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BUFFALO — Immigration enforcement agents were supposed to be targeting the restaurant owner. But Antonio Ramos Salazar, a cook, was the one with guns pointed at his head. One morning last month the officers burst through the back door at La Divina, a Mexican market and taco counter in suburban Buffalo, capping a investigation into the labor practices of the restaurant’s owner, Sergio Mucino. According to the authorities, Mr. Mucino, 42, a legal permanent resident from Mexico City, along with two associates, had been harboring undocumented workers in homes around Buffalo, transporting them to jobs at his restaurants and paying them off the books. Mr. Mucino was arrested at his home on Oct. 18. But two dozen of his workers were swept up in simultaneous raids that morning at all four of his restaurants. It amounted to one of the largest immigration workplace sweeps in recent years. In the days after the presidential election, immigrant rights advocates and supporters of immigration restriction alike wondered whether these raids were a preview of the stricter enforcement policies that Donald J. Trump promised during his campaign. The sweeps hark back to the workplace actions of President George W. Bush’s administration, and deviated significantly from the Department of Homeland Security’s longstanding enforcement strategy of avoiding roundups of unauthorized workers and instead targeting abusive employers. During the raids, the authorities discovered that nine workers had the country after having been deported, which is a federal crime. Three more, including Mr. Salazar, were charged with immigration violations — which are administrative offenses only — and were ordered deported. The remaining 10 workers were released. “The targets of the investigation were the employers,” a homeland security spokesman, Khaalid Walls, said. “After investigating the case, we alleged that many of the employees were either subject to criminal charges or immigration violations, and we charged accordingly. ” Camille Mackler, the legal director of the New York Immigration Coalition, which oversees immigrant advocacy groups, said, “There’s always collateral damage in a criminal investigation, but the workers in this case are victims. ” Now, Ms. Mackler added, workers and advocates fear that this could be the blueprint for future raids under Mr. Trump — “and that would be on the small side. ” Mr. Trump pledged that in his first year in office he would deport unauthorized immigrants with criminal records, putting their number at two million, while increasing enforcement operations to deal with an undocumented population of more than 11 million people in the United States. “I don’t see Mr. Trump as the kind of individual who is going to make such a large promise and neglect to keep it,” said Tom Bauerle, a Buffalo native and conservative talk show host on WBEN, who voted for Mr. Trump. “I expect the law to be enforced. ” Mr. Bauerle said that after the raids the radio station received numerous comments from listeners cheering the actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “At the same time,” he added, “they are disappointed because apparently these places made awesome tacos. ” The authorities said the raids were set in motion more than two years ago, thanks, in part, to a tip from a former employee who was fired. According to the workers and their lawyers, Mr. Mucino paid weekly salaries for days that worked out to be below the minimum hourly wage of $9. Two workers interviewed said salaries started at $450 a week for a dishwasher and increased at different positions in the kitchen. The federal complaint stated that each restaurant grossed $50, 000 per week, which was not reported for state or federal taxes. The authorities said Mr. Mucino operated some of the business on the books, endorsing payroll checks to 28 employees. “Building and supporting a business through the intentional use of people not lawfully authorized to work here is a model that H. S. I. will not tolerate,” said Kevin Sibley, the acting special agent in charge of the Homeland Security Investigations office in Buffalo. He added that such practices undermine competition and “often come at the peril of the workers. ” But the United States attorney’s office for the Western District of New York did not charge Mr. Mucino or his associates with human trafficking, nor have tax evasion or labor violation charges been filed. Nicole Hallett, a University at Buffalo law professor who is representing three workers in their immigration cases, called the government’s actions counterintuitive. “If you are concerned about the exploitation of workers, you should not be prosecuting or deporting worker victims, because that discourages workers from coming forward in situations where they are being exploited,” Professor Hallett said. In interviews, four workers said they were not mistreated at the restaurants. They noted that the pay was better than that at agricultural or factory jobs they held previously. Mr. Salazar, the head cook at La Divina, is now wearing an electronic ankle monitor as he awaits deportation proceedings, though he is charged only with a civil offense. “If this is just from being here to work,” Mr. Salazar said, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, “what would happen if I actually committed a crime?” He said he had earned a law degree in Mexico, but was unable to find work there to support his family of three. Sergio Roblero, 19, said he had paid a recruiter in Mexico $4, 480 for a guest worker’s visa and travel expenses to pick blueberries in Georgia. He was told he would be making $10. 59 an hour he made only $3, he said. Mr. Roblero was unable to leave the farm unless he paid $1, 000 to get his passport back. To recoup his losses, he moved four months ago to Buffalo, where a friend from Mexico was working for Mr. Mucino’s restaurants. “I’m afraid that other people are going to go through what I did,” Mr. Roblero said. “I know that the economy in Mexico is always going to be bad and people are always going to come to this country. ” According to statistics from 2014 released this month by the Pew Research Center, nearly eight million undocumented people in the United States were part of the work force or seeking employment. In New York State, undocumented immigrants represented 6 percent of the labor force. While some of his workers are still detained, Mr. Mucino was released on $85, 000 bail and reopened La Divina, though his other restaurants, which are full service, remain closed. Mr. Mucino parked a black Mercedes sport utility vehicle behind the store last week and spoke of his employees. “All of them are very nice people and they’re hard workers,” he said. “I feel very bad for everything that happened. ” He declined to comment further on the charges. According to the authorities, an incident in August accelerated the investigation. Fourteen men went to play basketball after their shifts around 10 p. m. at a suburban Buffalo playground. The local police answered a call about the group and asked for identification. When some of the men could produce only Mexican identification cards, the police called the United States Border Patrol. By 1:30 a. m. 10 people were detained and five were arrested, charged with having illegally the country. Later, a manager, Manguin Sanchez, a United States citizen, went to collect the men’s cash, which had been seized by immigration officers, and told the authorities it was their pay. According to the federal complaint, he also said restaurant workers lived in properties he owned. It was confirmation for investigators. In addition to Mr. Sanchez, 22, and Mr. Mucino, the authorities arrested another manager, Jose 37. The men provided two houses and nine apartments for their employees’ housing. Leticia and Saul — Jose ’s brother — live in one house, along with four children, all of whom are United States citizens. Ms. who had started working with her husband at La Divina only two days before the raids, said the family moved in 2015 from Los Angeles to Buffalo to be closer to relatives. Her daughter, Magali, 17, is the best student in the family, she said, and had saved more than $9, 000 in cash for her college fund. It was confiscated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during a raid of the house. “It’s been like a nightmare for the whole family,” Ms. said in Spanish, through an interpreter. The workers have received support from local churches, community organizations and a national workers’ rights group, Movimiento Cosecha, which organized several protests in Buffalo. Some Buffalo residents have put aside questions of immigration policy and the exploitation of immigrant labor in favor of their taste buds. Since opening in 2015, La Divina has drawn rave reviews and long lines for its authentic, overstuffed $2. 50 tacos. Gaetano Augello, 60, acknowledged that he felt uncomfortable hearing that workers might have been taken advantage of. “Of course, who wants to subsidize that? That’s not a story,” he said. But he had returned for the tacos. And now that Mr. Mucino has hired replacement cooks to make the recipes? “I don’t know if they’re quite as good,” Mr. Augello said. “They’re good, don’t get me wrong. ” | 0 |
(This story corrects reference to Russian ambassador in paragraph 10.) By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The anger behind Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday had been building for months, but a turning point came when Comey refused to preview for top Trump aides his planned testimony to a Senate panel, White House officials said. Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had wanted a heads-up from Comey about what he would say at a May 3 hearing about his handling of an investigation into former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. When Comey refused, Trump and his aides considered that an act of insubordination and it was one of the catalysts to Trump’s decision this week to fire the FBI director, the officials said. “It gave the impression that he was no longer capable of carrying out his duties,” one official said. Previews of congressional testimony to superiors are generally considered courteous. Comey, who testified for four hours before the Senate Judiciary Committee, said it made him feel “mildly nauseous” that his decision to make public his reopening of a probe into Clinton’s handling of classified information might have affected the outcome of the Nov. 8 presidential election. But he said he had no regrets and would make the same decision again. Trump’s sudden firing of Comey shocked Washington and plunged Trump deeper into a controversy over his campaign’s alleged ties with Russia that has dogged the early days of his presidency. Democrats accused the Republican president of firing Comey to try to undermine the FBI’s probe into Russia’s alleged efforts to meddle in the 2016 election and possible collusion with members of the Trump campaign, and demanded an independent investigation. Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans called his dismissal of Comey troubling. The Trump administration said on Tuesday Comey was fired because of his handling of the Clinton email probe. Before he axed Comey, Trump had publicly expressed frustration with the FBI and congressional probes into the Russia matter. Moscow has denied meddling in the election and the Trump administration denies allegations of collusion with Russia. A former Trump adviser said Trump was also angry because Comey had never offered a public exoneration of Trump in the FBI probe into contacts between the Russian ambassador to Washington, Sergei Kislyak, and Trump campaign advisers last year. According to this former adviser, Comey’s Senate testimony on the Clinton emails likely reinforced in Trump’s mind that “Comey was against him.” “He regretted what he did to Hillary but not what he did to Trump,” the former Trump adviser said of Comey. Clinton has said that the Comey decision to announce the renewed inquiry days before the election was a likely factor in her loss to Trump. Aides said Trump moved quickly after receiving a recommendation on Monday to terminate Comey from Rosenstein, who began reviewing the situation at the FBI shortly after taking office two weeks ago. Trump’s move was so sudden that his White House staff, accustomed to his impromptu style, was caught off guard. Stunned aides scrambled to put together a plan to explain what happened. White House spokesman Sean Spicer ended up briefing reporters about the move in the dark on Tuesday night near a patch of bushes steps away from the West Wing. Comey, who was in Los Angeles meeting with FBI employees on Tuesday and returned later to Washington, has made no public comment on his firing. Many questions remained about what caused Trump to move so quickly. Two former senior Justice Department officials said it made little sense to fire Comey while the Justice Department Inspector General was still doing a review of the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email investigation. “I take Rod (Rosenstein) at his word that be believed everything in that memo but he must know that it’s going to be used as a fig leaf to fire Comey,” one former official said. U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters it was her “understanding” Comey had been seeking more resources for his investigation into the tangled Russia controversy. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump had pondered dumping Comey as soon as he took office on Jan. 20, but decided to stick with him. Trump shrugged off the political firestorm he created with Comey’s dismissal as he met with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Asked by reporters why he fired Comey, Trump said, “He wasn’t doing a good job, very simply. He wasn’t doing a good job.” | 0 |
21st Century Wire says As 21WIRE reported earlier this week, the unlikely mishap of two US Naval vessels straying into Iranian waters just hours before the President s State of the Union speech, followed by the usual parade of arch-neocons coming on TV in real time to declare the incident as an act of aggression by Iran against the United States is no mere coincidence.24 hours after the incident, the Iranians returned all 11 US sailors, unharmed and in good spirits. The only remaining casualty from this event was an incident of a common condition in Washington known as Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder suffered by a certain US Senator was mortified by the uneventful outcome which followed Daniel McAdams Ron Paul Institute The two US Navy riverine command boats intercepted in Iranian territorial waters yesterday were sent on their way along with the crew of 10 US sailors after brief detention on Iranian soil.According to news reports, the well-armed warships either suffered mechanical or navigational difficulties which caused them to enter Iranian territory (although it may well have been a game of cat-and-mouse to test the Iranian response). The US sailors were apparently treated well, enjoyed what appeared a decent meal in relaxed surroundings, and in the end apologized for the mistake and praised their treatment by the Iranians. Thanks to President Obama s policy shift on Iran toward engagement and away from isolationism, Secretary of State John Kerry was able to telephone his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Zarif and quickly defuse what just months ago would have been a far more serious situation.This should be a good-news story about the value of diplomacy and reducing tensions with adversaries, but Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was having none of it. That Kerry expressed his appreciation to the Iranians for swiftly releasing the American sailors only showed the Obama Administration s craven desire to preserve the dangerous Iranian nuclear deal at all costs evidently knows no limit, said McCain in a press release.McCain was furious that Obama administration officials seem to be falling over themselves to offer praise for Iran s graciousness and was outraged that the Iranians dared interfere with the actions of US military vessels operating in Iranian waters.In the world of John McCain, only the United States has the right to national sovereignty. The US military has the right to act anywhere and everywhere and the rest of the world dare not raise a question.According to McCain, sovereign immune naval vessels are exempt from detention, boarding, or search. Their crews are not subject to detention or arrest. Imagine the tune McCain would have been singing if a well-armed Iranian naval vessel had been spotted in US territorial waters off the coast of New York. Would he have so rigorously condemned any US interference in the actions of Iran s sovereign naval vessels?Leave it to some clever Twitterers to post an example of the difference between US and Iranian detention.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.READ MORE JOHN MCCAIN NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire McPain Files | 0 |
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that it would look for an opportunity to reschedule President Donald Trump’s meeting with Mexico’s president after Enrique Pena Nieto canceled a visit next week. “We will look for a date to schedule something in the future. We will keep the lines of communication open,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. | 0 |
WASHINGTON/AMMAN (Reuters) - A Pentagon-backed rebel group and the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State killed more than 20 Islamic State fighters and detained a number of militants in the southern Syrian desert near a base, the coalition said on Thursday. In a statement, the coalition said the Maghawir al Thawra, the rebel group, and the coalition detected a convoy near at-Tanf, near the Syrian border with Jordan and Iraq, early on Wednesday and carried out an operation to prevent their further incursion. Despite the presence of Russian-backed, pro-Syrian regime forces in the area, Daesh still finds ways to move freely through regime lines and pose a threat, Brigadier General Jonathan Braga, the director of operation for the coalition, said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the convoy had come within the established 55 km (34 miles) around the Tanf base, where U.S. special forces operate. Another U.S. official said more than a dozen militants had been captured by the rebel group. The statement added that Islamic State militants have been moving freely through areas controlled by pro-Syrian regime forces. This is the second time this month small groups and convoys of Daesh are moving from the eastern areas of Syria toward the southern area through areas controlled by the regime, the Russians and Shi ite militias, Colonel Muhanad al Talaa, commander of Maghawir al Thawra told Reuters. There are Daesh convoys that are moving and that the regime and the Russians are not seeing them, this is a matter that is strange, Talaa said. | 1 |
Meteor, space junk, rocket? Mysterious flash hits Siberia 'It was as bright as day for 5 or 6 seconds! Sensation!' Published: 9 mins ago
(Russia Today) People in eastern Siberia have been left mystified by a flash that illuminated the sky with green light, resembling the famous Chelyabinsk meteor of 2013. The event has become a hot topic for discussion, with people suggesting the flash could have been anything from a meteor to space junk or even a rocket.
The phenomenon was observed by residents of Irkutsk Region and Buryatia Republic in eastern Siberia on Tuesday, local media reported.
According to local witnesses, the sky was illuminated by a green light, before an object resembling a comet fell from the sky. Some locals claimed that the object was moving towards Lake Baikal, the deepest lake on Earth. | 1 |
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday ruled that Illinois was not providing sufficient resources for the care of developmentally disabled residents and ordered the state to come up with a plan to restore services. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman said Illinois, which just ended an unprecedented budget impasse, failed to provide “resources of sufficient quality, scope, and variety” to the residents, who as a result “suffered substantially” from a reduction in services in violation of a federal consent decree. In the ruling, Johnson said she lacked the authority to order a funding increase, noted the state’s “dire financial condition,” and directed Illinois to devise a plan to address issues affecting the services and comply with the decree. The state had argued that advocates for the disabled living outside of institutions were seeking as much as an additional $1 billion annually - an amount Illinois could not afford. A two-year budget impasse that ballooned the state’s unpaid bill backlog to more than $15 billion ended in July when lawmakers enacted a fiscal 2018 budget over the governor’s vetoes. That budget allocates $53.4 million for the first rate increase for developmentally disabled services since 2008. But the advocates said the funding boost was insufficient to retain workers and services. “What (the state) comes up with will be the next step,” said Barry Taylor, vice president at Equip for Equality, one of the advocates, in a phone call. The judge set a status hearing for Oct. 27. Meghan Powers, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Human Services, said in an email that the state was committed to providing quality services to the developmentally disabled. “The state will continue to meet all its legal obligations and will review the court’s rulings to determine appropriate next steps,” she said. Another U.S. judge ordered Illinois in June to substantially boost its monthly payments to Medicaid providers to ensure continued health care for poor and disabled residents covered under a separate federal consent decree. The state had owed those providers more than $3 billion. | 0 |
(Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell is the leading candidate to become the chair of the U.S. central bank after President Donald Trump concluded a series of meetings with five finalists on Thursday, Politico reported, citing three administration officials. The officials cautioned that Trump, who met with current Chair Janet Yellen for about half an hour on Thursday, has not made a final decision, according to the Politico report. (politi.co/2insOp2) | 0 |
This is despicable and morbid.Donald trump has clearly chosen a piece of human excrement as his Secretary of Treasury.Former Goldman Sachs executive and hedge fund manager Steven Mnuchin has been heavily and rightfully criticized ever since Trump made the announcement. Not only did Mnuchin s OneWest Bank fail to disperse desperately needed Hurricane Sandy to people affected by the disaster, it tried to take a 90-year-old woman s home away from her over a 27 cent bill.Now another firm owned by Mnuchin is coming under fire for betting on when elderly people would die.Yeah, you read that right.Mnuchin firm Dune Capitol Management bought life insurance policies through a third party from elderly people who needed the cash, betting that they would die soon so they could collect the payout. Seriously.According to the New York Times,Dune had plans to package the insurance policies called life settlements into bonds that could be sold to investors. Life settlements represent one of the most macabre actuarial bets that Wall Street has dreamed up. It s a wager that the elderly person selling the policy will die sooner rather than later, meaning the hedge fund does not have to make many premium payments to keep the insurance policy in force and collect the payout upon that person s death.That s pretty f*cked up and proves that Trump picked a terrible and greedy human being to be Treasury Secretary. A guy who is all sorts of shady who would stab you in a back or sell his own mother into the sex trade if he could profit from it.Trump s selection of Mnuchin is so bad that many of his supporters now regret voting for himIn fact, one woman who voted for Trump now regrets doing so because he picked Mnuchin, who foreclosed on her house a few years ago.Clearly, the Senate should protect the American people from such a predator. But they re already protecting Trump and he s an economic predator n addition to being a sexual predator, so they probably won t have a problem confirming Mnuchin.Featured Image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 0 |
It s always a win-win when you can find a hobby you enjoy, especially when it allows you to get some exercise and enjoy the nice summer weather. This retired Marine hit the jackpot by finding a way to keep himself entertained and fit during retirement: trolling New York liberals by boat.Nearly every day, Dion Cini will row down the Hudson River while flying a Trump 2020 flag to incite the frustration of New Yorkers, a group who overwhelmingly voted for Hillary Clinton this past election.This retired Marine can t get enough of the responses he gets from people who spot him rowing around Manhattan. Sometimes you hear I hope you get hit by a boat! I hope you drown! he said. From the top of their lungs as loud as they can. It can be from the edge of the river. It can be from cars driving by on the river. It can be from windows. I get it all the time and then I get it even on rooftop bars. Cini calls himself an ultra-conservative and thinks that Americans need a wake-up call. He said, I call it tough love. (President) Trump is tough love. Cini recalled being told to leave Washington Square Park with his flag because it was not conservative land but he vowed that no one would stop him.Luckily, these angry New Yorkers haven t swayed Cini one bit. He s considering getting a bigger flag spanning twenty feet. And a bigger boat. Despite his retirement, it s inspiring to see that this Marine s devotion to patriotism hasn t wavered.Read more: BizPac Review | 1 |
Honolulu s Caf 8 gets rave reviews on Yelp for its Radiatore Verde and Italian stir fry, among other popular dishes at the eclectic mom-and-pop restaurant but the response to its new policy barring pro-Trump patrons has been decidedly more mixed.A bright yellow, handmade sign posted on the restaurant s front glass door declares: If you voted for Trump you cannot eat here! No Nazis. A photo of the sign was shared with FoxNews.com. One also is proudly posted on the caf s Facebook page, and was liked by some 40 people.Honolulu resident and Donald Trump voter Susan Roberts told FoxNews.com she found the sign in extreme poor taste. It s childish and very unprofessional, she said in an email. The restaurant owner doesn t have to worry I will not be stepping foot in that establishment. A Facebook user who wrote on the 8 1/2 Cafe page says he was joking about the restaurant not serving Trump supporters when the owner came over and took away his food:Unlike everybody else, I actually DID eat here recently on a trip. I was there with one of my friends and we thought they were joking about not serving Trump supporters WRONG!!! We were talking about it when all of a sudden a giant fat male comes over, identifies himself as the owner and takes away our food. He still insisted we pay until we called the police and they sorted him out explaining to this guy that you can t take away food and then expect people to pay. What a joke this place is.Here are a few additional comments from Facebook users that were found on the 8 1/2 Cafe website:Maybe someone should call the health department on them. Didn t someone see a rat skittering across the floor or maybe that was cockroaches.No need to eat at a restaurant owned by a Trumpophobe they ll be sued shortly for discrimination, just like the bakers were who wouldn t bake cakes for gay weddings.Like the Nazis put signs in the windows of restaurants and businesses No Jews Allowed . I find it strange that your sign says no Nazis no Trump supporters? Yet you are doing the exact same thing the Nazis did in Poland. Your business will suffer because you do not understand the power of social media, nor do you understand the power of Trump supporters. Oh, by the way your food looks like shit!Going to Hawaii this summer but I will stay away from your so called restaurant. I voted for Trump and apparently my money isn t good enough for you your choice. By the way you might want to pick up a history book and read about the Nazis I think you might find the similarities in you both uncanny. People should be able to get food without hearing a political message, one apparent former customer wrote on Yelp. I will never go back. The 8 1/2 Cafe received so many negative comments on YELP that the service designed to rate restaurants as a way to help consumers find good food had to step in and shut down the comment and ratings section for their restaurant:According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the caf was founded by Robert Warner, a former hair stylist for Vidal Sassoon in San Francisco and former restaurateur in Seattle, along with his wife Jali. FOX News | 1 |
21st Century WireAre black budget projects illegally swallowing up your taxes?The military industrial complex has eaten up billions, if not trillions, of dollars from the American tax payer, and much of that has happened on a black budget that is entirely unacknowledged.The military industrial complex is one of the few industries in the world that actually profits from the misery of others, and is involved in numerous questionable projects like creating military cyborgs.In the following video, Dr. Steven Greer explains the significance of unacknowledged secret access projects and the consequences of their illegality: | 1 |
Print version Font Size The hypersonic aircraft , known as "article 4202" or "15U71" was successfully tested on October 25 for the first time. All avionics and electronic systems, as well as the control system of the vehicle are entirely of Russian production.The weapon is capable of speeding up to 15 Max, or 7 km/sec. The vehicle was designed to be installed at prospective intercontinental ballistic missiles, instead of conventional warheads. The "4202" vehicle starts working at an altitude of about 100 km and flies to the target at the speed of 5-7 km/s. Before entering dense layers of the atmosphere, directly above the target, the hypersonic aircraft performs a complex maneuver that makes it difficult to interception by missile defense systems of the enemy . Noteworthy, the project of hypersonic warheads called "Albatross" appeared in the USSR in the mid-1980s, as a response to USA's attempts to create a missile defense system within the concept of "star wars." However, due to the technical difficulties, the project was shut down. In the mid-1990s, the Scientific and Production Association (NPO) resumed the development of the new weapon under the number "4202."According to sources at Roscosmos state corporation, the successful tests of the new hypersonic aircraft were made possible with the help of the intensive import substitution program. For instance, Russian engineers had to get rid of the control system, previously manufactured by Ukrainian company Hartron. The successfully implemented program provided an opportunity to resume the tests. As a result, all the avionics and electronic systems, as well as the control system now completely consist of Russian components.The Russian Army is to receive new hypersonic weapons by 2020 . The development of high-speed anti-aircraft missiles has made it possible to intercept and destroy any modern aircraft or missile at any altitude. The way out is to create the aircraft capable of flying faster than interceptor missiles.For this particular reason, major powers of the world, such as the USA, Russia and China, rushed to develop hypersonic flight vehicles of different types and purposes. China, for example, tested the hypersonic WU-14 glider on 9 January 2015. The Chinese aircraft is launched into outer space with the help of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Then, the vehicle develops the speed of 10M, that is, more than 12,300 km/h, and dives onto the target. State-of-the-art air defense systems are unable to detect and intercept a target flying at this speed. China has thus become the third country in the world, after Russia and the United States, which has the technology of hypersonic vehicles for both nuclear and conventional weapons. In fact, the Chinese have created a warhead with control surfaces that can maneuver in flight thus becoming practically invulnerable. However, this vehicle does not have its own engine, so the Chinese creation has become another weapon for "the poorest." Russia currently works on different types of hypersonic scramjet missiles, which can be launched from land, ships or aircraft.Pravda.Ru requested an expert opinion from chief editor of "Arms Export" magazine, Andrey Frolov."How competitive is Russia in the development of hypersonic aircraft?" "Russia is at the forefront. This is not the first test, I think that in the near future these systems will be passed into service at the army. The Americans do not have such weapons yet, the Chinese are in the development process.""Are there any other details available?" "This is a secret subject. We know that such weapons have been created - and this is a lot to know already." Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru Five types of Russian weapons which USA are afraid of | 1 |
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese trade minister Hiroshige Seko said on Tuesday that he has not received a request from U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for any particular topic to be discussed. Seko also told reporters that he would exchange information on Toshiba (6502.T) issue if Ross asks to do so. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will meet with Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday, kicking off talks in Tokyo that the White House hopes will open doors in Japan for U.S. products and attract Japanese investment in U.S. infrastructure projects. Pence will meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a working lunch. They are expected to be joined by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross who is in Tokyo for talks with Seko. | 1 |
Scott Baio became a teen idol starring as Chachi Arcola on Happy Days from 1977-1984 and he worked pretty consistently until a few years ago, most recently as star and producer of See Dad Run on Nick at Nite. Baio spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about being a conservative in famously liberal Hollywood.Donald Trump has had some gaffes recently, like insulting the Khan family. Do you think they are actual gaffes or media hype?Well, let s put that up against someone who should be indicted, according to James Comey, the FBI director. It s amazing. I mean, I don t know where you stand politically you work for The Hollywood Reporter so I m sure you lean left. But it s incredible to me that she lied about people dying in Benghazi, and she is still lying about her emails, and Donald Trump says something about this couple and it s taken completely out of context. I was around for Romney and I thought that was bad, but this is insane. I don t know who the Clintons made a deal with, but the media is, so bad. How do you fight that? Hollywood Reporter On Monday, Scott Baio filed a police report claiming the wife of the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer went nuts on him at a function with their elementary school kids physically attacking him over his support of Donald Trump.Law enforcement tells TMZ, Baio says he was at an event with his daughter Saturday in Thousand Oaks, CA, when Nancy Mack confronted him. Mack, who s married to drummer Chad Smith, is a vocal anti-Trump supporter who has called the Prez-elect racist began berating and cursing Baio, one of Trump s strongest celebrity supporters.We re told Baio told cops he asked her to quiet down because kids were present, but Mack was undeterred, asking him how he could support a man who said, Grab em by the pussy. Baio claims she repeatedly screamed, Grab em by the pussy. Baio asked Nancy to stop, but he claims she kept repeating the comment because she felt everyone needed to hear it, cause Trump used it. Baio told cops at that point Mack attacked him, grabbing him under his arms and then shaking and pushing him.For entire story: TMZ | 1 |
WASHINGTON — Donald J. Trump will allow corporations and wealthy individuals to make large donations to fund the activities surrounding his inauguration, complicating his promise to eliminate special interests from influencing his government. Mr. Trump plans to ban money from registered lobbyists, whom he has purged from his transition team and barred from working for his administration. But the restrictions will be lighter on corporations and individuals — the groups that have traditionally provided a vast majority of funding for the festivities surrounding the transfer of power. The restrictions, which members of the Presidential Inaugural Committee cautioned have yet to be finalized, represent a continued march back from standards set in 2009, when Barack Obama banned gifts from lobbyists, political action committees and corporations, and put a cap of $50, 000 on individuals. Mr. Obama relaxed his own rules in 2012, after what was then the most expensive presidential campaign in history had depleted his donor base, lifting the ban on corporate gifts and restrictions on the size of those from individuals. Mr. Trump, who like Mr. Obama campaigned on reducing the influence of money in politics, appears poised to relax them further. Officials planning the inauguration said Mr. Trump would solicit corporate donations up to $1 million and allow money to be transferred from political action committees on a basis. The inaugural committee has not reached a decision on where to cap gifts from individuals, if at all. All told, Mr. Trump hopes to raise roughly $65 million to $75 million to fund the parade, balls and other festivities surrounding his as president, according to several people involved in the planning efforts. Such a total, if it materializes, would easily surpass the $43 million Mr. Obama’s team raised for his 2013 inauguration and the $53 million, a record, that it raised for his first inauguration in 2009. Thomas Barrack Jr. a private equity investor who is heading the committee responsible for planning the events surrounding Mr. Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, said the decision to limit donations from certain groups was “in line with the ’s thoughts on ethics reform. ” But campaign finance experts said the restrictions left much to be desired, targeting groups that traditionally provide little funding for the occasion while seemingly letting bigger donors — including corporate interests that Mr. Trump took aim at on the campaign trail — off the hook. “For the most part, they are illusory, because they are restricting money that doesn’t really play any significant role in funding the inauguration,” said Fred Wertheimer, a longtime advocate of campaign finance overhaul, referring to the restrictions on lobbyists and foreign interests. The corporate and individual money that does traditionally play a significant role, he added, would be allowed to flow more or less unabated, leaving the potential of undue influence in place. “You can’t have a more ideal opportunity to buy influence and ingratiate yourself with a new administration than by giving a huge contribution to pay for their inauguration,” Mr. Wertheimer said. Bob Biersack, a senior fellow at the Center for Responsive Politics, was more forgiving toward Mr. Trump, but he said it would take a fundamental change in the way inaugurations were funded to meaningfully root out special interests. “I don’t find it fundamentally inconsistent with what he is saying,” he said. “I just think the rhetoric and the reality are different. ” Presidential transition committees, which coordinate and finance most of the festivities that surround the federally funded ceremony, face few of the restrictions campaigns do, and their practices vary from president to president. President George W. Bush did not restrict who could support his inaugural festivities, but he put caps on gifts. The committee is still in the early stages of assembling what will be an operation employing hundreds of people responsible for planning dozens of events. As of Wednesday morning, the packages that are typically used to solicit donations were still being vetted by lawyers, and subcommittees were still taking shape to handle issues like security and entertainment. “It’s like putting on the Olympics in 61 days,” Mr. Barrack said, adding that the committee was racing to finalize plans by the end of the week. Two people working with the committee said it planned to roll out tiered giving packages next week, most likely ranging from $25, 000 to $1 million, that will reward donors with progressively more access to more intimate events with Mr. Trump and his team. The committee is planning to hold two official balls, according to two people involved in the planning. By comparison, Mr. Obama attended 10 official balls in 2009. Mr. Trump is not expected to donate to the festivities himself, as he did to the campaign, according to members of the committee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not been finalized. Sara Armstrong, a longtime Republican National Committee official who helped plan the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer, has been appointed chief executive and is leading the team that Mr. Barrack said would eventually total 350 people out of an office building just off the National Mall. As of Wednesday, the committee had hired about 100 people, he said. The committee includes generous donors to Mr. Trump’s campaign, like Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets Gail Icahn, the wife of the investor Carl Icahn and the casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam. Several stalwart backers of Republican causes, like Stephen A. Wynn and Lewis M. Eisenberg, are on the committee, as is Brian Ballard, Mr. Trump’s longtime Florida lobbyist. The overall cost of the inauguration and related festivities is likely to run to as much as $200 million. Most of that burden will fall on taxpayers, though, who fund everything from security to the ceremony and inaugural luncheon organized by a joint committee of Congress. Mr. Trump’s team said it was expecting two million to three million people to flood Washington for the ceremony, a crowd that could surpass the 1. 8 million estimated to have been on hand for Mr. Obama’s first inauguration, which was a record. Planners are also expecting more protesters than usual around the event. Mr. Barrack said Mr. Trump had instructed him to plan events tailored to the political moment. “It’s one of the greatest opportunities that this president has to put his fingerprints on bridging the divide,” Mr. Barrack said on Wednesday. Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the National Park Service, which controls the Mall and other public spaces where the inauguration will take place, said on Monday that the Park Service did not expect to meet with officials from the group until after Thanksgiving. But across Washington, the physical preparations for Jan. 20 are well underway, even as the city’s political establishment is struggling to come to terms with the election outcome. Capitol architects have been hammering away since September on the more than inaugural platform overlooking the Mall. And outside the White House, Park Service staff members are at work on the presidential reviewing stand where Mr. Trump will review his inaugural parade. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Thursday he would stay out of any probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election but maintained he did nothing wrong by failing to disclose he met last year with Russia’s ambassador. Sessions, a longtime U.S. senator who was an early and high-ranking player in President Donald Trump’s campaign before becoming the country’s top law enforcement official, announced the decision after several fellow Republicans in Congress suggested the move would be appropriate. “I have recused myself in the matters that deal with the Trump campaign,” Sessions told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference. Sessions said he had been weighing recusal - ruling himself out from any role in the investigations - even before the latest twist of the controversy over ties between Trump associates and Russia that has dogged the early days of the Trump presidency. The president backed Sessions, saying Democrats had politicized the issue and calling the controversy a “total witch hunt.” Sessions’ announcement did nothing to quell concerns among congressional Democrats, a number of whom called for Sessions to step down. Trump and Republicans who control Congress are trying to move past early administration missteps and focus on issues important to them, including immigration, tax cuts and repealing the Obamacare healthcare law. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded last year that Russia hacked and leaked Democratic emails during the election campaign as part of an effort to tilt the vote in Trump’s favor. The Kremlin has denied the allegations. Sessions denied he had contact with Russian officials when he was asked directly during his Senate confirmation hearing to become attorney general whether he had exchanged information with Russian operatives during the election campaign. He told reporters he was “honest and correct” in his response, although he acknowledged he “should have slowed down” and mentioned he had met with the ambassador in his role as a senator. “I never had meetings with Russian operatives or Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign,” Sessions said, adding he felt he should not be involved in investigating a campaign in which he had had a role. In a statement on Thursday night, Trump said Sessions “did not say anything wrong. He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not intentional.” Sessions’ meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak were disclosed on Wednesday night by the Washington Post. Sessions received Kislyak in his Senate office in September and also met him in July at a Heritage Foundation event at the Republican National Convention that was attended by about 50 ambassadors. Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn last month after disclosures that Flynn had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with Kislyak before Trump took office and that Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations. The recusal means Sessions, a powerful member of Trump’s inner circle, will not be briefed on details of any probe. Should the Federal Bureau of Investigation decide to move forward with charges, Sessions would not be in a position to weigh in on whether the Department of Justice should take the case. House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi urged Sessions to resign and said “his narrow recusal and sorry attempt to explain away his perjury” were inadequate. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said Sessions’ explanation for failing to tell the Senate about his meetings “is simply not credible.” He called on Sessions to step down and said the Justice Department should name an independent prosecutor to investigate Russian interference. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee asked the FBI to launch a criminal investigation into Sessions’ statements to Congress about his communication with Russian officials. Sessions is one of many “subjects” of a government investigation of any contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia, two U.S. officials familiar with the probe said. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sessions was not now a “target” of the probe by the FBI, the Treasury Department, the CIA and the National Security Agency. The investigation, one of the officials said, had a number of subjects because of the numerous contacts between associates of Trump, including Flynn, and the Russian Embassy in Washington as well as Russian and some Ukrainian businessmen and companies. At least two other officials in Trump’s campaign said they also spoke with the Russian ambassador at a conference on the sidelines of the July convention last July, USA Today reported on Thursday. Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner also met with Kislyak in December at Trump Tower in New York, an administration official said on Thursday, confirming a report in the New Yorker. While there is nothing legally wrong with such meetings, the reported contacts raise questions about the White House’s repeated statements that it knew of no further contacts with Russian officials beyond those by Flynn. Trump has accused officials in former Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration of trying to discredit him with questions about Russia contacts. The White House dismissed the disclosure of the Sessions meetings as a partisan attack, saying his contacts with the ambassador had been as a member of the Armed Services Committee. Trump called frequently during his campaign for improved relations with Russia, drawing criticism from Democrats and some Republicans. Ties with Russia have been deeply strained in recent years over Moscow’s military interference in Ukraine, military support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and President Vladimir Putin’s intolerance of political dissent. With his administration on the defensive over Russia, Trump’s enthusiasm seems to have cooled, and his top foreign policy advisers have begun talking tougher about Moscow. The Russian Embassy in Washington, shrugging off the uproar, said on Thursday it was in regular contact with “U.S. partners.” | 1 |
PARIS (Reuters) - World powers attempted to shore up Lebanon s stability on Friday by pushing Saudi Arabia and Iran to stop interfering in its politics and urging Hezbollah to rein in its regional activities. Lebanon plunged into crisis on Nov. 4 when Saad al-Hariri resigned as prime minister while he was in Saudi Arabia, saying he feared assassination and criticizing the Saudis regional arch-rival Iran along with its Lebanese ally Hezbollah. After international pressure and negotiations between Lebanese political factions, he rescinded his resignation on Tuesday and his coalition government, which includes Hezbollah, reaffirmed a state policy of staying out of conflicts in Arab states. The International Lebanon Support Group (GIS), a body that includes the five members of the U.N. Security Council Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States met in Paris on Friday to try to reinforce Hariri s hand to prevent a new escalation. Disassociation applies to everyone - inside and outside, Jean-Yves Le Drian said at a news conference with Hariri after the meeting. These principles were reaffirmed this morning, he said, later referring specifically to both Iran and Saudi Arabia. Without naming Hezbollah, he urged all sides not to import regional tensions into Lebanon. Hariri said that any breach of the policy of non-interference would drag Lebanon back into the danger zone . The disassociation policy is in the overarching interest of Lebanon, he said. The meeting had earlier been opened by President Emmanuel Macron. He has invested political capital in the crisis and leveraged France s close relations with both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia to secure a deal that saw Hariri travel to Paris and open the door to a resolution of the crisis last month. (The Group) calls upon all Lebanese parties to implement this tangible policy of disassociation from and non-interference in external conflicts, as an important priority, the final communique read. Saudi concern over the influence wielded by Shi ite Muslim Iran and Hezbollah in other Arab states had been widely seen as the root cause of the crisis, which raised fears for Lebanon s economic and political stability. The Lebanese policy of dissociation was declared in 2012 to keep the deeply divided state out of regional conflicts such as the civil war in neighboring Syria. Despite the policy, Hezbollah is heavily involved there, sending thousands of fighters to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He said that while the diplomatic language for the final declaration would not single out any party, the message was that Saudi Arabia and Iran should not influence Lebanese politics and that Hezbollah should rein in its regional activities. Friday s meeting isn t anti-Saudi or anti-Iranian, it s pro-Lebanon, a senior French diplomat said before the meeting. Highlighting the difficulties of upholding such a policy, Hezbollah backed calls on Thursday for a new Palestinian uprising in reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump s recognition of disputed Jerusalem as Israel s capital. The stability of Lebanon may seem like a small miracle given the many conflicts that destabilize the region, but it is maintained at the cost of sacrifice, dialogue and compromise, Hariri said earlier alongside Macron. Those attending Friday s meeting also committed to strengthening the Lebanese army through a conference in Rome and to support a meeting in Brussels also in 2018 to discuss how to help Lebanon cope with the 1.4 million refugees it hosts. A separate donor conference will also take place in March in Paris to boost the country s economy with a view to stimulating investments once expected legislative elections take place in May. | 0 |
This story should send chills down the spine of every American. Communism is on our doorstep THEY CAME WITH A BATTERING RAM. Cindy Archer, one of the lead architects of Wisconsin s Act 10 also called the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, it limited public-employee benefits and altered collective-bargaining rules for public-employee unions was jolted awake by yelling, loud pounding at the door, and her dogs frantic barking. The entire house the windows and walls was shaking.She looked outside to see up to a dozen police officers, yelling to open the door. They were carrying a battering ram. She wasn t dressed, but she started to run toward the door, her body in full view of the police. Some yelled at her to grab some clothes, others yelled for her to open the door. I was so afraid, she says. I did not know what to do. She grabbed some clothes, opened the door, and dressed right in front of the police. The dogs were still frantic. I begged and begged, Please don t shoot my dogs, please don t shoot my dogs, just don t shoot my dogs. I couldn t get them to stop barking, and I couldn t get them outside quick enough. I saw a gun and barking dogs. I was scared and knew this was a bad mix. She got the dogs safely out of the house, just as multiple armed agents rushed inside.Some even barged into the bathroom, where her partner was in the shower. The officer or agent in charge demanded that Cindy sit on the couch, but she wanted to get up and get a cup of coffee. I told him this was my house and I could do what I wanted. Wrong thing to say. This made the agent in charge furious. He towered over me with his finger in my face and yelled like a drill sergeant that I either do it his way or he would handcuff me. They wouldn t let her speak to a lawyer.She looked outside and saw a person who appeared to be a reporter. Someone had tipped him off. The neighbors started to come outside, curious at the commotion, and all the while the police searched her house, making a mess, and according to Cindy leaving her dead mother s belongings strewn across the basement floor in a most disrespectful way. Then they left, carrying with them only a cellphone and a laptop.Here is a videotaped interview of a neighbor who witnessed the police invasion of her home: IT S A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH. That was the first thought of Anne (not her real name).Someone was pounding at her front door. It was early in the morning very early and it was the kind of heavy pounding that meant someone was either fleeing from or bringing trouble. It was so hard. I d never heard anything like it. I thought someone was dying outside. She ran to the door, opened it, and then chaos. People came pouring in. For a second I thought it was a home invasion. It was terrifying. They were yelling and running, into every room in the house. One of the men was in my face, yelling at me over and over and over. It was indeed a home invasion, but the people who were pouring in were Wisconsin law-enforcement officers. Armed, uniformed police swarmed into the house. Plainclothes investigators cornered her and her newly awakened family.Soon, state officials were seizing the family s personal property, including each person s computer and smartphone, filled with the most intimate family information.Why were the police at Anne s home? She had no answers. The police were treating them the way they d seen police treat drug dealers on television. In fact, TV or movies were their only points of reference, because they weren t criminals. They were law-abiding. They didn t buy or sell drugs. They weren t violent. They weren t a danger to anyone. Yet there were cops surrounding their house on the outside, swarming the house on the inside.They even taunted the family as if they were mere perps. As if the home invasion, the appropriation of private property, and the verbal abuse weren t enough, next came ominous warnings.Don t call your lawyer. Don t tell anyone about this raid. Not even your mother, your father, or your closest friends.The entire neighborhood could see the police around their house, but they had to remain silent. This was not the right to remain silent as uttered by every cop on every legal drama on television the right against self-incrimination.They couldn t mount a public defense if they wanted or even offer an explanation to family and friends. Yet no one in this family was a perp. Instead, like Cindy, they were American citizens guilty of nothing more than exercising their First Amendment rights to support Act 10 and other conservative causes in Wisconsin. Sitting there shocked and terrified, this citizen who is still too intimidated to speak on the record kept thinking, Is this America? THEY FOLLOWED ME TO MY KIDS ROOMS. For the family of Rachel (not her real name), the ordeal began before dawn with the same loud, insistent knocking. Still in her pajamas, Rachel answered the door and saw uniformed police, poised to enter her home.When Rachel asked to wake her children herself, the officer insisted on walking into their rooms. The kids woke to an armed officer, standing near their beds. The entire family was herded into one room, and there they watched as the police carried off their personal possessions, including items that had nothing to do with the subject of the search warrant even her daughter s computer.And, yes, there were the warnings. Don t call your lawyer. Don t talk to anyone about this. Don t tell your friends.The kids watched alarmed as the school bus drove by, with the students inside watching the spectacle of uniformed police surrounding the house, carrying out the family s belongings. Yet they were told they couldn t tell anyone at school. They, too, had to remain silent.The mom watched as her entire life was laid open before the police. Her professional files, her personal files, everything. She knew this was all politics. She knew a rogue prosecutor was targeting her for her political beliefs. And she realized, Every aspect of my life is in their hands. And they hate me. Fortunately for her family, the police didn t taunt her or her children. Some of them seemed embarrassed by what they were doing. At the end of the ordeal, one officer looked at the family, still confined to one room, and said, Some days, I hate my job. For dozens of conservatives, the years since Scott Walker s first election as governor of Wisconsin transformed the state known for pro-football championships, good cheese, and a population with a reputation for being unfailingly polite into a place where conservatives have faced early-morning raids, multi-year secretive criminal investigations, slanderous and selective leaks to sympathetic media, and intrusive electronic snooping.Yes, Wisconsin, the cradle of the progressive movement and home of the Wisconsin idea the marriage of state governments and state universities to govern through technocratic reform was giving birth to a new progressive idea, the use of law enforcement as a political instrument, as a weapon to attempt to undo election results, shame opponents, and ruin lives.Most Americans have never heard of these raids, or of the lengthy criminal investigations of Wisconsin conservatives. For good reason. Bound by comprehensive secrecy orders, conservatives were left to suffer in silence as leaks ruined their reputations, as neighbors, looking through windows and dismayed at the massive police presence, the lights shining down on targets homes, wondered, no doubt, What on earth did that family do?This was the on-the-ground reality of the so-called John Doe investigations, expansive and secret criminal proceedings that directly targeted Wisconsin residents because of their relationship to Scott Walker, their support for Act 10, and their advocacy of conservative reform.Largely hidden from the public eye, this traumatic process, however, is now heading toward a legal climax, with two key rulings expected in the late spring or early summer.The first ruling, from the Wisconsin supreme court, could halt the investigations for good, in part by declaring that the misconduct being investigated isn t misconduct at all but the simple exercise of First Amendment rights.The second ruling, from the United States Supreme Court, could grant review on a federal lawsuit brought by Wisconsin political activist Eric O Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth, the first conservatives to challenge the investigations head-on.If the Court grants review, it could not only halt the investigations but also begin the process of holding accountable those public officials who have so abused their powers.But no matter the outcome of these court hearings, the damage has been done. In the words of Mr. O Keefe, The process is the punishment. UPDATED VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH BLAZE TV s DANA LOESCH:It all began innocently enough. In 2009, officials from the office of the Milwaukee County executive contacted the office of the Milwaukee district attorney, headed by John Chisholm, to investigate the disappearance of $11,242.24 from the Milwaukee chapter of the Order of the Purple Heart.The matter was routine, with witnesses willing and able to testify against the principal suspect, a man named Kevin Kavanaugh.What followed, however, was anything but routine. Chisholm failed to act promptly on the report, and when he did act, he refused to conduct a conventional criminal investigation but instead petitioned, in May 2010, to open a John Doe investigation, a proceeding under Wisconsin law that permits Wisconsin officials to conduct extensive investigations while keeping the target s identity secret (hence the designation John Doe ).John Doe investigations alter typical criminal procedure in two important ways: First, they remove grand juries from the investigative process, replacing the ordinary citizens of a grand jury with a supervising judge.Second, they can include strict secrecy requirements not just on the prosecution but also on the targets of the investigation. In practice, this means that, while the prosecution cannot make public comments about the investigation, it can take public actions indicating criminal suspicion (such as raiding businesses and homes in full view of the community) while preventing the targets of the raids from defending against or even discussing the prosecution s claims.Why would Chisholm seek such broad powers to investigate a year-old embezzlement claim with a known suspect? Because the Milwaukee County executive, Scott Walker, had by that time become the leading Republican candidate for governor. District Attorney Chisholm was a Democrat, a very partisan Democrat.Almost immediately after opening the John Doe investigation, Chisholm used his expansive powers to embarrass Walker, raiding his county-executive offices within a week.As Mr. O Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth explained in court filings, the investigation then dramatically expanded: Over the next few months, [Chisholm s] investigation of all-things-Walker expanded to include everything from alleged campaign-finance violations to sexual misconduct to alleged public contracting bid-rigging to alleged misuse of county time and property.Between May 5, 2010, and May 3, 2012, the Milwaukee Defendants filed at least eighteen petitions to formally [e]nlarge the scope of the John Doe investigation, and each was granted. . .That amounts to a new formal inquiry every five and a half weeks, on average, for two years.This expansion coincided with one of the more remarkable state-level political controversies in modern American history the protest (and passage) of Act 10, followed by the attempted recall of a number of Wisconsin legislators and, ultimately, Governor Walker.Political observers will no doubt remember the events in Madison the state capitol overrun by chanting protesters, Democratic lawmakers fleeing the state to prevent votes on the legislation, and tens of millions of dollars of outside money flowing into the state as Wisconsin became, fundamentally, a proxy fight pitting the union-led Left against the Tea Party led economic Right.At the same time that the public protests were raging, so were private but important protests in the Chisholm home and workplace.As a former prosecutor told journalist Stuart Taylor, Chisholm s wife was a teachers -union shop steward who was distraught over Act 10 s union reforms. He said Chisholm felt it was his personal duty to stop them. Meanwhile, according to this whistleblower, the district attorney s offices were festooned with the blue fist poster of the labor-union movement, indicating that Chisholm s employees were very much invested in the political fight.In the end, the John Doe proceeding failed in its ultimate aims. It secured convictions for embezzlement (related to the original 2009 complaint), a conviction for sexual misconduct, and a few convictions for minor campaign violations, but Governor Walker was untouched, his reforms were implemented, and he survived his recall election. But with another election looming this time Walker s campaign for reelection Chisholm wasn t finished.He launched yet another John Doe investigation, supervised by Judge Barbara Kluka. Kluka proved to be capable of superhuman efficiency approving every petition, subpoena, and search warrant in the case in a total of one day s work.If the first series of John Doe investigations was everything Walker, the second series was everything conservative, as Chisholm had launched an investigation of not only Walker (again) but the Wisconsin Club for Growth and dozens of other conservative organizations, this time fishing for evidence of allegedly illegal coordination between conservative groups and the Walker campaign.In the second John Doe, Chisholm had no real evidence of wrongdoing. Yes, conservative groups were active in issue advocacy, but issue advocacy was protected by the First Amendment and did not violate relevant campaign laws.Nonetheless, Chisholm persuaded prosecutors in four other counties to launch their own John Does, with Judge Kluka overseeing all of them.Empowered by a rubber-stamp judge, partisan investigators ran amok. They subpoenaed and obtained (without the conservative targets knowledge) massive amounts of electronic data, including virtually all the targets personal e-mails and other electronic messages from outside e-mail vendors and communications companies.The investigations exploded into the open with a coordinated series of raids on October 3, 2013. These were home invasions, including those described above. Chisholm s office refused to comment on the raid tactics (or any other aspect of the John Doe investigations), but witness accounts regarding the two John Doe investigations are remarkably similar: early-morning intrusions, police rushing through the house, and stern commands to remain silent and tell no one about what had occurred.At the same time, the Wisconsin Club for Growth and other conservative organizations received broad subpoenas requiring them to turn over virtually all business records, including donor information, correspondence with their associates, and all financial information. The subpoenas also contained dire warnings about disclosure of their existence, threatening contempt of court if the targets spoke publicly.For select conservative families across five counties, this was the terrifying moment the moment they felt at the mercy of a truly malevolent state.Speaking both on and off the record, targets reflected on how many layers of Wisconsin government failed their fundamental constitutional duties the prosecutors who launched the rogue investigations, the judge who gave the abuse judicial sanction, investigators who chose to taunt and intimidate during the raids, and those police who ultimately approved and executed aggressive search tactics on law-abiding, peaceful citizens.For some of the families, the trauma of the raids, combined with the stress and anxiety of lengthy criminal investigations, has led to serious emotional repercussions. Devastating is how Anne describes the impact on her family. Life-changing, she says. All in terrible ways. O Keefe, who has been in contact with multiple targeted families, says, Every family I know of that endured a home raid has been shaken to its core, and the fate of marriages and families still hangs in the balance in some cases. Anne also describes a new fear of the police: I used to support the police, to believe they were here to protect us. Now, when I see an officer, I ll cross the street. I m afraid of them. I know what they re capable of. Cindy says, I lock my doors and I close my shades. I don t answer the door unless I am expecting someone. My heart races when I see a police car sitting in front of my house or following me in the car.The raid was so public. I ve been harassed. My house has been vandalized. [She did not identify suspects.] I no longer feel safe, and I don t think I ever will. Rachel talks about the effect on her children. I tried to create a home where the kids always feel safe. Now they know they re not. They know men with guns can come in their house, and there s nothing we can do. Every knock on the door brings anxiety. Every call to the house is screened. In the back of her mind is a single, unsettling thought: These people will never stop.Victims of trauma and every person I spoke with described the armed raids as traumatic often need to talk, to share their experiences and seek solace in the company of a loving family and supportive friends. The investigators denied them that privilege, and it compounded their pain and fear. The investigation not only damaged families, it also shut down their free speech. In many cases, the investigations halted conservative groups in their tracks.O Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth described the effect in court filings: O Keefe s associates began cancelling meetings with him and declining to take his calls, reasonably fearful that merely associating with him could make them targets of the investigation.O Keefe was forced to abandon fundraising for the Club because he could no longer guarantee to donors that their identities would remain confidential, could not (due to the Secrecy Order) explain to potential donors the nature of the investigation, could not assuage donors fears that they might become targets themselves, and could not assure donors that their money would go to fund advocacy rather than legal expenses.The Club was also paralyzed. Its officials could not associate with its key supporters, and its funds were depleted. It could not engage in issue advocacy for fear of criminal sanction.These raids and subpoenas were often based not on traditional notions of probable cause but on mere suspicion, untethered to the law or evidence, and potentially violating the Fourth Amendment s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. The very existence of First Amendment protected expression was deemed to be evidence of illegality.The prosecution simply assumed that the conservatives were incapable of operating within the bounds of the law. Even worse, many of the investigators legal theories, even if proven by the evidence, would not have supported criminal prosecutions. In other words, they were investigating crimes that weren t crimes at all.If the prosecutors had applied the same legal standards to the Democrats in their own offices, they would have been forced to turn the raids on themselves. If the prosecutors and investigators had been raided, how many of their computers and smartphones would have contained incriminating information indicating use of government resources for partisan purposes?With the investigations now bursting out into the open, some conservatives began to fight back. O Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth moved to quash the John Doe subpoenas aimed at them.In a surprise move, Judge Kluka, who had presided over the Doe investigations for more than a year, recused herself from the case. (A political journal, the Wisconsin Reporter, attempted to speak to Judge Kluka about her recusal, but she refused to offer comment.)The new judge in the case, Gregory Peterson, promptly sided with O Keefe and blocked multiple subpoenas, holding (in a sealed opinion obtained by the Wall Street Journal, which has done invaluable work covering the John Doe investigations) that they do not show probable cause that the moving parties committed any violations of the campaign finance laws. The judge noted that the State is not claiming that any of the independent organizations expressly advocated Walker s election. O Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth followed up Judge Peterson s ruling by filing a federal lawsuit against Chisholm and a number of additional defendants, alleging multiple constitutional violations, including a claim that the investigation constituted unlawful retaliation against the plaintiffs for the exercise of their First Amendment rights.United States District Court judge Rudolph Randa promptly granted the plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction, declaring that the Defendants must cease all activities related to the investigation, return all property seized in the investigation from any individual or organization, and permanently destroy all copies of information and other materials obtained through the investigation. From that point forward, the case proceeded on parallel state and federal tracks. At the federal level, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Judge Randa s order.Declining to consider the case on the merits, the appeals court found the lawsuit barred by the federal Anti-Injunction Act, which prohibits federal courts from issuing injunctions against some state-court proceedings.O Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth have petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari and expect a ruling in a matter of weeks.At the same time, the John Doe prosecutors took their case to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals to attempt to restart the Doe proceedings. The case was ultimately consolidated before the state supreme court, with a ruling also expected in a matter of weeks.And so, almost five years after their secret beginning, the John Doe proceedings are nearly dead on life support, according to one Wisconsin pundit but incalculable damage has been done, to families, to activist organizations, to the First Amendment, and to the rule of law itself.In international law, the Western world has become familiar with a concept called lawfare, a process whereby rogue regimes or organizations abuse legal doctrines and processes to accomplish through sheer harassment and attrition what can t be accomplished through legitimate diplomatic means. The Palestinian Authority and its defenders have become adept at lawfare, putting Israel under increasing pressure before the U.N. and other international bodies.The John Doe investigations are a form of domestic lawfare, and our constitutional system is ill equipped to handle it. Federal courts rarely intervene in state judicial proceedings, state officials rarely lose their array of official immunities for the consequences of their misconduct, and violations of First Amendment freedoms rarely result in meaningful monetary damages for the victims.As Scott Walker runs for president, the national media will finally join the Wall Street Journal in covering John Doe.Given the mainstream media s typical bias and bad faith, they are likely to bring a fresh round of pain to the targets of the investigation; the cloud of suspicion will descend once again; even potential favorable court rulings by either the state supreme court or the U.S. Supreme Court will be blamed on conservative justices taking care of their own.Conservatives have looked at Wisconsin as a success story, where Walker took everything the Left threw at him and emerged victorious in three general elections. He broke the power of the teachers unions and absorbed millions upon millions of dollars of negative ads. The Left kept chanting, This is what democracy looks like, and in Wisconsin, democracy looked like Scott Walker winning again and again.Yet in a deeper way, Wisconsin is anything but a success. There were casualties left on the battlefield innocent citizens victimized by a lawless government mob, public officials who brought the full power of their office down onto the innocent.Governors come and go. Statutes are passed and repealed. Laws and elections are important, to be sure, but the rule of law is more important still. And in Wisconsin, the rule of law hangs in the balance along with the liberty of citizens.As I finished an interview with one victim still living in fear, still shattered by the experience of nearly losing everything simply because she supported the wrong candidate at the wrong time, I asked whether she had any final thoughts. Just one, she replied. I m hoping for accountability, that someone will be held responsible so that they ll never do this again. She paused for a moment and then, with voice trembling, said: No one should ever endure what my family endured. Via: National Review | 0 |
During an appearance on MSNBC s Morning Joe on Thursday, comedian D.L Hughley explained how it is impossible for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to just be a little racist. Hughley plugged his new book, Black Man, White House: An Oral History of the Obama Years, during the segment. Hughley did not hold back during the interview, where the he told the show s host Joe Scarborough his opinion of Trump. Hughley flat out told Scarborough that he thinks the presidential candidate is a racist: I think he s a racist. You can t equivocate. If I m in a car, and somebody I m with commits a crime, I can t make a reasonable argument that I didn t know. Hughley continued, saying: And I think you can t be a little bit pregnant, and I don t think you can be a little bit racist. That is the absolute truth. Of course, there are different ways that people can be racist. Seeing as the United States is a racist society, everyone grows up with racism shaping their perspective of the world, causing unconscious biases to emerge in themselves. Those biases are easy for racists like Trump to exploit for their own political gain. That might partly explain why Trump supporters will swear that they do not at all support racism, yet back a candidate who is blatantly using racism to further his agenda.Well, except for the various leaders in the white supremacist organizations who back the candidate. They know that Trump is a racist and feel he is the best one to spread hatred and intolerance across the nation. Across the nation, there have examples of the racist rhetoric that Trump uses influencing children who bully other children.You can watch the full segment below in full.Featured image via video screenshot | 0 |
BOGOTA (Reuters) - The commander of Colombia s Marxist ELN rebels on Friday ordered his fighters to begin a ceasefire this weekend as the group struggles through complicated peace talks with the government aimed at ending five decades of war. Nicolas Rodriguez, known by his war alias Gabino, told the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas to begin their part in a bilateral ceasefire agreement with President Juan Manuel Santos government starting on Sunday and running through mid-January. The ELN is in talks in Ecuador to end its part in a conflict involving government troops, leftist rebels, criminal gangs and right-wing paramilitary groups. Since negotiations began in February, the ELN has continued to take hostages for ransom and stepped up bomb attacks in recent weeks on oil companies. It wasn t easy to reach this agreement but finally we achieved it. Since talks began with Santos s government we have insisted on the urgency of this ceasefire because it stops offensive actions and brings important humanitarian relief to the Colombian population, Rodriguez said in a video message. During the ceasefire, agreed on Sept. 4, the insurgent group has pledged to suspend hostage taking, attacks on roads and oil installations, the use of landmines and the recruitment of minors. In turn, the government agreed to improve protection for community leaders and conditions for about 450 jailed rebels. Colombians, we must never stop seeking peace. I hope this temporary ceasefire ... can be extended and become the first step to peace with the ELN, Santos said in a national address on Friday. The center-right president signed a peace deal with the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in late 2016 after negotiations in Cuba that lasted four years. Founded by radical Roman Catholic priests in 1964, the ELN has sought peace with the government before but made little progress. This would be the first ceasefire with the ELN. The ELN is considered a terrorist group by the United States and European Union. | 0 |
Alleged President Donald Trump has been on the job for only 153 days and he held another ego-rally on Wednesday. The crowd of adoring Trump fans cheered him on as he spoke down to them in a condescending manner. The former reality show star who ran on a Drain the Swamp platform offered an explanation in Iowa for why he has one of the wealthiest cabinets in U.S. history. The amateur president suggested that he hired billionaire private-equity investor Wilbur Ross to be his Commerce secretary because he isn t poor. Trump said, I just don t want a poor person in a top economics role. I love all people rich or poor but in those particular positions, I just don t want a poor person, he said at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Does that make sense? If you insist, I ll do it but I like it better this way. That led to cheers from his supporters.CNN reports:Trump named billionaire Wilbur Ross, who has made a fortune cobbling together dying companies, as his commerce secretary, and Todd Ricketts, part of the billionaire family that owns the Chicago Cubs, as deputy commerce secretary.The Cabinet also includes billionaire Betsy DeVos as his pick for education secretary and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is a former Goldman Sachs executive. Somebody said, Why d you appoint a rich person to be in charge of the economy,' said Trump. I said, Because that s the kind of thinking we want.' They re representing the country. They don t want the money. They re representing the country. They had to give up a lot to take these jobs. They gave up a lot, he said.Trump noted that Ross and his chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, a former Goldman Sachs president, were at the Iowa rally. That s right, Trump brought the swamp to Iowa and his supporters cheered him on. But, while on the campaign trail, Trump frequently bashed Goldman Sachs for having too much influence in politics and for paying Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for private speeches.Watch:Let s review history for a moment.It was in 1789 that George Washington, the first elected President of the U.S., tapped his former aide to be the first Secretary of the Treasury. Alexander Hamilton grew up poor and he was an immigrant from the Caribbean island of Nevis his image is featured on our $10 bill.But, in Trump s world, Hamilton, who was an author of the Federalist Papers, would be too poor to be chosen for his administration. Trump suggested to his crowd of supporters that only rich people are smart. Those same supporters still see nothing wrong with the alleged billionaire not revealing his tax returns.According to Trump, billionaires are smart and the rest of us are dumb mother f*ckers. Trump also raged about the media s coverage of his presidency during his rally.Well, we can prove that wealthy people aren t always smart or have compassion. Citation: Donald J. Trump.Featured image via screen capture | 0 |
YANGON/SHAMLAPUR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Myanmar said on Wednesday it was negotiating with China and Russia to ensure they block any U.N. Security Council censure over the violence that has forced an exodus of nearly 150,000 Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh in less than two weeks. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi blamed terrorists for a huge iceberg of misinformation on the strife in the northwestern state of Rakhine but, in a statement, she made no mention of the Rohingya who have fled. Suu Kyi has come under increasing pressure from countries with Muslim populations, including Indonesia, where thousands led by Islamist groups rallied in Jakarta on Wednesday to demand that diplomatic ties with Buddhist-majority Myanmar be cut. In a rare letter to the U.N. Security Council, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern the violence could spiral into a humanitarian catastrophe . He warned on Tuesday that there was a risk of ethnic cleansing in Myanmar that could destabilize the region. Myanmar National Security Adviser Thaung Tun said Myanmar was counting on China and Russia, both permanent members of the Security Council, to block a U.N. resolution on the crisis. We are negotiating with some friendly countries not to take it to the Security Council, he told a news conference. China is our friend and we have a similar friendly relationship with Russia, so it will not be possible for that issue to go forward. Russia s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said he believed the 15-member Security Council had sent a signal, by meeting behind closed doors on the issue a week ago, that it would like to see the situation calm down. We called for restraint, he told reporters on Tuesday. The Security Council for the time being did what it could do. The U.S. State Department said Washington was deeply concerned by sustained reports of significant violence and the impact on civilian populations, including the Rohingya community. These reports include allegations of violence conducted by security forces and civilians, as well as additional attacks by ARSA, a spokesman said, referring to Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Organization insurgents. The spokesman said the United States had discussed the issue with Myanmar at the highest levels and was also in touch with its neighbors and other international partners. We welcome indications that the government is committed to providing access to humanitarian aid via the Red Cross, and we look forward to learning further details. he added. Reuters reporters in Bangladesh s Cox s Bazar region have witnessed boatloads of exhausted Rohingya arriving near the border village of Shamlapur. According to the latest estimates from U.N. workers operating there, arrivals in 12 days stood at 146,000. This brought to 233,000 the total number of Rohingya who have sought refuge in Bangladesh since last October. New arrivals told authorities that three boats carrying a total of more than 100 people capsized in early on Wednesday. Coastguard Commander M.S. Kabir said six bodies, including three children, had washed ashore. The surge of refugees, many sick or wounded, has strained the resources of aid agencies and communities helping hundreds of thousands from previous violence in Myanmar. Many have no shelter, and aid agencies are racing to provide water, sanitation and food. People have come with virtually nothing so there has to be food, a U.N. source working there said. So this is now a huge concern where is this food coming from for at least the elderly, the children, the women who have come over without their husbands? Suu Kyi spoke by telephone on Tuesday with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who has pressed world leaders to do more to help a population of roughly 1.1 million he says are facing genocide. In a statement issued by her office on Facebook, Suu Kyi said the government had already started defending all the people in Rakhine in the best way possible and warned against misinformation that could mar relations with other countries. She referred to images on Twitter of killings posted by Turkey s deputy prime minister that he later deleted because they were not from Myanmar. She said that kind of fake information which was inflicted on the deputy prime minister was simply the tip of a huge iceberg of misinformation calculated to create a lot of problems between different countries and with the aim of promoting the interests of the terrorists, her office said in the statement. Suu Kyi on Wednesday met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said he shared Myanmar s concern about extremist violence in Rakhine state. Modi s government has taken a strong stance on an influx into India of some 40,000 Rohingya from Myanmar over the years, vowing last month to deport them all. The latest violence began when Rohingya insurgents attacked dozens of police posts and an army base. The ensuing clashes and a military counter-offensive killed at least 400 people and triggered the exodus of villagers to Bangladesh. Suu Kyi has been accused by Western critics of not speaking out for the minority that has long complained of persecution, and some have called for the Nobel Peace Prize she won in 1991 as a champion of democracy to be revoked. Myanmar says its security forces are fighting a legitimate campaign against terrorists it blames for a string of attacks on police posts and for burning homes and civilian deaths. It says 26,747 non-Muslims have been displaced. Fleeing Rohingya and rights monitors say the Myanmar army is conducting a campaign of arson and killings to force them from their homes. Two Bangladesh government sources said Myanmar had been laying landmines across a section of its border for the past three days, possibly to prevent the return of fleeing Rohingya. Bangladesh will formally lodge a protest on Wednesday against the laying of land mines so close to the border, said the sources who had direct knowledge of the situation but asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. A Myanmar military source said landmines were laid along the border in the 1990s to prevent trespassing and the military had since tried to remove them, but none had been planted recently. | 0 |
JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH A strict conservative similar to Justice Scalia A STRICT CONSTITUTIONALISTJudge Neil Gorsuch, 49, is President Donald Trump s pick for appointment to the Supreme Court to fill the seat vacated a year ago by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. THE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP:BREAKING: Donald Trump reveals that his choice for US Supreme Court is Neil Gorsuch, 49 https://t.co/D91eYAcIMZ https://t.co/dbCiP2bP2U CNN (@CNN) February 1, 2017Gorsuch has the typical pedigree of a high court justice. He graduated from Columbia, Harvard and Oxford, clerked for two Supreme Court justices and did a stint at the Department of Justice.Since 2006, he has served on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, in Denver, Colorado. His supporters note that he is an outdoorsman who fishes, hunts and skis. On the court, conservatives hope he could become the intellectual heir to Scalia, long the outspoken leader of the conservative bloc. The real appeal of Gorsuch nomination is he s likely to be the most effective conservative nominee in terms of winning over Anthony Kennedy and forging conservative decisions on the court, said Jeffrey Rosen of the National Constitution Center. He s unusual for his memorable writing style, the depth of his reading and his willingness to rethink constitutional principles from the ground up.Like Justice Scalia, he sometimes reaches results that favor liberals when he thinks the history or text of the Constitution or the law require it, especially in areas like criminal law or the rights of religious minorities, but unlike Scalia he s less willing to defer to regulations and might be more willing to second-guess Trump s regulatory decision. Read more: Politico | 0 |
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Follow us down to the bottom an enormous tunnel located near Mount Shasta...
Mount Shasta is famous all over the world for legends of Inner-Earth beings, and other subterranean mysteries. Some of the largest concentrations of underground tunnels and caves in North America are located in remote regions surrounding Mount Shasta, and only a small fraction of them have ever been explored or mapped...
In Lava Beds, northeast of Mount Shasta, there's an enormous cavern and tunnel called Skull Cave, which is so big that you could easily fly a small aircraft into it.
It was named Skull Cave because when it was first discovered it was full of bones. Tags | 1 |
President Donald Trump told televangelist Pat Robertson in a new interview that he will make it safe to say Merry Christmas You ll be saying Merry Christmas again soon Pat Robertson, the 700 Club host and Christian Broadcasting Network founder, asked President Trump if he is going to take on heavyweights. The president said that he doesn t want to take on lightweights. He then turned to the topic of religious liberty: We have to bring our country back. Our country was going in the wrong direction. And by the way, what they were doing to religious liberty: They were destroying religious liberty. He then added this firm statement on the effort to bring back Christian liberty in America: You will be saying Merry Christmas again very soon Robertson responded: We ll count on it. President Trump previously stated that Democrats had been taking the wrong steps to improve the lives of all Americans: You couldn t build, you couldn t do anything One of the focuses of the Trump agenda has been stripping away regulations so Americans can be more productive. In addition, the president believes in stripping away all of the supposed politically correct phrases including Happy Holidays . He s drawn a red line on those who insist on shaming anyone who chooses to say Merry Christmas .While on the campaign trail, candidate Trump criticized the use of Happy Holidays as a substitute for Merry Christmas . His support among Evangelical Christians has remained high, with many including Robertson praising his appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. | 0 |
CHARLESTON, S. C. — Joseph C. Meek Jr. a friend of Dylann S. Roof’s who spent time with him in the weeks before nine people were killed at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church here, was sentenced Tuesday to 27 months in prison for hampering and misleading the federal authorities in the aftermath of Mr. Roof’s racist massacre. The punishment, handed down by Judge Richard M. Gergel of Federal District Court, was at the low end of the sentencing guidelines, which called for Mr. Meek to spend from 27 to 33 months in prison. The months that he spent in a county jail after his arrest will count toward his federal sentence. Before the sentence was announced, a tearful Mr. Meek said he was not sure whether he would survive prison, and he apologized to family members of Mr. Roof’s victims, some of whom had gathered for the hearing. “I’m really sorry a lot of innocent lives were taken,” said Mr. Meek, who had previously expressed remorse in handwritten letters in which he asked for forgiveness. But Judge Gergel, speaking at a hearing that lasted more than two hours, said Mr. Meek’s crimes warranted prison. “The danger he exposed to the community is extraordinary,” he said. Mr. Meek’s lawyer, Deborah B. Barbier, expressed concern that her client would be forced to spend his sentence in solitary confinement because of security risks. Judge Gergel said the federal Bureau of Prisons could be trusted to protect him. “It’s an odd, inverse logic that I should not incarcerate him because inmates think so lowly of him,” the judge said. Mr. Meek, 22, pleaded guilty last April to two federal counts related to the truthfulness of his responses to the F. B. I. in interviews shortly after the shooting on June 17, 2015 — misprision of a felony and making a false statement to a law enforcement officer. Misprision refers to the failure to report a known crime. The government did not prosecute Mr. Meek for failing to disclose knowledge of Mr. Roof’s plans to attack the church, although it asserted in court filings that his silence “did deprive law enforcement of the opportunity to intervene. ” During a night of drinking and drug use about a week before the shootings, Mr. Roof told Mr. Meek that he wanted to kill black people at a historic African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston in order to start a race riot, according to F. B. I. summaries of interviews with him. Mr. Meek was concerned enough to hide Mr. Roof’s handgun after he fell asleep but later returned it and did not report the threat to law enforcement. “Certainly defendant’s failure to make an earlier report is tragic and deeply regrettable, but his failure to report was not a violation of federal criminal law,” Judge Gergel wrote last week in an order that denied prosecutors’ request to give Mr. Meek a longer term than recommended in sentencing guidelines. Ms. Barbier said in a presentencing filing that it was “hypocritical and disingenuous” for prosecutors to suggest that Mr. Meek was somehow to blame for the killings. “Joey’s failure to appreciate the seriousness of Roof’s statements is not unusual in today’s shock value culture,” she wrote. In court on Tuesday, a defense witness said Mr. Meek’s connection to the Charleston massacre would make him a “ target” in prison. “He’ll have to be kept separate from other inmates — not because of what he did, but because he has some relationship to a heinous crime,” said the witness, James Aiken, a former warden for the South Carolina prison system. The case against Mr. Meek matters both as a lesson about reporting suspicions and for the insight he provides into Mr. Roof, who represented himself at times at trial and blocked the admission of any evidence about his background or psychology. As a result, the trial in December and January, which ended in a death sentence for Mr. Roof, provided little information about what may have incited him to act so violently on his racist beliefs. Mr. Meek has said in various law enforcement interviews and court appearances that he first met Mr. Roof, who grew up near Columbia, S. C. in middle school. They largely lost touch when Mr. Roof moved away but reconnected via Facebook on May 22, 2015, less than a month before the massacre. Mr. Roof began hanging out at the trailer where Mr. Meek lived with his girlfriend and other family members. One night in early June, after consuming vodka, marijuana and cocaine, Mr. Roof told Mr. Meek of his support for segregation and his desire to “do something big and put South Carolina on the map,” Mr. Meek told the F. B. I. He said that he had been planning the attack for six months and that he hoped to carry it out on a Wednesday because fewer people would be at church. He told Mr. Meek he would then kill himself. Mr. Meek dismissed the seriousness and did not notify the authorities. Mr. Meek learned about the shootings soon after Mr. Roof opened fire and discussed his fears with a friend, Dalton Tyler, telling him not to contact the police. Mr. Tyler held off that night. But the next morning, as a photograph of Mr. Roof from a church security camera began circulating, Mr. Tyler became the first person to call a police tip line and identify the gunman, according to a search warrant. Mr. Roof was arrested later that morning in North Carolina with the murder weapon in the back seat. In his initial F. B. I. interview, Mr. Meek denied having known of Mr. Roof’s plans and said Mr. Roof had not spoken of a target for his attack, according to Assistant United States Attorney Julius N. Richardson. But in a second interview, Mr. Meek admitted that he had lied, according to an F. B. I. synopsis of the session. He also admitted that on the night of the shootings, after concluding that Mr. Roof was responsible for the attack, he told others not to contact law enforcement. In his conversations with investigators, Mr. Meek described Mr. Roof as a shy former altar boy who did not have many friends but was not a social misfit. His parents, who were divorced, lived in houses with swimming pools and gave him most anything he wanted, Mr. Meek said. He did not perceive Mr. Roof as depressed or as having an anger problem. When Mr. Meek was first charged and agreed to a plea deal, the expectation was that he would testify in Mr. Roof’s trial about the killer’s premeditation and planning. But the government’s case on that score was strong without Mr. Meek, and neither side called him as a witness. Mr. Richardson declined to comment on Tuesday, as did the relatives of Mr. Roof’s victims who attended the sentencing. Mr. Meek, who will remain free on bond until he reports to prison, has told the authorities that he thinks about the carnage every day and that he has trouble sleeping nearly two years after Mr. Roof’s killing spree. “I truly in my heart didn’t take him seriously and I wish I would have,” Mr. Meek, a dropout who worked in construction, said in a written statement. “I didn’t believe he could do something so awful and cruel. ” | 0 |
Conservative radio show host Alex Jones recently proclaimed that President Obama and Hillary Clinton are really demons, sent by Lucifer himself no doubt. No, he did not mean metaphorically. He meant literally. As proof of their evil origins, Jones claimed that they both smell like sulphur and hell. Apparently, somebody mentioned to this to the president. So, while speaking at an event on the campaign trail for Clinton, Obama decided to give himself a sniff test on Tuesday night, just to check for any suspicious demonic odors. we demonize each other. And I mean that literally, by the way. I was reading the other day, there s a guy on the radio who apparently, Trump s on his show frequently, he said me and Hillary are demons. Said we smell like sulphur. Ain t that somethin ? President Obama then performed his sniff test, smelling his hand as the crowd laughed at the absurdity of Jones bullsh*t. Now, the president began before he burst into laughter along with the crowd. I mean, come on, people! This is what the right wing nut jobs have reduced us to. Our president has to sniff himself to make sure he isn t actually a f*cking demon.This happened. Obama responds to Alex Jones saying he and Hillary are literal demons who smell like sulfur. Then he sniffs himself pic.twitter.com/GSxRsklRDf Colin Jones (@colinjones) October 11, 2016Featured image via video screen capture | 1 |
Trump rape accuser skips press conference, citing threats ‹ › 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 Iraqi forces retake new district in Mosul as house to house search for militants intensifies By GPD on November 4, 2016
Army officials said the new military gains in Samaha will “ensure security” for the larger district of Gogjali whose residents have partly fled to Kurdish controlled Khazir overnight.
By Rudaw
GOGJALI, Mosul– Iraqi special forces have cleared a second neighborhood of ISIS militants in the eastern outskirts of Mosul city after they retook control of nearby Gogjali district Wednesday.
Military commanders told Rudaw the house to house search will continue in both Gogjali and Samaha districts for remaining militants in the area, asking residents to stay indoors.
Army officials said the new military gains in Samaha will “ensure security” for the larger district of Gogjali whose residents have partly fled to Kurdish controlled Khazir overnight.
“We still are afraid of Daesh,” said a female Kurdish resident of Gogjali in burqa outfit telling Rudaw that the head to toe black dress was compulsory under ISIS rule.
Rudaw correspondent Hardi Muhammad who is travelling with the Iraqi Special Forces inside Mosul said that the distance between army units and ISIS positions in the neighborhood is less than 300 meters.
“We still hear sporadic gunfire around Gogjali district but it’s unclear what is exactly taking place here,” said Muhammad.
Major General Maadan Saadi, commander of the Second Golden Brigade told Rudaw they still need additional information about militants in the city and urged residents to inform the army units of possible ISIS positions.
“We have been carrying out searches today in the connecting roads between Gogjali and surrounding areas, we also question the locals about them which our forces need,” said General Saadi.
The army is particularly concerned with booby trapped houses and landmines planted by the militants that have recently killed dozens of anti-ISIS Shiite militia elsewhere near Mosul.
At least 15 Hashd-al Shaabi militants were killed and dozens more were severely wounded on Tuesday when the Shiite militia entered several liberated villages near the township of Tal Afar in Nineveh Plains.
Rudaw correspondent Shady Rasoul who is in Khazir refugee camp north of Mosul said at least 5,000 refugees had fled Gogjali over the past two days and taken shelter in the Kurdish controlled camp.
She said the camp now hosted over 7000 displaced people but the number was most likely to grow.
“It’s difficult to know exactly how many will seek refuge here but we estimate that around 100,000 people will likely leave Mosul for camps in Dohuk province,” visiting Iraqi Migration Minister Darbaz Muhammad told Rudaw’s Shady Rasoul in Khazir refugee camp.
Many of the residents have left their homes because of “indiscriminate ISIS shelling” according to Rasoul who had interviewed several fleeing families. Related Posts: New World Order, Weiner and Revelation The GPD 20 Reads Filed under Military | 1 |
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) wrote a letter to James Comey on Sunday where he lambasted the FBI director for releasing information relating to investigating a presidential candidate just 11 days before an election. Comey has said he was obligated to tell Congress that he d found more emails, but the law may say otherwise.The Hatch Act, which prevents ICE from endorsing Donald Trump despite his repeated claims, also bars government officials from using their positions to influence the outcome of an election. Comey s, ahem, poorly timed revelation could, in fact, be seen as using his position as director of the FBI to influence this election. Reid said, point blank: I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act. Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law. New @SenatorReid letter to James Comey re: Hatch Act: Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law. pic.twitter.com/MplVLQxgdi Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 30, 2016Now, Comey could always reiterate that he was only doing what he promised Congress he would do. However, given that he s a Republican, he could be up to any number of things. It could be as innocent as that. Or perhaps he thinks he can restore some of his standing among his party, which took a hit after he said he wasn t filing charges against Hillary.He could also be responding to all the squeaky wheels in Congress who are bitching up one side and down the other that Hillary is guilty, is a threat to national security and is therefore unqualified to be President; and screaming and crying about Comey not doing his job.But it s the last part of Reid s letter that will really hit Comey where it hurts. Congressional Republicans tried to filibuster his nomination away, and Reid stood up for him. Reid said: Please keep in mind that I have been a supporter of yours in the past. When Republicans filibustered your nomination and delayed your confirmation longer than any previous nominee to your position, I led the fight to get you confirmed because I believed you to be a principled public servant.With deepest regret, I now see that I was wrong. The last line of @senatorreid s letter to James Comey is amazing. ? pic.twitter.com/pdzEKZZCye Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 30, 2016Ouch. Just ouch. Comey has really done a number on himself with this.Image of Harry Reid by Alex Wong, image of James Comey by Chip Somodevilla. Images merged by Rika Christensen | 0 |
PRISTINA, Kosovo — Every Friday, just yards from a statue of Bill Clinton with arm aloft in a cheery wave, hundreds of young bearded men make a show of kneeling to pray on the sidewalk outside an improvised mosque in a former furniture store. The mosque is one of scores built here with Saudi government money and blamed for spreading Wahhabism — the conservative ideology dominant in Saudi Arabia — in the 17 years since an intervention wrested tiny Kosovo from Serbian oppression. Since then — much of that time under the watch of American officials — Saudi money and influence have transformed this Muslim society at the hem of Europe into a font of Islamic extremism and a pipeline for jihadists. Kosovo now finds itself, like the rest of Europe, fending off the threat of radical Islam. Over the last two years, the police have identified 314 Kosovars — including two suicide bombers, 44 women and 28 children — who have gone abroad to join the Islamic State, the highest number per capita in Europe. They were radicalized and recruited, Kosovo investigators say, by a corps of extremist clerics and secretive associations funded by Saudi Arabia and other conservative Arab gulf states using an obscure, labyrinthine network of donations from charities, private individuals and government ministries. “They promoted political Islam,” said Fatos Makolli, the director of Kosovo’s counterterrorism police. “They spent a lot of money to promote it through different programs mainly with young, vulnerable people, and they brought in a lot of Wahhabi and Salafi literature. They brought these people closer to radical political Islam, which resulted in their radicalization. ” After two years of investigations, the police have charged 67 people, arrested 14 imams and shut down 19 Muslim organizations for acting against the Constitution, inciting hatred and recruiting for terrorism. The most recent sentences, which included a prison term, were handed down on Friday. It is a stunning turnabout for a land of 1. 8 million people that not long ago was among the most Muslim societies in the world. Americans were welcomed as liberators after leading months of NATO bombing in 1999 that spawned an independent Kosovo. After the war, United Nations officials administered the territory and American forces helped keep the peace. The Saudis arrived, too, bringing millions of euros in aid to a poor and land. But where the Americans saw a chance to create a new democracy, the Saudis saw a new land to spread Wahhabism. “There is no evidence that any organization gave money directly to people to go to Syria,” Mr. Makolli said. “The issue is they supported thinkers who promote violence and jihad in the name of protecting Islam. ” Kosovo now has over 800 mosques, 240 of them built since the war and blamed for helping indoctrinate a new generation in Wahhabism. They are part of what moderate imams and officials here describe as a deliberate, strategy by Saudi Arabia to reshape Islam in its image, not only in Kosovo but around the world. Saudi diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks in 2015 reveal a system of funding for mosques, Islamic centers and clerics that spans Asia, Africa and Europe. In New Delhi alone, 140 Muslim preachers are listed as on the Saudi Consulate’s payroll. All around Kosovo, families are grappling with the aftermath of years of proselytizing by preachers. Some daughters refuse to shake hands with or talk to male relatives. Some sons have gone off to jihad. Religious vigilantes have threatened — or committed — violence against academics, journalists and politicians. The Balkans, Europe’s historical fault line, have yet to heal from the ethnic wars of the 1990s. But they are now infected with a new intolerance, moderate imams and officials in the region warn. How Kosovo and the very nature of its society was fundamentally recast is a story of a global ambition by Saudi Arabia to spread its version of Islam — heavily funded and systematically applied, including with threats and intimidation by followers. After the war ended in 1999, Idriz Bilalli, the imam of the central mosque in Podujevo, welcomed any help he could get. Podujevo, home to about 90, 000 people in northeast Kosovo, was a reasonably prosperous town with high schools and small businesses in an area hugged by farmland and forests. It was known for its strong Muslim tradition even in a land where people long wore their religion lightly. After decades of Communist rule when Kosovo was part of Yugoslavia, men and women mingle freely, schools are coeducational, and girls rarely wear the veil. Still, Serbian paramilitary forces burned down 218 mosques as part of their war against Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians, who are 95 percent Muslim. Mr. Bilalli needed help to rebuild. When two imams in their 30s, Fadil Musliu and Fadil Sogojeva, who were studying for master’s degrees in Saudi Arabia, showed up after the war with money to organize summer religion courses, Mr. Bilalli agreed to help. The imams were just two of some 200 Kosovars who took advantage of scholarships after the war to study Islam in Saudi Arabia. Many, like them, returned with missionary zeal. Soon, under Mr. Musliu’s tutelage, pupils started adopting a rigid manner of prayer, foreign to the moderate Islamic traditions of this part of Europe. Mr. Bilalli recognized the influence, and he grew concerned. “This is Wahhabism coming into our society,” Mr. Bilalli, 52, said in a recent interview. Mr. Bilalli trained at the University of Medina in Saudi Arabia in the late 1980s, and as a student he had been warned by a Kosovar professor to guard against the cultural differences of Wahhabism. He understood there was a campaign of proselytizing, pushed by the Saudis. “The first thing the Wahhabis do is to take members of our congregation, who understand Islam in the traditional Kosovo way that we had for generations, and try to draw them away from this understanding,” he said. “Once they get them away from the traditional congregation, then they start bombarding them with radical thoughts and ideas. ” “The main goal of their activity is to create conflict between people,” he said. “This first creates division, and then hatred, and then it can come to what happened in Arab countries, where war starts because of these conflicting ideas. ” From the outset, the newly arriving clerics sought to overtake the Islamic Community of Kosovo, an organization that for generations has been the custodian of the tolerant form of Islam that was practiced in the region, townspeople and officials say. Muslims in Kosovo, which was a part of the Ottoman Empire for 500 years, follow the Hanafi school of Islam, traditionally a liberal version that is accepting of other religions. But all around the country, a new breed of radical preachers was setting up in neighborhood mosques, often newly built with Saudi money. In some cases, buildings were bulldozed, including a historic library in Gjakova and several mosques, as well as shrines, graveyards and Dervish monasteries, all considered idolatrous in Wahhabi teaching. From their bases, the imams propagated Wahhabism’s tenets: the supremacy of Sharia law as well as ideas of violent jihad and takfirism, which authorizes the killing of Muslims considered heretics for not following its interpretation of Islam. The charities often paid salaries and overhead costs, and financed courses in religion, as well as English and computer classes, moderate imams and investigators explained. But the charitable assistance often had conditions attached. Families were given monthly stipends on the condition that they attended sermons in the mosque and that women and girls wore the veil, human rights activists said. “People were so needy, there was no one who did not join,” recalled Ajnishahe Halimi, a politician who campaigned to have a radical Albanian imam expelled after families complained of abuse. Within a few years of the war’s end, the older generation of traditional clerics began to encounter aggression from young Wahhabis. Paradoxically, some of the most serious tensions built in Gjilan, an eastern Kosovo town of about 90, 000, where up to 7, 000 American troops were stationed as part of Kosovo’s United peacekeeping force at Camp Bondsteel. “They came in the name of aid,” one moderate imam in Gjilan, Enver Rexhepi, said of the Arab charities. “But they came with a background of different intentions, and that’s where the Islamic religion started splitting here. ” One day in 2004, he recalled, he was threatened by one of the most aggressive young Wahhabis, Zekirja Qazimi, a former madrasa student then in his early 20s. Inside his mosque, Mr. Rexhepi had long displayed an Albanian flag. Emblazoned with a eagle, it was a popular symbol of Kosovo’s liberation struggle. But strict Muslim fundamentalists consider the depiction of any living being as idolatrous. Mr. Qazimi tore the flag down. Mr. Rexhepi put it back. “It will not go long like this,” Mr. Qazimi told him angrily, Mr. Rexhepi recounted. Within days, Mr. Rexhepi was abducted and savagely beaten by masked men in woods above Gjilan. He later accused Mr. Qazimi of having been behind the attack, but police investigations went nowhere. Ten years later, in 2014, after two young Kosovars blew themselves up in suicide bombings in Iraq and Turkey, investigators began an extensive investigation into the sources of radicalism. Mr. Qazimi was arrested hiding in the same woods. On Friday, a court sentenced him to 10 years in prison after he faced charges of inciting hatred and recruiting for a terrorist organization. Before Mr. Qazimi was arrested, his influence was profound, under what investigators now say was the sway of extremists and the patronage of Saudi and other gulf Arab sponsors. By the Saudi money and clerics were already exerting influence over the Islamic Community of Kosovo. The leadership quietly condoned the drift toward conservatism, critics of the organization say. Mr. Qazimi was appointed first to a village mosque, and then to mosque on the edge of Gjilan. Few could counter him, not even Mustafa Bajrami, his former teacher, who was elected head of the Islamic Community of Gjilan in 2012. Mr. Bajrami comes from a prominent religious family — his father was the first chief mufti of Yugoslavia during the Communist period. He holds a doctorate in Islamic studies. Yet he remembers pupils began rebelling against him whenever he spoke against Wahhabism. He soon realized that the students were being taught beliefs that differed from the traditional moderate curriculum by several radical imams in lectures after hours. He banned the use of mosques after official prayer times. Hostility only grew. He would notice a dismissive gesture in the congregation during his sermons, or someone would curse his wife, or mutter “apostate” or “infidel” as he passed. In the village, Mr. Qazimi’s influence eventually became so disruptive that residents demanded his removal after he forbade girls and boys to shake hands. But in Gjilan he continued to draw dozens of young people to his classes. “They were moving 100 percent according to lessons they were taking from Zekirja Qazimi,” Mr. Bajrami said in an interview. “One hundred percent, in an ideological way. ” Over time, the imams expanded their work. By 2004, Mr. Musliu, one of the master’s degree students from Podujevo who studied in Saudi Arabia, had graduated and was imam of a mosque in the capital, Pristina. In Podujevo, he set up a local charitable organization called Devotshmeria, or Devotion, which taught religion classes and offered social programs for women, orphans and the poor. It was funded by Al Waqf al Islami, a Saudi organization that was one of the 19 eventually closed by investigators. Mr. Musliu put a cousin, Jetmir Rrahmani, in charge. “Then I knew something was starting that would not bring any good,” said Mr. Bilalli, the moderate cleric who had started out teaching with him. In 2004, they had a core of 20 Wahhabis. “That was only the beginning,” Mr. Bilalli said. “They started multiplying. ” Mr. Bilalli began a vigorous campaign against the spread of unauthorized mosques and Wahhabi teaching. In 2008, he was elected head of the Islamic Community of Podujevo and instituted religion classes for women, in an effort to undercut Devotshmeria. As he sought to curb the extremists, Mr. Bilalli received death threats, including a note left in the mosque’s alms box. An anonymous telephone caller vowed to make him and his family disappear, he said. “Anyone who opposes them, they see as an enemy,” Mr. Bilalli said. He appealed to the leadership of the Islamic Community of Kosovo. But by then it was heavily influenced by Arab gulf sponsors, he said, and he received little support. When Mr. Bilalli formed a union of fellow moderates, the Islamic Community of Kosovo removed him from his post. His successor, Bekim Jashari, equally concerned by the Saudi influence, nevertheless kept up the fight. “I spent 10 years in Arab countries and specialized in sectarianism within Islam,” Mr. Jashari said. “It’s very important to stop Arab sectarianism from being introduced to Kosovo. ” Mr. Jashari had a couple of brief successes. He blocked the imam Mr. Sogojeva from opening a new mosque, and stopped a payment of 20, 000 euros, about $22, 400, intended for it from the Saudi charity Al Waqf al Islami. He also began a website, Speak Now, to counter Wahhabi teaching. But he remains so concerned about Wahhabi preachers that he never lets his son attend prayers on his own. The radical imams Mr. Musliu and Mr. Sogojeva still preach in Pristina, where for prayers they draw crowds of young men who glare at foreign reporters. Mr. Sogojeva dresses in a traditional robe and banded cleric’s hat, but his newly built mosque is an incongruous modern multistory building. He admonished his congregation with a list of dos and don’ts in a recent Friday sermon. Neither imam seems to lack funds. In an interview, Mr. Musliu insisted that he was financed by local donations, but confirmed that he had received Saudi funding for his early religion courses. The instruction, he said, is not out of line with Kosovo’s traditions. The increase in religiosity among young people was natural after Kosovo gained its freedom, he said. “Those who are not believers and do not read enough, they feel a bit shocked,” he said. “But we coordinated with other imams, and everything was in line with Islam. ” The influence of the radical clerics reached its apex with the war in Syria, as they extolled the virtues of jihad and used speeches and radio and television talks shows to urge young people to go there. Mr. Qazimi, who was given the prison sentence, even organized a summer camp for his young followers. “It is obligated for every Muslim to participate in jihad,” he told them in one videotaped talk. “The Prophet Muhammad says that if someone has a chance to take part in jihad and doesn’t, he will die with great sins. ” “The blood of infidels is the best drink for us Muslims,” he said in another recording. Among his recruits, investigators say, were three former civilian employees of American contracting companies at Camp Bondsteel, where American troops are stationed. They included Lavdrim Muhaxheri, an Islamic State leader who was filmed executing a man in Syria with a grenade. After the suicide bombings, the authorities opened a broad investigation and found that the Saudi charity Al Waqf al Islami had been supporting associations set up by preachers like Mr. Qazimi in almost every regional town. Al Waqf al Islami was established in the Balkans in 1989. Most of its financing came from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, Kosovo investigators said in recent interviews. Unexplained gaps in its ledgers deepened suspicions that the group was surreptitiously funding clerics who were radicalizing young people, they said. Investigators from Kosovo’s Financial Intelligence Unit found that Al Waqf al Islami, which had an office in central Pristina and a staff of 12, ran through €10 million from 2000 through 2012. Yet they found little paperwork to explain much of the spending. More than €1 million went to mosque building. But one and a half times that amount was disbursed in unspecified cash withdrawals, which may have also gone to enriching its staff, the investigators said. Only 7 percent of the budget was shown to have gone to caring for orphans, the charity’s stated mission. By the summer of 2014, the Kosovo police shut down Al Waqf al Islami, along with 12 other Islamic charities, and arrested 40 people. The charity’s head offices, in Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands, have since changed their name to Al Waqf, apparently separating themselves from the Balkans operation. Asked about the accusations in a telephone interview, Nasr el Damanhoury, the director of Al Waqf in the Netherlands, said he had no direct knowledge of his group’s operations in Kosovo or the Balkans. The charity has ceased all work outside the Netherlands since he took over in 2013, he said. His predecessor had returned to Morocco and could not be reached, and Saudi board members would not comment, he said. “Our organization has never supported extremism,” Mr. Damanhoury said. “I have known it since 1989. I joined them three years ago. They have always been a mild group. ” Why the Kosovar authorities — and American and United Nations overseers — did not act sooner to forestall the spread of extremism is a question being intensely debated. As early as 2004, the prime minister at the time, Bajram Rexhepi, tried to introduce a law to ban extremist sects. But, he said in a recent interview at his home in northern Kosovo, European officials told him that it would violate freedom of religion. “It was not in their interest, they did not want to irritate some Islamic countries,” Mr. Rexhepi said. “They simply did not do anything. ” Not everyone was unaware of the dangers, however. At a meeting in 2003, Richard C. Holbrooke, once the United States special envoy to the Balkans, warned Kosovar leaders not to work with the Saudi Joint Relief Committee for Kosovo, an umbrella organization of Saudi charities whose name still appears on many of the mosques built since the war, along with that of the former Saudi interior minister, Prince Naif bin . A year later, it was among several Saudi organizations that were shut down in Kosovo when it came under suspicion as a front for Al Qaeda. Another was which in 2004 was designated by the United States Treasury Department as having links to terrorism. Yet even as some organizations were shut down, others kept working. Staff and equipment from shifted to Al Waqf al Islami, moderate imams familiar with their activities said. In recent years, Saudi Arabia appears to have reduced its aid to Kosovo. Kosovo Central Bank figures show grants from Saudi Arabia averaging €100, 000 a year for the past five years. It is now money from Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — which each average approximately €1 million a year — that propagates the same version of Islam. The payments come from foundations or individuals, or sometimes from the Ministry of Zakat (Almsgiving) from the various governments, Kosovo’s investigators say. But payments are often diverted through a second country to obscure their origin and destination, they said. One transfer of nearly €500, 000 from a Saudi individual was frozen in 2014 since it was intended for a Kosovo teenager, according to the investigators and a State Department report. Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations were still raising millions from “ donors and charitable organizations” based in the gulf, the Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, David S. Cohen, said in a speech in 2014 at the Center for a New American Security. While Saudi Arabia has made progress in stamping out funding for Al Qaeda, sympathetic donors in the kingdom were still funding other terrorist groups, he said. Today the Islamic Community of Kosovo has been so influenced by the largess of Arab donors that it has seeded prominent positions with radical clerics, its critics say. Ahmet Sadriu, a spokesman for Islamic Community of Kosovo, said the group held to Kosovo’s traditionally tolerant version of Islam. But calls are growing to overhaul an organization now seen as having been corrupted by outside forces and money. Kosovo’s interior minister, Skender Hyseni, said he had recently reprimanded some of the senior religious officials. “I told them they were doing a great disservice to their country,” he said in an interview. “Kosovo is by definition, by Constitution, a secular society. There has always been historically an unspoken interreligious tolerance among Albanians here, and we want to make sure that we keep it that way. ” For some in Kosovo, it may already be too late. Families have been torn apart. Some of Kosovo’s best and brightest have been caught up in the lure of jihad. One of Kosovo’s top political science graduates, Albert Berisha, said he left in 2013 to help the Syrian people in the uprising against the government of President Bashar . He abandoned his attempt after only two weeks — and he says he never joined the Islamic State — but has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison, pending appeal. Ismet Sakiqi, an official in the prime minister’s office and a veteran of the liberation struggle, was shaken to find his son, Visar, a law student, arrested on his way through Turkey to Syria with his fiancée. He now visits his son in the same Kosovo prison where he was detained under Serbian rule. And in the hamlet of Busavate, in the wooded hills of eastern Kosovo, a widower, Shemsi Maliqi, struggles to explain how his family has been divided. One of his sons, Alejhim, 27, has taken his family to join the Islamic State in Syria. It remains unclear how Alejhim became radicalized. He followed his grandfather, training as an imam in Gjilan, and served in the village mosque for six years. Then, two years ago, he asked his father to help him travel to Egypt to study. Mr. Maliqi still clings to the hope that his son is studying in Egypt rather than fighting in Syria. But Kosovo’s counterterrorism police recently put out an international arrest warrant for Alejhim. “Better that he comes back dead than alive,” Mr. Maliqi, a poor farmer, said. “I sent him to school, not to war. I sold my cow for him. ” Alejhim had married a woman from the nearby village of Vrbice who was so conservative that she was veiled up to her eyes and refused to shake hands with her . The wife’s mother angrily refused to be interviewed. Her daughter did what was expected and followed her husband to Syria, she said. Secretly, Alejhim drew three others — his sister his best friend, who married his sister and his wife’s sister — to follow him to Syria, too. The others have since returned, but remain radical and estranged from the family. Alejhim’s uncle, Fehmi Maliqi, like the rest of the family, is dismayed. “It’s a catastrophe,” he said. | 0 |
To hell with the common sense voter, Hillary believes she only needs Americans who are okay with living in a lawless nation to lock down the Presidency. It seems to have worked pretty well for her predecessor why not?Hillary Clinton wrote an op/ed piece for the Arizona Republic and boy is it insane. It s sort of an anti-Trump/pro-illegal alien manifesto that lays out her immigration policy if she becomes president. Two noteworthy things are that she intends to open our borders completely and establish a government agency that will spend taxpayer money to help illegal aliens become citizens.Hillary starts out with a folksy story about an illegal alien who would be deported if Donald Trump was in charge and then lashed out at the Supreme Court for ruling against Obama s amnesty executive order, calling it, heartbreaking and unacceptable. And while our system fails to provide certainty to immigrant families, political figures like Donald Trump turn them into scapegoats for many of the challenges facing American families today. His bigotry and fear-mongering may be an attempt to divide our country and distract from his lack of real solutions to raise incomes and create good paying jobs but it s not going to work.Let s be clear: When Trump talks about forming a deportation force to round up and expel 11 million immigrants he s talking about ripping apart families Isn t that cute? Hillary wants you to think there is no difference between legal immigrants and illegal aliens. Trump has never once said he plans to round up and deport legal immigrants, just that he wants to enforce existing immigration laws.When he praises local figures like Gov. Jan Brewer and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, he s endorsing their heartless and divisive policies.How is enforcing the law a heartless policy as Hillary says? The only way our immigration laws are divisive is because illegal aliens don t like them.Instead of building walls, we ought to be breaking down barriers. Our country has always been stronger when we lift each other up, not tear each other down. We re stronger together.Here Hillary is obviously saying that she wants open borders, which essentially would nullify our status as an autonomous country, but there s even more garbage contained within that last statement. Illegal aliens are not Americans and therefore not part of us. They are citizens of another country, which makes them not us. They don t stand with us, they don t lift us up, and they sure as shit don t make us stronger.After proving that Hillary plans to be the leader of the third world rather than the President of the United States, she outlined ways she will make that happen.First up, amnesty beyond Obama s bullshit:That s why, as president, I ll fight for comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to full and equal citizenship, starting in my first 100 days in office. We should do everything we can to keep families together, better integrate immigrants into their communities, and help those eligible for naturalization take the last step to citizenship.Then another bloated bureaucracy and massive waste of funds:Second, we need to increase our focus on integration and make sure that immigrants are able to thrive in American society. Let s provide more federal resources to help immigrants learn the English language skills they need to be successful. And because this issue cuts across all levels of government local, state and federal I ll create the first-ever Office of Immigrant Affairs at the White House to help coordinate these policies across the nation.And finally, some more government handouts designed to make instant democrats:Third, let s help the 9 million people in our country who are currently eligible for naturalization become full citizens. They work and pay taxes yet they cannot vote or serve on juries. Let s expand fee waivers so that those seeking naturalization can get a break on the costs. And let s step up our outreach and education, because no one should miss out on the chance to be a citizen.Hillary claims that her plans will strengthen our economy by flooding the country with unskilled uneducated people who will drive down wages. I m not sure how that works and Hillary certainly didn t try to explain it.No matter what Donald Trump says, we have always been a nation of immigrants And it is long past time we helped millions of hard-working people step out of the shadows and onto a path to a brighter future.When has Trump ever denied that America was formed by immigrants? All he wants is the fairness that comes with upholding the law.If Hillary Clinton becomes president, we can pretty much kiss our country goodbye. With no border security and zero immigration enforcement, America as we know it will cease to exist. Downtrend | 1 |
(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee has asked the son of President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser to provide documents and testimony as part of the panel’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, a source familiar with the congressional matter told Reuters. Michael G. Flynn was a close aide to his father, former U.S. Army general Michael Flynn, 58, who was fired by Trump three weeks into his White House job in February as he came under scrutiny for his foreign contacts. The son managed his father’s schedule and accompanied him on trips while working at Flynn Intel Group consultancy, including one to Moscow in 2015 for an event where the elder Flynn sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia has repeatedly denied the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Moscow interfered in the presidential campaign to help Republican Trump by hacking Democratic Party emails and spreading propaganda online. Barry Coburn, a lawyer for the younger Flynn, 34, declined to comment on the Senate committee’s request, which was reported earlier by NBC News. The panel could issue a subpoena to the younger Flynn, although he could invoke his Fifth Amendment constitutional protection against self-incrimination and not comply. The elder Flynn has also been asked by the panel to provide information and to testify. A source close to Flynn said that he had turned over documents to intelligence committees in both the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. The source familiar with the congressional investigation said that the Senate committee is not satisfied and wants to obtain more evidence from him. The source also confirmed that the Senate panel was issuing a subpoena to former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page after Page declined committee requests that he voluntarily turn over records related to any contacts with Russians. Page told Reuters in an email on Tuesday that he was “cooperating with everyone in D.C. who might want my help in the interest of helping our country get to the end of this witch hunt.” Page has said it was touched off by the circulation of a dossier produced by former British spy Christopher Steele on purported links between Trump, his advisers and Russia. The Senate committee, which has sought to speak with Steele, is also investigating whether there was any collusion between then-candidate Trump’s campaign and Moscow officials. Trump has denied any collusion by his associates, calling it “fake news.” The Flynn consultancy’s business activities are under scrutiny by congressional and federal investigators mainly because of the lobbying work it did for a Turkish businessman. Various congressional panels are sparring over Steele’s reports outlining Russian financial and personal links to Trump’s campaign and associates. | 1 |
Just two years ago, the Obama White House welcomed Russia s top internal security official, Alexander Bortnikov, to Washington, as the head of a Kremlin delegation attending a highly publicized U.S. government summit on countering violent extremism.Obama was caught on an open mic telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (on the left) who is pictured toasting with Vladimir Putin and Head of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, that he would have more flexibility after his second term. Of course, the mainstream media all but ignored the disturbing conversation. They re all over the fake news story however about Trump and his alleged Russian ties, of which they have absolutely NO evidence. What U.S. officials did not then know is that officers of the agency that Bortnikov heads, the FSB or Federal Security Service, were at that moment directing an audacious state-sponsored cyberattack to penetrate Yahoo s email network, deploying criminal hackers to steal data on 500 million email users, according to criminal charges unveiled by the Justice Department on Wednesday. The indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in California charged two FSB officers and two civilians one Russian and one from Kazakhstan, now living in Canada with crimes including computer hacking and economic espionage.The FSB sponsored cyberattack, which lasted from 2014 to last September, was described by government officials today as one of the largest data breaches in history: It involved the theft of vast amounts of credit card data and other financial information, as well as personal details on individuals of high interest to the Russian government: journalists, U.S. officials and U.S. and foreign corporate executives and employees, including a senior officer of a major U.S. airline and even a Nevada gaming official.But what was especially galling to U.S. officials is that the two FSB officers at the center of the plot, Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin, were assigned to the agency s Center for Information Security, or Center 18 a cybercrime unit that was the FBI s point of contact for investigating criminal hacking operations. What this shows is that we ve been had, said Steve Hall, a former CIA station chief in Moscow who later directed agency operations in Russia. Center 18 was the part of the FSB that was supposed to be working with us. But instead of working with the FBI and CIA to catch hackers, the FSB officers were actually working with hackers themselves, according to the Justice Department charges. In the Yahoo attack, two alleged cybercriminals were also charged as co-conspirators in the plot. One of them, Alexsey Belan, a notorious cyberthief who has been twice indicted in the United States and is on the FBI s Cyber Most Wanted list, received sensitive law enforcement and intelligence information from the FSB that helped him avoid detection by the FBI and facilitated his theft of proprietary Yahoo data including stealing the company s Account Management Tool (AMT), a system that Yahoo used to make and log changes to user accounts. His purpose, a senior U.S. official said today, was to line his own pockets with money. For entire story: Yahoo News | 1 |
The Senate session is coming to a close for the 113th Congress, and we are seeing a dramatic change in its composition come January 2017. Liberal firebrands Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer and Barbara Mikulski will be retiring, leaving quite a big void in the chamber but they will all be succeeded by equally progressive leaders, so no need to worry.As per tradition, the outgoing members of the Senate gave their farewell addresses on the floor, speaking for the last time in their capacity as Senators. Needless to say, it was bittersweet watching these leaders (who have been in the Senate for over 25 years) pass the torch. But while watching their remarks and their colleagues tributes we are reminded of all the handwork they did for the progressive causes we as Democrats hold so dear.Here are their farewell addresses.Barbara BoxerSenator Boxer has served in the Senate since 1993 for California, and beforehand in the House from 1983 until joining the Senate. She chaired the Senate Environment Committee before becoming a ranking member. A pro-LGBT (before it was acceptable), pro-worker s rights, pro-environmentalism senator, Boxer never wavered in her fight for what was right for not only California but for the whole country.Barbara Mikulski Senator Mikulski, the longest-serving woman in Congressional history, arrived in the House in 1977, serving until moving up to the Senate in 1987. She chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee, becoming a ranking member. Coining the term Macaroni and cheese economics, Mikulski worked tirelessly for working families, children, women, and veterans, who too often fell prey and victim to a system that was rigged against the little guys.Harry ReidSenator Reid, who entered the United States Congress in 1983 and the Senate in 1987, bringing with him a unique and humbling story of hope, handwork and perseverance. For two years Reid served as Minority Leader until elevating to Majority Leader, a position he held for 8 years in which he fought tooth and nail to protect and defend President Obama s legacy and the progressive ideals the Democrats work for every single day. Whether it be standing up to Ted Cruz during a government shut down, or convincing centrist Democrats to vote in favor of Obamacare, Harry Reid never backed down ever. And we are better as a nation because of that.These three progressive Senators blazed trails and put up the good fight. When the going got tough, the tough got going. Senators Boxer, Mikulski and Reid stood tall in times of thick and thin, and never wavered in their commitment to doing the right thing. These Senators will be missed greatly, and their legacies will live on long after they leave their seats. There might never be more like them, but we should all feel lucky that each one will be succeeded by intelligent, equally compassionate progressives who share their values.Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, and Barbara Mikulski you will be greatly missed. Thank you for your service.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday accused Iran of ‘alarming ongoing provocations’ to destabilize countries in the Middle East as the Trump administration launched a review of its policy toward Tehran. Tillerson told reporters the review, which he announced on Tuesday, would not only look at Tehran’s compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal but also its behavior in the region which he said undermined U.S. interests in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. His tough words matched those of U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who said in a visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that Iran’s destabilizing influence would have to be overcome to end the conflict in Yemen. President Donald Trump ordered the review to evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to the nuclear deal was “vital to the national security interests of the United States,” Tillerson said Though there was no sign the Trump administration intended to walk away from the deal, Tillerson twice cautioned that if left unchecked Tehran could become a threat like North Korea, which is also under pressure over its nuclear ambitions. In a letter to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan released late on Tuesday, Tillerson declared that Iran was meeting its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal but there were concerns about Tehran’s role as a state sponsor of terrorism. “A comprehensive Iran policy requires we address all of the threats posed by Iran and it is clear there are many,” Tillerson told reporters at the State Department. Tillerson said the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers failed “to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran and only delays their goal of becoming a nuclear state.” Iran has yet to comment on the Trump administration’s review, but Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei warned in November that Tehran would retaliate if the United States breached the nuclear agreement. Tillerson said one of the mistakes in the way the agreement was put together was that it ignored all the other serious threats Iran posed outside of its nuclear program. “That is why we have to look at Iran in a very comprehensive way in terms of the threat it poses in all areas of the region and the world,” he added. “This deal represents the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea,” Tillerson said of the nuclear deal. The nuclear agreement, negotiated during Barack Obama’s presidency, placed limitations on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions against Iran. Tillerson’s notice to Congress was part of a 90-day process in which the president has to certify that Iran is complying with the nuclear accord. It is the first update under the Trump administration. The next test of Trump’s attitude toward the nuclear deal will be in May when he must decide whether to extend sanctions waivers for Iran first signed by President Barack Obama. During his presidential campaign, Trump called the agreement “the worst deal ever negotiated” and said he would review it once he reached office. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Frederica Mogherini, said last month after meetings with senior Trump administration officials she was reassured in the talks that the U.S. was committed to fully implementing the deal. | 1 |
In one of the best takedowns of Donald Trump yet, John McCain s granddaughter did NOT hold back as she explained why she is voting for Hillary Clinton in November.Caroline McCain has been against Donald Trump since last July when he mocked her grandfather for getting captured by the enemy during the Vietnam War. I like people who weren t captured, Trump said about John McCain, who was tortured to the point where he is incapable of lifting his arms above his shoulders.John McCain is a war hero and Donald Trump insulted him and every other American veteran who has ever been a POW.Fast-forward a year later and Trump is now the Republican nominee, and Caroline McCain has made her decision to go from being #NeverTrump to declaring her support for Hillary Clinton.In an amazing post on Medium, Caroline McCain took Donald Trump to the woodshed.Following a line of other right-wing wacko birds, Trump insulted a man I esteem and love, a man who has risked his life in service of his country. He insulted my grandfather and attacked the very qualities loyalty, bravery and selflessness that he and countless other POWs embody. He mocked the sacrifice many have given and the anguish families have endured when their heroes have suffered alone miles away.My grandfather responded with grace and forgiveness as only a man who was held in captivity for years can. But I ve been nursing a grudge ever since. Trump s statement, in my view, is unforgivable, and speaks to the kind of man he is: a coward who has never faced danger in his life, an insecure brat who shirked duty for comfort, and a man who is wholly unfit to serve as commander-in-chief.Indeed, while John McCain was suffering in Vietnam for his country, Donald Trump dodged the draft and never saw a day of military service in his entire life.And Caroline McCain wasn t done ripping him a new one.He lacks the temperament and the wisdom to navigate our ever-increasingly dangerous world. Policy decisions aside, being President of the United States requires a steady hand and never more so than now. A competent commander-in-chief must respond to threats to the Republic, but Trump only responds to threats to his ego.She goes on to trace her journey to becoming a Hillary supporter, and one of the moments that helped her make her decision was when President Obama spoke at the DNC Convention earlier this week.He could have pointed blame at the GOP for enabling Trump s rise. He could have taken party leadership to task for falling in line behind Trump. But he didn t. He instead presented the election as a choice between democracy and demagogue. He gave Republicans the option to abandon Trump rather than blaming them for his rise.There are so many things I disagree with President Obama on, but this is a moment I will always respect him for. And maybe this was the moment I needed to fully own the choice I would have to make in November.McCain then ripped the Republican Party for betraying her and others by supporting a racist homophobic misogynist who only cares about himself.The party chose for its king a demagogue who wears a wig instead of a crown, and a celebrity in pursuit of fame and fortune rather than service and sacrifice Loyalty to party can never trump loyalty to country. And loyalty to party means nothing when the party has been poisoned.And because the Republican Party is poisoned, Caroline McCain wants Trump to lose by a landslide in November to force the GOP to change, which is why she is voting for Hillary.I wanted a different candidate. I wanted a New American Century. I wanted an election with good ideas and good discourse. I wanted to win. But now I want my party to change. I want fresh leaders, of good character, in both parties. And I want Donald Trump to be humiliated in November and driven far from the political arena for the rest of his life.So I m not a Democrat at least not yet. But this year, I m With Her.The Republican Party should be very afraid right now. Because if John McCain s own conservative granddaughter is willing to vote for Hillary to defeat Trump, surely there are many other Republicans out there who are willing to do the same.Featured image via screenshot | 1 |
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton crushed rival Bernie Sanders at the South Carolina primary on Saturday, propelling her into next week’s crucial “Super Tuesday” voting in 11 states on a wave of momentum. The rout of Sanders solidified Clinton’s status as the strong front-runner to capture the party’s nomination for the Nov. 8 election in her quest to become America’s first woman president. With nearly half of the votes counted in South Carolina, Clinton led Sanders by a 50-point margin, dramatically reversing her 28-point loss in the state to President Barack Obama during their bitter 2008 primary battle. The former secretary of state’s victory decisively established her strength among black voters, a crucial Democratic constituency who make up more than half of the party’s primary electorate in South Carolina. After the win, Clinton appeared to be looking ahead to a general-election matchup with Republican front-runner Donald Trump, the billionaire whose campaign slogan is “Make America Great Again” and has called for building a wall on the border with Mexico. “Despite what you hear, we don’t need to make America great again, America has never stopped being great,” she told cheering supporters in Columbia after the win. “Instead of building walls, we need to be tearing down barriers.” The result was Clinton’s third victory in the first four Democratic contests, and raised more questions about whether Sanders, the democratic socialist U.S. senator from Vermont, will be able to expand his support beyond his base of predominantly white liberals. “Today you sent a message,” Clinton said. “In America, when we stand together, there is no barrier too big to break.” Sanders admitted defeat early in the night. “Let me be clear on one thing tonight. This campaign is just beginning. We won a decisive victory in New Hampshire. She won a decisive victory in South Carolina. Now it’s on to Super Tuesday,” Sanders said in a statement. The Democratic race now becomes a broader national contest. Eleven states, including six in the South with large minority populations where polls show Clinton with big leads, will vote on Super Tuesday and four more over the next weekend. “Tomorrow, this campaign goes national,” Clinton said. Clinton’s camp was hoping a big win in South Carolina, after more narrow victories in Iowa and Nevada and Sanders’ clear win in New Hampshire, will set her up for a big night on Tuesday, when about 875 delegates will be up for grabs, more than one-third of those needed to win the nomination. Sanders, who has energized the party’s liberal wing and brought young people to the polls with his message of attacking income equality and reining in Wall Street, needs a breakthrough win in a key state in the next few weeks to keep his hopes alive. “The door is closing fast for Bernie Sanders,” unaligned Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis said. “Movement candidates are about momentum and excitement, and losses sap that momentum. That’s his problem right now.” Recognizing his steep odds in South Carolina, Sanders had spent most of the past week in states that will vote in March. As the results rolled in on Saturday, he was scheduled to hold a rally in the “Super Tuesday” state of Minnesota. (Additional reporting by Alana Wise in Washington; Editing by Alistair Bell) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production. | 1 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany s departing finance minister expressed optimism that his country s democratic institutions were strong enough to withstand the arrival of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) as the third-largest party in parliament. Wolfgang Schaueble, who is due to step down as finance minister to become president of the Bundestag parliament, told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag that AfD s 90-odd elected lawmakers would be constrained by Germany s constitution. I d like to see more self-confidence, he told the newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday. Our free, democratic system based on the rule of law is so strong that nobody can wreck it, neither from within nor from without. Anybody who tries will fail. The 75-year-old conservative took his new job at the urging of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her conservatives are trying to patch together a three-way coalition with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, who are expected to demand the position of finance minister. Also, many in Germany s mainstream felt a senior politician was needed to rein in the first far-right party to enter parliament in 50 years. Schaueble is Germany s longest-serving parliamentarian, and his stature is second only to Merkel s in German politics. But Schaueble said he was ready to move on: I decided before the elections after eight years as finance minister and many years government responsibility to take on a new task. He added he was confident that a three-party coalition would be agreed, dismissing arguments about a formal cap on immigration as a false argument . He defended Merkel s 2015 decision to open Germany s borders to over a million migrants fleeing war in Africa and the Middle East. Even our children will remember with pride the willingness to help that the Germans showed during the refugee crisis, he told the paper. | 1 |
Friday on MSNBC, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( ) said “lots” of Democrats could beat President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Partial transcript as follows: HUNT: I would like one short answer to this question. Who in the Democratic Party can beat President Trump in 2020? SCHUMER: Lots of people. HUNT: Lots of people. One name? SCHUMER: I’m not going to pick a name. If he continues at the rate — HUNT: Who is the leader of the Democratic party, you? SCHUMER: We have a bunch of leaders. I’m the leader of the Senate and try to represent the Democratic Party, but we have a bunch of good voices. It’s much too premature to handicap . But I’ll tell you this if the president continues this way, there is even a chance we could take back the Senate. Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 0 |
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional committee members warned on Friday that Washington’s funding of the World Health Organization’s cancer research agency could be halted unless it is more open about its operations. In a letter to the France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - a semi-autonomous unit of the WHO - the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology (SST) Committee warned it “may reconsider U.S. taxpayer funding” if IARC “does not demonstrate transparency”. No-one at IARC, which is based in Lyon, France, was immediately available to comment. Since 1985, IARC has received more than $48 million from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, $22 million of which has gone to IARC’s “monograph” program, which assesses whether various substances can cause cancer in people. Friday’s letter is the latest twist in an ongoing feud between IARC and two congressional committees. They began an investigation in 2016 after a number of IARC’s assessments - that substances as diverse as coffee, mobile phones and processed meat cause cancer - sparked controversy. The lawmakers said their concerns were also fueled by the cancer agency’s review of glyphosate, the primary ingredient of Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup. A Reuters investigation in October found that a draft of a key section of IARC’s assessment of glyphosate underwent significant changes before the report was made public. In their letter, SST Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, Vice Chairman Frank Lucas, and Chairman of the Environment Subcommittee, Andy Biggs, repeated an earlier request to IARC’s director, Christopher Wild, to provide potential witnesses for a hearing before their committee. “If IARC does not provide a full response to the request for potential witnesses, the committee will consider whether the values of scientific integrity and transparency are reflected in IARC Monographs and if future expenditures of federal taxpayer dollars to this end need to continue,” they wrote. Smith and Biggs had last month written to Wild asking him for more information about IARC’s operations and a list of potential witnesses for a hearing. Wild responded in a letter on Nov. 20 in which he defended IARC’s monographs as “consensus evaluations developed by working groups of independent experts, free from vested interests”. He declined to provide a list of potential witnesses for the hearing, but said Smith and Biggs would be welcome to visit IARC and question him and his staff. In Friday’s letter, the lawmakers said their concerns about IARC were of a “serious nature” and “should not be disregarded by IARC”. They asked Wild to respond by Dec. 15. | 1 |
The news gets worse every day for the Clinton Crime Syndicate Breitbart News Exclusive: Hillary Clinton s private email server was housed at the same physical location and on the same network as an email server used and operated by the Clinton Foundation, Breitbart News has exclusively learned.Records reveal that Hillary Clinton s private clintonemail.com server shared an IP address with her husband Bill Clinton s email server, presidentclinton.com, and both servers were housed in New York City, not in the basement of the Clintons Chappaqua, New York home.Web archives show that the Presidentclinton.com Web address was being operated by the Clinton Foundation as of 2009, when Hillary Clinton registered her own clintonemail.com server.Numerous Clinton Foundation employees used the presidentclinton.com server for their own email addresses, which means that they were using email accounts that, if hacked, would have given any hacker complete access to Hillary Clinton s State Department emails, as well.The bombshell revelation raises new concerns about the possible illegality of Hillary Clinton s private email use. The former Secretary of State is under federal investigation for potentially violating the Espionage Act by allowing people without a security clearance to access classified information. The fact that Hillary was sharing an email network with a private foundation means that people without a security clearance almost certainly had physical access to her server while she was working at the State Department.Here s what we know:The Servers Have The SAME IP AddressHillary s clintonemail.com server and the Foundation-run presidentclinton.com email server have exactly the same IP address, and the same SSL certificate (which an organization purchases for an email server to verify its trustworthiness).mail.clintonemail.com and mail.presidentclinton.com both have an IP address of 64.94.172.146, according to an SSL Certificate Checker.The two servers both have that same IP address, 64.94.172.146, according to DNS records. (Here are records for Hillary s server, and here are records for Bill s server).Both servers have the same IP address, according to another independent Internet records database, robtex.net.The fact that both of these email servers have the same IP address means that they were operating on the same network, and sharing physical space. A computer expert tells Breitbart News that the servers were probably operating on the same machine. It is also possible that they were operating on different machines on the same network, which still means that the machines would have to be close enough to exist in the same physical location.President Clinton s server was created in 2002, while Hillary s was created in 2009, which means that Hillary s server was simply added to Bill s Foundation-run server network.They Had The SAME IP Address When She Was Secretary of StateHillary s server and Bill s Foundation-run server also shared a different IP address during her tenure as Secretary of State.From September 8, 2009 until June 24, 2011, Bill Clinton s Foundation-run mail.presidentclinton.com server had an IP address of 24.187.234.187, according to DNS records.Hillary s mail.clintonemail.com server had the same exact IP address, 24.187.234.187, from the dates May 21, 2010 until October 21, 2010, according to DNS records.Their Shared IP Address Can Be Traced to Midtown ManhattanA geographical search for the IP address that both servers shared at registration traces to Midtown Manhattan, according to three different databases: infosniper.net, which locates a Midtown latitude/longitude point, ip-tracker.org, which also gives a Midtown latitude/longitude point, and whatsmyip.org.Clinton Foundation headquarters are currently located at 1271 6th Avenue in Midtown. Bill Clinton s office is at 55 West 125th StreetThe Denver-based firm Platte River Networks told Breitbart News that it physically moved Hillary Clinton s private email server out of the basement of her Chappaqua home in 2013. But the Clintons could have moved the server from Manhattan to Chappaqua before Platte River got there.Clinton Founation Employees Had presidentclinton.com email addressesThe employees who have used presidentclinton.com email addresses included former Bill Clinton right-hand man Doug Band, as well as Justin Cooper, a Hillary aide who has worked with the Foundation, Terry Krinvic, Laura Graham, and John Zimmerebner.Was Chelsea Clinton On The Server?The email server for mail.chelseaoffice.com, which is no longer active, resolves to clintonemail.com, according to DNS records. Wikileaks confirms that the chelseaoffice.com server was used by Chelsea Clinton employees.Hillary Even Admitted That She Used Her Husband s System Well the system we used was set up for President Clintons office and it had numerous safeguards it was on property guarded by the Secret Service and there were no security breaches, so I think that the use of that server which started with my husband proved to be effective and secure, Hillary Clinton said in a March 2015 press conference.Clinton has not returned to that talking point since.The Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton s campaign did not return requests for comment by press time. Via: Breitbart News | 1 |
While most of America can see right through to the flaws of Donald Trump s policies, it s always a special moment when someone from Fox News recognizes it.Earlier today, Fox host Shep Smith tore Trump s latest executive order apart, noting that it could actually ruin America s economy instead of help it. Smith, who has been a vocal critic on Trump before, expertly pointed out that Trump s announcement of a Buy American and Hire American order will actually cause the cost of goods in America to skyrocket.Trump s new plan will review the H-1B visa program for foreign workers; a program that many massive companies use. Pointing out that the program serves a purpose, Smith explained: Tech giants including Amazon, Apple, Google, and others all hire thousands and thousand of using it. Even automakers, including Ford and GM, use this program to find engineers. Executives for those companies argue they can t always find enough American workers with the skills needed for the specific jobs. They also claim the program encourages students to stay in the United States after school. Then, Smith went after Trump by pointing out that even the POTUS himself doesn t buy or hire American when it comes to his own businesses: But the White House says the companies take advantage of those visas, that they bring in large numbers of foreign workers pay them less, and drive down wages. President Trump himself has gone back and forth over this program. And as for the president s push to buy American, opponents point out the obvious, that some of the president s own products were made from workers from about a dozen other companies. And besides the price of everything at your Walmart and your local store and everywhere else goes way up for you. Smith is exactly right and brilliant for exposing Trump s own hypocrisy, and for explaining to conservatives that the man they elected is not going to help America like they thought he would.You can watch Smith take down Trump below:Featured image via Scott Olson/Getty Images | 0 |
Donald Trump has already proven to America that he attracts the energy that he puts out. This has been especially true for his loyal supporters, as his racism and xenophobia have attracted white supremacists, fascists and neo-Nazis from all over the country. However, his fear mongering tactics don t just appeal to his fans. It turns out, some of the presumptive Republican nominee s delegates are just as racist and hateful, and it s creating a movement that is becoming more of a threat to America s safety with every passing day.A recent example of just how deadly Trump s supporters are can be shown with the recent words of David Riden, a top delegate to Trump who will be attending the Republican National Convention. In an interview with Mother Jones, Riden had some terrifying words for how he would like to correct our government, which he claims is way off away from the Constitution right now. His solution would be to slaughter America s current leaders (aka President Barack Obama) for not satisfying his highly inaccurate interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. And in case you felt that might have just been an exaggeration, Riden was kind enough to clarify what he meant so there s no room for interpretation. He said: The polite word is eliminated. The harsh word is killed. Riden continued to say that these certain leaders should be killed by American citizens with weapons. And if people have tanks, assault weapons, if they have bombs they need to have the weaponry necessary to be able to overthrow the federal government. In Riden s perfect world, America looks like this: (P)eople have the right to assemble, bear arms, go to Washington, DC, or wherever necessary, and go into military battle against the government and replace those in government with individuals that will uphold the Constitution. It s no surprise that Riden is supporting Trump. Riden is a former nuclear engineer and is a member of the sovereign citizen movement, which believes that the government is conspiring to take away their guns, human rights and land. He was also an attendee of the Continental Congress of 2009, which is a huge gathering of white supremacist and right-wing hate groups. It s been noted that these groups have grown at a feverish pace during Obama s presidency, and Trump has expertly tapped into that racism and hate like no candidate before. When it comes to people like Riden, Trump just keeps adding fuel to the fire.Featured image via Elijah Nouvelage / Getty Images | 0 |
(Reuters) - Democrat Doug Jones’ surprise victory over Republican Roy Moore in this month’s special U.S. Senate election will be certified on Dec. 28, Alabama state officials said on Friday. Jones will be the first Democrat sent to the Senate from Republican stronghold Alabama in a quarter century. When he takes office, Republicans’ majority in the chamber will narrow to 51 of the 100 seats. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Attorney General Steve Marshall and Secretary of State John Merrill will meet to certify Jones’ win, Merrill’s office said in a statement. Jones’ margin of victory was 1.5 percentage points. Moore has not conceded defeat in the Dec. 12 vote, despite being urged by President Donald Trump to do so. Calls and emails to Moore’s campaign spokeswomen were not immediately returned on Friday. Moore was a controversial candidate whose campaign was beset by allegations that he sexually assaulted or pursued teenage girls while he was in his 30s. He denied the misconduct allegations, saying they were a result of “dirty politics.” | 1 |
21st Century Wire says Regarding the latest Trump outrage , it s taken a while for the media to catch-up and analyze what s happened in recent days and why.Watch this segment that aired live over the weekend this past Saturday, where 21WIRE editor Patrick Henningsen spoke with RT International about the may lay at GOP front runner Donald Trump s rally in Chicago on Friday night.There s plenty of fervor to go around | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will announce his decision on Tuesday on whether to rescind the Obama-era policy protecting immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children, the White House said on Friday. “We’re actually going to make that announcement on Tuesday of next week,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders of the so-called Dreamer program. | 1 |
BELGRADE (Reuters) - Hundreds of Serbian pensioners rallied in Belgrade on Thursday to protest austerity measures introduced as part of a 1.2 billion euro ($1.41 billion) loan deal with the International Monetary Fund. Chanting thieves and carrying banners reading we are hungry , the pensioners demanded that the government and Serbia s constitutional court annul austerity cuts imposed in 2014 and refund lost pension payouts. The government of then Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic signed a three-year loan deal with the IMF in February 2015 after Belgrade committed to austerity to cut its ballooning debt and budget deficit. To secure the deal, in late 2014 it lowered public sector wages and pensions by between five and 25 percent. As many as 700,000 people lost a quarter of their monthly income ... we ve been paying to that (retirement) fund for 45 years, hoping for a stable old age, said protester Milorad Pavicic, 80. About 1.7 million of Serbia s 7 million citizens are retirees and the government spends 13 percent of GDP on pensions, World Bank data show. The average pension in Serbia, a candidate to join the European Union, is 190 euros, among the lowest in eastern Europe. Earlier this month, Serbia s current Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said the government will raise wages for doctors, teachers and army officers by 10 percent and pensions by five percent from January next year. Pensioners were also slated to receive a one-off payment of up to 6,000 Serbian dinars ($59.38) in 2017. Thursday s protesters dismissed the measures as insufficient. The government has yet to discuss the wage and pension rises with the IMF s mission, in a final review of the deal this month and next. The lender cut Serbia s 2017 growth forecast to 2.3 percent from 3.0 percent, citing a drop in electricity output in winter and lower than expected harvest due to months of drought. | 0 |
Only days after the worst mass shooting in the nation s history happened against the LGBT community, the GOP decided they could go back to being discriminatory.One would think they d wait at least a week, but apparently three days seemed long enough to mourn the loss of those who perished at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, because according to Vanity Fair:Republican leaders in the House of Representatives blocked a vote on a proposal that would ensure federal contractors can t discriminate against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identification.That s right, you read that correctly, they seem to think it s perfectly acceptable for federal contractors to be able to fire someone for being gay.According to The Hill:Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), who is gay, filed an amendment to a Defense Department spending bill that would enforce a 2014 executive order prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people.Yet, the House Rules Committee didn t see it worthy of consideration and wouldn t even allow it to be voted upon. Nope, not even a vote. Not even a chance.Apparently, the House GOP doesn t want anything added to the annual spending bills for fear that it may inhibit passage. You know, because adding non-discriminatory amendments for LGBT people in a House of Representatives full of GOP bigots doesn t go over well and could clog up business as usual.As The Hill explains:House GOP leaders decided to clamp down on amendments to annual spending bills after Maloney s proposal threatened passage of other appropriations measures last month. Before now, Republicans had been considering appropriations bills under a procedure allowing members of either party to offer unlimited amendments.Don t you see, they only want to play by their rules. If you re not doing something they like, well, then they will make sure it never happens, but guaranteed if it was the other way around, the story would be verrrry different.This just proves, yet again, that Republicans only care about themselves.Featured Photo by Allison Shelley/Getty Images | 1 |
Videos Texas Cop Fired For Feeding ‘Feces’ Sandwich To Homeless Man The San Antonio officer was reported by at least two fellow officers for his attempt to feed a homeless man a feces sandwich. A homeless man sleeps on the steps of St. Bartholomew’s Church, Tuesday, June 23, 2015 in New York.
The San Antonio Police Department — known for its strict measures against homeless people — announced that it had fired a five-year veteran police officer after he attempted to feed a homeless man a “fecal sandwich” in May.
According to the department’s statement, police officer Matthew Luckhurst bragged to a fellow officer about trying to feed the man human feces before his unnamed colleague reported the incident to the internal affairs in July.
“This was a vile and disgusting act that violates our guiding principles of ‘treating all with integrity, compassion, fairness and respect,’” Chief William McManus said in a statement Friday. “The fact that his fellow officers were so disgusted with his actions that they reported him to Internal Affairs demonstrates that this type of behavior will never be tolerated.”
In 2014, however, McManus wanted to make giving money to homeless people a crime but the idea was shelved after public outcry.
The decision to fire Luckhurst was based on recommendations by two separate review boards which were upheld by McManus. The Associated Press reported that at least two officers reported the incidents to internal affairs.
However, Luckhurst’s lawyer told the San Antonio Express-News, which first reported the story, that his client would appeal the decision and denied that the incident had taken place ever and his comments were a “joke.”
According to the local San Antonio Current, the police issued more than 12,000 citations in 22 months between 2013 and 2014 related to “violations of city laws aimed at discouraging the homeless and poor from hanging out downtown or asking for donations.”
The newspaper said homeless people were charged with aggressive solicitation — seeking donations in an intimidating manner — solicitation within forbidden zones, camping in a public place, littering, spitting, urinating or defecating in public, disorderly conduct and sitting or lying in manners obstructing the public’s right of way.
According to Haven For Hope, there are almost 3,000 homeless people in the city, of whom 42 percent have no shelter and sleep in the streets. | 0 |
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Barack Obama made clear he did not support Michael Flynn during a meeting with then President-elect Donald Trump, the White House said on Monday. “It’s true that the president, President Obama, made it known that he wasn’t exactly a fan of General Flynn’s,” during their one-hour meeting, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at a news briefing. Obama and Trump met at the Oval Office on Nov. 10, two days after the Republican’s election victory. Spicer was asked about new reports that Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn, who was pushed out as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Democratic president’s term, as national security adviser. Trump later dismissed Flynn after less than a month over his contacts with Russian officials. | 0 |
In Israel, dehumanizing Palestinians and calling for their destruction has become the norm. Only a few days after Chief Israeli Sephardi Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said that non-Jews should not live in Israel unless they serve Jews, another influential Israeli racist has come out publicly, in this case to incite against Palestinians and their supporters. Transportation minister Israel Katz called for the civil targeted killing of non-violent civil rights leaders who call for the boycott, divestment, and sanctioning of Israel until it conforms to international law.Here is what author Richard Silverstein had to say about Katz s statement, made in Hebrew: The phrase he used (sikul ezrahi memukad) derives from the euphemistic Hebrew phrase for the targeted killing of a terrorist (the literal meaning is targeted thwarting ). But the added word civil makes it something different. Katz is saying that we won t physically murder BDS opponents, but we will do everything short of that. One may rightly ask what business a transportation minister has conducting targeted killings, physical or otherwise, against anyone. Though everything in Israel is in service to the national security state, has transportation fallen under that bailiwick as well? We are entering dangerous territory when an Israeli cabinet minister engages in wordplay that verges on putting a bull s-eye on the backs of non-violent activists. If there are Israel apologists out there who dismiss the significance of such rhetoric they are sadly mistaken. In this torrid political environment in which Israeli leftists have become criminals and wounded Palestinian youth may be summarily executed in the street, it is only too easy to forsee Palestinian activists like Barghouti (BDS leader) having a bounty on their heads. In addition, BDS activists this psychopath is inciting against are not just Palestinian: They are from all over the world, including the United States. In fact, American activists are at the forefront of the BDS movement. Moreover, we want to keep in mind the life and death power Israel has over the Palestinian people. It has become the norm not only to incite against Palestinians but to kill them in cold blood. Only a few days ago, an injured Palestinian who was incapacitated and lying on the ground was murdered by an Israeli soldier (you can watch the video below). Many Israelis consider the soldier a hero and are calling for his release.Israel s life and death stranglehold over millions of Palestinians makes statements like Katz s even more dangerous because many Israeli Jews do not see Palestinians as humans. After all, Israelis were lounging in chairs on hilltops and cheering as thousands of civilians were being killed in Gaza in the summer of 2014. Israeli politicians have a long history of frightening language against Palestinians. Whether it is Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked s reference to Palestinian children as snakes, or Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s continuous incitement, Katz s statement is just the latest round of Israeli politicians tripping over each other to dehumanize Palestinians.Watch video here: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-Bl9zAM5A4] Featured image via video screenshot. | 0 |
Marco Rubio was on a mission on Thursday night: Destroy The Donald. How much damage did he really do?
The Florida senator delivered what was easily his best debate performance yet Thursday night, hammering frontrunner Donald Trump repeatedly on his character, his business record, and his claims to being a conservative. It was the performance he needed. The question now is whether it will matter at all.
Fresh off a three-state winning streak, Trump is close to being anointed the Presumptive Nominee by the media. With just days to go before the crucial sting of Super Tuesday primaries, Trump appears to be leading in most if not every state on the verge of a contest. He has the momentum. He has the math on his side.
“In 2011, he talked about the need for a pathway to citizenship,” Rubio said. “In 2012, Donald criticized Mitt Romney, saying that Mitt lost his election because of self-deportation. And so even today, we saw a report... that Donald, you’ve hired a significant number of people from other countries to take jobs that Americans could have filled.” Rubio then referenced Trump’s use of Polish workers to construct Trump Tower, which cost the real estate mogul a major settlement in the early 1980s.
“My mom was a maid at a hotel,” Rubio continued. “And instead of hiring an American like her, you have brought in over a thousand people from all over the world to fill those jobs instead. So I think this is an important issue. And I think we are realizing that it’s an important issue for the country that’s been debated for 30 years, but finally needs to be solved once and for all.”
Trump continued, “As far as the people I’ve hired in various parts of Florida during the absolute prime season, like Palm Beach and other locations, you could not get help. It’s the up season. People didn’t want to have part-time jobs. They were part-time jobs, very seasonal, 90-day jobs, 120-day jobs, and you couldn’t get. Everybody agrees with me on that. They were part-time jobs. You needed them, or we just might as well close the doors, because you couldn’t get help in those hot, hot sections of Florida.”
Trump, who had yet to really be attacked by Rubio—or, really, anyone else—this way, didn’t have much of a response when put on the spot. Trump seemed caught off guard by a candidate with whom he’d enjoyed a kind of détente for some time.
“It’s not a sound bite,” Rubio said, sticking to his guns. “It’s a fact. Again, go online and Google it. Donald Trump, Polish workers. The second thing about the trade war, I don’t understand, because your clothes and the ties you wear are made in Mexico and in China. You’ll be starting a trade war against your own clothes and suits.”
The old political rule is to attack your enemy’s strengths. And that’s exactly what Rubio was doing. Trump has framed himself as a brilliant businessman animated by his concern for the common man, the little guy, the silent majority. He’s never marketed himself as an orthodox conservative, but that’s where his opponents have hit him again and again with no result.
But Rubio tried something different with his attacks Thursday night. He tried to prove Trump is a huckster, a charlatan who doesn’t know what he’s talking about when pressed for specifics, a trust-fund baby looking to rip off hard-working Americans in order to make a dishonest buck. It went to the heart of Trump’s appeal, and for that reason it just might stick.
Rubio looked and sounded different from how we’ve ever seen him. But so did Trump. For a man who makes so many facial expressions, he rarely displays any recognizable human emotion, preferring instead to stay aloof and dismissive. Thursday night was different. He was, at turns, deeply frustrated and consumed by abject terror. Things were going very wrong, very quickly—and right before his squinty eyes.
Trump let out an exhausted sigh. His head seemed to sink into his shoulder pads. He grabbed the microphone with his left hand and wagged his finger with Rubio with his right. “No, no. I’m the only one on this stage that’s hired people,” he threw his arms out, “you haven’t hired anybody.”
After Trump reminded the audience that Rubio had recently been roasted by erstwhile candidate Chris Christie, Rubio pressed Trump for specifics on his health-care plan. Trump talked in circles, claiming he would magically create competition by “removing” the “lines around the states,” and then claiming it over and over again.
The audience cheered. They got the joke—Rubio’s robot reputation stems from his habit, most clearly shown at his disastrous pre-New Hampshire primary debate, of hewing to his talking points when flustered. Trump stuck his finger in the air in defiance, “no, no, no!” he said, “no no no! I don’t repeat myself! I don’t repeat myself!” | 1 |
Fox News needs to take Andrea Tantaros sexual harassment lawsuit seriously because she refuses to back down.The conservative network has repeatedly belittled Tantaros and called her a liar ever since she slapped Fox News with a sexual harassment lawsuit naming Roger Ailes and Bill O Reilly.Tantaros has even dared her former Fox employers to take a lie detector test, even offering to take one herself because she has nothing to hide. But now Tantaros has some serious reinforcements who can back up her sexual harassment claims.As it turns out, the former host of Outnumbered was distraught enough about the demeaning working environment at Fox News that she saw a professional therapist starting in 2014 to deal with how she was constantly being treated by Fox bigwigs.Dr. Michele Berdy has now written a sworn affidavit confirming that Tantaros spoke with her about how Ailes would tell her to wear tighter dresses and how he would demand her to stand up and turn around so he could ogle her. Tantaros also told Berdy about Bill O Reilly s unwanted advances and how Fox PR chief Bill Shine ordered her to not file complaints about Ailes behavior.Berdy wrote that after reading reports about Fox denying the claims, she reached out to Tantaros and gave her support. Over the course of many months (2014 2016), Andrea relayed to me on multiple occasions instances of Mr. Ailes s demeaning and overtly predatory behavior, as well as the abusive conduct of Fox News s public relations department, Berdy wrote.Berdy confirmed that Tantaros spoke to her repeatedly about how she sought help from Bill Shine to make the harassment stop but he did nothing except basically tell Tantaros to just let it happen and allow Ailes to continue harassing her. In addition, Berdy confirmed Tantaros claim that Ailes retaliated against her for refusing to comply with his sexual demands.Berdy also backed up Tantaros story of how O Reilly approached her on multiple occasions to invite her to a private beach house, which he did because he had heard that she is wild. Here are images of parts of the affidavit via Twitter.This is a pretty damning affidavit against Fox News, which has already had to make a pretty hefty payment to former host Gretchen Carlson over her own sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes.The fact that Tantaros had to see a therapist to deal with the constant abuse at her workplace and that her complaints were documented long before she filed the lawsuit bring even more credibility and sympathy to her story.It s time for Fox News to clean house and fire the people who are responsible for covering for Ailes and it s time to fire anyone who sexually harassed female employees at the network, including Bill O Reilly and even Steve Doocy, whom Carlson named in her lawsuit.Fox News thinks they can bully Tantaros and make her lawsuit go away. But she isn t backing down and it s only getting worse for Fox the longer this lawsuit plays out.Featured image via Dangerous Minds | 0 |
Anxiety grows among GOP congressional staffers By Wayne Madsen Posted on October 28, 2016 by Wayne Madsen
With their bosses away campaigning, some for their political lives, a number of Republican staffers in Congress are growing anxious over their future employment. With the Senate now favored to be transferred to Democratic control, GOP staffers for members up for re-election on November 8, as well as Republican staffers assigned to various Senate committees and subcommittees, are shopping around their resumes.
Although more senior staff can always expect to find employment with Washington’s many lobbying firms and policy-wonkish institutes and foundations, that is not necessarily the case with younger staffers who may find their future options being limited to Starbuck’s baristas and Uber drivers.
On the House of Representatives side, Republicans are expected to lose a number of seats in a Democratic wave but GOP control of the House, barring a dramatic shift, is expected to remain in Republican hands. However, staffers for GOP members who are in close races or facing certain defeat are also scurrying around Washington looking for future employment.
In what could be termed poetic justice, many Republican staffers who helped push their bosses’ memes against government “entitlement” programs, including unemployment benefits, may be among the first in line at District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland state unemployment offices come December. Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report . Copyright © 2016 WayneMadenReport.com
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required) . This entry was posted in Commentary . Bookmark the permalink . | 1 |
Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, and a very reputable source at that, just came forward and announced there is a mole in the White House. And, that mole has information concerning President Obama s selection of the next Supreme Court Justice of The United States (SCOTUS).As you may know by now, Republicans are hell-bent on doing anything and everything they can to block Obama s right to nominate the next SCOTUS, no matter who he picks. Well, that s going to be a problem because this pick is absolutely perfect.Why do we say that? For one, Republicans unanimously nominated him just three years ago (97-0) to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Yes, you read that right, 97-0. How on earth could the Republicans deny him now? If you re familiar with the selection, you d know I m talking about Judge Sri Srinivasan. He s Asian-American and Indian-American, and would be the first minority from both groups to hold the honor if nominated.But, his minority status is not the only reason he s an excellent choice for Democrats. He d be almost impossible for the GOP to deny. But, don t plan on them not trying. I mean, they just don t care who Obama nominates, plain and simple. This is an election year, and they ll fight him at all costs.Still, his record is hard to deny. Obama has called him a trailblazer who personifies the best of America. He s worked in the Justice Department under George W. Bush for five years, and twelve former Solicitors General, including Republicans, have endorsed his prior nomination despite his arguing against conservative causes like the Defense of Marriage Act. He didn t think it was constitutional given the fact that it placed limits on same-sex couples.Pic via Facebook.While the pick is far from finalized, you can be sure to take this pick to the bank. Don t expect President Obama to twiddle his thumbs for too long on this one. He s ready for a fight, and will pick the best nominee, without a doubt.But, just in case you re curious, a few other unofficial names are floating around that would be great nominees as well, and are rumored to be on Obama s short-list.Patricia Ann MillettShe also hails from the influential D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Senate confirmed her back in 2013 by a vote of 56-38. Not nearly as impressive as Judge Srinivasan s unanimous selection, but still a contender given her background. She s 50 and has a background working in both the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.Here s why she would be a wise choice: There s only one other woman that has ever argued more cases before the Supreme Court (32 in all) than her. Impressive, indeed.Loretta LynchShe s the Attorney General of The United States. She s only been in the position since April 2015, not very long. While we don t believe Obama will pick her, it d be impossible not to have her name mentioned.In the short time that she s been Attorney General, she s already filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city of Ferguson and indicted nine FIFA executives for their match-fixing scandal. If Obama picks a woman, it will be the third woman in a row nominated to the court.Paul WatfordSome people are saying this is the most likely selection to replace Antonin Scalia, but then again, they don t have a mole in the White House like Robert Reich does.Watford is an African-American and confirmed to the Ninth Circuit in 2012. He used to clerk for a conservative judge Alex Kozinski, and he s considered to be a moderate. He s also in his 40 s, which would make him a long standing member of the court if selected.Again, though, we stress that none of these nominees were unanimously selected like Judge Srinivasan. Expect Obama to go forward with the selection after his administration can gather up enough information on Republican s opposition to him. Hey, that s what moles are good for.Featured image via White House | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signaled on Wednesday that the United States could back away from the Minsk agreement to end fighting in Ukraine, telling a congressional hearing the Trump administration does not want to be “handcuffed.” Tillerson said it was possible that the Ukrainian government could come to an agreement with Moscow outside the structure of the 2015 accord. “I think it is important that we be given sufficient flexibility to achieve the Minsk objectives. It is very possible that the government of Ukraine and the government of Russia could come to a satisfactory resolution through some structure other than Minsk,” Tillerson told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “My caution is I wouldn’t want to have ourselves handcuffed to Minsk if it turns out the parties decide to settle this through another, a different, agreement,” he said. The Minsk peace agreement, brokered by France and Germany and signed by Russia and Ukraine in February 2015, calls for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line and constitutional reform to give eastern Ukraine more autonomy. As Washington focuses on potential Trump administration ties to Russia, lawmakers have been insisting that no sanctions on Russia be lifted until it complies with the agreement. Tillerson was responding to Representative Eliot Engel, the committee’s ranking Democrat, who asked if it was in the U.S. interest to relax sanctions on Russia before it fully complied. Engel said the approach suggested by Tillerson would send the wrong signal to Russia. “If they think that we’re somehow willing to relax the sanctions on them before they’ve complied with the Minsk framework and left Crimea, I think it just will encourage Putin to continue his bullying,” Engel said. “And who knows where he’ll strike next.” Tillerson spoke at a wide-ranging budget hearing in which he also discussed Trump’s China policy and said he expected the administration to complete a review of Afghan policy in the coming weeks. Many members of the U.S. Congress, including some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, disagree sharply with his proposal to slash foreign aid and spending on diplomacy. Trump, who wants sharp increases in military spending, sees the proposed cuts as a way to help balance the budget. His critics say such that approach would pose a threat to the country’s security by weakening so-called “soft power” programs that win international support. | 1 |
NEW DELHI/KOCHI, India (Reuters) - India s Supreme Court started hearing a case on Monday that prosecutors say shows how Islamic State sympathizers are using Love Jihad marrying Hindu women and converting them to Islam to win recruits and spread their message. Over the past 28 months, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has picked up dozens of interfaith couples in the southern state of Kerala to question them about their marriages. The women - all Hindus who married Muslims were asked extremely personal questions during the interrogations, two police officers from the agency said: Did you sleep with your husband before getting married? Did he suggest you visit Islamic shrines before marriage? Did he blackmail you before you converted to Islam? They were looking for cases of Love Jihad , a term publicized by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other hardline Hindu groups soon after they helped propel Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power in 2014. It refers to what these groups say is an Islamist campaign to convert Hindu women through seduction and marriage. Police investigations at the time found no evidence of any organised strategy, and the claim was widely ridiculed. But since then, the NIA began focusing on Kerala - a state along the Arabian Sea with strong economic links to the Middle East. It investigated 89 cases of Love Jihad and found nine to be alliances planned by people linked to the Islamic State, two NIA sources said, requesting anonymity because the investigation is going on. The NIA will present evidence in the nine cases to the Supreme Court. The agency declined to disclose its evidence. But in two of the cases it was examining money sent from an Islamic school in Iraq to the women s bank accounts, and in another case a woman and her husband had shared IS videos among people in their Kerala village, the sources said. Opposition parties say the investigation shows the government is allowing the RSS and others to use the state apparatus to further an agenda of establishing Hindu dominance in India, where 13 percent of the population is Muslim. M.B Rajesh, a federal lawmaker and member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which rules Kerala, said the NIA and the RSS were trying to prove that marriages between Hindus and Muslims are forced unions . The NIA s probe is creating religious fault lines to help Modi s party win (Kerala s) state elections, but we will defeat them. J. Nandakumar, an RSS leader who oversees the group s activities in the state, said the NIA investigation vindicated the Hindu right s campaign against religious conversions. Their first step is to convert Hindu boys and girls, hypnotise them and prepare them for jihad, he said. The RSS, which founded the first iteration of Modi s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party six decades ago, believes India is fundamentally a Hindu nation. Since Modi s election in May 2014, the RSS has expanded its membership and influence across India and either it or its affiliates now run key ministries, such as the home ministry, which supervises the NIA, and the finance ministry. Muslims who account for 172 million of India s 1.32 billion citizens - have been under increasing pressure from the Hindu right. Muslims have been lynched for killing cows - considered sacred in Hinduism - and some of their slaughter houses forced to shut down. Neither Modi s office nor the NIA would comment because the issue is before the Supreme Court. One of the Muslim men, whose marriage to a Hindu woman was annulled by Kerala s High Court, has appealed the case to the Supreme Court. The NIA has accused the man, Shefin Jahan, in court of trying to recruit people for the Islamic State, a charge he denies. The 24-year-old woman, who converted to Islam before marrying him and changed her name from Akhila to Hadiya, was placed in her father s custody by the high court after he said he feared for her well-being. There is no criminal case against her. India s chief justice summoned Hadiya to New Delhi to testify on Monday on whether she had been forced to convert. In an interim order the Supreme Court removed Hadiya from her father s custody and said she could live in a hostel to complete her college education. The trial will begin in January. This is for the first time in the history of India the top court will be asking a woman the validity of her marriage and her religious conversion, said Kapil Sibal, a lawyer and a leader of the opposition Congress party. Sibal is representing Jahan. Jahan, 26, told Reuters he met Hadiya through a matrimonial website for Muslims while he was working in a pharmaceutical factory in Oman. He said he wanted to live with his wife, with whom he stayed for only 48 hours before her father complained to the police. Our simple love story has turned into an ugly religious and legal battle, Jahan said. The NIA investigation started in 2015 after the government identified Kerala, which sends tens of thousands of workers to the Middle East, as a potential hotbed of Islamic State recruitment. Nearly half of Kerala s 33 million people practice Islam and Christianity. Police and the NIA said at least 100 people from Kerala have joined the IS in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The NIA s nine Love Jihad cases were based on complaints lodged by the parents of the Hindu girls and all were found to have links with IS, the NIA police sources said. The agency dropped the investigations into the other 80 cases because no links to militants were found, the sources said. Across India, more than 270 men and 20 women have been arrested for working directly or indirectly with the IS, according to data at the federal Home Ministry. But Kerala was the only state where the NIA found a direct link between cases of Love Jihad and the IS, the NIA sources said. The agency says it has uncovered attempts by IS sympathizers to possibly send the women in Love Jihad marriages off to marry or stay with fighters from the militant group, the NIA sources said. Two couples, who were questioned by the NIA last year, told Reuters police searched their homes. I was shocked when they said maybe my husband was a jihadi, and he could be planning to send me to Syria, said one woman who married a Muslim information technology professional in 2015. Police questioned her for six hours, she said, and before leaving, took pictures of her wedding album. | 1 |
Dasha Burns is a writer and works as a strategist and creative content producer at Oliver Global, a consulting agency where she focuses on leveraging media and digital technology for global development. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) Bernie's Brooklyn mourned Tuesday's New York primary results as Hillary Clinton solidified her lead over the shaggy, endearing ideologue. This may be the beginning of the end for Bernie Sanders, but that doesn't mean Clinton can coast. Far from it.
But let's take a breath. I think we've all been wearing our primary goggles a little too long. The fact is that Clinton and Sanders agree on a majority of the issues when it comes to actual policy.
Yet this is not resonating with millennials: Clinton cannot repeat her ritual misstep of assuming she will get their support when she hasn't fully earned it.
To ensure a win for Democratic and progressive values in the general election, young people need to show up. And for this, Clinton needs to work harder to remind young voters that she, too, will fight on their behalf.
Just as devoted patrons of the local organic-fair-trade-small-batch coffee shop won't suddenly wake up with a Starbucks skinny vanilla latte, avid, anti-establishment Sanders supporters won't suddenly start feeling the Bern for Clinton.
So, I would urge the secretary to rethink her relationship to this demographic. Some suggestions:
--You don't believe in the kind of revolution Bernie is talking about. Show young people that you've heard the cheers for his ideas and you understand why they matter to us, and tell us — without condescension — how you're going to do better. Then, show us what your revolution looks like. Because you ARE campaigning on a progressive platform, and you DO have goals — like the New College Compact and profit sharing -- that will change flawed and failing systems.
--Don't tell young women to vote for you because we're women. But tell us to vote for you because you're going to close the wage gap. Because you'll make sure we have every opportunity afforded our male colleagues. Because with you as president our rights to our own bodies will be protected and expanded.
--Don't try to adopt Bernie's swag; it's inimitable and everyone is surprised that it worked (including him, I bet). And don't try to do "cool" things you think young people do; you're a grown woman and we like the gravitas and dignity that brings. So do what YOU do but show young people you'll support what they do, too.
--Policy matters, but for young voters, the intent and ideals behind those policies matter, too. If you're not going as far as Sanders on issues like education and the minimum wage, make sure we understand why and show us your goals are worth fighting for. Show us the heart behind your strategy and explain why it will work for us.
--We know how experienced you are, and that you know how to "get the job done." But show that you're still willing to see different perspectives and to seriously consider criticisms and counterarguments.
--Most of all, show that you're engaging with young voices. Show that you'll listen to those with few years but many ideas. Show that you're ultimately on the same side as your current opponent, because you will need his zealous support come November.
It's true that even if Clinton does all these things, some millennials may angrily disengage from the political process if she is the nominee. But as a fellow member of the cohort, I hope and believe that most will be thoughtful in their decision.
They'll see that the Republican candidate is the direct antithesis of everything that Clinton, Sanders and their collective supporters stand for.
They'll see that both the Democratic candidates stand on platforms that will move our country forward, not backward.
They'll recall that before the candidates went hoarse yelling over each other in the last debate, they spent most of the earlier debates so "vigorously agreeing" that a "Glee"-style "Don't Stop Believin'" duet seemed almost imminent. From immigration to abortion to even campaign finance reform, rarely are the differences meaningful.
Ahead of the upcoming primaries, Clinton will need to start removing her own primary goggles and making that case to her current opponent's supporters. Because if they turn their backs before the real battle begins, her presumptive primary victory could vanish before our eyes. | 0 |
White Students Start Whites-Only Group to Wreck White Racism Quincy Clarke, Campus Reform, November 2, 2016
A number of white Pomona College students formed a new club called “We’ve Got Work To Do: White People for Deconstructing Whiteness.” The club, open to students from all five of the Claremont Colleges, aims to “work on owning our racism, deconstructing our Whiteness, and to engage in movement & action toward dismantling White Supremacy.”
“White people at the 5C’s: we’re all racist. we’re all microaggressive. [W]e are all not only complicit in, but actively perpetuating white supremacy,” states an advertisement for the group. “Pretending that we are not racist and hoping that no one will discover our racism really doesn’t cut it. [W]e need to ACTIVELY be doing work to deconstruct our whiteness (and holding our peers accountable in doing the same).”
“Recognizing that White identity is a self-fashioned, hierarchical fantasy, Whites should attempt to dismantle Whiteness as it currently exists,” explains the group’s Facebook page , quoting Ian Haney López, a leading racial justice scholar. “Whites should renounce their privileged racial character, though not simply out of guilt or any sense of self-deprecation. Rather, they should dismantle the edifice of Whiteness because this mythological construct stands at the vortex of racial inequality in America.”
{snip} | 1 |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia opposes a draft U.N. resolution to extend the mandate of an international inquiry into chemical weapons attacks in Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday. Ryabkov s comments came hours after Russia rejected a report by the international inquiry blaming the Syrian government for a deadly toxic gas attack, casting doubt on the U.N. Security Council s ability to extend the investigation s mandate before it expires next week. Russia last month cast a veto at the United Nations Security Council against renewing the investigation s mandate. I stress that we are in no way raising the question of ending this structure s activities, RIA state news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying. We are in favor of its maintenance, but on a different basis. The draft U.N. resolution by the United States says Syria must not develop or produce chemical weapons, and it calls on all parties in Syria to provide full cooperation with the international probe. The investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) was unanimously created by the 15-member Security Council in 2015 and renewed in 2016 for another year. Its mandate is due to expire in mid-November. The investigation found that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad s government was to blame for a chemical attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens of people in April, according to a report sent to the Security Council on Oct. 26. Russia, whose air force and special forces have bolstered the Syrian army, has said there is no evidence to show Damascus was responsible for the attack. Moscow maintains that the chemicals that killed civilians belonged to rebels, not Assad s government. | 0 |
President Trump jokingly told White House staff Sunday that he wouldn’t tell the press what was in the letter former President Obama wrote to him, the Hill reported. [“I just went to the Oval Office and found this beautiful letter from President Obama,” Trump said Sunday when addressing senior staff members. “It was really very nice of him to do that and we will cherish that. We will keep that and we won’t even tell the press what’s in that letter. ” Obama left Trump a letter in the Oval Office, continuing a tradition that many outgoing presidents have done before him. In the letter former President Bush left former President Obama, Bush told Obama that he will face “trying moments” during his presidency. He also warned Obama that “critics will rage” and said your “‘friends’ will disappoint you. ” “But, you will have an Almighty God to comfort you, a family who loves you, and a country that is pulling for you, including me,” Bush wrote. “No matter what comes, you will be inspired by the character and compassion of the people you now lead. ” In the letter former President Clinton wrote to his successor Bush, Clinton wished Bush “success” and “happiness” and told him that being president is “the greatest honor that can come to an American citizen. ” “The burdens you now shoulder are great but often exaggerated. The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible,” Clinton wrote. “My prayers are with you and your family. Godspeed. ” | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump on Wednesday rowed back statements that women who sought abortions under a proposed ban should be punished. “If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman,” Trump said in a statement. It contradicted an earlier statement during an MSNBC town hall appearance when he said in response to questions from the moderator that woman should face some form of punishment. | 0 |
By Hrafnkell Haraldsson on Mon, Oct 31st, 2016 at 12:20 pm Trump “refused 2 produce records sought by prosecutors for 6 months. Said under oath: Was destroying them whole time.” Share on Twitter Print This Post
Newsweek’ s Kurt Eichenwald has struck again, reporting that Donald Trump “refused 2 produce records sought by prosecutors for 6 months. Said under oath: Was destroying them whole time.”
The whole strategy, he writes at Newsweek in an article he swears was written before Comey’s announcement, was “deny, impede and delay, while destroying documents the court had ordered them to hand over.”
In 1973, he reveals, “the Republican nominee, his father and their real estate company battled the federal government over civil charges that they refused to rent apartments to African-Americans.”
Shortly after the government filed its case in October, Trump attacked: He falsely declared to reporters that the feds had no evidence he and his father discriminated against minorities, but instead were attempting to force them to lease to welfare recipients who couldn’t pay their rent.The family’s attempts to slow down the federal case were at times nonsensical. Trump submitted an affidavit contending that the government had engaged in some unspecified wrongdoing by releasing statements to the press on the day it brought the case without first having any “formal communications” with him; he contended that he’d learned of the complaint only while listening to his car radio that morning. But Trump’s sworn statement was a lie. Court records show that the government had filed its complaint at 10 a.m. and phoned him almost immediately afterward. The government later notified the media with a press release. […] Six months after the original filing, the case was nowhere because the Trumps had repeatedly ignored the deadlines to produce records and answers to questions, known as interrogatories….Finally, under subpoena, Trump appeared for a short deposition. When asked about the missing documents, he made a shocking admission: The Trumps had been destroying their corporate records for the previous six months and had no document-retention program. They had conducted no inspections to determine which files might have been sought in the discovery requests or might otherwise be related to the case. Instead, in order to “save space,” Trump testified, officials with his company had been tossing documents into the shredder and garbage.
So Trump can accuse Hillary Clinton of destroying emails – and he does, nearly every day – but only as a means of covering up and deflecting his own misdeeds in that regard.
“With false affidavits and ‘deny and delay” strategies,” writes Eichenwald, “Trump & his cos hid and destroyed records sought in court.”
Donald Trump is a world class liar and a man known for his deflection tactics, projecting his own guilt onto others. His Foundation in trouble? Point the finger at the Clinton Foundation. Sexual assault allegations? Point the finger at Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Once again, Kurt Eichenwald has dug into Donald Trump’s deplorable past and revealed the real Donald Trump. It’s not pretty. And each revelation from Eichenwald and David Fahrenthold shows Trump to be an even worse human being than the last.
It is no wonder his deplorables love him so much.
It Turns Out Trump Put off Investigators for 6 Months While He Destroyed Emails added by Hrafnkell Haraldsson on Mon, Oct 31st, 2016 | 1 |
Rapper Killer Mike, will appear in front of a SOLD OUT audience at the prestigious MIT University today. Here s a clip from an interview with Jew hater and racist Louis Farrakhan:He s a follower and admirer of this racist Jew hater. He s clearly one of the most angry black men in the entertainment business. After watching this interview, you will better understand the mentality of the protestors on the streets who are getting in the faces of cops (of whom the majority are good men and women protecting and defending the citizens within their jurisdiction). It should be noted, that Killer Mike s dad was a police officer or dirty pig as he likes to call them.Killer Mike views rap as social activism, and never shies away from sharing his opinions on race and abuses of power. Whether he s condemning institutionalized corruption in Reagan or speaking out against police brutality with Run The Jewels Close Your Eyes, if Killer Mike thinks it s messed up, he s going to let you know.This Friday, April 24, MIT students will have the chance to hear how messed up race relations are, when Killer Mike delivers a lecture titled Race Relations in the U.S. at the school. According to the press release, he ll be talking about how current and advancing technology are shaping race relations. (We re guessing that he doesn t regard drone surveillance as a democratizing agent.) Chances are pretty good that Killer Mike will also be addressing the spate of well-publicized police shootings of young unarmed black men and their systemic social consequences.Here is an example of the most recent music video by Killer Mike. ****WARNING****Violence and strong language***Killer Mike s lecture is the second in MIT s new Hip-Hop Speaker Series, which opened with Young Guru. The series is the result of a collaboration between the Arts at MIT and TapTape, an MIT-based music startup. The series stated goal is to bring together leaders in hip-hop with leading faculty and students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. That s a perfect opportunity for a mathematics seminar featuring Dr. Octagon and Dr. Roman Bezrukavnikov, Professor of Algebraic Geometry.While Killer Mike s lecture certainly sounds intriguing, Friday s lecture is exclusively available to MIT students and is already sold out. But if you re jonesing to hear Killer Mike drop some heated words, there s always the extremely-NSFW Big Beast video, featuring Bun B and T.I.We were going to include the Big Beast video, but after viewing this disturbing video, which includes nudity, horrific acts of violence and an attempted rape scene, we decided against it. The driver in the video is wearing a Ronald Reagan mask because Killer Mike believes that all of the problems plaguing the black community are as a result of Ronald Reagan s presidency. Please feel free to view it (if you are an adult) and you can stomach it at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8-RmM5py1cVia: AV Club | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Benjamin Netanyahu’s first Trump-era Washington visit offers a chance to repair ties to Democrats that frayed during years of chilly relations under the Obama administration, but many party members said they do not expect much improvement given the Israeli prime minister’s close alignment with Republicans. “There’s a lot of mending of fences that has to happen between the Netanyahu government and a lot of Democrats who feel like he unnecessarily politicized the U.S.-Israeli relationship,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, a Senate Foreign Relations Committee member, said in a telephone interview. The low point came in March 2015 when Netanyahu sidestepped the White House and State Department to arrange a speech to the Republican-led Congress opposing the international nuclear deal with Iran then being negotiated by President Barack Obama. Led by the Congressional Black Caucus, more than 55 Democratic members of the Senate and House of Representatives skipped the speech to protest what they viewed as an attack on Obama, the first African-American U.S. president. Tensions between Netanyahu and congressional Democrats have remained despite nearly seven decades of bipartisan support for Israel in Congress, which has used its spending authority to make Israel the largest recipient of annual U.S. military aid. After Trump took office last month, Netanyahu tweeted his applause for Trump’s plan to build a wall to keep out people from Mexico, which Democrats consider an expensive and racially tinged insult to a U.S. neighbor and ally. Many Democrats also are wary of Netanyahu’s support for building new settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians, and worry about statements from some in his government opposing the possibility of a Palestinian state. Democrats faulted congressional Republicans for using Israel as a wedge issue, despite strong Democratic support for initiatives such as a $38 billion military aid package the Obama administration signed in September. “It doesn’t look good or feel right when one party says, ‘Well, we’re better on Israel than the other party,’ or if one party is trying to work in lock-step with Israeli officials,” Representative Eliot Engel, the top House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrat, told Reuters. Israeli officials said Netanyahu’s aides have been aware of the need to re-establish a semblance of bipartisan even-handedness, even as the prime minister works to create a personal bond with Trump. Aides traveling with Netanyahu did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. But as he left for Washington, Netanyahu made a point of saying he would meet with congressional leaders from both parties, signaling something of a rebalancing. “The alliance between Israel and America has always been extremely strong. It’s about to get even stronger,” Netanyahu told reporters. | 1 |
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to Turkey said on Monday the duration of a suspension in visa services in Turkey would depend on talks between the two governments regarding the detention of Turkish staff at the U.S. embassy. In a written statement, Ambassador John Bass said the length of the suspension would also depend on the Turkish government s commitment to protecting our facilities and personnel here in Turkey , noting it was not a visa ban on Turkish citizens. He said the embassy had been unable to learn the reasons for the arrest of a Turkish staff member last week and or what evidence exists against the employee. | 1 |
Let this sink in The word has been out for some time now that the US borders are open. Now we have the President of Panama giving an even bigger free pass to ANYONE to come to America. We are going to be Europe soon Obama is making sure of it Panama promised to help hundreds of migrants who have crossed its jungle border from Colombia to carry on toward the United States.President Juan Carlos Varela on Tuesday said Panama would make an exception to its immigration restrictions for migrants who have recently crossed into Panama s Darien jungle. The border will remain closed to irregular migrants, but those that are using these points to cross and have already reached our territory will be given humanitarian assistance so they can continue on their way, he said. Panama will not allow anyone who has crossed into our country to die on our territory, he added, in a public speech.Around 800 US-bound migrants, most of them from Haiti, Africa, Asia and Cuba, are in dense jungle on the Panama-Colombia border, Varela said Friday.He described it as another migration crisis. A further 2,500 are stranded in Panama s northern neighbor, Costa Rica, since the next country on the trail, Nicaragua, has tightened immigration controls.Colombian authorities say they have deported thousands of migrants trying to reach Panama from its northern territory.Varela said last week that many of the migrants were Haitians who had gone to Brazil after a 2010 earthquake devastated their country.Brazil s current deep recession has driven them to try to get to the United States through Central America. Via: france24 | 1 |
Home › POLITICS | US NEWS › SECRET RECORDINGS FUELED FBI FEUD IN CLINTON PROBE SECRET RECORDINGS FUELED FBI FEUD IN CLINTON PROBE 0 SHARES [11/3/16] Secret recordings of a suspect talking about the Clinton Foundation fueled an internal battle between FBI agents who wanted to pursue the case and corruption prosecutors who viewed the statements as worthless hearsay, people familiar with the matter said.
Agents, using informants and recordings from unrelated corruption investigations, thought they had found enough material to merit aggressively pursuing the investigation into the foundation that started in summer 2015 based on claims made in a book by a conservative author called “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich,” these people said.
The account of the case and resulting dispute comes from interviews with officials at multiple agencies.
Starting in February and continuing today, investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and public-corruption prosecutors became increasingly frustrated with each other, as often happens within and between departments. At the center of the tension stood the U.S. attorney for Brooklyn, Robert Capers, who some at the FBI came to view as exacerbating the problems by telling each side what it wanted to hear, these people said. Through a spokeswoman, Mr. Capers declined to comment.
The roots of the dispute lie in a disagreement over the strength of the case, these people said, which broadly centered on whether Clinton Foundation contributors received favorable treatment from the State Department under Hillary Clinton.
Senior officials in the Justice Department and the FBI didn’t think much of the evidence, while investigators believed they had promising leads their bosses wouldn’t let them pursue, they said.
These details on the probe are emerging amid the continuing furor surrounding FBI Director James Comey’s disclosure to Congress that new emails had emerged that could be relevant to a separate, previously closed FBI investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s email arrangement while she was secretary of state.
On Wednesday, President Barack Obama took the unusual step of criticizing the FBI when asked about Mr. Comey’s disclosure of the emails.
Amid the internal finger-pointing on the Clinton Foundation matter, some have blamed the FBI’s No. 2 official, deputy director Andrew McCabe, claiming he sought to stop agents from pursuing the case this summer. His defenders deny that, and say it was the Justice Department that kept pushing back on the investigation.
At times, people on both sides of the dispute thought Mr. Capers agreed with them. Defenders of Mr. Capers said he was straightforward and always told people he thought the case wasn’t strong. Post navigation Warning : array_key_exists() expects parameter 2 to be array, null given in /home/content/p3pnexwpnas07_data02/05/3222705/html/wp-content/plugins/widget-options/core/functions.widget.display.php on line 182 Warning : array_key_exists() expects parameter 2 to be array, null given in /home/content/p3pnexwpnas07_data02/05/3222705/html/wp-content/plugins/widget-options/core/functions.widget.display.php on line 182 Warning : array_key_exists() expects parameter 2 to be array, null given in /home/content/p3pnexwpnas07_data02/05/3222705/html/wp-content/plugins/widget-options/core/functions.widget.display.php on line 182 Warning : array_key_exists() expects parameter 2 to be array, null given in /home/content/p3pnexwpnas07_data02/05/3222705/html/wp-content/plugins/widget-options/core/functions.widget.display.php on line 182 RESOURCES | 1 |
On June 10, people in at least 27 cities are gathering to march for human rights and against Sharia Law. The nationwide day of protest is being organized by ACT for America, a grassroots organization that is the self-proclaimed NRA of national security. The New York City event is being organized by Pax Hart, a writer and political commentator. There were initially 18 other March Against Sharia rallies scheduled for June 10. After Manchester, people were furious and started contacted us through Twitter to find out how they could organize a rally in their own city. I think it s now up to 27 cities, Hart said. BigLeaguePoliticsJUNE 10th Nationwide U.S. rallies against Sharia and radical Islam. #MarchAgainstSharia #ManchesterArena @MarchAgstSharia pic.twitter.com/dokpNxYM9S Pax Hart (@PaxHart) May 23, 2017An unidentified interviewer caught up with a black Trump supporters at a #MarchAgainstSharia event at Foley Square in NYC. The video can be seen below. Here is a partial transcript of the conversation: CNN is a part of this. They re in bed with radical Islam. All mainstream media is in bed with Sharia Law and that s why I m here ladies and gentlemen, to wake you up to mainstream media being complicit. They re in bed with Sharia Law. It s incompatible with the United States. It s hard to distinguish what the interviewer asks, but the Trump supporter answers the interviewer by saying that he loves Infowars, and goes on to thanks Infowars founder Alex Jones by saying, Thank you brother, I love you! Black Trump supporter and infowarrior shouting @CNN is a terrorist organization. "I love you @RealAlexJones" he said. #MarchAgainstSharia pic.twitter.com/Y11IO8rfSW Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) June 10, 2017 | 0 |
A customer at Burger King is hoping to get a refund on her shake, but when no one responds to her plea for help she asks to speak to a manager.How this Burger King manager treats her is truly shocking!Whatever happened to customer service? Whatever happened to Americans who were proud to be elevated to a position in management? Whatever happened to civility? | 1 |
It appears that the Bundy militia has finally managed to radicalize a highly impressionable American into joining their cause and it just so happens to be one of Donald Trump s campaign officials.In a shining example of the kind of people who gravitate towards the Republican front-runners campaign, Jerry DeLemus, an anti-government fanatic, dropped what he was doing as the co-chairman of Veterans for Trump in New Hampshire to join up with the Bundy family members in Oregon to attempt to kickstart a revolution to overthrow the federal government.According to his Facebook, DeLemus (who is married to a New Hampshire Republican state congresswoman) arrived in Burns, Oregon along with a videographer to wage a psyops war on the mainstream media that are spreading lies about the Bundy brothers. screengrab via Raw StoryDeLemus is no stranger to walking right up to the line of insurrection. He has been adamant that the government is ruled by tyranny and may need to be overthrown. The Bundy brothers are just the kind of fanatics that he would latch on to. As the Daily Beast recently reported, DeLemus spent much of 2013 trying to raise an right-wing army in Rochester. He s begging for a fight. I believe that we have another financial collapse coming soon and it will be worse than the one in 2008, Delemus warned. There are stark differences we must realize that we have nearly a 0% interest rate and our debt is nearly double. Not to mention our credit rating has been dropped. On top of this we have a government that has no respect or regard for the rule of law as provided in our Constitution.If we do not stand against this insanity we can be sure we will fully slip into tyranny. We are in a similar position our Founding Fathers found themselves in and their decision to stand was equally difficult. During the 2014 standoff at Bundy Ranch in Nevada, he was right there with the other patriots, marching with guns and facing off against the federal government.Apparently, nobody let him know that Trump was not on the same page. Trump may be a racist, xenophobic narcissist, but he s not let s overthrow the government crazy. At the same time DeLemus was grabbing his camping gear and buying a plane ticket to Oregon, Trump was disavowing the militia. Trump, like many of his Republican challengers, felt the militia was too extreme, even for conservatives.When asked his feelings on the group, he called them lawless. You have to maintain law and order, no matter what. It s a bit awkward that one of his staffers is now joining their ranks.So why would a guy like DeLemus support law and order Trump? That s easy. They share an affinity for hating Muslims.Inspired by the bigotry in Texas, DeLemus recently tried to organize a Draw Muhammad rally in New Hampshire in the hopes of inciting violence between right-wing bigots and Muslim residents. The event fell apart and DeLemus claimed he won against Muslims anyway by spreading awareness. If DeLemus s rush to join an anti-government militia illegally occupying a wildlife refuge shows us anything, it s that Trump s base is teeming with right-wing extremists held together by little more than hatred. It s hard to imagine a single other candidate losing a campaign staffer to an insurrection and maintaining his or her massive lead in the polls, but Trump doesn t rely on anything but his own big mouth to keep himself in the lead.Feature image via YouTube | 0 |
Julian Assange tells what he ll do next and what motivates him. He also believes Trump will be great for freedom of the press in America | 1 |
21st Century Wire says Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive action removing legal obstacles holding up the completion of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines. This story will certainly be a hot button for a lot of people. Reactions will likely depend on one s perspective on Trump, understanding of land issues, thoughts on cultural preservation, energy, US jobs, water quality and ecological harmony.With Progressive Leftwing attacks in full overdrive, post Trump s inauguration, many people are looking to the Trump administration to either confirm their worst fears or their greatest hopes, with every move he makes. But remember, Trump s Art of the Deal, is in play now and things may not always be black/white or good/bad, as this administration performs their first set of actions setting the foundation for the next 4-8 years.Many following the issue are not taking into consideration that the pipeline is more than 90% complete when Obama put a hold on the completion of the DAPL via the US Army Corps of Engineers. Obama s move was hardly one of stopping development of this pipeline but was likely politically motivated.It is worth noting that they had previously approved all plans for the completion of the DAPL in June of 2016 and appears to have been put a hold on the completion in the wake of the elevated protests at the Standing Rock location and the US Presidential election.Regardless, both pipeline projects are divisive political hot potato issues which have now fallen into the hands of Donald Trump. Expect Trump s reaction to generate renewed protests and opportunities for negative press.RT explores the topic further in the report below:RTPresident Donald Trump ordered the removal of obstacles to the construction of two major oil and gas pipelines, which the Obama administration had reluctantly blocked after protests from environmentalists and Native Americans.The construction will be subject to terms and conditions to be negotiated by us, Trump said, citing as an example the need for pipe components to be built in the US.Other presidential actions signed on Tuesday included expediting environmental reviews for critical infrastructure projects and streamlining the extremely cumbersome regulatory process for domestic manufacturing. The regulatory process in this country has become a tangled-up mess, Trump said.Tuesday s actions weren t technically executive orders but presidential memoranda, an executive action ranked just below but with equal force. Unlike an executive order, a presidential memorandum does not have to be numbered, include a cost estimate, or cite the authority under which it is issued.White House spokesman Sean Spicer reminded reporters on Tuesday that the Dakota Access Pipeline is 93 percent complete. Trump intends to sit down with all the parties involved with the pipeline, including Native Americans, and negotiate the best deal that benefits everyone, Spicer said.The new administration wanted to start on the Keystone XL approval process as soon as possible, Spicer said.TrumpDAPLReactions Trump s decision was quickly condemned by environmentalists, Native American activists, the American Civil Liberties Union and a number of Democratic lawmakers. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said the US can t afford to build new pipelines that lock us into burning more fossil fuels and vowed to do everything to stop both pipelines.A lawyer for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said the decision was made hastily and irresponsibly. The tribe said it intended to pursue legal action against Trump s order, adding that the pipeline posed a risk not just for their water supply but also for millions of Americans living downstream.One of the leading organizations in the Standing Rock protests, the Indigenous Environmental Network, called Trump s actions insane and extreme, and nothing short of attacks on our ancestral homelands. Trump is portraying his true self by joining forces with the darkness of the Black Snake pipelines crossing across the culturally and environmentally rich landscape of the prairie lands of America, the IEN said in a statement.The North Dakota Petroleum Council, representing the state s oil producers, hailed the presidential action as a great step forward for energy security in America, the organization s president Ron Ness told Reuters.Keystone XL is a shortcut proposed for the existing system that carries oil and gas from Alberta s shale fields in Canada to Steele City, Nebraska. The segment would have run through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Despite being initially in favor of the pipeline, the Obama administration rejected it in November 2015, citing its overinflated role in [US] political discourse. Obama likewise blocked the final stretch of the Dakota Access (DAPL) pipeline in December, after US military veterans joined Native Americans protesting the construction under Lake Oahe, the principal water source for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota. Most of the 1,172-mile-long pipeline from North Dakota s Bakken shale fields to Illinois has already been completed.Asked about #DakotaAccessPipeline & #Keystone, Spicer says #Trump's focus is jobs, the economy & using US resources https://t.co/m96ivKU6bR pic.twitter.com/10MSqpx5YL RT America (@RT_America) January 23, 2017Both Trump and his nominee for Energy Secretary Rick Perry held shares in Energy Transfer Partners, the company building DAPL, but have since divested of them, according to their attorneys.Following media reports that Trump would revive the pipeline projects, shares of TransCanada, Energy Transfer Partners LP and Energy Transfer Equity LP went up 1.1 percent, 3.3 percent and 1.7 percent respectively, Bloomberg noted.Continue this report at RTREAD MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Trump FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 0 |
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States is committed to helping Iraq recover from three years of war against Islamic State despite President Donald Trump cutting the foreign aid budget, a senior official in its main government aid agency has said. Thomas Staal, the Counselor of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said the agency would continue to provide basic humanitarian services and additional support for minority groups such as psychosocial support to those who suffered genocide, slavery, and gender-based violence. The budget that the president submitted included a 30 percent cut, but for Iraq actually we are looking at additional funding, especially for the victims of Islamic State, Staal told Reuters in an interview at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Trump staked out his position on foreign aid on the campaign trail, casting it as a waste of U.S. tax dollars. The White House proposed slashing the budget for foreign aid by a third. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over Islamic State on Saturday after Iraqi forces drove the last remnants of the group from the country, three years after the militants captured about a third of Iraq s territory. The war has had a devastating impact on the areas previously controlled by the militants. About 3.2 million people remain displaced, the United Nations says. The last estimate by Abadi put the cost of post-war reconstruction at $50 billion, a figure calculated before Iraqi forces retook Mosul, which severely damaged the biggest city in northern Iraq. The U.S. government has provided nearly $1.7 billion in humanitarian assistance for Iraq since the Islamic State takeover of the north in 2014, Staal said. That includes a total of $265 million donated to the United Nations Development Programme s Iraq stabilization fund in 2016 and 2017. USAID has asked UNDP to focus on the minority areas, said Staal, who met with Christian and Yazidi leaders during a five-day visit to Iraq. The primary request from everybody was security, said Staal, who also met with two young women who were sold into slavery by Islamic State fighters. In 2014, more than 3,000 Yezidis were killed by Islamic State in what the United Nations described as a genocidal campaign. Others were sold into sexual slavery or forced to fight. Iraq is exempted from Trump s policy of cutting aid because of the especially terrible plight experienced by Islamic State s victims, Staal said, but it was a short term focus. The long term solution is that the Iraqi government is going to have to provide services to people in a more effective, efficient way, he said. USAID is working directly with Iraqi ministries to train staff and improve efficiency, with procurement reform high up on the agenda, Staal said. Corruption is rife in all levels of government in Iraq, which in 2016 ranked 166 out of 176 countries in Transparency International s Corruption Perception Index. Abadi has repeatedly said that once Islamic State was beaten, fighting corruption would be his next focus. (The story was refiled to fix a typo in paragraph 2) | 1 |
Melania Trump has been taking a relatively low key position in her husband s bid to become our next President. She s more than just arm candy for Donald Trump. She s a tough business woman who s proud to have come to America as an immigrant and earned her citizenship the LEGAL way. Watch her no-nonsense interview here with leftist MSNBC hack host, Mika Brzezinski, who does everything in her power to provoke her and condemn her husband: I followed the law, Trump said in an interview with Mika Brzezinski aired Wednesday on MSNBC s Morning Joe, in discussing the hoops she had to jump through in order to become a citizen of the United States. I never thought to stay here without papers. I had a visa, I traveled every few months back to the country to Slovenia to stamp the visa. I came back, I applied for the green card, I applied for the citizenship later on after many years of green card. So I went by system, I went by the law. And you should do that, you should not just say let me stay here and whatever happens, happens. Trump, who immigrated to the United States from Slovenia in 1996, said that she and her husband are prepared for people to call him names for expressing his viewpoints. I m a full-time mom, and I love it. So, I decided not to be in the campaign so much, but I support my husband 100 percent, she said of her role in the campaign itself. We have thick skin, and we know that people will judge him and people will call names. They don t give him enough credit. From June that he announced, they don t give him enough credit, she said, leading Brzezinski to ask her what she thought about people who felt he insulted Mexicans with his comments that the country is sending rapists and murderers across the border in his announcement speech. Via: Politico | 0 |
Tucker Carlson debates the Russia conspiracy with Mustafa Tameez, former consultant for the Department of Homeland Security. Oh boy! It gets so heated but Tucker gets his point across to this political hack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4xzSKcArdcThe Democrats so desperately want to take down this president that it s getting out of control. Just listen to this former consultant and his spin on the firing of Sally Yates and the Russia investigation. The reason they fired her isn t really the reason they say they fired her? Huh? It s like they can t keep up with all of the made up conspiracy theories. Tameez claims Trump is intimidating the people investigating him Oy vey! Tucker goes off the rails after this political hack tries to pull the same Democrat talking points I m done! | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats on Wednesday outlined how they will question Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch at his confirmation hearing next week over what they say is a pro-corporate bias in his rulings as an appeals court judge. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that the burden is on Gorsuch, a conservative appeals court judge from Colorado, to prove at the hearing starting on Monday that he is an independent judge and not a pro-business activist. “Judge Gorsuch may act like a neutral, calm judge, but his record and his career clearly show he harbors a right-wing, pro-corporate, special-interest legal agenda,” Schumer said. Schumer appeared on Capitol Hill with several individual plaintiffs that Gorsuch ruled against in his position as a judge on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “He expresses a lot of empathy and sympathy for the less powerful,” Schumer said, “but when it comes to time to rule, when the chips are down, far too often he sides with the powerful few over everyday Americans just trying to get a fair shake.” Conservative legal activists who support the nomination say that Democrats are cherry-picking a small number of rulings that distort Gorsuch’s 11-year record as a judge. President Donald Trump nominated Gorsuch on Jan. 31 to fill a yearlong vacancy on the nine-justice Supreme Court. The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate has to approve the appointment for it to take effect. Last year they refused to consider Democratic former president Barack Obama’s nominee to fill the vacancy caused by the February 2016 death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia. Trump’s fellow Republicans control the Senate 52-48, but Schumer repeated his view that Gorsuch would need to win 60 votes, rather than a simple majority, to move toward confirmation. Democrats can seek to use a procedural maneuver to block a confirmation vote if Gorsuch’s supporters cannot muster 60 votes, although Republicans could change the Senate rules. “If a nominee can’t get 60 votes, you don’t change the rules,” Schumer said. “You change the nominee.” Among the plaintiffs who spoke out was truck driver Alphonse Maddin, who was fired after he disobeyed a supervisor and abandoned his trailer at the side of a road after the brakes froze. Gorsuch wrote a dissenting opinion as a three-judge panel ruled last year that Maddin was wrongly terminated and had to be reinstated with back pay. “This was a seven-year battle,” Maddin said. “Seven different judges heard my case. One of those judges found against me. That judge was Neil Gorsuch.” | 0 |
January 20th can't come soon enough. We need this anti-American, terrorist sympathizer out of our White House. #WorstPresidentEver pic.twitter.com/D20c8phH18 Steve Hirsch (@Stevenwhirsch99) December 21, 2016 | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he felt “somewhat” vindicated by Republican congressman Devin Nunes’ announcement that it was possible that some of Trump’s communications had been picked up by government surveillance. “I somewhat do,” Trump said, when asked by a reporter whether he felt vindicated by Nunes’ statement. Trump said on Twitter on March 4 that he was “wiretapped” by his predecessor, President Barack Obama, an accusation Obama denied through a spokesman. | 1 |
The social rot continues in a city that was miraculously cleaned up on Mayor Giuliani s watch. All of the hard work Rudy did to fight crime and make tourists as well as residents feel safe again will all be undone by one Socialist mayor Scofflaws of New York, rejoice the City Council has cleared the way for you to litter, loiter and pee in the street to your heart s content.Watch here:New legislation dubbed the Criminal Justice Reform Act was passed by lawmakers Wednesday, giving miscreants a get-out-of-jail-free card by eliminating the criminal penalties on a raft of quality-of-life crimes.The disgusting and disturbing acts that the council voted to decriminalize include drinking alcohol out of a paper bag, lurking in parks after hours, urinating in the street and making enough of a racket to violate the noise code.Under the legislation, which Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to sign, offenders will face only civil summonses instead of criminal citations.The main part of the reform act sponsored by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito deals with reducing the penalty for public urination and other quality-of-life offenses. It passed by a 40-9 vote in the liberal-leaning council.It aims to keep offenders from getting a permanent criminal record and requires the NYPD to develop guidance for cops on when to issue criminal instead of civil summonses. | 0 |
Listen to the first 30 min segment of this new fortnightly podcast, ON THE QT , hosted by Patrick Henningsen. This new show brings together a number of news stories not covered on the SUNDAY WIRE, as well as additional deep state and geopolitical analysis covering key international events as we read between the headlines.THIS WEEK: Julian Assange is about to drop another Wiki-bomb on the Clinton family s drive to power. What s behind it, the motivations, and will it derail the Clinton political machine? We ll also look at how rigid politically correct regimes transforming university campus life Listen to Episode 4 Part 1 (25 min 30 sec) for FREE on the audio player below. Enjoy the show TO HEAR PART ONE OF EPISODE #4 CLICK HEREIf you like it and would like to hear the FULL episode, as well as enjoy all our premium content for members, subscribe and become a member @21WIRE.TV | 1 |
On November 22, 2014, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was gunned down by Cleveland police as he played with a toy gun in a park. The officers involved in the shooting were cleared of any wrongdoing, even though they shot the child within seconds of arriving at the park. Now, a year and a half later, the city is doing something so outrageous that even the president of the police union is disgusted: billing his mother for his final ambulance ride.On Wednesday, his family s attorney Subodh Chandra spoke to the press about the $500 bill from the city: The callousness, insensitivity and poor judgment required for the city to send a bill is breathtaking. This adds insult to homicide. Not only is Chandra horrified by the city s decision to send Tamir s mom, Samaria Rice, a statement for the cost of the ride, so is police union President Steve Loomis, who said: Subodh Chandra and I have never agreed on anything until now. It is unconscionable that the city of Cleveland would send that bill to the Rice family Truly disappointing, but not at all surprising. It s hard to imagine what the city was thinking when they sent his mother that invoice. Ms.Rice said that she believes the city is harassing her because of the civil suit she has against them, and it sure sounds like that.This isn t the first time Cleveland has responded to the little boy s family with such callousness. When Rice filed the lawsuit against the city they blamed Tamir s death on himself, claiming he failed to exercise due care to avoid injury. Because apparently it is a child s responsibility to not be shot by a trigger-happy police officer who had a history of mental health problems. This 12-year-old was supposed to know that a cop, someone who was supposed to protect him, was going to shoot him without even speaking to him because he looked scary. The Department of Justice is still investigating the department and we can only hope that this child finally gets the justice he deserves; we also hope that Samaria Rice prevails in her civil suit and teaches this disgusting city a lesson. Featured image via Addicting Info archives | 1 |
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House plans to ask the U.S. Congress for a third round of disaster aid in mid-November as the costs continue to pour in for helping rebuild after hurricanes, but Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has told lawmakers he wants to see spending cuts elsewhere. Mulvaney said the federal government is assessing how much it will cost to help Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas and the U.S. Virgin Islands rebuild after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria caused massive damages in August and September. Mulvaney expects the damages to add up to “several tens of billions of dollars,” he said in a letter to Senate Leader Mitch McConnell dated Tuesday. “As we move toward the longer-term issue of rebuilding the impacted areas of our nation, we believe that it is appropriate that the Congress consider reducing spending elsewhere in order to offset what will, again, be a significant amount of unbudgeted spending,” Mulvaney said in the letter. President Donald Trump is slated to receive a briefing on hurricane recovery efforts later on Wednesday in Dallas, where he is attending fundraising events. The Office of Management and Budget has drawn up a preliminary list of more than $5.5 billion in unspent funds that could be cut, Mulvaney said in a separate letter to lawmakers on Senate and House appropriations committees. The list includes $4.3 billion from an Energy Department loan program for advanced technology vehicle manufacturing and almost $730 million in funds no longer needed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for projects related to Hurricane Sandy recovery, Mulvaney said. | 1 |
Earlier today, Donald Trump told a group of U.S. governors that his mysterious, frustratingly nonspecific replacement plan for Obamacare (also known as the Affordable Care Act) would give states more flexibility amongst other soaring promises. He also thanked some of the governors in the room for helping him because he obviously knew nothing about health care before he stepped into his role as POTUS and he probably still doesn t.Trump s plan to repeal and replace Obamacare was a disaster from the start, and we re now seeing protests erupt across the country as millions of Americans stand to lose life-saving affordable health care if Trump gets his way. Many prominent GOPers have also spoken out against completely taking Obamacare away from the American people, but Trump isn t listening.In his speech, Trump addressed the reason why his plan has been so secretive and poorly planned. Stating that health care was unbelievably complex , he said: We have come up with a solution that s really, really I think very good. It s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated. We have a plan that I think is going to be fantastic. It s going to be released fairly soon. I think it s going to be something special I think you re going to like what you hear. And of course, he couldn t provide any details as usual. Despite bragging about the Republican Party s major move to repeal and replace a health care law that has given millions of Americans affordable, accessible health care, Trump and the GOP have done nothing but stall and beat around the bush. And yet despite having a concrete solution, Trump dissed Obamacare: As soon as we touch it, if we do the most minute thing, just a tiny little change, what s going to happen? They re going to say it s the Republicans problem. But we have to do what s right because Obamacare is a failed disaster. You can watch Trump s speech below:Featured image via Pool / Getty Images | 0 |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A senior Russian banker who met President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, did not do so on the Kremlin’s orders, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. Kushner, who was quizzed on Monday by Senate investigators on his contacts with Russians as part of an investigation into possible Kremlin meddling in last year’s presidential election, said he had met Sergei Gorkov, the head of Russian state-owned Vnesheconombank, on Dec. 13. Russia flatly denies it interfered with the U.S. election. When asked about Kushner’s meeting on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that Gorkov had been in the United States as part of a roadshow meeting various U.S. representatives in the course of his work. “These contacts do no need any approval from the Kremlin and naturally (these meetings) did not happen on the Kremlin’s orders,” Peskov said. He said it was “normal practice” for the head of a major Russian bank conducting a roadshow to hold various meetings. | 0 |
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Buzz Cut:
• Hillary’s Faberge egg candidacy
• O’Malley: ‘Contrasts will become apparent’
• Power Play: Border surge redux
• 2016 GOP Power Index: Christie tries to get a rally going
• The bull is back
HILLARY’S FABERGE EGG CANDIDACY
New Hampshire is a happy place for Hillary Clinton. It was there in 1992 that her husband saved his candidacy, with her help, from the sex scandal that was about to consume it. Bill Clinton’s second-place finish was enough to keep his campaign on track. Sixteen years later, a tearful plea to New Hampshire voters
helped her win there and break the momentum of upstart Barack Obama, setting up an arduous six-month battle for the nomination. On this visit, Clinton needs no comeback. There is no contest among Democrats, so far. But there is danger. With independent and moderate voters likely to be drawn to the high-octane, wide-open GOP nominating contest, the Democratic primary electorate will likely be more liberal than it was in 2012. If Clinton is going to be again denied the presidency, New Hampshire would be a good place for the revolution to begin. But so far, Democrats are falling in line.
[Clinton tours Whitney Brothers, Inc., a family-owned small business, today in Keene, New Hampshire. She will participate in a roundtable discussion with employees and company leadership.]
As Clinton tries to have it both ways on issues like free trade, she is counting on Democrats to indulge her. Clinton’s strategy appears to be based on an expectation that her party will continue to treat her candidacy as something rare, fragile and valuable – the Faberge egg candidate. But the handling keeps getting rougher. As the NYT reports today, a bombshell book is due out soon that makes the case that the Clintons’ massive fortune was amassed in part with the help of overseas patrons, some very unsavory. “The book, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, asserts that foreign entities who made payments to the Clinton Foundation and to Mr. Clinton through high speaking fees received favors from Mrs. Clinton’s State Department in return.” The scandals around Clinton continue to remind Democrats what they don’t like about their presumptive nominee.
[WashEx: “Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is drawing a populist bead on lavish Wall Street pay packages as she revs up her march to the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, but in some respects the fat-per-speech fee she can charge puts her far ahead of the top 10 highest-paid American CEOs.”]
If at any time Democrats start taking her challengers seriously, Clinton could find herself in serious trouble. But that is a very big “if.” None so far look plausible, though former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is hovering closer to that space. Even so, she remains a prohibitive favorite. The chances, though, of Clinton having to defend her record and explain her ethical lapses in the context of a primary campaign seem to be growing steadily. Can Clinton, baggage-laden and with so many unanswered questions really avoid participating in debates? A candidate who still hasn’t answered a single tough question or spoken to any reporter a full week after declaring would appear to be living in some denial.
[Watch Fox: Chief White House Correspondent Ed Henry reports live from New Hampshire.]
O’MALLEY: ‘CONTRASTS WILL BECOME APPARENT’
NPR: “Martin O'Malley, former governor of Maryland, says he’ll decide by late May if he’s running for president. … O’Malley is positioning himself to Clinton’s left, and even President Obama's left. He’s for a much higher minimum wage, and against a major trade deal - the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep, O’Malley also said he wants to increase Social Security benefits, even though some people would pay more taxes. … Last month, he addressed a crowd in Iowa while standing on a chair. Last week, he gave a speech at Harvard. And this week, he’s in the early primary state of South Carolina. ‘I’ve been an executive and a progressive executive with a record of accomplishments,’ the former Baltimore mayor said of the difference between him and Clinton. ‘I think contrasts will become apparent.’”
[CBS: “‘I believe that if you have the executive experience, the ideas that can serve our nation well, and the ability to govern, you should offer your candidacy and then let the people decide. If we do that, then we can be the party that leads our country into the future,’ O'Malley said in an interview with CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ Sunday. ‘But we won’t do it unless we offer ideas for the future and break with things like bad trade deals, the systematic deregulation of Wall Street that many Democrats were complicit in and helped get us into this mess.’”]
Webb bashes Iran deal - WashEx: “Former Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., on Sunday criticized the White House’s proposed nuclear deal with Iran, saying that the administration’s negotiators had given away too much and that would create further problems in the Middle East. ‘We don't want to be sending signals into this region that we are acquiescing to the situation where Iran might become more dominant,’ Webb, a potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former secretary of the U.S. Navy, said in an appearance on the CNN program ‘State Of The Union.’”
Chaffee stays on Hillary’s Iraq war support - The Hill: “[Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee’s] way of making a name for himself against his newly adopted party’s frontrunner is to hit the former secretary of State particularly hard on the issue that was a liability in her failed 2008 run. ‘She needs to be asked hard questions about her Iraq war vote and her tenure as Secretary of State and where she wants to take this country,’ he told The Hill in an interview. ‘I think she’s tone deaf on some of these issues.’ Clinton and Chafee both served in the Senate during the run-up to the war, but while Clinton ultimately cast her vote in favor of authorizing troops, Chafee voted no.”
2016 Democratic Power Index - 1) Hillary Clinton; 2) Martin O’Malley; 3) Jim Webb [+1]; 4) Joe Biden [-1] 5) Lincoln Chaffee 6) Elizabeth Warren [-1]
[Watch Fox: Chris Stirewalt joins Gretchen Carlson on “The Real Story” in the 2 p.m. ET hour with the latest on who’s up and who’s down in the 2016 Power Index.]
POWER PLAY: BORDER SURGE REDUX
The administration says the numbers are down, but with a surge expected soon, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, tells Chris Stirewalt that much like last summer, thousands of minors are pouring across the U.S.-Mexico border and that the system is becoming overwhelmed. WATCH HERE.
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE…
What would a painting of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto look like? Dusty rose colors yielding to wild, intense slashes of crimson, one would think. How about the Talking Heads’ “Naïve Melody”? Surly that would be deep blues with warm flashes of orange. Right? Even for those not celebrating 4/20, visualizing beloved music is commonplace, but very personal and highly subjective. Cool Hunting brings us the story of artist Tim Bavington, who is exploring the connection between music and color in a studio on the edge of the desert in Las Vegas. Bavington developed a color wheel that allows him to translate each note in a piece of sheet music to a line of color on a canvass. The results are arresting and will make you say “Yes!” when you see some of your favorite songs turned into art.
Got a TIP from the RIGHT or LEFT? Email [email protected]
POLL CHECK
Real Clear Politics Averages
Obama Job Approval: Approve – 44.7 percent//Disapprove – 50.3 percent
Direction of Country: Right Direction – 29.6 percent//Wrong Track – 60.5 percent
2016 GOP POWER INDEX: CHRISTIE TRIES TO GET A RALLY GOING
After a weekend of intense campaigning in New Hampshire by every viable Republican candidate, no big upsets in your GOP Power Index, but a couple of things are coming into focus: First, the two tiers in the top 10 are becoming clearer. As each day goes by, it will be harder to break out of the bottom five and into the top. The other big development from the weekend is that Chris Christie’s long and large investment in New Hampshire is going to yield something for the New Jerseyan. Christie is counting on New Hampshire to keep him in the game long enough to make it to the debate state. Given the number of independents and even moderate Democrats likely to flock to the GOP’s open primary, Christie may get his moment.
1) Jeb Bush; 2) Scott Walker; 3) Marco Rubio; 4) Ted Cruz; 5) Rand Paul; 6) Mike Huckabee; 7) Carly Fiorina; 8) Chris Christie [+2]; 9) John Kasich; 10) Rick Perry [-2]
On the Radar - Ben Carson, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham
What would you say? - Give us your take on the GOP field and we will share the best and brightest with the whole class. Send your thoughts to [email protected]
Humble, pie - Politico: “[F]ormer Florida governor [Jeb Bush] worked hard on this foray to exude humility. He distanced himself from his brother and father, insisting that he is his ‘own man’ who will roll out his own ideas. He declined to critique George W. Bush’s foreign policy during one of his press gaggles on the grounds that it would require him to look backward when he was focused on the future. He also repeatedly invoked the birth this week of his fourth grandson.”
[Bush heads to Washington State today for a roundtable and reception for his super PAC ‘Right to Rise.’ The roundtable prices start at $12,500 per couple.]
Walker keeps it real - WaPo: “Calling voters ‘folks’ and boasting about his cut-rate suits from Jos. A. Bank, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker campaigned vigorously in New Hampshire…Walker’s brash, populist pitch was a direct shot at his better-heeled GOP rivals and the likely Democratic nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom he dismissed as out of touch as well as beatable…Walker presented himself as a natural fit.”
Rubio makes Iran a centerpiece of campaign - Wash Times: “The Florida Republican said the best way to thwart Iran is to leave unilateral and international sanctions in place. ‘You combine that with a very clear demarcation to the Iranian regime. And that is this. If you cross this threshold, you will face military action on the part of the United States,’ he told CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’ program. ‘We don’t want that to happen. But the risk of a nuclear Iran is so great that that option must be on the table.’ The Senate Foreign Relations Committee cleared a calibrated approach to the ongoing negotiations last week, with Republicans and Democrats unanimously approving a bill that would force any Iran nuclear deal to be submitted to Congress.”
[Rubio got his groove on to his favorite tunes. Or so TMZ made it seem. The entertainment site snagged a quick interview with Rubio at Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport. The Florida Senator said that he was a fan of David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia. As he walked away TMZ added a little music and slow motion to his strut.]
Cruz’s pitch: Victory, not compromise - Bloomberg: “In Litchfield [N.H.], [Sen. Ted Cruz] promised conservatives that they could win without ‘making the party bigger.’ Just as [Sen. Rand Paul] had, he embraced the trappings of the setting; his wife, Heidi, even doffed an ‘Armed and Fabulous’ baseball cap, provided by one of the gun groups. A man wearing a shirt with the legend ‘Molon Labe’ (Greek for ‘come and take it’) stood feet away from a man plastered in dragon tattoos…. They were interested in libertarian principles, and Cruz was offering—unlike Paul—liberty without compromise. ‘If you compare 2004, the last race Republicans won, to 2008 and 2012, by far the biggest difference is the millions of conservatives who showed up in 2004, who stayed home in 2008, and stayed home in even bigger numbers,’ said Cruz. ‘So how do you win? I think the key question is, you figure out how to bring back those millions of voters.’”
[In a National Review op-ed, Ted Cruz took on NYT’s Friday editorial that called the Texas Senator’s support of the Second Amendment “strange” and “silly.”]
Rand’s brother: He’s just like dad - BuzzFeed: “Rand Paul’s brother [Ronnie Paul] says that when it comes to ideology, there’s ‘no difference’ between his brother, the Kentucky senator and Republican presidential candidate, and his father, the former congressman and three-time presidential candidate….‘The difference is purely in implementation,’ Paul’s eldest son said.”
[NY Daily News: “Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul got the Clinton-bashing ball rolling early Saturday at the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit, snarking that when the former secretary of state travels, “there’s going to need to be two planes — one for her and her entourage, and one for her baggage. “I’m concerned that the plane with the baggage is really getting heavy and teetering.”]
Don’t underestimate Huckabee - NYT: “It is easy to overlook the significance of evangelicals in the Republican Party. It may even seem that their influence is waning as the country rapidly becomes more liberal on cultural issues, and as some Republican candidates adopt more moderate stances on same-sex marriage. But the religious right remains the single largest voting bloc in the Republican Party, and that role has not diminished at all over the last decade. Evangelical Christians make up 49 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaners, according to a Pew Research polarization data set from 2014 consisting of 10,000 interviews. White evangelicals represent 40 percent of Republican leaners. They represent as much as 80 percent of the primary vote in the Deep South and, more significantly, around 60 percent of Iowa caucus-goers.”
Bank shot: Carly jabs Bubba on ‘hormones’ - Daily Mail: “Soon-to-be Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina put a cork in the bubbling debate, started this week by a female CEO, about whether a woman president could control her hormones. 'Not that we haven’t seen a man’s judgment clouded by hormones in the Oval Office,' Fiorina told a crowd of New Hampshire Republicans this morning - a clear dig at former President Bill Clinton. Clinton, whose wife Hillary is now a Democratic presidential candidate, faced impeachment during his second term in office over his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.”
[Fiorina hits Indianapolis today as the keynote speaker for the 25th Annual Lugar Series Luncheon.]
Christie connects - NJ.com: “Gov. Chris Christie sent a strong signal this past week he's working a different strategy for a likely 2016 presidential bid….[he] appears more interested in letting people ask him questions than simply giving speeches. [At the N.H. GOP summit] Christie introduced himself briefly on Friday and then jumped right into questions…the New Hampshire version of the Christie town hall was toned down, felt less orchestrated and gave more of an opportunity for the voters who play an important role in deciding the nation's next president to ask what was on their minds.”
[National Review examines the odds against Christie as a comeback kid.]
Kasich ‘more serious’ on 2016 presidential bid - The Hill: “Ohio Gov. John Kasich is becoming increasingly interested in joining a crowded Republican presidential field in 2016, he said Sunday, although all options remain on the table. ‘I’m more and more serious or I wouldn’t be doing these things,’ Kasich said Sunday on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ referring to his recent travel to early voting states, including stops in South Carolina and New Hampshire this weekend.”
Perry builds brain trust - Bloomberg: “Rick Perry is beefing up his policy shop. … That effort now includes the hiring of the widely respected Avik Roy, a former health care adviser to Mitt Romney and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, who will become RickPAC's senior adviser, the person said. Also coming on board: Abby McCloskey, whose conservative credentials include work as an economic policy program director for American Enterprise Institute, will head Perry’s national policy team. Brett Fetterly, a graduate student at John Hopkins University who studied under former U.S. Ambassador Eric Edelman, will coordinate Perry’s foreign policy shop.”
EMPOWERED BY MIDTERM FLIP, MANCHIN WILL STAY IN SENATE
Roll Call: “Sen. Joe Manchin III will not be taking any country roads home to West Virginia any time soon. The Democratic senator announced Sunday he’s decided against seeking a return to the Mountaineer State’s governor’s mansion in 2016. That’s good news for Manchin’s fellow Democrats as an open Senate seat could prove difficult to hold in a special election. His term is not up until the 2018 cycle.”
[The dean of West Virginia political journalism, Hoppy Kercheval, has the lay of the land in the state post-Manchin announcement.]
DANA’S GUIDE FOR PATRIOTIC PARENTS
Dana Perino describes her experience visiting Washington as a child and how that inspired her to pursue a career in politics. In her new book “And the Good News Is…,” Perino recommends that parents take their children to Washington, D.C. twice – once when they are between the ages of 7-10 for the wonder of it all, and then again between ages 15-17 after they’ve learned more about our system of government and have studied more American history.”
THE BULL IS BACK
A few weeks ago, we brought you the story of the giant, anatomically correct metal bull statue at a restaurant in Utah getting turned into a steer. Well, it’s back. After owner Stephen Ward heard numerous complaints about the removal he decided to give the bull back his party-hat shaped extremity. Ward said his decision had nothing to do with authorities or their desire to have it removed, but he does plan on suing the mayor for ‘lying’ about him in an interview. The mayor said Ward had a variance for his liquor license due to his proximity to a local school. Ward denies this claim, and said he has the city “by the...” well, you can guess what he said.
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.
Chris Stirewalt joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in July of 2010 and serves as digital politics editor based in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he authors the daily "Fox News First" political news note and hosts "Power Play," a feature video series, on FoxNews.com. Stirewalt makes frequent appearances on the network, including "The Kelly File," "Special Report with Bret Baier," and "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace." He also provides expert political analysis for Fox News coverage of state, congressional and presidential elections. | 0 |
CNN host Chris Cuomo definitely drew the short straw when he was asked to fill in for host Don Lemon, on Tonight with Don Lemon . Unfortunately for Cuomo, he was tasked with interviewing the outrageous, nonsensical Lavar Ball, father of UCLA basketball player LiAngelo Ball, who was arrested in China for shoplifting. Americans were outraged when Lavar refused to thank President Trump for asking Chinese President Xi to allow the young men to be set free, and took it a step further when he insisted Trump didn t deserve any credit for his son s release.Watch:CNN compiled a list of some of Lavar Ball s most incredible comments during the interview. Here is a sampling of Lavar s bizarre remarks during the interview (Our comments are in italics): It s not like he was in the US and said, OK, there s three kids in China, I need to go over there and get them? That wasn t the thought process, right? I don t have to say, to go around saying thank you to everybody. You come around and shake my hand, and meet me, or meet my son, or anybody and then say you know what, maybe I can help you out. Just because people say things, you know, that s supposed to be true, like hey, I stopped him from serving ten years. Maybe we were doing some talking with other people before he even got there. I don t have no doubts about what he did. I got doubts about what he didn t do. Huh? If I m coming to get you out of trouble, you best believe I m going to take you with me. It s just somebody ask me a question and I gave a lot of confusion to you. Uhh while we re talking about confusion, can someone please explain what the hell he just said? Why is it confusing? Are you concerned? Somebody can make a suggestion and somebody could do something. You have people that make suggestions you got people that do things. Why are we talking about this with all these political matters going on in the world? Says the guy who has no idea why President Trump was in China in the first place. I know exactly what I said. But you buffered it up like you said that you don t want to say thank you to nobody. Buffered it up? I know you re trying to add tone to it because that s what you do. Can you add tone to someone s tone when they, themselves are speaking on tv? I had some things done, I talked to some people that did some things, too. If you want something, and you want it, you shouldn t just go and steal it. You can to Africa and somewhere and do the same thing anywhere you go in someone else s country, yes, it s going to be a little deeper than what you thought it was. Ball asked Cuomo if Trump paid their bail, suggesting that if he did, then, he would be grateful to the President. This comment is nothing short of spectacularly incredible. I m asking you, I m asking you. Did he do it? Let him do his political affairs and let me handle my son and let s just stay in our lane. Somebody asked me a question, man. I give him my opinion, but I am not taking a shot at the president. Yeah, okay Lavar. Whatever you say I m not the other guys, though. I m not the other guys. I m doing something else. I m not the other guys. Lavar Ball then goes on to ask CNN host Chris Cuomo to thank him. Can you say thank you, Mr. LaVar Ball? When Cuomo seems to be confused as to why Ball is asking him to thank Ball, Ball then asks another idiotic question: Give me a couple of reasons why you re thanking me. You don t say thank you like any kind of word. Next, Lavar reminds the CNN host that he has a title, and would appreciate it if Chris Cuomo would address him by his title: My title is LaVar Ball, the big baller, the CEO of the Big Baller Brand. But the Chinese people were like, you know what, he s OK. He has so much character in 18 years that he s allow to have a pass for that. Uhh actually, no they weren t. They were thinking about how many years his son would be sentenced, possibly to hard labor for the crimes he committed in their country.This may be the funniest line of all. Ball asks the anti-Trump CNN host if he s Trump s brother ? Are you Trump s brother? You want me to thank you? Did you thank the doctor for bringing you into this world? Well, you better go back and find him. Because you lucky. Apparently, this is Lavar logic Ball then changes gears and makes yet another strange comment: I like how you keep saying my whole name, man. Cuomo then responds to Ball, explaining that his friends call him Mo. My friends call me Mo. You can call me Mo. Finally, Ball makes his final and completely ignorant remark to end the completely off-the-wall segment with Cuomo: Chrome-Mo like Google. Like the Google Chrome. ??????????? | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration will continue to pay subsidies for low-income Americans receiving healthcare coverage under Obamacare, but no decisions have been made about future funding, a White House official said on Wednesday. “While we agreed to go ahead and make the ... payments for now, we haven’t made a final decision about future commitments,” the official said. | 0 |
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s recent speech on immigration really missed the point. I understand Trump’s frustration over the US government’s inability to control the US borders and keep out those who would come to this country illegally. Trump was right that the media ignore legitimate questions we have on our immigration policy and he is right that special interests have a great interest in maintaining the status quo.
However when it comes to really solving the immigration problem he gets it all wrong. And instead of making us more free and prosperous, his solutions will accelerate our downward slide toward authoritarianism.
First let’s consider his idea of building a big wall between the US and Mexico. It is said that all one needs to get over an eight foot fence is a nine foot ladder. Or perhaps a shovel. So walls are never very good at keeping people out. But they are very good at keeping people in. Just ask the East Germans. The communist government claimed in 1961 that it had to build a wall around the portion of Berlin it controlled to keep the population safe from the evil capitalist wreckers and saboteurs. It didn’t take long for the world to realize that the real threat to the East German leaders was that the people trapped in East Berlin would try to get out. We have all seen the horrific videos of East German civilians risking – and losing – their lives to escape that prison of razor wire and cinder block.
Is this really what we want for our own future?
What a wild conspiracy theory, some may claim. The wall would never be meant to keep us from leaving. Well ask the IRS. Under a tax enforcement provision passed in 2015, the US government claimed the right to cancel any American citizen’s passport if Washington claims it is owed money.
Trump also made E-Verify the center of his immigration speech. He said, “We will ensure that E-Verify is used to the fullest extent possible under existing law, and we will work with Congress to strengthen and expand its use across the country.”
While preventing those here illegally from being able to gain employment may appeal to many who would like to protect American jobs, E-Verify is the worst possible solution. It is a police state non-solution, as it would require the rest of us legal American citizens to carry a biometric national ID card connected to a government database to prove that the government allows us to work. A false positive would result in financial disaster for millions of American families, as one would be forced to fight a faceless government bureaucracy to correct the mistake. Want to put TSA in charge of deciding if you are eligible to work?
The battle against illegal immigration is a ploy to gain more control over our lives. We are supposed to be terrified of the hoards of Mexicans streaming into our country and thus grant the government new authority over the rest of us. But in fact a Pew study found that between 2009 and 2014 there was a net loss of 140,000 Mexican immigrants from the United States. Yes, this is a government “solution” in search of a real problem.
How to tackle the real immigration problem? Eliminate incentives for those who would come here to live off the rest of us, and make it easier and more rational for those who wish to come here legally to contribute to our economy. No walls, no government databases, no biometric national ID cards. But not a penny in welfare for immigrants. It’s really that simple. | 0 |
Wow! CNN host Chris Cuomo tells viewers it s ILLEGAL to read the Wikileaks emails, but if you watch them, they will tell you what they say. And no he s not kidding! https://twitter.com/Always_Trump/status/787673496537092096Sounds pretty legit Here s leftist CNN host telling his viewers, We couldn t help Hillary anymore than we have. | 0 |
Butler Shaffer https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/re-jury-nullification-2/
Chris: It is telling not only that this academician has tenure, but that he has tenure at a STATE university. Do you think he might be concerned that this jury’s decision might reflect a growing disrespect for the arbitrary arrogance of state power; a weakening that might endanger his continued employment? 12:20 | 1 |
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration proposed a rule on Friday aimed at attracting thousands of immigrant entrepreneurs to start companies in the United States. The rule, proposed by the Department of Homeland Security, would ease the ability of startup founders to build companies if they have significant funding from U.S. investors. The administration hopes the rule will be completed before President Barack Obama’s term ends on Jan. 20. The proposed rule is part of Obama’s commitment to “attracting the world’s best and brightest entrepreneurs to start the next great companies here,” Tom Kalil, a technology policy adviser at the White House, told reporters in a call. Kalil said immigrants have co-founded as many as one in four high-tech startups across the United States and more than half of all startups in Silicon Valley. Immigration has been a crucial issue in the 2016 presidential campaign ahead of the Nov. 8 election. Republican candidate Donald Trump has vowed to toughen immigration policies, while Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has proposed creating an office of immigrant affairs to expand Obama’s efforts to help immigrants integrate better into the country. Under the rule, DHS would issue temporary permission for entrepreneurs to live in the United States if they have at least 15 percent ownership in startup companies formed in the country within the past three years. The companies must have investment of at least $345,000 from qualified U.S. investors. The administration expects about 3,000 immigrants would apply for the temporary permission, known as parole. Max Levchin, a co-founder of PayPal and other companies who was born in Ukraine, said the proposed rule is a “great, concrete step toward creating more jobs in America and more success stories.” Many entrepreneurs are educated at prestigious U.S. universities, but find themselves unable to stay in the country because they lose visa lotteries or can’t afford to sponsor themselves through an existing investor visa program. “We lose and will continue to lose talented, skilled, well educated scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs because they are simply not allowed to stay and work after we educated them to very high standards,” Levchin said. “It makes very little sense.” | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate panel tasked with vetting labor secretary nominee and fast-food executive Andrew Puzder will hold his confirmation hearing on Feb.16, now that his ethics paperwork has been submitted to Congress, a committee spokesman said Wednesday. Puzder’s certification from the Office of Government Ethics arrived at the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions exactly two months after Puzder was nominated to the job by President Donald Trump. A spokesman for Puzder, George Thompson, said he expects that Puzder will turn in a separate questionnaire to the committee by Thursday morning. Puzder is the chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants Inc, which owns primarily franchised restaurants including Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. Tentative plans for Puzder’s hearing have been repeatedly postponed amid delays with a review by the Office of Government Ethics. Those stem from the complexities surrounding how Puzder will divest himself from CKE Restaurants, which is owned by private equity firm Roark Capital Group. Other companies in Roark Capital’s portfolio include Corner Bakery, Cinnabon, Arby’s, Carvel and Auntie Anne’s. Senate Democrats have been highly critical of Puzder, a staunch critic of an overtime rule championed by the former Obama administration. His nomination has sparked protests around the country by some CKE fast-food workers and the union-backed “Fight for $15” movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Workers from a number of CKE’s franchised locations have also complained of wage and hour concerns and other labor conditions in recent weeks. In a letter to Puzder sent on Wednesday before the ethics paperwork was sent to the Senate, the committee’s ranking Democrat, Patty Murray, said she wanted to receive a “detailed account” of his plans for recusals, divestments and resignations in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest stemming from his business relationship with Roark Capital Group. “The franchise model’s pervasive presence in the fast food industry, the frequency of serious labor violations connected with franchising and your past or present financial interest in Roark raise questions regarding your ability to faithfully carry out the Department of Labor’s mandate,” Murray wrote. | 1 |
Former White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that there were some clear red lines that would cause former President Obama to speak out publicly against federal action.In an interview, MSNBC s Chris Jansing asked Earnest about the former president s promise to weigh in publicly if he senses a threat to America s core values. Obama spoke out in support of protests of President Trump s controversial temporary immigration ban proposal at the end of January. What do you think, Jansing asked Earnest, would motivate him to get back involved in the public debate in a way that he s not willing to do right now? Earnest made clear that Obama would not be interested in responding to every little thing. After the last eight years, the president doesn t relish the prospect of getting back into the day-to-day fights that characterize governing the United States of America in the 21st century, Earnest said. He spent the last eight years doing it, it s somebody else s turn to do that now. What would motivate President Obama to reengage in the political debate, Earnest continued, is if we saw the federal government start to cross some clear red lines in terms of long-observed norms and values that frankly I think that we started to take for granted. For entire story: WFBWatch:Earnest s use of the term red lines was noteworthy given Obama s infamous history with the phrase. Obama pledged in 2012 that Syria using chemical weapons would cross a red line with him, but he backed off taking unilateral military action when the Assad regime did so in 2013. | 1 |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The chances that the Republican Party will decide its nominee for the November presidential election through a brokered convention have increased since Super Tuesday even as front-runner Donald Trump has racked up primary wins, according to two online betting sites. According to PredictIt, the probability of a brokered convention stood at 43 percent as of midday on Wednesday, following primaries in five states, including Florida and Illinois, the previous night. That was up from 35 percent on March 2, the day after Trump won contests in seven out of 11 states, according to the website, which is run by Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. According to Ladbrokes PLC, another online betting site, the chances of a brokered convention were 4-5 on Wednesday, down from evens on March 2. That means there is a 56 percent probability of a brokered convention, up from 50 percent. Trump’s chances of winning the general election dropped to 5/2 from 2/1 despite his victories on Tuesday night, but Ladbrokes attributed the result partly to a large single bet of nearly $20,000 that skewed the results. That gives him a 29 percent probability of winning, down from 33 percent. The billionaire New York businessman has emerged as the clear leader in the Republican race. On Tuesday, he scored big wins in primaries in Florida, Illinois and North Carolina, knocking out rival Marco Rubio and bringing him closer to the 1,237 convention delegates he needs to win the nomination. But he lost the crucial state of Ohio and left the door open for those in the party trying to stop him from becoming the Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 election. That means that Trump might fall short of the majority required, enabling the party’s establishment to put forward another name at the July convention in Cleveland to formally pick its candidate. Meanwhile, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency fell to 4/9 from 8/15. That increases her probability of winning to 69 percent from 65 percent following Tuesday’s primary victories in Florida, Illinois, Ohio and North Carolina. Those wins cast doubt on U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ ability to overtake her for the Democratic Party’s nomination. | 1 |
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