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in: Special Interests , US News (image credit: Getty) After announcing her presidential bid last year, Hillary tried getting Moroccan King Mohammed VI to donate $12 million to the Clinton Foundation in return for a face-to-face meeting and speaking engagement. Nice work if you can get it. Easy if you’re Bill or Hillary Clinton, money from Morocco’s king one of many examples of their corrupt practices. Reporting on email content revealed by WikiLeaks, Fox News Ed Henry, said the following: “Just hours after Hillary Clinton dodged a question at the final presidential debate about charges of ‘pay to play’ at the Clinton Foundation, a new batch of WikiLeaks emails surfaced with stunning charges that the candidate herself was at the center of negotiating a $12 million commitment from King Mohammed VI of Morocco.” In an email to Hillary’s campaign chairman John Podesta and campaign manager Robby Mook, close Hillary aide Huma Abedin said “this was HRC’s idea.” “She created this mess and she knows it” – referring to scheduling a pay-to-play deal one month after launching her presidential bid, certain to raise red flags if revealed. Her advisors were concerned. Abedin emailed “(j)ust to give you some context, the condition upon which the Moroccans agreed to host the meeting (of the Clinton Global Initiative) was her participation. If hrc was not part of it, meeting was a non-starter.” “This was HRC’s idea. Our office approached the Moroccans and they 100 percent believe they are doing this at her request. The King has personally committed approx $12 million both for the endowment and to support the meeting.” A compromise was reached. Bill and Chelsea participated, representing Hillary. Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace pressed Robby Mook for an explanation. Wallace: “Why wasn’t that classic pay-to-play,” he asked? Mook: “There’s nothing new here” – only in terms of it being commonplace Bill and Hillary practice. Wallace: “But, Robby, there is some new stuff. Emails show, and I’m going to go through some of them, you were not happy at all (about) the idea of this meeting and her going there.” Mook: Calling it a scheduling issue, he claimed “(w)e didn’t want her going overseas…before the campaign was kicking off.” Journalist Bob Woodward called Clinton Foundation practices “corrupt…a scandal. The mixing of speech fees, the Clinton Foundation, and actions by the State Department which she ran are all intertwined…You can’t just say it’s unsavory.” It’s the kind of stuff landing ordinary people in prison. Bill and Hillary remain unaccountable for years of illegal practices. Instead of long overdue prosecution, they’re returning to the White House in January for a third co-presidential term as things now stand – apparently rigged to assure it. Submit your review | 0 |
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) October 28, 2016
Twitter user @PhillyRich1 has unleashed a trove of flashbacks from Obamacare “architect” Jonathan Gruber (of “stupidity of the American voter” infamy). Here are a few past sales pitches for the looming train wreck to set up the grand finale: More from The Gruber Files: "If you like your plan" is really from the "right" https://t.co/6CBZKhPQoX @michellemalkin @kerpen
— Rich Weinstein (@phillyrich1) October 28, 2016 Jonathan Gruber explains which part of the ACA comes from the right pic.twitter.com/J0R7dl5lX1
— Rich Weinstein (@phillyrich1) October 28, 2016 "…we don't really know how to bend the cost curve…"- Jonathan Gruber pic.twitter.com/jcXTtaCnnw
— Rich Weinstein (@phillyrich1) October 28, 2016 Jonathan Gruber explains that the individuals mandate is "fair". pic.twitter.com/hcloQXS66B
— Rich Weinstein (@phillyrich1) October 28, 2016 Gruber- If you like your plan, well, whatever… Obama should have been "vaguer". pic.twitter.com/pBoxh1DIdt
— Rich Weinstein (@phillyrich1) October 28, 2016
Check this one out — This is quite the progressive definition of “freedom,” isn’t it? "They have that freedom, they just have to pay for it"– Jonathan Gruber. pic.twitter.com/KeAsjh6Yry
— Rich Weinstein (@phillyrich1) October 28, 2016
That’s just maddening. | 0 |
Suppressed Antigravity - Technology Used By The B-2 STEALTH BOMBER # www.youtube.com 0
According to the electro-gravity research conducted by Tesla and T. Townsend Brown, such as differentiated load space install a force without reaction on the ship, towards the positive pole.
A drive by electro-gravity of this kind could allow the B-2 work with an efficiency propulsion over-drive crossing at supersonic speeds. 9 and March 1992, the weekly magazine Aviation and Space made a surprising destapamiento, the B-2 is loaded electrostatically its current extractor, and the leading edges of your body, like wings.
Those familiar with the investigation of Tesla in the early 20th century, quickly will realize that this is equivalent to indicate that the B-2 cone anti-gravity aircraft can operate. The magazine Aviation obtained its information about the B-2 of a small group of renegade scientists and engineers, on the west coast, who were previously formally associated with black research projects.
Making these discoveries, these scientists broke the code of silence that rivals those of the Mafia. They took the risk because they felt it was important for economic reasons, that efforts be made to declassify certain black technologies for commercial purposes.
Two of these individuals said that their civil rights were clearly abused (in the name of security), either to keep them quiet or to prevent that they left the black tightly controlled research and development community. Although scientists No mention anything about electro-gravity in its destapamiento in the journal Aviation, about the B-2, they admit the existence of very dramatic secret technologies applicable to the control and propulsion of aircraft. Tags | 0 |
Eighteen women and girls have filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a Michigan doctor sexually assaulted them and that U. S. A. Gymnastics and other organizations that employed him failed to address their concerns and prevent further abuse, some of it dating back to the late 1990s. In the civil suit filed against Dr. Lawrence Nassar on Tuesday in Federal District Court in western Michigan, the plaintiffs are seeking relief for injuries related to sexual assault, nonconsensual touching, abuse and molestation. They say the abuse occurred while they were participating in gymnastics, swimming, figure skating, track and field, field hockey, basketball and soccer. Most of the plaintiffs were minors when the abuse occurred, according to the suit, which alleges that Dr. Nassar “sexually assaulted, abused and molested” the athletes, including by “digital vaginal and anal penetration. ” The lawsuit is the latest legal action against Dr. Nassar. In November, he was charged in Ingham County, Mich. with sexual conduct with a person under 13, and in December, he was indicted in federal court in Grand Rapids, Mich. on child pornography charges. Matthew R. Newburg, Dr. Nassar’s lawyer in those state and federal criminal cases, said by email on Wednesday that his client has pleaded not guilty in those cases. “We are still receiving discovery and continue to review the reports as we receive them,” he said. Stephen Drew, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in the new civil case, said on Wednesday that some of the 18 women had raised red flags as far back as 2000. The suit also names as defendants the places where he had worked or had treated athletes: U. S. A. Gymnastics, Michigan State University and Gedderts’ Twistars Gymnastics Club U. S. A. in Michigan. The plaintiffs said that Dr. Nassar had been recommended to them as a “renowned orthopedic sports medicine physician” while working at the university from about 1996 to 2016, and for the United States gymnastics team from 1986 to 2015. He also provided medical care at Twistars, which has locations in Dimondale, Mich. and DeWitt, Mich. The lawsuit alleges that some of the plaintiffs had complained about being abused while being examined in a room alone with Dr. Nassar, or that he had positioned himself in such a way as to block the view of parents or chaperones. Mr. Drew said that some of the women and girls had not come forward sooner because they thought they would not be believed. “They need this addressed they have been holding this in for years,” he said, adding that the impact on the plaintiffs has been “traumatic. ” Adam C. Sturdivant, another lawyer, said that two or three more people were expected to join the civil lawsuit within a week. Mr. Newburg said that Dr. Nassar does not yet have a lawyer for that case. The lawsuit alleged that the three organizations had failed to properly supervise Dr. Nassar, were negligent in retaining him and did not address concerns from the athletes and their parents. A statement from U. S. A. Gymnastics on Wednesday did not directly address the latest lawsuit, saying that it was pending litigation. But the organization, the sport’s national governing body, said it found the “allegations against Dr. Nassar very disturbing. ” “When we first learned of athlete concerns regarding Dr. Nassar in the summer of 2015, we immediately notified the F. B. I. and relieved him of any further assignments,” the statement said. “U. S. A. Gymnastics has fully cooperated with the F. B. I. in its investigation. We find it appalling that anyone would exploit a young athlete or child in this manner, and we are grateful to the athletes who have come forward. ” The reports of sexual abuse in the sport cast a shadow on the gymnastics federation just as the U. S. Olympics team, which brought home 12 medals from the 2016 Games, was preparing for a market push. Jason Cody, a spokesman for Michigan State University said on Wednesday he could not comment on the pending litigation but the university was “deeply disturbed” by the criminal charges. He said in an emailed statement that the university had started an internal review and had found no evidence of any complaints about Dr. Nassar before Aug. 29, 2016, other than one in 2014 that was investigated. But, he added: “The criminal investigation into Larry Nassar is a top priority for M. S. U. Police. ” John Geddert, a former Olympic coach and the owner of Twistars gymnastics school, did not return telephone messages left at the center’s two Michigan locations on Wednesday. The lawsuit said Dr. Nassar had been recommended to athletes there. The suit said a parent of a gymnast in 1997 had complained to Mr. Geddert about the doctor, but that the concerns “went unaddressed. ” Mr. Drew, the lawyer, said some of the plaintiffs in Tuesday’s civil case were emboldened to come forward after an investigation published by The Indianapolis Star in August on allegations of sexual abuse by coaches of young athletes. The article included allegations that U. S. A. Gymnastics had routinely failed to notify law enforcement officials about sexual abuse claims. A second report by The Star, published in September, said two women had accused Dr. Nassar of sexually abusing them. One former gymnast, Rachael Denhollander, filed a police complaint that month against Dr. Nassar, who through his lawyer denied any wrongdoing. The other woman, a medalist on the 2000 United States Olympic team, filed a civil lawsuit against him and named U. S. A. Gymnastics as a defendant. Ms. Denhollander then joined the civil suit filed on Tuesday and is the only plaintiff to reveal her identity. That lawsuit said Dr. Nassar’s abuse of Ms. Denhollander occurred when she was a gymnast in 2000 and was sent to his office at M. S. U. several times for wrist and back injuries. Dr. Nassar is currently jailed in Michigan and cannot be contacted, according to Mr. Newburg. In a news conference on Tuesday, Ms. Denhollander said, according to The Indianapolis Star: “The reality of sexual abuse is that a pedophile is only as prominent as people around him allow him to be. “I will do everything in my power to make sure Larry Nassar is prosecuted for his crimes and can never harm another child. ” | 1 |
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Post-election shopping tip: look for the PoliticsFree label at your local grocer to make sure you don't buy from companies that don't want your business anymore
In Hillary's America, email server scrubs you
Obama transfers his Nobel Peace Prize to anti-Trump rioters
Democrats blame Hillary's criminal e-mail server for her loss, demand it face prison
Afraid of "dangerous" Trump presidency, protesters pre-emptively burn America down to the ground
Clinton Foundation in foreclosure as foreign donors demand refunds
Hillary Clinton blames YouTube video for unexpected and spontaneous voter uprising that prevented her inevitable move into the White House
Sudden rise in sea levels explained by disproportionately large tears shed by climate scientists in the aftermath of Trump's electoral victory
FBI director Comey delighted after receiving Nobel Prize for Speed Reading (650,000 emails in one week)
U.N. deploys troops to American college campuses in order to combat staggeringly low rape rates
Responding to Trump's surging poll numbers, Obama preemptively pardons himself for treason
Following hurricane Matthew's failure to devastate Florida, activists flock to the Sunshine State and destroy Trump signs manually
Tim Kaine takes credit for interrupting hurricane Matthew while debating weather in Florida
Study: Many non-voters still undecided on how they're not going to vote
The Evolution of Dissent: on November 8th the nation is to decide whether dissent will stop being racist and become sexist - or it will once again be patriotic as it was for 8 years under George W. Bush
Venezuela solves starvation problem by making it mandatory to buy food
Breaking: the Clinton Foundation set to investigate the FBI
Obama captures rare Pokémon while visiting Hiroshima
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White House edits Orlando 911 transcript to say shooter pledged allegiance to NRA and Republican Party
President George Washington: 'Redcoats do not represent British Empire; King George promotes a distorted version of British colonialism'
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Travel advisory: airlines now offering flights to front of TSA line
As Obama instructs his administration to get ready for presidential transition, Trump preemptively purchases 'T' keys for White House keyboards
John Kasich self-identifies as GOP primary winner, demands access to White House bathroom
Upcoming Trump/Kelly interview on FoxNews sponsored by 'Let's Make a Deal' and 'The Price is Right'
News from 2017: once the evacuation of Lena Dunham and 90% of other Hollywood celebrities to Canada is confirmed, Trump resigns from presidency: "My work here is done"
Non-presidential candidate Paul Ryan pledges not to run for president in new non-presidential non-ad campaign
Trump suggests creating 'Muslim database'; Obama symbolically protests by shredding White House guest logs beginning 2009
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Iran breaks its pinky-swear promise not to support terrorism; US State Department vows rock-paper-scissors strategic response
Women across the country cheer as racist Democrat president on $20 bill is replaced by black pro-gun Republican
Federal Reserve solves budget crisis by writing itself a 20-trillion-dollar check
Widows, orphans claim responsibility for Brussels airport bombing
Che Guevara's son hopes Cuba's communism will rub off on US, proposes a long list of people the government should execute first
Susan Sarandon: "I don't vote with my vagina." Voters in line behind her still suspicious, use hand sanitizer
Campaign memo typo causes Hillary to court 'New Black Panties' vote
New Hampshire votes for socialist Sanders, changes state motto to "Live FOR Free or Die"
Martin O'Malley drops out of race after Iowa Caucus; nation shocked with revelation he has been running for president
Statisticians: one out of three Bernie Sanders supporters is just as dumb as the other two
Hillary campaign denies accusations of smoking-gun evidence in her emails, claims they contain only smoking-circumstantial-gun evidence
Obama stops short of firing US Congress upon realizing the difficulty of assembling another group of such tractable yes-men
In effort to contol wild passions for violent jihad, White House urges gun owners to keep their firearms covered in gun burkas
TV horror live: A Charlie Brown Christmas gets shot up on air by Mohammed cartoons
Democrats vow to burn the country down over Ted Cruz statement, 'The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats'
Russia's trend to sign bombs dropped on ISIS with "This is for Paris" found response in Obama administration's trend to sign American bombs with "Return to sender"
University researchers of cultural appropriation quit upon discovery that their research is appropriation from a culture that created universities
Archeologists discover remains of what Barack Obama has described as unprecedented, un-American, and not-who-we-are immigration screening process in Ellis Island
Mizzou protests lead to declaring entire state a "safe space," changing Missouri motto to "The don't show me state"
Green energy fact: if we put all green energy subsidies together in one-dollar bills and burn them, we could generate more electricity than has been produced by subsidized green energy
State officials improve chances of healthcare payouts by replacing ObamaCare with state lottery
NASA's new mission to search for racism, sexism, and economic inequality in deep space suffers from race, gender, and class power struggles over multibillion-dollar budget
College progress enforcement squads issue schematic humor charts so students know if a joke may be spontaneously laughed at or if regulations require other action
ISIS opens suicide hotline for US teens depressed by climate change and other progressive doomsday scenarios
Virginia county to close schools after teacher asks students to write 'death to America' in Arabic
'Wear hijab to school day' ends with spontaneous female circumcision and stoning of a classmate during lunch break
ISIS releases new, even more barbaric video in an effort to regain mantle from Planned Parenthood
Impressed by Fox News stellar rating during GOP debates, CNN to use same formula on Democrat candidates asking tough, pointed questions about Republicans
Shocking new book explores pros and cons of socialism, discovers they are same people
Pope outraged by Planned Parenthood's "unfettered capitalism," demands equal redistribution of baby parts to each according to his need
John Kerry accepts Iran's "Golden Taquiyya" award, requests jalapenos on the side
Citizens of Pluto protest US government's surveillance of their planetoid and its moons with New Horizons space drone
John Kerry proposes 3-day waiting period for all terrorist nations trying to acquire nuclear weapons
Chicago Police trying to identify flag that caused nine murders and 53 injuries in the city this past weekend
Cuba opens to affordable medical tourism for Americans who can't afford Obamacare deductibles
State-funded research proves existence of Quantum Aggression Particles (Heterons) in Large Hadron Collider
Student job opportunities: make big bucks this summer as Hillary’s Ordinary-American; all expenses paid, travel, free acting lessons
Experts debate whether Iranian negotiators broke John Kerry's leg or he did it himself to get out of negotiations
Junior Varsity takes Ramadi, advances to quarterfinals
US media to GOP pool of candidates: 'Knowing what we know now, would you have had anything to do with the founding of the United States?'
NY Mayor to hold peace talks with rats, apologize for previous Mayor's cowboy diplomacy
China launches cube-shaped space object with a message to aliens: "The inhabitants of Earth will steal your intellectual property, copy it, manufacture it in sweatshops with slave labor, and sell it back to you at ridiculously low prices"
Progressive scientists: Truth is a variable deduced by subtracting 'what is' from 'what ought to be'
Experts agree: Hillary Clinton best candidate to lessen percentage of Americans in top 1%
America's attempts at peace talks with the White House continue to be met with lies, stalling tactics, and bad faith
Starbucks new policy to talk race with customers prompts new hashtag #DontHoldUpTheLine
Hillary: DELETE is the new RESET
Charlie Hebdo receives Islamophobe 2015 award ; the cartoonists could not be reached for comment due to their inexplicable, illogical deaths
Russia sends 'reset' button back to Hillary: 'You need it now more than we do'
Barack Obama finds out from CNN that Hillary Clinton spent four years being his Secretary of State
President Obama honors Leonard Nimoy by taking selfie in front of Starship Enterprise
Police: If Obama had a convenience store, it would look like Obama Express Food Market
Study finds stunning lack of racial, gender, and economic diversity among middle-class white males
NASA: We're 80% sure about being 20% sure about being 17% sure about being 38% sure about 2014 being the hottest year on record
People holding '$15 an Hour Now' posters sue Democratic party demanding raise to $15 an hour for rendered professional protesting services
Cuba-US normalization: US tourists flock to see Cuba before it looks like the US and Cubans flock to see the US before it looks like Cuba
White House describes attacks on Sony Pictures as 'spontaneous hacking in response to offensive video mocking Juche and its prophet'
CIA responds to Democrat calls for transparency by releasing the director's cut of The Making Of Obama's Birth Certificate
Obama: 'If I had a city, it would look like Ferguson'
Biden: 'If I had a Ferguson (hic), it would look like a city'
Obama signs executive order renaming 'looters' to 'undocumented shoppers'
Ethicists agree: two wrongs do make a right so long as Bush did it first
The aftermath of the 'War on Women 2014' finds a new 'Lost Generation' of disillusioned Democrat politicians, unable to cope with life out of office
White House: Republican takeover of the Senate is a clear mandate from the American people for President Obama to rule by executive orders
Nurse Kaci Hickox angrily tells reporters that she won't change her clocks for daylight savings time
Democratic Party leaders in panic after recent poll shows most Democratic voters think 'midterm' is when to end pregnancy
Desperate Democratic candidates plead with Obama to stop backing them and instead support their GOP opponents
Ebola Czar issues five-year plan with mandatory quotas of Ebola infections per each state based on voting preferences
Study: crony capitalism is to the free market what the Westboro Baptist Church is to Christianity
Fun facts about world languages: the Left has more words for statism than the Eskimos have for snow
African countries to ban all flights from the United States because "Obama is incompetent, it scares us"
Nobel Peace Prize controversy: Hillary not nominated despite having done even less than Obama to deserve it
Obama: 'Ebola is the JV of viruses'
BREAKING: Secret Service foils Secret Service plot to protect Obama
Revised 1st Amendment: buy one speech, get the second free
Sharpton calls on white NFL players to beat their women in the interests of racial fairness
President Obama appoints his weekly approval poll as new national security adviser
Obama wags pen and phone at Putin; Europe offers support with powerful pens and phones from NATO members
White House pledges to embarrass ISIS back to the Stone Age with a barrage of fearsome Twitter messages and fatally ironic Instagram photos
Obama to fight ISIS with new federal Terrorist Regulatory Agency
Obama vows ISIS will never raise their flag over the eighteenth hole
Harry Reid: "Sometimes I say the wong thing"
Elian Gonzalez wishes he had come to the U.S. on a bus from Central America like all the other kids
Obama visits US-Mexican border, calls for a two-state solution
Obama draws "blue line" in Iraq after Putin took away his red crayon
"Hard Choices," a porno flick loosely based on Hillary Clinton's memoir and starring Hillary Hellfire as a drinking, whoring Secretary of State, wildly outsells the flabby, sagging original
Accusations of siding with the enemy leave Sgt. Bergdahl with only two options: pursue a doctorate at Berkley or become a Senator from Massachusetts
Jay Carney stuck in line behind Eric Shinseki to leave the White House; estimated wait time from 15 min to 6 weeks
100% of scientists agree that if man-made global warming were real, "the last people we'd want to help us is the Obama administration"
Jay Carney says he found out that Obama found out that he found out that Obama found out that he found out about the latest Obama administration scandal on the news
"Anarchy Now!" meeting turns into riot over points of order, bylaws, and whether or not 'kicking the #^@&*! ass' of the person trying to speak is or is not violence
Obama retaliates against Putin by prohibiting unionized federal employees from dating hot Russian girls online during work hours
Russian separatists in Ukraine riot over an offensive YouTube video showing the toppling of Lenin statues
"Free Speech Zones" confuse Obamaphone owners who roam streets in search of additional air minutes
Obamacare bolsters employment for professionals with skills to convert meth back into sudafed
Gloves finally off: Obama uses pen and phone to cancel Putin's Netflix account
Joe Biden to Russia: "We will bury you by turning more of Eastern Europe over to your control!"
In last-ditch effort to help Ukraine, Obama deploys Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jackson's Rainbow Coalition to Crimea
Al Sharpton: "Not even Putin can withstand our signature chanting, 'racist, sexist, anti-gay, Russian army go away'!"
Mardi Gras in North Korea: " Throw me some food! "
Obama's foreign policy works: "War, invasion, and conquest are signs of weakness; we've got Putin right where we want him"
US offers military solution to Ukraine crisis: "We will only fight countries that have LGBT military"
Putin annexes Brighton Beach to protect ethnic Russians in Brooklyn, Obama appeals to UN and EU for help
The 1980s: "Mr. Obama, we're just calling to ask if you want our foreign policy back . The 1970s are right here with us, and they're wondering, too."
In a stunning act of defiance, Obama courageously unfriends Putin on Facebook
MSNBC: Obama secures alliance with Austro-Hungarian Empire against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine
Study: springbreak is to STDs what April 15th is to accountants
Efforts to achieve moisture justice for California thwarted by unfair redistribution of snow in America
North Korean voters unanimous: "We are the 100%"
Leader of authoritarian gulag-site, The People's Cube, unanimously 're-elected' with 100% voter turnout
Super Bowl: Obama blames Fox News for Broncos' loss
Feminist author slams gay marriage: "a man needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle"
Beverly Hills campaign heats up between Henry Waxman and Marianne Williamson over the widening income gap between millionaires and billionaires in their district
Biden to lower $10,000-a-plate Dinner For The Homeless to $5,000 so more homeless can attend
Kim becomes world leader, feeds uncle to dogs; Obama eats dogs, becomes world leader, America cries uncle
North Korean leader executes own uncle for talking about Obamacare at family Christmas party
White House hires part-time schizophrenic Mandela sign interpreter to help sell Obamacare
Kim Jong Un executes own " crazy uncle " to keep him from ruining another family Christmas
OFA admits its advice for area activists to give Obamacare Talk at shooting ranges was a bad idea
President resolves Obamacare debacle with executive order declaring all Americans equally healthy
Obama to Iran: "If you like your nuclear program, you can keep your nuclear program"
Bovine community outraged by flatulence coming from Washington DC
Obama: "I'm not particularly ideological; I believe in a good pragmatic five-year plan"
Shocker: Obama had no knowledge he'd been reelected until he read about it in the local newspaper last week
Server problems at HealthCare.gov so bad, it now flashes 'Error 808' message
NSA marks National Best Friend Day with official announcement: "Government is your best friend; we know you like no one else, we're always there, we're always willing to listen"
Al Qaeda cancels attack on USA citing launch of Obamacare as devastating enough
The President's latest talking point on Obamacare: "I didn't build that"
Dizzy with success, Obama renames his wildly popular healthcare mandate to HillaryCare
Carney: huge ObamaCare deductibles won't look as bad come hyperinflation
Washington Redskins drop 'Washington' from their name as offensive to most Americans
Poll: 83% of Americans favor cowboy diplomacy over rodeo clown diplomacy
GOVERNMENT WARNING: If you were able to complete ObamaCare form online, it wasn't a legitimate gov't website; you should report online fraud and change all your passwords
Obama administration gets serious, threatens Syria with ObamaCare
Obama authorizes the use of Vice President Joe Biden's double-barrel shotgun to fire a couple of blasts at Syria
Sharpton: "British royals should have named baby 'Trayvon.' By choosing 'George' they sided with white Hispanic racist Zimmerman"
DNC launches 'Carlos Danger' action figure; proceeds to fund a charity helping survivors of the Republican War on Women
Nancy Pelosi extends abortion rights to the birds and the bees
Hubble discovers planetary drift to the left
Obama: 'If I had a daughter-in-law, she would look like Rachael Jeantel'
FISA court rubberstamps statement denying its portrayal as government's rubber stamp
Every time ObamaCare gets delayed, a Julia somewhere dies
GOP to Schumer: 'Force full implementation of ObamaCare before 2014 or Dems will never win another election'
Obama: 'If I had a son... no, wait, my daughter can now marry a woman!'
Janet Napolitano: TSA findings reveal that since none of the hijackers were babies, elderly, or Tea Partiers, 9/11 was not an act of terrorism
News Flash: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) can see Canada from South Dakota
Susan Rice: IRS actions against tea parties caused by anti-tax YouTube video that was insulting to their faith
Drudge Report reduces font to fit all White House scandals onto one page
Obama: the IRS is a constitutional right, just like the Second Amendment
White House: top Obama officials using secret email accounts a result of bad IT advice to avoid spam mail from Nigeria
Jay Carney to critics: 'Pinocchio never said anything inconsistent'
Obama: If I had a gay son, he'd look like Jason Collins
Gosnell's office in Benghazi raided by the IRS: mainstream media's worst cover-up challenge to date
IRS targeting pro-gay-marriage LGBT groups leads to gayest tax revolt in U.S. history
After Arlington Cemetery rejects offer to bury Boston bomber, Westboro Babtist Church steps up with premium front lawn plot
Boston: Obama Administration to reclassify marathon bombing as 'sportsplace violence'
Study: Success has many fathers but failure becomes a government program
US Media: Can Pope Francis possibly clear up Vatican bureaucracy and banking without blaming the previous administration?
Michelle Obama praises weekend rampage by Chicago teens as good way to burn calories and stay healthy
This Passover, Obama urges his subjects to paint lamb's blood above doors in order to avoid the Sequester
White House to American children: Sequester causes layoffs among hens that lay Easter eggs; union-wage Easter Bunnies to be replaced by Mexican Chupacabras
Time Mag names Hugo Chavez world's sexiest corpse
Boy, 8, pretends banana is gun, makes daring escape from school
Study: Free lunches overpriced, lack nutrition
Oscars 2013: Michelle Obama announces long-awaited merger of Hollywood and the State
Joe Salazar defends the right of women to be raped in gun-free environment: 'rapists and rapees should work together to prevent gun violence for the common good'
Dept. of Health and Human Services eliminates rape by reclassifying assailants as 'undocumented sex partners'
Kremlin puts out warning not to photoshop Putin riding meteor unless bare-chested
Deeming football too violent, Obama moves to introduce Super Drone Sundays instead
Japan offers to extend nuclear umbrella to cover U.S. should America suffer devastating attack on its own defense spending
Feminists organize one billion women to protest male oppression with one billion lap dances
Urban community protests Mayor Bloomberg's ban on extra-large pop singers owning assault weapons
Concerned with mounting death toll, Taliban offers to send peacekeeping advisers to Chicago
Karl Rove puts an end to Tea Party with new 'Republicans For Democrats' strategy aimed at losing elections
Answering public skepticism, President Obama authorizes unlimited drone attacks on all skeet targets throughout the country
Skeet Ulrich denies claims he had been shot by President but considers changing his name to 'Traps'
White House releases new exciting photos of Obama standing, sitting, looking thoughtful, and even breathing in and out
New York Times hacked by Chinese government, Paul Krugman's economic policies stolen
White House: when President shoots skeet, he donates the meat to food banks that feed the middle class
To prove he is serious, Obama eliminates armed guard protection for President, Vice-President, and their families; establishes Gun-Free Zones around them instead
State Dept to send 100,000 American college students to China as security for US debt obligations
Jay Carney: Al Qaeda is on the run, they're just running forward
President issues executive orders banning cliffs, ceilings, obstructions, statistics, and other notions that prevent us from moving forwards and upward
Fearing the worst, Obama Administration outlaws the fan to prevent it from being hit by certain objects
World ends; S&P soars
Riddle of universe solved; answer not understood
Meek inherit Earth, can't afford estate taxes
Greece abandons Euro; accountants find Greece has no Euros anyway
Wheel finally reinvented; axles to be gradually reinvented in 3rd quarter of 2013
Bigfoot found in Ohio, mysteriously not voting for Obama
As Santa's workshop files for bankruptcy, Fed offers bailout in exchange for control of 'naughty and nice' list
Freak flying pig accident causes bacon to fly off shelves
Obama: green economy likely to transform America into a leading third world country of the new millennium
Report: President Obama to visit the United States in the near future
Obama promises to create thousands more economically neutral jobs
Modernizing Islam: New York imam proposes to canonize Saul Alinsky as religion's latter day prophet
Imam Rauf's peaceful solution: 'Move Ground Zero a few blocks away from the mosque and no one gets hurt'
Study: Obama's threat to burn tax money in Washington 'recruitment bonanza' for Tea Parties
Study: no Social Security reform will be needed if gov't raises retirement age to at least 814 years
Obama attends church service, worships self
Obama proposes national 'Win The Future' lottery; proceeds of new WTF Powerball to finance more gov't spending
Historical revisionists: "Hey, you never know"
Vice President Biden: criticizing Egypt is un-pharaoh
Israelis to Egyptian rioters: "don't damage the pyramids, we will not rebuild"
Lake Superior renamed Lake Inferior in spirit of tolerance and inclusiveness
Al Gore: It's a shame that a family can be torn apart by something as simple as a pack of polar bears
Michael Moore: As long as there is anyone with money to shake down, this country is not broke
Obama's teleprompters unionize, demand collective bargaining rights
Obama calls new taxes 'spending reductions in tax code.' Elsewhere rapists tout 'consent reductions in sexual intercourse'
Obama's teleprompter unhappy with White House Twitter: "Too few words"
Obama's Regulation Reduction committee finds US Constitution to be expensive outdated framework inefficiently regulating federal gov't
Taking a page from the Reagan years, Obama announces new era of Perestroika and Glasnost
Responding to Oslo shootings, Obama declares Christianity "Religion of Peace," praises "moderate Christians," promises to send one into space
Republicans block Obama's $420 billion program to give American families free charms that ward off economic bad luck
White House to impose Chimney tax on Santa Claus
Obama decrees the economy is not soaring as much as previously decreeed
Conservative think tank introduces children to capitalism with pop-up picture book "The Road to Smurfdom"
Al Gore proposes to combat Global Warming by extracting silver linings from clouds in Earth's atmosphere
Obama refutes charges of him being unresponsive to people's suffering: "When you pray to God, do you always hear a response?"
Obama regrets the US government didn't provide his mother with free contraceptives when she was in college
Fluke to Congress: drill, baby, drill!
Planned Parenthood introduces Frequent Flucker reward card: 'Come again soon!'
Obama to tornado victims: 'We inherited this weather from the previous administration'
Obama congratulates Putin on Chicago-style election outcome
People's Cube gives itself Hero of Socialist Labor medal in recognition of continued expert advice provided to the Obama Administration helping to shape its foreign and domestic policies
Hamas: Israeli air defense unfair to 99% of our missiles, "only 1% allowed to reach Israel"
Democrat strategist: without government supervision, women would have never evolved into humans
Voters Without Borders oppose Texas new voter ID law
Enraged by accusation that they are doing Obama's bidding, media leaders demand instructions from White House on how to respond
Obama blames previous Olympics for failure to win at this Olympics
Official: China plans to land on Moon or at least on cheap knockoff thereof
Koran-Contra: Obama secretly arms Syrian rebels
Poll: Progressive slogan 'We should be more like Europe' most popular with members of American Nazi Party
Obama to Evangelicals: Jesus saves, I just spend
May Day: Anarchists plan, schedule, synchronize, and execute a coordinated campaign against all of the above
Midwestern farmers hooked on new erotic novel "50 Shades of Hay"
Study: 99% of Liberals give the rest a bad name
Obama meets with Jewish leaders, proposes deeper circumcisions for the rich
Historians: Before HOPE & CHANGE there was HEMP & CHOOM at ten bucks a bag
Cancer once again fails to cure Venezuela of its "President for Life"
Tragic spelling error causes Muslim protesters to burn local boob-tube factory
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu: due to energy conservation, the light at the end of the tunnel will be switched off
Obama Administration running food stamps across the border with Mexico in an operation code-named "Fat And Furious"
Pakistan explodes in protest over new Adobe Acrobat update; 17 local acrobats killed
White House: "Let them eat statistics"
Special Ops: if Benedict Arnold had a son, he would look like Barack Obama | 0 |
Tim Graham, executive editor of NewsBusters, spoke with Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam on Thursday regarding the media’s reaction to the shooting at a Republican baseball practice that critically injured Rep. Steve Scalise. He also talked about the backlash of Megyn Kelly’s interview with Alex Jones. [Graham commented on MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell’s reporting on the shooting by saying, “In 2011, when Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords was shot, they jumped on the idea that this was the Tea Party. In Denver, they jumped on the notion that the shooter was the Tea Party. In both cases, they didn’t have anything. Here, in this case, it’s quite clear. ” Graham continued, “That’s not to say Bernie Sanders is in any way responsible for this. It just means they have liked to, in the past, associate conservative politics with violence or a climate of hate. ” Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a. m. to 9:00 a. m. Eastern. LISTEN: | 1 |
By Michael Hayne Election 2016 , News , Politics October 28, 2016 Paul Ryan’s Plan To Use Bernie To Scare Voters Blew Up In His Face And Bernie Can’t Stop Laughing
The 2016 election continues to be the weirdest, dumbest, and most contentious presidential race in ages. But the one saving grace and glimmer of hope amid this Category 4 sh*tstorm is the idea of an empowered Senator Sanders.
A week ago, House Speaker Paul Ryan made the fatal mistake of using Bernie Sanders as a scare tactic to ensure that Congress remains in Republican hands. At a gathering of Young Republicans, Ryan implored Republicans to take the polls on Election Day in order to stop the scary “ liberal progressive” agenda. Ryan punctuated his warning by saying “ If we lose the Senate, do you know who becomes chair of the Senate Budget Committee? A guy named Bernie Sanders. You ever heard of him?”
Well, that single statement appears to have totally blown up in his face.
It’s not yet clear if the populist and beloved Senator from Vermont would chair the Senate Budget Committee should Democrats take back the Senate, but what is clear is that Bernie Sanders is cashing in on Ryan’s comments. Paul Ryan said if Republicans lose the Senate, a guy named Bernie Sanders becomes Budget Committee Chair. Sounds like a plan! #ThanksPaul
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 24, 2016
Hoping to convince the intractable “Bernie or Bust” crowd that a Democratically-controlled Senate is the best way to carry out his very progressive agenda, Sanders implored his 3.76 million followers to donate to Democrats. The Sanders team went so far as launching a “We Heard You Paul!” appeal to small donors. And it’s working–insanely well.
“Let’s thank Speaker Ryan for helping us raise $2.4 million this week from 500,000 contributions and show everyone how powerful the political revolution still is by using the hashtag #ThanksPaul across all social media channels today,” the Sanders camp announced Monday.
Sanders is in this thing for the long run and has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. The only way to ensure Ryan’s threat becomes a reality is turning the Congress blue.
Featured image via Alex Wong and Mark Wilson / Getty Share this Article! | 0 |
HONG KONG — The Japanese public pays careful attention to the words and deeds of Caroline Kennedy, the United States ambassador to Japan and one of the State Department’s diplomats. But Ms. Kennedy generated an unusual buzz in Tokyo this week by doing something that is almost certainly not in her job description: wearing a Santa suit and dancing in a quirky video. The video, uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday, features United States Embassy employees and consular officials across Japan mimicking dance moves from “We Married as a Job!” a popular Japanese television series. By Friday afternoon, the video had been viewed more than 3. 5 million times on YouTube. Some social media users said the timing of the video’s release, one week after an American military Osprey aircraft off Okinawa, setting off protests, was indelicate. But many others welcomed it as pure entertainment or as a sign of warm ties between the two countries. “Wow, this is great,” one person wrote in Japanese on YouTube. “Americans are really good at getting carried away. A boring Japanese government would never do this. ” The television series premiered in October and stars a lovelorn information technology worker who hires an unemployed woman to pretend to be his wife and do chores around his Tokyo apartment. They end up falling in love. The show’s closing dance features five characters performing goofy, choreographed moves in the man’s living room, to the sounds of a peppy song titled “Koi,’’ or “Love. ’’ It became a sensation on Japanese social media, and people around the country — including a group of famous figure skaters — have uploaded their own versions of the “Koi Dance. ” In the embassy’s version, Ms. Kennedy performs the opening move, which looks vaguely like a yoga pose, to the song from the show. Other scenes show members of her staff dancing around their offices in Christmas hats and sweaters, as one official lip syncs the lyrics. The video also includes a cameo by a person dressed as the bear Kumamon, the mascot for the southern prefecture of Kumamoto, who dances beside a team of fake reindeer. Asked to comment on the video, Jonas D. Stewart, an embassy spokesman in Tokyo, said that “quite a few” of the embassy’s Japanese and American staff members were fans of the television show, and that they had been inspired to interpret the Koi Dance after watching others on social media. He also expressed gratitude to Kumamon for agreeing to dance in the embassy’s video. “We thought people would enjoy it,” he said, “but we had no idea how popular it would become. ” | 1 |
Atlético Nacional, the Colombian team that was to play Chapecoense of Brazil in the finals of the Copa Sudamericana soccer tournament this week, has asked the organization in charge of South American soccer to award the trophy to Chapecoense, which had nearly all of its players and coaches killed in a plane crash on Monday night. Nacional said in a statement on its website and its Twitter feed that it had requested that the South American confederation, Conmebol, cancel the finals and declare Chapecoense the champion of the tournament, South America’s prestigious club competition. “Atlético Nacional calls on Conmebol to award the title of the Copa Sudamericana to Chapecoense for its huge loss, and in posthumous homage to the victims killed in the accident,” the team said in a statement. The competition’s organizers acknowledged that the request had been made after the “unanimous agreement” of Nacional’s players. On Monday, Chapecoense was flying to Medellín, Colombia, for the first leg of the finals when its chartered plane crashed on the outskirts of the city, killing nearly everyone on board. The plane was carrying 77 people, and Colombia’s civilian aviation authority said that six people had survived the crash: three of the 22 players, two of the nine crew members and one of the 21 journalists accompanying the team. The teams in Brazil’s first division released a “statement of solidarity” with Chapecoense, volunteering to lend it players for the 2017 season. The teams also said they had issued a “formal request” to the Brazilian soccer federation that “Chapecoense not be subjected to relegation” for the next three years. “It is a minimum gesture of solidarity that is at our disposal,” the statement read. “But it is endowed with the sincere objective of reconstruction of this institution that Brazilian football has lost. ” Brazilian soccer officials ordered all games in the country canceled for a mourning period beginning Tuesday, and around the world, other teams and leagues offered moments of silence before matches and practice sessions. Teams and players used social media to offer their condolences to Chapecoense, a minor regional club whose rise to the country’s top division had led it to be described as the Cinderella of Brazilian soccer. As recently as 2009, the club was playing in Brazil’s fourth tier. Two years ago, it won promotion to the country’s top flight, and its berth in the Copa Sudamericana finals brought the promise of the biggest games in the club’s history. Juliano Belletti, a former defender for Barcelona, Chelsea and the Brazilian national team, said the club’s rise through the ranks had “brought joy and hope” to the entire country. The Italian club Torino and the English powerhouse Manchester United also posted poignant condolences on Twitter. Each club’s history includes its own air disaster: Torino’s team was decimated in 1949 when a plane carrying 22 players crashed into a mountain, and Manchester United met with a similar catastrophe in 1958 when 23 people died in a crash in Germany as the club returned from a European Cup game. One of the members of the Chapecoense squad on board the chartered flight was Danilo, a goalkeeper who was reported to have died at a hospital after being rescued from the wreckage. | 1 |
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After 12 hours of effort to hash out an agreement to cut oil production that can be presented formally to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (flag shown) in November, 14 oil ministers meeting in Vienna over the weekend gave birth to — a goose egg. Without an agreement, the November 30 gathering is likely to be irrelevant, just as the cartel itself is becoming.
Every cartel eventually blows up due to members unwilling to abide by agreements, cheating, creating side agreements, and in general seeking their own self interests. So it is with OPEC. At the Vienna meeting, Iran complained that it is really producing more than reported, while Iraq wanted a dispensation similar to Iran’s (which has allowed the country to expand its production back to pre-sanction levels), claiming that it has a war to fight and needs the revenues.
Venezuela, the UAE (United Arab Emirates), and Kuwait are each facing their own special problems — Venezuela in particular. President Nicolás Maduro made a personal trip to Vienna (some said in order to get away from the increasing unrest back home) to press the point: He needs more money to cover the increasing deficits his socialist policies are costing his government.
At the end of the day, several things were clear: First, there was no agreement, nor is one likely. If OPEC countries can’t agree, how could any non-OPEC oil producers (such as Russia) be persuaded to go along with any agreement to cut production to raise prices?
Second, any production cut (if there is one) would likely be borne primarily by OPEC’s largest producer, Saudi Arabia, which just completed its first (and perhaps last?) global bond offering for $18 billion initiated to slow the liquidation of its foreign reserves. Last year it liquidated nearly $100 billion of those reserves while playing the increasingly unsuccessful and costly game of chicken with U.S. producers.
In addition, U.S. energy producers are already announcing new capital expenditures while bringing on rigs that were temporarily idled during the downturn. Nick Cunningham, writing for OilPrice.com, noted another problem facing OPEC: In January there were 5,576 DUCs — drilled but uncompleted wells — just waiting for the right conditions for them to be completed. Since then more than 500 of them have been brought online, profitably, with most of the rest, according to observers, likely to be completed by the second quarter of 2017 — barely five months from now. What OPEC ultimately is facing is the vast and increasing disparity between what it costs them to bring a barrel of oil to the surface, and what it costs for American producers to complete a DUC. Since most of the up-front costs have already been expended, the marginal cost to bring a DUC well online is way below the current price of $50 a barrel. The math is persuasive, and U.S. oil producers are reacting accordingly.
In other words, OPEC is engaged in a game that it initiated and which it is now discovering that it cannot win and cannot quit. In the process, OPEC is becoming increasingly irrelevant while U.S. producers are pushing ahead, continuing to turn America into a country that is not only self-sufficient for its own energy needs but is also increasingly supplying the world.
The OPEC bickering is likely to intensify as the reality sinks in that the cartel has painted itself into a corner. Venezuela is facing existential questions, while most of the others are on an unsustainable path of decreasing revenues to fund socialist welfare programs that were never affordable and are now strangling the governments.
It’s likely that those revenues will continue to fall despite what OPEC may do (or more likely, not do) in November. Investors and producers are expecting oil prices to fall sharply, as measured by their “short” positions in the futures markets. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), there were more than 540,000 short positions (taken by those expecting oil prices to fall) as of October 11 — the most in nearly 10 years. Image: OPEC flag
An Ivy League graduate and former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . | 0 |
“There is no place in America for hatred or acts of prejudice or violence or ” Pence says at vandalized Jewish cemetery pic. twitter. Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the Chesed Shel Emeth Society Cemetery in University Park, MO outside of St. Louis at least a hundred headstones were destroyed over the weekend. Pence, speaking on a megaphone, condemned the acts and declared there was no place for acts of hatred, prejudice, violence or . “I’m Mike Pence, and I’m the Vice President of the United States of America,” Pence said. “I spoke words earlier today in St. Louis that were from the heart. There is no place in America for hatred or acts of prejudice or violence or . I must tell you, the people of Missouri are inspiring the nation by your love and care for this place, for the Jewish community in Missouri, and I want to thank you for that inspiration, for showing the world what America’s really all about. ” “On behalf of the President of the United States, let me just say thank you to all of you for coming out and showing the heart of this state and the heart of this nation in this place,” he added. “You just make us all proud. God bless you all. ” Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor | 1 |
Remy Porter Remy escaped the enterprise world and now works as a consultant. Editor-in-Chief for TDWTF.
“You’re going to learn quite a bit from Burt,” Burt said. “He’s one of the best.”
Davide blinked. He wondered if his new boss spoke about himself in the third person as a matter of course. Cautiously, he said, “Well… I hope so?”
“Burt’s been with us since the beginning,” Burt continued. “Nobody but nobody knows our systems and our environment better than he does. He’s one of those… whatchacallits …” Burt glanced around his desk, and found what he was looking for- a glossy trade-mag with a cover story about the most productive developers. “A Ten-X developer. We’re really lucky to have him, and you’re really lucky to work with him.”
Burt was not speaking in the third person. Burt, the CTO of the company, was a huge fan of Burt, the lead developer at the company. When Davide was hired on, CTO-Burt spent a lot of time praising the genius of Dev-Burt. Once David started working, he didn’t see CTO-Burt very much, but Dev-Burt also was eager to talk about what a genius he was.
“Not just anybody can manage a system with 100KLOC, mostly by themselves,” Dev-Burt said. “But stick with me, and maybe you’ll learn.”
Dev-Burt’s genius was questionable. Five minutes skimming the code-base made it clear that Dev-Burt had the coding conventions of a drunken lemur. The only thing that made the code even slightly readable was that most of it was in Python, and thus had to be indented logically. That was the only logical thing about it. Some variables were named in camelCase , others in snake_case . Half of them were just alwayslowercase . Function names were generally more consistent, only because there were fewer of them: Dev-Burt was the kind of developer that just loved to write 5,000 line functions. There were plenty of global variables, plenty of spaghettified code, and plenty “god” objects that mashed together thirty unrelated behaviors into one mess that behaved differently depending on which specific flags you set.
Dev-Burt was too busy being a 10x developer to give Davide any guidance about what he was supposed to do. The only coding conventions appeared to be “Dev-Burt does whatever Dev-Burt wants.” From time to time, Davide would pick up tickets as they came through, tracking down and patching bugs, but mostly he tried to find opportunities to refactor the code and add some unit tests.
This radical behavior lead to a tense meeting with the Burts.
“Burt tells me you’re causing problems,” CTO-Burt said.
“He’s making a mess out of my code,” Dev-Burt complained. “He’s making it more complicated!”
“I was just refactoring it so-”
“There he goes,” Dev-Burt said, throwing a hand in the air, “using his made up buzzwords. Look, we’ve got product to ship, and your refractioning isn’t getting us anywhere. I wouldn’t mind so much, but it’s eating into my own time, and making it harder for me to get work done!”
“That’s bad,” CTO-Burt timed in. “Because Burt’s a Ten-X developer. His time’s ten more times as valuable as yours.”
At least, after the meeting, Davide had clear rules to follow: Dev-Burt does whatever he wants, Davide does whatever Dev-Burt tells him to, and Davide was not to touch any code unless it was to deal with a ticket assigned to him by CTO-Burt.
This gave Davide a lot of downtime, during which he could watch the codebase grow. It was true, Dev-Burt was a 10x developer, in the sense that he could write ten times as much code as necessary and he’d often write the same code ten times, in different places in the application.
One day, while wondering if this made Dev-Burt the first 100x developer, Davide received a new ticket. One of the automated jobs had failed, dumping a stack trace to the log, and it kept failing every hour. It didn’t seem to be having any other effects, but CTO-Burt wanted it fixed.
Davide assumed there was an un-handled error, and dug through the stack trace to find the offending code. He was half right. Once he cut away the bulk of the logic, the basic structure of the method was this: def manage_expectations(*args,**kwargs): try: #about 1,200 lines of code except Exception, e: raise e
So, Dev-Burt had handled the exception… by re-throwing it. A few hours picking apart the function, and it was clear that the underlying problem was a FileNotFoundError when scanning a logfile for messages- there was no guarantee that the logfile would exist. It was easy enough to make the code fail gracefully when it encountered the exception, but that might be considered “refractioning”, and so Davide needed to ask Dev-Burt for permission first.
“Hey, Burt,” Davide asked, “can you pull up some code for me?” He pointed to the raise e and said, “Why are you doing that? Why is that there?”
Dev-Burt nodded, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “That’s an exception handler,” he said.
“Yes, I know that . Why is that raise there?”
“Hmm… I guess I’m not sure. What does the raise command do?”
Davide went back to his desk, fixed the exception handler, and then started sending out resumes. He’d learned everything he needed to from Dev-Burt, and was now ready to fail gracefully out of this job. [Advertisement] Application Release Automation for DevOps – integrating with best of breed development tools. Free for teams with up to 5 users. Download and learn more today! | 0 |
Share This The International Organization for Migration estimates that almost 16,000 people have been displaced by fighting since the Mosul operation against the Islamic State militants began. But, there are also reports that tens of thousands more have been forcibly moved from their homes to be used as human shields. Colonel John Dorrian , a Coalition spokesman, said about 2,500 bombs, missiles, rockets and shells have been dropped during the Mosul campaign. Amnesty International has called on all belligerents to cease or resist using white phosphorous around civilians. Shi’ite militiamen say that they could begin their advance towards Tal Afar any day now. However, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has threatened to retaliate against any attack on Tal Afar, which is home to many of the Turkmen minority group. Security forces have paused in their advance towards Mosul. The break may take a couple of days as troops reorganize themselves, consolidate their gains, and double check for militants in captured areas. At least 78 people were killed : | 0 |
WASHINGTON — “The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures From the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts,” at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery here, is the first major United States display of handwritten copies of Islam’s holy text. It’s a glorious show, utterly, and like nothing I’ve ever seen, with more than 60 burnished and gilded books and folios, some as small as smartphones, others the size of carpets. Flying carpets, I should say. This is art of a beauty that takes us straight to heaven. And it reminds us of how much we don’t know — but, given a chance like this, will love to learn — about a religion and a culture lived by, and treasured by, a quarter of the world’s population. The manuscripts, most on loan from a venerable museum in Istanbul, date from the seventh to 17th centuries, and come from various points: Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey. Some volumes are intact others survive as only single pages, though so great is the Quran’s spiritual charisma that, traditionally, every scrap is deemed worthy of preserving. And the Sackler curators, Massumeh Farhad and Simon Rettig, give the material all the glamour it deserves, with a duskily lighted installation in which everything seems to glow and float, . The word Quran (or Koran) is derived from an Arabic verb for speaking from memory or reading aloud. And the book originated with the sound of a voice heard by a man named Muhammad ibn Abdullah near Mecca, the city in what is now Saudi Arabia. A trader by profession, he was in the habit of spending periods of reflection in a cave outside of town. On one visit, in A. D. 610, when he was 40, he heard a command, seemingly coming from nowhere, in Arabic: Fearing for his sanity, he fled the cave. But he returned, and the voice, which belonged to the Angel Gabriel, spoke again, bringing a message from God. The message named Muhammad prophet of a new monotheistic religion and explained its tenets and beliefs to him. He began to share what he’d heard, but encountered violent resistance, and had to move to another city, Medina. The voice followed him there and would continue to speak until Muhammad’s death in 632. By that point, the new religion, called Islam — “submission, surrender” — had found its footing and attracted followers, though the words Muhammad heard had been only partly written down. With the prophet himself gone, and his closest companions aging, there was fear that the revelations would be lost. So a great effort of copying, collecting and collating began, and by the end of the seventh century, the Quran acquired something like a final shape. A curious shape it is. About the length of the New Testament, the book has 114 chapters, or suras, all but one beginning with the same invocation: “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. ” Some chapters run several pages others are just a few lines. Many of the shortest are urgent and rousing: They seem to record what Muhammad heard in those first sessions in the cave. Yet they tend to come toward the back of the book, while longer, later passages — about communal practicalities and social justice — are placed up front. There are many theories addressing this ordering, but no final explanation. The Quran, like all foundational religious texts, is a tangle of ambiguities and mysteries, to which endless annotations can be, and are being, written. And the pen, along with the voice, became the book’s primary medium. The physical act of copying the text was thought to bring blessings — baraka — to the writer, though the earliest example in the show looks like a job. Dating from the late seventh or early eighth century, and found in the archives of the Great Mosque in Damascus, it’s a parchment folio covered almost edge to edge with Quranic passages. Written in an informal script, with chapter divisions barely acknowledged, it looks more like a personal letter than like a religious text. Over time, though, highly refined penmanship styles, visual equivalents to the cadences of the spoken word, were designed specifically for the Quran, and masters of those styles were revered as cultural stars. So wide was the fame of the Baghdad artist Ibn (“son of the doorman”) that his signature was routinely forged, as is the case with a Quran in the show that bears his name but was copied by someone else. One of his Baghdad successors, Yaqut was comparably celebrated. When a Mongol army laid waste to the city in 1258, his life was spared so that he could work for the new rulers, which he did for years. Although very few genuine examples of his work are now known, the show has one. Largely because of its Quranic association, calligraphy came to be regarded as the greatest of Islamic art forms, sacred or secular. Spilling out of books onto wall tiles, ceramic vessels, glass lamps, textiles, mosque domes and building facades, it was both a sensual and ideological unifier, totalizingly utopian in the way that Mondrian’s environmental Modernism would be. Yet calligraphy was not the only elaborating gloss applied to the Quran. After the introduction of paper from China in the eighth century, copying the text on parchment — animal skin — fell into disfavor, and all kinds of experimentation came into play. Multivolume Qurans — 30 volumes was a typical number, corresponding to the days of Ramadan — became more common as paper made them easier to produce, and compact versions gained in popularity. Size increased. The show has two pages from one of the largest Qurans on record. Probably made for the Mongol emperor Timur around 1400, they’re the equivalent of billboard advertisements for institutional power: the power of rulers, patrons, artists, religion, the Quran itself. Over the centuries, the holy book became increasingly treated as an aesthetic object and a ritual instrument. Symbols were introduced to orchestrate the recitation of its contents: indicators of where to pause, where to place emphasis, how to pronounce words. These signs, exquisitely painted, wreathed the text in networks of florets, medallions and arabesques, done in blue or gold. Material preciousness became an end in itself, turning Qurans into prestige objects and political currency, valued as diplomatic gifts, as war booty and as pious, donations to mosques and mausoleums. Many Qurans in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts’ collection were transferred there from royal tombs at the turn of the 20th century, when Europe was plundering Turkey for art. The impression of the Washington exhibition is of splendor, not just from book to book and page to page, but within individual pages, with their nested divisions, their lustrous ornaments and their sprouting, rolling, singing Arabic phrases, which form the ethical heart of a faith and a culture. In a short video at the start of the show, we learn how these elements work together: A male voice intones one of the suras simultaneously, an animated version of the Arabic text appears, spelled out in gold, on the screen, with an English translation below. Once inside the show, though, we don’t have the voice, and we only occasionally have translations. What we have are the written words, which, for those of us who don’t read Arabic, we must accept as examples of . Is that enough? The day I was at the museum, there were just a few visitors, and of those, several were women wearing hijabs. I watched them as they looked intently at the manuscripts arrayed around us, and I knew they were seeing things I couldn’t see, and feeling things I couldn’t feel, because they could read the words. I was aware — and this is an easy perception — of the larger barriers of unknowing that stand between art and understanding, and of the barriers that stand between cultures, barriers that have, among other things, led our United States to propose banning entry to this country for women like these, who cover their heads and read a book that most of us don’t, and can’t. Soon that will take up residence mere blocks from the Sackler. This show will still be on then. Will he see it? We can hope. But whether or not he does, some of us did, and stayed a long time, looking at, and lingering over, miraculously beautiful things and sharing, in different but not so different ways, the blessing that beauty brings. | 1 |
WASHINGTON — For the first 10 weeks of President Trump’s administration, no adviser loomed larger in the public imagination than Stephen K. Bannon, the raw and rumpled former chairman of Breitbart News who considers himself a “virulently ” revolutionary out to destroy the “administrative state. ” But behind the scenes, White House officials said, the ideologist who enjoyed the president’s confidence became increasingly embattled as other advisers, including Mr. Trump’s daughter and complained about setbacks on health care and immigration. Lately, Mr. Bannon has been conspicuously absent from some meetings. And now he has lost his seat at the national security table. In a move that was widely seen as a sign of changing fortunes, Mr. Trump removed Mr. Bannon, his chief strategist, from the National Security Council’s “principals committee” on Wednesday. The shift was orchestrated by Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, who insisted on purging a political adviser from the Situation Room where decisions about war and peace are made. Mr. Bannon resisted the move, even threatening at one point to quit if it went forward, according to a White House official who, like others, insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Mr. Bannon’s camp denied that he had threatened to resign and spent the day spreading the word that the shift was a natural evolution, not a signal of any diminution of his outsize influence. His allies said privately that Mr. Bannon had been put on the principals committee to keep an eye on Mr. Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, a retired general who lasted just 24 days before being forced out for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about what he had discussed with Russia’s ambassador. With Mr. Flynn gone, these allies said, there was no need for Mr. Bannon to remain, but they noted that he had kept his security clearance. “Susan Rice operationalized the N. S. C. during the last administration,” Mr. Bannon said in a statement, referring to President Barack Obama’s national security adviser. “I was put on the N. S. C. with General Flynn to ensure that it was . General McMaster has returned the N. S. C. to its proper function. ” Mr. Bannon did not explain what he meant by “operationalized” or how his presence on the committee had ensured it would not be. It was one more drama in a White House consumed by palace intrigue, where officials jockey for the ear of the president, angle for authority and seek to place blame for political defeats. Even as Mr. Bannon lost a national security credential, Jared Kushner, the president’s and senior adviser, seems to be acting as a shadow secretary of state, visiting Iraq and taking on China, Mexico and Middle East portfolios. Mr. Bannon’s many enemies, inside and outside the White House, celebrated what they saw as a defeat for his brand of fiery, nationalist politics. “He didn’t belong on the principals committee to begin with — doesn’t really belong in the White House at all,” said Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “I hope that this is a sign that McMaster is taking control of the National Security Council. ” Karl Rove — who, as senior adviser to President George W. Bush, was not allowed to join national security meetings — said it was a move back to a better process. “It was wrong for him to be added in the first place, and it was right to take him off,” he said. Even if Mr. Bannon really was removed only because there was no longer a need for someone to mind Mr. Flynn, Mr. Rove added, the end result was a victory for General McMaster. “It’s either a sign of McMaster’s strength, or the result is it strengthens McMaster,” he said. Still, Mr. Bannon, who has been under attack from outside the administration since the early days of the transition, is a crafty survivor, and insiders warned that it would be a mistake to underestimate him. When General McMaster wanted to fire a staff member, Ezra Mr. Bannon intervened to save his job. Mr. had alerted colleagues that Mr. Trump’s associates had been caught up in surveillance of foreigners, information then shown by another White House official to Representative Devin Nunes, Republican of California and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russian meddling in last year’s election. James Jeffrey, a deputy national security adviser to Mr. Bush, said General McMaster appeared to have “scored one on the presumably more powerful Bannon,” but cautioned against reading too much into what it meant for Mr. Bannon. “He seems to be very close to the president and, by most accounts, still wins many of his battles,” Mr. Jeffrey said. From the start, General McMaster intended to revamp the National Security Council organization that he inherited from Mr. Flynn. The principals committee, which is led by the national security adviser and includes the vice president, secretary of state, defense secretary and others, is the primary body deciding questions that do not rise to the level of the president and framing those that do. The initial structure approved by Mr. Trump not only gave Mr. Bannon formal membership on the committee, but also downgraded the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence to occasional participants as issues demanded. In addition to removing Mr. Bannon, the new order issued by Mr. Trump, dated Tuesday and made public on Wednesday, restored the Joint Chiefs chairman and intelligence director and added the energy secretary, C. I. A. director and United Nations ambassador. It also put the Homeland Security Council under General McMaster rather than making it a separate entity, as Mr. Trump’s original order had done. Mr. Trump was angry over the fallout from his first order, feeling that he had not been properly warned about its implications. He briefly considered reversing it the same weekend it was announced, according to a person with direct knowledge, but decided against it for fear of creating more of a public storm. For the first two months of Mr. Trump’s presidency, Mr. Bannon occupied an unassailable perch at the president’s side — ramming through key elements of his eclectic and populist agenda, including two executive orders on freezing immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries. Mr. Trump viewed Mr. Bannon as a kindred spirit who favored his own communications strategy. But blunders by Mr. Bannon’s team — especially the first immigration order, which was rejected by multiple courts — have undermined his position. His style was not a winning strategy on Capitol Hill, and Mr. Bannon declined to take a significant part. Experienced politicians, including Mr. Pence and Mr. Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney, stepped into more expansive roles as negotiations over the failed health care overhaul dragged on. Mr. Trump initially supported Mr. Bannon’s final message to holdouts in the House Freedom Caucus. But, needing a win, the president grew skeptical and authorized Mr. Pence to resume health care talks, with Mr. Bannon playing more of a supporting role, according to three people close to Mr. Trump. Mr. Bannon has also been at odds with Gary Cohn, the president’s national economics adviser. Mr. Cohn is close with Mr. Kushner, who has said privately that he fears that Mr. Bannon plays to the president’s worst impulses, according to people with direct knowledge of such discussions. Moreover, Mr. Bannon’s reputation has chafed on a president who sees himself as the West Wing’s only leading man. Several associates said the president had quietly expressed annoyance over the credit Mr. Bannon had received for setting the agenda — and Mr. Trump was not pleased by the “President Bannon” theme promoted by magazines, talk shows and Twitter. Yet there is a risk for Mr. Trump in appearing to minimize Mr. Bannon, a hero to the nationalist, base that helped drive Mr. Trump to an Electoral College victory. With his approval ratings at historic lows for so early in a presidency, he is counting on the same people who see Mr. Bannon as their champion — just as Mr. Bannon is counting on Mr. Trump to retain his place in the White House inner circle. | 1 |
Michael Moore Just Brought Every Liberal To Their Knees With This Epic Rant Proving Trump Will Win, Michael Moore Admits He Is Right
Michael Moore Admits Trump Is Right
Published on Oct 25, 2016 In a shocking video Michael Moore acurately describes what Donald Trump means to America and the middle class.
SNL: Tom Hanks as Trump Supporter in Black Jeopardy Spoof. Hilarious!
He will probably still vote for Hillary – but he sure opened a can of worms here! | 0 |
In the clip – filmed in Russia – Putin, 64, tells a group of journalists that the US is creating a “distraction” aiming “to distract voters from the country’s problems” by creating “an enemy and uniting the nation against them”. He references both Iran and Russia as the potential enemies.
But when asked whether he prefers Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton his response says a lot about ongoing World War 3 fears.
The President responded: “Mrs Clinton has chosen to take up a very aggressive stance against our country, against Russia.
“Mr Trump, on the other hand, calls for cooperation – at least when it comes to the international fight against terrorism.
“Naturally we welcome those who would like to cooperate with us. And we consider it wrong, that we always have to be in conflict with one another, creating existential threats for each other and for the whole world.
“Would Mrs. Clinton delivers on he threats and harsh rhetoric against Russia if she became President? Or will she correct her position against us?” | 0 |
November 3, 2016 - Fort Russ News - RusVesna - translated by J. Arnoldski -
On October 27th, 2016, as a result of joint operative-investigative activities between Russian and Turkish intelligence, in Instanbul were arrested leaders and active participants of an underground gang from the North Caucasus region and Crimea, who were hiding from Russian law enforcement on Turkish territory.
During the course of the operation, representatives of the Crimean branch of Hizb -ut-Tahrir and the North Caucasus wing of ISIS, totaling 80 people, were arrested.
In line with the agreement with Turkey’s intelligence services, their extradition to Russia is being resolved.
A high-ranking source in security structures explained to Russian Spring that Turkish intelligence services’ transfer of information on the Crimean Tatar and North Caucasus terrorist network to the Russian side, timed for the meeting between Putin and Erdogan in Sochi, was a gesture of thanks for intelligence warnings about the coup that failed in July, 2016.
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The mother of a schoolgirl rape victim has said Manchester bomber Salman Abedi was part of a group who waged a campaign of intimidation against her daughter and family. [Salman Abedi was an associate and childhood friend of Bilal Ahmed, who was jailed with two others for a total of 29 years in 2016 for taking part in the brutal gang rape of the . Members of the rapists’ South Manchester community “intimidated and goaded” the victim and her family members throughout the trial, and hurled abuse and blew kisses in court on the day the trio were jailed. The victim’s mother told the Mail on Sunday she is convinced Abedi was part of the mob who intimidated her and her husband outside court, asserting that she recognised Abedi’s name as soon as it became public following the Manchester attack. Concerned about violent imagery on the social media pages of Ahmed and his associates, the from Cheshire said she reported them to the hotline in February last year but believes no action was taken. “Now I see Salman, who clearly hung around with them, has become a suicide bomber. So clearly they didn’t look into what I told them properly,” she said, adding: “They are all friends and are ending up terrorists and rapists. “At the time it made me think another one could go on to commit a terrorist act and Salman clearly has. ” The private schoolgirl, who had little experience with boys, was lured to a hotel in Manchester by the attackers who had spent the previous night there celebrating Eid. The victim then became involved in what she believed to be a game of hide and seek, before being forced into a room by the group, who then took turns to rape her after deciding she was “easy prey” according to the judge. Speaking to the Mail last year on the campaign of harassment waged against the family, in which she said crowds numbering as many as 50 family members and friends of the attackers showed up to offer support to the rapists, the victim’s mother said: “I was frightened throughout and my husband was frightened. There were so many of them and many of them would goad me when I walked past and deliberately try to intimidate us. “It was scary. If this is what it does to us, then what would this be like for the victim of a rape case?” On Friday, Breitbart London reported that Abedi was part of an gang who accused teachers of “Islamophobia” for criticising terrorism. During his time at Burnage Academy for Boys in Manchester between 2009 and 2011, the Manchester bomber was reportedly part of a group who took offence at a teacher who “asked what they thought of someone who would strap on a bomb and blow people up”. According to sources talking to The Times, the “group went to complain to their [Religious Education] teacher saying it was Islamophobic”. | 1 |
Barack Obama has been out campaigning on behalf of Hillary Clinton the last month or so trying to help his investment, Hillary Clinton. As the race has heated up with the FBI reopening their investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, Hillary Clinton and her camp are starting to go crazy trying to find ways to combat the Trump Train that is about to leave them in the dust.
Via USAPolitics
First Hillary Clinton snapped at a protester at one of her rallies that shouted, “Bill Clinton is a rapist,” having him escorted out after his remarks. Now Obama is losing control and this time on a veteran. Yes, that’s right. A veteran!
Barack Obama doesn’t deserve to be Commander-in-Chief if he’s going to belittle the people that he sends into battle and harms way. An image of the Trump supporter protesting can be seen below.
Here's the pro-Trump protester who interrupted Obama rally pic.twitter.com/gbwzT3i1zU
— Josh Lederman (@joshledermanAP) November 4, 2016
What’s even worse it that right before he belittled this great American patriot, he was insulting trump for making fun of American POWs, most notably John McCain.
Obama lost complete control after that screaming:
“Hey, he, hey, hey, hey!! HOLD UP! SIT DOWN! I’m speaking! BE QUIET!! HOLD UP!”
He seems a bit desperate for attention to me.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are losing control and they can’t stand to see it. They are going to try everything in their power to cheat the system and probably try and rig the election so that they can maintain their power because they are connected on so many levels.
You can hear the screams and protests in the video above. Obama can’t even control a crowd let alone an entire country. This can’t be allowed to happen. We have to stop them for good and clean up the corrupt swamp that Washington has become.
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Here is the full text of Sen. Reid’s letter to Director Comey: Dear Director Comey:
Your actions in recent months have demonstrated a disturbing double standard for the treatment of sensitive information, with what appears to be a clear intent to aid one political party over another. I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act, which bars FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election. Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law.
The double standard established by your actions is clear.
In my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government – a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States, which Trump praises at every opportunity. The public has a right to know this information. I wrote to you months ago calling for this information to be released to the public. There is no danger to American interests from releasing it. And yet, you continue to resist calls to inform the public of this critical information.
By contrast, as soon as you came into possession of the slightest innuendo related to Secretary Clinton, you rushed to publicize it in the most negative light possible.
Moreover, in tarring Secretary Clinton with thin innuendo, you overruled longstanding tradition and the explicit guidance of your own Department. You rushed to take this step eleven days before a presidential election, despite the fact that for all you know, the information you possess could be entirely duplicative of the information you already examined which exonerated Secretary Clinton.
As you know, a memo authored by Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates on March 10, 2016, makes clear that all Justice Department employees, including you, are subject to the Hatch Act. The memo defines the political activity prohibited under the Hatch Act as “activity directed towards the success or failure of a political party, candidate for partisan political office, or partisan political group.”
The clear double-standard established by your actions strongly suggests that your highly selective approach to publicizing information, along with your timing, was intended for the success or failure of a partisan candidate or political group.
Please keep in mind that I have been a supporter of yours in the past. When Republicans filibustered your nomination and delayed your confirmation longer than any previous nominee to your position, I led the fight to get you confirmed because I believed you to be a principled public servant.
With the deepest regret, I now see that I was wrong.
Sincerely,
Senator Harry Reid
Reid basically accused Comey of violating the Hatch Act by releasing his letter so close to a presidential election. Even though Harry Reid is retiring, the bad news for Comey is that Reid’s letter is a clear sign that Senate Democrats aren’t going to let this matter drop.
If Democrats take back the Senate, Director Comey should brace himself, because he and his agency’s methods are going to be under Congressional investigation. | 0 |
BOMBSHELL! FBI Reopens Investigation on Hillary Clinton 10/28/2016 In today’s video, Christopher Greene of AMTV explains somebody very powerful just pulled the rug from under Hillary Clinton. 10/27/2016 TRUTH REVOLT http://youtu.be/PsVNKmb6jEc There’s a lot of accusations going around that the 2016 election is r ... Netflix Ceo: TV’s Future includes Hallucination Pills 10/27/2016 INDEPENDENT The future of TV might everyone taking hallucinogenic drugs, according to the head of Netflix. The thr ... | 0 |
WASHINGTON — President Trump and conservative lawmakers in the House agreed Friday to significant changes to Medicaid that could impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries in some states and limit federal funds for the program, as Republican leaders tried to rally balking lawmakers behind legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. “I want everyone to know, I’m 100 percent behind this,” Mr. Trump said at the White House, where he met with House members in the conservative Republican Study Committee. At a news conference hours later, the president predicted, “It’s going to be passed, I believe — I think substantially and pretty quickly. ” On Capitol Hill, the outlook was far less clear. The House is tentatively scheduled to vote Thursday to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement, exactly seven years after Mr. Obama signed it into law. As some lawmakers came out for the measure, some others — in the House and Senate — were stepping forward to oppose it. “Fundamentally, I don’t believe this proposal provides an adequate option for insurance access, nor does it address costs,” Representative John Katko, Republican of New York, said in a statement on Friday. “Further, I am confident the proposal would harm hospitals across my district. ” The concessions to conservatives are significant — and politically risky. The Obama administration refused to allow work requirements, saying they were not consistent with the goals of Medicaid, the health program for people. Several Republican governors have expressed interest in imposing such requirements on certain Medicaid beneficiaries — adults without minor children. “The Medicaid expansion has created a perverse incentive for states to provide benefits to adults at the expense of the elderly, the blind and the disabled,” Representative Gary Palmer, Republican of Alabama, said this week. “A work requirement would help states focus their limited resources on the truly needy. ” The president and House conservatives also agreed to allow states to choose one block grant to fund their Medicaid programs. The initial House bill would end Medicaid as an entitlement to health care, replacing that with an allotment to the states for each Medicaid beneficiary. If, instead, states accepted payments, they could gain more control over spending and more freedom to administer the program and define eligibility and benefits. Critics say that would restrict access to Medicaid in states with conservative governments. It is not clear how the federal government would calculate the amount of block grants. Nor is it clear which states, if any, might accept that option. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has already estimated that, under the House bill, the number of people without health insurance would be 14 million higher than expected next year and would be 24 million higher by 2026. The Medicaid adjustments could nudge that number even higher, a problem for many senators. The one Republican senator up for next year in a true swing state, Dean Heller of Nevada, said on Friday that he opposed the bill in its current form. Another Republican senator, Joni Ernst of Iowa, was noncommittal. Another likely change, Republicans said, would be to restructure the tax credits offered under the bill to help people buy private health insurance. Republican lawmakers had expressed concern that the tax credits, as originally devised by House leaders, were insufficient and could produce huge increases in premiums for some people age 50 to 64. The changes in Medicaid provisions of the bill could help win over conservative House members who have expressed concern or outright opposition to the bill for multiple reasons. Mr. Palmer voted against the House bill in the Budget Committee on Thursday. On Friday, he emerged from the White House in favor of it. “We’ve never had an opportunity to do anything like this,” Mr. Palmer said later. “This will be the most significant entitlement reform that we’ve seen. ” Representative Mark Walker of North Carolina, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said other members were on board as well. “On balance and with the changes we agreed to in the bill’s final text, I can vote for it,” he said after the meeting in the Oval Office. Mr. Trump’s level of engagement has been a major question mark as congressional leaders have tried to sell the proposal in the face of stinging opposition from a number of directions. His show of support for the House plan on Friday provided a lift for House leaders, who have been on the defensive all week over their bill and the persistent conservative opposition to it. Conservative holdouts who still have objections to the bill may reconsider if they come under more pressure from the president. “These changes definitely strengthen our number, but also show that President Trump’s now,” said the House majority whip, Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who was at the White House meeting and recounted how Mr. Trump voiced his support for the measure. Representative Bradley Byrne, Republican of Alabama, said the changes in the bill were having the intended effect. “I can tell you, from the private conversations I’m having with people, support for the bill has built dramatically over the last 24 hours,” he said Friday. But the changes were not enough to sway the House Freedom Caucus, which reiterated its opposition on Friday. Changing the bill to win over such conservatives risks alienating more moderate members of the House and the Senate who worry that the measure could cause millions of people to lose health coverage. The Republican governors of four states that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act — Arkansas, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio — sent a letter to congressional leaders this week rejecting the House bill as written. Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said on Thursday that she opposed the House bill, explaining that it would not do enough to help older people afford insurance. “We don’t want to in any way sacrifice coverage for people who need it the most,” she told The Portland Press Herald. House Republican moderates may be loath to take a difficult political vote if they are convinced the measure will die in the Senate. “If I hear one more senator tell me that this is dead on arrival, I think my head’s going to explode,” said Representative Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican from Pennsylvania. “That certainly is not something many members of the House find very appetizing — voting for something that will go nowhere in the Senate. ” The House Democratic whip, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, predicted that while the bill might be approved by the House, “It will not become law. ” Under the Affordable Care Act, 31 states have expanded Medicaid, providing coverage to millions of adults. The federal government has been paying more than 90 percent of the costs for the newly eligible beneficiaries. Republicans say this has taken the program away from its original purpose. Democrats contend that work requirements could increase the number of uninsured, limiting access to health care without significantly increasing employment. | 1 |
California State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De Léon ( Angeles) said last Tuesday that “half his family” was in the country illegally, using false documents, and eligible for deportation under President Trump’s new executive order against “sanctuary” jurisdictions. [De Léon, who introduced the bill, made his remarks at a hearing in Sacramento on SB54, the bill to make California a “Sanctuary State. ” He said (at 1:27:34 in the video that follows): … I can tell you half of my family would be eligible for deportation under [President Donald Trump’s] executive order, because if they got a false Social Security card, if they got a false identification, if they got a false driver’s license prior to us passing AB60, if they got a false green card, and anyone who has family members, you know, who are undocumented knows that almost entirely everybody has secured some sort of false identification. That’s what you need to survive, to work. They are eligible for massive deportation. Testifying before the Senate Public Safety Committee, De Léon defended the widespread practice by illegal aliens of using fraudulent documents to work and obtain benefits, dismissing any concerns California citizens may have about being the target of identity theft. In an interview the following day on KPCC 89. 3’s Air Talk with Larry Mantle, De Léon expressed outrage that President Trump’s executive order would include those who possess fraudulent documents or committed identity theft to obtain a Social Security number. “Someone simply who received or purchased a [fraudulent] Social Security card down at McArthur Park, or elsewhere in my district would be eligible immediately for mass deportation,” De Léon said (at 11:45 in the link above). “He’s trying to deputize police officers — and with the suspicion of someone being a criminal or having a broken taillight, that they themselves, as a local police officer, could call the ICE agents immediately and have that person deported without even legal due process. ” Host Larry Mantle asked him: “ … First of all, I just — I want to make sure I understand correctly: You don’t think purchasing a phony Social Security card and number should be a deportable offense?” De Léon replied: “I don’t think so … the vast majority of immigrants — hard working immigrants — have done that. I can tell you I have family members specifically who came here as undocumented immigrants, and they did the same thing. That’s what you need to do to survive in this economy. ” Mantle objected: “But of course the problem is, — and I know people too — who’ve had their Social Security numbers and identities stolen as a result of that … . ” De Léon minimized the problem, saying it was not the same as “Russian” hacking. Breitbart News’ calls to the President Pro Tem’s office were unreturned. Tim Donnelly is a former California State Assemblyman. Author, Patriot Not Politician: Win or Go Homeless, | 1 |
Planet Earth II viewers demand legal system for animals 15-11-16 PLANET Earth II viewers have demanded that animals get their own criminal justice system to stop them doing horrible things. After the wildlife documentary showed snakes trying to kill a baby iguana, many Britons now believe animals need their own laws and a police force. Administrator Nikki Hollis said: “These snakes are doing the most horrific things without the slightest fear of being arrested and punished. “Animals need to realise they won’t be safe until they have laws and enforce them. Gorillas could be the police, because they’re massive and won’t put up with any nonsense, and wise animals like owls could be judges. “Criminal animals will soon get the message once a few are sentenced to life for murder. Obviously animals don’t have prisons yet but I’m sure the monkeys could build cages.” Graphic designer Tom Logan said: “After seeing the extent of lawlessness in the animal kingdom I think we need to get the human courts involved. “The conviction rate will be high because most animals make no attempt to hide their crimes, leaving a wealth of DNA and video evidence. “We also need an emergency rescue service for baby penguins, because that episode of Life in the Freezer made me blub in front of my mates.”
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Far Cry 5 brings Ubisoft’s shooter to the United States, pitting players against a religious doomsday cult that has taken over the remote fictional Hope County in Montana. [Ubisoft is courting controversy with their latest entry in the series, which seems targeted to appeal to the revenge fantasies of the crowd that has labeled anyone who hasn’t declared open resistance against Donald Trump’s presidency as a deserving target of violence. The game does include a Christian pastor trying to save his congregation from the cult that has taken over his home as one of the protagonist’s allies, and producer Dan Hay told Kotaku that there would be no specific references to Trump in the game, but it’s hard not to infer that the backwards religious zealots that serve as the game’s enemies are what the developers really think of Middle America. Whether there is any nuance to the political messaging of Far Cry 5 remains to be seen. Breitbart Tech hopes to learn more about the game at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo in June. | 1 |
A leader of the Christian charismatic movement has declared that the unprecedented resistance to U. S. President Donald Trump signals a deeper, spiritual battle that is taking place over America’s soul. [Lou Engle, the founder of several Christian ministries, has highlighted two recent events that give cause for concern to Christians: the Women’s March on Washington, with its close alliance with the U. S. abortion lobby, and recent calls to use witchcraft to “bind” and utterly destroy the president. In an essay in Charisma Magazine, the charismatic leader of “The Call” wrote that the Women’s March “was the first shot across the bow, heralding a revolutionary rise against the president of the United States,” and the fellow citizens who elected him. The March was also an uprising against “the foundational biblical truths upon which our nation was founded,” Engle said. “Soon after, the second shot was manifested publicly: an unprecedented global summons of witchcraft to curse President Trump, his Cabinet and all of those aligned with a biblical worldview,” Engle wrote. “Suddenly, the whole controversy was elevated to a global spiritual dimension, inaugurating a spiritual battle that cannot be won on the playing field of protests and political arguments. ” “Only the church has the answer to this unprecedented manifestation of witchcraft. Spiritual strategy must be used to overcome this brazen challenge of the powers,” he said. Understanding fierce ideological battles in spiritual terms is no novelty for Christians. As Saint Paul wrote some 2, 000 years ago, “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ” In this battle, Engle sees great cause for hope, since many Americans do not identify with the anger, extremism and above all visceral hate being directed toward the president and those who voted for him. “Hundreds of thousands of women watched the March, heard the vitriol and could not identify with the radical ideologies being expressed that would not acknowledge God’s Word and ways in the public controversy,” he wrote. “This new woman declared deep inside her heart, This is not my revolution. ” Lou Engle is not alone in his analysis. Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput recently expressed his astonishment at the mainstream media’s ongoing war against Donald Trump. “It’s just amazing to me how hostile the press is to everything the president does,” Chaput told a radio talk show host last month. “I don’t want to be partisan in my comments here, but it seems to me if we are really serious about our common responsibilities, we support the president,” Chaput said, adding that good citizens should “wish him success rather than trying to undermine him. ” As a way of joining in the spiritual battle, Engle has proposed three days of fasting and prayer for the nation, beginning on Wednesday, March 8. In what he is calling an “Esther fast,” in commemoration of the Jewish heroine Esther, Engle invites the nation to fast and pray for three days leading up to the Jewish deliverance feast of Purim, which begins this year on Saturday evening, March 11. Among the many intentions of this Lenten “Esther fast,” Engle proposes that Christians and all people of good will pray in particular for the overturning of the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which, together with Doe v. Bolton, struck down existing abortion laws and granted abortion on demand for the full nine months of pregnancy for the entire country. Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome | 1 |
Interviews US First Lady Michelle Obama (L) listens as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign rally in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on October 27, 2016. (Photo by AFP)
The United States government is trying to distract people from the true nature of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton by accusing Russia of influencing the election against her.
Don DeBar, a New York-based author and radio host, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Thursday, following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s response to Washington’s accusations of sponsoring hacking attacks against the US.
Speaking to foreign policy experts during a Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Sochi, southern Russia on Thursday, Putin said Washington was using Russia as a distraction to cover the fact that this year’s White House contenders had nothing to offer on real issues.
“The subject matter of what is being revealed here is definitely an action item that defines who Clinton is,” DeBar said.
“Also, the thing that is really galling is the fact that we are told to ignore the content, and the content is something that goes to the heart of governing and also to the heart of Clinton’s record,” the analyst noted.
“This is the person who was married to the guy who signed in ‘three strikes and you are out legislation’ for people to get life in prison if they are convicted of three felonies,” he said. “If you look at the things that have been revealed here, some of the acts are themselves the violations of three separate federal criminal sanctions.”
DeBar argued that Clinton has multiple sets of the triple violations and yet is freely allowed to run for office under federal protection.
Clinton and her campaign have repeatedly claimed that Russia was trying to rig the November election in favor of Republican nominee Donald Trump.
During the last presidential debate last week, Clinton accused Trump of having secret ties with Moscow, saying that Putin would love to see a “puppet” in the White House.
DeBar dismissed accusations against the Russian president, but noted that since the US was openly seeking regime change in Russia, it is only logical for Russia to fight back.
Based on that argument, DeBar said: "It warrants support and not condemnation” even if Russia was trying to fight back in a way or another. Loading ... | 0 |
On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” New York Magazine Andrew Sullivan argued, “Liberals have to be careful not to sound so f*cking condescending and smug, as if they know it, and start actually engaging the other side and persuading people. ” Sullivan said there was a “giant cloud of smug” above MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow during her Trump tax story. liberals have to be careful to not so fucking condescending and smudges if they know it and start engaging the other side and persuading people. He continued, “Liberals have to be careful not to sound so f*cking condescending and smug, as if they know it, and start actually engaging the other side and persuading people. ” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett | 1 |
Montag, 7. November 2016 Chaos bei Jochen Schweizer: Beschenkte Person will tatsächlich Erlebnisgutschein einlösen München (dpo) - Helle Aufregung in der Firmenzentrale der Jochen Schweizer GmbH: Dort hat heute erstmals in der Firmengeschichte ein Kunde versucht einen Geschenkgutschein tatsächlich einzulösen. Noch sind die anwesenden Mitarbeiter ratlos, wie sie mit der kuriosen Anfrage umgehen sollen. Mehrere stehen unter Schock. "Was sollen wir nur tun? Was machen wir denn jetzt?", fragt Kundenmanagerin Erika Schwenninger (38) verzweifelt. "Hat schon jemand den Chef erreichen können?" Sie wirkt sichtlich angeschlagen von der bizarren Situation, in der sie sich als Angestellte bei Jochen Schweizer noch nie befunden hat. Seit über 12 Jahren vertreibt das Unternehmen hauptsächlich über das Internet Geschenkgutscheine für "Events" und "Erlebnisse". Die Gutscheine sind ein beliebtes Präsent zu Geburtstagen oder anderen Gelegenheiten und kommen insbesondere dann zum Einsatz, wenn die Schenkenden keine Ideen für ein richtiges Geschenk haben. Die "Erlebnisse" sind dabei so abschreckend gewählt ("Tandem-Bungee", "Dampflok selber fahren bei Lutherstadt Eisleben"), dass normalerweise niemand ernsthaft erwägt, die Gutscheine einzulösen. Er stürzt mit seiner Gier ein Unternehmen in die Kriese: Thorsten Koschwitz Auch im Fall von Thorsten Koschwitz sei daher nicht mit Komplikationen zu rechnen gewesen. Der Hannoveraner hatte den Gutschein für "Auto-Crashen mit dem Monster-Truck im Wert von 349,90 Euro" im September zu seinem 32. Geburtstag bekommen. Dass er nun darauf besteht, tatsächlich mit einem riesigen Truck Autos zerstören zu dürfen, stellt die Firma vor schier unlösbare Probleme. "Was glaubt der Mann denn, wo wir nun so einen Truck hernehmen sollen? Ganz zu schweigen von den zu zerstörenden Autos", führt Erika Schwenninger aus. "Und das Ganze für maximal 349,90 Euro! Und was ist, wenn noch mehr Menschen auf die Idee kommen, ihre Gutscheine einzulösen? Dann können wir den Laden dicht machen!" Schwenninger bricht in Tränen aus, die Sorge um den Verlust ihres Arbeitsplatzes ist groß. Das kann doch niemand ernsthaft wollen. Denn: Jochen Schweizer lebt - ebenso wie andere ähnliche Gutschein-Portale - davon, ein Gefühl zu verschenken, Nervenkitzel auf Papier. Die Beschenkten soll beim Blick auf den Titel des Geschenks Gänsehaut überkommen, der darauf eingetragene Euro-Betrag soll zeigen, wie viel der Beschenkte seinen Freunden wert ist. Die Einnahmen durch die Gutscheinverkäufe refinanzieren das Personal des Unternehmens, den Firmensitz, die aufwändige Internetpräsenz und die teure Werbung. Für die Umsetzung echter Events ist in der Kalkulation kein Platz. Darum hat nun Jochen Schweizer persönlich Thorsten Koschwitz ein Gespräch angeboten. Der Firmengründer will den jungen Mann um Verständnis bitten und zu einem kostengünstigeren Erlebnis wie "Igel-Crashen mit dem Golf II" oder "Nüsse-Crashen mit dem Nussknacker" überreden. Um weitere Missverständnisse wie im Falle von Thorsten Koschwitz auszuschließen, sollen Jochen-Schweizer-Gutscheine zudem künftig immer folgende Fußnote beinhalten: "Gutschein ist nur zum Schenken bestimmt und kann nicht eingelöst werden." adg, dan, ssi; Foto unten: Jot Powers , CC BY-SA 2.0 Artikel teilen: | 0 |
Waking Times
President Elect Trump is new title for New York businessman, millionaire and Republican candidate Donald J. Trump, who yesterday on November 8th, 2016 successfully won the US presidential election. Trump managed to defeat favorite Hillary Clinton by a relatively narrow margin. The victory came as a shock to many Americans, regardless of where they reside on the political spectrum. For many in the alternative media, the victory of President Elect Trump comes with a great sense of relief that career criminal Hillary Clinton was not elected (or installed) as so many had expected. Clinton had already showed a propensity to collude, cheat and lie during the Democratic Primaries where she triumphed with dirty tactics over Bernie Sanders. For many others, turned off by Trump’s racism, sexism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and generally flippant comments, the Trump victory is devastating and will challenge them psychologically and emotionally to accept the reality for the results. Hillary Clinton: What Went Wrong?
The result is especially surprising given the degree to which Hillary Clinton had ingratiated herself with the upper echelons of the NWO (New World Order). From an outside perspective, it seemed Clinton had left no stone unturned in brown-nosing and sucking up to the most powerful people and organizations in the world, including the Rothschilds, Goldman Sachs, the Rockefeller CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) and many many more. Additionally, given her propensity for criminality and her powerful backers such as George Soros, coupled with the serious problems electronic voting machines possess in being able to be hacked and the vote flipped, many are left wondering how Hillary lost . What went wrong?
At this stage in the game of post-election analysis, we can point to a few things. Hillary’s criminal past clearly caught up with her. It is unprecedented in the history of US presidential elections for a leading candidate to be under an on-again, off-again criminal investigation. Clinton simply has so many scandals in her recent and distant past that it’s like trying to stop a ship with 30 holes from sinking; you can’t plug them all. She was also running up against the problem that the Democrats had been in power for 8 years, when recent history shows that power seems to change hands in around that time frame. Clinton represented the establishment, and as the popularity of both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump has shown, people are tired of the same. They intuitively know the system is rigged and corrupt, even if they can’t exactly put their fingers on it. Obama, Mr. “Hope and Change”, got in with a slick campaign of promising something different (upon which he didn’t deliver). Trump represented anti-establishment, and whether he truly embodies that or not is an entirely different matter, because it’s all about perception. Does a Trump Victory Show that NWO Powerbrokers Are Less in Control than It Seems?
The win of President Elect Trump is truly shocking and monumental event. Many people (including myself) were predicting that it was a foregone conclusion that Clinton would win. For instance, founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange stated before the election that “Trump would not permitted to win” . The MSM (Mainstream Media) were clearly favoring Clinton at almost every turn. Whatever you think of Trump, we can at least say the will of the majority of American voters was respected, which is a relief, given how much corruption exists in our society today.
The question now is this: is a Trump victory the result the NWO powerbrokers wanted all along, for reasons we are yet to see? Or is it a genuine uprising against these forces? What Does a Trump Presidency Mean for Liberty and Freedom?
For me, Trump can be summarized in one word: unpredictable . President Elect Trump truly embodies unpredictability more than any other high-level politician around. One moment he is railing against the 9/11 official story, then he is declaring his love for Israel, then he is bringing up the vaccine-autism connection, then he is suggesting Snowden be killed. Next he is suggesting GMO corn makes you stupid, then he suggesting Muslims be banned from the US , then he is calling global warming a hoax , then he is suggesting the Government be given the power to shut down the internet. Then, after all of that, he makes friendly overtures to Russia while demonizing the hell out of Iran. What does he stand for? Peace or war? Freedom or tyranny?
At this stage no one knows, probably not even Trump himself. He has contradicted himself numerous times throughout his campaign, and merely once suggesting a good idea (i.e. looking at who controls the issuance of money instead of letting the international bankers via the Federal Reserve control it) doesn’t mean it will become his policy. Unpredictability is one of Trump’s great qualities, but also one of his most dangerous. A lot will depend on with whom he surrounds himself once becoming President Trump, and what kind of advice they give him. His VP Mike Pence is a standard conservative Republican who will be no doubt far more to the liking of the NWO conspirators, but Trump is also taking advice from retired DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) chief Michael Flynn, the man who came out and highlighted how the US created ISIS in a declassified DIA document .
For now, America and the world have around two-and-a-half months to get over the incredible shock of yesterday’s result and psychologically prepare itself for a Trump presidency. Meanwhile, it would be foolish for us to expect that one man can fix all of America’s problems. It will be the job of the independent and alternative media to hold Trump to his promises and his word, and to continue to share ideas of how we can truly create a better, freer and more just society. This necessarily involves questioning the very structures and systems of society, and will never magically improve with just the passing of the baton from one politician to another. About the Author
Makia Freeman is the editor of The Freedom Articles and senior researcher at ToolsForFreedom.com ( FaceBook here), writing on many aspects of truth and freedom, from exposing aspects of the worldwide conspiracy to suggesting solutions for how human ity can create a new system of peace and abundance
**Sources embedded throughout article. | 0 |
At a press conference on Wednesday, NASA announced the “Parker Solar Probe,” which will be sent on a mission to examine and research the Sun up close. [The mission, which is being launched next year, “will gather data about the sun’s outermost atmosphere known as the corona where temperatures can reach up to 500, 000C, much higher than those in the sun’s core,” according to The Telegraph, and is named after astrophysicist Eugene Parker. “This is the first time NASA has named a spacecraft for a living individual,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “It’s a testament to the importance of his body of work, founding a new field of science that also inspired my own research and many important science questions NASA continues to study and further understand every day. I’m very excited to be personally involved honoring a great man and his unprecedented legacy. ” Eugene Parker himself also expressed excitement about the mission, declaring, “I’m sure there will be some surprises. There always are. ” “The solar probe is going to a region of space that has never been explored before,” he explained. “It’s very exciting that we’ll finally get a look. One would like to have some more detailed measurements of what’s going on in the solar wind. ” Nicola Fox, a scientist involved with the Parker Solar Probe project, claimed that the probe “is going to answer questions about solar physics that we’ve puzzled over for more than six decades. ” “It’s a spacecraft loaded with technological breakthroughs that will solve many of the largest mysteries about our star, including finding out why the sun’s corona is so much hotter than its surface,” she claimed. “And we’re very proud to be able to carry Gene’s name with us on this amazing voyage of discovery. ” According to NASA’s official website, “NASA missions are most often renamed after launch and certification. ” “In this case, given Parker’s accomplishments within the field, and how closely aligned this mission is with his research, the decision was made to honor him prior to launch, in order to draw attention to his important contributions to heliophysics and space science,” they declared. Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook. | 1 |
For more than half a century, Hubert Edward Spires has lived with the painful memory of being kicked out of the Air Force as a young gay sergeant in the 1940s. The word “undesirable” was printed on his discharge records. But now, at 91, Mr. Spires said he can finally be at peace with that part of his life. On Friday, he was awakened by a phone call to his Connecticut home and learned that the Air Force Board for the Correction of Military Records had agreed to change his status. This time, his discharge would be described as “honorable. ” “It was a long haul,” Mr. Spires said on Tuesday in phone call from his home in Norwalk. “I got the confirmation that I had been looking for. ” Said his husband, David Rosenberg, whom he met in 1956 and married eight years ago: “His first words were, ‘It’s about time.’ ” Mr. Spires is one of the hundreds of gay former military personnel who have been emboldened by the 2010 repeal of the United States military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, which prohibited gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military. In 2011, the federal government allowed changes to veterans’ military records, some of which had been labeled “undesirable” or “other than honorable. ” The incentives for doing so were sometimes financial. Such designations could make it difficult for the men and women who had served to get employment, loans or access to veterans benefits. But there was another, more important reason. “The respect factor,” said Matt Thorn, an executive director at Legal Defense Network, which helps veterans with the application process needed to reverse such designations. “I served my country honorably I want that respect. And they should have that. ” Mr. Thorn said many go through an application process that can take up to 18 months. But for Mr. Spires, who recently recovered from pneumonia, it took years of effort that will now allow him to have a burial, when the time comes, with military honors. “I have to quietly go back into my shell now,” he said. “Because I am 91 years old, and my health is not all it should be. I can’t take on jobs that require energy because I don’t have it anymore, but I had it long enough to fight the G. D. Air Force and win,” he said. Brooke Brzozowske, a spokeswoman for the Air Force, said the service branch had denied 27 out of 157 requests for upgrades since the policy was repealed. “We were not necessarily discharging people for just being gay,” she said. “It was associated with misconduct if it was a dishonorable discharge. ” The military corrections board first received Mr. Spires’s application to get his status upgraded in 2014, but some of his discharge records had been destroyed in a fire in 1973 that also consumed those of other veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, according to a copy of the records board statement about his case. Other documents found in 2016 showed he served in the military from 1946 to 1948, when he was discharged from Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. To help his case, Mr. Spires also filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court for the District of Connecticut in November, assisted by the Yale Law School’s Veterans Legal Services Clinic. The lawsuit asserted that Mr. Spires’s rights had been violated after he encountered unreasonable delays in the Air Force review to change his discharge status to “honorable. ” According to the lawsuit and to Mr. Spires account, his life as a young chaplain’s assistant at the base included playing the organ at services and typing letters to distressed families. He attended social events with gay men outside of the base, he said. At a Halloween party in 1947, Mr. Spires dressed in a costume inspired by a sparkly laundry soap. Someone at the party informed his superiors that he was in drag, the lawsuit said. He was interrogated by military officials, threatened with a and sent to hearings and psychiatrists, the suit says. He signed a statement saying he had engaged in “homosexual acts” to end an interrogation, the lawsuit said. “I never did anything on the base in uniform,” he said. “I had a whole slew of very good friends who were gay and lived off base. We partied together we had wonderful meals together and went to the opera together. We lived a very normal life. I did not dishonor the Air Force in any way by my actions,” Mr. Spires said in the interview. He was discharged and sent home to Lancaster, Ohio, in civilian clothes. Over the years, he destroyed his military records for fear his Catholic family would find out, he said. He found work in department stores and other jobs. He met Mr. Rosenberg in 1956 at a séance in New York. They have been companions ever since, marrying in 2009, Mr. Spires said. The court did not rule on Mr. Spires’s lawsuit, as the Air Force board resumed its review of Mr. Spires’s application. It finally said in its letter last week that he had no misconduct in the military and concluded there was “the existence of an injustice. ” Its recommendation: an honorable discharge dating to March 17, 1948. “I had a terrible time,” Mr. Spires said. “But now I have been able to put so much of that behind me, and now that I have got my honorable discharge, I hope these negative thoughts will leave me permanently. ” He added, “It has allowed me to not have to look over my shoulder all the time. ” | 1 |
“Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie” opens with Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) and her bestie, Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley) blundering into a fashion show. While ordinary latecomers might try a discreet entrance, bobbing and weaving as they scamper for seats, the constitutionally unmindful Eddy and Patsy stumble onto the catwalk, creating a distraction that forces everyone’s attention on them. What seems like mere — Eddy galumphing among the gazelles — is a sly declaration of intent in a happily goof. As it announces, “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie” is the iteration of the BBC series created by Ms. Saunders that enjoyed an erratic run from 1992 to 2012. It’s basically more of the amusing, often very funny, occasionally wincing raucous same, with Eddy and Patsy as the and — and — irresistible fools whose adventures are as as Lucy and Ethel’s were decades earlier. The story this time hangs on Eddy’s efforts to revive her sagging public relations career, a slender narrative thread that Ms. Saunders adorns with bright bits, much like a string of Christmas lights. The original “Absolutely Fabulous” was created by Ms. Saunders and originated in a 1990 skit that she did with her longtime comedy partner Dawn French on their show “French and Saunders. ” (Ms. Saunders and Ms. French both worked as writers on the “Absolutely Fabulous” series.) Set in the wake of Margaret Thatcher, “Ab Fab” — as fans fondly call it — pivots on Eddy, a child of the 1960s turned hardly working ’90s businesswoman. Crucially, her time and energy are largely fixed on herself and other women, including her daughter, Saffron, or Saffy (Julia Sawalha) a frump in Dr. Huxtable sweaters and sensible shoes, who plays the superego scold to her mother’s irrepressible id. Nothing if not period appropriate, at least in its early years, the show positioned Eddy and Patsy as avatars of a hilariously clueless, grasping materialism, while riffing on the likes of spiritualism, family life and pop culture. Complexly feminist, it reserved some of its most comically scabrous bits for the preposterous contradictions and hurdles facing women, as in the episode “Fat,” in which Eddy obsesses over her weight, vainly struggles to get into her clothes and aspirationally discusses fasting while nibbling on food. “Inside of me there’s a thin person just screaming to get out,” Eddy insists at one point. “Just the one, dear?” asks her mom (June Whitfield). Crucial to the movie and series both is that they lampoon Eddy and Patsy even as they go after the world that made them, which allows you to giggle at the characters and lets them, more or less, have the last laugh. Their laughter may be but their unbreakable bond means that at least they’re clueless together. Their friendship remains intact in the movie, as does the show’s principal cast, its feel, indifferent visuals and gaudy fashion. Except that now the sideshow hits the road, which allows Eddy and her second bananas (including her assistant, Bubble, played by Jane Horrocks) to leave her kitchen for the South of France. Serviceably, at times awkwardly, directed by Mandie Fletcher, the movie skews softer than the series at its barbed best, partly because the celebrity culture that once provided such rich material has become just another ratings opportunity for the Kardashians. As in the series, the perfectly synced Ms. Saunders and Ms. Lumley receive some invaluable support (notably from Kathy Burke, an “Ab Fab” veteran) and manage to rise above the crowd of famous faces, which here includes Stella McCartney and Kate Moss. These function as human versions of Eddy and Patsy’s costly accessories, which I guess makes Jon Hamm its Birkin bag. “Absolutely Fabulous” is rated R (under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult companion). Drinking, drugging, shopping. Running time: 1 hour 26 minutes. | 1 |
Posted on November 1, 2016 by joandarc | 8 Comments
Yesterday, October 31, was All Hallows’ Eve or Halloween, that is, the evening before the holy ones.
As explained in “ Reclaim Halloween as the holy All Hallows’ Eve! ,” the word “hallow” is “to make holy or sacred, to sanctify or consecrate, to venerate,” while the word “e’en” means “evening.”
The word “saint” means holy. Halloween, therefore, means Holy Evening or the Evening of the Hallowed or Holy Ones, i.e., the Evening of the Saints.
In other words, Halloween is the evening before All Saints Day, which is today!
Then I saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the Israelites.” Rev. 7:2-4
After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.” All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed:
“Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” I said to him, “My Lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Rev. 7:9-14.
“For this reason they stand before God’s throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life- giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Rev. 7:15-17.
Through the “communion of saints,” a doctrine proclaimed in the Apostle’s Creed, the blessed in heaven assist those of us on earth; we pray with the saints so that they may intercede on our behalf before Our Lord. Remember, these incredible, courageous and wonderful individuals see God face to face! How cool is that?
Indeed, they are the ultimate role models, heroes and heroines-people who chose to do extraordinary things and behaved always with serving Our Lord as their first priority in their lives, no matter what the cost. They were no different as human beings than we are, with faults, talents, proclivities towards temptation and bearing all qualities incident to human beings. What made them different were their choices, to serve God first above anything and everything. To put it more eloquently were the words of St. Thomas More on the day he was beheaded, wherein he stated, “I am the King’s good servant, but God’s first.”
In the communion of saints, “a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home and those of us who are still pilgrims on earth.” (CCC 1475)
St. Thomas More said this about the saints. “We venerate the saints as God’s servants, as we would on earth welcome the servants of a great man we esteemed. If the goodness we bestow upon our poor brethren is considered by Christ as bestowed upon Himself, as He tells us (Mt 25:40), and if those, as He says, who welcome His apostles and disciples welcome Him (Mt. 10:40), assuredly those who honor the saints are likewise honoring Christ. Our Lord Himself showed that He would have His saints partake in His glory when He promised the apostles that they would be seated at His side on the final Day of Judgment (Mt. 19:28). Moreover, He promised that Martha’s sister Mary (whom More identified as Mary Magdalen) would be honored throughout the world for her deed of anointing Him with ointment (Mt. 26:13).”
As to honoring the saints, and our desire to request their advocacy and intercession on our behalf, as to whether or not the saints can either hear us or help us, St. Thomas More provided, “Yet how can we doubt whether they hear us? Their souls are not dead, and therefore as living souls the love and charity toward their fellowman that characterized them to this world cannot have diminished in the next. The closer one draws to heaven, the greater is his solicitude toward his brethren here on earth, as was the case with the martyr Saint Stephen, who after seeing heaven opened, prayed for his enemies who were stoning him (Acts 7:55-60). In view of this, is it conceivable that Saint Stephen would not pray for those who honor him on earth, now that he is in heaven?” And the question is further posed, how can the saints in heaven help us? More reasoned that since “the saints were certainly able to assist others while on earth where their human nature was as weak as ours, surely they can do so in heaven.”
More further reasoned that even while Our Lord lived on this earth, He permitted people to come to His apostles rather than directly to Himself for help and allowed the Twelve to work miracles in His stead. Indeed, on some occasions the apostles assumed the role of intercessors with Christ, presenting the petitions of others to their Master. “If this was the case when the apostles were with Christ on earth, it must surely be so now that they dwell with Him in heaven. God is pleased to have us honor and call upon His saints, His especial beloved friends, for it becometh us and well behoveth us to make friends of such as he hath in favour.”
Have not you ever asked someone, “Please pray for my mother, she is very ill,” or “Please pray for me; I am about to make a very important decision that will affect my life.” Indeed and in fact, we have set forth these petitions to others on FOTM . Ergo, we pray with the Saints, inhabitants of the Church Triumphant, for their intercession, for their guidance that they receive from Our Lord Himself. If we ask those we know on earth for their advocacy and prayers, all the more reason to ask the Church Triumphant to enter our lives, to give us direction and to ask through them the Grace from God necessary to live our lives according to the Will of God, to the fullest extent, using all of our talents and gifts given to us by God. The Saints are with us; we are foolish not to have camaraderie with them and to enjoy intimate and meaningful relationships.
We end this post by honoring the particular Saints in our respective lives who have inspired and helped us: St. Michael the Archangel , St. Paul , the Virgin Mary , St. Thérèse the Little Flower, St. Joseph, St. Thomas Aquinas and my patient and wonderful guardian angel ~ from Eowyn.
We love you, we admire you, and we thank you!
May Our Lord Always Be First Served!
For the Saint posts we’ve published, go to FOTM’s “ Saints and Angels ” page!
Sources: Catechism of the Catholic Church . James Monti, The King’s Good Servant but God’s First, The Life and Writings of Saint Thomas More (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997). Sister Mary Raphael is Gone, But Not Forgotten! Daily Catholic 2000, January 18, 2000, volume 11, no. 12.
~Joan & Eowyn | 0 |
Monday on “Anderson Cooper 360,” CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto called a report that former National Security Advisor Susan Rice was behind the unmasking of identities of members of the Trump transition team in surveillance of foreign officials to be a distraction from a larger investigation of the Trump administration. According to what Sciutto described as a “source,” those allegations aimed at Rice were false, which is what Sciutto based his claim of this being a distraction. Partial transcript as follows: Well, just a short time ago, I spoke with someone close to Ambassador Rice, and this is the first comments from someone close to Rice today on these allegations. I’ll read it in quotes. “The idea that Ambassador Rice improperly sought the identities of Americans is false. There is nothing unusual about making these requests when serving as a senior national security official, whether Democrat or Republican. ” That coming from someone who works for Ambassador Rice. But let’s go beyond that, because I spoke today with senior — former senior U. S. intelligence officials, the senior most who served both Republican and Democratic administrations, and this is what they have told me about this story. They said, “One, this is not unusual. This happens. When you are briefed on intelligence communications like this, sometimes senior national security officials can ask the intelligence community to identify the Americans either mentioned in those conversations or on the other side of those phone calls. It’s not up to that senior U. S. national security official to make that decision, it’s then up to the intelligence agencies, the NSA, they decide what’s appropriate to then unmask for that senior official. It is legal. There are protocols that have been put in place since to allow this to happen. ” And I’m told, this very meticulously logged, someone said to me, described it, it’s like Catholic baptismal records. It’s so logged. You can’t do this in secret and you have to do it without the approval of the intelligence community. And, finally, Anderson, I would just say, why would someone do this? Every day, they’re getting briefings on intelligence. Their briefer chooses what they are briefed on, including Ambassador Rice, in those briefings, an official such as Rice might say, to further understand it, I would like to know who those names are. And that’s why they would make that request, which then as I said would have to be approved by the intelligence community. That’s what I’m told. And again to note by senior intelligence officials who work for both Democrats and Republicans. This appears to be a story, largely ginned up, partly as a distraction from this larger investigation. But I will say, Anderson, you’re aware of this, the investigations continue, but particularly on the House side, there are now questions coming from both Democrats and Republicans about how bipartisan this investigation can be. ( Daily Caller) Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor | 1 |
Friday during the opening monologue of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” host Tucker Carlson sounded off on the effect of former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee a day earlier. [Carlson argued Comey’s testimony did not further the conspiracy narrative, which many had hoped would bring the beginning of the end to the Donald Trump presidency. “[H]ere is what is true — as of 8 p. m. Eastern time tonight, Donald Trump is still the president of the U. S. and that means on the most basic level, Comey’s testimony failed to achieve its goal. Make no mistake, removing Trump from office was the goal. ‘There was collusion, Russia hacked our election, assault to our democracy, imperils our way of life!’ You hear those all the time. You hear them every night on this show but nobody in D. C. actually believes any of that, and that’s why nobody ever explains how exactly it happened or what specifically the effects of it were. Because they have no idea. And in fact, they don’t really care. They just want Trump gone along with anyone who is in the way. Russia is just a means. ” Carlson also noted one the latest targets of this effort is Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is under further scrutiny for having met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak for an undisclosed third time. Nonetheless, the ultimate goal of this “hoax” according to the Fox News Channel host was to topple “a democratically elected government” that people in Washington, D. C. did not like. “[A]gain, this is not about truth or fairness, much less protecting this country from foreign threats,” he added. “It’s about toppling — let’s not lie about it — a democratically elected government that the permanent class in Washington does not like. Now again, collusion with a foreign government against the interest of the United States is tantamount to treason. It is definitely a moral crime, and we would never defend it. We would attack it, of course. There is just no evidence it actually happened. This whole story is a hoax. It’s a lie that those who tell it they tell it are beginning to believe. That is the definition of mass hysteria. It is deeply hurting our country, and yet otherwise smart people press forward as if it is all entirely real despite mounting evidence it is not real at all. ” Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor | 1 |
BREAKING : HOAX “RAPE LAWSUIT” AGAINST TRUMP IS DROPPED BREAKING : HOAX “RAPE LAWSUIT” AGAINST TRUMP IS DROPPED Breaking News By Amy Moreno November 5, 2016
The hoax “rape lawsuit” which a liar attempted to bring against Trump, has been dropped.
Chalk it up to another lie perpetuated by the left and #NeverTrump idiots in a desperate attempt to take down Donald Trump.
From Politico :
A woman who accused Donald Trump of repeatedly raping her two decades ago when she was a 13-year-old aspiring teen model has again dropped a federal lawsuit over the alleged assaults.
The accuser, identified in the lawsuit by the pseudonym “Jane Doe,” was expected to appear at a news conference in Los Angeles Wednesday, but that appearance was abruptly canceled.
Let this be a lesson to the left and #NeverTrump – all of your fake accusers have been debunked and shamed.
This isn’t the 90’s anymore and you’re not dealing with half-asleep Americans.
We’re 100% wide awake and will fight YOU for OUR COUNTRY. This is a movement – we are the political OUTSIDERS fighting against the FAILED GLOBAL ESTABLISHMENT! Join the resistance and help us fight to put America First! Amy Moreno is a Published Author , Pug Lover & Game of Thrones Nerd. You can follow her on Twitter here and Facebook here . Support the Trump Movement and help us fight Liberal Media Bias. Please LIKE and SHARE this story on Facebook or Twitter. | 0 |
Maybe you thought you were going to get through this winter without too much rough weather. Not so fast. If the current forecast is accurate, there is still some winter yet to come. The National Weather Service warned residents of the upper Midwest, the Northeast and the Middle Atlantic on Sunday of “widespread heavy snowfall and possible blizzard conditions” in the coming days “as reality sets in that winter is not quite over. ” How much snow are we talking about? A lot. If you live in or around Washington, Baltimore or Philadelphia, you could see as much as a foot of snow on Monday and Tuesday, said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md. A winter storm watch has been issued for those areas. The situation is expected to be worse for people who live in and around New York, Long Island, coastal Connecticut, Rhode Island or Boston. Snowfall there could reach one to two feet, he said. “Suffice it to say, we are looking at a significant winter storm for much of the corridor,” Mr. Orrison said. The New York metro area and other regions facing a blizzard watch could experience stronger wind, with gusts of up to 60 miles per hour forecast on Long Island and in parts of southeastern Connecticut. The blizzard watch extended from just south of Newark up the Connecticut coast. The rest of the state, Massachusetts and Rhode Island were under a winter storm warning, with forecasters predicting 12 to 18 inches of snow. Tuesday was expected to bring heavy snowfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour for all of southern New England, except perhaps on Cape Cod, and winds strong enough to knock over trees and power lines were predicted for parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. “Pretty big storm for this time of year,” said Bill Simpson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Taunton, Mass. adding that it would probably snarl the morning and evening commutes on Tuesday. Large parts of New York State, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Northern Virginia were also under a winter storm warning on Sunday night. So far, this winter has felt like something of a reprieve for Boston, where memories of the winter of 2015, which brought a string of storms that January and February, are all too fresh. Still, Boston has had 39. 2 inches of snow this year, which Mr. Simpson said was a bit more than usual, including a blizzard that bore down in early February before the weather turned unusually springlike. Mr. Simpson predicted that the weather would remain cold through the rest of the week. “Any snow that falls in the system will stick around through at least into the weekend, and then there might be another system next weekend,” he said. That means residents are in for a fresh round of digging out their cars and, perhaps, guarding their spots with — a practice that is frowned upon in parts of the city, but alive and well in others. Late winter storms, Mr. Simpson said, are far from unprecedented in the city. The April Fools’ Day Blizzard of 1997 dropped about 25 inches on the city, and the snowiest March ever recorded, in 1993, piled nearly 39 inches of snow in a single month. So, what are the odds that this is all a terrible ? The weather has been nice all winter. Maybe this will not happen after all? The chances of that are pretty slim. “There is still some uncertainty with the model guidance we are looking at, but we are pretty confident there will be significant snowfall in the and the Northeast,” Mr. Orrison said. “We would certainly advise that people stay tuned for the latest forecast information. ” | 1 |
Clinton Campaign In FULL PANIC After Bill’s Alleged Son Makes DEMAND That Would HUMILIATE Them Oct 27, 2016 Previous post
The man claiming to be the son of former President Bill Clinton told Breitbart News Wednesday he wants his father to step up and be man enough to acknowledge him. “I have always wanted him to step up–for 30 years–you know? I have really been trying to figure this out–my whole life, you know? It is time for him to step up to the plate,” said Danney Williams, 30, who traveled from his Arkansas home to Las Vegas for Wednesday’s third presidential debate between GOP nominee Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The Arkansas man is not trolling the Democratic nominee’s husband. He said he is formally requesting that the former president submit to a paternity test and put the matter to rest–once and for all.
“It is up to him now, ” he said.
“I’ve proven who I am, let him step up and prove me right or prove me wrong,” he said.
Williams’ mother, Bobbie Ann Williams, is quoted in media accounts describing how, as a prostitute in Little Rock, the then-governor met her while out on a jog. The two became close and shared several intimate encounters, according to those accounts.
After Williams was born, his mother allegedly told the governor about his son and although Clinton was reluctant, she said in interviews, Arkansas state troopers would pay her child support every month with seven $100 bills.
The payments stopped however after he announced Clinton was running for president, according to her media accounts.
Williams said he has a good relationship
FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK LINK | 0 |
Kejriwal in talks with Dr Manmohan Singh to become AAP’s Punjab CM candidate Posted on Tweet (Image via intoday.in)
Dr Manmohan Singh is back with a bang and how!! After his hard-hitting speech in Parliament in which Dr Singh blasted the Modi regime’s demonetization drive, the former Prime Minister is being wooed by none other than Arvind Kejriwal to become AAP’s Punjab CM candidate. If Dr Singh takes the bait, political pundits opine that it could bolster AAP’s chances of grabbing power in Punjab.
AAP has been criticized for not naming its CM candidate thus far. Kejriwal is also being painted as an outsider who wants to willy-nilly become Punjab CM after handing over Delhi to Sisodiya. Kejri on the other hand is reluctant to name a CM candidate. That would create a rival power center and Kejri understandably doesn’t want a repeat of the Yogendra Yadav-Prashant Bhushan fiasco .
Who can Kejri trust? Naming someone from his coteries is a non-starter – Announcing The Ashutosh as CM candidate would ensure that AAP candidates would lose their deposit in all the seats. Sanjay Singh’s tharki ways make Bill Clinton look like a priest. And even Hafiz Saeed is more popular than Ashish Khetan in Punjab.
To make matters worse, after months of intense negotiations, Sidhu has ditched AAP and hitched his bandwagon to the Congress. The signs aren’t good – TrollKejri gets more RTs than Kejri, Sardesai is back to wooing Sonia, even Rahul seems to be edging ahead. And that’s why announcing Dr Manmohan Singh as AAP’s Punjab CM candidate is, to paraphrase the great Shastri, ‘just what the doctor ordered’. For one, AAP’s CM candidate will be a true blue Punjabi, a Sikh, and that too a former PM!! On the other hand, Kejri can go to sleep easy with the remote control firmly in his hand. In fact, by adopting the 10 Janpath formula of diarchy, Kejri can continue to wield power in both Punjab and Delhi, while having the time and space for Vipasna sessions in Bengaluru, Friday movie reviews and campaigning in Goa. It’s a win-win deal.
Insiders say Sonia has agreed to let Kejri borrow Dr Manmohan Singh. To defeat Modi in 2019, AAP needs to come to power in Punjab in 2017. And for that, Sonia is willing to lose Punjab. So under the new arrangement, Dr Singh will report to Kejriwal as well as Sonia.
However, Dr Singh has placed a few conditions of his own before transferring allegiance to Kejriwal. One, Monty must be made Deputy Chairman of the Punjab Planning Commission. Two, Dr Singh must be given complete freedom in formulating Punjab’s 5 year plans. Three, he will not be required to campaign during the polls.
Kejriwal has accepted these conditions. Looks like Indian politics is all set to enter a new epoch. | 0 |
Advisers to Donald J. Trump keep reassuring Republicans that there is still plenty of time to rescue his candidacy — nearly three months to counter Hillary Clinton’s vast operation in swing states and get Mr. Trump on message. The Trump team had better check the calendar. Voting actually starts in less than six weeks, on Sept. 23 in Minnesota and South Dakota, the first of some 35 states and the District of Columbia that allow people to cast ballots at polling sites or by mail before Nov. 8. Iowa is expected to have ballots ready by the end of September, as are Illinois and two other states. The electoral battlegrounds of Arizona and Ohio are to begin voting on Oct. 12, nearly four weeks before Election Day. And North Carolina and Florida will be underway before Halloween. Early voting has become a critical, even decisive factor in presidential elections: President Obama was sufficiently ahead in the early vote in Iowa and Nevada in 2012 that his campaign shifted resources from those states to others, according to former advisers, who also credited enthusiastic early voting in 2008 for his victory in North Carolina and elsewhere. Nearly 32 percent of voters cast their ballots before Election Day in 2012, according to census data, compared with 29. 7 percent in 2008 and 20 percent in 2004. With Mrs. Clinton spending aggressively to try to dominate the early vote, Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly created distractions for himself in the past two weeks, is in jeopardy not just of being outmaneuvered but also of running out of chances to improve perceptions of him enough to win over undecided voters. “When you have something as catastrophic as the Trump campaign is becoming, there aren’t enough weeks left to turn things around, and little ability to organize effectively and capture a strong share of the early vote,” said Mike Murphy, a veteran Republican strategist who worked on behalf of Jeb Bush during the primaries. If Mrs. Clinton swamps Mr. Trump in the early vote in some swing states, she can move staff and money to the most competitive places — like Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, judging from recent polls — while he scrambles to battle on multiple fronts. “As many as 40 percent of voters cast ballots in the early states, and you can’t organize overnight, or even in just a few weeks, and win them,” said Neil Newhouse, who was Mitt Romney’s pollster in 2012. “Truthfully, if the Clinton campaign inherited what the Obama campaign put together, they’ve got to have a head start in this over the Trump campaign. ” Indeed, Mrs. Clinton’s team, which includes a number of former top Obama campaign lieutenants, has been working with county officials to ensure that voters in swing states have places to cast their ballots early, organizing voters at the neighborhood level, and contacting those who may not know that they must request absentee ballots in jurisdictions that do not automatically send them. Some Clinton allies are also organizing “souls to the polls” buses that take church members to vote immediately after Sunday church services in Democratic strongholds like Cleveland. Early voters tend to be older and more partisan, and many choose to cast absentee ballots by mail, while others prefer to go to polling sites during special evening and weekend hours. In Arizona, many vote early rather than stand in long lines in the heat on Election Day. Early voting rules and times vary widely by state, and some legislatures have sought to put new limits on options like Sunday and evening voting — attempts that have been struck down in several court rulings. The Clinton campaign has “voter protection teams” of lawyers pushing for as much early voting as possible. “In every state, our goal is to use all available tools so more voters have their voices heard in this election — whether that’s by mail, early vote, absentee, or on Election Day,” said Marlon Marshall, the Clinton campaign’s director of state campaigns and engagement. “We’ve been working for months to reach out to voters to make casting their ballot as easy and accessible as possible. ” Mr. Trump is lagging far behind. Unlike Mrs. Clinton, he has not been running television ads, which are crucial for engaging early voters, and he has state organizers of varying experience levels and scattershot ground troops in most places. His campaign is leaning on the Republican National Committee to open state offices to help with early voting. Both Mr. Romney and the 2008 Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, had more aggressive operations at this point. Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman, said he did not think early voting would put Mr. Trump at a disadvantage, expressing confidence that the campaign’s ground operation would be well organized and executed and that Mr. Trump would ultimately attract enough undecided voters to win. Mr. Manafort said the presidential debates would be critical for Mr. Trump in the past, strong debate performances have led to a surge in early voting for the perceived winner, a boost that Mr. Romney enjoyed after he was widely seen as beating Mr. Obama in their first debate. “We are organizing for this,” Mr. Manafort said about early voting. “We have very experienced people involved. ” He declined to provide details. He spoke before the news broke early Wednesday that Mr. Trump was shaking up his campaign by adding two top staff members and effectively demoting Mr. Manafort, although he will keep his title. After Mr. Romney’s performance in that first 2012 debate, Republicans turned out in droves to vote or cast absentee ballots Mr. Obama recovered in the next debate, and his ground forces mobilized so strongly in some places that he was able to cut back on campaigning in some key states. He visited Des Moines on the eve of the election “for nostalgia, not need,” said David Plouffe, a longtime Obama adviser. “If you have an accurate model of how you are performing in early vote, you have an exact picture of where the race stands,” Mr. Plouffe said. In 2012, he added, the early vote trends in Iowa and Nevada meant “we could spend more time and money in Florida, most importantly. ” Mr. Obama ended up winning Iowa and Nevada by about six percentage points and carried Florida with a margin, he said. But Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney also had campaign organizations capable of capitalizing on strong debate performances. “I don’t know if Trump has a great debate or gets a spike in support after it,” said Mr. Murphy, the Republican strategist, “but he certainly doesn’t have the machinery to take advantage of it by getting those people to the polls. ” Mr. Trump has pointed to the usually large numbers of people at his rallies, and their evident enthusiasm, as signs of strong support that will translate into energetic early voters. But during the Republican primaries, some Trump admirers at his rallies admitted they were not registered and had no plans to vote, and Trump advisers say that their voter registration efforts have been relatively modest. Mrs. Clinton, by contrast, urges people at her rallies to register to vote, pointing them to volunteers who have forms to dispense and details about when, where and how to cast ballots. “Hillary’s getting into early voting details while Trump can’t get past making awful sound bites,” said Bill Carrick, a Democratic strategist and media consultant. “The idea that he can fix things and win over swing voters in the final week or two — that’s not how elections are won anymore. It’s wishful thinking. ” | 1 |
President Donald Trump is not a fan of National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell, according to a recent report. [The President entertained an opinion many people hold about the NFL chief, according to The New York Times. Trump’s quotes appear in yet another article attacking Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft for their support and friendship with the President. The Times unearthed comments from 2015 where Trump called Goodell a “dope” and a “stupid guy,” especially for how he handled Ray Rice’s domestic violence charges and Tom Brady’s “Deflategate” incident. “The commissioner is a weak guy,” Trump reportedly said of Goodell. “When he made the Ray Rice deal, everybody said: You’re stupid. You’re weak. And it was such a weak deal. So now he’s going overboard with their star, Brady. ” Trump’s opinion of Goodell is not all that unusual and reflects that of many NFL fans. The NFL commissioner earned a low 19 percent favorable rating with a corresponding 40 percent unfavorable rating from fans. His job approval rating comes in at 28 percent, 19 points less than the mark Americans give President Barack Obama late last year. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 1 |
PolitiFact has pulled a 2014 on remarks about Syria by former Secretary of State John Kerry after the claim the Obama administration “got ‘100 percent’ of chemical weapons out of Syria” turned out to be false. [In a post about the recent chemical weapons attack in Syria, PolitiFact admitted, “The outcry leads us to revisit a 2014 claim from former Secretary of State John Kerry. ” “Kerry said in a television interview that in Syria, ‘we got 100 percent of the chemical weapons out.’ Syria had agreed in 2013 to an ambitious program to destroy its chemical stockpiles under international supervision, as part of a deal brokered by Russia,” they explained. “When Kerry spoke in July 2014, the process seemed far along. Based on reports from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons — which later won the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts — we rated that claim Mostly True. There were caveats about incomplete information, but at the time, international experts said the claim largely held up. ” “Given recent events, we have pulled that (you can read an archived version here) because we now have many unanswered questions,” the site declared. “We don’t know key details about the reported chemical attack in Syria on April 4, 2017, but it raises two clear possibilities: Either Syria never fully complied with its 2013 promise to reveal all of its chemical weapons or it did, but then converted otherwise chemicals to military uses. One way or another, subsequent events have proved Kerry wrong. ” PolitiFact is often heralded as a reliable and neutral source by the mainstream media and political establishment, despite numerous revelations over the past few years that the site is largely biased towards the . Last year, it was reported that Politifact, which is partially funded by a large Clinton Foundation Donor, had made 13 errors in a on the Clinton exposé book, Clinton Cash. In a 2013 report, The Weekly Standard claimed that Politifact “has it out for Republicans” after they overwhelmingly focused more on arguments made by conservatives than Democrats, even spinning jokes made by Republicans into facts. During the 2016 presidential election, Politifact also rated just 15% of Trump’s campaign claims as “true” against a 51% rating for Clinton and spun stories to benefit Clinton and criticize Donald Trump. Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook. | 1 |
Señal de Alerta
E-pasaportes: consultora estrella justificó de todo en Cancillería III por Herbert Mujica Rojas Socios | 31 de octubre de 2016 E-pasaportes: consultora estrella justificó de todo en Cancillería III Las actividades de Carina Estrada Villegas merecieron, semanas atrás, un email muy cuestionador y enviado a Indecopi y que transcribimos literalmente:
“---- Mensaje original ----
Asunto: ALERTA Firma Digital Perú INDECOPI
Enviado: 26/9/2016 14:21
De: firma digital
Para: [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected]
Cc:
COMUNICADO INDECOPI
Sr. Ivo Gagliuffi Piercechi
Presidente del Consejo Directivo del Instituto Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia y de la Protección de la Propiedad Intelectual (Indecopi)
Es grato dirigirme a su institución que viene a ser la autoridad administrativa competente a cargo de la Infraestructura Oficial de Firma Electrónica (IOFE) de conformidad con el Reglamento de la Ley de Firmas y Certificados Digitales, siendo que dicho rol es ejercido por la Comisión Transitoria para la Gestión de la IOFE.
Al respecto debemos precisar que la mencionada comisión tiene asignado un equipo de profesionales que cumplen el rol de auditores, quienes tienen como objetivo principal validar y verificar las soluciones y/o procedimientos solicitados por las empresas privadas y estatales para proceder a la acreditación y estar en la lista de servicios de confianza (TSL).
En esa circunstancia, los auditores juegan un papel fundamental para el logro de las acreditaciones, es por ello que se debe exigir que dichos profesionales (por una mínima cuestión de ética y de imagen institucional) tengan una actitud imparcial, independientemente de las empresas que soliciten acreditarse.
En base a lo expuesto, estimamos indispensable informar a su digna institución que la Ing. Carina Estrada Villegas con CIP 137894, validándose inescrupulosamente de su posición de auditora oficial del INDECOPI viene realizando diversos tipos de lobbies empresariales, toda vez que trabaja como consultora en entidades públicas para la elaboración de TDRs y al mismo tiempo viene ofreciendo a las empresas privadas la acreditación del INDECOPI y por ende el direccionamiento de los TDR. Para con ello asegurar el éxito de las licitaciones públicas con las empresas privadas que decidan contratarla, siendo que las contrataciones con las empresas privadas o estatales las hace por medio de su empresa INNOVATE DC con RUC 20557140965 o a través de terceros que manejan su negocio de manera irregular y por decirlo menos poco ético.
Ahora bien, las empresas públicas donde tiene participación activa dicha actividad irregular de la mencionada ingeniera son entidades que solicitan soluciones con valor legal acreditadas por el INDECOPI, siendo que tiene una lista grande de empresas privadas, requiriéndoles una comisión por éxito por hacerlas ganar las licitaciones. La empresa que la contrata es la que ofrece mejor comisión para cada oportunidad específica, configurándose un acto corruptivo y de vulneración a la libre competencia que paradójicamente el INDECOPI cautela que no suceda. Las negociaciones antes mencionadas se logran por que la ING. Estrada maneja contactos en el sector público para armar los TDRs y en el INDECOPI para poder acreditar a la empresa interesada.
En base a todo lo anteriormente expuesto, solicitamos a su digna institución, quien es el encargado de promocionar la leal y honesta competencia entre las empresas nacionales y extranjeras, que realice las acciones pertinentes para evitar e investigar este tipo de competencia desleal, poco ético y sin ningún profesionalismo, siendo que la citada ingeniera debe ser retirada como auditora del INDECOPI, para evitar estos actos irregulares y las empresas puedan tener igualdad de trato y puedan acceder de manera equilibrada y justa a los contratos con el Estado.
Finalmente, señalamos y de no tomar acciones su institución, nos reservamos el derecho de poner en conocimiento de la contraloría y la opinión pública estos hechos, a través de los medios de comunicación masiva, para que se investigue estos actos corruptivos en salvaguarda de una libre competencia entre las empresas y de esta manera se cautele el dinero de todos los peruanos, ya que una contratación pública debe buscar una oferta optima en el mercado sin direccionamientos que ocasionen un perjuicio a las Entidades públicas.”
Como se recuerda, la buena pro otorgada al consorcio Imprimerie Nationale-Gemalto en Cancillería y para el pasaporte electrónico en diciembre del 2015, contó con la participación asesora, consultora y técnica de Carina Estrada Villegas. El email es de setiembre del 2016.
Más aún, como hemos contado en entregas precedentes, Estrada representó al MRE Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores del Perú en Francia en el presente año -aunque en esa ocasión pagada por el MRE y el Estado- sin ser funcionaria.
En junio del 2014 asumió la representación del Perú, en esta ocasión de Indecopi, ante el Ayuntamiento de Torrent, quedando aún por dilucidar qué entidad corrió con dichos “gastos de representación”, tal como puede leerse en https://torrentaldia.com/el-gobiern... y en un segundo artículo: http://elmeridiano.es/wp-content/up... del informativo español El meridiano, entre otros.
Volveremos con más datos en próxima entrega.
Herbert Mujica Rojas Fuente
Senal de Alerta (Peru) | 0 |
4 Flawless Zen Lessons on Gratitude Nov 4, 2016 4 0
In Zen Buddhism, even an empty rice bowl is something to be grateful for. Spontaneous gratitude is easy to come by, after all. Who wouldn’t feel happy upon receiving a bonus at work, being rescued from a mountain cliff, or clean water to drink in a desert? The trick is cultivating gratitude for the things we take for granted, and even the people and circumstances that normally make us hopping mad. The Blind Turtle: Gratitude for a Human Birth
Kindness is rare in the world, but one who expresses gratitude for kindness is even more exceptional. This is the sentiment expressed by the Buddha in the Anguttara Nikaya (AN 2:118). Gratitude is so important on the path to realization that the Buddha compares it to a blind turtle living on the bottom of the sea that surfaces only once every hundred years to take a breath. When he rises to the ocean’s thrashing waves, he places his thin neck through a yoke floating on a vast sea. This is the likelihood that we would enjoy a human life, affording us freedom and fortune, and the opportunity to unshackle ourselves from the illusion of duality.
This story sets a precedence for all other forms of gratitude. Our human life is so precious that the Buddha would often take a monk into the forest, tell him to sit at the base of a tree, and begin “gladdening of the heart,” simply to reflect on how fortunate he was that an innumerable number of circumstances had to occur in order for him to be alive with the added boon of being able to seek the dharma.
The Buddha would also teach that it was incorrect to bemoan any of life’s unsavory circumstances, since just being alive “is enough.” He said that, “when we realize how perfect everything is, we will tilt back our heads and laugh at the sky.” Gratitude for the 10,000 Sorrows
Being grateful doesn’t mean we ignore the very painful realities of this world: war, hunger, poverty, inhumanity, among them. The understanding we gain from practicing gratitude frees us from being lost or identified with either the negative or the positive aspects of life, letting us simply meet life in each moment as it rises. We divorce ourselves from a belief in dualism – the delusional or erroneous view of reality, not to be confused with “duality,” an intrinsic aspect of reality .
Jack Kornfield, a Buddhist teacher and author of A Path With Heart, s peaking on the subject of spirituality and gratitude once stated ,
“If we see the world as sacred, which is an expression of the spiritual life, then gratitude follows immediately and naturally. We’ve been given the extraordinary privilege of incarnating as human beings — and of course the human incarnation entails the 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows, as it says in the Tao Te Ching — but with it we have the privilege of the lavender color at sunset, the taste of a tangerine in our mouth, and the almost unbearable beauty of life around us, along with its troubles. It keeps recreating itself. We can either be lost in a smaller state of consciousness — what in Buddhist psychology is called the “body of fear,” which brings suffering to us and to others — or we can bring the quality of love and appreciation, which I would call gratitude, to life. With it comes a kind of trust. The poet Pablo Neruda writes, “You can pick all the flowers, but you can’t stop the spring.” Life keeps recreating itself and presenting us with miracles every day.” Gratitude for Those Who Came Before Us
Bernard of Chartres once said that we were all standing on the shoulders of giants. In the Zen tradition, this could not be more true. Taigen (Zen Master) Dan Leighton wrote in an article titled “ Meditation and American Shin Buddhism ,”
“It is certainly true that Japanese Soto Zen founder Eihei Dogen (1200-1253) encouraged his students to apply themselves diligently to zazen, the sitting meditation that he espoused as a primary practice throughout his career. . . Dogen was not seeking for an “easy practice” as a response to concerns about mappo, in the spirit of his fellow Kamakura period innovators. But none of this means that Dogen was advocating a self-power practice with which its practitioners could accomplish great realization through their own efforts. On the contrary, many aspects of Dogen’s meditation teaching assume the practitioner’s devoted acceptance of and support from “other” sources.
This is not to claim that Dogen was relying solely on some other-power with the same humble and insistent devotion as his contemporary Shinran. . . “Other power” here does not refer to reliance on any single other source such as the vow of Amitabha, but Dogen did see the necessity for awakened realization of receiving support and strength from a variety of external “other” sources, and the importance of sincere devotional gratitude to these benefactors.”
What Leighton articulates is our dependence on others’ achievements to enjoy the lives we currently live. While this can certainly describe our spiritual practice – who among us hasn’t had an a-ha experience from speaking with a more enlightened master – but it can also be applied to a myriad other things in our lives. We drive on roads that someone else built. We eat food that someone else grew. We use technology that someone else dreamed up. Even the rivers, lakes and oceans that we have the privilege of gazing upon were built by eons of hard work by Mother Earth. Going back to the first point on gratitude, even our birth is possible because our parents and their parents’ parents decided to love one another, even if only long enough to make us come to be. Gratitude for Our Parents
Some of us would quite naturally feel gratitude for our parents. A few lucky people among us were given two loving, balanced, psychologically stable adults who were charged with raising us from the first moments we took breath on this planet. Others among us might feel it difficult to feel gratitude for our parents (insert any other family member or close friend here) due to the seeming unfortunate way we were treated as we grew up. The Buddha once said,
“I tell you, monks, there are two people who are not easy to repay. Which two? Your mother & father. Even if you were to carry your mother on one shoulder & your father on the other shoulder for 100 years, and were to look after them by anointing, massaging, bathing, & rubbing their limbs, and they were to defecate & urinate right there [on your shoulders], you would not in that way pay or repay your parents. If you were to establish your mother & father in absolute sovereignty over this great earth, abounding in the seven treasures, you would not in that way pay or repay your parents. Why is that? Mother & father do much for their children. They care for them, they nourish them, they introduce them to this world.
“But anyone who rouses his unbelieving mother & father, settles & establishes them in conviction; rouses his unvirtuous mother & father, settles & establishes them in virtue; rouses his stingy mother & father, settles & establishes them in generosity; rouses his foolish mother & father, settles & establishes them in discernment: To this extent one pays & repays one’s mother & father.” — Anguttara Nikaya (AN 2:32)
If your parents weren’t so fabulous, or even abusive, you can be grateful that they taught you how not to overcome by adversity. Is there a greater gift? | 0 |
By wmw_admin on October 27, 2016 by Marcus Aurealeus, Facebook Note — OffGuardian.org Oct 27, 2016
T he word “fascism” is generally used today as a pejorative to attack any idea that a speaker happens to dislike. But this word has a specific meaning and a specific historical context. It refers to an authoritarian, nationalistic system of government and social organization that is usually considered to be far right-wing. Historically, it was most popular in the 1930s, when the regimes of Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco were in their primes. Later examples include Indonesia under Suharto, Bolivia under Banzer, and Chile under Pinochet. In practice, fascism combines the ideas of collectivism, mercantilism, nationalism, (statist) syndicalism, and uniculturalism into a system where business leaders and political rulers work together to create public policies that benefit themselves at the expense of everyone else.
To what extent is the United States of America in 2015 a fascist nation? In order to determine this, a means of measurement is needed. Lawrence Britt has studied fascist regimes and found that there are 14 characteristics which all of them have in common to some degree. Matthew Reece goes further and examines these characteristics and assigns each of them a value on a ten-point scale, with zero being completely absent and 10 being omnipresent. Let us also see how many are trending upward, trending downward, and holding steady. The final score on a 140-point scale will give a useful measure of the degree of fascism in America. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – Fascists tend to make constant use of patriotic mottoes, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
In America, patriotic mottoes, slogans, symbols, songs, and flags have been part of the culture since the founding of the nation, with the frequency of their use varying from time to time. This reached a fever pitch immediately following the September 11 attacks, and while it has backed off since then, the sense of nationalism in America remains strong, perhaps the strongest of all nations in which the state does not directly force people into such observances.
Score: 8/10, Trend: Steady Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights – Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, fascists are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
After 9/11, the Bush regime and their lapdogs in the right-wing media were largely successful in convincing people that torture and indefinite detention of those who were not convicted of crimes was justifiable for national security reasons. The Obama regime has taken some positive steps on these matters, but has murdered far more people with drone strikes than his predecessor. The left-wing media has largely given Obama a pass on this. At home, the War on Drugs has placed many innocent people into prison for decades. While the American people are becoming more opposed to such abuses of power, little real change has occurred.
Score: 8/10, Trend: Slightly Up Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
America has a dark history of this. Over the centuries, Native Americans, Blacks, Mexicans, Irish, Eastern Europeans, Germans, Jews, Japanese, communists, and Muslims have all been perceived as common threats or foes to be contained or eliminated. More than once, the state has been able to engage in wars due to yellow journalism or false flag operations successfully creating a new enemy du jour. With the War on Terrorism, the state has found its holy grail: a war which can be made indefinite against an omnipresent foe which it can never seem to vanquish, not that it would want to.
Score: 10/10, Trend: Steady Supremacy of the Military – Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
The United States has the largest military budget in the world, and spends more money on its military than the next seven nations combined. Despite a stagnant economy and decaying infrastructure, 20 percent of the federal budget is devoted to the military. This is equal to the combined budgets of Medicare and Medicaid, and is nearly as much as the budget for Social Security. To be critical of the military as an institution is considered to be nearly as bad as aiding the enemy by the lapdog media, as is criticizing the glamorization of soldiers and military service. Though a minority is becoming skeptical of this situation, no changes appear to be coming in the near future.
Score: 10/10, Trend: Steady Rampant Sexism – The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
The United States is one of the least sexist countries in the world. While the number of males in positions of political power outnumber females by about four to one, the United States ranks 94th out of 190 countries in this regard as of June 1, 2015. Over the last few decades, traditional gender roles have become less rigid. Divorce has become easier to obtain, with fault requirements being mostly removed as of 2015. Abortions were made legal nationwide in 1973, and same-sex marriage was made legal nationwide in 2015. A general hostility has developed toward government intervention into the family institution.
Score: 3/10, Trend: Down Controlled Mass Media – Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in wartime, is very common.
While the press in America is not directly controlled by the government, it is indirectly controlled. Government regulation and pro-state media personalities perpetuate a lapdog establishment that echoes government propaganda and eschews authentic investigative journalism. Those who would challenge this status quo by asking uncomfortable questions frequently find themselves victimized by slave-on-slave violence as the privileged establishment seeks to preserve its access to the halls of power and its usefulness in informing the public of government activities. Censorship is common with regard to certain words and topics which are not used or discussed on mainstream programming, especially during wartime, although this is mostly done without direct government involvement. Before and during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the establishment media consistently towed the government line and censored certain images, such as war deaths. As a result, alternative and independent media sources are growing in popularity and trust in the establishment media is at an all-time low, but they have yet to displace the establishment media.
Score: 8/10, Trend: Slightly Down Obsession with National Security – Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
At least since the First Red Scare following the Russian Revolution and continuing through World War II, the Cold War, and the War on Terrorism, the government has used fear of external enemies as a justification for its activities. National security is considered by many right-wing (and some left-wing) politicians to be the most important role of the state. Though many people believe this has gone too far in the wake of the Snowden leaks, little meaningful change has occurred.
Score: 8/10, Trend: Steady Religion and Government are Intertwined – Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.
There is a tradition of separation of church and state in America, but this is only true in the sense that there is no official state religion. Atheists, agnostics, and religious skeptics are few and far between in public office. Appeals to the tenets of Christianity, the most common religion in America, are frequently used by politicians to advance their agendas, even when those tenets are diametrically opposed to such agendas. Christian theories of just war play a significant role in American conservatism, and Christian ideas about helping the poor are used by American liberals to argue for government welfare programs. Religiosity among the American people is declining, but these conditions will likely remain stable for another generation or so.
Score: 7/10, Trend: Down Corporate Power is Protected – The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
Since soon after the Constitution was ratified, business interests have played a financial role in determining which candidates for office are successful in elections. With the Citizens United decision, this has become more open and somewhat more blatant. Of course, those who invest in political campaigns expect a return on that investment, and research shows that they get it in spades. A political aristocracy has been present throughout much of American history, with many candidates for office being related to prior office holders. The 2016 presidential election is shaping up to be more of the same.
Score: 9/10, Trend: Up Labor Power is Suppressed – Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
While labor unions have not been eliminated entirely in America, they have been declining in the private sector for quite some time. In 2014, only 6.6 percent of private sector workers were union members, the lowest level since 1932. However, government sector unions are much stronger, with 35.7 percent of government workers belonging to a union in 2014. While national syndicalism is a major part of fascist theory, it has only had minor influence in America in the form of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) labor union.
Score: 6/10, Trend: Slightly Up Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts – Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
In America, the government is quite dependent on the intellectual classes to propagandize the people, and is therefore rather accommodating to them, to the point of creating a bubble in higher education that has benefited the intellectual classes at the expense of everyone else during the postwar period. That being said, it is becoming more common for professors and other academics to be attacked for their views. The rise in influence of social justice warriors is causing disdain for free expression to trend upward.
Score: 4/10, Trend: Slightly Up Obsession with Crime and Punishment – Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forgo civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
While many police accountability activists in America say that “badges don’t grant extra rights,” the fact is that in practice, they do. Police routinely engage in activities that would land an ordinary citizen in prison, and when they are investigated, it is either by an internal review process or a grand jury examination, each of which tend to be highly sympathetic to the police due to conflicts of interest. While there is no national police force with virtually unlimited power, the DEA, FBI, and Secret Service are quite powerful and are getting stronger. After 9/11, many people were willing to overlook police abuses, but this is changing. However, many efforts toward police accountability are being blunted by distractions, such as a focus on racism.
Score: 8/10, Trend: Slightly Up Rampant Cronyism and Corruption – Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
There is a revolving door in Washington, D.C. between being a member of Congress or federal employee and being a lobbyist for special interest groups. These special interest groups bribe politicians and regulators on behalf of wealthy business interests to write laws and regulations that favor their interests at the expense of competing businesses and individual citizens. Many of these laws and regulations work to shield business owners from civil and criminal liability. While it is uncommon for American rulers to steal national treasures, there is a tendency for the government to appropriate natural resources and sell access to them. This shows no signs of improving anytime soon.
Score: 7/10, Trend: Up Fraudulent Elections – Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
While there is no proof that American elections are a complete sham, there are clear cases of manipulation. While smear campaigns tend to be waged by each major political party against the other, assassination of opposition candidates is almost never seriously considered, let alone attempted. That being said, the two major parties have rigged election laws to keep third parties from having any reasonable chance of winning. Over the past few decades, gerrymandering of political district boundaries has been used to create districts which are either reliably Democratic or reliably Republican, with the result being that the fringe elements of each party are able to put people into office. The judiciary was arguably used to manipulate the 2000 presidential election, and courts usually act to control elections by siding against claims of unfairness by minor political parties. With the introduction of top-two primaries in recent years, third party and independent candidates are being excluded further.
Score: 7/10, Trend: Slightly Up
Overall, America gets a score of 103 out of 140, meaning that America is 73.6 percent of the way toward fascism and away from liberty. While the trends on the various characteristics of fascism are moving in different directions, the overall trend is slightly upward, meaning that the score could advance at a rate of one or two points per year.
Now, wake up and examine which country is actually harming you and the rest of us. It’s time to put aside old grudges that date back to the Soviet days, in the same way you forgot the harm done to you in the past, by your now good neighbor, Germany. | 0 |
The head of the group attempting to bring the 2024 Olympics to Los Angeles says he has a much better supporter in Donald Trump than he had in Barack Obama. [Gene Sykes, head of LA2024, spoke on Thursday at the Montgomery Conference in Santa Monica, during which he painted a picture of President Trump’s involvement in the Olympic bidding process that greatly contrasts with the picture presented by the media and other sports elites. “The Donald Trump effect, for us, is a sword,” Sykes said, according to KPCC. Sykes then went on to explain how, despite President Trump’s strong stances on immigration and other issues which have bothered some international Olympic officials, Donald Trump has been most valuable in gaining support for the Los Angeles bid. Sykes then pointed out how Trump’s efforts differ from those of his predecessor. After remarking about how Obama’s interest in the Olympics waned after an attempt to win the games for Chicago in 2016 failed, Sykes said of Obama, “He never went to an Olympic games, never met with the IOC [International Olympic Committee] leadership, never talked to them by phone, and showed sort of a disregard and that was deeply frustrating to the leaders of the IOC. ” Sykes then spoke about a situation that involved some Iranian archers who found themselves turned back at the airport in Las Vegas during President Trump’s first immigration ban. Specifically, Sykes mentioned how the President Trump intervened, “As soon as they learned they had created a problem for us they said ‘We’ll help you. We’ll solve the problem.’ ” They’ve set up a team in the White House to help us. ” Though Sykes made no mistake about the obstacles ahead with some Olympic Committee members who have serious issues with Trump, Sykes said, “The President presents an image which is a challenging image for some of these voters. They don’t like the stance. They don’t like the presumed rhetoric. All that is alarming to them. We’ve heard it. We continue to hear it. It’s an issue. ” Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn | 1 |
Summer’s almost over. Here’s a cultural diet for the last lazy hours. Ask a comedian: Happiness isn’t funny, romantic happiness least of all. “Take My Wife,” which debuted in August on the relatively new Seeso comedy streaming service, breaks that rule delightfully. Rhea Butcher and Cameron Esposito, comedians and spouses, play versions of themselves at an early stage in their careers. Ms. Esposito is the established comic, building her profile one podcast and hosting gig at a time. Ms. Butcher is the neophyte, telecommuting as a graphic designer by day, working on her act by night. It’s not supposed to work — two ambitious women sharing a life while trying to get ahead in a competitive field (one that’s even tougher for lesbians). And the series is sharp, without preachiness, on the casual sexism of the comedy business. But mainly, “Take My Wife” is in the mold of recent comedies — like “Difficult People,” “You’re the Worst” and “Catastrophe” — that present two main characters as allies against the world. The stars share an upbeat appeal, and the vibe is cheerfully . At a episodes, it’s a fizzy, summer you could easily down over a Labor Day weekend. JAMES PONIEWOZIK The rising tide of television doesn’t lift all boats. Participant Media recently announced it would shut down its cable channel, Pivot, one of the multitude of outlets scrambling to build a reputation for original programming. Pivot made quirky, interesting choices: the unsettling Arctic murder mystery “Fortitude” the Australian comedy “Please Like Me” and “Human Resources,” an “Office” documentary series about an actual New Jersey recycling company. This summer, Pivot showed, to very little notice, “Capital,” a BBC set on a fictional South London street where the price of the unexceptional houses was shooting past £2 million (about $2. 7 million). It has an element of mystery — someone is sending the residents postcards with the ominous message “We Want What You Have” — but it’s primarily a slyly comic drama, exploring what home means for the lifelong inhabitant and the newly arrived immigrant. The sentimentality never gets overpowering, thanks to a cast that includes Toby Jones as an overextended banker and Shabana Azmi as an overbearing Pakistani matriarch. Running a brisk three hours without commercials, the show is available for streaming at Amazon, iTunes and Vudu. MIKE HALE This summer, when not working, I mostly read cookbooks (all hail J. Kenji ) and the backs of cereal boxes. I did consume two books, or rather they consumed me. These are the books I’ve been to my friends for the past month. The first is “Anne Sexton: A in Letters” (1977) which follows this doomed poet’s career from young motherhood to literary success to mental illness in letters that are harried, and profound. In one letter alone, to the poet W. D. Snodgrass in 1959, she refers to the local mental institution as her “summer hotel” and comments, after the death of her last surviving parent, “Some misty god has shoved me up the ladder and I am my own inheritor. ” This book is packed with poignant observation. About literary awards, she says: “Prizes are for parents so they’ll know. ” This is gripping reading, and among the best book of a poet’s letters that I’m aware of. The second is Charles Wright’s first novel, “The Messenger,” published in 1963. It didn’t sell well, but was received in many corners for what it is: among the decade’s most pulverizing novels about race and class and loneliness. “The Messenger” is about a young black intellectual, a veteran of the Korean War, who comes to live on West 49th Street in New York. To survive, he delivers packages he’s also a hustler who sleeps with anyone (mostly gay men) who can afford him. This novel reads like a Gil album coaxed to life. Its narrator is too often forced to put on his “ smile. ” Slighted by a snob while he is reading a Lawrence Durrell novel, he thinks: “Doesn’t he think poor people read?” I devoured this quicksilver book in one gulp. “The pace, the variety, the anonymity, the sense of walking on glittering glass eggs, walking in a city like a prostitute with her legs cocked open,” Mr. Wright’s narrator declares. “A challenging, wondrous city, fit for a country boy. But do I really belong here?” Mr. Wright’s novels deserve republication and new readers. DWIGHT GARNER As the end of summer approaches, my instincts are toward the future, on the past. The nostalgist in me wants nothing more than to the wonder of Simone Biles tearing down the runway on feet, and if you too miss her mad, splendid aeronautics, I can think of nothing finer to recommend than Megan Abbott’s “You Will Know Me. ” The book combines gymnastics with murder, and each element is handled beautifully. If you’ve never read the lithe, unnerving work of Ms. Abbott, here’s your chance. Let the games begin. The part of me is focused on the presidential election, which at least has united the country in one respect: No matter who we’re voting for, we’re doing so in a state of utter moral panic. For a sensitive, decidedly explanation of this year’s politics of disruption, I’d suggest “Hillbilly Elegy” by J. D. Vance, whose memoir of a turbulent childhood in Middletown, Ohio, doubles as a work of sociology illuminating the despair of the white underclass. It’s invaluable reading this election year. One final note: All summer long, Emelyn Rude’s “Tastes Like Chicken: A History of America’s Favorite Bird” has sat alluringly on my desk. Though I haven’t yet had a chance to settle into it, a quick scan suggests it’s a lively one. Ms. Rude had me at the opening paragraph, when a serious scholar from her student days casually told her: “A chicken is an incredible piece of technology. ” And a delicious one at that. Did you know this country consumes more than 8. 6 billion chickens in the course of a year? Bonus feature: The book contains recipes throughout the ages, including one for chicken soup circa 1390. A salve for the soul, even then. JENNIFER SENIOR This summer, one name loomed over internet culture. Harambe, the gorilla gunned down on Memorial Day weekend after a boy fell into his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo, has lived on as a meme riffing off the absurdity of online outrage, a fringe presidential campaign issue and even a grotesque racist symbol of the . He has also disrupted a core genre of viral animal content: inspirational interspecies friendship videos. Harambe’s fatal encounter, caught on tape, has raised the specter of animal cruelty over images of alliances that were previously widely consumed as inoffensive delights. (Commenters want to know: Is this dancing Brazilian dog actually suffering from a debilitating disease that’s being exploited by its owner for clicks?) But if you’re looking to restore your faith in interspecies encounters, a handful of videos that offer content too touching to politicize have gone viral this summer. Among them: Four baby pandas conspire to thwart their zookeeper as she rakes leaves in their enclosure. A clip of monkey nurses assisting humans features a zany series of comedic pratfalls and charming gestures. And a group of human firefighters line up to salute the last surviving Sept. 11 search dog as he hobbles down the sidewalk on the way to the vet’s office, where he’ll soon be put to sleep. The genre has also been revived by videos that take humans out of the equation entirely. There are no fingers to point in the case of a mysterious duck that waddled unexpectedly into the life of a depressed, elderly dog. Perhaps sweeter still is the emerging of revenge. In “Cow Gets Pissed Off at Kid,” a journalist stages an interview near the prize cows of a local fair when some little punk enters the shot and starts beating on a couple of cows. The cows fight back, and the video concludes with the child flailing for help and getting pulled to safety. He emerges chastened, but unharmed. | 1 |
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — “A black hole has no hair. ” That mysterious, statement by the theorist and legendary phrasemaker John Archibald Wheeler of Princeton has stood for half a century as one of the brute pillars of modern physics. It describes the ability of nature, according to classical gravitational equations, to obliterate most of the attributes and properties of anything that falls into a black hole, playing havoc with science’s ability to predict the future and tearing at our understanding of how the universe works. Now it seems that statement might be wrong. Recently Stephen Hawking, who has spent his entire career battling a form of Lou Gehrig’s disease, wheeled across the stage in Harvard’s hoary, Sanders Theater to do battle with the black hole. It is one of the most fearsome demons ever conjured by science, and one partly of his own making: a cosmic pit so deep and dense and endless that it was long thought that nothing — not even light, not even a thought — could ever escape. But Dr. Hawking was there to tell us not to be so afraid. In a paper to be published this week in Physical Review Letters, Dr. Hawking and his colleagues Andrew Strominger of Harvard and Malcolm Perry of Cambridge University in England say they have found a clue pointing the way out of black holes. “They are not the eternal prisons they were once thought,” Dr. Hawking said in his famous robot voice, now processed through a synthesizer. “If you feel you are trapped in a black hole, don’t give up. There is a way out. ” Black holes are the most ominous prediction of Einstein’s general theory of relativity: Too much matter or energy concentrated in one place would cause space to give way, swallowing everything inside like a magician’s cloak. An eternal prison was the only metaphor scientists had for these monsters until 40 years ago, when Dr. Hawking turned black holes upside down — or perhaps inside out. His equations showed that black holes would not last forever. Over time, they would “leak” and then explode in a fountain of radiation and particles. Ever since, the burning question in physics has been: When the black hole finally goes, does it give up the secrets of everything that fell in? Dr. Hawking’s calculation was, and remains, hailed as a breakthrough in understanding the connection between gravity and quantum mechanics, between the fabric of space and the subatomic particles that live inside it — the large and the small in the universe. But there was a hitch. By Dr. Hawking’s estimation, the radiation coming out of the black hole as it fell apart would be random. As a result, most of the “information” about what had fallen in — all of the attributes and properties of the things sucked in, whether elephants or donkeys, Volkswagens or Cadillacs — would be erased. In a riposte to Einstein’s famous remark that God does not play dice, Dr. Hawking said in 1976, “God not only plays dice with the universe, but sometimes throws them where they can’t be seen. ” But his calculation violated a tenet of modern physics: that it is always possible in theory to reverse time, run the proverbial film backward and reconstruct what happened in, say, the collision of two cars or the collapse of a dead star into a black hole. The universe, like a kind of supercomputer, is supposed to be able to keep track of whether one car was a green pickup truck and the other was a red Porsche, or whether one was made of matter and the other antimatter. These things may be destroyed, but their “information” — their essential physical attributes — should live forever. In fact, the information seemed to be lost in the black hole, according to Dr. Hawking, as if part of the universe’s memory chip had been erased. According to this theorem, only information about the mass, charge and angular momentum of what went in would survive. Nothing about whether it was antimatter or matter, male or female, sweet or sour. A war of words and ideas ensued. The information paradox, as it is known, was no abstruse debate, as Dr. Hawking pointed out from the stage of the Sanders Theater in April. Rather, it challenged foundational beliefs about what reality is and how it works. If the rules break down in black holes, they may be lost in other places as well, he warned. If foundational information disappears into a gaping maw, the notion of a “past” itself may be in jeopardy — we couldn’t even be sure of our own histories. Our memories could be illusions. “It’s the past that tells us who we are. Without it we lose our identity,” he said. Fortunately for historians, Dr. Hawking conceded defeat in the black hole information debate 10 years ago, admitting that advances in string theory, the theory of everything, had left no room in the universe for information loss. At least in principle, then, he agreed, information is always preserved — even in the smoke and ashes when you, say, burn a book. With the right calculations, you should be able reconstruct the patterns of ink, the text. Dr. Hawking paid off a bet with John Preskill, a Caltech physicist, with a baseball encyclopedia, from which information can be easily retrieved. But neither Dr. Hawking nor anybody else was able to come up with a convincing explanation for how that happens and how all this “information” escapes from the deadly erasing clutches of a black hole. Indeed, a group of physicists four years ago tried to figure it out and suggested controversially that there might be a firewall of energy just inside a black hole that stops anything from getting out or even into a black hole. The new results do not address that issue. But they do undermine the famous notion that black holes have “no hair” — that they are shorn of the essential properties of the things they have consumed. About four years ago, Dr. Strominger started noodling around with theoretical studies about gravity dating to the early 1960s. Interpreted in a modern light, the papers — published in 1962 by Hermann Bondi, M. G. J. van der Burg, A. W. K. Metzner and Rainer Sachs, and in 1965 by Steven Weinberg, later a recipient of the Nobel Prize — suggested that gravity was not as ruthless as Dr. Wheeler had said. Looked at from the right vantage point, black holes might not be not be bald at all. The right vantage point is not from a great distance in space — the normal assumption in theoretical calculations — but from a far distance in time, the far future, technically known as “null infinity. ” “Null infinity is where light rays go if they are not trapped in a black hole,” Dr. Strominger tried to explain over coffee in Harvard Square recently. From this point of view, you can think of light rays on the surface of a black hole as a bundle of straws all pointing outward, trying to fly away at the speed of, of course, light. Because of the black hole’s immense gravity, they are stuck. But the individual straws can slide inward or outward along their futile tracks, slightly advancing or falling back, under the influence of incoming material. When a particle falls into a black hole, it slides the straws of light back and forth, a process called a supertranslation. That leaves a telltale pattern on the horizon, the invisible boundary that is the point of no return of a black hole — a halo of “soft hair,” as Dr. Strominger and his colleagues put it. That pattern, like the pixels on your iPhone or the wavy grooves in a vinyl record, contains information about what has passed through the horizon and disappeared. “One often hears that black holes have no hair,” Dr. Strominger and a postdoctoral researcher, Alexander Zhiboedov, wrote in a 2014 paper. Not true: “Black holes have a lush infinite head of supertranslation hair. ” Enter Dr. Hawking. For years, he and Dr. Strominger and a few others had gotten together to work in seclusion at a Texas ranch owned by the oilman and fracking pioneer George P. Mitchell. Because Dr. Hawking was discouraged from flying, in April 2014 the retreat was in Hereford, Britain. It was there that Dr. Hawking first heard about soft hair — and was very excited. He, Dr. Strominger and Dr. Perry began working together. In Stockholm that fall, he made a splash when he announced that a resolution to the information paradox was at hand — somewhat to the surprise of Dr. Strominger and Dr. Perry, who has been trying to maintain an understated stance. Although information gets hopelessly scrambled, Dr. Hawking declared, it “can be recovered in principle, but it is lost for all practical purposes. ” In January, Dr. Hawking, Dr. Strominger and Dr. Perry posted a paper online titled “Soft Hair on Black Holes,” laying out the basic principles of their idea. In the paper, they are at pains to admit that knocking the pins out from under the theorem is a far cry from solving the information paradox. But it is progress. Their work suggests that science has been missing something fundamental about how black holes evaporate, Dr. Strominger said. And now they can sharpen their questions. “I hope we have the tiger by the tail,” he said. Whether or not soft hair is enough to resolve the information paradox, nobody really knows. Reaction from other physicists has been reserved. Juan Maldacena of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N. J. said of the new proposal, “Its significance for the black hole information problem remains to be seen. But it is probable that it plays some role. ” Dr. Strominger has serious street cred when it comes to black holes. In a celebrated calculation in 1996, he and Cumrun Vafa computed the information content of a black hole, verifying Dr. Hawking’s famous conjecture that black holes explode. Their work is still one of the greatest achievements of string theory, the vaunted and yet unproved theory of everything. If this estimate of the content in a black hole matches one made from supertranslations, physicists would arrive at a fundamental, new understanding of how they work. But Dr. Strominger and Dr. Perry admit that they are not anywhere near doing that yet. In a new paper not yet released, Dr. Strominger said that they had been able to show that information could also be encoded in the twisting of light beams trying to escape from the black hole, not just their sliding back and forth. At Harvard last month, Dr. Hawking, who has a taste for dramatic statements, doubled down on his Stockholm declaration. “When I wrote my paper 40 years ago, I thought the information would pass into another universe,” he told me. Now he thinks the information is stored on the black hole’s horizon. “The information will be when the black hole evaporates. My work with my colleagues Andy Strominger of Harvard and Malcolm Perry of Cambridge has shown us the mechanism for information retrieval from a black hole. ” You could even get out of a black hole, at least in principle. Limits can always be transcended. Dr. Hawking himself is proof enough. He has long been confined to a wheelchair, yet raised three children, published the “A Brief History of Time,” lost his voice to a tracheotomy, divorced, remarried, divorced again. He has become something of a pop icon. Last week, he called Donald J. Trump a “demagogue. ” He has survived several pneumonia episodes. Prior to his appearance in Boston, he arrived in New York on a Swiss ambulance airplane with a retinue that includes nurses and an IT expert to keep his computer and voice synthesizer working. His intellect is perhaps exceeded only by his stubbornness. Dr. Hawking and his colleagues worked in a hotel by day and were feted at night, including a party at the home of the media baron Rupert Murdoch. The considerable expense was covered by Yuri Milner, a Russian philanthropist and entrepreneur, who wanted Dr. Hawking on hand to help announce a new project to see if we can fly spaceships to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star. “What makes humans unique?” Dr. Hawking asked rhetorically during the ceremony atop One World Center. “Gravity keeps us down, but I flew here on an airplane. I lost my voice, but I can speak through a voice synthesizer. ” “How do we transcend these limits?” he went on. “With our minds and our machines. ” | 1 |
As women all over the world celebrated Women’s History Month this March, little attention focused on the number of women who form the backbone of President Trump’s National Security Council. [His two deputy national security advisers — K. T. McFarland (pictured above) and Dina Powell, and the person in charge of writing the national security strategy — Nadia Schadlow — are women. It’s likely the first time that women have held those positions simultaneously — no insignificant fact in a field that’s still . Together, McFarland, Powell and Schadlow bring different strengths to the table. McFarland is an experienced national security hand, starting at the NSC in 1970, as an college freshman. “At that time, there were maybe two women who were research assistants, but to be a professional expert on the national security council as a woman, in that era, at the very beginning of the baby boom, that just wasn’t going to be an option for women,” she said. “It wasn’t that we were discriminated against, it just wasn’t thought of. ” It was a momentous time — Richard Nixon was president, Henry Kissinger was national security adviser. The issues were the Vietnam War, Paris Peace Accords, opening to China, arms control with the Soviet Union, Middle East shuttle diplomacy. McFarland started at the NSC as the nightshift secretary and left in 1976 as a research assistant. She later returned to government when Ronald Reagan became president, and was one of the highest ranking women at the Defense Department. Her experience served her well for her first challenge on the job: Building an NSC from scratch, particularly since her Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, had never worked in the White House before. McFarland said she got the call from Trump on Thanksgiving night. Her first call was to her mentor, Kissinger. She then brought him and subsequent cabinet officials in to discuss their experiences. “Since President Trump did not come into office having a long experience in foreign policy and national security, had never been in government before, had never been in office before, I thought it made a lot of sense for us to start at the beginning and look … at former national security advisers,” she said. In the meantime, they were talking to Trump every day — he was already meeting and taking calls from foreign leaders. “It was a heady time, it was an exhausting time,” McFarland recalls. On January 20, she came into her new office. Her new desk was about 20 feet from where her first desk was, 47 years ago. She placed a call to Kissinger, so the dispatcher could say, “Henry Kissinger, the White House is calling. ” “He was so moved and so touched,” she said. McFarland said the first thing Trump asked her to do is look at North Korea. She convened the deputies at the Departments of State, Defense, and Treasury, the Joint Chiefs, and from the intelligence community, and instructed them to come back in a few weeks with some ideas, and to “think outside the box. ” “Don’t just think about a little bit of sanctions, a little bit of diplomacy. Open it wide, and think of any creative ideas you can and come back to us. And so they did. And what I was very impressed with was they had thought outside the box on a lot of things, and so we were able to craft some really good options for the president on how to deal with North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and that’s the process he’s in now,” she said. “We’ll do this for other issues as well — China, Russia, Venezuela, we’re going to look at the whole range of these issues for the president,” she added. McFarland calls terrorism “the challenge of our day. ” She said while there were kamikaze attacks during World War II, today’s terrorists are targeting civilians, not military targets, and are “happy to die as long as they can bring others with them. ” “If you look at the history of warfare, people always wanted to survive,” she said. “This is a threat we’ve never seen before. ” Fellow Deputy National Security Adviser Powell brings to the table 10 years of working on Wall Street and a “get it done” mindset. She first came into the Trump administration as an assistant to the president and senior counselor for economic initiatives. But it also made sense for Powell, an who was born in Cairo, migrated to Texas when she was four, and worked in the former George W. Bush administration and Congress on defense issues, to expand her role to the foreign policy realm. Powell, who wants to stay out of the spotlight, is working closely with McFarland and Schadlow to help build out the national security strategy. She particularly believes in the economic empowerment of women, particularly in the Middle East. Coming from one career field to another, she believes that talent will carry one through — whether it’s from a male or female. Still, she recognizes that it can be hard for women to be confident in areas where there might not be a lot of other women, and that sometimes there have to be role models to pave the way. Hers were former National Security Adviser and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison ( ). Schadlow, in addition to experience in government as a presidential management fellow, brings to the table experience in thinking deeply about national security planning. Her first assignment in government was at the Department of the Army, where she was first exposed to the military. She later became the Pentagon’s first desk officer for Ukraine after the fall of the Soviet Union, a job that is the equivalent of country director today. Wanting more career mobility, she left the government for the Foundation, where she researched emerging national security threats — which she said was great preparation for her current role. Her role models include Marin Strmecki, senior vice president at the Foundation, but also her mother, who migrated from Italy to give her three daughters more opportunity, and encouraged them to be independent. Supporting McFarland, Powell and Schadlow is another echelon of accomplished women, such as Victoria Coates, senior director for strategic assessments at the NSC. Coates (pictured right) is a protégé of Sen. Ted Cruz ( ) Gov. Rick Perry ( ) and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. She last served as Cruz’s senior national security adviser. She has a Ph. D. in art history, and recently published a book on the history of democracy. Her role models were her mother, who is a chief compliance officer at a large firm, and Rumsfeld. She also credits McFarland with being a great friend and mentor. A typical day for them involves lots and lots of meetings. McFarland said a typical day involves getting up at 5 a. m. getting into office by 7 a. m. and receiving an intelligence briefing of major developments. Some days, she has an additional briefing on specific topics. Around 10 a. m. she usually goes in to see the president with her Army Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the CIA Director and other national security officials for the president’s daily briefing. “Then the rest of the day, I’m chairing meetings, I’m meeting with people on the NSC staff in the intelligence community, members of the White House staff, and then my day usually goes until seven or eight or nine o’clock at night,” she said. On one recent day, there were meetings ranging from Montenegro, Kurdish independence, to North Korea. The job is not particularly family friendly. The main obstacle? Classification issues. Much of the work can only be done in a secure environment inside the White House. That means mom has to live and work in Washington, D. C. McFarland’s five children are grown, but Powell, Schadlow and Coates all have young children who live at home outside of D. C. “You’re still not ever going to have it all — it’s impossible,” said Schadlow, who has three children. “I wished many times that I was a little more engaged with what my kids were learning in school, and I had the time to do a deep dive and just be part of that intellectual life that they’re experiencing, and in some ways I can’t do it especially now,” she said. She said while there are more services for working mothers these days, it’s still a challenge. “Of course there are tradeoffs. My house is always a wreck,” she laughs. “It’s real. It’s a constant balance. ” Coates, who has a daughter and son, says it makes the time spent together more special. “I went to spring training with my son. We had 36 hours together … but they were 36 really good hours,” she said. Schadlow said as difficult as it is to be away from family, it can also be a luxury just to focus on work. “When you’re at home as a working mom, you’re constantly multitasking all day long, managing everyone’s schedules. A lot defaults to the mom, I think, still,” she said. “And here — no cell phones in your office, no way to communicate really in the office. It’s really all about your work. ” “I’m so happy to have the opportunity. It’s a luxury to jump in and focus on one thing for awhile, and knowing that everyone at home has sort of agreed to just take care the ” she said. At the NSC, the women say they’ve found no difference in treatment due to their gender. McFarland calls Trump an “equal opportunity guy. ” “President Trump is an equal opportunity guy in the sense of, I’m in a room, and as I said, I’m in the president’s daily briefing in the morning, and sometimes there’s only one woman in the room, and sometimes the vice president’s national security adviser — also a woman, Col. Andrea Thompson, is there, and the president will look at us and expect us to answer the tough questions just as readily as anybody else,” she said. “In fact sometimes when the really tough questions come, I look around at my male colleagues who are afraid to say something, and I’m the first one to jump in and say, ‘Well you could think of it this way, Mr. President.’ And often the only other person who jumps right in with me is the other woman,” she said. Her advice to women in any career field? “Don’t settle. Don’t settle for second best. And don’t quit, and don’t give up. ” | 1 |
By day, I work in a scrap yard. It is not glamorous, but glamour does not pay my bills. In the evening, I teach in a welding program at a community college.
Like many others, I once bought into the fallacy that you need a piece of paper from a university to succeed in life. At the age of thirty, I graduated from a university with an undergraduate degree, and the customary debt, which came along with it. Twenty-nine years later, I see how wrong I was.
Soon after graduating, I obtained an office job and moved to a city where I knew no one. The job I was so optimistic about turned out to be like marriage to a crack whore. Each day was as if walking through a minefield full of dysfunctional women, emasculated men, drama, backstabbing, cat-fights, and every other problem associated with modern workplaces. Worse yet, the cut male managers allowed trim to be in charge resulting in a fucked up toxic culture. After three tumultuous and abusive years, I found myself unceremoniously kicked to the curb, and surprisingly relieved.
After a lengthy stint of unemployment, I landed an entry-level job in a metal fabrication company. One of the benefits offered was tuition reimbursement for work related classes. I enrolled in welding classes at night, and upgraded my skills, all on my employer’s dime.
I immediately noticed a difference from my previous job. I worked exclusively with men. Except for a few token assholes, the men liked their solitude, did their jobs, and left each other alone. The work was varied, creative, and with overtime, the pay was decent. The fact that I had a work ethic, showed up every day on time, and desired to learn earned me respect quickly.
I eventually went down a different path, but returned to welding part-time as an adjunct instructor.
Welding is the joining of two metal pieces or parts by applying heat. A filler metal, or electrode, helps to make the joint. Power source supplies electricity required for heat, and a shielding gas or flux-covered electrode aids in the welding process.
The most common welding processes are Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW), Flux Core Arc Welding (FCAW), Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW), and Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW). Of these, Gas Metal Arc Welding is the easiest to learn and offers the fastest production. Welding involves both Ferrous (steel) and Non-ferrous metals (aluminum, stainless steel).
Why Welding? 1. According to a Bureau of Labor report, the need for welders will grow by 26 percent by 2020.
2. According to a National Association of Manufacturers report, nearly 81 percent of manufacturers in the United States report that they cannot find skilled welders to meet demand.
3. The American Welding Society reports that the average age for a welder is now in the mid-fifties
4. Entry-level wages in my region average $28,000-$40,000 annually, with skilled welders earning $50,000 and more after five years in the trade.
I frequently hear from employers who are desperate for skilled welders. One plant manager told me “there are too many computer jockeys and not enough people who can weld and turn a wrench.” Another manufacturer told me “we have over a dozen welders retiring and no one to replace them”. Further, the school I teach at has more jobs available than they have students enrolled.
What Welders Do Welders work in manufacturing, construction, maintenance repair facilities, and service companies. Welders typically work eight-hour shifts and a five-day week, but overtime is common. Welders often perform other duties like operating metal fabrication equipment and doing assembly work.
The more skills a welder develops, the more value and earning potential he has. For example, being able to weld, cut and fit up metals, and read weld symbols and prints will command a higher wage. Becoming certified in certain weld procedures also increases a welder’s wages and marketability.
Qualifications
Welding is the quintessential blue-collar job. It is physically demanding, hot, dirty, and requires a high degree of skill. Other personal characteristics are good eyesight and hand eye coordination, good manual dexterity, and good concentration.
Training Community colleges offer affordable training for entry-level jobs in welding. Most programs are nine months, but my school also offers a sixteen-week work ready certificate in welding. Students learn common welding processes, thermal cutting processes, and blueprint reading. Unlike the typical ivory palace college professors, instructors are required to have a minimum of three years related and verifiable industrial experience. Job placement is also good.
Additional Facts
Despite a decent paying skill in high demand, clueless parents and educators continue to dissuade young men from entering blue-collar trades like welding. The result has been an entire generation of young men ruined by hostile four-year colleges, worthless degrees, and insurmountable debt.
Perhaps you are a perceptive and bright young ROK reader considering a career change. In closing, consider these facts.
1. You will always have employment as a welder.
2. Welding skills are highly transferable. You can carry these skills to your next, and often higher paying job.
3. Unlike many white-collar corporate jobs of today, the average welder’s wages increase with skill. Overtime, merit increases, and production bonuses are common benefits for welders.
4. At the end of your shift, you can leave your job at the door.
5. Welding offers a level of creativity, solitude, and seeing the fruits of your labor. Studies show that welders, machinists, and other blue-collar trades have lower suicide rates than many white-collar professions.
6. Welding is often a “gateway trade” into other even higher paying trades like machinist, multi-craft machinery maintenance, and millwright.
7. Welding is a male dominated occupation. Traditionalist men will find it offers some insulation and respite from the typical feminist diatribe and PC bullshit of today’s corporate world.
Conclusion How has welding benefited me? First, I developed reasoning skills, something that academia failed to do. I also developed a thorough understanding of how men do the dirty, nasty, and dangerous jobs in this life. Feminists and elitists can marginalize men all they want, but men risk their lives and health to build and maintain their shit.
Further, welding has opened some doors for me, mainly teaching. My ultimate goal is to teach welding full-time, a late life career change if you will, and one I hope will happen.
Read More: Is A Blue Collar Job for You?
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THERE may come a time in your life where you find yourself hurtling at terminal velocity towards the ground from a great height, with no discernible way of saving yourself from immediate impact-based death. What to do, in such a situation? Well, you could try the following…
1) Reflect
Reflect on your life. Think of what it is that you may have done that lead you to this point. You must have done something seriously wrong to have pissed off the big man upstairs to such a point that he moved you from the ledger marked ‘a normal death’ to the one marked ‘a spectacularly horrific death’.
See God lets a lot of people die in their sleep, or surrounded by loved ones after a long and fulfilling life. But you?
He chose for you to plummet to your death from a mile in the sky. That’s quite a swing, don’t ya think? No fond farewells with loved one’s for you… no, God saw your name in the book and thought you know what? I’m dropping this cunt out the motherfucking sky.
So in the moments you have left, take a look back over the years. Reflect on your failings and repent. Quickly now; ground’s coming.
2) That’s about it. | 0 |
The U. S. Office of Government Ethics released President Donald Trump’s ethics disclosure form on Friday, showing all of the financial interests he had before taking office as President of the United States. [The massive form shows income from nearly 200 different sources, including golf properties, hotels, real estate, and book deals. The president also made money from his Screen Actors Guild pension from his television show, The Apprentice, as well as the Miss Universe pageant. The disclosure also shows that Trump had multiple investments in Fortune 500 companies, including tech, financial, aerospace, auto, and banking companies. The report shows that Trump held positions on 565 different businesses, corporations, LLCs, and trusts outside the United States government throughout his time in the private sector — many of them with Trump’s name. Although some of his business positions had already expired, the president terminated all positions after taking office in January 2017, according to the form. Trump turned his company over to his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump to run in his absence. “President Trump welcomed the opportunity to voluntarily file his personal financial disclosure form,” read a statement issued by the White House. “While this filing is voluntary (as no report was due until May 2018) it has been certified by the Office of Government Ethics pursuant to its normal procedures. ” | 1 |
President Donald Trump reacted to the news that several Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, cut ties with Qatar. [“Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!” Trump wrote enthusiastically on Twitter. Trump referred to his trip to the Middle East in May, where he called for Middle Eastern countries to reject radical Islamic terrorism and stop funding the terrorists. “During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Leaders pointed to Qatar — look!” Trump’s comment was widely interpreted as a positive reaction to the decision, despite the State Department and the Department of Defense’s continued neutral position on the decision. The decision was partially due to Qatar’s ties to Iran and terrorist groups in the region. “So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off,” Trump said, claiming partial victory for Saudi Arabia’s decision. “They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. ” | 1 |
Cliff Barrows, a farmer’s son and ordained Baptist minister who for more than 70 years was the musical voice and program manager of the Rev. Billy Graham’s global Christian evangelistic crusades, died on Nov. 15 in Pineville, N. C. He was 93. His death was announced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. “Cliff Barrows has led more people in singing than any other man in the world,” Mr. Graham said in 1992. The pairing of the two men was serendipitous. Mr. Barrows and his first wife, Billie, a pianist and singer, were on their honeymoon in North Carolina in 1945, arriving from California, when they were recruited to join a Graham event, a Youth for Christ rally, as for Mr. Graham’s regular song leader, who had been summoned to Chicago. The collaboration was so successful that Mr. Barrows merged his own ministry with Mr. Graham’s, beginning their long association. He went on to direct programs in which Mr. Graham preached to more than 200 million people in more than 415 crusades in 185 countries from 1947 through 2005. Mr. Barrows led onstage choirs with stopwatch precision for the 40 minutes or so before he would introduce Mr. Graham as “God’s man for this hour. ” (The third member of their original trio was the baritone George Beverly Shea, who died in 2013.) Mr. Barrows was also the host of the weekly program “Hour of Decision,” broadcast on radio for six decades and later available online. He recorded his last program in October. “Cliff Barrows was arguably the most crucial teammate Billy ever recruited,” Harold Myra and Marshall Shelley wrote in 2005 in “The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham. ” “He was a skilled and charismatic emcee and musician, leading the program in giant gatherings, a creative force in leading new initiatives, a candid counselor, and a man who knew how to both follow and lead. ” Mr. Graham, who is 98 and was too frail to attend Mr. Barrows’s funeral, said in a statement, “There wouldn’t be a Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in the way it is today without him. ” Mr. Graham’s son Franklin, who now runs the association, described Mr. Barrows as “the voice behind my father for 60 years. ” William Martin, the author of the 1991 biography “A Prophet With Honor: The Billy Graham Story,” described Mr. Barrows in Christianity Today magazine as Mr. Graham’s “closest friend and most trusted associate. ” His death, he said, “marks the end of one of the most enduring partnerships in evangelistic history. ” Clifford Barton Barrows was born on April 6, 1923, in Ceres, Calif. just south of Modesto, to Harriet and Charles Tilson Barrows. Tutored by an aunt who was a pianist and composer, he embarked on his musical career at the local Baptist church. In 1944 he graduated from Bob Jones College in Tennessee (now Bob Jones University in South Carolina) with a bachelor of arts degree in sacred music and Shakespearean drama. Later ordained a Baptist minister, he served briefly as an assistant pastor in St. Paul before beginning an evangelical ministry. Mr. Barrows characterized Christianity as “a singing faith” and said that “a good way to express it and share it with others is in community singing. ” He sang, led others in song and taught them to sing. (He also played the trombone on occasion in his early years with Mr. Graham.) “My dad taught me the best lesson,” he told The Charlotte Observer in 2010. “I evidently wanted to get them to sing a little stronger, so I kind of bawled them out. And my dad said: ‘Son, you did pretty well. But let me give you a little tip: You’ll never get people to sing better by telling them they didn’t do too good. Tell them they did well, but you think they can do better.’ ” The Billy Graham crusade that Mr. Barrows said he recalled most fondly was in 1957 at Madison Square Garden in New York, a city where skeptics predicted an evangelistic preacher would flop. But the scheduled revival was extended to 16 weeks and drew an estimated two million people. Mr. Barrows was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1988, the National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Conference of Southern Baptists Evangelists Hall of Faith in 2008. His first wife, the former Wilma Newell, died in 1994. He is survived by his second wife, the former Ann Prince five children from his first marriage, Bonnie Thomas, Betty Seera and Robert, Clifford and William Barrows two stepchildren, Tal Prince and Dana Shillington 19 grandchildren and 21 . As his longtime boss, Mr. Graham was more than satisfied with Mr. Barrows’s work. “His uncanny ability to lead a crusade choir of thousands of voices or an audience of a hundred thousand voices in a great hymn or gospel chorus is absolutely unparalleled,” Mr. Graham wrote in his 1997 autobiography, “Just as I Am. ” And for Mr. Graham, the collaboration could never be anything but lifelong. In a television interview in 2005, Mr. Barrows recalled a conversation with Mr. Graham: “I remember the day I said to him, ‘Bill, as long as you want me, I’ll be available to you to do whatever you want me to do.’ And he said, ‘Cliff, let’s just pray the Lord will keep us together till we give out or he gives up on us or he takes us home.’ ” Mr. Graham once predicted that when he and Mr. Barrows both got to heaven, he would wind up sidelined, having no one to preach to but the already converted. On the other hand, he said, Mr. Barrows would be leading the angels in song. “I’ll be out of work,” he said, “but not Cliff. ” | 1 |
There was something odd in the statement that the University of California, Berkeley issued on Wednesday night in response to the leftist riot that stopped a speech by Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopooulos and trashed the town (emphasis added):[We condemn in the strongest possible terms the violence and unlawful behavior that was on display, and deeply regret that those tactics will now overshadow the efforts to engage in legitimate and lawful protest against the performer’s presence and perspectives. UC Berkeley, as an institution, was not only opposed to Milo’s views (or what it imagined those views to be) but also to his very presence on campus. Nothing could be further from the spirit of the Free Speech Movement. Unfortunately, the statement was not merely an error after the fact. It echoed an earlier statement by UC Berkeley chancellor Nicholas Dirks the week before, in which he had tried to balance the “right to free expression” against the university’s “values of tolerance, inclusion and diversity” (original emphasis). Note that free expression was not described as a “value” to which UC Berkeley subscribes, but a “right” that it must allow however grudgingly. The statement went on to take a specific stance against Milo, misrepresenting his views: In our view, Mr. Yiannopoulos is a troll and provocateur who uses odious behavior in part to “entertain,” but also to deflect any serious engagement with ideas. He has been widely and rightly condemned for engaging in hate speech directed at a wide range of groups and individuals, as well as for disparaging and ridiculing individual audience members, particularly members of the LGBTQ community. Mr. Yiannopoulos’s opinions and behavior can elicit strong reactions and his attacks can be extremely hurtful and disturbing. Although we urge anyone who is concerned about being targeted by Mr. Yiannopoulos to consider whether there is any value in attending this event, we stand ready to provide resources and support to our community members who may be adversely affected by his words and actions on the stage (we will provide more detail about these resources in a subsequent message). The statement betrays Dirks’s complete ignorance — or the ignorance of whoever wrote it for him. Anyone who thinks Milo is not interested in “serious engagement with ideas,” for example, has never watched a Milo lecture online, and has never seen him invite challenging questions from the audience. Worse, Dirks signaled to UC Berkeley as a whole that Milo was, indeed, dangerous to their — so much so that they might need “resources and support. ” For those in the mob that besieged the lecture hall Wednesday night, that was more than adequate pretext to claim they were merely acting in . Later in the statement, Dirks went on to defend freedom of speech, and Berkeley as the home of the Free Speech Movement, which inspired campus activism across the world in the 1960s. But he went on to describe — proudly! — how the university had actually attempted to dissuade the Berkeley College Republicans (BCR) from inviting Milo to campus (original emphasis): In addition, however, we have also clearly communicated to the BCR that we regard Yiannopoulos’s act as at odds with the values of this campus. We have emphasized to them that with their autonomy and independence comes a moral responsibility for the consequences of their words, actions, events and invitations — and those of their guest. We have made sure they are aware of how Yiannopoulos has conducted himself at prior events at other universities, and we have explained that his rhetoric is likely to be deeply upsetting and perceived as threatening by some of their fellow students and members of our campus community. Our student groups enjoy the right to invite whomever they wish to speak on campus, but we urge them to consider whether exercising that right in a manner that might unleash harmful attacks on fellow students and other members of the community is consistent with their own and with our community’s values. The chilling effect of university administrators warning students that they ought not invite controversial speakers to campus and that they bear the moral consequences of doing so negates the right to free expression Dirks claimed to be upholding. Later, he added that the university was “saddened that anyone would use degrading stunts or verbal assaults on marginalized members of our society to promote a political platform,” presupposing what Milo would say and signaling to the community that they ought to fear “assault” in advance. Contrast that with how the university handled the visit of liberal comedian and HBO Real Time host Bill Maher, who was invited to speak by students at commencement, but whose visit was protested vigorously by Muslim students who were offended by his criticism of Islam. When the student group rescinded the invitation to Maher, UC Berkeley intervened to restore it — and issued a statement indicating that Chancellor Dirks “looks forward to welcoming Mr. Maher to the Berkeley campus. ” The university made clear that “that this decision does not constitute an endorsement of any of Mr. Maher’s prior statements,” but went on to declare complete neutrality with regard to Maher’s beliefs: “indeed, the administration’s position on Mr. Maher’s opinions and perspectives is irrelevant. ” And in defending Maher, UC Berkeley did not qualify the right to free speech by balancing it against any other “values. ” In Milo’s case, however, UC Berkeley not only made clear its opposition to what Milo had said in the past, but to what he had not yet said in the future. The difference is stark. For all of his offensive views on Islam and other matters, Maher remains a man of the left, a generous contributor to Democratic Party campaigns and causes. Milo, by contrast, is a libertarian conservative who backed President Donald Trump and is therefore denied the same institutional deference to his views and protection of his rights. The administrators who were bold in defending Maher — even to the point of overruling students’ own decisions — lost their nerve when it came to defending Milo. It would be more accurate, in fact, to say that the UC Berkeley administration joined the protesters in advance, objecting not only to Milo’s views but his physical presence. The administrators clearly would have preferred that the protest be and condemned the violence on Wednesday evening, but they created the false pretext of assault and injury that justified a violent response. Undoubtedly, the university will blame outsiders for the vandalism in the streets and for the flames on campus, for the bricks and bottles and pepper spray and fireworks. But on this occasion, that is an inexcusable copout. UC Berkeley made clear that it was on the side of those who wanted Milo shut down. It made clear that conservatives, of whatever ideological flavor, do not actually have the unfettered right of free expression on campus. Chancellor Dirks and the UC Berkeley administration deserve to be held accountable for the violence that violated Milo’s rights — and the rights of those who wanted to hear him — as well as for the betrayal of the university’s free speech legacy. Breitbart News sought comment from UC Berkeley Wednesday evening but received no response overnight. Joel B. Pollak is Senior at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak. | 1 |
(REUTERS) The U. S. military is not in Iraq “to seize anybody’s oil” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said, before arriving on an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Monday. [Mattis, on his first trip to Iraq as Pentagon chief, is hoping to get a assessment of the war effort as U. S. Iraqi forces launch a new push to evict Islamic State militants from their remaining stronghold in the city of Mosul. But he is likely to face questions about Trump’s remarks and actions, including a temporary ban on travel to the United States and for saying America should have seized Iraq’s oil after toppling Saddam Hussein in 2003. Read more here. | 1 |
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte relishes the image of . He boasts of killing criminals with his own hand. On occasion, he calls for mass murder. Speaking of the drug addicts he says are destroying the Philippines, he said, “I would be happy to slaughter them. ” Mr. Duterte and his friends have long cultivated legends of his sadistic exploits, like throwing a drug lord from a helicopter and forcing a tourist who violated a smoking ban to eat his cigarette butt at gunpoint. It is a thuggish image that Mr. Duterte embraces. Whether Mr. Duterte has done what he says — the killings he claims to have carried out are impossible to verify — he has realized his gory vision in national policy. First as a mayor, now as president of the Philippines, he has encouraged the police and vigilantes to kill thousands of people with impunity. While his draconian justice and coarse manner have earned him widespread condemnation outside the Philippines, an look at his rise to power and interviews with many people close to him reveal a man of multiple contradictions. He has alienated many with outrageous comments and irrational behavior, yet remains wildly popular. He is an antidrug crusader, yet has struggled with drug abuse himself. And he grew up a child of privilege, the son of a provincial governor, yet was subjected to regular beatings. His mother whipped him so often for his misbehavior that she wore out her horsewhip, according to his brother, Emmanuel Duterte. At parochial school, he was caned by Jesuit priests and, the president says, molested by one. By his teenage years, he was known as a street brawler. “Violence in the house, violence in the school and violence in the neighborhood,” Emmanuel Duterte said. “That is why he is always angry. Because if you have pain when you are young, you are angry all the time. ” Years later, a psychological assessment of Mr. Duterte, prepared in 1998 for the annulment of his marriage, concluded that he had “narcissistic personality disorder” and a “pervasive tendency to demean, humiliate others and violate their rights. ” Nonetheless, his ailing campaigned for his presidential bid last year. That act of devotion only begins to unravel the paradox that is Mr. Duterte. Behind his brutish caricature, according to interviews with dozens of Mr. Duterte’s friends, family members, allies and critics, is a man who can be charming and engaging. He has many loyal friends and a soft spot for sick children. As mayor of Davao City, he was known to help people in need by digging into his pocket and handing them a wad of cash. To many, his vulgar jokes only burnish his bona fides as a man of the people. When he appears in public, he is swarmed by adoring fans. Still, the bodies have been piling up. Since Mr. Duterte took office last June and declared a “war” on drugs, the police and unknown assassins have killed more than 3, 600 people, the police say, mostly in the slums of Philippine cities. Some put the toll at more than 7, 000. “I might go down in the history as the butcher,” he acknowledged unapologetically in January. In less than nine months, he has already surpassed the death toll of President Ferdinand Marcos, whose forces killed about 3, 300 political opponents and activists during his harsh rule. Yet his gangland approach to combating crime and drugs has largely endeared him to Filipinos who have suffered high rates of violent crime and who see him as a refreshing change from the sophisticated but elite who have ruled this country for most of the last three decades. The dissonance between the image of the gentle, caring grandfather and the brutal strongman spilling blood on the streets is just one of many in a president who was born to the elite and has lived a life surrounded by violence. Rodrigo Roa Duterte grew up in Davao City, in the southern Philippines, the oldest son of the governor of Davao Province. As a teenager, he hung out with the toughest kids, got into fights and learned the rude expressions he uses today. By 15, he was carrying a gun, his brother said. As a freshman at the Ateneo de Davao high school, he was fondled by an American priest, an experience he revealed only in 2015. He identified the priest as the Rev. Mark Falvey, who later moved to California and died in 1975. The Jesuit order agreed in 2007 to pay $16 million to nine people Father Falvey molested as children at a Hollywood church. Mr. Duterte retaliated against another priest who had punished him by filling a squirt gun with ink and spraying the priest’s white cassock, his siblings said. For that, he was expelled. He often skipped classes and likes to tell audiences that it took him seven years to finish high school. His misbehavior was often overlooked because of his status, family members say. “He was known as the governor’s son,” said his older sister, Eleanor Duterte. A daredevil, he took flying lessons at 16. On his first solo flight, he buzzed the family home and hit a treetop with the wheel of his Piper Cub, Emmanuel Duterte said. Later, a car accident put him in a coma for two days, his sister Jocellyn Duterte said. The first time he killed a man, he says, was in a drunken beach brawl at age 17. “Maybe I stabbed somebody to death,” he told an interviewer two years ago. His reputation as a womanizer is well founded, but it was often women who sought him out. “Being the governor’s son,” Jocellyn Duterte said, “the women were always available. ” His father told him that since he was always in trouble, he could save legal fees by becoming a lawyer, his brother recalled, so Rodrigo went to law school. In his final year, he shot and wounded a fellow student whom he accused of bullying him. Mr. Duterte graduated anyway and became a prosecutor. “One thing about my brother is he is hardheaded,” Emmanuel Duterte said. “The more you tell him not to do it, the more he will do it. He needs to tone down on his anger. He needs anger management. ” In the 1980s, his mother led frequent marches against President Marcos’s dictatorial rule. After his ouster, President Corazon Aquino offered her the post of Davao’s vice mayor. She asked that Rodrigo be appointed instead, friends and family said. Two years later, in 1988, he ran for mayor and won, starting a lifelong streak in which he has never lost an election. When he took office, much of Davao was a war zone. The iron rule of the Marcos era had ended, and Communist rebels held a large part of the city. Armed groups operated with impunity and assassinations of police officers were common. Making the city safe was Mr. Duterte’s biggest challenge, and one he accepted personally. Jesus G. Dureza, a high school friend who is now a adviser, recalls seeing him late one night in the taxi he often drove to patrol the city. Mr. Duterte said he was hunting for a man who had been robbing cabdrivers. Mr. Dureza noticed that his pistol was cocked. “He had a death wish,” Mr. Dureza said. Shortly after he became mayor, crime suspects started turning up dead on Davao’s streets. Mr. Duterte and his supporters have long denied the existence of a death squad in Davao City. But in September, Edgar Matobato, 57, came forward and told a Senate committee that he worked as an assassin on the squad for 24 years, killing about 50 people. In an interview with The New York Times, he said the death squad was founded in 1988 at a lunch he attended at the old Menseng Hotel with Mr. Duterte, several police officers and six other recruits. They were told their job was to hunt down criminals. A police officer passed around a covered basket, and each recruit took out a weapon. Mr. Matobato considered it good fortune that he drew a . 45. “The only one who could command the Davao Death Squad was Mayor Duterte,” he told The Times. “If there was an order to kill, it had to be with his clearance. Without his orders, we kill no one. ” Mr. Duterte took part in at least one killing, Mr. Matobato said. In 2007, a chance encounter on the road with a man named Vicente Amisola led to a shootout. After Mr. Amisola ran out of ammunition, Mr. Matobato said, Mr. Duterte arrived, grabbed an Uzi and emptied two magazines at the defenseless Mr. Amisola. When they checked Mr. Amisola’s body, the squad discovered that he worked for the National Bureau of Investigation. Arnold Rosales, the bureau’s acting regional director in Davao, said that Mr. Matobato’s account of Mr. Amisola’s killing matched the findings of the bureau’s investigation except for one detail: the allegation of Mr. Duterte’s involvement. Investigators concluded that the death was a result of miscommunication, and no charges were filed, Mr. Rosales said. The investigative report is missing, he said. In February, a former police officer, Arthur Lascañas, 56, came forward and confessed to having led the death squad. He said that he received orders to kill directly from Mr. Duterte and that he had killed 200 people. “All the killings that we committed in Davao City, whether they were buried or thrown in the sea, were paid for by Mayor Duterte,” he said. Of the more than 1, 400 people the Davao Death Squad is believed to have killed, at least one was not a crime suspect. Jun Pala, a journalist and outspoken critic of Mr. Duterte’s, was gunned down near his home in 2003. Mr. Lascañas said the mayor ordered the killing, and that Mr. Lascañas helped carry it out. Mr. Duterte has never directly addressed the accusations made by Mr. Matobato or Mr. Lascañas, and he declined to be interviewed for this article. After Mr. Matobato’s testimony, Mr. Duterte accused the senator who led the committee of taking payoffs from drug lords. She was arrested and jailed last month. Mr. Duterte’s personal death toll is harder to substantiate. If he stabbed someone on the beach, there is no record of it. In boasting that he hunted down suspects by night, he offered no specifics. His claim to have killed “about three people” probably refers to a 1988 hostage raid in which he says he fired an at three kidnappers. But he recently acknowledged, “I may have hit them all or none at all. ” Becoming president has been an adjustment for Mr. Duterte, who is 71. For months, he still thought of himself as mayor and often called himself that. He prefers to go home to Davao City rather than stay in the sprawling presidential palace complex in Manila. In a land that is notoriously corrupt and where government officials often live like kings, he has lived for decades in the same modest house where he only recently installed . Pomilda Daniel, a neighbor, calls him “a simple man. ” She said that Mr. Duterte once admired her large new television and asked if he could have it if it ever broke so that he could fix it and use it. Yet when he discovered during a visit to the House of Hope, a child cancer treatment center in Davao, that the children had no televisions, he returned the same day with nine TV sets and had them installed, said Dr. Mae Dolendo, a pediatric oncologist who heads the center. “He is very, very compassionate,” she said. “We have had presidents who conducted themselves like we would expect presidents to conduct themselves, but they haven’t solved the country’s problems. He’s not perfect. He curses. But he gets things done. ” Mr. Duterte has no official first lady and boasted during his campaign that he had two wives and two girlfriends. Later, he said that he should give Pfizer an award for creating Viagra. In 1973, he eloped with Elizabeth Zimmerman, a former flight attendant, after courting her for a month. The marriage lasted until 2000, when it was annulled. The psychological assessment of Mr. Duterte prepared for the annulment, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, was based on an examination of Ms. Duterte and is not a diagnosis. In addition to the finding of narcissism, it described Mr. Duterte as a “control freak” and womanizer who began having affairs soon after he was married and flaunted his infidelity by bringing girlfriends to public functions. While still married, Mr. Duterte met Cielito Avanceña, a teenage contestant in a beauty pageant who goes by Honeylet. She is 25 years his junior. He has described her as his second wife, although they never married. Ms. Duterte and Ms. Avanceña declined to be interviewed. Perhaps some of the president’s mercurial behavior stems from the constant pain he suffers and his use of narcotics to treat it. Mr. Duterte has made a political career of fighting drugs but acknowledged in December that he had been abusing the opioid fentanyl, the powerful and addictive drug that killed the musician Prince last April. Mr. Duterte began using fentanyl to treat back pain and migraines from a spinal injury, apparently a result of a motorcycle accident a few years ago. His doctor prescribed a quarter of a fentanyl skin patch, the president said, but he began using an entire patch at a time. When his doctor discovered that, he ordered him to quit. “He said: ‘Stop it. The first thing that you would lose is your cognitive ability,’” the president recounted. “‘You are, you know, abusing the drug. ’” Mr. Duterte has not said publicly when he started using fentanyl or whether he has stopped. In December, he denied being addicted. His communications director, Martin Andanar, said that Mr. Duterte had stopped using fentanyl “way before he was elected president” last May. But a person with knowledge of his condition told The Times in September that Mr. Duterte was using the drug then. Mr. Duterte’s energy and hair belie his age, but his afflictions have taken their toll. During public appearances, he often presses his fingers against a nerve on the side of his face to reduce the pain. He has skipped several public events because of illness. In his speeches, he sometimes suggests he will not live to serve out his term. He has not explained why. Decades ago, Mr. Duterte learned that he had two rare conditions, Barrett’s esophagus and Buerger’s disease, which prompted him to quit drinking and smoking. As mayor, he enforced a strict public smoking ban, and he is now considering a similar measure nationwide. He dislikes being questioned about his health. After a reporter asked for his medical report, he publicly rebuked the journalist, demanding, “How is your wife’s vagina?” Mr. Duterte’s outrageous remarks have left many with the impression that he is unhinged. He says God speaks to him and made him president of this heavily Roman Catholic country. He has compared himself to Hitler. He used a term that translates as “son of a whore” to describe both Pope Francis and President Barack Obama. Antonio Trillanes, a senator, recalled that when they met in 2015 to discuss a political alliance, Mr. Duterte only wanted to talk about people he had killed and “how the brains were splattered all over the place, gangland style. ” He seems never to have questioned the proposition that shooting people on the street is the best remedy for crime and addiction. “I have my own political philosophy,” he said recently. “Do not destroy my country, because I will kill you. ” He scoffs at complaints about lack of due process for people killed by his police force and has threatened to kill human rights activists. On numerous occasions, his aides have had to walk back his comments. Press secretary Ernesto Abella cautioned journalists that they should use their “creative imagination” to understand him and not be “too literal. ” That Mr. Duterte’s violent boasts should not always be taken literally matters little to his zealous supporters and is of little consolation to the families of the thousands killed by his policies. “He is a child of privilege, but he became a champion of the little guy,” said Ken Angeles, Mr. Duterte’s college roommate and lifelong friend. “He’s a very passionate guy. ” Senator Trillanes, now a leading critic of Mr. Duterte, has another name for him: “mass murderer. ” | 1 |
When Rosa Maria Ortega was a teenager, her mother was deported to her native Mexico after being arrested twice. As she grew up, Ms. Ortega decided to take a different route. Lacking a high school diploma, she signed up for the Job Corps at age 18 and snagged a position at a state employment office. In 2012, she registered to vote, and not only cast ballots in the next two elections but served as a poll worker. Divorced, she raised four children, now teenagers, sometimes working three jobs. “When my mom was here, she did everything illegal,” Ms. Ortega, 37, said in an interview. “I wasn’t going to let that happen to me. ” She may not have a choice. Ms. Ortega, of Grand Prairie, Tex. a suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth, is a permanent resident with a green card, but she is not an American citizen. In a case that made national headlines last month, she was found guilty, fined $5, 000 and sentenced to eight years in prison because the ballots she cast in 2012 and 2014 were illegal. While holders have many of the rights of citizens, they cannot vote. If the verdict is upheld, she will serve her sentence and, in all likelihood, be deported to Mexico. For holders, a criminal conviction is effectively a ticket for deportation. Her punishment may be unprecedented for an offense that often draws a minimal sentence or probation. Ms. Ortega, who has a education and a sometimes shaky grasp on the complexities of her life, has steadfastly insisted that she did not know she was violating the law — that she is being imprisoned and probably deported for the crime of being confused. “I thought I was doing something right,” Ms. Ortega said. “It wasn’t to hurt somebody, or the state, or the government. I even worked for the government. “I voted like a U. S. citizen,” she said. “The only thing is, I didn’t know I couldn’t vote. ” The case resonates in a polarized political environment where some are convinced that immigrants threaten to upend the nation’s shared values more than they continue its long history of accepting and assimilating outsiders. Ms. Ortega’s lawyers say they believe the severity of the sentence stems from the furor over immigration and false claims about voter fraud raised by Donald J. Trump’s nationalistic presidential campaign. One of Ms. Ortega’s lawyers, Domingo Garcia, said the case also raised questions about equality in the justice system. He cited a case three years ago in Fort Worth, in which a boy from a wealthy white family was sentenced to probation for a crash that killed four and seriously injured two. The boy’s lawyers argued that he was so spoiled that he did not realize that there were limits on his behavior, the now notorious “affluenza” defense. Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who brought the fraud charges, has applauded Ms. Ortega’s sentence, saying that it “shows how serious Texas is about keeping its elections secure. ” Ms. Ortega said she had voted for Mr. Paxton as well as Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama’s Republican rival in 2012, after being persuaded by the conservative father of her fiancé, Oscar Sherman. The outlines of Ms. Ortega’s offense are mostly undisputed. While living in neighboring Dallas County, she registered to vote before the 2012 election, checking a box on the registration form that certified that she was a United States citizen. After voting in 2012 and 2014, she moved to Fort Worth’s Tarrant County in 2015, where she registered to vote again — this time, ticking the box that indicated she was not a citizen. When her registration was rejected, she called elections officials, telling them that she had voted in Dallas. Told that people who checked the noncitizen box were ineligible to vote, she reapplied, this time indicating that she was a citizen. An elections worker who remembered her earlier comment about voting in Dallas became suspicious, and forwarded the application to the authorities. Ms. Ortega was jailed on charges of voting fraud, a felony, and false statements on a registration application, a misdemeanor. State prosecutors argued that her actions and statements showed that she had intended to break the law, although they offered no explanation of why she would have sought to vote illegally. A jury of 10 women and two men convicted her of the fraud charges, but the misdemeanor has yet to be adjudicated. After a month in jail, she was released on bail. Her four children have been placed with an with whom she has scant contact. Ms. Ortega’s lawyers are casting her as a scapegoat. The case, they say, was manufactured to prop up Mr. Trump’s baseless claims and an law by the Texas Legislature that tightens qualifications for voting. Federal courts have ruled that the latest version of that law discriminates against Latinos and other groups that tend to favor Democratic candidates. In the court of public opinion, they have had some success. Ms. Ortega’s conviction has drawn an outcry in editorials and from advocacy groups. Supporters contributed several thousand dollars to an online aimed at supporting her family while she was imprisoned. Ms. Ortega’s fate rests not with the public but with a Texas appeals court. Should her lawyers fail to win a new trial, they have one more option: an appeal to the Fort Worth judge who oversaw her trial and conviction. The judge can reduce Ms. Ortega’s sentence to probation, a decision that would give federal immigration officials legal discretion to rescind her deportation, assuming no other problems crop up. But that option may be closing. On Friday, the Tarrant County criminal district attorney, Sharen Wilson, a Republican who has worked with Mr. Paxton’s office on Ms. Ortega’s prosecution, notified defense lawyers of a meeting on the misdemeanor charge of falsely filing a registration application. A decision to prosecute her on that charge could complicate any effort to avoid her deportation, another of Ms. Ortega’s lawyers, Clark Birdsall, said. A spokeswoman for Ms. Wilson, Samantha Jordan, declined to comment on Ms. Ortega’s case, but said the meeting was a routine status conference. By registering and voting, Mr. Birdsall said, Ms. Ortega hoped to give her children a course in citizenship. “Her whole act of voting was an example to her kids,” he said. “She told them, ‘This is what you’re going to be doing. You have to have your voice heard. ’” Ms. Ortega said they had come away with an entirely different lesson. | 1 |
expats , Karelia , regions , folk , vacation , nature "The Russian countryside reminded me of the Finnish countryside that does not exist anymore. By seeing cows and goats walking along the lanes of the village I got an image of what life was like in my grandmothers’ childhood in Finland." Source: Alena Repkina
”Terveh,” I saluted a lady in her seventies while walking along the lanes of the village of Vedlozero, in the Republic of Karelia, Russia. I knew that according to statistics, one third of the inhabitants of the village spoke Karelian, a closely relative language to my native Finnish. So I was greeting passers-by in the village in Karelian in order to find out how the situation was in reality and which kind of people still spoke the language.
”Please come inside and have Karelian pies,” answered the lady with a friendly voice, in Karelian of course. I went inside, sat at the table, ate freshly baked melting Karelian pies, drank tea and chatted with the lady and her husband. Karelians: Life on the border between cultures
We talked together in mixed Baltic-Finnic: me in Finnish, and my hosts in Karelian. They talked about their offspring, about their children who live in bigger cities and speak Karelian too, and about their grandchildren, who speak only Russian.
My hosts told me about their plantations and their life in the village, which is to a large extent self-sufficient. I saw their milk-producing goats, green cucumbers, red tomatoes and large potato fields. It is impressive what they are able to prepare from their natural resources. The Finland that once was
I walked back to the house that belonged to my real hosts, the parents of a friend of mine. On my way there I had a look at the white birches and especially the rowan trees, which are sacred trees for ancient Finns. I realized that lakes and fauna in the village express clearly that Finland is a part of the same continuum extending through all northern Russia until the Ural Mountains.
The Russian countryside reminded me of the Finnish countryside that does not exist anymore. By seeing cows and goats walking along the lanes of the village I got an image of what life was like in my grandmothers’ childhood in Finland. A photographic journey around Karelia in fall
I saw neighbors helping each other and grandchildren spending their summer days at their grandparents’ place. I enjoyed dinner together with my hosts. This taught me something about Russian hospitality and mutual solidarity, about the warmth with which they treat their guests.
The parents of a friend of mine offered me pickled cucumbers, sausages, olivier salad, different pies and sour cream, and made me feel relaxed and welcome. We talked about the trip to the lake we had made the day before; how we had caught fish and had lunch on the sands along the shore of the lake.
Steaming sauna baths and vodka enjoyed with good company became etched in my mind as a symbol of Russian comradeship. The most important and interesting discussions between true friends in Russia, I learned, are debated in the sauna, or alternatively, in front of the vodka bottle in the small hours. Russia and the village
I started to realize, similarly to many Russian writers and social thinkers of the 19th century, the significance of the rural atmosphere to the russkaya dusha (Russian soul). A village community such as Vedlozero reflects for me the Russian soul, the solidarity of people in their community and their hospitality.
On the point of leaving Vedlozero, Anni, an old Karelian-speaking lady, said goodbye in a heart-warming Orthodox style. “Jumalanke”– let God be with you – she wished me from the bottom of her heart. I suddenly realized that at this very moment the lady had unveiled the true face of Russia to me.
Sakari Linden is Executive Director of the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity, which promotes Finnish identity and maintains cultural relations to Uralic (Finno-Ugric) peoples. He travelled to Russia (St. Petersburg and Karelia) for the first time in July 2011, and, subsequently, has traveled to Russia on several occasions. He studied Russian for two months in Petrozavodsk (the capital of the Republic of Karelia) in fall 2015.
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In a special session held Monday evening, Austin Independent School District trustees voted to adopt a sanctuary policy resolution that strives to “create a safe and caring learning environment so as to foster a culture of trust and respect” for all students “regardless of their immigration status or the status of their parents. ”[The school board’s resolution calls for “schools and classrooms” that are “safe, welcoming and inclusive places, noting “all children are entitled to a public education” based on the 1982 United States Supreme Court ruling, Plyler v. Doe, which protects illegal immigrant minors from discrimination and requires that U. S. public schools educate these students. The document did not mention the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) which prohibits schools from turning over student immigration status to federal agents, as Breitbart Texas reported. The resolution states Austin ISD policy bars “any acts of discrimination or harassment, based on race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expressions, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, and age. ” The district says it embraces equity, diversity, and inclusion, accomplished through named supporting programs like Whole Child, Every Child,” part of the Whole Child approach to “improve each child’s cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development” “No Place for Hate,” an League (ADL) campaign to combat bigotry and celebrate diversity behavioral health centers and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) which promotes the and competencies often associated with the public education reform movement. After the unanimous vote, trustee Paul Saldaña told reporters he wished Austin ISD acted sooner but crafting a resolution was a step in the right direction. He said: “We still have a lot of work to do to reassure our families that coming to school is safe. ” Earlier Monday, Austin ISD Superintendent Paul Cruz issued a statement: “We are unwavering in our support of students, families, and staff and want to reassure them that the district’s commitments have not changed. ” KVUE reported he said: “I fully support our teachers, our principals and our staff members in creating safe learning environments for all of our students. ” Austin ISD’s online “your rights, immigration, and resources” links to the district’s refugee support office, a “hub for refugee and asylee students and their families currently enrolled” or seeking to be enrolled in the district’s schools. They offer family support services like translation and interpretation, school registration assistance, social and emotional support, plus staff and community training. Reportedly, more than 20, 000 Austin students skipped school last Thursday to protest a “Day without Immigrants. ” Breitbart Texas reported the truant protesters rallied against recent U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids where officials arrested violent criminals and people who sexually assault children. Education Austin, the school district’s labor and teacher union affiliated with the two largest teacher unions in the nation, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) plus labor union called on Austin ISD to take a stronger stand on behalf of illegal immigrants. They provided 3, 000 of their teacher union members with flyers for students on their rights when faced with dealing with an ICE agent, according to the Austin . Last week, the state’s largest school district, Houston ISD, adopted a sanctuary policy which reaffirmed support for illegal immigrants impacted by any state and federal travel bans, offered a safe haven for students, families, and employees illegally in the United States. In late December, the El Paso border school district declared sanctuary status. San Antonio ISD inches closer to approving a similar resolution. Follow Merrill Hope, a member of the original Breitbart Texas team, on Twitter. | 1 |
Social media platforms spewed more than 382, 000 posts over the course of 2016 — an average of more than 43. 6 posts per hour, or one post every 83 seconds, according to research by the World Jewish Congress (WJC). percent of all the content found a megaphone on Twitter. [“We knew that online was on the rise, but the numbers revealed in this report give us concrete data as to how alarming the situation really is,” World Jewish Congress CEO Robert Singer said in a statement. “We hope this serves as a call to all internet forums to maintain moral standards, rid themselves of offensive content, and make the digital world a safer place for all. ” The WJC research analyzed tens of millions of posts in 20 languages on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, blogs and other forums. After Twitter, the highest number of posts online can be found on blogs, at 16 percent. Eleven percent of content online was posted to Facebook, followed by Instagram with 6 percent, YouTube with 2 percent, and 2 percent on other forums. The criteria used to determine whether a post was was based on International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s May 2016 definition that “ is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. The group’s analysis comes after more than 100 Jewish institutions across the U. S. received bomb threats this year alone, as Breitbart News reported. In Europe, top executives from the UK arms of Facebook, Twitter, and Google recently appeared in front of the Home Affairs Select Committee and were grilled about an apparent failure to tackle hate speech in general and in particular on their respective platforms. Breitbart News reported that the committee directed most of their scrutiny towards Google in regards to videos posted on YouTube that are “peddling hate,” according to Labour MP Chuka Umunna. Focusing on videos uploaded by the leader David Duke and the now proscribed extremist organization National Action, Umunna accused Peter Barron, the vice president of communications and public affairs at Google Europe of profiting off of these videos, along with allowing the individuals themselves to make money as well. “Your operating profit in 2016 was $30. 4 billion. Now, there are not many business activities that somebody openly would have to come and admit … that they are making money and people who use their platform are making money out of hate,” Umunna said. “You, as an outfit, are not working nearly hard enough to deal with this. ” | 1 |
Mon, 24 Oct 2016 21:12 UTC © www,syrian-cyber-army.net Several Belgian media outlets announced that they had fallen victim to a cyberattack. A Syrian hacker group claimed responsibility, saying the attack was retaliation for the Belgian air force bombing a village near Aleppo. A number of Belgian media websites, including De Standaard, RTBF, Het Nieuwsblad, Gazet van Antwerpen and Het Belang van Limburg, reported they have been subjected to a coordinated DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack on Monday afternoon, which temporarily shut down their sites. The attack was claimed by a group calling itself the Syrian Cyber Army, as punishment for the media helping to cover up their government's actions in Aleppo . "We attacked the Belgian media that hide the work of its air force in Syria," a statement on their website reads . "We call on the international community to support us in shaming the Belgian authorities, who orders the killing of dozens of civilians in the town of Hassadjek near Aleppo on October 18, and caused damage to civilian infrastructure," the Syrian hackers wrote. "Instead of strikes on Daesh [Islamic State], the international coalition led by the United States targets only civilians and deceives the international community about its goals in Syria." The attack comes in the wake of information from the Russian Defense Ministry that two Belgian F-16 jets flying from Jordan struck Hassadjek in Aleppo province on October 18, killing six civilians. The Belgian government has strongly denied involvement in the bombing, and has demanded that Russia take back the accusations. The Het Nieuwsblad has alleged that Russia supports and finances the hacking group. The hacking attack itself appears to have been carried out from Turkey. However, the federal prosecutor's office has yet to start an investigation. Over the course of the civil war, Syrian hacking groups have claimed attacks on various news organizations they believe paint the Assad government in a negative light. Among these is the Syrian Electronic Army, formed in 2011, which has targeted the BBC, al-Jazeera and National Public Radio, among other outlets. Their tactics range from DDoS attacks - in which thousands of computers will overwhelm a server by requesting access all at once - to spamming, malware, phishing and defacing websites. Some of the attacks have been humorous at times. After hacking the BBC Weather's Twitter, a headline read "Saudi weather station down due to head on-collision with camel." Comment: Belgium is falling right in line with the US: Proof doesn't matter; 'blame Russia' for everything. | 0 |
Friday on Fox New Channel’s “Fox Friends,” Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said if Americans knew what he knew about terrorism threats they would “never leave the house. ” Kelly said, “It’s nonstop. The good news is, for us in America, we have amazing people protecting us every day, DHS, obviously, FBI, fighting the away game is DOD Department of Defense, CIA, NSA, working with these incredible allies we have in Europe and around the world. But it can happen almost here anytime. I was telling Steve on the way in here if he knew what I knew about terrorism, he’d never leave the house in the morning. But the good news is again we have the finest men and woman in uniform, out of uniform, police officers, local law enforcement New York City cops protecting us. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 1 |
On Sunday morning, a San Antonio police officer was killed after being shot twice in the head by an armed suspect who fled the scene shortly after the attack. Comment on this Article Via Your Facebook Account Comment on this Article Via Your Disqus Account Follow Us on Facebook! | 0 |
Sputnik October 27, 2016
NATO and Washington’s activities in Eastern Europe and the Baltics de facto amount to permanent military presence, Sergei Ermakov, a senior analyst at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, told RT, adding that we have seen “only the tip of the iceberg” so far. “Endless war-games and rotational deployments essentially amount to permanent military presence. NATO is testing a drastic military buildup. We have witnessed the alliance deploy expeditionary forces and assault troops to Eastern Europe. These are offensive, not defensive forces. What we have seen is only the tip of the iceberg,” Ermakov said.
The North Atlantic Alliance has pledged to refrain from deploying substantial forces along the NATO-Russia border on a permanent basis, but has been increasingly active in the region. The bloc approved its largest military buildup in Eastern Europe and the Baltics since the end of the Cold War at the 2016 Warsaw summit, a development viewed with deep concern in Moscow.
As part of this initiative, Canada, Germany, the UK and the US will establish and lead four battle groups expected to be deployed in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Each will total up to 1,000 soldiers. These battalions are said to become operational in early 2017. The alliance has justified its massive buildup by blaming Russia for its ostensibly “assertive” behavior. Moscow has consistently denied these groundless claims.
Ermakov further explained that forces of NATO’s European members are not as lethal as they might seem. “On paper this is a force exceeding Russia’s [military] potential by several times. But it lacks real combat power. This is why Americans need to be everywhere. The US was forced to boost US European Command’s budget,” he said.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon requested $3.4bn for its operations in Europe in 2017, a four-time increase compared to its $789-million budget this year. A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Russian officials and experts have repeatedly pointed out that NATO increasing assertiveness has put regional stability at risk.
The bloc’s muscle flexing and aggressive rhetoric “greatly reduce European security and the chances for a revival of constructive dialogue between Russia and NATO, something Russia has been calling for so many years. Instead, the bloc is doing its best to provoke an arms race with unpredictable results,” Peter Korzun, an expert on wars and conflicts, wrote for the Strategic Culture Foundation. Ermakov also said that the United States wants to increase its presence in the Black Sea region to counter Russia. “Americans can no longer count on Turkey due to the failed coup attempt. Ankara has become a complicated partner. [Washington] is instead focusing on Bulgaria and Romania,” he said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg mentioned Romania during a press conference held following the latest meeting of NATO’s defense ministers. He said that Romanian troops will join the US-led battle group in Poland. He also said that the ministers discussed progress made in strengthening NATO’s presence in the Black Sea region “in the air, at sea and on land.” This initiative will include among other things “a Romanian-led multinational framework brigade on land,” he observed, providing no additional information on the subject.
Ermakov further said that Washington also wants to counter Russia in Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. This article was posted: Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 6:39 am Share this article | 0 |
SPRINGVILLE, Utah — As the health care debate thundered away in Washington, Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah stirred up a social media squall the other day by suggesting that uninsured Americans should invest in their own health care “rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love. ” Here in Mr. Chaffetz’s solidly Republican district, one of those uninsured Americans watched the viral CNN interview on — what else? — her cellphone. Not a new iPhone, though, but a Samsung with a cracked screen, one that Shari Hunter and her husband, Anthony, bought with their tax refunds two years ago. “An iPhone and insurance are not the same thing at all,” Ms. Hunter, 32, said. “If you need to be able to decide between an iPhone and health insurance, you need to look at: Why is that the choice?” To Mr. Chaffetz’s supporters, his comments sounded like a defense of individual responsibility in the midst of a knockdown debate over the government’s role in providing health care to Americans. To his critics, they sounded like a callous and obtuse dismissal of the hard choices that struggling families face every day — and one that echoed earlier, racially noxious arguments over “welfare queens” and criticisms of programs that helped provide phone service to poor people. The Hunters have thought plenty about trying to cut out the $100 they spend on cellphone service every month. Yes, they said, it’s a lot, especially when they don’t have health insurance and they stretch the last dollars from their $1, 800 monthly income to buy diapers and gasoline. But the cellphone tethers the couple together when Mr. Hunter leaves for his nearly $ job at a call center and Ms. Hunter stays home with their three children — 9, 4 and 3 years old — here in the Utah Valley. They chat on his breaks. It pains Mr. Hunter to be away from the children, so Ms. Hunter texts him photos of them making a snowman or playing on the backyard swing set. He sends her inspirational quotes from elders in the Mormon Church, to which they are both devoted. The Hunters said they voted for Mr. Chaffetz in November, but Mr. Hunter said his comment sounded like something a “ person” would say — not a parent receiving food stamps, whose children are covered by Medicaid and who usually has $86 left over after paying the month’s mortgage and other bills. Here in the heavily Mormon cities that run along the Wasatch Range, several of Mr. Chaffetz’s uninsured constituents said that, of course, they would love to be rid of the cellphone bills that cost their families $30, $50, $100 every month. But they said the savings would hardly be enough to afford monthly health plans for their families. And how would they get by without their phones? “A cellphone is a lifeline,” said Myla Dutton, executive director of Community Action Provo, a food bank and nonprofit. Jose Valdivia, 61, said he wouldn’t be able to quickly look up the latest engine modifications when he was repairing vehicles at the mechanic’s shop where he works. His wife said they wouldn’t be able to send photos to relatives in Mexico City. The couple spoke as they waited for an appointment at a free health clinic run by volunteer nurses and doctors two nights a week in Provo. Not surprisingly, smartphones abounded in the waiting room. People texted about dinner, called relatives with updates, held their children’s attention with a game. Without her phone, Joana Delacruz, 45, said, she wouldn’t be able to see job postings from nursing employers, or check whether she should bring home some food for her son after finishing her p. m. shifts managing a McDonald’s in Provo. Ms. Delacruz said she had not had health insurance since she lost her job as a nursing assistant after she fell over a wheelchair last July and hurt her back. Workers’ compensation took care of the medical bills. But despite physical therapy and cortisone shots, her back still hurt, and she did not want to aggravate it by returning to a job that required lifting and moving patients. She earns about $1, 300 a month and has little left after paying $750 in rent (her son sometimes helps out) a $400 car payment and the $50 cellphone bill. The phone keeps her connected with her mother in Mexico. Her son texts her to remind her to get quarters for their building’s laundry machines. She scans job postings that arrive in her inbox. “There’s no other way,” she said. “It’s for work. It’s for relationships, it’s for my kids, it’s for my friends, everything. Life is hard to be by yourself. ” At home in Springville, the Hunters’ phones buzzed at 7 a. m. on Friday with text messages of support. It was a big day: Mr. Hunter had been taking computer classes after work at the call center, and Friday was the day he would take a test for his A+ certification, the first step toward what the family hoped would be a job working on computer systems. The texts were from the Hunters’ “allies” — wealthier families who volunteer to provide social support to families in the area. “Good luck, Anthony,” the messages read. “We’re thinking of you. You got this. ” “We’re praying for you. ” “Did you text them back?” Ms. Hunter asked her husband as he fried two eggs from their backyard henhouse. The couple said they had searched online but had been unable to find an affordable plan under the Affordable Care Act, and had paid tax penalties for not having insurance. They are both healthy, though when Mr. Hunter’s back pain flares up, he deals with it by lying on the floor, strapping on a back brace or getting a massage from his wife. They consider themselves conservative and think that health care should not be a federally mandated purchase, but should be left to individual states. If they lived one state over in Colorado, which expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, they might have qualified for it. Utah approved a small Medicaid expansion, but the Hunters said it did not cover them. On her cellphone, Ms. Hunter said, she frequently checks her family’s bank account balances, updates her husband about filing their tax returns and sends notes of encouragement when he is gone. “He needs to know we believe in him,” Ms. Hunter said. “That’s the biggest thing. ” At 2:41 p. m. on Friday, two loaves of bread were baking in the oven, the two youngest children were playing in the living room, and Ms. Hunter was starting to chop potatoes for dinner when her phone chirped with news from her husband’s test. It had not gone well. “Do you know how far off you were?” she texted. “Yeah,” he replied. “Enough. ” Mr. Hunter said he would get gas and head home. Retaking the test could cost more than $100, but they would talk about their next steps when he got home. “We’ll have to wait,” Ms. Hunter said, phone in hand. “It looks like he probably doesn’t want to text. ” | 1 |
Loading Posted on October 26, 2016 Justice Department Faces Uphill Battle Should Officer Daniel Pantaleo Be Charged in Eric Garner Case, Experts Say John Marzulli, NY Daily News, October 25, 2016
As the Justice Department looks to indict NYPD Office Daniel Pantaleo by year’s end in the civil rights probe of the Eric Garner police chokehold case, experts said Tuesday that bitter in-fighting between prosecutors has made a potential trial a defense lawyer’s dream.
The probe is now firmly in the hands of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., which appears to have overruled recommendations from Brooklyn prosecutors and FBI investigators not to indict the NYPD cop, sources said.
The New York-based feds determined they could not bring a criminal civil rights case against Officer Pantaleo for Garner’s death–leading the Department of Justice to take control of the case.
Defense lawyers and former prosecutors said the unusual split opens a trove of evidence that could potentially help Pantaleo if he’s indicted.
When U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch gives the department’s civil rights division the green light to charge Pantaleo with violating Garner’s civil rights, it could reveal the deep division between the branches of the Justice Department.
The key, however, is the defense getting its hands on the information and being allowed by a judge to quiz witnesses about it, the sources said.
{snip}
The federal civil rights criminal case would hinge on proving that Pantaleo “intended” to violate Garner’s civil rights, which is a high threshold because it aims to get inside the cop’s head when he brought Garner to the ground.
{snip}
Defense lawyer Eric Franz said he would seek any prosecutorial memos regarding justification of a federal civil rights charge to examine the factual reasons behind the Brooklyn office’s recommendation, but agreed it remains a longshot.
A greater problem is the damage this dispute is doing to the Justice Department’s credibility, Franz said.
“I have enormous respect for Mr. Capers (Robert Capers, Brooklyn U.S. attorney) and his office, and they were in the best position to determine whether charges are warranted,” he said.
{snip} | 0 |
Watching “This Is Us” is like getting beaten up with a pillow soaked in tears. The pilot, which airs on NBC on Tuesday, keeps the emotional gas pedal floored from the opening scene, scored to Sufjan Stevens’s melancholy “Death With Dignity,” to the end, set to Labi Siffre’s anthemic “Watch Me. ” And all the way in between, this and shameless dramedy is a theater of the verklempt. It presents, in one hour, birth, death, reunion, career crisis, reconciliations. It wants to make you weep and it does not play fair. It will leave no button on your psychic control panel unmashed. “This Is Us” belongs to a genre that used to be more common on TV: dramas, those series about ordinary people with ordinary problems, like “thirtysomething,” “Once and Again” and “Friday Night Lights. ” “Parenthood,” the most obvious comparison to “This Is Us,” turned in its keys to the waterworks in 2015. Lately, family and love — those tiny, enormous matters — have been relegated to cable and streaming like “Transparent,” “Casual” and “Togetherness,” leaving broadcast TV the histrionics of superheroes, lawyers and political fixers. “This Is Us,” created by Dan Fogelman, does have a gimmick. It’s built around four characters who share the same birthday. The first is Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) a nervous expectant dad whose wife, Rebecca (Mandy Moore) is on the verge of having triplets. The second is Kevin (Justin Hartley) a hunky actor who’s landed a role in a terrible sitcom that requires him to spend much of his time shirtless. Next is his sister, Kate (Chrissy Metz) who is fighting a serious weight problem with the help of a support group, in which she meets the cheerfully acerbic Toby (Chris Sullivan). And finally there’s Randall (Sterling K. Brown) who has just tracked down the biological father who left him, as an infant, at a fire station, “probably because he couldn’t think of something more cliché. ” As that line suggests, “This Is Us” is aware when it dips into the commonplace, but it’s not above doing so when that tactic is effective. It deploys the pathetic fallacy promiscuously, dipping heartwarming scenes in honeyed light, and turning on the rain spigot during a fraught confrontation. Yet the first hour works its way efficiently through an box of tissues with cleverly turned dialogue and performances. Mr. Brown displays the tightly wound, complicated passion that just won him an Emmy for “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story. ” Gerald McRaney also gives a striking guest turn as a wry, wise obstetrician (which sounds hackneyed even as I type it, yet the character somehow works). The series’s forebears worked best because of the dynamics among a large ensemble. The “This Is Us” pilot, which is the only episode screened for critics, keeps the central characters mostly separate (though an elegant ending twist suggests that that will change, going ahead). Some of the story lines are weak. It’s refreshing to see a broadcast series spotlight an overweight character who’s not a sitcom dad with a hot wife, but Kate is characterized almost wholly in terms of her weight. The acting subplot, meanwhile, relies on about vapid network TV that comes across as . For all that, the opening episode delivers a gorgeous climax I ended it feeling happily, mistily manipulated, willing to let “This Is Us” pull my strings for at least another episode. Maybe it’s my concussion talking. Maybe I just want there to be more room on network TV for this kind of drama. “This Is Us” is not a great pilot it could easily become mired in its own sap. But it has enough engaging moments for me to want to see if the series can master the difference between a good cry and an easy one. | 1 |
Tweet Widget b y BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
The world’s most reactionary regime, the head-chopping, terror-sponsoring Saudi Arabian kleptocracy, was awarded the chair of the UN Human Rights Council, while Russia has been kicked out. The travesty was engineered by the Superpower of Lies to punish Moscow for resisting the U.S.-led war of sectarian massacre and regime change in Syria. The War Party is on the march, to the cheers of corporate media – and Hillary hasn’t even been elected yet. Freedom Rider : Russophobia: War Party Propaganda b y BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
“ All attempts to stop the fighting were rejected by the U.S. and NATO and sealed the fate of the Syrian people.”
Did Russia invade Iraq and kill one million people? Does Russia have a greater percentage of its population behind bars than any other country in the world? Did Russia occupy Haiti after kidnapping its president? Are Russian police allowed to shoot children to death without fear of repercussion? Is Russia entering its 20 th year of a terror war against the people of Somalia? All of these crimes take place in or at the direction of the United States. Yet the full force of propaganda and influence on world opinion is directed against Russia, which whatever its shortcomings cannot hold a candle to America in violating human rights.
The dangers presented by a Hillary Clinton presidency cannot be overstated. She and the war party have been steadily working towards a goal that defies logic and risks all life on earth. Regime change is once again their modus operandi and they hope to make it a reality against Russia.
Nearly every claim of Russian evil doing is a lie, a ruse meant to put Americans in a fighting mood and lose their fear of nuclear conflagration. It isn’t clear if Clinton and the rest of the would-be warriors actually realize they are risking mushroom clouds. Perhaps they believe that Vladimir Putin will be easily pushed around when all evidence points to the contrary.
“ Regime change is once again their modus operandi and they hope to make it a reality against Russia.”
The unproven allegations of interference in the presidential election and casting blame on Russia as the sole cause of suffering in Syria are meant to desensitize the public. It is an age old ploy which makes war not just acceptable but deemed a necessity. The usual suspects are helping out eagerly. The corporate media, led by newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post , are front and center in pushing tales of Russian villainy. Human Rights Watch and other organizations who care nothing about abuses committed by the United States and its allies are also playing their usual role of choosing the next regime change victim.
Russia lost its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council in part because of American pressure and public relations assistance from the human rights industrial complex. The UNHRC is now chaired by Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy that funds the jihadist terrorist groups who caused 500,000 Syrian deaths. The Saudis are causing dislocation, death and starvation in Yemen, too, but they are American allies, so there is little opposition to their misdeeds.
The openly bigoted Donald Trump has been the perfect foil for Hillary Clinton. That is why she and the rest of the Democratic Party leadership preferred him as their rival. He made the case for the discredited lesser evilism argument and his sensible statements about avoiding enmity with Russia made him even more useful.
“ Newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post, are front and center in pushing tales of Russian villainy.”
The United States and its allies are the cause of Syria’s destruction. Their effort to overthrow president Assad created a humanitarian disaster complete with ISIS and al Nusra fighters who love to chop off heads for entertainment. Far from being the cause of the catastrophe Russia left its ally to fight alone for four years. They even made overtures to negotiate Assad’s fate with the United States. All attempts to stop the fighting were rejected by the U.S. and NATO and sealed the fate of the Syrian people. The people of east Aleppo are being shelled by American allies but one wouldn’t know that by reading what passes for journalism in newspapers and on television. The American role in the slaughter is barely mentioned or is excused as an effort to protect the civilian population. The bloodshed was made in the U.S. and could end if this government wanted it to.
The anti-Russian propaganda effort has worked to perfection. NATO is massing troops on Russia’s borders in a clear provocation yet Putin is labeled the bad guy. He is said to be menacing the countries that join in threatening his nation. The United States makes phony claims of Russian war crimes despite having blood on its hands. The latest Human Rights Watch canards about prosecuting Assad come straight from the White House and State Department and have nothing to do with concern for Syrians living in their fifth year of hell.
“Donald Trump has been the perfect foil for Hillary Clinton.”
There is no lesser evil between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. She is fully supported by the war party in her desire for a more “muscular” foreign policy. That bizarre term means death and starvation for millions more people if Clinton wins in a landslide. She must be denied a victory of that magnitude and any opportunity to claim a mandate. Peace loving people must give their votes to the Green Party ticket of Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka. They are alone in rejecting the premise of an imperialist country and its endless wars.
The United States is the most dangerous country in the world. If it has a reckless and war loving president the threat becomes existential. That is the prospect we face with a Hillary Clinton presidency. If the role of villain is cast on the world stage she is the star of the show. Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well as at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com. | 0 |
MASSIVE CORRUPTION SCANDAL UNCOVERED IN FONTANA. SECRET SLUSH FUND. by IWB · October 27, 2016 | 0 |
President Donald Trump has a plan to deal with former President Obama’s executive amnesty for children of illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally. [“We’ll be coming out with policy on that over the next period of four weeks,” Trump explained when asked about the “DREAMers” in an interview with ABC News anchor David Muir. In 2012, Obama instituted DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) allowing these children to stay in the country legally. During the campaign, Trump vowed to repeal DACA and DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents) a promise that activists are watching closely. During the ABC interview, however, Trump urged the “DREAMers” not to worry. “They are here illegally. They shouldn’t be very worried. I do have a big heart. We’re going to take care of everybody,” he said, promising to restore a strong border. “Where you have great people that are here that have done a good job, they should be far less worried. ” Trump added that his administration would focus on criminal illegal immigrants first. “Those people have to be worried ’cause they’re getting out,” he said. “We’re gonna get them out. We’re gonna get ’em out fast. ” | 1 |
(AP) — A former Libyan security official says the father of the alleged Manchester arena bomber was allegedly member of a former group in Libya. [Former Libyan security official Haroun said Wednesday he personally knew Ramadan Abedi, the father of Salman Abedi, and that the elder Abedi was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting group in the 1990s. The group had links to . Although the LIFG disbanded, Haroun says the father belongs to the Salafi Jihadi movement, the most extreme sect of Salafism and from which and the Islamic State group hail. Haroun says Abedi, also known as Abu Ismail, had returned to the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Ramadan Abedi told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Tripoli that his family “aren’t the ones who blow up ourselves among innocents. ” ___, The father of the alleged Manchester arena attacker denies his son is linked to militants or the suicide bombing that killed 22 people. Ramadan Abedi says he spoke to his son, Salman Abedi, five days ago and he was getting ready to visit Saudi Arabia and sounded “normal. ” He said that his son visited Libya a ago. The elder Abedi told The Associated Press by telephone from Tripoli: “We don’t believe in killing innocents. This is not us. ” He said his other son, Ismail, was arrested in England on Tuesday morning. He said Salman was planning to head from Saudi Arabia to Libya to spend the holy month of Ramadan with family. Abedi fled Tripoli in 1993 after Moammar Gadhafi’s security authorities issued an arrest warrant and eventually sought political asylum in Britain. Now, he is the administrative manager of the Central Security force in Tripoli. | 1 |
Posted on October 30, 2016 by Edmondo Burr in Weird // 0 Comments The discovery of an ancient coin in an Egyptian house which depicts an alien- like creature is proof that UFOs and aliens have visited earth during its history, according to UFO researchers.
Researchers have found numerous coins in the past that depict ‘flying objects’, but a discovery like the one posted below seems to offer more concrete proof that we have indeed been visiting by aliens – tens of thousands of years ago.
A newly found coin – which by the way has all the right ingredients for being called out as a fake — has woken interest among skeptics and UFOlogists who are debating about its origin and authenticity. related content World Leader Set To Confirm Aliens Visit Earth By End of 2016
According to thesun.co.uk , “during a house renovation in Egypt, someone came across a mysterious coin that seems to show the head of an extra-terrestrial being, with huge hollow eyes, a bald head and thin cheeks.”
Mysterious Earth writes that: “A group of people who worked on the renovation of a house in southern Egypt found a number of very rare coins.”
While any have rushed forward suggesting this is by far the best evidence of alien visitations, we need to hold on for a minute here and look at other possibilities.
While the coin is sensational to say the least, it doesn’t necessarily mean its authentic, but for that matter neither fake. The truth is that with all findings of a similar controversy, people rush to make conclusions without considering all possibilities.
The truth is that detailed information about the coin ‘depicting an alien-like creature’ is extremely limited. The only information we have is that it was discovered among ‘other ancient coins’ during a house renovation in Egypt. Nearly all of these coins have an inscription in Latin, which obviously mean they did not originate in Egypt, but most likely somewhere else.
The coin with the mystery creature on its side has “ OPPORTUNUS Adest ” carved on the back, Latin for “ its here in due time. ”
Whether or not the newly found coin depicting an alien-like creature is real or not remains a profound mystery. The most likely conclusion is that the coin is a modern forgery since NO EXPERTS have actually verified the item, analyzed it or seen it. All the information comes from different websites which can’t agree on what’s what. related content | 0 |
President Trump’s announcement of policy revisions toward Cuba — in which many strings on the Castro regime loosened by President Barack Obama were tightened again — was attended by a number of notable Cuban dissidents and victims of Castro violence. [Mario and Miriam de la Pena: Their son Mario Manuel de la Pena was murdered by the Castro regime in 1996 at the age of 25, while serving as a volunteer pilot for the humanitarian operation Brothers to the Rescue. He flew almost a hundred missions before his plane and another Brothers to the Rescue aircraft were shot down by a Cuban over international waters, killing three U. S. citizens and one legal resident of the United States. The unprovoked attack on two unarmed, planes was a blatant crime against humanity and violation of American law. The shootdown was condemned by both the United Nations Security Council and the U. N. Commission on Human Rights. A Cuban spy named Gerardo Hernandez was convicted in U. S. court of tipping off the Castro regime to the flight plans of Brothers to the Rescue planes. Hernandez served 16 years in prison before being released by Barack Obama and returned to Cuba, where he was hailed as a hero and decorated with a medal. Mirta Costa Mendez: Her brother Carlos Costa was another victim of the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown. Costa was 29 years old at the time of his death. “He was Brothers to the Rescue 24 hours a day,” his father said. “His greatest wish was to save lives. ” Antonio G. Rodiles: A Cuban dissident who often visits Miami to work with dissident groups based there, Rodiles was an outspoken critic of Obama’s policy and very energetic in calling upon Trump to erase it. “We have direct experience, including talking to President Obama, and the direct experience was that there was a lot of indolence in what happened with Cuba,” Rodiles said in March. “There was a moment when we understood that the administration was not an ally for democratic changes in Cuba, that they had a vision that Cuba was going to change in the long term and that we would have to accept . ” His advice for the Trump administration to “recognize that they are dealing with a dictatorship” appears to have been heeded. “Many, many people are telling me that we have to squeeze the government once and for all. And many people I meet in the street have much tougher opinions than mine,” Rodiles said of his experiences in Cuba while preparing for Trump’s announcement Friday. Rosa Maria Paya: Her father Oswaldo Paya was a moderate but determined Cuban democracy activist who was murdered by the Castro regime in 2012. Coercive police state tactics were employed against the surviving witnesses to the vehicular homicide to cover up the crime. His daughter carried on his work without hesitation. Her activities include calling out the regime for the abuses of power and terror tactics it supposedly abandoned when Obama implemented his liberalized policy. Rosa Maria has been subjected to some police harassment herself, and not just by Cuban police. She says she was subjected to unusual scrutiny and then threatened with deportation to Cuba by Panamanian police in 2015 because they feared she would cause a riot at the Summit of the Americas, which Cuba wanted to keep free of Cuban dissidents. The Panamanian government later apologized to her for what it called a “bureaucratic mistake. ” Sylvia Iriondo: The president of a group called Mothers and Women Against Repression, Iriondo was incensed at claims by supporters of Obama’s policy that Cuba had changed and should be supported for liberalizing. “With all due respect, where have they been these past 56 years? If they are part of our community, they must have felt the pain of thousands of Cubans who were victims of arbitrary human rights violations by a regime intent on maintaining its grip on power via repression and terror,” she wrote at the Miami Herald in December 2015. She wondered how any member of the community could fail to see that the Castro regime was still killing its opponents, driving families to escape the island, and using totalitarian tactics to retain power. “These gentlemen are not my fellow Cuban Americans,” she declared. Iriondo was angered by the way President Obama’s supporters were ready to forget about all those who “have given their lives for freedom or have died in the pursuit of freedom,” as she said at an event commemorating the Castro regime’s victims. Luis Haza: Born in Cuba, violinist Luis Haza was a child prodigy who began performing at the age of 11. His father was murdered by Fidel Castro when he was a child for the crime of supporting democracy and the mistake of thinking Castro would deliver it. He refused international scholarship offers to study with some of the world’s greatest violinists, telling a Cuban official: “No, but if you send me to the United States, I will go. ” His family eventually fled Cuba for Spain, and then came to America. “I had so much emotion pent up that music became my obsession. Since I could not express my feelings verbally, violin became my way of expression,” he said in a 2003 interview. He is now able to express those feelings verbally, musically, and through tireless education and activism in the cause of freedom. As President Trump said during his introduction of Haza in Miami on Friday, he was forced at gunpoint to play music after refusing to participate in a command performance for Raul Castro, so he played the American national anthem, which he also performed before Trump’s address. “You could hear a pin drop. I finished playing, and nobody knew what to do,” he said of that boyhood act of defiance against Castro’s evil. Jorge Luis Garcia Perez and Bertha Antunez: Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, who often goes by the name “Antunez,” was arrested in 1990 at the age of 24 for protesting the Castro regime and its discrimination against the minority. His sentence ended up lasting for 17 years, thanks to such acts of defiance as refusing to attend “ ” sessions. He wrote that “like many young Cubans, I have wasted my best years in prison, charged with the sole crime of not sharing the government’s ideology. ” His sister Bertha Antunez strenuously objected to President Obama’s normalization of relations with Cuba, signing an open letter calling it “little more than a string of unilateral concessions to a totalitarian dictatorship that has tirelessly repressed the Cuban people for the past 56 years. ” “This has been a year of repression and jailings in Cuba,” she said in 2015. “The repression has increased in Cuba because the government believes that it can repress anytime and nothing happens. On the contrary, they have recognized us as a legitimate government. ” Bertha Antunez was chosen to collect an award from the National Endowment for Democracy on behalf of a group of Cuban dissidents, including her father, in 2009. President Obama did not meet with her or issue a message of support to the group she represented, despite two weeks’ advance notice. The Obama White House responded to media inquiries about the snub by claiming it was a clerical error. | 1 |
Democrats are Racist for Calling Black Trump Supporters Uneducated Red Necks page: 1 link Its ok to call us white Trump supporters all that but when You mess with our black friends then that's another issue. Democrats need to realize that some black folks and white folks all grew up with different opportunities and school zones, that is SO RACIST to call them uneducated, its fine to call us whites that but not our black brothers and sisters, the Hispanics and all other non whites. How dare the Clintons offend our black and other minority members , Im sure some liberal will come along and say something totally ignorant like trump doesn't have and black supporters, well he does, over 20% of them. True, the democrats didn't single out the blacks and minorities, they referred to all of us as lots of things, all of us AMERICANS that weren't equal in our financial upbringings. You see, I see all of us Trump supporters as 3 colors, red white and blue. I see us all as Ameicans and not trying to DIVIDE people like the democrats. | 0 |
TJC: Please tell us about your new film, The Coming War on China . JP: The Coming War on China is my 60th film and perhaps one of the most urgent. It continues the theme of illuminating the imposition of great power behind a facade of propaganda as news. In 2011, President Obama announced a ‘pivot to Asia’ of US forces: almost two-thirds of American naval power would be transferred to Asia and the Pacific by 2020. The undeclared rationale for this was the ‘threat’ from China, by some measure now the greatest economic power. The Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, says US policy is to confront those ‘who see America’s dominance and want to take that away from us’. The film examines power in both countries and how nuclear weapons, in American eyes, are the bedrock of its dominance. In its first ‘chapter’, the film reveals how most of the population of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific were unwittingly made into nuclear guinea pigs in a programme whose secrets – and astonishing archive – are related to the presence of a missile base now targeting China. The Coming War on China will be released in cinemas in the UK on December 1st and broadcast on ITV (in the UK) on December 6th. TJC: How do you assess Australia’s role in America’s ‘Pivot to Asia’? JP: Australia is virtually the 51st state of the US. Although China is Australia’s biggest trader, on which much of the national economy relies, ‘confronting China’ is the diktat from Washington. The Australian political establishment, especially the military and intelligence agencies, are fully integrated into what is known as the ‘alliance’, along with the dominant Murdoch media. I often feel a certain sadness about the way my own country – with all its resources and opportunities – seems locked into such an unnecessary, dangerous obsequious role in the world. If the ‘pivot’ proceeds, Australia could find itself fighting, yet again, a great power’s war. TJC: With regards to the British and American media, how can the US get away with selling China as a threat when it is encircling China? Obama and vassal leader Abe: Nothing that this duo plots is good for humanity. JP: That’s a question that goes to the heart of modern-day propaganda. China is encircled by a ‘noose’ of some 400 US bases, yet the news has ignored this while concentrating on the ‘threat’ of China building airstrips on disputed islets in the South China Sea, clearly as a defence to a US Navy blockade. TJC: Obama’s visit to Japan, and particularly to Hiroshima, was a really cynical act. What was your impression of Japan and the political situation there? JP: Japan is an American colony in all but name – certainly in terms of its relationship with the rest of the world and especially China. The historian Bruce Cumings explores this in an interview in the film. Within the constraints of American dominance, indeed undeterred by Washington, Japan’s current prime minister Shinzo Abe has developed an extreme nationalist position, in which contrition for Japanese actions in the Second World War is anathema and the post-war ‘peace constitution’ is likely to be changed. Abe has gone as far as boasting that Japan will use nuclear weapons if it wants. In any US conflict with China, Japan – which last year announced its biggest ever ‘defence’ budget – would play a critical role. There are 32 US military installations on the Japanese island of Okinawa, facing China. However, there is a sense in modern Asia that power in the world has indeed moved east and peaceful ‘Asian solutions’ to regional animosities are possible. TJC: Do you think the new trade and investment deals like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and especially the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) will affect China’s business operations? JP: It’s difficult to say, but I doubt it. What is remarkable about the rise of China is the way it has built, almost in the blink of an eye, a trade, investment and banking structure that rivals that of the Bretton Woods institutions. Unknown to many of us, China is developing its ‘New Silk Road’ to Europe at an astonishing pace. China’s response to threats from Washington is a diplomacy that’s tied to this development, and which includes a burgeoning alliance with Russia. This interview was originally published by the Plymouth Institute for Peace Research . NOTE: T.J. Coles is the author of Britain’s Secret Wars (2016, Clairview Books). John Pilger, internatinally renowned Australian journalist and antiwar activist needs little introduction to our audience.
What will it take to bring America to live according to its own propaganda? | 0 |
Recipient Email =>
Word has reached me from Washington that the FBI has reopened the Hillary case of her violation of US National Security protocols, not because of the content of the new email releases, but because voter support for Trump seems to be overwhelming, while Hillary has cancelled appearances due to inability to muster a crowd. The popular vote leaves the FBI far out on the limb for its corrupt clearance of Hillary. The agency now has to redeem itself.
I myself do not know what precisely to think. Having been at the top of the Washington hierarchy for a quarter century, I have seen many mistaken judgments. At one time I had subpoena power over the CIA and was able to inform President Reagan that the CIA had misled him. He took note and proceeded with his policy of ending the Cold War with the Soviets. On other issues I have been mistaken, because I assumed that there was more integrity in government than actually exists.
However, FBI director Comey did not need to reopen the case against Hillary simply because some new incriminating emails appeared. Having dismissed the other incriminating evidence, these emails could have passed unremarked.
The problem for the FBI, which once was a trusted American institution, but no longer is, is that there is no longer any doubt that Donald Trump will win the popular vote for president of the United States. His appearances are so heavily attended that thousands are turned away by local fire/occupancy regulations. In contrast, Hillary has curtailed her appearances, because she doesn’t draw more than 30 or 40 people.
Americans are sick to death of the corrupt Clintons and the corrupt American media. The Clintons are so completely bought-and-paid-for by the Oligarchy that they were able to outspend Hollywood on their daughter’s wedding, dropping $3,000,000 on the event.
Nevertheless, I don’t underestimate the power of the Oligarchy. As Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury I experienced the Oligarchy’s power. If I had not been backed by the President of the United States, I would have been destroyed.
Indeed, the Oligarchy is still trying to destroy me.
Possibly Trump, as his enemies allerge, is just another fake, like Obama who misled the electorate. However, Trump attacks the Oligarchy so strongly that it is hard to believe that Trump isn’t real. Trump is asking for a bullet like John F. Kennedy, like Robert Kennedy, like Martin Luther King, like George Wallace.
In Amerika, dissidents are exterminated.
Trump is up against voting machines over which he has no control. If there are no INDEPENDENT exit polls, Trump can easily be robbed of the election, as the Texas early voting scandal indicates, with the electronic machines assigning Trump votes to Hillary. The “glitch” doesn’t assign any Hillary votes to Trump.
My expectation is that, unless Trump’s popular vote is so overwhelming, the electoral collage vote will be stolen. Because of the absence of any valid reporting by the presstitutes, I don’t know what impact the orchestrated election of Hillary would have on the electorate. Possibly, Americans will break out of The Matrix and take to the streets.
I beleve that Hillary in the Oval Office would convince the Russians and the Chinese that their national survival requires a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the crazed, insane government of the United States, the complete narcisstic state that in the words of Hillary and Obama is “the exceptional, indispensible country,” empowered by History to impose its will on the world. This crazed American agenda is not something that Russia and China will accept.
Here is Donald Trump speaking to Americans in words Americans have been waiting to hear:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8prvxjW2wM
Notice that Trump doesn’t need teleprompters.
I do not agree with Trump on many issues, but the American people do. For me and for the world, the importance of Trump is the prospect of peace with Russia. Nuclear war makes every other problem irrelevant.
If Hillary is installed by the Oligarchy—this is a word used by former Democratic President Jimmy Carter who said that the US is no longer a functioning democracy but is ruled by an Oligarchy—war with Russia and China will be upon us.
After 15 years the Taliban and ISIS still run wild in the Middle East despite the efforts of the American “superpower.” Unable to defeat a few lightly armied Taiban after 15 years, what prospects does the enfeebled US have of winning a conflict with Russia and China?
None whatsoever.
The United States has had an entire generation of people born into a war for which the purpose is inexplicable. Why these wars? Why this endless slaughter of women and children and endless columns of refugees overwhelming all of Europe desperately striving to escape Washington’s wars of world hegemony. Why do not the total dumbshits in Washington hear when the President of Russia says that “Russia can no longer tolerate the state of affairs that Washington has created in the world.”
The unjustified arrogance of Washington, a washed up Third World State, is likely to destroy life on earth. No greater danger to life exists than Washington. We have to hope that Trump can clean out the Augean Stables. (Reprinted from PaulCraigRoberts.org | 0 |
Election Results Confirmed Via: Bloomberg , Google
NBC Reports: Hillary Clinton has phoned Donald Trump To Concede
Ladies and gentlemen, The President-Elect Of The United States of America:
(Pictured: The cover Newsweek refused to print. Millions of copies of Hillary’s cover were printed and sent to book stores.)
Coming Soon to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. :
And the cover that never made it (but was printed because of a “business decision” at Newsweek)
| 0 |
Marc Riboud, the celebrated French photojournalist who captured moments of grace even in the most fraught situations around the world, died in Paris on Tuesday. He was 93. The cause was Alzheimer’s disease, his wife, Catherine Chaine, said. Mr. Riboud’s career of more than 60 years carried him routinely to turbulent places throughout Asia and Africa in the 1950s and ’60s, but he may be best remembered for two photographs taken in the developed world. The first, from 1953, is of a workman poised like an angel in overalls between a lattice of girders while painting the Eiffel Tower — one hand raising a paintbrush, one leg bent in a seemingly Chaplinesque attitude. The second, from 1967, is of a young woman presenting a flower to a phalanx of members of the National Guard during an War demonstration at the Pentagon. Both images were published in Life magazine during what is often called the golden age of photojournalism, an era Mr. Riboud (pronounced ) exemplified. A protégé of Henri he was on the front lines of world events, including wars. Even so, Mr. Riboud did not consider himself a record keeper. “I have shot very rarely news,” he once said. Rather than portray the military parades or political leaders of the Soviet Union, for example, he was drawn to anonymous citizens sitting in the snow, holding miniature chess boards and absorbed in their books. Of the many hundreds of shots he published from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Pakistan, Tibet and Turkey, only a handful are of figures written about by historians. Born on June 24, 1923, in St. near Lyon, he was the fifth and, by his account, the most shy of seven children from a bourgeois family that expected him to take up a respectable vocation. It was his father, an enthusiastic traveler and amateur photographer, who led him astray by giving him a Kodak when Marc was a teenager. His first photographs were of the Paris Exposition in 1937. After World War II, in which he fought around Vercors as a member of the Resistance, Mr. Riboud studied mechanical engineering at the École Centrale in Lyon. He took a factory job in the nearby town of Villeurbanne after graduating in 1948. Not until he found himself taking pictures of a cultural festival in Lyon during a weeklong vacation in 1951 did he at last decide to commit to the unstable life of a freelance photojournalist. He moved to Paris in 1952. There he met who became his mentor. Already a celebrity in his field, this “salutary tyrant,” as Mr. Riboud called him, dictated “which books to read, what political ideas I should have, which museums and galleries to visit. ” “He taught me about life and about the art of photography,” Mr. Riboud said. Among the lessons imparted was that “good photography” is dependent on “good geometry. ” The Eiffel Tower photograph from 1953, the first that Mr. Riboud published, proves how well the pupil absorbed the lesson. In a radio interview more than 50 years later, he still recalled the caption given to the image by the Life copy writers: “ on the Eiffel. ” In 1953, nominated his protégé to join Magnum, the photo collective he had helped found. Until 1979, when he left to go out on his own, Mr. Riboud traveled and photographed for the agency constantly. In 1955, he drove a specially equipped Land Rover to Calcutta from Paris, staying for a year in India. He was also one of the first Westerners to photograph in Communist China, and he spent three months in the Soviet Union in 1960. Throughout the 1950s and ’60s he documented the anticolonial independence movements in Algeria and West Africa, and during the Vietnam War he was among the few able to move easily between the North and South. In the United States, he documented not only protests against the Vietnam War but also a pensive Maureen Dean listening to her husband, the Nixon aide John W. Dean, testify at the Watergate hearings in 1973. Among the events he documented in recent decades were the return of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to Iran the Solidarity movement in Poland the trial of Klaus Barbie, the Gestapo chief in Lyon during World War II the end of apartheid in South Africa and the mood in the United States before the election of President Obama. During the last third of his life, Mr. Riboud was recognized by museums in many of the countries where he had worked. Photographs from his travels were collected in more than a dozen monographs, including “Marc Riboud: Photographs at Home and Abroad” (1986) “Marc Riboud: Journal” (1988) and “Marc Riboud in China: Forty Years of Photography” (1996). Among many other shows, Mr. Riboud was honored with exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, in 1964, and the International Center of Photography in New York, in 1975, 1988 and 1997. He was the subject of retrospectives at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1985 and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris in 2004. Unlike some artists who resent that the public’s infatuation with a few of their works has turned them into clichés, Mr. Riboud did not mind describing the circumstances behind “The Eiffel Tower Painter. ” No, he did not ask the workman to pose, he would answer patiently. To have spoken to the man might have caused him to slip. “I’ve always been shy, and I’ve always been trying to ignore the people I was photographing so that they ignore me,” he said. Of the flower girl at the Pentagon, a high school student named Jan Rose Kasmir, he ventured, “I had the feeling the soldiers were more afraid of her than she was of the bayonets. ” (The two later reunited in London, where he photographed her carrying a poster of the 1967 image at a demonstration against the Iraq War in 2003.) The immense popularity of these two photographs, assisted by countless reproductions, could well have warped perceptions of Mr. Riboud’s highly diverse body of work. And yet they did truly represent the gravitational bent of his personality. “I have always been more sensitive to the beauty of the world than to violence and monsters,” he wrote in an essay in 2000. “My obsession is with photographing life at its most intense as intensely as possible. It’s a mania, a virus as strong as my instinct to be free. If taste for life diminishes, the photographs pale, because taking pictures is like savoring life at 125th of a second. ” In 1961, he married Barbara Chase, the American sculptor, poet and novelist. The marriage ended in divorce in the 1980s. Besides his second wife, Ms. Chaine, a journalist and author, Mr. Riboud is survived by two sons from his first marriage, David and Alexei and a daughter, Clémence, and a son, Théo, from his second marriage. Mr. Riboud’s weakness for sentimental subjects and causes marred his reputation with some critics. But this optimism, coupled with his overt sympathies for the downtrodden and a working style that put an emphasis on freedom of movement, unencumbered by any equipment except a camera and his wits, also served to keep him photographing until the end of his life. Until a few years ago, he would begin each day by loading film into his Canon EOS 300. “My vision of the world is simple,” Mr. Riboud said when he was in his 80s. “Tomorrow, each new day, I want to see the city, take new photographs, meet people and wander alone. ” | 1 |
SYDNEY, Australia — A menacing Cyclone Debbie struck the northeastern Australian coastline with devastating force Tuesday, slowly churning its path of destruction inland with wind gusts as high as 160 miles per hour, forcing tens of thousands to flee and leaving at least 48, 000 homes without power. After lashing tourist islands off the coast, the storm bore down on the mainland, tearing roofs from homes and drenching coastal towns with heavy rainfall. Its slow, potent march inland had officials fearing widespread damage, but the loss of telephone service and power left emergency responders struggling to assess the situation. “This is a dangerous cyclone,” said Annastacia Palaszczuk, the premier of Queensland. “We are seeing some structural damage in places such as Proserpine, and we expect that there will be that sort of damage along some of those small coastal communities, which are in the direct path of Cyclone Debbie. ” The storm made landfall around 1 p. m. near the resort town of Airlie Beach, which was hit by winds of up to 160 miles an hour, damaging roofs and knocking over palm trees. By nightfall, it was downgraded to a Category 3 storm, from a Category 4, as it began “curving to a more southerly track over inland Queensland,” the Bureau of Meteorology said. A Category 3 storm on the Australian scale typically entails gusts of more than 102 miles an hour. Ms. Palaszczuk said it was difficult to assess the damage. “We’re starting to see it where they’re actually losing communication, and that’s the biggest problem for us — because we just don’t know how many people are injured, the status of their homes,” she said. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Parliament that “conditions have deteriorated badly” in Queensland, adding that the Choules, a landing ship with helicopters and medical personnel, was dispatched to the area, as were air force airlift craft. The government has deployed 1, 000 personnel to provide assistance and disaster relief, with the army on standby to help out. The Insurance Council of Australia declared the cyclone a catastrophe, activating a hotline to help policy holders with claims. The cyclone forced thousands of people to seek shelter well away from coastal areas. Lama Ghee, 39, arrived at the Ayr shelter with his sister, daughter and three nieces. “I don’t want to stay there in a big cyclone like this and get blown away,” he said, noting that his house was made of wood and was in disrepair and that he feared a storm surge. “I am thinking of my children and my nieces. ” The cyclone was of a size that had not been seen in the state since Cyclone Yasi, a severe tropical storm, hit in 2011. That storm, which caused billions of dollars in damage, was one of the most powerful cyclones to have affected Queensland since began, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The slow path of the storm this week had officials concerned about its destructive force. “Debbie is a very large, system,” said John Fowler, a spokesman for Ergon Energy, noting that 48, 000 customers were without power in the Bowen, Whitsunday and Mackay areas. “This one is actually taking its time, so the longer it takes, the more damage it will do — not just to our network but obviously to property as well. ” Among the concerns was further damage to the Great Barrier Reef, which has already been seriously degraded by warming waters. “There’s probably quite a lot of reef area in the footprint of Cyclone Debbie that’s at risk from damage from the wind and the waves,” said David Wachenfeld, director of reef recovery at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. “So it’s a double whammy for the reef with bleaching. ” | 1 |
Tweet Widget A Black Agenda Radio Commentary by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
In a decade on the House Financial Services Committee Keith Ellison hasn’t targeted the credit card racketeers, or the banksters who flooded the market with predatory home and student loans or federal officials who refuse to relieve underwater homeowners. Democratic party leaders need another empty black face to front the DNC, someone who blames Wikileaks and the Russians for Hillary’s defeat. Ellison will do just fine. Keith Ellison as DNC Chair: Another High Place, Another Empty Black Face A Black Agenda Radio Commentary by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, Democratic party honchos are scrambling to reassure their funders and to shore up the careers of Democratic elected officials who serve those funders. They must justify and retain whatever hold they still have on the millions of nominal Democratic voters who actually have no voice whatsoever in what their party stands for.
At bottom, the two capitalist parties are owned by the same class of elite one percenter funders but with different voting bases At least one US party is always the self-declared White Man’s Party. Since the late sixties Republicans have reserved that slot for themselves, leaving Democrats to claim the allegiance of racial minorities and some other groups. The different voting bases of the two parties mean they have different campaign styles, but when the campaigns are over they’re both as Barack Obama affirmed, on the same team. Both parties deliver the mandate of their constituencies to their common funders, Big Ag, Big Oil, Big Insurance, Big Pharma, Big Real Estate, the military contractors and Wall Street.
After the departures of Debbie Wasserman-Schulz and Donna Brazile, both deeply implicated in the sabotaging of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton’s loss, Democrats need a new face at the head of the Democratic National Committee, the national party’s executive body. Ideally it should be someone who reassures the funders and can help rally the base voters. The leading contender is Keith Ellison, just elected to his sixth term in Congress from Minneapolis.
Keith Ellison seems a good fit. He was the first Muslim ever elected to Congress, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and current co-chair of the large and virtually impotent House Progressive Caucus. He was an early endorser of Bernie Sanders who did his duty trying to lead leftward strays back into Hillary’s big tent . In a decade on the House Financial Services Committee, Ellison managed not to deeply offend the banksters who flooded the market with predatory housing and student loans, or the payday lenders and credit card racketeers, and he didn’t embarrass or insult the colleagues who openly shill for them. In that target rich environment Ellison managed not just to keep from hitting anything, but not even to take aim.
By contrast, Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2014 made headlines when she grilled Ellison's former Congressional Black Caucus colleague Mel Watt , on why the agency he heads, despite a clear mandate from Congress to reduce the principals on potentially millions of unpayable predatory home loans, refused to reduce the principal on a single one. Three years later the news is that the agency may reduce principal on a mere 3,100 home loans at most . We’re still waiting to hear from Ellison and the other eight black Democrats on the committee on this failure.
But Ellison is black. He’s the first Muslim elected to Congress, he’s smart enough and telegenic. He votes infallibly to support the apartheid regime in Israel, and he says if it were up to him there’d have been a no-fly zone (and possible shooting war with the Russians) a long time ago.
Hillary’s indispensable firewall was supposed to be the black vote, for which she needed to do little else than mumble about “black lives mattering” and pose occasionally with the mothers of some of those murdered by police. Democratic shot callers seem to still believe that all they need is another empty black face in a high place. They won’t get another First Black President. It was Hillary’s turn and that didn’t work out. Now it’s Keith Ellison’s turn. He's another empty black face in a very high place.
For Black Agenda Radio I’m Bruce Dixon. Find us on the web at www.blackagendareport.com . Bruce A. Dixon is managing editor at Black Agenda Report and co-chair of the GA Green Party. He lives and works near Marietta GA and can be reached via email at bruce.dixon(at)blackagendareport.com. | 0 |
Leaked Email: ‘If She Wins, Hillary Will Own The Supreme Court for the Next 30 to 40 Years’ Tweet
This. Is. Horrifying.
In another Wikileaks email , this time from Chairman of the National Jewish Democratic Council Marc Stanley to Hillary campaign chairman John Podesta dated February 11, 2016, Stanley lays out his best argument for why voters should choose Hillary over Bernie…
(click to enlarge)
He writes:
I tell the voter that I like Bernie and I like Hillary, but that’s not what matters. What matters to me is that there are 4 justices on the Supreme Court who will be in their 80’s and be replaced by the next president – and that President will appoint 40 year old Justices and they will serve for 30 or 40 years. | 0 |
The rift in the Republican Party grew deeper on Sunday and threatened to upset the July convention as Donald J. Trump refused to rule out blocking Paul D. Ryan, the speaker of the House, from serving as the convention’s chairman. Mr. Trump’s warning was his latest affront to Republicans who have urged him to adopt a more cooperative and unifying tone. And it amounted to an extraordinary escalation in tensions between the party’s presumptive nominee and its officeholder. In a series of television interviews that aired Sunday, Mr. Trump demonstrated little interest in making peace with party leaders like Mr. Ryan who have called on him to more convincingly lay out his commitment to the issues and ideas that have animated the conservative movement for the last generation. “I’m going to do what I have to do — I have millions of people that voted for me,” Mr. Trump said on ABC’s “This Week. ” “So I have to stay true to my principles also. And I’m a conservative, but don’t forget, this is called the Republican Party. It’s not called the Conservative Party. ” If anything, Mr. Trump’s candidacy has thrived because of his resistance to party politics as usual, not in spite of it. He has broken with Republican leadership in Congress on trade, military intervention and immigration policy. And he appears as determined as ever not to fall in line now that he has effectively secured the nomination. Mr. Trump’s differences with those in the party who think they have earned more of a right to set its political and ideological course have led to a rupture at the time when Republicans would ordinarily be trying to put the messy personal clashes of the primary contests behind them. These divisions have played out most openly and vividly around the planning of the Republican National Convention. It is a telling reflection of the state of Republican politics: an escalating spat over going to a party for a party that is coming undone. Four of the last five Republican presidential nominees — George Bush, George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney — have said they will skip the convention in Cleveland, where Mr. Trump is expected to be formally nominated. Mr. Ryan, who serves as the convention’s ceremonial chairman, has made the provocative declaration that he is not ready to support his party’s likely nominee, a rebuke that drew Mr. Trump’s threat, in an interview with NBC News, to keep him from assuming that role. The large corporations that usually fund both parties’ conventions have grown wary of becoming involved. They are holding back on sponsorships, leaving Cleveland about $7 million short of its $64 million goal just 10 weeks before the festivities begin. “Conventions have always been platforms for different views inside the party, with the understanding that primaries are about our differences and the general election is supposed to be about coming together,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican consultant who has worked on several presidential campaigns, most recently in 2012 for Mr. Romney. “But the big, open rift that nobody can deny is that there’s a lot we still don’t agree on,” he said. With Mr. Trump’s two remaining rivals, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, now out of the race, Republicans have defused their biggest possible crisis ahead of the convention: having a bitter fight for the nomination play out in front of tens of millions on television. But they seemed to be barreling toward another. Questions over Mr. Trump’s conservative credentials refuse to die, causing some Republicans to make demands of him that are for the party’s . Conservative activists have called on Mr. Trump to identify before he arrives in Cleveland people he would appoint as cabinet members, Supreme Court justices or even vice president, gestures they say would calm fears over the sincerity of his conservatism. Tony Perkins, a convention delegate from Louisiana who is the president of the conservative Family Research Council and had supported Mr. Cruz before he dropped out of the race last week, said Mr. Trump could not afford to antagonize any more voters. “The margins he has to work with in terms of electoral success are very small,” he said. Unlike other Republican nominees who have been greeted skeptically by social conservatives, Mr. Trump faces deep and unrelenting hostility, Mr. Perkins added. “Now, not only do you have indifference, you have outright resistance to his candidacy,” he said. Having a nominee who engenders such mistrust poses complications for other aspects of the convention. As much as the party gatherings are meant to convey cohesiveness and cooperation, they have also become platforms to highlight diversity and inclusiveness, virtues Mr. Trump has not shown an inclination to promote. Republicans have filled their speaking slots at recent conventions with women, and Hispanics in an effort to overcome an image as the party of old white men. But the list of speakers from the 2012 convention reads like a list of Mr. Trump’s enemies. Many have denounced him, including Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada, Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Representative Barbara Comstock of Virginia. And many of them are likely to skip the convention this summer. A spokesman for Mr. Sandoval said he did not plan to go to Cleveland. Ms. Comstock and Ms. Ayotte will stay home and meet with constituents instead. Ms. Haley’s office has said she has not made up her mind. Convention organizers in the past have also invited leaders of different faiths, including Islam, to lead the body in prayer. The stage usually serves as a forum for the party to help elevate its next generation of leaders. But there, too, the list from 2012 is a who’s who of officials whom Mr. Trump has alienated: Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and, of course, Mr. Ryan and Mr. Cruz. Mr. Trump and Mr. Ryan are set to meet privately in Washington on Thursday as part of an effort to bridge the gap between the party establishment and Mr. Trump. How to handle Mr. Cruz — and the hundreds of delegates who will go to the convention pledged to vote for him — is another sensitive issue for Mr. Trump and his team as they plan for the convention. Absent an agreement with the Trump campaign, Mr. Cruz’s nearly 600 delegates could vote against Mr. Trump in an embarrassing show of discord. But Mr. Cruz, who has given no indication about what he wants his delegates to do, would most likely benefit from building up good will in the party if he wants to run for president again, as many expect him to do. “It is in Senator Cruz’s interests to eventually be visibly supportive of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee,” said Paul Manafort, a senior adviser for the Trump campaign who was brought on to help improve outreach to fellow Republicans. The Trump campaign must also begin raising money to plug any holes in the convention budget, which will exceed $100 million when costs like security are factored in. But some previous corporate sponsors, like and Walmart, have been reassessing their commitments. Joe Roman, the vice chairman of the Cleveland host committee, said the large national corporations that were needed to close the $7 million gap the city is facing were taking some time to line up. “The last five, six, seven million of anything is always the slowest,” he said. There is also the question of safety. While the anger from Trump supporters who were fearful he would be denied the nomination appears to have diminished, masses of demonstrators are still expected to descend on Cleveland, a city that has been a caldron of racial tensions between the police and residents. So even if many are staying away from the Republican National Convention, there is at least one group eager to go. | 1 |
BEIJING — China’s leaders have been markedly reticent about what kind of leader they think Donald J. Trump will be. A pragmatic dealmaker, as his business background might indicate? Or a provocateur who tests the ways of statecraft? By talking on Friday with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Mr. Trump answered that question in stark terms, Chinese analysts said Saturday. Breaking decades of American diplomatic practice, he caught the Chinese government off guard by lunging into the most sensitive of its core interests, the “One China” policy agreed to by President Richard M. Nixon more than four decades ago. “This is a call for Beijing — we should buckle up for a pretty rocky six months or year in the . S. relationship,” Wang Dong, an associate professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University, said Saturday. “There was a sort of delusion based on overly optimistic ideas about Trump. That should stop. ” Chinese leaders covet stability in their relationship with Washington, and perhaps for that reason, they have allowed fairly rosy assessments of Mr. Trump to appear in the news media. Many of those accounts have depicted the as a practical operator devoid of ideology, the kind of person China might find common ground with despite his threats of a trade war. In the hope of maintaining a relatively smooth relationship as Mr. Trump begins his administration, Beijing will probably take a attitude despite his phone call with Ms. Tsai, said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University. Indeed, China’s first official reaction, from Foreign Minister Wang Yi, was fairly benign — though it was firm in reiterating the One China policy, under which the United States formally recognized Beijing as China’s sole government in 1978 and broke ties with Taiwan a year later. No American president or had spoken to a Taiwanese president since then. Mr. Wang blamed Ms. Tsai’s government for arranging the call. “It won’t stand a chance to change the One China policy agreed upon by the international community,” he said. A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday, noting that the ministry had filed a formal complaint with the United States government, was similar in tone. It urged “relevant parties in the U. S. ” to “deal with the Taiwan issue in a prudent, proper manner. ” China’s leaders disdain Ms. Tsai, of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party, who was elected president this year after pledging to wean the island off its economic dependence on China, a policy that won enthusiastic support from younger Taiwanese. China favored her original opponent, Hung of the Kuomintang, which has sought closer ties with mainland China. (Ms. Hung later dropped out of the race.) Before the election, President Xi Jinping of China met with Ms. Tsai’s predecessor, Ma also of the Kuomintang, in the first encounter between the leaders of the two governments, a rapprochement that Beijing had long sought. Mr. Trump broke a Chinese taboo merely by using Ms. Tsai’s title. The Chinese state news media refer to the Taiwanese president as the “leader of the Taiwan region,” to indicate that Beijing regards Taiwan not as a sovereign nation but as Chinese territory to eventually be brought under its control. A basic tenet of the Chinese government is that Taiwan, where Chiang ’s forces fled in 1949 after losing China’s civil war, will be brought back into the fold. According to Mr. Xi, Taiwan is destined to become an integral part of his China Dream, a vision of an economically successful Communist China astride the world. Mr. Trump’s phone call also violated a longstanding principle of American policy: that the president does not speak to the head of Taiwan’s government, despite selling arms to it. “Interesting how the US sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter after the stunned reaction to his conversation with Ms. Tsai. Though Beijing vehemently protests the arms sales, it also warily acknowledges them as part of practice. Since the Washington has signaled to Taiwan that it will not support any military effort to gain independence from China. The Obama administration’s last arms sale to Taiwan, in 2015, was relatively modest — consisting of antitank missiles, two frigates and surveillance gear, worth $1. 8 billion in total — but it still provoked a bitter denunciation from Beijing. Douglas H. Paal, a former director of the American Institute in Taiwan, which represents American interests there, said it would not be surprising if the United States sold arms to Taiwan early in the Trump administration. Beijing’s reaction would depend on the price tag, the kinds of weapons sold and how the administration informed China of the sale, Mr. Paal said. While it broke diplomatic precedent, Mr. Trump’s conversation with Ms. Tsai could be seen in some ways as following a pattern of Republican presidents’ reaching out to Taiwan, although others did not do so before taking office. George W. Bush, for example, was vocal in his support of Taiwan early in his presidency, saying in a television interview that the United States would do “whatever it took” to defend it. His aides said afterward that the comment did not reflect a change in the One China policy. By the end of his second term, Mr. Bush had helped to strengthen trade ties between Beijing and Washington through the approval of China’s entry into the World Trade Organization. Though Mr. Trump has received generally favorable coverage in the state news media, some Chinese analysts have expressed irritation with him, and some have suggested that his administration will offer China opportunities to show strength. Yan Xuetong, a professor of international relations at Tsinghua University and a foreign policy hawk, said the overall tenor of the States relationship in the coming years would depend a great deal on the personal chemistry between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi. He said China, with its growing military and the economy in the world, could largely afford to act as it liked. “China is increasingly resilient to the United States,” he said. Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, took a contrarian view of Mr. Trump’s call with Ms. Tsai: He said it was not a problem because Mr. Trump had yet to take office. “He is a private citizen,” he said. But if such contacts continue after Inauguration Day, Mr. Shen said, China should end diplomatic relations with the United States. “I would close our embassy in Washington and withdraw our diplomats,” he said. “I would be perfectly happy to end the relationship. I don’t know how you are then going to expect China to cooperate on Iran and North Korea and climate change. You are going to ask Taiwan for that?” | 1 |
Democrat @timkaine: ”There is no legal justification” for President Trump’s airstrikes on Syrian airbase https: . Friday on CNN’s “New Day,” Sen. Tim Kaine ( ) the 2016 Democratic nominee, told show host Chris Cuomo there was “no legal justification” for President Donald Trump’s action against Syria a night earlier, which was a military strike against a Syrian air base in response to the nation’s use of chemical weapons earlier in the week. Kaine said although he agreed from a “moral standpoint” with the decision, there was no “legal justification” for Trump’s decision because he did not come to Congress first. “There is no legal justification for this,” Kaine said. “I think from a moral standpoint — absolutely, I agree with Senator Rubio. It was the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do — to try to deter Bashar from war crimes and remember, I voted to use military action against Syria in August of 2013. Senator Rubio voted against it back then when Bashar did the same thing. But I said the president has to come to Congress. And Donald J. Trump, citizen Trump back then said exactly the same thing. A president has to go to Congress. He should not have done this without coming to Congress. ” Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor | 1 |
MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, who nurses a longtime grudge against the United States, has declared he wants “a separation” and on Wednesday added that he wants American troops out of his country in two years. Speaking in Tokyo, Mr. Duterte said he was willing to revoke the 2014 agreement letting the Pentagon use five Philippine military bases, a critical component of the Obama administration’s plan to bolster American influence in Asia. “I want them out,” he said of the American troops in his country. While his threats have tapped a deep strain of resentment among Filipinos who feel as if they are treated like a ally, the country’s deep cultural, economic and military ties to the United States make it unlikely that they will follow him on the path to divorce. Especially not, as Mr. Duterte suggested in Beijing last week, all the way to China. “Practically every family here has a relative in the U. S.,” said Roilo Golez, who served as national security adviser to former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. “They don’t dream of going to China and living there. ” The close relationship between the Philippines and the United States, while complicated and at times acrimonious, has existed for more than a century, and the Philippines has been the closest American ally in the region for 70 years. Mr. Duterte’s vow to upend that kinship has frustrated even some of his supporters. “I voted for him, but I’m not sure what he is doing right now,” said Jess Custodio, 56, a bank executive in Manila. “It is baffling to me. It would tear out the heart of many Filipinos to separate. ” The bonds with the United States run wide and deep. About four million Filipinos and live in the United States, and the money they send home to relatives is a mainstay of the Philippine economy. Another major sector of the economy — call centers, largely serving American companies — employs more than one million Filipinos. Partly because of the high level of English spoken in the Philippines, the industry is one of the segments. American movies, music, fashion and consumer goods are popular here. In an earlier era, Filipinos working in the United States would send “balikbayan boxes” filled with American food and gifts. Now, shopping malls are packed with clothes, cosmetics, appliances, foods and other products. More Filipinos hold a favorable view of the United States than even Americans do, 92 percent compared with 82 percent, according to a 2015 survey by the Pew Research Center. Whenever the Philippines has been included by Pew in surveys dating back to 1999, more Filipinos have had a favorable view of the United States than people in any other country. That support extends to the military, where there is considerable backing for the partnership with the United States, especially the assistance that American forces have provided in combating extremists in the southern Philippines. Many Filipino military officers were trained in the United States, and the two nations have staged joint military exercises for decades. “President Duterte risks creating a lethal combination of adversaries if he moves to truncate the alliance with the United States,” said Ernest Z. Bower, the president of the consulting firm BowerGroupAsia. “He would alienate his military, which wants the help of the U. S. ” The military has at times played a major role in political affairs and has twice sided with civilian protesters in ousting presidents. The talk of separation has also caused anxiety among some foreign businesses, which may become more cautious in investing or expanding operations here, analysts said. Mr. Duterte seems aware of the risks. Perhaps out of concern for the need for military support, he has made numerous speeches at military bases around the country since taking office in June. And after he returned from Beijing last week, he sought to soften his call for separation. He did not mean cutting diplomatic relations, he explained, which would not be feasible. “Why?” he asked. “Because the Filipinos in the United States will kill me. ” The Obama administration did not respond directly to Mr. Duterte’s latest threat, but the White House repeated its concerns about what it called his unhelpful rhetoric. The administration has sought to play down the prospect of a rupture in the alliance, in part because officials are not yet certain whether Mr. Duterte’s comments will translate into lasting policy changes. The White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, said on Wednesday that the threats “contribute to some uncertainty, and that uncertainty is inconsistent with what has for the last seven decades been a alliance that’s benefited people and governments in both countries. ” To Mr. Duterte, those seven decades are largely about abuse and exploitation. His foreign minister, Perfecto Yasay Jr. recently said the Philippines must shake off the “invisible chains” of being the Americans’ “little brown brothers. ” The United States took the Philippines from Spain in 1898, inheriting Spain’s war against Muslim rebels who were seeking independence. Fighting continued for decades in the southern Philippines, where Islamic rebels still operate today. In 1906, American troops massacred about 600 people — including rebels, women and children — who had taken refuge in the Bud Dajo volcanic crater on the island of Jolo. Mr. Duterte, responding recently to American criticism of his deadly antidrug campaign, complained that the United States had never apologized for the slaughter. When Japan occupied the Philippines during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur famously returned to drive out the Japanese forces. Many Filipinos still see him as a hero. The United States granted the Philippines independence after the war. Since then, the countries have maintained close economic ties and a strong military alliance, including a mutual defense treaty that dates from 1951. Another low point in the relationship resulted from Washington’s support for the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. After his ouster in 1986, the Philippines adopted a new constitution banning foreign military bases, which led to the eviction of American forces from Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Base. Relations later recovered, and the 2014 agreement allowed the United States to maintain a small force on five Philippine military bases. It was that agreement that Mr. Duterte threatened to cancel on Wednesday. His policy shift has put Japan, another important ally of the United States in Asia and the Philippines’ largest trading partner, in the delicate position of trying to retain a balance in an increasingly tense region where Japan fears any further tilt toward China. In a meeting on Wednesday, Mr. Duterte and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan discussed the importance of both the alliance between Japan and the United States and the alliance between the Philippines and the United States. If the Philippines is the most country in the world, the view has a strong constituency as well. Even among the military, there are complaints that the United States often provides outdated hardware, . “Duterte has indeed tapped into a deep and atavistic frustration of many Filipinos that the U. S. approach to their country has been paternalistic,” Mr. Bower said. “These feelings are real, and sharpened by the coexisting affinity for U. S. culture, brands and people. ” The resentment focuses not just on historical slights. Mr. Duterte has said he was motivated in part by his lingering anger over the 2002 case of Michael Terrence Meiring, an American who was seriously injured when a bomb exploded in his hotel room in Davao City, where Mr. Duterte was then mayor. Soon after, Mr. Meiring vanished from his hospital room. Mr. Duterte has long said he believed Mr. Meiring was a terrorist spirited away illegally by American operatives to avoid a trial on criminal charges. Only recently have American officials begun speaking publicly about the case. Ambassador Philip Goldberg said in a television interview on Tuesday that he understood the president’s concern but that he believed that no laws were broken. “He was transported by international air ambulance with no stop order, no arrest order, for further treatment because his family wanted to make sure his life was saved and wanted advanced medical care,” Mr. Goldberg said. For all Mr. Duterte’s talk, the United States has not received any request to curtail programs, reduce cooperation, cut aid or sever ties, the embassy here said. But if Mr. Duterte’s goal was to receive more attention from Washington, he has succeeded. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel R. Russel, a top State Department official, visited Manila this week and met with Mr. Yasay. Afterward, Mr. Russel told reporters that the United States fully supported the Philippines’ having an independent foreign policy and welcomed a reduction in tensions between Manila and Beijing. But he also cautioned that confusion created by Mr. Duterte’s comments was “bad for business. ” “The succession of controversial comments, and a real climate of uncertainty about the Philippines’ intentions, has created consternation in many countries, not only in mine, and not only among governments,” he said. “There is growing concern in other communities and the expat Filipino community, in corporate board rooms as well. That’s not a positive trend. ” Mr. Duterte responded true to form on Tuesday, lashing out at the American business community before leaving for Japan. “Go ahead, pack your bags,” he said. “We will sacrifice. We will recover, I assure you. ” | 1 |
When F. B. I. agents learned that a prime suspect in the Volkswagen emissions scandal was traveling to the United States, investigators knew they were on the cusp of a rare feat: the arrest of an overseas corporate executive accused of wrongdoing. On Saturday night, agents swooped in to arrest the Volkswagen executive, Oliver Schmidt, as he prepared to depart Miami International Airport for Germany, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the case, one of whom described the circumstances of the arrest. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case. Mr. Schmidt, formerly Volkswagen’s top emissions compliance executive in the United States, has been charged with defrauding the government and violating the Clean Air Act. He made an initial appearance on Monday in federal court in Miami. He will be moved to Detroit, where he was originally charged and where court documents suggest that he might be valuable in the government’s investigation into other Volkswagen officials. Mr. Schmidt, 48, played a central role in Volkswagen’s of its diesel emissions cheating, according to an affidavit from an F. B. I. agent that was unsealed on Monday. Even as the company obfuscated details of its cheating program from regulators, Mr. Schmidt warned executives in Germany that the company could face criminal charges for its actions, the affidavit says. The case against Mr. Schmidt sheds new doubt on Volkswagen’s assertions that top executives did not understand the full scale of the wrongdoing until early in September 2015, more than a year after questions were first raised about emissions from its vehicles. Mr. Schmidt briefed executives in detail months earlier, in July, according to the criminal complaint, filed in federal court in Michigan. The timeline of the briefing has not been laid out before by prosecutors. The complaint also says that other employees were involved in a suggesting that more charges could be coming. It is unclear which employees — above or below Mr. Schmidt — the government believes were involved. Mr. Schmidt reported to officials at Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg. Volkswagen is nearing a deal with the Justice Department to pay more than $2 billion to resolve the criminal investigation into the emissions cheating, according to three people briefed on the negotiations. The company or one of its corporate entities is expected to plead guilty as part of the deal, according to one of the people. That deal, though, would not prevent charges against individual employees. Volkswagen’s emissions scandal has cost the company $16 billion in civil settlements in the United States alone. The fallout from the scandal has already reached Volkswagen’s executive ranks. The automaker’s chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, resigned in September, several days after American regulators publicly accused the company of manipulating testing results. German prosecutors are now investigating Mr. Winterkorn and another executive, Hans Dieter Pötsch, about whether they violated securities laws. For United States investigators, the arrest of Mr. Schmidt is a stroke of luck. Their attempts to prosecute people suspected of being responsible for the scandal have been hampered because many of the people are in Germany, which does not normally extradite its citizens. Mr. Schmidt’s lawyer, David Massey, said in court that his client had learned of the investigation and contacted the F. B. I. to cooperate. He met with federal investigators in London in 2015, Mr. Massey said. Reached by phone, Mr. Massey declined to comment further, leaving unclear what came of the outreach to the government. Volkswagen declined to comment. Why Mr. Schmidt risked arrest by traveling in the United States remains a mystery. He is fluent in English and has extensive ties in the United States from his years working in the country for Volkswagen. A Volkswagen employee since 1997, Mr. Schmidt was named general manager of Volkswagen’s Engineering and Environmental Office in Auburn Hills, Mich. in 2013. In that job, he was responsible for managing relations with the Environmental Protection Agency and the powerful California Air Resources Board, the regulatory agencies that initially pursued the emissions cheating case. Mr. Schmidt was among the first to react in early 2014 when a study by West Virginia University found evidence that Volkswagen diesel cars polluted far more under normal driving conditions than they did in official testing labs. In an email to a colleague in April 2014, he wrote, “It should first be decided whether we are honest,” according to an affidavit signed by Ian Dinsmore, an F. B. I. special agent. The affidavit was the basis for a criminal complaint against Mr. Schmidt. Volkswagen decided to mask its emissions cheating from regulators, according to the complaint and lawsuits filed by the New York attorney general’s office. To buy time, the company recalled Volkswagens in the United States for an update of the engine software in early 2015, even though Mr. Schmidt and others knew that change would not bring the cars into compliance, according to the complaint. In March, Mr. Schmidt was promoted to a new position in Wolfsburg. As he moved up, he continued to play a crucial role in Volkswagen’s relations with regulators. In July, he briefed executives on the risks that Volkswagen faced. According to the complaint, Mr. Schmidt and other Volkswagen employees briefed top managers in Wolfsburg ahead of a meeting with officials at the California regulatory agency, also known as CARB, which took the lead in the investigation. Mr. Schmidt explained that the cars contained software that recognized when a vehicle was undergoing tests. The defeat device increased pollution controls so the cars would pass muster. Mr. Schmidt also told the executives that if the meeting with regulators did not go well, the company could face criminal charges, according to the complaint. The executives decided not to disclose the defeat device, according to the complaint. The complaint did not say which executives Mr. Schmidt briefed. The account runs counter to the timeline Volkswagen has detailed. The company has maintained in court documents that top managers did not learn of the wrongdoing until early September 2015. The continued into August, according to the complaint. While attending an industry conference, Mr. Schmidt presented a thick binder of technical information to a California regulator. But when agency experts scrutinized the data, they found that it made no sense, Alberto Ayala, the board’s deputy executive officer, said in an interview last year. Having run out of excuses for the emissions discrepancies, Mr. Schmidt and other Volkswagen managers met with CARB and E. P. A. officials in September and admitted the presence of a defeat device. By then, Mr. Schmidt and his colleagues had squandered the credit that companies usually get for cooperating with investigators. Nevertheless, Mr. Schmidt continued to represent Volkswagen publicly through early 2016, continuing to play down what the company had done. In January, he testified before the British Parliament as part of an inquiry into the emissions testing. Mr. Schmidt told the members of Parliament that Volkswagen had removed software that recognized when an emissions test was underway. But the software was nothing nefarious, he said. “This software is not defined as a defeat device in Europe,” he said. | 1 |
WASHINGTON, D. C. — Tom Perez, former Barack Obama labor secretary and establishment Democrat, was elected as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in Atlanta on Saturday as the party slid into chaos over the course of nearly six hours. [While Perez made history Saturday becoming the first Latino leader of the Democratic Party, those present experienced, the deepening of divisions that have mired their party since Election Day. Perez’s win was indicative of the Democratic Party’s refusal to heed the voices of its constituents’ calls for change. “It’s going to be a major problem” if Perez wins, Jane Flemming Keeb, chair of the Nebraska Democrats, said in an interview with The Young Turks. Former Bernie Sanders for President campaign manager called Perez a “candidate of the insider”: Jeff Weaver says if @TomPerez (”candidate of the insider”) wins DNC race, it’ll ”send a horrible message to millions millions of people.” — Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) February 24, 2017, Perez called for a motion to suspend the DNC rules as he called to appoint Keith Ellison deputy chair of the DNC. The motion, met with overwhelming approval, was granted. “The silence is deafening. The motion passes,” Perez said in the absence of any “nay” votes after those assembled voiced their “ayes. ” Perez received 235 votes, while Ellison received 200. Sen. Bernie Sanders ( ) who endorsed Ellison, congratulated Perez on his victory but implored him to steer away from his establishment roots: At a time when Republicans control the White House, the U. S. House, U. S. Senate and of all statehouses, it is imperative that Tom understands that the is not working and that we must open the doors of the party to working people and young people in a way that has never been done before. Now, more than ever, the Democratic Party must make it clear that it is prepared to stand up to the 1 percent and lead this country forward in the fight for social, racial, economic and environmental justice. However, one of the key issues on Sanders’ platform, removing the use of lobbyist funds and its influence in politics, fell on deaf ears. A measure that would have reinstituted a ban on corporate lobbyists lining the pockets of the DNC to buy influence, was voted down. The measure was initially put in place by former President Barack Obama: Dems punt on reinstituting corporate lobbyist donations, — Jonathan Easley (@JonEasley) February 25, 2017, The fight over the measure signaled the fight between the Sanders wing of the party and the more wing. The measure to ban corporate lobbyists was introduced by Christine Pelosi, daughter of House Minority Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( ): We’re not giving up! Already hearing from colleagues ready to give corp $ ban another go with new #DNCChair + officers. #marchon #persist https: . — (((sfpelosi))) (@sfpelosi) February 25, 2017, Following the vote, outgoing and interim DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile declared, “We are Democrats!” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ’s daughter, Rev. Bernice King, spoke directly after the Democrats voted to keep corporate lobbyist money in the party. She implored the Democratic Party to unify, saying that it’s “no secret there’s division even within this camp” and asked party members to “lay aside those things that divide you to find common ground. ” After telling the story of a little boy whose father asked him why he was laughing as they both sat in a boat with a hole on its side in the middle of the water, King said, “There’s a hole in the boat called these United States of America. ” Her message seemed to suggest that if one wing of the Democratic Party goes down, so will the other. Brazile delivered her final speech as party leader. “The Trump administration must be investigated, and please continue this work” probing the “Russian hack of the election,” she said. The drama continued as Ellison’s team allegedly presented false information to garner votes: Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the race and did not endorse a candidate. However, Ellison’s campaign made false claims that they had Buttigieg’s endorsement: Buttigieg confronted Ellison personally backstage to complain about text sent to DNC members saying he supported Ellison. https: . — Greg Krieg (@GregJKrieg) February 25, 2017, Congratulations to newly elected DNC Chair @TomPerez — looking forward to joining you and all who share our values to grow our party! — Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) February 25, 2017, Saturday’s vote was largely seen as a litmus test for the party’s style of leadership going forward the vote for Perez represents the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wing, which is seen as more establishment. However, Ellison’s appointment as deputy chair maintains the base of the progressive wing of the party, which includes Sen. Bernie Sanders ( ) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( ). Labor did not back Perez. Several of the unions that endorsed Ellison over Perez were the American Federation of Teachers the National Education Association the Service Employees International Union the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees and UNITE HERE, a union representing thousands of culinary and hospitality workers. The Republican National Committee issued a statement on Perez’s victory. “The Democrat Party has lost touch with the American people. Voters spoke loud and clear last November that they wanted a change in Washington and to reverse the failed policies of the last eight years. ” It continued: By selecting a D. C. insider, Democrats only create deeper divisions within their own party by pushing a far left agenda that rejects a majority of their base outside Washington. The DNC would be to learn from two straight election cycle losses, encourage the leaders in their party to listen to what the voters want, and get to work with Republicans to fix the mess they created. In his victory speech, Perez touted the notion of unity. “We are all in this together,” he said, as he called on his fellow Democrats to fight “the worst president in the history of the United States. ” “We need a chair who cannot only take the fight to Donald Trump, but make sure that we talk about our positive message of inclusion and opportunity and talk to that big tent of the Democratic Party,” he said. Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz. | 1 |
Call for Action to Tackle Growing Ethnic Segregation Across UK Anushka Asthana and Nazia Parveen, Guardian, November 1, 2016
Politicians must urgently tackle the increasing ethnic polarisation of many of Britain’s towns and cities, according to a senior academic, as he revealed figures showing how rapidly the white British population had dwindled in urban “pockets” across England.
Prof Ted Cantle, who first authored a report into community cohesion after a series of race riots in 2001, said his new study showed that in the most extreme cases the white British population had more than halved in two decades.
Cantle, who co-authored the report with Prof Eric Kaufmann at Birkbeck, University of London, told the Guardian that white British families should be encouraged to remain in ethnically diverse areas to reduce the trend.
He warned that segregated societies “breed intolerance and prejudice”, adding: “And we know the opposite is true–there is a huge amount of research that shows any form of contact does break down stereotypes.”
The leading academic said he would not describe the trend as white flight because that indicated that people were moving because of ethnic mixing, while this research only established the facts and not necessarily the causes.
“White people are leaving urban areas in a disproportionate number–and they avoid moving to diverse areas when they do move. But we can’t say that is white flight because the motivations are many and various,” he said, arguing it could be to do with the dream of a place in the country or an older cohort retiring to rural communities.
But he said interviews he had carried out in recent years as part of the study had highlighted a sense among some white British people that an area they had lived in was “no longer for them”.
In one case a community cohesion officer in Yorkshire told Cantle he was the first Asian to move into a particular street and that within three years virtually every white British family had gone. “Some of those families made no bones about it, they said they are moving out because ‘they’ are moving in,” he said.
The research looked at two existing studies and drew from census data from 1991, 2001 and 2011–examining the figures in a way that has not been done before.
The report authors stressed that the findings were nuanced, with more diversity in some areas, and different ethnic groups mixing together.
However, when looking at the white British population compared with all other ethnicities together it found increasing polarisation, with the steepest decline in the white population in “urban pockets” where the numbers were already well below the national average.
Some of the largest declines were in Slough, where the white population fell from 58.3% to 34.5%, in Birmingham, where it went from 65.6% to 53.1% and in Leicester, where it decreased from 60.5% to 45.1%.
In one London borough, Newham, the figure was just 16.7% in the latest data set.
But the study found even more marked changes when it examined the figures at ward level. In one part of the Blackburn and Darwen authority area 7.8% of the population was white British, down from 42.3% in 1991.
Smaller council areas in Birmingham saw similar declines, from 40.4% to 11.2% in Small Heath and from 30.7% to 7.2% in Handsworth. The trend was repeated in parts of Bradford, Luton and across London boroughs.
Green St East in Newham had a white British population of 31.6% in 1991. Twenty years later is had declined to just 4.8%. While Southall Green, in Ealing, went from 18.9% to 4.6% in the same period.
Meanwhile, there were only tiny changes in ethnic diversity in the most predominantly white areas, such as Barrow-in-Furness, mid-Devon, Bassetlaw and Mid Sussex.
“The focus of policy needs to shift; this is not just about minorities,” said Cantle. “Politicians and policymakers need to encourage white British residents to remain in diverse areas; to choose, rather than avoid, diverse areas when they do relocate, encouraging similar choices with respect to placing pupils in diverse schools; in other words to create a positive choice for mixed areas and a shared society.”
Cantle called for “salesmanship” of the positive benefits of mixed areas, including the cultural choices, and activities. We’ve never sold the idea that mixed communities are more exciting places with more going on,” he said, adding that after the Brexit vote there had been a bit of move in the opposite directions with the immediate surge in hate crime.
But he also argued that some negative practices ought to be stamped out–including businesses recruiting workers from single, eastern European countries.
The publication of the report triggered an immediate debate with experts claiming that the diversity in areas with fewer white British families meant segregation was the wrong description. “It is simply wrong to suggest that inner cities have become more ‘ethnically segregated’. In fact, people are more likely to live near those of a different ethnicity than ever before. What is undoubtedly true is that more needs to be done to promote integration–and not just in the most diverse areas,” said the economist, Jonathan Portes.
However, Cantle’s report argues that polarisation between the white British majority and other ethnic groups is a significant fact that requires urgent action.
Cantle’s research comes after the government was accused of sitting on a major study into community cohesion by Dame Louise Casey. The study is thought to include some uncomfortable findings.
Casey, whose report has been finalised, will warn that successive governments have failed to do enough to tackle the difficult issues raised by Cantle 15 years ago.
She is expected to suggest that faith schools should make their pupils mix with children of other religions, in a report that she has promised will be “making the difficult choices and telling the truth”.
It is not clear why her review has not yet been published although sources have pointed out that much has changed since she was first appointed by the then prime minister, David Cameron, including the EU referendum result and a new government. The government insists the review will be out by the end of the year.
Chuka Umunna MP, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on social integration, said the report from Cantle and Kauffman laid “bare the striking pace of change in some of our communities”.
In a foreward to the study, he argued there were consequences for policymakers. “It is clear we cannot carry on with a laissez-faire approach to integration in our country. Integration is a two-way street and all parts of society have a role to play in preventing the UK becoming more fragmented.
“If we fail to do so, we risk sleepwalking into a situation where the divisions exposed during the EU referendum campaign become deeper as we grapple with the challenges thrown up by globalisation.” | 0 |
The international climate mob have made President Trump an offer he can’t refuse: “Stay in Paris — or the U. S. gets it! ”[Among the threats made so far, should the president honor his election trail promise to quit the UN Paris climate agreement. The U. S. will lose $6 trillion worth of jobs in “clean” energy. The U. S. will become a “rogue country”. The U. S. will be removed from Angela Merkel’s Weihnachtskarte list. The U. S. may become the victim of further weaponized handshakes and other typically Gallic “your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries” insults from prepubescent Mummy’s little tough boy President Macron of France. The U. S. presidential administration may become subject to further awkward rifts between those who want a “seat at the table” in Paris — Tillerson Jared Kushner Ivanka Gary Cohn Rick Perry — and those who want out. The U. S. may add to “global warming” by 0. 3 degrees C, causing the world to boil and melt or, if not that, then at least provoking much bitterness and resentment among all the countries that haven’t yet quit Paris even though they’d all secretly like to. Quite how Trump will respond to these threats is still anyone’s guess. On the one hand, he has reportedly told various allies that he intends to pull out. On the other, he is known for changing his mind at the last minute. What we do know is that the climate gravy train is trundling on regardless. And that as far as the U. S. climate negotiators are concerned, the current president might still just as well be Barack Obama. Yup, that’s the inside gossip from EU news specialist Euractiv: But, according to our sources, the US team are exploiting the vacuum to press ahead with the agreement, which was signed by Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama. They told officials, “We are following the Obama procedure. As long as there are no new instructions, the old ones are still valid. ” They agreed a limited budget increase to plans in Bonn. Diplomats told their opposite numbers that they should seize the opportunity to get as much agreed before Trump makes up his mind, awestruck sources gossiped. Another source blasted that “climate should be humanity’s number one concern and this guy hasn’t found the time to sit down with his climate negotiators in more than 120 days in office”. This international determination to keep the U. S. in the Paris Agreement at all costs sits slightly at odds with reports that several other signatory nations are privately desperate to escape. According to Climate Home, former Eastern Bloc countries Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary are trying to “gut, block or water down” the Paris accord’s promises because they interfere with their economic growth and commit them to useless, expensive renewable energy. Europe’s steelmakers — among them, Germany’s Thyssenkrupp and Austria’s Voestalpine — have written to EU leaders begging not to be burdened with any of the carbon emissions costs they say would make them uncompetitive against foreign rivals. Meanwhile a report produced by the Commission on Carbon Prices claims that says the carbon dioxide price needs to rise or twentyfold if it is to meet Paris pledges. This would — to coin a phrase — cause electricity prices necessarily to skyrocket … As Cliff Forrest notes in the Wall Street Journal, the ‘business case’ for Paris is bunk. The economic merits of the Paris Agreement take on a different air when more fully considered. advocates’ bizarre premise is that economic gains will come from restricting access to the most abundant, reliable and affordable fuel sources. Never mind that this defies the experience of many European nations that have invested heavily in renewable energy. After “Germany’s aggressive and reckless expansion of wind and solar,” for example, the magazine Der Spiegel declared in 2013 that electricity had become “a luxury good. ” Apparently this time will be different. Which is why — as I remarked yesterday — it is so absurd and wrong and dishonest of the President’s Economics Adviser Gary ‘Wormtongue’ Cohn to be pretending otherwise. No one is pretending Trump won’t get a lot of stick from the Climate Industrial Complex, from the Euro weenies, from the globalists, the Bilderbergers, the eco Nazis and Davos Man if he does the right thing and pulls out of Paris. No one is pretending that pulling out of Paris won’t earn him an even stiffer handshake from President Macron and even dirtier looks from Mrs Merkel next time they meet. But increasingly — at least from this Englishman’s perspective — whether President Trump pulls the U. S. out of Paris boils down to one very simple question: “Are you a man or a mouse, Mister President?” | 1 |
I remember signing up for Facebook ten years ago. At this point in time, the new social media site was geared mostly toward college students and it was uncommon for anyone over the age of 25 to have an account.
But over the last decade we’ve seen Facebook morph into a $50 billion conglomerate and information kingpin acquiring massive power and wealth from the endless amounts of time users waste scrolling through their news feeds. This beast of a social media platform has gone on to consume the lives of millions, gather nefarious amounts of data, foster unnecessary personal dramas, and often cause more harm than good for its users.
It would be prudent to take a good hard look at your Facebook experience and ask yourself if it’s something that’s actually adding value to your life. Here are five reasons why you should think carefully before using the world’s largest social media site.
1. Your Facebook Feed Is A Black Hole Of Completely Worthless Information
I think it’s important to create streams of information that add real value to your life. Through platforms such as Twitter, Feedly, and YouTube, I’ve followed writers and content producers that have dedicated their lives to self-improvement, entrepreneurship, higher meaning, and the search for truth.
So you can probably imagine the stark difference between an intellectually curated Twitter feed and the dumbed-down Facebook community of people you went to high school with that peaked in the 12th grade.
Log into your Facebook and the most common information you’ll likely find is who got married, who had kids, and who got fat. Scrolling through your Facebook feed is akin to flipping through a more personalized celebrity gossip magazine at the grocery store checkout line.
Every time I log onto Facebook I’m immediately reminded why I never log onto Facebook.
2. It’s No Longer Useful For Dating
In college, I gained some value out of the site by using its chat feature to build up attraction with girls in my social circle and get their phone numbers.
But over the years, most girls have attached the “creepy” stigma to guys who hit them up via Facebook messenger.
In addition to that, you don’t really need a Facebook profile for “social proof” as you once did since Instagram is a better social media app for meeting girls .
3. Forfeiture Of Your Privacy
Most people have realized by now that the first thing a potential employer will do after interviewing you is look you up on Facebook. They’re basically searching for any and every reason not to hire you. Lock your account down as best you can with privacy functions. Don’t let that one drunk picture of you from 5 years ago ruin a potential job offer.
If that wasn’t enough, Facebook has a long history of shady activities when it comes to privacy. They’ve already been caught accessing your location without permission. We can only speculate what else they’ve been infringing on.
4. Censorship
Although Facebook has a right to control the information broadcasted on it’s platform, that doesn’t mean they should abuse that right by censoring anything they might find disagreeable or offensive.
Much like an overbearing parent, Facebook proactively controls the discourse of its children, eagerly censoring content that might rub someone the wrong way. Facebook has so many overreaches that an entire website has been dedicated to documenting their affronts on freedom of opinion. You can probably guess which side of the political spectrum they try to stifle.
5. It Brings Out The Worst In People
Plenty of time has now passed for in-depth research to come out regarding the long-term effects that too much Facebook can have on a person’s mental well-being. It gives the illusion that everyone else has it better than you and that your life just isn’t fair. This is a slippery slope into a victim mindset and blaming others for your circumstances. How oppressed these chronic Facebook users are as they sip lattes from a comfy chair in Starbucks and scroll through their Facebook feeds on the latest Macbook.
I won’t completely deny the merits of Facebook. If you’re using it to build a brand or a business then it could be a good investment of your time, simply because so many people actively use it. I’ve also witnessed the joy it brings to older users for connecting with long lost friends they haven’t seen in decades.
But the truth is that in many cases, Facebook does cause more trouble than it’s worth. It’s never a bad idea to cut back on your usage or even just opt out entirely. You may no longer be the first to know about an upcoming dinner party or what Brad and Sarah from freshman year have been up to all these years, but I suspect you might be better off as a person.
Read More: Is Western Civilization Worth Saving?
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Chart Of The Day: The Ever-Widening Wage Gap By David Stockman. Posted On Wednesday, November 9th, 2016
David Stockman's Contra Corner is the only place where mainstream delusions and cant about the Warfare State, the Bailout State, Bubble Finance and Beltway Banditry are ripped, refuted and rebuked. Subscribe now to receive David Stockman’s latest posts by email each day as well as his model portfolio, Lee Adler’s Daily Data Dive and David’s personally curated insights and analysis from leading contrarian thinkers. | 0 |
Tried to remove comments on this site years ago. We wrote a ludicrous satire about a self biography how a fictional character would relate to Mr. Gibson. This site does not allow option to remove comments. Sorry to Mr. Gibson, it was meant to be a joke to point out how ridiculous and annoying press is, not to be taken seriously. Please remove comments from “Captain Community”. Thanks! | 0 |
ALBI, France — The paint is fading, but the word is still clear: Alimentation, “Groceries. ” It seems like a stage prop, grafted above the window of the empty old storefront. Opposite stands a tattoo parlor. Nobody enters or leaves. The street is deserted. Keep walking, and you’ll find more vacant storefronts, scattered around the old center of this town dominated by its imposing brick cathedral, one of France’s undisputed treasures. Tourist shops and chain clothing stores are open, but missing are the groceries, cafes and butcher shops that once bustled with life and for centuries defined France. Measuring change, and decay, is not easy in France, where beauty is just around the corner and life can seem unchanged over decades. But the decline evident in Albi is replicated in hundreds of other places. France is losing the core of its historic provincial towns — dense hubs of urbanity deep in the countryside where judges judged, Balzac set his novels, prefects issued edicts and citizens shopped for 50 cheeses. In January, I went to Albi while covering the French presidential election. I’ve known the city for nearly 35 years, visiting a handful of times as part of a lifetime’s engagement with France that began at age 4 when my family moved to Paris. My first trip to Albi came in 1982, with my college girlfriend, and I found a bustling, city that took its color from bricks that had been used since the Middle Ages and echoed the hot, meridional sun. I was captivated. I returned in January not on the trail of a presidential candidate but to better understand a French paradox just beneath the surface of the campaign: the deep pride felt by the French in what they regard as an unparalleled way of life, always accompanied by anxiety that it is facing extinction. The campaign is like few before it in France, because of the looming question of whether the candidate, Marine Le Pen, will do the and win. She has already pushed the discourse rightward and made a visceral promise to voters: to protect not just France, but Frenchness. Whether the menace is defined as Islam, immigration or globalization, her vow to voters is the same: I am the woman to preserve the French way of life. The visible decline of so many historic city centers is intertwined with these anxieties. Losing the ancient French provincial capital is another blow to Frenchness — tangible evidence of a disappearing way of life that resonates in France in the same way that the hollowing out of main streets did in the United States decades ago. A survey of French towns found that commercial vacancies have almost doubled to 10. 4 percent in the past 15 years. As these towns have declined, voters have often turned sharply rightward. Albi is traditionally centrist, but the same conditions of decline and political anxiety are present, too. Turn a corner in Albi, and you’ll pass the last school inside the historic center, abandoned a few years ago. Down another street is the last toy store, now closed, and around a corner is the last independent grocery store, also shuttered. Walk down the empty, narrow streets on some nights and the silence is so complete that you can hear your footsteps on the stones. “If nothing is done, a substantial part of the French soul will perish, taking with it more than half the French population,” the businessman Charles Beigbeder wrote in Le Figaro recently, calling for a “Marshall Plan” for “peripheral France. ” I arrived in Albi, population 49, 000, on a Thursday evening, having driven in from Toulouse, an hour away. At the edge of town, I passed a giant shopping center, Les Portes d’Albi, where the parking lot was black with cars. In the Albi I had known before, people had lived in town above their stores. Centuries of accumulated living were packed inside the boulevards. Shopping was as much about sociability as about buying. Before arriving, I picked up a government report, an autopsy of many French provincial capitals: Agen, Limoges, Bourges, Arras, Beziers, Auxerre, Vichy, Calais and others. In these old towns, many harder hit than Albi, the interplay of the architecture, weathered stone and brick, and public life had been one of the crucibles of French history and culture for centuries. Now they were endangered, as even the dry language of the report conveyed that an essential part of French life is disappearing. “This phenomenon of the devitalization of the urban centers is worrisome,” the government report declared, “as the stores contribute so much to city life and largely fashion it. ” My first appointment was with the town who had agreed to give me a tour. Florian Jourdain wasn’t exposing local corruption but the decline of the town that was hidden in plain sight. His meticulous blog, picked up by the French press, caused such resentment among Albi’s commercial establishment that last year the merchants’ association staged a demonstration against him in the main square. With a degree in history and studies in geography, Mr. Jourdain published an online map, with a marking each vacant store. He discovered that nearly 40 percent of the remaining shops sold clothes, and he suspected that much of the trade was with tourists. Only a single traditional boulangerie, or bakery, remained in Albi’s old core, and not a single butcher shop. A Parisian by origin, Mr. Jourdain worked and few in town, even among his allies, seemed to know his last name. I met him on a Friday morning in the windswept plaza of the looming Cathédrale a giant brick fortress built eight centuries ago to awe the region’s restive heretics. As we started on the Rue Mariès, the city’s main commercial street, Mr. Jourdain pulled his hood down over his head to avoid being recognized, as I struggled to mentally repopulate the empty street with the liveliness that had delighted me 35 years before. “For me, if you are precise, you can’t be attacked,” he said of his work. “It’s a big problem for me that there are no grocery stores in the center of the city. There is no neighborhood cafe. ” Street after street, we took the measure of the town’s fragility. Name tags were missing from buzzers at the doorways of the old buildings. Above them the shutters stayed closed night and day, with estimates that 15 percent of these old houses are vacant. Mr. Jourdain knew something was amiss soon after arriving from Paris in 2013. “Right away I realized it,” he said. “Just across from us, and right next to us, there were two magnificent buildings, vacant. I thought it was strange. And then I started to see more and more empty stores. ” We came to the Place Lapérouse, named after the great French explorer who was born in Albi in the 18th century. I had a flashback. On a warm afternoon many years before, I sat on a bench here, gazing at the old buildings around me. It had been quiet enough to hear the birds in the centenarian plane trees shading the square. Now, it was a frigid intersection combined with a soulless pedestrian plaza. Cars whizzed past. We moved on, passing two storefronts with “total liquidation” written across them. The sense I had many years before, of a dense urban space that was a living, breathing organism, was gone. “Look, here, this used to be a cafe,” he said, pointing to a woman’s clothing store where the faint remains of a traditional cafe awning were still visible. Mr. Jourdain spoke with the fervor of a disappointed suitor. He had moved to Albi to embrace its beauty and to escape the clamor of Paris but instead found a creeping listlessness. He saw his role as waking up his fellow citizens. “The risk is great for our beautiful episcopal city,” he wrote in his blog. We moved on to the empty Rue de la Croix Blanche. Again, we were the only walkers, passing a line of closed stores. On the Rue Puech Bérenguier we passed the last grocery store. On the Rue Peyrolière we saw the abandoned elementary school, closed in 2013, a classic Third Republic building where generations of Albigeois were educated. On the wall inside, a children’s drawing from the last class was still visible. “The cries of children will resound no longer,” the local paper, La Dépêche du Midi, wrote when the school closed. In former days, the covered market, the Marché Couvert, would have been a hub of life and commerce. No more. “You feel as though time has been suspended,” Mr. Jourdain said. Hours had passed on a sunny Friday in the center of town, yet on some streets we saw almost no one. “You see clearly that we are on a street that is dying,” Mr. Jourdain said on Rue Emile Grand as we concluded our tour. “There are whole buildings where there isn’t a soul. ” I called City Hall for a meeting with the mayor, a member of France’s party, but was met with a distinct lack of enthusiasm from her spokeswoman. I was put off with the promise of a phone call the following week, and when I finally reached the mayor, Stéphanie she argued that urban “devitalization” has had a “relatively moderate impact. ” She also angrily condemned Mr. Jourdain. “He is an extraterrestrial,” she said, “who came here to get talked about. ” The head of the merchants’ association, who had led the demonstration against Mr. Jourdain, was equally elusive. He was not to be found at the anonymous basement supermarket he runs beneath the Marché Couvert. Nobody knew when he would show up or how to reach him, and the association’s office in the center of town had long since closed. The next morning was a Saturday, the busiest shopping day of the week, with shops promising sales and customers inside the clothing stores. There was a hint of the liveliness I had remembered from many years before, but these were weekend shoppers, many from out of town. I went to see Fabien Lacoste, a Socialist city councilman, in the shadow of the cathedral. As on most Saturdays, he was at work, flipping crepes at his outdoor food stand. To him, Albi’s fate was a cultural misfortune. City leaders had poured money into a modernistic new culture center at the town’s edge. And the shopping mall had been built. Large grocery chains, called hypermarkets, had also been constructed outside the city, with free parking. It is not that Albi no longer had commerce, or activity. But the essence of the ancient city was being lost. The rise of the shopping centers traced the sharp rise in living standards brought on by what the French call the Trente Glorieuses, the 30 glorious years from 1945 to 1975. Growth was around 4 percent purchasing power of the average worker’s salary rose 170 percent. The boost to consumer demand could not be met by the old structure of small shops, small purchases. Malls and strip centers were born. Today, France has the highest density of such retail space in all of Europe, even as vacancies in 190 historic town centers have gone to 10. 4 percent in 2015 from 6. 1 percent in 2001, according to the government report. Thus, the French paradox: a newly consumerist society that had stripped France of its “soul” — made even worse, now, by the fact that economic growth has collapsed. “There’s no bar, no cafe. We’re in the southwest, for heaven’s sake. It’s a scandal,” said Mr. Lacoste, serving up crepes to his customers. “We’ve lost that conviviality that was our signature. Before, each little neighborhood had its own center, with its own cafe. All that has disappeared. ” “What I deplore is this devitalization,” Mr. Lacoste added. “You won’t be doing your shopping here. ” By Sunday, Albi had reverted to its weekday torpor. I went for my evening run along the green Tarn river and passed a people at most. In the twilight the town felt abandoned. I finally caught up with the head of the merchants’ association just as he was leaving his supermarket. He did not seem pleased to see me and was even less pleased with Mr. Jourdain. “There are town centers where the situation is much more complicated,” he said. My last interview before leaving town was with Eric Lamarre. Last year, he closed Albi’s last toy store. “Twenty years ago, the center of town was still animated,” he said. “People really came to town to buy. There were loads of lovely things. It buzzed with people. ” The big shopping center opened in 2009, and his business declined until the end, when he was losing 50, 000 euros (about $53, 000) a year. “It’s a political problem,” he said. “These towns have been had. They always say yes to the shopping center developers. ” Albi, he said, “is still a magnificent city — for the tourists. ” | 1 |
Report Copyright Violation If Hillary And Obama Didn't Use email Server And Stop Benghazi Sending Shoulder Fired Missiles We'd Be In WWIII With Russia Right Now. Somebody over there in Benghazi thought they didn't have to listen to the Black President and wound up getting their asses smoked.YES Hillary and Obama had to go offline with a private email server to avoid the traitors and racetards within the Government intent on defying Obama as a weak black BOY.It is no secret that Obama approved weapons to Syria but he said no shoulder fired missiles and no artillery. If those "Rebels" had gotten their hands on Surface to air missiles the US would be in WWIII with Russia right now because their planes would be being shot down just like that Russian jet and Helicopter on the Turkish border last Summer. That was an American made missile and probably came through Benghazi.So Obama showed some people over there in Benghazi that when he gives an order it will be followed and the message was received.Obama also did a major purge of the entrenched racists and other incompetents in the higher ranks of the military after that. Anonymous Coward ( OP ) Re: If Hillary And Obama Didn't Use email Server And Stop Benghazi Sending Shoulder Fired Missiles We'd Be In WWIII With Russia Right Now. Yeah Bitch, Benghazi was a false Flag done on the anniversary of 9/11. Anonymous Coward Re: If Hillary And Obama Didn't Use email Server And Stop Benghazi Sending Shoulder Fired Missiles We'd Be In WWIII With Russia Right Now. $3.50 Report Copyright Violation Re: If Hillary And Obama Didn't Use email Server And Stop Benghazi Sending Shoulder Fired Missiles We'd Be In WWIII With Russia Right Now. Somebody over there in Benghazi thought they didn't have to listen to the Black President and wound up getting their asses smoked.YES Hillary and Obama had to go offline with a private email server to avoid the traitors and racetards within the Government intent on defying Obama as a weak black BOY.It is no secret that Obama approved weapons to Syria but he said no shoulder fired missiles and no artillery. If those "Rebels" had gotten their hands on Surface to air missiles the US would be in WWIII with Russia right now because their planes would be being shot down just like that Russian jet and Helicopter on the Turkish border last Summer. That was an American made missile and probably came through Benghazi.So Obama showed some people over there in Benghazi that when he gives an order it will be followed and the message was received.Obama also did a major purge of the entrenched racists and other incompetents in the higher ranks of the military after that. Quoting: Be Glad U Had Obama 58059507 $3.50 Re: If Hillary And Obama Didn't Use email Server And Stop Benghazi Sending Shoulder Fired Missiles We'd Be In WWIII With Russia Right Now. mmm....noThe treacherous two were going against the will of the people AND Congress and were aiding the rebels by moving weapons into Syria through Libya. Congress and the people had said no to involvement in Syria but they did it anyway.THAT was the reason for the email server...that was the reason for the Benghazi attack. That was not a bunch of religious zealots that attacked the embassy...it was more than likely Syrian Special Forces that heard about the shipments and came to intervene.No way of knowing for sure...but THAT makes one hell of a lot more sense than any of the other stories "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it." Thomas JeffersonLiberty means personal responsibility...which is why most men hate it.2112 so people will finally understand the avatar... [ link to www.youtube.com (secure) ] Push back against the establisment Report Copyright Violation Re: If Hillary And Obama Didn't Use email Server And Stop Benghazi Sending Shoulder Fired Missiles We'd Be In WWIII With Russia Right Now. Somebody over there in Benghazi thought they didn't have to listen to the Black President and wound up getting their asses smoked.YES Hillary and Obama had to go offline with a private email server to avoid the traitors and racetards within the Government intent on defying Obama as a weak black BOY.It is no secret that Obama approved weapons to Syria but he said no shoulder fired missiles and no artillery. If those "Rebels" had gotten their hands on Surface to air missiles the US would be in WWIII with Russia right now because their planes would be being shot down just like that Russian jet and Helicopter on the Turkish border last Summer. That was an American made missile and probably came through Benghazi.So Obama showed some people over there in Benghazi that when he gives an order it will be followed and the message was received.Obama also did a major purge of the entrenched racists and other incompetents in the higher ranks of the military after that. Quoting: Be Glad U Had Obama 58059507 So this justifies the death of innocents? Also links and proofs for a hypothesis are generally the norm.#STABBITYLIVESMATTER GAME KNOWS GAME. DONT TRY IT.-Self Anonymous Coward | 0 |
Welcome to Our Picks, a guide to the best stuff to read, watch and listen to from around the internet. We know you don’t want to read only political news, so we’re collecting great articles, podcasts, videos and other web treasures you might like when you need a break. And yes, we’re also tooting our own horn here. We’ll share can’ Times stories from the week and surface some gems you might have overlooked. We want to hear from you! Send us feedback about our selections to ourpicks@nytimes. com. • The Monopoly overlords are a ruthless bunch. In 2013 the board game got rid of the iron playing piece, and now, much to our chagrin, they’ve let the thimble go as well. [A. V. Club] • Little Caesars’ founder and Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch died last Friday, which prompted some local outlets to recall that he paid for a decade of Rosa Parks’s rent without ever publicizing it. [WGN Chicago] • Here’s a reason you’ve never quit your job: too much money. That’s probably because you didn’t work on Google’s car project, whose early employees were paid so much that they no longer needed the job security. [Bloomberg] • Did you know the word “fact” only came into popular usage in 1660? It’s a fact! At least according to this quick but broad history of the concept. [History Today] • It’s a familiar tale: A tough East Coast woman moves to Los Angeles, mellows out, gets pregnant, and decides to hunt down a mountain lion haunting the hills below the Hollywood sign. You won’t regret spending some time with this honest account of the hopes, fears, and maniacal determination of one expectant mother. [Elle] • There’s only one Howard Johnson’s restaurant left in the world, and it’s in Lake George, N. Y. Learn all about the history and decline of this franchise, and the one man keeping the flame alive. [Eater] • A small yellow box — about the size of a cellphone — has saved countless lives from surgical complications. Read how this crucial medical accessory is making an impact in places like Mongolia, and, as a bonus, add the term “pulse oximeter” to your vocabulary. [Mosaic] • If you and your friends can’t agree on whether you love or hate “La La Land,” you’re not alone. Our cultural reporters, editors and critics can’t either. • An unlikely band of Orthodox Jewish students is tearing up the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association. Because of Sabbath restrictions, they play up to four games on Sunday mornings, sometimes back to back. And they’re currently in first place. • years ago, The Times published its first crossword puzzle, as a way to give readers a distraction from war news. (This, despite a prior editorial that had described crossword puzzles as “a primitive sort of mental exercise” and a “sinful waste” of time.) Here’s a brief history. • This week’s By the Book interview: Come to learn what’s on George Saunders’s nightstand stay for the part about his crush on a nun. • Yes, we covered Westminster in the last edition of this roundup, but we just can’t get enough. Here are two more delightful slide shows featuring the cats of Westminster (and a poodle among floral sculptures of dogs) and the stars and their stage moms. • Ever have a conversation with yourself about the choices you’ve made? You might want to watch a master thespian do it. In this video, Michael K. Williams of “The Wire” fame tries to puzzle out the answer to a question: Is he typecast? [The Atlantic on YouTube] • How did Sara Blakely go from selling fax machines to creating the successful hosiery company, Spanx? Grit. Moxy. And scissors. Find out more about this business success story in a episode of NPR’s “How I Built This. ” [NPR One and iTunes] • We’re making ink the way people in the 17th century did. How else are we going to use all those leftover oak galls and rainwater? [The Recipes Project] Want Our Picks delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the What We’re Reading newsletter, a email featuring great stories from around the web selected by members of the New York Times staff. | 1 |
Why did Satan-2 shock the West? 31.10.2016 The recent publication of images of Russia's new intercontinental ballistic missile " Sarmat " created quite a stir in Western media. The Daily Mail, for example, terrified British readers with an article saying that the new Russian missile would be able to destroy England and Wales at once. The New York Post called the missile a "devil in disguise" which can easily reach New York City. The Daily Star published a map of the US East Coast designating the targets, which the missile could reach. The article even gives an approximate amount of victims (in millions за people). However, there were also skeptics. For example, Igor Sutyagin, a man, who had served nearly eleven years in Russia for espionage, and currently serves as a senior officer at the British Royal Institute for Defense Studies, believes that the new Russian Sarmat missile (Satan-2) is a fake. "The design details are incorrect, and I doubt that this missile already exists in metal," he wrote, having analysed the photo of the missile. He then continued: "The Russians want to tell the world: we are a great power, Fear us, and don't ignore us." Print version Font Size As Pravda.Ru has reported before, the new missile is designed to replace the "Voevoda" complex (NATO reporting name "Satan"). Military analyst Alexander Perendzhiev told Politonline.ru that Russia did not have to prove anything to anyone. "In the West, they pay a lot of attention on Russian armed forces. In principle, the current series of publications fits the current anti-Russian hysteria trend. I do not think there is any point in trying to prove whether the news about the missile was true or fake. It's up to them to think and decide what we have and what we don't have. Let the debate begin. There is no point to prove anything here. Russia has to take care of its own security and give either proportional or asymmetrical, yet effective responses, in case something happens. In any case, we show that we are working. At times, we need to warn them, so that they understand that our intentions to defend our own security are serious." Politonline | 0 |
Richard Simmons, the reclusive fitness mogul whose sudden disappearance from public life spawned a hit podcast, might soon return to public life, thanks to a business deal. And in the latest odd twist in Mr. Simmons’s story, it may be a result of that podcast. Prominent Brand + Talent, a management company by Mr. Simmons’s manager of three decades, announced on Wednesday that it had acquired exclusive rights to represent Mr. Simmons for merchandising, endorsements and licensing opportunities. The trade publication License first reported the deal. Michael Catalano, Mr. Simmons’s manager, said in an interview that Mr. Simmons might be willing to come out of his exile to help promote products that result from the deal. If Mr. Simmons does appear in public, it would be the first time he has done so since February 2014, when he stopped showing up to teach his class at Slimmons, his gym in Beverly Hills, Calif. He abruptly became a recluse and has not been seen since, spurring concerns about his . “All I can say, at least for now, is it is possible,” Mr. Catalano said of whether Mr. Simmons would get involved publicly. “But it is yet to be determined, I would say. ” Mr. Catalano added that Mr. Simmons was directly involved in pursuing the deal, and noted that products would “be in keeping with Richard’s lifelong mission and messaging. ” “We’re talking about products that will hopefully accomplish what Richard really set his life’s work to do, which is to help people take better care of themselves,” he said. “We’re not licensing tires and party hats. ” Dan Taberski, a former producer for “The Daily Show” and a friend of Mr. Simmons, set out to solve the mystery of what happened to the obstreperous crusader for exercise in a podcast series, “Missing Richard Simmons. ” It quickly became the most downloaded podcast on iTunes but also attracted criticism, drawing complaints that it was violating Mr. Simmons’s privacy. Mr. Taberski never got to talk to Mr. Simmons but was able to interview Mr. Catalano, who said in the podcast’s last episode: “I can’t say Richard feels better as a result of the podcast. Perhaps you do. ” But the podcast did create new interest in Mr. Simmons, spurring this pursuit of new business deals. It put Mr. Simmons “front and center,” as Mr. Catalano said, which gave Mr. Taberski some solace. “Telling his story was a huge part of the podcast,” Mr. Taberski said in an interview. “He changed lives, and he’s a genius businessperson. If I had even the smallest part in reminding people of that, fantastic. ” Mr. Simmons’s representatives were critical of the podcast throughout its run, citing multiple welfare checks from the Los Angeles Police Department that showed Mr. Simmons to be in good health. “I’m very conflicted about the podcast,” Mr. Catalano said. “I was not happy with a lot of the mistruths that were represented there. It also didn’t really uncover or reveal anything new that hasn’t been reported previously. And I think in many ways that was difficult for Richard to have to live through again. ” But “Missing Richard Simmons” did have a silver lining for Mr. Catalano. “Certainly I would say, without a doubt, a younger demo is aware of Richard as a result,” Mr. Catalano said. “At the end of the day, if it helps deliver his message to people who were unaware of it previously, fantastic. That’s what Richard’s mission has always been. ” Mr. Simmons, through Mr. Catalano, declined a request for an interview. | 1 |
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