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The presidential race has become a lot less clear over the last few weeks. Back in Hillary Clinton held a large lead over Donald J. Trump. Since then, her lead has slipped — but how far isn’t so obvious. The various forecasting models and polling averages have split about as much as they have all year. What’s going on? In Mrs. Clinton led by around eight percentage points in national polling. Since then, there hasn’t been much evidence to confirm that large margin. Yes, there have been a few polls showing her leading by a big amount. Monmouth, Quinnipiac and USA polls all showed her up by at least seven points nationwide. But note that over the last two weeks there really hasn’t been any indication that Mrs. Clinton was up by, say, double digits. If she were still up by eight points, we would expect at least some data showing her posting huge margins. In contrast, plenty of recent polls show a much tighter race. Many are less reputable, including online and automated polls of dubious methodological quality or with limited or no track records. But there have been polls with a smaller lead for Mrs. Clinton, and even the poll this week that showed her down by two points among likely voters. A few weeks ago, there weren’t many polls of any kind showing her in that weak a position. Gallup’s daily tracking poll — another measure — also showed Mrs. Clinton’s favorability ratings slipping over the second half of August, which has tended to track with changes in her overall standing in national polls. The battleground state polling — even the polls — also shows a tighter race. Recent Marquette, Monmouth and Suffolk polls in Wisconsin and Michigan showed Mrs. Clinton with a modest lead, not the edge she had a month ago. All considered, the balance of evidence plainly indicates that Mrs. Clinton has lost ground since . Whether she’s up by two or five points is another question. But it’s definitely not seven or eight anymore. Exactly where you peg her lead — two points or six points or somewhere else — is a lot hazier than usual. The differences are reflected in the big splits between the various polling averages and models, like at The Huffington Post or FiveThirtyEight. Part of the issue is that there haven’t been many polls recently, and most (though not all) of the surveys have shown Mrs. Clinton with a comfortable lead, as FiveThirtyEight’s Harry Enten pointed out last week. On the other hand, the online and automated polls have shown a much more significant tightening of the race. The always noisy Reuters poll has shown a big decline in Mrs. Clinton’s support, and many of its new state polls have shown the same thing. So has Morning Consult, a new online pollster. A wave of polls from Emerson College, which does not contact cellphones, showed Mrs. Clinton with only a nominal edge in the battleground states. The Los Angeles . S. C. panel, which differs in a number of respects from other surveys, gives Mr. Trump a lead. Whether a polling average or model includes all of this data or some of it, or has the means to correct for including polls that systematically favor one candidate or another, might be a bigger issue now than it was a month ago. Another issue is that the polls have given readers the opportunity to choose their own adventure, depending on what type of question they look at. A recent Fox poll, for instance, showed Mrs. Clinton ahead by just two points. But it showed her ahead by six points in the matchup, without Jill Stein or Gary Johnson listed as candidates. The poll showed Mrs. Clinton trailing among likely voters but ahead among registered voters. These big gaps between registered and likely voters, and the and ballots, haven’t been the norm so far this year. There’s no “right” answer about which is more reliable. I happen to prefer to look at samples of registered voters — a larger sample, and I can mentally apply a slight and consistent penalty to the Democrats — but I know that generally the numbers are more accurate. I’m agnostic about whether the or polls are better in this particular election, since Mr. Johnson and Ms. Stein blur the line between candidates who deserve inclusion and those who do not. Most of the forecasting models and polling averages use the race and polls. Right now, those may offer a particularly pessimistic picture for Mrs. Clinton. Late August is not a great time of year for polling, and Labor Day weekend is probably the worst of all. The news can slow down in August, and so can public interest in the race. People go on vacation. News media organizations that spent tens of thousands of dollars polling around the period of the conventions take some time off and wait to the fray in September. Over the next few weeks, a lot of these questions are going to sort themselves out. There will be a new wave of polls. Many will add screens for the first time. And not only will we have more new polls, but we’ll also be even closer to the election — and entering a period when the polls tend to be quite predictive of the eventual outcome. | 1 |
Clinton’s Policy On Syria Will Lead To WW3 Says Trump by IWB · October 26, 2016
by Carol Adl
Donald Trump has warned that Hillary Clinton’s policy towards Syria would lead to World War III , arguing that the Democratic nominee would drag the US into a confrontation with nuclear armed Russia.
Trump said “You’re going to end up in World War Three over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton” adding that “What we should do is focus on ISIS We should not be focusing on Syria”
The US Republican presidential nominee made the remarks on Tuesday during a Reuters interview in response to Clinton’s proposal for the establishment of a no-fly zone and “safe zones” in Syria.
Press TV reports:
On October 7, the Democratic nominee said a no-fly zone was required inside the war-ravaged country to stabilize fighting, a move that was opposed in Congress due to the risk of entering into conflict with Russia, since a US-enforced no-fly zone would mean the US could shoot down Russian fighter jets should they enter Syrian airspace.
Clinton also described the situation in Syria as “incredibly complex” since the intervention of Russia.
“You’re not fighting Syria anymore; you’re fighting Syria, Russia and Iran, all right? Russia is a nuclear country, but a country where the nukes work as opposed to other countries that talk,” Trump said.
The Republican nominee also referred to the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power as a second-level priority to defeating Daesh.
“Assad is secondary, to me, to ISIL,” Trump said.
Russia might down US planes
Meanwhile, US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper also warned about the consequences of Clinton’s push for a no-fly zone in Syria that could spark a conflict with Russia.
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, Clapper said Clinton’s proposal for the establishment of a no-fly zone in Syria could lead to Russia shooting down American planes there.
“I wouldn’t put it past them to shoot down an American aircraft if they — if they felt that was threatening to their forces on the ground,” he said.
“I take stock in the nature of the weaponry that they deploy and why they — why they did that,” Clapper said of Russian weapons recently deployed to Syria. “The system they have there is a very advanced air-defense system. It’s very capable. And I don’t think they’d do it and deploy it unless they had some intent to use it.”
During the third and final presidential debate last week, Clinton reiterated her remarks on a no-fly zone that could save lives and hasten the end of the conflict in Syria.
A foreign-backed militancy has been going on in Syria since March 2011, with a plethora of armed groups — each supported by one foreign country or another — fighting the Assad government.
Since 2014, the United States, along with a number of its allies, has been leading a so-called anti-terror campaign in Syria and neighboring Iraq.
Instead of helping to rein in the Takfiri terrorists, the air raids have killed many civilians, and caused extensive damage to the country’s infrastructure. | 0 |
After Donald Trump’s political-world-shattering upset of Hillary Clinton, the polling industry finds itself facing an existential crisis. Comment on this Article Via Your Facebook Account Comment on this Article Via Your Disqus Account Follow Us on Facebook! | 0 |
2016 presidential campaign by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
Donald Trump, the white nationalist that claimed to oppose the corporate establishment, appears to have won the U.S. presidency. But, “even the victory of the openly bigoted Trump poses an opportunity to right our political ship.” The Democrats were not “our” party, but the party that thought they owned us. Their “rejection must be complete and blame must be laid squarely at their feet” for raising those chickens that have come home to roost. Freedom Rider: Dump the Democrats for Good by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
“The Democrats were so entrenched in their corruption and self-dealing that they didn’t see the Bernie Sanders campaign for modest reform as the savior it might have been.”
This columnist did not see a Donald Trump victory coming. The degree of disgust directed at an awful candidate was more than I had predicted. Neither the corporate media, nor Wall Street nor the pundits nor the pollsters saw this coming either. Their defeat and proof of their uselessness is total. Those of us who rejected the elite consensus and didn’t support Hillary Clinton should be proud.
Black people are now in fear and in shock when we ought to be spoiling for a fight. All is not lost. Even the victory of the openly bigoted Trump poses an opportunity to right our political ship. Not the electoral ship, the political one. For decades black Americans have been voting for people who have done them wrong. Bill Clinton got rid of public assistance as a right, and undid regulations that kept Wall Street in check. He put black people in jail and yet black people didn’t turn on him until he and his wife tried to defeat Obama. But Obama gave us more of the same. Bailouts of Wall Street, interventions and death for people all over the world, and a beat down of black people who still loved him. Despite the fear of Republican victory we end up losing whenever a Democratic presidential candidate wins.
“Obama bailed out banks, insurance companies, Big Pharma and even Ukraine.”
Victory is ours if we dump the Democrat Party and their black misleaders. The Democrats were so entrenched in their corruption and self-dealing that they didn’t see the Bernie Sanders campaign for modest reform as the savior it might have been. Instead they marched in lock step with a woman who was heartily disliked. Sanders went along as the sheep dog who led his flock straight over the cliff. The Democrats inadvertently galvanized people who had stopped participating in the system and who want change from top to bottom.
One of our biggest problems lies not in facts but in perceptions. What did Democrats do for black people? The Democrats ship living wage jobs off shore in corrupt trade deals like NAFTA and TTP. They don’t prosecute killer cops or raise the minimum wage. Trump will be hard pressed to deport more people than Obama did. The list of treachery is very long.
When Donald Trump asked black people, “What have you got to lose?” his words were met with derision. But in reality he posed a good question. What do we have to show for years of Democratic votes? Obama bailed out banks, insurance companies, Big Pharma and even Ukraine. But he didn’t rebuild Detroit or New Orleans. The water in Flint, Michigan is still poisoned and the prisons are still full.
“There may be opportunity in this crisis if we dare to seize it.”
The outpouring of love for Barack Obama was purely symbolic. In state after state, black people who gave him victory in 2008 and 2012 stayed home. They loved seeing him and his wife dressed up at state dinners but they were never fully engaged in politics because that is not what Democrats want. The love was phony and void of any political intent. Donald Trump will be president because of that veneer of political activism.
As for white people who voted for Trump, of course many of them are racists. However they are not without valid complaints. They don’t want neoliberalism but black people don’t either. They don’t want wars around the world and neither do black people. We corrupt our own heritage of radicalism in favor of shallow symbolism. While we slept walk in foolish nostalgia for Obama and cried at the thought of him leaving office, white people kept their hatred of Hillary to themselves or lied to pollsters. They want America to be great again, great for them. White nostalgic yearnings are dangerous for black people, and we must be vigilant. But there may be opportunity in this crisis if we dare to seize it.
Republicans have been the white people’s party for nearly 50 years. Trump just made it more obvious. He didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. We don’t have to be the losers in this election. Let us remember what we have achieved in our history. Half of black Americans didn’t even have the right to vote in the 1960s yet made earth shattering progress in a short time. But we must understand the source of that progress. It came from struggle and daring to create the crises that always bring about change.
“The dread of redneck celebration should not be our primary motivation right now.”
Yes white people will strut for president Trump but that doesn’t mean we must submit as if we are in the Jim Crow days of old. We have ourselves to rely on and we can reclaim our history of fighting for self-determination. The dread of redneck celebration should not be our primary motivation right now. Before we quake in fear at white America we must send the scoundrels packing.
The black politicians and the Democratic National Committee and the civil rights organizations that don’t help the masses must all be kicked to the proverbial curb. The rejection must be complete and blame must be laid squarely at their feet.
Those of us who voted for the green party ticket of Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka must stand firmly and proudly for our choice. We must strategize on building a progressive party to replace the Democrats who never help us. We must applaud Julian Assange and Wikileaks for exposing their corruption. There should be no back tracking on the fight to build left wing political power.
“We must strategize on building a progressive party to replace the Democrats who never help us.”
The black people who didn’t return to the polls shouldn’t be blamed either. Those individuals must have personal introspection that is meaningful and political. Their lack of enthusiasm speaks to Democratic Party and black misleadership incompetence. We should refrain from personal blame and help one another in this process as we fight for justice and peace.
The end of the duopoly is the first step in liberation. Staying with a party that literally did nothing was a slow and agonizing death. Sometimes shock therapy is needed to improve one’s condition. If we don’t take the necessary steps to free ourselves this election outcome will be a disaster. Instead, why not bring the disaster to the people who made it happen? The destruction of the Democratic Party and creation of a truly progressive political movement is the only hope for black America. 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 |
SANT CUGAT DEL VALLÈS, Spain — Monday marks 80 years since the uprising led by Gen. Francisco Franco plunged Spain into civil war. But Pere Bartolomé, 93, says he can still remember the day Franco’s soldiers ransacked his village, confiscating family booklets and photos. Some of those documents were returned to him only this month, after being kept hidden for decades as part of an enormous police archive that Franco used to incriminate his opponents. “This is just a very unexpected and happy moment,” Mr. Bartolomé said, shuffling on a cane and holding back the tears, after the ceremony at the Catalan national archive in which documents were returned to him and other Catalan families. Mr. Bartolomé was among the very few at the ceremony who had actually lived through the horrors of the civil war. Most of those who collected the gray boxes containing seized documents did so on behalf of deceased grandparents and other missing relatives. Some hoisted the boxes above their heads as if they were trophies. The divisions caused by the Spanish Civil War, and the decades of dictatorship it ushered in, ending only with Franco’s death in November 1975, continue to ripple through Spain. The ceremony here took place only after a unique and controversial push by Catalan lawmakers, many of whom now want to secede from Spain. The rest of the archive, which some compare to Communist East Germany’s Stasi files, remains in state hands. The Spanish archive was created by a special unit designated to seize documents that could eventually help identify and punish Franco’s enemies as his troops started to push back their Republican opponents. The unit stored any confiscated material in a building in Salamanca, a university town that Franco turned into his military headquarters and for which the files are named. Several of those who got documents back expressed disbelief at finally retrieving family belongings, as well as sadness and frustration that it had taken so long. “It is shameful that personal belongings were taken away by Franco as if they were part of a war booty — and it is just as shameful that we’re still struggling to recover such belongings, four decades after Spain returned to democracy,” Isabel Casanovas Calvet said. She received 17 books that belonged to her grandfather Joan Casanovas, who was the president of the Parliament of Catalonia when the civil war broke out. He died in exile in France in 1942, three years after Franco’s victory. Like several other aspects of the civil war and the resulting Franco dictatorship, the Salamanca Papers remain a subject of intense controversy rather than reconciliation. Since Spain’s Parliament agreed to return the documents to Catalonia in 2005, the process has been mired in legal and technical difficulties. The issue has recently resonated even more in Catalonia, where the regional Parliament is now controlled by lawmakers seeking to break from Spain. During the ceremony at the Catalan archives here, Santi Vila, a member of Catalonia’s regional government, started his speech by condemning Franco’s repression. But he went on to note ugly echoes of the past, attacking Jorge Fernández Díaz, the interior minister of Spain’s current conservative government, who was recently heard in a leaked recording of a private conversation trying to dig up dirt to incriminate Catalan political opponents. Joan B. Culla, a leading Catalan historian, was among the first academics to gain access to the documents, when he visited Salamanca in 1975 just as Franco died. Drawing his own comparison, Mr. Culla suggested that returning documents stolen from Republican families was like restituting paintings seized from Jews by the Nazis. “The fact that we’re still having such a debate shows that, even 40 years later, there is no sense of shame felt in defending the Franco period,” he said. “Could a town in Germany now be saying that something shouldn’t leave because Hitler had put it there?” Policarpo Sánchez, a lawyer and historian, heads an association created in 2014 to maintain Salamanca as a state archive. He charged that Catalan politicians wanted to dismantle the Salamanca archive, driven by “ideological hatred” rather than sympathy for the victims of Franco. With the exception of members of the Basque Nationalist Party, he noted, no other regional politicians in Spain had demanded the return of such documents. Catalonia’s politicians, however, “want to declare independence and therefore need to erase the collective and historical memory of Spain,” he said. Mr. Sánchez acknowledged that Franco had created in Salamanca something akin to the files used in other authoritarian regimes. But after Spain’s return to democracy, he said, the archive had been overseen by Spain’s Ministry of Culture and provided a treasure trove for historians. Mr. Sánchez recently unveiled some of his own discoveries in Salamanca, including the press accreditation of Antoine de the author of “The Little Prince,” who covered the civil war for French newspapers. “Documents can be found in Salamanca that the Library of Congress or any other archive would kill to have,” Mr. Sánchez said. “Can you imagine breaking up the Prado Museum, leaving perhaps only copies in Madrid and taking back each painting to its place of origin?” Mr. Sánchez is awaiting a court ruling after suing the Catalan authorities, accusing them of mishandling documents. One of his claims is that Catalonia illegally took documents from Salamanca that originally came from other regions of Spain. Few of the documents returned this month appeared to hold historic value. One exception was the boardroom minutes book of the association created in 1926 by Pablo Casals, a cellist, to give concerts for factory workers and their families. The document is “very significant” and could help others understand that Casals “wasn’t just happy with his own success, but also wanted to allow workers to listen to quality music in the same places as the bourgeoisie,” said Jordi Pardo, the director general of the Casals Foundation. In any case, with most of the original document owners long dead, many relatives said they might never work out exactly what they had gotten back. María Isabel Salazar Bertran, for one, could not decipher the dedication written in a political book that had been seized from her grandfather Joan Bertran i Llopart, a former Republican town mayor, and returned to her. As to the emotional value of the restitution, however, Ms. Salazar Bertran said it was made more poignant because she had coincidentally been told about the book on the day her mother died. “For me, this book is in itself a symbol of the history and the dignity of my family, which, like so many others, didn’t deserve to be persecuted for holding a different ideology,” she said. | 1 |
With Justice Neil Gorsuch now seated on the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) the NRA is launching a “series” of lawsuits aimed at rolling back gun controls in California. [The NRA’s first move is a suit filed with the California Rifle and Pistol Association — a suit which seeks to have California’s “assault weapons” ban declared unconstitutional. The suit was filed April 24, and the announced: The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action ( ) today announced it is supporting, along with the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA) an important Second Amendment lawsuit challenging California’s newly expanded Assault Weapons Control Act (AWCA). The suit, Rupp v. Becerra, seeks to have the courts declare the AWCA unconstitutional because the law will do nothing to stop terrorists or violent criminals, and infringes on the right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment. The Los Angeles Times reports that the suit is the first in a “series” that the NRA plans to file, now that Gorsuch is on the bench. President Trump campaigned on using SCOTUS to save the Second Amendment. On October 9, 2016, he said: I am looking to appoint judges very much in the mold of Justice Scalia. … People that will respect the constitution of the United States. And I think that this is so important — also, the Second Amendment which is totally under siege by people like Hillary Clinton. Gorsuch’s nomination, and subsequent confirmation, were widely viewed as the fulfillment of Trump’s campaign pledge. And the Times reports that the NRA is undertaking a legal push that it had been holding for such a time as this: The flurry of legal action comes as Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s choice for the Supreme Court, takes his seat, returning a conservative majority to the nation’s highest court. And as the Republican administration begins appointing additional judges to the federal court system, advocates say they hope that some of the more restrictive laws imposed in recent years will be vulnerable to legal challenge. Chuck Michel is one of the attorneys representing the Amendment groups in the suit against the “assault weapons” ban, and he purposefully points out that and similar rifles are “commonly possessed for lawful purposes by citizens for defense or shooting sports. ” The reference to firearms “commonly possessed” for “ ” ties back to language in the crucial majority opinion of District of Columbia v Heller (2008) wherein Justice Antonin Scalia indicated that for every epoch of American history, the Second Amendment protects weapons “‘in common use at the time,’ for lawful purposes like . ” AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart. com. | 1 |
In keeping with President Donald Trump’s executive order establishing the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue launched the effort on Thursday along with representatives from 22 federal agencies that are taking on the initiative. [The task force will work to find ways to increase jobs, housing and educational opportunities for America’s rural communities, and to remove obstacles, such as burdensome regulations, and to improve infrastructure and access to technology. The task force held its inaugural meeting in Washington, D. C. and attendees included Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney, U. S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Ajit Pai, and other government officials. “What we began here today is to lay a fertile seed bed in rural America, where good things can grow,” Perdue said. He went on: Rural America has been struggling under burdensome regulations, but the leaders we gathered today are willing to work together to turn that around. By establishing this task force, President Trump showed his commitment to prioritizing the prosperity of the farmers and ranchers of America’s heartland, as well as all citizens living in rural communities across this great country. Guided by the President at the helm, and with Secretaries Carson and Perry, Director Mulvaney, Trade Representative Lighthizer, and so many others, we are telling rural America that we’re here, we’re listening, and we’re going to help provide you with the resources, tools, and support to build robust, sustainable communities for generations to come. When asked by Breitbart News why Perdue’s agency is taking the lead on implementing Trump’s order, the Secretary said the president knows that rural Americans aren’t enjoying the same economic uptick that the rest of Americans are enjoying and that rural communities are represented in every state. “I think [Trump] saw the USDA and the Secretary of Agriculture as the one to bring these together,” Perdue told Breitbart News. “The other thing is, I guess with all those members of Congress, they all have a certain degree of agriculture in their district and they understand the needs of [those communities]. ” Perdue said. “It’s the one common denominator I think that unites us in many, many ways across America. ” In April 2017, Trump issued an executive order establishing the task force “to ensure the informed exercise of regulatory authority that impacts agriculture and rural communities. ” Regulations, in fact, were routinely mentioned as something detrimental to rural prosperity, including rules and regulations put into place by the EPA that create obstacles for farming and ranching. The White House laid out the plan this way: While much of the country has recovered from the recent recession, large areas of rural America have not fared as well. Nationally, 85 percent of persistently impoverished counties are in rural areas, and one in four rural children is growing up in poverty. The employment numbers continue to lag, and without connectivity and improved infrastructure widely available, the population in rural America is at its lowest point since 2010. The Task Force is working to improve quality of life for people living in rural areas, develop a reliable workforce, spur innovation and technology development, and roll back regulations to allow communities to grow and thrive. By directly engaging stakeholders to develop an action plan for legislative reforms and regulatory relief, the Task Force is expected to accomplish a great deal for rural Americans. President Trump has asked for a report with concrete recommendations within 180 days of the Task Force’s creation. “Promoting agriculture and rural prosperity is something that is very important to me since I know how vital energy and electricity are to our rural areas,” Perry said of his agency’s role in the task force. “At the Department of Energy, we are ready to do our part to bring prosperity to our small towns and rural communities. “Our Bioenergies Technology Office facilitates private and public partnerships to develop new technologies that make biofuels and our national labs are hard at work developing new ways to use our crops for energy,” Perry said. “If you’re going to address the needs of rural America, you can’t do it one agency at a time,” Mulvaney said at the event. Tate Bennett, who represented the EPA at the meeting, said reviewing and reworking the “Waters of the United States” rule as it relates to the Clean Water Act is a priority for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “He wants to hear from the people who are directly impacted by WOTUS, and that’s rural America,” Bennett said. | 1 |
STORRS, Conn. — Before she began vaulting for rebounds and blocked shots at Connecticut, Gabby Williams finished fifth in the high jump at the 2012 Olympic track and field trials. Her performance was a personal best of 6 feet 2¼ inches. At the time, she was 15, having just completed her sophomore year at Reed High School in Sparks, Nev. “There was a youthful elasticity about her,” said Amy Acuff, a Olympian who finished third at those trials. “You could see a bounce and a spring in her movements. She was such a fresh, bright spirit. It can be difficult to have your best performance in a big meet like that, but she definitely rose to the occasion. ” For the Williams, now 20, a career ended prematurely with a severe knee injury sustained months later while playing basketball. But she remains a soaring presence around the basket and, after a tentative start at UConn, she has become as dependable in the biggest moments on the court as she once was on the track infield. On Monday, Williams, a junior, collected 23 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists as UConn ( ) defeated Syracuse in the second round of the N. C. A. A. tournament. It was a rematch of the 2016 national championship game, won easily by the Huskies for their fourth consecutive title. That UConn team featured Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck, the top three players chosen in the 2016 W. N. B. A. draft. For the first time, Williams and her current teammates are being asked to deliver crucial plays at decisive moments in the postseason. “This entire team is really anxious about that,” Williams said. “Last year, we had guys, they knew how to win a national championship and they had done it before. We know how, but we’ve never had to do it ourselves. ” She does not appear overwhelmed by the responsibility. In Saturday’s tournament opener, Williams delivered 20 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals and a blocked shot as UConn overwhelmed Albany, . Such resourceful performances validate what Jay Bilas, the ESPN announcer, said of Williams: She is the most complete college basketball player in the country, male or female. Her and skills need refining, but there is a calm, floating assurance about Williams. The elegant way she imposes herself on a game with her vision, positioning and anticipation. Her ability not only to jump high, but also to quickly jump a second time, a third time. Her graceful, bounding glide, always on the balls of her feet, as if there is an unseen bar to clear. Standing about eight feet from the basket against Albany, Williams rose over the back of a player three and a half inches taller and snatched a rebound. Another time, she hovered in the lane, legs scissored, cradling a rebound in one arm. “Williams has to be maybe one of the most athletic players ever,” said Joanna the Albany coach. “Some of those rebounds she grabs are very phenomenal. Her legs are like springs. ” As Williams’s basketball skills have expanded in college, so has her social awareness. In an interview in December with The New Haven Register, Williams said she wanted to become a community organizer. “I am going to be a black female after basketball,” she told the newspaper. “I want to make sure every day that I am trying to make a difference. ” Speaking to The New York Times as the N. C. A. A. tournament opened, Williams said that while basketball consumed much of her time during the season, she tried to attend meetings at UConn’s African American Cultural Center whenever possible. The election of President Trump has prompted anxious discussions about treatment of women, minorities and immigrants, and she has eagerly taken part in them. “I’m glad these issues are finally being talked about,” Williams said. “It’s cool to see people who are more motivated, like, ‘What can I do now? ’” If things had gone as planned in high school, Williams would have returned to UConn’s basketball team this season after taking a year away from the game to try to qualify for the high jump at the Rio Olympics. “Now I realize just how almost impossible that was, to think it was going to be so easy just to take a year off,” Williams said, laughing. That is what are supposed to think, that life is infinite possibility. But her plans were circumscribed when Williams’s right knee crumpled with a torn anterior cruciate ligament midway through her junior season in high school. She injured the knee again as a senior. A second operation followed. When she was cleared to resume athletic activities, she said, “I kind of had a realization that I wanted to do basketball more than I wanted to do track. ” But Williams arrived at UConn in the fall of 2014 neither fully fit nor confident. “I just wasn’t ready for that level of competition,” she said. “I kind of got down on myself all the time. ” On Nov. 17, 2014, UConn played what would become a signpost game at Stanford. The Huskies lost, in overtime, ending a winning streak. They had not lost in 109 games played since. But Williams also remembers that game for a different reason. She did not play a single minute. Coach Geno Auriemma did not yet trust her. Her teammates did not yet trust her. She did not trust herself. After Williams missed large stretches of her final two seasons in high school, Auriemma said, she was asking herself, “Can I do this or not?” Doubt, he said, consumed her. After the Stanford game, Williams said, “I never wanted to feel that way again. ” She told herself: “I need to find a role on this team. I need to find a way that I can help. ” This season she became a starter. While she remains a work in progress, Williams played some of her most thorough games during the regular season against teams that are now fellow No. 1 seeds in the N. C. A. A. tournament: 19 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals against Notre Dame. A 26 points, along with 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals, against South Carolina. She was named defensive player of the year in the American Athletic Conference and became only the fifth UConn player to collect a with 16 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists against East Carolina. “It’s easy to underappreciate her,” Maya Moore, a former UConn star, said of Williams. “But if you watch the game and understand all the ways she’s impacting it, it’s to see that night after night. She’s grown into that, to be able to be counted on in so many areas of the game. ” Doubts still affect Williams “once in a while,” Auriemma said, “but fortunately for us, every big game we played on national television, those doubts didn’t come to the arena. ” “Somehow or another,” he added, “they got lost on the way over. ” | 1 |
President Trump’s executive order barring millions of refugees and citizens of seven countries from the United States has spurred a surge in donations to humanitarian and rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union. The A. C. L. U. has raised more than $24 million in online donations since Saturday, the first full day of the immigration ban, said Stephen Smith, a spokesman for the group. That is nearly seven times as much raised online in 2015, roughly $3. 5 million, he added. Those donations came from at least 356, 306 individual donors, and about of those who gave money were believed to be donors, said its executive director, Anthony D. Romero. “The response from the public has been remarkable,” Mr. Romero said. “It clearly shows that people are exercised over the proposed policies of Donald Trump. ” The A. C. L. U. also gained 150, 000 to 200, 000 new members. It had 400, 000 when Mr. Trump was elected in November, he said. “Clearly, this executive order has hit a live nerve with the American people,” Mr. Romero said. Thousands of protesters flooded airports across the country and took to the streets as word spread that immigrants and refugees were being blocked from entering the country, detained for hours by customs officials or taken off planes during the weekend, after Mr. Trump signed the executive order at 4:42 p. m. on Friday. The order, coming off a campaign promise, suspends the entry of all refugees for 120 days, bars Syrian refugees indefinitely, and prevents citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States for 90 days. Critics noted that the order for “extreme vetting” was in effect a ban on Muslims, and did not target countries in which Mr. Trump has had business interests. The move stunned the global community, drawing criticism from business leaders, European heads of state and Christian leaders, though many Trump fans were unfazed. Besides the A. C. L. U. other groups have seen a rise in donations. The National Immigration Law Center, which joined the A. C. L. U. in a suit on behalf of two Iraqi refugees detained on Saturday, has raised $269, 000 since the Trump order was signed, its executive director, Marielena Hincapie, said. Ms. Hincapie said donations had increased “across the board” and were now larger, more frequent and coming from more individual donors than her group had ever seen. A surge of individual donations after the election in November also boosted the law center’s annual budget to $7. 5 million from $5. 5 million, she added. for her organization was usually “slow and tedious work,” but not anymore, she said. “Trump’s election completely changed that and set us on a new path and has allowed us to be a stronger and more nimble organization,” Ms. Hincapie said. Humanitarian groups have seen a boost in donations, as well. Kal Penn, an actor and a former official in the White House Office of Public Engagement under President Barack Obama, started an online appeal for the International Rescue Committee, which works in conflict and disaster zones around the world. Mr. Penn said the had been inspired by an internet “troll” who told him he didn’t belong in the United States. “To the dude who said I don’t belong in America, I started a page for Syrian refugees in your name,” Mr. Penn wrote on Twitter. That tweet was shared more than 35, 000 times, and by Sunday, the site had raised over $390, 000. The I. R. C. began its own effort on Sunday with the goal of bringing in $5 million to help the organization respond to the needs of refugees in the United States. The group said it was the first time it had launched an appeal for people in the United States. The efforts were promoted by at least one actress during the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night, Sarah Paulson, who urged people to donate to the A. C. L. U. “to protect the rights and liberties of people across this country. ” Many of the winners, including Julia of TV’s “Veep” and Mahershala Ali of the film “Moonlight,” used their acceptance speeches to denounce the policies of Mr. Trump. The A. C. L. U. sees itself as a leader in the opposition to Mr. Trump’s agenda. It lead the charge on Saturday with the lawsuit in New York that resulted in an emergency ruling by a federal judge blocking the deportation of detainees who had already landed here. The court order was the second legal action filed by the group against the Trump administration, which is little more than one week old. Even before Mr. Trump’s executive order on immigration, the A. C. L. U. had received more than $47 million from 400, 000 donors, Mr. Romero said. The organization used the money — the largest surge in donations in its 97 year history, he said — to hire 200 staff members, primarily lawyers. “That is the Trump Effect,” Mr. Romero said. “Those 400, 000 people, who donated to us, I did not go after them they came to us. In fact, our website crashed we had so many donations, we could not handle it. ” | 1 |
Only 28 percent of Americans support former President Barack Obama’s claim that the federal government should decide bathroom policies in elementary and secondary schools, says a new poll by Rasmussen Reports. [In contrast, 36 percent said local governments should set “bathroom policies” governing youths who say they want to live as members of the opposite sex. Another 28 percent of respondents said state government should set the rules for transgender disputes, according to the poll. That adds up to 64 percent opposition and only 28 percent support for federal rule. The opposition is bad news for progressives, who are currently campaigning for federal politicians and federal judges to impose a national policy that would allow people to change their legal sex by simply declaring they have the “gender identity” of an person. This week, President Donald Trump announced he is discarding Obama’s May 2016 national policy and is delegating the issue to state and local governments. However, his administration has not announced whether it opposes the gay groups’ demand that “gender identity” should determine a person’s legal sex. The new Rasmussen poll also shows that only 38 percent of respondents favor “allowing transgender students to use the bathrooms of the opposite biological sex. ” That policy was opposed by 49 percent of Americans, including 64 percent of Republicans, 36 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of adults who say they are neither Democratic nor Republican. The Feb. 22 to 23 poll included 1, 000 adults. The public opposition to the transgender ideology increases when the questions are asked about younger schoolkids. For example, an April poll by Civitas showed that only 7 percent of 600 North Carolinians strongly supported a judge’s demand “ordering girls and boys in public middle schools to share locker rooms, bathroom, and shower facilities. ” The demand was strongly opposed by 72 percent of respondents. The new poll by Rasmussen only asked about bathrooms, and so doesn’t reveal political support for the underlying political demand by gay groups that a person’s “gender identity,” not their biological sex, should determine whether they are male or female. In March, the Supreme Cour this expected to hear a case in which gay advocates want the judges to redefine the meaning of “sex” in a 1972 sexual discrimination law from biological sex to “gender identity. ” That’s a revolutionary demand, because if individuals can freely flip their sex from male to female or vice versa, then the nation’s many institutions will face enormous legal pressure to admit people of the opposite biological sex. For example, shelters for battered women may be forced to open their doors to men who claim battery, women’s sports leagues will be forced to admit bigger and stronger men who claim to be women, and schoolbooks and parenting guides used by government grantees would be forced to define “women” merely as people who say they are women, effectively discarding the nation’s cultural history of women, girls and feminists. Already, the Boy Scouts of America have decided to admit girls who want to live as boys, and have also begun changing their language to downplay their prior focus on the needs of young boys. Similarly, sports leagues for women have been forced to admit biological males and also to admit girls who are taking male testosterone hormones. Also, the progressive trend is forcing progressives to rebuke ordinary Americans who don’t want men walking into the public bathrooms used by their young children. That politically questionable stance was highlighted by CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who entangled himself in a Twitter fight when he suggested that a father was being intolerant for saying he doesn’t want his 12 to share a public toilet with men who are trying to live as women. Cuomo retreated from the fight by claiming that a court would decide if the law would create safety problem by allowing sexual predators into bathrooms. But he ignored the larger issue that women’s bathrooms — and locker rooms and sports leagues — would also become open to men who say they are women if fixed biology is deemed less important than changeable “gender identity. ” A recent poll by a group at UCLA showed that only 23 percent of Americans think people should be allowed to switch their legal sex without any tests or approval by government agencies. Update: A February poll of 2, 000 registered voters by Politico and Morning Consult showed that the transgender agenda is strongly supported by just 23 percent of respondents, strongly opposed by 33 percent and somewhat opposed by 13 percent. | 1 |
WASHINGTON — Two days before Election Day, Donald J. Trump traveled to Sioux City, Iowa, and proclaimed that he was the protector of federal programs aimed at helping elderly and Americans. It was Hillary Clinton, he said, who was an untrustworthy steward of the working class and who would slash vital benefits. “I am going to protect and save your Social Security and your Medicare,” Mr. Trump said. “You made a deal a long time ago, a long time ago. ” The pledge followed earlier promises to enact a new benefit and not to make cuts to Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor. When President Trump addresses Congress this Tuesday and follows the speech with a budget blueprint for the fiscal year that begins in October, his White House will finally address in concrete numbers one of his central contradictions: He campaigned as the populist protector of programs for the working class, yet he has pledged to control the budget deficit, cut spending and cut taxes. Moreover, Mr. Trump has surrounded himself with traditional conservatives bent on cutting back or eliminating many of the programs he has championed. Many of his aides and cabinet members have expressed views that are fundamentally opposed to those he campaigned on. Former Representative Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, for example, the new White House budget director, has called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” and helped engineer a government shutdown to cut spending. As House Budget Committee chairman, Tom Price, the new secretary of health and human services, supported converting Medicaid to strictly capped block grants to the states and turning Medicare into a voucherlike program for future recipients. Ben Carson, the president’s nominee to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has repeatedly said government programs to help the poor lead to dependency. The disparity between Mr. Trump’s rhetoric and his appointments has cheered many Republicans and left Democrats fearing that he will not only renege on his promises to protect the government’s largest entitlement programs but that he will also slash programs he did not mention on the campaign trail that offer food, housing and child care support for the poor. “The appointments that he’s made are troublesome and very, very scary,” Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, said. “He made a pledge and sort of delineated himself from the rest of the Republican field by saying these things. Everything he’s done since he’s been elected is very worrisome. ” Already, Mr. Trump’s budget office has hinted at cuts to come in a memo that singled out the Legal Services Corporation, which helps the poor manage legal issues, and the Appalachian Regional Commission, which targets economic development in some of the poorest parts of the country. The memo also said that AmeriCorps, a program that puts volunteers into poor communities, would be zeroed out, and that the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, a nonprofit organization focused on urban development, would see its budget cut substantially. On Capitol Hill, some Republicans are hoping Mr. Mulvaney and others will change the president’s mind on far bigger targets and convince him that structural changes to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — the biggest drivers of deficits that are projected to rise over the next decade — are needed to control the national debt and to preserve the programs without substantial tax increases. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid consumed nearly $1. 9 trillion of the government’s $3. 9 trillion in spending in 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and with the number of people 65 and over projected to rise by a third over the next decade, Social Security and Medicare spending is projected to increase from a third of all spending in 2017 to 42 percent by 2027. Including Medicaid and military and federal civilian retirement benefits, federal spending on older adults will rise from 37 percent of outlays in 2017 to 45 percent in 2027 if nothing is done to change the programs. Even some liberal economists say that will amount to a transfer of funds from poor children and families toward older Americans, because the budget office projects that discretionary spending — where most programs for poor families come from — will be squeezed from 6. 3 percent of the economy now to 5. 3 percent in 2027, the smallest level since 1962. With those numbers on their side, Republicans are most likely to use their power in both the executive and legislative branches to push through large cuts to federal programs for poor and Americans, say Democrats and liberal policy analysts — if Mr. Trump eases up on his promises. “This is the greatest threat to people in my lifetime,” said Olivia Golden, executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy, a nonprofit organization focused on Americans. House Republican allies see no real contradiction in Mr. Trump’s campaign promises and what they say he must now do. Since President George W. Bush’s failed 2005 effort to partially privatize Social Security, Republicans have assured retirees and those nearing retirement that any changes or cuts to entitlement programs for older adults would not affect them. Now, Republicans are retroactively applying those caveats to Mr. Trump’s promises, saying the president understands that programs like Social Security and Medicare must be maintained for Americans who are currently receiving benefits but must be changed for younger Americans who may have to work longer before retiring and getting benefits. “It was really about making sure that those people who are getting benefits or about to get benefits are protected,” said Representative Mark Meadows, Republican of North Carolina and a leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. “If we do nothing, he will not save Medicare and Social Security. ” Representative Jeff Duncan, Republican of South Carolina, said he would be closely watching his former Freedom Caucus colleague, Mr. Mulvaney, as he settles in to work at the Office of Management and Budget. “I’m curious to see how Mick Mulvaney approaches this from O. M. B. because he is very with us here,” Mr. Duncan said. In fact, on the campaign trail and in interviews before the election, Mr. Trump did not suggest that he would maintain the programs in their current form only for older Americans. His rallies were attended by a of ages, who cheered his broad promises. And last March, Mr. Trump said during a debate among Republican presidential candidates that he planned to make no changes. “I will do everything within my power not to touch Social Security, to leave it the way it is,” Mr. Trump said. “I want to leave Social Security as is, I want to make our country rich again so we can afford it. ” The pressure to break that promise will come not only from congressional Republicans but also from his own campaign pledges to build a wall along the Mexican border, increase spending on defense, border security and infrastructure, cut taxes “big league” and control the deficit. “The last time we saw this kind of budgetary logic was at the beginning of the Reagan administration when he came into office, pledged to beef up defense spending and cut taxes,” said William A. Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former aide to President Bill Clinton. “They tried to keep the spending increases down and the deficit increases down by whacking away at social safety net programs, many of which were cut during that period. ” Even if Mr. Trump keeps his promise not to touch Social Security and Medicare, other programs like housing subsidies, child care assistance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, could be cut, social welfare and budget analysts say. And those cuts would not just affect poor minority voters, who tend to support Democratic candidates. A study released this month by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities research group shows that white adults without a college degree, a critical voting block for Republicans, benefit the most from social safety net programs and benefits. “My fear is that we are going to see the biggest cuts that any president has ever proposed in programs for and families,” said Bob Greenstein, the center’s president. “It could be the biggest Robin Hood in reverse a president has ever offered. ” | 1 |
The executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) Mark Krikorian, urged Congress to declare March 31, the birthday of the founder of United Farm Workers union Cesar Chavez, “National Border Control Day” to celebrate immigration enforcement’s positive effects on workers. [“Congress or the president should honor the memory of Cesar Chavez by declaring his birthday National Border Control Day,” Krikorian told Breitbart News. Chavez, whom NBC News calls a “civil rights hero,” fiercely opposed illegal immigration and saw that relentless waves of migrant labor would make achieving raised wages and benefits for workers impossible. “Whatever he turned into later, in his prime he was a champion of strict control of the borders, to ensure that American workers and American employers would have to duke it out on an even playing field,” Krikorian wrote in National Review Online on Friday. “If he’d succeeded, Americans would be better off, instead of seeing their real wages drop 21 percent since 1979. ” The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) published an article on Friday revealing the raw deal that guest workers receive: On César Chávez Day, lost in all the news about the Trump administration’s criminalization and scapegoating of immigrants and attempts to withhold federal funds from cities with policies that protect immigrants, are the 450, 000 migrant workers employed in the United States through the and visa temporary foreign worker programs. Many of the workers in these temporary visa programs are in a precarious situation and vulnerable to abuse and retaliation at the hands of employers and their agents. These “ ” often arrive in the United States in debt, and are tied to and controlled by their employers. Research shows are often paid lower wages than similarly situated U. S. workers, and earn wages similar to those of undocumented immigrant workers. This is reminiscent of the Bracero Program — a large guestworker program in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s that admitted hundreds of thousands of Mexican workers to work temporarily on U. S. farms and in other occupations — and which César Chávez fought against. While the Bracero Program was shut down in 1964, employers still turn to the handful of labor programs to provide workers, once illegals are deported, in their ongoing search for cheaper and cheaper labor. Current immigration policies transfer roughly $500 billion from workers to major employers, according to a study by a Harvard professor. “Is one million exploitable, indentured workers — who have no path to lawful permanent residence and citizenship — what the U. S. economy needs? César Chávez would say, ‘No! ’” the EPI article’s author writes, going on to say migrants should have a chance to “become American. ” Uncontrolled illegal immigration makes it impossible for workers to improve their lives and climb out of poverty, Krikorian told Breitbart News, which Chavez understood. “At the core of his activism was support for strong borders and opposition to programs. Chavez understood that America’s poor could not better themselves if the government allowed in an endless supply of workers from abroad to compete with them,” he said. A CIS panel of experts on Tuesday explained that many migrants are “assimilating down” in the current era of globallization and mass immigration. | 1 |
Trending Articles: Trending Articles: John Podesta Told Cheryl Mills ‘Dump All Those Emails’ on Day News of Clinton’s Private Email Server Broke Source: Jay Syrmopoulos
Washington, D.C. – In what could prove to be the proverbial nail in the coffin of Hillary Clinton’s presidential ambitions, an email released by WikiLeaks this morning – the 25th batch of emails from Clinton campaign chair John Podesta – reveals potential criminal intent to violate a court order for subpoenaed documents.
John Podesta sent the message only hours after the New York Times reported that Clinton might have violated federal records requirements by using the server, according to the latest batch of Podesta emails released by WikiLeaks.
The email in question , sent by Podesta on March 2, 2015, reveals the Clinton campaign chair directing Cheryl Mills, Hillary’s attorney and Chief of Staff, to destroy emails that had already been subpoenaed.
The email exchange between Podesta and Mills came suspiciously on the same day that news broke regarding Clinton’s use of a private email server.
After news of Clinton’s private email server became public, Podesta wrote to Mills:
“Not to sound like Lanny, but we are going to have to dump all those emails so better to do so sooner than later,” Podesta told Mills.
Mills responded: “Think you just got your new nick name.”
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out exactly what Podesta meant by “dump” the emails, when taking into account the fact that this was transpiring just as news of the private server was breaking. What this email does is provide insight into the coverup process — and exposes a willful intent to break the law. Additionally, it reveals exactly how swiftly the Clinton camp moved to obscure the truth from both investigators and the public alike.
According to a report by the New York Post :
In December 2014, Hillary Clinton — now the Democratic presidential nominee — turned over about 55,000 pages of work-related email to the State Department, but that fact wasn’t revealed until the Times reported on her use of the private server.
On March 10, 2015 — a week after the Podesta-Mills exchange — Clinton addressed the email scandal, and announced she had deleted about 30,000 personal emails.
The email’s reference to “Lanny” is likely in reference to lawyer Lanny Davis, who served as special counsel to then-President Bill Clinton, as well as spokesperson for the President and the White House on matters regarding campaign-finance investigations and other legal issues.
Interestingly, Zero Hedge reports that a search for Lanny Davis reveals a suspicious exchange between Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook and Podesta from March 8, 2015, just days after the above mentioned exchange in which Mook tells Podesta:
“We gotta zap Lanny out of our universe. Can’t believe he committed her to a private review of her hard drive on TV.”
Hillary’s team was apparently upset that Bill Clinton’s special counsel was engaging in a transparent course of action, and moved to “zap Lanny out of our universe.”
While it isn’t clearly spelled out exactly which emails Podesta is referring to in his email, the fact that he wrote “better do so sooner than later,” on the day news broke publicly regarding Clinton’s email server, strongly indicates that the actions were a responsive measure meant to obscure any investigation into the matter.
Clinton’s entire narrative regarding her private email server has seemingly unraveled, and her methodical plan to strategically impede the State Department/FBI investigation, by deleting the evidence, is now on full display for the public to see.
Hopefully WikiLeaks’ next upcoming Podesta email dumps can provide even further context to this already damning email. Of course, Hillary’s spin doctors are hard at work thinking up a new narrative to work around this latest revelation regarding the willful attempt by Clinton’s team to usurp a federal investigation.
Mainstream media is trying to censor this information, so please share this story to overcome corporate censorship and to expose the truth! | 0 |
Waking Times
We are fast approaching an era when humanity will be subjugated by a technological tyranny managed by an untouchable organization of elites, bureaucrats and paid public minders hired to monitor our behaviors, emotions and thoughts. In an environment like this, law and justice will be meaningless, as the tools of a technocracy can used to enforce the policies and whims of whoever monitors us, whether it be corporate employees, criminals, or abusive state actors.
Recent developments and roll-outs of advanced facial recognition technology are a hint of the coming ubiquitousness in using biometric, face-scanning, emotion-reading, all-seeing technology to govern every detail of daily life. Consider the following developments: It was recently reported that around half of Americans are already in police facial recognition databases, the vast majority having never been even accused of committing a crime or consenting to being included in the database. [ Source ] Increasingly, facial recognition is being used to scan concert and festival goers creating permanent databases of partiers. [ Source ] An experimental town in China is now using facial recognition to grant citizens entry. [ Source ] Facial recognition is now capable of reading human emotions, opening the door to a new world of possibility in pre-crime detection. [ Source ] The TSA is using emotion reading facial recognition technology to determine if a traveler is to be treated as a threat. [ Source ] Police nationwide are using the controversial Stingray system which allows them to listen to anyone’s cell phone conversations. [ Source ] California police are already using a computer system called ‘Beware’ to predict crime and preemptively stop it. [ Source] Microsoft recently conducted a major test during the 2016 Republican and Democratic conventions, using emotion reading facial recognition technology to survey the crowd for threats. [ Source ] A Russian software developer has released an App that allows you to turn your smart phone into a facial recognition device. [ Source ] Some U.S. churches are using a consumer version of facial recognition to keep tabs on who is in attendance for Sunday service. [ Source ] Facial recognition, finger-print reading, and iris scanning is now being included in consumer technologies. [ Source ]
The justification for using this technology against a public who is never given the opportunity to consent or to op-out is, as always, public safety, as police and government agencies claim the technology is needed to spot criminal elements, gang members and other threats to the public. Here, a quote from George Orwell offers a glimpse of what the inevitable outcome of this is:
“It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself—anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offence. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: FACECRIME, it was called.”– 1984 , George Orwell
Here, RT discusses how Microsoft used emotion reading facial recognition technology at political conventions and how some are resisting the way this technology is being introduced into our society. Final Thoughts
Privacy and anonymity are the enemies of the state, and it is being destroyed without our consent by both government and corporations who are deploying technology with no consideration of the human consequences. The possibilities for a techno-totalitarian future are grim, but without awareness and without motivation to resist, it is all but a forgone conclusion.
Orwell himself warned us of how this dark vision would force itself into fruition unless we stood against it. At the end of his life he even gave us this final warning. Are you listening? Isaac Davis . About the Author
Isaac Davis is a OffgridOutpost.com Survival Tips blog. He is an outspoken advocate of liberty and of a voluntary society. He is an avid reader of history and passionate about becoming self-sufficient to break free of the control matrix. Follow him on Facebook, here . Like Waking Times on Facebook . Follow Waking Times on Twitter . This article ( 1984 Unfolding as Public Surveillance Technologies Deployed Without Consent Isaac Davis | 0 |
I know Hillary has probably never used a Twitter account personally in her entire life, but if she is, that would make this Tweet sent out on her official account even funnier.
Happy birthday to this future president. pic.twitter.com/JT3HiBjYdj
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 26, 2016
Not only does this woman obviously just know, with every fiber of her being, that’s she’s got the election in the bag, but now she’s wishing herself happy birthday?
Who does that?
Oh yeah, that’s right, no one.
@HillaryClinton Whomever is managing your social media account needs to be fired immediately. No one wishes themselves a happy birthday.
— Steve Peer (@everymahn) October 26, 2016
@HillaryClinton “when you wish a happy birthday to your self” pic.twitter.com/8Rnrjif5Fl
— seed (@seed30_Greek) October 26, 2016
What’s even more hilarious are the responses.
@HillaryClinton I’ve seen that look before. pic.twitter.com/TQ7FaW7Mnr
— Ian McKelvey (@mckelvey_ian) October 26, 2016
@HillaryClinton Last picture taken before she became corrupt.
— Everyday American (@NashRamblers) October 26, 2016
@HillaryClinton happy bday to the single most corrupt politician in the history of the USA! #NeverHillary
— Chuck Norris (@Chuck7817) October 26, 2016
Odd RT @HillaryClinton Happy birthday to this future president. pic.twitter.com/FpluGgnovD
— Marcus Hawkins (@HawkinsUSA) October 26, 2016
@HawkinsUSA @HillaryClinton Don’t you mean… pic.twitter.com/5nhQSSnVqT
— Truthstream Media (@truthstreamnews) October 26, 2016
@HillaryClinton pic.twitter.com/80Kzpu0WwE
— Deplorable Lil Trump (@USAneedsTRUMP) October 26, 2016
@seed30_Greek @HillaryClinton hitler was a sweet little child once too
— First name here last (@Anodramazone66) October 26, 2016
@HillaryClinton happy birthday you cruel warmonger. pic.twitter.com/7pY5O6uudo
— Veronica (@PotluckPolitico) October 26, 2016
@HillaryClinton This IS a better birthday picture pic.twitter.com/V3bc4adfKL
— DeplorableHispanic (@bibi4Trump) October 26, 2016
@HillaryClinton pic.twitter.com/JnPLNrLeFP
— Wes Stull (@WesStull) October 26, 2016
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Melissa Dykes is a writer, researcher, and analyst for The Daily Sheeple and a co-creator of Truthstream Media with Aaron Dykes, a site that offers teleprompter-free, unscripted analysis of The Matrix we find ourselves living in. Melissa and Aaron also recently launched Revolution of the Method and Informed Dissent . Wake the flock up! | 0 |
FBI files detailing speeches delivered by heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in American mosques in the 1960s show a different, more racist and radical face of the famed sportsman. The speeches feature Ali calling whites “crackers” and “white devils,” and telling black congregants that blacks want to be segregated from whites. [The speeches, which were released after a Freedom of Information Act request by Washington watchdog group Judicial Watch, revealed that Ali had far more radical views about race than his more benign public persona might have led people to believe. Not only did Ali thunder that the 1964 civil rights act was a “swindle” on blacks, he also went on to excoriate whites, calling them “ devil white people,” and insisting that “the Negro is the original man and is superior to the white devil. ” The FBI files show that Ali told a crowd at a Washington D. C. mosque that he preferred “dying outright” or going to jail than going into the U. S. Army. In another speech delivered at a Cleveland mosque, Ali said the American flag “represented death and destruction,” but the “Muslim flag” represents “life and prosperity, justice for all black men. ” According to the FBI reports, the groups Ali spoke to were congregations of the Nation of Islam, an extremist hate group the FBI defined as an “ organization which espouses a line of violent hatred of the white race, Government, law and law enforcement. ” The Nation of Islam is highly and teaches its followers that whites will all be killed in a coming “War of Armageddon. ” The heavyweight champion, who passed away in June of 2016 after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s syndrome, is today portrayed as a courageous crusader for equal rights as well as one of America’s most celebrated sportsmen. But, his speeches reveal a figure steeped in hate and racist proclamations. Ali’s family recently started a new civil rights campaign to fight sentiment and have used their famed father’s legacy as a basis to push their effort. Their “Step into the Ring” campaign began after Ali’s son, Muhammad Ali, Jr. was briefly detained at a Florida airport. The boxer’s namesake son said he was racially and religiously profiled by airport authorities. But, the files now reluctantly released by the FBI paint a far more radical Muhammad Ali than his publicly accepted reputation. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 1 |
By Melissa Dykes The oligarchy runs our society with Problem – Reaction – Solution. If anything, these leaks have proven beyond a shadow of a... | 0 |
He’s sitting on a couch with his brothers, presumably in the home in which he’s now growing up. The photo has a graininess to it that is reminiscent of photos from the 1980s, but this picture is much more recent than that. It’s the first visual I’ve had of my former foster son since I hugged him goodbye. The boy we nicknamed “BlueJay” lived with us for almost a year when extended family members stepped forward to take custody of him and his two brothers back in March. In the series Foster Parent Diary, I wrote about the experience of loving and losing him. Now, I zoom in and out of this photo, studying every blurry detail. I know he was 4 years old when the photo was taken, the same age he was when he left our home, but he looks so much older. I can see how his legs are longer, his shoulders broader. His biological mother sent me the picture. She and I have remained in contact since he left. As far as I know, it is the only photo she has received since her son went to live in a home several hours away from her. The updates she gets and passes along to me are sporadic and superficial. I’m not sure even she really knows how he is doing. I dream about him. In my dreams, he’s always a little bit older with slightly more chiseled features. Sometimes he remembers me, sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he runs into my arms, sometimes he runs from them. On the days when he remembers me, when I pull him in for a tight hug and he asks me where I’ve been, it feels so real that I wake up with an irrational hope that he had the same dream, too. That maybe we’d found a way to cross the distance between us, just for a moment. My son, Ryan, who is now 6 years old, recently asked me if we could call his former foster brother one day to talk to him, to tell him we miss him. “I’m sorry, buddy, we can’t,” I said. “But why?” But why. It is the central question I have struggled with over the past 10 months. Why couldn’t we stay in his life? Why couldn’t we send him a new outfit for school or call him to wish him a happy birthday when he recently turned 5? Why couldn’t we continue to offer him our love from afar? We couldn’t because his relatives didn’t want us to. They didn’t see the point of it, the value in it. They wanted a clean break. A lot of time has passed since our foster son left. We talk about him more with smiles now than with tears. We’ve given ourselves the time and space needed to figure out whether the hole in our lives is one that only he was meant to fill or whether our family is still incomplete. Finally, we are starting to feel ready. My husband, Mike, and I are preparing, once again, for foster care adoption. We’re being more cautious and more deliberate this time. This time, we are moving slowly. This time, we are more educated and less exuberant. We are setting new parameters. We will consider only children who are legally free for adoption or as close to it as possible. We will not be called one day and asked to pick up a child in need of an immediate, temporary home. This time, we will be matched with a child who may have been waiting for a permanent family for as long as we’ve been waiting to complete ours. Realistically, that probably means a child Ryan’s age or older. There will be fliers with pictures and stacks of files and the child’s own opinions to consider. Caring for a child for almost a year and then being given less than 24 hours to pack him up and say a permanent goodbye changes a person. It strips you of your naïveté. It inflicts a sense of loss that cuts deep. It can harden you with cynicism, sadness and fear, if you let it. Our former foster son looks different in the photo. He is not smiling. He’s staring into the camera with a blank look I don’t recognize on him. He doesn’t look like the happy, spunky little boy I knew. He looks more like how I felt for months after he left: Dazed. The longer I stare at the photo, the more I wish I’d never seen it. Then again, it’s just one picture. One moment out of a billion moments in his lifetime. How could one picture be a fair representation of his current life? Maybe he was tired or bored or cranky when it was taken. Maybe, overall, things are going great for him. Do I have a real reason to believe otherwise? All I have is one picture. We can choose the cynicism, the sadness and the fear, or we can choose hope. We can shrivel up into a hardened ball, or we can pick ourselves up, dust off our arms, shake out our hair and press forward. We can acknowledge our own heartache for what it was: The inevitable result of fully loving a child who was never really ours. There was no mistake in that. We can let go of our worry and instead, believe in him. Believe that he’s strong enough to overcome the hardships of his early life, strong enough to thrive. We can allow ourselves to hope the final piece of our family’s puzzle is still out there. We can close our eyes, take a deep breath, center ourselves. And then we can go in search of that piece. | 1 |
Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton have been more secretive and selective than many recent presidential nominees in providing details about their personal health — a particularly striking departure, experts say, given the candidates’ age. No American election has ever featured two nominees as old as Mr. Trump, 70, and Mrs. Clinton, 68, and they have kept a grueling pace for more than a year. Yet they have declined to share the latest information about their health or to make their doctors available for interviews. Each released a brief medical statement in 2015 neither has added to it since. Mr. Trump has been especially unforthcoming, even as he has sought to turn health into an issue in the presidential race, questioning Mrs. Clinton’s “physical and mental strength and stamina” as his allies push unfounded rumors that she is ill. Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, said Monday that he would have “no problem releasing additional records” about his health if Mrs. Clinton did the same. Advisers to Mrs. Clinton, who has released more details than Mr. Trump, said the onus was on him to match her disclosures. Republicans from Ronald Reagan to Mitt Romney have released details in the months before Election Day or directed their doctors to field questions. John McCain allowed some reporters to review more than 1, 100 pages of his medical records. Among Democratic nominees, Al Gore and John Kerry spoke openly about their health Mr. Kerry had survived prostate cancer. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were more reticent: Their aides argued that the two were young men with no health problems, though Mr. Clinton granted an interview on his health in 1996 under pressure from his Republican opponent, Bob Dole. Mr. Trump, who regularly eats fast food and says he does not sleep much or take long vacations, has provided only a statement from his gastroenterologist last December. It contained no details about his heart rate, respiratory rate, cholesterol level, past medications or family medical history. It did include several laudatory declarations, describing Mr. Trump’s blood pressure ( ) and laboratory test results as “astonishingly excellent. ” The doctor, Harold N. Bornstein of Manhattan, concluded that Mr. Trump, if victorious, “will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency” — a claim that was widely mocked as unprovable and unscientific. Mrs. Clinton issued a significantly more detailed letter from her physician in July 2015 that included information about a concussion Mrs. Clinton suffered in 2012, which left her with a blood clot in her head and double vision. Her doctor, Lisa Bardack of Mount Kisco, N. Y. said those symptoms were resolved within two months. Mr. Clinton, however, has said that Mrs. Clinton “required six months of very serious work to get over” the concussion — a statement that helped feed conspiracy theories among Republicans that Mrs. Clinton’s concussion was worse than disclosed, though there is no medical evidence to support that conclusion. Doctors and medical experts said they had rarely seen so few details or updated information about the health of presidential nominees. “Voters deserve far more information from Clinton and Trump about their health than we have now,” said Dr. Burton Lee, who was the elder George Bush’s personal physician during his four years as president. “The public has a right to know, but you just don’t have transparency with these two candidates on much of anything. That’s a given. ” Lawrence O. Gostin, a lawyer on the faculty of medicine at Georgetown, said Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump had both fallen short of releasing medical information, which he described as “extremely important,” given their age. “A person’s fitness, particularly at an older age, can change very quickly, and the rigors of a campaign — all the speeches, travel, long days and nights — can take a toll on your health as well,” said Mr. Gostin, who worked with Mrs. Clinton on her health insurance overhaul effort in 1993 and 1994. “The campaign is a kind of trial run on a patient’s ability to serve as president, so the public deserves details on their health after a year of running. ” Mr. Gostin, who is supporting Mrs. Clinton, said he was not implying that she had any health problems. Advisers to Mrs. Clinton said Monday that she had provided sufficient information about her personal health in the 2015 statement and had no plans to release more, though they pointed to remarks last week by Dr. Bardack reiterating that Mrs. Clinton “is in excellent health and fit to serve as president of the United States. ” The statement last week was a response to fake documents, purportedly by Dr. Bardack, claiming that Mrs. Clinton had suffered seizures and memory loss after her concussion. Her advisers pushed back forcefully when asked if Mrs. Clinton or her doctor would give an interview about her health, arguing that the 2015 statement disclosed far more details about past examinations, vital signs and incidents like Mrs. Clinton’s concussion than Mr. Trump’s medical summary last year. “Hillary Clinton is the only candidate in the race who has met the standard expected of presidential candidates,” said Glen Caplin, a Clinton spokesman. “Donald Trump needs to produce a real doctor’s letter, written by a credible doctor, that details the state of his health for voters. ” Trump campaign advisers said Mr. Trump had no plans to grant interviews about his health, insisting that his age was not an issue. They said he was in good shape, disputing the opinion of some friends of Mr. Trump that he has gained weight recently. The Trump campaign declined a request for an interview with Dr. Bornstein. For much of American history, presidents and candidates were secretive about their health. Woodrow Wilson suffered a severe stroke in 1919 that largely incapacitated him, a condition that he and his advisers hid for a time. Franklin D. Roosevelt was rarely photographed in his wheelchair, and John F. Kennedy’s chronic back pain and regimen of medications were concealed. Mental health issues emerged as a liability, too: Thomas F. Eagleton gave up the 1972 Democratic nomination after acknowledging his past electroconvulsive therapy for depression. But since Reagan’s nomination in 1980 at age 69 — then the oldest nominee to date — candidates’ medical histories have been routinely disclosed and scrutinized. Tad Devine, a veteran Democratic strategist, recalled that Lloyd Bentsen, the 1988 nominee, provided extensive details about his health “because he was 67, which was considered quite old at the time. ” “I think health transparency is important and candidates have to take that responsibility seriously,” Mr. Devine said. “As transparency goes, Trump’s statement is preposterous. ” Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist who was a senior adviser to Mr. McCain in 2008, said most presidential campaigns want to disclose as little as possible while providing enough information to claim to be transparent. But he suggested that the balance should tilt toward more disclosure this year. “You have two candidates around 70 years old, and while it hasn’t happened since 1974, you’ve had many vice presidents succeed to the office of the presidency,” Mr. Schmidt said. “When you have candidates at their ages, the disclosure should be on the burdensome side. ” | 1 |
Kremlin: NATO was Created for Agression 11/07/2016
RUSSIA TODAY Reports of the new reinforcement of NATO troops close to Russia’s borders show “the aggressive character of the organization,” the Kremlin has said, commenting on recently announced preparations to deter an alleged Russian threat.
The Western military alliance was established “ not for peace-building, but exactly for aggressive actions ,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. Despite the fact that blocs which opposed NATO no longer exist, it’s impossible to change the alliance’s “ aggressive nature ” due to its ideological and political bases.
Earlier on Monday, the Times published a report suggesting that “ hundreds of thousands of NATO troops will be put on a higher state of alert amid growing tensions with Russia .” According to the British daily – which cites the alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, and the UK’s outgoing permanent representative to the bloc, Adam Thomson – NATO aims to largely speed up the time its troops can be deployed.
It reportedly aims to have up to 300,000 military personnel from nations across the alliance at the ready, having shortened their response time to about two months, compared to the current 180 days.
“ We are responding with the biggest reinforcement of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War ,” Stoltenberg told the Times . The bloc is looking into how more of its 3 million personnel “ can be ready on a shorter notice ,” he added, saying that NATO defense ministers have already had discussions on the issue.
Having accused Moscow of “ assertive ” behavior, the NATO chief said Russia had increased its defense spending and was “ developing new military capabilities .”
“ In regard to its national security, Russia acts within its national borders, undoubtedly posing no threat to anyone ,” Peskov said, commenting on Stoltenberg’s statements. The way the military bloc has reacted “ once again shows the organization’s aggressive nature ,” he added. | 0 |
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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 |
“Why I Won’t Vote for Hillary Clinton | Evan Edinger” (but then he changes his mind on that) TO CLOSE : Evan Edlinger will vote for Hillary against Trump because he thinks that whereas Hillary’s actual track-record of policies (not mere statements) in public office have been horrific, Trump’s bad statements and lack of any track-record in public office at all, make Trump even worse. That’s what he thinks. I think it makes Trump better — the better choice — as opposed to the proven evil and catastrophically harmful public official, Hillary Clinton. Edlinger is preferring an evil record as a public official, to no record as a public official. Edlinger fails to make two crucial distinctions: One is that he fails to distinguish between mere political statements, versus actual political policies carried out as a public official (which show Hillary to be a proven neocon and tool of Wall Street); and the other is his failing to distinguish between a bad record in a person’s private or business affairs, versus a bad record as an actual public official. Only the bad record as a public official should be absolutely disqualifying — and that’s Clinton, not Trump, who has a horrific record as a public official. Trump has no record at all as a public official. Edlinger at 1:30 in his video says that when he contemplates voting for Hillary,”There’s always one thing that comes in the way, and that’s trust.” He says he doesn’t trust her — but what he doesn’t actually “trust” is her words; when he says he’ll vote for her, he’s simply ignoring her actions, he’s ignoring the real person-as-a-public-official, the person who is shown and displayed beyond any reasonable doubt whatsoever. Proven selfishness in one’s private life is bad, but proven selfishness and evil in one’s public-office policies (such as “We came, we saw, he died. Ha, ha!” ) is utterly disqualifying. I argued in my “I’m a Bernie Sanders Voter: Here’s Why I’ll Vote Trump” , that Trump could possibly turn out to be a progressive President; but, even if he turns out to be a bad President, he won’t, on balance, be as horrific as will a President Hillary Clinton. With Trump, there is reason to have some hope for the future of the world; with Clinton, there is reason to expect unprecedented horrors . About the author Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records , 1910-2010, and of CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity . NOTE: The Greanville Post editors have a clear position on this so-called election: If you MUST vote, vote Green, for the Jill Stein, Ajamu Baraka ticket, as a PROTEST VOTE. If that is not possible in your area, do not bother to vote, as all votes serve to legitimate a fraudulent process and the ongoing reign of the corporate/military/media complex. =SUBSCRIBE TODAY! NOTHING TO LOSE, EVERYTHING TO GAIN.= free • safe • invaluable If you appreciate our articles, do the right thing and let us know by subscribing. It’s free and it implies no obligation to you— ever. We just want to have a way to reach our most loyal readers on important occasions when their input is necessary. In return you get our email newsletter compiling the best of The Greanville Post several times a week. [email-subscribers namefield=”YES” desc=”” group=”Public”] NOTE: ALL IMAGE CAPTIONS, PULL QUOTES AND COMMENTARY BY THE EDITORS, NOT THE AUTHORS Print this post if you want. Share This: | 0 |
Next Swipe left/right A very important question about the Scunthorpe hospital computer hack Recently the computer system at Scunthorpe General Hospital was hacked, leading to the cancellation of appointments and operations. But there was another urgent question someone wanted answering… | 0 |
Pentagon Claims Comments Prove Baghdadi Losing Control by Jason Ditz, November 03, 2016 Share This
In a newly released audio recording, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi expressed confidence that his forces would succeed in defending Mosul from an ongoing offensive by what he referred to as “enemies of God.,” saying he is convinced this is the prelude to victory.
Mosul is ISIS’ largest city, with the metro area home to about 1.5 million people. It is their last major city within Iraqi territory, and the US has presented their imminent defeat in the city as spelling the effective end to the ISIS caliphate.
Baghdadi insisted there could be no surrender in the fight, a statement which is literally true since the US has insisted they intend to kill every ISIS fighter who attempts to flee the city with airstrikes Baghdadi suggested there would be retaliatory suicide attacks abroad that would wreak havoc on “unbelievers,” and “make their blood flow as rivers.”
The Pentagon, always upbeat about wars everywhere, said Baghdadi’s confident statement proved he is losing control of ISIS in general, and that he was desperately trying to prevent infighting, adding “we don’t believe it is going to work.” Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz | 0 |
Thursday, 10 November 2016 Maria Sharapova is returning between the "white lines" as an ambassador for drug runners!
Banned ex-tennis star and super grunt-er, Maria Sharapova, has been elected by the UN to represent a growing number of illegals whose extremely difficult and dangerous job it is supplying the world's drug consumers with fresh lines of produce.
The UN feels that "super-grunter" Sharapova has the necessary qualifications and experience to help Drug Runners breach frontiers, smuggle illegal drugs into all of the major global drug consuming cities, and be of assistance to top runners by keeping up their fitness levels (a necessary weapon in their armory whilst running from the cops!).
Maria will even have her own ban shortened by six-months because the UN feel that after yesterday's US election of Trump, life could become even harder for drug-runners, especially the Mexican ones.
Sharapova has also been studying the life of Pablo Escobar, Colombian gold medalist in drug-running, hoping to gain an insight into the minds and pockets of major drug-runners. In addition, her own personal runners have given inside tips and the UN are most happy with their new ambassador.
Donald Trump, president-elect, refused to comment on Maria's new status, but did mention the fact that forgotten, ageing, German soccer-star, Bastian Schweinsteiger's wife, Ana Ivanoviç, has the most beautiful rear-end he ever had the pleasure to smack his racket on!
Now where's my line Maria?? Make Jaggedone's day - give this story five thumbs-up (there's no need to register , the thumbs are just down there!) | 0 |
Thu, Oct 27th, 2016 at 7:42 pm Just another day in the life of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Share on Twitter Print This Post
It was a standard day in the life of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, as the Republican nominee spent much of his time on the campaign trail Thursday making outrageous and insulting comments.
This was on clear display at a rally in Toledo, Ohio, when Trump proposed one of his most ridiculous ideas yet: Cancel the election and just anoint him president.
Video: Trump jokes: “We should just cancel the election and just give it to Trump, right? What are we even having it for? Her policies are so bad!” pic.twitter.com/Stz46iDbpf
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) October 27, 2016
“I’m just thinking to myself right now, we should just cancel the election and just give it to Trump, right?” Trump asked the crowd. “What are we even having it for? … Her policies are so bad.”
Despite Trump’s plea to cancel the election as he continues to struggle in the polls, it will be the voters who decide which candidate has the better policies – thankfully.
The remark also aligns closely with other recent comments in which Trump claimed the process is rigged against him, and he will only accept the outcome of the election if it’s favorable for him.
But Trump wasn’t done at his Buckeye State rally. He also made sure to take a dig at minority communities.
Video: Help me out there. Did Trump just say “we’re going to work on our ghettos” before mentioning inner cities, violence and African Americans? pic.twitter.com/v9KqZSLbh6
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) October 27, 2016
Trump’s comments:
We’re gonna work on our ghettos … take a look at what’s going on where you have pockets of, areas of land, where you have the inner cities, and you have so many things, so many problems, so many horrible, horrible problems – the violence, the death, the lack of education, no jobs. We’re gonna work with the African-American community and we’re going to solve the problem of the inner city … You can’t walk out the street. You buy a loaf of bread and you end up getting shot.
The Republican nominee’s “ghetto” comment is the newest addition to what is the standard Trump narrative that black communities are hellscapes. This particular set of remarks comes a day after he visited North Carolina for a rally and told supporters – mostly white – that he would enact “a new deal for black America.”
In the closing days of this election, Donald Trump is once again showing that there is no better version of who he is. The man who built a campaign on racial resentment is doubling down on it as this election season comes to a conclusion. | 0 |
NTEB Ads Privacy Policy Donald Trump Will Be 70 Years, 7 Months And 7 Days Old On First Full Day In Office As President On May 14, 2018, Israel will have been officially regathered, in fulfillment of Bible prophecy, for exactly 70 years. In 70 AD, Israel was destroyed by the Romans and the Temple stones toppled to the ground exactly as Jesus said it would happen. When you subtract 70 AD from 2018 AD, where does that leave you? It leaves you square in 1948 AD. Please pause here and allow that thought to sink in for a moment. by Geoffrey Grider November 3, 2016 God likes to orchestrate events relating to Israel around the number 70
“In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years , whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” Daniel 9:2 (KJV)
People, you better buckle up because things are about to become unglued. For well over a year now, we here at NTEB have been telling you that Donald Trump is God’s man for the White House, and that Bible prophecy would be fulfilled in the process. Two very eye-opening articles you need to read are The Real Reason Why Donald Trump Was Chosen To Be The Republican Candidate For President and Why A Bible Believer Is Supporting Donald Trump For President Of The United States . I wrote those articles on May 4 and February 13, respectively. Israel in general and Jerusalem in particular are God’s time clock for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy
On our Sunday night radio show , which you can access here , we talked about Donald Trump, Bible prophecy and the coming global shaking. And believe me when I tell you it’s coming. In the 9th chapter of Daniel we see that he finally understands what Israel’s Babylonian captivity is all about by reading the prophecy Jeremiah had written. That was Daniel’s “a-ha!” moment.
“And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years . And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.” Jeremiah 25:11,12 (KJV)
After digesting that bombshell , Daniel is then visited by the angel Gabriel who gives Daniel his own shocking prophecy of the Seventy Weeks Of Years. All of that prophecy has been fulfilled except the last week, or 7 year period, known as the time of Jacob’s trouble as found in the book of Jeremiah and mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 24 as the time of “great tribulation”.
“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:7 (KJV)
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Matthew 24:21 (KJV)
On May 14, 2018, Israel will have been officially regathered , in fulfillment of Bible prophecy, for exactly 70 years. In 70 AD, Israel was destroyed by the Romans and the Temple stones toppled to the ground exactly as Jesus said it would happen. When you subtract 70 AD from 2018 AD, where does that leave you? It leaves you square in 1948 AD. Please pause here and allow that thought to sink in for a moment.
Donald Trump was born on June 14, 1946. If you move ahead 70 years from that date, that brings you to June 14, 2016. Moving forward another seven months brings you to Jan. 14, 2017, and moving forward another seven days brings you to Jan. 21, 2017. This is happening in the year 5777 according to the Jewish calendar.
And if Donald Trump wins the election , Jan. 21 will be his first full day in office. Of course Trump would be inaugurated on Jan. 20, but he would only be president for part of that day. So that means that Donald Trump would be 70 years, seven months and seven days old on his first full day as president of the United States . Please pause here as well, and allow that thought to sink in for a moment.
All this brings us to our last point, and here it is. One of the many campaign promises that Donald Trump has made is that he will move the US Embassy in Israel from its current location in Tel Aviv, to its new location in Jerusalem in accordance with the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 . By doing that, the United States will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and thus set off the Psalm 83 War as found in the Bible.
“They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:” Psalm 83:4,5 (KJV)
For it is Jerusalem, what the Bible calls the “apple of God’s eye”, that the real battle will be fought over. Why do you think that the Palestinians have always rejected the so-called Two State Solution? Because that solution calls for Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to stay with Israel, and the Muslims will not stand for that. They want Jerusalem for the same reason that the Antichrist fights the Battle of Armageddon for it. Because Jerusalem is where Jesus returns to, and where He will rule from for a thousand years. Jerusalem is the reason for all the conflict, all the fighting, all the past wars, and the coming war.
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” Zechariah 12:2,3 (KJV)
This election is going to usher in a time of amazing fulfillment of Bible prophecy. It is no coincidence of any kind that Donald Trump will be 70 years, 7 months and 7 days old on his first full day in office. It is not luck, fortune, happenstance or karma that he beat his 16 competitors for the nomination. As I have said for over a year now, Donald Trump is God’s man for “such a time as this”, and that we are living in the days of visible fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
As we started our radio show on this topic on this past Sunday night, do you know what the headline story on the Jerusalem Post website was? It was this: Ivanka Trump says her father will move US embassy to Jerusalem ‘100%’ if elected
If Donald Trump becomes President on Tuesday , as I believe with all my heart he will, then you better start thinking about the time of Jacob’s trouble beginning sometime on or around May of 2018. That means the Rapture of the Church will have to happen before that. Please pause here as well, and allow that thought to sink in for a moment.
Are YOU ready for what comes next? Because, brothers and sisters, it sure looks like it’s coming.
Geoffrey Grider NTEB is run by end times author and editor-in-chief Geoffrey Grider. Geoffrey runs a successful web design company, and is a full-time minister of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition to running NOW THE END BEGINS, he has a dynamic street preaching outreach and tract ministry team in Saint Augustine, FL. NTEB #TRENDING | 0 |
LAS VEGAS — Steven J. Oshins, a Nevada lawyer who specializes in estate planning, has never met the wealthy software entrepreneur Dan Kloiber, but he is nonetheless intensely interested in Mr. Kloiber’s contentious divorce. “I have had a Google news alert on that for a couple years,” Mr. Oshins said as he discussed the case from his office in a squat pink complex about a drive from the Las Vegas Strip. What animates Mr. Oshins is not the juicy marital feud, but the legal arcana governing a trust in Delaware where the Kloiber family parked assets worth hundreds of million of dollars, sheltered from estate taxes. Mr. Oshins, with a gleeful grin spreading across his face, relished the thought of the Mrs. Kloiber busting through the trust and exposing a potential chink in the formidable trust protection armor promised by Delaware — which just happens to fiercely compete with Nevada for the lucrative business of shielding assets owned by the superrich. Although most visitors are drawn to the city’s roulette wheels and slot machines, Mr. Oshins and a battalion of tax lawyers, accountants, advisers, trust administrators and bankers cater to an elite clientele that insists on a much more reliable way to build a fortune. With their backing, Nevada has stoked an aggressive rivalry among a smattering of states to babysit the wealth of the nation’s top 1 percent, pressing public officials to pass laws, streamline regulations, lower fees and replace D. M. V. service with concierge treatment. Yet even as more and more states seek ways to help the richest Americans protect their wealth from creditors, divorcing spouses and children, as well as some federal and state tax collectors, critics worry that the effort to attract the lucrative trust business is turning into a competitive game of giveaway. “There is no doubt that many, many jurisdictions are committed to being at the bottom,” said Edward McCaffrey, a professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. “I think the real question now is: ‘Where is the bottom? ’” The federal government leaves it to each state to draw up its own trust laws, and several have tried to go as far as they can without inciting accusations that they are abetting tax evasion or hiding assets, he said. But in pushing the envelope, they can also run into challenges from courts in other states, including the Kloibers’ home of Kentucky, that have different statutes governing trusts. The clear leaders are Nevada, Delaware, South Dakota and Alaska, but other states have also joined the frenzy. New Hampshire, Wyoming, Tennessee and Ohio all hope to dip a spoon in the pot of cream that had traditionally been preserved in offshore tax havens like the Cayman Islands. Over the last decade, for example, New Hampshire has passed nearly a dozen laws affecting trusts that expanded their life span, lowered taxes and made it easier to transfer assets. In 2013, the state created a special trust court subdivision to handle the complex litigation last year, an overhaul of state banking laws simplified regulations. Still, Nevada “is definitely the most aggressive in my experience in terms of asset protection,” Mr. McCaffrey said. Starting with the absence of any state income tax and resilient secrecy protections, Nevada has added a passel of laws and regulations intended to lure trust business. Individuals who establish irrevocable trusts have more flexibility to transfer assets to a new trust with more favorable terms. Creditors are blocked from access to money held in trusts (making the arrangement also popular among doctors, who worry a malpractice case could bankrupt them). And what are known as dynasty trusts allow the wealthy to pass their fortunes from generation to generation for hundreds of years without paying estate taxes. Defenders of the industry won what was characterized as a “do or die” battle in 2013, fending off legislation that would have opened up Nevada trusts to future claims from spouses and domestic partners for property settlements, alimony or child support. And Nevada has only a narrow window for creditors to make a claim against a trust’s assets. These sorts of loopholes have been criticized by some legal scholars as “not morally defensible,” but defenders dismissed the potential for abuse. “It’s against the law in this state to conceal assets from legitimate creditors,” said Mark A. Hutchison, Nevada’s Republican lieutenant governor, a lawyer himself. “We’ve got to be aware of phantom threats that could blow up our industry,” he added. Phantom threats, he said, include recent suspicions — after the leak of the Panama Papers — that citizens and foreigners are illegally hiding assets in the state. Private documents from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca revealed that the firm had incorporated more than a thousand shell companies in Nevada and Wyoming to hide the real owners’ identities. There are sometimes legitimate reasons individuals and businesses want to conceal their identities, but the papers suggested that evading taxes was often the purpose. Other documents tied the shell companies to corruption scandals in Brazil, Argentina and officials at FIFA, the soccer’s world governing body. If the revelations were a source of embarrassment, however, they were also a source of free worldwide publicity. “It’s actually helped us, believe it or not,” said Greg Crawford, president of the Alliance Trust Company in Reno, explaining that Nevada was not as well known internationally for its policies as Delaware. “I’ve had more calls from people overseas, established families, who are interested in Nevada. ” Mr. Crawford disputed the idea that the state’s rules were abetting criminal activities. “The honest, ethical taxpaying people around the world who simply want privacy are happy to put assets in the United States,” he said. “Crooks know they can be confiscated, so it actually serves as a process. ” Monitoring development in other states and bulking up asset protection laws, said Mr. Hutchison, the lieutenant governor, has dependable bipartisan support. “The trust business is a big business,” he added. “We’ve always viewed it as a way to stimulate the economy. ” Although trusts generate little public revenue or direct investment in the state, they do provide a steady stream of work for those in the industry. Supporters also say they generate indirect investment by drawing wealthy people who spend money and might invest later on. Robert H. Sitkoff, a Harvard Law School professor, said that in states like Delaware, Nevada, South Dakota and Alaska, trust and estate lawyers “are an effective and important lobby in a way that would be much harder to replicate in a place like New York, a big state with lots going on. ” With the competition so intense, each state tries to exploit marginal advantages and highlight rivals’ weaknesses. The marketing pitch is not always about keeping up with the neighbors, however. Even as Nevada and Delaware blocked with claims for child support, for example, New Hampshire decided not to follow suit. “We have reviewed that and said that’s not our policy,’” said William F. J. Ardinger, a lawyer at Rath, Young Pignatelli who has lobbied for changes in New Hampshire’s trust laws. His state is making a different kind of appeal. “There’s a huge amount of wealth on the Eastern Seaboard, and New Hampshire fares well in the mind of those families,” Mr. Ardinger said. “They’ll say, ‘I went to prep school at Exeter,’ or, ‘I went to Camp Winaukee as a kid.’ “Reno is a beautiful place, but it’s not ‘On Golden Pond. ’” The Las Vegas lawyer Mr. Oshins, who almost makes the Kardashians look shy, is unfazed by such comparisons. “New Hampshire is a little bit of a wannabe,” he said. “They’re a state. ” | 1 |
Sean Adl-Tabatabai in Entertainment // 0 Comments
Angelina Jolie’s father, Jon Voight, has publicly spoken out against the illuminati elite’s that he says are attempting to prevent Donald Trump from winning the Presidency.
In a video uploaded to YouTube , Voight slammed both George Soros and Hillary Clinton, claiming they are attempting to turn America into a country of tyranny.
“May God protect the real truth and may Donald Trump win this presidency. He will save our America, and he will certainly make it great again,” he said .
Daily Mail reports:
Voight has repeatedly supported Trump throughout the election cycle despite the business tycoon’s unprovoked attacks on his daughter Angelina Jolie’s looks.
In the video, posted on Voight’s social media channels, he said: ‘We were once a country of freedom. Now we’re becoming a country of tyranny.
‘Thousands of refugees will flood our nation, and no one will know the good guys from the bad guys. It will kill our economy which is at an all time low under the years of Obama’s presidency.’
Millions of jobs have been created, unemployment has plummeted, and the economy has grown about two per cent each year under Obama’s administration, with experts grading it a ‘solid B or B+’, CNN reported.
But Voight also warned that people would lose their Second Amendment rights under Hillary Clinton, even though she has repeatedly disputed similar statements.
Voight went on to say: ‘Freedom of religion will be attacked…and Hillary will try to stop all conservative voices on TV and radio.
‘Our highest courts will become socialist, and she will restrict what America was founded on – our freedom to become a small business owner and pursue our own personal dreams.’
Voight also accused Soros of ‘turn[ing] hundreds of Jewish people over to the Nazis to be exterminated during World War II,’ an idea perpetuated by conservative commentator Glenn Beck.
When Soros was 14, his father bribed an agriculture official in Nazi-occupied Hungary to pose as his Christian godfather.
Soros once accompanied the man during an inventory of an estate left behind by the wealthy Jewish aristocrat Mor Kornfeld.
In a 1998 episode of 60 Minutes, Soros said: ‘I had no role in taking away that property. So I had no sense of guilt.’
While Voight made no reference to Trump’s comments about women in his latest video, he came out to defend the business tycoon days earlier.
‘I am so ashamed of my fellow actor Bobby DeNiro’s rant against Donald Trump…’ I am so ashamed of my fellow actor Bobby DeNiro's rant against Donald Trump. What foul words he used against a presidential nominee. cont'd
— Jon Voight (@jonvoight) October 8, 2016
‘Donald Trump’s words were not as damaging as Robert DeNiro’s ugly rant. Trump’s words did not hurt anyone.’ Voight tweeted in response to the Republican candidate’s comments that he could sexually harass women without consequence. Donald Trump's words were not as damaging as Robert DeNiro's ugly rant. Trump's words did not hurt anyone. Can you imagine. cont'd
— Jon Voight (@jonvoight) October 8, 2016
‘I don’t know of too many men who haven’t expressed some sort of similar sexual terms toward women, especially in their younger years,’ Voight added.
Trump has since been accused of sexual harassment by six women in the days following the 2005 hot mic recording’s emergence.
The presidential candidate has spoken out against Voight’s daughter over the last decade, saying in 2006: ‘[Angelina Jolie has] been with so many guys she makes me look like a baby, OK, with the other side. And, I just don’t even find her attractive.’
In 2007, Trump said: ‘Angelina Jolie is sort of amazing because everyone thinks she’s like this great beauty.
‘I really understand beauty. And I will tell you, she’s not—I do own Miss Universe. I do own Miss USA. I mean, I own a lot of different things. I do understand beauty, and she’s not.’ | 0 |
Report Copyright Violation [Video] Muslims invasion: Dearborn Michigan no longer resembles America This is what Hillary will do to your neighborhood...unbelievable...please watch this video....we need Trump to fix this mess that Obama created purposely to destroy America. I would not mine so much...but these people are multiplying and not assimilating...not good! Anonymous Coward | 0 |
russia-uk relations , uk , patriarch kirill , london Drawing by Alexei Iorsh Source: Iorsh
After the Brexit referendum and the subsequent change of government in the UK, a number of experts and observers expected an improvement in Russo-British relations. Perhaps unwittingly, former British Prime Minister David Cameron inspired these unfounded expectations. Cameron’s constantly repeated allegations that Russian President Vladimir Putin supported a vote for Brexit made people expect a somewhat softer line on Russia from the new governing team in London who were, after all, supporters of Brexit and opponents of Cameron.
When Boris Johnson became the new foreign secretary, several MPs were even concerned about him not being “tough enough” with Russia and making “conciliatory” calls to his Russian counterpart, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
Johnson quickly proved these concerns wrong, issuing a call for protests near the Russian Embassy in London as a way to punish Moscow for its actions in Syria. “This is something unprecedented in the world of diplomacy,” Alexey Pushkov, former head of the Duma’s committee on international affairs, said in an interview to Vesti FM radio station. “A diplomat calling for non-diplomatic solutions, with popular anger mobilized – this is something new.” Pushkov also noted Johnson’s tough statement accusing Russia of deliberately killing Syrian civilians with “repeated bombings.”“They drop one bomb and then they wait for the aid workers to come out pulling the injured from the rubble, and then five minutes later they drop another bomb,” Boris Johnson said in an interview with the tabloid The Sun.
“Boris Johnson is showing a flamboyant attitude where it is needed least of all,” Pushkov replied.
For their part, the Russian authorities, disappointed by Johnson, are also changing their tone, trying to drive home to both foreign and domestic audiences the message that they are angry.
“Decent people first provide the evidence, and only later they come out with accusations,” said Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in response to Johnson’s interview with The Sun. Seeing the bigger picture
Both Johnson and Zakharova have provided plenty of fodder for the media, but all commentary and posturing aside, the decline in Russo-British relations is detrimental not just for the two countries at hand, but also for global security at large.
“We should not forget that the world was once brought to the brink of a nuclear disaster not because of European problems, but because of a conflict over a distant land – Cuba. When I hear British voices suggesting that NATO forces should impose a no-fly zone over northern Syria by striking at the airfields of the Syrian or Russian air forces in Syria – I get really worried,” Alexei Pushkov said. “In this situation, tough statements with a strong populist message – such as the talk about “warning strikes” in Syria – such statements are not just tasteless, they are plain dangerous.” Patriarch’s visit to London hailed as step toward reconciliation with West Media tensions were somewhat eased by the visit to the UK by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. During his visit, which took place on Oct. 15-18, the Patriarch deliberately avoided controversial issues, playing down the conflict between the Russian and British governments. “Political differences won’t be able to disrupt the relations between Russia and Britain on the basic level, on the level of people-to-people ties,” Patriarch Kirill said, speaking to journalists before his flight back to Moscow. “I am often asked about our church’s position on Ukraine. My answer is that there can be only one position: to reconcile the people, to lessen the tension, to end the bloody clashes.”
Trying to minimize the damage from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox Church still recognizes Crimea as a canonical territory of its Ukrainian “Orthodox sister church.” For two years, Patriarch Kirill avoided any political comments on the recent “regime change” in Ukraine. When the Ukrainian government barred him from visiting Kiev, the cradle of Orthodox Christianity in ancient Rus, Kirill did not protest. In this way, the Russian Orthodox Church is offering a good example of forgiveness and compromise. Several British MPs protested against what they called a “red carpet reception” for Patriarch Kirill in London because of Kirill’s loyalty to Putin, but the Patriarch did not pronounce a single word of anger or even sadness, meeting instead with Queen Elizabeth, the titular head of the Church of England, and blessing by his presence the opening of a renovated Orthodox cathedral in London.
“Since the early stages of deterioration of relations between Russia and the West, the church leaders have often been doing the diplomats’ jobs in Russia’s relations with the West,” wrote Moscow-based Nezavisimaya Gazeta, deviating from its usual line, which is very critical of Kirill.
This is perhaps not the worst of developments: at a time when diplomats are often sacrificing security and professionalism in order to boost their standing in the mass media, the church is trying to remember and celebrate the positive legacy of Russo-British relations. This is done not so much for the sake of history, as for the sake of a secure future. Sooner or later, this cursory attitude towards diplomacy will have to give way to wisdom and responsibility.
Dmitry Babich is a political analyst at Sputnik International.
The opinion of the writer may not necessarily reflect the position of RBTH or its staff. Subscribe to get the hand picked best stories every week Subscribe to our mailing list | 0 |
in: Multimedia , Science & Technology , Sleuth Journal , Special Interests You know all of those cool, sci-fi gadgets that people are beginning to get that are connected to the internet in their homes? The voice controlled thermostats, the wireless printers and cameras, the home security systems, the food scale that sends the calories to your phone app, those “smart” appliances that text you to pick up milk, and the DVRS that can be programmed via your phone from work? Apparently, those things may not be so smart after all because they played a big role in the cyber attack that took place last Friday. Security analysts believe that Friday’s attack on popular websites such as Reddit, Twitter, Netflix, and Spotify was the first one carried out by hackers who used the “ Internet of Things. ” Here’s how the Internet of Things works: Who else thinks that this is how Skynet got started? Maybe it’s just me. The attack was on one service, Dyn. The massive attack took down the internet across the country. The website Downdetector provided a map that shows how much of the US was affected: The attack was on one company, and everything else fell over like a row of dominoes. All of the companies involved use Dyn , a cloud-based Internet performance management company. Dyn was the target of the attack, and that, in turn, affected other companies. Dyn is sort of like a phone book that directs users to the internet address of the website. On Friday a distributed denial of service attack, (DDoS) affected Dyn by sending thousands of messages at the same time, which overwhelmed the service. Security company Flashpoint said it had confirmed that the attack used “botnets” infected with the “Mirai” malware. From their site: Flashpoint has confirmed that some of the infrastructure responsible for the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against Dyn DNS were botnets compromised by Mirai malware. Mirai botnets were previously used in DDoS attacks against security researcher Brian Krebs’ blog “Krebs On Security” and French internet service and hosting provider OVH. Mirai malware targets Internet of Things (IoT) devices like routers, digital video records (DVRs), and webcams/security cameras, enslaving vast numbers of these devices into a botnet, which is then used to conduct DDoS attacks. Flashpoint has confirmed that at least some of the devices used in the Dyn DNS attacks are DVRs, further matching the technical indicators and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) associated with previous known Mirai botnet attacks. While Flashpoint has confirmed that Mirai botnets were used in the October 21, 2016 attack against Dyn, they were separate and distinct botnets from those used to execute the DDoS attacks against “Krebs on Security” and OVH. Earlier this month, “Anna_Senpai,” the hacker operating the large Mirai botnet used in the Krebs DDoS, released Mira’s source code online. Since this release, copycat hackers have used the malware to create botnets of their own in order to launch DDoS attacks. It is unknown if the attacks against Dyn DNS are linked to the DDoS attacks against Krebs, OVH, or other previous attacks. Given the proliferation of the Mirai malware, the relationship between the ongoing Dyn DDoS attacks, previous attacks, and “Anna_Senpai” is unclear. Coincidentally, many of the vulnerable “smart” devices are made in China. Many of the devices involved come from Chinese manufacturers, with easy-to-guess usernames and passwords that cannot be changed by the user – a vulnerability which the malware exploits. According to the BBC : “Mirai scours the Web for IoT (Internet of Things) devices protected by little more than factory-default usernames and passwords,” explained cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs, “and then enlists the devices in attacks that hurl junk traffic at an online target until it can no longer accommodate legitimate visitors or users.” The owner of the device would generally have no way of knowing that it had been compromised to use in an attack, he wrote. Mr Krebs is intimately familiar with this type of incident, after his website was targeted by a similar assault in September, in one of the biggest web attacks ever seen…That attack began around 8 p.m. ET on Sept. 20, and initial reports put it at approximately 665 Gigabits of traffic per second. Additional analysis on the attack traffic suggests the assault was closer to 620 Gbps in size, but in any case this is many orders of magnitude more traffic than is typically needed to knock most sites offline. (source ) I’m sure those easy passwords and vulnerabilities aren’t deliberate. China would never sneak Trojan horses into the USA, would they? Article first appeared at DaisyLuther.com Submit your review | 0 |
By Nick Bernabe
Following the recent mass arrests of 141 people at the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site located near Standing Rock, North Dakota, an anonymous donor just donated $2.5 million to bail out everyone who was arrested at the protests.
The news came after Tamara Francis-Fourkiller, a tribal leader from the Caddo Nation tribe in Caddo County, Oklahoma, was arrested at Standing Rock. Francis-Fourkiller was released after spending two days in jail, but her family says she was just an innocent observer in the clashes between militarized law enforcement and Native American activists, or “water protectors.”
[ UPDATE 11/1 4:35 pm EST: A statement from Red Owl Legal Collective/National Lawyers Guild that is advising Standing Rock has issued a statement saying the $2.5 million has not been received yet. We are waiting on confirmation from the Caddo Nation tribe.]
According to local news affiliate News On 6 :
Family members of Caddo Nation chairwoman Tamara Francis-Fourkiller said an anonymous donor paid $2.5 million late Saturday afternoon to release everyone arrested on Thursday at the Dakota Access Pipeline site. They said, however, that Francis-Fourkiller should not have been arrested in the first place.
Though the donor who sent the $2.5 million remains anonymous, it appears the person is connected to the Caddo Nation tribe in some way . | 0 |
#DraftOurDaughters: Pro-War Hillary Faces Backlash Over Female Draft Hillary combines equality with war against Russia Kit Daniels - October 28, 2016 Comments
Hillary Clinton’s support for a female draft is sparking outrage as she continues to fuel war tensions with Russia.
Clinton initially backed requiring women to register for the draft back in June, but the backlash really exploded as Clinton started taunting Russia after the last presidential debate.
The Twitter hashtag #DraftOurDaughters is trending, with memes mocking Hillary’s “total war” policies which could easily ignite World War 3. | 0 |
Yes, if you consider what the obvious consequences would be. Studies by the Harvard Medical Center and John Hopkins Medical Medical Center showed conclusively that death rates among people who have no health insurance coverage are significantly higher than those who have health insurance coverage. | 0 |
What does Bob Dylan think about winning the Nobel Prize? The Swedish Academy, which bestows the award, does not know because it has not spoken to him. And Mr. Dylan, despite performing twice since being named the latest Nobel laureate in literature last week, has yet to make a public statement about the honor. Sara Danius, the permanent secretary of the academy, told Swedish public radio on Monday that the academy has been in contact with an associate of Mr. Dylan, but apparently not with the artist himself. Ms. Danius said she did not know whether he planned to attend the award ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10. “Right now we are doing nothing,” Ms. Danius said, according to a translation of her comments reported by the British newspaper The Guardian. “I have called and sent emails to his closest collaborator and received very friendly replies. For now, that is certainly enough. ” It has been four days, as of Monday, since Mr. Dylan, 75, won the Nobel, the first time the award has gone to a musician. The announcement set off a debate in literary circles over whether Mr. Dylan was an appropriate choice. On Thursday night, just hours after the announcement. Mr. Dylan and his band played at a theater in Las Vegas, and he said not a word about winning the world’s highest literary honor. The next day, he was at Desert Trip, the festival in Indio, Calif. and again made no remarks from the stage, though observers studied his performance for any clue of a reaction, however remote. Mr. Dylan’s set at that show was almost identical to that of the first weekend, with an intriguing addition: “Why Try to Change Me Now? ,” a chestnut written by Cy Coleman and Joseph McCarthy that Mr. Dylan included on his 2015 album “Shadows in the Night. ” (The Rolling Stones, who played next, openly celebrated Mr. Dylan. “We have never shared the stage with a Nobel Prize winner before,” said Mick Jagger. “Bob is like our own Walt Whitman. ”) A spokesman for Mr. Dylan declined to comment on Monday. Mr. Dylan’s reticence is well known. He gives relatively few interviews, and in concert he rarely interacts with his audience. He also maintains a close command over his business affairs, to the extent that even Columbia Records, the label that has been Mr. Dylan’s home for almost his entire career, seemed to be waiting for a cue from its famous artist, publishing little more than a perfunctory tweet about the Nobel. But it is extremely unusual for a Nobel laureate to respond with radio silence. Even Alice Munro, the Canadian writer who was not well enough to attend the ceremony when she won three years ago at age 82, sent her daughter to Stockholm to accept the prize on her behalf. In the literary world, early dissent about Mr. Dylan as a choice for the award has turned into a chorus, as some writers, including the poets Amy King and Danniel Schoonebeek, have called on Mr. Dylan to turn the honor down, as Sartre did in 1964. “Will Bob Dylan even show up to the ceremony? ,” Mr. Schoonebeek, wrote on PEN’s website after the organization asked writers and publishers to respond to the award. “Everyone already knows his records front to back, he’s already a household name all over the world, does this award do anything to effect any change whatsoever?” He added: “If he hasn’t done so already, Bob Dylan should turn down the award. ” The novelist Porochista Khakpour faulted the Swedish Academy for honoring a music icon over international authors who could draw overdue attention to an entire region. “The Nobel, which is a very international prize, is such a great opportunity to introduce us to someone who we’ve never heard of,” Ms. Khakpour said in an interview. Mr. Dylan, who may be a contrarian or may just be unpredictable, has turned up for honors. He was present at the Golden Globes in 2001 to accept the award for best original song, for “Things Have Changed” (from “Wonder Boys”) giving a speech of about 15 seconds in which he thanked his band, his record company, his family “and that’s about it. ” When he was honored by MusiCares, a charity connected to the Grammy Awards, in 2015, Mr. Dylan stunned a roomful of jaded record executives and journalists with 35 minutes of prepared comments. He went into revealing detail about his songwriting methods and how songs can resonate — a glimpse, perhaps, at how he might handle a Nobel speech, should he choose to make one. “These songs of mine,” he said, “they’re like mystery plays, the kind Shakespeare saw when he was growing up. I think you could trace what I do back that far. They were on the fringes then, and I think they’re on the fringes now. ” | 1 |
MANILA — Since Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines just over a month ago, promising to get tough on crime by having the police and the military kill drug suspects, 420 people have been killed in the campaign, according to tallies of police reports by the local news media. Most were killed in confrontations with the police, while 154 were killed by unidentified vigilantes. This has prompted 114, 833 people to turn themselves in, as either drug addicts or dealers, since Mr. Duterte took office, according to national police logs. Addressing Congress last week in his first State of the Nation address, Mr. Duterte reiterated his approach, ordering the police to “triple” their efforts against crime. “We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier and the last pusher have surrendered or been put behind bars or below the ground, if they so wish,” he said. But human rights groups, Roman Catholic activists and the families of many of those killed during the crackdown say that the vast majority were poor Filipinos, many of whom had nothing to do with the drug trade. They were not accorded an accusation and a trial, but were simply shot down in the streets, the critics say. “These are not the wealthy and powerful drug lords who actually have meaningful control over supply of drugs on the streets in the Philippines,” said Phelim Kine, a deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Asia. Critics of the president’s campaign have rallied around the case of Michael Siaron, a rickshaw driver in Manila, who was shot one night by unidentified gunmen as he pedaled his vehicle in search of a passenger. When his wife rushed to the scene, a photographer took a picture of her cradling his body in the street, and the photograph quickly gained wide attention. Scribbled in block letters on a cardboard sign left near his body was the word “pusher. ” His family members insist that he was not involved in the drug trade, though they said he sometimes used meth. Indirectly acknowledging criticism that his policies trample over the standard judicial process, Mr. Duterte said that human rights “cannot be used as a shield to destroy the country. ” He has called for drug users and sellers to turn themselves in or risk being hunted down, a threat backed up by the bodies piling up near daily on the streets of Philippine cities. The approach appears to be driving down crime: The police say that they have arrested more than 2, 700 people on charges related to using or selling illegal drugs, and that crime nationwide has fallen 13 percent since the election, to 46, 600 reported crimes in June, from 52, 950 in May. Mr. Duterte’s crackdown has been hugely popular. Filipinos, pummeled by years of violent crime and corrupt, ineffective law enforcement, handed him an overwhelming victory in the May presidential election, and have largely embraced his approach. A national opinion poll conducted after his election and just before he took office found that 84 percent of Filipinos had “much trust” in him. The model for Mr. Duterte’s policies is Davao City, where he was mayor for most of the past 20 years. Draconian laws there, including a strict curfew and a smoking ban as well as a approach to drug users and sellers, have been credited with turning the city into an oasis of safety in a region plagued by violence. The dark side of that approach was that more than 1, 000 people were killed by death squads during his administration, according to several independent investigations. Mr. Duterte has denied having direct knowledge of death squads, but he has long called for addressing crime by killing suspects, whom he calls criminals and has referred to as “a legitimate target of assassination. ” He has repeatedly said that those hooked on meth, the most popular drug here, were beyond saving or rehabilitation. He ran for president largely on the pledge of applying the same policies nationwide, promising to kill 100, 000 criminals in his first six months in office. While the number may have been typical Duterte bravado, the threat of mass killing appears to have been real. On Tuesday, the International Drug Policy Consortium, a network of nongovernmental organizations, issued a letter urging the United Nations drug control agencies “to demand an end to the atrocities currently taking place in the Philippines” and to state unequivocally that extrajudicial killings “do not constitute acceptable drug control measures. ” Ramon Casiple, a political analyst at the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, said that he shared those concerns but that it was too early to decide whether Mr. Duterte’s approach is effective. “Let’s give him his 100 days,” Mr. Casiple said. Mr. Duterte has recently raised his sights beyond users and dealers, accusing five police generals of protecting drug lords, though he presented no specific evidence. He also publicly accused a mayor, the mayor’s son and a prominent businessman of drug trafficking, threatening their lives if they did not surrender. But the people killed on the street tend to be more like Mr. Siaron, the rickshaw driver. Mr. Siaron lived with his wife in a shack above a creek. Having never finished high school, he survived on odd jobs like house painting and working in restaurants. Lately he had been pedaling a rickshaw, earning about $2 a day ferrying passengers through the warren of alleyways in a part of metropolitan Manila. On the night he died, he had stopped by his father’s fruit stand to ask for an apple. Then he told his father he would seek one more fare before heading home. As he rode off, gunmen on motorcycles sped by, pumping several bullets into him. What happened next turned him into a national symbol of the human toll of Mr. Duterte’s war. When she heard he had been shot, Mr. Siaron’s wife, Jennilyn Olayres, ran into the street, burst through police lines and collapsed next to him on the asphalt. The photographer snapped the picture: a distraught woman cradling her lifeless husband under a streetlight, a Pietà of the Manila slums. The police have not commented publicly about the case and have not accused Mr. Siaron of selling drugs. “My husband was a simple man,” Ms. Olayres said at his wake several days later. “He may have used drugs, but he was not violent and never bothered anyone. His only concern was looking for passengers so we can eat three meals a day. ” During his speech to Congress, Mr. Duterte dismissed the photo, which had appeared on the front page of The Philippine Daily Inquirer the previous day under the banner headline “Thou shall not kill. ” “There you are sprawled on the ground, and you are portrayed in a broadsheet like Mother Mary cradling the dead cadaver of Jesus Christ,” he said. “That’s just drama. ” But if the antidrug campaign has targeted people on the margins of society, Mr. Siaron is an apt symbol. “We’re small people, insignificant,” Ms. Olayres said through sobs as she stood next to her husband’s coffin. “We may be invisible to you, but we are real. Please stop the killings. ” | 1 |
October 31, 2016 Powerful earthquake hits central Italy for the third time
A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 has rocked the same area of central and southern Italy hit by quake in August and a pair of aftershocks last week, sending already quake-damaged buildings crumbling after a week of temblors that have left thousands homeless.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. Residents already rattled by a constant trembling of the earth rushed into piazzas and streets after being roused from bed by Sunday’s 7:40am quake. Many people still had been sleeping in cars or evacuated to shelters or hotels in other areas after a pair of strong jolts last Wednesday.
Television images showed nuns rushing out of their church and into the main piazza in Norcia as the clock tower appeared about to crumble. | 0 |
in: Natural Medicine , Toxins A remarkable study published in the journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology revealed something very special about garlic: it is a natural detoxifier of lead and is not only as effective as a common chelation drug known as d-penicillamine at pulling this metal out of the body but is also much safer. The study was titled, “ Comparison of therapeutic effects of garlic and d-penicillamine in patients with chronic occupational lead poisoning,” and sought to confirm previous research in animals that showed garlic (Allium sativum) is effective in reducing blood and tissue lead concentrations. [1] The study took the measurements of the blood lead concentrations of 117 workers at a car battery plant who were randomly assigned to two groups of garlic (1.2 milligrams of allicin from approximately 1,000 mg of garlic extract, three times daily) and d-penicillamine (250 mg, three times daily) and treated for 4 weeks. Clinical signs and symptoms of lead poisoning were also investigated and compared with the initial findings. The study found: Clinical improvement was significant in a number of clinical manifestations including irritability (p = 0.031), headache (p = 0.028), decreased deep tendon reflex (p=0.019) and mean systolic blood pressure (0.021) after treatment with garlic, but not d-penicillamine. BLCs [blood lead concentrations] were reduced significantly (p=0.002 and p=0.025) from 426.32±185.128 to 347.34±121.056μg/L and from 417.47±192.54 to 315.76±140.00μg/L in the garlic and d-penicillamine groups, respectively, with no significant difference (p=0.892) between the two groups . The frequency of side effects was significantly (p=0.023) higher in d-penicillamine than in the garlic group . Thus, garlic seems safer clinically and as effective as d-penicillamine. Therefore, garlic can be recommended for the treatment of mild-to-moderate lead poisoning. Clearly, despite the near equal reduction in measurable blood lead concentrations in both groups, improvements in various measured clinical manifestations were only found in the garlic group . Also, side effects were higher in the d-penicillamine group. These results clearly indicate the superiority of garlic over the drug and underscore how drug-based interventions often end up ‘normalizing’ target values, e.g. blood lead concentrations, without resulting in improvement in the quality of life or even the objective clinical signs and subjective symptoms of the treated patient; to the contrary, often the patient feels and is much worse off following drug treatment. Last year, a remarkable study published in the journal Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology revealed something very special about garlic: it is a natural detoxifier of lead and is not only as effective as a common chelation drug known as d-penicillamine at pulling this metal out of the body but is also much safer. The study was titled, “ Comparison of therapeutic effects of garlic and d-penicillamine in patients with chronic occupational lead poisoning,” and sought to confirm previous research in animals that showed garlic (Allium sativum) is effective in reducing blood and tissue lead concentrations. [1] The study took the measurements of the blood lead concentrations of 117 workers at a car battery plant who were randomly assigned to two groups of garlic (1.2 milligrams of allicin from approximately 1,000 mg of garlic extract, three times daily) and d-penicillamine (250 mg, three times daily) and treated for 4 weeks. Clinical signs and symptoms of lead poisoning were also investigated and compared with the initial findings. The study found: Clinical improvement was significant in a number of clinical manifestations including irritability (p = 0.031), headache (p = 0.028), decreased deep tendon reflex (p=0.019) and mean systolic blood pressure (0.021) after treatment with garlic, but not d-penicillamine. BLCs [blood lead concentrations] were reduced significantly (p=0.002 and p=0.025) from 426.32±185.128 to 347.34±121.056μg/L and from 417.47±192.54 to 315.76±140.00μg/L in the garlic and d-penicillamine groups, respectively, with no significant difference (p=0.892) between the two groups . The frequency of side effects was significantly (p=0.023) higher in d-penicillamine than in the garlic group . Thus, garlic seems safer clinically and as effective as d-penicillamine. Therefore, garlic can be recommended for the treatment of mild-to-moderate lead poisoning. Clearly, despite the near equal reduction in measurable blood lead concentrations in both groups, improvements in various measured clinical manifestations were only found in the garlic group . Also, side effects were higher in the d-penicillamine group. These results clearly indicate the superiority of garlic over the drug and underscore how drug-based interventions often end up ‘normalizing’ target values, e.g. blood lead concentrations, without resulting in improvement in the quality of life or even the objective clinical signs and subjective symptoms of the treated patient; to the contrary, often the patient feels and is much worse off following drug treatment. Lead exposure is ubiquitous in our modern age, and has been estimated to account for approximately 0.2% of all deaths and 0.6% of disability adjusted life years globally. [2] Exposure to this heavy metal results in harm to the cardiovascular, skeletal, gastrointestinal, kidney, reproductive and nervous systems of the human body. It has been identified to be particularly harmful to infants and children, whose developing nervous systems are far more susceptible to lead toxicity than those of adults. In fact, a 2008 PLoS study found decreased brain volume in adults who had been exposed to lead as children. [3] The standard of care involving drugs such as d-penicillamine is dismal, considering that the chemical has been linked to the following side effects: Anemia, Aplastic | 0 |
link Everyone is familiar with the saying 'Netflix and Chill,' but Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has an even better idea, 'Netflix and Chill Pill.' That's not the actual brand or product name, but more of a concept that Hastings introduced at a recent tech conference for the Wall Street Journal. When speaking about the future of Netflix, Hastings said that, while movies and TV shows may be all the rage now, he anticipates they'll eventually become obsolete and will be rivaled by pharmaceutical substitutes, "like a pill that entertains you." This according to a tweet from the Wall Street Journal. Netflix's CEO says entertainment pills could be the next big thing This article struck me as funny....so Netflix own CEO is saying the next big thing in entertainment at home is a pill? I wonder how close his ties are with BIG PHARMA? This is a really crazy thing for a CEO of a major company to be suggesting....drugs for entertainment purposes...sounds like he is trying to progress towards legalization of something to actually entertain us while we watch TV. Coming soon to a pharmacy near you...The Netflix and Chill Pill....knowing what "Netflix and Chill" actually means I think the phrase he used kinda promotes rape in the form he said it though...."here baby...take this pill before we start the movie....don't worry....it is for entertainment purposes" Anywho....just the next big thing in drugs for our mindless youth to get caught up in! | 0 |
Dozens of Groups Call on Facebook to End Censorship Posted on Oct 31, 2016
By Deirdre Fulton / Common Dreams Facebook had more than 1 billion monthly active users in the second quarter of 2016. ( Flickr / CC 2.0 )
As Facebook comes under fire for its alleged censorship and tracking of activists and protesters, a coalition of more than 70 groups and individuals has demanded the social media behemoth “clarify its policy on removing video and other content, especially human rights documentation, at the request of government actors.”
A letter —whose signatories include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 350.org, Color of Change, and the Indigenous Environmental Network—sent Monday cites recent incidents including: the deactivation of Korryn Gaines’ account, the removal of iconic photographs, reports of suppression of Indigenous resistance , continued reports of Black activists’ content being removed, and the disabling of Palestinian journalists’ accounts.
“These instances of censorship clearly point to the gaps in Facebook’s automation and content guidelines,” said Nicole Carty of the consumer watchdog SumOfUs, which coordinated the letter. “In order to mitigate these issues, Facebook must recognize these broader policy failures as human rights and free speech issues. From Black Lives Matter in the United States to journalists in Palestine, Facebook’s lack of transparency has resulted in reports of censorship on almost a weekly basis, which proves that this is not an individualized ‘glitch’ but a broader policy problem.”
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At the same time, the letter notes that with the launch of the live-streaming video function Facebook Live, the site “is taking on an increasingly central role in controlling media that circulates through the public sphere. News is not just getting shared on Facebook: it’s getting broken there.”
In turn, the letter reads,
we believe that taking urgent action to increase transparency and protect users is the first step to reaching our shared vision of the world. It is important not only for the integrity of its platform and the trust of its community of users, but also for the future of our media. Because the stories that don’t get shared are as important as the ones that do.
“Social media platforms are increasingly becoming the avenues for free speech, which makes ending censorship by companies like Facebook all the more critical,” added Chinyere’ Tutashinda, national organizer at the Center for Media Justice. “We are calling on Facebook to create policies that protect the most marginalized voices on their platforms: communities of color and low-income communities in the U.S. and across the globe.”
Specifically, the letter calls on Facebook to: Make policies about how Facebook makes decisions to censor content clear and accessible to the public: whether those requests are from third-party agencies or through its algorithm—especially with respect to live broadcasting and journalistic content. Create a public appeals platform where users can appeal content censored by Facebook. Undergo an external audit on the equity and human rights outcomes of your Facebook Live and content censorship and data sharing policies. Refuse to disclose customer content and data to third-party agencies unless required to by law.
Notably, the letter came on the same day that scores of Facebook users attempted to use the site’s “check-in” feature as a way to help shield Dakota Access Pipeline opponents by confusing law enforcement. While the fact-checking website Snopes largely debunked the strategy , it also quoted representatives from Sacred Stone Camp as saying that they “support the tactic, and think it is a great way to express solidarity.” TAGS: | 0 |
Why bother with the hassle of checked luggage when it’s possible to travel to any destination with only a ? At least that’s what Anne McAlpin, a packing expert and the author of the book “Pack It Up: Travel Smart, Pack Light,” thinks. Ms. McAlpin never checks luggage — her recent jaunt through Asia and the Middle East included — and says that traveling is much more convenient as a result. “Taking just a is liberating because you’re not bogged down by heavy bags,” she said. “It also saves you money since you don’t pay to check luggage and can rely more on affordable public transportation instead of pricey taxis because a small bag is easier to transport around on your own. ” Below, she shares her tips. Go for a soft bag Stick to a soft bag versus one with a hard case, said Ms. McAlpin, because it has a bit of give. “If you’re trying to get your bag into an overhead plane compartment, a soft one will bend a little to fit, but a hard one won’t so you may be forced to check it in,” she said. Pare down the toiletries Ms. McAlpin advises minimizing toiletries. “Take all your favorite products, but you don’t need large quantities of them for a week away,” she said. A clear plastic bag can hold the bulk of your liquids, such as shampoo, conditioner and body lotion, and for liquids that you need a small amount of, like face cream, she suggests using a contact lens container, available at any drugstore. She also relies on the growing number of nonliquid toiletries that are now readily sold online (drugstore. com has a wide range) and at your local drugstore. The magic number for shoes Wear a pair of stylish and comfortable walking shoes on your flight, and pack two more. Men should take a dressier loafer to wear in the evenings, while women need a pair of strappy sandals or low heels that can go from day to night. Both sexes can also take along sneakers, preferably a fashionable pair that can be used both as day shoes and to work out in, and a pair of — because they take up minimal space, Ms. McAlpin said. Choose a color theme Ms. McAlpin recommends going for a dark shade such as black or navy, because it looks more chic than a lighter hue, and packing no more than nine tops and three bottoms around this tone. “The number of looks you can put together with these pieces is endless,” she said. A pair of fitted jeans looks sharp. Women should also pack a pair of capris or pants, a skirt or dress that can be dressed up or down, a mix of and tops and a tank top. Men should take a pair of slacks, a tailored shirt, a zip sweater, a few polo shirts, a shirt with a fun pattern (like a colorful plaid) and a sports coat (wear this on the plane). Bathing suits take up little room, so feel free to pack two. | 1 |
VIDEO : Hillary Worshipper Rachel Maddow IN TEARS Over Reopened FBI Investigation VIDEO : Hillary Worshipper Rachel Maddow IN TEARS Over Reopened FBI Investigation LOL By TruthFeedNews October 29, 2016
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow broke down into tears live on the air while reporting on the FBI reopening their investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails after finding new evidence on Anthony Weiner’s laptop.
Media analyst Mark Dice has the story.
Watch the video:
Support the Trump Movement and help us fight Liberal Media Bias. Please LIKE and SHARE this story on Facebook or Twitter. | 0 |
There's no question Mr. Trump's Campaign has energized many new voters, but, the problem is . . . the BRAIN-DEAD-RNC (probably) are still too arrogant and ignorant to capitalize on the "greatest opportunity" since President Reagan. . | 0 |
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It looks like the vaunted air space coordination between the U.S. and Russia in Syria isn’t producing a safe flying environment.
U.S. officials said Friday that a Russian fighter “flew dangerously close” to a U.S. warplane in eastern Syria on 17 October – something that can’t possibly be unavoidable, in light of the prior agreement by Russia and the U.S., in 2015, to deconflict air operations there.
The AFP report provides this description:
The near miss occurred late on October 17, when a Russian jet that was escorting a larger spy plane manoeuvred in the vicinity of an American warplane, Air Force Lieutenant General Jeff Harrigan said.
The Russian jet came to “inside of half a mile”, he added.
Another US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the American pilot could feel the turbulence produced by the Russian jet’s engines.
“It was close enough you could feel the jet wash of the plane passing by,” the official said.
It appeared the Russian pilot had simply not seen the US jet, as it was dark and the planes were flying without lights.
“I would attribute it to not having the necessary situational awareness given all those platforms operating together,” Harrigan said.
One is tempted to go heavy on the sarcasm, in response to that.
But OK. AFP offers a bit of analysis:
The incident raises serious questions about the extent to which pilots are able to track the complex airspace they operate in.
Well, sort of. Basically, there are two separate networks exercising command and control over the same air space – and that’s your problem, right there. Add to it the likelihood that the Russians are not squawking IFF in a way that U.S. systems can interpret, and you have the potential for a nice fecal focaccia.
Looking at the air command/control assets that seem to be available for operations, there shouldn’t have to be a safety or awareness issue, at least not during planned air strike and air support operations. When they have aircraft operating, both coalitions, Russian and U.S., have the technical means to maintain good, fine-grain air pictures in the area in question. (The general area the encounter occurred in can be inferred from where the U.S. coalition conducted air strikes on 17 October . See map.) Locations of coalition air strikes in Syria on 17 Oct 2016. The locations at Ayn Isa, Abu Kamal, Al Shaddadi and possibly Palmyra could qualify as “eastern” Syria, the region reported for the close air encounter. If the Russian fighter was escorting the Tu-214R, the night Russian commanders expected to see ISIS fighters making their way into Syria, the easternmost area where Al-Shaddadi and Abu Kamal — or Al-Bukamal — are located would be the most likely. (Google map; author annotation)
The Russians have their S-300 and S-400 radars and command vehicles, along with the radars and command center of the Syrian national system. Russia has also operated the A-50 Mainstay AWACS over Syria since December 2015, although there’s no way to know if it was operating on 17 October. The A-50 isn’t forward-based in Syria, but rather operates out of Mozdok in southern Russia. (It may well have been operating that night, given the other things going on.)
The U.S. coalition has E-2C Hawkeyes from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) airwing, which come up from the Persian Gulf to support operations in both northern Iraq and eastern Syria. VAW-123 Screwtops tighten up an E-2C Hawkeye to support #OperationInherentResolve . #ForwardDeployed (Photo by SN Dartez C. Williams) pic.twitter.com/LX7pHI1Bs7
— U.S. 5th Fleet (@US5thFleet) October 18, 2016
The U.S. coalition can also interoperate right now with E-2Cs from FS Charles de Gaulle , which has been in the Eastern Mediterranean , and flying its airwing over Syria, since September. It’s not clear where Charles de Gaulle ’s E-2Cs are flying, but they are capable of providing interlocking air space coverage with Ike ’s E-2Cs, when both are airborne. French carrier FS Charles de Gaulle. (File image via Le Parisien)
Working with de Gaulle on 17 October were also two destroyers, USS Ross (DDG-71) and FS Chevalier Paul , one or both of which would have been able to track Russian aircraft to some distance inland over Syria. (Their more-constant but less extensive air picture(s) would complement and enhance that of the airborne Hawkeyes.)
These operational-level assets keeping up an area air picture supplement the on-scene information an individual aircraft has from its own radar system, as well as enabling the air defense command/control platform to keep each aircraft under combat direction.
At the time of the encounter, U.S. and French systems had the ability to know where Russian aircraft were, even if the Russians had to be identified by default, rather than by positive confirmation from Identification Friend or Foe (IFF). (The Russians, recall, up in the Baltic, have been going out of their way to not “squawk” IFF in good faith where NATO systems can detect it. They presumably reserve the right to behave the same way over Syria. From what U.S. officials have sometimes been careful not to say, it sounds to me like that’s what they’re doing. That said, there aren’t so darn many unidentified aircraft zorching around over Syria at 500 knots that it would have to take very long to know you’ve got either a Russian or a Syrian jet fighter.)
Russian systems also had the ability to know where U.S. coalition aircraft were on 17 October. It’s not credible to claim that they had no awareness. And they probably had the IFF codes of those aircraft, and knew whose they were, since the coalition is presumably squawking as per normal.
The “incredibility” of the claim that the Russian aircraft “couldn’t see” the U.S. warplane is compounded by the fact that the Russian fighter was said to be escorting a “large spy plane.” This was probably the Tu-214R , Russia’s newest, uniquely capable airborne ISR platform, with a sensor suite somewhat similar to the U.S. E-8 JSTARS. If the Russian fighter escort really didn’t know that a U.S. fighter was within weapons range of the “spy plane,” the fighter pilot’s head should have been delivered on a platter 15 minutes after he got back on the ground. (The search sector of his radar isn’t an issue. He’s getting paid to make it comprehensive, maneuvering as necessary, while he’s up their escorting a high-value asset. The fighter plane was probably an Su-30SM using a Bars N011M series radar system, incidentally.)
So it would take a lot of convincing for me to believe that the close encounter the night of 17 October occurred because of any inadequacy in system capability. The dangerously inadequate coordination arrangements the U.S. is tolerating are the real issue, I suspect.
A couple of points about those arrangements. One, let’s review the assessment from earlier again:
Basically, there are two separate networks exercising command and control over the same air space – and that’s your problem, right there. Add to it the likelihood that the Russians are not squawking IFF in a way that U.S. systems can interpret, and you have the potential for a nice fecal focaccia.
This is the situation when two hostile forces are operating in the same air space. Another word for that is “combat.” There’s no political will for combat between the two forces in question, of course. But the mechanical arrangements of military operations in the battle space don’t reflect that. It’s an incredibly stupid situation.
Two, the close encounter occurred at an interesting time; i.e., the second night of the ground assault on Mosul , which started on Sunday, 16 October. The U.S. had been striking targets around Mosul for about three days at that point, and had started pounding ISIS positions on the outskirts of Mosul with artillery late Saturday or early Sunday, according to local sources. Russia, at the time, was playing up a non-credible report that the U.S. planned to let thousands of ISIS fighters leave Mosul and move into Syria – implicitly to fight Syrian regime forces and thwart the intentions of the Russian coalition. (Trying to track such a stream of guerrilla evacuees, if the Russians really believed their own hype, would have been an ideal mission for the Tu-214R “spy plane.”)
One more significant thing was happening at exactly the same time. A NATO AWACS contingent was deploying to Turkey to support the U.S. coalition in Syria and Iraq. Russia opposes that move. Although the NATO AWACS hadn’t flown a mission yet, its first mission was three days later, on 20 October. The Russians knew it was there, in Turkey, setting up for operations.
In other theaters, Russia has been signaling dissatisfaction through dangerous, unsafe military encounters for many months now. We can conclude with strong confidence that that’s what has happened in Syria. We can expect it to happen again. | 0 |
Dienstag, 1. November 2016 Halloween-Horror: Schwer verletzter Junge (9) erhält überall nur Süßigkeiten statt Hilfe Saarbrücken (Archiv) - Pech für den kleinen Timmy (9)! Erst stürzte der Junge am Montagabend aus dem Fenster seines Kinderzimmers im ersten Stock und zog sich eine stark blutende Platzwunde zu. Doch dann kam es noch schlimmer: Als der Neunjährige blutüberströmt und desorientiert an verschiedenen Haustüren klingelte, um Hilfe zu erflehen, erhielt er stattdessen überall nur ein mildes Lächeln und jede Menge Süßigkeiten. Alles hatte wohl damit begonnen, dass der kleine Timmy abends in seinem Zimmer am Fenster saß und anderen Kindern bei ihrem bunten Halloween-Treiben zusah. "Wir halten nichts von diesem amerikanischen Quatsch", erklärten die Eltern des Jungen auf Anfrage. "Deswegen hatte er Zimmerarrest, damit er nicht auf dumme Gedanken kommt." Doch der Neunjährige war wohl zu neugierig. Er lehnte sich zu weit aus dem Fenster und stürzte drei Meter in die Tiefe. Dabei verdrehte er sich die Schulter und zog sich eine stark blutende Platzwunde an der Stirn zu. Fast genausogut wie Erste Hilfe: Süßkram Da niemand den Sturz mitangesehen hatte, musste der kleine Timmy sich selbst wieder aufraffen. Völlig desorientiert begann er die Suche nach einem Erwachsenen, traf aber nur auf verkleidete Kinder, die johlend davonrannten, sobald sie ihn sahen. Der Neunjährige begann an Haustüren zu klingeln und verzweifelt stöhnend um Hilfe zu betteln – vergeblich: "Ja, der Kleine hat gestern bei mir geklingelt", bestätigt ein Anwohner. "War ganz bleich geschminkt und blutüberströmt. Außerdem baumelte sein Arm so komisch herum. Tolles Kostüm, aber ein wenig übertrieben für meinen Geschmack. Ich habe ihm trotzdem ein paar Hanutas und so saure Zungen gegeben." Später rekonstruierte die Polizei, dass der kleine Timmy an etwa 50 verschiedenen Türen geklingelt haben muss und dabei über zehn Kilogramm Süßigkeiten geschenkt bekam. Außerdem erhielt er fünf ausführliche Vorträge darüber, dass eigentlich Reformationstag sei und wurde dreimal mit dem Gartenschlauch vertrieben. Ein älterer Herr hetzte sogar seinen Dackel auf den verletzten Jungen. Der kleine Timmy wurde heute in den frühen Morgenstunden bedeckt von einem Berg aus Bonbons, Lutschern und Schokolade in einem Vorgarten entdeckt und in ein Krankenhaus eingeliefert. Er befindet sich mittlerweile in stabilem Zustand. Allerdings konfiszierte die Polizei sämtliche Süßigkeiten, da diese laut einem Sprecher "unter Vorspiegelung falscher Tatsachen ergaunert" wurden. ssi; Foto oben: istockphoto, Foto rechts: © Jenifoto - Fotolia.com; Hinweis: Erstmals erschienen am 1.11.12 Artikel teilen: | 0 |
How Neocons Got ISIS Wrong, Too November 2, 2016
As Islamic State loses ground in Iraq and Syria, earlier demands from Official Washington’s neocons for a major reintroduction of U.S. troops appear to be just the latest misjudgment of these war hawks, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains.
By Paul R. Pillar
The so-called Islamic State or ISIS is on the decline, and its “caliphate” on the ground in Iraq and Syria is shrinking to extinction. In Syria, the group has lost about a quarter of the territory it used to control, including its access to the Turkish border, and recapture of its de facto capital in Raqqa is coming into sight. In Iraq, ISIS has lost half the territory it once had, and a coalition of forces is knocking on the door of the group’s biggest prize, the city of Mosul.
We should reflect on the arguments we were hearing not very long ago that more force than the Obama administration was using would be needed to defeat the ISIS menace. ISIS was the main focus of the “do more in Syria” cries before the cries shifted more to the Syrian regime and its warfighting methods Journalist James Foley shortly before he was executed by an Islamic State operative.
Typical was an op-ed by James Jeffrey of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, written not quite one year ago, that called for sending U.S. ground troops into the fight against ISIS and declared, “It’s obvious that defeat of the Islamic State is not going to happen absent a first-class, mobile ground force being launched to mate with overwhelming air power.”
Well, ISIS is being defeated without such a U.S. ground force. In fact, the defeating is perhaps going too fast, in that the main question is not whether such defeat is happening but rather how unstable will be the situation left in the wake of an extinguished ISIS mini-state.
The smash-and-run approach that was being advocated by many of those who argued that the Obama administration was not applying enough military force to the problem (Jeffrey advertised his proposal as a “short, crisp” operation that would not be anything like a prolonged counterinsurgency) would be even less likely to yield a favorable answer to that question.
This is one of those occasions in which it is easy to forget the errors of policy recommendations that were never adopted, because without being put into effect the errors in analysis fortunately never get reflected in actual costs and fiascos. But the analysis can be just as bad as with ill-founded policy recommendations that are put into effect. We ought to take note of that, and to apply the relevant lessons in evaluating similar policy debates now and in the future.
On one hand, U.S. military escalation already is proving to be unnecessary to squeeze the ISIS mini-state out of existence. But on the other hand, even an escalated U.S. military effort would be insufficient to make ISIS-fomented armed resistance in Syria and Iraq go away, mini-state or no mini-state.
As Seth Jones explains in an analysis based on experience with prior resistance groups, an ISIS-led insurgency is likely to ensue. So much for short and crisp with any escalated U.S. military intervention. If “mission accomplished” is declared after Mosul and Raqqa fall, whoever is involved in the fight will be facing what U.S. troops faced earlier in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Unlike what smash-and-run proponents might suggest, going after ISIS is not a game of capture-the-flag or checkmating a king.
Resisting Future Alarms
Another reality that will be faced after the mini-state is extinguished concerns international terrorism. Anti-Western terrorism associated with ISIS was another of the alarm buttons, along with ISIS’s rapid territorial gains in 2014, that was connected to the cries to do more with military force and to do it fast. Islamic terrorists prepare to execute a wounded policeman after their attack on the offices of French magazine Charlie Hebdo on Jan. 7, 2015.
Jeffrey’s piece was again typical in beginning by stating that the “horrific Paris attacks” and the bombing of a Russian airliner over Egypt “demand an answer to this question: When will the United States realize that it urgently needs to use real military force to defeat the Islamic State threat?”
We should note first that despite such supposed urgency, in the ensuing year the West has not been assaulted with any paralyzing wave of ISIS-fomented terrorism, even though ISIS and its caliphate have not yet been extinguished.
Even after the caliphate is extinguished, however, there still will be terrorism in the West conducted in the name of ISIS, even if not paralyzing. For ISIS to look more and more like a loser rather than a winner will make it less of a lodestar for radicals in the West, but the terrorism that any such radicals conduct has never depended on control of a piece of real estate in the Middle East.
After Mosul and Raqqa have fallen and Western leaders can declare, with some good reason, that the ISIS caliphate is no more, some bombings and shooting sprees will still occur in the West and will be labeled, at least on the basis of a perpetrator’s claim, as “ISIS attacks.” How will Americans and American politicians react to that?
Based on experience, much of the reaction will consist of an urge to use military force, amid continuing insurgency in Iraq and Syria, to find and destroy a command center that is thought to organize and order such terrorism. But although some individual extremist leaders will be killed, no such center will be found.
It will assume a place in U.S. military history comparable to the “Bamboo Pentagon” that was assumed to exist somewhere in Cambodia and to control all of the Communist insurgency in South Vietnam. Military operations aimed at the chimerical terrorist command center identified with ISIS will have the counterproductive effect of stimulating more of the very kind of anti-Western terrorism that the operations were intended to prevent.
If we are fortunate, maybe instead a more accurate lesson will be drawn from the disjunction between a destroyed ISIS caliphate and continued international terrorism in ISIS’s name. The lesson would be that groups such as ISIS are less prime movers of terrorism and more a name and a cause to which radicals attach themselves to believe that they are acting on behalf of something larger than themselves and their own demons and grievances.
A corollary is that the likelihood of Americans becoming victims of this brand of terrorism has less to do with battle lines on a Middle Eastern map than with whether our own actions generate and sustain such grievances.
Paul R. Pillar, in his 28 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, rose to be one of the agency’s top analysts. He is author most recently of Why America Misunderstands the World . (This article first appeared as a blog post at The National Interest’s Web site. Reprinted with author’s permission.) | 0 |
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good morning. Just a reminder, we’re off tomorrow for Thanksgiving and back on Friday. Here’s what you need to know today: • Team Trump’s possible new members. Donald J. Trump named Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina to be ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Trump is also moving closer to filling more domestic cabinet positions. His Republican primary rival Ben Carson is being considered for housing secretary. Two Democrats, Harold Ford Jr. who represented Tennessee in the House, and Michelle A. Rhee, the former chancellor for Washington, D. C. public schools, have surfaced as contenders to run the transportation and education departments. • Trump at The Times. The retreated from vows to pull out of the Paris climate accord and to investigate Hillary Clinton during his interview with Times reporters and editors. Mr. Trump also said that he didn’t “want to energize” white supremacists and that he had no legal obligation to step away from his business empire. Here are more highlights and the full transcript. • West Wing vs. left wing. Resistance is building against Representative Keith Ellison’s bid to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee. His supporters, who include Senators Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, view Mr. Ellison as a fresh face for the party. But President Obama’s advisers, uneasy with the progressive Minnesota lawmaker, are looking for an alternative, according to some party officials. Some in the president’s inner circle hoped that Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. would want the job, but his office said he’s “not interested. ” • Global warming news. Exxon Mobil, under fire over its past efforts to undercut climate science, is accusing the Rockefeller family of masterminding a conspiracy against it. The descendants of John D. Rockefeller, who founded the company that became Exxon Mobil, have long backed environmental causes. Separately, the ecology of the Arctic is being altered on a vast scale because warmer air and less ice has caused algae that form the base of the oceanic food chain to wildly proliferate, according to new research. The changes are likely to have a profound impact on birds, seals, polar bears and whales. • Autocrat’s cuddly makeover. Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the warlord leader of Chechnya, is appearing on a Russian reality TV show that echoes “The Apprentice” in an effort to change his brutal reputation. In one episode, Mr. Kadyrov described his motivation: “People believe my image that was created by the liberals, that I am frightening, that I will kill whoever says anything about me, that I will put them in a dungeon and stab them. ” • A regulation expanding by millions the number of eligible workers for overtime pay was hit with an injunction by a federal judge in Texas. He ruled that the Obama administration had exceeded its authority in raising the salary limit below which workers automatically qualified for overtime pay to $47, 476 from $23, 660. • Facebook has devised software to suppress posts in an effort to gain access to China, where it is blocked. The company does not intend to block the posts itself, but it would offer the software to enable a third party to decide whether posts should show up in users’ feeds. • Americans are expected to spend more than $880 billion during the holiday shopping season this year. But if you’re planning to shop on Black Friday this week, beware, most deals are duds, our technology writer warns. • U. S. stocks were up on Tuesday. Here’s a snapshot of global markets. • A twist on Thanksgiving. Our latest 360 video looks at a San Francisco restaurant that hosts a holiday meal for its employees and serves Burmese delicacies. • Sound is no barrier. Lee of South Korea is an professional tennis player ranked 143rd in the world. Lee is also deaf, and no deaf player in the sport’s history has reached these heights. Top players say that hearing the ball is crucial for quick reactions, but Lee is less certain. “It doesn’t really matter,” he said of his impairment. He is concerned, however, about a different physical limitation: Lee is 5 feet 9, and most players ranked in the top 50 are over 6 feet. • Mindful traveling. Flying during the holidays is often stressful. Here are some meditation tips for coping with long security lines and anxiety on the plane. • Recipe of the day. For a simple dinner, roast a fish and pair it with an aioli. Finally, we’ve been talking a lot about Thanksgiving dinner, but what do you serve before the meal? Here are some recipes for appetizers on the big day. A handwritten poem scrawled by Anne Frank in a friend’s notebook was up for sale in the Netherlands today. The item was sold to an anonymous buyer for 140, 000 euros, or about $148, 500, according to Bubb Kuyper Auctions. (The poem was expected to fetch up to €50, 000.) Anne penned the short poem in a notebook belonging to her friend Jacqueline van Maarsen’s older sister, Christiane. The work is dated March 1942, just a few months before Anne, her older sister, her parents and another family went into hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam. Only her father survived the Holocaust. Only a few of her writings aside from the diary she kept while in hiding have emerged. This spring, a Massachusetts museum bought a copy of Grimm’s fairy tales in which Anne had inscribed her and her sister’s names. In 1989, another short piece of verse written in a friend’s notebook went on sale at Christie’s. The poem’s opening features traditional lines of encouragement and can be traced to a 1930s Dutch periodical. The closing verses, which the auction house has not traced, may be Anne’s own. “If others have reproached what you have done wrong,” the poem ends, “Then be sure to amend your is the best answer one can make. ” Christopher D. Shea contributed reporting. _____ Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help. Your Morning Briefing is published weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern and updated on the web all morning. What would you like to see here? Contact us at briefing@nytimes. com. You can sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox. | 1 |
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has closed its Taba border crossing to Egypt following a warning by its office of an “imminent” militant attack there. [Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said in a statement Monday there was intel regarding a potential “terror attack” against tourists in the Sinai peninsula. The crossing is open for those wanting to return from Egypt. A pair of church bombings during Palm Sunday ceremonies killed more than 40 people Sunday shortly after those attacks, Israeli urged its citizens in Sinai to return home. Sinai has traditionally been a popular destination for Israelis — especially during the upcoming Passover holiday. But Israel has urged its citizens to avoid the area in recent years because of Islamic militant activity. | 1 |
In his latest New York Times columnist Timothy Egan explores the similarities between President Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon and King Henry VIII’s chief minister Thomas Cromwell, whom Bannon jokingly compared himself to when he told an interviewer last year, “I am Thomas Cromwell in the court of the Tudors. ”[Egan writes that Bannon, like Cromwell, is a “brilliant and cunning” strategist who is “busy trying to destroy the existing order. ” But Egan ominously warns Bannon to remember the fate of his “historical doppelgänger. ” Cromwell was eventually executed for treason by the mercurial king he served. From Egan’s New York Times column: Bannon is a voracious reader — of philosophy, theory and the hinge moments in history. Cromwell, who altered the course of the Western world in ways still being felt today, was Steve Bannon in feathered Tudor finery. … Readers of Hilary Mantel’s revisionist novels, and viewers of the BBC series based on her work, know Thomas Cromwell as a brooding, brilliant master of the court of King Henry VIII, from 1532 to 1540. The real Cromwell was a cunning conspirator who tore up the old order in service of a king who forced a breakaway religion on his subjects. Or was he serving his own needs, an overarching plan? That’s the question we should ask about Bannon. Like Cromwell, the in the West Wing is brilliant and cunning, and full of contradictions. He appears to be a baby boomer, a member of the Harvard Business Sachs elite, a Hollywood director and a journalist. From his films on Sarah Palin to his time running Breitbart, he learned how to be a very good propagandist. It’s a role that has served him well in the White House. … As chief strategist, he recently vowed a daily fight for “deconstruction of the administrative state. ” This is a Cromwellian task aimed at overturning not just the traditional work of the federal government, but also the existing international order of treaties, trade pacts and alliances that has kept the world relatively safe since World War II. Trump’s cabinet is stocked with people whose goal is to neuter the agencies they head. Read the rest here. | 1 |
39 Views November 09, 2016 GOLD , KWN King World News
In the aftermath of what is being called the “greatest upset in political history,” Donald Trump has been elected the next president of the United States and this has markets in shock across the globe. What Trump Promised In His Speech Is Extremely Important In Trump’s speech he discussed “rebuilding America’s infrastructure” and making it “second to none.” The reason this is so important is because Trump has essentially confirmed the recent proposal for the Fed to print trillions of dollars, which will then be given to the U.S. Treasury to spend on rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure. This will not only juice the American economy and create a great many jobs, but it will also be extremely bullish for the gold market over the long-term… A GREAT OPPORTUNITY: To find out which company is set to become one of the highest grade producing gold mines on the planet and is one of the greatest precious metals investment opportunities in the world CLICK HERE OR BELOW: Sponsored At one point the price of gold surged over $60 as it became clear that Donal Trump would be the next president of the United States. Although it has now pulled back and the dollar has bounced a bit, this has clearly not been a good result for the gold bears, who were heavily short the metal before the election results were announced. Silver also surged nearly 70 cents, breaking above $19 before pulling back. With regards to the trillions of dollars that will be injected into the U.S. economy, former Soros associate Victor Sperandeo, who oversees more than $3 billion, told KWN: “Eric, this is pure printing of money, but the theory is that because people don’t directly get that money, it won’t create hyperinflation. But when this begins, this will be the beginning of when serious inflation will come back. If this does happen you will get a huge amount of government spending that is going to juice the economy. But it will be the prelude to hyperinflation. So that is going to be the coming world event that will be the beginning of the end for the U.S. dollar.” Sperandeo then issued this bone-chilling warning: And as the hyperinflation unfolds, it will send the world into total chaos and people need to be prepared for that.” One thing is clear, a Donald Trump America will look very different than what the U.S. has looked like for the past 8 years. The question is, how much of a difference can a president make with the United States’ fiscal state in such a desperate situation? Regardless, like Brexit, this was definitely not what the elite had planned and it really was the greatest upsets in political history.
***KWN has now released the extraordinary audio interview with Egon von Greyerz, where he gives KWN listeners a look what is really happening behind the scenes globally and in the gold market, and you can listen to it by CLICKING HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW.
***ALSO RELEASED: Multi-Billionaire Hugo Salinas Price – I Have Serious Doubts About The Survival Of Our Civilization CLICK HERE.
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Tweet Widget by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
President Donald Trump? How did such a thing happen? A competent and purposeful Clinton campaign should have beaten Donald Trump. How did Hillary Clinton and one-percenter Democrats snatch defeat from the jaws of certain victory? America Might Not Deserve Trump, But Dems and Hillary Deserved To Lose by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
It’s over. The crotch-grabbing racist con man beat the lying corporate warmonger. Donald Trump is president-elect of the US.
It didn’t have to happen that way. Trump’s winning 58 million votes were a hair fewer than Clinton’s popular vote, a million or two less than Republican losers McCain in 2008 and Romney in 2012, six and ten million behind Obama’s 2012 and 2008 numbers. The buffoonish Trump was elected with such a low turnout because Hillary Clinton’s campaign was even less competent and credible. To borrow the condescending language Barack Obama deploys before black audiences, Hillary’s campaign never gave Cousin Pookie much reason to get up off the couch and vote.
Republican and Democratic parties are alike owned by their one-percenter investor/contributors. Democratic party shot callers decided they’d risk losing with Hillary Clinton rather than winning with Bernie Sanders. So Democratic party leadership, their media allies and the entire black political class got behind Hillary Clinton and helped collude and conspire to eliminate VT Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democrat with the best chance against any Republican opponent.
Once Bernie Sanders was eliminated Hillary waged a lazy and ineffective campaign, playing a hand with just three cards.
The first was the broken record of how unthinkable and unprecedented a disaster a Trump presidency would be… a clownish sexual predator who pronounced climate change a hoax and would criminalize abortion, open concentration camps, repeal Obamacare, legalize stop and frisk, build a wall, appoint neanderthals to the Supreme Court, deport six or ten million immigrants instead of Obama’s paltry two million and who might be in hock to the Russians. Except for the thing about the Russians, it’s roughly the same picture Democrats have drawn of every Republican presidential candidate since Nixon. A story told that many times just gets old. Party leaders counted on it anyway, and it wasn’t enough. That was incompetence.
A second and relatively weak card Democrats played was conjuring up an Imaginary Hillary Clinton, a defender of womens’ and human rights who held hands with the moms of killer cop victims, and occasionally mumbled about black lives mattering and the need to reform the criminal justice system. But Hillary’s decades-long record as a tool of banksters, billionaires and one-percenters was so well established in the public mind that Imaginary Hillary was a difficult sell, not credible.
The one-percenter Democrats’ third card, on which they staked a lot was the early and unconditional endorsement of Hillary Clinton by and Michelle. This had proven effective in Chicago in 2011 and 2015 where Obama’s blessings in 2011 and 2015 were key to fastening Rahm Emanuel on the city’s jugular vein after a half century of Daley rule. The entire black political class got behind Hillary too, from civil rights icons who ruminated on how they hadn’t seen Bernie Sanders back in the day to some other wise heads who assured us a vote for the Green Party’s Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka was an act of “ narcissism ” or maybe white privilege . But at the end of ’s time in office, the Obama endorsement didn’t carry the clout it used to.
Thanks to two generations of lazy Democrats who refused to try to consolidate the victory of the 1965 Voting Rights Act the Supreme Court in 2013 nullified its key provisions, enabling a constellation of laws and practices aimed at limiting access to the ballot on the part of students, minorities, the elderly and constituencies likely to vote Democratic. In the 2016 election cycle these practices stripped another few million Democratic voters from the rolls.
All in all, Democrats were the authors of their own defeat this presidential election. Hillary couldn’t campaign against the one percent because her party is a party of the one percent. Hillary Democrats including Bernie himself after the convention could no longer acknowledge joblessness, low wages, lack of housing, permanent war or the high cost of medical care or they’d be campaigning against themselves.
Donald Trump didn’t win because of some mysterious upsurge of racism and nativism. He won because Hillary Clinton’s campaign was even less inspiring and less competent than his own, and worked hard to snatch its own defeat from the jaws of victory. America might not deserve President Donald Trump. But Hillary Clinton didn’t deserve to win, Bruce Dixon is managing editor at Black Agenda Report and co-chair of the GA Green Party. He lives and works near Marietta GA and can be reached | 0 |
Death stalks Don DeLillo’s characters — be it in the form of terrorism, the atomic bomb, assassination, suicide, war, earthquakes, murderous cults or “an airborne toxic event” passing over the landscape “like some death ship in a Norse legend. ” To try to stave off their fear of death, his people compulsively reach for belief systems, drugs, hobbies, organizing principles (from football to mathematical equations to stories) housekeeping rituals — anything that might hold the inevitable fact of mortality at bay. “All plots tend to move deathward,” the narrator of “White Noise” says. “This is the nature of plots. Political plots, terrorist plots, lovers’ plots, narrative plots, plots that are part of children’s games. We edge nearer death every time we plot. It is like a contract that all must sign, the plotters as well as those who are the targets of the plot. ” Mr. DeLillo’s haunting new novel, “Zero K” — his most persuasive since his astonishing 1997 masterpiece, “Underworld” — is a kind of bookend to “White Noise” (1985): somber and coolly futuristic, where that earlier book was satirical and darkly comic. In “Zero K,” two central characters seek to conquer death not by outrunning it but by submitting to it: They plan to be “chemically induced to expire” and frozen at a supersecret cryonics compound so that one day they might be resurrected — through a science involving cellular regeneration and nanotechnology. One day, humans (at least rich ones) will have the option of being reborn as new and improved beings implanted with memories of their choice — music, family photographs, philosophical writings, “Russian novels, the films of Bergman, Kubrick, Kurosawa, Tarkovsky. ” “Zero K” gets off to a stilted start — with unfortunate echoes of Mr. DeLillo’s recent novels “Point Omega” (2010) “Falling Man” (2007) and “Cosmopolis” (2003) which exchanged his jazzy, tactile feel for contemporary life for strangely stylized, almost abstract musings on identity and fate. A third or so of the way in, however, this new novel kicks into gear as Mr. DeLillo begins to actively use his radar for the incongruities and chimeras of modern life. His story gradually opens outward to examine the ways science and religion have come to clash and converge in a world fearful of terrorism and war and eager to look to technology for solutions, even salvation. At the same time, “Zero K” opens inward to draw a portrait of the narrator Jeffrey’s emotionally fraught relationship with his chilly and controlling father — reminiscent of Nick Shay’s filial relationship in “Underworld,” one of the few DeLillo novels to delve beneath the brittle surface of its characters’ lives. At the beginning of “Zero K” Jeffrey is whisked off to a remote compound somewhere vaguely near Kazakhstan, where his billionaire father, Ross, has funded the Convergence project, which freezes and preserves the dead in anticipation of the day when both mind and body can be restored. A special unit called Zero K is for patients who make a conscious decision to “transition to the next level” before their natural deaths. Ross’s beloved wife, Artis, who has several disabling illnesses, has opted for this form of assisted suicide, and Ross, who is perfectly healthy, announces that he intends to accompany Artis on her journey into the afterlife. Jeffrey is understandably perturbed, wondering if his father has been brainwashed into some kind of dangerous cult, or whether his decision is a perverse manifestation, as an immensely wealthy man, of wanting to exert control over his life — in this case, by choosing to end it. He realizes that his reaction is complicated by his ambivalent feelings toward his father, who, decades ago, abandoned him and his mother. And that his own alienation (that state of mind shared by so many DeLillo protagonists) has roots in this Oedipal conflict. Mr. DeLillo’s depiction of the Convergence compound will trigger all sorts of associations for the reader. There are labyrinthine hallways with inaccessible rooms behind mysterious doors, reminiscent of those portals that Lewis Carroll’s Alice had difficulty entering in Wonderland. There are also odd, Kafkaesque exchanges with Convergence escorts who speak a New Agey bureaucratese that masks their sinister work and glimpses of Artis and other patients being groomed for the next stage of their journeys, when their bodies will be placed in superinsulated pods (their brains and other vital organs having already been harvested for separate preservation, like those of Egyptian mummies). If there are echoes in these pages of Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1968 movie, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” Mr. DeLillo’s vision turns out to be considerably darker. He is skeptical of those who might regard human life as a step on an evolutionary ladder between the apes and a futuristic race of star children. In fact, “Zero K” suggests that the hope that technology will supply a solution to the problem of mortality (as religion once did) is both delusional and a dangerous distraction from the here and now. Film footage of natural and catastrophes play on screens at the Convergence, and its robotlike employees seem to welcome the impending as a new beginning. All the themes that have animated Mr. DeLillo’s novels over the years are threaded through “Zero K” — from the seduction of technology and mass media to the power of money and the fear of chaos. This novel does not possess — or aspire toward — the symphonic sweep of “Underworld” it’s more like a chamber music piece. But once the novel shakes off its labored start, “Zero K” reminds us of Mr. DeLillo’s almost powers as a writer and his understanding of the strange, contorted shapes that eternal human concerns (with mortality and time) can take in the new millennium. | 1 |
Welcome to Breitbart News’s live coverage of the 2017 inauguration of Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States. [All times Eastern. 8:08 AM: From last night — Watch anarchists destroy a U. S. Flag and light fires in D. C.: WARNING: Explicit language, 12:53 AM: Watch video below of Trump’s remarks at the donor reception earlier this evening: 11:10 PM: Tens of thousands of protestors and celebrities kicked off filmmaker Michael Moore’s “100 Days of Resistance” Thursday, rallying outside Donald Trump’s New York City International Hotel. Breitbart’s Jerome Hudson reported on the event “which featured speeches from political figures including New York Mayor Bill De Blasio and Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and actors Alec Baldwin, Robert De Niro, and Mark Ruffalo. ” Moore told the crowd that America has entered into a “very dangerous” time, after electing a “sociopath. ” “With a lot of work on our part, we will stop this man,” Moore shouted. “He will not last four years. ” “If your rep is a Democrat, tell you expect them to AGGRESSIVELY fight the Trump agenda — and if they don’t, you will work with others to support a true progressive in the Democratic primary in 2018,” Moore added. 10:40 PM: protestors continue to gather outside the National Press Club in Washington, D. C. Thursday. Here is a list by Breitbart’s Lee Stranahan of the 75 leftist groups trying to stop Trump from taking office. ”Our streets, our streets, our streets!” Protesters chants at the police during the demonstration outside the Deploraball. pic. twitter. — Neil W. McCabe (@NeilWMcCabe) January 20, 2017, 10:09 PM: AP reports: 10 Promises Trump Made for His First Day, WASHINGTON (AP) — Behind in the polls in late October, Donald Trump ventured to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to give American voters a “contract” detailing what he would achieve during his first day in office. Beneath a list of 18 major actions was the flourish of Trump’s familiar signature and a blank space for voters to sign. But as Trump becomes president on Friday, it remains hazy as to which actions he will immediately take. The list included several items likely to fire up Republican voters but backed up by scant policy. It includes “begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants” and “cancel every unconstitutional executive action … by President Obama. ” Trump has already backed down from one pledge to label China a currency manipulator, recently saying he would first like to speak with the Chinese leadership. A look at 10 of the key promises Trump made for his first day as president: — Introduce a constitutional amendment for congressional term limits. — Freeze hiring for the federal government to reduce payrolls, although the military, public safety and public health agencies would be exempt. — Ban White House and congressional officials from becoming lobbyists for five years after they leave the government. — Announce plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico or withdraw from the deal. — Formally withdraw from the Partnership. — Lift restrictions on mining coal and drilling for oil and natural gas. — Remove any roadblocks to energy projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline. — Cancel U. S. payments to U. N. climate change programs and redirect the money to U. S. water and environmental infrastructure. — Stop all federal funding to “sanctuary cities,” places where local officials don’t arrest or detain immigrants living in the country illegally for federal authorities. — Suspend immigration from regions associated with terrorism where vetting is difficult. 9:58 PM: Breitbart News’ Ian Hanchett reports: During a live report on Thursday’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on the Fox News Channel, a young man protesting in Washington, DC claimed to have started a fire in the street, “Because I felt like it. And because I’m just saying, ‘Screw our president. ’” ”Screw our President!” — Child claims to have started fire at @realDonaldTrump protest. pic. twitter. — Fox News (@FoxNews) January 20, 2017, 9:38 PM: Breitbart’s Washington, D. C. Editor Matthew Boyle interviewed Trump supporters earlier today on the National Mall. ‘They Are Fake News’: Trump Supporters Rip into CNN on National Mall, (Meanwhile, CNN is advertising a job listing for a “fake news” reporter.) 9:21 PM: Trump on chance of #inauguration rain: ”If it really pours, that’s OK because people will realize it’s my real hair” https: . — CNN (@CNN) January 20, 2017, 9:00 PM: Donald Trump delivered remarks at a dinner for campaign donors in Washington, D. C. on the eve of his inauguration. He told a cheering crowd that in 2018 Republicans are going to win more seats in the Senate. Breitbart’s Neil Munro reports: “We have an election coming up in two years,” Trump told the crowd after thanking his early and his late donors. “We’re going to get a lot of them elected … [GOP Sen.] Mitch McConnell is here, he’s smiling so big,” Trump joked. McConnell is the GOP leader of the Senate. In 2018, he will have the opportunity to push his narrow 52 to 48 majority up to dominant 58 or even 60 seats. If the GOP reaches 60 Senate seats, then McConnell will usually be able to break the Democrats’s “filibuster” ability to block legislation. Forty Senators are needed to maintain a filibuster. Senate Democrats face in November 2018, while only eight Republicans must face the voters. Among the Democrats, nine Senators are either freshmen or won less than 53 percent in their prior election, and four will face the voters in states won by Trump. Several balls and dinners are taking place around town tonight amid protests. Breitbart’s Charlie Spiering reports from the Black Tie and Boots Texas Ball: ”In a @realDonaldTrump administration there will be no bullshit” — Bobby Knight at Texas ball introducing The Beach Boys pic. twitter. — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 20, 2017, 7:55 PM: Protesters wearing black masks confronted police Thursday outside the National Press Club, where the “DeploraBall” event is being held. As Breitbart News’ Brandon Darby reports: “the event inside drew the ire of the hundreds of anarchists and their associates. Many of the protesters physically resisted police efforts to clear the sidewalk as others shot their middle fingers to the police officers. ” Mob of anarchists pushback at police in front of Deploraball at National Press Club building. pic. twitter. — Neil W. McCabe (@NeilWMcCabe) January 20, 2017, Marchers in DC with anarchist flags, swarm and jostle with Trump supporter. pic. twitter. — Neil W. McCabe (@NeilWMcCabe) January 20, 2017, #BREAKING. Smoke devices. I’m at 14th St. F St. Protesters set off ”smoke devices.” Some scream ” Trump.” #Inauguration #NBC4DC pic. twitter. — Shomari Stone (@shomaristone) January 20, 2017, 7:40 PM: Thank you very much. Thank you very much everybody, and thank you Tom. I’d like to congratulate our incredible entertainers tonight. Toby, and Lee Greenwood and all of the great talent. It was really very special. I also have to thank our incredible military right here. Thank you. Stand up, please. You guys were really great. Thank you. So this journey began 18 months ago. I had something to do with it, but you had much more to do with it than I did. I’m the messenger. I’m just the messenger. And we were tired. And I love you. Believe me, I love you. We all got tired of seeing what was happening. And we wanted change, but we wanted real change. And I look so forward to tomorrow. We’re going to see something that is going to be so amazing. So many people have poured into Washington, D. C. This started out tonight being a small little concert, and then we had the idea maybe we’ll do it in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I don’t know if it’s ever been done before. But if it has, very seldom. And the people came by the thousands and thousands, and here we are tonight, all the way back. All the way back. So it’s a movement that began, it’s a movement that started, and it’s a movement like we’ve never seen anywhere in the world, they say. There’s never been a movement like this and it’s something very, very special. And we’re going to unify our country, and our phrase — you all know it, half of you are wearing the hat — “Make America Great Again. ” But we’re going to make America great for all of our people, everybody. Everybody throughout our country. That includes the inner cities, that includes everybody. And we’re going to do a special job, and I can only tell you that 18 months ago, we never knew, a lot of people didn’t know, some people had a feeling. A lot of people didn’t give us much of a chance, but we understood what was happening. And that last month of the campaign, when I traveled around to every place that you can imagine. State after state after state, speech after speech. And we had ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand people. There was never an empty seat, just like tonight. We didn’t know if anybody would even come tonight. This hasn’t been done before. And you look. It was the same way. And we all knew that last month of the campaign. I think a lot of us knew the first week of the campaign, but that last month of the campaign we knew that something special was happening. And I can only tell you this: The polls started going up, up, up, but they didn’t want to give us credit. Because they forgot about a lot of us. On the campaign I called it “the forgotten man” and “the forgotten woman. ” Well, you’re not forgotten anymore. That I can tell you. Not forgotten anymore. So I want to thank my great family, my incredible wife Melania. They’ve been so supportive, and it wasn’t easy for them. But they have been so supportive. I want to thank you, most importantly. And I promise you that I will work so hard. We’re going to get it turned around. We’re going to get our jobs back. We’re not going to let other countries take our jobs any longer. We’re going to build up our great military. We’re going to build it up. We’re going to strengthen our borders. We’re going to do things that haven’t been done for our country for many, many decades. It’s going to change. I promise you it’s going to change. So I’ll see you tomorrow. And I don’t care frankly if it’s going to be beautiful or if it’s going to rain like crazy. Makes no difference to me. I have a feeling it’s going to be beautiful. But I will see you tomorrow, and I’m going to be cheering you on. You’re going to cheer me on, but I’m going to be cheering you on. Because what we’ve done is so special. All over the world they’re talking about it. All over the world. And I love you folks, and we’re going to work together. And we are going to — make America great again. And I’ll add: Greater than ever before! Thank you very much and enjoy the fireworks. Thank you everybody. Thank you for joining us at the Lincoln Memorial a very special evening! Together, we are going to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic. twitter. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2017, 7:36 PM: In case you missed it, here’s the video of Lee Greenwood’s performance of “God Bless the USA. ” 6:55 PM: Breitbart’s Neil McCabe reports: Washington’s Trump International Hotel is closed tonight to . But, the lobby bar is full of deplorables in tuxedos and evening gowns. 6:51 PM: Some wire photos … 6:33 PM: The concert closed with a moving rendition of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” accompanied by a display of fireworks. The Trump family then viewed the inscriptions over Lincoln’s towering figure. Watch the moment below: 6:25 PM: Trump ends the concert with remarks talking about the movement that got him elected, calling himself just “the messenger” for it and promising that the forgotten men and women of America “are not forgotten anymore. ” Video of his remarks below: . @ABC News Special Report: Pres. Trump delivers remarks at Lincoln Memorial on day before Inauguration Day. https: . pic. twitter. — ABC News (@ABC) January 19, 2017, Donald Trump: ”There’s never been a movement like this … We’re going to unify our country” https: . https: . — CNN (@CNN) January 19, 2017, ”You are not forgotten anymore,” Donald Trump tells crowd at #inauguration concert https: . https: . — CNN (@CNN) January 19, 2017, 6:18 PM: Watch Sam Moore’s amazing rendition of “America the Beautiful” here. 6:12 PM: “This is some day,” Voight said to roaring applause from the massive crowd. “Dear friends, fellow Americans. I’m so happy to be here to welcome you all to the inauguration of the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. ” Voight continued, recounting that the election was “a barrage of propaganda that left us all breathless with anticipation not knowing if God could reverse all the negative lies against Mr. Trump, whose only desire was to make America great again. ” “He certainly didn’t need this job. And yes, God answered all our prayers,” the said. Voight assured the crowd that Abraham Lincoln was smiling knowing “America will be saved by an honest and good man who will work for all the people, no matter their creed or color. ” The Deliverance star endorsed Trump for president last March in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News. “He’s an answer to our problems,” Voight said. “We need to get behind him. The Republicans need to unite behind this man. We need somebody to go in and reconstruct us in a sort of way, get us back to where we were, who we need to be. ” Voight gave his brief remarks Thursday before introducing Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sam Moore, who sang an emotional rendition of “America the Beautiful. ” Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson, 5:57 PM: Breitbart’s Joel Pollak interviewed … ”Salt of the earth Americans” have come to Washington for #Trump’s inauguration, says @joelpollak from @BreitbartNews #Newsnight pic. twitter. — BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) January 19, 2017, 5:43 PM: Wire image from earlier of Trump and Melania Trump arriving at the Lincoln Memorial Concert … Other wire images from the concert … 5:15 PM: From the Associated Press: From there, Trump shuttled to a celebratory welcome concert on the steps of Lincoln Memorial that was to end with fireworks. The concert, open to the public, promised headliners including country star Toby Keith, soul’s Sam Moore and The Piano Guys. But not singer Jennifer Holliday: She backed out after an outcry from Trump critics. “This is some day, dear friends,” actor Jon Voight told the crowd, casting Trump’s impending inauguration as evidence of divine intervention after “a parade of propaganda that left us all breathless with anticipation, not knowing if God could reverse all the negative lies against Mr. Trump. ” Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the was still making “edits and additions” to the inaugural address he’ll deliver at Friday’s . 5:09 PM: Exclusive video shot by Breitbart’s Brandon Darby of the bomb squad in action earlier today. 4:54 PM: Trump and Melania Trump have arrived at the Lincoln Memorial for the “Make America Great Again” concert. Watch the video coverage of the concert here. Appropriately, Trump arrives to the music of The Rolling Stones, whose song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” was the Trump campaign theme song. Breitbart’s Joel Pollak wrote about the significance of the song to Trump’s campaign message. 4:40 PM: last Obama WH pool note: “The White House just called an enthusiastic final lid of the Obama presidency at 4:11 p. m.” — Tamara Gitt (@tamaragitt) January 19, 2017, 4:31 PM: More crowd members’ portraits from Breitbart reporter Charlie Spiering: Kentucky patriots #maga #inaguration pic. twitter. — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 19, 2017, Proud protesters pic. twitter. — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 19, 2017, — @BikersForTrump #maga #Inauguration #inaug2017 pic. twitter. — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 19, 2017, Cowgirls pic. twitter. — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 19, 2017, 4:26 PM: Watch live — the “Make America Great Again” celebration concert, where Trump and Pence will be addressing supporters. 4:13 PM: Wire photos of the Arlington wreath laying ceremony: 3:57 PM: 3:43 PM: @realDonaldTrump at the Tomb of the Unknowns in honor of the nation’s fallen soldiers. pic. twitter. — Fox News (@FoxNews) January 19, 2017, 3:42 PM: Concert crowd cheers as Trump wreathlaying ceremony at Arlington is aired live on concert screens pic. twitter. — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 19, 2017, 3:40 PM: NOW: Donald Trump, Mike Pence lay wreath honoring fallen soldiers at Tomb of the Unknowns https: . pic. twitter. — CBS News (@CBSNews) January 19, 2017, Proud protesters pic. twitter. — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 19, 2017, 3:26 PM: More Deplorables. Photos: Matthew 3:25 PM: 3:10 PM: Bomb squad in DC wasn’t playing around when apparent backpack found on street. pic. twitter. — Brandon Darby (@brandondarby) January 19, 2017, 3:08 PM: pic. twitter. — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 19, 2017, 3:06 PM: Some Obama trolling: Just in: President Obama grants commutations for 330 individuals. — Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) January 19, 2017, . @POTUS saves final WH call for Angela Merkel, whose judgment and trust Donald Trump questioned Sunday. pic. twitter. — Cathleen Decker (@cathleendecker) January 19, 2017, 2:57 PM: This #Inauguration is like the #RNCinCLE — Hollywood celebs stay away so the people are enjoying full run of the city — Deplorables in force, — Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) January 19, 2017, 2:50 PM: The only reliable way to get around the mall. Photo: Joel 2:44 PM: Photo: Matthew 2:43 PM: Photo: Neil W. 2:37 PM: Street is now reopened. The cause for the alarm was a backpack left on the street corner behind a newspaper machine. The bomb squad appears to have the bag and now they are removing police tape and packing up. 2:32 PM: Bomb squad in action. Man in bomb suit appears to be using a device to analyze a newspaper dispenser. Photos: Brandon 2:31 PM: Roger Stone spotted. Photo: Joel 2:23 PM: Amanda House reports: DEVELOPING: street closure outside the Hilton Garden Inn for what appears to be a bomb threat (14th and I street NW). Breitbart’s Brandon Darby is on the scene. 2:21 PM: Trump delivered these remarks at a leadership luncheon with inauguration officials and Republican leaders at Trump International Hotel in Washington, D. C. on Thursday afternoon. He praised the members of his cabinet, including “the legendary Jeff Sessions” — the Alabama senator who is Trump’s nominee for U. S. Attorney General. He also mentioned UN Ambassador nominee South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Dr. Tom Price ( ) and Treasury Secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin, among others. “We have a lot of smart people. I tell you what — we have by far the highest IQ of any Cabinet ever,” he said. Watch the video of his complete remarks above. 2:17 PM: They’re playing Star Wars on the bagpipes #magaconcert, — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 19, 2017, 2:02 PM: Breitbart video crew interviewing Deplorables at the concert. Photo: Amanda 2:01 PM: A rebel at the #maga celebration — says he voted for Jill Stein in 2016 pic. twitter. — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 19, 2017, 1:59 PM: If Sly Stallone can’t have it, no one can: Trump plans to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts: https: . pic. twitter. — The Hill (@thehill) January 19, 2017, 1:50 PM: Via AP: Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says the Senate will vote on two of Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees on Friday and begin debate on a third. The Senate will vote on retired Gen. James Mattis to be defense secretary and retired Gen. John Kelly to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Both are expected to be easily confirmed. And debate is expected to begin on the nomination of Mike Pompeo — a Republican congressman from Kansas — to head the CIA. 1:49 PM: Via Neil W. McCabe: Trump is now leaving the hotel with a full presidential convoy. 1:44 PM: Via Breitbart Jerusalem Editor Aaron Klein: The CODEPINK activist organization is planning “audacious and creative, colorful protests” targeting the inauguration of Donald Trump on Friday, Ariel Gold, CODEPINK’s campaign director, told Breitbart News in an interview. 1:43 PM: Jerry Falwell Jr. with other Deplorables outside Trump International Hotel. Photo: Neil W. 1:42 PM: From the Voices of the People Concert. Photo: Amanda 1:40 PM: Big tent. PICTURED: Caitlyn Jenner at LAX airport on her way to Washington DC https: . pic. twitter. — Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) January 19, 2017, 1:38 PM: White House pool report: ”Photos of Obama, his family and staff that previously lined the West Wing walls have been taken down.” — Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) January 19, 2017, 1:23 PM: serenades . Via AFP: New York (AFP) — Bruce Springsteen performed a secret concert for President Barack Obama and his staff as they leave the White House, urging optimism in uncertain times, the rock legend’s fanzine reported. Backstreets, a magazine and website that methodically documents Springsteen’s shows, said The Boss played a acoustic set in the White House’s East Room on January 10. 1:19 PM: Trump supporter swipes a protester’s sign and throws it in the reflection pond, runs off waving an American flag as the crowd cheers, — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 19, 2017, 1:16 PM: Ready for @TobyKeith #maga concert pic. twitter. — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) January 19, 2017, 1:15 PM: Crowd forming outside Trump’s hotel. Photos via Breitbart’s Neil W. McCabe: 1:13 PM: Trump, in remarks at his hotel’s luncheon, says Jeff Sessions “will be one of the outstanding stars of this country. ” Quips “We will have, by far, the highest IQ of any Cabinet ever assembled. ” 1:00 PM: Bey stirs up the Hive. From Breitbart’s Jerome Hudson: Pop Beyoncé encouraged her 64 million fans on Facebook to turn out and support the Women’s March on Washington to protest Donald Trump’s inauguration. “We raise our voices as mothers, as artists, and as activists. As #GlobalCitizens, we can make our voices heard and turn awareness into meaningful action and positive change. #WomensMarch. ,” the “Lemonade” singer wrote Wednesday. 12:51 PM: Photos from Trump International, waiting on the arrival of the . Via Breitbart’s Neil W. McCabe: 12:48 PM: Some of the Trump swag available in town: Trump bear: $18. Trump chocolate: $10. Sipping a Trumppuccino from a Trump mug during Trump’s inauguration? Priceless. pic. twitter. — Los Angeles Times (@latimes) January 19, 2017, 12:46 PM: Congressman Filemon Vela claims Trump supporters spat on a “migrant student” from his district while visiting DC: Filemon Vela statement: pic. twitter. — Abby Livingston (@TexasTribAbby) January 19, 2017, 12:29 PM: More egg on ’ faces, via The Hill: Donald Trump is ready to take an ax to government spending. Staffers for the Trump transition team have been meeting with career staff at the White House ahead of Friday’s presidential inauguration to outline their plans for shrinking the federal bureaucracy, The Hill has learned. Read the rest of the story here. 12:25 PM: Yes, we really need to know if they hit all green lights along the way. Donald Trump’s motorcade is off, en route to DC. It’s missing a key ingredient: A press van. — Matt Viser (@mviser) January 19, 2017, 12:25 PM: Family of Donald Trump deplanes at Joint Base Andrews ahead of Inauguration Day. pic. twitter. — ABC News (@ABC) January 19, 2017, 12:17 PM: This morning, Vice Mike Pence surprised reporters at a press conference to comment on the Transition Team’s wrapup. Breitbart’s Alex Swoyer reports: “We’re wrapping up this transition on schedule and under budget,” Pence declared. “We will actually return some 20 percent of taxpayer funding. ” Pence added that this is in keeping with Trump’s expectations going forward as President of the United States. … “We look forward to seeing you tomorrow. It will be a very humbling and moving day,” he added ahead of Friday’s inauguration. “We are all ready to go to work. ” Spicer spoke after Pence, telling reporters that Trump is continuing to edit his inaugural address for Friday’s speech. 12:14 PM: Trump arrives in DC. Donald Trump has landed at Joint Base Andrews. He did not bring a press pool with him. — Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) January 19, 2017, 12:05 PM: There they are. First pussyhats spotted in Washington, DC. (Fur coat? ??) #Inauguration pic. twitter. — Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) January 19, 2017, 11:44 AM: Trump, aboard Air Force plane, is now headed for DC pic. twitter. — Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) January 19, 2017, 11:41 AM: From Forward. com: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have been given a free rabbinical pass to travel by car following Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday. According to Jewish law, driving or riding in cars is prohibited on Sabbath. But a principal in Jewish law called “pikuach nefesh” mandates that the rule can only be broken in situations. In an interview with Kol Barama radio, Mark Zell, the chair of the Republican Party in Israel, said the couple have been granted special permission by a rabbi to use a vehicle because of “safety” concerns. Read the rest of the story here. 11:20 AM: Tribal consumerism is here to stay. Not Obama’s Washington any more: catering breakfast in the Inauguration media tent, A photo posted by David Frum (@davidfrumofficial) on Jan 19, 2017 at 5:32am PST, | 1 |
WASHINGTON — Over the past four months, American intelligence agencies and aides to President Obama assembled a menu of options to respond to Russia’s hacking during the election, ranging from the obvious — exposing President Vladimir V. Putin’s financial ties to oligarchs — to the innovative, including manipulating the computer code that Russia uses in designing its cyberweapons. But while Mr. Obama vowed on Friday to “send a clear message to Russia” as both a punishment and a deterrent, some of the options were rejected as ineffective, others as too risky. If the choices had been better, one of the aides involved in the debate noted recently, the president would have acted by now. In his last weeks in office, that Situation Room debate has confronted a naturally cautious president with a complex calculus that Donald J. Trump will soon inherit: how to use the world’s most powerful cyberarsenal at a moment when the United States, as the election showed, remains highly vulnerable. “Is there something we can do to them, that they would see, they would realize 98 percent that we did it, but that wouldn’t be so obvious that they would then have to respond for their own honor?” David H. Petraeus, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency under Mr. Obama, asked on Friday, at a conference here sponsored by Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. “The question is how subtle do you want it, how damaging do you want it, how do you try to end it here rather than just ratchet it up?” The idea of exposing Mr. Putin’s links to oligarchs was set aside after some aides argued that it would not come as a shock to Russians. Still, there are proposals to cut off leaders in Mr. Putin’s inner circle from their hidden bank accounts in Europe and Asia. There is an option to use sanctions under a executive order to ban international travel for senior officials in the G. R. U. the Russian military intelligence unit that American spy agencies say stole emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, then doled them out to WikiLeaks, betting that media outlets eager for insider details would amplify them, doing the Kremlin’s work for it. The National Security Agency and its military cousin, the United States Cyber Command, which is responsible for warfare, have worked up other ideas, officials said, though some have been rejected by the Pentagon. Those plans could deploy the arsenal of cyberweapons assembled at a cost of billions of dollars during Mr. Obama’s tenure to expose or neutralize some of the hacking tools favored by Russia’s spies — the digital equivalent of a strike. But the selection of targets by Americans and the accuracy of that retaliation could also expose software “implants” that the United States has patiently inserted and nurtured in Russian networks, in case of future cyberconflicts. And the revelation in August about some of the N. S. A. ’s own tools for breaking into foreign computer networks has raised the possibility that the Russians are already inside American networks and are sending a warning that they can respond in kind. All of this has led Mr. Obama to ask how the Russians might escalate the confrontation, and whether the United States in the end may have more to lose than Russia. “He doesn’t have great options,” said Michael D. McFaul, formerly one of Mr. Obama’s top national security aides and then his ambassador to Moscow. Mr. Obama is the president who, in his first year in office, reached for some of the most sophisticated cyberweapons on earth to blow up parts of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Now, at the end of his presidency, he has run headlong into a different challenge in the cyberwarfare arena. The president has reached two conclusions, senior officials report: The only thing worse than not using a weapon is using it ineffectively. And if he does choose to retaliate, he has insisted on maintaining what is known as “escalation dominance,” the ability to ensure you can end a conflict on your terms. Mr. Obama hinted as much at his news conference on Friday, as he was set to leave for his annual Hawaii vacation, his last as president. “Our goal continues to be to send a clear message to Russia or others not to do this to us because we can do stuff to you,” he said. “But it is also important to us to do that in a thoughtful, methodical way. Some of it, we will do publicly. Some of it we will do in a way that they know, but not everybody will. ” He rejected calls for a big, symbolic show of power, dismissing the idea that if the United States “thumped our chests about a bunch of stuff, that somehow that would potentially spook the Russians. ” The goal, Mr. Obama said, was to come up with a response “that increases costs for them for behavior like this in the future but does not create problems for us. ” There is not much new in tampering with elections, except for the technical sophistication of the tools. For all the outrage voiced by Democrats and Republicans in the past week about the Russian action — with the notable exception of Mr. Trump, who has dismissed the intelligence findings as politically motivated — it is worth remembering that trying to manipulate elections is a American art form. The C. I. A. got its start trying to influence the outcome of Italy’s elections in 1948, as the author Tim Weiner documented in his book “Legacy of Ashes,” in an effort to keep Communists from taking power. Five years later, the C. I. A. engineered a coup against Mohammad Mossadegh, Iran’s democratically elected leader, when the United States and Britain installed the Shah. “The military coup that overthrew Mosaddeq and his National Front cabinet was carried out under CIA direction as an act of U. S. foreign policy, conceived and approved at the highest levels of government,” the agency concluded in one of its own reports, declassified around the 60th anniversary of those events, which were engineered in large part by Kermit Roosevelt Jr. a grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt. There were similar interferences over the years in Guatemala, Chile and even in Japan, hailed as a model of War II democracy, where the Liberal Democratic Party owes its early grip on power in the 1950s and 1960s to millions of dollars in covert C. I. A. support. The only differences this year are that the effort was directed at the United States, and that it was cyberenabled, giving Moscow a tool to amplify its efforts through the echo chamber of social media and news organizations that quoted from the leaked emails. “What has changed is that this was using cyberspace for advancing a political objective,” said Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. who served as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until he retired last year. Cybertechniques, he said, have amplified an old form of “political warfare, and the issue is not whether it successfully influenced the election — but the fact that they did it. ” Over the past few months, an administration that prided itself on its work on cyberoffense and cyberdefense has learned a hard lesson: When it came to the 2016 election, an economically failing Russia, dismissed by Mr. Obama on Friday for its inability to grow or to innovate, exploited giant holes in the American system. Mr. Obama conceded that he first heard about the attack on the Democratic National Committee “early last summer,” or nine months after the F. B. I. first alerted D. N. C. officials about what had happened. That now appears to be critical lost time. If Mr. Obama had confronted the Russians immediately, in public or in the kind of private warning he said he delivered to Mr. Putin only three months ago during a meeting in China, the United States might have derailed the hacking campaign before it harvested and revealed thousands of emails. But the election hacking also raised questions about whether the American fixation on a “cyber Pearl Harbor” — a devastating attack on the power grid, cellphone network, financial system or gas pipelines — overlooked a more obvious vulnerability. As a detailed account in The New York Times last Wednesday revealed, the D. N. C. had virtually no protections for its electronic systems, and Mrs. Clinton’s campaign chairman, John D. Podesta, had failed to sign up for the “ authentication” on his Gmail account. Doing so probably would have foiled what Mr. Obama called a fairly primitive attack. Now the question facing Mr. Obama is how public a retaliation to execute. The president laid out a case on Friday for acting with subtlety, so as not to start a conflict. But as Joseph Nye, a strategist on soft power, noted on Friday, “The reason to make some of this public is not just to deter the Russians, it is to deter others as well,” in future elections. It is possible, said Mr. McFaul, the former ambassador to Russia, that Mr. Obama’s most lasting contribution may be to get the details of the Russian hack declassified and to publish a report he has instructed the intelligence community to assemble before he leaves office. “Given that Obama only has a few more weeks in office, I think he needs to focus his remaining time on attribution — that is declassification of intelligence so that there is no ambiguity about the Russian actions,” Mr. McFaul said. That “is completely within his powers,” he added, and would spur more congressional investigations regardless of the stance taken by Mr. Trump on the hack. Mr. Obama’s comments on Friday have led Democrats to demand further action. Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the response should mix “additional economic sanctions along with our allies, and clandestine means of exacting a cost on the Russians for their flagrant meddling in our election. ” “I have little confidence,” he continued, “that the incoming president will take the actions necessary to make the Russians pay any price for the most consequential ‘active measures’ campaign against us in history. ” | 1 |
LONDON (AP) — Roger Moore, the suavely insouciant star of seven James Bond films, has died in Switzerland. He was 89. [The British actor died Tuesday after a short battle with cancer, according to a family statement posted on Moore’s official Twitter account. “We know our own love and admiration will be magnified many times over, across the world, by people who knew him for his films, his television shows and his passionate work for UNICEF, which he considered to be his greatest achievement,” the statement said. Moore’s relaxed style and sense of whimsy, which relied heavily on the arched eyebrow, seemed a commentary on the essential ridiculousness of the Bond films, in which the handsome British secret agent was as adept at mixing martinis, bedding beautiful women and ordering gourmet meals as he was at disposing of trying to take over the world. “To me, the Bond situations are so ridiculous, so outrageous,” he once said. “I mean, this man is supposed to be a spy and yet, everybody knows he’s a spy. Every bartender in the world offers him martinis that are shaken, not stirred. What kind of serious spy is recognized everywhere he goes? It’s outrageous. So you have to treat the humor outrageously as well. ” While he never eclipsed Sean Connery in the public’s eye as the definitive James Bond, Moore did play the role of secret agent 007 in just as many films as Connery did, and he managed to do so while “finding a joke in every situation,” according to film critic Rex Reed. The actor, who came to the role in 1973 after Connery tired of it, had already enjoyed a long career in films and television, albeit with mixed success. He was remembered warmly by fans of the popular U. S. TV series “Maverick” as Beauregarde Maverick, the English cousin of the Wild West’s Maverick brothers, Bret and Bart. He also starred in the 1959 U. S. series “The Alaskans. ” In England, he had a TV hit with “The Saint,” playing Simon Templar, the enigmatic action hero who helps put wealthy crooks in jail while absconding with their fortunes. By the time the series, which also aired in the United States, ended in 1969, his partnership with its producers had made him a wealthy man. Such success followed a Time magazine review of one of his earliest films, 1956′s “Diane,” in which his performance opposite Lana Turner was dismissed as that of “a lump of English roast beef. ” In the 1970s, film critic Vincent Canby would dismiss Moore’s acting abilities as having “reduced all human emotions to a series of variations on one gesture, the raising of the right eyebrow. ” Born in London, the only child of a policeman, Moore had studied painting before enrolling in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He played a few small roles in theater and films before his mandatory army duty, then moved to Hollywood in the 1950s. He appeared opposite Elizabeth Taylor in 1954′s “The Last Time I Saw Paris” and with Eleanor Parker in “Interrupted Melody” the following year. In 1970, he became managing director for European production for Faberge’s Brut Productions. With the company, he with Tony Curtis in “The Persuaders!” for British television and was involved in producing “A Touch of Class,” which won a Oscar for Glenda Jackson. Three years later, he made his first Bond film, “Live and Let Die. ” He would make six more, “The Man With the Golden Gun,” ″The Spy Who Loved Me,” ″Octopussy,” ″Moonraker,” ″For Your Eyes Only and “A View to a Kill” over the next 12 years. And while the Bond of the Ian Fleming novels that the films were based on was generally described as being in his 30s, Moore would stay with the role until he was 57. He continued to work regularly in films after handing over Bond to Timothy Dalton, but never with the same success. His films included such forgettable efforts as “The Quest” with Van Damme and “Spice World” with the Spice Girls. In 1991, Moore became a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, having been introduced to the role by the late actress Audrey Hepburn. As Hepburn had, he threw much of his energy into the task. “I felt small, insignificant and rather ashamed that I had traveled so much making films and ignored what was going on around me,” he said in describing how the work had affected him. In 1996, when his UNICEF job took him to the World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, he disclosed that he too had been a victim. “I was molested when I was a child — not seriously — but I didn’t tell my mother until I was 16, because I felt that it was something to be ashamed of,” he told The Associated Press. He gave no details, but said it was important to encourage young victims not to feel guilty. “They’re being exploited. We have to tell them that,” Moore said. Moore received the Dag Hammarskjold Inspiration Award for his work with UNICEF and was named a commander in France’s National Order of Arts and Letters in 2008, an award he said was worth “more than an Oscar. ” That same year he published an autobiography, “My Word Is My Bond,” which included details about his work on the Bond films, his friendship with Hepburn, his encounters with Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and other stars, and his health struggles — including a bout with prostate cancer, which he beat. Moore was divorced three times, from skater Doorn Van Steyn in 1953, English singer Dorothy Squires in 1969 and Italian actress Luisa Mattioli, the mother of his children Deborah, Geoffrey and Christian, in 2000. He married a fourth time, in 2002, to Swedish socialite Kristina Tholstrup. | 1 |
by Yves Smith
Yves here. It’s hardly a secret that the Clintons are deeply loyal to Wall Street. Bob Rubin and his numerous well-heeled followers are a powerful, arguably dominant, faction in the Democratic party, and they are tightly aligned with the Clintons.
Nomi Prins gives a useful overview of how Hillary has attempted to blame the financial crisis on everything but the deregulation that her husband supported and the reckless behavior that resulted and how her anti-bank noises, like her criticism of Wells Fargo, is tepid and late in coming.
However, I quibble with some of her article. It’s surprising to see her single out Gary Gensler, former head of the CFTC, as a bank crony. Gensler is widely seen as pushing for much tougher oversight and enforcement despite being in the disadvantaged position of being at a secondary regulator. Recall that he was up against Bernanke and Geithner, a weak Mary Shapiro at the SEC, and an indifferent-to-captured Obama at the helm.
It’s also surprising to see Prins fail to mention the cronies rumored to be Clinton’s top picks for Treasury Secretary: Larry Fink of BlackRock and Tony James of Blackstone. Both firms would profit ginormously if the Wall Street looting plan that Hillary supports and James is promoting, that of having all workers pay 3% of their pay into mandatory retirement accounts, were to become law.
As we’ve indicated, the cost of this “fix” is greater than any of the ideas proposed to shore up Social Security (as opposed to cut it by stealth). I hate to say it, but I believe Prins’ failure to flag this risk is due to her still hewing to orthodox financial views and thus believing that Federal deficits are a problem, as opposed to desirable, most of the time, and regarding senior members of the asset management heavyweights as less dangerous than executives of TBTF banks. Since even the modest re-regulation that has taken place since the crisis has increased shadow banking, and firms like Blackrock and Blackstone are major players, it would be naive to depict them as problem-free and disinterested.
By Nomi Prins, a former Wall Street executive and the author of six books of which the most recent is All the Presidents’ Bankers: The Hidden Alliances That Drive American Power (Nation Books). Originally published at TomDispatch
As this endless election limps toward its last days, while spiraling into a bizarre duel over vote-rigging accusations, a deep sigh is undoubtedly in order. The entire process has been an emotionally draining, frustration-inducing, rage-inflaming spectacle of repellent form over shallow substance. For many, the third debate evoked fatigue. More worrying, there was again no discussion of how to prevent another financial crisis, an ominous possibility in the next presidency, whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton enters the Oval Office — given that nothing fundamental has been altered when it comes to Wall Street’s practices and predation.
At the heart of American political consciousness right now lies a soul-crushing reality for millions of distraught Americans: the choices for president couldn’t be feebler or more disappointing. On the one hand, we have a petulant, vocabulary-challenged man-boar of a billionaire, who hasn’t paid his taxes, has regularly left those supporting him holding the bag , and seems like a ludicrous composite of every bad trait in every bad date any woman has ever had. On the other hand, we’re offered a walking photo-op for and well-paid speechmaker to Wall-Street CEOs, a one-woman money-raising machine from the 1% of the 1%, who, despite a folksiness that couldn’t look more rehearsed, has methodically outplayed her opponent.
With less than two weeks to go before E-day — despite the Trumptilian upheaval of the last year — the high probability of a Clinton win means the establishment remains intact. When we awaken on November 9th, it will undoubtedly be dawn in Hillary Clinton’s America and that potentially means four years of an economic dystopia that will (as would Donald Trump’s version of the same) leave many Americans rightfully anxious about their economic futures.
None of the three presidential debates suggested that either candidate would have the ability (or desire) to confront Wall Street from the Oval Office. In the second and third debates, in case you missed them, Hillary didn’t even mention the Glass-Steagall Act, too big to fail, or Wall Street. While in the first debate, the subject of Wall Street only came up after she disparaged the tax policies of “ Trumped-up, trickle down economics ” (or, as I like to call it, the Trumpledown economics of giving tax and financial benefits to the rich and to corporations).
In this election, Hillary has crafted her talking points regarding the causes of the last financial crisis as weapons against Trump, but they hardly begin to tell the real story of what happened to the American economy. The meltdown of 2007-2008 was not mainly due to “tax policies that slashed taxes on the wealthy” or a “failure to invest in the middle class,” two subjects she has repeatedly highlighted to slam the Republicans and their candidate. It was a byproduct of the destruction of the regulations that opened the way for a too-big-to-fail framework to thrive. Under the presidency of Bill Clinton, Glass-Steagall, the Depression-era act that once separated people’s bank deposits and loans from any kind of risky bets or other similar actions in which banks might engage, was repealed under the Financial Modernization Act of 1999. In addition, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act was passed, which allowed Wall Street to concoct devastating unregulated side bets on what became the subprime crisis.
Given that the people involved with those choices are still around and some are still advising (or in the case of one former president living with) Hillary Clinton, it’s reasonable to imagine that, in January 2017, she’ll launch the third term of Bill Clinton when it comes to financial policy, banks, and the economy. Only now, the stakes are even higher, the banks larger, and their impunity still remarkably unchallenged.
Consider President Obama’s current treasury secretary, Jack Lew. It was Hillary who hit the Clinton Rolodex to bring him back to Washington. Lew first entered Bill Clinton’s White House in 1993 as special assistant to the president. Between his stints working for Clinton and Obama, he made his way into the private sector and eventually to Wall Street — as so many of his predecessors had done and successors would do. He scored a leadership role with Citigroup during the time that Bill Clinton’s former Treasury Secretary (and former Goldman Sachs co-Chairman ) Robert Rubin was on its board of directors. In 2009 , Hillary selected him to be her deputy secretary of state.
Lew is hardly the only example of the busy revolving door to power that led from the Clinton administration to the Obama administration via Wall Street (or activities connected to it). Bill Clinton’s Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs , Timothy Geithner worked with Robert Rubin, later championed Wall Street as president and CEO of the New York Federal Reserve while Hillary was senator from New York (representing Wall Street), and then became Obama’s first treasury secretary while Hillary was secretary of state .
One possible contender for treasury secretary in a new Clinton administration would be Bill Clinton’s Under Secretary of Domestic Finance and Obama’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman, Gary Gensler (who was — I’m sure you won’t be shocked — a Goldman Sachs partner before entering public service). These, then, are typical inhabitants of the Clinton inner circle and of the political-financial corridors of power. Their thinking, like Hillary’s, meshes well with support for the status quo in the banking system, even if, like her, they are willing on occasion to admonish it for its “mistakes.”
This thru-line of personnel in and out of Clinton World is dangerous for most of the rest of us, because behind all the “talking heads” and genuinely amusing Saturday Night Live skits about this bizarre election lie certain crucial issues that will have to be dealt with: decisions about climate change, foreign wars, student-loan unaffordability, rising income inequality , declining social mobility , and, yes, the threat of another financial crisis. And keep in mind that such a future economic meltdown isn’t an absurdly long-shot possibility. Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve, the nation’s main bank regulator, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation , the government entity that insures our bank deposits, collectively noted that seven of our biggest eight banks — Citigroup was the exception — still have inadequate emergency plans in the event of another financial crisis.
Exploring a Two-Faced World
Politicians regularly act one way publicly and another privately, as Hillary was “outed” for doing by WikiLeaks via its document dump from Clinton campaign manager John Podesta’s hacked email account. Such realities should be treated as neither shockers nor smoking guns. Everybody postures. Everybody lies. Everybody’s two-faced in certain aspects of their lives. Politicians just make a career out of it.
What’s problematic about Hillary’s public and private positions in the economic sphere, at least, isn’t their two-facedness but how of a piece they are. Yes, she warned the bankers to “ cut it out ! Quit foreclosing on homes! Quit engaging in these kinds of speculative behaviors!”— but that was no demonstration of strength in relation to the big banks. Her comments revealed no real understanding of their precise role in exacerbating a fixable subprime loan calamity and global financial crisis, nor did her finger-wagging mean anything to Wall Street.
Keep in mind that, during the build-up to that crisis, as banks took advantage of looser regulations, she collected more than $7 million from the securities and investment industry for her New York Senate runs ( $18 million during her career). In her first Senate campaign, Citigroup was her top contributor. The four Wall-Street-based banks (JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley) all feature among her top 10 career contributors. As a senator, she didn’t introduce any bills aimed at reforming or regulating Wall Street. During the lead-up to the financial crisis of 2007-2008, she did introduce five (out of 140) bills relating to the housing crisis, but they all died before making it through a Senate committee. So did a bill she sponsored to curtail corporate executive compensation. Though she has publicly called for a reduction in hedge-fund tax breaks (known as “closing the carried interest loophole”), including at the second debate , she never signed on to the bill that would have done so (one that Obama co-sponsored in 2007). Perhaps her most important gesture of support for Wall Street was her vote in favor of the $700 billion 2008 bank bailout bill. (Bernie Sanders opposed it.)
After her secretary of state stint, she returned to the scene of banking crimes. Many times. As we know, she was also paid exceedingly well for it. Friendship with the Clintons doesn’t come cheap . As she said in October 2013, while speaking at a Goldman Sachs AIMS Alternative Investments’ Symposium, “running for office in our country takes a lot of money, and candidates have to go out and raise it. New York is probably the leading site for contributions for fundraising for candidates on both sides of the aisle.”
Between 2013 and 2015, she gave 12 speeches to Wall Street banks, private equity firms, and other financial corporations, reaping a whopping $2,935,000 for them. In her 2016 presidential run, the securities and investment sector (aka Wall Street) has contributed the most of any industry to PACs supporting Hillary: $56.4 million .
Yes, everybody needs to make a buck or a few million of them. This is America after all, but Hillary was a political figure paid by the same banks routinely getting slapped with criminal settlements by the Department of Justice. In addition, the Clinton Foundation counted as generous donors all four of the major Wall Street-based mega-banks. She was voracious when it came to such money and tone-deaf when it came to the irony of it all.
Glass-Steagall and Bernie Sanders
One of the more illuminating aspects of the Podesta emails was a series of communications that took place in the fall of 2015. That’s when Bernie Sanders was gaining traction for, among other things, his calls to break up the big banks and resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. The Clinton administration’s dismantling of that act in 1999 had freed the big banks to use their depositors’ money as collateral for risky bets in the real estate market and elsewhere, and so allowed them to become ever more engorged with questionable securities.
On December 7, 2015, with her campaign well underway and worried about the Sanders challenge, the Clinton camp debuted a key Hillary op-ed , “How I’d Rein in Wall Street,” in the New York Times . This followed two months of emails and internal debate within her campaign over whether supporting the return of Glass-Steagall was politically palatable for her and whether not supporting it would antagonize Senator Elizabeth Warren. In the end, though Glass-Steagall was mentioned in passing in her op-ed, she chose not to endorse its return.
She explained her decision not to do so this way (and her advisers and media apostles have stuck with this explanation ever since): “Some have urged the return of a Depression-era rule called Glass-Steagall , which separated traditional banking from investment banking. But many of the firms that contributed to the crash in 2008, like A.I.G. and Lehman Brothers, weren’t traditional banks, so Glass-Steagall wouldn’t have limited their reckless behavior. Nor would restoring Glass-Steagall help contain other parts of the ‘shadow banking’ sector, including certain activities of hedge funds, investment banks, and other non-bank institutions.”
Her entire characterization of how the 2007-2008 banking crisis unfolded was — well — wrong. Here’s how traditional banks (like JPMorgan Chase) operated: they lent money to investment banks like Lehman Brothers so that they could buy more financial waste products stuffed with subprime mortgages that these traditional banks were, in turn, trying to sell. They then backed up those toxic financial products through insurance companies like AIG, which came close to collapse when what it was insuring became too toxically overwhelming to afford. AIG then got a $182 billion government bailout that also had the effect of bailing out those traditional banks (including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which became “traditional” during the crisis). In this way, the whole vicious cycle started with the traditional banks that hold your deposits and at the same time could produce and sell those waste products thanks to the repeal of Glass-Steagall. So yes, the loss of that act caused the crisis and, in its wake, every big traditional bank was fined for crisis-related crimes.
Hillary won’t push to bring back Glass-Steagall. Doing so would dismantle her husband’s legacy and that of the men he and she appointed to public office. Whatever cosmetic alterations may be in store, count on that act remaining an artifact of the past, since its resurrection would dismay the bankers who, over the past three decades, made the Clintons what they are.
No wonder many diehard Sanders supporters remain disillusioned and skeptical — not to speak of the fact that their candidate featured dead last ( 39th ) on a list of recommended vice presidential candidates in the Podesta emails. That’s unfortunately how much his agenda is likely to matter to her in the Oval Office.
Go Regulate Yourselves!
Before he resigned with his nine-figure golden parachute, Wells Fargo CEO and Chairman John Stumpf addressed Congress over disclosures that 5,300 of his employees had created two million fake accounts, scamming $2.4 million from existing customers. The bank was fined $ 185 million for that (out of a total $10 billion in fines for a range of other crimes committed before and during the financial crisis).
In response, Hillary wrote a letter to Wells Fargo’s customers. In it, she didn’t actually mention Stumpf by name, as she has not mentioned any Wall Street CEO by name in the context of criminal activity. Instead, she simply spoke of “he.” As she put it, “He owes all of you a clear explanation as to how this happened under his watch.” She added, “Executives should be held individually accountable when rampant illegal activity happens on their watch.”
She does have a plan to fine banks for being too big, but they’ve already been fined repeatedly for being crooked and it hasn’t made them any smaller or less threatening. As their top officials evidently view the matter, paying up for breaking the law is just another cost of doing business.
Hillary also wrote, “If any bank can’t be managed effectively, it should be broken up.” But the question is: Why doesn’t ongoing criminal activity that threatens the rest of us correlate with ineffective management — or put another way, when was the last time you saw a major bank broken up? And don’t hold your breath for that to happen in a new Clinton administration either.
In her public letter, she added , “I’ll appoint regulators who will stand with taxpayers and consumers, not with big banks and their friends in Congress.” On the other hand, at that same Goldman Sachs symposium , while in fundraising mode, she gave bankers a pass relative to regulators and commented: “Well, I represented all of you for eight years. I had great relations and worked so close together after 9/11 to rebuild downtown, and [I have] a lot of respect for the work you do and the people who do it.”
She has steadfastly worked to craft explanations for the financial crisis and the Great Recession that don’t endanger the banks as we presently know them. In addition, she has supported the idea of appointing insider regulators, insisting that “the people that know the industry better than anybody are the people who work in the industry.” (Let’s not forget that former Goldman Sachs CEO and Chairman Hank Paulson ran the Treasury Department while the crisis brewed.)
Among the emails sent to John Podesta that were posted by WikiLeaks is an article I wrote for TomDispatch on the Clintons’ relationships with bankers. “She will not point fingers at her friends,” I said in that piece in May 2015. She will not chastise the people who pay her hundreds of thousands of dollars a pop to speak or the ones who have long shared the social circles in which she and her husband move.” I also suggested that she wouldn’t call out any CEO by name. To this day she hasn’t. I said that she would never be an advocate for Glass-Steagall. And she hasn’t been. What was true then will be no less true once she’s in the White House and no longer has to make gestures toward the platform on which Bernie ran and so can once again more openly embrace the bankers’ way of conducting business.
There’s a reason Wall Street has a crush on her and its monarchs like Goldman Sachs CEO and Chairman Lloyd Blankfein pay her such stunning sums to offer anodyne remarks to their employees and others. Blankfein has been coy about an official Clinton endorsement simply because he doesn’t want to rock her campaign boat, but make no mistake, this Wall Street kingpin’s silence is tantamount to an endorsement.
To date, $10 trillion worth of assets sits on the books of the Big Six banks. Since 2008, these same banks have copped to more than $ 150 billion in fines for pre-crisis behavior that ranged on the spectrum of criminality from manipulating multiple public markets to outright fraud. Hillary Clinton has arguably taken money that would not have been so available if it weren’t for the ill-gotten gains those banks secured. In her usual measured way, albeit with some light admonishments, she has told them what they want to hear: that if they behave — something that in her dictionary of definitions involves little in the way of personalized pain or punishment — so will she.
So let’s recap Hillary’s America, past, present, and future. It’s a land lacking in meaningful structural reform of the financial system, a place where the big banks have been, and will continue to be, coddled by the government. No CEO will be jailed, no matter how large the fines his bank is saddled with or how widespread the crimes it committed. Instead, he’s likely to be invited to the inaugural ball in January. Because its practices have not been adequately controlled or curtailed, the inherent risk that Wall Street poses for Main Street will only grow as bankers continue to use our money to make their bets. (The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act was supposed to help on this score, but has yet to make the big banks any smaller.)
And here’s an obvious corollary to all this: the next bank-instigated economic catastrophe will not be dealt with until it has once again crushed the financial stability of millions of Americans.
The banks have voted with their dollars on all of this in multiple ways. Hillary won’t do anything to upset that applecart. We should have no illusions about what her presidency would mean from a Wall Street vs. Main Street perspective. Certainly, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon doesn’t. He effectively endorsed Hillary before a crowd of financial industry players, saying , “I hope the next president, she reaches across the aisle.”
For Wall Street, of course, that aisle is essentially illusory, since its players operate so easily and effectively on both sides of it. In Hillary’s America, Wall Street will still own Main Street. 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 0 |
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"По мнению РПЦ, моему мнению, а также мнению ряда общественных организаций, празднование Хэллоуина в России нарушает действующее российское законодательство. Хэллоуин — праздник, отвергающийся и осуждающийся религией. По сути, Хэллоуин - это противопоставление святым и религии. Ритуал вхождения в образ нечисти через костюмы и грим, ритуал выпрашивания сладостей (подкормки нечисти), ритуал ночных танцев — по сути, беснование", — сказал Ярослав Михайлов.
Адвокат уверен, что повсеместное празднование кануна Дня всех святых в общественных местах грубо нарушает действующее законодательство России, а потому должно быть запрещено.
Он подчеркнул, что Хэллоуин — это языческое (религиозное) течение, которое осуществляется на территории России. А значит, его празднование попадает под действие положений ст. 24.2 "Порядок осуществления миссионерской деятельности" ФЗ №125-ФЗ 1997 года.
Он добавил, что в России должны существовать религиозные объединения, отвечающие за проведение этого праздника, а также специально отведенные места для совершения хэллоуинских обрядов.
Прокомментировать ситуацию Pravda.Ru попросила юриста, судебного эксперта-религиоведа, члена экспертного совета по проведению государственной религиоведческой экспертизы при министерстве юстиции России, действующего эксперта в области нетрадиционных религиозных движений и сект Игоря Иванишко.
— Есть какие-то юридические основания для запрета Хэллоуина?
— Этот праздник в России не является официальным. Он не внесен у нас как нерабочий день в Трудовой кодекс. Он не имеет никакого статуса. Поэтому что-либо запретить, если не установлен статус какого-то мероприятия, невозможно.
А прогнозировать можно, что у Генеральной прокуратуры будет примерно такой ответ: что если некий праздник Хэллоуин был использован конкретной религиозной организацией для вербовочно-миссионерской деятельности и если факт будет доказан, то виновные в этом конкретном случае будут привлечены к ответственности.
Но запретить в целом данное мероприятие на территории России, чтобы какие-то общественные организации проводили на улицах маскарады, — это невозможно.
Если вы спрашиваете о моем мнении, то я тоже считаю, что для России, для нашей истории, культуры, в целом, для народов, которые проживают на территории нашей страны, этот праздник не является аутентичным, не является естественным.
То есть, это такое западное веяние, и то, что под маской Хэллоуина действительно с 31 октября на 1 ноября проводят различные религиозные группы, в том числе радикальные и сатанистские, какие-то свои мероприятия, это не есть хорошо. Поэтому я бы относился к этому празднику крайне осторожно. Но, с точки зрения закона, запретить его на территории РФ невозможно.
Читайте последние новости Pravda. Ru на сегодня
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Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn speaks in Washington, DC, July 24, 2012, on the occasion of his takover of directorship of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). (US Department of Defense) | 0 |
Good morning. (Want to get California Today by email? Here’s the .) Let’s turn it over to Thomas Fuller, our San Francisco bureau chief, for today’s introduction. It will be many months before any grapes are ready to pick but winemakers in the Napa and Sonoma valleys are already fretting that they will not have enough workers for the harvest. “I’m about it this year,” said Nico Cueva, winemaker at Kosta Browne, a winemaker in Sonoma County. “Our industry is based on immigration. ” More than of California farmworkers are undocumented immigrants and the Trump Administration’s threatened crackdown is scaring many of them away, winemakers say. The labor crunch is hurting all types of agricultural businesses in California but the upscale vineyards of Napa and Sonoma have particular needs. Unlike the industrial grows of the central coast, where grapes are often mechanically harvested, grapes in Napa and Sonoma are almost always handpicked. Winemakers say this helps avoid bruising the fruit, among other advantages. Another factor, says Mr. Cueva: California’s cannabis industry has been poaching some workers and marijuana and grapes are harvested at around the same time. Austin Peterson, winemaker at Ovid, a boutique winery on the hills overlooking Napa Valley, says winemakers have already had trouble finding workers to prune the vines this year. “There’s already a shortage of labor — more than in recent memory,” he said. “Everyone in agriculture is hopeful that immigration reform comes soon. ” The shortage has overtaken water concerns as the No. 1 problem for vineyards, says David E. Block, the chairman of viticulture and enology at the University of California, Davis. At elite wineries the optimum harvest window can sometimes be as short as six or 12 hours — even less if unfavorable weather arrives around harvest time. So having crews available is crucial to the quality of the grapes. Could the labor shortage hurt the quality of this year’s top California wines? “I’m not sure it’s gotten bad enough to where people are thinking it will compromise the quality of the harvest,” Mr. Block said. “But everyone is racing to get a crew ready to pick. ” (Please note: We regularly highlight articles on news sites that have limited access for nonsubscribers.) • Devin Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, will step aside from an inquiry into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. [The New York Times] • The California Legislature approved a plan to raise gas taxes and vehicle fees by $5. 2 billion a year to pay for road repairs. [Los Angeles Times] • An appeals court upheld California’s program, a pillar of the state’s battle against climate change. [Reuters] • Don Rickles died at 90. The comic’s insults flew at everyone, from Frank Sinatra to his own audiences. [The New York Times] • Officials announced a break in one of Monterey County’s most vexing unsolved cases, the 1998 killing of a teenage girl. [Monterey Herald] • The surge in Tesla’s stock far outpaces its actual sales. The carmaker’s bewitching story helps explain why. [The New York Times] • The government wants to know who is behind a Twitter account that criticized the Trump administration. So the company sued. [The New York Times] • Joanne Kyger, a poet who was one of the few women embraced by the Beat Generation writers’ fraternity, died in Bolinas. She was 82. [The New York Times] • A California bucket list: Old Sacramento, Crystal Cove cottages and the world’s safest beach in Carpinteria. [Los Angeles Times] • A wave of arcade taverns is reviving a subculture in Los Angeles. [The Hollywood Reporter] • Video: The Salesforce Tower has eclipsed the Transamerica Pyramid as San Francisco’s tallest building. [The Mercury News] Before Indianapolis, the heart of American auto racing was in Los Angeles. It was this week in 1910 that the inaugural race was held at the Los Angeles Motordrome, the world’s first wooden plank track built for automobile racing. Until then, races commonly happened in the dirt and across big distances. At the Motordrome, erected near the beach in Playa del Rey, fans had a view of all the action on a circular track. Crowds of more than 10, 000 people came to see the early stars of the sport push the limits of the big machines at more than 90 miles an hour around the banked track, essentially a version of a bicycle velodrome. The racers included characters like the Barney Oldfield, the millionaire playboy Caleb Bragg, and a native son, “Terrible” Teddy Tetzlaff. “It was a crazy, great time,” said Harold Osmer, a racing historian. “They called it the days of chain drive, wooden spokes and . ” The Motordrome burned down after three years, but by then a number of other board tracks had been constructed to cater to Angelenos’ growing racing obsession. Later, around the 1930s, said Mr. Osmer, the sport’s center of gravity began to shift to Indiana, home of the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But auto racing in Southern California never died — it rather became just one of a menu of entertainment options as the region developed. There are still plenty of tracks — in Fontana, Bakersfield, and Ventura, among other places. The Long Beach Grand Prix takes place on a street circuit this weekend. Attendance at past contests has surpassed 180, 000, making it the single largest event of the year in Long Beach. California Today goes live at 6 a. m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes. com. The California Today columnist, Mike McPhate, is a Californian — born outside Sacramento and raised in San Juan Capistrano. He lives in Davis. Follow him on Twitter. California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U. C. Berkeley. | 1 |
on issues can be kryptonite to presidential candidates. In 2004, President George W. Bush tagged the Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry, as an equivocator with no core principles after Mr. Kerry inexplicably (but accurately) noted that he had actually voted for an Iraq war appropriation “before I voted against it. ” One particularly devastating ad showed Mr. Kerry windsurfing, reversing course with the breeze. He never recovered. Donald J. Trump’s own proposals have often been vague, his prepared statements often contradicted by his own remarks in speeches and interviews. Yet he has so far avoided much harm, despite reversing himself — sometimes within hours — on campaign issues like immigration, abortion and economic policy. Here, we count some of the ways Mr. Trump has vacillated. Mr. Trump said in September that he was willing to let some Syrian refugees enter the United States despite the security risks. “Something has to be done,” he said. “It’s an unbelievable humanitarian problem. ” In December, after the Islamic attack in San Bernardino, Calif. Mr. Trump shocked even many Republicans by proposing a religious test. “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on,” he read aloud from a written statement. A day later, he elaborated, saying that customs agents would be directed to ask incoming travelers if they are Muslim, and that those who said yes would be turned away. In May, with the Republican nomination his, Mr. Trump retreated slightly, now calling the ban merely an idea, not a proposal. “It’s a temporary ban, it hasn’t been called for yet,” he said, adding, “This is just a suggestion until we find out what’s going on. ” On June 13, Mr. Trump offered a slightly new formulation: The ban would be geographical, not religious, applying to “areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies. ” But not just any kind of terrorism, he clarified on Twitter two hours later: The ban was only for nations “tied to Islamic terror. ” Then, in Scotland last weekend, Mr. Trump said he would allow Muslims from allies like the United Kingdom to enter the United States. Mr. Trump, who supported abortion rights until 2011, has struggled to articulate his evolution to the camp and has shown a lack of fluency on the details. Pressed by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews in March, he said that abortion should be banned and then said that women violating the ban should face “some sort of punishment. ” He recanted within hours, saying that doctors who perform abortions should be held legally responsible women, he said, were the victims. On Monday, when the Supreme Court overturned a Texas law that would have restricted access to abortions, many Republicans said the ruling was further evidence that a Republican president was needed to restore the court’s conservative majority. But Mr. Trump, perhaps out of caution, remained silent. At a Republican presidential debate in November, Mr. Trump said that “wages are too high,” and that American workers will need to “work really hard” if they want their incomes to rise. “I hate to say it, but we have to leave it where it is,” he said. Interviewed on CNN in May, Mr. Trump said he was “open” to raising the minimum wage, though he remained concerned about the ability of American companies to compete globally. “I’m very different from most Republicans,” he said, acknowledging that the federal minimum wage of $7. 25 was too low. “You have to have something that you can live on. ” Mr. Trump was long known for his warmth toward gays, including Elton John, whose civil union he publicly applauded. But since he became a candidate, his views have meandered. He has consistently opposed marriage, speaking out last year against the Supreme Court decision that legalized it, and pledging to work to overturn that ruling. In April, he thrilled some gay rights supporters when he weighed in on a transgender bathroom bill in North Carolina, saying that people should be allowed to use whatever restroom they felt comfortable in. But hours later, he said that states should make their own decisions. Then, after the June 12 massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Mr. Trump railed against the gunman for trying to hinder people’s ability to “love who they want and express their identity” — language lifted right out of the gay marriage movement. Mr. Trump rose to prominence by describing the United States’ response to terrorism as flaccid. During a debate in February, he inched toward endorsing torture as a way to counteract the Islamic State’s barbarism. “Not since medieval times have people seen what’s going on,” Mr. Trump said of hostages decapitated by the Islamic State. “I would bring back waterboarding, and I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding. ” Later, he declared that “torture works,” and called for killing the families of terrorists, a violation of international law. In March, he released a statement acknowledging the limitations imposed by laws and treaties and saying that he would not “order our military or other officials to violate those laws. ” But just a day later, he told a crowd that he would seek to change the laws barring torture. “We’re like a bunch of babies — but we’re going to stay within the laws,” he said. “But you know what we’re going to do? We’re going to have those laws broadened. Because we’re playing with two sets of rules — their rules and our rules. ” | 1 |
Регион: США в мире Как отмечает в своей новой статье известный журналист и аналитик Фил Батлер, победа Дональда Трампа на президентских выборах в США — это не индивидуальное поражение Хиллари Клинтон, которая не смогла бы проиграть самостоятельно с той поддержкой со стороны правящих элит, которая у неё была. Трамп победил потому, что западные политические элиты на протяжении последних 25 лет занимались незаконным разграблением мира и разрушением системы международного права, в то время как простые американцы нищали, теряли рабочие места и умирали в ходе незаконных интервенций Вашингтона. Американские политики обещали, что расширения НАТО на Восток не будет, однако сегодня солдаты США стоят у российских границ, как будто никаких обещаний и не было. Не трудно догадаться, почему Трамп вызывает такой жуткий ужас у политиков в Вашингтоне. Ведь он говорит именно то, что думает. А потому его обещания «выгрести авгиевы конюшни» американской политики и начать расследование против Хиллари Клинтон и её пособников — это не просто слова, а, скорее, краткий список дел на ближайшее будущее. В конечном итоге вне зависимости от того, получится ли у Трампа осуществить задуманное, он лишь симптом того, что люди по всему миру, включая США, наелись «западного капитализма» и «американской демократии» досыта. А потому грядут тектонические перемены, которые никакая коррупция остановить не сможет. С полной версией статьи вы можете ознакомиться здесь . Популярные статьи | 0 |
MERCED, Calif. — Jeff Marchini and others in the Central Valley here bet their farms on the election of Donald J. Trump. His message of reducing regulations and taxes appealed to this Republican stronghold, one of Mr. Trump’s strongest bases of support in the state. As for his promises about cracking down on illegal immigrants, many assumed Mr. Trump’s pledges were mostly just talk. But two weeks into his administration, Mr. Trump has signed executive orders that have upended the country’s immigration laws. Now farmers here are deeply alarmed about what the new policies could mean for their workers, most of whom are unauthorized, and the businesses that depend on them. “Everything’s coming so quickly,” Mr. Marchini said. “We’re not loading people into buses or deporting them, that’s not happening yet. ” As he looked out over a crew of workers bent over as they rifled through muddy leaves to find purple heads of radicchio, he said that as a businessman, Mr. Trump would know that farmers had invested millions of dollars into produce that is growing right now, and that not being able to pick and sell those crops would represent huge losses for the state economy. “I’m confident that he can grasp the magnitude and the anxiety of what’s happening now. ” Mr. Trump’s immigration policies could transform California’s Central Valley, a stretch of lowlands that extends from Redding to Bakersfield. Approximately 70 percent of all farmworkers here are living in the United States illegally, according to researchers at University of California, Davis. The impact could reverberate throughout the valley’s precarious economy, where agriculture is by far the largest industry. With 6. 5 million people living in the valley, the fields in this state bring in $35 billion a year and provide more of the nation’s food than any other state. The consequences of a smaller immigrant work force would ripple not just through the orchards and dairies, but also to locally owned businesses, restaurants, schools and even seemingly unrelated industries, like the insurance market. Many here feel vindicated by the election, and signs declaring “Vote to make America great again” still dot the highways. But in conversations with nearly a dozen farmers, most of whom voted for Mr. Trump, each acknowledged that they relied on workers who provided false documents. And if the administration were to weed out illegal workers, farmers say their businesses would be crippled. Even Republican lawmakers from the region have supported plans that would give farmworkers a path to citizenship. “If you only have legal labor, certain parts of this industry and this region will not exist,” said Harold McClarty, a farmer in Kingsburg whose operation grows, packs and ships peaches, plums and grapes throughout the country. “If we sent all these people back, it would be a total disaster. ” Mr. McClarty is not just concerned about his business, but also about his work force, he said. Many of them have worked for him for more than a decade, making at least $11 an hour. After immigration officials audited his employee records a few years ago, he was forced to let go of dozens of employees. “These people had been working for us for a long time, and we depended on them. ” Now he worries that a Trump administration could mandate a Homeland Security Department program called which was aimed at stopping the use of fraudulent documents. In all but a few states, the program is voluntary and only a small fraction of businesses use it. Farmers here have faced a persistent labor shortage for years, in part because of increased policing at the border and the rising prices charged by smugglers who help people sneak across. The stream of people coming from rural towns in southern Mexico has nearly stopped entirely. The existing field workers are aging, and many of their children find jobs outside agriculture. Many growers here and across the country are hopeful that the new administration will expand and simplify visas, which allow them to bring in temporary workers from other countries for agricultural jobs. California farmers have increasingly come to rely on the program in the last few years. But Mr. McClarty and others say that legalizing the existing work force should be the first priority. While they support the idea of deporting immigrants who have been convicted of serious crimes, they oppose forcing people to leave the country for minor crimes, like driving without a license. Since the election, they have continued to call their congressional representatives and lobbied through trade associations, like the Western Growers Association, whose chief executive is part of Mr. Trump’s agricultural advisory board. Farmers are also anxiously awaiting the administration’s plans to alter longstanding trade agreements. Mr. Trump has said he will pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement if he cannot negotiate better terms for the United States. Growers would benefit if Mr. Trump negotiated more favorable terms. But backing out of the agreement entirely could provoke retaliation from Mexico that would hurt California’s agricultural industry, which earned $21 billion from trade last year. Yet, many of Mr. Trump’s supporters say they are counting on him to follow through on his promises. Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said that limiting the use of foreign labor would push more Americans into jobs that had primarily been performed by immigrants. “It doesn’t matter if it’s programming computers or picking in fields,” he said, “Any time you’re admitting substitutes for American labor you depress wages and working conditions and deter Americans. ” The prospect has business owners in the valley on edge. Patricia Pantoj runs a travel agency in Madera, north of Fresno, where the city’s approximately 60, 000 residents are predominantly Latino and work in the fields. This year, she said, fewer people than ever before traveled back to their hometowns in Mexico. “They didn’t want to risk it,” she said. “Everyone is scared, even if they have papers. ” A few doors away from the travel agency, Maria Valero said all the customers at her gift shop were undocumented. “If they went away, I would be out of business tomorrow,” she said. Jhovani Segura, an insurance agent in Firebaugh, near the southern end of the valley, said that as much as 80 percent of their new car insurance policies came from undocumented immigrants who, under a new state law, became eligible for driver’s licenses in 2015. “If there were mass deportations, we would have to cancel half of our policies,” he said. In Ceres, north of Merced, the public school district is the largest employer by a large number, and many of the jobs were created to support the children of immigrants. Administrators say any crackdown would result in huge job losses and would reduce funding, which is distributed by the state based on need, for all the children in the district. Most of the workers in Mr. McClarty’s vineyards and orchards have lives in the area. Javier Soto, 46, bought a home for his family of five in Reedley, a city of 25, 000 that calls itself “the world’s fruit basket. ” He has worked for Mr. McClarty’s farm for the last six years and his supervisor knows he is here without papers. “It is more scary now that he is really the president and we see what he is doing,” Mr. Soto said. They are hopeful Mr. Trump will not make good on most of his threats. “Quien más habla, menos hace,” they tell each other — the more you talk, the less you do. There are too many of them, they reason, to throw them all out. “We’re just waiting and praying, hoping that somebody can convince them that we are not hurting anyone by being here,” said Isabel Rios, 49, who has been picking grapes for the last two decades. Like most women in the fields, she covers her face with a bandanna to protect against the blaring sun, dust and pesticides. Her two children, 9 and 18, are citizens and she worries what will happen to them if she is sent back to Mexico. “Who will benefit if we are not here?” Mr. Marchini, the radicchio farmer, said he felt similarly after seeing generations of workers on his family farm send their children to college and join the middle class. Mr. Marchini’s family has farmed in the valley for four generations and he grew up working side by side with Mexican immigrants. He said that no feasible increase in wages or change in conditions would be enough to draw Americans back into the fields. It was the other conservatives, Mr. Marchini said, who were out of touch about how to deal with foreign workers. “If you find a way to get in here,” he said, “there’s a need for what you do. ” | 1 |
MILWAUKEE — Mets Manager Terry Collins felt ill about an hour before Sunday’s game in Milwaukee and was taken to a nearby hospital for tests, the Mets assistant general manager John Ricco said. The bench coach Dick Scott, who last managed with Class A South Bend in 1997, took over for Collins. Ricco offered no specifics about what was wrong with Collins but promised to update reporters later in the day. Collins, 66, seemed fine speaking to reporters in his office about two and a half hours before the game at Miller Park. He reviewed the limited options off his bench: Second baseman Neil Walker (stiff back) and outfielder Michael Conforto (sore wrist) weren’t available, and Collins hoped to give shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera his first complete day off this season. “Managing in the minor leagues, you’re used to it because it happens all the time,” he said. “In ‘84 I had to activate myself to give us enough players to play. If you’ve done it as long as I’ve been doing it, it’s just part of the game. ” | 1 |
in: Politics , Sleuth Journal , Special Interests (image credit: AP/Alex Brandon) Is the 2016 election in the process of being stolen? Just a few weeks ago I issued a major alert warning that this exact sort of thing might happen. Early voting has already begun in many states, and a number of voters in Texas are reporting that the voting machines switched their votes from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton. The odd thing is that none of the other choices were affected when these individuals attempted to vote for a straight Republican ticket. If Hillary Clinton is declared the winner of the state of Texas on election night, a full investigation of these voting machines should be conducted, because there is no way that Donald Trump should lose that state. I have said that it will be the greatest miracle in U.S. political history if Donald Trump wins this election, but without the state of Texas Donald Trump has exactly zero chance of winning. So those living down in Texas need to keep reporting anything unusual that they see or hear when they go to vote. Most Americans don’t realize this, but the exact same thing was happening during the last presidential election. The state of Ohio was considered to be the key to Mitt Romney’s chances of winning in 2012, and right up to election day the Romney campaign actually believed that they were going to win the state. Unfortunately for Romney, something funny was going on with the voting machines. In a previous article , I included a quote from an Ohio voter that had her vote switched from Mitt Romney to Barack Obama three times … “I don’t know if it happened to anybody else or not, but this is the first time in all the years that we voted that this has ever happened to me,” said Marion, Ohio, voter Joan Stevens. Stevens said that when she voted, it took her three tries before the machine accepted her choice to vote for Romney . “I went to vote and I got right in the middle of Romney’s name,” Stevens told Fox News, saying that she was certain to put her finger directly on her choice for the White House. She said that the first time she pushed “Romney,” the machine marked “Obama.” So she pushed Romney again. Obama came up again. Then it happened a third time. “Maybe you make a mistake once, but not three times,” she told Fox News. And we did see some very, very strange numbers come out of certain areas of Ohio four years ago. For example, there were more than 100 precincts in Cuyahoga County in which Barack Obama got at least 99 percent of the vote in 2012. If that happened in just one precinct that would be odd enough. But the odds of it happening in more than 100 precincts in just one county by random chance are so low that they aren’t even worth mentioning. And of course this didn’t just happen in Ohio. Similar things were happening all over the country . The reason why I bring all of this up is to show that there is a pattern. If a fair vote had been conducted, Romney may have indeed won in 2012, and now it appears that voting machines are being rigged again. In Wichita County, Texas so many people were reporting that their votes were being switched from Trump to Clinton that it made the local newspaper … Shortly after early voting booths opened Monday in Wichita County, rumors swirled online about possible errors in the process. Several online posts claimed a friend or family member had attempted to vote straight party Republican ticket, but their presidential nomination was switched to the Democratic nominee, Hilary Clinton. None of the local reports were from people who experienced the situation first hand. A Bowie woman posted that a relative who lives in Arlington saw her votes “switched.” The post was shared more than 100,000 times Monday. And Paul Joseph Watson has written about some specific individuals that are making allegations that their votes for president were switched by the machines. One of the examples that he cited was a Facebook post by Lisa Houlette of Amarillo, Texas … Gary and I went to early vote today…I voted a straight Republican ticket and as I scrolled to submit my ballot I noticed that the Republican Straight ticket was highlighted, however, the clinton/kaine box was also highlighted! I tried to go back and change and could not get it to work. I asked for help from one of the workers and she couldn’t get it to go back either. It took a second election person to get the machine to where I could correct the vote to a straight ticket. Be careful and double check your selections before you cast your vote! Don’t hesitate to ask for help. I had to have help to get mine changed. I don’t know about you, but major alarm bells went off in my head when I read that. A similar incident was reported on Facebook by Shandy Clark of Arlington, Texas … Hey everyone, just a heads up! I had a family member that voted this morning and she voted straight Republican. She checked before she submitted and the vote had changed to Clinton! She reported it and made sure her vote was changed back. They commented that It had been happening. She is trying to get the word out and asked that we post and share. Just want everyone’s vote to be accurate and count. Check your vote before you submit! And of course they weren’t the only ones reporting vote switching. It turns out that lots of other Texans have also experienced this phenomenon … So is there a serious problem with the voting machines? According to Breitbart , one county in Texas has already removed all electronic voting machines and has made an emergency switch to paper ballots… Chambers County election officials have executed an emergency protocol to remove all electronic voting machines available during early voting until a software update can be completed to correct problems experienced by straight-ticket voters . Chambers County Clerk Heather Hawthorne told Breitbart Texas Tuesday morning that all electronic voting was temporarily halted until her office completes a “software update” on ES&S machines that otherwise “omit one race” when a straight ticket option is selected for either major party. The Texas 14 th Court of Appeals race was reported to be the contest in which voters commonly experienced the glitch. Let’s keep a very close eye on this. If the state of Texas ends up in Trump’s column on election night, perhaps no harm has been done. But if Trump loses Texas there is no possible way that he will be able to make up those 38 electoral votes somewhere else. Despite what the mainstream media is saying, the truth is that election fraud is very real. Just the other day, WND published an article that contained a list of documented cases of election fraud in 23 different states . And Devvy Kidd just authored a piece that pointed out that there are 24 million voter registrations in this country that are “no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate“… In 2012 the highly respected Pew Research Center exposed the sickening state of voter rolls in this country: Nearly 2 million deceased registered to vote Close to 3 million registered in multiples states Approximately 24 million—one of every eight—voter registrations in the United States are no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate More than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters Approximately 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state But despite everything you just read, the mainstream media is trying very hard to prop up faith in the integrity of the process. In fact, just today CNN came out with an article entitled “ Poll: Most see a Hillary Clinton victory and a fair count ahead “… Almost 7 in 10 voters nationwide say they think Hillary Clinton will win the presidency next month, but most say that if that happens, Donald Trump will not accept the results and concede, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. Americans overall are more confident that the nation’s votes for president will be cast and counted accurately this year than they were in 2008. Whatever the outcome, however, nearly 8 in 10 say that once all the states have certified their vote counts, the losing candidate has an obligation to accept the results and concede to the winner. Unfortunately, CNN does not have much credibility left at this point, and it is getting harder and harder to believe the polls that are being put out by the mainstream media. And the mainstream media would also have us believe that if evidence of election fraud does emerge that it will be because the Russians have made it up … U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials are warning that hackers with ties to Russia’s intelligence services could try to undermine the credibility of the presidential election by posting documents online purporting to show evidence of voter fraud. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said however, that the U.S. election system is so large, diffuse and antiquated that hackers would not be able to change the outcome of the Nov. 8 election. But hackers could post documents, some of which might be falsified, that are designed to create public perceptions of widespread voter fraud, the officials said. Now that is a real “conspiracy theory”, and it would be incredibly funny if all of this wasn’t so serious. During this election season, if you see or hear anything unusual about voting in your area, please report it. The American people should be allowed to make a free and fair choice, and anyone that attempts to alter an election is committing a crime against all of us. And let’s watch the state of Texas very carefully. If it goes blue, you will know that something has gone terribly, terribly wrong. Submit your review | 0 |
One of the most important and original filmmakers working today, Frederick Wiseman has been making documentaries for 50 years. His movies are about specific places — institutions, organizations, cities and communities: the New York neighborhood of Jackson Heights the coastal town of Belfast, Me. the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind American Ballet Theater the National Gallery in London. What interests Mr. Wiseman is how these institutions reflect the larger society and what they reveal about human behavior. His documentaries can be long. The and running times might seem forbidding, but there is rarely a dull moment, in spite of the absence of conventional narrative. Very quickly, you find yourself absorbed in patterns and details as meaning emerges surfacing moment by moment, encounter by encounter, in bodies and faces alone and in groups. In “Basic Training,” men become soldiers order by order and step by step. In “Deaf,” students learn to speak through sounds and gestures, repeating words and sentences with their teachers until communication is achieved. There can be an abstract, mechanical quality to the way bodies function in these institutions, but even as people can look like moving parts in a large machine, the camera registers their individuality. Mr. Wiseman’s great subject is human beings, in all of their — of our — variety and uniqueness. On Friday, April 14, the first half of a complete retrospective of his work begins at Film Forum. It’s a fitting tribute and arrives at a particularly productive moment for this prolific director, who in November received an honorary Academy Award. A ballet based on his 1967 film, “Titicut Follies,” opened last month in Minneapolis, and he has completed a new documentary, “Ex Libris,” about the New York Public Library, due later this year. “What’s kept me going,” Mr. Wiseman, who is 87, said upon receiving his Oscar, “is that it’s fun and an adventure. Constantly working also keeps me off the street, or at least on the streets that I like. ” What follows is a very partial introduction to some of the highlights and defining themes of his distinctive and capacious body of work. “The ideas of the movie came out of the absolute sense of shock about what Bridgewater was about,” Mr. Wiseman once said of his most notorious film, which takes place in the state prison for the criminally insane at Bridgewater, Mass. A principled and gravely disturbing look into the void, it remains an appalling inquiry into penal abuse. What Mr. Wiseman found was too much for Massachusetts, which sought to ban the film for, as a trial judge put it in 1967, an “unwarranted” intrusion into the “right to privacy of each inmate. ” The legal wrangling centered on the inmates’ rights versus the public’s right to know and opened a constellation of issues involving documentary ethics and thorny questions of informed consent. Unlike Mr. Wiseman, the film’s opponents were uncomfortably silent on the prison’s barbarism and basic human rights, and at times seemed more concerned with the reputation of Massachusetts than with the inmates’ welfare. In 1969, its Supreme Court suggested as much: “There is a collective, indecent intrusion into the most private aspects of the lives of these unfortunate persons in the Commonwealth’s custody. ” The ban on public screenings remained in place until 1991. Now, 50 years later, the film can be seen for what it was: a work of political art and moral outrage. (Manohla Dargis) Mr. Wiseman’s documentaries are about institutions — the bricks, mortar, endless meetings and all the moving parts — including all the moving, walking and talking people who go into making them. A consummate dialectician, he likes to toggle between the general and the specific, creating a kind of accordion effect as images of buildings give way to images of people inside those buildings and longer views oscillate with of faces and body parts. In “Blind” (1986) fingers trace Braille dots in “Boxing Gym” (2010) the focus turns to fists and feet. In his 1971 film “Basic Training,” Mr. Wiseman followed a company of drafted and enlisted men at Fort Knox, Ky. as it is put through its paces. He shot the movie in the summer of 1970, after the first Vietnam draft lottery was instituted, and it is populated with achingly young men as they become a marching, shooting, “Yes, sir” unit. It’s a stark, dehumanizing process filled with bracingly human moments, as when a black soldier accused of not following orders tells a white soldier: “Let’s be frank with each other, now you know this is not my country. ” One of the film’s most haunting moments takes place during a combat exercise. By then, the soldiers are marching in sync — chanting “Mr. Nixon dropped the I don’t want to go to ’Nam” — and seemingly ready for war. With their faces smeared in camouflage paint and leaves stuck on their helmets, they practice their moves, silently raising and lowering arms and legs to the sounds of buzzing insects. As one man lifts his arm, the camera follows the upward motion and then pauses on his delicate hand poised against the sky. It’s a image: With fingers as thin as a Gothic Jesus, this hand was made to kill and belongs to a man who might die. (M. D.) Political activists in the ’60s used to joke that “freedom is an endless meeting. ” Mr. Wiseman, who began his career as a filmmaker in that decade, has a preoccupation with process that may be a generational characteristic. Or it may just be that he’s a sensitive chronicler of modern life, an enormous proportion of which consists of committee work. A meeting — formal or informal, routine or hastily gathered, tedious or contentious — amounts to a Wiseman signature, like a shootout in a Tarantino movie or a dirty joke in a Judd Apatow comedy. When a group of people gather in a room, the business of the world is being done (or postponed or discussed or avoided, which amounts to the same thing). More crucial, it is being witnessed, by the camera and the audience, so that essential information can be imparted about the workings of law and order, art and politics, knowledge and power. If you listen closely, you can glean useful insights into such matters. But you also gain a kind of ecstatic anthropological insight into rituals that are both banal and outlandish, and an initiation into the mysteries of human psychology. You notice posture and gesture, who talks too much and who stays silent, who is passive and who is aggressive. Meetings are the most quotidian moments in a Wiseman documentary, but also, often, the most intriguing. They are nuggets of real life and eruptions of pure theater. (A. O. Scott) Action leads to reaction, and sometimes a push earns a shove. That’s true throughout Mr. Wiseman’s work, which is filled with people — teachers, guards, bureaucrats, choreographers — telling other people what to do and how to do it, as well as where, when and why. Some of this can seem benign, as when executives in “National Gallery” (2014) meet to discuss the London museum of the title. When that talk turns to branding, though, and voices start to sharpen, a meeting about prestige, publicity and populism evolves into a larger debate about survival — as well as one very civilized power struggle. In other Wiseman films, power is brutal and blunt. That’s particularly true in the earlier films, in which the images are sometimes matched by a startling Manicheanism. The harrowing “Law and Order” (1969) follows a mostly white police force in Kansas City, Mo. as its members go on patrol, answer calls and, in one case, bring a lost, weeping toddler back to the station. It’s a moment of gentleness amid more difficult, at times violent encounters between cops and civilians, as in a horrifying scene in which a white plainclothes detective puts a chokehold on a black prostitute, an action so harsh her tongue juts out of her mouth. It’s a dreadful, terrifying moment and, for this filmmaker, unusual in its viciousness. Generally, violence in Mr. Wiseman’s work remains implied and attenuated, and more a matter of ordinary domination. Few images will seem as familiar to viewers as the scene in “High School” (1968) when an official — the camera tagging behind — patrols one of the school’s halls, demanding passes and ordering students to class. As he shoots out questions — “What are you doin’ here? ,” “Where you goin’? ,” “Pass?” — this disciplinarian isn’t just corralling kids, he is, of course, also preparing them for lives of 9 to 5 submission. Woe to the resisters! (M. D.) One of modern cinema’s great observers, Mr. Wiseman is also a prodigious listener, a visual artist who thinks like a musical composer. He harvests sounds along with images — in many of his films he operates the recording equipment as well as the camera — and shapes the material with an eye and ear for patterns and counterpoint, themes and variations. In most documentaries, human speech is explanatory and expository: Much information is conveyed by means of narration and interviews. Mr. Wiseman avoids these techniques entirely. When people talk in his movies, they aren’t explaining themselves to us they’re expressing themselves to one another. We eavesdrop not only to figure out what’s happening, but also to attend to idioms and rhythms, to the musical qualities of speech. We tune in to the ways language is used by deaf and blind children as well as by judges, politicians and teachers, and also to the different ways it sounds. But words aren’t all we hear. We hear the cadence of boxers’ dancers’ and soldiers’ feet the lapping of waves on the side of a boat the whooshing of skis on an Aspen slope the sighing of the wind in the trees of Central Park. (A. O. S.) The boundaries of New York neighborhoods are determined more by local custom and industry hype than by law or charter. This makes “In Jackson Heights” — about a polyglot, section of Queens — an anomaly in the Wiseman canon. Its setting is not a town or an institution, but something with a less definite shape and a more informal reason for being. Jackson Heights in an accident of demography, geography and zoning. Or maybe it’s a community, a place given coherence by the rough serendipity of strangers adjusting to one another’s presence. Who are they? How do they live together? How do they make it work? (“It” being that elusive thing we like to call democracy.) One answer, hardly surprising in a Wiseman film, is through meetings. We observe gatherings of senior citizens, gay and lesbian residents and recent immigrants. Their conversations are by turns personal, practical and philosophical, and they revolve around the fundamental issues of civic order, which are shown to be at once mundane and grand. How do we keep our streets safe? How do we balance rights and obligations? How do we pursue prosperity without trampling our cherished traditions and common spaces? The wonder of “In Jackson Heights” — Mr. Wiseman’s most Whitmanesque film — is that it grounds a vision of America in the particulars of daily life. It discovers a hero in the person of Daniel Dromm, a New York City councilman who tackles the job of representing his neighborhood with shambling, inexhaustible good cheer. Some of the most moving scenes take place in Mr. Dromm’s office, where members of his staff answer phone calls from constituents who need to talk to someone in government. They don’t always have the right branch — their concerns include constitutional law and United States military policy — but the courtesy and patience with which they are treated provide a timely and permanent lesson in democratic values. (A. O. S.) | 1 |
NEW DELHI — Indian security forces in Kashmir engaged in an intense, gun battle with militants that ended late Sunday morning, leaving four militants, two soldiers and one civilian dead, the authorities said. An additional civilian died after a protest. The police had learned that the militants were in a village, and cordoned it off late Saturday. They were conducting searches when they were fired upon by militants security forces began firing back. The violence then led to clashes between Indian security forces and large crowds of local youths who gathered to mourn the dead militants. The police used tear gas on protesters, who were pelting stones at the Indian forces. They also fired bullets and birdshot at protesters, injuring at least 21 people, one of whom later died, according to Dr. Abdul Majid, the medical superintendent of the district government hospital at Anantnag. The four militants, all residents of Kashmir and all in their 20s, were members of the rebel group Hizbul Mujahedeen, said Sridhar Patil, the police chief of Kulgam district. He said they had criminal charges, including murder and stealing arms from security forces, outstanding against them. “First we tried to convince them to surrender with the help of locals and family members,” Mr. Patil said, but they shouted back that they would not surrender. Security forces recovered three assault rifles and two pistols from the site, Mr. Patil said. Throngs of youths fought with Indian forces last summer in Kulgam. The disturbances began in July, when Indian security forces killed Burhan Wani, a top commander for Hizbul Mujahedeen. Sunday’s fight in Kulgam ended a lull of several months. Insurgents in Kashmir have been fighting for independence from India for nearly three decades, and the Indian authorities have long said that their movement is supported by Pakistan. Diplomatic ties between the two countries have frayed in recent years. | 1 |
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. Hillary Clinton, encouraged by Republican defections from Donald Trump, is reaching out for more. Her campaign introduced Together for America, a coalition of prominent Republicans and independents building support for her. But a release of her State Department emails renewed questions about overlaps with the Clinton Foundation. Above, an animal rights supporter was tackled by Secret Service agents at a rally in Iowa. _____ 2. A subdued Mr. Trump campaigned in Virginia and Florida, as he and his supporters tried to beat back criticism of his comment that “Second Amendment people” might act against Mrs. Clinton if she wins. They portrayed his remark as a call to vote, dismissing the idea that he was suggesting violence. (Watch the video.) Mr. Trump is barely ahead or trailing in some reliably red states — possibly because he is doing poorly among white Republican voters, and there are not enough white Democratic voters for him to flip. His campaign is particularly worried about his falling popularity among Republican women. _____ 3. We’re following the story of the man who made it part way up the exterior of Trump Tower in New York City. He used suction cups to aid his climb, which lasted about three hours. It ended when New York City police officers grabbed him and pulled him inside the building. _____ 4. The Justice Department’s searing report on Baltimore’s policing and its targeting of black residents stunned even activists. In a city that is 63 percent black, 91 percent of those arrested for discretionary offenses like “failure to obey” or “trespassing” were black. And 82 percent of traffic stops involved blacks. “Hearing the actual numbers,” one black resident said, is “blowing my mind. ” Above, a mural of Freddie Gray, whose death prompted the report. _____ 5. At the Olympics in Rio, an American woman became the first person to win the same Olympic cycling event three times in a row. Kristin Armstrong, 42, triumphed in the individual road time trial. And Katie Ledecky led the U. S. team to gold in the women’s 4x200 freestyle relay. Can you tell the difference between the physique of a swimmer and a golfer? Take our body quiz. And while you’re marveling at Olympic greats, revisit the glory of the past with our obituary of the extraordinary achievements of Babe Didrikson Zaharias. _____ 6. The Obama administration is expected to end a monopoly on marijuana research by the University of Mississippi, which could encourage a new burst of science on the uses of the plant. Half of the states have approved medical use of marijuana for a burgeoning list of conditions, but research on its effectiveness is sparse. _____ 7. Our technology columnist challenged himself to figure out Amazon’s closely held plans for the future. He took the little the company itself would say, interviewed analysts, partners and competitors, and triangulated. His conclusion: Amazon has a strategy. First, it’s spending heavily to increase delivery capacity and efficiency. Second, in one word: robotics — in warehouses, trucks, and drone deliveries that could reshape retail. _____ 8. Our movie reviewer has an interesting argument about all the summer franchise blockbusters. He says there’s really just one theme playing out: the modern office. They might as well, he writes, be workshops on “ and how to deal with office romances (‘Star Trek Beyond’) on office rivalries and drafting (‘Captain America: Civil War’) on (‘Ghostbusters’) and I. T. disasters (‘Jason Bourne’). ” Above, a scene from “Bourne. ” _____ 9. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey was back in the headlines over the 2013 Bridgegate scandal. Newly filed court papers said one of the governor’s aides texted another that Mr. Christie had “flat out lied” when he denied that any senior member of his staff knew about a plan to snarl traffic heading to the George Washington Bridge. Prosecutors say the backups were meant to punish a local mayor for declining to endorse Mr. Christie’s bid. _____ 10. Much of the dysfunction plaguing Iraq was encapsulated in a few horrifying hours after a fire broke out in the maternity ward of a hospital in Baghdad. Hospital workers raced to the nursery, but no one could find the keys. Fire extinguishers didn’t work. It took nearly an hour and a half for firefighters to arrive. At least 13 infants died. “Oh my God, what a big crime today,” one Iraqi wrote on Facebook. _____ 11. Finally, plan ahead if you want to see the Perseids meteor shower, possibly the year’s best in the Northern Hemisphere. As many as 200 meteors will burn across Earth’s atmosphere every hour late Thursday into Friday morning. Try to find an area away from concentrated urban lights with a view of the entire night sky, preferably before dawn on Friday. “It will rival the stars in the sky,” one astronomer said. _____ Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s last night’s briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes. com. | 1 |
On Sunday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” host Maria Bartiromo confronted House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise ( ) about the approaching deadline for Congress to pass legislation on health care and tax reform. Bartiromo asked Scalise about the possibility of Congress forgoing its August recess to get those bills through. Scalise at first said he believed deadlines would force people to come to the table, but added they would stay in and get it done when asked about “not taking a vacation. ” Watch: Partial transcript as follows: BARTIROMO: You got to admit, the American people are just outraged by the calendar in terms of Congress. I mean, you have got — what, 38 days left or less in terms of actually working. How is it possible that you guys have the entire month of August off? Is it possible that if you don’t get tax reform done that you will forgo your August recess and you’ll keep working until you get this done? SCALISE: Well, I have always been somebody that says you get your work done while you are there. There are deadlines for a reason. It forces people to come to the table. You know, we have no working on healthcare and tax cuts for months now. And ultimately you need those deadlines to force the folks that are still not there yet — BARTIROMO: So you’ll get it done? SCALISE: — to focus and get the job done. We have to get it done. We have to pass health care reform, and we’ve got to cut taxes and simplify the code. Imagine if you can actually do your tax returns on a postcard. BARTIROMO: Yeah. SCALISE: Over 90 percent of Americans will get that with our bill. And you cut tax rates for everybody and repeal — (CROSSTALK) BARTIROMO: And if you don’t will you not take vacation? SCALISE: We are just going to stay in and get it done, Maria. That is a thing. You know, we’re going to get the job done. We have to for the American people. And this economy is waiting. There is so much demand that is . Let’s get it done. Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor | 1 |
FBI Finds Previously Unseen Hillary Clinton Emails On Weiner’s Laptop Sources earlier described to Fox News' Bret Baier as an "avalanche of evidence..."
Crushing the hope-filled “it’s just a backup of what they have already seen” narrative of a campaign clutching at straws to defend their candidate, and confirming Fox News Bret Baier’s earlier reporting , CBS News reports that the FBI has found new, non-duplicate emails related to Hilary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State on Anthony Weiner’s laptop .
Sources earlier described to Fox News’ Bret Baier as an “avalanche of evidence…”
And tonight we are getting further clarification, from US Officials, as to what that evidence consists of (via CBS News) These emails, CBS News’ Andres Triay reports, are not duplicates of emails found on Secretary Clinton’s private server. At this point, however, it remains to be seen whether these emails are significant to the FBI’s investigation into Clinton. It is also not known how many relevant emails there are.
This is a major problem for the surrogates, lawyers, life-long friends, and defenders of the status quo as it destroys the narrative that has been painted suggesting these emails found on Weiner’s laptop are merely backups of what law enforcement officials have already seen (and found no intent in). But what is most intriguing is the question of whether the missing 33,000 ‘personal’ emails ‘deleted’ by Bryan Pagliano in the full knowledge of Hillary Clinton (according to Wikileaks emails), are also on the estranged husband of Clinton right-hand-lady Huma Abedin’s laptop.
s Federal law enforcement officials concluded to CBS News tonight : “These emails have never been seen before”
Fox’s Bret Baier summed up what happens next… “I pressed again and again on this very issue… The investigations will continue, there is a lot of evidence. And barring some obstruction in some way, they believe they will continue to likely an indictment .”
This article originally appeared on ZeroHedge. | 0 |
What may come as a shock to some of the staunchest liberals in California — who wear their Trump “resistance” as a badge of honor — is that California was the birthplace of “Trumpism,” according to Politico writer Scott Lucas. [Lucas called into Breitbart News Daily Show, hosted by Alex Marlow, on Monday, and for about 14 minutes, one of the most conservative radio hosts and one of the most liberal political journalists had an extremely good conversation — one that was both insightful and respectful. (Something lacking in the current political climate.) Marlow and Lucas attended Berkeley together — where they battled on blogs and in the school paper — and still talk occasionally to this day. Lucas recently penned a piece for Politico entitled, “How California Gave us Trumpism” — and Marlow asked him how it was received. In response, Lucas quoted a conservative friend from high school, who was a contestant on The Apprentice and “knew Donald Trump a little: “Scott, I feel like this piece does a really, really good job of understanding sort of how I see the world, seeing things through my eyes. ” And that sort of sums up Trump’s appeal. He saw the world through the eyes of the tired, the forgotten, the everyman — who’d been left behind. In California, conservatives are the truest of true believers, whose isolation has made them all the more ardent about their beliefs. According to Lucas, it was that environment that gave birth to “Trumpism,” described by Lucas as the “marriage of ‘Constitutional Conservatism’ coming out of the Claremont Institute with a sort of ‘Entertainment Populism’ coming out of Breitbart. ” When asked who were some of the names who sparked what Lucas later in the interview calls “an important intellectual moment,” more than 80% of the names are likely familiar to Breitbart’s audience: One name that came up later would bring the entire discussion full circle — and that was none other than Andrew Breitbart himself, who Lucas noted embodied both schools of thought. Breitbart was on a Lincoln Fellowship at the Claremont Institute when he launched the website that would bear his name, and later help launch one of the most unlikely presidencies in modern times. What is ‘California Trumpism’? Lucas says, “’Trumpists’ are people who think California — and by extension the United States — are in decline … that there’s something wrong, something’s on the downslope, and they’re very willing to say that, point it out, try to figure out what to do about it. ” For Lucas, there are two seminal moments in the rise of “Trumpism. ” First, the publication of Michael Anton’s “The Flight 93 Election” — in which Anton, under an alias, lays out the perfect case for why a figure can only arise as a Phoenix from the ashes of a corrupt, Republic — and the tragic murder of Kate Steinle, the beautiful 32 woman cut down in the prime of her life by an illegal alien set loose on the streets of San Francisco by liberals’ sanctuary policy. Lucas was very open about the way he and other liberals were taken by complete surprise by Trump’s election — something that many conservatives in California understood intuitively was a foregone conclusion once Trump made it clear he would stand and fight like Reagan did, instead of cutting and running like the Mitt Romney wing of the party. But unlike most liberals, Lucas admitted that he believes it is important to understand how we got here, instead of simply demonizing Trump and his supporters. “We’re all in this country together, we’re all in this state together — who are you people?” Lucas asks, rhetorically. “What do you think?” He answers his own question early in the interview: It seems a very important intellectual moment in bringing together these sort of two strands of Conservatism that have emerged in Southern California. On the one hand, this idea from the Claremont Institute — that the United States was founded as sort of an expression of ancient political theory coming from Aristotle and people like that. And that we’re in serious trouble with the rise of Progressive Liberal Government in the 20th Century. And on the other hand, sort of Andrew Breitbart’s idea that culture is ahead of politics — that you had to create a media vehicle that sort of spoke to people where they are — and bring them along politically after that. And it struck me that was very obviously the formula for Trump … Lucas decried the violence and death of free speech in Berkeley (the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement’): “It’s very disheartening to see people [on the far left and the far right] who’d rather punch each other than talk to each other when they have political disagreements. ” When asked by Marlow if life is going to get better or worse for conservatives in California, Lucas had a warning. “California is always a decade or two ahead of the United States — and … as goes California, so, too, very often goes the United States … ”. He suggested that progressive leftism was likely going to take over the rest of the nation in that time. Not likely in places like Texas or the heartland of this country, at least not anytime soon. Maybe there’s another takeaway … Since “Trumpism” was truly born in California, perhaps there’s hope for the Golden State after all. Tim Donnelly is a former California State Assemblyman and author who is doing a book tour for his new book: Patriot Not Politician: Win or Go Homeless. He ran for governor in 2014. FaceBook: https: . facebook. . donnelly. Twitter: @PatriotNotPol, | 1 |
The U. S. Secret Service will reportedly open an investigation into Madonna after the singer told demonstrators at the Women’s March on Washington Saturday that she has often thought of “blowing up the White House. ”[During a speech at the protest rally in Washington, D. C. Saturday, the “Rebel Heart” singer said she had felt “angry” and “outraged” over Donald Trump becoming the country’s 45th president. “I’m angry. Yes, I’m outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House,” Madonna said. “But I know that this won’t change anything. We cannot fall into despair. ” A spokesman for the Secret Service reportedly told The Gateway Pundit that the agency was “aware” of the singer’s comments and would open an investigation, though the final decision on whether to prosecute would be made by the U. S. Attorney’s office. Madonna performed two songs during her appearance at the Women’s March, “Express Yourself” and “Human Nature. ” During “Human Nature,” the singer changed the song’s lyrics to include “Donald Trump, suck a d***. ” Madonna’s comments aired uncensored on several cable TV networks, leading to apologies from some anchors. Madonna was one of several celebrities who participated in Saturday’s march. Other stars on hand included Alicia Keys, Amy Schumer, Ashley Judd, Scarlet Johansson, Cher, Julia Roberts and Katy Perry. Madonna was one of Trump’s biggest celebrity antagonists during the election. In October, the pop star offered to perform oral sex on anyone who voted for former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum | 1 |
America Has Become A Lawless Nation – Hillary Clinton Magically Cleared By The FBI By Michael Snyder, on July 5th, 2016
It is hard to be proud to be an American today after watching FBI director James Comey magically clear Hillary Clinton of all wrongdoing. Sadly, Comey is likely to go down in history as the man that struck the final death blow to the rule of law in America. During his address to the media, Comey admitted that Clinton sent or received 110 emails in 52 email chains that contained classified material at the time they were sent. But of course there were probably many more. Comey told the press that it was “ likely that there are other work-related emails that they did not produce … that are now gone because they deleted all emails they did not return to State, and the lawyers cleaned their devices .” So basically Clinton turned over to the FBI whatever she felt like turning over, and then she destroyed the rest of the evidence. As a former lawyer, this infuriates me, but it doesn’t surprise me.
In fact, it doesn’t surprise me at all that Hillary Clinton was allowed to skate. I expected this all along. If you search the thousands of articles that I have posted on The Economic Collapse Blog and End Of The American Dream , you will find many articles where I say that Hillary Clinton should be in prison, but not a single one where I ever said that I thought she would be going to prison.
This is how politics in America works today. People like Bill and Hillary Clinton could openly sacrifice children to Satan on the White House lawn and still probably not get into trouble. Despite scandal after scandal going all the way back to Arkansas in the 1980s, nothing ever sticks to them, and nothing probably ever will.
In this case, FBI director James Comey essentially had to rewrite federal law in order to clear Clinton. This is something that Andrew McCarthy explained very well in his article entitled “FBI Rewrites Federal Law to Let Hillary Off the Hook” …
There is no way of getting around this: According to Director James Comey (disclosure: a former colleague and longtime friend of mine), Hillary Clinton checked every box required for a felony violation of Section 793(f) of the federal penal code (Title 18): With lawful access to highly classified information she acted with gross negligence in removing and causing it to be removed it from its proper place of custody, and she transmitted it and caused it to be transmitted to others not authorized to have it, in patent violation of her trust. Director Comey even conceded that former Secretary Clinton was “extremely careless” and strongly suggested that her recklessness very likely led to communications (her own and those she corresponded with) being intercepted by foreign intelligence services. —–
In essence, in order to give Mrs. Clinton a pass, the FBI rewrote the statute, inserting an intent element that Congress did not require. The added intent element, moreover, makes no sense: The point of having a statute that criminalizes gross negligence is to underscore that government officials have a special obligation to safeguard national defense secrets; when they fail to carry out that obligation due to gross negligence, they are guilty of serious wrongdoing. The lack of intent to harm our country is irrelevant. People never intend the bad things that happen due to gross negligence.
The amazing thing is that the FBI handled a highly similar case very, very differently less than a year ago. Just check out what happened to Naval reservist Bryan Nishimura …
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman immediately sentenced Nishimura to two years of probation, a $7,500 fine, and forfeiture of personal media containing classified materials. Nishimura was further ordered to surrender any currently held security clearance and to never again seek such a clearance.
According to court documents, Nishimura was a Naval reservist deployed in Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008. In his role as a Regional Engineer for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, Nishimura had access to classified briefings and digital records that could only be retained and viewed on authorized government computers. Nishimura, however, caused the materials to be downloaded and stored on his personal, unclassified electronic devices and storage media. He carried such classified materials on his unauthorized media when he traveled off-base in Afghanistan and, ultimately, carried those materials back to the United States at the end of his deployment. In the United States, Nishimura continued to maintain the information on unclassified systems in unauthorized locations, and copied the materials onto at least one additional unauthorized and unclassified system .
Nishimura’s actions came to light in early 2012, when he admitted to Naval personnel that he had handled classified materials inappropriately . Nishimura later admitted that, following his statement to Naval personnel, he destroyed a large quantity of classified materials he had maintained in his home . Despite that, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched Nishimura’s home in May 2012, agents recovered numerous classified materials in digital and hard copy forms. The investigation did not reveal evidence that Nishimura intended to distribute classified information to unauthorized personnel.
So what is the difference between Nishimura and Clinton?
Neither of them ever intended to do anything wrong.
So why were they treated so differently?
Needless to say, social media is exploding with outrage over this decision to let Clinton go free. Many Americans are openly asking why they should continue to play by the rules if politicians like Hillary Clinton are not required to do so.
Unfortunately, this is what America has become. Our politicians are a reflection of who we are as a society, and as I have stated before Hillary Clinton is going to be the overwhelming favorite if there is an election in November. At this moment, she has solid leads in all of the “swing states”, and she only really needs to win one of them …
Perhaps you enjoy talk of battleground states. Well, there’s a scenario for you, too. First, pick the six “closest” swing states (VA, NH, IA, OH, FL, NC). Got it? Now understand that New Hampshire excepted, Clinton only has to win one of them in order to reach the requisite 270 electoral votes to win . (Optional third step for Republicans only: start shotgunning Pabst Blue Ribbon and don’t stop until November.)
Lest any Trump supporters seek solace in poll numbers, recent polls have Trump sliding further behind in all the relevant swing states. According to a Ballotpedia battleground poll released last week, Trump trails by 14% in Florida, 4% in Iowa, 10% in North Carolina, 9% in Ohio, and 7% in Virginia.
Hillary Clinton is a horrible, evil, miserable human being , and right now she is the odds-on favorite to become the next president of the United States.
But ultimately it is the American people that are to blame for blindly supporting corrupt politicians such as Clinton, and if they willingly pick her to be our next president then we will certainly deserve whatever consequences follow. The Price Of Silver Explodes Past 20 Dollars An Ounce As The European Banking Crisis Deepens » Daddyotis
I struggle trying to get my head around this. It goes against all reasonable consideration of law and civilized society. What refocuses and grounds me is when I consider that this is another puzzle piece of end time prophecy being put into place. This brings me closer to an understanding of Gods will for me and my place in it all. The best part is that I am already saved and cleared for the afterlife.
God Bless all
DO Michael Dubin
Presidents Clinton, Bush II, and Obama have gotten away with murder, so why would anyone think that Hillary would be charged over some illegal server? K
Well the final proof. We have the best Government and law enforcement money can buy. Amf boy have they been bought. A Republic requires an informed electorate.to survive. And we sure do not have that. So welcome to the new America, all the justice you can afford/ Steeve Girard
dude… accidental web address electorate (dot) to Michèle
We turned on the TV just to watch the announcement that Comey had to make about Clinton. Just as he made the announcement that indicated that their recommendations to the DOJ would be to not press charges, that very second a loud boom went off in my house sounding exactly like a cannon and my husband and both sons saw a purple bolt of lightning outside and a ball of fire and then my TV froze with the words coming out Aof Comey’s mouth. I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life. We all felt that it had spiritual implications in regards to the announcement made. aldownunder
What did you do then? Pack another cone Jerry C
Lightning is called the Finger of God. Believers are getting signs all over the place. Shalom. R.bitting
She said she was sorry, geesh man, don’t overreact. Its not like our nation’s survival is on the line. In all seriousness though, If folks can’t see the writing on the wall here ( and you know they won’t ), theres no hope left. TheCogitator
American has not become a lawless nation, it has been a lawless nation for quite sometime. Now they don’t even try to cover it up.“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Hillary is an example of a “more equal” one — way more equal. SnohtBlossom
Liberals are the SCUM of the earth!!! rushmore
amen to that Gogen!!, gogenhouser
the liberal mind is a demonic mind, heathen reprobate bloodsuckers and that goes double for the demoncrat voter!!! joe
you are apiece of sh-t SnohtBlossom
you are a piece of crahp Guest
I was thinking te same thing. The elites don’t bother covering up their deeds or their intentions anymore. That in itself says a lot…. Steeve Girard
After I learned this BS here’s the . All the lies can you say, to the dumb public minds… What so proud as we’re hailed, as the twilight last gleaming… Who broad stripes and bright stars, lost in meaningless fights… O’er the ramparts torn down, by some “gallantly” Streaming… (tv) And the debt red glare, and the money made of air… Gave proof to the night that the flag is now gone… Where does that star spangled banner yet wave…. O’er the land of the owned, and the home of the slaves…. Creepy Pedro
O’er the land of the Freeloaders, and the Home of the Debt Slaves Steeve Girard
Amen. This is an insanity world nation in which we are living. Bill
You are so right Michael, tonight it is very hard to be a proud American. guest
Edward Snowden, as an American citizen I ,on behalf of all Americans apologize for this governments incredible hypocrisy . Redlucy
I am sick to my stomach about this. Even though I fully expected this decision, I had some tiny hope in my heart and soul that justice might be served. I am terrified of a US run by her….I can’t even say her name. She is a lying, scheming, demonic woman who needs all the prayers she can get, It is hard to fathom the implications that her communist agenda will bring about, We are in for some very great suffering,
Its just getting started my friend. She is the next president of America. Steeve Girard
Not if you guys can vote for a “third party” candidate. Joe Trevors
Every vote for a 3rd party candidate is a vote for Hillary. Jerry C
There is no “third party”; maybe a “two party” outside the Democrat/Republican sham coin. Joe Trevors
Yes, Jerry, that is true. That is what God has revealed through Donald Trump. It is clear to all of us how much hatred, contempt, almost demonic anger is expressed against Trump by both parties. They speak with one voice their true nature, don’t they? SnohtBlossom
I’ve said that Hillary would be cleared of this many times on this board. Hillary 2016! 😀 Suck it Lucy.. Rhino Horns
You should be ashamed of yourself. Unless you repent of your carnality and sins in this life, Judgment Day is going to be very difficult, and necessary, for you. JC Teecher
SB, you are hardcore. Sadly, you got a million more partners in crime, as liberal, atheistic, billery supporters. I would not want to be in any of your shoes when the 2nd advent is happening.
But, until then, go in Peace. none
Ex_Russian special forces do her “dirty ” ? Work? I think back to the days of breaking bad, the T.V. show. Mike, the “fixer” along with the rest of them, where to loyal to this country to ever do the kinds of things Hillary has been accused of doing. Even the U.S. Mafia. They helped out in the second world War. Mondobeyondo
Not if Bernie Sanders has anything to say about it. Which he doesn’t. bc
I look forward to HIllary being President 😀 I’ve told the board numerous times she would be cleared. Infidel51
Ya you’re the only one who saw that one coming dude. You’re a straight up genius. Bob332
AND very, very soon; satan has ruled the pass 7.5 yrs. The country cannot survive another 4. SnohtBlossom
there is no Satan JB
That’s exactly what he wants you to believe – that he’s not a threat, he’s not there, etc. Why do you think there are caricatures of him in a cape and horns, mocking the idea of him? You’re playing right into his hands… Steeve Girard
The is one, it’s between Abraham’s legs. Mike
I blog, therefore I am. Mike
You are one of the many proofs that Satan exists. SnohtBlossom
See? there IS a SnohtBlossom Mike
My point exactly. mdice11
You are a fool and hopefully a soon-to-be fatal victim of your own arrogance and filth. VoteTedCruz2016
Your dissenting opinion hurts my feelings. Please stop. Infidel51
Stop harshing my safe space bro. Your micro aggressions are not cool. DixieAngel_76
That’s what he wants people to think. ISA41:10
The Parasite Class doesn’t care what criminal acts Hillary has done. Neither do the illegals, convicted felons, or the dead………her natural constituency. jaxon64
Does it seem to anyone else INCREDIBLY CONVENIENT that the shooting ( and soon to come rioting) in Baton Rouge comes at a perfect time to drive the Hillary criminality out of the news? SnohtBlossom
All you poor boys are going to have to accept that Hillary was legally cleared and that she will be our new Glorious President. bobbi
After Hillary there will be no more America. VegasBob
Correction: She will be worse than Hitler, Lenin or Stalin. Richard O. Mann
Maybe one of her government paid bodyguards will step up and take care of matters, as a patriot. Infidel51
At least once she is elected we can get this show on the road and stop futzing around on the Internet. Obama was just the set up man, Hilary will blow this f$&@er sky high. DixieAngel_76
You will not be nearly so glib when you see the wreckage she leaves in her wake. jaxon64
I think I understand on a much deeper and clearer level now what the Apostle Paul meant when he called the future global leader, “the man of lawlessness.” It is more than just corruption and criminal closed-door activities, it is a complete disregard and “above any law” status. bobbi
It was not that way 1974 when Nixon was hounded out of office was much less that hillary has done. Infidel51
So the Tower of Sauron rises. Who is willing to stand against it? Q
“Lest any Trump supporters seek solace in poll numbers, recent polls have Trump sliding further behind in all the relevant swing states.”
The lamestream medias are prepparing us for a massive Democrat voter fraud campaign in those states. Bevy
You are right Redlucy!!! We are going to go thru judgment because of our rampant sin and only a small remnant will survive!!! im4truth4all
James Comey has joined James Clapper, John Koskinen, John Kerry, etc. I have lived almost 74 years and have never seen as corrupt an administration as this one. My estimate of years left based on my genetic profile is probably 5 to 10 years. I feel sorry for my descendants. I personally feel this country is in the last years of its existence. Kent Harris
9/11 was God’s judgment against this nation. Please read the Isaiah 9:10 prophesy and then read what God will do to this nation as a result of our defiance from Isaiah 9:11-10:4. He will utterly destroy this nation. You say that God will never do such a thing. He will and know this that when you walk into church, any church and see if any pulpits says anything at all about this this coming Sunday. The answer will be no. God in the prophecy says the pulpit is wholly to blame. During the homosexual marriage issue how many pulpits came out against this abomination? None. Why? Because God has blinded just like pharaoh of Egypt the pulpit. They have been consumed with the outward versus the inward. They are vipers among vipers. Steeve Girard
911 was the warning of the Arab World… the Americans ignored it with “exceptionalism”. Time to cough-up. bahmi
911 was meant to blame Muslims for everything connected, but the jews and neocons were behind 911, along with the Saudis. This was, however, a distraction so the real bad guys could install people like Obongo and let his destructive agenda destroy us, choke us in debt, focus on homosexuality, same sex butt banging, etc. While we were occupied with the distractions, the real bad guys did their thing and now have us on the precipice of total destruction and NWO marginalization. If you voted for Obama, YOU are part of the problem. GV
“…focus on homosexuality, same sex butt banging….”
ever obsessed with Teh Gays Paul Patriot
Amen. This Is why I am convinced Hitlery will be the next president. It’s all apart of the plan to destroy American Constitution and sovereignty during her “reign”
She is what the sheeple, illegals and liberal, progressives are calling for, and the Lord will oblige the desires of those who mock, blaspheme and spit in the face of the God of our heritage, “nature’s God”
Nothing will change until the pulpits start preaching Truth and a nation repents JC Teecher
All is going along with the prophetic word and the nations are aiding and abetting to the “fullness of the Gentiles”, (islamic peoples). JC Teecher
The pulpits, for the most part, are bringing about the apostasy. sad
No, the church wants to be liked and civil in this matter. Sin is a three letter bad word. Churches are more interested in”community” and not scaring people off with the truth. Unfortunately, that is the majority of churches today.They didn’t scare me. The only truth that scared me was Hell and I was scared into the kingdom by God’s love for me a sinner. That He died for me to save me. Don’t hear much about that these days. Politically incorrect. on the way to Hell. Jerry C
Actually, I’d say sin is a five-letter word, death. lol watchmannonthewall
I somewaht agree with you regarding God’s move against the US, but I tend more towards 9/11 being one of a couple of disciplines and warnings, the 2008 meltdown was the other, regarding coming judgment on the nation rather than it actually being a judgment. If Athaliah becomes president, she will be just like the real Athaliah; narcissistic and paranoid, and her rage will extend to “Christians”. She is power hungary and has a self destruct button that will take all with her. At that point, I think it quite likely the warnings of the destruction of America by about 2020-21 will probably occur. Joe Trevors
I believe we are experiencing the End Times battle between the Body of Christ & the Body of Antichrist. Our war is not against flesh & blood but against the spiritual powers on high. Yes, Kent, you do see how our nation is being transformed by the installation of leaders in our society who are following the Antichrist. But also our nation is filled with millions of people who are following the Christ. One way I see this is to view Islam as the Trojan Horse to bring down Christianity. Yes, it is bringing down the Church but it cannot hurt the Head of the Church, Jesus, so it is making war on the Body of Christ, the members one of another. You can today how Islam is being used by our government to destroy the Church in Syria? Muslims are killing Christians & other Muslims in Syria. NowAlive
Perhaps Mr Cahn is right. It’s an interesting premise, to be sure. What I will say is that the idea that “none”, meaning no pulpits spoke out against homosexual marriage, is simply wrong. Many spoke of judgment because of it. But you are certainly right about vipers filling the most pulpits. They are indeed blind. Alas that the Baby Boomers now run this country…off a cliff. GV
“…During the homosexual marriage issue how many pulpits came out against this abomination? None….”
Pharisee, fixated on genitalia while remaining SILENT on American war crimes around the world
She is the next president of America. Joe Trevors
Only God knows who will be the next President. It is important for us to pray to the Lord & trust God as we say the Lord’s prayer in part, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”. We need our faith more than ever during these days of tribulations. God can do anything he wants. God answers our prayers but we do not understand how he answers us, do we? Oz Steamer
She looks likely to be the LAST President of the United States. Jerry C
Why would TPTB collapse the economy on one of their own? My gut says they want a white conservative Christian male at the helm to blame it on, so Trump is the man of the hour. Next feast on God’s timetable is Feast of Trumpets (the last Trump believers are watching for); coincidence? I think not. Brian
I will not be voting because the next President, Hillary has already been “selected.” Hillary with a satanic grin on her disgusting face will be taking our guns, and sending us to FEMA camps. I have No doubt that these are the End Times! God bless eveyone. Steeve Girard
Vote for a “third party” candidate. If you do not vote, your voice will be dissolved in the remainders who will vote. check your list of candidates. Joe Trevors
Why don’t you vote for Donald who is not corrupt like the career politicians? alan
Looks like she been selected to be the next president. Now just figure out how to get rid of Trump. I suspect as a last resort the election will be thrown to her in November. Its just like we are living in an African country. Steeve Girard
The USA is a third world country since 2007. Creepy Pedro
Since 1913. guest
I heard all sorts of platitudes about what an upright, honest, law and order guy Comey is. There was going to be a revolt in the FBI, remember? He’s just another flunky political appointee who caved in like a house of cards. Judges have never accepted Ignorance of the law as a valid defense if your a plumber or a pizza cook but if your a lawyer and Secretary of State it’s acceptable. My mailman could have told me that server and private email account were illegal and erasing those 30,000 or so emails was destroying evidence and obstructing justice. The Clintons, Lynch and Comey have utterly disgraced the system and themselves. SnohtBlossom
HIllary 2016! guest
And Lynch for Attorney General and Comey for FBI Director!! Now lets see…Who can we get for Ambassador to Libya? Bill G Wilminton NC
If it Is God’s Will Trump Will Be The Next President….Pray For Our Country….And the Safety Of Trump.
God’s Ways are Higher Than Our Ways and Gods Thoughts Are Higher Than Our Thoughts.
Shalom Randy
Oh, it’s because this god is on duty 24/7/365 that the Pope rides around in a box made of bullet proof glass?!?! If there was any man or woman who you would think of as having some kind of Divine protection, it would be this god’s right hand man, right?? Mark
The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Jesus Christ is the head of the true Church. They have little more in common than the word Church. Steeve Girard
And Jesus, God, Allah are “wieners”, relics of the first cult of humanity which worshipped sex. Mark
Steeve, God has written a psalm just for you and all who believe as you do. Read Psalm 2 in the KJV, the true Words of God. One day God will laugh at you and deride you. Exercise your free will wisely. Bill G Wilminton NC
At the Right Hand of God Sits Yeshua (Jesus)….
The Pope is the head of a Religious Organization called The Roman Catholic Church. Chris
pope is not God’s right hand man. Jesus is His right hand man. Duh. Randy
Yeah, well it’s not much of a god who would let His “only begotten Son” be tortured to death then. No thanks, I’ll take a pass on that one there. And a REAL God would have infinite love and compassion for His inferior Creations along with complete understanding, so to laugh at and deride us would not be in keeping with the attributes of a REAL god. Just a fake one. But that kind of logical reasoning makes the head of a Jesus freak explode if they think too long on it. Guest
To vote for the lesser of 2 evils is still a vote for EVIL…… SnohtBlossom
there is no god AriusArmenian
Check out what Comey did to Martin Armstrong. More of the same. The bi-partisan oligarchic elites that rule the US use the law to keep us in line while they laugh all the way to the bank. none
A postal worker could lose his job, for saying something like that. gogenhouser
This makes me want to throw up, this is no longer America. Demoncrats a bunch of baby murdering bloodsuckers. Steeve Girard
lol! df NJ
Poverty kills much more people than abortion. I wish Republicans had a brain equally matching their conscious. NowAlive
I guess I hadn’t seen the number that over 60 million children had died from poverty in the US. Kindly provide a link and I’ll check it out. Bill G Wilminton NC
While in Poverty you do not have your Arms and Legs Ripped OFF…..One At A Time. Bob332
Idiot’s such as yourself, are COMPLETELY soulless. Joe Trevors
Remember: is this not the same FBI that stopped investigating Omar the Orlando Shooter? The FBI had no time to follow Omar? They did not want to infringe on Omar’s constitutional rights because Obama forbids us to discriminate against Muslims. Omar got a job at a security company so he could protect us. Omar’s Dad was preaching what Omar followed. Omar’s Dad works for the CIA. The FBI was forbidden to bother Omar no matter what he threatened. The FBI does not even know to investigate Omar’s dad. What about the MOSQUE where Omar worshipped? The FBI is super good – in covering up!! Randy
GREAT post there, Joe! Except that Orlando was a completely contrived event, just like Sandy Hoax. WHERE were the ambulances to carry off the dead bodies? Where was all of the blood? Did everybody who was shot at either place just happen to leave all their blood at home that day? The temps in Connecticut on DECEMBER 14, 2012 were 30.6 for the low and 49.3 for the high, yet not one wisp of breath fog from ANYBODY there!! How is that possible? Check The Old Farmer’s Almanac for the weather reports on the 14th and 15th. Joe Trevors
Yes, how can they cover up so much with so little outrage from them in Orlando? Randy
Quite easily! Since the media is in bed with the corrupted legal system and political system, they just ignore the outrage, they don’t report on it, therefore very few ever hear about it! Someone forgot to check the records to see what the weather would possibly be like on December 14, 2012, and that’s how that very important clue got left out of the narrative when the hoax was launched! You don’t see anyone being asked on Tee Vee why there was no snow on the ground or breath fog from the people because the media doesn’t want to have questions like that being asked! SnohtBlossom
You have NO CHOICE! Enjoy it.. Bwah hah haha
Snotty….When ya have to give YOURSELF an UPVOTE…… its time to retire your flower ! SnohtBlossom
It helps keep the discussion orderly. Ok, so I LIKE the Limelight. Working fulltime here 😉 guest
Does anyone remember what president demanded the resignation of every U.S .Attorney in the country and made them all reapply for their jobs so he could hire whomever he wanted and get rid of the ones he didn’t like? I’ll give you all one guess. Steeve Girard
G.W. Bush! aka Bush II. . Guess only a Canadian could answer this one. guest
WRONG!!!! Bush fired 8U.S. Attorneys and caused a firestorm in the establishment media. Clinton fired ALL 93 U. S. Attorneys. Steeve Girard
At least I knew Bush did some… forgot about Clinton. Damn selectiveness of memory! guest
Oh…your Canadian? I forgot to mention we were betting a six pack of Molson. guest
The FBI probably thought blondie deserved a break because she was a “woman of color” like Elizabeth Warren max gon
You are absolutely right Michael, if the USA spineless population picks this evil woman to be our next president then we will certainly deserve whatever consequences follow. Joe Trevors
Our greatest hope is to vote for Donald Trump. I believe God is using Donald. It is a sign by the overwhelming opposition against him by both Democrats & Republicans. Look at Republican Paul Ryan as House Majority leader: he has no trouble “understanding” Obama or Clinton. But he can’t “understand” Trump? Paul say I don’t know where Donald is coming from. Trump is exposing how we are already ruled by a ONE PARTY OLIGARCHY, that chooses who will be President. This time Trump is confounding their agenda. Trump is revealing how they are all lying to us & of course they all really support Hillary or a 3rd party candidate. Aren’t they the ones who say “Anyone but Trump”? JC Teecher
Look at the bright side, even though it is just a dying ember of one, this brings the chosen one to the final phase of taking her pedestal of satanic hierarchy in ussag, and will eliminate the need for martial law in order to stave off the trump charge.
I still believe we will see bank failures and an economic collapse whereby she will pull the exact same stunts as Odrama did, to filter off funds, but; I think it will stabilize after the “haircut” to the upper middle class wealth.
The con game continues at a much more rapid and rabid pace. themacabre
If there was ever a situation that demanded a special prosecutor, this was it. How could the Valerie Plame joke get a special prosecutor and not this obvious case of criminal wrong doing? Of course, the criminal wrong doing was, and is, obvious…there was no way Obozo would have sanctioned a special prosecutor. Yes, July 5, 2016, will go down in history when America officially became a banana republic, and Ms Evita Peron Clinton will be crowned El Presidente in January, 2017. df NJ
Hillary is the most corrupt politician in my lifetime. She needs to go to jail. Horiboyable .
Or hunt her down like the Libyan leader and give her the Gaddafi treatment OTAY
In my time it was the O.J. Simpson verdict. df NJ
You conservatives are a funny bunch. Your answer to everything is to cut taxes, have a smaller government, and the World will be a better place. But if you ever return to reality based politics, look at the recent years between California and Kansas. In CA, they raised taxes and increased minimum wage and now they have a budget surplus. In Kansas, Brownback implemented traditional Republican policies. The rich got huge tax breaks. And their pockets are bulging. And now the state is bankrupt. Nice job Republicans. Jerry C
California and Kansas a success? Quoting Bill Maher & liberal leftists garbage rags for news doesn’t make it reality. More businesses and people are moving out as fast as they can. Who wants to work when they’re being taxed to death? Only the workers. You. Are. Clueless. faith
It’s going from bad to worse if she wins. But God….. Don’t lose heart or the faith. Pray against the wickedness in high places using the weapons from God;s word. If she gets in keep praying if not keep praying. The bible says to pray without ceasing. It’s only a day, God can do so much in a millisecond to make a change. We don’t even know what tomorrow will be like we are only here for a moment like a mist. Hillary is only a vapor to God. She can be evaporated like nothing. df NJ
I always thought Hillary was a Christian. I can’t believe she’s a Muslim like you are saying. Son of a bi!tch! wiseup
Really?! How did you come to that conclusion? By what she says or what she does? df NJ
Well, obviously she cannot be a servant of God. Joe Trevors
The head of the CIA is a Muslim. SnohtBlossom
Shut up and leave! Take your liberal anti-American, Anti-Christian garbage else where. SnohtBlossom
Suck it! Freedom of Speech you UnAmerican Dip retired22
Who can say that she/he/it is politically liberal? I don’t think this demented fool knows or cares about the issues,He/She/It is a whack job looking for attention! Mr. Cipher
Font water the Troll flower NowAlive
Don’t feed the animals. He’s here for attention obviously. There isn’t anything on this site that interests him except for those who give him the attention his parents failed to provide. I pity him in the sense that he feels unloved, lost, and hopeless. I see him smoking pot or washing down his antidepressants with a shot of whiskey….alone. As he ponders his life, he thinks he has it figured out, though his marks bear out the fact that he can’t handle life. And of course, after convincing himself of his uselessness, he becomes a self-fulfilled prophecy, here to incense and be fed by those who will respond. Look on him as he is: utterly lost and filled with hatred. He’s an animal to be pitied, not fed. He’s too irrational to be fed. He’ll bite…as you can see from his silly, lost, unhappy remarks. sistersoldier
For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD. The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, “There is no God.” Psalm 10:3-4
You are in fact quoting scripture when you say, “There is no God” He put in writing more than 3,000 years before you said it. rushmore
you will be the first one crying, when this all falls aprt! Preacher62
You know there is. He gave his son for you. Steeve Girard
There is one, but it’s between Abraham’s legs. Guest
No, He will not answer such prayers. For individual Americans, yes, but not the nation. He is a holy Elohim. He gives nations the leaders it deserves. I am Canadian. Look what He gave us. Bob332
THE COMEY EFFECT: We HAVE the evidence, BUT, no INTENT. Therefore, our INTENT is not to prosecute. A big shout out for -FU America, case closed. THE HITLERY EFFECT: Well America, this PROVES we are NOT equal under the law. You would be Indicted, Convicted and spending 25-Life in some Fed Pen. Remember, America you are just useful serf’s. df NJ
She’s absolutely the most corrupt politician in my lifetime. She needs to go to jail! SnohtBlossom
I’m sure she’s NOT the most corrupt politician of your lifetime. HeyAHuman
Just out of curiosity, why do you support her? SnohtBlossom
She will be our Glorious new President! Jerry C
LUITPOS is not done yet. he’ll go to the U.N. where he can destroy the whole world; America was just a stepping stone. Victor
I’ve been say all along America is lawless, no rule of law, since this guilty criminal Clinton came on the scene Steeve Girard
longer than that…. It started with throw everything out the White House windows Reagan DJohn1
That announcement by the FBI did two things. The FBI were always the untouchables that could not be bribed or intimidated. Not until yesterday at least. I think the reaction of the American People will be to elect someone else. Now if the electorial college does not follow what the people elect, then we have a real problem this time around. I think if she had won a verdict in a trial that was public then she may have been elected. This way she is damned politically forever. She never got her day in court. So people will assume she was guilty and that Bill bribed the FBI. Assume is a big word. But that is what people will do. She has just been shot in the foot politically. That is why she will never become President of this country. Her reputation is shot. That Obama is running around supporting her effort to get elected President using government transport to do so is another problem she has. When both of them are being transported on Air Force One, that is on our dime as tax payers. Trump labeled her “crooked Hilliary” and this just gave her the reputation to go with it. Only God knows the future. It is beginning to look like Trump may become President after all. Joe Trevors
Yes! Mr. Cipher
Half the population couldn’t care less is she is crooked as long as the welfare checks keep coming. illusion
Relax everybody and stay calm. Hillary, like all of her predecessors will be merely a puppet for the banking and global elite. I will admit that she is a vial person. Fortunate for her, we have a rather stupid populace in this country that cannot see through her campaign facade. Hillary and Bill will continue their charade in office. It will be all about them and theirs (bankers), who will call the shots. World War 3 is a real distinct possibility with this charlatan in the Oval Office. Would anybody care to wager on another false flag event similar if not worse to 9-11 to further an agenda? This time, we can place the false blame on the Syrians to foster the belief that we need troops on the ground. HeyAHuman
Condition people to accept blatant corruption. Condition them to accept that the elite are above the law, and that justice is not blind. How much more will we accept? df NJ
I would be happy if we just enforced our existing banking and monopoly laws. tempus.fugit
RE: what is the difference between Nishimura and Clinton?
Nishimura confessed. It’s that simple.
All Western systems of law, whether full adversarial, full discovery, or something in between, have always relied upon testament of self-confession or the force to exact it in the absence of confession.
Nishimura self-recognized his actions, self-classified them, and confessed them. That he confessed them with the emotion of wrong-doing is his. In contrast, Hillary has not confessed, nor is she capable of self-recognition of her actions, let alone classifying them, or even classifying them as bad. To give testament of null-value is why we don’t give guns to children: they cannot self-pay the price of learning the lesson, so they don’t learn. Self-confession is inherently predicated on the sensing of cost and the ability to pay it. Children don’t confess; they can’t; even if they admit spoken guilt, they do not feel it, nor give it any recognition that those who pay do.
Grant the unable credit as if they are able, and you’ll only end up backrupt, with decades of time lost, and not one shred of gratitude nor remorse from those who took credit they were unable to pay. Oz Steamer
“o what is the difference between Nishimura and Clinton?” Firstly, Nishimura was (is?) MALE, and Hillary is a woman. Secondly, anyone who thinks the Feminists want “equality” only has to look at this decision. If Hillary was a man, she’d be in prison, by now. The Feminists (especially the male ones) are trying so hard to get her to be President. The Feminists show they have never ever wanted genuine equality, only to bash men, and to get away with what can only be described as “obvious criminal behavior”.
For any religious person, the choice is clear: go with Feminism, and Hillary or go with religion and oppose her and Feminism. Pick one.
I fear the US election is already Hillary’s as the Republicans are clearly trying to destroy Donald Trump, and to win against your own Party elite and against Hillary and the media (who automatically side with Hillary) would be an impossible task.
God Help America if Hillary wins. Mr. Cipher
Ya but she’s offering free college and other goodies. Horiboyable .
You knew the fix was in because Obama had already come out and said he would support Hillary’s bid before FBI director James Comey made his announcement. Seriously what type of women would stay with a man that gets BJs from interns!! I tell you what type, a women that would sell her mothers eyeballs in their lust for power. Folks with this decision the line has been clearly drawn in the sand if you would like to see it. It is THEM against US. You are free to chose not to see reality but you are not free to avoid the consequences of reality. bobbi
She stays with him because who else would want her? XSANDIEGOCA J B
I’m not shocked or surprised. I would have more surprised if she wasn’t handed a Get out of jail free card. It’s should be quite to others now, who owns the Monopoly Board. retired22
Perhaps what will save us is the gigantic financial correction coming down on,…a financial correction that will cripple the Welfare State & destroy political Washington! Unfortunately,…this will give us a whole new set of problems! Barry
Let’s all just admit to ourselves that the Clintons (and maybe others) must’ve threatened Mr. Comey into kowtowing to their will and not recommend these charges. No doubt a death threat against him or his family was made to convince him to accede to their will. Now, Ms. Lynch can easily just say that the FBI has recommended not to pursue an indictment, so she will just let the matter drop off the radar. How convenient. Dead bodies have been left in the wake of the Clintons since Arkansas. If you don’t believe me, just ask Larry Nichols. JC Teecher
I don’t know of anyone that would not lie and turn against their work ethic/patriotism to prevent the possible death of one of their own little ones.
comey is no different. He has to live with what he did as well as lyin lynch. Some people have no conscience though, much less a soul. voltaic
While you allwere silent as a mouse when GWB was not convicted for lying America into an endless war over fake WMDs…… You sense of ‘justice’ is remarkable…. Jerry C
Your New York Times reported we did find WMDs in Iraq. What about Clinton who voted to attack Iraq on the same information Bush was given? In addition, it was Bush’s advisor appointee from Clinton’s administration who told him. Ah, the facts again. Cal
Signs a nation is under judgment are many, two in particular come to mind. Sorceries, the primary definition is obvious but the secondary meaning derived from the Greek Pharmakeia (Pharmacy in English). A drug epidemic has struck this country exceeding the 1960’s killing thousands and women rulers. Hillary will no doubt win this election because the devil ordains it and America is under judgment. Obama is the stepping stone to the tribulation and the return of Bill and Hillary to the WH will destroy what is left of the United States during the tribulation. America is not mentioned anywhere in biblical prophecy and the reasons are obvious. For evil to prosper good men do nothing. Good men did nothing to stop the Warren Court, escalation of the Vietnam War and the drug saturated counter culture…the proverbial Pandora’s Box and the beginning of the end of the greatest nation on earth. Preacher62
Truth right there except for the part about the greatest nation. This nation has always been about lawlessness and greed from the outset dropping off smallpox laced blankets killing millions of native americans to all the unjust wars especially the civil war declared to the millions murdered by abortion. If the blood of Abel cried out to God from the ground, how loud is the screaming he is hearing from this country. bobbi
Hillary will president not by election but by corruption. black heart
Rush likened the Comey cave-in to that of Chief Justice John Roberts on the Obamacare challenge, effectively rewriting the law so Obama would have his victory. Good comparison, but I believe the Comey-cave is more in tune with FBI AD James Kallstrom when, under pressure from Clinton, he covered up the TWA 800 shoot down. After Kallstrom retired, he reportedly suffered sever mental anguish.
By a twist of fate, Comey was at a pivot point in history. It fell to him the the task of saving western civilization. He failed, he sold out and this will haunt him.
Hillary will be elected. Any Democrat starts with some 200-210 electoral votes. In her first term, after she grants citizenship to millions of invaders and invites millions more, we have been effectively PRI-ed as in Mexico’s forever ruling national party, except for a minor break of 12 years. The Republicans will never again control the Oval office or the senate or the house. Thank you Comey, you hack, you political flack.
Until now the idea of session was a mere discussion point. Texas will get serious after Hillary’s inauguration. Will Texas get out? Probably not. JB
Sad day indeed, Michael. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: the only thing that will change things is if the church in this country is on its knees in constant prayer, praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and spiritual revival. That’s why none of this makes any sense – it’s a spiritual battle (“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12). The wicked prosper while the righteous suffer, but Christ didn’t promise Christians a life free of persecution (“no servant is above his master” Matthew 10:24). Hillary gets away while Christians are fined and imprisoned for refusing to bake a cake – or take a photograph. Wrong has become right and right has become wrong (Isaiah 5:20). It’s becoming like the days of Lot or Noah, marked by violence, immorality – and lawlessness. Yet God holds the hearts of all rulers in His hands (Proverbs 21:1) – just as He hardened Pharoah’s heart. He’s still in charge and in control – as a believer, if you want things to change, you have free access to the control room of the universe.
Dark times indeed – and like Habakkuk, we can be dismayed – but the righteous shall live by faith! (Habakkuk 2:4, Hebrews 10:38) sistersoldier
Amen JB. Scorners seem to believe that the earth needs to be in a complete catastrophic upheaval before the Lord’s return. Also, there are those who identify with the household of faith that believe God is merciful and that they will not see or experience His wrath. True, God did not appoint us (His elect) to wrath but when He is ready to chastise a NATION one method He will use is to give our enemies power over us. He did it with Israel and the U.S. is no more blessed than the apple of His eye.
Life will seemingly be normal upon Christ’s second coming. Natural disasters will precede Him stepping down on the Mt. of Olives but life will continue to thrive until those who are alive and remain see Him face to face. “As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.…” JC Teecher
Good to see you sister.
The days of the entrance of Antichrist/Satan has been dramatized by the ignorant to the point that some people will be expecting an ugly man with horns and wearing red flannel underwear, while sporting a pitch fork and serpent’s tail.
To the contrary, he will be an awesome looking man in his early thirties, with similarities as we have been shown as to what Christ may have looked like, before he was imprisoned and beaten. He will be speaking scriptures, and seem so Holy, with signs of power around him. In fact, the biggest sign was revealed to me and I’m gonna share with you real soon, maybe today.
What people don’t understand is the fact that he will be impersonating Christ and come in “peacefully and prosperously”, but will go out in a sort of blaze of demonic glory, after killing the two witnesses. That brings about the end of this age. sistersoldier
Welcome back JC! I hope you had the opportunity to relax and catch plenty of fish. It’s good to see you posting again as well! Yes, I believe that it will be as you said or as the Bible says which agrees with your statement.
The Antichrist will indeed be “fiercely attractive” with a an irresistible charismatic personality. He will represent all that the world worships. Especially those who don’t know the One True God.
Isaiah 53 describes Jesus as just the opposite of the way pictures and movies portray Him. The deception began centuries ago with a false image of the true Savior’s likeness.
The prophet said that our Lord had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Preacher62
Food for thought and simply my opinion, not being argumentative. The ant-christ is not a person but a spirit just as the kingdom of God is within those who belong to him,(Luke 17) the spirit of anti-christ is within those who belong to Satan. I believe the teaching of a literal and physical anti-christ to be a distraction from the truth. We are told time and again in the scripture to examine ourselves to see if Christ is in us and if he is not then we have failed the test of Christianity.
Teaching that there is a literal anti-christ keeps many looking “out there” for the enemy when we should be looking within for the enemy. The war that we are fighting is not against flesh and blood and it is not “out there”; the war we are fighting is within ourselves. Satan is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. This refers to Christians because all who are not Christians have already been devoured. Finally 1 John 2 tells us that MANY anti-christs had already come and that was 2000 yrs ago, there have been many since and there are many still to come I am sure.
The only real option we have is to do as the Lord commanded and Go and make disciples. This is all that will prevent them from being devoured. If we get too caught up with looking for something or someone that does not exist then we might become distracted from doing that which is necessary.
John 6:66 tells us the “mark of man” From that moment they left him and followed him no more. The “mark of God’s children” on the other hand is that they hold out faithful till the end by the grace of God.
Love and blessings JC Teecher
I see what you are saying, however; it makes me wonder if you believe that Satan is not a real entity and being held, right now, by Michael the Archangel? Preacher62
No, Satan is VERY real and the prince of this world. JC Teecher
Ok, thanks.
Many follow man’s teachings that Antichrist is a flesh man walking the earth right now, while God teaches us exactly who he is, how, and when he comes, in the book of Revelation.
I have even heard the pre-tribber Hagee say he will arise from Europe and then get shot in the head and miraculously recover and come back to life after three days. What a hoot and hogwash. Bill G Wilminton NC
Many many Christians believe in The Pre-Trib Rapture including myself.
Hagee makes many good points so does Perry Stone and others………
Hagee does believe that He(Anti-Christ) will be shot and miraculously recover……as He(Anti-Christ) Mimicks Christ.
I study both pre-trib and post-trib Rapture and I find many fallacies in the post-trib beliefs and it seems at times that the post-tribbers focus on being included in the pain and misery of the Tribulation….like they dont want to be “Left Out”. or feel that they should be LEFT OUT.
I believe that those that love The Lord are “The Bride of Christ” and one does not have their Bride get beat to a pulp and then sweep her away for the honeymoon.
There are other serious issues with the post-trib rapture.
Shalom GV
“…I study both pre-trib and post-trib Rapture and I find many fallacies in the post-trib beliefs ….”
gee, people reading the same Bible coming to totally different conclusions Bill G Wilminton NC
God said that NO ONE would KNOW the day or the hour of The Rapture….Uncertain by Design.
BUT ” For A Man to Lie with A Man As With a Woman Is an Abomination In The Eyes Of The Lord ” Sorry GV No Uncertainty There. GV
your “god” ordered the murder of children and babies. Sorry Bill, no uncertainly there JB
I agree with your personification of the anti-Christ – many mistake “anti” to mean someone who is gruesome and abhorrent, but in the Greek (which is more precise) translates into “in place of Christ” – in other words, Satan creates his counterfeit (as he always has – he tries to imitate what God does with his own version) and we’ll have a man arrive on the scene who the entire world embraces and some will mistake for the Messiah. Like Satan, he will want to be worshipped. JC Teecher
The thing is, Satan is, or shall i say, will be, the Antichrist. All others that have come in the “spirit” of antichrist, have been men…flesh men.
Satan will come looking as a man, even a flesh man, but will be spirit bodied. JB
True, God has and does judge corporately (and some day individuals). Many examples of that in His Word. Our country has been given a lot of truth – as what was once a Christian nation – and to “whom much is given, much will be expected.” Nationally, we’ve also been blessed because of a promise He made to Abraham (“those who bless you, I will bless”). What’s unique about that is we were blessed – not because of anything we did (because we’re certainly no longer living righteously) – but because of a promise He made. But as we continue to turn our backs on Israel, that goes away and there’s really nothing left to stay His judgment – except the prayers of believers.
But yes, that was also something that astounded Habakkuk – he wanted God to pour some wrath on Israel and when God showed him that he was going to bring the Chaldeans on them (for they were incredibly barbaric), Habakkuk didn’t like that much, but the Lord responded that He is free to use whoever He chooses as His “war club.”
I think generally things will tend to get worse, though. Man says he is evolving and getting better, but if you read Paul’s letters to Timothy, he describes terrible times in the last days and a very wicked generation. df NJ
It would be nice if corporations would go to Hell. sistersoldier
Yes and Amen. The Bible submits the question, “Will the Son of Man (Jesus) find faith on the earth when He returns?” A testimony as to how wicked mankind will have become in the latter days.
If I may tag team on your comment about the blessing of Abraham. Abraham is considered to be the father of faith. He believed God and it was counted unto him as righteousness. We know this because Abraham obeyed the voice of God.The first seed which carried the promise to bless all nations was the seed of faith. Faith (in God) is the seed that God can bless and still be true to His word as we know that not all of Abraham’s descendants were righteous but his faith was pure. America has rejected the God of the Word and the promise and thereby have chosen to forfeit the blessings.
What a mighty and a Righteous God we serve. df NJ
So we are all Jews first. Got it. Preacher62
Actually only those who belong to God are Jews. Repent and believe the Gospel and you can be a Jew as well. (Romans 2:28–29) “28 For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.” sistersoldier
NO! I don’t!. God’s Word affirms that the Jews are God’s chosen people: “You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession” (Deuteronomy 7:6). From eternity past God knew that He would need to be born into the human race in order to save us from the spiritually dead condition that we were in (Ephesians 1—2; Genesis 3). God had planned from the beginning to be born into a very small nation or race of people called the Jews. JC Teecher
The Lord works in mYsterious ways, sister. I just logged back on to see if you were also, and …boom.. there you are. I have my shadow/burner acccount set up so if you want me to email you, just reply and I’ll post it for you, and then after i receive your email on that acct. I’ll send back my regular email and the info i spoke about. sistersoldier JC Teecher
crap it’s held up in moderation. OK, I’ll break it apart and try it. I had a post yesterday that was held up for 20 hours in mod. sistersoldier | 0 |
Get short URL 0 9 0 0 NATO is tracking the movement of the Russian Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea, considering its presence in the international waters close to the alliance's member states acceptable, Germany’s Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
BERLIN/BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — On October 15, the Russian Northern Fleet’s press service said that a group of warships headed by the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov and accompanied by the Pyotr Veliky battle cruiser, the Severomorsk and the Admiral Kulakov anti-submarine destroyers, and support vessels was sent to the Mediterranean to hold drills and strengthen capabilities.
NATO officials have expressed concerns that the group could be used to support Damascus in the ongoing Syrian civil war. "It is acceptable that the Russian aircraft carrier operates in the international waters, though considering the current situation we will keep a close eye on it," she said. ... | 0 |
When it comes to taking lecture notes, Laura Gayle, a sophomore at Florida State University, has her methods. A smiley face connotes an important person. If the professor says, “Make sure you know this,” she uses an asterisk. A triangular button signals a video clip played in class. Later, she will organize the notes, write a video summary and check uncertainties against the textbook or with the professor. For “Introduction to Classical Mythology,” she’ll even alphabetize a list of Greek gods and goddesses. Then, a few days before the exam, she puts it all up for sale. Since last fall, when she uploaded her macroeconomics notes onto Flashnotes. com to pay for a birthday gift for her mother, Ms. Gayle has sold more than 500 copies of the study guides that she’s put together for her courses, made over $3, 285 and tapped into a growing, if controversial, online marketplace. In describing her approach, Ms. Gayle, a human resources major with a 3. 8 average, sounds aggressive in the best way. “I sit in the front row center for every single class, whether I am selling notes or not,” she says. “For me it is a matter of paying attention, being and,” if something is unclear, “taking the initiative to go out and find the answer. ” Her study guides are rated five stars by users. While borrowing, bartering and selling class notes is nothing new, the online market is just getting organized. sites matching note sellers and buyers have come and gone in recent years as students who started them graduate. NerdyNotes at Stony Brook University is surviving the graduation of a founder, but bigger players are arriving. Flashnotes started up last fall on five campuses — Kent State, Ohio State, Florida State, Rutgers and University of Maryland — with 30, 000 registered users. There are now about 100, 000 at 100 campuses, and the company just bought a Florida State . The sites let student sellers set prices for notes (average is $9) but take a cut. Flashnotes gets 30 percent NerdyNotes takes 50. The marketplace has annoyed some professors, who bar their students from buying or selling notes. In 2010, California State University banned students on its 23 campuses from using NoteUtopia. com (since bought by Flashnotes) citing a state education code prohibiting the selling of class notes for commercial purposes. Some argue that lectures are professors’ intellectual property, including notes recording their ideas others warn that notes are a student’s interpretation of a class. Some say that selling them promotes laziness by enticing students to skip lectures. Still others encourage it. “I want them to use any resource they can to do well on my tests,” says Lora Holcombe, an economics professor at Florida State. “It’s not like with the notes you sleep on them and they’ll go into your head. You have to do some heavy studying. ” Michael Matousek, who graduated from Kent State in 2010, dreamed up Flashnotes during a statistics class in his senior year. He had switched majors twice so was taking a required class that covered topics he had previously studied. Students found the professor confusing, but Mr. Matousek “knew how they were confused. ” After classmates repeatedly sought his help, he compiled and sold his notes to a friend. Soon others wanted copies, so Mr. Matousek collected $10 for each emailed copy, netting more than $1, 000 for the semester. The experience showed him the power of peer education — and not necessarily led by brainiacs. “The 4. 0 kids, they can’t explain,” he says. “The 3. 5, the 3. 6 kids understand what it takes to learn something. ” Mr. Matousek graduated with a 3. 67 G. P. A. and now heads a staff of 22 at Flashnotes headquarters in Faneuil Hall in Boston. The demand is not surprising. “Students are notoriously poor ” says Kenneth Kiewra, professor of educational psychology at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. They tend to record only a third of the important lecture points. What makes notes great? “Completeness,” Dr. Kiewra says. Research shows that having detailed, comprehensive notes raises test performance. In his 1985 study, published in Human Learning, Dr. Kiewra randomly assigned 100 students to one of seven groups. hours after a lecture, the groups had 25 minutes to review before a test. Each group was assigned a learning method: Take your own notes and review (1) your notes, (2) your notes as well as instructor notes, (3) without any notes. Don’t take notes but review (1) instructor notes, (2) without any notes. Skip the lecture but review (1) instructor notes, (2) without any notes. Groups that reviewed instructor notes performed best. “It didn’t matter so much what you did during the lecture,” Dr. Kiewra explains. “It mattered what notes you had. ” Even those who didn’t attend the lecture but reviewed instructor notes did better than those who attended and “reviewed their own crummy notes. ” He concludes: “The real value of is not so much in the taking as in the having. ” Getting down details along with main points is easier said than done. Average lecture speed is 100 to 125 words a minute, but college students listening to a lecture write 22 words a minute by hand they type just 33 words a minute. In his latest research Dr. Kiewra has found that when the professor pauses three times to let students catch up and fill in missing information, they have more “original, additional and total notes” than those who waited to revise immediately after a lecture. If a student fails to note a particular point, Dr. Kiewra says, there is only a 5 percent chance of recalling it later. Videotaped lectures help. When students viewed a video twice, they recorded 53 percent of the details, up from 38 percent, Dr. Kiewra says. Watching three times raised it to 60 percent. Memory is a weak tool, but thinking about the information — paraphrasing rather than writing everything verbatim — improves retention, according to a series of studies at Princeton, published last April in Psychological Science. Students who took notes by hand rather than laptop wrote less but performed better. Laptop users tended to merely transcribe a lecture “rather than processing and reframing it in their own words” they scored strikingly lower on conceptual tests. Alexandra E. Hadley, a Boston College junior who has posted 29 different offerings on Flashnotes in the last year, uses paper for small discussion classes and a laptop for lectures. An English and communications major, she says she thinks hard about points the professor stresses. “I try to be very present in all of my classes,” she says. “That is key — focusing on what I am doing. ” That means considering points as you take notes and connecting new ideas with information from earlier lectures. “I was taking notes in my research methods class and we were talking about pop culture,” she says. “We touched on two theories, but it reminded me of another one, so I threw that in my notes. ” Umar Zaidi, a Stony Brook senior from Queens in political science and sociology, prefers to grab a seat near a power outlet and tap away. “When you are typing you can look at your professor,” he says. He reads over the syllabus before class, “so when the professor mentions something that rings a bell, I type it up. ” While typing he organizes material into sections with main ideas, bullet points and asterisks. Mr. Zaidi uploaded a semester’s worth of lecture notes for “Urban Politics,” an course, when NerdyNotes started up last spring. Sales, at $10 a packet, were slow at first. (Biology notes are the most in demand on campus.) Classmates didn’t take notes, he says, because they thought political science was a breeze — until the midterm. After, he netted $150. “If they’re too lazy to make notes,” he says, “then I’ll make notes and take advantage. ” But Mr. Zaidi won’t sell the study guides he makes for himself. One doesn’t want to make it too easy for classmates. Indeed, some campuses are not good territory because students don’t want to help competitors. In other words, at Flashnotes, Mr. Matousek says, “we’re not putting a huge emphasis on Harvard. ” | 1 |
NBC’s Megyn Kelly got trolled by Twitter users after she asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he is on Twitter. [Kelly was meeting with Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday in St. Petersburg before Russia’s International Economic Forum when she asked Modi, who has a Twitter account with 30 million followers, if he had an account on the social media platform, the Washington Post reported. “I saw your tweet with the umbrella!” Modi said, referencing Kelly’s tweet that day saying that it stopped raining in St. Petersburg. “Oh yes!” Kelly responded, apparently caught a little off guard. “Are you on Twitter?” Kelly asked the prime minister. “Yes,” Modi replied. Kelly’s question did not go unnoticed by Modi’s 30 million plus Twitter followers and others on social media, who mocked the journalist for her apparent ignorance about Modi’s social media presence. Despite the hype @megynkelly comes across as terribly unprepared asking @narendramodi if he’s on @Twitter Heard of basic research? @NBCNews https: . — Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) June 2, 2017, “Despite the hype @megynkelly comes across as terribly unprepared asking @narendramodi if he’s on @Twitter Heard of basic research?” one Indian journalist remarked. . @NBCNews @megynkelly asks @narendramodithe 3rd Most Followed World Leader on @Twitter”Are you on #Twitter ? ”. She hasn’t done homework! pic. twitter. — Swamiji (@AOLSwamiji) June 1, 2017, “She hasn’t done homework!” another user responded. Sheesh. @megynkelly asks @narendramodi WHO HAS 30 MILLION FOLLOWERS if he’s on Twitter. What does it take to get India on the radar screen? https: . — Alyssa Ayres (@AyresAlyssa) June 2, 2017, “What does it take to get India on the radar screen?” wrote Alyssa Ayres of the Council on Foreign Relations. According to Twiplomacy’s annual report on the social media usage of world leaders, Modi was the third on Twitter in 2016 and ranked seventh on the list of most influential world leaders. Kelly, on the other hand, has a modest 2. 3 million Twitter followers mostly based in the U. S. Modi had used social media to connect with his constituents long before other leaders like President Trump jumped on the bandwagon. The New York Times called him “the social media politician” and TIME Magazine mentioned that Modi used “Twitter to bypass traditional media and speak directly to masses feeling left out or pushed behind by globalization. ” | 1 |
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is set to host a political summit called “Take Action Day” on February 23, signaling that Hollywood is doubling down on political advocacy in the Trump era. [The summit will feature speeches from U. S. Senator Kamala Harris ( ) and U. S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy ( 23) according to Variety. Clients and industry pros are encouraged to attend workshops and view presentations on issues ranging from immigration to civil rights and the environment, among others. Other speakers include former U. S. Senator Barbara Boxer, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, and Salam president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. CAA — one of the world’s largest talent agencies — represents some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including directors J. J. Abrams and Kathryn Bigelow, actresses Jennifer Aniston and Emily Blunt and actor Jeff Bridges, as well as politicians like Joe Biden and Barbra Boxer. The agency also represents musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. CAA president Richard Lovett says he hopes the summit will offer its attendees the tools to “take immediate action” on the political issues they are passionate about. “Since 1995, CAA has been committed to providing leadership and support in addressing numerous issues of our time,” Lovett said in a statement. “Our ‘Take Action’ event is meant to educate and inform, and, even more importantly, provide attendees the ability to take immediate action in support of causes about which they are passionate. ” Earlier this month, major Hollywood talent agency (William Morris Endeavor Entertainment) announced its decision to form a federal political action committee along with plans to invest a “substantial” amount of money to develop “actionable public policy solutions. ” Also this month, United Talent Agency — another major Hollywood agency — announced plans to cancel its annual Oscar party in lieu of a rally in support of refugees at its Los Angeles office. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson | 1 |
Beware: You could be poisoning yourself by reheating these five foods
Thursday, October 27, 2016 by: Isabelle Z. Tags: reheating , toxic food , foodborne illness (NaturalNews) Nothing beats a home-cooked meal. Not only does food taste better when you prepare it yourself, but it's also a lot healthier. Unfortunately, this can also be very time-consuming depending on the dish in question, and today's hectic lifestyle means that a lot of us can't cook something special from scratch every day. If you don't want your family to have to resort to toxic fast food on your busy days, what can you do?Making enough home-cooked food to last a few days sounds like a great idea on the surface because you can quickly microwave it, but the truth is that reheating certain foods can actually make you and your family quite ill . Here is a look at some of the foods that you need to be really careful about reheating. Rice According to the NHS, eating reheated rice can cause food poisoning. They explain that the reheating itself is not the culprit; it actually has to do with how the rice was stored prior to reheating. Rice can sometimes contain spores of bacteria known as Bacillus cereus , which can cause food poisoning, and these spores can survive cooking. If rice is then left to sit at room temperature, the spores can grow into bacteria, which will multiply and could produce toxins that can cause vomiting and diarrhea.The NHS says that the likelihood of this happening increases with the amount of time the rice sat outside at room temperature. They advise serving rice right away after it has been cooked or else cooling it as quickly as possible – within no more than an hour. They also suggest reheating rice to the point where it is steaming, and avoiding storing it in the refrigerator for longer than one day. Potatoes Potatoes that have sat out at room temperature for several hours can not only lose their nutritional value, but they could also create the perfect conditions for botulism to grow. Uneaten potatoes should go directly to the fridge after cooking to help reduce the chances of this occurring. Chicken When you reheat cold chicken, the structure of its proteins is changed, which can cause digestive upset. If you have leftovers you can't bear to toss, reheat them slowly at a lower temperature on the stove or in the oven to help keep the chicken's proteins intact. It must be steaming all the way through before you can serve it, so be sure to stir it every once in a while. Spinach Spinach is best eaten raw, but it's okay to cook it if you plan to eat all of it immediately afterward. However, when cooked spinach is reheated, the nitrates in it break down into nitrites, turning one of the healthiest foods into something that is potentially toxic and can negatively impact the uptake of oxygen in the blood. Eggs It is not a good idea to repeatedly expose eggs to heat. Reheating them after they've been fried or boiled using high temperatures can cause them to become toxic and upset your digestive tract. Moreover, their protein is destroyed when they are repeatedly exposed to heat. According to the FDA , cooked egg dishes should never be left outside of the fridge for more than two hours; this drops to just one hour if the temperature is higher than 90 degrees F. Warm temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees provide the perfect environment for bacteria to grow.While most of us have reheated these foods and have not noticed any adverse effects, it is important to exercise caution if you plan to continue doing so in order to avoid poisoning yourself and your family or causing digestive issues. Tina Hanes of the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline suggests making sure your leftovers reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit when you reheat them, and you should use a food thermometer to verify this. Covering the food helps it retain moisture and boosts its chances of heating all the way through, which is vital for avoiding cooler pockets where bacteria can thrive. Finally, keep in mind that microwaves are particularly risky because they do not heat food evenly. Sources include: | 0 |
NEW DELHI — At least 36 passengers were killed in a train derailment in southern India on Saturday night, the latest disaster on India’s old and overburdened railway system. Government and medical authorities said that at least 40 additional passengers were injured, several critically, and admitted to hospitals. Rescue workers struggled into the early morning to pull the injured passengers and dead bodies from the engine and nine coaches, the authorities said. The accident took place in the Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh state in southern India, when the engine and coaches of the Hirakhand Express from Jagdalpur to Bhubaneshwar derailed at 11:15 p. m. according to a statement issued by Indian Railways, the firm that runs India’s trains. The authorities said the cause was not clear, and Indian Railways announced an investigation. India’s railways, which transport 23 million people a day over more than 70, 000 miles of track, have been neglected for years. In 2014, there were more than 27, 000 deaths in India. In 2012, a committee appointed to review the safety of the rail network cited “a grim picture of inadequate performance largely due to poor infrastructure and resources. ” It recommended many urgent measures, including upgrading tracks, repairing bridges, eliminating level crossings and replacing old coaches with safer ones that would better protect passengers in case of an accident. These remedies came with a hefty price tag: The committee said it would cost some $14 billion over five years to put the railways on safer footing. Still, it advised that the work should proceed “in a manner with required resources mobilized. ” This was never done. Enku Swamy, the district fire officer for Vizianagaram, said in a telephone interview that rescue agencies took about 40 minutes to reach the accident site, in a remote area close to the border of Odisha state. “Some people died because of a stampede inside the derailed coaches,” Mr. Swamy said. Madan Mohal Nial, 21, a passenger, said in an interview from his hospital bed that he was making the journey to take an exam for a government job when the derailment happened. “We heard a loud noise suddenly, and the train coaches turned upside down,” he said. “Many passengers fell down on me. My left hand got trapped in the window rods and got injured. ” Despite the injury to his arm, he searched the coach twice for his luggage because it contained his educational certificates, he said. He said he was not able to find his luggage and finally had to leave to be hospitalized. injured passengers were admitted to the nearby Government Area Hospital in Parvatipuram. “Most of the injured suffered abdominal and chest crush injuries, and multiple bone fractures on upper and lower limbs,” Dr. G. Nagabhusana Rao, medical superintendent of the hospital, said in a telephone interview. Indian Railways announced compensation of 200, 000 rupees, about $2, 937, to the families of the dead, and 50, 000 rupees, or about $734, to injured passengers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief on Twitter, calling the accident a tragedy. Passenger safety, or the lack of it, has come under scrutiny in India in recent months. In November, more than 140 passengers died in the derailment of passenger coaches near the city of Kanpur. In the weeks after that accident, two more people died in another derailment of passenger coaches in the same stretch of track. | 1 |
Å finne en syndebukk av Thierry Meyssan I Berlin gjorde Tyskland, Frankrike, Russland og Ukraina et forsøk på å greie opp i konfliktene i Ukraina og Syria. Men fra Russlands synspunkt eksisterer disse blokadene kun fordi de er et påfunn fra De Forente Stater. De er ikke noe forsvar for demokrati, slik USA skryter av selv. De er der for å hindre utviklingen i Russland og Kina og for å få slutt på Silkeveien. Siden de nå disponerer konvensjonell overlegenhet gjorde derfor Moskva alt de kunne for å knytte Midt-Østen til Øst-Europa. De greidde det ved å bytte ut en utvidelse av våpenhvilen i Syria med å få slutt på blokaden av Minsk-avtalen. Mens Washington fremdeles prøver å laste all sin skyld over på sine allierte. Etter å ha feilet i Tyrkia, har CIA nå vendt seg til Saudi-Arabia.
Voltaire Network | Damaskus (Syria) | 26 octobre 2016 français Español русский Deutsch English Türkçe Português ελληνικά italiano Konflikten der Russland og Kina er i opposisjon til De Forente Stater utvikler seg på to fronter. På den ene siden leter Washington etter en mulig syndebukk som skal bære ansvaret for krigen mot Syria. Og på den andre siden har vi Moskva som allerede er knyttet til situasjonen i Syria og Jemen. De prøver nå å knytte dem til spørsmålet om Ukraina.
Washington vil ha en syndebukk For å frigjøre seg fra sitt engasjement uten å miste ansikt, har USA måttet skylde på en av sine allierte for sine forbrytelser. De har tre muligheter - det er å skylde på Tyrkia, Saudi-Arabia, eller begge. Tyrkia er til stede i Syria og i Ukraina, men ikke i Jemen, mens Saudi-Arabia er til stede i Syria og Jemen, men ikke i Ukraina.
Tyrkia
Vi skal nå komme med den verifiserte informasjonen om hva som virkelig hendte i Tyrkia den 15. juli. Disse opplysningene tvinger oss til å revidere vårt første inntrykk.
Først av alt, det begynte da Tyrkia skulle ta seg av jihadist-hordene etter angrepet som såret den saudiske prins Bandar bin Sultan, det var ikke uten problemer. Mens Bandar var en lydig mellommann, fulgte Erdogan sin egen strategi om å gjenskape det 17. tyrkisk-mongolske imperium. Det fikk han til ved å bruke jihadistene til sitt oppdrag.
I tillegg til dette kunne USA ikke unngå å kreve sanksjoner mot president Erdogan for å blande sitt land økonomisk sammen med Russland mens han fremdeles var et militært medlem av NATO.
Til slutt, med krisen i strukturen om verdensmaktene, ble Erdogan den ideelle syndebukken for USA for å frikjenne seg selv i Syria-krisen.
Fra USAs synspunkt er ikke problemet Tyrkia, som er en uunnværlig regional alliert, heller ikke Hakan Fidans MIT (de hemmelige tjenestene) som organiserer verdens jihadist-bevegelser, men Recep Tayyip Erdogan selv.
Som en konsekvens prøvde National Endowment for Democracy (NED) først av alt å få til en fargerevolusjon i august 2013. De organiserte demonstrasjoner i Cezi-parken i Istanbul. Enten mislyktes planen, eller USA forandret mening.
Det ble tatt en beslutning ved avstemming om å styrte islamistenes Justice and Development Party (AKP) (Erdogans parti overs.). CIA hadde organisert People’s Democratic Party (HDP) til et minoritetsparti, og forberedte også en allianse mellom dem og sosialistene i Republican People’s Party (CHP). HDP vedtok et vidt program til forsvar for etniske minoriteter (kurderne) og sosiale minoriteter (feminister og homoseksuelle) og inkluderte et økologisk kapitel. CHP ble reorganisert av to grunner - å dekke over overrepresentasjonen av Alevis (en mystisk gren av islam overs,) i partiet, og med en tanke om å fremme kandidaturet til eks-presidenten i høyesterett. AKP tapte valget i juli 2015, men det viste seg umulig å få til en allianse mellom CHP og HDP. Som et resultat ble det holdt en ny runde med valg i november 2015, men det ble brutalt manipulert av Recep Tayiip Erdogan.
Washington bestemte seg derfor å fjerne hr. Erdogan. Tre drapsforsøk ble gjort mellom november 2015 og juli 2016. I motsetning til det som er blitt rapportert, var ikke operasjonen den 15. juli 2016 et forsøk på statskupp, men et forsøk på å fjerne Erdogan alene. CIA brukte tyrkisk-USA industrielle og militære forbindelser for å rekruttere et lite team innenfor luftforsvaret for å henrette presidenten mens han var på ferie. Men dette teamet ble forrådt av islamist-offiserer (som representerte nesten en fjerdedel av hærens personell). Og presidenten ble advart en time før kommandogruppen ankom. Han ble derfor overført under beskyttelse av en lojal militæreskorte.
De var klar over de overskuelige konsekvensene av sine feil, allikevel gjennomførte konspiratørene sitt statskupp uten noen forberedelser og mens gatene i Istanbul fremdeles var fulle av folk. Åpenbart nok mislyktes de. Den undertrykkelsen som fulgte var ikke bare bare å arrestere de som hadde stått bak mordforsøket, ikke bare soldatene som hadde samlet seg for å improvisere statskuppet, men alle USA-vennlige aktivister. Først av alle de sekulære Kemalistene, så islamistene i Fethulla-Gulen-bevegelsen. Totalt ble mer enn 70 000 mennesker anklaget, og de vanlige fangene måtte slippes ut for å få plass til å fengsle de USA-vennlige fangene.
President Erdogans stormannsgalskap, hans sinnssyke hvite palass, hans manipulering av valgene og hans totale undertrykkelse gjør han til den ideelle syndebukken for feilene som har blitt gjort i Syria. Men hans motstand mot en fargerevolusjon og de fire mordforsøkene antyder at det ikke vil være mulig å bli kvitt han så fort.
Saudi-Arabia
Saudi-Arabia er like uunnværlig for De Forente Stater som Tyrkia av tre grunner. Først på grunn av oljereservene som har en eksepsjonell kvalitet og eksepsjonell kvantitet (selv om Washington ikke lenger trenger å bruke dem, men bare for å kontrollere salget). Deretter for sine finansielle reserver (selv om disse reservene har falt med 70 %) som gjør dem i stand til å finansiere hemmelige operasjoner som i all stillhet er kontrollert av Kongressen. Og til slutt deres grep om kildene til jihadisme. Faktisk har Riyadh finansiert Muslim World League siden 1962, og de var også med på å grunnlegge denne. Og finansieringen har blitt gjort på vegne av CIA, Det Muslimske Brorskap Naqshbandis, de to organisasjonene som forsyner absolutt alle jihadist-offiserer i hele verden.
Men den anakronistiske karakteren i denne staten er at den er den private eiendommen til den kongelige familien, som er fremmede for det allment aksepterte prinsippet om ytringsfrihet og religionsfrihet. Her kreves det radikale forandringer.
CIA organiserte derfor etterfølgeren etter kong Abdullah i januar 2015. Den natten statsoverhodet døde ble flertallet av de ineffektive offentlig ansatte løst fra sine funksjoner, og landet ble omorganisert etter en på forhånd etablert plan Fra nå av skulle makten deles mellom de tre hovedklanene, Kong Salmane ( og hans elskede sønn prins Mohammed), sønnen til prins Nayef (den andre prins Mohammed), og til slutt sønnen til den avdøde kongen, prins Mutaib, (kommandør for nasjonalgarden).
I praksis lar kong Salmane (81 år gammel) sønnen, den flotte prins Mohammed ( 31 år gammel) styre i hans sted. Mohammed økte det saudiske engasjementet i Syria, deretter gikk han til krig mot Jemen. I tillegg kom han med et enormt program med økonomiske og sosiale reformer som han kalte «Vision for 2030».
Dessverre ble ikke resultatene så strålende som ventet. Kongedømmet var nå engasjert både i Syria og i Jemen. Denne siste krigen er blitt slått tilbake med angrep fra Houtiene på saudiske områder og med tap for hæren hans. Fra et økonomisk synspunkt er de sikre oljereservene gått ned, og tapene i Jemen hindrer han i å utnytte «The Empty Quarter». Det er ørkenregionen som grenser til begge land. Fallet i oljeprisene har ganske sikkert fjernet et antall konkurrenter, men har også tørket inn det saudiske finansdepartementet, som nå ser seg nødt til å låne på det internasjonale markedet.
Saudi-Arabia har aldri vært så mektig som nå, og samtidig så sårbart. Den politiske undertrykkelsen nådde sitt høydepunkt med halshoggingen av lederen for opposisjonen, sjeik Al-Nimr. I shia-minoritetene forberedes nå opprør, men også i sunni-provinsene vest i landet. På internasjonalt nivå ser den arabiske koalisjonen imponerende nok ut. Men den har falt fra hverandre etter at Egypt trakk seg ut. Den offentlige tilnærmingen til Israel mot Iran har reist et ramaskrik i den arabiske og muslimske verden. Heller enn gå inn for en ny allianse, illustrerer dette panikken som har grepet den kongelig familien, som nå er hatet overalt.
Sett fra Washington er øyeblikket kommet for å velge ut de elementene i Saudi-Arabia som er verdt å redde, og å bli kvitt de andre. Rent logisk ville det være å gå tilbake til den tidligere måten, å dele makten mellom Sudariene (men uten prins Mohammed bin Salman, som hadde vist seg ubrukbar) og Chamar (stammen til den avdøde kong Abdullah).
Den beste løsningen for både Washington og det saudiske folket ville være at kong Salmane døde. Sønnen hans, Mohammed ville bli isolert og vekk fra makten. Den ville bli betrodd den andre prins Mohammed (sønnen til Nayef). Prins Mutaib ville beholde sin posisjon. Denne arvefølgen ville bli lettere å styre for Washington hvis den fant sted før innsettelsen av den neste presidenten den 6. januar 2017. Kandidatene ville da kunne anklage den ubrukelige kongen som ansvarlig for alle feil, og så annonsere fred i Syria og Jemen. Dette er CIAs nåværende prosjekt.
I Arabia, som i Tyrkia og i andre nasjoner, søker CIA å opprettholde status quo. Til det formålet prøver de å organisere forsøk på å bytte ut ledere uten å røre strukturene selv. Den kosmetiske måten til disse justeringene gjøres på, gjør det lettere å garantere hvor usynlig arbeidet er.
Moskva prøver å lenke sammen Midt-Østen og Ukraina i forhandlingene Russland har prøvd å lenke sammen den syriske og jemenittiske slagmarken. Mens deres styrker offisielt har vært utplassert i Levanten i et år, har de uoffisielt vært til sted i Jemen i tre måneder, og tar nå aktivt del i kampene. Ved samtidig å forhandle om en våpenhvile i Aleppo og Jemen, har de tvunget USA til gå med på at det er en sammenheng mellom disse to krigsteatrene. I begge disse landene har hæren vist sin overlegenhet med konvensjonelt utstyr når de står ansikt til ansikt med USAs allierte, men har samtidig unngått en direkte konfrontasjon med Pentagon. Disse omgåelsene hindrer Moskva i å investere i Irak, til tross for deres historiske forløpere i dette tredje landet.
Men opprinnelsen til krangelen mellom de to store maktene er i utgangspunktet blokaden av de to Silkeveiene - en i Syria, og en i Ukraina. Logisk nok prøver derfor Moskva å lenke disse to sakene sammen i sine forhandlinger med Washington. Men det er enda mer logisk at CIA selv allerede har skapt en tilknytning mellom de to kamp-plassene via Tyrkia.
Da han dro til Berlin den 19. oktober håpet den russiske president, Vladimir Putin, og hans utenriksminister, Sergej Lavrov, å kunne overbevise Tyskland og Frankrike, om ikke De Forente Stater, om å forene disse sakene. De diskuterte utvidelse av våpenhvilen i Syria og slutt på den ukrainske blokaden av Minsk-avtalen. Disse forretningene må ha irritert Washington, som vil gjøre alt som står i deres makt for å sabotere det.
Naturligvis vil Berlin og Paris til slutt rette seg etter NATOs politikk. Men fra Moskvas synspunkt er en frossen konflikt bedre enn et tap (i Ukraina, som i Transnistria, for eksempel). Og alt som kan skade enheten i NATO er signaler på slutten av USAs overlegenhet.
Thierry Meyssan Oversettelse
Ingunn Kvil Gamst | 0 |
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Kellyanne Conway, the Republican pollster and strategist who helped guide Donald J. Trump to victory in November, on Thursday was appointed counselor to the president, becoming the woman at the White House and one of his principal messengers to the public. Ms. Conway will be joined in the West Wing, steps from the Oval Office, by Sean Spicer, a veteran Washington political operative, who will be the face of Mr. Trump’s administration as its press secretary, the transition team announced. Along with several other White House communications specialists appointed on Thursday, the pair will wage daily battles with legislators on Mr. Trump’s behalf while seeking to preserve the president’s political power base among voters outside the capital. Ms. Conway and Mr. Spicer will also be responsible for a relationship with the press corps that has often turned antagonistic. The ’s team has hinted that they may change the way reporters are treated, and possibly eliminate the daily press briefing, after a campaign during which Mr. Trump frequently derided reporters as dishonest. Ms. Conway, 49, who took over as Mr. Trump’s campaign manager in August, shortly after the Republican convention, guided him through a brutal and divisive campaign, often appearing on television to vouch for him during periods of scandal or controversy. She stood by Mr. Trump after a 2005 tape surfaced in which he boasted about groping women, proving her loyalty and helping secure her position as someone who will have the president’s ear on a wide variety of topics. In a statement, the said Ms. Conway would continue her role as a “close adviser,” responsible for helping carry out his priorities and delivering his message from inside the White House. “She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message,” Mr. Trump said. “I am pleased that she will be part of my senior team in the West Wing. ” Jason Miller, a Republican operative who was an early spokesman for Mr. Trump during the campaign, will become the communications director at the White House, transition officials announced. Hope Hicks, who served as a campaign spokeswoman, will become the director of strategic communications, and Dan Scavino will be the director of social media. The new members of the staff will have the power to shape Mr. Trump’s presence in Washington as he makes the transition from businessman to president. The is also under pressure from his supporters to deal aggressively with the national press corps. And his political advisers will help guide him through a potentially contentious relationship with some members of Congress, including ones from his own party. The West Wing sweepstakes has provoked a weekslong roiling debate within Mr. Trump’s circle over who should fill prime posts. It also reflected the ’s apparent dissatisfaction with some of his options for who would appear at the White House podium as press secretary. Mr. Trump had hoped to have a woman at least share those briefing duties. But after Ms. Conway declined, Mr. Trump eventually dismissed alternatives that could have signaled a more hostile approach to the press, such as the conservative radio host Laura Ingraham and Kimberly Guilfoyle, a Fox News host and commentator. Mr. Spicer, 45, is a fierce advocate for Mr. Trump and can be combative with reporters. But he is also a familiar face in Washington, having served for years as the chief spokesman for the Republican National Committee. His ascension to one of the most visible jobs in Washington represents a victory for Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee and the incoming chief of staff, in internal jockeying with Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s as well as with Stephen K. Bannon, who will be Mr. Trump’s chief White House strategist, and Vice Mike Pence. Mr. Trump is deeply fond of Ms. Conway, whose job as counselor will give her frequent access to the president. Considered a “Trump whisperer” during the campaign, and someone who was particularly adept at explaining his appeal to voters, Ms. Conway will serve as one of the chief protectors of Mr. Trump’s political brand. She also has been a favorite strategist for other conservative candidates, such as Newt Gingrich during the 2012 presidential race, and she was an adviser to Mr. Pence during his run for governor of Indiana. She has reportedly clashed at times with Mr. Priebus and Mr. Kushner. Both men were frustrated when she gave a series of interviews in which she criticized Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, who was being considered for secretary of state despite having been a key figure of opposition to Mr. Trump during the campaign. With a approach that has appealed to Mr. Trump, Ms. Conway was credited during the campaign — even by Democrats who opposed her — with smoothing out some of Mr. Trump’s most jagged edges during her appearances on television. In the coming days, Mr. Trump is also expected to name three deputy chiefs of staff to help Mr. Priebus manage the sprawling operations at the White House. Among those being considered for these posts are Katie Walsh, who was the chief of staff at the Republican National Committee Joe Hagin, who was the deputy chief of staff for operations through most of George W. Bush’s administration and Rick A. Dearborn, who was the chief of staff to Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who has been selected by Mr. Trump to serve as attorney general. Tending to Mr. Trump’s relationships in Washington is likely to fall, in part, to Bill Stepien, who is in line to be the new political director. Mr. Stepien once played that role as the longtime political adviser to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, but was fired for his part in the scandal involving a plot to punish a Democratic mayor by closing traffic lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge. Mr. Stepien has been credited by Mr. Kushner and Mr. Bannon, who brought him on board in August, with helping them secure Mr. Trump’s victory in November. It is unclear how Mr. Trump intends to use David Bossie, who left the conservative nonprofit group Citizens United to be the deputy campaign manager, and was among Mr. Trump’s earliest informal advisers about a presidential run. Mr. Bossie frequently clashed with Mr. Priebus, and Mr. Trump was dissatisfied with him by the end of the campaign. He has sought to be a deputy chief of staff. One loyal aide who will not be joining the president’s White House staff is Corey Lewandowski, who was recruited to be Mr. Trump’s first campaign manager at the recommendation of Mr. Bossie. Mr. Lewandowski, who was fired from the campaign early last summer, waged the most visible fight for a role at the White House. In the end, though, he will remain outside the gates, announcing on Twitter on Wednesday that he has set up a Washington public relations and consulting business a block from the White House. “I will always be President Trump’s biggest supporter,” Mr. Lewandowski wrote in a news release announcing the new business, Avenue Strategies. The of the firm is Barry Bennett, who managed the presidential campaign of Ben Carson Mr. Lewandowski brought him onto the Trump campaign after Mr. Carson dropped out. | 1 |
Scientists About To Pour $100 Million Into Looking For Aliens Around Weird Star 10/26/2016
THE DAILY CALLER
Astronomers are about to pour $100 million into investigating a star that may be surrounded by a large structure built by an alien civilization.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley’s Breakthrough Listen project of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) are turning the program’s $100 million budget into investigating the star’s unique behavior.
“Everyone, every SETI program telescope, I mean every astronomer that has any kind of telescope in any wavelength that can see Tabby’s star has looked at it,” Dr. Andrew Siemion, director of the Berkeley SETI Research Center, said in a press statement . “It’s been looked at with Hubble, it’s been looked at with Keck, it’s been looked at in the infrared and radio and high energy, and every possible thing you can imagine, including a whole range of SETI experiments. Nothing has been found.”
Researchers will repeatedly scan the star for eight hours per night over the next two months to examine its extremely unusually dimming behavior. The star randomly dims by as much as 22 percent of its output at extremely irregular intervals. This is consistent with large orbiting masses, much larger than planets, blocking out some of the star’s light when they pass in front of it. All the natural forms of large masses which could cause KIC 8462852’s dimming aren’t consistent with the star’s age .
Scientists found the first possible evidence of this extraterrestrial civilization around KIC 8462852 last October , when astronomers with Yale University and other top schools published a study that used NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope.
So far, astronomers haven’t found a single naturalistic explanation for the star’s exceedingly unusual dimming, which explains the extremely unusual behavior of the star. Astronomers have examined 500 other stars in the vicinity of KIC 8462852, and seen nothing else like it.
The dense formations near KIC 8462852 are similar to “Dyson Spheres,” hypothetical, are energy-harvesting “megastuctures” theoretical aliens could hypothetically build by rearranging the solar system. Scientists have pondered the existence of Dyson Spheres since the 1960s, thinking they could be a potential solution to energy problems faced by an extremely old civilization. SETI scientists have long argued humans could detect distant alien civilizations by looking for technological artifacts like Dyson Spheres orbiting other stars.
“We spent a long time trying to convince ourselves this wasn’t real. We just weren’t able to,” Ben Montet, a Caltech astronomer who co-authored research on the star, told Gizmodo . “None of the considered phenomena can alone explain the observations.”
The best naturalistic explanation favored by astronomers, involves a huge mass of comets erratically orbiting the star and creating enough dust to dim the light, but a January analysis of the star’s history renders that hypothesis implausible, since the unprecedented dimming has continued for over a century. In order to dim for such a long time period, the star would need to have millions of times more dust and comets orbiting it than is the case.
Astronomers estimate that the dimming would require roughly 648,000 giant comets of 200 kilometers in diameter, all aligned to pass in front of the star. The chances of such a formation render it essentially impossible, and there is currently no remotely plausible scientific explanation for what is going on with KIC 8462852.
Astronomers have previously frequently misjudge abnormal stellar occurrences and, usually, the abnormalities are simply a new phenomenon.
A graduate student in astronomy, found an usual pulsing radio signal so predictable it seemed to be a sign of intelligent life in 1967. The astronomers even nicknamed the signal LGM-1, for “little green men,” and believed they had detected a signal from an extraterrestrial civilization , but it turned out to be the first pulsar. | 0 |
In a groundbreaking effort to close the wage gap between men and women, Massachusetts has become the first state to bar employers from asking about applicants’ salaries before offering them a job. The new law will require hiring managers to state a compensation figure upfront — based on what an applicant’s worth is to the company, rather than on what he or she made in a previous position. The bipartisan legislation, signed into law on Monday by Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, is being pushed as a model for other states, as the issue of men historically outearning women who do the same job has leapt onto the national political scene. Nationally, there have been repeated efforts to strengthen equal pay laws — which are already on the books but tend to lack teeth — but none have succeeded so far. Hillary Clinton has tried to make equal pay a signature issue of her campaign, while Donald J. Trump’s daughter Ivanka praised her father for his actions on this issue when she spoke at the Republican National Convention. By barring companies from asking prospective employees how much they earned at their last jobs, Massachusetts will ensure that the historically lower wages and salaries assigned to women and minorities do not follow them for their entire careers. Companies tend to set salaries for new hires using their previous pay as a base line. “I think very few businesses consciously discriminate, but they need to become aware of it,” said State Senator Pat Jehlen, a Democrat and one of the bill’s . “These are things that don’t just affect one job it keeps women’s wages down over their entire lifetime. ” Federal law already prohibits pay discrimination, but violations are hard to prove and wage gaps persist in nearly every industry. Nationally, women are paid 79 cents for every dollar that men earn, according to the United States Census Bureau. A number of factors affect that statistic, including the career fields women choose, but economists consistently find evidence of pay disparities not offset by other variables. The Massachusetts law, which will go into effect in July 2018, takes other steps as well to combat pay discrimination. Companies will not be allowed to prohibit workers from telling others how much they are paid, a move that proponents say can increase salary transparency and help employees discover disparities. And the law will require equal pay not just for workers whose jobs are alike, but also for those whose work is of “comparable character” or who work in “comparable operations. ” Workers with more seniority will still be permitted to earn higher pay, but the law effectively broadens the definition of what is equal work. Other states have also been stepping up their protections. In May, Maryland passed a law that requires equal pay for “comparable” work, and California last year enacted a law that is one of the nation’s strictest, requiring employers to be able to prove that they pay workers of both genders equally for “substantially similar” jobs. It, too, had the backing of important local trade groups, including the California Chamber of Commerce. And Massachusetts joins at least 12 other states that already require companies to let employees compare notes about how much they are paid. The distinguishing feature in the Massachusetts law is that job seekers will no longer be compelled to disclose their salary or wages at their current or previous jobs — which often leaves applicants with the nagging suspicion that they might have been offered more money if the earlier figure had been higher. People will still be allowed to volunteer their salary information. “This is a sea change, and we hope it will be used as a model in other states,” said Victoria A. Budson, executive director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and chairwoman of the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. The law in her state, she said, “will help every single individual who applies for a job, not just women. ” Efforts to pass a national law, the Paycheck Fairness Act, have been repeatedly blocked by congressional Republicans. Opponents, including the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, a powerful business lobbying group, say that such laws would increase litigation and unfairly restrict employers’ compensation decisions. But proponents of equal pay laws say that attitudes are shifting among businesses. In Massachusetts, for instance, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce was an early and enthusiastic backer. “That really set the tone,” said State Representative Ellen Story, a Democrat and of the bill. “Now it wasn’t just members of the women’s caucus, it was business leaders, too, asking for this. ” The Massachusetts attorney general will be in charge of enforcing the law, which also gives workers the right to sue companies directly for violations. In June, 28 businesses nationwide, including large employers like Gap, Pepsi and American Airlines, signed an Equal Pay Pledge promoted by the White House in which they committed to conducting annual audits of their pay by gender across all job categories. “Companies that want to do the right thing are seeing that these new laws really pose no threat,” said Vicki Shabo, vice president of the National Partnership for Women Families, which tracks the fair pay bills introduced in state legislatures. “It’s absolutely started to pick up. These laws are not just passing in completely blue places,” she added,” they’re passing with bipartisan votes. ” Businesses are also beginning to talk more openly about the often uncomfortable things those audits find. PricewaterhouseCoopers published the results of a pay analysis it did of its British staff. It found a 15. 1 percent pay disparity between men and women, and changed its promotion practices to bring more women into senior leadership roles. Salesforce, a cloud software company, says it spent $3 million last year to raise the salaries of female employees to match their male counterparts. Academic research has illustrated the negative effect pay disparity has not just on individuals, but also on the broader economy. Closing the gender wage gap would lower the poverty rates in every state, according to an analysis by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. Just as important, according to advocates of equal pay, are the changing demographics in boardrooms and statehouses. Ms. Jehlen, one of the Massachusetts bill’s recalled the first time she testified about equal pay issues before the legislature’s labor committee: All the members were men. She and others had taken up the cause on behalf of a group of female cafeteria workers who filed a lawsuit in 1991 seeking parity with male janitors, who did comparable work, the cafeteria workers said, but were paid significantly more. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against the women, saying that the state’s equal pay law was not clear in its definition of comparable work. This week, one of those cafeteria workers attended the ceremony at which Governor Baker signed the new law. “For me,” Ms. Jehlen said, “that was the most emotionally powerful thing. ” | 1 |
“He’s either going to be fantastic — or dead. ” That was the verdict of some of opera’s keenest vocal judges a decade ago when they awarded Michael Fabiano, an explosively talented tenor who was 22 at the time and pushing himself hard, a win at the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. A decade later, he is one of the most exciting, singers in the world — but the fatalistic warning was still ringing in my ears a few Sundays ago when Mr. Fabiano, who likes to pilot planes on his days off, took me for a flight. As we buckled into a small Piper Archer at Essex County Airport in New Jersey, near his childhood home, Mr. Fabiano rattled off a battery of safety instructions that went well beyond the usual flight attendant script: where to find the fire extinguisher, how to brace yourself over the instrument panel if necessary, how to unlatch the door in case of a crash landing. He cried “Clear prop!” then started the propeller, and up we went. I found myself wondering if I would have felt safer flown by a singer who was not quite as for — or perhaps by a baritone, or anyone other than an impassioned tenor. “Safe never wins,” Mr. Fabiano, 32, said in an interview, explaining the philosophy that has guided everything from his choice of roles to his decision to act on a lifelong dream and get his pilot’s license, despite the dangers. “I’m very, very big on preparation. I take prepared gambles. ” These are heady days for Mr. Fabiano, whose voice abounds in the pinging quality opera buffs sometimes call “squillo. ” He is currently singing in Verdi’s “La Traviata” at the Met opposite the soprano Sonya Yoncheva, a production that will be simulcast to cinemas around the world on March 11. This summer he will sing his first Don José in Bizet’s “Carmen” in a new staging at the Festival in France. And, in a sign of his arrival as an international star, he will open the season at the Royal Opera House in London, in a production to be announced next month. But at nearly every step, Mr. Fabiano has been dogged by questions like the ones that the National Council judges raised a decade ago — about whether he was biting off too much, too soon. It is a dilemma many young singers face: Push hard and risk damaging your voice, or err on the side of caution and chance missing your moment. I witnessed one of his more remarkable gambles two years ago. The Met phoned him one afternoon while he was home in Philadelphia and asked if he would step in for an ailing tenor in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” six and a half hours later, in a staging he had never seen, let alone rehearsed. I happened to be at the opera house that day reporting another article. Despite the pressure he was facing — he had zipped up on Amtrak — he let me tag along as he got hastily fitted for costumes and raced through a battery of rehearsals. By 11:05 p. m. he was basking in a standing ovation, and nursing a head wound from a cut he got exiting the stage. His exploit made international news. Reminded of the old “fantastic or dead” paths suggested by the National Council judges (in a scene captured in “The Audition,” a documentary about the competition) Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, said, “He seems to have gone towards the fantastic. ” Mr. Gelb’s plans include mounting a revival of Verdi’s “I Lombardi,” which Mr. Fabiano has sung to tumultuous acclaim, for him in the season. “Everyone wants to be the next Domingo,” Mr. Gelb said. “The question for him is being careful and selective, and not blowing his voice out by taking on roles that are too much for him. ” As the plane floated above New Jersey, the Willowbrook Mall visible down below, Mr. Fabiano turned toward Lincoln Park, where he lived as a child. “Do you see that red roof?” he asked, gesturing down below. “That was my home. ” Opera was not always in the cards for Mr. Fabiano, whose family moved to Minnesota when he was 11, but whose accent is still more Jersey than Twin Cities. He comes from a musical family — an aunt was an opera singer — and he sang in high school, but as a teenager he was more interested in debate, mock trial and being a baseball umpire. (Mr. Fabiano, who cuts a trim, muscular figure now, took to umpiring rather than playing in part because he was overweight in his youth he shed 80 pounds the year he turned 20.) It was not until he got into the University of Michigan and began studying with George Shirley, a tenor who was one of the first men to sing leading roles at the Met in the 1960s, that he became serious about singing. Mr. Shirley said that Mr. Fabiano was on a fast track from the start. “He sings with such passion — that’s one of the things that makes people concerned,” he said in a telephone interview. “Because whatever Michael does, it’s 3, 000 percent. There’s no backing off. That’s his personality. But so far, so good. He walks to the beat of his own drummer, and so far, the beat is solid. ” Some of Mr. Fabiano’s advisers warned him against taking on the taxing title role in Verdi’s “Don Carlo” last season at the San Francisco Opera, one of his main artistic homes in recent years. But he studied the role for three and a half years and nailed it. During the run last June, we got together at the Presidio, at a favorite spot of his overlooking the Pacific Ocean. “I always think that the great performances are the performances where you think a singer is going right to the edge,” said Mr. Fabiano, who will return to San Francisco next season to star in Massenet’s “Manon,” opposite Nadine Sierra. “When a singer has gone right to the edge, either they just make it or they break slightly and you think, that’s it. ” A dramatic fog rolled in off the ocean as we spoke. Then we headed back to the War Memorial Opera House in his black BMW Mr. Fabiano, who is on the road 11 months a year, had it shipped across country as a taste of home. As the traffic thickened, he began aggressively weaving in and out, explaining that he did not believe in defensive driving. “There are a lot of defensive singers,” he said, a dismissive edge in his voice, “who pursue their careers defensively. ” These are tricky times for an opera star. Many companies are struggling financially singers’ fees have been cut in many places the recording industry is not what it was. Mr. Fabiano said that when he decided to make opera his career, he carefully mapped out the steps he needed to succeed. “I felt like a businessman, not like an artist,” he said. “I know so many people don’t want to hear that. I’m a businessman at the core. ” Some gambles paid off, some did not — looking back, he said, it was a mistake to sing at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan at 23, saying he was “too green” to make it a success. But he is constantly trying new things: Last fall, he and some friends started a foundation, ArtSmart, to give free voice lessons to teenagers who lack access. Its pilot program, at Newark East Side High School in New Jersey, reaches about a dozen students, and he plans to expand the program to Philadelphia and San Francisco. “We teach the kids any genre of music that they want to focus on,” he said, “but we do give them a base curriculum — stretching, breathing, vocal exercises, how to read music. ” We began our descent, the runway getting closer and closer. “Get down, honey,” he said, and a few seconds later the plane’s tires hit the tarmac. “If I only listened to my elders and did exactly what they prescribed, I wouldn’t be who I am today,” he said, after the plane had taxied to a stop. “I might not be flying a plane, because most people told me it’s too dangerous to do, and you shouldn’t do it, and blah, blah, blah. Well, I love to fly. I will never take the careful route. ” “I don’t want to live a kind of cloistered life,” he added. “There are singers that can sing for 50 years, and there are singers that sing for 30. I’ll fall somewhere in between that. Maybe not at the high end, maybe not at the low. But somewhere. ” | 1 |
SAN FRANCISCO — On Friday morning, Silicon Valley was largely ambivalent about President Trump. The software programmers, marketing experts and chief executives might not have voted for him, but they were hopeful about finding common ground with the new administration. By Saturday night, much of that optimism had yielded to anger and determination. Mr. Trump’s executive order late on Friday temporarily blocked all refugees while also denying entry to citizens of Iran, Iraq and five other predominantly Muslim countries. The directives struck at the heart of Silicon Valley’s cherished values, its fabled history and, not least, its approach to customers. Two worldviews collided: the mantra of globalization that underpins the advance of technology and the nationalistic agenda of the new administration. In response, a significant part of the tech community went to the barricades. Netflix’s chief executive, Reed Hastings, wrote on Facebook that Mr. Trump’s actions “are so it pains us all” and that “it is time to link arms together to protect American values of freedom and opportunity. ” Brian Chesky, the chief executive of Airbnb, made the same point. “We must stand with those who are affected,” he wrote on Twitter. Sergey Brin, a Google founder who immigrated from the Soviet Union when he was 6, seemed to take that suggestion literally, attending an impromptu protest on Saturday evening at San Francisco International Airport. When some of the demonstrators realized that the man in America was with them, they asked for selfies. He obliged. “I’m here because I’m a refugee,” Mr. Brin said, according to a Twitter post by the Forbes writer Ryan Mac. The tech companies’ reaction was more forceful than that of other industries. Just about everyone in Silicon Valley came from somewhere else or is a son or daughter of someone who did or is married to someone who did. That list starts with the most famous Silicon Valley citizen of all: Steve Jobs, the Apple whose biological father immigrated from Syria in 1954. Mr. Trump’s order proclaimed that “the entry of nationals of Syria as refugees is detrimental to the interests of the United States” and would be suspended indefinitely. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said that his had come from Germany, Austria and Poland and that the parents of his wife, Priscilla Chan, were refugees from China and Vietnam. “Like many of you, I’’m concerned about the impact of the recent executive orders signed by President Trump,” Mr. Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook on Friday. Even some of those working closely with the Trump administration were critical. Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, who sits on two of Mr. Trump’s advisory committees, wrote on Twitter that the ban was “not the best way to address the country’s challenges. ” Mr. Musk was born in South Africa. Aaron Levie, chief executive of the data storage company Box, wrote on Twitter that “on every level — moral, humanitarian, economic, logical, etc. — this ban is wrong and is completely antithetical to the principles of America. ” Over all, Mr. Levie said in an interview, “there was a pretty resounding response from the tech industry showing how unacceptable this is. ” Beyond family heritage and employment, he noted, Silicon Valley cares about immigration because its companies strive to operate everywhere in the world. “Almost every company’s products — Google, Apple, Airbnb — has a global customer base,” Mr. Levie said. “These policy decisions have real implications to our partners, our customers, our competitors. ” The Trump administration is little more than a week old, but its relationship with Silicon Valley is already complicated. The tech industry did not like Mr. Trump the presidential candidate, despite his embrace of Twitter, and he returned the sentiment with caustic posts on the platform. Stephen K. Bannon, his chief strategist, said in 2015 that “ or of the C. E. O.s in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia,” an incorrect statement that many in Silicon Valley perceived as racist. Yet a December meeting between the incoming administration and numerous tech chieftains was decidedly upbeat. “We’re going to be there for you,” Mr. Trump promised to a room that included the leaders of Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. By early last week, the companies sensed trouble. Murtadha 24, an software engineer at Facebook, was told by a company lawyer on Tuesday that he needed to cut short a visit to Canada and return to the United States. The company feared that he would not be readmitted to the country because the president was expected to sign an executive order that would keep him out. “It may be my naïveté about how politics and industries interact, but I don’t interpret the tech community’s opposition to the president as a political stance,” Mr. Tameemi said. “It seemed more like a matter of values and a matter that impacts them. ” The larger tech companies tended to be less forceful in their reactions to the executive order than the smaller ones. Google said it was “concerned. ” Apple said, “It is not a policy we support. ” Amazon said only that it was committed to diversity. Oracle did not respond to requests for comment. On the other hand, Microsoft became more forceful as the weekend went on. On Saturday, its executives talked mostly about the virtues of immigration. On Sunday night, the company issued a statement calling the executive order “misguided and a fundamental step backwards” and said it would create “collateral damage to the country’s reputation and values. ” Microsoft was not the only company to become bolder in a few hours. Around 10 a. m. on Saturday, Mr. Chesky of Airbnb posted a vague message on Twitter saying “open doors bring all of US together. ” By 6 p. m. he was advocating open protest. Early Sunday morning, he wrote a memo to employees warning that Mr. Trump’s new policy was “a direct obstacle to our mission. ” It was a long, dizzying day for an industry that is struggling to find its footing under the new president. “It feels like the air itself has changed, like when a storm comes,” said Shervin Pishevar, a founder of Sherpa Capital and Hyperloop One. Even before the executive order, pressure had been building on companies to speak out against measures being endorsed by Mr. Trump. Some of that impetus came from employees, and some from activists. Engineers and product managers at several tech companies spoke to The New York Times on the condition of anonymity. They have signed nondisclosure agreements at their companies and are generally not authorized to speak to the news media. At Twitter, a number of workers felt frustrated with the disconnect between their company’s product — a platform for free speech — and the extent to which Mr. Trump has used it to attack those who question him and proclaim outright falsehoods to the American public. On Saturday, Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s chief executive, posted and reposted numerous messages denouncing the travel ban. At Facebook, employees felt a similar sense of discord. Some complained about how long it took Mr. Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer, to speak out. Others were upset at the continued presence of Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist and a longtime confidant of Mr. Zuckerberg’s, as a director on Facebook’s board. Mr. Thiel was a donor to Mr. Trump’’s campaign and has since become an adviser, and he issued a statement on Saturday evening that reaffirmed his support for the president. Uber is under one of the brightest spotlights. Travis Kalanick, its chief executive, is part of Mr. Trump’s economic advisory team. That has made Uber a target of protesters, some of whom shut down access to its headquarters on Inauguration Day. In an email to employees on Saturday titled “Standing up for what’s right,” Mr. Kalanick stressed the importance of pushing for change by working to have a seat at the table and discussing any differences. He said he would be seeing Mr. Trump on Friday. As protesters at Kennedy International Airport in New York multiplied on Saturday night, cabdrivers — largely immigrants — began a work stoppage at the airport as a form of protest against the executive order. Uber did not follow suit. Instead, it posted on Twitter that it was suspending surge pricing at Kennedy Airport. That prompted accusations that it was trying to break the strike, which the company awkwardly denied in another Twitter post. On Sunday morning, its competitor Lyft said it was donating $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union over the next four years “to defend our Constitution. ” On Sunday afternoon, Uber sharpened its criticism of the ban, calling it “wrong and unjust. ” Sam Altman, who runs Y Combinator, Silicon Valley’s most prominent incubator, said things were changing so fast that it was hard to predict what was going to happen. “After the election, a lot of people here said give Trump a chance in good faith, and after he started, a lot of people said give him a chance in good faith,” Mr. Altman said. “Now they are looking at his policies and saying he is a risk to the republic. Saturday was a good beginning, and I think there is more to come. ” Mr. Altman spoke as he was arriving at the airport in San Francisco on Saturday at 10:30 p. m. The protest was continuing, and he intended to join. | 1 |
Do all white people like camping? asks BBC 01-11-16 THE BBC has launched a thought-provoking investigation into whether all white people enjoy camping. Following a controversial BBC poll about whether black people like fried chicken, the corporation continued to explore the big questions around race by asking whether Caucasians love sleeping under canvas. Interviewee Tom Logan said: “As a white person I have to admit I love a bit of camping, even if it is a stereotype. “I thought it was because of the sense of being closer to nature, but maybe it’s because of my skin pigmentation. “Being asked these sorts of questions really makes you think.” However some white people have condemned the tone of the BBC report. Mary Fisher said: “Just because I like camping, Nigel Slater cookbooks and vintage French-peasant style workwear doesn’t mean I’m some white person caricature from popular culture like… “Actually I can’t think of a white person caricature from popular culture.”
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In a normal convention season, most politicians are working every lever to try to get a prime speaking slot and bathe themselves in the glow of the party’s nominee. Then there is this year. Far from straining to get close to Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, more than a dozen senators suddenly have scheduling conflicts for an event that has been on the political calendar for more than a year. Instead of being in Cleveland, for instance, Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona says he will be “mowing my lawn. ” The state’s senior senator, John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, has a conflict, too: He is planning to trek the Grand Canyon (Mr. McCain, who said he supports Mr. Trump, also has a fight). Steve Daines of Montana will use the time to hone his “fly fishing. ” _____ Senators in tough races had an easy call when it came to buying a ticket to Cleveland: no mistake by the lake for them. Rather than get national exposure, along with being associated with Mr. Trump, many vulnerable incumbents like Mr. McCain are going it alone. Senators Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Mark S. Kirk of Illinois, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Marco Rubio of Florida and Roy Blunt of Missouri all say they will be campaigning, for themselves. _____ Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Dean Heller of Nevada say they just want to reconnect with constituents. Michael D. Crapo will be conducting town meetings in Idaho. Jerry Moran of Kansas will be on a “listening tour” in his state. Thad Cochran of Mississippi will not be going for personal and family reasons. _____ Winning the medal for putting the most distance between a senator and Mr. Trump: Lisa Murkowski will be almost 4, 000 miles away in Alaska flying around remote areas of her state on a bush plane. _____ Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, John Thune of South Dakota, Jim Risch of Idaho and David Vitter of Louisiana. _____ Distance is not an excuse for Senator Rob Portman of Ohio. Mr. Portman’s staff said he will stick around his home state and attend the convention. But the senator will be off campus at least twice when he does volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity and a Wounded Warriors kayaking event. _____ Senators Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, John Barrasso of Wyoming, John Boozman of Arkansas, Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Dan Coats of Indiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Bob Corker of Tennessee, John Cornyn of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, John Hoeven of North Dakota, James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Mike Lee of Utah, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Pat Roberts of Kansas, David Perdue of Georgia, Michael Rounds of South Dakota, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Roger Wicker of Mississippi. | 1 |
Muneca, an 18-year-old blind dachshund that was surrendered at a shelter in Los Angeles recently, has no idea that a lot of people came together to match her with the perfect person. It all started... | 0 |
WASHINGTON — Staff members on Capitol Hill recall Stephen Miller, the White House adviser behind many of President Trump’s most contentious executive orders, as the guy from Jeff Sessions’s office who made their inboxes cry for mercy. As a top aide to Mr. Sessions, the conservative Alabama senator, Mr. Miller dispatched dozens and dozens of bombastic emails to congressional staff members and reporters in early 2013 when the Senate was considering a big bipartisan immigration overhaul. Mr. Miller slammed the evils of “foreign labor” and pushed around nasty news articles on proponents of compromise, like Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. One exhausted Senate staff member, forwarding a to a reporter at the time, wrote: “His latest. And it’s only 11:45 a. m. ” The ascent of Mr. Miller from gadfly with little policy experience to the president’s senior policy adviser came as a shock to many of the staff members who knew him from his seven years in the Senate. A man whose emails were, until recently, considered spam by many of his Republican peers is now shaping the Trump administration’s core domestic policies with his economic nationalism and positions on immigration. But his unlikely rise is emblematic of a White House where unconventional résumés rule — where the chief strategist is Stephen K. Bannon, until recently the head of the website Breitbart News, and the president himself is a former reality television star who before winning the nation’s highest office had never shown much interest in the arcana of governing. Yet all three men are bound by a belief in an economic policy that has suddenly moved from the fringes of American politics to the Oval Office. “Stephen was the kind of guy who would make a passionate ideological argument to a roomful of people who were there to make pragmatic decisions,” said Alex Conant, a former aide to Mr. Rubio who remembers squaring off against Mr. Miller at a routine Republican messaging meeting that turned into a immigration debate. Mr. Miller has been at the epicenter of some of the administration’s most provocative moves, from pushing hard for the construction of a wall along the border with Mexico to threatening trade deals at the heart of Republican economic orthodoxy, to rolling out Mr. Trump’s travel ban on seven largely Muslim nations, whose bungled introduction he oversaw. Working in an administration that “didn’t come here to do small things,” as Mr. Bannon has put it, is a role that Mr. Miller — universally known as a tireless worker — has been preparing for much of his life. From his days at a public high school in Southern California, where he preached against “political correctness” and liberalism and called in to conservative radio shows, to his time at Duke University, where he was known for controversial writings in the student newspaper and a failed attempt at a run for dorm president, he has delighted in challenging prevailing orthodoxies. At a freshman mixer, recalled a college classmate who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Mr. Miller announced, “My name is Stephen Miller, I am from Los Angeles, and I like guns. ” Mr. Miller, known for his skinny ties, ’ pants and his recently abandoned habit, enjoyed a relatively ascent in Mr. Trump’s orbit until the travel ban. His eagerness to keep a tight lid on key details of executive orders to prevent leaks — as well as his inexperience — has at times hampered coordination between the West Wing and agencies that would have to carry them out, several White House officials said. In part to deal with the confusion that surrounded the travel ban, Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, recently created a protocol that requires all major executive actions to be cleared with the communications department and other senior White House staff members before implementation. But Mr. Miller’s peacock confidence has served him well with Mr. Trump, who first got to know him in 2015, when Mr. Miller helped bring Mr. Sessions, now the attorney general, into the Trump fold. After the Republican National Convention in July, Mr. Miller became Mr. Trump’s principal speechwriter once the candidate had switched from handwritten notes to a teleprompter in the middle of the campaign. The message in those speeches was so reflective of Mr. Trump’s views that it earned Mr. Miller a spot as the act for Mr. Trump’s campaign rallies. His words became Mr. Trump’s — “We’re going to build that wall, and we’re going to build it out of love,” Mr. Miller often said. “Steve is a true believer in every sense of the word, not just in this message of economic populism but in President Trump as a leader,” said Jason Miller, who worked with him in the Trump campaign and is not related. “Steve’s fiercely loyal and has a better understanding of the president’s vision than almost anyone. ” It is sometimes hard to tell Mr. Trump’s voice from that of Mr. Miller, who suppressed his own orotund speech to capture the president’s more visceral, style. Not that he has had much choice: As one of three or four staff members to fly around with Mr. Trump during the last few months of the campaign, Mr. Miller was summoned to speechwriting tasks by a bark of “Ready!” from Mr. Trump, who insisted on dictating practically every word — and laced into staff members who changed a word or inserted an overly complex policy point. Mr. Miller’s flexibility as a speechwriter is offset by the consistent stridency of his political philosophy, which has remained much the same since he was the distinct minority at Santa Monica High School, a liberal outpost where he often railed against fellow students and the school administration. Mexican heritage celebrations and Iraq war protests were things of particular offense. He produced a 2003 essay, “How I Changed My Left Wing High School,” that capped a high school career steeped in political activism. At Duke, Mr. Miller, who is Jewish, cut a similarly confrontational swath, and was briefly friendly with Richard Spencer, who later became a prominent white supremacist, when both were members of the university’s Young Conservatives chapter. From there, it was straight to Capitol Hill, where Mr. Miller worked for Representatives Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and John Shadegg of Arizona before ending up with Mr. Sessions in 2009. Mr. Sessions and Mr. Miller worked tirelessly against the congressional effort at an immigration overhaul. The bill passed the Senate easily in spite of Mr. Sessions’s vociferous objections, but failed in the House. “We knew we were taking on the establishment, and Steve was an incredibly hard worker and had no second thoughts about it,” Mr. Sessions said in an interview. Mr. Miller wrote many of the incendiary speeches that Mr. Sessions gave about the bill, including one in which he suggested that a aide to Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, had been the author of a measure that he believed to be “amnesty” in disguise. Ultimately, it was Mr. Miller’s dour views on illegal immigration that endeared him to Mr. Bannon and a small team of economic nationalists that included Julia Hahn, a former Breitbart writer. The group came together during the 2014 campaign of the Republican candidate Dave Brat, whose upset win over the House majority leader, Eric Cantor, in a suburban Richmond, Va. district augured Mr. Trump’s success. Even then, Mr. Miller had his eye on Mr. Trump, who had flirted with a run for president in 2012. Soon after Mr. Brat’s victory in the Republican primary in July 2014, Mr. Miller sent his friends a Breitbart interview in which Mr. Trump declared, “Everybody is vulnerable because what’s happening in the country is very sad, and the world is watching. ” Mr. Miller added a comment: “Trump gets it. I wish he’d run for president. ” Mr. Bannon, Mr. Miller and the head of the Domestic Policy Council, Andrew Bremberg, spent the later part of the transition period mapping out a protocol of executive orders, sending more than 200 to federal agencies for review. The trouble came when they sent some of them to officials at federal agencies for review, leading to leaks that prompted Mr. Miller to restrict the circulation of the plans. Mr. Trump, initially pleased by the bold series of executive actions orchestrated by the team, was stung by the fallout from Mr. Miller’s execution of the immigration order, and expressed frustration about not being fully briefed on an order reorganizing the National Security Council to give Mr. Bannon additional power. Despite the internal Mr. Miller remains close to the Mr. Bannon, who described him in an email as “a loyal and faithful soldier in the Trump movement, a warrior for the working class. ” In recent days, Mr. Miller has been working on what is expected to be another contentious order: an rewriting of the guest worker program that is likely to impose new restrictions on the cheap foreign labor that Mr. Miller deplored in many of his 2013 emails, according to two officials familiar with their planning. Mr. Miller, one of the officials said, is working closely with Department of Homeland Security aides to avoid a repeat of the travel ban fiasco. | 1 |
These States Just Legalized Recreational Cannabis!
Tensions have been high as five states in the U.S. went to the polls to decide whether or not to end cannabis sativa prohibition today. Many citizens have been eagerly waiting for results to see which states will be next to step out of the erroneously waged and failed war on drugs .
The five states that had a ballot question regarding regulating the cannabis plant similar to alcohol are Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada.
As of 9pm (PT):
– Massachusetts passed the measure with 53% support according to the Associated Press and other sources. 72% reporting | 0 |
On Friday’s Breitbart News Daily, former U. N. ambassador John Bolton joined SiriusXM host Alex Marlow for a look at President Trump’s first hundred days from a foreign policy and national security perspective. [Bolton said Trump’s record has been “mixed, depending on what area of the world, what particular crisis you look at, and really what point during the hundred days that you take. ” “I think in many respects the campaign rhetoric — which was very, very tough on things like the Iran nuclear deal and the North Korean nuclear threat, much of which continued into the first hundred days — is very much at risk of being subverted by the bureaucracy that the administration has not yet tamed,” he cautioned. “There’s a significant risk that both because of some of the appointees that the president has named, and the appointees he hasn’t named — the people in the lower ranks who are the president’s eyes and ears and implementers out in the bureaucracy, particularly at the State Department, which is expert at capturing political appointees, especially from Republican administrations. If the president’s not careful, he will see his foreign policy — despite what I think his own views are — captured by the same bureaucracy that for eight years implemented the Obama foreign policy,” he elaborated. “That’s the danger that I see. I don’t think the president has moved on some of these key national security issues as far as the press would like you to believe, or as far as the bureaucracy would like you to believe. It remains to be seen how many people in the administration can remember what they said during the campaign on some of these issues, particularly terrorism and nuclear proliferation, as the bureaucracy nibbles away at them,” said Bolton. “I think the president needs to be more of a disciplinarian with his subordinates and their bureaucracy,” he advised. “I think that may be contrary to his natural instincts. I think he is an open, optimistic kind of man, and I think in the Trump Organization it was small enough that that kind of approach worked. But in the sprawling federal government, where different departments and agencies have their own cultures and their own agendas, especially in national security where they’re not friendly to Republican administrations, he needs to be tougher out there. I’m worried about what we’re going to do on Iran. I’m worried about what we’re going to do on North Korea,” Bolton said. He warned there is “a whole range of issues where there is a real risk of creeping back to the Obama administration policy — as the poem goes, ‘not with a bang but with a whimper. ’” “Now, in other areas, I think he’s pretty much holding the line, which is why I say overall I think the performance in the first hundred days is mixed,” Bolton concluded. Focusing on the Iran nuclear deal, Bolton recalled the State Department’s letter to Congress last week which “certified that Iran was in compliance with the Iran nuclear deal. ” “That is simply not true, in terms of their refusal to let the International Atomic Energy Agency visit key military sites, their excessive production of heavy water, their excessive enrichment of uranium, their gross disregard of the Security Council resolution and the part of the agreement dealing with ballistic missiles,” he asserted. “And those are just some of the things we know publicly. These are plain violations of the agreement. And that doesn’t count the provisions of the agreement that are so ambiguous, so poorly drafted, so open to interpretations favorable to Iran that lawyers could end up debating them for decades into the future. ” “What’s even worse is, if you read the congressional statute carefully, the reporting obligation does not require the president to make a binary decision — yes Iran is in compliance, or no Iran is not in compliance. By the statute’s own terms, it allows the president to say, ‘I am not able to certify that Iran is in compliance,’ which he would have been perfectly legitimate within his rights to do, especially given the newness of the administration,” he noted. “Now, where did that certification come from? It came from the State Department bureaucracy. It came from the same people who negotiated the deal that was finally agreed to in the summer of 2015, and who have been protecting it, nurturing it, sheltering it for a year and a half since then. This may sound like a small point, but I’ll tell you, the proponents of the deal have taken that certification in just one week and said, ‘See, even the Trump administration says that the good old ayatollahs in Iran are complying with the deal,’” Bolton said. “The negative implication of that, as the Trump administration then goes on to say Iran’s behavior in most material respects, as the president himself said, violates the spirit of the deal. Well, it goes beyond that. It violates the letter of the deal as well,” he contended. “I’ve heard different stories, frankly, about whether the White House cleared that document or not, or whether — as is often the case with the bureaucracy — they come running in and say, ‘This is due on Capitol Hill at 5 P. M.! We’ve got to send it! We’ve got to send it, or we’ll be in default, we’ll be delinquent, we’ll be subject to criticism!’ So people say well, all right, I guess we’ve got to send it, and they don’t have time to think through the implications,” he said. “This is to me a kind of textbook example, in the case of Iran, how a very strong and foreign policy just gets whittled away. It may seem like water eroding rock. It doesn’t happen in dramatic moments. But I’m just telling you, this is the way bureaucracy works, and it works to undercut especially conservative and Republican presidents,” Bolton lamented. Breitbart News National Security Editor Frances Martel joined the conversation to ask Bolton about the deep relationship between the nuclear issues in Iran and North Korea, which are generally treated as entirely separate matters in media coverage. “The media don’t get the connection, and that in part is because the national security bureaucracy doesn’t get, or doesn’t want to talk about, the connection,” Bolton replied, portraying it as “a classic bureaucratic example of what they call silos. ” “You’ve got the people dealing with Iran there in one silo, you’ve got the people dealing with North Korea in another silo. They might as well be on different planets,” he explained. “But the fact is, again, from publicly available information going back 30 years, we know that the North Koreans and the Iranians have been in close cooperation on the development of ballistic missiles for that entire period. North Korea sold Iran the first SCUD missiles that were the basis for the Iranian missile program. They’ve cooperated in multiple ways since then. It makes perfectly good sense for that to happen. They’re both using the same SCUD missile technology for their missile programs, so they’ve got a common scientific and engineering base. Their objectives for the missile programs are exactly the same. It’s to deliver nuclear weapons, not launch communications or weather satellites. On that score, it’s just absolutely clear,” Bolton said. “It is less clear in terms of publicly available evidence on the nuclear side, but I think there is substantial reason to believe there’s close cooperation there as well,” he continued. “The reactor that Israel destroyed in Syria in September of 2007 was being built by North Koreans. It was a clone of the North Korean Yongbyon reactor. Most people don’t think Syria had the financial wherewithal to pay for building that kind of reactor, and the North Koreans don’t do anything for free, so where did the money come from? I think it probably came from Iran. ” “I think there are a lot of other connections that have been noted, the Iranian scientists in North Korea and vice versa. Forget the Iran nuclear deal for a minute — it’s entirely foreseeable that the day North Korea gets the capability to drop a nuclear warhead on the United States via ballistic missile, Iran could have that capability the next day by writing a check in the right amount of money, so this relationship is extremely important,” he warned. “On North Korea itself, the administration started off again with a very tough line on this — and yet yesterday, in an interview with Fox News, Secretary Tillerson said he’d be willing to have bilateral discussions with North Korea. This is after saying that the Obama ‘strategic patience’ doctrine was being rejected, after saying correctly we’ve negotiated with North Korea for 25 years and it hasn’t produced anything. Now we’re back to negotiating with North Korea and pressuring China to pressure North Korea. This is like Year 26 of the same failed policy,” Bolton complained. “Now, I don’t want to overstate that, the secretary might have misstated what he implied by that, and certainly China has done a few things in the past couple of weeks that look encouraging. But I’ve been around that track before. When the heat gets too great, the Chinese pat the North Koreans on the fanny and say, ‘bad boys!’ They take some steps that appear to put pressure on North Korea, and then they hope that Americans with our famously short attention spans turn away, and the heat goes off, and then they quietly go back to business as before the particular crisis,” he said. Bolton urged policymakers to remember that North Korea sees nuclear weapons as a tool for implementing a dangerous policy agenda, which they would not abandon even if their nuclear aspirations were decisively thwarted. “I think the same is true for the ayatollahs in Iran,” he added. “So when you say to Kim and his generals, ‘Give up your nuclear weapons,’ what they hear is ‘give up up your regime, and maybe give up your lives, while we’re on the subject.’ They’re not going to do it. ” “We have tried diplomacy, persuasion. We have tried sanctions, coercion, in differing measures, different combinations, for 26 years. It just hasn’t worked,” he said. “That’s why I think the only solution is reunifying the two Koreas,” Bolton offered. “I think we could explain to China why that’s in their best interest. The Chinese say they don’t want North Korea to have a nuclear weapon because it would be destabilizing in East Asia. That’s code for saying they’re afraid Japan is going to get nuclear weapons. But they have not taken the steps necessary in the past to pressure North Korea to give up the weapons because they understand just how frail that regime really is, and they’re worried it will collapse in an uncontrolled fashion that will cause them all kinds of problems. ” “I think there’s a deal here. I think it’s complicated and difficult to negotiate. I wish we had started 15 years ago. But we’re in a race now, because the factor that’s changed from the last 25 years to today is, North Korea this time is really very close to having the capability to miniaturize a nuclear weapon, put it under the nose cone of an ICBM, and launch the ICBM towards the United States. That’s what’s really driving people,” Bolton observed. “Obama just watched it all happen for eight years. He’s dumped this problem on the Trump administration. But it’s also why we need a policy change. If you try in Year 26 to keep doing what you’ve done and failed to accomplish your objective, for the last 25 years — who has any reason to believe that in Year 26 you’re going to get a different result?” he asked. Marlow asked what South Koreans thought of his unification idea. “Many of them are not wild about it, because they look at the example of German reunification, they saw it was very costly to the West Germans,” Bolton conceded. “I think there are real differences between the two circumstances. I think in fact for South Korea this is a huge economic opportunity, to be perfectly crass about it. You’ve got a wage base in North Korea of roughly zero, so that by putting manufacturing and other facilities up there, eventually the wages in North Korea will be the same as the wages in South Korea, but not in the immediate future. ” “It is something that’s going to come anyway,” he predicted. “The division of the Korean peninsula is unnatural, just as the division of Germany was. It was always intended to be temporary until the Cold War intervened. There will be reunification one day. The issue remains, will it be accomplished in a restrained and careful fashion that works out in our interests, and maybe in the interests of China as well, or will it occur catastrophically?” “If the United States at some point has to strike preemptively against North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, there’s every prospect that that could ignite a broader conflict on the peninsula that would be devastating all around, and would almost certainly produce the collapse of the North Korean regime. I would say to China, ‘Look, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. Which would you rather do? ’” he advised. “That’s why I think the larger objective of reunification has to be really the policy objective because we tried to stop the nuclear program in North Korea for 25 years and we have failed. We have failed because persuasion has failed. We have failed because coercion has failed. We have failed because the combination of coercion and persuasion has failed. So now we’re going to try it again? I just hope that’s not where the State Department is going,” said Bolton. Marlow suggested it might be difficult to reconcile the intense amount of diplomacy and economic involvement required to achieve Korean unification with President Trump’s campaign promise of an “America First” foreign policy. “The detonation of a nuclear weapon on a major American city can really concentrate your attention,” Bolton replied. “This is putting America first. We are a global power. That’s a reality. Therefore, our interests are worldwide. South Korea and Japan are two of our biggest trading partners, and they are threatened by this erratic, irrational regime in North Korea. We are on the verge of being threatened in the United States ourselves. We’ve got inadequate defense capabilities. ” “Barack Obama gutted the national missile defense program that George Bush had started. We’d be in much better shape if we could defend ourselves against North Korean or Iranian missile launches, but we have a wholly inadequate capability at the moment. So there are a lot of challenges that the president has to face, even though — like most presidents, I suppose — he’d rather focus on domestic issues,” Bolton observed. John Bolton is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and president of his own political action committee, BoltonPAC. Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a. m. to 9:00 a. m. Eastern. | 1 |
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Russia truth Facebook has a post re australiannationalreview.com. via conservative daily post .publishing a Wikipedia full list of isis contributors, donors to Clinton…and Obama…… Claiming that in exchange for donations….isis was set up, supported by them for usa purposes……. Not only but also… Iraq has threatened to dismantle Turkey should it invade…..Turkey is currently building an airbase in northeast Syria..and says it’s deployment of tanks to Iraqi borders is only for self protection……could get tricky folks….remember Syria has said any Turkish planes unauthorised in Syrian airspace will be shot down too. Reply - Share | 0 |
The departure board at Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan has departed this life, but unlike Elvis, it has not left the building. Amtrak disconnected the board on Monday, stretching tarpaulins over one side of the familiar, sign that told commuters whether the 5:54 to Metuchen, N. J. would be a touch late — and, when the time finally came, which track they could find it on. The other side of the board was left uncovered, a big, black, blank rectangle. Amtrak had said the departure board’s demise would begin around 10 p. m. on Monday, after the evening rush. For once, Amtrak was early. By the time commuters arrived at 6 p. m. the board was off, compounding the aggravation of a bad night caused by heavy winds and rain. Some commuters wondered if the board was related to the delays on New Jersey Transit, which shares Penn Station with Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road. An Amtrak spokeswoman, Kimberly Woods, said it was not. She said the board was turned off for testing and restarted before the final shutdown after 10. As early as 3:37 p. m. New Jersey Transit had warned on Twitter that there would be “major delays” because a storm had knocked down power lines in Linden, N. J. Trains from Trenton to Metropark, a major station, were suspended for about 30 minutes during the evening rush, but the delays continued even after service resumed. The old board was replaced by video monitors that have been functioning for several months. There are large monitors at both ends of the main waiting area on the west side of the station and smaller ones above the gates. Another large monitor is in the rotundalike space on the east side of the station, where there is also an arrivals monitor. Ms. Woods said Amtrak made the change in “our ongoing effort to improve and upgrade the passenger experience. ” “It’s like anything else — modern times, and everything’s digital,” said H. Edward Wilkin III, an accountant who was on the way to Secaucus, N. J. on Tuesday morning. But the trains were no more modern. Mr. Wilkin had a noon appointment. The new departure screen reported that his 11:06 train would be delayed. For how long, it did not say. Some commuters said the change made no difference, because the old board had little to do with the reality of when trains actually pulled away from the station, and they doubted the new screens would be any more accurate. Amtrak said the old board would be dismantled over the next few nights, when crowds in the station were thinnest. “I’ve been taking these trains since I was 18, going to college,” said Joe Castaldo, 63, who grew up in Oceanport, N. J. and now runs a firm in Manhattan. “I’m sad the board is gone. It’s nostalgic, I know. ” He said the new screens were better, but the change was jarring for his mother, whom he had just put on a train. “She was like, ‘What am I going to do now? ’” Mr. Castaldo said. The old board was a centerpiece, the thing that brought a community together — a community of strangers about to be on a train. The board on the west side of the station was the heart of the waiting area — the town square, such as it was. A town square with linoleum underfoot, not grass, and fluorescent lighting above, not a Norman Rockwell sky. Like something from the days when newspapers hung bulletins outside their offices, the board told stories — and like Twitter, it told them in a minimum of characters, with few full sentences. Explanations were not always provided for “Delayed” or “Standby. ” The departure board that was disconnected on Monday was not the one many thought it was. It was not the one made by the Italian company Solari that whirred and clicked like the boards on television game shows in the 1960s. That sign was replaced about 15 years ago by the device that went dark on Monday, which had become too difficult to keep going, Amtrak said last summer. “That one can only do letters and numbers and columns,” said Kevin Farley, a digital experience strategist who was on his way to Philadelphia on Tuesday. “It was a classic design. ” Then, nodding toward one of the new electronic screens, he added: “This is still a little . We’d like to know: Is the wind going to affect us? They could do little messages like that. ” At the other end of the waiting area, Ritu Narula, a lawyer heading to Washington, complained about legibility. “You can’t see the track number as easily” on the new screens, she said. “But we’ll get used to it. ” Did the new screens make the wait more pleasant or the lines shorter? Some remembered the architect Vincent J. Scully Jr. ’s famous line about the old Penn Station, demolished in the 1960s, as compared with the present one: “One entered the city like a god one scuttles in now like a rat. ” “I always feel like a rodent in there, getting from Point A to Point B,” Lorraine B. Diehl, the author of “The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station,” said from her apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. As for the departure screens, she said, “I can’t pretend it’s something I care about. ” “To me, the bigger picture has to be addressed,” she said. “We need a new station. ” | 1 |
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 15:01 UTC © Sputnik/ Hikmet Durgun Ankara will benefit from the Mosul operation in case the city is not divided into sectarian areas after liberation, Yasar Yakis, Turkey's former minister of foreign affairs, told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi. "Benefits for Ankara from Mosul operation will depend on what will be done in Mosul after ISIS [Daesh] is cleared from there, whether it will be divided into six small pockets according to ethnic and confessional and sectarian divides. Because there are Turkmens there, but 60 percent of them are Shia, 40 percent of Turkmens are Sunni, then there are also Kurds, non-Muslims, and Arabs. So if six cantons are to be established there, then do we sow the seeds of the new conflict? Because it will not be a monolith composition... We should not create new problems," Yakis said. He said that getting rid of sectarianism in this issues would be best for Turkey. "If Turkey can secure this and prevent Shia militants from entering the center of the city, which is inhabited by Sunnis, this would be the best gain for Turkey," Yakis said. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of a military operation to recapture Mosul from Daesh, outlawed in Russia, with the help of airstrikes by the US-led international coalition. According to local media, about 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are taking part in the operation. Turkey has repeatedly said it is willing to take part in the operation, though Iraq has raised objections. | 0 |
Vera Rubin, who transformed modern physics and astronomy with her observations showing that galaxies and stars are immersed in the gravitational grip of vast clouds of dark matter, died on Sunday in Princeton, N. J. She was 88. Her death was announced by the Carnegie Institution of Washington, where she had been a longtime staff astronomer. Dr. Rubin, cheerful and had a lifelong love of the stars, championed women in science and was blunt about the limits of humankind’s vaunted knowledge of nature. Her work helped usher in a change in cosmic consciousness, namely the realization that what astronomers always saw and thought was the universe is just the visible tip of a lumbering iceberg of mystery. Scientists now know we are not the center of the universe, nor are we even made of the same stuff as most of creation. Cosmologists have now concluded that there is five or 10 times as much dark matter in the universe as there is ordinary atomic matter — the stuff of stars, planets and people. What it is, nobody knows, although theories abound, and attempts to identify it in laboratory and experiments and in outer space have transfixed modern physics. “We know very little about the universe,” Dr. Rubin said in an interview for “Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos: The Story of the Scientific Quest for the Secret of the Universe. ” “I personally don’t believe it’s uniform and the same everywhere. That’s like saying the earth is flat. ” President Bill Clinton awarded Dr. Rubin the National Medal of Science in 1993, and she was frequently mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize. Sandra Faber, a staff astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said that Dr. Rubin, along with Margaret Burbidge, who is retired from the University of California, San Diego, was a “guiding light” for a generation of female astronomers. In a statement written for Scientific American, Dr. Faber wrote, “Rubin’s happy family history raising four children, all of whom eventually earned their own Ph. D.’s, was particularly inspiring to young females. ” She was born Vera Florence Cooper on July 23, 1928, in Philadelphia, the younger daughter of Philip Cooper, an electrical engineer who worked at Bell Telephone, and Rose Cooper, who had also worked at the phone company but had to quit her job because of nepotism rules. The family moved to Washington when Vera was 10. She later said she had become entranced by astronomy from watching the stars wheel past her bedroom window. She was drawn to Vassar College as an undergraduate because Maria Mitchell, the first American to discover a comet, had taught there. In a sign of the challenges to come, her high school science teacher told her that she would be fine in a career as long as she stayed away from science. She graduated in 1948, the sole astronomer in the class. That year, she married Robert Rubin, who was then a graduate student in physical chemistry at Cornell. She had hoped to get a Ph. D. from Princeton, but the astrophysics graduate program did not admit women at the time and declined to send her a course catalog. So instead she went to Cornell to obtain a master’s degree and finished it in 1951. When her husband got a job at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, the family moved to Washington and she enrolled at Georgetown University. She earned her Ph. D. there studying the properties and motions of distant galaxies while raising her children. Robert Rubin died in 2008. A daughter, Judy Young, who was also an astronomer, died in 2014. Dr. Rubin is survived by her sister, Ruth Cooper Burg, a judge in Washington her sons, Allan, David and Karl five grandchildren and a . Breaking into the field was never easy. One day in 1950 she drove with a baby through a snowstorm to a meeting in Pennsylvania to deliver a paper with data, which she later decided was questionable, about the rotation of the universe, only to be chastised and humiliated by “senior astronomers,” she said. She fled the city and the issue of cosmology. Another time, she recalled, she was excited to be summoned to a meeting with the eminent astrophysicist George Gamow, only to learn that they would have to talk in the lobby because women were not allowed upstairs in the offices. Dr. Rubin never forgot. “Don’t let anyone keep you down for silly reasons such as who you are,” Rebecca Oppenheimer, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History, recalled being counseled by Dr. Rubin. “And don’t worry about prizes and fame. The real prize is finding something new out there. ” Dr. Rubin joined the Carnegie Institution, in its department of terrestrial magnetism, in 1965, after holding teaching posts at Montgomery College in Maryland and at Georgetown. Yet by Dr. Faber’s account, she still had to battle for access to a telescope on Palomar Mountain in California jointly owned by Carnegie and Caltech. When she did get there, she found that there was no women’s restroom. As her friend and institute colleague Neta Bahcall later told Discover magazine, Dr. Rubin taped an outline of a woman’s skirt to the image of a man on a restroom door, making it a ladies’ room. By then, averse to controversy and the sharp elbows of “senior astronomers,” Dr. Rubin was looking for a field of research that would keep her out of trouble. “I wanted a problem that nobody would bother me about,” she said later. That was when she stumbled into the most daunting problem in modern astronomy: the discovery that most of the universe is invisible. Teaming up with a young Carnegie colleague, W. Kent Ford Jr. Dr. Rubin set out in the early 1970s to map the distribution of mass in spiral galaxies by measuring how fast they rotated. The faster the stars were going around, the more gravity, and thus mass, must be keeping them in their orbits. They expected to find that most of the mass was where most of the starlight was, at the centers of the galaxies. In that case, stars on the outer fringes of a galaxy should have been moving more slowly than those in the inner regions — the way Pluto, on the outskirts of the solar system, takes 248 years to go around the sun, while Mercury speeds around in 88 days. To their shock, however, they found that the stars on the outskirts of galaxies were not slowing down if anything, they were speeding up. By the laws of either Newton or Einstein, it meant that there was extra mass out there where there was relatively little light, mass that was speeding up the stars. “Great astronomers told us it didn’t mean anything,” Dr. Rubin said. Told to look at more galaxies, they did, and the effect persisted. In fact, the idea that there was more to the universe than could be seen had been lurking on the edges of scientific respectability since the 1930s, when the Caltech astronomer Fritz Zwicky deduced that some invisible “missing mass” was required to supply the gravitational glue that held clusters of galaxies together. Otherwise, with the galaxies moving so fast, a cluster would simply fly apart. “Nobody ever told us all matter radiated” light, Dr. Rubin said. “We just assumed it did. ” Another boost to this idea had come in 1973, when the Princeton theorists Jeremiah Ostriker and James Peebles suggested, based on computer simulations, that spiral galaxies would warp and fall apart — because of gravitational forces from stars — unless they were embedded in a halo of dark matter, like a hamburger patty surrounded by a bun. Dr. Rubin and Dr. Ford’s work brought these ideas to center stage. “Vera’s work, mostly in the early ’80s, clinched the case for dark matter for most astronomers,” Dr. Ostriker wrote in an email, noting that she had been working with familiar galaxies and the kinds of optical observations that astronomers understood. It helped that at the same time theoretical physics was exploding with new ideas, like supersymmetry and string theory, which implied the existence of new kinds of subatomic particles left over from the Big Bang and floating around the universe (and through our bodies) in clouds. As Sheldon Glashow, a Nobel laureate now at Boston University, once remarked, “We theorists can come up with a lot of garbage to fill the universe. ” It has gotten worse. A wide range of astrophysical and cosmological measurements have subsequently arrived at an intimidating composition of the cosmos: 5 percent atoms, 27 percent dark matter and 68 percent the even more mysterious dark energy that seems to be speeding up the expansion of the universe — all of which subverts any illusion that astronomers might actually know what is going on. In an interview in 2000 posted on the Natural History Museum website, Dr. Rubin said: “In a spiral galaxy, the ratio of matter is about a factor of 10. That’s probably a good number for the ratio of our ignorance to knowledge. We’re out of kindergarten, but only in about third grade. ” In three decades of searching, the experimentalists have not found any trace of Dr. Glashow’s garbage, notwithstanding occasional rumors that the dark matter particle, the secret ingredient of the universe, has been spotted in some underground tank or fleeing through the detectors at a place like CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva. If true, the rumors could have sent Dr. Rubin straight to Stockholm to pick up a Nobel Prize. Some theorists have suggested that Einstein’s theory of gravity, general relativity, might have to be modified to explain the dark matter observations. During one of those flurries of excitement, in 2009, Dr. Rubin, who liked to stick to the facts, kept her cool. “I don’t know if we have dark matter or have to nudge Newton’s laws or what,” she said at the time. She added: “I’m sorry I know so little. I’m sorry we all know so little. But that’s kind of the fun, isn’t it?” | 1 |
Jeanette Lilly Hunt was 18 when her rented a room in his Camden, N. J. home to two students who were studying across the Delaware River at the Crozer Theological Seminary. Mrs. Hunt, who is now 85, said she did not pay much attention to either student until her Benjamin Hunt, and Ulysses Wiggins, the president of the Camden County branch of the N. A. A. C. P. helped the students file a police complaint. The complaint was against Ernest Nichols, a white tavern owner in Maple Shade, N. J. and said that he had refused to serve the black students and their dates in June 1950, and had threatened them by firing a gun in the air. The complaint was signed by the two students. One of the signatures, in a loopy, slanted cursive, reads “M. L. King Jr. ” M. L. King Jr. who was then 21, listed his address as 753 Walnut Street, Mr. Hunt’s home. The home, which has been empty for decades, is still owned by Mrs. Hunt, who said the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was like a member of the family when he lived there from 1949 to 1951. In recent years, Mrs. Hunt has been helping activists who are trying to have the property placed on the National Register of Historic Places. While the house has been designated as a historic site by the City of Camden, the State of New Jersey must review the application before it can move to the federal level. Mrs. Hunt, whose husband, Jesthroe, died in 2005, has been paying between $500 and $1, 000 a year in property taxes to hang on to the dilapidated home, which she said she has always dreamed would be restored in honor of Dr. King, who was killed in 1968. Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, a nonprofit that develops properties around the city, added the Walnut Street home to its roster of restoration projects in the fall. Anthony J. Perno III, the chief executive of Cooper’s Ferry, said the organization was forming a committee to raise money to restore the home and was discussing how best to proceed. “The question is, What role could the property play in a larger community discussion?” Mr. Perno said. “It should be more than a museum, but what exactly, we don’t know yet. ” Clayborne Carson, a professor and the director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, said Dr. King’s first personal encounter with segregation, in a way that he saw his life endangered, could have occurred during his time in Camden. “Another element of this was that he had a pad,” Dr. Carson said of the Camden home. “A place outside the campus dormitory where if you wanted to take a trip into Philadelphia, you had a place to stay. ” Dr. Carson learned about Dr. King’s connection to the Walnut Street property from Patrick Duff, a New Jersey car salesman and amateur historian. His research caused Dr. Carson to rethink Dr. King’s years at the seminary, the first time he was out of the watchful eye of his father, a traditional Baptist pastor. “King led this life under the protective shadow of his father, but here we see that at Crozer, he probably becomes more aware of the harsher aspects of American racism,” Dr. Carson said. “That incident in Maple Shade, I think, is part of that awakening. You see that Crozer wasn’t this northern oasis protected from the reality of racism. ” Mr. Duff found the complaint in the Stanford archives while researching the episode at the Maple Shade tavern. “On January 15 of 2015 — I’m not even kidding — it was Dr. King’s actual birthday, when I was searching an archive and I came across the actual police complaint,” Mr. Duff said. But the case was dropped when three white witnesses would not testify. Mr. Nichols’s lawyer issued a statement at the time saying that his client did not intend to threaten the students when he fired the gun. The tavern would have been the ideal place for a memorial, Dr. Carson said, but it was demolished in 2011, making the Camden property the next best choice. “Anything that survives from the past that allows us to illuminate some significant aspect of the past is valuable to have,” Dr. Carson said. “To me, not preserving something like this is like going into a museum and burning one of the documents. ” But the process for the Camden house to receive state or federal recognition is slow, and Kate Marcopul, the administrator of the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office, says her agency is still researching whether the home meets the criteria for the state and national registries. Paul Loether, the chief of the National Register of Historic Places for the National Park Service, which operates the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, says his staff does not judge any property until it has gone through a state review. “Obviously, it seems to be a potential candidate for its association with Dr. King, but it really has to be evaluated according to the guidelines and criteria,” Mr. Loether said. The property’s potential has attracted the attention of State Senator Tom Kean Jr. a Republican, and United States Representatives Donald Norcross, Democrat of New Jersey, and John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia. Mr. Lewis marched alongside Dr. King in Washington on Aug. 28, 1963, the day Dr. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Mr. Lewis said Martin Luther King Jr. Day was especially poignant this year because America’s first black president, Barack Obama, will leave office on the same week as the national holiday. “More than any other time in our recent history, there’s so much talk, so much discussion, so much attention to the issue of race,” Mr. Lewis said in an interview. “This is a fitting and appropriate time that we look back and see the distance we’ve come, the progress we’ve made, to recognize some of these pieces of history and save and preserve them for generations yet unborn. ” | 1 |
Editor’s note: We’re resurfacing this 2011 magazine article on the science of sleep for Smarter Living. We all know that we don’t get enough sleep. But how much sleep do we really need? Until about 15 years ago, one common theory was that if you slept at least four or five hours a night, your cognitive performance remained intact your body simply adapted to less sleep. But that idea was based on studies in which researchers sent sleepy subjects home during the day — where they may have sneaked in naps and downed coffee. Enter David Dinges, the head of the Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory at the Hospital at University of Pennsylvania, who has the distinction of depriving more people of sleep than perhaps anyone in the world. In what was the longest study of its kind, Dinges and his lead author, Hans Van Dongen, assigned dozens of subjects to three different groups for their 2003 study: some slept four hours, others six hours and others, for the lucky control group, eight hours — for two weeks in the lab. Every two hours during the day, the researchers tested the subjects’ ability to sustain attention with what’s known as the psychomotor vigilance task, or P. V. T. considered a gold standard of sleepiness measures. During the P. V. T. the men and women sat in front of computer screens for periods, pressing the space bar as soon as they saw a flash of numbers at random intervals. Even a response delay suggests a lapse into sleepiness, known as a microsleep. The P. V. T. is tedious but simple if you’ve been sleeping well. It measures the sustained attention that is vital for pilots, truck drivers, astronauts. Attention is also key for focusing during long meetings for reading a paragraph just once, instead of five times for driving a car. It takes the equivalent of only a lapse for a driver to veer into oncoming traffic. Not surprisingly, those who had eight hours of sleep hardly had any attention lapses and no cognitive declines over the 14 days of the study. What was interesting was that those in the and groups had P. V. T. results that declined steadily with almost each passing day. Though the subjects performed far worse, the group also consistently fell . By the sixth day, 25 percent of the group was falling asleep at the computer. And at the end of the study, they were lapsing fives times as much as they did the first day. The subjects fared no better — steadily declining over the two weeks — on a test of working memory in which they had to remember numbers and symbols and substitute one for the other. The same was true for an task that measures speed and accuracy. All told, by the end of two weeks, the sleepers were as impaired as those who, in another Dinges study, had been for 24 hours straight — the cognitive equivalent of being legally drunk. So, for most of us, eight hours of sleep is excellent and six hours is no good, but what about if we split the difference? What is the threshold below which cognitive function begins to flag? While Dinges’s study was under way, his colleague Gregory Belenky, then director of the division of neuroscience at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md. was running a similar study. He purposely restricted his subjects to odd numbers of sleep hours — three, five, seven and nine hours — so that together the studies would offer a fuller picture of . Belenky’s subjects performed much like Dinges’s ones. But in the group, their response time on the P. V. T. slowed and continued to do so for three days, before stabilizing at lower levels than when they started. Americans average 6. 9 hours on weeknights, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Which means that, whether we like it or not, we are not thinking as clearly as we could be. Of course our lives are more stimulating than a sleep lab: we have coffee, bright lights, the social buzz of the office, all of which work as “countermeasures” to sleepiness. They can do the job for only so long, however. As Belenky, who now heads up the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University, Spokane, where Van Dongen is also a professor, told me about cognitive deficits: “You don’t see it the first day. But you do in five to seven days. Unless you’re doing work that doesn’t require much thought, you are trading time awake at the expense of performance. ” And it’s not clear that we can rely on weekends to make up for sleep deprivation. Dinges is now running a sleep restriction and recovery study to see how many nights we need to erase our sleep debt. But past studies suggest that, at least in many cases, one night alone won’t do it. Not every sleeper is the same, of course: Dinges has found that some people who need eight hours will immediately feel the wallop of one night, while other sleepers can handle several nights before their performance deteriorates. (But deteriorate it will.) There is a small portion of the population — he estimates it at around 5 percent or even less — who, for what researchers think may be genetic reasons, can maintain their performance with five or fewer hours of sleep. (There is also a small percentage who require 9 or 10 hours.) Still, while it’s tempting to believe we can train ourselves to be among the group — we can’t, Dinges says — or that we are naturally those sleepers, consider a key finding from Van Dongen and Dinges’s study: after just a few days, the and group reported that, yes, they were slightly sleepy. But they insisted they had adjusted to their new state. Even 14 days into the study, they said sleepiness was not affecting them. In fact, their performance had tanked. In other words, the among us are lousy judges of our own sleep needs. We are not nearly as sharp as we think we are. | 1 |
By Chris Duane Chris Duane explains why he’s not voting and destroys the left-right paradigm surrounding the 2016 US presidential (s)election. Vote for yourself. These... | 0 |
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 08:04 UTC © periodictable.com Are you taking your iodine? Everyone should be supplementing with iodine but if you live on the west coast of the United States, Canada or Mexico you better be taking your iodine and your children should be taking their iodine because: Thanks to the environmental disaster that was Fukushima and the incredibly long half-life of iodine-129, the Pacific coast may never be the same again. It will take about 16 million years for the contamination from the tremendous nuclear accident to dissipate . While a vast array of radioactive isotopes were released into the environment during the Fukushima meltdown, iodine-129 is a particularly concerning material, due to its incredibly long half-life. This means that basically any food that comes from the North American western coast will likely be contaminated with radiation for innumerable generations to come. Radiation in the oceans will inevitably enter our water supply, and consequently our food supply as well. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), iodine from the ocean enters the air as sea spray or iodine gas. Once in the air, iodine can then combine with water particles and enter surface water and soil once the particles fall to ground. Iodine can remain in the soil for extremely long periods of time, because it can combine with organic material easily. Plants and vegetation that grow in this soil also have the potential to absorb the iodine. Iodine could potentially improve your health People who have low iodine levels are more likely to get thyroid cancer than those who do not. Low iodine levels also cause goiter (an enlarged thyroid) and this increases the chance of developing thyroid cancer. When faced with a radioactive cloud, as is everyone in the northern hemisphere thanks to Fukushima, it is absolutely imperative that we take iodine, whatever iodine you can get your hands on. If the only iodine available is topical iodine that is not suitable for oral use then you should paint your body and your children's bodies with it. Dr. Brownstein writes, "If there is enough inorganic, non-radioactive iodine in our bodies, the radioactive fallout has nowhere to bind in our bodies. It will pass through us, leaving our bodies unharmed. It is important to ensure that we have adequate iodine levels before this fallout hits." Dr. Michael B. Schachter says, "The treatment dose when a person is iodine insufficient is generally between 12.5 mg and 50 mg daily. Preliminary research indicates that if a person is iodine insufficient, it takes about three months to become iodine sufficient while ingesting a dosage of 50 mg of iodine daily and a year to achieve that while ingesting a dosage of 12.5 mg of iodine daily. Women with a history of low iodine levels (hypothyroidism) face a significantly higher risk of developing liver cancer. Researchers led by Manal Hassan of Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas concluded that this finding suggested a clinical association between hypothyroidism and hepatitis C, which is contributing to the country's rising rate of liver cancer. "At 6 grams daily (which is 6 million micrograms/day or 6,000 milligrams/day!), a much higher dose, iodine has been used to cure syphilis, skin lesions, and chronic lung disease ," says Dr. Gabriel Cousens . "From a larger physiological perspective, it is important to realize that the thyroid is only one gland of many glands and tissues that needs iodine. Other glands/organs/systems with high iodine uptake are the breasts, ovaries, cervix, blood, lymph, bones, gastric mucosal, salivary, adrenal, prostate, colon, thymus, lungs, bladder, kidney, and skin. Iodine is found and used in every hormonal receptor in the body," he states. No one recommends that much iodine today but it is good to understand iodine so one is not afraid to take as much as one needs. Iodine prevents cancer especially in the breasts, ovaries and prostate gland. It is also extremely important in the age of antibiotic resistant infections for it kills viruses, bacteria and fungi. Breast tissue contains the body's third highest concentrations of this essential mineral, so shortfalls in iodine needs have a highly negative impact on breast tissue. Iodine shortfalls coupled with bromine and other toxic halogens cause fibrocystic breast disease and breast cancer . It is unbelievable that doctors nor the government recommends enough iodine to protect people from the harm that comes from not taking iodine. Makes me believe that most doctors have no idea how to practice medicine—not real medicine that helps more than it hurts. The iodine in salt is enough only to prevent goiter but nothing else. Comment: For more information on the benefits of iodine and how to take it, read: | 0 |
in: Corporate Takeover , Economy & Business , Globalism Ivory tower economists, corporate business analysts and financial experts routinely trash any discussion that America needs to institute a national economic policy that actually benefits our own country. The mantra of unchallenged doctrine that globalism is the only path for world commerce has been intensively pushed for well over the last half century. How well did the United States fare? An honest evaluation must acknowledge the diminishing middle class has paid the greatest penalty from the corporatist sedition that has destroyed internal independence and productive prosperity. Building viable enterprises that conduct useful economic activities produce needed and desirable goods and services. Good paying jobs grow when the velocity of money flows in the “real” domestic economy. International trade can and is often advantageous if it benefits all parties involved in prosperity from the transactions. However, in the un-free framework for maximizing the corporatism structure of above and beyond any particular country jurisdiction or trade policies, the globalists have set up the exact opposite from the much lauded “Free Trade” conduit. The next argument points out the inconsistency in Economic Nationalism in the Age of Globalism , and asks: “Is economic nationalism a reaction to global integration, which in essence means cooptation and domination of national markets by the strongest multinational corporations of the richest nations? Neoliberal insist on the forces of the free market operating without government interference to protect the national capitalist class and workers. Naturally, neoliberals advocating global integration have come out against the tide of economic nationalism in any form. However, the same advocates of neoliberalism have no problem supporting corporate welfare in their own countries, a system that is a form of economic nationalism. When governments use taxpayer money to bail banks and subsidize corporations that is a form of economic nationalism, just as when they lobby to have products and services of their industries marketed in countries competing with similar products and services.” Note the error in the assumption that multinational corporatists have a beneficial relationship to any country that flies their business flag. In a perverted business culture which is now based upon the ‘ Citizens United ’ court decision that confirms previous precedents that a corporation is a person, the United States has lost the leverage to reverse the international trade practices that has clearly been the vehicle for domestic economic decline. The alternative to the surrender of sovereignty and globalist blackmail can be found in paleo-conservative populism and the economic history that built America in the 19th century. Still relevant and sound as the day it was written, Pat Buchanan on Free Trade , provides the template for a rational and constructive national economic model. “Good for global business” isn’t necessarily good for US Global capitalists have become acolytes of global governance. They wish to see national sovereignty diminished and sanctions abolished. Where yesterday American businesses suffered damage to their good name for selling scrap iron to Japan before Pearl Harbor, today [war materiel is routinely exported] to potentially hostile nations. Once it was true that what was good the Fortune 500 was good for America. That is no longer true, and what is good for America must take precedence. (Source: “A Republic, Not an Empire,” p.349 , Oct 9, 1999) “Economic Nationalism”: trade only when it helps US Rather than making “global free trade” a golden calf which we all bow down to, and worship, all trade deals should be judged by whether: they maintain US sovereignty; they protect vital economic interests; and they ensure a rising standard of living for all our workers. We must stop sacrificing American jobs on the altars of transnational corporations whose sole loyalty is to the bottom line. “America First”: Tariffs; reciprocal trade; anti-dumping America’s workers are being sacrificed to the Global Economy, and our leaders seem deaf to their distress. Impose tariffs on cheap foreign imports Prioritize the American Economy before the Global Economy by withdrawing from international organizations that imperil our financial stability & economic independence Open foreign markets to American products by requiring reciprocal trade policies Protect vital industries by passing tough anti-dumping legislation. A policy of Rational Tariffs Lower Irrational Trade Deficits is a course for a rebirth in economic vigor. Tariffs Can Restore America’s Greatness sounds like the next topic for the Donald Trump campaign to take directly to the people. Economic Nationalism is a bipartisan issue that offers hope and practical employment for the displaced and discouraged. American companies have been punished for decades under the power elite and globalist betrayers. The Wall Street crowd despises the small investor and by inference the average hard working American. The plutocrats have built much of their ill-gotten gain on the outsourcing of an independent domestic economy. Globalism is on the precipice of a world-wide implosion. The danger is not just a planetary economic depression, but an intentional political crisis that will demand even more control and loss of access to meaningful commerce. The cries that international trade will stall to a halt will be used to economically enslave the populist further. Combat this devious strategy to stamp out the diminished vestiges of national ventures with a total rejection of the internationalist “Free Trade” prototype. Demand for real jobs exists now. In order to achieve the opportunity for earning a living with dignity can be accomplished under a transition to economic nationalism. The discontent of the electorate is distinctly observable at the Trump or Sanders rallies. The frustration is real and the outcry is becoming louder. Nevertheless, the road to a solution cannot rely upon a government nanny state mentality. The globalist juggernaut is formidable, as much as it is destructive. In order to implement the conversion into a merchant economy, the bulwark blockage of crony finance and fatal usury need to be broken. The start to this process begins with an awakening that globalism is the foremost enemy to America. The elites and the entire establishment are hell bent on maintaining a corrupt system. Is it not time to regain our own economic destiny? Submit your review | 0 |
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