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Hillaryous! Clinton adviser Neera Tanden wonders why FBI didn’t take ‘stock’ of the situation before acting Posted at 10: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Even though many on the Left were furious with James Comey for informing Congress that the Hillary Clinton investigation would continue in light of new information that involves Anthony Weiner, the FBI director reportedly acted when he did to get ahead of anticipated “leaks” in the case: Fascinating look at James Comey's thinking, by @SariHorwitz https://t.co/58sppjfU5n pic.twitter.com/D92TLaEpKn
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) October 29, 2016
Neera Tanden, Center for American Progress president and member of the Clinton 2016 transition team, worried about a residual effect from the FBI’s announcement: Shouldn't we be concerned FBI takes actions that send stocks falling in order to avoid their own leaks?And we don't know if any emails new. https://t.co/cnYks9iqmj
— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) October 29, 2016
“Think of the stock market” isn’t the FBI’s motto: Yes, the FBI should take the stock market into proper consideration before they try to enforce the law https://t.co/O8zqY89j0R | 0 |
Written by James Bovard 2016 election campaign is mortifying millions of Americans in part because the presidency has become far more dangerous in recent times. Since Sept. 11, 2001, we have lived in a perpetual emergency, which supposedly justifies routinely ignoring the law and Constitution. And both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have signaled that power grabs will proliferate in the next four years. Politicians talk as if voting magically protects the rights of everyone within a 50-mile radius of the polling booth. But the ballots Americans have cast in presidential elections since 2000 did nothing to constrain the commander in chief. President George W. Bush’s declaration in 2000 that America needed a more “humble” foreign policy did not deter him from vowing to “rid the world of evil” and launching the most catastrophic war in American history. Eight years later, Barack Obama campaigned as the candidate of peace and promised “a new birth of freedom.” But that did not stop him from bombing seven nations, claiming a right to assassinate American citizens, and championing Orwellian total surveillance. Mr. Bush was famous for “signing statements” decrees that nullified hundreds of provisions of laws enacted by Congress. President Obama is renowned for unilaterally and endlessly rewriting laws such as the Affordable Care Act to postpone political backlashes against the Democratic Party and for effectively waiving federal immigration law. Both Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama exploited the “state secrets doctrine” to shield their most controversial policies from the American public. While many conservatives applauded Mr. Bush’s power grabs, many liberals cheered Mr. Obama’s decrees. After 16 years of Bush-Obama, the federal government is far more arbitrary and lethal. Richard Nixon’s maxim — “it’s not illegal if the president does it” — is the lodestar for commanders in chief in the new century. There is no reason to expect the next president to be less power hungry than the last two White House occupants. Both Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton can be expected to trample the First Amendment. Mr. Trump has talked of shutting down mosques and changing libel laws to make it far more perilous for the media to reveal abuses by the nation’s elite. Mrs. Clinton was in the forefront of an administration that broke all records for prosecuting leakers and journalists who exposed government abuses. She could smash the remnants of the Freedom of Information Act like her aides hammered her Blackberry phones to obliterate her email trail. Neither candidate seems to recognize any limit on presidential power. Mr. Trump calls for reviving the brutal interrogation methods of the George W. Bush era. Mrs. Clinton opposes torture but believes presidents have a right to launch wars whenever they decide it is in the national interest. After Mrs. Clinton helped persuade Mr. Obama to bomb Libya in 2011, she signaled that the administration would scorn any congressional cease-and-desist order under the War Powers Act. If Americans could be confident that either Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton would be leashed by the law, there would be less dread about who wins in November. But elections are becoming simply coronations via vote counts. The president will take an oath of office on Inauguration Day, but then can do as he or she pleases. We now have a political system which is nominally democratic but increasingly authoritarian. The rule of Law has been defined down to finding a single federal lawyer to write a secret memo vindicating the president’s latest unpublished executive order. By the end of the next presidential term, America will have had almost a 20-year stretch of dictatorial democracy. Our rulers’ disdain for the highest law of the land is torpedoing the citizenry’s faith in representative government. Forty percent of registered voters have “lost faith in American democracy,” according to recent Survey Monkey poll. The United States may be on the verge of the biggest legitimacy crisis since the Civil War. Whoever wins on Nov. 8 will be profoundly distrusted even before being sworn in. The combination of a widely detested new president and unrestrained power almost guarantees greater crises in the coming years. Neither Mr. Trump nor Mrs. Clinton are promising to “make America constitutional again.” But as Thomas Jefferson declared in 1786, “An elective despotism was not the government we fought for.” If presidents are lawless, then voters are merely designating the most dangerous criminal in the land. James Bovard is the author of “Attention Deficit Democracy” (Palgrave, 2006) and “Lost Rights” (St. Martin’s, 1994). Reprinted with author's permission from the Washington Times . Related | 0 |
The Federal Railroad Administration began investigating safety problems at New Jersey Transit before a fatal train crash last week, a federal rail official confirmed on Saturday. Federal officials began an audit in June of New Jersey Transit, the nation’s commuter railroad, after noticing an increase in safety violations and a leadership vacuum at the top of the agency, said the official, who was briefed on the investigation but was not authorized to discuss it publicly. After completing the audit, the federal agency issued a series of violations to the railroad, the official said. During the busy morning commute on Thursday, a crowded New Jersey Transit train slammed into a wall at the Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey, killing a woman and injuring more than 100 people. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash. As part of the earlier railroad administration audit, dozens of inspectors visited New Jersey Transit’s railroad operations in June, the official said. The federal agency often inspects railroads, but an audit is a more serious step that is not common. On Saturday, Eric Weiss, a spokesman for the safety board, said the agency would review the federal audit as part of the investigation into the crash. A spokeswoman for New Jersey Transit did not respond to a request for comment. Before the crash, the railroad administration had been considering other enforcement actions against New Jersey Transit, including a compliance agreement to require additional changes. Officials at the administration declined to comment on the audit on Saturday, citing the continuing investigation by the safety board. The railroad administration completed a similar review of Railroad in New York after a derailment in 2013 killed four passengers and injured more than 70 people. The review found that the railroad had a poor safety culture that prioritized performance over protecting riders and workers. On Saturday, federal investigators from the safety board were working to determine the cause of the Hoboken crash — the first fatal train crash on New Jersey Transit since 1996. The train’s engineer, Thomas Gallagher, was interviewed by investigators, officials said. They declined to provide details of the conversation. Investigators could not remove the train from the crash site, officials said on Saturday, because of concerns over asbestos and the structural integrity of the building part of the roof collapsed on to the train. Officials said they did not find any signal anomalies on the tracks leading to the terminal. Officials will examine the event recorder from the train to determine how fast it was traveling, and consider several possible factors, including the engineer’s actions and the maintenance on the railroad. New Jersey Transit has recently faced a series of challenges, from funding shortfalls to the lack of a permanent executive director. Veronique Hakim resigned from the post last year to join the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York. A former Amtrak executive appointed to the job, William Crosbie, ultimately turned it down, leaving Dennis J. Martin as an interim director. Transit advocates have criticized the agency because its board has not met in months. New Jersey lawmakers were at a stalemate recently over how to finance the state’s transportation trust fund, which pays for New Jersey Transit projects, and roads and bridges. After halting most work on transportation projects this summer, Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, announced a deal with Democratic legislative leaders on Friday to raise the gas tax by 23 cents per gallon to finance the fund. After the crash, Mr. Christie said it was too early to know what caused the train to travel at a high speed into the station or whether the crash could have been prevented by a technology known as positive train control, which can automatically slow or stop a train. New Jersey Transit has not installed the technology, the Federal Railroad Administration said. New Jersey Transit agreed in June to pay $70, 000 in penalties for 10 safety violations found by the administration, according to its 2015 enforcement report. Two of those fines were for violations of passenger equipment safety regulations, the report shows. Reports covering the last three years show that New Jersey Transit agreed, from 2013 through 2015, to pay nearly $335, 000 in penalties for 33 violations of federal safety regulations found by the railroad administration. Ten of those fines were for violations of passenger equipment safety regulations, the reports show. Stephen Burkert, a spokesman for a union that represents New Jersey Transit rail workers, welcomed the federal agency’s safety review. At the Hoboken Terminal on Saturday afternoon, crews prepared to clear the station of debris. The whirring of buzz saws and banging of tools filled the building as crews began to remove the rubble by hand, loading the pieces into small bulldozers. New Jersey Transit train service at the terminal has been halted since the crash. The agency has not said when it would return. | 1 |
Posted on November 3, 2016 by Michael Collins
Donald Trump’s post election experience may be as bad or worse than the nightmare he hopes to visit on Hillary Clinton, perhaps worse.
Jane Doe ( proceeding under a pseudonym ) filed a civil lawsuit against Donald Trump and convicted sex offender, Jeremy Epstein, for multiple acts of sexual and physical abuse, which occurred when the defendant was 13 years old. Specifically, the the plaintiff charged the defendants with:
“Rape, sexual misconduct, criminal sexual acts, sexual abuse, forcible touching, assault, battery, intentional, and reckless inflection of emotional distress, duress, false imprisonment, and defamation.” Jane Doe v. Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey E. Epstein .
Judge Ronnie Abrams scheduled a December 16, 2016 pretrial conference to set a timeline for the case in the U.S District Court, Southern District in Manhattan.
The complaint argues for the use of Jane Doe rather than the plaintiff’s actual name: “This litigation involves matters that are highly sensitive and of a personal nature, and identification of Plaintiff would pose a risk of retaliatory physical harm to her and to others.”
The heart of Jane Doe’s complaint is summarized below:
“Plaintiff was enticed by promises of money and a modeling career to attend a series of parties, with other similarly situated minor females, held at a New York City residence that was being used by Defendant Jeffrey Epstein. …
“Defendant Trump initiated sexual contact with Plaintiff at four different parties. On the fourth and final sexual encounter with Defendant Trump, Defendant Trump tied Plaintiff to a bed, exposed himself to Plaintiff, and then proceeded to forcibly rape Plaintiff. During the course of this savage sexual attack, Plaintiff loudly pleaded with Defendant Trump to stop but with no effect. Defendant Trump responded to Plaintiff’s pleas by violently striking Plaintiff in the face with his open hand and screaming that he would do whatever he wanted. Exhs. A and B.” Jane Doe v. Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey E. Epstein .
The complaint against Epstein describes behavior similar to that of Trump.
Epstein – a convicted sex offender
Palm Beach, Florida investigators produced a probable cause affidavit in 2006 that documented Jeffrey Epstein’s “unlawful sexual activity with” 4 minors and “lewd and lascivious molestation.” The crimes took place at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion where he entertained lavishly.
Epstein hired Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershhowitz and former special prosecutor Kenneth Starr as his defense team. Even though FBI and other investigations accumulated a victim list of 40 underage girls in Florida , the case was settled in 2008 when Epstein pleaded guilty to one count of soliciting prostitution from underage girls. He was sentenced to 18 months, served 13, and had to register as a risk level 3-sex offender in New York (the highest level).
Trump – brags about close friendship with Epstein
Before Epstein’s legal problems, Trump did a 2002 interview in New York Magazine in which he described a long-term relationship with Epstein.
“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.” New York Magazine
Trump had Epstein at a guest at his Florida mansion and Epstein had Trump as a guest as his estates in Florida and New York.
Will the case go forward if Trump wins the election?
If the case is not dismissed, the scheduling conference on the December 16 will outline various tasks and dates over the first few months of 2017, including the dates for the inauguration of the 45 th President of the United States. If that happens to be Donald Trump, there is nothing to prevent the trial from going forward. The Supreme Court decision in the Bill Clinton – Paula Jones case established the right of citizens to sue presidents in civil court for acts committed prior to taking office.
If the case moves forward, the evidence in the exhibits and subsequent information, the quality of representation at trial, and the judge and jury are the central factors that will determine if a sitting president or losing presidential candidate will do some serious time for the heinous crimes alleged. Unlike the original Epstein case, the visibility for this matter is so high, backroom deals for the rich and famous will be virtually impossible. | 0 |
For generations of gays and lesbians, especially those for whom walking into the sometime secret and darkened doorway of one was often the first step in the process, gay bars have long held a significant place in their personal histories. That was never more apparent than in the days following the mass shootings at Pulse, the gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. in which 49 patrons lost their lives, and which prompted many to recall the nights they had spent in similar settings, and the sense of community they found there. “I can’t tell you how many bars and clubs I’ve been to over the years,” the CNN newsman Anderson Cooper told The New York Times last week. “Every gay man in America remembers the first time they went to a gay bar and how they felt. ” “I don’t want to sound like I’m speaking for the gay community,” said Mr. Cooper, who publicly acknowledged his sexual orientation in 2012. “But it certainly resonates very deeply for me. ” Below, some other prominent gays and lesbians recall what gay bars meant to them as they began to embrace their sexuality, some eagerly and some nervously. Television host and producer I used to sneak away from my straight friends at Boston University and go to Chaps (gay bars often have hypermasculine names) in Boston’s Back Bay. It was quite literally like stepping into another world. When I moved to New York in 1990, the Works on Columbus Avenue and Uncle Charlie’s on Greenwich Avenue were where I built a community of friends. gay bars were integral in our social development. They were an escape from the (often unfriendly) outside world, packed every night of the week, and everyone inside was a friend. Playwright, author and activist In 1953, gay bars were scary. I was a freshman at Yale. I thought I was the only gay man there. I overheard some guys making snide and sneering references to a place called Pirelli’s where “the fairies” went. I was lonely, very. So I went. It was a kind of place only a few blocks from campus. Surely I’d meet a guy from Yale here. When the smoke cleared, I saw 30 or so men, all much older and definitely not collegiate. Eventually a spoke to me. Would I like to go for a ride? We drove for miles looking for a place to “do it. ” We did it parked in some wilderness, a distance from New Haven. He drove me back to Yale and then he drove home. He’d come all the way from Hartford to find his gay bar. This was my coming out at Yale. Except nobody knew it but me. And I was still lonely, very. It would still be a bunch of years before gay bars would start being less scary, and a lot of fun. Actress The first gay bar I ever went to was the Cubbyhole when it was on Hudson Street in the West Village. It would have been around 1984, which made me and I was fresh out of graduate school. I looked very straight and very Midwestern cornfed. I walked around the block before I got the nerve to go in because the lady bouncers looked so fearsome and eyed me suspiciously. When I finally tried to walk in, the door lady stopped me and asked: “Do you know where you are? This is a lesbian bar. ” “Yeah, I know,” I said nonchalantly, as if I’d been walking into dyke bars since the beginning of time. Host of MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” The first time I went to a gay bar was in 1990, thanks to a fairly terrible fake ID that I bought for $25. I was 17 years old, and equally scared of being caught for being underage, and of being recognized by anyone I knew. I don’t even think I ordered a beer. I just remember frantically playing pinball and not speaking to anyone the whole time I was there. That fake ID was my lifeline for years because it got me into the only places where I could find the gay community that I so wanted to be part of. Gay bars and clubs were the alpha and the omega for me then. I wish I still had that terrible fake Arizona drivers’ license — I think my alter ego from that ID (her name was Ann) would be 48 years old by now. I still have her same haircut. Actor and comedian My first gay bar in New York was the Duplex, because it was kind of a soft launch into the gay world. My good friend Diane Davis and I used to get up onstage after a few drinks and sing “Sun and Moon” from “Miss Saigon. ” That may have been my first gay bar over all. I went to school at Northwestern and lived with a bunch of gay guys, and we would go out to Boystown, the big strip of gay bars in Chicago. There was one called Charlie’s Chicago, which was a gay bar. I was, like, I’m gay, but I’m not into this. That’s where I started to draw some lines. Actress Between my junior and senior year of high school, I drove an ice cream truck in my hometown Belleville, Ill. My truck broke down near this little bar called Lil’s Tavern. I had heard rumblings about this tavern. I had an aunt and uncle who lived near there, so we would barbecue with them, and I heard words bandied about like “bulldyke” and “ . ” I knew they would have a phone where I could call the boss, so I went in and in the corner was a table with six big ol’ butch dykes. Like, monster butch dykes. I had never seen one before. It was noon or so, and it was completely empty except for these six huge dykes playing poker. And one of them looked up at me and yelled, “Hey, baby butch!” I’ll never forget it. I did one of those takes, like, “Oh, she’s talking to me. ” Performer Rialto Tap in Chicago was the first black gay bar I went to, and what I really remember was the cracked tile dance floor. This was when everyone was playing raw house music and bands like Heaven 17 and Yazoo. After that, I went to C. O. D. As in Cash on Delivery. That’s where I first heard Frankie Knuckles. I was there underage with a fake ID. I was a trans person so I was an outsider, but it was where people went to dance and get away from the everyday. It was acceptance. It was no fear. I told my parents I was staying at a friend’s house. Novelist (“We the Animals”) When I was 20, 21, and I liked to go out in a red skirt with a duck patch on it, which I paired with a hoodie and Chuck Taylors. I remember one night on the walk to the Stud in San Francisco, a man took me in with disgust — my hairy legs, my painted lips — and called me a “faggot,” in that quiet, direct way that always seems particularly menacing, looking straight into my eyes. I remember dancing particularly hard that night. I remember needing to feel beautiful, and catching glimpses in the mirrored wall of my hairy legs coming out under that skirt, catching glimpses of my desperate twirling. I remember my boyfriend was there, smiling at me, lovingly bemused. And then another man, who sidled up to me at the bar when I paused for beer, said to me, “Girl, you are figuring it out tonight on that dance floor,” and I was, and I still am. Actress and comedian It was 1980, maybe 1981. I was — 19, living at my dad’s home in Commack, Long Island. My neighbor was housing a relative from England for the summer. We were both gay newbies. There was only one gay club that we knew of. I think it was called Thunders. In French the word for lightning is éclair. How I remembered that from ninth grade French? No idea. I asked my dad if I could use the car to go out. “Where to?” he asked (at 10 p. m. on a Friday night). “The bakery,” I said, “to get éclairs. ” Silence, and then, he said “O. K. ” Peter and I drove the dented white Volare to the strip mall in Commack. We danced the night away — drinking Bud Light. I felt happy and free. On the way home we made sure to stop at the Candlelight diner — around 2 a. m. — to pick up éclairs. Dad was clueless. From that day on, “bakery” was our code word for gay bar. Broadcaster and author On a Sunday night in July 1991, at a sprawling complex called Tracks in the District of Columbia, I found thousands of young black gay men and lesbians. At times, as I walked around the three dance floors, it seemed as though everyone in Washington was gay. The men at the gym, the parishioners at my church, the salespeople at the department stores, even the guards at the White House were there. But here, unlike the white gay clubs, the patrons appreciated, and in fact reveled in, black beauty. For the first time in my life, I felt not only desirous of others but desirable to them as well. Cartoonist, author of the graphic memoir “Fun Home” My first gay bar was Satan’s, in Akron, Ohio. I was in college, and a bunch of us drove an hour and a half to get there. I was used to feeling like a total alien when I was in any kind of social group. But that night, in the large mixed crowd (there weren’t enough gay people to support a separate club for women) I experienced the profound existential relief, for once, of not being the only queer. A year later, in 1981, I moved to New York. There was a lot of routine hostility on the street. Even in Sheridan Square on a weekend night you’d get hassled for holding hands. But then you’d step past the bouncer at the Duchess, and you were home free. The bar had its own perils — no one ever paid the slightest attention to me there — but it afforded me the space to just be, with my guard down, and that was salvational. President, the Ford Foundation In 1978, my freshman year at the University of Texas, my sophisticated friend Kenneth would drive us in his new Cutlass to a bar called Austin Country. It was a giant converted warehouse, with bars encircling the dance floor and the biggest disco ball in Austin. I still can hear Karen Young belting out “Hot Shot. ” I remember the closeted fraternity boys, who had just dropped their dates at the sorority house — and the girls who loved to spin and gyrate on the dance floor, earning the attention of adoring gay boys. By my senior year, the mood was changing. We were focused on getting into law school, or business school, or landing a job. Tragically, AIDS was beginning its deadly, devastating advance. The frivolity of those fast, fulsome, fleeting days has long since given way. But in that infectious music, to borrow a phrase from Sylvester, we were “made to feel mighty real. ” Author and playwright When I was a teenage apprentice in summer stock, I went to my first gay bar in suburban Connecticut. I don’t remember the bar’s name, but the parking lot was packed with station wagons. The atmosphere was friendly and the outfits were from Sears and Brooks Brothers. I remember thinking that if I said “Dad?” lots of guys would turn around. Author, “The Noonday Demon,” “Far Away” There were two gay bars in the neighborhood where I grew up. One was Uncle Charlie’s Uptown, the other had a punning name I didn’t understand at the time: Camp David. I haunted them, promenading back and forth with our family dog, whom I had to walk after dinner, and trying to see past the darkened windows and curtained doors, simultaneously hoping and fearing that one of those men in tight jeans would want to strike up an intimacy as he exited. By the time I was old enough to enter such an establishment, I had my own tight jeans and inchoate prospects. But contrary to so many narratives of relief at finding a gay context, my initial experience was primarily of anxiety, because to be where the least acceptable aspect of myself was the explicit topic made me feel more naked than the boys. It was Boy Bar on St. Marks Place, and I clung to someone I knew named Debbie who was temporarily lesbian. Sex was already easy to find, though it unnerved me. Love was not unimaginable, though I didn’t yet have the hang of it. Ease and dignity, however, had seemed incompatible with my gayness until my sweaty June bar visit set me on a new path, one that much later led me to marrying my husband, having our children, and becoming an activist for L. G. B. T. Q. rights. Potter and designer Providence, R. I. 1989. I’m at my local gay watering hole, the No Name (a. k. a. No Shame) frivolously dancing to Bronski Beat. In walks a dude from New York who was a member of ACT UP, wearing a leather jacket that said “Don’t Tread on Me. ” It was a defining moment for me. It was about gay empowerment, it was about not getting messed with and it was about the importance of addressing an existential crisis head on. I moved to New York the next year. Opening Ceremony, and director, Kenzo Wonder B — r was one of my favorite New York haunts. I remember, it was on a really random night, and it was pretty quiet — maybe 10 people in the bar. Of the 10 people, in the back, was Madonna and her little crew, just going out on a Tuesday night. My friend girl Robin used to D. J. there, so we would go, and this time it was me and my six friends — trying to play it cool as much as we could. Playwright and producer It was the Roosterfish, a dingy nautical gay bar in Venice Beach in Los Angeles. I went to stupidly try and find a gay surfer who loved Didion, Ed Ruscha and Tecate. I ended up with a Republican boy with red hair, a economics fanatic from Pepperdine up the coast in Malibu. We made out in the back. I found his politics repulsively erotic. There was a jukebox, and I think it had Dennis Wilson’s ultra cool “Pacific Ocean Blue” on it, which I loved. We went back to my place, and I explored the dichotomy between lust and politics. Fashion and costume designer My first early experience that I remember was my trips to Provincetown, Mass. and it was fun and liberating. It occupied a couple of years of my life during my early 20s. Provincetown was a gay destination, a mecca where gay people at that time could feel comfortable and celebratory. It was particularly attractive because the gay society in the early ’60s was much more underground in the big cities. I would describe it as an escape from gay reality. Provincetown was a free and open space, lots of great performers, people out to have fun, and this is exactly what it was to me. Creative director, Altuzarra The first gay club I went to was Le Queen in Paris when I was in high school. It still exists — it’s on the — but it was an institution at the time. I was probably 16, and I remember being very about going. I was really new to that sort of scene. I remember it being very dark and no one talking to me. I think I stayed about an hour, an hour and a half — not dancing, not drinking, though I’m sure I was bopping around in my dark corner. I think at the time, I thought I was going to find a boyfriend if I went out, or become friends with people, which clearly doesn’t happen in a techno club in Paris. But it felt very exhilarating. It was my first time interacting with other gay people, even though I wasn’t really interacting with them — at least I was in their presence. That was a very powerful thing. Psychologist and former National Basketball Association player I’m from Manchester, England, so we have a very vibrant gay community that is very well integrated. There was an area called the Village. I used to go there with my sister with my friends routinely. In the U. S. I felt differently about it. I lived in Arizona, in Scottsdale, while I played in the league. I went to a little bar there called BS West. I remember walking in that first time quite tentatively with a group of my friends. Immediately, I get a drink, I turn around and I see someone at the bar and say, “Damn it, I know that guy. ” It was Bill Kennedy, the N. B. A. ref, who came out recently. What are the chances that you walk into a bar and there’s a ref? I didn’t talk to him the first time. Later, I did talk to him, and it was amazingly reassuring. In Scottsdale, in that bar, we met other players and other officials from other sports. Not just pro athletes but college athletes as well. It was fascinating to feel my world expanded. The feeling that you have that there are no other gay people in sports evaporated quickly. Fashion consultant Uncle Charlie’s in 1983 was the original social network. I moved to New York in January of 1983, fresh off the boat from Salina, Kan. the first place I went was the gay bar. It gave me permission to be me. There was such a culture of going out after work then. Everybody went to Uncle Charlie’s. Fashion designer The first gay club I went to was probably when I was 16. It was called City Nights in San Francisco. I remember I would have to get a fake ID as it was an club. But all my friends were older at that point because I lived by myself in S. F. and made friends from just going out. Night life was my escape from the day to day. I would go every Thursday: night. I was very lucky to have the community I grew up in be so supportive. Singer and songwriter I came out when I was pretty young. I might have even been 13, but let’s just say 14, to be somewhat respectable. Montreal had a pretty decadent gay scene. There was a lot of cruising and tons of bathhouses. My first gay bar was this place called Alcatraz. I was alone — I kind of snuck out of my house wearing spandex. I was from Westmount, which was a more area, and Alcatraz was in a poor French neighborhood. So I was like this lost little rich boy wearing a cravat. I didn’t actually have that much sex, per se, but it was fun and exciting. But it was also scary. I was just trying to figure my way out. I knew instinctively that the path that my life would take was through that barroom door. CNN anchor I was deeply closeted in college. Everybody was. It was the 1980s, it was the South, and people didn’t come out then as quickly as they do now. With my friends, mostly straight frat guys, I would frequent a popular college bar at L. S. U. called the Bengal on Highland Road in Baton Rouge, La. But inevitably I would sneak off, very carefully, to the bars down the road, just past the straight bar. One was named Xanthus, an “alternative” bar where the bouncer was a girl named Big Hair. (By the way, Hair and I are still friends to this day.) The dance floor there was filled with punk rockers, bow heads (sorority girls) gay boys, lesbians and every kind of person under the sun, and I loved it. But the gay bar was a bit harder to navigate because it was across the street and one could easily be spotted entering and leaving. After I finally built up the liquid courage to do it, I never turned back. The eclectic music, the light show, the cute guys milling about, the club kids dancing on speakers: It was gay heaven! I didn’t have to pretend anymore. I was finally at home. Actress and musician My first gay bar was a lesbian dive called the Egyptian (“E”) Room in Portland, Ore. It had a terrible layout: a series of cramped, dank rooms, all seemingly accidental like a human habitrail. There were baby dyke couples twinned out with matching tongue rings and spiky hair, uniformed post office ladies, construction workers, power lezzies in Paula Poundstone blazers, and butches taking up space at the bar or around the pool table, manspreading because they could. I think I went to the E Room as much to witness another woman’s freedom as I did to get a sense of my own. A gay bar is ours. It’s ours like putty, it’s ours like clay. The environment is both ridiculous and profound, but we get to decide when it’s one or both, or neither. Only away from the glare of homophobia could we experience malleability, a flexing of the self, a full rotation. Who knew there were 360 degrees? | 1 |
Police arrested a man in connection with the death of a jogger from Queens, New York, the NYPD announced Sunday. [Chanel Lewis, 20, of Brooklyn, was taken into custody Saturday for allegedly killing jogger Karina Vetrano, NBC New York reports. “This is a very good day for justice in New York City,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said. Lewis is facing murder and sexual assault charges and is expected to be arraigned Sunday afternoon or Monday. He had no history of violent crimes, sources said. Authorities believe Lewis seized Vetrano near an area where Howard Beach route she jogged connected to an East New York bicycle path that runs along the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn. The discovery led authorities to Lewis’ home, where officials arrested him. Vetrano, 30, vanished after she went for a jog through Spring Creek Park in Howard Beach. Authorities say Vetrano was raped and strangled after she put up a fight. Vetrano’s father found her body in the weeds about 15 feet off the path she jogged while helping police search for her. Police linked the suspect to DNA found on Vetrano’s body, but couldn’t find a match back in August to a national or state DNA database, WPIX reports. The NYPD’s Police Commissioner and Queens District Attorney, Richard Brown, requested that the state DNA lab do a test called “familial searching” that would look for male relatives of the unknown killer in the case. In this case, DNA testing was performed on the “Y” chromosome of the sample collected at the crime scene which can identify male relatives. It was through this type of DNA testing that authorities found a match with Lewis. Vetrano’s family put together a GoFundMe page to collect donations to be used as a reward as police searched for her killer, the New York Daily News reports. The family raised more than $287, 000 as of Saturday night. | 1 |
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The most memorable play of spring training across all of baseball — and, by now, the most watched — involved a low level Mets prospect named Luis Guillorme. And he was not even on the diamond at the time. Guillorme, a infielder, was hanging on the railing of the Mets dugout at First Data Field on Thursday afternoon during the second inning of a spring training game against the Miami Marlins when commotion erupted around him. After whiffing at a pitch from Mets starter Robert Gsellman, Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria lost the hold on his bat, and it flew toward the Mets dugout. Guillorme did not flinch. With his left hand holding him to the railing, he reached back with his right and snatched the wooden projectile — by the knob. He then nonchalantly tossed it back on to the field. “I just literally saw the bat coming at me and caught it,” Guillorme told MLB. com. “Didn’t think much of it. ” The world thought otherwise. Video of the catch was replayed repeatedly on social media. Guillorme told reporters that he had dozens of text messages and social media notifications waiting on his phone after the game. “It was very impressive, because bats aren’t light, and to catch it backhand on the knob . .. ” said Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo. Guillorme’s catch may have saved him from a nasty bruise. While Guillorme remained composed as the bat spiraled toward the dugout, his teammates around him braced for the worst. To Guillorme’s left, T. J. Rivera ducked and covered his head. And poor Nimmo saw the threat of a flying bat but actually moved toward it. Hoping to get behind the dugout railing, Nimmo spun to his left and used his back as a shield on the bench. Mets prospect Dominic Smith threw himself out of Nimmo’s way and on to the ground. When he stood back up, Nimmo smiled and laughed, seeing that Guillorme had caught the bat. “We just know when a bat is flying, most of us, our reaction is to try and get out of the way of it,” Nimmo said. “Not stand there, catch it, no big deal and throw it back to them. I’m very glad he caught it, because I think it would have hit me. ” The moment was fitting for Guillorme, who is rated the 17th best prospect in the Mets minor leagues, according to MLB. com. He was drafted out of Coral Springs Charter High School in Coral Springs, Fla. in the 10th round by the Mets in 2013. He is undersized he was listed at and 190 pounds last season. He hit . 263 at Class A St. Lucie with minimal power. But according to some scouting reports, he was the best defensive infielder in the Mets minor leagues and possessed the best hands. The world saw that on Thursday. | 1 |
Reuters
Police arrested 141 Native Americans and other protesters in North Dakota in a tense standoff that spilled into Friday morning between law enforcement and demonstrators seeking to halt construction of a disputed oil pipeline.
Police in riot gear used pepper spray and armored vehicles in an effort to disperse an estimated 330 protesters and clear a camp on private property in the path of the proposed $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, according to photos and statements released by the Morton County Sheriff’s Department.
Some protesters responded by throwing rocks, bottles and Molotov cocktails at police, attaching themselves to vehicles and starting fires, police said.
“It was a very active and tense evening as law enforcement worked through the evening to clear protesters,” the department said.
A female protester fired three rounds at the police line before she was arrested, the department said.
In another shooting incident, a man was taken into custody after a man was shot in the hand. That “situation involved a private individual who was run off the road by protesters,” the department said in a Facebook post.
The 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline, being built by a group of companies led by Energy Transfer Partners LP, would offer the fastest and most direct route to bring Bakken shale oil from North Dakota to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.
Supporters say it would be safer and more cost-effective than transporting the oil by road or rail.
But the pipeline has drawn the ire of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and environmental activists who say it threatens the water supply and sacred tribal sites. They have been protesting for several months, and dozens have been arrested.
In all, 141 people were arrested on various charges including conspiracy to endanger by fire or explosion, engaging in a riot and maintaining a public nuisance, the sheriff’s department said.
Native American protesters had occupied the site since Monday, saying they were the land’s rightful owners under an 1851 treaty with the U.S. government.
Video posted on social media showed dozens of police and two armored vehicles slowly approaching one group of protesters.
Reuters was unable to confirm the authenticity of the video, which showed a helicopter overhead as some protesters said police had used bean-bag guns in an effort to chase them out of the camp.
North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple said police were successful in clearing the camp.
“Private property is not the place to carry out a peaceful protest,” he said.
Members of the Standing Rock Sioux asked Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Thursday to oppose the pipeline. She has not taken a public position on the issue. | 0 |
The political and business elite, who attend the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, are beginning to admit their push for globalisation and open borders contributed to the worldwide populist backlash and the rejection of the mass integration project. [Harvard professor and former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund Kenneth Rogoff told Bloomberg that following WEF 2016 he “started to grow concerned” Donald J. Trump would become the next president of the U. S. because his fellow frequent attendees of the gathering in the Swiss town of Davos were certain that Mr. Trump would not win. “A joke I’ve told 1, 000 people in the months since leaving Davos is that the conventional wisdom of Davos is always wrong,” said the former IMF chief who is scheduled to attend Davos again this year along with some 3, 000 other members of the political, business, media, and academic elite. “No matter how improbable, the event most likely to happen is the opposite of whatever the Davos consensus is,” he added. Davos also failed to predict the rise of populism in Europe, Italy’s rejection of constitutional change that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Mattheo Renzi, or the UK voting to leave the European Union (EU) which Forbes described as the “populist revolt against Davos Man”. “Davos Man” was coined by political scientist Samuel P. Huntington who described “these transnationals” as “[having] little need for national loyalty, view national boundaries as obstacles that thankfully are vanishing, and see national governments as residues from the past whose only useful function is to facilitate the elite’s global operations”. One of the eight Oxford University academics set to attend the meeting, Ngaire Woods, dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, said, “There has to be some humility. For 30 years the elite have said, ‘We’re managing globalization, and we’re making it work for everyone’. ” “They cannot just keep repeating that,” added the frequent Davos visitor. However, WEF founder Klaus Shwab has alleged that globalisation was an “easy scapegoat” for world angst, and argued that populism wasn’t the answer, saying, “We cannot just have populist solutions”. With populism high on the agenda at Davos, one of the sessions will include a panel of psychologists offering thoughts on “cultivating appropriate emotions in a time of nationalist populism”. Managing Director of the IMF Christine Lagarde, who was found guilty in December of criminal negligence in an arbitration case over the misappropriation of funds, expressed that she wanted to rehabilitate the appearance of globalism. She said she wanted a “move toward globalization that has a different face, and which is not excluding people along the way”. Lagarde will be headlining a session at Davos entitled: “Squeezed and Angry: How to Fix the Middle Class Crisis” along with hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio. Days before the EU referendum vote, the French lawyer belittled Brexit voters by implying they were called for a “united Europe” and launched a report claiming a ‘Leave’ vote would lead to half a million job losses. Also anticipated to attend the exclusive conclave is billionaire open borders activist and founder of the Open Society Foundations George Soros, who admitted involvement in Europe’s Migrant Crisis and called national borders “an obstacle” and has financial ties to the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Other notable attendees include a dozen members of the European Commission including Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, who responded,“I do not take my mandate from the European people” when asked a question by a poverty campaigner regarding the unpopular Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal between America and the EU, which was opposed by millions of Europeans. | 1 |
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Proud parents converged at Stanford University’s commencement on Sunday to hear Ken Burns, the documentary filmmaker, welcome the elite class of graduates into the wider world. But across the idyllic university grounds, in the shade of a large tree, is a quiet stretch of lawn that speaks to a persistent and darker side of campus life, at Stanford and across the country. It was here in January last year, an hour past midnight on a Saturday night, that a young woman lay on the ground, unresponsive, her hair disheveled and knotted, her body covered in dirt and pine needles, and her dress hitched up above her waist. The assault of the woman — she is described as Jane Doe in court documents — has led to a firestorm of outrage for what many saw as her assailant’s light punishment, a jail term with the possibility of being released after three months. In March, a jury convicted the assailant, Brock Turner, 20, a champion swimmer and Olympic hopeful who was a freshman at the time, of intent to commit rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person and two related sections of the law, all felonies. The court papers, some of them released just last week, outline the complex and intense national debate over the sentence, and over sexual assaults on campus. Yet they also portray a case that legal experts say was unusual. The assault was not hidden in a dorm room or clouded by the complex emotions of a college romance. Mr. Turner and his victim had met only minutes before their encounter. The assault was taking place beneath the tree when a pair of Swedish students passed by on bicycles. The men stopped, and Mr. Turner began to run away. They chased him down and tackled him. “It happened in full view,” said Shanlon Wu, a lawyer who is a specialist in campus rape cases. “You had unimpeachable witnesses — someone was basically caught . ” The court papers and police reports depict an event that could be found virtually any weekend at any college — a fraternity party with alcohol. The woman, who was not a Stanford student, was 22, working full time and living with her parents in Palo Alto at the time of the assault, according to court documents. She described the decision to go to a fraternity party on campus as a lark and a way to spend more time with her younger sister, who accompanied her. After she had a meal at home and four shots of whiskey, she told the police, her mother drove her, her sister and two other friends to the Stanford campus at 11 p. m. The women ended up at a party hosted by a fraternity, Kappa Alpha, which was also attended by Mr. Turner. The woman’s sister told the police that they met several men at the party, but that “one of the guys was very aggressive and trying to kiss everyone,” according to a police report. She later identified that man as Mr. Turner and said she had twice repelled kissing and advances by him. The sister left the party to accompany an intoxicated friend back to her room, and soon after the victim and Mr. Turner left the party, according to court documents. Mr. Turner told the police that he and the victim kissed and then walked away from the fraternity house holding hands and ended up on the ground kissing. He removed the victim’s underwear and penetrated her with his fingers. He said he never took his own pants off. The Swedish students who came upon Mr. Turner and the woman said they stopped to intervene because they saw Mr. Turner on top of her, thrusting his pelvis toward her, court papers and the police reports say. They said she appeared motionless, her eyes closed and her head tilted to the side. One of the men yelled to Mr. Turner, who “looked up, slowly got off of” the victim “and began running rapidly away from her,” according to a case summary by the prosecutor. The Swedes chased him and brought him to the ground. After the assault, the woman told a police officer that the last thing she remembered was being with her sister at the party. Her next memory was waking up in the hospital feeling groggy and confused, she told the police. The court and police documents detail the level of drinking by everyone involved. Both Mr. Turner and the woman were heavily intoxicated, according to police reports. Mr. Turner reported having seven beers and a “couple of swigs” of whiskey. In addition to the four shots of whiskey she had at home, Jane Doe reported having two shots of vodka and “some beer” once she had reached the Stanford campus. She remained unconscious for three hours after paramedics reached her and began giving her treatment, including an intravenous drip, police reports said. The degree to which the inebriation of both Mr. Turner and the woman should have been a factor in sentencing was a central point of contention. Monica Lassettre, the probation officer who wrote sentencing recommendations, advised the judge to be lenient partly on the grounds that Mr. Turner was drunk. “This case, when compared to other crimes of similar nature, may be considered less serious due to the defendant’s level of intoxication. ” She recommended four to six months in a county jail, even though Mr. Turner faced a maximum sentence of 14 years in state prison. She also based her recommendation on what she said was his “sincere remorse and empathy for the victim,” and his lack of a prior criminal record. Alaleh Kianerci, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case, saw the woman’s intoxication as a reason for a harsher sentence, and she urged the judge to impose six years. The fact that the victim was so intoxicated was an “aggravating factor warranting a prison sentence,” Ms. Kianerci wrote. “Ultimately, the fact that the defendant preyed upon an intoxicated stranger on a college campus should not be viewed as a less serious crime, than if he were to assault a stranger in Downtown Palo Alto,” Ms. Kianerci said. In the woman’s courtroom statement, which went viral when it was released to the news media a week ago, she described drinking too much and blacking out as “an amateur mistake” — but not a criminal act. “Regretting drinking is not the same as regretting sexual assault,” she said. “We were both drunk, the difference is I did not take off your pants and underwear, touch you inappropriately, and run away. ” The victim added in her statement that she remains deeply traumatized by the assault. In a widely circulated comment in the courtroom when issuing his sentence, Judge Aaron Persky of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, said there was “less moral culpability” for a defendant who is intoxicated. His sentence was harsher than the probation officer asked for, but a petition for his removal has now swelled beyond a million signatures. The court papers paint diametrically opposed pictures of Mr. Turner. Family members and friends describe him in sentencing documents as gentle, polite and, in the words of a former high school teacher, “an individual of true kindness, compassion and promise. ” Adjusting to the social life at Stanford was difficult, Mr. Turner said in his own statement to the court. “Coming from a small town in Ohio, I had never really experienced celebrating or partying that involved alcohol,” he wrote. The prosecution’s sentencing memo, however, described a man who embraced numerous forms of illicit drugs both at Stanford and in high school. The memo said the police concluded from photos and text messages found on Mr. Turner’s phone that he was “engaging in excessive drinking and using drugs,” including LSD, ecstasy and an extract of cannabis. Mr. Turner had a previous arrest for underage alcohol possession in November 2014, the memo said. The prosecution document also said he aggressively flirted with women. Detectives interviewed two women who had “an encounter” with Mr. Turner the weekend before the assault, the memo said. He was “touchy” and put his hands on one of the women’s upper thigh. Mr. Turner had “creeped” her out because of his persistence, the woman told the police. Ten days after his arrest, the university reached an agreement with Mr. Turner that he withdraw from the university. “That was a much more expedited process than if we had gone through a formal expulsion process,” Lisa Lapin, a Stanford spokeswoman said. “It was the harshest punishment that the university can have. ” The woman’s courtroom statement continued to reverberate across the country and campus this past week. Michele Dauber, a Stanford law professor who has helped create the university’s policies for dealing with sexual assault complaints, called her a new Rosa Parks. “We are at a real watershed moment in public perception of campus sexual assaults,” said Ms. Dauber, who is also leading the effort to have Judge Persky recalled. In a letter submitted to the court, Ms. Dauber said that a recent university survey found that 43 percent of senior female undergraduates said they had experienced nonconsensual sexual assault or misconduct. Ms. Dauber is friends with the victim and said she is helping her to obtain a book contract. Mr. Turner is banned from campus, and as part of his criminal sentence, Mr. Turner will also be registered a sex offender for life. | 1 |
Associated Press reporter admits faking news stories for Hillary Clinton… stunning admission reveals how AP prints whatever the Clintons want, FACTS BE DAMNED share in: Corruption , Hillary Clinton , Lies , Mainstream Media
In case you had any doubt whatsoever about the total dishonesty of the Associated Press — which also pushes pro-pharma vaccine propaganda and Monsanto’s quack science talking points — check out this email involving AP reporter Eric Tucker and Clinton operatives David Kendall and Cheryl Mills (source: Wikileaks ).
The authenticity of this email is already confirmed via Google.com DKIM key (an email authentication code). (Bolding added below.)
Subject: Re: FW: Hi again from AP (inquiry about thumb drive)
From: [email protected] Subject: Re: FW: Hi again from AP (inquiry about thumb drive)
On Tue, Aug 11, 2015 at 6:02 PM, Kendall, David <[email protected]>wrote:
It’s getting out.
725 Twelfth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20005 (P) 202-434-5145 | (F) 202-434-5029
*Sent:* Tuesday, August 11, 2015 6:00 PM *To:* Kendall, David *Subject:* Hi again from AP (inquiry about thumb drive)
Hi David,
We have been told, and we are preparing to report, that the FBI has taken possession of the thumb drive that was once in your possession. This is what we have been informed, and we wanted to see whether there was any sort of comment that could be provided. If you wanted to steer us away and say that we are misinformed, then I would gladly accept that as well . But we have solid reason to believe this. We’d welcome any comment you can offer. Thanks very much.
Eric Associated Press reporter says he knows it’s true, but will gladly print that it’s false
What’s truly astonishing in this email is how AP reporter Eric Tucker says he will gladly LIE to cover for the Clintons . In plain English, he explains that he has “solid reason” to believe the report about the thumb drive, but he will gladly publish a false narrative via the Associated Press , and he even suggests what that false narrative should be: “If you wanted to steer us away and say that we are misinformed, then I would gladly accept that as well.”
In other words, he’s not just corrupt, dishonest and fraudulent as a journalist, he’s also SUGGESTING the false narrative the Clintons should use!
This is the exact same way the AP talks to the CDC about vaccines and measles, by the way. Essentially, the Associated Press reporters say, “We are total media whores, we will bend over and grab our ankles while you shove your fake story down the throats of our readers who foolishly think we’re a credible news organization.”
You gotta love Eric Tucker for this. The guy takes the prize for finally spelling out in black and white what we’ve known for years: the AP is a total joke when it comes to real journalism . Note carefully that the AP won’t even fire Tucker for this admission. He’ll probably get a prize of some sort. How many other Associated Presstitutes have deliberately LIED to cover up Clinton crimes?
It all brings to mind the obvious question: How many other Associated Presstitutes deliberately lied to cover up Clinton crimes?
Just what percentage of AP stories about the Clinton scandals are actually FAKE NEWS pretending to be credible journalism? (Answer: Probably about 99%.)
It’s not just AP, either. It’s the same story at every other mainstream news organization across America: They’re all liars and crooks, and they’re all working for Hillary Clinton, the serial killer and rape excuser.
Keep ’em coming, Wikileaks. The world needs you now more than ever. Receive breaking news and alerts from Newstarget! | 0 |
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Nation Puts 2016 Election Into Perspective By Reminding Itself Some Species Of Sea Turtles Get Eaten By Birds Just Seconds After They Hatch WASHINGTON—Saying they felt anxious and overwhelmed just days before heading to the polls to decide a historically fraught presidential race, Americans throughout the country reportedly took a moment Thursday to put the 2016 election into perspective by reminding themselves that some species of sea turtles are eaten by birds just seconds after they hatch. Cleveland Indians Worried Team Cursed After Building Franchise On Old Native American Stereotype CLEVELAND—Having watched in horror as their team crumbled after a 3-1 World Series lead, members of the Cleveland Indians expressed concern Thursday that the organization has been cursed for building their franchise on an incredibly old Native American stereotype. Report: Election Day Most Americans’ Only Time In 2016 Being In Same Room With Person Supporting Other Candidate WASHINGTON—According to a report released Thursday by the Pew Research Center, Election Day 2016 will, for the majority of Americans, mark the only time this year they will occupy the same room as a person who supports a different presidential candidate. Nurse Reminds Elderly Man She’s Just Down The Hall If He Starts To Die DES PLAINES, IL—Assuring him that she’d be at his side in a jiffy, local nurse Wendy Kaufman reminded an elderly resident at the Briarwood Assisted Living Community that she was just down the hall if he started to die, sources reported Tuesday. | 0 |
Share on Facebook The assumption that calcium is the holy grail of what constructs solid bones is totally instilled in our society, however it has no premise in reality–calcium is yet ONE of the numerous minerals your body requires for building solid bones. Dietary admission of magnesium, not so much calcium, may be the way to creating sound bones amid adolescence, as indicated by new research introduced at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) yearly group in the USA. The standard engine has been advancing the utilization of calcium to counteract weak bones for quite a long time. Age-old myths that calcium supplementation creates solid bones and teeth are strengthened in practically every foundation. Anyway, how viable is calcium supplementation? A 2004 research demonstrated that individuals with excess calcium in their coronary artery, who take statins, have a 17-fold higher danger of heart attacks than those with lower blood vessel calcium levels; scientists presumed that the two most authoritative pointers of heart attacks were LDL levels and calcium build-up. A 2007 research demonstrated that calcium from dietary sources has better consequences for bone wellbeing than calcium from supplements in postmenopausal ladies ( Am J Clin Nutr 2007 ). A 2008 research discovered calcium supplements are connected with a more noteworthy number of heart attacks in postmenopausal ladies ( BMJ 2008 ) A 2010 meta-analysis demonstrated calcium supplements (without coadministered vitamin D) are connected with increased danger for heart attacks ( BMJ 2010 ) As per the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF), food will dependably be the best wellspring of calcium: “People who get the recommended amount of calcium from foods do not need to take a calcium supplement. These individuals still may need to take a vitamin D supplement. Getting too much calcium from supplements may increase the risk of kidney stones and other health problems.” “Calcium supplements have been widely embraced by doctors and the public, on the grounds that they are a natural and therefore safe way of preventing osteoporotic fractures,” reported the analysts, headed by Professor Sabine Rohrmann, from Zurich University's foundation of social and preventive medicine. “It is now becoming clear that taking this micronutrient in one or two daily [doses] is not natural, in that it does not reproduce the same metabolic effects as calcium in food,” they included. The major part of the supplements on the supplement market nowadays contain calcium carbonate which is a secondary type of calcium and makers put a basic chelating agent like citrus extract to make it more absorbable, however the final item is second rate compared to other calcium supplements, for example, calcium orotate, which is the main known manifestation of calcium which can adequately enter the layers of cells. An alternate truth the vast majority are ignorant of is the myth advanced by the dairy business that eating pasteurized dairy items , for example, milk or cheese, builds calcium levels. This is completely false. The purification preparation just makes calcium carbonate, which has truly no chance to get of entering the cells without a chelating agent. So what the body does is force the calcium from the bones and different tissues keeping in mind the end goal to cushion the calcium carbonate in the blood. This methodology ACTUALLY CAUSES OSTEOPOROSIS. Milk absolutely does not do a body decent in the event that it's sanitized. Magnesium And Increasing Awareness The new information from Professor Steven Abrams and his partners at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston finds that admission and ingestion of magnesium amid youth are key indicators of aggregate bone mineral substance and bone thickness – while dietary calcium admission was not altogether connected with such measures. “Dietary magnesium intake may be an important, relatively unrecognized, factor in bone mineral accretion in children,” – the researchers discovered. “Lots of nutrients are key for children to have healthy bones. One of these appears to be magnesium,” reported Abrams. “Calcium is important, but, except for those children and adolescents with very low intakes, may not be more important than magnesium.” The scientists noted that parents have been encouraged to guarantee their kid has a decent admission of calcium so as to help build solid and sound bones. Then again, the essentialness of different minerals vital for bone wellbeing, for example, magnesium, have not been so generally advanced. Abrams and his group recommended that it might soon be the situation that parents are urged to guarantee that their kids consume enough magnesium, too. More prominent magnesium admission is altogether identified with higher bone mineral thickness (BMD) in men and ladies. There is a surmised 2 percent increment in entire body BMD for each 100 milligram every day increment in magnesium. Osteoporotic fractures are a critical wellbeing issue in aging adults — Dr. Kathryn M. Ryder, of the University of Tennessee, Memphis, and associates note in their report.Given the high pervasiveness of low BMD and fracture, little changes in BMD may have a huge general wellbeing impact. Magnesium is a “less-examined” part of bone that may assume a part in calcium digestion system and bone quality, they include. Supplementing With Magnesium For the dominant part of mankind's history, the proportion of calcium to magnesium in the eating methodology was 1:1, a degree that is viewed as ideal. A proportion that is somewhere around 1:1 and 2:1 is satisfactory (for instance, 800 mg of calcium to 400 mg of magnesium). Sadly, today’s weight control plans contain a normal of 10 times more calcium than magnesium. Magnesium comes in numerous structures. Magnesium oxide or chloride is fine, as is chelated magnesium. Containers normally contain 250-500 mg of magnesium. You can likewise utilize a calcium/magnesium supplement. Try different things with levels. The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for magnesium is 350-400 mg every day, in spite of the fact that for ideal levels, you may require as much as twice that sum. It's best to take your magnesium in isolated measurements for the duration of the day. You can take it either on an empty stomach or with meals. You can likewise add Epsom salts to your baths–epsom salt as magnesium sulfate. It’s ingested through the skin and will help renew magnesium stores. This “treatment” can without much of a stretch incorporate an unwinding bath with a decent book. One percent of the body's magnesium is in the blood, and the body will get it from bones and tissues if that level drops. That implies that a blood test could without much of a stretch demonstrate an ordinary reading, actually when whatever remains of the body is exceptionally inadequate. The best wellsprings of magnesium will always be food. Dietary wellsprings of magnesium incorporate green leafy vegetables. Cacao, seeds, and nuts of any sort are some of the highest food sources in magnesium. Marco Torres is a research specialist, writer and consumer advocate for healthy lifestyles. He holds degrees in Public Health and Environmental Science and is a professional speaker on topics such as disease prevention, environmental toxins and health policy. Related: | 0 |
Politics Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the US 2016 presidential election
GOP nominee Donald Trump does not believe that settlements built by the Zionist regime of Israel in Palestine are illegal, his advisor on Israel says.
David Friedman, who was campaigning for the New York billionaire at a restaurant on Mount Zion (Jabel Sahyoun) in East Jerusalem al-Quds, made the comments to AFP after the Wednesday rally.
"I don't think he believes that the settlements are illegal," Friedman said.
He also said the former reality TV star is "tremendously skeptical" about the so-called two-state solution, promoted by the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama during his eight years in office, but to no avail. David Friedman (L) exiting the Federal Building with Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump, (R) following their appearance in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden, New Jersey, February 25, 2010. (Photo via Bloomberg News)
The Obama administration has already voiced criticism over Tel Aviv’s expansionist policies, considered illegal by the international community.
The presence and continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestine has created a major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.
Over half a million Israelis live in more than 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank. A Palestinian man searches through his belongings after his family home was demolished by Israelis in Beit Hanina, near the Israeli settlement of Ramat Shlomo (background) in EAst Jerusalm al-Quds, on October 26, 2016. (Photo by AFP)
All Israeli settlements are illegal under the international law. Tel Aviv has defied calls to stop the settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Guaranteeing enmity with Tehran
Some 150 people, including extremist Israelis and evangelical Christians, took part in the Trump rally in on Wednesday.
Friedman echoed previous remarks by Trump, saying the real estate mogul would recognize East Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of Israel if he wins the White House in the US 2016 presidential election.
A short video message by Trump was also played at the event, in which he said, "Together we will stand up to the enemies like Iran, bent on destroying Israel and her people," Trump said. "Together we will make America and Israel safe again."
According to leaked emails from March 2015 by former US secretary of state Colin Powell, the regime has pointed 200 nuclear weapons at the Iranian capital. Loading ... | 0 |
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. The presidential candidates focused on reassuring the public that they are in good health. Donald Trump taped an appearance on the “Dr. Oz Show” to be broadcast Thursday, giving a quick of results from a recent medical exam. He revealed that he weighs 267 pounds, which is considered obese for a man of his height, about 6 foot 2. Hillary Clinton’s doctor said she was recovering well from pneumonia and remained “healthy and fit to serve as president of the United States. ” _____ 2. Hackers added another prominent victim: former Secretary of State Colin Powell. His blunt emails fractured the restraint of his public persona, revealing complaints about Mr. Trump (“a national disgrace”) and aides of Mrs. Clinton (for trying to “drag” him into her own email troubles). There was also antagonism toward other members of the Bush cabinet. Mr. Powell referred to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as “the idiot Rummy” and former Vice President Dick Cheney as “a spent force. ” _____ 3. Our analysts took a deep breath after Tuesday’s heady economic news, notably the fastest rate of U. S. income growth in decades. Sorting through the Census Bureau’s numbers uncovers cautionary notes: The gains for the poorest haven’t offset a decade of lost ground. And households outside of urban areas saw their incomes fall 2 percent — one source of the pain driving the tenor of this elections cycle. _____ 4. President Obama welcomed Myanmar’s leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, to the White House and pledged to lift all remaining sanctions against the country as its reward “for a new way of doing business. ” His administration considers her rise from outlawed opposition leader as a triumph of democracy and a validation of the strategy of engagement with former U. S. adversaries. _____ 5. Pittsburgh logged Day 1 of Uber’s car experiment. A few of the service’s most loyal users are taking part in the pilot program, operating in a few square miles of the city’s downtown. During our own reporter’s test ride, a safety engineer in the driver’s seat took control of the car several times — to avoid speeders or when a truck suddenly backed out in front of them. “Pittsburgh,” an Uber officer said, “is the diamond of driving. ” Meanwhile, Tesla Motors was faced with a fatal crash in China that may be the second involving its automated system. _____ 6. A study on prostate cancer is finally out. Researchers followed men with prostate cancer for 10 years and found no difference in death rates among those who had surgery, those who had radiation and those who chose to have the cancer monitored regularly and treated only if it progressed. One doctor said the findings helped confirm that monitoring — if regular and careful — is a valuable approach. _____ 7. Carla Hayden, a veteran of Baltimore’s library system, was sworn in as the 14th librarian of Congress, the nation’s leading repository of knowledge and culture. She is the first woman and the first to serve in the role. “To be the head of an institution that’s associated with knowledge and reading and scholarship when slaves were forbidden to learn how to read on punishment of losing limbs, that’s kind of something,” she said. Our reporting project wants to hear your stories about race and education. We want to hear from parents, teachers and students of — 12, about how race and diversity are being discussed in schools and at home. _____ 8. Acrimony between Turkey and Europe over the Turkish government’s purges and repressions is fraying their deal to curb the flow of refugees. More than a thousand refugees, including Syrians, Afghans, Pakistanis and Iraqis, fled from Turkey to Greece last week. _____ 9. One of our stories today — accompanied by one of our most beautiful photos — examines how Russia’s expression of power abroad includes the cross as well as the sword. The Russian Orthodox Church, which is closely allied with the Kremlin, is pushing into Western Europe with Vladimir Putin’s gospel of cultural conservatism. Above, a service for Russians killed in the July 14 terrorist attack at St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Nice, France. _____ 10. Finally, this is not a jungle gym. It’s a rendering of a climbing sculpture under construction on the Far West Side of Manhattan, created by Thomas Heatherwick, a polymathic British designer of sculpture, furniture and Shanghai’s 2010 World Expo. The darling of wealthy philanthropists and businessmen, he is aiming here to galvanize a development project, the Hudson Yards. _____ Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s last night’s briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes. com. | 1 |
A poll released this week among Venezuelan nationals found that 75 percent of Venezuelans reported losing “at least 19 pounds” in 2016, while 93 percent of Venezuelans said they do not have the money to secure three meals a day for themselves. [The Living Conditions Survey, organized in part by three national universities, also found that 83 percent of Venezuelans were below the nation’s poverty line. While 78 percent of respondents confirmed that they eat breakfast, only 32 percent said they eat two meals a day. A combination of socialist economic mismanagement, government rationing of basic goods, and corruption have contributed to the situation in which Venezuela currently finds itself. For years, finding supermarkets properly stocked with basics such as flour, vegetable oil, and butter has been an odyssey for most Venezuelans. Under Hugo Chávez’s successor, Nicolás Maduro, the situation has become more desperate, with many Venezuelans resorting to extreme measures to survive. A poll released in September found that 15 percent of the nation relied on garbage, most from industrial businesses like groceries and restaurants, to eat. Over half of Venezuelans said they had experienced going to bed hungry, and a similar amount said they were forced to take days off from work to search for food. That situation has not improved — on the contrary, video surfacing this year appears to indicate that scavenging in garbage dumpsters for food has become so popular that Venezuelans now stand in line in front of dumpsters to look for food. Esto es revolución? Pasamos de anaqueles vacíos, colas para conseguir alimentos a hacer cola para comer de la basura #Venezuela @fcarolinahr pic. twitter. — IG: @alereportando (@AleReportando) February 19, 2017, Venezuelans have begun sharing their findings of garbage piles with high potential for containing sustenance on social media. VIDEO Mientras Maduro le cae a embustes a la prensa extranjera, en Los Palos Grandes se ve gente buscando qué comer en la basura. #Chacao pic. twitter. — Richard Sanz (@rsanz777) January 18, 2017, Venezuelans eating rotting food risk their health on a regular basis, and incidents of entire families dying due to eating old or rotted food have occurred. Desperation has also fed crime in one of the most violent countries in the world. The El Nuevo Herald published a report last month detailing new robbery tactics growing increasingly popular among Venezuelan youth. Gang attacks on people leaving markets have become more common, while the frequency of robberies in general increased between 15 and 20 percent in most municipalities nationwide in 2016. Maduro has responded to the growing threat of famine with a number of measures that appear to have worsened the situation. Last year, Maduro ordered the military to take full control of the nation’s food supply. Soldiers in charge of the food subsequently began demanding bribes to ship it around the country. When they were not paid, the food sat in docked cargo ships, rotting on many occasions and worsening the scarcity. Maduro also created a government unit called the CLAP (Local Committee for Supply and Production) to monitor the distribution of food packages in urban areas. groups have accused the CLAP of distributing the food only to known government supporters and threatening not to feed households that have expressed opposition to socialism. Maduro announced this week that he would expand the CLAP program to government salaries, meaning government workers would be paid with CLAP food packages. In some cases, government workers would receive ration tickets to be used at markets for food. “A food ticket is not a salary,” protested Miranda state governor Henrique Capriles Radonski, an opposition politician. He added that the tickets may soon be worthless thanks to hyperinflation: “What does someone do when 100, 000 bolívars in food tickets disappear thanks to inflation, because the price of food goes up every day?” Maduro has previously joked that his mismanagement of the economy has made Venezuelans fitter and more sexually virile. Referring to “Maduro’s diet” in September, the head of state said on national television, “Maduro’s diet gets you hard — no need for Viagra!” | 1 |
Officially, it’s the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit, a extravaganza held the first Monday in May to raise money for the Costume Institute (a. k. a. the fashion department) the only one of the Met’s curatorial departments that has to fund itself. Unofficially, Monday night’s festivities in New York have been called many things, including “the party of the year,” “the Oscars of the East Coast” (mostly because of the star quotient and the elaborate red carpet, in which guests pose on the grand entrance stairs to the museum) and, somewhat pointedly, “an A. T. M. for the Met,” by the publicist Paul Wilmot. Update: see the 2016 red carpet arrivals here. The party signals the opening of the Costume Institute’s annual blockbuster show, and it is known for its celebrity and fashion hosts. This year, the exhibit is “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology,” and the hosts are Anna Wintour, chairwoman of the gala Jonathan Ive, chief design officer of Apple Taylor Swift and the actor Idris Elba. The honorary chairs are the Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld Miuccia Prada and Nicolas Ghesquière, Louis Vuitton’s artistic director. All will be in attendance except for Mr. Lagerfeld, who will be in Cuba because the Chanel Cruise show is in Havana the day after the gala. Ms. Wintour, the editor of American Vogue and the artistic director of Condé Nast, took over as chairwoman of the gala in 1999. Since then, she has been instrumental in transforming a local philanthropic event into the ultimate global cocktail: Take a jigger of famous names from fashion, add film, politics and business, and mix. It is among the hardest party tickets of the year to get — and thus intensely coveted. Tickets this year are $30, 000 apiece, and tables are $275, 000. The party and exhibit are sponsored (this year Apple is the main underwriter) so all the money raised from ticket sales goes to the Costume Institute. Last year, more than $12. 5 million was raised. Of course, not everyone pays for a ticket. Brands often invite celebrities to be their guests and sit at their table, and Ms. Wintour also often invites designers who might not be able to afford a ticket and scatters them around the event. Last year, there were about 600 attendees. Dream on. Unlike other cultural like the New York City Ballet gala or the Frick Collection’s Young Fellows Ball, the Met gala is and there is a waiting list to get on the invitation list. Qualifications for inclusion have to do with buzz and achievement (and beauty) more than money. Ms. Wintour has final say over every invitation and attendee, which means that even if a brand buys a table, it cannot choose everyone who sits at its table: The brand must clear it with her, and Vogue. It’s reality TV at its most glamorous. Watch Justin Bieber schmooze with Rihanna! See Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady greet Donatella Versace! Check out Chelsea Clinton kissing Diane von Furstenberg! Judge whether you approve of their outfits! You get the idea. (And where can you watch? On our Facebook live stream or on E! starting at 7pm ET.) It isn’t explicitly stated that attendees have to dress like the exhibition, but it is encouraged. This can sometimes backfire. In 2013, for example, the theme was “Punk,” and the red carpet, which featured Sarah Jessica Parker in a Philip Treacy fauxhawk hat and graffiti gown, and Madonna in fishnet shorts and a studded plaid jacket, was widely panned. Last year, the exhibit was “China: Through the Looking Glass,” and it created some politically incorrect moments when celebrities and the designers who dressed them got their Asian references muddled. (Lady Gaga, for example, wore a Balenciaga kimonolike look, which seemed to lean toward the Japanese ditto Georgia May Jagger in Gucci.) Generally, it is advisable to play it safe and just get really, really dressed up. That said, what is not negotiable is that if celebrities are invited to the gala by a brand, they have to wear clothes from that brand. This encourages brands to get the best celebrities because they can act as something of an advertisement for a house. It is also why, whenever designers are photographed on the red carpet, their “dates” are almost always famous people. Last year, for example, Marc Jacobs took Cher Christopher Kane, FKA Twigs Alexander Wang, Taraji P. Henson and Jeremy Scott, Katy Perry. This year, you can expect guests to be wearing a lot of Prada, Louis Vuitton and Chanel, given the honorary chairs, though the technology component could yield some interesting results. Beyoncé usually makes the final entrance, so it’s worth watching until the bitter end. The publicist Eleanor Lambert started the gala in 1948 as a typical philanthropic endeavor for the great and good of New York society. Pat Buckley, the wife of the conservative pundit William F. Buckley Jr. took over as chairwoman in 1979, but it has morphed into its current form only since the turn of the millennium. Ms. Wintour now oversees every detail, down to timed entrances for guests. It’s a secret! Since last year, posting on social media has been banned after the red carpet. What I can tell you is this: There is a receiving line inside with all the hosts, and guests have to file by and them then they tour the exhibit on their way to the cocktail party, so they are at least theoretically forced to see the culture. After cocktails, they are called in to dinner, and there is always some form of entertainment (last year, it was Rihanna the year before, Frank Ocean). This is good, because as the red carpet part of the evening has become a giant marketing event, the fact that the main part of the event is private allows guests to relax and have fun. Or so they tell me. | 1 |
PARIS — Five men who were arrested on Sunday in France were Islamic State operatives planning an “imminent” attack under the direction of a commander based in the terrorist group’s haven in Iraq and Syria, the authorities announced on Friday. The news immediately raised worries in France, which has been struck by three major terrorist attacks since January 2015, killing more than 200 people. The five men, ages 26 to 37, appeared before a special terrorism judge on Friday and were being investigated on terrorist conspiracy and weapons charges, according to the Paris prosecutor, François Molins, whose office handles terrorism cases nationwide. The five were among seven arrested in Strasbourg and Marseille on Sunday the other two have since been released. The arrests came shortly before the popular Christmas market in Strasbourg opened on Friday the annual tradition attracts 2 million visitors every year. Four of the suspects were arrested in Strasbourg. They were planning an attack for Dec. 1, Mr. Molins said, while adding that it was not yet clear what their target was “among all those that the group envisaged. ” Referring to news reports this week that militants were targeting the Disneyland Paris amusement park outside the capital, the in Paris, and several other places, Mr. Molins said that the information was “detrimental to the ongoing investigations,” but he did not deny the reports. “It appears on one hand that the offenders were in possession of, or searching for, weapons and money, and on the other hand that they were about to take action and were looking for targets,” Mr. Molins said. He added that the findings were made with the help of an antiterrorism law that allows investigators to seize data during house searches, among other things. Mr. Molins identified the suspects arrested in Strasbourg as Yassine B. 37, a school employee Hicham M. 37, a warehouse worker Sami B. 36, a father of three who worked in a grocery store and Zacaria M. 35, a whose employment status was not disclosed. The four men were longtime friends who saw “each other on a regular basis” and communicated via a dedicated telephone line, Mr. Molins said. The fifth suspect, arrested in Marseille, was identified as Hicham E. a Moroccan citizen who left his country in 2013 to emigrate to Portugal, from where he took multiple trips back and forth within Europe using fake identification papers. (The prosecutor earlier gave his age as 46.) The arrests followed an investigation led by France’s domestic intelligence service, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday. A tip by a “partner country” led to the arrest of Hicham E. officials said. The team in Strasbourg and the suspect in Marseille were given “common instructions” by a commander in the “ zone” on how to obtain weapons, Mr. Molins said. They received their orders via encrypted mobile apps. Mr. Molins did not identify their commander. Hicham M. and Yassine B. went to the border in March 2015 via Cyprus, while Hicham E. was turned back in the summer of 2015 when he attempted to enter Turkey, Mr. Molins said. On a USB memory stick found at Yassine B. ’s house, the authorities found a document mentioning the “delivery of a sum of money,” as well as GPS coordinates and detailed instructions on how to obtain weapons and ammunition. Investigators also found Google Maps screenshots of searches of different places in Yassine B. ’s laptop and phone, which Mr. Molins said amounted to “a clear will to find and spot targets, to take action in the very short term. ” The suspect arrested in Marseille, Hicham E. had 4, 281 euros, or $4, 539, on him when he was apprehended, money that investigators believe was intended to buy weapons. Mr. Molins said that arms, documentation on potential targets and pledges to the Islamic State were found at the houses of members of the Strasbourg team. Guns and bullets were found at the homes of Yassine B. and Zacaria M. it was not clear how they were obtained. The authorities also said writings glorifying martyrdom and “openly” referring to the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr were found in a notebook in Yassine B. ’s house, and several documents mentioning “threats against the integrity of our country” were contained in a notebook found in Hicham M. ’s house. Mr. Molins said it appeared from the investigations that Yassine B. and Hicham M. had downloaded the Periscope app onto their phones, possibly to record themselves committing violence. Five people suspected of having links to the same network as the seven men were arrested on June 14 — a few days into the Euro 2016 soccer tournament being held in France — and two of them were kept in custody. Also in June, an Islamic State sympathizer, Larossi Abballa, pledged loyalty to the group in a Facebook video after killing a police captain and his companion outside Paris. “The attacks or attack plots which we have been, currently are, or will face again are ” Mr. Molins said. | 1 |
Brought to the United States from Venezuela as a toddler, Carlos Roa was among the first young undocumented immigrants to be protected from deportation under a program President Obama set up in 2012 by executive action. Since then Mr. Roa, now 29, has put himself through college and is training to be an architect, drafting blueprints at a Chicago firm. But with the election of Donald J. Trump as president, Mr. Roa and 750, 000 other immigrants in the program, who came to the United States as children, have been swept up in a wave of anxiety, worried about losing the progress they have made and being forced back underground or even deported. Mr. Trump has promised to “immediately terminate” Mr. Obama’s executive actions on immigration, including the youth initiative. With deep roots in the United States, and with many supporters in civil rights groups, universities and city governments already mobilizing to shield them, many who came here as youths said they were prepared to fight efforts to end the program or expel them from the country. “I have been here for 27 years, and I am not going anywhere,” Mr. Roa said, in between strategy sessions at Casa Michoacán, a gathering place in Chicago where immigrants planned moves to resist. Young immigrants, who call themselves Dreamers, are already protesting at many colleges, and they have called for a march from New York to Washington starting Tuesday. They are pressing universities and employers to organize to defend the program and are making plans for havens on campuses and in churches. Canceling the program is one move Mr. Trump could make to satisfy his supporters, who reject Mr. Obama’s executive actions as illegal amnesties and examples of presidential overreach. A larger program for undocumented parents of American citizens and legal residents was halted this year by the Supreme Court. Among Latinos and immigrants, the program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, is very popular, the only gain that Mr. Obama has achieved for undocumented immigrants. Most young people in the program are Latinos, and Latino organizations place a priority on protecting them, said Daniel Garza, the president of the Libre Initiative, a conservative Latino advocacy organization. “These kids are going to be exposed if DACA is rescinded and that’s so unfair,” Mr. Garza said. “We should be keeping families together, not tearing them apart. ” Mr. Trump has not provided details of his plans and his transition team did not respond to emails requesting comment. But the program was set up through policy guidelines written by the secretary of Homeland Security at the time, Janet Napolitano — there is not even a formal presidential order — so it can be terminated with a stroke of a new secretary’s pen. Immigrants are taking Mr. Trump at his word when he said he would eliminate the program: He has selected Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a Republican who is one of its most vigorous opponents, as attorney general. Another Trump adviser, Kris Kobach, the Republican secretary of state of Kansas, brought a federal lawsuit against the program in 2012 it did not succeed. Mr. Trump’s pledges are chilling for the immigrants because when they signed up to the program, they provided identity information — including the names of their parents, home addresses, utility bills and school transcripts — to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The authorities deferred any action to deport them and gave them renewable work permits, but no official immigration status. Administration officials said the citizenship agency could be asked to turn over that information to Homeland Security enforcement agents, who could track down the immigrants to deport them or their parents. Mr. Trump could also take a less harsh approach by allowing existing work permits to lapse and not approving new ones, but not initiating deportations. Advocacy groups have been inundated with calls from people afraid or despondent. Ruben Rivas, 27, a Mexican immigrant, said he had vacillated from fear to sadness to denial. In 2012 Mr. Rivas, the son of undocumented immigrants who spent their lives working jobs, graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in business finance. He applied that year for DACA, never stopping to worry about offering the government details about his life. Now he works as a financial consultant and a small income tax firm. “The first thought I had is that I have done everything right and it is all going to be taken away from me,” he said of his fears for the future of the program. “It feels a little bit like a betrayal. I’ve been here since I was 4 years old. I’m an American. ” Jennifer Marin, 29, a legal assistant, was brought to California from Guatemala when she was 1 year old. As a student at California State University, Dominguez Hills, she worked at a store to pay her tuition. She applied for the program to get her driver’s license, worried that one missed stop sign could send her to jail and deportation, a prospect she could not face with two children. Now she has a license, a car and a home in a Los Angeles suburb she bought with her savings. “It feels like a step backward, to be back in this insecure place where you don’t know what the next step might be,” she said, her voice breaking with tears. She has tried not to cry in front of her children and to assure them that she is safe. Last week, Mr. Obama appealed to Mr. Trump “to think long and hard” before scrapping the program. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate Democrat, said on the floor and on Twitter that he would do “everything in my power” to save the program and protect “Dreamers who have stepped forward to contribute” to the country. Rights groups have been encouraging immigrants up for renewal on the program to reapply quickly. But they are generally urging newcomers not to apply. “The risk for everyone feels much larger than the potential benefit right now,” said Daniel Sharp, the legal director of the Central American Resource Center, a nonprofit legal aid organization in Los Angeles. Groups are pressing the Obama administration to speed up approvals to eliminate any backlogs before Mr. Trump takes office. On Thursday three House Democrats, including Representative Luis V. Gutiérrez of Illinois, asked Mr. Obama to issue a pardon to immigrants in the program. But White House officials said the president did not have the authority for a pardon that would provide lasting protection. If their work permits are canceled or expire, immigrants could face cascading consequences — losing jobs, driver’s licenses, professional certificates and the chance to pay tuition for college. The impact would vary by state. In places like California — home to half of all DACA recipients — and New York, additional protections are enshrined in laws. But in the South and Midwest where there are fewer protections, “people might find they really stand out and are targeted,” said Roberto Gonzales, a Harvard professor who has studied young people in the program. Yet there were signs that young immigrants, who have been battling for a legal foothold in the United States for more than a decade, would not go back underground quietly. United We Dream, a national organization of young immigrants, said it would work with Voto Latino, a voter mobilization group, to encourage colleges to create havens for students who become undocumented once again. At the University of Houston, students organized a walkout on Monday and are working with local activists to designate the city as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. Mr. Roa, in Chicago, recalled that a decade ago he was afraid to confess his undocumented status to other students or have his photograph published in a newspaper. “Do you really think we are going back in time?” he asked. “I am going to be kicking and screaming. ” | 1 |
President Donald Trump has appointed the advocate and former president of Americans United for Life (AUL) Dr. Charmaine Yoest, to be assistant secretary of public affairs for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). [National leader and Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser responded to the announcement of Yoest’s appointment with the following statement: Charmaine Yoest is one of the movement’s most articulate and powerful communicators. As the former president and CEO of Americans United for Life, she led groundbreaking efforts to advance legislation at the state level. She is perfectly suited to take on this role at HHS and it is no surprise to see President Trump once again appoint a strong, woman to his team. The fact that Yoest will be replacing Kevin Griffis, who now works for Planned Parenthood, is another indication of the dramatic change we’ve seen in Washington since the election of President Trump. This is a new era for the movement and our fight to protect unborn children and their mothers from the horror of abortion. Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of abortions, reacted to Yoest’s appointment with a tweet expressing its disapproval: Someone with history of promoting #AlternativeFacts shouldn’t be in an @HHSGov position that informs the public. https: . — Planned Parenthood (@PPact) April 28, 2017, As president of AUL, Yoest worked to emphasize the negative consequences of abortion for both women and their unborn babies and to require young girls to obtain the consent of their parents prior to obtaining abortions. Yoest has been a senior fellow at American Values in Washington, DC. She served in the White House under President Ronald Reagan in the Office of Presidential Personnel. Additionally, she served as a Trump for President surrogate and a senior adviser to the 2008 Huckabee for President campaign. | 1 |
Much of Anne Fontaine’s blistering film “The Innocents” is set within the walls of a Polish convent in December 1945, just after the end of World War II. What at first appears to be an austere, holy retreat from surrounding horrors is revealed to be a savagely violated sanctuary awash in fear, trauma and shame. The forested landscape of the convent is photographed to suggest an ominous frontier that offers no refuge from marauding outsiders. The central character, Mathilde (Lou de Laâge, of “Breathe”) is a young doctor caring for French soldiers in a Red Cross hospital. One day, a young nun appears and pleads with Mathilde to make an emergency visit to a Benedictine convent to save the life of a sister who lies gravely ill. Defying hospital protocol, Mathilde slips away to the convent, where she discovers a pregnant novice in the throes of labor. Mathilde delivers the baby by cesarean section but is sworn to secrecy by the fearful Mother Abbess (Agata Kulesza, of “Ida”) who is terrified lest the news of a pregnant nun tarnish the convent’s reputation. Mathilde, a nonbeliever, learns that several months earlier, Soviet soldiers occupying Poland stormed the convent and repeatedly raped the nuns, leaving many pregnant. Mathilde agrees to return and assist in the deliveries of their babies. “The Innocents” is based on real events, recounted in notes by Madeleine Pauliac, a Red Cross doctor on whom Mathilde is based. Ms. Fontaine (“Coco Before Chanel,” “Gemma Bovery”) who extensively researched these atrocities and spent time in two Benedictine convents, writes in the production notes that the soldiers felt no sense of wrongdoing, because they were encouraged by their superiors to commit these crimes as a reward for their hard work on the battlefield. While driving back to the hospital, Mathilde is intercepted at a Soviet checkpoint and pounced on by soldiers, one of whom announces, “She wants all of us!” Were the assault not interrupted by a senior officer, the scene would be unwatchable. “The Innocents” weaves several narrative strands into a complex of themes that sometimes pull against one another. Mathilde, serenely acted by Ms. de Laâge, is a beautiful, preternaturally wise and compassionate young woman: a modern heroine undaunted by the horrors of the world. When a band of soldiers returns to the convent while she is there, her quick thinking saves the nuns from another harrowing round of assaults. The movie gives her a story in her affair with a medical supervisor, Samuel (Vincent Macaigne) a soulful Jewish doctor. The screenplay (by Ms. Fontaine, Pascal Bonitzer, Sabrina B. Karine and Alice Vial, working from a concept by Philippe Maynial) depicts the relationship as a friendly romance of convenience by two lonely, overstressed people who may never meet again. When Mathilde returns to the convent, he accompanies her, and they work as a team to deliver the remaining babies. The film takes care to distinguish the sisters from one another in their responses to a kind of brutality that the most naïve among them couldn’t have imagined. Those with more worldly backgrounds are better able to cope. “The Innocents” resists the temptation to wallow in sentiment as the nuns give birth, and images of new mothers cuddling their newborns are kept to a minimum. What you feel is their agony, terror and confusion. But the film surrenders to convention once a solution is found for the care of the little ones. It is a soggy end to an otherwise tough, troubling film whose images of brutality and helplessness are hard to shake. “The Innocents” is most interested in exploring how the atrocities test the sisters’ religious faith. As more of them give birth, the movie creates a complex group portrait. To a degree, Maria (Agata Buzek) the sister who showed up at the hospital begging for help, speaks for all of them when she describes the challenges and rewards of belief and as “24 hours of doubt for one minute of hope. ” The most complicated and compelling character is the severe Mother Abbess, who faces an excruciating choice between saving a baby’s life and risking disgrace, or abandoning the infant. Ms. Kulesza’s anguished performance conveys the weight of an almost unbearable choice, which she believes condemns her to eternal damnation. “The Innocents” is rated (Parents strongly cautioned) for a scene of sexual assault and some bloody images. It is in French and Polish, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes. | 1 |
Perhaps the documentary “Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds” would seem less poignant and compelling had its subjects not just died, or had they not died, stunningly, within a day of each other. But the movie’s plucky intimacy shines through that fog. It’s a portrait, not a tribute — though as the documentary reminds us, every portrait is in some way a tribute to something. The film, directed by the actor Fisher Stevens and Alexis Bloom, debuts on HBO Saturday night after the cable network moved up its premiere from March. That decision is hard to begrudge. As this movie makes evident, these two were no strangers to making headlines. Ms. Reynolds was well known to one generation for, in part, the tabloid bonanza surrounding her when her husband Eddie Fisher skipped out with her best friend, Elizabeth Taylor. Several other generations have grown up surrounded by all things Princess Leia, memorably played by Ms. Fisher in the “Star Wars” films. “Bright Lights” finds mother and daughter living in separate houses in what they call “the compound. ” Ms. Fisher takes a soufflé out of her oven and carries it on a tray down the path to her mother’s house. “I usually come to her,” Ms. Fisher says. She pauses. “I always come to her. ” Who wouldn’t? She’s Debbie Reynolds, movie star and cabaret performer. Ms. Reynolds rose to fame with cheery, wholesome roles, and even in her 80s could turn on that pert sunniness in a split second, so smoothly you’d never know it was an act — except that this is a documentary, and it includes the footage of just before this light clicks on. “It’s not my best day,” she sighs, sounding weary and a little as she and Mr. Stevens discuss where exactly the camera will be. And then — bing! — there she is, as perky as a kindergarten teacher. Because the gently quirky celebrity documentary is an enjoyable if standardized format, the potency of “Bright Lights” sneaks up on you. If it were just about its subjects’ huge, starry lives, that really would be enough for a documentary. But it also smartly, and subtly, pushes its audience to ask two of modern pop society’s central, uncomfortable questions: First, are famous people “real” people? And second, am I becoming my mother? By the time Mr. Stevens and Ms. Bloom start filming, this almost cosmic between mother and daughter seems to have resolved itself to a wry but balanced mutual orbit. Though both women seem a little reluctant to admit it, the similarities between them abound. Ms. Fisher’s house is decorated eclectically, with memorabilia and silly knickknacks everywhere. Ms. Reynolds’s collection is far more orderly: She was among Hollywood’s great archivists and had hoped to open a museum, but instead is resigned to auctioning off many of her pieces, including Marilyn Monroe’s famous dress from “The Seven Year Itch” and a pair of Judy Garland’s shoes from “The Wizard of Oz. ” “I like my ghosts,” she tells her daughter. Ms. Fisher is brainy and salty and hilarious, and she’s frank and eloquent in describing being bipolar. We see both archival and footage of Ms. Fisher in manic phases, and she’s articulate, artful even, about her . “One mood is the meal the next mood is the check,” she says. But she too knows how to flip the switch. She refers to her appearances at fan conventions as “the lap dance,” but engages with her fans nonetheless. A woman cries. Little girls in their Princess Leia costumes beam. Their heroine gamely poses for photo after photo, signing every manner of memorabilia. It’s not so different, really, from her mother’s cabaret act. That nightclub act comes up several times in “Bright Lights,” including footage of a Carrie being summoned to the stage to sing “Bridge Over Troubled Water. ” Her bold alto voice and sassy almost, but don’t quite, belie that she’s a barely cooperative teenager desperate to rebel. Ms. Fisher says she rejected singing more or less to spite her mother. Six or so years after that nightclub performance, she married Paul Simon. You know. The guy who wrote “Bridge Over Troubled Water. ” It’s all so Hollywood, so poetic, so dramatic. Despite their extraordinary circumstances, much of the family banter among Ms. Reynolds her son, Todd Fisher and Ms. Fisher seems like ordinary talk. Adult siblings agonize over an aging parent’s finances and . Mother and daughter have the same shoes. Brother and sister exchange knowing “well, that’s Mom” shrugs. There’s no people like show people, but Hollywood families are, somehow, still just families. | 1 |
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. News about digital surveillance dominated the day. The F. B. I. announced it had arrested an N. S. A. contractor on suspicion of stealing computer code developed to hack into the networks of foreign governments. Like Edward Snowden, the contractor worked at the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. Separately, a government official confirmed that the Justice Department had ordered Yahoo to scan its users’ emails in search of the “signature” of a foreign terrorist organization. ____ 2. The United Nations Security Council announced its pick to succeed Ban as secretary general: António Guterres of Portugal, who led the U. N. refugee agency for 10 years. If approved in a final vote, Mr. Guterres would assume the post next year. ____ 3. Emergencies have already been declared in several Southern states in the projected path of Hurricane Matthew. The storm is expected to start pelting Florida with rain and damaging winds late Thursday. “Regardless of if there’s a direct hit or not, the impacts will be devastating,” Gov. Rick Scott said. The storm was blamed for the deaths of five people in Haiti, where the scope of destruction is still becoming clear. ____ 4. Three pioneers of molecular machinery were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Sauvage, J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa, above, won for the design and synthesis of “molecular machines,” which are the width of a strand of human hair. “Think about tiny robots that the doctor in the future will inject in your blood veins, and they go search for cancer cells,” Dr. Feringa said. ____ 5. So who won the debate? Commentators are giving the edge to Mike Pence, the Republican, who stayed calm as Tim Kaine, the Democrat, pressed him to defend Donald Trump. Or, as our television critic said: “Mr. Kaine made the case against Donald Trump. Mr. Pence made the case for Mr. Pence. ” Mr. Trump’s support has plunged across the map over the last 10 days, worrying Republican Congressional candidates. ____ 6. Mr. Pence and Mr. Kaine did largely agree on one issue: Both said they favored a plan to create “safe zones” in Syria to protect civilians from government bombs, although neither offered details. Analysts say Russia is using the waning days of the Obama administration to strengthen President Bashar ’s hold on power in the country. ____ 7. Tens of thousands of Afghans whose asylum applications were rejected in Europe will be sent back to Afghanistan. The European Union and Afghanistan announced the deal at a gathering in Brussels where dozens of governments pledged more than $3 billion in aid to the country. ____ 8. And more than 11, 000 African migrants trying to reach Italy on perilously overcrowded boats were rescued from the Mediterranean this week. A photographer captured scenes of panicking migrants, including children, who had been stranded at sea for at least 12 hours. Dozens had died, asphyxiated, crushed or pushed overboard. Hundreds of people were found in the cargo hold of a shipping vessel, in conditions that an aid worker likened to those of a slave ship. ____ 9. In this week’s magazine, dedicated to the subject of food, Michael Pollan examines the impact — and lack thereof — that the Obama administration has had on the food industry. Mr. Pollan had, in a 2008 letter, lobbied for Mr. Obama to use his presidency to challenge Big Food. (Here are some dizzying photos of today’s agriculture industry.) The Obamas made an effort, he writes, but often did not succeed. Now, the industry appears to be facing a much more powerful force: shoppers’ evolving preferences. ____ 10. Maria Sharapova, whose doping ban from tennis was reduced Tuesday, has lashed out at the sport’s top officials. “I knew that I would have the final say,” she said in an interview, criticizing the International Tennis Federation for how it communicated changes to banned drugs and how it handled her case. ____ 11. From MailChimp. Mail … ? If that mispronunciation sounds familiar, then you were probably hooked on “Serial,” the podcast sponsored by the email marketing . MailChimp is on track to top $400 million in revenue this year, but its story of success goes beyond a deft advertising choice. The company’s founders broke the typical mold, rejecting outside funding and growing slowly. Where does the name come from? A failed online greeting card business. One of the cards featured a chimp. ____ Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s last night’s briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes. com. | 1 |
Although I may differ greatly with Trey Gowdy's political views he appears to have an integrity that I can admire. I would not mind him replacing Paul Ryan as Speaker. | 0 |
The last weekend in February ended with another four killed and 10 wounded in Chicago. The tally puts the death toll well ahead of the end of the second month last year. [Over a chilly Chicago again had several incidents with multiple shooting victims per attack with one of those incidents ending with two killed. Two men were killed early on Saturday morning during an incident in the city’s Woodlawn neighborhood. At about 1 AM two men in hoodies opened fire on a group of people attending a house party in the 6500 block of South Drexel. A man took a slug to the head and a man was hit in the chest. Both died soon after, according to the Chicago . A list of others wounded during the weekend includes a girl shot in the backside. She is in stable condition. Thus far this year Chicago has already seen 98 people shot and killed with a total of 512 shot. Another five murders by other means brings the total killed in Chicago to 103. Even as February, being one of the coldest months in Chicago, usually has one of the lower shooting tallies, the number of victims and deaths wracked up in the Windy City has already exceeded that of 2016, a year that ended with more shootings than any year in decades. By the end of February last year 189 had been shot in Chicago compared to this year’s 201 total shooting victims. With 72 shot in 2014 and 75 shot in 2015, that is a 152 percent rise year over year. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 1 |
Monday on CNN’s “Newsroom,” senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta criticized White House press secretary Sean Spicer for holding press gaggles instead of the traditional daily White House briefings. Partial transcript as follows: BALDWIN: Just into CNN, the White House telling reporters in an briefing a bit about the possibility of tapes being released, perhaps, but it sounds like maybe, not a lot. Jim Acosta is our senior White House correspondent who left the briefing. I saw your tweet. You’re feeling like they are stonewalling? ACOSTA: The White House mandated that we are not allowed to cover the White House press secretary for the United States of America in that fashion. So yes, when we’re asking important questions about — where is the tape? Does the president have recordings of conversations here? The White House is refusing to answer those questions on camera or in any kind of fashion where we can record the audio. My guess is because they want their evasive answers not saved for posterity. That is the only conclusion one could draw. That when they give you answers, that it somehow reads better in print than it could be being seen on television or heard over the radio. There were a number of important questions asked about the health care bill that is being cobbled together in the Senate and what the White House has to say about that. You won’t hear or see those answers. The question was asked whether the president has the ability to fire Robert Mueller, you won’t hear or see the answers to those questions. You’ll only be able to read about it. And people will probably go, the media is cry babies, they can’t cover the way they want. Maybe I’m but I think the White House for the United States of America should have the questions answered on camera. When they don’t do this, they’re doing a disservice to the people of the country. I don’t want to sound like I’m getting on my soapbox, but when Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, who is pretty highly paid as a White House official, comes in and says you can’t record the video or audio from these briefings — that wouldn’t be tolerated at city council meetings or a governor’s press conference — here we have the representative of the President of the United States saying, ‘No, you can’t cover it that way.’ I just don’t know what we are doing. It’s not even like we are covering a White House with Kellyanne Conway and Omarosa in the briefing room off to the side of Sean refusing to be on camera. It’s just like we are covering bad reality television, is what it feels like now. BALDWIN: Well, I’m with you. I’m and I stand with you. On your evasive answers note, I understand he gave another evasive answer. ACOSTA: That’s right. He was asked — because the president said this more than a week ago, he was going to answer this question, where are these tapes? The president said you would find out about that shortly. More has gone by, and Sean Spicer said off camera, no audio, perhaps we’ll have an answer this week. Sean told us in the past he would get an answer whether the president believes in climate change. The question was asked — have you gone back and asked the question to that? He did not have an answer to that question, on a matter that happened a couple weeks ago. So the White House press secretary is getting to a point, Brooke, where he is kind of useless. You know, if he can’t come out and answer the questions and they’re not going to do the audio, why even have they gaggles in the first place? BALDWIN: Is he not even having conversations with the president? Does he simply not know? ACOSTA: It’s a really good question, Brooke, a question I would ask, but unfortunately at this White House, we wouldn’t have the video or audio to show you the answer to that question because of the stonewalling we’re getting here at the White House. That’s the White House behind me. The White House. And it’s just — it’s bizarre. I don’t know what world we’re living in where we’re standing at the White House, and they bring us into the briefing room here and they won’t answer these questions on camera or let us record the audio. I don’t know why everybody is going along with this. It just doesn’t make sense, and it just sort of feels like we’re sort of slowly but surely by being dragged into a new normal where the President of the United States is allowed to insulate himself from answering hard questions. He hasn’t had a press conference since February. He has the press conferences with a foreign head of state where he may take a question from a conservative news media reporter, and maybe somebody from the mainstream. This isn’t how we do things in this country. But for whatever reason, we’re all going along with it. I don’t understand why we covered that gaggle today, quite honestly, Brooke. If they can’t give the answers to the questions on camera or where we can report the audio, they’re basically pointless. You’re not getting the chance to see — are they evading the question? The transcript doesn’t really show that, and I think smart people who have been doing this for a long time understand that. Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 1 |
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With Election Day fast approaching, citizens everywhere are bracing themselves for an uncertain future. Fortunately, no matter what happens, there’s at least one truth that voters from both sides can hang their hats on: Political scientists have confirmed that the outcome of the presidential election will in no way affect ketchup.
Whew! What a tremendous relief!
Trump or Clinton, whoever takes the office in November, ketchup will still be red, salty, and sweet, according to leading experts. Despite a range of conflicting policies listed on the candidates’ websites, they are in full agreement about ketchup, a substance neither candidate plans to change in any way. Americans can be certain that a vote cast on November 8 is a vote that in no way alters the familiar appearance, flavor, or viscosity of ketchup.
Ketchup fans rejoice!
Whether 2017 marks the beginning of higher taxes for high-income households per Clinton’s plan or tax cuts across all income brackets per Trump’s, ketchup will remain exactly the same condiment it’s always been. Regardless of how the next four years change U.S. immigration policy, and no matter whether they see the passage of the DREAM Act or the construction of a border wall, ketchup will abide by the same recipe and will be available in the same variety of packaging.
If you had any doubts about the future of ketchup, it looks like you can breathe easy. No doubt, the outcome of one of the most divisive elections in history will bring about certain changes, but there will be none for ketchup. If you love ketchup the way it is, then it’s already time to celebrate. | 0 |
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Archives Michael’s Latest Video Now That The Election Is Over, Will Republicans And Democrats Learn How To Love One Another? By Michael Snyder, on November 16th, 2016
The 2016 election will be remembered as perhaps the most contentious election in modern American history, and things often got extremely angry and bitter on a personal level. If you spend much time on Facebook or Twitter you know exactly what I am talking about. The vitriol on social media has been off the charts, and there are some people that are actually unfriending anyone that supported the candidate that they were against. This election has also torn apart families, friends and even entire churches. Relationships that took decades to build in some cases are now permanently shattered because of fighting over Trump and Clinton.
Personally, I couldn’t imagine choosing never to talk to a family member or a close friend ever again because of a political disagreement. Trump and Clinton are only temporary, but your family will always be your family. Sadly, we live in a nation where strife, discord, bitterness and resentment are all running rampant, and unforgiveness has become a national pastime.
As a nation, we are extremely divided. In fact, at this moment we are more divided than we have ever been in my entire lifetime. A house divided against itself will surely fall, and if we don’t learn how to love one another I don’t see any reason to be optimistic about the future of this country.
If you are a Republican, can you honestly say that you love Democrats?
If you are a Democrat, can you honestly say that you love Trump supporters?
If this nation is ever going to heal, we have got to learn how to forgive, and we have got to learn how to love others that see things differently than we do.
I know what many of you are thinking at this point. Many of you are wondering if I have gone soft, and many of you are wondering how we are supposed to forgive people that believe some of the most horrible things imaginable.
I didn’t say that it would be easy.
And it is certainly not necessary to agree with someone or even acknowledge that their viewpoints are legitimate in order to love, forgive and value that person.
Let’s take abortion as an example. Most Democrats and many Republicans believe that we should continue to murder babies on an industrial scale in our abortion mills all over the country. In fact, many of them want to make it even easier and want to shower organizations such as Planned Parenthood with even more government money.
This is evil on a level that is difficult to put into words, and what we are doing to those precious little children is on par with what the Nazis did to Jewish people and other minorities in their concentration camps during World War II. And if we do not stop slaughtering babies, the judgment of God is going to absolutely devastate this nation.
According to Gallup, 79 percent of all Americans believe that abortion should be legal under at least some circumstances, and so unfortunately that is not likely to happen any time soon.
But just because someone believes in killing babies does not mean that we should hate that person.
On the contrary, every single individual is of immense value. Whenever you are tempted to hate someone, just remember that Jesus valued that person so much that He was willing to go to the cross to pay for that person’s sins. No matter what someone looks like, no matter where someone is from, and no matter how much money they have, each and every person is greatly loved in the Father’s eyes, and we are commanded to love them too.
We are to love all people at all times and in all ways. Christian maturity is far more about how much you love than it is about how much you know. Unfortunately, most people don’t seem to understand this simple truth.
These days a lot of people are running around touting how self-righteous they are, but most of those same people seem to be quite lacking in real love.
If you really want to be someone that “keeps the commandments”, you should start by getting your heart right. In Matthew 22, Jesus told us which commandments are the most important of all. The following is what Matthew 22:36-40 says in the Modern English Version …
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law ?”
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind .’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘ You shall love your neighbor as yourself .’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
We should all constantly endeavor to become people of great love.
Once again, that does not mean that you have to accept or approve of what others are saying or doing. In fact, often the loving thing is to point out that someone you love is being destructive to themselves or others.
And as a nation, we are being self-destructive on a scale that is almost unimaginable. We are literally committing national suicide, and until we start radically changing our behavior it isn’t going to matter much who is in the White House.
If you want to get your heart right on a personal level, a good place to start is by forgiving those that have hurt you or offended you. And that would include our politicians. I am certainly not saying that you should vote for anyone that stands for positions that are extremely offensive, but we can definitely forgive them and pray for them.
In addition, if you have had relationships that have been broken during this election season, perhaps now is a good time to reach out in a spirit of love and forgiveness.
Life is too short to go around holding grudges, and those that choose to forgive often find that they are the ones that are truly being set free. | 0 |
Posted on March 22, 2014 by Mike | 45 Comments
Why Do Progressives and Democrats Hate America?
It’s a loaded question, I know. But please, bear with me for just a moment and put aside all the rhetoric you’ve heard about political correctness. I ask only that you approach the question from a position of pure logic.
Progressives and Democrats want to change America. That’s no secret. They boast about it openly, and base their political campaigns entirely on the premise of change. I’m sure we agree so far.
Now consider this: Why does anyone want to change anything unless they’re unhappy with it? If you’re happy with your job, would you change? If you loved your dog, would you trade him in for a new model? How about your spouse? Does anyone ever leave their spouse who isn’t tremendously unhappy and no longer in love?
I’m sure we can also agree that change stems from disappointment and unhappiness.
Now back to America. Your children won’t hear it from their teachers or read about it their school books, and you certainly won’t see it in your newspaper or anywhere on television, but the United States of America has done more good for more people than all the other countries of the world put together.
America began as a haven for those seeking religious freedom and fought a war to preserve that freedom.
America fought a war to end slavery and won. (Democrats supported slavery. Republicans opposed it. After the war, the defeated Democrats formed the Ku Klux Klan. Funny how white Americans today are still blamed for the slavery of a hundred and fifty years ago, yet never thanked for sacrificing their lives in order to end slavery.)
America won two World Wars, and put an end to Hitler’s socialist Nazi party.
America stemmed the tide of communism and provided safety for thousands of Vietnamese refugees who would have been murdered by the communists of North Vietnam.
For centuries, America has given freedom and hope to the oppressed; hope and joy to the suffering; and liberty and opportunity to people of all races and nationalities. The proof of her greatness can be found every day in the millions of immigrants who flock to her shores seeking the freedom that America offers.
Yet Progressives and Democrats want to change America. Doesn’t that make you just a slight bit suspicious?
Indeed, Progressives and Democrats want not just to change America, but to fundamentally transform it. And they seek to do so under an ideology that has killed more people in the last one hundred years than have died in all the wars in the history of the world combined: Socialism.
Socialism under Hitler murdered millions and set the entire world at war.
Socialism under Stalin murdered upwards of forty million people.
Socialism under Mao murdered over sixty million people.
Socialism under Castro continues to murder people today.
Everywhere socialism goes, it kills.
Yet Socialism is what Progressives and Democrats want for America. Doesn’t THAT make you a tad bit suspicious?
Just what could cause so many people to despise a country so great as America? Let’s examine the question a little more closely.
Have you ever seen a man get rejected by a beautiful woman? At first, he criticizes her, looking for whatever flaws he can find, then he despises her, and eventually he hates her. Why? Because he can’t have her. His hatred is actually a form of self-hatred. He feels unworthy of the woman who rejected him and projects his hate onto her and others. His future attempts at seduction become a means of revenge, a perverted attempt to escape his own self-loathing.
The same thing happens when a woman is rejected by a man. There’s a reason why William Congrave wrote the famous words “nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” The scorned woman condemns and sets out to destroy the man she cannot have. Like the rejected man, she suffers from extreme self-hatred. It’s self-hatred that fuels feminism and its constant attacks on heterosexual men. If we can’t have them, we’ll destroy them.
Progressives and Democrats are no different in their hatred of America.
America was born a religious, God-loving country and it remains so today. Progressives and Democrats, on the other hand, have rejected God and embraced lives of sin. They support and encourage abortion, racism, intolerance, promiscuity, homosexuality, government theft, and a host of other ills, and then project the guilt and self-hatred they feel for embracing these sins onto a hatred of America and its religious heritage. Because Progressives and Democrats falsely believe that God has rejected them, they reject God.
America has offered opportunity and economic freedom to anyone who is willing to risk and work hard. Progressives and Democrats have risked once or twice in their lives, failed, and are now terrified at the prospect of competing with other risk-takers. Their fear leads to a sense of entitlement that extends to food stamps, housing allowances, “free” health care, and personal and corporate welfare. The stronger their self-hatred, the stronger they feel they are above hard work. They hate America, because it reminds them of their own failures to provide for themselves and their families.
America stands for strength, independence, honor, and compassion. Progressives and Democrats are so frightened by life and have developed such a dependence on government for survival, that they have lost all of these qualities. And they hate themselves for it.
No self-respecting man can call himself a man if he’s beholden to government entitlements for his survival. Progressive and Democrat men know this and they hate themselves for it.
No self-respecting woman can call herself a woman if she rejects the honor and compassion of motherhood by embracing abortion and feminism. Progressive and Democrat women know this and they hate themselves for it.
Together, Progressive and Democrat men and women hate America, because it reminds them of all the positive qualities of strength, self-reliance, and kindness they lack the courage to develop in themselves. Like rebellious children who must depend on their parents for survival, but hate their parents because of it, Progressives and Democrats live in a state of suspended adolescence, forever running from the responsibility of motherhood, fatherhood, and limited government.
They hate America, because they hate themselves.
Which brings us to socialism.
Progressives and Democrats embrace socialism, because it represents everything they long for: the complete eradication of the individual. With all of society reduced to lowly pawns, they no longer have to fear being reminded of their own inadequacies. Everyone can be as miserable as they are. Everyone can feel the self-hatred they feel.
With no one to remind them of their sins, Progressives and Democrats believe their guilt and intense self-hatred will finally be removed. What they fail to realize is that the solution to all their ills lies within them. By embracing America, they can embrace God. And by embracing God, they can eliminate their guilt, their self-hatred, and all the factors that contribute to their misery. It’s a solution so simple and so easy that their own leaders are forced to spend billions of dollars, and destroy millions of lives in order to hide it from them.
If you support Progressivism or the Democratic Party, then you also support socialism. And if you support socialism, then, by definition, you also support the socialism of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, and many others. Is that something you can live with? Are you ready and willing to forgive yourself and return to the One who calls you?
He’s waiting. He’s been waiting. The first step is simply to say, “Please, God, forgive me…” Rate this: | 0 |
Hadi: UN Deal Would Reward 'Putschists' by Jason Ditz, October 30, 2016 Share This
The UN offered a glimmer of hope for a peace process 19 months in Yemen’s war last week, offering a peace deal which would see the installation of an interim government made of mostly technocrats, and in which former President Hadi would be a figurehead.
Hadi, on whose behalf Saudi invaded Yemen, was quick to spurn the deal, insisting it would “ reward the putschist s” and punish his legitimate government. Hadi was “elected” to a two-year term in office in early 2012, and resigned in 2015, but insists he remains the rightful ruler of the nation.
The Shi’ite Houthis, who had previously ruled out any deal in which Hadi was returned to power, expressed support for the UN plan as a “ basis for discussion .” The deal would force Hadi’s main deputy to resign, and give Hadi little to no real power.
Hadi’s rejection, assuming it is upheld by his Saudi backers, means a continuation of the war, and greatly increases the likelihood that Yemen as a unified nation is over. The nation is already in a state of de facto split, and roughly on the same borders as before the 1990 unification.
This may ultimately make more sense for Yemen at any rate, resolving long-standing secessionist ambitions in the south, and leaving Hadi with control of South Yemen, where he is from, and where his limited political support is centered.
The Saudis are unlikely to accept such a solution, however, as it would leave a North Yemen dominated by the Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s political allies with a substantial border with Saudi Arabia after a bloody Saudi-instigated war against them.
While a unity deal in which Hadi gets only token power would allow the Saudis to claim some measure of “victory” in their war, a formal separation would be much harder to spin, and would leave them with a very resentful neighbor on their southern border. Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz | 0 |
It was a few minutes before noon on Tangier Island in Virginia, just about high tide, when David Schulte pushed the toe of his red sneaker into Marilyn Pruitt’s soggy backyard. Schulte, a marine biologist with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, frowned, withdrew his foot, found another spot nearby and pressed his toe down again. His sneaker sank into the ground, and water pooled around it. “It’s like that all the time,” Pruitt called out from her back porch. “It doesn’t dry out anymore. ” Schulte looked up at Pruitt, then crouched down to look closer. There were small holes in the ground, spaced about six inches apart, filled with clear water. “Fiddler crabs,” he said. He stood up, turned and walked to the periphery of Pruitt’s property, where the yard was rimmed by a thicket of wild, spartina grasses, matted by wind and salt spray. As I followed Schulte, it felt as if we were walking on a sponge. Every step squished and slurped. “This isn’t even a yard anymore,” Schulte told me. “I mean, it’s technically more like a marsh, a wetland. ” From where we stood, a few hundred feet from the shoreline, the view was . White fishing boats dotted the Chesapeake Bay under a hazy March sky the eastern shore of Maryland formed a dark, distant stripe on the horizon some 14 miles away. “Sometimes I think we were crazy to build a house out here,” Pruitt told me earlier. “But I guess there are worse places to get stuck. ” The real estate market was stalled, she meant, and her family had been unable to sell the property. But it was also the case that she built the house in a place where the bay was steadily advancing on her backyard every year, usually by about a dozen feet. In bad times — when a nor’easter stormed through, say — great chunks of Tangier were torn off. But even in calmer conditions, the losses were steady and seemingly unstoppable. Week by week, wave by wave, grain by grain, Tangier was washing away. Schulte first visited the island in 2002, when the corps asked him to look into the restoration of some nearby oyster beds. “My first impression was just how low everything on Tangier was,” he recalled. Most of the island, which consists of several long sandy ridges connected by footbridges and amounts to a little over a square mile, is about four or five feet above sea level. The low elevations and the quiet, wetlands and tidal creeks produce a sense of living with the water, rather than beside it. Schulte has returned to Tangier several times over the past decade to track its health. Last year, when some money became available at the corps to research the impact of climate change on coastal areas, he and a couple of colleagues began a study on Tangier, believing that this tiny island might also yield insights into the vulnerability of cities and towns all along the Eastern Seaboard. They concluded that Tangier had lost of its landmass since 1850. To scientists who study the Chesapeake, this was not surprising: Over the past four centuries, Schulte estimates, more than 500 islands have disappeared from the bay, about 40 of them once inhabited. The most striking aspect of the Tangier research, however, was how bleak the island’s future looked. Some of its troubles are the result of the same forces behind rises everywhere. Warmer global temperatures make oceans bigger — a process known as thermal expansion — and thus increase sea levels at the same time, glaciers around the world, along with the ice caps on Greenland and Antarctica, are melting into the ocean. “But they’ve got it worse here,” Schulte said. Tangier’s location in the center of the bay, along with its friable turf of sand and silt, leaves it dangerously exposed and fragile. What’s more, the land in and around the Chesapeake is sinking, because of lingering effects from geological events dating back 20, 000 years. “They’re just in a very untenable position,” Schulte said. “And they don’t have any options right now other than something big to turn them around. ” A very big construction project, in short. Schulte’s study of Tangier, published online in the journal Nature last year, concluded that the island might have 50 years left and that its residents were likely to become some of the first refugees in the continental United States. Tangier was not necessarily a lost cause: Schulte outlined a rough engineering plan, costing around $30 million, that involved break waters, sand and new vegetation that could preserve the island. What his paper couldn’t possibly resolve, though, were the immense economic and political obstacles involved in saving an obscure place from oblivion precisely when big East Coast cities were seeking hundreds of millions of federal dollars for protection. Indeed, as seas rise and scientists their projections for an era of floods — large parts of Miami Beach, according to some predictions, may be uninhabitable by around 2050 — Tangier’s situation represents an early glimpse of a problem so enormously complex, so “wicked,” in the argot of social scientists, it seems to defy resolution. There will be dozens of Miamis and thousands of Tangiers. “The Outer Banks, the Delmarva Peninsula, Long Island, the Jersey Shore — they’re in the same boat,” Schulte said. “It’s going to just take a little longer for them to get to where Tangier is now. ” An excruciating question is how we will decide which coastal communities to rescue and which to relinquish to the sea. But a number of other difficulties attend those decisions. How do we the land, roads and neighborhoods of the places deemed worthy of salvation? How do we relocate residents whose homes can’t (or won’t) be saved? Also, there’s the money problem. A recent study, commissioned by the Risky Business Project, an initiative led by Henry Paulson, Michael Bloomberg and the billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer, concluded that as much as a dollars’ worth of coastal property in the United States could be under water by the end of the century. And that figure doesn’t include the cost of further encroachments by flooding. As Skip Stiles, the head of Wetlands Watch, a Virginia nonprofit that focuses on coastal preservation and rise, puts it, “Is there even enough money in the world to buy out — to make whole — everybody’s investment that’s going to get soggy?” After we left Marilyn Pruitt’s yard, Schulte and I walked through town together. We dodged resi dents driving golf carts on the narrow roadways — there are very few automobiles on Tangier — and hopped over a number of large puddles. We made our way to Lorraine’s, the only restaurant open in the colder months. “I’m thinking, from what I see today, that 50 years may be optimistic,” Schulte said. At this rate, he wondered if Tangier had even 25. Renee Tyler, Tangier’s town manager, works in an office next to the airport, in a prefabricated building topped with solar panels. The first thing Tyler said to Schulte when we visited her was: “I wish we could just stick something under the island and just pump it up. You know, inflate it. ” She and Schulte discussed how the Army Corps was planning to build a small jetty on the northwestern side of the island in 2018. But it’s a modest project, she told me, and the jetty is not likely to mitigate the worsening floods. So something far more involved, something resembling Schulte’s plan, is needed. The problem is that the island is too poor to fund the work on its own. Tangier — population 470 — is steadfastly working class, with a median household income of about $40, 000. “I started a campaign on generosity. com for donations,” Tyler, a blunt former Marine, said. “We don’t have any billionaires here. ” I asked her if the town could borrow money to pay for sea walls or breakers. “There’s no way we’d be able to pay that back,” she said. “Not in our lifetime or our kids’ lifetime. ” What about a tax assessment? Tyler shook her head. “Nope. Not here. We’re starting from nothing. ” That appears to leave the island at the mercy of the state and federal governments — and in particular, the Army Corps of Engineers, which would probably shoulder the burden of any construction effort. But understanding the process by which the corps gets involved with places like Tangier also helps explain why the island probably faces some rough years ahead. Schulte works out of the corps’s district office in Norfolk, in a squat modern building where I visited him a few weeks before we met on Tangier. He and a number of his superiors made a convincing case to me that the corps is increasingly focused on climate change the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, for instance, recently led the agency to make a thorough assessment of risks to the United States’ North Atlantic coast and to identify potential new projects. The district commander, Col. Jason Kelly, told me that some of the reflexive tendencies of the corps to build big dams and dikes — the old rallying cry, as he put it, of “Let’s get the concrete going!” — are now enhanced by holistic (and, often, cheaper) ways of managing floodwaters, by installing natural defenses like marshlands and dunes, say. The corps employs roughly 32, 000 civilians and about 700 military personnel the list of projects it oversees around the country runs to nearly 200 pages. Yet by the standards of federal agencies, the corps’s budget — the money used for the construction, operations and maintenance of domestic, nonmilitary engineering projects — is not large, topping off at just under $5 billion last year. Most of that funding goes to maintain navigable waterways, marine ecosystems and dams only a fraction is directed to coastal flood work. Robert Bea, an engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a longtime observer of the agency, told me the corps was “always working on a pretty thin shoestring. And they’re always in this tension between what can be done and what should be done. ” The corps does not have complete control over its agenda. Rather, it responds to requests from towns and cities and to the instructions of fed eral lawmakers. Essentially, there are two routes a community can take to initiate the corps’s partici pation, and each takes time. The first is to seek help for smaller projects, under about $10 million each, that are judged important by the corps leader ship and can be funded out of the corps’s annual budget, provided that costs will be shared by a state, county or township. A good example is the small jetty for Tangier, which is meant to preserve a navigation channel and will be paid for by the corps and the state of Virginia. But amid so many other competing state and federal projects, that money has taken decades to secure: The jetty was first proposed in the . Bigger projects are even more complicated. The week before we met, Kelly said, the corps agreed to conduct a major study on behalf of Norfolk, which is already suffering so many floods that some of the city’s arterial roads are routinely shut down after storms. Unlike Schulte’s brief scientific assessment on Tangier, major studies like the one for Norfolk need to be authorized by Congress, typically through something known as a Water Resources Development Act bill. After authorization, the study process takes several years and millions of dollars, but it is the crucial step that precedes any large Army Corps construction project. In Norfolk’s case, the eventual work — funded jointly by the city and federal governments — might take a decade or more and might involve building sea walls, breakwaters, marshlands and pumps. Judging by other big projects, it might also cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Still, that could prove a bargain for Norfolk if the results significantly reduce the city’s risk of flooding. Compared with the cost of fed eral emergency assistance, along with the potential harm done to the city’s tax revenue, hundreds of millions for protection isn’t so much. Politics seems to play an outsize role in shaping the corps’s priorities. Every few years, a small number of Washington legislators privately debate a large number of potential Army Corps projects for a new WRDA bill — and a powerful member of Congress can often push a pet project to the top of the list. “Everybody jostles and gets in line,” J. David Rogers, a geological engineer at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, told me. “So if you come out on the top of the WRDA cake, your work gets done. And if it doesn’t, your work doesn’t get done. ” Michael Oppenheimer, a professor at Princeton who studies the intersection of climate change and policy, told me that Beltway deals are only part of the problem. The corps exists within a larger government system that focuses more on storm repairs than on preparation and adaptation, and there seems to be no immediate prospect for creating a national organization that can proactively address the coastal problems caused by climate change. “This is all patchwork,” he says. And our safety web of policies and agencies — the corps was founded in 1779 — predates an age when rising sea levels posed existential threats. To act quickly, wealthy cities like New York have begun to largely their waterfront defenses. But the United States has more than 88, 000 miles of shoreline roughly five million people and 2. 6 million homes are situated less than four feet above high tide. Considering that the corps already strains under its present workload, it’s hard to know who or what will come to the aid of less affluent towns when sea levels are three or four feet higher than today. Tangier’s prospects seemed to dim even as I listened to Kelly explain his protocol and heard how many cities compete for the corps’s limited funds. “We know Tangier has to compete with other projects,” Tyler said. “But we feel — I don’t know, is ‘inconsequential’ the right word? We feel that we’re not a priority, that we’re too small to make a difference. ” Tyler said she hadn’t given up, but she was worried. “We really have not thought of Plan B,” she told me. “Or it may be that Plan B scares me. ” Repeatedly she told me, “Time is running out. ” And all around Tangier, I had the sense that unlike most seaside towns, where the pace of life tends toward the languorous, clocks were ticking faster than everywhere else. When I walked about the island with Schulte, he was buttonholed by one resident after another and asked a variation of “When are you going to start building a sea wall?” Knowing how tricky the funding proc ess can be, he would respond that the soonest anything could happen — “at best” — might be a few years. He sometimes looked pained as he said it. Later he told me: “I grew up in a town outside of Pittsburgh. And I remember that feeling when all the steel mills started shutting down, that feeling that there was no viable future. It must be the same here, but on Tangier it’s the land itself that’s the problem. ” For any project, the corps needs to identify what Kelly calls a “legitimate national interest. ” The national interest can sometimes be framed in economic and military terms — in Norfolk, preserving the city’s shipping port, which also hosts the country’s largest naval base. In other places, crucial ecosystem restoration or, in rarer instances, historical preservation, may justify the corps’s involvement. Schulte’s arguments for saving Tangier are a mix of these. “It’s the last offshore fishing community in Virginia, literally the last one standing,” he told me over dinner one evening. “We lose parts of America when we lose places like this. ” The island was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. Tangier’s community has been there for hundreds of years, Schulte notes — the island was mainly settled by several families from Cornwall and Devon, England, in the 1700s and 1800s, and their heritage is still discernible in the residents’ unusual accent, a Cornwall patois wrapped inside a Virginia twang that has long drawn the attention of linguists and anthropologists. That accent would disappear if the island were lost. Schulte made the economic case too. Tangier’s sea grass (known as subaqueous vegetation beds) and wetlands have significant ecological worth. The subaqueous vegetation beds are where blue crabs reach maturity, and migrating birds rest on the wetlands. The vegetation cleanses the water and air. He has calculated the “ecosystem value” of Tangier to be millions of dollars annually. The descendants of the island’s early English settlers continue to work on crab and oyster boats. When the town was founded, its fishermen, known here as watermen, had no idea that ecological disaster would threaten the island. “It’s not like someone who builds in a floodplain intentionally, knowing that there’s this chance,” Schulte said. “So I feel that these people should get some help. ” He added that the problem was not just a few houses: “It’s the whole town. ” them on the mainland would be expensive. “Let’s say we do nothing and let the island go away, and then move everybody. How do we deal with that? It’s not going to be a cheap undertaking, and it’s going to be well beyond what the people there can pay. ” His bottom line was that bringing the island back to health could be as well as virtuous. Schulte did not take the challenges of fixing Tangier lightly, though. He brought up the example of Poplar Island, a spot in the Chesapeake some 60 miles north of Tangier, to explain why. Within the small community of engineers and scientists who spend their days thinking about how to save entire islands or coastal cities from vanishing during this century, Poplar looms greatly. In the late 1800s, it was home to Valliant, a small village with a post office, a school and 100 residents. Unfortunately, Valliant also had a sawmill. In cutting down the island’s trees for lumber, the islanders destroyed the root system holding their soil together. By around 1920, Valliant was abandoned. And by the 1990s, Poplar Island shrank from about 1, 200 acres to five acres and was on the cusp of extinction. I went to Poplar, which is about two miles from Maryland’s eastern shore, in late March, accompanied by Justin Callahan, a project manager for the corps’s Baltimore division. He first traveled to Poplar in 1993, when it was just a tiny sandbar. “We’re at 1, 140 acres now,” he told me during the boat ride over, “and ultimately we’ll be expanding it to a total of 1, 715 acres. ” The island is being resurrected, and what you find on Poplar now is a project on a biblical scale, rising out of the Chesapeake. In 2003, the corps began building a dike as the island’s new perimeter. This “hard” boundary was composed of sand piles covered with a strong textile material and topped with crushed stone and huge, boulders. Since then, the corps has been filling the pools inside the perimeter wall with silt dredged from the channels leading into Baltimore Harbor and carted here by scow 24 hours a day during active periods of construction. The dredging of the channels would have occurred anyway — it’s necessary to keep the port deep enough for large cargo ships — but ordinarily the silt would be dumped out in the ocean. By depositing it here, the state of Maryland, which owns Poplar, gets a better harbor and a new island. When it’s finished, in 2040 or so, Poplar will be a wildlife sanctuary devoid of residents. “A lot of what you usually see with the corps is known as ‘pump and dump,’’u2009” Callahan said once we reached the island. He was dressed in jeans and work boots, and he quickly borrowed a truck to give me a tour. We drove past a long line of trailers that serve as offices for the roughly 25 workers who come here daily — no one stays overnight — before turning onto a main dirt road that runs along the spine of the new island. “’u2009‘Pump and dump’ means you dredge it, deposit it and walk away,” he continued. “But this is different. A tremendous amount of engineering went into this. ” Half the island is being sculpted into wetlands, Callahan said, pointing to areas to my right, which had already been planted with spartina grass and were starting to flourish. The other half of the island will be dry “uplands. ” These were on Callahan’s left. Some of the upland hills have already been built to about 17 feet above sea level, on the way to about 25 feet, according to Callahan, a height that should fortify the island. In time, the uplands will be planted with pine trees. The corps will in effect undo the error that the residents of Poplar made 100 years ago. As we drove along, Callahan pointed out a pipe three feet in diameter running alongside the road. It carried dredged material pumped from Poplar’s bulkhead, where ships arrived with the silt carried from Baltimore channels, to the places being “infilled” on Poplar. Callahan parked at the end of the pipe so we could see the silt pour out into a roadside pool. It was black and viscous. Over the next few weeks, as the dark soup pooled higher and higher, water would drain out, the sediment would dry and settle and the process would then be repeated until the area reached the desired elevation. Surrounded by the dust and the noise of machinery, it was hard to picture the green idyll of the future. The whole place smelled like mud. Poplar will ultimately cost about $1. 4 billion — or roughly $800, 000 per acre. Earlier, Tan gier’s town manager, Renee Tyler, told me: “What baffles me the most is that no one lives on Poplar. And they spent all this money on it. We have people who live here, as well as sea life and birds. ” Yet there are a number of reasons, some of them bureaucratic and obscure, that get in the way of using Baltimore harbor’s silt to build up Tangier. This is Maryland’s mud, not Virginia’s, and Poplar (unlike Tangier) has the good fortune to lie within Maryland’s waters. Another factor that works in Poplar’s favor: the project has a defensible, appeal. “If you want to do ecosystem restoration on a large scale,” Callahan told me on the boat ride back, “it’s expensive, so it has to have a big economic driver. ” Here, the economic driver involves the effort to preserve the port of Baltimore, “which is just a huge regional economic engine. ” That’s what makes it difficult for Tangier, he added. No one would dispute that Tangier had a unique fishing culture and history, he remarked. “It has no harbor project, though,” Callahan said. Then he added, rhetorically, “What is the economic driver for Tangier?” One afternoon on Tangier, I stopped by the fire station to visit Anna a member of the Town Council and also Tangier’s paramedic. grew up on the island, and as a teenager she thought about leaving. “But when you get Tangier mud between the toes,” she told me, “it’s hard to go. ” She lives with her husband and children in her grandparents’ house. For more than 40 years, she said, the house never flooded, but several recent storms brought water in. “We’ve since had it elevated so it doesn’t flood, and we had our land graded,” she explained. But she sees the land all around Tangier sinking and eroding. Her son told her that he wants to be a waterman. “I don’t know if that will be possible,” she told me, “but that’s what he wants. ” When I asked if she thought Tangier could provide a future for her children, she said: “If all of the wheels turn that need to turn, I do believe that we can be saved, and even built back up — not necessarily to the size we were 200 years ago. But if you look at projects like Poplar Island, it is possible. ” What is vexing for Tangierians is that their local challenges, as difficult as they seem, may pale next to their broader, problems. “It will take two things to save the island,” David Schulte says. “One is to engineer and repair it now. The other is to make sure that the scenario of climate change doesn’t happen, because I’ve seen what that looks like in the computer modeling, and we don’t want to go there. A lot of Norfolk is under water. Miami is under water. ” Tangier, too. For the moment, the world is on course for the impacts of rise — perhaps up to six feet by 2100, a result of carbon dioxide pushing up temperatures and the polar ice sheets pouring meltwater into the oceans. At the same time, the forces that make the Chesapeake area so vulnerable (the region currently experiences about five millimeters of relative rise annually, significantly more than the global annual average of three millimeters) will not be getting any better. “The land is likely to be sinking for many thousands of years,” says Paul Bierman, a scientist at the University of Vermont who has studied the area’s geology. The Gulf Stream presents another problem. At present, this circulation of warm water in the Atlantic Ocean produces variations in sea level. The surface of the Atlantic is about 60 centimeters lower off the coast of New Jersey than it is off Bermuda, according to Robert Kopp, a professor at Rutgers. If the Gulf Stream weakens, Kopp says, as it is expected to do in a warmer climate, then the differences in sea level will equalize. Oceans will be even higher in the region. This portends trouble not only for the Chesapeake, but also for Long Island and the Jersey Shore. And water will meanwhile be seeping into other urban centers. A recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists concluded that several dozen American cities — including Boston, New Haven and Savannah, Ga. — could suffer more than 50 floods per year by about 2045 if they don’t take serious measures to mitigate the rising tides at least a dozen other places, including Philadelphia and Wilmington, N. C. may flood more than 150 times a year. If federal lawmakers find that hard to believe, they will see proof out the window: Parts of Washington could be inundated 388 times a year. To Chris Moore, a senior scientist at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, “we’re not anywhere near the point where we need to write off an entire community. ” Still, the science suggests that it may soon be time to consider which towns, islands and cities can (or cannot) be saved. This, in turn, prompts some hard thinking about which criteria — economic wealth, population density, natural appeal, historical value — should weigh most heavily in those decisions. “It’s just a sad fact that we can’t spend an infinite amount of money defending the coast,” Michael Oppenheimer, the Princeton professor, says. “And the concept of retreat, which is sort of has to be normalized. It has to become part of the culture. Because there are some places where we’re really going to have to retreat. ” I asked Skip Stiles, of Wetlands Watch, if there were reasons to spend vast sums on flood defenses even when outcomes looked bleak. He surprised me by saying that some kind of investment could be an essential part of a regional or national strategy. fixes, even expensive ones, could allow residents and governments to make choices about how to help or resettle people a sudden annihilation of hope, on the other hand, could destroy a town’s real estate values and tax base. You’d have a rapid exodus, another Poplar Island. Ben Strauss of Climate Central, a research organization based in Princeton, N. J. seems to agree. “A coastal community can understand that its life can be limited by future rises,” he told me, “but that shouldn’t stop it from having a vital presence today. ” He also thinks it’s conceivable that if the country’s most threatened communities can address their potential demise as fairly as possible, they could serve as exemplars. “That’s a huge gift to other communities,” he says, “because this is going to be a widely shared problem. ” For the moment, though, the notion of managed decline is mostly just an idea. When Schulte’s research on Tangier came out, some of the islanders came up with the idea of distributing that read “I refuse to become a refugee. ” When Schulte and I went downtown one afternoon to meet with Carol a native of Tangier who helped create the shirts, she told him: “I don’t know anything about climate change. But if calling me a refugee gets me a sea wall, then go ahead, call me a refugee. ” If the residents of Tangier want to look for insights into how their world might end, they can go to the northern edge of their island, to an area known as Uppards. Though it was connected to the rest of Tangier a century ago, Uppards is now a parcel of land separated from the inhabited, southern part of the island by a broad navigation channel used by watermen. One day on Tangier, Schulte accepted an invitation from a visitor named Ron Kesner to see Tangier and Uppards by air, in Kesner’s Cessna, and I tagged along. Kesner is a resident of the Virginia mainland who has been visiting Tangier regularly for several years with his wife, Jodi Jones Smith, a coastal scientist, to study the island’s erosion. On a crisp afternoon with breathtaking visibility, we took off from Tangier’s small airport, climbed to a thousand feet and began to circle the island. From above, it looked like the remains of an island — a triangle with so many small ponds and streams it seemed like a large perforated leaf floating on a glassy green sea. If you looked closely, you could also see sandbars in the shallow waters surrounding it as recently as 50 years ago, some of these were above sea level, and home to houses and beaches. They were now under five or 10 feet of water. “It’s really been cut to shreds, hasn’t it?” Kesner said. “And we’re a couple hours past high tide, too,” Schulte replied. He hadn’t seen the island from the air for a decade, he remarked, and the “ponding” all over worried him. It suggested that water was not only leaching in from the shorelines but was bubbling up from underneath Tangier too. “Wow,” he said, his face nearly pressed to the window. “They are on the edge. ” As we circled the Uppards area just north of Tangier, Schulte asked me: “Do you see that line running along the center?” That was once a road, he said. It had connected a small village known as Canaan, at the northern tip of Uppards, to Tangier village. Canaan is gone. It was abandoned around 1920, when the villagers, roughly 120 of them, left. Rather than physical deterioration, it seems to have been social erosion — not enough churchgoers and students, according to a report by the National Park Service — that hastened the town’s end. Many of the 35 houses on Uppards were moved to Tangier’s village, where some still remain. A few, however, were left behind to be taken by the sea. Only one photograph of Canaan exists, from a 1910 magazine article. Instead there are recollections, passed down to Tangier residents like Anna whose lived in Canaan. A few hours after I saw Uppards from the air, I visited the area by boat with Schulte and Carol who also traces her roots to Canaan. Over the past few years, she has come to be regarded as its unofficial historian, the keeper not only of shards of information about the inhabitants — “It used to be beautiful green grass, chickens, roses, fig trees,” she told me — but also of physical fragments that wash up where the town once stood. She told me that 10 years ago she found an English whiskey bottle from the 1600s. One lingering problem with Uppards is that the remnants of the Canaan cemetery, now half underwater, have proved difficult to collect and move. Though some bodies have been relocated, bones and parts of coffins continue to wash into the tide regularly. told me that once she was waiting for a ferry on Tangier’s dock and saw a femur on a nearby bank. Canaan — and Uppards Island — matter to the people of Tangier for two reasons. The first is that even in its tattered state, it protects the rest of Tangier from the erosive northern currents of the Chesapeake. As our boat drew nearer, Schulte told me he thinks Uppards is now losing about 10 feet of shoreline a year. And, he said, “If you lose Uppards, you lose the town of Tangier, because then the town would be unsheltered. ” The second reason residents care about Uppards is that it represents a possible future. “I’m not a pessimist,” told me. “But I see what’s happening. Without a sea wall on the east side, or a sea wall on the west side, Tangier will just be in the history books. It will be like this place, like Uppards. ” We had come ashore from her small boat. She looked around and spread her arms and said, “But isn’t it beautiful?” It was indeed — but also windswept, lonesome, strange. She began leading us past tidal pools and along the beach, a mix of silt and peat held together by the thin roots of marsh grasses. The lapping of the Chesapeake was ripping away the peat at the water’s edge. As narrated, we walked by piles of oyster shells — middens, most likely, dating back to Native American settlers — and soon came upon a large scattering of red bricks, smoothed and made porous by time and weather, that had probably served as the foundation of Canaan’s homes. Not far away was a large iron ring, sunk into the mud, which marked the top of an old freshwater well. All around us were old bottles and dead bushes and gnarled stumps, including the skeleton of a large fig tree. “That died three years ago,” said, blaming the intrusion of saltwater, which made survival for most plants difficult. Beyond the fig tree were a number of weathered marble headstones from the old Canaan graveyard, lying flat on the beach. Schulte began turning them over to read the inscriptions. The familiar Tangier names — the old families that had come here from Cornwall hundreds of years ago — still echoed: Margaret Pruitt, Polly Parks. led us farther eastward. Over the next few weeks, I thought of her many times — this woman who takes her small boat to Uppards almost every day, weather permitting, to walk the beach, stepping gingerly over fallen headstones while searching for bottles and buttons or taking a moment to appreciate the blooms of a dying rosebush planted by someone (an ancestor?) more than a century ago. Sometimes, she told me, especially in summer, she brings along her grandchildren to help her gather things exposed by the tide, even though, as she put it, “the sun is so hot you can barely stand it. ” She had found toy marbles and old coins and coffin handles she had also discovered arrowheads and a Native American ax head of smoothed stone that must have preceded the settlement of Canaan by many centuries. But every week, she said, there was a bit less land and brush. And every visit was an effort to gather the final, sodden artifacts of a place that would vanish, almost completely, within a few years. We walked for a while more. Eventually, we reached an area beyond the remains of Canaan where the empty beach stretched through mud, marsh grass and scattered oyster shells. Schulte said he wanted to keep going farther, along the eastern shore of Uppards, and agreed to return later in her boat to pick him up. Schulte said that he thought he might have seen a living pine tree during the flight on the Cessna. “I want to go see if I can find it. ” Standing on the beach, said, “Sometimes it’s so hard to imagine this was a town. ” “It’s like no one ever lived here,” Schulte replied. Then he turned and began walking to find the last tree. | 1 |
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A new poll from an unlikely source suggests that the U.S. public and the U.S. media have very little in common when it comes to matters of war and peace.
This poll was commissioned by that notorious leftwing hotbed of peaceniks, the Charles Koch Institute, along with the Center for the National Interest (previously the Nixon Center, and before that the humorously named Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom). The poll was conducted by Survey Sampling International.
They polled 1,000 registered voters from across the U.S. and across the political spectrum but slanted slightly toward older age groups. They asked:
"Over the last 15 years, do you think U.S. foreign policy has made Americans more or less safe?"
What, dear reader, do you say?
If you say less safe, you not only agree with dozens of top U.S. officials the week after they retire, but you agree with 52.5% of the people polled. Those who said "more safe" add up to 14%, while 25.2% said "about the same" and 8.3% just didn't know.
Well, at least all these humanitarian wars to spread democracy and eliminate weapons and destroy terror have benefited the rest of the world, right?
Not according to the statistics that show terrorism on the rise during the war on terrorism, and not according to 50.5% of poll respondents who said U.S. foreign policy has made the world less safe. Meanwhile 12.6% said "more safe" while 24.1% said it was about the same and 12.8% didn't know. - Advertisement -
Asked about four wars in particular, registered U.S. voters said each of them had made the U.S. less secure, by a margin of 49.6% to 20.9% on Iraq, 42.2% to 18.9% on Libya, 42.2% to 24.3% on Afghanistan, and 40.8% to 32.1% on bombing ISIS in Syria.
These answers should not immediately be taken to prove that the U.S. public is universally wise and well informed, and (not coincidentally) at odds with U.S. media. Not only is that margin pretty slim on ISIS, but 43.3% of those polled said ISIS was the greatest threat the United States faces. Meanwhile 14.1% named Russia, 8.5% North Korea, 8.1% the national debt, 7.9% domestic terrorists, and bringing up the rear with the correct answer of global warming as the greatest threat were a grand total of 4.6% of those polled.
A survey of U.S. news reports would certainly suggest a point of agreement here between the public and the media. But here is where it gets interesting. Although the public believes the hype about danger emanating from these foreign forces, it does not favor the solution it is endlessly offered by the media and the U.S. government. When asked if, compared to last 15 years, the next president should use the U.S. military abroad less, 51.1% agreed, while 24.2% said it should be used more. And 80.0% said that any president should be required to get congressional authorization before committing the U.S. to military action, while 10.2% rejected that radical idea that's been in the U.S. Constitution since day 1.
The U.S. public may look quite depressingly ignorant in a quick survey of Youtube videos, but check this out: Asked if the U.S. government should deploy U.S. troops on the ground in Syria 51.1% said no, compared to 23.5% who said yes. Only 10% said yes on Yemen, while 22.8% said no -- however, 40.7% said the U.S. government should keep "supporting" Saudi Arabia in that war.
Good majorities also oppose Japan acquiring nuclear weapons, Germany acquiring nuclear weapons, or the U.S. defending Taiwan against a Chinese attack. (Who invents these scenarios?) - Advertisement -
This moderately encouraging survey of public sentiment stands in stark contrast to U.S. media coverage of wars in general and Syria in particular . The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof is ready for a bigger war as are columnists in the Washington Post and USA Today , as well as, of course Chuck Todd and other televised talking head. Meanwhile Hillary Clinton's comment to Goldman Sachs that a "no fly zone" would require "killing a lot of Syrians" has received dramatically less press than her brave calls for creating a humanitarian no fly zone, and the steady depiction of that proposal as "doing something" -- in contrast to the only other option: "doing nothing."
The public, however, rejects the only "something" that's on offer and just might leap at the opportunity to try something else, if anyone ever proposed anything else . View Ratings | Rate It http://davidswanson.org David Swanson is the author of "When the World Outlawed War," "War Is A Lie" and "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union." He blogs at http://davidswanson.org and http://warisacrime.org and works for the online ( more... ) | 0 |
Posted on November 4, 2016 by DCG | 4 Comments
As proggies like to proclaim, “#LoveIsLove.”
From NY Post : A teen’s sexual relationship with her uncle is not verboten, a German court ruled this week.
In its ruling, the judges reasoned that the 15-year-old girl, identified as Josephine , risked “serious damage in her social-emotional and mental development” if she and her non-blood uncle, 47-year-old Gerrit Haager, were denied contact. The loving uncle/CEN Photo
In Germany, as in many European countries, the legal age of sexual consent is 14 . Since there is no law in Germany prohibiting the relationship, it may continue to blossom, the court ruled.
“The court does not offer any opinion on the non-judicial question of whether a 47-year-old married man should return the love of a 14-year-old fired by adolescent affection and enthusiasm,” it wrote, the Telegraph reported .
“The relationship may be socially undesirable and unacceptable, but it is not covered by criminal law, and not categorically forbidden.”
The girl from Schildow, a town in the German state of Brandenburg, ditched school and ran off with her uncle a year ago — to the dismay of her worried parents, who alerted police.
The pair were later found in southern France, and the teen was brought back to Germany, where her parents forbade her from seeing her uncle. The parents got the court involved in a bid to keep the two apart. The red-haired teen revolted, stopped attending school, and tried to stay in a government shelter.
The teen, whom the court described as of “above average intelligence,” has said her relationship with her uncle is “goal-oriented and stable,” according to CEN.
DCG | 0 |
Fransız askerlere IŞİD’çi formasyonu eğitimi Voltaire İletişim Ağı | 27 Ekim 2016 français Español italiano Deutsch English 22 Eylül 2016 günü, Saumur (Fransa) çıkışında, Saint-Florent Kilisesinin yakınlarında, terk edilmiş bir mağara sığınağı temizleyen işçiler, apar topar beyaz bir kamyonetle uzaklaşan üç adam gördüler. Mağaraya girdiklerinde, video malzemeleri, bir jeneratör, Arapça gazeteler ve IŞİD bayrakları buldular.
Halkın, polisin, jandarmanın ve vali yardımcısının heyecanını yatıştıran Saumur Askeri Okullar Komutanı General Arnaud Nicolazo de Barmon, bunların teröristlere ait olmadığını, ama Ordulararası Nükleer, Radyolojik, Biyolojik ve Kimyasal Savunma Merkezinin (CİA NBCR) bir eğitim tatbikatının söz konusu olduğunu söyledi.
Eğer durum böyleyse, olağanüstü halin tam ortasında, CİA NBCR bu tatbikatı yapmadan önce yerel kamu idarelerine bildirimde bulunmaya yönelik kuralları ihlal etti demektir. Ayrıca, nükleer, radyolojik, biyolojik ya da kimyasal savunma tatbikatlarında bu malzemelerin ne işe yarayabileceğini bilemiyoruz.
Saumur’daki CİA NBCR’nin aynı tesislerinde, İstihbarat ve Ordulararası Muharebe konusunda uzmanlaşmış okullar da yer alıyor.
2011’de Suriye’deki olayların en başından beri, Fransız birliklerinin bu ülkedeki varlığı kanıtlandı. 2012’de, esir alınan 19 Fransız askeri, Lübnan sınırında, Baba Amr’da İslam Emirliğini eğiten başka askerlerle birlikte, Genelkurmay Başkanı Amiral Edouard Guillaud’ya teslim edilmişti. İslamcı güçleri eğiten Fransız askerlerinin ölümü, özellikle 2013 yılında Sannayeh’te olduğu gibi, birçok farklı yerde kanıtlanmıştı. Her ne kadar Fransa 2014 yılında IŞİD’e karşı El Kaide’yi desteklese de, Halifeliğin içerisinde Fransız subaylarının varlığı 2016 yılında birçok tanık tarafından doğrulandı.
Kasım 2014’te Pentagon, Samarda’da El-Kaide içerisinde faaliyet yürüten, David Drugeon isimli bir DGSE ajanını öldürdüğünü açıkladı. Bu arada Fransız Savunma Bakanı kurbanla herhangi bir bağlarının olmadığını belirtti. Ardından ABD basını da David Drugeon’un Muhammet Mera (Toulouse ve Montauban saldırıları) ve Kuaşi kardeşleri ( Charlie Hebdo ’ya yönelik saldırı) eğittiğini belirtiyordu.
Fransa, her ne kadar müttefik özel kuvvetleriyle birlikte ortak bir ana karargahı olduğunu tanısa da, bugüne kadar Suriye’de kara birliklerinin varlığını hiçbir zaman resmi olarak kabul etmedi.
Çeviri
Osman Soysal | 0 |
Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice joined Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam on Wednesday to discuss the coming testimony of former FBI Director James Comey and the case of Reality Winner, who was arrested for leaking secrets from the National Security Agency. [Said Sekulow on Comey, “He’s not exactly a credible witness,” while pointing out several previous issues with testimony he’s given that has to be corrected later. As for what to expect now, said Sekulow, “You don’t want to be left alone with the President of the United States? Well, that’s why you’re not the FBI director. Grow up and act like an adult. ” “It’s going to be whining testimony,” added Sekulow, saying he’s not sure what the intelligence community is even going to gain from the testimony. Comey is already leaking parts of his testimony and is said to not believe Trump tried to obstruct justice. Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a. m. to 9:00 a. m. Eastern. LISTEN: | 1 |
Other Writers LD : 24 hours to Armageddon? You better believe it! No matter who wins, America’s going to be hit by a major hurricane on Wednesday. If Trump wins, thousands of malefactors in high places will be slitting their wrists or jumping from tall windows. But if Hillary wins, we’re off the map completely. Anything’s possible if this frothing fruitcake manages to waltz her way into the White House. Like this? Share it now. One thought on “ Dishing the Dirt on Hillary — ‘Lock her up at once!’ (Video, 10 mins) ” Gilroy Kelly says: November 7, 2016 at 3:24 pm
Sean Hannity is the king of softball political interviewing. I do not waste my time with him. For there to be a “hurricane” hilLIARy needs to be elected and the Republicans need to lose the Senate. That allows for Reid to change Senate rules to allow a majority vote to confirm justices. That will stack the Supreme Court with dangerous libtards. That is what can hurt America, not just a presidential election. | 0 |
WASHINGTON — Stung by a fierce backlash from Donald J. Trump’s ardent supporters, four Republican members of Congress who had made headlines for demanding that Mr. Trump leave the presidential race retreated quietly this week, conceding that they would still probably vote for the man they had excoriated just days before. From Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the only member of the Republican leadership in either chamber who had disavowed Mr. Trump, to Representative Scott Garrett of New Jersey, who is in a difficult fight, the lawmakers contorted themselves over Mr. Trump. Some of them would not mention him by name, preferring instead to affirm their support for the generic “Republican ticket,” still grasping for a middle ground. They said that if Mr. Trump would not make way for his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, to lead the party after the release of a recording on Friday showing Mr. Trump bragging about groping women, they had little choice but to vote for their embattled nominee. But the collective owed less to his refusal to exit a race in which ballots are already being cast than to the fury his supporters unleashed at the defectors at rallies and on social media. And Mr. Trump himself escalated his bitter feud with the country’s elected Republican, Speaker Paul D. Ryan, saying at a rally in Florida on Wednesday that Mr. Ryan’s refusal to actively support his candidacy was part of a “sinister deal going on. ” The quick reversals back to Mr. Trump’s camp vividly illustrated Republicans’ predicament as they grapple with a nominee whom some of their core supporters adore, a Democratic candidate their base loathes — and a host of voters who believe that Mr. Trump is unsuited for high office. In Alabama, Representative Bradley Byrne, who said flatly over the weekend, “It is now clear Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States,” insisted to reporters on Wednesday that he had always said he would “be a supporter of the Republican ticket from top to bottom. ” “I’m a Republican,” Mr. Byrne said. “I don’t vote Democrat. ” Mr. Thune, who also said on Saturday that Mr. Pence should be the party’s nominee, “effective immediately,” acknowledged that the recording of Mr. Trump boasting of grabbing women’s genitals was “more offensive than anything that I had seen” from the Republican . But he said in an interview Tuesday with KELO television in Sioux Falls, S. D. that he would still cast his ballot for Mr. Trump. “I intend to support the nominee of our party, and if anything should change, then I’ll let you know,” Mr. Thune said. “But he’s got a lot of work to do, I think, if he’s going to have any hope of winning this election. ” Of the Republicans who reversed themselves, only Mr. Garrett is in a competitive race. Mr. Byrne and Mr. Thune are expected to easily defeat their Democratic opponents, and Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska is not up for until 2018. On Saturday, Ms. Fischer called Mr. Trump’s comments “disgusting and totally unacceptable under any circumstance” and said, “It would be wise for him to step aside and allow Mike Pence to serve as our party’s nominee. ” But she was almost philosophical in telling a Nebraska radio station on Tuesday why she was still backing Mr. Trump. “He decided he would not step aside. I respect his decision,” she said. “I support the Republican ticket, and it’s a ticket. ” In New Jersey, Mr. Garrett also initially called for Mr. Pence to lead the party. But by Tuesday, Mr. Garrett, a lawmaker who was already facing perhaps the stiffest challenge of his career, said he would “vote Trump for president if he is the party’s official nominee come Election Day. ” The legislators’ tortuous efforts to climb down from their earlier clarion calls did not seem to placate Mr. Trump’s admirers much. “If you are not FOR Mr. Trump, then you must be AGAINST Mr. Trump,” Lonnie Lee Mixon II, an Alabamian, wrote on Mr. Byrne’s Facebook page. “Please stop dancing around this. ” A handful of the Republican Party’s recruits also find themselves in a vise. In Nebraska, Don Bacon, who is challenging Representative Brad Ashford, a Democrat, initially issued a statement calling Mr. Trump’s remarks “utterly disgraceful and disqualifying. ” But the news release is nowhere to be found on Mr. Bacon’s website, and at a debate Tuesday night in Omaha, he would not rule out voting for Mr. Trump. The specter of a civil war enveloping the party less than four weeks before Election Day left veteran Republicans deeply worried about what the elected officials who moved so quickly to abandon Mr. Trump last weekend had wrought. One former Virginia congressman, Thomas M. Davis III, said “panicked” Republicans might have made the party’s problems even worse. “It discourages turnout,” Mr. Davis said, noting that even as Mr. Trump sinks in the polls, he still has at least of the party behind him. “Publicly disowning and running from him just creates havoc. It hurts everybody. I understand individual decisions, but when this happens institutionally, it hurts. ” Sensing an opportunity to rally his supporters against the wavering Republican leaders, Mr. Trump went after Mr. Ryan at a campaign rally for the first time since the speaker told House Republicans on Monday that he would no longer defend the party’s nominee. Before 7, 000 people in Ocala, Fla. Mr. Trump veered between dark, conspiratorial warnings and strikingly personal expressions of resentment. “There’s a whole deal going on,” he said of Mr. Ryan’s decision to walk away from his candidacy. “We’re going to figure it out. ” Yet even as he used the rally to accuse the speaker of being part of a nefarious, if vague, plot, Mr. Trump also made clear he was wounded that Mr. Ryan had not called to praise him for his debate performance on Sunday. “So wouldn’t you think that Paul Ryan would call and say good going, in front of just about the largest audience for a debate in the history of the country?” he complained. In a conference call Wednesday night with major donors, Mr. Ryan vented about leaks from the conference call with House Republicans on Monday in which he announced his decision to focus entirely on congressional races. He said the news media had misinterpreted his message to his colleagues — that they should not “defend the indefensible” — and that Mr. Trump lacked “the discipline” to resist swiping back at him, according to a donor on the call. But Mr. Ryan said that Republican candidates could “help Trump with turnout,” and that he planned to use a speech on Friday to argue against Hillary Clinton. While Mr. Trump had already lashed out at Mr. Ryan on Twitter and in a Fox News interview, his decision to use his own campaign event to hurl attacks at the speaker caused a new wave of fear among Republicans that their now “unshackled” candidate, as he described himself earlier in the week, might use his rallies to similarly attack local Republican lawmakers who have refused to support his candidacy. (They also had to deal with new revelations about Mr. Trump’s behavior, like a report that he had walked into a Miss Teen USA dressing room as contestants were changing, and another report that two women had accused him of groping them.) Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, would not say whether Mr. Trump planned to start tailoring his intraparty attacks by region. But she pointedly emailed an automated survey of Nevada voters showing that Republicans were punishing Representative Joe Heck in his Senate campaign for withdrawing his support of Mr. Trump. One of Mr. Trump’s most prominent remaining allies, the former House speaker Newt Gingrich, said the nominee’s blasts at other Republicans were an unnecessary diversion from targeting Mrs. Clinton. But Mr. Gingrich added that Mr. Ryan had invited the opprobrium from both Mr. Trump and his admirers. “Ryan wants to find a middle path, but he doesn’t understand that the middle path signals to his own partisans that he’s not hanging tough,” he said. “All you have to say if you’re Ryan is, ‘We need to beat Hillary Clinton, and I’m going to help beat Hillary Clinton. ’” Mrs. Clinton herself was reveling in the Republican conflagration and, in a new sign of confidence, used a rally in Pueblo, Colo. to appeal across state lines to voters in two red states that now appear within reach. ”If you’ve got friends in Utah or Arizona, make sure they vote, too,” she said. “We are competing everywhere. ” | 1 |
Email Print Cleveland, Ohio – Beyonce and Jay Z performed for “free” at the Get out the Vote concert last night for Hillary Clinton. However, sources revealed that the power couple was paid $62 Million to perform. According to sources closely connected with the power couple, Clinton and her campaign flew Beyonce and Jay Z out to a private meeting to discuss the election. With Hillary lacking the African-American voting numbers that Barack Obama had during his 2008 presidential, the Clinton campaign made a quick and desperate move in their final efforts to secure African-American votes. Empire Herald reported : “Jay and Beyonce got a call a few weeks ago from Clinton. She invited them for a weekend stay at a luxury hotel to meet regarding the election. Before Jay Z or Beyonce could voice any concerns or ask questions, Hillary pulled out a check. Beyonce saw the check first and her eye lit up like Christmas lights. On the last day of the meeting, Hillary told said to everyone, including Jay Z and Beyonce, “We definitely got the black vote now.” On the flight back to New York, Jay Z said, “You know what, Black Lives Matter, they matter because we got paid $62 Million to represent them.” Hillary Clinton can officially add Beyoncé and Jay Z to her list of devoted supporters. The musical power couple headlined a free get-out-the-vote concert in Cleveland on Friday night. . Cole, Chance The Rapper, and Big Sean were also among the list of artists who performed, offering their support to the Democratic nominee for president. As the concert’s official main headliner, Jay-Z kicked off the event with “Dirt Off Your Shoulder,” “F—WithMeYouKnowIGotIt,” and a couple of his older hit records. Shawn “Jay Z” Carter also brought out Big Sean to perform “Clique”. After Big Sean, Chance The Rapper, and J. Cole finished, Beyoncé made her entrance with her anthemic “Formation.” But before “Freedom” rang out, she shared her thoughts about the election. “There was a time when a woman’s opinion did not matter. If you were black, white, Mexican, Asian, Muslim, educated, poor, or rich, if you were a woman, it didn’t matter,” Beyoncé said. “Less than 100 years ago, women did not have the right to vote. Look how far we’ve come from having no voice to being on the brink of making history again, by electing the first woman president. But we have to vote. The world looks to us as a progressive country that leads change.” She continued: “Eight years ago, I was so inspired to know that my nephew, a young black child, could grow up knowing his dreams could be realized by witnessing a black president. And now, we have the opportunity to create more change. I want my daughter to grow up seeing a woman lead our country and know that her possibilities are limitless. “We have to think about the future of our daughters, our sons, and vote for someone who cares for them as much as we do,” she continued, concluding: “And that is why I’m with her.” After Beyonce’s performance, she and her husband, Jay Z, bowed, hugged, and kissed, ending their night with their official endorsement of Hillary Clinton. then Jay Z made his endorsement. “I want to grow up in a world where our daughter has no limitations. She can feel like she can be whatever she wants to be in the world,” he said. “This other guy [Donald Trump], I don’t have any ill will towards him, but his conversation is divisive, and that’s not an evolved soul to me. He cannot be my president. He cannot be our president. Once you divide us, you weaken us. We’re stronger together,” Jay Z added. Jay Z then welcomed Hillary Clinton on stage and, along with Beyoncé, gave the 69-year-old politician a big hug. Then, the former Secretary of State grabbed the mic. “We have a woman who is an inspiration to so many others. I thank Beyoncé for standing up and showing the world we are strongest when we look out for each other,” Clinton said. “And I thank Jay for addressing in his music some of our biggest challenges in the country: poverty, racism, the urgent end for criminal justice reform.”
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Donald Trump & Hillary Clinton ~ RAP SONG (The Oligarchy) Share on Facebook
Sure there are differences between Trump & Hillary. But don't you see all the similarities? [watch video below] Caitlin Moran's Posthumous Advice for Her Daughter Caitlin Moran · 2,738 views today · My daughter is about to turn 13 and I’ve been smoking a lot recently, and so – in the wee small hours, when my lungs feel like there’s a small mouse inside them, scratching to... | 0 |
In a move designed to upgrade a conspicuously ineffectual backcourt, the Knicks completed a blockbuster deal with the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday and acquired point guard Derrick Rose, who won the Most Valuable Player Award in 2011 before struggling with a string of serious knee injuries. In exchange for Rose — as well as guard Justin Holiday and a 2017 draft pick — the Knicks sent center Robin Lopez, point guard Jose Calderon and point guard Jerian Grant to the Bulls. “This is an exciting day for New York and our fans,” Knicks Coach Jeff Hornacek said in a statement sent out by the team. “Derrick is one of the top point guards in the N. B. A. who is . He adds a whole new dynamic to our roster and immediately elevates our backcourt. ” The acquisition of Rose, 27, splashy as it was, came of question marks for the Knicks. At the least, the move added another alluring boldface name to a team that already featured Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis. Rose, who was named rookie of the year in 2009 and made the team the next three seasons, has long been one of the most recognizable faces in the league. Yet many believe Rose’s best seasons are in the past, and he has been known better over the last few years for his lengthy stints on the Bulls’ disabled list. He played in only 100 games from the season to the season and sat out the entire campaign. Last season, he appeared in 66 games for the Bulls and averaged 16. 4 points and 4. 7 assists in 31. 8 minutes per game. Rose was also accused of sexual battery in a lawsuit filed last year by a former girlfriend who charged that he and two other men had drugged her and sexually assaulted her in 2013. Rose has denied the allegations, and a trial is scheduled to begin in October. Whatever risks or rewards Rose may bring, his tenure with the Knicks could be short. He has one year left on his contract, with a base salary of about $21. 3 million for the coming season. Holiday, a guard, averaged 4. 5 points in 53 games for the Atlanta Hawks and the Bulls last season. As the Knicks tried to solidify their backcourt, they created another hole in their roster with the departure of Lopez. The move could compel them to pursue a big man in the coming weeks. Lopez joined the team as a free agent last summer and, after a slow start, found his stride in the second half of the season. He started all 82 games and averaged 10. 3 points and 7. 3 rebounds. His bruising presence at the center position allowed Porzingis, a rookie last season, to adjust to the pace and physicality of the N. B. A. Calderon, 34, started 72 games for the Knicks and averaged 7. 6 points and 4. 2 assists. Grant, 23, was a pick in the 2015 draft. He inherited the starting point guard job from Calderon in the final days of the Knicks’ season, which they finished . The Knicks also announced on Wednesday that they had waived guard Tony Wroten. Into that newly vacated space arrives Rose, who was born in Chicago and played one season at Memphis before becoming the No. 1 pick in the 2008 N. B. A. draft. Rose exploded into the N. B. A. and became the youngest player to win the league’s M. V. P. Award at 22. He was a physical dynamo in those early years. He sprang and slashed in his signature drives to the hoop, and his overwhelming athleticism helped to mask his deficiencies shooting from outside. Rose played in 240 games in his first three seasons in the league, and he averaged 20. 9 points and 6. 7 assists in that time. A spate of injuries in recent years has kept him from reaching those same heights. It began in the season. The Bulls finished that season tied for the best record in the league. But in the first game of the postseason, Rose tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, and he missed all of the following season as a result of the injury. In November 2013, just 10 games into the season, Rose tore the meniscus of his right knee and missed the rest of the season. He sustained the same injury in February 2015, the following season, and missed 20 more games. Last September, he sustained a fracture in his left eye socket after taking an elbow to the face in practice and had to undergo yet another operation. The sum of those injuries left him a shadow of his former self once he returned to the court. He has a chance to in the spotlight next season with the Knicks. | 1 |
a reply to: kruphix Theocracy? Tim Kaine? In September 1980, as violence and civil war erupted throughout Central America, a quiet American left Harvard Law School to volunteer with Jesuit missionaries in northern Honduras. Around him, the United States-backed military dictatorship hunted Marxists and cracked down on the Catholic clergy for preaching empowerment to peasant farmers. But some locals also looked warily on the bearded and mop-haired Midwesterner in their midst. Just a few hours south, the Central Intelligence Agency was using Honduras as a staging ground in its covert war against Latin American communism, with right-wing forces training for operations in El Salvador and Nicaragua. “Some of the people were wondering what’s going on, who is this guy?” Tim Kaine, then a 22-year-old volunteer and now the Democratic nominee for vice president, said in an interview. He understood why. His mentors in the priesthood had also urged him to be wary of friendly American faces. Continue reading the main story Advertisement Continue reading the main story “It was a time of such intrigue and suspicion,” Mr. Kaine said. Far from being a C.I.A. operative, Mr. Kaine was a young Catholic at a crossroads, undergoing a spiritual shift as he awakened to the plight of the deeply poor in Honduras. In its far-flung pueblos, banana plantation company towns and dusty cities, Mr. Kaine embraced an interpretation of the gospel, known as liberation theology, that championed social change to improve the lives of the downtrodden. In Honduras, his recitation of the traditional Catholic mealtime blessing changed to “Lord give bread to those who hunger, and hunger for justice to those who have bread.” Honduran military leaders, American officials and even Pope John Paul II viewed liberation theology suspiciously, as dangerously injecting Marxist beliefs into religious teaching. But the strong social-justice message of liberation theology helped set Mr. Kaine on a left-veering career path in which he fought as a lawyer against housing discrimination, became a liberal mayor, and rose as a Spanish-speaking governor and senator with an enduring focus on Latin America. | 0 |
CASETTA, Italy — Romano Camassi, a seismologist, picked up a speck as he surveyed the damage from this week’s earthquake on the green mountain crest where the village of Casetta, now ruins, once perched. “This is just ground, soil,” he said, sadly. “In so many buildings in this area, that was the material used to keep together the irregular stones found in the surroundings which people used to build their homes. ” Experts like Mr. Camassi, who was part of the first team from Italy’s Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology to arrive at the quake zone in central Italy, say the destruction was amplified by vulnerable buildings whose upgrades to codes were deemed too costly for many Italians to carry out, too complicated to finance and too cumbersome to get approved. Italy is beloved for its rich architectural history. But that beauty comes at a steep price: both the lives lost when nature reminds its borrowers who is boss, and the money required in the attempt to even the scales. The country has spent an average of 3. 5 billion euros a year, or $3. 9 billion, for the past 50 years to fix earthquake damage, according to the Italian Association of Builders. And, in the aftermath of Wednesday’s quake, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced yet another plan to rebuild and buttress Italy’s ancient infrastructure. Many experts maintain that Italy has among the world’s best standards already — at least on paper. But the problems in executing them are legion: money, corruption, tangled bureaucracy, shoddy construction and a lack of enforcement of national regulations at the local level. This quake, like many in the past, already seems likely to expose corners that were cut, contributing to the 280 or more deaths in about 80 villages in the area along the Apennines, Italy’s fragile spinal cord, where the 6. quake struck. Prosecutors quickly announced an investigation into why a school in Amatrice, the town of about 2, 600 where the most deaths occurred, and the bell tower in nearby Accumoli collapsed. The bell tower, which had recently been refurbished, killed an entire family when it fell. The school, built in the 1930s and renovated in 2012, was supposedly built to new standards. “You can have the best rules, but if the weak link is the human factor then it’s all over,” said Gianpaolo Rosati, a professor of structural engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan. “Unfortunately, we find ourselves always protesting about the same things. ” Perhaps the most central, and inescapable, problem is that Italy is old. About 60 percent of its buildings are estimated to be more than 100 years old. That means that most of the country’s architectural heritage was built before any of the modern standards were instituted. “You can’t ask that an ancient structure adhere to norms designed for modern structures, but you can try to improve them, that’s the path to take with the objective to save human lives,” said Donatella Guzzoni, an engineer and an expert in the preservation of historic buildings. “Italy has the best technologies to do this,” she added. “But it does come down to money. ” Casetta, a hamlet of about two dozen homes, sat on the hill north of Amatrice on the east side of the Tronto River that cuts this valley between two mountain chains. The area was among the most devastated by the quake for a combination of historical, economic and cultural reasons, Mr. Camassi said. “In many cases, they used rounded river stones, put next to one another by someone who ignored even the most ancient best construction practices,” he said. He pointed to a long cement beam hanging perilously from the debris of a house. “When residents decided to reinforce the buildings, they often substituted the light wooden roofs with cement beams and bricks like that, which only worsened the impact of the quake because they burdened the otherwise frail structure,” he said. Mr. Camassi and other experts pointed out that certifying an existing building to standards was difficult and often too expensive for most people. Just having a technical expert determine a building’s vulnerability has a price, Mr. Rosati said, estimating it would cost around 10, 000 euros to evaluate a small house. “The cost of reinforcing a building to meet standards can be around 300 euro per square meter, which means the owner of a largish apartment faces a cost of some 300, 000 euro,” he said, sometimes more than the apartment is worth. And it is not enough for just one homeowner to want to sleep a little easier. “The entire apartment building has to agree to do the same,” he added, and if the palazzos or apartment buildings are connected, the whole neighborhood must agree. Villages like Amatrice and Accumoli are loved for the charm of their narrow streets and spaces, where houses were built cheek to cheek over the centuries to use prime land, often atop narrow peaks. In those tightly packed places, the entire block must be reinforced or the buildings “interact” in an earthquake and can topple like dominoes, Mr. Rosati said. That is precisely the dynamic Mr. Camassi found in Casetta. “Neighbors built in different periods, different buildings with different materials, but adjacent,” he said. “So even those that would have resisted the quake were damaged or even taken down by the others. ” Farther up the mountain is Cossito, an idyllic village of little houses with red geraniums on the terraces. One narrow street divides a recently restored building from the town square, where almost all homes collapsed, killing at least three people. The village had only four families, Mr. Camassi said, and they all lost a member or a close friend. “We thought we did all we needed, but now we simply need to erase this house,” said Roberto Paganelli, a former police officer in the Carabinieri, who was retrieving items from his mother’s home. The building dates to 1864, he said, and was reinforced in the 1960s. The costs of evaluating and retrofitting old structures are prohibitive for many in this corner of Italy, an easy drive from Rome. Many of these homes were used only in the summer and were not primary residences worth a huge investment. In many cases, the residents are old, living on a pension and barely getting by. The state cannot oblige homeowners to upgrade their buildings unless there are obvious reasons to intervene. “We have norms, but they only apply to new buildings or important restorations,” said Luca Ferrari, the president of Italy’s Association of Seismic Engineers. “For the vast majority of buildings, we don’t have an classification, so no one knows whether they are dangerous or not during a quake. ” With a group of experts, Mr. Ferrari drafted guidelines to classify buildings, with parameters similar to the energy efficiency of a building. This work finished in April 2015, but the government campaign — and its fiscal incentives — to reinforce existing buildings were still lacking, he said. “This area is at very high seismic danger, and we know that in these small towns of the Apennine Mountains, there are vulnerable buildings,” said Filippo Bernardini, a geologist who worked on Mr. Camassi’s team. “Unless we build better, we offer no hope for the future. ” The alternative — razing ancient buildings to construct modern, palazzos — is hardly an option. “In other countries there is greater renewal of the architectural patrimony. They don’t think much about knocking something down to rebuild to different standards,” said Sergio Lagomarsino, an engineering professor at the University of Genoa. But, as Mr. Lagomarsino pointed out, Italy has a more conservative approach and is aware that preserving its heritage has value for the country. “In the face of an important building you can’t demolish a historic center and rebuild it with fake stones,” he said. “It would ‘denaturalize’ Italy. ” | 1 |
These Jews have such a hateful god, wow.
Yahweh just punishing bitches left and right.
RT :
Two earthquakes, which struck Italy this week, were âretributionâ for the countryâs support of the UNESCO resolution disregarding the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, Israeli Deputy Minister for Regional Cooperation Ayoob Kara said.
âIâm sure that the earthquake happened because of the UNESCO decision,â Kara, a member of the ruling Likud Party, wrote in a memo, Ynetnews  website reported.
Ironically, the Israeli politician was on a state visit to the Vatican when the quakes hit central Italy on Wednesday, killing one and injuring 10 people.
Earlier the same day, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), passed a resolution criticizing Israel for its handling of the holy site in Jerusalem â called Temple Mount by Jews, and Haram al-Sharif by Muslims.
The document was adopted after heated debate over its wording, and particularly the Arabic names used in the document. Italy was among the nations voting in favor of the resolution.
Israel blasted UNESCO and its Arab members for trying to undermine Jewish connections to the holy site.
Kara arrived in the Vatican in a fruitless effort to avert the resolution, but still managed to have a small chat with the leader of the Catholic Church.
According to Kara, Pope Francis âstrongly disagreedâ with the resolution.
âHe (the Pope) even said publicly that the holy land is connected to the Nation of Israel,â the deputy minister stressed.
Yeah, he’s not a good Pope.
Our model Pope is Urban II, who just wanted to exterminate all non-Whites in the Holy Land, Jew or Moslem.
Do the Jews not know that people are paying attention to these types of statements now?
If so, why do they keep making them? If you ever see a Jew covering his door frame with sheeps blood, it should definitely be a cause for concern.
Even if this Jew believes Yahweh did the earthquake as revenge, why would he state it publicly? Italy is not a Jew country and presumably does not believe in the magic powers of the Jewish god.
So what is the point of making this statement, which can only serve to make the Jews and their god appear hostile, violent, hateful and evil? | 0 |
Taming the corporate media beast How Putin Derailed the West's Grand Project to Remake the World
The improbable alliance of Russia, Syria, Iran and Hezbollah has checked Washington's grand project to remake the world by erasing borders, liquidating states, and removing strong, secular leaders. Originally appeared at CounterPunch
“Nation state as a fundamental unit of man’s organized life has ceased to be the principal creative force: International banks and multinational corporations are acting and planning in terms that are far in advance of the political concepts of the nation-state.”
— Zbigniew Brzezinski, “Between Two Ages: The Technetronic Era”, 1971
“I’m going to continue to push for a no-fly zone and safe havens within Syria….not only to help protect the Syrians and prevent the constant outflow of refugees, but to gain some leverage on both the Syrian government and the Russians.”
— Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Third Presidential Debate
Why is Hillary Clinton so eager to intensify US involvement in Syria when US interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya have all gone so terribly wrong?
The answer to this question is simple. It’s because Clinton doesn’t think that these interventions went wrong. And neither do any of the other members of the US foreign policy establishment. (aka–The Borg). In fact, in their eyes these wars have been a rousing success. Sure, a few have been critical of the public relations backlash from the nonexistent WMD in Iraq, (or the logistical errors, like disbanding the Iraqi Army) but–for the most part– the foreign policy establishment is satisfied with its efforts to destabilize the region and remove leaders that refuse to follow Washington’s diktats.
This is hard for ordinary people to understand. They can’t grasp why elite powerbrokers would want to transform functioning, stable countries into uninhabitable wastelands overrun by armed extremists, sectarian death squads and foreign-born terrorists. Nor can they understand what has been gained by Washington’s 15 year-long rampage across the Middle East and Central Asia that has turned a vast swathe of strategic territory into a terrorist breeding grounds? What is the purpose of all this?
First, we have to acknowledge that the decimation and de facto balkanization of these countries is part of a plan. If it wasn’t part of a plan, than the decision-makers would change the policy. But they haven’t changed the policy. The policy is the same. The fact that the US is using foreign-born jihadists to pursue regime change in Syria as opposed to US troops in Iraq, is not a fundamental change in the policy. The ultimate goal is still the decimation of the state and the elimination of the existing government. This same rule applies to Libya and Afghanistan both of which have been plunged into chaos by Washington’s actions.
But why? What is gained by destroying these countries and generating so much suffering and death?
Here’s what I think: I think Washington is involved in a grand project to remake the world in a way that better meets the needs of its elite constituents, the international banks and multinational corporations. Brzezinski not only refers to this in the opening quote, he also explains what is taking place: The nation-state is being jettisoned as the foundation upon which the global order rests .
Instead, Washington is erasing borders, liquidating states, and removing strong, secular leaders that can mount resistance to its machinations in order to impose an entirely new model on the region, a new world order. The people who run these elite institutions want to create an interconnected-global free trade zone overseen by the proconsuls of Big Capital, in other words, a global Eurozone that precludes the required state institutions (like a centralized treasury, mutual debt, federal transfers) that would allow the borderless entity to function properly.
Deep state powerbrokers who set policy behind the smokescreen of our bought-and-paid-for congress think that one world government is an achievable goal provided they control the world’s energy supplies, the world’s reserve currency and become the dominant player in this century’s most populous and prosperous region, Asia. This is essentially what Hillary’s “pivot” to Asia is all about.
The basic problem with Washington’s NWO plan is that a growing number of powerful countries are still attached to the old world order and are now prepared to defend it. This is what’s really going on in Syria, the improbable alliance of Russia, Syria, Iran and Hezbollah have stopped the US military juggernaut dead in its tracks. The unstoppable force has hit the immovable object and the immovable object has prevailed…so far.
Naturally, the foreign policy establishment is upset about these new developments, and for good reason. The US has run the world for quite a while now, so the rolling back of US policy in Syria is as much a surprise as it is a threat. The Russian Airforce deployed to Syria a full year ago in September, but only recently has Washington shown that it’s prepared to respond by increasing its support of its jihadists agents on the ground and by mounting an attack on ISIS in the eastern part of the country, Raqqa.
But the real escalation is expected to take place when Hillary Clinton becomes president in 2017. That’s when the US will directly engage Russia militarily, assuming that their tit-for-tat encounters will be contained within Syria’s borders. It’s a risky plan, but it’s the next logical step in this bloody fiasco. Neither party wants a nuclear war, but Washington believes that doing nothing is tantamount to backing down, therefore, Hillary and her neocon advisors can be counted on to up the ante. “No-fly zone”, anyone?
The assumption is that eventually, and with enough pressure, Putin will throw in the towel. But this is another miscalculation. Putin is not in Syria because he wants to be nor is he there because he values his friendship with Syrian President Bashar al Assad. That’s not it at all. Putin is in Syria because he has no choice. Russia’s national security is at stake. If Washington’s strategy of deploying terrorists to topple Assad succeeds, then the same ploy will be attempted in Iran and Russia. Putin knows this, just like he knows that the scourge of foreign-backed terrorism can decimate entire regions like Chechnya. He knows that it’s better for him to kill these extremists in Aleppo than it will be in Moscow. So he can’t back down, that’s not an option.
But, by the same token, he can compromise, in other words, his goals and the goals of Assad do not perfectly coincide. For example, he could very well make territorial concessions to the US for the sake of peace that Assad might not support.
But why would he do that? Why wouldn’t he continue to fight until every inch of Syria’s sovereign territory is recovered?
Because it’s not in Russia’s national interest to do so, that’s why. Putin has never tried to conceal the fact that he’s in Syria to protect Russia’s national security. That’s his main objective. But he’s not an idealist, he’s a pragmatist who’ll do whatever he has to to end the war ASAP. That means compromise.
This doesn’t matter to the Washington warlords….yet. But it will eventually. Eventually there will be an accommodation of some sort. No one is going to get everything they want, that much is certain. For example, it’s impossible to imagine that Putin would launch a war on Turkey to recover the territory that Turkish troops now occupy in N Syria. In fact, Putin may have already conceded as much to Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan in their recent meetings. But that doesn’t mean that Putin doesn’t have his red lines. He does. Aleppo is a red line. Turkish troops will not be allowed to enter Aleppo.
The western corridor, the industrial and population centers are all red lines. On these, there will be no compromise. Putin will help Assad remain in power and keep the country largely intact. But will Turkey control sections in the north, and will the US control sections in the east?
Probably. This will have to be worked out in negotiations, but its unlikely that the country’s borders will be the same as they were before the war broke out. Putin will undoubtedly settle for a halfloaf provided the fighting ends and security is restored. In any event, he’s not going to hang around until the last dog is hung.
Unfortunately, we’re a long way from any settlement in Syria, mainly because Washington is nowhere near accepting the fact that its project to rule the world has been derailed. That’s the crux of the matter, isn’t it? The bigshots who run the country are still in denial. It hasn’t sunk in yet that the war is lost and that their nutty jihadist-militia plan has failed.
It’s going to take a long time before Washington gets the message that the world is no longer its oyster. The sooner they figure it out, the better it’ll be for everyone. | 0 |
Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day in Europe: • President Trump nominated a conservative judge from Denver, Neil M. Gorsuch, to the U. S. Supreme Court, presaging yet another political battle in Washington. The nominee’s legal philosophy echoes that of Justice Antonin Scalia, whose seat he will fill if confirmed. In Congress, Democrats sought to delay confirmation for Mr. Trump’s cabinet picks after he fired the acting attorney general for defying his contentious immigration order. About 1, 000 American diplomats around the world have signed a dissent cable objecting to the order, and legal challenges are mounting. We met seven Iranians stuck in Amsterdam who are among thousands of people affected by the measure. While the immigration order has prompted protests and raised anxiety in corporate America and among U. S. allies, a broad swath of the U. S. electorate appears to welcome it. _____ • Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, called President Trump a potential threat to the European Union, saying his administration seemed to “put into question the last 70 years of American foreign policy. ” Other foreign leaders also wonder whether they can depend on the U. S. to honor defense treaties and trade pacts, given the new president’s litany of impulsive statements and false claims. And Mr. Trump’s top trade adviser waded into E. U. politics by accusing Germany of exploiting other European countries, and the U. S. by keeping the euro artificially low. _____ • The war in eastern Ukraine has intensified, with the government in Kiev and separatists blaming each other for the surge in violence. Kiev said it was preparing the evacuation of thousands of civilians from the city of Avdiivka after days of shelling there. _____ • Romania’s government decriminalized official misconduct in some cases, dealing a blow to a yearslong anticorruption campaign. Thousands of people took to the streets in protest, and President Klaus Iohannis, who serves in a largely ceremonial role, called it “a day of mourning for the rule of law. ” _____ • In France, François Fillon’s presidential campaign suffered another blow with new accusations that the conservative’s relatives received government funds for jobs. The police searched offices in the lower house of Parliament as part of their investigation. And Marine Le Pen, the presidential candidate, refused to repay 298, 000 euros that the European Parliament, of which she is a member, said she misused. _____ • Take a look at the roaring wheels of China’s industry. Our latest 360 video comes from the streets of Beijing, where couriers play a crucial role in one of the world’s largest delivery markets. • The eurozone’s economic growth last year exceeded that of the United States for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, new estimates show. • The E. U. reached a preliminary deal that paves the way for abolishing roaming fees by June. • Uber will partner with Daimler, the first time a major automaker will provide its own vehicles specifically for the company’s network. • Apple returned to growth, reporting revenue largely thanks to the latest iPhones. • Here’s a snapshot of global markets. • In Canada, the deadly shooting in Quebec City has left some wondering whether law enforcement officials played down the threat of nationalist groups. [The New York Times] • Documents discovered in Iraq offer a chilling picture of the Islamic State’s armed drone program, cobbled out of readily accessible technology. [The New York Times] • Israel announced plans to build 3, 000 new homes in West Bank settlements, even as it was preparing to enforce the removal of a settlement outpost. [The New York Times] • Lech Walesa, the leader of Poland’s Solidarity movement, said a handwriting analysis that determined he was a paid Communist informant in the 1970s was politically motivated. [The New York Times] • The Czech Foreign Ministry said its email servers had been hacked by a “statelike actor,” in a manner similar to the breach of the Democratic National Committee’s servers. [The New York Times] • One of Europe’s most successful currency counterfeiters is standing trial in Spain. Up to two million of his fake euro notes could still be in circulation. [El País] • Recipe of the day: If you’ve got an hour tonight, try this simple take on roast chicken. • Who knew could be so . .. complicated? • After a painful breakup, a young woman finds healing in honesty, with both her and herself. • New York’s Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has added new breeds to its annual event (and — brace yourself — cats). • From Bertolt Brecht, who fled Nazi Germany, to Viet Thanh Nguyen, who escaped Vietnam, we look at major contributions to American literature by refugees. • Peter Capaldi, the 12th and current “Doctor Who,” is leaving the BBC show. The next season, which starts in April, will be his last. • And home cooks are raving about the Instant Pot, which combines an electric pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker and yogurt maker. One of our food writers is a convert. Avalanches have made news in recent weeks. One in central Italy buried a hotel and killed 29 people. Another in California seriously injured a group of hikers. High tech is trying to help snow adventurers survive avalanches with tools to add to the basic shovel and probe. The big danger is being buried and running out of air. So there are backpacks with airbags that cause the churning snow to drive the wearer toward the surface. For someone trapped beneath the snow, a product called an AvaLung can be a lifesaver. It’s a breathing tube that snakes through a backpack, so that inhales are far from the ice block formed by the melting power of exhales. But one of the most recommended tools, the avalanche transceiver, isn’t all that new. In the 1960s, the scientist Edward LaChapelle developed an early version, which John Lawton, another researcher, later improved. That led to the Skadi, an audio transmitter inside a plastic box that was nicknamed “the hot dog” and fit inside a jacket pocket. The Times in 1969 heralded its arrival, noting that the Skadi could eventually replace a much different tool: the avalanche dog. Sean Alfano contributed reporting. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings. Read the latest edition of the U. S. briefing here and the latest for Asia and Australia here. What would you like to see here? Contact us at europebriefing@nytimes. com. | 1 |
Pennsylvania police arrested a previously deported criminal alien from Connecticut suspected in the murder of his wife, assault of another woman, and kidnapping his daughter. The entire State of Connecticut has been certified by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as a sanctuary jurisdiction. [Police in the Keystone State arrested Oscar Obedio Hernandez, 39, after Bridgeport police issued an amber alert for his daughter, Aylin Hernandez. Police in his resident town of Bridgeport issued the alert after being called to his home. Upon arriving at the scene, police discovered the body of the child’s mother, Nidia Gonzalez. Police suspect Hernandez for stabbing Gonzalez to death, the Hartford Courant reported. Another woman, said to be a friend, was also stabbed repeatedly. She is expected to survive her wounds, Fox News reported. “He was removed from the United States by ICE officers in Hartford on Nov. 27, 2013,” Shawn Neudauer, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesman, said in a statement reported by the Courant. “He has prior felony convictions from 2002 for assault and threatening, as well as several misdemeanor convictions. ICE has placed an immigration detainer with the Bridgeport Police Department. ” Following a months’ long effort by Congressman John Culberson ( ) the DOJ certified the entire state of Connecticut as a sanctuary jurisdiction — making them ineligible to receive federal law enforcement grants. He said jurisdictions like Connecticut, California, and the other eight jurisdictions certified not to be in compliance with federal law, must “choose between protecting criminal aliens and receiving federal funds. ” Just two days ago, Breitbart News’ Warner Todd Huston reported Connecticut Governor Dannel Maloy sent a memo to law enforcement agencies advising them not to detain a criminal alien based on their immigration status. The sanctuary state governor insisted police should not treat immigration detainers as an official order or warrant. He continued, advising law enforcement officials to deny federal immigration authorities access to criminal aliens in their custody. Hernandez was not unknown to local police. He had previously been served with a protective order from involving another woman who was not involved in this week’s case. Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, a convicted felon who was to his job after serving seven years in a federal prison after a corruption conviction, thanked the police for their rapid action to secure the missing girl. Police in Pennsylvania spotted Hernandez’ Hyundai about 300 miles from his Connecticut home. A state police trooper initiated a traffic stop, but Hernandez reportedly refused to yield. Other troopers soon joined the pursuit, according to the Courant. Hernandez eventually lost control and crashed his car into a tractor trailer. The pursuing trooper crashed his vehicle into the rear of Hernandez’ car, and another police vehicle struck the trooper’s car. Aylin Hernandez suffered minor injuries in the crash, Fox News reported. Immigration officials placed an immigration hold on Hernandez. Bridgeport officials have not indicated if they will honor the detainer. Bridgeport spokesperson Rowena White said Hernandez’ immigration status “was not part of the conversation today. ” She called it a separate issue from the current investigation. 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. | 1 |
#PodestaEmails20: WikiLeaks releases another batch from Clinton campaign chair #PodestaEmails20: WikiLeaks releases another batch from Clinton campaign chair By 0 47
WikiLeaks has released a 20th batch of emails from the account of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair.
The whistleblowing site has promised to release 50,000 messages from Podesta in the lead up to the US presidential election on November 8. A total of 34,197 communications have been released to date.
READ MORE: ‘There’s no good answer’: Podesta leaks show Clinton campaign stumped by email server debacle Preparing for Bill
Bill Clinton’s controversial past was evidently of concern to his wife’s campaign team, which discussed how to handle questions on allegations of sexual assault against him.
Preparation for what the media might throw at her included the questions: “Will you apologize to the women who were wrongly smeared by your husband and his allies?” and “How is what Bill Clinton did different from what Bill Cosby did?”
The mail was sent by Ron Klain, a member of Clinton’s debate preparation team, on January 12, 2016. Several days previous Paula Jones, one of Bill Clinton’s accusers, gave an interview calling Hillary Clinton a “liar” and “two-faced” for trying to discredit her husband’s accusers. Let’s hope the Democratic party is not suicidal
A July 2015 email from Clinton adviser Neera Tanden to Podesta discusses a CNN poll which she guesses will show, “Bernie doing pretty well w Hillary and doing as well against Jeb or close to it.”
“Can you imagine what Republicans would do with him if he were the nominee?” Podesta replies, referring to Sanders.
“Well, let’s see what the poll actually says. Let’s hope the Democratic party is not suicidal,” Tanden says.
“Do we actually know who told Hillary she could use a private email?” she asks. “And has that person been drawn and quartered?”
“Like whole thing is f*cking insane,” she adds. Extraterrestrial disclosure
Former astronaut Edgar Mitchell, known for his correspondence with Podesta regarding extraterrestrials, emails Podesta regarding the “Phoenix Lights” incident in 1997, in which thousands of people reported sightings of hovering lights in the sky.
Mitchell “was on the phone just as they were happening over Phoenix with an eyewitness describing on March 13, 1997. This incentives about disclosure, while other reports like Roswell disincentives,” according to the mail from April 2015.
The subject of extraterrestrial disclosure is “now more important than ever” according to another mail sent on Mitchell’s behalf a month later.
“It is also imperative that after your talk with Edgar, he then speak directly with President Obama via Skype for historical purposes, about the same issue, while the President is still in office,” Podesta is told.
The subject of the meeting is described as “the difference between our contiguous universe nonviolent ETI and the celestials in our own universe.”
DETAILS TO FOLLOW. | 0 |
BREAKING: Obama ATF Accused of Covering Up Political Element in Firebombing of GOP HQ
“I am not of the mindset that any vote not for Trump is a vote for Hillary, but a vote for Trump is a vote against Hillary. And I need to vote against Hillary. I need to vote against the media.”
Hunter noted the extreme bias exhibited by the media who refused to fact-check Clinton at the last debate, and what he sees as the difference between what a Trump and a Clinton presidency would look like:
“A Trump administration at least will include people I trust in positions that matter. I don’t know if they will be able to hold him completely in check, but I know a Clinton administration will include people who have been her co-conspirators in corruption, and there won’t even be a media to hold her accountable.
Although Hunter didn’t want to tell NeverTrumpers how they should vote, he asked them to think about how important it is to keep Clinton out of office:
“I’m not saying you should support him, but you shouldn’t lose sight of the importance of opposing her. If, or when, Hillary Clinton takes the oath of office, she needs to have as little support as possible. Frankly, she needs to be damaged. The mainstream media won’t do it; they’re in on it.”
“A simple protest vote for a third party or a write-in of my favorite comic book character might feel good for a moment. It might even give me a sense of moral superiority that lasts until her first executive order damaging something I hold dear — or her first Supreme Court nominee. But the sting that will follow will far outlive that temporary satisfaction. “
“I oppose much of what Donald Trump has said, but I oppose everything Hillary Clinton has done and wants to do. And what someone says, no matter how objectionable, is less important than what someone does, especially when it’s so objectionable. A personal moral victory won’t suffice when the stakes are so high. As such, I am compelled to vote against Hillary by voting for the only candidate with any chance whatsoever of beating her — Donald Trump.” | 0 |
Federal Court Dismisses Claim That Disney Violated H1-B Visa Law [ link to www.thenewyorklawblog.com ] Employment Law, Legal News, Disney A federal judge dismissed lawsuits brought by two former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts workers claiming that it conspired with outsourcing companies to violate visa laws.According to published reports, the lawsuit claimed that two American IT workers were laid off and forced to train foreign replacements with H1-B temporary visas after Disney and two contractors, Cognizant Technology Solutions and HCL America, allegedly colluded to make false statements when they applied for the temporary visas. However, a federal judge rejected this assertion, finding that none of the statements put at issue in the complaint were adequate to sustain the former workers’ cause of action. Page 1 | 0 |
The Republican Party was at the brink of civil war on Sunday as Donald J. Trump signaled he would retaliate against lawmakers who withdraw their support from his campaign, and senior party leaders privately acknowledged that they now feared losing control of both houses of Congress. Even before Mr. Trump’s second debate against Hillary Clinton, the party faced an internal rift unseen in modern times. A wave of defections from Mr. Trump’s candidacy, prompted by the revelation of a recording that showed him bragging about sexual assault, was met with boastful defiance by the Republican presidential nominee. On Twitter, Mr. Trump attacked the Republicans fleeing his campaign as “ hypocrites” and predicted their defeat at the ballot box. In a set of talking points sent to his supporters Sunday morning, Mr. Trump’s campaign urged them to attack turncoat Republicans as “more concerned with their political future than they are about the country. ” The pressure from Mr. Trump did not deter new expressions of resistance on Sunday: Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee, a former chairman of the Republican Governors Association, announced he would not vote for Mr. Trump. So did multiple members of Congress, including Representative Kay Granger of Texas, the lone woman in the state’s large Republican delegation. But much of the party appeared to be in a state of paralysis, uncertain of how to achieve political distance from Mr. Trump without enraging millions of voters who remained loyal to his campaign. Republican leaders in the House of Representatives offered scant guidance to their members, scheduling a conference call for Monday morning but leaving lawmakers to fend for themselves in the meantime, according to two members of Congress, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Republican National Committee took on the aspect of a fortress: Numerous Republicans who sought to reach the committee’s top officials said they were unable to get through, though Reince Priebus, the committee’s chairman, flew beside Mr. Trump to the debate in St. Louis, even as Republican elected officials rejected their nominee en masse. Facing a vacuum, several Republicans who have long opposed Mr. Trump have already stepped forward to help shore up the party’s embattled majorities. Mitt Romney, the party’s 2012 presidential nominee and a vocal critic of Mr. Trump, has laid out plans to campaign more publicly for Republican Senate candidates in the coming weeks, according to two people familiar with his plans, which were confirmed by an aide. Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, another Trump foe who has already hit the trail for congressional candidates, plans to campaign soon for Senator John McCain in Arizona and for Joe Heck, the party’s Senate nominee in Nevada, according to John Weaver, Mr. Kasich’s top political adviser. But with no overarching strategy yet in place for abandoning their nominee, Republicans beat a ragged and improvised retreat from Mr. Trump, pulling endorsements here and scolding him there, and preparing to flee more visibly in the event of another disastrous debate on Sunday night. Steven Law, a longtime lieutenant of the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, said the party had descended into chaos. “The Republican Party is caught in a theater fire people are just running to different exits as fast as they can,” said Mr. Law, who now heads the “super PAC” American Crossroads. One member of the House Republican leadership, conceding its majority was now in jeopardy, compared the situation to the 2006 scandal involving a Florida congressman’s inappropriate conduct with congressional pages. If that scandal was a house fire, this lawmaker said, Mr. Trump had brought on the political equivalent of a nuclear attack. For Democrats, Mr. Trump’s rapid unraveling has opened a new universe of political opportunity. They are now confident that they will take control of the Senate, and the party plans this week to lay the groundwork for what could become a sweeping expansion of the political map. With Mr. Trump sliding in the presidential race, senior Democratic officials had already been nudging Mrs. Clinton to rearrange her campaign schedule and advertising in ways that could help lift Democrats in close congressional races. Now, top Clinton advisers said they would consider doing just that. The campaign was planning to survey an array of states this week, including Arizona, Georgia, Missouri and Indiana, to determine how competitive Mrs. Clinton is with Mr. Trump, according to a senior Clinton adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity. Sending Mrs. Clinton to those states may be of little assistance to the party’s candidates, but an infusion of money dedicated to voter turnout could ensure that she enters the White House with a solid Senate majority and help Democrats make substantial gains in the House. Democratic strategists involved in House and Senate races said they envisioned Mr. Trump’s collapse precipitating a broad shift in the political landscape, with tossup races moving firmly into their hands, and campaigns that were once long shots suddenly becoming competitive. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee planned to do rapid polling early this week to measure the impact of Mr. Trump on the House battlefield. Democrats said they had no intention of allowing Republicans to wash out the stain of associating with Mr. Trump: “Voters will see this for the craven act of that it is, and it won’t save them,” said Meredith Kelly, a spokeswoman for the committee. Barring an unforeseeable, if not miraculous, political recovery for Mr. Trump, the Republican exodus from his camp is expected to pick up pace in the coming days as lawmakers digest his debate performance and receive new polling on how voters are processing his apparent demise. Even then, Republicans may be to fully desert a nominee who maintains a powerful following in the party base. That abiding loyalty is what alarms party strategists: Even if just 5 percent of the most reliable Republican voters do not vote or cast a ballot only for Mr. Trump, it would ensure that Republicans lose nearly every close congressional race. Former Representative Thomas M. Reynolds of New York, a former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said party polling had found voters tilting toward Democrats in congressional elections, even before the latest revelations about Mr. Trump. His setbacks threatened to push voters further away from Republicans, Mr. Reynolds said. But Mr. Reynolds cautioned that lawmakers might be at risk of fatal backlash from Mr. Trump’s supporters if they oppose him in the final weeks of the race, leaving no easy option. Resentful Trump backers, Mr. Reynolds said, “could end up coming in and voting for Trump and stopping there. ” For Mr. Trump, too, there may be risks to attacking other Republicans. While most of his advisers expressed frustration and outrage at being deserted by the party over the weekend, at least some encouraged Mr. Trump to pull back from war. One senior adviser to Mr. Trump conceded the acute need to bring Republican voters “back home” in the presidential race and said Mr. Trump’s outbursts at other Republicans could have the opposite effect. Several party strategists said that for the time being, they had advised candidates chiefly to redouble their attacks on Democrats. Robert Blizzard, a Republican pollster, said that only by making Democrats “unacceptable” could Republicans offset the burden of carrying Mr. Trump. “Endorse him or denounce him, it doesn’t change the fact that Democrats will attempt to tie our candidates to Trump at every opportunity,” Mr. Blizzard said. “What our campaigns can control is the ability to make Democratic candidates for U. S. Senate, Congress and other state and local offices unacceptable. ” | 1 |
WASHINGTON — Just a few blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House sits the Trump International Hotel, one of the newest luxury additions to Donald J. Trump’s real estate empire, and perhaps the most visible symbol of the ethical quandary he now confronts. The Trump International operates out of the Old Post Office Building, which the federal government owns. That means Mr. Trump will be appointing the head of the General Services Administration, which manages the property, while his children will be running a hotel that has tens of millions of dollars in ties with the agency. He also will oversee the National Labor Relations Board while it decides union disputes involving any of his hotels. A week before the election, the board ruled against Mr. Trump’s hotel in a case in Las Vegas. The layers of potential conflicts he faces are in many ways as complex as his business empire, adding a heightened degree of difficulty for Mr. Trump — one of the wealthiest men to ever occupy the White House — in separating his official duties from his private business affairs. Further complicating matters are Mr. Trump’s decision to name his children to his transition team, and what is likely to be their informal advisory role in his administration. His daughter Ivanka Trump joined an official transition meeting on Thursday, the day before Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey was removed from his post leading the effort. Mr. Trump has said he will eliminate ethical concerns by turning the management of his company over to his children, an arrangement he has referred to as a blind trust. But ethics lawyers — both Republicans and Democrats — say it is far from blind because he would have knowledge of the assets in the trust and be in contact with the people running it, making it unlike a conventional blind trust controlled entirely by an independent party. “To say that his children running his businesses is the equivalent of a blind trust — there is simply no credibility in that claim,” said Matthew T. Sanderson, a Washington lawyer and Republican who has worked on the presidential campaigns of John McCain, Rand Paul and Rick Perry. “Yes, the American public elected him knowing he has these assets, but unless he deals with this properly there will just be a steady trickle of these stories, and it could be a drag on his presidency. ” Mr. Trump, as part of his bid for the White House, released information about his financial holdings, which include more than a dozen hotels and golf courses commercial real estate space, including Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street in New York and marketing deals in the United States and abroad. But it is unclear how much information was not disclosed, in part because he declined to release even a summary of his tax returns — becoming the first presidential candidate not to do so in 40 years. Rudolph W. Giuliani, a close adviser to Mr. Trump, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that excluding Mr. Trump’s family from a role in his businesses “would basically put his children out of work. ” The public, Mr. Giuliani said, needs to trust Mr. Trump. “You have to have some confidence in the integrity of the president,” Mr. Giuliani said. “The man is an enormously wealthy man. I don’t think there’s any real fear or suspicion that he’s seeking to enrich himself by being president. If he wanted to enrich himself, he wouldn’t have run for president. ” Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for the transition, declined to respond to questions about possible conflicts of interest Mr. Trump might face as president. “The Trump Organization will respond accordingly,” she said. A spokeswoman for Mr. Trump’s company said in a statement that the Trump Organization was already working to address possible conflicts. “We are in the process of vetting various structures with the goal of the immediate transfer of management of the Trump Organization and its portfolio of businesses to Donald Jr. Ivanka and Eric Trump along with a team of highly skilled executives,” the statement said. “This is a top priority at the organization, and the structure that is ultimately selected will comply with all applicable rules and regulations. ” Previous presidents have encountered questions about their financial holdings. Lyndon B. Johnson, through his wife, continued to have ownership of television stations while he was president. George Washington enlisted the Treasury Department to help find a runaway slave. But presidents have often taken steps to prevent ethical questions. George Bush put his stock holdings into a blind trust after he was elected vice president, and Jimmy Carter turned his peanut farm over to a blind trust after he was elected. As president, Mr. Trump will be exempt from a federal ethics rule that prohibits government employees and members of Congress from taking actions that could benefit their financial interests. But the president still must comply with a law that requires annual financial disclosures of his assets. The first will not be due until May 2018, although President Obama filed one voluntarily during his first year in office. Experts said that even if Mr. Trump was exempt from some federal ethics rules, the public will expect him to not use his office to benefit his personal finances. “He has campaigned on a platform of getting rid of corruption and that Washington is broken and we need new, refreshing change,” said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause, a nonprofit that pushes for accountability in government. “As president, the American public expects that Mr. Trump will be held to a higher standard. ” In a statement on Monday, the General Services Administration said that the agency realized it must examine its Old Post Office lease with Mr. Trump’s business “to allow a path to be put in place to identify and address any potential conflict of interest. ” Also on Monday, Representative Elijah E. Cummings, Democrat of Maryland and the ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called for an inquiry into how Mr. Trump will handle these potential conflicts. “The American people have the right to know — they ought to know — exactly whether decisions are possibly being made that would benefit him, his family and his associates directly,” Mr. Cummings said in an interview. The labor dispute in Nevada represents another potential complication. The president appoints all five members of the National Labor Relations Board. But over the past year, the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas has been in a battle with the culinary workers union, at first challenging an effort by hotel employees to unionize. The labor board ruled against him in July. Then the hotel, which Mr. Trump refused to begin negotiations with the new union, and the labor board again ruled against it, in November. Other labor disputes with employees are pending. “Will he as president of the United States of America use the power he has to interfere — given that he has a financial interest in the outcome of these matters?” said Bethany Khan, a spokeswoman for the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 of Nevada. Perhaps most troubling for Mr. Trump, several ethics lawyers said, is a relatively obscure provision of the Constitution, called the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits any government official from taking payments or gifts from a foreign government, or even from sharing in profits in a company that has financial ties to a foreign government. Mr. Trump has had business deals with foreign governments or individuals with apparent ties to foreign governments, including real estate arrangements in Azerbaijan and Uruguay. His children have frequently traveled abroad to promote the Trump brand, making trips to Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Scotland. Closer to home, the Bank of China is a tenant in Trump Tower and is a lender for another building in Midtown Manhattan where Mr. Trump has a significant partnership interest. “Doing business with a foreign corporation, be it in Azerbaijan, Turkey or Russia, if is it owned in part or controlled by a foreign government — any benefit that would accrue to Mr. Trump could well be a violation of the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution,” said Kenneth A. Gross, a political ethics and compliance lawyer in Washington. There are also more general issues that could prove troubling. For instance, Mr. Trump will nominate the Treasury secretary, yet he owes hundreds of millions of dollars to banks, and he benefits from low interest rates set by the Federal Reserve, an institution he has criticized as political. The head of the Internal Revenue Service is also appointed by the president, and the agency is currently auditing Mr. Trump’s taxes and sets tax policy that directly affects his businesses. But it is Mr. Trump’s real estate and financial holdings that represent the most sensitive ethical areas, the ethics lawyer said. Mr. Trump’s children are already deeply involved in the daily operations of the Trump Organization. Ivanka is executive vice president for development and acquisitions, and is in charge of domestic and global expansion of the company’s real estate interests. Ms. Trump also has her own clothing, jewelry and footwear lines. Even this week, Ms. Trump turned her appearance on Sunday on “60 Minutes” — with her father — into a marketing opportunity for her line of jewelry, with one of her employees urging reporters to write about the $10, 800 gold bangle bracelet she wore during the interview. Donald Jr. is also an executive vice president in the Trump Organization, and the company’s website says he directs new project acquisition and development in regions “from Eastern Europe to Southeast Asia, the Middle East to South America, mainland China to the United States. ” Eric is in charge of the Trump Organization’s golf course collection. “We’ll be in New York and we’ll take care of the business,” Eric Trump said in an interview with “60 Minutes” that was broadcast on Sunday. “I think we’re going to have a lot of fun doing it. And we’re going to make him very proud. ” | 1 |
The state of Arkansas plans to put to death eight inmates over a span of 10 days next month, a pace of executions unequaled in recent American history and brought about by a looming expiration date for a drug used by the state for lethal injections. The eight men facing execution — four black and four white — are among 34 death row inmates in Arkansas, where capital punishment has been suspended since 2005 over legal challenges and difficulty in acquiring the drugs for lethal injections. All eight men were convicted of murders that occurred between 1989 and 1999, and proponents of the death penalty and victims’ rights in the state have been frustrated that the cases have dragged on so long. At a news conference this week, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican and former federal prosecutor, seemed to regret that the executions were so closely stacked. “I would love to have those extended over a period of multiple months and years, but that’s not the circumstances that I find myself in,” said Mr. Hutchinson, who took office in 2015. “And, again, the families of the victims that have endured this for so many years deserve a conclusion to it. ” In a statement on Friday, Mr. Hutchinson said that it was necessary to schedule the executions close together because of doubts about the future availability of one of three drugs the state uses in its procedure. State officials have previously said that the expiration date would pass in April for Arkansas’s supply of midazolam, a drug that has been used in several botched and gruesome lethal injections in other states in recent years. Amid the controversy generated by such cases, a number of pharmaceutical companies have restricted their drugs from use for capital punishment. Some states have had difficultly finding midazolam. Arizona announced last year it would stop using it in part because of the logistical challenges. “It is uncertain as to whether another drug can be obtained,” Mr. Hutchinson said in the statement, “and the families of the victims do not need to live with continued uncertainty after decades of review. ” This week, the governor signed proclamations setting four execution dates for the eight inmates between April 17 and 27. Two men would be put to death on each of the four dates. If Arkansas follows that timetable, it will be at a rate unmatched by any state since the United States resumed the death penalty in 1977, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit research group that opposes capital punishment. In 1997, Texas came close, putting eight inmates to death in May and again in June, but not over such a short number of days, the group said. Critics of midazolam’s use in executions say it is a sedative, not an anesthetic, and is thus misapplied as a first round of lethal injection shots, with inmates sometimes able to feel pain from the subsequent lethal drugs that are administered. In one case in Oklahoma, a convict named Clayton D. Lockett, who was administered midazolam, died 43 minutes after the injections were started and appeared to struggle and moan. The Arkansas Department of Correction has not refilled its stock of potassium chloride, the third and fatal drug administered in an execution, but a spokesman for Mr. Hutchinson said the governor had confidence the department would acquire it in time for the April executions. Brian Stull, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that something was more likely to go wrong with so many executions scheduled so close together. “Each of these prisoners is a person with rights that have to be honored, and each execution is a process that needs to be planned and handled with care and close attention to detail,” he said. “And that’s just impossible for Arkansas on this schedule. Because they’re trying to do too much, too quickly, with too little preparation. It’s likely to lead to botched executions. ” The lawyers for the condemned men say some legal avenues of appeal are still available. Their lengthy appeal process has included a petition asking the United States Supreme Court to review the matter. The court denied the petition on Feb. 21. But the men’s lawyers said that even a scenario would most likely only entail an alternative form of execution to the current injection method, which the lawyers argue is unconstitutionally cruel. “The state’s supply of midazolam runs out on April 30,” said John Williams, an assistant federal public defender based in Little Rock. “And so the schedule is quite obviously dictated by that, and we think it is inhumane that the state would schedule executions so as to get rid of a drug supply that the evidence shows is cruel and unusual. ” The executions come at an unsettled and complicated moment for capital punishment in the United States. Nationwide, the number of executions has been in steep decline, and though many Americans support the death penalty, some polling shows that support for capital punishment has been steadily waning since the . And while the Supreme Court has been less than clear on its collective stance toward capital punishment, President Trump is an ardent and longtime proponent. The president’s opinions may have little direct effect on state cases, but his blunt, speech is sure to influence the tone of the national conversation. In Arkansas, Mr. Hutchinson has earned a reputation as a relative moderate, serving in some cases as a break on the ambitions of the legislature. But he has also been determined to reactivate the death penalty. The year he took office, he scheduled the execution of eight inmates, including several of the same men set to die next month, saying that they had exhausted all appeals. But a state court halted the executions because of a lawsuit against the state over its provisions at the time that kept secret the sources of its lethal injection drugs. The state was then ordered to disclose information about its supply chain. Mr. Hutchinson’s latest effort to restart executions came after the state’s attorney general, Leslie Rutledge, told him that the eight men had no additional legal challenges to their executions. The eight men scheduled for execution are Kenneth Williams, Bruce Ward, Stacey Johnson, Don Williamson Davis, Ledell Lee, Jack Harold Jones, Jason McGehee and Marcel Williams. Some of the crimes were particularly heinous. Mr. Ward went into a Jackpot convenience store in Little Rock on a night in August 1989 and asked the clerk, Rebecca Lynn Doss, an who read the Bible during the overnight shift by herself, for help unlocking the men’s restroom. Inside the bathroom, he sexually assaulted and strangled her. A police officer spotted him leaving the restroom and about to get on his motorcycle to leave. Mr. Lee killed Debra Reese, 26, in her home in February 1993 in Jacksonville, Ark. outside Little Rock, after beating her 36 times with a tire tool that her husband had given her for protection while he was out of town. Kenneth Williams killed a cheerleader at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in December 1998 but escaped from a prison after a jury sentenced him to life the next year. A few miles from the prison, he fatally shot Cecil Boren, a farmer who was working in the yard while his wife was at church, and stole his truck. Mr. Williams led the police into Missouri in a chase before he crashed into a car, killing the driver. In 2005, he confessed to killing a man the same day he shot the cheerleader. At the news conference, Mr. Hutchinson said he had discussed concerns about stacking the executions, and its potential ill effects on prison employees, with Wendy Kelley, the state corrections director. “The answer is it’s not any easier to string it over four or five months than to do it in a measured and separated fashion, but in the sequence we have outlined,” he said. | 1 |
As London Bridge terrorist Khuram Shazad Butt’s home in Pakistan is raided, authorities reveal the Islamist had access to tunnels under Parliament. [Sky News reports that Butt, who they say came to Britain with his parents from Pakistan as asylum seekers, worked for Transport for London. Further reports indicate Butt’s work gave him access to tunnels under the Houses of Parliament from the Westminster Underground Station — despite the fact he had been investigated for terror links by MI5 and even been featured on a Channel 4 documentary about Islamists titled ‘The Jihadis Next Door‘. Pakistani security officials told The Telegraph newspaper that raids on homes and businesses connected to the Butt family were being carried out as a precaution, but that the terrorist was likely radicalised in Britain and trained in Syria. “Our British counterparts told us they don’t think he was radicalised here, and we think it is probably more likely that he was trained in Syria,” one said. “But we are searching the homes of any relatives connected to him and we are tracing all telephone calls made by family members. ” The news comes as Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley declared Britain was now facing a “completely different” level of threat and indicated that current policing and security methods are not equal to the task of containing it. “In nine weeks, we’ve had five plots foiled and three successful attacks. That is completely different to anything we have seen for a long time,” he said. “As the Prime Minister has indicated, we’re going to need to do some things differently. We’re going to have to think again about the next iteration of our police and security service model, which has constantly had to innovate over many decades. ” Regarding Butt, the Assistant Commissioner defended the decision to drop an inquiry into his activities by saying there was “no intelligence to suggest that this attack was being planned”. He added that he expected the authorities “will probably discover information on covert communications that were [not in] our knowledge that if we had access to those communications it may have changed our judgment” suggesting he wants new powers to monitor encrypted messaging services such as WhatsApp. | 1 |
It seems that President-elect Donald Trump is back to business as usual, doing what he does best.
No wonder things are off to such a tumultuous start. I’m sure there’ll be much more where this came from.
H/t Thanks to our commenter FTW for the great meme:
President-Elect Trump Publicly Grabs Pussy at the White House
On a more serious note, it certainly seems that they’ve become fast friends.
Despite a lot of campaign rhetoric on both sides of this coin, it seems that President Obama and President-elect Trump are willing and ready to work together in the great transition. It’s par for the course, as Obama, in turn got pretty cozy with the Bushes on his way in the door as well.
Will “draining the swamp” be possible if Trump plays nice with the outgoing establishment and his campaign rivals?
That remains to be seen, but Paul Craig Roberts issued a stark warning to pay careful attention to the advisors and appointments that Trump chooses in the next few months, because these little known individuals will determine who really runs his administration, and much of what kind of presidency it will be.
Let’s hope Trump exercises great wisdom, because there will be a lot of pressure on him to accept plenty of deeply-entrenched political operatives working inside the deep state (and irrespective of political parties).
Read more:
“Violent Revolution If Trump Lets Them Down”: People Remain Poised for Angry Revolt – Roberts
Can Trump Deliver What Obama Didn’t? “People Wanted Major Change In 2008… They Still Want It”
Bizarre Obama Meltdown As Speech Dissolves Into Stuttering: “President’s Programming Breaking Down”
Flashback: The White House Just DISQUALIFIED Donald Trump From Being President (Seriously)
Trump Accuses Fed of Not Raising Rates Because Obama “Doesn’t Want a Bubble Burst” Until He Leaves
EPIC RANT: Fed Up American Explains Why Trump Will Win: “Somebody With Balls”
Urged by Obama, Illegal Immigrants Line Up to Vote Against Trump: “Donald Trump Never!”
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An experimental Alzheimer’s drug that had previously appeared to show promise in slowing the deterioration of thinking and memory has failed in a large Eli Lilly clinical trial, dealing a significant disappointment to patients hoping for a treatment that would alleviate their symptoms. The failure of the drug, solanezumab, underscores the difficulty of treating people who show even mild dementia, and supports the idea that by that time, the damage in their brains may already be too extensive. And because the drug attacked the amyloid plaques that are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s, the trial results renew questions about a leading theory of the disease, which contends that it is largely caused by amyloid buildup. No drug so far has been able to demonstrate that removing or preventing the accumulation of amyloid translates into a result that matters for patients: stalling or blocking some of the symptoms of dementia. “It’s not going to be therapy for mild patients, so that’s heartbreaking,” said Dave Ricks, the incoming president and chief executive of Eli Lilly. There are clinical trials underway with several similar drugs made by other companies, and two large trials with solanezumab are in the works. Experts said on Wednesday that they still held out hope for those studies, noting that many involve people who are at high risk for Alzheimer’s but do not display symptoms. Some Alzheimer’s experts not involved in trials testing drugs said they were not surprised by Lilly’s results, saying they reflect an emerging scientific understanding of Alzheimer’s as a disease with a multipronged cascade of causes, including amyloid buildup. “We’re much more really appreciative of how complex this disease is,” said Dr. Lon Schneider, director of the California Alzheimer’s Disease Center at the University of Southern California. “There’s so much going on, and as the brain is failing or dying, it is dying on all levels. ” It has also become clear that Alzheimer’s pathology begins damaging the brain years before symptoms emerge, leading many experts to think a drug given to people with even mild dementia may have little chance of success. “Once you see amyloid on a scan, it’s probably been there for decades,” said Dr. Samuel Gandy, an Alzheimer’s researcher at Mount Sinai Hospital. “I’m worried and have been worried that that’s just too late,” he said. “I think it has a better chance of working much earlier. ” But, he said, testing a drug before people have begun showing symptoms is challenging and costly. Such trials need to involve even larger numbers of patients to produce a useful result, and because the patients are healthy, without symptoms, the drugs cannot have side effects that might make them feel sick. Solanezumab had previously failed in two large clinical trials involving patients with mild or moderate Alzheimer’s disease. But when Lilly reported the results of those trials in 2012, the company said the drug did have an effect in a subset of patients with mild symptoms. So it started another trial with 2, 100 patients with mild dementia caused by Alzheimer’s. In a news release on Wednesday, the company said that although some of the effects looked promising, “patients treated with solanezumab did not experience a statistically significant slowing in cognitive decline compared to patients treated with placebo. ” The company said it would evaluate future plans for solanezumab, but no longer planned to seek regulatory approval for use of the drug in treating symptomatic patients. Eli Lilly stock initially dropped after the news. “This is very disappointing,” said Dr. Reisa Sperling, a neurologist who is recruiting patients for a trial testing whether solanezumab can help people with amyloid buildup who are about 10 years away from having symptoms. “But I have to be honest that I’ve always thought we needed to treat much earlier, because by the time people have mild dementia, they already have a lot of irreversible damage,” she said. The trial she is leading, called Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s (A4) which has funding from Lilly and the federal government, had hoped to reach its goal of about 1, 150 patients by the middle of next year, said Dr. Sperling, who directs the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. “I have several patients within my practice who were hoping to take this drug,” she said. But she said it was at least encouraging that patients taking solanezumab in Lilly’s trial did show improvement, just not enough to be statistically significant, and she plans to evaluate the data to see if changes should be made to the design of the A4 trial. “What does that mean for an earlier population?” Dr. Sperling said. “Do we need more people? Do we need a longer time? I just want to get a clear result. ” The other major solanezumab trial, the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit, is also testing a Roche drug, gantenerumab, and is funded by industry, the federal government and the Alzheimer’s Association. It involves people who have not yet shown symptoms, but have a very high risk of an version of the disease because they have a genetic mutation that causes a small subset of cases. Other trials are using drugs that work in different ways, experts said. Solanezumab is a monoclonal antibody that removes amyloid by attaching itself to amyloid protein before the protein forms into plaques, while several other antibody drugs also attack amyloid fibrils that are part of the plaques. Another class of drugs are called BACE inhibitors, which block an enzyme that makes a protein needed for amyloid production. “You can’t really say that the solanezumab results predict that a drug with a different mechanism will fail,” Dr. Schneider said. Dr. Eric Reiman, executive director of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, is leading a prevention trial involving members of a large extended family in Colombia who do not have symptoms but have a genetic mutation that causes early Alzheimer’s. They are taking Genentech’s crenezumab. Dr. Reiman said Wednesday’s results raised questions about whether Lilly’s dose was high enough, whether the researchers were “attacking the right form of amyloid,” and whether they were they treating patients too late in the disease process. The results may also support theories that the ultimate answer will be combinations of drugs addressing different aspects of Alzheimer’s. He and other experts continue to believe that “the accumulation of amyloid serves as the kindling for other events” that ignite the fire of Alzheimer’s disease, he said, and “it would be a grave mistake to throw out the baby with the bathwater and not give the amyloid hypothesis its best real test. ” Still, “a win for Lilly would have been a win for the entire field,” Dr. Reiman said, and “would have opened up new opportunities for patients. ” | 1 |
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After less than two seasons on “The View,” co-host Raven-Symoné has officially announced she is leaving the daytime talk show: A photo posted by Raven-Symoné (@ravensymone) on Oct 19, 2016 at 12:30pm PDT
This may not come as a major surprise to viewers, since rumors of her departure have been swirling since last year—not to mention the fact that she only appeared on the show around once a week this past season.
However, what the star has planned next might be more of a shock.
According to reports, Symoné is leaving the show so that she can focus all her efforts on her next project: a spinoff of her childhood show, “That's So Raven.”
For those unfamiliar with the show, it was about a high school girl who was able to see into the future: A video posted by Raven-Symoné (@ravensymone) on Sep 30, 2016 at 1:22pm PDT
During an interview, the actress said of her departure:
“I'm excited and sad, but mostly excited. I have an announcement to make: No, I'm not pregnant.”
Symoné then broke the news about her Disney Channel follow-up series:
"There's no title yet, but I'm calling it That's So Raven 2. It's Raven Baxter. It's still me.
But I am a mother this time. I'm going to be a single mother raising two kids, and one of them learns that she has visions." A photo posted by Raven-Symoné (@ravensymone) on May 27, 2016 at 12:35pm PDT
The host stated that her last day on “The View” will be this December. But an official date has yet to be determined.
As for her departure from “The View,” she said:
“I've had such a great time...I've learned so much, and I've been saying, my experience has been multidimensional.” A photo posted by Raven-Symoné (@ravensymone) on Jul 6, 2016 at 1:01pm PDT
The 30-year-old will reportedly be moving from NYC to L.A. so that she can start filming the show.
For those who have never seen the show, here is the opening of the original, which first aired in 2003:
That's so Raven. | 0 |
UK royals in Bahrain amid crackdown Wed Nov 9, 2016 9:9AM Persian Gulf Britain's Prince Charles speaks to Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa upon arriving in the Bahraini capital Manama on November 8, 2016. (Photo by AP)
Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla have arrived in Bahrain on a three-nation tour of the Persian Gulf states amid strong criticism of London’s continued arms sales to the repressive regime in Manama.
The plane carrying the British royals touched down at Sakhir Air Base in central Bahrain on Tuesday on the last leg of the tour, which had already taken them to Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
They were received by Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah and then taken to a nearby palace to meet with the country’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah.
Since 2011, the United Kingdom has sold 55 million dollars worth of arms to Bahrain. The year saw the eruption of peaceful anti-regime protests on the island.
London has been under fire by international rights organizations for selling military equipment to Manama, which is involved in a harsh and deadly crackdown on opposition activists.
It was reported late last month that the UK will open a massive permanent military base in Bahrain and deploy warships to the Persian Gulf. A Bahraini protester shouts slogans during clashes with regime forces in the village of Sitra, south of Manama, on February 12, 2015. (Photo by AFP)
The military base, which is the first such facility being opened by Britain in 40 years in the Persian Gulf region, will be launched next month, Britain’s Express newspaper reported.
Britain will station around 600 military forces at the Royal Navy Facility and will deploy its warships to patrol the surrounding waters and guard oil and gas shipments in the waters.
When Britain kicked off the project in 2014, Defense Secretary Michael Fallon described it as “a permanent expansion of the Royal Navy’s footprint” in the Persian Gulf. The project has bypassed the parliament.
According to data released by the UK Trade and Investment in September, the UK government has become the world’s second biggest arms dealer, with bulk of its weapons fueling deadly conflicts in the Middle East. Loading ... | 0 |
Sunday, 13 November 2016 WILL USE TWO MODELS FOR TRANSITION TEAM
Donald Trump's primary daughter, Ivanka, has been tapped for role on the president-elect's White House transition team, joining Trump's main son, Donald, Jr., and his third-favorite son, Eric. Trump's other daughter, Tiffany, the only child from his second marriage to Marla Maples, was noticeably absent.Barron Trump, age 10, was also excluded from the team.
This reporter has learned from sources inside Trump's inner circle that both Tiffany and Barron are furious. Tiffany e-mailed her dad to the effect that she knew much more about the constitution and how the U.S. government operates than he. She reportedly accused him "of having the attention span of a gnat and thus not able to understand how to govern."
Barron told his dad that he could tell funny stories and make people on the transition team "laugh and get away from all the serious stuff, loosen up and do their work better." He is said to be angry at Donald because he "Just keep looking at Ivanka's legs. I don't get maybe I should wear short pants and he'd pay attention to me," he reportedly said to his Mother Melania. Make Keith Shirey's day - give this story five thumbs-up (there's no need to register , the thumbs are just down there!) | 0 |
Earlier this year, it was reported that the Clintons have been involved in selling Uranium ore to the Russians for millions of dollars , which later was sold to Iran , and part of that discovery was tied to the imprisonment of Dwight and Steve Hammond, two ranchers from Oregon who were accused of terrorism , even though they only were doing what the Bureau of Land Management has been doing without consequence . Now, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is making the Clintons' dealings with the Russians over Uranium a big issue heading into next week's election. It's also renewing interest in documents the were discovered earlier this year when Ammon Bundy and several other patriots occupied the Malheur Wildlife Reserve in Oregon and were subsequently arrested, for which they were recently acquitted on all charges .
Reporter Pete Santilli , who was at Malheur and had all charges dismissed against him in September said , "Before being arrested I was researching and reporting on the connection between Malheur, Hillary Clinton , and Uranium One. I was arrested the day after I released the [ Hammond Legal Files ] and at that point my investigation was effectively stopped; now that Donald Trump has brought the issue back into the spotlight, I thought we should take another look."
Deb Jordan reports for Guerilla Media Network:
The Hammond Legal File, is a 682 page legal history of the Hammond family's decades' long fight over land rights with the BLM and Department of Fish and Wildlife in Harney County, Oregon. Nestled in the pages was a letter that Santilli dubbed, "The Mineral Letter" and has never been seen until now.
The letter was addressed to Chad Karges, head of "The Department of Fish and Wildlife" whose office is located at the Refuge. While the letter did not reveal a clear connection between Malheur and Uranium One, we did find it revealed that as of 2012 the mineral rights – surrounding and inside the property itself, belonged to 2 private investment firms. That information coupled with Uranium One's Facebook post does open the door for possibility.
The letter is of great interest because just a short time before it was written to Karges, it was being widely reported that Oregon Energy llc [a subsidiary of Uranium One] was poised to start mining for Uranium in Oregon.
Bob Robertson, the Attorney from Medford Oregon who wrote to Karges in July of 2012, and is also the administrator of Mountain Star Investments LLC, one of the principal mineral rights owners on the refuge, explains in the letter; The joint venture owns a total interest of 22,000 acres of mining reservations around and inside the Refuge including the parcel the Refuge Headquarters sits on.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP SUPPORT PETE SANTILLI & DEB JORDAN PLEASE CLICK
James M. Lemons is the owner of multiple companies in Texas and also owns the other investment company mentioned in the letter, JM&L Investment LTD. Among his holdings is a company called Fellowship of The Metroplex, a string of bankrupt churches throughout Texas and other Western States. This does not fit the profile of a man who supposedly owns 22,ooo acres of mineral rights, that includes the Malheur Refuge headquarters.
The problem with Lemons is, he seems to own shell companies that really don't produce anything. One researcher for this article claimed; "This is not uncommon in cases like these, and it is highly probable James M. Lemons is not even a real person."
Bob Robertson claims in the letter that Mountain Star Investments LLC was a company in 2012, but the information on the web says the company was not formed until 2014. It is listed only as an investment company.
Since both companies leave much to the imagination, I will leave this section open for updates as obviously more research needs to be done. Is there a connection to Uranium One? That questions yet to be fully answered.
This gets to the heart of why the Hammond land was at stake in the Oregon fiasco. As I reported in January , the Hammond's Ranch is rich in Uranium and other minerals. In fact, it's worth billions!
Santilli says that the central government continues to refuse to admit that the BLM's illegal land grab is all about Uranium.
If this is not enough information to point out the Uranium-rich area of Oregon, then have a look at the BLM's own website where they document the following:
Uranium on BLM-Administered Lands in OR/WA
In September 2011, a representative from Oregon Energy, L.L.C. (formally Uranium One), met with local citizens, and county and state officials, to discuss the possibility of opening a uranium oxide ("yellowcake") mine in southern Malheur County in southeastern Oregon. Oregon Energy is interested in developing a 17-Claim parcel of land known as the Aurora Project through an open pit mining method. Besides the mine, there would be a mill for processing. The claim area occupies about 450 acres and is also referred to as the "New U" uranium claims.
On May 7, 2012, Oregon Energy LLC made a presentation to the BLM outlining its plans for development for the mine.
The Vale District has agreed to work with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on mitigation for the "New U" uranium claims, which are located in core sage grouse habitat. Although the lands encompassing the claims have been designated core, the area is frequented by rockhounds and hunters, and has a crisscrossing of off-highway vehicle (OHV) roads and other significant land disturbance from the defunct Bretz Mercury Mine, abandoned in the 1960s.
However, by the fall of 2012 the company said that it was putting its plans for the mine on hold until the uncertainty surrounding sage grouse issues was resolved.
Yes, the BLM is an illegal, anti-American entity that believes it has an authority superior to the US Constitution , but it has no power at all. It has been established in opposition to the Constitution, and we were warned about these goons long ago by Ron Paul .
While many have laughed at scoffed at Dr. Paul, he has proven to be right over and over in what he warned us about. When are people going to wake up to the truth?
The email scandals of Hillary Clinton should be enough to have had her arrested, yet she is still on the ballot. This sale of Uranium to America's enemies is treason. It doesn't get any more in your face than that, but the fact that she is still on the ballot for the highest office in the land speaks volumes to the corruption that is in DC and what the American people tolerate. 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 . shares | 0 |
73 GOLD , KWN King World News
Here is a look a China’s stunning global game-changer and why gold will skyrocket as it anchors the new monetary system.
Stephen Leeb: “I’ve talked before about a key distinction between money and wealth. It goes hand in hand with another important distinction, between ‘wants’ and ‘needs.’ Together these two pairs of distinctions go a long way towards explaining why the West is losing ground to the East, in a momentous shift that will underpin the big bull market in gold that lies ahead… IMPORTANT: To find out which high-grade silver mining company billionaire Eric Sprott just purchased a nearly 20% stake in and learn why he believes this is one of the most exciting silver stories in the world – CLICK HERE OR BELOW: Sponsored
Today, as it has been doing for decades, the West is focused on money and on wants. The East is focused on wealth and on needs. And that gives the East a big leg up in the contest to gain control of the world’s future. Is there any possibility the West can still revamp its priorities and steer a better course? As I note below, I think there is, but it’s getting very late in the game.
Let’s look at what these somewhat abstract concepts mean in concrete terms, starting with the military arena. If a major power could provide its military with everything it wants , it would likely seek to have a force that spans the globe, that can defend against all threats, and that if necessary can quell or conquer any prospective enemy — i.e., it would be cast very much in the mold of the U.S. military. These goals are a lot more expansive – and expensive – than a nation’s basic military needs, which come down to protection and security.
China is focused on these basic military needs and isn’t getting distracted by more grandiose ‘wants.’ From cyber security to land, sea, and air protection, China is clearly putting needs ahead of wants.
The Game-Changer: China’s J-20 Recently, for example, China showed off its newest stealth plane, the J-20, whose range is somewhat limited but whose maneuverability within its range is extraordinary. China’s (and Russia’s) land-based hypersonic missiles, while also having a limited range, have the ability to take down an aircraft carrier that ventures into waters they claim for their own.
Similarly in the realm of underwater protection, China earlier this year showcased its new stealth submarine. While its exact specs remain secret, it’s clear from the design that the new underwater vessel is a quantum jump from earlier models. It’s undetectable and capable of firing vertical missiles at any unwanted intruder.
The point is that while by many measures the West’s military is mightier, the East has a military better designed to meet a country’s basic needs in today’s world – especially when you include cyber security, which too often is still viewed as just a footnote to a nation’s military arsenal. The cyber area is one place where it is very difficult to have a defense. A powerful defense is also a monster offense. Just the fact that Eastern (Chinese and Russian) control of cyber space could upset the most vital liberty in the West, the right to a fair election, is a clarion call that the West has not met its basic needs in dealing with security threats. This is particularly shameful given that a mere decade ago we had what seemed like a nearly insurmountable lead in vital technologies such as super computers.
This brings me to the second distinction, between wealth and money. The West outspends the East by more than two to one on its military. But the West’s lack of focus on real wealth, ranging from vital commodities to information technologies, is a massive Achilles heel. In addition to cyber, the Army’s chief futurist, Lt. General H.R. McMaster, has said that within the next decade Russia will have surpassed the U.S. in three of 10 critical military areas, will equal us in six, and will lag in only one. And that’s just Russia; it doesn’t take China’s role into account. The point: all our money can’t buy us military dominance unless we make sure we fully satisfy critical needs.
The East Moving To Have Monetary System Anchored By Gold The East’s military position is important beyond providing it security against physical and virtual threats. America’s preeminence in every sphere has long been based on our military dominance. It’s why the dollar has been so sought after. Once our military dominance is in doubt, it will hasten the move from a dollar-based monetary system to one anchored by gold, which is the East’s goal. Prices Of Base Metals (London Metals Exchange)
On the economic issues, you only need to look at the attached chart to know that in this area, too, China is doing something right. The chart presents six base commodities – zinc, copper, aluminum, lead, tin, and nickel – and shows that from their lows in mid-January, they have climbed nearly 25 percent. Clearly these gains come not on the back of the anemic West but must be credited to the much peppier conditions in the East.
Admittedly some of these gains may come from stockpiling. Indeed, Chinese stockpiling is across the board with oil imports setting records and even iron ore imports at historically high levels. Such commodities constitute real wealth, as opposed to mere money, and China’s accumulation of them is certainly part of the reason China will export about $1 trillion to the Silk Road this year.
As Bloomberg reported recently, Ratna Sahay, acting director of the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, visited various Chinese banks, which the West widely believes will be at the heart of a coming seismic shock to the world’s economies. Ms. Sahay’s conclusion: “The fundamental issues that they need to tackle are the loss-making corporates and excess capacity. When you solve that issue, the other problems will start diminishing.”
The rise in base commodities traced in the chart is also powerful evidence that the issue of excess capacity is being addressed big time. That the government continues to rid the red-inked state-owned enterprises (SOE’s) of corruption, force the worst of them into bankruptcy, and require others to merge, is compelling evidence that China is doing exactly what it needs to do.
The Price Of The Monetary Anchor (Gold) To Skyrocket China is clearly preparing to dominate this century by maintaining a laser-like focus on needs and wealth. And to risk sounding like a broken record, one of the most sought-after sources of wealth is gold along with other precious metals. These will be at the heart of the monetary system, maybe at first in the East but eventually, worldwide. Regardless, as the East develops, the price of the monetary anchor (gold) will skyrocket. Dreams of five-digit gold and three-digit silver are coming ever closer to reality.
Finally, I don’t think it’s too late for the West, but it won’t be easy. For anyone curious about what really separates East from West, I’d recommend reading the work of the redoubtable Richard Nisbett, now an emeritus chaired professor at the University of Michigan. He points to critical learned differences in thinking between East and West. I firmly believe that for the two centuries ended in the early 1970s, the West combined the best of these different modes of thinking. And this means we are not doomed. It’s not a question of genetic wiring. We just need to fervently hope that whoever is elected President on Tuesday is up to the task of getting us back to the mindset that had made us perhaps the greatest nation that ever was.” ***KWN has now released the extraordinary audio interview with Egon von Greyerz, where he gives KWN listeners a look what is really happening behind the scenes globally and in the gold market, and you can listen to it by CLICKING HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW.
***ALSO RELEASED: The Destiny Of The World CLICK 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 | 0 |
WASHINGTON — President Trump provoked a rare public dispute with America’s closest ally on Friday after his White House aired an explosive and unsubstantiated claim that Britain’s spy agency had secretly eavesdropped on him at the behest of President Barack Obama during last year’s campaign. Livid British officials adamantly denied the allegation and secured promises from senior White House officials never to repeat it. But a defiant Mr. Trump refused to back down, making clear that the White House had nothing to retract or apologize for because his spokesman had simply repeated an assertion made by a Fox News commentator. Fox itself later disavowed the report. The rupture with London was Mr. Trump’s latest quarrel with an ally or foreign power since taking office. Mexico’s president angrily canceled a White House visit in January over Mr. Trump’s proposed border wall. A telephone call with Australia’s prime minister ended abruptly amid a dispute over refugees. Sweden bristled over Mr. Trump’s criticism of its refugee policy. And China refused for weeks to engage with Mr. Trump because of his postelection call with Taiwan’s president. Mr. Trump’s strained relations with Europe, which has viewed his ascension to power with trepidation, were fully on display on Friday, not just in the British spy flap but also in the venue in which it was addressed. The president was hosting for the first time Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who is seen by many Europeans as the most important champion of the liberal international order. Though polite, the two leaders seemed stiff and distant during their public appearances. European news outlets and social media made much of the fact that she suggested a handshake for photographers in the Oval Office and he did not respond, although it appeared that he did not hear her. Either way, the two were clearly on separate pages on issues like immigration and trade. The angry response from Britain stemmed from Mr. Trump’s persistence in accusing Mr. Obama of tapping his phones last year despite the lack of evidence and denials. At a briefing on Thursday, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, read from a sheaf of news clippings that he suggested bolstered the president’s claim. Among them was an assertion by Andrew Napolitano, a Fox News commentator, that Mr. Obama had used Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters, the agency known as the GCHQ, to spy on Mr. Trump. In response to Mr. Spicer, the agency quickly denied it as “nonsense” and “utterly ridiculous,” while British officials contacted American counterparts to complain. “We said nothing,” Mr. Trump told a German reporter who asked about the matter at a news conference with Ms. Merkel. “All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for saying that on television. I didn’t make an opinion on it. ” He added: “You shouldn’t be talking to me. You should be talking to Fox. ” The president tried making a joke about it, turning to Ms. Merkel, who was angered during Mr. Obama’s administration by reports that the National Security Agency had tapped her cellphone and those of other leaders. “At least we have something in common, perhaps,” Mr. Trump said. She made a face that suggested she had no interest in getting involved. After the news conference, Mr. Spicer echoed Mr. Trump’s unapologetic tone. “I don’t think we regret anything,” he told reporters. “As the president said, I was just reading off media reports. ” Shortly afterward, Fox backed off Mr. Napolitano’s claim. “Fox News cannot confirm Judge Napolitano’s commentary,” the anchor Shepard Smith said on air. “Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now president of the United States was surveilled at any time, any way. Full stop. ” Mr. Trump’s unremorseful tenor further stunned British officials, who thought they had managed to contain the matter. Kim Darroch, the British ambassador to the United States, had raised the matter on Thursday night with Mr. Spicer at a St. Patrick’s Day reception in Washington. Mark Lyall Grant, the national security adviser to Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain, had contacted his American counterpart, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster. On Friday morning, a spokesman for Mrs. May said the White House had backed off the allegation. “We’ve made clear to the administration that these claims are ridiculous and should be ignored,” the spokesman said, on the condition of anonymity in keeping with British protocol. “We’ve received assurances these allegations won’t be repeated. ” But White House officials, who also requested anonymity, said Mr. Spicer had offered no regret to the ambassador. “He didn’t apologize, no way, no how,” a senior West Wing official said. The officials said they did not know whether General McMaster had apologized. The furor underscored the continuing troubles for the White House since Mr. Trump first accused Mr. Obama of tapping his phones, an allegation refuted by intelligence agencies as well as Republican and Democratic officials. Even as Mr. Trump refused to back down, fellow Republicans appeared increasingly irritated by what they see as a distraction from their policy goals. Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma said on Friday that Mr. Trump had not proved his case and should apologize to Mr. Obama. “Frankly, unless you can produce some pretty compelling truth, I think President Obama is owed an apology,” Mr. Cole told reporters. “If he didn’t do it, we shouldn’t be reckless in accusations that he did. ” The conspiracy theorizing also tested what is often called the special relationship between the United States and Britain. American intelligence agencies enjoy a closer collaboration with their British counterparts than any other in the world. GCHQ was the first agency to warn the United States government that Russia was hacking Democratic Party emails during the presidential campaign. Foreign policy analysts expressed astonishment that Mr. Trump would so cavalierly endanger that partnership. “It illustrates the extent to which the White House really doesn’t care what damage they do to crucial relationships in order to avoid admitting their dishonesty,” said Kori Schake, a former national security aide to President George W. Bush now at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. “America’s allies are having to protect themselves against being tarred with the White House’s mendacity. ” Eric S. Edelman, an under secretary of defense under Mr. Bush, has written about the stresses between the United States and Britain in recent years. “I hope that this latest episode doesn’t drive a stake through the heart of the strongest remaining element of partnership,” he said. Julianne Smith, who was a deputy national security adviser to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Mr. Trump did not appear to realize how much American intelligence agencies depend on Britain in dealing with threats around the world. “He will probably live to see the day when he will regret firing off such an egregious insult to Britain and then failing to apologize for it,” she said. The issue clearly touched a nerve at GCHQ, which usually refuses to comment on intelligence matters. Its vehement response surprised British officials and analysts. Dominic Grieve, the intelligence committee chairman in Parliament, pointed to elaborate safeguards that prevent spying on the United States and require “a valid national security purpose” for any monitoring. “It is inconceivable that those legal requirements could be met in the circumstances described,” he said. Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the junior partner in the last British coalition government, described Mr. Spicer’s repetition of the claims as “shameful” and said Mr. Trump was “compromising the vital U. K. . S. security relationship to try to cover his own embarrassment. ” Downing Street evidently wanted to avoid adding to any embarrassment in Washington while making it clear that Britain had no part in any such wiretapping. But in rebuffing that effort, Mr. Trump showed that Mrs. May, who was the first foreign leader to visit the White House after his inauguration, may not have forged the bond she had hoped, analysts said. “It’s very easy to have a good meeting with Trump,” said Jeremy Shapiro, a former State Department official who is the research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London. “He’s very pleasant in person. He’ll promise you the world. And 48 hours later, he’ll betray you without a thought. He won’t even know he’ll be betraying you. ” | 1 |
Good morning. (Want to get California Today by email? Here’s the .) When the comedian Maz Jobrani was asked to deliver the 2017 commencement address at U. C. Berkeley, he immediately said yes. Later, it sank in — this is a big deal. Past speakers have included scholars, innovators and statesmen. “And then it becomes daunting,” he said, “because you go, ‘Oh my God I’ve got to write something and it’s going to go on the internet and the whole world’s going to see it. ” Mr. Jobrani himself graduated from Berkeley in 1993, then started a doctoral program in political science at U. C. L. A. before walking away for comedy. In a news release, a student leader suggested the appearance by Mr. Jobrani, who fled Iran as a child with his family in 1978, would resonate in a time of discord over immigration and Islam. We caught up with Mr. Jobrani by phone in Los Angeles, where he lives. Some excerpts: Q. Have you been thinking about what you’ll say? A. Oh my God, Mike, I’m losing sleep over it. I’m serious. I wake up at, like, 5 in the morning with ideas and I jot them on my iPhone. One of the challenges for me is, being a comedian, they expect me to be funny too. If you watch one of my favorite [commencement addresses] with Conan O’Brien at Dartmouth — so brilliantly written and so funny for 15 minutes or so. He’s just killing it. And then he goes into his story of being ousted by Jay Leno and so then it becomes poignant. And I’m just watching and I’m going, ‘Oh, my God. How did he do that?’ Q. You’ve become more political on stage. What worries you right now? A. Trump doesn’t go a day without worrying me. It seems like everyday there’s something new. And then as a comedian I’ve been also saying, ‘It’s hard to keep up with the guy,’ because he just does something outrageous every day. Q. Tell me about your experience at Berkeley. A. It was four of the best years of my life. I really loved it. I remember being taught to think critically at Berkeley. But there was also interesting stuff. We had a guy back then called the Naked Guy, who was just this guy who was a nudist who was a student who would go to class with like a little sheet around his midsection and that was it. You used to see him walking around and sometimes he’d just have it hanging out, and it was like, ‘Well, this is Berkeley.’ Q. If you could go back and talk to Maz in 1993, what advice would you give? A. Follow your heart. Do what you love. Because I was constantly struggling with that. If it’s in your heart go for it. Don’t listen to other people. Q. Any smaller advice? A. Be kind. It feels good. (Please note: We regularly highlight articles on news sites that have limited access for nonsubscribers.) • Three people were killed, including an at a San Bernardino school in an apparent . [The New York Times] • Photos: Anxiety and sorrow in San Bernardino. [The Sun] • A voting law meant to increase minority representation did little — except to generate lawsuits. [Los Angeles Times] • In a milestone, solar power temporarily met roughly half of all electricity demand across a swath of California. [San Francisco Chronicle] • As California moves to become the nation’s first “sanctuary state,” other states are poised to follow. [The New York Times] • Wells Fargo executives were ordered to pay back $75 million after a scathing report on the company’s fraud scandal. [The New York Times] • In 2014, a former tribal leader fatally shot four people during an eviction dispute. She’s now been sentenced to death. [Sacramento Bee] • Tesla surpasses another established rival, General Motors, in market value. [The New York Times] • Locol, the California chain, has found a way to serve the highest quality coffee for just $1. [The New York Times] • After a lot of eating out, a food critic compiled the 75 best restaurants in Orange County. [Orange County Register] The Pulitzer Prizes were announced Monday. Among the honorees was the East Bay Times, which took the breaking news prize for its “relentless coverage” of the Ghost Ship fire last year. You can see the reporting here. In an editorial, the newspaper said its work on the tragedy has just begun. Some of most stunning imagery of our bountiful spring has been from the Carrizo Plain. Situated east of San Luis Obispo, the long grassland has been lit up by wildflowers. Among the blooms are baby blue eyes, orange poppies, purple bush lupine and goldfields — all set against rare green canvas. Matthew O’Brien, a Bay Area reader, shared a photo he took in late March facing the normally dry Soda Lake and the Temblor Range, which forms the eastern border of the Carrizo Plain. The area is vast, open, and usually desolate. But word of the superbloom has been drawing thousands of visitors, said Gabe Garcia, a field manager at the Bureau of Land Management. “It’s something that’s kind of a type of event,” Mr. Garcia said. The show won’t go on forever. Mr. Garcia predicted the flowers would start to wither within a few weeks as the weather turns warmer and drier. “Once that happens, everything kind of goes back to the way it was,” he said. Here are a few more pictures by Bob Wick, a Bureau of Land Management photographer. California Today goes live at 6 a. m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes. com. The California Today columnist, Mike McPhate, is a Californian — born outside Sacramento and raised in San Juan Capistrano. He lives in Davis. California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U. C. Berkeley. | 1 |
By Melissa Dykes
We’ve been working diligently for the past year driving across the country filming our first feature-length documentary which is about 75% finished. In order to help finance the rest, we thought we would create a mini documentary for Amazon Video in lieu of a Kickstarter campaign. We’re hoping people will watch it for free on Prime (or free with ads) or rent for cheap ($2) to help us fund the rest of our film.
Thank you everyone for being so awesome as we’ve worked hard to build ourselves up to this point!
*WATCH OBSOLETE NOW on AMAZON!* OBSOLETE description: The Future Doesn’t Need Us… Or So We’ve Been Told.
With the rise of technology and the real-time pressures of an online, global economy, humans will have to be very clever – and very careful – not to be left behind by the future.
From the perspective of those in charge, human labor is losing its value, and people are becoming a liability.
This documentary reveals the real motivation behind the secretive effort to reduce the population and bring resource use into strict, centralized control.
Could it be that the biggest threat we face isn’t just automation and robots destroying jobs, but the larger sense that humans could become obsolete altogether?
*Please watch and share!* Source: Truthstream Media
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A Vote For Hillary is a Vote For World War 3 Do you stand "with her" nuclear holocaust? Paul Joseph Watson - October 28, 2016 Comments
Do you stand “with her” nuclear holocaust?
Hillary Clinton has vowed to use military assets against Russia if Moscow is merely suspected of having engaged in a cyber attack.
Hillary Clinton has already proven that she is a sociopathic warmonger. Her bloodthirsty zeal to overthrow Gaddafi in Libya directly led to the rise of ISIS, the international migrant crisis and a wrecked continent.
If she is elected, Hillary will push for arming jihadist rebels in Syria with even more sophisticated weaponry and a no fly zone over the country – an effective declaration of war on the Syrian government and its ally, Russia.
A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for world war three. Jill Stein: "If Hillary gets elected, we're going to war with Russia, a nuclear armed power." pic.twitter.com/0mp7JVSWy1
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) October 19, 2016
Hillary Clinton is George W. Bush 2.0 – that’s why she is supported by a plethora of ‘Never Trump’ neo-cons who are salivating over the prospect of getting back into power and launching new wars of aggression.
Except this time the enemy won’t be Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi or any other third world nation with a flimsy, virtually non-existent army.
The enemy will be Russia – a country with a 3 million man army and a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons.
It is important to not fall prey to normalcy bias. Just because there hasn’t been a major conflict in most our our lifetimes doesn’t mean it can’t happen. The history of humanity is the history of warfare.
A vote for Hillary is a vote for World War 3.
Make this message go viral by sharing this video . Because nuclear war is progressive. https://t.co/bwYbmZbkrN pic.twitter.com/90UGR46I1g
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) October 28, 2016
SUBSCRIBE on YouTube: | 0 |
We Are Change
Actress and activist Susan Sarandon formally endorsed the Green Party presidential candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, on Wednesday.
In a letter explaining her endorsement, published on Stein’s website , the former Bernie Sanders supporter listed eleven reasons that she could not support Hillary Clinton.
Her letter of endorsement reads as follows:
Dear Jill and team,
I’ve been waiting for any indication that Hillary Clinton’s position on the issues that are most urgent to me, has changed. But …
She does not support the $15 minimum wage. She shows no support for legalizing marijuana. She supports TPP. She has sold fracking and Monsanto. She supports offshore drilling. She has no position on the Dakota Access Pipeline. She opposes the labeling of GMOs. She opposes the breakup of big banks. She takes lobbyists’ money for campaigning. She opposes a binding climate treaty. She supports unconditional military aid to Israel. I’m therefore very happy to endorse Jill Stein for the presidency because she does stand for everything I believe in.
It’s clear a third party is necessary and viable at this time. And this is the first step in accomplishing this end.
Fear of Donald Trump is not enough for me to support Clinton, with her record of corruption.
Now that Trump is self-destructing, I feel even those in swing states have the opportunity to vote their conscience.
Susan Sarandon
The actress has been outspoken over her concerns about Clinton’s track record since early on in the primary season. Six months ago, she even publicly asserted that Clinton is “more dangerous” than the Republican nominee.
“I believe in a way she is more dangerous,” Sarandon told The Young Turks. “They’re both talking to Henry Kissinger apparently late … She did not learn from Iraq, and she is an interventionist, and she has done horrible things and very callously, I don’t know if she is overcompensating or what her trip is. But that scares me. I think we’ll be in Iran in two seconds. It frightens me.”
She explained that while the media force feeds us fear of Trump to justify a Clinton vote, the former Secretary of State seems to get a pass on her disastrous policies.
“This is what we’re fed,” Sarandon continued. “‘He’s so dangerous, he’s so dangerous,’ but seriously I am not worried about a wall being built, he is not going to get rid of every Muslim in this country. Has he made it the norm to be racist and to vent these kind of un-American things? Yes. But seriously, I don’t know what his policy is. I do know what her policies are. I do know who she is taking money from. And I do know that she is not transparent, and I do know that nobody calls her on it,” she said.
The post Susan Sarandon Formally Endorses Jill Stein, Slams Clinton Corruption appeared first on We Are Change .
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Curtis Houck at NewsBusters notes that 60 Minutes’ Sunday report, “How Fake News Becomes a Popular, Trending Topic,” admits that the audience for “fake news” tailored to the left is mostly “affluent and college educated. ”[From NewsBusters: [G]uest and “internet advertising firm” CEO Jeff Green dropped this admission that both he and Pelley seemed befuddled by: JEFF GREEN: So the first thing that we found out is that it is definitely a phenomenon that affects both sides. PELLEY: Liberals and conservatives? GREEN: Yes. There is no question they’re both affected. There was yet another surprise in store for these hardcore liberals. After citing a case of fake news about Congress “plotting to overthrow President Trump,” Green revealed that “fake news readers on the left were more likely to be affluent and college educated. ” At the other end, “ fake news overwhelmingly attracted readers in their 40s and 50s. ” Green admitted that this “shocked me,” and Pelley had a similarly flabbergasted look. Green added that he “thought the same way that many Americans perhaps think is that fake news was a phenomenon that only tricked the uneducated,” but, alas, “not true — just not — the data shows it’s just not true. ” Read the rest of the story here. | 1 |
Obama Votes Against US at UN October 27, 2016 Daniel Greenfield
Obama's abstention from a UN vote against the US is a new low for the most anti-American administration in American history. Under Obama, our foreign policy has been reoriented toward damaging our own interests as much as possible. But actively opposing US policy at the UN is a new low.
The resolution A/RES/71/5 is on the "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba".
It was introduced at the request of Cuba back in '91 with a memorandum that accused America of "pursuing an aggressive policy against Cuba with the declared aim of imposing on it the political, social and economic order which the united States authorities consider most fitting. This policy has included direct military intervention, the threat of nuclear annihilation, the instigation and carrying out of countless acts of sabotage and plans to assassinate Cuban leaders."
As Obama's creepy toady Ben Rhodes tweeted, "No reason to vote to defend a failed policy we oppose."
Except the failed policy is that of the United States. By "we", Rhodes means that Obama and the left aren't going to defend the United States in international forums when they disagree with the US.
All this is yet another reminder that the people running the country are not of the country. They're a hostile foreign ideology that sees itself as separate from the United States and does not believe it has any responsibilities toward the United States.
At the UN, Samantha Power took the anti-American positions to applause from a UN united with Obama against America.
"For more than 50 years, the United States had a policy aimed at isolating the government of Cuba. For roughly half of those years, UN Member States have voted overwhelmingly for a General Assembly resolution that condemns the U.S. embargo and calls for it to be ended. The United States has always voted against this resolution. Today the United States will abstain. [Applause.] Thank you. "
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Email
In an email released by Wikileaks, top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin seemed to express concern for the health of her boss.
“She’s going to stick to notes a little closer this am, still not perfect in her head,” Abedin told Podesta and others in a discussion on messaging to reporters about a Jeb Bush Super PAC.
It appears that Abedin wasn’t the only person concerned about Hillary’s health.
In an email dated September 26, 2015, John Podesta asked Jennifer Palmieri, “How bad is her head?”
Palmieri responded, “Don’t know.”
A post at Heat Street observed:
Hillary Clinton suffered a “cracked head” (her words) after suffering a fall in December 2012. Many have speculated about her health since that episode, and questions grew louder in September of this year when Hillary was caught on tape nearly collapsing at a 9/11 memorial event in Manhattan.
After initially blaming the health scare on “dehydration,” the campaign was forced to acknowledge the candidate had been diagnosed with pneumonia.
“It was unclear whether Abedin was referring to a serious ailment,” the New York Post added.
In January 2016, Breitbart reported:
Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s disappearance from the debate stage last month left people speculating that the former First Lady took a long bathroom break, but now a law-enforcement source with inside connections is alleging that Clinton was missing from the stage due to health issues stemming from a previous brain injury.
These long-lasting symptoms stemming from a concussion and blood clot, according to a neurologist, suggest Clinton is suffering from post-concussion syndrome, which can severely impact her cognitive abilities.
Source: conservativefiringline.com | 0 |
The F. B. I. has arrested a Volkswagen executive in Florida, accusing him of playing a central role in a broad conspiracy to keep United States regulators from discovering that diesel vehicles made by the company were programmed to cheat on emissions tests. The executive, Oliver Schmidt, a German who is the former top emissions compliance manager for Volkswagen in the United States, was arrested on Saturday by investigators in Florida on a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He is expected to be arraigned on Monday. The arrest of Mr. Schmidt is an escalation of the criminal investigation into emissions cheating by Volkswagen and comes amid talks between the company and the United States Justice Department about what penalties the carmaker should accept as part of a settlement. After a study by West Virginia University first raised questions over Volkswagen’s diesel motors in early 2014, Mr. Schmidt played a central role in trying to convince regulators that excess emissions were caused by technical problems rather than by deliberate cheating, Ian Dinsmore, an F. B. I. agent, said in a sworn affidavit used as the basis for Mr. Schmidt’s arrest. Mr. Schmidt deceived American regulators “by offering reasons for the discrepancy other than the fact that VW was intentionally cheating on U. S. emissions tests, in order to allow VW to continue to sell diesel vehicles in the United States,” the affidavit said. Mr. Schmidt continued to represent Volkswagen after the company admitted in September that cars were programmed to dupe regulators. He appeared before a committee of the British Parliament in January, telling legislators that Volkswagen’s behavior was not illegal in Europe. Lawyers representing Mr. Schmidt did not respond to requests for comment late Sunday. Officials at the Justice Department also declined to comment, as did an F. B. I. spokesman in Detroit. In a statement, Jeannine Ginivan, a spokeswoman for Volkswagen, said that the automaker “continues to cooperate with the Department of Justice” but that “it would not be appropriate to comment on any ongoing investigations or to discuss personnel matters. ” A Volkswagen spokesman in Germany also declined to comment. Lawsuits filed against Volkswagen by the New York and Massachusetts state attorneys general accused Mr. Schmidt of playing an important role in the carmaker’s efforts to conceal its emissions cheating from United States regulators. In 2014, when California air quality officials began an investigation of Volkswagen emissions, Mr. Schmidt was general manager of Volkswagen’s Engineering and Environmental Office based in Auburn Hills, Mich. For more than a year, he and other Volkswagen officials repeatedly cited false technical explanations for the high emissions levels, the authorities said. In September 2015, Mr. Schmidt and other Volkswagen officials formally acknowledged the existence of a defeat device that allowed Volkswagen cars to cheat emissions tests. Volkswagen’s and belated confession angered officials from the California Air Resources Board and the Environmental Protection Agency, and it is likely to have vastly increased the cost to the company from the scandal. It has already agreed to pay $16 billion to owners of diesel vehicles and will probably have to pay several billion dollars more in fines. Volkswagen eventually said that it had fitted 11 million diesel cars worldwide with illegal software that made the vehicles capable of defeating pollution tests. The software enabled the cars to sense when they were being tested for emissions and turn on systems to curb emissions at the cost of engine performance. But those controls were not fully deployed on the road, where cars spewed nitrogen oxide at up to 40 times the levels allowed under the Clean Air Act. James Liang, a former Volkswagen engineer who worked for the company in California, pleaded guilty in September to charges that included conspiracy to defraud the federal government and violating the Clean Air Act. But Mr. Schmidt’s arrest brings the investigation into the executive ranks. The arrest came as Volkswagen and the Justice Department neared a deal to pay more than $2 billion to resolve the criminal investigation into the emissions cheating. The company or one of its corporate entities is expected to plead guilty as part of the deal. The settlement could come as early as next week, barring any hiccups, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations. The German automaker has been eager to put the Justice Department investigation behind it before Donald J. Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20. American prosecutors had traveled to Germany in recent months to interview Volkswagen executives, according to German prosecutors. The criminal case against Volkswagen, and the potential guilty plea, set it apart from other recent auto industry investigations. In settlements with General Motors and Toyota over their handling of safety defects, for example, the companies agreed to pay large fines but did not plead guilty. Prosecutors are also mulling criminal charges against Takata, the Japanese manufacturer under criminal investigation for its defective airbags. Volkswagen has already agreed to pay up to nearly $16 billion to resolve civil claims in what has become one of the largest consumer settlements ever in the United States, involving half a million cars. Under the settlement, most car owners have the option of either selling their vehicles back to Volkswagen or getting them fixed, provided the automaker could propose a fix that satisfied regulators. The scandal has affected many Volkswagen and Audi models, including the Audi A3 and Volkswagen Beetle, Golf, Jetta and Passat diesel cars. | 1 |
NEA KAVALA, Greece — As her young children played near heaps of garbage, picking through burned corn cobs and crushed plastic bottles to fashion new toys, Shiraz Madran, a mother of four, turned with eyes to survey the desolate encampment that has become her home. This year, her family fled Syria, only to get stuck at Greece’s northern border with Macedonia in Idomeni, a town that had been the gateway to northern Europe for more than one million migrants from the Middle East and Africa seeking a haven from conflict. After Europe sealed the border in February to curb the unceasing stream, the Greek authorities relocated many of those massed in Idomeni to a camp on this agricultural plain in northern Greece, with promises to process their asylum bids quickly. But weeks have turned into months, and Mrs. Madran’s life has spiraled into a despondent daily routine of scrounging for food for her children and begging the authorities for any news about their asylum application. “No one tells us anything — we have no idea what our future is going to be,” she said. “If we knew it would be like this, we would not have left Syria,” she continued. “We die a thousand deaths here every day. ” Seven months after the European Union shut the doors to large numbers of newcomers, Greece remains Europe’s de facto holding pen for 57, 000 people trapped amid the chaos. Many are living in a distressing limbo in sordid refugee camps on the mainland and on Greek islands near Turkey. A year after the world was riveted by scenes of desperate men, women and children streaming through Europe, international attention to their plight has waned now that the borders have been closed and they are largely confined to camps. sentiment has surged since last year in many countries, especially as people who entered Europe with the migrant flow are linked to crimes and, in a few cases, attacks planned or inspired by the Islamic State or other radical groups. Neither the prosperous nations of Western and Northern Europe, where the refugees want to settle, nor Turkey, their point of departure for the Continent, are living up to their promises of help. In visits to four camps around Greece — on the island of Lesbos, on the northern Greek mainland and outside Athens — migrants already seared by conflict and poverty voiced common concerns about inadequate food and health care. They grappled with squalid living conditions, fears over their children’s health and education, and the psychological toll of living in constant uncertainty. “We came from a war and now we’re in a slower war,” said Malek Haj Mohamed, 23, who fled with her brother Yasir from Raqqa, a Syrian city where the Islamic State has taken hold. “Even if 1, 000 children died here, people in Europe wouldn’t know about it,” she said. “Why did they close the borders when we need safety?” A group of children chimed in. “We run from Daesh,” said Ahmed, 10, using the Arabic term for the Islamic State. He grabbed one of his playmates. “Look, this is Daesh!” he said, bending the boy over and pretending to cut his head off. The ranks of those in limbo are most likely to grow despite a deal to resolve the crisis that took effect March 20 between the European Union and Turkey. While the number of migrants entering Greece has dwindled from nearly 5, 000 a day last year, hundreds have started crossing the Aegean Sea again after the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey. Few of the resources pledged by the European Union to assist the asylum seekers and process their applications have actually come through, leaving the Greek authorities struggling to cope with a daunting humanitarian and logistical challenge that has fallen from view in the rest of Europe. European Union member states have sent just 27 of the 400 asylum specialists and 24 of the 400 interpreters they had agreed to provide to process claims for refugees like Mrs. Madran. So far, 21, 000 migrants have been registered for asylum 36, 000 have not. A union plan to ease Greece’s burden by relocating tens of thousands of asylum seekers to the Continent has also fizzled, with European countries taking less than 2, 300 people. The bottlenecks have overwhelmed many of the camps, especially on the Greek islands, where migrants arriving after the March 20 deal are supposed to be held until being deported to Turkey. That program has stalled because of legal challenges and because Greece must process each asylum application first. So far, 468 of the more than 10, 000 people who have arrived since the deal took effect have been returned. Turkish monitors assigned to assist were fired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey after the coup attempt against him. One result is that on Lesbos, the main landing point for dinghies arriving from Turkey, the Moria refugee camp is brimming with Syrians, Afghans, Eritreans, Pakistanis, Kurds and others who landed after the accord. While the camp is organized by the Greek military and police, and filled with humanitarian aid workers, it has grown increasingly overcrowded amid a backlog of asylum claims and bids to enter the European Union relocation program. As in Nea Kavala, migrants in Moria had no clue about their status. “We just wait and we don’t know what to do,” said Abdullah Jalali, 40, an Afghan who had been stuck for five months. His family was crammed with 30 other people, including 11 babies, into a tiny container shelter. Nearby, Pakistani migrants lived outside beneath tarps held up with metal parking barriers — dark cages in the baking sun. Mr. Erdogan has set off further alarms by hinting that the European Union deal could collapse by October should Europe fail to uphold a part of the bargain to grant Turkish citizens travel to Europe. The situation is critical enough that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece met with his cabinet on Thursday in Athens to discuss how to handle a renewed migrant surge. For those who had been languishing in Greece even before the deal, Europe’s political tug of war threatens to make a precarious situation worse. Those who have money are continuing to turn to smugglers for passage to Germany or the Nordic countries. Some Syrians who fled violence for a haven in Europe have decided to return rather than face an indefinite stay in the camps. In Nea Kavala, many of the nearly 3, 000 migrants have struggled to adapt to their new world, a filthy, wasteland built atop an abandoned airfield. Women looked after scores of children playing on an asphalt runway, and swatted flies from babies’ faces. Men chopped wood to make fires for cooking in tin drums. In some areas, the earth was scorched black where tents had burned when the fires got too near. Nearby, at the Softex camp near the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, the situation was hardly better. Hidden in an industrial park along a road busy with trucks, a gravel expanse gave way to an abandoned factory filled with migrants. Behind it, rows of dilapidated green tents stood in the shadow of a gas plant that belched smoke in the sweltering heat. Children with runny noses and mosquito bites smiled sweetly and clung to visitors, taking them by the hand and beckoning them to inspect the sordid alleyways between the tents. Almost no one had been processed for asylum. And some worried that recent attacks in Germany by two Syrian refugees would lead Europe to turn them all away. “They are making us look like bad men, thugs, like Daesh,” said Ali Rahmeh, 58, from Syria. “We are not Daesh. We are human beings, and we’re talking about human rights. ” Even migrants housed in better conditions wavered between hope and despair. One hour southeast of Athens, 400 migrants, mostly Syrians, stay in bucolic wooden cabins under swaying pine trees near the sea off the coast of Cape Sounio. A former government vacation camp, it was closed during Greece’s economic crisis, but reopened recently to house refugees. With a volleyball court, a space for cultural activities and a makeshift school, there are plenty of activities as people wait. Still, Hussein Alkhatib, 28, from Damascus said: “Our life is stuck. You have no job, no training, nothing. ” He and the others were expecting an appointment for a relocation interview, which the Greek authorities said would come sometime in September via text message. As a result, people scanned their cellphones constantly, and tried to keep busy in the meantime. “Some people are starting to say, ‘Let me die now,’” said Mohammed Mohammed, 23, from Syria, a smart man with a business administration degree, who filled his time working as a translator. “Yes, we are lucky to be here. But this is not our home. We don’t want it to be our home. ” | 1 |
Brides who once may have looked forward to walking down the aisle dressed to the nines are now bouncing down it dressed to the eights, or maybe a seven and a half (narrow). Many wedding guests this summer may glimpse sneakers under traditional gowns. And not just plain white tennis shoes. Some are brightly colored, others are embroidered with names and dates, or decorated with beading or lace to match the dress. Ronnie Rothstein, an owner of Kleinfeld Bridal in New York, thinks the bridal sneaker is not so much a fashion statement as a lifestyle statement, with fashion in general being more casual these days. And pairing sneakers with wedding dresses fits with the overall easing of dress codes, at work and at leisure. Millennial women in particular are about comfort. “If a girl wears jeans to work, she’s wearing sneakers to the wedding,” Mr. Rothstein said. The fashion industry is helping by making sneakers as glamorous as possible. At a Karl Lagerfeld 2014 haute couture collection, a model wore white running shoes with a bridal gown. Now brides have an expanding choice of comfortable yet stylish sneakers from sources like Etsy, Bill Blass online, Keds and Converse. Tory Burch is also showing sneakers, and there are Chuck Taylors, if the bride is looking for height, said Cathy Schroeckenstein, the editor in chief of weddingbee. com. “You have to assume you’ll be on your feet for 12 to 15 hours on your wedding day,” Ms. Schroeckenstein said, and “most women are not comfortable in high heels. ” Mr. Rothstein said that in his workrooms, 17 people bead dresses and now also embellish many pairs of sneakers each week with beads or lace to match the gowns. “If the dress is heavily embellished, the sneakers get the same embellishment,” he said. In 2012, when Cassandra Arellano was married in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. “I really thought I would wear gorgeous heels, and since I was engaged for two years I had plenty of time to search for them,” she said. “But I couldn’t find the right ones, and then I thought anyway they would kill my feet. So I said, forget it. How cute would it be if I wore purple Converse sneakers?” Mrs. Arellano ordered her shoes online from Converse. She said that the 100 guests couldn’t see them under her long dress until she got onto the dance floor and showed off her footwear. Jennifer Contreras was wearing customized Converse sneakers when she was married in June 2014 in San Diego. “I wanted to be comfortable,” she said, something her mother was all for. The shoes were hidden under her dress at first. “No one sees your shoes until you show them off,” she said. ”The back of my shoes was embroidered with ‘Mrs. Contreras. ’” All of her bridesmaids wore gray Converses. And the groom wore sneakers from Vans. “My husband isn’t super tall, and in heels I am taller than he is,” she said. But for Randy Fenoli, a host on the TLC show “Say Yes to The Dress,” a pair of sneakers with a wedding dress is appalling. “They depreciate your look and the look of the gown,” he said. “Wedding gowns are not for comfort. PJs are for comfort, sweatsuits are for comfort. Sneakers are a . ” “Walking in heels is so much sexier,” he said. “Sneakers make you walk flat. Call me . I’m a traditionalist. At some point you just have to say no. ” Marshall Cohen, the chief retail market research analyst with the NPD Group, disagreed. “It’s about, ‘This is my day,’” Mr. Cohen said, speaking for the brides. Lisa Blanck wore heels down the aisle when she was married two years ago in Detroit, just to feel like a lady, she said. But right after the ceremony, she changed into blue Nike sneakers that her husband, Peter Ehrlich, had bought for her. The invitation called for black tie, but she wasn’t the only one dancing in comfortable shoes. Her mother, her father, his groomsmen and even their cantor all wore sneakers at the insistence of the bridal couple. Before the wedding, Mr. Ehrlich, who collects Nike sneakers as a hobby, had sent an email to their friends that read, “Nikes welcome. ” Converse, Keds or Nikes are reasonably priced, but there are few limits on what a bride can choose to spend on personalized sneakers. At Kleinfeld Bridal, customized sneakers that coordinate with a Mark Zunino gown can cost up to $800. But, Mr. Rothstein said, if the dress costs thousands of dollars, spending hundreds on the shoes is just part of the package. Mr. Zunino, who has a line of dresses at Kleinfeld, said, “Girls are used to wearing sneakers all the time now. ” Keds offers two lines of bridal sneakers. “We launched the lines because of customer interest,” said Emily Culp, the chief marketing officer at Keds. “Our custom line can be personalized with initials and dates. ” Some women are ordering complete sets of custom shoes for themselves and their bridesmaids, Ms. Culp said. And sometimes the sneakers are coordinated with the color of the flowers. “It’s one of those moments when people want to show their individuality and moxie,” Ms. Culp said. “It gives them a feeling of empowerment. It’s about expressing who you are. ” Mothers of some brides are not on board with this look. When Chantalle Crolly, a kindergarten teacher and graphic designer in Ontario, Canada, was married in a backyard there in July 2015, she said, her own mother had a hard time with the nontraditional elements of the wedding — like her shoes. “I wore a big custom ball gown with sneakers,” she said. She had her married name embroidered on the back of her fluorescent pink Converses. “They were bright and happy and comfortable,” Ms. Crolly said. She admitted to being influenced by a lot of what she sees on Pinterest and other websites, and agreed that there is a generational shift at work here. “I rely 100 percent on social media,” she said, referring to her personal style. Sandra Corona has an Etsy shop called NewBrideCo, where she sells embellished sneakers. “It’s usually the and they want to enjoy every moment,” Ms. Corona said, pointing out that brides don’t want their day ruined by sore feet. Darcy Miller, an editor at large of Martha Stewart Weddings, said: “Some brides don’t necessarily want to be wearing stilettos on the beach or on soft grass. They want to be comfortable for all that running around — and dancing, of course. Brides are always wanting to put their personal stamp on their wedding and showing their personal style, so here’s an opportunity to do that. ” Ms. Miller said that sometimes brides use the sneakers to tie a theme together by having the rest of the wedding party wear pairs in a certain color while hers are white or a bright color to flash under her dress. And, scenario, if the bride is of the runaway variety, at least she’ll have the aprropriate footwear. | 1 |
A rape suspect reportedly watched several hours of violent pornography each day and used it as inspiration for his crimes, Kansas prosecutors say. [Jacob Ewing is accused of replicating scenes from seven porn videos he watched when he allegedly raped two women. A judge ruled that the videos are permitted to be used as evidence in his trial, the Kansas City Star reported. “Apparently, portions of the videos depict acts that [Ewing] is said to have replicated himself upon the witnesses,” Jackson County District Judge Norbert Marek wrote in his ruling. “The relevance of this evidence could prove motive, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge or identity. ” Ewing “chose video after video” of women being raped or assaulted, which investigators say they discovered when they looked through his online browsing history, prosecutor Jacqie Spradling wrote in court documents. Ewing allegedly raped one woman in September 2014 and another in May 2016. Court papers describe how Ewing watched the violent porn videos within 45 days of the second rape he allegedly committed. Spradling filed a motion that said there is evidence that Ewing watched four hours of violent porn a day on average, including scenes where women were strangled and forced to eat vomit, the Topeka reported. Ewing’s attorney said the footage is “highly, highly prejudicial” against her client and argued that the footage should not be used as evidence. Ewing faces multiple charges, including rape, aggravated sodomy, and battery. Marek previously declined a motion for similar evidence to be used against Ewing in a trial last month, where Ewing was acquitted of a separate case involving the sexual assault of a girl. Ewing faces multiple trials for separate sexual assault cases scheduled in June, August, and October. He remains in jail but pleaded not guilty to each of the charges against him. | 1 |
If Hillary Is Not Guilty, Then Why Are Her Supporters Asking Obama To Pardon Her? Hmm… "Hillary Clinton has not been tried, but there are those who want to drag her for the next three years. It will not stop until they find a reason to put her in jail. That would be a travesty.""It would be a monumental moral mistake to pursue the indictment of Hillary Clinton," Jackson said. He said issuing the pardon could help heal the nation, like Ford's pardon of Nixon did. 16, 2016 Speaking at President Gerald Ford’s alma mater, The Rev. Jesse Jackson called for President Obama to issue a blanket pardon to Hillary Clinton before he leaves office, just like Ford did for Richard Nixon.
Stopping short of saying Clinton did anything wrong , Jackson told a large crowd of University of Michigan students, faculty and administrators gathered at daylong celebration of his career that Obama should short-circuit President-elect Donald Trump’s promised attempt to prosecute Hillary Clinton for use of a private e-mail server.
“It would be a monumental moral mistake to pursue the indictment of Hillary Clinton,” Jackson said. He said issuing the pardon could help heal the nation, like Ford’s pardon of Nixon did. Would Obama pardon Clinton before he leaves office?
“President Ford said we don’t need him for trophy. We need to move on. President Nixon wasn’t convicted of a crime. He didn’t apply for a pardon. (Ford) did it because he thought it would be best for the country. “Hillary Clinton has not been tried, but there are those who want to drag her for the next three years. It will not stop until they find a reason to put her in jail. That would be a travesty.”
In 1974, Ford, a University of Michigan alumnus, issued a full and complete pardon of Nixon for any crimes he may have committed. He said the pardon was in the best interests of the nation.
Jackson’s comments came at the end of a long day in Ann Arbor, which included him dropping in on an anti-Trump rally held by students on campus. Jesse Jackson: Obama should pardon Hillary Clinton
Jackson comes to a campus that is full of strife over race. Numerous racist flyers have been posted and students have alleged they have been attacked because they are Muslim or a minority. There have been anti-Trump marches on U-M’s campus, along with campuses across the nation. A large demonstration marched through a series of U-M buildings even while Jackson was speaking.
Students “are growing up in an America that is in an identity crisis,” Jackson said. “These demonstrations are born out of fear. Fear that the Klan will ride again. Fear that violence (against minorities) is coming back.
“In this election, voters voted for fear. I think hope will defeat hate, but it’s a battle.” In a conversation with the Free Press at the beginning of the day, he blamed Trump for the environment of fear.
Donald Trump saw an America that was a dry field, and instead of watering it to get the grass growing again, he threw a lit match on it, Jackson said.
Now it’s up to Trump to take action, Jackson added.
“The one who set the field afire must be the one to put it out,” he told the Free Press in a one-on-one interview. “He had the option to pour water on it (the dry field) and let it grow. He didn’t do that — he chose to light it on fire. One of my concerns is that we see the division in America now because of that. We see classmates, roommates in a conflict over the way the campaign turned out.
“He knows Mexicans didn’t take jobs from us. It was the corporations. He knows you can’t deport 15 million (immigrants). It’s not just about the adults, but also about the children who were born here, grew up here and go to school here.”
Jackson told students not to give up the struggle.
“Students, don’t let them take your hope. Deep water doesn’t drown you. You drown because you stop kicking. There is a tug of war for the soul of America. Do we want to be an aristocracy or a democracy? To be silent is to betray your conscience. You must not be silent in the face of violation of human rights.” source SHARE THIS ARTICLE | 0 |
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas House of Representatives voted narrowly on Monday to uphold Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of a bill to expand Medicaid, ending a quest that came improbably close to succeeding in this deep red state despite Mr. Brownback’s unyielding opposition. In spite of a torrent of phone calls and pleas from constituents over the weekend, and lobbying by hospital leaders who said that expanding Medicaid would help save a number of rural hospitals from closing, the vote was 81 to 44, three short of the majority needed for an override. The effort to expand Medicaid to cover 150, 000 additional people in Kansas had been closely watched nationally, in part because it came just after President Trump and Republicans in Congress tried and failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Success might have provided momentum in some of the other 18 states that have not yet expanded Medicaid under the health law to cover far more adults. While two Republican lawmakers who had originally voted against expanding Medicaid switched sides and voted to override, two others who had supported the expansion bill when it passed the House in February voted to sustain the veto. One of them, Representative Clay Aurand, a Republican from Belleville, said he hoped Kansas could find a way to expand Medicaid in “a more way. ” Supporters of the expansion had argued that it could save lives and jobs. “We have the ability to help people who truly need it the most,” Representative Cindy Holscher, a Democrat from Olathe, told her colleagues. “We have the ability to make a decision today that will save lives — not just one, but potentially thousands. ” Representative Susan Concannon, a Republican from Beloit and a leading proponent of the expansion bill, said, “What we know most of all is that if we do this, it will prevent closures of hospitals. ” Opponents of expansion questioned whether Kansas could afford it, expressed doubts about whether the federal government would continue to pay for most of it if the health care law eventually is repealed, and suggested the promised benefits to rural hospitals were overstated. Mr. Brownback vetoed the measure almost as soon as it reached his desk on Thursday, saying that the cost to the state would be “irresponsible and unsustainable,” and that it would be “unwise” to expand Medicaid while President Trump and Congress were still vowing to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He also said the bill was unacceptable because it did not include a work requirement for beneficiaries of the Medicaid expansion. While the federal government has never allowed states to require that people have jobs in order to receive Medicaid, the Trump administration has hinted that it may. Some states are considering asking for changes to their Medicaid programs that could reduce recipients, including work requirements, premiums and even lifetime limits on Medicaid coverage. The vote in Kansas came five months after an election in which moderate Republicans and Democrats replaced a number of conservatives in the Legislature, breathing new life into an effort that had stalled for years. The House of Representatives voted 81 to 44 in February to expand Medicaid. The Senate followed last week with a vote health committees in both chambers heard often emotional testimony from uninsured Kansans and from medical providers. The Affordable Care Act originally required all states to expand Medicaid to all adults earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, but the Supreme Court ruled that states could opt out if they wished. Still, the law has played a major role in reducing the number of Americans without health insurance, with about 11 million adults gaining coverage in the 31 states that have chosen to expand the program. In the 19 states that have not expanded Medicaid — including some of the biggest, such as Florida and Texas — millions of people are stuck in a “coverage gap,” earning too much for Medicaid under their states’ stringent guidelines but too little to qualify for subsidized coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. David Jordan, executive director of Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, an advocacy group that formed last year to push for expanding Medicaid, said supporters were not giving up. “The problem of 150, 000 Kansans not having access to health care doesn’t go away,” he said. | 1 |
By wmw_admin on October 27, 2016 John Derbyshire — The Unz Review Oct 22, 2016 Democratic operative (and ex-convict) Robert Creamer Watergate , anyone? What brought it to mind was this news story from CNN: Dem[Ocrat] Operative “Stepping Back” After Video Suggests Group Incited Violence At Trump Rallies . [October 18, 2016] Relevant quote from the story: “Democracy Partners called O’Keefe’s video a ‘well-funded, systematic spy operation that is the modern day equivalent of the Watergate burglars.’” What’s this all about? Let me take it a piece at a time. Democracy Partners is a progressive consultancy group. Their website says they offer “cutting edge strategies for progressive values … We tell stories, create narratives, use powerful symbols.” The word “progressive” here of course means Cultural-Marxist : Hostile to everything customary and traditional, hostile to law enforcement and national sovereignty, globalist, open borders, anti-white, radical feminist, the whole CultMarx package. One of the partners in Democracy Partners, and instrumental in founding the outfit, is a chap named Robert Creamer . He’s married to Jan Schakowsky, who represent s Illinois’ 9th District in Congress —that’s the northern districts of Chicago . Robert Creamer is an ex-con: Back in 2005 he served five months in federal prison for check kiting and tax evasion. [ Congresswoman’s husband pleads guilty to two felonies , USA Today, August 31, 2005] Creamer is the guy in the headline, who is “stepping back.” What he’s stepping back from: involvement in work that Democracy Partners is doing for Mrs. Clinton’s election campaign, paid for by the DNC, the Democratic National Committee. They’ve been advising and helping Mrs. Clinton. So why is he stepping back? Well, conservative activist James O’Keefe—the one who exposed the ACORN community-organizer group back in 2009 —had sent people to Democracy Partners posing as potential donors and wearing hidden video cameras. O’Keefe got footage of Creamer explaining his dirty tricks to O’Keefe’s people under the illusion they were sympathetic listeners. Creamer explains, for example, how he gets around voter ID laws t o register illegal aliens as voters. Along with Democracy Partners, and I think reporting to them as a subcontractor, is a different outfit, the Foval Group. This group doesn’t have a website, and in fact seems to be a one-man operation with a business card. The one man is Scott Foval, who has also been working on the Clinton campaign. I’m not totally clear about the chain of command here, but Foval was employed by, or contracted to, Americans United for Change , another CultMarx outfit of the ACORN type. O’Keefe ran the same sting operation against Foval, and recorded some juicy quotes about his methods for advancing the Clinton cause: fomenting violence at Trump rallies, for example, and even hiring mentally ill people to get the violence started. Americans United for Change fired Foval this week after O’Keefe’s videos went online. Below, Donald Trump speaks out against the violence–violence he witnessed at his rallies, and threatens legal action. Mrs. Clinton and the DNC are feigning indignation over all this, and the Main Stream Media is of course covering for them. It’s hard to argue with the video-recorded evidence, though. The best they can come up with is that the video has been “ selectively edited ” —as if all video isn’t selectively edited . Now back to the quote from CNN that I started with: “ Democracy Partners called O’Keefe’s video a ‘well-funded, systematic spy operation that is the modern day equivalent of the Watergate burglars.’ ” So the crime here, equivalent to the Watergate burglary, was to sting these DNC contractors into revealing their methods. The crime, please note, is not the methods themselves—paying homeless people to start violence at Trump rallies, registering illegal aliens to vote—that’s not the crime. The crime, according to Democracy Partners, is deceiving people into talking about those methods on-camera . Got it? Now here’s the punchline. Robert Creamer—the guy who’s stepping back from assisting the Clinton campaign, the guy who did time for a federal felony conviction, the guy boasting about registering illegal aliens—this Robert Creamer has been a frequent visitor to the White House. How frequent? Very, very frequent. From November 2009 to June this year, Creamer visited the White House 340 times.[ Robert Creamer Visited Obama’s White House 340 Times , by Jen Lawrence, Breitbart, October 19, 2016]That’s an average of once a week, every week for six and a half years. Forty-five of those visits were for meetings with Obama, average seven times a year. I bet there are cabinet officers who don’t get that much time with Obama. I am now going to say the obvious thing: If we were in a Republican administration, and a Black Ops guy like Creamer was making weekly visits to the White House for six years, and then was caught on tape bragging about his illegalities, that would be front page news for months . Like … Watergate . Instead, while the Main Stream Media have dutifully reported the story (NYT: Videos Put Democrats on Defensive About Dirty Tricks ) I shall be very surprised if we hear any more about it from them after, oh, I’ll guess, this weekend. And don’t look for any law enforcement agencies wanting to know “what did John Podesta know and when did he know it?”—much less what Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton knew. In last week’s Radio Derb I reported on a survey out of Chapman Universit y about what Americans fear. Way up at the top of the list, with 61 percent of respondents declaring themselves afraid or very afraid of it, was government corruption. I’m with that 61 percent. So is Mark Steyn. On Wednesday this week, before that evening’s debate, Mark posted a column titled “ Laws are for the Little People .” [SteynOnLine, October 19, 2016] It’s an absolute tour de force , Mark Steyn at his polemical best. If I could make every adult in the country read it, I would. Mark declares up front that, quote, “for me the overriding issue in American politics is the corruption,” end quote. He then runs through the recent shenanigans at the FBI, including the latest news about the bureau and the State Department trading favors. He goes from there to the rise of Donald Trump. The energy behind that rise, says Mark, was widespread public outrage at how the political class, as exemplified by Mrs. Clinton, sets itself above the laws that we humbler folk have to obey. It’s all in their interests, says Mark; it’s all for them: Consider illegal immigration, for example, which pre-Trump was entirely discussed in terms of the interests of the lawbreakers —how to “bring them out of the shadows ,” how to give them “a path to citizenship ,” celebrate their “ family values ” and “work ethic”—and never in terms of the law-abiding, whose wages they depress, whose communities they transform, and, in too many criminal cases, whose lives they wreck.[Links added] Mark then excoriates the feebleness, stupidity, and occasional treachery of the Republican Establishment. The indifference from influential conservatives towards both naked corruption of our political class and the despair of the rest of us is, he says, deeply disturbing. It’s a brilliant piece, and I strongly recommend it to your attention. For a 2,000-word summary of what’s wrong with our Republic, and the prospects for doing anything about it, I don’t see how it could be improved on. Equality under the law, for the mighty and the humble alike, used to be a bedrock principle in our system. As Mrs. Clinton might put it: That’s Who We Were. It’s not Who We Are any longer, as her career illustrates all too plainly. Just a footnote to that. Going back to last week’s segment about what we fear, a listener reminds me of a classic line on that from one of Burt Reynolds’ movies. So what are you scared of, Burt? Clip : Burt: “Only two things in the world I’m scared of.” Ned Beatty: “You’re only scared of two things? What’s that?” Burt: “Women and the po-lice.” That was back in 1973, when the Watergate break-in—which didn’t even make any money for anyone!—was considered an outrageous blight on our political system. Even with that in the news, I doubt you could have got 61 percent of people to declare themselves afraid of government corruption. Of women and the po-lice , I don’t know … | 0 |
By Ryan Banister
Project Hemisphere, a secretive program developed by AT&T, searches trillions of call records in order to analyze cell phone data, spying on the activity of private individuals in order to identify who they are speaking with and why, as well as GPS tracking on the location of each individual connected to the call, and it transmits this information to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
In 2013, Project Hemisphere was shown in a PowerPoint presentation produced by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The New York Times reported this as a partnership between AT&T and the DOJ, primarily deployed for drug-enforcement task-forces. All information collected in this program is accessible to the federal agencies authorized by the DOJ.
AT&T specifically developed and marketed this product for use by the DOJ, who would promise hundreds of millions in funds on behalf of taxpayers, using the taxpayers’ own money to spy on their every move. This is an invasion of privacy without a warrant. This is a federal spy program by proxy, working through corporations.
AT&T promises law enforcement that it will not disclose Project Hemisphere’s involvement in active investigations that are made public. AT&T is is attempting to lower liability for their customer and limit scrutiny to information transmitted to federal agencies through their network.
While it should not be surprising that your cell phone company is working with bureaucrats to collect incriminating evidence on you, there is a staggering number of people who still carelessly use their cell phone as if the information being transmitted through the device will be kept private.
News flash! It’s never been private. They have always wanted to use your information as a product to sell to the highest bidder. Your data is their product, and you are paying them to take it from you.
Video Report:
Source: The Daily Sheeple
Via: Activist Post
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Washington, D.C. 20535-0001
Sir,
I am writing regarding your public statement in July, 2016 informing the American people that the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton was being closed without referring it to a Federal Grand Jury or the Attorney General of the U. S. for a decision whether or not to indict her. Strangely, you eloquently laid out enough of the evidence deduced from the investigation to strongly indicate there was abundant evidence uncovered during the investigation and interview of her to not only indict but to convict her in Federal Court. However, you personally re-worded and soft-pedaled the actions she took as Secretary of State describing her actions as “extremely careless” in using a personal email and un-secured server for her communications while Secretary of State. You rewrote the statute, which is not your job.
As a retired Special Agent of the FBI, I have standing to write this letter. My thirty years in law enforcement, including 22 years as a Special Agent with the FBI have given me the knowledge, expertise and experience to question and confront you for your perplexing actions, which (as you well know) were outside the normal standard operating procedure of the FBI and Federal judicial procedures. Some of the finest people in the world proudly carry the credentials of FBI Agent and you have soiled them and not allowed them to speak. But I will not be silent.
Sorry, but NO SIR, MS Clinton was not merely careless or extremely careless. She was not even negligent or grossly negligent (as the statute requires). Hillary Clinton was knowingly purposeful in her decisions and actions to set up a server under her exclusive control and possession in order to control what information was available to the American public and Congress regarding her actions as Secretary of State. Furthermore, she took those government owned communications into her personal possession after leaving her position and knowingly and willingly attempted to destroy them so her nefarious actions could never be known or used as evidence of her corrupt moral character against her.
Sir, what possessed you? Did you cave in to political pressure to unilaterally come to this decision? I fear that is the case, and Rule of Law be damned. I am embarrassed for and ashamed of you. You have set a precedent that can never be rectified… and certainly not justified. Shame on you, Sir. You ought to resign right now in disgrace for what you have done to tarnish the reputation of the finest Law Enforcement Agency in the world… for entirely political reasons.
Normally, an investigation will be assigned to an agent, or team of agents with one being the Case agent, or the lead investigator. When the investigation is complete, an investigative report will be presented to the U.S. Attorney for the Federal District involved. It would be the U.S. Attorney who decides whether to decline prosecution for that investigation… NOT the FBI agent. But in the Clinton investigation, YOU (unilaterally) decided not to forward the investigation to the U.S. Attorney or the Attorney General of the U.S., but instead personally made the decision not to prosecute her or even provide the information to a Federal Grand Jury. You were wrong to take this upon yourself.
Sir, in order to indict a subject, only a preponderance of evidence, or 51% is needed for probable cause to exist. You did not think even that level of probability existed? Who do you think you are fooling? What judicial proceeding did you think you were following?
Throughout my years with the FBI, I (along with my fellow agents) took great pride in conducting each investigation in an unbiased manner regardless of the subject’s position or standing in the community.
All were treated equally under the law. But you, Sir, decided to allow this corrupt, evil and nasty human being to go free and unchallenged for her treasonous actions (yes, treasonous, in my opinion) which threatened the security of this nation. Furthermore, you stopped short of investigating the Clinton Foundation as a RICO case (Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization. This is a RICO case ifthere ever were one. Even an untrained person can tell from the communications which were recovered that Hillary Clinton spent more time working for the Clinton Foundation while Secretary of State than on State Business. It may be argued that Hillary did not do any State business UNLESS the Clinton Foundation benefitted. You decided to just let this uncomfortable truth alone without addressing it.
I will conclude with this: Following my retirement from the FBI, I volunteered for a 12 month tour of duty in Afghanistan as a Law Enforcement Professional, embedded with U.S. forces as a subject matter expert in counter-terrorism investigations. For most of that year I operated “outside the wire” patrolling with the troops, interviewing witnesses to IED incidents and gathering evidence on the bad guys. The results of my work would then be reported through secure channels to the Commanding Officer. All reports and communications were required to be transmitted via secure and encrypted devices. Occasionally my remote location in the mountains of Afghanistan made transmission impossible and I would have to fly back to Bagram Air Base in order to securely report to the Commander of the battle space. It would have been convenient if I could have just called the Commander on my personal cell phone or written him an email on my personal laptop. But, had I done so I would have been reporting classified information via an unsecured device and it could have been compromised. These were, relative to Secretary of State communications, low level classifications of Secret. Had I ever sent even one in such a manner I would have been prosecuted and sent to Federal Prison for 20 years or so. That is how serious this violation is considered.
Now, because of you, Hillary Clinton is allowed to continue her RICO activities and is running for President of the United States, the most powerful position in the world. You have trampled on the Rule of Law and destroyed the trust of the American people in the FBI and in unbiased enforcement of the law. How do you sleep at night? It is time for you to go and work for the Clinton Foundation.
Sincerely, | 0 |
Wed, Oct 26th, 2016 at 9:02 pm The comment came hours after Trump promised a "new deal for black America.' Share on Twitter Print This Post
After pretending he cared about earning the votes of African Americans, Donald Trump kicked a black man out of a rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, calling him a “thug” while doing so. Protester escorted out of rally. Trump to protester: “Were you paid $1,500 to be a thug? Were you paid? You can get him out.” pic.twitter.com/jukUj4yuBH
— Bryan Anderson (@BryanRAnderson) October 26, 2016
Trump’s insulting and racially tinged rhetoric came hours after he was in Charlotte reaching out to the African-American community and promising a “new deal for black America” if elected president.
The Republican nominee has insulted African-American voters throughout much of the campaign, often calling their communities “hell” and claiming they only live in areas riddled with crime and crumbling schools.
Of course, in true Trump form, he didn’t just use tasteless rhetoric insulting to the African-American community at his rally. He also took a shot at Syrian refugees. Trump in Kinston, NC: “The refugee program would leave us with generations of terrorism, radicalism and extremism inside our shores”
— Ashley Killough (@KilloughCNN) October 26, 2016
If you’re keeping score at home, African Americans who stand up to Trump’s offensive campaign message are “thugs” and Syrian refugees who come to the United States – in most cases women and children simply seeking a better life – are terrorists who will do damage to our country for “generations.”
A man who has such disdain for so many Americans has no business being President of the United States. | 0 |
LANGUAGE WARNING] TMZ Sports released video of Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones’ arrest from earlier this month, and the had some harsh words for his arresting officers. Jones was booked on misdemeanor charges of assault, disorderly conduct and obstructing official business, but picked up another charge of resisting arrest, as well as a felony charge of harassment with a bodily substance for spitting on a jail nurse. In the video from the police car, Jones can be heard telling the officer, “Suck my d***. ” “I hope you die tomorrow,” he later added. Jones continued to berate the cop, calling him a “b****” and “n****. ” He is due back in court February 10. Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent | 1 |
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. Donald Trump’s latest stop on his victory tour was a rally in Des Moines. The event came a day after tapping Iowa’s governor, Terry Branstad, to be ambassador to China. Mr. Trump is facing criticism for lashing out at an Indiana union local president who accused Mr. Trump of lying about saving jobs at the Carrier plant in Indianapolis. _____ 2. Mr. Trump named Andrew Puzder, above, a executive and critic of the minimum wage, as his choice for labor secretary. Democrats are promising a thorough vetting process of the candidates Mr. Trump has nominated for cabinet positions — like that of Scott Pruitt, an ally of the fossil fuel industry, to run the Environmental Protection Agency. Here’s a look at what a Trump administration could do to influence climate change. _____ 3. “This is all uncharted territory. ” That’s the feeling in America’s auto industry, which expects to be reshaped by the Trump administration. A chief concern is Mr. Trump’s threat of tariffs on the millions of vehicles sold in the U. S. each year that were built in Japan, Korea and other countries. _____ 4. John Glenn, above center, who was hailed as a national hero after becoming the first American to orbit Earth, died on Thursday. He was 95. Mr. Glenn also had a career as a U. S. Senator from Ohio. In his final Senate term, he got his wish to return to orbit and, at 77 years old, was the oldest person to go into space. _____ 5. South Korean lawmakers are expected to vote on Friday on a motion to impeach President Park over a corruption scandal. Here are the accusations against her. As the protests against her have grown, Ms. Park has mostly dropped from public view, appearing only to make televised apologies. “My heart is crushed,” she said in one. Most Koreans say Ms. Park brought the disgrace on herself, but in some cities, she is seen as an innocent victim of a scandal. _____ 6. President Hassan Rouhani of Iran has signed a wave of oil deals with Asian and European energy companies in recent weeks. “Our officials are in a rush to sign contracts with big oil companies in order to have leverage when Trump enters the White House,” said an economist with close ties to the government. _____ 7. A watchdog group in Britain said it found hundreds of accusations of police sexual abuse in England and Wales over the two years through the end of March. Among those targeted were victims of domestic abuse, drug and alcohol addicts and people who work in the sex industry. _____ 8. When 36 people died in an inferno at a converted warehouse in Oakland, Calif. last week, we deployed a team of journalists to investigate it and document the stories of a community reeling from the country’s worst structural fire in a decade. Instead of revealing our findings in an article at the end of our reporting, we’ll be telling you what we learn as we learn it. Email us at oaklandfire@nytimes. com if you have suggestions on what we should explore. _____ 9. The world’s tallest land animal is on the verge of extinction. The giraffe population has declined by 40 percent over the past 30 years, according to a new report by an international monitoring group. Illegal hunting and the loss of habitat are being blamed. _____ 10. Finally, we told you yesterday about our film critics’ favorite movies of the year. Now, let’s review the year’s great performers — in movies, at least. Among those featured in our magazine’s newest issue: Emma Stone, Ruth Negga, above, Viola Davis, Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle. “I love the movie magic of no longer seeing an actor — or especially a star — but a person,” said one of our critics. Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help. Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s last night’s briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes. com. | 1 |
WASHINGTON — Republican senators moved Thursday to dismantle landmark internet privacy protections for consumers in the first decisive strike against telecommunications and technology regulations created during the Obama administration, and a harbinger of further deregulation. The measure passed in a vote largely along party lines. The House is expected to mirror the Senate’s action next week, followed by a signature from President Trump. The move means Verizon, Comcast or ATT can continue tracking and sharing people’s browsing and app activity without permission, and it alarmed consumer advocates and Democratic lawmakers. They warned that broadband providers have the widest look into Americans’ online habits, and that without the rules, the companies would have more power to collect data on people and sell sensitive information. “These were the strongest online privacy rules to date, and this vote is a huge step backwards in consumer protection writ large,” said Dallas Harris, a policy fellow for the consumer group Public Knowledge. “The rules asked that when things were sensitive, an internet service provider asked permission first before collecting. That’s not a lot to ask. ” The privacy rules were created in October by the Federal Communications Commission, and the brisk action of Congressional Republicans, just two months into Mr. Trump’s administration, foreshadowed a broader rollback of tech and telecom policies that have drawn the ire of conservative lawmakers and companies like ATT, Verizon and Charter. Republican lawmakers and the new chairman of the F. C. C. Ajit Pai, have said the privacy rules were onerous and unfairly strapped regulations on telecom carriers, but not on web companies such as Facebook and Google that also provide access to online content. “It is unnecessary, confusing and adds another regulation,” Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, said this month when he introduced the resolution to overturn the rules using the Congressional Review Act procedure that lets Congress overrule new agency regulations. The Senate’s vote was a victory for giant telecommunications and cable companies. The F. C. C. chairman under the Obama administration, Tom Wheeler, had declared that broadband would be regulated more heavily, by categorizing the service in the same regulatory bucket as telephone services, which are viewed as utilities. That move acknowledged the importance of the internet for communications, education, work and commerce and the need to protect online users, Mr. Wheeler had said. Under the internet privacy rules that Mr. Wheeler passed, apart from broadband providers having to ask permission to track browsing and other online activities of a user, the companies were also required to use “reasonable measures” to secure consumer data against hackers. The privacy rules were scheduled to go into effect at the end of this year Broadband providers had balked and ramped up lobbying against the rules. Comcast and other broadband providers created the lobbying group 21st Century Privacy Coalition, led by a former Federal Trade Commission chairman, Jon Leibowitz, to defeat the broadband privacy rules. “We appreciate today’s Senate action to repeal unwarranted F. C. C. rules that deny consumers consistent privacy protection online and violate competitive neutrality,” the cable industry lobby group, Internet Television Association, said in a statement on Thursday. With Republicans now in charge across the government, ATT and Comcast are also poised to benefit from further deregulation. Since the presidential election, the companies have pushed the new F. C. C. lawmakers and the White House to roll back net neutrality, the requirement that broadband providers give equal access to all content on the internet, saying the rules hamper their ability to invest in new networks and jobs. The F. C. C. chairman, Mr. Pai, has also talked with Republican allies in Congress about privacy and broadband classification. Mr. Pai has already chipped away at more than a dozen regulations, including aspects of net neutrality and the program, known as Lifeline, that provides subsidies for broadband users in households. Consumer groups warned that internet users would suffer from the changes. The Federal Trade Commission, the consumer protection agency, is barred from overseeing broadband providers, so without the F. C. C. privacy rules, the federal government will be a weaker watchdog over internet privacy, supporters of the regulations said. “Senate Republicans just made it easier for Americans’ sensitive information about their health, finances and families to be used, shared and sold to the highest bidder without their permission,” said Senator Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts. Democrats had taken to the Senate floor on Wednesday and Thursday to warn that without the rules, broadband providers will now have free range to peer into their customers’ lives. A company like ATT or Sprint can tell the time people wake up by when they check the clock on their phone, or see where users go to lunch or whom they visit. By tracking a user’s browsing of medical websites, a carrier can also determine if that person might have an illness. The Senate’s action also signaled a philosophical shift on tech regulation. Lawmakers and Mr. Pai have said regulations should be created only when there is proof of harmful activity. They also argue that the telecom industry competes with internet firms such as Facebook and Google for access to online content, so any rules should also include those companies. Republicans have said the F. T. C. should be the watchdog for all online privacy. But Democratic regulators have said the key difference is that consumers do not have many choices for broadband access, which makes them vulnerable to data collection by internet service providers. “Subscribers have little or no competitive choice as to which provider to use,” said Terrell McSweeny, a Democratic commissioner of the F. T. C. Yet broadband providers “know our identities, and their position gives them the technical capacity to surveil users in ways that others cannot. ” | 1 |
WASHINGTON — For Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, who is Donald J. Trump’s choice for national security adviser, pushing conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton is a family affair: Both he and his son, Michael G. Flynn, have used social media to spread fake news stories linking Mrs. Clinton to underage sex rings and other serious crimes, backed by no evidence. The Twitter habits of both men are attracting renewed attention after a man fired a rifle on Sunday inside Comet Ping Pong, a Washington pizza restaurant that was the subject of false stories during the campaign tying it and the Clinton campaign to a child sex trafficking ring. Well before he joined the Trump campaign, the elder Mr. Flynn, 57, a former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, pushed unsubstantiated claims about Islamic law’s spreading in the United States and about the attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. But in his emergence this year as the angry former general out to help Mr. Trump clean up Washington, Mr. Flynn added wild stories about Hillary Clinton to his stock of unproven tales. Six days before the election, for instance, Mr. Flynn posted on Twitter a fake news story that claimed the police and prosecutors in New York had found evidence linking Mrs. Clinton and much of her senior campaign staff to pedophilia, money laundering, perjury and other felonies. “U decide,” Mr. Flynn wrote in the Twitter message on Nov. 2, though it appeared there was little doubt what he thought. The views Mr. Flynn has aired on social media, including messages that many viewed as crossing the line into Islamophobia, and his willingness to spread fake news stories had already prompted questions about his fitness to be Mr. Trump’s national security adviser. But the gunfire on Sunday was a violent turn in the debate about how fake news is reshaping the United States, and it cast a spotlight on those like Mr. Flynn who actively spread false stories about Mrs. Clinton. The hoax about the child sex trafficking ring began spreading shortly before the election, and the restaurant, its employees and nearby businesses soon found themselves subjected to threats and harassment because of it, despite a complete absence of evidence. Then on Sunday, Edgar M. Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N. C. went to Comet Ping Pong in northwestern Washington armed with a rifle. The police said he told them later that he had gone to the restaurant to “ ” the sex trafficking hoax. Mr. Welch’s violent reaction to the hoax did not appear to faze the younger Mr. Flynn: On Sunday, hours after the gunfire, he went on Twitter to say that until “Pizzagate” was proved false, it remained a story. Michael G. Flynn, 33, is more than just a relative of an incoming senior administration official. In recent years, he has served as the chief of staff to his father, who started a private intelligence and consulting business, the Flynn Intel Group, after being forced to retire from the military in 2014. Throughout the campaign, Michael G. Flynn served as a gatekeeper for his father, and he now appears to have a job with the Trump transition team. Email sent to an address at the Flynn Intel Group returned with an automated response that provided a new email contact for both Flynns, and each had a Trump transition email address that ended with . gov. The main difference in the son’s Twitter feed is that he appears to have shown even less restraint than his father when it comes to spreading conspiracy theories about Mrs. Clinton and her campaign. He used Twitter to spread others’ suggestions that Mrs. Clinton and President Obama were “at the center” of the conflict in Syria and profiting from it and that both would be tried for treason if Mr. Trump was elected. He shared a fake news story that claimed hackers had found video evidence that President Bill Clinton had raped a teenage girl. And in a Twitter message that he deleted after CNN found it in November, he questioned what was wrong with dating websites that were only for white people, saying black Americans have BET, a television network that caters largely to black viewers. Since Sunday’s gunfire at Comet Ping Pong, Michael G. Flynn has also continued to retweet messages that say the news media has sought to normalize pedophilia. His father, in contrast, has kept a lower profile since the election. He has not given interviews — he did not respond to requests for comment on Monday — and he has kept his Twitter postings relatively tame, publishing patriotic messages on Veterans Day and more recently praising Mr. Trump’s selection of Gen. James N. Mattis, a retired Marine, as defense secretary. His role as national security adviser calls for mediating the conflicting views of cabinet secretaries and agencies, and sifting fact from speculation and rumor to help the new president decide how the United States should react to international crises. It is a role that is likely to take on outsize importance for Mr. Trump, who has no experience in defense or foreign policy issues and has a habit of making broad assertions that are not based in fact. Mr. Flynn, though, has shown similar inclinations both on Twitter and in regular life. His sometimes dubious assertions became so familiar to subordinates at the Defense Intelligence Agency that they came up with a name for the phenomenon: They called them “Flynn facts. ” | 1 |
Marcus A Degenhart , mother Margaret ann Roth , kansas and didnt even put me on the family tree Janet Mary Degenhart(Reichert) my mother | 0 |
Donald J. Trump redrew the electoral map with his rousing economic nationalism and evocation of a lost industrial age. It was a message that drew many union members to his cause. And now it is upending the alliances and tactics of the labor movement itself. In early November, workers at the Momentive chemical plant in upstate New York went on strike to beat back pension and health care concessions. By January, the workers were invoking some of Mr. Trump’s populist campaign themes — but with a twist. They planned to picket outside the Manhattan home of the billionaire Stephen A. Schwarzman, whose private equity firm until recently owned a share of the company, and whom Mr. Trump has appointed as an outside adviser on jobs. “We used that angle — he’s one of the richest men in the country, has been appointed by Mr. Trump as the jobs czar,” said Darryl Houshower, vice president of the local. “We were pressuring him, hoping he would put some pressure on the company. ” Whatever happened behind the scenes, they got the result they wanted. The day before the protest was originally planned this month, the company backed off a number of key demands. The workers ratified a new contract several days later. The episode is just one sign of the sudden shifts buffeting the labor movement. Some unions, even if traditionally Democratic, have aims that align with Mr. Trump’s stated priorities: building infrastructure, rewriting trade agreements, blocking an exodus of jobs. But union leaders are in many cases scrambling to get in step with members who responded to his rhetoric — and to tap into that energy. The dynamic was on display earlier this week, when some employees at Boeing’s South Carolina facilities, which Mr. Trump visited Friday, spoke of a rising feeling of empowerment tied to the president’s posture and cited it as a factor in their vote for a union. (The union vote failed.) At Momentive, Mr. Houshower’s local is affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, one of the unions most outspoken in calling Mr. Trump to account since the election. But while he voted for Hillary Clinton, he estimates that some 30 percent to 40 percent of his more than 600 members voted for Mr. Trump. “I think some of the things the president was saying during his campaign, you know, looking to make better jobs in America, bring work back to America, kind of pulled on the strings of the average worker,” Mr. Houshower said. “A lot of guys felt that he was the man to do the job. ” Such sentiments help explain why Mr. Trump came as close among voters from union households as any Republican presidential candidate since 1984. And they are the basis for an approach espoused by his top political adviser, Stephen K. Bannon, who has mused about a tectonic political shift that would rearrange traditional partisan allegiances around economic interests. Surely no small benefit of that realignment would be to divide organized labor, a key Democratic constituency, and the White House has been shrewd about capitalizing on workers’ sentiment. Mr. Trump summoned the heads of the building and construction trade unions, most of which supported Mrs. Clinton, to discuss infrastructure spending three days after his inauguration. “It was a substantial meeting about good jobs,” said Terry O’Sullivan, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, adding that Mr. Trump was the first president to invite him to the Oval Office. Some of Mr. Trump’s other early moves, like his presidential memorandums giving the to the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines and killing the Partnership trade agreement, and his announcement that he would quickly seek to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, were clearly conceived with a similar objective. They appear to have had the desired effect. Dennis Williams, head of the United Auto Workers union, which endorsed Mrs. Clinton, has professed eagerness to meet with Mr. Trump to discuss how they might undo Nafta and protect American jobs. “He’s the first president that has addressed this issue, and I’m going to give him kudos for that,” Mr. Williams said at a discussion with reporters in Detroit on Thursday. Other unions may also have reason to do business with the White House. Consider the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which also endorsed Mrs. Clinton. Some portion of the union, namely its freight railroad workers, is heavily dependent on coal, and union officials say members in that sector voted heavily for Mr. Trump because he refused to foreclose on its role in the national economy. In response, progressives have groused that some unions are willing to sell their souls for a few thousand jobs. They say that members who enthuse about the president’s ostensible victories for workers, like his efforts to block the manufacturer Carrier from sending jobs to Mexico from Indiana, are utterly blinkered. “ economics dressed in populist garb is still economics,” wrote Robert B. Reich, labor secretary under President Bill Clinton. All in all, it is precisely the backlash that must delight the current occupants of the West Wing. Still, some labor leaders insist that they will not be so easily divided. “I would not be surprised if Steve Bannon and others would be overtly and covertly trying to divide the labor movement,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. But she predicted that the effort would ultimately collapse under its own contradictions. The week after Mr. Trump met with the construction trades unions about infrastructure, his press secretary, Sean Spicer, told reporters that “the president believes in right to work,” which would allow workers to opt out of paying union dues or fees. A national law would thrill congressional Republicans but provoke opposition from labor. So would a bill recently introduced by Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, that would suspend the Act, which requires the government to pay construction contractors prevailing local wages, specifically on federal highway projects. For that matter, Mr. Trump’s own coalition is hardly a model of cohesion. His first nominee to be labor secretary, the executive Andrew Puzder, won plaudits in the corporate world with his views. But he faced criticism on the right over his openness to immigration. Combined with relentless opposition from the labor movement, his nomination proved untenable. It remains to be seen how a new nominee, R. Alexander Acosta, will weather similar scrutiny. Some unions that have opposed Mr. Trump are finding occasions to thread the needle — like the Communications Workers of America, the union involved in the Momentive strike and a onetime backer of Senator Bernie Sanders’s progressive presidential campaign. It repeatedly denounced Mr. Puzder’s nomination, but in a continuing dispute with ATT Wireless, it has echoed Mr. Trump’s call not to ship jobs overseas. Unions in the public and service sectors, on the other hand, lack economic interests that would provide common ground with the new administration, and their membership is increasingly urban, and Hispanic — easily alienated by Mr. Trump’s pronouncements on race and immigration. The Service Employees International Union, a leading force, has taken a largely oppositional stand. Many union leaders are at a loss to explain how Richard L. Trumka, the head of the A. F. L. . I. O. the nation’s labor federation, will navigate these crosscurrents in the coming months. Mr. Trumka’s answer for the moment is to proceed gingerly. In an interview, he said that he had a productive meeting with Mr. Trump during the transition, and that the president deserved praise for killing the Partnership trade deal. But he has vigorously protested other policies, like Mr. Trump’s immigration restrictions. “We’re going to call balls and strikes,” he said. | 1 |
PARIS (AFP) — France on Saturday expelled controversial Swiss Islamist preacher Hani Ramadan who posed “a serious threat to public order” the interior ministry said. [Ramadan, whose brother is the intellectual Tariq Ramadan and whose grandfather founded Egypt’s radical Muslim Brotherhood, was arrested in Colmar, eastern France, while attending a conference. He was “known in the past to have adopted behaviour and made remarks which pose a serious threat on French soil,” the ministry said in a statement. “The interior ministry and the forces of law and order are fully mobilised and will continue to fight ceaselessly against extremism and radicalisation,” Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said in the statement. In 2002 Hani Ramadan was sacked from his teaching post in Switzerland after writing an article in French newspaper Le Monde in support of the stoning of adulterers and suggesting that AIDS was a divine punishment. Six years later he won 345, 000 Swiss francs (just over 200, 000 euros) compensation over the sacking. Ramadan’s brother Tariq is banned from entering the United States. | 1 |
Q. I know it’s not good to eat close to bedtime, but I get hungry. What are the least harmful things I can eat — or drink — say, an hour or two before going to bed? A. It’s hard to resist cravings, but try to limit your bedtime nosh to 100 or 200 calories, 300 calories tops, said Isabel Maples, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and choose items that may be lacking in your diet, like fruits and vegetables, dairy foods, whole grains or nuts, “to really make those calories count. ” (Seafood and beans are other good options, but not particularly appealing before bed.) Keep in mind that snacking contributes to weight gain, and studies have found that nearly of the calories we eat come from snacks. A banana, apple or other fresh fruit, a small portion of cottage cheese or plain yogurt with sliced fruit, or oatmeal or some other cereal with skim milk were frequent suggestions made by experts interviewed for this article. Other suggestions included raw veggie sticks, a couple of whole grain crackers with a small slice of cheese, a handful of almonds or other nuts, or celery sticks spread with a tablespoon or two of peanut butter or almond butter (measure the nuts and butters — don’t eat them straight out of the container). Combining carbohydrates with protein produces a filling, sating feeling, even from a small snack, Ms. Maples said. If you’re in the mood for something salty and crunchy, popcorn may fit the bill, suggested Laura Smith, a product manager for Weight Watchers. It’s important to note that many people become hungry at night because “they eat too little during the day, and then by the time they get home, they can’t stop, because they have built up a huge reservoir of starving inside,” said Susan B. Roberts, a senior scientist and professor at the U. S. D. A. Nutrition Center at Tufts University, and founder of the online iDiet weight management program. For others, she said, snacking before bed may just be a bad habit. Also ask yourself: Are you really hungry? People often mistake thirst for hunger. Try drinking more throughout the day, and having more water or carbonated water with dinner. Before bed, try a glass of milk, hot or cold, noncaffeinated tea or, best of all, plain old water. “Drinking water is clearly the least harmful item to have before bed,” said Barry Popkin, a professor at the U. N. C. Gillings School of Global Public Health. Do you have a health question? Submit your question to Ask Well. | 1 |
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The White house is refusing to deny the rumors that President Obama claimed he will relocate to Canada if Donald Trump is elected as his successor in November.
The rumor began when Canadian satire website The Burred Street Journal ran a fictional story titled “Obama Declares His Family Will Move To Canada If Trump Is Elected.”
The story was complete with a fake statement from Obama which read, “It’s something Michelle, the kids and I have discussed as a potential solution to the Donald. I have also spoken with Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau who outlined Canada’s generous immigration policy for wealthy individuals, so we’ll see.”
The story was immediately picked up by American newsrooms, who ran it with headlines like “Obama Just Said He’s Moving If Trump Is Elected, Sounds Good To Us!”
When asked about the rumors, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest would not say outright that Obama is not considering a move to Canada should the American people elect Trump.
“He’s working very hard to make sure that nobody has to leave the country as a result of an electoral outcome that the president doesn’t support,” said Earnest, according to MRC Blog .
While this all originated as a rumor, the White House’s decision not to categorically deny the reports had any validity only makes it appear as though Obama may actually consider moving out of the country if Trump is elected.
Do you think Obama would ever leave the US? Leave your thoughts in the comments section! | 0 |
More people are leaving the New York metropolitan area than any other metropolitan area in the U. S. according to U. S. Census data. [More than one million people moved out of the New York area to another region since 2010, the New York Post reported. The number of people leaving the area, which includes parts of New Jersey, Connecticut, the lower Hudson Valley, and Long Island, increased from 187, 034 in 2015 to 223, 423 in 2016. The number of international immigrants, on the other hand, decreased from 181, 551 to 160, 324 over the same period, records show. Experts say people are leaving the area due to the improving economy, an increase in jobs in cheaper places to live, and because retirees are seeking warmer climates. “The historical trend is that out migration grows when economy is getting better,” said Empire Center for Public Policy research director E. J. McMahon. “As the economy gets better there are more jobs outside the region and by the same token . . . more people to buy your house if you’re a baby boomer looking to move to Boca Raton or Myrtle Beach. ” Americans who choose to relocate are increasingly moving to Florida, Texas, and the Northwest from the Rust Belt and the eastern U. S. Even though people are fleeing the New York area, the region remains the most populous area in the country with a whopping 23. 7 million residents. The population of the New York region actually grew 2. 7 percent from 2010 to 2016 due to foreign arrivals and births, records show. Records from July 2016 show that New York City is on track to have 8. 6 million people by 2020, an increase from the current population of 8. 5 million. People may be fleeing the area, but the state of Illinois has lost more residents than any other state for three years in a row, Breitbart News reported in December. | 1 |
A tribal leader is threatening protests if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) begins construction of President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall. [During a meeting of Native American tribal leaders, the Tohono O’odham Nation’s Vice Chairman Verlon Jose threatened protests similar to those known as ‘Standing Rock,’ where environmentalists protested the Dakota Access Pipeline, if Trump’s wall is built, according to AZ Central: Before the day was over and the guests left the remote desert mission on tribal lands, Jose would bash Trump’s proposed wall, calling it a waste of taxpayer dollars and comparing it to the Berlin Wall. He would call on people to see the barrier as an international issue, offer an alternative plan for tightening border security, and acknowledge that innocent tribal members are subjected to increased vehicle searches by Border Patrol agents. He also warned of a mass protest on the border if diplomacy fails to keep the U. S. government off Tohono O’odham land, a protest that he said would rival Standing Rock. Jose is threatening the protests because his tribe sits on more than 2 million acres across a southern Arizona desert that crosses through Mexico, across the U. S. Border. Besides gathering to threaten a protest against the construction of the border wall, the meeting of tribal leaders also included a chant demanding a “sanctuary for all. ” “They chanted a message printed on for the trek: No Deportations, No Ban, No Wall, Sanctuary for All,” the AZ Central noted. Despite between the Trump Administration and Congress, DHS Secretary John Kelly said the construction of the border wall would “move forward,” Breitbart Texas reported. John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder. This article has been updated to reflect text formatting that was not immediately visible at the time of publication. | 1 |
Russia and Greece plan to circumvent sanctions, launch joint projects November 4, 2016 - Fort Russ News - PolitRussia - translated by J. Arnoldski - During Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Greece, the development of plans for bypassing the anti-Russian sanctions was discussed. This has been reported by Izvestiya newspaper with references to a source in foreign policy circles. During the meeting, Russia and Greece recognized the negative consequences of the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the EU and the responsive embargo. “Greece, which supplies a large portion of agricultural products in Russia, has suffered more than many of its EU colleagues. According to data from Russia’s Federal Customs Service, in 2014 trade turnover decreased by 39.2% and in 2015 by 34%. However, Russia and Greece are searching for a solution to this problem. A source in Russian foreign policy circles has told Izvestiya that Moscow proposed Athens to circumvent the sanctions through the creation of joint ventures in the framework of the Russian-Greek Commission on Economic, Industrial, and Scientific-Technical Cooperation,” the article reads. According to the source, Russia cannot make exceptions for a single country, therefore it has proposed “combined production.” “In the near future, we expect a response from the Greek side on this matter. This question was raised at the talks in Athens,” the source remarked. Follow us on Facebook! | 0 |
Hacked Podesta Email Reveals Clinton Foundation "Coercing" Saudi Billionaire For Millions Of Dollars
Just c all it the Sheikh shake down...
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In one of the more prominent early Podesta email revelations , we learned that Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-'Amoudi , a Saudi Arabian and Ethiopian billionaire businessman, whose net worth was estimated by Forbes at $8.3 billion as of 2016, was one of the very generous donors to the Clinton Foundation... up to a point.
As a November 2011 email from Ira Magaziner, Vice Chairman and CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, sent to John Podesta and Amitabh Desai, Director of Foreign Policy at the Clinton Foundation, revealed, the "CHAI [Clinton Health Access Initiative] would like to request that President Clinton call Sheik Mohammed to thank him for offering his plane to the conference in Ethiopia and expressing regrets that President Clinton's schedule does not permit him to attend the conference."
To this, the response by Desai was a simple one: " Unless Sheikh Mo has sent us a $6 million check, this sounds crazy to do. "
At this point, Doug Band, Bill Clinton's former chief advisor and current president of the infamous Teneo Holding Doug Band, chimed in that it probably is a good idea: "If he doesn't do it Chai will say he didn't give the money bc of wjc" an assessment which John Podesta agreed with: "this seems rather easy and harmless and not a big time sink."
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To be sure, this exchange suggested that a substantial amount of cash had or was about to be exchanged between the Clinton Foundation and the Saudi "Sheikh Mo", as shown in the photo below.
However, the details were missing: the original email from Ira Magaziner referenced a specific briefing memo which contained in it the talking points updaing on the relationship between the Clinton Foundation and The Saudi billionaire:
Now, courtesy of today's latest Podesta email release, we have access to the missing memo .
The leaked memo lays out the facts on the Clinton Foundation trying to collect on Sheik Mohammed’s overdue donor commitment to CHAI. Notably, the memo gives the inference of the Sheik being shaken down by the Foundation in that the Foundation was demanding an immediate $6 million payment in return for WJC attending the 2011 International Conference on AIDS and STIs (ICASA) event. Additionally the Foundation apparently enlisted the assistance of the US Ambassador to Ethiopia to obtain payments from the Sheik.
The memo initially lays out Bill Clinton's history with the Sheik:
In the first bullet point we find what the initial "bid" and "ask" would be between WJC/CF and the Saudi billionaire: $2 million for every year that Bill Clinton visit Ethiopia. This, however, was subsequently changed to an greement whereby the Saudi would give $2 million per year but without any reference to visiting Ethiopia:
Sheik Mohammed approached CHAI in 2006 shortly after we opened an office in Addis Ababa. He proposed that he would give $2 million to CHAI every year that YOU visited Ethiopia . We eventually negotiated an Agreement with his Washington attorney, George Salem, in which he agreed to fund CHAI at a rate of $2 million per year for 10 years . They rejected any proposals to put a payment schedule in the agreement, but dropped any reference tying the donation to YOU visiting Ethiopia .
The next bullet lays out the initial fund transfer of $2 million in London, as well as the broad terms of the agreement whose "requirement is that the money be spent within Ethiopia." Amusingly, the memo then notes that during negotiations the Saudi delegation "rejected our proposal that some of the money could be used for global overhead. "
The Agreement was officially signed at a meeting in London in May 2007 by the Sheik and Bruce, after which the Sheik presented you with a a check for $2 million for the 2007 payment. The Agreement is very general and does not require any specific proposals from CHAI for how the money will be spent or any reporting. The only requirement is that the money be spent within Ethiopia. During negotiations they rejected our proposal that some of the money could be used for global overhead.
We then learn that more cash transfers took place in the coming years, despite the Sheik having "cash flow problems" which resulted in a bulk payment of $4 million in 2010 for missed payments in 2008 and 2009.
Through 2008 and early 2009, we were told the Sheik was having some cash flow problems and that he was delaying payments for many commercial and philanthropic commitments he had in Ethiopia. In January 2010 at a Foundation donors meeting in Harlem, Ambassador Irvin Hicks, one of the Sheik’s representatives in the U.S. and a former Ethiopian ambassador appointed by YOU presented to YOU a check for $4 million representing payment for 2008 and 2009.
The memo then tells WJC just why the relationship was created in the first place: "The Sheik’s contribution supports most of CHAI’s activities in Ethiopia, one of its most important and successful country programs."
A section then follow which reminds Bill Clinton just who Sheikh Mohammed is, and that the two had spent time together in his "private suite at a nightclub attached to the Sheraton" in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:
YOU first met the Sheik in July 2006 during a visit to Addis. He visited your suite in the Sheraton Hotel, which he owns, for coffee and then after dinner YOU dropped into his private suite at a nightclub attached to the Sheraton. He had invited YOU there especially because he thought you would enjoy the saxophone player . You chatted with the Sheik and played the saxophone with the band. Shortly after this visit negotiations began in earnest regarding the $20 million commitment the Sheik has made to CHAI.
YOU met the Sheik in London in May, 2007, at which time the Agreement was signed and the first $2 million check was received.
YOU stayed at the Sheraton in July 2008 during your last Ethiopia visit, but the Sheik was not in Ethiopia at the time. The Sheik donated the rooms and meals for the large party during an extended four-day visit, two days longer than originally planned because of aircraft problems .
Where things get interesting is in the memo's discussion of the current (as of November 2011) situation, in which we learn that once again the Saudi billionaire was behind on his payments due to the current economic downturn:
Once again, we are told that the current economic down turn has caused the Sheik to delay payments for several commitments. CHAI has not received the 2010 or 2011 payments . We have contacted both George Salem, the lawyer, and Ambassador Hicks regarding payment. Both say that the Sheik will make the payment but they have not been able to pinpoint an exact date.
Recent complications did not make matters any easier, although the Sheikh had enough cash to provide Bill with a plane to attend the upcoming African AIDS conference:
In the past two months the effort to collect the payments for 2010-2011 has become complicated by factors surrounding ICASA, the biennial large African AIDS conference that will be held in Ethiopia the first week of December. The previous two ICASA conference in Nigeria and Senegal were beset by logistical and financial problems and Prime Minister Meles and Minister of Health Tedros have worked hard to make the Ethiopia ICASA the most successful ever. They have enlisted Sheik Mohammed to help and he has donated the venue and paid for an additional $8-10 million of expenses.
Minister Tedros invited YOU to participate in ICASA, and apparently he or someone else connected with ICASA asked the Sheik if he would provide a plane to bring YOU to Ethiopia for the event. The Sheik agreed to provide a plane, and instructed Ambassador Hicks to tell CHAI one would be available.
Where things get hot, and where the Clinton Foundation is accused of "coercion" by the Sheik's Washington attorney George Salem, is in the negotiation over whether Clinton should come to Ethiopia without having been wired the funds up front, or if he should assume that the billionaire is "good for the money" and just fly out there on good will.
When George Salem spoke with the Sheik about the payment, he was told by the Sheik to make sure YOU knew that the Sheik would very much like for you to attend ICASA and that he would provide transportation. In response, Bruce told George that if the Sheik would wire $6 million to the Foundation for 2010-2012 that he would make sure YOU attended ICASA. After Bruce’s stroke, George told Ed Wood of CHAI that the Sheik said he did not like “ coercion ” and that we should know that he was “ good for the money .” George reiterated that the money would be paid, but could not give a date.
The Sheik seems to feel that we asked him for transportation and then decided not to use it. George and Ambassador Hicks have been told that the request for transportation did not originate with us, but we are not sure that the message reached the Sheik.
Ultimately the negotiations for Clinton flying to Ethiopia stalled, and appear to have fallen apart, leading to the original quote from the Clinton Foundation's Amitabh Desai in which he said, as we noted earlier this month, that " Unless Sheikh Mo has sent us a $6 million check, this sounds crazy to do. " As a result, the memo gives WJC the following action point:
George Salem, Ambassador Hicks, and CHAI feel that it would be helpful if you would call the Sheik and thank him for offering the plane and saying you are sorry you can’t attend ICASA. We don’t think it is necessary for YOU to bring up the payment issue directly.
The memo concludes with the following talking points: YOU should thank the Sheik for his support of all our efforts in Ethiopia, and especially for offering to provide a plane to bring you to the ICASA meeting. YOU should express your regrets that you were not able to arrange your schedule to attend the ICASA meeting since you know how important it is to Ethiopia and to the Sheik. You should express your appreciation that he has helped make this event possible during a difficult time for the international AIDS effort. YOU should say you hope to be able to visit with the Sheik again soon either in Ethiopia or elsewhere.
* * *
This memo provides valuable insight into just how the "charitable" Clinton Foundation truly operated: absent being made whole on millions of dollars in payments - by a donor who had already provided it with $6 million in the past - the "so very concerned" about AIDS and African welfare Foundation, would not even bother to fly Bill Clinton for a 1-2 day trip - on someone else's dime - to something as simple, yet noble, as a healthcare conference: precisely what the Foundation, and Bill Clinton's presence, is supposed to represent and support.
It also shows that when the Foundation found itself in arrears to a prominent donor, it first and only concern was how to get paid; all else - up to and including doing the absolute minimum such as appearing for a good cause, was secondary and - as the memo documents - ultimately irrelevant unless Clinton and the CF were both generously compensated for their efforts.
And that, in a nutshell is what the "generous and charitable" Clinton foundation was all about: make sure to get the money, the rest simply did not matter. | 0 |
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Clown-phobia has reached its boiling point.
Fueled by a media frenzy, the American people Americans are now more afraid of “clowns” than climate change.
The poll shows that America’s top fears now include being attacked by clowns.
And nitwits who are hell-bent on terrorizing people know that.
This is where our story turns to 20-year-old Sadiq Mohammad. He thought it would be hilarious to dress up as a clown and scare people, film it and post it on his YouTube page, which has been viewed over 6.7 million times. “People love comedy,” Mohammad said.”
Well, not everyone.
Because at least one of his “victims” was having none of it.
The Stockton, California, resident was pranking people all day on Monday … he had a run-in with some folks at a Taco Bell drive-through, ran after a kid playing basketball and chased some men carrying a saw.
Hilarious, right?
For his next prank, he hid behind a bush … a man was walking down the sidewalk, minding his own business.
When Mohammad jumped out, well … you’ve got to see it:
WMC Action News 5 – Memphis, Tennessee
The man hit him with his gun.
“When that thing hit me, I was literally like oh dang, it’s a prank it’s a joke, it’s a camera right there,” Sadiq said, telling a reporter he was almost afraid to run.
“Yeah. I seen the gun and if I didn’t tell him it was a prank if I wouldn’t have run I felt like he would have shot me.”
Sacramento attorney Kresta Daly says people have self-defense rights, WMCActionNews5.com is reporting .
“So, a person has the right to defend themselves using reasonable force,” she said. “It’s probably not reasonable to pull a gun.”
That’s because in the video the man starts telling him the prank is not funny and then pulls out his gun.
“By the time the clown is saying it’s a prank and you know, trying to get away and visibly being very scared, the threat has ended and the right to self-defense ends when the threat ends,” she said.
Sadiq and his camera man took off running and never looked back.
What is the lesson learned?
“Lesson learned is like people don’t play with the clown stuff,” he said. “Like, people really will shoot anybody.”
This lucky clown is now hanging up his costume for good. | 0 |
SO DECEITFUL! According to #PodestaEmails20, Hillary hid her email scandal from her OWN TEAM Posted at 11:58 am on October 27, 2016 by Sam J.
Hillary is so dishonest she didn’t even tell her own team about the email scandal, she hid it from them. Now if she did nothing wrong, why the heck would she not just tell them about it?
Inquiring minds wanna know.
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 27, 2016
What sort of evil person can ask so many to work for her and then set them up by not giving them the full picture. Trending | 0 |
November 8, 2016 Trump Supporter Pulls Gun On Black Man At Polling Station For Refusing To Vote Trump, Gets Arrested Google Pinterest Digg Linkedin Reddit Stumbleupon Print Delicious Pocket Tumblr
We knew it was going to happen, and honestly, it could have been a lot worse. Still, it’s shocking that this is what our elections have come to.
A Trump supporter picked a fight with a voter at a Palm Beach polling place over his choice of candidate. The crazed right-winger ended up pulling a gun on the African American man who was simply trying to cast his vote.
According to the victim , Tobian Norris, he was on his way to vote when he ran into a Trump supporter intent on causing trouble.
“I saw this guy, he was basically soliciting votes for Donald Trump and he decided he wanted to solicit me,” Norris said.
He says he made it clear that there was no way he would ever consider voting for Trump. After a brief discussion about Trump and his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Norris finally asked the Trump supporter if he had graduated high school and all hell broke loose. The man lunged at Norris, attacking him and knocking the phone he had been using to film the incident to the ground.
“He grabbed my hand and knocked the phone out of my hand and called me the n-word, and I just blacked out and hit him in the ribs, and he pulled a gun on me,” Norris recalled.
When Norris defended himself, punching the assailant in the ribs, the crazed man did what any good Trump supporter would do: He pulled out a gun.
The victim ran and was thankfully unharmed. This could have ended so much worse. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies arrived and arrested the gun toting Trump follower.
Norris recorded the entire exchange and posted it live on Facebook. You can watch the video below:
Featured image via video screen capture Share this Article! | 0 |
The media doesn’t even try to hide its shameless pro-Socialist bias these days. Since nobody really pays attention to them anymore, you might have missed some of the more entertaining butthurt spouted by shameless propagandists posing as journalists.
2016 election night coverage on the propaganda news channels is a lesson in hilarity when examining the reaction of lamestream media talking heads. What is most entertaining about Trump’s ascendancy to the Oval Office is that it was totally unexpected, catching cocksure Marxists at CNN and other alphabet channels completely off guard.
Let’s go over some of the more entertaining reactions last Tuesday.
5. Hillary Shill Martha Raddatz Breaks Down In Tears
Over at ABC, the wrinkled old Hillary shill Martha Raddatz was at a loss for words as she attempted to perform an off the cuff hamster rationalization to fellow Clinton operative George Staphylococcus, explaining why The Bitch lost the election.
Raddatz looked like her mother just died as victory turned into defeat for the criminal Hillary Clinton. She’s sure to be moving from a pack of smokes a day to two packs a day as the reality of the election continues to settle into her pea brain over the next 4 years. Her tears say more than her boilerplate language ever could.
4. Bernstein Plays The Race Card
To the mainstream media, white people voting in accordance with their own self-interest is racist. In fact, white people acting in any other manner than total subservience is racist to CNN. Washington Post “journalist” Carl Bernstein even went so far as to say Trump’s election is “tragic and dangerous” as despondent and quite possibly drugged CNN propagandists looked on. Bernstein seemed most upset about Trump’s immigration policy proposals, in which Mexico will no longer be able to flagrantly let its citizens violate U.S. immigration law.
Bernstein completely forgot the racism white people have endured all year long at the hands of Black Lives Matter, La Raza and other black and brown supremacist groups.
3. Chris Matthews Goes Into Hamster Rationalization Mode
Hamster rationalizations are usually reserved for women, but effeminate, low-T manlets like Chris Matthews also have them. His first spin of the hamster wheel makes him say Hillary won the debates. She didn’t. Then he says she had the best ad campaign. Nobody believes advertising or anything you say, anymore Chris. Then Matthews says she had the best ground game. She might have, but she was a terrible candidate. The half-man, half-alligator James Carville looked ready to give Chris a hug as the reality of Hillary’s defeat began to settle in on MSNBC.
2. The Racist Van Jones Whines About White People
Van Jones looked like he needed a change of underwear as he fell back on tired, old leftist talking points from the 1960s about the evil white male —especially white males that haven’t been turned into geldings. He then goes on with an emotional overreaction to say families will be afraid to have breakfast the next day because whitey got back into office. LMFAO. Really, dude?
He then says immigrants are afraid now that Trump is going to be President. No Van, immigrants aren’t afraid. Illegal hordes who figuratively if not literally say “Fuck you!” to U.S. immigration law are afraid, as they should be.
Jones then goes on to make a supremely ironic quote as he talks about a so-called white-lash: He says Trump’s campaign was based on “Throwing away some of us to appeal more deeply to others.” Umm, isn’t that what the entire platform of the Democratic party is, Van? Throwing away, nay, crucifying white men to appeal more deeply to others ? Your entire career is based on just that, Mr. Jones.
1. CBS Does A Mea Culpa CBS published an article admitting how badly the press is biased
CBS was so stunned it did a full mea culpa on the network’s shoddy coverage of the 2016 election. This stunning article entitled “The Unbearable Smugness of the Press” needed to be written 10 years ago. Better late than never. CBS actually echoed what we in the manosphere and alt-right have been saying since day one with the Op-Ed piece.
This is all symptomatic of modern journalism’s great moral and intellectual failing: its unbearable smugness . Had Hillary Clinton won, there’d be a winking “we did it” feeling in the press, a sense that we were brave and called Trump a liar and saved the republic.
The Eyeball network even admitted the contempt the network has for men like us.
So much for that. The audience for our glib analysis and contempt for much of the electorate, it turned out, was rather limited. This was particularly true when it came to voters, the ones who turned out by the millions to deliver not only a rebuke to the political system but also the people who cover it. Trump knew what he was doing when he invited his crowds to jeer and hiss the reporters covering him. They hate us, and have for some time.
And can you blame them? Journalists love mocking Trump supporters. We insult their appearances. We dismiss them as racists and sexists. We emote on Twitter about how this or that comment or policy makes us feel one way or the other, and yet we reject their feelings as invalid.
Damn. At least some people over there know why we hate them. (That includes this former mainstream media news anchor who defected!)
Shameless Activism Got Marxism? It’s the guiding philosophy of the alphabet channels
Anyone who has the capacity to perform an iota of critical thinking knows the mainstream media is NOT on the side of the average American. It hates and seethes at traditionalists and works to tear down every institution of Western civilization while attempting to impale the most hated of creatures on this planet, the Evil White Male.
The rebuke of a sorry candidate like Hillary when the socialist shills thought she was a shoe-in caught the smug son of a bitches off guard. Their reactions are priceless, and need to be documented and remembered. These reactions are undeniable proof that blogs like Return Of Kings and web sites like Breitbart and Drudge are sorely needed, indispensable resources in this day and age.
We have not been getting the truth from media for generations. And now, as alternative voices appear, the rift between the two versions of reality grows wider and deeper. The once mainstream media have become nothing but shameless activists for New World Order socialism. The election night “horror show” only solidifies this point.
We should be proud to be activists pushing our own agenda, if nothing else to balance the scales. The media are NOT friends of the American public. Ultimately, the tired old Socialist media must be dismantled in order for freedom and traditionalism to survive .
Read More: Did The Anti-Donald Trump Riot In Chicago Help Trump Cruise To Victory On Tuesday?
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Claire Bernish
Censorship by Facebook has become a thorn in the side of nearly anyone with an opinion differing from the narrative touted by the corporate press — for instance, sentiments not praising Hillary Clinton — and now, through both a new report from Reuters and emails published by Wikileaks, we have insight into why certain posts are targeted.
Facebook relies on a combination of artificial intelligence and human judgment to remove posts deemed offensive, violent, or otherwise unacceptable to its community standards — but precisely how the ultimate call to take down posts, pages, and groups are made remains unknown.
And Facebook takedowns, no matter the improvements to the process the social media behemoth claims to make, have been no less controversial or questionable — and those whose posts are censored have little if any recourse to argue their case.
Recent examples of head-scratchers which led to an international uproar, include Facebook’s removal of the iconic Vietnam War photograph of Phan Thị Kim Phúc — who, at just 9-years-old, was captured on film by an Associated Press photographer fleeing the aftermath of an errant napalm attack near a Buddhist pagoda in the village of Trang Bang.
That photograph helped cement in the collective American mind the horrors of the war, and ultimately fueled the success of the anti-war effort — but Facebook arbitrarily pulled the image for nudity — and proceeded even to ban the page of the Conservative prime minister of Norway for also posting the image.
Ultimately, the social media company reversed course in that case — but not before also taking down the equally iconic image of civil rights leader Rosa Park’s arrest.
But taking down of the image of Kim Phúc might not have been simply an error of AI, since it had been used as a specific example in training the teams responsible for content removal, two unnamed former Facebook employees told Reuters .
“Trainers told content-monitoring staffers that the photo violated Facebook policy, despite its historical significance, because it depicted a naked child, in distress, photographed without her consent, the employees told Reuters.”
In the final decision to reverse that censorship, Facebook head of the community operations division, Justin Osofsky, admitted it had been a “mistake.”
According to Reuters , to whom many current and former Facebook employees spoke on condition of anonymity, the process of judging which posts deserve to be remove and which should be allowed will, in certain instances, be left to the discretion of a small cadre of the company’s elite executives.
In addition to Osofsky, Global Policy Chief Monika Bickert; government relations chief, Joel Kaplan; vice president for public policy and communications, Elliot Schrage; and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg make the final call on censorship and appeals.
“All five studied at Harvard, and four of them have both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the elite institution. All but Sandberg hold law degrees. Three of the executives have longstanding personal ties to Sandberg,” the outlet notes. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg also occasionally offers guidance in difficult decisions. But there are others.
Company spokeswoman Christine Chen explained, “Facebook has a broad, diverse and global network involved in content policy and enforcement, with different managers and senior executives being pulled in depending on the region and the issue at hand.”
For those on the receiving end of what could only be described as lopsided and inexplicable censorship, recourse is generally limited and can be nearly impossible to come by. Often, the nature of posts and pages removed insinuates political motivations on the part of the censors.
Indeed, and once again flaring international controversy, Facebook disabled , among others, the accounts of editors of Quds and Shehab New Agency — prominent Palestinian media organizations — without explanation or even a specific example given for justification.
Although three of four Palestinian-focused accounts were restored, Facebook refused to comment to either Reuters or the accounts’ owners why the decision was reversed, except to say it had been an ‘error.’
In fact, although Chen and other Facebook insiders spoke with Reuters directly about contentious content removal policies and procedures, many details of the processes remain covert and sorely intransparent to the public who is so often forced to cope with the consequences.
Earlier this year, an exposé by Gizmodo showing Facebook’s suppression of conservative outlets via its “Trending Topics” section appeared to evidence extreme bias in favor of liberal and corporate media mainstays. Alternative media, too, which provides reports counter to the mainstream political and foreign policy paradigm, has often been the subject of controversial take-downs, censorship, and suppressive tactics — either directly by Facebook, or through convoluted algorithms and artificial intelligence bots.
However, considering Sheryl Sandberg and her loyalists populate the top-level group deciding the fate for content removal complaints, it would appear Wikileaks could provide answers for both post censorship and suppression of outlets not vowing complete fealty to the preferred, left-leaning narrative.
In a June 4, 2015, email to Clinton campaign chair John Podesta — an enormous cache of whose emails are still being published on a daily basis by Wikileaks — penned by Sandberg in response to condolences on the death of her husband, states , in part,
“And I still want HRC to win badly. I am still here to help as I can. She came over and was magical with my kids.”
After a wave of post removals and temporary page bans, it appears Facebook has begun to come to its senses for what actually violates community standards — and what might have political worth contrary to the views of its executives.
Senior members of Facebook’s policy team recently posted about the laxing of rules governing community standards, which — though welcome — might only provide temporary relief. Quoted by the Wall Street Journal , they wrote :
“In the weeks ahead, we’re going to begin allowing more items that people find newsworthy, significant, or important to the public interest—even if they might otherwise violate our standards.”
While the social media giant deems itself a technology, and not news, platform, Facebook is still the bouncing off point for issues of interest for an overwhelming percentage of its users. Although it perhaps has some responsibility in regard to the removal of certain content, putting censorship in the hands of only a few individuals in certain instances is a chilling reminder of the fragility — and grave importance — of free speech. | 0 |
After disclosures of an extensive, doping program in Russia, sports officials have been retesting urine samples from the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, in Beijing and London. Their findings have resulted in a rewriting of Olympics history. More than 75 athletes from those two Olympics have been found, upon further scrutiny, to be guilty of doping violations. A majority are from Russia and other Eastern European countries. At least 40 of them won medals. Disciplinary proceedings are continuing against other athletes, and the numbers are expected to climb. Anyone looking at the record books for the Beijing and London Games might think them an illusion. Medals are being stripped from dozens of athletes and redistributed to those who were deprived a spot on the podium. “The numbers are just impossible, incredible,” said Kasper, an executive board member of the International Olympic Committee. “We lose credibility. Credibility is a major concern. ” The results of the retests are coming at a time of intense international scrutiny on Russian athletes. The country’s longtime antidoping lab chief in May described an elaborate doping program and cheating scheme, and nearly a third of Russia’s Olympic team was barred from the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. The Olympic committee announced penalties for 16 athletes last week and another 12 on Monday. Suddenly — and unceremoniously — some undecorated Olympians are inheriting medals for their performances eight years ago. Even some finishers are discovering that they are bronze medalists. “This completely rewrote my Olympics story,” said Chaunté Lowe, an American high jumper who participated in four Summer Games but had never won a medal. Sitting at home last week, Ms. Lowe received a curious Facebook message from a German athlete against whom she competed in 2008: “Congratulations, bronze medalist,” it read. After three women who finished ahead of Ms. Lowe were disqualified for doping — Anna Chicherova and Yelena Slesarenko of Russia, and Vita Palamar of Ukraine — she moved up to third place, newly successful in a jump she took when her daughter was an infant. “I kept doing the math,” said Ms. Lowe, who originally finished sixth. “Wait: 6, 5, 4. … Oh my gosh — they’re right. I started crying. ” Accompanying the joy of her belated recognition, she said, was an awareness of the opportunity costs she suffered. In 2008, her husband was laid off. The couple’s house in Georgia was foreclosed on that year, something Ms. Lowe said would not have happened had she distinguished herself in Beijing. “I was really young and promising at that point, and sponsors were interested in me,” said Ms. Lowe, now 32. “A lot of interest goes away when you don’t get on that podium. ” Edwin Moses, the American Olympic hurdler and chairman of the board of the United States Agency, said it was difficult to measure the “agony of winning and losing, of having medals ripped away. ” “I don’t know how you recover those damages,” he said. The Olympic committee generally coordinates with the federations that govern each sport, along with the national Olympic committees of the affected countries, to collect medals from penalized athletes and redistribute them. Of the athletes so far implicated in the retests, a vast majority competed in track and field events and weight lifting. It is standard practice for Olympic officials to store urine samples for up to a decade so they may conduct additional tests if they obtain new information. While the first wave of retests began last year, the longtime director of Russia’s antidoping laboratory told The New York Times in May about a cocktail of banned substances that he used to improve the performance of scores of Russian athletes over the past several years. Dr. Olivier Rabin of the World Agency, who has been collaborating with the Olympic committee on the retests, confirmed that officials had been informed by disclosures regarding specific drugs Russian athletes used. “Clearly when you look at the findings, they correlate with the intelligence about Russia,” Dr. Rabin said. Nearly all of the violations, across nationalities, were for the anabolic steroids Stanozolol or Turinabol, the very substances that notoriously fueled East Germany to global dominance in the 1970s and 80s. A rash of Turinabol violations have also recently cropped up in major and minor league baseball in the United States. “The good drugs work very well for strength,” Dr. Rabin said. “There’s a reason they’re still around. ” The drugs were not detected by the Olympic committee’s lab years ago, during the Games, because the science at the time was not sensitive enough to detect such small residual concentrations, according to Dr. Richard Budgett, medical and scientific director of the I. O. C. New testing methods have increased the period of time during which drugs can be detected in the body. “Science progresses every day,” Dr. Rabin said. “Just over the past probably five years, the sensitivity of the equipment progressed by a factor of about 100. You see what was impossible to see before.” Rarely are doping violations found during the Games. At the London Games, the Olympic lab found only eight possible violations, a fraction of the dozens more exposed this year. “It’s sad to say,” Ms. Lowe said, “but a lot of times when you go to these competitions, you’re like: Just get close enough to top three because you never know who’s going to test positive. ” As the I. O. C. ’s retests continue, the standings of the past Winter Games may be upended, too. Officials have focused on samples from past Summer Games this year, seeking to ensure they caught possible cheaters who were eligible to compete in Rio de Janeiro in August. Ahead of the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the I. O. C. is expected to turn its attention to samples from the 2010 Games in Vancouver. Officials have already scrutinized some 500 samples from the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, but the I. O. C. has not provided details on how many violations were discovered. “The I. O. C. cannot and will not issue further comments with regard to this process, nor will it answer questions, at this point in time,” a spokeswoman wrote by email on Monday regarding the tests from the Turin Games. As fallout from the Russian doping scandal continues, medals from the 2014 Sochi Olympics are also likely to be called into question, particularly after the World Agency publishes the results of an investigation into Russian athletes who doped in Sochi and had their violations concealed by a operation. That group includes at least 15 Russian medalists, the nation’s former antidoping chief told The Times. Such a sizable number of violations by one country’s delegation at a single Olympics could prompt sports officials to consider penalties ahead of the next Games. “To say that justice is being served is very pretentious,” said Francesco Ricci Bitti, chairman of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations and former president of the International Tennis Federation. “But we’re on a path forward. ” Mr. Kasper, the Swiss I. O. C. executive who also oversees the sport of skiing, had a more pragmatic perspective. “We need to stop pretending sport is clean,” he said. “It’s a noble principle, but in practice? It’s entertainment. It’s drama. ” | 1 |
Getty - Andrew Burton
Since the 2014 NYPD officer-involved death of her father, Eric Garner, Erica Garner has been a prominent figure in the Black Lives Matter movement and a loud voice against police violence.
Her energy has been channeled in a different direction over the past week, however, since she was named in a number of the Clinton staff emails that were included in the most recent WikiLeaks dumps.
In the emails, several staffers noted that they had an “ Erica Garner issue ” and seemed to be insinuating that she might retaliate or speak out against them if they didn't include her father's name when they talked about Tamir Rice, Michael Brown , and others associated with police violence. Image Credit: WikiLeaks
Clinton aide Maya Harris appeared to clear things up within the email thread by noting, “Eric Garner not included because he was not killed by gun violence.” (Garner died in police custody after being placed in a “choke hold.”) Image Credit: WikiLeaks
But if the Clinton campaign thought it had “an Erica Garner problem” before the emails were leaked, their problems multiplied when she caught wind of the things they had said: What are they talking about here? https://t.co/tgQH2VxuHZ — officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) October 27, 2016 What really pisses me off is that the Clinton camp won't just admit these emails belong to them... Fucking liars. — officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) October 27, 2016 These people will co opt anything to push their agenda. Police violence is not the same as gun violence. — officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) October 27, 2016 I'm vey interested to know exactly what @CoreyCiorciari meant when he said " I know we have an Erica Garner problem" in the #PodestaEmails19 — officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) October 27, 2016 Wouldnt yall like to know why the #Hillary campaign thought that I my objecting to them exploiting my dads death was a "problem" @mtaibbi https://t.co/i5cahlS6VZ — officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) October 27, 2016 I'm troubled by the revelation that you and this campaign actually discussed "using" Eric Garner ... Why would you want to "use" my dad? — officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) October 27, 2016
She thanked aide Maya Harris for setting everyone straight: I'm glad you had Maya on your team to explain why you wont be USING my dad in you fucking gun violence piece... Black woman saved your ass — officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) October 27, 2016
Then she blew the lid off the Clinton agenda: https://t.co/jzfUl0FbXF In this #PodestaEmails leak @CoreyCiorciari n @NickMerrill plot to use police violence victims to push gun control — officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) October 27, 2016
And blasted Podesta personally for his position regarding her father's death: Personelle equals policy @johnpodesta said that Eric Garner's killing was justified . And this is who we want to hold our nose and vote for? https://t.co/5nWnjxA7Nq — officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) October 27, 2016
Garner has been active in the continuing investigation into the NYPD officers who were involved in her father's death.
Although she has not endorsed a presidential candidate since Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders left the race, she has retweeted tweets by the Green Party's Jill Stein, which were critical of the Clinton campaign. | 0 |
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