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Actress Scarlett Johansson revealed she would be open to running for public office in the future in an interview Wednesday. [In a conversation with Good Morning America‘s Michael Strahan, the Avengers star said she has been “interested” in local politics for some time, but family commitments and her film career have kept her plenty busy. “I’ve always, like I said, been interested in local politics,” the actress said. “Right now, I think with my young daughter and also the way my career is going right now … it’s just not the right time. But eventually, maybe when my daughter is older and I can totally focus myself on something like that, I think it could be interesting. ” The Ghost in the Shell star said she makes no apologies for supporting liberal policies that might offend her potential audience: “I’m not afraid to say what I feel is right, just because I think that I’m going to face criticism, or some people might not like me. ” In recent months, Johansson has become a vocal critic of President Donald Trump. In September, the actress appeared alongside her Avengers cast mates in a voter registration PSA meant to rev up support among younger voters and millennials to turn out on Election Day for former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The actress also participated in the Trump Women’s March in Washington D. C. where she delivered a speech railing against the president. Scarlett Johansson to Trump: ”I want to be able to support you, but first, I ask that you support me” and all women https: . — NBC News (@NBCNews) January 21, 2017, In her interview Wednesday, Johansson said she would continue to support organizations like Planned Parenthood even if it causes some people to stay away from her films. “If fighting, you know, for women’s rights, for women’s reproductive rights, and you know, in support of Planned Parenthood, if that’s going to, you know, mean that some people don’t want to buy a ticket to see Ghost in the Shell, then … I’m OK with that,” she said. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson
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(Reuters) - U.S. Senator Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that he was running for re-election in part to provide a counter-weight to whomever might win the White House in November, whether Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump. Rubio criticized Clinton in a statement he released to explain his decision, but added: “The prospect of a Trump presidency is also worrisome to me.” “If he is elected, we will need senators willing to encourage him in the right direction, and if necessary, stand up to him. I’ve proven a willingness to do both,” Rubio said.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - If Hillary Clinton decided to run as an independent for New York City mayor this year, she would open with a sizable lead over incumbent Democrat Bill de Blasio, according to Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday. Clinton led de Blasio 49 percent to 30 percent in the survey of 1,138 city voters. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points, meaning results could vary that much either way. Since Democrat Clinton’s loss to Republican President-elect Donald Trump in November, there has been speculation that the former U.S. secretary of state and U.S. senator from New York state might set her sights on the New York City mayoralty this year. Political analysts have dismissed the rumors, saying there is little chance Clinton, 69, would seek de Blasio’s office after coming so close to winning the White House. Clinton’s camp has not denied the possibility outright, though advisers have said they do not expect her to seek public office again. A spokesman for de Blasio’s re-election campaign and a Clinton spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The poll may also be a reflection of de Blasio’s public standing, which has had its ups and downs during his four-year term. Forty-five percent of those surveyed approved of de Blasio, while a nearly identical 46 percent did not. Nevertheless, the poll showed de Blasio ahead of other possible challengers, including former city council speaker Christine Quinn, who lost to de Blasio in the 2013 Democratic primary, and City Comptroller Scott Stringer. “New Yorkers aren’t in love with Mayor Bill de Blasio, but they seem to like him better than other possible choices – except Hillary Clinton, who probably is an impossible choice,” Tim Malloy, the poll’s assistant director, said in a statement. The poll was apparently the first major survey to include Clinton as a potential mayoral candidate. New York City has never had a female mayor. In the Nov. 8 presidential election, Clinton captured more than 80 percent of New York City votes, even though Trump was born and raised in the heavily Democratic city. She moved in 1999 to Chappaqua, New York, about 30 miles north of the city, in order to run for the U.S. Senate.
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BERLIN (Reuters) - A leading candidate to be Germany s next finance minister signalled his willingness on Thursday to seek a compromise with Emmanuel Macron over the French President s plans for deeper euro zone integration. Christian Lindner, who leads the Free Democrats (FDP) party negotiating to be part of Chancellor Angela Merkel s next coalition government, said European policy was one of the most important topics in the talks. Lindner said Macron who last month called for a joint euro zone budget and joint finance minister among other reforms had described political progress as a question of finding a balance between carrots and sticks. Let s take him literally (on this) on the European question, Lindner said at a book launch. That means if he wants to get something, he ll have to accept other things - for example an insolvency mechanism for states or for example the binding participation of private investors in any debt restructuring if it should be necessary, he said. This would be the bitter thing he would have to swallow to get something sweet - namely additional funds for investments, Lindner said. Veteran outgoing Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, wary of anything that might leave German taxpayers shouldering common euro zone debts, has been generally lukewarm about Macron s reform plans. Lindner may succeed him under the three-way coalition that Merkel is trying to form after her conservatives lost support in a federal election last month. It has been widely speculated that the FDP would demand the top finance post as a price for joining in, though Lindner on Thursday stopped short of claiming the ministry for his party. Earlier this week, he had insisted that Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU) should relinquish it. Lindner has repeatedly criticised Schaeuble, a fiscal hawk, as being too soft on Greece and putting loyalty to Merkel ahead of his own political convictions. Asked which characteristics the next German finance minister should have, Lindner said: Being consistent.
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Maybe Donald would change his opinion about this important issue if his home was threatened by an overreaching government I think eminent domain for massive projects, for instance you are going to create thousands of jobs and you have somebody who is in the way, and you pay that person far more. Don t forget, eminent domain, they get a lot of money. And you need a house in a certain location because you are going to build this massive development that is going to employ thousands of people, I think eminent domain is fine. It s called economic development.
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BEIRUT (Reuters) - The government in Damascus is ready to take part in a congress of rival Syrian parties that Russia aims to host in the Black Sea resort of Sochi next month, Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari said on Tuesday. He said during a televised news conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, that the congress was a result of dialogue with Syria s Russian allies and of victories in the field.
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NTEB Ads Privacy Policy Att’y General Loretta Lynch Pleads The 5th When Asked Questions About Obama’s Iran Ransom Payment “Every Obama administration official and department involved in the Iran Deal appear to be running for cover,” the source said. “Like we feared, the Iran deal is turning out to be a disaster and Iran is emboldened in its aggression. Evidently Attorney General Lynch and the Department of Justice have decided ‘refusal to cooperate’ is their best strategy. by Geoffrey Grider October 28, 2016 Attorney General Loretta Lynch is declining to comply with an investigation by leading members of Congress about the Obama administration’s secret efforts to send Iran $1.7 billion in cash earlier this year, prompting accusations that Lynch has “pleaded the Fifth” Amendment to avoid incriminating herself over these payments
Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) and Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.) initially presented Lynch in October with a series of questions about how the cash payment to Iran was approved and delivered.
In an Oct. 24 response , Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik responded on Lynch’s behalf, refusing to answer the questions and informing the lawmakers that they are barred from publicly disclosing any details about the cash payment, which was bound up in a ransom deal aimed at freeing several American hostages from Iran . Loretta Lynch Pleads the Fifth To Protect Obama In Iran $1.7 Billion Hostage Money
The response from the attorney general’s office is “unacceptable” and provides evidence that Lynch has chosen to “essentially plead the fifth and refuse to respond to inquiries regarding [her] role in providing cash to the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism,” Rubio and Pompeo wrote on Friday in a follow-up letter to Lynch, according to a copy obtained by the Free Beacon .
The inquiry launched by the lawmakers is just one of several concurrent ongoing congressional probes aimed at unearthing a full accounting of the administration’s secret negotiations with Iran.
“It is frankly unacceptable that your department refuses to answer straightforward questions from the people’s elected representatives in Congress about an important national security issue,” the lawmakers wrote. “Your staff failed to address any of our questions, and instead provided a copy of public testimony and a lecture about the sensitivity of information associated with this issue.” Obama on Iran payment: ‘We do not pay ransom’
“As the United States’ chief law enforcement officer, it is outrageous that you would essentially plead the fifth and refuse to respond to inquiries,” they stated. “The actions of your department come at time when Iran continues to hold Americans hostage and unjustly sentence them to prison.” The lawmakers included a copy of their previous 13 questions and are requesting that Lynch provide answers by Nov. 4.
When asked about Lynch’s efforts to avoid answering questions about the cash payment, Pompeo told the Free Beacon that the Obama administration has blocked Congress at every turn as lawmakers attempt to investigate the payments to Iran.
“Who knew that simple questions regarding Attorney General Lynch’s approval of billions of dollars in payments to Iran could be so controversial that she would refuse to answer them?” Pompeo said. “This has become the Obama administration’s coping mechanism for anything related to the Islamic Republic of Iran—hide information, obfuscate details, and deny answers to Congress and the American people.” Obama Administration Finally Admits $400M To Iran Was Ransom For Hostages
“They know this isn’t a sustainable strategy, however, and I trust they will start to take their professional, and moral, obligations seriously,” the lawmaker added.
In the Oct. 24 letter to Rubio and Pompeo, Assistant Attorney General Kadzik warned the lawmakers against disclosing to the public any information about the cash payment.
Details about the deal are unclassified, but are being kept under lock and key in a secure facility on Capitol Hill, the Free Beacon first disclosed . Lawmakers and staffers who have clearance to view the documents are forced to relinquish their cellular devices and are barred from taking any notes about what they see.
“Please note that these documents contain sensitive information that is not appropriate for public release,” Kadzik wrote to the lawmakers. “Disclosure of this information beyond members of the House and Senate and staff who are able to view them could adversely affect the diplomatic relations of the United States, including with key allies, as well as the State Department’s ability to defend [legal] claims against the United States [by Iran] that are still being litigated at the Hague Tribunal.”
“The public release of any portion of these documents, or the information contained therein, is not authorized by the transmittal of these documents or by this communication,” Kadzik wrote. Congressional sources have told the Free Beacon that this is another part of the effort to hide details about these secret negotiations with Iran from the American public.
One senior congressional source familiar with both the secret documents and the inquiry into them told the Free Beacon that the details of the negotiations are so damning that the administration’s best strategy is to ignore lawmakers’ requests for more information.
“Every Obama administration official and department involved in the Iran Deal appear to be running for cover,” the source said. “Like we feared, the Iran deal is turning out to be a disaster and Iran is emboldened in its aggression. Evidently Attorney General Lynch and the Department of Justice have decided ‘refusal to cooperate’ is their best strategy. But this is dangerous and ultimately won’t protect them from anything.” source SHARE THIS ARTICLE Geoffrey Grider NTEB is run by end times author and editor-in-chief Geoffrey Grider. Geoffrey runs a successful web design company, and is a full-time minister of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition to running NOW THE END BEGINS, he has a dynamic street preaching outreach and tract ministry team in Saint Augustine, FL. NTEB #TRENDING
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Pinterest
C.E. Dyer writes that the disaster that is Obamacare is about to get worse for many people enrolled in the health insurance marketplace. On Monday, the Obama administration confirmed that premiums will skyrocket for many people next year, according to the Associated Press .
The AP reported:
Before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25 percent across the 39 states served by the federally run online market, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Some states will see much bigger jumps, others less.
Moreover, about 1 in 5 consumers will only have plans from a single insurer to pick from, after major national carriers such as UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Aetna scaled back their roles.
In some states, the premium increases are striking. In Arizona, unsubsidized premiums for a hypothetical 27-year-old buying a benchmark “second-lowest cost silver plan” will jump by 116 percent, from $196 to $422, according to the administration report.
But HHS said if that hypothetical consumer has a fairly modest income, making $25,000 a year, the subsidies would cover $280 of the new premium, and the consumer would pay $142. Caveat: if the consumer is making $30,000 or $40,000 his or her subsidy would be significantly lower.
Larry Levitt, who follows the health care law for the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, said of the increases: “Consumers will be faced this year with not only big premium increases but also with a declining number of insurers participating, and that will lead to a tumultuous open enrollment period.”
Donald Trump’s campaign spokesman, Jason Miller, said in a statement on Monday: “This shows why the entire program must be repealed and replaced.” Miller added, “While (Hillary) Clinton wants to expand the failed program known as Obamacare, Mr. Trump knows the only way to fix our nation’s failing health care system is complete and total reform.”
Reports have warned that this was coming down the pike for some time; however, HHS’s confirmation ahead of open enrollment beginning Nov. 1 — one week before the election — is likely to cause major headaches for many people.
This debacle is not unexpected either — it’s exactly what President Obama and Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton wanted to happen.
Obamacare was never the end goal. Rather, it was a stepping stone toward single-payer, government-run healthcare. That is a big reason why Obama wants Clinton to become president — his legacy is at stake.
Obama’s legacy is largely wrapped up in Obamacare and what it leads to. Clinton tried to push this first step during her time as first lady and failed, but the conditions will be ripe for her to go even further should she be elected.
If Clinton becomes president, there’s no doubt that her next step will be to move to single-payer healthcare. Obamacare is bad, there’s no doubt about it, but single-payer government healthcare would be even worse.
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By Anthony Brian Logan . James O Keefe of Project Veritas has released undercover, button-camera video that outlines the process of bird-dogging and how it is being used to rig the 2016 Presidential election of the United States in favor of Hillary Clinton and the Democrat Party. The central focus of the video, which is a collection of various undercover videos with commentary, is the process of bird-dogging which refers to essentially hiring people to behave as the equivalent to crisis actors. Except for the fact that there is no actual crisis, and these people are used to simply incite violence, among other things, to goad the media into giving Donald Trump s campaign negative coverage.Various people appear in the video, complete with both audio and video, saying how they skirt the laws of our nation to engage in corruption. Hillary Clinton s campaign is not allowed to directly collude with the phony actors on the ground, so they use degrees of separation by hiring consultants. These consultants then go on to sub contract work on the ground such as the actors who engage in fake riots and protests. Everyone is aware of each other, and in some cases, answer to those all the way at the top, either in the Clinton campaign or the DNC itself Watch this brilliant video investigation here:. READ MORE ELECTION NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire 2016 Files
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by Dr. Mercola
Most people in the U.S. first heard of Zika virus about a year ago. It was October 2015 when officials in Brazil reported a possible association between infection with Zika virus and the birth defect microcephaly.
The virus, however, was first identified in Uganda in 1947, in monkeys. Several years later, in 1952, Zika virus was found in humans in the same area as well as in the United Republic of Tanzania. Outbreaks have occurred ever since, although infections in humans were limited to Africa and Asia.
The year 2007 marked the first large Zika virus outbreak, which took place on the remote Island of Yap, a tiny island in the Federated States of Micronesia. Then, in July 2015, Brazil reported Zika virus infection appeared to be linked to the autoimmune disease Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Zika virus is transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes, although it is sexually transmitted as well.
It has since spread to a small area of the U.S. (southern Florida), but fewer than 1,000 U.S. pregnant women have lab evidence of Zika infection (this includes not only locally transmitted cases but also those that occurred via sexual contact). In other words, it’s extremely rare.
Further, many questions remain about its risks. While the World Health Organization (WHO) says there is a “scientific consensus that Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome,” [1] other experts have questioned this link.
Despite the many unanswered questions, efforts are underway to eradicate the disease, including by releasing controversial man-made and genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes, with largely unknown effects to the environment. Army of Man-Made Mosquitoes to Be Released in South America
Scientists are planning to release millions of man-made mosquitoes in Brazil and Colombia in 2017.
The $18-million project, funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation , involves mosquitoes that have been infected with Wolbachia bacteria, which stops viruses from growing inside the mosquito and therefore from being transmitted between people.
The Eliminate Dengue research program, which has been working to develop such mosquitoes for a decade, claims the method is “self-sustaining and has the potential to transform the fight against life-threatening viral disease.”
The altered mosquitoes have been tested in open trials in dengue-affected communities since 2011, but not yet on the scale expected in Brazil and Colombia. The mosquitoes are expected to be released in large, heavily populated urban areas.
The mosquitoes are described as a refinement of a natural method, as Wolbachia bacteria is present in about 60 percent of insect species, including some mosquitoes. However, it is not naturally occurring in Aedes mosquitoes.
It took decades for researchers just to figure out how to introduce Wolbachia into Aedes mosquito eggs, but once they did they started experimenting with releasing them into the wild. Field tests suggest the bacteria spread to the vast majority of local mosquitoes, and as Eliminate Dengue said, is a “self-sustaining” system.
That’s both the point and the problem. Other experimental GE mosquitoes have been genetically engineered to die in the absence of the antibiotic tetracycline (which is introduced in the lab in order to keep them alive long enough to breed).
They were designed this way assuming they would not have access to that drug in the wild, a failsafe (though not a perfect one, especially since antibiotics are now showing up in waterways) to ensure that the GE insects could theoretically be removed from the environment.
In the case of the Wolbachia mosquitoes, once they’re released (and they already have been), there’s no stopping them from mingling with wild mosquitoes. While this may help to reduce the spread of certain viruses (although this remains to be seen), it may also have other unintended, as yet unknown consequences. GE Mosquitoes Aim to Wipe Out Mosquito Populations
Eliminate Dengue’s Wolbachia mosquitoes are only one variety of GE mosquito now circulating the globe.
Biotech company Oxitec has created its own variety, which has been genetically engineered to carry a “genetic kill switch,” such that when they mate with wild female mosquitoes, their offspring inherits the lethal gene and cannot survive. [2]
To achieve this feat, Oxitec inserted protein fragments from the herpes virus, E. coli bacteria, coral and cabbage into the insects. Millions have already been experimentally released in Brazil, Panama and the Cayman Islands, and the GE mosquitoes have proven lethal to native mosquito populations.
In the Cayman Islands, for instance, 96 percent of native mosquitoes were suppressed after more than 3 million GE mosquitoes were released in the area, with similar results reported in Brazil. [3]
Oxitec, in partnership with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD), also has plans to release the GE mosquitoes, which go by the name of OX513A, in Key Haven, Florida, an island of the Florida Keys located about one mile east of Key West.
Residents, however, are not overly keen on being guinea pigs in this experiment. A vote is expected November 2016 to determine if the GE insects will be released. Adding to the controversy of releasing GE creatures of any kind into the environment are the unknown consequences of wiping out mosquito populations.
While they’re primarily viewed as a nuisance and vector for deadly diseases like malaria, there may be “undesirable side effects” of eradicating them entirely, according to Florida University entomologist Phil Lounibos. BBC News reported: [4]
… [Lounibos] says mosquitoes, which mostly feed on plant nectar, are important pollinators. They are also a food source for birds and bats while their young — as larvae — are consumed by fish and frogs. This could have an effect further up and down the food chain.
… He warns that mosquitoes could be replaced by an insect ‘equally, or more, undesirable from a public health viewpoint.’ Its replacement could even conceivably spread diseases further and faster than mosquitoes today. Gene-Drive Mosquitoes Are Coming
Gene-drive technology is incredibly controversial because it gives scientists the ability to control and potentially quickly eradicate entire populations of species. The technology allows a certain gene to spread to 99 percent of offspring instead of the typical 50 percent.
Gene-editing tools like Crispr have made the use of gene-drive technology a reality. “By encoding the Crispr editing system itself into an organism’s DNA, scientists can cause a desired edit to reoccur in each generation, “driving” the trait through the wild population,” the New York Times explained. [5]
At Imperial College London, for instance, a gene was created to cause female mosquitoes to become sterile. With gene-drive technology, the gene could cause mosquitoes in the wild to become extinct, fast. According to MIT Technology Review: [6]
A gene drive is an artificial ‘selfish’ gene capable of forcing itself into 99 percent of an organism’s offspring instead of the usual half.
And because this particular gene causes female mosquitoes to become sterile, within about 11 generations—or in about one year—its spread would doom any population of mosquitoes.
If released into the field, the technology could bring about the extinction of malaria mosquitoes and, possibly, cease transmission of the disease.
Earlier this year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the advisory group for the U.S. government on scientific matters, endorsed continued research on gene-drive technology, [7] even though the risks are immense. What Are the Real Risks of Zika Virus?
We know there are risks of releasing man-made and GE organisms into the environment. The risks of Zika virus remain unknown, however. Chris Barker, a mosquito-borne virus researcher at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, told WebMD: [8]
I think the risk for Zika actually setting up transmission cycles that become established in the continental U.S. is near zero.
Barker expects Zika to go the way of other tropical diseases spread by mosquitoes, such as denguepop fever and chikungunya, in the U.S. with perhaps small clusters of outbreaks in southern states and little activity elsewhere. The rising panic of Zika is reminiscent of many past diseases that failed to cause the devastation health officials warned of. Remember SARs, bird flu, swine flu and Ebola ? Or even the measles “outbreak” in 2015?
There was widespread fear, outrage and panic that the disease would sweep across the U.S., affecting populations from border to border. Calls for experimental drugs and vaccines were made and millions, if not billions, of dollars were spent. And for what? In most cases, the diseases fizzled out on their own, exacting a far less sensational health toll than the media and, often, the government had you believe.
As reported by PRI, Zika’s million-dollar question is, where are the birth defects? Perhaps that question should be answered before man-made and GE mosquitoes are introduced into the environment, possibly permanently. PRI continued: [9]
Tens of thousands of Zika cases have been confirmed or suspected in countries like Colombia, Venezuela and Nicaragua since late 2015. The infected have included thousands of pregnant women. But those infections have not led to a dramatic rise in reported birth defects like microcephaly, in which a baby develops an abnormally small head and brain.
This is confounding to researchers … ‘Researchers are absolutely curious,’ said Julie Fischer, co-director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University. “It’s an enormous relief that the surge in microcephaly cases that was first noticed in northern Brazil has not spread everywhere that the Zika virus has been detected.’
See Also :
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A little good, and a little bad here. First, Bob Klapisch wrote a great piece in USA Today about how he will vote for Curt Schilling to get into the Hall of Fame because he’s only concerned with Schilling’s performance on the field, not his politics or his tweets. [That would constitute the good. The bad comes courtesy of New York Giants Senior Vice President of Communications Pat Hanlon, who captioned a tweet promoting Klapisch’s article with a colorful message: Bob’s right. Being an asshole shouldn’t overshadow Schilling’s accomplishments. https: . — pat hanlon (@giantspathanlon) January 6, 2017, How in the world does a senior vice president of communications with over twenty years of experience communicating in media arrive at the conclusion that he should tweet that? How does the NFL tolerate it? Is that the kind of language or conduct the league expects from their executive communicators? Since the league has failed to take action against Hanlon, the answer is apparently yes. I’m sure the fact that Schilling is a conservative has nothing to do with the league refusing to act. Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn
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Hannity, Judge Jeanine, Crowley “Hillary has Sold America’s National Security. WORSE than a CRIME FAMILY” Hannity, Judge Jeanine, Crowley “Hillary has Sold America’s National Security. WORSE than a CRIME FAMILY” Videos By TruthFeedNews November 6, 2016
Sean Hannity quotes his own and other sources on the FBI’s investigation into Clinton wrongdoing, noting that the law enforcement probe will continue regardless of who wins next Tuesday. After reading an update on the current state of the Clinton investigation he turns the floor over to Judge Jeanine Pirro who says, “It’s time for a grand jury.”
She says, “It’s time for Loretta Lynch to allow Comey and the FBI to get this evidence before a grand jury. There is a mutiny in the FBI, that’s why all of this stuff is coming out. There are four offices that continue to investigate although Justice has tried to shut this down, saying there’s not enough evidence, this recording from this other person who apparently is an informant is hearsay.”
Judge Jeanine adds, “This woman should have been indicted a year ago. A simpleton could figure out that she would make a deal with a particular country, the money goes into the foundation, Bill makes a speech and then they get the benefit. This is classic RICO corruption; go to jail.”
Hannity asks Monica Crowley, “What is Loretta Lynch hiding here, what is she resisting when it’s clearly an avalanche of evidence?” Crowley says she sees it as the revenge of the FBI rank and file “and the timing is not a coincidence.” She notes that in this country, “If you do not have an independent, impartial and fair Department of Justice and FBI which are only interested in enforcing the rule of law and finding the truth then you have nothing. Obviously that is not what we have with much of the DOJ and with senior FBI leadership.
She describes the email investigation as the shiny object, while it is very important, the real mother lode of corruption is the Clinton Foundation. Crowley insists that the bigger point that the American people need to bear in mind before going to vote on Tuesday is that Clinton leveraged her public office in order to enrich herself, her husband and their foundation.
As the conversation shifts to the fact that Clinton is a target for extortion and blackmail due to her emails being hacked by five different foreign governments, Judge Jeanine declares, “She has sold America’s national security for money. These people are grifters, they’ve been grifters since they came on the scene. And she knew that when she set up that server that it wasn’t secure. She did it for money, she did it to enrich themselves, she didn’t care about our security and Huma Abedin, I don’t know who she and Weiner are connecting with, but these are people who do not have our interests at heart.”
Crowley says Clinton should have her security clearance revoked tonight. She believes this will be the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back in the Clinton parasitic relationship with the United States. Crowley knew Richard Nixon well. This is so much worse, she says, reminding the audience that nobody was killed in Watergate and “nobody made one red cent.”
H/T – RickWells
For once in our lifetime, we the people have an opportunity to elect a President who was NOT chosen by Multinational Corporations, Big Banks, DC Elites, and the Globalist Lapdog Mainstream Media.
Please like and share if you are a TRUMP VOTER!
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By Lambert Strether of Corrente .
TPP/TTIP/TISA
TPP: A Podesta mail where Nikki Budzinski, Labor Outreach Director, discusses Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson: “I have received four calls from labor about a district meeting that Congresswoman Johnson (a HRC public supporter) held in Dallas, Texas where she discussed TPP. She claimed in the meeting that she speaks with HRC 2-3 times a week and that she was told by the Secretary that the only reason she opposes TPP is to get ‘labor off her back’ and that once she is elected President she will reverse position. I have worked with our Western Political Director Jessica Meija, and she has connected with the Congresswoman’s COS to clarify the inaccuracy of what she said and push back on her comments. This was not helpful with labor. [ Wikileaks (attachment)]. “Inaccuracy.” Of course, of course.
TPP: “[Our Revolution,] the progressive group founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders has begun a targeted campaign to sway at least five House Democrats to oppose the TPP in hopes it could change the outcome of a ratification vote — and it’s getting some results” [ Politico ]. “Our Revolution, which Sanders formed in late August to support liberal candidates, has set its sights on at least five other fence-sitting lawmakers. In a vote that’s expected to have razor-thin margins, plundering just a few Democratic votes the White House hoped to gain could make all the difference. The target list includes Reps. Seth Moulton (Mass.), Ed Perlmutter (Colo.), Beto O’Rourke (Texas), Derek Kilmer (Wash.), and Pennsylvania state Rep. Dwight Evans.”
TPP: “In Thursday, Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers published a report warning that if the TPP isn’t passed, a China-backed trade agreement will takes its place. That could put U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage when they try to sell to customers in Japan and other Asian nations. The report argues that if China’s Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership goes into effect, at least 35 U.S. industries as diverse as plastics, fishing and footwear will be at risk of increased competition from China in the Japanese market” [ FiveThirtyEight ]. So they’ve settled on this messaging, now? And: “[I]f Clinton wins, Obama might be able to put together a coalition of Republicans and trade-friendly Democrats* to support the treaty. In other words, TPP isn’t dead yet.” * Especially those looking for jobs on K Street.
TPP: “”If TPP is not passed and RCEP is enacted, which is what all these countries say they are planning to do, then U.S. businesses would face a direct loss of competitive position,” said Jason Furman, the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers” [ Reuters ]. “This would displace U.S. goods and be worse than simply maintaining the trade status quo, Furman said. The study identifies 35 industrial sectors employing 4.7 million people with $5.3 billion in sales to Japan that would face such a disadvantage.”
TPP: “Japan’s ruling parties push TPP through committee after opposition walkout” [ Nikkei Asian Review ]. “The next hurdle for the trade deal is a vote during a plenary session of the House of Representatives, expected early next week. It will then be sent to the Diet’s upper house, the House of Councillors.”
TPP: “Working-class U.S. residents already lose about $1,800 annually because wages have been depressed by global competition on labor rates, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. TPP would deepen this problem” [ Detroit Free Press ]. I know the cheap goods are supposed to make up for this, but when your jobs and and what you can afford to buy are both crapified….
2016
Days until: 3!
Corruption
“Two former Christie administration insiders charged in a bizarre scheme of political retaliation against a mayor who refused to endorse the governor for re-election were found guilty Friday on all counts in the long-running Bridgegate saga” [ Newark Star-Ledger ]. “‘In keeping with the disgrace that was this trial, one of the things the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be ashamed of is where it decided to draw the line on who to charge and who not to charge,’ Baroni’s attorney Michael] Baldassare said. ‘… They should have had belief in their own case to charge powerful people, and they did not.” Hmm. I wonder which “powerful people” Baldassare has in mind?
Our Famously Free Press
“Behind all the Times’ fawning profiles of Clinton — and the denigrating pieces not only on Trump but also Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders — was a cozy understanding between Times reporters and the Clinton campaign, WikiLeaks has shown us, that getting Clinton elected is something of a collaborative effort” [ MarketWatch ]. “Editors at the Times, the Washington Post and elsewhere justify this hostility because they have determined that Trump is an existential threat to democracy and the worst presidential nominee in history and can’t be treated as an ordinary candidate. So why do the polls show the worst nominee ever running neck-and-neck with the candidate President Barack Obama has praised as the most qualified person ever to run for president? Do these editors know something that tens of millions of American voters are missing? Whose job is it really to decide what poses a threat to our democracy — a handful of editors in the corporate media or the voters?”
The Voters
New Hampshire : Clinton 44%, Trump 44%, Johnson 5% ( UMass Lowell )
Iowa : Trump 44%, Clinton 41%, Johnson 5% ( RABA Research )
Virginia : Clinton 45%, Trump 38%, Johnson 5% ( Roanoke College )
Georgia : Trump 48%, Clinton 46%, Johnson 4% ( Landmark )
Missouri : Trump 52%, Clinton 41% ( PPP )
New Hampshire : Clinton 48%, Trump 43% ( PPP )
Nevada : Clinton 48%, Trump 45% ( PPP )
Wisconsin : Clinton 48%, Trump 41% ( PPP )
Pennsylvania : Clinton 48%, Trump 44% ( PPP )
North Carolina : Clinton 49%, Trump 47% ( PPP )
Wisconsin : Clinton 44%, Trump 38%, Johnson 7% ( Loras College )
If I plug all the states where Clinton is ahead into the New York Times “paths to victory” calculator , Clinton wins — even if Trump wins Florida. Of course, last I checked, NH was dead even, not Clinton up 4, and I don’t have the chops to assess how good any of these polls are.
“Trump is finishing the race the way many Republicans wished he could have run it from the start: fiercely on message and on offense” [ RealClearPolitics ]. “Trump has largely adhered to his teleprompters and resisted controversial tweets this week. As Clinton campaigned a few days ago with Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe winner with whom Trump has infamously feuded, the GOP nominee focused primarily on higher costs for Obamacare and the revived FBI investigation into emails pertinent to Clinton’s private server. The campaign believes those issues bolster his closing argument that Clinton is corrupt and a vestige of old politics, while he says he’s an agent of change.”
“Our polling data suggests that the missing whites aren’t exactly conservative populists who support Mr. Trump. They’re just dissatisfied: They don’t like their candidate, and they don’t like the other party’s candidate much either” [ New York Times ]. “The registered white missing Democrats, for instance, support Mrs. Clinton by only 61 percent to 19 percent. The missing registered white Republicans support Mr. Trump by only 69 to 13.”
“Election Update: Why Clinton’s Position Is Worse Than Obama’s” [Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight ]. “In the table below, I’ve run a head-to-head comparison showing how many electoral votes each candidate was projected to have at various margins of victory or defeat. For instance, Obama had a lead in states (and congressional districts) totaling 332 electoral votes in our final 2012 forecast. Clinton leads in states totaling only 272 electoral votes, just two more than the minimum she needs to win the Electoral College.” In brief, Clinton is stronger than Obama among highly educated voters in states that she would win anyhow , and weaker among white voters without college degrees in states that are close.
War Drums
“The U.S. government believes hackers from Russia or elsewhere may try to undermine next week’s presidential election and is mounting an unprecedented effort to counter their cyber meddling, American officials told NBC News. The effort is being coordinated by the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, but reaches across the government to include the CIA, the National Security Agency and other elements of the Defense Department, current and former officials say” [ NBC ]. ” Officials are alert for any attempts to create Election Day chaos, and say steps are being taken to prepare for worst-case scenarios, including a cyber-attack that shuts down part of the power grid or the internet. But what is more likely, multiple U.S. officials say, is a lower-level effort by hackers from Russia or elsewhere to peddle misinformation by manipulating Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. For example, officials fear an 11th hour release of fake documents implicating one of the candidates in an explosive scandal without time for the news media to fact check it.
The Trail
“With Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump breathtakingly close in polls of key states, analysts are beginning to factor in the possibility of recounts that would delay the outcome” [ MarketWatch ]. “Bear in mind that a candidate would have limited time to contest the vote. This year, the Electoral College is due to meet on Dec. 19. By law, electors meet on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.” A recount would make Florida 2000 look like a walk in the park, especially because Clinton, bless her heart, is unlikely to let herself be rolled, unlike Gore.
Michigan: “Hillary Clinton is hanging onto a narrow 4-point lead over Donald Trump in Michigan heading into the last weekend before Tuesday’s election, with a new Free Press poll showing clear momentum for the Republican nominee in a state that several weeks ago was believed all but decided for the Democrat” [ Detroit Free Press ]. ” [T]he number of undecided voters — 13% — remains extraordinarily high for this late in an election cycle, speaking to the high unfavorable marks voters give both major party candidates.” Normally, I’d say a 4% lead is a lot, but those undecideds. Wowsers.
Realignment
“Who Broke Politics?” [Paul Krugman, New York Times ]. “So how did all our political norms get destroyed? Hint: It started long before Donald Trump. On one side….” Hint: You will read to the end of the column without finding the “On the other side” that “on one side” sets up. I mean, it wasn’t mean Republicans who prevented Obama from throwing the banksters in jail, was it?
“America and the Abyss” [Andrew Sullivan, New York Magazine ]. Of course, if Trump really were a fascist, the Democratic Establishment would fight him tooth and nail. Right?
“Donald Trump didn’t break one of our two great and ancestral political parties. He won the nomination because the Republican Party was already broken, and those responsible for the party, the elected officials and thinkers, didn’t know. Now they do” [Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal , “Democracy’s Majesty and 2016’s Indignity”]. “Soon they will begin that stage of political mourning known as the symposia process. They’ll discuss how to repair, renew, keep the party together. Or the party will, over the next few cycles, split apart… The Democratic Party and its lobbyist/think-tank/journalistic establishment in Washington have long looked to me to be dominated by people devoted mostly to getting themselves in the best professional position and their kids into Sidwell Friends School. They want to be part of the web, the arrangement. They want to have connections, associates, a tong. They want to be wired in. They don’t want to be I.F. Stone, alone, reading the fine print of obscure government documents. And Clintonism—for years the biggest web, the securest source of money, a real tong with enforcers and reward-dispensers—has long been a sound route to all of this. You may have to bend rules to be part of it, accept unsavory deals and characters, but it is warm and cozy in there.” And:
One thing I saw this year was that sincere conservatives wholly opposed to socialism had real respect for Bernie Sanders because they saw his sincerity. He wasn’t part of the web and they honored him for it.
I never thought I’d find myself writing this, but for punditry I’ll take Nooners over Krugman’s hackery or Sullivan’s hysterical ranting. It’s been quite a year.
Democrat Email Hairball
“The Podesta Emails Part 29” [ Wikileaks ].
“[A] meeting between POTUS and HRC at a critical time” [ Reddit (aliteralmind)]. From Podesta email drop #28. One of those timeline things that does make you go, hmm. Particularly the genesis of the meeting in previous meeting between Podesta and White House chief of staff Denis McDonough in an “offsite” Starbucks near the White House. If I were Putin, I’d have that Starbucks wired to the gills.
“What the WikiLeaks emails tell us about Hillary Clinton’s campaign (and what they don’t)” [ Los Angeles Times ]. Death of a thousand cuts.
“The real Clinton email scandal is that a bullshit story has dominated the campaign” [Matt Yglesias, Vox ]. Oh, Matty.
Stats Watch
Employment Situation, October 2016: Unemployment Rate – Level (4.9 %); Participation Rate – level (62.8%) [ Econoday ]. “Solid payroll growth is not the whole story of the October employment report. Average hourly earnings are rising, up an outsized 0.4 percent in the month with the year-on-year rate, at 2.8 percent, suddenly near 3.0 percent and at its recovery peak… The unemployment rate is down 1 tenth to 4.9 percent and, for some, is already signaling full employment for the labor market.But negatives are scarce in this report, where strength is emphatically underscored by the unexpected acceleration in average hourly earnings which further includes an upward revision to September. Today’s report marks a solid opening to fourth-quarter data and will raise talk of a wage-inflation flashpoint…” Gotta take the punchbowl away from lower orders! But: ” The number of persons working part time for economic reasons was essentially unchanged in October. This level suggests slack still in the labor market” [ Calculated Risk ]. Moreover: “t’s also worth noting that the standard measure of unemployment — now at 5 percent — doesn’t capture the lingering weakness in the market seen in the broader U6 measure, which includes discouraged workers, other workers marginally attached to the labor force and those in temporary jobs because they can’t get full-time work. The conventional unemployment measure is a hair below its mean from 2003-7, which is 5.2 percent. The broader U6, however, at 9.7 percent is higher than its 2003-7 mean of 9.1 percent. This is just another sign that there’s still slack in the labor market.” [ Bloomberg ]. And: “Should we believe the employment numbers in this report? There is little evidence of political bias in past election cycles” [ Econintersect ]. “To sum this report up – employment is continuing to tread water – growing little better than the theoretical working population growth. However, note that the household survey removed 43,000 to the workforce (which is the reason the unemployment rate declined). There was really nothing good or nothing really terrible – although manufacturing declined. The year-over-year rate of growth significantly declined this month.” Again, the Econoday summary is just a little too breathless for this Maine bear.
International Trade, September 2016: “A decline in imports helped pull down the nation’s trade gap sharply in September, to $36.4 billion from a revised $40.5 billion in August. Imports, reflecting declines for capital goods and also consumer goods, fell 1.1 percent while exports, showing an especially strong gain for capital goods, rose 0.6 percent” [ Econoday ]. “Declining imports are a plus for the GDP calculation but are not signals of strength for domestic demand, whether business demand for capital goods or business expectations for consumer imports ahead of the holidays.” And: “Declining imports are a plus for the GDP calculation but are not signals of strength for domestic demand, whether business demand for capital goods or business expectations for consumer imports ahead of the holidays” [ Econintersect ].
Jobless Claims: “However, comparing initial claims today with the past is the proverbial apples to oranges. An important fact in looking at claims data is that vastly fewer people today are eligible for unemployment benefits. In other words, the number of unemployed people who can’t receive jobless benefits — and thus are not in the initial claims data — has risen relative to those who have unemployment insurance” [ Bloomberg ]. As Mosler has been saying.
Housing: “Residential remodeling has recovered to 38% of the peak it attained prior to the Great Recession. New residential construction, on the other hand, is only at 17% of the peak” [ Econintersect ].
Retail: “The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has just announced that Samsung is having to recall its top-load washing machines due to a risk of impact injuries. The exact hazard listed was that the washing machine top can unexpectedly detach from the washing machine chassis during use, posing a risk of injury from impact” [ 247 Wall Street ]. “What matters here is that this will not be a cheap recall. You can drive a smartphone back to the store or mail it in cheaply. Have you ever tried moving a washing machine, or just dealing with getting a technician out to deliver or fix one? And the size of this recall is huge — about 2.8 million total units!” Korea is really having its troubles, isn’t it? Samsung is a failing national champion, Hanjin went bankrupt, and there’s a ginormous scandal with their President.
Shipping: “In August, the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) reported its first quarterly volume decline for the first time after 25 straight quarters of growth. Earlier this week, marked its second straight quarterly volume decline, officially extending more of an unwelcome streak” [ Logistics Management ]. “Total third quarter intermodal volume movements—at 4,348,634—were off 4.6 percent annually, following a 6.1 percent second quarter decline at 4,271,162. The first quarter of 2016 saw volumes rise 2.0 percent annually. … Like recent quarters, domestic containers were the lone metric to see an increase.”
Shipping: “Orders for heavy-duty commercial trucks in North America plummeted 46% in October from the same month last year, providing a grim outlook for truck manufacturers in the coming year” [ Wall Street Journal , “Truck Orders Tumbled 46% in October “]. “In an analyst note Thursday, Stifel said the October order total was the weakest since 2009, falling well below expectations. “October orders are critical as they represent the traditional start to the order season for trucks to be produced the next year,” the report said.”
Shipping: “After four days [!!!] firefighters have finally managed to douse the terrible tanker blaze that killed many workers at a shipbreaking site in Gadani, Pakistan. Rescue work inside the hull of the Indonesian ship cannot start however as the steel plates are still too hot” [ Splash 247 ]. “While there are now 21 confirmed dead, the eventual death toll could hit triple figures with many unaccounted for inside the hull of the ship and a number of the 60 workers sent to hospital deemed to have such severe burns that they are unlikely to survive.” The human cost of excess capacity.
The Bezzle: “GoPro’s forward statements are not believable, in light of its recent performance, and management’s ability to forecast. It is also essentially a one-product company, and that product does not sell very well” [ 247 Wall Street ].
The Bezzle: “the app economy may have passed its peak. CB Insights analyzed the company descriptions of thousands of startup companies receiving VC funding for the first time between 2010 and today, scanning for buzzwords that describe the companies’ field of focus. While ‘app] is still the keyword that shows up in the most company descriptions, the share of startups working with apps in some way has declined for three straight years” [ Econintersect ]. “Looking at the terms with the largest increase in mentions in startup company descriptions between 2010 and 2016 possibly allows us to glimpse into the future and gives us an idea of what the next big thing might be. According to CB Insights’ analysis, these terms are ‘virtual reality’, ‘machine learning’ and ‘natural language.'” I think reality is quite virtual enough already, thank you.
The Fed: “Central bank independence ‘comes from an understanding of the macroeconomic policy problem that is not relevant to current times,’ Summers said in a speech at the International Monetary Fund” [ MarketWatch ]. “During the question-and-answer session, Summers said he did not think that entitlement reform should be on the immediate agenda for the next administration. He said that policy makers should focus solely on accelerating growth. If they are successful in sparking demand, the long-run debt-to-GDP ratio will be sustainable, he said. If policy makers fail, it will not be.”
Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 17 Fear (previous close: 18, Fear) [ CNN ]. One week ago: 46 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Nov 3 at 11:31am. Still waiting for single digits.
Corruption
“Prosecutors in the Singapore trial of a former BSI banker said this week the defendant and other former employees of the Swiss bank helped launder up to $2.3 billion looted from the Malaysia sovereign wealth fund 1MDB” [ FCPA Blog ] and “Two former executives of a Singapore-based defense contractor have been extradited to the United States in the massive bribes-for-secrets scandal that has rocked the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Command” [ FCPA Blog ]. Wait, what? I thought Singapore was supposed to be squeaky clean?
Standing Rock and #NoDAPL
“SEE IT: Journalist shot with rubber bullet while conducting interview at Standing Rock protests” [ New York Daily News ]. The journalist says “officer,” but it’s not clear to me whether “officer” means “cop” or “mercenary.”
Gaia
“The average U.S. family destroys a football field’s worth of Arctic sea ice every 30 years” [ Science ]. “If both the linear relationship and current emission trends hold into the future, the study suggests the Arctic will be ice free by 2045—far sooner than some climate models predict. The study suggests that those models are underestimating how warm the Arctic has already become and how fast that melting will proceed.”
Guillotine Watch
“In the seven years since, terror threats in Europe and political uncertainty from Britain to the U.S. have helped make [New Zealand] — a day by air away from New York or London — a popular bolthole for the mega wealthy” [ Bloomberg ]. Great. Cut the undersea cables, and they might as well be on Mars.
Class Warfare
“Instacart workers are earning a lot less money after changes to the company’s pay structure — changes CEO Apoorva Mehta told BuzzFeed News are necessary for the company’s continued growth, but that hundreds of vocal Instacart shoppers say are threatening their livelihoods. According to a Buzzfeed News analysis of 15 workers’ pay stubs, shifts that once earned shoppers $100 or more in 4–8 hours have dropped closer to $60 to $80 for similar shifts. These shoppers estimate their earnings have fallen by around 30% so far” [ Buzzfeed ]. Should have filed this under The Bezzle, maybe. Yet another Silicon Valley darling whose valuation depends on screwing over working people. Oh, and this is good:
The vast majority of shoppers who spoke with BuzzFeed News for this article asked to remain anonymous out of concern that their accounts would be deactivated for speaking with the press; Instacart said it has never deactivated workers for speaking publicly about their experience with the company.
Yikes!
“The case for social insurance begins with the recognition that capitalist economies are subject to boom-and-bust cycles. With a managed, socialist economy, business cycles are much less severe (though they can’t be eliminated entirely, for example, in years when agricultural production is unexpectedly low due to the weather) because the government manages production and employment. But these economies tend to grow slower than capitalist economies, and they often have substantial inefficiencies in the way resources and labor are used” [Mark Thoma, CBS ].
“”What Makes Scandinavia Different?” [ Jacobin ]. “The only way to get “Scandinavian levels” of redistribution and social protection is to start building powerful popular movements capable of advancing this agenda.”
News of the Wired
“Before Irv Teibel, listening to nature meant leaving the house. Here’s the story of the man who brought the rain, thunder, and crickets to your stereo, one satisfied, relaxed customer at a time” [ Pitchfork ].
“The People’s Code” [ code.gov ]. We’ve got the U.S. Digital Service, but not a National Health Service. Seems odd.
* * *
Readers, feel free to contact me with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, and (c) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here . And here’s today’s plant (b1whois):
That tree is a little ecosystem in itself…
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Miss him yet?Here s an up-close look at a quality-of-life offense the City Council wants to decriminalize.This urinating vagrant turned a busy stretch of Broadway into his own private bathroom yesterday an offense that would result in a mere summons if Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and her pals get their way.Wrapped in rags and a Mets blanket the hobo wandered into traffic at around 10:30 a.m. and relieved himself as cabs, cars and buses whizzed by between West 83rd and 84th streets on the Upper West Side.He finished his business at a nearby garbage bin, then strolled back to the front of a Victoria s Secret store at Broadway and 85th Street, where he camped out for the rest of the day.Mark-Viverito in April announced plans to decriminalize public urination along with five other low-level offenses: biking on the sidewalk, public consumption of alcohol, being in a park after dark, failure to obey a park sign and jumping subway turnstiles. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton who in the early 90s implemented a broken windows approach to policing to dramatically cut crime is against the new plan, saying such offenses lead to more serious crimes.Bill Caprese, 38, who lives on 82nd Street with his 6-year-old daughter, was appalled by the street urinator. It s absolutely a failure of government. It s a total abject failure, he said. The mayor could fix it. The governor could fix it. We need asylums. Unfortunately for NYC, radical socialist Mayor DeBlasio turned his back on the NYPD, whose job it is to control the crime. An employee at the Victoria s Secret, where the homeless man often lounges, said he drives away business. He curses people out, threatens lives, said the employee, who works in the lingerie chain s loss-prevention department. Customers complain about him all the time. And the growing problem isn t solely on city streets. Transit hubs, including Penn Station, are plagued by surging numbers of homeless people who publicly masturbate, harass bystanders and demand free food as the city looks the other way, commuters complain. It reminds me of the pre-[Rudy] Giuliani era, said Jim Hoover, 60, who has been commuting through Penn Station since 1986. The police aren t chasing them away anymore. Just outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal, a homeless man drunkenly knocked a woman to the floor while stumbling around the sidewalk.The bum, who goes by Monk, was arrested by a cop at the scene and taken away by an FDNY ambulance. He s going to get a hospital bed and a slap on the wrist, said Timothy Arroyo, who was watching from a crowd that gathered. He ll be back out here tomorrow. A PA source said there has been a noticeable uptick in vagrants at the terminal in recent months.Via: NYP
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he doubted U.S. President-elect Donald Trump had met with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room several years ago, referring to an unverified dossier published last week that Trump has dismissed as “fake news”. “Trump arrived and straight away rushed to meet with Moscow prostitutes. This is an adult man and, apart from that, is a man who for many years took part in organizing beauty contests. He has socialized with the most beautiful women in the world,” Putin said in response to a question from a reporter from pro-Kremlin news agency Life about whether he had seen files or videos suggesting Trump had met with prostitutes. “I find it difficult to believe that he ran to a hotel to meet with our girls of reduced social responsibility,” Putin said at a news conference in Moscow with Moldova’s President Igor Dodon. Trump, a New York businessman who will be inaugurated as U.S. president on Friday, has dismissed reports that Russia had compromising information on him as “fake news” and “phony stuff.” Reuters has not independently verified the claims contained in the dossier. The information was summarized in a U.S. intelligence report presented to Trump and President Barack Obama this month. James Clapper, director of national intelligence, has said the dossier was not produced by U.S. intelligence agencies and they have not judged whether the information is reliable. Putin said it was “total nonsense” that Russian intelligence had followed Trump to gather compromising material on him and reiterated that he had never met Trump. “Trump, when he came to Moscow, and I can’t even remember when that was, ... he wasn’t any sort of political figure. We didn’t even know about his political ambitions,” Putin said. “What, someone thinks the special services chase after every American billionaire? Of course not, that’s total nonsense.”
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PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy party (SPD) said on Thursday it would not support a new minority government formed by the ANO party leader Andrej Babis, making it more likely the government will lose a confidence vote next month. If Babis loses, he will stay in power as caretaker while another coalition arrangement is sought. Given ANO s strength, however, it is almost impossible to form a government without it. SPD leader Tomio Okamura told a news conference his party had led talks with ANO and while there were some common points on program, there were also many differences and SPD had objections to several ministers. We told them we will not support this government, Okamura told reporters. He said ANO refused to back its plan to legislate a referendum law allowing to vote on leaving the European Union, one of SPD s campaign calls. Running on an anti-establishment platform and pledges to improve management of public affairs, ANO won 78 out of 200 seats in the lower house of parliament in an October election. But it has failed to find any coalition partners or support for its minority government among the other eight factions in parliament. Only the far-left Communists, with 15 seats, have not ruled out supporting the government. The SPD, with 22 seats, had supported ANO in a number of votes, raising the possibility that it might also in the end vote for the cabinet. The fresh rejection to back the cabinet makes Babis s success less likely. Under the EU and NATO member country s constitution, Babis has to call a confidence vote by mid-January. Several parties - including SPD but also ANO s coalition partners in the previous cabinet, the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats have indicated they may be open to discussions on supporting an ANO-led government in the second round if Babis s first attempt fails. The main objection to Babis is a police investigation into alleged fraud Babis is suspected of in tapping a 2 million euro EU subsidy for a conference center outside Prague a decade ago. Babis denies any wrongdoing. Parliament is expected to vote in January whether to lift his immunity and allow police to prosecute him. Parties also criticise Babis for conflicts of interests he has as a politician and a billionaire owner of over 25o firms in chemicals, farming, media and other sectors.
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Rosie Gray, an reporter who now works at The Atlantic magazine, told Breitbart News exclusively that she disagrees with the decision her old editor, BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith, made to run a fake news dossier against President Donald Trump accusing the of having untoward relations with Russia. [“I would not have made that decision to run that,” Gray told Breitbart News on Tuesday when asked if she would have run either the BuzzFeed story containing the dossier or the previous CNN piece on live television and online which aimed to lend credibility to the dossier without actually publishing it. Gray does still consider Smith a mentor and a friend, however. Gray’s decision to speak out publicly against her former employer, BuzzFeed, is noteworthy considering she was one of the top newsroom employees there. She also, in her new capacity as a reporter for The Atlantic, delivered one of the earliest and strongest hammer blows against Smith’s and CNN’s decision to publish the dossier, discrediting BuzzFeed and CNN. “It Is Fake News Meant to Malign Mr. Trump” read the headline on Gray’s exposé debunking BuzzFeed’s report on a supposed intelligence document alleging a number of salacious things about Trump and his team. “Michael Cohen, an attorney for the has denied allegations contained in a dossier published by BuzzFeed News,” Gray’s in The Atlantic reads, further blowing up the BuzzFeed scoop. The document published by her old employer, Gray wrote, “alleges that Michael Cohen, special counsel to Trump, was central to ‘the ongoing secret liaison relationship between the New York tycoon’s campaign and the Russian leadership,’ and that he met secretly with Kremlin officials in Prague in August 2016. ” But unlike BuzzFeed, which didn’t actually check to verify the allegations before it published the document, Gray actually checked to see if that specific allegation was true or not. And Gray found the first of many holes in BuzzFeed’s report, ripping her old employer’s fake news report to shreds by having made just a few phone calls to see if the allegations in the document were accurate. Gray wrote: Reached by telephone on Tuesday night, Cohen denied the dossier’s allegations. The story is ‘totally fake, totally inaccurate,’ Cohen said. ‘I’m telling you emphatically that I’ve not been to Prague, I’ve never been to Czech [Republic] I’ve not been to Russia,’ Cohen said. ‘The story is completely inaccurate, it is fake news meant to malign Mr. Trump.’ Cohen said that during the time the report places him in Prague, he was actually with his son visiting USC and meeting with the baseball coach. Gray, unlike BuzzFeed, actually called the source of the allegation to ask him if it was true before she printed it. And she called the University of Southern California, too, to verify that claim — and they confirmed it. Gray wrote at her new publication, The Atlantic: A USC baseball source confirmed Tuesday night that Cohen and his son had visited USC on August 29th. Cohen said that he was in Los Angeles from the 23rd through the 29th of August, and that the rest of the month he was in New York. He said that his only trip to an EU country over the summer had been a vacation to Italy in July. In one instance, the dossier places the alleged Prague travel in ‘ 2016.’ Cohen said he was in New York for the entire month of September. Gray is part of a group of discredited staffers who fled the publication in a recent mass exodus. Andrew Kaczynski, who was a lead researcher for BuzzFeed, went to work for CNN. And McKay Coppins, the largely discredited BuzzFeed scribe who inaccurately profiled Trump before he ran for president in a hit piece claiming Trump would never run for president, joined Gray in traveling to The Atlantic. Among other mistakes that BuzzFeed allowed its reporters to make, Coppins also inaccurately reported the fake news that Breitbart News was funded by Donald Trump during the campaign. BuzzFeed’s Smith, Gray’s old editor, has not immediately responded to a request for comment on Gray’s decision to admonish her old employer’s irresponsible editorial . CNN in many ways was worse than BuzzFeed in what they did on this front: While CNN did not actually publish the document, anchor Jake Tapper and reporters Jim Sciutto, Evan Perez, and Carl Bernstein lent enormous credibility to the source of the document without verifying any of the now discredited allegations. The episode resulted in a very public blowup for both CNN and BuzzFeed, as at Trump’s first press conference as earlier in January he blasted CNN’s Jim Acosta — who broke journalistic norms in his attempts to interrupt the — as working for a “Fake News” outlet. Trump also blasted BuzzFeed as a “failing pile of garbage” during that press conference. UPDATE 3:10 p. m. ET: Gray confirms publicly she would not have made the same decision as Smith or CNN, but then tries to rationalize it in an unhinged . ok so, before this becomes a thing, here’s what actually happened here https: . — Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) January 24, 2017, I called Boyle for a story I’m working on. He won’t cooperate, he says, unless I publicly denounce BuzzFeed for publishing the dossier. — Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) January 24, 2017, I tell him that while I wouldn’t have made same decision to publish, I won’t do what he’s asking me to do. — Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) January 24, 2017, There was no ”decision to speak out publicly,” I can tell you that much. — Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) January 24, 2017, indeed i did, which is part of why Boyle’s insistence that I take a public stand against them is so bizarre https: . — Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) January 24, 2017, Yep, misleading af https: . — Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) January 24, 2017, Then Gray proved that nobody she speaks with can trust her, since she published screenshots of her text messages with this reporter: btw you guys would get a kick out of my recent text exchanges with Matt Boyle, let me put it that way. — Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) January 24, 2017, lol pic. twitter. — Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) January 24, 2017,
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Bill O Reilly reacted to the approximate $500,000 (currently up to over $560K) that has been raised for the Talladega College Marching Tornadoes band s trip to participate in the Inauguration Day ceremony for President-elect Donald Trump in Washington.In his Talking Points Memo, he said that much of the money raised for the historically black college was bankrolled by people that mainstream entities often demonize as racist . Generalizing about any group is foolish and dishonest, O Reilly said, calling the impromptu fundraiser a repudiation of race-baiters. O Reilly recalled how college president Dr. Billy Hawkins appearance last week on the O Reilly Factor was not intended as a fundraising announcement, but that subsequent guest Omarosa Manigault mentioned the GoFundMe account.Hawkins has since received threats and derogatory comments for standing firm on sending his students to the District of Columbia.Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer added that the nationwide response to the appeal by Talladega is what Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Inauguration Day, is all about. FOXThe haters came out on social media and made outrageous statements like the one below:The sons of two deceased Talladega graduates posted on Facebook that they are returning their parents diplomas in opposition to the school s decision to march. Both of our parents have passed away since receiving this cherished recognition from the College. But we have no doubt that they would be angered and deeply disappointed if they knew of the plans for Talladega College to pay tribute to Donald Trump by participating in his inaugural, Peter, David and Steven Rasmussen wrote. Mr. Trump has demonstrated in innumerable ways, during the electoral campaign and his time as president-elect, that he is the antithesis of all they worked and stood for and of the values they nurtured in their students. NBC
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According to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Donald Trump is standing by his claim that former President Obama tapped the phones at Trump Tower even though everyone has confirmed it s bullsh*t.During Monday s press briefing, which took place while FBI Director James Comey s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee was on a break, Spicer was asked about the fact that Trump s wiretapping claims had been shot down by the FBI, the Justice Department, and everybody else except for a few random conspiracy theorists. He said that there is no information to support the allegations that the President made against President Obama, ABC s Jonathan Karl said, referring to Comey, before Spicer abruptly cut him off mid question. At this time, Spicer said. So is the President prepared to withdraw that accusation and apologize to the President? Karl asked. No, Spicer replied. We started a hearing. It s still ongoing. And then, as Chairman Nunes mentioned, this is one of a series of hearings that will be happening. While testifying on Monday, Comey said that the Department of Justice has no information whatsoever to support Trump s ridiculous assertion that Obama, or anybody else for that matter, wiretapped Trump Tower. Comey said he would not characterize Trump s tweets about the alleged wiretapping, and said only that he has no information to support the accusation.On Friday, the Justice Department sent documents related to Trump wiretapping claims to the committee. Reps. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Adam Schiff (R-Calif.) have both said publicly that there was nothing in those documents to back of Trump s accusation. We know there was not a wiretap on Trump Tower, Nunes said.But none of this is enough to get our narcissistic tweeter-in-chief to admit that he is full of sh*t. Oh no, not Trump. He ll never back down. He lives in his own reality and is totally incapable of admitting that he is wrong. Ever. This is a terrifying trait to have in the leader of the free world, that s for sure.Watch Spicer say Trump still believes Obama tapped his phones, here:Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images
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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - North Korea has granted a soccer loving Malaysian prince access to its airspace anytime he wants, his palace said on Tuesday, as Pyongyang prepares finally to host an Asian Cup tie that became a casualty of the assassination in Malaysia of the North Korean leader s estranged half brother in February. Having been delayed twice due to Malaysia s fears for the safety of its players, the match between North Korea and Malaysia is now set to be played on Oct. 5. The game had originally been scheduled for March 28, but the two formerly friendly governments suffered a diplomatic meltdown as North Korea reacted angrily to Malaysian police investigating the role North Korean officials allegedly played in the murder of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, the crown prince of the southern state of Johor, met with North Korea s senior-most diplomat in Malaysia on Tuesday to discuss the match, according to a statement from the Johor palace. Amongst issues discussed were foreign relations and current affairs as well as the upcoming Group B match of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 qualifying final round, in which both teams will ensure the safety of players and team officials, the statement said. North Korea also granted the prince full access to its airspace anytime he wants to visit North Korea from Malaysia, the palace statement said. It is the highest honor as any other world leader will need to stop by in Beijing beforehand, it said. The trial of two women, an Indonesian and a Vietnamese, charged for the murder of Kim, is set to begin in Kuala Lumpur on Oct.2, but the North Koreans sought by police were believed to have fled Malaysia soon after the murder. The meeting took place on the same day as the opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a stern warning to North Korea over its ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests.
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President Barack Obama has called the fight against human trafficking one of the great human rights causes of our time and has pledged the United States will continue to lead it. If Obama really believed that human trafficking was such an important cause, then why would his State Department be working so hard to hide the truth about these horrific human rights violators? In the weeks leading up to a critical annual U.S. report on human trafficking that publicly shames the world s worst offenders, human rights experts at the State Department concluded that trafficking conditions hadn t improved in Malaysia and Cuba. And in China, they found, things had grown worse.The State Department s senior political staff saw it differently and they prevailed.A Reuters examination, based on interviews with more than a dozen sources in Washington and foreign capitals, shows that the government office set up to independently grade global efforts to fight human trafficking was repeatedly overruled by senior American diplomats and pressured into inflating assessments of 14 strategically important countries in this year s Trafficking in Persons report.In all, analysts in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons or J/TIP, as it s known within the U.S. government disagreed with U.S. diplomatic bureaus on ratings for 17 countries, the sources said.The analysts, who are specialists in assessing efforts to combat modern slavery such as the illegal trade in humans for forced labor or prostitution won only three of those disputes, the worst ratio in the 15-year history of the unit, according to the sources.As a result, not only Malaysia, Cuba and China, but countries such as India, Uzbekistan and Mexico, wound up with better grades than the State Department s human-rights experts wanted to give them, the sources said. (Graphic looking at some of the key decisions here: reut.rs/1gF2Wz5)Of the three disputes J/TIP won, the most prominent was Thailand, which has faced scrutiny over forced labor at sea and the trafficking of Rohingya Muslims through its southern jungles. Diplomats had sought to upgrade it to so-called Tier 2 Watch List status. It remains on Tier 3 the rating for countries with the worst human-trafficking records.The number of rejected recommendations suggests a degree of intervention not previously known by diplomats in a report that can lead to sanctions and is the basis for many countries anti-trafficking policies. This year, local embassies and other constituencies within the department were able to block some of the toughest grades.State Department officials say the ratings are not politicized. As is always the case, final decisions are reached only after rigorous analysis and discussion between the TIP office, relevant regional bureaus and senior State Department leaders, State Department spokesman John Kirby said in response to queries by Reuters.Still, by the time the report was released on July 27, Malaysia and Cuba were both removed from the Tier 3 blacklist, even though the State Department s own trafficking experts believed neither had made notable improvements, according to the sources.The Malaysian upgrade, which was highly criticized by human rights groups, could smooth the way for an ambitious proposed U.S.-led free-trade deal with the Southeast Asian nation and 11 other countries.Ending Communist-ruled Cuba s 12 years on the report s blacklist came as the two nations reopened embassies on each other s soil following their historic d tente over the past eight months.And for China, the experts recommendation to downgrade it to the worst ranking, Tier 3, was overruled despite the report s conclusion that Beijing did not undertake increased anti-trafficking efforts.That would have put China alongside the likes of Syria and North Korea, regarded by the United Nations as among the world s worst human right abusers.Typically, J/TIP wins more than half of what officials call disputes with diplomatic sections of the State Department, according to people familiar with the process. Certainly we have never seen that kind of an outcome, said one U.S. official with direct knowledge of the department.ABILITY TO EMBARRASSThe Trafficking in Persons report, which evaluated 188 countries and territories this year, calls itself the world s most comprehensive resource of governmental anti-human trafficking efforts. Rights groups mostly agree.It organizes countries into tiers based on trafficking records: Tier 1 for nations that meet minimum U.S. standards; Tier 2 for those making significant efforts to meet those standards; Tier 2 Watch List for those that deserve special scrutiny; and Tier 3 for countries that fail to comply with the minimum U.S. standards and are not making significant efforts.While a Tier 3 ranking can trigger sanctions limiting access to aid from the United States, the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank, such action is frequently waived.The real power is its ability to embarrass countries into action. Many countries aggressively lobby U.S. embassies to try to avoid sliding into the Tier 3 category. Four straight years on the Tier 2 Watch List triggers an automatic downgrade to Tier 3 unless a country earns a waiver or an upgrade.The leverage has brought some success, including pressuring Switzerland to close loopholes that allowed the prostitution of minors and prompting the Dominican Republic to convict more child trafficking offenders.President Barack Obama has called the fight against human trafficking one of the great human rights causes of our time and has pledged the United States will continue to lead it. But the office set up in 2001 by a congressional mandate to spearhead that effort is increasingly struggling to publish independent assessments of the most diplomatically important countries, the sources said.The rejection of so many recommendations could strengthen calls by some lawmakers to investigate how the report is compiled. After Reuters on July 8 reported on the plans to upgrade Malaysia, 160 members of the U.S. House and 18 U.S. senators wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry urging him to keep Malaysia in Tier 3, based on its trafficking record. They questioned whether the upgrade was politically motivated.Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat, has threatened to call for a Senate hearing and an inspector general to investigate if top State Department officials removed Malaysia from the lowest tier for political reasons.The final decision on disputed rankings this year was made in meetings attended by some of the State Department s most powerful diplomats, including Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman and Kerry s Chief of Staff, Jonathan Finer, according to the sources. NO, NO, NO The unprecedented degree of discord over this trafficking report began to become clear after Reuters early last month revealed plans to upgrade Malaysia from the lowest Tier 3 rank to Tier 2 Watch List.The improved ranking came in a year in which Malaysian authorities discovered dozens of suspected mass migrant graves and human rights groups reported continued forced labor in the nation s lucrative palm oil, construction and electronics industries. As recently as April, the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia, Joseph Yun, urged the country to take prosecution of human trafficking violations more seriously.U.S. officials have denied that political considerations influenced Malaysia s rankings. No, no, no, said Sewall, when asked by reporters last Monday whether Malaysia was upgraded to facilitate trade negotiations. She said the decision was based on how Malaysia was dealing with trafficking.Representative Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who authored a 2000 law that led to the creation of J/TIP, said in an interview that the office s authority is being undermined by the president s agenda. It s so politicized, he said.If Malaysia had remained on Tier 3, it would have posed a potential barrier to Obama s proposed trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. That deal is a crucial part of his pivot to Asia policy. Congress approved legislation in June giving Obama expanded trade negotiating powers but prohibiting deals with Tier 3 countries such as, at that time, Malaysia.Congressional sources and current and former State Department officials said experts in the J/TIP office had recommended keeping Malaysia on Tier 3, highlighting a drop in human-trafficking convictions in the country to three last year from nine in 2013. They said, according to the sources, that some of Malaysia s efforts to end forced labor amounted to promises rather than action.The analysts also clashed over Cuba s record with the State Department s Western Hemisphere Affairs Bureau, whose view took precedence in the final report.Human rights groups and people with knowledge of the negotiations over the rankings said an unearned upgrade for Cuba, especially at a time of intense attention due to the historic diplomatic thaw between Washington and Havana, could undermine the integrity of the report.Cuba had been on the border line for an upgrade in recent years, a former State Department official said. And although Cuba ended up with an upgrade, the final report remained highly critical, citing concerns about Cuba s failure to deal with a degree of alleged forced labor in medical missions that Havana sends to developing countries.China was another source of friction. J/TIP s analysts called for downgrading China, the world s second-biggest economy, to Tier 3, criticizing Beijing for failing to follow through on a promise to abolish its re-education through labor system and to adequately protect trafficking victims from neighboring countries such as North Korea. The final report put China on Tier 2 Watch List.SHOWING DEFERENCEBut the candor of J/TIP can run afoul of other important diplomatic priorities, particularly in countries beset by instability or corruption where U.S. diplomats are trying to build relationships. That leads every year to sometimes contentious back-and-forth over the rankings with far-flung embassies and regional bureaus the diplomatic centers of gravity at the State Department. There is supposed to be some deference to the expertise of the office, said Mark Lagon, J/TIP s ambassador-at-large from 2007 to 2009 and now president of Freedom House, an advocacy group in Washington. If the office is now losing more disputes over rankings than it is winning, that would be an unfortunate thing, he said.Most U.S. diplomats are reluctant to openly strike back at critics inside and outside of the administration who accuse them of letting politics trump human rights, the sources said.But privately, some diplomats say that J/TIP staffers should avoid acting like purists and keep sight of broader U.S. interests, including maintaining open channels with authoritarian governments to push for reform and forging trade deals that could lift people out of poverty.For entire story: Reuters
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OK, theoretically, everything will go according to plan, and Donald Trump will be the next president.
But technically, the (s)election hasn’t really taken place yet.
Presidential electors of the mystified electoral college must still actually vote for the president, and there isn’t anything to keep them from ‘voting their conscience’ and choosing someone other than Donald Trump.
Moreover, it appears that there is an active effort to flip the electoral college to deny Trump the presidency, and toss the White House to either Hillary or a GOP loyalist.
The #NeverTrump crowd and plenty of bitter Hillary supporters are still hoping for a coup, though even they admit it is a long shot – completely unprecedented and anything but likely.
According to the Blaze :
Donald Trump may have won the electoral votes necessary to win the White House, but he he’s likely going to lose the popular vote to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. And now two electors have launched a last-minute effort to convince their colleagues to abandon the president-elect.
“This is a long shot. It’s a hail Mary,” Bret Chiafolo, a Washington state elector who previously pledged not to vote for Clinton, told Politico Monday. “However, I do see situations where — when we’ve already had two or three [Republican] electors state publicly they didn’t want to vote for Trump. How many of them have real issues with Donald Trump in private?”
Chiafolo along with Colorado elector Micheal Baca have launched what they call a “moral electors” movement in hopes of convincing 37 of their Republican colleagues to deny Trump their votes. Should they succeed in their radical effort, the presidential decision would be thrown to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
[…]
The Electoral College consists of 538 members who are expected to convene in their respective state capitals on Dec. 19 to formally vote for the next president… Baca said he hopes the move launches a serious national discussion about abolishing the Electoral College , which would require either a constitutional amendment or legislation in several states.
The speculation is that if this maneuver were to be successful, the GOP-led Congress could be persuaded not to choose Hillary, but to write-in a selection for a party loyalist – like Mitt Romney or John Kasich… maybe even a Bush.
Of course, there have also been reports that Team Hillary has been hard at work attempting to persuade electors to switch their votes in the hope, however desperate, that they can still flip the election and take the White House:
On December 19, the Electors of the Electoral College will cast their ballots. If they all vote the way their states voted, Donald Trump will win. However, they can vote for Hillary Clinton if they choose. Even in states where that is not allowed, their vote would still be counted, they would simply pay a small fine – which we can be sure Clinton supporters will be glad to pay!
We are calling on the Electors to ignore their states’ votes and cast their ballots for Secretary Clinton. Why? Mr. Trump is unfit to serve.
The larger issue here is that the system is badly broken, the people are harshly divided along demographic and political lines, and the future is gambling on extreme versions of itself – larger than life candidates, and bizarre back-door maneuvers in attempt to hack the system and bend it in one direction or another.
Trump has taken his place on the stage in a thunderous revolt of the people, but his legacy will be tested out the gates by the heavy pressures of Washington lobbyists, intrigue on the part of political insiders and the cults of opposition that are springing up in response to his controversial journey to the White House.
The entire political establishment have been knocked off their perch, though their hold on power has not necessarily been loosened.
A whole new era is born, and it remains to be seen how it will play out.
Read more:
It’s Not Over Yet: “They Are Probably Still Trying To Steal The Election” | Calls For Electoral College To Ignore Will Of People
Clinton Insider Confesses: Trump Protests Are Just More Pre-Paid “Soros Riots” to Stir Unrest
“Beware of the Shadow Government”: Ron Paul Advises President-Elect
Trump Surrounded By Bankers, Wall St. Insiders Banging on the Door to Get In: “Draining the Swamp?”
“Violent Revolution If Trump Lets Them Down”: People Remain Poised for Angry Revolt – Roberts
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Say goodbye to your economy, traditions and culture. The caliphate has come to Germany on steroids Leftists hold a rally to welcome tens of thousands of refugees to Germany.Migrant Muslims were seen on video singing jihadist songs at their refugee center. The ignorant German volunteers applauded. Via Les Observateurs: (Rough Translation)It s in the air, broadcast of 14 October 2015. The Iraqi and Syrian Christians were isolated in special reception centers after being continually harassed. One of Iraqi Christians tells France 5: At our previous center, volunteers were sitting listening to music, the Arabs sand jihadi songs and the German volunteers clapped their hands without understanding. The image sums up the situation: the Arabs install Islamism, leftists not understanding what is happening rejoice in living together that exists only in their fantasy world. Carnage to follow.Via: Gateway Pundit
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CNN columnist John D. Sutter is reporting on a tiny number -- 2 degrees -- that may have a huge effect on the future. He'd like your help. Subscribe to the "2 degrees" newsletter or follow him on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram . He's jdsutter on Snapchat.
(CNN) Update: This poll is now closed and the results are in: Readers selected food and meat's impact on climate change as the next topic for CNN's Two° series. Thanks to everyone who voted! Sign up for the Two° newsletter to get updates about that story and this series.
Every story needs a villain -- and climate change is no exception.
Knowing which countries and industries contribute to climate change, and in what proportions, is key to understanding how we can fix this problem and avoid 2 degrees Celsius of warming , which is what policymakers regard as the threshold for "dangerous" climate change.
Plus, this story is complicated by the fact that nearly all of us -- certainly those reading this column on a mobile phone or computer -- contribute to climate change in some way.
We're all partly to blame.
I'm going to be exploring this idea of "climate villains" for the next month or so, as part of CNN's Two° series , which looks at that threshold for dangerous warming. That's the point at which some island nations are expected to be submerged , drought risks go up considerably and water availability goes down.
I'd like your help in deciding which bad guys to target.
Below, you'll find a Facebook poll that lists four of my favorite climate villains, all of which came from your suggestions. Pick the one you find most interesting and I'll go out into the world to report on the winner. The poll closes at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 16.
I've met people -- smart people, reasonable people -- who think that climate change is caused by aerosols from hairspray (it isn't) or that it's just part of a natural warming cycle (it's not). Burning fossil fuels for electricity and heat, as well as chopping down rainforests, contributes to climate change.
Here's a breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions by sector, according to 2012 data synthesized by the World Resources Institute. This is kind of a "blame" chart.
On Wednesday, I asked people on Facebook to identify their preferred climate villains . Among the most interesting (and sometimes humorous) responses you submitted: dinosaurs ("they turned into the oil that we want to get at, right?"); millennials ("It is always millennials' fault for everything ..."); parents ("the process of procreation ... results in increases in demand of the earth's resources and is the driving force for most of our planet's woes"). I was mentioned by name ("John Sutter. I bet he's double secret super villain. No doubt."), as was Willis Carrier , the guy who commercialized the modern air conditioner, and James Watt, who invented an efficient steam engine
You also identified more nebulous bad guys, like apathy, greed, ignorance and consumerism. Geography found its way into the mix, too. China, America and the "3rd world" all made your list.
Some countries are more to blame than others, sure. But it turns out that the most industrialized countries -- the United States, European countries and, increasingly, China and India -- are among the biggest contributors to climate change, because they burn the most fossil fuels.
Those are the countries most responsible for the warming we're already seeing, as well as for much of the warming that we will seen in coming years. According to the World Bank, the atmosphere already has warmed 0.8 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times , and about 1.5 degrees of warming is already "locked in" to the atmospheric system because of how much carbon we've burned.
All of this data is a rough guide to help you vote. Each of the four topics you suggested for this poll is a worthy candidate. Our diets, our reliance on fossil fuel reserves, our willingness to turn precious forests into farms and our addiction to gas-burning cars and other dirty modes of transit -- all of these contribute to climate change. And each is worth exploring in depth.
I don't want to play the blame game forever. I agree with those of you who said we need to move past finger-pointing and toward solutions. I do think, however, that by exploring who and what's causing climate change, we'll have a better sense of how to solve this urgent problem.
So, please vote. Tell your friends. And thank you for helping decide where I'll focus my energy.
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BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Wednesday that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker s plan to build a closer European Union based on an expanded euro zone was largely in line with Germany s vision for the bloc. Schaeuble said that Juncker had discussed with Chancellor Angela Merkel his annual State of the EU speech in which he spoke of a vision of a post-2019 EU where some 30 countries would be using the euro. The plan also includes appointing an EU finance minister running key budgets to help states in trouble. It is good that he is putting pressure (to expand the euro zone) but the preconditions (for joining the euro zone) must be fulfilled, Schaeuble told the ARD broadcaster in an interview. It is in fact so that EU countries who fulfill the preconditions become members of the euro under the Lisbon Treaty . He added that EU countries wishing to adopt the single currency should not do so before their public finances and economies are sound enough as they could face the fate of Greece, which had to be bailed out by the EU and IMF in 2010. (The story adds dropped word in final paragraph)
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in: Consciousness , Sleuth Journal , Society , Special Interests , US News With the long awaited controversial US presidential election day inching closer and as the Hillary ship threatens to sink with every passing day and every new revelation , here is a question all truth seekers should ponder. What if after all is said and done a frightening and shocking Hillary declared “victory” is the very thing required in this human consciousness journey we call life in order to truly trigger mass awakening above and beyond the awakening to political corruption we have now? This scenario is very plausible given the nature of our political system and the now normalized very intense propaganda that is being displayed today by the mainstream media , Hollywood and the many Soros funded non-profit political organizations involved in this presidential race like Moveon.org whose job it is to keep feeding their followers the lies, deceit and propaganda using celebrity voices (see shocking image below) equating a Hillary vote as a show of “love”. And since this scenario (of mass awakening and mass action) is now very plausible, perhaps everyone who cares about individual rights and America should pay attention to the events that are about to unfold. Bear with me as we imagine we are all standing in front of the large screen that offers all the answers to life. On this screen we have the privilege of seeing with our own eyes and ears the journey our species has been through. This presentation thus acts as an instructional manual for us (humanity, truth seekers) to use as an instructional guide. Imagine that on this movie screen we can easily look for patterns in previous human behaviors, analyze cause and effect and see how governments and the ruling elite do their tricks on the masses to ensure their control over us. Imagine how easy life would be if we had a screen to show us all the answers. Imagine being able to see these easily observed patterns on the video screen and their immediate effects on the species. This front row view into the journey of humanity would not only be instructional for those observing, it would be the primary instructional guide by which we would be able to make rather safe, high probability, minimal risk decisions on current political situations. Well guess what? We have that screen available to us. It’s called the documented account of history. Ancient history as well as modern history is available to us in today’s information age. We have now reached a point where very little is hidden. The occult ruling elite are now fully exposed for who they are, for their devious and deceitful tactics on the masses and their criminal plans for dominating humanity one overthrown nation state at a time with limitless eternal unchecked power. The official birth of this historic moment will be embodied in a Hillary Clinton “victory” selection which could very well take place very soon here in the US. The thing that everyone must recognize is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In fact, the ruling elite know this very well. This is why they have armed themselves to the teeth with military weaponry including 1.6 billion (yes billion!) rounds of hollow point bullets, militarized DHS and FEMA camps. This is the true reason for the police state, the race toward AI technology, the surveillance state, the deployment of the JADE AI based conventional asymmetric warfare software and the in-your-face criminality, lies and deceit of the Hillary-mainstream media-Hollywood team. They’re acting like bullies who can taste the new world order because they know it’s so close to them at this point. THIS is where we are today and all truth seekers, Bernie supporters, Trump supporters and anyone else who has felt the sting of this new world order operation known as the Hillary campaign needs to acknowledge this reality now. I could be wrong about this but I highly suspect that this point in history will prove to be the last stand or should I say the last meaningful opportunity for people to wake up at a mass scale to what is happening both globally and domestically. The movie screen I was talking about before is real. We have it playing before us. Again, it’s called history. Today more than ever any idiot can easily verify that the US has thousands of military bases around the world. You can easily verify that today the US empire rules the world, that the 9/11 operation was an activation of their PNAC plans and final global takeover. You can easily verify how the US and it’s CIA , economic terrorists and “special forces” has strong-armed almost every nation on earth to exert its domination on it and insert its own puppet president. You can easily look up at the screen of history and see how the enslavement of humanity was planned long ago with a process of mass propaganda, consumerism, mass medication, mass entertainment and brainwashing and mass indoctrination via the board of education. There are of course far too many moving parts to this new world order plan to list here but you get the picture, it was all planned out to lead us to where we are today. Understanding and seeing this easily available information we’ve considered so far then allows us to see the next phase of where we are heading. Frankly, this next phase I wholeheartedly believe will be exponentially accelerated with a Hillary Clinton declared “victory” on November 8th 2016. I say “victory” because I believe that without interference by the ruling elite (DNC, mainstream media, DHS etc) Donald Trump would win by a landslide. Hopefully I’m wrong but I suspect there is little chance if any of the TRUE results holding up. The ruling elite simply didn’t come this far to let the people actually have a say in who wins. With that said, I call on all truth seekers and everyone else who is hoping to see Hillary Clinton go away forever to hold still and realize that this upcoming moment in history may actually be the moment of truth for humanity. Realize that throughout history (the movie screen we talked about earlier) we see that all major events in human history are associated with major realizations and major emotional pivotal points of absolute conviction and purpose. This point of absolute conviction and purpose is here. We all see the blatant criminality being waved in all our faces. We know who they (the ruling elite) are. We are all salivating in some way to see them go down by being arrested, imprisoned, punished, exposed, embarrassed and cast from our society. Before you target a criminal you have to identify who they are. Today humanity can celebrate one of several major accomplishments. One of them being that we have come a long way at actually exposing and identifying who these criminals are. Today we know their names, we have entire databases and factual findings confirming the criminality of all of these people from the ones at the very top of the power structure all the way down to the scum bag crisis actors like the Sandy Hook criminals (Gene Rosen, Lenny Pozner etc) and others. The hard reality today is that a Hillary “victory” more than any other scenario will mobilize people to take action to take back their country. Naturally the criminal Left, the DNC and the Hillary-mainstream media complex would LOVE to stage some kind of violent act to blame on the possibly soon to be discontent Trump followers but at this stage there is nothing the liberal left can do that won’t be suspected of being staged. The Hillary crime team won’t have anyone to blame when they are busted staging violence since they are already on record discussing staging violence to be blamed on Trump supporters. Planning ahead So as we approach election day I invite all Americans who understand the level of criminality and evil that Hillary represents to think how they would channel their energy in case of a Hillary selection in the upcoming election. Will you continue to do what you are doing now? If not, then what will you do differently? Will you vote again? Will you stand by and watch Hillary support and re-arm a dying ISIS CIA army in Syria so that the US can finally overthrow president Assad? Will you stand by and watch Hillary cement the Agenda 2030 plans, the global climate taxes, the illegal TTIP and TTP agreements that undermine national sovereignty? Will you watch her trigger WW3 with Russia and cement the global police state? Will you stand by and watch her run the country knowing how much of a criminal she herself is? Will you stand by and watch the Clinton body count sky rocket and watch more journalist murdered left and right for exposing this criminal empire? A Hillary global regime will officially represent the arrival of the new world order (though in many ways that is what the Obama and Bush administration has done) and anyone seeing her criminality today knows this. There is a lot of blood waiting to be shed somewhere out there. Whether it’s the brutal Hillary led first official global regime or resistance to this regime locally or globally (WW3). There is however, also a narrow yet still realistic path by which minimal blood will be shed. It will likely be determined by how many people actually take action (especially those in uniforms- police and military). By action I’m referring to the American way of supporting true journalism, removing your consent, openly speaking your mind without fear of retribution, resisting tyranny, pursuing democracy, sharing information and self-sustaining solutions and being involved in peace activism based on conviction and strong belief in humanity, nature, justice and morality. Finally, humanity and all the values it believes in are all potentially in jeopardy. Everything is now threatened. Who will protect these values and how much sense of urgency there will be to do so will be determined this upcoming election day, for better or for worse. Help spread the word. One way or another paradigm shift is here. Submit your review
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LONDON (Reuters) - A top U.S. government legal official has given strong backing to Britain’s campaign to force Silicon Valley to compromise on encrypted communications, rebuking tech firms for failing to balance crime-fighting demands with privacy needs. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein met with senior British government officials including interior minister Amber Rudd and the chief of MI5 intelligence agency on Thursday to discuss encryption. He plans to see the head of Britain’s GCHQ service on Friday, he told Reuters. “At this point we are coordinating with our foreign partners as to what the challenges are,” Rosenstein said in response to a question from a reporter at the Global Cyber Security Summit, organized by Skytop Strategies. Top officials in Prime Minister Theresa May’s government, including Rudd, have been trying to rein in encryption but have been met quiet resistance from tech leaders like Facebook (FB.O), Google (GOOGL.O) and Twitter (TWTR.N). Critics see the demands as a back door for government snooping. In his speech, Rosenstein decried what he called “warrant-proof encryption that puts zero value on law enforcement”. British and U.S. officials argue that default encryption settings on free messaging apps, such as Facebook’s WhatsApp, hinder authorities’ ability to collect evidence needed to pursue criminals, even with clear, court-ordered mandates. “Increasingly, the tools we use to collect evidence run up against encryption tools which are designed to defeat them,” Rosenstein said. Britain is trying to step up attempts to counter criminal activity online after a series of Islamist militant attacks this year but must ensure it balances the demands of state security with the freedoms of democratic societies. Tech companies and many cyber security experts say that requiring law enforcement access be given access to encrypted products will broadly weaken security for everything from online banking to shopping to casual conversations among friends. The U.S. deputy attorney general said he was not seeking to criticize technology firms but rather to lay out the trade-offs. “In many ways the economic interests of technology companies align with law enforcement,” Rosenstein said. “But in one particular area - encryption - competitive forces drive technology companies to resist cooperating with governments. “I wouldn’t describe my goal is to put pressure on the tech industry,” he said, adding “regulation is a potential option”. But in a speech earlier this week Rosenstein accused Silicon Valley of being more willing to comply with foreign government demands for data than those made by their home country. “The approach taken in the recent past - negotiating with technology companies and hoping that they eventually will assist law enforcement out of a sense of civic duty - is unlikely to work,” he said at the U.S. Naval Academy on Tuesday.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may try to improve ties with Russia, tear up trade deals with Mexico and Pacific nations and abandon U.S. allies in Europe and Asia if they don’t spend more on their own defense - or, he may not. Foreign governments are uncertain how much of Trump’s rhetoric will be translated into policy because he has frequently made contradictory statements and provided few details of how he would deal with the world or who he would appoint to key posts. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault pledged to work with Trump but said his personality “raised questions” and he admitted to being unsure what a Trump presidency would mean for key foreign policy challenges, from climate change and the West’s nuclear deal with Iran to the war in Syria. Trump, who has no foreign affairs or military experience, will confront the absence of a national or even Republican political consensus on how to deal with Syria, the Islamic State militant group, the rise of China and a newly assertive Russia. “This is virtual terra incognita,” said Aaron David Miller, a Middle East negotiator who served Democratic and Republican presidents and is now with the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington. “The biggest danger of a Trump presidency is the unpredictability and sheer lack of stability that our allies and adversaries would feel, and he turns that into a virtue by saying that he wants to be unpredictable,” he said. Among the names said to be in consideration for top national security jobs in a Trump administration are former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich and one-time United Nations ambassador John Bolton for secretary of state, and General Michael Flynn, a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, for national security adviser.A Republican foreign policy expert who has occasionally counseled Trump, cautioned that he is more likely to make his own decisions and impulses than to follow the advice of his aides. Many top Republicans have publicly repudiated him, and a number of professional diplomats, intelligence and military officers have privately said they would retire if Trump wins. “If he does everything he says he’s going to do, we can kiss goodbye our leadership role in the world,” former CIA deputy director John McLaughlin told Reuters. “So let’s hope he doesn’t mean it or that someone talks him out of it.” Trump has suggested he could accept Japanese and South Korean nuclear arms development, abandon the Iran nuclear deal, negotiate with North Korea on its nuclear weapons program, and embrace Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has adopted an open-minded stance toward Putin, whom many current and former U.S. officials consider an autocrat bent on suppressing dissent at home while bullying his neighbors and projecting Russia’s power abroad. Russia has annexed Crimea from Ukraine, backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and, according to U.S. intelligence officials, hacked emails of prominent Democratic Party leaders and organizations. “I would hope to have a good relationship with Russia and I would hope to have a good relationship with Putin,” Trump told Reuters in an interview last month. “If we had a good relationship with Russia that would be a wonderful thing.” James Dobbins, a former U.S. diplomat now at the Rand Corp., said he would not be surprised to see an effort to “reset” U.S. relations with Russia. Trump has taken a more aggressive tone toward China, threatening to slap tariffs on Chinese products to show Beijing the United States is “not playing games anymore” when it comes to leveling the field on trade. China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it would work with Trump to ensure the steady development of bilateral ties. Trump also says he could scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement that took effect in Mexico, the United States and Canada in 1994, and he has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 35 percent on Mexican-made goods to help U.S. industry. Trump has taken aim at the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal championed by President Barack Obama, calling it a “death blow” for American manufacturing. “LESS CONFLICT-AVERSE” Trump has also floated the idea of abandoning NATO’s guarantee of mutual defense, suggesting that the United States would help defend other NATO members such as the Baltic states only if they had “fulfilled their obligations to us.” Asked in March if he would object if Japan or South Korea developed their own nuclear weapons, Trump told the New York Times there might come a time that the United States could not protect them as it has in the past and they might need to develop their own arsenals. Both positions violate bedrock principles of U.S. foreign policy that have stood for decades: that an attack on one NATO member would be regarded as an attack on all and that the proliferation of nuclear weapons is to be avoided at all costs. Jon Alterman, the head of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said Trump’s predilection for keeping other nations guessing could itself be a source of instability. “Countries may feel more at risk and maybe less conflict-averse if they feel they have to protect themselves,” he said. Robert Zoellick, a former deputy secretary of state who in May signed a letter saying Trump “would be the most reckless president on American history,” suggested that Trump’s temperament could lead to unexpected outcomes. “No one knows how Mr. Trump’s vanity will respond if a foreign counterpart diminishes him,” he wrote in the Financial Times last month.
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BEIJING (Reuters) - China has no problem overcoming the middle-income trap, a senior economic official said on Thursday, referring to the situation in which economies risk stagnation at middle-income levels and fail to graduate into the ranks of advanced economies. Lou Jiwei, the chairman of the national council for the social security fund, was speaking on the sidelines of the 19th China Communist Party Congress. He previously served as the Minister of Finance until being replaced and named to head the social security fund last November.
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45 Views November 02, 2016 GOLD , KWN , KWN II King World News
Ahead of today’s FOMC announcement and with gold hitting $1,300, look at who is bullish.
Here is what Peter Boockvar wrote today as the world awaits the next round of monetary madness: Robert Heller, the former Federal Reserve Governor, had it right yesterday on the Santelli Exchange. He said what’s the point of scheduling an FOMC meeting one week before the election if the election gives them reason to do nothing… IMPORTANT: To hear which legend just spoke with KWN about $8,000 gold and the coming mania in the gold, silver, and mining shares markets CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW.
It was more than two months ago when Janet Yellen in Jackson Hole said that “the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months.” This was repeated by her in the month after and three members wanted to hike in September. As the data hasn’t changed much of late, politics is the only reason why they aren’t hiking today. This comment of mine is putting aside the intellectual debate over the data and whether they should or shouldn’t hike based on it. I’m just focusing on what we’ve heard from voting members over the past two months since Jackson Hole. Odds of a December hike are at about 65%. Either way, the market has already tightened for the Fed. 3 month LIBOR hasn’t fallen one iota since the mutual fund rule deadline passed 2 ½ weeks ago. Worries over interest rates, both market based and with the Fed, the election and the drop in markets saw a sharp change in stock market sentiment this week . Investors Intelligence said Bulls fell to 41.7 from 47.1 last week. Rather than getting bearish, most went into the Correction camp which rose to a 4 month high at 34 vs 29.8 last week. Bears did rise to a 6 week high but only to 24.3 from 23.1. The 2nd longest bull market in history where any pain has been anesthetized by central banks has flattened the bears and the most bearish many get is ‘we’ll have a normal correction and let’s buy it.’ With Gold Hitting $1,300, I Remain Bullish US dollar weakness for a 2nd day has gold approaching $1300 again. We can likely chalk up the weakness to the shift in the election polls. I repeat my belief that the US dollar is not on the cusp of breaking out above the 100 level even if the Fed hikes rates next month (and even if Hillary wins). One hike a year is not reason enough for me to get all bulled up on the dollar. As for gold and in addition to its contra move to the dollar, it is trading opposite to the world’s faith in central banks and that faith is clearly waning. I thus remain bullish.
BEARS BEWARE: This Just Hit One Of The Highest Levels In The Past 6 Years!
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March 4 (UPI) — A Canadian boy’s bowling team was stripped of its trophy after tournament organizers disqualified them because his pants didn’t meet the event’s dress code. [Grayson Powell had just bowled the three best games of his life — a top game of 171 pins — leading his team to victory in the St. John’s, Newfoundland provincial tournament when the event’s organizer informed his parents the team had been disqualified. The reason? Powell’s faded gray jeans did not meet the requirement for all participants to wear black pants, the tournament’s organizer and Youth Bowl Canada provincial director Gordon Davis said. Powell’s parents were outraged, the CBC reported. “Parents ruin it for kids,” Grayson’s father Todd Powell said. “If this is what sport is about when it comes to kids … shame on them. ” Child stripped of bowling medal after pants found not to be black enough https: . @AnthonyGermain @KrissyHolmes pic. twitter. — SJ Morning Show (@sjmorningshow) March 1, 2017, Powell specifically questioned why they weren’t told before the event began that the jeans weren’t black enough to meet the dress code. Another team member’s pants were also deemed inappropriate. The Powells speculated the reason for the disqualification wasn’t merely a dispute over the color of their son’s pants. Powell’s team was on foreign turf, visiting Davis’ home alley, where several teams in the tournament regularly play. As a result of the disqualification, two teams from that alley who had finished second and third were bumped up to first and second. In a lengthy post on Facebook, Davis defended the organization’s decision. He said he was not aware of the child’s attire before the match started and didn’t want to provide further embarrassment by halting the match after it had already begun to announce the decision. Davis said tournament officials were approached by parents of children on other teams who said it wasn’t fair that some children were being allowed to wear jeans while their kids had to wear dress pants. Davis said he told Powell’s coach about the dress code violation while play was happening and said the coach could have made the decision to withdraw and spare the children the ordeal. “Mr. Todd Powell knew full aware [sic] of the dress code and sent his child to Provincials knowing that it was against the rules. There was another bowler on the team also with grey pants on who knew it was against our rules but sent their child anyway! What parent would do this? Was it to see if we would notice it or get away with it? Who knows but they knew it was against our rules,” the group wrote. “During the first game in the latter frames a coach and several parents brought it to my attention and complained that a team had players wearing faded jeans and grey pants. They asked why their players could not wear jeans and other pants too. … I was not going to embarrass those kids by stopping play and making a scene. The [coach] should have taken her parents aside and explained to them after she had our ruling about the disqualification. ” The post demanded the Powells apologize for publicly criticizing the volunteers who ran the tournament. Facebook users did not share the sentiment. The comment section of the post includes hundreds of angry responses, demanding Powell’s team be named the winners and given the award.
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LONDON (Reuters) - Donald Trump told Britons on Sunday he supported Brexit, repeating just days before the vote on June 23 that he thinks the UK would be better off outside the European Union. As the campaign to decide Britain’s EU membership restarted after a three-day hiatus following the killing of lawmaker Jo Cox, Trump, the presumptive Republican U.S. presidential candidate, said in a newspaper interview he was backing an “out” vote. “I would personally be more inclined to leave, for a lot of reasons like having a lot less bureaucracy,” he told the Sunday Times. “But I am not a British citizen. This is just my opinion.” The billionaire businessman also told the newspaper that he would seek to have good relationships internationally if he were elected president in November, including with David Cameron. The British Prime Minister has in the past called Trump’s proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States “divisive, stupid and wrong”. Trump said in May that Britain would be better off outside the EU because of high levels of migration. The latest opinion polls showed the ‘Remain’ camp recovering some momentum, although the overall picture remains one of an evenly split electorate. Trump, whose mother was Scottish, is due to be in Britain the day after the referendum, when he visits two golf courses he owns in Scotland. Trump also said that if he became president he would try to improve the trade deals the U.S. has with China, and work more closely with Russia and that could include co-operating with Russia in the fight against Islamic State.
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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A group of investigative journalists whose slogan is digging dung, fertilizing democracy is holding South African President Jacob Zuma to account over his widely criticized links to a family of wealthy businessmen. AmaBhungane, which means dung beetles in the Zulu language, was founded by three veteran reporters to expose wrongdoing in South Africa. Together with online news site the Daily Maverick, amaBhungane in June released leaked emails and documents that they said showed allegedly improper dealings in government contracts and influence peddling by the Guptas, a family with close ties to Zuma. Zuma and the Gupta family, which has said the emails were fake, have denied wrongdoing. Co-founder Stefaans Brummer said amaBhungane, which was founded in 2010, had spent several years probing Zuma s family business dealings, and had verified the authenticity of the leaked documents. Our very first stories as amaBhungane was a series called Zuma Inc and we looked at the Zuma family and how its business fortunes had grown since Zuma took the office of president, Brummer said. He said the Gupta name popped up in several of amaBhungane s inquiries into Zuma s family business links and the organization was well placed to process the trove of information in more than 100,000 emails and documents. You fight hard for every piece of information and when something like this happens it s like Christmas, you suddenly have a lot of information, said Brummer. Brummer said amaBhungane, which mostly uses external hard drives to store documents for safety reasons, had sent a copy of the leaked Gupta emails to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project - a global consortium of investigative journalism centers. Reuters has not independently been able to verify the allegations in the so-called GuptaLeaks emails, sent between the Gupta brothers and their associates. The allegations, which came after an anti-corruption watchdog report into claims of influence peddling, opened Zuma up to renewed scrutiny and deepened divisions within the ruling African National Congress. Zuma survived an attempt in parliament to force him from office on Aug. 8, but he was left politically wounded after some ANC members voted with the opposition. It s quite amazing that people in South Africa have woken up to state capture now in 2017 when amaBhungane have been exposing this for a decade, said Glenda Daniels, a senior media studies lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand. Perhaps the nature of their exposes were rather intense and detailed for people to follow. Maybe they have now let some air into their writing and everyone is getting it. As a non-profit company, amaBhungane s 8 million rand ($600,000) annual budget is funded by grants from charitable foundations and public donations. It does not sell adverts or accept funds from the government or from companies. Sam Sole, another amaBhungane co-founder, said his desire to expose society s injustices drove him into journalism. Both Sole and Brummer started their journalism careers before the end of apartheid in 1994. During my subsequent conscription into the defense force I came face to face with the sharp, brutish reality of apartheid - and that was the impetus for my first piece of journalism, said Sole. Journalism, for me, was a way to fight against injustice. The third amaBhungane co-founder, Adriaan Basson, is now editor of News24, an online news site. Sole and Brummer have won numerous journalism awards, including for their reporting on a 30 billion rand ($2.3 billion) deal to buy military equipment in the late 1990s that was plagued by allegations of fraud and corruption. Zuma was linked to the deal through his former financial adviser, who was jailed for corruption. The president said last year that an investigation into the deal found no evidence of wrongdoing, but critics denounced the findings as a cover-up. All charges against Zuma were dropped in 2009, but a court last year ordered a review of the decision. Zuma is appealing the ruling. The arms deal scandal lasted much longer and was much slower burning, which gave us time to develop some of the skills we use now, Sole said. For amaBhungane, the aim was to probe the link between politics and money. We set ourselves a target of trying to find that sweet spot of where organized crime, politics and business intersect, Brummer said. Politics has its good side but it has its bad side, business has its good side and its bad side, organized crime is all bad, but there is always that intersection where the three come together and that s where you get the worst wrongdoing. But amaBhungane has been accused by a group called Black First Land First and some on social media of being run by racist white men and not doing enough stories on white monopoly capital , a phrase used to describe the fact that the white minority still control much of the economy. Brummer said the criticism has not deterred amaBhungane. We are not going to roll over and die. Investigative journalism is what we do and what we like to do, he said.
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HONG KONG (Reuters) - The former leader of the Hong Kong University student union on Thursday received a court sentence of community service for his role in a campus protest, escaping the fate of a growing list of young activists put behind bars. The activists, many still university students, have been at the forefront of the former British colony s fight for democracy which peaked during the months-long Umbrella Movement street occupations in late 2014. But after failing to convince Beijing to allow full democracy in Hong Kong, many lost confidence in the city s one country, two systems arrangement, and began to call for total independence. Billy Fung, 23, who helped lead a protest last year by about 200 students seeking talks over the governance structure of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), was given 240 hours of community service for disorderly conduct in a public place, criminal damage and attempted forcible entry. I understand you have ideals and hope to change what is unjust in society, said magistrate Ko Wai-hung. But when you think these ideals are the absolute truth, you may neglect that other people have the right and reasons to hold different opinions. Wearing ties with the university emblem, both Fung and another student leader, Colman Li, 22, who is to serve 200 hours of community service, looked calm when the sentences were handed down, while about 100 young people in the courtroom applauded. Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, with the promise of a large degree of autonomy and civil liberties not permitted in mainland China. In the past few years, police have charged up to 100 activists, most of them young, over anti-government protests, a list compiled by activist groups shows. Fung s sentence came one month after the jailing of youth activist Joshua Wong, who had helped lead tens of thousands onto Hong Kong s streets. The issue of academic freedom has flared in recent weeks, after a campus display of pro-independence banners drew the ire of Chinese state media and Hong Kong officials, triggering heated standoffs between local freedom advocates and pro-China students and groups. In Fung s case, the governance issue drew scrutiny after the university council blocked a prominent HKU law school dean and human rights advocate, Johannes Chan, from taking the post of pro-vice-chancellor. (This story has been refiled to insert dropped word sentence in headline)
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Alabama Republicans were quickly trying to ban all cities and counties from raising the minimum wage, but one city gave the GOP the finger and beat them to the punch.Birmingham, Alabama now has the highest minimum wage in the South after the city council voted 6-2 to make the new wage $10.10 per hour, despite Republican efforts to kill it at the state level.After the city council originally voted in August for the wage hike to gradually increase to $10.10 by July 2017, Alabama state GOP Rep. David Faulkner quickly introduced a bill to ban it from going into effect, along with banning cities and counties from trying to raise the minimum wage for their citizens in the future.It s not a surprise, frankly. After all, Republicans are more in favor of eliminating the minimum wage entirely than they are of raising it to help struggling workers and families pay the bills and put food on the table without having to rely on federal and state assistance.Indeed, Alabama currently ranks as one of the worst welfare states in the nation, taking in $2.46 for every dollar they send to the federal government. So, one would think that Republicans would be happy to make sure that workers are paid so they don t have to rely on the government. Sadly, that isn t the case.But the Birmingham city council chose to vote again to implement the new wage increase immediately, thereby cutting Alabama Republicans off at the pass and flipping them off along the way. We need to make sure our citizens are taken care of and that we re making decisions in their best interest, said Council President Johnathan Austin.The minimum wage in Alabama currently stands at $7.25, because the federal wage applies since the state doesn t have a minimum wage law. But Birmingham, the largest city in the state, is saying enough is enough and will have a higher minimum wage than any state in South.Faulkner tried to justify his anti-minimum wage bill by claiming that having different wages creates issues.However, by passing this ordinance, Birmingham is improving the lives of the workers who live there while telling everybody else across the state that if you want to be paid fairly for your hard work, come to Birmingham. That could end up sparking other cities in Alabama to raise the wage as well to compete. Mobile, Alabama is already considering a wage increase as well.The measure only needs to be signed by the mayor and be published for public view and it will take effect on March 1st.Featured image via Reddit
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Former White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that there were some clear red lines that would cause former President Obama to speak out publicly against federal action.In an interview, MSNBC s Chris Jansing asked Earnest about the former president s promise to weigh in publicly if he senses a threat to America s core values. Obama spoke out in support of protests of President Trump s controversial temporary immigration ban proposal at the end of January. What do you think, Jansing asked Earnest, would motivate him to get back involved in the public debate in a way that he s not willing to do right now? Earnest made clear that Obama would not be interested in responding to every little thing. After the last eight years, the president doesn t relish the prospect of getting back into the day-to-day fights that characterize governing the United States of America in the 21st century, Earnest said. He spent the last eight years doing it, it s somebody else s turn to do that now. What would motivate President Obama to reengage in the political debate, Earnest continued, is if we saw the federal government start to cross some clear red lines in terms of long-observed norms and values that frankly I think that we started to take for granted. For entire story: WFBWatch:Earnest s use of the term red lines was noteworthy given Obama s infamous history with the phrase. Obama pledged in 2012 that Syria using chemical weapons would cross a red line with him, but he backed off taking unilateral military action when the Assad regime did so in 2013.
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FORT PIERCE, Fla. (Reuters) - The photo from Omar Mateen’s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America’s worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. As families of the victims grieved and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 people before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as “bipolar,” and emotionally disturbed with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he would “express hatred towards everything”. She was “rescued” by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. “He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life most of the violence was directed towards me,” she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention center for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. In Fort Pierce on Florida’s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. “He hardly had any friends,” Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, told Reuters. “He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave.” Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he didn’t display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers interviewed by Reuters. Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. A school yearbook image of Mateen was seen by Reuters. Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. “What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday’s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us.” While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and “got really buff,” King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. “Something must have changed” since he last saw him, he added. Mateen’s father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world’s largest private security firms. He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was “unable to verify the substance of his comments,” Hopper said. Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen by at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. “Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he’d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder,” Kime told Reuters. Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen’s at G4S, said that Mateen’s anger was “constant.” “Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words,” he told Fox News. In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. Hopper said Mateen’s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that “he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.” Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday’s attack. He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. Mateen’s former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. “He was not a stable person,” she said. “He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.” Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen’s apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate. (This story has been refiled to correct headine in June 12 story to remove ‘worst’)
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On November 1st, The Intercept headlined "Here's The Problem With The Story Connecting Russia To Donald Trump's Email Server” , and the reporting team of Sam Biddle, Lee Fang, Micah Lee, and Morgan Marquis-Boire, revealed that:
"Slate’s Franklin Foer published a story that’s been circulating through the dark web and various newsrooms since summertime, an enormous, eyebrow-raising claim that Donald Trump uses a secret server to communicate with Russia. That claim resulted in an explosive night of Twitter confusion and misinformation. The gist of the Slate article is dramatic — incredible, even: Cybersecurity researchers found that the Trump Organization used a secret box configured to communicate exclusively with Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest commercial bank. This is a story that any reporter in our election cycle would drool over, and drool Foer did.”
The Intercept team concluded their detailed analysis of the evidence by saying:
"Could it be that Donald Trump used one of his shoddy empire’s spam marketing machines, one with his last name built right into the domain name, to secretly collaborate with a Moscow bank? Sure. At this moment, there’s literally no way to disprove that. But there’s also literally no way to prove it, and such a grand claim carries a high burden of proof. Without more evidence it would be safer (and saner) to assume that this is exactly what it looks like: A company that Trump has used since 2007 to outsource his hotel spam is doing exactly that. Otherwise, we’re all making the exact same speculation about the unknown that’s caused untold millions of voters to believe Hillary’s deleted emails might have contained Benghazi cover-up PDFs. Given equal evidence for both, go with the less wacky story.”
However, they failed to dig deeper to explain what could have motivated this smear of Trump: was it just sloppiness on the part of Slate, and of Foer? Hardly — it was anything but unintentional:
A core part of the Democratic Party’s campaign for Hillary Clinton consists of her claim that Donald Trump is secretly a Russian agent. This is an updated version of the Republican Joseph R. McCarthy’s campaign to “root communists out of the federal government,” and of the John Birch Society’s accusation even against the Republican President Dwight Eisenhower that, "With regard to ... Eisenhower, it is difficult to avoid raising the question of deliberate treason."
Neoconservatives — in both Parties — are the heirs of the Republican Party’s hard-right, which now, even decades after the 1991 end of communism and the Soviet Union, hate Russia above all of their other passions. Neoconservatism has emerged as today’s Republican Party’s Establishment, and (like with the Democratic Party’s original neocon, U.S. Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson, the “Senator from Boeing”) they’ve always viewed Russia to be America’s chief enemy, and they have favored the overthrow of any nation’s leader who is friendly toward Russia, such as Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Viktor Yanukovych, and Bashar al-Assad. Hatred and demonization of Russia is the common core of neoconservatism — the post-Cold-War extension of Joseph R. McCarthy and the John Birch Society.
Both Slate and especially Foer have long pedigrees as Democratic Party neoconservatives — champions of U.S. invasions, otherwise called PR agents (‘journalists’) promoting the products and services that a few giant and exclusive military corporations such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Dyncorp, and the Carlyle Group, offer to the U.S. federal government. I’ll deal here only with Foer, not with his latest employer (in a string, all of which are neocon Democratic ‘news’ media).
Foer wrote in The New York Times, on 10 October 2004, against ‘isolationist’ Republicans, who regretted having supported George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq, and he headlined about them there, “Once Again, America First” , equating non-neoconservative Republicans with, essentially, the pro-fascist isolationists of the 1930s. He concluded that they would come to regret their regret: “Conservatives could soon find themselves retracing Buckley's steps, wrestling all over again with their isolationist instincts.” That’s how far-right Franklin Foer is: he’s to the right of those Republicans.
On 7 June 2004, Foer, in a tediously long, badly written and argued, article in New York Magazine, “The Source of the Trouble” , described the downfall of The New York Times’s leading stenographer for George W. Bush’s lies to invade Iraq, their reporter Judith Miller. He closed by concluding that “the source of the trouble” was that Miller was simply too earnest and tried too hard — not that she was a stenographer to power:
“People like Miller, with her outsize journalistic temperament of ambition, obsession, and competitive fervor, relying on people like Ahmad Chalabi, with his smooth, affable exterior retailing false information for his own motives, for the benefit of people reading a newspaper, trying to get at the truth of what’s what.”
(She was anything but “trying to get at the truth of what’s what.” She was the opposite: a mere stenographer to George W. Bush and to the Administration’s chosen mouthpieces, such as the anti-Saddam exiled Iraqi Ahmad Chalaby.)
On 20 December 2004, when the question of whether to bomb Iran was being debated by neoconservatives, Foer, who then was the Editor of the leading Democratic Party neoconservative magazine, The New Republic, headlined in his magazine, “Identity Crisis: Neocon v. Neocon on Iran” , and he introduced a supposed non-neocon from the supposedly non-neocon Brookings Institution, Kenneth Pollack, to comment upon the conflict among (the other Party’s) neocons:
“In part, the lack of neocon consensus [on whether to, as John McCain was to so poetically put it, ‘Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran’ ] can be attributed to the nature of the problem. Nobody — not the Council on Foreign Relations, not John Kerry’s brain trust — has designed a plausible policy to walk Iran back from the nuclear brink. Or, as Kenneth M. Pollack concludes in his new book, The Persian Puzzle, this is a ‘problem from Hell’ with no good solution.”
But, actually, both Pollack and Brookings are Democratic Party neocons themselves; and among the leading proponents of invading Iraq had been not only Pollack but Brookings’s Michael O’Hanlon . Brookings had no prominent opponent of invading Iraq.
(Brookings has a long history of neoconservatism , and routinely leads the Democratic Party’s contingent of neocon thinking, even urging a Democratic administration to have its stooge-regimes violate international laws .)
The real reason why neocons (being the heirs of the far-right extremists’ Cold-War demonization of Russia, even after communism is gone) wanted to conquer both Iraq and Iran, was that both countries’ leaders were friendly towards Russia, and were opposed by the Saud family who own Saudi Arabia, which family quietly worked not only with the U.S. government but with Israel’s government, against both Iraq and Iran, as well as against Syria — those three nations (Iraq, Iran, and Syria) all being friendly toward Russia, which both the Saudi aristocracy, and not only the U.S. aristocracy, hate.
It’s not just the conservative ‘news’ media that are neoconservative now. The so-called ‘liberal’ media are so neoconservative that, for example, Salon can condemn Donald Trump for his having condemned Hillary and Obama’s bombing of Libya. Salon condemned Trump’s having said “We would be so much better off if Qaddafi were in charge right now”— as if Trump weren’t correct, and as if what happened after our overthrow and killing of Qaddafi weren’t far worse for both Libyans and the world than what now exists in Libya is. (But, of course, for Lockheed Martin etc., it is far better). CBS News and Mother Jones condemned the Trilateralist Joseph Nye for having veered temporarily away from his normal neoconservatism. Then, Nye wrote in the neocon Huffington Post saying that David Corn of Mother Jones and Franklin Foer of The New Republic had misrepresented what he had said, and that he was actually a good neocon after all. Nye closed: “In any case, I have never supported Gaddafi and am on record wishing him gone, and also on record supporting Obama’s actions in recent weeks. We now know that Gaddafi’s departure is the only change that will work in Libya.” Sure, it did. Oh, really? It’s Trump who is crazy here?
More recently, Foer headlined at Slate, “Putin’s Puppet: If the Russian president could design a candidate to undermine American interests — and advance his own — he’d look a lot like Donald Trump.” Foer proceeded to present the view of Trump that subsequently became parroted by the Hillary Clinton campaign (that Trump=traitor). Wikipedia has a 450-person ”List of Republicans opposing Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016" , and it’s almost entirely comprised of well-known neoconservatives — the farthest-right of all Republicans, the people closest to Joseph R. McCarthy and the John Birch Society. Foer cited many neoconservative sources that are not commonly thought of as Republican, such as Buzzfeed; and he even had the gall to blame the Russian government for having made public its best evidence behind its charge (which was true ) that the overthrow of Ukraine’s democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 was no authentic ‘democratic revolution’ such as the U.S. government and its ‘news’ media said, but was instead a very bloody U.S. coup d’etat in Ukraine , which was organized from the U.S. Embassy there, starting by no later than 1 March 2013 , a year beforehand. Foer wrote:
“The Russians have made an art of publicizing the material they have filched to injure their adversaries. The locus classicus of this method was a recording of a blunt call between State Department official Toria [that’s actually ‘Victoria’] Nuland [a close friend of both Hillary Clinton and Dick Cheney] and the American ambassador to Kiev, Geoffrey Pyatt. The Russians allegedly planted the recording on YouTube and then tweeted a link to it — and from there it became international news. Though they never claimed credit for the leak, few doubted the White House’s contention that Russia was the source.”
To a neoconservative, even defensive measures (such as Russia’s there exposing the lies that America uses to ‘justify’ economic sanctions and other hostile acts against Russia) — indeed, anything that Russia does against America’s aggressions against Russia, and against Russia’s allies (such as Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Bashar al-Assad, and Viktor Yanukovych) — anything that Russia does, is somehow evil and blameworthy. And, of course, America’s aggressions are not.
The U.S. government and its neocon propagandists are outraged that some people are trying to expose — instead of to spread — their lies. The American government isn’t yet neocon enough, in the view of such liars.
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Wow! We re fast becoming like Europe with the sexual assaults of young women by Muslim men. The men probably thought the women deserved it since they weren t wearing a hijab. Michigan is one of the top five states targeted for Muslim refugee resettlement:In the last ten years, 29,141 refugees were resettled in Michigan and 18,505 were Iraqis. EAST LANSING Two Uber drivers have been charged in connection with sexual assaults in East Lansing in January and February.Hassan Ibrahim, 48, faces one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with an incident that occurred Feb. 14, according to East Lansing police. He turned himself in March 11 after a warrant had been issued for his arrest. He was arraigned the same day before Lansing 54B District Court by Judge Richard Ball.Salim Salem, 47, faces two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with an incident that occurred Jan. 16, police said, and he turned himself in Tuesday and was arraigned that day before 55th District Court Magistrate Mark Blumer.Read more: DFP
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No doubt because of the impending presidential election, we’ve had some musings on the past and future of conservatism in the pages of the New York Times this past few days.
Ross Douthat [ ] was first up with a column titled What The Right’s Intellectuals Did Wron g In the October 26th edition.
His very short answer, in three parts: The follies of President George W. Bush delegitimized him, and the conservative intellectuals who supported him, in the eyes of conservative voters, leaving them susceptible to coarse populist appeals. Conservative intellectuals looked too kindly on the new populist-conservative media outlets that have come up the past 25 years: talk radio, Fox News, the Drudge Report, Breitbart.com. These outlets, says Douthat, are “fact-averse and irresponsible.” Our intellectuals should have taken charge and disciplined them, instead of smiling indulgently at their populist caperings, says Douthat. Conservative intellectuals, powered by populist energy, should have conducted a Long March through the institutions of the managerial state: the academy, the Main Stream Media, the courts, the bureaucracy. They failed to do this.
Result, according to Douthat:
So it is that today, three generations after Buckley and Burnham, the academy and the mass media are arguably more hostile to conservative ideas than ever, and the courts and the bureaucracy are trending in a similar direction.
Two days later, October 28th, David Brooks [ ] took up the issue in a column headed The Conservative Intellectual Crisis .
Again, he fingers three causes of the crisis. We’re really in the realm of Threeness here. I refer interested listeners to the last segment of my October Diary here at VDARE.com for more explorations of that realm. Talk radio, cable TV and the internet have taken conservatism down-market, coarsening it so it no longer appeals to thoughtful, educated people. Conservatives have put too much faith in politics: “Recently conservatism has become more the talking arm of the Republican Party.” Conservatives have been too hostile to the idea of government as a tool for social good. It has offered nothing to hard-pressed working- and middle-class Americans.
That’s David Brooks’ three-part diagnosis.
If you got a whiff of snobbery in all that, especially from Brooks’ piece, your sense of smell is working just fine. What a shame that the genteel, cultured salons of the intellectual Right got invaded by tobacco-chewing hillbillies with mud on their boots!
But that’s not my main problem with Douthat and Brooks. I don’t mind intellectual elites, and I don’t in fact believe you can have rational politics without them. I just don’t think the elites we actually have right now are any good.
The liberal elites are in fact terrible: dishonest, corrupt, and in thrall to magical superstitions about human nature and society. The conservative elites Douthat and Brooks are writing about are not that bad, but they need seriously to revise some of their premises.
Buckleyite conservatism was a stool with three legs. (See, I can do the threes business with the best of them!) The Cold War. A good large cohort of believing Christians in the educated class. The unquestioned assumption that public affairs, both national and international, were a game played among white Europeans.
None of those three things is any longer the case. The Cold War is a whole generation in the past. Religious devotion among educated Americans is fast draining away, for reasons I explained at length in Chapter Eight of We Are Doomed . And in one more generation, give or take a year or two, white Europeans will be a minority in the U.S.A., and quite possibly in large parts of Europe itself, too.
America’s conservative intellectuals have not made the necessary adjustments. That’s what accounts for their irrelevance and impotence.
They have, I’ll allow, acknowledged the end of the Cold War. They’re in denial, though, about the weakening of Christianity in our hedonistic welfare state. As for what a much earlier American writer called “The Rising Tide of Color,” conservative intellectuals like Douthat and Brooks are terrified to speak about it because they have internalized the social taboos about race talk imposed by the Liberal Establishment.
With no more Cold War as a unifying principle, no more consensus on the centrality of religious faith to their program, and no courage to stand up to the race bullies, our conservative intellectuals are reduced to ineffectual arm-flapping–leaving citizens of a conservative temperament with nowhere to turn but to populism. And so, that’s where we turn.
Unless, of course, ineffectual arm-flapping is your thing; in which case I recommend the efforts of Ross Douthat and David Brooks.
For example: How are things going in Europe with that mass Third World immigration Enoch Powell warned about in such alarmist phrases 48 years ago? Britain
The current talking point: a report out of Open Democracy , a Left-liberal think-tank, about racial segregation in Britain. Sample headline : Call for action to tackle growing ethnic segregation across UK . By Anushka Asthana and Nazia Parveen , The Guardian, November 1, 2016.
The segregation, which is of course voluntary, is massive. Muslims want to live among Muslims, blacks want to live among blacks, and white British people don’t want to live among either.
White flight has been dramatic. In last week’s podcast, I mentioned my uncle Fred, who lived in the Aston district of Birmingham until he died last year. When I stayed there with them in my childhood sixty years ago, there was nobody in Aston but working-class white English people, with a few Irish Catholics for variety. This new report lists Aston as still 45 percent white in 1991. In 2011, twenty years later, it was down to 14 percent white.
The London borough of Newham , where I bought my first house (right) in 1970, was 34 percent white in 2001. Ten years later it was half that, 17 percent. In the Northern town of Blackburn, billed as one of the most segregated towns in Britain, one newspaper reporter found a butcher who declared he had never served a white person in the entire year he’s been in business. ORDER IT NOW
Not that there is no contact at all across the race lines. Every couple of years there is another news story about Muslim men raping and prostituting white British teenage girls: “grooming” is the newspaper euphemism. Quote from one such story , the men in this case being Somalis , quote:
Several of the girls … believed the sexual abuse was part of loving relationships they were having with the defendants, and that having sex with their “boyfriend’s” friends was part of their “culture and tradition.”
Multiculturalism, you see?
In short, a complete failure of integration and assimilation–just as Enoch Powell predicted.
The authors of the report recommend unspecified measures to encourage white Britons to stay put when minorities colonize a district. The rationale here is presumably Contact Theory , which says that prejudice arises from isolation and ignorance, and that when people get to know each other prejudice melts away.
Contact Theory was launched by American psychologist Gordon Allport back in 1954. Subsequent events, and indeed subsequent research in the human sciences , have shredded it. We now know that familiarity mostly breeds not harmony and understanding but rancor and conflict. France
Crossing the English Channel, we find ourselves in France, whose capital city, once a favorite with tourists for its elegance, beauty, and civilized life, is now a dogpit of warring African and Middle Eastern street gangs.
It got worse this week after French authorities demolished a huge camp of illegal aliens near Calais. A big group of the illegals headed for Paris, where they got into running street battles with illegals from Afghanistan and Eritrea already camped there–right there in the streets of Paris:
A mass brawl broke out as migrants in Paris attacked each other with sticks —hours after authorities moved in to smash up an illegal city centre camp. Pictures show men lunging at each other with makeshift clubs last night next to a row of tents in the Stalingrad district of the French capital.
Amid chaotic scenes, gangs of men were seen brandishing pieces of wood and squaring up for a street battle. Germany
From the UK Express :
During the first six months of 2016, migrants committed 142,500 crimes, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office.[ ‘We are losing control of the streets’ Merkel’s Germany descends into lawlessness , by Siobhan McFadyen , November 2, 2016]
And Germany has been hit by a spate of horrendous violent crime including rapes, sexual and physical assaults, stabbings, home invasions, robberies, burglaries and drug trafficking.
German police say they are losing control of the streets to the foreign invaders. In Leipzig, a ten-year-old girl was raped by an illegal. In the town of Bautzen, in the far east of Germany, there are regular street battles between local Germans and illegals. [ GERMANY AT BOILING POINT: Furious mob takes to streets hunting and attacking migrants , By Allan Hall, UK Express , November 3, 2016] Denmark
Denmark has its own report on white flight .[ MP blasts ‘soft-touch’ migrant policy as Denmark struggles with 31 ghettos , B y Lizzie Stromme, UK Express , November 2, 2016 ] That nation now has 31 ghettos, says the government, defined as areas with more than 50 percent minority residents. Sweden
Swedish police are struggling to cope with a massive crime wave caused by immigrants. There are now 52 areas where police officers can’t cope with the levels of crime being committed, according to the government. [ Sweden on the brink? Police force pushed to breaking point by violence amid migrant influx , By Lizzie Stromme, UK Express , November 2, 2016] Arson against automobiles is especially popular. The city of Västerås, in central Sweden, population 110,000 has seen 88 cars set alight so far this year. Sweden’s police forces are seeing mass resignations of officers.[ Arson attacks carried out by migrants are fault of ‘racist Swedes’ – says refugee , Lizzie Stromme, UK Express , October 31, 2016] And so on. This is the great catastrophe of our time: The willed self-destruction of Western civilization by nations that have disarmed themselves before the enemy, disarmed themselves with sentimentality and guilt and crazy economic fantasies. ORDER IT NOW
We all thought the Third World War would be fought between Russia and the West, in mighty tank battles on the plains of Eastern Europe; or else between China and the U.S.A. in the Western Pacific, with carrier groups and submarines chasing each other around the sea and Marines storming up the beaches of tropical islands.
No: This is World War Three, the First World vs . the Third World. To date, the First World is losing. Losing? It’s barely even fighting.
An admirable outfit named the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation released a report in October on American attitudes to communism and socialism . It makes depressing reading, especially those parts dealing with knowledge and opinions among millennials —that’s people born from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s.
Sample: Of those millennials familiar with Vladimir Lenin, 25 percent have a favorable view of him.
And oh —did you know? —the American Communist Party is backing Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy . Mrs Clinton has of course loudly repudiated their support when challenged about it by interviewers. Oh, wait …
In related news, here’s a chap named Duke Pesta, currently an associate professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. Every year at the beginning of the school year Prof Pesta gives quizzes to his students to test their knowledge on basic facts about American history and Western culture.
He declares that students overwhelmingly believe that slavery was a phenomenon exclusive to the United States: “Most of my students could not tell me anything meaningful about slavery outside of America.“
It goes without saying that they know nothing about the history of communism, either.
These are the fruits of decades of utterly corrupted education, the corruption seeping down from our universities, to the schools of education, to the high schools and elementary schools. We now have a whole generation raised with a radically false view of the past. History has been rewritten, and the rewritten version prevails.
The triumph of Cultural Marxism could not be more plain–nor could the ineffectuality of the “conservatism” that Ross Douthat and David Brooks are waxing nostalgic over. (Reprinted from VDare.com by permission of author or representative)
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Funding for Sanctuary Cities, benefits for illegal aliens, fully funded refugee programs, quadruples number of work visas for foreigners, release of criminal aliens, tax credits for illegal aliens, locking in huge spending increases, making America less safe and more Rep. Paul Ryan s first major legislative achievement is a total and complete sell-out of the American people masquerading as an appropriations bill.Too harsh, you say? Let the programs, the spending, and the implications speak for themselves.(1) Ryan s Omnibus Fully Funds DACAThough much of the public attention has surrounded the President s 2014 executive amnesty, the President s 2012 amnesty quietly continues to churn out work permits and federal benefits for hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens. Paul Ryan s bill funds entirely this 2012 executive amnesty for DREAMers or illegal immigrants who came to the country as minors.Specifically, Division F of Ryan s omnibus bill contains no language that would prohibit the use of funds to continue the President s unconstitutional program. Obama s executive action, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), has granted around 700,000 illegal aliens with work permits, as well as the ability to receive tax credits and federal entitlement programs. A recent GAO report documented how this illegal amnesty program for alien youth is, in large part, responsible for the illegal alien minor surge on our southern border.In 2013, Paul Ryan said that it is his job as a U.S. lawmaker to put himself in the shoes of the DREAMer who is waiting and work to find legislative solutions to his or her problems.(2) Ryan s Omnibus Funds Sanctuary CitiesFive months ago, 32-year-old Kate Steinle was bleeding to death in her father s arms. She was gunned down in broad daylight by a five-time deported criminal alien whose presence in the country was the direct result of San Francisco s refusal to comply with U.S. immigration law yet Paul Ryan s omnibus rewards these lawless Sanctuary Cities with federal grants. Division B Title II of Ryan s omnibus funds various grant programs for the Department of Justice (pages 167, 168, and 169) and contains no language that would restrict the provision of such grants to sanctuary jurisdictions.In a Congressional hearing, Steinle s father demanded Congressional action and recalled his daughter s dying words: Help me, Dad. (3) Ryan s Omnibus Funds All Refugee ProgramsDespite broad support amongst Republican lawmakers for a proposal introduced by Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX)to halt all refugee resettlement, Ryan s appropriations bill will fund President Obama s refugee resettlement operation and will allow for the admission of tens of thousands of refugees with access to federal benefits. Division H Title II of Ryan s bill contains appropriations of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and contains no language that would restrict the program. Nor are there any restrictions for the program in Division K of Ryan s bill, which provides funding for the Department of State, which oversees refugee admissions.Ryan is not one of the 84 cosponsors of Babin s bill to halt the refugee operation, and he recently told Sean Hannity that he does not support halting resettlement because, We re a compassionate country. The refugees laws are important laws. Similarly, this outcome represents a legislative win for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who told Sean Hannity he d hate to use Congress s power of the purse to deny funding for Obama s resettlement operation.(4) Ryan s Omnibus Funds All of the Mideast Immigration Programs That Have Been Exploited by Terrorists in Recent YearsAlthough multiple immigrant and visa programs in recent years have been exploited by terrorists (such as the F-1 student visa, the K-1 fianc e visa, and our green card and refugee programs), Ryan s proposal does nothing to limit admissions from jihadist-prone regions. As Senators Shelby and Sessions of Alabama noted in a joint statement: The omnibus would put the U.S. on a path to approve admission for hundreds of thousands of migrants from a broad range of countries with jihadists movements over the next 12 months, on top of all the other autopilot annual immigration. (5) Ryan s Omnibus Funds Illegal Alien ResettlementOn page 917 of Ryan s omnibus a section titled Refugee and Entrant Assistance funds the President s resettlement of illegal immigrant border crossers.(6) Ryan s Omnibus Funds the Release of Criminal AliensSenior legislative aides tell Breitbart News that Ryan s bill does not do anything to change the enforcement priorities that Jeh Johnson established a little over a year ago that would shield entire categories of criminal aliens from immigration law, nor does it include language recommended by Sessions and Shelby to deny the expenditure of funds to issue visas to countries that refuse to repatriate criminal aliens. (7) Ryan s Omnibus Quadruples H-2B Foreign Worker VisasDespite Ryan s pledge not to move an immigration compromise with President Obama, tucked 700 pages into Ryan s spending bill is language that would resuscitate and expand a controversial provision of the Schumer-Rubio Gang of Eight plan to increase the H-2B visa program.The provision would quadruple the number of H-2B visas for unskilled guest workers, for a total of more than 250,000, writes immigration attorney Ian Smith. The Americans who fill these jobs are typically society s most vulnerable including single women, the disabled, the elderly, minorities, teenagers, students, and first-generation immigrants, Smith explains.A recent BuzzFeed expos revealed how this program allows businesses to discriminate against American workers and deliberately den[y] jobs to American workers so they can hire foreign workers on H-2 visas instead. As one GOP aide told Breitbart News, This provision is a knife in the heart of the working class, and African Americans. (8) Ryan s Omnibus Funds Tax Credits for Illegal AliensRyan s bill preserves the expansion of the President s expiring child tax credits without any accompanying language to prevent illegal aliens from receiving those tax credits. While Sen. Sessions attempted to include language in the bill that would prevent illegal immigrants from receiving tax credits, his recommendation was rejected.(9) Ryan s Omnibus Locks-In Huge Spending IncreasesThe bill funds the Obama-Boehner budget deal, which eliminated spending caps, and will increase both defense and non-defense spending next year by $25 billion more each.(10) Ryan s Omnibus Fails to Allocate Funds to Complete the 700-Mile Double-Layer Border Fence That Congress Promised the American PeopleNearly a decade ago with the passage of the 2006 Secure Fence Act, the American people were promised a 700-mile double-layer border fence. However, funding for the fence was later gutted and, as a result, its construction was never completed. Despite heightened media focus over the past six months about Americans desire for this barrier to illegal entry, Ryan s bill does not require that funds be allocated to finish the construction of the 700-mile double-layer fence.A vote could occur as early as Thursday after midnight, giving lawmakers and the public only one full business day to review the 2,242 page package. The Ryan-Pelosi package represents nothing short of a complete and total betrayal of the American people.Yet Ryan s omnibus serves a second and equally chilling purpose. By locking in the President s refugee, immigration, and spending priorities, Ryan s bill is designed to keep these fights out of Congress by getting them off the table for good. Delivering Obama these wins and pushing these issues beyond the purview of Congress will suppress public attention to the issues and, in so doing, will boost the candidacy of the Republican establishment s preferred presidential contenders, who favor President Obama s immigration agenda.What may prove most discouraging of all to Americans is that recent reports reveal that conservatives in the so-called House Freedom Caucus are praising Ryan even as he permanently locks in these irreversible and anti-American immigration policies. According to Politico, the House Freedom Caucus will give Ryan a pass even as he funds disastrous policies that prioritize the interests of foreign nationals and global corporatists above the needs of the American people whom lawmakers are supposed to represent. Via: Breitbart News
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The president and Republican leaders are pushing hard to pass legislation known as Trade Promotion Authority that allows a White House to fast-track trade deals through Congress with no amendments, no procedural hurdles or filibusters, and a simple up-or-down vote in limited amount of time.
That fast-track authority likely would make it possible for the Obama administration to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership with a dozen Pacific Rim nations, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with Europe. Together, those pacts would cover about 80 percent of the global economy.
The much-maligned North American Free Trade Agreement of the 1990s covered about 10 percent of the word's trade, and Reid said that deal and many since have all been disastrous for American workers, costing millions of jobs.
"It causes huge job losses," Reid said. "As Einstein said, you keep doing the same thing over and over again, and you expect a different result, that's the definition of insanity."
"We can look at these trade bills over the years -- every one of them without exception causes to American workers job losses. Millions of job losses," Reid added. "But yet they're going to try the same thing again and hope for a different result. That's insanity."
Obama has tried to counter such complaints by pointing to some of the benefits of free trade deals, insisting they do create jobs, and that his will be the "most progressive" trade pact in history. He's also accused people like Reid and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) of "making stuff up."
"I would not be promoting any agreement that I didn't think at the end of the day was going to be creating jobs in the United States and giving us more of an opportunity to create ladders of success, higher incomes and higher wages for the American people, because that's my primary focus," Obama argued last week.
Democrats have pushed back on that, though, with Warren releasing a report this week that details the same sorts of promises made in trade agreements for decades, most of which were broken, according the report.
Obama got support Wednesday from his would-be trade ally, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who spoke just before Reid, accusing Democrats of blocking progress and jobs for America.
“Our friends on the far left may try to cynically spin their war against the future as something other than what it truly is, but we know better," McConnell said. "It’s no wonder President Obama has called them 'wrong' and suggested they make stuff up."
He said the main result of failing to craft trade agreements that lower barriers would be to cost the United States and its businesses markets.
“What happens if the far left actually succeeds in its apparent quest to retain foreign tariffs that unfairly impact American workers and their paychecks?" McConnell said. “It would mean lost opportunities for American risk-takers. ... It would mean lost opportunities for American manufacturing, lost opportunities for Kentucky farmers and lost opportunities for more jobs, better wages and a growing economy that can lift everyone up."
A vote on the Senate's fast-track bill could come by the end of the week. If McConnell can find a way to satisfy about a dozen Democratic fast-track backers in negotiations of amendments, it is likely to pass. Such agreement remained uncertain Wednesday, however, and prospects for the measure's success in the House are also highly uncertain, with most Democrats there, as well as dozens of Republicans, opposed.
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KIEV IN PANIC: Tymoshenko declares Third Maidan, emergency govt committee prepares martial law November 14, 2016 - Fort Russ News - RusVesna - translated by J. Arnoldski - Ukrainian law enforcement and security agencies are preparing for possible protest actions in the country. A headquarters for responding to a surge of protest activities has been established at the base of the National Security and Defense Committee of Ukraine. This has been confirmed by Ukrainian journalists close to the headquarter’s structures. Among the planned measures is a crackdown on protest actions and the introduction of martial law in Kiev if the situation deteriorates to armed confrontation. The headquarters is headed by the national security committee’s secretary, Alexander Turchynov. According to insider sources, the special structure also includes Defense Minister Arsen Avakov, General Prosecutor Yuri Lutsenko, Chief of General Staff Viktor Muzhenko, SBU and intelligence representatives, and also people’s deputy Sergey Pashinsky. The first meeting of the headquarters took place on Sunday at the presidential administration. Several resolutions were adopted. The police have been ordered not to allow vehicles transporting protesters into the capital. Kiev authorities and law enforcement have been ordered to by all means prevent equipment and tents from being set up on the Maidan. The municipality is supposed to seek a court ban on holding mass actions in the center of the capital in order to enact this. MP’s from the coalition factions in parliament (the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and People’s Front) have been suggested to organize private security detachments out of athletes and staff to help security forces disperse actions if necessary. Intelligence services and the SBU have been tasked with investigating evidence of a “Russian trace” in the planned protests. They have also been instructed to look into shutting down TV channels and blocking internet sites. If all of these measures do not have the desired effect and protests are held on a large scale with the blockade of administrative buildings, then security forces could receive the order to disperse protests and arrest their leaders. Detachments of the National Guard, Armed Forces, and SBU special forces have been proposed to carry out such operations. At the headquarters meeting, the National Security and Defense Committee of Ukraine was instructed to prepare draft legislation on the imposition of martial law and a curfew in Kiev, sources have reported. The most likely pretext for protests will be the so-called “shock bills”, according to which as of October new prices are to be introduced for heating. Earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers raised them by 75-90%. Now, heating a two-bedroom apartment costs approximately 1,500 hryvnia, while the average salary is in the range of only 5,000 hryvnia. Earlier, authorities also raised the prices for electricity, gas, and cold water. Videos taken by locals have captured columns of military vehicles moving in the direction of Kiev. **** Novorossiya - translated by J. Arnoldski - Yulia Tymoshenko has urged Ukrainians to take to the streets on November 15th for an indefinite protest action in the center of Kiev. She stated this on Monday, November 14th, during a speech in the Verkhovna Rada. According to Tymoshenko, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the National Bank have become a bastion of corruption and the head of state has appointed his business partners to key positions in the country. “Today only the people can restore justice and put the government in its place. Tomorrow morning, citizens, including pensioners, will go out for an indefinite protest against the devaluation of the hryvnia, the increase in utility costs, and for returning their bank deposits,” she announced. Tymoshenko also added that the government is calling protesters “the hand of the Kremlin”, while in fact “people are just fed up.” “Officials hide behind the war, but they themselves are corrupting and robbing the country. Either the people will unite or the government will simply destroy the Ukrainian nation and Ukrainian state,” she emphasized. Information that Tymoshenko was preparing a new Maidan appeared as early as late September. It was reported that public organizations with links to her had purchased from 300 to 500 tents for use in mass actions. Tymoshenko recently stated that even Western Ukraine is starting to think positively about the country’s former president, Viktor Yanukovych. “If they think so in Galicia, then you can only imagine what thoughts people from other regions are having," she warned. Follow us on Facebook!
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BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) say they hope to find clarity soon on prospects for a new ruling coalition as they gear up for exploratory talks this week. The conservatives, meeting on Monday to map out their negotiating positions, believe compromises can be reached to renew the grand coalition that governed for the past four years. The two blocs must overcome differences over the future of Europe, pensions, health care and education. Merkel, whose CDU/CSU alliance last month failed to cut a coalition deal with two smaller parties after an inconclusive national election in September, is due to brief the media at 1 pm (1200 GMT). Senior conservatives on Saturday rejected the vision for a United States of Europe put forward by SPD leader Martin Schulz, weakened after his party posted its worst post-war election result in September. But Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the conservative premier of the Saarland region, told broadcaster ARD that she hoped some progress could emerge from this week s talks with the SPD. Maybe we can take a first big step in this direction this week, she said. SPD Secretary General Lars Klingbeil told ARD his party was open to all possibilities, including a renewed coalition with conservatives or a minority government. The ball is now in Mrs. Merkel s court, Klingbeil said, adding that the pace of negotiations depended to a large extent on the core demands of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). The SPD made its positions clear at its party conference. Now we ll listen to what the CDU leader wants, what the CSU wants, and it will be clear very quickly if further discussions are worth it, he said. A poll published on Monday by broadcaster RTL and n-tv showed 71 percent of SPD members welcomed the party s decision to talk with conservatives about forming a new ruling coalition, while 81 percent wanted the party to conduct tough negotiations. Klingbeil said his party would seek clear commitments from the CDU to spend more on education and combat childhood poverty before entering coalition talks. Julia Kloeckner, deputy leader of the CDU, warned the SPD against making exaggerated demands and criticised comments Klingbeil made over the weekend suggesting that talks could stretch as long as May. If the SPD thinks we have time forever, that is not our view, she said. Monday s poll showed that 71 percent of German voters favored rapid negotiations on forming a new government. Kloeckner said it was clear that the two political blocs would have to revisit issues such as integration, digitalization and development of rural areas before agreeing to a new coalition. A continuation of the previous grand coalition cannot happen, she said.
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6 Views November 01, 2016 GOLD , KWN King World News
Ahead of tomorrow’s Fed meeting, there are some very strange things happening.
By Bill Fleckenstein President Of Fleckenstein Capital October 1 ( King World News ) – Overnight bond markets continued their recent losing ways again last night, with 10-year German bunds now yielding a massive 18 basis points. That doesn’t sound like much, but it is a long way from the -15 bps it yielded a couple of months ago. Meanwhile, world equity markets more or less looked the other way, although they were slightly lower. The early going here saw the market modestly weaker as well, and acting funky enough that I put on a few shorts… IMPORTANT: To find out which company Doug Casey, Rick Rule and Sprott Asset Management are pounding the table on that already has a staggering 18.1 million ounces of gold that just added another massive deposit and is quickly being recognized as one of the greatest gold opportunities in the world – CLICK HERE OR BELOW: Sponsored
Around midday the leakage accelerated somewhat and the market was 0.5% lower by early afternoon. With a couple of hours to go, when I had to leave, the decline was about 0.75% (but it felt like it might accelerate, so check the box scores). Away from stocks, green paper was a bit weaker, led by a bounce in the euro, oil lost 1%, fixed income was a bit lower, and the metals came to life, led by silver, which popped 3% to gold’s 1%. The miners similarly had a pretty strong day, just as they did yesterday. I didn’t note Monday’s action because I was suspicious it might have something to do with end-of-the-month tape painting, but obviously that was not the case.
Gold Dog, New Tricks Given the fact that the Bank of Japan did nothing new and the Fed is expected to make hawkish comments tomorrow regarding a December rate hike, it was an interesting time for the metals to pop. I’m sure today’s action has a number of people scratching their head as to how this could be. And I have to admit, I thought there was little chance for gold to start moving until we got past tomorrow’s promise from Fed heads to hike rates, assuming the data continues to be, in their words, “strong enough” (a phrase that is naturally open to subjective interpretation on their part). Having said that, I don’t feel there is going to be a hike because I don’t think the stock market or the economy are going to cooperate.
Make It Stop There is also the wild card of the election next week and despite the mainstream media and the polls suggesting that Trump is a long shot, I think the tally will be much closer and his chance of winning is nontrivial, although certainly not expected. I mention that because, were Trump to win, I think a lot of markets would be put in motion.
The stock market has been an accident waiting to happen, and considering how much Wall Street seems to be enamored of a Clinton victory, an upset would probably be enough of a catalyst to send the indices tumbling, which by extension would be a positive for gold — and take a rate hike off the table. On the other hand, in the event Hillary wins, I don’t think the stock market could really go up much.
In any event, I don’t want to get into too much of a discussion about what is liable to happen, as we will have the data in a few days and can decide exactly what to do in the wake of it from a stock market perspective. Besides, a precious metals position can do well under any number of potential scenarios we may see, and they may have already discounted a rate hike, which we probably won’t get. Included below are three questions and answers from the Q&A’s with Bill Fleckenstein. Bonus Q&A Question: If the bond market has “topped”, isn’t it irrelevant who wins the Presidency. In other words the bond market will be in full control and politicians will be late and simply be responding with desperate measures? Answer from Fleck: “ Yes, the President is irrelevant to a large degree versus the bond market.” Question: Dear Bill, Happy Halloween! If you were going to dress as something scary for Halloween would it be– a) deflation, b) a creepy clown, or c) one of the presidential candidates. Of course b) and c) aren’t mutually exclusive, since clowns can be either gender… Answer from Fleck: “ If I was going out to a party, I would dress as Mr. Politically Incorrect, and I’d try to wear a small bit of any/every costume that is deemed to be “offensive,” (i.e. part Chinese, Japanese, black, Arab, gay, trans, Indian, Mexican, angry clown, Hitler, etc.) I am so sick of microagression and related censorship. We have a right to free speech in this country, but there is no right to “not be offended.” People need to get over themselves. We have far bigger problems in this country than being offended.” Question: Yesterday you wrote “as the belief that the central planners have accomplished what they set out to, nothing can go wrong, and the election will go whichever way it needs to for us to live happily ever after.” I think the S&P 500 being flat for 22 months with fits and starts says something doesn’t it? Frustrating for bulls and bears alike. Answer from Fleck: “ Yeah, it does say something, which is, “without QE, the stock market can’t go up.” *** To subscribe to Bill Fleckenstein’s fascinating Daily Thoughts CLICK HERE.
***KWN has now released the remarkable audio interview with Nomi Prins CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW.
***ALSO RELEASED: Today’s Upside Move In Gold Is Nothing Compared To What Is Coming CLICK HERE.
***KWN has also released Rick Rule’s timely audio interview CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW.
© 2015 by King World News®. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. However, linking directly to the articles is permitted and encouraged. About author
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Americans like to sit back and smugly announce that the kind of sectarian violence and civil war we see tearing apart the Middle East could NEVER happen here because (insert snooty tone), We re Not Savages. Just look at how they voluntarily follow leaders that make crazy promises and use violence to intimidate and silence dissent! We re nothing like that.Except when we are.WATCH: Trump Supporters Attack Two Men For Quietly Sitting with Protest SignsBlack Lives Matter protester attacked by Trump supporters at rally videoDONALD TRUMP RALLY TURNS CHAOTIC; SUPPORTERS THREATEN BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTERSTrump on protester: Maybe he should have been roughed up Trump comes off as little more than a wannabe dictator that encourages his followers to violence, yet he still has millions of followers. This leads us to a painfully insightful tweet from one Hend Amry, a Libyan refugee:If you re an American confusedly watching the darkest forces of ur nation rally behind a demagogue-maybe u can understand the Mid East now. Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) February 27, 2016Suddenly, we re not quite so superior anymore, are we? The Bush presidency showed us that Americans would happily reject the rule of law, morality and basic decency if we were angry and scared enough and someone promised us retribution and safety. Now imagine decades of deprivation and fear and anger being harnessed by ruthless leaders interested in absolute power. Would we really be any better? History answers with an unequivocal No. See: KKK takeover of Oregon, History of.But Amry continued to drive home the point: now imagine if you KNOW it s because of political frustration, economic stagnation, & social decay but everyone kept calling it jihad . Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) February 27, 2016Trump got everyone wanting to make every Muslim walk the plank and you haven t even had a single Muslim nation drone you.God forbid. Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) February 27, 2016 Now imagine if the US gov t outlawed Christian evangelism. How radicalized would segments of the nation become.And militant. Bundy on crack. Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) February 27, 2016That s the Mid East today.Years of pol oppression & religious manipulation by dictators offered seats at the UN. Something had to give. Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) February 27, 2016It may not be a comfortable truth to face but Trump is appealing to the anger and fear generated by a slow economic recovery and changing demographics. If America were to suffer another massive economic meltdown or 9/11 level terror attack, (mostly white) people would flock to the loudest voice promising safety and strength. That s how countries fall under the control of violent lunatics.Amry s tweets should be a wake-up call to both the people that smugly denounce the Muslims as violent as well as Americans blindly following a narcissistic sociopath off a cliff.Featured image via screencap.
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“Jesus” will save his soul not his body, Ignorant piece of shit.
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DUBAI (Reuters) - The future leader of the Middle East’s top foreign ally is, in the words of a Saudi prince, an anti-Muslim “disgrace”, openly disdainful of Arab security partnerships, who believes Saudi Arabia would cease to exist for long without the United States. Donald Trump’s presidential election victory means he is the man Washington’s Arab allies must deal with after his January inauguration, as they seek U.S. help to end wars from Syria to Mosul, manage humanitarian crises and provide jobs for their populations at a time of low oil prices. Trump’s campaign tirades against Muslim migrants - the target of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s comments on Twitter - and against Arab allies who don’t “pay” for U.S. support suggest the relationship could be delicate. How far Trump the president will differ from Trump the polarizing election candidate is not clear. Brief, congratulatory messages flowed quickly from Arab allies, including one from Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, who wished Trump success in “achieving security and stability in the Middle East and the wider world”. But underneath the protocol, for many Arab rulers and royals Trump’s victory is a source of anxiety. They now face a new America led by Trump who, they fear, could upend a regional order that has prevailed for decades. Some ordinary Arabs like Trump’s no-nonsense style, and praise what they see as his capacity for tough leadership. “A strong leader ... that is what is needed here in the Middle East and all across the world,” said Ali al-Muhannadi, 57, a Qatari owner of an electrical company, filling his car up at a petrol station in Doha on Wednesday. Muhannadi saw Trump as a useful ally in confronting the jihadist threat, saying he is “very frank and not like a politician. Islamist radicals are bad for the West and for us too”. But privately there are concerns about a lack of clarity in Trump’s policies for the world’s most combustible region as it struggles to break free from war while trying to safeguard the free flow of its oil exports. In particular there are worries that Trump’s hostile rhetoric towards Muslim migrants will play into the hands of Islamic State and al Qaeda, which are eager to recruit disaffected young Arabs to wage war on the regional governments they despise as stooges of Washington. Gulf Arab leaders want a U.S. president who understands their concerns after eight years of what they regard as diffidence under President Barack Obama, someone who did not provide the kind of personal contact they value. In particular they want help to push back against Iran, their main rival. But they fear Trump’s public praise for Vladimir Putin will encourage Russia to expand its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran and an enemy of most Gulf Arab states. Apart from a commitment to Israel’s security, a constant in U.S. foreign policy, and an isolationist tone to his comments, much in Trump’s statements about the region remains vague and poorly thought out, diplomats and analysts say. Opinion is divided about whether Trump’s remarks on the campaign trail will be enacted when in office. Among these is his comment that he would consider halting U.S. purchases of Saudi oil unless Riyadh provides troops to fight Islamic State. Faisal Al Yafai, a commentator at The National newspaper, said many people thought Trump had used his extravagant comments to win votes and once in office he would mellow. “I am unconvinced. I think he actually believes his rhetoric. It’s quite worrying that he doesn’t seem to understand how global politics works,” he said. “For example you don’t go around saying ‘if our allies were threatened we wouldn’t intervene, why can’t they build their own nuclear weapons?’” “That sort of stuff doesn’t help confidence. That collapse of confidence between the U.S. and its allies has a knock-on impact on the economies and in the decisions those countries take on a political level.” Yafai, whose newspaper is based in the United Arab Emirates, noted Iraqis were putting their lives on the line to regain Mosul, Islamic State’s main stronghold in the country. “That is not just a war for the region, it is a war for the world,” he said. Others are more sanguine. A senior Turkish official predicted continued strong relations with the United States and argued that “comments in an election period always have a harder and more hawkish tone than is necessary. But they remain peculiar to the election period.” Prince Sultan bin Khaled al Faisal, a former Saudi special forces officer and now senior fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, said that in U.S. elections “what they say and what they do are two totally different things”. “Foreign policy is not made by one man,” he said. “But it’s difficult to pinpoint what his policy actually is.” Trump’s remarks have been combative, and eye-catching. He has said the United States should be reimbursed by the countries it provides protection for. Without America, “Saudi Arabia wouldn’t exist for very long,” Trump told the New York Times in March. Trump’s win drew a cautious welcome in Syria, which has entered its fifth year of war between rebels and Assad’s forces. In Damascus, Syrian member of parliament Sherif Shehada said U.S. policy could shift Assad’s way. “We must be optimistic, but cautiously optimistic,” Shehada told Reuters by telephone. Trump’s statements on Syria, and his more open-minded stance towards Assad’s ally Russia, have fueled rebel concern about the policy he may adopt on the conflict, in which the Russian air force has been bombing insurgents. But beyond all that, many officials and observers see another ominous consequence. Trump’s win has not only delighted Western right-wingers but also jihadists who told supporters the election had revealed the true position of the United States towards Muslims. “The masks have slipped,” one supporter said on Islamic State websites. “(Trump’s) moronic declarations alone serve us even if his decisions will be under the supervision of the Senate...,” wrote another.
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Univision anchor Jorge Ramos made Fox host Sean Hannity look like the angry Trump puppet that we all know him to be.Over a ten minute span, Hannity lost his temper with Ramos time and time again as he repeatedly tried to convince Ramos that Republican front-runner Donald Trump is not a racist and that he has confronted Trump about his hateful and bigoted rhetoric.Ramos relentlessly slammed Hannity for coddling Trump just as as he blasted Bill O Reilly for doing the same during an interview last week.Ramo pointed out that Trump is unfairly labeling all undocumented immigrants as horrible criminals who rape and murder. Hannity defended Trump by claiming that Trump only said some are rapists and murderers.However, Hannity is wrong as usual.When Trump delivered his announcement that he was running for president in last June, he characterized most Mexicans as rapists and criminals. Only some, he assumed, were good people. In other words, he did not say only some commit crimes. He said only some were good people and he only assumed that. When Mexico sends its people, they re not sending the best. They re sending people that have lots of problems and they re bringing those problems. They re bringing drugs, they re bringing crime. They re rapists and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards and they re telling us what we re getting. He later doubled down on the racist remark. The Mexican Government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States, Trump said in a statement. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc. Armed with truth on his side, Ramos refused to back down and continued criticizing Hannity until the Fox News blowhard shouted, I don t need any lectures from you, Jorge Ramos! Hannity accused Ramos of not reporting truthfully and just like when he took down O Reilly, Ramos smacked Hannity around with facts until he was forced to end the interview as Ramos got in the last word.Here s part one and two of the interview via Fox.Jorge Ramos once again bested a Fox News host in their own house and proved once again who the real journalist in the room is. Now if only Trump would agree to sit down for an interview with Ramos. We would really see fireworks then. Featured Image: Screenshot
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21st Century Wire says For those who still refuse to entertain any Michael Hastings Boston Breaks conspiracy theories, this latest story offers yet more proof that hacking a vehicle is not only possible it s relatively easy to do. Everyone has seen or heard those annoying ads on TV and radio, for those new smart monitoring devices that insurance companies are trying hard to convince you to install in your car. They tell us, If you are a safe driver, then we ll be sure to pass on premium discounts to safe drivers. To even the most mild skeptic, this little invention reeks of Big Brother tech.According to crafty insurance moguls, their revolutionary smart plug-in device connects to your car s computer port which is normally located just beneath the steering wheel. They claim that it only records drivers when they accelerate, brake and steer. They claim that this data will reveal how erratic a driver you are, which in turn will determine your road risk actuary and how much you will have to pay for auto insurance. SMART? Munic Box plug-in technology allows an access portal into your car s computer functions.Most smart people realize that this smart device will not save you money, as much as it will give insurance companies like Progressive an easy metric by which to raise your rates, not lower them.If that isn t bad enough, now cyber researchers in America have shown how hackers can send a simple text message to manipulate your car s functions even interfere your car s brakes.The hack was performed by engineering students Karl Koscher and Ian Foster from the University of California, San Diego, remotely hijacked a lovely cherry Corvette through a smart device used by auto insurer Metromile. Watch The team of researchers presented their findings at the Usenix computer conference in Washington, D.C. Mobile Devices did not respond to CNNMoney requests for comment. However, Stefan Savage, the college engineering professor that oversaw the research project, said that the device maker has since issued a software update. Do you agree with us that there is nothing smart about this technology?Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below READ MORE SCI-TECH NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Sci-Tech Files
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One of Donald Trump s biggest fans, Fox News host Sean Hannity, has just tried to come to his rescue after the POTUS was condemned for his disgusting attack on Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.On Saturday, as Trump himself was having a meltdown on Twitter, Hannity decided to join the chaos by defending Trump and his petty, nasty attacks on the Morning Joe hosts. In a disgusting attempt to kiss Trump s *ss, Hannity made an insane threat to the MSNBC news couple, hinting that he had some incriminating dirt on the Morning Joe hosts.No one really knows what the hell going there' actually means, but he s likely trying to channel Trump in his ominous threat and if he s really trying to emulate Trump, we can bet that he s bluffing.Hannity has a history of going after Scarborough, having previously claimed that Scarborough has many skeletons in his closet (& office). When Hannity had made those statements, he was referring to an incident in which a dead intern was found in Scarborough s district office during his time as a Congressman in 2001. While Scarborough had nothing to do with the intern s death, he resigned from his position due to the conspiracy theories surrounding the incident. Coincidentally, Trump also loves conspiracy theories.While we re not aware of what other nonsense Hannity might want to spread about Scarborough and Brzezinski, is certainly a shame that he s threatening the couple just because they re speaking out against Trump.Hannity s cryptic tweet proves that Fox News and its reporters will do anything to defend Trump, no matter how bad it makes them look. Just last month, Hannity said he would be willing to pay for therapy for the Morning Joe hosts because he felt they d become unhinged. Clearly, it s the other way around.Featured image is a screenshot
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Watch Jill Stein explain why she s working to force a recount in 3 states that used to be Democrat strongholds:https://youtu.be/AjXjJ7R8uyUAs Ms. Stein starts in her answers during the CNN interview in the video above, Why would anyone not want to count the votes, and to be sure that they were counted accurately? What we know is that there were lots of hacks taking place around this election. Much of the equipment used is not only open to hacks, it basically invites hacks and malfeasance, tampering, human error, etc. Here are 10 reasons this is a horrible idea:1) The votes were counted with integrity. The real experts do not believe a recount is needed. As described by the Detroit Free Press, The report says the scientists believe they have identified a questionable trend of Clinton performing worse in Wisconsin counties that relied on electronic voting machines, compared to paper ballots and optical scanners. It wasn t clear from the reports why Michigan and Pennsylvania were reportedly cited by the scientists.Chris Thomas, the longtime director of Michigan s Bureau of Elections, said Michigan doesn t use the electronic voting machines identified in the report as being the sources of potential hacking. We are an entire paper and optical scan state, Thomas told the Free PressWednesday. Nothing is connected to the Internet. 2) There s zero proof of any actual hacking, malware or illegal tampering with any votes in any of these states. The examples given in the report are hypothetical possibilities that were discussed well before the election, with known equipment limitations before this election took place. In Stein s own words: Let me be very clear: We do not have evidence of fraud, Stein says. We do not have smoking guns. What we do have is an election that was surrounded by hacking. 3) Are politics the real motivation? If this recount were truly about the election s integrity and improving public confidence in the process, why not include recounts in New Hampshire and Nevada which were states that Clinton won with very narrow margins? In New Hampshire, Clinton won by 2,700 votes which is the smallest margin of victory in any state. In Nevada, the Hillary Clinton margin of victory was 26,000 votes far less than the Trump margin of victory in Pennsylvania.4) The threshold for a recount will likely not be reached in Pennsylvania. There would need to be evidence of widespread voter fraud for a court-ordered recount in PA. For example, A candidate can t actually file for a vote recount under Pennsylvania law. Instead, they would have to challenge a county board regarding its vote computations, and a state appeals judge would have to rule that a statewide recount is necessary. That means the Clinton campaign (or in this case Ms. Stein s team) would either have to request a recount by petition in every voting district or present a prima facie case showing voter fraud. (Prima facie is a lower threshold than beyond a reasonable doubt. A judge would just have to rule that fraud probably occurred in order to call for a recount.) However, Jill Stein said she does not have evidence of fraud.Further, as the article explains, What should be most troubling for Clinton supporters who want her to ask for a Pennsylvania recount is that in the past, these recounts have yielded a shift of just a couple hundred votes, certainly not enough to overturn anything in Pennsylvania. Clinton s team would have to rely on proving massive voter fraud enough for a Pennsylvania court to rule the entire state invalid an unprecedented and nearly impossible feat.5) People are giving millions of dollars to a cause that is a waste of their money, based upon many flawed assumptions, and some hopes and dreams that are unrealistic. No doubt these people want Hillary Clinton to win, and they see this as a longshot possibility. However, they are being deceived and misled based on generalities about election hacking risks that were known for many months prior to the election.Just because emails were hacked from Hillary Clinton s server or other emails accounts were hacked that related to the election does not in any way prove that voting machines were hacked or counts were tampered with in any state. To give false hope to these people is similar to collecting money to promise a white Christmas to the children in Miami. Some are even calling this a scam, although I would not go that far. This website points out:Then there is the fine print that will allow Stein s campaign to keep all of the money even if no recounts are done:We cannot guarantee a recount will happen in any of these states we are targeting. We can only pledge we will demand recounts in those states. If we raise more than what s needed, the surplus will also go toward election integrity efforts and to promote voting system reform.6) These recounts set up a dangerous precedent for future elections and potentially for many other areas of life where anyone can question any numbers based upon the view maybe there was a hack somewhere, somehow. Almost any data can be questioned using this type of superficial analysis. The thinking goes along the lines, if we turn over enough rocks, we re bound to find something, right? Yes one fear is that this actually gives all cybersecurity pros a bad name if/when experts make these type of claims with huge caveats which create numerous opportunities to deny responsibility. Is our new threshold a potential for hacking? If we use that litmus test in other areas of life, what can be excluded?Or, in J. Alex Halderman s own words, Were this year s deviations from pre-election polls the results of a cyberattack? Probably not. I believe the most likely explanation is that the polls were systematically wrong, rather than that the election was hacked. My reaction: Really? In that case, why did you go public? If I were to use that logic in any of my many cybersecurity roles regarding security incidents in government, I would be fired or at least sent back to reexamine the specific details before going public. Might this just be a PR stunt for these people to get more attention?7) The states involved have extensive certification processes and procedures which were followed. As I said back on Nov. 5, before we knew the election outcomes and when Hillary Clinton was leading in most of the polls, we should trust the vote for many reasons. I still believe this unless specific facts show otherwise. Anyone who clams fraud or other election problems needs to come forward with real evidence. Polls being wrong is not evidence of election fraud.8) A recount will NOT improve integrity or confidence in this election, as Jill Stein is claiming. Imagine if this process does move forward and a recount is begun in one more or states. Numerous global reporters will rush to the state(s) involved to watch the process unfold on live TV. While (hopefully) the coverage will not be quite as intense and exhausting as the Florida recount of 2000, the focus will dominate the news for weeks. We will hear assorted experts offer theories, opinions and select facts regarding what is going on and what they expect to happen next and if Hillary Clinton could actually become our next president and not Donald Trump. Rabbit trails will be followed.I suspect that this extensive scrutiny may actually lower, not raise, the level of confidence in these elections with no change in the overall outcome of the winner.9) Government resources will be diverted. Time energy, money, will be taken away from other government projects. Assuming the actual cost of the effort is paid by the money raised by Stein, government staff will still be required to be pulled off of other meaningful projects and priorities to complete the recount process. Just the coordination and project management will be immense, and there will an untold number of related impacts.As this article explains, the cost for paper ballot recounts in each precinct in Michigan will be $125 for Stein. Do you really think this total process can be completely done for $125 per precinct, with all government costs included? I think that extra money and time spent will come from somewhere else in government.10) The country will not move on to the important process of uniting, moving forward and focusing on governing with our next president of the United States. This effort is a major distraction and brings on more uncertainty at a time that we don t need it as a nation. Many on the right claim this recount effort is just coming from sore losers who can t admit defeat. I m not so sure, but whether you agree with that analysis or not, there is no doubt that these recounts will extend the election uncertainty for longer and fuel more anger.Final ThoughtsThe U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the Obama administration was helping state election teams in at least 46 states, and they have not come out and even implied any hacking of voter machines occurred. Don t you think that they would have raised red flags by now if they expected wrongdoing?Meanwhile, Jill Stein has every legal right to request these recounts, but that does not make it a smart (or the right) thing to do. These recounts will not have the results she is claiming.Worse than that, naming the Russians or pointing to (unknown) hackers as the reason for the recounts will open up governments to a plethora of current and future problems. We are witnessing a sad close to the 2016 presidential election, which is being driven by hypothetical hacking scenarios based on the lie that if pollsters didn t get the results they expected, someone must have been hacked.Finally, there is no doubt that all states need improvements to the voting machines used and the processes followed to count the votes. These improvements should begin immediately for upcoming elections in 2017 and beyond. Audits as described by Wired magazine make sense moving forward.Nevertheless, cybersecurity pros must be extra careful how often they cry hacked, and never throw in a maybe or perhaps to cover their tracks and deny accountability later.For entire story: Government Technology
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Friday on ABC’s “The View,” Joy Behar said President Donald Trump wanted budget cuts to the Department of Education because he seeks to make us “as dumb as he is. ” Behar said, “Hello, and welcome to ‘The View.’ I’d like to wish a happy St. Patrick’s Day today to all of our Irish friends out there. And it is an honor of some of the first immigrants to come to this country, the Irish. They often on this day celebrate what they say the luck of the Irish. Of course, if you’re elderly, sick or poor, your luck as just run out. ” She continued, “I can’t help it. It’s so horrific and so horrendous. Just when you thought it was safe to stop talking about Trump, he unleashes his budget on us. He wants to cut clean water. He wants to stop helping old people and public education so we can all be as dumb as he is!” ( Daily Caller) Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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BEIJING (Reuters) - A fire in a Beijing apartment block that killed 19 people and injured eight has prompted authorities to order city-wide safety checks, state news agency Xinhua reported. The fire broke out on Saturday evening at a three-storey apartment block in Beijing s southern Daxing district, and a probe in to its cause was underway, Xinhua reported, adding that anyone found to be responsible would be punished. Preliminary investigation showed there was a refrigeration facility in the basement of the apartment, where the fire was likely to have started, Xinhua said late on Sunday. Fire fighters said there was heavy smoke in the building but no large flames. Following the blaze, Beijing s Communist Party boss Cai Qi ordered safety checks throughout the capital, including its outlying villages. We must take actions and protect people s lives and safeguard the safety and stability of the capital, Cai said, according to Xinhua.
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London s Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan, called on the British government today to cancel their visit with President Donald Trump. Speaking to Channel 4 news, Khan felt Trump s out-of-context criticisms and continued attacks on Twitter meant that the U.K. should not roll out the red carpet for the president as his policies go against everything we stand for. He added: When you have a special relationship it is no different from when you have got a close mate. You stand with them in times of adversity but you call them out when they are wrong. There are many things about which Donald Trump is wrong. Hollywood ReporterShouldn t London s government be more concerned with their current mayor s past than of President Trump s efforts to unify the world in the fight against extreme Islamic terrorism?In 2016, the now Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan was branded unfit to be London s Mayor after it emerged that he had described moderate Muslim groups as Uncle Toms a notorious racial slur used against black people to suggest that they are subservient to whites.The incendiary claim emerged in a 2009 interview with Iranian-backed Press TV, when Mr Khan was minister for community cohesion , in charge of Government efforts to stamp out extremism.The revelation is a major blow for Mr Khan, who has faced a string of claims about his past dealings with Muslim extremists during the bitter campaign to succeed Boris Johnson. Daily MailWatch the 2009 video here:That s not the only video that should make every London citizen be concerned about their Mayor s radical views. A 2002 video has emerged showing Sadiq Kahn defending convicted Islamic terrorists who attempted to revive the Islamic Liberation Party in Egypt.The video, via Josh Caplan of Vessel News, shows Khan defending terrorists. At the beginning of the video, Muslims in the street shout Allahu Akbar! GPRare clip from '02 shows then lawyer Sadiq Khan defending convicted terrorists who attempted to revive the Islamic Liberation Party in Egypt pic.twitter.com/gMS9NIYxMQ Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) June 6, 2017
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WHAT THE HECK! What s happened to the Southern leaders? Confederate flags should be placed on the graves of Civil War soldiers. This is way over the top and a knee-jerk reaction to the shooting in Charleston, SC.The House has voted to ban the display of Confederate flags at historic federal cemeteries in the deep South.The low-profile move came late Tuesday after a brief debate on a measure funding the National Park Service, which maintains 14 national cemeteries, most of which contain graves of Civil War soldiers.The proposal by California Democrat Jared Huffman would block the Park Service from allowing private groups from decorating the graves of southern soldiers with Confederate flags in states that commemorate Confederate Memorial Day. The cemeteries affected are the Andersonville and Vicksburg cemeteries in Georgia and Mississippi.Pressure has mounted to ban display of the flag on state and federal property in the wake of last month s tragic murders at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina.SELLING CONFEDERATE FLAGS BANNED TOO:The House voted to affirm that stores on federal lands operated by the National Park Service cannot sell Confederate flags, in light of a new policy announced in the aftermath of the shooting in Charleston, S.C.Adoption of the amendment to the 2016 Interior Department appropriations bill came easily on a voice vote after just six minutes of debate, where no one spoke in opposition. The amendment reflects a policy announced by the National Park Service in June to ban the sale of Confederate flag merchandise from its gift shops and bookstores.Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the author of the amendment, said it was important that Congress prevent the sale of the Confederate image on federal property. This House now has an opportunity to add its voice, by ending the promotion of the cruel, racist legacy of the Confederacy, Huffman said. While many concessionaires have agreed to do this, I am dismayed by reports that some will continue to sell items with Confederate flag imagery. Read more: The Hill
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BOGOTA (Reuters) - Two former Colombian presidents will back a joint right-wing ticket in elections next year, they said on Friday, focusing their platform on objections to the peace deal signed with the Marxist FARC rebels. Ex-presidents Alvaro Uribe, who is now a senator with his Democratic Center party and Andres Pastrana, who leads the Conservatives, will jointly choose candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency, they said in a statement. The two men have vehemently opposed the peace deal between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos, who will leave office in August 2018, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, who have demobilized and are now a political party. We will choose one candidate for the presidency and vice-presidency, from candidates chosen by the Democratic Center and the Conservative base led by Andres Pastrana, choosing the candidate with the best chance of winning the presidency, the statement said. The method for choosing between candidates has yet to be decided, it added. Besides changes to the peace deal, which the two men say is not harsh enough on former rebels and does not require them to pay enough for crimes including murder, kidnapping and displacement, the coalition will focus on improvements to health care and the economy. Uribe, who governed from 2002 and 2010 and managed a U.S.-backed offensive against the FARC, has yet to choose a candidate for his party. Pastrana, who himself attempted a peace process with the FARC during his 1998-2002 term, backs Conservative candidate Marta Lucia Ramirez, who also ran in 2014. Corruption scandals, which have lately touched every major political party, are also expected to be a major theme in the 2018 race. The country s constitutional court has ruled the peace deal cannot be modified for the next 12 years. Other presidential candidates for next year include former vice-president German Vargas Lleras, former government peace negotiator Humberto de la Calle, ex-governor Sergio Fajardo and former M-19 rebel and mayor of Bogota, Gustavo Petro.
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Insider Leaks Bill’s 2-Word Nickname For Hillary, Exposes Dirty Sex Habits Posted on October 26, 2016 by Robert Rich in Politics Share This
Bill and Hillary Clinton just can’t stay out of the spotlight these days, and the most recent leak about them could be the most damaging yet. As it turns out, someone once close to the duo just came forward to share Bill’s revealing nickname for his wife — but the worse comes as their dirty bedroom habits were exposed. Bill and Hillary Clinton (left), Photoshopped image of Hillary (right)
It’s no mystery that Bill Clinton is a sexual deviant, but the most recent account given by the woman who had a 3-decade affair with the man is damning, to say the least. According to an exclusive interview given to Mail Online , Dolly Kyle was behind the scene’s long enough to not only know the two’s darkest secrets but even their dirty sexual habits – and now, she’s telling everyone.
The connection between Dolly and Bill began when she was just 11-years-old. He was about 13-years-old at the time, but Dolly states that there was an immediate attraction, even then. As the years progressed, the two became romantically involved and stayed that way through several of their marriages over the next 30 years. Dolly Kyle (Source: Mail Online )
The real affair began in 1974 just after Dolly divorced her first husband, and although Bill wasn’t married yet, he would be within the year. Although she was never interested in sharing the intimate details of the relationship, she states that she snapped when she heard Hillary recently say that all sexual assault victims have the “right to be believed.”
Knowing full well just what Hillary had done – between the threats and the lies – to the many women who either had an affair with or were sexually assaulted by her husband Bill, Dolly knew she had to do something about it. Unfortunately for Hillary, Dolly is now coming forward with the dirty 2-word nickname Bill husband once called Hillary, among other things.
According to Mail Online , Bill approached Dolly at their high school’s 35-year reunion to talk about “ the warden ” – a.k.a. Hillary. Saying he was unhappy with his life and marriage, this was the least significant account Dolly had to share. A very unhappy Bill and “the warden” Hillary Clinton (Source: Mail Online )
In fact, Dolly recalls that Bill mentioned something about having a baby to her. Although she thought he was saying he wanted to have one with her, he was actually talking about Hillary. He wanted to put to bed the rumors that Hillary was a lesbian, even though everyone in their hometown already knew it to be true.
Dolly states that the worst came when she met Hillary for the first time. “In that moment I noticed that the woman emitted an overpowering [body] odor of perspiration and greasy hair. I hoped that I wouldn’t gag when she got in my car,” she said. “The sandal-shod woman with lank, smelly hair stood off to the side and glared at everyone.” Bill and Hillary Clinton (Source: Mail Online )
No wonder Bill went elsewhere to fulfill his “sexual addiction,” as Dolly referred to it. After all, what else can you do when you’re married to a stinky woman who doesn’t shower and isn’t attracted to men anyways? Although an affair is never justified, it’s easy to sympathize with Bill on this one. But, I digress.
The bigger point here is what the two are willing to do in order to remain in power. Most people know that you can’t trust Hillary as far as you can throw her – which isn’t very far – so the fact that she has any supporters is beyond baffling at this point. This woman is corrupt and fake to the core. Let’s just hope all of America wakes up to this reality before it’s too late and she can do any more damage than she already has.
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During Obama s 8 years in office, he took a passive approach to the aggressive and unhinged North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. At the end of his time in office, Obama had to admit that his approach with them didn t work. President Trump however, is not Barack Obama, and has chosen a different course of action. He s not about to sit back and ignore North Korea s crazy dictator, as he continues to threaten the United States.CNS News President Obama, speaking at his final news conference in Laos, said his approach to North Korea is to not reward bad behavior, but he also admitted that his approach isn t working because Pyongyang has continued to engage in the development of their nuclear program. Obama spoke shortly before North Korea conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test.Obama said he is deeply disturbed by North Korea s continued flouting of international obligations, and he pointed to the defensive measures the deployment of U.S. THADD missiles in South Korea intended to protect the U.S. and its allies.North Korea upped its warmongering with Donald Trump today in a series of menacing boasts threatening to ravage US troops amid fears the two countries are heading for war.The secretive state vowed to pulverize US bases and South Korean capital Seoul if it was threatened by the US military, which is carrying out drills on the Korean peninsula. A US aircraft carrier group is steaming towards the region.It claimed it would ruthlessly ravage the US if Washington attacked. China warned the region could go to war at any moment .The rhetoric comes after North Korea warned that President Donald Trump s troublemaking and aggressive tweets have pushed the world to the brink of thermo-nuclear war.Pyongyang s Vice Minister Han Song Ryol accused Trump of building up a vicious cycle of tensions and warned the US against provoking North Korea militarily. He said: We will go to war if they choose. He added the country would continue developing its nuclear program and conduct its next nuclear test whenever its leaders see fit.In the past week Trump has shown his willingness to launch military strikes, with US missiles deployed in Syria and Afghanistan.In other developments today, as tensions heighten in the Korean peninsula:Pence plans to celebrate Easter with US and Korean troops on Sunday before talks on Monday with acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn. We re going to consult with the Republic of Korea on North Korea s efforts to advance its ballistic missile and its nuclear program, a White House foreign policy adviser told reporters, previewing Pence s trip.Pence will land in Seoul the day after North Korea s biggest national day, the Day of the Sun. The White House has contingency plans for Pence s trip should it coincide with a another North Korean nuclear test by its leader Kim Jong Un, the adviser said. Unfortunately, it s not a new surprise for us. He continues to develop this program, he continues to launch missiles into the Sea of Japan, the adviser said. With the regime it s not a matter of if it s when. We are well prepared to counter that, the adviser said.U.S. officials have played down the prospect of any military strike against North Korea, which would likely provoke massive North Korean retaliation and huge casualties in Japan and South Korea and among U.S. forces in both countries.China, North Korea s sole major ally and neighbor, opposes its weapons program and has called for talks leading to a peaceful resolution and the denuclearization of the peninsula. Military force cannot resolve the issue, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing. Amid tensions we will also find a kind of opportunity to return to talks. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also underscored fears about possible threats from North Korea, telling parliament in Tokyo that Pyongyang could have the capacity to deliver missiles equipped with sarin nerve gas.CIA director Mike Pompeo said North Korea was closer now than it had ever been to being able to threaten the United States with a nuclear-tipped intercontinental missile and increased its technical know-how with each new test.Experts do not believe North Korea has a deliverable long-range nuclear weapon, or intercontinental missiles.But that could change within the next few years, as experts say North Korea could have a viable nuclear warhead and a ballistic missile capable of hitting the US mainland during Trump s watch as president.Aerial photos taken Tuesday show continued activity at the Punggye-ri Nuclear site where US officials fear a nuclear device has been installed in a tunnel ahead of another test.And Han, referring to North Korea as the Democratic People s Republic of Korea, said Friday: If the US comes with reckless military maneuvers then we will confront it with the DPRK s preemptive strike. We ve got a powerful nuclear deterrent already in our hands, and we certainly will not keep our arms crossed in the face of a U.S. preemptive strike. The message had been echoed in the days before, when North Korea said it would launch a merciless retaliatory strike against US military action.Pyongyang also recently launched a ballistic missile and some experts say it could conduct another nuclear test at virtually anytime.For entire story: Daily Mail
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said after hosting allied leaders that U.S. President Donald Trump was clear on his commitment to defending Europe and also “blunt” on demands for more defense spending by allies. Trump failed to reassure NATO allies during his first meeting with them in Brussels on Thursday but Stoltenberg said the U.S. leader has been “clear” and “stated strongly” his commitment to both the alliance and its key principle of collective defense. “Trump has been clear on his commitment to NATO. But President Trump has also been clear in the message to all allies that we have to deliver on the pledge we made to increase defense spending,” Stoltenberg said. “He was blunt on that message today and we have seen this plain speaking from President Trump also before.”
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Donald Trump has repeatedly defended his blatant calls for violence against his critics by pretending that the protesters, not his fans, are the violent ones. This, he claims, justifies any assaults his supporters unleash at his rallies, no matter how unprovoked.Unfortunately, there is not a lot of proof that the protesters are the people starting violence. One man who was recently sucker punched by a Trump supporter who thought he was from ISIS (he wasn t) was actually already being escorted out by police officers when he was attacked. He had done absolutely zero harm to anyone when he was hit with an elbow coming fast from his blind spot.So lacking any real evidence, it seems that Trump s campaign now wants to instigate fights between supporters and protesters in order to prove that it s not Trump s rhetoric that is inciting violence and they were just caught on tape.At a tense rally in Tucson, Arizona, Trump s controversial campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, (who has already been accused of assaulting a reporter at a separate rally) was filmed yanking the collar of protester, and then letting the man next to him take the fall for it. It s startling to watch, but look closely.Here is Donald Trump s campaign manager in the Tucson crowd grabbing the collar of a protester. pic.twitter.com/JZ9RntWlHY Jacqueline Alemany (@JaxAlemany) March 19, 2016Because honesty has no meaning in Trump-land, this obvious attempt to incite a fight was flatly denied by the campaign. They claimed the man to the left of Lewandowski was the perpetrator, a premise absurd enough to rank up there with the most audacious lies of North Korea or Soviet Russia.Back in the real world, the video clearly shows Lewandowski placing a hand on the back of the protester s shirt, grabbing a fist full of collar and yanking. When the man turns, Lewandowski lets go and watches as the protester and the man standing next to him get into a shoving match. He doesn t even bother to intervene. This is what he wants.Trump s rally was attended by conservative Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who runs portions of the state like his own personal dictatorship so it s unlikely any criminal charges will be brought against Lewandowski. However, it is worth nothing that Trump barely escaped a inciting a riot charge for his violent rally in North Carolina just two weeks ago. The reasoning was that Trump s actions and words are whipping his followers into a violent frenzy that makes it unsafe for protesters. Now his campaign has been caught red handed trying to say it with me incite a riot once again.This will go one of two ways: Either Trump s campaign gets charged with the crimes they are committing, or they are going to get their wish and someone gets killed. There doesn t appear to be a lot of middle ground here.Featured image via Twitter
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ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani said on Tuesday the yes vote had won in the independence referendum the KRG held in northern Iraq on Monday. In a televised address, he called on Iraq s central government in Baghdad to engage in serious dialogue (...) instead of threatening the KRG with sanctions. Iraq s prime minister has ruled out holding talks on Kurdish independence. We may face hardship but we will overcome, Barzani said, calling on world powers to respect the will of millions of people who voted in the referendum.
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Nearly 50,000 people marched through Brussels European quarter on Thursday in support of Catalan independence and the region s ousted president, who has avoided arrest in Spain by taking refuge in Belgium. Before Carles Puigdemont addressed the crowd, many draped in Catalan flags, police estimated its size at 45,000. There were chants of Puigdemont, President from a generally good-natured throng, many of whom had traveled from Spain. Some carried placards criticizing the European Union for not pressuring Madrid. One sign showed the face of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker with the question: Democracy? Some defend it when it suits them. Shame on them. Puigdemont, who like many in the crowd wore yellow in support of jailed separatist leaders, addressed the crowd in Catalan before switching to French to direct a message to Juncker. Is there any place in the world that holds demonstrations like this to support criminals? he said. So maybe we are not criminals. Maybe we are democrats. Spain s Supreme Court on Tuesday withdrew an international arrest warrant for Puigdemont in order to bring his case back solely under Spanish jurisdiction, leaving him without an international legal stage to pursue his independence campaign. Puigdemont and four of his cabinet members fled to Belgium when Madrid imposed direct rule on Catalonia and sacked his government after an Oct. 27 declaration of independence by his local government. He is likely to be detained if he returns to Spain, pending investigation on charges of sedition, rebellion, misuse of public funds, disobedience and breach of trust. Puigdemont said on Wednesday he would remain in Belgium for the time being. Brussels is a kind of a loudspeaker for us, said Gloria Cot, a clerk from Barcelona at Thursday s march who had just arrived by coach. It is a loudspeaker so that people can know that we really don t have a 100 percent democracy in Spain and that Catalonia has always been subjected to problems with Spain. Juncker s deputy Frans Timmermans said he welcomed the very positive atmosphere of the demonstration, which took place as campaigning gets under way for a Catalan election on Dec. 21. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy hopes pro-independence parties will lose their majority in the Catalan parliament in the election and end the deadlock created by his government s refusal to recognize a banned independence vote Puigdemont held in September. Polls have separatists and unionist parties in a tie. Timmermans said there was no change to Commission policy that the dispute with Catalan authorities remains an internal one in which the EU has no need to intervene because Spain s democratic constitution is functioning in line with EU values. He accused Puigdemont and his allies of undermining the rule of law by choosing to ignore a Spanish constitutional ban on secession rather than trying to change the constitution. If you do not agree with the law, you can organize yourselves to change the law or the constitution, he said. What is not permissible under the rule of law is to just ignore the law.
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Greta van Susteren left Fox News abruptly recently, but she s having a bit of fun trolling the network. When someone leaves, standard procedure is to redirect their news page back to Fox s own website. However, they also redirected her personal page, Greta.com. That s not right she owns the domain. So she took matters into her own hands and redirected it somewhere else.She redirected it to an animal rescue site called PetsConnect Rescue. PetsConnect noticed that, and was so grateful for it that they even tweeted a thank-you at her. Since Fox is right-leaning, and also named after an animal (unless it was named for men s views of women as eye candy), that s punking a little hard. Animal rights and welfare do not matter to the right at all.Not only that, but on the chance that Fox stole her domain to needle her, and it wasn t an honest mistake, needling them back with a sharp pipe like this seems to be the most reasonable thing to do.Fox News is falling apart at the seams with all of the sexual harassment allegations being thrown at them, and also with Gretchen Carlson s $20 million settlement. The network also publicly apologized to her, and settled with a handful of other women as well.It also recently came out that they re guilty of hacking into the personal phones of journalists at other news outlets to find out who they were talking to. In short, Roger Ailes maintained one of the biggest tissues of lies ever: Running his network into the ground and calling it a success.The toilet is too lofty a place to describe the depths to which they have sunk.Van Susteren s website is Greta.com. Since it s her domain, it will go where she wants it to. That s her right, and Fox News can go suck it.Featured image by Nancy Ostertag/Getty Images
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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Thursday an Obama-era experimental defense outpost in Silicon Valley would grow in importance under the Trump administration and that the nation’s technology entrepreneurs were vital to national defense. Mattis paid his first official visit to the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Experimental Unit, or DIUx, in Mountain View, California, as part of a two-day outreach tour to the U.S. technology industry intended to highlight the Pentagon’s commitment to technology innovation. “There is no doubt in my mind that DIUx will not only continue to exist, it will actually grow in its influence and its impact on the Department of Defense,” Mattis told reporters during brief remarks at the DIUx facility. DIUx was set up two years ago by Mattis’ predecessor, Ash Carter. It serves as a Pentagon hub for attracting private-sector innovation to solve complex and technical military challenges. But DIUx has faced criticism from some Republican lawmakers who have questioned its value and organization. The program underwent an overhaul in May 2016, less than a year after launching. Since June of last year DIUx has awarded $100 million in contracts for 45 pilot projects in areas including artificial intelligence, autonomous machines and space. The unit currently has 48 staff and is expected to grow to about 75 by the end of 2018, said Sean Singleton, DIUx’s director of engagement. Mattis said DIUx would help the U.S. military become “more lethal and more capable of defending our experiment that is called the United States of America.” The unit’s leadership was reporting directly to his senior staff, Mattis said, adding that he expected DIUx would help the military incorporate advances in artificial intelligence taking place in Silicon Valley. The defense secretary’s visit came as the Trump administration has sparred with the technology industry on a host of issues, including immigration, climate change and privacy. Earlier on Thursday Mattis visited Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle. He was expected to visit Alphabet’s Google headquarters in Palo Alto, California, on Friday. “A pleasure to host #SecDef James Mattis at Amazon HQ in Seattle today,” Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos wrote on Twitter in a post that included a photo of him and Mattis smiling at one another.
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It was all an accident. It s good to King The Obama administration continues to ignore the law and do pretty much whatever the hell it wants.From The Hill:The government erroneously doled out about 2,000 expanded immigrant work permit authorizations under President Obama s controversial executive actions, even after a federal judge blocked the move, the Justice Department says. The Government sincerely regrets these circumstances and is taking immediate steps to remedy these erroneous three-year terms, the Department of Justice wrote in a court advisory filed late Thursday in the Southern District of Texas.The advisory comes after District Court Judge Andrew Hanen halted the implementation of the executive actions, which defer deportations for immigrants living in the U.S. illegally and provide them with expanded access to work permits, until the courts could decide whether the policies are constitutional.While the old policies authorize a two-year renewal of work permits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the new program would allow for a three-year renewal.The DOJ added in the advisory that the Department of Homeland Security is converting the three-year renewals into two-year terms and that DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson has asked the agency s inspector general to investigate.Oh good they re investigating, I m sure they ll be fair and honest, right? If we can t trust them to follow a judge s ruling then why should we trust them about any immigration policy they might seek in the future? This is just pathetic. And of course it s released on Friday afternoon, knowing that the complicit moron media will barely report it.Via: The Right Scoop
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RIYADH (Reuters) - Two Saudi guards were shot dead and three others injured on Saturday morning when a man drove up to the gate of the royal palace in Jeddah and began shooting, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by state news. Royal Guards killed the gunman, who was identified in the statement as Mansour al-Amri, a 28-year-old Saudi national. The attack occurred at a checkpoint outside the western gate to the Peace Palace in Jeddah, where the royal family conducts official business during the summer months. Saudi King Salman is currently outside the kingdom on a state visit to Russia. The statement did not elaborate on the whereabouts of his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, although recent state news reports have placed him in Jeddah. Security forces seized Kalashnikov rifles and petrol bombs that had been in Amri s possession. Amri did not have a criminal record or any known connection to extremist groups, said Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki, speaking by phone to al-Arabiya television. An investigation was underway to determine his motive for the attack, said Turki.
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Inside ‘Bill Clinton Inc.’: Hacked Memo Shows Intersection of Clinton Profits and Charity Posted on Oct 28, 2016
A 2011 memo from top Bill Clinton aide Douglas Band, published by WikiLeaks, details “a circle of enrichment in which [Band] raised money for the Clinton Foundation from top-tier corporations such as Dow Chemical and Coca-Cola that were clients of his firm, Teneo, while pressing many of those same donors to provide personal income to the former president,” reports The Washington Post.
The Post continues:
The system has drawn scrutiny from Republicans [and progressives], who say it allowed corporations and other wealthy supporters to pay for entree to a popular former president and a onetime secretary of state who is now the Democratic presidential nominee. …
The memo, made public Wednesday by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, lays out the aggressive strategy behind lining up the consulting contracts and paid speaking engagements for Bill Clinton that added tens of millions of dollars to the family’s fortune, including during the years that Hillary Clinton led the State Department. It describes how Band helped run what he called “Bill Clinton Inc.,” obtaining “in-kind services for the President and his family — for personal travel, hospitality, vacation and the like.”
Band grew close to Clinton during the ’90s as his personal aide in the White House and became “the architect of his post-presidential activities,” the Post reports. In the memo, Band argues that his work and the work of his firm benefited the former president and his family’s foundation:
“We have dedicated ourselves to helping the President secure and engage in for-profit activities,” Band wrote. He added that he had “sought to leverage my activities, including my partner role at Teneo, to support and to raise funds for the foundation.”
The Post continues:
Band’s memo provided data showing how much money each of Teneo’s 20 clients at the time had given to the Clinton Foundation, how much they had paid Bill Clinton and, in some cases, how he or Kelly had personally forged the relationships that resulted in the payments.
Band wrote that Teneo partners had raised in excess of $8 million for the foundation and $3 million in paid speaking fees for Bill Clinton. He said he had secured contracts for the former president that would pay out $66 million over the subsequent nine years if the deals remained in place.
For instance, Band wrote that Kelly arranged for the former president to meet the chief executive of Coca-Cola in January 2009 at the Clintons’ home in Washington. In all, according to Band’s memo, Coke had contributed $4.33 million to the foundation between 2004 and 2010. …
Band also described how Kelly helped expand a fruitful relationship with UBS Global Wealth Management, introducing Bill Clinton to a top executive at a 2009 charity dinner. In the ensuing years, UBS upped its giving to the foundation, signed on as a Teneo client and agreed to pay Bill Clinton for speeches, Band wrote.
Records show UBS paid Clinton about $2 million in speaking fees between 2011 and 2015 for a series of appearances, generally alongside former president George W. Bush. The company also paid Hillary Clinton $225,000 for a 2013 speech. …
Another achievement cited by Band: Laureate International Universities, a chain of for-profit international colleges, which donated to the foundation and agreed to pay Bill Clinton $3.5 million a year to serve as honorary chancellor.
Companies aligned with the Clinton Foundation paid several million dollars to Teneo for consulting services. The Post reports that a spike in payments from Dow “raised red flags for an internal company fraud investigator, who expressed alarm that it may be linked to Bill Clinton’s work with a charity founded by Liveris—a charge the company denied.” The investigator wrote: “It appears Dow is paying Teneo for connections with Clinton.”
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Tough talk from Washington does not solve problems says our Thug in Chief as he threatens Congress not to cross him on this dangerous Iran deal Here is why FOX News Britt Hume says Obama doesn t need to sell this Iran deal to Congress:
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What does it mean to “dress like a woman”? Social media users took it upon themselves to answer that very question in response to a report that President Trump wants women who work for him to look a certain way. The sentiment was anonymously cited in the new newsletter Axios from Mike Allen, a former Politico reporter. In response, Twitter erupted with a stream of photos showing women dressed for the jobs they hold and the lives they lead, as firefighters, soldiers, police officers and astronauts, to name a few. But while many of the tweets were aimed at rejecting the idea that women should be restricted to some narrow sartorial category, the “dress like a woman” phrase, as a hashtag, didn’t come directly from Mr. Trump. In his newsletter, Mr. Allen attributed the phrase this way: In an email on Friday afternoon, Mr. Allen declined to offer any further details. It’s clear that appearances matter to the president. Mr. Trump, the former owner of the Miss Universe Organization, has come under harsh criticism for rating women’s appearances on a scale of one to 10 and for hurling insults at female critics. As a candidate, he readily attacked when people commented on the size of his hands or on his hair. Like presidents past, Mr. Trump will most likely have some influence over style in the West Wing. The White House does not have an official dress code, according to its Press Office, but every administration has its own norms. For the past two decades, wardrobes have tended to be more relaxed in Democratic administrations. Under President Clinton, “aides frequently attended meetings in jeans and ” The New York Times reported in 2001. President George W. Bush restored formality to the West Wing, but President Obama was so relaxed that he broke with protocol, foregoing a suit jacket on his first full day in the Oval Office. If the pattern holds, dressing for work in the West Wing could become more formal under the Trump administration. Whether that means women would be required to “dress like women” remains to be seen.
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(Reuters) - A Spanish Constitutional Court ruling suspending a session of the Catalan parliament that planned to declare Catalonia s independence from Spain damages freedom of expression, the speaker of the region s parliament said on Thursday. But Carme Forcadell said the parliament had taken no decision yet on whether Monday s session would go ahead. The court s decision to suspend Monday s session before it had been formally convened harms freedom of expression and the right of initiative of members of this parliament and shows once more how the courts are being used to solve political problems, she told reporters.
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Share on Facebook Share on Twitter It’s no secret that a small group of elite people, many of whom own some of the largest corporations and banks in the world, controls our healthcare, political, food, and banking systems. The elite gained power by dictating and manipulating people’s beliefs, controlling their finances, and instilling fear within them. They have complete control over mainstream media, allowing them to fabricate stories and publicize “terrorist attacks” that are, too often, funded and/or facilitated by the state — otherwise known as false-flag terrorism . As more people continue to wake up to the “Matrix” we live in, we must ask ourselves: Will we stand by and continue to enable corruption, or will we stand up and change the system ourselves? Anonymous recently answered this question in a video, demanding for the public to take action and explaining how we can create sustainable change through a nonviolent revolution. advertisement - learn more Why We’re Ready For a Revolution For years, we’ve been watching the support system that holds the elite on their pedestal slowly break. More and more people are learning how this system works and seeing through the lies. The more awareness the public has, the less power the elite holds over them. In turn, the movement to take power away from the global elite is gaining momentum. More people are losing trust in mainstream media and faith in their government, especially since WikiLeaks exposed emails from political party members further proving that the U.S. elections are rigged . It’s clear that many of us want change; however, the difficulty lies in identifying what we want our current system to be changed to and how to do it effectively. In the past, many revolutions didn’t end with any sort of large-scale resolution because their end goals weren’t properly defined in the first place. Anonymous explains, “Revolutions begin with a NO and they end with a Yes. Revolutions begin when you say NO to those who claim to have power over you, and revolutions end when you accept a new status quo, a new normal, whether that new normal is an improvement or not.” To address this issue, Anonymous outlined their three-step process in designing a successful revolution, or what they refer to as “the conscious revolution paradigm.” The Conscious Revolution Paradigm In order for a revolution to be successful, it needs to be properly defined, strategically designed with multiple phases and specific goals, and well executed. Anonymous suggested implementing a three-phase revolution to take down the global elite. Phase one defines the collective’s interests and articulates them in a clear message, which Anonymous essentially just did. Delivered with a clear sense of urgency, the message declares that a revolution needs to take place to end the corruption of the global elite once and for all. Another crucial part of phase one is to expose the truth, undermine people’s belief systems, and inspire people to want change, all of which is still ongoing. Phase two involves creating a clear vision of the desired end goal, determining what will replace the current system. It’s important to note that this cannot be a “utopian fantasy”; we must recognize that there isn’t one right way to live on this planet. This revolution will not be about convincing the world that we need to accept one belief system, but rather that we can live harmoniously and peacefully with each other through a set of common principles. This must involve a leadership structure that is decentralized and non-hierarchal. We need to abandon the current “one at the top” presidential philosophy and implement a system where no one has more power than anyone else, representing true equality. This can be done through leaders who volunteer to stand beside us rather than get paid to stand ahead of us. The third phase would see us implement a plan of action and develop a clear understanding of the rules of engagement, which can only happen when we’re ready to transition from the old way of power to our new way of being. Nonviolence is clearly our best option to help facilitate this, not only since we are fighting for world peace, but also because we cannot beat the elite using violence when their strongest weapons include the military and finances. To watch Anonymous’ full message, check out the following YouTube video: What We Can Learn From This There is a significant shift in consciousness taking place on Earth right now. More people are starting to understand that we’re all connected to each other, ultimately raising the vibration of the collective. In order for a revolution to be successful, it must be founded in love. You literally cannot spell the word “rEVOLution” without love. In the past, revolutions haven’t been successful because they were fuelled by discontent and fear. The elite have shown us that fear is a dangerous force that should not be used as a tool for change. Instead of building fear in one another like the elite does, we should be inspiring each other to be passionate about creating positive change. We need complete unification in order for this to work and love is a fundamental part of that. Revolutions are almost entirely psychological in nature. If you can educate someone on what’s happening in the world and why we need the current system to change, then that’s one more person standing with us. Not only do you need to convince others of the urgent need for change, but you must convince yourself, too. You need to abandon the fear that change won’t happen and start believing that this movement will be successful — and it starts with you. Anyone can be a leader!
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
The Sacred Science follows eight people from around the world, with varying physical and psychological illnesses, as they embark on a one-month healing journey into the heart of the Amazon jungle.
You can watch this documentary film FREE for 10 days by clicking here.
"If “Survivor” was actually real and had stakes worth caring about, it would be what happens here, and “The Sacred Science” hopefully is merely one in a long line of exciting endeavors from this group." - Billy Okeefe, McClatchy Tribune
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has decided to scrap a program shielding from deportation immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children but will give Congress six months to craft legislation to replace it, sources familiar with the situation said. The president decided to delay enforcement of his decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, the two sources said on Sunday. One source cautioned that the president could change his mind. The decision to give Congress half a year to come up with a an alternative, first reported by Politico, represents a compromise of sorts after top Republicans and business leaders asked Trump to keep the program. DACA, an Obama administration policy, protects nearly 800,000 young men and women often called “Dreamers” from deportation and allows them to work legally. Dreamers are a fraction of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, most of them Hispanic. Trump as a candidate promised to deport all of them, but many Americans have rallied to support the young adults who have spent large parts of their lives in the United States. The decision, to be announced on Tuesday, will seek to placate both sides in the immigration debate at a time when the president is also grappling with North Korea’s nuclear program and Houston’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey. As a candidate, Trump pledged to immediately scrap the program but he ran into stiff opposition. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan urged Trump on Friday not to rescind the program and was joined by Senator Orrin Hatch, also a Republican. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Cuban-American Republican from Florida tweeted her dismay with the decision to scrap DACA: “After teasing #Dreamers for months with talk of his ‘great heart,’ @POTUS slams door on them. Some ‘heart’.” That said, Trump’s base will likely be far from happy about the president’s decision to leave open the option of a fix. Representative Steve King, a hawk on immigration and Iowa Republican, tweeted his opposition to the plan on Sunday night. Democrats, like Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, also wanted the program to continue. Franken called the reported decision a “disgrace.” Nancy Pelosi, the top House Democrat, last week asked Ryan to meet with Democratic lawmakers to discuss a “comprehensive legislative solution.” Leading business figures defended the Dreamers, including Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella and Facebook Inc (FB.O) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who signed a letter to the president outlining the economic contribution of Dreamers. Prior to the news of Trump’s action, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) CEO Tim Cook tweeted, “250 of my Apple coworkers are #Dreamers. I stand with them.” But U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin downplayed those warnings on Sunday, telling Fox News Sunday he was “less concerned about the economic impact.” Most of the Dreamers came from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America. More than 200,000 live in California, while 100,000 are in Texas. New York, Illinois and Florida also have large numbers. Congress under presidents of both parties has been unable to pass comprehensive immigration reform. What to do about Dreamers has been actively debated within the White House and Trump administration. One senior administration official described the debate as a “tug of war” between factions. DACA supporters argue that the people it protects grew up and are U.S. educated and integrated into American society, with little connection to the countries in which they are citizens. Opponents of the program argue that illegal immigrants take jobs from U.S. citizens.
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Top ISIS leader now believed to be the number two behind the terrorist organization, Amadh Abu Makmud Al-alwani, put up a video this week following the second presidential debate asking American Muslim voters to support Hillary Clinton.
The controversial video that was taken down by YouTube only hours after it was uploaded showed top ISIS leader Amadh Abu Makmud Al-alwani threatening those who would decide to vote for Donald Trump and calling them infidels and goat f-ers.
All Muslims who will show support for the dog-faced Trump are guilty of masiya (mortal sin)
ISIS No.2 leader, Amadh Abu Makmud Al-alwani
He also claimed that even if Hillary was a woman and a two face devil, had the charm of a pig and was treacherous as the snake, that the Democratic presidential hopeful was at least in league with the allied countries of the Islamic state such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Supporting the dog-faced Trump
Al-alwani also warned all Muslims not to take his warnings lightly and that supporters of Trump would be severely punished on earth and in Jannah (afterlife).
Trump is a dog, he is the scum of the earth. He boasts that he will take our oil and join Russia, Syria and the Shia Iranians against us in our holy fight he added, visibly angry.
This (dog-faced) scumbag must not reach Washington. Although it is a sin to put an inferior being such as a woman into a position of power, it is the true plan of Satan to divide the Muslims of America. It would be dirty and danis (filthy) to vote for Trump, he explained.
Amadh Abu Makmud Al-alwani has risen as a prominent ISIS leader figure since coalition forces carried out a precision strike last August, successfully targeting Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, number two of the terrorist organization at the time.
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Obama spoke to graduates of Howard University and managed to offend and confuse everyone with his jerky speech. He told these grads they re lucky among other things in this rant-filled lecture. No words just shock!
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‘If you build walls, forget about Italian money,’ Rome warns EU over migrant policy 09 Get short URL Hungarian army soldiers erect a fence on the border with Croatia near Sarok, Hungary, September 20, 2015. © Bernadett Szabo / Reuters If certain members of the European Union introduce borders to prevent the movement of asylum seekers, Italy is within its rights to withhold its funding to the EU budget, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has said.
"We give €20 billion to Europe and the EU gives us back 12, but if Hungary or Slovakia preach to us about migrants and don't give us a hand and then want our money,” then Italy can use its right of veto when discussing the budget in 2017, Renzi said , speaking to Italian RAI 1 TV on Tuesday.
He criticized the plan of some EU countries to shut the borders to prevent the inflow of migrants who mostly arrive in Italy first via the Mediterranean.
“If you [EU countries] build a wall, forget about Italian money,” he said, adding that if asylum seekers “don't go there [into other EU countries], the money won't go there either.” Read more 98% of Hungarians reject EU refugee quotas, but low turnout rules referendum invalid
Renzi commented on the recent incident in the small commune of Gorino in northern Italy, where local residents barricaded entrances to the town in protest at the arrival of migrant women and children.
“The story of… Gorino is a difficult matter to judge. On the one hand, a part of the population is very tired and concerned by reports of new [asylum seeker] arrivals. On the other hand, we are talking about 11 women and eight children [later it was reported that there were 12 women],” he said.
The incident in Gorino on Monday night saw protesters use planks of wood and iron bins to create road blocks at three entrances to the commune, while shouting anti-migrant slogans. The women were then relocated to neighboring towns and communes.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Italian Interior Ministry said that more than 153,000 asylum seekers had arrived in Italy since the start of 2016.
Over a million people, fleeing from wars in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, flooded Europe in 2015, causing the largest migrant crisis faced by the continent in decades.
Thousands of refugees arrive in Italy every month as they brave the dangerous boat trip across the Mediterranean from Libya, which has already led to hundreds drowning.
In September, Hungary sealed off its southern border with a wire fence to stop the flow of refugees. The measures were taken after the authorities estimated that as many as 1,500 illegal migrants had passed the Hungarian border every day, with most of them having taken the so-called Balkan route and moving on to Germany.
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COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Police on Wednesday identified a headless female torso washed ashore in Copenhagen as that of Swedish reporter Kim Wall, who they believe was killed by a Danish inventor on board his home-made submarine. Wall, who was researching a story on inventor Peter Madsen, went missing after he took her out to sea in his 17-metre (56-foot) submarine on Aug. 10. He denies killing her, saying she died in an accident. Announcing the results of tests on the torso, discovered by a passing cyclist on Monday, police spokesman Jens Moller said it had suffered damage suggesting an attempt to make sure air and gas inside should leave the body so that it would not rise from the seabed . He added: There was also some metal attached to the body, allegedly also to make sure the body would sink to the bottom. The arms, legs and head had been sawn from the body. Analysis showed a match with Wall s DNA, which the police had gathered from a toothbrush and a hairbrush, and with blood found in the submarine, Moller said. Police still do not know the cause of death, and divers are searching for more body parts. Madsen, 46, is charged with manslaughter, which carries a sentence of between five years and life in prison. His lawyer Betina Hald Engmark told Reuters he was maintaining his innocence and sticking to his account that Wall s death was accidental. The macabre case has riveted Swedish and Danish media, and made headlines around the world. It is with boundless sadness and dismay we received the message that the remains of our daughter and sister Kim Wall have been found, Wall s mother Ingrid Wall said on Facebook. During the horrendous days that have passed since Kim disappeared, we have received countless evidence of how loved and appreciated she was, both as a person and friend and as a professional journalist. From all corners of the world comes proof of Kim as a person who made a difference. Madsen has told a court that following the alleged accident, he buried Wall at sea - changing his initial statement to police that he dropped her off alive in Copenhagen. A day after taking Wall out on his UC3 Nautilus submarine, the inventor was rescued after the vessel sank. Police found nobody else on board. The submarine is one of three constructed by Madsen and one of the largest privately built ones in the world. It can carry eight people and weighs 40 tonnes when fully equipped. Madsen was already well known in Denmark as an entrepreneur and aerospace engineer, as well as for his submarines. He founded the association Copenhagen Suborbitals, with the goal of sending a person into space in a home-built rocket, and wrote a blog under the nickname Rocket Madsen . He is not violent, he does not drink, does not do drugs, Thomas Djursing, who wrote a book about him, told Danish tabloid B.T. earlier this month. On the other hand, he quarrels with everyone and I have argued with him too. But that is how it often is with people who are deeply driven by a passion. Wall, 30, was a freelance journalist whose work had appeared in Harper s Magazine, The Guardian, The New York Times, Foreign Policy, the South China Morning Post, The Atlantic and TIME. Originally from Sweden, she held degrees from New York s Columbia University and the London School of Economics and was based between New York and Beijing. She had written about topics ranging from gender and social justice to pop culture and foreign policy, according to her LinkedIn profile. She had also received training in hostile environments and emergency first-aid, she said on the profile. Her mother said she had uncovered stories all over the world. She gave a voice to the weak, the vulnerable and marginalized people. That voice would have been needed for a long, long time. Now it won t be so.
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(Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Friday that the federal government would provide more funding for Puerto Rico’s long-term rebuilding, although he did not say when that funding would be approved. “This isn’t the last aid package. This is the second in more to come,” Ryan told reporters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, adding later, “When we get that final analysis, the administration will submit yet again to Congress a request for another aid package to respond to these longer-term problems.” On Thursday, the House approved $36.5 billion in emergency relief for Puerto Rico and other areas hit by recent disasters. Senate approval is expected in coming weeks.
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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk suffered huge after he lit up the blogosphere by tweeting that former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson “has the potential to be an excellent Sec of State. ”[@TheEconomist This may sound surprising coming from me, but I agree with The Economist. Rex Tillerson has the potential to be an excellent Sec of State. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2017, Musk responded to the January 24 tweet by The Economist that Tillerson, as U. S. Secretary of State would have the “integrity to talk sense to his boss,” by supportively commenting, “This may sound surprising coming from me, but I agree with The Economist. Rex Tillerson has the potential to be an excellent Sec of State. ” The blogosphere exploded as the left’s social justice warriors lashed out at Musk with viciously colorful language that Musk was a fraud and a sellout to Trump and to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rumors also flew that Musk was angling for a new carbon tax in exchange for his support of Trump. The viral tech blog Gizmodo, in describing Musk as a “tycoon using his influence to innovate towards a future powered by clean energy and complete with human cities on Mars” ran an article about how shocking was that a disruptive tech entrepreneur like Musk could support a fossil fuel leader like Tillerson, who once described the concept of fully electric vehicles as a daunting pipe dream. Musk is one of the few Silicon Valley tech CEOs who normally avoids commenting on most political issues. That may be due to his masterful ability to amass of $13. 2 billion net worth, despite almost never actually making a profit in the companies that he operates. Arguably, Musk’s comparative business advantage over other CEOs has been his unrivaled ability to convince federal, state and local Democrat and Republican elected officials to provide a dizzying array of almost $5 billion in taxpayer subsidies so that Musk can pursue his adventures in space travel, solar panels and electric cars. Musk is fully aware that Tillerson is no neophyte rube in the technological and political controversies swirling around Climate Change. The Rockefeller Family Fund, formerly the dominant ExxonMobil shareholder, announced last year it would divest from fossil fuels and claimed that Exxon was misleading investors about the risks of climate change. Shortly thereafter, the Securities and Exchange Commission ruled that ExxonMobil was required to allow shareholders to vote on a climate change resolution. Silicon Valley, also referred to as the Valley of the Democrats, seemed stunned that Musk would respond positively to Tillerson. But Musk told to Bloomberg Tech’s Dana Hull that “Rex is an exceptionally competent executive, understands geopolitics and knows how to win for his team. His team is now the USA. ” Musk added that was a good reason to give Tillerson the “benefit of the doubt unless his actions prove otherwise. ” Musk, who once said Trump was “not the right guy” to be president of the United States, quickly triangulated after Trump’s election triumph to having himself named to the new president’s business advisory team. He was also one of the 13 tech executives — along with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Alphabet CEO Larry Page — to attend Trump’s forum at Trump Tower in . With the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for January 26 showing that President Trump has caught former President Obama at a 59% approval rating with likely U. S. voters, other Silicon Valley CEOs may find it in their business interest to join Musk in flouting the Silicon Valley political orthodoxy.
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LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has lost support of senior cabinet officials after it emerged he had business links to scandal-plagued Brazilian company Odebrecht, two government sources said on Thursday, amid opposition calls for him to resign. Cabinet members were shocked to learn on Wednesday about payments Odebrecht said it had made to a company controlled by Kuczynski, who had repeatedly denied having any ties to the construction firm, the sources said. Key ministers and lawmakers within Kuczynski s party want him to step down, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Kuczynski has denied any improper earnings and offered to explain the matter to Congress.
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Council President Donald Tusk warned on Tuesday that completing a Brexit treaty and agreeing on future relations with Britain would be a furious race against time where EU states would have to stick together to avoid economic disruption. Writing to national leaders ahead of a summit he will chair in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, Tusk noted his plan to seek their approval to launch a second phase of negotiations, on transition and future ties, after achieving sufficient progress last week and agreeing an outline of the divorce. The conclusion of the first phase of negotiations is moderate progress, since we only have 10 months left to determine the transition period and our future relations with the UK, Tusk wrote. This will be a furious race against time, where again our unity will be key. And the experience so far has shown that unity is a sine qua non of an orderly Brexit.
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Every single day, liberals provide more and more evidence that Donald Trump Derangement Syndrome is a real thing. After the treatment liberal Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz received from his leftist friends for defending the law, and in the process defending President Trump, will he ever be able to embrace the people he used to believe were tolerant and open-minded ? WFB Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Friday that he has lost seven pounds because his liberal friends have stopped inviting him to dinner parties for defending President Donald Trump against Democrats calling for him to be charged with obstruction of justice. Fox and Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked Dershowitz, a lifelong liberal who has donated thousands of dollars to Democrats, about liberals shunning him, noting that he usually agrees with liberals when he appears on the show. Well, I call it the Donald Trump diet, Dershowitz said with a smile. I ve lost seven pounds because my liberal friends have stopped inviting me to dinner parties. After four years, I ll be back to my high school weight. He added that many liberals do not want to understand his view and immediately accuse him of being on Trump s side.WATCH: I m on nobody s side. I m on the side of the rule of law, the Constitution, and the Constitution is clear [that if] a president exercises his constitutional authority by firing somebody or by pardoning somebody, that cannot be the basis for obstruction of justice, Dershowitz said. If he goes further and lies or tells his people to destroy evidence, of course, that s different. That s how [Richard] Nixon and [Bill] Clinton got in trouble, but President [Trump] cannot be charged with obstruction for simply exercising his Article 2 power under the Constitution. And that s the point of view you expressed on this program a couple of days ago, co-host Steve Doocy added. And then the president of the United States retweeted, Hey you should watch Alan Dershowitz on Fox and Friends make that case, but then your liberal friends, their heads started exploding, and I understand somebody even suggested that you re being paid off by the Trump people. Dershowitz mocked the idea that he is being paid off or that he wants to become a Supreme Court justice at the age of 79. He then mentioned that he also is being attacked for his article supporting Trump s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital. I m being criticized for that by people because that s what Trump said, and if Trump said it, that means Dershowitz can t say it because that means Dershowitz is on Trump s side, Dershowitz said. I m on the side of justice and fairness.
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Republican National Committee chairman and anthropomorphic weasel person, Reince Priebus, joined CNN for an interview where he tried to convince Alisyn Camerota that the RNC was in control of Trump and Republican voters. To say it was not convincing would be an understatement.Priebus actually thinks that the rest of America doesn t hear his entire party railing about how bad Trump is, and how his Fascistic platform will be the doom of the GOP. Priebus responded: I embrace all of these candidates There folks are competing to join us. They are competing to join the Republican Party as our nominee depending on what the delegates decide to do or who wins the requisite amount of delegates. In Cleveland, we re going to vote on the floor for who that nominee is. That nominee joins the Republican Party. That s what s happening.Priebus actually seems to think that trump is going to come to him, kiss his ring, and request his permission to be the nominee. While I can t read Trump s mind, I would bet hard cash that will never happen.Camerota pointed out that there is a huge amount of the Republican establishment that has been railing against Trump, and planning what are essentially anti-Trump firewalls to halt his juggernaut-like campaign and popularity. But you re making it sound simpler than, in fact, it is. Because as we have heard time and again over the past few weeks, there is a whole chunk of the Republican establishment that is not embracing Donald Trump. In fact, they re rejecting him. We have heard about all of the big donors, all of the Republican Party elders, all of the people in Congress who are basically saying anyone but Trump. Camerota piled on more, reading an editorial from the Washington Post that was critical of Priebus and his apparent cowardice to stand up to Trump and his hate-fueled campaign. The reaction from Priebus was simply priceless. I ve heard comebacks from 13-year-old schoolboys that were better.The best part of it, though, is watching Priebus have to try to respond to the attacks calling him a powerless leader without also insulting Trump. It would be painful to watch him tie himself in knots like this, except for the fact he s a Republican. That makes it just pure entertainment.Watch Reince Priebus get proven to be the most impotent and powerless RNC chairman ever below:Featured image via video screen capture
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This is a big deal and should be investigated. How did the TSA badges go missing? Senator Thune is right in pushing on this but who knows if they even have an answer for him Senator John Thune fired off a blistering letter to TSA officials demanding answers regarding missing, lost or stolen SIDA (Secured Identification Display Area) badges that can be used by employees to gain access to secure areas at airports. Clearly there are an awful lot of things falling through the cracks and there s just no room for an error when it comes to this issue. We need answers. They re not providing them. Thune, who chairs the Transportation Committee, said previous answers from the agency had actually raised more questions than answers. The concern follows reports that more than 270 badges went missing at the San Diego International Airport in the last two years and more than 1,400 badges missing from Atlanta s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.Many of the missing badges were not reported for weeks or months in hopes they would be turned it meaning they were not quickly deactivated. The information comes following an investigation by a an NBC affiliate in Dallas, TX. They also found reports of missing crew and pilot uniforms.When Atlanta reported the information to the TSA they said they never should have given out the information in the first place, but we ask, doesn t the public have a right to know?Read more: FOX News
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What a crazy group of professional agitators and political scumbags this has been REALLY entertaining and a bit creepy too
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How very charitable of the Lutheran and Catholic churches to bring tens of thousands of refugees to America, dump them off, and expect the American taxpayer to fund their existence Michigan Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence cheers the news that more money is coming to her district for illegal aliens magically transformed into refugees.What she won t understand until it is too late, is that the arrival of thousands of refugees in Michigan will squeeze Americans, especially the African Americans, at the bottom rung of the pay scale. Michigan is in the top five states receiving refugees and yet they are adding alien children into the mix.But, what the heck, even as states increase poverty, these church groups have to make a living!From the Detroit Free Press:WASHINGTON The Obama administration has awarded a Michigan social services group $2.2 million to house unaccompanied immigrant children, U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence announced today. US Rep Brenda Lawrence is happy that the Lutherans are flooding Michigan with refugees and alien children. It was not immediately known how many children would receive or had received residential services under the grant to Lutheran Social Services of Michigan or whether any other groups were receiving grants in the state as well.No surprise! No one will return calls!Calls and emails to Lutheran Social Services of Michigan and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, from the Free Press seeking more information were not immediately returned.According to data on the ORR s website, only 235 unaccompanied immigrant children had been placed in Michigan in the last two years, far less than the number placed in neighboring states including Ohio. [I wonder if the new grant is in anticipation of Michigan getting more of the UACs ed]Some 63,000 undocumented children have been placed throughout the U.S. in the last two years, the ORR s website said.In announcing the grant, Lawrence, D-Southfield, said the grant assists unaccompanied minors who seek relief from the violence and poverty that threatens their very existence in their home countries. They can hardly be described as being faith-based while living off of taxpayer boodle! Doesn t sound like Christian charity to me! Lutheran Social Services truly lives up to their faith-based mission statement to serve the people most in need of help and I am proud to see them receive this substantial federal grant, she said, adding that she believes it also time for Congress to address comprehensive immigration reform.Lutheran Social Services of Michigan is the largest refugee resettlement agency in the state, Lawrence said, providing thousands of families from dozens of countries.So, it is the Lutherans resettling most of the Muslim refugees to Michigan?Other of the nine major contractors are also busy overloading Michigan, go here to see the handy list of subcontractors/contractors working in Michigan and your state too!For new readers, for years we have covered the unaccompanied minors (one of the government s original names for the youths illegally crossing the border). Click here for all of our previous posts.The US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service were the two big dogs doing the resettlement of the children (Obama s new refugees) until two other federal contractors eclipsed them. Grant recipients Baptist Child and Family Services and Southwest Key Programs are now on the scene devouring federal cash as well.
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ORLANDO, Fla. — For years, sports teams have tried to defray the costs of their new stadiums by asking fans to pay thousands for personal seat licenses that entitle them to buy season tickets. Flávio Augusto da Silva is taking the concept further. In what may be the first deal of its kind, Mr. da Silva, the majority owner of Orlando City of Major League Soccer, is asking investors from Brazil, China and elsewhere to pay $500, 000 each for a stake in the stadium he is building near downtown Orlando. In return, the foreign investors receive annual dividends, two season tickets and something even more valuable: a green card that allows them, their spouses and sometimes even their children to live and work in the United States. The visa offer is legal, and it uses a federal program, known as that is under renewed scrutiny in Congress. Created in 1990, the program was intended to help pay for infrastructure projects in rural areas and poor urban neighborhoods. After bank lending dried up in the last recession, developers turned to the program to finance hotels, condominiums and other projects from Manhattan to Miami. As a result, the number of visas awarded grew to almost 9, 000 last year, from fewer than 100 in 2003. Mr. da Silva, though, is building a $156 million stadium, not a building or a shopping mall, and he is marketing to foreigners not because lending is tight, but because lawmakers in Florida would not provide subsidies for the stadium in the Parramore neighborhood of Orlando. “For us, it was a business decision,” said Mr. da Silva, who expects to raise about half the construction cost through the program. “There was already demand from people who want to move to the U. S. have a green card and have a good opportunity to participate in the growth of the club. ” Orlando City’s use of the visa program, which was criticized by a leading Republican in March as “riddled with corruption and national security vulnerabilities,” is a new approach for sports teams looking for ways to pay for stadiums without financial support from local communities, where officials are under pressure from voters opposed to using public money to help wealthy owners. financing helped pay for infrastructure work connected to Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but not for the arena itself. Developers previously tried to use the program to finance projects in California, Florida and elsewhere, but they hit roadblocks, including the unpredictable pace of getting investors approved for projects that often have to be opened on specific timelines. The Orlando project features a stadium, scheduled to open for the 2017 seasons of both Orlando City S. C. and the Orlando Pride, the women’s team that Mr. da Silva owns with his partner Phil Rawlins. Originally, the city and county agreed to subsidize the project. But when state lawmakers balked at approving a sales tax rebate, Mr. da Silva turned to the program, something Orlando’s mayor, Buddy Dyer, cheered. The team’s solution “ended up being a for everybody,” Mr. Dyer said in his office near the 10. building site, where the skeleton of the stadium is taking shape. “What I tell other mayors is that I’m the happiest mayor in America, and I go through the whole litany, including soccer. ” Mr. da Silva knew about the program because he obtained his own green card in 2009 by investing in a project in Vermont. While the strongest demand for visas is from China, Mr. da Silva, who made a fortune — his net worth was $444 million in 2014, according to Forbes Brasil — building a chain of schools in his native Brazil, decided to single out his countrymen. Brazilians are and some even follow Orlando City, whose games are broadcast in Brazil and who are led by Kaká, a World Cup winner for Brazil and a former world player of the year. Mr. da Silva’s sales pitch has benefited from several years of political and economic turmoil in Brazil, where some of the country’s elite are rushing to move money offshore. The club said it had already attracted 30 investors, bringing in $15 million, or 10 percent of the project’s cost. Mr. Rawlins, the team’s founder and president, said about $5 million in new commitments is secured each month. “I don’t know why people haven’t taken more advantage of it, because it’s a perfect thing when you’re building a stadium,” Mr. Rawlins said of the visa program. “The program is really about economic development. ” Mark Abbott, deputy commissioner of M. L. S. said the league had reviewed the financing proposal and found it “innovative. ” “The league doesn’t permit this type of financing for clubs,” Mr. Abbott said, “but for stadium projects, we thought it was appropriate. ” In addition to their stakes in the company that runs the stadium, investors in the project receive two club seats for 10 seasons. (The investors have no control over the team itself, which is part of a separate company.) But Mr. da Silva and others did not dispute that the visas were the real draw. Using the program, though, can be complicated because the construction site must be in an area with high unemployment. To qualify, boundaries are sometimes gerrymandered to create an economically challenged (but essentially manufactured) neighborhood. Developers also must spend millions of their own money to start the construction because it can take months and even years for the government to approve each visa. Visa applicants must pass a background check and prove that the project is viable and will create at least 10 jobs for each visa issued. The visas can be made permanent after a probationary period. Some financial advisers recommend that foreigners who are considering putting $500, 000 into a real estate project choose a hotel, mall or other more certain venture — anything but a sports stadium, whose main tenant could have unpredictable results. “When these guys win games and championships, great, but if they’re not, that cash flow could change,” said Michael Gibson, who helps foreigners invest in projects. “Why invest in that when you can invest in something steadier?” It is unclear how long other sports franchise owners will have the program as a financing option. It is facing new questions on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are trying to close loopholes that allowed money to be steered from projects in needy areas toward wealthier districts. Some projects have turned into boondoggles, producing little or no economic benefit. In other cases, foreign investors have accused developers of misspending their money and not paying promised returns. For now, opponents of the program have been unable to get the votes to overhaul or eliminate it, so other teams may be able to follow the path Orlando City has blazed. In M. L. S. alone, a group led by David Beckham, the former soccer star from England, has been trying to assemble a plan for a stadium in Miami, and the owners of teams in New York, Los Angeles and Washington are in various stages of the same process.
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Saudi Finance Minister Al Assaf Fired On Royal Orders Source: Zero Hedge
While mostly taking place behind the scenes, it has been a rather calamitous month for developments in Saudi Arabia: one day before the record, inaugural $17.5 billion Saudi bond priced, news broke that for the first time, a member of the Saudi Royal Family, had been executed for murder in what until then had been an unprecedented fall from grace for a member of the chosen royal elite.
The very next day, as virtually everyone in the bond market knows, Saudi Arabia priced a massively oversubcribed - the first of its kind - international bond issue , taking advantage of rising oil prices on the back of Saudi jawboning about an OPEC production freeze deal which now appears unreachable (oil is down 4% as of this moment). The deal was seen by most as a major success for the Kingdom, one whose proceeds the local authorities had started to spend just as soon as the wire transfers were executed to get thousands of government staffers back to work .
So it is perhaps quite surprising that less than 2 weeks after this historic bond sale, moments ago we learned thatthe long-serving Saudi finance minister had been relieved of his post on Royal orders .
As Al Jazeera reports, Saudi Arabia's King Salman Bin Abdulaziz issued a Royal decree to appoint Mohammed Al-Jadaan as the new finance minister on Monday to replace Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf.
Saudi Arabia's Finance Minister Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al Assaf speaks to the media
Jaddan had previously been the chairman of the Saudi Capital Market Authority . He replaces Ibrahim Alassaf, who has been appointed minister of state and a member of the council of ministers, according to the royal decree.
While details of the transition are scarce, and it is unclear how Al-Assaf displeased the Saudi King, this is further evidence that a major power struggle is taking place behind the scenes, and whereas the terminated finmin should have been commended for his bond sale, the fact that he is being punished suggests that there is significiant infighting in the royal family, which will likely result in even more financial and political fallout for Saudi Arabia in the coming year, especially if oil continues its recent decline.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said before a visit to India next week that the Trump administration wanted to “dramatically deepen” cooperation with New Delhi, seeing it as a key partner in the face of negative Chinese influence in Asia. Speaking on Wednesday, less than a month before President Donald Trump is due to make his first state visit to China, Tillerson said the United States had begun to discuss creating alternatives to Chinese infrastructure financing in Asia. In another comment likely to upset Beijing, he said Washington saw room to invite others, including Australia, to join U.S.-India-Japan security cooperation, something Beijing has opposed as an attempt by democracies to gang up on it. The remarks coincide with the start of a week-long Chinese Communist Party congress at which President Xi Jinping is seeking to further consolidate his power. “The United States seeks constructive relations with China, but we will not shrink from China’s challenges to the rules-based order and where China subverts the sovereignty of neighboring countries and disadvantages the U.S. and our friends,” Tillerson told the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. “India and the United States should be in the business of equipping other countries to defend their sovereignty, build greater connectivity, and have a louder voice in a regional architecture that promotes their interests and develops their economies,” Tillerson added. The U.S. decision to expand relations with India almost certainly will upset India’s rival, Pakistan, where Tillerson also will stop next week, said a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Pakistan was the main U.S. ally in South Asia for decades, but U.S. officials are frustrated with what they charge has been Pakistan’s failure to cut support for the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, where the administration wants India to play a bigger role in economic development. As part of a South Asia strategy unveiled by Trump in August, Tillerson is expected to press Islamabad, which denies aiding the Taliban, to take stronger steps against extremists and allied groups and intensify efforts to pressure them to agree to peace talks with Kabul. “We expect Pakistan to take decisive action against terrorist groups based there that threaten its own people and the broader region,” Tillerson said. Trump has threatened further cuts in U.S. aid to Pakistan if it fails to cooperate. China, a strategic rival to the United States and India, is also vital to Trump’s efforts to roll back North Korea’s efforts to create nuclear-armed missiles capable of reaching the United States, an issue expected to top the agenda in Trump’s Nov. 8-10 Beijing visit. A senior State Department official defended the timing of the speech, saying Tillerson also said he wanted a constructive relationship with China. “For many decades the United States has supported China’s rise,” said the official. “We’ve also supported India’s rise. But those two countries have risen very differently.” In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China hoped the United States could abandon bias when viewing its actions overseas. “China will never develop itself at the expense of other countries,” Lu told a regular briefing on Thursday. “At the same time we will never give up our justly deserved rights and interests.” Healthy relations between China and the United States are good for the people of both countries and are expected by the Asia-Pacific region, he added. Tillerson did not say what he meant by creating an alternative to Chinese infrastructure financing, but said the Trump administration had begun a “quiet conversation” with some emerging East Asian democracies at a summit in August. He said Chinese financing was saddling countries with “enormous” debts and failing to create jobs. “We think it’s important that we begin to develop some means of countering that with alternative financing measures.” “We will not be able to compete with the kind of terms that China offers, but countries have to decide what are they willing to pay to secure their sovereignty and their future control of their economies and we’ve had those discussions with them as well,” he said.
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s defense ministry said on Thursday long-range bombers had carried out air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria s Deir al-Zor province, the RIA news agency reported.
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Every time Donald Trump tries to walk back his punishment comments on abortion, he only manages to become even more offensive and misogynistic.In a recent New York Times interview with reporter Robert Draper, Trump made yet another pathetic attempt to clarify the disgusting comments he made during an interview with MSNBC s Chris Matthews in March, where he stated that women should get some form of punishment for seeking an abortion. Trump originally tried to correct his comments shortly after by saying only doctors who perform illegal abortions should face criminal charges which was still a very anti-woman stance to take. Now, Trump has made another attempt to defend his comments and it s just as bad. Trump said: I didn t mean punishment for women like prison. I m saying women punish themselves. I didn t want people to think in terms of prison punishment. And because of that I walked it back. TwitterBut it turns out, every time Trump walks his comments back, it s only because he s receiving backlash and he wants to do damage control he s not really sorry at all. Draper investigated Trump s claims that he hadn t meant that women should be punished, and discovered that the presumptive Republican nominee was lying through his teeth. Draper reported that Trump initially saw nothing wrong with his remark and refused to walk it back before giving a statement. It wasn t until numerous media outlets swarmed him that Trump tried to soften the blow with another statement that said the exact opposite. Those two contradictory statements were released approximately an hour apart but that s nothing new for the dishonest, constantly contradicting and flip-flopping candidate.You can watch Trump s original punishment comments below and see for yourself that Trump s claim that it was a misinterpretation is complete bullsh*t. This is a guy who clearly hates women, and will be a major threat to their health, safety and future if he gets the White House.To prove just how crazy Trump is, in the same Times interview, Trump insisted he would do better on women s issues than Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton and everybody else combined. He said, Frankly, for the general election I think that s a very good issue for me. Trump still remains completely oblivious that almost three quarters of American women hate his guts. And of course, shaming and telling them that they should punish themselves for having an abortion isn t going to help.Featured image via Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / Getty Images
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Alexandra Bruce – Celebrated author Graham Hancock explains why Atlantis existed.
Hancock specializes in theories involving ancient civilizations, stone monuments or megaliths, altered states of consciousness, ancient myths and astronomical/astrological data from the past… SF Source Forbidden Knowledge TV
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A clueless CNN reporter trying to interview a cold and hungry woman with her children is oblivious to the fact that this woman and her kids need help STAT!Unreal! What the f*ck CNN! We couldn t agree more! This is epic and will probably be pulled so watch while you can!"What the f**k," @CNN? pic.twitter.com/oPGzVg2zNv The Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 29, 2017This lady was saying what we all think when the idiotic reporters try and corner someone right after a disaster. Can you believe how Jim Acosta plays it off? Sounds like you ve got a very upset lady right there What in the world!This poor lady was stranded for days with young children not knowing if she would be rescued.
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FBI agents say the bureau is alarmed over Director James Comey s decision to not suggest that the Justice Department prosecute Hillary Clinton over her mishandling of classified information.According to an interview transcript given to The Daily Caller, provided by an intermediary who spoke to two federal agents with the bureau last Friday, agents are frustrated by Comey s leadership. This is a textbook case where a grand jury should have been convened, but was not. That is appalling, an FBI special agent who has worked public corruption and criminal cases said of the decision. We talk about it in the office and don t know how Comey can keep going. The agent was also surprised that the bureau did not bother to search Clinton s house during the investigation. We didn t search their house. We always search the house. The search should not just have been for private electronics, which contained classified material, but even for printouts of such material, he said. There should have been a complete search of their residence, the agent pointed out. That the FBI did not seize devices is unbelievable. The FBI even seizes devices that have been set on fire. Another special agent for the bureau who worked counter-terrorism and criminal cases said he is offended by Comey s saying: we and I ve been an investigator. After graduating from law school, Comey became a law clerk to a U.S. District Judge in Manhattan and later became an associate in a law firm in the city. After becoming a U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, Comey s career moved through the U.S. Attorney s Office until he became Deputy Attorney General during the George W. Bush administration.After Bush left office, Comey entered the private sector and became general counsel and Senior Vice President for Lockheed Martin, among other private sector posts. President Barack Obama appointed him to FBI director in 2013 replacing out going-director Robert Mueller. Comey was never an investigator or special agent. The special agents are trained investigators and they are insulted that Comey included them in collective we statements in his testimony to imply that the SAs agreed that there was nothing there to prosecute, the second agent said. All the trained investigators agree that there is a lot to prosecuted but he stood in the way. He added, The idea that [the Clinton/e-mail case] didn t go to a grand jury is ridiculous. According to Washington D.C. attorney Joe DiGenova, more FBI agents will be talking about the problems at bureau and specifically the handling of the Clinton case by Comey when Congress comes back into session and decides to force them to testify by subpoena.DiGenova told WMAL radio s Drive at Five last week, People are starting to talk. They re calling their former friends outside the bureau asking for help. We were asked today to provide legal representation to people inside the bureau and agreed to do so and to former agents who want to come forward and talk. Comey thought this was going to go away. Read more: Daily Caller
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Apparently it takes just one American student to destroy the unity in North Korea:North Korea has detained a U.S. university student, the third western citizen known to be held in the isolated state, for committing a hostile act and wanting to destroy the country s unity , it said on Friday.and was detained at Pyongyang airport on Jan. 2 ahead of a flight back to China, said Gareth Johnson of Young Pioneer Tours, which organized the visit.According to the North s official KCNA news agency, Warmbier entered North Korea as a tourist and was caught committing a hostile act against the state , which it said was tolerated and manipulated by the U.S. government .ADVERTISINGAn official at the U.S. embassy in the South Korean capital Seoul said it was aware of the reported arrest. The U.S. State Department in Washington had no immediate comment.Johnson said China-based Young Pioneer Tours was in contact with Warmbier s family and U.S. officials. We are in touch with Otto s family, the U.S. State Department and the Embassy of Sweden in Pyongyang and doing all we can to secure his release, Johnson told Reuters.The Swedish Embassy represents U.S. interests in North Korea.KCNA said Warmbier had entered the country with an aim to destroy the country s unity . It did not elaborate.Via: Reuters
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The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS. The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy. @realDonaldTrump : - Based on the fact that the very unfair and unpopular Individual Mandate has been terminated as part of our Tax Cut Bill, which essentially Repeals (over time) ObamaCare, the Democrats & Republicans will eventually come together and develop a great new HealthCare plan! [0658 EST] - WOW, @foxandfrlends “Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED.” And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign! [0824 EST] - All signs are that business is looking really good for next year, only to be helped further by our Tax Cut Bill. Will be a great year for Companies and JOBS! Stock Market is poised for another year of SUCCESS! [17:17 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR)
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Roy Moore s attorney just called political hack Don Lemon a funny name on air. The CNN host was not pleased with the attorney s quip of Don Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Roy Moore attorney calls CNN host 'Don Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy' pic.twitter.com/dDyvj81xnO Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) November 12, 2017THE CHARACTER ASSASSINATION OF REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE ROY MOORE CONTINUES Infowars uncovered a bombshell when they discovered the Facebook page of one of Judge Roy Moore s accusers, Debbie Gibson, who came out in a Washington Post article to accuse him of sexual misconduct that allegedly took place 36 years ago.Debbie Wesson Gibson says that she was 17 in the spring of 1981 when Moore spoke to her Etowah High School civics class about serving as the assistant district attorney. She says that when he asked her out, she asked her mother what she would say if she wanted to date a 34-year-old man. Gibson says her mother asked her who the man was, and when Gibson said Roy Moore, her mother said, I d say you were the luckiest girl in the world. Among locals in Gadsden, a town of about 47,000 back then, Moore had this godlike, almost deity status he was a hometown boy made good, Gibson says, West Point and so forth. Gibson says that they dated for two to three months, and that he took her to his house, read her poetry and played his guitar. She says he kissed her once in his bedroom and once by the pool at a local country club. Looking back, I m glad nothing bad happened, says Gibson, who now lives in Florida. As a mother of daughters, I realize that our age difference at that time made our dating inappropriate. Debbie Gibson hates Donald Trump, but that s not all, she s pretty fond of Judge Roy Moore s opponent, Doug Ross for US Senate In Alabama as well Here are a few anti-Trump posts that were found on Gibson s Facebook page: One of senatorial candidate Roy Moore s accusers is apparently a fervent Democrat who has worked for the DNC as a sign language interpreter for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, a revelation which the Washington Post never included in its original report.The accuser, Debbie Gibson, had also publically supported Moore s opponent Doug Jones before the accusations came to light.Gibson openly bragged about signing for Hillary during a campaign appearance. On a side note, we re not sure who she s signing for. The crowd behind Hillary, that is usually packed with the Democrats hand-picked diverse crowd, appears to be pretty thin.Here s a post from Gibson s page proving that she s supporting Judge Roy Moore s Democrat opponent for US Senate:She even posted a video of Moore s opponent, Doug Jones to promote him to her friends on Facebook. The screenshot below shows the post on her page. Interestingly, when attacking Moore ally Steve Bannon for suggesting the Washington Post was politically motivated in its reporting, the newspaper implied that Gibson wasn t down with Democratic propaganda, a statement which seemingly conflicts with Gibson s political activism:That s not what the photos say The Washington Post reported: According to campaign reports, none of the women has donated to or worked for Moore s Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, or his rivals in the Republican primary But notice the precise wording; it s lawyer-speak. It might very well be true that Gibson didn t donate or work for Doug Jones, but according to her Facebook profile, she did actively campaign for him, which doesn t help her credibility and it should have been reported yet the Washington Post conveniently left it out.
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Media Outlets Pledge Evenhanded Criticism Of Trump, Clinton Over Next 4 Years Close Vol 52 Issue 44 · Politics · News Media · Hillary Clinton · Donald Trump
NEW YORK—Declaring that they would work tirelessly to hold both figures to account, the nation’s media outlets pledged Thursday that they would not relent in providing evenhanded criticism of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton over the next four years. “We want to assure the American people that throughout the forthcoming presidential term, we will, with equal rigor, hold both Trump’s and Clinton’s feet to the fire on the issues that matter most,” said CNN president Jeff Zucker, who echoed official statements made by every other cable, print, and online news source across the country by affirming that it was the responsibility of the press to ensure both individuals were made to answer for their misdeeds during the next administration. “While we vow to carefully monitor the decisions and actions of the nation’s next president and expose his and his cabinet’s failings wherever they appear, we also make a solemn promise to provide a balanced critique by refusing to ever let Clinton off the hook. The nation can continue to count on us for fair, equitable reporting on the most important political developments.” At press time, members of the media were already diligently researching what effect Clinton’s email scandal might have on Trump’s foreign policy. Share This Story: WATCH VIDEO FROM THE ONION Sign up For The Onion's Newsletter
Give your spam filter something to do. Daily Headlines
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BNI Store Nov 2 2016 IN BRITAIN, Paki Muslim sex traffickers who rape and pimp out young white children go free but Christians who throw bacon at a mosque get thrown in jail Two British men have been jailed for going to a mosque and throwing bacon at a Muslim man in what the sharia-compliant British officials call a ‘callous hate crime.’ There you go, Londoners, keep on electing Muslim politicians and soon you’ll be stoned to death for insulting Islam. Metro Piotr Czak-Zukowski was found with an empty packet of bacon in his pocket when he was searched by police officers after the incident. He and Mateusz Pawlikowski had confronted worshippers at the Al-Rahman Mosque in Crowndale Road, Kings Cross, north London on October 2. BACON BANDITS Mateusz Pawlikowski and Piotr Czak-Zukowski Pawlikowski, 22, of Wilton Road, in Muswell Hill, north London, swore at a man and threw a rasher of bacon towards him, and chucked more bacon on the floor of the prayer room. The pair fled but Pawlikowski was detained near the mosque and Czak-Zukowski, 28, of Sneath Avenue, in Brent Cross, north London, was found at Camden Lock. Both men admitted criminal damage and a religiously aggravated public order offence last month. They were jailed for eight months at Blackfriars Crown Court. DC Tracey McMath, from the Camden Community Safety Unit, said: ‘The defendants showed a complete disregard for the faith and belief of others in this callous and highly offensive incident; and I hope their convictions highlight that we will not tolerate hate crime in any form.
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A Princeton professor gives viewers of FOX News a shocking demonstration that proves how easily voter fraud is committed with electronic voter machines.Watch here:
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