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The internet mourned over the weekend after unconfirmed reports that Pedals, a bear that walked upright on its hind legs and was often captured on video strolling around New Jersey suburbs, may have been killed by a hunter. On Monday, the worst fears of Pedals fans seemed to be confirmed. The State of New Jersey said it believed the famous bear was dead. And it had photographic evidence. The New Jersey Department of Environment Protection released five pictures on Monday that showed the lifeless body of a American black bear. He had injured or deformed forepaws — just like the ones Pedals held close to his chest as he meandered through the backyards of Rockaway Township, N. J. One picture released by the department showed the bear’s body strung up from a ceiling by a chain. Bob Considine, a spokesman for the department, said that Pedals — whom he referred to only as “the upright bear” — had been “harvested. ” Mr. Considine said in a statement that the department could not conclusively determine the identity of the bear because Pedals had never been tagged or had a DNA sample taken. But they believed this bear to be him. “The injured paws and chest blaze of this particular adult bear brought to Green Pond appear to be consistent with the bear seen walking upright on several videos taken from North Jersey residents over the past two years,” he said. The department did not appear to take a particularly warm view of the public affection for Pedals. Mr. Considine explained that there was “no practical way” to single out one bear for protection, however popular he may have been, during the hunt. And besides, he said, bears are wild animals. “While many have developed an emotional attachment to the upright bear, it is important to recognize that all black bears are wildlife,” Mr. Considine said. “They are not pets. They are capable of doing damage, even in a compromised state. ” Many disagreed with that view. Over the weekend, the internet elevated Pedals to the pantheon of famously slain animals like Cecil the Lion and Harambe, the Cincinnati zoo gorilla turned powerhouse meme. Fans started memorial Facebook pages where people could mourn his death, share their artwork and sometimes cry out for vengeance. The state has refused to release the name of the hunter, who some on social media described as the “suspect” in a murder. One Facebook group dedicated to the bear provided a list of dos and don’ts to mourners, including “DO NOT send death threats” to the suspected hunter but “Do let everyone know that the Pedals the famous walking bear was assassinated. ” New Jersey has grappled in recent years with an exploding bear population that jostles for space alongside its human residents, who themselves are packed into the most densely populated state in the country. The number of bears has grown since the 1980s, and they have steadily migrated out of their traditional stamping grounds in the state’s northwest, according to the Division of Fish and Wildlife. Bears have been sighted in each of the state’s 21 counties, it said. An annual hunt was introduced in 2010 to help manage the bear population. The 2016 hunt was the first time since the 1960s that bear hunters were allowed to use bows and arrows, Mr. Considine said. A total of 562 bears were killed last week. The department said on Monday that northwestern New Jersey has more black bears per square mile than anywhere else in North America and that its bears also enjoy one of the country’s highest reproduction rates. Bears and humans typically coexist with few problems, but some recent episodes have caused alarm. New Jersey had its first recorded fatality in 2014 when Darsh Patel, a Rutgers student, was killed by a black bear while hiking in West Milford. A Boy Scout troop leader was injured in a bear attack one year later while hiking with children in Rockaway Township. | 1 |
President Donald Trump is praising the school voucher program for students in the nation’s capital that former President Barack Obama regularly defunded. [At the White House on Wednesday morning, Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and U. S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos welcomed parents and their children from Washington, D. C. who have been able to attend private and religious schools because of school voucher scholarships in the D. C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. Excited to join @VP to highlight how school choice benefits students families. Join us live at 9:30 am EDT: https: . — Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVosED) May 3, 2017, The nation’s capital is one of three areas in which the federal government — rather than state and local governments — has constitutional jurisdiction over education policy. The other two areas are schools located on U. S. military bases and those on Native American reservations. In an unscheduled visit to the event at the White House, Trump said the GOP spending bill is “a win for the American people,” and added, “This is what winning for young children and kids from all over the country looks like. ” “The opportunity scholarship program that we’re funding allows families in the inner city of our nation’s capital to leave failing public schools and attend a private school, making an extraordinary difference in these incredible young lives,” the president said. Trump said the results of the Opportunity Scholarship Program “speak for themselves,” noting that 98 percent of scholarship recipients “represent their high school diplomas, and they’re really very, very special. They go into tremendous successes. ” “During my campaign for President, I promised to fight for school choice — very important,” Trump said, continuing: It was featured in my Joint Address to Congress. And today, I’m calling on all lawmakers to work with us to help extend school choice to millions more children all across the United States of America, including millions of Hispanic and African American children who deserve the same chance as every other child in America to live out their dreams and fill up their hearts and be educated at the top, top level. In closing remarks, Trump said DeVos is “doing such a great job. ” In his remarks, Pence said that DeVos “is fighting every day to give America’s children the education that every American child deserves. ” The vice president also praised student Tseganesh Tadele who spoke about the impact the Opportunity Scholarship Program had on her ability to pursue an education that has enabled her to go on to college. “You really are a wonderful example of why President Trump is fighting so hard to expand educational opportunities for all of our families in the country, and we thank you for being here,” Pence said to her. The vice president noted that leaders and students from three private, one charter school, and one public school were present at the event. “Now, we’re here today because this week Congress is poised to pass legislation that President Trump will sign into law, a spending bill that will give new life and funding to the D. C. Opportunities Scholarship Program, which is the only federally funded voucher program in the country,” Pence said. “It’s a case study in school choice success. ” The spending bill will extend the Opportunities Scholarship Program for three years, the vice president explained. “Since its creation in 2004, the Opportunities Scholarship program has given parents and families hope by giving them a pathway to take their children out of schools that too often are failing to meet the needs of children here in our nation’s capital, give them a chance that other families have to put their children into a private school,” he added. Pence observed that over the past 13 years, some 20, 000 students have applied for the program, with 7, 500 students having been accepted. He also noted that though “only 69 percent of D. C.’s public school students graduated from high school last year, 98 percent of D. C. scholarship students walked across the stage and received their diploma last year — 98 percent. And get this: 86 percent of those kids were accepted into college to continue their education and climb the ladder of success. ” In 2015, Akash Chougule, a senior policy analyst at Americans for Prosperity, noted at National Review that Obama proposed defunding the D. C. Opportunity Scholarship Program during seven consecutive years: [T]he president — who recently stressed “opportunity gaps” in inner cities — has never missed a chance to try to end this program that benefits almost exclusively poor, minority, children. Of course, there is no speech, or press release to go along with this annual tradition of his. … So why are conservatives standing with poor families, while President Obama and his liberal allies try to take away their opportunity? Well, it is probably not a coincidence that many liberal campaigns are huge beneficiaries of teachers’ largesse — and teachers’ unions feel threatened by programs, which create competition and accountability in education (rather than monopolizing the system and trapping kids in schools). Of course, the union leaders don’t say this. When defending their actions, they claim that school choice strips funding from public schools. Chougule also noted “a degree of hypocrisy” in Obama’s opposition to the Opportunity Scholarship Program. “While he sends his own children to the elite, $ Sidwell Friends School, poor students who live just a couple of blocks away from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would have no choice but to attend failing, schools if the Opportunity Scholarship Program were shut down,” he wrote. “Should these kids not have the same educational opportunities as President Obama’s daughters?” | 1 |
Two years after the launch of Elite: Dangerous, a player has had a close encounter with mysterious alien lifeforms. [Until now, series creator and Frontier Developments CEO David Braben has done little more than taunt fans of Elite with a simple answer to any questions about the existence of a hidden alien menace from earlier games in the series: “They are coming. ” In an online galaxy of 400, 000, 000, 000 stars, there’s a whole lot of space in which the creatures might hide. But finally, two years from the debut of the massive online universe, one intrepid explorer has instead been found. The player, “DP Sayre,” was pulled out of “witchspace” during travel, disabled, and apparently scanned by a strange craft with an almost organic appearance. Just after it happened, the official Elite: Dangerous twitter tweeted a brief message, along with a link directly to DP Sayre’s XboxDVR page: A report just coming through that a CMDR has experienced something … strange. https: . — Elite Dangerous (@EliteDangerous) January 5, 2017, There is little doubt that these are the legendary Thargoids, “an insectoid alien race who are said to originate outside of known space,” according to the Elite: Dangerous wiki. The creatures are speculated to have come from another dimension, and in the past have been exclusively hostile to players. But this is only the latest in a virtual world steeped in mystery. From unknown artifacts to ship diagrams and spectrographic codes, Frontier has given players enough breadcrumbs to fuel an independent subreddit. And in a gaming climate in which developers are inclined to purposely make sure that nothing is ever truly out of a player’s reach, Frontier’s cryptic approach to the Thargoid reveal is both refreshing and genuinely compelling. It will be interesting to see what happens from here. So far, artifacts have played with the ships upon which they’re carried and shut down entire space stations with their mere presence. Other than confirming the legitimacy of the footage with their tweet, the developers have maintained their silence. If the past two years are any indication, they’re more than content to allow their players to have the spotlight as events unfold. Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both. | 0 |
TEL AVIV — Israel’s daily Haaretz published a column this week claiming President Donald Trump’s Jared Kushner, boasted that his knowledge of the Middle East was picked up while waiting for ski lifts. The source for this gem of information? A satire column written for the New Yorker. [Amir Oren, Haaretz’s senior correspondent, columnist and a member of its editorial board, published a column Sunday entitled “From the Passport Stamp Controversy to Trump’s . ” In it, Oren wrote: Foreign visitors stream to the White House, but there is an embarrassing emptiness there behind the power of Trump’s adviser, Jared Kushner, who boasted that, while waiting to board ski lifts on vacation, he read up on the Middle East on his smartphone. As blogger Elder of Ziyon noted, the basis of Oren’s claim comes from a hilarious — and very — column written in the New Yorker by comedian and satirist Andy Borowitz: BAGHDAD (The Borowitz Report) — Jared Kushner said on Tuesday that he became “incredibly ” on the Middle East by reading up on the region while waiting for the ski lift on a recent trip to Aspen. “There would be times when you’d have to wait five or even ten minutes for the ski lift, and that’s when I’d take out my phone and read up on the Middle East,” he said. “I really got into it. ” Kushner said that the Middle East was a “truly fascinating region” because of “all the countries that they have there. ” “There is Israel, and Egypt, but there is also Yemen and places like that,” he said. “Sometimes I would start learning about a new country, but then the ski lift would come. ” Kushner said that, during a meeting on Monday in Baghdad, he “wowed” the Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider with knowledge that he had gleaned about the nation while waiting for the ski lift. “I told him that Iraq’s main agricultural products include wheat, barley, corn, and rice,” he said. “He seemed really surprised that I would know things like that. ” “Something else that’s interesting about the Middle East is there is a country called Jordan,” he added. Haaretz later updated the aforementioned paragraph to read thusly (emphasis added): Foreign visitors stream to the White House, but there is an embarrassing emptiness there behind the power of Trump’s Jared Kushner. The senior adviser boasted that (according to reports that some say were satirical) while waiting to board ski lifts on vacation, he read up on the Middle East on his smartphone. Later still the article was updated a third time (it’s worth noting that none of the amendments were mentioned in an disclaimer endnote) this time reading: Foreign visitors stream to the White House, but there is an embarrassing emptiness there behind the power of Trump’s Jared Kushner. The senior adviser was ridiculed as ostensibly taking a crash course on the Middle East while waiting for ski lifts on vacation. The last sentence hyperlinks to another Haaretz article that has no mention whatsoever of Kushner’s habits. The version sticks to amendment number two, perhaps assuming that its readers won’t know or won’t bother to find out who Andy Borowitz is. | 0 |
Email
I realize that this headline must sound extremely bizarre, but in this article I will explain why this could actually happen. We have just learned that the FBI has obtained a search warrant that will enable the agency to examine approximately 650,000 emails that are sitting on electronic devices owned by Huma Abedin and her estranged husband Anthony Weiner. Now that the FBI is going through these emails, it is unlikely but still possible that a decision about whether or not to charge Hillary Clinton with a crime could be made by November 8th. Of course the most likely scenario is that Hillary Clinton will not be indicted before election day and that Americans will be voting with this scandal hanging ominously over the Clinton campaign. But if the FBI does quickly take action, it is possible that Hillary Clinton could be forced from the race before election day, and that would require the Democrats to come up with a new candidate.
In fact, there are already calls in the mainstream media for Clinton to willingly remove herself from the race. For example, the following comes from a Chicago Tribune article entitled “ Democrats should ask Clinton to step aside “…
So what should the Democrats do now?
If ruling Democrats hold themselves to the high moral standards they impose on the people they govern, they would follow a simple process:
They would demand that Mrs. Clinton step down, immediately, and let her vice presidential nominee, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, stand in her place.
Democrats should say, honestly, that with a new criminal investigation going on into events around her home-brew email server from the time she was secretary of state, having Clinton anywhere near the White House is just not a good idea.
But what the author of that article does not understand is that Tim Kaine would not automatically take her place if Clinton steps down before the election. In a previous article , I included a quote from a U.S. News & World Report article that explained what would happen if Hillary Clinton was removed from the Democratic ticket for some reason prior to November 8th…
If Clinton were to fall off the ticket, Democratic National Committee members would gather to vote on a replacement. DNC members acted as superdelegates during this year’s primary and overwhelmingly backed Clinton over boat-rocking socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
DNC spokesman Mark Paustenbach says there currently are 445 committee members – a number that changes over time and is guided by the group’s bylaws, which give membership to specific officeholders and party leaders and hold 200 spots for selection by states, along with an optional 75 slots DNC members can choose to fill.
But the party rules for replacing a presidential nominee merely specify that a majority of members must be present at a special meeting called by the committee chairman. The meeting would follow procedures set by the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee and proxy voting would not be allowed.
So if this email scandal forced Hillary Clinton to exit the race at the last minute, a majority of the members of the Democratic National Committee would gather to select a new nominee.
Who would they choose?
Let’s take a look at the top five options…
#1 Tim Kaine
He would seem to be an obvious choice since he is Hillary Clinton’s running mate. But to win a national campaign you need to have name recognition, and most Americans outside of the state of Virginia have very little familiarity with him.
And at this point he has proven to have very little popularity on the campaign trail. In fact, attendance at many of his rallies in key swing states can be measured in the dozens.
So to me it seems unlikely that the DNC would select Kaine as the replacement nominee.
#2 Joe Biden
Vice-President Joe Biden has far more name recognition than Tim Kaine does, and in recent days he has been touting how he believes that he would have actually won the nomination if he would have decided to run …
Vice President Joe Biden said in a recent interview that he believed he could have beat former secretary of state Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination had he pursued it.
Biden was asked in an interview with CNN Saturday if news that the FBI was re-opening their criminal probe into Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state made him second-guess his decision last year not to run.
But according to the vice president, the short answer is “no.” The only thing that kept him from running, Biden said, was the recent death of his son, Beau.
Unfortunately for Biden, he suffers from many of the same things that Kaine does.
Biden is boring, he is not very good on the campaign trail, and he doesn’t have the sort of charisma that would motivate people to go to the polls in large numbers.
Biden would probably represent the “safest” choice for the Democrats, but he might not be a winning choice.
#3 Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders would seem to be a logical choice since he was the runner-up to Hillary Clinton, but the truth is that there are a lot of things working against Bernie Sanders.
First of all, he does not have any real loyalty to the Democrats. He has previously operated as an independent, and he expressed a desire to return to independent status once the campaign was over.
Secondly, the Democratic establishment very much dislikes him, and that plays a huge role in decisions such as this.
Thirdly, Democratic insiders fear that he would be “another McGovern” and would get absolutely wiped out in a general election.
So even though he is very popular with the radical left, it appears that Sanders would be the least likely choice on this list.
#4 Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren would be very popular with the “Bernie Sanders” wing of the party, and she would enable the party to replace Hillary Clinton with another woman.
So she is definitely a possibility.
But she does lack name recognition, and just like Sanders there would be concern that the Republicans would frame her candidacy as “another McGovern” because of her far left policies.
#5 Michelle Obama
One recent survey found that 67 percent of all Democrats would rather have a third term for Obama than a first term for Hillary Clinton.
And these days Barack Obama’s approval rating is running anywhere from +9 to +11.
So the thought of another Obama in the White House is not as far-fetched as you might think.
Michelle Obama has better name recognition than anyone else on this list, and she is generally very well-liked by the American people. And she has received a tremendous amount of praise for her work on the campaign trail recently. For instance, her recent speech in New Hampshire was lauded as “the most influential speech of the 2016 campaign” in a recent MSN article entitled “ In this campaign, Michelle Obama became more than just another political voice “…
The speech, amplified by timing and met with an enthusiastic response, cemented Obama’s place as a star of the presidential race and put a defining stroke not just on how women view Trump, but also on herself as a voice of moral authority. Three months before leaving the White House, she already is among the ranks of public figures who transcend politics and title.
“When you rise to a level like that, you see how much weight your words carry,” said Anita McBride, former chief of staff to Laura Bush and executive in residence at the School of Public Affairs at American University. “We know she didn’t like politics. But she was impassioned by the language that was used, and she feels compelled to speak out. People listen to her.”
If I were the Democrats, Michelle Obama is the one that I would select if a replacement nominee was needed, because she would give them the very best chance of winning against Donald Trump.
Of course the Obamas are just as radical as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, but the American people have become quite comfortable with them at this point.
And I certainly hope that Michelle Obama does not become the nominee if Hillary Clinton has to step aside, because Donald Trump would have an exceedingly difficult time defeating her.
In the final analysis, none of this is probably going to matter anyway because it is unlikely that the FBI will move quickly enough to force Hillary Clinton out before election day, but there is still a small chance that it could actually happen.
And if it does happen, it is going to turn politics in America completely upside down.
Take a look at the future of America: The Beginning of the End and then prepare 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 . | 1 |
When declaring independence from King George III’s tyrannical rule, Thomas Jefferson wrote that men are born with “unalienable rights,” and the government’s duty is to protect those rights. [This comes as news to Senators Chris Murphy ( ) Joe Manchin ( ) and the whole Democrat Party, almost every member of which is focused on using the expansive powers of government to chip away at rights rather than protect them. For example, on August 6, 2013, Breitbart News quoted Murphy saying, “The Second Amendment is not an absolute right, not a right. It has always had conditions upon it like the First Amendment has. ” Murphy is wrong in at least three places: 1. Second Amendment rights are . 2. They are “absolute” because they were given by Him who is absolute. 3. First Amendment rights are absolute as well (as they, like all unalienable rights, have their origin in God, not government). As for the “absolute” nature of these rights, William Blackstone explained: The absolute rights of man, considered as a free agent, endowed with discernment to know good from evil, and with power of choosing those measures which appear to him to be most desirable, are usually summed up in one general appellation, and denominated the natural liberty of mankind. This natural liberty consists properly in a power of acting as one thinks fit, without any restraint or control, unless by the law of nature: being a right inherent in us by birth, and one of the gifts of God to man at his creation, when he endued him with the faculty of . Note: “absolute rights” have limits but they are not limits put in place by government, rather, they are limits inherently present in “the law of nature” and evident in the order of nature. For example, my right to keep and bear arms is “absolute” but natural protections on it end if I use my guns — or try to use my guns — to take innocent life. Moreover, my right to life — one of the most fundamental of natural rights — ends if I use my Second Amendment rights to take the life of an innocent or am in the act of the trying to take that life. Government gun control does not do this. In fact, gun control is not even necessary to it. Rather, nature teaches us these things and the laws of man reflect it in statutes against murder and attempted murder and by laws that shield citizens who kill attackers in . This all comes together in Jefferson, who wrote: We hold these truths to be that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. We are born with “certain unalienable rights. ” The fact that they are “unalienable” means they cannot be separated from us they are part of our humanity. And it is government’s duty to “secure these rights,” not to regulate or in anyway diminish them. Therefore, when the Second Amendment says, “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,” we must understand that it is incumbent on government to shield that right from infringement. AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart. com. | 0 |
Prince released music steadily from 1978 on, making for one of the most daring, radical and inventive catalogs in all of pop. Here are five of his finest albums, released at moments in his career, that show the artist, who was found dead, at 57, on Thursday, in his fullness: a cunning vocalist, a fiery musician, and a peerless songwriter and producer. This was Prince’s third album, but the first on which his lusty experimentalism was operating at full sweat levels. Playing and producing almost the whole album himself, he created a universe of unbridled id, from the hunger of “When You Were Mine” to the incestual drive of “Sister,” while also creating a hybrid of new wave, flashy rock and soul. Here is Prince at his orchestral best: “Purple Rain” is the first album he released with his backing band, the Revolution, and the one that cemented him as one of pop music’s essential stars. “Purple Rain” is glorious, ecstatic, piercing, with anthems of quiet desperation (“When Doves Cry”) boundless energy (“Let’s Go Crazy”) or both (“I Would Die 4 U”). Though the album was designed as a soundtrack for the film of the same name, it stands as one of the most important records in pop history. Here is Prince collecting material recorded over several years, showing off how his flamboyant, daring skill could tackle almost any sound or attitude of the day. The title track addressed a litany of societal ills, and “If I Was Your Girlfriend” represented Prince at his carnal best. But those were only two extremes on an album full of them, one that showed the full scale of his ambition. By this stage of his career, Prince wasn’t as loose as he’d been in his early days, but he found ways of his erotic impulses, which weren’t weakened at all. On this album — his first billed with the New Power Generation, then his backing band — he made pop “Cream,” sly on “Willing and Able” and clangorous on “Gett Off. ” Prince could be a hodgepodge — after he split with his record label Warner Bros. in the he pinballed among styles, releasing music at an idiosyncratic clip. “Musicology,” an album that is jubilant and grounded in Prince’s sonics, marked his return to the major label system, and also to controlled form. He also gave away copies of the album to people who bought tickets to his tour, showing that his skepticism of typical practices remained high. | 0 |
November 25, 2016 Mainstream Reports Foggy - MoA Outed As Russian Propaganda Site
Al Masdar News (Syria), Nov 25 2016 - Syrian Air Force denies bombing Turkish Army in east Aleppo
Avid readers of news sides will ask which of those reports is correct. They may turn to the so-called (hint: it's not) "paper of record", the New York Times and find this Nov 24 report: Syrian Warplanes Kill Turkish Soldiers Fighting in Syria
While that NYT headline claims certainty the text does not. It obediently repeats the Turkish government claim but adds: Syrian Arab rebel forces fighting with the Turks said they had not received official notification that the Syrian government had launched the strike. One fighter said he had heard that the strike was from the Syrian government but heard later that it had been from the Islamic State. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a network based in Britain that monitors news from Syria, also said that the strike had been by the Islamic State.
An updated version of that report adds: Some on the ground raised questions about whether the strike was undertaken by Syrian government forces. A network of activists who monitor the skies over Syria said Thursday that its watchers had spotted a Syrian aircraft taking off after 2 a.m. and also a Russian aircraft about the same time as the strike on Turkish forces occurred. It is impossible to know where the planes that were sighted went; they could easily have had another destination, the network said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a network based in Britain that monitors news from Syria, said the strike was by the Islamic State. But the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is not known to have combat aircraft.
--- Excursus: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) is a sophisticated disinformation outlet of the British foreign intelligence service MI-6. SOHR is on one side very manipulating, i.e. SOHR counts only foreigners, deserters of the Syrian army, ISIS and al-Qaeda fighters on the anti-government side as "rebels killed". Ten-thousands of Syrian civilians who took up arms to become well paid "Syrian rebel" fighters are counted as "civilians" when besieged, killed or wounded. On the other side SOHR provides the most complete and detailed record of the war. It helps its reputation and is the reason why it is a favorite quoted source for "western" news "reporting". ---
The answer to the reader's question is that both Hurriyet and Al Masdar, are right and the NYT writers are confused by the fog of war and too lazy to do basic research. The devil is, as always, in the details.
On November 23 a Turkish armored military vehicle was attacked near the village Wiqah north of Al-Bab in northern Syria. Some sources claimed a guided missile strike. ISIS related Twitter accounts claimed a suicide attack. (Note: The above account has now been suspended.)
ISIS later released a picture of the claimed suicide bomber.
The SOHR account of the Turkish vehicle hit, cited by the NYT, obviously refers to this November 23 attack.
The air-attack on the Turkish soldiers north of Al-Bab happened on November 24 at 3:30am local time according to the Turkish army. It was confirmed to journalists by very senior people in Damascus. The Al Masdar News account though, seemingly denying such a strike, includes a very specific non-denial-denial quote: A high-ranking official from the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAYF) told Al-Masdar on Thursday night that their fighter jets did not bomb the Turkish Army in east Aleppo.
"No Syrian or Russian aircraft bombed the Turkish Army near Al-Bab on November 23rd - all reports claiming otherwise are lies," the official confirmed to Al-Masdar on Thursday.
The airstrike did not on occur on the 23rd, as "denied" by SAAYF, but on the 24th. The NYT report mixes up two attacks as one, while basic research shows evidence of two very different attacks. The Al Masdar folks do not understand the specificity of the quotes their sources give.
Mystery solved.
Hurriyet and others have connected the Syrian air-attack to the Turkish attack on a Russian jet exactly one year before. I doubt that this coincident is intended. Al-Bab, held by ISIS and coveted by nearby Turkish, Kurdish and Syrian government forces, is an important target that will be fought over between the various sides for some time to come. The hit was not some symbolic, historic revenge act, nor was it to roast Turkey for Thanksgiving, but a signal to Turkey that Al-Bab is and will stay off limits for its forces.
News accounts of war, be those of casualties, of specific incidents or assume motivations, are always suspect . They are often written with disinformation in mind. Historic accounts are mostly written by the winners of a specific conflict and heavily "colored" from that perspective. Forensic or video proof can be easily forged and should always be taken with many pinches of salt. Only diligent research on all sides of a conflict can uncover what really happened. Only when "reports" from opposite sides agree on numbers or specific incidents on can assume to be near the truth.
But when one tries to be diligent and not solely on one side, one can be sure to end up as denounced and hated by at least one if not all sides of a conflict. This website, MoonofAlabama.org , is now listed as "Russian propaganda outlet" by some neoconned, NATO aligned, anonymous " Friendly Neighborhood Propaganda Identification Service " prominently promoted by the Washington Post . The minions running that censorship list also watch over our "Russian propaganda" Twitter account @MoonofA .
I wholeheartedly recommend to use the list that new anonymous censorship entity provides as your new or additional "Favorite Bookmarks" list. It includes illustrious financial anti-fraud sites like Yves Smith's Naked Capitalism , Wikileaks , well informed libertarian sites like Ron Paul and AntiWar.com and leftish old timers like Counterpunch .
I am honored to find this site listed next to the above. 06:56 AM | Permalink | 1 |
Tweet Home » Headlines » World News » Report: Huma Abedin’s Emails On Weiner’s Laptop Were In a File Marked “Life Insurance”
Federal Agents at the FBI have discovered 650,000 emails on Anthony Weiner’s laptop, reportedly hidden in a file marked “Life Insurance”…
We reported earlier that Huma Abedin has been kicked off of Hillary’s “Stronger Together” Campaign Plane .
Perhaps this is the reason? 10,000 new emails found on Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner’s computer and phones. They were in a file marked “Life Insurance”
It appears Huma knew her employer rather well… 10,000 new emails found on Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner’s computer and phones. They were in a file marked “Life Insurance”. #Corruption
— Morgan Brittany (@MorganBrittany4) October 29, 2016
Meanwhile, after Obama and the DOJ attempted to “cock block” (pun intended) Comey’s investigation, CBS News reports that search warrant for the emails has now been obtained.
We suspect this will be a week like no other in the history of American politics. | 0 |
Republicans on Thursday took one of their first steps to officially dismantle environmental regulations by easing restrictions on coal mining, bolstering an industry that President Trump has made a symbol of America’s neglected heartland. Using an obscure law that allows Congress to review regulations before they take effect, the Senate voted to reverse the Stream Protection Rule, which seeks to protect the nation’s waterways from debris generated by a practice called surface mining. The Interior Department had said the rule would protect 6, 000 miles of streams and 52, 000 acres of forests by keeping coal mining debris away from nearby waters. The Senate vote was 54 to 45, following a House vote for repeal on Wednesday. “Make no mistake about it, this Obama administration rule is not designed to protect streams,” Representative Bill Johnson, a Republican from Ohio who sponsored the move to reverse the rule, said on Wednesday. “Instead, it was an effort to regulate the coal mining industry right out of business. ” The Senate also moved to reverse a separate rule requiring publicly traded oil, gas and mineral companies to disclose payments to foreign governments for licenses or permits. The disclosure rule was aimed at curbing bribery and at helping developing countries hold companies, and their governments, accountable. After a procedural vote on Thursday, final Senate action to cancel the rule is expected Friday, with Mr. Trump’s signature to follow. The Trump administration, which has vowed to peel back regulations, is particularly close to the fossil fuel industry. On Wednesday, the Senate confirmed President Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson, the former chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil. Exxon had argued that forcing American oil companies to reveal payments to foreign governments would put them at a competitive disadvantage. Full disclosure could also have made it trickier for Exxon to pursue business deals in countries like Russia, where the state plays a central role. Both the coal and rules were made final in the last days of the Obama administration, putting them in the cross hairs of the Congress, together with other Obama regulations yet to take effect. The Stream Protection Rule, which requires companies to restore mined areas to their original physical and ecological state and to monitor for environmental effects, would have effectively made mountaintop removal uneconomical, experts said — especially when coal prices remain depressed amid competition from natural gas and renewable energy sources like wind and solar. But the rule was challenged in court almost immediately by Republican attorneys general in states across the country, as well as the coal giant Murray Energy. The company had previously filed 14, 000 pages of comments opposing stronger regulations. “This unlawful and destructive rule is nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to destroy our nation’s underground coal mines and put our nation’s coal miners out of work,” Robert E. Murray, the company’s chief executive, said in comments released ahead of Thursday’s vote. A report released by the Congressional Research Service last month laid out the environmental and health benefits of the rule. Stream restoration requirements would reduce human exposure to contaminants in the drinking water, and the probability of adverse health effects, the report said. The replanting of trees also required by the rule would increase carbon storage and reduce emissions, aiding in the fight against climate change, the report said. The report also outlined the costs to industry: $52 million in annual compliance costs for the coal industry as a whole, of which roughly half was expected to be borne by mining operations in Appalachia. The rule could endanger up to 590 coal mining jobs in the region, the report estimated, though the losses would be partly offset by engineers and biologists that companies would need to hire to comply with its terms. Even without the rule, coal industry employment would shrink by more than 15, 000 workers, from a total of 90, 000 in 2012, the report noted. Still, on the campaign trail, Mr. Trump had pointed to coal mining’s decline as a symptom of overzealous environmental regulation and the neglect of Americans by coastal elites. He vowed that, as president, he would “put our miners back to work” — a promise that resonated with voters in battleground states, including those in Appalachia. But the American market for coal is shrinking, with or without new rules and regulations. Utility companies have drastically reduced their reliance on coal. Nationally, about 300 power plants have closed since 2008, according to the National Mining Association, a trade group. Many of those plants are not coming back, whatever the policy out of Washington, making it imperative that Appalachia diversify its economy, industry analysts say. Daile Rois, 56, lives about 2, 000 feet from a shuttered coal mine outside Charleston, W. Va. The mine, Keystone Development No. 2, released debris and chemicals into two creeks that meet at the edge of her property and run past her home. After intense opposition from environmental groups, which documented streams clouded by sediment and monitored rising acidity levels, West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection permanently closed the mine last year and ordered the operator to restore the site — a rare victory for local environmentalists. “Here in West Virginia, many creeks run orange” from the contamination, said Ms. Rois, who moved to West Virginia in 2012 with her partner to take care of elderly relatives. She called the Republican vote to repeal the Stream Protection Rule devastating, a move that would allow mines like Keystone to stay open. “Of course I care about miners’ jobs, and I care about their safety,” Ms. Rois said. “But orange is not the color of water. ” | 1 |
DETROIT, Michigan — President Trump’s base appears to be growing concerned with the direction of his administration, against the backdrop of a number of drastic policy shifts from the campaign period as well as his first few weeks in office. [As the notorious “first 100 days” mark rushes up on him, President Trump will have to perform a careful balancing act between the two evident camps in the White House: the nationalists and the globalists, between which a real reconciliation looks unlikely. The former appears to be supported by the campaign’s base — the people who put Trump in office. The latter appears to appeal to the President on the grounds of more positive headlines, less contentious policy issues as far as establishment media coverage is concerned, and his preternatural, New York liberal outlook. It’s not all bad news for the President, but it is a warning to be heeded. Here in Michigan, Trump voters, campaigners, and donors expressed concern to this Breitbart News correspondent on the recent change in his direction — citing the travel ban, border control, and the power of his relatives in his administration as key areas of concern. “We’re watching a man who can take action every single day,” Jeff, a Trump supporter, told me. He went on: He doesn’t need to go to Congress. He can take action. We’re watching him carefully. We’re talking about people who have lives to live. Grandchildren to take care of. And we’re watching actions day to day and they’re falling flat. They’re receding from why we put the man there, and it is extremely, it is more than stressful. We’re keeping track, we’re watching it. We do not want to hear about family members having an impact. We voted. We have high expectations for impact. Not everyone was so glum, however. One local cab driver dismissed such concerns, telling me that President Trump would listen to whomever he had to on a variety of issues, and if they tried to “bounce him” too much, he’d push back, perhaps even stop listening. I asked him, given his sunny disposition on the issue, “Do you think the border wall will be built?” He shot me a wry smile in his rear view mirror: “No. But I don’t think it matters. ” “I might take a permanent break [from Trump]!” said Cindy, a local Republican Party activists who admits to having preferred Sen. Ted Cruz in the primaries. “Oh no you’re not!” her friend shot back. They laughed heartily about her irritation, but she continued still: “I look every day to see if he put that [travel] ban on. I look every day,” she said, insisting that the White House had not done enough to force through President Trump’s executive order pausing the flow of refugees and calling for extreme vetting. Some even stated they’d be hard to win back, even though it’s been fewer than 100 days for President Trump’s administration. Perhaps, I thought, their frustration emanates from the fact that candidate Trump promised so much on “day one. ” His blunt approach during the campaign perhaps lulled supporters into thinking these were literal “day one” promises. He had said during the campaign that “day one” would include imposing Congressional term limits, repealing Obamacare, deporting illegal immigrants, fixing Veteran’s Affairs, redressing the balance of NATO, getting rid of gun free zones in schools, and a whole lot more. Although President Trump swiftly acted on some issues such as “ending the war on coal” and appears to be moving toward a renegotiation of NAFTA, on others, he has performed a complete turn, evidenced this week by his chumminess with NATO’s Secretary General, and a on replacing Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen and his prior disdain for the Bank. He relied heavily on these issues in his campaign videos, especially the ones targeted at The Great Lakes State in the final few weeks of the 2016 campaign: While these names were not first to the lips of the dozens I spoke to in Michigan — which I am not claiming is science — they did stress their growing disaffection with the executive branch. “I feel like it’s gone so far now the wrong way that it’s going to take something magnificent on his part to get people back. We’re fish that are off the hook right now. He only has one small chance to get us hooked again,” Penny, a lady from Sterling Heights, told me, adding: Jared and Ivanka were not on the ballot. I did not vote for them, nor would I if given the opportunity. There is a reason we have rules. The fact that they were aided by the odious Jamie Gorelick in circumventing those rules pours salt in our wounds. Now it looks like the counterbalance of Bannon and Kellyanne is being marginalized. President Trump seems to have forgotten the loyal supporters who have been behind him since the early primary days. I feel so very betrayed. And being in Detroit, a common theme was Islam and Muslim immigration. All bar one person I spoke to on the matter agreed that the Muslim Brotherhood should be designated as a terrorist organisation, and that refugee resettlement into the United States needs immediate curtailment. With what I gathered in Dearborn and Hamtramck — as research for my upcoming book — I was hardly surprised. “There is at least 50 people I know that are disappointed that the Hijra to America is continuing,” Cindy said, concluding: “Lay off the Freedom Caucus we are the grassroots supporters. ” The writing is obviously not yet on the wall as far as a second Trump term goes. But if the first 100 days — especially the second half of that time period — are anything to go by — the Donald will have some serious explaining to do in about three years time. Note: The names of some of those interviewed have been anonymized at the request of those quoted | 1 |
Beijing holds surprise South China Sea drills in response to US patrol Published time: 27 Oct, 2016 01:20 Get short URL © AFP China’s navy is gearing up for drills near the disputed islands in the South China Sea, less than a week after a US guided-missile destroyer sailed through the waters where Beijing asserted sovereignty in what US called a ‘freedom of navigation’ patrol.
The announcement of an exercise to be held in parts of the South China Sea was posted on China’s Maritime Safety Administration website. Read more ‘Illegal & provocative’: US destroyer sails through contested waters amid Chinese warnings
Without disclosing the details of the drills, the maritime authority provided the coordinates for the maneuvers, which are planned for Thursday. It also ordered civilian vessels to stay away from the waters just south of Hainan island and northwest of the disputed island chain in the South China Sea.
The announcement of the drills, which are quite routine in the disputed waters, comes less than a week after USS Decatur conducted a “freedom of navigation” sail-by near the disputed Spratly or Paracel Islands, through which some $5 billion dollars’ worth of trade passes through each year.
“USS Decatur (DDG 73) conducted this transit in a routine, lawful manner without ship escorts and without incident on October 21,” Pentagon spokesman Commander Gary Ross told the Navy Times. “The United States conducts these routine operations on a regular basis around the world, in full compliance with international law.”
The US operation last Friday was the fourth “ freedom of navigation” maneuver conducted in the past year by Washington. The move, as always, drew strong response and criticism from Beijing.
According to the Chinese Defense Ministry, as the USS Decatur was “trespassing" by the islands it was approached by at least two Chinese vessels. The People’s Liberation Army Navy ships repeatedly warned the US warship to leave, as they escorted USS Decatur from waters claimed by China. Read more US to hold joint drills with Philippines despite Duterte's scandalous outbursts
Calling the American sail-by a “serious offense” and “aggressive behavior,” China accused the US intentionally sending US warship to Chinese territorial waters “without permission.”
“We strongly urge the US side to respect China’s sovereignty and national security concerns. Do not repeat the mistakes again,” Chinese Defense Ministry said .
At the same time, Beijing vowed to increase military air and sea patrols, as well as to strengthen the defense capacity to better protect the country's national sovereignty and security.
The Spratly Islands are comprised of more than 750 islets and reefs off the coastlines of Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, and China, with all the claimants having their own national names for the archipelago.
China has a strong military presence on the archipelago concentrated around Woody Island, where Beijing maintains a runway and an arsenal of surface-to-air missiles. Beijing continues to claim the reefs in defiance of a Hague International Arbitration Court verdict this summer. | 0 |
Chart Of The Day: The "Trump Rally" Is All Dow---Mind The Divergences
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PARIS — The rest of the European Union nations are looking at the possibility of a British departure from the bloc with disbelief, trepidation and anguish. But they are also preparing to retaliate. If Britons do vote in a referendum on Thursday to leave the European Union, they can expect a tough and unforgiving response, with capitals across the Continent intent on deterring other countries from following the British example, European officials and analysts said. In other words, Britain will be made to suffer for its choice. With other issues pressing, including Greek debt, the migrant crisis and terrorism, the largest and most powerful European nations will want clarity, and are not likely to tolerate a long period of confusion. “In is in — out is out,” the powerful German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, told Spiegel magazine. “I hope and believe that the British will ultimately decide against Brexit. The withdrawal of Britain would be a heavy loss for Europe. ” The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, spoke apocalyptically about a British exit, or “Brexit,” to the German tabloid Bild. He said all members of the European Union would suffer, as would the postwar structure of Europe that had kept the peace. “Why is it so dangerous?” Mr. Tusk asked. “No one can foresee what the consequences would be. As a historian, I fear that Brexit could be the beginning of the destruction of not only the E. U. but also of Western political civilization. ” Britain would face at least seven years of limbo during painful negotiations about a new relationship with the bloc, Mr. Tusk said. Preparing for a British vote to withdraw, France and Germany are debating the immediate announcement of a joint initiative on European security, perhaps an operational command headquarters, to show, at least symbolically, that the European Union remains solid and will continue to progress without Britain. But Germany has rejected some ideas from the European Commission, the permanent bureaucracy in Brussels, to respond by moving quickly toward more European political or fiscal integration, understanding that with Spanish elections this month and French and German elections next year, “more Europe” is not what voters want. And no government wants treaty change, which would prompt more referendums at a time when populist, sentiments are running strong across the Continent. Suggestions by British politicians favoring a departure that the rest of the European Union will give Britain more favorable terms in a new trading arrangement will be rejected out of hand by European leaders, who do not want to make further concessions to a country that has rejected them, officials said. This would ensure that the British example discouraged others tempted to seek a special deal for themselves. To that end, the main European Union nations are envisioning a negotiating process for a British exit, once the British government invokes Article 50 of the treaty governing membership in the bloc. Article 50 provides two years to haggle over the terms of a divorce from the bloc — something that has never happened. The European Union is expected to want to talk about a future trade agreement only after Britain and the other 27 nations in the bloc have made a decision about how to unwind British membership. That process would require resolving complex legal and financial issues and addressing all kinds of topics that would affect ordinary people — what happens to pensions and health coverage, as well as the immigration status of European citizens working and living in Britain, and that of British citizens in the bloc. Officials want to negotiate future trade and financial services arrangements with Britain as a nonmember they do not want to allow Britain to use the status of European citizens in Britain and their rights as a bargaining chip in the trade negotiations, which could take several years to conclude, beyond the time limit for exit talks. Even then, Brussels would offer Britain one of the three existing models of varying closeness and mutual obligation — the bloc’s arrangements with Norway, Canada and the World Trade Organization — rather than offer to negotiate something new, said Charles Grant, the director of the Center for European Reform, a London research institution. France and Belgium, and probably Germany, are almost certain to reject any British proposal to remain within the European single market — even, or especially, for financial services — without at least an agreement that Britain continue to allow European citizens to live and work in Britain, analysts and officials said. In any case, such a the Norway model, is strongly opposed by British advocates of withdrawing from the bloc, in the name of controlling immigration. “There is no appetite to be nice on the day after,” said Camille Grand, the director of the Foundation for Strategic Research in France. “Whatever the British say or feel, there will be a price to pay, if only to prevent further attempts to exit the E. U. ” The French message, Mr. Grand said, is like Mr. Schäuble’s: “If you leave, you leave. And we won’t grant you the benefits of the single market. You won’t move to an à la carte membership. ” The Germans and the Dutch, Mr. Grand said, “might be tempted to be more flexible, but in Paris, it’s a divorce, and we must be tough with the British to prevent the Czechs or whomever from trying to make their own deals. ” But it may be the political aspect of a British exit that worries Europeans the most, coupled with the expected financial shock, said Guntram Wolff, the director of Bruegel, an independent research institution in Brussels. “Populists throughout Europe will celebrate this as a ‘feast of democracy,’ where finally the citizens get their say over the elites,” Mr. Wolff said. “Populists all over Europe will gain in strength. And markets could react by saying, ‘The first brick is out of the wall, and now let’s bet on another brick. ’” The next brick, Mr. Wolff said, could be economically troubled Italy, and that “could set in motion a domino effect,” with the euro dropping sharply in value along with the pound. So the European Central Bank would have to be prepared to prop up the banks and the euro against market pressure, just as the Bank of England would have to prop up the pound. No one in Germany thinks it would be good if the British left, said Daniela Schwarzer, the director of the Europe program at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin. “If the European Union is not able to prove that membership is worth having, and that in the end emotion wins over rational debates, this not only tells you something about public sentiment in Britain, but will have a contagion effect in other nations,” she said. Added to European instability, Ms. Schwarzer said, the immediate economic shock could badly damage countries with high debt, like France, Italy and Greece. Even if the British vote to remain, “this Europe of multiple speeds may continue to disintegrate,” said Emmanuel Macron, France’s economy minister. “But if the U. K. leaves, we will have this risk squared. Are we capable of keeping the founding promises that led to the union’s creation — peace, prosperity, freedom?” The effect on the bloc of a British departure would be threefold, Mr. Grant said. First, he said, a British withdrawal would be a big boost to nationalist, Union movements, with Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s National Front, already comparing a British exit to the fall of the Berlin Wall. “It’s not that the right will win power, but they’ll feel they have history with them, and elites in government will be on the back foot and afraid of moves toward more integration,” Mr. Grant said. “Federalism would be dead, and there would be no more referendums and treaty changes for generations, so it would be a new period of national power and not the federal future the European Commission wants. ” Second, he said, without the counterweight of Britain, “the German problem becomes more acute. ” Rome, Paris and Warsaw fear that without Britain as a countervailing force in the bloc, Germany would become too powerful. The Germans themselves fear that an alliance would form. Third, he said, the European Union without Britain’s influence would be more French in its economic policy outlook and more protectionist, with little impetus for deals or for the extension of the single market to services. “The stakes are high, because what happens in Britain will set off a domino effect and possibly a cycle of disintegration,” said Mark Leonard, the director of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “The European Union would look like a broken project, a declining power. ” Radoslaw Sikorski, a former Polish foreign minister, said a British departure from the bloc might have some benefits for those who want the nations of Europe to continue drawing closer. “Europe could forge ahead with a common security policy, which the British have vetoed repeatedly,” he said. “And the countries of the eurozone would probably insist on all euro trade being moved out of Britain,” which could help efforts by Paris, Frankfurt and Luxembourg to establish themselves as more important financial centers relative to London. But over all, Mr. Sikorski said, “the European Union is much better with Britain in it, providing liberal politics, liberal economics and a center of democratic political consensus of a kind needed now in Europe. ” | 1 |
“M. Butterfly,” the play about a French diplomat who has a lengthy affair with a Chinese opera singer, will be revived on Broadway this fall with Clive Owen starring and Julie Taymor directing. The drama, inspired by a true story, won the Tony Award for best new play in 1988, when it starred John Lithgow and B. D. Wong (who won a Tony). The playwright David Henry Hwang is making significant revisions to the script for the revival, incorporating recent discoveries about the relationship between Bernard Boursicot, who was an embassy worker, and Shi Pei Pu, a man whom Mr. Boursicot had believed for years to be a woman. The two were convicted of espionage in 1986. They were pardoned a year later. Mr. Owen, a British actor (“Closer”) will play the diplomat, named Rene Gallimard in the play. The play will be his second on Broadway — he made his Broadway debut in a 2015 revival of “Old Times,” by Harold Pinter. The role of the singer, named Song Liling in the play, has not yet been cast. The revival will mark Ms. Taymor’s first return to Broadway since “ : Turn Off the Dark,” a troubled production from which she was dismissed. She is best known as the creative genius behind the stage adaptation of “The Lion King,” for which she won two Tony Awards in 1998, for direction and costume design, and which is still going strong on Broadway and in productions around the world. Her most recent Off Broadway productions, including “Grounded” at the Public Theater and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Theater for a New Audience, won significant critical praise. The “M. Butterfly” revival, produced by Nelle Nugent, Steve Traxler, Kenneth Teaton, Benjamin Feldman and Doug Morris, the chief executive of Sony Music, is scheduled to open on Oct. 26 at an unspecified theater. | 0 |
In a bizarre scene that could have been lifted from a Francis Ford Coppola film, the son of Sicilian Mafia boss Totò Riina returned to his native town of Corleone to stand as godfather in his niece’s baptism, an act now denounced by the local bishop. [Salvo Riina, who was released from prison in 2011 but prohibited from returning to Sicily, obtained special permission from the court to attend his niece’s baptism in his native town of Corleone, and furthermore convinced a Catholic priest in Padua to issue a declaration that Riina is a practicing Catholic in good standing and therefore a suitable godfather for the child. On learning of the gangster’s role in the baptism, the bishop of Monreale, Michele Pennisi, stated Wednesday: “Neither I, nor the offices of the Curia were informed. Allowing the son of Riina to be the baptismal godfather was an imprudent and reprehensible choice, which I do not approve. ” The baptism was performed last December 29, but the circumstances only recently came to the attention of Bishop Pennisi, who is one of Sicily’s most vocal critics of Cosa Nostra, the local branch of the Italian Mafia. Salvatore “Totò” Riina ruled over Cosa Nostra from the early 1980s through the dramatic period of the early 90s, when he notoriously ordered the assassination of two antimafia prosecutors, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. He was eventually arrested in 1993 and is serving several life sentences in an Italian prison. Riina’s youngest son Giuseppe Salvatore (“Salvo”) reportedly killed his first victim before he turned 20, and was later arrested in 2002 and sentenced two years later for crimes of Mafia association, extortion, and money laundering. Salvo Riina was released in 2011, but the district prosecutor of Palermo forbade Riina from returning to Sicily, saying he had never interrupted his relations with Cosa Nostra. Since then, Riina has lived in the norther Italian city of Padua. The bishop of Monreale said he understood why the local priest accepted Riina as godfather for the baptism, since he had presented a valid certificate from his local pastor, “still, I will not change my mind about what happened,” he said. Bishop Pennisi recalled that the godfather “must be the guarantor of the faith and must give witness with his actions. ” “And I am not aware that the young man has ever expressed words of repentance for his conduct,” he said. Bishop Pennisi has announced that soon he will carry out a pastoral visit to Corleone. “We need clear words about the mafia,” he said. “Certain episodes are no longer tolerable. ” Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome | 0 |
A Catholic Bishop is speaking out against the practice of parishes housing illegal aliens from federal immigration law. [In a letter to clergy, the Most Reverend Bishop Peter Libasci for the Diocese of Manchester says Catholic parishes should not be working against law enforcement, according to the Christian Post. Libasci stated that the term “sanctuary church” was being misused by illegal immigration advocates. “Some use this term and mean what I have described above — a welcoming community ready to offer immediate aid to anyone in need. In these works, of course, we will always be involved,” Libasci wrote in the letter. “But others use this term ‘sanctuary’ to refer to churches that will allow individuals in fear of deportation to live in the church. ” Libasci went on to say that the propping up of sanctuary churches was creating a “false hope” for illegal immigrants who are trying to escape enforcement. “‘Sanctuary’ is not a designation recognized by law and provides no such legal protection,” Libasci continued. “Instead, immigration law imposes criminal penalties and fines on anyone who conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, in any place, an alien who has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of the law. ” The mainstream media has heralded the practice of churches harboring illegal immigrants wanted for crimes and other violations by ICE. In a piece in the New York Times, churches helping to shield illegal immigrants were referred to as “ immigrant sanctuaries,” Breitbart Texas reported at the time. John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder. | 0 |
Email President Barack Obama admonished Donald Trump Thursday, saying the Republican nominee's claims that he might not accept the results of next month's election are "not a joking matter." "I want everybody to pay attention here. This is dangerous," Obama said at a Hillary for America event in Miami Gardens, Florida. "Because when you try to sow the seeds of doubt in people's mind about the legitimacy of our elections, that undermines our democracy. Then you are doing the work of our adversaries for them." Obama also encouraged the crowd of about 1,800 at Florida Memorial University to take advantage of Florida's early voting, telling the audience in doing so they can reject what the President called Trump's "dark, pessimistic fear-mongering." "Our democracy depends on people knowing that their vote matters. That those who occupy the seats of power were chosen by the people," Obama said. On Wednesday night's debate Trump, answered, "I will look at it at the time," when asked whether he would concede if he loses on November 8. "I will keep you in suspense." Trump also doubled down on Thursday in Ohio saying he will accept the results of next month's election as long as wins. Obama also used the opportunity while in Florida to weigh in on the close Senate race in Florida between Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and his Democratic challenger, Rep. Patrick Murphy. "Even Marco Rubio says there's no rigging of the vote," Obama said, "Which I'd like to give credit for, except he's refuting the dangerous, unprecedented claims of a candidate he says he's still going to vote for!" Earlier this week, Obama released a new ad for the Democrat in the Sunshine State, the same week it was announced the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was puling money for ads for Murphy. | 0 |
On a chilly October morning, Talea Childs, 4, still dressed in pajamas, bounced along the living room rug of a United States map. “Konnichiwa,” she greeted in Japanese, and bowed. Surrounded by shelves of her favorite books, she selected a thin volume and sat to read. “She’s been interested in books since she could belly over and look at the pages,” her mother, Trenicia Childs, said as Talea settled into the story. Ms. Childs is applying to kindergarten for next year — a notoriously rigorous process in New York City schools — and nurtures her daughter’s learning at home. A schedule taped to a cupboard by the kitchen lists Circle Time, Storytelling, Cooking and other activities. Brushes, thick with paint, sit in a canister by the sink, and evidence of recent art projects lines the walls — abstract strokes of pinks, purples and green glitter. Also on the walls are posters of the solar system, the human body, the numbers through 100 and the words “large,” “small,” “run” and “walk” and associated words. While Talea read in the corner, Ms. Childs sorted through piles of housing documents. The Childses, who are among almost 565, 000 people in New York State who receive some public assistance, according to state calculations in June, never expected to need help. Ms. Childs, 45, and her husband, Tarrell Childs, 40, an Air Force veteran, have college degrees and work force experience. While serving in the military for a decade as an account finance specialist, Mr. Childs worked through an injury in 1997 that gouged and blinded his right eye. A Bronx native, he returned there in 2003, working full time while studying English literature at Fordham University. He wrote short stories, plays and short film scripts late into the night. The couple met at Moca Bar and Lounge at a spoken word performance in Harlem in 2010. Mr. Childs wondered aloud what their children would be like on their second date. A year later they were married and expecting their daughter. With Mr. Childs’s steady income as a property manager, Ms. Childs postponed completing her master’s in education to raise their daughter. She was one certification shy of graduation. But Mr. Childs lost his job in 2014 when his company restructured because of financial problems. “That’s when we really started getting behind,” Ms. Childs said. With his G. I. Bill benefits set to expire, Mr. Childs dusted off his screenplays and applied to the New York Film Academy. He got in. He planned to work while going to school, but he found that an accelerated yearlong conservatory program packed with days did not allow for extra time. Although the military covered his studies, the family exhausted its meager savings. With little time to search for jobs during school, Mr. Childs graduated in September 2015 without work. That month, bringing in just $594. 98 in disability payments from Veterans Affairs, the Childses applied for public assistance, confronting a frustrating labyrinth of city departments and aid applications, according to documents provided by the family. They hoped the assistance would be temporary — keeping food on the table and bills paid on time — until they gained employment. In October 2015, a month after they applied for aid, the city’s Human Resources Administration lost their paperwork. A month after that, the Homelessness Diversion Units forced them to reapply. And a month after that: the same story. Their debt quadrupled while they waited for paperwork to be fixed, and they faced imminent eviction after missing rent payments, the family said. With a worsened financial situation, the family was told that December that its rent was too high and its arrears too steep to qualify for assistance from the Homelessness Diversion Units, so it was referred to the Neighborhood Association for Affairs, a nonprofit organization providing housing intervention and assistance services. That same month, the Childses found out they had qualified for public assistance through the Human Resources Administration. But two days later, another error closed their case, halting all public assistance, including food stamps. In early 2016, the Human Resources Administration reopened the case, and the family reapplied to the Neighborhood Association for Affairs. But a week later the nonprofit denied the application. Eventually, in February, the Human Resources Administration referred the family for an eviction prevention subsidy. “It felt personal,” Ms. Childs said. “It was one more stressor when there were already weeks we didn’t have enough food on the table. ” In March, HomeBase, an eviction prevention program administered by Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York, one of the eight organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, helped them navigate the complicated application process — which included another errant application closing in April — and avoid eviction. By this time, the family was $12, 193. 46 in arrears. “It’s right out of a Kafka novel,” said Alice Kenny, the organization’s director of special projects. In May, Catholic Charities got the city to help settle the Childs family’s arrears with a lump sum of $12, 083. 46. Then in June, nine months after initially applying for a housing subsidy, they received their first payment, along with another conciliation notice threatening case closure. The family resolved the notice and now receives $960 a month toward rent from the city. Still, despite noting Mr. Childs’s veteran status in September 2015, the family was not referred to the proper office for public assistance for more than a year. Last summer, Mr. Childs got a job as a substitute teacher. Working toward a teaching license while interning on film projects, he anticipates additional film work this year. In January, he began a work training program at a martial arts school in the Bronx, learning to become an instructor. Ms. Childs also temporarily worked at a job with the federal Women, Infants and Children program. She has also taught English to children in their Bronx neighborhood and plans to return to school to study early childhood education and later open a toddler education program, based on the family’s educational approach at home. The family brings in $950 monthly, and currently has about $2, 000 in rent arrears. HomeBase provided the family with $340 in July to buy a dresser and a toddler bed for Talea. Then in September, Catholic Charities provided $162. 85 in Neediest Cases funds to cover the cost of Talea’s school clothes and bedding. Through public assistance, the family can use child care centers that are suggested and subsidized by the city. The family tried several of those education programs last year, but the workload and environment were not stimulating, Ms. Childs said, so she enrolled Talea at a Montessori school, where the family receives financial aid, in late October and doubled her efforts at home. The Childses have applied to five independent schools, where they believe Talea could thrive next school year, but the costs — estimated at $25, 000 to $45, 000 annually — are high. They have applied for financial aid to the schools through Early Steps, a nonprofit intended to increase diversity within kindergarten and classrooms in independent schools. Talea will find out in February if she is accepted to any of the schools. At night, the family dresses up and improvises plays, which Mr. Childs records. Many end in life lessons. is not one of them. While sitting on a park bench on a recent outing, Ms. Childs said, she had a conversation with another mother who did not agree that everyone deserved the same chances. Unaware that the Childs family receives welfare, the woman depicted recipients as sloths sitting at home, sending their children to overpriced day care centers. “But is that who we are?” Ms. Childs asked, recalling the conversation. “The assumption is if you’re on public assistance, you don’t want to work. Yes, we receive a check every month. But we also work and are involved in our kid’s life. We’re working hard to make something of ourselves. So, no, that’s not who we are at all. ” | 1 |
November 2, 2016 @ 3:20 am
Count me in. Mohammed Wazza Paedo November 2, 2016 @ 2:52 am
Sounds great, but the cynic in me tells me that I’ve heard similar for the the last 3 or 4 years, that this or that is gonna happen to Obama or Clinton etc etc & of course nothing ever did. Seeing is believing. That being said, this time with the release of the latest batch of Criminal Clinton’s, Weiner & Abedin emails, I think this time there’s enough to make the mud stick. Especially now that the Intelligence Community & sections of the FBI are really pissed off. I won’t be holding my breath, but as Sir Winston Churchill once said “A week is a long time in politics”. Dajjal November 2, 2016 @ 4:33 am
Moe, there are many pissed off people in the CIA, FBI & Pentagon plus a plethora who were purged, who have scores to settle with Obamination and some of them have the means. đ We may never know who really tipped off Wikileaks, it may be an inside job.
Rumor has it the email archive folder on Weiner’s laptop was named “life insurance”. Did Weiner archive those emails for their blackmail value? Did he contemplate triggering a dead man switch? Too many questions, not enough answers. Don Spilman November 2, 2016 @ 2:29 am
There is going to be some major shakeup. Thank you BNI I sent this immediately to my base. These are very vile evil people we are dealing with and they will react like a cornered mountain lion. The next few days are going to be interesting. | 0 |
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai plans a quick repeal of the controversial net neutrality order and wants to replace it with lighter regulations intended to preserve an open internet. [Chairman Pai, a Republican appointed by President Donald Trump, met with telecommunications groups on Tuesday to discuss his plans . The net neutrality order, created by former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler back in early 2015, regulates the internet similar to a public monopoly. Net neutrality prohibited telecommunications companies from creating internet “fast lanes” that would ensure consistent Skype video chat, and Netflix streaming. At the meeting, Pai suggested that internet service providers voluntarily agree to certain practices preserving an open internet. The Federal Trade Commission would then enforce compliance of these rules. Industry sources state that the FCC will unveil its plan to eliminate net neutrality as early as late April, a vote could come in May or June. Internet providers such as ATT and Verizon argued that net neutrality made it harder to manage web traffic and curtailed broadband investment. Net neutrality advocates worry that internet service providers might unfairly discriminate content. In December, Chairman Pai stated that net neutrality’s days were numbered. He said that he believes “in a free and open internet and the only question is what regulatory framework best secures that. ” | 0 |
This past Monday, numerous human rights and aid organizations called upon the United Nations to deprive Russia of its seat on the UN’s Human Rights Council (UNHRC). A total of 80... | 0 |
As the New England Patriots took yet another Super Bowl win, liberals from coast to coast exploded with vitriol on social media, furious that a team with tangential links to President Donald Trump came out on top Sunday. Since that final touchdown the hash tag #NotMySuperBowlChamps and other similar tags have been trending. [The sports media has been out for blood for the better part of a year because Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick, and team owner Robert Kraft all came out as unapologetic fans of President Trump. And, now that they’ve won the Super Bowl the left has turned apoplectic. Since last night’s big game, liberals have flooded Twitter, Facebook, and other social media services with several versions of the hash tag after Trump pal Tom Brady led his team to yet another Super Bowl title. Along with #NotMySuperBowlChamps, users also employed #NotMySuperBowlChampions and #NotMySuperBowlTeam to attack the Patriots. The winner should be determined by who has more fans, not more points. Winning is racist and Tom Brady is a fascist. #NotMySuperBowlChamps pic. twitter. — Elizabeth® (@MissLizzyNJ) February 6, 2017, *weeps* I can’t believe this can happen in our country ya’ll *snot bubble* @MileyCyrus #NotMySuperBowlChamps pic. twitter. — Jendetta© reeeeee! ❄️ (@PolitiKellyRite) February 6, 2017, I’m protesting #notmysuperbowlchampion, — Chance Bishop (@THEchancebishop) February 6, 2017, The Patriots didn’t win today. Hate won. Fear won. Racism won. Sexsim won. Homphobia won. Literally shaking. #NotMySuperBowlChamps, — Luis Antonio Miguel (@lamknight7) February 6, 2017, A hashtag that I will use both before and after #SuperBowl51 — #NotMySuperBowlChampion, — Douglas Young (@douglasyoung67) February 5, 2017, Tom Brady is a Trump supporter AND a cheater #notmysuperbowlchampion, — tom battles (@tomf0olery) February 6, 2017, Oh hell nah #notmysuperbowlchampion https: . — Tay 😇 (@They_LoveTaylor) February 6, 2017, #NotMySuperBowlChamps, Me: ”I hate the Patriots, Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and nothing can change my mind.” Woke Twitter: ”Hold my beer.” pic. twitter. — ScottInSC (@ScottInSC) February 6, 2017, @CNN @MartysaurusRex the whole team should skip it. On 2nd thought, they should go. Cheaters reunion … #notmySuperBowlteam #notmypresident, — Joel Franklin (@average_joester) February 6, 2017, Demand a recount! Call for the NFL to not recognize the Patriots as champs! Then protest the parade! #RESISTANCE #NotMySuperBowlChamps pic. twitter. — Chow (@Dodge5Adam) February 6, 2017, Meet BET’s new NFL analyst. #NotMySuperBowlChamps pic. twitter. — Pontiac Danger 🐸 (@pontiacaholic) February 6, 2017, This is what bullshit happens in Donald trumps America! #NotMySuperbowlChamps, — Mikey Doherty (@cheeks_jr) February 6, 2017, How am I supposed to take this HRM test while I’m still recovering from last night’s game? 😫😫😫 #RiseUp #NotMySuperBowlChampions, — Sky Stricklin (@Skyryder96) February 6, 2017, It’s Monday and Tom Brady is really happy … . .life sucks #notmysuperbowlchampions, — A. B. (@twistedpod2) February 6, 2017, Of course, even as the liberals were losing their minds, again, many others took time out to slam liberals by sticking their finger in their eyes and joking about how the Falcons “won the popular vote” or how the Russians “hacked the Super Bowl. ” @MarkLazerus But, didn’t the Falcons win the popular vote? #notmysuperbowlchampions, — Lets Go Blues (@Ibleedblue8403) February 6, 2017, The Russians hacked the Super Bowl! Demand a recount of the score!! PAAAAHHHH #NotMySuperBowlChampions 😂😂❄️❄️ @JessicaTarlov @julieroginsky pic. twitter. — Jimmy🇺🇸⛪️🙏🏻 (@JimmyK_23) February 6, 2017, Hey @ShaunKing, why’d you delete this tweet? Don’t worry, I saved it for you. You’re welcome. .#SB51 #NotMySuperBowlChamps #boycottbudwiser pic. twitter. — Tennessee (@TEN_GOP) February 6, 2017, John Lewis holding a to protest #superbowl. Said he feels best when he’s sitting around doing nothing anyway. #notmysuperbowlchamps pic. twitter. — Wake Up Nation (@John_Adams_2016) February 6, 2017, Maybe a men’s march will change the results? #NotMySuperBowlChamps, — Matt (@StartedTweeting) February 6, 2017, Leftists have managed to spin a white racism narrative in a sport that is 70% . #NotMySuperBowlChamps, — Red Pill Philosophy (@RedPillTweets) February 6, 2017, Then there was this laugher … #Monday #NotMySuperBowlChamps #MAGA #LiberalLogic #StupidLiberals, I rest my case! pic. twitter. — Zarko️ 💯Trump 🇺🇸 (@ZarkoElDiablo) February 6, 2017, Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 1 |
http://www.dailykos.com/story/...
Hillary's jobs plan is to displace American workers and lower their wages. First, Hillary is in favor of increasing the H1B Visas to satisfy her corporate supporters. Secondly, if the TPP passes, foreign corporations can bring in their own workforce and pay them less than an American worker, especially since most make less than $3 an hour. In fact, a foreign corporation can go to arbitration if it feels not enough foreign workers are being let in. Next, we allow about a million new legal immigrants in each year. And then those legal immigrants can call for other family members. Next, she says she will bring in thousands of refugees, with everybody competing for those great retail/consumer/financial jobs. We're aiming to be as congested as China, only poorer.
Then behind the TPP, she'll be pushing for the TTIP. That should pretty much wrap things up for us. | 0 |
CHARLOTTE, N. C. — After a recent preseason game here, the walking wounded roamed the Pittsburgh Steelers’ locker room. They had not been injured on the field, but were among the many players bruised by the disciplinary practices of the N. F. L. and Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the most powerful sports league in America. In one corner sat linebacker James Harrison, whom Goodell had threatened to suspend indefinitely if he did not speak to investigators about allegations that he had used steroids. No stranger to controversy, Harrison called Goodell a “crook. ” Running back Le’Veon Bell, who walked past Harrison’s locker, will sit out the first three games of the regular season because he failed to report for a drug test, his second suspension in two seasons. Nearby was quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who received a suspension after he was accused of sexual assault in 2010. (The penalty was ultimately reduced to four games.) Then there was guard Ramon Foster. He may incur Goodell’s ire in a different way, as the team’s union representative and one of several players across the league who are now preparing their brethren for a yearslong fight to rein in Goodell’s power. Goodell’s application of disciplinary policy, and his unwillingness to appoint an independent arbitrator to hear appeals, has corroded the fragile trust between him and the players, who see him as judge and jury, Foster and other union representatives said. To push their point, they have already told players to start setting aside money in case the players ultimately end up on a picket line without a paycheck. “When you’re dealing with a guy like Roger Goodell, he can do whatever he wants because no one is in charge of him, especially with discipline,” Foster said. “For us to actually battle this out, we need to save money. We have a chance to fight for this. ” Foster’s call to action is unusual because the N. F. L. ’s current labor deal does not expire until 2021. But players said they were so alarmed by a string of suspensions they considered unreasonable, and the legal victories the league had won to uphold those decisions, that they needed to muster for action now. Their focus is the N. F. L. ’s personal conduct policy, which Goodell has used to penalize players for transgressions as varied as aggressive hits on quarterbacks, bullying teammates, domestic abuse and scheming to deflate footballs. Goodell, with an approach far more aggressive than that of his predecessor, Paul Tagliabue, has gotten as much attention in his first decade as commissioner for these punishments as for turning the league, which oversees America’s most popular sport, into a $13 billion behemoth. Few players would dispute that someone who commits domestic violence should be penalized. But Goodell’s suspension of players for more ambiguous infractions like deflating footballs or taunting teammates has led many fans, and some players, to complain that he is meddlesome and affecting the quality of play by sidelining some of the game’s top stars. Players also want a neutral arbitrator, not Goodell, to hear their appeals. “We don’t want it to just be that you say this is what it is and we don’t get a chance to negotiate anything,” said Mark Herzlich, a linebacker for the Giants and a member of the union’s executive committee. “What we want is fairness. ” The season begins in Denver on Thursday night, with a rematch of last season’s Super Bowl between the Broncos and the Carolina Panthers. But on Sunday, when most games will be played, Tom Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback and one of the league’s best players, will be conspicuously absent. He will sit out the first four games of the season after a federal appeals court this summer upheld the league’s right to suspend him over his role in an alleged plot to deflate balls used in the A. F. C. championship game in 2015. Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson will take the field, though a federal court this summer agreed that the N. F. L. had been within its rights to suspend Peterson after he was arrested following an episode in which he disciplined his young son with a stick. Under an agreement with the league, Peterson paid a fine equal to three games’ salary. Goodell has his defenders, including team owners, but even they express dismay that his disciplinary decisions have become a lightning rod and sometimes distracted from the game. “I think it’s largely due to the age and the fact that he had some cases and admittedly made some mistakes,” John Mara, an owner of the Giants, said of the attention Goodell receives. “And he’s become an easy target because of the money he makes. It’s almost gotten to the point where no matter what he does, he faces an avalanche of a criticism. ” Still, Mara and many other owners said that they supported Goodell’s approach and, contrary to what some of the commissioner’s critics have said, insisted that he had not acted impulsively, but rather in the best interests of the league. “Once he makes up his mind, he certainly has a strong opinion on things,” said Art Rooney II, an owner of the Steelers. “But I don’t think he’s someone who isn’t seeking input. ” Goodell and his deputies are unapologetic. “The whole reason you have a commissioner in any sport, the most fundamental reason for that office, is to protect the integrity of the game,” said Jeff Pash, the N. F. L. ’s top lawyer. The job of the commissioner, he added, is to make sure that fans “are rooting and supporting financially and emotionally for a game that is clean, that is honest, cares about fans and cares about the people who play the game. ” tension has long been a feature of the N. F. L. though. In the 1970s and 1980s, players walked off the job several times to win concessions like free agency. By the 1990s, Tagliabue and the union chief at the time, Gene Upshaw, found common ground more often than not. In 2006, the players won what was widely perceived as the upper hand when the two sides renewed their collective bargaining agreement. Five years later, with the economy teetering, the owners clawed back those gains and then some, but only after a protracted fight with DeMaurice Smith, Upshaw’s replacement. “My observation was when DeMaurice took over, it became combative,” said Amy Trask, who was the chief executive of the Oakland Raiders until 2013. “With the union, everything was an argument. We could go into a meeting and say, Wow, my pencil broke, can someone give a pencil? and there would be an argument about No. 2 pencils. ” After the owners locked them out for more than four months, the players agreed to accept just 47 percent of the league’s revenue, down from 50 percent. Amid the fight over money, the players focused less on the personal conduct policy, which has now become such a point of contention. Only the Steelers players — who had watched Goodell suspend Roethlisberger and fine Harrison for making illegal hits — voted against the deal. In a league that practically prints money, threatening to walk off the job would seem . Most careers in the N. F. L. are brutally short — the average length is less than four years — so players might be excused for opting to collect paychecks over trying to clip a commissioner’s wings. The larger question, then, is whether the current fixation on Goodell’s power will continue and how far the players are willing to go to try to check his authority. Pash said that the league was willing to negotiate with the union to amend the personal conduct policy, but that the union would have to understand the owners’ position and stop trying to overturn the commissioner’s rulings by going to court. For their part, many players have said they recognize that they, like employees at any company, must be accountable for their actions on and off the job. They insist that they have only gone to court because the commissioner overstepped his authority in applying the personal conduct policy. They also reject the notion that they must give the owners something — like agreeing to play an season — in return for overhauling the policy. “They’ve created this Dumpster fire they have to put it out,” said Eric Winston, an offensive lineman with the Cincinnati Bengals and the president of the N. F. L. Players Association. “They can’t come to the union and say, ‘We’ve abused this policy for 30 years you need to give us something so that we can change it. ’” | 1 |
Worrying About Trump’s Reactionaries November 22, 2016
The mixed signals from Donald Trump’s transition are creating diverse interpretations of where his foreign policy is headed, with ex-CIA analyst Melvin A. Goodman seeing reasons to worry about more neocon warmongering.
By Melvin A. Goodman
My favorite philosopher, Garrison Keillor, stated in a different era that “it will get worse before it gets worse.” Well, once again, here we are. President-elect Donald Trump’s naming of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as national security adviser; Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, R-Alabama, as attorney general; and Rep. Michael Pompeo, R-Kansas, as director of the Central Intelligence Agency suggests that the dangerous positions taken by Trump during the presidential campaign will be supported by his . Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn speaks at the Defense Intelligence Agency on July 24, 2012. (DoD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo)
All three of these men have pandered to the Trump agenda and have taken particularly hardline views on matters dealing with immigration, the Muslim community, and the use of force. If Donald Trump actually decides to name a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton’s use of email at the Department of State, then he will have the support of these three men.
Lt. Gen. Flynn is in a position to do the most damage to the national security interests of the United States. He was forced into retirement from the military in 2014 when the Joint Chiefs of Staff needed to stop his politicization of intelligence as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and his brutal management style resembling that of Captain Queeq on the USS Caine.
Flynn reorganized the DIA in order to combine the roles of the intelligence analysts and the operatives, which created a smoother path for politicizing intelligence. This is the same reform that CIA director John Brennan has introduced into the CIA, which has had its own problems with politicized intelligence over the past several decades.
At DIA, Flynn was known for endorsing specious intelligence reports and circulating his support for these reports in what was known facetiously as “Flynn facts.” Currently there is an investigation of DIA for the tailoring of intelligence on the success of the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Although the general has been praised for his work in the operational and tactical fields, there are no examples of the kind of strategic thinking or experience to believe that Flynn would be useful in coordinating the policy views of the entire national security bureaucracy or in providing objective and balanced intelligence to the President.
Flynn has already changed his views to accommodate the interests of Trump. Once an opponent of torture and abuse, Flynn over the past year has become a supporter. His consulting company has lobbied on behalf of the authoritarian interests of Turkish President Erdogan, and Flynn himself has been a regular commentator on RT, Moscow’s English language propaganda voice.
At the Republican National Convention last summer, Flynn referred to Hillary Clinton as a member of the “enemy camp” and led the chants of “lock her up.”
Pompeo’s Hard Line
Rep. Pompeo was an initial supporter of the Tea Party and predictably took positions against abortion (even in cases of rape and incest); against the Affordable Care Act; and against any effort on the part of the Environmental Protection Agency to eliminate greenhouse gases. He favors a return to unrestricted massive surveillance by the National Security Agency; a death sentence for Edward Snowden; and more vigorous use of enhanced interrogation techniques at Guantanamo. When his committee was confronted with pictures of hunger strikers at Guantanamo, Pompeo facetiously remarked that it “looked like that they had put on weight.” Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas.
Pompeo, like other members of the presidential transition staff, is a conspiracy thinker. He and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, who has been rumored as a possible choice as Secretary of Defense, were strong opponents of the Iran nuclear agreement and believe that there are secret side agreements that favor the interests of Tehran. Pompeo has charged that any Muslim citizen who doesn’t vigorously denounce acts of terror is actually complicit with the attacks.
Pompeo was a strong opponent of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s devastating report on CIA torture and abuse, and conducted a vigorous attack on Secretary of State Clinton’s role in the Benghazi tragedy. When his colleague, former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, issued a report exonerating Clinton, Pompeo attached a polemical rebuttal.
Sen. Sessions has been rewarded with the Department of Justice for being the first elected official to come out in support of Donald Trump. He is strongly opposed to any immigration reform, and has received a grade of “F” from various civil rights groups and the NAACP for his opposition to civil rights.
In the 1980s, there was a successful bipartisan effort in the Senate to keep him from becoming a federal judge, with the decisive swing vote coming from Sen. Howell Heflin, D-Alabama. Sessions once referred to the American Civil Liberties Union as “un-American and communist” for “trying to force civil rights down the throats of people.”
The appointment of a neoconservative points the Trump administration in an extreme hardline direction. It is possible that the Director of National Intelligence will be weakened or even eliminated, and that the CIA will become even more involved in covert action, including regime change. The sudden resignation of James Clapper as director of national intelligence certainly points in this direction.
President Barack Obama’s failure to limit the CIA’s paramilitary role and to seek accountability for the conduct of torture and abuse will allow to get the CIA more heavily involved in paramilitary activities, which have damaged the reputation of the United States and the CIA in the past.
The Iran-Contra scandal tarnished the presidency of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. CIA support for the mujahedeen in the 1980s led to the emergence of Al Qaeda and other fundamentalist terror organizations in the 1990s that we are still confronting.
Although President Obama had some success in bringing sunlight into the darkened corridors of the national security state, ’s appointment of these individuals suggests that the secret state will once again expand. A greater era of secrecy will be harmful to the interests of American citizens and even to our democracy.
Melvin A. Goodman is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and a professor of government at Johns Hopkins University. A former CIA analyst, Goodman is the author of Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA , National Insecurity: The Cost of American Militarism , and the forthcoming Whistleblower at CIA , scheduled for release in February 2017. Goodman is the national security columnist for counterpunch.org , where this story first appeared. http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/11/21/trumps-inner-circle-here-come-the-troglodytes/ | 1 |
A Border Patrol K9 agent in southwestern Arizona discovered 30 pounds of methamphetamine and other drugs at an inland border checkpoint. [The agents assigned to the Yuma Sector observed a Dodge pickup truck approach the Interstate 8 inland border checkpoint located east of Yuma, Arizona. During a cursory check of the truck, a K9 agent alerted to the possible presence of drugs, according to information provided to Breitbart Texas by U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesman Justin Kallinger. The agents conducted a secondary inspection on the truck. The inspection led to the discovery of drugs hidden inside a spare tire, officials stated. Agents also found drugs hidden under the truck’s seats. The agents found 3 pounds of heroin, 2 pounds of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and 30 pounds of methamphetamine. The agents arrested the driver of the Dodge pickup truck and identified him as a U. S. citizen. They did not disclose the driver’s identity in the official statement. Officials seized the truck and the drugs, estimated to be worth $327, 000 in street value. The suspect will be turned over to another federal law enforcement agency for possible prosecution under drug trafficking laws. This area is well known for drug trafficking and human smuggling. In March, Breitbart Texas reported on a serious crash that occurred after human smugglers attempted to flee Border Patrol agents. Border Patrol agents attempted to stop a vehicle on Highway 78, near State Road 2. The driver refused to yield and led the agents on a chase. While attempting to evade arrest, the suspect lost control of his vehicle and rolled over. The driver received serious head trauma and torso injuries. His “human cargo” received minor injuries. Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents effectively combat smuggling organizations attempting to illegally transport people and contraband through southwestern Arizona and California, Kallinger stated. Citizens can help the Border Patrol and U. S. Customs and Border Protection by calling to report suspicious activity. Callers can remain anonymous. Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook. | 0 |
ROME — This much is known: In 70 AD the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, looted the temple of its treasure — including a solid gold menorah — and brought at least some of the artifacts back to Rome in a triumphant procession. Depictions of the victorious Roman army and its booty are carved on the Arch of Titus, near the Colosseum, built about a decade later to commemorate that military triumph. What later happened to the menorah has been the object of intense speculation for centuries, giving rise to various, sometimes colorful, legends and scholarly hypotheses over its whereabouts. Now, Rome’s Jewish community and the Vatican have teamed up to produce an exhaustive exhibition on the menorah, which in time became an enduring symbol of Jewish culture and religion, in a collaboration that leaders of the two communities described as a further step in solidifying their ties. “This is a historic event,” Ruth Dureghello, the president of Rome’s Jewish community, said at a news conference on Monday. The menorah has connections to Rome, she added, “so such an important exhibit could only start here. ” Jews and Catholics have a long history of mutual suspicion and conflict, but relations between the two religions have been increasingly positive. In 1965, the Vatican issued “Nostra Aetate,” a landmark document that condemned . Pope John Paul II, the first modern pope to pray in a synagogue, made an effort to improve the relationship, as have his successors, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. The exhibit, “Menorah: Worship, History, Legend,” which includes about 130 artifacts, will open in May and will be presented at the Vatican Museums and at Rome’s Jewish Museum. The collaboration between the two institutions will finally transform longstanding dialogue into something “concrete,” Ms. Dureghello said. More than three years in the making, the project is a “sign of fruitful collaboration between our two communities,” said Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, the president of the governorate of the Vatican City State. He added that it “makes visible the dialogue between the two religions and the close ties between the Jewish and Christian faiths. ” These are ties that Francis has championed, said Cardinal Kurt Koch, the president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews, who noted that on the day after Francis became pope in March 2013, he wrote to the city’s Jewish community, eager to improve relations between the two religions. Menorahs have been used in churches as liturgical objects, said Arnold Nesselrath, deputy director of the Vatican Museums and one of the curators of the exhibit. While the historical and cultural importance of the menorah from the temple in Jerusalem is central to the exhibition, its physical absence is equally significant. According to some scholars, the menorah remained in Rome until the Vandals looted the city in 455. After that, its whereabouts become even murkier. Some accounts assert that the menorah was destroyed in a fire others say that it was taken to Carthage and then on to Constantinople, Istanbul. Some claim that it sank to the bottom of the Mediterranean in a shipwreck others state that such a shipwreck took place on the Tiber River. In 1818, a navigation company was founded to drag the Tiber in search of precious objects including the menorah, said Francesco Leone, an art historian at the G. d’Annunzio University of and another curator of the exhibit. “The venture failed,” he said. Novels have also taken up the theme, positing that the menorah was returned to Israel, or that perhaps it never left at all and was buried secretly on the road to Jerusalem. But the most colorful and perhaps most repeated, if unsubstantiated, account is that the Vatican has hidden the menorah for centuries in an underground deposit, either in Vatican City or under the Basilica of St. John the Lateran, as a church official theorized in 1291. “As soon as news of the exhibit will be printed in newspapers, everyone will say, ‘Finally, the Vatican has dug out the original menorah,’” Rome’s chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, joked on Monday. “There is no more diffuse urban legend than this one,” he said. Believers in this and other myths surrounding the menorah, he said, “will be greatly disappointed, I hope. ” | 1 |
LOS ANGELES — The powerful economic resurgence that has swept Southern California is on display almost everywhere here, visible in the construction cranes towering on the skyline and the gush of applications to build luxury hotels, shopping centers, condominiums and acres of apartment complexes from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles. But it can also be seen in a battle that has broken out about the fundamental nature of this distinctively and city. The conflict has pitted developers and some government officials against neighborhood organizations and preservationists. It is a debate about height and neighborhood character the influence of developers on City Hall and, most of all, what Los Angeles should look like a generation from now. This is a city that has long defied easy definition — at once urban, suburban and even rural — filled with people who live in homes with gardens and open skies dotted by swaying palm trees, often blocks away from gritty boulevards, highways and clusters of office buildings. And it is no stranger to battles between entrenched neighborhood groups and developers seeing opportunity in a wealthy market the movement thrived here during the 1990s. But the debate this time has reached a particularly pitched level, fueled by a severe shortage of affordable housing, an influx of people moving back into the city center and the perception that a Southern California city that once seemed to have unlimited space for growth has run out of track. “What’s that old cliché?” Mayor Eric M. Garcetti said in an interview. “The sprawl has hit the wall in L. A. ” “It’s not whether or not density is going to come,” he said. “It’s whether we plan for it or not. People are like, ‘Oh my God, this is L. A. and they are going tall?’ Height makes you think it’s more dense. And it doesn’t always compute that way. You have to convince people. ” The resistance has been sharp, reflecting a widespread notion that much of the development has been disruptive and haphazard, as well as strong sentimental attachment to a city filled with handsome neighborhoods and classic old homes. “Stop Manhattanwood” billboards have popped up in Hollywood, close to where two towers were approved by city officials — after a long battle by neighborhood groups — next to the Hollywood Palladium concert hall. In Beverly Hills, which is a separate city from Los Angeles, a proposal by the Beverly Hilton to build what would be that city’s tallest building, a hotel, has drawn opposition from the mayor in a battle that will be decided in a ballot measure this fall. In Los Angeles, neighborhood groups, including opponents of the Palladium project, are collecting signatures for a voter initiative that would impose a moratorium on projects that require special city zoning variations. “You have huge buildings going on tiny little streets,” said Jill Stewart, who is directing the ballot initiative campaign. “Areas that cannot absorb the development. And communities that haven’t had the discussion about whether they want these buildings. ” The initiative needs 67, 000 signatures to be placed on the ballot. It already has 104, 000 signatures among its more prominent supporters is Richard J. Riordan, a Republican and a former mayor of Los Angeles. “Our city is rapidly being gentrified,” Mr. Riordan said. “The working poor — the lower middle class — are being pushed out of L. A. They are giving building permits to the developers, the ones that give money to the politicians, to build buildings. ” Mitch O’Farrell, a member of the Los Angeles City Council, called the ballot initiative an overreaction, saying the city needed to encourage growth and development. “People have real concerns about how projects will affect their neighborhoods, which are legitimate,” he said. “But there are a lot of additional factors in the equation: the opportunities to bring economic growth, to create projects that improve the look of a community, that enhance the safety and security of a community and that also help provide needed tax dollars. ” A number of factors have contributed to the tensions. Los Angeles, like many other big cities dealing with traffic, has been encouraging development along lines, such as the one that cuts through Hollywood. The city has also been roiled by a wave of developer of picturesque homes in neighborhoods, making way for big houses and stirring sharp opposition in many places. “Los Angeles was built as a suburban city — it was always put forth as a suburban city,” said Jonathan M. Zasloff, a law professor at U. C. L. A. who teaches land use and opposes the ballot initiative. “You could be in the city and still be in the country at the same time. So when you got a situation where it’s now a city that looks very different, the people who like the old way are trying to stop it from changing. “Change is scary — urbanization is scary,” he added. “People don’t trust the city. This is a way to stop it. But Los Angeles is not an example of a city where development has run riot. It just isn’t. ” There is a long history here of historically distinctive buildings’ being torn down to make way for new construction, setting off battles with preservationists. Many of the 88 cities in Los Angeles County have historical preservation ordinances, but their effectiveness varies, and much of the construction is proposed for open lots and strip malls. “The history of Los Angeles is in large part a history of ambivalence about dense development and especially about tall buildings,” Christopher Hawthorne, the architecture critic for The Los Angeles Times, wrote in an email. “We’ve always wanted to rank as a cosmopolitan, city. At the same time, for more than a century we’ve had committees, ballot measures and civic debates about height limits for new buildings. “What’s driving the newest wave of construction and its backlash, more than anything, is geography: We’ve run out of open space to build and at the same time hit the limits of sprawl,” he wrote. “Los Angeles is doubling back on itself, building in its midsection as opposed to gobbling up new territory along its periphery. We have finally realized that there are real benefits — in terms of water use, for example — to be gained by living more densely and more vertically. ” Los Angeles has also not rewritten its master plan, which regulates what should be built where, in nearly 30 years. That has led city officials to approve many projects case by case, fueling suspicions that council members are bending to the will of powerful developers. Richard Platkin, a planner who used to work for the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, said the spot zoning decisions meant that “you have very politically powerful institutions, and occasionally someone with deep pockets, who spends a lot of money to change the zone for one individual parcel. ” “The skyline gets ragged instead of harmonious,” he added. “It’s out of character and out of scale. ” Mr. Zasloff said growth was critical for the future of Los Angeles. “When you have the average renter paying nearly half of his income in rent, that is just unsustainable,” he said. “It’s unsustainable for a city that wants to be a healthy city. You can’t have a healthy city without a healthy middle class. And they have to have a place where you can afford to live. ” | 1 |
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Documentary filmmaker and leftist activist Michael Moore used his Instagram account Wednesday to urge the Democratic Party to declare a “national emergency” until the FBI completes an investigation into alleged connections between President Trump and his campaign staff and the Russian government. [“The Democratic Party needs to declare a National Emergency,” Moore wrote in a post Wednesday, along with an image of the robot HAL 9000 from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. “For the first time in our history, the President of the United States and his staff are under investigation for espionage. This announcement, by the head of the FBI, is a shock to our democracy. ” The Democratic Party needs to declare a National Emergency. For the first time in our history, the President of the United States and his staff are under investigation for espionage. This announcement, by the head of the FBI, is a shock to our democracy. The Democratic leadership in the House and Senate needs to bring a halt to all business being done in the name of this potential felony suspect, Donald J. Trump. No bill he supports, no Supreme Court nominee he has named, can be decided while he is under a criminal investigation. His presidency has no legitimacy until the FBI — and an independent investigative committee — discovers the truth. Fellow citizens, demand the Democrats cease all business. ”The American people have a right to know if their President is a crook.” — Richard Nixon, A post shared by Michael Moore (@michaelfmoore) on Mar 21, 2017 at 11:46pm PDT, FBI director James Comey said Money that the agency was “investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts,” though he acknowledged that the agency had thus far found no evidence to support “collusion” between the two. In his Instagram post, the Where to Invade Next director called on Democrats to impose a “halt to all business” being conducted by Trump, whom he called a “potential felony suspect. ” “No bill he supports, no Supreme Court nominee he has named, can be decided while he is under a criminal investigation,” Moore wrote. “His presidency has no legitimacy until the FBI — and an independent investigative committee — discovers the truth. Fellow citizens, demand the Democrats cease all business. ” Moore has been one of Trump’s most outspoken celebrity detractors since the start of his campaign. The filmmaker released a surprise documentary, Michael Moore in TrumpLand, with the aim of persuading voters to vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton with just weeks to go in the 2016 race. In January, Moore vowed to lead a campaign of “100 days of resistance” against Trump’s presidency shortly before the inauguration, the filmmaker hosted a large protest rally outside Trump Tower in Manhattan, alongside other celebrity Trump critics Alec Baldwin, Robert de Niro and Mark Ruffalo. In February, Moore took to Twitter to lament that Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Judge Neil Gorsuch, was “Obama’s to make and it was stolen by Republicans. ” “Senate Dems, let’s be very clear,” he wrote. “You will filibuster block this SC nom or we will find a true progressive and primary u in next election. ” Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum | 0 |
One of the nation’s most exclusive prep schools — whose graduates include both former Secretary of State John F. Kerry and the new Russia probe special counsel Robert Mueller — has just issued a scandalous, report outlining four decades of sexual abuse of students by faculty and administrators. [St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH, this week named 13 former faculty and staffers and also listed, without naming them, more than a dozen other former teachers and staffers who allegedly assaulted and raped various male and female students between 1948 and 1988. The report was signed by Luther Scott Harshbarger, a former attorney general of Massachusetts, and was commissioned by the school’s board of trustees, whose chairman is Archibald Cox. Cox’s father was the late Watergate special counsel who was fired by Richard Nixon in the Saturday Night Massacre of 1973. Both Coxs are graduates of the school. Other famous Democrats who have graduated from the posh school with Episcopal roots include Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse ( ) and the late Michael Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy. Jr. Kennedy was accused of having an affair with his family’s babysitter before dying by skiing into a tree in Aspen in 1997. Other famous St. Paul’s alumni include former NYC Mayor John V. Lindsay and the late TV actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. The late U. S. Rep. Gerry Studds ( ) the first openly homosexual member of Congress, taught at the school for years before abruptly resigning from the faculty in the early 1970s. A decade later Studds was censured by Congress for having an affair with a male page after plying him with vodka and cranberry juice while on a foreign trip. Two years ago, a 2014 graduate of the elite prep school was convicted of sexually assaulting a then female student. Owen Labrie’s appeal for a new trial was recently denied. Other exclusive New England prep schools have in recent years admitted to decades of sex scandals, including the Choate School in Wallingford, CT, from which President John F. Kennedy graduated. Last year, Philips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH, was roiled by a sex scandal involving a former English teacher that came to light after the resignation of the headmaster, who was married to . now Sen. Maggie Hasson. But the new St. Paul’s report dwarfs all of the earlier accounts in its volume of detail, which includes accounts from dozens of former students, who are often quoted as describing the school as either “strange,” “creepy” or “very creepy. ” During his lifetime, Studds was unapologetic about his behavior with young males, including the page with whom he had what he described as a “consensual” relationship. Studds was censured in the House by a vote of after reading a statement defending his conduct with his back turned to his Congressional colleagues. A heterosexual Republican from downstate Illinois censured at the same time quickly resigned from Congress in shame. But Studds adamantly refused to quit and was subsequently reelected by his Massachusetts constituents. He died in 2006. One, Faculty 20, who taught there in “the late 1960’s,” once “molested” a male student in the front seat of his car and also reportedly held “dorm meetings in the nude with ‘all of the boys’ also nude in his apartment. ” Another predatory homosexual teacher “in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s” was called Faculty 23. According to one account, an alumnus only identified as “Student 69” reported that this gay teacher “was in another male student’s dorm room and rubbed Vaseline on the student’s testicles. The male student was offended and requested that Faculty 23 stop. Faculty 23 allegedly threatened the student and said, ‘You can’t tell me what to do, I’m a teacher. ’” St. Paul’s often wrote glowing recommendations for the faculty perverts it wanted to get rid of. In one case listed in the report, one of the former teachers dismissed for “boundary issues with boys” was later fired from his new school for “inappropriate relationships” with his new male charges. A former vice rector at the school recalled getting a phone call from an administrator at the new school asking why St. Paul’s hadn’t accurately informed them of the educator’s record. The St. Paul’s administrator said he replied, “Why didn’t you contact us about him?” “We didn’t check his references,” the administrator said, “because he was coming from St. Paul’s. ” Howie Carr is a New York Times author of Kennedy Babylon: A Century of Scandal and Depravity and a talk radio host. | 1 |
Clintons Are Under Multiple FBI Investigations as Agents Are Stymied
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2016/10/clintons-are-under-multiple-fbi-investigations-as-agents-are-stymied/
The post Clintons Are Under Multiple FBI Investigations as Agents Are Stymied appeared first on PaulCraigRoberts.org . | 0 |
Damien Chazelle’s La La Land earned a 14 nominations, Amazon became the first streaming service to nab a Best Picture contender with Manchester by the Sea and seven of the 20 acting nominations went to people of color when the 89th annual Academy Awards unveiled its nominees Tuesday morning. [La La Land — which tied the nomination record with both All About Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997) — will vie for the night’s top prize with eight other films: Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hidden Figures, Moonlight, Lion, Hell or High Water and the aforementioned Manchester by the Sea. After two consecutive years in which all of the nominees in each of the four main acting categories were white, sparking #OscarsSoWhite boycotts and protests, seven people of color landed nominations this year: Denzel Washington for Fences Ruth Negga for Loving Mahershala Ali for Moonlight Dev Patel for Lion Viola Davis for Fences Naomie Harris for Moonlight and Octavia Spencer for Hidden Figures. The nominations for Davis, Harris and Spencer mark the first time in Oscar history that three black actors were nominated in the same category in the same year (Best Supporting Actress). Meanwhile, the Documentary category features three films about black life in America: Ava DuVernay’s 13th, Raoul Peck and Hebert Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro and Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow’s OJ: Made in America. Fire at Sea, Gianfranco Rosi’s film about the migrant crisis on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, and Life Animated will also compete in the category. Mel Gibson earned a Best Director nod — 21 years after he won the award for Braveheart — for his work on Hacksaw Ridge, but faces stiff competition from Chazelle (La La Land) Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea) and Denis Villeneuve (Arrival). Notably absent from the directing category this year were previous Oscar winners Clint Eastwood (Sully) and Martin Scorsese, who was again overlooked for his epic Silence. In the Best Actor race, Ryan Gosling will square off against Casey Affleck, Denzel Washington, Viggo Mortensen and Andrew Garfield. Best Actress honors went to Emma Stone, Ruth Negga, Natalie Portman, Isabelle Huppert and, for her 20th nomination, Meryl Streep. Other notable snubs this year included no Amy Adams (Arrival) or Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures) in the Actress categories Micheal Keaton (The Founder) and Matthew McConaughey (Gold) in the Actor category and no Deadpool for Best Picture consideration, even though the Academy only nominated nine films in the category this year. Overall, La La Land led with 14 nominations, Arrival and Moonlight picked up eight, Hacksaw Ridge, Lion and Manchester by the Sea earned six apiece and Fences and Hidden Figures earned four. The 89th Academy Awards will air Sunday, February 26 on ABC, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting. The complete list of nominees for the 89th Academy Awards: Best Picture, ArrivalFencesHacksaw RidgeHell or High WaterHidden FiguresLa La LandLionManchester by the SeaMoonlight, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Casey Affleck, Manchester by the SeaAndrew Garfield, Hacksaw RidgeRyan Gosling, La La LandViggo Mortensen, Captain FantasticDenzel Washington, Fences, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Isablle Huppert, ElleRuth Negga, LovingNatalie Portman, JackieEmma Stone, La La LandMeryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Mahershala Ali, MoonlightJeff Bridges, Hell or High WaterLucas Hedges, Manchester by the SeaDev Patel, LionMichael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Viola Davis, FencesNaomie Harris, MoonlightNicole Kidman, LionOctavia Spencer, Hidden FiguresMichelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea, Best Directing, Denis Villeneuve, ArrivalMel Gibson, Hacksaw RidgeDamien Chazelle, La La LandKenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the SeaBarry Jenkins, Moonlight, Best Animated Feature, Kubo and the Two StringsMoanaMy Life as a ZucchiniThe Red TurtleZootopia, Best Adapted Screenplay, ArrivalFencesHidden FiguresLionMoonlight, Best Original Screenplay, Hell or High WaterLa La LandThe LobsterManchester by the Sea20th Century Women, Best Foreign Language Film, Land of Mine (Denmark) A Man Called Ove (Sweden) The Salesman (Iran) Tanna (Australia) Toni Erdmann (Germany) Best Documentary Feature, Fire at SeaI Am Not Your NegroLife, AnimatedO. J.: Made in America13th, Best Original Song, “Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” La La Land“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Trolls“City of Stars,” La La Land“The Empty Chair,” Jim: the James Foley Story“How Far I’ll Go,” Moana, Best Original Score, JackieLa La LandLionMoonlightPassengers, Best Cinematography, ArrivalLa La LandLionMoonlightSilence, Film Editing, ArrivalHacksaw RidgeHell or High WaterLa La LandMoonlight, Costume Design, AlliedFantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemFlorence Foster JenkinsJackieLa La Land, Makeup and Hairstyling, A Man Called OveStar Trek BeyondSuicide Squad, Production Design, ArrivalFantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemHail, Caesar! La La LandPassengers, Sound Editing, ArrivalDeepwater HorizonHacksaw RidgeLa La LandSully, Sound Mixing, ArrivalHacksaw RidgeLa La LandRogue One: A Star Wars Story13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Visual Effects, Deepwater HorizonDoctor StrangeThe Jungle BookKubo and the Two StringsRogue One: A Star Wars Story, Best Documentary Short, Extremis4. 1 MilesJoe’s ViolinWatani: My HomelandThe White Helmets, Best Animated Short, Blind VayshaBorrowed TimePear Cider and CigarettesPearlPiper, Best Live Action Short, Ennemis IntériuersLa Femme et le TGVSilent NightsSingTimecode, Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum, | 1 |
A number of Silicon Valley executives are preparing for societal collapse in the event of an apocalyptic event, according to a feature published in The New Yorker this week. [“Doomsday Prep for the Super Rich” details some of the reason that several technology elites believe could lead to societal collapse, including the possibility that artificial intelligence will replace so many human jobs that people will turn on the technology companies that created it. LinkedIn Reid Hoffman told the magazine he estimated “ percent” of industry leaders are preparing for life in an underground bunker. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said, “I own a couple of motorcycles. I have a bunch of guns and ammo. Food. I figure that, with that, I can hole up in my house for some amount of time. ” He also decided to undergo corrective laser eye surgery in 2015 because “if the world ends — and not even if the world ends, but if we have trouble — getting contacts or glasses is going to be a huge pain in the ass. ” According to the magazine, many executives have set up private Facebook groups where they discuss all possible aspects of life in the fallout, from “tips on gas masks, bunkers, and locations safe from the effects of climate change. ” In the final weeks of his presidency, the Obama administration released a report on the potential effects of the growth in artificial intelligence, saying that although the changes “will open up new opportunities for individuals, the economy, and society, they will also disrupt the current livelihoods of millions of Americans. ” You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart. com | 0 |
There isn’t much love for Valentine’s Day in certain quarters of Indonesia. As Channel NewsAsia reports, the holiday is routinely denounced as an example of “Western decadence” by “Islamic clerics and some pious Muslims. ”[Muslim students in the city of Surabaya staged a protest and chanted “Say no to Valentine,” while the National Muslim Youth Association “urged females to avoid using emoticons and an excessive amount of fragrance in a ’s Day message. ” “There is a certain pride about this positive action carried out by the students,” beamed the headmaster of the school in Surabaya, which Channel NewsAsia describes as “run by an Islamic organization. ” Just in case any students do not take positive action on their initiative, the UK Express reports that government officials in Surabaya, which is the city in the country, ordered the city’s schools to ban Valentine’s Day celebrations. The provinces of West Java and Aceh have taken similar measures. According to Reuters, authorities outright banned Valentine’s Day celebrations in some parts of Indonesia and Pakistan because it “encouraged casual sex and ran counter to cultural norms. ” In the city of Makassar, police raided stores and pulled condoms off the shelves, having received reports that “the minimarts were selling condoms in an unregulated way. ” Deutsche Welle quotes the mayor of Makassar complaining that condoms were sold “as if they were candy,” and warned shop owners they could lose their licenses if they sell condoms to unmarried people. There is an alarming political undercurrent to this ’s Day push by Indonesian Muslims, as Deutsche Welle explains: Valentine’s Day this year falls a day before the capital, Jakarta, goes to the polls to elect a new governor in a vote widely viewed as a test of the country’s religious tolerance. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnically Chinese Christian, is running for in a campaign marked by accusations that he insulted the Koran. The claims have led to hardline Islamic protests and a trial for blasphemy. The case has been criticized as unfair and politically motivated. Purnama is going up against two Muslim candidates, and his opponents have repeatedly urged people not to vote for him because he is not a Muslim. Tens of thousands of conservative Muslims have in recent weeks rallied at mosques against Purnama, whose lead in the polls has slipped. If he loses the vote because he is not a Muslim and is jailed for blasphemy, analysts say, it would be a blow to the country’s reputation as a pluralist democracy. Reuters notes that while the highest Islamic clerical council in Indonesia declared a fatwa (religious injunction) against Valentine’s Day in 2012 because they deemed the holiday “contradictory to Muslim culture and teachings,” Indonesian law protects religious diversity, and the holiday is still big business in cities like Jakarta. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, by contrast, banned public Valentine’s celebrations in Islamabad and instructed media not to promote the holiday, to the dismay of florists. | 0 |
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 22:57 UTC © AP Photo/Luis Benavides A police officer, bottom, gestures to rescue workers looking for survivors at the site of a mudslide that killed at least six people along a highway in Copacabana, on the outskirts of Medellin, Colombia, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016. A landslide on the main highway linking Colombia's two biggest cities has killed at least six people and trapped an unknown number under tons of earth. Antioquia state rescue chief Mario Parodi says four people were rescued and hospitalized after the Wednesday morning disaster covered all four lanes of the highway linking Bogota with Medellin. Rescuers with dogs joined the search for victims. Parodi said two motorcycles, a truck and two small vehicles were buried by the slide, which covered two football fields. He said the highway would be closed for several days. Landslides are not uncommon in Colombia's rugged mountainous terrain. Source: Associated Press | 0 |
MEXICO CITY — An official working at the United States consulate in Guadalajara, the city in Mexico, was shot and wounded on Friday evening by a young man who stalked him in the parking lot of a shopping mall and then fired as he drove out. The State Department official, who was not identified, was in stable condition after the shooting, a spokeswoman from the United States Embassy in Mexico City said on Saturday. Neither embassy officials nor the Mexican attorney general’s office commented on a possible motive. Guadalajara is the capital of Jalisco, the headquarters of the New Generation Jalisco cartel, an organized crime gang that has carried out violent attacks on the Mexican military and police over the past two years. But residents of the city have rarely been a focus of cartel violence. Security footage released by the consulate on its Facebook page shows the gunman, dressed in a loosefitting dark blue and pants and wearing glasses, waiting on the sidewalk adjacent to the exit ramp of an underground parking lot in an upscale neighborhood. A white car pulls up to the barrier gate, waits for the arm to lift and drives off. Then, as the consular official’s black car pulls up, the gunman raises his arm, fires and runs away. In a separate video, taken a few minutes earlier, at 6:16 p. m. the consular official, wearing red shorts and with a gym bag slung over his shoulder, pays at the automated ticket machine and walks off, with the gunman following him. The F. B. I. said it was offering a $20, 000 reward to anybody who could provide information leading to the identification of the gunman. “The safety and security of our employees overseas is our highest priority,” the United States Embassy spokeswoman said. Eduardo Almaguer, the attorney general for Jalisco, told the local news media that the consular employee worked in the visa section of the consulate. State and federal authorities are working on the investigation. Employees of the United States Embassy and consulates in Mexico have been victims of drug violence in the past few years, though they have sometimes been targeted by mistake. That was the case in 2010 of a consulate employee in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, her husband and the husband of another employee who were killed. The white S. U. V. that the employee and her husband were driving in was mistaken for the vehicle of a gang leader whose killing was ordered by a rival. In 2011, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was killed and another injured when they were ambushed by members of a drug gang hit squad on a highway. The next year, two C. I. A. employees were wounded when federal police officers fired at their armored car in an attack that has never been explained. | 0 |
By John V. Walsh October 31, 2016
Every presidential vote, like every other vote, demands that one set priorities, for it is a rare voter indeed who will agree 100% with a given candidate. And surely in the coming presidential election survival must top the list of priorities. What can be more important than the survival of human civilization and perhaps humanity itself?
Here is a brief primer on the subject – suitable for printing out for liberal friends.
No Fly Zone over Syria
“I personally would be advocating now for a no-fly zone (inside Syria)….”
Hillary Clinton interview , October 1, 2015, the day after Russia began air operations over Syria. Clinton has held this position since 2013 at least when she admitted it would “ kill a lot of Syrians .” She has maintained it right up to the final presidential debate when she went “all-in on Syria no-fly zone ” as the pro-Clinton Huffington Post headlined it.
“Right now, Senator, for us to control all the airspace in Syria would require us to go to war – against Syria and Russia. That’s a pretty fundamental decision that certainly I’m not going to make.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford in Congressional testimony on September 22, 2016. Dunford’s alarm is shared by other “national security” experts and those previously involved in implementing such zones.
“What we should do is focus on ISIS. We should not be focusing on Syria. You’re going to end up in World War Three over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton . …You’re not fighting Syria anymore, you’re fighting Syria, Russia, and Iran, all right? Russia is a nuclear country, but a country where the nukes work as opposed to other countries that talk.” (Emphasis, JW.)
Donald Trump in Reuters interview on October 25, 2016, headlined “Exclusive – Trump says Clinton policy on Syria would lead to World War Three.”
So there you are. It is not complicated. We have seen Clinton’s actions over 26 and more years. She has not hesitated to kill hundreds of thousands and destroy entire countries. Libya and now Syria are but the latest examples. There is no doubt what she will do once in office. As Ralph Nader has said, she has never seen a war she did not love. Or as Trump has said, she is “trigger happy.”
Broader U.S. Russia Relations
“Now if this sounds familiar (Putin’s actions in Crimea, jw), it’s what Hitler did back in the 30s…..All the Germans that were … the ethnic Germans, the Germans by ancestry who were in places like Czechoslovakia and Romania and other places, Hitler kept saying they’re not being treated right. I must go and protect my people….”
Hillary Clinton comments comparing Putin’s actions to Hitler’s at a private gathering, March, 2014
“Mrs. Clinton has chosen to take up a very aggressive stance against our country, against Russia.
“Mr. Trump, on the other hand, calls for cooperation – at least when it comes to the international fight against terrorism.
“Naturally we welcome those who would like to cooperate with us. And we consider it wrong, that we always have to be in conflict with one another, creating existential threats for each other and for the whole world.
“If somebody out there wants confrontation, this is not our choice but this means that there will be problems.”
President Vladimir Putin addressing a group of journalists in Russia, October, 2016.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually got along with Russia and China and all these countries? Wouldn’t it be nice?”
Donald Trump at a rally in Clinton, Iowa, January, 2016, stating a position that he has often voiced.
My progressive friends dismiss this and many other statements of Trump’s with the easy rejoinder that Trump is inconsistent and opportunistic, that one cannot believe what he says. But his statements on Russia are quite consistent. And they are quite the opposite of opportunistic; they do not gain him votes, they have cost him votes. He stated his Russia-friendly position from the beginning in the Republican primaries, as for example in the statement above which was made in Iowa before the caucuses. That was no advantage to him. The Republican Party at that time was dominated by the neocons, and its Establishment remains hawkish to the present as John McCain, Mitt Romney, and many others demonstrate on a near daily basis. Trump has stuck with his position right up through the final presidential debate, even though his own vice presidential candidate has tried to pull him away from it and even though Hillary has used it as a club with which to beat him. There has been no inconsistency and it has been costly for him. That means you can take it to the bank as a matter of principle for him.
In fact, Trump has been as determined and consistent in seeking peace with Russia and Syria as Clinton has been in demonizing Putin and seeking a no-fly zone in Syria. That is a clear and striking difference between them.
A testimony of great value to progressives
“On the issue of war and nuclear weapons, it is actually Hillary’s policies which are much scarier than Donald Trump (sic) who does not want to go to war with Russia. He wants to seek modes of working together, which is the route that we need to follow not to go into confrontation and nuclear war with Russia.”
Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for president, interview on October 12, 2016.
If, dear reader, you do not believe that Hillary will put us in a war situation with Russia to advance the power of the Indispensable Nation and the Exceptionals, then please read again the first three quotes at the beginning of this essay. In the absence of Hillary from his Cabinet, Obama has been wary about plunging into a misadventure in Syria. But Hillary does not hesitate when it comes to such bloody undertakings; she revels in them.
And if you have priorities that outstrip the question of survival, then this essay will mean little to you. But I submit that most other questions pale into insignificance next to this one – if not for you, then for your loved ones and for your fellow human beings. The Best of John V. Walsh Tags: John Walsh [ ] is a frequent contributor to CounterPunch.com, Antiwar.com, LewRockwell.com and DissidentVoice.org. He is a founding member of “Come Home America.” Until recently he was Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Copyright © 2016 John V. Walsh | 1 |
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on November 4, 2016 4:45 pm ·
If you had wanted to give Trump supporters the benefit of the doubt, this most recent incident proves that it’s far too much to give them.
A 56-year-old man in Allen Park, Michigan has just been charged with six felonies after he held six children at gunpoint because he thought they’d damaged the Donald Trump sign on his lawn. Yes, this is the kind of deranged, emotionally unstable supporters Trump has attracted.
The man, Michael Robert Kubek, had called police on October 29th to report that his Trump sign had been hit by teenagers, who had fled the scene. When the police arrived at the scene, they didn’t find Kubek at his home – however, when the officers followed the screams coming from around the corner, there he was.
The police saw Kubek standing over six children ages 12-14, who were sitting on the grass. Kubek accused the children of destroying his sign despite the fact that he never actually witnessed them doing it. The children denied any involvement, and the officers told Kubek to return to his house so they could speak to the children.
According to the kids, they were simply on their way to the park for a birthday celebration when Kubek had pulled out a gun and pointed it at them, instructing them to sit down on the grass. Those witnessing the act took to social media to vent their shock: Twitter Twitter
The News-Herald reported:
“The officer asked him again if he could identify any of the kids as the one who damaged his sign, but Kubek repeated that he could not. The officer then asked Kubek if he pulled out a pistol and pointed it at the kids. According to police, Kubek said “yes.”
In response to another question from the officer, Kubek said he felt threatened because he was outnumbered.”
Yes, a grown man used a gun because he felt “outnumbered” by a small group of innocent kids. This is EXACTLY the type of unhinged person who shouldn’t be trusted with firearms! Kubek’s hearing is scheduled for December 5th – let’s hope that whatever happens to Kubek, that he is no longer considered a responsible gun owner. You can watch a report below:
Featured image via Allen Park Police Department and Joe Raedle / Getty Images Share this Article! Author: Vera My passion is bringing attention to human rights and equality issues. In addition to writing for Addicting Info, I also run a website and digital magazine dedicated to social issues and promoting equality in all forms. Search | 0 |
TOKYO — The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is requesting another increase in spending on Japan’s armed forces, with a plan to expand missile defenses that would test the nation’s commitment to pacifism and escalate a regional arms race with China and North Korea. With rising threats from North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile program and repeated incursions by Chinese ships into waters surrounding a string of islands claimed by Japan, the request would let the Defense Ministry develop new antiballistic missiles and place troops on southern islands closer to the chain in dispute with China. If approved, the budget proposal for 5. 17 trillion yen, or $50. 2 billion, formally submitted on Wednesday, would be the nation’s annual increase in military spending. It is a 2. 3 percent rise over last year. The request includes proposals to develop and potentially purchase new antiballistic missiles that can be launched from ships or land, and to upgrade and extend the range of the country’s current missile defense systems, a significant expansion of Japan’s missile defense capabilities. The budget also details plans to buy an additional submarine and new fighter aircraft, and to put close to 1, 300 soldiers from the Force, Japan’s military, on the southern islands of Kagoshima and Okinawa. These locations are closer to the Senkaku, the chain of islands where both China and Japan claim territorial rights. Despite Japan’s longstanding postwar pacifism, initially imposed by a Constitution that was largely written by American occupiers, the country has long argued that the Constitution does not prevent it from maintaining defensive equipment and troops. But the definition of what is needed to defend the country has evolved as Japan confronts new dangers. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, government assessments of security in the region led to a decrease in defense budgets every year. Yet five years ago, the government began increasing its budget again as new provocations emerged from China and North Korea. The budget deliberations come as Mr. Abe’s government is reconsidering the country’s pacifist stance. Mr. Abe has long expressed his interest in revising the clause in the Constitution that says the country must “forever renounce war,” and he helped push through new security laws last year that permit Japan’s troops to participate in overseas combat missions. A majority of the Japanese public generally opposes amending the pacifist Constitution protesters mounted large demonstrations against the security bills last year. Yet some Japanese consider the gradual buildup of military firepower necessary for their protection. North Korea continues to develop its nuclear capabilities and ballistic missiles that land ever closer to Japan. Just last week, North Korea launched a missile from a submarine off its east coast that flew 310 miles toward Japan, much farther than in previous attempts. By extending the range of some antiballistic missile systems, the Japanese would be better equipped to shoot down missiles launched by Pyongyang. Japan’s current missile defense systems have a medium range for intercepting incoming ballistic missiles. By expanding that range, the new systems should be able to shoot down missiles before they get so close. As for the Chinese, their vessels have repeatedly sailed into disputed waters surrounding a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku to Japan and the Diaoyu to China. In June, China sent a warship within 24 nautical miles of the islands Mr. Abe responded by putting the Japanese Navy and coast guard on alert. Japan’s defense budget proposal includes funds to help proceed with development, in conjunction with the United States, of advanced antiballistic missiles that can be launched from ships and that have much longer ranges than previous incarnations. Experts said these missiles could be used not only to shoot down North Korean missiles, but also to deter China from invading the disputed islands. Placing more troops on the southern islands of Japan is also intended to deter China from moving closer to the Senkaku. “We’re in the middle of what is commonly called the security dilemma,” said Richard Samuels, a Japan specialist and the director of the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “When one nation does something which it believes to be defensive and in its own interests, its competitor will see it as threatening and see it as offensive, and then you get this arms race and security dilemma,” he said. “That’s very much in play here. ” The Defense Ministry’s budget request must be reviewed by the Finance Ministry and approved by Parliament before any purchases can be made. Analysts said nothing in the new budget request suggested that Japan would cross the line from a primarily defensive stance to a more offensive one. “If they started to procure bombers or intercontinental ballistic missiles, those would be the things where I would say, ‘Now we are seeing something radically different,’” said Jeffrey Hornung, a research fellow for security and foreign policy at Sasakawa USA, a think tank in Washington. The new equipment proposals also seem carefully calibrated to address current threats. The plan to extend the range of existing missile defense systems from the current limit of about 19 miles, for example, would help Japan protect against North Korean missiles but avoid the appearance of instigating new confrontations, analysts said. “I think these ranges are very carefully selected,” said Bonnie S. Glaser, senior Asia adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. She noted that Japan would, for instance, be aware of China’s objection to any hint that Japan might get involved in disputes over Taiwan. The distances of the missiles proposed, she said, would not extend to Taiwan. Amid controversy over Japan’s continued hosting of American bases and troops on the island of Okinawa, the current budget proposal also includes a request for a slight increase in spending on American operations to 178. 7 billion yen. All told, the budget request remains less than 1 percent of Japan’s gross domestic product, a constraint that few Japanese administrations have breached. Some analysts noted that with China rapidly increasing its military budget, Japan’s current military spending might not be sufficient. “In the long run, if the military balance in East Asia shifts in favor of China significantly, we might have to do much more than what we are doing right now,” said Narushige Michishita, director of the Security and International Studies Program at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo. Tooru Miyamoto, a Communist Party member of the House of Representatives, said he did not approve of the increased expenditures at a time when the economy continues to stagnate. “I want such money to be spent on day care centers,” he said. At an annual review staged by the Ground Force in the foothills of Mount Fuji last weekend, 25, 000 spectators gathered to watch a parade of tanks, helicopters and other armored vehicles, with soldiers detonating artillery against artificial targets. In one segment described as a demonstration of how troops would respond to an attack on unspecified islands, soldiers dropped from Chinook helicopters and tanks rolled across a muddy field. Naoko Matsumaru, 42, who works in a flour mill, attended the drills with her young daughter and son. She said that she had been concerned about threats from North Korea and China, but that “after seeing today’s show, I feel maybe we are actually O. K. ” Those who value Japan’s pacifism said they were concerned about the expanded military role. “In these times, I am a little bit worried,” said Toru Matsuzaki, 71, a woodworker. He referred to a generation of “heiwa boke,” people who innocently take peace for granted. “Realistically, it may be necessary to increase the budget,” he said, “but I don’t like it. ” | 1 |
Barack Obama chose not to interdict the supply lines of our enemies because the did not want to harm the oil tanker drivers, or cause an environmental issue. The proceeds of the enemy's oil sales were and still are used to purchase arms and material that wound and kill American Men and Women warriors and our allies. ISIS also uses the money to pay their sadistic, psychosexual predetor members who target innocent and vulnerable Men, Women, little Girls and little Boys for rape, enslavement, mutilation, unimaginably cruel torture and torment and of course murder.
Now that our enemy has blatantly used burning oil in a trench to kill people, which of course would constitute an environmental issue, perhaps Obama will begin to treat our enemies as the perverse, torturous murderers that they are. | 0 |
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Jamie Otis [the man who destroyed Donald Trump’s Walk of Fame Star] is now in police custody and waiting to be formally booked at the Men’s Central jail in downtown L.A. The suspect in the early Wednesday morning destruction of Donald Trump ’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star was arrested by the LAPD at his home sometime around 7 AM today, sources confirm.
Otis had planned to hold a press conference at 9:30 AM this morning on Hollywood Blvd at the location of the already being repaired Trump star . Accompanied by his lawyer, Otis was then going to head over to the Hollywood Police station and turned himself in, he told Deadline last night.
With damages of over $400, the felony vandalism charge could see Otis in jail for up to 3-years and paying out fines of over $10,000 if found guilty. LAPD and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce estimated on Wednesday that the damage Otis’ sledgehammer and pick-ax did to the now Presidential candidate’s nearly decade old star was around $2,500. | 0 |
Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrey G. Karlov, was killed by a gunman on Monday in Ankara, the capital. Turkish officials said the killer had been a police officer who, after shooting, shouted: “Don’t forget Aleppo! Don’t forget Syria!” Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the assassination a terrorist attack. Here’s what we know about Mr. Karlov. • Mr. Karlov had been Russia’s ambassador to Turkey since July 2013, according to a biography on the website of the Russian Embassy. • Born in Moscow in 1954, he started his diplomatic career in his early 20s after graduating from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and the country’s diplomatic academy. • Mr. Karlov previously served as the ambassador to North Korea. He was married and had a son. According to Russian news agencies, his wife fainted and was hospitalized after being informed of his death. • Richard Moore, the British ambassador to Turkey, described Mr. Karlov in a tweet after the attack as hospitable and professional. • In a Facebook post, Alexander Matsegora, the Russian ambassador to North Korea, described Mr. Karlov as a close friend and recalled a visit over the summer during which “he talked a lot about Turkey, which he had come to love. ” Mr. Matsegora, who said he and Mr. Karlov had started working together in North Korea when they were very young, wrote, “We agreed that when we retire, which will happen some day, we will take turns visiting each other at our dachas. ” But after the attack, he continued: “We will not be visiting each other at our dachas. Because he is no more, and half of me, too, is no more. ” Mr. Karlov was repeatedly called upon to ease tensions over Russia’s role in the Syrian civil war, which has left hundreds of thousands dead and spurred a refugee crisis that has shaken Europe. After months of fierce bombardment and failed diplomacy, the Syrian government began removing residents from the last districts in the city of Aleppo last week. • After a Russian bombing in northern Syria targeted Turkmen, who were part of the forces against President Bashar Mr. Karlov was summoned to Ankara and asked to convey a firm message to Moscow. “It was stressed that the Russian side’s actions were not a fight against terror, but they bombed civilian Turkmen villages, and this could lead to serious consequences,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said at the time. • Last fall, before the Turkish government shot down the Russian jet near its border with Syria, it had repeatedly complained to Mr. Karlov about his country’s intrusions into Turkish airspace. Tensions escalated, culminating in the Kremlin’s cutting economic ties with Turkey. Historians said the assassination might have been the first of a Russian ambassador since Pyotr Voykov, a Soviet envoy to Poland, was shot to death in Warsaw in 1927. In the 19th century, Aleksandr Griboyedov, a poet and diplomat, died in Tehran after a mob stormed the Russian Embassy. Tensions between Russia and Turkey had been easing recently, and some analysts said that the assassination might bring the countries closer as they sought to take on terrorism. Televised comments by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia after the attack seemed to support that view. He declared that the shooting had been a provocation meant to disrupt the nations’ ties. Mr. Putin added that there was only one possible reaction: Intensifying the “crackdown on terror. ” The two countries suffered a crisis in their relations last fall. In a paper released in June, Asli Aydintasbas, an international affairs expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, traced the fault lines to the conflict in Syria. “Tensions first began to rise as the friends were sucked into the regional struggle for Syria — while Russia backed Assad, Turkey agitated for regime change,” she wrote. “As the alliance unraveled, Moscow broke the silent pact that neither side would support the other’s separatists, and made moves to befriend the Kurds. But by June, economic actions that Russia had taken against Turkey after the jet was shot down were beginning to pay off as an absence of Russian visitors took a toll on Turkey’s tourism industry. That month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized for the downing, writing a letter that said he “would like to inform the family of the deceased Russian pilot that I share their pain and to offer my condolences to them. ” Turkey also announced that it would prosecute a man accused of killing the pilot after his plane was shot downed. At the time, experts said that Mr. Erdogan’s change of heart on Russia had more to do with the necessities of domestic politics than any kind of broader vision about Turkey’s place in the world. | 1 |
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Israeli official secretly visits Dubai: Report ‹ › GPD is our General Posting Department whereby we share posts from other sources along with general information with our readers. It is managed by our Editorial Board Afraid of What? The Woman Who Accused Trump of Raping Her at 13 Just Dropped Her Lawsuit By GPD on November 4, 2016 Bloom said earlier this week that Doe/Johnson didn’t appear at a planned press conference because she had received death threats and was in fear for her life. Illustration by Jim Cooke
A woman who accused Donald Trump of raping her at a party when she was just 13 years old has voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit, according to court records. The woman, who has gone by the pseudonyms Jane Doe and Katie Johnson, was a no-show at a much hyped press conference earlier this week with celebrity attorney Lisa Bloom. Jezebel previously detailed the bizarre backstory behind two lawsuits Johnson filed against Trump and celebrity sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who she said also raped her at a party in 1994. A group of men worked for a year to push the rape allegations into the news, while preventing access to Johnson. No journalist has ever been able to speak to her directly in person or confirm her existence. However, her attorney, Thomas Francis Meagher of New Jersey, has told Jezebel he’s met with his client on several occasions and has gotten to know her “quite well.”
According to court records, Johnson/Doe voluntarily dismissed the suit on the afternoon of November 4. No other information is provided in the filing.
Read more here | 0 |
Retail department store Nordstrom’s decision last week to cut first daughter Ivanka Trump’s fashion line has sparked a tremendous backlash from consumers — especially women — who say the company’s move has led them to boycott the store and cut up their Nordstrom’s cards. [Nordstrom’s claimed that the Ivanka Trump brand wasn’t performing well, but industry insiders tell Breitbart News that’s just not accurate. Nordstrom’s decision to mislead the public on why they are stopping carrying the Ivanka Trump brand is part of the fury out there among its longtime customers, who tell Breitbart News they’re cutting up their Nordstrom’s cards and won’t shop at the store anymore. Some even say they plan to return all their recent purchases. “We’ve said all along we make buying decisions based on performance,” Nordstrom’s press spokesperson told Fortune magazine last week. “In this case, based on the brand’s performance, we’ve decided not to buy it for this season. ” Nordstrom’s had previously taken a neutral approach to boycotters’ calls for the company to discontinue carrying the brand. An internal email sent last November 21 from company Pete Nordstrom to employees affirmed they would continue carrying the brand, of which he wrote, “[It] has grown to be a sizable and successful business,” according to Fortune. The November email stated their policy on carrying products based on results: “If people don’t buy it, we won’t sell it. ” Nordstrom’s statement went on to state, “We strive to be agnostic about politics and to treat all our customers with respect. ” In response to media reporting on the email, Nordstrom’s told Fortune, “The email, though meant for an internal audience, captures everything we have to say on this subject. So far we have received many positive responses from our employees. ” A Nordstrom representative responded to requests for comment from Breitbart News via email by stating that it will keep selling whatever it has left of Ivanka Trump’s brand. “We’ve offered the brand in different categories and divisions (Shoes, Apparel, Accessories, full price and off price, and online),” the Nordstrom representative said. “Because of variations of when previous buys were made, when they’re delivered and how fast they sell through, we’ll continue to have it available for a while. ” The representative refused to provide numbers of how many responses there were to the company pulling Trump’s brand after multiple requests. She also stated that there were no plans to reveal whether the responses were more negative or positive. But, in reality, the brand wasn’t performing badly. Nordstrom’s came under political fire from a series of hardcore activists, according to People Magazine. “The luxury retailer, which has faced calls for months from the #grabyourwallet movement to drop Ivanka merchandise, said that Nordstrom switches out about 10 percent of its assortment each year to refresh it as a matter of course in running its business, culling lines that aren’t selling well enough,” People’s Stephanie Petit wrote on Wednesday. An industry veteran familiar with Nordstrom’s told Breitbart News that the claim Ivanka’s brand wasn’t performing well is, simply put, not true: This is a classic example of a retailer making a decision based on their fear of standing up to political pressure — even on a limited scale. It was clear from their actions since last fall that Nordstrom would prefer to sell out to loud liberal groups who weren’t even regular Nordstrom consumers, just to avoid controversy. It’s sort of amazing that a store which relies on women around the country would fold so quickly to a group with limited reach just to avoid controversy. You would think that Nordstrom would want to stand up for a well known women’s brand whose namesake is a role model for women entrepreneurs, who has consistently supported women’s issues, and represents all of the strength and conviction which women around the country admire. Insiders know how stores can easily play games with placement of merchandise and other ways to lower numbers, and its very possible Nordstrom did that here to cover themselves. It’s amazing that Nordstrom wouldn’t have learned the lesson to be more focused on the entire country and not a limited group of complainers. In fact, the company has been playing politics with actions for some time now on other matters as well. An overtly political message came across in an internal memo sent last week from Nordstrom’s to its employees, a portion of which spoke to the President’s temporary travel restriction on those coming from seven nations identified during the Obama Administration. The Seattle PI quoted a portion of the internal Nordstrom’s memo: Last Friday an executive order was signed by the President of the United States related to immigration. This subject is one we’re watching closely — our family’s heritage, the company’s roots, and the diverse employees and customers we serve are top of mind. When John W. Nordstrom came to the U. S. as an immigrant, he was given opportunities that allowed him to find a more prosperous and happy life. In so many ways, our humble beginnings and the work ethic and gratitude that goes with it helped shape the culture of our company to this day. Despite efforts by a handful of people to boycott Ivanka Trump’s line, her business manager Abigail Klem told the Guardian last year that the brand has seen “significant year over year revenue growth. ” “We are proud that our business is growing rapidly and that our brand resonates strongly with women who are inspired by our messaging and excited about the polished and chic products that we offer,” Klem said. A majority of millennial women, according to a study from BrandKeys highlighted by Forbes last year, are sticking with the Ivanka Trump brand even if they don’t support her father’s policies. percent of the millennial women surveyed said they were either “extremely likely” or “very likely” to purchase Ivanka Trump fashion products when asked: “In light of Ivanka Trump’s involvement with the Trump campaign for president, how likely would you be to consider buying her line of shoes or clothing?” Another 32 percent added they were “somewhat likely,” meaning a total of 83 percent of millennial women still like Ivanka Trump’s line, even when considering her father’s presidential campaign and politics. Only 17 percent said they were “not very likely” or “not at all likely” to buy Ivanka Trump products in light of her father’s campaign. BrandKeys surveyed 950 women across nine U. S. census regions between 18 and from Oct. 21 to Oct. 24, 2016. “Each of the respondents indicated she’d made one or more dress or shoe purchase of at least $250 in the past 12 months,” Forbes magazine’s Clare O’Connor wrote about the poll. What’s more, the targeting of Ivanka Trump and her brand is hardly something that could be considered activism by its ringleaders. fanatics have fervently pursued an effectual ban of Trump brands from retailers. Brand strategist and founder of the Trump boycott Shannon Coulter spearheaded the #grabyourwallet boycott of retailers carrying Trump family brand products according to Business Insider. The report states that the boycott gained steam after the viral Twitter posted letter of someone claiming to be a lifelong Nordstrom customer. “The hate speech directed at African Americans, Latinos, Jews, Muslims, LGBT people, and women by the Trump campaign is unacceptable and does not seem to represent Nordstrom’s values,” read a portion of the letter. On January 29 the @SheWhoVotes twitter account wrote of Counselor to the President KellyAnne Conway, “Why does Kellyanne always look like she just emerged from a vat of grease? Or is that just Trump slime?” The account retweeted the tweet on Friday after news of Nordstrom dropping the Ivanka Trump brand. A January 23 tweet from the account called Conway, “Sewer Rat Barbie. ” Coulter has been tracking availability of Trump’s products on Nordstrom’s website in recent months, according to Business Insider. She claims that in early December, shortly after the November 21 Pete Nordstrom letter to employees saying they would keep the brand, there were 71 items available by last week there were 26, and as of Wednesday there were nine. It is unclear if she had documentation of those numbers. A Friday morning search for “Ivanka Trump” did however, return results for just four products. But the negativity from these activists doesn’t get Ivanka Trump down. She’s standing firm, and emerging from this targeting campaign even stronger. In an interview with Fast Company last October, right before the election, Ivanka Trump stood by her father — and her brand — and didn’t flinch. She said the scrutiny and the targeting that has come her way has made her a stronger, tougher woman. “I mean, it’s been a year and a half of enormous scrutiny, of my family, every business, every movement, action,” she said. ”But I think that, you know, that sort of comes with the territory. And I think I’ve probably learned a lot through it and I’ve probably grown a bit tougher in terms of my resilience toward what is thrown our way because, you know, I’ve read some very negative stuff. ” “I learned a long time ago that I can’t control the opinions of others or what they project on me. All I can do is live my life, and I’ve tried to do that,” she also said in that interview. Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald J. Trump, has since her father’s inauguration stepped back from her roles in not only the Trump organization, but also her own brand as she moved to Washington, D. C. She has been vocal about advocating for improved access to childcare and for women. Her husband Jared Kushner accepted a position as senior advisor to President Trump, and the duo have been integral to President Trump’s early successes. In response to the news about Nordstrom cutting his daughter’s fashion line, President Trump bashed the retail department store on Twitter. My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2017, In response to Trump’s tweet — and the ongoing boycott of Nordstrom’s for the company’s political decision to cut Ivanka Trump’s line — Nordstrom’s stock tumbled on Wednesday. “Shares of Nordstrom fell from session highs Wednesday after President Donald Trump said his daughter, Ivanka Trump, had been treated unfairly by the company,” CNBC’s Berkeley Lovelace wrote on Wednesday. Lovelace’s piece notes that Nordstrom’s stock is seriously hurting this year overall, too: “With Wednesday’s drop, Nordstrom’s shares are down more than 10 percent year to date. ” Fueling the fire against Nordstrom’s for the decision to drop Ivanka Trump’s line is a boycott from women all across the country. A host of responses on social media showed backlash over the decision, including this exchange in which a Twitter user challenges the company’s claim that the decision was based solely on sales and the company defends its claim: @Nordstrom @beebobaby if it’s not political then why are these liberal loons at #GrabYourWallet taking credit for you dropping Ivanka? Huh? — RockPrincess (@Rockprincess818) February 4, 2017, @Rockprincess818 We can confirm this decision was based on the brand’s performance. — Nordstrom (@Nordstrom) February 4, 2017, @Nordstrom @Rockprincess818 Nordstrom hold on ur statement doesn’t match up 2 statement from Ivanka Trump’s co. statement they have proof, — 4reallyandtruly (@4ReallyandTruly) February 4, 2017, @4ReallyandTruly Because of variations in when previous buys were made, we’ll continue to have it available for a while. — Nordstrom (@Nordstrom) February 4, 2017, @Nordstrom It’s not available online correct? So where is it available? — 4reallyandtruly (@4ReallyandTruly) February 4, 2017, @4ReallyandTruly You may see some items still available in our stores as they sell through the current season’s merchandise. — Nordstrom (@Nordstrom) February 4, 2017, @Nordstrom Why not online? — 4reallyandtruly (@4ReallyandTruly) February 4, 2017, @4ReallyandTruly You’ll be able to see online inventory as long as we have it in stock. — Nordstrom (@Nordstrom) February 4, 2017, An attempt to place a particular size and type of Ivanka Trump shoe in an online purchase cart on Nordstrom’s website as of Friday showed that shoe out of stock however, a check of stores revealed that the shoe was in stock in a Nordstrom retail location. Facebook user Shari Bartel Dresselhaus posted a letter to Nordstrom from her niece, a former Nordstrom employee and loyal customer. The letter called out Nordstrom, noting a social media post, “ … after seeing a post by Olivia Kim whom I recall to be one of your corporate leaders writing #yeswecan #yeswedid below a screenshot of the news article indicating the separation from the Ivanka Trump brand, I am left feeling that this decision was not made purely based on sales performance. ” #yeswecan #yeswedid @ Nordstrom https: . — olivia kim (@OliviaKim) February 3, 2017, Many women nationwide have told Breitbart News as well that they plan to stop shopping at Nordstrom’s. “I will stop patronizing their stores, after 30 years of loyalty, until they stop caving in to the left looneys!” Gay Moreno, who lives in Crossville, Tennessee, told Breitbart News. “Political beliefs are one thing weakness in the face of anarchy is another!” “I’ve had enough of the pompous snobbery of the left and that it seeps through to our retail industry shows me a total lack of respect for the consumer and the patrons,” Wendy Burdette from Clifton, Virginia, said in an email. She said she plans to “shred” her Nordstrom’s card because he doesn’t “need” it anymore. “I will be calling Nordstrom and canceling my credit card after 20 plus years of patronage due to their dropping of the Ivanka Trump line,” Laura Lightstone from Gaithersburg, Maryland, told Breitbart News. “I will also be returning the items I just bought from them last week. I am willing to make a statement in a piece you are writing. ” “I have been a frequent shopper at Nordstrom with their credit card but will destroy the card if they do in fact discontinue the Ivanka line,” Sandy Dominick from Fairfax, Virginia — originally from Canton, Ohio — said in an email. “Very tired of sore losers. I was very unhappy for past 7 years (note: I gave Obama a year) but never behaved like a spoiled brat. ” Deb Chandler, a public relations executive in Washington, D. C. who describes herself as a moderate Republican raised by Southern Democrats, told Breitbart News she’s now boycotting Nordstrom’s over this decision: As a moderate Republican, raised by southern Democrats (Louisiana and Texas,) a child of military veterans, a business owner, and a woman, whose favorite pair of heels happens to be a golden brushed leather pump with a sassy bow by Ivanka Trump, I question where I am in the ongoing transition happening in America. Seriously, has my life come down to a pair of pumps? Yes, apparently so. I am disheartened to find this week, alongside riots and fires at Berkley in an effort to stop free speech, that Nordstrom decided to pull the Ivanka Trump lines from their stores. “For crying out loud people, I have the right to chose my brand and where I buy my shoes from without a major campaign directing how I spend my hard earned money,” Chandler added. Andrea Lafferty, a conservative leader who is also the president of the group Women for a Great America, told Breitbart News she is done with Nordstrom’s too. “Nordstrom’s needs to figure out that their demographic is Christian women not snotty hoodlums wearing masks,” Lafferty said. Lynda DiPasquale, a New Jersey Nordstrom’s shopper, cut up her card over this. “I just cut up my Nordstrom platinum card as I refuse to waste thousands of dollars to support a company that mixes their politics with my fine shopping experience,” DiPasquale said in an email. “On the bright side … my husband will be THRILLED. ” Lee O’Connor, another woman who used to shop at Nordstrom’s, won’t anymore. “Store credit cards are an unnecessary nuisance, so I don’t have a Nordstrom’s card to shred,” she said in an email. “But I won’t be spending any of my dollars at Nordstrom’s or any other store that caves to pressure from the Left to stop carrying the beautiful and affordable items in the Ivanka Trump Collection. ” So is Kelley Pinzon, another previously loyal Nordstrom’s shopper. “After 28 years of customer loyalty, I will shred my Nordstrom card by the end of the week if y’all do not start selling Ivanka Trump products again,” Pinzon said in an email. “Please stop selling political messages and sell merchandise. I want to see Ivanka’s line restored. ” And it’s not just women boycotting Nordstrom’s now: Brad Botwin, a previous shopper at the department store chain who is from Rockville, Maryland, told Breitbart News he’s done with them too. “I am a long time Nordstrom customer and exclusively purchase my suits, shirts and ties at Nordstrom,” Botwin said in an email. “No longer because of their punitive and political act to drop Ivanka Trump’s clothing line. I have also Nordstrom to drop me from their special email list of events and other messages. If this organization doesn’t have the backbone to stand up to the unfair left wing pressure against Ivanka Trump, I shudder to think what next they will cave on next. Decisions like this erode the freedoms and liberty of all Americans. ” | 1 |
When the Boy Scouts of America announced Monday that transgender boys would be welcome to camp, hike and earn merit badges alongside their peers, the move brought praise from critics of the organization who for years have called for more inclusive membership rules. But the decision, which came with little warning and reversed a more than stance of determining gender based on birth certificates, further alienated many religious conservatives who were longtime advocates of the program. “Now we see once again that the Boy Scouts really is committed to a culture war that evangelical Christians and many other Americans just can’t accept,” said Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics Religious Liberty Commission, the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. Mr. Moore, a former scout, said Southern Baptist churches and others had been dismayed by Boy Scout policies for several years, as the Scouts moved first to allow openly gay youth members, and then openly gay adult leaders. Though several Southern Baptist congregations have stopped sponsoring Scout troops, Mr. Moore said others had held out hope that the organization would return to a more conservative worldview. “I think, for some, this will be the final sign that it’s time to go,” Mr. Moore said. Whether the new rules would lead to an influx of transgender scouts seemed uncertain. Besides one highly publicized case of a transgender boy being excluded from a New Jersey Scouting unit, there had been limited attention on the issue before this week. Boy Scouts officials declined to be interviewed, and would not comment on how many youths the decision might affect. In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Boy Scouts said it was “no longer sufficient” to rely on a birth certificate to determine gender. “The B. S. A. is committed to identifying program options that will help us truly serve the whole family,” said the spokeswoman, Effie Delimarkos, adding that those efforts would remain “true to our core values, outlined in the Scout Oath and Law. ” For many years, the Boy Scouts have found themselves facing conflicting forces on issues of sexuality and inclusion. The Scouts contended with a pattern of declining membership, canceled corporate donations and public criticism over the group’s restrictions on gay youths before easing those rules in 2013. And the move this week to allow transgender youths was hailed by some as a positive, overdue step toward equality. “No one should be denied the opportunity to participate in any Boy Scout troop because of their gender identity or expression,” Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the chief executive of the League, said in a statement. But many Scout units are sponsored by conservative religious denominations that have opposed the changes, saying the organization has betrayed its values by loosening membership rules. Tami Fitzgerald, the executive director of the North Carolina Values Coalition, said the transgender decision indicated that the Scouts “have diverged greatly from their founding principles. ” Ms. Fitzgerald, who said her brother was an Eagle Scout, said the Values Coalition was now encouraging families to consider alternatives to the Boy Scouts. Such conservative alternatives already exist. After the decision to allow gay members, John Stemberger, a former scoutmaster, pulled his sons out of the Boy Scouts and helped start a new program called Trail Life USA. Mr. Stemberger said Trail Life, which he described as a “distinctly Christian scouting organization,” was active in all but a few states with nearly 30, 000 members, a tiny fraction of the roughly 2. 3 million youths enrolled in Boy Scout programs. Mr. Stemberger said he expected that the decision on transgender youths might prompt more families to enroll their sons in Trail Life. He said that the Boy Scouts’ transgender policy seemed inevitable given the change on gay membership, but that he was surprised by how quickly it came about. “They are basically doing what gay activists want them to do because they lack the courage to defend their own tradition and their own Scout Oath and their own Scout Law,” Mr. Stemberger said. Despite disenchantment from many on the right, the Boy Scouts have reported less pronounced membership declines in recent years. The Roman Catholic and Mormon churches, which collectively sponsor a large percentage of Scout units, have not left in overwhelming numbers, as some feared, and campouts, service projects and pinewood derbies have continued. Whether allowing transgender boys to join will lead to significant departures remains unclear. Representatives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Lutheran Synod did not respond to requests for comment about the policy. The Mormon Church said in a statement that its leaders were studying the announcement. But in some places, reaction was pointed and critical. A statement from the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis referred to transgender boys as “girls struggling with gender dysphoria,” said Boy Scout policies were “becoming increasingly incompatible with our Catholic values” and expressed hope that the Scouts would “recognize their error. ” | 1 |
On Tuesday, two reporters from The New York Times visited a car auction held in Queens by the New York City Department of Finance. It was a lesson in how consumers can purchase cars that have deadly defects and how sellers have few obligations to disclose those defects to the public. The department was auctioning 20 cars, which had probably been abandoned or towed, to a group of about 50 bidders. The vehicles were in various states of disrepair and no one had even bothered to remove trash from the interiors. The list of vehicles, along with their vehicle identification numbers, was posted on the department’s website before the auction. It took the reporters less than a to run all 20 cars through a federal database of safety defects — something any interested potential consumer can do. That search showed that half of the cars had been recalled for various reasons, including faulty ignition switches and Takata airbags, which between them have killed or injured hundreds of people worldwide. The vehicles’ inclusion in the database denoted that the recall problems had not been fixed. The auctioneer at the sale made clear that all of the cars would be sold as is, even if they had been recalled. Buyers had to pay in cash, he said, and all sales were final. “There’s no buyer’s remorse,” the auctioneer, Dennis Alestra, announced through a loudspeaker. The warnings are reinforced on the Finance Department website, which says that “Purchasers have no legal recourse against the city. ” But as the first cars were auctioned, there was no mention of the specific safety defects. Three of the cars had the faulty Takata airbags, which have led to the largest automotive recall in United States history. An additional three cars, made by General Motors, had an ignition switch that could suddenly cut off a vehicle’s power, a defect that has killed more than 100 people and led to a $900 million penalty for the automaker. The cars up for auction on Tuesday sat in a sea of vehicles in an outdoor lot, where potential buyers milled around to conduct cursory inspections. A man in a Yankees sweatshirt asked The New York Times to leave because Mr. Z Towing, where the auction was held, was private property. The reporters then observed the proceedings on the nearby sidewalk through a fence. Bidding started low, and some cars sold for just a few hundred dollars. Auctions like this — as is — tend to dispose of cars that have seen far better days. Sometimes, the buyers are licensed dealers who plan to flip the vehicles quickly. Other times they are sold for parts. But too often, consumer lawyers and safety advocates say, they are sold to consumers who can afford to spend only a few hundred dollars on a car, and need one badly enough that they will take a risk. Unlike new cars, used cars have no federal requirement that sellers disclose safety recalls or fix dangerous defects, although some state and local regulations offer consumers some protections. But enforcing those protections can be tricky, and sometimes happens only after someone has been harmed, requiring lawsuits for wrongful death or negligence. That is why safety advocates like Rosemary Shahan, the president of the nonprofit Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, have been pushing for laws that specifically ban the sale of recalled vehicles in which repairs have not been made. “It’s illegal for a dealer to knowingly or negligently sell an unsafe car,” Ms. Shahan said. “It’s a question of, how many layers of enforcement can you add?” The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, a trade group whose members include dealers, advises companies to fix recalled vehicles when possible and to disclose defects, according to Shaun Petersen, the senior vice president for legal and government affairs. The New York City Department of Finance, along with many other sellers of used vehicles, says that it is up to consumers to ensure that what they are buying is safe. A spokeswoman for the department, said that protecting consumers was a priority. “State law and individual judicial orders require that the city auction off incurred property, whether it’s a car, a lawn mower, or a piece of jewelry,” Sonia Alleyne, the spokeswoman, said. “This requirement makes no exemption for inoperable or broken equipment, including recalled cars. ” Safety experts say that more can be done to protect consumers, like disclosing recalls and fixing defects before cars are sold. The online database of recalls is not perfect — you can search for only one car at a time, and users can get temporarily logged off the system after more than a handful of searches — but safety advocates say that sellers of recalled cars have no good excuse not to use it. Dealers are required to repair recalled vehicles free, even after a car has been sold multiple times. That applies to drivers who own, say, a 2001 Honda Civic — the same model car that was involved in the death of Delia Robles when she collided with a pickup truck last month. | 1 |
Leaked email shows Monsanto Executive V.P. invited to 'Hillraiser' fundraiser to put Clinton into the White House for Monsanto's benefit
Monsanto , Hillary Clinton fundraiser , Charles Burson (NaturalNews) Wikileaks email 28657, part of the John Podesta email leaks, reveals that the Hillary Clinton campaign sought money from a top Monsanto executive to put her into the White House. See the email here .Hillary Clinton, known as the Bride of Frankenfood , is a longtime supporter of Monsanto, a corporation whose deceptive tactics of collusion, intimidation and bullying are a perfect fit for the Clinton regime, which even a former FBI official now describes as a criminal operation .The Monsanto operative invited to the fundraiser was none other than Charles W. Burson, Monsanto's former Executive V.P., Secretary and General Counsel. Burson, who retired from Monsanto in 2006 but still maintained an active Monsanto.com email address all the way through 2015, was praised by Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant for pushing the corporation's international imperialism agenda to force patented seeds down the throats of poor farmers in developing nations. It's sickening. Via PR Newswire : "On behalf of the Monsanto Board of Directors and the employees of Monsanto, I thank Charles for his service to our company," said Hugh Grant, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Monsanto. "During his tenure, Monsanto successfully transitioned from an agricultural company fueled by its chemistry business to one led by its seeds and traits businesses. Charles has played an important role in building the company's legal organization to better serve our growing business, not only in the United States but also in Latin America and Asia-Pacific, where farmers are increasingly choosing to plant Monsanto seeds and technologies. Clinton fundraiser sought money from one of the most evil corporations in the history of humankind In other words, Charles Burson was instrumental in Monsanto suing farmers whose fields were contaminated by genetically modified Monsanto seeds . This legal action by Monsanto is globally considered to be one of the most evil, anti-human rights abuses of legal power ever witnessed in the modern world, yet the Hillary Clinton campaign saw this man as an opportunity to raise more money to put Hillary Clinton into the White House (where, no doubt, she would return the favor to Monsanto through government policy decisions at the USDA and FDA).Fully consistent with the criminal conduct of the Clinton crime mafia, Charles Burson also took part in excusing Monsanto's illegal bribery of over 140 Indonesian officials as part of its international agricultural imperialism march against subsistence farmers.After caught committing massive bribery and collusion in Indonesia, Monsanto's then general counsel Charles Burson explained that no, Monsanto isn't a bad company. They're super honest, and transparent and ethical, too!"The company has taken remedial actions to address the activities in Indonesia. At every stage of this process -- beginning with our voluntary disclosure and throughout the governmental investigations and settlement process -- Monsanto has been fully cooperative, and has made clear that improper activities will not be tolerated by the company. We are pleased today to begin the process of putting these matters to rest," wrote Burson. Surprise! The Justice Department then "defers prosecution" of Monsanto and forgets these crimes ever happened... Whaddaya know! With the corrupt, lawless Justice Department calling the shots, Monsanto was then given a get out of jail free card by the political elite in Washington.From the same link above: The Justice Department said it had agreed to defer prosecution on the criminal information for three years, saying it would dismiss it after the period if Monsanto fully complied with the terms of the agreement. So, wait. You mean to tell me that a corporation which got caught bribing 140 foreign officials in Indonesia -- a felony crime under U.S. law -- was able to get away with it by claiming they will be honest from now on? And the Justice Department says oh yes, you're fine now, there will be no prosecution for your serious crimes? And then the Clinton fundraiser people specifically reach out to the Monsanto attorney who orchestrated all this and said, "Hey, this guy would be awesome to help support a Clinton presidency?"Yep.That's Hillary Clinton in a nutshell: Hopelessly corrupt... criminally involved... collusion at every level and the total abandonment of human rights and human dignity. This woman shouldn't be behind a desk at the Oval Office... she should be behind bars! Oh, and it case you're curious, here are all the other emails that were cc'd in that same Hillary Clinton fundraiser message . Check out some of the names. Do you now see how deep the Clinton corruption really is?From:[email protected]: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] | 1 |
on November 13, 2016 4:03 pm ·
Post election, the media and Donald Trump voters everywhere have been rewriting recent history. They are making the claim that Trump wasn’t elected because of racism; he was elected because of the economy. The problem with that argument, though, is that it’s simply not true. Trump voters are racist and there’s proof.
The American National Elections Study (ANES) began the study in January. Initially, they asked “How likely is it that many whites are unable to find a job because employers are hiring minorities instead.” Now, of course, anyone who spends more than five minutes listening to those in minority communities know the answer to that. It’s VERY unlikely that whites aren’t getting jobs because minorities are, but that’s not what Trump voters think. The vast majority said that it’s “extremely likely” that minorities are taking jobs from white people. Graph courtesy of ANES and Salon .
Then, they asked the same Trump voters about a non-racial issue, trade. Despite the fact that trade was one of Trump’s signature issues, their opinions on trade were mixed.
Post election, this is what the study found:
The question about white jobs is powerfully linked to support for Trump over Clinton. Eighty-four percent of whites who believe it is “extremely likely” that whites can’t find a job because employers are hiring people of color instead support Trump, compared with 23 percent of those who think it is “not at all” likely. Among white Democrats, 58 percent who believe people of color are taking jobs support Trump over Clinton, compared with less than 1 percent of those who believe it is not at all likely. Eighty-one percent of white women who think it is “extremely likely” people of color are taking jobs supported Trump, compared with 26 percent who don’t think that.
More than that, 78 percent of white Trump supporters say black people are “violent.” 84 percent think that of Muslims.
Unfortunately, Democrats might not be able to just ride out this wave of racism, hoping that eventually, the aging bigots will die off. It turns out their children are just as bad. Sean McElwee, the man who was responsible for publishing the study, suggested this:
Democrats must create a narrative that weaves economic, racial and gender justice together. A multiracial coalition is the path to sustained political power and reductions in economic, racial and gender inequality. As I’ve shown with political scientist Jason McDaniel, racism often diminishes support for progressive policies. The solution is not to abandon either the white working class or the diverse and rising American electorate that still stands poised to transform the nation.
Great idea, if we had a media that reported facts instead of letting bigots’ claims go unchallenged.
Featured image via Ralph Freso/Getty Images Share this Article! Share on Facebook Author: Wendy Gittleson Wendy is one of the luckiest people on the planet. She actually gets to make a living out of two of her greatest passions, writing and politics. When she's not writing, she's hiking with her dogs, riding her bike or cooking a great meal with her friends or loved one. Follow Wendy on Facebook , Twitter or Google Plus . Search | 0 |
Mankind destroys animal kingdom with enormous velocity 27.10.2016 Print version Font Size The populations of vertebrate creatures - mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles - have decreased by 58% as a result of human activities from 1970 to 2012, The Living Planet report published by the WWF and the Zoological Society of London.The greatest damage was caused to freshwater vertebrates. Their total populations haves reduced by 81% during 42 years. The populations of terrestrial vertebrates have decreased by 38% and marine - by 36% in the same period. The report was based on the research data collected for 3,706 species of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles.The researchers concluded that the most common threat to the vertebrates is either the loss or the deterioration of their natural habitats."Wildlife is disappearing within our lifetimes at an unprecedented rate," said Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International. "We should not be deceived into thinking humanity can do without," he added."Biodiversity forms the foundation of healthy forests, rivers and oceans. Take away the species , and these ecosystems collapse, along with clean air, water, food and climate services they provide us," Mr Lambertini also said. The experts predict that animal populations on Earth may decline by 67 percent by the end of this decade if humans do not take measures to curb the harmful effects of human activities on nature. Noteworthy, pollution-related diseases claim the lives of 5.5 million people every year. A half of this frightening number accounts for residents of China and India, scientists at the US-based company Health Effects Institutes said.The current level of air pollution in Delhi and Beijing may reach 300 micrograms per cubic meter of air, thus exceeding the limit 8-10 times. At the same time, North America, Western Europe and Japan have achieved great progress in the fight against air pollution in the last 50 years, creating cleaner fuel and engines, as well as reducing the consumption of coal. The main sources of pollution, according to the study, are emissions from electric power plants, factories, car exhausts, coal and firewood combustion products. The particles that the process of combustion produces remain in the air for a long time, thus posing danger to human health. In the capital of China, announcing the top "red" level of environmental hazard has become a commonplace event. Beijing was recognized one of the most polluted cities in the world. The concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and other harmful substances in the air of Beijing is the highest due to a large number of cars and the emission of chemicals from factories. Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru Top ten of world's most unusually colored animals | 0 |
SAN FELIPE, Mexico — In the shallow sea waters of the Gulf of California swims a porpoise that few have seen, its numbers dwindling so fast that its very existence is now in peril. Known mostly by its Spanish name, the vaquita is the world’s smallest cetacean, a miniature porpoise with a cartoonlike features and dark smudges around its eyes. The species lives only in the fertile waters of the gulf’s northern corner. The size of its population has always been precarious, but now voracious demand in China for a fish that shares the vaquita’s only habitat has pushed the tiny porpoise to the brink of extinction. No more than 30 vaquitas are left, according to a November estimate based on monitoring of their echolocation clicks. Half of the vaquitas counted a year earlier have disappeared. This calamity has hardly gone unnoticed. The vaquita has been vanishing in plain sight, to the despair of conservationists who have been advising the Mexican government on how to save it. All of the resources brought to bear, including the protection of the Mexican Navy, have proved to be no match against the illegal wildlife trade. “If we continue on the path we’re on, we’ll have no vaquitas in two years,” said Barbara Taylor, a marine mammal expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The vaquita are simply bycatch, trapped and drowned in curtains of illegal gillnets set for an endangered fish called the totoaba. The fish’s swim bladder is dried and smuggled to China, where wealthy diners pay thousands of dollars for the delicacy, believing it to have medicinal powers. To feed that appetite, totoaba poachers have killed 90 percent of the vaquita population since 2011, according to the acoustic monitoring program led by Armando Jaramillo Legorreta at the Mexican government’s National Ecology and Climate Change Institute, known as INECC. With so few vaquitas left, experts advising the Mexican government have proposed capturing several specimens and holding them in a sea pen as a way of conserving the species until the threat to its habitat is removed. It’s a measure that conservationists had hoped they would never have to resort to. “We had always been opposed to captivity,” said Lorenzo Rojas Bracho, a marine mammal expert at INECC and the chairman of an advisory group, the International Committee for Vaquita Recovery. But nobody expected that the population would decline so quickly. “There are risks,” Dr. Rojas Bracho said of the capture plan. “But they are fewer than leaving them with the fishing as it is. ” The plan would entail training United States Navy dolphins to locate vaquitas, capturing them for transfer to a temporary pool and then to a sea pen to be built in their habitat along the Gulf of California coast. The majority of vaquitas would remain in the wild. But the unknowns loom large. “We don’t know whether they find them,” Dr. Taylor said of the dolphins. “We don’t know whether we can catch them. We don’t know how they will react. ” “If you get a negative result in any one of these steps,” she added, “it’s basically game over” for the capture plan. Even in the best of scenarios, breeding in captivity is unlikely to restore the population. A female vaquita gives birth to one calf every two years on average. If the proposal goes forward, the vaquita would join other species at the brink of extinction — like the California condor and the golden lion tamarin, in Brazil — that are being closely managed in some form distinct from their natural setting. It would be the first such effort for a marine mammal. A very small population can be pulled back from the edge, but “it requires thinking,” said Samuel Turvey, a research fellow at the Zoological Society of London who studies conservation management for highly threatened species. A plan designed with the expectation that the animals can eventually be returned to the wild “is not a permanent solution,” he added. “It’s an emergency stopgap with an exit strategy. ” Nor would it be a quick fix. “It requires intensive sustained efforts for decades to recover species from these catastrophic low levels,” said Richard Young, the head of conservation science at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust . Dr. Turvey speaks from experience. He witnessed the first extinction of a cetacean, the Yangtze River dolphin. Like the vaquita, the baiji, as it was more commonly known, occupied a limited habitat in small numbers and was decimated as bycatch in local fisheries. For a decade, researchers discussed removing individual baiji to a reserve as a conservation measure. But when Dr. Turvey and other researchers led an expedition down the Yangtze in 2006 to look for specimens, they found none. The baiji “only became a story when it was gone,” he said, adding that “it was really dark and upsetting. ” It is an experience that Dr. Taylor, who was on the expedition, hopes not to repeat. “It’s idealistic to think that we’re going to effect the significant changes in fisheries and enforcement practices in the wild in time to save vaquitas,” she said. If anything, those efforts have reached a nadir. Two years ago, the Mexican government imposed a ban on all gillnets across 5, 000 square miles of the vaquita habitat and sent its Navy to enforce it. To support the communities of the upper Gulf, which depend on fishing and shrimping, the government allocated $74 million in compensation over the two years. The hope was that the military could halt the totoaba trade and that two years would be long enough to complete development of trawl nets to substitute for shrimp gillnets. (Even before the totoaba trade surged, legal gillnet fishing had depleted the vaquita population.) But local fishermen argue that the new nets’ catches are too meager to provide a living, and the authorities have been sympathetic. “While there is no alternative to fishing practices, nobody will give up their gillnets,” Dr. Rojas Bracho said. The promised enforcement also has fallen short. That was evident this month aboard the Sam Simon, a antipoaching vessel operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an environmental organization. In an agreement with the Mexican Navy, Sea Shepherd has been patrolling the vaquita habitat, pulling illegal nets out of the water and spotting poachers. “We see illegal activity almost every day,” said Oona Layolle, the leader of the Sea Shepherd campaign, called Operation Milagro (Spanish for “miracle”). At about 4 p. m. one afternoon this month, a fishing boat pulled up just a few hundred meters from the Sam Simon carrying four men guided by a GPS device. One of the men dragged a hook in the water, looking for a gillnet they had hidden there. The Sam Simon sent a drone over the small boat and it sped off, only to return with six men aboard, who threw objects at the drone before leaving again. Despite a call to the Mexican Navy, nobody came. Even when arrests are made, conservationists say, the prosecution is too slapdash to win a conviction for a serious crime. Last year, Mexican Navy patrols succeeded in scaring off the totoaba poachers by day, forcing them to haul in their nets at night. But this year, the poachers work openly during the day, some wearing balaclavas, apparently undeterred by desultory government patrols. Some poachers even post photos of their weapons on Facebook. At the same time, four boats belonging to Mexico’s environmental prosecutor are parked on a side street running above the dock here, their motors broken or simply unused because fuel is in short supply. The nets tell a similar tale. Over 10 weeks last spring, Operation Milagro pulled 42 totoaba nets from these waters. In the fall, a broad survey succeeded in finding 36 totoaba nets, 28 of which were in use. In Operation Milgro resumed and found 56 more totoaba nets in nine weeks. Almost all were new, and some were set in the same places that the government effort had cleared just weeks earlier. During night patrol aboard the Sam Simon last week, the crew pulled up yet another totoaba net of wide blue mesh, its unweathered red buoys evidence that the net was brand new. “The situation is so dramatic that we have to take huge measures,” Ms. Layolle said. “It is a desperate time. ” Mexico’s environment minister, Rafael Pacchiano Alamán, promised this month to send 45 federal police officers to patrol the beaches and to dismantle poachers’ camps. But he did not respond to the main recommendation of conservationists: a permanent gillnet ban. The legal fishing season for corvina has begun, which usually means that dozens of small boats are on the water, giving cover to poachers. But this year the Mexican government has so far declined to grant any fishing permits. Despite a promise last year by President Enrique Peña Nieto, the government has yet to act on the gillnet ban. Without that, warn conservationists, there is no way to begin to save the vaquita. “If you can’t remove the threats, the population keeps declining,” Dr. Turvey said. “You don’t have time for complacency. ” | 1 |
During Russia’s surreptitious invasion of Crimea, much was made of the “little green men,” soldiers without insignia who turned out to be Russian regulars. On Monday there was a new green man — albeit one of a decidedly different political hue — the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was doused with a bright green liquid in the Siberian city of Barnaul by an unknown assailant who had pretended to shake his hand. Mr. Navalny wrote on his Facebook page that he initially feared an acid attack after feeling a burning sensation. But relief appears to have given way to exaltation after he realized that the bright green liquid not only would not harm him, but even made him look like a superhero — in his eyes, anyway. He can be seen mugging for the camera in a selfie taken after the fact. Referring to masked heroes in Hollywood films in a post on Twitter, he wrote: “I will be opening a headquarters in Barnaul as if I am from the film The Mask! Cool. Even my teeth are green!” Mr. Navalny, a charismatic critic of President Vladimir V. Putin, was a major driver of large street protests in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and has irked the Kremlin by shining a light on corruption. His bid to run for president of Russia was effectively derailed in February when a Russian court revived a criminal conviction for defrauding a state company. But he has continued to campaign, with his supporters saying the charges against him are politically motivated. It turns out that being attacked with green substances is something of an occupational hazard for outspoken opponents of Mr. Putin. Late last month, Mikhail M. Kasyanov, another Putin critic, was spattered with green paint at a march in memory of the politician Boris Nemtsov, who was shot and killed on a Moscow bridge two years ago. After the Siberia incident, some Navalny supporters showed solidarity by painting their faces green and posting on Twitter (“Alexey, Kazan headquarters is with you! We support! ”) and one prominent blogger was detained after being seen on Red Square with his face and hands painted green. Undeterred after the latest incident, Mr. Navalny suggested that his new look would help him stand out at rallies. Perhaps he was thinking of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, who wears pastel outfits and colorful hats to help onlookers spot her in a crowd. “This strange assumption of the Kremlin: to pour brilliant green on me so that I don’t travel around the country and call rallies,” he wrote on Facebook. “It’s way cooler that way. Barnaul and Biysk volunteers (where we are opening two campaign headquarters these days) will get the most stylish selfies ever, and I’ll be the star of any rally. ” He did, however, seem more concerned about his new green teeth. “Lemon won’t help you remove brilliant green,” he wrote. “Formic acid is way better. But I’ll remain for quite some time. What worries me is my teeth. They are also green so far, but I hope they’ll discolor. ” Whatever his new appearance, he showed little sign of backing down. “Our plans don’t change,” he wrote on Facebook. “On 26th, turn out for rallies. ” | 0 |
Every man who supports Donald Trump came to it from a different path. Some of you support him because of economic impoverishment or because you have seen your neighborhoods degrade from illegal immigrants . Or maybe you support him because you were attacked for being politically incorrect. For me and many other men, we came to support Trump because we shared truths about sex and the true nature of women .
The fight began in 2012 with the Southern Poverty Law Center
In March 2012, after years of teaching men how to improve their sex lives through books and web sites , I was put on a list by the Jewish-operated Southern Poverty Law Center for being a misogynist . I was shaken up by this because I knew that my desire to enjoy sex with beautiful women and share the truths I’ve learned from it put me on a path of no return. Either I close down shop immediately or accept that the mob would one day come pounding on my door.
I decided to keep going. I responded to the SPLC designation with an article titled My Existence Is Becoming Illegal , where I described how heterosexual sex was now a defiant political act if the male received any benefit from it.
It is clear that gender hate is now a one-way street. Men can hate women but not the other way around. Men can rape, women can’t. Men can be abusive, both physically and emotionally, but women can’t. Men can be misogynist, but women can’t be misandrist, a word that is unknown to most of the American population. Men can be described as lazy slobs who play video games all day, but women are perfect as-is in a country where there are organizations trying to convince you that being fat is both healthy and beautiful. Male teachers get sent to pound-me-in-the-ass prison if they have sex with a student, but female teachers only get a slap on the wrist. If you’re a man, you’re likely a perpetrator of hate, violence, and abuse to innocent American women, even if you don’t yet realize your thought crime, but never the other way around.
Fast forward two years to October 2014. Witch hunts by leftists were in force. Rage mobs were crawling through social networking looking for racists, homophobes, and sexists with the aim of getting them fired. I studied the people who were participating in these witch hunts and wrote one of the most important articles I’ve ever published: What Is A Social Justice Warrior (SJW) ?
The article was widely shared, influencing how people viewed the useful idiot layer of individuals who were guided and controlled by establishment forces consisting of academia, the corporate news media, Hollywood, Fortune 500 companies, Silicon Valley, and the billionaire owners of our politicians. Scratch a feminist SJW and you’ll find the reptilian skin of a billionaire who created the narrative she believes.
I was pessimistic when I wrote the SJW article, thinking we’d need a full generation (25+ years) to even begin defeating such a powerful anti-American entity . I focused on teaching men self-defense and avoidance instead of ways to defeat them. Little did I know that I was defining them at their absolute peak, and barely two years later a candidate who stood for the diametric opposite of social justice would win the presidency. The social justice warriors haven’t gone away, and they are rushing to fulfill the will of George Soros by refusing to accept the results of a fair election, but the power they have to force people to bend to their demands has been reduced, along with the power of the institutions that support them.
Though SJWism peaked in 2014, I had to face the full brunt of their attacks in the summer of 2015 during the Canadian stops of my lecture tour and again in February 2016 during the international meetups . I survived those attacks, and the fact that I’m still here right now and able to exercise my free speech on all my platforms—while you’re still here participating—shows clearly how little power they really had to stop us. They bruised me during the meetup outrage, but I healed quickly enough to weaponize my sites to spread my support of an even bigger enemy of theirs, Donald Trump.
Donald Trump ground zero
I’m a pessimist by nature, so I didn’t have much hope that the establishment would allow Trump to win in the primaries, even though I was confident his ideas resonated with most Americans. But then I noticed that he simply couldn’t be knocked out, no matter what his enemies did. I saw him humiliate Jeb Bush , out-compete a resurgent Ted Cruz, and smack down any attempt by the media to force him to display weakness. By the time I attended the Republican National Convention in Cleveland , I started to believe.
The ground zero for Donald Trump within the manosphere was The Donald Trump thread on the forum, created in June 2015 by veteran member and ROK contributor Samseau . This is where the battle unfolded for thosuands of men. Over 2,000 pages long, the thread has been viewed nearly 6 million times. Ideas within it have filtered out into mainstream discourse, as described here , to men with bullhorns larger than I have.
After significant battles in a real war, medals are awarded but soldiers don’t nitpick on who was the “best” soldier. They all worked as a team to ensure victory, from the General (Donald Trump), the Colonels (his advisers), the Captains (major media influencers like Alex Jones, Matt Drudge, Paul Joseph Watson, and Mike Cernovich), the Sergeants (men like myself), the Specialists (men like Samseau), and on down to the Private, a regular commenter who contributes the occasional meme or argument in his spare time.
The ego cares about how impactful one is, how influential its ideas are, but the team player only cares about victory for the whole. Whether I am a Private or a Sergeant, I fought side by side with men in that thread and on this web site to what amounts to a modern fourth-generational informational war that will be studied by historians in the future. Who would have guessed that public internet sites operating on free open-source software would have such a positive effect on not just the result of the election, but on the lives of so many men who participated in it.
Approaching the date of the election
Two months before the election, I did a Youtube video urging men to vote for Trump , and it resulted in nearly 150 unsubscribes within a day, surprising even me since I thought my audience was mostly men who would automatically support a Trump presidency. The video echoed a lot of sentiments I shared in the article If Donald Trump Doesn’t Win, We’re Screwed , where I tried to convey the danger of a Hillary presidency.
Obama was the “race” president, and look how badly he has damaged race relations in only eight years. Hillary will be the “gender” president. The future we have in store should be absolutely clear to you if she happens to defeat Trump.
Not only will she move to establish a techno-matriarchy where men are second-class citizens to any female, but she will ensure that no movement or organization will be able to challenge her or her establishment cronies ever again. This isn’t a trivial matter of getting banned from a web site like Twitter or Youtube—many of you will be forced to escape the country for no other reason than you happening to be a man who found himself on the wrong side of the establishment.
For the next month, I stared at the calendar, waiting for the election to happen, doing what I could to push back against the narrative on Twitter . Then in early October, an old tape was released of Trump saying he grabs girls by the pussy because they “let” him. My sister called me, confused, and asked if he really was a bad man. I told her that the media is distorting his comments just like they distorted mine a few months earlier when their proclaimed me as a “ pro-rape advocate .” I told her not to believe the media and to judge Trump by his actions and his policies, not a gotcha moment that was being spun out of control to help Hillary’s failing campaign.
I spoke to her with confidence, but inside I was concerned: in a politically correct world, would this be the blow to sink Trump’s candidacy? Is the majority of Americans actually ready to defeat political correctness? Thankfully, Trump responded strongly, ignoring calls by the traitors in the Republican party to step down.
The first poll to come in after pussygate suggested that Trump’s support didn’t decline. The fake controversy didn’t work. I held my breath for the next few days to see if another tape would come out, maybe of him saying the n-word, but none did, and I knew the establishment had no more bullets. This was the moment where I finally believed. I felt a rush of energy on that day as my subconscious accepted that Trump was going to win. I did a Periscope that night as if I was amped up on methamphetamine, but I took no drug.
From that point on it was just a matter of hanging on, until finally on November 8 when he was elected President. I was in disbelief after he won because it was only four years prior when I was attacked by the same forces that were aligned against Trump. I didn’t have to wait long until my personal enemies were dealt a monstrous defeat by another man whom I consider on the same team as us. If I made any miscalculation, it was that it would take a generation or longer for us to begin pushing back against establishment forces. I underestimated our own power, and those of our allies in the alternative internet space.
Human control is a foolhardy endeavor
The most important lesson I learned from Trump’s victory is how pointless it is to control human beings, both their behaviors and their minds. Every single major institution in the United States, represented by billions of dollars of economic activity and influence, could not stop a populist candidate, in spite of trying everything short of assassination.
George Soros and his billions weren’t effective. Obama and his allies weren’t effective. The mainstream media and their dozens of outlets weren’t effective. CEOs of the biggest companies in the United States weren’t effective. Hollywood and it’s superstars weren’t effective. Academia and it’s thousands of professors weren’t effective. Social media and its censorship efforts weren’t effective. The FBI allowing Hillary to skate from real crimes wasn’t effective. Even Donald Trump’s own party wasn’t effective in stopping him. It’s absolutely incredible that all these forces couldn’t stop one man and his believers. What a disgrace to the fields of scientific management and modern propaganda for them all to fail so miserably!
Think right now of how much effort the anti-Trump forces put into stopping him from winning. Think of how much money they spent to guarantee their desired outcome. And now think how it was all for nothing . They accomplished the very opposite of what they moved mountains to accomplish, after decades of cementing their control within the country by sucking the truth and life blood from the American public.
Whatever term you use to describe the force that governs our existence—nature, God, Tao, or so on—it is clear that humans cannot control it all, and that the pendulum will swing when it wants to swing, that the wheel of history will turn when it wants to turn, and your billions of dollars and your propaganda and your institutions can do nothing to stop it. Imagine how impotent George Soros and his friends must feel after their limitless money and influence was all for nothing.
Now they have to perfect their control methods even more, open their pocket books further, and try to force their will upon a population as if pushing food into the mouth of someone who is already full. Their desire to control you is nothing but their own psychological failings of trying to alleviate their crippling fears, of trying to prove to themselves and to the world that they are a somebody, that they are powerful, that the world must be shaped into their image, that they are gods among men, but it should be clear to you by now that they are not gods but sociopaths who gamed an economic system to amass huge amounts of capital and money. Much of that will be flushed down the drain as they continue to fight and grasp their way to unequivocal defeat, or attempting to control those who do not want to be controlled.
You can control human beings, but only temporarily and only some of them. At the end of the day, humans want to do what they want to do, and if you don’t possess what they wish to buy, they will go to someone who does, no matter how much money you spend on your mechanisms of control. The more you control what does not want to be controlled, the more tension is created and then released in the great unraveling, of which we are currently living through. In previous eras, that tension resulted in victorious parades on the streets, but in our modern era, it is in the form of online celebrations with the use of tweets and memes.
If you want to be a true leader of society, create an environment where humans can associate with whom they want, can freely engage in commerce, can create families, can live in safety, can search for the truth without interference, and can work and play and live according to their nature. Put stone walls blocking their righteous will and watch them be torn down. It may take a decade, it may take 100 years, but it will happen, and the contraptions you used to control them will reveal not your strength but your own pathetic weakness.
Conclusion We are tired of being controlled. Leave us alone. We are tired of institutions that are obsessed with controlling us, of forcing us to believe in falsehoods, of programming us to hate our country, of pitting woman against man and black against white. Leave us alone! Let men be men, and from that a new American renaissance will come forth. Men who are strong and good must be allowed to live their lives, and if you prevent us from doing so, we won’t allow you to live yours. We will humiliate your useful idiots, we will destroy your institutions, we will lash out with more than just memes.
I’m afraid that those who stand against us are gearing up for even greater authoritarian control over us, but at least now we have our man in the White House who can join us in a fight that we have already been battling for many years. I can’t wait to see where this fight takes us next.
Read Next: What Donald Trump’s Victory Means For Men
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Share on Facebook Edward Snowden demonstrated to his Twitter followers how easy it is to commit election fraud by hacking voting machines used in several crucial swing states. He showed his 2.4 million followers a video in which experts hack a machine in minutes – using a flash memory card that costs no more than 30 bucks. They change the number of votes for each candidate in the computer's memory, and even change the paper trail backup to evade detection. Researchers just demonstrated how to hack the official vote count with a $30 card. Details: https://t.co/uhcLVd0yPg https://t.co/uIFOQVb5uu — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) 7 Νοεμβρίου 2016 The NSA whistleblower added: “Little time to patch this vulnerabilty but can still forbid use of this model, run statistical analysis after polls close on rest to ID outliers.” As ZeroHedge reports, a U.K. based company that has provided voting machines for 16 states, including important battleground states like Florida and Arizona, has direct ties with billionaire leftist and Clinton crusader George Soros. With recent WikiLeaks emails showing that Hillary Clinton received foreign policy directives and coordinated on domestic policy with Soros, along with receiving tens of millions of dollars in presidential campaign support from the billionaire, concerns are growing that these shadowy players may pull the strings behind the curtains of the upcoming presidential election. As Lifezette reports, the fact that the man in control of voting machines in 16 states is tied directly to the man who has given millions of dollars to the Clinton campaign and various progressive and globalist causes will surely leave a bad taste in the mouth of many a voter. The balloting equipment tied to Soros is coming from the U.K. based Smartmatic company, whose chairman Mark Malloch-Brown is a former UN official and sits on the board of Soros' Open Society Foundation. According to Lifezette, Malloch-Brown was part of the Soros Advisory Committee on Bosnia and also is a member of the executive committee of the International Crisis Group, an organization he co-founded in the 1990s and built with funds from George Soros' personal fortune. In 2007 Soros appointed Malloch-Brown vice-president of his Quantum Funds, vice-chairman of Soros Fund Management, and vice-chairman of the Open Society Institute (former name of OSF). Browns ties also intertwine with the Clintons as he was a partner with Sawyer-Miller, the consulting firm where close Clinton associate Mandy Grunwald worked. Brown also was also a senior advisor to FTI Consulting, a firm at which Jackson Dunn, who spent 15 years working as an aide to the Clintons, is a senior managing director. When taking that into account, along with the poor track record Smartmatic has of providing free and fair elections, this all becomes quite terrifying. An astonishing 2006 classified U.S. diplomatic cable obtained and released by WikiLeaks reveals the extent to which Smartmatic may have played a hand in rigging the 2004 Venezuelan recall election under a section titled “A Shadow of Fraud.” The memo stated that “Smartmatic Corporation is a riddle both in ownership and operation, complicated by the fact that its machines have overseen several landslide (and contested) victories by President Hugo Chavez and his supporters.” “The Smartmatic machines used in Venezuela are widely suspected of, though never proven conclusively to be, susceptible to fraud,” the memo continued. “The Venezuelan opposition is convinced that the Smartmatic machines robbed them of victory in the August 2004 referendum. Since then, there have been at least eight statistical analyses performed on the referendum results.” “One study obtained the data log from the CANTV network and supposedly proved that the Smartmatic machines were bi-directional and in fact showed irregularities in how they reported their results to the CNE central server during the referendum,” it read. With such suspicion and a study which claims to prove that the U.K. firm's equipment tampered with the 2004 Venezuelan recall election, should be enough for states to reject these machines if they desire a fair election. Smartmatic is providing machines to Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington DC, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, which means these Soros and Clinton linked machines are going to take the votes of thousands of Americans. While GOP nominee Donald Trump has been voicing his opinion that the elections are indeed rigged due to media bias, and the proof that mainstream polls are heavily weighted to favor Clinton, it is needless to say that if the results show Hillary as a winner in November, there is going to a mess to shuffle through to find signs of honesty. Related: | 1 |
Home › SOCIETY | US NEWS › TOO MANY MILLENNIALS ARE COOL WITH COMMUNISM TOO MANY MILLENNIALS ARE COOL WITH COMMUNISM 0 SHARES [10/27/16] “We learn from history that we do not learn from history,” observed German philosopher Georg Hegel. Perhaps nothing illustrates this better than a new survey showing that far too many “millennials” are not just cool to “capitalism,” but are actually cool with communism. As MarketWatch reports :
Of the 2,300 Americans polled by YouGov , 80% of baby boomers and 91% of the elderly agree with the statement that “communism was and still is a problem” in the world today. Millennials? Only 55%.
Furthermore, almost half of Americans between the ages of 16 and 20 said they would vote for a socialist, while 21% would go so far as to back a communist.
Capitalism, on the other hand, is viewed favorably by 64% of those over the age of 65, compared with only 42% of millennials.
Citing these results, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s Marion Smith stated, as quoted by MarketWatch , “One of the concerns [the foundation] has had since its establishment is that an emerging generation of Americans has little understanding of the collectivist system and its dark history.” For sure. This was evidenced when a teenager once naively asked me, “What’s so bad about communism?” Another registered a look of shock when I gave him part of the answer: During the 20th century, Marxist governments exterminated approximately 100 million people, making them history’s most murderous ideologues.
Related to this, MarketWatch also tells us that “a third of millennials say they believe more people were killed under George W. Bush than Joseph Stalin,” clearly oblivious to Stalin’s psychopathic actions having accounted for upwards of 20 million of the above number. Of course, 82 percent of millennials at least knew who Stalin was. This cannot be said regarding Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung; 42 percent of millennials were unfamiliar with this mass murderer of approximately 60 million. Forty percent didn’t know who Argentine Marxist and major Cuban Revolution figure Che Guevara was. With respect to Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx, the “unacquainted with” figures were, respectively, 33 and 32 percent.
Not surprisingly, this ignorance goes beyond history. While it’s troubling that almost half of those aged 16 to 20 would support a socialist, there’s good and bad news here. And they’re the same thing:
These young people generally don’t know what socialism is.
As I wrote in February, “People 18 to 29 just helped vault Senator Bernie Sanders to a resounding New Hampshire primary victory, not at all deterred by his socialist label. But while they view that positively, they don’t believe in socialist (in Sanders’) wealth redistribution. In fact, this research shows that they cotton to it little more than do average Americans and no more than their age group did 20 years ago. In other words, millennials may like the word socialism, but, as with so many others, they don’t understand well what it signifies or the nature of those for whom they vote.”
In reality, the label “socialism” is applied loosely today, yet it has a firm definition. Note that socialism was popularized via Karl Marx’s and Friedrich Engels’ Communist Manifesto . And under Marxist doctrine, “socialism” — or the socialist revolution — is the transitional phase that extinguishes economic freedom and ushers in communism. Moreover, there are no communist governments because “communism” is the culmination of socialism, the stage where, the fanciful theory goes, the government has melted away and everyone lives happily and harmoniously in a state of economic equality-induced bliss. Post navigation | 0 |
You are here: Home / We are Gulag Bound / *Resisters' Log* / Jimmy Kimmel Children’s Book for Hillary Clinton – Donald Trump Parody Jimmy Kimmel Children’s Book for Hillary Clinton – Donald Trump Parody November 4, 2016, 5:30 am by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton Leave a Comment 0
This speaks for itself… Enjoy! 0 Gulag-wide Bulletins from Sovereignty Unbound We respect your privacy, time, and inbox. Track us Down @GulagBound Like the Gulag There are many important matters that Gulag Bound itself is not treating on a daily basis. For that reason we suggest The Globe & Malevolence and the sites shown under "Key Links in our Chains," below. Your Daily Intelligence Brief MattSkosh on Secret Service Agents Pay a Visit to Anti-Obama Artist Sabo Tags activism Agenda 21 anti-American revolution authoritarianism Barack Hussein Obama II candidate eligibility collectivists & propaganda communisty organizations corruption crisis strategy Democrat finance & banking fraud George Soros globalism - NWO global Marxist-fascist movement government domination of resources history illegal immigration Islam Islamism jihad jihadism Israel kleptocracy labor unions Marxism Marxofascism Marxstream media Military Mitt Romney Obamacare health control Occupy Wall Street race-baiting/racism Republican Right of Private Property Russia Sovereignty Tea Party terrorism U.S. Congress U.S. Constitution U.S. Presidency (POTUS) United Nations (UN) video violence voting youth & education Sabotage What good will it do, to protect the United States of America, or our presumed interests against the aggressiveness of China, Russia, or Islam, if, partially in fear of these threats, we lose our free and independent nation to the stealth imperialism of transnational and global governance? As America threatens to shatter, we must see how a semi-covert, global, cartel collective and their NWO in the USA ("progressive" neo-Marxists and neo-fascists corporatists, updated with 21st Century techniques and technology) intentionally perpetrate this sabotage, while we patriots try to prevent it. Have a look around our camp, as we struggle to survive. - your tour guide Archives Militarization in America About DHS militarization, see the new, breakthrough analysis from James Simpson, " Police Militarization, Abuses of Power, and the Road to Impeachment " and our earlier, "Marxist President’s Military Exercises in These U.S. Cities; Yours One?"
About the trajectory of this, we must pray, communicate, keep calm, and do not become the first to engage. If it comes to it, do not even respond in kind, until after the after the first times that extreme, anti-American violence is done by them. It calls for an attitude of self sacrifice -- first cheek, second cheek, then no more.
And speak out about the potential and strategic "sense" of the Obama/NWO's DHS carrying out false flag missions of violence, blaming it on American patriots, perhaps upon our militia movements.
We are in a real war, right now (of which others and I have been trying to alert fellow Sovereign Citizens for years) and the prime war is for the minds, hearts, and wills of the American People. We are opposed by an anti-American insurrection using any means of power (see Gramsci, Frankfurt School) including government power, as they are granted that opportunity. | 0 |
FBI Director James Comey highlighted his agency’s female genital mutilation arrests in his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday. [“This is among the most important work we do, protecting children especially,” Comey said in his prepared remarks. Comey described the shocking case of Doctors Jumana Nagarwala and Fakhruddin Attar, which made headlines around the world last month as the very first prosecution for FGM in the United States: For the first time since Congress passed a statute making it a crime in the United States to engage in female genital mutilation, to mutilate little girls — it’s been a felony in the United States since 1996 — we made the first case, last week, against two doctors in Michigan for doing this terrifying thing to young girls all across the country. FGM, a practice most popular among certain parts of the Muslim world, had not been before recently in the United States. The practice involves cutting a girl’s genitals in a ritual designed to make her “clean” before her eventual marriage. There are differing forms of mutilation, some more extreme than others, but all involve the removal of varying amounts of a young girl’s clitoris, labia majoria, and labia minora. The most extreme form of FGM is called “infibulation,” in which virtually all external genitalia is removed and the wound is sewn together, leaving only a single tiny hole from which to urinate and menstruate until the girl is married. It is unclear how prevalent FGM is in the United States, but Comey’s FBI believes Nagarwala and Attar’s FGM operation has been operating for over a decade and has mutilated girls from across the American Midwest. Both the doctors and their named victims are part of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim sect, named only as a “particular religious and cultural community” in the complaints. Dawoodi Bohra is based in India and boasts over a million members across the world, with increasing numbers in the United States. The sect’s leadership has made clear time and again that FGM is absolutely necessary as an “act of religious purity” and “a religious obligation for all women and girls. ” Director Comey closed his remarks by praising his agents who made these arrests possible. “It was done by great work that you don’t hear about a whole lot all across the country by the FBI,” he told the committee. | 0 |
They’re too busy liking bullshit memes and watching duck dynasty than to care. | 0 |
By: The Voice of Reason | Has everyone forgotten the reality of what wins Presidential Races? It’s the Electoral College, not Polls! With less than two weeks until election day, and reports already circling that the military is drilling for “Authoritarian Rule of Law” (Martial Law) , to deal with the potential masses who refuse to accept the election’s outcome, why is everyone talking about the polls, and not what really matters? Thanks to a DNC insider, we learned back in August that we should ignore the mainstream media polls, because even back then Clinton was reportedly being pounded. More recently, this past Friday, we learned that the Chairman of Hillary’s presidential campaign, John Podesta, who previously served as Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton, and later as Counselor to President Barack Obama, issued a playbook to pollsters for exactly how to manipulate the polling numbers that produced false results favoring Hillary Clinton, results the media has been all too eager to report for months now. So, when we already know the polls are total B.S., what kills me is when I see reports like the one mentioned in the second video below, where Gary Franchi of The Next News Network reviews a recent article from Truthfeed which suggests that while publicly the Clinton Campaign is acting dismissive of Trump ’s chances, in private the campaign and their mainstream media henchmen are in full panic mode. Gary Franchi reports that early voting results, as well as national polling data in recent days, suggest that something remarkable might be going on regarding the 2016 presidential race… Reports like the ones below by Truthfeed, Gary Franchi of The Next News Network , and by Alex Jones (where he declares Trump the winner of the 2016 election), are dangerous, particularly when they are citing the same polls we already know are bogus. There needs to be more discussion on the harsh reality of what it’s going to take for Trump to win this election, and that is to say there needs to be more discussion about the Electoral Map. It’s confusing to some, so they avoid it, but it’s also reality, so they better pay attention to it! One of many reasons this country runs the risk of tearing itself to shreds after the winner of the 2016 is declared, is because it’s not at all unforeseeable, that Donald Trump could win the popular vote by millions, but yet still legitimately lose the election. We do not live in a Democracy. We live in a constitutional republic, and our election laws, and the role of the electoral college are clear. Whether I agree with the current system or not is irrelevant. What IS relevant, is that for Trump to win the presidency under our current system of government, he’s going to need an act of Divine Intervention. In the video below, I explain in detail why the chances of a Trump win are so remote, and how Americans better start to brace themselves for what they plan to do when Hillary is announced the next President of the United States. I expect a great deal of violence regardless of who wins the election, so it’s important people understand the reality ahead of time. In the video below, The Next News Network reviews a recent article in Truthfeed suggesting that while publicly they are acting dismissive of Trump ’s chances, in private the Clinton Campaign and their mainstream media henchmen are in panic mode. Gary Franchi reports that early voting results, as well as national polling data in recent days suggest something remarkable might be going on regarding the 2016 presidential race… As I explained very clearly above, people should be much more cautious about getting too optimistic when it comes to Trump ‘s chances of winning. Remember, even if Trump does win, there is still the matter of the far left promising to cause so much chaos, Martial Law HAS to be declared, forcing Obama to stay in office. | 1 |
33 Views November 20, 2016 GOLD , KWN King World News
On the heels of another wild week, today the man who has become legendary for his predictions on QE, historic moves in currencies, and major global events, spoke with King World News about how devastating the coming worldwide financial destruction will be.
World Will See Devastating Global Financial Destruction Egon von Greyerz: “Very few people realize the enormous wealth transfer that will take place in the next 5 years. Most will lose 75-90% of their wealth and some 100%. What is interesting is that investors needn’t lose most of their money if they took a few measures to protect their fortune. I often speak to Family Offices who built fortunes from the $100s of million to many billions. Without exception, they believe that it is there skill in building a business or investing that has created these fortunes. It clearly requires a lot of skill and a bit of luck to build a sizable fortune. But the magnitude of wealth today is not due to investment skills but the enormous creation of credit and money printing that the world has experienced since the creation of the Fed in 1913. This has created a global growth in asset values of unparalleled proportions…
Continue reading the Egon von Greyerz interview below…
In a King World News interview I spoke with the man who predicted the Swiss National Bank would experience staggering losses and that the Fed would also experience massive losses that will destabilize the global financial system! His company is the only one in the world offering a precious metals investment service outside the banking system, with direct ownership and full control by the investor. He has also become legendary for his predictions on QE, historic moves in currencies, and major global events. To find out what he and his company can do to help answer that age old question for you CLICK HERE. Sponsored
Egon von Greyerz continues: “ Stocks have been a massive beneficiary of the biggest monetary expansion that the world has ever experienced. If we look at the Dow since the last major economic cycle started in the early 1980s, we find the most remarkable rise. In early 1980, the Dow was at 850 and today we are 18,870. That is a rise of 18,000 Dow points in 36 years. This means that the Dow has gone up by 9% per year on average since 1981. A 9% annual increase means that the index doubles every 8 years. What a great investment. You buy stocks in 1980 for $10,000 and today in 2016 you have $220,000 without having to lift a finger. On top of that there has been a dividend yield of around 2% on average. But this growth in the stock market has not just happened on its own accord. Stocks don’t grow at 9% annually for 36 years without some rocket fuel. And the explanation is very simple. Debt has provided the fuel. Because US debt has also grown by 9% annually since 1981. So the recipe for becoming a successful and loved president is just to print and borrow money. There is an absolute correlation between the increase in US debt and the growth in the stock market.
Reagan knew the secret. During his reign, he tripled debt from $900 billion to $2.6 trillion, leading to a tripling of the Dow from 900 to 2,700. And so it continued. Clinton didn’t have to print as much money to get the market up but Bush Jr. had to almost double debt and still the market ended lower than when he took over eight years earlier. Obama doubled both debt and the Dow in line with the longer trend.
The problem for Trump is that we are now at the point of diminishing returns and this started with George W already. When Bush Jr. took over, the Dow was 10,800 and now it is 18,800, a 74% increase. But to achieve that 74% rise in the Dow, debt had to go up by 250%. This means that Trump will have to print an awful lot of money to keep the stock market going up. Bearing in mind that the Dow is at record levels with P/E at over 20 and corporate profits falling, this is going to be virtually impossible to achieve. The chances for Trump to be re-elected after four years are very slim due to the present high level of the stock market together with record debt. Much better to become president with a weak economy and weak market like Reagan did.
In 1929 the Dow peaked at 400 and then collapsed to 40 in 1932. This 90% fall occurred at a point when economic conditions in the US and globally were a lot more benign then they are today. Since 1981 the Dow has gone up 22x. With the world experiencing a historical asset and credit bubble of unprecedented proportions, an implosion of debt could easily see the Dow down 90% like in 1929-32, or probably even 95% to get back to the 850 level where this bull market started. This would mean a fall of 95% in real terms. I say real terms because it is not unlikely that we will see the biggest money printing experiment in history with central banks worldwide printing trillions or even quadrillions of dollars in a futile attempt to save the financial system and the world economy. This massive money printing could lead to the Dow reaching much higher levels in nominal or hyperinflationary terms.
The best way to measure the Dow in real terms is against gold. Gold is the only money which has survived in the last 5,000 years and gold represents stable purchasing power. Over time gold doesn’t go up. Instead it is paper or fiat money that goes down until it reaches zero.
The Dow/Gold ratio peaked in 1999 and is now in a downtrend. Once the current correction is finished the ratio will continue down towards the 1:1 level like in 1980 when the Dow was 850 and Gold was $850. The only question is at what level the Dow and gold will be when they reach the 1:1 ratio. Will it be Dow 10,000 and Gold $10,000? Or will we see hyperinflationary levels of 100,000 Dow and $100,000 gold? The absolute level is really irrelevant. Because at whatever level they meet it will involve a catastrophic loss of real capital for a stock market investor.
When the ratio reaches 1:1 this means a loss of more than 90% in real terms for stock market investors – $ 1 million in stocks would be worth less than $100,000 in today’s money. And remember that the last time a 90% fall happened in the Dow in 1929-32, it took 25 years to get back to the previous peak.
Finally, the property market has also been fueled by the credit explosion. I meet many wealthy investors who believe that property is the best form of wealth preservation. It is of course true that property has been a fantastic investment for the last 100 years. For hundreds of years before 1913, inflation remained stable at 1-2% per year. It was the same with property values. A house in the early 1700s did not move much in price for 200 years until the early 1900s. But the creation of the Fed lead to credit growth and money printing of exponential proportions in most of the Western world. And this is why property prices have moved up 1,000s of percent in the last 100 years. But to believe that property now represents real value after the biggest rise in history is very dangerous. In the last few years this bubble has additionally been fueled by virtually free money with interest rates at zero or even negative.
In gold terms US homes peaked in the early 1970s. The fall of an average US home against gold has been 87% since then. It could seem that US housing will not fall much further from these levels. But when we look at the high level of lending in this market combined with low interest rates, it is likely that housing in the Western world will decline substantially from here. A minimum target is the 1980 level which would involve a 50% fall in real terms which is against gold. But bearing in mind the bubble nature of this market, it is more likely that we will see a 75-90% fall from here which means down to at least 10 on the index in the chart below.
The fall in asset prices and the consequent increase in the value of gold could happen in the next five years. If that will be the case, investors in stocks and property will lose 75-95% of their assets in real terms. This should not be seen as sensational levels but only a healthy correction after the biggest asset and debt bubbles in history. Yes, it will involve misery and a major adjustment for most people. But this is a necessary adaptation for the world to start growing again without excessive debt. Because with debts of $250 trillion and derivatives in the quadrillions, there is no chance for the world economy to advance. All this debt must implode together with the assets that it has backed.
Gold will clearly offer protection against the coming wealth destruction. But it must be physical, held outside the financial system and outside the country of residence of the investor. Gold must also be kept in a politically safe country with a gold ethos.
The current correction in the gold price should be totally ignored. It is due to manipulation and a dollar which is temporarily strong. It is critical to be covered against the risks that I have outlined above and gold is the most important protection that anyone can own. People who don’t own gold are exposed to monumental financial and human risks.”
T o listen to the extraordinarily powerful audio interview where Dr. Leeb urged investors to stay strong ahead of what he predicted “is going to be the greatest bull market of anybody’s lifetime that’s alive today ” CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW.
***ALSO JUST RELEASED: Radical Changes Are In Store For The World And Global Markets, Are You Ready? CLCK HERE.
© 2015 by King World News®. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. However, linking directly to the articles is permitted and encouraged. About author | 1 |
WASHINGTON — Top House Democrats on Monday called on the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to recuse himself from the panel’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, thrusting the entire inquiry into jeopardy amid what they described as mounting evidence he was too close to President Trump to be impartial. The demands followed revelations that the committee’s chairman, Representative Devin Nunes of California, had met on White House grounds with a source who showed him secret American intelligence reports. The reports, Mr. Nunes said last week, showed that Mr. Trump or his closest associates may have been “incidentally” swept up in foreign surveillance by American spy agencies. The new revelation that the information actually came from a meeting held on the grounds of the White House intensified questions about what prompted Mr. Nunes to make the claim about the intelligence gathering, and who gave him the information. Representatives Adam B. Schiff of California, the committee’s top Democrat, and Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, suggested that Mr. Nunes, who served on the Trump transition team, was simply too close to the White House to run an independent, thorough inquiry. “The public cannot have the necessary confidence that matters involving the president’s campaign or transition team can be objectively investigated or overseen by the chairman,” Mr. Schiff said on Monday night. Still, Mr. Schiff stopped short of pulling the panel’s Democrats out of the investigation. Doing so could jeopardize Democrats’ influence over the inquiry and, importantly, their access to intelligence on possible ties between Trump associates and Moscow. The House Intelligence Committee is running one of the three investigations into Russian interference in the election, and possible ties between Trump associates and Russia. The Senate Intelligence Committee is running its own inquiry, and the F. B. I. has carried out a broad counterintelligence investigation since July. By most accounts, the Senate and F. B. I. investigations remain on track, unlike the House inquiry, which appears to have increasingly descended into a sideshow since its first public hearing a week ago. That was when James B. Comey, the director of the F. B. I. publicly disclosed the bureau’s investigation for the first time. Days later, Mr. Nunes made his first disclosure about Mr. Trump or his associates being caught in American intelligence gathering, prompting critics to argue that he was trying to shift attention and provide an assist to the White House at a crucial moment. The revelation that Mr. Nunes had viewed intelligence materials on White House grounds the day before bolstering the administration’s case fueled damaging speculation that he was acting at the instruction of the president. That could prove fatal to the bipartisan investigation, which has hinged on the ability of Mr. Nunes to conduct a neutral inquiry while maintaining the trust and cooperation of Mr. Schiff. Ms. Pelosi echoed Mr. Schiff’s call for Mr. Nunes to recuse himself, saying his behavior had “tarnished” his post and urging Speaker Paul D. Ryan to speak out. “Speaker Ryan must insist that Chairman Nunes at least recuse himself from the investigation immediately,” she said in a statement. “That leadership is long overdue. ” In an apparent attempt to change the subject, Mr. Trump on Monday night questioned why the House Intelligence Committee is not looking into connections between Hillary Clinton and Russian officials. A few minutes later, he posted a second message on Twitter, concluding, “Trump Russia story is a hoax. ” The spokesman for Mr. Nunes, Jack Langer, said the congressman met with his source at the White House because he needed access to a secure location where people with security clearances can legally view classified information. But such facilities can also be found in the Capitol building, and at other locations across Washington. Senator Mark R. Warner of Virginia, the Democratic vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called it “more than suspicious” that Mr. Nunes went to the White House complex, pointing out that he would “have to be escorted” while there. “Who is he meeting with?” Mr. Warner said in an interview with NBC. “Was it a source or somebody from the administration?” Mr. Langer did not address those concerns on Monday. In a brief statement, he said: “Chairman Nunes met with his source at the White House grounds in order to have proximity to a secure location where he could view the information provided by the source. ” He added, “The chairman is extremely concerned by the possible improper unmasking of names of U. S. citizens, and he began looking into this issue even before President Trump tweeted his assertion that the Trump Tower had been wiretapped. ” Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said on Monday that White House officials had no previous knowledge of Mr. Nunes’s visit to the White House grounds, saying the only information he had came from “public reports. ” He also said officials were “not concerned” about the prospect that someone within the executive branch had leaked classified information to Mr. Nunes. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, accused Mr. Nunes of weakening not only the committee’s tradition of bipartisanship but also Congress itself. He asked Mr. Ryan to replace Mr. Nunes. “He has not been cooperating like someone who is interested in getting to the unvarnished truth,” Mr. Schumer said. Acknowledging that the incidental collection from surveillance appeared to be legal, Mr. Nunes last week said his concerns surrounded additional names that may have been improperly “unmasked. ” Normally, intelligence agencies mask the identities of American citizens who are incidentally present in intercepted communications. Mr. Schiff said that Mr. Nunes also worried that anyone viewing the distributed reports could decipher whom they were discussing even though the names were masked. Mr. Nunes repeatedly declined to offer any details about the source of what he characterized as “dozens” of classified intelligence reports, which Mr. Schiff accused him of viewing in a “ excursion. ” Mr. Nunes said only that the information had come to him after the committee’s public hearing on Monday. On Friday, Mr. Nunes declined to say whether that information had come from the White House. “You can ask me every single name that exists on the planet, and I’m still not going to tell you who our sources are,” he told reporters. Mr. Nunes then defended his decision to bypass Mr. Schiff and go to the White House, saying he felt a “duty” to tell Mr. Trump because of Democrats’ “relentless” political attacks. “If we would have crossed paths in the hall, maybe I would have said something to him,” Mr. Nunes said in an interview. “But what I was trying to do was get to the president as quick as possible. ” At that point, Mr. Trump seized on the information, saying he felt “somewhat” vindicated in his wiretapping claim against former President Barack Obama — debunked by the F. B. I. director and the director of the National Security Agency, as well as the heads of the Senate and House investigations, including Mr. Nunes. | 1 |
The Email Controversy Sparking Protests in South Korea October 31, 2016 The Email Controversy Sparking Protests in South Korea
Thousands of South Koreans rallied in Seoul demanding the resignation of President Park Geun-hye, as a crisis deepened over allegations a friend exerted inappropriate influence over her and interfered in state affairs. The street protest came as prosecutors investigate presidential aides and other officials to determine whether they broke the law to allow Park's friend, Choi Soon-sil, to wield undue influence and gain financially. Angry Koreans say Park betrayed public trust and mismanaged the government, and has lost a mandate to lead the country. "She must step down," Lee Jae-myung, mayor of Seongnam city south of Seoul and a vocal critic of the government, said to a loud cheer from the crowd. "If Park Geun-hye is no longer president, will our lives be any worse off and will the tension with North Korea be any worse?" he asked the crowd, which responded "No!" About 8,000 people attended the rally, according to police, organized by a group of left-leaning civic groups. Organizers said up to 30,000 people took part in the march through the capital. "It's become clear the people made a wrong decision and picked a wrong president," Jeong Hong-woo, 22, told Reuters at the rally.
(Seoul) - Police in riot gear faced some protesters as they tried to march on the presidential Blue House.
Park is in the fourth year of a 5-year one-term presidency. Opposition parties have demanded a thorough investigation, but have not raised the possibility of impeaching her.
Park's office said late on Friday she ordered her senior secretaries to tender their resignations, and she will reshuffle the office in the near future. Her chief of staff separately offered to resign earlier, the office said.
The deepening crisis over Choi has sent Park's public support to an all-time low. In one opinion poll, more than 40 percent of respondents said Park should resign or be impeached.
COOPERATING WITH PROBE
Prosecutors are investigating two of Park's aides who allegedly helped Choi get access to drafts of Park's speeches and set up two foundations with about 50 billion won ($44 million) in contributions from conglomerates that she later benefited from, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
The presidential office said it was cooperating with the prosecutors' investigation, including a request for documents.
READ MORE: US-SOUTH KOREA DRILL WILL SIMULATE KILLING OF KIM JONG-UN
A public apology by Park on Tuesday - for giving Choi access to draft speeches during the early months of her presidency - has done little to deflect demands that the president reveal the full extent of her ties with Choi and whether Choi gained favors from the relationship.
Choi said in a newspaper interview on Thursday from Germany, where she was staying, that she read and revised Park's speeches early in the presidential term, but denied all allegations she interfered in state affairs.
Park is the latest South Korean leader to be embroiled in scandal involving family or friends.
As well as demanding Park stand down, civic groups and students want criminal charges brought against her aides and others who helped Choi have access to government documents. Article by Doc Burkhart , Vice-President, General Manager and co-host of TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles Got a news tip? Email us at Help support the ministry of TRUNEWS with your one-time or monthly gift of financial support. DONATE NOW ! DOWNLOAD THE TRUNEWS MOBILE APP! CLICK HERE! Donate Today! Support TRUNEWS to help build a global news network that provides a credible source for world news
We believe Christians need and deserve their own global news network to keep the worldwide Church informed, and to offer Christians a positive alternative to the anti-Christian bigotry of the mainstream news media Top Stories | 0 |
Fox News host Bob Beckel was fired Friday over an “insensitive” remark he made to an employee — the second time the former Democratic strategist has been let go from the conservative network. [“Bob Beckel was terminated today for making an insensitive remark to an employee,” Fox said in a statement Friday. Beckel, an outspoken liberal who had served as Walter Mondale’s 1984 presidential campaign manager, was frequently in hot water during his time at Fox, particularly for his occasional cursing and controversial remarks. Beckel was a of The Five, as well as an occasional guest on other Fox programs. It is the second time Beckel has been fired from the company after he was fired in June 2015 over his “personal issues. ” Beckel had previously spent time in rehab for an addiction to prescription pain medication. “We tried to work with Bob for months, but we couldn’t hold The Five hostage to one man’s personal issues,” Bill Shine, vice president of programming, said in a statement at the time. “He took tremendous advantage of our generosity, empathy and goodwill and we simply came to the end of the road with him. ” Beckel later contested Shine’s claim that he was taking advantage, tweeting that he had been recovering from back surgery. I just can’t understand the anger in Fox statement. I was healing from major back surgery i could not walk, I took no advantage I got well, — Robert G Beckel (@RobertGBeckel) June 26, 2015, Beckel was rehired in January this year but, according to Variety, Fox’s human resource department was made aware of the alleged remark Tuesday. After an internal investigation, Beckel was fired Friday. Fox’s internal culture has been under the spotlight in recent months, amid a catalog of claims of both racial and sexual harassment at the company. Both Former CEO Roger Ailes, who died Thursday, and former host Bill O’Reilly were fired after sexual harassment claims against them were made public. Both men have denied the allegations. Adam Shaw is a political reporter for Breitbart News. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY | 0 |
WASHINGTON — Senators leading the investigation into Russian interference in the November election pledged on Wednesday to conduct an aggressive inquiry, including an examination of any ties to President Trump, as they sought to distance themselves from the flagging efforts in the House. In a conspicuous show of bipartisanship during a fractious time at the Capitol, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee vowed to forge ahead by interviewing key players connected to Mr. Trump and pressing intelligence agencies to provide all relevant information. But their display of collegiality seemed intended primarily as a contrast to the explosive and often bewildering statements in recent days from the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Devin Nunes of California, whose perceived closeness with the Trump White House has raised doubts about his ability to conduct an impartial investigation. The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina and a supporter of Mr. Trump during the campaign, suggested on Wednesday that he would not retreat from a process that could damage the reputation of a Republican president. “This investigation’s scope will go wherever the intelligence leads,” Mr. Burr said during a rare joint news conference. Asked later whether he had encountered any “direct links” between Mr. Trump and Russia’s interference, Mr. Burr was stern. “We know that our challenge,” he said, “is to answer that question for the American people. ” The Senate investigation amounts to a credibility test for Republicans under the Trump administration — a chance to prove their willingness to ask uncomfortable questions of a Republican president, even if the answers might weaken his and the party’s standing. Democrats are skeptical. But they are also mindful that the Senate most likely remains their best hope on Capitol Hill for gathering information, making them disinclined to abandon the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation. The F. B. I. is also investigating. On Wednesday, Mr. Burr and his Democratic counterpart on the committee, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, offered some evidence of what they had reviewed so far, saying they had begun to schedule the first of at least 20 interviews. Mr. Warner drew attention to reports of perhaps 1, 000 internet trolls in Russia generating fake news stories and targeting them at swing states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. “Russia’s goal, Vladimir Putin’s goal, is a weaker United States,” he said. Mr. Burr noted that Russians were now “actively involved” in the French elections. On Thursday, the committee will hold a public hearing on Russian influence on campaigns broadly. The two also left little doubt that they viewed the House’s unruly process as an afterthought, one that should not reflect on their own efforts. “Let me set the ground rules real quick,” Mr. Burr said before taking questions. “We’ll answer anything about the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation. We will not take questions on the House Intelligence Committee. ” Mr. Burr could not suppress a smirk. Mr. Warner laughed outright. But the drama in the House has already complicated the Senate’s task, according to Senate committee members, leading the public to question congressional inquiries across the board. “I worry that the chaos on the House side has affected the public’s view on whether Congress can credibly investigate this matter,” said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and a committee member. “I believe the answer to that is still yes, and that the Senate is the place. ” Lamenting the “debacle” in the House, Senator Kamala Harris, Democrat of California and another committee member, said she believed that “the public is now shifting to us. ” The congressional investigations are not related, but their focuses overlap, leaving the Senate panel to defend itself in the face of Mr. Nunes’s assorted claims. While a vast majority of Republicans in the House have stood by Mr. Nunes amid calls for him to recuse himself, his furtive maneuvering — including bypassing his committee to brief the White House about relevant intelligence — has placed House committee members in a difficult spot. And at least one Republican lawmaker, Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, suggested on Wednesday that the Senate should take the lead on Congress’s investigation into ties between the president’s orbit and Russia. The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, has long resisted calls for a special prosecutor or select committee, saying the Senate could do the job through regular protocol. On the House side, a string of perplexing decisions by Mr. Nunes has threatened to unravel the panel’s investigation altogether. Last week, he abruptly announced that he had obtained information indicating that people associated with the Trump transition may have been “incidentally” caught up in legal surveillance of foreign operatives. He also bypassed the committee’s top Democrat, Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, to brief Mr. Trump. The president seized on the information, misleadingly, as evidence for his thoroughly debunked claim that President Barack Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower — an allegation dismissed not only by senior law enforcement officials, like the F. B. I. director, James B. Comey, but also by the heads of the Senate and House investigations, including Mr. Nunes. Another obstacle to bipartisanship came on Monday, with the revelation that Mr. Nunes had viewed what he characterized as “dozens” of reports containing classified information on the grounds of the White House. Democrats fumed, their suspicions fueled by speculation that the source of Mr. Nunes’s information was a Trump administration official and that Mr. Nunes may have even coordinated with the White House. While Mr. Nunes defended himself by saying that he needed to be at the White House to view the sensitive documents in question, one can peruse sensitive information at the Capitol and at other spots around Washington. Democrats have also chafed at Mr. Nunes’s shuffling of the hearing schedule. Earlier this month, with Mr. Schiff by his side, Mr. Nunes announced plans for three former officials to testify, a group that would include Sally Q. Yates, who briefly served as acting attorney general and alerted the administration that Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, appeared to have lied about his contact with Russian officials. Last week, Mr. Nunes scrapped that public hearing, arguing that the committee first needed more time to question intelligence leaders. But on Tuesday he said this hearing had been postponed as well — as The Washington Post reported that White House officials had tried to stymie Ms. Yates’s testimony. Democrats have accused Mr. Nunes of trying to stall not only the investigation but also the committee as a whole. Mr. Warner said on Wednesday that he would “like to see Ms. Yates at some point” before his committee. At the same time, the Senate investigation has not been . Last month, Mr. Warner publicly scolded Mr. Burr after reports that Mr. Burr had spoken with the White House and engaged with news organizations to dispute reports that Trump associates had been in consistent contact with Russian intelligence operatives. In an emailed statement on Wednesday, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, took care to praise Mr. Warner — though not Mr. Burr — as he expressed confidence in the Senate inquiry. “Mark Warner realizes the importance of the task in front of him, and is pursuing it diligently and smartly,” Mr. Schumer said. “That gives the Democrats a lot of faith that the process on the Senate side can work. ” At the news conference, Mr. Burr said that “contrary to maybe popular belief,” he and Mr. Warner were partners. And he insisted that his party allegiance would not supersede the duties of his office. “I’ll do something I’ve never done: I’ll admit that I voted for him,” Mr. Burr said of Mr. Trump. “But I’ve got a job in the United States Senate. ” | 1 |
November 11, 2016 IS hangs bodies of 40 civilians from poles in Iraqi city, UN says
So-called Islamic State (IS) shot dead 40 civilians on Tuesday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul after accusing them of treason, the United Nations says. Their bodies were then hung from electricity poles in several districts, the office of the UN Human Rights Commissioner said, citing sources. A man was also reportedly shot dead in public in central Mosul for ignoring an IS ban on using mobile phones. Iraqi security forces are continuing their push to take Mosul back from IS. The killings of the civilians appeared to have been carried out on the orders of self-appointed “courts”, according to the UN report. The 40 civilians were accused of “treason and collaboration” and dressed in orange clothes marked in red with the words “traitors and agents of the ISF” (Iraqi Security Forces). | 0 |
Federal Judge Ann Donnelly has blocked deportations of foreign nationals who have been detained at American airports in the last day. [The legal maneuver follows an executive order issued by President Trump Friday calling for temporary visa restrictions on seven countries connected to radical Islamic terrorism. The suit had been filed by the ACLU on behalf of two Iraqi refugees who were detained at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, despite that both men were later released. NBC reports that a Trump administration official said waivers would be granted for the two men. That didn’t stop Judge Donnelly from granting the stay for others — blocking anyone with a valid visa from being detained and keeping those stranded at airports from being deported. It does not mean they have to be released from detention. NBC also reported that the ACLU attorneys and a crowd outside the Federal Court in Brooklyn were elated by the ruling: “Stay is granted,” ACLU Voting Rights Project Director Dale Ho said on Twitter. “Stay is national. ” Crowds outside federal court in Brooklyn cheered the news. The ACLU said the judge ordered a list of detainees to be provided, and said it would go through the names and ensure they are released. “But the critical point tonight is no one can be sent back to one of these countries,” attorney Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, said. Judge Donnelly was appointed by President Obama on the recommendation of current Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer ( .) who said about Donnely at the time, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle: “Ann Donnelly met all of my qualifications with flying colors,” Schumer continued. “When you speak with Judge Donnelly, what’s immediately clear is her deep respect and passion for the law. Judge Donnelly is more than a brilliant resume, I know her well and at her core she is a kind, thoughtful and compassionate person. ” There was no comment from the White House at press time. Follow Breitbart News investigative reporter and Citizen Journalism School founder Lee Stranahan on Twitter at @Stranahan. | 0 |
Tuesday’s special GOP primary election to fill the U. S. House seat of former Rep. Mick Mulvaney ( ) now Director of the Office of Management and Budget, turned nasty in its final days, with the campaigns of rivals Chad Connelly and Tom Mullikin accusing each other of disingenuous campaigning. [Accusations are flying between the two camps, with Connelly’s campaign calling Mullikin a “ Democratic lobbyist” and Mullikin’s supporters painting Connelly as a closet #NeverTrump GOP establishment insider. If you want a career politician, I’m not your guy. But if you’re sick of business as usual, I’m an outsider who will fight for #SC5 values! pic. twitter. — Chad Connelly (@ChadConnelly) March 28, 2017, Connelly’s website is loaded with populist policy snippets like, “It’s simple: stop the bleeding before tackling the problem of those already here illegally — start by building the wall” and “It’s such a breath of fresh air to have a President willing to take the side of prosperity, and I look forward to working with him. ” Connelly’s credentials as an outsider, however, have been called into question over the last week. The Washington Times reported Thursday that Connelly was employed by the RNC as “director of faith management,” even as he launched his congressional bid. His 2016 RNC salary was reported as $120, 000, and he continued to receive payments from the RNC until over a month after he began to raise money for his campaign. From Connelly served as Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. No evidence of impropriety has surfaced, but the overlap of Connelly’s employment and campaign fundraising, along with his connections to the state and national Republican apparatus, has raised eyebrows. “The bigger thing here is the appearance. It may be that it doesn’t look very good,” Michael Kang, an Emory University law professor, told the Washington Times. Beyond his strong connection with the RNC, often seen as the epitome of the “Republican Establishment,” supporters of Mullikin, are appalled at his presentation as a Trumpist. Karen Giorno, former Trump Southeast Regional Political Director and Senior Advisor to the Trump for President Campaign, spoke at a Mullikin event to express her misgivings, calling him a “poster child for the establishment:” In his TV ads, Chad is described as an outsider and an unwavering supporter of Donald Trump. Those claims are patently untrue. I personally observed Chad, in multiple states, leading efforts to defeat Trump Delegates at Republican conventions, despite you, the voters, pledging those delegates to Donald Trump. Chad worked tirelessly on behalf of his employer, the Republican National Committee, to deny Donald Trump the Convention victory he earned that you, the American people, demanded. In a press release issued after the event, Giorno added, “I know he worked against us behind the scenes. All this happened while he was taking $120, 000 a year of the Republican National Committee’s money. ” Donald Trump’s victory in the South Carolina Primary was pivotal in propelling him to the nomination. The “Trump Strike Team” organized out of Republicans from California and other states in the final days of that campaign tipped the balance in candidate Trump’s favor, much to the chagrin of leftist journalists. Members of the Strike Team joined Giorno at the Mullikin event to attest that Connelly had worked to stop Trump both before and after his victory in the South Carolina contest. Girono told Breitbart News that Connelly pushed his own slate of #NeverTrump delegates with the intention of nullifying Trump’s primary victory. Politico reported on these machinations in the aftermath of the primary, while Trump’s nomination was anything but assured. According to Giorno, Connelly also did not attend a “Unity Breakfast” designed to bring primary voters into the fold before the general election and, at the South Carolina Republican Convention, he refused to sign a Trump banner with the other attendees. Mullikin’s campaign provided Breitbart News with photographs of the banner, which lacked Connelly’s signature. Connelly’s campaign denied Giorno and the Mullikin campaign’s accusations in the strongest terms, calling them “complete fabrications” and “last second desperation” from Mullikin’s camp. “They ought to be ashamed of themselves,” Connelly staffer Luke Byars told Breitbart news. “It’s disgusting that Tom Mullikin is sanctioning this and it shows you how desperate he is. ” The Connelly campaign points to his efforts during the general election as proof of his commitment to the President. “Last year, Chad Connelly spent 140 nights away from home working to get evangelical support for Donald Trump,” Byars told Breitbart news. As for the Primary season, Byars noted that, as an he was prohibited from supporting any candidate. “He was not allowed to be involved in the primary process at all,” he said. “What proof do they have, other than [Giorno] who is making stuff up?” Byars asked. He called Connelly’s principle accuser “a disgruntled Trump campaign staffer who was fired,” referring to Giorno’s reassignment amid controversy from Trump’s field operations in Florida to an advisor’s position in New York City. Robert Cahaly, a strategist working with the Mullikin campaign, found that characterization “ridiculous. ” “She went from being in the field to being at Trump Tower, and that means she was fired? That’s the kind of spin only an RNC professional could come up with,” he told Breitbart News. Mullikin’s campaign pointed to Connelly’s retinue of supporters as indicating his #NeverTrump history. For example, prominent #NeverTrump voice Erick Erickson, formally of RedState and now the principal of conservative site The Resurgent, glowingly endorsed Connelly last month. Cahaly called the continued posting of the endorsement on Connelly’s website a “loud and clear message to . ” Connelly has, however, also been endorsed by a wide swath of the Republican including Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Mark Meadows ( ) and early former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Tom Zawatowski, leader of an Ohio tea party group, endorsed Connelly in a Facebook post in which he recalls Connelly playing a pivotal role in getting Ohio’s evangelical community on Trump’s side, even as #NeverTrump Governor John Kasich refused to support Trump in the general election. Connelly’s campaign let fly its own accusations against Tom Mullikin, who has gone to great lengths to position himself on social media as “the candidate. ” As a loyal #TeamTrump soldier I’m always proud to answer the call. Go vote May 2nd #SC05 #scpol #MAGA➡https: . pic. twitter. — Tom Mullikin (@TomMullikinSC) April 28, 2017, Byars found this “ridiculous,” calling Mullikin a “ Democrat who has given to Democrats all over the country. ” “Tom Mullikin says he was a BIG Trump supporter, so why did he choose not to even cast a vote in the SC Presidential primary in 2016?” Byars asked, citing GOP voter data. He tried to contrast the two candidates’ roles in the 2016 campaign: I think it is offensive that a career lobbyist like Tom Mullikin who has aided liberal Democrats would criticize Chad Connelly now. Chad gave up 2 years traveling the country to recruit evangelical support for Donald Trump. Mullikin has made contributions to many political campaigns, including those of Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow ( ) and former Sen. Kay Hagan ( ). In the 1980s, he worked with then Sen. Al Gore ( ) on his unsuccessful presidential run. He has also donated to many Republican campaigns and himself ran as a Republican candidate for state representative in the 1990s. Mullikin contributed to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the DNC as recently as 2014. His record of GOP contributions might similarly alarm some populist voters, with recurring contributions to Sen. Lindsay ( ) a #NeverTrump stalwart, and Sen. John McCain ( ) who clashed with Trump on the campaign trail. Mullikin made his only contribution of the 2016 presidential campaign to early dropout Rick Santorum. Mullikin’s camp found these lines of attack unwarranted. “He’s never denied he made contributions to Democrats … he made a lot more to Republicans, including Mick Mulvany,” Cahaly told Breitbart News. “Just like the president, he was in business and he was trying to get things done in the state, and he’s not going to apologize for it. ” Cahaly also took issue with the characterization of his candidate as a lobbyist, especially a “democratic” one, noting Mullikin “hasn’t been registered to lobby in years and years. ” The Mullikin website characterizes his lobbying work on environmental issues as “His outspoken support for American manufacturing, farming and energy production placed him on the front lines of combating the radical left’s attempt to use environmental hysteria as an excuse to institute global socialism. ” As the campaigns continue to spar over these accusations, voters will go to the polls in South Carolina’s Fifth District Tuesday. If neither Connelly, Mullikin, nor any of the other three candidates in the GOP primary wins 50% of the vote, a runoff will be held May 16. Considered a safely Republican district, Democrats are rumored to continue their efforts to derail the Trump administration’s momentum by vigorously contesting special elections. | 1 |
Gold: End Of The Year Excitement”– Stewart Thomson
The world gold community should probably fasten their seat belts now , and get ready for an end of the year upside ride! For gold investors, some days are more awesome than others, and I’ll boldly suggest that today is one of those days. Here’s why:
Submitted by Stewart Thomson, Graceland Updates: For gold investors, some days are more awesome than others, and I’ll boldly suggest that today is one of those days . Here’s why: Inflation is no longer near. It’s here.
Measured by “ stuff used ”, China is the world’s largest economy. Producer prices there have surged steadily since the start of 2016, and the index has now crossed above the key 100 marker. China is poised to become the world’s biggest exporter of a product that most analysts have forgotten about; inflation! Also, gold stocks, which I call the canary in the inflationary coal mine, may be poised to start a fresh uptrend. Double-click to enlarge this Agnico Eagle chart. The “ Eagle ” just staged a one day close above the key round number of $50. This great company is one of my key lead indicators for the entire precious metals sector, and a three day close above $50 could indicate that a new intermediate term uptrend is underway. Agnico Eagle is sometimes able to cover its entire gold mining costs just from its silver production, and it’s an important component in the GDX ETF. Also, Friday is US jobs report day, and a post report rally could see Agnico Eagle stage a weekly close above that important $50 mark. To view some longer term good news, please click here now . Top Islamic financial organizations have teamed up with the World Gold Council to launch the new Shari’ah Standard. It will be launched December 6 , just two days after the upcoming Italian referendum. The new “ Standard ” will allow Muslims to invest in gold in accordance with shariah law , and the World Gold Council predicts the Standard will add a whopping 500 tons to global demand, over just the next four years! It’s going to become increasingly difficult for mining companies to grow their production enough to keep up with this kind of demand growth. It’s becoming very clear that investors who are looking for gold price discovery “ action ” won’t be bored in the last few months of this year. Chinese New Year buying also begins in another month or so, and the US election is now only about a week away. Bitcoin often leads gold bullion. I implore the Western gold community to view bitcoin not as a competitor with gold, but as a solid part of a diversified anti-fiat investment portfolio. Gold has no competition. It’s the leader of the anti-fiat team, but not the sole player. I cover the bitcoin price action in my juniors/high risk newsletter. I own it, and I’m extremely happy with the price action. A week ago, I predicted gold would rally straight to trend line resistance at $1285, and recoil from there. That’s exactly what happened. So, what now? Well, it’s going to take a few days of closing above $1285 to launch a serious rally, and even that technical action won’t be enough, without fundamental news that is positive for gold. The critically important jobs report will be released on Friday at 830AM, and the US election follows that just a few days later. Indian festival buying is also accelerating, which should act as good background support for a big fear trade oriented rally. Japan has one of the world’s biggest economies, but gold demand there has never been a big factor in price discovery. I’ve predicted that demand in Japan will grow surprisingly quickly, as more confidence is lost in the nation’s central bank and government. Clearly, some top Japanese economists are beginning to take that same view. The US stock market has a tendency to strengthen in the November to December time frame, but I would caution stock market enthusiasts from betting too heavily on that scenario this year. Seasonally, stock market crashes tend to be most likely in September and October, but the US election, a December rate hike, and the Italian referendum are all factors that may have moved the time frame for a crash to November – December. The bottom line is that the danger of a US stock market crash is actually greater now than it was in September and October. If there is a crash, gold could surge straight to substantial resistance in the $1425 – $1432 price zone. Silver tends to follow gold, but it can also lead gold at key turning points.
There’s a clean upside breakout from an ascending triangle in play. There will be substantial battle at the sizable sell-side resistance at $18.50, a battle I expect to be won by the world gold community . It’s almost certain that the upcoming US election will be the catalyst that launches the battle. Newcrest is the biggest gold producer in Australia. Like Agnico Eagle, I use it as a bell weather for the entire sector. The price action is extremely positive right now; there are bull wedge and inverse head and shoulders bottom breakouts in play, and a run to the $27 area highs appears imminent. The world gold community should probably fasten their seat belts now, and get ready for an end of the year upside ride!
Special Offer For Website Readers: Please send me an Email to [email protected] com and I’ll send you my free “Golden Steaks & Yellow Cakes!” report. I cover 5 leading gold stocks and 5 interesting uranium stocks that are “must buy” stocks right now, with key entry and exit points for all of them!
Thanks! Cheers Stewart Thomson Graceland Updates This entry was posted in World News and tagged gold update , hyperinflation , inflation , silver update , Stewart Thomson . Bookmark the permalink . Post navigation | 1 |
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WITH the number of animals in the wild plummeting by 58% between the years 1970 and 2012, the decision has been made to stop referring to animals as ‘wildlife’ and switch instead to ‘wilddeath’.
According to the Living Planet report from WWF and the Zoological Society of London, there’s not much point in trying to conserve animal life at this point, as humans have pretty much made it clear that industrialisation, fossil fuels, economic growth and phones that can look up porn at any given minute of any given day are more important than elephants and some sort of beetle that you’ve never heard of.
From 2017, all remaining animals across the globe will be classed as ‘bonuses’, and we should be living in a humans-only world by 2050.
“Ah, you’ll always have cats and sheep, domestic animals and livestock, those kind of things,” said Dave Jahon, spokesperson for the World Wilddeath Fund.
“But lions, gorillas, fuckin’… macaques and what have you, yeah, not much point in trying to save them. We did our best, people just don’t seem to be interested. There’ll be a big crying match when rich people go on safari in Kenya in 2065 and there’s nothing but trees and like, two crows, but it’s not like we didn’t fucking warn them, y’know?”
Following the change of wildlife to wilddeath, it was also announced that Mankind would be renamed Manpricks. | 0 |
"But Trump's victory is not the end of the world, either."
It might be the end of humanity, though. According to Guy McPherson, the climate crisis is poised to cause human extinction by 2030. Trump is a denier of the climate crisis, so he likely will hasten humanity's demise if the people allow him to do so. | 0 |
BREAKING : New Wikileak Bombshell Shows CNN Asked the DNC What Questions to Ask Trump BREAKING : New Wikileak Bombshell Shows CNN Asked the DNC What Questions to Ask Trump Breaking News By TruthFeedNews November 7, 2016
The latest batch of Wikileaks has just dropped with over 8,000 emails from the DNC and the revelations are already coming in.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) November 7, 2016
One new revelation is that CNN appears to have been actively colluding with the DNC.
Here you can see Lauren Dillon of the DNC sending out a group email asking them what questions Wolf Blitzer should ask Trump. (link)
Yup, we call it the Clinton News Network for a reason.
Oh yeah, remember that time Wolf Blitzer danced and drank when Hillary stole the nomination from Bernie Sanders? So do we.
— Nick Ciletti (@NickCiletti) July 29, 2016
For once in our lifetime, we the people have an opportunity to elect a President who was NOT chosen by Multinational Corporations, Big Banks, DC Elites, and the Globalist Lapdog Mainstream Media.
Please like and share if you are a TRUMP VOTER! | 0 |
of course - how else would they disceminate teen & kiddy powrn | 0 |
WASHINGTON — American intelligence agencies have told the White House they now have “high confidence” that the Russian government was behind the theft of emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee, according to federal officials who have been briefed on the evidence. But intelligence officials have cautioned that they are uncertain whether the electronic at the committee’s computer systems was intended as fairly routine cyberespionage — of the kind the United States also conducts around the world — or as part of an effort to manipulate the 2016 presidential election. The emails were released by WikiLeaks, whose founder, Julian Assange, has made it clear that he hoped to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency. It is unclear how the documents made their way to the group. But a large sampling was published before the WikiLeaks release by several news organizations and someone who called himself “Guccifer 2. 0,” who investigators now believe was an agent of the G. R. U. Russia’s military intelligence service. The assessment by the intelligence community of Russian involvement in the D. N. C. hacking, which largely echoes the findings of private cybersecurity firms that have examined the electronic fingerprints left by the intruders, leaves President Obama and his national security aides with a difficult diplomatic and political decision: whether to publicly accuse the government of President Vladimir V. Putin of engineering the hacking. Such a public accusation could result in a further deterioration of the already icy relationship between Washington and Moscow, at a moment when the administration is trying to reach an accord with Mr. Putin on a in Syria and on other issues. It could also doom any effort to reach some kind of agreement about acceptable behavior in cyberspace, of the kind the United States has been discussing with China. In an interview with Savannah Guthrie of NBC News on Tuesday, President Obama stopped short of accusing the Russian agencies from seeking to manipulate the election but said, “Anything’s possible. ” He noted that “on a regular basis, they try to influence elections in Europe. ” Stealing information about another country’s political infighting is hardly new, and the United States has conducted covert collection from allies like Germany and adversaries like Russia for decades. Publishing the documents — what some have called “weaponizing” them — is a different issue. Mrs. Clinton’s campaign has suggested that Mr. Putin was trying to even the score after the former secretary of state denounced a 2011 Russian election as filled with fraud. “The first thing that the secretary of state did was say that they were not honest and not fair, but she had not even yet received the material from the observers,” Mr. Putin said at the time. “She set the tone for some actors in our country and gave them a signal,” Mr. Putin continued. “They heard the signal and, with the support of the U. S. State Department, began active work. ” Campaign officials have also suggested that Mr. Putin could be trying to tilt the election to Donald J. Trump. But they acknowledge that they have no evidence. Asked on Tuesday at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia whether “there’s more to the relationship that hasn’t come out,” John Podesta, the Clinton campaign chairman, said, “Well, he certainly has a bromance with Mr. Putin, so I don’t know. ” Mr. Podesta said that while Russia had a “history” of interfering in democratic elections in Europe, it would be “unprecedented in the United States. ” The Republican platform, adopted last week in Cleveland, calls on the United States to “respond in kind and in greater magnitude” to cyberattacks. “Russia and China see cyber operations as part of a warfare strategy during peacetime,” it says. “Our response should be to cause diplomatic, financial and legal pain. ” But the Trump campaign has dismissed the accusations about Russia as a deliberate distraction, meant to draw attention away from the content of nearly 20, 000 emails and documents from the Democratic committee that WikiLeaks started releasing on Friday. They showed efforts to impugn Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in his effort to challenge Mrs. Clinton for the nomination. On Twitter Tuesday night, Mr. Trump said that in order to deflect “the horror and stupidity of the Wikileakes disaster,” Democrats were saying: “Russia is dealing with Trump. Crazy!” “For the record,” he said, “I have ZERO investments in Russia. ” Mr. Obama, in his interview with NBC News, criticized Mr. Trump for suggesting last week that the United States should not defend from Russian aggression any country that does not contribute sufficient funds to NATO. He said Mr. Trump was “undermining” the country’s War II alliances in Europe. Secretary of State John Kerry raised the cyberattack with his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, on Tuesday at a meeting of foreign ministers in Vientiane, Laos. Mr. Lavrov dismissed the idea that Russia was involved, telling reporters who asked about the charges: “I don’t want to use words. ” Mr. Kerry made no accusations, saying he had to allow the F. B. I. to “do its work” before he drew “any conclusions in terms of what happened or who’s behind it. ” The federal investigation, involving the F. B. I. and the intelligence agencies, has been going on since the Democratic National Committee first called in a private cybersecurity firm, Crowdstrike, in April. Preliminary conclusions were discussed on Thursday at a weekly cyberintelligence meeting for senior officials. The Crowdstrike report, supported by several other firms that have examined the same bits of code and telltale “metadata” left on documents that were released before WikiLeaks’ publication of the larger trove, concludes that the Federal Security Service, known as the F. S. B. entered the committee’s networks last summer. The G. R. U. a competing, military intelligence unit, was a later arrival. Investigators believe it is the G. R. U. that has played a bigger role in releasing the emails. In an essay published on Lawfare, a blog that often deals with cyberissues, Susan Hennessey, previously a lawyer for the National Security Agency, called the published evidence about Russian involvement “about as close to a smoking gun as can be expected when a sophisticated is involved. ” Mr. Assange’s threat to release documents, she wrote, “means, put simply, that actors outside the U. S. are using criminal means to influence the outcome of a US election. That’s a problem. ” But American intelligence agencies have their doubts that the Russian intention, at least initially, was to sway the American election. The intrusion began just shortly after Mr. Trump announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination. At the time, his chances looked minuscule. One senior official noted that while the cyberattack might have been intended to embarrass Mrs. Clinton, who was the presumptive nominee, it could not have been aimed at bolstering Mr. Trump. It is far from clear that Mr. Obama or the F. B. I. director, James B. Comey, would ever name Russia as the origin of the hack. Mr. Obama has only once accused a country of attacking an American organization, when he said North Korea was the source of the 2014 attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment. But the United States has no relationship with North Korea, and there was little to lose from identifying it. In the case of Russia and China — countries with which the United States has complex relationships — Mr. Obama has in the past made the opposite decision. He never named the Russian intelligence agencies as the perpetrators of hacks on the State Department and White House unclassified email systems, or on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While the administration has called out the People’s Liberation Army of China for stealing intellectual property — even indicting officers of its Unit 61398 — it never publicly accused the Chinese intelligence services of stealing the files on more than 21 million Americans who held or applied for clearances. By happenstance, the intelligence report on the Democratic National Committee hacking was circulating here the day that Mr. Obama issued a new policy, long in development, to organize the government’s response to major cyberattacks and to set up a “grading system” to assess the severity of strikes against American companies, government agencies and organizations. The action against the Democratic committee, they said, would qualify as a “significant cyber incident,” which was defined as one that causes “demonstrable harm to the national security interests, foreign relations or economy of the United States, or to the public confidence, civil liberties or public health and safety of the American people. ” Ranking the hacking in the pantheon of other penetrated networks is difficult. The top ranking under Mr. Obama’s system would be reserved for an attack that disabled American power grids, for example, akin to the suspected Russian attack on Ukraine’s electrical system in December. The attack on the Office of Personnel Management and Sony, which destroyed 70 percent of the studio’s computers, would also rank above the “category 3” level, which defines a “significant” attack. But the ranking system does not mandate what kind of response the president would authorize. And it was designed before many in Washington imagined the use of cyberattacks to release information in the midst of a dizzying, and volatile, presidential campaign. | 1 |
The background music of my life is the steady drumbeat of tweets about how Hillary Clinton stole the presidential primary from Bernie Sanders. It’s there when I wake up in the morning. It’s there when I go to sleep at night. The constant thrumming of election fraud conspiracists is like the noise made by that board game in the movie “Jumanji. ” I didn’t write about this during the primary season, since I didn’t want to dignify the views of conspiracy theorists. But they’re still going. The allegations are remarkably consistent. They go like this: Mr. Sanders did better in the early exit polls than he did in the final result. Therefore, Mrs. Clinton probably stole the election. The exit polls are a sufficient basis to make this determination, in the eyes of the conspiracists, because exit polls are used internationally to detect fraud. They’re supposedly very accurate and “well controlled” (where this phrase comes from, I don’t know). Furthermore, they say, the exit polls were right on the G. O. P. side — confirming the underlying validity of the methodology and raising suspicions about the Democratic vote count. All of this starts with a basic misconception: that the exit polls are usually pretty good. I have no idea where this idea comes from, because everyone who knows anything about early exit polls knows that they’re not great. We can start in 2008, when the exit polls showed a pretty similar bias toward Barack Obama. Or in 2004, when the exit polls showed John Kerry easily winning an election he clearly lost — with both a huge error and systematic bias outside of the “margin of error. ” The national exits showed Kerry ahead by three points (and keep in mind the sample size on the national exit is vastly larger than for a state primary exit poll) and leading in states like Virginia, Ohio and Florida — which all went to George W. Bush. The story was similar in 2000. The early exit polls showed Al Gore winning Alabama, Arizona, Colorado and North Carolina. Mr. Bush won these states by between six and 15 points. The exit polls showed Mr. Gore winning Florida by six points — leading the networks to call the race before 8 p. m. in the East. The same thing happened in 1996. It was actually even worse in 1992. The exit polls had Bill Clinton winning Texas, which went to George H. W. Bush, and basically everywhere. Now, how can this happen? There are a lot of sources for exit poll error — even more than in an ordinary poll. Here are a few: ■ Differential nonresponse, in which the supporters of one candidate are likelier to participate than those of another candidate. Exit polls have limited means to correct for nonresponse, since they can weight only by visually identifiable characteristics. Hispanic origin, income and education, for instance, are left out. ■ Cluster effects, which happen when the precincts selected aren’t representative of the overall population. This is a very big danger in state exit polls, which include only a small number of precincts. As a result, exit polls have a larger margin of error than an ordinary poll of similar size. These precincts are selected to have the right balance of Democratic and Republican precincts, which isn’t so helpful in a primary. ■ Absentee voters aren’t included at all in states where they represent less than 20 percent or so of the vote. For all these reasons, exit polls can be very inaccurate and systematically biased. With this kind of history, you can see why no one who studies the exit polls believes that they can be used as an indicator of fraud in the way the conspiracy theorists do. But why were exit polls so tilted toward Mr. Sanders? It’s impossible to be 100 percent sure, but the bias in the exit poll offers a very good explanation: young voters. Young voters are far likelier to complete the exit polls than older voters, according to data from Edison Research, the organization that conducts the exit polls. The gap is particularly pronounced when the interviewers are also younger, but the gap persists even when older interviewers are conducting the exit interviews. The exit polls try to correct for this bias by giving more weight to older respondents. The way it works is pretty novel: Interviewers guess the age of voters as they leave the polling place. Then the responses are weighted to match the age of all the voters who showed up, based on the guesses of the interviewer. This could work, in theory. In practice, it falls short. There’s a persistent, bias toward young voters in the exit polls — even in the final, “adjusted” data — when compared with census or voter file data. You can see that in data from the 2012 presidential election, which I wrote about a few weeks ago. Over all, the exit polls showed that 19 percent of voters were ages 18 to 29, compared with around 15 percent in census and voter file data. Notably, the census is an extremely survey — so you can just pack away any theory that election administrators are tossing the votes of young voters in basically every jurisdiction across the country. Why does this bias exist, despite the exit poll effort to adjust for nonresponse by age? It’s hard to say if the exit polls had the data to identify the cause, they presumably could fix it. There are at least a few possibilities — like biased guesses, trimming weights (where they’re not weighting older voters enough) or the absence of old absentee voters in some states — but there’s no way to be really sure. What’s clear is that this bias persisted in the 2016 Democratic primary. Voter registration files are just starting to be updated, and they all show that Democratic primary voters were far older than the exit polls suggested. Mr. Sanders, of course, is a candidate with historic strength among young voters — so it should be no surprise that the exit polls were particularly biased in his direction. Nor should it be a surprise that the exit polls were also biased toward Mr. Obama in 2008, or Democrats in many recent elections. I’d also note that the age bias of the exit polls wouldn’t have much of an effect on the Republican results: There are far fewer young voters in the Republican primary, and there wasn’t much of a split between older and younger Republicans. There are other challenges with exit polls in the primaries. Usually, the exit polls select precincts by partisanship — ensuring a good balance of Democratic and Republican precincts. This helps in a general election. It doesn’t do as much good in a primary. If you’re looking for the exit polls to identify fraud in the United States, you’re out of luck. They would need to be redesigned: sampling many more precincts, calling more early voters and taking steps to boost response rates — like short questionnaires, rather than the long ones used in the United States. That’s not going to happen. The news media uses exit polls to get a sense of “why” voters did what they did, not to validate the election results. It’s not going to spend millions more dollars to increase the accuracy of early exit polls. What should be telling, though, is that the news media organizations that commission the exit polls, and Edison Research, which conducts them, do not believe that their own data is good enough to call the Democratic primary results into question. | 1 |
Eric Zuesse BACKGROUND A Reuters report, November 4th, contains the available information regarding the million-dollar payment, which was made in 2011, when the active effort began to overthrow Bashar al-Assad in Syria. This previously unreported payment, which was intended to go through the Clinton Foundation, was made by Qatar , which, along with Saudi Arabia , are the main sources of funding to the jihadists who are trying to overthrow and replace Assad, the man who is blocking those two countries from building oil and gas pipelines through Syria into Europe. Both Qatar and Saudi Arabia are owned by their country’s royal family, who also own the world’s largest oil and gas reserves, and those royals want to pipeline their oil and gas into Europe and displace the other oil-and-gas giant, Russia, in the world’s largest energy-market: the EU. This previously unreported payment was made to his and his wife Hillary’s, and his daughter Chelsea’s, Clinton Foundation, but neither Qatar nor any of the Clintons, nor the Obama Administration, is answering any questions about it, as a consequence of which a reasonable assumption is that it was an outright bribe — especially because in the Haiti hurricane matter and many others, moneys that were paid into the Clinton Foundation did not, in fact, go to benefit the alleged charitable beneficiaries, in that case Haitians. (Haitians therefore especially detest the Clintons.) In all of the Clinton Foundation’s operations, the firms that are controlled by the world’s top aristocrats — not only in Saudi Arabia and Qatar but elsewhere , receive the funding. Whether those recipients actually spend the money as advertised is generally not tracked. The stated purpose of this particular million-dollar payment was to achieve a private meeting with Bill Clinton. The stated reason for the payment was to honor him on his 65th birthday. Bill Clinton is the person whom international aristocrats most seek to have private meetings with in order to discuss U.S. foreign policies, because there is no record kept of what is being said at those confidential meetings, and because his representations of Hillary Clinton are known to be the most trustworthy, the most “bankable” — it’s considered to be as good as if they were meeting with her in private. Neither the Clintons nor Qatar are answering questions about this matter, not even whether the requested private meeting with the Secretary of State’s husband ever, in fact, occurred. THE PAYMENT Here are highlights from the original Reuters report on this matter: On Friday, November 4th, Reuters headlined “Clinton’s charity confirms Qatar’s $1 million gift while she was at State Dept” , and reported: Clinton Foundation officials last month declined to confirm the Qatar donation. In response to additional questions, a foundation spokesman, Brian Cookstra, this week said that it accepted the $1 million gift from Qatar, but this did not amount to a “material increase” in the Gulf country’s support for the charity [that’s the phrase in the law that requires it to be made public] . Cookstra declined to say whether Qatari officials received their requested meeting with Bill Clinton. Officials at Qatar’s embassy in Washington and in its Council of Ministers in the capital, Doha, declined to discuss the donation. The State Department has said it has no record of the foundation submitting the Qatar gift for review, and that it was incumbent on the foundation to notify the department about donations that needed attention. A department spokeswoman did not respond to additional questions about the donation. According to the foundation’s website, which lists donors in broad categories by cumulative amounts donated, Qatar’s government has directly given a total of between $1 million and $5 million over the years. … Foundation officials told Reuters last year that they did not always comply with central provisions of the agreement with President Barack Obama’s administration. … The foundation has declined to describe what sort of increase in funding by a foreign government would have triggered notification of the State Department for review. ,,, The State Department said it has no record of being asked by the foundation to review any increases in support by a foreign government. Spokesmen for Hillary Clinton’s campaign and Bill Clinton did not respond to emailed questions about the donation. Here is the passage from the wikileaked email , dated in 2012, in which Amitabh Desai, the Clinton Foundation’s director of foreign policy, writes to other senior Clinton Foundation officials, requesting a private meeting of Qatar’s U.S. Ambassador with “wjc” William Jefferson Clinton: – Would like to see WJC “for five minutes” in NYC, to present $1 million check that Qatar promised for WJC’s birthday in 2011. – Qatar would welcome our suggestions for investments in Haiti – particularly on education and health. They have allocated most of their $20 million but are happy to consider projects we suggest. I’m collecting input from CF Haiti team. | 1 |
RIO DE JANEIRO — Germans rolled luggage into the Olympic Village, Slovaks stood proudly at the raising of their national flag, and a delegation from Benin posed for photos in yellow floral prints and hats. Nearby, a woman from Kenya, barely five feet and all but unnoticed, signed off on her project to give an Olympic home to athletes who had none of their own. “Peace, unity through sports,” she wrote on a mural. Tegla Loroupe will participate in her fourth Olympics, this time not as a groundbreaking marathoner but as a peace ambassador bringing attention and compassion to the global refugee crisis. She is the leader of a group of 10 displaced athletes, known as the Refugee Olympic Team. It will march Friday in the opening ceremony, carrying the Olympic flag, serenaded by the Olympic anthem. Five of those athletes prepared for the Rio Games at a training camp operated by Loroupe in the hills outside Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. “I think I have the strength to prove that even small people can do something big,” she said. There is much to be wary and cynical about regarding the Summer Games — like the corruption and the doping and the commercialism — but the opening ceremony can provide a flickering respite from pessimism, a brief chimney sweep of the sooty Olympic ideal. Perhaps no one represents hopefulness in international sport more resolutely than Loroupe. She refused to succumb to a life of expected subservience as a young woman and has spent her postrunning career offering possibility instead of despair. “People treat these refugees like criminals,” Loroupe said Monday. “We need to treat them with respect. ” In the running world, Loroupe, 43, is celebrated as the winner of the New York City Marathon in 1994 and 1995, the first black African woman to win a major marathon, and a former holder at the distance of 26. 2 miles. But her running has been eclipsed by her good will and activism. Under the banner of the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation, she has organized peace races among tribal rivals, trying to resolve conflicts with conciliation instead of weapons. She has mediated tribal disputes over grazing land, water and cattle raiding. According to news media reports in 2010, Loroupe persuaded 700 members of her tribe, the Pokot people, to surrender 38 guns as part of an campaign. She has campaigned against female genital mutilation and fought for the broader rights of girls and women in patriarchal societies of East Africa. She operates a school for nearly 400 children, trying to keep them from becoming child soldiers, providing shelter for those orphaned by AIDS or dislocated by war, offering the nourishment of food and education in the face of poverty, conflict and cultural skepticism. In 2006, she was named a United Nations ambassador of sport. Later that year, she joined the actor George Clooney and others in spotlighting the Darfur region of Sudan. “I always go where there are not good people,” Loroupe said. “I want to help them. ” In 2011, the mostly Christian and animist South Sudan gained its independence from mostly Muslim Sudan. All five of the refugee Olympians trained by Loroupe, two women and three men, are from South Sudan. They were identified during trials held to find runners in 2015 at two refugee camps inside neighboring Kenya. Across the world, there are 63. 5 million people displaced by fighting and persecution, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Those refugees are often unwanted by politicians and unable to reconnect with their families or any confident future. “In a year when refugees have found borders, camps and minds closed, the International Olympic Committee did something remarkably open,” wrote Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch. “The creation of a refugee team reframes the debate, to focus not on fear and pushing away but on inclusion and celebrating the resilience and potential all refugees represent. ” One of the refugee Olympic athletes from South Sudan is Yiech Pur Biel, 21, who runs the meters and who fled his village in 2005 and stayed behind with a neighbor while his mother and brother headed toward survival in Ethiopia. He said he had not heard from them since. He has been told they are O. K. but he also knows that people are reluctant to give the worst news. “Tegla is our mother, not only our leader,” Biel said. “Most of us run because of war. Madam Tegla gives us a chance for other people to know the history of our lives. And we can forget what happened before. We can celebrate. We can have hope, like everyone else. ” Another of the refugee Olympians is Paulo Amotun Lokoro, 24, who runs the 1, 500 meters. He became lost while fleeing his Sudanese village in 2003, unable to keep up with his parents. He did not reunite with them until three years later at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. That is where Loroupe found him last year. At first, Lokoro thought that he was not good enough to be a serious runner. Or that this might be some kind of a joke. “I was nowhere,” Lokoro said. “Now I am somewhere. ” It is an emotion that Loroupe understands. She is a Pokot, not a Nandi, the dominant Kenyan running tribe. In her native village of Kapsait, near the border with Uganda, community leaders did not want her to run because she was a girl. Her father did not want her to go to school. He expected her to be a babysitter. “Her father called her ‘Useless’ that was his name for her,” said Anne Roberts, a former coordinator of elite athletes for the New York City Marathon who has been a close friend of Loroupe’s for more than two decades. But, of course, Loroupe was not useless. She became a great runner. And when the men in her training group asked her to cook their food and wash their clothes, she explained that she was an athlete, not a maid. She and Roberts talked often about how a running career is short and the rest of life is long. “You’ll be judged on what you do after your career, not while it’s going on,” Roberts told Loroupe. In 2014, Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, presented Loroupe with the idea of entering a refugee team in the Rio Olympics. Last year, the I. O. C. established a $2 million fund for the project. When the team was selected in June, Bach said: “This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world, and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis. It is also a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to society. ” The refugee Olympians will not win gold medals, Loroupe said, “but they will not disappoint. ” Still, Loroupe is already asking, “After the Olympics, what’s next?” It has been a constant struggle to raise money for her peace foundation. The Rio Olympics will end Aug. 21, but the dislocation and anguish of the refugees will not. “I don’t want this project to die,” Loroupe said. “I want to keep working with these refugees. I want to be their ambassador. ” She had another nickname when she was young: Chebaibai. The one who is happy and joyful. | 1 |
Geert Wilders announces boycott of Free Speech Trial October 28, 2016 File picture: Dutch far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders answers questions during a Reuters interview in Budapest, Hungary, June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh/File Picture
Dutch Nationalist Geert Wilders has announced he refuses to attend his free speech trial because he believes it is politically motivated. Wilders: "Next Monday, the trial against freedom of speech begins. Against a politician who says what the politically correct elite does not want to hear.” "This trial is a political trial, in which I refuse to cooperate." Wilders is accused of discrimination and inciting racism after a famous TV appearance in 2014. Wilders faces a fine of up to 7,400 euros ($8,100) and a year in jail for the remarks. Wilders: "It is a travesty that I have to stand trial because I spoke about fewer Moroccans. It is my right and my duty as a politician to speak about the problems in our country.” Dutch elections are set for March 15, 2017. Opinion polls: Wilders' Freedom Party is neck-and-neck with the VVD Party of conservative Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. In 2011: Wilders was acquitted of inciting racial hatred for calling for the Koran to be banned and for the deportation of "criminal" Moroccans. Judges at time: His remarks, while offensive to some, were within the bounds of legitimate political discourse. Legal experts: Prosecutors have a stronger case this time because Wilders targeted a specific social group, rather than a religion.
(AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS) Geert Wilders, the Dutch anti-Islam opposition leader, said on Friday that he refuses to attend his trial next week and that he sees it as politically motivated.
Wilders is accused of discrimination and inciting racism in remarks made on live television in 2014 when he led a roomful of people chanting that they wanted fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands.
Dutch politicians are limbering up to campaign for elections on March 15, with opinion polls indicating that Wilders' Freedom Party is now neck-and-neck with the VVD Party of conservative Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
"Next Monday, the trial against freedom of speech begins.Against a politician who says what the politically correct elite does not want to hear," Wilders wrote in a statement. "This trial is a political trial, in which I refuse to cooperate." | 0 |
Merkel to Regulate Real Estate Loans by IWB · October 27, 2016
by Martin Armstrong
Merkel wants to regulate real estate loans in Germany. The Federal Government is planning to implement extensive regulations on real estate loans. Among other things, debtors will be required under certain circumstances to repay their loans within a given period. The Federal Government said on Monday that the draft law should be followed by recommendations from the German Committee on Financial Stability.
While there is no real estate bubble right now, it appears they are concerned about further capital inflows, perhaps caused by the failed euro. The new hurdles to be imposed for new loans may have the negative impact of making sales of property in Germany far more difficult as a whole. Such schemes have tended to have a negative impact upon price. | 0 |
Project Veritas Exposes DNC: Rigging the Election Pt. 3 - Killary Wanted "Ducks on the Ground" Project Veritas Action has released the fourth video in a multi-part series that is sending shockwaves through the DNC and the Clinton campaign. The first video explained the dark secrets and the hidden connections and organizations the Clinton campaign uses to incite violence at Trump rallies. The second video exposed a diabolical step-by-step voter fraud strategy discussed by top Democratic operatives and showed one key operative admitting that the Democrats have been rigging elections for fifty years. The third video exposed prohibited communications between Hillary Clinton's campaign, the DNC and the non-profit organization Americans United for Change. This latest video breaks down the process of the long-term investigation. In the effort to prove the credibility of the undercover donor featured in the videos and to keep the investigation going, Project Veritas Action made the decision to donate twenty thousand dollars to Robert Creamer's effort . Project Veritas Action had determined that the benefit of this investigation outweighed the cost. And it did. "First thing, like I said, thank you for the proposal. And I'd like to get the $20,000 across to you. The second call I'm going to make here is to my money guy and he's going to get in touch with you and auto wire the funds to you," said the PVA journalist. Creamer told the PVA journalist to send the money to Americans United for Change. Shortly after the money was released, the "donors" "niece" - another Project Veritas Action journalist - was offered an internship with Creamer. In an effort to see how far Creamer would go with the promise of more money, another Project Veritas journalist posing as the donor's money liaison requested a meeting with Creamer. During that meeting, Creamer spoke about connections he had with Obama and Clinton. After the release of the previous Project Veritas Action videos, Hillary Clinton and her staff tried to distance themselves from Robert Creamer. However, Creamer doubled down about connection with the campaign. "Every morning I am on a call at 10:30 that goes over the message being driven by the campaign headquarters," said Creamer. The more money that was promised to Creamer, the more access Project Veritas Action journalists seemed to get. Project Veritas Action's $20,000 investment paid off. The story was solid. Robert Creamer, Scott Foval, Jenna Price from the DNC, Brad Woodhouse from AUFC, Cesar Vargas and others opened the door to their smoke filled rooms of illegal and dirty campaign dealings, as seen in the three previous PVA videos. In an unexpected twist, AUFC president Brad Woodhouse, the recipient of the $20,000, heard that Project Veritas Action was releasing undercover videos exposing AUFC's activities. He told a journalist that AUFC was going to return the twenty thousand dollars. He said it was because they were concerned that it might have been an illegal foreign donation. Project Veritas Action was pleased but wondered why that hadn't been a problem for the month that they had the money. After the former stories were released by Project Veritas Action, Americans United for Change fired Scott Foval and Robert Creamer announced to the DNC that he was stepping down from campaign responsibilities. James O'Keefe and Project Veritas Action have filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission. Project Veritas Action Fund (AKA Project Veritas Action) was founded by James O'Keefe to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud and other misconduct. | 0 |
RALEIGH, N. C. — Ending an acrimonious stalemate that dragged on for nearly a month, Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, conceded in his bid for here on Monday, clearing the way for the ascension of his challenger, the Democrat Roy Cooper, and giving the national Democratic Party a rare cause for celebration. Mr. Cooper, the state attorney general, declared victory on election night, but Mr. McCrory’s allies lodged election challenges in dozens of North Carolina counties, enraging Democrats who accused Republicans of being sore losers, or worse, in one of 2016’s closest statewide races. Most of the challenges proved to be of little consequence, however. And by Monday, as partial results of a recount of more than 90, 000 votes that Republicans had demanded in Durham County showed no significant change in the results, Mr. McCrory — whose one term was buffeted by nationwide anger over a law he signed that curbed protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people — had little choice but to admit defeat. “Despite continued questions that should be answered regarding the voting process, I personally believe that the majority of our citizens have spoken and we now should do everything we can to support the 75th governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper,” Mr. McCrory said in a video statement released on Monday. Mr. Cooper issued a written statement moments after. “It will be the honor of my life to serve this great state,” he said. “While this was a divisive election season, I know still that there is more that unites us than divides us. Together, we can make North Carolina the shining beacon in the south by investing in our schools, supporting working families and building a state that works for everyone. ” The sealing of Mr. Cooper’s victory — he leads by just over 10, 000 votes in the unofficial state tally — brings a modicum of relief to Democrats here. Many of them had feared a Day power play by North Carolina’s Republicans, who control the state’s General Assembly, where the Republicans in recent years have enacted aggressive gerrymandering plans and a law curtailing voter access that have been struck down by the federal courts. Some feared that the Republicans would take advantage of a law that allows contested elections to be settled by a vote of the legislature. Nationally, the Democrats face far broader challenges. Mr. Cooper takes office in a year when Republicans further consolidated their dominance of governors’ offices on Nov. 8, with the total number of Republican governorships rising to 33 from 31. Mr. Cooper, 59, who has served as North Carolina’s attorney general since 2001, positioned himself as the kind of moderate Democrat who set the tone in state government here for many years before 2010, when Republicans won control of both houses of the legislature for the first time since the late 19th century. Republicans further consolidated power in 2012 with the election of Mr. McCrory. As a mayor of Charlotte, Mr. McCrory was known as a moderate and pragmatist, a reputation that attracted many Democrats to his 2012 campaign. But the legislature pushed, and he generally supported an ambitious conservative agenda, rolling back the state’s generous rules. The legislature also passed expanded rights for gun owners, a voucher plan, new abortion regulations and a tax overhaul that opponents criticized for favoring the wealthy. The backlash, in a state with one of the South’s most vigorous liberal contingents, was perhaps inevitable. In 2013, progressives began a sustained series of protests in Raleigh, the state capital, called “Moral Mondays” that galvanized opposition and drew news media attention with numerous acts of civil disobedience. Mr. McCrory, who often seemed caught in the middle of these two forces, suffered his biggest blow beginning in March, when he signed the law commonly known as House Bill 2, or H. B. 2. The law nullified local government ordinances establishing protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and it required people in publicly owned buildings to use restrooms that corresponded with the gender listed on their birth certificates, which liberals saw as an attack on transgender rights. National lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups helped marshal nationwide opposition. Soon, major performers were canceling concerts. The N. C. A. A. and the Atlantic Coast Conference moved sports championships out of the state. The N. B. A. moved its Game to New Orleans. This undercut Mr. McCrory’s central argument for : that he had been a good steward of the state economy and had engineered a “Carolina comeback” with regulatory and tax relief that helped lower the state’s unemployment rate. Mr. Cooper’s television ads argued that H. B. 2 had “trashed” the North Carolina brand. In a number of ads, Mr. Cooper, who hails from rural Nash County, appeared smiling and positive, speaking directly to the camera in his gentle drawl, arguing that developments like H. B. 2 had also caused the state to take its eye off more important priorities. “Instead of social issues, I’ll focus on our schools and keeping good teachers with better pay,” he said in one. In a statement on Monday, Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, said: “Pat McCrory’s reign of discrimination is finally over. McCrory’s stubborn and reckless support of H. B. 2 cost him this election, and his defeat sends a powerful warning to lawmakers across the country that targeting L. G. B. T. Q. people will not be tolerated. ” But Mr. Cooper will come into office seriously constrained by the Republican legislature. In addition to other humiliations for Democrats — Donald J. Trump won North Carolina, and Republican Senator Richard M. Burr cruised to — the Democrats, despite their confidence, failed to pick up enough seats in the State House of Representatives to undo a veto override power of the Republicans. Whether Mr. Cooper will be able to act as anything more than a figurehead remains to be seen. What appears more likely is a continuation — if not an amplification — of the acrimony between the two parties in the wake of the Republicans’ challenges of the election. Democrats have interpreted the challenges as an effort to delegitimize Mr. Cooper before his swearing in, and perhaps lay the groundwork for further restrictions on voting. As Mr. Cooper’s allies called on Mr. McCrory to concede and drop the challenges, a McCrory campaign spokesman, Ricky Diaz, said, “Why is Roy Cooper so insistent on circumventing the electoral process and counting the votes of dead people and felons?” Bob Hall, the executive director of the advocacy group Democracy North Carolina, said that 43 voters were listed in the challenges as being ineligible felons, but that “nearly half” of them were not serving a felony sentence. More than 4. 7 million votes were cast. Dallas Woodhouse, the executive director of the state Republican Party, prefers to emphasize that about half of the 43 votes by the supposed felons were, in fact, ineligible. In an interview on Sunday, he argued that the challenges were legitimate, particularly one in Bladen County that charged that hundreds of absentee ballots were cast fraudulently. “We have made multiple efforts to try to look at these things from a sober perspective,” he said, adding, “The Democrats tried to intimidate us by saying you can’t question anything. ” | 1 |
It doesn't matter what the friggin' legal and ethics people say. We need to win this motherfucker. -- Mr. Scott Foval, Field Director, Americans United for Change, retained by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee 107 Shares
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An elite stratum of wealthy and politically dominant people intends to make Hillary Clinton our next president. These are the oligarchs, the “1%” whose wealth and incomes continue growing while most American struggle. In her private life Hillary Clinton is well-positioned among this cohort, and they expect her as President to protect their wealth and maintain their dominance. She will.
To assure the oligarchs' success, the Democratic National Committee is brutalizing the presidential electoral process, willfully violating rules, laws, and precedent. The strategy succeeded in the primary elections, and it will win the general.
Who are these people? The top 1% of wealth-holders numbers about 3.25 million. Predominantly they are citizens whose wealth depends on the huge American domestic and transnational corporations, either directly—executives, directors, investors, contractors, suppliers—or indirectly in other ways (e.g. investment bankers, hedge fund managers, consultants, top law firms). Two preeminent names in this grouping are Hillary and Bill Clinton, whose net worth (about $125 million) qualifies the couple for the 1% stratum by a factor of 16. Others are Wall Street bankers—the Clintons' primal financial benefactors and first-name friends: Lloyd Blankfein, Jamie Dimon, Robert Rubin, Brian Moynihan, Michael Corbat, James Gorman, Timothy Geithner, John Stumpf, etc. A more accurate description of the “1%” would be the corporate elite .
Candidate Clinton's relationship to her elite compatriots is one of rigid interdependence: she needs their financial and political resources to win the election, and they need her in the White House to sustain their privileged status.
This privileged status did not result from accident, random chance, or neglect. It is a consequence of public policies consciously adopted over the past three or four decades which shift wealth and incomes systematically upward. (Cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy, for example, while exporting 1/3 of the nation's manufacturing jobs.) In the process our democracy was transformed. Public policy is crafted today not primarily to advance the welfare of the nation's people, but to create, protect or enhance the financial interests of American corporate enterprise. This is acknowledged in the statements of public figures and supported in rigorous scholarly research. [1]
MORE... A New Email Investigation on Clinton Could Hasten the Democratic Party's Demise The banana republic of America: Democracy be damned To the Superdelegates: Stand tall in statesmanship! Anointment of Hillary Clinton exposes a democracy that never was Though easily identifiable, the corporate elite has not constructed a conscious conspiracy against the American people at large with a preplanned agenda, strategy, and tactics. But they share a common mindset, they are networked by personal acquaintance, and they are driven by a common imperative. Their wealth and political dominance depend on the existing configurations of American domestic and foreign policy, both of which must be maintained essentially intact to sustain the group's position of privilege. Alterations in the status quo can be tolerated only if they are cosmetic, slight, and at the margin.
Instead of conspiracy, the preeminence of the oligarchs is better seen as a malignant condition of contemporary American government, resulting from years of institutional decay and corruption. ( The story of moribund democracy is detailed here .) The economic and political power of mega-corporations—increasingly fewer but ever larger—has displaced functional democracy.
(Yes, we vote as we always have, but voting and democracy are not interchangeable terms. The Russian people voted for Vladimir Putin, the Iraqis voted for Saddam Hussein. And voting isn't a prerequisite for democracy to function: the ancient Greeks chose their representatives by lottery.)
The priority of corporate interests has been achieved by three powerful mechanisms.
Perhaps the least recognized is the degree to which corporate personnel enter government to staff the highest levels of the Executive Branch.
A new book by political scientists Bastiaan van Apeldoorn and Nana de Graaff carries a sobering title: American Grand Strategies and Corporate Elite Networks . They looked into the “grand strategy makers,” the 30 most influential people in cabinet-level and senior advisory positions in the last three administrations—Bill Clinton's, Bush's, and Obama's. In the Clinton Administration, 25 of the 30 “grand strategy makers” (83%) were linked to 197 different transnational or financial corporations, as executives, directors, senior associates, or partners in law firms, either prior to their public service or after it. In the Bush Administration 27 of the 30 (90%) had connections to 157 corporations. In the Obama Administration 23 of the 30 (over 70%) had such “top-level corporate affiliations” with 111 companies.
Smoking guns? Examples of wealth-shifting upward to the already rich? Certainly. (1) The repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, rammed through in the Bill Clinton Administration by Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin from Citigroup. This enabled the subprime loan frenzy, enriching the New York banks but destroying $13 trillion in Americans' household wealth. (2) Halliburton's no-bid, obscenely profitable contracts in Iraq, served up by Vice President Richard Cheney during the Bush Administration; billions of taxpayers' dollars to the corporation Mr. Cheney once chaired. (3) In the Obama Administration Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner from Wall Street administered the Troubled Asset Relief Program, bailing out his colleagues' banks, again with billions of taxpayers' money.
For the last 24 years the Executive Branch has been dominated by the corporate elite.
Two other mechanisms of corporate influence are far more familiar: the corporate financing of political campaigns and the ubiquitous enterprise of lobbying.
The two practices are related in direct proportion: the more you accept in contributions from Boeing, say, the more you feel obligated to yield to their lobbyist's wishes.
Your policy-making independence will decrease, then, as the costs of campaigning rise, and contemporary costs are staggering. A Representative today must raise on average $1.7 million in campaign funding, a Senator $10.5 million. A presidential race runs in the hundreds of millions. (Hillary Clinton has taken in $688 million.) Since Citizens United corporate campaign funding has no limits, and with candidates in need of so many millions, the corporate capture of federal governance is undeniable and scarcely surprising.
Undeniable but easily surmounted. We once had a law on the books (the UK still does) limiting not campaign contributions, but campaign expenditures. The limits were $10,000 for a Senate race, $5,000 for a Representative, sums easily provided from personal assets and those of family and friends. Reenacting such a law would break the corporate stranglehold; intense lobbying might continue, but no Senator, no Representative would feel the courteous urge to accommodate. The welfare of the American people could regain priority. The impact on the oligarchs, however, would be apocalyptic.
The commitment of the corporate elite to sustain the status quo is apparently absolute. By April of 2015 the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign were one indistinguishable juggernaut, intent on blitzing the presidential campaign like Hitler's Wehrmacht stormed through Europe. The watch words seemed to be “first and most.” They amassed an early war-chest of a hundred million dollars or so and lined up 400 superdelegate endorsements—all before there was a single announced opponent. They invited 65 print and television journalists to meetings in early April, to help in “framing the HRC message and framing the race.” [2] Among them were George Stephanoplous and 4 others from ABC; Rachel Maddow and 4 more from MSNBC; Gloria Borger and 7 of her colleagues from CNN; and 5 from the New York Times. Bloomberg, Politico, and CBS each sent along two.
The first-and-most strategy worked. Secretary Clinton preempted the candidate space; the only others attracted to the race were lackluster lightweights, especially the wooly socialist from Vermont. But Senator Sanders' electrifying rallies made tangible the disgust of the American people with the status quo . Sanders' proposals were anything but cosmetic, slight, and at the margin: they posed a mortal threat to the corporate elite and its guardian, the Clinton campaign. To minimize Sanders' exposure, DNC Chair Wasserman-Schultz limited the number of debates and scheduled them on weekends and opposite football games. Sanders had to sue to gain access to the DNC's voter database. The deliberate tilting of the Democratic primaries gained momentum.
To minimize Sanders' exposure, DNC Chair Wasserman-Schultz limited the number of debates and scheduled them on weekends and opposite football games.
This may not be the first election in which ethics and law were abandoned, but never before has it been so reliably exposed.
Not by the mainstream media, though. They either ignored the increasingly evident fraud or were complicit in it. From the Iowa caucuses onward, the press treated Clinton's superdelegate endorsements as tallied votes. This continued even after the distortion and dishonesty of doing so were pointed out. Based on precisely that deception, however, the Associated Press announced Clinton's presumptive nomination on Monday, June 6—one day before primaries were held in California, Montana, New Jersey, North and South Dakota, and the District of Columbia. From Iowa forward also the Washington Post and the New York Times hammered the Sanders campaign without mercy or interruption. (The story was detailed later by Thomas Frank in Harper's Magazine . [3] Frank concludes: I have never before seen the press take sides like they did this year, openly and even gleefully bad-mouthing candidates who did not meet with their approval .)
No, the major media failed to expose the fraud, but the social media and the Internet abounded with skepticism. Sanders fans questioned the uncounted caucuses in Iowa; the 70% reduction of polling places in Maricopa County, Arizona; the disqualified Sanders delegates at the Nevada convention; the cheap-shot call by the Associated Press. Many were certain the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee were joined at the hip, but there was scant factual evidence.
Enter Julian Assange and the leaked DNC emails. Now the illegal collusion was documented, the sabotaging of the Sanders campaign exposed. Wasserman-Schultz resigns as DNC chair. Then the Podesta emails and Hillary's paid speeches: “you need both a public position and a private position.” “My dream is a hemispheric open market, with open trade and open borders.” DNC vice-chair Donna Brazile, a CNN pundit, emails the Clinton campaign prior to the debate: “From time to time I get the questions in advance.” The attempt to reschedule the Illinois primary. Another tranche of emails arrives: Brazile's complicity with the Clinton campaign is broadened, she is fired/resigns from her CNN post. The Clinton Foundation hosts pay to play, the Clintons' personal enrichment, the $12 million deal with King Mohammed VI of Morocco....
Finally the compliant mass media did take note: this is, after all, fine spectacle. Noted but not pursued. No determined effort was undertaken to investigate, to document further the deceit and dishonesty, and to assess its magnitude.
Once again that was left to the citizenry. The first careful, detailed study was published June 7, 2016 by two scholars, Axel Geijel of Tilburg University and Rodolfo Cortes Barragan at Stanford. It is entitled, Are we witnessing a dishonest election? They compared states who's voting systems produced verifying paper trails against states which did not. Sanders won the paper-trail states, where tampering with machine tallies could be quickly discovered; Clinton overpowered in states without paper trails, where tampering could never be detected. The authors also compared voting machine tallies with exit poll figures, and found disturbing discrepancies. They concluded, “...these data suggest that election fraud is occurring in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primary election. This fraud has overwhelmingly benefited Secretary Clinton at the expense of Senator Sanders.” (The paper can be found here .)
Then, with the primaries concluded a group of outraged patriots with day jobs, organized as Election Justice USA , published an exhaustive report. The study is entitled, Democracy Lost: A Report on the Fatally Flawed 2016 Democratic Primaries , and it is available here . It details, in 99 pages of carefully assembled and compelling evidence, examples of election fraud uncovered in four categories: voter suppression, registration tampering, illegal voter purging, and fraudulent voting machine tallies. In eleven states the group found discrepancies between exit polls and voting machine counts exceeding the statistical margins of error. Every single discrepancy favored Secretary Clinton—and no such discrepancies occurred in the Republican counts. The group's conclusion was troubling: 184 elected delegates, their report argues persuasively, were awarded fraudulently to Clinton and denied Sanders, accordingly.
That gave her the edge in delegate count going into the convention. In the end, however, she needed the additional votes of 163 unelected superdelegates, those empowered by the Democratic National Committee. Even after a primary season documented as fraudulent, then, Hillary Clinton's nomination was achieved by fiat, not democracy.
But the corporate elite will not be denied. Given the Clinton/DNC expertise and success in tipping the primary elections, she will be elected President in the general election, guaranteed.
The manipulation of the primaries was obscure but not invisible; a backlash of outrage might have been anticipated. The Clinton/DNC people, however, are unmatched in hubris and geniuses in the practice of deceit. Scandals were not even acknowledged, defiantly ignored. And the language of progressive democracy is omnipresent in the campaigning, brilliant deception. Hillary Clinton promises to work for Main Street, not Wall Street. She promises to bring back jobs, improve education, seek equal pay for women, boost the minimum wage, expand civil rights, provide free college education, move toward Medicare for all, oppose TPP, break up the too-big-to-fail Wall Street banks. Fine, appealing proposals all, but this is the language of Sanders' revolution, and the corporate elite will stand for none of it.
But folk wisdom tells us to take campaign promises lightly, and the American people are forgiving and trusting. Hillary Clinton is a woman of long experience, and we want to believe our democracy is robust.
Here, now, we need to be vigilant.
EndNotes
[1] See “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens,” by Martin Gillens and Benjamin Page. They conclude, “...economic elites and business interests have substantial independent impact on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.”
[2] See, http://www.fury.news/2016/10/wikileaks-least-65-msm-reporters-busted-helping-hillary/
[3] Thomas Frank, “Swat Team: the media's extermination of Bernie Sanders—and real reform,” Harper's Magazine, November, 2016. | 1 |
NEW DELHI — For days, many in Delhi have been living as if under siege, trying to keep the dirty air away from their children and older parents. But it is not easy: Open a window or a door, and the haze enters the room within seconds. Outside, the sky is white, the sun a white circle so pale that you can barely make it out. The smog is acrid, and and so thick that it is being blamed for a pileup north of the city. If in past years Delhi’s roughly 20 million residents shrugged off wintertime pollution as fog, over the past week they viewed it as a crisis. Schools have been ordered closed for three days — an unprecedented measure, but not a reassuring one because experts say the concentration of pollutants inside Indian homes is typically not much lower than outside. Levels of the most dangerous particles, called PM 2. 5, reached 700 micrograms per cubic meter on Monday, and over the weekend they soared in some places to 1, 000, or more than 16 times the limit India’s government considers safe. The damage from sustained exposure to such high concentrations of PM 2. 5 is equivalent to smoking more than two packs of cigarettes a day, experts say. “There is so much smog outside that today, inside my house, I felt as though someone had just burned a few sheets of paper,” said Amaan Ahuja, one of dozens who shared their families’ experiences in response to a request from The New York Times. “You can literally see smoke in the air, and when you breathe, you can smell it, too,” he said. “We are trying to keep the kids indoors with all the windows closed. ” Another reader, Tulika Seth, described her family’s life over the past week as “unnatural and disturbing. ” Asked where she lived, she responded, “a gas chamber. ” To understand the health consequences of the dense smog that settled over India’s capital over the past week, scientists are looking back decades in search of a historical precedent: to the 1952 Great Smog of London, which is believed to have caused as many as 12, 000 premature deaths. In that case, a layer of dense pollution — caused largely by emissions from burning coal — dissipated after four days, when the weather changed. But an uptick in deaths continued for weeks afterward, so shocking the public that it spurred a wave of environmental regulations. Delhi’s chief minister on Sunday announced a series of emergency measures, including a moratorium on construction, a closure of a power plant and a closure of about 1, 800 public schools. On Monday, the city government released a list of health guidelines, advising citizens to wash their eyes with running water and to go to a hospital if they were experiencing symptoms like “breathlessness, giddiness, chest pain and chest constriction. ” But experts said mitigating the conditions would have required policies to be put in place months ago. “These are all decent emergency measures, but they’re not solving the problem,” said Bhargav Krishna, who manages the Public Health Foundation of India’s environmental health center. “The best we can hope for, in a way, is to plan for next year,” he added. “This year is almost a washout. ” Changing weather conditions are likely to disperse the dense cloud of pollutants over the next few days. But they will also bring the beginning of the widespread burning of trash, including plastic and rubber, for warmth by Delhi’s poor. Among the persistent problems for policy makers is that the sources of the pollution — vehicles, construction, crop burning and holiday fireworks — fall under the authority of half a dozen city, state and federal government bodies, which are in some cases at odds with one another politically, Mr. Krishna said. “Where exactly is the responsibility for implementing these plans?” he said. “At whose desk does this all lie?” He added, “The diffuse nature of power means that it is easy to pass on responsibility to others. ” Public anger over Delhi’s air is more palpable than in previous years, and people are more likely to identify pollution as the cause of their health problems. Anumita Roychowdhury, who runs the air pollution program at the Center for Science and Environment, said that sense of urgency would have to be sustained if the city were to impose lifestyle changes, including restraints on car travel. “This has to translate to very strong support for very hard decisions,” she said. “All soft options are over. ” First, though, people here must get through the next few days. Sherebanu Frosh, who lives in Gurgaon, south of Delhi, said she and her children were “cowering by our air purifiers,” which had become overloaded with the concentration of particles in the air. “So we’re putting both our purifiers in one room and spending the day there,” she said. “If we leave, we wear masks. ” Jessica Farmer, whose children attend the American Embassy School in Delhi, said she had moved five purifiers into three rooms of her house, but the concentration of PM 2. 5 in some places remained at 300, five times the W. H. O. recommended limit. “It is as though we are under siege,” Ms. Farmer said. “We can’t go outside, to malls or movies where the air is not purified. “How can one live like this?” | 1 |
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AS THE wave of euphoria and protests which greeted his election victory have died down, Donald Trump gave consideration for the first time to what the actual jobs, tasks and responsibilities a president had.
Crouched out of the view of his family and campaign staff, Trump began searching various Wikipedia entries in a bid to find out just what he is expected to do come his inauguration January 20th.
Reading that his inauguration was pencilled in for the end of January, the president-elect then began googling once more in an effort to pin down what exactly an inauguration is.
“Shit,” Trump muttered under his breath after realising the job extended beyond repeating the phrase Make America Great Again for 4 years straight. Trump was then further frustrated when a search for ‘wet T-shirt competitions – White House law’ returned no results.
It is believed current US President Barack Obama met with Trump yesterday to discuss the transition of power between the two, in a meeting that should have lasted 10 minutes.
“Barack kept mentioning things like ‘policies’ and ‘responsibilities and specific terms relating to governance, but Trump simply spent the next 90 minutes repeatedly asking ‘yes, but what does a president do?'” explained a White House aide, privy to their conversation. | 0 |
PHILADELPHIA — Bill Clinton does not know his way around a china pattern. He is unlikely, friends said, to dwell on the trimmings of the White House Christmas tree. And if he is still smooth at small talk when he must be, happy to riff on sports and science until the last guest has left, the staid ceremonial duties of a presidential spouse do not hold much appeal. With this in mind, old family hands have gravitated toward a typical Clintonian solution should the former president find himself as first gentleman in 2017: Perhaps the first daughter could help. Just as she assumed a lead role in her father’s foundation and became a chief campaign surrogate for her mother, Chelsea Clinton is willing to step up should her parents need her if they return to the White House, according to the former first daughter’s friends. She is the third partner in the family business of being Clintons, and Ms. Clinton’s bond with her parents, so familiar to Americans from her adolescence in the 1990s, was on display once more on Thursday. One week after Ivanka Trump served as her father’s chief character witness at the Republican gathering in Cleveland, Ms. Clinton introduced her mother at the convention inside the Wells Fargo Center, making the case for Hillary Clinton’s compassion and maternal touch. “That feeling of being valued and loved — that’s what my mom wants for every child,” she told the crowd. “It is the calling of her life. ” Mrs. Clinton’s historic nomination has already scrambled the established political family order, compelling Mr. Clinton on Tuesday night to deliver his own take on a traditional speech: a former president producing a humanizing, if airbrushed, portrait of a partner and a parent. Clinton advisers say that Chelsea Clinton’s influence and involvement in a prospective administration have not been given much thought. But they also say that Ms. Clinton is likely to lend a hand around major events and holidays, at least by phone and email, and to help her father with some of the traditional duties of a president’s spouse. “She has a deep bond with them, and she knows that she can be a lot of help to them if they return to the White House,” said Thomas F. McLarty III, known as Mack, a close friend of the Clintons and a former chief of staff to Mr. Clinton. “Chelsea is so substantive, and has two young children, that I don’t see her playing White House social secretary. But I do think she will chip in to help her father and mother with managing life in the White House. ” Given that the spousal role often comes down to what the person makes of it, Mr. Clinton has some freedom to rethink the job, and Mrs. Clinton has signaled that she would want him to play a policy role. But the Clintons are also sensitive to not giving short shrift to the influence that first ladies have had, and advisers to the couple say that the three Clintons, as a family, will discuss ways to carry out that role. Betty Ford arguably had more impact on American life, by easing stigmas on breast cancer and alcoholism, than her husband did. Jackie Kennedy and Nancy Reagan defined style for many women of their generations. Lady Bird Johnson remains deeply admired as a symbol of strength and loyalty to her husband. So does Eleanor Roosevelt, who became a political force in her own right. Hillary Clinton redefined the role of first lady by taking on a policy role on health care — failing on the goal of national health insurance but succeeding with congressional allies to enact the federal children’s health insurance programs. And Michelle Obama has been a significant role model for women of color and a particular inspiration for young black girls in communities. But any suggestion that Chelsea Clinton might be relied upon to perform traditional tasks has the potential to strike a nerve, prompting concerns about an overly gendered view of presidential family roles. And such a role might seem incongruent with Ms. Clinton’s graduate degrees from Oxford and Columbia and her career in business consulting and nonprofit management. But friends of Ms. Clinton say she would never be offended if her parents asked her for help. Her mother, after all, was a Yale Law School star and accomplished lawyer when she threw herself into the role of first lady in the 1990s. Ms. Clinton is 36 — on the millennial borderline — seasoned enough to headline panels on global health and women’s rights and young enough, particularly in her mother’s orbit of supporters, to serve as an ambassador of sorts to skeptical of the Clinton name. She has two children, Charlotte, almost 2, and a Aidan. She will not be moving back into the White House. “I honestly think she’s trying to get through the convention,” said Elizabeth Weindruch, a childhood friend from Little Rock, Ark. stressing that Ms. Clinton had not determined what she hoped to focus on after the election. It was a heady week for Ms. Clinton, preparing to address the convention 24 years after joining her parents, as not quite yet a teenager, in New York for her father’s nomination. In 1992, she grinned through orthodontic braces, played cards with friends and sustained a minor sightseeing injury. (She got leg cramps racing up the steps at the Statue of Liberty with Ms. Weindruch.) “We were just kids running around New York,” Ms. Weindruch said Wednesday, en route to Philadelphia to be with Ms. Clinton once more. Ms. Clinton’s schedule this week was at least as busy. On Tuesday night, perched in a box beside her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ms. Clinton choked up throughout her father’s speech. He recalled the evening of her birth, the time they watched a “Police Academy” marathon, the day he dropped her off at college (Stanford) as Mrs. Clinton spread liner paper across a drawer. On Wednesday, Ms. Clinton held forth on gay rights and voter outreach at a lunch for the Human Rights Campaign, earning two standing ovations and telling the crowd that she had been straining to suppress tears all week. An attendee, John Klenert, said he had watched Ms. Clinton grow up. He “felt sorry for her” in her youth, he said, marveling at her evolution now. And he chafed, unprompted, at grumblings that Ms. Clinton should assist her mother in social affairs. “It’s an insult,” he said. “If and when Hillary is in the White House, she can hire somebody. ” Donald J. Trump’s campaign is likewise considering how it might put family members to best use if the Republican nominee is elected. The Trump team has made clear that Ivanka, his oldest daughter, would take a leading role in an administration, along with her husband, Jared Kushner. At a panel event on Tuesday, Ms. Clinton took aim at Ms. Trump, with whom she had become friends in recent years, in response to a question about Mr. Trump’s policies. Ms. Clinton reminded the crowd that some of Ms. Trump’s paeans to women’s economic issues in her convention speech last week bore little resemblance to anything Mr. Trump had said on the campaign trail. “There are no policies on any of those fronts that you just mentioned on his website,” she said, imagining a conversation with Ms. Trump. “Not last week, not this week. ” A few minutes later, the gathering — hosted by Glamour and Facebook, with an open bar — neared its end with an appearance from a dance group, performing to a Beyoncé song. Soon, the party was over. Ms. Clinton smiled politely and walked off the stage. She was expected a short while later in the convention hall, to cheer her parents on. | 1 |
This article was written by SGT Report and originally published at SGTReport.com .
Editor’s Comment: The web connecting the Clinton’s to professional provocateurs who’ve been fueling violence and riots via BlackLivesMatter and through anti-Trump campaigns runs back to a central core. These are agents of change for life, and they are willing to use any means necessary to tips the scales into something they can work with. There is every indication that the agenda is to stir social unrest and further division, and with enough fake riots and manufactured anger, things might lead to a full-fledged civil war in America. Problem. Reaction. Solution.
Lou Dobbs called for Soros to be investigated and held liable for inciting riots that are causing property damage and personal harm:
Should DOJ investigate Soros & his links to non-profits for their role in inciting riots that have caused property damage & personal injury?
— Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) November 12, 2016
One has to wonder how man degrees away this network is from those that appear to be involved in staging tragedies (such as shootings and terrorist events) for media exploit. Can we believe anything that we see on the national stage? The defeat of Hillary hits a nerve deep into the shadow network that runs the Deep State, because the message of rejection of the establishment speaks to deep-set resentment and anger among the population. To make an educated guess, with the world swinging towards Trump as an attempt to dump the globalist oligarchy, the powers that be will see the need for some big events to occur in response – in other words, they need a new crisis. If they were planning a false flag event of some kind, what would stop them from going all the way?
CLINTON CAMPAIGN INSIDER’S CONFESSION: Trump Protests Sponsored By Soros-Clinton Cabal
by SGT Report
As Wayne Madsen is reporting, Hilary Clinton and George Soros have launched the «Purple Revolution» in America. Madsen writes, “The Purple Revolution will resist all efforts by the Trump administration to push back against the globalist policies of the Clintons and soon-to-be ex-President Barack Obama. The Purple Revolution will also seek to make the Trump administration a short one through Soros-style street protests and political disruption.”
We KNOW who is behind this, and we are putting them on notice, there will be a changing of the guard on January 20th, 2017. Who will protect you from the long arm of the law then?
This article was written by SGT Report and originally published at SGTReport.com . | 0 |
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah ’s recent visit to the White House was of paramount importance to combatting radical Islamic terrorism. [As evidenced by the recent Palm Sunday church bombings by radical Islamists, Egypt finds itself on the front lines in the battle against Islamic radicalism, and more specifically, the Muslim Brotherhood. It was Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood that started an Islamic revolution in 2011, which created a domino effect, extending into Syria and across the globe. The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, empowered by the revolution in Egypt, rose to establish an Islamic order in Syria, attempting to eliminate Assad, as their counterpart did to Mubarak in Egypt. Assad’s loyal ally Russia came to his defense, while our shameful government under President Barack Obama threw Mubarak under the bus. After President Obama disgracefully endorsed Mohamed Morsi, the MB leader during the Egyptian uprising of 2011, he went even further to destroying an ally in the fight against Islamic extremism when he blocked billions in aid to Egypt after rightfully deposed Morsi in 2014. Time and time again, our former President stood shoulder to shoulder with Islamic radicals and threw our allies who stood with us in our fight against terrorism under the bus. Today, President Donald Trump must make it clear to foreign leaders that there is a new sheriff in town, and we will not tolerate those who engage in, or support, Islamic terrorism. understands the nature of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the threat it poses to both Egypt and the United States. It was the Muslim Brotherhood that assassinated Anwar Sadat, the former Egyptian president who signed a peace treaty with Israel. They killed him in cold blood because he was a peacemaker. Osama Bin Laden, ringleader Muhammad Atta, the head of Ayman Zawahiri, and Islamic State head Abu Bakr were all members of the Brotherhood. The two most powerful countries in the Middle East — Egypt and Saudi Arabia — have designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. Egypt is the largest Islamic country in the Middle East, with 80 million Muslim, and the most powerful Arabic army. Saudi Arabia is the most revered Islamic country in the world, not only because of its religious significance, being the home of Islamic Prophet Mohammed, but also because it is a global oil player. They both understand the existential threat the Brotherhood pose. Yet disgracefully, our government still has not designated this organization as the terrorist entity that it is. A refusal to designate the MB as a terrorist organization leaves us fighting the war on terror with not only an arm tied behind our backs, but blindfolded. This would be like trying to combat fascism in the 1930’s without naming the Nazis as a target. How frustrating it must be for allies in the middle east like whose country has been plagued by the Brotherhood for almost a century, to see such reluctance on the part of the United States to properly identify our enemies. It is critical for both restoring relations with those willing to fight this enemy with us, that we stop wasting time, and call a spade a spade. There is simply too much at stake with the Brotherhood running wild. What makes the Brotherhood particularly dangerous is that, in addition to being the most influential Islamic terrorist organization, it is also the most educated. Bin Laden was an engineer, and a Surgeon, is a Doctor of Philosophy. So we are not dealing with your average rent a jihadist when it comes to the Brotherhood. In 1982, the Brotherhood wrote a plan for radical Islam to infiltrate and dominate the West, and establish an Islamic government on the earth. In circles, it became known as “The Project. ” This outlines in crystal clarity, Brotherhood intentions to destroy America from within. They endeavor to do this by infiltrating the media, government, and educational system. The Brotherhood have already established successful front groups within the U. S, posing as moderate Islamic advocacy groups, such as CAIR and ISNA. This has allowed them access to our elected officials such as President Obama and his cabinet. Consequently, they have influenced public policies that left us vulnerable. Now is the time to reverse the damage done under Obama’s administration. The enemy is no longer at our doorstep, but in our house. We must heed the guidance of President Sisi and other middle eastern allies, and designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization once and for all. Every day that passes without such a designation, the tentacles of Islamic terror wrap tighter around us. President Trump, the time is now. For the sake of our country, and protection of Western civilization, please designate this organization as the mothership of jihad that it is. Brigitte Gabriel is a terrorism analyst and a two times New York Times author of “Because They Hate” and “They Must Be Stopped”. She is the Founder and Chairman of ACT for America, the nation’s largest grassroots organization devoted to promoting national security and defeating terrorism. | 1 |
Nina November 6, 2016 @ 2:39 pm
Polish government and common people (except liberal and leftist opposition which lost everything in last year election) pray for Trump to be the president of USA. Dubi November 6, 2016 @ 2:25 pm
With bitches like this hillary fan America is lost if she wins. She is lucky I wasn’t that cop who has the patience of Job, because I don’t! GO TRUMP! ! !
WATCH: Video of Obnoxious Trump-Hater Getting Justice Explodes…6 MILLION Views This obnoxious Donald J. Trump hater has gone viral in a major way, and it’s not good. Here’s what happened to this anti-Trumper on video that has netted her six million views… This is AWESOME! Read more… | 0 |
On more than one occasion I have rolled my bright yellow suitcase into the office on a Monday morning to the confusion of my . “Where did you go this weekend?” they would ask. “The Hamptons?” “No,” I would reply. “95th and Broadway. ” My suitcase contains little pots of beauty products, toothpaste and my shampoo in T. S. A. bottles. I have a folding hair dryer, folding toothbrush and a folding dopp kit to keep everything organized. My heels and sneakers complement each other’s shape in one corner of the suitcase, with my delicate blouses tightly rolled in the other, as I must be prepared for morning meetings, happy hours, dinner plans and snuggle sessions. Ultimately, I aspire to pack everything I need without suggesting he is my “everything. ” When our relationship began, I would arrive at his place with a nonchalant canvas tote, shoving in cheap dresses for the next day, as if our sleepovers were accidental. Eventually I graduated to a larger tote that I use to carry groceries it has a weight threshold, enough for several outfits, my makeup bag, a pair of shoes and my dignity. More recently I transitioned to the yellow what I call my “rolling suitcase of inferred permanence,” which has been a tactical delight with its capacity and portability, aside from the notorious clack of its wheels as I approach his apartment or leave mine. My neighbors must assume I am constantly catching flights to more exotic locations than my boyfriend’s apartment. Each passing month silently confirms that he and I are heading toward permanence. My little shampoo resides next to his oversize body wash like a petite and confident counterpart. I have my own towel that I place on a hook adjacent to his after each use. My razor has found a cozy spot in the shower rack. My pick sits atop his desk, ready to serve as refuge when I’m tired of watching his favorite Bollywood movies. I once lived with a previous boyfriend, mixing our possessions with hope as I relocated from New York to Miami, his city of the moment. I shopped for decorations that weren’t overtly female, settling for shades of royal blue that reminded me of the ocean that almost kissed our backyard. I dressed the bed in fresh linens and golden yellow throw pillows to add a touch of contrast, which he never understood. I found a beautiful tray for him to neatly place his keys and the contents of his pockets when he got home from a long day. I painted a canvas above our bed with childlike enthusiasm, the same canvas that eventually found itself propped against the dumpster when, a year and half after we moved in together, our relationship ended. Bound by a lease and messy emotions, we remained together for months as I combed the apartment thread by thread, unraveling the items that were mine, his or ours. The espresso machine could be his, I guessed he really did love it. But the rest of the kitchen stuff was mine, assuming wherever I landed next would have a proper kitchen in need of my collection of witty coffee mugs. He could keep the television it couldn’t fit in my car anyway. Our books mingled on our shared shelf my possessions peppered his desk drawers. I took portions of our brief life together, put them in boxes and loaded them in my car — a fraction of a memory in the front seat, a sliver of disappointment in the back seat. I left our place with the bed made and the throw pillows he hated so much fluffed and sitting tall to serve as an insulting reminder of me in his bed. I think of that past as I make timid movements toward a new life with someone else. This time, I have made it easy to round up my things and leave quickly, always one bag away from walking out the door. A few months ago, I did just that. In a storm of anger and insecurity, I gathered my things in a frenzy. He called me back to the apartment as I waddled away with my bag of clothes, toiletries and used Tupperware. As I stepped into a cab, he ran out to the sidewalk, bewildered by the ease in which I was running away. In an instant, I was gone. For me, there was comfort in that, in having nothing to tie me down, nothing too big to remove at a moment’s notice should we decide we don’t want this anymore. There is no painted canvas hanging over our bed, only a shampoo in his shower that serves as an act of hope for one more day just like the one before, and the one before that. Unlike me, my boyfriend is an eternal optimist. He is unscarred and without a broken heart to reference. As I leave each item behind with hesitation, he welcomes it with confidence. His enthusiasm is both endearing and naïve. If he only knew how hard it was to piece my life back together after I returned to New York City from my breakup, my life divided. And here I am, either a total fool or a total romantic, dividing it all back up again. With each passing day, he has tried to make tiny declarations of comfort with our merging lives. The almond milk he bought just for me sits like a trophy in the refrigerator, his reminder to me that I’ll be back. Graceful evidence of our relationship can be traced back to me through a collection of my pink socks in his drawer, my earrings by his bedside, right up to my extra pair of heels he left for me by the front door. As my bag gets lighter, I must admit my anxiety about our transient romance has eased, too. Just when I began to feel settled, he traveled home to India for a month. I returned to my apartment for the first time in a long time and emptied my belongings from my tote. My laundry had been haphazardly attended to and was piling up against my bedroom wall. The food in my refrigerator seemed disappointed in my lack of concern for its condition, seemingly aware that I had been cooking in someone else’s kitchen. I unrolled my sweaters, refound a phone charger that had been lost at the bottom of my layers and started to put my things back in their proper place. But the proper place didn’t seem to be all that exciting anymore. As weeks went by, I counted down the days until he returned. I spotted women on the train making the trek to and from their overnights, feeling like a defector from the tribe. I felt naked with my little purse that held nothing more than a lip balm and a few credit cards. At times I would have this overwhelming sense that I had forgotten something, only to realize it was my suitcase that I was missing. The exasperating appendage that I had cursed over the past year had also become my security blanket, knowing that its presence meant he was on the other end of my journey. One night I found his undershirt in my laundry it had somehow landed in my clothes during the crossfire nights between his place and mine. It smelled like his laundry detergent, a mix of fruity florals and Upper West Side elitism. I felt an immediate yearning to find my suitcase that had been recuperating in the calm of my closet and fill it with a weekend’s worth of clothes. There was nothing appealing about my dresser drawer anymore, and I had begun to shun my hangers. I wanted him to come home, and I wanted to be waiting for him, annoying bag and all. He flew back on my birthday, the same day I was flying back from a trip to San Francisco. My yellow rolling suitcase reacquainted itself with his oversize duffel in the kitchen as he held me in his arms, his chest smelling like somewhere I had never been. “I have a birthday gift for you,” he said, as he unloaded packages from his closet. The wrapping paper was covered in traditional Indian print, pops of pinks and blues intertwined with shimmering gold. And inside was a purse, a purple canvas satchel covered with the image of an elephant. “My mother helped me pick it out,” he said. It fit only the essentials: my lip balm, credit cards and an extra pair of underwear (just in case). It was a fraction of the size of my usual overnight tote and incapable of holding multiple outfits. It had no wheels, nothing close to a capacity. But just like him, it had traveled across the world for me, much farther than my commutes across Manhattan. It seemed as if he just wanted to take the weight off my shoulders. So I let him. | 1 |
Charles H.F. Davis III, Inside Higher Ed, November 1, 2016
{snip}
The recent case involving a first-generation Latina student , Tiffany Martínez, at Suffolk University, is but one example. An accomplished undergraduate, published journal author and McNair scholar, Martínez wrote a personal blog post titled “Academia, Love Me Back.” In her heartfelt plea, Martínez first recounts an experience she described as both disrespectful and invalidating and then explains that a sociology professor accused her of plagiarism, not privately, but in front of the entire class. The professor’s claim was further illustrated by emphatic written statements on her paper such as “this is not your word” and “please go back and indicate where you cut and paste.”
One such comment was written in the margin near the word “hence,” which the professor had circled, an important detail, given Martínez merely used it as an appropriate transition to connect two related sentences. Was it that surprising to Martínez’s professor that she knew how to appropriately use a transitional word?
Although some may dismiss this as a minor incident, Martínez reminds us of the internalized racism and self-doubt resulting from years of educational violence. Like the many students of color from whom we hear similar stories in our campus climate assessments , what transpired for Martínez was yet another debilitating and painful experience of marginalization.
{snip}
It is imperative that our colleagues stop being surprised when students of color are able to thoughtfully articulate themselves in their writing and in class discussions. {snip}
{snip} | 0 |
Social media shook with emotion. Headlines shouted the news. Legal scholars debated the order’s scope. But the most immediate effect of President Trump’s executive order barring refugees from entering the United States and halting entry from seven predominantly Muslim countries could be quantified on a human scale: refugees and other immigrants from those seven countries, some on their way to the United States on Friday when Mr. Trump signed the order, who were no longer able to enter the United States. Here are some of their stories. Hearing of Mr. Trump’s plan to slam the door on Muslim immigrants this week, Mr. Shareef hurried his wife and three children onto a plane in the Iraqi city of Erbil in the early hours of Saturday. They had been cleared to resettle in Nashville — a new life that Mr. Shareef considered a great opportunity. After the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, Mr. Shareef worked as a translator with American officials, and he received death threats. But after the Shareefs arrived in Cairo on Saturday, a official spoke to Mr. Shareef. “He said they had just received an email from the U. S. Embassy in Baghdad,” Mr. Shareef said. “It said we could not get on the flight. ” Speaking by phone from an airport lounge, Mr. Shareef said he had sold the family home and car. His wife had given up her job. His two daughters, 10 and 17, had quit school. He had spent $5, 000 on flights. “I thought in America there are institutions, democracy,” he said. “This looks like a decision from a dictator. I don’t understand. ” “Donald Trump ruined my life,” he said. Ms. Omer, 39, is a green card holder, has lived in the United States since 1993, and graduated from Harvard University. On Friday night Ms. Omer was detained at Kennedy International Airport as she returned from Sudan, where she is a citizen, after a research trip for her anthropology Ph. D. at Stanford University. Ms. Omer said customs officials were apologetic and appeared confused about what they were supposed to do with the detained travelers. “I have to do this,” one told her. For five hours they asked about her travels, her academic research and her views on Sudanese politics, which they admitted to knowing little about. At one point, she said, they aggressively patted her down and handcuffed her. They removed the restraints when she began to cry, but the detainees brought in for questioning after her arrived in handcuffs, she said. “For the brief moment I was handcuffed, I couldn’t control myself and I just started crying,” Ms. Omer said. “It was humiliating. I thought I was going to be returned to Sudan. ” After Ms. Omer was released she said she felt like one of the lucky ones. “There are a lot of people being treated much worse or are being sent back,” she said. “If they get sent back to Iraq or Syria it is a situation. ” Hazhir Rahmandad, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, said his parents who hold green cards and split their time between the United States and Iran, were due back in Massachusetts on Tuesday to celebrate the birthday of Mr. Rahmandad’s twin children. Now they will not travel. Professor Rahmandad set up a Google form for people from countries affected by the immigration order to report and share their experiences attempting to travel to the U. S. “I was so concerned,” he said. By Saturday evening, his spreadsheet had over 200 entries, most of them concerning people from Iran. Mr. Abdi, 30, a Ph. D. student in anthropology at Yale with permanent residency in the United States, said he left the United States on Jan. 22 for Afghanistan, where he planned to do field research for much of the next year. He had participated in the women’s march in Washington the day before. Now, he said he was in legal limbo as he awaited a visa from the consulate of Afghanistan, unable to return to the United States even with a green card and fearful of returning to Iran because of his activism about human rights issues there. Speaking by phone from Dubai, Mr. Abdi said his current visa limits his stay in the United Arab Emirates to about a month. The possibility that green card holders and refugees could be barred from the United States did not occur to him when he left, he said. “We didn’t believe it really, that it was going to be implemented,” he said. “Maybe we were taking the Trump administration less seriously than it is. ” Nada, a Yazidi woman from Iraq, was on her way to be reunited with her husband, Khalas, who lives in Washington. The two of them, their last names not released, were granted special immigrant visas to the United States as part of a program created to help thousands of Iraqis with ties to the United States, according to The New Yorker. Khalas, a former interpreter for the United States Army, was granted his visa in April. Nada’s visa was approved about a week ago, and her passport on Thursday. She was turned away, however, when she arrived at the gate for her flight in Dubai, wrote Kirk W. Johnson, the founder and executive director of the List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies. “The flight crew sent her back,” Khalas texted Mr. Johnson, “saying they got orders that no Iraqis with American visas should be boarded. ” Ms. Assali, 25, a medical student from Allentown, Pa. said six of her Syrian relatives had arrived in Philadelphia on a flight from Doha, Qatar, on Saturday morning, only to be detained and put on a flight back less than three hours later. The group had obtained immigrant visas. Ms. Assali said in a telephone interview that her six relatives — two uncles, two aunts and two teenage cousins, whom she did not name out of fear of endangering them or their case — are Christians who live in Damascus. Her father was on his way to pick up the relatives from the airport when he got a call from a customs official, she said, who said his family would not be leaving the airport. “They told him they’re not coming out, and to just go back. ” Ms. Assali said. “And that it’s confidential and he can’t tell them why. They said it was an issue with their paperwork. ” Mr. Darweesh, a husband and father of three who worked for the United States military in Iraq for about a decade, was detained after arriving at Kennedy Airport on Friday night. He was granted a special immigrant visa on Jan. 20. When he filed for it, he said he had been directly targeted because of his work for the United States as an interpreter, engineer and contractor. Mr. Darweesh was released on Saturday after lawyers filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court seeking freedom for him, as well as for another Iraqi detained at the airport. Speaking to reporters and some protesters who gathered outside Kennedy Airport, Mr. Darweesh called the United States the greatest nation in the world. He said he was thankful for the people who had worked on his behalf. “This is the humanity, this is the soul of America,” he said. “This is what pushed me to move, leave my country and come here. ” Ms. Tayari, a resident of the United Kingdom who holds an Iranian passport, was unable to get back to Glasgow, where she works as a veterinarian, from Costa Rica, where she was vacationing, because her flight traveled through New York, according to The Guardian. Ms. Tayari grew up in Italy and told the newspaper that she had never experienced anything like it. She said it might cost her a month’s salary to book a new flight home. “I am destroyed,” she said. “I did not know that I could cry for so long. It feels like the beginning of the end. How this is possible? I am really afraid about what is going on. ” The family members have been living in a refugee camp in Turkey, and were scheduled to fly to the United States on Monday, according to US Together, a refugee resettlement agency quoted in The Plain Dealer of Cleveland. The agency had found an apartment for them to rent with another family of Syrian refugees in Cleveland. Those plans have been canceled after Mr. Trump’s order. “It was going to be really perfect,” Danielle Drake, a community relations manager for US Together, told the newspaper. “I can’t even imagine how the family feels right now. ” Mr. Saravi, a young scientist in Iran, had been scheduled to travel to Boston, where he had been awarded a fellowship at Harvard to study cardiovascular medicine, according to Thomas Michel, the professor who was to supervise his research. Then the visas for Mr. Saravi and his wife were suspended, Professor Michel said. “This outstanding young scientist has enormous potential to make contributions that will improve our understanding of heart disease, and he has already been thoroughly vetted,” Professor Michel wrote to The New York Times. “This country and this city have a long history of providing research training to the best young scientists in the world, many of whom have stayed in the U. S. A. and made tremendous contributions in biomedicine and other disciplines. ” Mr. Alshawi, who worked for a United States contractor in Iraq, was detained after he landed at Kennedy Airport on Friday. He had flown from Stockholm to New York, en route to Texas to see his wife and son. “He gave his package and his passport to an airport officer, and they didn’t talk to him, they just put him in a room,” his wife, who asked to be referred to only by her first initial, D, told The New York Times. “He told me that they forced him to get back to Iraq. He asked for his lawyer and to apply for an asylum case. And they told him: ‘You can’t do that. You need to go back to your country. ’” | 1 |
Here are the top 10 comments of the week on our digital platforms, as selected by our readers and the journalists who moderate nearly every comment. 1. Has it occurred to anyone that Donald, at 70, speaks his own mind publicly at the risk of violent retaliation? As to the issue of risk, sacrifices, etc. he approaches investments with more courage in all likelihood than the two authors [of this article] could even imagine. His critical, recent acceptance speech was given articulately and without a hint of anxiety, public speaking being the most feared activity in American life, per most studies. So tell me what exactly are the authors trying to prove? A plastic surgeon didn’t create the bone spurs, and the need for American businessmen will likely never decline, during, after or before our foreign conflicts. He wasn’t profiteering during the conflict — he was taking risks and creating jobs. — Curiouser in California, reacting to an article about Donald J. Trump’s five draft deferments that allowed him to avoid the Vietnam War. 2. A former C. I. A. director endorses Clinton, while the Russian president and former K. G. B. operative endorses Trump. Choosing between these two candidates should be as easy as choosing between a cupcake and a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. — Joe in White Plains, N. Y. reacting to an by Michael J. Morell, a former acting director of the C. I. A. who endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. 3. Most of the people commenting on the corporate greed in these posts have little to no clue as to what these companies do. A professional runner’s sponsor is 99 percent of their income, as opposed to many other professional sports players that receive a team salary in addition to the money made through sponsorship and ensuing promotions of that brand. The brand that a professional track athlete wears is their backbone, their financial support, and many of these athletes are extremely grateful toward these companies for providing them with financial support as they compete in a sport with little prize money out there. The wearing of a brand is a give back from these athletes, who take pride in their sponsors, as a way to showcase these companies on such a major platform. — Claire Keanna on The Times’s Facebook page, responding to an article about track and field athletes who wear shoes from one brand but who, because of sponsorship deals or the lack thereof, must disguise the logos on their shoes at the Olympics. 4. As a former competitive swimmer, I can say that at multiple meets we needed the help of a guard. I watched a swimmer slip on the start and dive straight down into a deep competition pool and hit his head so hard he was immediately knocked out and had a dislocated shoulder. Something as simple as compressing your knuckles as you drive your hand into the touch pad may require attention. Always need to expect the unexpected. — Katie Ho on The Times’s Facebook page, responding to an article about why there are lifeguards stationed at Olympic swimming events. This comment received more than 140 likes. 5. As a Jew with significant qualms about the policies of the current Israeli government, the drawing of equivalencies between (which was responsible for the deaths of most of the people in my ’ shtetl) and legitimate criticism of Israeli policies (which is what at least some of these students seem to be doing) disturbs me. Yes, these students may be a bit more radical than most — how many activists have you met who were not, in some way, radical? Yes, some of the nuance of the issues may also escape some of these students. But the cure for that is more speech, not less. Calling someone an like calling someone a racist, shuts down debate and does not allow people with opposing views to better understand each other. Yet this article sets out to show the “bad” protesters (the ones who are loud, rude, and unapologetic) with the “good” ones (the ones who politely discuss their differences). The fact is, some things are worth being loud about. — Ben S. in New York, reacting to an article about rifts on many college campuses between Jewish students and others protesting Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. 6. I have withheld my donations from the University of Maryland over their whitewashing of the history of our campus and the removal of [Harry] Byrd (the man who built the stadium) from our football stadium. I’m liberal and a woman, but this trend to strip all history from our institutions bugs the heck out of me. I’m surprised they haven’t removed the colorful Maryland state flag from campus since it’s the heraldry of two families that founded what became Maryland. — Sam Smith on The Times’s Facebook page, responding to an article about alumni withholding donations from universities in the wake of campus disruptions. 7. I’ve been a lawyer for 31 years. I was called honey by a female state judge early in my career. The sexism in the hallway etc. was much more obvious. One male state court judge would wink at me in court and asked me into his chambers to ask about my love life. Some of the state judges wouldn’t let women wear pants in the courtroom. At my first couple of legal jobs at a firm and a district attorney’s office, there was also a rule. I assume the men couldn’t wear dresses to court, but they probably can now. — Kate Bickers on The Times’s Facebook page, responding to an article about a proposed amendment to the American Bar Association’s rules to prohibit sexual harassment and discrimination. 8. As a longtime city liver, who prefers the diversity, walkability and convenience of a city to the mostly sprawling and very unwalkable suburbs, I think it’s great that companies are moving back to the city centers. The fact that young people are preferring this to suburbs I also find very encouraging. Surely there are some negatives, such as the “dollar incentives” required in Delaware, but overall I think this is a very positive trend. — Josie in Chicago, reacting to an article about American corporations returning their headquarters to urban centers after years in the suburbs. (Some smaller cities, like Wilmington, Del. offer companies tax incentives to stay.) 9. This is a story of New York City. But it’s happening everywhere. In my small city (population 175, 000) of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, we have a newly park in the center of the city — Bannerman Park. It’s a decent size park with an amazing amount of activities all through the year. And the people are coming. It’s almost as crowded as in some of the photos from this article.’ ”Our summer is short but used to the fullest. It’s wonderful to see, but there are shortcomings: the noise, the litter, the lack of privacy. But it’s fun and communal, so let’s cheer this development. Everywhere. And let’s invite the tourists with a warm heart.” ’ — Britt Petros, reacting to an article about crowds in New York City’s public parks. 10. I’m a retired chemist from the starch industry. One of the first principles a new employee was indoctrinated with is that the rate at which starch solutions retrograde (set back) is maximized at 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature of a typical refrigerator. Retrogradation is referred to as “staling” in the baking industry. The retrogradation of wheat starch in bread is responsible for staling. Consequently, if you want to maximize the useful life and quality of bread, don’t store it in the refrigerator put it in the freezer. I’ve been storing fresh bread in the freezer ever since, and I’ve never been disappointed. — Joe in Floyd, Va. reacting to an article about freezing sliced fresh bread in order to make optimal toast. | 1 |
Woman Claims Trauma From Sexual Assault… In a Video Game
Eric Striker Daily Stormer October 25, 2016
Any time a hobby or institution is taken over by women, it’s the final symptom of said entity’s terminal illness. The typical female dichotomy of a thick skull covered by a thin skin puts the balance of actions and consequences completely out of whack, thus ruining fun and slowing progress for the rest of us. While childish female nagging about a man’s world of freedom to think and act is laughed at and dismissed in a sane society, in our current one it is often the stated justification for crack downs on political dissent and the censorship of constructive discourse.
If I were to seriously argue that playing a World War II shooting game gave me Post-Traumatic Stress, you would laugh at me. Yet a woman arguing the sexual assault equivalent in a news platform is given center stage, and you better take her seriously.
Mic :
Last week I was groped in virtual reality. Did you know that could happen? I didn’t, but now I’m all the wiser.
A few minutes later I started a new QuiVr game, and hit multiplayer mode. In multiplayer mode, other real-time players appear beside you. Every player looks nearly identical with a floating helmet, a persistent bow in one hand, and another free-floating hand. Keep that free-floating hand in the back of your mind.
So, there I was shooting down zombies alongside another real-time player named BigBro442. The other players could hear me when I spoke, my voice the only indication of my femaleness. Otherwise, my avatar looked identical to them.
In between a wave of zombies and demons to shoot down, I was hanging out next to BigBro442, waiting for our next attack. Suddenly, BigBro442’s disembodied helmet faced me dead-on. His floating hand approached my body, and he started to virtually rub my chest.
“Stop!” I cried. I must have laughed from the embarrassment and the ridiculousness of the situation. Women, after all, are supposed to be cool, and take any form of sexual harassment with a laugh. But I still told him to stop.
This goaded him on, and even when I turned away from him, he chased me around, making grabbing and pinching motions near my chest. Emboldened, he even shoved his hand toward my virtual crotch and began rubbing.
There I was, being virtually groped in a snowy fortress with my brother-in-law and husband watching.
As it progressed, my joking comments toward BigBro442 turned angrier, and were peppered with frustrated obscenities. At first, my brother-in-law and husband laughed along with me â all they could see was the flat computer screen version of the groping. Outside the total immersion of the QuiVr world, this must have looked pretty funny, and definitely not real.
Remember that little digression I told you about how the hundred-foot drop looked so convincing? Yeah. Guess what. The virtual groping feels just as real. Of course, you’re not physically being touched, just like you’re not actually one hundred feet off the ground, but it’s still scary as hell.
My high from earlier plummeted. I went from the god who couldn’t fall off a ledge to a powerless woman being chased by an avatar named BigBro442.
I wasn’t as experienced a player as BigBro442. Everywhere I ran, he appeared beside me, ready to grope as soon as the zombie wave was over. I’d had enough. With a final parting obscenity, I yanked the headset off my face and stood back in the sunny, familiar room of my brother-in-law’s home.
What had just happened? I hadn’t lasted 3 minutes in multiplayer without getting virtually groped.
What’s worse is that it felt real, violating. This sounds ludicrous to anyone who hasn’t stood on that virtual reality ledge and looked down, but if you have, you might start to understand. The public virtual chasing and groping happened a full week ago and I’m still thinking about it.
Now that the shock has mostly worn off, I’m faced instead with the residual questions about the unbridled misogyny that spawns from gaming anonymity. It’s easy to dismiss the most egregious offenses as the base actions of a few teenage boys, but I don’t think it’s as rare as a few bad apples.
How could it be, when my brother-in-law has played multiplayer mode a hundred times without incident, but my female voice elicited lewd behavior within minutes?
As VR becomes increasingly real, how do we decide what crosses the line from an annoyance to an actual assault? Eventually we’re going to need rules to tame the wild, wild west of VR multiplayer. Or is this going to be yet another space that women do not venture into?
Women are allowed, sure, but the BigBro442s of the world will make sure you never want to come back.
So this woman apparently doesn’t mind gratuitous interactive violence, but wants to make it a criminal act to give a power-glove smack to her imaginary character’s dragon-titties. I don’t have any experience with virtual reality and haven’t played any video games in many years, but I’m going to guess there’s plenty of games where you can pet ponies, try on lots of clothes and other entertainment that protects the fragile innocent eyes and ears of empowered 21st century womyn.
The reason increasing numbers of men escape into their video games is because of the total lack of adventure and heroic opportunities offered in our real world. The film Fight Club deals with these issues, and women themselves are unhappy with the current state of men, even as they continue to vote for or spearhead Jewish causes that further legally and culturally emasculate men.
One thing I’ve noticed in “progressive” women is that they are equally as appalled by men talking about pussy or spanking them on the ass in an imaginary video game as they are aroused by images and content featuring extreme masochistic sex. The more women pressure men into deferring to their baby shit, the more radical and vicious their rape fantasies become.
If you don’t know much about women or have never been with them, I’ll tell you a secret: women sexually love to have their hair pulled, slapped around, roughed up – within reason. Women are naturally masochistic and are wired to submit to men, but this instinct is being taken to extreme levels via the pornography modern women are consuming. This kind of material is pretty inhumane and ventures into the territory of bizarre and disturbing (images of women being mutilated, fisting, pissed on, violent body destroying sodomy, vicious beatings). Men don’t watch this stuff at anywhere near the level women do.
Most of the people watching this stuff are female. But somehow, they feel they have the right to barge into male-oriented spaces and sanitize them, not because they’re genuinely offended, but rather because their increasingly grotesque and pozzed sexual fantasies make them feel ashamed, so anything that might remind them of their deranged thoughts, or even embarrassingly arouse them, like a 15-year-old boy groping them in a video game for laughs, needs to be treated like a real world crime. | 1 |
We Are Change
Russian scientists claim they’ve found the remains of a secret Nazi base on a remote island in the Arctic Circle.
The discovery of more than 500 Nazi artifacts on an island called Alexandra Land has led the team to believe it was the site of a long-rumored base known as Schatzgraber, or “Treasure Hunter”, which was built on direct orders from Adolf Hitler.
Schatzgraber was a mysterious Arctic weather station that was built in 1942 after Hitler invaded Russia.
Its construction – and abandonment – was documented in the 1954 German book Wettertrupp Haudegen , but no one had ever found physical evidence that it existed until now, and it’s often dismissed as a war-time myth.
According to the written record, Schatzgraber was serviced from 1943, but was abandoned a year later in July 1944, after the staff at the site ate under-cooked polar bear meat that was contaminated with round worm and poisoned themselves.
The soldiers were rescued by a German U-boat, but the base was abandoned after that, and to this day, no one is entirely sure what the point of the base was, or, until now, where it had been located.
A team of Russian scientists from the Russian Arctic National Park came across more than 500 relics on Alexandra Land – a remote, uninhabited island north of Russia.
Google Maps
The artifacts include discarded petrol canisters, bullets, ruins of bunkers, shoes, and a batch of paper documents that have apparently been well-preserved by the island’s icy climate.
These relics haven’t been made public as yet, but the team says they’re dated and marked with the swastika, providing evidence the island was the location of the mysterious Schatzgraber.
Yulia Petrova/Russian Arctic National Park
To be clear, this link still needs to be verified, and without further analysis of the documents and artifacts found on the island, we can’t say for sure whether it was home to the Nazi base. But the evidence is now on its way back to Russia for further analysis, and will be put on display for the public soon.
“Earlier [Schatzgraber] was only known from written sources, but now we also have real proof,” said a senior researcher at the National Park, Evgeny Ermolov .
Russian Arctic National Park via Ruptly
“Now we can enter this data in the scientific revolution, and, referring to the evidence, to expand and clarify the idea of the German army operations in the Arctic region during the Second World War,” added team member Eugene Yermolov.
(Note: quotes have been translated from Russian).
The discovery is particularly interesting, because there are people who believe that the site’s name, which translates to “Treasure Hunter”, suggests the Nazi base wasn’t just a weather station, but part of a secret mission to find ancient relics.
No, they weren’t looking for the Tesseract (you guys have been watching too many Marvel movies), but archaeological evidence that Nordic populations once ruled the world to justify their propaganda.
Although there were research institutes in Nazi Germany pursuing that goal, there’s currently no evidence that this was happening at Schatzgraber. But hopefully thorough analysis of the written documents found at the site will provide some more insight into what went on up there in the Arctic Circle during WWII.
Alexandra Land has been a disputed territory for decades, but is now part of the Russian Federation, and Russia apparently has plans to build its own permanent military base in the region.
Let’s just hope they’ve learnt their lesson, and stay away from polar bear meat.
You can see national park researchers exploring the site in the footage below: Source: http://www.sciencealert.com/russian-scientists-say-they-ve-discovered-a-secret-nazi-base-in-the-arctic
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Home | World | The Real EU Referendum Will Be the Next General Election The Real EU Referendum Will Be the Next General Election By Finbar Bounder 03/11/2016 17:45:54
LONDON – England – The real referendum will be the next general election when the people who voted for Brexit (52% of the electorate) will make their voices heard once again.
The multiple scenarios and variables are too many to discuss in one article, however it is fair to say that any MP who is a Remainer will not be in office after the election.
With this in mind, the currently unelected PM, Theresa May, will most certainly lose her position chiefly because of her dilly dallying regarding the Brexit process and her choice in putting key Remain MPs in high government positions and Brexit committees which undermined everything.
Because of the unjust corrupt court ruling today conducted by biased judges , there are calls for a general election to be held before 2020.
If this happens, there will be a bloodbath at the polling booths however under the current circumstances, if a general election occurs in 2020, there will still be a bloodbath.
It does not matter when the next election is held, there will be a bloodbath of Remain MPs. Your days of parliament are numbered, so count them well.
It is probably in Theresa May’s interest to never hold a general election in Britain ever again. Certainly, this choice will suit the undemocratic Remain contingent, such is their allegiance to the undemocratic EU. Share on : | 0 |
Financial Markets , Gold , Housing Market , Market Manipulation , Precious Metals , U.S. Economy fake news , housing collapse , stock bubble admin
The widespread, systematic implementation of propaganda dates back to at least the World War 1 era when Edward Bernays – the nephew of Sigmund Freud and the Father of Propaganda – began working with Woodrow Wilson. The dissemination and proliferation of “fake news” for the purpose of “thought control” is a form a fascism that is seeded in the Totalitarian creep that is engulfing the U.S. political system.
The commentary published by John Whitehead of the The Rutherford Institute is a must-read in order to put the “fake news” problem into its proper context.
[T]the “news” we receive is routinely manufactured, manipulated and made-to-order by government agents. Not when six corporations control 90% of the media in America. And not when, as Davies laments, “news organizations which might otherwise have exposed the truth were themselves part of the abuse, and so they kept silent, indulging in a comic parody of misreporting, hiding the emerging scandal from their readers like a Victorian nanny covering the children’s eyes from an accident in the street.” The Pentagon has now designated “information operations” as its fifth “core competency” alongside land, sea, air and special forces. Since October 2006, every brigade, division and corps in the US military has had its own “psyop” element producing output for local media. This military activity is linked to the State Department’s campaign of “public diplomacy” which includes funding radio stations and news websites.
You can read the rest of this here: When It Comes To Fake News, The Government Is The Biggest Culprit
The manipulation of economic data and the markets is yet another insidious form of propaganda and implementation of political/economic control. I’ve detailed ad nauseum evidence of the fraudulent economic data across a wide range of Government reports – employment, GDP, housing, inflation, etc.
This is going to get worse regardless of who or which party occupies the White House. It’s about control and power. Ultimately the Government has no control over the laws of economics. When the majority of the population feels the pain of economic distress in spite of the misleadingly optimistic economic reports, the Government has no choice but to implement control policies in order to maintain its power.
There is nothing we can do about this but you can prepare accordingly if you at least recognize the truth. If you want to see who this plays out, I would suggest re-reading “1984” and “Atlas Shrugged.” Share this: | 0 |
Op-Ed by Carey Wedler As millions of Americans head to the polls today to “have their voices heard” and “make a difference,” many will likely... | 0 |
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