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LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal s government on Tuesday survived a no confidence vote in parliament called by the opposition which alleged the government had failed to protect the lives of 110 people who died in two wildfire tragedies in the past four months. This year s fires in Portugal - one in June which killed 65 people and others last week which overwhelmed fire-fighting services and killed 45 people - are the worst on record and led to the resignation of the interior minister. The motion was presented by the center-right CDS-PP after a barrage of criticism of the Socialist government of Prime Minister Antonio Costa. But the Socialists, together with their far-left parliamentary allies, the Communists and Left Bloc, rejected the motion in parliament by 122 to 105. The lethal wildfires are the biggest challenge faced by the government since it came to power in 2015 and have highlighted a glaring divide between the poor, abandoned interior of Portugal and its coastal, urban centers. The government failed because its political leaders didn t know how to coordinate or execute a policy capable of stopping the fires, CDS-PP party leader Assuncao Cristas told parliament during the debate. Thousands of Portuguese waited for help which never came. The government says extraordinary weather conditions, including unusually strong winds and extreme drought, made the fires very difficult to avoid. Portugal s yearly summer fires rarely kill civilians. Facing a growing backlash, including protests and demands for action by the president, the government announced a series of measures at the weekend. We are here because the suffering of the victims and their families and the feeling of insecurity of the Portuguese demands a response, Prime Minister Costa told parliament during the debate on the motion. A report on the fire in June pointed to a long list of mistakes, including slow response times by the police, firefighters and civil protection agency. A special communication system for emergencies stopped working during the fire. This year s fires in Portugal accounted for 60 percent of the total area burnt in the entire European Union. Portugal is equal to 2.1 percent of the EU s landmass. In the interior, many have clamored for years for deep changes to land management to prevent fires, by creating viable forestry and farm units that will make land more valuable. | 1 |
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s finance ministry will evaluate whether to make fiscal changes in response to the U.S. tax reform, according to a document seen by Reuters on Friday. In the document, the ministry said Mexico would not make changes that left it with a higher public sector deficit. “Nevertheless, there will be an assessment of whether modifications should be made to Mexico’s fiscal framework,” the document said. | 1 |
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Fighting between the military and police backed by intelligence forces killed nine people in the Somali capital on Saturday, police said. It seems they mistook the Somali national army for (clan) militias. The death toll is nine people including a civilian, Major Abdullahi Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters. He said the fighting occurred because police were wrongly informed that there were armed militias in the area. Accidents happen, he said. Somalia has been riven by civil war since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew a dictator then turned against each other. The weak U.N.-backed government is now battling an Islamist insurgency, but many members of its security forces are badly trained and coordination is poor. Last night security forces (the police and intelligence) besieged us and then opened fire. We defended ourselves and chased the so-called security forces after hours of fighting today. We lost two soldiers and a wife of my colleague, Major Nur Osman, a military officer, told Reuters on Saturday. The land belongs to the military, it houses the families of soldiers. However, the security forces were trying to force us off the land, he said. Residents said the fighting was terrifying. We were awoken last night ... by gunfire ... We took our babies on our shoulders and fled, resident Mohamed Idle told Reuters. In a separate incident on Saturday, Islamist insurgents briefly entered the town of El Wak in Gedo region, southern Somalia, near the border with Kenya. A few soldiers were in El Wak and they left in the morning for tactical practice. Many al Shabaab fighters advanced, Captain Ibrahim Ali, a military officer, told Reuters. Al Shabaab said they stayed briefly, took weapons and supplies, and left. | 1 |
Would this student have been suspended for saying he doesn t think blondes are hot? Did Colorado College violate a student s First Amendment right to free speech when it suspended him for six months for stating online that he doesn t find black women attractive?We may never know, unless the student who was suspended takes legal action, and there has been no report of any such filing.But some free speech advocates would probably urge him to do so.On Nov. 9, an untold number of Colorado College students engaged in a Yik Yaks social media conversation regarding the topic black lives matter, according to a report from TheCollegeFix.com.What was supposed to be a serious discussion reportedly turned raunchy and over-the-top, with a number of participants posting distasteful comments.For instance, student Thaddeus Pryor said the conversation included a post describing white males as dirty hippies with undersized sexual organs who have sexual relations with relatives.At one point the topic changed to black women matter, to which Pryor anonymously replied, They matter, they re just not hot. The next day several quotes from the online conversation including Pryor s remark about black women were reproduced on full-sized banners and hung in the Student Center near a dean s office, TheCollegeFix.com reported.The next thing he knew, Pryor was brought before a disciplinary panel, and learned he had been accused by rumor of being the author of most of the controversial posts in the conversation, the news site reported.Pryor admitted to writing the statement about black women, but denied writing anything else. And there is no way for the college to determine who wrote the other statements that Pryor did not accept responsibility for. Yik Yak is an anonymous social media application on smartphones that restricts posts to those within a geolocated boundary, like a college campus, according to the Huffington Post. While student have frequently protested in recent years over racist and offensive posts on the app, colleges have no way to identify who says anything on Yik Yak. College officials quickly moved to suspend Pryor. Senior Associate Dean of Students Rochelle Mason, Dean of Students Mike Edmonds and Assistant Dean of Students Cesar Cervantes decided in less than 24 hours that Pryor should be suspended for 21 months the exact time it would take him to finish his degree and prohibited from being on campus. Pryor appealed and his suspension was reduced to six months, but he still claims that college officials neglected his due process rights as defined by college policy, and essentially pronounced him guilty of authoring far more than the one post he accepted responsibility for. Pryor said someone misled officials about the number of comments he posted, according to the news site. In a lengthy appeal letter to Edmonds, Pryor said he voluntarily admitted to posting the not hot comment despite Mason and Cervantes having no evidence other than hearsay that he was involved with the Nov. 9 posts, TheCollegeFix.com wrote. He said the college violated its own rules not only by failing to inform him of his alleged violations until he was sentenced, but by incorrectly recording in sanction papers that Mason and Cervantes had even informed him of alleged violations of the Student Code of Conduct. During my hearing, rather than presenting me with my possible violations then investigating my actions and how they may have constituted those violations, I was simply treated as broadly guilty, Pryor was quoted as saying.Apparently private schools like Colorado College have more legal authority to censor speech than public schools, there remains a question about whether Pryor s rights were violated.A nonprofit called the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) contend that the college violated a statement published in a student guide that says, all members of the college community have such basic rights as freedom of speech, the Huffington Post reported. Because Colorado College is a private institution, it generally does not have to grant the same First Amendment free speech rights that a public school would. However, FIRE insists the school s statement about free speech in its college guide creates a contractual obligation, according to the Huffington Post. Via: EAG | 0 |
The Shadow Brokers dump more intel from the NSA's elite Equation Group
In August, anonymous hacker(s) dumped a cache of cyberweapons that appeared to originate with The Equation Group , an elite, NSA-affiliated hacking squad.
The leakers called themselves The Shadow Brokers, and they sought bTc1,000,000 for access to the remainder of The Equation Group's files. Earlier this month, arrested NSA contractor Harold Thomas Martin was accused of being the source of the leak to The Shadow Brokers, though not necessarily deliberately (he may have been hacked by The Shadow Brokers).
The Shadow Brokers have had no takers for their auction, and so they're now dumping more files, presumably to stir up interest.
The new leak purportedly reveals IP addresses of NSA controlled servers in 49 countries that are used to launch offensives against NSA targets. If the leaks are to be believed, they show that the NSA uses hacked servers in China and Russia to attack other countries.
The dump contains some 300 folders of files, all corresponding to different domains and IP addresses. Domains from Russia, China, India, Sweden, and many other countries are included. According to an analysis by the security researcher known as Hacker Fantastic, the dump contains 306 domains and 352 IP addresses relating to 49 countries in total.
If accurate, victims of the Equation Group may be able to use these files to determine if they were potentially targeted by the NSA-linked unit. The IP addresses may relate to servers the NSA has compromised and then used to deliver exploits, according to security researcher Mustafa Al-Bassam.
“So even the NSA hacks machines from compromised servers in China and Russia. This is why attribution is hard,” Al-Bassam tweeted on Monday. | 1 |
President Trump delivered a speech on national security that ll knock your socks off. He plans on putting America first: America is in the game and America is going to win. His strategy involves four basic principles: protecting the homeland by restricting immigration, pressuring trading partners, building up the military and otherwise increasing U.S. influence globally.What s not to love about that? MAGA!Via Fox News: President Trump on Monday unveiled a national security strategy that enshrines his America First approach into U.S. policy, stressing American strength and economic security and putting rivals like China and Russia on notice. America is in the game and America is going to win, Trump said, making clear that the United States will stand up for itself even if that means acting unilaterally or alienating others on issues such as trade, climate change and immigration.In a 20-minute speech, Trump said the U.S. faces an extraordinarily dangerous world and one of his goals is to make sure the U.S. is leading again on the world stage. America is coming back, and America is coming back strong, he said.Trump, who released his 68-page national security strategy ahead of his speech, said he is making good on campaign pledges that he promised would revitalize the American economy, rebuild our military, defend our borders, protect our sovereignty and advance our values. Trump s national security strategy, a document mandated by Congress, is based on four principles: protecting the homeland by restricting immigration, pressuring trading partners, building up the military and otherwise increasing U.S. influence globally.Trump also took on the rise in North Korea s nuclear aggression and painted China and Russia as U.S. rivals despite his own relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which included two telephone calls last week.Bryan Llenas has the rogue regime s reaction. China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity, the strategy document says. They are determined to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence. The strategy accuses the two nations of developing advanced weapons and capabilities that could threaten our critical infrastructure and our command and control architecture. While Trump in his address did not mention Russia meddling in U.S. elections, the written strategy also calls out Moscow for using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies and says adversaries like Russia target media, political processes, financial networks and personal data. In a shift from the last administration, Trump s strategy also refers to the jihadist terror threat and Islamist terror groups. We will pursue threats to their source, so that jihadist terrorists are stopped before they ever reach our borders, it says.Further, the strategy backs off naming climate change as a major threat. The last such strategy document, prepared by then-President Barack Obama in 2015, declared climate change an urgent and growing threat to our national security. | 0 |
COX S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Sat in his hillside grocery shop in a Bangladesh refugee camp, Rohingya Muslim Momtaz-ul-Hoque takes a break to listen to an audio recording on his mobile phone, while children and passers-by gather round to hear the latest news from Myanmar. I listen because I get some information on my motherland, said Hoque, 30, as he plays a message on WhatsApp explaining the Myanmar government s proposals for repatriating refugees. Hoque has been in Bangladesh since an earlier bout of violence in Myanmar s Rakhine state in 1992, but the number of refugees in the camps has swelled dramatically to more than 800,000 in recent weeks, after a massive Myanmar military operation sent around 600,000 people fleeing across the border. Tens of thousands of exhausted refugees have arrived with little more than a sack of rice, a few pots and pans and a mobile phone powered by a cheap solar battery, and many are desperate for news of what is going on back home. With few news sources in their own language and low levels of literacy, audio and video messages distributed on apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube have become a community radio of sorts for the Muslim minority. Dozens of WhatsApp groups have sprung up to fill the information gap. Their offerings range from grainy footage of violence, to listings of the names and numbers of people missing in the chaos of the exodus, or even an explainer from educated Rohingya on how to adjust to life in the camps. At a shop selling cold drinks in the Leda refugee camp, two men played WhatsApp news through a loudspeaker. Out of breath, a man narrated a scene purportedly from a village in Myanmar s Buthidaung region, according to Mohammed Zubair, a refugee who translated the broadcasts for Reuters. They are surrounding the village. We are under attack from the military and the mogs...some people are seriously injured, Zubair translates the speaker as saying, using a derogatory term common in Bangladesh to refer to ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. I trust it 100 percent, Zubair said of the information. Reuters was not able to verify the account. The WhatsApp groups tend to have hundreds of members, meaning that the spread of information depends on people passing on the news. Many of the listeners do not know who is sending the message or the trustworthiness of the broadcaster. Some said outdated or inaccurate reports were common. In some cases, we got audio messages of villages burning in Myanmar, and when we contact people in those villages, there s nothing, said one refugee inside a tea shop in Bangladesh sKutupalong camp. Other refugees said videos of violence claimed to have been filmed in villages in Myanmar turned out to be footage from other countries. Many also worry that the unregulated nature of WhatsApp groups increases opportunities for voices keen to push an agenda rather than share facts. Rohingya rebel group the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) - whose Aug. 25 attacks on security forces triggered the latest crisis - and its followers have been among the most active adopters of WhatsApp to spread their message. Audio messages urging support, updates on the latest military movements and official press releases dominate some groups. Several refugees in Bangladesh said they had no idea if the messages, often posted by people with phone numbers registered in the Middle East or other parts of Asia, were actually from ARSA members. Refugees also worry that Bangladeshi security forces want to monitor the broadcasts, and are looking in the camps for ARSA supporters. At the tea shop in Kutupalong camp, refugees have stopped listening to the broadcasts on loudspeakers during daylight hours, preferring to gather clandestinely at night instead. Still, many Rohingyas say social media platforms play a crucial role in keeping spirits up among the community. The Rohingya people are not organized, said Hoque, the grocer. They cannot take out their frustration any other way, so this is a way of protesting. | 1 |
Thank goodness for Rep. Jim Jordan s masterful grilling of FBI Director Chris Wray today (see video of testimony below) regarding the Trump investigation. The videos below reveal bombshell information that this is a set up by FBI agent Strzok who took the fake dossier to the FISA Court in the beginning THIS IS A BIG DEAL!JORDAN ON LOU DOBBS AFTER HIS QUESTIONING OF WRAY: There are a couple of fundamental questions here. Did the FBI pay Christopher Steele? I asked that of the Attorney General two weeks ago he wouldn t answer the question. Did they actually vet this dossier? Because it s been disproven, a bunch of lies, a bunch of National Enquirer garbage and fake news in this thing. Did they actually check it out before they brought it to the FISA Court which I m convinced they did. And all of this can be cleared up if they release the application that they took to the court I think they won t give it to us because they did pay Christopher Steele. I think they did use the dossier as the basis for the warrants to spy on Americans associated with President Trump s campaign. Strzok is the guy who took the dossier to the FISA Court.Politically Corrupt FBI @Jim_Jordan: I believe the FBI paid Christopher Steele, and then used the discredited, fake news dossier to spy on @POTUS and his campaign. #MAGA #TrumpTrain #DTS @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/bfgk37LbFC Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) December 8, 2017Earlier in the day, Rep. Jim Jordan grilled Chris Wray about the dossier: Let s remember a couple of things about the dossier, he said. The Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign, which we now know were one and the same, paid the law firm who paid Fusion GPS who paid Christopher Steele who then paid Russians to put together a report that we call a dossier full of all kinds of fake news, National Enquirer garbage and it s been reported that this dossier was all dressed up by the FBI, taken to the FISA court and presented as a legitimate intelligence document that it became the basis for a warrant to spy on Americans. The easiest way to clear it up is tell us what s in that application and who took it there, Jordan said.Jordan finished with this: Here s what I think I think Peter Strozk Mr. Super Agent at the FBI, I think he s the guy who took the application to the FISA court and if that happened, if this happened, if you have the FBI working with a campaign, the Democrats campaign, taking opposition research, dressing it all up and turning it into an intelligence document so they can take it to the FISA court so they can spy on the other campaign, if that happened, that is as wrong as it gets. | 0 |
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This guy is a joke! Scott Dworkin: A paper trail leads directly back to Mike Pence Pence knew Michael Flynn was a foreign agent MSNBC is actually ok with this lunatic spouting his BS? A paper trail leads directly back to Mike Pence Pence knew Michael Flynn was a foreign agent @Funder on #AMJoy https://t.co/mK7L0yJI2Y Scott Dworkin (@funder) July 15, 2017All you have to do is go on his twitter page and see that he s now calling for an investigation into Trump s new communications director Anthony Scaramucci. Dworkin might want to check into what happened to the three CNN employees who tried to attack Scaramucci. Yes, they were fired from CNN and had to retract the article. This brainiac is all about the money. He s asking for donations to investigate Scaramucci! What a grifter!Time for Trump to hit back at this Dwork ! Trump is one of the biggest mobsters in the world. Scott Dworkin #AMJoy pic.twitter.com/joU24OnzDw Scott Dworkin (@funder) July 22, 2017 | 0 |
Summer snow is coming to Alaska just in time for Obama s visit! Yes, it must be the Gore Effect that brings cold weather when the feds are pushing the junk science of global warming.Summer snow is expected in Alaska this week as Barack Obama visits the 49th state. Obama is expected to push global warming junk science during his trip.The president also will officially rename Mt. McKinley during his visit.Former NASA scientist Dr. Roy Spencer reported:When President Obama visits Alaska this week to campaign for a new international agreement to fight global warming climate change, Alaska will be experiencing colder than normal weather and forecast summer snows, as seen in this WeatherBell.com graphic of forecast total snowfall by Friday:Via: Gateway Pundit | 1 |
SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Parents who immigrated illegally to the United States and now fear deportation under the Trump administration are inundating immigration advocates with requests for help in securing care for their children in the event they are expelled from the country. The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) advocacy group has been receiving about 10 requests a day from parents who want to put in place temporary guardianships for their children, said spokesman Jorge-Mario Cabrera. Last year, the group said it received about two requests a month for guardianship letters and notarization services. At the request of a nonprofit organization, the National Lawyers Guild in Washington D.C. put out a call this week for volunteer attorneys to help immigrants fill out forms granting friends or relatives the right to make legal and financial decisions in their absence. In New Jersey, immigration attorney Helen Ramirez said she is getting about six phone calls a day from parents. Last year, she said, she had no such calls. “Their biggest fear is that their kids will end up in foster care,” Ramirez said. President Donald Trump’s administration has issued directives to agents to more aggressively enforce immigration laws and more immigrants are coming under scrutiny by the authorities. For parents of U.S. citizens who are ordered removed, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency “accommodates, to the extent practicable, the parents’ efforts to make provisions” for their children, said ICE spokeswoman Sarah Rodriguez. She said that might include access to a lawyer, consular officials and relatives for detained parents to execute powers of attorney or apply for passports and buy airline tickets if the parents decide whether or not to take the children with them. Randy Capps of the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), a Washington-based non-profit that analyzes the movement of people worldwide, said that while putting contingency plans in place is a good idea, he does not think the level of fear is justified. During the previous administration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat, the likelihood of both parents being deported was slim, Capps said. He doubts there will be a huge shift under Republican Trump toward deporting both parents. “The odds are still very low but not as low as they were – and this is just the beginning of the administration,” he said. About five million children under the age of 18 are living with at least one parent who is in the country illegally, according to a 2016 study by MPI. Most of the children, 79 percent, were U.S. citizens, the study found. In the second half of 2015, ICE removed 15,422 parents who said they have at least one U.S.-born child, according to ICE data. Obama was criticized for being the “deporter in chief” after he expelled more than 400,000 people in 2012, the most by any president in a single year. In 2014, the Obama administration began focusing on a narrower slice of immigrants, those who had recently entered the country or committed serious felonies. Trump has said he would still prioritize criminals for deportation. In rural New Jersey, Seidy Martinez and her husband Jose Gomez have begun the difficult conversations with their 10-year-old daughter about what would happen if her parents were deported. Martinez, a house cleaner, and Gomez, who works on a horse farm, are both from Honduras. They entered the United States illegally, and do not have papers, unlike their daughter, who has been granted asylum, and their 3-year-old son, a U.S. citizen. “Now we are worried all the time. We don’t have anything that would allow us to stay here,” said Martinez. “Our main concern is what will happen to our children.” She has told her daughter that she could live with her aunt in Miami and is considering drafting paperwork that would give her relative some legal rights if she and her husband are deported. The 10-year old tries to comfort her mother. “She tells me, ‘Mami, tranquila. Don’t be afraid, I am scared too but don’t worry everything will be OK.’” Rebecca Kitson, an immigration attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico, says she advises her increasingly nervous clients to have the kind of conversations Martinez and her husband are having with their children. She said she urges parents to be specific in their instructions. “If Mom doesn’t come home by a specific time, who do [the kids] call?” said Kitson. Immigration groups are offering low-cost services. CHIRLA, for example, offers a free sample letter and help filling it out, which then must be notarized at a cost of about $10. But some parents here illegally say they have had trouble finding affordable help. Melvin Arias, 39, a New Jersey landscaper from Costa Rica who entered the United States illegally 13 years ago, said he decided after hearing news of stepped-up immigration enforcement to take legal precautions for his five-year-old son and six-month old daughter, who are both U.S. citizens. But when he asked for help from two different lawyers, Arias was told preparing legal documents would cost him between $700 and $1,250. He is looking for a cheaper way to obtain the paperwork he needs. “If there comes a time when both of us have a problem, I want there to be a responsible person who can come and get [the children] for us, to take them to wherever we might be,” Arias said. | 0 |
The head of the NCAAP has come out in stark opposition to President Donald J. Trump’s coming investigation into voter fraud, claiming it is “racist. ”[In an interview on CNN, Cornell William Brooks, president and CEO of the NAACP, insisted that his organization would “resist” the president’s investigation into fraud during the 2016 election. “The President has claimed millions of fraudulent ballots were cast. The only place you will find millions of fraudulent ballots are right beside that fake birth certificate for Barack Obama, inside the imagination of President Trump. They don’t exist,” Brooks said on Thursday. Instead of vote fraud, Brooks insisted that there was “unrelenting voter suppression” of the minority vote in 2016. “We have seen our rights denied as Americans. Particularly seniors, Latinos and younger people,” Brooks exclaimed. “So, if the President insists upon conducting an investigation into voter fraud as a pretext for voter suppression, the NAACP, along with millions of Americans of every human heritage, will resist. We will push back. ” Brooks recently jumped to his Twitter account to attack the President’s investigation, calling it a figment of Trump’s imagination. 1) Only place you’ll find millions of fraudulent ballots are beside B. Obama’s fake birth certificate — inside #POTUS ’s imagination. @NAACP pic. twitter. — Cornell Wm. Brooks (@CornellWBrooks) January 26, 2017, In a formal statement, Brooks called vote fraud a “myth” and insisted that voter suppression is a fact. He wrote: Today, President Donald Trump called for the federal government to spend resources investigating alleged “voter fraud” in the 2016 elections. Unable to accept the fact that he lost the popular vote by some 2. 8 million votes, President Trump has repeated his naked and reckless claim that 3 to 5 million illegal votes were cast in the 2016 election by “illegal immigrants. ” However, this notion of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election, or any other American election cycle for that matter, is false and dangerous. On CNN Brooks added that he would suggest the president change the direction of his investigation or they will have to resist it. “If the President goes down this road, we must resist, and we must resist massively,” Brooks claimed. The claims Brooks made fly in the face of the evidence, according to longtime vote fraud investigator John Fund. In a piece published by Fox News, Fund and the Heritage Foundation’s Hans von Spakovsky say that Trump’s investigation is a long overdue look at the problem of vote fraud in the U. S. Fund and von Spakovsky reveal that the Obama administration spent its entire eight years trying to quash investigations into vote fraud and also refused to allow the states to fix their voter rolls to eliminate dead voters and voters registered in multiple jurisdictions. The authors further point out that our electoral system is currently set up entirely on the honor system, expecting that all voters will be telling the truth by affirming they are both registered and will only vote once. Fund also notes that voter ID cards are perfectly acceptable and that, “All industrialized democracies … require voters to prove their identity before voting. ” “Our honor system for voting doesn’t work,” Fund concluded. “We don’t know how big of a problem voter fraud really is because no systematic effort has ever been made to investigate it. But the public doesn’t think it’s as insignificant as the media insists. ” Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Bob Goodlatte, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said on Thursday he will not seek re-election next year. “This is a natural stepping-off point,” Goodlatte said in a statement. The announcement came on the heels of Tuesday’s elections in Virginia, where Democrats won the governor’s office and triumphed in local races in some Republican strongholds. Goodlatte has represented Virginia’s 6th congressional district for 25 years. He joins a string of Republican lawmakers who have announced their retirements from Congress in recent weeks. Two other House committee chairmen, Representatives Lamar Smith and Jeb Hensarling, both of Texas, said last week they would not seek re-election. Hensarling leads the House Financial Services Committee, while Smith leads the Science, Space and Technology panel. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even as thousands of additional American troops head to Afghanistan, a U.S. government watchdog is warning that tens of billions of dollars could be wasted unless changes are made in the training of Afghan security forces. Deficiencies in the Afghan forces, including the military and police, are getting renewed attention after U.S. President Donald Trump s administration decided to send more than 3,000 additional troops to the country where the United States has been engaged in its longest war. Washington has spent $70 billion training Afghan forces since 2002, and is still spending more than $4 billion a year, according to a report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, published on Thursday. Despite those sums, Afghan security forces are struggling to prevent advances by Taliban insurgents more than 16 years after the United States invaded Afghanistan to topple the Islamist Taliban government that gave al Qaeda the sanctuary where it plotted the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. According to U.S. estimates, government forces control less than 60 percent of Afghanistan, with almost half the country either contested or under the control of insurgents. The report said U.S. forces focused on carrying out military operations during the initial years after the 2001 invasion, rather than developing the Afghan army and police. When the United States and NATO did look to develop the security forces, they did so with little input from senior Afghan officials, according to the report. At one point, the report said, training for Afghan police officials used Power Point slides from U.S. and NATO operations in the Balkans. The presentations were not only of questionable relevance to the Afghan setting, but also overlooked the high levels of illiteracy among the police, the report said. John Sopko, the head of SIGAR, said that one U.S. officer watched TV shows such as Cops and NCIS to understand what to teach Afghan officials. Sopko said the U.S. government approach to Afghanistan lacked a whole of government approach in which different agencies such as the State Department and Pentagon coordinate efforts. The inability of embassy officials in Kabul to venture far outside their secure compound also affected oversight and coordination, he said. The goal of U.S. policy remains enabling local forces to defeat the Taliban and secure the country so economic development can proceed. Victory would look like people in the Government of Afghanistan (being able to) handle this threat from the terrorists, using their own security forces, with international mentors probably there for many years to come, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said recently. Michael Kugelman, a South Asia specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Washington think tank, said that while the Afghan forces had major shortcomings, including their ability to collect intelligence and hold territory, their progress should not be overlooked. It is easy to forget the progress that the security forces have made amid all the doomsday rhetoric, but there have been very real improvements in the Afghan security forces. For instance, the special forces have become jewel of the Afghan security forces, Kugelman said. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday the country s army was not only better trained and profiting from a new generation of soldiers but had gained experience after huge cuts in the U.S.-led international force under former U.S. President Barack Obama forced Afghans to assume a bigger role in the fighting. | 0 |
At a Texas rally meant to celebrate his recent endorsement by one-time opponent Chris Christie, Donald Trump said the 1st Amendment doesn t extend to journalists who write purposely negative articles about him. His plan, one of the view policy positions he s actually laid out, would be to open up more libel laws and then sue the newspapers into oblivion.To a crowd of supporters, Trump laid out his vision for what free speech would look like in Trump s America: It boiled down to, be good to me or I ll destroy you. I m gonna open up our libel laws, so when they write purposely negative and horrible, false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.We re going to open up those libels laws. So that when The New York Times writes a hit piece, which is a total disgrace, or when The Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money. He closed with promising his fans that he ll sue critics like they ve never got sued before. How did Trump s supporters respond to this terrifying, fascist vision for the future? They went crazy. A cheer went up in the crowd that nearly drowned out Trump s comments.Trump says he wants to open up our libel laws so he can sue news outlets and win lots of money. pic.twitter.com/AeWfSvPfi5 PolicyMic (@PolicyMic) February 26, 2016Trump s attack on the media representS a bold new step in Trump s march towards a literal Nazi political platform. America has long enjoyed a (relatively) free press and, whether politicians like it or not, the openness has helped keep America free from the kind of totalitarian governments seen in places like North Korea and China. It doesn t mean that the press is always fair. Notably, Barack Obama has faced a constant barrage of right-wing hit pieces directed at his character, his family, and his legacy. However, as bad as it gets, Americans have always recognized that restricting the voice of the media is a line that shouldn t be crossed until now.Trump, who views any criticism of his ideas or rhetoric as an insult, has a massive ego and paper thin skin. How would he define negative and false articles? Where would he stop? On what basis would he sue the New York Times or the Washington Post or even liberal blogs which don t agree to go quietly along with his message of bigotry, racism, and war-mongering? The answers to those questions are almost too terrifying to imagine.Featured image via Hollywood Reporter screengrab | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday: Congressional Democrats and some foreign nations, including key U.S. allies, put pressure on Trump over his temporary ban on entry to America by refugees and people from seven predominantly Muslim countries. The Pentagon says it is making a list of Iraqis who worked alongside American troops. Democratic U.S. senators try to force a vote on a bill to rescind Trump’s order, but are blocked by a Republican lawmaker. Washington state announces a legal challenge to the ban and former President Barack Obama takes a swipe at his successor. The chief executives of Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Ford Motor Co join the criticism of Trump’s ban. Tens of thousands of people protest in London and other British cities against Trump’s ban. The United States should revoke “dangerous” new immigration measures, France’s foreign minister says during a visit to Tehran. The U.N. refugee agency voices alarm at Trump’s decision to suspend entry of refugees, saying this week alone 800 people set to make America their new home were barred. Trump says he will announce his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday night as he seeks to quickly put his stamp on the court by restoring its conservative majority, even as Democrats gear up for a Senate confirmation fight. Senate Democrats delayed the Senate Finance Committee’s vote on U.S. Treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin on Monday so they could protest against Trump’s order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority nations. The U.S. Senate advances the nomination of former Exxon Mobil Corp Chief Executive Rex Tillerson to be Trump’s secretary of state. Trump will amend his recent National Security Council reorganization to add the CIA to the group, the White House says, following criticism of the restructuring, which included the addition of political adviser Steve Bannon. Trump signs an order aimed at dramatically paring back federal regulations, but it will not apply to most of the financial reform rules introduced by the Obama administration. Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, condemns Iran after reports it conducted a ballistic missile test and says he will work with other lawmakers and Trump’s administration to hold Iran accountable.[nL1N1FK1VD Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with Trump at the White House on Feb. 15, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer announces. Netanyahu says he plans to push Trump to renew sanctions against Iran. | 1 |
21st Century Wire says..With Christmas season right around the corner, millions retail consumers in North America and Western Europe will be taking on thousands of dollars in new credit card debt. Few have paused to ponder how it all started, and where the real breaking point lies for both personal and social stability. If you think that your credit has taken over your life then you need to watch this film.This week s documentary film curated by our editorial team at 21WIRE Debt is like a disease that can enable us from living a happy and normal life by taking control over our lives. Most of us don t even know how we end up in the situation we are in. Buying every thing we own with credit has become our culture. But don t let debt control your life any more. You can take over your life again. Imagine life with out debt Watch: SEE MORE SUNDAY SCREENING HERESUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1 |
Sky News unveiled a data poll suggesting that Britain is “more racist and less happy” than a year ago, with the supposedly worsening mood framed as a direct consequence of the country voting to leave the European Union (EU) last June. [The findings were reported by Sky News by the broadcaster’s Head of Data, Harry Carr, who previously managed the political polling for Ipsos MORI, a polling organisation which suffered a severe blow to its credibility after putting the probability of Britain voting to Remain in the EU at 74 per cent. Carr writes that 57 per cent of respondents believe the UK is more racist than it was 12 months ago, immediately after an allusion to Home Office statistics which claim allegations of crimes motivated by racial or religious hatred are up by 41 per cent. This increase in allegations is likely to have been driven by government policy, which is geared towards positively encouraging an increase in hate crime reporting. The Home Office launched a hate crime action plan in July 2016 in which the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, made it clear the government has been pushing “measures to increase the reporting of hate incidents and crimes”. Past measures have included a scheme launched by the British Transport Police which allows people to register hate crime allegations via text, which logged 32, 500 incidents in its first three years of operation, and the online True Vision portal, which logged 4, 300 hate allegations in . Assistant Chief Constable of the Essex police force, Maurice Mason, admitted some of these reported incidents reported even include “members of the public complaining about Nigel Farage, or whatever … If the person feels it’s a hate crime it will get recorded as a hate crime”. Mason’s comments underline that there is virtually no requirement for evidence of a crime to be presented before a hate incident is logged. The College of Policing’s Hate Crime Operational Guidance manual states that, “For recording purposes, the perception of the victim, or any other person, is the defining factor in determining whether an incident is a hate incident”. The guidance goes on to make it clear that “the victim does not have to justify or provide evidence of their belief, and police officers or staff should not directly challenge this perception. Evidence of the hostility is not required for an incident or crime to be recorded as a hate crime or hate incident. ” The police will take action against false reporting, as when a Muslim woman was fined for lying about being attacked in Birmingham last year, but the guidance is clear that challenging people to substantiate hate crime allegations is generally discouraged. This has not stopped broadcasters and mainstream media outlets such as Sky News from reporting that hate crime has “soared” prominently and repeatedly, which is likely the key factor in the public allegedly perceiving an increase in racism. Another driver for any increase in hate crime, not explored in the Sky News report, is the accelerating pace of mass immigration, with migrants in poorly integrated minority communities harbouring racist attitudes towards the majority population themselves. Police Scotland conceded that white Britons were the most likely victims of racist attacks towards the end of 2015, a widely unreported phenomenon. Sir Peter Fahy, former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, has been reported as saying that it is “a fact that it [is] harder to get the media interested where murder victims [are] young white men. ” Broadcasters have come under strong criticism for their failure to report such crimes in the past, with the BBC acknowledging it “underplayed” the murder of Kriss Donald by a Pakistani gang in Scotland’s first ever race hate killing. Biased, negative media coverage following the Brexit vote, such as that uncovered at the BBC by researchers at News Watch, will also have played a part in any increasing apprehensions about the future. Sky Data did not believe that voters would back Brexit if they thought it would damage the economy before the referendum, which would seem to contradict its new report suggesting most members of the public believe it will. Sky’s previous survey also indicated that “Brits do not think the UK will be less respected on the world stage if it leaves the EU” that Britain gets “a raw deal” from the EU compared to France and Germany, and that EU immigration “undermines British culture and values”. | 0 |
****STRONG LANGUAGE Warning****You have lit a fuse, and it s burning and when it explodes negro, you re nowhere near prepared to deal with it, with that destruction | 1 |
Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks confirmed that a man arrested on his way to gay pride event in Los Angeles, CA intended to do harm, to those in attendance.According to the Los Angeles Times, the man has been identified as Indiana resident James Howell. Howell was in possession of a cache of weapons, ammunition and explosive-making materials, when he was stopped by police on the morning of June 12.At this time police say they have not found a connection between Howell and Omar Mateen, the Florida man who killed 53 people and injured more than 50 others at a gay nightclub in Orlando on Sunday morning.According to police, they first encountered Howell after receiving a call about a suspected prowler in a Santa Monica neighborhood. The Los Angeles Times reports that Howell was knocking on doors, loitering in the area, and exhibiting behavior that caused local residents to feel uneasy.After inspecting Howell s car, police discovered the weapons stash, which included three rifles, one of them an assault rifle and a lot of ammunition. Howell was also in possession of a five-gallon bucket containing the explosive Tannerite. Tannerite is commonly used for making pipe bombs.Howell initially told police he was waiting for a friend. Later he stated that he was going to the gay-pride event in Los Angeles to find a friend. The Los Angeles Times reports that authorities are still looking for that person. Police have not said that they believe the individual is a threat.While police say that they ramped up security for the Los Angeles gay-pride event, they also said that they did not believe there was a reason to cancel.Following the mass shooting at Pulse in Orlando, many people felt an even greater need to participate in the Los Angeles rally. I feel like it s all the more reason to come out, one participant told the Los Angeles Times. He went to say that the violence is trying to push us back. This is showing we re still here, we re still going to take a stand. Here s more from KTLA:Image credit: video screen capture KTLA | 1 |
Obama s war against America on every possible front Last Wednesday, a small EPA-supervised work crew inspecting the Gold King mine accidentally knocked a hole in a waste pit, releasing at least three million gallons of acidic liquid laden with toxic heavy metals. (ABC)This letter to editor, posted below, and written by Dave Taylor, from Farmington, New Mexico, was published in The Silverton Standard and The Miner local newspaper, authored by a retired geologist, one week before EPA mine spill. The letter detailed verbatim, how EPA officials would foul up the Animas River on purpose in order to secure superfund money. If the Gold King mine was declared a superfund site it would essentially kill future development for the mining industry in the area. The Obama EPA is vehemently opposed to mining and development.The EPA pushed for nearly 25 years, to apply its Superfund program to the Gold King mine. If a leak occurred the EPA would then receive superfund status. That is exactly what happened.The EPA today admitted they misjudged the pressure in the gold mine before the spill just as this editorial predicted.The letter was included in their print edition on July 30, 2015. The spill occurred one week later. Via: Gateway Pundit | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump took a detour from the campaign trail on Thursday and held an unexpected meeting in Washington with Reince Priebus, the head of the Republican National Committee. It was not immediately clear what the two men discussed but the meeting came after months of tension between Trump and the party he seeks to represent in the Nov. 8 election. Trump this week abandoned a pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee if it is not him. He has also complained about the party’s delegate allocation process as he seeks to win the 1,237 delegates necessary for the nomination. “Just had a very nice meeting with @Reince Priebus and the @GOP. Looking forward to bringing the Party together —- and it will happen!” Trump wrote on Twitter. Barry Bennett, an adviser to the Trump campaign, said on MSNBC that the meeting was about Trump helping the RNC raise money. “The meeting is to help the RNC,” he said. Trump also met with his foreign policy team in the capital on Thursday after a series of statements by the billionaire businessman on national security issues that have drawn criticism. In recent interviews, Trump has declared the NATO alliance obsolete, described Saudi Arabia as too dependent on the United States and said Japan and South Korea may need to develop their own nuclear programs because the U.S. security umbrella is too costly to maintain. In an MSNBC town hall on Wednesday night, Trump did not rule out the potential use of nuclear weapons in Europe or the Middle East to combat Islamic State militants. “I would never take any of my cards off the table,” he said. Max Boot, a conservative national security expert and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in Commentary Magazine this week that Trump is “singularly unqualified to be commander-in-chief.” “With Trump in command, our enemies would have a field day — Moscow and Beijing must be licking their chops at his desire to abandon U.S. allies in Europe and Asia — and our friends would face mortal threats. If that isn’t the single biggest threat to U.S. security, I don’t know what is,” Boot wrote. | 0 |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=NeqMSI6OR5Q | 0 |
PRESIDENT TRUMP ON OVERREGULATION: They spent $29 million for an environmental report weighing 70 lbs. and costing $24,000 per page. I said, do me a favor, I m going to make a speech in a little while, do you mind if I take that and show it? So I m going to show it. The president then walked away from the podium and flipped through the pages of the binder, then let each one hit the ground with a thud.With Trump s speech, the White House s so-called infrastructure week came to an end Friday. The effort was meant to highlight the need to speed up the permitting process before roads, bridges, ports and tracks across the country can be built. It took only four years to build the Golden Gate Bridge and five years to build the Hoover Dam and less than one year to build the Empire State building but today it can take 10 years just to get the approvals and permits needed to build a major infrastructure project, Trump said.On Monday, the White House kicked off a weeklong focus on infrastructure, announcing a series of events and speeches where the president would draw attention to the issue his advisers say they hope can be tackled this year. We have structurally deficient bridges, clogged roads, crumbling dams and rocks, our rivers are in trouble, our railways are aging and chronic traffic that slows commerce and diminishes our citizens quality of life, Trump said Friday. Other than that, we are doing very well. Read more: WE | 0 |
17 mins ago 2 Views 0 Comments 0 Likes New Zealand's country's entire east coast and urged residents in low-lying areas to evacuate and seek higher ground. Waves of up to two meters (6 feet) could be possible for up to two hours, it said. Anna "That's reasonably significant so people should take this seriously," she told Radio New Zealand. New Zealand's Geonet revised up its estimated magnitude of the quake to 7.5, from 6.6 earlier. USGS Zealand's South Island. A 6.3 quake there in February 2011 killed 185 people and caused widespread damage. The "The whole house rolled like a serpent and some things smashed, the power went out," Chris Hill, a fire officer in Cheviot, a coastal town near the quake's epicenter, said officials had gone door to door evacuating residents. Learn More: https://www.yahoo.com/news/magnitude-7-4-earthquake-strikes-near-christchurch-zealand-112145924.html http://quakes.globalincidentmap.com/ https://twitter.com/i/moments/797788639014989826 http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/#%7B%22autoUpdate%22%3A%5B%22autoUpdate%22%5D%2C%22basemap%22%3A%22grayscale%22%2C%22feed%22%3A%221day_m25%22%2C%22listFormat%22%3A%22default%22%2C%22mapposition%22%3A%5B%5B-45.736859547360474%2C-192.777099609375%5D%2C%5B-38.410558250946075%2C-175.198974609375%5D%5D%2C%22overlays%22%3A%5B%22plates%22%5D%2C%22restrictListToMap%22%3A%5B%22restrictListToMap%22%5D%2C%22search%22%3Anull%2C%22sort%22%3A%22newest%22%2C%22timezone%22%3A%22utc%22%2C%22viewModes%22%3A%5B%22list%22%2C%22map%22%5D%2C%22event%22%3A%22us1000778i%22%7D https://www.essentialdrugstore.com/ B Rich: https://twitter.com/Brian_T33NO https://www.youtube.com/c/BRichOfficial Erick M: https://twitter.com/letmeexplainit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcwB6XtfJtyWW4DXKoZVn5A ToBeFree: https://twitter.com/da52true https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvdTd5-p_sBE8oTjUOqPpPg EnterThe5t4rz: https://twitter.com/Enterthe5t4rz https://www.youtube.com/user/Enterthe5t4rz Save On Official DAHBOO7 Gear with Code "5off" http://dahboo7.deco-street.com http://foodforliberty.com/dahboo7/ You can also cut cable bills forever and save $75 with code "tigerstream75" https://tigerstream.tv/go/tigerstream7/ | 1 |
Donald Trump is a lot of things, but presidential is not one of them. Kellyanne Conway is Trump s campaign manager, so it s her job to polish the turd that the Republican party nominated and make him something palatable to the majority of American voters. Unfortunately for both Trump and Conway, even she doesn t believe that Trump is presidential, at least that s what a video dug up by CNN s Jake Tapper says.The subject was Trump s latest obsession, which is that the election is somehow rigged against him. Tapper noted, on Sunday s State of the Union, that there s no evidence whatsoever of election rigging. As proof, he pulled out a not-so-old video of Conway basically saying the same thing. Back in April when you were working against Donald Trump, when you were working for Ted Cruz and advising his super PAC, you had some tough words for Mr. Trump when he was lashing out at the time against the system being rigged, Tapper told Conway before refreshing her memory with a video clip. We hear from the Trump campaign, the rules change, it s not fair, Conway had said in April. He can whine and complain all he wants that he didn t know the rules. Conway, to her credit, didn t skip a beat and said, we love watching that clip together. That was about what was happening on the weekends. When Donald Trump would win the vote, he would basically win all the electoral votes in a state, and on the weekends, the Cruz campaign would go back and follow the rules and get back some of those delegates. So no, it s not a pattern for him. Source: Raw StoryThen, she once again tried deflecting from Trump s accusations that the election is rigged against him personally and said that the election is about the system being rigged against the little guy. Here s the video:Of course, Trump s rigged election claims have never been about the little guy, unless Trump is trying to claim that as an alleged billionaire, born on 3rd base, he s a little guy. The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary but also at many polling places SAD Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2016Featured image via video screen capture. | 1 |
(CNN) The Democratic Party gathered in Philadelphia on Thursday for the fourth night of its convention, and CNN's Reality Check Team put the speakers' statements and assertions to the test.
The team of reporters, researchers and editors across CNN listened throughout the speeches and selected key statements, rating them true; mostly true; true, but misleading; false; or it's complicated.
Reality Check: Clinton on Trump's 'I alone can fix it' claim
Clinton emphasized the teamwork aspect she believes the presidency requires, asking, "Isn't he forgetting troops on the front lines. Police officers and firefighters who run toward danger. Doctors and nurses who care for us ... He's forgetting every last one of us. Americans don't say, 'I alone can fix it.' We say, 'We'll fix it together.'"
While Clinton's quote may be correct -- Trump did say "I alone can fix it" -- she took his remarks out of context. In that portion of his speech, Trump began by once again addressing Clinton's email server scandal and commented that the FBI's lack of legal action against Clinton indicated "that corruption has reached a level like never before." He stated that his perspective made him the only person capable of preventing powerful politicians -- like Clinton -- from taking advantage of "people that cannot defend themselves."
Trump's full statement on being the only one able to fix this system included: "Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it. I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders."
Notably, the "I and only I" rhetoric is not new for Trump -- he has frequently claimed he alone can solve America's problems. But in the context of his convention speech, in which he references his perspective on Clinton's alleged corruption, we rate Clinton's claim true, but misleading.
Clinton applauded the Dallas community's response to its police chief's call for people to step up and join the police force to make a difference after the fatal shootings of five police officers.
"Police Chief David Brown asked the community to support his force, maybe even join them," she said. "And you know how the community responded? Nearly 500 people applied in just 12 days. That's how Americans answer when the call for help goes out."
After the July 7 shooting, Dallas Police Chief David Brown called protesters to "serve your communities."
"We're hiring. Get off that protest line and put an application in," he said. "We'll put you in your neighborhood, and we will help you resolve some of the problems you're protesting about."
While her number is a hair high, we rate Clinton's claim true.
Clinton praised President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for turning around America's economic fortunes.
"Our economy is so much stronger than when they took office. Nearly 15 million new private-sector jobs. Twenty million more Americans with health insurance. And an auto industry that just had its best year ever. That's real progress," she said.
When Obama took office in January 2009, the country was in the midst of the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Over the course of his administration, the economy has grown 2% a year. It's not spectacular growth, but the economy is certainly stronger than during the recession. We rate that claim as true.
The nation has added 14.8 million private-sector jobs between the low point of February 2010 and June 2016, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. But if you look over Obama's two terms, the nation is up only 9.8 million jobs. We rate that claim as true, but misleading.
Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in May that 20 million more people have coverage now thanks to Obama's signature health reform law. It includes both people who have gained coverage on the Obamacare exchanges and through Medicaid expansion, as well as young adults who have been able to stay on their parents' plans until they turn 26. We rate that claim as true.
The auto industry sold more cars and trucks in 2015 than ever before. We rate that clam as true.
Clinton attacked Trump's record, saying, "In Atlantic City, 60 miles from here, you will find contractors and small businesses who lost everything because Donald Trump refused to pay his bills."
USA Today looked at 60 lawsuits and more than 200 mechanic's liens, and interviewed businesses like an Atlantic City cabinet builder who claimed that the Trump Organization did not pay more than $80,000 owed to him, which started the closure of the builder's business. Hundreds of other contractors in the 1980s made similar claims. Additionally, the investigation found 21 citations against the now-defunct Trump Plaza for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act in the same city.
The Wall Street Journal cited a well-known controversy where contractors on Trump's Taj Mahal casino were told by the organization that they should agree to accept "less than full payment or risk becoming unsecured creditors in bankruptcy court," the paper reported. A year later, the Taj Mahal Casino went bankrupt.
In response to the reports, Trump told USA Today in an interview that he only stiffs or shorts bills if the work is unsatisfactory, and he told the Journal that he pays "thousands of bills on time."
These are just cases in Atlantic City, but both investigations cite examples in other cities such as Miami as well.
Based on the reporting of these two news outlets, we rate Clinton's claim as true.
Katie McGinty, who is running for Senate from Pennsylvania, said that when she was growing up, hard work meant success, but today that deal is off the table.
"Middle-class families aren't making a dime, in real terms, more than they were two decades ago. But we know costs have been going through the roof." she said.
Whether this is true or not depends on your time frame.
The most recent census data is from 2014, when median household income was $53,657. That's up 5.2% from 1994, when it was $51,006.
However, if you look at 20 years ago from today -- or 1996 -- median income was $53,345. While technically that's quite a few dimes higher, it is essentially flat.
McGinty is echoing a common refrain that wages have been stagnant in recent years. It's true that median income is still lower than its pre-Great Recession level peak of $57,357 in 2007.
Median income, however, has risen over the past year or two, according to estimates from Sentier Research, which was founded by two former Census Bureau employees. By June 2016, it had risen to $57,206.
While their data doesn't go back 20 years, it supports McGinty's statement that median income has been flat over the longer term. Sentier estimates the typical household earned $57,826 in June 2000, the earliest month they looked at.
We rate McGinty's claim mostly true. While median income rose 5.2% between 1994 and 2014, it's roughly the same as it was in 1996, according to census data. And Sentier Research found that median income in June 2016 is roughly the same as it was in 2000. And it's true costs for many things have risen since then.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti focused on the challenges faced by America's cities. Garcetti touted his city's action on raising the minimum wage: "In Los Angeles, we saw too many Americans living in poverty, so we became the biggest city in America to raise the minimum wage to $15, inspiring other cities and states to follow."
Other cities also passed measures to raise the minimum wage, including San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago and Seattle. Seattle did so in 2013, before Los Angeles did, and its $15 rate will be implemented sooner, by 2018.
While LA was the largest city at the time to enact a minimum wage increase, it is not yet up to $15 an hour, as Garcetti implies. Also, other cities like New York will phase in the $15 rate sooner than LA will.
Henrietta Ivey, a home care worker from Detroit, praised Clinton as an advocate for a higher minimum wage.
"I know she will fight to raise the minimum wage," Ivey said. "In Michigan, we are 'Fighting for 15,' a $15 minimum wage."
Clinton has indeed spoken out in support of setting a new bar for wages but she has waffled on the amount of the pay hike. Last November, she told an audience at a town hall in Iowa, "I favor a $12 minimum wage at the federal level."
A week after the town hall, she wrote a tweet with the hashtag #Fightfor15, a hat tip to a grass-roots labor group promoting a $15 minimum wage nationwide.
During a CNN debate in April, moderator Wolf Blitzer pressed Clinton to clarify her plans for the federal minimum wage. Clinton said that she was on board with the Fight for $15 movement but she then outlined some fine print, prompting an extended back-and-forth with Bernie Sanders.
"I am sure a lot of people are very surprised to learn that you supported raising the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour," Sanders said.
Clinton explained that her policy at the federal level would mirror New York's recent minimum wage increase, which establishes a $15 floor for workers in the New York City metro area and a $12.50 minimum wage for the rest of the state, where the cost of living is lower.
The increases will be phased in over the next five years and there are different timetables for employers in the city, suburbs and rural areas. Small businesses have a more staggered schedule than large companies. The New York law calls for pay statewide to eventually hit $15 but there's no established timeline yet for the increase.
"Hillary Clinton supports a $12 federal minimum wage but believes that the federal minimum is just that, and encourages states, cities, and workers through bargaining to go even higher, including a $15 minimum wage in places where it makes sense," the post says.
Ivey correctly states that Clinton's platform includes a raise for low-wage workers, so our verdict is true, but it's important to note that some geographic restrictions apply to her fight for $15.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper touted Colorado's economic record. "Today, Denver is the fastest-growing big city in America, and Colorado has the second-strongest economy in the country," he said.
Since there are many ways to measure the strength of an economy, and not all will show that Colorado is the second strongest, Hickenlooper's claim is mostly true.
Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm praised Obama for helping the auto industry in its time of need.
"(Obama) saved the American auto industry. Right, and then that renewed auto industry paid America back in full," Granholm said.
That's not true, actually. When the Treasury Department closed the books on the $45.9 billion bailout of General Motors in December 2013, taxpayers had lost more than $10 billion.
Ultimately, though, the government may have saved money. The failure of GM and Chrysler would have cost the federal government between $39 billion to $105 billion in lost tax revenues as well as assistance to the unemployed, according to a study by the Center for Automotive Research, a Michigan think tank.
We rate Granholm's claim that the auto industry paid back taxpayers in full as false.
Reality Check: Pelosi on Democrats looking like America
House Minority Leader Pelosi held up her caucus of Democrats in the House of Representatives as representative of the demographics of the country as a whole.
"We are a caucus proud that we look like 21st-century America; over 50% women, people of color and the LGBT community members," she said. "What a contrast to the restricted club that met in convention in Cleveland last week."
That breaks down to 33% female, 39% people of color, and 3% LGBT.
The Republican caucus in the House of Representatives has 22 women, 11 people of color and no representatives who identify as LGBT.
That means that women make up 8.9% of the 247-person caucus, and people of color make up 4.4% of the Republican representatives.
We rate Pelosi's claim as mostly true because the Democratic caucus falls short of representing women, but is over-representative of people of color and those who identify as LGBT.
Social studies teacher David Wils said Clinton would "make college debt free for all."
Some context here: Clinton's final plan is the direct result of the push and pull between her and Sanders during the Democratic primary. Sanders touted his plan for tuition-free public college and Clinton, at first, offered only free community college tuition.
When it was clear that Clinton was losing younger voters to Sanders, she shifted her position and offered a new proposal for free tuition at public colleges, but she added, "I don't want to make college free for Donald Trump's kids." With these specifics, her proposed plan does not cover families with household incomes over $125,000 a year, not exactly "Donald Trump's kids."
NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says recent religious freedom acts are the "opposite" of what founding father Thomas Jefferson wanted.
In brief remarks, Abdul-Jabbar cited Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, one of his most famous and important works.
"In 1777, Jefferson drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which later became a model for the First Amendment. Today's so-called 'religious freedom' acts, like the one signed by Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, they are the opposite of what Jefferson wanted because they allow discrimination," Abdul-Jabbar said.
So are today's religious freedom bills the opposite of what Jefferson wanted?
The statute, passed by the Virginia General Assembly in January 1786, is seen as a precursor for First Amendment protections by declaring the need for separation of church and state and the right to exercise one's conscience.
"No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities," Jefferson wrote.
Proponents say it is a protection of First Amendment rights. Opponents say it is discriminatory.
"As Thomas Jefferson noted, 'No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of civil authority,'" Pence wrote.
Abdul-Jabbar didn't point to any particular passage in the statute, but he might have been referring to Jefferson's view that "our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions any more than our opinions in physics or geometry."
Jefferson, however, believed that "proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence, by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages, to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right."
He also railed against compelling people "to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical."
As for Indiana's religious freedom law, it didn't seek to mandate a particular point of view, but shield those holding certain beliefs from being legally liable.
Furthermore, Jefferson was talking about the government discriminating against citizens. His Virginia Statue doesn't say anything about protecting private citizens' religious freedom from other individuals, which is what the recent crop of religious freedom laws are arguably about. At least, that's what many state supreme courts have found, for instance in the case of bakers and florists who refuse to service same-sex weddings.
Whether religious freedom laws are discriminatory is a matter of opinion, but it's certainly not clear that Jefferson's statute is at odds with them, making Abdul-Jabbar's claim far from a slam dunk. We rate it false.
The Democratic Party -- currently fighting to gain a majority in the Senate -- gave Katie McGinty a big platform for her upcoming race at the last night of the DNC. McGinty launched attacks against opponent Sen. Pat Toomey -- whom she will battle in November for a Pennsylvania seat -- spotlighting his financial policy on a national stage. Given the big audience, our team decided McGinty's claims deserved a full-blown Reality Check.
McGinty first emphasized Toomey's six-year investment career, claiming he had "made his millions on Wall Street" before launching into specific criticisms of his economic policy.
Even if you factor in generous bonuses, it is unlikely Toomey topped $2 million as a trader. He is, however, currently valued at $4.8 million by the Center for Responsive Politics -- which given his career history, almost certainly comes entirely from investment banking.
For these reasons, we rate McGinty's claim as true.
McGinty also delved into details on Toomey's voting record. "He's still trying to sell us the same old trickle-down. We're not buying it. We know that trickle-down only benefits those who are already on the top. Trust the stock market with your hard-earned Social Security, Pat Toomey says. Trust the wheelers and dealers with your savings and you will be living large."
As for trusting the stock market with "your hard-earned Social Security," McGinty is likely referring to Toomey's 2010 Social Security privatization proposal, which targets a specific group of people. Democrat Joe Sestak, opposing Toomey in the 2010 midterm election, accused him of putting "Wall Street profits ahead of protecting Pennsylvania seniors."
If individuals did not want to participate, Toomey said they "could stay with the current system of a guaranteed benefit." McGinty's statement that Toomey encourages trusting the stock market with Social Security earnings is generally accurate, but leaves out some important context regarding whom Toomey's philosophy targets. That makes McGinty's second claim true, but misleading.
Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro said Trump has defended the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII.
Castro's claim is rooted in comments the business mogul made last year to justify his proposed travel ban for Muslims. It's a bit of a stretch to characterize Trump's statements as a defense of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's proclamations ordering the imprisonment of Japanese immigrants in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor.
On ABC's "Good Morning America," Trump said Roosevelt is remembered as a great president despite his legacy of Japanese internment.
"This is a president who is highly respected by all," said Trump. "If you look at what he was doing, it was far worse (than the travel ban)."
As a follow up, the candidate was asked whether he supported bringing back policies similar to Roosevelt's wartime restrictions.
"I don't want to bring (them) back at all," said Trump. "I don't like doing it at all."
During a separate appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Trump declined to say whether he thought the establishment of Japanese internment camps violated American values.
"I don't want to respond," Trump said. "You know why? That's not what we're doing."
Trump can scramble words like Jackson Pollock splattered paint, allowing for a broad array of interpretations to his patter. But we can't find anything in his commentary that suggests he has a favorable view of Japanese internment. We rate this claim false. | 1 |
Just when you thought only Muslim terrorists teach their kids to use violence against anyone who doesn t agree with them Along comes the hateful American Left. What these poor misguided parents have clearly missed is how many Latino s don t support amnesty for people who ve illegally crossed our borders It seems like plenty of people have wanted to take a bat to Donald Trump s head this year, and last night in Oregon, some kids finally had the chance with a pi ata shaped like the Republican presidential candidate.At the grand opening for El Diablito, a food cart in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, a group of predominately of children and Latinos took turns hitting a candy-filled Trump pi ata with a baseball bat.The group had some choice words as they took swings at the life-size presidential candidate figure, which had Trump posing with his mouth open and his middle fingers raised. I want to kill him, one child said as he watched someone hit the pi ata.One woman eagerly smashed the pi ata as she hit it several times. Because f*** Trump, she said when asked why she wanted a turn. I m sorry I know there are kids here, but he really sucks that hard. Another man took several swings at the pi ata as he spoke about why he didn t believe that Trump should be elected. You re bringing hate and we don t want you as a president, the man said as he hit the figure.The owner of El Diablito said, however, that the Donald Trump pi ata had nothing to do with politics, and was instead a way of bringing people to his food truck s grad opening. It has nothing to do about politics, actually, he said. It s about having a good time. I figured that would be the best character for everybody to be excited to take a hit at, he added. It s all about popularity and he s at the top of it right now A video of the event concludes with a little girl smashing the body off of the pi ata and a man holding the Trump figure s head by the hair as its body likes broken on the ground.Via: UK Daily Mail | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump would not insist on including repeal of an Obama-era health insurance mandate in a bill intended to enact the biggest overhaul of the tax code since the 1980s, a senior White House aide said on Sunday. The version of tax legislation put forward by Senate Republican leaders would remove a requirement in former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law that taxes Americans who decline to buy health insurance. “If we can repeal part of Obamacare as part of a tax bill ... that can pass, that’s great,” White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “If it becomes an impediment to getting the best tax bill we can, then we are OK with taking it out.” It was too soon to say whether eliminating the repeal of the so-called individual mandate would increase the bill’s chances of passing. The provision was not an impediment now, Mulvaney said. Republican senators who have been critical of the plan said that some middle-income taxpayers could see any benefits of the tax cuts wiped out by higher health insurance premiums if the repeal of the Obamacare mandate goes through. Among them was Senator Susan Collins, one of a handful of Republicans who voted in July to block a broader Republican attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. “I don’t think that provision should be in the bill. I hope the Senate will follow the lead of the House and strike it,” Collins said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Republicans can only afford to lose two votes on the tax bill because of their slim 52-48 majority in the Senate. Getting rid of the mandate is one of Republican Trump’s main goals. He campaigned for president last year on a promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, but Congress has not agreed so far on how to do that. Another top Trump administration official, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, said the individual mandate “isn’t a bargaining chip.” “The president thinks we should get rid of it and I think we should get rid of it,” he told “Fox News Sunday.” Mnuchin said the objective “right now” was to keep repeal of the mandate in the bill. “We are going to work with the Senate as we go through this. We are going to get something to the president to sign this year,” he said. The House of Representatives last week passed its tax bill. Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, consider a tax bill critical to their party’s prospects in the 2018 U.S. congressional elections. Democrats call the Republican plan a giveaway to corporations and the rich. Trump had urged lawmakers to add repeal of the mandate to the tax bill, writing on Twitter last week that the provision was “unfair” and “highly unpopular.” The next day, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did just that. The mandate plays a critical role in Obamacare by requiring young, healthy people, who might otherwise go without coverage, to purchase insurance and help offset the costs of covering sicker and older Americans. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said that repealing the mandate would increase the number of Americans without health insurance by 13 million by 2027. Republican Senator Roy Blunt said he thought the Senate bill would pass with or without the individual mandate repeal. “It depends on where the votes are,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Appearing on several television shows, Collins said she also wanted the Senate to “skew more of the relief to middle-income taxpayers.” She advocated keeping the top tax rate of 39.6 percent for people who make $1 million or more a year, as the House does, as well as the deduction for state and local taxes. The corporate tax does not need to be cut so steeply to 20 percent, Collins said. A 22 percent rate would garner an additional $200 billion and allow the Senate to restore the deduction for state and local property taxes, she told ABC. Collins has emerged as a pivotal lawmaker in the tax debate, along with Republican Senators John McCain, Lisa Murkowski and Ron Johnson, all of whom are also on the fence or oppose the bill. The Senate bill needs work, Collins told ABC’s “This Week.” “I want to see changes in that bill,” she said. “And I think there will be changes.” | 1 |
President Enrique Peña Nieto has invited both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to meet in Mexico. In a surprise move, Mr. Trump has accepted the offer, hours before he will give an immigration policy speech in Arizona.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump steps off his plane after arriving for a campaign rally at Crown Arena in Fayetteville, N.C. on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. Trump will fly to Mexico Wednesday on invitation of President Enrique Peña Nieto.
The Republican presidential candidate is taking up Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto on an offer extended to both US presidential candidates by making a quick visit to Mexico on Wednesday, just hours before he is expected to a deliver major immigration speech in Arizona.
"I have accepted the invitation of President Enrique Pena Nieto, of Mexico, and look very much forward to meeting him...," said Mr. Trump in a Twitter post on Tuesday night.
Trump's ascent to the nomination owes much to his antagonism of the United States' southern neighbor: launching his campaign with remarks that belittled immigrants from Mexico, and claiming that they have contributed to international humiliation for the US.
"They're not sending us their best," he said in his June 2015 speech announcing that he was seeking the Republican presidential bid. "They're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people but I speak to border guards and they tell us what we're getting."
"When do we beat Mexico at the border?" he continued. "They're laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they're beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me, but they're killing us economically."
In March, Mr. Peña Nieto criticized Trump's "strident" tone, likening his brand of populism to that of fascist leaders like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. He later told CNN that there was "no way" that Mexico would ever pay for the construction of a border wall, as Trump has insisted it should.
On Tuesday, Peña Nieto seemed to preempt criticisms over the invitation, writing on Twitter that he believed in dialogue "to promote the interests of Mexico in the world and, principally, to protect Mexicans wherever they are." The purpose of the visit, he wrote, was to discuss bilateral relations – a preferred topic for a president who has made attracting foreign investment a priority.
His comments in March aside, the Mexican president has been characteristically circumspect in his remarks about the US elections, describing them as a matter to be decided internally.
"I have never made any remark or rating about any of the candidates today in the democratic competition of the United States," he said in July, according to local media. "Any point or statement that I have made has been taken out of context.... I have always expressed absolute respect for the process."
In April, The Christian Science Monitor noted that despite the vast expense and formidable array of practical obstacles involved in building walls along the border, politicians in the US continue to use the idea to soothe anxieties over immigration:
The value of the wall, some experts say, is much more as a political idea than an actual structure. The border wall remains a powerful symbol for people on both sides of the immigration debate – either as a sign of security taken seriously or of fear and misunderstanding run amok. “It’s something that has gained a lot of political value, the idea that you can wall the United states off from the rest of the rest of the world, particularly in this case, Mexico,” says Rachel St. John, author of “Line in the Sand: A History of the U.S.-Mexico Border.”
Trump's visit comes as he appears to retreat from his earlier insistence that he would marshal a "deportation force" to expel all of the country’s roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants. In recent meetings with Hispanic supporters, the candidate suggested that he might be open to letting some of those people stay – though his staff has appeared to contradict that in subsequent interviews.
New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a close Trump adviser who visited Peña Nieto in Mexico City in 2014, was among those pushing the Republican candidate to take the trip, a source close to the campaign told the Associated Press.
This report contains material from the Associated Press. | 0 |
Whoever thought asking Obama s terrorists soldiers to shut down highways, throw Molotov cocktails, bricks, concrete and fireworks at innocent human beings who risk their lives every day to keep our cities and towns safe would be a good idea, should really reconsider. There hasn t been this much anger or distrust between Americans in decades. In the end, this movement will have just the opposite effect the protesters hoped it would have. Police officers will likely stop coming into high crime areas and will instead, allow residents to sort out their own dangerous situations. This movement has completely divided our country into responsible, level-headed Americans vs. angry citizens and illegal aliens who have signed up to be soldiers in Obama s race war and his war on law enforcement in America. Nothing good or positive will come out of this and Obama knows that. But then again, Barack care about the interests of the Americans who elected him. It s all about pushing his radical agenda. Twenty-one officers from various Minnesota law enforcement agencies were injured and more than 102 protestors were arrested as a demonstration on the I-94 freeway in St. Paul turned violent Saturday night, with protestors hurling rocks, bottles, fireworks and bricks at law enforcement officers on the scene.Hundreds of demonstrators began protesting at the Governor s Residence in St. Paul Saturday night over the police-involved shooting death of Philander Castile earlier in the week before heading onto the I-94 freeway around 8 p.m., local Fox affiliate KMSP reported.The interstate was shut down in both directions for more than five hours and the protests eventually turned violent, with demonstrators hurling bricks, fireworks and at least one Molotov cocktail at officers, according to the St. Paul Police Department. Via: BreitbartLast night and this morning, 21 officers from multiple agencies were injured on I-94 and other areas of the city. #I94closed St. Paul Police PIO (@sppdPIO) July 10, 2016Molotov cocktail thrown at officers. Unclear if anyone injured. #I94closed St. Paul Police PIO (@sppdPIO) July 10, 2016Another officer hit in the head with a large piece of concrete, possibly dropped from bridge. #I94closed St. Paul Police PIO (@sppdPIO) July 10, 2016Bricks now being thrown at officers, along with more rocks and bottles. #I94closed St. Paul Police PIO (@sppdPIO) July 10, 2016An officer was just hit in face with bottle thrown by a protester on St. Paul street. #I94closed St. Paul Police PIO (@sppdPIO) July 10, 2016Officers arrested 50 people for 3rd degree riot last night on I-94. #I94closed St. Paul Police PIO (@sppdPIO) July 10, 2016 | 1 |
Yesterday, Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump got an unexpected question from a voter during a New Hampshire town hall on CNN.The man confronting Trump was Joseph Manzoli, who described himself as a father with three daughters. Manzoli asked Trump what every self-respecting parent in America should be asking themselves: what kind of role model would the next president be for my children? Manzoli asked: I have three wonderful daughters at home. And I want nothing more for them than to look as their president as a role model. Throughout the course of this campaign, you ve said some disparaging comments about women, about people from other countries, other religions, and about everybody who s disagreed with you. Explain to me how I can look at my daughters and have them look up to President Trump as a role model. You can see how Trump answered below:Trump joked and asked if CNN had put Manzoli up to asking such a question before trying to convince his audience that he had loads of respect for women and had employed a staggering number of female executives. He said: Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Thirty years ago, I had a woman building a major, major construction job in New York City. And that never happens. That just didn t happen. I have so many women executives. I have been great to women. And women have been great to me. They ve done a great job. Trump clearly forgot to mention his infamous long-standing, one-sided feud with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, his appalling comments about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, as well as his long history of misogynistic behavior toward women. He also failed to tell this concerned father that sexism is just as alive in the background of his campaign as it is in his interviews and speeches! According to a former staffer, Trump s only paying his female staffers HALF of what his male employees are making for the same job. What a role model!Trump was just as insincere when he addressed his own comments about minorities like immigrants and Muslims. In defending the extremely racist and offensive things he s said about immigrants, Trump answered: I do bring up things that people don t want to bring up. I talk about immigration stronger than anybody else. I talk about building a wall. If you look at New Hampshire, you have a tremendous heroin problem. It s coming from the border! And then he had the nerve to claim that tons of people were agreeing with his proposal to ban all Muslims from coming in the United States. When I brought up the Muslim problem. You know, it s very interesting. I brought that problem up and all of a sudden, the world started going wild. And now the world is agreeing with me. We have to do something. There is a serious problem. If Trump is going to be the next role model for our younger generations, America is in deep trouble. Featured image from video screenshot | 1 |
Matt Schlapp, the leader of the American Conservative Union, slammed Mitt Romney for his continued attacks on GOP nominee Donald Trump. | 0 |
CNN uses their go-to move when they don t like what someone is saying during an interview..they cut you off! A CNN broadcast Saturday cut off an African-American Trump supporter in the middle of answering a question about white guilt posed by a reporter. I have seen one shirt that said no white guilt, things like that. I mean, there have been some messages that might not be that open to folks from diverse perspectives. What would your message be to folks like that? Trump supporter Diante Johnson answered, When it comes to no white guilt, I I agree with that, I actually just made a post about it on my page and a video about it There are some White Americans that feel guilty for what their ancestors did, you know, this and that, and the thing about it is, they shouldn t have to feel guilty, this is America The video was then cut off.The reporter continued, Certainly, an interesting perspective there from an African-American who supports Donald Trump and is here today. The CNN video comes from coverage of a rally held on the National Mall Saturday.Johnson is president of the Black Conservative Federation.Via: Daily Caller | 1 |
NEW YORK/ANKARA (Reuters) - The U.S. judge presiding over the trial of a Turkish gold trader accused of evading U.S. sanctions against Iran on Thursday refused to say if the wealthy businessman would be on trial with one of his co-defendants later this month. U.S. prosecutors have charged the trader, Reza Zarrab, and his alleged co-conspirators of handling hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran s government and Iranian entities from 2010 to 2015, in a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions. Nine people have been criminally charged, but only Zarrab and a banker from Turkey s Halkbank, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, are in U.S. custody. Both deny the charges. The case has complicated relations between the United States and Turkey, both members of the NATO military alliance. While the two are due to go on trial on Nov.27, Zarrab has not appeared in court or submitted any filings since September, sparking speculation in Turkish media that he has reached an agreement with U.S. authorities. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman refused to say whether Zarrab would be on trial alongside Atilla when asked by Victor Rocco, one of Atilla s lawyers, at a court hearing on Thursday. The one perk that comes with being a judge is you don t have to answer questions as witnesses and lawyers do, Berman said. Rocco told reporters after the hearing that he expected to know more about Zarrab in the next few days. U.S. prosecutors have alleged that Zarrab, a dual Turkish and Iranian citizen, sought support from and invoked the name of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to advance his business. Erdogan has not been accused of wrongdoing. The president has accused U.S. prosecutors of having ulterior motives by including references to him and his wife in court papers. U.S. authorities informed Turkey that Zarrab had been moved to a different location and was in good medical condition, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier on Thursday. They responded after Turkey sent two diplomatic notes to ask about Zarrab s condition after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons website showed Zarrab had been released last week and his lawyers said they had not heard from their client in five days. | 0 |
Donald Trump sure hasn t done himself any favors by appointing equally incompetent staffers and advisors to head up his administration. Kellyanne Conway has definitely made a name for herself amongst these moronic characters, as she has become one of the least liked people on Trump s team due to her alternative facts, refusal to answer questions, and being disturbingly misinformed about how the government works.This was shown perfectly on Friday when Kellyanne Conway went on Fox News and tried to defend Trump from the grand jury that will be examining Trump s Russia scandal. Instead of making a sound argument for Trump, she humiliated herself on national television by not knowing that grand juries are public information. You can watch this moment below, where Conway said: You know, the grand jury investigations are meant to remain secret, so someone leaked it. It could be anybody that s in the grand jury. It could be one of the lawyers. It could be anyone, I suppose. Leaking the phone calls between our president and other heads of state is nothing short of a national disgrace. @KellyannePolls pic.twitter.com/AbiHaRpIVJ FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 4, 2017Once again, the incompetence of Trump s team is astounding. Law and justice reporter Brad Heath was quick to point out how wrong Conway was:Conway had tried to attack the grand jury investigating Trump, and pretty much fell flat on her face. Unfortunately, while the fact that she s this moronic is somewhat comical, the Trump voters watching this won t know any better and will end up believing her.After Conway s flub, Fox News did its best to redirect the conversation back to something that would keep viewers from noticing so everyone started freaking out about the leaks coming from the White House. It is absolutely pathetic that at a time when the president is under investigation for financial crimes and collusion with Russia, as well as obstruction of justice, Conway and Fox News are whining about leaks and grand juries. Then again, you can t expect much from people who are THIS stupid.Featured image via screenshot | 0 |
SINJAR, Iraq (Reuters) - Since Iraqi forces pushed the Kurds out of the Yazidis mountainous heartland of Sinjar in northern Iraq in October, residents are wondering what could happen to them next. Food and money are in short supply since aid organizations stopped delivery after Iraq s advance. Buildings collapsed in the fighting and of those still standing, many are marked with bullets and littered with IEDs. Water and electricity barely work. The Yazidis, whose beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions, have long been viewed with suspicion and repeatedly persecuted by other groups in Iraq. In 2014, more than 3,000 were killed by Islamic State militants in a campaign described by the United Nations as genocidal. Now the land they have lived on for centuries is caught up in a tug of war between Baghdad and Iraq s Kurds, who had controlled it since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. We re trapped in this game of political football, between Iraq and the Kurds, said a Yazidi resident of Sinjar, Kamal Ali. But neither of them cares about our future. The militias have hoisted Iraq s tricolor flag over government buildings and any remaining Kurdish flags have been scrawled over with the words Iraq and Allahu Akbar , the blazing sun at its center scribbled over in black marker. Sinjar is politically important because it s in the disputed territories, ethnically mixed areas across northern Iraq, long the subject of a constitutional dispute between Baghdad and the Kurds, who both claim them. Sinjar fell under the Kurds control, despite lying outside Iraqi Kurdistan s recognized borders. Baghdad did little to challenge the arrangement until its October offensive, launched to punish the Kurds for their Sept. 25 independence referendum. Iraqi forces have seized the disputed areas the Kurds had expanded into including Sinjar. The referendum reignited long-simmering tensions over geographic dominance in the oil-rich north, between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), who fought side by side to defeat Islamic State. The Yazidis are divided about what should happen now. Some are glad the Kurds have gone and see an opportunity for increased autonomy now that they are under federal control following the offensive by Iraq s security forces last October. Kurdish forces handed over Sinjar without a fight to the Lalesh Brigades, a Yazidi militia backed by Baghdad s Shiite paramilitary forces (PMF). Most Yazidis speak a Kurdish dialect, but many don t see themselves as ethnically Kurdish. We re happy the Kurds have left, said Abu Sardar, a 47-year-old Yazidi man. We re Yazidis we re not Kurds, we do not want to be part of Kurdistan. Like others, Abu Sardar complained that the Kurds forced him to vote in the Kurdish referendum, accusations the KRG denies. He returned two months ago to the ruins of his home in the Sinuni district of Sinjar and expressed bitter disappointment that little had changed since he left in 2014: hospitals and schools remain shuttered while the city is still mostly rubble. He hopes that Baghdad and its militias will rebuild Sinjar. Others lament the Kurds departure. The KRG and allied Yazidi groups hold former Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki responsible for the campaign by Islamic State. They say his troops desertion of Mosul allowed militants to capture billions of dollars in weapons later used to attack the minority. Yazidi commander Qassem Shesho says Iraq s government is too sectarian and dislikes the Yazidis as much as Islamic State. Like many others, he blames the Kurds for the attack by Islamic State. But they re all we ve got, he said. Shesho is allied to Iraqi Kurdistan s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party, even though the Kurds cut his fighters salaries after the Lalesh Brigades took over Sinjar. Some days, residents say, there are only bones in Sinjar. Nearly 50 mass graves have been uncovered outside the town since 2014. Sinjar is a city of ghosts, said the Lalesh Brigades leader Ali Serhan Eissa, also known as Khal Ali. Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled the militant onslaught and headed for Mount Sinjar. Of those who didn t reach the mountain, about 3,100 were killed with more than half shot, beheaded, burned alive and disposed of in mass graves. Others were sold into sexual slavery or forced to fight, according to a report by the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine. Some are still on the mountain, about to spend a third freezing winter in tents. Before the attack, Sinjar was home to about 400,000 people mainly Yazidis and Arab Sunnis. Only 15 percent of Yazidis have returned home, according to humanitarian estimates. Most Yazidis remain in IDP camps in the Kurdistan region, along with most of the area s displace Sunnis. Aid workers worry the camps will be closed if tensions between Baghdad and the Kurds flare up. The presence of fighters from Turkey s separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) further complicates the picture. Many Yazidis credit them with opening up a land route to allow those stranded on Mount Sinjar to escape the militants in 2014. The PKK entrenched itself in the community, even creating a local unit, the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) which controls multiple checkpoints around Sinjar. Turkey and neighboring Iran are closely watching the power shift in Sinjar. Tehran wants to secure this north-western region of Iraq as it sits on the border with Syria, while Turkey wants the region free of the outlawed PKK. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to allow President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban to take full effect after an appeals court in California ruled last week that only parts of it could be enacted. A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 13 partially granted a Trump administration request to block at least temporarily a judge’s ruling that had put the new ban on hold. It ruled the government could bar entry of people from six Muslim-majority countries with no connections to the United States. Trump’s ban was announced on Sept. 24 and replaced two previous versions that had been impeded by federal courts. The administration’s appeal to the top U.S. court argued that the latest travel ban differed from the previous orders “both in process and in substance” and that the differences showed it “is based on national-security and foreign-affairs objectives, not religious animus.” It also argued that even if the 9th Circuit ruled to uphold the partial ban, the Supreme Court was likely to overturn that decision as it had “the last time courts barred the President from enforcing entry restrictions on certain foreign nationals in the interest of national security.” Last week’s appeals court ruling meant the ban would only apply to people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Chad who did not have connections to the United States. Those connections are defined as family relationships and “formal, documented” relationships with U.S.-based entities such as universities and resettlement agencies. Those with family relationships that would allow entry include grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins of people in the United States. The state of Hawaii, which sued to block the restrictions, argued that federal immigration law did not give Trump the authority to impose them on six of those countries. The lawsuit did not challenge restrictions toward people from the two other countries listed in Trump’s ban, North Korea and Venezuela. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Honolulu ruled last month that Hawaii was likely to succeed with its argument. Trump issued his first travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries in January, just a week after he took office, and then issued a revised one after the first was blocked by the courts. The second one expired in September after a long court fight and was replaced with another revised version. Trump has said the travel ban is needed to protect the United States from attacks by Islamist militants. As a candidate, Trump promised “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Critics of the travel ban in its various iterations call it a “Muslim ban” that violates the U.S. Constitution by discriminating on the basis of religion. The 9th Circuit is due to hear oral arguments in the case on Dec. 6. In a parallel case from Maryland, a judge also ruled against the Trump administration and partially blocked the ban from going into effect. An appeal in the Maryland case is being heard on Dec. 8 by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. The Maryland case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents several advocacy groups, including the International Refugee Assistance Project. | 1 |
Researchers involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) have announced in a paper that they have detected new messages from the stars, saying they are likely to have been generated by aliens. The researchers are from the University of Laval in Quebec, Canada. Their paper has been accepted by the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and is titled ‘ Discovery of peculiar periodic spectral modulations in a small fraction of solar type stars.’
According to a print version of the paper – also available online – the title of the paper was initially proposed as ‘Signals probably from Extraterrestrial Intelligence.’ However, this was later changed due to concerns raised by some observers.
The researchers who made the discovery revealed they heard unusual messages from deep in space. For them, they strongly believe the messages are coming from aliens.
The paper revealed the finding of specific modulations in just 234 out of the 2.5 million stars that have been observed during a survey of the sky. The work found that a tiny fraction of them seemed to be behaving strangely. According to the researchers, their analysis of these modulations in a tiny set of stars, may indicate that these messages are from extraterrestrial intelligence looking to alert humanity of their existence.
The researchers said there is no obvious explanation to what they discovered, hence their conclusion that the messages are coming from aliens.
“We find that the detected signals have exactly the shape of an [extraterrestrial intelligence] signal predicted in the previous publication and are therefore in agreement with this hypothesis. The fact that they are only found in a very small fraction of stars within a narrow spectral range centered near the spectral type of the sun is also in agreement with the Extraterrestrial Intelligence hypothesis,” the researchers, EF Borra and E Trottier wrote in their paper.
The researchers also noted that further work will need to be done, in order to confirm or deny the hypothesis they have put forward. Doing so will require watching for the same signals on different equipment, aiding to discard all other explanations. This will be done by a so-called independent body. | 1 |
Donald Trump s favorite morning propaganda program on Fox News just got their asses handed to them for counting their chickens before they ve hatched.Ever since former FBI Director James Comey confirmed that Trump is not personally under investigation for collusion with Russia, Fox News has been proclaiming victory and declaring that Trump has been vindicated.Specifically, they have been calling the Russia investigation a nothingburger. On the Sunday morning edition of Fox & Friends, hosts Clayton Morris and Pete Hegseth celebrated because they think the investigation is over now, only to have their bubble burst by veteran journalist and Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace, who brutally reminded them that the investigation is nowhere near over because of a guy named Michael Flynn and another guy named Jeff Sessions.Morris claimed that the Russia story imploded. Wallace responded by pointing out that Attorney General Jeff Sessions is testifying to the Senate Intelligence Committee and may detail Trump s obstruction of justice. You know, because demanding the FBI Director drop an investigation and then firing him for refusing to do so is interference and is the definition of obstruction.That s when Pete Hegseth jumped in to try once again to assure viewers that the investigation against Trump is done while also insulting Comey and trying to turn the investigation on him instead. Little evidence has been shown that there s collusion with Russia, Hegseth said Now we know that Comey was a leaker, potentially multiple times. Can the investigation move in those directions instead of the Russia investigation, which is proven to be pretty much a nothingburger? Wallace quickly disappointed Hegseth with reality. I certainly wouldn t say it s a nothingburger, Wallace said. We have to see where it goes. Among other things, we still haven t heard from Michael Flynn. And he s one of the key figures in all of this. He was the one who had the most contacts Russia. He s the one who got paid by Russia. Here s the video via YouTube.Once again, Chris Wallace smacks down Fox & Friends for being Trump s personal propaganda machine. Wallace previously criticized the Fox & Friends crew in the aftermath of Trump firing Comey because they would not take the story seriously.Featured image via screenshot | 0 |
GAZA (Reuters) - It didn t take long after the firework smoke cleared in Gaza for some Palestinians to start questioning whether a unity deal between their two most powerful factions would hold. Thousands took to the streets overnight celebrating the pact between Fatah and Hamas sealed in Cairo. Loudspeakers blasted national songs as youngsters waving Palestinian and Egyptian flags danced and hugged one another. I am happy, no I am the happiest, Ali Metwaly, a 30-year-old computer engineer, said the morning after. But I am still afraid it will end in disappointment. My leaders have taught me they can easily disappoint us. I hope they don t, this time. Under the reconciliation pact, Hamas is handing over administrative control of Gaza, including the Rafah border crossing - once the main gateway to the world for the two million Palestinians in the territory - to a government backed by the mainstream Fatah party. A decade ago, Hamas forces seized the Gaza Strip from Fatah forces in a brief civil war. Past Egyptian mediation attempts to reconcile the two rivals failed to achieve lasting results. The latest clinched its elusive agreement after an economic squeeze on Hamas. Analysts said the deal is more likely to stick than earlier ones, given Hamas s growing isolation and realization of how hard Gaza - its economy hobbled by border blockades and infrastructure shattered by wars with Israel - was to govern and rebuild. For Huwaida al-Hadidi, a 34-year-old mother-of-seven, economic relief cannot come soon enough. Like about 250,000 other people in the territory, her husband is unemployed. Unable to pay their rent, the family has been living in a tent since their landlord evicted them three days ago. Now that they signed a reconciliation deal, God-willing the blockade will be lifted and people will find work and be able to earn a living for their children, she said. Control of the Gaza border crossings with Israel and Egypt by the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, could allow freer movement of people and goods across the frontier. And under the agreement, about 3,000 Fatah security officers are to join the Gaza police force, although Hamas would remain the most powerful armed Palestinian faction, with around 25,000 well-equipped militants. Hamas and Fatah are also debating a potential date for presidential and legislative elections and reforms of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is in charge of long-stalled peace efforts with Israel. The last Palestinian legislative election was in 2006, when Hamas scored a surprise victory. That triggered the political rupture between Hamas and Fatah, which eventually led to their short civil war in Gaza. Palestinian political commentator Mustafa Ibraham said with major issues, such as an election date and agreement on a common political agenda, still outstanding, Palestinians should be cautious. Important details were postponed and open for interpretation and disagreement, he said in a Facebook post. Hamas, which has fought three wars with Israel since 2008 and is considered a terrorist group by the West, has said it will not abandon the arms of resistance . Israel has said Hamas must disarm, or the reconciliation will be meaningless. | 0 |
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Here's the thing:Today, October 27, 2016, I, like many of you, watched live feeds of the events going down at Standing Rock.I am at a loss to define my feelings. Anger, outrage, pity, fear
...One phrase kept going through my mind, like a mantra- This is not my America. This is not my America. This is not my America. protests at DAPL License DMCA
And then in counter-point was the thought- But it is. But it is. But it is.Over one hundred heavily armed cops in riot gear, supported by military assault vehicles and helicopters forced peaceful, prayerful water protectors from their own land, ceded to them in the Treaty of 1851. The police are nothing more than a mercenary army protecting the interests of the owners of the DAPL. There was the wail of sound cannons aimed at the protectors, there was tear gas. There were rubber bullets being fired into the crowd.And in my mind- This is not my America (But it is) This is not my America (But it is) This is not my America (But it is) This is about water. There's no political ideology here. We cannot live without water. Decisions are being made that effect the future, and the lives of our children and our grandchildren.This effects all of us. It's not just happening "out there" in the Dakotas or in Iowa or in Texas or in New Mexico. It's everywhere. For god sake, there are already over 2.5 million miles pipeline already installed in the continental United States. Just the other day, mere miles from where I live a Sunoco pipeline leaked over 55,000 gallons of gasoline into the Susquehanna River, endangering the water for over 6 million people down river. Where I live, in northeastern Pennsylvania, there are fracking wells all over the place. And an average of 2.8 million of gallons of clean water were filled with known poisons and toxins and pumped under pressure into the aquifer beneath my feet. There are places within miles of where I live that people can set fire to their water.It's too late for anyone to avoid the destruction, here where I live. We have to deal with the aftermath. The after the fact poisoning of our water and the inevitable leaks and the illnesses and the pockets of strange cancers. This is a shameful day, for all of us. I am sick, in heart, mind and spirit, but I have hope.The battle hasn't even started. Now is when decisions must be made. Hard decisions that will impact on our own sense of comfort and will demand that we risk that comfort, or lose the future. To do nothing is to accept that our children,and our grandchildren will have no clean water to drink, no clean air to breathe, no clean land to live on.This is not overstating the things. It is not alarmist. It is the simplest of truths. - Advertisement - | 0 |
We are two moms who have put our lives on hold to do everything in our power to fight the progressives on the left from stealing our freedoms and the future of this great nation from our children. Over four years ago, we started the 100 Percent FED Up! Facebook page with the goal of exposing the truth that so many frustrated Americans were not finding in the mainstream media. We ve suffered several cases of censorship by Facebook along the way, but we never gave up. We may disappear after we publish this article, but we ve made a commitment to exposing the truth and we re not going to back down now.It should frighten every person who uses Facebook, that a CEO of a the largest social media platform in the world, has openly expressed the view that America should give up our national security and follow Germany s lead when it comes to open borders for [Muslim] migrants. I suppose it s easy for billionaires who are surrounded by top security firms, and live a life far removed from the every day American, to say that we should accept these rapists, violent invaders, and YES, members of terror groups disguised as refugees into our neighborhoods and communities. After all, they won t be living next door to Mark Zuckerberg. He will likely never have a single encounter with them in his day to day life.Mark Zuckerberg recently admonished his workers for replacing Black with the word All in Obama s race war motto: Black Lives Matter. For anyone who s paying attention, asking your workers to essentially accept admonishment for being white from a group of domestic terrorists, is a dangerous precedent for an owner of any company, much less the largest social media organization in the world. We need to fight back against this. We need to not be afraid of censorship or the ramifications when we voice our opinions.Mark Zuckerberg praised Germany for their inspiring refugee policies during a visit to the country and reiterated his commitment to combating hate speech on Facebook.Speaking at a town hall event in Berlin, the 31-year old billionaire said German leadership in the refugee crisis has been insipiring and a role model for the world. I hope other countries follow Germany s lead on this, he added. I hope the U.S. follows Germany s lead on this. Speaking at the same event, Zuckerberg also emphasised his commitment to tackling hate speech on Facebook. Hate speech has no place on Facebook and in our community, he said. Until recently in Germany I don t think we were doing a good enough job, and I think we will continue needing to do a better and better job. Zuckerberg added that the company would place a special priority on tackling hate speech against migrants. Facebook s policies, he said, would now include hate speech against migrants as an important part of what we just now have no tolerance for. Zuckerberg was overheard after leaving his microphone on during a conversation about the refugee crisis with Angela Merkel. Are you working on this, the German chancellor asked him, according to Bloomberg. Yeah, he replied.The super-rich tech boss also said we need to do some work on the issue . We are committed to working closely with the German government on this important issue, said Debbie Frost, a Facebook spokeswoman. We think the best solutions to dealing with people who make racist and xenophobic comments can be found when service providers, government and civil society all work together to address this common challenge. Since then, Facebook has dramatically expanded its anti-hate speech efforts, launching a new initiative to combat racist and xenophobic material on social media alongside European NGOs this January. Facebook is also cooperating with a task force set up by the Germany Justice Ministry to hunt down alleged racists on the platform.Some critics fear the social network is working with governments to silence any criticism of the refugee crisis.His censorship comments have now gone viral, provoking a debate about whether it is right to squash unpopular or potentially offensive views. | 1 |
BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Sri Lanka should focus on strengthening cooperation over key investment projects, Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday told his visiting counterpart from Sri Lanka, amid strong local opposition to some major Chinese-invested schemes. In July, Sri Lanka signed a long-delayed $1.1 billion deal to lease its southern Hambantota port to China, ignoring an appeal by opposition parties to debate the pact in parliament. The $1.5-billion port, close to the main shipping route from Asia to Europe and likely to play a key role in China s Belt and Road initiative, has been mired in controversy since a Chinese firm agreed to take an 80 percent stake in it. The pact signed last year sparked widespread public anger, as Chinese control of the port, which included a plan for a 99-year lease of 15,000 acres (23 sq miles) to develop an adjacent industrial zone, provoked fears it could be used by Chinese naval vessels. Meeting in Beijing, Wang told Tilak Marapana that the two countries should take this year s 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties as an opportunity, China s foreign ministry said in a statement. Both should emphasize strengthening traditional friendship and political mutual trust, major infrastructure projects, investment and trade to upgrade their relationship, Wang added. The short statement did not mention any specific projects. As one of the first countries to help in Sri Lanka s post-war reconstruction after the 2009 end of its 26-year civil war, China s ties with Sri Lanka have unnerved India, traditionally the island nation s most important partner. By 2014, Chinese navy submarines were also docking in Colombo, raising alarm in New Delhi and prompting a push by the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to claw back influence in the region. | 0 |
After months of finding no evidence of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign, is this sudden development a distraction from the real news about Crooked Hillary Clinton s Russian and friends actual Russian collusion?A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., has reportedly approved the first charges in special counsel Robert Mueller s investigation into Russia s meddling in the 2016 election.CNN reported Friday that the charges are sealed under a federal judge s order, with sources telling the network that those charged could be taken into custody as soon as Monday.It is unclear what the charges are, the network reported. A spokesman for the special counsel s office declined to comment to CNN. The HillMany Twitter users think Mueller s Friday night charges only serve as a distraction from the REAL scandals, like Uranium One and the Clinton and DNC involvement in the phony Trump Russia dossier:fake Mueller charges are designed to distract the American people from the REAL scandals: Uranium One, Fusion GPS & the Clinton Foundation pic.twitter.com/W2ui9mQYV8 Raven (@KazeSkyz) October 28, 2017Reactions when you heard Mueller filed the first charges in his investigation? pic.twitter.com/gxFmzX6Zbl Donald J. Trump (@AKADonaldTrump) October 28, 2017FOX News Special Counsel Robert Mueller is facing a fresh round of calls from conservative critics for his resignation from the Russia collusion probe, amid revelations that have called into question the FBI s own actions and potentially Mueller s independence.This week s bombshell that a controversial anti-Trump dossier was funded by the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign has Republicans asking to what extent the FBI which received some of the findings and briefly agreed to pay the same researcher to gather intelligence on Trump and Russia used the politically connected material.Hill investigators also are looking into a Russian firm s uranium deal that was approved by the Obama administration in 2010 despite reports that the FBI then led by Mueller had evidence of bribery involving a subsidiary of that firm. Critics question whether Mueller s own ties to the bureau as well as fired FBI director James Comey now render him compromised as he investigates allegations of Russian meddling and collusion with Trump officials in the 2016 race. The federal code could not be clearer Mueller is compromised by his apparent conflict of interest in being close with James Comey, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., who first called for Mueller to step down over the summer, said in a statement to Fox News on Friday. The appearance of a conflict is enough to put Mueller in violation of the code. All of the revelations in recent weeks make the case stronger. Outgoing New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor and Trump ally, also suggested Friday that Mueller consider stepping aside. If the facts that you just laid out are true, then somebody with Bob Mueller s integrity will step aside and should if in fact those facts, as you laid them out, are true, Christie said on Fox & Friends, in response to various conflict-of-interest allegations. | 0 |
Council approves cleanup funding
Current retirees’ pensions and health care benefits will not be affected.
DuPont says it hopes to save $550 million over the years by freezing those pensions. It says it also will stop giving future retiree health benefits to staff currently younger than age 50, saving an additional $50 million.
The Wilmington, Del.-based pesticides and materials maker, which employs about 50,000 after spinning off such companies as Axalta and Chemours in recent years and laying off 5,000 management, research, and other staff last winter, says it has followed Lockheed, Johnson Controls and other large manufacturers in switching workers from guaranteed pensions to 401(k) savings plans, whose value rises and falls with the investment markets.
In 2007, DuPont stopped adding new hires to the pension plan. It continued to boost promised benefits to plan members still working at the company.
Since then, it has assigned new workers to 401(k) retirement plans. Instead of guaranteeing pensions whose value rises with years of service, the company pays the equivalent of up to 9 percent of employees’ salaries into investment accounts if they set aside up to 6 percent of their pay.
Workers put that money into funds from a menu of investments, in hopes they can stretch the tax-protected accounts, plus Social Security, to pay their way in retirement.
The freeze will take place in 2018 if the company stays on schedule to complete its planned merger with Dow Chemical Co. and split into separate pesticide, materials and specialized-products manufacturing companies, according to spokesman Daniel Turner.
Turner said the freeze was not connected to the Dow deal. Under CEO Edward Breen, DuPont has been cutting jobs, closing plants and consolidating vendors in an effort to boost profits and streamline operations in advance of the reorganization.
“Sadly, the ongoing cash buyout of 18,000 vested pensioners and today’s action to end pension accruals and health benefits project a company with little concern for those who have stayed with the company in order to build security for their families in the future,” Lawrence Craig Skaggs, a retired DuPont lobbyist, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Since the Dow merger was announced in 2015, Skaggs has posted details and questions concerning DuPont retirement issues at his 6,300-member DuPont Pensioners Facebook site.
“We remain concerned that the DuPont pension plan,” which covers 133,000 current workers and retirees, “is less than 70 percent funded,” Skaggs added, citing Labor Department reports.
Retirees have been pressing DuPont and Dow to put more assets into retirement plans before they divide the companies, to ensure the plans remain solvent.
Pensioners in corporate plans that run out of cash typically are rescued by the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which imposes limits on early retirement and payments above insured levels.
Earlier this year, DuPont offered some retirees who are not yet collecting pensions the options of taking their money in lump-sum payments, or replacing their pensions with insurance annuities, backed against loss by state insurance guaranty funds. Recommended for you | 1 |
In its 109-year history, only one F.B.I. director had been fired until Tuesday, when President Trump fired James B. Comey. In July 1993, President Bill Clinton fired William S. Sessions, who had been nominated to the post by President Ronald Reagan in 1987. Mr. Clinton said his attorney general, Janet Reno, reviewed Mr. Sessions s leadership and concluded in no uncertain terms that he can no longer effectively lead the bureau. Mr. Sessions had been cited for ethical lapses, including taking free trips on F.B.I. aircraft and using government money to build a $10,000 fence at his home. Mr. Sessions was asked to resign, and was fired when he refused to do so. Despite the president s severe tone, he seemed to regret having to force Mr. Sessions from his post, The New York Times wrote about his dismissal:WASHINGTON, July 19 President Clinton today dismissed William S. Sessions, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who had stubbornly rejected an Administration ultimatum to resign six months after a harsh internal ethics report on his conduct.Mr. Clinton said he would announce his nominee to replace Mr. Sessions on Tuesday. He was expected to pick Judge Louis J. Freeh of Federal District Court in Manhattan; officials said Judge Freeh had impressed Mr. Clinton favorably on Friday at their first meeting.Mr. Clinton, explaining his reasons for removing Mr. Sessions, effective immediately, said, We cannot have a leadership vacuum at an agency as important to the United States as the F.B.I. It is time that this difficult chapter in the agency s history is brought to a close. Defiant to the EndBut in a parting news conference at F.B.I. headquarters after Mr. Clinton s announcement, a defiant Mr. Sessions his right arm in a sling as a result of a weekend fall railed at what he called the unfairness of his removal, which comes nearly six years into his 10-year term. Because of the scurrilous attacks on me and my wife of 42 years, it has been decided by others that I can no longer be as forceful as I need to be in leading the F.B.I. and carrying out my responsibilities to the bureau and the nation, he said. It is because I believe in the principle of an independent F.B.I. that I have refused to voluntarily resign. Mr. Clinton said that after reviewing Mr. Sessions s performance, Attorney General Janet Reno had advised him that Mr. Sessions should go. After a thorough review by the Attorney General of Mr. Sessions s leadership of the F.B.I., she has reported to me in no uncertain terms that he can no longer effectively lead the bureau. Similarly, Mr. Trump fired Mr. Comey on the recommendation of his attorney general, Jeff Sessions. (No relation to William S. Sessions.) There are no United States statutes that discuss the president s authority to remove the F.B.I. director. NYT s Vince Foster: What the Media Won t Tell You Major media outlets reported Wednesday on the Supreme Court hearing of California lawyer Allan Favish s case that government photographs of Vincent Foster s death scene be released for public viewing. The media report that no fewer than five investigations have found that Foster committed suicide because he was depressed. But despite 10 years of denial by the major media, the Foster case has not closed as the Supreme Court hearing Wednesday demonstrated. The case won t close because of the failure of authorities to make full disclosure and to conduct a full investigation into the case, including a complete autopsy.Vince Foster was not only deputy White House counsel but also the personal attorney to Bill and Hillary Clinton.On the night of Foster s death, top Clinton aides made a frantic effort to enter and remove documents from his West Wing office. In the days that followed, federal investigators were stymied in their investigation of Foster s office and strange death.Since Foster s July 1993 death, the facts of his death have been obfuscated by friends of Bill and Hillary in the major media, but here s the undeniable truth:There weren t five investigations into Foster s death, as the media report. The Park Police, best known for their meter and horse patrols around Washington, were put in charge of the initial death inquiry of the most important federal official to die suspiciously since President Kennedy. The Park Police, contradicting standard procedure, declared the death a suicide before launching their inquiry.Later, Robert Fiske, selected by Clinton s counsel Bernie Nussbaum and Janet Reno, quickly confirmed the Park Police probe as a suicide.But when Ken Starr entered the investigation, he reopened the case. His chief prosecutor in the case, Miquel Rodriguez, later quit the Starr investigation, claiming that Starr s staff was engaging in a cover-up of Foster s death.Rodriguez, a Harvard-educated federal prosecutor, argued that one of the Polaroid photos taken of Foster at the crime scene indicated an additional wound on Foster s neck never noted on the autopsy report. Favish s suit before the Supreme Court is seeking to release this photo, among others.No fewer than three of the paramedics on the scene indicated in reports or testimony that the crime scene was consistent with a murder scene, not a suicide.A careful FBI microscopic investigation of Foster s shoes found not a trace of soil or grass stains on them, though he supposedly walked several hundred yards through wooded Fort Marcy Park to where his body was found. [Years later, Starr s investigation found plenty of soil and grass stains. Rodriguez charged that the shoes were tampered with to produce such evidence. ]According to the FBI report on Vince Foster s death (below) blonde hairs were found on the body of Vince Foster, but were never investigated:Foster was found with little blood around his body and despite claims that he fired the gun into his mouth, practically no blood was found on the front of his shirt.Foster was found with a 1913 revolver no one in his family could claim, with two serial numbers, made from the parts of three or more guns. None of Foster s fingerprints were found on the gun.For years, detail after detail emerged questioning the official ruling.Significant questions were raised about the unusual gun a .38 Colt revolver made from the parts of three guns with two serial numbers found conveniently in Vince s hand.The Park Police said one of the serial numbers indicated the gun was vintage 1913 and had no pedigree.Foster family members insisted neither Foster nor his father ever owned the old revolver.The NCIC keeps records of all law enforcment inquiries of serial numbers.On March 23, 2001, the FBI responded to requests made by a man names Craig Brinkley:Serial number 356555, one of the numbers on the gun, was never searched, not by the FBI, the Park Police or by that investigation by Ken Starr.Serial number 355055 was found on the frame of the gun. Brinkley believes that was the gun s real nnumber.That number was indeed searched by the Park Police, on the evening of Foster s death, more exactly at 22:45 EDT on July 20, 1993.Interestingly, searches were conducted on the same serial number no fewer than three times earlier that year, before Foster s death, on March 3, March 7 and April 29.Was someone checking to see that this gun had a clean predigree and was untraceable?The bullet from the gun that supposedly killed Foster was never found, despite intensive searches.Despite claims to the contrary, no one who knew Foster, including Hillary, Web Hubbell and his own wife, saw signs of depression.A so-called suicide note was found in an office briefcase that had been searched and found to be empty after Foster s death. The note was torn into 27 pieces. Yet an FBI examination found no trace of Foster s fingerprints on the note and a top Oxford handwriting expert found the note to be an obvious forgery.Despite the enormity of the case, Foster s autopsy lasted an astounding 45 minutes. The coroner in the case had previously been overruled in other cases he declared suicides that were later found to be murders.All of the X-rays taken during the autopsy are missing.Complete crime scene photos don t exist. The Park Police said all the photos were accidentally overexposed. A series of close-up Polaroids, which Favish is suing for, remain. This is just a brief summary of the dozens of inconsistencies in the case. Two New York homicide investigators who looked into the case concluded that Foster s body had been moved to the crime scene and that murder could not be ruled out.Despite overwhelming evidence of a cover-up, the media won t question the official ruling.Ken Starr, who could find no criminal wrongdoing on the part of the Clintons during his intensive probe, confirmed a ruling of suicide. Starr even hired O.J. Simpson s defense expert to prove his case.On August 23, 2016, The Daily Mail revealed that FBI agents reported interviews documenting that Hillary Clinton s stinging humiliation of her friend and mentor Vince Foster in front of White House aides triggered the suicide of Vince Foster were missing from where they should be filed at the National Archives.On the first visit, archivist David Paynter provided the box of records that he said contained the FBI reports of interviews conducted by FBI agents on Foster s death. On a second visit, archivist James Mathis provided what he said were those same documents.While the box contained dozens of FBI reports concerning Foster s death including interviews with the medical examiner, U.S. Park Police officers, and White House aides about the contents of Foster s office the reports on Hillary Clinton s role in his death were absent.After filing a Freedom of Information request with the National Archives, Martha Murphy, the archives public liaison, reported that she directed a senior archivist to conduct a more thorough review of the relevant FBI files, including those that had not been previously made public in response to FOIA requests. He examined all eight boxes but found no interviews by any investigator that detail either a meeting between Hillary Clinton and Vince Foster or the effects of a meeting between Hillary Clinton and Vince Foster on Vince Foster s state of mind, Murphy reported in an email.After firing Republican FBI Director William S. Session, President Bill Clinton temporarily replaced him with Floyd I. Clarke and then on September 1, 1993 he Louis Freeh became the FBI Director. Right from the start, the Freeh FBI was drenched in controversy. The screw-ups were legion from the exposure of fraudulent FBI crime lab results to the wrongful blaming of an innocent man for the bombings at the Atlanta Olympics to the bloody standoff and shootout at Ruby Ridge. | 1 |
It s no secret that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is spineless that s a reputation he s earned for himself throughout his entire career. But thanks to an audio clip from October 2016 that has just resurfaced, everyone is now being reminded how unreliable and weak Ryan truly is when it comes to holding to his beliefs.Coming at a time when Ryan is receiving tons of negative criticism due to his celebration that the CBO report on the American Health Care Act is going to cost millions of Americans to lose their health insurance, this looks pretty bad for the House Speaker. The footage from October 2016 was posted by none other than Breitbart, and it shows Ryan distancing himself from Trump after the corrupt businessman s misogynistic comments on the infamous Access Hollywood footage. Ryan can be heard saying: I am not going to defend Donald Trump, not now, not in the future. I m not going to be campaigning with him for the next 30 days. I m doing what I think is best for you, the members, not what s best for me. I m going to focus my time on campaigning for House Republicans. Ryan then trashed Trump, suggesting that he was an awful nominee that pretty much had no chance. He stated the only way the GOP might survive would be to preserve a House majority: It s amazing how easily she could be beaten. We need a check on Hillary Clinton, if Donald Trump and Mike Pence don t win the presidency. You can listen to Ryan trash Trump below:In response to the leaked audio, Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck said: The world is well aware of this history. And obviously a lot has happened since then. Yes, a lot HAS happened since then but Ryan is still spineless as ever and is now kissing Trump s ass. The GOP should be ashamed of him.Featured image via Win McNamee / Getty Images | 1 |
By Vin Armani You know the state is in trouble when they’re afraid of one man with an Internet connection. The case of Julian Assange... | 0 |
Country: Saudi Arabia In Seth Ferris’ NEO article on Yemen back in April it was suggested that the only reason the US suddenly withdrew from Yemen, after staying there through thick and thin, was because the US had only taken over the country to supply arms to terrorists. Now it is back – its warships are patrolling the coast so that it can maintain a military presence in another form, having yet to be embarrassed by the stolen military files which Ferris claims will prove his case. It is these warships which are being attacked by the Houthis. These are the people the US claims looted those millions of dollars of weapons which mysteriously vanished. So anything can be blamed on them, because they are covered by a previous official story. However, no one has yet provided a clear link between these attacks and the rebels. Remains of American munitions have been found, but these were not necessarily looted ones. Nor were they found near the warships: most conveniently, they were found like discarded foreign passports in the rubble of factories, hospitals, bridges and power stations attacked by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition, not the rebels. This stunt is so blatant that even the New York Times is prepared to report it . We remember that earlier this year the U.S. military launched cruise missiles at radar sites along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, after its ships were supposedly targeted by missiles fired from rebel-controlled areas. Therefore the justification for making more cruise missile attacks is simply sending warships to the coast during a time of conflict. Apparently the last cruise missile attacks didn’t work, because the rebels are still shooting, despite the deadly effect of cruise missiles highlighted so effectively by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament during its various waves of mass support . This suggests that neither the attacks on the warships or the US response were real, yet more false flags in support of failed US regional policy and the election campaign for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This whole story looks too bad to be true. Looted weapons which no one saw being looted, convenient enemies, an ongoing conflict the next president has no choice but to support the military in – Yemen is currently able to provide it all, without the long discussions which would take place if the same was happening in more debated hotspots like Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan. These attacks suit too many of the wrong people to be taken seriously – unless you happen to be Yemeni, but as ever the people the US claims to be doing these things for are the least important part of the equation. Blame it on Iran The USS Mason, a destroyer of the US 6th fleet, allegedly came under attack by the Houthis not once, not twice, but three times within days. The US has struck back by targeting and destroying radar sites in Houthi territory, if reports are to be believed . The missiles used against US warships are claimed to be Iranian Zafzlal III models. Of course they are – the US public and politicians are used to denouncing Iran, as they have been brought up to take that as a default position. If the word “Iran” is associated with something controversial, like the gas heater that supposedly killed the former Georgian PM during the George W. Bush presidency, that is supposed to explain it all. Particularly when we understand that Alarabiya is a pro-Saudi site with a long history of trying to implicate Iran in everything. Older heads can recall the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in 1964, in which two attacks were allegedly made on a US destroyer by a North Vietnamese patrol boat. The second never happened, and the first was misreported as an attack by the Vietnamese boats, in whose territorial waters the destroyer was trespassing, whereas in fact the US fired first. These false attacks led to President Johnson being given the legal justification to launch open warfare against North Vietnam. This famously led to crowds following him everywhere chanting “LBJ, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today ?” Gulf of Tonkin showed how is easy it is for a US president who presses the right verbal buttons to manufacture consent for his actions. The Houthis are a little-known and little understood force, and can thus be presented in any way the US State Department wants. All the vast majority of Americans are aware of is that they are Muslim separatists who are on the other side to the US, but that makes them a fair target as they are trying to destroy the American way of life, democracy and human rights. Perhaps Yemenis don’t aspire to the American way of life, even if they want the commercial benefits. But the US has to believe that everyone does to explain it own success, which would be a far more difficult process than assuming it is the product of some moral superiority. Shacking-up of convenience Saudi Arabia needs US support in Yemen because its adventures there have put the Saudi state itself at risk. The Yemen war has deeply damaged the Saudis, exposing the incompetence of both the military and the House of Saud—to the point that there is a risk it will cause a civil insurrection which will split the country in two. The eastern half, where Mecca and Medina are, wants to break away, as its inhabitants are from a completely separate tribal grouping to those of the eastern half, where the gilded rulers live. The US took advantage of that situation to enter Yemen and make it the regional dirty tricks capital. It is not going to leave until it has found another, as we saw when it stayed in Georgia, with a president it was happy to get rid of, until it could start moving its operations to Ukraine using the same individuals. The US still has a free hand in Yemen because the Saudis don’t have any other friends, apart from Bahrain, Qatar and Dubai, which are also run by despotic dynasties. Troops from those nations have fought alongside the Saudis in Yemen but have been no more effective than the Saudi troops, being nothing more than fodder for the Houthi’s cannons. So the US has no reason to leave, which is what made its sudden withdrawal after those documents were stolen all the more suspicious. But the US still has to manufacture consent not only to stay there, but justify its previous actions to its own public. If they were undertaken as part of a friendly intervention, this would be one thing. If US ships are attacked by Iranian weapons, this transforms the opponent into a known enemy and forces the US to intervene as a combatant in its own right. It also deflects any attention from how we got to this point – which can be excoriating, as Tony Blair has recently found to his cost . This desire also explains recent “independent” Saudi actions towards Iran. A senior Iranian military official has recently accused Israel and Saudi Arabia of collaborating on a plot to stir insurrection within the Islamic Republic. “We have thorough intelligence that Al Saud, in collusion with the Zionist regime, is hatching plots against our country,” Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted by Iran’s Press TV as saying . Calm before the storm Saudi Arabia’s major foreign policy decisions are often based on a general consensus among a number of senior princes. The operation in Yemen is no exception, and had the former King Abdullah still been alive, he would have most likely chosen exactly the same response to the current situation. Saudi Arabia’s goal is to reinstate the now-deposed President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. However Saudi troops have suffered major problems with various attempts to invade Yemen, and they know that any occupation is out of the question without the help of an outside power, such as the US military . Supply lines are stretched too thin, and are subject to attacks, as Houthi know how to fight a guerilla war under the harshest of conditions, and have successfully dealt with their neighbour for the last 80 years. Some claim that Saudi Arabia wants to sort things out with Yemen, come-hell-or-high water, in order to be able to have a greater impact at regional level. It hopes to weigh in on conflicts elsewhere in the MENA (Middle East and North African) countries. However to do this it needs political stability, and the reverses in Yemen have put that in question. Any long-term occupation of the country would come at too high a cost for the Saudis – financially, politically and in terms of human lives. Attention also needs to be diverted from the 28 pages of the 9/11 report that basically implicates the Saudi leadership in a terrorist attack on the American homeland, and the involvement of Saudi intelligence in Syria and Northern Iraq, where it has provided material support to known terrorists groups. The US knows it will stay in Yemen for as long as the Saudi monarchy is in danger of collapse, as the political systems of countries which lose wars often do. The worst of a bad job In Johnson’s time the US was expected to act unilaterally. Now it acts in partnership with other nations to cover its illegal acts – as if acting purely in response to their concerns, as a strategic partner, not from selfish motives of its own. Any temporary lull in such interventions provides an opportunity for all sides to lick their wounds and prepare for the next stage in the fighting, or allows the PR machine to catch up with the game plan on the ground, especially in an election year . But the Saudis have violated all ceasefires to date, and will likely try to continue doing the same now and into the future. As reported by the NYT, “millions have been forced from their homes, and since August, the government has been unable to pay the salaries of most of the 1.2 million civil servants.” Now that the Clinton influence peddling scheme has been exposed in the wake of the US presidential elections Saudi donations will dry up, as will their blank check to get away with murder. The Saudis will have fewer well-connected friends in the US State Department. But this is unlikely to prevent any further adventures in Yemen: on the contrary, the Saudis will need them all the more to prevent further embarrassments within the US, while the US military needs them to prevent its own embarrassment. Donald Trump has said several times that he doesn’t agree with the US spending all this money on all these foreign wars. Not only was a ramping-up of the Yemen conflict an attempt to support Clinton, it was an attempt to force Trump to support the military ad the general policy of fighting all these wars, should he be elected. Now that has happened, does anyone expect the military to just go home, with so many bases still in place and so many arms deals still being serviced? Trump can’t stop these things on his say-so, and is too much of a businessman to try and take on the whole capital structure of the US. The selling point of remaining in Yemen may well be that it reduces the Iranian direct involvement in protecting Assad and draws attention away from the movement of terrorist proxy fighters from Iraq back into Syria proper. It is much easier for Trump to continue demonising Iran, as a Muslim nation, than to stop this movement. But once this step is taken a precedent for this administration will have been set. Trump will either have to take on his military continually or find ways of justifying it – and Yemen, although not of Trump’s making, gives him every excuse to do the latter whilst still pretending to follow his campaign policy. Henry Kamens, columnist, expert on Central Asia and Caucasus, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook” . Popular Articles | 1 |
The lawyer who represented Hillary Clinton’s campaign and her doomed presidential election recount efforts has reportedly joined the board of a progressive super PAC financed by billionaire George Soros and focused in part on issues of voting rights. [CNN reported: The super PAC Priorities USA has brought Democratic superlawyer Marc Elias onto its board and plans to focus on fighting GOP efforts to restrict voting access in courts and legislatures. During the most recent presidential election, Priorities USA served as a super PAC. Soros provided at least $8. 5 million to the group, including $6 million in December 2015 and another $2. 5 million in August 2016, public records show. The Hill reported in January 2016 after Soros’s first contribution: In the last 6 months, the raised $25. 3 million, meaning that Soros’s contribution accounted for almost a quarter of its fundraising haul. Following the election, Priorities USA is seeking to “reposition itself as a hub of Democratic activity,” Politico reported last month. Continued Politico on the Super PAC’s new efforts: One of its primary initiatives will also be a push branded as “The BluePrint Project,” which aims to study and engage both voters who backed President Barack Obama in 2012 and then Trump in 2016, and those who supported Obama before staying home this past November. That campaign has already begun: led by pollsters Geoff Garin and Jef Pollock, Priorities will next week convene focus groups in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Florida, focusing on counties that saw the largest swings from Obama to Trump, and the biggest in voting rates within African American communities. Elias served as the Clinton campaign’s general counsel. In November, he announced Clinton’s losing campaign would participate in Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s recount efforts. Elias is a senior lawyer at the Perkins Coie law firm, which has also represented Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. The lawyer has previously been tied to Soros. In July, the New York Times reported Soros had pledged up to $5 million for a legal fight led by Elias against what the newspaper characterized as “restrictive voting laws enacted in recent years by state governments. ” The Times further reported on Elias’ efforts: Elias, who specializes in issues, was in contact with Mr. Soros in January 2014 when Mr. Elias was exploring a series of federal lawsuits before that year’s midterm election and in advance of the 2016 campaign, according to Mr. Soros’s political adviser, Michael Vachon. (Mr. Elias declined to comment on Friday about the funding of the lawsuits.) The goal is to try to influence voting rules in states where Republican governors and legislatures have enacted election laws since 2010, and to be ready to intervene if additional measures are passed over the next 17 months. At the time, Soros helped pay for two lawsuits in Ohio and Wisconsin, and the billionaire activist contributed funds for suits that, according to the Times, “Mr. Elias and several other groups filed last year in North Carolina. ” In August, the Washington Post spotlighted the legal work of Elias in a profile titled, “The crusade of a Democratic superlawyer with backing. ” The newspaper described Elias as the “ lawyer for Democrats in recount fights and redistricting battles. ” The Post reported on Elias’s top benefactor: With a commitment from liberal George Soros, Elias is challenging laws that, he argues, diminish the impact of important Democratic Party constituencies of African Americans, Latinos and young people. “I don’t think people should think we’re done filing lawsuits for this election cycle,” Elias said in a taxicab interview after two flights and a weather delay delivered him to Phoenix. The Post detailed the evolution of Soros’s financial backing: While Elias will not discuss the funding for his project, Soros’s spokesman Michael Vachon said Elias approached them with a set of proposals for challenging state restrictions that would be helpful “up and down the ballot. ” That was appealing to Soros, who began his political giving with voter mobilization efforts, Vachon said. And they agreed with Elias that there was work to be done beyond what the civil rights groups, to which Soros also contributes, were doing. … Soros has given $5 million to the trust that funds the litigation, Vachon said, and Elias said he has picked his shots with an eye toward “protecting the Obama coalition” of African Americans, Latinos and young people. Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio. ” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook. With additional research by Brenda J. Elliott. | 0 |
WASHINGTON, D. C. — Moscow’s foothold in Libya “is growing” as Russian President Vladimir Putin “increasingly” supports former Gen. Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the opposition to the United Government of National Accord (GNA) an expert on Russian foreign policy tells a House panel. [In March, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the head of U. S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) told the Senate Armed Services that Russia’s intervention in Libya, including Putin’s support for Gen. Haftar, dubbed the “new” Muammar Gaddafi, is “very concerning” for the American military. Although Russia has hosted both Gen. Haftar and Libyan Prime Minister Fayez who serves as the chief of the GNA, Putin favors the opposition leader. During a hearing on Russia’s objectives in the Muslim world held Thursday by the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, Anna Borshchevskaya, an expert on Russian foreign policy at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told lawmakers: Moscow’s foothold in Libya is growing. This issue is important to watch in the months ahead. Putin increasingly supports Libya’s Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who controls the eastern part of the country but wants more. With the fall of Muammar [Gaddafi] in October 2011, Russia lost not only several billion dollars’ worth of investments but also access to the Benghazi port. U. S. militias overthrew and executed Libyan dictator Gaddafi (also spelled Qadhafi) in 2011. Borshchevskaya noted: Haftar (who served under Qadhafi) pursues an agenda and looks to Putin to help secure his leadership in Libya at the expense of the civilian government. Haftar is a deeply polarizing figure, one that by expert accounts is the wrong choice for the country. Echoing other assessments, American Gen. Waldhauser indicated that Gen. Haftar represents an opportunity for Russia to fill the vacuum left by former President Barack Obama’s administration. “Russia provides the Tobruk government [led by Haftar] with military advice and diplomatic support at the UN,” the Russian foreign policy expert told the House panel. “In May 2016, Moscow reportedly printed nearly 4 billion Libyan dinars (approximately $2. 8 billion) for Libya’s Central Bank and transferred the money to a branch loyal to Haftar. ” Borshchevskaya continued: In the context of growing tensions with Tripoli, Haftar made two trips to Moscow in the second half of 2016, and in January of this year, he toured the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov as it returned home from Syrian waters. While aboard the Kuznetsov, Haftar held a video call with Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu and reportedly talked about fighting terrorism in the Middle East. This February, Moscow flew approximately seventy of Haftar’s wounded soldiers to Russia for treatment. Moscow has denied allegations that it considers establishing military bases in Libya with Haftar’s support, Borshchevskaya pointed out. “Russia is trying to exert influence on the ultimate decision of who becomes, and what entity becomes, in charge of the government inside Libya,” the AFRICOM chief told Senators in March. “They’re working to influence that decision. ” Russia’s objectives in the Middle East and North Africa are to support other dictators as well as undermine U. S. influence and democratic efforts, the experts told the House members Thursday. “Putin’s objectives in the Middle East have been consistent both with his domestic behavior and with his approach to other parts of the world: support fellow dictators and undermine efforts at democratization — what his Foreign Police Concept refers to as ‘ideological values … imposed from outside,’” Mr. Vladimir the vice chairman of the organization Open Russia, told lawmakers Thursday. | 0 |
Wait! I thought she was dead broke and just like the everyday American? It seems that the Clintons have a thing with costly hair cuts. Remember Hairgate with Bill Clinton? Yes, these two are just a couple of grifters with fancy hair Hillary Clinton put part of Bergdorf Goodman on lockdown on Friday to get a $600 haircut at the swanky John Barrett Salon. Clinton, with a huge entourage in tow, was spotted being ushered through a side entrance of the Fifth Avenue store on Friday. A source said, Staff closed off one side of Bergdorf s so Hillary could come in privately to get her hair done. An elevator bank was shut down so she could ride up alone, and then she was styled in a private area of the salon. Other customers didn t get a glimpse. Hillary was later seen with a new feathered hairdo. Clinton regularly sees salon owner John Barrett, who charges regular mortals $600 for a cut and blow-dry. Hair color can cost an extra $600. It is not known how much, or if, Clinton paid for the haircut, and her reps didn t respond to requests for comment. But Clinton s attachment to her hairstylists is well documented. The Santa recently referenced in her e-mails is Santa Nikkels, the proprietor of Santa s Salon in Chappaqua. And let s not forget that her husband, Bill Clinton, was famously caught up in a 1993 controversy known as Hairgate when he got a $200 haircut on Air Force One as it was idling for an hour at LAX, shutting down two runways and diverting numerous flights.Read more: NYP | 1 |
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As more time passes after the violent riots related to the white nationalist rally that took place yesterday in Charlottesville, Virginia, Americans become more and more disappointed by Donald Trump and his failure to denounce white supremacy.One very noteworthy criticism of the racist Commander in Chief comes from none other than the Vice-Mayor of Charlottesville, who blasted Trump in an interview with CNN s Wolf Blitzer today. Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy stated that his community has come together in solidarity to fight against the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who were responsible for riots that resulted in the death of a counter-protester. And while Trump has continued to pretend he has no connection or responsibility for the riots, Bellamy directly called him out and held him accountable.In the interview, Bellamy stated that if white supremacists under the guidance of their president, number 45 returned to Charlottesville, the community wouldn t hesitate to drive them back out. He said: They can continue to come, but our community will not break. The people here of Charlottesville, white people, black people, yellow people, old people, young people, we re a community that rallies around together. This is a community that I saw pick me up on my darkest and deepest moments to encourage me and they ve done the same for other people. We re a resilient group. Bellamy then spoke directly to Trump, pointing out that he has the responsibility to condemn white supremacists, which he still has not yet done. Bellamy said: So 45, we re looking for your leadership. Condemn that white supremacist attacks. Condemn these domestic terrorists. Tell them to leave. You re their leader. Stand up. It was the perfect message to send Trump, and he will look even worse if he ignores Bellamy and fails to respond. Hopefully, Trump will start acting like a leader and speak out against these attacks.You can watch Bellamy shred Trump below:Featured image via screenshots | 0 |
The disruptions caused by protesters at Los Angeles International airport caused ESPN host Sage Steele to miss a flight. Now Steele is under attack for jumping to Instagram to rail about the protests that caused her such inconvenience. [On Friday, President Trump issued his temporary moratorium on immigration from a list of seven countries the Obama administration had flagged as “countries of concern” back in 2015. Almost immediately liberal activists flooded into several big city airports across the country to protest the order. One of those groups of disruptors descended upon LAX just as NBA Countdown host Steele was attempting to catch a flight, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Steele complained that the protesters caused her to walk nearly two miles in order to catch a flight to Houston and delayed her long enough for her to miss the flight. Steele felt exasperated enough to jump on her Instagram account and decry the protesters for causing “elderly and parents with small children” to have to walk long distances to reach flights. “I love witnessing people exercise their right to protest! But it saddened me to see the joy on their faces knowing that they were successful in disrupting so many people’s travel plans,” she added. But not long after posting her complaint, some of her sports reporter colleagues began to slam her for attacking the protesters. On Twitter, Sports Illustrated writer Michael Silver slapped Steele, saying the protesters were “right” for doing what they did. Sometimes standing up for what’s right provokes inconvenience and all … https: . — Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) January 30, 2017, Steele replied that Silver didn’t actually read what she wrote. @MikeSilver better, more effective ways to do it, Silver! my post. Don’t worry — we can arm wrestle over it this week in Houston, — Sage Steele (@sagesteele) January 30, 2017, Julie another wealthy, white reporter for ESPN, also chided Steele for her Instagram post. I understand the inconvenience of missing a flight etc, but why people are protesting inhumane is much bigger than that. https: . — Julie (@JSB_TV) January 30, 2017, Steele again replied that must have missed the part where she said she supports people protesting for their political ideals and told to her Instagam post. Steele has engaged in political debate in the past. Last year she slammed the players protesting the national anthem, warning people to “look up the word democracy. ” Hey @MikeEvans13_ look up definition of the word DEMOCRACY remember this pic while your right to protest #perspective pic. twitter. — Sage Steele (@sagesteele) November 14, 2016, The ESPNer also slammed African Americans for attacking other African Americans for having opinions that run contrary to the wisdom. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 0 |
Just confirming what anyone paying attention already knew. The Huffington Post isn t interested in reporting the news they re strictly serving as a propaganda arm of the progressive left Earlier this month, while political news organizations were wrestling with the rise of Donald Trump, Washington Post senior politics editor Steven Ginsberg offered a philosophy: In my view, making decisions solely according to who may win the nomination is the worst way to cover a presidential election, he said. A whole lot happens on the way to the nomination and you can t explain what s happening with the candidates or the country without being on top of all of it. Since then, Trump s influence in the Republican primary has only grown. He has surged to the front of the pack, leading his rivals by 3 points in the most recent Fox News and USA Today/Suffolk polls, respectively. He has raised issues that have resonated with conservative voters and forced other GOP candidates to come forward on where they stand. It is very likely that he will appear near center-stage at the inaugural Republican debate, on Aug. 6, and lead the pile-on against Jeb Bush.In other words, Trump is a major character in this chapter of the 2016 presidential election story. And as Ginsberg said, you can t explain what s happening with the candidates or the country without being on top of all of it. On Friday, however, the Huffington Post s politics team announced that they would no longer cover the candidate as a political story. After watching and listening to Donald Trump since he announced his candidacy for president, we have decided we won t report on Trump s campaign as part of The Huffington Post s political coverage. Instead, we will cover his campaign as part of our Entertainment section, they wrote. Our reason is simple: Trump s campaign is a sideshow. We won t take the bait. If you are interested in what The Donald has to say, you ll find it next to our stories on the Kardashians and The Bachelorette. A quick fact-check: 1. Huffington Post is taking the bait, because they re continuing to cover Trump and will continue to benefit from the clicks. 2. Trump s campaign isn t a sideshow. He s leading the field, and is therefore a daily preoccupation for other candidates. (Hours after posting its note, Huffington Post sent an email clarifying that the impact [Trump is] having on the Republican Party and the immigration debate is itself a real thing, which it will cover as substance, but anything that tumbles out of his mouth will land on the Entertainment page. )One might conclude that Huffington Post s announcement amounts to the same Trump-style grandstanding they claim to condemn. On a larger level, they seem to miss the point that all politics is theater. Countless statements have tumbled forth from the mouth of candidates top-tier and third-tier that were made precisely to rile up the base, bait an opponent, get free play in the media, etc. The Huffington Post politics team has covered these stories, and will almost surely continue to do so even when they come from candidates who have a less of a shot at their party s nomination than Trump.Via: Politico | 1 |
THE VICE PRESIDENT AND HIS WIFE KAREN CAME OUT TO DANCE AND THEN THE FIRST FAMILY JOINED THEM: The Trumps and Pences dance alongside their children during the first dance to My Way https://t.co/NVIW7gRY35 https://t.co/rq4uyc3Cbc CNN (@CNN) January 21, 2017 IVANKA TRUMP WAS GLOWING! Read more: Daily Mail | 0 |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The probability that Republican front-runner Donald Trump will win his party’s presidential nomination dropped sharply in the past week while the likelihood of a brokered convention to potentially choose another candidate rose, according to online predictions market PredictIt. Trump’s probability of winning the nomination fell to 44 percent on Friday from 67 percent a week ago, according to the website, which is run by Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. For Republican rival Ted Cruz, a U.S. Senator from Texas, it rose to 34 percent from 14 percent during the same period. The probability that the Republicans will have a brokered convention to decide the nominee for the Nov. 8 election jumped to 69 percent from 43 percent a week ago, according to PredictIt, an online predictions market where users place money on who they think will win the election. Many users are from the United States. Celebrity businessman Trump is facing pressure to take a more serious approach to his presidential campaign from supporters worried that a string of recent missteps and controversial comments may do lasting damage. A Cruz win in Tuesday’s primary in Wisconsin would make it harder for Trump to reach the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination before the Republican national convention in July. If Trump does not win enough delegates, then the party faces the prospect of holding a contested, or brokered, convention in which party leaders try to negotiate nominating a compromise candidate. | 1 |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday he believed his U.S. colleagues were ready to continue dialogue with Moscow on complex issues despite bilateral tensions. Lavrov, who met U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on the sidelines of an international gathering in Manila, said the first thing that Tillerson asked about was Russia’s retaliation to new U.S. sanctions against Moscow. “He was primarily interested ... in details of those decisions that we grudgingly made in response to the law on anti-Russian sanctions,” Lavrov said. The meeting was their first since President Donald Trump reluctantly signed into law the sanctions that Russia said amounted to a full-scale trade war and ended hopes for better ties. “We provided an explanation,” Lavrov said, referring to Russia’s decision to take over a summer-house compound in Moscow leased by the U.S. embassy and an order to slash U.S. diplomatic presence in Russia. Lavrov said he also cited President Vladimir Putin who, in an interview to Russian TV last week, explained Moscow’s need to retaliate to the U.S. sanctions over its role in the Ukrainian crisis and recently expanded to punish Russia for meddling in the U.S. presidential election. Lavrov described his talks with Tillerson as lengthy and said they covered a wide range of topics, from the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula to coordination plans between Russia and the United States to withstand attacks. “We felt the readiness of our U.S. colleagues to continue dialogue. I think there’s no alternative to that,” Lavrov said. The two sides agreed that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Under Secretary Thomas A. Shannon would continue discussing complex issues on the bilateral agenda. Speaking on Rossiya24 state TV, Lavrov also said Tillerson told him the United States’ special representative on Ukraine, Kurt Volker, a former U.S. envoy to NATO, would meet a senior aide to Putin, Vladimir Surkov, “in the nearest future”. “We would be interested to see what impression the U.S. special envoy has on the current state of affairs,” Lavrov said. Washington sent Volker to Ukraine last month to assess the situation in the ex-Soviet republic, where a 2015 ceasefire between Kiev’s forces and Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country is regularly violated. Washington cites the conflict as a key obstacle to improved relations between Russia and the United States. | 0 |
(Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday: Trump nominates Neil Gorsuch for a lifetime job on the U.S. Supreme Court, picking the 49-year-old federal appeals court judge to restore the court’s conservative majority and help shape rulings on divisive issues such as abortion, gun control, the death penalty and religious rights. Nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries temporarily blocked from entering the United States by Trump’s executive order may be blocked indefinitely, and others might be added to the list, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly says. The United States will apply “extreme vetting” to up to 1,250 asylum seekers it has agreed to resettle as part of an agreement with Australia, a Trump spokesman says. Legal challenges to Trump’s first moves on immigration spread as three states sue over his order on travel from seven majority-Muslim countries and San Francisco sues over his order on sanctuary cities. Americans are sharply divided over the executive order on immigration, with slightly more approving it than disapproving, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll. Ronald Vitiello has been appointed chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters, replacing Mark Morgan, who had been asked to step down. The new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations warns Iran its testing two days ago of a long-range ballistic missile is unacceptable and an act the United States believes violates its nuclear accord with world powers. Trump calls on the pharmaceutical industry to boost U.S. production and lower prices, and vows to speed approval for new medicines. U.S. Senate Democrats postpone votes on several of Trump’s Cabinet nominees - including attorney general and Treasury secretary - citing their responsibility to do a “thorough vetting,” while Republicans accuse them of unreasonable delays in considering the picks. About 900 State Department officials sign an internal dissent memo criticizing Trump’s order on refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, a source says. Trump and a top economics adviser unleash a barrage of criticism against Germany, Japan and China, saying the three key U.S. trading partners were engaged in devaluing their currencies to the detriment of American companies and consumers. U.S. food producers and shippers are trying to rush exports to Mexico and line up alternative markets as concerns rise that their business will be hurt by trade and immigration clashes between Trump and the Mexican government. | 1 |
ROME (Reuters) - Police using water cannon and batons clashed on Thursday with refugees who had occupied a small Rome square in defiance of an order to leave a building where they had been squatting. The clashes were the latest example of tensions in Italy as the country deals with an influx of migrants. They quickly became fodder for political debate, particularly on the police handling of the incident. Refugees were screaming and trying to hit police, who were dressed in riot gear, with sticks. The square, just one block from Rome s main train station, was strewn with mattresses, overturned rubbish bins and broken plastic chairs. Some 100 refugees had occupied Piazza Independenza since Saturday, when most of about 800 squatters were evicted from an adjacent office building they had occupied for about five years. Hung on the building was a sheet with writing reading We are refugees, not terrorists in Italian. A small fire burned on the pavement and a sheet hanging from a first-floor window was set alight by squatters inside. Most of the squatters were Eritreans who had been granted asylum. Police said they had refused to accept lodging offered by the city. In a statement, the police said the refugees had gas canisters, some of which they had opened, and officers had been hit by rocks, bottles and pepper spray. Two people were arrested and Doctors Without Borders said in a statement that its medics had given first aid to 13 refugees, including one for a broken bone. Human Rights Watch and members of some leftist political parties criticized the police handling of the situation, saying the use of such force was disproportionate. The authorities need to urgently find appropriate, alternative housing, and investigate the use of force by the police during the eviction, said Judith Sunderland, associate director for Europe at Human Rights Watch. It s hard to see how the use of water cannon on people was necessary or proportionate, she said. Various Roman Catholic groups that help immigrants also criticized police conduct. But the Italian police union COISIP said officers were forced to use water cannon because of the risk of explosions caused by flammable liquids . Police said they were looking at possible irregularities after what appeared to be a policeman told a colleague to break the arm of any squatter who threw anything while being chased, according to a video that circulated widely on social media. Another video showed a woman fly to the ground after being hit in the face by water cannon, and later put in an ambulance. Squatters had put cooking gas tanks on the railing of a first-floor balcony, apparently ready to be opened to be used as makeshift flamethrowers, or dropped onto the square, Reuters photographers said on Wednesday. Matteo Salvini, head of the right-wing, anti-immigrant Northern League, Tweeted his unequivocal support of police, saying Go boys: Evictions, order, cleaning up and EXPULSIONS! Italians are with you. More than 600,000 boat migrants have arrived in Italy from North Africa since 2014. Some 200,000 asylum seekers now stay in state-run shelters. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of dozens of former U.S. Homeland Security officials sent letters supporting the nomination of Kirstjen Nielsen as the new head of the department ahead of her confirmation hearing on Wednesday by the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Among the signers were former Homeland Security (DHS) secretaries Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, both Republicans who served under former President George W. Bush. “Ms. Nielson has been engaged in counter-terrorism, all-hazard risk mitigation, critical infrastructure protection, and response policy from the earliest days of what we now know as homeland security,” the two former secretaries wrote in a latter viewed by Reuters. A separate letter was signed by former National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander and former DHS officials Charles E. Allen, James M. Loy and John McLaughlin. The letter was also signed by Jane Holl Lute and Alejandro Mayorkas, both who served as under secretaries of DHS under former President Barack Obama. If confirmed by the Senate, Nielsen would take the reins at a sprawling department with more than 240,000 employees that is responsible for U.S. border and airport security, immigration policy, disaster response, refugee admissions and other matters. Nielsen, 45, is a cyber security expert with a considerable resume in homeland security work that includes service at the department’s Transportation Security Administration and on former Republican President George W. Bush’s White House Homeland Security Council. She was nominated to the role after John Kelly, the previous secretary, was named White House chief of staff this summer. Nielson worked as Kelly’s deputy in the White House prior to being nominated in October. | 1 |
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s President Robert Mugabe said on Saturday he may make changes to his cabinet next week, at a time of rising tensions within his ruling party over who will eventually takeover from him. Mugabe told a meeting of the ruling ZANU-PF youth wing in Harare that it was time to review the performance of his cabinet ministers. The last cabinet reshuffle was in September 2015 when Mugabe was removing allies of his former deputy Joice Mujuru, whom he fired in December 2014 over accusations that she was plotting to topple him. She denied the allegations. Next week there might be some changes in government. Should we remain with the same team or we make changes or even discard some. So that exercise I will be doing it and early next week you will get the results, Mugabe told a meeting of his ZANU-PF youth wing. Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a frontrunner to take over from Mugabe, said on Thursday he had been poisoned in August when he fell ill and was airlifted to South Africa, which earned him a public rebuke from First Lady Grace Mugabe. ZANU-PF is divided into two camps, one supporting Mnangagwa to succeed Mugabe and another rallying behind Grace. Mugabe also castigated his senior party officials for fighting in public, saying this would weaken ZANU-PF and embolden the opposition ahead of elections next year. And the public insults, its a shame. A shame even to our legend because our party was not built on that basis. A party which has learnt that if we are divided then we become the food of vultures outside, Mugabe said. | 0 |
This woman’s “floating head” halloween make-up is genius
@Ailishoctigan over on Twitter writes, “My halloween floating head realness:”
@Ailishoctigan says, “I started with a red oval about halfway up my neck then filled above that to my jawline with black…”
And amazingly she did it all with this simple paint:
Brilliant. | 1 |
By Jason Easley on Fri, Oct 28th, 2016 at 2:16 pm Trump being Trump, he stepped on stage and immediately wrecked any chance Republicans had of taking advantage of the email story. Share on Twitter Print This Post
Trump being Trump, he stepped on stage and immediately wrecked any chance Republicans had of taking advantage of the email story.
Trump went into full hyperbolic overdrive in New Hampshire by claiming that the FBI’s reopening of the investigation was “bigger than Watergate.”
The Republican nominee took back his claim that the system is rigged.
Video: Following FBI announcement into Clinton's emails, Trump remarks, "The system might not be as rigged as I thought." https://t.co/7kI3UXbveF
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 28, 2016
Trump said, “But, with what I’ve just announced, previously, it might not be as rigged as I thought. Right? The FBI. I think they’re going to right the ship, folks. I think they’re going to right the ship, and they’re going to save their great reputation by doing so.” The speculation is that the FBI is likely to review the new emails and stick by their original finding that Hillary Clinton did nothing wrong.
Trump and the Republicans are jumping to some conclusions. They know that Clinton is guilty without any evidence to support their beliefs. They are assuming that the FBI is going to find evidence that Hillary Clinton did something wrong, and they think that the emails are their ticket to getting Trump elected.
Trump has no political skills, and no idea when to use a gentle touch and stop. The Republican nominee destroyed any hope that the GOP had of using the reopened email investigation to their advantage by letting his habits of lying and changing positions on a whim take hold.
The email scandal isn’t going to help Republicans. It hasn’t before, and it won’t now, but Trump’s over the top incompetence has killed any boost that Republicans might have gotten from the story. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Mike Pence had any doubts about what life would be like on the 2016 Republican presidential ticket with Donald Trump, the past week will have erased them: He is the damage control guy. The Indiana governor who swore off political mudslinging years ago heard Trump call Democratic rival Hillary Clinton “the devil” and watched him fan the flames of a feud with the parents of a Muslim soldier who died saving U.S. troops in Iraq. Unlike many vice presidential running mates, the mild-mannered Pence was not tapped as the attack dog in the Nov. 8 presidential election. Trump has that part down pat. Pence’s job is harder: softening Trump’s rough edges and limiting the fallout from what many Republicans see as the nominee’s self-inflicted wounds. A week ago, for example, Pence rowed back on Trump’s blacklist of some media outlets, saying the campaign is discussing changing course. Last Sunday, as Trump’s dispute with the parents of slain U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan boiled over, Pence issued a statement praising the soldier as an “American hero” and saying that his family “should be cherished by every American.” On Wednesday, Pence offered his own endorsement to House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the top U.S. elected Republican, after Trump infuriated many party leaders by declining to endorse Ryan in his re-election bid. Pence, who swore off negative campaigning after losing a vituperative congressional race in 1990, eschews name calling. Trump, by contrast, delights in using monikers such as “Crooked Hillary” and “the devil” to describe Clinton. Trump has made clear he values Pence, telling a rally on Thursday in Portland, Maine, that he and his running mate have a “great relationship.” But Pence must walk a fine line. Even as he defuses Trump’s verbal bombs, Pence must be careful to show he knows who is boss. He also has to stick to his own principles while not appearing to be trying to undermine the man who chose him as his No. 2. Should Trump win, Pence, a former congressman, could serve as a conduit to the U.S. Congress. But if Trump loses, Pence could emerge as a possible White House contender for 2020. Republican strategist Charlie Black said Pence has shown some political deftness. “He should have expected he would do some of this and provide more of the even-tempered, articulate, measured responses,” Black said. But Republican strategist Ryan Williams said Pence is in an “impossible spot” and said that Trump’s missteps could cast a shadow over his running mate’s political future. “Mike Pence is a good Republican but unfortunately he will be associated with the controversies that have ensnared the Trump-Pence ticket and will be tied to whatever the consequences of this election are,” Williams said. Trump’s off-the-cuff insults and controversial proposals, such as a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and a plan to build a wall along the Mexican border to keep illegal immigrants out, have made many in the party establishment uneasy. The Republican nominee’s feud with the Khan family made for an awkward moment for Pence at a campaign event in Carson City, Nevada. A military mother asked Pence how could he tolerate Trump’s disrespect for the armed forces, which prompted boos. Pence admonished the crowd to tone it down. “Folks, that’s what freedom looks like and that’s what freedom sounds like,” he said before calling Humayun Khan an American hero. Pence was asked on Thursday by an 11-year-old boy at a North Carolina rally if his role was “softening up” Trump’s policies and words. Pence replied that he and Trump were “shoulder to shoulder” in the campaign. Christopher Devine, co-author of the book “The VP Advantage” and an assistant political science professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio, said that if Trump loses the November election, Pence may try to position himself as a conservative bridge between Trump supporters and traditional Republicans. That may be an added reason for Pence’s cautious approach. “He has to be very careful about how he handles the defense of Donald Trump,” Devine said. | 1 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - Politicians from four German parties seeking to form a first-of-its-kind coalition government agreed on Tuesday not to increase the country s debt load in order to fund sought-after tax cuts, subsidies and investments. Chancellor Angela Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU), their Christian Social Union (CSU) allies, the liberal Free Democrats and the Greens held a second round of talks after an election last month that saw the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) enter parliament for the first time. The four parties are under pressure to find common ground on contentious issues such as the future of the euro zone and immigration policy, as well as fiscal policy. A paper seen by Reuters that outlines their initial agreement on state spending showed the potential coalition partners want to cut taxes for families with children as well as lower- and middle-income people. They also want to abolish the solidarity tax , introduced after reunification to support poorer states in eastern Germany, which is due to expire in 2019. The Greens, who before the talks said they opposed sticking to a balanced budget at any cost, appear to have conceded in exchange for a common pledge for subsidies to home owners who make their domiciles more energy efficient. Merkel s CDU and their Bavarian CSU allies lost support in the election to the anti-immigrant AfD, as the party stole many conservative voters angry at her 2015 decision to welcome more than one million migrants into Germany. Weakened after the Sept. 24 vote, Merkel is now seeking to form a four-way coalition untested at the national level that will secure her a fourth term as chancellor. We are very satisfied with the (talks) this evening, CDU General Secretary Peter Tauber told reporters after the talks. It was a very good evening. His positive assessment of the second round of exploratory talks was shared by counterparts from the CSU, FDP and Greens. A report by Merkel s CDU last week found that Germany s next government would have less fiscal room than expected. It also determined that the next government would have only 30 billion euros ($35.29 billion) free for new projects over the next four years if there is no new debt taken on - as has been the case since 2014. The four parties demands amount to over 100 billion euros in additional spending. The initial fiscal blueprint agreed on Tuesday did not say how the parties will fund their projects. It said they would explore fiscal flexibility measures at later rounds of talks. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee has launched an examination of the Food and Drug Administration’s criminal office, raising questions about the unit’s management and handling of cases involving food, drugs and devices. The House Energy and Commerce Committee told FDA Commissioner Robert Califf it is “examining management concerns” and “possible morale concerns with the field offices” of the Office of Criminal Investigations. The September 20 letter, signed by committee chairman Fred Upton and Tim Murphy, chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, seeks answers to a detailed list of questions by October 12. Among other issues, the House committee questions why George Karavetsos, director of the Rockville, Maryland-based FDA criminal office, is allowed to run the unit from an office in South Florida, near his home. An FDA spokeswoman said the agency received the letter and will respond to the committee directly. The House questions come two weeks after Reuters reported how some FDA agents complain criminal office managers have forced them to pursue cases involving mislabeled foreign-imported injectable drugs, at the expense of cases with more potential to protect the public health. Current and former agents complain they have turned into the “Botox Police,” spending thousands of hours chasing doctors who purchased authentic versions of Allergan’s anti-wrinkle drug that were labeled for use in other countries. Some agents say their efforts have done little more than protect the pharmaceutical industry’s high drug prices in the United States. Those concerns come as the criminal office has had mixed success in bringing cases. From fiscal year 2008-2015, Reuters found, more than half of all opened OCI cases were closed without action. The House committee asked Califf to explain the process for how criminal cases get opened, and to provide statistics on OCI’s arrests, convictions, case initiations and amount of money recovered. Reuters also reported on Karavetsos’ relocation to Florida, a move that came less than two years after the FDA paid more than $25,000 to move him to Maryland. Karavetsos, in a prior interview, defended the office’s efforts, saying statistics are not a fair measure of OCI’s success because public health and safety will “always trump the criminal investigation.” FDA Regulatory Affairs Associate Commissioner Melinda Plaisier defended Karavetsos’ move to Miami, saying it was good for the FDA and his family. The House committee letter also questions how the FDA responded to two prior reports, from the Government Accountability Office and the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, that were critical of the criminal office. The 2012 OIG report cited problems with how the Rockville-based office is run and concluded that field offices “lack the discretion” to open cases to address “food and drug concerns prevalent in their locales.” The report cited a lack of independence within the FDA’s criminal office. OCI is housed within the Office of Regulatory Affairs, which is responsible for compliance inspections and helps determine the criminal office’s budget. The inspector general recommended structural changes to “ensure the independence of investigations.” FDA leadership at that time rejected those suggestions. The criminal office headquarters controls the opening of investigations. Some agents have questioned the office’s priorities and say they have, on occasion, been told not to open cases involving other federal agencies. A September 2015 email from Robert West, the recently retired Special Agent in Charge of the Miami field office, is one example. West, in the email, contended agencies including the FBI, the HHS OIG and Homeland Security investigators “were riding our coattails and were not bringing anything to the table.” Involving those agencies in an investigation from day one, he wrote, “is unacceptable.” West previously declined interview requests. Reuters could not immediately reach him Tuesday through an FDA spokeswoman. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two senior Republican lawmakers said on Sunday they would vote to approve President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, despite their concerns over the former ExxonMobil chief’s relationship with Russia’s president. “After careful consideration, and much discussion with Mr. Tillerson, we have decided to support his nomination to be secretary of state,” Senators John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in a statement. “Though we still have concerns about his past dealings with the Russian government and (Russian) President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests,” said the two senators, veteran foreign policy experts. The Republican-controlled Senate has so far confirmed two of Trump’s nominees for cabinet posts but Tillerson, former chief executive officer at Exxon Mobil Corp, has faced criticism from several prominent Republicans because of his close relationships with Russian officials, including Putin. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was confident that all of Trump’s cabinet nominees will be confirmed. Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” McConnell also said the Senate would confirm a Supreme Court justice nominee eventually picked by Trump. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to vote on Tillerson’s nomination on Monday, with a full Senate vote coming shortly after. | 0 |
Killing Obama administration rules, dismantling Obamacare and pushing through tax reform are on the early to-do list. | 0 |
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Republican presidential candidate George Pataki endorsed Marco Rubio for the party’s presidential nomination on Tuesday, saying he believed the U.S. senator had a broad-based campaign and the ability to unite Americans. Pataki, a former New York governor who suspended his own presidential bid in late December, said in an interview on Fox News that Rubio’s experience in Congress will help him lead the military and stand up to threats from abroad. “I have no doubt that Marco Rubio is ready today to lead this country, to serve and lead as our president, and to bring us together,” he said. Pataki, 70, said he plans to campaign for the 44-year-old senator from Florida. “He’s someone who understands not just New England or the Northeast; he understands this country,” Pataki said. “I think he has the staying power and the vision to win not just the nomination, but most importantly, you have got to win the election,” he said. “And I think he will.” | 0 |
■ Donald J. Trump appears to side with the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over United States intelligence agencies, with Vice Mike Pence backing him up. ■ She’s hired: Omarosa Manigault gets a White House post, as do some notable Trump loyalists. But Mr. Trump is leaning on Republican veterans in the Oval Office’s top slots. ■ The finds something “very strange” about his intelligence briefing on Friday — even though the White House says it was always planned for Friday. For the Republican Party, Mr. Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, was once purely a villain. He found little sympathy with conservatives after he leaked American military secrets from Iraq, published purloined diplomatic cables that could have gotten American sources killed and sought refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, fleeing charges of rape. But now, Mr. Trump appears to be siding with Mr. Assange over the conclusions of America’s intelligence services. Mr. Assange appeared on Fox News on Tuesday night with Sean Hannity, one of Mr. Trump’s biggest news media boosters, to declare once again that the Russians were not the source of the purloined emails that WikiLeaks released from the Democratic National Committee and the personal account of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta. Mr. Trump followed that appearance with a series of Twitter posts on Wednesday that appeared to be preparing his followers for battle once more information on intelligence findings was released, most likely by Thursday. There were actually two separate hackings that the Obama administration has said came from Russian intelligence — with “100 percent” certainty. As he has previously, Mr. Assange said: “Our source is not the Russian government. It is not state parties. ” But Mr. Assange has often said that the organization does not always know the identity of its sources. It is highly unlikely that anyone approaching WikiLeaks with the emails obtained by Russian government hacking would acknowledge the source, so it is likely that Mr. Assange cannot be sure of the origin of the emails. Mr. Assange and Mr. Hannity did not address that, in addition to WikiLeaks, the leaked Democratic material was published by two mysterious websites, DCLeaks. com and a blog written by someone called Guccifer 2. 0. American intelligence agencies say they believe both were created by Russian agents. In addition to American intelligence agencies, most private researchers also say they believe that the D. N. C. and Podesta hackings were carried out on orders of Russian government officials, though a few skeptics say they believe the case is unproven by the evidence made public. Mr. Assange’s statement is unlikely to change that conclusion. Intelligence officials will brief Congress on their Russia inquiry on Thursday, ahead of a briefing for Mr. Trump in New York on Friday. Senator John McCain of Arizona, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will hold the first hearing on the matter on Thursday as well. As for that “terrible” information mentioned by Mr. Trump, the CNN commentator Donna Brazile did send Mr. Podesta an email ahead of a Democratic presidential debate in Flint, Mich. tipping him off that a woman in the audience would ask why the government was not doing more to help clean the city’s water supply. That was, in fact, reported widely and often, here and here and here and here, among other places. And that was hardly an unexpected query — for Mrs. Clinton or for her rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. It did cause Ms. Brazile to lose her CNN post. The appears to be getting a jump on the news. Vice Mike Pence defended Mr. Trump’s Assange posts at a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday, effectively doubling down on the incoming administration’s icy blasts toward United States intelligence. Mr. Trump “expressed his very sincere and healthy American skepticism about intelligence conclusions,” Mr. Pence said, with House Republican leaders by his side. Mr. Trump’s remarks have again placed fellow Republicans in an uncomfortable position. Asked on Wednesday morning about the Twitter post, Speaker Paul D. Ryan steered clear of criticizing the saying he would not be commenting on “every little tweet or Facebook post. ” But he called Mr. Assange “a sycophant for Russia,” who “leaks, steals data and compromises national security. ” Mr. Ryan noted that Mr. Trump had not yet received his latest briefing on Russia. “Hopefully, he’ll get up to speed on what’s been happening and what Russia has or has not done,” he said. Ms. Manigault, the villain and diva from Mr. Trump’s reality television show “The Apprentice,” was officially named assistant to the president and director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison, one of a slate of Wednesday appointments that went to ardent Trump loyalists. The appointments include Bill Stepien, a confidant of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and a figure in the “Bridgegate” scandal, who will be White House political director. Keith Schiller, who was head of private security at Mr. Trump’s real estate company, will be director of Oval Office operations. John DeStefano, a longtime aide to former House Speaker John A. Boehner, will direct presidential personnel. And George Gigicos, who organized those giant campaign rallies, will be director of advance, a further indicator that Mr. Trump plans to continue that sort of thing as president. But for star power, no one is going to beat Ms. Manigault. Ms. Manigault aside, Mr. Trump is turning to some seasoned veterans to run key operations in his White House. Mr. Trump announced on Wednesday that he had selected Joe Hagin, who served for 14 years in the White House under Roanld Reagan, George Bush and George W. Bush, as his deputy chief of staff for operations, a key post in which he will be responsible for organizing presidential trips and security, among other things. He named Rick Dearborn, who has 25 years of experience on Capitol Hill, as his chief liaison to Congress, heading the Office of Legislative Affairs as well as the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Cabinet Affairs. Katie Walsh, who was chief of staff at the Republican National Committee under Reince Priebus, Mr. Trump’s incoming chief of staff, will become his deputy at the White House, overseeing senior staff, scheduling and the Office of Public Liaison. In a statement, Mr. Priebus called the three a “team of doers” who would fill critical roles. Kellyanne Conway, who served as counselor to Mr. Trump, said she was thrilled to have “another strong female leader” on the team in Ms. Walsh. First, Mr. Trump said that the nation should move beyond talk of Russian interference in the presidential election, but that he would listen to what American intelligence experts had to say. Then, on New Year’s Eve, the promised that by Tuesday or Wednesday, he would reveal information on the hacking that Americans do not know. And now, he seems to think the intelligence community has not quite gotten its story straight. The Obama administration quickly let it be known that, in fact, intelligence leaders always intended to brief Mr. Trump on Friday in New York. And intelligence officials were not amused. Nor were some Republican political consultants. But this is not the first time the has taken a swipe at the intelligence community, which has concluded that Russia tried to help get him elected president. President Obama is on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to plot a strategy to save his signature domestic achievement, the Affordable Care Act. Vice Mike Pence countered with his own visit to congressional Republicans. “The first order of business is to repeal and replace Obamacare,” Mr. Pence said. “It needs to be done. ” And Mr. Trump weighed in on Twitter, trying to stiffen Republican spines as Democrats press their point that a fast gutting of the law will endanger the health care of 20 million people covered under the law and put at risk tens of millions more with health problems. “Schumer clowns” may not be an olive branch to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the new minority leader, but it is a signal that the incoming president is ready for war over health care. “Republicans should stop clowning around with Americans’ Medicare, Medicaid and health care,” Mr. Schumer responded after meeting with the president. He warned that Republicans would “throw the entire health care system into chaos. ” Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House minority leader, tried to coin a phrase: “Make America sick again? Is that what Republicans want?” The Trump transition office named the lawyer Jay Clayton to be the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The last time Mr. Trump held a real news conference was on July 27, when he said President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had called him a genius and wrongly insisted that “many people” saw bombs strewn all over the floor of the San Bernardino, Calif. attackers’ home and failed to report it. That long stretch without a real news media grilling did not do him much harm. He did, after all, win the election. But he says he will hold a true, open news conference next Wednesday. No word yet whether this session will take the place of the one he scheduled for last month, then canceled, to specifically reveal his plans for the future of his corporation. | 0 |
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland s Prime Minister Beata Szydlo will announce a cabinet reshuffle in coming days, she said on Tuesday, declining to respond to talk that her own job might be at risk. Media and market speculation about a reshuffle has been rife, with the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party thought to be planning to get rid of some ministers weighing on the party s broadly positive popularity ratings as it prepares for regional elections in 2018. On Monday, weekly Sieci Prawdy suggested Szydlo, 54, might herself be replaced by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who heads the right-wing PiS to which they both belong. Tabloid Fakt said on Tuesday that Szydlo was likely to keep her job, but that others including Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski and Environment Minister Jan Szyszko both relatively unpopular among the electorate might be replaced. Kaczynski, 68, a divisive figure who is one of the least trusted politicians in Poland, exerts huge influence behind the scenes and media have said he might be targeting Szydlo s job ahead of national elections due in 2019. I do not want the speculation regarding changes in the government to continue. My decisions will be announced soon, Szydlo told private broadcaster TVN 24. This decision has been taken - there will be changes in the government. I have discussed this decision with Jaroslaw Kaczynski, which is a natural thing. Asked about her own possible departure, Szydlo said she did not want to speculate, adding she was not tired or burned out. Opinion polls show Szydlo is the second most trusted politician in Poland, just behind President Andrzej Duda. If the reshuffle is limited to a few ministers, then it will done out of the natural desire to get rid of the weakest links (in the cabinet), said Jaroslaw Flis, a sociologist at the Krakow-based Jagiellonian University. The PiS government has divided opinion, putting Poland on a collision course with the EU with policies including increasing control over the judiciary and state media that critics say undermine the rule of law. But the party continues to enjoy strong backing from voters. In a survey released (when) by state pollster CBOS, 44 percent of respondents described themselves as supporters of the government, the largest share in six years. | 0 |
Here’s a look at the most memorable moments from the 2017 Golden Globes, including Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech, Jimmy Fallon’s lackluster hosting, funny presenters and awkward flubs. Meryl Streep campaigned on behalf of Hillary Clinton, so expectations were high that when she took the Golden Globes stage to accept the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award, she would comment on the recent election. But how political would she be? Pretty political, as it turned out. She used her speech to call out Donald J. Trump for seeming to mock a disabled New York Times reporter, and to warn that a free press would need to be defended. “This instinct to humiliate, when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life, because it kinda gives permission for other people to do the same thing,” she said. “Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. And when the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose. ” The room roundly applauded her remarks, but on social media some conservative commentators immediately criticized her and the target of her remarks had his own take. In an interview with The Times, Mr. Trump dismissed Ms. Streep as “a Hillary lover” and said that while he had not watched the ceremony, he was “not surprised” to come under attack from “liberal movie people. ” — Daniel Victor and Patrick Healy Read the full text of Meryl Streep’s remarks and read more about the ’s comments. Jimmy Fallon, generally an ebullient cruise director for awards shows, wasn’t a presence so much as a nuisance. The “La La Land” intro only really worked if you’d already seen “La La Land,” and the segment lacked the pep and fun of, for example, his “Glee” musical intro to the 2010 Emmys. There was barely a monologue, but a teleprompter snafu probably shouldn’t derail a comedian who hosts a TV show five nights a week. The rest of his material was tiny — and not funny — interstitials introducing the presenters with strained wordplay. Does this show need a host? Maybe not. — Margaret Lyons Read a review of the telecast. Even cynical watchers had to smile when the songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, ages 31 and 32, came bounding onto the stage to collect their Globe for the moody “La La Land” tune “City of Stars. ” The young men had clearly not yet received the show business memo that awards are to be accepted with practiced (false) modesty and coolness. “We need to calm down!” shouted Mr. Paul. “We’re so nervous!” They charmingly dedicated their best song award to “musical theater nerds everywhere. ” (Mr. Pasek and Mr. Paul also wrote the music for the celebrated “Dear Evan Hansen. ”) The same kind of emotion could also been seen whenever the cameras passed the “La La Land” table, where the two producers who shepherded the film the longest, Fred Berger and Jordan Horowitz, ages 35 and 36, could be seen melting down with joy as their film racked up one prize after another. Add in multiple trips to the stage by the film’s director, Damien Chazelle, 31, and it felt like an arrival moment for a new set of Young Turks. On to the Oscars? — Brooks Barnes Read about the making of “La La Land. ” There’s no movie called “Hidden Fences. ” There’s “Fences,” starring Viola Davis and Denzel Washington, and there’s “Hidden Figures,” starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe. First Jenna Bush Hager said it on NBC’s red carpet show when she was interviewing Pharrell Williams (who is a producer of “Hidden Figures”) and then Michael Keaton said it onstage. Look alive out there, folks. — Margaret Lyons Read about Pharrell Williams’s reaction. Donald Glover’s two acceptance speeches for his work on the FX show “Atlanta” were touching and personal (“I grew up in a house where magic wasn’t allowed”) and also hilarious (“I’d like to thank the Migos — not for being on the show, but for making ‘Bad and Boujee.’ That’s the best song ever”). “Atlanta” was one of the best, most distinctive shows of last season, and everything about the show’s win, and Mr. Glover’s velvet suit, and the cast’s portrait felt unique and just right. — Margaret Lyons Read the complete list of Golden Globe winners. It was a night of facial hair and sparkles, fairy princess frocks and character dressing, with the characters, and the (Hollywood) royals, dressed straight from the silver screen playbook. Of course, some costumes are less obvious than others. And when it comes to the red carpet, at least pretending to dress as yourself as opposed to, say, a cut flower or Disney caricature, has power. Ruth Negga, for example, in a sequined gown (who doesn’t love the idea of a gown?) by Louis Vuitton, took the idea of dressing for the award you want, a popular seasonal trope, and gave it a dose of futuristic cool. Evan Rachel Wood, channeling Marlene Dietrich and David Bowie (and Julie Andrews in “ ”) in an exactingly cut Altuzarra tux with white vest, offered absolute proof of her words that when it comes to awards season, there was no dress required. And Thandie Newton, in white Monse, flames picked out in paillettes licking up her hem, just hinted at the idea of an avenging angel come to earth. Also on the list, though in a more classical mode: Emma Stone, in (pink was a trend) Valentino, metaphor obvious but still undeniably enchanting Brie Larson, in strapless red Rodarte with a draped and beaded bodice, matching lips and Veronica Lake hair Natalie Portman, in ’ chartreuse Prada maternity gown, a little “Jackie,” but not too much and Viola Davis in sunshine yellow sequined Michael Kors, so bright she gave off her own light. For good or ill, Fashion with a capital F dresses can often look overdone or out of place on what has become a pretty visually safe space, and such was the case with Nicole Kidman’s Scottish shipwreck of a corseted Alexander McQueen. Ditto Sarah Jessica Parker’s white Vera Wang, with its echoes of both wedding dresses past and Princess Leia. And ditto Janelle Monáe’s Armani: short in front, trailing in back, sequined on top. Just when you had taken one detail in: whoa! There was another. The red carpet just doesn’t reward risk. At least the very boring — all those sequined columns, yawn — doesn’t linger long in the brain. — Vanessa Friedman Read a review of the night’s looks and see a red carpet slide show. In “Nocturnal Animals,” Tom Ford’s twisty drama, Aaron plays a sadistic thug who menaces a family on a deserted highway. Critics singled out the terrifying performance but on the awards circuit so far, the actor had garnered just one award (from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival) before his surprise Golden Globe for best supporting actor. Left were favorites like Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”). On the red carpet, Mr. said he watched movies about Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer to prepare, while his wife, the director Sam confessed, “It wasn’t my favorite part. ” — Stephanie Goodman Read a review of “Nocturnal Animals. ” Tracee Ellis Ross’s acceptance speech was an elegant combination of meaningful ideas and gleeful spontaneity. Winning the Globe for best actress in a comedy (“ ”) Ms. Ross said that her award was also for “all of the women, women of color and colorful people whose stories, ideas and thoughts are not always considered worthy and valid and important. ” She said that it’s “an honor” to be on a show that tells stories “outside of where the industry usually looks. ” She also seemed absolutely delighted to have won. Isn’t this what we want from an acceptance speech? A little humor, a bit of thoughtfulness, some seemingly true human emotion. — Margaret Lyons Read more about Tracee Ellis Ross’s speech. It’s time to retire “Sofia Vergara is not a native English speaker” as a comic premise. She came out and said “anal” twice and then “anus,” the big joke being that she can’t pronounce “annual. ” — Margaret Lyons Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig’s introduction for best animated feature was hilarious. And thank God — the otherwise abysmal banter segments were draining every iota of energy out of the ceremony. — Margaret Lyons The actors who really stole the show were, for the most part, under the age of 15: the kids from “Stranger Things” and Sunny Pawar, the Indian actor who played a lost child in “Lion. ” The “Stranger Things” boys — Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp — arrived together, charming the red carpet with their sharp outfits and snappy moves. Caleb later grabbed a selfie with Ryan Gosling during a commercial break. And onstage during the show, when Sunny was hoisted up to the mic by Dev Patel, who plays the older version of their character in the drama “Lion,” the entire ballroom erupted in awws and coos, the sound of hundreds of hearts melting. — Cara Buckley Read a review of “Lion” and a review of “Stranger Things. ” | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that Donald Trump Jr. was on solid legal ground when he refused to answer questions from a congressional committee about a conversation he had with his father, President Donald Trump, about emails relating to a meeting he attended with Trump associates and Russians. Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the White House believed there was a “legitimate reason and basis for not answering those questions.” She declined to provide details. | 0 |
Something we keep hearing about Hillary Clinton is that the former Secretary of State is pals with Donald Trump. Of course this line is perpetuated by the fact that Hillary did attend Trump s wedding in 2005. However, let s remember something, Hillary was pretty powerful in New York at the time as a Senator and was likely asked to attend in that capacity. But, myths being what they are, if it s repeated often enough that she s palling around with Trump, at some point it becomes a fact that they re besties.Hillary has a four word message for all those out there who insist she s BFF s with The Donald We were not friends. She exclusively told PEOPLE for the upcoming issue: We were not friends. We knew each other, obviously, in New York. I knew a lot of people. Also noting that she really doesn t give a sh*t what he says about her either: I don t really care that much about what he says about me because I do see that as, you know, politics not particularly the brand I approve of. Who would approve of Trump s brand of politics; it s smarmy, bigoted, abusive, and flat-out wrong in so many ways. And even though Trump said back in 2012: Hillary Clinton, I think, is a terrific woman. I have known her for years. I live in New York, she lives in New York, and I ve known her and her husband for years and I really like them both a lot. It lines up with what Hillary said about their relationship perfectly, and doesn t prove, whatsoever, that they re pals. What it shows is Trump doing what Trump does do what s in the best interest of Trump. Which is say and do anything that will go to his favor. For all we know he could like the Clintons a lot, or he may loathe them. Trump says what he wants to at any time, and that could change at any given moment.At this moment in time, you ve really got to take Hillary at her word on this, because not only does her explanation make perfect sense, it lines up with Trump as well. So what if they know each other, she knows A LOT of people. A LOT. So does he. It doesn t mean that their all best friends forever.Featured image: flickr | 0 |
HBO aired the final two episodes of the fifth season of “Girls” on Sunday, which found Hannah (Lena Dunham) bonding with her college classmate and frenemy Tally (Jenny Slate) Marnie (Allison Williams) trying to understand her romantic impulses toward Ray (Alex Karpovsky) Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) embracing her role as a marketer, and Jessa (Jemima Kirke) and Adam (Adam Driver) trying to make sense of their budding relationship. Amanda Hess, a staff writer, Margaret Lyons, the TV critic for Watching (the Times newsletter) and Jenna Wortham, a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, discuss the entire season, and where the show might be headed in its sixth and final season. This conversation contains spoilers. JENNA WORTHAM I haven’t cried this much watching television since rewatching the second season of “Grey’s Anatomy. ” Even Hannah Horvath, who at one point felt like a monstrous caricature of a millennial, has been cracking me up this season. And the look on her face when she realized Adam and Jessa were together … whew. Everyone is growing in a way that feels so painful, and honest and real. “Girls” has suffered a little as it’s become less of a unicorn. In the last few years, there are so many new and interesting television shows and story lines about women (and by them and for them) on television, so the show hasn’t been as special or as singular since its debut in 2012. But having a little breathing room has gone a long way. I started watching this season when a few friends mentioned how good it’s gotten and I agree: The writing is stronger than ever, and episodes, especially the ones directed by Jesse Peretz, have beautifully poignant arcs. I’m so glad this isn’t the final season, that we get a few more episodes before the . How did the show get so good? What do we think changed since last season? [ You don’t like the girls in “Girls”? That’s its genius. ] MARGARET LYONS: I liked last season! I liked this season, too, though I’m in the minority because I absolutely hated “The Panic in Central Park,” where Charlie and turns out to be a heroin addict. And I did not love “Homeward Bound,” last week’s episode where Hannah dumps Fran, jumps on Ray, and eventually hitchhikes back to New York. But I wanted “Hello Kitty,” the Kitty Genovese episode, to last for nine hours I was riveted, and the closing moments, when Hannah realizes that Jessa and Adam are together, just knocked me out. I would have called it the best acting moment of the “Girls” season, but Elijah’s slow crumple as he realizes his Dill is rejecting him might best it. JW: Margaret, that scene with Elijah walking toward the window in Dill’s apartment, with the glittery New York scape spilling out below, right as “iT” by Christine and the Queens swells behind him — it slayed me. It was absolutely devastating, a sign of how much the show is pushing its characters to confront their desires — and ask themselves if the shiniest things are necessarily the best things. It wrenched my heart right open — and showed off Lena Dunham’s creation at its best. This season also really brought home how good “Girls” is at capturing the spirit of New York, and its power to transform everyone that lives here. It is so good at filling that “Sex and The City” shaped hole in my heart. AMANDA HESS: I’m feeling it, you guys. As the series had marched on, something had become unbelievable about this foursome staying glued together as a friend unit. They aligned in college or just after, but many of these relationships tend to unstick by the time women reach 30. Unlike “Sex and the City” — where the regular brunch date served as a kind of otherworldly purgatory for staging boozy debates about feminism and sex — “Girls” is not timeless. These girls change. And so it was satisfying to see them head off on their own this season — Shoshanna in Japan, Hannah at her mom’s retreat, Marnie on her lark with Charlie, even Jessa kicking around with Adam on Coney Island. And to see them hang out with new girls, too! Watching Tally and Abigail, played by Jenny Slate and Aidy Bryant, step in as emergency contacts for Hannah and Shosh was a highlight of the show for me. Also, finally giving honorary girl Elijah the romantic subplot he deserves. JW: Was it just me or does Shoshanna in Japan feel a little like when Don Draper went to California? Similar Draper dream vibes when Marnie put on the red dress … . AH: Japan has been working double time this year as the destination for white indie girls who need a life change. In “Master of None,” Dev’s girlfriend Rachel torpedoes their relationship by announcing her exit to Tokyo. (She even dyes her hair, too! ). But there was something really appropriate about seeing Shosh in Harajuku, a place that in all of its aesthetics, so perfectly reflects Shoshanna’s intense, girlie drive. I agree with her Abigail: I’d watch the Shosh and Yoshi show any day of the week. JW: Yes, we seriously need a Yoshanna spin off. Side note — Dunham’s as a salty coffee barista have been so great. ML: “Girls” really benefited from the change of scene. (I’d loop Hannah’s time in Iowa in with that, too.) I’ve never been a big Shosh person, but seeing her bob around in Tokyo gave her new context: What would Shosh be like if being “the weird one” wasn’t what defined her? She’d be more confident, maybe, and more grounded. The big question of this season, posed to each character in a different way, was: How do you know you are growing up? For Shosh, that answer was professional success her little victory dance with Colin Quinn at Ray’s coffee bar was as happy as we’ve ever seen her. For Marnie, her answer was getting married. She turned out to be wrong of course marriage is almost always a bad answer, but that doesn’t mean people don’t think it’s the answer. I think her ultimate move might be getting divorced. For Jessa, it’s being in a real — and sober — relationship. (I wish we saw more of her schooling I bet she’s an interesting classmate.) For Elijah, it’s being vulnerable. For Hannah’s dad, Tad, it’s being out. Out out. For her mom, Loreen, maybe it’s being on her own after all. So what is it for Hannah? I think she declared it for herself in her story for the Moth. It’s being free, even just for a little bit. Free of her own bad behavior: Not flashing anyone, not sneaking off to have sex at the spa, not throwing herself at — or on — Ray, not scolding her parents. Just chill. For 10 minutes. Whether any of these characters actually wants to grow up is a different story … AH: But Hannah’s behavior was so bad this season, it kind of felt like she was going to end up in a jail cell, or else in the neurologist’s office: You have 10 episodes to live. The “Basic Instinct” flash, the lesbian gymnastics, the Ray … thing — it all went beyond the edge of delicious discomfort for me, to the point where I had to fight the urge to through her scenes. (Desi’s dopey yet magnetic narcissist was more my speed — Ebon is so good at dancing right on the edge of comedy and tragedy.) The Moth bit was a refresher that Hannah can actually be quite charming in those precious moments when she chooses to reflect. And the ending, where we freeze on her leaping to action, felt like such a psychic correction from the Season 2 finale, when Adam raced to sweep Hannah off her feet to the tune of Fun — my personal “Girls” moment. What do we think Hannah is running toward in Season 6? JW: Earlier this week, I made the joke that the Lena (with Hannah) and Kanye (his bars in The Life of Pablo) are the worst things about their current creations. I hated Hannah in the first two episodes, and I warmed up to her as the season progressed. “Girls” has always excelled at illustrating the diverse taxonomy of uncomfortable youthful sexual encounters and Hannah’s encounter with the lesbian yoga teacher at the retreat was so perfect for that — plus I loved her flash scene. It was hilarious! I could not stop laughing. The nude photo shoot was as excellent, just so classic Hannah Horvath. And even though I loved Jenny Slate’s cameo, the dance scene felt a little gratuitous (but maybe I’m just holding it up to the instant classic Robyn scene from Season 1). But I let out a little whoop when she and Tally went into hysterics at seeing Jessa and Adam (whose union feels so satisfying) in the apartment hallway on their way outside. Maybe Hannah’s biggest revelation will be that the world doesn’t revolve around her, that friendships fade and that we survive. Life does go on. And isn’t that enough? It could be. The more I think about it, the more I love how grotesque Hannah has become. Jessa’s passionate speech in the episode really cut to the quick for me — maybe there’s something redemptive in the hot mess that is Hannah Horvath, even if we can’t see it yet. Maybe there won’t be a payoff. Maybe there doesn’t need to be a grand revelation. If there is, it might be inauthentic to who Hannah has been this entire time. I think I want to root for terrible, narcissistic women to take up as much space as terrible, narcissistic men. ML: I would be so sad if Hannah suddenly became an ordinary or healthy person at the end of next season. And I can’t picture that happening — that’s just not what the show has ever been about. What I liked most about Hannah’s interaction with her former nemesis Tally was her gentle realization that she didn’t have to stay friends with her friends. Like Amanda, I too feel like our main four characters wouldn’t really be a crew anymore, and while Jessa, Marnie, and Shosh have seemingly decided the direction they want their adult lives to take, Hannah hasn’t — and doesn’t seem like she wants to. She still wants to be impulsive (steal a bike!) or unreliable (I’m not going on this road trip after all! ). If her current friends don’t want to do those things anymore, well, she can find new friends. And maybe she should find new friends at this point — given that she has shared sexual partners with all of them. The final scene of Hannah running — complete with freeze frame — was not a new Hannah. She was just her giving into her “do this thing right now” reflex. Hannah doesn’t want to plan, she doesn’t want to lock things down, and she doesn’t want social responsibilities (though she wants others to be responsive to her own needs). She’s flaky, and she has no whatsoever. She didn’t even research The Moth story slam enough to know you can’t use notes! But unlike lots of other “Girls” viewers, I don’t hate Hannah. I love the character, and I want Hannah to have a life she wants. But in the last two seasons, what became clearer was that her path toward happiness wasn’t going to come from the cessation of bad behavior it was going to come from accepting it and not trying to change anymore. You want to be a demanding, inappropriate narcissist forever? Embrace it. AH I somewhat hate all of these people. (Except for maybe Shosh, who is annoying but strikes me as a fundamentally good person). One of my favorite moments of this season was when the thrift store shopgirl in “The Panic In Central Park” episode, played by the wonderful Lane Moore, openly judges Marnie’s life choices, and Marnie is too to even notice. I salute you, shopgirl! You are me, watching “Girls. ” And part of the deranged joy of Marnie’s arc has been witnessing the garbage fire that is her personality ignite her nascent music career. My biggest laugh of the season came right on the heels of Marnie’s breakup with Desi, when they got news that their indie song had been selected for a death montage on “Grey’s Anatomy” and the pair mirthfully united in the name of their shared cause: Fame. Similarly, it was fun watching Hannah get and then squander her book deal, get a gig at GQ (as a native advertiser!) and then enroll and implode at Iowa. But this season she bottomed out by teaching at a private school and squabbling with her boyfriend. This is Hannah’s nightmare scenario: Doing normal person stuff. In the next and final season of “Girls,” I’m ready for her to get back in the game. If she’s going to be a narcissistic monster, I want her to try to eat New York. | 0 |
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AUDIO OF KARL ROVE ON HUGH HEWITT Picking Fresh Face at Convention Could End Up Really Helping the GOP | 0 |
He is the most successful and influential investor you have probably never heard of. His writings are so coveted and followed by Wall Street that a used copy of a book he wrote several decades ago about investing starts at $795 on Amazon, and a new copy sells for as much as $3, 500. Perhaps that’s why a private letter he wrote to his investors a little over two weeks ago about investing during the age of President Trump — and offering his thoughts on the current state of the hedge fund industry — has quietly become the most reading material on Wall Street. He is Seth A. Klarman, the value investor who runs Baupost Group, which manages some $30 billion. While Mr. Klarman has long kept a low public profile, he is considered a giant within investment circles. He is often compared to Warren Buffett, and The Economist magazine once described him as “The Oracle of Boston,” where Baupost is based. For good measure, he is one of the very few hedge managers Mr. Buffett has publicly praised. In his letter, Mr. Klarman sets forth a countervailing view to the euphoria that has buoyed the stock market since Mr. Trump took office, describing “perilously high valuations. ” “Exuberant investors have focused on the potential benefits of stimulative tax cuts, while mostly ignoring the risks from protectionism and the erection of new trade barriers,” he wrote. “President Trump may be able to temporarily hold off the sweep of automation and globalization by cajoling companies to keep jobs at home, but bolstering inefficient and uncompetitive enterprises is likely to only temporarily stave off market forces,” he continued. “While they might be popular, the reason the U. S. long ago abandoned protectionist trade policies is because they not only don’t work, they actually leave society worse off. ” In particular, Mr. Klarman appears to believe that investors have become hypnotized by all the talk of policies, without considering the full ramifications. He worries, for example, that Mr. Trump’s stimulus efforts “could prove quite inflationary, which would likely shock investors. ” And he appears deeply concerned about a swelling national debt that he suggests could undermine the economy’s growth over the long term. “The Trump tax cuts could drive government deficits considerably higher,” Mr. Klarman wrote. “The large 2001 Bush tax cuts, for example, fueled income inequality while triggering huge federal budget deficits. Rising interest rates alone would balloon the federal deficit, because interest payments on the massive outstanding government debt would skyrocket from today’s artificially low levels. ” Much of Mr. Klarman’s anxiety seems to emanate from Mr. Trump’s leadership style. He described it this way: “The erratic tendencies and overconfidence in his own wisdom and judgment that Donald Trump has demonstrated to date are inconsistent with strong leadership and sound . ” He also linked this point — which is a fair one — to what “Trump style” means for Mr. Klarman’s constituency and others. “The big picture for investors is this: Trump is high volatility, and investors generally abhor volatility and shun uncertainty,” he wrote. “Not only is Trump shockingly unpredictable, he’s apparently deliberately so he says it’s part of his plan. ” While Mr. Klarman clearly is hoping for the best, he warned, “If things go wrong, we could find ourselves at the beginning of a lengthy decline in dollar hegemony, a rapid rise in interest rates and inflation, and global angst. ” Mr. Klarman is a registered independent and has given money to politicians from both parties. He has donated to Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, John McCain and Rudolph W. Giuliani as well as Hillary Clinton, Cory Booker and Mark Warner. While he has remained largely outside the public eye, Mr. Klarman surprised some of his friends and peers over the summer when he issued a statement after Mr. Trump criticized a judge over his Mexican heritage, saying he planned to support Mrs. Clinton: “His words and actions over the last several days are so shockingly unacceptable in our diverse and democratic society that it is simply unthinkable that Donald Trump could become our president. ” In his recent letter, he explained for the first time his decision to say something publicly. “Despite my preference to stay out of the media,” he wrote, “I’ve taken the view that each of us can be bystanders, or we can be upstanders. I choose upstander. ” From the letter, it is hard to divine exactly how Mr. Klarman is investing his fund’s money. His office declined to comment on the letter, which I obtained from a source. His fund currently has more than 30 percent of its funds in cash. He has lost money in only three of the past 34 years. What investors say publicly and what they do in the markets can be different things. Mr. Buffett campaigned publicly against Mr. Trump, but he has nevertheless invested in the market since his election — about $12 billion, according to a recent disclosure. George Soros, who also actively campaigned against Mr. Trump, bet — wrongly so far — that the stock market would fall he lost about $1 billion. Most hedge funds have found themselves on the losing side of trades over the past several years, a point Mr. Klarman addressed in his letter. Noting that hedge fund returns have underperformed the indexes — he mentioned that hedge funds had returned only 23 percent from 2010 to 2015, compared with 108 percent for the Standard Poor’s index — he blamed the influx of money into the industry. “With any asset class, when substantial new money flows in, the returns go down,” Mr. Klarman wrote. “No surprise, then, that as money poured into hedge funds, overall returns have soured. ” He continued, “To many, hedge funds have come to seem like a failed product. ” The lousy performance among hedge funds and the potential for them to go out of business or consolidate, he suggests, may become an opportunity. Perhaps the most distinctive point he makes — at least that finance geeks will appreciate — is what he says is the irony that investors now “have gotten excited about index funds and exchange traded funds (E. T. F. s) that mimic various market or sector indices. ” He says he sees big trouble ahead in this area — or at least the potential for investors in individual stocks to profit. “One of the perverse effects of increased indexing and E. T. F. activity is that it will tend to ‘lock in’ today’s relative valuations between securities,” Mr. Klarman wrote. “When money flows into an index fund or E. T. F. the manager generally buys into the securities in an index in proportion to their current market capitalization (often to the capitalization of only their public float, which interestingly adds a layer of distortion, disfavoring companies with large insider, strategic, or state ownership),” he wrote. “Thus today’s companies are likely to also be tomorrow’s, regardless of merit, with less capital in the hands of active managers to potentially correct any mispricings. ” To Mr. Klarman, “stocks outside the indices may be cast adrift, no longer attached to the valuation grid but increasingly off of it. ” “This should give value investors a distinct advantage,” he wrote. “The inherent irony of the efficient market theory is that the more people believe in it and correspondingly shun active management, the more inefficient the market is likely to become. ” How Mr. Klarman wants investors to behave in the age of Trump remains an open question. But here’s a hint: At the top of his letter, he included three quotations. One was attributed to Thomas Jefferson: “In matters of style, swim with the current in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ” | 0 |
Hey, you! Any interest in running for the US House or, maybe better, the US Senate? A few seats are up for grabs in 2016. It's a very powerful, prestigious, decently well-paying job. Lots of important decisions. Great on a résumé.
What's that you say? Not interested. Not for you? Yeah, I get it. I wouldn't want to run for Congress either. I know, you're probably a reasonable person, a nuanced thinker with a bit of an independent streak. You don't want to get drawn into the maw of that tribal trench warfare down there on the DC swamp. It's a bitter, angry place. And no fun.
But hey, somebody has to do the job. And, flippant tone aside, it really matters who does do the job. If reasonable, level-headed people like you don't want to run for Congress, that means only hair-on-fire ideologues will put run the place, and ... oh wait. That does seem to be happening a bit these days.
Which takes us to that upcoming 2016 congressional election. Yet another golden opportunity to bring some fresh talent into Washington, maybe for some folks who are more excited about governing than about trying to make government disappear altogether?
If such optimism sounds like the triumph of hope over experience, it probably is. Which raises an important question: Why don't we get many moderates, especially moderate Republicans, running for office these days?
I've gathered here two good explanations from some recent political science literature:
Say you're a moderate Republican. You might look at the Republican Party in Congress and feel like it's not exactly your people in charge of the place. You'd see that the leaders in Congress tend to be on the extremist side, and you'd make a reasonable guess that you wouldn't get too far in Congress as a moderate. By contrast, if you're a True Conservative, you'd see an opportunity to fit right in.
This is the "Party Fit hypothesis," as developed by political scientist Danielle Thomsen in a paper titled "Ideological Moderates Won't Run: How Party Fit Matters for Partisan Polarization in Congress." (She also has a forthcoming book on this.) Thomsen looked at some surveys of state legislators and some data on who actually runs for Congress. Her conclusion based on the data is simple: "The more liberal the Republican state legislator, the less likely she is to run for Congress; the more conservative the Democratic state legislator, the less likely she is to do so."
In an email, Thomsen told me that there are indeed moderates in the state legislatures. She estimates that "about 20% of Republican state legislators are as liberal as former Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and nearly 30% of Democratic state legislators are as conservative as former representative John Tanner (D-TN)." It's just that they are much less likely to run for Congress.
Like most aspects of polarization, the "party fit" story is asymmetrical — the polarizing impact is much stronger for Republicans. Democrats have maintained more ideological diversity and get more moderates to run. This is not true for Republicans.
And like most aspects of polarization, it feeds on itself. As Thomsen also wrote in her email to me, " As moderates gradually lost their place in both parties, polarization has become self-reinforcing. The hyper-partisanship in Congress has discouraged moderates from running for and remaining in Congress, which has further exacerbated the ideological distance between the parties."
Again, say you're a moderate Republican. Chances are your local and state party leaders are not all that interested in encouraging you to run. Most likely, they are ideologues themselves, and they'd like to find people who share their beliefs, especially if they are Republicans. They want True Conservatives.
This is a conclusion I draw from a fascinating survey of 6,000 county-level political party leaders, conducted by political scientists David Broockman, Nicholas Carnes, Melody Crowder-Meyer, and Christopher Skovron. They asked what qualities party leaders wanted.
Sure, the party leaders said they looked for the usual things — honesty, experience intelligence, dedication, good looks, and, yes, ability to raise money.
But they also cared about ideology — particularly the Republicans. Broockman et al. write:
And party leaders do play a very important role in candidate recruitment, as Broockman documented in a separate paper: In pretty much every study trying to explain why candidates decided to run for office, recruitment was a major factor.
Again, we have a self-reinforcing loop here: The more ideologues run the party, the more they are going to recruit other like-minded candidates to run for office.
There is also probably a fundraising aspect to this. Most of the big donors tend to be pretty ideological (again, especially on the right). If they give a lot of money, it's almost always because they feel very strongly that one or the other of the two major parties needs to be in charge. Active passion and strong partisanship tend to go together.
For example, in explaining "leapfrog representation" (the phenomenon of extremist candidates jumping over the median voter in a district when a seat changes partisan control), political scientists Joseph Bafumi and Michael C. Herron point that active donors tend to be more extreme than non-donors. They argue that this may offer one explanation why candidates do not converge on the middle — if you can't raise money from (ideological) donors, it's harder to run for office.
Sure, you might argue, party leaders may be ideologues themselves, especially on the right. But most of all, they want to stay in power. And to stay in power, they need to win elections. And to win elections, they need to converge on the median voter who is, by definition, in the middle of the left-right ideological distribution. Ergo, the moderating pressures of electoral competition should overcome these forces of extremism.
Fair enough. In close races, party leaders may indeed face a trade-off between ideology and electability.
But one problem is there just aren't that many close races.
By the latest Cook Political Report 2016 projections, 378 out of 435 House seats are considered safe — that's 87 percent. Add in the 25 "likely" seats, and we're at 403 out of 435, or 93 percent, at low or no risk. So it doesn't matter whether parties pick moderates or ideologues — they're almost certainly going to win as long as they don't pick a convicted felon (or maybe even if they do).
In the Senate, 19 or 33 seats up in 2016 are solid for one party or another by the Cook assessment. If we add in the likely seats, we're at 25 or 33, or 75 percent low or no risk. In state legislatures, meanwhile, 43 percent of seats are not even contested.
In other words, the proposed moderation of the median voter theory doesn't have very many seats on which to work its supposed magic.
But then again, it's not even clear that competitive elections actually bring candidates to the middle. Research by political scientists Anthony Fowler and Andrew B. Hall suggests that partisans who win in close congressional elections vote just as extreme as partisans who win by landslides. Fowler and Hall conclude, "Elected officials do not adapt their roll-call voting to their districts' preferences over time, and ... voters do not systematically respond by replacing incumbents."
No wonder, then, that political scientists Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson have described the median voter theory as a failure in a recent paper criticizing the "Downsian" paradigm (Anthony Downs popularized the median voter theory). As Hacker and Pierson conclude, "Parties not only fail to converge, they diverge asymmetrically." One key reason for this, they argue, is that organized interests within the parties make strong demands, and "party leaders will be attentive to such demands because groups can provide resources they need, offering critical financial and organizational support."
Okay, so you're probably not going to run for Congress in 2016. Nor am I.
But somebody out there is going to put up with all the endless fundraising calls and the invasions of privacy and the negative ads attacking them and the endless recitation of the same platitudinous speeches over and over again. And, especially on the right, that somebody is probably going to be an ideologue. Because who else wants to run these days? And who else do party leaders want to recruit?
The obvious suggestion is that we need to get some different people running for national office — again, especially on the right.
More broadly, we might want to think a little more about the pipeline of who's getting involved in politics at all. And yeah, we probably also ought to do something about this problem of only a tiny share of the millennial generation viewing politics as a worthwhile career. But there's plenty of time ahead to work through these problems.
So watch this space for some ideas in the months ahead. I'm going to be thinking a bit about this problem.
This post is part of Polyarchy, an independent blog produced by the political reform program at New America, a Washington think tank devoted to developing new ideas and new voices. See more Polyarchy posts here. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives could vote to pass a tax reform bill that also repeals the Obamacare health insurance mandate if the Senate includes the provision in its final version of the plan, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Wednesday. In an interview on CNBC television, Ryan said House Republicans had not included such a repeal in its own bill and was waiting to see whether the Senate had the votes to approve a tax package that repeals the mandate, which requires Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. | 1 |
Madonna took to Instagram late Thursday to promote an upcoming anti-Donald Trump protest march by sharing a photo of a woman with shoe company Nike s Just Do It logo apparently shaved into her public hair. Yasssssssss! Just Do it! @nakid_magazine, Madonna wrote, adding, 1 Million Women s March!! Be There!! Washington D.C. Jan. 21. Yasssssssss! Just Do it! @nakid_magazine 1 Million Women's March!! Be There!! Washington D.C. Jan. 21. photo by Marius SperlichA post shared by Madonna (@madonna) on Jan 12, 2017 at 2:02pm PSTAs Breitbart News previously reported, thousands of women are expected to travel to the nation s capital for the Women s March on Washington to protest President-elect Donald Trump s inauguration.The organization said it wants the event to send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women s rights are human rights. Earlier this week, singers Katy Perry and Cher and actresses Scarlett Johansson, Zendaya, Debra Messing, and Julianne Moore were announced as being expected to participate in the January 21 event.The 58-year-old Rebel Heart singer spent months slamming Trump s campaign, while drumming up support for Hillary Clinton. In October, Madonna famously offered oral sex to anyone who voted for the former Democratic nominee.Last month, Madonna admitted that Trump s election left her devastated. For entire story: Breitbart | 1 |
Voters say the top issues facing the country are the economy and terrorism. They think Donald Trump will handle one of them better than Hillary Clinton, while the candidates tie on the other.
A new Fox News Poll on the 2016 election finds more voters trust Trump than Clinton on the economy (+5 points). He also bests Clinton on handling the federal deficit (+5 points). Those are the only issues where he comes out on top.
It’s a draw on “terrorism and national security,” as the candidates receive 47 percent apiece. In May, Trump led Clinton by 12 points on doing a better job on “terrorism” (52-40 percent).
Equal numbers of voters say the economy and terrorism are the most important issues facing the country today (22 percent each). Education is the only other one to receive double-digit mentions (11 percent). Here’s the rest of the list: race relations (9 percent), the federal deficit (5 percent), health care (5 percent), climate change (4 percent), immigration (3 percent), foreign policy (3 percent), and drug addiction (2 percent).
Clinton beats Trump by wide margins on education (+23 points), and on the lower priority concerns: climate change (+31 points), race relations (+28 points), drug addiction (+19 points), foreign policy (+16 points), and health care (+11 points). She also has the advantage on one of Trump’s signature issues -- immigration (+7 points).
Who would do better picking the next Supreme Court justice? That’s a hot topic this election. Voters trust Clinton over Trump by eight points. They also think she’s more likely to “preserve and protect the U.S. Constitution” (+7 points).
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL POLL RESULTS
By a 22-point margin, voters trust Clinton over Trump when it comes to using nuclear weapons (56-34 percent). That’s twice the advantage she held in May (49-38 percent).
Yet voters are more likely to trust Trump to destroy terrorist groups like ISIS (+9 points).
The candidates now tie on restoring trust in government (43-43). That’s a shift since May when Trump had an eight-point advantage (46-38 percent).
Despite Trump’s claim that he understands the concerns of everyday Americans, Clinton bests him on empathy. By a 51-40 percent margin, voters say she’ll do a better job looking out for their family during tough economic times. In June 2012, Barack Obama topped Mitt Romney on this measure by 47-36 percent.
How do voters feel about Trump’s praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin? Fifty-two percent of voters say it’s no big deal. For 44 percent, it’s bothersome.
Most Republicans say it’s no big deal (72 percent), while two-thirds of Democrats say it bothers them (66 percent).
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,022 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from July 31-August 2, 2016. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters. | 1 |
SONOYTA, Mexico — Reiner Ríos Gómez, who is from Honduras’s capital, Tegucigalpa, lifted his shirt last week to expose a scar about 12 inches long in the middle of his back, where he said a machete hit him as he fled the robbers who were trying to steal his pay: 2, 800 lempiras, or about $119, for half a month’s work in construction. To escape that life, he set out for the United States on Jan. 15, making it as far as Sonoyta, Mexico, a city on the Arizona border where roadside stalls sell the camouflage clothes and backpacks that migrants use to cross to the other side. Then he called a cousin in Houston. “Why are you coming?” he said his cousin asked him. “They’re going to send you back. ” So Mr. Ríos, 33, settled down at a shelter in Sonoyta, unsure of what to do next. “I have nothing to go back to,” he said. “And I don’t know if there’s anything for me on the other side. ” Customs and Border Protection reported this week that the number of people caught trying to enter the United States illegally from Mexico had fallen in February to the lowest level in five years. The Trump administration said the sharp decline was a sign that its promises to hire more enforcement agents, deport more people and wall off the border were discouraging people from even trying to cross. In interviews with migrants, their advocates, and workers at shelters and soup kitchens in Mexico, the United States and Central America, few quibbled with the idea that President Trump had altered the climate for immigration. Indeed, it was clear that the ground had shifted on both sides of the border, and that the route north to a better life had suddenly grown quieter, riskier and more desperate. Since January, occupancy at one shelter in Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Tex. has fallen by about according to its director, Aarón Méndez Ruiz. Other shelters in the United States and Mexico reported significant drops as well. Six Central Americans staying at Mr. Méndez’s shelter voluntarily surrendered to the Mexican authorities so they could be sent back home, he said, and about 40 more chose to return on their own. “That had never happened,” Mr. Méndez said. “People don’t return. ” In the Arizona desert, where blue flags flying 30 feet in the air mark where volunteers have left drums full of water, “there have been more water stations with no water use than usual,” said Stephen Saltonstall of the aid group Humane Borders. Last week, Ruben Garcia, the director of the Annunciation House, a shelter in El Paso, noticed that far fewer Central Americans were arriving than he was used to seeing. He asked those who did show up why that was. “One hundred percent verbalized some version of, ‘Your president,’” Mr. Garcia said. The drop in border crossings is encouraging news, the homeland security secretary, John F. Kelly, said in a statement, “because it means many fewer people are putting themselves and their families at risk of exploitation, assault and injury by human traffickers and the physical dangers of the treacherous journey north. ” At the same time, though, the dire economic and safety conditions that drive people from their homes have not changed. At Casa del Migrante — a shelter in Caborca, 80 miles from the Arizona border — Mainor José Portillo, a from Choloma, Honduras, was waiting last week for his arm to heal. He injured it last month while trying to enter the United States. Because he had no money to pay his smugglers, he had agreed to carry a backpack filled with 50 pounds of marijuana. But he was spotted by the Border Patrol as soon as he crossed, he said, so he dropped the backpack and was able to outrun the agents and make it back to the Mexican side. Now he was trying to decide whether to try again. One thing was certain: He did not want to go back to Honduras. “The gangs killed my cousin, and they said I was going to be next,” he said. Attempting an illegal crossing into the United States has become even more of a financial gamble than before. Officials and immigrant advocates in several countries said the criminal groups that control smuggling had been empowered as they began marketing themselves to migrants as the only way to evade the increased enforcement. Smuggling fees from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the and Northern Triangle of Central America, have climbed as high as $15, 000, advocates and officials reported, far above the average yearly income in the region. Some migrants who might once have headed to the United States for safety and work are instead looking elsewhere, including Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama and even South America. “If the United States isn’t a country that will provide the guarantees, they will go somewhere else,” said Vinicio Sandoval, executive director of the Independent Monitoring Group of El Salvador, a labor and legal rights organization involved in migration issues. But a number of migrants along the route were holding to the unrealistic hope that Mr. Trump would change his mind about them. Gustavo Adolfo Gómez, a cabdriver, said he had left Choluteca, Honduras, on Jan. 15 after gang members sprayed the taxi stand where he worked with bullets, killing two of his colleagues. He arrived on Feb. 27 at the Pueblos Sin Fronteras shelter in Sonoyta. He said he planned to wait there a bit. For what? He was not sure. “Maybe Trump will close his eyes one night and God will touch his heart,” he said. men and one woman slept at Casa del Migrante in Caborca one night last week, on rolled rugs and skinny mats under a frayed plastic roof that did not completely keep out the rain. Just a month earlier, the shelter was twice as full. Leonel Valderramas, 36, who stayed there last week, said he had departed in early January from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, the most dangerous city in one of the most dangerous countries in the world. He heard updates about Mr. Trump’s policies along the way, from fellow migrants who had boarded the same freight trains: “the wall, the raids, the deportation, everything,” he said. He hoped to make it to Houston, where he has friends. But then his wife called, telling him, “Si quieres, regresa” — come back if you want to. He had come too far to turn back, he said. “But,” he added, “what if I keep going and I get caught?” | 0 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - If Angela Merkel becomes German chancellor again, nearly half of voters would want her to quit her term early, according to a poll offering a rare sign that domestic support for Europe s most influential leader may be waning. Merkel s conservatives won a national election in September, setting her up for a fourth stint in office. But they bled support to the far right, and talks on a three-way coalition with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats collapsed in November. Merkel is now pinning her hopes on cutting a deal with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), who finished second in the election but have so far given a lukewarm response to the idea of renewing the grand coalition that governed Germany between 2013 and 2017. The YouGov survey, commissioned by Germany s DPA agency and published in Wednesday s Die Welt newspaper, showed 47 percent of respondents wanted Merkel to step aside before 2021, when her fourth term would end - up from 36 percent in a poll taken at the beginning of October. By contrast, 36 percent want her to serve a full four years, compared to 44 percent three months ago. The SPD, which lost ground among voters after the coalition with Merkel, has been reluctant to commit to a re-run as it looks to keep a skeptical rank and file on board. SPD Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, a former leader of the party, adopted a tough tone on Wednesday in top-selling daily Bild. If the chancellery continues to reject all the proposals for EU reform, there will be no coalition with the SPD, he told the paper. The SPD s current leader, Martin Schulz, has championed deeper euro zone reform, calling for a United States of Europe by 2025. Gabriel also said the conservatives needed to reform the health system to close the gap between private and state care. An INSA poll in Bild put Merkel s conservatives up 2 points at 33 percent and the SPD down 0.5 percent at 20.5 percent. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) which, capitalizing on voters fears about growing inequality and the impact on Germany of Europe s migrant crisis, entered parliament for the first time in September, was down 1 point at 13 percent. Many commentators have suggested the AfD would make gains if new elections were held due to a failure on Merkel s part to form a government. Merkel s conservatives and the SPD have said they will start exploratory coalition talks on Jan. 7. | 0 |
Donald Trump took to Twitter to defend his Muslim ban on Sunday morning and got his ass handed to him by pissed off Americans.On Friday, Trump signed an unconstitutional executive order banning people from seven countries from entering the United States just because they happen to be Muslims.Trump claims that the order is necessary to keep Americans safe, but none of the countries listed are responsible for terrorist attacks against American citizens. In fact, all of the mass shootings in cities like Orlando, Ft. Hood, and San Bernardino were carried out by natural born American citizens. Furthermore, Trump left Saudi Arabia off the list even though the 9/11 hijackers originated from and were funded by the Saudis.In short, Trump s order does not keep America safe and has only caused chaos around the world while violating the rights of Americans.But Trump dared to defend his ban anyway.Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world a horrible mess! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017Except that our country already has strong borders and immigrants already go through extreme vetting to get here. Refugees have to wait up to two years while they are strenuously investigated by several government agencies. Terrorism won t stop because of a wall or more vetting. But it will increase because Trump s ban will be used as propaganda by terrorist organizations to justify more attacks against America.And the reality is that Trump s order has made the world a bigger mess because people and businesses are scrambling to deal with the complications and families are experiencing fear that they ll never see their loved ones again due to the ban. Airports across the country are also a mess because people are being detained and blocked from entering the country, even those who have green cards and are permanent residents.The American people are already sick and tired of Trump and they absolutely put a boot up his ass on Twitter.@realDonaldTrump The people your order blocks from entering the US have lived here legally, sometimes for decades. Hank Green (@hankgreen) January 29, 2017@realDonaldTrump They are newborns, college professors, employees, the elderly, and war heroes. They also believe in the dream of America. Hank Green (@hankgreen) January 29, 2017@realDonaldTrump One detainee was given asylum in the US after 10 years of assisting the US military in Iraq, an often deadly job. Hank Green (@hankgreen) January 29, 2017@missymoo316 @JordanUhl @NicoleR_1982 the actually numbers of attacks has fallen over the years. pic.twitter.com/ch961XeKSy Trump s tweet Editor (@Spyhuntress) January 29, 2017@missymoo316 @JordanUhl @NicoleR_1982 pic.twitter.com/9MVmCYHDmN Trump s tweet Editor (@Spyhuntress) January 29, 2017.@realDonaldTrump I look at the world and I see people dying in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. But they are not dying because of weak borders Simon Hedlin (@simonhedlin) January 29, 2017.@realDonaldTrump You re right that the world is a horrible mess. We therefore have a moral duty to help those fleeing war and persecution. Simon Hedlin (@simonhedlin) January 29, 2017.@realDonaldTrump When Jews fled from Nazism, the U.S. sent refugees back to Europe to die in the Holocaust. Let us learn from the past. Simon Hedlin (@simonhedlin) January 29, 2017.@realDonaldTrump These are REAL PEOPLE. You re not protecting America, you re dehumanizing immigrants and refugees. pic.twitter.com/xaUb6zq8YA Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) January 29, 2017@realDonaldTrump Man, you re pathetic. The jig is up and you know it, you racist, megalomaniacal, non-intelligent buffoon. Jeremy Botter (@jeremybotter) January 29, 2017@realDonaldTrump @POTUS nope. we are very fine over here. check your facts. #germany #europe #MuslimBan #alternativefact #fakenews #Impeach philipp jessen (@jessenphil) January 29, 2017.@realDonaldTrump Donald, I know that sounds right and makes sense in your head, but what you ve done is an historic shame. Bess Kalb (@bessbell) January 29, 2017.@realDonaldTrump And if you re going to bring up Europe, look what happened when THEY had religious vetting. Not good, Donald. Bess Kalb (@bessbell) January 29, 2017@realDonaldTrump You want to know what real leadership looks like? Just watch @JustinTrudeau across the border. Take some notes please. Roberto Abramowitz (@RobAbramowitz) January 29, 2017@realDonaldTrump I voted for you; wish I could take it back. The Muslim Ban; you have one of our Physicians stuck in Iran w/your dumb Katie Sullivan (@Sullivankaty08) January 29, 2017@realDonaldTrump Probably should ve had someone extremely vet the actual executive order. Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) January 29, 2017@realDonaldTrump we already have the most extreme vetting in the world for all refugees. you re a fool and a coward. Alternative Dave (@redletterdave) January 29, 2017@realDonaldTrump how a real leader Tweets pic.twitter.com/kG5GWmzfKk Luke Barnett (@LukeBarnett) January 29, 2017@realDonaldTrump You are the horrible mess Jeramie Rain (@jeramiedreyfuss) January 29, 2017@realDonaldTrump Seriously, do you just see the world through ? tinted glasses? Tommy Campbell (@MrTommyCampbell) January 29, 2017Donald Trump and his entire team should be ousted from power immediately before they make things worse.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 0 |
He just can t help himself This is what happens when you elect a racist community organizer as your President. Barry knows exactly what he s doing right now. Every word and every action is calculated and carefully orchestrated with other racists in his regime. Americans need to share stories like these to stop the bleed before it gets even more out of control How does he do it? How does Barack Obama manage to insult and pi$$ off one group after another of working Americans?President Obama took time Tuesday during his press conference with the Japanese Prime Minister to discuss the situation in Baltimore after the rioting and looting on Monday.Obama accused the media of looping one burning building for sensationalism.Point number four, the violence that happened yesterday distracted from the fact that you had seen multiple days of peaceful protests that were focused on entirely legitimate concerns of these communities in Baltimore. Led by clergy and community leaders, and they were constructive and they were thoughtful, and frankly, didn t get that much attention.And one burning building will be looped on television over and over and over again, and the thousands of demonstrators who did it the right way, I think, have been lost in the discussion.It s not clear which burning building he was talking about There were 159 fires set on Monday night by peaceful protesters in Baltimore.The International Association of Fire Fighters asked President Obama on Friday, Which one? Via: Gateway Pundit | 0 |
Fox News invited blogger Crystal Wright onto Fox and Friends Monday morning to remind America just how dangerous the Democratic party is for Americans especially if you re African American.Wright, who is African American herself, went on the show to speak about her new book Con Job, which focuses on racial injustice and the so-called negative impact Democrats have had on the poorer, dumber, and more criminalized black community. She started off by talking about how bad welfare programs were to African Americans, but inevitably made a detour into other hot topics like gun violence and abortion. In speaking about the many assertions made in her book, host Steve Doocy asked the conservative blogger and author, You talk about over the last 40 years, trillions of dollars have been put to fight poverty, yet poverty is proliferating in many neighborhoods because? Wright said, blaming the party that actually cares about Black Lives Matter, police brutality and social justice: Well, because of Democrats and the con that they re running on black Americans. They have made black Americans poorer, dumber, and more criminalized. Doocy asked Why do you say that? That s their end game? Wright answered: It s not just me. Look, 93 percent of you know how the president goes around, wants to talk about regulating legal gun ownership? I ve never seen Barack Obama talk about the black lives being killed by other blacks in Chicago, DC, or Baltimore. Ninety-three percent of all black homicides are committed by other black people. And you know the number one cause of death among young black men ages 15 to 34? Guns. Illegal guns, cus they re killing each other. That s the con job. But yet, black people keep voting against their interests, and I would argue the Democrat Party is literally killing black Americans from the womb to the streets. Wright is actually (and not surprisingly) wrong President Barack Obama talks about murder in places like Chicago often. Just last week, the president said it happens on the streets of Chicago every day. Wright is also forgetting that 83% of all white homicide victims are murdered by white people but yet no one talks about white-on-white crime.But no matter what our president has done in terms of racial justice, Wright believes that Democrats don t actually care about black people or the Black Lives Matter movement they only care about getting black votes (she must be completely unaware of what her party does). Dissing Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton, Wright said: That is why [Hillary] is going out and saying, Hey, black lives matter, but oh guys guess what, I support Planned Parenthood, the billion dollar abortion industry. Wright uses Planned Parenthood as an example only because statistically African American women are more likely to seek out medically sound and affordable abortions from the clinics.To give an example of a Republican candidate that does care about black people, she cited the always offensive front runner Donald Trump, claiming that he was the most pro-black candidate due to the fact that he supports restricting immigration.You can watch the bizarre interview below:Despite what Wright says about Democrats, there s proof that her beloved Republican party has also failed to meet her expectations:Featured image is a screenshot | 0 |
While it may not come as much of a surprise that the leadership at the National Rifle Association (NRA) has a different opinion on gun control than the average American, what is surprising is that same leadership holds a different opinion than the American gun owner. According to a new poll, at least 67 percent of gun owners in the United States believe that the organization has changed its mission from one promoting gun safety to one dominated by professional lobbyists. They say the NRA has been overtaken by lobbyists and the interests of gun manufacturers and lost its original purpose and mission. The NRA of today looks very different from what it looked like before. In fact, for most of its history, it supported, and even wrote, gun control legislation. Adam Winkler, author of Gunfight: the Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America, wrote, Historically, the leadership of the NRA was more open-minded about gun control than someone familiar with the modern NRA might imagine. To understand the relationship the NRA has with gun control. It may help to look at who and why it was founded. After the Civil War, many people in the North believed that people in the South possessed superior skills in the area of using rifles. They blamed that for the length of the war. The national slogan for the NRA was, Firearms Safety Education, Marksmanship Training, Shooting for Recreation. Its main goal was to improve men s marksmanship, not ward off threats to the Second Amendment. The organization was founded in 1871.That effort didn t start until the 1970s. In 1934, the nation saw its first piece of gun control legislation signed into law. The National Firearms Act of 1934 was designed to make it difficult for any not law abiding citizen to obtain a pistol or revolver. It was authored, in part, by the NRA. They also helped write the Gun Control Act of 1938.When these bills were written and signed into law, Karl T. Frederick was president of the NRA. He said, I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses. For about a century, the NRA s motto remained the same. Then the 1960s happened. With the unrest of the assassinations and the rise of the Black Panthers, The Mulford Act was passed in California. It barred people from carrying loaded weapons around outside. While it was supported by the NRA, the backlash that it spurred also galvanized a new wave of gun support. About a decade after the act was signed into law, a group of gun rights supporters took over the NRA. They ousted the leadership and changed the motto to, The Right Of The People To Keep And Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed. Since then, the NRA has opposed many measures that have had widespread support from the American public. In poll after poll, people say they want people who buy guns to pass background checks, they want to limit the capacity of rifles and they support common sense gun control legislation. Even Supreme Court Justice Anontin Scalia supported limiting some of this. In his Heller v. DC decision, Scalia wrote, Nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms. New data show more support for gun control from gun owners. While the NRA leadership says one thing, the average gun owner thinks another. A few years ago, Wayne LaPierre, NRA chief, said, The only thing that can stop a bad man with a gun is a good man with a gun. This is the response from gun owners to that new poll.For its part, the NRA is disputing the accuracy of the poll. Jennifer Baker, spokesperson for the NRA said, The NRA s strength is derived from our five million members and the tens of millions of Second Amendment supporters who vote. The majority of Americans oppose gun control and they made their voices heard this past November. This was a poll paid for by a gun control group, so it s not surprising that the so called results further their agenda. Public Policy Polling conducted the poll between April 19 and 20. It included 661 people who own guns. The margin of error is four percentage points. Americans for Responsible Solutions commissioned the poll.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images | 0 |
Proving what we already knew, loyalty to radical Islam first, female family members dead last literally.AN ISLAMIC State (ISIS) jihadi has executed his own mother before a baying crowd after she urged him to flee the terror organization.The rights group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) said 20-year-old Ali Saqr killed his 45-year-old mother Leena Al-Qasem for abandoning Islam.The postal worker was executed outside the post office where she worked in the ISIS-held city of Raqqa as hundreds looked on.It is believed she was shot with the Syrian Network for Human Rights reporting that her actual crime was communicating with a third party .The brutal regime regularly carries out public executions with images of people being beheaded, shot and burnt posted online.RBSS posted a picture of a man it claimed was Ali Saqir and an initial Tweet saying his mother was 35-years-old was later changed to say she was 45.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed the killing saying they had been able to document it.The group said its activists were able to verify that the woman, from the city of al-Tabaqa, was sentenced to death under the pretext of inciting her son to leave the Islamic State with a view to fleeing from Raqqa.She reportedly told her son that the coalition would kill all members of the organisation and he had to leave with her.However, her son, a member of the murderous regime wich is also known as Daesh, reported his mother to ISIS leaders for apostasy and later carried out the savage killing.The news emerged after it was revealed that well-respected journalist, Ruqia Hassan, was also executed by ISIS for writing about life in the beleaguered city of Raqqa.The 30-year-old was accused of being a spy and was executed.Via: UK Express | 0 |
A caller to British radio host Katie Hopkins whose name is Jessica, called into Katie s show to relay a story to her about her formerly bleeding heart liberal husband who has come to have a hatred of a certain demographic after helping migrants who are arriving in migrant rescue boats. Jessica told Hopkins, My husband is turning into a man I don t recognize anymore because of what he has physically seen. Jessica added that it was the way male migrants behaved in particular, that led to his change of heart.She told Katie: It was a really, really traumatic time for him. He was doing three-week stints and they were picking bodies out of the sea. Babies, women, it was awful. But at the same time, he said they were processing men, adults, in their 30s who all had phones with Isis stuff on the phones, they were being separated. When they were being handed over to the authorities with the information explaining that these guys had all this on their phones, and what their ages were, and they were just being processed through. There was nothing, they were just being separated out, they just all went through with everything else, it broke his heart, because he was dealing with families who were in such a terrible state with young babies who so clearly needed rescuing. And yet you had adult males that were pushing women and children to the back of the queue they felt that they were more important. It s just an awful situation, and this was last year. He can t handle the way these women and children are treated by these men. There were hundreds and hundreds of women, children, men who were being picked out of the sea. Not all of them were refugees. He came home heartbroken. Absolutely heartbroken, because he s saying I don t know how Europe is going to cope .She continued: How are we supposed to process that as individuals? You know, he still has images that he has to deal with over a year later. We forget about the medics who deal with this, the soldiers that are dealing with this. The people that are processing these people. It s not just how are we going to process all these people, but how are we going to deal with the trauma of having to process these people? Having to make these decisions? Who do you treat first? A special thank you to Paul Joseph Watson for this video: Man who helped rescue refugees said many were men with ISIS content on phones who shoved women & children out of the way. pic.twitter.com/wH08TLf4xY Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) May 3, 2017Katie asked the caller how her husband is doing currently after seeing the vast number of migrants rescued this year already.Jessica said: My husband is turning into, it s why I stopped him doing it, he s turning into a man I don t recognise anymore. Because my family think I m a bleeding heart liberal, and you know, I would just wave everyone in and say come on, we ll help , and my husband was of a very similar opinion that people needed help. He s now turning into someone I don t recognise, because of what he has physically seen. He is starting to say this is not all people looking for help, there are people here who are out for their own self interest. She added: It s just awful. And now he is building a hatred of a certain demograph[ic], that he has been exposed to because he s seen the way they behave. LBCIs it too late for Europe? Have they allowed this unabated invasion of migrants from majority Muslim nations to their once culturally distinct nations for too long? What will these bleeding heart nations look like in 5 years? How long will Americans sit back and allow bleeding heart liberals to call them racists or xenophobes because they don t want to see the fundamental transformation of the United States that Barack Obama promised would happen if we elected him as our president. Can President Trump stop this nightmare without the help of a Republican majority in both the House and Senate? | 0 |
The GMA reporter shows several random people on the streets of Sevnica, Slovenia a picture of Donald and Melania Trump and asks, Do you know who this is? Here are their responses: I have no idea. Oh yeah. That s Donald Trump s wife that is from Slovenia. I don t particularly like Donald Trump, because she s also ashamed from being from Slovenia. Oh it looks like to be the new American President, so that would be his quasi-English speaking wife. I don t like this Trump Melania, she s there because she was searching for really better life. So that s why she found a husband. We are small nation, so everyone who succeeded in the world is a story of success. She s a bad ad for Slovenia. She talks like, I don t know, like she doesn t like us anymore. I don t know, she s more for Hollywood than for the White House. | 0 |
Who kicks homeless people out onto the streets so they can host a rally? If Sanders really cared so much about the little guy, he would have given them a hot meal and a front seat. But alas, they aren t likely registered voters, so kicking them to the curb is the next best thing .Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders describes himself as a Democratic socialist. I guess he thinks that sounds a lot nicer than communist or Marxist. After all, the source of his constant ridicule, attacks, and plans to target should, heaven forbid, he become president are private insurance companies and privately-owned banks.Though the Democrat party likes to sell itself as one of youth and compassionate, that theory is blown when you look at the stage of the Democrat debates and see an old white woman who is as corrupt as the day is long and an older white man who is a crotchety socialist/Marxist who has capitalized on progressives filling the minds of our youth with lies about capitalism being bad and socialism, which has failed everywhere it s been tried in the world, as the saving grace.Sanders constant railing against the rich and his efforts to pit Americans of different socioeconomic levels against one another makes Obama s last seven years of divisiveness look like amateur hour. But, for all his talk about his compassion for the poor and his attempt to create envy and jealousy so that he can capitalize on his promise to make the rich pay for their success for confiscating larger amounts of their money so he can play Santa Claus, like all socialists, communists, Marxists, Bernie s personal actions don t quite mesh with his words.Some people told me Alabama was a conservative state. I guess not. Watch live: https://t.co/5W9i3XN1US #BernieInAL pic.twitter.com/6EH4fTJ1lH Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 19, 2016On Monday night, Sanders held a rally in Birmingham, Alabama. Since it was the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, he decided to use that day to sell his snake oil of socialism where MLK rose to prominence. Of course, he bragged about it on Twitter as well as the crowd that showed up. Here s what the auditorium normally looks when a marxist isn t hosting a Presidential primary rally in Birmingham, ALWhat he failed to mention, not surprisingly, was that the auditorium where his rally was held served as a warming station for the city s homeless. On what was the coldest night of the year, with temperatures falling to 20 degrees overnight, but feeling more like 15 degrees with wind chill factor, over 300 homeless people were kicked out onto the street so that Sanders could peddle his socialistic lies.I guess they weren t good enough to be allowed to remain in the warmth of the auditorium for his rally. Via: Politistick | 0 |
Even 24 hours ago, there was the faintest hope he could be the nominee. Now, Bernie Sanders is shifting gears.
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders listens as audience members cheer during an election night campaign event at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena Tuesday in Huntington, W.Va.
Bernie Sanders knows he can’t win the Democratic presidential nomination. He said as much, even before losing decisively to Hillary Clinton in four out of five primaries Tuesday.
Yet Senator Sanders remains in the race. But he now fills a wholly different niche than he did even 24 hours ago. Gone is Sanders the candidate with a slim remaining hope that he could still be the Democratic nominee. Enter Sanders the message candidate.
And the message is this: that Sanders has tapped into a current of discontent within the Democratic base, particularly among young people, that’s not going away. And he intends to press his agenda all the way to the Democratic convention in Philadelphia this summer.
“The people in every state in this country should have the right to determine who they want as president and what the agenda of the Democratic Party should be,” Sanders said in a statement Tuesday night. “That’s why we are in this race until the last vote is cast.”
The intent, he added, is to “fight for a progressive party platform” that includes a $15 minimum wage, an “end to our disastrous trade policies,” Medicare for all, breaking up big banks, ending fracking, free public college, and a carbon tax to address climate change.
The upside for Sanders is that he keeps his issues on the public radar, and continues to nudge the more moderate Mrs. Clinton to the left. The risk is that he looks like a sore loser, as some have called him, and prevents the Democratic Party from fully focusing on the task at hand: defeating the Republicans in November.
Clinton – who won Tuesday in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Connecticut, and lost only in Rhode Island – pivoted anyway toward a message of Democratic unity and toward a general election fight in which she hopes to attract independents as well as Republicans uncomfortable with the direction of their party.
“If you are a Democrat, an independent or a thoughtful Republican, you know their approach is not going to build an America where we increase opportunity or decrease inequality,” Clinton said. “So instead of us letting them take us backwards we want America to be in the future business.”
In her pitch to Sanders supporters, Clinton sought to portray herself as a progressive with a pragmatic streak
“We have to be both dreamers and doers,” she said.
Clinton also reminded voters of the historic nature of her candidacy, now placing her firmly in position to become the first female major-party nominee in American history and potentially the first woman president. In the process, she took a dig at Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who swept all five states Tuesday.
“Now, the other day, Mr. Trump accused me of playing the, quote, woman card. Well, if fighting for women’s health care and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the woman card, then deal me in,” Clinton said.
For Sanders, a self-described social democrat who has fought for decades on the issues now at the heart of his campaign, the 2016 race remains, in a way, a dream come true. The once-obscure senator from Vermont is now a national figure, with a national platform to press his cause.
And for many reasons, he truly has no reason to drop out.
Exhibit A is his incredible fundraising. Most candidates will stay in a race as long as they have two nickels to rub together, and Sanders has plenty. He has outraised Clinton three straight months – average donation $27, as the rally chant goes – and his “take” is accelerating. In March alone, he raised $44 million, a monthly record for the Vermont social democrat.
Exhibit B is his huge rallies. Who can argue with the exhilaration Sanders must feel when he takes the stage to address thousands of screaming fans?
Exhibit C is his party affiliation – or lack thereof. Sanders isn’t really a Democrat. He may say he is (sort of) for the purposes of this presidential race, but when faced with pleas to step aside for the good of the party, he shrugs. In his world, the “party” is the establishment, and that’s what he’s fighting.
Exhibit D is the “what ifs.” There remains a chance that Clinton could be indicted over her use of a private e-mail server, and her handling of information now deemed classified, while she was secretary of State. The financial doings of the Clinton family foundation represent more unknown territory with potentially bad optics.
If Clinton were forced from the race, Sanders would be the last person standing for the Democratic nomination. True, Vice President Joe Biden could jump in, though that would offend many voters’ sense of fairness – especially the Sanders voters, whose support will be needed in November, no matter who wins the Democratic nomination.
Exhibit E is history. Many a pundit has pointed out that in 2008, after a spirited primary season, then-Senator Clinton dropped out of the presidential race and embraced her rival, Barack Obama. But that didn’t happen until June of that year, after all the primaries were over. Then-Senator Obama still won the election.
So for now, at least, it’s probably too soon to claim that Sanders is doing irreparable harm to Clinton’s campaign. Clinton has high negatives for a likely nominee, but the Republicans are pounding her much harder than Sanders is. Remember that Sanders took one of Clinton’s biggest Achilles’ Heels – her e-mails – off the table in their first debate.
Remember also the “PUMAs” of 2008. It’s an acronym whose meaning isn’t suitable for a family newspaper, but it stood for Clinton voters claiming they’d never vote for Obama simply for the sake of “party unity.” Most Clinton voters ended up backing Obama anyway.
Let’s also be clear: Even if Sanders doesn’t actually intend to take his challenge of Clinton all the way to the convention floor in Philadelphia, why should he and his strategists say that now? In politics, candidates are fully “in it” until they’re not.
Sanders, in a way, can already claim victory. He has already pushed Clinton to the left on trade; chances are, she would not have rejected the Obama-backed Trans-Pacific trade deal absent Sanders’s objections.
Sanders has also established $15 as the liberal benchmark for raising the minimum wage, no doubt a spur toward Clinton’s support for the Fight for $15 advocacy campaign. Clinton prefers to push for a $12 federal minimum wage, citing political feasibility, but has said she’d sign a bill raising the federal minimum wage to $15.
Sanders says he’s waiting to see what a Clinton platform looks like before he decides how much to campaign for her. In an MSNBC interview last week, Sanders called the process a “two-way street,” suggesting she has to move more toward his philosophy before he’ll help her.
“I want to see the Democratic Party have the courage to stand up to big-money interests in a way that they have not in the past, take on the drug companies, take on Wall Street, take on the fossil fuel industry, and I want to see them come up with ideas that really do excite working families and young people in this country,” Sanders said.
In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” last week, Clinton said that when she dropped out of the 2008 race, 40 percent of her supporters were unwilling to vote for Obama. So she got to work.
“I nominated him at the convention. I went from group to group, even as late as the convention, convincing people who were my delegates to come together, to unify,” she said.
It’s also worth pointing out that by facing a competitive primary to the bitter end, Obama was in fighting trim for the general election – and organized in all 50 states. Clinton may not be happy with Sanders’s continued campaign, but he has at least given her a window into how a sizable portion of her party’s voters see the world.
For now, Sanders holds a lot of power. He can join hands with Clinton at the convention or he can keep fighting. If he chooses the latter path, he could do serious damage to the Democratic Party. But the more likely scenario, say Democratic strategists, is that Sanders declares moral victory and backs Clinton – if not enthusiastically. | 1 |
NBC affiliate WRCB TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee has inadvertently posted election night results. The results page appears to be similar to what mainstream news networks display on election night, including Presidential and Congressional results, the popular vote count, electoral votes, and percentage of precincts reporting.
The page, a screen shot of which has been sourced from internet archive site The Wayback Machine , is posted below and shows totals for the upcoming Presidential race. It announces Hillary Clinton as the winner.
As Jim Stone notes, the page was pulled directly from the WorldNow.com content management platform utilized by major networks like NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox and appears to be a non-public staging area for news and election results.
The original page has since been reset.
( Click here for full size image )
Though the results information appears on an FTP server at WorldNow.com, media companies like NBC’s WRCB TV utilize the platform, also know as “Frankly,” to power their news content. This can be verified directly a the WRCB web site by scrolling to the very bottom of the page footer which notes that it is, “Powered By Frankly.”
In addition to national results, Jim Stone has identified another page at the WorldNow.com FTP server that appears to show the State-By-State Presidential election results. This page is also accessible in archive format at WayBack Machine with a line by line breakdown available at Stone’s website.
Of interest is that the State-By-State results indicate a Hillary Clinton win in states like Texas (42% to 40%), Florida (44% to 40%) and Pennsylvania (44% to 40%) which have all been identified as states Clinton must steal to win the election .
Do these latest election “results” confirm that the fix is in and the vote is rigged?
If so, then we are no longer looking at an election where our votes will count, but rather, a selection where the winner is determined by those who count the votes.
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Watch This Incredible Video And Decide For Yourself: Did Hillary Clinton Cheat At The Last Debate By Using An Embedded Tablet Device In Her Podium?
Are you ready for the disaster that will follow this election? | 1 |
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