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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump will hold a series of meetings on Sunday in New Jersey as he continues to put together a team for his incoming administration, Trump spokesmen said. They said Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence will meet with: talent agent Ari Emanuel; civil rights attorney Peter Kirsanow; Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach; Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson; Bridgewater Associates President David McCormick; and retired Marine Corps General John Kelly. Trump and Pence will also meet with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers; Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives T.W. Shannon; American investor Wilbur Ross; and Jonathan Gray, global head of real estate at Blackstone Group, they added during a call with reporters. | 0 |
LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. — American corporations are under new scrutiny from federal lawmakers after episodes in which the companies laid off American workers and gave the jobs to foreigners on temporary visas. But while corporate executives have been outspoken in defending their labor practices before Congress and the public, the American workers who lost jobs to global outsourcing companies have been largely silent. Until recently. Now some of the workers who were displaced are starting to speak out, despite severance agreements prohibiting them from criticizing their former employers. Marco Peña was among about 150 technology workers who were laid off in April by Abbott Laboratories, a global health care conglomerate with headquarters here. They handed in their badges and computer passwords, and turned over their work to a company based in India. But Mr. Peña, who had worked at Abbott for 12 years, said he had decided not to sign the agreement that was given to all departing employees, which included a nondisparagement clause. Mr. Peña said his choice cost him at least $10, 000 in severance pay. But on an April evening after he walked out of Abbott’s campus here for the last time, he spent a few hours in a local bar at a gathering organized by technology worker advocates, speaking his mind about a job he had loved and lost. “I just didn’t feel right about signing,” Mr. Peña said. “The clauses were pretty blanket. I felt like they were eroding my rights. ” Leading members of Congress from both major parties have questioned the nondisparagement agreements, which are commonly used by corporations but can prohibit ousted workers from raising complaints about what they see as a misuse of temporary visas. Lawmakers, including Richard Durbin of Illinois, the Senate Democrat, and Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, have proposed revisions to visa laws to include measures allowing former employees to contest their layoffs. “I have heard from workers who are fearful of retaliation,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut. “They are told they can say whatever they want, except they can’t say anything negative about being fired. ” Lawyers said the paragraph Mr. Peña and other workers object to in their separation agreements is routine in final contracts with employees who are paid severance as they leave, whether they were laid off or resigned voluntarily. “It’s a very, very common practice,” said Sheena R. Hamilton, an employment lawyer at Dowd Bennett in St. Louis who represents companies in workplace cases. “I’ve never recommended a settlement that didn’t have a clause like that. ” But former Abbott employees said the provisions had stopped them from speaking openly with elected officials or appearing at congressional hearings. “It is very frustrating that you can’t share your story with the public,” said one former Abbott manager, who had worked for the company for 13 years, rising to an important supervisory position. He had prepared a manual for his foreign replacements showing how to perform every detail of his work. With a disabled child who requires medical care, he said he had to take his severance and its nondisparagement clause, since it extended his medical benefits. So he asked to remain anonymous. “I’ve been laid off before, I can understand that,” he said. “But these visas were meant to fill in gaps for resources that are hard to find. This time the company actually asked me to transfer my knowledge to somebody else. That changes the equation. ” According to federal rules, temporary visas known as are for foreigners with “a body of specialized knowledge” not readily available in the labor market. The visas should be granted only when they will not undercut the wages or “adversely affect the working conditions” of Americans. But in the past five years, through loopholes in the rules, tens of thousands of American workers have been replaced by foreigners on and other temporary visas, according to Prof. Hal Salzman, a labor force expert at Rutgers University. In March, two Americans who had been laid off in 2014 by a New England power company, Eversource Energy, spoke at a news conference in Hartford even though they had signed nondisparagement agreements. Craig Diangelo, 63, and Judy Konopka, 56, said most of the 220 people facing dismissal had been required as part of their severance to train Indian immigrants with and other visas. In a protest, departing employees posted American flags outside their cubicles. As they left, they took the flags down. Mr. Diangelo took a photograph of the flags in his final days at the utility. At the time, he and Ms. Konopka spoke with reporters, including from The New York Times, but they did not want to be quoted, even without their names. In January, Senator Blumenthal spotted the photograph in an article in Computerworld, a tech industry publication, and was dismayed to learn of the layoffs so long after they happened. In a letter to the company, the senator questioned whether the dismissals were “accomplished through apparent abuses” of visas, and he demanded assurances that former employees would not be sued if they spoke with government officials. In a forceful reply, the Eversource general counsel, Gregory B. Butler, said the company had not violated any laws, and its nondisparagement provisions were a “standard form release” that did not restrict former employees from discussing their layoffs “with you or anyone else. ” Mr. Diangelo said he was not so sure the company would refrain from legal action if he spoke to the news media. But, he said, “I finally got to the point where I am tired of hiding in the shadows. ” Two years later, his work with a local tech contracting company pays $45, 000 a year less than his Eversource salary. Many of his former are also struggling, Mr. Diangelo said, but stay quiet to avoid provoking the company. At Abbott, executives announced in February that technology jobs would be taken over by the Indian company Wipro. Senator Durbin, who is from Illinois, criticized the layoffs and said Abbott’s nondisparagement clause was “overly broad. ” According to a copy of the agreement, that clause read, in part: “You agree to make every effort to maintain and protect the reputation of Abbott and its products and agents. ” A spokesman for Abbott, Scott Stoffel, said the changes were part of its efforts to “remain globally competitive and a strong U. S. employer. ” He said the company would retain “the vast majority” of its tech jobs in the United States. Nondisparagement clauses like Abbott’s are “very common” in severance agreements, he said. Mr. Peña said he could afford to turn down his severance payment because he is single and has no children. “I was the only one with the ability to put my foot down,” he said. He received consistently positive work reviews, and a merit raise weeks before his layoff, he said. With no indication that poor performance was a factor, he believed it was a measure to cut costs. “Anything that had to deal with technology and resolving problems, that was my satisfaction, my passion,” Mr. Peña said. “But these days that has no bearing on the decision making of the executives in the higher positions. ” Abbott tried to reduce the role of foreigners in the layoffs. Only about 20 percent of the workers brought in by Wipro would be foreigners on visas, Mr. Stoffel said, while the rest would be American workers. Mr. Peña said he had been told at first that he would train his Wipro replacements. But after Senator Durbin’s rebuke, Wipro workers were trained only by employees who would be remaining with Abbott, he said. He and 13 other former Abbott employees filed federal claims saying they faced discrimination because of their ages and American citizenship, said Sara Blackwell, a lawyer representing them. Those claims are confidential. Ms. Blackwell organized the tavern meeting where Abbott workers were invited to mourn their jobs. Of the small group that came, only Mr. Peña spoke up. On April 20, about two dozen employees of EmblemHealth, a health insurer, protested outside its offices in Manhattan after the company announced that it would transfer about 200 tech jobs to Cognizant, another technology outsourcing company. Even though they were in the street holding signs, the employees declined to have their names used in news reports. | 0 |
What s more important, protecting the dignity of customers who shop in local liquor stores, or the innocent employees and store owners who come in every day, knowing that the only thing that ensures they will go home alive, is the bullet-proof glass between them and the criminal element who enters their store? Well, according to one Philadelphia councilwoman, it s the dignity of the customers. Philadelphia s Public Health and Human Services Committee passed a bill Monday to ban shop owners from protecting themselves with bulletproof plexiglass.Philadelphia 8th District Councilwoman Cindy Bass, who is behind the bill, said previously that having to see plexiglass represents an indignity to her constituents and should, therefore, be banned. Information LiberationFOX News Philadelphia is one step closer to getting rid of bulletproof glass in many of its small businesses as part of a larger effort to crack down on loitering, public urination, and potential drug sales but the potential ban has triggered a backlash from shopkeepers.The city s Public Health and Human Services Committee passed a bill Monday enabling Philadelphia s Department of Licenses and Inspections to regulate the bullet-resistant barricades that stand between customers and cash registers in many neighborhood corner stores, according to FOX29. No establishment required to obtain a Large Establishment license shall erect or maintain a physical barrier that requires the persons serving the food either to open a window or other aperture or to pass the food through a window or other aperture, in order to hand the food to a customer inside the establishment, the bill states. It also calls for larger establishments to have bathrooms for customers.Here s a great example of the crime Philadelphia officers deal with every day in a city where the elected officials are more worried about passing laws to protect the dignity of liquor store customers, and not the people who bravely come to work every day to sell goods in dangerous, crime-ridden neighborhoods. | 1 |
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A citizenship crisis will loom over the Australian government for at least another two months after a court said on Thursday it would not begin hearings into the parliamentary eligibility of seven lawmakers until mid-October. Australia s parliament has been rocked by the revelation that the seven lawmakers, including the deputy prime minister and two other ministers in the coalition government, are dual citizens, meaning they are potentially ineligible to hold elected office. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull s center-right government holds just a one-seat majority in parliament and its popularity is sitting at six-month lows in opinion polls, meaning its future could rest on the outcome of the citizenship crisis. Turnbull s government had asked for an expedited ruling on the eligibility of the lawmakers, but Australia s High Court said on Thursday it would not begin the three-day hearing until Oct. 11. The delay means the crisis threatens to further erode support for Turnbull. The next national election is not due until 2019 but political analysts say prolonged poor poll results could encourage a leadership challenge. Turnbull needs to urgently remove the doubt around the credibility of his government, which has already caused him great harm, said Haydon Manning, a political science professor at Flinders University in South Australia. The High Court ruling also threatens to create a parliamentary impasse for Turnbull if his deputy, Barnaby Joyce, is disqualified. Joyce, the leader of the rural-based Nationals, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, has said he was a joint New Zealand citizen when he was elected last year. If Joyce is disqualified by the court over the citizenship rules, Turnbull would have to rely on the support of the often fractious independents in parliament to have any hope of passing legislation. The possible deadlock also threatens consumer sentiment, analysts said, a bad sign for Australia s somewhat sluggish economy. Turnbull brushed away any suggestions that the court could deliver a ruling that would doom his government. We are very, very confident that our members who have been caught up in this will be held by the court to be eligible to sit in the parliament and therefore eligible to be ministers, Turnbull told reporters in the rural town of Albury, 555 km (345 miles) south of Sydney. A 116-year-old law demands an elected lawmaker only have Australian citizenship, but some have discovered they hold dual citizenship by descent of a father being born in another country, such as neighboring New Zealand, or Britain or Italy. | 1 |
BREAKING BOMBSHELL! FBI NYPD INSIDERS LEAK - Email Scandal About to Take a SICK and TWISTED Turn
Source: Victurus Libertas
All of the following information was given to us by our insiders who have specific first-hand knowledge of the Hillary Clinton email scandal. It seems that things are about to heat up. We are told that of the 662,871 emails lifted from Anthony Weiner's computer, 11,112 emails are Huma Abedin's… and pay to play – including Saudis and Israelis. Meaning Huma was the one Hillary USED to communicate with foreign leaders via email for inside information and deals via Huma's computer.
It has been established through many avenues, but mainly through Wikileaks, that the Clinton Foundation was just a farce set up in order to perform pay-to-play games with multiple entities, including foreign nations. Pay-to-play nations include: Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Kazakhstan, and the Ukraine.
Furthermore, we are told by one of our insiders that one email unequivocally confirms ISIS was created by CIA and Israeli Secret Intelligence Service , with help from Joe Lieberman, John McCain, and Lindsey Graham! An NYPD insider said the content they viewed did include State Department TOP SECRET emails. One file was called "Life Insurance". A second file was titled " DNC Nuclear Arsenal ".
A third file I'm sure Hillary definitely DOES NOT want released was a file labeled "Intimate" … according to this NYPD insider, this file contained X-rated photos of Huma and Hillary with a TEENAGER .
NYPD detectives were sickened by what they saw, according to our insider, and they had threatened FBI field agents that they would leak this information, if the FBI did not "step up and take off the kid gloves" . At that point, 13 of the FBI agents in NYC were also threatening to leak the information.
As you can imagine, the scandal has the entire Obama Administration in full panic. We are told there are emails that could send Loretta Lynch to prison , as well as Bill and Hillary. The Twitter post below, our sources sent us, verifying it is all true:
Even MORE!
The following information comes straight from an FBI Anonymous source, who is the senior analyst who posted on 4chan in early July of this year:
Jim Comey learned that some of his own investigators were tipping off both Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton, thus making his job impossible.
Comey sent a letter to Congress, knowing that ultimately it would expose Loretta Lynch as a dirty actor and the breadcrumbs would lead directly to Obama . The State Department is terrified now. Comey has assembled a small team of 40 agents, whom he has declared "The Untouchables" after the famous federal agent Eliot Ness.
Comey has clamped down on all FBI agents and he expects a full-scale war between the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ), the White House, and the State Department. He has confirmed and understands that many sitting senators, congressmen, lobbyists, and power players are going to be indicted and prosecuted . One of the main targets of the probe is the Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative. Among the targets under investigation are John Podesta, Huma, Cheryl Mills, CNN, ABC, NBC, etc.
As it turns out, Weiner, Huma's husband, had been forwarding Huma's emails each time she came home and left her computer open. Huma appears to have been in touch with Saudi actors, and therefore, ESPIONAGE is strongly suspected.
Comey and his 40 " Untouchables " are now preparing to take down the largest corruption ever witnessed in American history… which is what I think MUST happen if Comey is planning to stay part of the FBI. He lost so much respect and so much credibility with the first Hillary investigation, it would take something of this magnitude to allow him to face the public again. The Pentagon has internal players and outside players they call " creatives ". Creatives are civilians who tend to be geniuses, malcontents, extreme hackers, or otherwise demonstrate brilliance in other useful areas. A Pentagon program called Cicada 3301 , which we have reported on previously, was created by several of these talented civilians. The program is now used to allow thousands of honest government people to report on their corrupt superiors, using what is called a DEAD BOX whistleblower encryption method so the non-corrupted government officials can report corruption and still remain safe.
I've heard it said "A vagina almost took down Bill, now will a Weiner take down Hillary?" LOL!
Again, thank you to all of the insiders, the whistleblowers, the good FBI agents, the good CIA agents, the good NYPD officers, and the non-corrupted government officials who want to see the truth exposed! Without these brave, wonderful, and morally erect individuals, our country would still be in the corrupted darkness.
Vistors to Epstein's Little St. James Island include:
• Ehud Barak , the former Prime Minister of Israel (1999-2001) – pedophile being procured underage girls by Epstein. Former Israeli Minister of Defense and also Deputy Israeli Prime Minister under Binyamin Netanyahu from 2009 to 2013.
• Prince Andrew – British royalty – Jeffrey Epstein and his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell pimped Epstein sex slave Virginia Roberts to Prince Andrew multiple times. The victim girls say Prince Andrew was very sexually sadistic; they despised this sick, twisted creature.
• Kevin Spacey – actor in House of Cards. People tell me Spacey is gay, and my response is "Have you ever heard of the word bisexual?" Spacey is very good friends with 2 big-time pedophiles: Jeffrey Epstein and Bill Clinton. Spacey, big Hollywood star, has 3.78 million Twitter followers.
• Alan Dershowitz – longtime friend of Epstein, as well as one of his defense lawyers. Dershowitz was the one who negotiated that absurd plea bargain for Epstein that gave him a 13-month (served) sentence and a 16 hour/day day pass so he could spend most of his time in his mansion. Epstein sex slave Virginia Roberts has said that Epstein made her have sex with Dershowitz numerous times. The real question is how many other underage girls was Dershowitz having sex with? Virginia Roberts says Dershowitz also witnessed Epstein's pedophilic activities.
http://victuruslibertas.com/2016/10/insiders-reveal-sex-ring/
Related:
Abel Danger - "FBI INSIDER" - Clinton Foundation Scandal Would Bring Down the Government and More
The Situation Is So Intense, It Involves the Entire US Government | FBI Insider
*EXPLOSIVE* Q & A on the Clinton Foundation - FBI Insider on 4chan /pol/ : "Ask Me Anything About the Clinton Case" - George Soros Is the Kingpin - Follow the Rothschild Thread - Clinton Foundation Uses People as Currency - Jeffrey Epstein's Child Sex Trafficking Network - Bill & Hillary Clinton Get Paid in Money & Children - Hammer HRC's E-mails, Dig Into the CF: Post Everywhere You Can
I SIS stands for "Israeli Secret Intelligence Service" | 1 |
Cliff Sims, Special Assistant to President Trump, talked with Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM host Alex Marlow on Wednesday regarding Trump’s recent address to Congress. [“I think it was a total home run,” said Sims of the speech. “I can just tell you — the White House staff — we stayed up here last night at the office and when the President returned we all kind of huddled and welcomed him back with a pretty big round of applause and cheers. ” Added Sims, Even last night on CNN the polling on the speech was just unbelievable. percent had a positive view of the speech. percent said the policies that were in the speech would move the country in a right direction. percent said they were more optimistic after watching the speech and I think that number, in particular, is a really notable one … . Sims said he believes we are at “a unifying moment for the country. ” In terms of some of Trump’s ideas coming from the Democrat side of the aisle, said Sims, “It is not a concerted strategy in the sense of let’s find a way that we can just take issues away from them, as much as it is somebody who is finally willing to get up there and just actually be for what he actually believes in his heart, even if it doesn’t follow traditional party lines. ” Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a. m. to 9:00 a. m. Eastern. | 0 |
While there was plenty to celebrate artistically this season at the Metropolitan Opera — with several acclaimed new productions and memorable star turns — the company’s worrying slump continued. The Met was on track to take in only 66 percent of its potential revenue through the end of the season on Saturday, company officials said, down slightly from the previous season. (Since some seats are discounted, attendance is projected to be 72 percent.) Some weakness stemmed from factors beyond the Met’s control: Jonas Kaufmann, one of the last bankable stars in opera, withdrew from all his appearances this season, citing illness, and other opera companies are facing struggles of their own. But it is becoming a pattern. It is a daunting house to fill. With 3, 800 seats and 200 places, the Met is far bigger than most European houses, and it gave 225 opera performances this season, more than almost all of its peers. It sold an average of 2, 869 seats per performance — more than enough to fill the 2, 256 seats of the Royal Opera House in London or the Vienna State Opera, which can hold 2, 284. What to do? Channeling their inner impresarios, critics and reporters for The New York Times engaged in a little operatic spitballing, throwing out ideas — including some that the Met is experimenting with and others it might find off the wall — that could help fill the house again. MICHAEL COOPER Court the young, even more. Give operagoers in their teens and twenties not just the best seats at cheap prices but also steep discounts at the intermission bar. Create a club that offers exclusive access to rehearsals, meetings with directors and singers, and trips to performances elsewhere. Give them perks you don’t give your biggest donors. CORINNA da Granted, this Met season has been unusually narrow: In 71 percent of performances have been of operas by Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti or Rossini. Heavier doses of Gounod, Massenet, Wagner and Strauss make appear somewhat better balanced, but not enough. While unusual repertory can be a tough sell, offerings are essential to a sustainable future. The Met should start by edging more often into Eastern Europe: Janacek should appear every year, and Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich deserve more than occasional outings. Then there’s the matter of time. The cavernous theater is a hindrance, admittedly, but Gluck and Handel ought to be mainstays, not rarities. And occasional forays into John Adams, alongside some Muhly and Adès commissions, aren’t nearly enough contemporary work. DAVID ALLEN A few years ago, the president of an opera club at Columbia Law School asked if I would join members for one of their regular lunchtime meetings. When I showed up, to my amazement, there were some 150 students in attendance and an enormous stack of pizzas. The Met should actively assist and encourage clubs for opera lovers with shared interests. The Met could arrange discounted tickets for designated performances and even host receptions for the clubs with special guests, like singers from the young artists program who might perform a couple of arias. ANTHONY TOMMASINI One seemingly simple way to draw bigger crowds: perform when it’s convenient for audiences. While other major opera houses, ballet companies and Broadway shows find that Sunday performances are among their most popular, the Met retains a longstanding schedule that dates back to the days of strict blue laws. Many operagoers find weeknight performances difficult, especially for operas that last three hours or longer. An 8 p. m. start can be too late for older patrons and suburbanites who face long commutes after the final curtain. But earlier starts are tough for the many people who typically work much later than 5 p. m. — especially if they want to be able to eat dinner. Sunday matinees would be simpler for people in both groups and could appeal to operagoers from further afield. Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, has suggested adding some Sunday performances, but he will need to win the agreement of the Met’s unions, whose workers often have punishing schedules and who agreed to concessions in their last contracts. And going dark on a weekday would cut into the Met’s rehearsal schedules. MICHAEL COOPER Every orchestra, it seems, has an artist in residence: In fact, the New York Philharmonic’s this season has been the Eric Owens. Why not the Met? Planning is tough, of course, but with enough lead time, why couldn’t a singer participate in three (or four, or five) productions over a season, as well as concerts, recitals, lectures? The more audiences know (and love) a performer, the more eager they’ll be to buy tickets to see her. ZACHARY WOOLFE There’s much to be said for the stagione system in use in many European opera houses, in which only one production runs at a time. This makes it easier to instill a sense of urgency in the public: Your chance to see a show is now or never. As a magnet for cultural tourists, some of whom travel to New York to see multiple operas over a few days, the Met is understandably reluctant to do this, and the house is set up to run several productions at once. But it would still make sense to link thematically related works into that encourage like a “Lulu” “Lucia” showdown of madwomen. CORINNA da One “festival” is already offered by the Met, although it’s a summer of HD screenings on Lincoln Center Plaza. And, admittedly, festivals can be used as tools for both progress and reaction: The New York Philharmonic has its biennial, but also its Dvorak and Rachmaninoff celebrations. Even so, a festival during the main season — done properly — would let the Met draw attention to new productions while trotting out old ones, help it build excitement for unusual repertoire and give it an opportunity for collaboration with other, institutions. Imagine a series looking at the Orpheus myth over time, from Monteverdi to Birtwistle. Or treatments of Shakespeare, balancing Verdi with Barber, Reimann and Adès. Think what could be done for the forgotten Romantics, like Korngold and Schreker. One could even contemplate a pageant of American operas. DAVID ALLEN The holiday presentations of operas — shorter, and in English — should be expanded across the season. Consider marketing the occasional matinee of a opera to families, too, with rules and affordable snacks at intermission. While you’re at it, take a hint from the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, which has players hang out at the front of the stage during intermission to take questions from audience members. Send choristers in costume out to the lobbies to pose for selfies. CORINNA da New Yorkers like to dress up: Get in on the game. The Met should mark the dates of Fashion Week and throw open its doors with gala performances that enforce a strict dress code. Invite a runway star to dress the entire cast of one production, with apologies to the regular costume designer, then auction off the clothes. Don’t let the other Met and its Costume Institute steal all the paparazzi attention. CORINNA da Why is it that audiences linger after performances at, say, the Park Avenue Armory, while they rush out of the Met? It’s because there’s no comfortable, exciting space at the opera house to sit down, chat, have unexpected . My idea? Throw out the overpriced, mediocre Grand Tier Restaurant and replace it with something like the Smith, across Broadway: Moderately priced, a little rambunctious and open (including after the opera) for food (that includes both filet mignon and burgers) drinks (that includes both Champagne and beer) and good coffee. ZACHARY WOOLFE The company might select a couple of offerings each season and turn them into citywide cultural collaborations. It’s moving a bit in this direction next season for the company premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s “L’Amour de Loin. ” The Philharmonic will tie performances of Saariaho works at the Park Avenue Armory to the Met run. But couldn’t the two Mets (opera and museum) have worked on an exhibition on Christian troubadours from Aquitaine and religious art from Tripoli, the two locales this story shifts between? How about asking early music ensembles to perform troubadour songs? How about Verdi’s “Otello,” which returned this spring in time for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death? Imagine high school English teachers in the city, with the support of the Met, using this run as a chance to compare Shakespeare’s tragedy with Verdi’s opera and then taking students to the free dress rehearsal. ANTHONY TOMMASINI Even in the higher altitudes of the opera house, tickets are still quite expensive — especially when it comes to enticing new generations who may be iffy on the whole idea of giving opera a try. On many nights this season, the house seemed to sell out from the top down, with the least expensive tickets disappearing first. Prices currently range from $25 to $480, but the average is $158. 50. The company does have more discounted options than ever — there are $25 rush tickets, student ticket offers, “Fridays Under 40” discounts — but many of them place the onus on operagoers to figure them out, and some, like rush tickets, require a degree of flexibility that is hard for people who need to, say, engage babysitters or plan ahead. And costly tickets make it harder for opera fanatics — people who not only want to see many different operas each year but also often want to see the same opera more than once, to revel in a favorite singer or compare alternate casts. What to do? Ticket revenues account for an increasingly small percentage of the cost of actually mounting operas. In a perfect world, perhaps a very donor could be enticed to make a transformational gift that would allow the Met to cut its prices across the board. That would allow fanatics to go more often. More realistically, the Met could use the information available in most ticket purchases — perhaps the credit card numbers and email addresses people use when they buy tickets online — to offer operagoers the chance to purchase, say, tickets anywhere in the house. That could help groom future fanatics. MICHAEL COOPER Create a loyalty app that allows users to check in every time they visit. Add in a quiz element that rewards close attention — to a detail of a character’s costume, a witty translation in the Met titles or a line in the program notes. Award bonus points for arcane trivia, frequent visits and thorny or new works. Make participation the entry requirement for lotteries that offer lavish prizes, like a parterre box for a night, a private dress fitting in the costume department or a chance to shadow a director for a day. CORINNA da One option that would offend many opera fans but might entice more newcomers: a little judicious cutting of operas, to make things flow a bit faster onstage and make it easier for audiences with too few hours in the day to find time for opera. Shakespeare’s plays are rarely performed uncut. But in opera, the trend in recent decades has been toward fewer cuts and treating scores as sacrosanct. To get people out at a reasonable hour, many opera companies, including the Met, now have fewer intermissions. Another option would be to cut the operas. The Met sometimes does this for its shortened, holiday presentations aimed at families, which whittle down works like Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” and Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” to two hours or less. While some gorgeous music gets left on the floor, the shortened operas are often among the most popular offerings of the year — and draw quite a few adults who are unaccompanied by children. MICHAEL COOPER After years of illness and cancellations, James Levine, the Met’s longtime music director, has finally retired. Now, the company has a chance to nab a vibrant replacement who has technical chops, intriguing ideas about repertory, a taste for the new and a connection to the city and its cultural life. I’m thinking of the kind of leader you might see on a night off at National Sawdust or even Terminal 5. ZACHARY WOOLFE | 0 |
This letter is quite possibly the most important letter these students will ever receive throughout their entire college career. It should be adopted by every college and university in America as part of a contract the students are asked to read and accept.It s finally happened. A college president, faced with whining students who are offended by well everything, has written a letter to the entire student body. (Some of which I presume will offend some students) He reminds them they are in college and that perhaps the reason they feel bad is a little thing known as a conscience. Dr Everett Piper of Oklahoma Wesleyan University explained what their purpose and his is at the university.Here is his letter in its entirety:Dr. Everett Piper, PresidentOklahoma Wesleyan UniversityThis past week, I actually had a student come forward after a university chapel service and complain because he felt victimized by a sermon on the topic of 1 Corinthians 13. It appears that this young scholar felt offended because a homily on love made him feel bad for not showing love! In his mind, the speaker was wrong for making him, and his peers, feel uncomfortable.I m not making this up. Our culture has actually taught our kids to be this self-absorbed and narcissistic! Any time their feelings are hurt, they are the victims! Anyone who dares challenge them and, thus, makes them feel bad about themselves, is a hater, a bigot, an oppressor, and a victimizer. I have a message for this young man and all others who care to listen. That feeling of discomfort you have after listening to a sermon is called a conscience! An altar call is supposed to make you feel bad! It is supposed to make you feel guilty! The goal of many a good sermon is to get you to confess your sins not coddle you in your selfishness. The primary objective of the Church and the Christian faith is your confession, not your self-actualization!So here s my advice:If you want the chaplain to tell you you re a victim rather than tell you that you need virtue, this may not be the university you re looking for. If you want to complain about a sermon that makes you feel less than loving for not showing love, this might be the wrong place.If you re more interested in playing the hater card than you are in confessing your own hate; if you want to arrogantly lecture, rather than humbly learn; if you don t want to feel guilt in your soul when you are guilty of sin; if you want to be enabled rather than confronted, there are many universities across the land (in Missouri and elsewhere) that will give you exactly what you want, but Oklahoma Wesleyan isn t one of them.At OKWU, we teach you to be selfless rather than self-centered. We are more interested in you practicing personal forgiveness than political revenge. We want you to model interpersonal reconciliation rather than foment personal conflict. We believe the content of your character is more important than the color of your skin. We don t believe that you have been victimized every time you feel guilty and we don t issue trigger warnings before altar calls.Oklahoma Wesleyan is not a safe place , but rather, a place to learn: to learn that life isn t about you, but about others; that the bad feeling you have while listening to a sermon is called guilt; that the way to address it is to repent of everything that s wrong with you rather than blame others for everything that s wrong with them. This is a place where you will quickly learn that you need to grow up!This is not a day care. This is a university!We applaud Dr Piper and wish more colleges and universities had more like him. Then again, Oklahoma Wesleyan is not Yale or Dartmouth, where the presidents are careful not to offend the spoiled brats of well-to-do parents in order to keep those tuition checks and honorariums coming in. Via: | 0 |
After four weeks of playing catch in his back yard, Tom Brady can finally rejoin the New England Patriots, who suddenly look like they could really use him. Here’s what we learned in N. F. L. Week 4: ■ There is no quarterback controversy in New England, but there might be room for discussion in Dallas, where Dak Prescott continues to impress in Tony Romo’s absence. And in San Francisco, where Blaine Gabbert’s awkward impression of Colin Kaepernick is getting increasingly odd with Kaepernick available on the sidelines. It still doesn’t matter who plays quarterback for the Broncos, because their defense can win with anyone. ■ It might be time to panic for two of the N. F. C. ’s most teams. The Panthers and Cardinals both dropped to with Cam Newton and Carson Palmer being forced out of their respective games because of concussions. ■ Jets coach Todd Bowles has a better sense of humor than people give him credit for. Bowles claimed his confidence in Ryan Fitzpatrick is “no different than when the season started,” despite Fitzpatrick having thrown nine interceptions over his last two games, both of which the Jets lost. The only reasonable takeaway is that Bowles never had any confidence in Fitzpatrick to lose. ■ Julio Jones is very good at football. If the Falcons get 300 receiving yards from him every week they should be just fine. ■ There truly is no typical Browns loss. This week’s collapse came by way of a fumble that was called in the Redskins’ favor even as Cleveland’s fullback, Duke Johnson, stood next to the pile of players holding the football. Next week they may not need a collapse provided Tom Brady’s wife, Gisele Bundchen, kept her word and helped him stay in football shape. You learn more about a young quarterback when they are forced to face some real adversity for the first time, and with the way Dak Prescott handled his team getting off to an ugly start against the 49ers, it appears the Dallas Cowboys are in good hands. And they may be in for a little quarterback controversy as well. The rookie quarterback, filling in for the injured Tony Romo, calmly worked his team back into the game. With a little help from the Cowboys’ defense, and rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott, Prescott secured a win and a start to the season. In a start to the game, the San Francisco offense, which had previously been struggling, looked incredible, converting its first seven attempts. Carlos Hyde was finding space to run and Blaine Gabbert was carving up the Dallas secondary. But midway through the second quarter, with the Cowboys on the ropes following a sack that forced what would be a from their own the 49ers’ Jaquiski Tartt got a little too excited and added an extra hit to the play which resulted in an unnecessary roughness call and extended Dallas’s drive. Three plays later, Prescott found Terrance Williams on the edge of the end zone for a touchdown that closed the gap to . From that point forward, Gabbert turned back into a pumpkin, looking to run an offense that seems better suited for Colin Kaepernick, and the Cowboys took control of the game. San Francisco’s good start on offense was a distant memory as the offense converted just one of its final seven opportunities. After the quick comeback in the first half, Prescott, who also had a touchdown pass to Brice Butler in the second quarter, seemed more than happy to let Elliott and Dallas’ overpowering offensive line drive the bus down the stretch. In New England’s final game without Tom Brady at quarterback, reality finally intruded on the Patriots’ dream start to the season. Jacoby Brissett played like a rookie, and every break seemed to go against New England, and they fell to the Buffalo Bills, on Sunday. Coach Rex Ryan of the Bills was at his bombastic best during the week, and his defense delivered on his bluster, handing the Patriots the team’s first shutout at home since 1993 and erasing memories of Buffalo’s ugly start to the season. Asked after the game how important getting Brady back next week will be for the Patriots, Rob Gronkowski paused for several seconds with a broad smile. “I don’t even have to answer that,” Gronkowski said. “Obviously it’s exciting to get Tom back. ” Here’s how things went wrong for the Patriots. Carolina allowed Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan to torch their defense to the tune of 503 yards in the air — 300 of it going to Julio Jones — but that wasn’t the biggest concern for the Panthers, as they finished the game without Cam Newton, the heart and soul of the team, who was taken out for evaluation in the N. F. L. ’s concussion protocol. The final score was in favor of the Falcons, but until the Panthers know the extent of Newton’s injury, things could still get far worse. Newton, who had been having a subpar effort by his standards with 165 yards passing and 30 yards rushing, was running the ball into the end zone on a conversion in the fourth quarter when he took a late hit from Deion Jones. The hit appeared to be legal, but that did not stop Newton’s teammates from objecting loudly to it as Newton was clearly scoring on the play. Read more here. Steelers Destroy Chiefs: Six offensive snaps. Three Ben Roethlisberger touchdowns passes. Two to Antonio Brown. One very important reminder of just how good Pittsburgh’s offense can look when all of its dynamic parts are moving in sync. Seven days after a meltdown in Philadelphia, the Steelers overwhelmed the Chiefs behind five touchdowns passes from Roethlisberger and 178 yards of total offense from running back Le’Veon Bell. Here’s how the Steelers won. Another Meltdown for Chargers: With the Chargers trying to protect a lead against the Saints, Melvin Gordon fumbled and Darryl Tapp recovered at the San Diego 13, setting up a Drew Brees touchdown pass to Michael Thomas on to pull to with 4:50 to go. Travis Benjamin then fumbled after a reception and Nate Stupar recovered at the San Diego 31. Seven plays later, fullback John Kuhn scored his third TD of the game and the Saints walked away with a victory. Read more here. Carson Palmer Hurt in Cardinals’ Loss: Tavon Austin returned a punt 47 yards to set up Case Keenum’s touchdown pass to Brian Quick with 2:41 to play, and the Los Angeles Rams improved to for the first time in a decade with a victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Arizona’s Carson Palmer threw for 288 yards and a touchdown but left the game to be evaluated for a concussion after his head slammed to the turf on a sack by Aaron Donald with 5:40 to play. The play forced a Cardinals punt and Austin raced past tacklers to the Arizona 34. A facemask penalty against Ifeanyi Momah moved the ball to the 19 and the Rams ( ) went ahead when Quick caught a pass under tight defense for the score. Broncos Win, but Lose Siemian: Paxton Lynch made his N. F. L. debut sooner than expected Sunday, stepping in for the injured Trevor Siemian to help the Denver Broncos remain unbeaten. Lynch, drafted in the first round to be a big part of Denver’s future, added a nice first chapter to his career by finishing a victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Here’s how the Broncos won. Browns Find Another Way to Lose: The Cleveland Browns, a team that seems determined to lose in new and exciting ways each week, had a late in the third quarter and appeared to be in control against the Washington Redskins. It was not to be as the Browns ended the game with a stretch in which they lost two fumbles, had an interception, turned the ball over on downs and then simply ran out of game clock. Along the way, the Redskins got a touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins and a touchdown run from Matt Jones, which was enough to lead to a victory, dropping the Browns to . Next week they are the first stop on Tom Brady’s 2016 revenge tour. Seahawks Top Jets: A week after the worst game of his career and one of the worst quarterbacking performances in recent N. F. L. history, Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick managed not to throw six interceptions, or even five, or four. But he did throw three, all in the fourth quarter, including one that dashed the Jets’ hopes for a comeback in a loss to the Seahawks. Read Ben Shpigel’s game report here. Jaguars Happy in London: The Jacksonville Jaguars started the season in the United States, but after holding off a valiant comeback attempt by Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts, they are at their London on Sunday. A game filled with penalties, big hits, and 28 combined points in the fourth quarter, ended with the Jaguars on top, . Raiders Roll: Derek Carr threw four touchdown passes, the last to Michael Crabtree with 2:12 left, and the Oakland Raiders ( ) beat the previously undefeated Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. After the Ravens rallied from a deficit in the fourth quarter to go ahead with 3 minutes remaining, Carr directed a drive that ended with a strike to Crabtree in the back of the end zone. Read more here. Bears Get a W: to Brian Hoyer threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns, and the Chicago Bears earned their first win of the season with a victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Here’s how the Bears won their first game. Texans Win Without Watt: Will Fuller had a tiebreaking punt return for a touchdown and the Houston Texans earned a win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in their first game without J. J. Watt. Read more here. The players filed past a table and picked up the electronic wristbands as casually as any of other piece of equipment designed to make the Seattle Seahawks perform at their peak. But rather than protect or help them power through a game, this new one, distributed to the players at practice on Monday, is aimed at a more subtle effect. Very subtle. “Get your nine hours of sleep!” receiver Doug Baldwin shouted to Trevone Boykin, the backup quarterback, as Boykin fiddled with his band, a monitor designed to ensure he does just that. Read about how the Seahawks want to become sleeping giants. | 0 |
Who rode it best? Jesse Jackson mounts up to fight pipeline; Leonardo DiCaprio to the rescue? Posted at 6:41 pm on October 26, 2016 by Brett T. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Vladimir Putin might have popularized the shirtless-on-horseback calendar pose that was echoed recently by Alex Jones , but Jesse Jackson deserves credit for at least one thing: he chose to keep his shirt on Wednesday when he rode up to the front lines of a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
— Marisa Villarreal (@marisa_villarr) October 26, 2016 Proud to stand with the Sioux Indians today in North Dakota. #StandingWithStandingRock pic.twitter.com/0dPbDk6RJD
— Rev Jesse Jackson Sr (@RevJJackson) October 26, 2016 Jesse Jackson on the frontline with that native bling #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/QevCYFugN3
— Ruth Hopkins (@RuthHHopkins) October 26, 2016
Seen standing with Jackson (literally; check over his shoulder above) was “Avengers” actor Mark Ruffalo, who offered his own exclusive scoop of sorts by confirming that climate crusader Leonardo DiCaprio would be stopping by Thursday, assuming his green-friendly private jet that runs on unicorn tears isn’t delayed. This is happening! #noDapl ! Rev. Jesse Jackson calls @POTUS from #StandingRock ! Mark Ruffalo confirms Leonardo DiCaprio comes tomorrow pic.twitter.com/6b2Gd8FFpd
— Asani Isapoet (@Asani) October 26, 2016
President Obama seems to be taking a wait-and-see approach to the pipeline. The Seattle Times reports that the administration asked Energy Transfer Partners for a second time Tuesday to voluntarily cease construction, to no avail. And Hillary? No one’s even sure yet where she really stands on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but a few of Ruffalo’s fans aren’t happy that he’s now with her, sort of. Please please please. This is is worth getting out and voting for. A vote for HRC is a vote for @BernieSanders and @SenWarren ! https://t.co/9YElwJ48AJ
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) October 16, 2016 @MarkRuffalo @BernieSanders @SenWarren It most certainly is not. That's propaganda Clinton stans like to push. I vote for who I believe in.
— Stan Dallas 😍 (@FanInTheMoon) October 16, 2016 @MarkRuffalo @BernieSanders @SenWarren I don't recall Sanders being pro TPP, pro fracking and circling China with missiles. Lay off the weed
— Tony Gagliardi (@hornetgags) October 16, 2016 @MarkRuffalo @BernieSanders @SenWarren @1lolamarina Sorry Mark, never was a turn the other cheek kind of guy. She wronged us. Never Democrat
— John Jenkins (@Oteachjohn) October 18, 2016 @MarkRuffalo @BernieSanders @SenWarren NO. A vote for HRC is a for #ElectionFraud , corporate rule, corruption & endless war. #NeverHillary
— Basement Barista (@SouthBoulder) October 16, 2016 @MarkRuffalo @dailykos So vote for Hillary who is a pro-fracking warhawk? Time to get the @GreenPartyUS 5% for a true progressive voice.
— Eric Magnuson (@emmagnuson) October 17, 2016 . @MarkRuffalo Jill Stein's PROGRESSIVE policies are more like Bernie than HRC's. Why should Hillary get my vote? #JillNotHill 🌍💚☮️
— #DNC fraud lawsuit (@Ontheotherhand) October 16, 2016 @MarkRuffalo @BernieSanders @SenWarren A vote for HRC is NOT a vote for Bernie Sanders. Go Green. Vote Stein, not a corrupt warmonger.
— Justin Kelly (@JKelly_80) October 16, 2016
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The Libertarian Party presidential ticket of former Republican governors Gary Johnson (N.M.) and William Weld (Mass.) succeeded in seeming human, humane, decent, calm, and at least compared to their major party competitors, thoughtful this evening at their second CNN Town Hall.
But I'm not sure they succeeded in seeming very Libertarian, or selling the Party's position as a distinct outlook on politics and government that someone could grasp and understand.
They often seemed to go out of their way to just seem like a centrist, independent mixture of what someone might see as good aspects of both other parties.
In fact, when host Anderson Cooper would occasionally remind the candidates what the traditional libertarian stance was, often relying on the Party platform, he might have done more to sell libertarianism's unique stances than the candidates.
Herewith, a (not necessarily comprehensive) list of places where a Libertarian might have been frustrated with the candidates tonight, with a few (again, not comprehensive) nods to when they got it closer to right. The emphasis, though, will be on the disappointments, which dominated in my eyes.
The two governors mostly seemed thoughtful, humble, decent, not aggravating control freaks or rampaging ids. They did not seem like bold representatives of a distinct philosophy and practice of government, one with a well-developed philosophy about what government is for, and why. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative commentators on Sunday mistakenly accused Reuters of pulling the plug on the final moments of broadcast coverage of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s appearance at a black church this weekend. Reuters said it had no role in filming the Trump event. CBS News filmed on behalf of a pool of media companies and discontinued the feed in the final moments of Trump’s appearance because of the schedule set by the campaign, according to a CBS producer involved. “The Detroit Trump footage being circulated on Twitter and elsewhere was not filmed by Reuters,” Abbe Serphos, Reuters global head of communications, said in a statement. Despite having no involvement in filming the Saturday event, Reuters was targeted for criticism by commentators including Ann Coulter. They were apparently under the false impression that Reuters had ordered its camera operator to shut down as Trump was receiving a blessing from the pastor. Sopan Deb, a CBS journalist who was the pool producer for the event at the Detroit church, said the decision to cut off the video feed was made because Trump campaign staffers were hurrying reporters into a waiting motorcade. “I was the pool producer,” Deb said in a tweet. “We were forced to pack up our cameras and leave during this.” CBS News and the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday. Deb could not be reached for further comment beyond his remarks on Twitter. Coulter could not be reached. The sudden controversy was fanned by social media and came on the holiday weekend that traditionally marks the start of major campaigning for the Nov. 8 election. It followed Trump’s visit to a largely black church in Detroit on Saturday, where he told the crowd his economic agenda would create jobs and educational opportunity for African-American voters as part of what he called a “civil rights agenda for our time.” At the end of the nearly hour-long Saturday morning service at the Great Faith Ministries church, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson draped a prayer shawl over Trump to applause from the crowd in the church. “I have prayed over this personally, and I have fasted over it,” Jackson said. Shortly after Trump accepted the shawl, the pool feed used by broadcast networks was cut off as reporters prepared to move to the next campaign event. “How convenient that at one of the compelling moments…(the) satellite feed dropped,” conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham said on Twitter. Deb, the CBS reporter, said the suggestion of bias was “totally inaccurate.” In a tweet responding to Ingraham, he said: “If you want to make this an issue, please take it up with the campaign. We tried to stay and shoot this whole thing.” Ingraham could not be immediately reached for comment. In a point of contention with journalists, Trump staffers have sometimes told reporters traveling with the candidate they need to leave events before Trump if they want to avoid risking their spot in the group of reporters traveling in the motorcade with the candidate. A video posted on a website affiliated with conservative radio show host Alex Jones claimed to capture a difference of opinion between the camera operator and a producer on site about whether to continue filming the Trump event on Saturday. Before the video cuts, one person can be heard to say, “I’m shooting this,” and then, almost inaudibly, “I’ll take a demotion.” A second voice says “Shut it” and then “blackout,” the site said. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the offstage audio. “Reuters obtained the footage from third-party providers and the voices heard on the video are not Reuters staff or contractors,” Serphos said. Trump has criticized media organizations including the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN and others for what he has claimed are biases in their coverage of his campaign. On the day of his visit to the Detroit church, Trump lashed out at CNN. “Great visit to Detroit church, fantastic reception, and all CNN talks about is a small protest outside,” Trump said in a tweet. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President-elect Mike Pence will be sworn into office on Jan. 20 by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a conservative legal icon reviled by many liberals. Thomas’s role was included in the official program for Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration posted online by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Trump will be sworn in by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts. The nation’s chief justice usually swears in the president but an incoming vice president traditionally picks someone else to administer the oath of office. Vice President Joe Biden was sworn in by liberal Justice John Paul Stevens in 2009 and liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor in 2013. Thomas, 68, is the second black justice to serve on the Supreme Court and is one of its most conservative members. Nominated by Republican President George H.W. Bush, Thomas joined the court in 1991 after contentious Senate confirmation hearings involving sexual harassment allegations against him made by a former federal government colleague, Anita Hill. In October, after controversy erupted over allegations Trump had fondled numerous women and boasted about it, a female corporate lawyer from Alaska accused Thomas of groping her in 1999, a charge Thomas called “preposterous” and untrue. After taking office, Trump will nominate a justice to serve alongside Thomas on the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy created by the death of another conservative, Justice Antonin Scalia, in February 2016. Republicans who control the U.S. Senate declined to act on President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill the position, Merrick Garland. | 1 |
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian government troops pushed deeper into the section of Aleppo on Sunday, now controlling about half of what had been for years the rebels’ enclave in the divided northern city. Also on Sunday, airstrikes apparently carried out by the government or its ally Russia hit the towns of Maarat and Kafr Nabl in Idlib Province. The strikes killed at least 20 people in each location, according to residents and White Helmets rescue workers. Footage from Maarat showed destroyed buildings and market stalls, and the crushed body of a toddler. Airstrikes and shelling also continued in Aleppo, where there was no sign of a in a bloody battle that could prove a fulcrum in the war. If the government manages to seize all of Aleppo, it will control Syria’s five largest cities. Government troops, along with allied, militias from Iraq and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, appeared close on Sunday to seizing the only remaining bulge of rebel territory north of the medieval citadel at the heart of the city, leaving rebels with a shrinking enclave in the southeast. Residents contacted by phone and text message said conditions were dire. People fleeing from the recently retaken areas were looking for places to sleep, while some smashed wooden furniture from destroyed houses for cooking and heating. They also sent text messages with their last farewells, saying they expected to die. All of this unfolded under continuous government bombing and artillery shelling, which was worsening as ground troops edged closer. The advances did not halt the shelling of the western districts. Fares Shehabi, a Parliament member from Aleppo, said that nine people were killed on Saturday and that the military hospital and a hotel had been hit. Dozens of shells fell on Sunday, killing several people, other residents said. More than 31, 000 people have fled from the eastern districts, aid agencies say. Some are fleeing to territory some deeper into the besieged districts and others to areas controlled by Kurdish militias from which they can make their way along a risky route to areas in Idlib and northern Aleppo Province. On Sunday, Russian troops helped deliver aid to thousands of people crammed into what had been shops in a covered market in Jibreen, a town south of the city. Some people told reporters from The Associated Press and the BBC on the scene with government minders that they were happy to have food. Some said they had fled airstrikes, and others complained about treatment by the rebels. Of those remaining in the area, some said they were afraid to leave because they expected to be arrested or mistreated on the other side. Now, though, they were worried that the army might be coming to them. “It is very dangerous,” Yasser Hmeish, a resident, said via text message, showing a photo of himself making tea over a fire from scraps of wood from his destroyed house. “We are afraid for our families. ” A proposal by Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations envoy, for a aid delivery and local autonomy for eastern Aleppo in exchange for the departure of several hundred fighters has gone nowhere. Russia is now offering to talk to the United States about the departure of all rebels — several thousand fighters, some of them backed by Washington and its allies. Tensions were rising between the group, the Levant Conquest Front, formerly known as the Nusra Front, and the other groups, according to fighters in the enclave. Some accused the Levant Conquest Front of raiding food and weapons storehouses that belonged to other groups, including Faylaq one of those receiving American aid. One fighter from a rival group said the looted goods had been left unguarded in the chaos. The airstrikes in Idlib Province killed 23 people in Maarat including seven members of one family, one of them a child. In Kafr Nabl, 26 people were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group with an extensive network on the ground. Jihad, a telecommunications engineer in Kafranbel, said that the strike had hit a busy area, and that he knew 13 of the victims. “There is a well where people get water, and there is a bakery,” he said, asking to be identified by only his first name for safety. “There were only a few minutes between me and the strikes. ” | 0 |
How can the Israelis, or any Jewish person for that matter, trust Donald Trump if he can t even answer this question seriously?During his press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump took a question from a reporter who wanted to to know what he plans to do about the rising incidents of hate and anti-Semitism in this country and asked Trump to also address the fact that members of his own team have taken racist tones. Mr. President, since your election campaign and even after your victory, we ve seen a sharp rise in anti-Semitic anti- Semitic incidents across the United States, the reporter began. And I wonder, what do you say to those among the Jewish community in the states and in Israel and maybe around the world who believe and feel that your administration is playing with xenophobia and maybe racist tones? Indeed, hate crimes have skyrocketed across the nation since Trump was elected and he has done very little to combat them. Meanwhile, Trump s administration included white nationalist Steve Bannon and racist Jeff Sessions and all but two members of Trump s Cabinet are white men.In response to the question, Trump outrageously proceeded to brag extensively about his Electoral College victory as if that somehow will stop anti-Semitism. Well, I just want to say that we are, you know, very honored by the victory that we had 306 electoral college votes, Trump said. We were not supposed to crack 220. You know that, right? There was no way to 221, but then they said there s no way to 270. And there s tremendous enthusiasm out there. Trump couldn t even get his own election count right. First, he received 304 votes when the Electoral College met in December. Furthermore, his win is one of the smallest on record and he also lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.Trump then claimed that he will bring peace to America and went on to use a line that sounds eerily similar to a racist saying they aren t racist by claiming to have black friends. In Trump s case, he suggested that anti-Semitism will be magically solved by his administration because he has Jewish family members. He concluded by telling the reporter that he will see a lot of love over the next few years.I will say that we are going to have peace in this country. We are going to stop crime in this country. We are going to do everything within our power to stop long simmering racism and every other thing that s going on. There s a lot of bad things that have been taking place over a long period of time.I think one of the reasons I won the election is we have a very, very divided nation, very divided. And hopefully, I ll be able to do something about that. And I, you know, it was something that was very important to me.As far as people, Jewish people, so many friends; a daughter who happens to be here right now; a son-in-law, and three beautiful grandchildren. I think that you re going to see a lot different United States of America over the next three, four or eight years. I think a lot of good things are happening.And you re going to see a lot of love. You re going to see a lot of love.Here s the video via YouTube:Let s not forget that neo-Nazis supported Trump s campaign and they continue to support him today. Let s also not forget that Trump didn t mention Jews at all when he issued a statement in remembrance of the Holocaust, a tragedy that resulted in 6 million Jews being murdered by Hitler.Once again, Trump demonstrates that he is an embarrassment. He had a chance to address this issue seriously, but he made it all about him and his ego before making very few references to anti-Semitism and how he plans to actually stop it. He didn t even mention Jews beyond pointing out that he has Jewish family members as if that somehow makes him qualified to deal with anti-Semitism.Trump is clearly not fit to be president.Featured image via screenshot | 0 |
Donald Trump held a press conference today to clarify every since bit of accusations made that he pocketed over six million dollars meant for veterans. Basically, Trump shut the liberal media down. It was awesome! What was even better was watching a New Hampshire lawmaker rip into the liberal press like I ve never seen! | 0 |
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea probably stole South Korean warship blueprints after hacking into Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd s (042660.KS) database in April last year, a South Korean opposition lawmaker said on Tuesday. North Korea has often been implicated in cyber attacks in South Korea and elsewhere but Pyongyang has either ignored or denied accusations of hacking. We are almost 100 percent certain that North Korean hackers were behind the hacking and stole the company s sensitive documents, Kyung Dae-soo of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party told Reuters by telephone. Daewoo Shipbuilding has built several South Korean warships, including an Aegis-class vessel and submarines. It was most likely North Korea had obtained blueprints for these, he said. The hacking was discovered by a division under South Korea s Ministry of Defence in charge of investigating cases of cybercrime, said Kyung, who received a briefing on the investigation. How sensitive and classified the seized documents were was not known as that was not disclosed by the investigative team, he added. A spokeswoman for Daewoo Shipbuilding said she was unaware of the issue until early Tuesday and the company was in the process of confirming the details of Kyung s remarks. The investigative team came to the conclusion North Korea had hacked Daewoo Shipbuilding because the hacking method was very similar to other attacks that North Korea was thought to be behind, Kyung said. Hackers in North Korea are believed to have been responsible for a recent cyber heist in Taiwan - the latest in a string of hacks targeting the global SWIFT messaging system. Earlier this month, another South Korean lawmaker had said North Korean hackers had stolen a large number of classified military documents, including South Korea-U.S. wartime operational plans. And British authorities said last week they believed North Korea was behind the WannaCry ransomware attack in May that disrupted businesses and government services worldwide, including the National Health Service in England. | 0 |
With the rise of Donald Trump, America s racists are coming out of the woodwork in droves. They are also becoming increasingly violent. Yet another incident of racist violence comes to us from Iowa City, Iowa, where a man wearing a surgical mask attacked a black man. Authorities were called to the scene due to a fight, only to find out it was a racist attack.The attacker, Andy Benavidez, 47, told police that the attack was racially motivated. Benavidez hurled racist epithets at his victim, all the while physically assaulting him. The most bizarre part of all was, of course, the surgical mask, and the suspect informed police that the reason for his wearing it was so that he wouldn t be contaminated by black people germs.Benavidez is facing assault charges for his crime, and thanks to the fact that he has admitted that he did it because he is a flaming racist, a hate crime charge will be attached as well.This sort of thing will only get worse as people are given cause to spew their hatred and lash out in violence. It will only be a matter of time before this is a regular and even expected occurrence.Watch a local news report on the attack below:Featured image via video screen capture from CBS 2 Iowa | 1 |
It has been a long time coming — eight years, in fact — but the economic recovery is finally showing up in the average American worker’s paycheck in a big way. There have been plenty of winners in the recovery, which began in : companies, homeowners, investors and, especially, households at the apex of the economic pyramid. But the paucity of gains in pay has stoked anxiety and frustration for many others, a factor in the wave of discontent that Donald J. Trump rode to victory in November. But even as Mr. Trump prepares to succeed President Obama in two weeks, the Labor Department reported on Friday that average hourly earnings rose by 2. 9 percent last year, the best annual performance since the recovery began. And many economists expect the trend to gain momentum this year, as a tighter labor market forces employers to pay more to hire and retain workers. “This is a turning point for the overall economy,” said Diane Swonk, a veteran independent economist in Chicago. While wage growth was robust last year, government data for December showed a more tepid increase in employment, with 156, 000 jobs added during the month, and a slight uptick in the unemployment rate to 4. 7 percent. Until recently, a rise in salaries one month would peter out the next, but the upward trajectory in 2016 reflects wage gains even for Americans at the low end of the pay scale, Ms. Swonk said. Leisure and hospitality workers, for example, saw hourly earnings jump 4. 4 percent from a year earlier, equal to the increase enjoyed by employees in the surging technology sector. To be sure, a number of the economic problems cited by Mr. Trump during the campaign remain: millions of former workers not even looking for jobs, ebbing factory positions and fewer opportunities for the 55 percent of Americans without college degrees or other school credentials. “Strong economic growth doesn’t really matter if it’s not widely distributed,” Ms. Swonk said. “You can have a better economy but still not good enough for people who aren’t participating at all. ” A more comprehensive government barometer of unemployment, which includes workers forced to take jobs because positions were not available, stood at 9. 2 percent in December, a much higher level than at this point in past recoveries. But rising wages should counter the economic undertow, especially if the gains remain . And while a 2. 9 percent increase may not sound like much, it goes much further because inflation is about 1. 7 percent. Economists expect wages to rise by up to 3. 5 percent in 2017 — still below the gains many workers saw in the recovery of the and in the boom of the late 1990s. Although not reflected in the December figures, many workers are getting raises this year because of state increases in the local minimum wage. Some of the increases were substantial, with Arizona, Maine and Washington each raising the floor by $1. 50 or more an hour. Even in California, where, at 50 cents an hour, the wage gain is not as steep, one in 10 workers has gotten a raise. And gains can have a spillover effect, pushing up pay for workers just above the bottom salary tier. For all his criticism during the campaign of Mr. Obama’s economic stewardship, Mr. Trump will inherit an economy that is fundamentally solid. Consumer sentiment, corporate profits and the stock market are all at or near multiyear highs. On Friday, Wall Street embraced the labor market figures, lifting the Dow Jones industrial average close to 20, 000 and a new nominal record. Investors and traders are watching the jobs data closely for clues about when the Federal Reserve Board may next raise interest rates. Last month, the Fed increased interest rates for only the second time in a decade, and policy makers signaled that three more increases could come this year. The wage gains are among the reasons the Fed is likely to stick to that plan, Ms. Swonk, the Chicago economist, said. Monthly job creation last year was well below the 236, 000 average for hiring in 2014 and 2015. But with the economy close to what Fed policy makers and other experts consider full employment, employers are increasing wages, to retain workers and to attract new ones. While the minimum wage increases provide a floor when it comes to pay, the ceiling continues to rise in fields like financial services, sales and technology, said Tom Gimbel, chief executive of LaSalle Network, a Chicago staffing company. “Across the board, I see more aggressive salaries being offered by corporations than at any time in the last 10 years,” Mr. Gimbel said. Seasoned sales representatives are drawing base salaries of $150, 000 a year, compared with $125, 000 two years ago, according to Mr. Gimbel. software developers who once started at around $50, 000 a year can now command $70, 000. Other executives in the Midwest also report upward pressure on wages, including in grittier settings than the fields where engineers and financial professionals cluster. At Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, which has 46 restaurants in the Chicago area and one in Phoenix, pay in hourly positions like server, cook and dishwasher is now about $11. 50 an hour, compared with $10 an hour three years ago. Mark Agnew, the chain’s president, said most of the increase was a result of the steady rise in Chicago’s minimum wage, which has gone from $8. 25 in 2014 to $10. 50 now. It is set to hit $13 by summer 2019. “We want to stay ahead of the minimum wage because we want to attract the best talent,” Mr. Agnew said. A substantial portion of the chain’s 3, 000 workers have been with the company for more than 10 years, a rarity in the restaurant industry that is another benefit of the slightly higher wages. Economists and politicians have long debated whether raising the minimum wage ultimately hurts workers as companies cut positions or leave them unfilled in the face of rising labor costs. So far, that has not been the case at Lou Malnati’s, Mr. Agnew said. The chain has opened about a dozen new locations in the past three years, adding about 600 workers to its payroll over all. “It’s very tricky, and I know the minimum wage may erode job creation in some industries,” he said. “But in my own company, it hasn’t hurt hiring. ” | 0 |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A proposed increase in U.S. defense spending is an internal matter for Washington and does not concern Russia unless it disrupts the existing strategic balance of power, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peso told reporters on Friday. U.S. President Donald Trump this week proposed a $54 billion increase in defense spending and said he wanted to launch the biggest military buildup in American history to make up for what he called a depleted armed forces. | 1 |
By: The Voice of Reason | Regardless of how much information gets released through Wikileaks or Project Veritas revealing grossly immoral, or even criminal conduct between members of the Clinton campaign, neither the mainstream media nor our woefully corrupt Department of Injustice have done anything to even slow the Clinton Crime Syndicate’s march toward the oval office. With each passing day that brings us closer to the election, lies continue to be pumped out with impunity to the voting public at large by the very institutions the public should be able to trust to give them fair and honest reporting or education on important matters. In the following interview, legendary investor Jim Rogers, explains in detail why nothing being reported about the economy is true, and why financial and economic collapse is imminent. Who is Jim Rogers? Why should you care what he says? First of all, listen to him because he’s right. Start learning facts, and stop listening to mainstream media propaganda. They are lying. Your life may depend on being prepared. Second, Jim is hardly alone in his line of thinking. Many of the world’s best economists are saying a global reset is coming that will have an effect on the world like nothing mankind has ever seen before. One famous investor even goes as far as to say the collapse of the U.S. Dollar, and the global reset that follows it, will be the single biggest event in all of human history. Let that sink in… Third, and lastly, you should care what Jim Rogers says because Jim is a legendary investor, one who co-founded the Quantum Fund, and retired at age thirty-seven. Do you know who his partner used to be? George Soros. Do you recall who is involved in virtually every major geopolitical firestorm anywhere on the planet, including the U.S. presidential election right here domestically? Many Trump enthusiasts incorrectly believe Donald Trump can save the U.S. from financial implosion, but in his interview, Jim Rogers explains why it doesn’t matter who wins the election, the problems that plague the U.S. economy are as systemic as the corruption is in Washington. There is no question Donald Trump has created a massive wave of anti-establishment fervor across the country, and there’s equally no question a Trump presidency would soften the blow of a financial collapse, but as Michael Synder explains in the article that follows the Rogers interview, the electoral college math just doesn’t add up to a Trump Win. At this point if Donald Trump is able to overcome the amount of fraud baked into the system by the Clinton campaign, and an electoral map that doesn’t give him a millimeter of wiggle room, it will truly be a miracle of Biblical proportions. In the meantime, Americans had better begin to prepare for the future that awaits them, with or without a President Trump ! Michael Snyder writes: Are we about to see the largest election day miracle of all time? Because as I will show in this article, that is precisely what it is going to take in order for Donald Trump to win. Before I go any further, I want to make it exceedingly clear that I am not saying what the outcome will be on November 8th. As I recently told a national television audience, I do not know who is going to win. In this article I am simply going to examine the poll numbers and the electoral map as they currently stand. But in this bizarre election things can literally change overnight, and it is entirely possible that we could still have another “October surprise” or two before it is all said and done. And without a doubt Donald Trump desperately needs something “to move the needle”, because if the election was held today Hillary Clinton would almost certainly win. What we have witnessed so far during the 2016 election season has been absolutely unprecedented. Just consider some of the things that we have seen up to this point in time. We have never had a bigger “October surprise” than the release of the lewd audio tape from 11 years ago in which Donald Trump claimed to grope women without their consent. We have never seen the mainstream media openly attack a presidential candidate as much as they have attacked Donald Trump . In the past, the big mainstream news outlets at least pretended to be fair and balanced, but this year they have completely discarded all notions of objectivity. They should be completely and utterly ashamed of themselves, and no matter who wins the election they will never be able to get their integrity back. We have also never seen a major party at war with itself this close to a presidential election. It has been said that a house divided against itself will surely fall, and a whole host of prominent Republican leaders have been openly attempting to sabotage the Trump campaign. If Donald Trump is able to overcome all of these factors, it truly will be a miracle of Biblical proportions. As it stands at the moment, however, the numbers are looking quite ominous for Trump . Right now, the Real Clear Politics average of national polls has Hillary Clinton ahead by 6.2 percent. Most political experts consider that to be an insurmountable lead at this stage in the game. But even if Trump can close that gap and pull ahead, that does not mean that he will win the election. In fact, Trump could beat Clinton by millions of votes nationally and still lose. In order to win the election, one candidate has got to get to 270 electoral votes. And on the latest Real Clear Politics electoral map , 262 electoral votes are being projected to go to Hillary Clinton, 164 electoral votes are being projected to go to Donald Trump , and 112 electoral votes are in the “toss up” category. So unless something dramatically changes, Donald Trump is essentially going to have to run the table in all of the closely contested states in order to win, and the mathematical odds of that happening are extremely slim. Let’s take a closer look at this. The first thing that Donald Trump is going to have to do in order to get to 270 electoral votes is to win all of the states that Mitt Romney won in 2012. That would get him up to 206 electoral votes. Unfortunately, it looks like that may be very difficult to do. Romney won North Carolina, but the six most recent polls all have Clinton ahead in that state. Romney also won Arizona, but the most recent poll to be taken there has Clinton ahead by five points. But for a moment, let’s assume that Trump can win all of the states that Romney won. On top of that, there are four other states that Trump must win… #1 Trump must win Florida’s 29 electoral votes. Without Florida, Trump has no realistic path to 270 electoral votes. So on election night if it is announced that Trump has lost Florida, you might as well turn off your television and go to bed because Trump is going to lose the election. Unfortunately for Trump , four recent major surveys all show Trump down by four points in the Sunshine state. #2 Trump must win Ohio’s 18 electoral votes. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio, and the two most recent major surveys show that Trump and Clinton are tied in the state. #3 Trump must win Iowa’s 6 electoral votes. Fortunately for Trump , most recent surveys show him actually leading in Iowa. #4 Trump must win Nevada’s 6 electoral votes. At this point that is looking like it will be very tough to do, because all of the recent polls have Clinton leading in Nevada, including the most recent one that has her up by 7 points. If Donald Trump can win those four states, that still does not get him to 270 electoral votes. Instead, it gets him to 265 electoral votes, and so he would still need one more medium-sized state to win. The most likely candidates for that last state are Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota. Unfortunately for Trump , Clinton appears to have big leads in all four of those states right at this moment. But even if Trump can somehow pull off a miracle and squeak past the 270 electoral vote mark, the truth is that Utah could still mess everything up. Do you remember Evan McMullin? He was the third party “conservative alternative” candidate that was hyped for a couple of days but that seemingly fell off the map afterwards. He is only on the ballot in 12 states, but one of those states is Utah, and it turns out that Evan McMullin is a Mormon. Many Mormons believe that a Mormon will be elected president someday when the U.S. Constitution hangs “ like a thread “. According to this belief, this Mormon president will turn the country around and all sorts of wonderful things will start to happen. Many Mormons thought that Mitt Romney was going to be this president, but now Evan McMullin has become the target of these expectations. So how in the world could Evan McMullin become president? Well, their plan is to have Evan McMullin win Utah, and that could potentially keep both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton from both getting to 270 electoral votes if the election is super close. If that happens, the election would be thrown into the House of Representatives. It is being projected that the House will still be controlled by the Republicans after this election, and so the choice would come down to either Trump or McMullin, and those backing McMullin believe that he would have a realistic shot in that scenario. I know all of this sounds very strange, but this is actually being discussed around family dinner tables all over Utah tonight. And in recent days Evan McMullin has been soaring in Utah. One recent survey shows Trump with a one point lead over McMullin, and another recent survey actually show McMullin leading Trump by four points in the state. So Trump could pull off a miracle and do everything else that he needs to do to get to 270 electoral votes, and Utah could end up messing up everything for him. In addition, it is also very important to keep in mind that Trump could actually get all of the legitimate votes that he needs to win and still have it stolen from him by election fraud . There was widespread evidence of “funny business” in 2012, and this is something that I detailed for a live studio audience down at Morningside earlier this month … Are you starting to see why I would consider this to be the biggest miracle in American political history if Donald Trump actually overcomes all of these factors and wins the election? And we don’t have to wait until November 8th to get some indications about how the vote is going to go. Early voting is already taking place is some states, and so far the signs are not encouraging for the Trump campaign. The following comes from CNN … Democratic early turnout has stayed steady in North Carolina compared to 2012, while Republicans have dropped by about 14,500. In Nevada, Democrats have a smaller early voting deficit today than they did at this point in 2012. And Democrats are slightly ahead in Arizona in the early vote so far, though they are lagging Republicans in the tally of how many Arizonans have requested ballots. Perhaps most surprisingly, Democrats improved their position in conservative and Mormon-heavy Utah, where recent polls have shown a tight race. At this point in 2012, Republicans led Democrats in early voting by more than 22,000 voters. But so far this year, the GOP advantage is only 3,509. But if you do want Trump to win, the good news is that we still have more than two weeks before November 8th. We have seen some extremely bizarre things happen already in this election, and a miracle is definitely not out of the question. In fact, I am of the opinion that it is quite likely that some very strange events could take place between now and early November. So hold on to your hats, because the most interesting portion of the 2016 election may still be ahead of us. THE VOICE OF REASON is the pen name of Michael DePinto, a graduate of Capital University Law School, and an attorney in Florida. Having worked in the World Trade Center, along with other family and friends, Michael was baptized by fire into the world of politics on September 11, 2001. Michael’s political journey began with tuning in religiously to whatever the talking heads on television had to say, then Michael became a “Tea-Bagging” activist as his liberal friends on the Left would say, volunteering within the Jacksonville local Tea Party, and most recently Michael was sworn in as an attorney. Today, Michael is a major contributor to www.BeforeItsNews.com , he owns and operates www.thelastgreatstand.com , where Michael provides what is often very ‘colorful’ political commentary, ripe with sarcasm, no doubt the result of Michael’s frustration as he feels we are witnessing the end of the American Empire. The topics Michael most often weighs in on are: Martial Law, FEMA Camps, Jade Helm, Economic Issues, Government Corruption, and Government Conspiracy. Submit your review | 1 |
PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) - Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi looked poised on Monday for a stunning political comeback as his rightist bloc claimed victory in an election in Sicily that puts it in pole position for a national vote due by next May. The regional Sicilian ballot, held on Sunday, was seen as a dry run for the nationwide election, with many of the island s problems reflecting those of the country as a whole - high unemployment, a debt mountain and sluggish economic growth. An influx of migrants, many of whom arrive in Sicily after being rescued in the Mediterranean, was also a key issue. With all of the votes counted, a center-right bloc backed by the four-times prime minister was more than 5 percentage points ahead of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, with the center left, which governs at the national level, a distant third. Sicily, just as I asked, has chosen the path of real, serious, constructive change, based on honesty, competence and experience, the 81-year-old said in a video posted on Facebook. Nello Musumeci, the center right s candidate for governor of the island, had 39.8 percent of the vote, while the 5-Star s Giancarlo Cancelleri had 34.7 percent. The center left s Fabrizio Micari was lagging on 18.7 percent. The result puts Berlusconi back on the political map after years of sex scandals and graft allegations which had seemed to have reduced the billionaire media mogul to a spent force. Berlusconi cannot run for office due to a 2013 tax fraud conviction. But he hopes the European Court of Human Rights overturns this ban when it reviews his case later this year, which would pave the way for a possible national challenge. He returned to the fray after open-heart surgery last year and campaigned actively in Sicily. Even if the courts deny him the chance to run, he would be an influential figure should the center right capture power again nationally. The result on the island deals a stinging blow to another former prime minister, Matteo Renzi, head of the ruling Democratic Party (PD), which is locked in feuding with erstwhile leftist partners. After a raft of vote setbacks in recent years, Renzi has many critics inside the PD who may now try to mount a challenge to his leadership. Defiant in its defeat, the anti-system 5-Star Movement vowed to reach national government next year, and its leader Luigi Di Maio declared the PD politically dead . Opinion polls suggest the center right will win next year s national vote, but a recent change to the electoral law is likely to stop any one bloc winning an absolute majority of seats, resulting in political gridlock. Sicily is traditionally a center-right stronghold which was poached by the PD in 2012 thanks to splits in the conservative bloc. This time, Berlusconi reunited the coalition behind a widely respected leader with a far-right background. Berlusconi s allies, the Brothers of Italy and the Northern League, reaped rewards with anti-immigrant campaigns, suggesting this will remain high on the agenda for the national vote. From Sicily we will demonstrate that this is a winning model that can triumph at a national level, said Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy party which is the junior partner in the center-right alliance. The centre-left government has moved this year to shut down the flow of migrants from Libya after more than 600,000, mainly Africans, reached Italy over the past four years. But the issue has dented support for the center left, which has further damaged itself by falling prey to ferocious schisms. The maverick 5-Star, founded by comedian Beppe Grillo, had campaigned relentlessly for months in Sicily, looking to take charge of its first region after a string of successes in municipal ballots in recent years, including in Rome and Turin. Di Maio said the party had been penalized in Sicily by low turnout - a record of fewer than half of those eligible cast a vote, showing flagging interest in politics in Italy following years of economic downturn. In two or three months I think many of those who abstained will regret not going to vote, Di Maio said, insisting that if turnout had been 3 or 4 points higher it could have tilted the result in the movement s favor. Despite losing to the center right, the 5-Star Movement s result was a leap from 2012, when its candidate won only 18 percent of the vote in the regional polls. Investors are worried 5-Star might win control of the country. The party bases its appeal mainly on a campaign against corruption and vested interests in Italy, but it has pulled back from a pledge to hold a referendum on continued membership of the euro. Markets were little changed on Monday. | 1 |
NICE, France — At times it was hard to know who was on trial, the smuggler or the state. The defendant, Cédric Herrou, 37, a slightly built olive farmer, did not deny that for months he had illegally spirited dozens of migrants through the remote mountain valley where he lives. He would do it again, he suggested. Instead, when asked by a judge, “Why do you do all this?” Mr. Herrou turned the tables and questioned the humanity of France’s practice of rounding up and turning back Africans entering illegally from Italy in search of work and a better life. It was “ignoble,” he said. “There are people dying on the side of the road,” Mr. Herrou replied. “It’s not right. There are children who are not safe. It is enraging to see children, at 2 in the morning, completely dehydrated. “I am a Frenchman,” Mr. Herrou declared. The trial, which began on Wednesday, is no ordinary one. It has been substantially covered by the French news media for its rich symbolism and for the way it neatly sums up the ambiguity of France’s policy toward the unceasing flow of migrants into Europe and the quandary they present. France, foremost among European nations, prides itself on enlightened humanitarianism, fraternity and solidarity. And yet, perhaps first among them, too, it is struggling to reconcile those values with the pressing realities of a smaller, more globalized world, including fear of terrorism. The contradictions are being played out in courtrooms, in politics and in farmers’ fields, on the sidewalks of Paris and in train stations from the Côte d’Azur to the northern port of Calais, where the government demolished a giant migrant camp in the fall. On the one hand, politicians in this year’s presidential election are competing to see who can take the toughest line on securing France’s borders. Most are promising a crackdown on migrants, with admission reserved for cases of political persecution. Terrorist attacks, including the one last summer in Nice that killed 85 people, have exacerbated sentiment. But in these remote mountain valleys, where Jews fleeing the Nazis and the Vichy collaborators found refuge during World War II, Mr. Herrou has become something of a folk hero by leading a kind of loosely knit underground railroad to smuggle migrants north, many destined for Britain or Germany. His work has won him admiration for his resistance to the state and his stand that it is simply right to help one’s fellow man, woman or child. Others in this region seem to agree. In the square outside the courthouse, hundreds of sympathizers gathered and shouted, “We are all children of immigrants!” Mr. Herrou got a hero’s welcome as he descended the steep steps late in the evening, trailed by television cameras. Inside, not even the prosecutor, Prêtre, seemed to want him there and praised his cause as “noble. ” He asked for an sentence, but quickly reassured the court that it should be suspended, “of course. ” Still, the law is the law. “He’s demonstrated a manifest intention to violate the law,” Mr. Prêtre told the court. “One can criticize it, but it’s got to be applied. ” The verdict, which will be made by the panel of three judges who heard the case this week — there was no jury of peers — is scheduled to be announced on Feb. 10. The appeal for leniency was both an acknowledgment of widespread discomfort with the law, as a well as recognition of Mr. Herrou’s growing status in the region around Nice and its mountainous backcountry, the Roya Valley. Mr. Herrou was voted “Azuréen of the Year” last month by the readers of the leading local newspaper, to the fury of regional officials. “I am Cédric,” read one of the placards in the crowd. “Long live the righteous of the Roya,” read another. The courtroom on Wednesday was filled with people from the mountain — the men bearded and ponytailed, the women in duffel coats — who had come to support Mr. Herrou and who were convinced right was on their side. The notion that Mr. Herrou is trying to uphold what he sees as basic French values, rather than violating the law, is much of the reason he appears to enjoy a considerable measure of popular support. The argument formed the essence of his lawyer’s defense strategy. Remember the last word in the French Republic’s motto, “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité,” his lawyer, Zia Oloumi, told the court. “They are saying M. Herrou is endangering the Republic,” Mr. Oloumi told the three judges. “On the contrary, I think he is defending its values. “You see, you have got this value, fraternity, and the dictionary is quite clear,” Mr. Oloumi said. “Think about the impact of your decision on the practical application of the idea of fraternity. ” Mr. Herrou was not making any political points, Mr. Oloumi insisted. He was merely responding to a humanitarian crisis in his own backyard the Roya Valley had become a way station for migrants. The judges did not respond. But the lightness of the sentence called for by Mr. Prêtre suggested that the concepts invoked by Mr. Oloumi had resonance. Mr. Herrou’s accusers seemed most taken aback by his stubbornness. Not every migrant Mr. Herrou picks up is by the side of the road. He finds many outside the migrant camp across the Italian border at Ventimiglia, looking especially for women and children. The presiding judge, Laurie Duca, reminded him he had first been arrested in August, near his mountainside home at with a van full of migrants. At that time, the prosecutor released him, suggesting that Mr. Herrou’s humanitarian motivations absolved him. That first arrest was evidently merely a warning. “After August, you said you knew it was illegal,” Judge Duca remarked in court. No matter. Mr. Herrou persisted, describing his work to journalists last fall and even occupying a disused summer camp owned by the state railroad when his own modest homestead became overwhelmed. At that point, in the authorities decided they had had enough of him. “You were there, and you were extremely active,” the judge said. “Why so much press?” Mr. Herrou replied, “It is right that society should know about all this. ” The judge and the prosecutor suggested that this time Mr. Herrou would not get the humanitarian pass he had benefited from previously. The local political establishment is furious with him. “At the very moment when we need strict controls, Mr. Herrou’s ideological, premeditated actions are a major risk,” Eric Ciotti, the president of the departmental council and a leading member of Parliament, wrote in . Mr. Prêtre, the prosecutor, suggested that Mr. Herrou’s persistence and openness had been his undoing. “Mr. Herrou acknowledges everything,” Mr. Prêtre said, with astonishment. “This trial springs from a communications strategy for a cause that I totally respect. ” And yet, “this is what he told the police. He said, ‘I am violating the law.’ But I am the prosecutor. I must defend the law. ” | 0 |
21st Century WireUS President Donald Trump has accepted a recommendation to dismiss FBI director James Comey. Was this a reprisal for the suddenly widened Russia-gate probe into the White House or was there something else at play within the operations of the deep state?Comey was at the center of a political controversy over much of the last year during the US presidential election cycle in 2016, and well into 2017. Throughout 2016, the former FBI director opened, closed and reopened (only to close again) a probe into Hillary Clinton, her email server and looking into accusations leveled at the Clinton Foundation, while also entertaining a dubious Russian probe into the Trump administration alleged connections to Russia that helped mine various stories, including a so-called dossier regarding the newly elected president in early 2017.In recent years, there have been many highly questionable actions under Comey s leadership at the FBI, such as the Orlando nightclub shooting incident who s main suspect was previously interviewed by the FBI, as well as a highly questionable ISIS inspired shooting event in Garland, Texas linked to an FBI informant case run out of Phoenix, Arizona, and the federal agency s dramatic encroachment on public privacy following a suspicious San Bernardino mass shooting. These are only just a few examples Grabien News highlights a list of scandals that were either attached to Comey or perpetuated under his watch: Here are 10 of Comey s biggest embarrassments at the FBI:1. Before he bombed the Boston Marathon, the FBI interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev but let him go. Russia sent the Obama Administration a second warning, but the FBI opted against investigating him again.2. Shortly after the NSA scandal exploded in 2013, the FBI was exposed conducting its own data mining on innocent Americans; the agency, Bloomberg reported, retains that material for decades (even if no wrongdoing is found).3. The FBI had possession of emails sent by Nidal Hasan saying he wanted to kill his fellow soldiers to protect the Taliban but didn t intervene, leading many critics to argue the tragedy that resulted in the death of 31 Americans at Fort Hood could have been prevented. 4. During the Obama Administration, the FBI claimed that two private jets were being used primarily for counterterrorism, when in fact they were mostly being used for Eric Holder and Robert Mueller s business and personal travel. 5. When the FBI demanded Apple create a backdoor that would allow law enforcement agencies to unlock the cell phones of various suspects, the company refused, sparking a battle between the feds and America s biggest tech company. What makes this incident indicative of Comey s questionable management of the agency is that a) The FBI jumped the gun, as they were indeed ultimately able to crack the San Bernardino terrorist s phone, and b) Almost every other major national security figure sided with Apple (from former CIA Director General Petraeus to former CIA Director James Woolsey to former director of the NSA, General Michael Hayden), warning that such a crack would inevitably wind up in the wrong hands.6. In 2015, the FBI conducted a controversial raid on a Texas political meeting, finger printing, photographing, and seizing phones from attendees (some in the group believe in restoring Texas as an independent constitutional republic).7. During its investigation into Hillary Clinton s mishandling of classified material, the FBI made an unusual deal in which Clinton aides were both given immunity and allowed to destroy their laptops. 8. The father of the radical Islamist who detonated a backpack bomb in New York City in 2016 alerted the FBI to his son s radicalization. The FBI, however, cleared Ahmad Khan Rahami after a brief interview. 9. The FBI also investigated the terrorist who killed 49 people and wounded 53 more at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Despite a more than 10-month investigation of Omar Mateen during which Mateen admitting lying to agents the FBI opted against pressing further and closed its case. 10. CBS recently reported that when two terrorists sought to kill Americans attending the Draw Muhammad event in Garland, Texas, the FBI not only had an understanding an attack was coming, but actually had an undercover agent traveling with the Islamists, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi. The FBI has refused to comment on why the agent on the scene did not intervene during the attack. It s important to remember that Comey is not the only FBI director who bears responsibility for the controversial aspects of 2013 s Boston Bombing. Under FBI director Robert Mueller Tamerlan Tsarnaev came to the attention of the FBI on at least two occasions prior to allegedly being involved in what many researchers have described as a false flag terror event in Boston. A questionable event that has arguably been used as a pretext to further clamp down on individual rights in the US.We should also be reminded that the FBI has been routinely caught foiling their very own terror plots over the past several years.In recent years, the investigative tactics of various intelligence agencies have come into question, none perhaps more dubious then the Newburgh FBI sting that involved entrapping four men to participate in a fabricated event created by the bureau. Here s a 2011 passage from The Guardian describing how an FBI informant named Shahed Hussain coerced four others into a fake terror plot: The Newburgh Four now languish in jail. Hussain does not. For Hussain was a fake. In fact, Hussain worked for the FBI as an informant trawling mosques in hope of picking up radicals.Yet far from being active militants, the four men he attracted were impoverished individuals struggling with Newburgh s grim epidemic of crack, drug crime and poverty. One had mental issues so severe his apartment contained bottles of his own urine. He also believed Florida was a foreign country.Hussain offered the men huge financial inducements to carry out the plot including $250,000 to one man and free holidays and expensive cars.As defence lawyers poured through the evidence, the Newburgh Four came to represent the most extreme form of a controversial FBI policy to use invented terrorist plots to lure targets. There has been no case as egregious as this. It is unique in the incentive the government provided. A quarter million dollars? said Professor Karen Greenberg, a terrorism expert at Fordham University. The reputation of the FBI has suffered greatly in the recent past as well as over the past couple of decades. Incidentally, the FBI is on record as handling Emad A. Salem, a former Egyptian army officer who was a prized undercover operative thrust into confidential informant status and person who played a key role in the 1993 WTC bombing.All of this has happened under the watchful eye of the FBI SWORN-IN FBI director James Comey sworn in by former DOJ head Eric Holder. (Image Source: thewhitehousespin)Over last summer, 21WIRE observed some curious connections between the Clinton Foundation and FBI director James Comey, as well as his questionable handling of other cases related to the Clinton family. Here s the following passage to consider in light of the new information related to the Clinton investigation: Many will also be unaware that before Comey was installed by the Obama Administration as FBI Director, he was on the board of Director at HSBC Bank a bank implicated in international money laundering, including the laundering of billions on behalf of international drugs and narcotics trafficking cartels.Forbes also points out where Comey was also at the key choke-point during the case involving dodgy auditor KPMG which followed on by the HSBC criminal case: If Comey, and his boss Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, had made a different decision about KPMG back in 2005, KPMG would not have been around to miss all the illegal acts HSBC and Standard Chartered SCBFF +% were committing on its watch. Bloomberg reported in 2007 that back in June of 2005, Comey was the man thrust into the position of deciding whether KPMG would live or die for its criminal tax shelter violations. Is this just a surface effort by the White House to clean the slate for an agency perpetually embroiled in controversy?More from RT below Trump fires FBI Director James ComeyRT The FBI is one of our Nation s most cherished and respected institutions and today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement, said President Trump. While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau, Trump told Comey in a letter.The letter announcing the termination was hand-delivered to FBI headquarters by Keith Schiller, a Trump security aide, according to several reports citing a White House official.A search for a new permanent FBI Director will begin immediately.The firing of Comey comes days after he testified to Congress on investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.RT continues here READ MORE FBI NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire FBI Files | 1 |
Email
It appears Bill and Hillary Clinton are making plans to flee the country in the event Donald Trump wins this election.
Reports are circulating that the Clintons have transferred 1.8 Billion dollars from the Clinton Foundation to the Qatar Central Bank, via a facilitation/abatement of JP Morgan Chase & Company for reasons not revealed.
This move of such a large sum of money to the country of Qatar says in itself, Hillary Clinton knows she is going to lose the election, and she doesn’t plan to allow herself to be prosecuted for various high crimes and treason under a Trump Administration.
The country of Qatar happens to be one of a handful of countries that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, thus would be a perfect place for her to run to in escaping justice.
Donald Trump has said many times during his campaign and at the Presidential debates that once he gets into office, he intends to prosecute her on various high crimes from her latest crimes of sending classified material via a personal e mail server. All the way to gun running to terrorist groups in Syria resulting in the deaths of 4 Americans in Benghazi.
Apparently, Hillary is not the only person in Washington who has made plans to escape justice under a Trump Administration. John Kerry has quietly been selling his property in the US for millions of dollars of late, with an announcement of the sale of his $25 million dollar Nantucket mansion in June 2016, as well as the sale of his yacht for $3.9 million in July 2016.
President Barack H Obama has also apparently been making exit plans with his purchase of a $4.9 million dollar seaside mansion in Dubai in January 2016, another non extradition country.
Snopes and other supposed fact checking sites have debunked both the story of Obama’s purchase of the mansion and the firing of Rear Admiral Rick Williams. However, over the last several months, these sites have been busted for lying in trying to debunk such information as the before mentioned, when in fact the information is true.
Snopes and other sites try their best to keep incriminating information from being believed, but the truth has a way of coming out on its own, as it always has. | 0 |
VIDEOS The US Military lied to thousands of soldiers — and now Veterans are paying for it Reevaluating how the U.S. government goes about irresponsibly sending these men and women abroad to fight insurgents who didn’t pose a threat to Americans By Alice Salles - October 26, 2016
Shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon hired Bell Pottinger, a London-based PR agency. The PR firm was tasked with promoting what the Pentagon called “democratic elections” in Iraq, ultimately earning over a hundred million dollars yearly. Part of the firm’s job included producing “fake al Qaeda propaganda films,” the Bureau of Investigative Journalism recently reported .
Despite the PR operation’s hefty price tag, the Pentagon seemed to have no issue allocating taxpayer resources to have these videos produced. But over ten years after the Iraq invasion, the Pentagon is now concerned about its past appropriations — at least part of them, anyway.
Ten years after promising $15,000 bonuses to soldiers willing to re-enlist in 2006 and 2007, the Pentagon is now forcing California veterans to pay back the bonuses.
The Los Angeles Times reports , “officials signed up soldiers in assembly-line fashion” in 2006 and 2007, outlining the “generous terms available for six-year reenlistments” to those willing to sacrifice their safety, leaving their homes, once again, to fight abroad in exchange for a large bonus. Now, the Pentagon wants their money back. To Get Soldiers to Re-enlist, the National Guard Lied
In 2008, the movie Stop-Loss highlighted a reality few members of the public were informed about.
With the growing involvement of U.S. military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers who had already served in Iraq and Afghanistan for several tours were being asked to reenlist. Sometimes, these soldiers’ term duties were extended forcefully via the government’s controversial stop-loss policy , which allows the government to extend the period a soldier must spend on active duty involuntarily.
In California, the state’s National Guard began promising thousands of soldiers that they would receive $15,000 bonuses for going back to war.
Now, nearly 10,000 soldiers who took the National Guard’s promise at face value are being ordered to pay back the bonuses plus interest. In some cases, their wages are being garnished to fund the payments.
This issue was first brought up when veterans “ whose only mistake was to accept bonuses offered when the Pentagon needed to fill the ranks” were the target of an investigation launched in 2010.
After receiving reports of improper payments, a federal probe found “thousands of bonuses and student loan payments were given to California Guard soldiers who did not qualify for them, or were approved despite paperwork errors.”
As a result of the investigation, Army Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, who also served as the California Guard’s incentive manager, pleaded guilty to filing false claims totaling $15.2 million in 2011. Jaffe was sentenced to spend 30 months in federal prison, and three other officers who also pleaded guilty to fraud were put on probation.
Breaking the National Guard’s promise to soldiers whose reenlistment depended on the bonus distribution, the California Guard “assigned 42 auditors to comb through paperwork for bonuses and other incentive payments given to 14,000 soldiers.”
In September 2016, these auditors finalized the investigation, finding roughly 9,700 current and retired soldiers who had been given “improper” bonuses. These soldiers have been told “to repay some or all of their bonuses” since the probe was launched and the first cases were discovered.
According to the California National Guard, these repayments have recovered more than $22 million so far, compromising veterans like Robert Richmond, who now works for a construction company in Texas. He was an Army Sergeant First Class living in Huntington Beach when in 2006, he was asked to reenlist.
“I signed a contract that I literally risked my life to fulfill,” Richmond explained , adding that he only agreed to go back to war because he was told he qualified for a $15,000 bonus as a special forces soldier.
The veteran had gone through a divorce after being deployed to Afghanistan in 2002 and 2003. Asked to consider the bonus to reenlist, Richmond thought the money was going to give him “breathing room,” so he agreed. In 2007, he was sent to Iraq’s “ Triangle of Death ,” an area a few miles south of Baghdad known for intense fighting.
In one of the hundreds of missions against insurgents he was a part of, Richmond sustained permanent back and brain injuries after his vehicle triggered a roadside bomb.
In 2014, the California Guard headquarters contacted him, letting the former special forces soldier know he was being urged to repay the $15,000 bonus he received in 2006. If he failed to make the payment, the letter said , he would face “debt collection action.”
Richmond refused to give the government any money back, filing appeal after appeal. “[Impacted soldiers] want somebody in the government, anybody, to say this is wrong and we’ll stop going after this money,” he said . ‘Support the Troops!’: Code for ‘Don’t Question War?’
In Washington, D.C., lawmakers have condemned the Pentagon, saying the soldiers were not at fault for accepting a bonus they were promised.
Promising to open an investigation into the enlistment bonus problem, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) called the Pentagon’s demands “disgraceful.”
“The Department of Defense should waive these repayments,” McCarthy said in a statement . “The House will investigate these reports to ensure our soldiers are fully honored for their service,” he added.
Rep. McCarthy says the government should not be demanding any money back from veterans in his statement. The California Republican and also argued that “we are the ones who owe a debt for the great sacrifices our heroes have made — some of whom unfortunately paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
Instead of using this opportunity to highlight the importance of safeguarding our soldiers and keeping them from engaging in unconstitutional wars that are only successfully sold to the American public because administrations lie , McCarthy celebrates these very soldiers’ sacrifices.
Using this discussion to repeat the traditional “support the troops” line, lawmakers like McCarthy steer the debate away from what’s causing these soldiers so much pain and distress , acting as if relentless war hasn’t been the reason they were lied to. Instead, McCarthy and others are pushing the government to keep its promise without reevaluating how the U.S. government goes about irresponsibly sending these men and women abroad to fight insurgents who didn’t pose a threat to Americans at the time .
In the 1964 film, The Americanization of Emily , which was based on a novel written by a veteran who had been a SeaBee officer on D-Day, character Lt. Comdr. Charles E. Madison gives a short speech explaining that “[those] who make heroes of our dead and shrines of our battlefields … perpetuate war by exalting its sacrifices.”
Failing to discuss the real costs of war with the American electorate while exalting the sacrifices made by those who serve in the military is part of an ongoing campaign — deliberate or otherwise — to keep America involved in perpetual war.
Don’t believe me? Don’t take my word for it. Instead, read what journalist Randolph Bourne had to say about the country’s thirst for war in 1918: In times of peace, we usually ignore the State in favour of partisan political controversies, or personal struggles for office, or the pursuit of party policies. It is the Government rather than the State with which the politically minded are concerned. The State is reduced to a shadowy emblem which comes to consciousness only on occasions of patriotic holiday. … “With the shock of war, however, the State comes into its own again. The Government, with no mandate from the people, without consultation of the people, conducts all the negotiations, the backing and filling, the menaces and explanations, which slowly bring it into collision with some other Government, and gently and irresistibly slides the country into war.
War, Bourne concluded , “is the health of the state.” This is not because all individuals involved with governing enjoy death and destruction per se , but because “it is … in war that the urgency for union seems greatest, and the necessity for universality seems most unquestioned,” which forces the public to unite behind the state no matter what — especially if the occasion leading to war is “terrifying” the public.
While veterans whose bonuses are being questioned ten years later should be heard and protected from government abuse, we must not forget it was government’s own thirst for war that initiated this cycle of deception. Let us not ignore the reasons why we should support our troops — and how we should go about it; simply claiming to be interested in celebrating U.S. soldiers for their sacrifice does nothing for them. | 1 |
Chuck Norris wrote about Jade Helm 15 in a commentary for the conservative website WND last weekend, pointing to the decision of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to have the Texas State Guard monitor the Pentagon s Jade Helm 15 military ops as evidence that the operations as a potential threat to the state s sovereignty. Governor Abbott wrote: During the training operation, it is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed. And Abbott is demanding regular updates on the progress and safety of the Operation. Norris fanned the conspiracy flames by writing: Concerned Texans and Americans are in no way calling into question our brave and courageous men and women in uniform. They are merely following orders. What s under question are those who are pulling the strings at the top of Jade Helm 15 back in Washington. The US government says, It s just a training exercise. But I m not sure the term just has any reference to reality when the government uses it. A covert training operation by U.S. military special operations personnel, Jade Helm 15, is taking place in a several states this summer, spreading panic and conspiracy theories as to the true purpose of the mission.The two-month simulation spans much of the Southwest, requiring special forces from four branches of the military to carry out covert operations amid hostile territory in Texas, Utah and part of California.In at least one of those states, hostility toward the operation has begun a few months early. Online and at in-person meetings, many Texans have expressed suspicion and outright opposition to the project. Some are understandably worried about how it ll affect their daily lives, while conspiracy theorists claim it s an attempt to institute martial law.The military says that they are merely preforming training exercises to help hone soldiers skills in the event they face a foreign threat, but some citizens are worried that planners have something more domestic in mind.Events for the exercise are outlined in a map among unclassified documents posted online last month. Army sources have verified to The Washington Post that the map is legitimate.Many have speculated that the American government isn t far from declaring martial law, an idea only bolstered by these training exercises.In an anonymous email sent to Dave Hodges at The Common Sense Show, a self-described Texas Ranger said that train cars outfitted with prison-type shackles have been moving about Texas. While he added that the Department of Homeland Security claimed the train cars were for transporting captured terrorists, he was apparently reluctant to believe them. He wrote: We have been told by Homeland that these trains are slated for transporting captured terrorists, non-domestic. We are not sure we can trust this explanation because Homeland is keeping a lot from us and we are growing increasingly uncomfortable with their presence in Texas. The paranoia about Jade Helm, which started on websites like Alex Jones s InfoWars, had started with familiar fulmination about a mass seizure of firearms or a cover-up for American death squads. This week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott asked the Texas state guard to monitor the exercise for any violations of freedom. It is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed, said the governor.Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Saturday that he d been hearing concerns about Jade Helm 15, and reached out to the Pentagon for answers. My office has reached out to the Pentagon to inquire about this exercise. We are assured it is a military training exercise. I have no reason to doubt those assurances, but I understand the reason for concern and uncertainty, because when the federal government has not demonstrated itself to be trustworthy in this administration, the natural consequence is that many citizens don t trust what it is saying. The Texas Senator, speaking at the South Carolina Republican Convention went on to say: I understand a lot of the concerns raised by a lot of citizens about Jade Helm. And I think part of the reason is we have seen, for six years, a federal government disrespecting the liberty of the citizens. That produces fear, when you see a government that is attacking our free speech rights, or Second Amendment rights, or religious liberty rights. That produces distrust. Just because you re paranoid, said Cruz, doesn t mean they re not out to get you. Via: TPNN | 1 |
Former Breitbart Senior Editor MILO celebrated Cinco de MILO today where he announced a number of new Milo, Inc. ventures. [MILO entered his Meme Mansion, packed to the rafters with anxious fans just waiting to get a glimpse of the Dangerous Faggot, with a large snake wrapped around his shoulders and accompanied by a number of large black men, “Welcome to Cinco de Milo! I’m Milo Yiannopoulos!” announced MILO, “I already have my own holiday, October 18th, is celebrated internationally as World Patriarchy Day. But that has been superseded now by Cinco De Milo. ” MILO briefly discussed the events that lead to his exit from Breitbart before continuing, “now you may have heard that I made a couple of phone calls after all that happened, after I’d been sufficiently contrite for a while. And you may have heard that I have raised twelve million dollars. ” the Dangerous Faggot said to the crowd that had begun chanting “MILO” over and over. “I want to tell you all what I’m going to do with that money so we can get back to getting trashed,” said MILO, “first of all, Simon Schuster. I am going to spend the next year making the name Simon Schuster synonymous with censorship. I am going to spend the next year giving out as many free ‘Fuck Simon Schuster’ shirts as I can. ” MILO continued, “do not worry about the scolds and the nannies. So we’re suing them … I am suing Simon Schuster for $10 million dollars. ” “But we’re taking it a step further,” said MILO, “I am going to take not just all of their best authors but all of the best authors of all of the conservative imprints in this country and launch my own imprint called Dangerous Books. We are going to publish every mischievous, dissident, hellraising guy you have ever heard of … We’re going to be going live in the next seven days. ” MILO then announced the return of his touring career stating that he would be launching a student and commercial tour called “Troll Academy. ” MILO stated that Troll Academy would be accepting applications on Monday from venues or colleges that wished to host him. MILO stated that personally would “determine whether you deserve a visit from me. ” In his final announcement of the night, MILO discussed his Free Speech Week at UC Berkeley, which will take place in the fall. | 0 |
Rubio, Cruz, Christie Improve Their Standing In Third GOP Debate
The Republican presidential race entered a new phase Wednesday night as the outsider candidates, who dominated the first two debates, were upstaged by several of their office-holding rivals — and by a budding controversy over the conduct of the third debate itself.
Ben Carson, Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina were all on hand and all had their moments. But the featured performer of the night was Marco Rubio, the senator from Florida who, at 44, is the youngest contestant in the field. Also acquitting themselves well were his Senate colleague, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Chris Christie, the oft-embattled governor of New Jersey.
Christie's much-maligned campaign had barely qualified for inclusion in this debate, but he seemed revivified by the questions and the interchange — especially the contretemps with the CNBC moderators.
"Even in New Jersey what you're doing would be called rude," said Christie, referring to CNBC moderator John Harwood.
Rubio became the debate's focus largely because of tough questions from the CNBC moderators that he deftly turned into recitations of his talking points. When other rivals tried to probe the same vulnerabilities, Rubio was quickly able to flip the polarity and deliver a put down in response.
Questioned about his missed votes in the Senate (the most of any senator this year) and his stated lack of interest in that position, Rubio noted how many votes had been missed by senators in both parties pursuing the presidency in the past.
When Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor sometimes described as Rubio's mentor, renewed the criticism ("What is it in the Senate, a French work week, where you only have to show up for three days?") Rubio wondered why Bush had never spoken out about such things before.
"The only reason why you're doing it now," Rubio charged, "is because we're running for the same position, and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you."
Bush was not able to establish much momentum after that, finishing near the bottom of the list in speaking time. It was his third flat performance in the debate series to date, and the most damaging in its timing. His campaign had highlighted the evening, calling it Bush's chance to rebut suggestions he lacks real enthusiasm for this campaign. In recent weeks, he has seemed diffident and off-message at times in public appearances. He has laid off staff, as his standing in the polls has continued to decline.
Rubio, by stark contrast, was both sharp with a cutting remark and adept at the charming aside. Talking about a program for older people, he beamed boyishly as he said, "I'd never vote for anything that would hurt my mom."
Rubio has been locked in the single digits in national polls and surveys in the early voting states as well. But many who watched the third debate expected that to change. And if the current front-runners should fade, leaving their voters up for grabs, the contest could become between Rubio and Cruz.
The night's peak energy point came when Cruz fielded a typically truculent question from one of the CNBC moderators and hit it out of the park.
"The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media," Cruz said.
The debate audience, clearly a sympathetic crowd, roared its approval, nearly drowning out Cruz as he continued.
"This is not a cage match," Cruz added. "And, you look at the questions — 'Donald Trump, are you a comic-book villain?' 'Ben Carson, can you do math?' 'John Kasich, will you insult two people over here?' 'Marco Rubio, why don't you resign?' 'Jeb Bush, why have your numbers fallen?'"
Cruz contrasted these questions with those at the Democratic debate, even though that event was put on by CNN. He said all the Democrats were asked was, "Which of you is more handsome and why?"
Several of the other Republican candidates tried to get in on the crowd's appetite for media criticism before the evening was over. Their staffs were also complaining about the in-your-face tone of the CNBC crew. After the debate, Carson's campaign manager talked about renegotiating the terms of the remaining debates.
Reince Priebus, the GOP national chairman who took control of the debates this year and made deals with the various news outlets, also expressed dismay after the debate and said changes would be made to future formats.
Meanwhile, the man who has been proud of leading in polls among Republicans since July, Donald Trump, held his own Wednesday night despite a disappointing slide to No. 2 in some of the most recent tests both nationally and in Iowa. Trump delivered his stock lines about taxes, immigration and badly negotiated deals on trade and foreign relations. But the Trump presence was a measure less effervescent than on the stump or in earlier debates.
The new leader in some polls, Carson, the retired neurosurgeon, reprised his role as the quiet man on stage. He had less speaking time than almost any other candidate, and when he had the spotlight, he did little to hold it. Asked for a weakness, he cited his failure to think of himself as presidential material ("until hundreds of thousands of people began to tell me that I needed to do it"). He also seemed unsure of his footing at times when describing his tax rate plan and other economic matters.
But Carson, too, took the opportunity to push back on the CNBC journalists. When Carl Quintanilla asked about Carson's association with a controversial maker of nutritional supplements, Carson flatly denied any involvement and called the assertion "pure propaganda."
In fact, Carson starred in a promotional video for the company and may face more questions about his statement in the days ahead. But when Quintanilla tried to follow up, the crowd booed and Carson took the out: "See," he said, "they know."
Carly Fiorina, regarded by many as the standout performer in the Sept. 16 debate, managed to get more speaking time this time than any of her rivals — in part, by resisting the moderators. But while she came across as self-assured and offered one of her best defenses of leadership at Hewlett-Packard a decade ago, Fiorina did not have a memorable exchange with Trump or any of the candidates.
The other four candidates who took part may have experienced more frustration than fulfillment. Rand Paul, a senator from Kentucky, was one of the three candidates with fewest minutes of airtime. His efforts to climb into the tax debate were largely unsuccessful. Mike Huckabee had his usual moments of folksy humor but few scoring opportunities.
The man who had the highest hopes for this round may have been John Kasich, the governor of Ohio who has tried to go after the non-politician front-runners, attacking the unrealistic promises of lower taxes and an end to illegal immigration. Kasich kicked off the evening with thinly veiled criticisms of Carson and Trump as potential occupants of the Oval Office.
"My great concern is that we are on the verge, perhaps, of picking someone who cannot do this job," he charged, adding, "We need somebody who can lead."
Trump promptly fired back with a withering rebuttal about Kasich's Ohio success being a windfall from oil produced by fracking, and about Kasich's partnership at Lehman Brothers shortly before that Wall Street firm collapsed and set off the worst of the 2008 financial panic.
Kasich had a comeback, but his offensive came up short. | 0 |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Reuters) - Missouri lawmakers pushed through bills on Wednesday eliminating the need for permits to carry concealed weapons and requiring voters to show a photo identification before casting a ballot, overriding Democratic Governor Jay Nixon’s vetoes of the bills. Both votes by the Republican-controlled state House and Senate reached the two-thirds majority required to enact legislation over the governor’s veto. The weapons bill abolished a state law requiring a permit, training and background checks for people who want to carry a concealed weapon in the state. The House voted 112-41 to override Nixon’s veto and the Senate voted 24-6. Supporters of the bill said it will make the state safer by allowing more residents to carry firearms in self-defense, while still banning certain criminals and mentally incompetent people from having a gun. In vetoing the bill in July, Nixon said the measure struck an extreme blow to sensible safeguards against gun violence. Earlier on Wednesday, the state Senate voted 24-7 and the House 115-41 to override Nixon’s veto of a bill requiring voters to produce a government-issued ID instead of less official identification such as a utility bill or bank check. The bill would not take effect until 2017, after this year’s presidential election, and only if voters in November pass a state constitutional amendment in support of the new law. That is necessary because the Missouri Supreme Court ruled 10 years ago that such a statute violated the existing state constitution. Courts in recent months have blocked voter ID laws passed in several states by Republican-led legislatures after civil rights groups argued the measures were discriminatory against poor and minority voters. In Missouri, voters without a photo ID can still vote if they sign an affidavit swearing that they lack any type of identification. However, election officials can take their picture, and steps must be taken to get a photo ID for later use, with the state covering the cost. Supporters of the bill said it will help prevent voter fraud. “Why not have more certainty in the election process?” Republican Representative Justin Alferman, the bill’s main sponsor, said in a statement before the vote. Opponents had argued that the ID requirement places an undue burden on young, minority and low-income voters who tend to support Democratic candidates. “Putting additional and unwanted barriers between citizens and their ability to vote is wrong and detrimental to our system of government as a whole,” Nixon said in explaining his veto. | 1 |
A Drexel University professor who said he wanted to vomit after he saw an airline passenger give their first-class seat to a U.S. soldier engaged in a heated debate tonight with Tucker Carlson.Watch: George Ciccariello-Maher argued that it s irresponsible to blindly support wars that lead to the deaths of Americans and foreign civilians, so he wanted to yell about Mosul when he saw the act of kindness on the plane.Tucker pointed out that Ciccariello-Maher s issue appears to be with U.S. foreign policy-makers, yet he s blaming the soldiers. Why is it bad to give them a first-class seat? Tucker asked. Somebody s trying to be nice to guy who s going through all these hardships and that makes you mad. Why? FOX Insider | 0 |
The 8 Biggest Threats to Humanity Exposed These individuals and families are the real people behind our political corruption, our planet's... Print Email http://humansarefree.com/2016/11/the-8-biggest-threats-to-humanity.html These individuals and families are the real people behind our political corruption, our planet's destruction, and our economic enslavement. It's time the world learns their names. With attention squarely focused on the criminality of politicians , particularly that of the US presidential candidates, it’s easy to overlook the people really responsible for all this chaos. Much of the US’ political landscape for over a hundred years, and arguably long before, has been controlled by a small minority of wealthy families and individuals with a specific agenda. Through political and economic machinations over the years, these groups and their minions have funded both sides of wars and profited from them. They own the corporations who pollute our planet and exploit us all.They own the banks which make us slaves to imaginary debt. They own the politicians and police forces that are meant to serve us, yet they seek to undermine us and our “democracy” at every turn. Regardless of where you live, the following people are working against all of us, seeking only to procure still more power and influence and control every aspect of our lives. It’s about time we learned their names. 1. The Rockefellers The Rockefellers are arguably one of the most evil families in American history.J.D. Rockefeller, the US’ first billionaire, was responsible for monopolizing the American Medical establishment over 75 years ago, and led the campaign to discredit other natural remedies in favor of the pharmaceutical industry he helped to create. He and his descendants later funded the Tavistock Institute for Human Relations, which used Freudian techniques to influence the opinion of the masses. Graduates of this institute went on to assume leadership roles in mainstream media, the government, and corporations. David Rockefeller is the only surviving grandson of J.D. Rockefeller, and, as such, continues his family’s dark legacy by using his incredible personal wealth. He has openly admitted that his family’s long-standing plan has been to create a one world government controlled by elites saying: “Some even believe [the Rockefellers] are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’, conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure – one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I’m proud of it.” David Rockefeller has been instrumental in planning the advent of this “new world order” via his influence in the Bilderberg Group , Trilateral Commission, and the Council of Foreign Relations. 2. Henry Kissinger Henry Kissinger is a war criminal like no other , though some of his proteges – such as Hillary Clinton – have come close. Not surprisingly, he’s been one of David Rockefeller’s closest friends since 1954.Kissinger, while serving as Nixon’s Secretary of State, oversaw a bloody coup in Chile , an illegal bombing campaign in Cambodia, and millions dead in Vietnam. (Read more here ).However, because of his insider connections to the military-industrial complex, Kissinger ended up being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize , a decision so outrageous that several members of the Nobel committee resigned in protest. Though Kissinger no longer serves as secretary of state, he still wields enormous influence and works as a consultant for some of the biggest names in US and international politics. He has served as a mentor to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and has been largely influential in the development of the US’ system of perpetual war.His legacy is evident in the never-ending ‘War on Terror’ , and in the extrajudicial killings of US citizens via the covert drone war. 3. Larry Summers Larry Summers may not be very well-known, but his influence has been substantial nonetheless.Summers was a key player in economic policy under Bill Clinton’s administration, serving various important positions within the US Treasury until becoming the Secretary of the Treasury in 1999. Summers, along with his mentor Robert Rubin, were responsible for deregulating the US banking system via the removal of the Glass-Steagall Act, making him more responsible than any other person for the economic crisis of 2008, as well as the economic crisis we are soon to face.Not only that, Summers also conspired with a cabal of banker big-shots to deregulate the banks of the entire world. Summers and his cronies forced nearly every government in the world to sign the Financial Services Agreement, an addendum to the international trade agreements managed by the World Trade Organization. The only country that refused was Brazil, one of the few countries who avoided the worst of the 2008 crisis. Summers pushed all of this deregulation to make the bankers richer as the 2008 crisis was essentially a massive wealth transfer from the people to the bankers. With Summers still very influential in the US government, his work will only make the inequality divide in the US worse with time. 4. George Soros George Soros is one of the most notorious billionaires in the world. Soros made it rich as a currency manipulator, famously making a billion dollars in one day by initiating a British financial crisis and betting on the outcome.During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Soros was accused by the Malaysian government of bringing down the nation’s currency through his insider trading activities. He did something similar in England, prompting Thailand to call him an “economic war criminal.”Yet, Soros is more well-known for his funding of political causes, as well as his machinations that helped lead to Europe’s refugee crisis . Soros has also been accused of rigging elections as he has strong ties to several of the companies which produce electronic voting machines. Many of these Soros-funded voting machines malfunction and even switch votes. Soros also pushes for a “one world government” , and has worked to erode American sovereignty as well as the sovereignty of other nations in pursuit of that goal. 5. The Rothschilds Last but not least, we have the Rothschild family. The Rothschilds are arguably the richest family in the world and essentially own a majority of the world’s central banks – which are private institutions in most countries – as well as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The Rothschilds’ most well-known patriarch, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, once said : “Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes the laws.” This has been the maxim of the Rothschild family ever since. The Rothschilds are also responsible for Zionism , a racist ideology opposed by many Jews , and the State of Israel, which has caused numerous wars in the Middle East in its short history and is responsible for the unbelievable suffering of the Palestinian people. ( The Rothschilds are also the founding fathers of Israel, owning about 80% of it ). With so much money and so much power, the Rothschilds have incredible amounts of influence in US and international politics, so much so that even Hillary Clinton has begged them forgiveness in leaked emails . This one family has the power to economically destroy any nation that doesn’t do what the Rothschilds want. — Reference And the list is not complete without... 6. Bill Gates (and his wife) The list of serious threats to mankind's existence is not complete without one of the world's top depopulationists: Bill Gates. He was involved in some of the most disgusting depopulation scandals of this century, yet the mainstream media continues to portray him as a savior and hero.He and his wife are responsible for pushing depopulation vaccines in developing countries, via their sick foundation: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. During a TED Talk , Bill Gates explained that the increase of CO2 volume is caused by a high number of humans being alive and breathing: "The world today has 6.8 billion people... now if we do a really great job on new vaccines, healthcare, reproductive health services, we could lower that [number] by perhaps 10 or 15%." Their oral Polio vaccination program caused 47,500 cases of paralysis in India. "Clinically indistinguishable from polio paralysis but twice as deadly, the incidence of NPAFP was directly proportional to doses of oral polio received. Though this data was collected within the polio surveillance system, it was not investigated." You can read more on the subject here . Bill Gates' "philanthropy" included using 30,000 Indian girls as Guinea Pigs for testing an alleged cancer vaccine. Even though the Gates foundation has the wealth to give these tribes access to clean water, sanitation services, nutrition and low stress living conditions, they instead push for HPV vaccines and call them "well-being" shots.The young girls, aged 9 – 15, were instructed to line up for three doses of the vaccine. As the months rolled on, the health of the 16,000 girls rapidly deteriorated. Five of the girls died shortly thereafter.In Vadodara, Gujarat, another 14,000 or more tribal children were put to the test. This time the Gates Foundation carried out their humanitarian healthcare mission by providing the HPV vaccine called Cervarix, made by Glaxo SmithKline.Instead of seeing their health improve, the tribes reported numerous, bizarre adverse events in the days, weeks and months following vaccination.Young girls in India lost weight, appetite and stamina. 16-year-old Aman Dhawan had no idea he was even signed up for the vaccine trial.Soon thereafter he began to lose weight and energy, as the life was sucked right out of him. The same problem broke out among girls in Colombia, where the same vaccine had been doled out to the young girls there.When health reporters and activists visited Andhra Pradesh, they met more than 100 young girls who were now having epileptic seizures, severe mood swings and migraine headaches.The toxins that had been deliberately injected into them caused additional health problems such as early menstruation, heavy bleeding and menstrual cramps – problems the tribes had not experienced before in such severity or magnitude.You can read more on the subject here . George Soros and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation were also traced at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak. Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone, which has been at the eye of the Ebola storm, houses a US biosecurity level 2 bioweapons research lab with links to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Soros Foundation. There, US biodefence scientists have been working on viral fevers such as Ebola for decades.A nurse who worked there broke the story that they are responsible for the EBola outbreak, but lab quickly insisted she was mentally ill. You have to wonder how a mentally ill person was considered fit to work in such a sensitive and dangerous facility. But of course, she probably was completely sane, and just fearless enough to tell the truth.You can read more on the subject here . Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has now started the sterilization of Indian girls. According to Science Alert, 6,000 women have already been subjected to the anti-fertility injections and Melinda Gates is now planning to roll out the anti-fertility contraception to millions of women, according to the Hindustan Times. You can read more on the subject here .His infamous foundation is also working on developing GMO mosquitoes that will one day carry this kind of vaccines (or maybe even deadly viruses) to unsuspecting human beings. Recently, Bill Gates has pushed the population control agenda one step further: he announced the development of a remote-controlled contraceptive microchip , which can be implanted under the skin and last up to 16 years.The remote-contraception thing may sound fancy and cool at first, until you realize that the microchip can easily be implanted under the skin of millions without their knowledge and consent, and used as a population control tool. You can read more on the subject here . 7. Ted Turner Even less shy about the depopulation agenda, CNN founder Ted Turner is explaining to anyone that is willing to listen why he supports the reduction of the world's population by at least 2 billion: “We’re too many people; that’s why we have global warming.” Unfortunately for him and other fervent depopulationists, both the overpopulation myth and the man-made global warming hoax , have been repeatedly debunked. (The world's resources are not evenly distributed, hence the high number of starving people whilst, at the same time, others are trowing away more than 50% of their food. It has nothing to do with overpopulation, and everything to do with the obsolete & oppressive financial system , as well as the poor management of Earth's resources. As for the "man made" global warming, the sun is responsible for temperature fluctuations, just as it has been for billions of years before humans were even around. If CO2 was the cause of global warming, then stopping the mindless deforestation and starting a global campaign of reforestation would solve the problem in a very cost effective way. But because the sun — and not people — is responsible for the Earth's warming and cooling cycles, the deforestation continues and we are being taxed from all sides for using the products that are made available to us. How is this going to stop the rising levels of CO2 is eluding me, but the general population fell for the scheme and people such as Al Gore are going to become billionaires for pushing a hoax ). Ted Turner's "one child per family policy" could be taken more seriously if he would lead by example. But, just as Leonardo di Caprio is preaching about the importance of having a low CO2 footprint whilst traveling in private jets, Mr. Turner wants us to have a maximum of one child per family, whilst he has five children himself. Well, I guess these rules would only apply to us, the "peasants," and not to the members of the "elite." 8. Zbigniew Brzezinski Brzezinski infamously stated that: “In earlier times, it was easier to control a million people, literally, than physically to kill a million people” while “today it is infinitely easier to kill a million people than to control a million people.” To the NWO, who are heavily into eugenics and depopulation, it is no big deal to kill a million people. As you can see, the members of the ruling "elite" talk about us like we are cattle.Their plan, as laid out in the Georgia Guidestones , is to reduce the world’s population to 500 million, which is a much “manageable” amount. You can read more on the subject here . Just like Henry Kissinger, a top architect of the New World Order , Zbigniew Brzezinski is partially responsible for spilling the blood of millions around the world.Asked in 1998 if he regrets being one of the architects who engineered the CIA-instigated battle between Afghans and Russians (which resulted in 12,000 direct deaths), he replied: “Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it?” 6 billion dollars later and a 10-year war, over a million were reported dead . I guess, being responsible for the death of over a million people gives Brzezinski a thrill. Addendum The list is far from being complete, but these eight figures are some of the most visible depopulationists of the moment. Of course, this is all part of the New World Order plan of the 13 "elite" families , which includes reducing the world's population by about 90%. By Whitney Webb, TrueActivist.com and Alexander Light, HumansAreFree.com Dear Friends, HumansAreFree is and will always be free to access and use. If you appreciate my work, please help me continue.
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John Roberts was first to question the tweets from president Trump Great job by Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She was able to defend why President Trump is hitting back at MSNBC:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qZqK6i4SOkBill Hemmer had a milder conversation with Sanders: President Trump Fights Fire with Fire Sarah Huckabee Sandershttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qj9NFgRyEUThings have certainly changed since the campaign season when Mika and Joe were a little friendlier to Trump. That was then and things have gotten worse than ever now. Trump is attacked every day with disgusting words that would be shocking if it had been done to President Obama. Can you imagine? Trump is attacked for just about everything and the one time he hits back he s attacked even more.Women are also outraged that he s attacked Mika but Mika has been dishing it out every day and obviously can t take it. Does she want equality with men or not? Trump will hit back no matter the sex. He s a fighter.We d love to know what you think about the latest tweet from President Trump. did he go too far or are you happy he finally hit back at Joe and Mika of MSNBC?Here s what Trump said in case you missed it: | 0 |
SAN FRANCISCO — If Apple had its way, this week would play out like Christmas for . First, unbelievable anticipation. Then, great surprise. At the end, immense satisfaction. When the latest iPhone is unveiled here on Wednesday in a auditorium, it probably will instead be more like Christmas for a sneaky who long ago peeked at his present. Thanks. That’s it? Anyone who cares enough about the iPhone to know that a new model is being released this month already knows what it is supposed to be like: a little thinner, a little faster and equipped with superior cameras on the Plus model. By far the most controversial feature, however, is the one that will be missing: a headphone jack. A standard element of technology that can be traced back to 1878 and the invention of the manual telephone exchange, the jack is apparently going the way of the floppy disk and the folding map. The future will be wireless. We know about this potential absence thanks to a global information chain, one that shadows the supply and manufacturing chain that produces Apple’s products. The shadow chain is intended to ferret out Apple rumors: promoting them, discussing them and then discussing them some more, long before they become facts. This rumor mill is both a gift to Apple and a burden, a sign that it has not lost its magic and a warning that everyone is on watch for the moment it does. No other company is tracked quite so relentlessly. Under its Steve Jobs, Apple relished its ability to keep news under wraps and went to great lengths — legally and otherwise — to make sure it remained that way. “There is one more thing, and we’ve managed to keep it secret,” Mr. Jobs exulted in 1999 as he introduced iMacs in colors like blueberry and tangerine. “It’s hard to believe, but we did it. ” It was an ambition that his successor, Timothy D. Cook, underlined at a conference four years ago. “We’re going to double down on secrecy on products,” he said. Things have not quite worked out that way. “When Steve Jobs was around, there was still that hope they could surprise you,” said Gene Munster, an Apple analyst. “Today, that hope is largely gone. ” The long road to unraveling this week’s surprises began last November, less than three months after the iPhone 6s had debuted to gangbuster sales. The Japanese website Mac Otakara, considered a generally reliable source of information that has ties to the factories manufacturing the phone, wrote about Apple removing the jack in the next iPhone under the heading “rumor. ” For anyone not ready to go wireless, the story said, wired earphones would plug into the iPhone via Apple’s Lightning connector, which is typically used for charging power. Traditional headphones would presumably work through a converter. This was big. “Headphones are one of the most basic functions, so this is something that’s going to affect users of all kinds,” said Eric Slivka, editor in chief of MacRumors. com. “I immediately knew it would be an extremely controversial topic all the way until launch. ” A post on the MacRumors site, drawing from the Mac Otakara story, included a cautionary note that began, “Should this rumor prove to be true . .. ” The post received 1, 100 comments from Apple aficionados who had no doubt it was and who, in general, did not like the idea of no jack. Cellphones were once like bricks, but losing the jack so the iPhone could be even thinner was felt by some to be a bad bargain. “Any thinner and I’ll lose it into the continuum forever,” one commenter joked. MacRumors exists for these kinds of moments. So does AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, 9to5Mac and similar sites in various languages, all of which picked up the news and chewed it over. During the next six weeks, helped along by further stories on Chinese blogs, the mainstream media picked it up as well. Newsweek, sounding rather overwrought, asked, “Is Apple Ready to Kill the Beloved Headphone Jack?” A Fast Company article announced that Apple would be dropping the jack — “It’s True,” read the headline — and added that the iPhone would probably support wireless charging and be waterproof. By early January, emotions were at a fever pitch. An online petition from SumofUs. org, which more than 300, 000 people have signed, denounced Apple for creating more electronic waste — presumably, headphones that will no longer work with the iPhone and be thrown out. Some commentators explained that even if people used adapters with their old headphones, they were gaining things, too. Other commentators noted that people complained that Apple never innovated anymore, and yet here it was innovating, and people were complaining anyway. Then came the rumor that the headphone jack was not going away after all. The Chinese website Mydrivers. com published a photo of what it said were the innards of the new iPhone with the jack right there. “Has the rumor mill been lying to us?” wondered Cult of Mac. “Surely not!” Two weeks ago, with the volume of commentary picking up as the big reveal approached, even Apple’s other Steve Wozniak, weighed in. “If it’s missing the 3. earphone jack, that’s going to tick off a lot of people,” he told the Australian Financial Review. But he added a conciliatory note: “We’ll see. Apple is good at moving towards the future, and I like to follow that. ” Perhaps it is better to be forewarned about what the future holds rather than be forced to confront it abruptly. “We soften the blow,” said Neil Hughes, managing editor of AppleInsider. “Can you imagine that if no one saw it coming and Apple just dropped this on Wednesday? People would lose their minds. ” Apple, which declined to comment for this article, most likely has a different view. In late 2004, it went after several websites, including AppleInsider, saying that when they posted details about unreleased products, they were publishing stolen property. At first Apple found success in court but the ruling was sharply reversed on appeal. It was ordered to pay $700, 000 to cover the sites’ legal fees and generally looked like a bully. For several years, Apple sold a in its Cupertino, Calif. campus store that read, “I visited the Apple campus. But that’s all I am allowed to say. ” A recent Apple presentation poked fun at its extensive security measures. But even if the company can now have a laugh or two at its own expense, its philosophy has not changed. “Do you remember when you were a kid, and Christmas Eve, it was so exciting, you weren’t sure what was going to be downstairs?” Mr. Cook said when asked about the rumored Apple car at the annual shareholders’ meeting last February. “Well, it’s going to be Christmas Eve for a while. ” Apple might be the richest company in the world, and quite possibly the coolest, but feel for it for a moment. It has to keep making the iPhone exciting enough so tens of millions of people immediately buy one. Apple depends on this. Never before has a company so large and influential been tethered to one consumer product. And that product, which recently celebrated its sale, may have already hit saturation. Apple sold 40. 4 million iPhones last quarter, a drop from 47. 5 million during the same period in 2015. It was the second straight quarter of declines. “I think we’ve reached peak iPhone,” said Seth Weintraub, of 9to5Mac. But only for the moment. Even as the Apple faithful wait to see all these rumors confirmed, the scuttlebutt and speculation have started about next year’s model. It will be the iPhone’s 10th anniversary, which means the stakes are going up. “Apple is hopefully turning on the development afterburners,” Mr. Weintraub said. “We hear it wants the phone to resemble a sleek glass slab. It’s supposed to be a statement, a really big deal. ” Assuming, of course, the rumors are true. | 0 |
George, Barack and Hillary the axis of evil Professional race activists Deray McKesson and Johnetta Elzie (ShordeeDooWhop), pictured here in Baltimore, helped whip up the Ferguson mobs. This year Fortune Magazine named these two professional activists two of the world s greatest leaders.Many conservatives rightly smelled a rat in the supposed organic race-riot movement that sprang up so quickly in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014 after the shooting death of robber Michael Brown. After burning the Ferguson and Dellwood, Missouri business districts to the ground the radical left has relentlessly sought to recreate the same discord and disinformation in various locations around the U.S. Ferguson #BlackLivesMatter protest leaders have been flown to New York, South Carolina, Milwaukee, Selma, and more recently to McKinney, Texas and Hillary s campaign relaunch in New York.Thankfully, every day patriots and online conservative investigators still fight to shine truth, anywhere the movement tries to sow its twisted seeds to foment anger, feed bitterness, and breed division.Much has been printed about the paid protesters and Soros connections.** Nearly half of the roughly 500 businesses operating in Ferguson and adjacent communities, such as Dellwood and Jennings, suffered property damage or lost revenue as a result of the coordinated Ferguson protests and riots.In May black Ferguson activists staged a protest at the office of MORE (Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment) to complain that the group s white leaders collected tens of thousands of dollars in donations off of the Black Lives Matter movement without paying the Black participants their fair share. It was during these protests that Ferguson activists admitted that fellow protesters were making MORE THAN $5,000 a month to disrupt cities, damage property and attack police!In response to these protests MORE released a list of names and amounts paid out to protesters and protest groups who agitated and harassed police night-after-night in Ferguson last fall and winter.The list of over 80 groups and individuals was posted on Twitter by an irate protester. Via Weasel ZippersOne of the protest leaders who showed up in Ferguson shortly after Michael Brown s death was DeRay McKesson from Minneapolis. DeRay and fellow activist Johnetta Elzie (ShordeeDooWhop) were nationally recognized and celebrated by the liberal media as two of the top stars of the violent protest mob.We now know that DeRay McKesson has been working with and for Soros-funded groups since he was in junior high school. We know this because DeRay released his resume online this past weekend.DeRay says he s been living off of savings for the past nine months as he s turned up in Ferguson, Baltimore, New York City, Milwaukee, Selma, McKinney and this past weekend he was at Hillary Clinton s campaign relaunch in New York state.DeRay and Charles Wade, Solange Knowles s stylist, the founder of Op Help or Hush have known each other for three years. Wade and McKesson were regular Ferguson protesters. That means the two have been affiliated well before Michael Brown went on his crime spree. DeRay has used his capacity, as Charles calls it, to push the movement s agenda far and wide.DeRay has long been known for his skill at community organizing .He served as president of his class at Bowdoin College, as well as president of Bowdoin Student Government. While at Bowdoin, DeRay reportedly grew close to Bowdoin President Barry Mills, whose wife, Karen Gordon Mills, served in the Obama Administration. DeRay just happened to stay on the couch of an unnamed Bowdoin alum when he first descended on Ferguson.After graduating from Bowdoin, DeRay worked for the Harlem Children s Zone, run by none other than Bowdoin alums Druckenmiller and Geoffrey Canada. Coincidentally, Geoffrey served on the Open Society Institute s board.Throwback, meeting HCZ's Geoff Canada. pic.twitter.com/ocyw6Yo57q deray mckesson (@deray) February 16, 2015DeRay also worked for the movement linked Teach For America, another radical Soros-funded group.But DeRay s ties to Soros and community organizing seemingly date back even further, to McKesson s teen years, at least. Suffice it to say, DeRay has been tied to Soros for more than a decade, through many programs.Perhaps DeRay s long and numerous apparent ties to Soros explain how he was so quickly dispatched to Ferguson, Missouri to take control of the protesters and become the powerfuls approved and promoted voice on the ground. As DeRay said, People will come out into the streets to confront a system that is corrupt. Yet, DeRay seems to be molded, directed, and funded by some of the most powerful men in that very system. It looks as if someone may be pulling the strings behind the scenes to foment rage as this astroturf anti-police movement spreads from Ferguson to other points in America.Via: Gateway PunditAND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST...Here s Deray throwing his support behind Hillary on Twitter! What a surprise | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A single, short electronic message can land a U.S. lawmaker in heaps of trouble, even when it does not include lewd photos or inappropriate language. The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics on Tuesday reminded the chamber’s members they are not allowed to draft, edit, comment on or send campaign communications from a House building, regardless of a message’s length or form. It added they should not engage in campaign-related activity even in a hallway, office or cafeteria, and ethics rules also apply to messages sent from personal devices. “In this age of always-on mobile communications, members may find it impractical or unreasonable to have to exit a House building before sending a three-word campaign email,” the committee wrote. “However, that is what the relevant law, rules, and regulations require.” The 14-page report wrapped up an investigation into Representative Ben Ray Lujan, who joined fellow Democrats more than a year ago in a sit-in supporting a measure that would have blocked suspected terrorists from buying guns. Lujan chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which currently recruiting candidates for the 2018 elections, and his office cast the case as “politically motivated.” “Congressman Luján is committed to abiding by House rules and will continue to do so in the future,” said his communications director, Joe Shoemaker. Social media lit up during the sit-in and television endeavored to cover it around the clock, even when House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, turned off cameras and microphones. At one point Lujan forwarded a campaign volunteer a copy of an email asking people to sign a petition with the message: “Get something out.” Because he may have sent those three ambiguous words while in the chamber, he risked running afoul of strict limitations meant to ensure representatives, who must run for re-election every other year, do not use their offices for political advantage. Also, his campaign consultants emailed out a donation solicitation purportedly written by the New Mexico representative as he sat on the floor that included a photograph of a video of him during the sit-in. Using closed-circuit footage for partisan purposes is prohibited. The committee closed the case without further action. It could not determine if Lujan was in a House building while sending his email, but did say he was ultimately responsible for his consultants’ violations. His campaign has taken steps “to prevent any recurrence of this issue in the future,” the report said. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The tax oversight committee in the U.S. House of Representatives will hold public hearings in coming weeks as the panel prepares to unveil legislation to overhaul the U.S. tax code, congressional aides said on Wednesday. The plan for hearings emerged during an hour-long meeting between House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady and 15 panel Democrats, according to a House Democratic aide. There were no details about when the hearings would occur, what tax reform issues would be addressed or whether the full Ways and Means Committee would preside. “We had a positive and open discussion, and I appreciated the opportunity to engage in a two-way dialogue,” Brady, a Texas Republican, said in a statement afterward. The Republican-led committee is expected to unveil tax reform legislation this spring in preparation for a summer vote on the House floor. Committee staff have been working to craft a bill based on a House Republican blueprint that would sharply cut taxes for businesses and individuals. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Wednesday that the House, Senate and White House, all controlled by Republicans, “aren’t on the same page yet on tax reform.” Brady announced the bipartisan meeting earlier this week, saying the discussion would focus on ways to simplify the U.S. tax code for individuals and prevent U.S. companies from moving production and research facilities overseas - two Republican objectives. “It was clear from this meeting we share the same fundamental goals on tax reform, particularly as it relates to growth and simplicity,” a Republican committee aide said. Brady underscored his intention to include a border adjustment tax provision in tax reform legislation, aides said. The policy, which would impose a 20 percent tax on imports, has divided the business community and drawn criticism from Republicans in the House and Senate. Wednesday’s meeting marked the first time Brady sat down with the committee’s Democratic members to discuss the House Republican tax reform plan, aides said. But the bipartisan atmosphere was jarred by the release of a letter from committee Republicans to President Donald Trump, calling for the removal of John Koskinen as Internal Revenue Service commissioner. Koskinen was appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama. “Democrats raised this letter with Republicans during the meeting, noting how this type of partisan action hurts the prospects for bipartisanship in other issues, such as working together on issues like tax reform,” the Democratic aide said. | 1 |
TRUNEWS 10/28/16 Dr. Yvette Isaac | Weiner-Gate Derails Clinton Campaign October 28, 2016 Will Weiner-Gate be the scandal that derails the Clinton campaign? Today on TRUNEWS, Rick Wiles details the fallout from FBI Director James Comey’s historic decision to re-open the investigation into Hillary’s private email server. Rick also speaks with Dr. Yvette Isaac, the General Director of Roads of Success, about the Godless genocide of Syrian Christians at the hands of ISIS jihadists. Lastly, Fior Hernandez provides an update on the persecution of Georgia Pastor Dr. Eric Walsh, who was subpoenaed to relinquish his sermons and Bible for a politically correct governmental review.
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The Democratic presidential nominee is in the midst of a multiday, high-dollar fundraising blitz across the country.After a weekend packed with five fundraisers in Martha s Vineyard and Cape Cod in Massachusetts (including one with an appearance by Cher), Clinton is traveling today to California, where she will attend seven fundraisers over the next three days.Pop icon and prolific tweeter Cher hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton on Cape Cod Sunday that reportedly raised more than $1.5 million for the Democratic presidential nominee s campaign. Approximately 1,000 people attended the summer celebration event at the Pilgrim Monument & Museum in Provincetown, including the 70-year-old Believe singer, who did not perform, according to the Cape Cod Times.She then travels to the Hamptons in New York this weekend for even more fundraising events.The Clinton campaign s decision to prioritize private fundraisers over public campaign events appears to be twofold.Hollywood A-lister Jennifer Garner hosted a fundraiser for the Democratic nominee for president Hillary R. Clinton campaign Thursday, Aug. 18th at the home of Benjamin and Penelope Pierce from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.Jennifer Garner, the star of Dude, Where s My Car? is a active supporter of Democratic candidates. In the 2016 cycle, she donated $5,940 to Act Blue, a left-wing Political Action Committee, as well as 5,400 to the aborted congressional campaign of Democract Melissa Gilbert, who starred in the 1970s TV series Little House On The Prairie. Garner, who no longer uses the surname Affleck in legal filings since beginning the process of divorcing actor Ben Affleck, also gave $2,700 to California Democrat Kamala Harris s Senate campaign. Breitbart | 0 |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California will move its presidential primary from June to March under a bill signed on Wednesday by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, a change aimed at giving the liberal-leaning state more influence in choosing candidates from either national party. The most populous U.S. state, which voted heavily for Democrat Hillary Clinton in November’s presidential election, has traditionally held its primary so late that Democratic and Republican voters in other states had essentially already chosen their parties’ candidates. “The Golden State will no longer be relegated to last place in the presidential nominating process,” said Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat who backed the change, in a statement. “Candidates will not be able to ignore the largest, most diverse state in the nation as they seek our country’s highest office.” The bill was passed mostly along party lines in the majority-Democrat legislature. The new date will leave the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in place as the first and second contests of the presidential election cycle, during which voters in each state choose the candidate they would like their party to nominate for president. Because California’s primary has been in June while others were held earlier, candidates have largely ignored the state, spending less on outreach than elsewhere, making fewer visits, and failing to prioritize California voters’ concerns in their campaigns, supporters said. In 2016, California Democrats chose Clinton and Republicans opted for Donald Trump, the populist businessman who ultimately won the presidency. Backers in the legislature said the early primary would lead to less divisive choices by members of both major parties in the 2020 election cycle, and establish California as a leading voice in the choice of candidates. Progressive Democrats also believe that moving the primary up could result in their party’s selection of more liberal candidates. “California is the beating heart of the national resistance to Trump, and California Democrats are defining the progressive agenda for America,” state Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman said in a press release. “When it comes to deciding the Democratic nominee, our voices need to be heard early in the process.” | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will hold a news conference on April 27 to discuss veterans issues, as he tries to elevate an issue he campaigned on heavily last year. Trump made the statement as he signed into law the Veterans Choice Program Extension and Improvement Act, which allows veterans to obtain more access to healthcare outside the Department of Veterans Affairs system. The news conference was scheduled to be held as Trump nears the 100-day benchmark of his presidency on April 29. Trump spent a lot of time advocating for better treatment for veterans during his presidential campaign last year. He said that at the news conference he would discuss progress at the VA since he took office on Jan. 20. | 0 |
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union wants a transition period after Brexit to end no later than Dec. 31, 2020, according to the European Commission s negotiating directives agreed on Wednesday. The transitional arrangements should apply as from the date of entry into force of the Withdrawal Agreement and should not last beyond 31 December 2020, the published text showed. Coinciding with the end of the EU s current seven-year budget period, the end of 2020, 21 months after Brexit at the end of March 2019, had long been expected as the target end date of the transition but this was the first official confirmation that this is the official goal of the Union negotiators. British Prime Minister Theresa May had formally asked for a transition to last around two years. The four pages of new directives for EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier were in line with guidelines issued by EU leaders at a summit on Friday and will form the basis of talks on the transition which Barnier hopes to start next month. They spell out that Britain will be effectively still a member of EU institutions, bound by all their rules including new ones, while not having a say in their making. The EU will also offer Britain a non-voting place at some meetings where decisions may affect specific issues and will set up special arrangements for a UK role in setting annual EU fishing quotas. The directives also spell out more clearly that EU treaties with other countries and international organizations will no longer apply to Britain during the transition period. However, the document adds: Where it is in the interest of the Union, the Union may consider whether and how arrangements can be agreed that would maintain the effects of the agreements as regards the United Kingdom during the transition period. This has been important to Britain since it could mean that it no longer benefits automatically from free trade agreements which the EU has with, say, Canada or South Korea, while, as the directives underline, it would still have to apply EU trade policy for example collecting EU customs duty at UK ports. Among elements spelled out more in the transition directives than in the leaders guidelines last week was a repetition of a previously agreed EU position that everything applying to Brexit for Britain would also apply to other British territories. Brussels has previously said the Spanish government must agree any future arrangements with Britain that affect the British territory of Gibraltar on Spain s southern coast. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will host Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House of Representatives’ top Democrat Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday night to discuss tax reform and other items on the legislative agenda, the White House said. The president will meet the two top Democrats “for bipartisan discussions on the upcoming legislative agenda, with a focus on tax reform,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. | 0 |
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The head of an opposition alliance in Honduras on Tuesday said the group would file a legal challenge to annul the official results of last month s disputed vote that handed victory to the sitting president. | 1 |
0 - items Only Geniuses & Schizophrenics Can Pass This 3 Question Quiz!
Many neuroscientists estimate that as much as 98% of all brain activity is unconscious. Just think about that for a second – 98%.
All that unconscious activity is influenced heavily by the world around its subconscious cues. To demonstrate that, we’re going to call on a super cool quiz. The premise is simple; only geniuses and schizophrenics can answer the following three questions. Which one are you? Continue to find out!
There are no hints! You either know it or you don’t!
The test you’ve just done relies on what researchers call the ‘contraposition method.’ This method tests the extent of a person’s awareness and brain processing power. It’s a super complicated method with tons of ‘moving parts,’ so to speak, but here’s what you need to know for the purpose of this article: There are objects which one can reasonably say are unrelated. Most people would assume, for example, that a race car and a hurricane have very little connection. A genius who thinks outside of the box, however, would deduce some sort of connection. A schizophrenic patient would also deduce a connection because of the way the illness makes people see non-existent connections in just about everything. In other words, if the quiz in this article left you scratching your head, you’re normal. If not, one of two things is true – you’re brilliant, or you have schizophrenia.
Don’t worry, I won’t leave you guessing. Here are some facts that will help you figure out which one you are: Geniuses will have taken their time to think before blurting a response. Did you get the answers right? What do you think – are you a schizophrenic or a genius? As far as the schizophrenia angle goes, this post is not a diagnostic tool. It can get you thinking about schizophrenia and, if you have concerns, you can see a psychiatrist for a proper evaluation.
Sources: | 0 |
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A decision on Friday by a Brazilian federal judge to freeze the assets and companies of the billionaire Batista family is legally fragile because it is based on newspaper reports and not on prior judicial rulings, the lawyers representing the family s investment holding company J&F Investimentos SA said. In a statement, the lawyers said a decision by Federal Judge Ricardo Leite of the 10th District Court of Bras lia demanding the family deposits 1.6 billion reais ($506 million) to compensate state development bank BNDES is unjustified because J&F was to pay a slightly bigger fine as part of a May leniency accord. Earlier in the day, Leite ordered the assets of the Batistas be frozen as part of an investigation. ($1 = 3.1615 reais) | 1 |
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) said on Thursday registration for PRI contenders in the July 2018 presidential election will begin on Dec. 3, and that a national convention would pick the candidate on Feb. 18. In a statement, the PRI said the national convention would be made up of around 19,100 delegates to be chosen during the second week of December. President Enrique Pena Nieto is barred by law from seeking a second six-year term. Ruling Mexico continuously from 1929, the PRI had become a byword for corruption by the time it was voted out in 2000. Pena Nieto returned the party to power in 2012, but a slew of corruption scandals, ongoing gang violence and anemic growth have sapped the PRI s credibility in the past five years. The party faces an uphill struggle to hang on to power, and veteran leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, twice a runner-up for the presidency, has led most early polling for 2018. The run-up to the election takes place in the midst of fraught discussions between Mexico, the United States and Canada over the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which underpins much of the region s commerce. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to walk away from the accord if he cannot rework it in favor of the United States. The three nations have pledged to keep talking through March. | 0 |
If Oklahoma Republicans have their way, the suicide rate among LGBT teens will skyrocket.LGBT teens are, by far, the most vulnerable group within the LGBT community because they are not considered adults yet and therefore are subject to the will of their parents, teachers, and school administrators. Many teens are scared to reveal their sexuality out of fear that they will be ostracized and discriminated against.And that appears to be exactly what Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kerns wants since she has introduced several anti-gay bills this year as part of her ongoing hate crusade against gay people.The most egregious bill of the three is HB 3044, which forbids school officials from referring gay students in crisis to councilors or therapists who would actually treat them like human beings.According to Slate,The bill states that no public school counselor, therapist, social worker, administrator, teacher or other individual can refer a student under the age of eighteen to any individual, organization or entity if the referral pertain[s] to human sexuality. In fact, public school counselors can t even provide the contact information, business card, brochure or other informational materials of a gay-friendly organization to students.The only way students would get to see gay friendly therapists is if they notify their parents, which would out them as being gay, thus making the situation worse and opening themselves up to further ridicule and bullying that could push them over the edge.But that s not the only bill Kerns is pushing to persecute gay people.HB 1598 would protect ex-gay conversion therapy, even though the American Psychiatric Association opposes it. And this bill works perfectly with HB 3044 because it would funnel gay teens to anti-gay therapists who would likely pressure their patients to enter such a program.And then there is SB 733, which would ban anyone with HIV or other communicable or infectious diseases from getting married.These bills are specifically designed to discriminate against gay people. And the laws are particularly cruel toward gay teens who need understanding and caring professionals to talk to instead of hateful people who will only make things worse. It s like Republicans are literally trying to make sure these kids commit suicide and that should make every parent sick despite how you might feel about homosexuality.Featured Image: Children s Advocate | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Tuesday linked repealing a key component of Obamacare to their ambitious tax-cut plan, raising new political risks and uncertainties for the tax measure that financial markets have been monitoring closely for months. In comments that infuriated Democrats and left some senior Republicans unsure what comes next, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters: “We’re optimistic that inserting the individual mandate repeal would be helpful and that’s obviously the view of the Senate Finance Committee Republicans as well.” The finance panel, which had been in session for two days, abruptly adjourned on Tuesday as Democrats slammed the Republicans’ handling of their tax proposals, for which formal legislative language has still not been unveiled. Ron Wyden, the committee’s top Democrat, demanded more time for Democrats to discuss the issue “because we were never told that healthcare was going to be part of it and this just flew in literally out of nowhere in the last 20 minutes.” Tying Obamacare to the tax program introduces new risks for the Republicans and for President Donald Trump. Together, they have yet to score a major legislative win since Trump took power in January, even with control of Congress and the White House. The president, who has struggled in his relations with Congress, suggested in a tweet on Monday that the mandate repeal should be added to the tax plan, following up on a similar Nov. 3 tweet. No final decision on such a move was made at the Senate Republicans’ weekly luncheon, Senator Susan Collins told reporters afterward. She played a key role in July’s collapse of a years-long push by fellow Republicans to gut Obamacare, former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, formally known as the Affordable Care Act. “I personally think that it complicates tax reform to put the repeal of the individual mandate in there,” Collins said. Asked if she would back the tax bill if a mandate repeal were added, she said: “I’m going to wait and see.” Senator John McCain, who was also central to his party’s failed Obamacare repeal earlier this year, was non-committal on putting the mandate repeal in the tax plan, saying: “I want to see the whole bill before I decide.” The Senate and House of Representatives are developing separate tax-cut packages they plan to reconcile eventually and send to Trump’s desk for enactment into law, an outcome Republicans are eager to achieve so they can face U.S. voters next year with at least one major legislative achievement. House Speaker Paul Ryan, asked why the repeal of the Obamacare mandate was not in the House version of the tax proposal, told Fox News on Tuesday: “We didn’t want to complicate tax reform, make it harder than it otherwise would be.” The House had already agreed to eliminate the mandate in a healthcare bill it passed in May, he noted, adding: “We want to see the Senate go first and see if they can get that done and then we’ll discuss whether or not it’s included at the end.” The Trump administration strongly supports the House version of the tax legislation, saying its passage would be “an important first step in achieving comprehensive tax reform,” the White House said in a statement on Tuesday. U.S. financial markets have been watching closely, with U.S. stocks rallying in recent months, partly on hopes of business tax cuts. They showed little reaction to Tuesday’s developments. The individual mandate requires Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty to Washington, a provision that Republicans have long opposed as government overreach. But 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. Underscoring the devastating consequences for Obamacare if the mandate were repealed, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said last week that such a change would increase the number of Americans without health insurance by 13 million by 2027. The CBO added that mandate repeal would raise the average insurance policy premiums in the Obamacare marketplaces by about 10 percent annually over the next decade. Repealing the mandate would also lower the federal deficit by $338 billion over the same time period, the CBO said, a finding that several Republican senators said influenced the move. Eliminating the individual mandate would lower the number of Americans with health insurance, meaning the federal government would spend less on subsidizing coverage for lower- and middle-income people, making that money available to pay for tax cuts. Neither the Senate nor the House tax plans now includes repealing the mandate. But both plan would add about $1.5 trillion over 10 years to the federal deficit and the national debt, which now exceeds $20 trillion. Congressional Republicans hope to pass tax legislation by the end of the year and are moving fast, despite uncertainties. They hold only a razor-thin 52-48 majority in the Senate. If Democrats remain united in opposition, Republicans could afford to lose no more than two senators from within their own ranks and still secure passage of tax legislation. Democrats have dismissed the Republican plans as deficit-expanding giveaways to corporations and the wealthy. Representative Lloyd Doggett, a senior member of the House tax committee, said in a statement that the House tax bill was “just a way to curry favor with Washington special interests – awarding tax windfalls to large multinational corporations and the fortunate few that sit way atop the economic ladder.” | 0 |
On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the 906-page health care reform law known as Obamacare. It was, as a live microphone caught Vice President Joe Biden exclaiming to his boss, a big deal, with Biden memorably inserting an extra word for emphasis—and for history—between “big” and “deal.”
Obamacare would cover millions of the uninsured, a giant step toward the Democratic dream of health care for all. It also included dozens of less prominent provisions to rein in the soaring cost and transform the dysfunctional delivery of American medicine. It was the kind of BFD that the most consequential presidencies are made of, even though it had squeaked through Congress without any Republican votes, and few Americans truly understood what was in it.
Even fewer Americans understood what was in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, the 55-page addendum that officially finalized Obamacare. This was the strange legislative vehicle that Democrats had jerry-rigged to drag reform around a Republican filibuster. Its substance was mostly an afterthought—the New York Times ran a dutiful story on page A16 after it passed—but as Obama noted when he signed it the next week at Northern Virginia Community College, it included another BFD.
“What’s gotten overlooked amid all the hoopla, all the drama of last week, is what’s happened in education,” he said.
Yes, education. Tucked into the parliamentary maneuver that rescued his health care law was a similarly radical reform of the trillion-dollar student loan program. When Biden’s wife, Jill, a professor at Northern Virginia, introduced Obama that day, she called it “another historic piece of legislation.” The House Republican leader, John Boehner of Ohio, complained that “today, the president will sign not one, but two job-killing government takeovers.”
Obamacare wasn’t really a government takeover, but the student loan overhaul actually was; it yanked the program away from Sallie Mae and other private lenders that had raked in enormous fees without taking much risk. The bill then diverted the budget savings into a $36 billion expansion of Pell Grants for low-income undergraduates, plus an unheralded but extraordinary student-debt relief effort that is now quietly transferring the burden of college loans from struggling borrowers to taxpayers. It all added up to a revolution in how America finances higher education, completely overshadowed by the health care hoopla and drama.
Over the past seven years, Americans have heard an awful lot about Barack Obama and his presidency, but the actual substance of his domestic policies and their impact on the country remain poorly understood. He has engineered quite a few quiet revolutions—and some of his louder revolutions are shaking up the status quo in quiet ways. Obama is often dinged for failing to deliver on the hope-and-change rhetoric that inspired so many voters during his ascent to the presidency. But a review of his record shows that the Obama era has produced much more sweeping change than most of his supporters or detractors realize.
It’s true that Obama failed to create the post-partisan political change he originally promised during his yes-we-can pursuit of the White House. Washington remains as hyperpartisan and broken as ever. But he also promised dramatic policy change, vowing to reinvent America’s approach to issues like health care, education, energy, climate and finance, and that promise he has kept. When you add up all the legislation from his frenetic first two years, when Democrats controlled Congress, and all the methodical executive actions from the past five years, after Republicans blocked his legislative path, this has been a BFD of a presidency, a profound course correction engineered by relentless government activism. As a candidate, Obama was often dismissed as a talker, a silver-tongued political savant with no real record of achievement. But ever since he took office during a raging economic crisis, he’s turned out to be much more of a doer, an action-oriented policy grind who has often failed to communicate what he’s done.
What he’s done is changing the way we produce and consume energy, the way doctors and hospitals treat us, the academic standards in our schools and the long-term fiscal trajectory of the nation. Gays can now serve openly in the military, insurers can no longer deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions, credit card companies can no longer impose hidden fees and markets no longer believe the biggest banks are too big to fail. Solar energy installations are up nearly 2,000 percent, and carbon emissions have dropped even though the economy is growing. Even Republicans like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who hope to succeed Obama and undo his achievements, have been complaining on the campaign trail that he’s accomplished most of his agenda.
“The change is real,” says Ron Klain, who served as Biden’s White House chief of staff, and later as Obama’s Ebola czar. “It would be nice if more people understood the change.”
In a conflict-obsessed media environment that is not exactly geared toward substantive policy analysis, Obama’s technocratic brand of change has tended to be more opaque than, say, Donald Trump’s plan for a wall along the Mexican border or Bernie Sanders’ promise of free college for all. At times, its complexity has camouflaged its ambition. At other times, its ambition hasn’t lived up to Obama’s rhetoric; not everything has changed in the Obama era. For example, he talked a big game about eliminating wasteful programs, but other than killing the F-22 fighter jet, an absurdly expensive presidential helicopter and a hopelessly captured bank regulatory agency called the Office of Thrift Supervision, he hasn’t done much of that.
The most obvious thing Obama hasn’t done is usher in a new era of public enthusiasm for government action and the Democratic Party. He was reelected by a comfortable margin, but conservative Republicans have taken back both houses of Congress and made impressive gains in statehouses on his watch, riding a powerful wave of hostility to federal overreach. That political legacy could imperil some of Obama’s left-of-center policy legacy if a Republican is elected to succeed him. It has already stymied gun control and immigration reform, while forcing Obama to accept deep spending cuts he didn’t want.
But it’s remarkable how often Obama has gotten what he wanted, in many cases policies that Democrats (and sometimes moderate Republicans) have wanted for decades, and how often those policies have slipped under the radar.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio said on Thursday he was challenging House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who has led the party in the chamber for 14 years, as Democrats question their strategy and leadership after a stinging general election defeat. Ryan, 43, who has been in Congress since 2003, said in a statement that Democrats had only been in the House of Representatives majority for four of the past 18 years, “and last week’s election results set us back even further.” “Vote for me and I will dedicate all of my energy to lead us back into the majority,” said Ryan, who is from an old working-class, steel area of northeastern Ohio, the type of region the Democrats want to wrest back from Republicans. “At this time of fear and disillusionment, we owe it to our constituencies to listen and bring a new voice into leadership.” Democrats had expected to do much better in the Nov. 8 election, when Republican Donald Trump, a New York businessman with no experience in public office, won the White House on the back of working-class voters. Republicans kept their majorities in both Senate and House after some Democrats had predicted double-digit wins in the House and a chance to win the Senate. Ryan announced his long-shot challenge after several days of publicly weighing it. Pelosi, 76, of California, claims she has support of two-thirds of Democrats before they vote Nov. 30. “I’m respectful what people are saying. There’s a lot of unease,” Pelosi said when asked about the potential challenge. “And as members in there said, we cannot be taking in the full responsibility for what happened in the election ... a lot of it was beyond our control,” she added. A senior House Democratic aide called Ryan’s bid a “publicity stunt.” He said Ryan had shortchanged party coffers, paying only half of his dues owed since 2014 to the party’s campaign committee. Ryan’s office declined comment. At a closed-door meeting of House Democrats Thursday, about half the roughly two dozen lawmakers who spoke “said we need new leadership,” Representative John Yarmuth of Louisville, Kentucky, said in an interview. He declined to say who he would support. Representative Emanuel Cleaver II of Kansas City, Missouri, was also noncommittal but said the caucus should “take his (Ryan’s) candidacy seriously and contemplate where the caucus is, and where it could go under his leadership.” | 1 |
Orlando, Florida (CNN) They get the bronze medal every four years in what is really a two-person race.
That's what it must feel like to be a third-party candidate in a two-party country.
But between Donald Trump's abrupt takeover of the GOP and Bernie Sanders' climb from long-shot Democratic candidacy to head of a national progressive movement, 2016 has been a year for party outsiders. And Libertarians hope that could give them an opening.
What gives them hope?
The likely Democratic and Republican nominees each have historically high unfavorable numbers . Media attention for the party, both the national committee chairman and the party's political director say, is at unprecedented levels.
So it is with an air of opportunity to break out of obscurity that Libertarians, members of the country's most prominent third party, have gathered for their national convention in Orlando, Florida, this weekend to officially pick a candidate to pitch to angry voters.
Many expect former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential nominee in 2012, to leave Orlando Sunday evening once again his party's standard-bearer.
Since last week, Johnson has made the rounds touting his newly minted alliance with former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who is seeking the party's vice presidential nomination. The two former governors, who both also happen to be ex-Republicans, are fielding a ticket of sorts, although the Libertarians elect their nominees separately and no formal ticket will exist at the convention until the party selects its presidential and vice presidential nominees.
But Johnson and Weld first have to navigate an openly hostile convention, characterized by its insular proceedings and unwelcome to moderates.
Weld will have to overcome meaningful differences between his demonstrated policy preferences, particularly past support for gun control measures, and his willingness to support Republican politicians. Just this year, the colorful former governor endorsed Ohio Gov. John Kasich for president.
His supposed transgressions from Libertarian orthodoxy have earned him outright disdain from many of the party's attendees. He received loud boos at his introduction to the party's vice presidential debate, where he stuck to reciting his conservative bona fides and applauded his opponents on stage.
"We are not Republican-light," Larry Sharpe, a vice-presidential candidate said in a takedown of the Johnson-Weld ticket mere inches away from the former Massachusetts governor.
Asked after the debate, Weld said he thought such attacks "were not an issue one way or another."
Despite his bruising reception, Johnson said he would strongly prefer not to continue his bid without Weld, arguing they were "arguably the two most Libertarian governors that ever served."
Weld doubled down on this kind of rhetoric at the convention, saying that should Trump win the presidency, "We will be the rogue nation. We will be the North Korea."
Johnson, meanwhile, has several serious challengers gunning for the top spot on the third-party ticket.
Among them is Austin Petersen, a young, hardcore party advocate with strong backing in Libertarian Internet circles. He recently announced the endorsement of Mary Matalin and Erick Erickson, vocal anti-Trump conservatives.
Petersen rolled through the convention, glad-handing delegates and circling back to his open-door suite, filled with meatballs and alcohol for supporters. He belted out insults for Trump, calling him "Cheetos-faced" and "fascist" as his supporters, who he called "freedom ninjas," hollered in support.
However, in a party that generally swings liberal on social issues, Petersen is unabashedly anti-abortion. He is also 35 years old.
Also expected to post significant support is notorious entrepreneur John McAfee, a man who has forged an international identity after becoming a pioneer in the field of cybersecurity. Last fall, McAfee launched a presidential bid under the banner of his newly formed political organization, the Cyber Party. As the fall continued, McAfee declared his intention to seek the nomination of the Libertarian Party.
Building off of his name, his intense personality and his sweeping command of Libertarian sweet spots, McAfee has made a serious bid for the top of the ticket.
Although McAfee has little history with the party and no experience governing, his controversies -- including going into hiding following the shooting death of a businessman near his island compound in Belize -- and his lack of political experience may actually make up for it. In an election cycle dominated by a brash billionaire and reality TV star, McAfee's libidinous, shadowy, drug-fueled history and cavalier demeanor occasionally might not hurt much in a party built on opposing government control.
The primary has become somewhat contentious and McAfee has repeatedly said that he will not support Johnson if the former New Mexico becomes the nominee.
Petersen said he would "pull it for Gary" if the former New Mexico governor won the nomination. Weld said he wasn't sure what he'd do if Johnson was not the nominee.
"I'm in this because of Gary Johnson," Weld said.
The Libertarian nominee will appear in ballots in 50 states, but...
Of course, securing the nomination is only one step -- and an extremely easy one, relatively speaking -- on the path to a Libertarian presidency.
The eventual nominee, whoever it is, will have to compete in the general election, where the odds of victory for the Libertarian Party stand at roughly zero.
If that performance repeats itself in the 2016 general election, it will mark the 12th cycle in a row where no third party has earned a single vote in the Electoral College.
Compared to other years and other third parties, however, the Libertarians have plenty to feel good about. The Libertarian Party has navigated the multitude of onerous requirements for ballot access in all 50 states, a task unaccomplished by any other third party.
Put more simply, the Libertarian nominee will be the only name outside of the mainstream choices on the presidential ballot in all 50 states on November 8.
On the ballot, but not the debate stage
Johnson, echoing many other third-party candidates, regularly stresses the Libertarian Party's need to join the presidential debates. Inclusion in the presidential debates requires strong poll performance, which, of course, requires inclusion in the polls themselves.
From the "Never Trump" crowd to the nascent "Bernie or bust" movement, the eventual Libertarian nominee might have room to grow a base and shake up the already volatile presidential race. | 0 |
Chris Christie just had yet another terrible day at the hands of his new boss, Donald Trump. In what is becoming a trend, Trump once again used Christie as his personal punching bag, while the humiliated governor was forced to stand close by and grovel.At a campaign stop in Ohio, Trump took a dig at the state s governor John Kasich by noting that he was such a bad governor, that he may have even been worse than Christie. Christie was standing off to Trump s side, forced to pretend to like it as he was mocked by the man he endorsed for president. It was surreal. Your governor, Kasich, if you look at him, and I m being totally impartial, he goes to New Hampshire, he s living in New Hampshire. Living. Where s Chris? Is Chris around? Even more than Chris Christie he was there. [Trump points at Chris, standing just off camera] Right?! Ouch. The dig is particularly bad because Christie has often been accused of abandoning his state to promote himself. But don t worry, Chris. Trump felt awfully bad about telling a crowd that you are terrible. I hated to do that, Trump said with a smile, but I had to make my point. The scorching by his new best friend comes at a very awkward time for Christie. The New Jersey governor has been getting hammered by critics in his state for abandoning his job to run a failed campaign for president and then immediately jump on the Trump bandwagon, and avoid his job again. Already, many are calling for Christie to resign or face impeachment.On the very same day that he was being shamed by Trump, Christie set off a firestorm of outrage when he announced he would be in Ohio rather than attend the funeral of a police officer who had been killed in the line of duty.Local media outlets reported that hundreds of police officers, family members and friends attended Cullen s funeral in Washington Township, N.J.Christie, however, was not one of them.Instead, the former 2016 White House hopeful hosted a town hall forum with Trump at noon on Monday, the same time Cullen s funeral was scheduled for, at Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C.He then joined Trump for his Ohio event.This isn t the first time Christie has had to stand with a grin while Trump brought him to heel in front of thousands of people and dozens of news cameras. Earlier this year, a hot mic captured Trump telling Christie to get off the stage they were sharing and get on the plane. The incident quickly went viral, confirming many of the rumors swirling about Trump s campaign and his obsession with not letting anyone share his spotlight.Why does Christie suffer through this level of disrespect? That s easy. His career as governor is doomed, and he s shooting for attorney general in Trump s administration. Who needs self-respect when you have a job lined up from your new boss who hates you?Featured image via YouTube | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday designated U.S. election infrastructure as critical, widening the options the government has to protect voting machines from cyber attacks. The decision, announced in a statement by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, followed a 2016 presidential campaign marred by concerns that hackers could disrupt the election. Also on Friday, U.S. intelligence agencies released a report accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of directing a campaign to hack Democratic Party computers in an effort to help Republican Donald Trump win the U.S. presidency. U.S. officials determined hackers targeted more than 20 states’ voter registration systems during the election but that there was no evidence tallies were altered when ballots were cast on Nov. 8. Elevating election systems to critical infrastructure puts it on par with other sectors eligible to receive prioritized cyber security assistance from DHS, including communication and transportation systems, the banking industry and the energy grid. Election infrastructure includes polling places, centralized vote tabulations locations, storage facilities and voter registration databases and voting machines, Johnson said. Johnson said he and his staff had consulted with state and local election officials and that he was “aware that many of them are opposed to this designation.” Some conservative states such as Georgia objected when the idea was floated during the presidential campaign, claiming elections have historically been overseen by local officials. The classification was not “a federal takeover, regulation, oversight or intrusion concerning elections in this country,” Johnson said in a statement. “This designation does nothing to change the role state and local governments have in administering and running elections.” | 0 |
DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia closed the airport on the tourist island of Bali on Monday and ordered 100,000 residents living near a grumbling volcano spewing columns of ash to evacuate immediately, warning that the first major eruption in 54 years could be imminent . The airport was closed for 24 hours from Monday morning, disrupting 445 flights and some 59,000 passengers, after Mount Agung, which killed hundreds of people in 1963, sent volcanic ash high into the sky, and officials said cancellations could be extended. Plumes of smoke are occasionally accompanied by explosive eruptions and the sound of weak blasts that can be heard up to 12 km (7 miles) from the peak, the Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said in a statement after raising the alert from three to its highest level of four. The potential for a larger eruption is imminent, it said, referring to a visible glow of magma at Mount Agung s peak overnight, and warning residents to evacuate a danger zone at a radius of 8-10 km (5-6 miles). Sutopo, a BNPB spokesman, said there had been no casualties so far and 40,000 people had left the area, but tens of thousands still needed to move. Video footage shared by the agency showed volcanic mud flows (lahar) on the mountainside. Lahar carrying mud and large boulders can destroy houses, bridges and roads in its path. Bali, famous for its surf, beaches and temples, attracted nearly 5 million visitors last year, and its airport serves as a transport hub for the chain of islands in Indonesia s eastern archipelago. But tourism has slumped in parts of Bali since September when Agung s volcanic tremors began to increase and the alert level was raised to maximum before being lowered in October when seismic activity calmed. I m really worried. Maybe I ll go somewhere south that I think will be safe to avoid being trapped by the ashfall, said Maria Becker, a German tourist staying in Amed, around 15 km (9 miles) from the volcano. Agung rises majestically over eastern Bali to a height of just over 3,000 metres (9,800 feet). Northeastern Bali is relatively undeveloped compared to the more heavily populated southern tourist hub of Kuta-Seminyak-Nusa Dua. Indonesia s Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Centre (PVMBG), which is using drones, satellite imagery and other equipment, said predictions were difficult in the absence of instrumental recordings from the last eruption 54 years ago. In 1963, an eruption of Agung killed more than 1,000 people and razed several villages by hurling out pyroclastic material, hot ash, lava and lahar. Recordings now show the northeast area of Agung s peak has swollen in recent weeks indicating there is fairly strong pressure toward the surface , PVMBG said. It warned that if a similar eruption occurred, it could send rocks bigger than fist-size up to 8 km (5 miles) from the summit and volcanic gas to a distance of 10 km (6 miles) within three minutes. Some analysis, however, suggests the threat should not be as great this time because energy at Mount Agung s magma chamber is not as big and the ash column only around a quarter as high so far as the 20 km (12 miles) reached in 1963, Sutopo said. CHECK-INS CLOSED Bali airport, about 60 km (37 miles) from the volcano, will be closed for 24 hours, its operator said. Ten alternative airports have been prepared for airlines to divert inbound flights, including in neighboring provinces. Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd said it was cancelling flights on Tuesday, while Jetstar was offering to exchange Bali bound tickets for other destinations. Television footage showed hundreds of holidaymakers camped inside the airport terminal, some sleeping on their bags, others using mobile telephones. We have been here (in Bali) for three days we are about to leave today, but just found out our flights have been canceled. We have got no information because the gates, the check-ins, have been closed indefinitely, said Carlo Oben from Los Angeles. Cover-More, Australia s biggest travel insurer, said on its website customers would only be covered if they had bought policies before the volcano alert was first issued on Sept. 18. Indonesia s hotel and restaurant association said stranded tourists at member hotels would get one night s free stay. The main airport on Lombok, next to Bali, was closed after being open for much of the day, a spokesman said. Airlines avoid flying when volcanic ash is present because it can damage engines and can clog fuel and cooling systems and hamper visibility. (For interactive package on Agung eruptions, click tmsnrt.rs/2AayRVh)(For graphic on Pacific ring of fire, click tmsnrt.rs/2AzR9jv) | 0 |
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MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – This is a tutorial on how to ride the jeepney which is an important mode of mass transportation in many cities and towns in the Philippines.
Many of you may already be familiar with these rules, etiquette and tricks but for those who are visiting the country for the first time or are returning nationals (balikbayan) who have been away for a long time, you might want to keep this tutorial handy. First of all, not all jeepneys you encounter are as colorful, shiny and clean as the one pictured here. If you are bothered by smoke or the smell of gasoline, remember to always carry and wear a disposable surgical mask. It also helps with, you know, body odor. In most cases, there are no jeepney stops like there are bus stops. Wherever you are, be rest assured that so long as there is room for one more passsenger, the jeepney will stop for you. Speaking of room, when the driver says the capacity of his jeepney is 10 passengers on either side, you can’t argue. Ten means ten, even if only half your butt sits comfortably on the padded seat. Only cash payment is accepted, but you probably already know that. Exact fare is appreciated but Mr. Driver is happy to provide change except very early in the day. “Barya lang po sa umaga!” No five hundred peso bills in the morning, please. Jeepney fare is passed on from one passenger to another until it reaches the driver. The same is true for any change back due the passenger. It takes a village to ride the jeepney you know. If you don’t want to be bothered by other passengers asking you to pass on the fare to the driver, sit as far as possible from the driver, assuming that premium spot is vacant. The jeepney driver would appreciate it so much if you pay your fare before you start texting on your mobile phone. “God knows who doesn’t pay,” says one jeepney sign. There are two phrases you need to learn when riding the jeepney: “Bayad po” (here’s my fare) and “Para po” (this is my stop). If you don’t speak the language, no worries. Just pass on your fare to the passenger next to you and he or she will know what to do. And if you need to disembark, just knock on the jeepney’s roof. It also means “please stop.” There are discounted fares for students and seniors. Be sure to say “one senior” or “one student” when paying your fare. Otherwise, you pay full fare. Filipinos have learned to respect seniors and people with disabilities. The spot closest to the jeepney entrance (farthest from the driver) is reserved for them. Isn’t that nice? As always, hold on to the hand rails. It can be a very bumpy ride. Rate this: | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republicans are proposing to eliminate the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles, which could hurt automakers like General Motors Co, Tesla Inc and Nissan Motor Co, according to the bill made public on Thursday. Current law allows automakers to use the credit, which phases out after an automaker hits 200,000 plug-in vehicles sold. Electric vehicles have expensive batteries that make them pricier than gasoline-powered vehicles. Environmental groups and an auto industry trade group blasted the proposal, which would kick in at the end of this year. GM vowed to fight, saying the credits are “an important customer benefit that can help accelerate the acceptance of electric vehicles.” Tesla declined to comment. Nissan said it supports continuing the tax credit and noted it has “made significant investments in the development of market-leading electric vehicles.” Critics of the credit say electric vehicle buyers tend to be wealthier than average and do not need subsidies. Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing GM, Toyota Motor Corp, Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and others, said the change could hurt electric vehicle sales. “The potential elimination of the federal electric vehicle tax credit will impact the choices of prospective buyers and make the electric vehicle mandate in 10 states - about a third of the market - even more difficult to meet,” Bergquist said. “The EV tax credit repeal would cede U.S. leadership in clean vehicles, putting our companies at a competitive disadvantage and threatening jobs while costing drivers more at the pump and increasing pollution,” said Luke Tonachel, director of the National Resources Defense Council’s Clean Vehicles and Fuels Project. Automakers have invested billions in electric vehicles and announced plans to shift significant production to plug-in models. Former President Barack Obama unsuccessfully proposed hiking the tax credit for electric vehicles to $10,000 and converting it to a point-of-sale rebate. GM shares fell 1.2 percent in late trading, while Tesla was down 7 percent after reporting earnings. The House GOP plan also calls for repealing and phasing out other energy tax credits, including production and investment tax credit for solar, geothermal, fuel cell, wind energy and other clean energy projects. Automakers face mandates from California and a dozen other states to produce a rising number of zero-emission vehicles and have said the credits are essential to meeting requirements. GM’s electric Chevrolet Bolt starts around $30,000 including the tax credit but rises to $37,500 without it. | 1 |
A group of people beat a man in a Brooklyn restaurant after he offered to help pay for their food, police said. Surveillance video captured the brutal beating inside Texas Chicken and Burgers in Prospect Park South earlier this month. Police released the video in the hopes of catching the four suspects.After the 37-year-old victim offered to help pay for two of the suspects meals, they began yelling at him and then started punching him and beating him with his own cane, police said. While the man tried to protect himself from the violent blows, two other suspects charged into the restaurant and also began beating the man, kicking him in his head and body, according to police.While the victim was lying on the ground, another man came in and appeared to steal from the man s pockets, police said. Source: Group Breaks Man s Bones After He Offers to Help Pay for Their Food. NBC New YorkIronically, after eight long years with a mixed-race president who could have done so much to bring races closer together, America is watching everything the great Martin Luther King, Jr. and those of every race who fought to integrate our society fall apart | 0 |
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Donald Trump brought his message of walls and deportations to the doorstep of America’s busiest border crossing on Friday as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee greeted supporters in San Diego, amid one of the largest counter-protests organized against him. The scene inside the San Diego Convention Center during Trump’s speech was relatively placid, while outside demonstrators opposed to his controversy-ridden White House bid marched and chanted, carrying signs criticizing his rhetoric against illegal immigration. Waving U.S. and Mexican flags, more than 1,000 people turned out for anti-trump rallies in San Diego, a city on the U.S.-Mexico border whose San Ysidro port of entry sees nearly 300,000 people a day cross legally between the countries. San Diego is considered a binational city by many who live and work on opposite sides of the border, and about a third of the city’s population is Latino. During Trump’s speech on Friday, some protesters outside the convention center scaled a barrier and lobbed water bottles at police. One man was pulled off the wall and arrested as others were surrounded by fellow protesters and backed away from the confrontation. After the convention center emptied, clusters of Trump supporters and anti-Trump demonstrators began to mix in the streets, many exchanging shouted epithets and some throwing water bottles at one another. Police in riot gear declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to disperse, herding the crowd out of the city’s hotel and restaurant-filled Gaslamp Quarter. San Diego police said on Twitter that 35 arrests were made during the protest. No property damage or injuries were reported, police said. “Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally,” Trump tweeted to police afterwards. Trump has weathered months of blowback from all ends of the political spectrum for his immigration policy, which calls for the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and deporting the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants who reside in the United States. Critics have said his plan is needlessly cruel and impossible to implement. At Trump’s campaign stops, attendees often chant “build the wall.” While Trump is running unopposed in the June 7 California Republican primary, his stance on border control and deportation seems unlikely to resonate with the electorate at large in a state where political fallout from a Republican-backed crackdown on illegal immigrants 20 years ago cost the party dearly. Friday was not the first time Trump has been greeted by civil unrest in California, which is home to the largest Latino population in the country. Late last month, a visit to the California Republican convention set off days of protests in the area, leading to several arrests. Shortly before taking the stage in San Diego, Trump issued a statement ruling out a one-on-one debate with second-place Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, who was also in California, killing off a potentially high-ratings television spectacle. The suggested debate, an idea first raised during a talk show appearance by the New York billionaire, would have sidelined likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton but given Sanders a huge platform ahead of California Democratic primary. A day after saying he would welcome a Sanders debate, Trump called the idea “inappropriate,” declaring that he should only face the Democrats’ final choice. “I will wait to debate the first-place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton,” Trump said in a statement. Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, expressed disappointment on Friday, and sought to goad Trump into reconsidering. “Well, Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of?” he said in a video clip posted on ABC News’ Twitter account. Trump suggested broadcast networks were unwilling to go along with his demand that at least $10 million raised from the encounter be donated to charity. “I’d love to debate Bernie,” he told a rally in Fresno, California. “But the networks want to keep the money for themselves.” Sanders is trailing Clinton in the race to secure their party’s nomination, but opinion polls show he is slicing into her lead in California. Clinton has shown no interest in debating Sanders before the California primary, which will be part of a final slate of nominating contests. It is possible she will clinch the nomination by winning New Jersey earlier that day, making the outcome in California superfluous. The former U.S. secretary of state has said she is looking forward to debating Trump later this year ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. Clinton leads Trump by 4 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. Democrats nationally remain evenly split between Clinton and Sanders. | 1 |
The GOP presidential candidate who couldn t seem to find his spine when he had the perfect opportunity to stop Barack Obama from serving a second term, has suddenly discovered how to fight. The only problem is, the Never-Trumper has taken his fight to our President, who happens to very popular with Republicans. Does Mitt Romney believe he can win a US Senate seat in the conservative state of Utah by criticizing President Trump? Will Romney s gamble pay off, or will he find himself in the loser s column again in a state where 46% of the residents voted for Trump, while only 28% voted for Clinton.But Romney, not a lifelong resident is taking heat for carpet bagging:Romney has lived in Utah for approximately 5 five years after losing his 2012 presidential bid to Barack Obama. The former Massachusetts governor has been accused of carpetbagging by Republican officials in the state. I think he s keeping out candidates that I think would be a better fit for Utah because let s face it, Mitt Romney doesn t live here, his kids weren t born here, he doesn t shop here, Utah GOP chairman Rob Anderson told the Salt Lake City Tribune.Watch Romney ad here:I am running for United States Senate to serve the people of Utah and bring Utah's values to Washington. pic.twitter.com/TDkas6gD2p Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) February 16, 2018 | 1 |
(Reuters) - Regular tourism to Cuba by U.S. citizens could happen “very soon,” President Barack Obama said on Monday in an interview in Havana. “Inevitably it’s going to happen,” he told ABC News during his historic visit to the Communist-led island, noting that direct flights and visits by cruise ships from the United States were to begin soon. Current U.S. regulations limit most visits by U.S. citizens to Cuba to educational or cultural exchanges. | 1 |
Trump supporters chanted at the press before a Trump rally in Fredericksburg, VA: Tell The Truth! Trump Virginia crowd chanting tell the truth at CNN pic.twitter.com/S42MKnx9e9 Jack Posobiec (@AngryGoTFan) August 21, 2016The crowd then yelled DO YOUR JOB! CNN walks in, crowd boos, chants "Do Your Job" Trump Virginia pic.twitter.com/rInKtm5Nle Jack Posobiec (@AngryGoTFan) August 21, 2016 | 1 |
NAIROBI (Reuters) - South Sudan s media regulator has suspended all press associations in the country while they register for licences to operate, journalists said, a move that raised concern about a possible crackdown on independent media. The directive, handed to South Sudan s three associations this week and seen by Reuters on Wednesday, gave them seven days until Nov. 7 to obtain operations licences or face permanent closure. We have applied, but we do not know whether our application will be accepted or not, said Mary Ajith, chairwoman of the Association of Media Development in South Sudan, a grouping of journalists. This is ... harassment from the media authority that is being done to us. Officials from both the government information and the National Communication Authority were not immediately available for comment. Another journalist said the directive would give the National Communication Authority powers to command every single activity with the support from the national security agency . The move is the latest example of what rights activists say is an increasingly hostile and restrictive approach by the government towards the press in the world s youngest country. In July, four news websites and blogs - including the Dutch-backed radio station and website Radio Tamazuj - were either blocked or had transmissions partially restricted. Foreign correspondents have also faced difficulties in reporting from South Sudan, with at least 20 reporters being denied entry by authorities early this year. Since its establishment in 2015, journalists in South Sudan say the body has made it extremely difficult to obtain permits to travel outside the capital Juba on reporting trips. It also requires prior permission for filming, at a hefty cost. South Sudan, which won independence from Sudan in 2011, plunged into civil conflict in December 2013. | 1 |
In a move that absolutely nobody could have seen coming, President Trump has lashed out about the newly-appointed special counsel tasked with looking into his campaign s dealings with Russian intelligence services. Trump told reporters on Thursday afternoon, I believe it hurts our country terribly, because it shows we re a divided, mixed-up, not-unified country. And we have very important things to be doing right now, whether it s trade deals, whether it s military, whether it s stopping nuclear all of the things that we discussed today. And I think this shows a very divided country. President Trump used his time with reporters to attack Democrats as well, blaming them for the multiple investigations into his ongoing backroom deals with Russia. He said, It also happens to be a pure excuse for the Democrats having lost an election that they should have easily won because of the Electoral College being slanted so much in their way. That s all this is. President Trump s initial reaction to news that a special counsel has been appointed.That stands in sharp contrast to the statement that President Trump released yesterday, when he learned that a special counsel had been appointed. Trump also seemed to be concerned over how investigations into his presidency look to the rest of the world, saying I think it shows division, and it shows that we re not together as a country. And I think it s a very, very negative thing. And hopefully, this can go quickly, because we have to show unity if we re going to do great things with respect to the rest of the world. Perhaps the biggest shock is that Trump reportedly still wants Michael Flynn to be a part of his administration. The President is convinced that Flynn will be found innocent, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. Trump reportedly wants Michael Flynn back.It s hard to imagine that anyone, even Trump, could possibly think that rehiring Flynn is a good decision. Photo by Richard Ellis via Getty Images | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top White House officials met moderate and conservative Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday in an effort to revive a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. Key members of the administration, including Vice President Mike Pence, invited a group of moderate Republicans known as the “Tuesday Group” to the White House. Pence then went to Capitol Hill to meet the Freedom Caucus, a group of House conservatives who last month derailed a healthcare bill backed by President Donald Trump. The White House would like to see a revised bill come up for a vote as early as week’s end, before the House breaks for a spring recess, and the text of the new proposal could be ready some time on Tuesday, lawmakers said. “It was clear the president would be very happy come Friday to have this passed,” said U.S. Representative Chris Collins, a member of the Tuesday Group and a Trump ally. “This could move fairly quickly,” he said. Just 10 days ago, House Speaker Paul Ryan was forced to cancel a vote on a bill to replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, when it was clear he could not deliver the votes needed for it to pass. The defeat was a big political setback for Trump and fellow Republicans in Congress who were elected on pledges to repeal and replace former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law. Freedom Caucus members said the Republican bill was too similar to Obamacare, while moderate Republicans balked at some of the changes conservatives sought. Trump attacked Freedom Caucus members on Twitter late last week for their opposition to the bill and threatened to work to defeat them in the 2018 congressional elections. At the weekend, he struck a more conciliatory tone, tweeting early on Sunday: “Talks on Repealing and Replacing Obamacare are, and have been, going on, and will continue until such time as a deal is hopefully struck.” After golfing with the president on Sunday, Republican Senator Rand Paul, a sharp critic of the Republicans’ previous healthcare bill, also expressed renewed hope the healthcare bill could be revised in a way that picked up support from the conservative and moderate factions of the Republican Party. Paul told reporters he was “very optimistic that we are getting closer and closer to an agreement repealing Obamacare.” Pence and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus laid out the administration’s revised healthcare plan during a 40-minute meeting with Freedom Caucus members, said Congressman Mark Meadows, the leader of the conservative group. Meadows said he was “intrigued” by the new plan, which would allow states to opt out of some of Obamacare’s mandates, possibly by obtaining waivers. “We’re encouraged ... but would certainly need a whole lot more information before we can take any action either in support or in opposition,” Meadows told reporters. He expected to see a detailed draft of the proposal within 24 hours, he said. In the earlier meeting with the moderate Tuesday Group, White House officials said the new plan would preserve Obamacare’s essential health benefits clause, or services and care that insurers must cover, but states could apply for a waiver if they could show it would improve coverage and reduce costs, according to Collins. Trump aides also discussed directing funds from the $115 billion stability fund for states into high-risk pools for people with pre-existing health conditions to better ensure insurance premiums come down in cost, Collins said. “It’s an acknowledgement that they were chasing votes with the Freedom Caucus and the Far Right and then ended up losing votes with those of us who are typically the most reliable votes,” Collins said of the proposal provisions discussed at the meeting. | 1 |
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, offered sympathetic words to visiting U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife Melania on Monday, telling them that people still loved them despite negative media coverage. Standing on the red carpet and chatting minutes after Trump and the First Lady had arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport in Air Force One, Sara Netanyahu was caught on camera exchanging a few private words with the visitors. “The majority of the people of Israel, unlike the media, they love us, so we tell them how you are great and they love you,” Sara said to Trump and his wife. Trump then interjected: “We have something very much in common.” Trump’s presidency has received widespread negative coverage in the U.S. and international media, not least over his firing of FBI director James Comey and amid an investigation into ties between his administration and Russia. In Israel on the second leg of his first overseas trip since entering office, Trump is to hold talks separately with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a stopover lasting barely 28 hours. Speaking over the noise of the president’s jet, Sara Netanyahu added: “I talk every place about how great you are,” she said, and Netanyahu backed her up saying: “I can testify to that.” Netanyahu and his wife have a tense relationship with the Israeli media, which they have both described as biased against them. In January, Netanyahu described the media as “left-wing” and “Bolshevik” and said they were out to bring him down. Testifying in a libel suit the Netanyahus filed against an Israeli journalist, Sara Netanyahu told the court: “Everything that is published about me, it’s all lies, evil lies that bear no connection with who I really am ... The media uses me as a tool to try and topple the prime minister.” Sara’s red-carpet conversation soon began circulating on social media, along with another awkward arrival moment. As the Netanyahus strode along holding hands, as they often do, Trump, walking alongside them, reached out to grasp the First Lady’s hand, but video circulated on Twitter appeared to show Melania Trump briefly flicking his hand away. | 0 |
The Republican-controlled southern states have done very little in recent years to scale back the impact of America s history of racism, from stubbornly supporting the Confederate flag on government property to retorting All Lives Matter to the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as dismissing all concerns posed by institutional, systemic, and overt racism prevalent throughout the country.In Sumter County, Alabama, a quarter of the county s children are white, but not a single one of them attends a public school. A report by Dan Carsen of a local NPR affiliate on the county s school district shows the schools are in terrible shape due to neglect and lack of funding precipitated by school segregation. They live in this county, but they will not send their children to the schools in this county, Sumter School County Board Member Julene Delaine told Dan Carsen in an interview. Instead, many white families send their kids to a local private academy or outside the area. We shop in the same place. We eat at the same restaurant. So why can t our kids go to school together? Carsen also reported that while other states provide extra funding to low income school districts, Alabama does not. The state also refuses to increase taxes to compensate for the needed income. Alabama s Republican Governor, Robert Bentley, has gained a notorious reputation for corruption and abuse. He has recently been accused of having an affair with a political aide, increasing pay of his staff substantially despite the state s budget concerns after he blocked a minimum wage increase in the city of Birmingham, and is using over $1 million in taxpayer money to remodel a second Governor s mansion.In contrast to Sumter County s public schools, not a single person of color can be found in photos of Sumter County s private school, Sumter Academy. The school s website also touts that it is a Christian based learning environment. Under the veil of emphasizing privatization over government ownership and regulation, the Christian Right has been able to succeed in inoculating themselves from having to adhere to federal laws protecting the rights of black people and other marginalized groups.Featured image courtesy of Flickr | 1 |
Well, we ve known this was coming even with opposition to close GITMO Obama has wanted to close GITMO since elected and has pushed for it repeatedly. Recently, he s been releasing prisoners at a fast pace not good because 30% of those released rejoin the jihadi cause of terrorism. Yes, out president is putting his desire to fulfill a campaign promise over the safety of the American people.The Pentagon is expected to submit to Congress Tuesday President Barack Obama s plan to shutter the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.The president, who campaigned in 2009 to shut down the U.S. naval facility in Cuba, is hoping to make good on his promise, which is sure to ignite a partisan battle on Capitol Hill.Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said the Obama administration will meet the Tuesday deadline for sending Congress a proposal for closing the facility, which still houses 91 detainees. The plan is to submit to Congress what our thoughts are on the issue and what we see is a way ahead necessary to achieve the closure of Guantanamo and to specifically point out the need for legislative relief, Davis told The Hill.According to Davis, the White House s plan is to transfer away as many detainees, and bring the remainder to the U.S., a step that is opposed by many in Congress, particularly within the Republican Party.For many years, lawmakers have banned any transfer of detainees into the United States. In addition, they have placed restrictions on transfers to other countries, insisting that Gitmo detainees pose a threat to national security.However, some in Congress, including Arizona Sen. John McCain (R), have said they are open to the possibility of bringing detainees into the U.S. as long as the president submits a plan by Feb. 23.The Pentagon began its search for U.S. sites where detainees could be held. Those locations include federal facilities in Colorado, South Carolina and Kansas.Other lawmakers, though, are opposed to the plan. Today s news reports indicate that the president is doubling down on a dangerous plan to close Guantanamo a move that I will continue to fight in the Senate, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) said Monday in a statement.Congressional approval is likely the only way in which Obama could achieve his goal of closing the Cuban facility.Read more: The Blaze | 1 |
The owner of the Ringling Bar, located south of White Sulphur Springs, is standing behind his Facebook post that criticizes NFL players who take a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality. The post was made on the Ringling Bar s Facebook page Tuesday night and has since received hundreds of comments and shares. The post reads: The Ringling Bar will no longer show any NFL games. This will allow us to air the PBR, Rodeo and NASCAR events whose competitors are true Americans! Sorry for any inconvenience. Ringling Bar Co-owner Kurt Bekemans, who grew up in the Paradise Valley, published the post and said he doesn t care if the post turns some customers away. Seriously, I would not care if non-Americans didn t patronize the place, said Bekemans. I d like to speak for rural America: I bet you wouldn t see any farmers or ranchers in our whole country take a knee such as these guys do, I bet you couldn t find one. They appreciate what our great nation has given them and I think that s the least you could do to give thanks to our country is stand for the flag and the anthem. As of Wednesday morning, a majority of the comments were in support of the bar. We all love ya for this, I ll be by with as many people I can round up!! said one commenter.Another person was critical, writing: Ha Ha of course NASCAR is not protesting the treatment of minority s because they don t care about them!!! Read more: krtv | 0 |
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton blamed FBI director James Comey for her stunning defeat in Tuesday’s presidential election in a conference call with her top campaign funders on Saturday, according to two participants who were on the call. Clinton was projected by nearly every national public opinion poll as the heavy favorite going into Tuesday’s race. Instead, Republican Donald Trump won the election, shocking many throughout the nation and prompting widespread protests. Clinton has kept a low profile since her defeat after delivering her concession speech on Wednesday morning. Clinton told her supporters on Saturday that her team had drafted a memo that looked at the changing opinion polls leading up to the election and that the letter from Comey proved to be a turning point. She said Comey’s decision to go public with the renewed examination of her email server had caused an erosion of support in the upper Midwest, according to three people familiar with the call. Clinton lost in Wisconsin, the first time since 1984 that the state favored the Republican candidate in a presidential election. Although the final result in Michigan has still not been tallied, it is leaning Republican, in a state that last favored the Republican nominee in 1988. Comey sent a letter to Congress only days before the election announcing that he was reinstating an investigation into whether Clinton mishandled classified information when she used a private email server while secretary of state from 2009 to 2012. Comey announced a week later that he had reviewed emails and continued to believe she should not be prosecuted, but the political damage was already done. Clinton told donors that Trump was able to seize on both of Comey’s announcements and use them to attack her, according to two participants on the call. While the second letter cleared her of wrongdoing, Clinton said that it reinforced to Trump’s supporters that the system was rigged in her favor and motivated them to mobilize on Election Day. The memo prepared by Clinton’s campaign, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, said voters who decided which candidate to support in the last week were more likely to support Trump than Clinton. “In the end, late breaking developments in the race proved one hurdle too many for us to overcome,” the memo concludes. A spokesperson for the FBI could not immediately be reached for comment. On the phone call, Dennis Chang, who served as Clinton’s finance chair, said her campaign and the national party had raised more than $900 million from more than 3 million individual donors, according to the two participants who spoke to Reuters. As Clinton gave her account to donors, Trump hunkered down at Trump Tower with members of the transition team announced on Friday and tasked with selecting the 15 Cabinet posts and thousands of political appointment jobs. Kellyanne Conway, who served as his campaign manager, said on Saturday that the an announcement of a new chief of staff is “imminent.” Two candidates whose names have surfaced as contenders for the top White House job are campaign CEO Steve Bannon and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. Trump will deliver a speech about his plans moving forward in the coming days and may undertake a national victory tour, Conway said, without providing further details. He will be sworn in on January 20. The president-elect plans to keep his communication channels open. In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that will air on Sunday, Trump said he isn’t ready to give up his Twitter account, where he routinely posted controversial statements during the campaign that unleashed harsh criticism. “I’m going to be very restrained, if I use it at all, I’m going to be very restrained,” Trump said. | 0 |
Juanita Broaddrick, the woman who accused Bill Clinton of raping her twice in a hotel room in 1978, slammed Madonna and other celebrities for leading a women’s march against Donald Trump yesterday while ignoring the plight of Clinton’s female sexual assault accusers during the presidential election. [Broaddrick, who charged that Hillary Clinton tried to silence her about the alleged rape, further labeled yesterday’s women’s march “just more a part of the fake news that they are trying to perpetuate. ” “And their rhetoric,” added Broaddrick. “They are so disappointing. ” She was speaking on this reporter’s Sunday talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio,” broadcast in New York’s AM 970 The Answer and NewsTalk 990 AM in Philadelphia. Regarding Madonna, who delivered a speech at yesterday’s event, Broaddrick stated: “I could never take her seriously. She, or when Meryl Streep spoke out. I could never take any of them seriously. Because they did not take us seriously. ” Continued Broaddrick: “None of these women have ever stood up for the women who were abused and raped by Bill Clinton. We’ve never gotten any support. I do not understand it. I mean, you don’t support an evil candidate just because she is a woman. And to me that is all this amounts to, Aaron. Is their candidate who was absolutely corrupt lost to Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump is the only one that stood up for us. … ”It’s unbelievable. That they didn’t come out for the women that were against their candidate. The women that were abused by Bill Clinton. It’s still unbelievable. If it weren’t so sad it is almost laughable. I don’t understand why they do not support us. I don’t understand it. ” Time reported on Madonna’s speech at the women’s march: “To our detractors that insist that this march will never add up to anything, f — you,” Madonna said. The singer said the expletive three times during her speech at the march, saying it took “this horrific moment of darkness to wake the f — k up. ” The “Vogue” singer said marginalized communities would be under threat during the Trump administration, which is why hundreds of thousands of women took to the streets in protest. “Yes I am outraged,” she said. “Yes I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House, but I know that this won’t change anything. We cannot fall into despair. ” The mission statement for yesterday’s march claims that the gathering is meant to send a message “that women’s rights are human rights” and pledges to fight against those who have demonized “survivors of sexual assault. ” Last October, Breitbart News released an exclusive video interview in which Broaddrick recounted what she described as the experience of being raped by Clinton. The YouTube video has since garnered over one million views. Watch it here: In another Breitbart News exclusive video, Broaddrick recounted an alleged encounter with Hillary Clinton in which Broaddrick says the future presidential candidate attempted to intimidate her into being silent about the alleged rapes. Broaddrick said she believed that Hillary Clinton knew that her husband had raped her during their encounter. Watch that video here: 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. | 0 |
The following timeline charts the origin and spread of the Zika virus from its discovery nearly 70 years ago: 1947: Scientists researching yellow fever in Uganda’s Zika Forest identify the virus in a rhesus monkey 1948: Virus recovered from Aedes africanus mosquito in Zika Forest 1952: First human cases detected in Uganda and Tanzania 1954: Virus found in Nigeria 1960s-80s: Zika detected in mosquitoes and monkeys across equatorial Africa 1969–83: Zika found in equatorial Asia, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan 2007: Zika spreads from Africa and Asia, first large outbreak on Pacific island of Yap 2012: Researchers identify two distinct lineages of the virus, African and Asian 2013–14: Zika outbreaks in French Polynesia, Easter Island, the Cook Islands and New Caledonia. Retrospective analysis shows possible link to birth defects and severe neurological complications in babies in French Polynesia March 2, 2015: Brazil reports illness characterized by skin rash in northeastern states July 17: Brazil reports detection of neurological disorders in newborns associated with history of infection Oct. 5: Cape Verde has cases of illness with skin rash Oct. 22: Colombia confirms cases of Zika Oct. 30: Brazil reports increase in microcephaly, abnormally small heads, among newborns Nov. 11: Brazil declares public health emergency November 2015-January 2016: Cases reported in Suriname, Panama, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Paraguay, Venezuela, French Guiana, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Guyana, Ecuador, Barbados, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Curacao, Jamaica Feb. 1: World Health Organization (WHO) declares public health emergency of international concern Feb. 2: First case of Zika transmission in United States; local health officials say likely contracted through sex, not mosquito bite Feb. 5: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says virus being actively transmitted in 30 countries, mostly in the Americas Feb. 8: U.S. President Barack Obama requests $1.8 billion to fight Zika Feb. 12: Brazil investigating potential link between Zika infections and 4,314 suspected cases of microcephaly. Of those, 462 confirmed as microcephaly and 41 determined to be linked to virus Feb. 17: Brazil investigating potential link between Zika and 4,443 suspected cases of microcephaly. Of those, 508 confirmed as microcephaly and most of those cases are linked to the virus. WHO seeks $56 million to fight Zika. Feb. 18: CDC adds Aruba and Bonaire to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 32. Feb. 23: CDC investigating 14 cases of possible sexual transmission of Zika. CDC also adds Trinidad and Tobago and Marshall Islands to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 34. Feb. 25: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases number more than 580 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,100 suspected cases of microcephaly. Feb. 27: France detects first sexually transmitted case of Zika. Feb. 29: CDC adds St. Maarten, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 36. March 1: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 641 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,222 suspected cases of microcephaly. March 8: WHO advises pregnant women to avoid areas with Zika outbreak and said sexual transmission of the virus is “relatively common.” March 9: CDC adds New Caledonia to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 37. March 15: Cuba reports first case of Zika contracted in the country. March 16: Cape Verde identifies first case of microcephaly. March 18: CDC says during Jan. 1, 2015 to Feb. 26, 2016, 116 residents of the United States had evidence of recent Zika virus infection based on laboratory testing. Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 863 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,268 suspected cases of microcephaly. March 19: CDC adds Cuba to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 38. March 21: South Korea confirms first case of Zika. March 22: CDC adds Dominica to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 39. Bangladesh confirms first case of Zika virus. Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 907 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,293 suspected cases of microcephaly. March 29: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 944 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil said the number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped slightly to 4,291. March 31: According to the World Health Organization, there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika can cause the birth defect microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis, though conclusive proof may take months or years. April 1: CDC adds Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 40. April 4: CDC adds Fiji to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 41. April 5: Vietnam reports first Zika infections. April 6: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 1,046 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. The number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped to 4,046. April 7: St. Lucia confirms first two cases of Zika, contracted locally. April 12: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 1,113 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. The number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped to 3,836. It was the second week in a row that the overall total figure fell. April 13: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that infection with the Zika virus in pregnant women is a cause of the birth defect microcephaly and other severe brain abnormalities in babies. The CDC said now that the causal relationship has been established, several important questions must still be answered with studies that could take years. CDC adds St. Lucia to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 42. April 14: Colombia confirms two microcephaly cases linked to Zinka. April 18: Peru reports first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus. CDC adds Belize to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 43. April 19: Chilean authorities find Zika mosquito for first time in decades. April 25: Canada confirms first sexually transmitted Zika case. April 26: Brazil says the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly climbed to 1,198 from 1,168 in the week through April 23, but suspected ones under investigation continued to decline to 3,710 from 3,741 a week ago. Brazil registered 91,387 likely cases of the Zika virus from February until April 2, the health ministry said, in its first national report on the epidemic. April 29: Puerto Rico reports first death related to Zika, according to the CDC. The country also confirmed 683 Zika cases, including 65 pregnant women, and five suspected cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome from Zika, the CDC reported. May 4: Panama confirms four microcephaly cases tied to Zika. May 6: Spain gets first case of Zika-related brain defect in a fetus. May 9: CDC adds Papua New Guinea, Saint Barthelemy and Peru to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 46. Honduras suspects first case of microcephaly in Zika patient. May 11: Brazil says the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly dropped to 1,326 in the week through May 7 as doctors and Brazilian health officials find that some suspected cases of microcephaly are not the disorder. Suspected ones under investigation continued to decline to 3,433. May 12: CDC adds Grenada to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 47. May 13: Puerto Rico reports first case of Zika-related microcephaly. May 20: WHO says an outbreak of Zika virus on the African island chain of Cape Verde is of the same strain as the one blamed for birth abnormalities in Brazil. May 24: Brazil reports the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly at 1,434 for the latest week to May 21. Suspected ones under investigation declined to 3,257. May 26: CDC adds Argentina to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 48. June 9: WHO issues updated guidelines on prevention of sexual transmission of the Zika virus, including advising women living in areas where the virus is being transmitted to delay getting pregnant. June 14: El Salvador confirms first case of microcephaly linked to Zika. SOURCES: World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Reuters | 0 |
Criminal Minions CAUGHT Pushing Voter Fraud To Get Hillary Elected Posted on October 26, 2016 by Shae Weatherall in Politics Share This
There isn’t anything that Hillary Clinton supporters won’t stoop to do or say in order to get their candidate elected. We’ve seen massive amounts of corruption involving every level of Hillary’s minions all the way up to the Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Apparently, nothing is off limits when they’re doing Hillary’s bidding, and now they have a new racket that is going to make criminal voter fraud a whole lot easier.
Election fraud has already become a big concern again this election cycle as voting machines are reportedly “malfunctioning” and switching votes in favor of Hillary. One Texas county was even forced to abandon the machines altogether and go to paper ballots.
There has been some progress in protecting the integrity of our elections by implementing voter ID laws, but Democrats have been fighting it tooth and nail. Hillary and her minions claim that it’s racist or oppressive or some crap to expect United States citizens to possess and show picture ID to vote. It’s apparently not a problem, though, to ask them to show ID for a pack of cigarettes or to board a plane or for a hundred other things. Go figure.
Even as they were whining about how requiring photo identification to vote is oppression, Hillary’s minions were already working on a solution. They knew there was a good chance they would lose the fight against states who wanted to stop dead “Democrats” from voting, and so now, we’re seeing the Hillary supporters’ machine at work.
Hillary’s minions have taken to the internet to advertise and sell near-perfect replicas of state driver’s licenses. According to an ad on craigslist which has now been removed, the entire purpose of purchasing one of the fake ID’s is specifically to fraudulently vote for Hillary Clinton .
The text on the ad reads: “ I can provide you with a high-quality fake ID it comes with holographic and also barcode [sic]. This can be used anywhere, we are offering special deals for people who will go to the polls on November 8th, we need to get Hillary in office . We only meet in a public location and accept cash only no trades. All states, cities, and addresses available. Buy 2 get 1 free. Election special free IDs* ( you have no say as to information on these, they are already pre-populated and must be used to vote on Nov. 8th) ” Screenshot captured before removal of Craigslist ad for Fake IDs. “ Fake IDs Let’s Get Hillary Elected – $1 (Detroit). “ Lower portion of screenshot captured before removal of Craigslist ad for Fake IDs. “ Fake IDs Let’s Get Hillary Elected – $1 (Detroit). “ Larger view of photo included in the Craigslist ad. selling forged driver’s licenses. “ Fake IDs Let’s Get Hillary Elected – $1 (Detroit) .” Notice how the same face is used to create several IDs from varying states.
It’s extremely disturbing to hear over and over again about the lengths to which Democrats and Hillary and her minions (including the liberal media) will go in order to try to secure her election as president. Have they no shame, pride, or confidence at all? Maybe they all realize — like the rest of us do — that Hillary really is that awful of a person , in every possible way, and the only chance she has to get into the White House as president is to steal the election . They must know it. Otherwise, why would they try to hard to use fraud and corruption to get her there?
If true-blue, red-blooded Americans have anything to say about it — and we most certainly do — Hillary ‘Rotten’ Clinton is not moving back in our house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We now know that during the years and even decades that we’ve suspected mass corruption and fraud within the Democrat Party, we were right and we will never be fooled again. | 1 |
How is the wicked witch of the White House still allowed to talk on television?When House Republicans passed their Trumpcare bill on Thursday, they did so without reading it or getting a CBO score for it, which made it easier for them to close their eyes and vote to screw over the American people, including their own constituents.Trump s healthcare bill would strip healthcare from millions of Americans. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, 45,000 people in this country died every year due to a lack of accessible and affordable healthcare. The Trumpcare bill would repeal President Obama s signature law and put thousands of Americans at risk of dying because they can t get health insurance.But Kellyanne Conway went on Fox News on Sunday to deny that people die because of not having health insurance. In short, her attempt to defend Trump s bill was pathetic and insulting.First, she referred to Americans who oppose Trump s bill as liars jeering from the cheap seats. Look, it s easier to jeer from the cheap seats than come up with a message of your own and be honest about the facts, Conway said. How did we get here? Why have so many Americans asked for Obamacare to be repealed and replaced? It s because you have premiums that have increased by 40 percent on average. And then she whined about opponents warning that the bill will kill people and accused them of using scare tactics. You know, saying people are going to die and the enablers in the mainstream media not calling out those breathless, heartless predictions, and going right on to prognostication for 2018. Why in the world are we talking about who is going to win in 2018 when the duty of the mainstream media, of news reporters is to tell you what s actually in the bill, not to allow others to scare. Here s the video via YouTube.You know who is really being breathless and heartless? Kellyanne Conway.Once again, she is lying to the American people and insulting everyone who opposes Donald Trump and his downright evil agenda.It is a FACT that thousands of people died every year because they can t afford health insurance.The Affordable Care Act is not perfect, which is why Democrats have offered to work with Republicans to fix what needs to be fixed, but Republicans are so obsessed with erasing every achievement made by President Obama that they are unwilling to do so. They would rather scrap the entire law instead.The problem is that the Republican bill does not protect people with pre-existing conditions. In fact, it classifies pregnancy, PTSD, and sexual assault as pre-existing conditions that would disqualify people from getting health insurance. Furthermore, it slaps senior citizens with an age tax and puts a limit on how long insurance will cover their needs. It also makes them pay MORE for healthcare than they currently do now under the Affordable Care Act.Trump s bill would make it impossible for low-income Americans to afford health insurance, thereby sentencing them to death if they get seriously sick and can t afford care.Basically, Trump s bill really does include death panels, which, interestingly enough, was a lie that Republicans repeatedly used to scare people into opposing the Affordable Care Act. Now they are accusing Democrats of doing the same thing even though Trump s bill would repeal a law that has literally saved thousands of lives over the years. Trump s bill would end those lives.Featured Image: Screenshot | 0 |
ELKHART, Ind. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama slammed Donald Trump’s proposal to weaken Wall Street reforms and touted his own economic record on Wednesday during a trip to a city he visited three weeks into his presidency that has recovered from its recession lows. Obama’s remarks in Elkhart, Indiana, foreshadowed the arguments he is likely to make on the campaign trail this fall against the likely Republican presidential nominee. Obama did not mention Trump by name, but he lambasted the billionaire’s policy proposals, particularly his promise to dismantle most of the U.S. Dodd-Frank financial regulations. “How it is that somebody would propose that we weaken regulations on Wall Street? Have we really forgotten what just happened eight years ago?” Obama said, sounding exasperated. “The notion that you would vote for anybody who would now allow them to go back to doing the same stuff that almost broke our economy’s back makes no sense. I don’t care whether you are a Republican, or a Democrat or an independent, why would you do that?” Obama, who leaves office in January, is eager to have a Democrat succeed him to ensure his legacy on the economy, healthcare reform and climate change continues. By going to Elkhart, the president sought to illustrate the success of his policies in the face of Republican opposition. His trip to the city in early 2009 came in the middle of a fight for the U.S. Congress to pass a roughly $800 billion economic stimulus package. Elkhart had an unemployment rate as high as 19.6 percent in 2009, the White House said; it is now around 4 percent. Indiana’s Republican Governor Mike Pence said the city had recovered despite Obama’s policies, not because of them. “I believe the people of Elkhart ... have brought our economy back in spite of the burdens that higher taxes, mandates and increasing regulations from Washington, D.C. have placed on them,” he wrote in an opinion piece published in “The Elkhart Truth.” Obama has not endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her race for the Democratic presidential nomination against Bernie Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont, but he has made his eagerness to campaign for the winner clear. He name checked Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, by noting deficits had fallen under both of their administrations, and he said Republicans had helped the rich by blaming poor people, minorities, feminists, and immigrants for squeezing the economic wellbeing of the middle class. “The primary story that Republicans have been telling about the economy is not supported by the facts. It’s just not,” Obama said to a largely supportive crowd at a local high school. | 1 |
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey is determined to press on with its efforts to join the European Union despite tensions with the bloc, the government said on Sunday ahead of an EU summit which will discuss the frayed relations between Brussels and Ankara. The EU, particularly heavyweight member Germany, has become increasingly critical of Turkey since President Tayyip Erdogan launched a crackdown on critics, including journalists and academics after the July 2016 failed coup. Erdogan accused Berlin of Nazi-like tactics in March when it prevented Turkish ministers speaking at expatriate rallies in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an election debate in September that it was clear Turkey should not join the EU and entry talks should end, despite it being a NATO ally. Is there another country that has waited at the EU s doorstep since 1963? There is not, Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesman Bekir Bozdag was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency. We are determined to continue this process despite all the setbacks. We, as Turkey, have no intention of pulling back, he said. Turkey s 12-year-long accession talks have ground to a halt since Ankara s crackdown after the failed coup, in which more than 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial and some 150,000 have been sacked or suspended from jobs in the military, private and public sectors. EU leaders will meet on Oct. 19 to discuss deteriorating ties between the bloc and Turkey in a two-day summit. However, Merkel was quoted as saying the summit will not make a conclusive decision on Ankara s accession bid. | 0 |
In a meeting Trump held with two Russian officials at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump is said to have bragged about firing FBI Director James Comey and boasting that it eased great pressure on him in how he deals with Russia. Comey had been actively pursuing an investigation into the Trump campaign s involvement with Russian interference in the 2016 election that ultimately put him in office. Trump, it seems, felt that the investigation was preventing him from cozying up to Putin.The New York Times reported that they had obtained a summary of the meeting which documented the exchange: I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job, Mr. Trump said, according to the document, which was read to the New York Times by an American official. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That s taken off. Mr. Trump added, I m not under investigation. Trump s overt statement that the pressure on him had been taken off confirms Trump did, in fact, knowingly fire Comey in order to obstruct the investigation into his Russian connections. The word bombshell gets thrown around a lot but that s a bombshell.The world might never have known about this frank confession of guilt because the White House prevented U.S. reporters from attending. The only journalist in the room was a Russian government-backed photographer whom American officials said lied about his credentials. He has kept his mouth shut.Meanwhile, the heat on Trump actually turned up since his firing of Comey. A special counsel has been assigned to look into the matter. And then there is this, a scoop by the Washington Post:The law enforcement investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign has identified a current White House official as a significant person of interest, showing that the probe is reaching into the highest levels of government, according to people familiar with the matter.There is someone currently working for Trump that investigators believe either was or still is coordinating with Russia. What s more, thanks to the report by the New York Times, we know Trump knows this investigation isn t going to go his way. That s obstruction of justice wrapped in obstruction of justice topped with more obstruction of justice.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 0 |
NEW YORK (IFR) - Jared Kushner has divested his equity interest in 666 Fifth Avenue, a 39-story office and retail building on Manhattan’s famed shopping area, according to a spokesperson at Kushner Companies. Kushner said he would step down as CEO of Kushner Companies, a family owned real estate company, and begin to divest himself of substantial assets after he was made a senior White House advisor to US President Donald Trump, his father-in-law. “Mr. Kushner divested his equity interest in 666 Fifth Avenue, and has no role in the management or operations of the property,” a Kushner Companies spokesperson said in an emailed statement to IFR. “Mr. Kushner’s ownership interests were sold using a third-party appraisal for fair market value to a family trust, of which he is not a beneficiary,” the spokesperson said. Neither Ivanka Trump nor her and Kushner’s children are beneficiaries to the family trust, the spokesperson also confirmed. When asked by IFR, Kushner Companies declined to give any detail about the sale price of the equity stake and declined to discuss any aspect of the outstanding debt on the property. Kushner bought the property for US$1.8bn in 2007 - the highest price ever paid for a single office building sale in the United States at the time, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency - but it was last valued well below that level. The last appraisal, completed in 2011 as part of a debt restructuring, valued the building at just US$820m. Kroll, which said the building was 20% vacant as of July 2016, valued the property at US$982.1m. Kushner and his partners in 666 Fifth took out US$1.2bn of senior debt to buy the property, which was later packaged and sold into three CMBS deals. It is not clear what the divestiture means for the debt on the property. The senior debt was restructured in 2011 and extended to February 2019. As part of the restructuring, Kushner brought in Vornado Realty as a partner. A call and email to Vornado was not immediately returned. | 1 |
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican leftist presidential frontrunner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pledged in his manifesto to clamp down on financial crime, and tighten money laundering, banking and tax regulations if elected next July. Lopez Obrador, the 64-year-old former mayor of Mexico City and a two-time presidential candidate, on Monday unveiled his 2018 policy platform, vowing to boost infrastructure spending while preserving economic stability. In his 415-page manifesto, published late on Monday, the founder of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party said he would combat money laundering by tightening controls on the banking system, including tougher sanctions for public officials convicted of financial crimes, a new conflict-of-interest law and longer sentences for tax offenses. Banks and financial institutions aren t victims, but rather those principally responsible for, and benefiting from, the total lack of control in money laundering, the proposal said. Lopez Obrador s plan also aims to ensure transparency in sworn-wealth declarations and to block the right to confidential information for people under investigation for financial crimes. AMLO, as he is known locally, has sought to deflect accusations that he would pursue Venezuela-style socialist policies if elected, vowing instead to clean up the country s graft-stained politics. Mexico s government estimates that the drug trade, tax fraud and other crimes are worth at least 1.13 trillion pesos ($58.5 billion) a year in Mexico, with all of the funds susceptible to money laundering, according to a classified report seen by Reuters in October. The manifesto also gave details on Lopez Obrador s plan to scrap President Enrique Pena Nieto s new $13 billion Mexico City airport project, which is currently under construction. Lopez Obrador s plan recognizes the need to ease traffic and delays at Mexico City s existing airport, but proposes preserving it while expanding a nearby military site. AMLO would add two runways and a terminal at the Saint Lucia International Airport in the State of Mexico. The expansion would cost 50 billion pesos ($2.66 billion) and take less than three years, resulting in five runways shared between Saint Lucia and the current airport, he said. The document said this alternative would cost about one-third what will be spent on the new airport, which Lopez Obrador says would drain government coffers with maintenance costs. Pena Nieto s office said in a statement that cancelling the project would cause job losses and send a bad signal. The macroeconomic risk for Mexico would be enormous, as it would be sending the message that Mexico doesn t respect contracts nor private investment, the statement added. | 0 |
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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Around 400,000 children are still displaced from the fighting for Mosul, one year after the start of a military offensive to recapture the Iraqi city from the Islamic State, Save the Children said on Monday. Islamic State s self-declared caliphate effectively collapsed in July, when U.S.-backed Iraqi forces re-took Mosul, the group s de facto capital in Iraq, after a grueling nine-month battle. Just because the fighting in Mosul has stopped doesn t mean the humanitarian needs aren t great. If anything, children need our help now more than ever - those that are still displaced and those that are returning to see what s left of their homes, said the London-based charity s Iraq country director, Ana Locsin. Large parts of Mosul have been reduced to rubble; schools, homes, hospitals, roads, playgrounds and parks. I ve spoken to dozens of children haunted by their experiences, left with psychological scars that ll take years to heal, Locsin said in a statement. With the fall of Mosul and other small towns in the country s north and west, the only area still under control of Islamic State in Iraq is a stretch alongside the western border with Syria, where the militant group is also in retreat. | 1 |
Vladimir Putin the anti-Obama Fans of the maverick Russian president can now gaze upon him every day for the bargain price of just 78 Roubles (72p) by buying his bizarre and wonderful 2016 calendar.The momentous tribute to the iron-fisted leader features him in a typically outlandish range of poses, from fishing topless to cuddling a fluffy puppy.Each page portrays the legendary president s tough and sensitive sides, with him boasting about the prowess of the Russian military one month and professing his love of dogs the next.And it seems that Russians simply cannot get enough of their leader with the glossy calendar selling out in Moscow.But it is unlikely to adorn the walls of many Islamic State (ISIS) hideouts, with the hard man supremo s bombing blitz in Syria contributing to the terrorist group s accelerating collapse.Mr Putin seemingly alludes to the current military operations against ISIS, with some critics saying he has outflanked and out-thought Western leaders.The October entry features the stern Russian president wearing a military cap and striped shirt alongside a slogan proclaiming his country s military might.It states: No one will succeed in gaining military superiority over Russia. Our army is contemporary, capable, and as they now say, polite, but formidable. Via: Express UK | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will vote next week on a bipartisan proposal that would make it easier to penalize operators of websites that facilitate online sex trafficking, the panel said in a statement on Wednesday. U.S. technology companies including Alphabet’s Google and Facebook have long opposed legislation that would amend what is known as Section 230 of the decades-old Communications Decency Act, arguing it could thwart digital innovation and prompt endless litigation. The vote is a setback for the internet industry, which is witnessing shifting political fortunes in Washington on a range of policy issues after decades of relatively little regulatory scrutiny. Silicon Valley companies generally consider Section 230 a bedrock legal protection because it helps shield companies from liability for the activities of their users. The legislation from Republican Senator Rob Portman and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal in August came after years of law-enforcement lobbying for a crackdown on the online classified site backpage.com, which is used for sex advertising. The measure would make it easier for states and sex-trafficking victims to sue social media networks, advertisers and others that fail to keep exploitative material off their platforms. In a statement, Portman said the lawmakers should “act with urgency to hold online sex traffickers accountable and give survivors the justice they deserve.” The bill has attracted bipartisan support from about a third of the Senate. A companion measure has similar backing in the House of Representatives. Republicans control both chambers. Technology lobbyists in recent weeks have engaged in negotiations with lawmakers supportive of the bill in an attempt to narrow its impact. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. intelligence community has not initiated an assessment of the significance or impact of any information that President Donald Trump revealed in a meeting with Russia’s foreign minister, a top U.S. official said on Tuesday. “We have not initiated an assessment of that. There are procedures that we go through to determine when assessments … need to be made,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Reuters reported a week ago that Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak about a planned Islamic State operation. | 0 |
President Obama announced via an op-ed in the Washington Post that he will be enacting some major reforms in the federal prison system. He will be putting an end to solitary confinement for juveniles, and prohibiting the practice as a punishment for low-level infractions. The reforms were taken from a report by the Justice Department that listed recommendations for improving the system. It s estimated that approximately 10,000 individuals would be affected.Unfortunately, this only applies to the federal prison system and not to the majority of prison inmates that are incarcerated for state-level crimes. Even with that in mind, this is still a bold and very necessary step in reforming American prisons which can serve as a model for states to follow.President Obama made his case as follows:How can we subject prisoners to unnecessary solitary confinement, knowing its effects, and then expect them to return to our communities as whole people? It doesn t make us safer. It s an affront to our common humanity.The Justice Department has completed its review, and I am adopting its recommendations to reform the federal prison system. These include banning solitary confinement for juveniles and as a response to low-level infractions, expanding treatment for the mentally ill and increasing the amount of time inmates in solitary can spend outside of their cells. These steps will affect some 10,000 federal prisoners held in solitary confinement and hopefully serve as a model for state and local corrections systems. And I will direct all relevant federal agencies to review these principles and report back to me with a plan to address their use of solitary confinement.Source: WaPoWhile acknowledging that sometimes solitary confinement can be required for certain individuals, President Obama made it clear that it s a punishment which is overused and ends up causing more harm than good in many cases.There are as many as 100,000 people held in solitary confinement in U.S. prisons including juveniles and people with mental illnesses. As many as 25,000 inmates are serving months, even years of their sentences alone in a tiny cell, with almost no human contact.Research suggests that solitary confinement has the potential to lead to devastating, lasting psychological consequences. It has been linked to depression, alienation, withdrawal, a reduced ability to interact with others and the potential for violent behavior. Some studies indicate that it can worsen existing mental illnesses and even trigger new ones. Prisoners in solitary are more likely to commit suicide, especially juveniles and people with mental illnesses.Source: WaPoHopefully, this will be a first step in what turns out to be a long path of reforms to bring our prison system out of the realm of cruel and unusual punishment, as it was intended to be all along.featured image via The Georgia Straight | 0 |
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The collapse of German Chancellor Angela Merkel s talks to form a three-way coalition government is bad news for Europe given the leading role of the European Union s biggest member state, the Dutch foreign minister said on Monday. Germany s political crisis was weighing on the euro and European shares after the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) unexpectedly pulled out on Sunday from weeks of talks with Merkel s conservatives and the ecologist Greens. It s bad news for Europe that the government in Germany will take a little longer, new Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra said on arrival for talks with EU peers in Brussels. Germany is a very influential country within the EU so if they don t have a government and therefore don t have a mandate it ll be very hard for them to take positions. Germany s outgoing EU Minister Michael Roth, a member of the Social Democrats who are not in talks on forming a new Merkel government, said: We all have an interest in getting a mandate so that we are able to take care fully of business in Europe. We have never had such a situation in Germany. So, given the collapse of these exploratory talks, we will need to assess the situation and decide accordingly. The spokesman for the EU s executive arm in Brussels stressed the need for stability in Germany, as did an official in French President Emmanuel Macron s office. We are confident that the German constitutional process will provide the basis for the stability and continuity that has been a trademark of German politics and we hope this time will not be different, said the European Commission s Margaritis Schinas. While some in Germany spoke of a possible new election, Zijlstra said that was a bad idea and noted that the Dutch government took seven months to form, which meant German parties could still return to talks after a pause. Foreign Minister Didier Reynders of Belgium, which was without a government for 18 months after an election, sought to strike a lighter tone on Germany. In Belgium we have a tradition to do that, sometimes it s very long, Reynders told reporters. Zijlstra did not think the situation in Germany affected the Brexit talks specifically for now, as the EU was waiting for a substantial offer from the British on the exit bill. Both Roth and Reynders agreed London must make a move on the money now. Arriving at the same talks, the Czech Republic s EU minister, Ales Chmelar, said: We are hopeful that we will have a strong government in Germany sooner rather than later. | 0 |
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BROOKLYN — New York is supposed to be a magical city that extracts “authenticity” out of its presidential candidates — you know, the rubes who tote wallets in back pockets, can’t quite swipe a MetroCard, or stand there like flap-hatted Vermont tourists fishing around for subway tokens left over from their last trip to the Big City in 1960.
The 2016 primary here — for all its hype — provided few new insights into the character of the candidates — but it did clarify both the Republican and Democratic races, delivering the expected victories to the expected hometown front-runners, Donald Trump and, especially Hillary Clinton.
The 10-day New York campaign was dumber, more scripted and meaner (at least on the Democratic side) than a great state deserved. Each candidate embraced the most self-serving Empire State cliché they could glom — Bernie Sanders trumpeted his Spaldeen-stoopball 1950s Brooklyn upbringing (while eliding the endemic segregation in his fiercely divided neighborhood), Hillary touted her 2000 upstate listening tour (downplaying her coziness with Wall Street), while actual Americans Ted Cruz and John Kasich seemed mesmerized by the wild exoticism of half-sour pickles and matzas.
Only Donald Trump — a “Bonfire of the Vanities” character who has busted out of his tabloid 1980s cage to devour 2016 basic-cable America — seemed to really get what New Yorkers wanted. Which was to be momentarily amused, then left the hell alone. By necessity (no riots, please!) and instinct (he has Jeter-esque name recognition already) the Donald lay lower than in any previous contest and triumphed resoundingly.
It was semi-fun while it lasted. Here are five takeaways from the New York primary.
1. “Momentum” is for losers. Bernie Sanders cruised into New York riding a wave of victories: He won eight out of the past nine nominating contests. Which all added up to not very much — he cut Clinton’s lead in pledged delegates from about 240 to under 200. The Sanders campaign — taking a page from Clinton’s own effort in 2008 — has been pushing the idea that the Vermont senator was surging past the mathematical impediments to his nomination.
Clinton nearly erased that run with one big win in New York, a victory that her staff expected to net her about 20 to 25 pledged delegates. It also robbed Sanders of a core (if flawed) rationale for his candidacy: That Clinton couldn’t win consistently in big, Northern states — she can add New York to a column of wins that includes Florida, Texas, Virginia and Ohio.
And late in the day came news that electrified Clinton’s already-jazzed staff: that Sanders had unexpectedly flown back to Vermont to recharge his political batteries.
2. Trump: The mouth that didn’t roar. Turns out that shutting up, lying low and reorganizing your amateurish campaign ain’t such a bad idea. Trump, who kicked off his candidacy at Trump Tower on Fifth took the Fifth during his home-state primary — steering clear of perilously liberal Manhattan to hold rallies in Patchogue on Long Island and Rochester upstate.
It may be too late to showcase restraint, but Trump (who attempted rapprochement with Megyn Kelly during the primary sprint) used his dead-certain win here as cover to reset his campaign — layering over bar-bouncer campaign manager Corey Lewandowski with seasoned GOP pro Paul Manafort and flack Hope Hicks with former Scott Walker aide Rick Wiley.
3. Bernie and Hillary officially hate each other’s guts. Here was a hometown contest destined to sow bitterness. Sanders (like so many other Brooklynites) professes to be proud of the moxie and street toughness instilled by the borough of his birth, but his first-ever vote was with his feet — and he got out, first to Chicago, then to the braying-Guernsey environs of Burlington. Still, he feels pride of ownership and bragged (in Wyoming) that he would make New York transplant Clinton quake; Clinton, who parked her carpetbag in Chappaqua 15 years ago, wanted to crush his upstart challenge in her Chappaqua backyard — and she did.
Clinton won by a wide margin— and there was much eff-you high-fiving in the ballroom of the Sheraton New York. But Sanders’ defeat (accompanied, as always by the big crowds and even bigger torrent of online donations) was the bitterest one yet and deepened the already yawning fault lines between the Bernie stalwarts and a Clinton team increasingly itchy to see him gone. Not going to happen anytime soon, apparently: The tweet being incredulously digested at a Clinton victory party was an MSNBC report quoting Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver defiantly claiming his candidate would take the fight to the convention floor — even if Clinton secured an overwhelming lead among pledged delegates and supers.
“We kicked his ass tonight,” a senior Clinton aide told me Tuesday night. “I hope this convinces Bernie to tone it down. If not, f--- him.”
4. Why is John Kasich still running? Sure, Donald Trump built (or branded himself on) over half of Manhattan. But Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the closest thing to a moderate remaining in the Republican field should have appealed to voters here — and he couldn’t make the sale in critical areas like Nassau County or suburban Buffalo. At 11 p.m. he was clocking in at a modest 25 percent — less than half of Trump’s commanding 60 percent level of victory.
Kasich stands no chance of catching either Trump or Ted Cruz in the delegate hunt— so his core rationale is that he fares far better than either man in a general election match-up against Hillary Clinton. Losing so badly in her home state, however, does little to bolster that case — and the trickle of cash coming to his campaign is likely to dry up as he heads into the homestretch.
5. Whiteout. Clinton managed to fight Sanders to a virtual draw among white voters statewide (and won 60-to-40 among whites in the five boroughs) — but the big story, for the umpteenth time in 2016 was Sanders’ inability to make significant inroads with black voters. Spike Lee made a nice ad for the Vermont senator — but it couldn’t compensate for the candidate’s repeated (and inexplicable) dismissal of Clinton’s huge wins in the “Deep South” — which blacks interpreted as a slight. | 1 |
geoengineeringwatch.org
Global climate engineering programs are mathematically the single greatest assault against nature ever launched by the human race. Incredibly, the majority of global populations still remain oblivious to the ongoing blatant climate engineering atrocities occurring overhead day after day. This willful blindness of the masses is largely due to the total betrayal of the truth by the vast majority of the science community and all of mainstream media , both of whom are heavily invested in covering up the crimes of their paymasters. How badly damaged is our once thriving biosphere? We are past the point of no return in regard to the once thriving planet we have known. Below is a quote from a powerful and moving recent article by Dr. Glen Barry which accurately outlines the reality we collectively face.
Miraculous nature is being murdered. Everywhere we look inequitable over-consumption is devastating the natural ecosystems that sustain a living Earth. Together we yield to ecological truth – personally embracing a global ecology ethic, and demanding others do so as well – or we all needlessly die at each others’ throats as the global ecological system collapses and being ends.
A primary sign of biosphere collapse is clearly evident by the rapidly imploding cryosphere. Arctic sea ice continues to advance further into record low levels . Though official agencies like NASA will never admit to the ongoing climate engineering crimes, they are beginning to acknowledge that the excessive cloud cover over the Arctic in recent years (solar radiation management) is exacerbating the overall warming , not mitigating it. Other studies also confirm the overall planetary warming is being fueled by "contrails" (which are in reality solar radiation management sprayed particulate trails ). The 30 second video below fully illustrates the shocking loss of Arctic sea ice.
Not only is the Arctic sea ice at a record low level, but now the ice on the opposite end of the Earth, Antarctica, is also rapidly retreating to record low levels as well. This is a fact that the US corporate media is not covering. The 2 minute video below elaborates on the rapidly accelerating loss of Antarctic sea ice.
Antarctic sea ice extent has been the last vestige of denial for those who still desperately cling to the "global warming is a hoax" fossil fuel industry false narrative. To dogmatically cling to this false narrative is also to toe the line for the power structure, big oil, and the climate engineers . The poles are not the only part of the cryosphere that is imploding, the Himalayan glaciers are disappearing at blinding speed. The 8 minute video below is a recent update from the Himalayas.
Our planet is already free-falling into a runaway warming scenario , global climate engineering is further fueling this scenario. The graph below illustrates the rapid increase of warmer days being recorded on our planet.
Global climate engineering programs not only worsening the overall warming of the biosphere, but also destroying the ozone layer , derailing the hydrological cycle , and contaminating the entire planet due to the highly toxic heavy metal and chemical fallout .
Where do we go from here? How can we stand against the power structure that currently controls the fate of the world in which we live? The single greatest leap we could collectively make in the right direction is by fully exposing the climate engineering issue to the masses. If we can expose the geoengineering assault, populations around the globe would unite in a common cause. If we can expose it, we can stop it. Those, that are still clinging to the insanely false "global warming is a hoax" narrative, are doing great harm to credibility of the overall anti-geoengineering community, and thus to the cause itself. The planet is accelerating into total meltdown. Climate engineering is making an already horrific anthropogenic warming scenario far worse overall. Those who truly claim to be committed to the fight to stop climate engineering have an obligation to objectively examine frontline facts and film footage . Sadly, even some major "independent" news sites are pushing the "global warming is a hoax" false narrative . Pushing this patently false narrative is exactly what climate engineering/industrial complex wants, and is extremely harmful to the cause of exposing and halting the ongoing weather warfare assault. Why? If we are to have any chance of stopping the climate engineering insanity, if we are to have any chance of convincing the climate science community to start telling the truth about the climate engineering assault, the anti-climate engineering community must stand on frontline facts and not on ridiculously false ideological dogma. Investigate, and make your voice heard , time is not on our side.
May be freely reprinted, so long as the text is unaltered, all hyperlinks are left intact, and credit for the article is prominently given to geoengineeringwatch.org and the article’s author with a hyperlink back to the original story. 6 Responses to Climate Engineering And Cryosphere Collapse jim stewart October 27, 2016 at 4:18 pm
"Sadly, even some major 'independent' news sites are pushing the 'global warming is a hoax' false narrative." Indeed, shame on Infowars, considering they should know better. But then, so much hyperbolic & elipitical rhetoric is geared to sell to what folks wish to believe, rather than what truthseekers pursue to be savvy and shrewd. | 1 |
Chinese University Sells HIV Testing Kits in Vending Machine China has a 43% year-over-year increase of the disease Image Credits: David Pursehouse/Flickr .
China has experienced such a growth rate of HIV in the past several years that one university has taken steps to allow students to test themselves: by placing an HIV testing kit in a vending machine next to regular fare like snacks.
China has seen a 43% year-over-year increase in infection rates, which likely prompted Southwest Petroleum University in Nanchong City in Sichuan Province to install the test kits .
Sichuan Province is one of the top three provinces in China with a disproportionately high rate of HIV/AIDS. Together, with the other two provinces that have high rates of the disease, the three account for over half of the cases of HIV/AIDS in the entire country.
80% of new HIV cases occur due to homosexual activity.
The kits retail for $4.40 and can be taken as a urine test to determine whether or not students need to seek medical attention. Those who purchase the test will collect their urine and send it to a laboratory, and then access the results online. This can all be done completely anonymously.
Similar kits can be purchased online, but they retail for around $45. The cheaper vending machine tests are just as accurate and are partially subsidized by a charity to allow the test to be more accessible.
Reports state that the Chinese have limited sex education and very little is discussed about HIV or AIDS. Many students who suspect they may have the disease do not seek medical help because of its link to homosexuality. Those who do have HIV are often thought to be pariahs by their families and friends because of its connection with same-sex encounters.
The disease is mostly spreading amongst young homosexual men, but as with anywhere else, women who do not use proper protection are also susceptible to becoming infected.
Doctors have stated that most young people who have become infected with HIV/AIDS in China lacked proper education and did not take appropriate precautions for prevention.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) states that there are currently about half a million people in China living with HIV or AIDS, however this figure may be inaccurate due to underreporting. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The No. 2 Republican in the Senate said on Monday he was worried that Donald Trump could be an “albatross” for Republicans running in other races if he were to win the party’s nomination for president, CNN reported. “We can’t have a nominee be an albatross around the down-ballot races,” John Cornyn, the Senate majority whip, said when asked if he had concerns about the possibility Trump could win the nomination, according to CNN. “That’s a concern of mine.” “I think he certainly is a controversial figure,” the Texas senator told CNN. “I think we need someone who can unify the party, as opposed to divide the party.” (Reporting by Timothy Ahmann; Editing by Eric Walsh) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production. | 0 |
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown on Friday signed a bill to allow businesses across the state to carry epinephrine auto-injectors, but sharply admonished drugmaker Mylan NL over its recent price increases. Mylan has been widely criticized, including by U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, for raising the price of EpiPens, which are carried by people with life-threatening allergies. The company, which acquired the product in 2007, recently raised the list price for a pair of EpiPen auto-injectors to $600. The price has been rising from a cost of about $100 in 2008. A probe into EpiPen pricing by a U.S. Senate subcommittee was announced on Sept. 7. Brown’s decision on Friday highlights the predicament facing allergy advocates, who strongly support epinephrine access legislation but have criticized Mylan’s pricing. Over two dozen U.S. states have passed laws similar to California’s authorizing businesses to stock epinephrine, according to advocacy group Food Allergy Research & Education. Brown said he was signing the bill because EpiPens save lives, but that he strongly objected to Mylan’s pricing. “State government cannot stop unconscionable price increases, but it can shed light on such rapacious corporate behavior,” Brown said in a statement. A Mylan representative could not immediately be reached for comment. EpiPen, which has annual sales of about $1 billion, delivers a potentially life-saving dose of epinephrine by injection into the thigh to counter dangerous allergic reactions, including to peanuts and bee stings. Mylan owns 94 percent of the market for such auto-injected devices. In response to the furor over pricing, Mylan last month said it would sell its own generic version of EpiPen for $300. | 0 |
It s hard to read stories like this without wondering how a Commander in Chief can so easily desert those who sacrifice all for our nation, in favor of looking the other way when it comes to twisted Islamic traditions . De Oppresso Liber (To Liberate the Oppressed) ~~Motto of the U.S. Army Special ForcesA poignant Afghan proverb declares, Cowards cause harm to brave men. This ancient Pashtun adage reflects the shocking story of U.S. Special Forces Sgt. Charles Martland; Martland is the brave man, a soldier who saved the life of an Afghan boy who was abducted, held, and abused as a sex slave by an Afghan police chief, Abdul Rahman, the vicious, powerful, and arrogant coward. The incomprehensible harm to Martland resides in the inexplicable action taken by the U.S. Army. The Army disciplined Martland, relieved him from his duty post in Afghanistan, and is now seeking to involuntarily discharge him from military service.What was the dreadful and dischargeable infraction by the highly decorated Green Beret Charles Martland? Quinn was relieved of his Special Forces command after a fight with a U.S.-backed militia leader who had a boy as a sex slave chained to his bed. Credit Kirsten Luce For NYTIn 2011, Martland and his Special Forces Captain Dan Quinn (who has since resigned from the military) physically assaulted Abdul Rahman, after learning that Rahman had abducted a boy, chained him to a bed, repeatedly abused him as a sex slave and beat up the boy s mother when she sought to find and rescue her son. The Green Berets intervened when they discovered that the boy was being raped and held as a sex slave. According to the Martland and Quinn, the Afghan villagers were pleading with them to do something about repeated sexual assaults against children by the Afghan police.Here is the dirty, not so little secret of Afghanistan: The sexual abuse of children is widespread and embedded into the Afghan Pashtun culture. There is scant prosecution of child sex exploitation in Afghanistan. American military have long been saddled with the knowledge of the Afghan practice of bacha bazi, translated as dancing boys. Bacha Bazi is the ancient and widespread practice of Afghan men who abduct and lure poor boys into the grisly world of child sex slavery where they are raped and exploited by Afghan men. Frontline exposed this lurid child sex trafficking trade.U.S. Military stationed in Afghanistan experience the hideous reality that children are expendable in the feckless Afghan criminal justice system. Cultural mores trump human rights among the tribesman of Afghanistan.This wasn t the first time that Martland and Quinn experienced inaction from the Afghan government for serious child sexual exploitation crimes committed by the Afghan police force. Martland and Quinn knew that two Afghan commanders were not prosecuted nor punished for the rape of a 15 year old girl and the honor killing of an Afghan commander s 12 year old daughter who kissed a boy. Martland who was fed up with the ongoing sexual exploitation of children by Afghan officials said, I felt that morally we could no longer stand by and allow our Afghan Commanders to commit these atrocities. Since when is a highly decorated Green Beret who confronts a violent child sex predator and trafficker and woman beater, punished and involuntarily discharge from the military?What happened to the greatest military and force for moral good on the face of the planet? Isn t Martland carrying out the very anti human trafficking policies promulgated by the Obama Administration?Obama s administration, including his Pentagon, endlessly promotes and spends millions on sexual assault and human trafficking programs, policies and media messaging. The very human rights violations perpetrated upon innocent Afghan children are the ones which this Administration is demanding action to enforce zero tolerance:1.U.S. Department of Defense Policy Against Human Trafficking. In the press release praising the ongoing military awareness training of human trafficking, the Army media alert highlights the annual training and progress for DoD s military as driving home the department s zero tolerance for slavery and human trafficking. Apparently, that DoD zero tolerance policy doesn t apply to Captain Quinn and Sgt. Martland. Is it simply awareness, but no action to stop human trafficking and sex slavery? Zero tolerance means stopping the cultural and systemic abduction and sex slavery of young Afghan boys. Is the DoD training report mere lip service and media hype to convince Americans that the U.S. military fights human trafficking and sex slavery?The DoD press release ends with the ironic caveat that military leadership also plays a critical awareness role in preventing such crimes. Sgt. Martland and Captain Dan Quinn are military leaders who prevented further human trafficking crimes and are now paying for it with their military careers. Via: Yore Children | 1 |
Katrina Campins gave an excellent explanation of Trump s position on immigration and the press: As an American I feel frustrated because people are losing sight of what Donald Trump is trying to say. What he s saying is, people should come to this country legally. And I know about that process very well because my husband is going through it right now and it s extremely expensive. So there s more incentive for people to come over to this country illegally. So all he s saying is, let s make the process to come here easier and less expensive so there s more incentive to do that. When people cross the border who are not supposed to be here, let s make sure they are sent back. But what the media is doing is twisting and turning everything that he s saying and what s so frustrating as an American is that the point is not getting across. We re so worried about his fights with Megyn Kelly and Jorge Ramos now, let s talk about the real issues I don t think it s his fault. I think it s the fact that everything he says gets misconstrued. Like this immigration thing I m a Hispanic woman and I m not offended for what he s saying. I understood exactly what he is saying. No. And I don t agree that I m in the minority because the last time I was on CNN speaking about this as a Hispanic woman, so many Hispanic women tweeted me and said, Thank you for speaking for the real Hispanic woman. | 0 |
LIMA (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama declined on Sunday to comment on media reports that senior defense and intelligence officials in his administration had requested the removal of National Security Agency chief Mike Rogers. Obama called Rogers a “terrific patriot” during a news conference at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, adding he did not generally comment on personnel matters. | 1 |
You know things are going badly for the GOP President-Elect when even Fox News begins to turn on him. In an interview with Fox s Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, Trump was grilled about his conflicts of interest and about his similar accusations toward Hillary Clinton.Wallace asked Trump about his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, telling CNN that Trump would continue his role as executive producer for Celebrity Apprentice in his spare time. as well as the fact Trump plans on keeping a stake in his real estate business while in the White House. Isn t that a huge conflict of interest, sir? Wallace asked.Trump s response was that it was okay because everyone in the world knows he s a big real estate tycoon and he denied that he will be involved in the management of the company.To Wallace s credit (and I don t say that often), the Fox anchor countered that Trump hammered Hillary Clinton over the Clinton Foundation and pay to play. Trump responded that that was different because she takes massive amounts of money from foreign countries. That s not true, but Fox didn t point that out.Wallace continued, noting that Trump will also be making massive amounts of money because foreign countries are already booking events at the Trump hotel in D.C., and that Trump has business operations, deals with foreign countries isn t this on steroids. Trump was seemingly appalled, but Wallace went on, saying that foreign governments were trying to curry favor with the United States through Trump s hotels.Trump, though, made the claim that he is turning down billions of dollars in deals because of potential conflicts of interest, but he did claim that he didn t know if he d be doing deals, and said that under the law (he has) the right to do it, but he doesn t want to.Here s the video:It s becoming increasingly clear that Trump is a danger, not just for domestic policy, but that he and his conflicts of interest present a real threat to the world. This issue is resonating with the American people, nearly 2/3rds of whom have expressed concern with Trump s conflicts of interest. As for why Fox is waking up to that reality now, and not before the election, well, perhaps they see it as their ticket out of a wildcard Trump presidency. They would much rather deal with a President Mike Pence.Featured image via screenshot | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has asked two Cabinet departments for the names of government officials working on programs to counter violent extremism, according to a document seen by Reuters and U.S. officials. The requests to the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security involve a set of programs that seek to prevent violence by extremists of any stripe, including recruitment by militant Islamist groups within the United States and abroad. Reuters could not determine why the Trump team asked for these names. The Trump team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump has frequently criticized President Barack Obama for not doing enough to battle Islamic militants and for his refusal to use the term “radical Islam” to describe Islamic State and other militant groups. Some career officials said they feared the incoming administration may be looking to undo the work that the Obama administration has done on countering violent extremism. “They’re picking a few issues to ask for people’s names,” said one government official who spoke on condition of anonymity, reflecting wider fears that those who worked on such issues could be marginalized by the new administration. Earlier this month, Trump representatives had asked the U.S. Energy Department for the names of staffers who worked on climate change policy. The White House expressed concern that it may have been an attempt to target civil servants, including scientists and lawyers. The Energy Department balked at providing names and a Trump spokesman disavowed the request. The State Department declined to comment on specific requests from the Trump transition team. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. In a Dec. 9 email seen by Reuters, Trump representatives at the State Department sought a list of positions in the counterterrorism bureau’s office of countering violent extremism. “Please indicate names of people serving in those roles and status (political or career),” the email said, referring to political appointees and career civil servants. Three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a similar request had been made to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In that case, the Trump transition team asked for the names of members of an interagency task force on countering violent extremism that the Obama administration established in January, the officials said. According to a Jan. 8 DHS statement, the task force falls under the leadership of DHS and the Department of Justice, and includes officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Counterterrorism Center and other government agencies. Several of Trump’s top national security advisers have cast the fight against Islamic militants as an existential conflict between civilizations, according to a review of their writings and public remarks. Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, Trump’s pick for White House national security adviser, said in a post on Twitter earlier this year, “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL.” Some counterterrorism experts say that such rhetoric can be used by militant groups to recruit, and will alienate Muslim communities whose help is needed to prevent violence. A U.S. official said their guess was that the Trump team will likely rebrand Obama’s generic fight against violent extremism into a specific battle against Islamic radicalization State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Thursday that the department would be cautious about providing names of employees associated with specific issues, but left open the possibility of providing names on an organizational basis. It was unclear whether the State Department shared the names of the officials in the office on countering violent extremism or whether Homeland Security officials provided names. “Without getting into the specifics of information either requested by the transition team or provided by the Department, I can tell you that ... I know of no requests that have been denied,” a senior State Department official said. | 1 |
SALT LAKE CITY—The revelations of recent days about Donald Trump’s lascivious and predatory attitudes toward women have hurt him in Utah perhaps more than any other state.
Julie de Azevedo Hanks, a psychotherapist with a blog that is widely read in the Mormon community, is an independent who voted for Mitt Romney four years ago. She planned to keep her preference for Hillary Clinton quiet until she saw the 2005 video of the Republican nominee boasting to Billy Bush about pursuing married women and using his celebrity to make unwanted advances.
“That tape put the final nail in the coffin,” Hanks said. “A year ago, I never would have thought I’d be voting for her. I know she’s not flawless. I don’t idolize her. I don’t have rose-colored glasses. … We may not get everything we value with Hillary, but she aligns more closely with what we do value than Trump.”
Hanks posted on her blog about how dangerous she thinks Trump would be as president. She said her husband, a rock-ribbed Republican, may just not vote at all now. Last night, she was one of nearly 70 volunteers who showed up to phone bank at Clinton’s Utah headquarters, on the outskirts of the capital of one of the country’s reddest states.
The parking lot overflowed. Volunteers – many who identify as independent or even Republican – parked down nearby residential streets and walked. They ate Little Caesar’s Pizza as they made the case on cell phones to their Utah neighbors to back a Democrat for president for the first time since 1964.
The Clinton team has a full-time staffer on the ground to organize the phone banks and canvassing. They’ve even launched a Mormons for Hillary effort.
The influential Deseret News, which is owned by the Mormon Church, has stayed out of presidential politics for 80 years. But the editorial board urged all of its readers over the weekend not to vote for Trump. (For context, more than six in 10 voters in next month’s election will be members of the flock.)
“What oozes from this audio is evil,” the editorial said. “Trump’s banter belies a willingness to use and discard other human beings at will. That characteristic is the essence of a despot.”
Republican Gov. Gary Herbert and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, both Mormons, withdrew their support last Friday just hours after The Post published the video. Sen. Mike Lee, who is up for reelection, also called for the reality TV star to drop out, prompting an avalanche of colleagues to follow.
A former Miss Teen Utah is one of the women who has come forward to accuse Trump of boorish behavior in the days since. (Trump denies any wrongdoing.)
-- Romney, who is Mormon, got 73 percent of the vote here four years ago. Trump got just 34 percent of the vote in a Monmouth University poll published yesterday. He leads Clinton by only 6 points (she pulled 28 percent). Another 20 percent back independent Evan McMullin, who joined the race at the urging of Never Trump conservatives, and 9 percent support Libertarian Gary Johnson. The survey was in the field after the emergence of the 2005 tape but before numerous additional women came forward to accuse Trump of misconduct.
Just 19 percent of likely voters view Trump favorably. Seven in 10 do not believe he has the temperament to be president. Six in 10 Republicans and three in four Mormons say he does not share their values.
-- I interviewed more than 30 voters on the ground over the past two days, and it feels like he has not yet hit bottom.
-- The alternatives to Trump are racing to capitalize on his collapse in the Beehive State. Both McMullin and Johnson are running their national campaigns out of Salt Lake City, trying to become the first non-major-party candidate since 1968 to win any state’s electoral votes.
McMullin, who is focusing more on Utah than any other state, is a 40-year-old Mormon who spent a decade at the CIA and later became the policy director for the House Republican Conference. “People are finally realizing the truth about Trump,” he said during an interview at his campaign headquarters yesterday afternoon. “I imagine there are dozens more of these women out there, sadly.”
The first-time candidate presents himself as the antithesis of Trump. He talked about “the positives of immigration.” He said he really wants to win over Muslims. He decried stop-and-frisk policing as “based on racism.” And he heavily criticized both major-party nominees.
“Both of these candidates, under other circumstances, might find themselves in jail,” McMullin said, taking a sip of a Diet Coke. “Either Donald Trump for sexual assault or Hillary Clinton for violating our laws on protecting classified information. So the debate is about who has abused women more and who is more corrupt. It is horrible that we find ourselves in this position.”
McMullin last week tapped Mindy Finn, a D.C.-based digital media strategist, to be his running mate. “We hear from a lot of our supporters that we are an answer to their prayers,” she said. “They can walk out of the polling booth with their head held high. … The Republican Party has lost its way. It’s eating itself alive by normalizing the behavior of Trump. … What exists here is a lifeboat.”
-- Utah was always a bad fit for Trump. Most Mormons spend two years overseas as missionaries, which gives them a more internationalist outlook. Because the early church faced so much persecution, Trump’s support for religious tests cause visceral disgust. The state welcomes refugees with open arms. In contrast to the Rust Belt, there are vastly more opportunities for upward mobility and the unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the country.
Boyd Matheson, who runs a local conservative think tank called the Sutherland Institute, believes McMullin can win. “Utahns are not an angry people,” he said. “The hunker-down protectionism that Trump is offering just doesn’t ring true here. … For a lot of people who were never excited about Trump, the video locked it in.”
-- But McMullin’s immediate problem is that two-thirds of Utahns have still not heard of him. “We want to prevail in Utah, but we have a lot of work to do,” he said at a sparsely-decorated campaign office that is next door to a Thai restaurant and across from a credit union. Without much fundraising, he’s focusing on free media coverage and digital efforts. He said there has been a 1,600 percent increase in online engagement over the past four days. “We saw a marked shift with the tape,” he said.
-- The other big issue is that if the anti-Trump vote is divided, like it was throughout the GOP nominating contest, the reality TV star could eke out a narrow win. Johnson has campaigned hard in Utah. He was back in the state Wednesday night and has come at least once every few weeks since the start of the year. During the interview, McMullin sought to dismiss Johnson as a spoiler of sorts: “He has some impact, but this is a three-way race.”
Johnson’s communications director Joe Hunter responded that the former New Mexico governor will appear on the ballot in all 50 states while McMullin has only qualified to appear in 11 states. “He’s kind of running for president of Utah, and that’s legit,” Hunter, who lives up the road in Park City, said of McMullin. “There’s nothing wrong with that strategy. But we’re more confident in ours. … We’re ultimately the best option for the Never Trump Republicans in Utah.”
Everyone says a late endorsement from someone like Romney might help voters coalesce behind either McMullin or Johnson and put them over the top. “All the people you would wonder about, I’m talking to most of them,” McMullin said when asked if he’s in touch with the 2012 GOP nominee (who is legendary here because he turned around Salt Lake City’s failing 2002 Olympics).
-- To be sure, Clinton has a very narrow path to victory in such a conservative state. She’s viewed unfavorably by almost the same percentage of voters as Trump. Only 25 percent said they like her in the Monmouth poll. And she lost the caucuses here this spring to Bernie Sanders.
But Peter Corroon, the chairman of the Utah Democratic Party, said his team is mobilizing a bigger get-out-the-vote operation than ever before, knocking on hundreds of thousands of doors and making hundreds of thousands of phone calls. “It probably won’t be over 30 percent of the vote, but I think she’ll get the plurality,” said Corroon, the former mayor of Salt Lake City. “Every time Trump opens his mouth, it gets worse for him here. … Some will move to Hillary, and McMullin and Johnson are splitting the third-party votes.”
Republicans like to point out that, in 1992, Bill Clinton finished in third place (with 25 percent of the vote) behind George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot. Mike Lee says he still has not made up his mind about who to vote for, but it will not be Trump or Clinton. When I asked him if there’s any way she could prevail, he did not hesitate. “No,” he said. “It’s not going to happen.”
But it’s also true that third-party candidates typically underperform how they do in pre-election polling because they do not have the same kind of organization to get out the vote.
The Clinton outreach also extends to Utah's growing Hispanic population, especially those living in the state's 4th Congressional District, represented by Rep. Mia Love (R). Statewide, Hispanics comprise about 8 percent of eligible voters, but in Love's district they account for about 25 percent. That was enough to prompt Lorella Praeli, the campaign's Latino voter outreach director, to travel here last month to meet with local volunteers and activists. As in other states with smaller, but growing, Hispanic populations like North Carolina and Pennsylvania, the Clinton campaign thinks running up the score with this constituency could wind up being decisive.
-- Clinton campaign strategists freely acknowledge that Utah is a reach, and that it is easier to pick off states like Arizona or Georgia first. Both sides agree that, if Trump loses here, the election nationally will probably be a blowout. But if for some reason it is close, and the divided third-party votes allow her to win in a squeaker, Utah’s six electoral votes (the same number as Iowa has) could cut off several other paths Trump has to get to 270.
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:
-- The Nationals season is over after they fell to the Dodgers 4-3 in Game 5. Los Angeles scored all four runs in the seventh inning. “We just came up short,” manager Dusty Baker said. “I’m proud of my guys, of how they played this year.” (Jorge Castillo)
-- A Fox News poll shows Clinton up 7 points (45-38) over Trump, up from just 2 points last week. More than half of Americans now say Trump is unqualified to be president. "If the Republicans are not at rock-bottom, they can certainly see the bottom from where they are," says GOP pollster Daron Shaw. "If Trump got 90 percent of self-identified Republicans and nothing else -- no Democrats and no independents -- he'd be at 32 percent.”
-- Clinton is up 4 points in North Carolina and Ohio is virtually tied in NBC/WSJ/Marist polling. Sen. Richard Burr is tied with Democratic challenger Deborah Ross at 46 percent in the Tar Heel State. Rob Portman continues to dominate in the Buckeye State, leading Democratic challenger Ted Strickland by 18 (55-37).
-- A SurveyUSA poll in Texas found that Trump’s lead has receded to just 4 points in the Lone Star State, which is within the margin of error. For perspective, Romney won the state by 16 points in 2012, McCain by 13, and George W. Bush by 23. Ted Cruz is not popular back home: Only 45 percent approve, compared to 45 percent who disapprove. "It suggests that he may be looking at a significant primary challenge,” said SMU professor Matthew Wilson. Separately, Texas has a record-breaking 15 million people registered to vote ahead of the election, the Texas Tribune reports – more than 777,000 more than were registered for the March primaries.
-- Trump is pulling out of Virginia. NBC News reports that the news was announced to staff on a Wednesday night conference call and left many operatives on the ground blindsided. The decision came from Trump’s headquarters in New York and means that he is running essentially a four state campaign in the final three weeks, focusing on Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio.
“Several factors appear to have pushed Virginia into the Clinton column,” Laura Vozzella explains from Richmond: “Changing demographics that favor Democrats in statewide elections; divisions within the state Republican Party over Trump; Clinton’s selection of Sen. Tim Kaine, a well-liked former Virginia governor as her running mate; and vigorous support from Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), a close Clinton friend. ‘We got so far ahead here that we are no longer considered a swing state in Clinton World,’ McAuliffe told The Post in an interview last week — before the release of a tape of Trump bragging about groping women.”
-- Paul Ryan is attempting to move past his week-long battle with Trump today by delivering a fresh policy speech and announcing that he helped raise an additional $15.4 million to defend the House GOP majority. Kelsey Snell has early excerpts: “Ryan will argue for the value of conservative leadership in Congress in a mid-day address to college Republicans in his home state of Wisconsin. The speech aims to refocus the political discussion on the same traditional Republican themes like small government and freedom that Ryan has seen as key to maintaining a GOP majority as support [for] Trump has been sinking. ‘It is important that we take a step back and reflect on what this election is ultimately about,’ Ryan will say. ‘Beneath all the ugliness lies a long running debate between two governing philosophies: one that is in keeping with our nation’s founding principles—like freedom and equality—and another that seeks to replace them.’"
-- The RNC raised $39.4 million in September and has transferred $6.35 million of that to fund down-ballot races. From Bloomberg’s Kevin Cirilli: “The reallocation of $6.35 million—$4.5 million of which went to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and $1.85 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee—was made ‘with the encouragement of the Trump campaign,’ the RNC's press release stated.”
-- Elsewhere, a group of the Republican Party’s most generous donors are calling on the RNC to disavow Trump, saying the latest allegations about his sexual misconduct are grounds for the committee to cut ties, finally and fully. From The New York Times’ Jonathan Martin, Alexander Burns, and Maggie Haberman: “The Republican financial apparatus under Mr. Priebus, sputtering since Mr. Trump claimed the presidential nomination, is wheezing painfully in the final weeks of the race. The committee’s fund-raising officials now quietly acknowledge that Mr. Trump is a thoroughly compromised candidate, party donors said, but implore potential contributors to give anyway, stressing graver concerns like control of the Supreme Court. Many donors have stopped giving, though, and some have deserted the party, including two major donors who confirmed on Thursday that they were supporting Gary Johnson … Even some of Mr. Priebus’s allies believe that Mr. Trump is certain to be defeated and that it is time for the party to protect its image by disavowing him.”
-- Those who know him best are not giving him money --> “Trump's missing donors: the people who work for him,” by Michelle Conlin and Grant Smith at Reuters: “Kerry Woolard, the 37-year-old manager of Trump Winery in Charlottesville, Virginia, went online in June and made her first political contribution: A $250 donation to the campaign of her boss, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Woolard's donation was unusual. Only a dozen of an estimated 22,450 people employed at Trump's companies have donated more than $200 to the celebrity businessman's bid for the U.S. presidency, [according to a Reuters review] …” The contributors have given a total amount of $5,298 to Trump's campaign, a fraction of the $112 million Trump's political operation has received this year. This stands in stark contrast to the 2012 election, when employees at the private equity firm Mitt Romney led until 1999, Bain Capital, and a separate company for which he worked, Bain & Company, donated nearly $375,000. Bain Capital employees gave an additional $1.125 million to Romney's Super PAC.”
-- How toxic is Trump? Florida GOP Rep. David Jolly, who represents an area around Tampa, is threatening to sue the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee over a campaign ad that uses multiple photo-shopped pictures of him and Trump, portraying a close relationship between the two -- though they have never met in person. "I have never met Donald Trump. I have never had a conversation with Donald Trump. I have never been in a room with Donald Trump," said Jolly, who has refused to endorse Trump but is nevertheless expected to lose to Charlie Crist. (Miami Herald)
-- Trump spent Thursday afternoon issuing a stunning call to arms, emphatically denying a wave of new groping allegations while charging that his accusers were instead conspiring against him. From Philip Rucker and Sean Sullivan: “Scrambling to turn around his floundering campaign, Trump declared war on the media and multinational corporations, alleging they are colluding with [Clinton] to orchestrate ‘the single greatest pile-on in history.'" “The Clinton machine is at the center of this power structure,” he said at a Palm Beach rally. “Anyone who challenges their control is deemed a sexist, a racist, a xenophobe and morally deformed."
-- This is part of a pattern: When he gets desperate, Trump spins conspiracy theories. From Sean Sullivan: “This time, there was a bigger, badder villain — ‘a global power structure’ of corporate interests, the media and Clinton engaging in subterfuge. This time, it was about him. Trump said Thursday that the world had reached ‘a moment of reckoning.’ He told his backers that his campaign is ‘not about me; it’s about all of you, and it’s about our country.’ He portrayed the powers he says have banded together to rally against him and his advocates as ruthless and cunning. ‘They will attack you; they will slander you; they will seek to destroy your career and your family; they will seek to destroy everything about you, including your reputation,’ Trump said. ‘They will lie, lie, lie, and then again they will do worse than that; they will do whatever is necessary.’”
-- His speech came just minutes after Michelle Obama delivered a scathing, impassioned repudiation of Trump’s behavior, saying the groping allegations have “shaken her to her core.” The dueling speeches made for a remarkable moment in a roiling presidential campaign and signaled that the final 25 days would focus "not on policy or ideology, but on character. “Two speeches. Two Americas. A pair of apocalyptic arguments and one call to burn down the house. That’s the summation from just two remarkable hours Thursday that crystallized the final month of Campaign 2016,” Dan Balz writes. “In back-to-back appearances, in what might be the two most compelling hours of the entire election, Michelle Obama in New Hampshire and Donald Trump in Florida delivered the fiercest, most provocative and hardest-hitting speeches of an election cycle that has been without precedent in hot rhetoric. The presidential campaign has been building toward all this. Day after day after day, the rhetoric has intensified, the charges and countercharges have escalated, the issues have been reduced to asterisks, and the gulf between the Trump and Clinton coalitions has widened. Sunday’s debate in St. Louis foreshadowed what was to come. Now there will be no turning back.”
-- Trump today will broaden his attack against the media to hit globalism and the Clinton Foundation by charging that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is part of the biased coalition working in collusion with the Clinton campaign, the Wall Street Journal’s Monica Langley reports. “As early as Friday, Mr. Trump is planning to claim that Mr. Slim, as a shareholder of New York Times Co. and donor to the Clinton Foundation, has an interest in helping Clinton’s campaign … The Slim family held about 17% of the New York Times Class A shares as of March, making them the largest individual shareholder. Mr. Slim and his foundation have given between $250,000 and $500,000 to the Clinton Foundation since its founding. Attacking the Mexican billionaire would allow Mr. Trump to hit several targets. He could slam the ‘failing’ New York Times, which he says had to be ‘rescued’ by a ‘foreigner’—Mr. Slim, a [Trump adviser] said.”
Slim and the Times pushed back quickly: “This is totally false,” said Arturo Elias, Slim’s spokesman. “Of course we aren’t interfering in the U.S. election. We aren’t even active in Mexican politics.” He said the contributions by Slim to the Clinton Foundation were a matter of public record. “Carlos Slim is an excellent shareholder who fully respects boundaries regarding the independence of our journalism,” said Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. “He has never sought to influence what we report.”
-- Die-hard Trump supporters have become angrier than ever. “Crowds that once booed and shouted at the press mainly at Trump’s prompting … have now begun spontaneously targeting the press on their own, at a scale not yet seen in this campaign, or any in memory on American soil,” says Politico’s Ben Schreckinger, who has covered the campaign for more than a year. “Chants of ‘CNN sucks’ have become commonplace at Trump's rallies this week and members of the traveling press were called ‘whores’ and ‘press-titutes’ as they filed out of a Thursday afternoon rally in West Palm Beach. This week, Trump has begun claiming that mainstream media outlets no longer conduct journalism. ‘Reporters who work for these outlets like Washington Post or The New York Times may think of themselves as journalists, but they’re actually just cogs in a corporate, political machine,’ he said in Panama City."
-- One woman told HuffPost that she witnessed Trump looking up model’s skirts and commenting on their underwear at a 1996 dinner with mutual friends. Their group was seated at a semi-circular table, Lisa Boyne recounted, and the women couldn’t get up without Trump and his friend getting up – which they refused to do. “Instead, Boyne said, Trump insisted that the women walk across the table, allowing him to peer up their skirts while they did so. Trump “stuck his head right underneath their skirts,” Boyne said, and commented on whether they were wearing underwear and what their genitalia looked like.
-- Three longtime “Apprentice” staffers told The Daily Beast that Trump repeatedly called deaf actress Marlee Matlin “retarded,” saying he regularly disrespected her and treated her as if she was mentally disabled. “He would make fun of her voice. It actually sounded a lot like what he did [to] the New York Times guy,” said a former Apprentice employee. In another incident, Trump scribbled in the margins of a note on set: “Marlee, is she retarded?”
-- Creepy: In 1992, Trump spotted a pair of girls singing Christmas carols at the Plaza hotel and asked them how old they were. When they said 14, Trump, then 46, replied, “Wow! Just think — in a couple of years, I'll be dating you!" (LA Times)
-- Trump canceled a Sean Hannity interview that was scheduled for Fox News last night, perhaps to avoid having to answer for the latest allegations. A spokesman said it would be “rescheduled.” (Politico)
-- “These women plan to vote for Trump, despite his lewd comments,” by Mary Jordan in North Carolina: “If Clinton becomes the first female president of the United States, a lot of women at Granny’s Country Kitchen will be upset. They know Trump has said crude things about women. He may even have behaved like a lout. But when forced to weigh Trump’s behavior against their disdain for Clinton, the women at Granny’s say it’s not even close. A growing gender gap is marking the 2016 campaign. Not since CBS News exit polls were first taken in 1972 has there been such a divide in how men and women view candidates.” But perhaps more unexpected than women abandoning Trump are those who still enthusiastically support him. … ‘Is it offensive? Yes. Can we forgive it? Yes!’ Debbie Meadows, wife of Rep. Mark Meadows (N.C.), said of Trump’s remarks. Rep. Ted Yoho’s wife agreed: ‘When I found out, I had a few moments of righteous indignation,’ she said. ‘Then I got some perspective.’”
-- The Times responded to a letter from Trump’s lawyers that called their sexual assault story "libelous" and threatened a lawsuit: "The essence of a libel claim, of course, is the protection of one’s reputation," Times’ lawyer David McCraw wrote. “Mr. Trump has bragged about his non-consensual sexual touching of women. He has bragged about intruding on beauty pageant contestants in their dressing rooms. He acquiesced to a radio hosts’ request to discuss Mr. Trump’s own daughter as a ‘piece of ass.’ Multiple women not mentioned in our article have publicly come forward to report on Mr. Trump’s unwanted advances. Nothing in our article has the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr. Trump, through his own words and actions, has already created for himself.”
-- Melania Trump's lawyers also threatened to sue People magazine over the first-person account written by Trump accuser Natasha Stoynoff, demanding a retraction and saying that portions of the story are "completely fictionalized."
-- People editor-in-chief Jess Cagle posted a lengthy defense of Stoynoff and the story: “Ms. Stoynoff is a remarkable, ethical, honest and patriotic woman. We stand steadfastly by her, and are proud to publish her clear, credible account of what happened."
-- Clinton allies David Brock and Gloria Allred both offered to help cover legal fees for and otherwise represent Trump’s accusers: "We would pay for the legal defense of Trump accusers,” said Brock, a Democratic operative. And Allred, a civil rights lawyer, also signaled openness: “If any women who are making allegations of inappropriate [conduct] contact me, I would be happy to speak to them and then decide if I would be able to represent them,” she said. (Politico)
-- Donald Trump Jr. defended his father. Asked about the two women who talked with the Times, he said during a radio interview: "Come on guys, it's so ridiculous, I've never heard anything dumber in my life. ... I think it makes him a human. I think it makes him a normal person, not a political robot.” (CNN)
-- In another radio interview, from 2013, Don Jr. actually suggested that women who cannot tolerate harassment “don’t belong in the workforce”: “If you can’t handle some of the basic stuff that’s become a problem in the workforce today, then you don’t belong in the workforce,” the younger Trump said. “Like, you should go maybe teach kindergarten. I think it’s a respectable position.” The hosts then joked about hypothetically pulling up pictures of naked women on their computer screens. “I’d feel harassed!” Trump, Jr. joked. “This is my get rich quick scheme. I’m now suing you guys because I feel uncomfortable. And by the way, that’s what happens in the world. I can play along, I can be fine, and then I can decide randomly — ‘uh oh, you now have crossed the line, even though I’ve been going with it.’” (Buzzfeed)
-- Ivanka Trump, stumping for her father in the Philadelphia suburbs, avoided any talk of the groping allegations. “Ivanka, perpetually on point, stayed on message,” NBC’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports. “So much so that some of the same questions were repeated in each of the events, including what it was like to work with her dad and brothers, what she likes about Pennsylvania and why she thinks her dad would be a good president.”
-- Why didn’t Trump’s people see any of this coming? Because the candidate rebuffed political aides’ requests to provide standard-fare opposition research that is traditional for any public figure -- and the decision ultimately contributed to his campaign being caught off guard this week. Both Corey Lewandowski and Paul Manafort made these requests when they took the reins of Trump’s campaign, and it became a point of contention among his top political advisers. (Bloomberg’s Kevin Cirilli)
-- A review of previously-sealed New York records shows that neither Trump nor the Trump Foundation actually gave the $10,000 that they pledged to a 9/11 charity organization in the months following the attack. From the New York Daily News: The review, conducted by city comptroller Scott Stringer, “appears to contradict Trump's prior boasts of spontaneous generosity, made as his hometown reeled from the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil in history … The records show that through mid-2002 there is no evidence that Trump personally or through the Trump Foundation gave to either group. The only recorded major donation to 9/11 causes that Trump has made was $100,000 from his foundation — which has been bankrolled by others without any money from Trump for years — to the 9/11 Museum in April 2016, as he sought to generate headlines after Cruz attacked him for his ‘New York values’ during the primary election.”
-- Ten former nuclear launch control officers signed an open letter saying that Trump “should not have his finger on the button.” The letter says the decision to use nuclear weapons requires “composure, judgment, restraint and diplomatic skill” — all qualities that the former Air Force officers who signed it said Trump lacks. (Carol Morello)
-- A group of former Reagan administration alumni have formed a group called “Reaganites Opposing Trump.” In a post on Medium, former George W. Bush National Intelligence Director John D. Negroponte writes: “Ronald Reagan was a man of wisdom, humor, unfailing courtesy and measured temperament. I personally observed these traits … during daily meetings in the Oval Office, meetings with foreign leaders and in the Situation Room. He would have been appalled by Donald Trump’s utterances and behavior. Mr. Trump has no claim whatsoever to the mantle of Ronald Reagan.”
-- “What happened to ‘America’s Mayor’? How Rudy Giuliani became Trump’s attack dog,” by Paul Schwartzman and Ben Terris: “A year ago, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani read an editorial in his hometown newspaper mocking him as a ‘shill’ for endorsing a little-known Republican [district attorney candidate]. Angry, Giuliani phoned the editorial page editor, Arthur Browne, to defend his endorsement. But the point that appeared to wound Giuliani the most, Browne recalled, was the editorial’s assertion that the former mayor ‘resides today beyond political relevance.’ “’I am relevant,’ [he insisted], ‘because all these people want my endorsement.’ The former mayor has no such worries these days. Eight years after his own presidential bid failed, Giuliani has emerged as Trump’s unflinching chief apologist, cheerleader and rhetorical Rottweiler … It’s a role that confounds allies and admirers who remember Giuliani’s rise as a law-and-order Republican twice elected in the country’s largest bastion of liberalism. ‘From his days as U.S. attorney, he was at the top of the organizational chart,’ [a] former adviser said. “Now he’s staff. He carries bags. He walks behind Trump. It’s just amazing to see.’”
-- Clinton submitted formal answers under penalty of perjury over her use of a private email server at the State Department, declaring 20 times that she did not recall requested information and discussions, and asserting she was never warned that the practice could run afoul of laws on preserving federal records. From Politico’s Josh Gerstein: "Clinton also said she could not recall ever being warned about any hacking or attempted hacking of her private account or server. Clinton's answers generally track with her public statements on the issue and with FBI reports about what she said during an interview conducted in July. Clinton "decided to use a clintonemail.com account for the purpose of convenience," her lawyers said. Asked what other reasons she may have had for doing so, she gave no ground.
-- Clinton advisers pressed her to apologize more explicitly for her use of a private email server while at the State Department, according to emails obtained in the WikiLeaks hacking. From the Wall Street Journal: After Clinton addressed the issue in a September 2015 TV interview, top aides discussed what they deemed a positive showing. But longtime Clinton confidante Neera Tanden wrote, “Everyone wants her to apologize. And she should.” “Apologies are like her Achilles' heel,” Tanden added. “But she didn’t seem like a [b*tch] in the interview. And she said the word sorry.”
-- President Obama launched a two day campaign swing for Clinton in Ohio, seeking to boost turnout for the Democratic nominee among African American and millennial voters that helped him win the state in 2008 and 2012. (David Nakamura and Krissah Thompson)
-- The Idaho Statesman endorses Clinton today: “We recognize a lot of you are not going to like our choice of a Democrat in this Republican state," the editorial board writes. “But our hope is that you will consider our reasoning before critiquing our conclusion. At this critical time in our nation’s history, we need, more than ever, to listen to each other with respect.”
-- This week’s Economist cover is on “The debasing of American politics”: “In a more fragile democracy, [Trump’s rhetoric] would foreshadow post-election violence. Mercifully, America is not about to riot on November 9th. But the reasons have less to do with the state’s power to enforce the letter of the law than with the unwritten rules that American democracy thrives on. It is these that Mr Trump is trampling over—and which Americans need to defend. Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote that when many bad things happen at once, societies define deviancy down, until the list of what is unacceptable is short enough to be manageable. When parents wonder if a presidential debate is suitable for their children to watch, Mr Trump’s promise to build a wall on the Mexican border no longer seems quite so shocking. Healthy politics is not gang warfare. It involves compromise, because to yield in some areas is to move forward in others. It requires the insight that your opponent can be honourable and principled, however strongly you disagree. The 2016 election campaign has poured scorn on such ideas. All Americans are worse off as a result.”
-- Conservative commentator Erick Erickson writes on the path forward for the post-Trump GOP: “In November, when Mr. Trump’s meteor enters the atmosphere of the voting booth, Americans will be treated to a spectacular flameout as late-night comedians and professional Twitter warriors rush to tweet, ‘You’re fired!’ But when the Russians go home, the pastors repent and riot police disperse white nationalist protests, the Republicans will need fresh ideas. [And most importantly] … the Republican Party must recommit to a basic principle — character counts. The party that once impeached Bill Clinton for lying about an affair has defended a man who bragged about sexual assault. Character cannot be wedded to party politics, and the Republicans will have to make amends for defining deviancy down to defend the indefensible Donald Trump.”
-- Wall Street Journal, “Voters’ Education Level a Driving Force This Election,” by Aaron Zitner and Dante Chinni: “The clearest dividing line in this year’s presidential election now falls along educational lines: Whites without a college degree have consolidated behind Trump and those with a four-year degree are tending to back Clinton. The divide helps explain why Mr. Trump pulled his field staff Wednesday from Virginia—essentially ceding a state where polling shows he has been largely abandoned by suburban voters with higher education levels—and why he remains competitive in the swing states of Iowa and Ohio, which have large shares of noncollege whites. Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, is ahead in New Hampshire and Colorado, home to larger shares of whites with college degrees … The widening education gap, if it holds, would stand as a landmark in the repositioning of the nation’s two main political parties.”
-- Former Boston Globe D.C. bureau chief David Shribman grapples with the idea that Democrats are becoming the new “professional party”: “American political parties are always in transition. This year, Trump has revealed deep cracks in the traditional Republican coalition and gone to war with party leaders. Yet while the Democrats are more united behind their 2016 nominee, they’re arguably more divided over their party’s vision and future. … For politicians and campaign operatives who for a generation or more have been working for the Democrats — or against them — the party’s growing dependence on the prosperous and well-educated is disorienting. Are the Democrats the party of working people anymore or is their future with college-educated professionals? Does a party that draws its strength from the richest and the poorest places in America have any logical rationale? Hence this question, perhaps the most devastating one of all: Have the Democrats replaced the Republicans as the party of the social, cultural, and economic elite?”
-- “A wounded bear is a dangerous thing. Detested and defeated, Trump is now in a tear-the-country-down rage,” The New York Times’ Timothy Egan writes. “Day after day, he rips at the last remaining threads of decency holding this nation together. His opponent is the devil, he says — hate her with all your heart. Forget about the rule of law. Lock her up! Here’s his lesson for young minds: If you’re rich and boorish enough, you can get away with anything. Get away with sexual assault. Get away with not paying taxes. Get away with never telling the truth. You know this by now — all the sordid details. For much of the last year, the Republican presidential nominee has been a freak show, an oh-my-God spectacle. He opens his mouth, our cellphones blow up. But now, in the final days of a horrid campaign, an unshackled Trump is more national threat than punch line. He’s determined to cause lasting damage.”
Russia's foreign minister gave quite a quote on the presidential campaign -- this tweet was posted on their U.S. embassy's official Twitter account:
Hell keeps freezing over -- a senior correspondent at National Review praised Michelle Obama for her speech going after Trump on groping:
Here's what she said:
So did Biden and others:
On the campaign trail: Trump campaigns in Greensboro and Charlotte, N.C.; Pence is in Pensacola and Miami, Fla. Bill Clinton campaigns for Hillary in Delaware and Cincinnati, Ohio.
At the White House: Obama speaks at a Clinton event in Cleveland. Later, he and Biden attend the convening of the National Security Council for a periodic review of the Counter-ISIL campaign in Iraq and Syria.
On Capitol Hill: The Senate and House are out.
NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:
-- The weather is officially starting to cool down! The Capital Weather Gang gives today’s fall forecast an official “nice day” rating: “Similar to, say, this past Monday, it may feel pleasantly cool under mostly sunny skies. Perhaps a periodic, thin veil of high clouds, but don’t worry. Temperatures should get from morning 50s to afternoon readings near 60 to the mid-60s. You may not need that morning light jacket on the way home! Arguably a great, beautiful day despite slightly below-average high temperatures. Some folks may fall below official Nice Day criteria (65-85 degrees) but it’s close enough for a Friday.”
-- The Capitals fell to the Penguins 3-2.
In case you missed Michelle Obama's speech, check out this clip:
At a rally, Obama determined he was not a demon:
Watch this old, bizarre interview with Trump. At the end, he talks about pursuing women: "Move forward -- even if you get smacked, move forward."
Seth Meyers took a closer look at Clinton's leaked Wall Street speeches:
Joss Whedon's super-PAC created this video poking fun at generalized touting of "business experience" in politics: | 1 |
Americans are 100% FED Up! with the radical bad actors who re protesting and in your face with liberal talking points from Soros. I honestly don t blame these Trump supporters for pushing back on these radical protestors. If you ve ever been in the middle of this type of liberal yell fest, you d know it s disturbing and it s #WAR. We really are in a war for the survival of America. We ve been invaded by millions and millions of illegal aliens who re now gaining the right to vote. They also get freebies that should be going to legal American citizens. We re in trouble and we all need to wake up and protect the sovereignty of our Nation.Black Lives Matter and pro-illegal alien Latino activists were forcibly removed by Virginia State Police officers after disrupting a rally held Wednesday evening in Richmond by leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.There were reports that small fights had broken out between the protesters and Trump supporters.A cellphone video shows an apparent Trump supporter arguing with and then spitting on a protester. One report said the disruptions lasted for around thirty minutes.Trump supporter spits & curses at protester as protesters are escorted from @realDonaldTrump event in Richmond, VA pic.twitter.com/1GunaUweNW Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) October 15, 2015 When the protesters first made their presence known in the capacity crowd of about 5,000, Trump responded by saying, That s why we have freedom of speech, folks! , according to a video excerpt of his speech posted to You Tube. Read more: Gateway Pundit | 0 |
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