Sachs and other corporate HQs etc. etc.) just like the Iranian students did to the Den of Espionage in 1979. Does that make me an Iranian stooge or an American patriot? Watch The Debate and make up your own mind. –Kevin Barrett
Press TV Debate , featuring Kevin Barrett , Veterans Today Editor
The 13th day of the Iranian calendar month of Aban, which falls on November 3, is known as the Student Day in Iran, marking the National Day of Fight against Global Arrogance. On this day 37 years ago, a group of Iranian university students took over the US embassy in Tehran, which had turned into a center of espionage aimed at overthrowing the Islamic Republic following the country’s Islamic Revolution earlier in 1979.
Press TV has spoken to Kevin Barrett, an author and Middle East expert, as well as Maxine Dovere, a journalist and political commentator, to get their take on this issue.
Barrett believes the US embassy in Iran was a “CIA station” which was used to “run the country” before the revolution, adding that Iranian students had every right to take it over.
He also said the United States was using its embassy to essentially “dominate” and “exploit” Iran through the puppet government of the Shah whose “torturers were trained by the CIA.”
The analyst further stated the US is an “aggressive imperial power” which has been waging wars of “disguised aggression” throughout the world.
He also opined that the United States is “today’s supreme war criminal” which has been using the word “preemptive war” to legitimize its “naked undisguised aggressions” after the “neoconservative-Zionist coup d’état of September 11, 2001.”
“The neoconservatives in particular after their coup d’état on September 11, 2001 made it clear that any country in the world that seeks parity with the United States must be destroyed preemptively and that is essentially the situation we have today as the US Empire is out there crushing the Middle East, destroying all of Israel’s enemies through balkanization, through Oded Yinon Plan to break up these countries into smaller units along ethnic and sectarian lines, getting ready for a war with China and provoking a war with Russia through aggressive actions in Ukraine and through the destruction of Syria and threats against Russia when Russia comes to the defense of Syria,” he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Barrett noted that both US presidential candidates are “quite horrific” in their policies toward the Middle East – namely Iran.
He also asserted that Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei is “absolutely right” in saying that he cannot trust the United States and that Tehran has to “rethink” the opening it has had towards Washington.
Ayatollah Khamenei has warned that compromise with the United States will not resolve Iran’s problems as Washington has not set aside its hostilities towards the Iranian nation.
Meanwhile the other panelist on Press TV’s program, Maxine Dovere, mentioned that taking over an embassy is not “an acceptable diplomatic action” anywhere in the world.
“An embassy is sacred ground for any country in any other country. Having a diplomatic dispute is certainly one of the things that happens in political and diplomatic life but taking over an embassy and holding diplomats hostage is not within the realm of normal political behavior,” she said.
According to the commentator, the United States and Iran need to come to “a civil understanding” and “a trust,” adding that part of this process is eliminating the shaky foundations that have existed until 2016.
Elsewhere in her remarks, she dismissed the US election campaign as a “negative personality cult” which has not concentrated on policy, economics, and foreign relations.
She also said all the important issues that a president eventually has to deal with seem to have gotten lost in this election campaign. Related Posts: | 1 |
WASHINGTON — The father of the commando killed in a Special Operations raid in Yemen last month said in an interview published this weekend that he had refused to meet with President Trump on the day his son’s body was returned home, and criticized the White House over the mission, saying, “Don’t hide behind my son’s death to prevent an investigation. ” “The government owes my son an investigation,” the father, William Owens, told The Miami Herald, referring to Chief Petty Officer William Owens, 36, a member of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6. The death of Chief Owens on Jan. 29, in the first Special Operations raid approved by Mr. Trump, came after a chain of miscues and misjudgments that plunged the elite commandos into a ferocious firefight with Qaeda militants in a mountainous village in central Yemen. Three other Americans were wounded, and a $75 million aircraft was deliberately destroyed. In a risky mission where almost everything that could go wrong did, the Pentagon has acknowledged that several civilians, including some children, were also killed. The dead included, by the account of relatives interviewed by human rights groups in Yemen, the daughter of Anwar the Qaeda leader who was killed in a targeted drone strike in 2011. The mission’s casualties have raised doubts about the months of detailed planning that went into the operation, initially during the Obama administration, and whether the right questions were raised before its approval, which took place over a dinner Mr. Trump held with top advisers five days after taking office. Senior Trump administration officials said that the Defense Department had conducted a legal review of the mission and that a Pentagon lawyer had signed off on it. But the comments by Mr. Owens, his first public remarks since his son’s death, cast a new spotlight on whether the mission’s risks — to the American commandos and to Yemeni civilians — had been considered fully enough by Mr. Trump and his top aides. On Feb. 1, Mr. Trump flew to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to be present as the body of Chief Owens, who was known as Ryan, was returned to the United States. His death was the first in the military on the new commander in chief’s watch. “I’m sorry I don’t want to see him,” Mr. Owens recalled telling a chaplain who had informed him that Mr. Trump was on his way from Washington. “I told them I don’t want to meet the president. ” “I told them I didn’t want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldn’t let me talk to him,” Mr. Owens said in the interview, which The Herald said took place on Friday at Mr. Owens’s home in Sea, Fla. “Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn’t even barely a week into his administration? Why?” said Mr. Owens, who told The Herald that he had not voted for Mr. Trump. “For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen — everything was missiles and drones — because there was not a target worth one American life. Now all of a sudden we had to make this grand display?” The operation was the first known ground mission in Yemen since December 2014, when members of SEAL Team 6 stormed a village in southern Yemen in an effort to free an American photojournalist held hostage by Al Qaeda. That raid ended with the kidnappers killing the journalist and a South African held with him. Mr. Owens told the newspaper that he was a veteran himself, having served four years in the Navy before joining the Army Reserve in Illinois. Chief Owens’s two half brothers also served in the Navy, one as a member of the SEALs, according to The Herald. A woman who twice answered the phone at the Owens residence on Sunday and identified herself as Mr. Owens’s wife said he would not be making any statements beyond what he told The Herald. Shortly after the raid, Trump administration officials called the mission a success, saying that criticisms like those from Senator John McCain of Arizona, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who called the mission a failure, dishonored Chief Owens’s memory. “I know that the mission has a lot of different critics, but it did yield a substantial amount of very important intel and resources that helped save American lives and other lives,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy White House press secretary, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. Pentagon officials, however, have declined to provide any specific examples of how the information on the cellphones, laptop computers and other materials recovered at the site would help track down terrorists. Officials have said it could take weeks or longer to fully analyze the materials. When asked if Mr. Trump would support an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Chief Owens’s death, Ms. Sanders said she had not spoken directly to the president about it but added, “I would imagine that he would be supportive of that. ” Col. John J. Thomas, a spokesman for the military’s Central Command in Tampa, Fla. which oversees operations in the Middle East, confirmed in an email on Sunday that the military was conducting an inquiry, as happens anytime there is an American casualty. “We take this very seriously, and we appreciate the deep desire to find out all we can about the tragic death of Ryan Owens during an operation against terrorists,” Colonel Thomas said. After initially denying that there had been any civilian casualties, Pentagon officials quickly backtracked after reports from the Yemeni authorities began trickling in and grisly photographs of children purportedly killed in the attack appeared on social media sites affiliated with Al Qaeda’s affiliate there. The Central Command has acknowledged the likelihood that civilians were killed in the crossfire, but Colonel Thomas offered no new information on the status of the military’s investigation into the allegations. | 1 |
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Did Donald Trump unite the American Silent Majority behind things true and shared?
These are economic prosperity, national pride and unity, recognizable neighborhoods—a yen that demands an end to the transformation of neighborhoods through centrally planned, mass immigration—and an end to gratuitous wars.
Those were the questions asked in “The Trump Revolution The Donald’s Creative Destruction Deconstructed” (June 29, 2016), and answered in the affirmative.
Unlike America’s self-anointed cognoscenti, some of us saw this coming. The former recognize truth only once card-carrying members arrive at it independently, grasp and broadcast it, sometimes years too late. Not so America’s marginalized writers. Not in 2012, but in 2002 did we pinpoint the wrongness of the Iraq War. And not in 2016, but in July of 2015 did some of us, not fortuitously, finger Trump as “a candidate to ‘kick the crap out of all the politicians’” and “send the system’s sycophants scattering” (August 14, 2015). His appeal, as this writer has contended since late in 2015, transcended left and right.
Conversely, vaunted statistician Nate Silver “calculated, last November, that Trump’s support was ‘about the same share of people who think the Apollo moon landings were faked.’” (Professor Tyler Cowen of George Mason University properly downgraded wonder boy Silver’s intellectual prowess. His prose, wrote the good teacher, was a sprawl that “evinces a greater affiliation to rigor with data analysis than to rigor with philosophy of science or, for that matter, rigor with rhetoric.”)
Given the disparate groups that rooted for Mr. Trump’s candidacy, it would appear that he did in fact awaken a historic majority. You could say Mr. Trump was an “omnibus candidate,” a concept floated by historian David Hackett Fischer. An omnibus campaign is one that appeals in all cultural regions. Back in the 1840 and 1848 elections, William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor, respectively, proved to be “omnibus candidates,” popular across cultural regions. In his ability to run strongly in almost every cultural region, Trump is the closest the country has come in a long time to an “omnibus candidate.”
President-elect Trump answered the many prayers of very many people.
The establishment’s reaction to the Trump revolution comports with “the conduct of elites,” also traced by Hackett Fischer in his towering text, “Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America”: “There is a cultural equivalent of the iron law of oligarchy. Small groups dominate every cultural system. They tend to do so by controlling institutions and processes, so that they become the ‘governors’ of a culture in both a political and mechanical sense.”
“The iron law of cultural elites is an historical constant,” posited Hackett Fischer in his magisterial account of American cultural and social origins. “But the relation between elites and other cultural groups is highly variable. Every culture might be seen as a system of bargaining, in which elites maintain their hegemony by concessions to other groups.”
These old bargaining processes may have worked in New England’s town system, where each community enjoyed a “high degree of autonomy and also a common interest in supporting the system itself.” But “reciprocal liberty” in early America’s “back settlements” has long since given way to elite solidarity, hegemony, log-rolling and collusion with favored interests.
In virtue, the American oligarchy currently in control of the intellectual means of production bears no resemblance to the natural aristocracy, the object of Thomas Jefferson’s lauding reflections. Likewise, Sir William Berkeley’s concept of a society governed by “gentlemen of honor, courage and breeding” is nowhere seen in the fragmented, faction-based politics of America. This is not to say that Mr. Trump exemplifies these lost qualities, but, as “The Trump Revolution” contends, there is a distinct element of gruff, made-in-America noblesse oblige to Trump’s political crusade.
Put it this way, President-elect Trump is unlikely to be caught off-guard mouthing his contempt for small-town America, as Barack Obama did in depicting potential voters as clinging to their guns, god and other “bigotries.” It’s hard to imagine President-elect Trump ever demonstrating the cruelty and hypocrisy of a Gordon Brown, Great Britain’s former prime minister. In May of 2010, after hearing Mrs. Gillian Duffy’s worries over deficits and immigration, the pompous, two-faced boor of a prime minister retreated to his limousine, and, microphone on, proceeded to berate this perfectly decent lady, calling her “horrible,” “old woman,” and “bigoted.”
The Trump presidency is the last heave-ho of America’s Mrs. Duffys; of America’s historic, founding majority.
Almost 200 years on, Albion’s seed is scattered, diluted and demoralized. More so than cultural identities, issues have come to dominate elections. The Trump revolution boiled down to fundamental things like Islam (“no thanks”), immigration (“much less”), and a government that refused to heed.
In the short term, the success of this majority awakened and its candidate will depend on President-elect Trump’s ability to beat back the sprawling political machine that makes up the D.C. Comitatus, now writhing like a fire breathing mythical monster in the throes of death. Or, so we hope. | 1 |
Officials and diplomats have heralded President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia as proof that he has committed to working with Muslim countries to promote stability in the Middle East, particularly regarding Iran’s aggression in the region, according to the Saudi publication the Arab News. [“President Trump’s visit to the Kingdom is very important in the shared goal and efforts to fight terrorism and bring safety and stability in the Middle East,” Mona Almushait, a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shoura Council said. “Trump’s meetings in Riyadh are essential to our national security and to the global stability, particularly because there will be discussions on measures to take to confront the Iranian aggression,” she said, noting that Trump is the first U. S. president to make Saudi Arabia his first international destination. “Trump’s visit is very important for the security architecture in the region, and underlines the pivotal role the Kingdom is playing in the region,” German Ambassador Dieter W. Haller also told the publication. “I understand that the fight against terrorism and extremism will be the main focus of the visit and this is very good news,” Haller said. “We can only fight terrorism successfully if we all — Arabs, Muslims and Europeans, Americans — stand together. ” “I hope the very significant meetings President Trump will have in Riyadh will create the foundation for a better mutual understanding for all involved and for a stronger action in confronting the common challenges, including terrorism and regional instability,” Portuguese Ambassador Manuel Carvalho added in an interview with the newspaper.. In the early months of his administration, Trump has already held meetings with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah and King Abdullah II of Jordan. The Foreign Policy Group reported in April: The contrast between the treatment of Egypt by the Trump and Obama administrations could not be more stark. Whereas President Barack Obama and his team did not hesitate to welcome the Muslim Brotherhood’s takeover of Egypt, while summarily dismissing former President Hosni Mubarak, the current administration is debating whether to go so far as to label the Brotherhood a terrorist organization. President Trump spoke on Tuesday night with King Abdullah II of Jordan, as part of his strategy to strengthen relationships with leaders of Muslim countries ahead of his Middle East visit, the Washington Times reported. In the phone call, Trump and King Abdullah reportedly reaffirmed the need for U. S. coordination in operations generally, the effort to end the civil war in Syria, and the shared fight against the Islamic State, the White House said. During the presidential campaign Trump spoke out about the nuclear agreement with Iran that former President Barack Obama helped broker as a “terrible” deal and last month ordered a review of it. “Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror, through many platforms and methods,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement. “President Donald J. Trump has directed a National Security interagency review of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that will evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to Iran pursuant to the JCPOA is vital to the national security interests of the United States. ” Trump will also visit Israel and Vatican City, where he will meet with Pope Francis. The President is also scheduled to meet with NATO officials in Brussels and with leaders meeting in Sicily. | 0 |
WASHINGTON — The F. B. I. is the government agency in charge of investigating terrorism. But the bureau has been criticized for failing to thwart a series of terrorist attacks in recent years in Boston Orlando, Fla. Garland, Tex. and now New York. In each of those cases, the person suspected of carrying out the attack had been investigated previously by the F. B. I. The latest case involved Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, who was charged with setting off bombs in New York and New Jersey. Why wasn’t the F. B. I. able to prevent the attacks by arresting those now believed to be responsible? None of the people in those cases had broken the law or given a clear indication that they intended to kill. The F. B. I. is not allowed to conduct investigations without justification. Traveling to Pakistan or Afghanistan, or expressing admiration for Osama bin Laden or the Islamic State, could put someone on the F. B. I. ’s radar, but none are illegal. The F. B. I. cannot jail someone without evidence of a crime and must follow extensive guidelines that are intended to protect privacy and civil liberties. James B. Comey, the F. B. I. director, is fond of reminding the public of the F. B. I. ’s checkered past and what happens when the rule of law is not followed. He keeps a copy on his desk of General Robert F. Kennedy’s approval to wiretap the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a move that later brought shame to the bureau. What can the F. B. I. do to prevent an attack? A lot, in some cases, but that is not always enough. After Omar Mateen fatally shot 49 people in an Orlando nightclub in June, Mr. Comey revealed that the F. B. I. had investigated Mr. Mateen beginning in 2013. At that time, the bureau opened a preliminary investigation after Mr. Mateen told he had family ties to Al Qaeda, was a member of Hezbollah and wanted to die a martyr. The F. B. I. used confidential informants to determine whether Mr. Mateen was a terrorist and placed him on a watch list. A preliminary investigation has a limit of six months, but it was extended another four in Mr. Mateen’s case. But the bureau failed to find evidence that he was plotting an attack or had connections to an overseas terrorist group. In an interview with reporters after the Orlando shooting, Mr. Comey said about the case: “We are also going to look hard at our own work to see whether there is something we should have done differently. So far, the honest answer is, I don’t think so. ” In a failed plot last year to attack an exhibition of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in Garland, Tex. one of the attackers was already under full investigation. Yet the F. B. I. was unaware that the attackers had obtained guns and traveled across the country. The police killed both men before they carried out their plan. Did the F. B. I. miss anything in investigating Mr. Rahami? That question will linger for months. Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, has already said he wants to review the F. B. I. ’s handling of the case. Law enforcement officials believe agents did not miss anything. After Mr. Rahami stabbed his brother during an August 2014 dispute in New Jersey, where the family lives, the local police interviewed Mohammad Rahami, the father. He told investigators that Ahmad might be involved in terrorism. The police passed that information to the F. B. I. Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark. That prompted an assessment, which can last 90 days and is the most basic of bureau investigations. It allows the use of informants, limited physical surveillance, mining databases and conducting interviews. Members of the task force repeatedly interviewed Mohammad Rahami and spoke with others who knew his son. The F. B. I. did not interview Mr. Rahami, who was jailed after the stabbing, and closed the case the following month. It is unclear why the F. B. I. did not seek out Mr. Rahami, but an interview alone does not always identify a future criminal. In 2011, the F. B. I. received information from Russian officials that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the brothers who bombed the Boston Marathon, had become radicalized. In that case, the F. B. I. opened an assessment and interviewed both Mr. Tsarnaev and his family members, but the Russians never provided additional information, and the investigation was dropped. What happens when a parent like Mohammad Rahami calls the F. B. I. concerned about a child? Sometimes agents investigate the warning and close the case. In other instances, they take action. In May, the parents of a young man in Queens told the authorities that their son, Ranbir Singh Shergill, had threatened family members. After the parents gave officers consent to search the home, members of an F. B. I. terrorism task force found a handgun, several magazines and 118 rounds of ammunition. They also found a note that discussed killing police officers. The F. B. I. charged Mr. Shergill in June with buying a gun in Ohio using fake identification and transporting it to New York. Is it fair to always ask if the F. B. I. is at fault? Nobody expects the police to prevent every homicide in Chicago or Los Angeles, or to prevent public corruption or eliminate drugs. But the expectation among many Americans is that the F. B. I. should stop every terrorist attack. Former and current F. B. I. officials accept the reality that the bureau faces a different standard. The threat has only grown since Sept. 11, 2001, and more recently with the rise of the Islamic State. In recent years, the F. B. I. has averaged 10, 000 assessments annually, and 7, 000 to 10, 000 preliminary or full investigations involving international terrorism. In addition, the F. B. I. receives tens of thousands of terrorism tips. All of those have to be tracked down, as in the case involving Mr. Rahami. That does not include information the F. B. I. learns from foreign partners, war zones or American agencies. Most investigations never end in prosecution. In the meantime, the F. B. I. and the Justice Department have prosecuted more than 100 cases involving the Islamic State. Officials say those are the cases that the public tends to overlook, as well as all the other plots they have stopped. | 1 |
Hotel CEO Caught Celebrating Using Government to Make Airbnb Illegal So They Can Price Gouge Home / Badge Abuse / Enraged Cop Flips Out When Her Car is Towed for Illegal Parking — Pulls Gun on Tow Truck Driver Enraged Cop Flips Out When Her Car is Towed for Illegal Parking — Pulls Gun on Tow Truck Driver Matt Agorist May 2, 2016 29 Comments
Orange County, FL — Deputy Tracy Weiss was off-duty last month when she noticed that her illegally parked truck was being towed. The way she acted next could have landed a normal person in jail. However, because Weiss is a deputy with the Orange County Sheriff’s department, that will likely not happen.
When Weiss noticed that her truck was being towed, she jumped into another vehicle and then drove the wrong way down a one-way street to block the driver in who had towed her car.
When she exits the vehicle, according to the tow truck driver, she had her gun drawn. When he saw the gun, the driver pulled out his camera phone and began to record.
“I’m a cop. Drop my truck,” yelled Weiss.
“You need to put your gun away,” replied the driver.
“You see a gun?” Weiss asked, acting as if she didn’t have one once she saw the camera.
“Yes. It’s in your pocket,” the driver said.
“I am a cop,” she yelled. “You’re going to f**king jail for stealing my car.”
“I’m not going to jail,” the driver responded.
“Whatever,” Weiss said before storming off to wait for backup.
When deputies arrived on scene, they confirmed that Weiss did, in fact, have a gun.
“She had a gun in her hand pointed at me,” said the driver.
In a small victory for the driver, the deputies refused to back up Weiss and allowed him to tow the truck as he was well within the law to do so. Also, instead of the normal impound fee of $62.50, Weiss had to pay double as she held the driver up for more than 15 minutes.
Afraid that deputies may single him out later, the tow truck driver chose to remain anonymous. But he did say that had Weiss approached him calmly he would have gladly given her the truck back free of charge.
“That’s when I was even more shocked that I was seeing that kind of behavior from a deputy. That would be the last person I would expect to be behaving that way,” the driver said. “I expected a little bit different from a professional. (They’re someone) that’s supposed to be trained to handle situations like this.”
According to a report obtained by WFTV, Weiss is no angel. Weiss’ disciplinary record revealed she was suspended in 2008 for violating OCSO’s use of authority policy.
Weiss was suspended for 21 hours without pay after she was accused of acting inappropriately regarding a business arrangement, the Sheriff’s Office’s said.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the incident is now under an internal investigation, but there will not be a full report until the investigation is complete. Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Follow @MattAgorist Share | 0 |
DOJ COMPLAINT: Comey Under Fire Over Partisan Witch Hunt For Hillary (TWEETS/VIDEO) By Natalie Dailey on October 30, 2016 Subscribe
For pretty much this entire election, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has gotten flak for the way she handled her emails during her tenure as Secretary of State. Congressional Republicans grilled her for hours about it, but have found nothing. These same Republicans just keep on complaining anyway.
Now, the Director of the FBI, James Comey, wrote a memo saying some newly-found emails may be linked to Hillary Clinton and her private server.
The media and the supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump are excited about the possibility of the FBI reopening the investigation.
Sorry, guys, it’s not.
A Republican Congressman started a Twitter shitstorm over this news: FBI Dir just informed me, "The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation." Case reopened
— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) October 28, 2016
Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan (R-Wis), said that Clinton’s security briefings should stop: BREAKING NEWS → The FBI is reopening its investigation into Secretary Hillary Clinton.
My full statement ⇩ pic.twitter.com/LHfyg46dWk
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) October 28, 2016
At least Hillary Clinton didn’t blab classified information on television.
Many news outlets falsely reported that the entire investigation was back on.
The Associated Press tweeted: BREAKING: US official: Newly discovered emails related to Clinton investigation did not come from her private server.
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) October 28, 2016
The emails were found during the investigation of disgraced ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner and his latest sexting scandal involving a 15-year-old girl.
The FBI doesn’t know for sure what is in the emails. It is very difficult to read emails when you don’t have a warrant to do so. This puts Comey’s letter to Congress in an even shadier light. All they know is that none of the emails are to or from Clinton herself, and they may only be duplicates of emails the FBI already has in their possession.
The Department of Justice has received a complaint from the Democratic Coalition Against Trump accusing FBI Director Comey of violating the Hatch Act .
The complaint reads in part: “This is an election year, and we are just 11 days away from the date that the American public votes to choose the next President of the United States, I am writing to ask that an investigation be opened into Director Comey for any potential violations of the Hatch Act. The timing of this announcement, accompanied by the vague facts of the investigation, seems as if Director Comey was making a political move, and not a professional one.”
Passed in 1939, the Hatch Act limits political activity of federal employees and certain state and D.C. employees who work with federal funding. It is meant to keep federal agencies from taking sides politically, and prevents employees from getting promotions based on political affiliations. | 0 |
To Donald Trump, everything is negotiable, even getting old. At 70 — about 16 months older than Hillary Clinton — he would be the oldest person ever to step into the presidency, a fact he’s determined to talk his way around. “Here’s a woman — she’s supposed to fight all of these different things, and she can’t make it 15 feet to her car,” he told supporters at a recent rally in Pennsylvania. “She’s home resting right now. ” He slackened his jaw and feigned stumbling across the stage, a dramatic of the video that showed Clinton nearly collapsing from pneumonia in September. “Folks,” Trump announced, “we need stamina. ” Vim and vigor have always featured prominently in Trump’s . In his 2009 book “Think Like a Champion,” he called “positive stamina” a “necessary ingredient for success. ” His Twitter feed is, accordingly, a constant zone: He has rated the vitality not only of Clinton (“zero imagination and even less stamina”) but also of Joan Rivers (“truly amazing stamina”) the world’s “many losers and haters” (“never have the brains or stamina to become truly successful”) and, of course, himself (“one of my greatest assets”). During the first presidential debate, he attacked Clinton’s stamina in four consecutive sentences: “She doesn’t have the stamina. I said she doesn’t have the stamina. And I don’t believe she does have the stamina. To be president of this country, you need tremendous stamina. ” Over the course of his career, Trump has amassed a vast verbal arsenal to wield against women — pig, dog, slob, bimbo, disgusting, neurotic, ugly — but when it comes to Clinton, it’s all stamina, stamina, stamina. The word implies everything Trump has been told he’s no longer allowed to say outright. It strikes a glancing blow at Clinton’s sex without his ever having to call her an old lady. Growing older, Susan Sontag wrote, in a 1972 essay called “The Double Standard of Aging,” is “much more a social judgment than a biological eventuality” — an “ordeal of the imagination” that “afflicts women much more than men. ” This is precisely what “stamina” pokes at: an American subconscious that stereotypes older women as sick, weak, unattractive and useless. It’s a nominally civil version of the sexist internet memes that cast Clinton as “America’s nasty ” and a nod to conspiracy theories that place her on the precipice of death. For his own part, Trump presents himself as ageless — a bit older than Clinton, but only in man years, which don’t really count. He told the TV doctor Mehmet Oz that he looks in the mirror and sees “a person who is 35 years old,” like a villain with a charmed looking glass. He gets his exercise, he said, by gesticulating at rallies. The bizarre doctor’s note he released concluded that he’d be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency,” then added, “His physical strength and stamina are extraordinary. ” His wives get younger with every marriage — the third, Melania, is 24 years his junior — and their youth, Trump says, only makes him more powerful. “You know,” he told Esquire in 1991, “it doesn’t really matter what they write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass. ” Stamina is a guy thing, and guys know it. In September, when polled likely voters on which candidate “has the stamina to be president,” it was responses from men that put Trump on top. Stamina is a sex thing too. (Just ask the adult film actor Simon Stamina.) The word shares a Latin root with “stamen,” the long, organ that protrudes from a flower. On some deep, etymological level, Trump seems to be accusing Hillary of not having a penis. “Stamina” may have a masculine sheen, but its underlying claim — superior mental and physical endurance — has long been associated with women. As the poet Giovanni Boccaccio wrote: “Right so can women suffer And all wrongs womanly endure. ” In Christian theology, women aren’t typically seen as leaders, but they appear frequently as martyrs. In sports, they’re dismissed as physically inferior — except in extreme endurance contests, where they’re catching up to and sometimes beating men. (Think of Diana Nyad, who became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida, at 64.) Childbirth is a saga. And in the ultimate endurance contest — life — women survive longer than men. Despite all the stigmas applied to aging women, the transition of menopause imparts its own strange cultural power. In 2006, Sharon Stone shared a theory about presidential politics: “A woman should be past her sexuality when she runs,” she said. “Hillary still has sexual power, and I don’t think people will accept that. ” Last year, in Time magazine, Dr. Julie Holland, the author of a guide to emotional wellness called “Moody Bitches,” argued that Clinton’s body was newly primed to reach its full political potential. During perimenopause, she wrote, estrogen levels go through spikes and crashes, “but afterward, there is a hormonal ebbing that creates a moment of great possibility,” meaning that “postmenopausal women are ideal candidates for leadership. ” If the double standard of aging is, as Sontag had it, a work of cultural “imagination,” then this approach to menopause offers an alternative fantasy, one in which women gain strength with age. Clinton stoked all of these associations when she swiped back at Trump during the first presidential debate: “As soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a a release of dissidents, an opening of new opportunities in nations around the world, or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina,” she said. To many observers, it was Trump who couldn’t seem to get through a debate without losing steam — and it’s no coincidence that he has intensified his attack on Clinton’s stamina as his own has come into question. Men have always had complicated feelings about women’s capacity for suffering, a mix of admiration at the fulfillment of the feminine role and anxiousness at the special power it affords. Men have made women suffer, then envied how well they’ve managed it. So even as women have been valorized for their endurance, structures have emerged to rein it in. In 1852, Ohio passed a law limiting the work day to 10 hours — but only for women and children. By 1917, all but nine states passed similar laws. “Women are fundamentally weaker than men in all that makes for endurance: in muscular strength, in nervous energy, in the powers of persistent attention and application,” Louis Brandeis argued in front of the Supreme Court in 1908. He framed women as not only physically but somehow metaphysically incapable of working like men: Their “special physical organization,” he claimed, meant excessive work could engender a “laxity of moral fibre. ” All this paternalistic concern helped alleviate a deeper fear: If women were barred from working long hours like men, they couldn’t take men’s jobs. The laws, predictably, did not apply to domestic service. Women who compete in male territory have always had to prove themselves to be twice as good. In the face of these hypercompetent, superqualified women, who have surmounted every barrier set before them, the sexist backlash has been forced to retreat, regroup and adapt. Sure, women can perform like men, this critique says now. But maybe they can keep up the act for only so long. Maybe they can rise to a certain level, and no further. The House? Sure. The Senate? O. K. Secretary of State? I guess. But the presidency? | 1 |
OAKLAND, Calif. — Carmen Brito was asleep on Friday night when she suddenly woke up gasping for breath. Outside her small studio, one floor down from where a raging concert was taking place, she saw her neighbor’s wall on fire. “I’m pretty sure I was the first person to see the fire, and when I saw it, it was bigger than I was,” said Ms. Brito, 28. The inferno killed at least 36 people and is regarded as one of the worst structure fires in the United States in over a decade. On Sunday, firefighters were digging through the ruins of the warehouse, where people had gathered for an electronic dance show on Friday when flames ripped through the building, collapsing the floors. The search of the building, which had only two exits, could continue for days, officials said at a news conference, warning that the death toll could climb considerably higher. The authorities said on Monday that 11 victims have been positively identified. One victim was the son of a local law enforcement officer, said Sgt. Ray Kelly of the Alameda County sheriff’s office. “This tragedy has hit very close to home for our agency,” he said. Other victims were from countries in Europe and Asia. The officials were in the process of contacting agencies abroad. Ms. Brito was just one member of a community of roughly 25 artists who inhabited the building illegally — but in plain sight of Oakland city officials. The building, which was known as the Ghost Ship and has been under investigation for code violations, had a permit to function as a warehouse, but not as a residence or for a party. A criminal investigation began on Sunday. Ms. Brito said the fire started at the very back of the building, in a studio next to hers, when the couple who occupied the room were gone. She said a firefighter investigating the blaze had asked her whether the couple had recently installed a refrigerator, which they had, raising the possibility that the building’s electrical system played a role. The officials said on Monday that they believed they had identified the section of the building where the fire started, but cautioned that they were no closer to finding a cause. Ms. Brito and another survivor, Nikki Kelber, 44, said the building’s renters had repeatedly asked its owner to upgrade the electrical system, which failed often enough that residents had flashlights in their studios. Ms. Kelber and Ms. Brito said that the building had many fire extinguishers and that one of the residents, Max Ohr, tried to use one on the flames but soon gave up. “It was like trying to put out a bonfire with a squirt gun,” Ms. Brito said. The residents of the building said they had been priced out of parts of the San Francisco Bay Area that have become increasingly unaffordable. They called themselves refugees and were happy to be living among a community of artists paying an affordable rent. Oakland itself has seen rents and home prices skyrocket with the technology boom. The high cost of living has led to alternative housing arrangements across the region, from a community of homes made of shipping containers to lines of recreational vehicles on Silicon Valley side streets. But these spaces, while often illegal, are subject to the same market forces rippling through the broader market. That has given outsize power to the master tenants who control the lease of a building and, at least in some cases, can make money by subletting to struggling artists willing to live in substandard conditions. The Ghost Ship was one of these illegal living spaces. Residents and visitors described it as both a haven for artists and a fire trap, with a warren of trailers, broken pianos and stacks of wood and a complex network of electrical cords and generators. It was home for jewelers, metalworkers, dancers, musicians and others, and parties that brought hundreds to its labyrinthine corridors. But it was also plagued by discord and the whims of its two master tenants, Derick Ion Almena and Micah Allison, who lived there with their three children, ages 13, 7 and 6. Several residents said they were lured in by the promise of cheap rent and a creative community, only to find that their new home had no heat, sporadic electricity and a master tenant — Mr. Almena — who would bring in homeless people to harass residents who crossed him. Mr. Almena was serving a sentence of three years’ probation, having pleaded no contest in January to a felony charge of receiving stolen property. Mr. Almena and Ms. Allison could not be reached for comment on Sunday. “A lot of people were his friend because they believed in the miracle,” said Shelley Mack, 58, who moved into the space in October 2014, paying $700 to live in a mobile home inside the warehouse. “But it was a sick place. ” Ms. Mack left after several frightening episodes, she said. In one, she said, a friend of Mr. Almena’s pulled a gun on several residents. In March 2015, the Alameda County Social Services Agency removed Mr. Almena and Ms. Allison’s children from their custody after relatives expressed concerns about safety. The agency returned the children this past June. People familiar with the space questioned why the police did not do anything to shut down the Ghost Ship. “That place was a tinderbox,” said Danielle Boudreaux, 40, who had visited the warehouse. “Anybody who went in there who had any kind of authority should have not allowed it to continue. ” Mr. Ohr, who took on a supervisory role among tenants, said they told the landlord that the electrical system needed upgrading. “We reached out on multiple occasions, complaining that the power wasn’t working,” Mr. Ohr said. “They made no attempt to make it right. ” The area where the fire had started had been closed off to the partygoers and was “unmonitored,” Mr. Ohr said. “There are plenty of signs that point to it being an electrical fire. ” Ms. Kelber’s studio was near one of the building’s exits, and when she spotted a “ball of fire” coming down the hallway she had only seconds to react. “After 15 seconds, the power went out, and another 30 seconds later it was completely engulfed. It went so fast. ” Ms. Kelber and Ms. Brito described confusion in the seconds after the fire was discovered because the urgent and panicked cries of residents were drowned out by a D. J.’s music in the building’s mezzanine, where the concert was underway. The wooden statues, exposed beams and countless other objects made of timber on the ground floor of the building helped fuel a fire that raged for hours and gutted the entire structure. One of the residents escaped barefoot in his pajamas carrying his two dogs. Another resident appeared to have injured himself in a fall while trying to escape, Ms. Brito said. A fellow resident, Bob Mule, heard his cries but was unable to pull him from the fire. “Bob tried pulling him out but had to leave him behind because Bob was starting to get burning things falling on him,” Ms. Brito said. After they escaped, Ms. Brito and the other survivors stood outside the building, helplessly watching it burn. “It was something out of a horror film, with cloud after cloud of black smoke,” Ms. Brito said. “Occasionally a body would come hurtling through the door toward the street. ” Ms. Brito said residents were aware that they were living in the warehouse without permits and recognized the risks involved. “I get why people could look at us and think that we were responsible,” she said. “But we were doing our best with what we had. ” | 1 |
WASHINGTON — The American military’s extensive use of drones against the Islamic State and other terrorist groups has resulted in a shortage of Air Force pilots and other personnel to operate the aircraft, leading the Pentagon to rely more on private contractors for reconnaissance missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Pentagon has used contractors to perform many duties traditionally carried out by uniformed personnel, like protecting military bases and feeding service members. The contractors who are now serving as drone pilots are based in the regions where the drones are flown, and they are legally prohibited from being “trigger pullers” and firing weapons, Air Force officials said. But there is no limit on the type of reconnaissance they can perform, and they are providing live video feeds of battles and special operations. As the Obama administration has accelerated its campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq, Syria and Libya over the past 10 months, the Pentagon has added four drones flown by contractors to the roughly 60 that are typically flown every day by uniformed Air Force personnel. Over the next two years, the Pentagon plans to add six more operated by contractors, the officials said. The number and identities of contractors working on the drone flights are considered classified information, the Air Force said. But Pentagon officials said there are at least several hundred contractors, many of them former drone or fighter pilots who are making double or triple their military salaries. “This is opening up a whole new can of worms — we have seen problems with security contractors on the battlefield since and there’s been an improvement in oversight in that area, but that came after a decade of problems,” said Laura A. Dickinson, a law professor at George Washington University, who has written extensively about the United States’ use of military contractors. “With drones, this is a new area where we already do not have a lot of transparency, and with contractors operating drones there’s no clearly defined regime of oversight and accountability. ” Drones were first used extensively by the United States military in the Balkans in the 1990s. By the the Air Force was flying more than a dozen drones a day in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. The number of flights rose steadily to about 60 in 2010, when the military began plans to scale back because the war in Iraq was winding down. But in 2014, President Obama ordered a military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Later that year, Mr. Obama, who had said that a small number of troops remaining behind in Afghanistan would have no combat role, decided to authorize a more expansive mission for them. The Air Force was not prepared for this increased demand. Finding pilots was difficult. They typically work long hours in windowless rooms staring at computer monitors and do not get many days off. Many of those who fly armed drones have been found to have stress disorder because they have witnessed so many airstrikes. There is also a powerful perception in the Air Force that drone jobs are less prestigious and glamorous than flying more traditional military aircraft, and recruitment has been hard. The pilots have also become targets for terrorists who say drones have been used to indiscriminately kill civilians. This past spring, the Islamic State released a detailed list of several dozen senior Air Force officers who the group said were connected to the drone program. The list included photographs of the officers, their home addresses and other personal information. Operating drones requires an extensive support network. One pilot and a camera operator typically control a drone, and since a drone is expected to be constantly in the air, each one must have several crews. The analysis of the footage taken in by the drones is even more labor intensive. For every drone, there is a need for up to four dozen analysts who can look at the many hours of footage to assess the targets and other intelligence. With little alternative, the Air Force initiated a “ plan” in January 2015 that included several measures — among them an increase in pay — to try to alleviate the significant “stress on the force” that had developed. “Airmen have delivered data, prosecuted targets and supported combatant commanders without fail, but we cannot sustain this pace indefinitely,” Deborah Lee James, the secretary of the Air Force, said at the time. “While threats have evolved, the demand for this capability remains constant. ” Both armed drones and those involved only in surveillance have led to significant success on the battlefield, but the Obama administration has been widely criticized for not being transparent about their use. Air Force officials said there are many safeguards in place to train and monitor contractors. But the officials declined to provide many details about the flights, such as where the contractors are deployed and which companies are operating the flights. The officials also declined to address the role that contractors play in a select group of highly classified drone flights that the Air Force conducts daily for the C. I. A. Air Force pilots, who are essentially on loan to the C. I. A. fly those drones while the agency does its own preflight target planning and analysis. Erika Yepsen, a spokeswoman for the Air Force, said the missions flown by the contractors “have oversight from both a government flight representative and a government ground representative. ” She added, “Additionally, planning and execution of these missions are carried out under the same oversight currently provided for military aircrews, and the resulting sensor information will be collected, analyzed, transmitted and stored as appropriate by the same military intelligence units. ” But the Air Force would not disclose many details about the drone contractors. Contractors are typically compensated far more than service members, and some current and former senior Air Force officials said their use could actually exacerbate the shortage in military drone pilots because the pay of the private sector might lure them away. “The Air Force is the one creating unmanned pilots who have experience — there is nowhere else to draw on pilots from,” said Frederick F. Roggero, a retired major general. Mr. Roggero, after his Air Force career, became president and chief executive of Resilient Solutions, which provides consulting on unmanned aircraft safety and security. He compared the situation to the period after World War I. “We are at the same point now culturally — the only pilots with drone experience are coming from the Air Force, and that industry is going to experience exponential growth for unmanned pilots,” he said, adding that it would create a new demand that would lure them away from the military. | 1 |
Topics: Gorilla , London Zoo , waitrose , escaped
A gorilla that escaped from its enclosure at London Zoo made its way into Waitrose to buy Robinsons blackcurrant squash before being returned to his den, a report has found.
Kumbuka, a western lowland silverback, made a trip to the nearest Waitrose after walking past two different Tescos and a Sainsbury's, according to sightings.
The zoo said the gorilla refuses outright to have anything not bought from a Waitrose store, with exception of a Budgen's if he's in a good mood.
In his report on the breakout, one of the zookeepers suggested that the 29st alpha male would probably after "some ripe avocados or quinoa".
He said: "There were no broken locks, Kumbuka did not smash any windows, he was never 'on the loose' and he was more than likely just after some good-quality high-end essentials like their reasonably priced ironing water at £3.50 a bottle."
'Looks down his nose'
The gorilla found the door to his area was unlocked and a second door had yet to be secured shortly after his feeding time at 17:00 BST last Thursday.
After discovering Kumbuka was missing, the keeper was heard saying "He has a tendency to look down his nose a bit. He wouldn't be seen dead in a Wilkinsons", prompting park staff to believe he'd be in the local Waitrose or John Lewis.
Eye witnesses report the animal "briefly explored the Whole Foods aisle before heading over to the fruit section for some organic bananas"
He then skipped past the own brand squash and went straight for the full-priced Robinsons. He was discovered 'having opened and drank five litres of undiluted Robinsons blackcurrant squash, eaten 47 jars of palm oil free peanut butter and holding a basket full of soy and linseed bread', the report revealed.
It concluded that the gorilla was always very conscious of where he shops and tries to make ethical choices where he can, even if he is a bit of a sucker for Robinsons squash.
Kumbuka was returned to his den shortly after being tranquilised.
Kumbuka arrived in London from Paignton Zoo in Devon in early 2013. Make Alex Jelly's | 0 |
While Chuck Schumer complains that “America cannot afford a Twitter presidency,” Rupert Neate writing at The Guardian examines how Donald Trump’s use of Twitter has shaped the actions of major manufacturers before he has even taken office:[After his election win, Trump credited Twitter and other social media platforms with helping him beat Hillary Clinton despite her much higher advertising spending. “The fact that I have such power in terms of numbers with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc, I think it helped me win all of these races where they’re spending much more money than I spent,” he told CBS’s 60 Minutes programme. Trump has said he will rest his Twitter fingers when he is sworn in as the 45th president on 20 January. “I’m going to do very restrained, if I use it at all,” he said in the same interview. However, he has continued to use Twitter during the transition period, taking aim at multinational companies as well as his political opponents and the media. So far, it has produced results, with the French leader Marine Le Pen applauding the Ford announcement as proof that “protectionism works”. Other companies have been affected by Trump’s solo social media campaign too. Read the rest of the story at The Guardian. | 0 |
In September 1980, as violence and civil war erupted throughout Central America, a quiet American left Harvard Law School to volunteer with Jesuit missionaries in northern Honduras. Around him, the United military dictatorship hunted Marxists and cracked down on the Catholic clergy for preaching empowerment to peasant farmers. But some locals also looked warily on the bearded and Midwesterner in their midst. Just a few hours south, the Central Intelligence Agency was using Honduras as a staging ground in its covert war against Latin American communism, with forces training for operations in El Salvador and Nicaragua. “Some of the people were wondering what’s going on, who is this guy?” Tim Kaine, then a volunteer and now the Democratic nominee for vice president, said in an interview. He understood why. His mentors in the priesthood had also urged him to be wary of friendly American faces. “It was a time of such intrigue and suspicion,” Mr. Kaine said. Far from being a C. I. A. operative, Mr. Kaine was a young Catholic at a crossroads, undergoing a spiritual shift as he awakened to the plight of the deeply poor in Honduras. In its pueblos, banana plantation company towns and dusty cities, Mr. Kaine embraced an interpretation of the gospel, known as liberation theology, that championed social change to improve the lives of the downtrodden. In Honduras, his recitation of the traditional Catholic mealtime blessing changed to “Lord give bread to those who hunger, and hunger for justice to those who have bread. ” Honduran military leaders, American officials and even Pope John Paul II viewed liberation theology suspiciously, as dangerously injecting Marxist beliefs into religious teaching. But the strong message of liberation theology helped set Mr. Kaine on a career path in which he fought as a lawyer against housing discrimination, became a liberal mayor, and rose as a governor and senator with an enduring focus on Latin America. It also gave Mr. Kaine a new, darker view of his own country’s behavior. “It was a very politicizing experience for me because the U. S. was doing a lot of bad stuff,” he said. “It made me very angry. I mean I still feel it. ” Mr. Kaine first went to Honduras during Holy Week of 1974 while a sophomore at Rockhurst High School, a Jesuit academy in Kansas City, Mo. A “sheltered kid” who grew up in a middle class family, he delivered donations to a Jesuit mission in the town of El Progreso. As Mr. Kaine returned to finish high school, race through college in three years and enroll at Harvard Law, the Jesuits back in El Progreso administered to an ever more bloody region. The Rev. Mauricio Gaborit, a Honduran priest, befriended Mr. Kaine during his initial trip in 1974. Father Gaborit said that after he had helped Nicaraguan refugees streaming over the border, two security officials told him he needed to leave the country if he wanted to live. He did, ultimately coming to study in America. “I talked a little bit about this with Tim,” said Father Gaborit, who visited Mr. Kaine at his home outside Kansas City years later and corresponded with him through letters and conversations. Father Gaborit shared his terrifying experiences, but Mr. Kaine, he said, was determined to return. He “wasn’t a worried person,” Father Gaborit said. Instead, Mr. Kaine was worried that he was rushing through life. While at Harvard Law, he arranged to volunteer again in El Progreso. His parents wondered if he was considering the priesthood, but he said he was seeking something else. El Progreso seemed as far from Kansas City as it was from Rome. Priests wore short sleeves and had muddy boots. Bishops distinguished themselves with white guayabera shirts. Upon Mr. Kaine’s return in 1980, the Jesuits told him his experience working in his father’s metal shop was more valuable than his legal knowledge. He was soon teaching carpentry and welding to 70 vocational students. The Rev. Jack Warner, a priest with the mission, recalled Mr. Kaine as quiet and methodical, which came in handy for his duties at the school. But Father Warner also described an atmosphere of fear in which the most basic advice was “be careful of who you are talking to — most particularly the Americans. ” Father Warner himself saw the church’s role as advocating for the poor and the oppressed — as he saw it, “the gospel is an extremely communist document. ” It was just that blending of Catholicism and socialism that raised suspicion in the Reagan administration and the Honduran military. At the Vatican, Pope John Paul II, whose defining experience was resistance to the communist regime in Poland, frowned on liberation theology. “That’s one of the reasons we didn’t make too much noise about it,” Father Warner said. But Mr. Kaine, who said the priests felt “like they were under the church’s thumb,” would get exposure to — and seek out — some of the leading thinkers of the movement. He met Jon Sobrino, a Spanish theologian, an adviser to the murdered archbishop of El Salvador, Oscar Romero, and the author of “Jesus the Liberator,” which was criticized in 2006 by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the grounds that it might “cause harm to the faithful. ” During a short stay in Nicaragua, Mr. Kaine looked up an American, the Rev. James Carney, known there as Guadalupe, who had been exiled from Honduras in 1979, in part for adopting an extreme view of liberation theology that supported the taking up of arms against military oppressors. Mr. Kaine hopped off a bus in northern Nicaragua, walked miles to Father Carney’s remote parish and spent a memorable evening listening to the priest describe “both getting pushed around by the military and getting pushed around by the church. ” The stigma of “communist priests” hung over all the Jesuits in the region, and some priests and nuns were killed. But most of the American Jesuits Mr. Kaine worked with on a daily basis had a more pragmatic streak and rolled their eyes during philosophical debates about liberation theology. Mr. Kaine became close to the Rev. Jarrel Wade, known as Father Patricio, a large, athletic American who cheerily said the dirt floors he slept on in Honduras reminded him of camping trips. During the rainy Christmas season, Mr. Kaine accompanied Father Patricio as ecstatic children in rural towns greeted their mules in anticipation of getting gifts of peppermints. In one of those remote villages, a poor family with malnourished children gave Father Patricio a Christmas gift of food. Mr. Kaine did not approve, and when they were alone, Father Patricio explained, “‘Tim, you have to really be humble to take this gift of food from a family that poor. ’” The message, as Mr. Kaine understood it, was that if you consider someone incapable of giving, you strip them of their humanity. “I think about it all the time,” Mr. Kaine said. On the way back, their Jeep repeatedly got stuck in the mud. They ended up alone in a schoolhouse with a can of peanuts, a bottle of wine and Kenny Burrell’s “The Little Drummer Boy” playing on their transistor radio. “‘Tim, no offense,’” Mr. Kaine recalled Father Patricio as saying. “‘This is the worst Christmas I’ve ever had. ’” But Father Patricio, who died in 2014, was aware that the lessons he was imparting to his young companion might pay off. “Patricio was impressed,” said his brother, the Rev. John J. Wade, “that this guy might go back to the East Coast and have influence. ” The nine months spent volunteering in Honduras made a formative mark on Mr. Kaine and inspired him to write a poem, “Still Life,” in a 1981 newsletter connected to the mission. In the saddest slum of San Pedrolives are played out in the shade of a highwaywhere buses glide like lost thoughts overhead From the clutter of roofs sprout antennaefed by a seethe of thick misery within. This spider’s quilt of questionmarkseach crooked fingertests the wind, each predicts changethat just won’t come. In 1983, the year Mr. Kaine graduated from Harvard Law, Father Carney, acting as a chaplain to a group of rebel fighters, sneaked back into Honduras, where he died under murky circumstances, intensifying Mr. Kaine’s doubts about the United States’ role in the region. In his letters to Father Gaborit, the priest who had fled Honduras, he expressed anguish at a foreign policy that both promoted liberty and supported covert activities that undermined American values. “He questioned very much,” Father Gaborit said. Upon settling in Richmond, Va. with his wife, Anne Holton, and joining St. Elizabeth’s, a predominantly Catholic church, Mr. Kaine told his pastor that his exposure to liberation theology had “changed him, it deepened him. ” The pastor, Monsignor Michael Schmied, said Mr. Kaine inspired him to leave for El Salvador in 1987. Mr. Kaine has remained supportive of the El Progreso mission and recently visited the graves of his mentors there. He now sees a parallel between them and Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope, a Jesuit who was fluent in liberation theology, faced an oppressive government in Argentina and wrestled with the hierarchy in Rome. “I really feel I know him,” Mr. Kaine said. “The age he was in 1980 and ’81 was about the same age as a lot of my friends were. The Jesuits. ” | 1 |
Because the bucket is very heavy, the man walks slowly and pauses often. But because the bucket is very heavy, the man keeps walking. The man, seen in a surveillance video, has just taken a black, metal bucket off the back of an armored truck in broad daylight in Midtown Manhattan. The bucket was left unattended when a guard went to the truck’s cab for a moment, the police said, and the man probably did not know what was in it. But he probably had a suspicion. “I think he just seen an opportunity and took the pail and walked off,” Detective Martin Pastor told which broadcast the footage on Tuesday. The theft took place on Sept. 29. On the video, the man walks calmly through crowds on West 48th Street, as calmly as a man can walk while lugging a very heavy and perhaps very valuable bucket that does not belong to him. At one point, the man — stocky, maybe in his 50s, wearing a down vest and shirt — rests the bucket on the sidewalk to catch his breath. He crosses Fifth Avenue, heading east. He makes his way to Third Avenue, a distance of a . It takes him an hour, WNBC said. At Third Avenue and 48th Street, the police said, the man disappears. The bucket contained 86 pounds of gold flakes, worth $1. 6 million, the police said. Detective Pastor said the police believe that the man is in Florida. The gold flakes are still at large as well. | 0 |
Print Email http://humansarefree.com/2016/11/actress-roseanne-barr-mk-ultra-rules-in.html For those of you that don’t know, Roseanne Barr is a well known actress, comedian, writer, television producer and director. She has won several awards which include Emmy awards, Golden Globe awards, People’s Choice awards and more. She has been in the industry for over twenty years and has gained much respect from many of her Hollywood colleagues who she is now speaking on behalf of. I just want to make it clear how long she has been inside the industry, and the connections she has to others within it. Industry insiders are feeling the need to share inspirational words and food for thought to the millions of people that pay attention to them as of late.We saw this recently with Ashton Kutcher . Celebrities have a voice that can reach a large sum of people, they can be a threat to corporate interests and the controlling elite and as Roseanne states, many celebrities bite their tongue and live in a culture of fear. Not long ago, Roseanne made some shocking statements, alluding that Hollywood and the entertainment industry is dominated by MK Ultra . MK Ultra was the name for a previously classified research program through the CIA’s scientific intelligence division. It was the CIA’s program of research in behavioral modification and perception manipulation of human beings (1) . It was previously known as Operation Paperclip (2) . Roseanne is suggesting that Hollywood is a tool used in the manipulation of human consciousness, used as a tool for behavior modification and perception control in human beings. "Hollywood is the one that keeps all of this power structure. They perpetuate the culture of racism, sexism, classism, genderism and keep it all in place. "They continue to feed it, and they make a lot of money doing it. They do it at the behest of their masters, who run everything. "I speak on behalf of Hollywood. I go to parties, Oscar parties and things like that and big stars pull me aside, take my arm and whisper: “I just want to thank you for the things you say.” And it blows my mind, but that’s the culture, it’s a culture of fear. "It’s a big culture of mind control, MK Ultra rules in Hollywood." The CIA and Hollywood It’s funny that ancient Druid ‘wizards’ and ‘magicians’ used to make their wands specific for casting spells from the Holly Wood tree. Maybe “Hollywood” is used to cast spells on the masses , because at the very least it can sure seem that way. Everything we do is so systematic, so robotic in nature. We go to school, get a job, have a family and chase materialistic gains only to find out that it is not what our soul truly desires. We are told what to wear, what’s popular, what to buy, what truth is and how life is through television. It keeps us occupied, ignorant and blind to what is really happening on our planet. Everything is Fake: Top 40 Pieces of Fakery in Our World Roseanne’s public remark that the CIA’s MK Ultra program rules in Hollywood is an educated statement, and not just an opinion. It comes from her own experiences within the industry as well as an awareness of known facts about the CIA and their involvement in Hollywood -all of which also happen to be available to the public. It’s not hard to see how television and mass advertising can be used as mind control, basically shaping the perception of the individual, as well as displaying what each individual should “be” like, what type of life to chase and what it means to be successful. Given Roseanne’s statement, as well as the information we already have in the public domain, it’s safe to say that something fishy is going on in Hollywood. Ask yourself, are your wants really yours? Or have they been programmed into you since birth? Not many people know this, but the CIA has an entire department dedicated to the entertainment industry . It’s run through the CIA’s Entertainment Industry Liaison Office (3) , which collaborates in a strictly advisory capacity with filmmakers. The CIA doesn’t just offer guidance to filmmakers, it even offers money. In 1950, the agency bought the rights to George Orwell’s Animal Farm , and then funded the 1954 British animated version of the film. Its involvement had long been rumored, but only in the past decade have those rumors been substantiated. The link between Hollywood and the CIA isn’t something new, and Roseanne isn’t just blurting out information that has no backing behind it. The CIA also had a project called Mockingbird , in which the CIA infiltrated mass media outlets in order to sway public opinion. After leaving The Washington Post in 1977, Carl Bernstein spent six months looking at the relationship of the CIA and the press during the Cold War years. His 25,000 word cover story that was published in Rolling Stone in the late 70’s can be read here . With this article I wanted to present a small amount of information to give you, the readers, some background on these programs within the department of defense. Making the connection between these programs and Hollywood isn’t hard. Using Hollywood as a mind control hub can easily be labelled as a conspiracy to many, but I believe that labeling can only come about when one fails to actually look into it. Hopefully this tidbit of information provides some backing for Roseanne’s claims, along with her experience within the industry. If you want to look more into the CIA’s influence in Hollywood, MK Ultra and Project Mockingbird are a good place to start. Brave souls like Roseanne speaking out is simply helping the masses shed light on these long-existent programs. Individuals within the entertainment industry are simply used as tools for mind control. We are programmed to worship them, praise them and be like them. These “stars” are used as puppets to serve a greater agenda . Let’s not forget that Hollywood (entertainment industry) is owned (shareholders) by the same corporations and financial institutions that own the energy, health and food industry. Institutions like Fidelity Investments, the Vanguard group and the State Street Corporation. They own Disney and the major corporations that govern Hollywood, they also own Big Oil , Big Food and Big Pharma ! (4) , (5) , (6) . The connections are endless, and if you do the research, it’s not hard to see. Nothing is really hidden, it’s not a conspiracy. It’s good to see the world waking up everyday. We are recognizing that peace between all is what really makes the most sense. Peace and love is the necessary core to re-creating our reality, awakening to the truth about our planet and who we give our power away to on a daily basis is a step for some people to arrive at a greater conclusion. The truth is, we are required to sustain the current system, therefore we can choose to change it at anytime. Reference: http://www.collective-evolution.com | 1 |
Archives Michael’s Latest Video Trump And Clinton Have Both Assembled An Army Of Lawyers To File Lawsuits And Contest The Election Results By Michael Snyder, on November 1st, 2016
What happens when you get thousands of lawyers involved in the craziest election in modern American history? Unfortunately, we may be about to find out. We all remember the legal tug of war between Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2000, and with each passing day it is becoming more likely that we could see something similar (or even worse) in 2016. In a brand new article entitled “ Clinton, Trump Prepare for Possibility of Election Overtime “, Bloomberg discusses the armies of lawyers that Clinton and Trump are both assembling for this election. It would be nice if it was the American people that actually decided the outcome of this election, but if things are very close on November 8th it may come down to what the courts decide.
Traditionally, there has been a lot of pressure on the losing candidate to concede to the winning candidate before election night is over.
However, in recent elections this has begun to change. I already mentioned what took place in the aftermath of the 2000 election, and in 2004 John Kerry did not concede to George W. Bush until the next morning.
And looking back at the numbers from the 2012 election, it is clear that Mitt Romney should not have conceded the race to Barack Obama so early. There was evidence of election fraud in key battleground states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Colorado and Virginia , and many people out there still believe that Mitt Romney would have won if the election would have been conducted fairly.
So when Donald Trump says that he may not immediately concede the election if the results are tight, I think that there is wisdom in that.
A couple of weeks ago, it looked like we may have had a situation where Hillary Clinton could have won by a landslide . But the FBI changed everything when they announced that they were renewing their investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. Since that announcement, the poll numbers have been rapidly shifting and now Trump has all of the momentum .
For example, the ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll had Hillary Clinton up by double digits not too long ago, but now it is showing a one point lead for Trump .
The race is very close at this point, and if the race to 270 electoral votes is razor tight on election night, I don’t anticipate that either candidate will be eager to concede. We could see a prolonged legal battle ensue, and that could mean that we don’t have a new president until long after election day is over.
Already, both campaigns are assembling large armies of lawyers. In fact, Bloomberg is reporting that Clinton already has “thousands of lawyers” that have donated their time to her campaign…
Clinton is assembling a voter protection program that has drawn thousands of lawyers agreeing to lend their time and expertise in battleground states, though the campaign isn’t saying exactly how many or where. It is readying election observers in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada and Arizona to assess any concerns — including the potential for voter intimidation — and to verify normal procedures.
The Republican National Lawyers Association, which trains attorneys in battleground states and in local jurisdictions where races are expected to be close, aims to assemble 1,000 lawyers ready to monitor polls and possibly challenge election results across the country. Hedge fund manager Robert Mercer, one of Trump’s biggest backers, has sunk $500,000 into the group, its biggest donation in at least four presidential elections, Internal Revenue Service filings show.
And most Americans don’t realize this, but Reuters is reporting that the Democrats have already filed election-related lawsuits in four key swing states…
Democratic Party officials sued Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in four battleground states on Monday, seeking to shut down a poll-watching effort they said was designed to harass minority voters in the Nov. 8 election .
In lawsuits filed in federal courts in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona and Ohio, Democrats argued that Trump and Republican Party officials were mounting a “campaign of vigilante voter intimidation” that violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act and an 1871 law aimed at the Ku Klux Klan.
Meanwhile, the legal challenges for the Clinton campaign continue to mount. The renewed investigation into Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified documents is just one of five FBI investigations that are currently looking into the conduct of “Clinton’s inner circle” …
There are, in fact, not one but five separate FBI investigations which involve members of Clinton’s inner circle or their closest relatives – the people at the center of what has come to be known as Clintonworld.
The five known investigations are into: Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin’s estranged husband sexting a 15-year-old; the handling of classified material by Clinton and her staff on her private email server; questions over whether the Clinton Foundation was used as a front for influence-peddling; whether the Virginia governor broke laws about foreign donations; and whether Hillary’s campaign chairman’s brother did the same.
Despite everything that we already know about Hillary, about half the country still plans to vote for her.
If the American people willingly choose to elect the most corrupt presidential candidate in our history, it may be a sign that the events that I talk about in my new book are a lot closer than many people had originally been anticipating.
But the good news is that a Clinton victory is looking a whole lot less likely than it was just a week or two ago.
Could it be possible that the FBI has just delivered the “ miracle ” that Donald Trump desperately needed?
Americans are more emotionally invested in this presidential campaign than they have been in any presidential campaign since at least 1980. Many of those that are backing Trump will be emotionally devastated if he does not win on November 8th, but if Trump does win we are likely to see the radical left throw a political temper tantrum unlike anything that we have ever seen before.
Earlier today, I shared with my readers the amazing fact that Donald Trump would be 70 years, 7 months and 7 days old during his first full day in the White House if he wins the election.
Many conservatives are fully convinced that it is Donald Trump’s destiny to be president.
Personally, I do not know what is going to happen. But with a race this close, it may be the courts that end up deciding who our next president is, and that is an outcome that none of us should want to see.
About the author: Michael Snyder is the founder and publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog and End Of The American Dream. Michael’s controversial new book about Bible prophecy entitled “The Rapture Verdict” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.* | 1 |
By Alice Salles at theantimedia.org
In an email between Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman, John Podesta, the former first lady and secretary of state cites “ Western intelligence, US intelligence and sources in the region ” to accuse Qatar and Saudi Arabia of “ providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL [or ISIS] and other radical Sunni groups in the region .”
Citing the need to “ use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets ,” the candidate told Podesta the current developments in the Middle East were “ important to the U.S. for reasons that often differ from country to country .” In the same email, Clinton seemed to claim Turkey needed to be reassured of America’s willingness to “ take serious actions, ” an effort that “ [could] be sustained to protect our national interests ” in the region.
In another piece of correspondence from 2012, the Director of Foreign Policy at the Clinton Foundation, Amitabh Desai , claimed the Ambassador from Qatar would “ like to see [Bill Clinton] ‘for five minutes’ in NYC, to present $1 million check that Qatar promised for [his] birthday in 2011 ,” adding that the small but rich nation occupying the Qatar Peninsula would “ welcome [the Clinton Foundation’s] suggestions for investments in Haiti — particularly on education and health .” Desai added that while Qatar had already “ allocated most of their $20 million … [they were] happy to consider projects we suggest .”
Al Jazeera , a Qatar-based, state-funded news organization, recently ran a list of “ revealing, juicy and quirky emails ” leaked by WikiLeaks. In its list, the news organization went over the “pay-for-play” scheme involving the Clinton Foundation, going so far as to mention an email confirming the king of Morocco offered $12m “for the endowment” — as long as Clinton was willing to take part in a meeting.
Nevertheless, the state-funded broadcaster failed to bring up the Qatar connection. Unfortunately for the organization, Wikileaks promptly noticed the omission.
In a post on Facebook , the WikiLeaks official page said, “ Al Jazeera’s list of juiciest Wikileaks forgets to mention the revelation that Qatar funds both ISIS & Bill Clinton. ”
On Twitter, the convenient lapse wasn’t forgiven. Promptly after WikiLeaks pointed out the omission, users began pressuring Al Jazeera to explain why the publication failed to link Qatar to ISIS and Clinton. | 0 |
November 11, 2016 Medvedev in Jerusalem as Putin waits for Trump
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his prime minister Dmitry Medvedev to Israel Wednesday, Nov. 9 as a gesture to mark the 25th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries. It was not the only one: Almost his first action on arrival was a symbolic visit to the Western Wall, the eternal Jewish shrine in Jerusalem. Medvedev chose this gesture to underscore the comment he made last week: “Russia never denied Israel’s or the Jewish people’s rights in Jerusalem and in its holy sites, and the subject has been blown out of proportion.” The Russian prime minister was therefore demonstrating Moscow’s recognition for Jewish rights in Israel, Jerusalem and its holy places – most of all Temple Mount – not just for the Palestinians. It was a message directed by the Kremlin to extremist Muslim organizations, which have set themselves the goal of “liberating Jerusalem from Israeli occupation.” On the broader level, Putin through Medvedev was telling the world, and the US in particular, that Russia was ready to act as peacemaker between the Arab world and Israel, with greater flexibility on the Jerusalem question than Washington has exhibited. | 0 |
Home / Foreign Affairs / Rothschild Bank Now Under Criminal Investigation Over Missing $4 Billion in Global Corruption Probe Rothschild Bank Now Under Criminal Investigation Over Missing $4 Billion in Global Corruption Probe Jay Syrmopoulos May 12, 2016 13 Comments
Last year the veil of invincibility seemingly came off the secretive Rothschild banking empire, as Baron David de Rothschild and his company the Rothschild Financial Services Group were indicted by French prosecutors for allegedly defrauding British pensioners in a scheme that saw large sums of money embezzled.
Only two months ago, we reported on the Swiss branch of the Edmond de Rothschild Group announcing that they were the target of a French criminal probe “regarding a business relationship managed by a former employee.”
Now, the Luxembourg unit of Rothschild banking empire is being investigated by the Luxembourg state prosecutors office — alleged to have sent hundreds of millions of dollars to an account at a bank in Luxembourg that originated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The fund, 1MBD, was established by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 as a government investment fund. There have been widespread accusations of corruption surrounding Razak after $1 billion dollars in deposits into his personal bank accounts were revealed. The deposits totaled hundreds of millions of dollars more than had previously been exposed by probes into state fund 1MDB, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Luxembourg investigation stems from an international probe of money that may have flowed from the Malaysian government investment fund, which is at the center of various worldwide corruption probes.
According to a report in the WSJ :
The Luxembourg unit of Edmond de Rothschild Group, a private bank that manages money on behalf of wealthy clients, said it is “cooperating” with an official investigation of money that may have flowed from a Malaysian government investment fund at the center of various world-wide corruption probes…
The Luxembourg investigation widens probes of 1MDB already under way by authorities in Switzerland, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi. Swiss authorities said in January that 1MDB-related losses from misappropriation could reach $4 billion. The Luxembourg prosecutor said its case was connected to the investigation in Switzerland.
1MDB was created to invest in local energy and real-estate projects to boost the Malaysian economy. The fund amassed $11 billion in debt which it has struggled to repay. Last July,The Wall Street Journal reported that almost $700 million was transferred to Mr. Najib’s bank accounts via a web of entities, money which investigators believe originated with 1MDB. 1MDB has denied sending money to Mr. Najib’s accounts and denied wrongdoing and said it is cooperating with probes
“Edmond de Rothschild Europe is actively cooperating in the judicial proceedings,” a spokeswoman for the Edmond de Rothschild Group told the WSJ.
The Edmond de Rothschild Group oversees roughly $164 billion in assets, according to Bloomberg. The private bank and asset management firm to the elite was founded by Edmond de Rothschild in Paris in 1953. Edmond’s son Benjamin de Rothschild succeeded his father as head of the group in 1997. Last year, Benjamin appointed his wife, Ariane, chairwoman of the executive committee. The Swiss unit traces its roots to the acquisition of Banque Privee in Geneva in 1965.
But the history of the Rothschild banking empire stretches far further back in time.
According to The Richest :
The Rothschild Family as we know it is descended from Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who was born in what is now Frankfurt, Germany. The son of Jewish moneychanger and trader Amschel Moses Rothschild, Mayer Amschel Rothschild was the fourth of 8 children, and went on to establish a huge international banking empire.
Through his 5 sons, Mayer Amschel Rothschild expanded his banking business, which was founded in the 1760s, to international areas and, as such, managed to bequeath his huge wealth, unlike many rich members of the Jewish community at the time. Mayer Amschel’s 5 sons were each stationed at one of the major European financial centres, one in Frankfurt, London, Naples, Vienna, and Paris.
This passing on of Mayer Amschel’s wealth and business meant that his sons could continue to build on the foundations of their father’s success. In the 19th century the Rothschild Family were at the height of their powers, and were known all around the financial world. Their great fortune and ingenious business minds meant that they carried great power during this time. They utilised this power by affecting some very significant events in human history in order to profit greatly from it. This included backing the British forces with huge sums of money during the Napoleonic Wars (more on that later) and funding Brazil’s claim for independence from Portugal.
The Rothschild banking dynasty is a family line that has been accused of pulling the political strings of many different governments through their control of various economic systems throughout the world. Historically, there is ample evidence to show that the family has used insider trading to bilk money from both private and public funds.
Towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1813, Nathan Mayer Rothschild saw Napoleon’s war efforts as a threat to his business practices and decided to step in to help defeat the French conqueror. He became the most important financier of the British war effort pouring the equivalent of $900 million dollars in today’s dollars in 1815 alone. The defeat of Napoleon, and subsequent ending of the Napoleonic Wars, which started in 1803 and raged throughout the continent for 12 years before finally coming to an end in 1815.
During the Battle of Waterloo in the Napoleonic wars, Nathan Rothschild was responsible for one of the oldest cases of “insider trading,” which led to the Rothschild family robbing a whole nation blind. When the battle of Waterloo took place in 1815, horse messengers were the fastest method of communicating information. The Rothschild’s took advantage of this by having their own spies on the frontlines of the battle that would then expedite the information to the family faster than the messengers used by the military.
When the British won the battle, Nathan Rothschild, was, of course, the first to know, and he immediately went to the stock exchange and started selling stocks while putting out the rumor that the French had won the war. This created a panic on the floor of the stock exchange and investors all over England began frantically selling their stocks. With the price of all stocks plummeting Rothschild was able to buy out the whole English market for a fraction of its cost. When word returned that the English had actually been victorious, the value of the market soared, and overnight Nathan Rothschild expanded his family’s wealth and cemented their position as one of the richest, and most influential families in the world.
Although the Rothschild family now keeps a very low public profile, they still have significant business operations across a wide spectrum of sectors. While you may not find any one particular Rothschild on the Forbes’ most rich list, the family is estimated to control $1 trillion dollars in assets across the globe, thus having a strong voice across the geopolitical spectrum that many perceive as a hidden hand manipulating events silently from behind a veil of virtual secrecy and silence. Share | 1 |
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An U. S. Border Patrol agent was discovered on the side of a roadway with serious injuries to his head, chest, and hands, according to officials. The Border Patrol agent appears to have been ruthlessly attacked. Sources first alerted Breitbart Texas to the incident and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed many of the details on the matter. The Border Patrol agent is assigned to the Deming, New Mexico, Border Patrol Station which is in the El Paso Sector. [According to CBP: “U. S. Customs and Border Protection is assisting in the investigation of a report of an assault against an Border Patrol agent assigned to the Deming, New Mexico, Border Patrol Station. The agent was discovered on the side of the road by a motorist at 11 p. m. MDT. The agent suffered multiple, serious injuries to his head, chest and hands. Emergency Medical Services transported the agent to a nearby hospital where he is being treated for his wounds. The agent is in stable condition. CBP is working closely with the FBI, Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, and the El Paso Police Department on the ongoing investigation. CBP has informed its workforce of this report and has reminded its law enforcement personnel to be alert and aware of their surroundings and potential threats related to their service. ” The region immediately south of the border in the area is controlled by the Juarez Cartel and their enforcers, La Linea. They operate in the El Paso Sector and are known to abduct individuals and administer torture techniques. The fact that the FBI is investigating the matter, rather than just local law enforcement agencies, would indicate that the attack on the Border Patrol agent is due to his employment as a law enforcement officer with the U. S. government. Also, the warning issued by CBP to Border Patrol agents indicates that the violent attack was related to the agent’s employment as a law enforcement officer with the U. S. government. The warning shows that CBP feels this attack indicates possible risks to additional agents along the U. S. border. CBP did not alert the public or other Border Patrol agents until after the agency was contacted by Breitbart Texas. Only after CBP was contacted, did they hurry and publish a statement. A spokesman for CBP contradicts this assertion and claims that they internally notified agents, not the public, prior to being contacted by Breitbart Texas. Important to note: @CustomsBorder did NOT issue warning to agents until AFTER I contacted them for comment. https: . — Brandon Darby (@brandondarby) June 10, 2017, Brandon Darby is managing director and of Breitbart Texas. He the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart. com. This article has been updated to include the CBP denial of not notifying agents prior to the Breitbart media request. | 0 |
Jury Acquits All 7 Leaders of Oregon Standoff Source: Cryptogon
This whole thing must be a COINTEL operation. I don’t know whether any of these people are willing participants in such an operation (I suspect some of them are), but you can bet that .gov is interested in running detailed surveillance and social network analysis on all of them.
Consider what can happen if you write the wrong thing on social media. Justin Carter wrote something stupid on Facebook back in 2013 and his life has been destroyed. After being beaten in jail and spending time in solitary confinement , Carter is still awaiting trial .
But the people involved with taking over a U.S. Government facility for several weeks are allowed to walk free?
COINTELPRO. Gotta be.
Via: USA Today :
The seven leaders of an armed group who took over a wildlife refuge in Oregon earlier this year were all found not guilty Thursday of conspiracy and possession of firearms at a federal facility.
A jury exonerated brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy and five other co-defendants of conspiring to block federal workers from their jobs at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in a standoff that began Jan. 2 and lasted almost six weeks.
Defendant Ken Medenbach, who was not in the courtroom for the verdict and had been away for medical treatment, began crying when informed of the news over the telephone.
“It’s wonderful – the holy spirit has been listening to our prayers,” Medenbach said. “The people have spoken.” Share This Article... | 0 |
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Katie Gallanti – This is a key time in our collective humanity’s history… dark power versus true power, underhanded manipulative energy versus the clean heart. The true heart can be hurt and wounded, but the true heart is strong, has vision, endurance and when connected to Source can draw deep resourcefulness and grace.
As a human family this is our time to claim this Earth for the true human heart. All darkne ss be gone. We claim it first and foremost within. By believing and holding steady even in when all looks lost or hopeless.
Each one of us is an anchor of love and Source energy. And by love I do not mean this wishy washy sappy love of the hallmark cards, but the fierce stand up to be counted, protector love, of the Spiritual Warrior’s heart. The love of the mother that guards her young. The love of the father that protects. The love of Source that imbues all things.
Earthly life is not eternal. In a way a play we are immersed with in which we explore and test the Soul in all sorts of circumstances. Currently the play is a very intense story of collective awakening and empowerment under a very intense set of circumstances. In this we learn about resilience and about the deeper aspects of hope.
The elections are just a vehicle via which the human empowerment story is expressing right now. Its not so much about Trump versus Clinton, but about The People versus The Evil Empire. Things are being manipulated. The game is not clean. And The People at large are beginning to see the wizard behind the curtain pulling strings in droves. Right now the wizard still has the upper hand. But the wizard is not invincible, no matter how tall he looks and how clever the slight of hand.
As usual, there are rules to creation energy. Believing something is possible is key. The strongest block to such belief is the inner wounding we all carry that predisposes to helplessness. Much of that inner wounding has been created purposefully, by design, in a society that has inbuilt fracturing and division from the earliest of ages.
But we are not our society. We are not our wounds. We our not our fears. We are the Human Soul. We are the multidimensional beauty and the radiance of our inner light spanning eons of time. We are all the star systems we have visited. And all the infinite of our transcendent experience. And we are expansion in the light of Source, within which all finds peace, as well as strength.
Humanity is often referred to in terms of its flawd-ness : “I am just human”. But out humanity is the territory of paradox. So flawed and yet so vast. So vulnerable and yet capable of the deepest inner breath. So cruel and mean at times and yet also capable of infinite nobility.
Reclaim your pure human Soul… invite Source into the human story… recharge and breathe in strength and honor, as you intend the future of the new humanity into being.
Much love, SF Source Katie Gallanti Nov. 2016 Share this: | 0 |
Romans woke up Saturday to find their city plastered with hundreds of posters criticizing Pope Francis’ governance of the Church. [After making a name for himself as an grandfatherly figure with an emphasis on mercy over doctrine, Pope Francis has undertaken a series of ostensibly harsh measures that have left many observers scratching their heads in perplexity. The posters that adorned the city of Rome Saturday bore an image of the pontiff along with a list of his alleged recent misuses of papal power, including ignoring cardinals, removing priests and “beheading” two Catholic organizations. The posters follow a tradition of Romans’ public, albeit anonymous, criticism of the Pope when he is seen to overstep his mandate. In past times, discontent Romans would attach their written complaints to an ancient, dilapidated statue called “il Pasquino” near Piazza Navona. The text of the poster was written in “Romanaccio,” a rough dialect of street Italian spoken around the nation’s capital city. In translation, the full text reads, “Hey Frankie, you have emasculated Congregations, suspended priests, decapitated the Order of Malta and the Franciscans of the Immaculate, ignored Cardinals … Where is your mercy?” Having placed great stress on mercy since the beginning of his pontificate, Francis has found himself particularly susceptible to the criticism of a certain since he has reserved his most strident invectives for conservatives, labelling them rigid, doctrinaire and legalistic. In recent times, he has increasingly passed from words to actions, including notoriously twice demoting conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke — the former head of the Church’s highest court — and firing Vatican clerics who allegedly criticized the Pope in private. The series of moves have led some critics to speak of an “ideological purge” being carried out by Pope Francis. In a recent article, veteran Catholic reporter Philip Lawler offered a partial list of the pontiff’s supposedly autocratic actions of the sort criticized by the Roman posters. Among the measures were the Pope’s “wholesale replacement of the prelates on the Congregation for Divine Worship,” substituting more conservative clerics with a panel that will be “more friendly to the preferences of Pope Francis, and less supportive of the prefect, Cardinal Robert Sarah. ” Lawler also mentions the “abrupt dismissal of three clerics on the staff of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,” for which no explanation was given. According to reports, the Pope made a point of saying that he did not have to give an explanation for the sacking. In point of fact, the priests had been accused of making “unflattering comments about Pope Francis” in private conversations, leading to speculation of how Francis got wind of the remarks. Then there was the “contemptuous treatment” of the four cardinals who submitted questions (dubia) about a recent papal letter called Amoris Laetitia, which left many wondering how the Pope’s ambiguous teaching on Holy Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics squared with the traditional doctrine of the Church. Unlike his immediate predecessors, Pope Francis has also reserved important promotions to bishops, stacking the College of Cardinals with progressive newcomers while snubbing more senior prelates whose approach does not match his own. Criticizing the Pope apparently has an upside. While Roman public services are noteworthy for their inability to remove ubiquitous graffiti throughout the city, they were somehow able to remove all the posters criticizing the Pope before nightfall Saturday. Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome | 0 |
3 Competing Theories On Why The FBI Re-opened The Hillary Email Server Investigation The FBI normally avoids acting just before an election in order to avoid charges of political manipulation American Thinker
There is no question that re-opening the FBI Investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server is a big deal. The FBI normally avoids acting just before an election in order to avoid charges of political manipulation. NBC reports:
The FBI is reviewing a new batch of Hillary Clinton emails, bureau director James Comey said in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday.
“In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation … I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation,” he wrote.
The very first thing to note is that Comey made no mention of a grand jury. The emails whose existence he learned of may have been the result of a subpoena in another investigation. If that is the case, further subpoenas are quite possible, a tool that was left unused in the investigation to date.
There are 3 competing theories as to why he might be doing this now that come to mind. He might be seeking to restore his badly damaged reputation, recognizing that the damage he has inflicted on the FBI is substantial. Three days ago, American Thinker published an open letter from a retired FBI Agent, Hugh Galyean, that laid out some of the damage Comey has inflicted on the institution he leads. There is little doubt that this reached many in the FBI family, putting in print what people have only whispered about. If those silenced voices start speaking out, Comey could face a serious loss of face. In this scenario, he is heading off a staff rebellion, possibly including mass resignations. Rush Limbaugh today discussed an alternative theory, that by announcing an FBI Investigation resuming, Comey is putting a lid on further attention to Wikileaks. I guess this means that Clinton forces will argue we must wait for the investigation to be complete (after the election) before speaking about what the evil Russians are planting into our politics. It is possible that something so dramatic came up in the pertinent emails that postponing a public reaction by not announcing the reopening of the investigation would, be regarded as political interference by covering up a smoking gun until after the election. In this scenario, Comey is assuming the evidence cannot be suppressed, and that he would be held accountable after it comes out. This scenario also indicates that we could be headed for a constitutional crisis, involving the possible indictment of a president-elect before an election. Or the evidence being turned over to the House of Representatives for impeachment hearings.
We’ll know more in the coming days, and I am sure there are other possible theories and motives. It is shame that we have to speculate, and that the once-respected FBI director is now subject to analysis of his political gamesmanship. NEWSLETTER SIGN UP Get the latest breaking news & specials from Alex Jones and the Infowars Crew. Related Articles | 0 |
Hillary Already Planning Fireworks for Victory Celebration November 1, 2016
People of the United States, your royal family .
Law enforcement officials and the FDNY have been told to prepare for a barge-launched pyrotechnic display off Manhattan’s Javits Center, where Clinton and running mate Tim Kaine will join their supporters for the Nov. 8 vote count, sources said.
The aerial detonations would last for two minutes, with the triumphal celebration permitted to start as early as 9:30 p.m. — a mere half-hour after the polls close in New York, sources said.
Fortunately pride has never been known to come before a fall. And hubris is a notoriously positive trait with no negative consequences. That must be why Hillary Clinton is down in the polls and facing yet another investigation while feuding with the FBI.
Cops and firefighters were blown away by Clinton’s hubris in planning the fireworks display, which would eclipse the shower of blazing sparkles that preceded the balloon drop at July’s Democratic National Convention.
“It’s a little presumptuous of her to plan on winning. I guess she put in for this before Friday,” one NYPD detective said.
Others said the actual election results could put a damper on things, but one firefighter raised the specter of a 2000-style recount and added, “So what’s she going to do, put the fireworks on ice?”
The arrogance is truly unchecked. | 0 |
“America’s strategic and economic interests in the Mideast and Muslim world are being threatened by the agony in Palestine, which inevitably invites terrorist attacks against US citizens and property.”
Eric Margolis Sun Media Sept 2 2001 (nine days before the Sept 11 attacks against New York and Washington DC.)
As Americans enter the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on their nation, they still have not understood the true cause of these dreadful attacks.
Who can blame them? Our politicians and media have totally obscured the truth behind these and subsequent attacks that we call ‘terrorism.’ While we mourn 9/11, US B-52 heavy bombers are raining bombs on what’s left of Afghanistan in a futile attempt to crush tribal forces (aka Taliban) fighting western occupation.
We did the same thing in Laos in the 1980’s, as President Barack Obama properly noted during his visit there last week. Laos has never recovered and Afghanistan won’t either.
Since 2015, the US has dropped at least 32,000 – 1,000-2,000 lb. bombs on Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan – all Muslim nations. US bomb inventories are running critically low as arms makers work overtime.
9/11 was a revenge attack conducted by mostly Saudi nationals who claimed they wanted to punish the United States for supporting Israeli oppression of Palestine, and for what they claimed was the US ‘occupation’ of Saudi Arabia.
That’s as much as we really know. We have never gotten the full story about 9/11. The best we can do is ask “qui bono,” who really benefitted from the attacks?
The 9/11 narrative was immediately twisted by President George Bush into a spurious claim that America had been attacked by Muslims because of its ‘freedoms’ and her ‘way of life.’ This deceit opened the Pandora’s box from which issued the rising wave of Islamophobia and Crusading fever sweeping over the US and Europe.
America was attacked for what it had been doing all over the Muslim world, not for what it was. Most Americans don’t know that the first CIA ‘regime change’ in the Mideast occurred in Syria, way back in 1948. We’re still at it today.
Ever since, the US, Britain and France – the imperial three musketeers – have been breaking and making regimes across the Mideast and Africa, and installing vicious dictators to do our bidding, earning enemies from West Africa to Tajikistan.
Hillary Clinton said this week that if elected president she would advance ‘American exceptionalism’ and assure the new world order. These are code terms for imperialism and hegemony. If Clinton wins, look forward to foreign and military policy directed by Goldman Sachs and the neoconservatives.
Donald Trump vows a major increase military spending at a time when America’s infrastructure is rusting or collapsing and its debt soaring. Both Trump and Clinton warn of growing security threats to America from ISIS and North Korea. In reality, the greatest internal threat is the type of Saturday night gang shoot-outs in Chicago that have killed 500 people so far this year.
ISIS is a military pipsqueak – a bunch of 20-something hooligans. North Korea only wants to be left alone to its misery. Washington, Paris, and London need the ISIS bogeyman today, just as they needed al-Qaida and the Soviet Union before, to justify budget-busting new arms spending and keeping the population whipped up with bogus war fever.
Internationally, the greatest threat to America’s security is, of course, nuclear armed Russia which has enough intercontinental and sea-launched missiles to wipe the United States off the map. Accordingly, Washington’s most important foreign and national security priority is maintaining calm, well-mannered relations with Russia and its leadership.
Instead, we have Hillary Clinton and her frantic war party neocons trying to provoke Russia at every turn and giving Moscow the impression that she will start a war with Russia. It was precisely such war talk and sabre rattling that in 1983 during the Able Archer crisis brought the US and USSR to within minutes of a full-scale nuclear war.
For all Trump’s bluster and Islamophobia, he is absolutely right about seeking good relations with Moscow. The schoolyard demonization of Russian President Vladimir Putin by the Clinton camp and its tame US media is childish, shameful and unworthy of a great power. | 1 |
PHILADELPHIA — Amid confusion over whether he would speak at a black church this weekend, Donald J. Trump’s halting attempts to win over voters took him to Philadelphia on Friday, where he spoke with a small group of business owners and community leaders and had an emotional meeting with the mother of a young woman who was killed by undocumented immigrants. After largely avoiding black audiences during his campaign, Mr. Trump had arranged to appear at a prominent black church, Great Faith Ministries, in Detroit on Saturday. After a New York Times report that he would not address the congregation and would give only scripted answers to questions by the pastor, his campaign said Thursday that Mr. Trump would speak to the crowd for five to 10 minutes. But on Friday afternoon, the pastor, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, insisted that talk of Mr. Trump speaking was only “rumors” and that he would be allowed to offer only a short greeting to the congregation, not a pitch for why they should vote for him. “When we have guests, whether they are a celebrity, an actress, an actor, or whether it’s just somebody who is well known, we do allow them to say, ‘I’m here today,’” Mr. Jackson said. “A greeting. Thank you very much and sit down. There is not going to be a 10 minute speech from nobody. No. ” The Trump campaign did not immediately respond on Friday. The night before, his senior communications adviser, Jason Miller, had said Mr. Trump was eager to present himself to members of the church. “If you know anything about Mr. Trump, it’s that he will want the opportunity to take his vision and message of opportunity directly to the people on Saturday,” Mr. Miller had said. Mr. Trump’s support among black voters remains dismal, low even by Republican standards, owing to a string of slights that include his questioning of President Obama’s birth certificate and his dismissive treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters. But in swing states like Pennsylvania, winning over even a few new voters could mean the difference. Mr. Trump believes his calls to end illegal immigration can transcend racial lines, and on Friday, he met with a black woman, Shalga Hightower, 55, who wept as she described how her daughter Iofemi was murdered, along with two friends, by a group of men which included two undocumented immigrants. Mr. Trump asked about the fate of the young men and Ms. Hightower said that they had all received life sentences. “But they should have never been here,” said Mr. Trump, looking solemn as he consoled the crying mother. “But they should have never been here, absolutely,” she replied. When reporters asked about a few dozen protesters who could be heard shouting outside, Ms. Hightower’s son, Jamar Hightower, 26, jumped into the discussion. “It’s way bigger than that,” he said. “I mean there’s freedom of speech and they can think what they want. But, at the end of the day, I feel as though this man is the only one that’s actually standing up to do something about it. ” The Hightowers and the 12 local leaders, most of them Republicans, who met with Mr. Trump Friday were aware that many black Americans have a dim view of the candidate. Even so, Daphne Goggins, a local party leader, thanked Mr. Trump for coming and wept as she said: “For the first time in my life, I feel like my vote is going to count. ” And Renee Amoore, the founder of a consulting firm, said she appreciated Mr. Trump for “coming to the hood. ” “That’s a big deal,” she said. “Let’s be clear here, folks. ” | 0 |
A German journalist is appealing for money to found a new website that he claims will counter the growing popularity of Breitbart News in Germany, ahead of the federal election later this year. [Christoph Knappes’s has christened his proposed site “Schmalbart” a words reffering to the German origins of the surname ‘Breitbart’. While ‘Breitbart’ translated, refers to one in possession of a ‘broad beard’ Schmalbart describes the opposite — ‘Smallbeard’. So far, Mr. Kappes has raised just over €700 (£600, $750) in monthly subscriptions for the project, including from Social Democratic MP Saskia Esker who has recently taken to tweeting at German companies while claiming that Breitbart News is a “ site”. According to the fundraising page, Mr. Kappes’s project is designed to “combat populism” and the site will “fight incitement, racism, and any other kind of human hostility”. He says the site will not just be limited to articles but will be active on social media, saying “We will be at the places where the discussions are”. The manifesto for the proposed site was released in November on Mr. Kappes’s website. According to the post, Breitbart News follows an “extreme right wing ideology of social Darwinism”. He claims that a German language Breitbart bureau could garner an audience of up to “six million” in Germany, and complains that the German middle class “lack civil courage”. Writers should “avoid arrogance” when dealing with the public, Mr Kappes goes on to opine, saying: “Schmalbart must avoid condescension”. He added: “simple language is mandatory”. The project is set to employ several authors, editorial staff, web designers, and others to manage fundraising campaigns. It is not known how the site intends to maintain such a large paid staff given that it is presently is raising just €740 per month. As the German federal election approaches later this year, the German establishment media, along with their counterparts in the U. S. have targeted Breitbart News. Accusations of “fake news” have abounded and some, like The New York Times, have encouraged readers to hound advertisers on social media. American left wing political operative David Brock announced a similar project to Schmalbart last month and like his German counterpart is seeking cash. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also taken steps toward a free speech crackdown by accusing Russia and others of trying to influence the federal election through news and cyber attacks. The German Interior Ministry has also proposed a “defence centre” be created to combat news and information the German government deems to be “fake news”. | 0 |
The following organizations direct donations to help cope with Zika in Latin America. Depending on the organization, the funding may be used to help provide services to affected families, educate people about preventing Zika infection, contribute to efforts to improve diagnosis, or other functions. CuraZika Center at the University of Pittsburgh: Collaborates with several clinics in Brazil, including the Altino Ventura Foundation and the Association for the Assistance of Disabled Children, supporting efforts like treatment, therapy and legal assistance. Unicef Zika Global Response: Helps efforts throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on prevention, diagnosis, vaccine development and other goals. Save the Children: Contributes to prevention education. | 0 |
Sunday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox Friends,” while discussing President Donald Trump’s tweets accusing the former Obama administration of wiretapping Trump Tower before the election, conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin broke down the wiretapping reporting. Levin said, “Well, a pleasure to be here. The evidence is overwhelming. This is not about President Trump’s tweeting. This is about the Obama administration spying, and the question is not whether it spied. We know they went to the FISA court twice. The question is who they did spy on and the extent of the spying that is the Trump campaign, the Trump transition, Trump surrogates. ” Levin then read several news articles about the surveillance. Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 0 |
November 2015 Ads RED ALERT: China officially orders its citizens to prepare for WW3 as tensions with the United States boil over Oct 28, 2016 Previous post
We have been cautioning all of you for a considerable length of time that something significant was going on, yet now it would appear that we have affirmation. The Chinese Defense Minister, Chang Wanquan, has cautioned its natives to plan for the coming World War III.
China has promised to take measures to resist the twelfth of July governing by the Permanent Court of Arbitration and to ensure its sway. It has been accounted for that in a post-Brexit world, China and Russia will turn into the world’s super powers.
China’s state-run media has been inundated with rant on the subject of their military and sway. China’s Global Times ventured to test Australia specifically, saying: “If Australia ventures into the South China Sea waters, it will be a perfect focus for China to caution and strike.”
On Weibo, a state-controlled blogging website, Lian Fang, a teacher at the military –run National Defense University said that “The Chinese military will venture up hard and China will never submit to any nation on matters of sway,”
Wanquan apparently put forth the expression while investigating army bases in China’s eastern beach front region of Zhejiang. The Defense Minister said the Chinese open ought to be instructed about national protection issues in light of the fact that the nation’s power and its regional uprightness are at danger.
Wanquan additionally cautioned of seaward security dangers, and the need to recognize the gravity of danger to China’s national security. He promote charged the whole security device of the nation, including military, police, together with subjects to get ready for assembly to protect their national sway and regional respectability.
Pundits likewise trust that China has a solid conviction that the United States actuated the Philippines to question the South China Sea so that the United States could exploit and adventure the territory for its advantage.
The Free Thought Project affirms that several boats and submarines from every one of the three armadas of China’s People’s Liberation Army directed broad live ammo drills in the nation’s East, North, and South Seas as a show of hostile and protective capacities.
A war amongst China and its neighbors additionally has the risky probability to separate the world. The U.S. will most likely go to the guide of its partners, and China and Russia have expanded military ties which could assist muddle the situation.
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posted by Eddie Without much comment or fanfare, I am going to present a note sent to me by a DEA informant who I have had a large amount of contact with over the last two years. My long-time readers may recall that during the Central American immigration invasion, I had contact with two DEA agents working independently. The information provided to me has stood the test of time. Everyone has to make up his/her mind as to the authenticity of this account. However, I want to reiterate, I have had extensive contact with this person and their information has always been first rate. Dear Mr. Hodges, As you will recall, I had intermittent contact with you during the so-called Central American immigration crisis during May-July of 2014 in which I shared my experiences with you as a result of my work with the DEA. I am sure you will recall that I introduced you to the inner workings of terrorist training base camps operating in El Salvador as well the planned influx of MS-13 trained assassins into the United States which was accomplished with the oversight of DHS. These forces will soon come into prominence in the coming weeks and months. We are going to see violence in this country on an unprecedented scale just as we are seeing in Europe with the Muslim immigration, the local police will be powerless to act because they are ultimately controlled by federal agencies like DHS who will roadblock normal law enforcement. I am telling you it is hard to not believe that the real goal is to perpetuate massive civil unrest so that more formal uses of governmental power can be brought to bear against and potential American dissident movement which has really mushroomed since the beginning of the Trump candidacy My purpose for writing to you today is to let you know that I have contact with DOJ and in particular many FBI officials as a result of daily activities. I have to watch my ass and it is not as it was two years ago when we first communicated. I am determined to see the release of certain information prior to the election because I believe you and others are correct when you say, the criminal cabal that seems to have taken over key positions in our government are poised to change America and my children and yours will have to try and survive what is coming and then they will have live in this shit hole. I am playing this very close to the vest. Responding to this email will be pointless as all of our future conversations will have to remain one-sided but I am not writing anything that I do not want released. Please release everything I am sending to you. To a person my colleagues feel betrayed by the present FBI Director and Attorney General, but I am telling you that Obama is controlling the activities through his appointed CIA operatives who have infiltrated the DOJ as well as military, generally, and the FBI, specifically. The tone of the influence is decidedly pro-“Radical” Muslim and anti-American in the traditional sense. This undue influence often seeks to perpetuate the activities of those people of privilege who seem to be beyond the reach of traditional law enforcement. Their activities include gun running and drug dealing. This has reached into your area because Maricopa County Sheriff Joe will be/is the victim of election fraud because the certain people want him out because he will not look the other way when it comes to cartel drug activity in Arizona which is key because Arizona is a border state. Your reporting of the corrupt voting machines in your area seems to be correct but Arpaio is more of a target than Trump because he is an impediment to drug trafficking in your area. You have to remember that your Sheriff was at one time one of us, so we know what we are seeing. Yes- I am saying that Obama’s DOJ is protecting the drug dealers by going after Arpaio. The persecution of the Sheriff has nothing to do with the violations of the civil rights of immigrants and has everything to do with his refusal to cooperate with the Obama administration by looking the other way when it comes to both cartel and the intertwined activities of terrorists that have crossed our borders in great numbers since 2010. Most will never know who these people are until they act. They live among us, work with us and their children even go to school our children. When they are arrested, DHS shows up to intervene and the issue is cloaked under the guise of racial prejudice and border agents and local law enforcement who are over-stepping their bounds. The police are so discouraged that they have basically given up. This is actually a case of thinly disguised criminal enterprise corruption and DHS always runs the interference. This is a lot of what you see in these inexplicable catch and release activities. The bigger the drug and gun fish that is apprehended, the quicker they are released to repeat the same actions. A case in point from the past: Do you remember when Congressman Bridenstine tried to enter a holding facility for immigrants at Ft. Sill during the 2014 immigration crisis and he was told by DHS to come back and make an appointment? DHS was attempting to shield what was truly going on which was the introduction of foreign operatives into mainstream America. West African terrorists are also coming across our border with bad intentions, not just people from Central America and the Middle East. I have every indication that these forces are ready to unleash massive waves of destruction in our country as their drug activities have increased exponentially in the past several months. They are raising money for purposes that extend far beyond mere living expenses. You have written that you expect the left to unleash terror attacks should Mrs. Clinton not win the election through whatever means is at her disposal. You are correct, but I think this may be a moot point. Speaking of Mrs. Clinton, the Foundation is the most criminal enterprise organization on the face of the earth. They avoid detection because of the use of their shell corporations which gives them at least 2-3 degrees of separation. When the President of the Philippines executed thousands of drug dealers he was upsetting the balance of trade in the drug industry and I believe he was cutting into Foundation activities. This is why Obama was going to Manila to personally speak with him until Obama was attacked with a tirade of insults and name-calling by this newly elected President. This politician will not be in power for long. The CIA has a way of taking the massive protests that we see in the news and turning it on whomever they want to displace. The people of the Philippines are protesting the military presence in the Philippines today but this could be turned into revolutionary force tomorrow. This is why this rogue President is moving towards aligning with China and you have picked up on that in an arti0cle I read. This President is looking for protection and he should be. The world war that is coming has a lot to do with drug wars, not just Syria. There are clear divisions in the world that are firming up along these lines and it would be a mistake to ignore these developments. The DEA is just as corrupted as the FBI, as we are still honoring our under-the-table agreement with the Sinolas in which we agree to only interdict 20% of the drug shipments into the United States in exchange for some unknown amount of intelligence information. How many terrorist cells do you think we are knowingly letting in along with the drugs? It was during the same time frame that you and I were talking that Judicial Watch came across the ISIS and drug cartel base camp near El Paso. I am sure you asked yourself how many facilities like this one exist and if there are any inside of the United States? There are and they are now working with foreign entities inside the United States. When we make our token busts, we frequently come upon the involvement of Russian and Chinese national who are in this country and they are immediately released by DOJ and DHS. It is starting to look like one big and happy criminal enterprise family that is international in scope but does enjoy the protection of the Obama administration. Your article about a multi-pronged attack including a Red Dawn element is close to what I know to be a real possibility and this is the advanced force designed to disrupt command and control in the coming war. The sad thing is that many agents suspect this and we are powerless to expose it. Congress has been tipped off and they show no interest. A lot of the reason that I think you are correct about what you have recently written, are the paramilitary base camps in and around San Salvador which have now spread to Honduras. this is a growing problem and growing concern. These terrorists have been trained on stingers and 50 cal weapons. They are also serving as drug transport entities. In the past couple of days since Director Comey announced he was reopening the investigation on Mrs. Clinton, I have had several advanced warnings of what was coming. The Clintons have fallen into disfavor with important entities- groups. My colleagues believe that more than Mrs. Clinton is being targeted and that there are unknown actors looking to commit a hostile takeover of the Clinton Foundation because the Clintons have stepped on important toes in the international drug and gun trade, in particular, in Peru, which is the conduit between Middle East terrorists and the cartels. As I have told you before, my associates on the FBI drug task force(s) tell me that this reopening of the investigation is not the result of Director Comey being pressured to act against Mrs. Clinton from within the FBI, as many publications have insinuated. The sudden turning of Director Comey against Mrs. Clinton is motivated by forces outside of the FBI. At least that is what we are being led to believe and I think it is so. Any agent that would launch an investigation into any of the areas that I have mentioned here would be finished or worse. I have spoken with some who participated in the original email investigation. When the emails led to guns and drugs, the emails were destroyed and this line of the investigation was reduced to a series of meaningless leads. I know this for a fact because we had some of the same information. Everyone of the agents will privately admit that the first FBI investigation was designed to produce exoneration for Mrs. Clinton. My people are aware of this because some of the subject matter involved money laundering from drug and gun operations. Don’t make the mistake in believing that this present investigation is any more or any less honest that the last one. Of course, you should also not believe what you are reading and seeing in the press. The Clinton duo is being taken down for reasons that are unknown to me by forces that I have to come to believe control Director Comey and AG Lynch. In one of your most recent articles you talked about Clinton being elected and then indicted. This opens an endless universe of possibilities about how the transition of power will be handled in January. Many of us believe that the United States is about to become a thinly veiled narco terrorist state, the biggest in the history of the world. I could see cartel members, of their representatives visiting the White House in this next administration. At present in the DEA, we are most often cast into the role of blocking legitimate investigations in these areas. Some fear that we will soon become facilitators. To date that role has always been fulfilled by the CIA. However, we think it is going to permeate the ranks of my agency. By the way Dave, you have claimed to have contact with another DEA source during the time we were speaking. Be careful, trolls abound with false information. I strongly believe that Hillary could be indicted. I think that what you have written about the possible scenarios following an indictment is possible, but that part is unknown and unconfirmed from my perspective. I do know that the FBI investigators with our assistance are still being limited in what they can look at. I have been contacted for information related to past drug investigations only to have the requests prepared and the FBI no longer shows any interest in the information, particularly if it is drug related. Any investigation that includes drug trafficking and money laundering seems to still be out of bounds. The Weiner angle is laughable but they may make it stick. It appears to some that it is open season on Hillary Clinton at the Bureau with regard to these emails. It is my belief that if Mrs. Clinton survives this latest round, and I do not think she will, we are going to see a massive purge in the government like this country has ever seen. I have given you a lot to digest so I am going to close for now. Based on what we already know, this information that earth-shattering. I look at this as business as usual and our election process and ultimately the welfare of our country is up for grabs and money is the ultimate reason why. source: | 1 |
LOS ANGELES — It’s got to be one of the best jobs in Hollywood: Sit around all day dreaming up fantasy political scenarios that are either so crazy or wishfully idealistic — plotlines that could never play out in real life — that they provide the sort of escapist television viewers crave. Then came Campaign 2016, the Nov. 8 results and, finally, President Donald J. Trump. Suddenly, the writers who work on political television shows were competing less with one another and more with real life, because of a president who transformed their seemingly escapist scripts into something resembling nonfiction — and scrambled the traditional notions of political cause and effect that they tended to base their drama upon. (A leaked tape with lewd comments from a male candidate about grabbing a woman’s genitals? No problem!) The New York Times gathered some of the nation’s leading political dramatists for a cathartic group therapy session on the CBS Studio Center lot here last month. Gathered were Shonda Rhimes, creator of the ABC hit “Scandal,” whose stories seem to be the stuff of a political fever dream Frank Pugliese and Melissa James Gibson, the showrunners of “House of Cards,” whose and bald aggression present a view of political machinations that would never take place out in the open Barbara Hall, the creator of “Madam Secretary,” the more optimistic CBS drama, which was able to stay a step ahead of real life and David Mandel, of “Veep,” which came up with such truly absurd scenarios that you couldn’t imagine them happening. These professionals had never met one another before. But as soon as they convened in a stark conference room here, right near where “Gilligan’s Island” was filmed, they immediately bonded over their shared situations. There were the scripts that had to be ripped up at the last minute the amazement at how politics, entertainment and journalism have blended together and the challenges of making their fiction outstrip reality. And when all the gabbing was done there was an even more daunting prospect: Next season. (The following are edited excerpts from the conversation.) “House of Cards” sometimes seems to have a good sense of where national politics are heading, and I know you have very political strategists advising your team. Did you get intel on where the election would wind up? FRANK PUGLIESE (‘HOUSE OF CARDS’) No, not on Trump winning. But even starting Season 3, we were talking a little bit about a notion of some tyrannical force and some populism and what that would mean. We had this idea of America Works [the major jobs program of President Frank Underwood, the conniving politician played by Kevin Spacey] and it was in the air already. It seemed like an impossible possibility, but it wasn’t like we weren’t flirting with it ourselves. For “Veep,” do you have to worry what happens in the real world as much? DAVID MANDEL (‘VEEP’) You do and you don’t. For us, we spend a tremendous amount of time thinking up the worst things a politician can say or do. We have a story line where [Selina Meyer, the show’s protagonist, played by Julia ] is now an and trying to build her library. And nobody particularly wants a Selina Meyer Library. She ends up in the Republic of Georgia, doing some election monitoring, and two guys offer her money for her library if she’ll see the election in a certain way. And that just seemed like that’s about the worst thing you could think of to do, that makes her look horrible, hopefully in a funny way. But now we just look like geniuses or something. When did you script that? MANDEL May or June last year. Even before this, all your shows had little elements that presaged some of what we are seeing, right? SHONDA RHIMES (‘SCANDAL’): We had the Hollis Doyle character [a Machiavellian oil tycoon turned presidential candidate] who we made up as the craziest person to ever run for president. He was very . We had the Russian problem, too. Our mystery woman was supposed to start speaking Russian, and you were supposed to understand that the Russians were trying to undermine the United States government through the election. And all of the sudden I realized we have to rebreak the entire back half of our season and turn it into something else. MELISSA JAMES GIBSON (‘HOUSE OF CARDS’) Wow. RHIMES No matter what we do, the audience is going think we wrote the news. And you don’t want to look like you’re ripping from the headlines? RHIMES No! In “Madam Secretary,” which plays off current events a bit more, are you trying to write closer to the news? For instance, you seemed to predict the United nuclear agreement that came to pass. BARBARA HALL (‘MADAM SECRETARY’) A little bit. But we are set a little bit in the future. That’s how the Iranian peace deal came about, because we were just starting to talk with Iran, and we thought, let’s go to the most dramatic possible conclusion. We’ll have a peace agreement and the Iranian president will come here. That’s not exactly what happened, but it was close enough that we sort of ran up against the headlines. And now the challenge for any show that’s trying not to write the news, or to stay ahead of the news, is how do you do that? Everything is happening so fast that by the time you break it and write it, you do find yourself having to change it if you’re trying to stay ahead. Before last year, had you ever seen a political environment that was this unpredictable, so much so that you had to worry? PUGLIESE What we’re competing with to a certain extent are the news channels. To me, it’s the nature of writing a TV show, that you’re satisfying and dissatisfying the audience. You’re frustrating them and creating a certain amount of anxiety and trying to keep things unresolved to keep the story going. And what’s tough is suddenly we have news channels doing that with their own political figures. But more with Trump than anything else, right? PUGLIESE Trump is as frustrating and confusing and irreconcilable as any TV character. In a way he is probably the ultimate bad dad. You think about “The Sopranos,” Don Draper [on “Mad Men”]. And now he’s in the White House, not just the house down the street. GIBSON When I look at him I see I see this white man in a bit of a panic about the world changing around him, and he’s just fighting so hard to hang on to borders and really all these outmoded notions. That’s the opposite of Frank, right? Because Frank is trying to control the world in a very methodical way. PUGLIESE Right. GIBSON Frank comes from within the system, whereas Trump has arrived from without, and they both have an interesting relationship with the system. PUGLIESE And Frank interestingly tries to manage chaos. And maybe Trump does, too. We’ll see. Shonda, your show is the most outrageous of the ones represented at the table. Do you feel like now you need up the ante to get crazier than reality? RHIMES Our show is basically a horror story. [Laughter] Really. We say the people in Washington are monsters and if anybody ever knew what was really going on under the covers they would freak out. So they can do anything, they can murder people, they kill people and they get away with everything all the time. But that was based on a world in which Obama was president and our audience was happy about what was going on in Washington and they felt optimistic. You can always tell any horror story you want to when the light is on. But now the lights are off, and now I think people don’t want to watch horror stories, they want you to light a candle somewhere. How many Trump supporters do you have in your audience, do you think? RHIMES The Shondaland audience that watches all the shows [which include “Grey’s Anatomy” and “How to Get Away With Murder”]? I don’t think any of them are, because I’m a black, Planned liberal feminist. I really don’t think there’s a ton of Trump supporters standing behind that. The shows are their own entities? RHIMES Yeah. But I think that “Scandal” is different, because it was political and it felt very unlike the other shows in that sense. I made it a Republican White House on purpose. I’m always sick of watching TV and only one side gets a voice, and I thought it would be interesting to try to humanize this completely other side of the fence. Barbara, you were coming from a similar place, I would assume? HALL No, not really. I wanted to create a show where people could talk about politics in a way that wasn’t so polarized and polarizing. Because even three years ago I felt the discussions were so polarized. We were doing foreign policy, which is not as partisan as domestic policy is. Most people form opinions about foreign policy after the fact. So when an international event occurs, it becomes problem solving — let’s get the loose nukes back and then we’ll talk about how we stand on this issue. So we delayed identifying political parties in our show, and then we found that we never did have to. People can sort of begin to understand what the State Department does and what the inner workings of the government really look like without choosing a side. Because you guys are on CBS, a broadcast network, do you feel like you have to nod a little bit more at the Trump supporter in your writing? HALL We don’t really nod. Again, the show is about pulling the curtain back on the State Department and foreign policy. Dave, on “Veep,” you’re untethered. MANDEL I’m the new guy, I joined last year, and when Armando Iannucci created it, he very much avoided identifying any party. If you actually tried to track Selina’s positions, it’s all over the place. She grabs from both sides. In D. C. both sides assume that Selina and all the people that are working for her — especially the more incompetent people — are the other side. RHIMES You’ve never identified her party? MANDEL Never. RHIMES I always thought, oh, it’s clearly Republican. I thought it was identified. That’s fascinating. MANDEL That being said, the decision to take her out of the White House and have her be a former president of the United States occurred basically two years ago, when I first was sitting down to talk with Julia about taking the job, pre any of this stuff. But I have never been more happy to not be in the White House right now. From the moment Sean Spicer appeared, it’s just been sort of like, ‘That’s Mike McLintock [Selina’s bumbling press secretary] from ‘Veep’!” In some ways he makes McLintock look pretty good at his job. I am quite happy that we’re avoiding some of the similarities. As comedy writers, aren’t you guys itching to jump on whatever is the event du jour? MANDEL No, because we’re not a du jour show. If I’m “Saturday Night Live,” that’s the beauty of it. It happens on Wednesday, you see it Saturday. If it happens on Wednesday and you see it eight months later, you’re like spoiled cheese. [Laughter] The show has never been about current politics it’s about politics in general. It’s about power. I think I heard the phrase it’s pulling back the curtain of what Washington is really like, what these people are really like. They are not the noble West Wingers, they’re down and dirty and speak quite horrendously and crave this power. We take it from the comedy perspective. I think you guys approach power from the drama perspective in really good ways. GIBSON What’s interesting about Trump, though, is that he has made subtext text. So with a show like ours, where Frank turns to the camera and he’s in this very complicit way, letting us in on something, Trump just — He does it. HALL There are plenty of people in Washington who want to do the right thing, and I’ve met them. So our characters are the ones who are the true believers. It has an aspirational quality in that way. We want to keep them real and make them flawed and have them make mistakes and things. But what’s driving them is something that we wish was driving all politicians. PUGLIESE There is something weird about when politics and entertainment and journalism all start to bleed into the same thing. It starts to feel a little funky. Was “House of Cards” really born of this idea that ooh, it’s really ugly and people know it’s not the “The West Wing,” so let’s cut the idealism and embrace the cynicism? PUGLIESE My mom’s always like, “I always knew it was like that. ” [Laughter] RHIMES The one thing that “Scandal”’s based on that’s optimistic or aspirational is that despite every horrible thing everyone is doing, the office of the presidency itself is a sacred thing. And so whenever anybody is messing with that, that is the biggest violation. How much do you feel like you’re competing with the show that is now American politics? Are you having to do things in ways you wouldn’t have had Hillary Clinton won? MANDEL I’m sure you guys have all thought about this, but are people just so sick of it, regardless of their side, that they would much rather just watch a show set in a junkyard as opposed to anything that has anything to do with D. C.? Shonda and Barbara, have you seen anything in the ratings that shows you that interest in the Trump show, especially in cable news, is carrying over to your shows? Or the opposite — burnout? HALL The only time we got into a little bit of fatigue is when we did do an election story that went for a long time. And it was aired around the time of the election, and I did start to hear people say I want this election resolved. [Laughter] RHIMES It’s interesting, because right after the election there was this barrage of tweets to Kerry [Washington] that said “Why isn’t Olivia Pope [the show’s central character, who runs a crisis management firm] fixing this?” [Laughter] Was there anything that you scripted to be horrible for a character — like a huge, supposedly political bungle — that now wouldn’t be much of a problem? MANDEL “Veep” was based on five years of that constantly, for lack of a better word, whacked her back down. She had ambition, obviously, to be president, ultimately got there in a very backward way, but was constantly striving, and then whether it was a leak or a bad tweet or a microphone left on, was sort of whacked down by these things. And now we have entered a world where these things happen and have no effect. And in some cases pushed him further along. Barbara, did you have to make any hard changes in your arc on “Madam Secretary”? HALL No, not really. But one of the things we realized was, we have an opportunity to have an election on our show that will time out well. But the problem was that we let it go on, and how we resolved who was going to be president — that’s where we ran into fatigue. And I couldn’t change it, we’d already shot it. It didn’t hurt the ratings, it’s just that I heard people talking about it on Twitter and things that it was a little exhausting. And then I would just say we really are taking it week to week now as we break stories, because the hardest thing for us is trying to stay ahead of what our foreign relations are with other countries, because they are changing very quickly. RHIMES On election night we were working on Episode 7, and we had to change course on a lot of things, and we did a few reshoots on some of the first episodes. Can you give an example? RHIMES Our whole back story had the Russian thing happening, and we had to rework all of that stuff. And as we got towards the back half [of the season] I said we need to end in a more optimistic place than we had planned. But do any of you feel as if there is some new responsibility to try to communicate with Trump supporters or get them in your scripts? Is there something to the idea that Hollywood is failing to speak to the wants and needs of the average Trump loyalist? RHIMES I get really offended at the concept that what came out of the election was that — how do I say this? — impoverished people who are not of color needed more attention. I thought that was kind of crazy, that they might need more television. They have television. [Laughter] It just felt very strange to me. And I thought really, the people who really need to be spoken to are the 50 percent of the population that did not vote at all. Those are the people who need to be more engaged. If you were scripting the Trump presidency, where would you have it go from here? What is the most dramatic thing that could happen? PUGLIESE What I’m curious about is the education of Donald Trump — who is showing up to try to educate him, and how they educate him, and taking advantage of that aspect of who he is as a character. RHIMES The most dramatic thing that could happen to him is transformation. If he actually became a hero and actually became a good president, that is the most dramatic, most crazy, most bizarre thing that I could imagine happening to Donald Trump. HALL I’m going with education and transformation, but in my show it would be the female secretary of state who got him there. [Laughter] So everyone agrees that the most dramatic thing that can happen, in classic television writing is something that would be the unexpected? That’s what makes the show? GIBSON Subverting expectations. So, for the sake of tension, would you have scripted, for instance, stronger intraparty opposition? RHIMES For me, I would have definitely allowed [other Republicans] to see it as a chance to grab power. I don’t understand everyone just quietly falling into line. If I was those guys, I would have said: “This is our chance, we can take him down, we can impeach him, we can get rid of him. Like we can appear very righteous and heroic, as opposed to being afraid of everything. ” | 1 |
By wmw_admin on November 4, 2016 “… And Someone’s Bones”– Milton William Cooper ( Behold a Pale Horse ) — Oct 15, 2016
A few weeks ago, some media outlets reported a story about a Chinese man, Yang Qingpei, who brutally killed his parents over a domestic financial dispute, and then murdered seventeen additional people in his home village in a failed attempt to conceal the crime . Due to China’s strict gun control policies, he hacked his victims to pieces with a machete. China’s Xinhua state news agency has yet to release a complete list of victims, but our source within the secretive nation obtained shocking information that eviscerates the official story and proves that the nineteen murders were indeed committed to conceal a hidden motive. But it had nothing to do with a financial dispute. It had everything to do with silencing a potential Nibiru whistle-blower.
One victim was Kum Hia Nao, a research assistant at the Chinese National Astronomical Observatory, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. According to usually reliable sources, Nao had worked at the country’s Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST,) and had been reprimanded twice for making inquiries about Nibiru, said to be a brown dwarf with seven orbiting planets on a near-collision course with Earth. Conflicting reports make it difficult to determine exactly when Nao learned about Nibiru, either before or after being assigned to the observatory. Regardless, he was courageous enough to discuss a taboo subject in a country that routinely executes citizens for speaking out of line. His superiors obviously noticed his rebellious behavior, because, if all information is accurate, they concocted an elaborate plan to end his life and hide the motive for the crime. Unconfirmed reports, supported by two credible witnesses, place Barrack Hussein Obama and newly elected Nibiru Czar Victoria Newland at the observatory sometime during Obama’s recent trip to China, where he attended the G20 summit.
On September 27, Nao visited his grandparents at a remote village in southwest China’s Yunnan Province. He had previously filed a ‘vacation report’ with his employer, detailing his travel times and locations, pinpointing exactly where he would be located.
“They could easily track his movements,” our source said. Many people in China are compelled to file a detailed report prior to taking a leave of absence from work. The slightest deviation has dire consequences. So if you file a report, you stick to it, like glue. Kum Hia Nao never stood a chance against anyone who wished to end his life.”
The attacks happened on September 30. Nao and his grandparents were enjoying a quite dinner of rice and minced meat when Yang Qingpei burst into the hovel and one by one slaughtered them with a machete, the assassin’s sixth, seventh, and eighth victims of the night. Yang Qingpei went on to kill an additional seven people in a calculated, murderous rampage that stunned a nation.
“Qingpei was no ordinary citizen,” our source said. “He was a highly skilled, highly trailed killer. What are the odds of an untrained person, armed only with a knife, killing nineteen people, many of whom were physically larger and stronger than he appeared.”
Yang Qingpei, it turns out, served four years in The People’s Liberation Army Special Forces. He was also an expert in Kung-Fu. Fitting the puzzle pieces together, the logical conclusion is that he was contracted to carry out the brutal murders. He probably had no idea one his victims was a Nibiru scientist.
“It’s highly unlikely they told him anything about his victims,” our source said. “They probably said kill your parents, say it was over money, confess to it, we’ll get you off the hook, and you’ll be handsomely rewarded down the line. They gave him a list of people to kill, along with some random victims, and, sadly, Kum Hia Nao’s name was on that list.”
This demonstrates that the United States is not the only country to silence, discredit, or murder potential whistle-blowers, and that, with the exception of Vladimir Putin and Fidel Castro, world leaders will try to prevent Nibiru disclosure, at any cost. | 1 |
Sen. Ted Cruz ( ) and Rep. Ron DeSantis ( ) introduced a constitutional amendment Tuesday that would impose term limits on members of Congress, following up on a proposal made back in December. [“D. C. is broken,” Cruz said in a statement Tuesday evening. “The American people resoundingly agreed on Election Day, and Donald Trump has committed to putting government back to work for the American people. It is well past time to put an end to the cronyism and deceit that has transformed Washington into a graveyard of good intentions. ” The amendment would limit senators to two terms (12 years total) and representatives to three terms (6 years total) the Washington Examiner reported. Donald Trump made it a campaign promise that he would implement term limits on Congress, but it’s unclear if the incoming Trump administration has worked with Congress on the proposal, which was introduced during Congress’ first week in session of the new year. Republican Sens. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and David Perdue of Georgia all the amendment. People seem to be in favor of term limits, as a Rasmussen survey found that 74 percent of Americans supported term limits while only 13 percent were not in favor of them. “President Trump, Speaker Ryan and huge majorities of the American people are demanding term limits,” said U. S. Term Limits President Philip Blumel. “Congress must listen and pass the amendment immediately. ” | 0 |
Wake the F... UP America # 0
I've never been more disgusted with the world and what's going on in it.
How the fuck is it possible, to have an entire side of a continent, completely in the dark and uncaring about the bullshit wars happening over there in the east.
Who the fuck do we think we are going into another god damn country, saying who the fuck should do what the fuck with their god damn time, their god damn rights and to what ultimate purpose do we serve fighting someone elses fucking war for them.
Are you kidding me, that we spend how much fucking money fighting a bunch of god damn who knows what the fuck!
This is some seriously disturbing shit happening here!
I can't even imagine what kind of Gustapo shit it's going to take for every citizen of every god damn province, city, territory, continent, god damn mother fucking family units upon family units to say enough already.
Round up ohh I don't know, what is it? A couple fucking thousand people on this entire planet with the amount of money exceeding the wealth of how many people and nations, take all those mother fuckers benefiting off of all of us and our suffering and just take everything away from them and send them off to try again in some slums off the west coast
Sweet mother fucking justice of mother earth, that would be something to be prized and enjoyed for sure.
Normally it doesn' matter who you vote for in an election. It's all rigged. But this election is different. This election has a wild card gone rogue. This dude says what the fuck he wants when he wants and doesn't give a shit who he's defending.
If you have soaked up the last year or so of political propaganda being spewed at you through your boob tube you would probably unconsciously be aware subtly that you should vote Clinton. I mean if you look at all the endorsements and current shit being said out there about anti-Trump, you can only just use common sense to connect the dots of whom your handlers and the controllers of your universe are trying to steer you in.
Sure Trump will fuck some shit up, he'll definitely ensure that his and his own are well taken care of and lined within years to come of financial wealth and freedoms. Clinton much of the same, the only difference being that Clinton will do as she's said where Trump will say go fuck yourself.
This is the handlers, the beast system, the powers that be's greatest fear and their working extra hard to prevent it from happening and becoming a reality. Tags | 0 |
MIAMI — Who does Donald J. Trump call when he needs a wall built on the United border? An old friend, it turns out: the king of Miami, Jorge Pérez — often described as the Donald Trump of the tropics. Mr. Pérez is accustomed to such phone calls — and to people returning his. When Forbes magazine estimates your net worth at nearly $3 billion, V. I. P. treatment — even from the White House — tends to follow. That attention is also bipartisan. Mr. Pérez, 67, a major figure in the Miami art world and a developer who has helped remake the city’s skyline, publicly supported Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. But he said Mr. Trump lost little time in phoning him after his victory in November. In fact, the emails and calls between the two men — who have known each other as business partners for several decades — actually increased. “You have to give him credit for reaching out,” Mr. Pérez said of these conversations in an interview in the living room of his waterfront Miami mansion. Though Mr. Pérez passed on Mr. Trump’s January request for help constructing the wall — pointedly quipping, “Once it’s finished, which side of it will I be on?” — he said Mr. Trump still seemed eager to enlist him in joining the administration. Despite differences regarding both foreign affairs and federal housing policy (Mr. Pérez said, “I’m a strong believer in increased housing subsidies. ”) the president offered him the job of deputy secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary Ben Carson’s No. 2, Mr. Pérez said. Again, he declined. In late January, he said, President Trump was back on the phone, discussing the job of assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, the position responsible for promoting United States interests throughout Latin America. Mr. Pérez, the son of Cuban exiles who was raised in Colombia, said no once again. Hope Hicks, a White House spokeswoman, asked about these offers and the current state of the relationship between President Trump and Mr. Pérez, declined to comment. Mr. Pérez, in describing his rejection of the job offers, explained, “I’m not a yes man. ” He added, “I told him he needs to hear the voices of people that are not dependent on him, that are going to give him the truth. ” To that point, he then told Bloomberg News in a Jan. 31 article he thought the idea of a Mexican border wall was “idiotic. ” That was more than two weeks ago. Despite sending letters to Mr. Trump’s personal email account, and getting confirmation from Mr. Trump’s personal secretary that they had been read, Mr. Pérez hasn’t heard a word back. It’s a rupture that speaks to the uncomfortable social terrain Mr. Pérez now occupies. He is trying to balance a longstanding personal relationship with Mr. Trump as well as his own increasingly prominent role as an arts philanthropist — from producing documentary films and financing exchange programs for Cuban artists to donating over $55 million in cash and art to the financially beleaguered Miami Art Museum, which rechristened itself the Pérez Art Museum Miami in his honor. Yet these two milieus — the White House and the cultural arena — now eye each other with both open hostility and wariness toward anyone unwilling to pick a side. Mr. Pérez may see himself as a trusted back channel between apprehensive cultural figures and President Trump: “I would help him try to see the different opinions of the art world,” he said. Much of the art world, however, hardly seems in the mood for such a genteel . “Jorge Pérez is wasting his time,” insisted Amanda Keeley, the owner of Miami’s Exile Books, when asked about Mr. Pérez’s efforts to reach out to the president. Ms. Keeley led fellow Miami artists to demonstrate at the Womens March on Washington last month. “Donald Trump isn’t interested in listening,” she said, “and you can’t have a conversation with someone who doesn’t want to listen to you. ” Indeed, as Inauguration Day loomed, many staff members at the museum carrying Mr. Pérez’s name said they believed the time had already passed for measured discussion. There was talk of heeding the call from the New organizers of the J20 Art Strike, which sought to close museums nationwide as a symbolic action opposing not only Mr. Trump but also “Trumpists who use the social prestige of art to legitimize power. ” It was hard not to see the museum’s largest benefactor falling within those cross hairs. In response, its director, Franklin Sirmans, sent a memo to the staff, insisting “we will be open to all in our community as a place of dialogue and conversation” on Inauguration Day. A month later, Mr. Pérez is the one looking for help in sparking a dialogue. “He’s a good friend,” Mr. Pérez said of Mr. Trump. “Or at least he was, until I made a statement about the wall. ” The last time they spoke? “Him saying ‘please come to Palm Beach and we’re spending weekends there. ’” And now? “It’s gone to radio silence, to zero,” he said. Mr. Pérez said he believed that as president, “instead of moderating, Donald was retrenching. The rhetoric of the campaign was brutal,” but he never assumed it was a preview of the candidate’s actual policies. Mr. Pérez was distressed by reports that Mr. Trump intended to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts, on whose board Mr. Pérez had served under President Clinton. He was even more upset at chatter that Mr. Trump might take a tougher stand on the trade opening with Cuba, where Mr. Pérez accompanied President Obama last March as part of a historic state visit. Mr. Pérez said he couldn’t fathom this turnaround in Mr. Trump: “We used to talk about Cuba as a place to do business — a Trump hotel, a Trump golf course. ” So during that last phone call, he asked Mr. Trump did he intend to tighten the trade embargo against Cuba? “He gave me no real answer — not yes, not no. Just ‘We’re going to see what happens, I haven’t decided on that yet. ’” Next came Mr. Trump’s executive order announcing a travel ban, prompting an exasperated Mr. Pérez to give his fateful Bloomberg interview. Meanwhile, Mr. Pérez is focusing on art. Later this month, he returns to Havana with Mr. Sirmans, visiting artists’ studios as a prelude to the June exhibition of “On the Horizon: Contemporary Cuban Art From the Jorge M. Pérez Collection,” drawn from more than 160 artworks that he recently donated. “Cubans came here and built up great businesses, bringing in Latin Americans who have a love for the city. ” He concluded, “contemporary Latin American art and culture is what should go with that movement. ” The composition of “On The Horizon” is evidence of further social changes. The work of younger Cuban artists who came of age in Miami, such as Antonia Wright, will be installed alongside that of artists who left the island at various points in their adult careers, such as Rubén Torres Llorca, as well as those still based there, like Kcho. In years past, that lack of distinction would have been politically fraught. Mr. Pérez bristled at the notion that with Mr. Trump was futile. “Playing into the game is O. K. if you produce results,” he said of such outreach, citing his concerns over a report that the Trump administration was considering eliminating the arts endowment. “If I could sit down with him and get it to function at half its budget until the next Democratic president gets in, is that worse than having it totally cut?” Mr. Pérez stopped short and chuckled to himself. “First I need to be able to talk to him. ” He’s still waiting for the phone to ring. | 1 |
DETROIT — Unexpectedly strong sales of new vehicles in the United States in December propelled the industry to another record figure in 2016: 17. 55 million sold. That is the good news. The bad news, though, is that the late push to beat the previous record, 17. 47 million vehicles sold in 2015, came at a steep cost, as companies piled on higher sales incentives to lure consumers to their showrooms. And with the American market tilting more than ever toward sales of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, companies are cutting production of passenger cars to reduce big inventories of models. As a result, there is little expectation that the sales will continue on this upward trajectory — at least not without cutting deep into profits. That means the numbers released Wednesday could be the mark for the industry’s impressive comeback from the depths of the recession, when annual sales fell below 11 million vehicles and General Motors and Chrysler needed government bailouts to survive. Adding to the challenge is the potential for major changes in federal regulatory and trade policies by the Trump administration, setting up an uncertain year for an industry that has been barreling along. “One of the problems with predicting 2017 is it is the year of unknowns,” said Michelle Krebs, an analyst with the site Autotrader. “We are hearing a lot of different things about border tariffs and regulatory policies, but we don’t know what the whole picture looks like. ” Most major automakers are making big profits these days, as consumers replace aging cars and trucks with new models, loaded with technology, that last year sold for an average sticker price above $35, 000. Yet companies face a new set of challenges posed by slower growth, and industry executives are bracing for potential tariffs on vehicles imported into the United States from Mexico, or other adjustments in trade policies that could upset the global pipeline of parts to vehicle assembly plants. The uncertainty extends to the market itself, which has steadily grown year after year as consumers took advantage of easy credit and better economic conditions to replace aging vehicles. Demand, however, has leveled off, and companies are falling back on old habits to move excess inventories. Analysts reported that sales incentives were about 25 percent higher in the fourth quarter of 2016 than in the same period a year earlier, even though overall sales were flat. That is partly because of a sustained slump in sales of small and midsize cars, which has offset the increased demand for trucks and S. U. V. s. But it forces automakers to rely on discounts to sell less popular models, adjust production plans on the fly and lay off workers at some of their factories. General Motors, the nation’s largest automaker, has announced plans to cut shifts of workers at three assembly plants that build cars in Michigan and Ohio, and analysts expect more adjustments across the industry as companies try to better match supply with demand. “We do expect production will likely be cut, particularly in the compact and midsize segments,” said Alec Gutierrez, an analyst with the research firm Kelley Blue Book. The industry sold 1. 69 million vehicles during the month of December, an increase of about 3 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the research firm Autodata. The 17. 55 million sold over the year was a gain of 0. 4 percent. Sales of trucks and S. U. V.s accounted for nearly of the sales volume during December as consumers continue to turn to the larger vehicles over cars. Analysts expect the trend toward larger vehicles to continue as long as gas prices remain low. Over all, the industry forecasts sales exceeding 17 million vehicles in the United States in the coming year, although how automakers manage shifts in demand will affect their profitability. “The most successful automakers in the long term will be able to prioritize profitability over market share and be willing to pull back artificial support for unprofitable volume,” said Stephanie Brinkley, an analyst at the firm IHS Markit. G. M. said its sales in December increased 10 percent, to 319, 000 vehicles, although its annual sales for all of 2016 fell 1. 3 percent, to 3. 04 million vehicles. The company benefited from strong demand for pickups and its biggest S. U. V. s, such as the Chevrolet Tahoe, whose sales rose nearly 17 percent last year. But G. M. exemplified the market’s split personality, as several of its smaller cars experienced sharp declines. G. M. is expanding its S. U. V. lineup and will unveil new models at the coming Detroit auto show. Moreover, the company expects the industry to achieve levels again in 2017. “Key economic indicators, especially consumer confidence, continue to reflect optimism about the U. S. economy,” said Mustafa Mohatarem, G. M.’s chief economist. Ford Motor, the American automaker, said it sold 237, 000 vehicles in December, a slight gain from the same month in 2015. For the year, Ford reported sales of 2. 61 million vehicles in the United States — essentially the same total as in 2015. The company’s cornerstone product, the pickup, was once again the vehicle in the American market, with 820, 000 trucks sold last year. But sales of Ford’s car models fell about 12 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, with products like the Focus and the Fusion posting declines. The third major American automaker, Fiat Chrysler, reported one of its weaker months in December, as sales fell 10 percent, to 192, 000 vehicles. For the full year, the company said it sold 2. 24 million vehicles, a decline of less than 1 percent from the previous year. Fiat Chrysler has substantially reduced its production of passenger cars and is busy converting car factories into truck plants. Last year, sales of its cars such as the Dodge Dart and the Chrysler 200 dropped precipitously as the company concentrated on beefing up its lineup of S. U. V. s, particularly its Jeep models. Foreign automakers generally reported solid months in December. Toyota, for example, said its sales increased 2 percent during the month, although it ended 2016 with a 2 percent decrease for the full year. While the industry’s health appears closely tied to the continued demand for larger vehicles, some automakers have placed big bets on electric cars, which remain a tiny niche in the market. In one of the most closely watched introductions in the segment, G. M. said it sold 579 Chevrolet Bolts, a new sedan, in December, its first month of sales. By contrast, the company sold more than 54, 000 Silverado pickups, its most popular product. | 1 |
August is generally considered among book people. The big summer blockbusters have already come out. Publishing people are out of the office. Everyone’s biding his or her time for the big books of fall. Not this year. August has been pretty amazing so far. Lots of ambitious and exciting books have just been released. Colson Whitehead’s big new novel was moved up from a release date to early August. And there are more to come. Publishing industry wisdom seems to be Avoid the Election at All Costs. For readers, the happy results are some great books that might otherwise have been held until the weather cools. Enjoy, early birds. Pamela PaulEditor of The New York Times Book Review THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, by Colson Whitehead. (Doubleday, $26. 95.) Everyone I know is reading or has just read this book, for good reason. Colson Whitehead’s stunningly daring novel turns the historical freedom network from metaphor to reality, complete with tracks, locomotives and platforms. AMERICAN HEIRESS: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst, by Jeffrey Toobin. (Doubleday, $28. 95.) Jeffrey Toobin, author of “The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson,” knows how to tell a good crime story. In his riveting account of the Patty Hearst affair, even the S. L. A. is shown some compassion. COUSIN JOSEPH: A Graphic Novel, by Jules Feiffer. (Liveright, $25. 95.) Jules Feiffer’s long, incredible career has included everything from plays to political cartoons, and lately graphic novels. In this noir, America turns its baleful attention toward Hollywood, Jews, unionists and Communists. KNOWN AND STRANGE THINGS: Essays, by Teju Cole. (Random House, paper, $17.) The novelist Teju Cole (“Open City,” “Every Day Is for the Thief”) has his first collection of nonfiction, in which he journeys through all the landscapes he has access to: international, personal, cultural, technological and emotional. THE FIRE THIS TIME: A New Generation Speaks About Race, edited by Jesmyn Ward. (Scribner, $25.) Building on James Baldwin, Jesmyn Ward’s anthology looks at the joy and pain of being black in America. An list of contributors includes Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, Kevin Young, Mitchell Jackson and Edwidge Danticat. MAX GATE, by Damien Wilkins. (Aardvark Bureau, paper, $14. 95.) Told from the perspective of a housemaid, Damien Wilkins’s novel offers a splendid portrait of Thomas Hardy’s last days, and a descent into the loveless prison of his marriage. Full of dark humor and wit. PARADISE LODGE, by Nina Stibbe. (Little, Brown, $26.) Since her debut memoir, “Love, Nina,” one of the most charming books of 2014, Nina Stibbe has published two novels in quick order. Her latest features a moody British teenager who finds her calling at an unorthodox nursing home. CHANCE DEVELOPMENTS, by Alexander McCall Smith. (Pantheon, $26.) This book offers a very interesting premise: What stories might you create out of a series of found photographs? Alexander McCall Smith uses anonymous photos as windows into the past. STILL HERE, by Lara Vapnyar. (Hogarth, $26.) The author of two story collections and two previous novels, Lara Vapnyar is poised to break out big with her latest. In this novel, four Russian friends try to make their way in New York. | 0 |
EAGLE PASS, Texas — The former city manager of this border town is facing a prison sentence of up to after pleading guilty to lying to authorities during a corruption investigation. [This week, former Eagle Pass City Manager Hector Chavez Sr went before U. S. District Judge Alia Moses where he pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to a federal agent, information provided to Breitbart Texas by the U. S. Attorney’s office revealed. Ildefonso Ortiz is an journalist with Breitbart Texas. He the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook. | 0 |
Alternative Cancer Treatments With Positive Results and Generic-Drug Probe to Be Filed by Year-End The news of Michael Buble's three-year-old son being diagnosed with liver cancer brought back f... Print Email http://humansarefree.com/2016/11/alternative-cancer-treatments-with.html The news of Michael Buble's three-year-old son being diagnosed with liver cancer brought back flashbacks from my childhood; you could say that I became a naturopathic doctor because of cancer.As a 10-year-old child, I stood before the coffin of my 10-year-old cousin Linda--she had died from cancer. There are experiences where one encounter can shape your life, and Linda's death shaped mine. How could this be, a 10-year-old dying from cancer? We just played together and now her play was gone. I made a vow to myself that day that I would try to change this from happening, and as a child I began studying alternative medicine and continued this pursuit my entire life, specifically anti-aging and chronic disease treatments dealing with cancer and recognizing a connection between nutrition and the disease structure.As a practitioner, I had very good success in dealing with my cancer patients. One must first identify the origin of disease before the treatment can be started ; this is certainly missing from modern day cancer treatments.Cancer is an invading disease that attacks the body’s immune system. Once cancer has been detected, it has already had time to establish its web network. Treating the tumor is not good enough; it is only the start, and these are only the symptoms stemming from the cause. What is necessary is to rout out the cause, and while doing so, keep the healthy cell structures from being broken down and becoming infected. There is no single cure for treating cancer; cancer must be approached and treated holistically. The cellular process in developing cancer takes many years. A compromised immunity and cell damage does not happen overnight, with the exception of high radiation or other toxic exposure. Treatment must be approached defensively and directly; focus on the cause and do not treat cancer in reverse — target your treatment mentally, physically and spiritually from the disease origin.Prescription drugs that target symptoms can cause devastating side effects and are often expensive. In fact, the U.S. Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation into over a dozen generic pharmaceutical companies. They are investigating whether executives colluded to raise prices on prescriptions.As is the case with prescription drugs, cancer treatments can also be very expensive. Most treatments today use radiation and chemotherapy, but did you know other alternatives exist? These treatments do not receive much media attention, and those promoting the treatments tend to pass away before they can share their findings. In 2012, CTV reported that an old drug used for schizophrenia was also capable of neutralizing cancer stem cells without harming healthy cells. Many have noted that high doses of Vitamin C can hinder cancer's progression. In fact, lab studies have shown that high doses of Vitamin C may slow the growth and spread of prostate, pancreatic, liver, colon, and other types of cancer cells. Animal studies have shown it blocks tumor growth in certain models of pancreatic, liver, prostate, and ovarian cancers, sarcoma, and malignant mesothelioma--all with few side effects. You can find more research on Vitamin C and cancer at these links: one , two , three .The other half of this situation is the physicians conducting studies about alternative therapies. Between June 19-July 21, nine natural practitioners were found dead . Explosive: Here's The Real Reason Holistic Doctors Are Being Killed Two of the most notable were Dr. Jeffrey Bradstreet, MD, an alternative autism specialist, and Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez, MD, an alternative cancer specialist. Dr. Bradstreet had been investigating the use of human GcMAF for autism, cancer, and other diseases. GcMAF is short for Gc protein-derived macrophage activating factor; it is a protein produced by modification of vitamin D-binding protein. Three days prior to his death, Georgia law enforcement raided Dr. Bradstreet's clinic specifically to gather all information about his use of GcMAF. After this raid, Dr. Bradstreet reportedly shot himself in the chest and died. Similarly, Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez passed away from a heart attack, though he was reported to be in good health previously. Interestingly, in 1975, testimony before the U.S. Congress indicated that a weapon had been developed to shoot a projectile into a victim without the victim’s knowledge, which would introduce a nearly undetectable substance into the body that would cause a heart attack. You can read more about the doctors' research here .Allopathic treatment modalities have difficulties in developing a treatment that is safe and effective in inducing cancer cell apoptosis without also destroying healthy cells. As a researcher, I have spent the past 15 years in developing an alternative natural therapy that would be an effective cancer treatment.My hypothesis was to develop both a holistic and synergistic formulation to treat the cause of cancer on several fronts, due to the complex nature of cancerous cells and tumours, and do so without causing further harm. Healthy cells and tissue must be preserved while killing or choking-off cancerous cells through induction of apoptosis, and it is my belief that we have developed an effective treatment. The next stage will be conducting a double-blind study; this critical stage has been solved after finding the perfect clinic willing to take on the challenge. The final stage will depend on funding the study. If this treatment were based on using allopathic drugs, the funding would be available, but when using natural medicine, this is not the case. In any event, I remain hopeful.The natural approach to disease must be fought for; unfortunately, gains in the natural health community will probably never receive the widespread publication that allopathic treatments do. As we discussed last week, prevention is the best alternative, and supporting the natural health industry is the best way for healthy treatment alternatives to gain traction. By Eldon Dahl Dear Friends, HumansAreFree is and will always be free to access and use. If you appreciate my work, please help me continue.
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JERUSALEM — On the wall of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office is a giant map with Israel at its center. Mr. Netanyahu likes staring at the map. He regales visitors with stories about how Israel has made friends with so many of the countries shown, some nearby, others far away. His point is that Israel has moved beyond the days when its conflict with the Palestinians defined its relations with the world. But even as he celebrates the ascension of Donald J. Trump as a steadfast ally, Mr. Netanyahu may find that it complicates management of his own conservative coalition and undercuts the very diplomatic outreach that has been his central priority. The vote by the United Nations Security Council condemning Israeli settlements, permitted on Friday by President Obama, who ordered an American abstention, served as a reminder that the Palestinian issue remains a powder keg. Instead of counting new friends, Mr. Netanyahu was left to tally up old enemies, and in a speech on Saturday night he lashed out, vowing to exact a “diplomatic and economic price” from countries that in his view try to hurt Israel. He announced that he was cutting off $8 million in contributions to the United Nations and reviewing whether to continue allowing its personnel to enter Israel, in addition to recalling ambassadors and canceling visits from some countries that supported the measure. He accused the departing Obama administration of carrying out a “disgraceful maneuver. ” “The resolution that was passed by the U. N. yesterday is part of the swan song of the old world that is biased against Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said at a Hanukkah ceremony honoring wounded soldiers and terrorism victims. “But, my friends, we are entering a new era and, as Trump said yesterday, that is going to happen a lot faster than people think. ” Indeed, in Mr. Trump, Mr. Netanyahu will have a far more supportive ally in the White House than Mr. Obama, who views Israeli settlement policy as counterproductive. Yet Mr. Trump’s clarion call supporting Israel on settlements and his promise to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem could easily stir new antipathy among the Sunni Arab states Mr. Netanyahu has been courting most, analysts said. “It doesn’t take a lot to imagine an American move that could provoke violence on the ground or just demonstrations on the ground with potential to become violent,” said Tamara Cofman Wittes, a former State Department official who is now at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Middle East Policy. “And that would not only create an crisis, but it would create a broader crisis. ” Mr. Trump’s election and his choice of David M. Friedman, an ardent settlement supporter, as ambassador to Israel have already emboldened the Israeli right to push for more assertive policies in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. Some have even declared the death of the solution that for years was thought to be the way to settle the conflict. Since the American election, leaders in Mr. Netanyahu’s cabinet have pushed for legislation retroactively legalizing outposts on privately owned Palestinian land that had been declared illegal by Israel’s Supreme Court. Mr. Netanyahu has been reluctant, even warning colleagues that it could lead to an investigation by the International Criminal Court, according to the newspaper Haaretz. “Israeli leaders have used American pressure as an excuse to avoid doing something they really don’t want to do but are being pressured to do by coalition members,” said Daniel C. Kurtzer, a former American ambassador to Israel teaching at Princeton University. If Mr. Trump advances views to the right of Mr. Netanyahu, “this will put the prime minister in an awkward position with no excuses for not doing what want him to do,” Mr. Kurtzer said. Now in his fourth term, Mr. Netanyahu has focused lately on keeping the Palestinian conflict relatively contained while he forges new bonds around the world. He travels widely these days, and has just returned from a trip to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, two predominantly Muslim countries — a demonstration, he said, of Israel’s transformed global relations. He boasts that so many foreign delegations are coming to Israel that he barely has time to meet them all. Even Fiji, he says, wants him to visit. He attributes this to what he calls T. T. P. — terrorism, technology and peace. Other countries, he argues, see Israel as an ally in fighting Islamist terrorism, a source of technological innovation and not an obstacle to peace, as it was once viewed. If so, though, the unopposed United Nations resolution could chip away at that impression. In his speech on Saturday, Mr. Netanyahu acknowledged that his drive to change Israel’s status was incomplete. “We are on a journey to improve our relations with the countries of the world. It is going to take more time,” he said. But he predicted that friends would rally to Israel after the United Nations vote. “It could be that the scandalous resolution from last night will expedite that process because this was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said. His critics thought not, calling Mr. Netanyahu’s failure to win any support at the Security Council a sign that his diplomatic campaign involved more puffery than progress. “The man who just a month ago told us that the world worships him declared war this evening on the world, on the United States, on Europe, and is trying to calm us with conceit,” Isaac Herzog, leader of the Zionist Union and the parliamentary opposition, wrote on Facebook. For Mr. Netanyahu, the most important goal has been improving Israel’s relations with its Arab neighbors, not just Egypt and Jordan, with which it has peace treaties, but with Sunni states like Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries. While those states still maintain a public reserve about Israel, they have quietly collaborated out of a shared belief that the greater threat is the theocratic Shiite leadership in Iran. But that could quickly change if the Palestinian issue returns to prominence. Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian negotiator, said in a conference call sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars this past week that an embassy move would prompt the Palestine Liberation Organization to withdraw recognition of Israel that was granted as part of the Oslo peace accords. While many Arab leaders have tired of the Palestinian leadership, they may have to respond if their citizens are stirred to outrage. “If the street’s reactions get too heated, it will be easier for these Arabs to jettison the Israeli relationship than to stand in the way of their own people’s anger,” Mr. Kurtzer said. That may explain why even some conservatives in Israel are nervous that Mr. Trump may push provocative policies. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, known as a said at a recent Brookings conference that there were other pressing issues aside from moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians consider their capital. Zalman Shoval, a former ambassador to the United States from Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud Party, doubted that an embassy move would set off a major backlash, but said an invigorated political right could press for more aggressive policies that would. “If that were to happen, that would create a problem for Netanyahu,” Mr. Shoval said. “Netanyahu basically does not want to annex all of the West Bank, does not want to rule over the Palestinians. He realizes the risks of that from Israel’s point of view. ” Still, some allies of Mr. Netanyahu’s, including Mr. Shoval, argue that common interests will still matter more than momentary of the longstanding Palestinian conflict. “Even when you forge new alliances, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be in sync on every issue,” said Dore Gold, a longtime adviser to Mr. Netanyahu who recently stepped down as director general of the Foreign Ministry. “Things go on inside Arab countries that we don’t agree with, and things go on inside Israel that they don’t agree with. But the fundamental interests are aligning. ” Some analysts said it might depend on how new initiatives were presented. Ehud Yaari, a commentator on Arab affairs on Israel’s Channel 2, said moving the embassy would not lead to serious problems with Sunni states beyond ritualistic protests. American encouragement of settlement construction in new areas “would prove much harder for the Sunni leadership to swallow,” he said. Even so, Mr. Yaari added, “Arab public opinion may force rulers to demonstrate objections, but it seems they are all relieved to see Obama go and do not want to start on the wrong foot with Trump. ” Others suggested that nuanced diplomacy by Mr. Trump could help Mr. Netanyahu. While the right may press for more settlement construction, the Trump administration could endorse keeping any new housing within established blocs, said Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “That would be a major victory for Netanyahu,” Mr. Satloff said. “And if linked to real suspension of growth outside the blocs, it may even advance Israeli ties with Sunnis. ” | 1 |
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Originally posted at TomDispatch .
Recently, I was asked a question about Kill Anything That Moves , my history of civilian suffering during the Vietnam War. An interviewer wanted to know how I responded to veterans who took offense at the (supposed) implication that every American who served in Vietnam committed atrocities.
I think I softly snorted and slowly shook my head.
Already two books behind me, Kill Anything That Moves might as well have been written by someone else in another lifetime. In some sense, it was.
It takes effort for me to dredge up the faded memories of that work, a Kodachrome-hued swirl of hundreds of interviews on two continents over the course of a decade. But this particular question was easy enough to answer. Almost all the Americans I interviewed had seen combat, but most American veterans of the war hadn’t. Many had little or no real opportunity to commit war crimes. Case closed.
But that question caused me to recall a host of related queries that churned around the book. Questions by skeptics, atrocity-deniers, fair-minded interviewers attempting to play devil’s advocate. A favorite was whether the book was “anti-veteran.” That, too, was a head-shaker for me.
“How could that be?” I would respond. After all, the book owed its genesis to veterans. Veterans were key sources for it. Veterans provided the evidence. Veterans provided the quotes. Veterans even supplied the title. The book was, to a great extent, the history of the war as described to me by veterans. The story I told was their story. How could that in any way be anti-veteran?
Many of the vets I spoke with viewed their truth-telling as a form of patriotism, of continuing service to country. Nate Terani’s inaugural TomDispatch essay follows in the same American tradition. His eyes were opened to the abuse of military power while living in Iran as a boy. Later he would join the U.S. Navy and wear the stars and stripes with particular pride. September 11th and all that came after – notably the demonization of his Muslim faith in his homeland – imbued him with a new mission, one he now views as no less sacred than his military service.
From Smedley Butler to Andrew Bacevich , Daniel Ellsberg to Chelsea Manning , Vietnam Veterans Against the War to Iraq Veterans Against the War , the U.S. armed forces have produced a steady stream of truth-tellers and whistleblowers, men and women willing to serve their country in profound ways during trying times. There’s no bronze star for activism, no Navy Cross for unpopular or contrarian opinions, no Purple Heart for the hard knocks involved in speaking out against war crimes or Islamophobia or laying bare information vital to the American public. Veterans who dare to do so have sometimes walked a cold, lonely road far from the warm glow enjoyed by summer soldiers and sunshine patriots. Those who do so exhibit a special form of courage that may even exceed the bravery of the battlefield, the courage to stand tall and make oneself a target, a courage deserving ( with a nod to Thomas Paine ) of the love and thanks of man and woman. ~ Nick Turse
Tehran, USA Fighting Fundamentalism in America By Nate Terani
I’m not an immigrant, but my grandparents are. More than 50 years ago, they arrived in New York City from Iran. I grew up mainly in central New Jersey, an American kid playing little league for the Raritan Red Sox and soccer for the Raritan Rovers. In 1985, I travelled with my family to our ancestral land. I was only eight, but old enough to understand that the Iranians had lost their liberty and freedom. I saw the abject despair of a people who, in a desperate attempt to bring about change, had ushered in nationalist tyrants led by Ayatollah Khomeini.
What I witnessed during that year in Iran changed the course of my life. In 1996, at age 19, wanting to help preserve the blessings of liberty and freedom we enjoy in America, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Now, with the rise of Donald Trump and his nationalist alt-right movement, I’ve come to feel that the values I sought to protect are in jeopardy.
In Iran, theocratic fundmentalists sowed division and hatred of outsiders – of Westerners, Christians, and other religious minorities. Here in America, the right wing seems to have stolen passages directly from their playbook as it spreads hatred of immigrants, particularly Muslim ones. This form of nationalistic bigotry – Islamophobia – threatens the heart of our nation. When I chose to serve in the military, I did so to protect what I viewed as our sacred foundational values of liberty, equality, and democracy. Now, 20 years later, I’ve joined forces with fellow veterans to again fight for those sacred values, this time right here at home.
“Death to America!”
As a child, I sat in my class at the international school one sunny morning and heard in the distance the faint sounds of gunfire and rising chants of “Death to America!” That day would define the rest of my life.
It was Tehran, the capital of Iran, in 1985. I was attending a unique school for bilingual students who had been born in Western nations. It had become the last refuge in that city with any tolerance for Western teaching, but that also made it a target for military fundamentalists. As the gunfire drew closer, I heard boots pounding the marble tiles outside, marching into our building, and thundering down the corridor toward my classroom. As I heard voices chanting “Death to America!” I remember wondering if I would survive to see my parents again.
In a flash of green and black uniforms, those soldiers rushed into our classroom, grabbed us by our shirt collars, and yelled at us to get outside. We were then packed into the school’s courtyard where a soldier pointed his rifle at our group and commanded us to look up. Almost in unison, my classmates and I raised our eyes and saw the flags of our many nations being torn down and dangled from the balcony, then set ablaze and tossed, still burning, into the courtyard. As those flags floated to the ground in flames, the soldiers fired their guns in the air. Shouting, they ordered us – if we ever wanted to see our families again – to swear allegiance to the Grand Ayatollah Khomeini and trample on the remains of the burning symbols of our home countries. I scanned the smoke that was filling the courtyard for my friends and classmates and, horrified, watched them capitulate and begin to chant, “Death to America!” as they stomped on our sacred symbols.
I was so angry that, young as I was, I began to plead with them to come to their senses. No one paid the slightest attention to an eight year old and yet, for the first time in my life, I felt something like righteous indignation. I suspect that, born and raised in America, I was already imbued with such a sense of privilege that I just couldn’t fathom the immense danger I was in. Certainly, I was acting in ways no native Iranian would have found reasonable.
Across the smoke-filled courtyard, I saw a soldier coming at me and knew he meant to force me to submit. I spotted an American flag still burning, dropped to my knees, and grabbed the charred pieces from underneath a classmate’s feet. As the soldier closed in on me, I ducked and ran, still clutching my charred pieces of flag into a crowd of civilians who had gathered to witness the commotion. The events of that day would come to define all that I have ever stood for – or against.
“Camel Jockey,” “Ayatollah,” and “Gandhi”
My parents and I soon returned to the United States and I entered third grade. More than anything, I just wanted to be normal, to fit in and be accepted by my peers. Unfortunately, my first name, Nader (which I changed to Nate upon joining the Navy), and my swarthy Middle Eastern appearance, were little help on that score, eliciting regular jibes from my classmates. Even at that young age, they had already mastered a veritable thesaurus of ethnic defamation, including “camel jockey,” “sand-nigger,” “raghead,” “ayatollah,” and ironically, “Gandhi” (which I now take as a compliment). My classmates regularly sought to “other-ize” me in those years, as if I were a lesser American because of my faith and ethnicity.
Yet I remember that tingling in my chest when I first donned my Cub Scout uniform – all because of the American flag patch on its shoulder. Something felt so good about wearing it, a feeling I still had when I joined the military. It seems that the flag I tried to rescue in Tehran was stapled to my heart, or that’s how I felt anyway as I wore my country’s uniform.
When I took my oath of enlistment in the U.S. Navy, I gave my mom a camera and asked her to take some photos, but she was so overwhelmed with pride and joy that she cried throughout the ceremony and managed to snap only a few images of the carpet. She cried even harder when I was selected to serve as the first Muslim-American member of the U.S. Navy Presidential Ceremonial Honor Guard . On that day, I was proud, too, and all the taunts of those bullies of my childhood seemed finally silenced.
Being tormented because of my ethnicity and religion in those early years had another effect on me. It caused me to become unusually sensitive to the nature of other people. Somehow, I grasped that, if it weren’t for a fear of the unknown, there was an inherent goodness and frail humanity lurking in many of the kids who bullied and harassed me. Often, I discovered, those same bullies could be tremendously kind to their families, friends, or even strangers. I realized, then, that if, despite everything, I could lay myself bare and trust them enough to reach out in kindness, I might in turn gain their trust and they might then see me, too, and stop operating from such a place of fear and hate.
Through patience, humor, and understanding, I was able to offer myself as the embodiment of my people and somehow defang the “otherness” of so much that Americans found scary. To this day, I have friends from elementary school, middle school, high school, and the military who tell me that I am the only Muslim they have ever known and that, had they not met me, their perspective on Islam would have been wholly subject to the prevailing fear-based narrative that has poisoned this country since September 11, 2001.
In 1998, I became special assistant to the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy and then, in 1999, I was recruited to serve at the Defense Intelligence Agency. In August 2000, I transferred to the Naval Reserve.
In the wake of 9/11, I began to observe how so many of my fellow Americans were adopting a fundamentalist “us vs. them” attitude towards Muslims and Islam. I suddenly found myself in an America where the scattered insults I had endured as a child took on an overarching and sinister meaning and form, where they became something like an ideology and way of life.
By the time I completed my military service in 2006, I had begun to understand that our policies in the Middle East, similarly disturbed, seemed in pursuit of little more than perpetual warfare. That, in turn, was made possible by the creation of a new enemy: Islam – or rather of a portrait, painted by the powers-that-be, of Islam as a terror religion, as a hooded villain lurking out there somewhere in the desert, waiting to destroy us. I knew that attempting to dispel, through the patient approach of my childhood, the kind of Islamophobia that now had the country by the throat was not going to be enough. Post-9/11 attacks on Muslims in the U.S. and elsewhere were not merely childish taunts.
For the first time in my life, in a country gripped by fear, I believed I was witnessing a shift, en masse, toward an American fundamentalism and ultra-nationalism that reflected a wanton lack of reason, not to mention fact. As a boy in Iran, I had witnessed the dark destination down which such a path could take a country. Now, it seemed to me, in America’s quest to escape the very demons we had sown by our own misadventures in the Middle East, and forsaking the hallmarks of our founding, we risked becoming everything we sought to defeat.
The Boy in the Schoolyard Grown Up
On February 10, 2015, three young American students, Yusor Abu-Salha, Razan Abu-Salha, and Deah Shaddy Barakat, were executed at an apartment complex in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The killer was a gun-crazy white man filled with hate and described by his own daughter as “a monster.” Those assassinations struck a special chord of sorrow and loss in me. My mom and I cried and prayed together for those students and their families.
The incident in Chapel Hill also awoke in me some version of the righteous indignation I had felt so many years earlier in that smoke-filled courtyard in Iran. I would be damned if I stood by while kids in my country were murdered simply because of their faith. It violated every word of the oath I had taken when I joined the military and desecrated every value I held in my heart as a sacred tenet of our nation. White nationalists and bigots had, by then, thrown down the gauntlet for so much of this, using Islamophobia to trigger targeted assassinations in the United States. This was terrorism, pure and simple, inspired by hate-speakers here at home.
At that moment, I reached out to fellow veterans who, I thought, might be willing to help – and it’s true what they say about soul mates being irrevocably drawn to each other. When I contacted Veterans For Peace , an organization dedicated to exposing the costs of war and militarism, I found the leadership well aware of the inherent dangers of Islamophobia and of the need to confront this new enemy. So Executive Director Michael McPhearson formed a committee of vets from around the country to decide how those of us who had donned uniforms to defend this land could best battle the phenomenon – and I, of course, joined it.
From that committee emerged Veterans Challenge Islamophobia (VCI). It now has organizers in Arizona, Georgia, New Jersey, and Texas, and that’s just a beginning. Totally nonpartisan, VCI focuses on politicians of any party who engage in hate speech. We’ve met with leaders of American Muslim communities, sat with them through Ramadan, and attended their Iftar dinners to break our fasts together. In the wake of the Orlando shooting , we at VCI also mobilized to fight back against attempts to pit the Muslim community against the LGBTQ+ community.
Our group was born of the belief that, as American military veterans, we had a responsibility to call out bigotry, hatred, and the perpetuation of endless warfare. We want the American Muslim community to know that they have allies, and that those allies are indeed veterans as well. We stand with them and for them and, for those of us who are Muslim, among them.
Nationalism and xenophobia have no place in American life, and I, for my part, don’t think Donald Trump or anyone like him should be able to peddle Islamophobia in an attempt to undermine our national unity. Without Islamophobia, there no longer exists a “clash of civilizations.” Without Islamophobia, whatever the problems in the world may be, there is no longer an “us vs. them” and it’s possible to begin reimagining a world of something other than perpetual war.
As of now, this remains the struggle of my life, for despite my intense love for America, some of my countrymen increasingly see American Muslims as the “other,” the enemy.
My Mom taught me as a boy that the only thing that mattered was what was in my heart. Now, with her in mind and as a representative of VCI, when I meet fellow Americans I always remember my childhood experiences with my bullying peers. And I still lay myself bare, as I did then. I give trust to gain trust, but always knowing that these days this isn’t just a matter of niceties. It’s a question of life or death. It’s part of a battle for the soul of our nation.
In many ways, I still consider myself that boy in the school courtyard in Tehran trying to rescue charred pieces of that flag from those trampling feet. It’s just that now I’m doing it in my own country.
Nate Terani is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served in military intelligence with the Defense Intelligence Agency. He is currently a member of the leadership team at Common Defense PAC and regional campaign organizer with Veterans Challenge Islamophobia . He is a featured columnist with the Arizona Muslim Voice newspaper.
Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook . Check out the newest Dispatch Book, Nick Turse’s Next Time They’ll Come to Count the Dead , and Tom Engelhardt’s latest book, Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World .
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The FBI, the DHS’s Customs and Border Protection, the Secret Service, and the Israelis are in cahoots ‹ › Jonas E. Alexis graduated from Avon Park High School, studied mathematics and philosophy as an undergraduate at Palm Beach Atlantic University, and has a master's degree in education from Grand Canyon University. Some of his main interests include the history of Christianity, U.S. foreign policy, the history of the Israel/Palestine conflict, and the history of ideas. He is the author of the new book , Christianity & Rabbinic Judaism: A History of Conflict Between Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism from the first Century to the Twenty-first Century. He is currently teaching mathematics in South Korea. He plays soccer and basketball in his spare time. He is also a cyclist. He is currently writing a book tentatively titled Zionism and the West. Alexis welcomes comments, letters, and queries in order to advance, explain, and expound rational and logical discussion on issues such as the Israel/Palestine conflict, the history of Christianity, and the history of ideas. In the interest of maintaining a civil forum, Alexis asks that all queries be appropriately respectful and maintain a level of civility. As the saying goes, “iron sharpens iron,” and the best way to sharpen one’s mind is through constructive criticism, good and bad. However, Alexis has no patience with name-calling and ad hominem attack. He has deliberately ignored many queries and irrational individuals in the past for this specific reason—and he will continue to abide by this policy. By Jonas E. Alexis on November 4, 2016 "Over the last decade, the NSA has significantly increased the surveillance assistance it provides to its Israeli counterpart, the Israeli SIGINT National Unit (ISNU; also known as Unit 8200), including data used to monitor and target Palestinians." …by Jonas E. Alexis
My dear friend Mark Dankof has recently sent me an article which documents that a 17-year-old Israeli firm named Cellebrite Mobile Synchronization has been working with the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Secret Service, and DHS’s Customs and Border Protection since 2009. There is more:
“U.S. state and local law enforcement agencies use Cellebrite’s researchers and tools as well, as does the U.S. military, to extract data from phones seized from suspected terrorists and others in battle zones.
“In July, months after the unknown third party provided the FBI with a method for getting into the San Bernardino phone — an iPhone 5C running iOS 9 — Cellebrite announced that it had developed its own technique for bypassing the phone’s password/encryption lock. And the company is confident that it will be able to deal successfully with future security changes Apple may make to its phones in the wake of the San Bernardino case…
“Data extracted from phones has eclipsed data extracted from desktop and laptop computers in recent years, since the former can yield not only detailed logs about a user’s activities, interests, and communications, but also, in many cases, map the user’s whereabouts over weeks and months to produce a pattern of life.” [1]
Bloomberg itself confirmed that Cellebrite Mobile Synchronization has indeed been working with the FBI. [2] CNN calls Cellebrite “the mysterious ‘outside party’…” [3]
This shouldn’t be a surprise at all, for we know that the NSA and the Israelis are almost two sides of the same coin. The New York Times itself agrees with the prevailing view that “the N.S.A. was routinely passing along the private communications of Americans to a large and very secretive Israeli military organization known as Unit 8200.” [4] One can reasonably say that Israel has a way in which the NSA is loused up: “Over the last decade, the NSA has significantly increased the surveillance assistance it provides to its Israeli counterpart, the Israeli SIGINT National Unit (ISNU; also known as Unit 8200), including data used to monitor and target Palestinians. In many cases, the NSA and ISNU work cooperatively with the British and Canadian spy agencies, the GCHQ and CSEC. The relationship has, on at least one occasion, entailed the covert payment of a large amount of cash to Israeli operatives.” [5]
Solomon Ehrmann, a Viennese Jew, would have been pleased with what Israel has been doing. In a speech delivered at the B’nai B’rith in 1902, Ehrmann envisioned a future in which “all of mankind will have been jewified and joined in union with the B’nai B’rith.” When that happens, “not only the B’nai B’rith but all of Judaism will have fulfilled its task.” [6]
Baruch Levy, one of Karl Marx’s correspondents, would have agreed. He declared: “The Jewish people taken collectively shall be its own Messias…In this new organization of humanity, the sons of Israel now scattered over the whole surface of the globe…shall everywhere become the ruling element without opposition…. “The governments of the nations forming the Universal or World-Republic shall all thus pass, without any effort, into Jewish hands thanks to the victory of the proletariat…Thus shall the promise of the Talmud be fulfilled, that, when the Messianic epoch shall have arrived, the Jews will control the wealth of all the nations of the earth.” [7]
Well, Judaism is seeking to fulfill “its task” through the state of Israel, which we all know by now is based on the Talmud. [8] But Solomon, Levy, and others could not understand that no force is strong enough to impede the triumph of Logos in history. Julian the Apostate tried but failed miserably. Voltaire, Helvitius, d’Holbach, D’Alembert, Lametrie, Diderot, and nearly all the leading lights of the French Revolution tried. Not a single one of them succeeded because they were essentially fighting against the moral and political order, which is based on reason.
If Hegel is right, that reason will triumph in the end, then Solomon, Levy and their minions cannot win. Their evil work is actually drawing them closer and closer to destruction. These people will continue to fail because they are blind to higher realities. They cannot not see that ultimate reason is the beginning and end of human history. They should have at least read Hegel’s position on the philosophy of history.
World history, Hegel tells us, “is governed by an ultimate design…whose rationality is not that of a particular subject, but a divine and absolute reason,” [9] and sometimes this divine and absolute reason has a cunning way of working itself out in history, irrespective of what evil men intend to do. This “divine and absolute reason,” says Hegel will “realize its end” in due time. [10]
The carnal man simply cannot understand this “cunning of reason” because he is again blind to higher metaphysics. Higher realities goes back to Heraclitus, Plato and Aristotle and was refined by people like Aquinas. It states that there is a mathematical, philosophical, moral, and political order in the universe and it is bigger than human beings.
Heraclitus wrote: “Listening not to me but to the Logos…” [11] According to scholar Eva Brann, Heraclitus “directs us not to intellectual self-reliance, not to seek some truth, but to comprehend and follow this truth: that said b the Logos.” [12] This Logos, according to Heraclitus, is both “a maxim and Wisdom Inarnate.” According to Brann’s interpretation of Heraclitus, “This great Logos has a wisdom, or rather it is the Wise thing, and this Wise Thing has a maxim, or rather it is that practical principle which guides everything through everything, relates all things to all things…” [13]
What Heraclitus and others of that era were trying to establish is that there is an order in this universe, which is undeniable. There is a mathematical, philosophical, esthetic, political and moral order. Any deviation from that order has serious consequences, including intellectual death. And anyone who studies the universe from a rational and truthful standpoint can recognize that order.
Even physicists and mathematicians like P. C. W. Davis, Sir Fred Hoyle, John D. Barrow, Frank J. Tipler, Sir Martin Rees, among others, have come to realized that the mathematical order in the universe demands an explanation. [14] That explanation cannot be attributed to chance at all. [15]
Rees himself argues that there are basically six numbers that sustain the physical properties of the entire universe. If you change any one of those six numbers (such as the strong nuclear force, gravitational force, etc.) “even to the tiniest degree, there would be no stars, no complex elements, no life.” Rees adds, “Had these numbers not been ‘well tuned,’ the gradual unfolding of layer upon layer of complexity would have been quenched.” [16]
Well, these numbers are “well tuned” because they were based on what the Greeks and St. John call the Logos, which the carnal mind ultimately rejects. This “absolute reason,” says Hegel, will bring about the end of history.
But looking at all the evil and chaos in this world, obviously the carnal man would think that there cannot be an “infinite power, which realizes its ends.” But Hegel would respond by saying that this is why this “infinite power” is “cunning” and is more powerful than human beings.
This “infinite power,” according to scholar Robert C. Tucker’s interpretation of Hegel, “fulfill its ulterior rational designs in an indirect and sly manner. It does so by calling into play the irrational element in human nature, the passions.” [17]
The carnal mind simply lacks vision and insight to understand all this because he limits himself only to the primitive idea that the material universe, as Karl Sagan hubristically propounded, “is all that is or was or ever will be.” [18]
The carnal mind cannot see that the materialist position lacks intellectual rigor to explain simple things like love, hate, justice, truth, hatred, etc. The best that the carnal mind can offer here is to posit that those things are simply illusions. As Nobel Laureate Francis Crick put it years ago in his book The Astonishing Hypothesis : “The Astonishing Hypothesis is that ‘You,’ your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.” [19]
Richard Dawkins makes the same assumption when he argues that the universe is “just electrons and selfish genes,” therefore “meaningless tragedies…are exactly what we should expect, along with equally meaningless good fortune.” [20]
The word “meaningless” itself implicitly assumes something called “meaningful.” And both words again assume that there is a “law” by which to differentiate what is “meaningful” and “meaningless.” And a law assumes a “lawgiver.” That’s what the carnal mind like Dawkins is promiscuously trying to deny! Perhaps people like Dawkins need to think goodness that they have never met people like Kant.
[1] Kim Zetter, “When the FBI Has a Phone It Can’t Crack, It Calls These Israeli Crackers,” The Intercept , November 1, 2016.
[2] Yaacov Benmeleh, “FBI Worked With Israel’s Cellebrite to Crack iPhone,” Bloomberg , March 30, 2016.
[3] Jose Pagliery, “Cellebrite is the FBI’s go-to phone hacker,” CNN , April 1, 2016.
[4] See James Bamford, “Israel’s N.S.A. Scandal,” NY Times , September 16, 2014.
[5] Glenn Greenwald, “Cash, Weapons, and Surveillance: The U.S. Is a Key Party to Every Israeli Attack,” The Intercept , August 4, 2014.
[6] Quoted in Albert S. Lindemann, Esau’s Tears: Anti-Semitism and the Rise of the Jews (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 331.
[7] Quoted in E. Michael Jones, The Jewish Revolutionary Spirit and Its Impact on World History (South Bend: Fidelity Press, 2008), 1066.
[8] Marissa Newman, “Netanyahu reported to say legal system based on Talmud,” Times of Israel , May 8, 2014.
[9] George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of World History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975), 28.
[10] Ibid., 35.
[11] Quoted in Eva Brann, The Logos of Heraclitus: the First Philosopher of the West on Its Most Interesting Term (Philadelphia: Paul Dry Books, 2011), 15.
[13] Ibid., 21.
[14] See for example John D. Barrow and Frank J. Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988); Martin Rees, Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape The Universe (New York: Basic Books, 2000); Paul Davis, The Goldilocks Enigma: Why Is the Universe Just Right for Life? (New York: Mariner Books, 2006); Fred Hoyle, Evolution from Space (New York: Touchtone, 1984); Fred Hoyle, The Intelligent Universe (New York: Rinehart, 1988).
[15] See Dean L. Overman, A Case Against Accident and Self-Organization (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1997).
[16] Martin Rees, Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape The Universe (New York: Basic Books, 2000), 161.
[17] Robert C. Tucker, “The Cunning of Reason in Hegel and Marx,” The Review of Politics , Vol. 18, NO 3, July 1956: 269-295.
[18] Carl Sagan, Cosmos (New York: Ballantine Book, 1980 and 1013), xxii.
[19] Francis Crick, The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994), 3.
[20] Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (New York: Basic Books, 1995), 132. Related Posts: | 1 |
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. A fuller picture of the Orlando attack emerged. The city’s mayor explained the decision to send a S. W. A. T. team into the gay club under siege early Sunday, saying that the gunman, Omar Mateen, was threatening to strap bombs to hostages. It was not clear whether he had explosives. The F. B. I. asked the public to help in tracing his history and movements. _____ 2. More Republican politicians were under scrutiny over their attitudes toward gays. On Tuesday, Anderson Cooper, the CNN anchor who has made a point of representing the gay perspective in coverage of the attack, grilled the Florida’s attorney general, above, over her fight against marriage. Democrats took over the U. S. Senate floor on Wednesday shortly after 11 a. m. and held it into the early hours of Thursday morning, arguing for stricter measures. Donald Trump set up a meeting with the N. R. A. to discuss an initiative that it has rejected: banning gun sales to people on terrorist watch lists. _____ 3. A few miles southwest of Orlando, a family was in shock after a heartbreaking loss. The remains of a boy dragged away by an alligator Tuesday night were found. He had been playing by his parents and sister at an artificial lake at a Disney resort by the Magic Kingdom theme park. _____ 4. Our special report examines the failings of the World Agency, which has been overwhelmed by doping scandals involving Russia. The agency, hamstrung by conflicting allegiances, has been lax in following up on reports of corruption and doping. When this Olympic medalist wrote to WADA in 2012, offering to reveal details of Russia’s systematic doping, the agency turned the email over to Russian officials, who themselves were said to be implicated in the cheating. _____ 5. What could have been a New York nightmare turned into a lesson in what’s right with the world. A man who fainted in the subway and plummeted to the tracks was rescued by strangers who leaped down to lift him out. “Without even knowing the person, who he is, no matter what denomination he subscribes to,” said a witness. “It was beautiful to see. ” _____ 6. The Federal Reserve did not raise its benchmark interest rate. Instead, it acknowledged that the U. S. economy remained weak and dialed back forecasts for future increases. “The labor market appears to have slowed down, and we need to assure ourselves that the underlying momentum in the economy has not diminished,” the Fed chairwoman, Janet Yellen, said. _____ 7. A much anticipated film hits theaters Thursday. Our reviewer says that “Finding Dory” is not at the level of its forerunner, Pixar’s 2003 masterpiece “Finding Nemo. ” But, he writes, “what ‘Dory’ lacks in dazzling originality it more than makes up for in warmth, charm and good humor. ” Analysts forecast a blockbuster box office for the opening weekend that could top $100 million. _____ 8. One of our stories today asks whether Netflix can survive the world it created. Networks and studios, once grateful for its streaming fees, now see the company as an existential threat. They’re developing competitive platforms and charging more for streaming rights, forcing Netflix to chase more subscribers and raise fees. Netflix “is caught in an arms race they invented,” as one analyst put it. Above, the company’s C. E. O. Reed Hastings. _____ 9. The U. S. took a major step toward including women in the draft. After intense debate, the Senate approved a broad military bill that included a requirement for young women to register for Selective Service when they turn 18, just as men must. A struggle with the House lies ahead, since its version of the bill did not include the draft provision. _____ 10. Mayor Bill de Blasio believes ferries can ease New York City’s commuting hassles. He’s putting more than $325 million of the city’s budget surplus into a municipal fleet that he predicts will eventually carry 4. 5 million passengers a year among the five boroughs. “Our aim is to make this thing as big as possible,” a deputy mayor said. “No guts, no glory. ” _____ 11. Finally, good news for the frequently caffeinated. A special panel of the World Health Organization dropped its classification of coffee as a possible carcinogen, saying instead that drinking coffee regularly could help protect against uterine and liver cancer. That accords with a large body of research showing that coffee can have a multitude of benefits, lowering rates of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and neurological disorders. (Not to mention getting us to work on time.) _____ 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 |
نشرت صحيفة "إيزفيستيا" مقالا للسيناتور أليكسي بوشكوف تحدث فيه عن لقائه القذافي، وتعاون وزيرة خارجية الولايات المتحدة السابقة مع الإرهابيين.
كتب بوشكوف:
سنحت لي الفرصة عام 2009 للقاء معمر القذافي في مكتبه بباب العزيزية في ضواحي طرابلس. كان القذافي هادئا وواثقا من نفسه ومن عظمته، ولم يخطر بباله بأن عليه أن يغادر يوما ما. لقد أذهلتني آماله التي علقها على باراك أوباما، حيث قال إن أوباما - "ابن إفريقيا"، وإنه يريد أن يبقى أوباما رئيسا للولايات المتحدة مدى الحياة. Sputnik Владимир Федоренко أليكسي بوشكوف
غير أن أوباما لم يعامل القذافي بالمثل، ولم يُعقد بينهما اللقاء الذي كان القذافي يعول عليه. بل إن ما حدث كان القضاء على القذافي وتغيير النظام. لقد لعب الناتو في الحرب ضد ليبيا دورا حاسما: إذ كانت 75 في المئة من القنابل والصواريخ التي أطلقها ضد ليبيا من صنع الولايات المتحدة. واليوم هيلاري كلينتون أحد أصحاب فكرة التدخل العسكري في ليبيا، تقف على بعد خطوة من منصب رئيس الولايات المتحدة.
وتنتمي كلينتون إلى جناح الغزاة في السياسة الأمريكية. وعندما عينت وزيرة للخارجية في ولاية أوباما الأولى، أطلقت العنان لغريزتها هذه.
ومهما قيل عن دور ساركوزي وكاميرون، اللذين أصرا على التدخل العسكري في ليبيا، فإن مسؤولية الحرب الليبية تقع على عاتق هيلاري كلينتون. لأنه لو قالت الولايات المتحدة "لا" آنذاك، لما أقدم حلفاؤها الصغار في الناتو على القيام بهذه العملية. ولكنها قالت "نعم". وعلى الرغم من أن أوباما وافق بتردد، فإن هيلاري كانت متحمسة جدا. Reuters Philippe Wojazer هيلاري كلينتون في مؤتمر اصدقاء ليبيا. باريس - 2011
واليوم عندما يتهم دونالد ترامب هيلاري بأنها سبب الثقب الأسود في ليبيا الذي يمتص من دون تمييز مقاتلي "القاعدة" و"داعش" وغيرهما من المجموعات الإرهابية، فإنه يقول الحقيقة. لأن هذا الثقب الأسود هي التي خلقته فعلا. أما عندما تتحدث هيلاري عن هذه الحرب، فإننا لا نسمع منها غير الكذب. فقبل بداية قصف طرابلس بالقنابل والصواريخ الذي استهدف تدمير الجيش الليبي والقضاء على القذافي، كانت هيلاري تصرح لقنوات التلفزة الأمريكية بأن "الحديث في ليبيا لا يدور حول إطاحة شخص ما". ولكنها في النهاية اعترفت بصورة غير مباشرة بالهدف الحقيقي للحرب الليبية عندما شاهدت صورة القذافي مقتولا "نحن جئنا ورأينا، لقد مات".
وقد حاولت هيلاري لاحقا توضيح هذا السلوك بسعيها لنشر الديمقراطية في ليبيا. ونحن نعرف الديمقراطية التي جلبوها إلى العراق، الذي بنتيجتها أصبح جنة للإرهابيين. والجنة الثانية أصبحت ليبيا بفضل النشاط الذي بذلته هيلاري، والجنة الثالثة خلقتها في سوريا.
يقول المعارض الليبي محمود جبريل عن لقائه هيلاري أنها طلبت منه ومن أنصاره بإصرار "نموذجا طوباويا" - فرض الديمقراطية وسيادة القانون في ليبيا، وقد حصلت على وعد بذلك، فالمعارضة كانت بحاجة إلى السلاح. وعندما حاولت تبرير سعيها للطوباوية، فإن هيلاري كلينتون ورئيسها أوصلا ليبيا إلى الواقع الذي تعيشه حاليا.
والجميع باستثناء الكسالى لا يتحدثون عن كارثة ليبيا بعد مقتل القذافي، حتى أن بعضًا في أوروبا يتحدثون عنه كإنسان تمكن من الحفاظ على النظام في شمال إفريقيا.
لقد كانت ليبيا في عهده خالية من المنظمات الراديكالية، وعندما طلب منه أسامة بن لادن في نهاية تسعينيات القرن الماضي السماح بفتح مكتب لـ "القاعدة" في ليبيا، رفض القذافي الطلب رفضا قاطعا. بعد ذلك، بدأت الأجهزة الأمنية الليبية تتعاون مع الأجهزة الأمنية الأمريكية والأوروبية في محاربة الأعمال الإرهابية. وعندما بدأت الحرب ضد القذافي في بداية عام 2011، حاول توضيح جوهر ما يجري في ليبيا لساسة الغرب.
حاول القذافي توضيح الأوضاع لطوني بلير قبل بداية الحرب: "الحديث يدور عن الجهاد. لديهم أسلحة وهم يرهبون الناس في الشوارع. ونحن لا نقاتلهم، بل هم يهاجموننا. أنا اقول الحقيقة. الوضع ببساطة هو: هناك منظمة تطلق على نفسها اسم "القاعدة في شمال أفريقيا" وشكلت خلايا نائمة في الولايات المتحدة قبل 9 سبتمبر/أيلول 2011 وحصلت حاليا على الأسلحة ويرهبون الشعب". Reuters POOL New توني بلير والقذافي
ولكن الغرب رد عليه بوقوفه إلى جانب الإرهابيين. وهنا انكشف السر، وهو أن الولايات المتحدة بحاجة إلى الإرهابيين للتخلص من الأنظمة غير المرغوب بها.
وقد بدأت الولايات المتحدة بتوريد الأسلحة إلى المعارضة الليبية بصورة سرية. وهناك معلومات تؤكد وقوف هيلاري وراء هذه العملية. بعد ذلك بدأت واشنطن عبر حلفائها في المنطقة بتوريد السلاح إلى المعارضة السورية، وكانت هيلاري على علم بذلك أيضا. وأخيرا، فإن ظهور ما يسمى بـ "دولة الخلافة" في العراق وانتقالها إلى سوريا جرى تحت أنظار إدارة أوباما. لذلك لم تتحدث هيلاري قط عن ضرورة القضاء على "داعش". | 1 |
The annual custom of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner suddenly seems uncomfortable if not untenable: Journalists mingling with Trump administration aides who loathe them, celebrities decrying Trump White House policies, and an entertainment headliner grappling with the tone and boldness of jokes about President Trump himself. But Samantha Bee is not waiting to see how this year’s soiree unfolds or if those involved decide to hold it at all. Instead, Ms. Bee, host of the topical TBS comedy show “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee,” and her colleagues are planning a that will take place in Washington on April 29, the same night as the Correspondents’ Association dinner. This alternative gala, which is being called “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner” and was announced on Monday, will be at the Willard Hotel. Ms. Bee said that it was not an attempt to comment on or compete with that other, banquet, but a night to include jokes about Mr. Trump that she and comedians want to make. “We’re not trying to supersede it,” she said in a telephone interview. “We just want to be there in case something happens — or doesn’t happen — and ensure that we get to properly roast the president. ” Ms. Bee said that she and her “Full Frontal” producers got the idea for their event after Mr. Trump’s election in November. “We were talking out loud about whether we thought the White House Correspondents’ dinner would change during a Trump presidency, or if it would even exist,” she said. “And then we thought, Why don’t we just do one, just to do it in the way that we would want it done if we were hosting it?” The “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner” will probably be shown on TBS in some form Ms. Bee said that those details were still being worked out, as was a lineup of talent. “We have binders full of people, but we don’t have any specifics to offer yet,” she said. Ms. Bee said that proceeds from her event would go to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The dinner held by the Correspondents’ Association, which advocates press accessibility at the White House and gives out journalism awards and scholarships, has come under scrutiny in recent years. Some news organizations and observers regard it as a atmosphere for reporters to hobnob with the officials they are supposed to be covering objectively and adversarially. (The New York Times stopped sending journalists to the dinner in 2008.) The event has also been the scene of two notorious incidents. At the 2006 dinner, its featured performer, Stephen Colbert, delivered a scathing satirical takedown of President George W. Bush. Mr. Colbert’s performance, in the guise of the arrogant political commentator he played on Comedy Central, appeared to offend Mr. Bush and several of his aides, though it was widely celebrated by television and internet viewers. (The next year, the Correspondents’ Association invited Rich Little.) In 2011, Mr. Trump, then a civilian and a guest at the dinner, sat as he was mocked relentlessly by President Obama and Seth Meyers for having promoted the false theory that Mr. Obama was not born in the United States. Mr. Obama said of Mr. Trump at the time: “Now he can get to focusing on the issues that matter. Like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened at Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?” Mr. Trump lashed out the next morning, in an interview with The Times, saying Mr. Meyers had “no talent” and acknowledging his discomfort — “I am not looking to laugh along with my enemies” — while also speaking at length about possibly running for the presidency. Given the open hostility that Mr. Trump and his administration have displayed for the news media, some journalists have wondered if the Correspondents’ Association dinner is a tradition worth preserving. Would Mr. Trump even attend this year, and what entertainer could make jokes about him without getting underneath his thin skin? Comedians have only started figuring out how to riff on Mr. Trump as president, and there is a wide gulf between what Trump supporters and detractors think is funny about him. The White House Correspondents’ Association “looks forward to hosting our annual dinner this year as we do every year to celebrate the First Amendment, reward some of the finest reporting of the past year and recognize promising young student journalists,” its president, Jeff Mason, said in a statement. The association has not announced its entertainer for the April dinner, and Ms. Bee said she had no expectation of being asked. “My assumption is that that invitation is not coming,” she said, “and I don’t blame them for that at all. ” Addressing the Correspondents’ Association, she said: “I honestly can’t imagine what they’re thinking, but I really wish them well. I think that’s going to be very challenging. Does 3 Doors Down do comedy? I don’t know, maybe they do. ” | 1 |
Sydney H. Schanberg, a correspondent for The New York Times who won a Pulitzer Prize for covering Cambodia’s fall to the Khmer Rouge in 1975 and inspired the film “The Killing Fields” with the story of his Cambodian colleague’s survival during the genocide of millions, died on Saturday in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He was 82. His death was confirmed by Charles Kaiser, a friend and former Times reporter, who said Mr. Schanberg had a heart attack on Tuesday. A restive, intense, newspaperman with bulldog tenacity, Mr. Schanberg was a nearly ideal foreign correspondent: a adventurer who distrusted officials, relied on himself in a war zone and wrote vividly of political and military tyrants and of the suffering and death of their victims with the passion of an eyewitness to history. In the spring of 1975, as Pol Pot’s Communist guerrillas closed in on the capital, Phnom Penh, after five years of civil war in Cambodia, Mr. Schanberg and his assistant, Dith Pran, refused to heed directives from Times editors in New York to evacuate the city and remained behind as nearly all Western reporters, diplomats and senior officials of Cambodia’s Lon Nol government fled for their lives. “Our decision to stay,” Mr. Schanberg wrote later, “was founded on our belief — perhaps, looking back, it was more a devout wish or hope — that when the Khmer Rouge won their victory, they would have what they wanted and would end the terrorism and brutal behavior we had written so often about. ” But when the guerrillas rolled in, after a brief period of calm, there was widespread shooting, looting and many executions. Mr. Schanberg and Mr. Dith were seized and threatened with death. “Most of the soldiers are teenagers,” Mr. Schanberg noted in his last dispatch. “They are universally grim, robotlike, brutal. Weapons drip from them like fruit from trees — grenades, pistols, rifles, rockets. ” Mr. Dith’s pleas saved Mr. Schanberg, and the two journalists took refuge in the French Embassy compound, a vestige of colonial rule. Later, Mr. Dith and other Cambodians were expelled from the compound and forced to join an exodus of civilians into the countryside. It was the beginning of a monstrous social experiment: the expulsion of millions from cities and the suppression of educated classes to recast Cambodia as an agrarian utopia. The failed experiment over the next four years cost the lives of two million people to starvation, disease, brutality and murder. Two weeks after his capture, Mr. Schanberg and other foreigners were evacuated by truck to Thailand, where he filed the first account of the fall and emptying of Phnom Penh. He told of massacres and fires, of streets and roads littered with bodies, of forced marches that turned the city overnight into a graveyard. “Two million people suddenly moved out of the city in stunned silence — walking, bicycling, pushing cars that had run out of fuel, covering the roads like a human carpet,” he wrote. “A city became an echo chamber of silent streets lined with abandoned cars and gaping, empty shops. Streetlights burned eerily for a population that was no longer there. ” Mr. Schanberg returned to New York. Overwhelmed with guilt over having to leave Mr. Dith behind, he asked for time off to write about his experiences, to help Mr. Dith’s refugee wife and four children establish a new life in San Francisco and to begin the seemingly hopeless task of finding his friend. He was showered with awards, including the Pulitzer, which he said he shared with Mr. Dith. He also became a metropolitan editor and columnist at The Times. For years there was no news of Mr. Dith, who had disguised his educated background and survived beatings, backbreaking labor and a diet of insects, rodents and as little as a tablespoon of rice a day. In 1978, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and replaced Pol Pot with a client regime. Mr. Dith escaped over the border with Thailand in 1979 and was soon reunited with Mr. Schanberg. After moving Mr. Dith and his family to New York and helping him obtain a job as a photographer at The Times, Mr. Schanberg wrote “The Death and Life of Dith Pran,” a 1980 cover article for The New York Times Magazine, which was later published as a book. The story became the basis for Roland Joffé’s 1984 movie, “The Killing Fields,” starring Sam Waterston as Mr. Schanberg and Dr. Haing S. Ngor as Mr. Dith. Dr. Ngor, who won an Oscar for best supporting actor, was a physician who had also survived the Cambodian holocaust. The film was widely praised. “‘The Killing Fields’ emerges as an emotionally charged vision of hell on earth, a jolting reminder of the wanton destruction of a gentle people by another of history’s madmen,” Kathleen Carroll wrote in The Daily News. But Vincent Canby of The Times called it “diffuse and wandering,” adding, “Something vital is missing, and that’s the emotional intensity of Mr. Schanberg’s prose. ” Sydney Hillel Schanberg was born in Clinton, Mass. on Jan. 17, 1934, to Louis Schanberg, a grocery store owner, and the former Freda Feinberg. Sydney attended Clinton schools and graduated from Harvard in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in American history. Drafted in 1956, he served as a reporter for an Army newspaper in Frankfurt. He joined The Times in 1959 as a copy boy and became a staff reporter in 1960, covering general assignments and government agencies. In 1964, he began covering the New York State Legislature, and in 1967, he was named Albany bureau chief, in charge of state government reporting. He married Janice Sakofsky in 1967. The couple had two daughters, Jessica and Rebecca, who survive him, and were divorced. In 1995 he married Jane Freiman, who also survives him. Mr. Schanberg joined The Times’s foreign staff in 1969 and was named bureau chief in New Delhi. He covered India’s war with Pakistan in 1971. He met Mr. Dith on a trip to Phnom Penh in 1972, and as Mr. Schanberg’s reporting from Vietnam and Cambodia grew, The Times hired Mr. Dith as his aide and translator. As the Southeast Asia correspondent from 1973 to 1975, Mr. Schanberg focused increasingly on the Khmer Rouge insurgency. After his foreign assignments, Mr. Schanberg was The Times’s metropolitan editor from 1977 to 1980 and wrote a column twice a week, with a focus on New York, from 1981 to 1985. It was discontinued after he criticized the Times’s coverage of the proposed Westway highway in Manhattan. The Times offered him another assignment, but he left the paper after 26 years to write a column for New York Newsday, where he remained for a decade. Mr. Schanberg, who lived in New Paltz, N. Y. returned to Cambodia in 1989 and 1997 and wrote articles for Vanity Fair. He also wrote for Penthouse and The Nation and columns of media criticism for The Village Voice. “Beyond the Killing Fields,” an anthology of his reporting, was published in 2010. Besides the Pulitzer, he won two George Polk Memorial awards, two Overseas Press Club awards and Sigma Delta Chi’s distinguished journalism prize. “I’m a very lucky man to have had Pran as my reporting partner and even luckier that we came to call each other brother,” Mr. Schanberg said after Mr. Dith died in 2008. “His mission with me in Cambodia was to tell the world what suffering his people were going through in a war that was never necessary. It became my mission too. My reporting could not have been done without him. ” | 1 |
About | | Archive David Rives is known for his presentation "The Heavens Declare the Glory of God" and as host of TBN's "Creation in the 21st Century." His GPS observatory-class telescope allows David to share his passion for the heavens with others through astro-photography and astronomical events. THE HEAVENS DECLARE: Yes, creationists can be real scientists, too Exclusive: David Rives offers testable hypotheses supported by data from Bible-believers ...more | 0 |
Our bad-tempered behaviour is not a cry for help, say old men 15-10-14 ELDERLY men have warned the public not to try making friends with them. As it emerged that many men will spend their declining years alone, aged males confirmed that beneath their crusty, irascible exterior there was only more irascibility. 79-year-old Roy Hobbs said: “Some people seem to think that when I tell them to fuck off I actually mean ‘I crave companionship, come and have some cake’. “What I actually mean is ‘fuck off’. “I spent most of my middle years hiding alone in a shed. Now I’m a widower and the kids have left home I can at last come in the house, because there’s nobody else in it.” Hobbs warned especially against anyone trying to pick him up in a minibus and take him to some kind of community centre. “I’ve got a small hostile dog and a cupboard full of Fray Bentos pies and I am fine with that.”
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0 comments Obama was speaking to donors at a private fundraiser in California when he railed against former House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa for calling his administration corrupt.
“Here’s a guy who called my administration perhaps the most corrupt in history — despite the fact that actually we have not had a major scandal in my administration,” Obama said!
Obama has had more scandals than any president in history! Just because the MSM refuses to report on them does not mean they do not exist!
Breitbart reports :
Issa was the key figure in several investigations of the Obama administration, including the Fast and Furious debacle with Attorney General Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton’s failure in Benghazi, the failures in the Veterans Affairs department, and the IRS using its power to target conservative Tea Party groups for investigations.
Obama accused Issa of wasting taxpayer money “on trumped-up investigations that have led nowhere.”
“This guy has spent all his time simply trying to obstruct, to feed the same sentiments that resulted in Donald Trump becoming their nominee,” Obama said.
We could list 77 scandals, but here are just 7 of the biggest!
1.) IRS Targeting Scandal
In 2013, Lois Lerner, former director of the IRS Exempt Organizations division, admitted that officials in the IRS’ Cincinnati office acted improperly. 2.) VA Waiting List
The Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general first noted the waiting list problem at a Phoenix clinic in 2014 and then found other clinics with similar problems. Veterans were placed on phony waiting lists, and some even died while waiting for care. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned from his position. 3.) GSA Spending Spree
In 2012, Martha N. Johnson, the administrator of the General Services Administration, resigned after the federal procurement agency was engulfed in a controversy. The department was accused of allowing excessive spending on travel and conferences for the agency and employees. 4.) Attack on the Benghazi Compound
On Sept. 11, 2012, weeks before a presidential election, terrorists attacked U.S. government facilities in Benghazi, Libya. Obama administration officials initially blamed this attack on a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim YouTube video that spun out of control. 5.) Clinton Emails
It was the Benghazi committee that first discovered that before, during, and after her time as secretary of state, Clinton maintained a private email server. This prompted the FBI to investigate questions of whether Clinton violated the law in terms of storing classified information. 6.) Fast and Furious Gun Walking
Operation Fast and Furious was a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives program, meant to be a sting operation. It allowed about 2,000 guns to flow to Mexican drug trafficking organizations under federal supervision before authorities lost control of the guns. 7.) Solyndra Subsidies
The Energy Department provided a $535 million loan guarantee to the politically connected solar panel firm Solyndra as part of the 2009 stimulus bill. Not long after building its factory, the California firm filed for bankruptcy protection and an FBI investigation ensued. The company did not find a buyer and eventually closed down. So Barack Obama…just shut up! | 0 |
BALTIMORE — Under a gloomy sky, a crowd of a few dozen people assembled in the yard outside a stone church, a mostly white group who carried posters and wore with messages like “Black Lives Matter,” “Stay Woke” and, simply, “BMORE Kind. ” They had come on a Saturday evening to mourn a man they did not know, killed some 200 miles from here. “Over the past few days, I learned he was the kind of man I would like to have as a neighbor,” Sarah Rice, the organizer of the vigil, said of Timothy Caughman, a man who, days earlier, stumbled into a New York City police station with stab wounds to his chest and back before he died. Ms. Rice repeated facts about Mr. Caughman she had gleaned from news coverage — his passion for meeting celebrities, his skill as a boxer. “He had a charm,” she added, “that would fit right in with our neighborhood. ” The authorities in New York said that James Harris Jackson, a white Army veteran, had traveled to New York City from Baltimore with a hatred of black men and the intention of killing them, and he chose New York with the hope of drawing more attention. The authorities said Mr. Jackson attacked Mr. Caughman with a sword in Midtown Manhattan last Monday night as he scavenged for cans. Mr. Jackson later turned himself in to the police. The case’s connection to Hampden, a rapidly evolving neighborhood in North Baltimore, is a tenuous one: Mr. Jackson’s most recent address was a rowhouse here. Before that, he had lived elsewhere in the city and in Towson, just over the city line in Baltimore County. And in the time he was in Hampden, neighbors said, he kept a low profile, spotted on the occasional visit to a liquor store or walking around, avoiding conversation on a block where residents tend to be chatty. Still, it has been enough of a link to an unsettling act of violence that it has compelled some residents to consider their neighborhood’s complicated racial history. “He could have been behind any door anywhere, quietly living with this hatred when it burst out,” said Mary Pat Clarke, the city councilwoman whose district includes Hampden. “But it was here. It was a block from here. ” She added, “It’s shocking and heartbreaking, and we take it personally here. ” Some have described Hampden as West Virginia meets Brooklyn, and in some ways, it looks the part. Aging industrial buildings perched on slopes that make up the neighborhood’s western edge give way to a vibrant strip on West 36th Street, known as The Avenue, lined with quirky shops, a charcuterie bar and a Italian cafe. Some evenings, The Avenue pulses with crowds enjoying dinner and drinks or perusing book and record stores, many coming from outside the neighborhood. The side streets are almost as lively children play as their parents hang out together and other neighbors walk by with their dogs. Residents say they were attracted to Hampden by the stores and restaurants within walking distance, as well as its access to nature. The wave of newcomers has driven up real estate prices and is changing the face of what had long been an insular and almost entirely white enclave. “There’s a new breed that’s moving in,” Clarence Harris, who has lived in Hampden for almost 50 years, said from his front stoop, where he joked with neighbors and pointed out Killer, the orange street cat he called “Hampden’s mascot. ” “I guess you’d call them yuppies. They’re always trying to buy my house. ” Baltimore has a history of being a Balkanized city, with neighborhoods often cleaving along ethnic and religious lines, said Elizabeth M. Nix, a history professor at the University of Baltimore. Hampden, she said, has always been slightly different, its identity forged by the workers drawn from the South and Appalachia to the jobs in nearby mills and factories, and its geographic isolation from the rest of the city, with a river, a highway, park space and the campus of Johns Hopkins University hemming it in. “It was very much a place of its own,” Professor Nix said. Not unlike many communities in America, newer generations in Hampden have been left to confront an ugly racial past. The neighborhood gained broader notoriety from news accounts of racially tinged episodes, including one in the late 1980s when a black family was chased out by white residents who broke their windows, threw rocks and hurled racial epithets, and another in 1987 when there was a melee outside of a school involving black and white students that community leaders described as an outburst of mounting racial tension. Bruce Bryan, a jewelry maker with a shop on The Avenue, grew up in Waverly, a nearby neighborhood. Mr. Bryan, who is white, remembered coming to Hampden with a black friend to buy wheels for their skateboards, and people in the neighborhood throwing bottles at them. “This neighborhood was not cute when I was a kid,” Mr. Bryan said. Many neighbors said those attitudes were no longer welcome in Hampden, even if people who hold racist views might still be around. “I’m here,” said Jenifer Almond, a white resident who moved in about a year ago. “I’m an energy healer. I’m going to send out lots of love. ” As much as the neighborhood has changed, Hampden remains largely white, and its reputation has been hard to shake. Some black residents who are recent arrivals said that when they tell other black people elsewhere in the city where they live, they are met with a cocked eyebrow. Mr. Jackson’s arrest has been a reminder of that legacy. “It brought up the undercurrent of uneasy race relations,” Marlene Underwood, who moved to Hampden three years ago, said. Black residents in Hampden said they did not face the kind of outright hostility that led previous families to flee. These days, though, they say they encounter far more subtle reminders that they are still very much in the minority in Hampden. Shacara Waithe, who has lived in Hampden for four years, said she takes her daughter to story time at the local library every week, and has noticed that she is typically the only black mother in the room a few are Asian, and the dozens of others are white. She also recalled a neighbor warning on a community message board that a “tall black guy” had been spotted walking around. “That tall black guy is my husband,” she replied. “He’s a pilot. ” Ms. Underwood, Ms. Waithe’s neighbor, said that sometimes when she sees other black people in the neighborhood, she cannot help wondering: “Is that our new neighbor, or are they just passing through?” As residents heard of Mr. Caughman’s killing and how the suspect had lived in their neighborhood, some admitted that, initially, they assumed he might be a descendant of Hampden’s old guard. But as they learned otherwise, there were some who found the situation even more alarming. Mr. Jackson’s background aligned more closely with the people moving in: He was a transplant, who grew up in the suburbs, and was educated in one of Baltimore’s elite private schools. “There’s this new Hampden, and there’s old Hampden,” Ms. Waithe said, standing along The Avenue, holding her daughter after the vigil. “And he’s not old Hampden, and that’s scary. ” | 1 |
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The federal government is using the concept of "sustainable development" to usurp complete and unchallengeable control over housing in the United States. There is one group of patriots, however, that refuses to stand idly by while the fundamental right to property is abolished by the bureaucracy.
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the federal agency leading the attack against property rights and against local, accountable self-government after the fashion favored and established by our ancestors.
John Anthony of Sustainable Freedom Lab recognizes the threat and is warning his countrymen about the scope and severity of the federal assault. "HUD uses our own money to bring communities to heel," Anthony said in a statement released on the group's website October 28. "By saying “no,” we can bring the agency to its knees. We do not need Congress, we do not have the time to wait for deceptive legislation and we cannot depend on political leaders drunk with inside the beltway power. We need our neighbors, political and non-political, building the same coalitions our forefathers built to survive in this new rugged land," he added.
Anthony's assessment of HUD's ultimate aim is spot on. This federal agency and the programs it administers are nothing more than regulations conceived and written by desk-bound dictators who are given unjust authority by the president and whose diktats are beyond the reach of the people who are forced to obey these directives or face being subjected to the full panoply of punishments.
HUD's particular area of unaccountable absolutism is the environment and housing. In this latest effort, the agency's underlying policy is the promotion of “sustainability,” which is globalist newspeak for totalitarianism under one world government.
Here’s the connection, as uncovered in an article published by Property Values Defense, a grassroots organization that “unites attorneys, public officials and activists nationwide to stop federal agency overreach”: HUD, DOT and the EPA have been instrumental in fostering regionalism since 1993. In 2009, the three agencies formed a “Partnership for Sustainable Development” for the express purpose of merging their unique authorities toward the common goal of advancing sustainable regions. In June 2016, the agency also teamed with the Department of Education to promote regional Equity Assistance Centers to advance income integration in elementary and secondary classrooms. These agencies are working feverishly to infill suburbs by transplanting urban families into the outlying communities, which then merge with nearby counties and towns into larger regions managed by unelected councils. Even HUD’s new Assessment of Fair Housing, the document applicants must complete to receive AFFH related grants, requires grant recipients to align their local plan with a regional plan.
Collectivism is being forced on Americans under the guise of protecting the environment and providing “affordable housing” to the less advantaged.
The true purpose, of course, is to collect all mankind into urban mega-centers in order to facilitate the imposition of top-down, strong central government rule, otherwise known as global fascism.
John Anthony rightly perceives that the problem is not one of development, but one of despotism.
"HUD [and other federal agencies] have converged into a massive administration-led autocracy, pre-planning neighborhoods, living patterns, school attendance and even the social makeup of your community," he said.
"Communities that resist face compliance reviews, withdrawal of millions in HUD funding or even civil rights lawsuits that will break the financial backs of most towns and counties. And, of course the counterfeit charges of not caring for America’s poor and needy."
That last charge will be the wedge will use to divide Americans and to convince the purportedly neglected to accept federal tyranny in exchange for "equal housing opportunities."
Of course, it is one thing for a city or county to want to resist the federal regulatory restrictions, but it is not as easy to maintain this staunch sovereignty in the face of a bag of federal cash and other incentives for playing ball with the bureaucrats.
States, counties, and cities must continue, however, refusing to dance to the tune played by the federal bandleader. They must reinforce American federalism and civil liberties by emphasizing in city and county codes and state laws the sovereignty that exists in states and that exists only on loan to , no matter how much money the latter can use to bribe the former.
When it comes to caving to the central government's offers: caveat emptor .
The familiar “carrot and stick” gambit is the coin of the realm in D.C. From police to highways, from environmental standards to labor policies, has stomped its heavy jackboot into all aspects of life — areas that were once the bailiwick of states, cities, or the people themselves.
Anthony and the Sustainable Freedom Lab offer seminars to show municipalities methods for charting a course around HUD's haranguing and around the centrifugal spin of "sustainable development."
The course, entitled "Ending HUD's Tyranny," teaches local governments to "turn the tables on the government’s argument that because you reject HUD overreach, you are a 'racist that does not care about African Americans, women or the protected classes.'"
While such lessons are useful and urgently needed if American cities and counties are to remain independent, free to forge their own infrastructure plans and housing ordinances, there is a more permanent, constitutionally sound system for forcing the federal beast back inside its constitutional cage: the law of agency.
As I wrote in an article reporting on a Georgia county's effort to nullify HUD's regulatory remaking of the right to property: Upon its ratification, the states, as principals, gave limited power to the central government to act as their agent in certain matters of common concern: defense, taxation, interstate commerce, etc. The authority of the agent — in this case — is derived from the agreement that created the principal/agent relationship. Whether the agent is lawfully acting on behalf of the principal is a question of fact. The agent may legally bind the principal only insofar as its actions lie within the contractual boundaries of its power. Should the agent exceed the scope of its authority, not only is the principal not held accountable for those acts, but the breaching agent is legally liable to the principal (and any affected third parties who acted in reliance on the agent’s authority) for that breach.
Under the law of agency, the principal may revoke the agent’s authority at will. It would be unreasonable to oblige the principals to honor promises of an agent acting outside the boundaries of its authority as set out in the document that created the agency in the first place.
Imagine the chaos that would be created if principals were legally bound by the acts of an agent that “went rogue” and acted prejudicially to the interests of the principals from whom he derived any power in the first place. It is a fundamental tenet of the law of agency that the agent may lawfully act only for the benefit of the principal.
Finally, despite seeming like we are constantly "fighting an uphill battle against a government that is corrupt, dishonest packed with legions of uniformed bureaucrats," there are many avenues now open to cities and counties that lead to liberty and the protection of the right to own property and to the permanent ostracism of the globalists and their sustainability scam. | 1 |
The developers of the flawed but original medieval brawler For Honor are getting a lot of heat from the game’s player base over its progression system and microtransactions. [When Redditor bystander007 calculated that unlocking everything in the game would require either over $730 in microtransactions or 2. 5 years of gameplay, the community effectively burst into flame. Most people would frown on spending $60 in microtransactions for a title spending over $700 in a title that already cost $ $220 — depending on which edition was bought — wasn’t received particularly well, to say the least. For Honor Director Damien Kieken responded to the concern in an interview on Ubisoft’s Warrior’s Den Weekly Livestream (at the 24 minute mark). His answer? Players were never supposed to unlock everything in the game in the first place. Kieken said that the team “never had an intention for you to unlock everything in the game,” adding that it “doesn’t really make any sense. ” He described For Honor as a PvP fighting game with “RPG mechanics” layered on. He then compared the dynamic to MMORPG World of Warcraft, asserting that “you would never try to unlock everything for all the characters. ” There are problems with this analogy. First, that is neither how most RPGs nor most fighting games work. Second, For Honor is hardly an MMO like World of Warcraft in all but the broadest definition of the term. Kieken went further: “We forecasted that most players would play one to three characters. And that’s what we see today in our game. Most players focus on one character, one hero, and others go up to two or three heroes. All of the design is based around that. ” But all that really tells consumers is that the pricing structure has been arranged to make each unlockable item as expensive as possible within the time they spend playing. Kieken went so far as to compare the cosmetic items to endgame content, like the rewards for World of Warcraft’s activities. If you don’t like it, Kieken suggests you simply change your expectations. “Completionist” players could focus less on their ability to gain tangible rewards or progression and more on reaching “reputation one” level on all heroes and working from there. The For Honor community remains less than impressed by the response. While the game is certainly fun to play, it has committed the cardinal sin of pushing successively more elaborate and then stuffing the game full of microtransactions to supplement its otherwise glacial progression. Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both. | 0 |
Home Search Posted by Pamela Geller
Clinton’s most emailed aid in the US State Department, Jake Sullivan, used personal email to talk with Clinton about bringing down Libya . Unsecured servers — open for all to see.
Hillary’s Leadership in Libya led to:
Prior to the February 17, 2011, “Day of Rage,” Libya had a national budget surplus of 8.7 percent of GDP in 2010, with oil production at 1.8 million barrels per day, on track to reach its goal of 3 million barrels per day. Currently, oil production has decreased by over 80 percent. Following the revolution, the Libyan economy contracted by an estimated 41.8 percent, with a national deficit of 17.1 percent GDP in 2011.
Before the revolution, Libya was a secure, prospering, secular Islamic country and a critical ally providing intelligence on terrorist activity post–September 11, 2001. Qaddafi was no longer a threat to the United States. Yet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton strongly advocated and succeeded in convincing the administration to support the Libyan rebels with a no-fly zone, intended to prevent a possible humanitarian disaster that turned quickly into all-out war. Huma Abedin human network graph based on WikiLeaks’ Clinton Emails Courtesy of Pamela Geller 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 |
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Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are standing on a street corner waiting for a bus. As the bus approaches, Obama grabs Hillary and tosses her out on to the street, where she is then run over by the oncoming bus.
Of course, this would never happen – literally. Neither Obama nor Clinton would ever be caught dead on a bus. Under it, yes - but not in one.
Naturally, I’m kidding about Barack tossing Hillary under the bus. He has not the strength to do so. Again – kidding. These are the jokes. I’m here all night.
But seriously – it does appear that Obama has figuratively thrown her highness under the bus, again, for her ever-growing email scandal. I say again, for this isn’t the first time the president has done so.
In 2015, when asked about Hillary’s private server, Obama stated , “The policy of my administration is to encourage transparency, which is why my emails, the Blackberry I carry around, all those records are available and archived.” Translation – I don’t know what she has been doing, but I follow the law.
My buddy Tim Brown at Freedom Outpost reported that both Obama and Biden, prior to the 2012 election, threw Hillary under the bus over the Benghazi scandal. Both men claimed they had no knowledge that those in Benghazi requested more security prior to the attack. Biden stated during a Vice Presidential debate that year that, “We [Biden and Obama] weren’t told they wanted more security. We did not know they wanted more security there,” effectively hanging it on Hillary.
It’s common knowledge of the disdain the Obamas have for the Clintons, and vice versa. As far out radical as Obama is, I don’t think he’s a crook – or if he is, he is better at hiding it. Obama doesn’t appear to have sold the White House to highest bidder the way Hillary did at State – or selling naked options on her potential to become president.
At this point, it seems Barack is probably tiring of constantly having to defend a woman he really can’t stand, which is why, in my estimation, he is once again hanging her out to dry.
Just yesterday, White House spokes-punk Josh Earnest said that the White House stood by FBI Director James Comey on Monday as a man of 'integrity' and 'principle' in the face of a Democrat-led assault on his character and intentions. This is a major blow to Clinton – one I’m sure she is furious over.
The Daily Mail reports Earnest stated at a daily briefing that, “The president’s assessment of his [Comey] integrity and his character has not changed. The president doesn’t believe he’s secretly strategizing to benefit one candidate or one political party.” This, despite attacks on Comey’s character by Clinton, her surrogates, and now “Dirty” Harry Reid.
In a rather surprising turn, Earnest even defended President George W. Bush for his selection of Comey. This is highly unusual, as it is this White House’s historic M.O. to blame Bush for literally everything.
I don’t know why the White House seems to be separating itself from the Clinton camp. If I had to guess, beyond the hatred factor, I’d say that Obama has calculated that, at this point, his legacy is far more important than a president Hillary, and he does not wish to be forever connected to the scandal-ridden candidate. It’s probably a fair calculation. That, and maybe by favoring Comey in this war, he might himself purchase some good will to keep his involvement under wraps. Don't forget to Like Freedom Outpost on Facebook , Google Plus , & Twitter . You can also get Freedom Outpost delivered to your Amazon Kindle device here . | 0 |
Or, how to stop worrying and love staving off the dystopian nightmare that threatens. Trump's victory party By Liam Miller / filmsforaction.org
Here we are. President Trump.
I’m going to say it again. The pain will stop sooner. We have to toughen ourselves up.
President Trump.
Look. I’m not surprised.
Turnout was low. Trump and Clinton each got 58 million votes and change. But it was enough to hurl Trump into office.
The polls were close; but Clinton’s supporters just haven’t been passionate enough, while Trump’s supporters are all too.
We’re looking at a bad situation. Potentially nightmarish. But we’re also looking at the one situation that can get people to start working together who might otherwise have simply continued to jockey for power. (I’m looking at you, establishment Democrats.)
Mind you. It’s still wretched. But look at it this way: now, we can deal with our racist, sexist, patriarchist history head on.
Every Sanders supporter is, deep inside, saying “I told you so”. And they’re right.
Virtually every poll had Bernie thumping Trump soundly. All the arguments people make in favor of Trump, which they seemed to think outweighed his flaws, included bucking the system. All of those people would have voted for Bernie. Someone very close to me, who had been a Republican for four decades, registered Democrat to vote for Bernie in the primary; and they voted for Trump yesterday.
Bernie was the people's candidate; independents (who now comprise 45% of the electorate) favored him 2:1. There's no doubt he would have trounced Trump; but there is also no doubt that Bernie's ideas are America's ideals. We just can't let these lunatics have their way with the country.
So look. There’s really no time to lose. Let’s get the ball rolling. The midterms are two years away; we need to win big. Trump has a Republican Congress; dear lord, the horror. There's a presidential election to win two years after that. Local elections up and down the line. And a lot of grassroots organizing, fundraising, and door-knocking to accomplish.
At least the Koch brothers and most of the establishment Republicans hate him too.
Pull together, people. We got this. This work is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License 3.5 · | 0 |
Elections 2016
Vice Presidential nominee Tim Kaine is taking aim at the NRA, saying he’s done what he can about “common sense” gun laws in his home state of Virginia, but has watched Congress falter in the face of the gun lobby. “We have to make a decision about what matters to us,” said Kaine in an opinion piece published by Time magazine Tuesday. “We have to treat this like the public health crisis it is.” Kaine notes that he is a gun owner and that he supports the Second Amendment.
“It needs to be said that sugarcoating this sort of thing isn’t going to make it better,” Kaine also argued during his subsequent interview. “Neither Hillary Clinton nor I can stand Donald Trump, that’s common knowledge, but there is one thing about his ridiculous rhetoric I have to agree with, and that’s that political correctness in this country has long ceased to be useful. Today’s approach revolves around directness and no-beating-around-the-bush kind of mentality when it comes to communication.”
He continued, “That’s precisely the reason why we need to tackle the gun safety issue head on and without pardon. It’s a burning problem that is affecting millions of Americans every single day, and as such, it represents an emergency. At the end of the day, public health is not something that should be neglected for the obvious reasons, and whether we’d like to admit it or not, the public health of America today is becoming increasingly gangrenous.”
“Guns have found their way to every single layer of society and have become the preferred method of resolving disputes and mere disagreements,” Kaine said. “We must put a stop to that and I’m happy to announce that Hillary Clinton has come up with the perfect solution for this problem. She is going to modify Obamacare from its existing state into a comprehensive healthcare program that’s going to include both voluntary, but also mandatory gun-addiction therapy.”
He also said, “That way, Republicans who just want to talk and have their side of the story heard will be listened to instead of ignored and left to their own inner demons, which tend to come up to the surface via a weapon of some sort. On the other hand, Republicans who own more than one firearm and/or shoot it regularly either at a firing range or somewhere else will be summoned to a mandatory conversation with a licensed gun-addiction psychotherapist who will make sure to explain to them that it’s perfectly okay to be a liberal and own a gun. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.”
“And the best part? They won’t have to pay a cent for it – it will all be covered by the federal budget. So, even if you happen to be a recurring Republican and gun owner, don’t worry, we can fix you. The Hillary Clinton administration will make sure to give back to its citizens just as much as it takes from them. And when you take a Republican’s gun, you’re basically de-Americanizing him. We are going to change that. Obamacare will become a symbol for fewer weapons in the country, which could ultimately result in a Nobel peace prize for Hillary Clinton. Only this time, naturally, it won’t be just a fictional recognition. Unlike Obama, President Clinton will actually be given a plaque,” Kaine concluded. Tim Kaine: “Hillary Will Modify Obamacare To Include Gun-Addiction Therapy” Share this: | 0 |
DETROIT — On the face of it, Ana Rivera could have had almost any choice when it came to educating her two sons. For all the abandoned buildings and houses in her neighborhood in the southwest part of this city, national charter school companies had seen a market and were setting up shop within blocks of each other, making it easier to find a charter school than to buy a carton of milk. But hers became the story of public education in a city grasping for its comeback: lots of choice, with no good choice. She enrolled her older son, Damian, at the charter school across from her house, where she could watch him walk into the building. He got all A’s and said he wanted to be an engineer. But the summer before seventh grade, he found himself in the back of a classroom at a science program at the University of Michigan, struggling to keep up with students from Detroit Public Schools, known as the worst urban district in the nation. They knew the human body is made up of many cells he had never learned that. When his school stopped assigning homework, Ms. Rivera tried enrolling Damian at other charters, but the deadlines were past, the applications onerous. Finally, she found him a scholarship at a Catholic school, where he struggled to rise above D’s all year. “He doesn’t want to hear the word engineering,” she said. Michigan leapt at the promise of charter schools 23 years ago, betting big that choice and competition would improve public schools. It got competition, and chaos. Detroit schools have long been in decline academically and financially. But over the past five years, divisive politics and educational ideology and a scramble for money have combined to produced a public education fiasco that is perhaps unparalleled in the United States. While the idea was to foster academic competition, the unchecked growth of charters has created a glut of schools competing for some of the nation’s poorest students, enticing them to enroll with cash bonuses, laptops, raffle tickets for iPads and bicycles. Leaders of charter and traditional schools alike say they are being cannibalized, fighting so hard over students and the limited public dollars that follow them that no one thrives. Detroit now has a bigger share of students in charters than any American city except New Orleans, which turned almost all its schools into charters after Hurricane Katrina. But half the charters perform only as well, or worse than, Detroit’s traditional public schools. “The point was to raise all schools,” said Scott Romney, a lawyer and board member of New Detroit, a civic group formed after the 1967 race riots here. “Instead, we’ve had a total and complete collapse of education in this city. ” The city has emerged almost miraculously fast from the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. Downtown Detroit hums with development — a maze of detours around construction sites with luxury apartments, a new Nike store along a stretch of prime but empty storefronts. Even where blight resumes a few blocks out, restaurants and modern design stores sprout hopefully. Last year, the city had its smallest population decline since the 1950s. But the city’s residents — many of them stranded here after whites and blacks fled in waves — will not share in any renaissance as long as only 10 percent of rising high school seniors score “college ready” on reading tests. “We’ll either invest in our own children and prepare them to fill these jobs, or I suppose maybe people will migrate from other places in the country to fill them,” said Thomas F. Stallworth III, a former state representative who steered the passage of the 2014 legislation that paved Detroit’s way out of bankruptcy. “If that’s the case, we are still left with this underbelly of generational poverty with no clear path out. ” The 1993 state law permitting charter schools was not brought on by academic or financial crisis in Detroit — those would come later — but by a governor, John Engler. An early warrior against public employee unions, he embraced the idea of creating schools that were publicly financed but independently run to force public schools to innovate. To throw the competition wide open, Michigan allowed an unusually large number of institutions, more than any other state, to create charters: public school districts, community colleges and universities. It gave those institutions a financial incentive: a 3 percent share of the dollars that go to the charter schools. And only they — not the governor, not the state commissioner or board of education — could shut down failing schools. companies seized on the opportunity they now operate about 80 percent of charters in Michigan, far more than in any other state. The companies and those who grant the charters became major lobbying forces for unfettered growth of the schools, as did some of the state’s biggest Republican donors. Sometimes, they were one and the same, as with J. C. Huizenga, a Grand Rapids entrepreneur who founded Michigan’s largest charter school operator, the National Heritage Academies. Two of the biggest players in Michigan politics, Betsy and Dick DeVos — she the former head of the state Republican Party, he the heir to the Amway fortune and a 2006 candidate for governor — established the Great Lakes Education Project, which became the state’s most pugnacious protector of the charter school prerogative. Even as Michigan and Detroit continued to hemorrhage residents, the number of schools grew. The state has nearly 220, 000 fewer students than it did in 2003, but more than 100 new charter schools. As elsewhere across the country, charters concentrated in urban areas, particularly Detroit, where the public schools had been put under state control in 1999. In 2009, it was found to be the urban school district on national tests. Operators were lining up to get into the city, and in 2011, after a conservative wave returned the governor’s office and the Legislature to Republican control for the first time in eight years, the Legislature abolished a cap that had limited the number of charter schools that universities could create to 150. Some charter school backers pushed for a smart cap that would allow only successful charters to expand. But they could not agree on what success should look like, and ultimately settled for assurances from lawmakers that they could add quality controls after the cap was lifted. In fact, the law repealed a longstanding requirement that the State Department of Education issue yearly reports monitoring charter school performance. At the same time, the law included a provision that seemed to benefit Mr. Huizenga, whose company profits from buying buildings and renting them back to the charters it operates. Earlier that year he had lost a tax appeal in which he argued that a company should not have to pay taxes on properties leased to schools. The new law granted charter companies the exemption he had sought. Just as universities were allowed to charter more schools, Gov. Rick Snyder created a district, with new charters, to try to turn around the city’s worst schools. Detroit was soon awash in choice, but not quality. charter schools have opened in the city since the cap was lifted in 2011. Eighteen charters whose existing schools were at or below the district’s dismal performance expanded or opened new schools. The charter school where Ana Rivera sent her two sons, Cesar Chavez Academy, added a second elementary school, even though its existing one fell below 98 percent of schools on the most recent state rankings, in 2014. The Leona Group, the operator that runs it, also runs some of the schools in Detroit. Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes, considered the gold standard of measurement by charter school supporters across the country, found that students in the company’s schools grew less academically than students in the neighboring traditional public schools. Ms. Rivera, herself the product of a failing Detroit public high school, knew none of that when she chose the school for her sons. “I had no idea of the education system,” she said. She presumed it was better because it was a charter it did not get the bad press the public schools do about gangs and violence. Saginaw Valley State University, which chartered Cesar Chavez Academy, defended its decision to allow the school to expand, arguing that many of the students come in without English as a first language, and do better as they move into high school. “They trend positively academically throughout that system,” David Lewis, the director of the university’s charter school office, said. The Stanford data is national and “is not reflective,” he said, of Cesar Chavez. With about $1. 1 billion in state tax dollars going to charter schools, those that grant the charters get about $33 million. Those institutions are often far from the schools one, Bay Mills Community College, is in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, nearly 350 miles away — as far from Detroit as Portland, Me. is from New York City. Nationally, some charter school groups praise Michigan for allowing so many institutions to grant charters. But the practice has also allowed bad schools to languish: When universities have threatened to close them, other universities have granted another charter. By 2015, a federal review of a grant application for Michigan charter schools found an “unreasonably high” number of charters among the 5 percent of public schools statewide. The number of charters on the list had doubled from 2010 to 2014. “People here had so much confidence in choice and choice alone to close the achievement gap,” said Amber Arellano, the executive director of the Education Trust Midwest, which advocates higher academic standards. “Instead, we’re replicating failure. ” Dawn Wilson’s four oldest children have attended between five and seven schools each — not uncommon in Detroit — moving among charter schools, traditional schools, private religious schools and suburban districts that take Detroit students, and the dollars that follow them. She drives her children 130 miles a week to school — down from 200 last year, now that one daughter lives with another family in a suburb to attend private school. In between, she works as an entertainer for children’s parties. (“Kuddles the Klown,” she answers her cellphone.) “Who else has time to take their kids to all these places to try to find quality education?” she asked. Conflict with a teacher she found disrespectful prompted her to pull her children from one charter. One daughter spent six months at another, but returned to the Christian school she had attended earlier because there were so many fights. Then, at a bus stop for the private school, her daughter was recruited for a charter that promised college seminars and dual enrollment at local colleges — and rewarded her for enrolling with a raffle ticket for a $50 gift card. With all the new schools, Detroit has roughly 30, 000 more seats, charter and traditional public, than it needs. The competition to get students to school on count day — the days in October and February when the head count determines how much money the state sends each school — can resemble a political campaign. Schools buy radio ads and billboards, sponsor count day pizza parties and carnivals. They plant rows of lawn signs along city streets to recruit students, only to have other schools pull those up and stake their own. A few weeks before the February count day two years ago, Detroit Public Schools sent a letter to families at a school in the district, claiming, falsely, that their children had been reassigned to a public school. The state district cried foul — then copied the trick before the next count day. It can be a forbidding landscape for families trying to enroll their children, particularly in a city where, historically, federal statistics show that nearly half the adults are not literate enough to function effectively in everyday life. There are elite public schools that require entrance exams. A step below are some that require applications. Then come the neighborhood schools. Then there are charter schools, which are supposed to accept students by lottery. But the most selective often have lengthy applications, requiring students to submit test results and official documents or give their history of disciplinary problems or special education. Some schedule enrollment periods in January, even though most parents do not think about where to send their children until May. In a report commissioned by Excellent Schools Detroit, a nonprofit that has pushed for all schools to join a universal enrollment system, the director of one charter management company explained that his school published the required advertisement for its enrollment period in newspapers it knew would not be read by most Detroit families. The more successful schools are those — charter or public — that are more selective. Detroit Public Schools, meanwhile, educates most of the city’s special education students, including Ms. Wilson’s youngest son, the only one of her children who has not changed schools several times. Charter schools are concentrated downtown, with its boom in renovation and wealthier residents. With only 1, 894 high school age students, there are 11 high schools. Meanwhile, northwest Detroit — where it seems every other house is boarded up, burned or abandoned — has nearly twice the number of high school age students, 3, 742, and just three high schools. The northeastern part of the city is even more of an education desert: 6, 018 high school age students and two high schools. In a city of 140 square miles, transportation adds another layer to school selection. Few schools offer busing. And Detroit, long defined by the auto industry, never invested much in public transportation. A mile and a half to school can become an journey, as it is for Deniqua Robinson and her three youngest children. Morning is often still dark when they catch a 6:10 a. m. bus around the corner from their housing project near the MotorCity Casino Hotel. They wake by 5:30 a. m. because if they miss the 6:10, the next bus will not come for an hour, and the Catholic school her son attends fines him for being late. Some days her youngest daughter is lugging her cello. (“It’s like another person,” Ms. Robinson said.) They change buses once, waiting at a weedy lot across the street from the old Kronk Gym, once a training ground for boxers like Thomas Hearns — a Hall of Famer known as “the Hitman” — and now a concrete shell covered in graffiti. In a safer neighborhood, they could walk the last distance. But two years ago, Ms. Robinson’s two middle children watched a dog maul a teacher after it ran out of an abandoned house across from the charter they attended nearby. “I can identify the engines of what’s behind me, because I’m so on guard,” Ms. Robinson said. “I have to know what’s going on around me so nobody’s behind me trying to hit me upside the head and rob us. ” Two Mondays a month, her son’s school requires him to participate in a program after school — or pay $100 for every session he misses. He has been working at the city’s tourism bureau and loves the experience, but getting him there has disrupted the family’s bus routine. So Ms. Robinson has him on a waiting list for a charter school downtown that would not require him to work. She estimates that her children miss 10 to 15 days a year because the buses do not come on time or it is too cold to wait. Some days she cannot afford the fare a single mother, she supplements her child support payments by redeeming bottles for 10 cents each. “I often describe this whole environment as ‘The Hunger Games’ for schools,” said Tonya Allen, president of the Skillman Foundation, which invests $17 million a year to try to improve the lives of Detroit’s poorest children. “You get these kids who are moving three or four times in the elementary school years. I did that, but it was because my mother couldn’t keep her rent together. Here, it’s being incentivized. ” That transience can prevent schools that want to be good from getting there. When there is always another option, families are inclined to take it. Many left a school after New Paradigm for Education, one of the city’s most successful charter school companies, took it over and raised academic demands, imposing requirements that are standard in suburban districts, like a parent’s signature on a nightly reading log. “Parents have been victims for generations of failing schools,” said Machion Jackson, the company’s president and chief executive. “If you don’t know what high expectations look like, you become frustrated. ” After about 150 students left one of the charter schools that Dawn Wilson’s children attended, angry that the management company had changed, the school cut teacher salaries by 20 percent and combined grades in classrooms. Even then it did not meet its budget. Renee Burgess, the president of the new management company, Equity Education, said that every year about 35 percent of students in the company’s three schools do not come back. “Imagine if G. M. had to hire 35 percent of its work force again every year,” she said. She employs a recruiter and expects principals to spend most of their time from April to October raising enrollment. Every staff member must make at least one personal contact a week with students over the summer to encourage them to return. “In a system that is more stable, you wouldn’t need to invest in that,” Ms. Burgess said. “You could invest those resources in another instructional coach, in more development and training for teachers. ” Like others elsewhere, charter schools receive roughly the same state dollars as public schools. But in Detroit, it is about $7, 300 a year — roughly half what New York or Boston schools get, and about $3, 500 less than charters in Denver or Milwaukee. “We’re spreading the money across more and more schools it’s no wonder that every school struggles,” said Dan Varner, the chief executive of Excellent Schools Detroit. “They’re all . ” The hardest places to improve are the large urban public high schools like Frank Cody High School. Just off the stretch of Joy Road that gangs call the “Skudd Zone,” where the McDonald’s is known as the Murder Mac, Cody defines big city high schools in the worst way. Its concrete fortress occupies four square blocks, with metal detectors and security guards at the entrance and, inside, employees wearing boots in hot weather to keep mice from their ankles. For a time, it seemed competition might work as it was intended at Cody. Administrators visited charters in New York and Chicago to learn best practices and broke down the school into three smaller academies, each with about 100 students per grade. The Academy of Public Leadership, on the second floor, copied practices many charters use to create what they call a “ culture. ” College pennants line classroom walls signs in hallways tally scholarship money students have won. The academy’s principal, Johnathon Matthews, eliminated security guards in the hallways in favor of “cultural facilitators,” more like parents or older siblings. Every student, he pledged, would be able to identify three caring adults at the school and have a teacher’s cellphone number to call if the bus did not come or the electricity was turned off. Graffiti stopped. Gang activity calmed down so much that the owner of the gas station next to the “Murder Mac” asked Mr. Matthews if the school had closed. ACT scores nudged up. And Mr. Matthews started thinking about adding counselors who would not just get students into college, but follow them through to completion. Then came this year’s senior class. Students needed 23 credits to graduate in June, but many had just 13 or 14 by January. One had just one and a half credits. At age 19, they join the ranks of “overage, undercredited” students and have to transfer to alternative schools. The graduating class started in September with 87 students, but just 52 received diplomas. Theirs was the class of students that started high school in the years of heavy churn — after the Legislature lifted the charter cap, the state created its new district and the city closed other public high schools as students fled to charters. By the time they arrived as sophomores or juniors, many students had three or four high schools on their transcripts and often gaps in their education: With no central record system, it takes time for schools or parents to track down the forms they need to . In the six weeks between February count day and the end of March this year, the school had 34 new students, some pushed from charter schools, some from suburban choice districts. Teachers at the Academy of Public Leadership argue with Mr. Matthews about taking all comers, complaining that the school is judged for the performance of students who show up just weeks before state exams. “We have the savior of Detroit here as our principal,” said Tracey Penick, the college counselor. “As admirable as it is, it’s very stressful. When you get a child at this stage in the game, it’s because they’re a problem. ” Lately, Mr. Matthews has been talking to a large bank about bringing a job training program to the school. The bank expressed concern about the low performance of students, and asked whether Cody might become an application school. It is hard for him not to be tempted. “The hidden ways to control who you get, that’s where I really frown upon competition,” he said. “It’s created a caste system, and Cody has the untouchables. It’s separate and unequal. ” This winter, as Detroit Public Schools ran out of money, Mayor Mike Duggan, a Democrat now in his third year, argued that the traditional schools needed a solution that would address the problems posed, and faced, by charter schools. He proposed an appointed Detroit Education Commission to determine which neighborhoods most needed new schools and set standards to close failing schools and ensure that only high performing or promising ones could replicate. Political conditions seemed promising. Backed by a coalition of philanthropies and civic leaders, the teachers’ union and some charter school operators, the mayor got a Republican senator from western Michigan to sponsor legislation, including the commission. Governor Snyder, distracted and shamed by the scandal over the lead poisoning in the water supply of the mostly black and city of Flint, was in no position to defend the state control of Detroit Public Schools, and supported the proposal. In February, four prominent Detroit Republican business executives, including two sons of former governors, testified in support of the plan before the Legislature, arguing that 20 years had proved that the free market alone is not enough to improve schools. One of them, Mr. Romney, likened schools to a public utility. “This is a public service, this isn’t just a business,” he said in a recent interview. “I don’t believe in the free market for police or fire. ” But the Great Lakes Education Project and other charter school lobbying groups warned that the commission would favor public schools over charters and argued instead to kill off the Detroit Public Schools. In the waning days of the legislative session, House Republicans offered a deal: $617 million to pay off the debt of the Detroit Public Schools, but no commission. Lawmakers were forced to take it to prevent the city school system from going bankrupt. For parents, the search remains for good schools — charter or public. After her experience with the failing charter school in southwest Detroit, Ms. Rivera moved her younger son, Omar, to another charter nearby. It has had three principals in the three years since it opened. Nearly 20 teachers have left, and in January, the company that operates the school announced it was leaving. So for fifth grade she has enrolled him in a Detroit Public School, where instruction will be split between Spanish and English. “I’m a little fed up with the charters,” she said. If this doesn’t work, she said, she will send him to a school outside the city. Sometimes, she thinks of moving the whole family to the suburbs, following her husband’s landscaping business. But like many in this striving city, she is rooting for its comeback. “We can still be part of this new Detroit. ” And Omar, though he made honor roll this year, fears a move. “The teachers teach good there,” he said. “I’d be so far behind. ” | 1 |
President Donald Trump did not get funding for his wall in the recent budget agreement with Democrats, but the White House is arguing that they did get funding for “wall” fencing. [In a debate with Breitbart News, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer claimed that Republicans did get funding for a “wall,” pointing to existing photos of fences with bollard style steel construction and “levee walls. ” “That is called a bollard wall,” he said to Breitbart News, pointing to photos he displayed on a screen. “That is called a levee wall. ” Spicer refused to describe his fence photos as Trump’s promised wall, but assured them that it would be effective in protecting the border. He told reporters that the fencing was endorsed by DHS Secretary John Kelly. Kelly has proposed large bollard fencing to help secure the border, although he has also supported the idea of “a concrete wall” on the border. “There are places along the border, and I would offer to you, down in the southern Rio Grande valley, where a wall, a concrete wall, makes all the sense in the world,” he told Bloomberg News in April. “There are other places where a wall, say a large bollard, if you will, fence, makes a lot of sense. ” The House budget agreement specifically cites funding for “border fencing” and “steel bollard designs,” not a wall, after Democrats insisted that money for border security would not be used to fund Trump’s wall. Page 739 of the House budget agreement refers to “border fencing” and “steel bollard designs,” not a wall > https: . pic. twitter. — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) May 3, 2017, On the campaign trail, Trump assured supporters that he was not building a fence, but an actual wall of hardened concrete. “It’s going to be made of hardened concrete and it’s going to be made out of rebar and steel,” Trump said to a child in Manassas, Virginia during a rally in 2015. In a January interview with Sean Hannity, President Trump mocked existing “little toy walls” on the Southern border and said “I don’t know why they even wasted their time” on building them. Watch below: | 0 |
JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister abruptly announced his resignation on Friday, saying he had lost faith in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and was “fearful for Israel’s future” after his job had apparently been offered to a rival in a party. The minister, Moshe Yaalon, is a senior leader in Mr. Netanyahu’s conservative Likud Party, and quit amid the prime minister’s political maneuvering to broaden his governing coalition, which has only a majority in Parliament. The negotiations exploded into public view this week, with Mr. Netanyahu apparently having offered Mr. Yaalon’s job to the ultranationalist Avigdor Lieberman, though on Friday the prime minister said he was leaving the door open to make a deal with the Zionist Union. There had been speculation that if Mr. Lieberman joined the government, Mr. Yaalon, who has been a stalwart member of Mr. Netanyahu’s team for years, would be offered the post of foreign minister as a sort of consolation prize. His announcement on Friday, on Facebook and Twitter, put an end to that possibility. “This morning I informed the prime minister that following his management in the latest developments, and in light of my lack of faith in him, I am resigning from the government and the Knesset and taking time out from political life,” Mr. Yaalon wrote, using the Hebrew term for Parliament. In a news conference later, he said: “I viewed all my positions, both when I was in uniform and as a minister, as a mission, and I was unwilling to sacrifice national needs and the security of Israel’s citizens for the sake of political considerations or personal interest. ” Mr. Netanyahu seemed to confirm the speculation in a statement released on Friday in which he expressed regret over Mr. Yaalon’s departure. Mr. Yaalon “should have continued being a full partner in leadership of this country, as foreign minister,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “The reshuffle of portfolios did not stem from a lack of confidence between us but rather from the need to broaden the government. ” Mr. Netanyahu added, “I assume that if Yaalon had not been asked to leave the defense ministry,” the resignation would not have occurred. “There are political opportunities, particularly due to certain regional developments, which I personally strive towards continuously,” the prime minister said. “Therefore I took great efforts to have the Zionist Union join the government. Thus I am leaving the door open in the most serious manner for them to join. Such a move would do only good for the State of Israel. ” The addition of Mr. Lieberman to the government — which has been widely reported in the Israeli news media but not officially announced — would further cement the rightist nature of Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition. Mr. Yaalon, 65, is at the of the political spectrum, but has served as a bulwark against the most extreme populist sentiments criticizing the military and the Likud coalition, by Mr. Lieberman and others. He said he planned to return someday to political life, including a run for state leadership. “I fought with all my might against phenomena of extremism, violence and racism in Israeli society that threaten its fortitude,” he said, adding that these forces “ are trickling into” the military. The contrast in military credentials between Mr. Yaalon and Mr. Lieberman could hardly be more pronounced. Mr. Yaalon, a former chief of staff and career general, led commando units and took part in daring operations. Mr. Lieberman left the military at the rank of corporal. He is known for positions like demanding the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of terrorism and the toppling of Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza. Mr. Yaalon came under fire for quickly condemning the actions of an Israeli soldier who shot and killed a wounded Palestinian assailant in the West Bank city of Hebron. Many Israelis viewed Mr. Yaalon’s immediate statement that the soldier should be brought to justice because he had violated military code as prejudging the case and troops at a time when they face violent attacks by Palestinians. Mr. Netanyahu at first took a similar stand, but he later called the soldier’s father, a move that was seen as offering support. “With great sorrow, senior politicians in the country have chosen incitement and divisiveness of the Israeli society instead of unifying and connecting,” Mr. Yaalon said. “It is unacceptable to me that we be divided because of cynicism or craving for control, and I expressed more than once my opinion on the matter — from a position of sincere worry for the future of Israeli society and future generations. ” Israeli Radio said the minister of immigration and absorption, Zeev Elkin, a member of Likud, had called on Mr. Yaalon to reconsider his resignation. Mr. Elkin said that Mr. Yaalon’s place was in Likud and that the prime minster’s moves should not be considered insulting to him. He added that political considerations had forced Mr. Netanyahu to make changes in the coalition government, and that Mr. Yaalon could have remained in another capacity. The minister for social equality, Gila Gamliel, also a Likud member, also expressed regret about Mr. Yaalon’s decision, calling his resignation a huge loss for the party. The resignation caps weeks of confusing negotiations by Mr. Netanyahu, and some analysts noted that Mr. Yaalon has had tensions with the prime minister and could be biding his time to start a new party. “Certainly the other possibility is that he’s had it — with the intrigues, the backstabbing, the manipulations of politics,” said Gadi Wolfsfeld, a professor of political communications at the Interdisciplinary Center, a private college north of Tel Aviv, who is a frequent critic of Mr. Netanyahu. “In Israel, we play hardball politics,” Mr. Wolfsfeld said. “On the other hand, even on the scale of hardball, cynical politics, this was a shocker. ” | 1 |
November 3, 2016 Ancient mosque inscription confirms Jerusalem Temple
The Mosque of Umar, located in the village of Nuba, about 16 miles south of Jerusalem, is believed by locals to have been built by Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, under whose rule Arab armies conquered Jerusalem and the rest of Byzantine Palestine in the mid-7th century, reported the Times of Israel. His successor, Abd al-Malik, the fifth caliph, built the better-known Dome of the Rock atop the Temple Mount in A.D. 691.
A recently studied limestone dedicatory plaque in the Nuba mosque describes the village as an endowment for the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, but what is notable is it refers to the Dome of the Rock as “the rock of the Bayt al-Maqdis” – “Holy Temple” – the literal translation of the Hebrew term used by early Muslims for the city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount’s gold-dome shrine.
The stone bearing the inscription sits above the mosque’s niche that faces toward Mecca.
It reads: “In the name of God the merciful, the compassionate, this territory, Nuba, and all its boundaries and its entire area, is an endowment to the Rock of Bayt al-Maqdis and the al-Aqsa Mosque, as it was dedicated by the Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn al-Khattab for the glory of Allah.” | 0 |
You are here: Home / US / The Sad Evolution Of Education Summed Up By One Meme The Sad Evolution Of Education Summed Up By One Meme October 26, 2016 Pinterest
Robert Gehl reports that the City of Portland has come up with a genius idea to get America’s schoolchildren back on track.
With our nation’s educational system in shambles and our students doing worse and worse compared with other nations (worse than Slovakia? ), school officials have decided to ban homework.
That’s the big plan from folks whose city has the most strip bars per capita and whose motto is: “Keep Portland Weird.”
The plan – to ban all homework in elementary schools – went into effect with the start of school this week.
Instead, OregonLive reports , here is what the school tells students to do with their free time: “Cuddle with your parents. Play board games with your siblings. Pick up a favorite book to read or be read to. Run around and be as active as you can.”
Officials claim that giving young kids homework doesn’t help their test scores at all …
Why ban homework? A team of teachers at Cherry Park Elementary in the David Douglas school district in East Portland dug into the research and found that, while high school students learn more when they do homework, for elementary pupils, there is little to no evidence homework does any good.
But further down, we discover the true motive behind their homework ban: Racism .
Principal Kate Barker says assigning regular homework isn’t a fabulous idea at any elementary school, but especially not at Cherry Park, where at least 75 percent of students live at or below the poverty line and families speak more than 30 different languages.
“We find that homework really increases that inequity,” Barker said. “It provides a barrier to our students who need the most support.”
That’s right. They’re not saying homework doesn’t help. What they’re saying – and trust me, I’m a teacher – is that homework doesn’t help poor people (they mean minorities) and that if it doesn’t help poor people, then nobody should do it.
The truth is that lower-income families have less time to spend with their children – making sure they do their homework, helping them with it. So fewer of the lower-income, minority kids do it.
So rather than find a way to get these parents to spend more time helping their kids, they’re giving up and just banning homework altogether.
Barker says the school will carefully monitor if students are making enough academic progress and will tweak things if they are not. But making better use of the school day, not assigning homework, will be the strategy if change is needed, she said.
Teachers got on board with the no-homework policy once the rationale was explained, Barker said. Parents have been 100 percent in favor of the change.
And the students? They, she said, “are cheering.”
And that’s why our school system is failing.
Keeping Portland weird. Weird and stupid. | 0 |
Question about the constitutional amendment that Trump proposed. Did anyone listen to his speech in Gettysburg, PA?He said, as a contract, and I quote, "a constitutional amendment to OPPOSE term limits on all members of congress."I think he meant IMPOSE, but he is a business man that works with wording of contracts.I tried to find more information on his website, but there is no reference to it.I like Trump, it was a tough choice between Giant Meteor and Trump, but in the end, I voted early for Trump (AZ).What he is asking to do is change the constitution, which we should never take lightly.In this video on this website at ruffly the 16 min 40 sec mark, is says "constitutional amendment to OPPOSE term limits on all members of congress"I even turned on the CC function and it took it as OPPOSE too.The media is reporting it as IMPOSE, but that's not what he said.I was wondering if anyone has direct reference from Trump's camp.THX | 0 |
This article was first published in 2002. He calls women child, and his coterie of young friends muffin. Bill Cunningham has been a habitual presence on the streets of New York for nearly 50 years, and Paris and London know him, too. But as a subject, he has been elusive, a shadow on the run with his camera, who still worries, at 73, about falling into “the traps of the rich. ” Here, people who have known or observed him since his days in the 1950s turn their gaze on him. CHAPPY MORRIS, Investor My mother, Edna Morris, was one of the last of the grandes dames. She was very tall, very thin, with every hair always in perfect place. She knew Bill from around town and from Saratoga, too. You know, Bill loves the people. It was a time of great style and gentility, and wonderful clothes. One day, many, many years ago, I had gone clothes shopping with my mother. I think I was just out of college. We were walking down 57th Street, and Bill was there, at the corner of Fifth. He snapped our picture and then sent a copy to my mother. It was one of her favorite pictures until the day she died. All big smiles. ANNA WINTOUR, Editor in Chief of Vogue I don’t know how many times he has taken my photograph, but we all dress for Bill. You feel he’s the only one who notices or cares how you dress. I wonder if Bill will like this. And it’s always a flattering picture he chooses. He picks everything carefully, so you will look your best. He’s a very seductive guy. LESLEY VINSON, Former art director of Details I was this punk rocker with pink hair. I couldn’t believe he was interested in me, because no one else was. But Bill was interested. Why are you wearing that plastic bag, Muffin? I was totally fascinated by this man. I had come from Detroit, and he was exactly what I thought New York would be. Then I realized Bill was one in a million. POLLY MELLEN, Fashion stylist and editor He photographed me a lot. And sometimes I didn’t even know he was photographing me, which was the whole point. I remember he photographed me in a pair of trendy Comme des Garçons shoes with fox pompoms. He’s very hung up on shoes. He’s very hung up on originality. ISABELLA BLOW, Fashion director of Tatler magazine in London He does make you run, Bill. He once said to me, “Baby, can you stand on top of that grille?” We were outside the Louvre, and I had on a white chiffon dress. He could see right up to my pants. I was walking on the street recently in Paris when he just grabbed me and said, “Come, kid, get out there!” You don’t mind because you know the voice. OSCAR DE LA RENTA More than anyone else in the city, he has the whole visual history of the last 40 or 50 years of New York. It’s the total scope of fashion in the life of New York. And he’s such an unbelievably discreet man. I don’t know anything about his life, except his bicycle. JOHN FAIRCHILD, Former publisher of Women’s Wear Daily One day I was having lunch at the old Le Cirque, and I mentioned how beautiful the flowers were. And someone said, “Oh, they’re done by Bill’s lady friend, Suzette. ” When I saw him, I said, “Bill, you sneaky guy. ” He just smiled. TONI CIMINO, Friend and floral decorator known as Suzette I met him when he was 26 or 27, and he was a milliner. Can you imagine? I moved into an apartment on the third floor of his building, on West 54th Street. When I first met him, all these fashionable people, Mrs. Astor, were standing on the sidewalk to get into one of his fashion shows. Errol Flynn was across the street, waiting for his girlfriend, who was a model. I couldn’t get out of the building that day. JOE EULA, Illustrator In the 1950s, I lived across the street from him when he was William J. His studio was in a brownstone on 54th Street, and I remember he had this hat in the window with fringe hanging from the brim to the ground. It was a bathing suit hat, and you were supposed to change your clothes behind the fringe. I called up Sally Kirkland, who was the fashion editor at Life, and I said, “You’ve got to see this!” She put it in Life. Bill was an absolute innovator right from the . His hats were the grand opera of all time. ELIZABETH CORBETT, Former model and owner of Chez Ninon I met Bill in 1960, when I was a model at Chez Ninon. The shop was then at 487 Park, and it was owned by Sophie Shonnard and Nona Parks. They were two crafty old women — you couldn’t put anything over on them. Once, when someone in Paris gave them a price for a dress, they said, “Now you go back and sharpen your pencil, and give us another price. ” Balenciaga would run when he saw them. The shop was a wonderful place. We’d have openings from Tuesday to Friday at 3 p. m. Everybody was there, from Diana Vreeland to Babe Paley to her sister Betsy Cushing. When Jackie Kennedy went to the White House, she’d come in for fittings. All the Kennedy sisters came. Rose, too. And Bill was always there. Ms. Shonnard and Ms. Parks brought him a long way from his beginning. I think they taught him a lot. They introduced him to a lot of people. Bill used to have an old and he’d drive his women friends out to Southampton. He was quite a character around town. When the husbands of these women died, they said to him, “Do you want to come and look at the clothes?” So he always had a tuxedo. MORT SHEINMAN, Retired managing editor at Women’s Wear Daily When Bill came to Women’s Wear in the 60s, I was covering Seventh Avenue. We knew that John Fairchild was capable of anything, and in comes Cunningham. He looked and dazzled. I don’t think he was prepared for the environment of a newsroom — this grubby newsroom right out of “The Front Page” — the unbelievable noise, the pounding of the manual typewriters, the clattering of the Teletype machines, people shouting across the room. This raffish newsroom, which was just wonderful. In comes this hat designer, and Fairchild is giving him a column. I mean, a column! Immediately everybody resented him. Just resented him. But once you met Bill, you stopped resenting him. He sure knew the fashion business, and he was a terrific reporter. He got the stuff. JOHN FAIRCHILD I hired Bill to work at Women’s Wear because he had pep and energy and lots of grace. And he knew everybody. He didn’t sit in an office and talk. He went out and came back with the best stories. Everybody in the office was jealous of him. ANNIE FLANDERS, Founder of Details magazine I met Bill in 1967, when I opened my store, Abracadabra, and he was working for The Chicago Tribune. My idea was to introduce designers who were sewing at home and put them in a retail space. Quite a few went on to very good careers, including Willi Smith. Bill just loved the store. Then I left the country for three years, and when I returned, I ran into Bill, and he encouraged me to go back into fashion. In 1976, I started working for The SoHo Weekly News, and I asked Bill to do the fashion reports. We founded Details almost literally on the night that The SoHo News closed, in April 1982 — myself, Ronnie Cooke, Stephen Saban, Lesley Vinson, Megan Haungs and Bill Cunningham. LESLEY VINSON I was 24 when I met Bill, and he was to become the formative influence of my life. He taught me how to tell a story with pictures and that it didn’t always involve the best image. I’d say to him, “But isn’t this a better photo?” And he’d say, “Yes, child, but this photo tells the story better. ” For him, it wasn’t about the aesthetics of photography. It was about storytelling. ANNIE FLANDERS Bill was always the first to know who was great, whether it was a new designer or a new collection. He was the first journalist in America to write about Azzedine Alaïa and I think the first to write about Gaultier. If he picked up on something in the fall collections, then by the spring collections everybody else would be raving about it. He was absolutely the leader I remember he once put an Armani dress next to one designed for Diaghilev, to show that Armani’s wasn’t original. The people at Armani went nuts and pulled all their advertising. Forever. When Bill ran a photo of something that Isaac Mizrahi had copied, Isaac couldn’t have been lovelier. He made sure we had front row seats after that. RUBEN TOLEDO, Illustrator Bill’s fashion reports in Details were so cinematic. It was like watching “Yellow Submarine. ” He took you up, down, sideways. He just sucked you in with his knowledge. ARTHUR GELB, Former managing editor of The Times I loved the way Bill worked. One of his favorite corners to capture the most perplexed, surprising looks on people was 57th and Fifth, near Tiffany. He would stand there for hours, you know, spotting people only Bill would recognize. And Garbo would traipse past with her coat collar up and her hat pulled low over her brow. The next day we ran Bill’s picture of her, along with other photos from that corner. That was one of the most talked about second fronts of that time. And it was a turning point for Bill. It gave him recognition beyond fashion. And his street photography was a breakthrough for The Times, because it was the first time the paper had run pictures of people without getting their permission. The Times had always been prissy about that. PAUL CARANICAS, Painter and president of the Antonio Lopez Foundation I met Bill around 1971, through the illustrator Antonio Lopez and his partner, Juan Ramos, who Antonio’s projects. I think Antonio and Juan had just moved from 13th Street to the Carnegie Studios, where Bill was. Antonio was the first fashion illustrator to bring a sampling of the art world into his work, and to bring people of color into fashion. POLLY MELLEN Nobody has really done what Antonio did. I can’t think of another illustrator who has picked up on his style. It was extremely glamorous, and it was exaggeration. Exaggeration for creative people moves them forward. Bill is also drawn to the extreme. PAUL CARANICAS I think what Bill loved about Juan and Antonio was their energy and youthfulness — and humor. All these qualities combined to help make Bill see things a certain way. But I think his aesthetic was a long time in developing. In the beginning, it was more reportage. Bill would often come to Paris, when Antonio, Juan and I had an apartment there. Jerry Hall also lived with us. And Bill would come by. He streaked us a few times. I think it was just his pixie humor. MARYLOU LUTHER, Former fashion editor of The Los Angeles Times I met Bill in the through Eleanor Nangle, the fashion editor at The Chicago Tribune. She was brave and smart. She had a feeling for pop culture, even though by then she was no spring chicken. And I think Bill’s journalistic sense of telling the truth came from her. When we first went to Europe to cover the collections, Bill hung out with a photographer named Harold Chapman, and they stayed in a hotel that cost something like $2 a night. They had no plumbing in their room. Bill would have to wait for me to finish my story before we could look at the film. And I’d say, “Bill, feel free to take a shower. ” Well, at some urging, he did. He would come out of the bathroom, and it was cleaner than when he went in. BERNADINE MORRIS, Former fashion writer for The Times Bill’s apartment at Carnegie Hall was one big filing cabinet and a bed. He slept on a bed on top of the filing cabinet. That was probably the only furniture in the place. ANDRÉ LEON TALLEY, Vogue editor at large Bill was a great friend of Antonio Lopez, and when I first came to New York, around 1975, Antonio would take me up to Bill’s studio. It was such a Zen atmosphere. We should all get to the Zen atmosphere of Bill sleeping on a mattress, just like Mr. Yunioshi, the photographer in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s. ” TONI CIMINO He used to have a much larger studio in Carnegie Hall, but he gave it up to Antonio when he moved in. That’s why I call him the monk. He’s impossible, isn’t he? Unless he’s really down and out — and then I know he’s not feeling well — he’s always working. We have a dinner every Saturday and Sunday night, and then he dashes off to some party. And we’ll read the paper together on Sundays. And he calls me every night, just to check in. If he doesn’t, I panic. We take care of each other. I really, really worry about him. GLORIA VANDERBILT When he’s photographing, he transmits his energy toward you. You can feel it, and you respond. I treasure his photos of me, and my son Anderson’s favorite picture is one Bill took of me in a glorious Adolfo gown with a feathered fan. ANNE SLATER, Socialite Bill always knows what you’re wearing. He once said to me, ‘That’s an early Michael Vollbracht. ” He’s aware of every seam. CECILIA DEAN, An editor of Visionaire I met Bill about 15 years ago. I was always going to nightclubs, all of Suzanne Bartsch’s parties, Sauvage and Copacabana. And Bill was always out there photographing. I’d spend hours on my outfits for those parties. And sometimes Bill wouldn’t recognize your face, because he was looking at your clothes. ARTHUR GELB I don’t believe it when Bill says he doesn’t recognize the people he photographs. My God, he saw the elusive Garbo. STEPHEN GAN, Founder of Visionaire and art director of Harper’s Bazaar I was an art student at Parsons when I first met Bill, in 1986. I was 18 and walking around SoHo one day when this funny man came up to me, taking pictures. I had on some outfit, I’m embarrassed to say. Jean Paul Gaultier had just done his collection for men, showing suits with skirts. I loved it, though I did my own cheaper version. And Bill came up to me and took some pictures. And then he said, “You look hungry, kiddo, let me buy you a cookie. ” We went into Aggie’s, a place in SoHo, and he did buy me a coffee and a cookie. I told him I was having trouble with my mom because she didn’t want me in art school. And Bill said: “Well, you go out and get yourself a job, child. Here’s a quarter. Call Annie Flanders. She’s doing this magazine called Details. ” At some point Bill said to me, “You’ve got to go to Paris. Every kid your age who wants to do something in fashion has to go to Paris. ” So I went to live in Paris for nine months, and I would run into Bill at the shows. He would help me sneak into shows by giving me his invitations. Once, as I was leaving a show, I felt something in my pocket. It was a $50 bill. He had slipped it into my pocket. ANNIE FLANDERS Bill always kept telling me not to fall into the traps of the rich. Between the eight years at Details and the four years at SoHo News, it was quite a lesson. I learned such standards and morals about the business from him. And I had to keep my value system up, because I didn’t want to do anything to offend Bill. He would never take any money from us, ever. After the first issue, we gave him a check and he brought it back, ripped up. He told me he wouldn’t do it if he had to take money. All the founders worked for a percentage of the magazine. So I kept a record of every single thing he did. And every time we got a new publisher or owner, I said, “This amount will always be honored. ” When Advance bought the magazine, I explained Bill’s situation to S. I. Newhouse, how the amount had to be honored. It was quite a lot by then. And S. I. would always call me, begging me to get Bill to take the money. But every time I spoke to him, he wouldn’t. It’s still on the books as far as I know. RONNIE COOKE NEWHOUSE, Stylist and a former editor of Details I met him when we started Details, and I became one of the muffins. When I started going to Europe for the shows, we’d go around together. Everyone else was getting into sedans, and we were walking, in the pouring rain. Bill would say, “Oh, no, child, you can’t fall into the traps of the rich. ” And I would watch my shoes dissolve into the sidewalk. Or, we’d be at a show, and I’d say, “Bill, it’s really hard to see from the last row. ” He’d say, “All the people who tell the truth are in the last rows. ” It was like the movie “Life Is Beautiful. ” Here we were, working in these terrible conditions, and Bill would make you feel: How lucky am I! PAUL CARANICAS He’s been asked by many museums to have exhibitions of his work. His photo archive is priceless. It’s a real period, like a Ken Burns thing. He always says, “After I’m gone. ” Or: “I don’t care. I’m not an artist. I’m a reporter. ” And sometimes I get mad at him. It’s a false modesty. I say, “Bill, if you don’t take control of this, someone else will just do their view of you. ” BERNADINE MORRIS One time he did a favor for me, and to thank him, I made a reservation for lunch at the Russian Tea Room. When we got there, he said, “You know, there’s a place I like better across the street. ” It was a Chock Full o’ Nuts. However, he knew the waitress who worked there, and she wouldn’t take my money for the lunch. So, you see, he wouldn’t let me return the favor. AILEEN MEHLE, Society columnist He once did something for me I’ll never forget. Some of the ladies got together, about 15 years ago, and gave a masked ball for me at the Plaza. Bill said, “I’ll make your mask. ” It was beautiful, in gold and silver, dangling with ribbons and sequins. He sent it to me: “This is my present for you. ” ANDRÉ LEON TALLEY I was in Mike Gallagher’s magazine shop recently, and there was this extraordinary mask on the counter. Black and white, dripping with pearls. And I said, “What is this mask doing here?” Mike said: “Bill Cunningham designed it for Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball — I think for Candice Bergen. ” It was the most beautiful thing. JOHN FAIRCHILD You know, he’s like a pixie on a bicycle. You’re at some dreary event. Suddenly, there’s a flash, a wonderful word, and he just lifts you up. CHAPPY MORRIS I think society people trust him because he’s such a nice guy. When he sees you, it’s always, “Hi, fella!” He’s so down to earth. It’s as if he genuinely enjoys taking the pictures, rather than participating in the event. For him, it’s not about who’s who. I think he’s one of the great guys of New York. DAVID ROCKEFELLER Brooke Astor wanted Bill at her 100th birthday party. When she didn’t see him on the list, she said, “I would like him included. ” We didn’t invite other members of the media, but she wanted him there as a friend. STEPHEN GAN There’s a sense of correctness about Bill, a right and a wrong. He’s very proper, as well as sweet and loving. It’s as if he’s saying, “This is what happened in fashion, and you can’t say you did it first because you think you did it first. ” When I first showed him Visionaire, it was just a loose folder with pictures, because all the first issues were portfolios. And he said, “Ah, let me pull out something for you. ” And he brought out Gazette du Bon Ton, the first magazines from 1910. He said, “Look, all the first fashion magazines were done as portfolios. ” He wants to show you that someone may have done something similar before. That’s what I mean by correctness. With Bill, I think of credibility, not credits. | 1 |
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — Allah Mohammed, 37, helps sustain life, baking bread all day in the small oven of his corner shop in Kunduz city. Part of his bakery’s ceiling remains caved in where it was hit by a rocket during the latest Taliban siege. In another corner of the city, Abdul Rassoul, 65, comes in after life has gone. He digs graves and then waters the trees that dot the cemetery. He also chases away addicts trying to steal a grave railing, or shepherd boys whose herds stumble on the graves — pelting them with rocks and cursing them. Both men wake up around 3 a. m. when the rest of Kunduz’s residents are fast asleep, barring just a few. Their everyday lives are woven into a larger pattern of hardship and resilience in the city. The bullet holes in the walls after each siege — two Taliban takeovers in just over a year — are reminders that it could easily happen again, and most likely will. So the people of Kunduz try to shrug it off as just another disruption in a long stream of them. After their awakening in the dark, Mr. Mohammed and his two bakery workers work through two sacks of flour, about 150 pounds in total, as they begin preparing their first batch of dough. Among the few other residents up with them then is an elderly night watchman on their block who has walked for hours among the closed shops along the way — construction materials, polished window frames, medicines. After handing his watch shift over to his son, he curls up in a corner of the bakery to sleep, warmed by a blanket and the oven’s warmth as the baking begins. Allowing the dough time to rise, the bakers start the fire in the oven as the call for dawn prayer begins to echo in the city. At each meal, they will sell about 500 flat loaves, each for 10 afghanis, or about 15 cents. When the Taliban overran parts of the city again in October and heavy fighting broke out, sales dropped away. Even hungry, most wouldn’t dare cross the street. “They said the Taliban had taken the main roundabout, but I didn’t believe them,” said Ghulam Rasoul, 27, one of the bakery workers. “When the Taliban came here to buy bread, I said, ‘O. K. the city has fallen. ’” Many bakers around the city increased the price of bread then, trying to make a profit in desperate times — or because the cost of ingredients had gone up. Mr. Mohammed said he held firm, though. For the three days of fighting that he remained open before the rocket damaged the roof and forced him to close shop for a while, he said he kept the price at 15 cents. “How could I do that? If I increase the price in difficult days, how could I look the people in the eye the day after?” Mr. Mohammed said. The same understanding prevailed at the cemetery in those tough days, where few bodies arrived for burial while the fighting persisted. Among the handful of dead the gravedigger buried during the siege were three drug addicts who had stayed on the streets and been shot. Someone took them to the cemetery on the back of a motorcycle wagon. “We buried them for free,” said Mohammed Massoud, the gravedigger’s son and helper. “What can one get from an addict?” The fighting did not change the gravedigger’s routine much. At 3 a. m. with the sound of bullets cracking in the morning calm, Mr. Rassoul would wake up his son and the two would make their way to the cemetery. They wanted to be there first, ready in case an early burial was needed. Some nights, Mr. Rassoul sleeps in the back seat of a damaged truck at the back of the cemetery, to make sure he is at work as early as possible. On a normal day, they charge $20 a grave. They have dug them for all kinds of people: four members of a family who died in an avalanche two brothers who drowned on their way to Europe a Pashtun man named Gul Ahmad who died in an American military bombing. Mr. Ahmad’s gravestone is adorned by a daring, but plagiarized, poem. I, Gul Ahmad, will rise in my shroud If I learn that a Pashtun has become the slave of others. One time, they had dug a grave for an Afghan soldier killed on a southern battlefield, but the body did not arrive for 16 days. On the 14th day, they gave the grave to another family, and they dug a new one for the soldier when he finally arrived. Another time, a woman came and asked if they could unearth her husband’s body, dead for years, because she had dreamed he was alive. “Who unearths a grave?” the young Massoud asked with astonishment. “The dead will just drag you in. ” One Tuesday morning, a little baby — just three days old — was brought to be buried. About two dozen men arrived in a small convoy. The baby’s father, a preacher, took off his shoes and socks and got down into the grave to place the tiny body, wrapped in a prayer rug. “If somebody’s child passes away and he shows patience, God will give him a palace made of glass in paradise,” the father said in his sermon once the men were done shoveling the dirt. “It’s built of glass — you can see its inside from outside and outside from its inside. It has doors and golden beds. We don’t have the ability to comprehend it now. They call it the house of thanks — because you were thankful to God. ” As the convoy was leaving the area, Mr. Rassoul rushed to sprinkle some water over the new grave. He got a tip. Soon after the burial, a young man named Noor Mohammed arrived with rat poison called Commando. Two rats had tunneled into the grave of his brother, Baz Mohammed, an Afghan Army soldier killed in battle. He called the gravedigger over and showed him the problem and then showed him the rat poison. Mr. Rassoul objected. “You can’t throw the poison on the grave,” he explained. “You want to kill the rats. But what if a bird sits on the grave and eats the poison and dies? Who is responsible for that sin?” Mr. Rassoul made a suggestion: Noor Mohammed should go buy a trap and some rope, and he would take care of the rest, he told the young man. What is the rope for, Noor Mohammed asked? Mr. Rassoul explained what had happened the last time they failed to use a rope. A stray dog spied the trapped rat and hauled it away in its teeth, trap and all. Mr. Rassoul and his son had to chase the dog all through the cemetery, though in vain. Mr. Mohammed’s rat trap would remain tightly roped to a railing near his brother’s grave, Mr. Rassoul promised. | 1 |
BNI Store Nov 6 2016 UK: Muslim family who converted to Christianity forced to flee Manningham home as violence and threats by Muslims against them continue to escalate A British Christian convert who said he suffered “seven years of persecution” from Muslims has been forced to flee his home under armed guard amid fears for his safety. Nissar Hussain was with his family when police arrived and moved him to a safe place. The Telegraph and Argus Mr Hussain said the culmination of the “extreme persecution” had devastated his family and the dramatic arrival of armed police was a complete surprise. “My family are distraught and extremely traumatised to be leaving,” said Mr Hussain. “But when your life is at stake there is no other choice.” Mr Hussain converted to Christianity 20 years ago, but says in recent years he has been subjected to harassment and violence by sections of the Islamic community. “This extreme persecution by certain people in the Muslim community because we are converts has broken us as a family,” he said. From left to right, Leena, Anniesa, Nissar, Sarah, Kubra, Issar, and Miriam Hussain, a Christian family who have been threatened with death for converting from Islam in West Yorkshire, England. “We are fragmented and I do not know how we will recover from this. We haven’t functioned properly for years.” He said “serious questions” needed to be answered. Last year, Mr Hussain was hospitalized after his kneecap was smashed and his hand broken during an attack outside his home in St Paul’s Road, Manningham . Two hooded men, one armed with a pick-axe handle, assaulted him in a vicious attack caught on CCTV. (See video below) At the time, Mr Hussain said he and his family were being driven out of the city and he was making plans to leave. This week he had started packing up his belongings when the police arrived on Thursday. The 50-year-old, who was a nurse before leaving work due to post-traumatic stress disorder, said his six children, aged eight to 24, and wife would never see their friends again. Nissar Hussain, 49, was hospitalised on 17 November 2015 with a smashed kneecap and broken arm after a violent attack which was captured on CCTV. He said he was attacked because he converted from Islam to Christianity and that his troubles started after he appeared on a Channel 4 documentary on how Islam converts are treated. He had been expecting an attack for some months, but when the police arrived he was “none the wiser” that he was at such serious risk. “The armed police arrived at about 3pm on Thursday,” he said. “I had been loading a van up with our belongings for eight hours, having to stealthily check no-one could see what I was doing, before they arrived. Hussein stands in front of his car that was vandalized by Muslims “It took me completely by surprise, but their [the police] professionalism was deeply reassuring, and they escorted my family and I to a safe haven outside Yorkshire.” Last night, a West Yorkshire Police spokesman said “Our priority has always been to work effectively with our partners to minimise the risk to Mr Hussain and ensure that we maximise opportunities to put control measures in place to safeguard him, his family and consider any wider impact upon the communities across West Yorkshire,” he added. Neighbors demand justice for the persecuted Hussein family “We are disappointed that Mr Hussain and his family have decided to leave Bradford, particularly as police and partners have been working together for some time to try and resolve the situation to the benefit of all parties concerned. “All the incidents reported by Mr Hussain have been recorded in line with National guidance and we continue to proactively pursue lines of enquiry to identify the perpetrators and are committed to ensuring that a thorough and effective investigation is undertaken to mitigate the threat posed in the first instance and where possible bring the perpetrators to justice. | 1 |
VIDEO : Black Professor, “Black Voters Are Breaking For Trump” VIDEO : Black Professor, “Black Voters Are Breaking For Trump” Videos By Amy Moreno November 4, 2016
Obama and Hillary avoid talking about black poverty rates, unemployment, and crime in black communities because the statistics are a NIGHTMARE.
Global politics have destroyed blacks.
Instead, they talk about “racism” as if black people are so unsophisticated that they can’t see truth or facts for themselves.
This professor says that black voters see the truth and are much smarter than Democrats give them credit – and they’re breaking for Trump this election.
Watch the video: 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 |
You are here: Home / political cartoon / Most Devastating Man-Made Disasters in Human History [CARTOON] Most Devastating Man-Made Disasters in Human History [CARTOON] October 27, 2016 Pinterest
Regan Pifer writes that the problems with utopian leftist policies–err, visions–is that they are just that: utopian policies.
Once they dismount their unicorn and stop eating their calorie-free cupcakes and talking to their centaur friends, they will realize their grand, utopian visions simply do not work.
The most recent abysmal failure of the utopian Left, Obamacare, received another significant blow this past week.
According to International Business Times :
At least 1.4 million people from 32 states could lose their health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, as their plans are set to disappear from the program next year. They will have to find new coverage in a market that will likely have fewer options and higher prices, Bloomberg reported Friday.
The coverage losses come after Aetna and UnitedHealth Group, as well as some regional insurers, announced they plan to leave Obamacare’s markets in 2017 and instead offer individual coverage outside of the program’s exchanges.That means there will be fewer, but more expensive, plans, and the same doctors and hospitals people used before may not be included under the Affordable Care Act, regulators and insurance customers told Bloomberg.
Utopian vision: healthcare for all.
Reality: Americans are fined if they don’t have health insurance. If they do have health insurance through Obamacare, they could lose it. And, it wasn’t that good to begin with.
See, that’s the problem. Liberals always think the plans will work.
There will be no bumps, no issues. Where did my unicorn go?
But as Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini explains, “providing affordable, high-quality health care options to consumers is not possible without a balanced risk pool” and many insurers agree–they’re “having trouble competing in Obamacare marketplaces and making money.”
It is predicted that for the first time in three years, Obamacare enrollment will shrink in 2017. The potential 1.4 million that will lose their health care next year will have fewer and costlier options.
Michael F. Cannon, a health policy expert at the Cato Institute, summed it up nicely: “the ongoing and nationwide exodus of insurers is just the latest piece of evidence that Obamacare is a failed law built on false promises.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. | 0 |
Food poverty: 49 million Americans struggle to put food on the table as Obama's economic schemes collapse
Wednesday, November 02, 2016 by: J. D. Heyes Tags: food poverty , hunger , Obama administration (NaturalNews) A Democratic presidential nominee – Hillary Clinton, who is by far the "establishment candidate" in this year's presidential race – wants to take over from another Democratic president, Barack Obama. She is promising to carry on his "successful" economic policies by promising to essentially double down on them .And yet, by any true measure, the economy has been a disaster under Obama. Real growth has nearly flat-lined , real unemployment figures – when a proper count is taken – is far higher than what is being "officially" posted by the administration , and 43 million Americans cannot get enough food without government assistance.In fact, on that last point and as reported by Natural Blaze , in the Obama economy, 1-in-6 Americans are going to bed hungry on most nights, if not every night.And Clinton wants to double down on Obama's economic policies? How can such a great economic recovery produce so many hungry Americans? For the past eight years, Americans have had to listen to lectures from Obama (and other Democrats) about how we, as a first-world nation, should be able to afford things like healthcare and offer a free college education to our citizens (and, increasingly, to non-citizens ). But shouldn't a nation that produces so much excess food each year that we export it to the tune of tens of billions of dollars be able to feed its people too?Of course. But malnutrition during the "great economic recovery" of the Obama years is rising at an alarming rate in the U.S. That's because in real terms, workers' wages are falling, and it is becoming more difficult for families and individuals to earn enough to put decent food on their tables."For many, particularly the low paid [sic], this means two things: fuel and food poverty ," Natural Blaze reported.Low salaries combined with stagnant wages, jobs going to illegal immigrants and part-time work rising as Obamacare forces fewer companies to retain full-time employees, mean that food is increasingly seen as a luxury. And of those who can still afford food, many have to settle for cheap, nutrition-poor junk foods and foods high in starches, carbohydrates and calories. Now, winter approaches, and with it the inevitable supply challenges of natural gas and heating oil, which traditionally produce higher prices.But the establishment media is part of the problem. For example, in February Bloomberg reported that 1-in-7 Americans were on food stamps, despite an economic recovery . No one should ever be hungry in America unless they choose to be What recovery? Obama's economy is growing at about 1–2 percent a quarter – far below what is needed to sustain economic growth to the extent that it would lower our debt and provide well-paying jobs to the tens of millions needing them.So, the caveat is disingenuous. A more accurate story would have reflected on the 1-in-7 figure as it pertained to a real lack of opportunity among Americans to find better employment opportunities. In fact, the story makes no sense when you analyze it; either the economy is really good and a 1-in-7 ratio is no big deal, or the ratio is a big deal because the so-called economic recovery isn't reaching enough people. Which is it?It's the latter of course. And while America will always have a portion of the population that is too sick, too old or too lazy to produce – and they will be a net drain on the Treasury – the goal of any administration ought to be to adopt sound financial policies or to rescind policies that serve as impediments to economic growth. In today's America, that generally means thinning out the massive bureaucracy that is not only robbing millions of a better life because of their negative impact on business and industry, but is actually causing them to go hungry.And that should never happen in America. So why is it? Sources: | 1 |
Western Sanctions Against Russia ( 649 ) 0 42 0 0 Western sanctions damage the Russian economy but do not work as a political tool, a former Russian finance minister said.
KRASNAYA POLYANA (Russia), (Sputnik) — The sanctions imposed on the Russian economy cost the country up to 1 percent of the GDP growth every year but they do not work as an instrument of political influence, former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Wednesday. "Russia bears significant expenses because of the sanctions. I always mention the figure from 0.8 percent to 1 percent of the GDP growth that is not achieved… annually. That's why the words that the sanctions are insignificant are not true. They have a significant impact on our economy, growth and living standards," Kudrin told reporters.
The former minister added at the same time the sanctions were not effective as a political tool. "It is another matter that [the sanctions] as the political tool do not function, do not work. I agree with this. It has not influenced our policy at all," Kudrin added.
Following the the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, the European Union and the United States accused Moscow of meddling in Kiev’s internal affairs and imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia, as well as decreasing the general level of cooperation with Russia. The Russian authorities have refuted the allegations, warning that the Western measures are counterproductive. ... | 0 |
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President Donald Trump? How did such a thing happen? A competent and purposeful Clinton campaign should have beaten Donald Trump. How did Hillary Clinton and one-percenter Democrats snatch defeat from the jaws of certain victory? America Might Not Deserve Trump, But Dems and Hillary Deserved To Lose by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
It’s over. The crotch-grabbing racist con man beat the lying corporate warmonger. Donald Trump is president-elect of the US.
It didn’t have to happen that way. Trump’s winning 58 million votes were a hair fewer than Clinton’s popular vote, a million or two less than Republican losers McCain in 2008 and Romney in 2012, six and ten million behind Obama’s 2012 and 2008 numbers. The buffoonish Trump was elected with such a low turnout because Hillary Clinton’s campaign was even less competent and credible. To borrow the condescending language Barack Obama deploys before black audiences, Hillary’s campaign never gave Cousin Pookie much reason to get up off the couch and vote.
Republican and Democratic parties are alike owned by their one-percenter investor/contributors. Democratic party shot callers decided they’d risk losing with Hillary Clinton rather than winning with Bernie Sanders. So Democratic party leadership, their media allies and the entire black political class got behind Hillary Clinton and helped collude and conspire to eliminate VT Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democrat with the best chance against any Republican opponent.
Once Bernie Sanders was eliminated Hillary waged a lazy and ineffective campaign, playing a hand with just three cards.
The first was the broken record of how unthinkable and unprecedented a disaster a Trump presidency would be… a clownish sexual predator who pronounced climate change a hoax and would criminalize abortion, open concentration camps, repeal Obamacare, legalize stop and frisk, build a wall, appoint neanderthals to the Supreme Court, deport six or ten million immigrants instead of Obama’s paltry two million and who might be in hock to the Russians. Except for the thing about the Russians, it’s roughly the same picture Democrats have drawn of every Republican presidential candidate since Nixon. A story told that many times just gets old. Party leaders counted on it anyway, and it wasn’t enough. That was incompetence.
A second and relatively weak card Democrats played was conjuring up an Imaginary Hillary Clinton, a defender of womens’ and human rights who held hands with the moms of killer cop victims, and occasionally mumbled about black lives mattering and the need to reform the criminal justice system. But Hillary’s decades-long record as a tool of banksters, billionaires and one-percenters was so well established in the public mind that Imaginary Hillary was a difficult sell, not credible.
The one-percenter Democrats’ third card, on which they staked a lot was the early and unconditional endorsement of Hillary Clinton by and Michelle. This had proven effective in Chicago in 2011 and 2015 where Obama’s blessings in 2011 and 2015 were key to fastening Rahm Emanuel on the city’s jugular vein after a half century of Daley rule. The entire black political class got behind Hillary too, from civil rights icons who ruminated on how they hadn’t seen Bernie Sanders back in the day to some other wise heads who assured us a vote for the Green Party’s Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka was an act of “ narcissism ” or maybe white privilege . But at the end of ’s time in office, the Obama endorsement didn’t carry the clout it used to.
Thanks to two generations of lazy Democrats who refused to try to consolidate the victory of the 1965 Voting Rights Act the Supreme Court in 2013 nullified its key provisions, enabling a constellation of laws and practices aimed at limiting access to the ballot on the part of students, minorities, the elderly and constituencies likely to vote Democratic. In the 2016 election cycle these practices stripped another few million Democratic voters from the rolls.
All in all, Democrats were the authors of their own defeat this presidential election. Hillary couldn’t campaign against the one percent because her party is a party of the one percent. Hillary Democrats including Bernie himself after the convention could no longer acknowledge joblessness, low wages, lack of housing, permanent war or the high cost of medical care or they’d be campaigning against themselves.
Donald Trump didn’t win because of some mysterious upsurge of racism and nativism. He won because Hillary Clinton’s campaign was even less inspiring and less competent than his own, and worked hard to snatch its own defeat from the jaws of victory. America might not deserve President Donald Trump. But Hillary Clinton didn’t deserve to win, Bruce Dixon is managing editor at Black Agenda Report and co-chair of the GA Green Party. He lives and works near Marietta GA and can be reached | 1 |
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As part of his ongoing series of attacks on the Modi government for the demonetization program, Rahul Gandhi declared that he has spoken to many economists and all of them had said that there is no economic rationale behind demonetization. Here’s the story behind it: Tweet About UnReal Mama
Ek chatur naar badee hoshiyaar, apane hee jaal me phasat jaat ham hasat jaat are ho ho ho ho ho! | 0 |
“Morris From America,” Chad Hartigan’s charming new film, begins with a discussion of an argument about beats, flows and hooks. It’s partly an affectionate intergenerational dispute Morris (Markees Christmas) is skeptical of his father’s dogma, while his dad, Curtis (Craig Robinson) dismisses his son’s taste as too pop. The conversation also provides a clue about the movie’s own strategies. It’s a pop confection with a rough, honest texture, real but not raw and suffused with an infectious sweetness that lingers after the final shot. As Curtis puts it, he and Morris are “the only brothers in Heidelberg,” an family in the perplexing and sometimes unfriendly environment of a picturesque German town. Curtis, a former soccer player in the United States, is on the coaching staff of the local team, and the rest of his back story is conveniently blurry. Like almost every other single dad you see in a movie, he is a widower, a shortcut to audience sympathy that Mr. Hartigan might have had the wit to avoid. But the novelty of the setting and the familiarity of the premise — an adolescent boy navigating a bumpy stretch on the road from boyhood to maturity — combine to give “Morris From America” buoyancy and heart. Mr. Christmas is an unusually subtle actor for someone his age. (He was 15 when the film was made.) He resists the temptation to make Morris precocious or cute, or to win over the viewer’s sympathy, and instead takes us inside the young man’s confusion. Like other teenagers, Morris is both smart and clueless, equally capable of sharp insights and colossal errors of judgment. Adding to his befuddlement is Katrin (Lina Keller) a slightly older girl (with a significantly older boyfriend) whom Morris meets at the youth center. He’s been encouraged to go there by his German tutor, Inka (Carla Juri) who serves, somewhat awkwardly, as his and surrogate big sister. Katrin, a cynical and capricious queen bee, is beautiful and more than a little cruel. She genuinely likes Morris, which means that she likes to humiliate and torment him. She encourages him to rap at the center’s talent show, with disastrous results. “Morris From America” is blunt about German racism, which has a different texture from its American variety, partly because young, Germans consider themselves entirely free of ancestral bigotry. A counselor at the youth center suspects that Morris is a drug dealer. The other kids blithely give voice to obnoxious assumptions about his basketball skills and his sexual prowess. He’s either a mascot or a scapegoat. Without minimizing the pain and injustice of Morris’s situation, Mr. Hartigan, whose previous features as a director are “This Is Martin Bonner” and “Erin and Brie Are on a First Date,” handles the film’s racial dimensions with a gentle touch. The movie’s most satisfying achievement is its sense of proportion. There is plenty of drama in a teenager’s everyday life — no need to sensationalize — and “Morris From America” feels true to both the pleasures and the frustrations of its title character. And let’s not forget about Curtis. Mr. Robinson, who has long been a stalwart supporting player in and comedies, has my vote for father of the year. If there is anything harder than being a boy, it’s living with one, and Mr. Robinson and Mr. Hartigan nail the particular challenges of that condition as well as anyone I can think of. Curtis, who has his own emotional and professional needs, must juggle an expanding number of conflicting duties. He’s supposed to be a role model and a pal, to set limits and set his son free, to leave the boy alone and to be there when he’s required. Morris and Curtis live in a state of mutual bewilderment, but the love between them is the beat that drives the movie’s flow. The authenticity of some of the rapping means that “Morris From America” has an R rating, but if you know someone Morris’s age and swearing is not a for you, this is a perfect movie to see together as the new school year approaches. “Morris From America” is rated R (under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Explicit lyrics. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. | 1 |
Toronto, CANADA — The Conservative Party of Canada have elected former Speaker of the House Andrew Scheer as their new party leader in a close leadership race that was determined by less than one per cent. [After months of campaigning by 13 different candidates, the Conservative Party of Canada has selected former youngest ever Speaker of the House Andrew Scheer as the leader of the Tories and the official opposition. Thousands gathered in Toronto to vote in a preferential ballot system that saw Scheer beat libertarian favourite Maxime Bernier. The leadership conference began with a speech from interim leader Rona Ambrose who took over party leadership after the resignation of former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2015. Ambrose talked about her various battles with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in parliament and touted the party’s success in getting the Trudeau government to recognise the genocide against the Yazidi people by Islamic State. The preferential ranked ballot system went through a total of 13 rounds before a victor could be declared. After the first round, libertarian Quebec MP Maxime Bernier held the lead. Breitbart London spoke to Mr. Bernier who said at the time he felt confident but “nervous” and said: “We don’t know what will happen. ” Breitbart London also spoke to supporters of candidate Kellie Leitch who had been referred to as the “Trump of Canada” by many media outlets in the country during her campaign for being tough on issues of immigration and migrant integration. The supporters did not reveal a favourite amongst the top candidates but said they were confident Ms. Leitch would continue to raise the same issues she campaigned on in parliament. After the preferential ballot counting eliminated all but the two top candidates, Andrew Scheer pulled ahead of Bernier by only half of a per cent. The results were announced to cheers from the thousands in attendance and Scheer himself took the stage. In his brief speech, Scheer, aged 38, making him younger than Trudeau and newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron, said he would get rid of the unpopular carbon tax enacted by the Liberal government and slammed Trudeau for being more focused on than on the concerns of Canadian families. Scheer also said that as prime minister he would resume Canada’s involvement in fighting Islamic State in the Middle East. Shortly after becoming premier in 2015, Justin Trudeau ended Canada’s military participation in air strikes against the terror group. The new conservative leader also had no qualms in stating that he would combat “radical Islamic terrorism” in Canada and across the globe. | 0 |
BRUSSELS — They scan websites and pore over social media, combing through hundreds of reports a day. But the bogus claims just keep coming. Germans are fleeing their country, fearful of Muslim refugees. The Swedish government supports the Islamic State. The European Union has drafted rules to regulate the ethnicity of snowmen. In their office overlooking a major thoroughfare in Brussels, an team known as East Stratcom, serves as Europe’s front line against this onslaught of fake news. Created by the European Union to address “Russia’s ongoing disinformation campaigns,” the team — composed of diplomats, bureaucrats and former journalists — tracks down reports to determine whether they are fake. Then, it debunks the stories for hapless readers. In the 16 months since the team has been on the job, it has discredited 2, 500 stories, many with links to Russia. In a year when the French, Germans and Dutch will elect leaders, the European authorities are scrambling to counter a rising tide of fake news and Union propaganda aimed at destabilizing people’s trust in institutions. As officials play in the fight against sophisticated hacking and fake news operations, they fear Europe and its elections remain vulnerable at a critical moment: The region’s project of unity hangs in the balance, challenged by populist forces within the bloc and pressures from Russia and beyond. “If you look at how European media, and even big American media, are covering the issue now, I would say that it is those few people on that team who have been able to raise awareness,” said Jakub Janda, a deputy director with European Values, a think tank based in Prague, who has worked with East Stratcom. Many false claims target politicians who present the biggest obstacles to Moscow’s goal of undermining the European Union. Others seek to portray refugees from the Middle East as terrorists or rapists, fomenting populist anger. In France, the head of the En Marche! party said last week that Russian news channels had targeted the presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, who belongs to the party and is running on a Union platform. Richard Ferrand, the party’s said the campaign’s databases and websites had been hit by “hundreds, if not thousands,” of attacks from inside Russia. The East Stratcom team is the first to admit that it is outgunned: The task is overwhelming, the volume of reports immense, the support to combat them scant. The team tries to debunk bogus items in real time on Facebook and Twitter and publishes daily reports and a weekly newsletter on fake stories to its more than 12, 000 followers on social media. But its list of 2, 500 fake reports is small compared with the daily churn across social media. Catching every fake news story would be nearly impossible, and the fake reports the team does combat routinely get a lot more viewers than its efforts. East Stratcom is purely a communications exercise. Still, team members, most of whom speak Russian, have received death threats, and a Czech member of the team has twice been accused on Russian television of espionage. The team in Brussels is not the only force in Europe fighting the problem. Similar groups are being created from Finland to the Czech Republic to disprove online hoaxes, state agencies are improving online security to counter potential hacking attacks and European news media outlets are expanding teams to counter false reports. One of the biggest problems policy makers across Europe say they face is a lack of tech specialists. Germany recently passed a cybersecurity law that called for a rapid response team to combat hacking attacks. Officials quietly acknowledged, though, that they would need three teams, if they could only find people to staff them. “There are concerns shared by many governments that fake news could become weaponized,” said Damian Collins, a British politician in charge of a new parliamentary investigation examining the phenomenon. “The spread of this type of material could eventually undermine our democratic institutions. ” Despite the regionwide push to counter false reports, experts question whether such efforts by governments and publishers will have a meaningful effect. Fake reports can easily be shared through social media with few, if any, checks for accuracy. “Most people just don’t care about where their news comes from,” said Mark Deuze, a professor at the University of Amsterdam. He added that “nep news,” Dutch for “fake news,” has been growing ahead of the country’s national elections next month. “People are exposed to a ridiculous amount of information online. ” Officials are also anxious about hackers’ attempts to infiltrate the email accounts of candidates and politicians to steal compromising information. Much like their American counterparts, security experts warn, European politicians remain highly vulnerable, though national intelligence agencies are now strengthening lawmakers’ security protocols. In Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing tough competition ahead of elections in September, the country’s domestic intelligence service already has reported a sharp rise in phishing attacks in recent months aimed at political parties and members of the country’s Parliament. They attribute these efforts to the hacking group known as Fancy Bear, or APT 28, which American intelligence agencies linked to the hacking of the Democratic National Committee before the presidential election. Both American and German intelligence officials believe the group is operated by the G. R. U. the Russian military intelligence service. The German government is weighing potential hefty fines for tech giants like Google and Facebook, whose platforms allow false stories to be quickly circulated. The companies insist that they cannot be held responsible because they do not generate the stories. Maassen, the head of Germany’s domestic intelligence service, said that although there was no “smoking gun,” Russia was likely to be involved in the increase in online misinformation aimed at destabilizing German politics. “What makes cyberattacks so sexy for foreign powers is that it is nearly impossible to find a smoking gun,” Mr. Maassen said in an interview with Phoenix TV Feb. 12. “It is always possible to cover your tracks and operate undercover. ” American tech giants also have stepped in after they were accused of not doing enough to counter false reports on their platforms, accusations that Facebook, Google and other companies deny. They are now funding initiatives in the United States, France and elsewhere to flag fake news online and remove posts if they are found to violate companies’ terms of use or local laws. “This isn’t just about debunking falsehoods,” said Jenni Sargent, the managing director of First Draft News, a nonprofit that is partly funded by Google and expanding rapidly in France ahead of the country’s elections, as well as across Europe and beyond. “What we’re trying to do is to deal with the content as opposed to the source. ” Such efforts across Europe have gained momentum since the United States’ presidential election. Soon after Donald J. Trump’s victory in November, David Alandete gathered his team in the El País newsroom in downtown Madrid with one goal in mind: to respond to fake news. Like many journalists, Mr. Alandete, the Spanish newspaper’s managing editor and a former United States correspondent, had seen waves of false reports during the presidential campaign, many directed at Mexico — a country that accounts for roughly half of El País’ online readership. “Trump winning was a major turning point for us,” Mr. Alandete said. “Many of our readers were asking whether they could even travel to the States. ” Populist parties and distrust of traditional news media outlets have been growing in Spain, like other European countries. Such movements have spurred an explosion of fake or misleading news, aimed at either promoting certain political views or undermining others’ credibility. To counter such reports — and, in part, to cater to its Mexican readers — El País began expanding its efforts late last year. That includes assigning five more reporters to debunk false reports online and starting a blog, called “Hechos,” or “facts” in Spanish, to dispel the worst offenders. Not all of El País’s targets, though, have been about politics. In its first blog post, published last month, the newspaper’s reporters reviewed false claims that the Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo had abandoned his sports car after hurting one of his hands while driving. The post, according to Mr. Alandete, was viewed more than 200, 000 times — making it one of El País’s online articles that week. “Many people don’t trust institutions anymore,” Mr. Alandete said. “We see fake news coming from everywhere. ” | 1 |
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