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Donald Trump is literally scaring Holocaust survivors who are watching history repeat itself.There s a reason why the Bellamy Salute was abandoned by Americans in the 1940s. Fifty years after the salute was first used to pledge allegiance to the flag, Congress changed it because it had been adopted by the Nazis as a salute of allegiance to Adolf Hitler.As we all know, Hitler tried to exterminate the Jews by placing them in concentration camps such as Auschwitz, resulting in the mass murder of six million Jews during what became known as the Holocaust.If anyone knows what Nazi Germany and Hitler was like, it s Holocaust survivors, of which there only only a few hundred left.Abraham Foxman is one of those survivors. Though only a child at the time, Foxman was saved by his Catholic nanny. His parents, however, were forced to live in a ghetto. After being returned to his parents in 1944, Foxman and his parents came to the United States in 1950 to start fresh far away from war-torn Europe.But Foxman fears the United States is beginning to look a lot like Nazi Germany and it s mainly because of Donald Trump.After witnessing Trump call for thousands of supporters to raise their right hands to pledge allegiance to him during a recent rally in Florida, Foxman, the former head of the Anti-Defamation League, told the Times of Israel that the event disturbed him because it eerily reminded him of the Third Reich. As a Jew who survived the Holocaust, to see an audience of thousands of people raising their hands in what looks like the Heil Hitler salute is about as offensive, obnoxious and disgusting as anything I thought I would ever witness in the United States of America. We ve seen this sort of thing at rallies of neo-Nazis. We ve seen it at rallies of white supremacists. But to see it at a rally for a legitimate candidate for the presidency of the United States is outrageous. Foxman then discussed what Trump said after asking his audience to raise their hands. Don t forget you all raised your hands, Trump said. You swore. Bad things happen if you don t live up to what you just did. It is a fascist gesture, Foxman said. He is smart enough he always tells us how smart he is to know the images that this evokes. Instead of asking his audience to pledge allegiance to the United States of America, which in itself would be a little bizarre, he s asking them to swear allegiance to him. He even threatens that if they don t, they will suffer and be punished. This is so over the top for a man who really doesn t come out of the underground. He is a man of the world. Even though he proclaims he doesn t know who David Duke was, or the other white supremacists, we know very well that he knows. So he s playing to an image. But despite his obscene extremism, which would have immediately disqualified candidates in the past, Trump is riding this wave of hate all the way to the Republican nomination. And the GOP establishment is so afraid of him actually being their nominee that there is talk of replacing Trump with someone else during the convention in July.As for Foxman, he is genuinely frightened of the possibility that right-wing extremism will keep growing and carry Trump to the White House. You can find some authoritarian, semi-fascist tinges in Southern politics during the segregationist era. But there s never been anything like this, and nothing on this scale. I am a Holocaust survivor and this made me quiver. What scares me is he s broken all these taboos and it s helped him. That frightens me. It frightens me that there are all these things that we ve worked so hard on, but one after another he breaks these taboos and the people applaud him and come back for more. Americans need to start taking this election seriously, because if Holocaust survivors are being reminded of one of the greatest evils this world has ever witnessed because of Trump s campaign to be the most powerful person on this Earth, we should be scared of him, too. It s time to wake up and end this nightmare.Featured Image: Twitter | 0 |
KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - The governorate of Kirkuk declared an overnight curfew in the Iraqi oil city as tension simmered following a referendum on independence organized by the local Kurdish authorities but rejected by the central government in Baghdad. The curfew was announced in statement from the Kurdish-led governorate of the northern Iraqi city. Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani s decision to include Kirkuk in a referendum on independence from Iraq was widely seen by the Arab and Turkmen communities as a move to consolidate Kurdish control over the multi-ethnic city. | 0 |
As white supremacists whine about Donald Trump s flip-flop on immigration, someone kindly created a video of Adolf Hitler going batshit crazy about it.During an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, who has become the Republican nominee s chief propagandist, Trump backed away from his core promise to round up and deport 11 million undocumented immigrants.Of course, all of the racists who support Trump s campaign immediately lost their small minds, with some even going so far as to threaten Trump if he doesn t keep his original promise.Ann Coulter even threw a fit about it and complained that Trump is talking about amnesty. So it looks like Coulter and the rest of Trump s hardcore supporters have lost a little trust in their candidate, which is hysterical since Coulter s new book is titled In Trump We Trust.To mock Trump s supporters, RINO Pundit used the Hitler biopic film Downfall and changed all of the subtitles to show the Nazi leader furiously throwing a temper tantrum over Trump s new immigration flap. Hannity, Coulter, Reince Priebus, Chris Christie, and Matt Drudge are all not spared from Hitler s wrath in this hilarious video.It begins with one of Hitler s advisers telling him that Trump could get through a full week without committing a gaffe since Coulter is starting her book tour.Hitler is relieved that Trump may finally be in the clear as long as he doesn t pivot on immigration too drastically. Then he is told of Trump s Hannity interview. Trump went full-blown amnesty on a Hannity special, an adviser reluctantly informs the Fuhrer.Then the fun begins as Hitler asks everyone who predicted that Trump would flip-flop to leave the room. All but five leave. Hitler then loses his shit and just about every major Trump supporter gets mocked.Here s the video via YouTube.This is going to make every white supremacist in America throw a hissy fit. So thank you, RINO Pundit. We salute you.Featured image via screen capture | 0 |
The Crucial Thing We Forget When We Go Crazy Debating About Trump Nov 12, 2016 1 0 This election sure has created quite the ripple effect of intense emotions, division and polarized opinions. Since Trump won, all I see are people angrily debating about whether or not he is a good guy, and whether or not he can “make America great again”. But while we all sit behind our computers and drive ourselves crazy trying to convince others of our stance or spend hours of research trying to find the truth… it’s easy to forget about the basics. The basics that, I believe, are the KEY to real and lasting change. I think the world needs this message big time. Share far and wide if you agree! | 1 |
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland did not pay a ransom for the release of a Finnish aid worker kidnapped in Afghanistan, the Nordic country s foreign minister said on Thursday. Finland has not paid, and will not pay ransom in the future. If we did, we would only encourage further kidnappings, Foreign Minister Timo Soini told a news conference via videolink from Washington. The ministry confirmed earlier on Thursday that the Finnish woman, who was abducted in May and held captive for 118 days, had been released. She was working for a Swedish aid group in Kabul and during her abduction a German colleague and their Afghan guard were killed. The foreign ministry gave no further details about the kidnapping or the release, but said the woman was in Afghanistan and in good condition in light of the circumstances . Kidnapping is a longstanding problem in Afghanistan, mainly affecting Afghans abducted for ransom. However foreigners have also regularly been targeted, either for ransom or to put pressure on their governments. | 1 |
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State will be completely defeated in Iraq this year, Iraqi state television quoted Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi as saying on Tuesday. Islamic State s cross-border caliphate effectively collapsed in July, when U.S.-backed Iraqi forces captured Mosul, the group s de facto capital in Iraq, after a nine-month battle. The group s last territory in Iraq is now a stretch skirting the western border with Syria following the fall of the town of Hawija and surrounding areas on Oct. 5 in an offensive by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces. | 0 |
X Dear Reader! VDARE.com isn’t just a website. We are the voice of the Historic American Nation . Our goal is nothing less than to develop a full spectrum media network to speak up for our people during this difficult time for our country. Part of that means building institutions which are offline and in the real world. There’s something about a paper journal that suggests permanence, which inclines people to take it more seriously. And because the news cycle is so fast, some of the most important, substantial, and potentially influential writings fall through the cracks and don’t get the attention they deserve. For that reason, we’re proud to announce the creation of VDARE QUARTERLY, a print journal featuring the best material from our webzine. This will replace our yearly anthologies and ensure that the information and analysis you really don't want to miss will get in front of you as quickly as possible. However, we need your help. For us to unveil this exciting new product we need 600 magazines ordered to cover the print expenses. Fill out the form below to instantly receive a digital copy of VDARE QUARTERLY, and when we have the number of necessary subscribers it will go to print and your exclusive paper copy will ship directly to you! Depending on the package you choose, you will receive multiple paper copies (provided enough readers support the community effort). We encourage you to pass these around – they serve as an excellent gift for friends and family, while at the same time helping to build our community. VDARE QUARTERLY is aesthetically pleasing as well as ideologically powerful. But this isn’t just a service we are providing. VDARE QUARTERLY is a tangible manifestation of your investment in us, and in our country. A subscription is one of the most effective ways you can help us build our media network, expand our influence, and build the kind of movement we will need to take back our country and ensure our children have a recognizable America.
We count on your support! Yours sincerely, Peter Brimelow, Editor of VDARE.com VDARE QUARTERLY countdown: 167 already ordered, 433 still to go | 1 |
This Little Girl’s Mind-Blowing Protest Speech Is Everything Her Mother Told Her to Say Womanspiration - Nov 3, 2016 By: Editor SHARE:
Seven-year-old Candace Bailey wowed everyone in the room when she gave a mind-blowing protest speech about climate change, just like her mother coached her to do.
Little Candace addressed the New Mexico state legislature with an impassioned speech about the need for clean energy and a collective effort to reduce the effects of human consumption on the planet. Good job Candace—and good job, Candace’s mom, for telling her exactly what to say!
Witnesses were impressed by the maturity of the local second grader and her ability to sound out big words.
“I couldn’t believe she was able to memorize all that,” witness Anna Hines says. “It didn’t really change my mind, but she was so adorable up there on that podium!”
Candace reportedly spoke about her own challenges, like turning the water off while she’s brushing her teeth, as well as the future world she hopes to live in.
“When I grow up, I hope to live in a world where we can reduce carbon emissions and be a model for the rest of the world,” the seven-year-old said, inspiring the room with the beautiful words her mother wrote for her.
“Her speech gave us all a lot to think about,” one state representative says. “Namely, how hard the mother must have worked to make this all happen.”
“Does this kid even understand what a carbon emission is?” she added. Probably not!
“I could see her mother sort of mouthing along the words as Candace was speaking,” friend of the family June Gordon says. “I don’t know why Breanne didn’t just speak herself. It would have been less jarring, that’s for sure.”
Though Candace’s mother’s involvement is clear, the young girl is proud about standing up in public about climate change.
“I hope the state legislature will listen to me, since I am the future,” Candace says. “Mom, did I say that right?” SHARE: | 1 |
Tweet Home » Gold » Gold News » Here’s PROOF The Gold Price is Based On Cost, Not Supply and Demand
Gold’s true value is not based on its cost of production, but rather it’s high-quality store of value as a basis of money in the global economy. The reason the value of gold will skyrocket going forward is quite simple:
From SRSRocco :
The notion that the gold price is based on the economics of “Supply & Demand” turns out to be incorrect as the cost of production is the leading factor. This is also true for most commodities and energy.
Unfortunately, economists and most analysts in the precious metals community will continue to believe that the economic principle of supply and demand determines price. If we look at the data provided in this article, the individual will see how closely related the cost of gold production is to the spot price.
That being said, the information in this article is only to show the “commodity pricing mechanism” of gold, not its true store of value. There’s a big difference which 99% in the Mainstream media do not understand… and probably a good percentage in the precious metals community as well. Top Two Gold Miners Cost Of Production vs. The Gold Price
I decided to take the data from the top two gold miners, Barrick and Newmont, for this exercise as they are the largest two gold producers in the world. Yes, I could have spent several days compiling data from the top 20 gold miners, but I don’t have the luxury of being paid by a financial institution for my analysis. Regardless, Barrick and Newmont provide a good representation of the cost of producing gold in the entire industry.
According to my “Adjusted Income Approach” in determining the full cost of production, I constructed the chart below. One thing that is not included in the adjusted income approach is dividend payouts. I included this in my total cost per ounce for Barrick and Newmont:
Here we can see that as the price of gold increased over the past 15 years, so did the cost of production for these top two gold miners. In 2000, the total average cost to produce gold for Barrick and Newmont was $243 versus the spot price of $279. Thus, the average profit margin was 13% for these gold mining companies that year.
As the average price of gold surged to a record $1,669 in 2012, the average cost to produce the yellow metal for Barrick and Newmont increased to $1,386 . Yes, it’s true that these two gold miners enjoyed a 17% profit margin that year, but what is wrong with that?? Companies must have profits so they can pay for new projects, shareholder dividends or surplus cash for lean years when losses are incurred.
If we compare the increase in the gold price from 2000 to 2012 versus the cost of production, we will see a very interesting similar trend:
Gold Price Increase vs Cost Of Production 2000-2012
Gold Price Increase 2000 – 2012 = 498%
Gold Cost Increase 2000 – 2012 = 470%
While the average gold spot price increased 498% from 2000-2012, the cost of production for Barrick and Newmont jumped 470%. To put it another way, the difference between the increased cost of production (470%) and the average spot price (498%) in the 2000-2012 time period, was a lousy 6%.
Does the gold mining industry deserve a paltry 6% profit margin over that time period?? Which means… the economists can throw out the window the worthless principle of supply and demand.
So, why did the cost of gold production increase so much since 2000?? Could it have anything to do with the increased cost of energy?? Well, yes it did. I wrote about this in my previous article, Why Most Analysts’s Gold & Silver Forecasts Are Wrong .
In the article, I show how the price of a barrel of oil increased from $20 in 2000 to $112 in 2012. Thus, the gold cost of production increased nearly five times on the back of a five times increase in the price of oil during that time period.
Now, if we look at the data for 2015, the top two gold miners profit margin fell to 3.8% as their cost per ounce was $1,116 compared to the $1,160 spot price. The reason the cost of production declined in 2015 versus 2012, was due to the oil price (as well as other energy inputs) falling more than 50%.
Okay, I imagine many reading this article would wonder why I have stated that the gold price will skyrocket in the future as the price of oil collapses towards $12 by 2020. This doesn’t make sense because a lower energy price would also dictate a lower cost of production… hence the gold spot price will fall as well.
As I stated in the beginning of the article, this information only pertains to the “commodity pricing mechanism” of gold, not is true “high-quality store of value.” Gold or silver (to a lesser extent) are not commodities, rather they function as money or stores of wealth. There is a much different way to attribute value to these precious metals than their cost of production. I will touch on that at the end of the article, but there is more information about the cost of gold production we need to understand first. Gold Cost Of Production Understated Due To Massive Share Dilution and Increased Debt
The gold cost of production for Barrick and Newmont are understated due to the massive amount of share dilution and increased debt. First, let’s look at the change in outstanding shares for these two gold mining companies:
Barrick and Newmont’s outstanding shares have more than tripled from 526 million in 2000 to 1,695 million (1.69 billion) shares in 2015. Basically, these two gold mining companies could not afford to expand production from just their surplus profits. Instead, they resorted to issuing more shares to purchase new gold mines or fund new projects.
Which means, the shareholder took some of the burden for the increased cost or expanded production. While its hard to put a figure on how much higher the cost to produce gold would have been if the shareholder was not used to fund this activity, we can safely assume that it would be higher than it is today.
Secondly, the total liabilities for these two companies have surged to $32.9 billion in 2015 versus $3.8 billion in 2000:
Here we can see that Barrick and Newmont’s total liabilities are nearly ten times higher than they were in 2000. Of course, some readers will say that these companies expanded production and increased gold projects have also increased their total assets. Yes, this is true… but, if we look at their net increase in gold production since 2000, something seems very wrong here:
The net result of the increased gold production for Barrick and Newmont since 2000, turns out to be 1.7 million oz, or 17%. Even though these two companies enjoyed higher production in past years, they only produced 17% more gold in 2015 than they did in 2000. Which means, a lot of their new projects were used to offset declines or shut-downs of other mining operations.
We can clearly see from the data above, these two gold miners cost of production would be higher if shareholder dilution and the increased debt was removed from the equation. The Cost Of Gold Production is Not It’s True Store Of Value
While the data proves that the mining industry has used its shareholder and debt increase to artificially lower the true cost of producing gold, this is not the ultimate methodology to value gold. Gold’s true value is not based on its cost of production, but rather it’s high-quality store of value as a basis of money in the global economy.
The reason the value of gold will skyrocket going forward is quite simple. The world has been bamboozled by the Wall Street, Central Banks and the financial media to put 99% of its investment funds in Stocks, Bonds and Real Estate. As oil production and consumption increased in the past, this allowed Global GDP and net worth to grow.
Unfortunately, the net energy of a barrel of oil supplied to the market has been declining which has pushed its price to record highs. The first warning light was the U.S. Housing and Investment Banking collapse in 2008. To prop up the system, the Fed and Central Banks have thrown in trillions of dollars of liquidity. This has inflated the value of most Stocks, Bonds and Real Estate.
As the price of oil continues to fall, along with production, this will cause a huge DEFLATIONARY WAVE of destruction throughout the global economies. The 99% of investors finally getting PRECIOUS METALS RELIGION , will move into physical gold and silver to protect wealth.
This will not be a matter of “Supply & Demand”, rather it will be due the world realizing how little high-quality stores of value there are in the world . As most Stocks, Bonds and Real Estate values continue to plummet, more and more investors will seek the safe-haven status of physical gold and silver.
More details about this transition in upcoming articles. 2017 Gold Pandas and 2017 Silver Pandas Are Now Available! This entry was posted in Gold News , Silver News and tagged gold update , silver update , SRSrocco . Bookmark the permalink . Post navigation | 0 |
Donald Trump s misogynistic behavior towards women is now legendary. Repeated stories have emerged showing the Republican presidential nominee thinks nothing of throwing out the worst phrases and ideas, particularly if the target is a woman, who Trump clearly believes are inferior to men.Reporter Jennifer Lin reveals another sordid story from Trump s fast as she was reporting on his Atlantic City casinos, which went belly-up like so many of his other bad business deals.After the article, titled How a Curious Visitor Beat Trump at the Casino Game ran, Trump called Lin to air his grievances. There was no hello. But there was yelling, lots of yelling, Lin recalled. The word shit was used repeatedly as a noun and adjective. Trump then called Lin s editor, Craig Stock. Craig was treated to the same Trumpian wordplay, but got an added treat, she continued. Trump referred to me as that c__t. Trump denies the story, but he has also denied saying things that have been witnessed by millions of people. During the recent presidential debate he denied saying climate change was a hoax, but he did, and numerous fact checks and recorded videos show him again and again denying saying things he did.The slur also follows a pattern of behavior for Trump, recently seen in his 3 a.m. meltdown over Miss Universe Alicia Machado as he demanded that she be attacked instead of treated with compassion after he fat-shamed her.Voters have seen that Trump freaks out at reporters and news outlets that print negative stories about him, as he claims they ve made up their facts but never actually refutes them or demands a retraction. Yelling a slur at a female reporter that would dare point out his shortcomings isn t a stretch of the imagination, it s something Donald Trump does all the time.Featured image via screen capture | 1 |
WASHINGTON — In another puzzling twist to the Zika epidemic, the Utah Department of Health on Monday reported the diagnosis of a new case of the virus that did not appear to have been contracted through either of the known sources of transmission: a mosquito bite or sexual contact. The patient, who has fully recovered, was a “family contact” who helped care for an older man who had become infected with the virus after traveling abroad. That man, from Salt Lake County, died in June. He also had other ailments, and it was unclear whether the virus had contributed to his death. The Zika virus has caused more than 1, 500 cases of birth defects, mostly in Brazil, where the epidemic began last year. In the United States and its territories, several hundred pregnant women have been infected with the Zika virus, with the largest concentration in Puerto Rico many had traveled to countries where the virus is circulating. Zika is known to be transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and through sex, but neither seemed to be a plausible explanation for what happened in Utah. The infected caregiver, who tended to the ailing man at home and in the hospital, had not traveled to a country where Zika is circulating and had not had sex with him, officials said. Local health workers had been trapping mosquitoes since last year, but had found no Aedes aegypti. Joseph Conlon, a technical adviser to the American Mosquito Control Association, said neither Aedes aegypti nor a cousin, Aedes albopictus, is found in Salt Lake County. “We have found no evidence that mosquitoes here in Utah are transmitting the Zika virus,” said Dr. Angela Dunn, the deputy state epidemiologist at the Utah Department of Health on a call with reporters. She said that for that reason the case was not a danger to the broader public. Zika has surprised scientists with its ability to be transmitted by sex — both from men to women and, in a recent discovery in New York City, from women to men. But it is not known to be transmitted in any other way — without the help of a mosquito — so the Utah case is remarkable. Disease sleuths are sifting through clues. The Utah man who died had a very high level of virus in his body, which may have increased the risk that his bodily fluids could infect others. But while the virus has been detected in blood, semen, vaginal fluid, saliva and urine, it had not been known to infect others through nonsexual contact. “We don’t have any evidence that suggests Zika can be passed from one person to another by sneezing or coughing or kissing or sharing utensils,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has a team investigating the case. Dr. Frieden said other people who had come into contact with the Utah man were being tested. The results will take a few weeks. The continental United States has become a useful laboratory for unusual transmission of Zika. There has yet to be a local spread through mosquitoes, making sexual and other transmission easier to trace. There are more than 1, 300 case of the Zika in the continental United States — all acquired through travel abroad. “This raises some interesting questions,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist in Tennessee. “Was there a needle stick or injury? Or if not, possible contact with other bodily fluid like urine or saliva?” | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Saturday denied that he was leaving his post to be replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Asked if there was any truth to the multiple reports about him this week, Tillerson told Reuters: “None.” “People need to get better sources,” he said in a brief interview at the State Department ahead of a dinner to celebrate the recipients of this year’s Kennedy Center Honors awards. Tillerson said he hoped to be at the same reception a year from now. “I’m going to be here as long as I can be effective and get something done,” he said. “We’re getting a lot done.” Senior administration officials on Thursday said President Donald Trump was mulling a plan to oust the top U.S. diplomat, whose relationship with the president has been strained by Tillerson’s softer line on North Korea and other policy differences. Trump denied the reports on Friday, saying in a tweet that he worked well with Tillerson and that the diplomat was not going anywhere. | 0 |
Bill Clinton went on the Conan show and spewed bitterness towards President Trump At one point, he insinuated that Trump is a member of the dictator s Club . He and Conan are both guilty of slamming our president while he s overseas trying to deal with the North Koreans and Chinese. The left will never stop with their bashing of Trump on a very personal level. It s not about policy but about name calling and nasty political games. Can you imagine if Obama had been treated even remotely like this? At one point in the interview Clinton says he thinks Trump is winging it What a jack wagon! This is a coordinated effort between the former president and his grifter wife to bash Trump. See the video below where Hillary claims she s worried about Trump s government Sure she is Did you catch the propaganda Clinton spewed about how America needs to import more immigrants ? This globalist is a traitor to Americans who are jobless. Do we really need to import more needy people? No! Bill and Hillary Clinton both went on late night shows to spew hate for President Trump. No class! These two grifters have been fleecing the American people for over 25 years! Can they just go away already? HILLARY SAYS SHE S WORRIED ABOUT TRUMP S GOVERNMENT: This was obviously a coordinated effort to bash Trump as inept. Shame on her!Did you notice the arrogance with both of these grifters? It s sickening! | 1 |
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will continue to stress the strategic and economic importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal to the United States, trade minister Hiroshige Seko said on Tuesday. He said it would be important for the TPP to have the United States as a member. Seko also said that he would closely monitor the impact on Japanese corporations if there were any changes made to the North American Free Trade Agreement. | 0 |
Report: Things Finally As Bad As Trump Claims Close Vol 52 Issue 44 · Politics · Politicians · Election 2016 · Donald Trump
WASHINGTON—Following Donald Trump’s stunning victory in the general election early Wednesday morning, political experts confirmed that conditions in the United States are now finally as bad as the Republican nominee has long claimed. “Though we had previously been able to dismiss Trump’s proclamations as mere hyperbole and scare tactics, the United States now definitively meets the criteria of being the declining superpower that Trump has described for the past 17 months,” said Georgetown University political science professor Ronald Leidecker, adding that, as of tonight, the nation no longer commands the same respect among world powers it once did, and our country’s greatest days most definitely lie in its past, just as the Republican has asserted. “Our economy is, since about 10 p.m yesterday, on the verge of collapse, and when it comes to foreign relations, we have foolishly made ourselves vulnerable on multiple fronts, putting the very existence of everything our nation holds dear at risk. In the words of Donald Trump, our country is a disaster.” Once again echoing the pronouncements of president-elect Trump, Leidecker noted that we sadly won’t be able to rely on Washington to change anything, as our political system is largely run by self-serving, power-hungry factionalists who don’t have the best interests of common Americans at heart. Share This Story: WATCH VIDEO FROM THE ONION Sign up For The Onion's Newsletter
Give your spam filter something to do. Daily Headlines | 1 |
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a diplomatic, nice guy unlike his American counterpart, Donald Trump. While speaking on the issue of how to deal with Trump, Trudeau was able to show class and grace, while still throwing major shade at the bombastic, bumbling American president. Trudeau s low-key handling of Trump could cost him with his progressive base at home, but given Trump s penchant for retaliation, going after Trump explicitly could be harmful to Canada s economy, given the fact that they export so many products to our country.While speaking on Trump, Trudeau said: Why poke a grizzly bear while it s having lunch? Trump has just got into office and he is formulating his economic plans. This is clearly a departure from the closeness Trudeau had with President Obama. Their adorable bromance and open and affectionate friendship is surely something that will not be duplicated with Trump. Those familiar with the situation on how Trudeau may handle Trump acknowledge that no one quite knows what to do with him at this point. One source said: He is totally unpredictable. Of course, this isn t the first time Trudeau has thrown passive aggressive public punches at Trump. After Trump s Muslim ban threw the nation and world into chaos, Trudeau tweeted:To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 28, 2017Of course, Trudeau s reluctance to go after Trump may not last long. He is up for re-election in 2019, and will have to continue to tout his commitment to diversity and inclusion in the fact of Trump s crude nationalism and open bigotry. However, Canadian Pollster Nik Nanos says Trudeau is doing the right thing regarding Trump for now: He has to avoid making any kind of criticism. Trump has a very thin skin and he s quick to lash out. That may be, but given Trudeau s public statements regarding diversity and progressive values, he is not likely to hold off for long before he takes the gloves off regarding Trump. We ll be lucky if America has ANY friends left by the end of Trump s term.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republicans’ proposed healthcare plan to unravel Obamacare likely will be changed to adjust its tax credits to help older Americans buy health insurance coverage, two Republican lawmakers said on Friday. House Budget Committee Chairman Diane Black said it was very likely there would be such changes to do more for older, lower-income people. U.S. Representative Tom Cole said House Speaker Paul Ryan earlier on Friday had “pretty much committed” to altering the plan’s tax credits to help older Americans. | 0 |
And the Wisconsin Republican isn’t talking about moving legislation in Congress.
Long before Ryan clutched the speaker’s gavel, bow hunting deer consumed his late-fall and early-winter weekends. Ryan aims to bag three or four deer a year. He then crafts jerky and sausage from the meat.
Ryan has held the speaker’s job since late October. And so far, so good in the legislative sausage factory. Passage of major education and transportation bills. A tax relief package. The forging of a bipartisan pact to avoid a government shutdown.
Ryan even challenged Republican Presidential frontrunner Donald Trump -- without mentioning the candidate by name. This came after Trump suggested the U.S. should ban Muslims from entering the country.
“What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for, and more importantly, it’s not what this country stands for,” said Ryan after Trump’s proposal a few weeks ago.
Ryan appears to have altered the course on Capitol Hill -- at least for a time.
“I’m very happy with how the last seven weeks have gone,” he declared.
But the sausage of late hasn’t been the political stuff Otto von Bismarck spoke of when describing the onerous legislative process.
Next year is when Ryan’s real sausage-curing experiment is put to the test -- merging political pork, veal, beef and venison with intestines, salt, spices and breadcrumbs.
The “barn” left to Ryan by former House Speaker Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, is now formally clean.
Anything from here on is Ryan’s barn. Passing the annual spending bills. Dealing with the Obama administration. Deciding what to do about the Benghazi committee. A decision on a threat by House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. Wrangling over the Asian trade pact. Confronting the threat of terrorism. Chasms in the GOP. Internecine fighting over the 2016 race for president.
Right now, most political observers are trained on the campaign for president. But Ryan is campaigning, too. Not for president (at least not yet). But a campaign to calm the House, return to the illustrative but elusive “regular order” and instill confidence in the public and lawmakers.
But 2015 was marked by exceptional turmoil within the GOP ranks, calls for Boehner’s head and his eventual resignation, an aborted campaign for speaker by Majority Leader California GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy, squabbling over funding the Department of Homeland Security and raising the debt ceiling vexed Congress this year.
Ryan wants 2016 to go differently.
Already, there are catcalls from the far-right that Ryan is the same as Boehner. Or maybe worse than Boehner. Or that he already sold out. In the new year, Paul Ryan will face the conservative wing of the GOP. There’s no more saying he came into the play during the second act or that Boehner is still on the hook.
“There will always be contrarian voices out there,” Ryan said. “Members of the conservative movement know me as one of their own.”
He hopes to hand the biggest legislative keys to the House Appropriations Committee and rank-and-file members as they try to fund the government next year.
This involves plowing through the 12 annual spending bills to run each section of the government and avert a crisis next September. They had better get rolling.
Congress is scheduled to be out of session for a staggering seven weeks stretching from July through early September to accommodate the Democratic and Republican parties’ conventions.
That doesn’t leave much time to wrap things up by September 30, 2016, the end of the government’s fiscal year.
When asked how and why things seem easier than under the tenure of his predecessor, Ryan momentarily ponders the question.
“I’m not sure I can give you a good answer on that,” he finally replies.
However, he made clear that his goal is to “loosen control.” Perhaps without realizing it, Ryan responds to the Boehner regime interrogatory, saying “this place used to pre-determine everything, down to the amendment.”
Ryan believes he can empower members to influence policy through the appropriations process. They can do so by prescribing how much or how little money the federal government devotes to a given program. That invests everyone in the enterprise.
Of course, that means Republicans won’t get a lot of things they want (and demand from Ryan). And Democrats sure won’t, either.
Ryan got a taste of working with Democrats on the recent pact to fund the government and renew major tax breaks at the end of the year.
“I didn't really know these people,” he said of the Democrats, pointing out that he talked to Senate Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, Nevada, once for about 30 seconds in 2012.
He says he and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., never had a conversation before the omnibus spending talks.
That’s to say nothing of negotiating with President Obama.
Obama wants to dine with the new GOP speaker sometime in the new year. Ryan’s spoken with the president by phone on multiple occasions since claiming the gavel.
Still, Ryan described the administration’s approach to governing as “arrogant, paternalistic and condescending.”
Even if Ryan’s able to get along with Obama and congressional Democrats -- to say nothing of members of his own party -- the presidential sweepstakes will dominate 2016. And what happens if one particular candidate polls well as they approach the Republican convention in Cleveland?
“I put up with politics in order to do policy,” he says.
But there’s lots of GOP handwringing about whether Republicans can hold the Senate and maybe (maybe) the House if the party nominates Trump.
“I think we’re going to have a good climate,” Ryan says optimistically of the GOP.
But there’s already chatter about what happens if the party is torn and Trump is cruising toward victory at the Cleveland nominating convention.
What does the GOP do? Some private Republican conversations involve a brokered convention. Maybe the party pulls a Steve Harvey and switches the nominee at the last minute. One line of thought is for the GOP to engineer a brokered convention that perhaps propels someone like Ryan to the nomination.
“He’s the only person who can unify the Republican party,” opined one senior Republican House member, “and possibly beat Hillary Clinton.”
Ryan publicly eschews that sort of talk. Of course, he also didn’t like talk about him running for speaker …
Until he did.
Some political observers point to the video Ryan released before Congress abandoned Washington for Christmas. Titled “A Confident America,” the slickly-produced, creatively-shot tape mimics a campaign commercial -- if not a movie trailer.
It crescendos with dramatic music and inspirational oratory, liberally swiping segments from a speech Ryan delivered a few weeks ago in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress.
“We believe in the American idea,” Ryan proclaims. “We stand for a more prosperous, a more secure and a more confident America.”
Note that Ryan is one of few major GOP political figures who has been willing to take on Trump.
But for now, there’s sausage to be made -- in Washington and in Wisconsin.
Ryan knows what to do with the venison back home. And in 2016, we’ll see how he does in the Capitol Hill smokehouse. | 1 |
Mariah Carey struggled through her performance on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve late Saturday night when apparent technical difficulties caused her audio track to be thrown out of sync. [The pop star stopped singing while performing her hit “Emotions,” asking the crowd to sing the lyrics for her. The issues appeared to be sorted out during her next song, “We Belong Together,” but she stopped singing midway through as her vocal track played on behind her. “I’m trying to be a good sport here,” an apparently frustrated Carey told the audience during the performance. “It just don’t get any better,” she added as her set came to a close and she exited the stage. Mariah Carey’s disgusted sign off is a perfect goodbye to 2016 https: . — CJ Fogler (@cjzero) January 1, 2017, Thousands of viewers at home took to social media to weigh in on the performance, with some saying 2016 had claimed Carey’s career as its “final victim. ” Ohio State should thank Mariah Carey. They no longer have the worst performance of the night. — Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroCSN) January 1, 2017, No matter how hungover you feel tomorrow just know Mariah Carey feels worse . — Evangeline Demuro (@EvaDeMuro) January 1, 2017, Operator: ”911 what’s your emergency? ”Person: ”Mariah Carey just bombed Times Square.” — Todd Hall (@toddycst) January 1, 2017, 2016 took so much and now it took Mariah Carey’s vocals completely, — Common Gay Boy (@CGBPosts) January 1, 2017, Carey acknowledged the disastrous performance in a tweet early Sunday, saying simply: “Sh*t happens. ” Shit happens 😩 Have a happy and healthy new year everybody!🎉 Here’s to making more headlines in 2017 😂 pic. twitter. — Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) January 1, 2017, As CBS News noted, this is not the first time Carey has during a nationally televised performance the singer also mimed her way through the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2015. An estimated two million people filled Times Square Saturday night for the ball drop. Gloria Estefan, Thomas Rhett and pop band DNCE also performed live on the show. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum | 0 |
Waking Times
More evidence emerges that a culture war, or class war, is brewing between the 99% and the 1%, between the ‘Have-Mores’ and the ‘Have-Nots.’ Or, more truthfully between the middle and lower socio-economic classes who are forced to follow the law and pay taxes, and the elite who are allowed to be absolutely lawless and ruthless in their accumulation of wealth and privilege.
In a speech in 2000 at the Al Smith Dinner for charity , the same event that recently hosted presidential candidates Trump and Clinton together, former President George W. Bush reminded us who the political elite works for in this nation, and in the world at large.
“This is an impressive crowd. The haves and the have mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base” ~George W. Bush
This sort of trickle-down mentality of disdain for the middle classes has not since the days of monarchs been as visible as it is today in 2016. The 1% are doing the most insane things with the wealth that is being stolen from the rest of us by way of collusion between corrupt government and the want-all banking cabal, and sadly, this mentality is being bred into succeeding generations of the entitled.
Indigenous activists accompanied by sympathizers from all walks of life are being beaten, tazed, gassed, bitten, and shot at by a front line of private security, police, and national guard on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Their efforts to oppress the people who live on this land, who have for generations buried their ancestors here, are backed by a court system which is actively targeting sympathetic journalists who dare to expose this living tyranny. The politicians on high in Congress and the White House are committed to silence in support of the financial interests of the pipeline project . READ: This is the Man Militarized Police at Standing Rock are Working For
As reported by Vincent Schilling of Indian Country Today , Halloween is being celebrated by the ‘Have Mores’ in North Dakota this year, and some apparently find it entertaining to mock the ‘Water is Life’ struggle of the Sioux people whose native treaty lands have been invaded in recent months by the oil cartel backed by militarized police.
“In the midst of the struggles faced by Native people on the frontlines of NoDAPL, some individuals have taken to social media, posting pictures of themselves in Native American “NoDAPL” Halloween costumes. In one photo, two girls wearing feathers and shirts with #NoDAPL are in a liquor store holding beers while another couple posed with makeshift costumes holding a bottle of wine, also holding #NoDAPL signs. In the post with the two girls, which appears to have been taken from Snapchat, one of the signs reads, “I Godda Job, I’m a Water Pertecter.” The caption on the screen captured image says, “Let’s start a riot!” The woman on the left of the photo has what appears to be chains on her ankle.” [ Source ] In another photo, a couple is seen in mock Indian garb, ready to get drunk on the high vibes of ignorance and disrespect.
The photos are of North Dakota, and it’s worth mentioning the original route of the Dakota Access pipeline was slated to carry the oil just 10 miles north of Bismarck, N.D., however, residents in these areas were able to avert pipeline construction in this area, citing environmental concerns.
“An early proposal for the Dakota Access Pipeline called for the project to cross the Missouri River north of Bismarck, but one reason that route was rejected was its potential threat to Bismarck’s water supply, documents show.”
As reported by MPR News on September 13th, 2016:
“The Dakota Access Pipeline was originally proposed to run about 10 miles north of Bismarck, N.D., crossing the Missouri River. This route was rejected in the Corps’ environmental assessment due to its close proximity to source water protection areas, multiple conservation easements and residential areas — the North Dakota Public Service Commission has a 500-foot residential buffer requirement.”
In other words, residents of Bismarck were able to stop this pipeline from being built in their backyards, and some now find the same struggle by the Sioux people worthy of ridicule, further amplifying the cultural differences between groups of people who depend upon the same resources for survival. The Culture War is First and Foremost the Economic War
Such disconnectedness and such disrespect for the struggle against corporate ownership of the land and water that sustains all life on human earth is a sad trend , but it’s important to understand that the brewing culture war has its roots in the financial tyranny that has gripped planet earth. We are all being raped by an emerging global corporate scheme of government that derives its power from manipulation of the money supply through a private banking system that is not accountable to any electorate, nor to the rule of law.
As such, the inevitable outcome is a culture war, where those who value life and have respect for the natural world will be pitched in conflict with the entitled and belligerent 1% whose continued entitlement increasingly depends upon the protective shield of violence gained from the deployment of a radically militarized police state who serves not the people. Read more articles by Dylan Charles . About the Author
Dylan Charles is a student and teacher of Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Qi Gong, a practitioner of Yoga and Taoist arts, and an activist and idealist passionately engaged in the struggle for a more sustainable and just world for future generations. He is the editor of WakingTimes.com , the proprietor of OffgridOutpost.com , a grateful father and a man who seeks to enlighten others with the power of inspiring information and action. He may be contacted at . This article ( War Brewing as the ‘Have Mores’ Dress Up as DAPL Protectors for Halloween ) was originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Dylan Charles and WakingTimes.com . It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There is disagreement within President-elect Donald Trump’s camp about the structure of the top U.S. intelligence agency when he takes office and it is unclear whether his national security adviser will prevail in advocating a reorganization, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. At issue is the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which Congress created after the Sept. 11 attacks to better coordinate the efforts of U.S. intelligence agencies to protect the United States. Trump security adviser Michael Flynn, who as head of the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency under President Barack Obama sometimes clashed with other intelligence agencies, favors restructuring and paring back the ODNI, the sources said. But one source close to the Trump transition cautioned that the outcome is not certain. “There is a general consensus that the ODNI is too big and grown too fast. Some around him (Trump) believe this, but whether they plan to address it or how, I just don’t know,” said the source, who like others requested anonymity to discuss the Trump team’s internal deliberations. Flynn has had a fraught relationship with the ODNI. After complaints over his management style at the Defense Intelligence Agency, he was fired by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. A senior transition official told Reuters on Thursday that Trump has picked former U.S. Senator Dan Coats as his director of national intelligence - a sign Trump does not plan to try to eliminate ODNI. A U.S. official familiar with Coats’ views suggested he would not move precipitously to overhaul U.S. intelligence agencies. “Any possible reforms to the structure of the intelligence community, he would approach with great caution and responsibility,” the official said. Relations between Trump and U.S. intelligence agencies are extraordinarily rocky even before he is sworn in on Jan. 20. Trump disparaged the spy agencies’ conclusions that Russia was behind hacks of the Democratic National Committee and the campaign staff of his 2016 election opponent Hillary Clinton. Clapper told Congress Thursday he was “even more resolute” that Russia staged cyber attacks, rebuking Trump’s skepticism. Trump was scheduled to be briefed on Friday on an intelligence report that reaches that conclusion. Russia has denied the hacking allegations. “I think the president-elect is more skeptical of the conclusions that are drawn from the raw data rather than the intelligence in the raw data that’s provided,” Trump spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Wednesday. Coats, according to another U.S. official familiar with his views, said he knew a lot about Europe and Russia and may well “butt heads with Trump over Russia.” The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Trump is working with top advisers to restructure and reduce the size of the ODNI. That report largely reflects the views of Flynn, said a source familiar with the retired lieutenant general’s thinking who declined to be identified. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer on Thursday rejected the report. “There is no truth to this idea of restructuring the intelligence community infrastructure,” Spicer said. “All transition activities are for information gathering purposes and all discussions are tentative.” A broad intelligence reorganization would require congressional action. Congress created ODNI in a 2004 law that makes it the parent of 16 other U.S. intelligence agencies, ranging from the CIA and the DIA to the eavesdropping National Security Agency and the State Department’s intelligence bureau. Flynn, who served as a top military intelligence officer in Afghanistan and Iraq, is said by those familiar with his views to favor major changes at the CIA as well. Both on the battlefield and at the DIA, Flynn pushed for intelligence personnel to be moved out of compounds and offices and closer to front lines, where Flynn believed they would be more effective intelligence collectors, said the source familiar with his views. Flynn would like the CIA to reorganize itself along these lines, the source said. The CIA was just reorganized last year, however, to bring frontline spies and backroom analysts together in new units focused tightly on specific issues or regions. Republican congressman Mike Pompeo, Trump’s choice for CIA director, is known to share Flynn’s views about the need for restructuring at CIA, the source said. But two other people familiar with Trump transition discussions said Pompeo has not been involved in talks about possible CIA reorganization. | 1 |
yOU HAVE TO DRAW THE LINE SOMEWHERE AND CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE HAS TO BE IT , GO HARD FBI NYPAD INSIDERS ITS YOUR TIME !!!! Get Those rotten scum . | 1 |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Online media outlet BuzzFeed has pulled out of an advertising deal reported to be worth $1.3 million with the Republican National Committee over objections to the party’s presumptive nominee Donald Trump. In an e-mail to employees on Monday, BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti wrote: “We don’t run cigarette ads because they are hazardous to our health, and we won’t accept Trump ads for the exact same reason.” “The Trump campaign is directly opposed to the freedoms of our employees in the United States and around the world and in some cases, such as his proposed ban on international travel for Muslims, would make it impossible for our employees to do their jobs,” Peretti wrote in the note, which was posted to BuzzFeed.com. BuzzFeed declined further comment. Neither BuzzFeed nor the RNC would confirm the exact value of the deal, reported by Politico to be $1.3 million. According to an RNC official who declined to be identified, the deal was less than 1 percent of the party’s ad budget of about $150 million and was effectively a reservation for ad space, not a firm commitment to place ads with BuzzFeed. Trump’s campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said she had “nothing to add.” The RNC provides national leadership for the Republican Party. Trump is expected to be officially nominated as the party’s candidate for the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election at the Republican National Convention in July. | 1 |
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq s Kurdish security forces said Baghdad would pay a heavy price for launching an advance on the Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk. In a statement, the Peshmerga also accused a faction from one of the two main Iraqi Kurdish political parties of treason for assisting Baghdad with the advance. | 0 |
Clinton Campaign Circulated Paul Ryan Relative as Possible Supreme Court Pick Another reason as to why Ryan tried to sabotage Trump's campaign? Paul Joseph Watson - October 27, 2016 Comments Hillary Clinton’s campaign circulated the name of one of Paul Ryan’s relatives as a potential Supreme Court pick, suggesting a conflict of interest that could feed in to the Republican Speaker of the House’s dislike for Donald Trump. An email released in part 19 of the Wikileaks Podesta dump features an article sent by Hillary advisor Sara Solow to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and Hillary’s foreign policy advisor Jake Sullivan on February 29, 2016. The piece draws attention to Ketanji Brown Jackson, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “She was confirmed by without any Republican opposition in the Senate not once, but *twice*. She was confirmed to her current position in 2013 by unanimous consent – that is, without any stated opposition. She was also previously confirmed unanimously to a seat on the U.S. Sentencing Commission (where she became vice chair),” reads the email. “Her family is impressive. She is married to a surgeon and has two young daughters. Her father is a retired lawyer and her mother a retired school principal. Her brother was a police officer (in the unit that was the basis for the television show *The Wire*) and is now a law student, and she is related by marriage to Congressman (and Speaker of the House) Paul Ryan.” Earlier this month, Ryan said that he would no longer defend or campaign for Donald Trump. A poll released this week found that nearly two thirds of Republicans trust Donald Trump more than Ryan to lead the GOP. Many Trump supporters speculated that Ryan was involved in the leaking of the infamous Billy Bush tape, in which Trump made lewd comments about women, as part of a plot to sabotage the Republican nominee’s campaign. Could the fact that one of his relatives is being touted as a likely Clinton Supreme Court pick be another reason as to why Ryan – who has been accused by many of being in bed with the Washington establishment – has abandoned his support for Donald Trump?
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Idols of Intellectual Perversity: How Ideology Corrupts the Minds of Smart People ‹ › GPD is our General Posting Department whereby we share posts from other sources along with general information with our readers. It is managed by our Editorial Board Russian battle group reaches Mediterranean after ‘causing stir’ in the West (VIDEO) By GPD on November 1, 2016 The nuclear-powered heavy cruiser Peter the Great. © Dover-Marina.com / Sputnik A Russian naval group, headed by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier and the battle cruiser Peter the Great, has made its way into the Mediterranean, causing quite a stir in the West, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Moscow has been surprised by the countries that have denied Russia’s warships entry to their ports, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said, adding that ‘Western colleagues’ need to decide who they are actually fight against – terrorists or Russia.
“The movement of our ships has caused a stir among our Western partners, ” Shoigu said on Tuesday.
“ But the most surprising thing was the position of certain countries that, under pressure from the US and NATO, have publicly refused our warships entry to their ports. ”
“It did not affect the schedule of their movement along the chosen route, as they had been provided with all the necessary resources,” he added.
The defense minister noted that the decisions of some countries to deny Russian ships entry to Western ports has demonstrated how, in fact, “ our partners understand their contribution to the fight against international terrorism in Syria.”
“It is time for our Western colleagues to decide who they are actually fighting – terrorists or Russia. As one poet once said, ‘one cannot sit on one and the same place on different trains,’” Shoigu added.
The Ministry of Defense has released a sneak peak video, showing raw images of Russia’s ship-borne air strike force and warships, headed by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, but it is unclear when exactly the footage was shot.
A war of words was unleashed in late October when the Spanish media reported that the Russian naval ships would be making a stopover at the autonomous port of Ceuta after passing the Straits of Gibraltar.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made it crystal clear that the bloc wanted Madrid to rethink the stopover permit. “ We are concerned and I have expressed that very clearly about potential use of this battle group to increase Russia’s ability and to be a platform for airstrikes against Syria ,” he said at that time. Russia withdraws request for carrier battle group to refuel in Spain amid NATO pressure on Madrid
Belgium’s former prime minister and current EU envoy to the UK for Brexit talks, Guy Verhofstadt, said in a Facebook post that, despite being a NATO member, Spain “provides assistance to a fleet which has one purpose, ” noting that “ only last week this Spanish Government signed up to a statement from the European Council accusing Russia of war crimes against civilians in Aleppo.”
Reneging on a previous agreement with Moscow, the Spanish Foreign Ministry reacted by issuing a statement declaring that Madrid could refuse permission to the Russian warships, which were heading for the Mediterranean to enter Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the North African coast.
While the Western media reported that Russia had withdrawn its request for a stopover, the Russian Defense Ministry said such a stop had never been on the schedule in the first place.
“The Russian aircraft carrier group is fully supplied with sufficient material stocks to carry out its mission in the off-shore maritime zone in autonomous mode,” said ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov.
Soon thereafter, Malta was forced to make a statement refuting media reports that the carrier group would be refueling at one of its ports.
The Russian warships, including the Admiral Kuznetsov, the Pyotr Veliky battle cruiser, and the Severomorsk and Vice-Admiral Kulakov anti-submarine warfare destroyers, were sent to the Mediterranean on October 15.
“The goal of the campaign is to ensure a naval presence in operationally important areas of the oceans,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
READ MORE: Battle Stations! Putin’s fearsome fleet locked, loaded & ready for war with Britain… or not
The Admiral Kuznetsov carrier group’s tour has caused a media frenzy across Europe, with British, Norwegian, and Dutch navies sending frigates and surveillance vessels to shadow the Russian warships as they rounded European shores through international waters.
Shoigu said on Tuesday that the Russian naval group had arrived in the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean, according to TASS news agency.
“Last week, our ship-borne air strike force, led by the missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky, made a passage through the eastern Atlantic into the Mediterranean Sea. On October 27-29, support vessels replenished the naval group with all kinds of supplies to the required level, ” Shoigu said. Related Posts: No Related Posts The views expressed herein are the views of the author exclusively and not necessarily the views of VT, VT authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors, partners, technicians, or the Veterans Today Network and its assigns. LEGAL NOTICE - COMMENT POLICY Posted by GPD on November 1, 2016, With 63 Reads Filed under Military . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 . You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. FaceBook Comments
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Tuesday in Kenosha, WI at the world headquarters of Inc. President Donald Trump called on House Speaker Paul Ryan ( ) who is on a bipartisan congressional trip visiting NATO countries, to get members of NATO “to pay their bills. ” Trump said,”And although he could not be here today, my thanks go to Speaker Ryan who’s represented the city for nearly two decades in Congress. And you know where he is? He’s with NATO. And — so he has a good excuse. And I said Ron, make sure these countries start paying their bills a little bit more, you know. They’re way, way behind. We have to do — well I’m going to talk to you about that, Ron. But Paul, you’re over with NATO, get them to pay their bills. I think that — and Ron you have to work on that too. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 0 |
GENEVA (Reuters) - Representatives of Syria s warring sides sat just meters apart in separate rooms at U.N. peace talks on Thursday, but mediator Staffan de Mistura stopped short of bringing them together in what diplomats had hoped might be a minor breakthrough. Previous rounds of talks have gone almost nowhere, with de Mistura shuttling between hotels and meeting multiple delegations separately. A newly unified opposition had raised the possibility of face-to-face talks to speed up the talks. Although the two delegations were in the U.N. building concurrently, de Mistura kept them apart, dashing between their respective meeting rooms on either side of a corridor. We are having what we would call close proximity parallel meetings, he told the opposition team, after making similar comments to the government delegation, promising to leave them in the hands of his deputy while he went to meet their enemies. After several hours of talks, chief government negotiator Bashar al-Ja afari and his opposition counterpart Nasr Hariri left separately, without commenting to the media. Hariri told Reuters on Wednesday that he was ready for direct talks and was prepared to negotiate with no preconditions to end the six-year war. He said his first words to Ja afari would be: Despite all of the crimes which have been done in Syria, I hope that the regime can come ready to put the people of Syria first. If the two sides do meet, it will not be their first time in the same room. In February, de Mistura infuriated Ja afari by inviting both sides to a ceremony to inaugurate the talks. On that occasion, as de Mistura warmly embraced the opposition delegates, whom the government of President Bashar al-Assad regards as terrorists, Ja afari and his team walked out of the room without turning back. One Western diplomat predicted fireworks if the two sides sat down to talk at last, almost seven years into Syria s war, but he said the sponsor countries backing the talks - including Russia and the United States - would then force them back to the table, and the pressure would gradually be released. A European diplomat expected the opposition to be pragmatic and flexible but there was little chance of a big breakthrough. I think we need baby steps, and we ve made such little progress in the years gone by, largely because of the regime s reluctance to engage in this, so to make some small steps now and develop some momentum would be very helpful indeed. Hundreds of thousands of people have died in Syria s civil war and more than 11 million have been driven from their homes. Previous rounds of talks have faltered over the opposition s demand that Assad leave power and his refusal to go. Over the past two years, since Russia joined the war on the government side, Assad and his allies have recaptured all major towns and cities from the rebels. There has been some speculation ahead of this week s round of talks that the opposition could soften its demands in light of the government s success on the battlefield. However, at a meeting before the talks began, opposition delegates stuck by their demand that Assad be excluded from any transitional government under a future peace deal. | 0 |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s air force has killed about 850 militants in Syria s zone of de-escalation in Idlib in the last 24 hours, Interfax news agency quoted Russia s Defence Ministry as saying on Wednesday. | 0 |
The Obama administration has done everything in its power to destroy the atmosphere of trust which could have encouraged cooperation Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday suspended a treaty with Washington on cleaning up weapons-grade plutonium, signaling he is willing to use nuclear disarmament as a new bargaining chip in disputes with the United States over Ukraine and Syria.Starting in the last years of the Cold War, Russia and the United States signed a series of accords to reduce the size of their nuclear arsenals, agreements that have so far survived intact despite a souring of U.S.-Russian relations under Putin.But on Monday, Putin issued a decree suspending an agreement, concluded in 2000, which bound the two sides to dispose of surplus plutonium originally intended for use in nuclear weapons.The Kremlin said it was taking that action in response to unfriendly acts by Washington. It made the announcement shortly before Washington said it was suspending talks with Russia on trying to end the violence in Syria.The plutonium accord is not the cornerstone of post-Cold War U.S.-Russia disarmament, and the practical implications from the suspension will be limited. But the suspension, and the linkage to disagreements on other issues, carries powerful symbolism.Read more: Reuters | 0 |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia may send more Iskander tactical missiles to its Kaliningrad exclave in response to the latest U.S. actions in the Baltics, the RIA news agency cited the head of the lower house of parliament s defense committee, Vladimir Shamanov, as saying on Thursday. Russia accused the United States on Thursday of illegally building up its forces in Poland and the Baltic region, saying it had quietly deployed an entire armored division in breach of the main pact that governs Moscow s relations with NATO. | 1 |
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish prosecutor has issued detention warrants for 53 active sergeants over alleged links to the U.S.-based cleric accused of orchestrating last year s attempted coup, state media said on Tuesday. Twenty of the suspects have so far been detained in the operation across 12 provinces, state run Anadolu Agency said. Thirty-three other soldiers were currently being sought, it said. The interior ministry said on Monday that nearly 700 people had been detained over the previous week on allegations of ties to what Ankara calls the Gulenist Terror Group . Some 50,000 people have been arrested since the failed putsch in July and around 150,000 dismissed or suspended, including soldiers, police, teachers and public servants, over alleged links with the movement of U.S-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has denied the charge and condemned the coup. Rights groups and some Western allies fear President Tayyip Erdogan is using the coup as a pretext to stifle dissent. The government argues the crackdown is necessary due to the gravity of the coup attempt, which killed 240 people on July 15, 2016. | 0 |
It s hard to be famous for being a victim in an Arab Gulf state who settles their disputes in a Sharia Court of Law. Someone should have told Clock Boy that being a victim in a country where victims are plentiful isn t really that special. Unlike America, being accused of bringing a fake bomb to school in Qatar isn t likely a guarantee you ll land a visit with their King.Within days of demanding a total of $15 million from the City of Irving and the Irving Independent School District, Clock Boy Ahmed Mohamed announced in a long distance phone interview from Qatar, he is homesick and wants to come home to Texas now.It wasn t long before the Clock Boy and his father returned to Texas and were filing a defamation lawsuit. Well today they got some bad news A year earlier, Ahmed, then a 14-year-old freshman at an Irving, Texas, high school, was arrested, briefly detained by police, and suspended for three days after bringing to school a cool clock that looked like a briefcase bomb. Ahmed claimed to have invented the easily assembled clock, and that he had brought it to school to show it to his shop teacher.The incident led many to question the Mohamed family s motives. Newly appointed District Court Judge Maricela Moore dismissed the lawsuit following a nearly three-hour hearing on Monday, according to the American Freedom Law Center:Mohamed had sued Hanson and CSP for statements Hanson had made on Beck s program about the connection between the Clock Boy hoax bomb affair, the attendant media frenzy created in large part by his father Mohamed, civilization jihad, and the Counsel on American-Islamic Relations ( CAIR ), the Muslim Brotherhood-Hamas front group in the United States that promotes civilization jihad.Here s a clip from Hanson s interview with Glenn Beck:During the hearing, AFLC co-founder and senior counsel David Yerushalmi explained to Judge Moore that the purpose of the lawfare-driven lawsuit was to intimidate into silence those who might comment publicly on the connection between jihad, terrorism, sharia, and Islam. As such, Yerushalmi argued, this case is a classic Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation or SLAPP case and should be dismissed. During the lengthy hearing, Judge Moore pressed Mohamed s lawyer, Fort Worth attorney Susan Hutchison, to provide any facts that would suggest that Hanson and the other defendants had said anything false or defamatory about Mohamed or his son during the television broadcasts. After spending a painfully embarrassing 15 minutes flipping through reams of paper, Mohamed s lawyer was unable to provide any such evidence.Upon leaving the courtroom, Yerushalmi made the following statement: This lawsuit filed by Clock Boy s father is yet another example of Islamist law fare, which is a component of the Muslim Brotherhood s civilization jihad. PJ Media | 1 |
WASHINGTON — In its quest to remake the nation’s health care system, the Obama administration has urged doctors and hospitals to band together to improve care and cut costs, using a model devised by researchers at Dartmouth College. But Dartmouth itself, facing mounting financial losses in the federal program, has dropped out, raising questions about the future of the new entities known as accountable care organizations, created under the Affordable Care Act. The entities are in the vanguard of efforts under the health law to move Medicare away from a disjointed system to a new model that rewards doctors who collaborate and coordinate care. Medicare now has more than 400 accountable care organizations, serving eight million of the 57 million Medicare beneficiaries. Obama administration officials say the new entities are saving money while improving care, but some independent experts have questioned those claims. “There’s little in the way of analysis or data about how A. C. O.s did in 2015,” said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. “The results have not been a home run. ” In addition, he said, “there is little reason to think that A. C. O.s will bend the cost curve in a meaningful way” unless they bear more financial risk, sharing losses as well as savings with the government. An evaluation for the federal government found that Dartmouth’s accountable care organization had reduced Medicare spending on hospital stays, medical procedures, imaging and tests. And it achieved goals for the quality of care. But it was still subject to financial penalties because it did not meet benchmarks set by federal officials. “We were cutting costs and saving money and then paying a penalty on top of that,” said Dr. Robert A. Greene, an executive vice president of the health system. “We would have loved to stay in the federal program, but it was just not sustainable. ” Dr. Elliott S. Fisher, the director of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, said: “It’s hard to achieve savings if, like Dartmouth, you are a provider to begin with. I helped design the model of accountable care organizations. So it’s sad that we could not make it work here. ” Dr. Greene offered this analogy: It is easier for a person who runs a mile in 12 minutes to reduce the time to 10 minutes than for a miler to break the barrier. is the main teaching hospital for Dartmouth’s medical school, of which the Dartmouth Institute is part. Since accountable care organizations began operation in 2012, a number like Dartmouth have dropped out of the program, citing financial uncertainties and unrealistic benchmarks for spending. Organizations with higher levels of prior spending had a greater ability to achieve cost savings in the first years of the program, by reducing unnecessary services, so they were more likely to qualify for financial rewards, according to the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress. The idea of accountable care organizations and the name are generally traced back to a paper in 2006 by Dr. Fisher and colleagues at Dartmouth and its medical school. Writing in the journal Health Affairs, they reported that Medicare beneficiaries received most of their care from doctors who were directly or indirectly affiliated with a local hospital. Rather than trying to measure the performance of individual doctors, they said, Medicare should assess the hospital and the doctors together and hold them jointly accountable for the cost and quality of care provided to a defined group of Medicare patients. In effect, this was an effort to overcome the fragmented nature of most American health care and to replicate some of the benefits of managed care while still allowing Medicare patients to visit any doctors they wanted. The new entities, unlike health maintenance organizations, “can’t tell you which health care providers to see” and “can’t limit your Medicare benefits,” the Obama administration tells beneficiaries. But, it says, doctors and hospitals working together in an accountable care organization can share information, including test results and prescription drug data, so it is easier for them to coordinate care for patients. Under the law, doctors and hospitals can share in savings if they meet certain goals established by Medicare officials, who set separate benchmarks for each group of health care providers. Andrew M. Slavitt, the acting administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said that accountable care organizations were beginning to deliver tangible benefits. The current version is an early iteration “like the iPhone 2,” he said on Twitter. Dr. Fisher said he was cautiously optimistic about the future of accountable care organizations. “Evidence on spending suggests modest savings over all,” he said, though he acknowledged that in Medicare “the model has yet to achieve the benefits many advocates hoped for. ” Accountable care organizations are one of many demonstration projects being conducted by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, an office created by the Affordable Care Act to test new ways of financing and delivering care. Under the law, the secretary of health and human services has sweeping power to expand such projects nationwide if she finds that they would reduce Medicare spending without harming the quality of care. The center is testing new ways to pay for prescription drugs, medical devices, cancer care, hip replacement surgery and many other services. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the center’s activities will save $34 billion over the next 10 years, although it does not know which projects will save money. Republicans in Congress are taking aim at the center, saying its experiments jeopardize patients’ access to care and usurp the authority of Congress. In some cases, doctors and patients are required to participate. “The agency has, in effect, enacted changes to the Medicare and Medicaid programs while circumventing Congress,” said Representative Tom Price, Republican of Georgia and chairman of the House Budget Committee. The House Appropriations Committee has approved legislation that would eliminate $7 billion that remains available to the center. Democrats defend the innovation center, saying the nation desperately needs to find ways of delivering better care at lower cost. To shut down the center or block its work would amount to “killing the baby in the nursery before it ever grows up,” said Representative Jim McDermott, Democrat of Washington. | 0 |
(Reuters) - An order by President Donald Trump that could scale back enforcement of some Obamacare provisions is unlikely to sink health insurance stocks, but shares of hospitals and Medicaid providers could be under pressure over fears more poor people would lose coverage, analysts said. President Trump signed an executive order on Friday urging government departments to “waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation” of provisions of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, that imposed fiscal burdens on states, companies or individuals. While the order lacked details, it signaled the start of an effort by Trump and Republicans to repeal and replace the program, which expanded health coverage to some 20 million people. Obamacare has been plagued by increases in insurance premiums and deductibles and by some large insurers, including UnitedHealth Group Inc and Aetna Inc, largely pulling out of the system. Shares of UnitedHealth and Aetna were little changed in early trading on Monday. The equity markets dislike uncertainty and Trump’s executive order introduces at least a modest level of new uncertainty, J.P. Morgan analyst Gary Taylor wrote in a note on Monday. The new administration may no longer enforce an Affordable Care Act rule requiring individual Americans to pay a penalty for not carrying health insurance, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, said on ABC’s “This Week” program on Sunday. The healthcare exchange system that is the cornerstone of the Affordable Care Act depends on premiums from healthy, younger individuals, typically between ages 18 to 34, to offset higher expenses for covering older, less healthy individuals. The scrapping of enforcement was “a real risk” for 2017 insurance exchanges enrollment, Sheryl R. Skolnick, a healthcare analyst for Mizuho Securities USA Inc, said in a research note on Saturday. “We have to wonder why the hospital companies and investors who have pushed the stocks back up to pre-election levels would be so enthusiastic,” Skolnick wrote. But young people did not buy health insurance at desired levels, even when penalties increased for not having the coverage, said Ana Gupte, a healthcare services analyst for Leerink Partners LLC in New York. “Fundamentally, I don’t think it’s going to make a difference,” if the so-called ‘individual mandate,’ requiring individuals to buy coverage or pay a penalty, is scrapped, said Gupte. Some experts also question whether the Obama administration itself was vigilant about enforcing the rule. “We’re not sure as to how vigorously it was being enforced anyway,” said Les Funtleyder, healthcare portfolio manager for E Squared Capital Management. Still, Trump’s plans could pressure shares of insurers such as Molina Healthcare Inc, Centene Corp and WellCare Health Plans Inc, who administer state Medicaid plans, over concerns that the number of insured, especially among the poorest, would shrink. Molina’s shares were down 0.7 percent, while Centene’s shares were down 0.5 percent. If Medicaid funding becomes less than what states are receiving now, “it will put pressure on the number of people who are covered through Medicaid expansion,” Gupte said. Hospitals may also be on the hook for more unpaid medical expenses as the number of uninsured individuals increase and seek emergency room treatment, Gupte added. Longer term, though, the hospital industry is lobbying to get more money for unpaid expenses and “it looks like they will get what they want,” Gupte said. Shares of hospital operators such as HCA Holdings Inc, Tenet Healthcare Corp and Community Health Systems Inc were down about 1 percent. “In reality, the executive order is just a sideshow to the main event – the Repeal/Replace legislation that Republicans are expected to introduce this year,” Taylor said. | 0 |
During his first 11 days in office, President Trump has provided news outlets with plenty of material, at all hours of the morning and night. But his maelstrom of activity — the bold executive orders, the fiery Twitter posts, the brazen speeches — has also exposed, and perhaps exacerbated, ideological differences. For those devouring news about the administration, the choice of narratives has become starker, with brighter lines drawn around the content. For the readers and viewers, it’s follow the narrative of your choice, and be wary of the great chasm between. Over the weekend, as protesters descended on airports across the country in response to Mr. Trump’s immigration ban, fissures began to emerge even among news organizations. On Monday, the divide only widened. And not everyone behaved predictably. Bill O’Reilly, the outspoken Fox News host, expressed skepticism about the rollout of Mr. Trump’s plan and called it “a mistake” to rush it. While he did make some effort to defend Mr. Trump, he was also somewhat moderate in one segment. “It is certainly responsible and logical for a new president to institute updated protections for this country by ordering specific temporary immigration actions,” Mr. O’Reilly said. “However, it’s also responsible for a federal judge to order that foreigners with the proper credentials already issued not be punished. There should be room for decision making. ” He even invoked the Statue of Liberty to make his point. Some of Mr. O’Reilly’s guests were also critical. Karl Rove said of Mr. Trump that “the controversy is hurting him more than the controversy is helping him. ” Brit Hume said it was handled “very clumsily. ” And Charles Krauthammer said it was introduced in the “most amateurish, botched way. ” But, in more typical form, Mr. O’Reilly also focused on what he said he perceived to be Mr. Trump’s political calculation, adding that much of the country was “getting fed up with the people. ” By late Monday, order on Fox News had been fully restored. In his opening monologue, Sean Hannity followed a familiar trope, criticizing the mainstream news media for “freaking out and completely misrepresenting” the immigration ban. The Trump administration, he said, was trying to “set the record straight, but the media won’t listen. ” The Wall Street Journal, part of the Rupert News Corporation, delivered a scathing editorial on Monday denouncing Mr. Trump’s “blunderbuss” policy. But on Tuesday, some journalists at the publication were frustrated after a note from the editor in chief, Gerard Baker, instructed editors to avoid the phrase “seven majority Muslim countries” when writing about the order. “It’s very loaded,” Mr. Baker wrote Monday night in the note, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times (and reported earlier by BuzzFeed). “The reason they’ve been chosen is not because they’re majority Muslim but because they’re on the list of countries Obama identified as countries of concern. Would be less loaded to say ‘seven countries the U. S. has designated as being states that pose significant or elevated risks of terrorism. ’” The note caused concern among some editors and reporters in the newsroom as inappropriate interference. In a statement, a spokeswoman for The Journal said Mr. Baker’s note was “part of a larger conversation discussing developments as a story was being edited on deadline. ” In the same email chain, she said, Mr. Baker also pushed to include more comments from critics of Mr. Trump’s policy. On Tuesday, Mr. Baker sent a memo to employees saying there was “no ban on the phrase ‘ country’” but that the publication should “always be careful that this term is not offered as the only description of the countries covered under the ban. ” The unrest was only the latest manifestation of greater concern among a faction of reporters and editors at The Journal who are dissatisfied with what they view as sympathetic coverage of Mr. Trump. Mr. Baker has maintained that the publication is committed to fair reporting. Elsewhere in the news and entertainment empire of the Murdoch family, there was a more pointed response to Mr. Trump’s immigration policy. In a memo to employees of 21st Century Fox on Monday evening, James and Lachlan Murdoch suggested they did not fully support Mr. Trump’s executive order. “21CF is a global company, proudly headquartered in the U. S. founded by — and comprising at all levels of the business — immigrants,” they wrote. “We deeply value diversity and believe immigration is an essential part of America’s strength. ” Among organizations, the tone in the last few days has been predictably defiant and jubilant, reflecting their position on the conservative spectrum. Several seized on Mr. Trump’s accusation that Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, had shed “fake tears” over the ban. The Federalist, a web magazine, published an article under the headline, “No, Trump’s Immigration Order Isn’t Racist or Reminiscent of the Holocaust. ” After Mr. Trump fired Sally Q. Yates, the acting attorney general, on Monday night for refusing to carry out his immigration order, Breitbart News went with the spirited headline, “You’re Fired: Trump Fires AG for ‘Betrayal. ’” The conservative Daily Caller called Ms. Yates’s decision a “brazen act of defiance that cost her the post. ” On Tuesday afternoon, Breitbart readers may have been surprised to see the site covering protests — but the blaring headline would have quickly showed the organization’s focus. “Trump Supporter Knocked Unconscious at Portland Airport Protest,” the site wrote. | 0 |
Bill Nye was this close to participating in a debate on climate change with Sarah Palin, only to find out that he wasn t invited to the panel But in a recently aired teaser for an interview with Marc Morano, the organizer of the climate denial panel, it s obvious to see why the group was terrified to let Nye on the stage with an intellectual lightweight like Sarah Palin Nye mopped the floor with Morano s tired arguments and didn t even break a sweat.In a two-and-a-half minute clip of a lengthier interview, Nye gets Morano, a man whom Media Matters named the Climate Change Misinformer of the Year in 2012, to admit that the world is warming. Then he asks the outspoken denier to put his money where his mouth and winds up demonstrating just how little confidence Morano has in his own radical position.Nye: Would you take the bet? 2016 will be among the hottest of the last 10 years and that [between] 2010 and 2020 will be the hottest decade on record?Morano: No. I would agree with both of those, but I would say it s a meaningless stat because it s tenths of a degree.Nye points out that even tenths of a degree each year means major changes in climate over the next few decades. Morano, who comes from the school of Let future generations worry about it is again stumped when Nye flips the narrative by focusing on his children and the future he is building for them. Bear in mind, your reputation in the mainstream is a guy who will do almost anything to win. Your children go to school, they have access to the internet, they see your history, what you ve said about people. Your publishing of emails. You ve even encouraged harassment. I agreed to do this interview because I think it will expose your point of view as very much in the minority, and very much not in our national interest and not in the world s interest. And as I say again, I m very concerned about your kids. Morano is known as the guy who most vehemently pushed the bogus story that climate scientists were faking data to promote the climate change agenda. He operates almost exclusively outside of reality. Last year he threw an epic temper tantrum on Fox News after learning that Google planned to tweak their search algorithm to account for factual validity because he assumed (correctly, let s be fair) that his work would be pushed to the very bottom.The full-time propagandist recently produced and hosted a new documentary called Climate Hustle which he and friend Sarah Palin have billed the right-wing s response to Al Gore s Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth. Morano said the film delivers a powerful presentation of dissenting science, best of all, in a humorous way. Adding: This film may change the way you think about global warming.' According to an exclusive by Variety, Palin will be participating in an event that features a screening of the film and then a panel discussion afterwards. It will be hosted by Republican Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas (another denier) and Palin who once described oil, gas, and minerals as those things that God has dumped on this part of the earth [Alaska] for mankind s use instead of us relying on unfriendly foreign nations. They re not exactly playing with a full deck.Nye has a reputation for tearing ignorant opponents to shreds during debates. He recently put on a master class during a much-publicized debate with creationist theme park owner Ken Ham, in which he not only emerged the victor, but probably even changed a few minds in a crowd of deeply religious Ham fans.Nye already seems pretty confident that despite not being invited to appear in person, his interview with Morano says it all. On Twitter, he trolled Morano after the teaser for the contentious interview between the two aired showing that Morano would not accept Nye s bet of $20,000.Climate denier (extreme doubter) won't take the bets 'cause he knows what's up re: global temperatures. https://t.co/OJfUoDPOMB Bill Nye (@BillNye) April 11, 2016It was originally reported that Nye would be in attendance at the event to square off against Palin, this unfortunately isn t true. Instead, audiences will get to listen to Palin ramble on about polar bears and drill, baby, drill with nobody there to call her on her misinformation. It is, without a doubt, a major missed opportunity.Featured image via Getty | 0 |
Lambert Strether on 2:00PM Water Cooler 11/4/2016 > I don’t know how that private server... aab on 2:00PM Water Cooler 11/4/2016 My point was that it is completely outside... Lambert Strether on 2:00PM Water Cooler 11/4/2016 This is a coherent narrative, but I'm not... Lambert Strether on 2:00PM Water Cooler 11/4/2016 The story you can't place in Slate or... Waldenpond on 2:00PM Water Cooler 11/4/2016 Oh yes, the good ol' tradition of laundering... Topics | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Rand Paul suspended his 2016 presidential bid on Wednesday after his small-government campaign failed to gain traction with voters. The U.S. senator from Kentucky was the second Republican candidate, behind former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, to drop out of the race since Monday’s night’s Iowa caucuses. That contest launched the parties’ process to nominate candidates for the November election. “It’s been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House. Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of Liberty,” Paul said in a statement. In the Republican race, the libertarian-leaning Paul finished in fifth place in Iowa with 4.5 percent of the vote. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz finished first in Iowa, putting a dent in real estate tycoon Donald Trump’s standing as front-runner to be his party’s nominee. Paul, who is also focused on winning another U.S. Senate term, said he would continue fighting for limited government, criminal justice reform and “reasonable” foreign policy. The heir apparent to the libertarian-minded voters who helped his father gain a standing in the last two presidential elections, Paul struggled to attract support in a crowded Republican field. His withdrawal leaves 10 Republican candidates in the 2016 White House race. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday said he wants the House of Representatives to pass a Republican tax cut bill by the Nov. 23 Thanksgiving holiday, echoing President Donald Trump’s call to speed up the party’s efforts to get the measure approved before year’s end. Referring to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, Ryan told reporters at a news conference, “Our goal is to get it out of the House by then. The Senate’s going to be a little slower on their track.” | 1 |
Following the shooting death of 28-year-old armed robbery suspect Michael Renard Grace Jr., surviving family members are now speaking out and demanding answers as to why a restaurant employee would have been allowed to carry a firearm at their place of business.
As if the idea of a robbery victim fighting back in self defense were something completely unfathomable, the deceased suspect’s parents are calling his death undeserved and unjustified.
Predictably, Temia Hairston and Michael Grace Sr. told media outlet WBTV that even though their son walked into the Charlotte area Pizza Hut intent on robbing the business with two other armed men, was it just “an act of desperation ” and that they do not believe he would have hurt anyone.
Image of Michael Grace Jr. via WISTV
“Why in the hell did this guy have a gun?” Hairston stated to WBTV… This is despite the fact that the most glaring and obvious possible answer to that question is that the employee carried a firearm for exactly this type of scenario. But I digress.
Via WISTV
Police said Grace Jr and two other people tried to rob a Pizza Hut in the 3200 block of Freedom Drive. During the incident, an employee fired his own handgun and killed Grace Jr.
“If there was to be a death, it was not the place of the employee at Pizza Hut. That is the place of law enforcement,” said Hairston.
They said Grace Jr had fallen on hard times and resorted to crime to provide for his own child. They also said their son used to work at the same Pizza Hut restaurant where the robbery happened. They maintain he never would have physically hurt anyone during the robbery.
She said her son was shot in the head, and she thinks the shooting may have even been personal…
Sounds more like an individual with proper firearms training to me, but yeah, of course defending your own life is personal.
The family said they want Pizza Hut to release more information about the situation and acknowledge that their son used to be a Pizza Hut employee.
Hairston said she thinks the employee who shot her son needs to be in jail, and wants all parties involved in the situation to be honest about what happened.
The employee involved has reportedly been placed on leave. Pizza Hut released the following statement:
“The local Pizza Hut franchisee is fully cooperating with the Charlotte Police Department as they continue their investigation, but want to stress that the security of its staff is of utmost concern. They are providing support to the team members involved to ensure their health and well-being following this incident. The employee involved in the shooting has been placed on a leave of absence following further review.”
Thoughts on this? Let us know in the comment section below.
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Home | World | Shameful Obama Legacy: White Man Beaten Viciously For Voting Trump Shameful Obama Legacy: White Man Beaten Viciously For Voting Trump By Doctor Zee 10/11/2016 22:42:48
CALIFORNIA – USA – Racial tensions have increased tenfold since the Obama election in 2008, but it’s getting worse after Trump in 2016.
All that Obama brought to America is hatred, vicious race divisions and unpunished violence committed by blacks.
Here we see an unbridled example of this Obama legacy at work, where an elderly white man is set upon by a pack of African Americans, or in U.S. media terms ‘young people’ simply because the man voted for Donald Trump.
Blow after blow are administered on this man’s head by cowardly creatures lower than animals, intent on brutally beating him down. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services may have broken the law by making a stock purchase just before he introduced legislation that would have benefited the firm, the Senate’s leading Democrat charged on Tuesday. A confirmation hearing for Tom Price, a Republican congressman and orthopedic surgeon from Georgia, was scheduled for Wednesday before the Senate Health Committee. If confirmed, he would be a key player in carrying out Trump’s plans to overhaul Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law. CNN reported on Sunday that Price bought between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of shares last March in Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc (ZBH.N), a medical device manufacturer. Days later, he introduced legislation in the House of Representatives that would have delayed a regulation that could have ultimately damaged the company, CNN said. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the leader of the Democratic minority in the Senate, called on the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate whether Price had violated the 2012 Stock Act, a law designed to combat insider trading. Schumer said Price’s Zimmer Biomet purchase may have been in violation of that law. “It may be that this trade was illegal,” Schumer said on the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon. The Trump transition team said late on Monday that the stock purchase was directed not by Price but by a broker and that the congressman himself did not become aware of the stock buy until well after the legislation was introduced. The transition team urged CNN to retract the story. “Any effort to connect the introduction of bipartisan legislation by Dr. Price to any campaign contribution is demonstrably false,” said transition spokesman Phil Blando. Schumer did not sound convinced. “Now they say there’s a broker, it’s kind of strange that this broker would pick this stock totally independently of him introducing legislation that’s so narrow and specific to this company,” Schumer told CNN on Tuesday. Sean Spicer, who will serve as Trump’s White House spokesman, defended Price. “Regarding dem attacks on @RepTomPrice: this is a stock trade worth $300. You couldn’t get into a @SenSchumer fundraiser for that amount,” Spicer said in a tweet. Another sign of trouble for Republicans in the healthcare arena emerged on Tuesday when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said a repeal of Obamacare - a top priority of both Trump and congressional Republicans - would increase the number of people without health insurance by 18 million in the first year. That number would grow to 32 million by the year 2026 and premiums would double in that time, the CBO said. The report based its analysis on a Republican repeal bill that was passed a year ago but vetoed by Obama. Republicans say the same bill is the blueprint for the repeal effort now under way in Congress. But House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, characterized the CBO projection as “meaningless.” He said it did not take into account measures under consideration to replace the law or “actions that the incoming administration will take to revitalize the individual (insurance) market that has been decimated by Obamacare.” Price, an ardent advocate of Obamacare repeal, is one of eight Trump Cabinet nominees who will face Senate confirmation hearings this week. The hearings started on Tuesday with Ryan Zinke, a Republican congressman from Montana tapped for interior secretary, and Republican philanthropist Betsy DeVos, the nominee for education secretary. Trump’s presidential inauguration is on Friday and his team is hoping to have as many of his nominees as possible, perhaps as many as seven, confirmed by then. Price, however, will not be one of them. A second Senate panel, the Finance Committee, must also hold a hearing and a vote on Price’s nomination, and it has not yet scheduled its hearing. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential contender Donald Trump called on Wednesday for the resignation of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, describing her as mentally unfit after she lambasted him in a series of media interviews. “Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me,” Trump said in a Twitter post. “Her mind is shot - resign!” The New York billionaire chided Ginsburg, 83, for criticizing him this week and expressing concern for the country’s future if he is elected in November. Trump said it was inappropriate for Supreme Court justices to weigh in on political campaigns. He told the New York Times on Tuesday that he thought it was a disgrace to the court and that Ginsburg should apologize to her colleagues on the bench. Trump was not alone in the rebuke. In an editorial on Wednesday, the New York Times urged Ginsburg to uphold the court’s tradition of silence in political campaigns. “Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs to drop the political punditry and the name-calling,” the editorial said. The Times said there was no legal requirement that Supreme Court justices keep silent on political campaigns, but it expressed concern that Ginsburg would jeopardize her own commitment to impartiality. Ginsburg was not immediately available for comment on Trump’s remarks and the editorial. In a CNN interview posted on Tuesday, Ginsburg called Trump “a faker.” “He has no consistency about him,” she said. “He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego. “How has he gotten away with not turning over his tax returns? The press seems to be very gentle with him on that.” Earlier, Ginsburg joked about moving to New Zealand if Trump wins the White House. “I can’t imagine what this place would be - I can’t imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our president,” she said in a New York Times interview published on Sunday. Trump adviser Sam Clovis told CNN on Wednesday that Ginsburg’s comments were out of character for Supreme Court justices but should not have been surprising. “She has always been a firebrand,” he said. (This story has been refiled to correct spelling of Ginsburg in penultimate paragraph) | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he did not fault his son Donald Trump Jr. for meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential election campaign and that he was unaware of the meeting until a few days ago. Asked if he knew that his son was meeting with lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in June last year, the president told Reuters in a White House interview: “No, that I didn’t know until a couple of days ago when I heard about this.” (Transcript highlights: reut.rs/2sRVuHc) Trump Jr. eagerly agreed to meet the woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow’s official support for his father’s campaign, according to emails the son released on Tuesday. Seated at his Oval Office desk, Trump said he did not fault his son for holding the meeting, writing it off as a decision made in the heat of an upstart, non-traditional campaign. “I think many people would have held that meeting,” Trump said. “It was a 20-minute meeting, I guess, from what I’m hearing,” Trump said. “Many people, and many political pros, said everybody would do that.” The emails were the most concrete evidence that Trump campaign officials might have been willing to accept Russian help to win the Nov. 8 election, a subject that has cast a cloud over Trump’s presidency and prompted investigations by the U.S. Justice Department and Congress. Donald Trump Jr., in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, said: “In retrospect, I probably would have done things a little differently.” In the White House interview, the president said he directly asked Russian President Vladimir Putin if he was involved in what U.S. intelligence says was Russian meddling in the presidential campaign and that Putin had insisted he was not. Trump said he spent the first 20 or 25 minutes of his more than two-hour meeting with Putin last Friday in Germany on the election meddling subject. “I said, ‘Did you do it?’ And he said, ‘No, I did not. Absolutely not.’ I then asked him a second time in a totally different way. He said absolutely not,” Trump said. Asked if he believed Putin’s denial, Trump paused. “Look. Something happened and we have to find out what it is, because we can’t allow a thing like that to happen to our election process. So something happened and we have to find out what it is,” he said. About Putin, he added: “Somebody did say if he did do it, you wouldn’t have found out about it. Which is a very interesting point.” While U.S. intelligence agencies and even members of Trump’s Cabinet have said Russia meddled in the election, Trump has wavered on the subject, at times suggesting that other actors might have been involved. Trump equivocated on whether he felt he could trust Putin. He said Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping both look out for their countries’ interests, as he looks out for U.S. interests. “I am not a person who goes around trusting lots of people. But he’s the leader of Russia. It is the second most powerful nuclear power on earth. I am the leader of the United States. I love my country. He loves his country,” Trump said. As in the past, Trump said there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia. “There was zero coordination. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” he said. The Republican president said Democrats had used the accusations to justify Clinton’s loss in November, saying: “The White House is functioning beautifully despite the hoax made up by the Democrats.” Although he and Putin were able to forge a ceasefire agreement in part of Syria, Trump said their interests collided over other issues. He said his U.S. military buildup and drive to increase U.S. energy production were in direct conflict with Putin, whose nation is dependent on energy exports. Their differences made him wonder whether Putin really had supported him last year, as many news reports have suggested. “It’s really the one question I wish I would have asked Putin: Were you actually supporting me?” | 0 |
Conservative lawmakers are far too obsessed with how people have sex.In defiance of the Supreme Court, Michigan Republicans have passed a bill that makes oral and anal sex felonies punishable by up to 15 years in prison.State Senator Rick Jones, an old white right-wing guy who is apparently angry about all the sex he s not having, added the anti-sex language to SB 219, which is supposed to be an animal protection bill, included in a larger package of bills known as Logan s Law.Logan s Law is designed to block convicted animal abusers from owning any pets for five years, but Jones couldn t wait to use the bill to push his own belief that consenting adults who have oral and anal sex should be left to rot in a jail cell. He slipped in language revising the unconstitutional anti-sodomy law near the very end of the bill in a move that Jones probably hoped would go unnoticed.Here s a screenshot of Section 158 of Senate Bill 219.Despite calls for Jones to remove the section, he claims that to do so would hurt the animal protection bill as a whole. The minute I cross that line and I start talking about the other stuff, I won t even get another hearing. It ll be done, Jones said. Nobody wants to touch it. I would rather not even bring up the topic, because I know what would happen. You d get both sides screaming and you end up with a big fight that s not needed because it s unconstitutional. But Jones is the one who crossed the line in the first place by sneaking in his dream of outlawing oral and anal sex between humans into an animal protection bill. He s the one who willingly put the overall bill in jeopardy.Jones went on to claim that he believes the only way to repeal the sodomy ban is if the state passes a bill to do so, which he says he could probably vote for.The Supreme Court struck down anti-sodomy laws in 2003, but conservatives across the country have been fighting to keep the laws on the books ever since. That includes Ken Cuccinelli in Virginia who tried to outlaw carnal knowledge between married couples in 2013 as he failed to become the state s governor.And just like Cuccinelli, it appears Jones is trying to insert Christian fundamentalist law into the civil law, which would create a legal clusterf*ck in this country since it would destroy privacy. In order to enforce such a law, it would take millions upon millions of dollars, a spying program, and a cop in every household to make sure women and men are only doing it missionary style and that their reproductive organs are in the place where they believe God intended them to be.In short, whenever Republicans say they support smaller government, they are full of shit, and so is Rick Jones. But I bet Justice Scalia is totally behind him all the way. Featured image from Facebook | 0 |
Only 3 days ago, Lindsey Vonn told CNN that she wouldn t be representing President Trump in the 2018 Olympics. She also boldly proclaimed that she wouldn t visit the White House if she were invited. I take the Olympics very seriously and what they mean and what they represent, what walking under our flag means in the opening ceremonies. I want to represent our country well, and I don t think there are a lot of people currently in our government that do that. Is it really appropriate for an Olympic athlete representing the United States of America to make her performance in the Olympics about her hate for Donald Trump?Was it really necessary for Vonn to spew her hate on a network that is not only being called into question for their inaccurate (fake news) reporting on a regular basis but is also known for their extremely unfair coverage of our President?Well, after her miserable showing in Switzerland yesterday, it looks like Lindsey needs to focus a little more on her skiing technique, and a little less on her anti- Trump rhetoric.According to the AP Lindsey Vonn finished a World Cup super-G in extreme pain Saturday and was treated by race doctors for a back injury.The American star crossed the finish line in obvious distress, in 24th place and 1.56 seconds behind the winner, and slumped to the snow.She compressed her back on the fifth gate, according to U.S. Ski & Snowboard.Vonn stayed in the finish house to be treated, and one hour later limped slowly into a waiting car to be driven from the St. Moritz course.Minutes earlier, her father Alan Kildow told The Associated Press his daughter was OK. In a race interrupted several times by gusting crosswinds, Vonn wore the No. 4 bib and was left standing at the start gate during the first delay of about three minutes. She stayed warm with a thick jacket draped on her shoulders.The surprise winner was Jasmine Flury of Switzerland, who had a career-best World Cup finish of fifth before Saturday.Perhaps the outspoken Lindsey Vonn will get her wish and not have to represent the President or decline his invitation to the White House | 0 |
Donald Trump wanted to win, where as before, President Obama just didn t want to lose Watch: President @realdonaldTrump wants to Win President Obama just didn t want to lose!#MAGA #Gutfeld pic.twitter.com/oWBDR9tSOu gab.ai/VandeMataram (@Vande_Mataram) March 15, 2017 | 0 |
Head Of Medicare, Who Oversaw Obamacare Rollout, Will Step Down
Marilyn Tavenner, the administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who oversaw the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, will step down.
Tavenner announced her departure on Friday in a message to staff.
"I have great pride and joy knowing all that we have accomplished together since I came on board five years ago in February of 2010," Tavenner said.
Tavenner was at the center of the problematic rollout of Obamacare, the president's signature domestic program. When the HealthCare.gov insurance marketplace was first introduced in October of 2013, the website was essentially useless.
After the mess, Obama shook up the staff — Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius left last year — but Tavenner remained. After much controversy and congressional hearings, the problems were eventually solved.
In a message to staff, Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell called Tavenner "one of our most esteemed and accomplished colleagues."
"It goes without saying that Marilyn will be remembered for her leadership in opening the Health Insurance Marketplace. In so doing, she worked day and night so that millions of Americans could finally obtain the security and peace of mind of quality health insurance at a price they could afford. It's a measure of her tenacity and dedication that after the tough initial rollout of HealthCare.gov, she helped right the ship, bringing aboard a systems integrator and overseeing an overhaul of the website. "She is a big part of the reason why, as of this past spring, roughly 10 million Americans had gained health coverage since last year – the largest increase in four decades." | 0 |
Negotiators have been hesitant to publicly share details, but there is obvious discord between Iranians and the U.S. on Iran's demand for sanctions relief. Iranians have long insisted that a final agreement, to be reached by June 30, should trigger an instant lifting of the broad sanctions imposed by the U.S., the European Union, and the United Nations. American negotiators have argued that sanctions relief must occur gradually, as Iran demonstrates compliance with terms of the nuclear agreement.
Both sides are facing tremendous pressure back home to avoid compromising. Sanctions have crippled Iran’s economy, which is heavily dependent on oil exports. Perhaps more importantly, Iranians see the international sanctions as an injustice that should be reversed immediately as part of any comprehensive nuclear deal.
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) is pushing for a veto-proof majority on a bill that would allow Congress to vote on the final deal and strip the president of authority to temporarily waive sanctions. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) became the most recent Democratic senator to lend his support, tentatively putting the Corker bill about four votes shy of the 67 needed to override a presidential veto.
Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) have formidable support for a separate bill, which would impose new sanctions on Iran if negotiators fail to reach an agreement by the June 30 deadline. Sensing hesitance from Democrats, Menendez agreed to delay voting on the bill until after the March 31 deadline.
Obama has promised to veto both bills and has pleaded with lawmakers to hold off on legislation until the negotiations are complete. The president said either the Corker or the Kirk-Menendez bill would likely derail negotiations at this point. Failure to reach a political framework by Tuesday could prompt lawmakers to take action.
Sanctions are far from the only hurdle. Iran currently has 19,000 centrifuges, including 10,000 that are spinning to produce uranium. While leaked details of the talks indicate that the parties have agreed to Iran keeping about 6,000 centrifuges in operation, there is disagreement about how sophisticated the remaining centrifuges can be, and where they can produce uranium.
On Thursday, The Associated Press reported that Tehran may be able to continue running centrifuges at Fordow, a once-secret underground bunker that would likely be invulnerable to a military strike if it were to host illegal nuclear activity in the future.
Menendez responded to the report with outrage. “We have pivoted away from demanding the closure of Fordow when the negotiations began, to considering its conversion into a research facility, to now allowing hundreds of centrifuges to spin at this underground bunker site where centrifuges could be quickly repurposed for illicit nuclear enrichment purposes,” he said in a statement. “My fear is that we are no longer guided by the principle that ‘no deal is better than a bad deal,’ but instead we are negotiating ‘any deal for a deal’s sake.’”
The rumored concession at Fordow would be in return for increased limitations on centrifuges and research and development work at other nuclear sites, according to the AP. Fordow would be subject to international inspections and the centrifuges there would operate on zinc, xenon, or geranium, rather than uranium, which can be enriched to fuel a nuclear weapon.
Regardless of the number of centrifuges ultimately left in operation, Iran’s stockpiles of uranium puts its breakout period -- the time needed to produce enough material for a nuclear weapon -- less than the one year baseline that the U.S. has insisted upon for any final agreement.
At one point, Tehran appeared willing to ship its stockpile of uranium to Russia, where it would be converted to fuel rods. In recent days, Iranian negotiator Abbas Araqchi balked at the idea of sending uranium abroad, as first reported in The New York Times. An alternative to exporting uranium may be to dilute it into lower-grade material that could not be used for weapons.
Further complicating the goal of reaching a political framework is defining what that means. Because political and technical components of Iran’s nuclear program often overlap, there has never been a publicly shared list of benchmarks for Tuesday's deadline. In fact, it's unclear whether the political framework should produce a signed document, or simply an understanding between the negotiating parties.
“The March 31 deadline for reaching a framework agreement is a soft target,” Davenport explained in an email to The Huffington Post. “Given that the expectation for the end of March is a broad framework outlining the major parameters of a deal, a signed document is extremely unlikely because there will still be technical annexes that both sides will want to see worked out.
“While failure to reach a framework agreement by the end of March will certainly result in a backlash from those that want to derail negotiations and kill the prospects for a deal, the real focus must remain on completing an entire agreement by June 30,” Davenport added.
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How many times have the press and the Left admonished Trump for saying we need to do a better job of vetting the refugees coming into America? Call me racist, but the threat of polio, measles, TB and this horrific flesh eating disease all seem like pretty good reasons to re-evaluated our open borders to Muslim refugees position The Syrian refugee crisis has precipitated a catastrophic outbreak of a flesh-eating disease that is spreading across the Middle East and North Africa, according to research published on Thursday in the scientific journal PLOS. Largely missing from news media coverage is that the same news-making scientific report warned the ongoing violence in Syria has created a setting in which we have seen the re-emergence of polio and measles, as well as tuberculosis, hepatitis A, and other infections in Syria and among displaced Syrian refugees. Indeed, in 2013 the World Health Organization documented new cases of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, reporting that year alone the number of confirmed measles cases in Syria reached 139, as compared to no documented cases in 2010 and 2011.The WHO reported that 2013 saw Syria s first outbreak of polio since 1999. According to an April 2015 WHO report, 35 children were subsequently paralysed by polio before the start of a new vaccine campaign.In November, 2014 PLOS documented the spread of measles from among the Syrian refugee population.Regarding the flesh-eating disease, leishmaniasis, PLOP warned in its latest report, We may be witnessing an epidemic of historic and unprecedented proportions, but it has largely been hidden due to lack of specific information. The PLOP journal reported leishmaniasis is now affecting hundreds of thousands of refugees and has spread to Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Libya and Yemen. In Yemen alone, 10,000 new cases have been reported annually, the journal reported. Additionally, the number of cases of CL (cutaneous leishmaniasis) has most likely been severely underreported due in part to constraints on collecting data from violence-torn regions, PLOP warned. Few countries have mandated reporting of CL and the resultant weak reporting system promotes a lack of disease awareness and public policies for treatment and prevention, the report added. Due to the violence, Syrians have been forced to flee from their homes and seek refuge across the Middle East, North Africa, and, more recently, Europe, the journal documented.Volcano-like ulcersLeishmaniasis, meanwhile, is a disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is spread almost entirely by sandflies, including those present in the U.S.There are three main types of the disease: cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral leishmaniasis.Cutaneous is the most common form among Syrians. It manifests in skin sores that typically develop within a few weeks or months from a sand fly bite. The sores can initially appear as bumps or nodules and may evolve into volcano-like ulcers.Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis causes skin ulcers like the cutaneous form, as well as mucosal ulcers that usually damage the nose and mouth.Visceral leishmaniasis, which has also been found among Syrian refugees, is the most serious form and can be fatal. It damages internal organs, usually the spleen and liver, and also affects bone marrow.Threat to U.S.?Refugees who enter the U.S. must undergo medical screening according to protocols established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. Each refugee must submit to a physical examination, including a skin test and possibly a chest x-ray to check for tuberculosis,as well as a blood test for syphilis.The blood tests do not currently look for leishmaniasis. Clearly, an attending doctor could easily spot a patient with obvious skin ulcers. However, leishmaniasis cannot be detected upon physical examination if the patient is asymptomatic, as can be the case for years.In December, Dr. Heather Burke, an epidemiologist from the CDC s Immigrant, Refugee, and Migrant Health Branch, explained to Breitbart Jerusalem that there is generally a window of three to six months from the initial physical examination until a refugee departs for the U.S.She said a medical examination is valid for six months, and explained that patients undergo a second examination just prior to departure a quicker fitness to fly screening. While she conceded that this final examination is not thorough, she said it would pick up any visible skin lesions. Burke told Breitbart Jerusalem that she is not aware of a single case of leishmaniasis entering the U.S. via Syrian refugees.Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, warned that most doctors in the U.S. know nothing about leishmaniasis. We d all need to refer patients to tropical diseases specialists, she told Breitbart Jerusalem in December. The treatments are toxic and expensive, and some are not widely available. For Orient, the only sensible public health policy is for all refugees to pass through a quarantined place like Ellis Island. Officials need to know where they ve been and what diseases occur there. We need sophisticated, reliable screening methods and excellent vector control in any areas where refugees stay. For entire story: Breitbart News | 1 |
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - An El Salvador court on Tuesday ruled in a civil case that former President Mauricio Funes and one of his sons had illegally enriched themselves and ordered them to pay nearly $420,000 in restitution to the government, a prosecutor said. The country s second civil court ruled that Funes could not justify $206,665 of his assets, while his son Diego Funes could not prove the origin of $212,484, government prosecutor Cecilia Galindo told reporters following a closed-door ruling. The court also recommended that prosecutors file criminal charges against Funes, she said. El Salvador s attorney general had sought to recover $1.23 million from Funes and his family. The court acquitted Funes ex-wife and the current social inclusion minister, Vanda Pignato, of similar charges, Galindo said. She did not specify why the court had levied a smaller fine than was sought by prosecutors. Funes, a former journalist, was elected in 2009 and brought the party formed by a former leftist guerrilla group, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), to power for the first time following a 1980-1992 civil war. His term ended in 2014 and he sought asylum in Nicaragua last year after claiming he was being politically persecuted. Funes said in his Twitter account that he rejected the unjust and arbitrary sentence of the court. You can not condemn defendants for stealing money from the state and say their assets are illegal just because there is pressure from the Right to do so. We will appeal this sentence, Funes said in a post. | 1 |
But the media s concerned Trump is the threat to our national security with his reckless words. LOL!Watch #UnFitHillary threaten Russia here: | 1 |
Home › SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY › MOBILE PASSES DESKTOP FOR THE FIRST TIME… MOBILE PASSES DESKTOP FOR THE FIRST TIME… 0 SHARES
[11/1/16] More users around the world are accessing the internet from mobile devices than from desktop computers for the first time, according to internet monitoring firm StatCounter . The combined traffic from mobile and tablet devices tipped the balance at 51.2 percent, vs. 48.7 percent for desktop access, marking the first time this has happened since StatCounter began tracking stats for internet usage.
It’s a huge moment for the web overall: this means going forward, companies that haven’t yet decided to focus on a mobile-first approach to their internet services and web properties really should, as the trend line is unlikely to reverse.
StatCounter also found that the maturity of the market impacts which is the dominant means of access, and as you might have guessed, mobile platforms are far and away the method of choice for internet access when it comes to emerging markets like India, where they account for 75 percent of use. More mature markets including the UK, the US and Ireland still see use swinging in favor of desktop, but the trend is still showing a narrowing gap. Post navigation | 1 |
According to The Sun, George W. Bush successor, Barack Obama, promised to close the camp in 2009, calling it a sad chapter in American history .But he faced strong opposition from Congress and succeeded only in reducing the number of inmates from 245 to around 40, as detainees were either freed or transferred to other countries.Since his election in 2016, Donald Trump has vowed to keep the prison open and use it to detain bad dudes .He has also stated he would happily use torture against inmates.He said: I would bring back waterboarding, and I d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding Don t tell me it doesn t work torture works if it doesn t work, they deserve it anyway, for what they re doing to us. We have to fight fire with fire. According to CNN, the man convicted in the 2016 bombing in New York s Chelsea neighborhood that injured 30 people has been trying to radicalize other inmates, federal prosecutors say.Ahmad Khan Rahimi also told a judge he is on a hunger strike.Rahimi provided inmates with copies of terrorist propaganda and jihadist materials, including speeches by Osama Bin Laden and the late militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, bomb-making instructions, books on jihad and issues of the al Qaeda-backed magazine Inspire, prosecutors said.Rahimi has been attempting to radicalize fellow inmates in the Metropolitan Correction Center by, among other things, distributing propaganda and publications issued by terrorist organizations, according to a letter from Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim to US District Judge Richard Berman.Rahimi let other inmates view the items on his laptop and gave them electronic copies, Kim s letter said. Discs of the materials were found in two inmates possession.Defense attorneys for Rahimi have yet to respond to the allegations.Prosecutors said Rahimi began distributing these materials in October if not earlier. Rahimi was convicted October 16 on eight federal charges in connection with the Chelsea bombing.Among the inmates Rahimi gave the materials to, prosecutors say, is Sajmir Alimehmeti, who is scheduled to go on trial next month on terrorism-related charges.Rahimi was arrested and charged after a pressure cooker bomb went off in New York s Chelsea neighborhood on September 17, 2016. A second pressure cooker bomb was found a few blocks away, on 27th Street, but didn t detonate.Earlier the same day, a bomb went off near the start of a Marine Corps charity run in Seaside Park, New Jersey.After a two-week trial and roughly four hours of jury deliberation, Rahimi was convicted of charges including the use and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, bombing a public place, destroying property by means of fire or explosives, and using a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence.During the trial, the prosecution presented evidence including DNA and fingerprints linking Rahimi to the bombs that were placed in New Jersey and New York.Rahimi faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison, according to an earlier statement from Kim.Rahimi faces separate charges in other jurisdictions in connection with the bomb that went off in Seaside Park, a backpack containing improvised explosive devices found the following day at a transit station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and a shootout he had with police before being taken into custody. | 1 |
JERUSALEM — Israeli prosecutors on Tuesday charged a Palestinian employee of the United Nations in the Gaza Strip with providing material assistance to Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the territory, including helping to build a jetty for its military wing. The accusations against the employee, Waheed Al Bursh, came after Israel leveled charges Thursday against a Palestinian employee of World Vision in Gaza, saying he had funneled millions of dollars to Hamas. Mr. Bursh, an engineer with the United Nations Development Program since 2003, was detained on July 3 by Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet. Israeli news organizations reported that he had confessed to being instructed by Hamas officials to use his position to benefit the group. But Mr. Bursh’s relatives in Gaza insisted he was not involved with Hamas. The United Nations agency, which is helping rebuild thousands of homes and other buildings destroyed by airstrikes in Israel’s 2014 conflict with Gaza’s militant groups, said in a statement that it was “greatly concerned” about the allegations, had “zero tolerance for wrongdoing” and would cooperate fully with the Israeli authorities. The statement said the agency was reviewing “the processes and circumstances surrounding the allegations,” and noted that they appeared to involve only “seven truckloads out of a total of nearly 26, 000” bringing building materials into Gaza. But the indictment against Mr. Bursh — on the heels of the World Vision case and the revelation on Monday that the aid group Save the Children was investigating whether one of its Palestinian workers had been recruited by Hamas — raised broad questions about the vast network of humanitarian groups operating in Gaza. Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesman for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the government was “asking for more vigilance” from groups working in Gaza, where most of the population of 1. 8 million Palestinians relies on international organizations for food and other assistance. Already, World Vision has frozen its Gaza operations while investigations continue, and Germany and Australia have suspended their donations to the World Vision projects in the Palestinian territories. “Working in the Palestinian territories was hard before, and I can’t imagine what it is going to be like now,” said Ashley Jackson, a research associate with the Overseas Development Institute in London. Robert Piper, the United Nations’ coordinator for humanitarian and development activities, issued a statement on Monday — before the allegations against the agency engineer were made public — calling any misuse of aid “a profound betrayal. ” “Everyone would pay a high price for such acts,” Mr. Piper said. “If proven by a due legal process, these actions deserve unreserved condemnation Gaza’s demoralized and vulnerable citizens deserve so much better. ” The indictment contends that Mr. Bursh transferred 300 tons of construction rubble to a port that he knew would be used at some point by the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing. It says that he was contacted in April or May 2015 by Hosni Suleiman, an activist in the Qassam Brigades who was acting on behalf of a Qassam member, Abu Anas . It also accuses him of being in contact with two men referred to only by their last names, Rantissi and Radwan, two prominent families in Gaza. The Shin Bet said in a statement that Mr. Bursh had also persuaded his managers to prioritize the rebuilding of homes in an area “populated by Hamas members,” and had notified Hamas activists when United Nations workers removing rubble uncovered openings of attack tunnels or entrances to rooms so they could take control of the sites. An uncle of Mr. Bursh’s denied the charges. He said the engineer, who is from Jabaliya, a crowded neighborhood north of Gaza City, was a quiet family man whose wife had given birth to their seventh child while he was in detention. “If Waheed came to me and said, ‘I belong to a militant group,’ I would respond to him and say, ‘You are liar,’ ” said the uncle, who would give only his nickname, Abu Abed. Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group did “not rely on employees of international aid organizations for any needs of the resistance. ” He added that if the allegations are true, “then it is an individual act — we are not responsible. ” But Naji Sharrab, a political science professor at Al Azhar University in Gaza, said the idea of Hamas’s pressuring aid workers was not surprising because of its on power in the territory. Hamas security forces can search or shut down offices, he noted, and can prevent people from entering or leaving Gaza. “Hamas has complete authority to interfere and control all the organizations working in Gaza,” he said. | 0 |
So far, the Supreme Court has not prevented one single unconstitutional act committed by Obama. Is there any reason to believe they will stop the invasion of illegals to save America and the American worker?The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to review President Obama s plan to shield up to 5 million illegal immigrants from deportation, after lower courts blocked the president s sweeping executive actions from taking effect.The decision sets up an election-year clash over the controversial plan that many Republicans have likened to amnesty. The justices said Tuesday they will consider undoing lower court rulings that blocked the plan from taking effect. The Obama administration had appealed to the Supreme Court last fall.The decision to review the case may be welcome on both sides of the aisle. Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, of Utah, issued a statement praising the court for taking it on and urging the justices to rule against the administration. President Obama s executive action is an affront to our system of republican self-government, Hatch said. The Constitution vests legislative authority in Congress, not the President. With his actions, President Obama has attempted to bypass the constitutionally ordained legislative process and rewrite the law unilaterally. The case probably will be argued in April and decided by late June, about a month before both parties presidential nominating conventions. The issue of illegal immigration has taken a center-stage role in the Republican primary battle, as Donald Trump calls for a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and candidates spar over who is toughest on the issue.The immigrants who would benefit from the Obama administration s plan are mainly the parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.But more than two-dozen mostly Republican-led states challenged Obama s executive actions after they were rolled out in 2014, and the plan has been tied up in litigation ever since.Critics say the plan is unconstitutional. Shortly before the administration took the case to the Supreme Court, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the states in early November.Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. later said in a court filing that allowing those rulings to stand would force millions of people to continue to work off the books, without the option of lawful employment to provide for their families. At issue is the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program, which Obama said would allow people who have been in the United States more than five years and who have children who are in the country legally to come out of the shadows and get right with the law. Via: Fox News | 0 |
An Idaho mother who called police after her missing 12-year-old son returned home soon regretted making the call, after cops arrived and smashed the boy s face in.On March 13, Amy Olzak called Idaho Falls Police to report her son missing. After a day-long search, a friend found the boy, and like any good citizen, Olzak called the station back to let officers know that the boy had been located and any search attempts should be called off.However, the officers came to the family home anyway. By the time they were finished, they had left her 12-year-old son with broken teeth, a possible concussion, and bruising and trauma to the neck and facial area. As Olzak explained to reporters at KIKD: I just wanted them to be aware. They came over. I talked to an officer for a minute and he walked over to my son. Then he put my son s hand behind his back and like lifted him up in the air and slammed his face into the trunk of a car. Two witnesses, the car s owner Courtney Beck, and Jessica Bowles reported seeing the whole event unfold and were both unable to give a single reason for the officer s extreme actions. Bowles said: I walked up closer and saw a chipped tooth, blood, and two fats lips. Olzak called for more officers, and they agreed that the boy needed medical attention. However, the original officer refused to release the boy from handcuffs throughout the entire visit to the hospital. He was kept in handcuffs until I took him home, Olzak said.The family sent a tort to the Idaho Falls Police last week, in order to initiate legal proceedings against the officer for using unnecessary and excessive force against a minor. The case reminds us of the growing issue of police being called to help, only to end up killing or injuring the people they should be supporting. One of the most notable cases being the killing of 68-year-old marine veteran Kenneth Chamberlain. White Plains police officers in New York broke into his home and shot him dead after a simple call to go to his aid in a potential medical emergency and the list is growing. It doesn t help the majority of good police, or the communities that they are meant to protect and serve, to continue making these mistakes with seeming impunity. Featured image via KIDK | 1 |
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), facing criticism over its classification of carcinogens, has reportedly been advising its scientific experts not to publish internal research data on its 2015 report on “probably carcinogenic” glyphosate. The IARC urged its scientists not to publish research documents on its 2015 weedkiller glyphosate review, according to Reuters. The agency told Reuters on Tuesday that it tried to protect the study from “external interference,” as well as protect its intellectual rights, since it was “the sole owner of such materials.”
The scientists had been asked earlier to release all the documentation on the 2015 report under US freedom of information laws.
The groundbreaking review, published in March 2015 by the IARC – a semi-autonomous agency of the World Health Organization (WHO) – labeled the glyphosate herbicide as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Glyphosate is a key ingredient of Monsanto’s flagship weedkiller well-known under the trade name ‘Roundup.’ It is one of the most heavily used herbicides in the world and is designed to go along with genetically-modified “Roundup Ready” crops, also produced by Monsanto.
The IARC’s report caused problems for both the notorious agrochemical giant and the agency itself.
The report sparked a heated debate around the use of Roundup, and caused several EU countries – including France, Sweden, and the Netherlands – to object to the renewal of the glyphosate’s EU license. The vote on prolonging the glyphosate license for 15 years failed several times in June 2016, but the license was temporarily extended for 18 months during last hours before its expiration.
The controversial report has seemingly made the IARC a target for attacks from multiple directions, and raised scientific, legal, and financial questions.
Various critics, including those in the chemical industry, said the IARC’s evaluations are fuel for “unnecessary health scares,” since the IARC allegedly studies the potentially harmful substance itself, and not a “typical human” exposure to it. It remained unclear whether the critics urged a WHO body to test the potentially carcinogenic chemical on humans.
The critics also brought up other controversial statements from the IARC, over whether such things as mobile phones, coffee, red meat, and processed meat could cause cancer.
The agency defended its methods as scientifically sound and “widely respected for their scientific rigor, standardized and transparent process and…freedom from conflicts of interest.” Numerous freedom of information requests by the Energy & Environment Legal Institute (E&E Legal), a US conservative advocacy group, have since been turned down with this reasoning.
E&E Legal told Reuters that it is pushing a legal challenge over whether the documents in question belong to the IARC or to the US federal and state institutions where some of the experts work. Basically, it’s being decided whether the IARC, as part of the WHO, is truly independent and free from “conflicts of interest.”
According to Reuters, officials from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be questioned by a congressional committee about why American taxpayers fund the cancer agency, which faces much criticism over its allegedly faulty classification of carcinogens.
“IARC’s standards and determinations for classifying substances as carcinogenic, and therefore cancer-causing, appear inconsistent with other scientific research, and have generated much controversy and alarm,” a letter from US Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz to NIH director Francis Collins states, as quoted by Reuters.
The Oversight Committee demanded a full disclosure of NIH funding of the IARC, and even money spent in relation to the cancer agency’s activities.
IARC opponents from scientific circles vowed to provide their data on the matter. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which believes glyphosate is “unlikely pose a carcinogenic hazard to humans,” promised to release its raw data on the subject as part of its “commitment to open risk assessment.” The food safety watchdog made this statement in late September, and still has to deliver the promised information.
Source: RT News
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Wednesday on ABC’s ‘The View,” MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said President Donald Trump “totally” could have leaked his own 2005 taxes, which she featured on her show last week. Maddow said, “It totally could’ve come from Trump, which is like such a bizarre human drama at the center of this. As far as I’m concerned, the only thing that matters is, is that document real? That’s the story. ” ( RCP Video) Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 0 |
Europe will never be the same. The millions of mostly Muslim men flooding their countries rich in heritage and unique cultures will not assimilate. They come with no health checks, no passports, no ID very few women and children. These are the same men who complain about lack of sex and good bars in refugee camps This is unbelievable.A Czech doctor, who works in a German hospital, is so disgusted and overwhelmed with the Muslim migrant invaders that she is threatening to leave the country and go back home to the Czech Republic. She explains, via an email letter (because the press is forbidden from reporting on this), how horrific the conditions are in these hospitals, with the Muslim invaders bringing diseases they weren t even prepared to treat. But that s just part of it. The superior attitudes of these Muslims and their belief that they should get everything for free is wreaking havoc everywhere, from the hospitals to the pharmacies.Really, you must watch this video where an independent Czech television host reads the letter in full. Or, if you prefer, read the transcription I made below which matches the English captions with slight corrections.We will return to the topic of the migrants because I have another letter here regarding the effect of immigrants on the everyday flow of operations.Eyewitness from a Munich hospital:A friend in Prague has a friend, who, as a retired physician, had returned to work at a Munich area hospital where they needed an anaesthesiologist. I correspond with her and she forwarded me her email. Yesterday, at the hospital we had a meeting about how the situation here and at the other Munich hospitals is unsustainable. Clinics cannot handle emergencies, so they are starting to send everything to the hospitals.Many Muslims are refusing treatment by female staff and, we, women, are refusing to go among those animals, especially from Africa. Relations between the staff and migrants are going from bad to worse. Since last weekend, migrants going to the hospitals must be accompanied by police with K-9 units.Many migrants have AIDS, syphilis, open TB and many exotic diseases that we, in Europe, do not know how to treat them. If they receive a prescription in the pharmacy, they learn they have to pay cash. This leads to unbelievable outbursts, especially when it is about drugs for the children. They abandon the children with pharmacy staff with the words: So, cure them here yourselves! So the police are not just guarding the clinics and hospitals, but also large pharmacies.Truly we said openly: Where are all those who had welcomed in front of TV cameras, with signs at train stations?! Yes, for now, the border has been closed, but a million of them are already here and we will definitely not be able to get rid of them.Until now, the number of unemployed in Germany was 2.2 million. Now it will be at least 3.5 million. Most of these people are completely unemployable. A bare minimum of them have any education. What is more, their women usually do not work at all. I estimate that one in ten is pregnant. Hundreds of thousands of them have brought along infants and little kids under six, many emaciated and neglected. If this continues and German re-opens its borders, I m going home to the Czech Republic. Nobody can keep me here in this situation, not even double the salary than at home. I went to Germany, not to Africa or the Middle East.Even the professor who heads our department told us how sad it makes him to see the cleaning woman, who for 800 Euros cleans every day for years, and then meets young men in the hallways who just wait with their hand outstretched, want everything for free, and when they don t get it they throw a fit.I really don t need this! But I m afraid that if I return, that at some point it will be the same in the Czech Republic. If the Germans, with their nature cannot handle this, there in Czechia it would be total chaos. Nobody who has not come in contact with them has no idea what kind of animals they are, especially the ones from Africa, and how Muslims act superior to our staff, regarding their religious accommodation.For now, the local hospital staff has not come down with the diseases they brought here, but, with so many hundreds of patients every day this is just a question of time.In a hospital near the Rhine, migrants attacked the staff with knives after they had handed over an 8-month-old on the brink of death, which they had dragged across half of Europe for three months. The child died in two days, despite having received top care at one of the best pediatric clinics in Germany. The physician had to undergo surgery and two nurses are laid up in the ICU. Nobody has been punished.The local press is forbidden to write about it, so we know about it through email. What would have happened to a German if he had stabbed a doctor and nurses with a knife? Or if he had flung his own syphilis-infected urine into a nurse s face and so threatened her with infection? At a minimum he d go straight to jail and later to court. With these people so far, nothing has happened.And so I ask, where are all those greeters and receivers from the train stations? Sitting pretty at home, enjoying their non-profits and looking forward to more trains and their next batch of cash from acting like greeters at the stations. If it were up to me I would round up all these greeters and bring them here first to our hospital s emergency ward, as attendants. Then, into one building with the migrants so they can look after them there themselves, without armed police, without police dogs who today are in every hospital here in Bavaria, and without medical help.Via: The Right Scoop | 1 |
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I visited Mosul on the day it fell to Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and a small detachment of US Special Forces on 11 April 2003. As we drove into the city, we passed lines of pick-up trucks piled high with loot returning to the Kurdish-controlled enclave in northern Iraq. US soldiers at a checkpoint, over which waved the Stars and Stripes, were shooting at a man in the distance who kept bobbing up from behind a wall and waving the Iraqi flag .
If there had ever been any sympathy between liberators and liberated in Mosul, it was disappearing fast. Inside the city, every government building, including the university, was being systematically looted by Kurds and Arabs alike. I saw one man who had stolen an enormous and very ugly red and gold sofa from the governor’s office dragging it slowly down the street. He would push one end of the sofa a few feet forward and then go to the other end and repeat the same process. The mosques were soon calling on the Sunni Arab majority to build barricades to defend their neighbourhoods from marauders.
We parked our vehicle near a medieval quarter of ancient stone buildings while we went to see a Christian ecclesiastic. When we got back, we found that our driver was very frightened and wanted to get out of Mosul as fast as possible. He explained that soon after we left a crowd had gathered, recognised our number plates as Kurdish and debated lynching him and setting fire to his car before being restrained by a local religious leader moments before they took action.
The oil city of Kirkuk was captured at about the same time by the Peshmerga, despite having promised the Americans and Turks that they would do no such thing. Again, there was looting everywhere and I saw two Peshmerga stand in the middle of the road to stop an enormous yellow bulldozer that was being driven off. Instead of slowing down, the driver put his foot on the accelerator so the Peshmerga had to jump aside to avoid being crushed.
Inside the newly established Peshmerga headquarters, I ran into Pavel Talabani, whose father Jalal Talabani headed the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the political party whose militia now held the city. He stressed the temporary nature of the Kurdish occupation of the city. “We came to control the situation,” he said. “We expect to withdraw some of our men in 45 minutes.”
Some Peshmerga, but not all: 13 years later the Kurds still hold Kirkuk, whose population is Kurdish, Arab and Turkoman, and to which the Kurds claim an historic right saying they have only reversed anti-Kurdish ethnic cleansing by Saddam Hussein.
By now the rest of the world has forgotten that there was a time when the Kurds did not hold the city. The Kurdish leaders had understood that the US-led invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein had created conditions of unprecedented political fluidity and it was an ideal moment to create facts on the map, which would become permanent whatever the protestations of other players.
The current multi-pronged offensive aimed at taking Mosul is producing a similar situation as different countries, parties and communities vie to fill the vacuum they expect to be created by the fall of Isis, just as in 2003 the vacuum was the result of the fall of Saddam Hussein.
The different segments of the anti-Isis forces potentially involved in seizing Mosul – the Iraqi army, Kurds, Shia and Sunni paramilitaries, Turks – may be temporary allies, but they are also rivals. They all have their own very different and conflicting agendas. Presiding over this ramshackle and disputatious alliance is the US, which is orchestrating the Mosul offensive and without whose air power and Special Forces there would be no attack.
The Shia-dominated Iraqi government needs to take and hold Mosul, Iraq’s main Sunni Arab city, if it is to be convincing as the national government of Iraq. To achieve this, Baghdad’s rule must be acceptable to the Sunni majority in the city in a way that was not true when Isis took it in 2014. It needs to establish its rule while it still has full military and political support from the US.
The Kurds, for their part, want to solidify their control of the so-called “disputed territories” claimed by both the central government and the Kurdish regional authorities. The Kurds opportunistically used the defeat of the Iraqi Army in northern Iraq by Isis two years ago to take these territories inhabited by both Kurds and Arabs, thereby expanding by 40 per cent the area of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). They know that once Isis is defeated, the Kurds will no longer get international and, above all, American backing to hold this expanded version of the KRG.
These problems have only begun to surface because Mosul is still a long way from being besieged or even encircled.
The Shia militia forces are surprisingly calm about being excluded from a military role in the siege. They may calculate that the Iraqi army, if it gets sucked into street fighting, will not be able to take Mosul on its own and will have to look to them for support. The Shia paramilitaries are making up for their lack of participation in the battle for Mosul by sending reinforcements – some 5,000 men, according to reports – to join the Syrian Army in the siege of East Aleppo.
Turkey wants to be a player and, as a great Sunni power, the defender of the Sunnis of Mosul. To this end, it has soldiers based at Bashiqa, north east of Mosul, and claims to be taking part in the attack. But so far at least, Turkish ambitions and rhetoric in Iraq and Syria have exceeded its performance. Both interventions may be designed to impress a domestic audience which is deluged with exaggerated accounts of Turkish achievements in the government-controlled Turkish media.
These participants in the struggle for Mosul may be dividing the tiger’s skin before the tiger is properly dead. Isis showed that it still has sharp claws when it responded to the assault on Mosul with raids on Kirkuk and Rutbah on the main Iraq-Jordan road. It is fighting hard to slow down the anti-Isis advance towards Mosul with a mix of suicide bombers, IEDs, booby-traps, snipers and mortar teams. But it is unclear if it will make a last stand in Mosul where, at the end of the day, it must go down to defeat in the face of superior numbers backed by the massive firepower of the US-led air forces.
The likelihood is that Isis will fight for Mosul, the site of its first great victory, in order to prolong the battle, cause casualties and to let divisions emerge among its enemies. But its strategy over the last 12 months has been not to stage heroic but doomed last stands in any of the cities it has lost in Iraq and Syria.
At Ramadi, Fallujah, Sinjar, Palmyra and Manbij it has staged a fighting withdrawal at the last moment. The same may now happen in Mosul. | 0 |
It s been a rough day in the Donald Trump White House. After a mostly incoherent interview published in the New York Times, and after a revelation that Trump is going around asking if he could pardon his family and even himself, rats have begun abandoning the sinking ship.It started early on Friday morning, when Trump s beleaguered Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, announced his resignation because he objected to his new boss, Anthony Scaramucci. The shakeup had only begun. By the afternoon, Trump s personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz, also resigned after being demoted from heading the Russia defense and after, in the New York Times interview, Trump threatened special counsel Robert Mueller against going after Trump family finances.In an interview with MSNBC, Times reporter Peter Baker said this about Trump s legal team: People around him definitely are. This is, in fact, connected to the other thing you were talking about, the sort of blowup of the legal team. some of the lawyers told him don t go after Robert Mueller. First of all, this guy is a good guy, he is a smart guy, a person of integrity. In fact, some of the lawyers have said to the president, in effect, if you didn t do anything wrong and we think you don t have anything to worry about in terms of the Russia investigation, then you should want Robert Mueller at your special counsel, because if he finds that, if that s his conclusion, it will have credibility on both sides of the aisle, so don t do that. Baker was proven right on Friday when Kasowitz left the team after it was announced that Ty Cobb would be heading the defense.This also points to a change in legal strategy, and that means that Mueller, if not outright fired, will be in the crosshairs. The goal will be to dig up any bit of dirt and any perceived conflict of interest to discredit him. All of that points to just one thing guilt. If Trump, his family and his associates were innocent, they would, as his legal team said, welcome the investigation and discrediting Mueller would only put a cloud over any sort of exoneration. Now there s no question. We can be sure now that there won t be an exoneration.Featured image via Pool/Getty Images | 1 |
Donald Trump apparently expects Democrats to support his evil agenda just because a Republican won a race in a red state.The special election in Georgia s 6th district on Tuesday was tight but eventually went to Karen Handel by a mere five points.Democrats had an opportunity to take the House seat but Jon Ossoff fell short as Republicans employed dirty tricks in the final days of the race, including an ad blaming liberals and Ossoff for the Congressional baseball shooting in Virginia last week.Trump wasted no time gloating about the win.Congratulations to Karen Handel on her big win in Georgia 6th. Fantastic job, we are all very proud of you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2017Well, the Special Elections are over and those that want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN are 5 and O! All the Fake News, all the money spent = 0 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2017In reality, Trump and the Republicans dodged a bullet on Tuesday night, but Democrats ran a tough race and nearly pulled it off. The race was tighter this year than it was last time around when Tom Price won with over 60 percent of the vote.Nevertheless, Trump used the win to call for Democrats to support him and his agenda.Democrats would do much better as a party if they got together with Republicans on Healthcare,Tax Cuts,Security. Obstruction doesn t work! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2017Does anyone remember Republicans supporting President Obama and working with him after Democrats took complete control of Congress and won the White House in 2008? Because as I recall, Mitch McConnell and a group of other Republicans vowed to make President Obama fail before he had even been inaugurated and they proceeded to obstruct for the next eight years. I also do not remember Trump ever calling for Republicans to stop obstructing.All of a sudden, he claims obstruction does not work.And judging by the reaction on Twitter, Trump s message is not being well received.They re stopping you from giving tax cuts to the 1%, taking healthcare away from veterans, ruining our relationships, and hurting security! Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) June 21, 2017By the way, obstruction DOES work! Or have you literally passed no serious legislation whatsoever in the last 5 months? Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) June 21, 2017Working together isn t just agreeing with the GOP on everything. It is making changed so BOTH SIDES win. Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) June 21, 2017The GOP obstructed Obama at every turn for nearly a decade. Now you want kumbaya?? Your hypocrisy and lack of context is staggering. Aaron Gouveia (@DaddyFiles) June 21, 2017And you would do better as a president if you didn t insult & attack people everyday! Alex Haditaghi (@Alexhaditaghi) June 21, 2017Translation: Democrats should help us screw over Americans on Healthcare they ll lose, Tax Cuts for the rich & Security that discriminates. Rob (@RobCabrera) June 21, 2017Again, Handel won in a Republican district. That s what it comes down to. It wasn t a unique victory or even an unexpected one. But Democrats made it closer than it should have been and had a real chance to win. Democrats are chipping away at the lead Republicans have in their own districts and that is what should really scare them ahead of the 2018 midterm election. Because there s more than enough time between now and then for conservative voters to realize Trump is screwing them.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images | 1 |
Donald Trump is still using his Twitter account to push big, ridiculous lies about his troubled personal foundation, the Donald J. Trump Foundation. Despite his success in the presidential election, it seems Trump just can t let go of the issue since it s still generating negative headlines for him.In a tweet Trump claimed that 100% of money donated to the foundation goes to wonderful charities, but as the Huffington Post reports, that is a total lie about how the foundation has operated over the years of its existence.The Donald J. Trump Foundation, established in 1987, admitted to the Internal Revenue Service just last year that it engaged in self-dealing, a prohibited practice in which a nonprofit leader uses an organization s money to benefit his or her own interests.According to a Washington Post report earlier this month, the foundation s 2015 tax filings confirmed it had transferred income or assets to a disqualified person that year (in this case, a disqualified person could be Trump himself or a member of his family or business) and had engaged in similar practices in previous years.While the media fixated on the optics and right-wing innuendo about the Clinton Foundation (much of that smear financed by the head of Breitbart by the way), Trump s foundation escaped much of the same scrutiny despite its admittedly illegal behavior.Additionally, the Trump Foundation donated money to a political group associated with Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, who dropped a probe of Trump University at the same time. The IRS fined the foundation over that behavior.He also used the foundation as a slush fund to settle multiple lawsuits that had been personally filed against him, instead of using his own bank accounts to do so. This behavior has continued to cast suspicion on Trump s claim that he is a billionaire, and his refusal to release his taxes hasn t helped alleviate those thoughts.Featured image via Flickr | 1 |
Wow! This first-hand assessment of Bill clinton and then Hillary is a complete scorcher. Dolly Kyle holds nothing back when describing this grifter couple that will do anything for money and political power. What a great look inside the Clinton world of lies and manipulation!Dolly Kyle met Bill Clinton on a golf course in Hot Springs, Arkansas in the summer of 1959 when she was 11 years old and he was 12.A thunderbolt struck, so power and intense, it was love at first sight that lasted 32 years through all his Arkansas gubernatorial years and right up until Billy as she calls him was on the threshold of the White House. Dolly dated Bill all the way through Hot Springs High School together and they were close when he went off to law school at Yale.In 1974, he told her of this woman he had moved in with at Yale. It was simply a decent place to live, a roof over his and she would never be an issue between them, he intimated. The now 60-something Dolly didn t realize at the time that Hillary s role was financial provider, a role that started at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Hillary s role of providing financial security for Billy was part of her motivation for the series of financial crimes (yes, crimes) that she committed over the decades . Hillary was upholding her part of the deal to get Billy elected president, after which it would be her turn to be the first woman in the Oval Office , lawyer and author Dolly Kyle writes in her bombshell book Hillary, The Other Woman, published by WND Books. Billy and Hillary Clinton continue to be lying, cheating, manipulative, scratching, clawing, ruthlessly aggressive, insatiably ambitious politicians who are giving public service a bad name and nothing about them has changed in the past forty-plus years, except that they have deluded more and more people . The Clintons and their misled supporters have rewritten history to suit their political agenda, which is to get votes to get power to get money to get more power to get more money . The Clintons vicious cycle of intertwining greed and power addictions will have no limit, unless someone stands up and announces, The emperor has no clothes! Here am I , writes Dolly. Ideology, integrity, and love of country were never involved in the Billary quest for the White House. It was always a codependent, co-conspiratorial grab for money and power and more money and more power . Unfortunately for them and for the United States of America, there is never enough to satisfy addicts .Dolly watched Bill Clinton grow up in Arkansas. She witnessed Hillary bringing her carpetbag to Arkansas. I know what really happened . She heard it firsthand. The Man from Hope , only lived in Hope, Arkansas, until the age of seven when he moved to Hot Springs. The segregated climate in the South festered an attitude towards blacks and allowed Clinton to use the phrase G**damn n****r, which Dolly heard him frequently say. Clinton first confessed his desire to be president to Dolly back in high school and began chasing it when he was an Arkansas delegate to Boys Nation in the summer of 1963 that took him to the White House and a photo-op with President John F Kennedy in the Rose Garden. Hillary jumped into that dream by defining herself as financial provider, so Billy told Dolly. Her support allowed him to pursue his addictions to politics, power and sex . Bill s mother had supported the family financially while his stepfather drank. Now it was Hillary supporting him and he introduced Dolly to the woman from Yale on the evening of May 28, 1974 at the airport in Little Rock. It was election night and Senator William Fulbright was running for re-election. He had been Clinton s champion, gave him his first Senate job while Bill attended Georgetown University; introduced him to powerful people in Washington; supported him for the Rhodes Scholarship he won; a teaching job at Arkansas Law School and his endorsement as well as intros to financial backers for Bill s first congressional campaign that he eventually lost. Bill s plane landed and he was first to de-board followed by a dowdy-looking woman who appeared to be middle-aged . Bill greeted his lover Dolly formally with an extended hand while she checked out this mystery woman accompanying him. I couldn t imagine why Billy would haul such a person in the plane with him in public. She was wearing a misshapen, brown, dress-like thing that must have been intended to hide her lumpy body. The garment was long, but stopped too soon to hide her fat ankles and her thick calves covered with black hair . Thick brown sandals did nothing to conceal her wide feet and the hair on her toes . Dolly was embarrassed that she was staring. Hillary s eyes, glared at her from behind coke-bottle-thick lenses with an air of real hostility. Her thick eyebrows melded together stretching across her forehead. In that moment, I noticed that the woman emitted an overpowering odor of perspiration and greasy hair. I hoped that I wouldn t gag when she got in the car . I was stunned thinking it was some kind of a sick joke a woman in a hideous disguise. Finally the introduction: Dolly, this is Hillary. Hillary, Dolly. Dolly extended her hand but Hillary only glared and nodded. The plan had been to go the Fulbright s campaign headquarters, but when the votes came in he was losing. Hillary signaled to Bill and the plan was changed. He would head back to the airport. I don t want to be seen with a loser, Bill told Dolly. This was his mentor on the most critical night of his 30-year career. It brought tears to Dolly s eyes that he would not pay his respects to the man responsible for his career. At that time, Hillary was working in Washington, DC and trying to become a political force under her own steam . It was a futile attempt, Dolly writes.Her job with the Watergate investigation ended. I do believe that Hillary showed the same lack of integrity there that would later get her into more serious trouble . Dolly suggested her boss had little respect for Hillary as a young lawyer and he doubted that she had any potential to bring honor to the profession . A lawyer and graduate of Yale, Hillary wanted a career in Washington. She flunked the DC bar exam and moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where Bill was teaching law at the University of Arkansas. But she had her spies there months before to uncover Bill s lovers but being furriners from Chicago, they weren t getting any help on ratting out Bill. Dolly started sleeping with Bill after high school and admits Billy was a sex addict; I was a codependent . Then I read about sex addiction. I realized that Billy and I shared a similar problem, she writes. He confessed his sex addiction to Dolly in 1987 and was undone by Wilt Chamberlain s claim to have slept with 20,000 women. That s ten times more than I ve had! he told Dolly. He notoriously never used a condom and Dolly guessed Hillary wasn t concerned because she wasn t sleeping with him because of her lifestyle . It didn t matter that Bill married Hillary in October 1975, Dolly writes. Dolly and Bill continued their love affair and were safe in Arkansas because no one liked Hillary, she says. Chomping at the bit for her own term as governor or president, she still had private investigators tracking Bill and the women he was dating or attacking . Bill called her the Warden , but she had to keep his nose clean in the public mind because she was riding his coattails to political power .Read more: Daily Mail | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana, a former Navy SEAL commander who questions whether humans are largely the cause of climate change, as his choice for secretary of the interior. If the Senate confirms Zinke, a Republican, to lead the Interior Department, he will head an agency that employs more than 70,000 people across the country and oversees more than 20 percent of federal land, including national parks such as Yellowstone and Yosemite. As a one-term U.S. congressman, Zinke took several stances favoring coal, which is high in carbon emissions when burned. Coal output suffered during the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama as the development of competing fuels natural gas and solar and wind power soared. Zinke, 55, pushed to end a moratorium on federal coal leases on public lands by 2019, saying it had resulted in closed mines and job cuts. He also helped introduce a bill expanding tax credits for coal-burning power plants that bury carbon dioxide emissions underground to fight climate change, a measure supported by coal interests and some moderate environmental groups. In introducing the bill, Zinke said he wanted to keep “coal, oil and gas communities viable for generations to come.” The Interior Department includes the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which has oversight over offshore oil drilling and wind power; and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Trump’s potential Cabinet is filling with nominees from top fossil fuel-producing states. He tapped Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, an ardent opponent of Obama’s measures to curb climate change, to run the Environmental Protection Agency and Rick Perry, a climate skeptic and former governor of Texas, to head the Department of Energy. Zinke would replace Sally Jewell, who in January put a temporary ban on coal mining on public lands, canceled leases for drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic coasts, expanded wildlife protections and cracked down on methane emissions from the energy industry on tribal and public lands. The choice of Zinke surprised some observers because Republican officials had wanted him to challenge Democratic Senator Jon Tester in Montana’s 2018 Senate race. Many environmental groups oppose Zinke for his commitment to fossil fuels and his view that the science on climate change is “unsettled.” Bradley Campbell, the president of the Conservation Law Foundation feared that Zinke would be given the task of unraveling Obama’s protections of the environment and federal lands. Considering Zinke’s history on climate and his defending fossil fuel interests, “it is likely that we will be facing an uphill battle,” Campbell said. Zinke, a regular hunter and fisherman, impressed Trump’s son, Donald Jr., who shares those interests. Land Tawney, the president and chief executive officer of the outdoors group Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, said Zinke would bring a conservationist voice to Trump’s leadership team. Zinke is a proponent of keeping public lands under federal ownership, which puts him at odds with some in his party who would like to privatize the lands or put them under control of the states. “He’s been great at keeping public lands in public hands and goes against the Republican establishment,” Tawney said. | 0 |
Steve Hayes says the biggest scandal yet for Obama is possibly the downplaying of the progress of ISIS in the middle east. Basically, ISIS intel was cooked to make Obama look good crazy! | 1 |
21st Century Wire says Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump accused his predecessor, Barack Obama, of ordering a wire tap at Trump Tower prior to the Presidential Election. Yes, a wire tap . Sounds pretty unsophisticated in this day and age as a means of SIGINT in the post Snowden revelation era where there are numerous more covert methods available to agencies. Democrats and other mainstream pundits wasted no time in defending Obama and criticizing Trump s lack of evidence in the matter. One of these voices was Ben Rhodes, Obama s former Senior Advisor. He also said only a liar could make the case, as Trump suggested, that Obama wire tapped Trump Tower ahead of the election. Shortly after Rhodes took to Twitter in defense of Obama, this article from 2013 became viral that seemed to hold together Trump s allegation of wire-tapping . To add to the Obama accusations, Wikileaks weighed in with the following;Obama has a history of tapping & hacking his friends and rivals https://t.co/XbwyNSwTXg #NSA #PRISM #Merkel #Sarkozy #BanKiMoon #WTO #Trump pic.twitter.com/5CebcnkFgn WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 5, 2017More on this report from Zerohedge Tyler Durden ZerohedgeFollowing Trump s stunning allegation that Obama wiretapped the Trump Tower in October of 2016, prior to the presidential election, which may or may not have been sourced from a Breitbart story, numerous Democrats and media pundits have come out with scathing accusations that Trump is either mentally disturbed, or simply has no idea what he is talking about.The best example of this came from Ben Rhodes, a former senior adviser to President Obama in his role as deputy National Security Advisor, who slammed Trump s accusation, insisting that No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you. He also said only a liar could make the case, as Trump suggested, that Obama wire tapped Trump Tower ahead of the election.No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you. https://t.co/lEVscjkzSw Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) March 4, 2017It would appear, however, that Rhodes is wrong, especially as pertains to matters of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance, and its associated FISA court, under which the alleged wiretap of Donald Trump would have been granted, as it pertained specifically to Trump s alleged illicit interactions with Russian entities.In Chapter 36 of Title 50 of the US Code *War and National Defense , Subchapter 1, Section 1802, we read the following:(1) Notwithstanding any other law, the President, through the Attorney General, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order under this sub-chapter to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year if the Attorney General certifies in writing under oath that (A) the electronic surveillance is solely directed at (i) the acquisition of the contents of communications transmitted by means of communications used exclusively between or among foreign powers, as defined in section 1801(a)(1), (2), or (3) of this title; or (ii) the acquisition of technical intelligence, other than the spoken communications of individuals, from property or premises under the open and exclusive control of a foreign power, as defined in section 1801(a)(1), (2), or (3) of this title;(B) there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party; and(C) the proposed minimization procedures with respect to such surveillance meet the definition of minimization procedures under section 1801(h) of this title; and if the Attorney General reports such minimization procedures and any changes thereto to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence at least thirty days prior to their effective date, unless the Attorney General determines immediate action is required and notifies the committees immediately of such minimization procedures and the reason for their becoming effective immediately.While (B) seems to contradict the underlying permissive nature of Section 1802 as it involves a United States person, what the Snowden affair has demonstrated all too clearly, is how frequently the NSA and FISA court would make US citizens collateral damage. To be sure, many pointed out the fact that Fox News correspondent James Rosen was notoriously wiretapped in 2013 when the DOJ was investigating government leaks. The Associated Press was also infamously wiretapped in relation to the same investigation.Furthermore, while most Democrats not to mention former president Obama himself have been harshly critical of Trump s comments, some such as former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau was quite clear in his warning to reporters that Obama did not say there was no wiretapping, effectively confirming it:I'd be careful about reporting that Obama said there was no wiretapping. Statement just said that neither he nor the WH ordered it. Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) March 4, 2017Continue this report at ZerohedgeREAD MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire TRUMP FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1 |
Swiss volunteer firefighters: It’s ok to be a bit tipsy when reporting for duty Published time: 26 Oct, 2016 23:00 Get short URL A Swiss firefighter helps a volunteer during a save and rescue drill in Zurich's Letzigrund Stadium April 19, 2008. © Arnd Wiegmann / Reuters Volunteer firefighters along with other emergency workers operating heavy vehicles in Switzerland will be able to turn up on the job slightly tipsy under new government plans that are due to take effect on January 1.
Those working voluntary in the “blue light” industry who respond to urgent situations will no longer be penalised for being a tad merry so long as their blood-alcohol level doesn’t go over 0.50 percent, which is the limit for all other drivers, Reuters reports.
READ MORE: Clown arrested for drunk driving in Alabama (PHOTOS)
Describing the change as “necessary,” the Swiss Federal Roads Office said relief organizations are becoming more dependent on those who are not on duty or call.
“The government is addressing the need for the best possible recruitment of personnel in the event they are needed for unexpected rescue operations,” FEDRO said in a statement.
The blood-alcohol level currently stands at 0.10 percent for volunteers in the emergency service sector.
Zurich emergency services commander Peter Wullschleger said a full drinking ban still remains in force for all professional firefighters on duty or on call.
He added that the easing of restrictions was aimed at smaller communities where there is a shortage of professional firefighters who then rely on volunteers at short notice.
“With the ban, theoretically it would have been impossible for somebody enjoying even a nice glass of red wine during the Christmas holidays to fulfill their duty in the event of an emergency,” Wullschleger told Reuters. | 0 |
Is it really possible to describe Donald Trump with just one word? Certainly a few come to mind. Try and pick just one, though. Which one comes to mind first?The conservative media outlet The Blaze trolled a Bernie Sanders event recently and posted a video of Bernie supporters describing both Bernie and Donald Trump with just one word. It wasn t exactly a hit piece; all of Sanders supporters responding enthusiastically for their candidate while completely lambasting Trump. Not much news there. All it did was tell us what we already know, Bernie supporters don t exactly think Trump is all that amazing.First, here are the words most commonly used to depict Bernie Sanders: Inspirational. Consistent. Amazing. Awesome. Equality. Honest. Logical. Compare that to what they think of Trump: Disgusting. Dishonest. **shole. Racist. Bigot. Evil. Insane. Sounds about right.It really just looks like The Blaze likes Bernie Sanders events. Maybe they re #feelingthebern, too? They seem to go there a lot. Although, they didn t particularly like a video of Sanders mocking Republicans Family Values during a speech he gave in Iowa on Friday.Here s what Bernie had to say about Republican s so-called values: They love families. Can t stop talking about families. When Republicans talk about family values what they are saying is that no woman in this room in this country, should have the right to control their own body. I DISAGREE. The race is tight and it s anybody s guess as to who will win Iowa. Bernie s campaign is counting on younger voters to help win the day for him he does have far more of them than any other candidate from either party, after all. When these very same voters get older there will be a dramatic paradigm shift to the left on issues but as of right now it s not clear if the younger vote will help Bernie defeat Hillary. Perhaps it s fitting that we get more of their opinions to see where this country is heading, though. It certainly isn t in the way of Donald Trump.Featured image from screen capture | 1 |
The consequences of a failure to control immigration in America A foreign-born alien who sought help with his immigration papers has been arrested for the alleged brutal beating and rape of the woman who was helping him. Zenen Alvarez-Alguezabal, is behind bars in Seneca, South Carolina and has four previous felony convictions in the United States. It is currently unclear how the man had immigration papers, considering he had four felonies that spanned South Carolina, Texas, California, and Washington state. The victim told police she pretended to pass out, then when Alvarez passed out, she ran to her apartment without pants or shoes and called her son who reported the incident, reported local FoxCarolina.com. The victim had bruises on her face, along with scratches on her hands and the back of her neck. The victim was transported by ambulance to a hospital. Their report stated:Police said they arrived at Alvarez s home and found a handgun on the sofa. Police also located a gold earring and a pair of women s pants.The victim said she had tried to help Alvarez get his immigration papers in order, according to an incident report.The victim told police she went to the restroom and when she returned found Alvarez naked. She tried to leave, but Alvarez struck her in the face and assaulted her, according to police.The victim pushed the alarm on her car key and Alvarez threatened to kill her if she called the police, according to the police report.Via: Breitbart News | 0 |
When far left publications like Democracy Now and Global Research start questioning Hillary s involvement in the murder of Honduran environmental activist, Berta C ceres, there is probably good reason to look a little deeper into the controversy. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is facing a new round of questions about her handling of the 2009 coup in Honduras that ousted democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. Since the coup, Honduras has become one of the most violent places in the world. Last week, indigenous environmental activist Berta C ceres was assassinated in her home.Before her murder on March 3, Berta C ceres, a Honduran indigenous rights and environmental activist, named Hillary Clinton, holding her responsible for legitimating the 2009 coup. We warned that this would be very dangerous, she said, referring to Clinton s effort to impose elections that would consolidate the power of murderers.Berta C ceres was an award-winning land activist, a leader in her community and a mother of four. She was shot four times while in bed, at 1am on 2 March. As a founding member of the Civic Council of Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), C ceres fought against logging, hydro-power and mining projects threatening indigenous people in Honduras. Her death has exposed the poor judgement of impact investor bank FMO, the bully tactics of mining corporations, and murky situations from Clinton s time as Secretary of State. We re coming out of a coup that we can t put behind us. We can t reverse it, C ceres said. It just kept going. And after, there was the issue of the elections. The same Hillary Clinton, in her book, Hard Choices, practically said what was going to happen in Honduras. Via: Democracy NowThe military coup in 2009 did nothing to protect Honduran land or people. President Manuel Zelaya had moved towards grassroots social movements, the kinds of social reforms that the United States has always opposed (Chomsky), and deals with Venezuela. The military kidnapped President Zelaya at gunpoint and flew him out of the country in his pyjamas. This was certainly a coup d etat and was defined as such by the UN, the EU and other Latin America nations and dictionaries everywhere.As Obama s Secretary of State, Clinton refused to call what had happened a coup in public. Doing so would have automatically cut off US non-humanitarian aid to Honduras. Members of Clinton s own party wrote to Barak Obama about the outrage. But Hillary did not relent, despite being informed that the coup question was an open and shut case in US embassy cables.In a video interview, given in Buenos Aires in 2014, C ceres says it was Clinton who helped legitimate and institutionalize the coup. In response to a question about the exhaustion of the opposition movement (to restore democracy), C ceres says (around 6:10): The same Hillary Clinton, in her book Hard Choices, practically said what was going to happen in Honduras. This demonstrates the bad legacy of North American influence in our country. The return of Mel Zelaya to the presidency (that is, to his constitutionally elected position) was turned into a secondary concern. There were going to be elections. Clinton, in her position as secretary of state, pressured (as her emails show) other countries to agree to sideline the demands of C ceres and others that Zelaya be returned to power. Instead, Clinton pushed for the election of what she calls in Hard Choices a unity government. But C ceres says: We warned that this would be very dangerous. The elections took place under intense militarism, and enormous fraud. The Clinton-brokered election did indeed install and legitimate a militarized regime based on repression. In the interview, C ceres says that Clinton s coup-government, under pressure from Washington, passed terrorist and intelligence laws that criminalized political protest. C ceres called it counterinsurgency, carried out on behalf of international capital mostly resource extractors that has terrorized the population, murdering political activists by the high hundreds. Every day, C ceres said elsewhere, people are killed. Interestingly, Hillary Clinton removed the most damning sentences regarding her role in legitimating the Honduran coup from the paperback edition of Hard Choices.According to Bel n Fern ndez, Clinton airbrushed out of her account exactly the passage C ceres highlights for criticism: We strategized on a plan to restore order in Honduras and ensure that free and fair elections could be held quickly and legitimately, which would render the question of Zelaya moot and give the Honduran people a chance to choose their own future (see Fern ndez s essay in Liza Featherstone s excellent False Choices: The Faux Feminism of Hillary Rodham Clinton).Aside from Hard Choices shape-shifting account of the crisis, Clinton has ignored criticism of her role in enabling the consolidation of the Honduran coup. That is, until C ceres s murder forced a response. Last week, her campaign answered my Nation post on her broader responsibility for C ceres s execution: simply nonsense, a spokesperson said: Hillary Clinton engaged in active diplomacy that resolved a constitutional crisis and paved the way for legitimate democratic elections. We still don t have a clear idea of the events surrounding C ceres s murder. There is one witness, Gustavo Castro, a Mexican national, activist, and journalist, who was with C ceres when gunmen burst into her bedroom. Berta died in his arms. Castro was himself shot twice, but survived by playing dead.The Honduran government that unity government Clinton is proud of has Castro in lockdown, refusing him contact with the outside world. Via: The NationIn Clinton s memoir, she admits thatIn the subsequent days [after the coup] I spoke with my counterparts around the hemisphere, including Secretary [Patricia] Espinosa in Mexico We strategized on a plan to restore order in Honduras and ensure that free and fair elections could be held quickly and legitimately, which would render the question of Zelaya moot.Clinton s emails revealed that she played a crucial role, delaying any action that could quickly restore Zelaya.Grahame Russell from Rights Action is not alone in describing the coup as US and Canadian-backed . Media Lens has bemoaned the under-reporting of Hillary Clinton s connection to the state of affairs in Honduras in the US print media, as has FAIR. But it is online. The Nation ran an article titled, The Clinton-backed Honduran Regime is picking-off indigenous leaders the day after C ceres murder.The Clintons have a great ally in Canadian billionaire Frank Giustra. Along with media outlets, Giustra has gold mining interests in Africa. He is known in the industry as a mining promoter and presumably connects investors and miners. Although Bill and Frank like to fly around Latin America, and do philanthropic work together, Bill did bump into Frank in Kazakhstan when Frank was doing a spot of uranium shopping.The Clintons connection with the Canadian mining magnate is labeled a threat to her campaign by Bloomberg Politics. Certainly, The Clintons ties to big business have dogged her campaign, and many democrats are uncomfortable with her performance as Secretary of State. Revelations about the Clinton Foundation do little to dispel the image of Hillary as an entrenched member of the establishment let alone the oligarch hegemony. Given that her nomination looks increasingly insecure, C ceres murder is untimely for them both. Via: Global Research | 0 |
Well, I don t know. When you have pipe bombs laying all over the floor, I don t think they re regular people.' That s not all Trump had a few things to say about the Terrorist s family and some common sense advice for people who see something they suspect may be tied to terrorism in their neighborhoods as well https://youtu.be/9Vddc8t655E | 0 |
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium took steps to expel a Saudi imam who preaches at the country s biggest mosque for spreading extremist ideology, the immigration minister said on Tuesday. The imam s residence permit was withdrawn as a prelude to expelling him. He had lodged an appeal against that decision which, if it failed, would oblige him to leave the country, Minister Theo Francken told radio station BelRTL. Brussels Grand Mosque, which was leased to Saudi Arabia for 99 years in the 1960s as part of an energy deal, has faced repeated accusations from local politicians of propagating ultra-conservative forms of Islam. There is a problem with the Grand Mosque... I have taken the decision to withdraw the residence permit of the imam of that mosque, Francken said. We have had some very clear indications that he was very radicalized, Salafist and conservative. He was dangerous for our society and national security. Francken did not name of the imam, who the ministry also declined to name when contacted by Reuters. Authorities at the mosque were not immediately available for comment. The Salafist movement - which is strongly influenced by Saudi Arabia s Wahhabi school of Islam - sees many other branches of the faith as heretical has been linked to militant groups such as Islamic State. A judge will decide in the coming weeks on the imam s appeal. | 0 |
Written by Daniel McAdams Monday October 31, 2016 Most of the country is on the edge of its seat over next week's presidential election. Will it be Hillary? Trump? We don't know. One thing we do know is that the real winner will be a public/private hybrid known as the "deep state" that ensures Washington's policies do not significantly shift out of its favor. They will come out on top regardless of who wins next week. There are more "private" contractors with top secret clearances than government employees. A recently released FBI memo referenced the "7th Floor Group" or "Shadow Government" made up of very high-ranking State Department officials and perhaps others. This not conspiracy, it is conspiracy fact. What can be done about it? Plenty. We are joined by Rutherford Institute president John Whitehead to discuss in today's Liberty Report: Copyright © 2016 by RonPaul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given. | 1 |
Capitalism at work. It s funny how the loss of real money has a way of helping to remind NFL owners and the networks who support them, who are writing the checks. One hint it s not the guys disrespecting our flag.Network executives are scrambling to solve the growing problem of crashing ratings for the National Football League, by cutting games to end the perceived over-saturation of football on TV.To put an end to the sliding ratings, the executives are proposing that fewer games may be the ticket to stop that over-saturation, with one idea being to cut Thursday Night Football by a whopping ten games.The idea to trim Thursday Night Football from 18 games a season to only eight was first reported by Sports Business Journal and was part of a plan to reverse the ratings crash that also includes pulling games played in the U.K. back to 1 PM eastern time (6PM London time).Indeed the amount of football on TV has exploded in the last decade.Ratings are still down despite the small rise seen in Week 7. NBC Sports is off 21 percent from 2015, CBS Sports is down 14 percent compared to 2015, and ESPN s Monday Night Football has sunk 17 percent over 2015. -BreitbartRasmussen reports that nearly one-third (32 percent) of adults say they re less likely to watch NFL game telecasts because of the Kaepernick-led player protests against racial injustice. The telephone/online survey of 1,000 American adults was conducted Oct. 2-3.This letter from a die-hard Pittsburg Steelers fan hits the nail on the head, as it relates to how NFL fans feel about the players who continue to disrespect our flag: I want to thank you for freeing up my Sundays. Some of the earliest memories of my life are watching Steelers games with my dad. I was once a season-ticket holder. I have occasionally missed a few games on TV through the years due to scheduling conflicts, but I can honestly say in my 44 years of living, I have never intentionally turned off a Steelers game. That changed today. As I sat down to watch the Steelers-Bears game today, I learned from the sideline reporter that the Steelers chose not to participate in the national anthem. I realize that there is a lot of injustice in our country. I realize that there are a lot of people upset at the current administration. I realize that we live in a free country where people have the freedom to not participate in the national anthem. I also have the freedom to not spend another minute or dollar on your product. I am of the opinion that this is quite possibly the worst way to go about protesting. If you want to hold a rally at Heinz Field to allow your players to voice their opinions, that would be fine. If you want all the Steelers and NFL players to march on Washington D.C., fine. But to not participate in the national anthem is an insult to every serviceman who has served or has passed away defending this country. If you are truly that unhappy with the country, feel free to play for the CFL. So thank you, Steelers and NFL, for freeing up my Sundays. I will no longer waste my time or money watching your product. The weather today the in Pittsburgh area is beautiful and I can not think of a better day to spend it outside, away from the TV. Jim Coletti, former fan | 1 |
Waking Times
I find it easy to imagine a better world, one in which compassion and brotherhood reign supreme. Where greed has been dethroned and truth is respected and revered. A world where our resources are applied creatively, where technology liberates people instead of killing them, and where the natural world is as precious as the human body.
On and on it goes. It’s a beautiful vision.
It’s simple to imagine, because it resonates so deeply with what we know to be true about humans: at our root, we are beings of love. What’s difficult, though, seemingly impossible at times, is to envision the transition from today’s world to this high vision.
What is the missing link? What is the secret? Must we overthrow something or someone? Is a revolution in order? Against whom, precisely? Or do we just start building amid the chaos, division and decay surrounding us? How do we get there from here?
If you follow the thread of scientific reason on human consciousness all the way to its essence, you eventually arrive at the revelation that we create reality , and that the world at large is a macrocosmic representation of the experiences of the individual. Everything conscious and unconscious that lives and breathes within the self, is mirrored as fractals in our collective experience. In this way we share each other’s pain, and in this way we contribute to each other’s greatness.
Observation of the world in this light is a diagnosis of the individual. The sicknesses manifest in our shared reality are to be found within the mind and spirit of all people. When we grasp this as the true nature of reality, the path to a better world suddenly appears. The healing of the one is the healing of the whole. The way is clear now. False Cures and Phony Pharmaceuticals
We live in the age of phony solutions, misplaced hopes and false cures. Shallow is the new deep. Substance is nothing in the company of style. Medicines don’t heal, they harm by making themselves necessary. Cures now perpetuate disease, and the root is rarely unearthed, the source rarely revealed.
The disease that keeps us on the path of self-destruction is a spiritual one, for, each and every human being is a container for personal and collective history, trial and trauma. The contents of our past help to color our future. Suffering buried within creates disharmony without. This is one of the fundamental truths about the spiritual essence of human beings. We carry our past with us, never thinking to let go of that which no longer serves us well.
Our heritage as beings of nature includes the medicines which can release us suffering. These are mother nature’s spiritual medicines which serve as tools for personal, community and planetary renewal . Medicines to explore consciousness and one’s truest nature, but deemed illegal in the matrix, and now only available to those who seek them out. For those that do, a glimpse of the deepest areas of the self is possible, bringing extraordinary understanding of the value and meaning in life. “You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.” ~ Eckhart Tolle First Let Go, Then Receive, Then Integrate
My personal experience with shamanic plant medicines in their proper ceremonial context has led me to the understanding that to be happy one must be free. And to be free, one must be unencumbered and unaffected by fear. To be unaffected by fear, one must have looked intently into the darkest regions of oneself, thereby expanding the range of the possible, so that a rebound can occur allowing for a unfathomably grand new vision of the self.
I have a good friend who works to preserve the culture and medicine traditions of an Amazonian tribe who is being driven into extinction by our consumeristic way of life. I’ve seen firsthand how their sacred plant medicine tradition can positively and permanently change someone’s life, rescuing them from victimhood, and releasing them to their true purpose and greatness.
Another friend of mine, a shaman whose work with a powerful plant medicine tradition from the African rainforest , works everyday providing an opportunity for people like you and I to explore the vast depths of consciousness and memory, Creating a space that allows us to hold communion with our very own souls and letting us see the full depth, richness and vividness of contents stored in the subconscious mind. READ: Matrix Deprogramming and the Prohibition of Nature’s Red Pill
These sacred healing traditions are mostly unknown and widely misunderstood in the culture of contemporary consciousness. These are the spiritual medicines and experiences outlawed by the matrix . Verboten because they have the power to free us from the death grip of self-destruction .
The core message of these plant medicines, as I’ve come to see it, is three-fold: let go, receive, integrate.
First you are called to let go of that which weighs you down, of the fear which prevents you from accepting truth, and of the expectation of having control.
Then to receive. Receive knowledge of self, both sacred and profane. Receive knowledge of the natural world, without which we are nothing. And receive knowledge of the infinitely complexity, and inspiration inherent in the cosmos within.
Then we must integrate these lessons or they are meaningless. We have to walk with these teachings and these revelations, carrying them with each day, in each interaction with others, forever forward as our lives grow more rich. We must actively rise to the challenge of creating the highest versions of ourselves. Final Thoughts
This is the age of chaos, division and decay, when the sickness within colors darkly the world without.
Culture has worked itself into a destructive and frustrating loop, and as the pattern of stress repeats itself, it leads us ever further away from our true nature. Largely cut off from spiritual medicine and deep spiritual experience, we don’t know which direction to turn for inspiration and strength, and are unable to see the way towards that great vision of our future. Yet, to dig ourselves out of the current trap of destruction the individual must be healed. Read more articles by Dylan Charles . About the Author
Dylan Charles is a student and teacher of Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Qi Gong, a practitioner of Yoga and Taoist arts, and an activist and idealist passionately engaged in the struggle for a more sustainable and just world for future generations. He is the editor of WakingTimes.com , the proprietor of OffgridOutpost.com , a grateful father and a man who seeks to enlighten others with the power of inspiring information and action. He may be contacted at . This article ( Spirit Medicine for the Age of Chaos, Division and Decay Dylan Charles | 1 |
North Carolina is facing even more backlash for their anti-LGBT law Monday after a popular adult film site has decided to block the entire state in protest.XHamster.com went offline in the state at 12:30 p.m. EST today, leaving thousands of fans without their favorite porn site. When residents of North Carolina go to the webpage they are greeted with a black screen that the site s spokesman, Mike Kulich, says will stay there until lawmakers repeal House Bill 2. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Kulich explains why the company decided to pull out (no pun intended) of the state: We have spent the last 50 years fighting for equality for everyone and these laws are discriminatory which XHamster.com does not tolerate. Judging by the stats of what you North Carolinians watch, we feel this punishment is a severe one. We will not standby and pump revenue into a system that promotes this type of garbage. We respect all sexualities and embrace them. He went on to say that even though lawmakers rammed a bill that discriminates against transsexuals through, the viewers of XHamster seem to be far less bigoted than Republicans would like them to be: Back in March, we had 400,000 hits for the term Transsexual from North Carolina alone, he said. People from that state searched Gay 319,907 times. That is actually quite common in Southern Bible Belt states, believe it or not. Although many of the voters in these states proclaim that they love their holy book and do not believe gay people deserve the same rights as everyone else, in the privacy of their own homes they frequently watch gay and lesbian pornography. Earlier this year PornHub (another popular XXX site) released the most popular categories by state and the South overwhelmingly preferred lesbian porn:Hypocrisy run deep in the South, doesn t it?Kulich says the company plans to replace the black screen with petition to repeal HB2 in the near future: Hopefully, it will get as many signatures as the transsexual searches, he said.XHamster is just the latest in an expanding list of companies and entertainers who are protesting the state s ignorant law. One thing is becoming very obvious: Bigotry does not pay. Hopefully, the Republican lawmakers in North Carolina figure this out before they completely destroy their state, but until then, thousands of their voters are going to be a whole lot less satisfied.Featured image via Fallout Wiki | 0 |
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A battle between Brazilian private college operator Estacio Participacoes SA and the country s professors arrived in the courts on Thursday, as unions and students protested against the company s recent move to fire over 1,000 teachers. On Wednesday, newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo reported that the company was planning to fire 1,200 of its 10,000 professors in December, as many are being paid above-market rates. In response, the CSB, a Brazilian umbrella union, filed a motion in a court in capital Brasilia on Thursday demanding that the layoffs be halted. That motion was quashed by a judge. Estacio declined to comment on the judicial proceedings, but emphasized that Brazilian law requires that it make any staffing cuts within a limited period of the calendar year. It s important to remember that Brazilian legislation requires that potential layoffs of professors occur only within a very restricted window, the company said in a statement. Augusta Raeffray, a lawyer for the CSB, said by telephone that mass layoffs must be negotiated with union, which she said Estacio did not do. She added that the company had already filed paperwork for 230 layoffs in the city of Sao Paulo, almost 100 in Ribeirao Preto and 50 in Belo Horizonte. In Rio de Janeiro, where 33 of 93 Estacio units are located, the citywide teachers union is planning a Friday protest and students are planning a Monday demonstration, union head Joao Paulo Camara Chaves said in a telephone conversation. The body was also considering a teachers strike during the beginning of lessons next year, he added. The layoffs and subsequent protests at Estacio have raised wider questions about the treatment of academic professionals in Brazil, where professors say salaries and contracts have become more precarious both in the private and public sector, especially as the state tightens its belt. Some state universities are paying professors salaries in installments. Other private universities are using an intermittent or hourly pay schedule, said Jacob Paiva, director of Brazil s nationwide professors union, by phone. Shares in Estacio fell 2 percent on Thursday to 30.71 reais ($9.33), their biggest intraday loss in over a week. ($1 = 3.29 reais) | 1 |
Evelyn Farkas: ..dark campaign of fake news you know that s still ongoing. We see um even someone like myself get swept up in all of this you know when people like me are speaking on behalf of process, people spin it to uh suit their needs and I think maybe the Russians may be behind such fake news today. There s a total distortion about what I said I was outside of government. I had no access to intelligence on this whatsoever, but I was concerned because I knew how the Russians operate and I was reading these reports about them hacking into the elections then giving the information to Wikipedia. Evelyn Farkas now blames Russia for saying what she said & for giving surveilance intel to Wikipedia! #FridayFeeling #Tucker #Hannity pic.twitter.com/peglrZW47t Banning me is racist (@this1isno1) April 1, 2017Yes, she said Wikipedia Think she was nervous? | 1 |
MARAWI CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - With vehicles crushed and overturned and buildings reduced to skeletons of mangled steel and rubble, the Philippine city of Marawi resembles the aftermath of a war that lasted years, rather than months. Except for small clusters of troops dotted amid the ruins and skinny cats and dogs scavenging for food, the heart of Marawi is a ghost town, all but destroyed by the Philippines biggest and fiercest urban battle in recent history. Hundreds of rebels claiming allegiance to Islamic State seized large areas of the city of 200,000 people in May and clung on through unrelenting government air strikes and artillery bombardments, right until the last remaining gunmen were killed three days ago. The military escorted media on Wednesday through the ravaged streets of the once picturesque lakeside town, showing for the first time the front lines of a devastating conflict that has stoked fears of Islamic State s extremist agenda taking root in the region. The scale of the damage was stark as a convoy of vans carrying reporters and cameramen followed an army truck through one district after another, stopping off at key intersections recently cleared of unexploded munitions and booby traps. Wide boulevards in the city were lined by crumbling homes and shop fronts missing higher floors, with fragments of chairs, children s toys and household appliances wedged into piles of crumbled concrete. Tattered pieces of clothing poking above banks of rubble provided the only color in the mass of gutted grey buildings blackened by smoke. Vans, pickup trucks and cars were turned over, coated in rust or torn apart by bomb blasts. The militants planning, stockpiling of weapons and their combat capability stunned government forces, who had to fight street by street to take back the city and were often pinned down by snipers and homemade bombs. At first our forces cannot press them, they moved from one building to the next. Our concept was to restrict them - it took time, but we constricted them, said Lieutenant Colonel Sam Yunque, a special forces commander deployed in Marawi since the beginning of the conflict. We innovated to suppress their techniques. They were not better than us, that s why they lost. The Philippines announced the end of combat operations in Marawi City on Monday after troops killed 42 remaining militants, including some foreign fighters. More than 1,100 people, including 165 troops and 45 civilians, died in the conflict. The government has said the rest were militants. Senior officers said they took pains to protect the multitude of mosques in what is the only designated Islamic City in the mainly Catholic Philippines. Although many escaped the pounding of daily air strikes, domes and walls were peppered with holes from heavy machine gun fire as troops sought to flush out rebels hiding within. Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis praised Filipino soldiers for defeating the militants without attracting allegations of human rights violations. The United States provided critical tactical intelligence in the Marawi combat operation, deploying surveillance planes and drones, thermal imaging and eavesdropping equipment. The walls were blasted away at Marawi s police headquarters where the armory was looted, and in the adjacent jail where more than 100 prisoners were freed. Close by, a mosque minaret had fallen into a mash of metal and rock. Behind it was a lone, leafless tree with only a few branches left. The militants smashed through thick layers of concrete to turn drainage channels into trenches, doubling as tunnels for fighters to move between buildings and elude surveillance drones and army snipers. Rebel-held buildings were covered with graffiti, including one of an arrow through a heart, with the message I love ISIS , an acronym for Islamic State. But there was no love for the rebel alliance among the hundreds of jubilant soldiers at send-off ceremonies held this week as troops gradually return home. Colonel Corleto Vinluan, the commander of joint special operations, described the enemy as rats . He said the military had gained valuable experience in urban combat and chose a strategy that took time, but ultimately paid off. We couldn t just enter the area, it was very big, we did not know where the leaders were, we had to surround them and the area became smaller. It was that time when we really took control, Vinluan told Reuters. We didn t expect they ll last that long, their ammunition their firearms and their food. We learned a lot from this event, we adjusted our strategies. They were tough fighters, some of them, but not all. | 1 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - Frauke Petry, the former co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), wants to form her own party after quitting the far-right group following the Sept. 24 national election which catapulted it into parliament as the third largest bloc. Petry, a 42-year-old chemist who was the most high-profile figure in the AfD s more moderate wing, was asked in an interview with Welt am Sonntag newspaper whether she wanted to form her own group in the Bundestag lower house and then a party. Yes, she said. She also said she and her supporters in the regional assembly of the eastern state of Saxony would form a group and perhaps a parliamentary group with the aim of running in the 2019 regional election. Petry was the AfD s most recognizable face for much of the last two years as she transformed it from an anti-bailout party into a predominantly anti-immigration party capitalizing on rising public anger over Chancellor Angela Merkel s 2015 decision to open the borders to more than a million migrants. Petry sought to distance herself from some of the AfD s more extreme positions as she explained her reasons for wanting to found a new party. The clientele for what we want to do, namely practical politics with a clear market orientation, is much bigger outside the AfD, she said. Last week Petry shocked the party by announcing she would take up her seat as an independent MP and quit the AfD after it won 12.6 percent in the election, becoming the first far-right party to win seats in parliament since the 1950s. Several other AfD members have followed Petry - who had for months clashed with other senior figures because she wanted the party to take a more moderate course - in leaving. Petry stressed she would not aim to cause an exodus from the AfD: We won t seek to remove the core of the AfD because it won t work, she said. I know that AfD members want to switch to us because we have received requests from them. Petry, whose Facebook page now describes her as free and conservative , declined to say what the party would be called. She did not give much detail on what it would stand for but said she agreed with much of the AfD s manifesto. The AfD says Islam in general does not belong to Germany but Petry said if Muslims accepted religion was their private issue and did not make political demands based on it, they could make Germany their home. She also said she favored controlled immigration of qualified foreigners while others in the AfD were against all kinds of immigration. The AfD is ostracized by all other parties, which refuse to work with it. None of them even want to sit next to the AfD in parliament. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet are set to visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday to assess the U.S. territory’s rebuilding in the three months since Hurricane Maria devastated homes, businesses and the power grid. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson will travel to Puerto Rico, where about a third of the island’s 3.4 million residents are still without power, hundreds remain in shelters, and thousands have fled to the U.S. mainland. The visit comes as Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday were planning to unveil a disaster aid package totaling $81 billion, according to a senior congressional aide. Some of that aid would go to Puerto Rico, but also to states like Texas and Florida that were hit by other hurricanes and to California, which is grappling with wild fires. Even before Maria savaged Puerto Rico, the island was contending with $72 billion in debt. Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello has asked the federal government for a total of $94.4 billion in aid, including $31.1 billion for housing and $17.8 billion to rebuild its ruined power grid. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has so far approved more than $660 million in aid for individuals in Puerto Rico as well as more than $450 million in public assistance. Nielsen and Carson will receive detailed briefings on rebuilding efforts and see how federal aid is helping residents to recover, a DHS official said. Nielsen, who oversees FEMA, and Rossello are slated to hold a news conference. The visit comes as Congress prepares to vote on a tax overhaul bill that Puerto Rican officials have said they fear will hurt the commonwealth’s pharmaceutical manufacturing sector - the cornerstone of the island’s economy - at a time when Puerto Rico can least afford to lose jobs and tax revenue. Puerto Rico’s government has said 64 people died because of the hurricane, but after multiple media estimates of dramatically higher figures, Rossello on Monday ordered an official review of the death toll. | 0 |
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said he would “neither defend nor criticize” Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey’s decision to announce the new developments in the Hillary Clinton email saga, a neutral stance that contrasts with the criticism coming from the Clinton campaign and other Democrats. Mr. Comey had revealed Friday that the […] | 1 |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin may have spent years reviling America, but Russians hoping Donald Trump will usher in a new era of detente marked his inauguration on Friday with parties and trinkets from commemorative coins to “matryoshka” nesting dolls in his image. Washington was turned into a virtual fortress with an estimated 900,000 people — backers and protesters — descending on the capital. In London, anti-Trump activists draped a banner reading “Build Bridges Not Walls” from Tower Bridge. Protests were planned across western Europe on Friday and Saturday. But according to Gennady Gudkov, a Putin critic and former lawmaker, Russia is in the grip of “Trumpomania”, with state media giving the President-elect blanket air time at the expense of more mundane and sometimes depressing domestic news stories. That, he said, was in part because the U.S. election, unlike elections in Russia, had been unpredictable. The Kremlin is hoping Trump will ease sanctions imposed over the annexation of Crimea, team up with Russia against Islamic State, and cut back NATO military activity near Russian borders. Craftsmen in the city of Zlatoust, east of Moscow, have released a limited series of silver and gold commemorative coins, engraved with “In Trump We Trust” - an allusion to the phrase on U.S. banknotes “In God We Trust”. Sellers of traditional matryoshka nesting dolls have added Trump dolls to their popular line-up of items carved in the likeness of President Vladimir Putin, Bolshevik revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, ex-President Mikhail Gorbachev and Josef Stalin. And a shop selling Russian military kit located opposite the U.S. embassy in Moscow has unveiled a cheeky promotional campaign offering embassy employees and U.S. citizens a 10 percent discount on its wares to celebrate Trump’s inauguration. Some of Trump’s opponents believe the Kremlin helped him win the White House by staging a hacking campaign to hoover up embarrassing information about Hillary Clinton, his rival. The Kremlin denies that, but few here make any secret of the fact that they are pleased that Trump and not Clinton triumphed. Relations between Putin and Barack Obama had soured badly. “Trump’s election has generated enormous enthusiasm in Russia because his warm words about Russia and Putin have given us hope that the USA and the West will stop their attack on Russia,” Sergei Markov, a former pro-Putin lawmaker, said on social media. “We don’t know for sure if there will be an improvement (in relations) or not. But we Russians are optimists ... so we are hoping for the best, while preparing for the worst.” For Russian nationalists, Trump’s inauguration is an excuse to mix fun with self-promotion. They are holding an all-night party at what used to be the main Soviet-era post office in Moscow where they will showcase their favorite prop, a triptych of Putin, Trump and French Front National leader Marine Le Pen. Konstantin Rykov, a former pro-Putin lawmaker and one of the event’s promoters, said on social media it was right to celebrate the first phase of the “New World Order.” “Washington will be ours,” he quipped. | 1 |
Thanks to Frank Stephens for this moving testimony on living with Down syndrome. Stephens is a man with Down syndrome and an advocate for those with the genetic disorder. He told a congressional committee on Wednesday that his life is worth living as he criticized those who believe fetuses with Down syndrome should be aborted.Down syndrome babies are being aborted in huge numbers since we now have genetic testing to detect if a baby will be born with Down Syndrome. Recently, this topic was in the spotlight because Iceland announced they are close to eliminating Down syndrome births through abortion:OUR PREVIOUS REPORT ON ICELAND S ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THEY HAVE ELIMINATED DOWN SYNDROME:Mainstream news channels rarely draw attention to the negative side of abortion, but CBS News did so this week with a report about Iceland s near 100-percent abortion rate for babies with Down syndrome. few countries have come as close to eradicating Down syndrome births as Iceland, the report begins. Since prenatal screening tests were introduced in Iceland in the early 2000s, the vast majority of women close to 100 percent who received a positive test for Down syndrome terminated their pregnancy. Just a handful of children with Down syndrome have been born in Iceland in the past decade. Two are born each year, on average, but the rest are killed in the womb. For most of the children who were born, their mothers decided not to have prenatal screening tests.This deadly discrimination against babies with disabilities is a problem in countries across the world, not just Iceland. In 2014, the Danish government reported 98 percent of unborn babies who tested positive for Down syndrome were aborted. CBS reports the rate in France was 77 percent in 2015, 90 percent in the United Kingdom and 67 percent in the U.S. between 1995 and 2011. Some put the rate even higher in the United States, but it is difficult to determine the exact number because the U.S. government does not keep detailed statistics about abortion.In many of these countries, late-term abortions are legal in cases of fetal anomalies, such as Down syndrome. The UK, for example, prohibits abortions after 24 weeks but allows wide exceptions for late-term abortions involving fetal anomalies.Iceland hospital counselor Helga Sol Olafsdottir does not see any problem with the fact that so many women are having their unborn babies aborted because of Down syndrome. This systematic discrimination is simply a woman s choice in her mind.The issue is not gray. It s very clearly wrong, says Penny Nace, president and CEO of Concerned Women for America. This is eugenics and barbarianism at best, Nace said. These individuals have no less worth than anyone else. Iceland and many other countries are killing human beings in abortions simply because they have a disability. Down syndrome varies in severity, but most people with the genetic disorder live into their 60s. Some even live on their own, hold down jobs, go to college and get married. For entire story Life NewsPOWERFUL TESTIMONY:Stephens testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies to discuss the state of medical research on Down syndrome. He directly addressed those who believe fetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome should be aborted, a practice common in some countries such as Iceland and Denmark.Iceland is close to eliminating Down syndrome births through abortion. Since the introduction of prenatal screening tests to the country in the early 2000s, close to 100 percent of women whose pregnancies test positive for Down syndrome have chosen to have an abortion. Whatever you learn today, please remember this: I am a man with Down syndrome and my life is worth living, Stephens told lawmakers on the committee. I completely understand that the people pushing this particular final solution are saying that people like me should not exist, Stephens said. That view is deeply prejudiced by an outdated idea of life with Down syndrome. Stephens mentioned some of his accomplishments, including his award-winning film and television career and speaking tours, before joking about visiting the White House. I have been to the White House twice and I didn t have to jump the fence either time, Stephens said. Seriously, I don t feel I should have to justify my existence, he added. Is there really no place for us in the world? Stephens then spoke about how Down syndrome may help with dementia and cancer research, as well as how families with someone with Down syndrome are happier than most others in society.Read more: WFB | 1 |
ANKARA (Reuters) - The Turkish government has launched an investigation into a poster unfurled by fans of Istanbul s Galatasaray soccer team that pro-Turkish media said was clearly linked to organizers of the 2016 attempted coup. Just before Sunday s match kicked between Galatasaray and local rivals Fenerbahce, the home fans opened a giant red and yellow poster behind the goal showing Sylvester Stallone s famous fictional boxer Rocky , with the caption Stand Up and They look big because you are kneeling. Pro-government Turkish media linked the poster and its caption to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of masterminding the July 2016 failed coup attempt. Pro-government daily Takvim said the poster was a reference to a speech by Gulen, where he was quoted reading from a poem that ends with the words Stand Up Sakarya . Sakarya is a province in northwest Turkey. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Monday ordered authorities to carry out an investigation into the poster, sources from his office said. The game between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, Turkey s biggest fixture, ended in a 0-0 draw after a match that was marred by violence in which a referee was injured. In a statement, Galatasaray said the accusations were a pathetic attempt to discredit the club, adding that the same poster was used at a match in May. We will use all our legal rights against any institution, person and social media account who tried to put the Galatasaray name next to that of the red-handed leader of the heinous terrorist organisation by using the choreography as an excuse, the club said on its website. Some 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial over suspected links to last year s failed coup and more than 150,000 have been sacked or suspended from their jobs in the military, public and private sectors. Rights groups and Turkey s Western allies have said President Tayyip Erdogan is using the failed coup as a pretext to crush dissent, but the government says the measures are necessary to fight the threats it is facing. Following the statement from Yildirim s office, Galatasaray s shares were down 4.89 percent as of 1535 GMT. Current league leaders Galatasaray are Turkey s most decorated soccer club, with 20 league championships, and became the first Turkish club to win a major European trophy when they won the 2000 UEFA Cup, the predecessor to the Europa league. | 0 |
In 2008, Jennifer Hudson the Dream Girls star and Grammy Award winning 34-year-old singer lost her mother, her brother, and her nephew after her sister s estranged husband shot them in a brutal murder a topic she rarely talks about now, except in a healing light. She s a great girl. And we re protecting them well, Trump told PEOPLE at a benefit honoring Australia director Baz Luhrman at the Museum of Modern Art Monday night. They are very safe. PeopleIn 2008, Hudson performed Let s Stay Together for Barack and Michelle Obama during Obama s inauguration ball. It s not clear if Obama and Michelle did anything to help her after her family was murdered.Two days ago, another Dream Girls star, Broadway sensation Jennifer Holliday, who had previously committed to performing at Trump s inauguration, backed out over bullying and threats she received from the Left.Ms. Holliday said she was asked on Wednesday if she would sing at the concert scheduled for Jan. 19, and she agreed, seeing the request as similar to those she received to sing at the White House during past Republican and Democratic presidencies. I just thought of the history part of it, and about singing on the mall where Marian Anderson paved the way for me to sing as a black American, she said, referring to a 1939 concert that Ms. Anderson, a popular singer, performed from the Lincoln Memorial after being denied permission to sing at Constitution Hall because she was black.Ms. Holliday said she had been startled and disheartened on Friday by the venom that greeted the news of her participation. It brought a lot of threats from people already saying I ll never work again, she said. If that s what America has come to, where we all hate and bully people, there s no more freedom of speech. She added, I know everybody hates me now, but that shows we are all just hateful people now we don t even want to work together. Ms. Holliday said she did not see herself, or her singing, as political, a sentiment echoed by Jackie Evancho, the 16-year-old classical-crossover singer who will perform the national anthem at Mr. Trump s inauguration on Jan. 20. I just kind of thought that this is for my country, Ms. Evancho said. So if people are going to hate on me it s for the wrong reason. Ms. Holliday said her goal is to support America: Are we saying that if there is anything that could be done for America in four or eight years or however long Trump is there, we re not supposed to participate or help anybody? she asked. Shouldn t we all be praying for the success of America? I would like to sing some hope and have my voice not be associated with some kind of label, but I guess that s where we are now. NYT s | 1 |
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s Prince William and his wife Kate are expecting their third child, their office said on Monday after the Duchess was forced to cancel an engagement due to severe morning sickness. Britain s monarchy has ridden a wave of public support in recent years due to the popularity of William, Kate, and William s brother Harry, and the news was soon making headlines around the world. Queen Elizabeth, who is 91, said she was delighted. The baby will be fifth in line to the British throne, after grandfather Prince Charles, father William and elder siblings George, 4, and Charlotte, 2. The popular Harry becomes sixth in line to the throne. Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their third child, Kensington Palace said. The Queen and members of both families are delighted with the news. The couple did not say when the baby was due. Kate and William married in a lavish ceremony in 2011 watched by about two billion people around the world. Two years later the international camera crews and photographers camped outside a London hospital to record the birth of George, and returned two years later for his sister Charlotte. George and Charlotte have since appeared on the front covers of magazines around the world and traveled on official royal tours of Poland and Germany with their parents. George will attend his first day of primary school later this week. This is fantastic news, British Prime Minister Theresa May said. Many congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. William and Harry have been in the headlines in recent weeks as they led the efforts to remember their mother Princess Diana who died in a car crash in Paris 20 years ago last Thursday. In a sign of how the young royals have helped to modernize the House of Windsor, the princes have spoken about the trauma of her death and its lasting emotional impact. Harry was in Manchester visiting a center supporting people affected by a bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in May when he gave his reaction. Fantastic, great, very very happy for them, he said. Kate last appeared with the princes on Wednesday when they visited a public garden at Kensington Palace dedicated to Diana but the palace said she would not attend an engagement at a children s center on Monday due to ill health. As with her previous two pregnancies, The Duchess is suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum...., the palace said. The Duchess is being cared for at Kensington Palace. Hyperemesis gravidarum can cause severe nausea and vomiting and requires supplementary hydration and nutrients. The condition forced Kate to be admitted to hospital in the early months of her first pregnancy with George. The couple have returned to live in Kensington Palace after an earlier spell in Norfolk, eastern England, enabling them to dedicate more time to their royal duties on behalf of William s grandmother, the queen. William has also given up his job as an air ambulance helicopter pilot. One of three herself, Kate had prompted speculation earlier this year that she wanted a third child when she was presented with a cuddly toy designed for newborns during a trip, telling William: We will just have to have more babies. | 1 |
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LUXEMBOURG/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union ministers on Monday congratulated Austria s Sebastian Kurz on his election victory but some were uneasy about the far-right, eurosceptic party that may enter the new government and has clashed with the bloc before. The Freedom Party (FPO) got around 26 percent of votes in Sunday s parliamentary vote, boosted by a European migration crisis in 2015 that affected Austria and also led Kurz to campaign on an anti-migration platform. I don t have a problem with Sebastian Kurz as a person. We re not following the same line politically, that has never been the case and it never will be, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said on arriving to talks with his EU peers. He listed pro-European Austrian politicians as role models for Kurz and warned Vienna not to side with migration hardliners, including Hungary, whose government is also eurosceptic. Austria became a member of the European Union in 1995 after voting in favor of joining the bloc with a two-thirds majority. Recent opinion polls suggest three quarters of Austrians want the country to stay in the bloc. While the FPO had been a member of socialist-led governments in the 1980s, the anti-immigrant rhetoric of party leader Joerg Haider led to fierce criticism from EU neighbors when his party joined a government with the Christian Democrat OVP in 2000. The EU s 14 other member states at that time reduced bilateral cooperation with Austria until a report by senior diplomats found that the country s respect for human rights had not been diminished since the FPO joined the government. The party demanded a referendum only last year to exit the EU, as Britain is doing now. The FPO has toned down its anti-EU rhetoric in recent months but continues to call for weaker members to leave the euro zone and Austria to pay less into the common EU budget. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, entering the same talks in Luxembourg in which Kurz would normally also take part, said the 31-year-old Austrian conservative was his friend. We are happy that a sister party of ours won the elections ... and we are happy that their candidate has won who in many cases represented similar positions regarding migration to the Hungarian government, Szijjarto told reporters. Szijjarto expected that the anti-immigration eastern EU states - Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic - to work more closely with Austria now, which would only deepen the east-west divides weakening the bloc s unity. As Austria turns to the right, the bloc s top official dealing with EU s ties vis- -vis its neighbors, Commissioner Johannes Hahn of Austria, sought to ease concerns that Vienna may become a new enfant terrible in the bloc. One should not forget that only a year ago Austria elected the first Green president and now it looks as if the Greens will be kicked out of parliament. There is a huge volatility among voters, Hahn said in Luxembourg. Each government will have a very pro-European agenda because all the major political parties are very much committed to the European Union, he added. | 0 |
As our limp-wristed President flies around on taxpayer funded Air Force One campaigning for Hillary, Putin sells Castro s Cuba nuclear technology.Taxpayers are paying a fortune for the use of Air Force One on the campaign trail by President Obama and Crooked Hillary. A total disgrace! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 5, 2016A Russian government-controlled company signed an agreement to sell nuclear technology to Cuba this week.Cuba plans to purchase nuclear medical technology, radiation research, training for nuclear specialists, and staff to help manage radioactive waste. Ultimately, the country may purchase nuclear reactors and storage space for nuclear waste from Russia.This is not the first time Cuba has attempted to build a nuclear reactor. With the help and financial assistance of the former Soviet Union, Cuba tried the to build two 440-megawatt nuclear power reactors near the city of Cienfuegos. Construction of the reactors began in 1983, but the collapse of the Soviet Union disrupted construction.Former Cuban President Fidel Castro says that the country invested $1.1 billion into the project, and cost estimates to complete the partially constructed reactors range from $300 million to $750 million. The U.S. government has consistently opposed Cuba s plans to build a nuclear reactor, although President Barack Obama recently normalized relations with the country.Read more: Daily Caller | 0 |
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You wouldn’t know it by watching the news, but there are actually important things going on in the world that have nothing to do with the Presidential election. Today, we’ll talk about some of these non-election-related events on Survival Saturday, like the Dakota access pipeline, Russia, Venezuela, and our dystopian future.
For election coverage, go on over to my other website, DaisyLuther.com , which is all Hillary, all the time, right up until the election. (My goal there is to cover the stuff that the MSM is trying to sweep under the rug about their darling.) The Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Are Being Brutally Attacked by Law Enforcement
Have you been aware of the ongoing protests by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe about a pipeline being forcibly built across their watershed via eminent domain? They have been joined by other tribes to form a coalition of water protectors who say that the pipeline is a violation of a treaty established between the Sioux and the federal government. ( Here are the important things to know about the protest . Trust me, you’ll want to read this.)
Everyone who was paying attention breathed a sigh of relief when the US Government for once took a stand on behalf of the little guys back in September.
“The federal government ordered a halt to work on a $3.8 billion four-state oil pipeline in the Upper Midwest on Friday, handing a temporary victory to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and other opponents of the project…
…The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it wouldn’t authorize construction near Lake Oahe, a culturally important location to the tribe, until the agency determines if it needs to reconsider its previous approvals under the National Environmental Policy Act.” ( source )
Unfortunately, the government’s willingness to do the right thing was short-lived. Work has resumed on the pipeline and all hell is breaking loose – but not by who you might think. Protestors have been non-violent, but law enforcement has been absolutely brutal. They’ve beaten up on young people, old people, and independent journalists covering the story. Hundreds have been arrested.
These people are protecting their water sources and their way of life, and they are being brutalized by our own government. The story you’re getting on the mainstream is that the water protectors are standing there and that the police are standing there and that it is a relatively calm affair.
That couldn’t be further from the truth. The AntiMedia (who would get a major journalism award if real journalists got such awards) has provided truthful coverage, and it is ugly. Every single person who is against government overreach should be supporting the water protectors. Right now, this affects some people up in North Dakota. But what about when someone wants to build something across your land? What about when someone wants to seize your home? What about when Agenda 21 comes to your back yard?
Here’s what really happened at the Dakota Access Pipeline protests . It’s on film. It’s ugly. You owe it to your fellow human beings to witness this and be outraged. Go here to learn what you can do to help . With all of this “progress,” is humanity at risk of becoming obsolete?
Thousands of jobs each year are being turned over to computers as humans demand higher wages and better benefits for unskilled labor. We’ve all ended up on the endless loop of talking to customer service robots on the phone or going to a checkout counter and discovering it is push button and digital.
Is this all part of a greater plan to make the bulk of humanity utterly dependent on the whims of a few?
I don’t watch a lot of documentaries, but last night my daughter and I watched Obsolete . This film is available for free on Amazon , and it isn’t one of those dry, boring ones that keep you shifting in your seat in order to stay awake. It’s fascinating from the moment you hit play. When it was over, we sat there in silence for at least a minute, aghast that we could see the whole thing happening around us right now.
I can’t recommend this highly enough. Everyone should watch it. Let me quote Morpheus (from the Matrix ) for a moment here. “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.”
This documentary is the red pill. Take it if you want to survive the future that is coming for us all.
Watch Obsolete then come back over here and let’s talk about it. I think this will spark a very interesting conversation. How will you prepare for a future in which humanity is largely obsolete? Meanwhile in Venezuela…
Things are still awful there, although there hasn’t been as much news coverage. Basically, this is how life is now for Venezuelans, and recovering from this collapse could take decades.
Currently, the people of the country are revolting against the unpopular president, Nicholas Maduro. A campaign had begun for a recall election in order to replace Maduro, but authorities halted the process. The electoral council cited fraud when faced with huge numbers of signatures on a petition. Thousands of demonstrators filled the streets. Source: Federico Parra /AFP/Getty Images
NPR reports :
The demonstrators were protesting “what they call a sharp turn towards authoritarianism. The Maduro government has jailed opposition leaders, stripped Congress of its powers and cracked down on the press.”
As for Maduro, he has blatantly threatened to jail anyone who tries to remove him from power, via elections or legal means, ironically citing the Venezuelan constitution :
“If they launch a supposed political trial, which is not in our constitution, the state prosecution service must bring legal action in the courts and put in jail anyone who violates the constitution, even if they are members of Congress.”
What’s more, in a conversation with the American DEA, Maduro’s nephew says that Venezuela is at war with the US, which is news to most Americans. Efrain Campo was busted doing a quick cocaine deal in order to make money for the Venezuelan First Family. He was caught attempting to smuggle $5 million of Columbian cocaine into the US. The Charlotte Observer reported :
Efrain Campo…was recorded saying “we’re at war” with the Americans and laughing about sending opposition leaders to jail, according to the transcript, which was filed in federal district court in New York.
“We need the money,” Campo said, according to the transcript. “Why? Because the Americans are hitting us hard with money. Do you understand? The opposition . . . is getting an infusion of a lot of money.”
…The defense has sought to paint Campo and his cousin as victims of a U.S. political plot against the Venezuelan government and has asserted that they didn’t have the knowledge or capability to pull off such a complicated transaction. We’re irritating the snot out of Russia…
Lately, the Powers That Shouldn’t Be (great phrase borrowed from my friend Mel at Truthstream Media ) have been going out of their way to paint Russia and Vladimir Putin as the biggest threat to America. A bigger threat, even, than Hillary Clinton, and boy, that’s a stretch. I’m pretty sure you can put all of these recent headlines together and get a picture of where this is headed. ( Hint .) There are many more, but I don’t want this post to be a lengthy novel about idiocy. | 1 |
Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another LIVE broadcast of The Boiler Room starting at 6:00 PM PST | 8:00 PM CST | 9:00 PM EST for this special broadcast. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for barfly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join ACR hosts Hesher and Spore along with Jay Dyer (author of Esoteric Hollywood) and Jamie Hanshaw, host of Happy Hearts Radio for the 88th episode of BOILER ROOM. Water the plants, put the kids to bed and get your favorite snuggy out so you can drop deep into the Boiler Room with the ACR brain-trust.Caller line was open for BOILER ROOM EP #88:Please like and share the program and visit our donate page to get involved!BOILER ROOM IS NOT A POLICTALLY CORRECT ZONE! LISTEN TO THE SHOW IN THE PLAYER BELOW ENJOY! Listen to Boiler Room #87 Behold: The New Ministry of Truth on Spreaker.Reference Links: | 0 |
The right-wing was quick to claim that Clinton had experienced her own 47% moment with her basket full of deplorables remark. But nothing could be further from the truth. Clinton s remark turns out to be fairly accurate.In fact, if anything Clinton actually undersold just how deplorable Trump s supporters actually are. During an appearance on CBS s Face the Nation on Sunday, Slate s chief political correspondent, Jamelle Bouie explained how the statement Clinton made is supported by scientific evidence.Bouie looked at polling data that showed that more than half of Republicans believe that President is a Muslim or was born in another country. So, I m inclined to see it as strategy and not so much as a gaffe because when I heard the remark, my first question was: Well, is this true? Right? Regardless of how it sounds, what it looks like, what is the case about Donald Trump supporters? Bouie asks. And if you break down the numbers and you look at the RealClearPolitics average, and it gives Trump, 43 percent of the registered voters, there re about 30, 31 million people. Compare that to polls show 65 to 70 percent of all Republicans who say that Barack Obama either wasn t born in the United States or is a Muslim. If one doesn t think that believe that birtherism is a bad enough belief to hold to earn the title of deplorable, then Bouie has the data to show that roughly have of Republicans are racist. You look at pilot data from the American National Election Study, and it shows upward of 40 percent of Republicans saying things like blacks are more violent, blacks are lazier, Muslims are more violent, Muslims are lazier, Bouie points out. Among Trump supporters in particular, 60, 50, 70 percent of them agree with statements that political scientists categorize as being explicitly racist, Bouie continues. So I m looking at Clinton s statement, and half, which is about 31 million people again, doesn t really seem that out of bounds. Forty to 50 percent of Republicans, I would say looking at the full spectrum of data, agree with beliefs that we would categorize as explicitly prejudiced. So regardless of whether or not Clinton needs to walk it back or not, I think she s being correct and accurate. Conservatives are angry at Clinton because they still cannot accept that pointing out bigotry and racism do not make the person bringing it up racist. Clinton may have half-heartedly backtracked on her statement; her sentiment was worded poorly even if it was accurate.As Bakari Sellers pointed out on Sunday While on CNN s State of the Union, it doesn t matter how many of Trump s supporters are bigoted racists or not because they are all supporting a candidate who is a bigot.There is no left-wing conspiracy out there to make Republicans and trump supporters like deplorable. As polling indicates, they self-identify as being racist bigots on their own.You can watch the clip below.Featured image from video screenshot | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives Intelligence Committee called on the Trump administration on Wednesday to provide them with what they expect will be thousands of documents related to the investigation of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. The request may be an effort to avoid a repeat of an unusual document access arrangement made between the Senate Intelligence Committee and CIA to review information related to enhanced interrogation techniques at secret overseas “black site” prisons during the George W. Bush administration. Under that arrangement, Senate investigators were limited to reviewing documents on a shared computer network set up at a Central Intelligence Agency facility, which later led to accusations the agency had spied on the work of congressional staffers. “It will not be adequate to review these documents, expected to be in the thousands of pages, at the agencies. They should be delivered to the House Intelligence Committee to provide members adequate time to examine their content,” Representatives Devin Nunes, the committee’s Republican chairman, and Adam Schiff, its top Democrat, said in a joint statement. They said they expect “prompt” responses to requests for documents. U.S. intelligence agencies contend that Moscow waged a multifaceted campaign of hacking and other actions to boost Republican President Donald Trump’s election chances against Democrat Hillary Clinton last year. Trump has worried lawmakers, mostly Democrats but also some Republicans, by dismissing such claims and criticizing intelligence agencies for raising them. They have demanded special committees to investigate, but Republican congressional leaders said they would leave that work to existing committees. Trump’s fellow Republicans control majorities in both the Senate and House. The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Richard Burr and Democrat Mark Warner, issued a statement late on Tuesday saying their committee was also moving forward with its investigation. Moscow has repeatedly denied any attempt to help Trump win. | 1 |
President Obama just announced another major shakeup in the last year of his presidency, and the oil companies aren t liking it that much is for sure. On Thursday, Obama revealed his plan to place a $10 fee on every single barrel of oil produced in the country. Considering the current U.S. crude trading price of $31.72 a gallon, that s a pretty hefty tax.Also this appears to be a death tax to oil entirely. And, it could make life for the oil companies unbearable. Remember just one year ago, oil was going for nearly twice as much as what it is now. While in the midterm oil will fluctuate up and down, over time it s trajectory has been going downward. Who knows what the price of oil will be when the tax proposal goes through, if ever?While Republicans still control a majority of Congress and refuse to take up the proposal, Obama s declaration to get rid of oil has already had its impact on the markets. It didn t even take one day and already oil is down 2 percent after the announcement.Keep in mind, Russia and Iran two major countries that Republicans say are our bitter enemies well their entire economies rely heavily on oil. When oil does bad, so do their pockets. Divesting ourselves from oil is a national security concern. If anything, Republicans are hurting our national security from this viewpoint.The idea is not just to penalize oil companies and Republicans (that s wishful thinking) though, the real issue here is thinking about the future of America s energy and what s in the country s best interest. Green energy is; carbon isn t.Here s what Obama plans to do with the money raised from the new tax:-Invest $20 billion to reduce traffic and improve commuting. Think about that that s more funding than the EPA and Interior Department combined. A lot of this money will go towards alternative transportation options. Think about the Hyperloop being constructed between Los Angeles and San Francisco by billionaire Elon Musk. It s supposed to completely alter our thinking about traveling long distances entirely. And it s 100% green. That s what this country needs.-Invest $10 billion into state and local transportation and climate programs.-Put $2 billion into research for clean vehicles and aircraft.The White House sees this as the first step in an ambitious new plan for the 21st Century of clean transportation: By placing a fee on oil, the president s plan creates a clear incentive for private-sector innovation to reduce our reliance on oil and at the same time invests in clean energy technologies that will power our future. Former Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania is calling Obama s plan the boldest transportation blueprint since Eisenhower. Considering many think Eisenhower is the last great Republican president to take the oath of office, that s quite the compliment. Since then we ve just been bumping along, doing short-term fixes, and I give them a lot of credit for laying out this kind of long-term investment. I also give them credit for having the guts to say how they would pay for it all. That s very unusual in this area. While it may not pass muster in Congress, that s not what matters here. This proposal is a vision for the future of the country. And, it makes sense. The only thing that s going to get something like this implemented in Congress is voters going to the polls and voting overwhelmingly to fire Republicans on the Hill, as well as seeing to it that a Democrat is sworn in as president. Only then will people be able to follow through on this future vision of change for our country. And, in the meantime, it is kind of fun pissing the oil companies and Republicans off by talking about it.Featured image from Public Domain Files | 1 |
PARIS (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will travel to France for the Bastille Day military celebrations on July 14, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said on Wednesday, in a sign the allies are seeking to bolster ties despite differences over climate change. The French presidency and White House said Trump had accepted an invitation to make the visit, which will also commemorate the U.S. entry into World War One 100 years ago. “The two leaders will further build on the strong counter-terrorism cooperation and economic partnership between the two countries,” the White House said in a statement. Macron appears to be broadly aligning his foreign policy with U.S. priorities of tackling terrorism while seeking better ties with Russia. But the two leaders publicly clashed after Trump said he would pull out of a global accord on action to combat climate change. “Beyond our differences on some subjects such as climate, it shows the strength and the links in our transatlantic ties and the convergence of views on counter-terrorism and our joint commitment in war zones,” said a French diplomat. After the United States, France is the biggest contributor to the coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. The July 14 festivities see thousands of men and women from France’s army, navy and air force march down the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris. The U.S. military will this year march with French forces. On July 14, 1789, crowds stormed the Bastille prison, where opponents of the monarchy were held, at the start of the French Revolution. Plans by Trump to visit Britain have yet to be finalised despite an invitation by Prime Minister Theresa May when she met him in Washington in January. The prospect of a visit has met opposition in Britain, prompting fears of angry protests, also a possibility in France. “Donald Trump is violent and there’s no reason for him being here,” a far-left lawmaker and former French presidential candidate said on Wednesday. “He is not welcome. That’s clear,” Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the France Unbowed movement, told Europe 1 radio. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Tuesday his comments questioning the impartiality of a Mexican-American judge had been misconstrued as a broad attack on people of Mexican heritage. Trump said, however, that it was fair to question the judge’s impartiality in the civil suit against Trump University and whether he could receive a fair trial. | 1 |
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