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TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday that he wants North Korea to understand it has no bright future if it continues on its current path and that the reclusive country needs to change its policies. Abe told reporters he wants to discuss the North Korea situation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Korean President Moon Jae In separately when they meet this week in Vladivostok. Abe and Putin are also expected to discuss economic cooperation and a peace treaty between the two nations. | 0 |
Donald Trump just pissed off veterans.Trump likes to claim that he loves the men and women who serve our country in the military, but on Monday morning, he proved otherwise by viciously attacking Senator Richard Blumenthal s military record.Blumenthal took to CNN on Monday morning to caution against obstructing the Russia investigation. Of course, thin-skinned Trump took offense and lashed out on Twitter.It should be pointed out that Blumenthal misspoke about his service during the Vietnam War on a few occasions. He never claimed to be involved in any battles. He also never cried like a little baby. But unlike Trump, Blumenthal actually did enlist with the Marine Corps Reserve and served for six years. He didn t go to Vietnam but he did serve.Donald Trump repeatedly dodged the draft and then received a medical deferment not long after being declared perfectly fit for service. Trump supposedly had bone spurs in his foot, but no proof exists to prove his claims. Like many over-privileged people at the time, Trump used his status to evade military service.Trump s attack on a U.S. Marine disgusted veterans, who ripped him a new one on social media.You re one to talk about Vietnam. #VetsAgainstTrump Vets Against Trump (@Vets_Vs_Trump) August 7, 20175 Draft Deferments, using your wealth and privilege to avoid fighting while others less elite were drafted. #VetsAgainstTrump Vets Against Trump (@Vets_Vs_Trump) August 7, 2017 He s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren t captured. @realDonaldTrump Vets Against Trump (@Vets_Vs_Trump) August 7, 2017You fought to kick Vietnam Veteran street vendors off of 5th Avenue because you felt that Veterans made the street less classy. Vets Against Trump (@Vets_Vs_Trump) August 7, 2017You attacked a Gold Star family, because they asked you to read the United States Constitution. #VetsAgainstTrump Vets Against Trump (@Vets_Vs_Trump) August 7, 2017You exploited a grief-stricken Gold Star Widow on national TV, using her as a political prop while her dead SEAL s Dad condemned you. Vets Against Trump (@Vets_Vs_Trump) August 7, 2017You took an un-earned Purple Heart medal, and bragged about how you always wanted a Purple Heart this is much easier. Vets Against Trump (@Vets_Vs_Trump) August 7, 2017You attacked Veterans with PTSD, saying that wounded warriors struggling with their experiences are not strong. Vets Against Trump (@Vets_Vs_Trump) August 7, 2017You dress up like a tiny general, in flight jackets and military hats, even though you ve never served a day in your life. Vets Against Trump (@Vets_Vs_Trump) August 7, 2017You claimed that your military-themed boarding school your father sent you to for poor discipline was just like being in the military. Vets Against Trump (@Vets_Vs_Trump) August 7, 2017You bragged on a radio show that contracting STDs was your personal Vietnam. Vets Against Trump (@Vets_Vs_Trump) August 7, 2017You bragged that you d be best for the vets, and then once elected made a budget that would take away retired vets disability payments. Vets Against Trump (@Vets_Vs_Trump) August 7, 2017Donald Trump should be ashamed of himself. Because it s very clear that the men and women who serve, or have served, in the military are ashamed of him.Read more:Featured Image: Alex Wong/Getty Images | 0 |
U.S. politicians rarely acknowledge this odious past — let alone acknowledge that such policies continue well into the present day.
In the second Democratic presidential debate, however, candidate Bernie Sanders condemned a long-standing government policy his peers rarely admit exists.
“I think we have a disagreement,” Sanders said of fellow presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. “And the disagreement is that not only did I vote against the war in Iraq. If you look at history, you will find that regime change — whether it was in the early ’50s in Iran, whether it was toppling Salvador Allende in Chile, or whether it was overthrowing the government of Guatemala way back when — these invasions, these toppling of governments, regime changes have unintended consequences. I would say that on this issue I’m a little bit more conservative than the secretary.”
“I am not a great fan of regime changes,” Sanders added.
“Regime change” is not a phrase you hear discussed honestly much in Washington, yet it is a common practice in and defining feature of U.S. foreign policy for well over a century. For many decades, leaders from both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, have pursued a bipartisan strategy of violently overthrowing democratically elected foreign governments that do not kowtow to U.S. orders.
In the debate, Sanders addressed three examples of U.S. regime change. There are scores of examples of American regime change, yet these are perhaps the most infamous instances.
Iran was once a secular democracy. You would not know this from contemporary discussions of the much demonized country in U.S. politics and media.
What happened to Iran’s democracy? The U.S. overthrew it in 1953, with the help of the U.K. Why? For oil.
Mohammad Mosaddegh may be the most popular leader in Iran’s long history. He was also Iran’s only democratically elected head of state.
In 1951, Mosaddegh was elected prime minister of Iran. He was not a socialist, and certainly not a communist — on the contrary, he repressed Iranian communists — but he pursued many progressive, social democratic policies. Mosaddegh pushed for land reform, established rent control, and created a social security system, while working to separate powers in the democratic government.
In the Cold War, however, a leader who deviated in any way from free-market orthodoxy and the Washington Consensus was deemed a threat. When Mossaddegh nationalized Iran’s large oil reserves, he crossed a line that Western capitalist nations would not tolerate.
The New York Times ran an article in 1951 titled “British Warn Iran of Serious Result if She Seizes Oil.” The piece, which is full of orientalist language, refers to Iranian oil as “British oil properties,” failing to acknowledge that Britain, which had previously occupied Iran, had seized that oil and claimed it as its own, administering it under the auspices of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, which later became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, and eventually British Petroleum and modern BP.
The Times article noted that the U.S. “shares with Britain the gravest concern about the possibility that Iranian oil, the biggest supply now available in the Near East, might be lost to the Western powers.” The British government is quoted making a thinly veiled threat.
This threat came into fruition in August 1953. In Operation Ajax, the CIA, working with its British equivalent MI6, carried out a coup, overthrowing the elected government of Iran and reinstalling the monarchy. The shah would remain a faithful Western ally until 1979, when the monarchy was abolished in the Iranian Revolution.
Less than a year after overthrowing Iran’s first democratically elected prime minister, the U.S. pursued a similar regime change policy in Guatemala, toppling the elected leader Jacobo Árbenz.
In 1944, Guatemalans waged a revolution, toppling the U.S.-backed right-wing dictator Jorge Ubico, who had ruled the country with an iron fist since 1931. Ubico, who fancied himself the 20th-century Napoleon, gave rich landowners and the U.S. corporation the United Fruit Company (which would later become Chiquita) free reign over Guatemala’s natural resources, and used the military to violently crush labor organizers.
Juan José Arévalo was elected into office in 1944. A liberal, he pursued very moderate policies, but the U.S. wanted a right-wing puppet regime that would allow U.S. corporations the same privileges granted to them by Ubico. In 1949, the U.S. backed an attempted coup, yet it failed.
In 1951, Árbenz was elected into office. Slightly to the left of Arévalo, Árbenz was still decidedly moderate. The U.S. claimed Árbenz was close to Guatemala’s communists, and warned he could ally with the Soviet Union. In reality, the opposite was true; Árbenz actually persecuted Guatemalan communists. At most, Árbenz was a social democrat, not even a socialist.
Yet Árbenz, like Mosaddegh, firmly believed that Guatemalans themselves, and not multinational corporations, should benefit from their country’s resources. He pursued land reform policies that would break up the control rich families and the United Fruit Company exercised over the country — and, for that reason, he was overthrown.
President Truman originally authorized a first coup attempt, Operation PBFORTUNE, in 1952. Yet details about the operation were leaked to the public, and the plan was abandoned. In 1954, in Operation PBSUCCESS, the CIA and U.S. State Department, under the Dulles Brothers, bombed Guatemala City and carried out a coup that violently toppled Guatemala’s democratic government.
The U.S. put into power right-wing tyrant Carlos Castillo Armas. For the next more than 50 years, until the end of the Guatemalan Civil War in 1996, Guatemala was ruled by a serious of authoritarian right-wing leaders who brutally repressed left-wing dissidents and carried out a campaign of genocide against the indigenous people of the country.
September 11 has permanently seared itself into the memory of Americans. The date has also been indelibly imprinted in the public consciousness of Chileans, because it was on this same day in 1973 that the U.S. backed a coup that violently overthrew Chile’s democracy.
In 1970, Marxist leader Salvador Allende was democratically elected president of Chile. Immediately after he was elected, the U.S. government poured resources into right-wing opposition groups and gave millions of dollars to Chile’s conservative media outlets. The CIA deputy director of plans wrote in a 1970 memo, “It is firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup… It is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinely and securely so that the USG [U.S. government] and American hand be well hidden.” President Nixon subsequently ordered the CIA to “make the economy scream” in Chile, to “prevent Allende from coming to power or to unseat him.” Allende’s democratic government was violently overthrown on September 11, 1973. He died in the coup, just after making an emotional speech, in which he declared he would give his life to defend Chilean democracy and sovereignty. Far-right dictator Augusto Pinochet, who combined fascistic police state repression with hyper-capitalist free-market economic policies, was put into power. Under Pinochet’s far-right dictatorship, tens of thousands of Chilean leftists, labor organizers, and journalists were killed, disappeared, and tortured. Hundreds of thousands more people were forced into exile. One of the most prevailing myths of the Cold War is that socialism was an unpopular system imposed on populations with brute force. Chile serves as a prime historical example of how the exact opposite was true. The masses of impoverished and oppressed people elected many socialist governments, yet these governments were often violently overthrown by the U.S. and other Western allies. The overthrow of Allende was a turning point for many socialists in the Global South. Before he was overthrown, some leftists thought popular Marxist movements could gain state power through democratic elections, as was the case in Chile. Yet when they saw how the U.S. violently toppled Allende’s elected government, they became suspicious of the prospects of electoral politics and turned to guerrilla warfare and other tactics. These are just a small sample of the great many regime changes the U.S. government has been involved in. More recent examples, which were supported by Hillary Clinton, as Sanders implied, include the U.S. government’s overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Muammar Qadhafi in Libya. In these cases, the U.S. was overthrowing dictators, not democratically elected leaders — but, as Sanders pointed out, the results of these regime changes have been nothing short of catastrophic. The U.S. is also still engaging in regime change when it comes to democratically elected governments. In the January 2011 revolution, Egyptians toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak, a close U.S. ally who ruled Egypt with an iron fist for almost 30 years. In July 2013, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, was overthrown in a military coup. We now know that the U.S. supported and bankrolled the opposition forces that overthrew the democratically elected president. Today, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, a brutal despot who is widely recognized as even worse than Mubarak, reigns over Egypt. In August 2013, Sisi oversaw a slaughter of more than 800 peaceful Egyptian activists at Raba’a Square. His regime continues to shoot peaceful protesters in the street. An estimated 40,000 political prisoners languish in Sisi’s jails, including journalists. In spite of his obscene human rights abuses, Sisi remains a close ally of the U.S. and Israel — much, much closer than was the democratically elected President Morsi. In the second Democratic presidential debate, when Sanders called Clinton out on her hawkish, pro-regime change policies, she tried to blame the disasters in the aftermath in countries like Iraq and Libya on the “complexity” of the Middle East. As an example of this putative complexity, Clinton cited Egypt. “We saw a dictator overthrown, we saw Muslim Brotherhood president installed, and then we saw him ousted and the army back,” she said. Clinton failed to mention two crucial factors: One, that the U.S. backed Mubarak until the last moment; and two, that the U.S. also supported the coup that overthrew Egypt’s first and only democratically elected head of state. There are scores of other examples of U.S.-led regime change. In 1964 the U.S. backed a coup in Brazil, toppling left-wing President João Goulart. In 1976, the U.S. supported a military coup in Argentina that replaced President Isabel Perón with General Jorge Rafael Videla. In 2002, the U.S. backed a coup that overthrew democratically elected Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Chávez was so popular, however, that Venezuelans filled the street and demanded him back. In 2004, the U.S. overthrew Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In 2009, U.S.-trained far-right forces overthrew the democratically elected government of Honduras, with tacit support from Washington. Latin America, given its proximity to the U.S. and the strength of left-wing movements in the region, tends to endure the largest number of U.S. regime changes, yet the Middle East and many parts of Africa have seen their democratic governments overthrown as well. From 1898 to 1994, Harvard University historian John Coatsworth documented at least 41 U.S. interventions in Latin America — an average of one every 28 months for an entire century. Numerous Latin American military dictators were trained at the School of the Americas, a U.S. Department of Defense Institute in Fort Benning, Georgia. The School of the Americas Watch, an activist organization that pushes for the closing of the SOA, has documented many of these regime changes, which have been carried out by both Republicans and Democrats. Diplomatic cables released by whistleblowing journalism outlet WikiLeaks show the U.S. still maintains a systematic campaign of trying to overthrow Latin America’s left-wing governments. By not just acknowledging the bloody and ignominious history of U.S. regime change, but also condemning it, Sen. Sanders was intrepidly trekking into controversial political territory into which few of his peers would dare to tread. Others would do well to learn from Bernie’s example. | 1 |
It s no secret that Trump s campaign isn t exactly raking in the donations. After all, no one wants to risk being tied to a racist xenophobe who is running the biggest con job the American people have ever seen and pretending it s a presidential campaign. Trump is being outspent by Hillary Clinton in a stunning 15-1 margin, and it doesn t seem that he s able to do anything about that right now. To that end, what s an orange dictator-in-the-making to do when his opponent s campaign is so much more competent and well-funded? When it s Donald Trump, there s just one answer to that question: Tweet.Trump has decided to literally beg his many fans on Twitter for money to fund his campaign. Invoking his Crooked Hillary theme, he tweeted out to all the neo-Nazis, Klan members, misogynists, and other assorted bigots that litter his cesspool of a Twitter feed:To all of my twitter followers, please contribute whatever you can to the campaign. We must beat Crooked Hillary. https://t.co/Xv8Q1GuWiH Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2016This is just pathetic. I mean, it s one thing for politicians and celebrities of various sorts to tweet out for donations to worthy causes, but nobody ever does that for themselves. It really is astounding how the Trump presidential campaign is being run. All it seems to be is a combination of social media insanity particularly on Twitter and violent rallies in which he fuels the fire of his bigoted masses.VOTE BLUE all the way down the ticket this fall, folks, unless you want this guy to be sitting in the Oval Office come January.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 1 |
(Reuters) - When gay former law clerk Joshua Goodbaum married his partner in 2014, he got effusive and emotional reassurance from his former boss, President Donald Trump’s conservative U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Goodbaum, now an attorney in Connecticut, recalled fondly their conversation on the week of the wedding: “He said, ‘This is a wonderful thing. You’ll see how your relationship grows.’” Goodbaum, who in 2009 served as a clerk for the Colorado federal appeals court judge, added: “I have never felt the least whiff from him of homophobia or intolerance toward gay people.” As the U.S. Senate weighs whether to confirm the Republican president’s nomination of Gorsuch for a lifetime seat on the nation’s highest court, his views on social issues, such as gay rights, are under scrutiny by Democrats and Republicans alike. The Supreme Court periodically makes landmark civil rights decisions such as the 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide. In their current term, for instance, the justices will tackle a major transgender rights case. For a year, the court has had eight justices, not the requisite nine, because Republicans refused to consider Democratic former President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland. Democrats remain furious with the Republicans for that, and are scouring Gorsuch’s record to build their case against his Senate confirmation. When he was named as a nominee by Trump on Tuesday, Gorsuch, 49, immediately came under attack from liberal groups that pounced on his social issues record, which is thin but offers clues on how he might behave as a justice, if confirmed. Like Goodbaum, friends and acquaintances of Gorsuch, many of them Democrats, said he is genial, tolerant and respectful. In some ways, he differs in style from the justice he was named to replace, the late Antonin Scalia, who was known for being combative and blunt on the bench. Gorsuch would not put politics before the law, these people said. But his conservative legal philosophy indicates he would likely vote with like-minded conservative justices on the closely divided court. He rejects the idea that liberals can press their social agenda in the courts. That could signaled he may be less likely to side with Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative who often casts the deciding vote in close cases. Kennedy has joined with liberal justices in backing gay marriage, abortion rights and, most recently, a limited form of racial preferences in college admissions. It remains an open question whether Gorsuch would vote for conservative agenda items such as expanding religious liberties in a way some critics say allows for discrimination against gays and others, restricting voting rights and lifting campaign finance restrictions. In a 2005 article for conservative magazine National Review, Gorsuch said liberals “have become addicted to the courtroom, relying on judges and lawyers rather than elected leaders and the ballot box, as the primary means of effecting their social agenda on everything from gay marriage to assisted suicide to the use of vouchers for private-school education.” Some liberal politicians and advocacy groups have labeled Gorsuch a conservative hardliner in part over his role in deciding a 2013 case involving the Christian owners of the arts-and-crafts retailer Hobby Lobby. The ruling allowed owners of private companies to object on religious grounds to a federal requirement that they provide insurance to employees that pays for women’s birth control. It was affirmed by the Supreme Court. “We absolutely must not confirm a Supreme Court nominee who has ruled that the religious beliefs of employers can trump the law,” said Rachel Tiven, chief executive of Lambda Legal, an advocacy group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. On another issue, Gorsuch last October said his colleagues on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should have reconsidered a ruling that prevented Utah Governor Gary Herbert from suspending funding to women’s healthcare and abortion provider Planned Parenthood over videos purported to show its officials negotiating the sale of fetal tissue. In 2006, Gorsuch wrote a book arguing against legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia. After Trump nominated him, many social conservatives and religious groups, perhaps looking back at his book, said they hoped Gorsuch would vote on the court to roll back abortion rights. In the book, Gorsuch cited the “inviolability of human life,” calling it a “basic good.” The Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic fraternal organization, said Gorsuch would uphold religious freedoms “and the right to life of every person.” Former clerks said they do not know how Gorsuch, a member of the Episcopal church, would vote on gay marriage or abortion. But they said he never brought his religion into his work. “He’s not the kind of person to use his post to push an agenda,” said Jason Murray, a Gorsuch clerk in 2011 who is a Democrat. “You could certainly say Judge Gorsuch is a conservative. But I don’t see how his personality or record bears out that he is an extremist,” Murray said. Some who know Gorsuch personally said his respect for legal precedent could prevent radical attempts to change the law. “He’s very sensitive to the importance of societal stability. So if he were to change Roe v. Wade significantly I would be surprised,” added Tracy Ashmore, a Democratic lawyer from Denver, referring to the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday left the door open to a possible delay in when Republican’s tax cut plan would lower rates for corporations, following a media report that Senate Republican’s version of the overhaul would push it to 2019. Asked if Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives would consider such a phase-in, Ryan told Fox News Radio that the House corporate rate cut was immediate and permanent, but that both chambers would work out the difference between their bills. “This is a long process,” he said, adding that he could not speak to details in the Senate plan. | 0 |
MOST Voters Now Think Clinton Broke the Law … TWICE As Many As Think that Trump Did → kimyo
what is your interpretation of the following email from podesta re: a 2015 cnbc interview in which sanders stated “When you hustle money like that, you don’t sit in restaurants like this” and “That type of wealth has the potential to isolate you from the reality of the world.”
podesta: This isn’t in keeping w the agreement. Since we clearly have some leverage, would be good to flag this for him. I could send a signal via Welch–or did you establish a direct line w him? Donate Recent Posts | 1 |
Another day, another scandal…but this one might turn out to be the most damaging so far.
On October 28, FBI director James Comey informed the Senate Judiciary Committee via letter that the agency would be re-opening its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
Comey wrote:
In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation … I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.
Later that day, The New York Times provided an intriguing update:
Emails from Hillary Clinton’s private server were found after the F.B.I. seized electronic devices once shared by Anthony D. Weiner and his estranged wife, Huma Abedin, a top aide to Mrs. Clinton, federal law enforcement officials said Friday.
The F.B.I. is investigating illicit text messages that Mr. Weiner, a former Democratic congressman from New York, sent to a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina. The bureau told Congress on Friday that it had uncovered new emails related to the Clinton case — one federal official said they numbered in the thousands — potentially reigniting an issue that has weighed on the presidential campaign and offering a lifeline to Donald J. Trump less than two weeks before the election.
Now, Weiner is reportedly cooperating with the FBI…and gave them a laptop that he shared with his estranged wife…which means no warrant is necessary to search that particular device.
Is it possible that he will get some sort of deal based on an agreement to testify?
One can’t help but wonder what the FBI is going to find on that laptop. There are a reported 650,000 emails to scour through. It will take weeks – possibly longer – to sort through them, and the election is just days away.
There’s a particularly disturbing rumor circulating about the emails…
Rumors stirring in the NYPD that Huma's emails point to a pedophila ring and @HillaryClinton is at the center. #GoHillary #PodestaEmails23 pic.twitter.com/gkEH5oL269
— David Goldberg (@DavidGoldbergNY) October 30, 2016
I would not report this unless I was 100% sure – known this source 15+ years
— Greg Hilliard (@UnityActivist) October 31, 2016
Now, to clarify again – this IS just a rumor – unsubstantiated as of now.
And it sounds preposterous…until you consider that child sex rings among the powerful elite have been reported for years. Bill Clinton has been linked with a convicted billionaire pedophile named Jeffrey Epstein , who pimped out underage girls to powerful men. Flight logs show that Clinton was a frequent flyer on the registered sex offender’s infamous jet.
In May, Fox News reported :
…flight logs showing the former president taking at least 26 trips aboard the “Lolita Express” — even apparently ditching his Secret Service detail for at least five of the flights, according to records obtained by FoxNews.com.
…trips between 2001 and 2003 included extended junkets around the world with Epstein and fellow passengers identified on manifests by their initials or first names, including “Tatiana.” The tricked-out jet earned its Nabakov-inspired nickname because it was reportedly outfitted with a bed where passengers had group sex with young girls.
Conchita Sarnoff of the Washington, D.C. based non-profit Alliance to Rescue Victims of Trafficking and author of a book on the Epstein case told Fox:
Bill Clinton … associated with a man like Jeffrey Epstein, who everyone in New York, certainly within his inner circles, knew was a pedophile. Why would a former president associate with a man like that?
Also from Fox:
Epstein, who counts among his pals royal figures, heads of state, celebrities and fellow billionaires, spent 13 months in prison and home detention for solicitation and procurement of minors for prostitution. He allegedly had a team of traffickers who procured girls as young as 12 to service his friends on “Orgy Island,” an estate on Epstein’s 72-acre island, called Little St. James, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Why didn’t Epstein face harsher punishment?
Remember, he’s a billionaire with friends in high places.
More shocking details from Fox:
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida prepared charging documents that accused Epstein of child sex abuse, witness tampering and money laundering, but Epstein took a plea deal before an indictment could be handed up.
On Sept. 24, 2007, in a deal shrouded in secrecy that left alleged victims shocked at its leniency, Epstein agreed to a 30-month sentence, including 18 months of jail time and 12 months of house arrest and the agreement to pay dozens of young girls under a federal statute providing for compensation to victims of child sexual abuse.
In exchange, the U.S. Attorney’s Office promised not to pursue any federal charges against Epstein or his co-conspirators.
Florida attorney Brad Edwards, who represented some of Epstein’s alleged victims, is suing the federal government over the secret non-prosecution agreement in hopes of having it overturned. Edwards claimed in court records that the government and Epstein concealed the deal from the victims “to prevent them from voicing any objection, and to avoid the firestorm of controversy that would have arisen if it had become known that the Government was immunizing a politically-connected billionaire and all of his co-conspirators from prosecution of hundreds of federal sex crimes against minor girls.”
Oh, but there’s more . According to the pilots’ logbooks, which surfaced in civil litigation surrounding Epstein’s crimes, this happened in 2002…
…Clinton, his aide Doug Band, and Clinton’s Secret Service detail are listed on a flight from Japan to Hong Kong with Epstein, Maxwell, Kellen, and two women described only as “Janice” and “Jessica.” One month later, records show, Clinton hopped a ride from Miami to Westchester on a flight that also included Epstein, Maxwell, Kellen, and a woman described only as “one female.”
Why hasn’t Donald Trump added Bill’s Epstein ties to his arsenal against Hillary? He’s brought up the women who have accused Bill of sexual assault and rape.
Why would he leave out Epstein?
Probably because Trump also knows Epstein – very well, actually – as reported in a 2002 New York magazine profile titled Jeffrey Epstein: International Moneyman of Mystery :
Epstein likes to tell people that he’s a loner, a man who’s never touched alcohol or drugs, and one whose nightlife is far from energetic. And yet if you talk to Donald Trump, a different Epstein emerges. “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Trump booms from a speakerphone. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
Trump’s name and contact information is in Epstein’s black book – but so are the names and contact information for MANY other prominent and influential people, including Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia, Tony Blair, former Utah governor and Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, Senator Edward Kennedy, Henry Kissinger, David Koch and Pepe Fanjul, according to a report by Vice .
In 2010 , Epstein pled the Fifth when asked by a lawyer representing one of Epstein’s victims about his relationship with Trump:
Q: Have you ever had a personal relationship with Donald Trump?
A. What do you mean by “personal relationship,” sir?
Q. Have you socialized with him?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Yes?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Have you ever socialized with Donald Trump in the presence of females under the age of 18?
A: Though I’d like to answer that question, at least today I’m going to have to assert my Fifth, Sixth, and 14th Amendment rights, sir.
Both Trump and Epstein are named in a lawsuit for the rape of a 13-year old girl who is using the name Katie Johnson that allegedly occurred at a “sex party” way back in 1994, but the veracity of the case has yet to be determined. Judge Ronnie Abrams has scheduled an initial status conference in the civil lawsuit for December 16 in a New York district court.
Trump has vociferously denied the accusations. Epstein, an associate of the UK’s Prince Andrew who was convicted of underage sex crimes in Florida in 2008, has also denied the allegations. A lawyer for the Trump Organization told the Guardian in July: “This is basically a sham lawsuit brought by someone who desires to impact the presidential election.”
Edwards, who has represented Epstein victims, spoke with Johnson and declined to take her case, as The Daily Beast reported:
Concerning Trump’s involvement in Epstein’s illicit affairs, Edwards said he hadn’t seen any evidence that would implicate the GOP nominee and described Trump as “extremely helpful and honest,” during questioning.
In 2014 , another young woman filed a lawsuit claiming that Epstein used her as a sex slave for his powerful friends—and that she’d been at parties on his private island with Bill Clinton.
Epstein also reportedly donated money to the Clinton Foundation – even after he was convicted.
****
Back in July, a 4chan user by the name of FBI Anon shared some inside information, which was then posted on Reddit .
When asked if Hillary sold weapons and favors from the State Department for cash to our enemies, FBI Anon replied : “Weapons, favors, intelligence, and people.”
When asked what the Clinton Foundation does, FBI Anon replied: “Sold intel, favors, and people to anyone willing to pay.”
Regarding a possible Hillary indictment, FBI Anon said , “There is enough for her and the entire government to be brought down. People do not realize how enormous this whole situation actually is. Whether she will be or not depends on how much info about others involved gets out, and there are a lot of people involved.”
More quotes from FBI Anon:
“The real point of interest is the Clinton Foundation, not the email server. We received the server from Benghazi, then from the server we found data on the CF. Then we realized the situation is much worse than previously thought.”
“The DOJ is most likely looking to save itself. Find everyone involved in the Clinton Foundation, from its donors to its Board of Directors, and imagine they are all implicated.”
(Could this be why the DOJ tried to stop the investigation into the Clinton Foundation?)
“My message to you and everyone on this board is do not get distracted by Clinton’s emails. Focus on the Foundation. All the nightmarish truth is there. The emails will pale in comparison.”
More, from page 2 :
When asked if the people leading the investigation are blackmailed pedophiles: “No. The people under the magnifying glass do have an affinity for children.”
When asked what would happen if all of the information regarding the Clinton Foundation was released to the public: “Total chaos. The government would be exposed at every layer, who pays who, who buys what, and no one has yet asked about the human trafficking bits I have been laying out.”
When asked if members of Congress own strip clubs and have their own sex slaves?: “Epstein.”
“Pedophiles and sex traffickers everywhere. Many politicians trade girls like cattle.”
“BC (Bill Clinton) is a confirmed pedo.”
“Sex rings are popular in all governments, but pedophilia is primarily in British parliament & Saudi Arabia, and that’s why HRC and BC love foreign donors so much. They get paid in children as well as money. Dig deep and you can find it. It will sicken you.”
Of course, all of this could be fabricated by a person pretending to have inside information. We may never know the truth. But if these claims are true, they are deeply disturbing.
****
In August 2015, Trump made an interesting prediction…
It came out that Huma Abedin knows all about Hillary’s private illegal emails. Huma’s PR husband, Anthony Weiner, will tell the world.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2015
What will the emails (and perhaps other information) on Weiner’s devices reveal?
Will it be more revelations regarding play-for pay schemes, election rigging, or email-scrubbing?
Or will something more sinister be uncovered?
Hillary has called for the FBI to release details about the latest probe to the public “Immediately.”
Could that be because she knows they WON’T publicize the information if it would bring down MANY of her government colleagues and cause mass chaos and disruption?
Time will tell.
It would be something, though – wouldn’t it – if both Clintons were brought down by misbehaving weiners?
Oh, and speaking of perverted folks…
Two days ago, during an interview with Michael Smerconish of CNN, Creepy Uncle Joe Biden learned, on live TV, that the new emails being reviewed by the FBI are related to the investigation of Anthony Weiner. Watch his response.
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Lily Dane is a staff writer for The Daily Sheeple. Her goal is to help people to “Wake the Flock Up!” | 1 |
BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan s state security service said on Saturday it had detained an opposition lawmaker just two weeks before presidential elections, and accused him of planning riots and a violent coup. The GKNB security service said in a statement that deputy Kanatbek Isayev, a supporter of main opposition presidential candidate Omurbek Babanov, had conspired with criminal groups to orchestrate rioting during and after the Oct.15 vote. The impoverished Central Asian country, which is home to a Russian military airbase, has a reputation for political volatility after two previous presidents were toppled by violent riots. Incumbent leader Almazbek Atambayev, who has drawn Bishkek into Russia s orbit during his six years in power, is preparing to step down as the constitution bars him from seeking a second term at the helm of the nation of 6 million people. Instead, Atambayev s Social Democratic party, which leads a parliamentary coalition, is backing his ally, former prime minister Sooronbai Jeenbekov. Babanov, also a former prime minister, could not be reached for comment on Saturday. A February-March poll by the United States International Republican Institute showed Babanov was the most trusted politician in Kyrgyzstan and second only to Atambayev in terms of the proportion of people who viewed him favorably. | 1 |
LONDON (Reuters) - Brexit is not a game, the European Union s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, told British reporters on Tuesday when asked if the ball was in the EU s court to make the next move. Britain and its EU partners clashed on Monday over which side should make the next move to unblock the talks, with both sides saying the ball is in the other side s court. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s transition team on Monday pushed back against an effort to recount Nov. 8’s presidential election votes, calling the effort “nonsense,” but offering no evidence to back a weekend Trump tweet alleging millions of illegal votes. With the clock winding down for voters and candidates to seek recounts in states across the country, Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein requested a recount in Pennsylvania on Monday just hours before the state’s deadline. Filing in Pennsylvania three days after she filed a similar request in Wisconsin, Stein’s campaign said she would file a similar request in Michigan by its deadline on Wednesday. Following Trump’s stunning victory in the presidential contest, talk of recounts has swirled, with the Republican president-elect adding a surprise twist to the discussion. On Sunday, Trump tweeted that “serious voter fraud” occurred in California, New Hampshire, and Virginia, states won by his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton. All three states rejected Trump’s claim. The White House said on Monday there has been no evidence of widespread election fraud in the presidential contest. Still, Wisconsin officials on Monday prepared to launch a recount of the state’s more than 25 million votes, following Stein’s request last week, a move that was joined by Clinton’s lawyers. “If nothing else, this will give us a very good audit,” Mark Thomsen, the chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said on Monday. “It’s going to reassure Wisconsin voters that we have a fair system, that we’re not counting illegal votes.” A statement on the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s website said the recount was scheduled to begin on Thursday and had to be completed by Dec. 13. Stein’s campaign has raised the money needed to pay filing fees for recount requests in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. But she still aims to raise $800,000 more to cover fees for attorneys and other personnel needed to oversee the recount, said an official with her campaign. The official said any funds left over would be disbursed according to Federal Elections Commission guidelines. California voters still could request recounts there. But the deadline for requesting a recount in New Hampshire has already passed and the margin of victory in Virginia was larger than what is necessary for a recount to occur, according to election officials in those states. New Hampshire’s deputy secretary of state, David Scanlan, said there was no evidence supporting Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud. “Voter fraud does occur, but it occurs in isolated instances,” he said. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla called Trump’s allegations unsubstantiated and Virginia Commissioner of Elections Edgardo Cortes said they were unfounded. | 0 |
One might have expected the ninth Republican presidential debate to be a cut above the earlier edition. With Chris Christie out of the race and Ben Carson present but basically out of the running, it was a chance for the race to get serious, for the five candidates who could potentially win this thing to make their cases without much distraction from the B players.
Instead, Donald Trump accused Jeb Bush of threatening to moon the kind people of New Hampshire.
It was an anarchic evening where even disciplined moderators had trouble keeping things on track. That's par for the course for these things at this point, but the particular kind of chaos this time around was different, and didn't always play to the favor of Donald Trump, lord of chaos.
We won't know who "really" won until poll results trickle in. But in the meantime, here are the candidates who ended the night better off than they started it — and the ones who slipped.
After a long campaign in which his name has become almost synonymous with failure and pathos, Jeb finally — finally — had a good night.
It may not have come to him entirely fairly. The whole debate he appeared to have the support of the live audience, who even raucously applauded his characteristically dull and platitudinous closing statement. This makes sense: Apparently only 600 of the 1,600 tickets to the event were given to the candidates, and the state and national party controlled most of the rest. The result was an enthusiastically pro-Jeb crowd.
But whatever the reason for their Bush love, it worked. Trump was frequently booed — and when he tried to argue the audience was stacked against him, he was booed even harder. And Jeb was given the chance to throw red meat not to GOP base voters, but to typical GOP establishment types.
That distinction is crucial. Defending the Iraq War is not something that, say, Tea Party activists are all that excited about doing. But it's something longtime Republican activists who were involved in the South Carolina state party in the 2000s had to do all the time. George W. Bush was their guy for eight years. They stood by him. They knew all the attacks about him and recoiled at each one.
So when Trump decided to attack the Iraq War, and point out that the president who presided over 9/11 cannot reasonably claim to have "kept us safe," the crowd took it personally. And booed. And applauded when Bush fought back:
Applause, applause, applause. The Republican base might have moved on from George W. Bush, but the professional party operative class in the audience in South Carolina has not, and gave Bush one hell of a moment, which likely helped him with viewers in the state without that emotional attachment to the Bush legacy.
Even better, he didn't have to answer for his flip-flop on whether Iraq was a mistake, even as Trump pressed him to do so. And best of all, Marco Rubio, Jeb's main rival for the establishment vote, helped Bush out, declaring, "I just want to say, at least on behalf of me and my family, I thank God all the time it was George W. Bush in the White House on 9/11 and not Al Gore."
Jeb also did something he's been hesitant to do for much of this campaign: He embraced being a Bush. This is clearly part of a broader strategy, what with W coming back to campaign for his brother in South Carolina. But it's a smart strategy. Bush was never going to win by hoping that people forgot he's related to one of the most controversial figures in Republican history. But there is some residual goodwill in the party toward W, especially on national security, and Bush is uniquely positioned to exploit that at a moment when ISIS has made terrorism and Islamist radicalism much bigger issues than they've been for years.
Jeb is still languishing in fourth in South Carolina polls. It's too soon to declare he has momentum. But he gave about the best performance he could've hoped for, which should give him a decent chance of outpacing Rubio and maybe even Cruz too in the state:
The longer, the bloodier, and the sillier this campaign season is, the better it is for the eventual Democratic nominee. And it doesn't get much longer, bloodier, or sillier than the debate tonight.
Here's some stuff that actually happened tonight. After a campaign that's mostly involved candidates falling over themselves to show their commitment to screwing over Latino undocumented immigrants, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio started arguing over who spoke better Spanish — in Spanish:
Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner who won New Hampshire in a landslide and will almost certainly win in South Carolina too, stuck up for Planned Parenthood. To repeat: Less than a year after doctored undercover videos made the organization anathema to all Republicans and its defunding a key priority of the congressional GOP, the Republican frontrunner for president praised it:
And Trump accused Jeb Bush of threatening to expose his buttocks to crowds of voters, an accusation that is, amazingly, not entirely without merit!
If it had been scripted, it would've been the greatest surrealist masterpiece this side of Luis Buñuel, but to any general election swing voters watching, it was just a clown show. The most reasonable person onstage was defending the Iraq War at great length. That's bananas!
Worse still for Republicans, it left the race still largely unsettled. Probably the best hope for a swift end to the primary is for Trump to just keep winning everything — but Trump had one of his worst nights to date. Probably the best hope for an establishment contender to win is for John Kasich to realize he can't do well outside New Hampshire and drop out, for Rubio to acknowledge that he's toast and do the same, and for Jeb! to rise up and save the day. But while Jeb had a good night, it wasn't a so-good-he-knocked-out-his-rivals night.
And Ted Cruz gave a perfectly fine performance that should keep him firmly in second place, or even give him the potential to repeat his Iowa victory over Trump a few more times and throw the race into still further chaos.
The takeaway from tonight was that this race will last a long time, it will involve a lot more ridiculous debates like this, and it will continue to make the Republican party look like a silly mess. That's all great news for Hillary and Bernie.
No moderator could've completely contained the madness that was tonight's debate. Jeb and Trump were too committed to going after each other, as were Rubio and Cruz, for them to respect time restrictions or refrain from demanding a right to respond when their names were so much as mentioned in passing.
But CBS's John Dickerson nonetheless did a fine job, asking productive follow-up questions and, with a couple exceptions (like a question about Trump's profanity), mostly sticking to the substance. His back-and-forth with Ted Cruz pointing out that Anthony Kennedy was confirmed for the Supreme Court in an election year earned him boos from the audience, who saw him as nitpicky and eager to defend Obama's nomination. But he was right, and he was keeping Cruz to the facts — which is crucial for a moderator.
Another highlight was Major Garrett's questioning on Cruz's tax plan. Garrett took it for granted that Cruz is proposing a value-added tax — which Cruz has denied, but which is absolutely true if you look at how it's structured. Cruz denied it, but Garrett pressed him.
But perhaps the best question went to Trump:
Trump just didn't answer the question, even after Dickerson pressed him. The upshot was clear: Trump isn't capable, or isn't willing, of conceding literally any error. He really is exactly as arrogant as you think he is. And Dickerson demonstrated this not by saying it or arguing it but by having Trump show it for himself. That's moderating at its finest.
And he mostly got booed for having a point. He attacked the audience as stacked to be pro-Bush — which it appears to have been. He defended Planned Parenthood as doing important work besides abortions — which it does. And he attacked George W. Bush for launching a war in Iraq when there were no weapons of mass destruction and for failing to prevent 9/11 — both totally legitimate criticisms.
But they are not criticisms you make in a Republican debate. Trump has strayed from party doctrine before, but when he's done so, it's been on issues where the GOP is in a very different place from the establishment. He opposes cutting Social Security and Medicare, which enrages libertarian economic types within the party but delights actual voters, especially elderly ones. He wants big tariffs on China, which free-traders in the party hate but white working-class workers who actually vote for the party love.
Here, though, he's on his own. There's not a huge Republican constituency for the idea that the Iraq War was not just bad but built on a lie:
Now, the general point here is true. Bush and Dick Cheney made claims about WMD and Iraq's relationship with al-Qaeda that weren't just false, but which they knew to be false given the intelligence they had at the time, or for which they had no evidence at all. But it's something that you'd expect a Democratic primary contender to say, not a Republican. (And throwing in "they knew there were none" is even a bit far for a Democrat.) Trump is allowed his heterodoxies on some issues, but accusing the most recent Republican president of deliberately misleading the nation into a war is unlikely to appeal to just about any GOPer.
Same with his claim on 9/11. Here, Trump isn't merely critiquing Bush's Iraq policy, something that's a bit more acceptable within the GOP. He's critiquing Bush's terrorism record in general — and, implicitly, the overall Republican foreign policy consensus that the correct way to fight terrorism is through overwhelming force. That's a consensus that's lasted since Bush left office and isn't really challenged by any other candidate.
Trump's Planned Parenthood comments are perhaps most baffling at all. There really aren't that many pro-choice Republicans out there, or even many pro-life Republicans open to the aggressive promotion of birth control through groups like Planned Parenthood. And however many there were before the organization became a right-wing media boogeyman last year, there are almost certainly fewer now. There's no reason for an undecided pro-life activist to watch that exchange and come away preferring Trump to his rivals.
All of this is bad for Trump on his own, but it's especially bad given that Trump was unabashedly liberal before 2011 or so. He said in 2008 that Bush deliberately lied to start the war in Iraq, and attacked congressional Democrats for not impeaching him over it. In 1999, he told Tim Russert he was "strongly for choice":
Republican rivals have tried to attack him for this before, mostly without success. Voters saw Trump as authentic now, whatever his past beliefs; why not believe the message? But seeing elements of the old, more liberal Trump sneak through might give that critique new force.
Trump is still winning this primary. He will probably win in South Carolina, and the rest of the field remains scattered enough that he stands a good shot of winning a majority of states in the "SEC primary" on March 1. But tonight, more than any other debate, felt like a momentum where the tide could shift against him.
If his name weren't Marco Rubio, this guy would've dropped out by now. Think about it: If, say, Chris Christie had gotten third in Iowa and then fifth in New Hampshire, and totally botched the pre–New Hampshire debate, would anyone look at him and think, "Yeah, this is a guy with a plausible path to the nomination"? Of course not. But because Rubio has been the one true hope of the Republican establishment for most of this cycle, he's been given something of a pass.
But he still needs a way to take advantage of that lenience. He needs a way to beat back Bush and Kasich and emerge once again as the natural establishment rival to Cruz and Trump. And he needed, tonight, to overcome his last disastrous debate performance and prove to the establishment that he won't fail them again.
What happened instead was a basically fine debate performance, devoid of any obvious gaffes, that nonetheless was woefully insufficient to turn around his dying campaign. His decision to attack Cruz more than Trump might have made strategic sense, but in practice it mostly gave Cruz a chance to remind voters, once again, that Rubio favors letting some undocumented immigrants become citizens. And every minute Rubio's immigration views are the topic at hand, he loses.
And when it came time for Rubio to attack Trump, he … defended Jeb Bush. "I just want to say," he declared, "at least on behalf of me and my family, I thank God all the time it was George W. Bush in the White House on 9/11 and not Al Gore." That is a great thing for a Bush surrogate to say, so as to build up the family reputation and give Jeb a hand. It's a gracious but tactically baffling thing to say if you are trying to defeat Jeb Bush.
Rubio wasn't a disaster. But he didn't need not-a-disaster. He needed a blockbuster performance that got him back to where he was immediately post-Iowa, with strong momentum and a media narrative of Rubio rising. He didn't get that, and it's difficult to see now how he's ever going to put himself back in contention. | 1 |
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When Judith Gait met “Father X,” it was a lopsided grief that drew them together. He had lost his only chance at fatherhood through an abortion years ago. Gait is a married mother of five, and long-term American resident in Britain. Her support of the pro-life movement is driven by “thankfulness and praise” for life and her Christian faith.
Witnessing abortion’s heavy toll on the living and dead, Gait began to make the paintings almost no one else seemed to be doing. Subtle and working entirely with symbolism, these simple artworks avoid screaming about abortion. Rather, they mourn in color, symbol and tone with single shoes, broken cord, dead flowers and other lonely and broken things. “Troubadours Sailing Hibiscus Seas”painting by Judith Gait, commentary by Father X
When a friend first visited Gait’s studio, he was struck by her abortion paintings. Confessing years of torment after his partner aborted his child, he wrote: “I realize your work comes from a place of great love, for it attempts to give defenseless life the dignity and protection it never knew in our throw away culture.”
Gait invited him to pray with her for his lost child. It happened to be the anniversary of the death of his baby, five years to the day. Father X remembers every detail.
Their conversation grew into a joint effort, culminating in a book, “ Troubadours Sailing Hibiscus Seas: Meditations on Post Abortion Trauma .” Father X wanted to remain anonymous, as a place-setter for millions of unconsidered fathers in the acts of abortion. He wrote poetic and powerful statements for each of Gait’s 30 paintings in this book, which have also been shown together in art exhibits.
Time and neglect does not necessarily heal the wounds of abortion, Gait claims. Rather, “the past refocuses into a sharper image and the pain through an iterative process of silence, guilt and remorse has not abated.” You can see that in the words of Father X, which run the gamut of human emotions. “On Abortion: Shoe, Pot and Crosses”from “Troubadours Sailing Hibiscus Seas”
“Jonah of Nineveh” features an upended, single rose with red cords and funereal foliage. Flowers are “already in the birth position, head down and waiting to be born.” Torn and shroud-like ribbons hang across the painting. Spirals represent a child’s DNA helix and the “veil of the Temple which has just been so rudely shaken down to its foundation.” Father X makes an analogy between Jonah fleeing “parental responsibility” and eventual redemption – then veers off to his own personal engulfment in almost a stream of consciousness: “It was her wedding dress, my sea green empress, this blue lagoon princess she slipped into her own heart of darkness on that day she decided to abort and when time really stopped in our lives. She was full of fear. …”
In some of these works, hammers incongruently hang with flowers. They are bloody or blackened, some submerged underwater or hanging from a noose. Father X interprets these tools as decision markers, to either build or tear down. In “Hammer of Decision,” it belongs to Thor, the war god “infested with his one eyed wisdom of intrigue and destruction.” Wagner, the Olympics, “sperm races,” Thomas Moore and Valkyries are all inducted into this choice by the author. Either the Carpenter’s “hammer of wisdom” or Thor’s “tool of chaos” will be chosen by expectant parents. “Hammer, Suspended”
“ Troubadours ” runs from elegant poetry to sentiment over babies and an ad hoc theology. Striving to extend lives of children lost to abortion, the authors create a fantasy universe of possibilities. This includes moonlighting for angels, celestial games, “interstellar wind-jammers” and a “baby steamer sailing on children’s seas,” among other delightful prospects. Lost and murdered infants in these tales pine for love or for a family in their Limbos.
Father X occasionally speculates on spiritual issues outside the Bible or the treatment of abortion in other religions. Running from nursery rhymes and quotes to historical characters, these are not theological statements, but a type of literary yearning that seeks an answer to abortion.
In Gait’s “Pink Rose” and “Stardust,” we see empty fields, withered plants and other tokens. Father X takes off from here on fanciful trips for the lost children. He places them in a cosmic waiting rooms or dancing in circles, which is reflected in the painting. Children are disfigured, or missing eyes or arms and singing in “low mournful tones” so as not to disturb their parents. Music is “intense, equivalent to the sound created by Hildegard von Bingen (a 12th-century nun and composer). “Troubadours Sailing Hibiscus Seas”painting by Judith Gait, commentary by Father X
References to Mary as a mother are common, as well as other scriptural allusions. “All babies jump for Jesus” in the womb (or in “its sack of nibbling yoke”) writes Father X. Elizabeth’s child John “leapt for joy, just as his ancestor David did before the ark of the covenant,” he continues.
Gait addresses the human embryo, finding Biblical, ethical or emotional arguments for its worth at all stages. Her “Abbey Target Beginning” has a crosshair target, which is interpreted spiritually: “The first target blastula conflates the first cellular divisions with the laver bread – the bread on fire with the Holy Spirit the same stage of development as the child in Mary’s womb when she arrived at her cousin Elizabeth’s house.”
Post-abort guilt isn’t rationalized or downplayed, but emotionally reacted to in art and word. Father X describes bats as whirling about “in circles at the pitiful sound the [aborted] children make” because they are tuned to such distressing signals. This contrasts with many parents who are “still stone deaf” to such mournful sounds. At another point, Father-X imputes the collective white noise of guilt to attacks of tinnitus, a roar of unwanted thoughts. “Troubadours Sailing Hibiscus Seas”painting by Judith Gait, commentary by Father X
Father X elaborates on what Gait hints in her paintings: the injustice and evil of abortion. He cites a world built on slavery before Christ’s advent, and the works of such men as William Wilberforce and John Brown in furthering Christ’s gospel of justice and peace. All this is contrasted to abortion throughout.
Ruminating on Gait’s “Palms of our Lord,” Father X claims “the face of the baby is in the midst of the ruins of the abortion. “Palms” is murky, with a single, red hand print. “To look at the after birth of an abortion is to read the Tarot of Ruins,” he continues.
“Suicide” advances this dark theme, where Gait and Father X criticize the death industry and it’s euphemistically named “clinics.” He takes a few swings at the girl gangs of the glass ceilings: “… a caricature of a woman who made a mistake, who got herself in trouble, who has had an abortion and afterwards committed suicide in her heart.”
But all isn’t baleful and sad here. In “Cloud Children,” Father X muses on paper dolls in Gait’s paintings with this lovely thought: “Where children go … is a mystery. … Some say they take their daytime rest in Christ’s tomb in Jerusalem, and like him when their time is come they will ascend into heaven before a quire of angels and assembled Star Ships.”
“ Troubadours Sailing Hibiscus Seas ” is a work of meditation, grief counseling, poetry, social commentary and visual art. Father X may not reveal his identity here, but the reader comes to know intimate details about relationships and emotions surrounding the death of his only child. Gait and Father X describe their efforts as a “silent prayer of witness for all the ghost families, those Phantoms of Sorrows, who will never laugh or cry together as a family, because of an abortion.” They hope that prying open the tightly locked matter of abortion will help to heal those who have had abortions or are victimized in some way.
Judith Gait is a graduate of California College of Arts and Crafts and received a Masters at Oxford’s Ruskin School of Fine Drawing. Her work is in public and private collections in America and abroad. She is an American citizen, residing in Britain. Father X is an addictions counselor and writer in Great Britain, who prefers to remain anonymous.
“Troubadours Sailing Hibiscus Seas:Meditations on Post Abortion Trauma” is a coffee-table size, 103-page paper book, with 33 color-illustrations and related commentary. You can purchase it at Amazon U.S. | 1 |
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitoring group said on Monday that air strikes on a market had killed at least 29 people in a rebel-held area of northwest Syria. Three air raids hit the town of Atareb, west of the city of Aleppo, the Britain-based observatory said. It said the death toll was likely to rise. Atareb is inside what is known as a de-escalation zone under a deal agreed between Turkey, Russia and Iran to reduce violence in the area. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday said there was “no change” to the United States’ longstanding “one China” policy after President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. “We remain firmly committed to our ‘one China’ policy,” said Ned Price, a national security spokesman for President Barack Obama. “Our fundamental interest is in peaceful and stable cross-Strait relations.” | 1 |
Lawless, Crooked Hillary promises to continue with Obama s arrogant, lawless push to flood America with people who have illegally entered our nation Democrat voters. Our nation and our nation s security won t survive another four years of Obama h/t to the brilliant Jon Feere, Legal Policy Analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies. The CIS is one of the best sources in America for keeping up with our immigration crisis in America. From Hillary s website:Hillary will:Enact comprehensive immigration reform to create a pathway to citizenship, keep families together, and enable millions of workers to come out of the shadows.Defend President Obama s executive actions to provide deportation relief for DREAMers and parents of Americans and lawful residents, and extend those actions to additional persons with sympathetic cases if Congress refuses to act.Promote naturalization and support immigrant integration. End family detention and close private immigrant detention centers.Hillary s not just advocating for making lawbreakers legal citizens of the United States, she s also planning to bring millions of Muslims from countries who hate us to America, and fast-track them to citizenship:If elected president, Hillary Clinton could permanently resettle close to one million Muslim migrants during the first term of her presidency alone, according to the latest available data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).Between 2001 and 2013, the U.S. permanently resettled 1.5 million Muslim migrants on green cards. However, under Hillary Clinton s stated proposals, Muslim immigration would grow substantially faster, adding nearly one million Muslim migrants to the U.S. during her first term alone.Based on the most recent available DHS data, the U.S. permanently resettled roughly 149,000 migrants from predominantly Muslim countries on green cards in 2014. Yet Clinton has said that, as President, she would expand Muslim migration by importing an additional 65,000 Syrian refugees into the United States during the course of a single fiscal year. Clinton has made no indication that she would limit her proposed Syrian refugee program to one year.Clinton s Syrian refugees would come on top of the tens of thousands of refugees the U.S. already admits from Muslim countries.Adding Clinton s 65,000 Syrian refugees to the approximately 149,000 Muslim migrants the U.S. resettled on green cards in the course of one year, means that Clinton could permanently resettle roughly 214,000 Muslim migrants in her first year as President. If Clinton were to continue her Syrian refugee program throughout her Presidency, she could potentially resettle as many as 856,000 during her first term alone.Analysis from the Senate Immigration Subcommittee found that Clinton s plan to expand refugee resettlement could cost U.S. taxpayers over $400 billion.Additionally, once Clinton s Syrian refugees are in the U.S. as green card holders, they will have the ability to bring over their family members through chain migration.With regards to Middle Eastern migration, Clinton s 65,000 Syrian refugees would be added on top of the roughly 96,000 Middle Eastern migrants the U.S. resettled on green cards in a single year. Based on the minimum numbers Clinton has put forth thus far, as President, she could potentially resettle approximately 644,000 Middle Eastern migrants during her first term alone.According to a September 2015 Rasmussen survey, women voters oppose Clinton s Middle Eastern refugee plan by a remarkable 21-to-1 margin. Democrat voters oppose Clinton s refugee plan by a 17-to-1 margin. Most remarkably, 85 percent of black voters oppose Clinton s refugee agenda with less than one percent of black voters supporting her plan.Yet Clinton s expansion to Muslim migration would be in addition to her expansion for immigration overall.U.S. Census data shows that if a President Hillary Clinton were successful in passing a Gang of Eight-style immigration expansion bill, the U.S. could permanently resettle roughly 9.4 million migrants throughout the nation during her first term alone. This figure does not include the additional 11 million illegal immigrants already here to whom Clinton has promised amnesty and U.S. citizenship.Clinton s desire to expand immigration is shared by GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan, who leads the pro-Islamic migration wing of the Republican Party. Breitbart | 1 |
(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) have agreed to exploratory talks on forming a new government starting on Jan. 7, both parties said on Wednesday after informal discussions. The decision, 87 days after a national election that returned a fragmented parliament and complicated coalition arithmetic, brightens prospects for a renewal of the grand coalition that governed Germany over the past four years. A repeat coalition is Merkel s best chance of securing a fourth term as chancellor after talks on forming a three-way alliance with two smaller parties broke down, leaving Europe s largest economy in an unprecedented state of uncertainty. It was a good discussion in a trusting atmosphere, the parties said in a joint statement after leaders met on Wednesday. They agreed to hold four days of talks from Jan. 7, with the aim of deciding by Jan. 12 whether to open formal coalition negotiations. Even in the most optimistic case, Germany will have smashed 2013 s post-World War Two record of needing 86 days to form a new government after an election. The hiatus highlights that Germany, long Europe s bastion of stability, is not immune to the political fragmentation that has swept the continent. The conservatives and Social Democrats have identified 15 policy areas for exploration, including education, the welfare state and employment law, where the SPD is keen to carve out a distinctive left-wing identity for itself after a disastrous election showing blamed in part on Merkel s dominant stature. The SPD s membership, which tends to be more radical than the party leadership, will have to ratify any decision to repeat a coalition with Merkel, who has been in power for 12 years. (This version of the story corrects the date to Jan. 12 in fourth paragraph) | 1 |
For just a little over four months, Wayne Bradley could be heard spreading the conservative message on Detroit s 910AM Superstation. Then GOP nominee Donald Trump came to town, and things changed drastically.We ve known soft-spoken conservative, Wayne Bradley for several years. He s never been afraid of controversy and has always stood up for his conservative beliefs.On Friday, Bradley told us in an exclusive interview that local media had reached out to him when Trump came due to his position as State Director of African American Engagement for the Republican National Committee. Bradley who was unpaid during his time at the station didn t mention his affiliation with 910AM, which, he said, he generally doesn t do when discussing political issues with the media.He also met Trump and posted a photo of him with the candidate. When asked, Bradley said he had nothing to do with Trump s visit and was at at the rally with a pastor.The station, which was well aware of his work with the GOP, informed him by email that he was on hiatus that Friday, leading him to believe he would be back on the air shortly. But that wasn t the case.He received clarification on Monday that the show was canceled for good.It s not clear why station management decided to cancel the show.A station representative told 100 Percent FED UP, It was a business decision on the back-end. We contacted 910AM and spoke to an administrative assistant who refused to provide her name. According to the person we spoke to, no one at the station was available for comment because they were, very, very busy with meetings about Bradley s dismissal.The unnamed assistant told us that a statement would be released, but she was unsure when that might happen.But that s not what station owner Kevin Adell told the Detroit News. According to that report, Bradley was allegedly fired for violating corporate policy. He violated corporate policy, that s why he got fired. He was let go for insubordination. But it s not clear what policy Bradley allegedly violated. Bradley suggested it may have been due to the fact he didn t plug the station during interviews with the press.Regardless of the reason, Bradley said he appreciated the opportunity to have a dialogue with the community and was very grateful to have the air time.Moreover, he said that he understands the left-wing political climate in Detroit and respects the owner s decision.While he respects the decision, he told us he was disappointed with management for silencing the dialogue. Others weren t happy with the decision and made their feelings known on the station s Facebook page. 910AM where blacks are kept on the Gov ment PLANTATION and other views of them PROSPERING on their own merits is not allowed, one person said. Your way or the hiway-not the station I want to listen to-I m out!!! another person added. I would like to know where Wayne Bradley is at? Why is he not on the air? Shameless, commented a third critic.Bradley, who has been in radio off and on for about six years, says he s not worried and knows that something better will come along.And, he added, he appreciates the support of the listeners who reached out to the station.Meanwhile, the Oakland County Republican Party has offered their support for Wayne Bradley and asked fellow Republicans to call Superstation 910AM at:Station Phone: (248) 278-0910 Fax: (248) 350-3422 Studio Phone: (313) 209-9000Attention: Kevin Adell, Owner of 910 AM Dody Johnson, Station ManagerIn the meantime, Bradley said he ll continue his daily outreach efforts something he s been doing since September 2013. It s a different battle in Detroit, he told us. The key, he added, is to stay positive. As for the incident with 910AM, Bradley said he views it as a minor speed bump. | 1 |
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese state media on Monday continued to play down the protocol-bending phone call last week between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan’s president, with editorials in two newspapers saying the move showed Trump’s inexperience. China’s national English-language newspaper, the China Daily, said the 10-minute call “exposed nothing but the inexperience Trump and his transition team have in dealing with foreign affairs”. “The action was due to a lack of a proper understanding of the sensitive issues in Sino-U.S. relations and cross-Strait ties,” it said. The Friday call was the first by a U.S. president-elect or president since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of “one China”. China’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it had lodged “stern representations” with what it called the “relevant U.S. side,” urging the careful handling of the Taiwan issue to avoid any unnecessary disturbances in ties. China considers Taiwan a wayward province and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday pointedly blamed Taiwan for the exchange, rather than Trump, calling it “a petty action”. The China Daily said that for Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, the call “achieves nothing substantial, only pride in making what is an illusionary ‘groundbreaking move’, and temporarily diverting public attention on the island away from her bad performance”. “It would be a mistake for Tsai and her party to over-interpret the significance of the call,” it said. Her attempts to “stir up tension... will ultimately backfire”. The Global Times, a hawkish tabloid under the ruling Communist Party’s top newspaper the People’s Daily, called Trump “bluffing and unpredictable”, but said he did not have plans to overturn America’s international relationships. “It seems that Trump is still taking advantage of his perceived fickleness and unpredictability to make some choppy waves in the Taiwan Straits to see if he can gain some bargaining chips before he is sworn in,” it said. The Global Times added targeting him would be inappropriate since he is not yet president. “He has zero diplomatic experience and is unaware of the repercussions of shaking up Sino-U.S. relations,” it said. Instead, China could send a message to Trump by punishing Taiwan, wooing away one or two of the island’s diplomatic allies or beefing up military deployments against Taiwan, it said. “It is certain that Trump doesn’t want a showdown with China, because it is not his ambition, and neither was it included in his promise to the electorate. He puts out feelers to sound China out and chalk up some petty benefits.” On Monday, Taiwan’s Liberty Times, considered close to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, reported Tsai is planning to transit in New York early next month on her way to visit three diplomatic allies - Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. The trip would take place before Trump’s inauguration January 20 and Tsai’s delegation would seek to meet with Trump’s team, including Reince Priebus, Trump’s White House chief of staff, the report said. Taiwan’s Presidential Office said media reports about a January trip were “excessive speculation”. It said it would announce any presidential trips at the appropriate time. | 1 |
ERBIL Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani departed office on Wednesday, leaving his nephew to reconcile with the central government in Baghdad, with regional neighbors and with rival Kurdish parties after a failed referendum on independence. Nechirvan Barzani, who has served alongside his uncle as prime minister, will now be the main authority figure in the executive of the Kurdish autonomous region, following Masoud Barzani s departure as president, Kurdish officials said. The prime minister will be the key person during this transitional period, said Hoshyar Zebari, a former Iraqi foreign minister, now advisor to the Kurdish government and senior member of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). The elder Barzani, a 71-year-old veteran guerrilla leader, had run the Kurdish autonomous region with a firm hand since 2005, during which it prospered while the rest of Iraq was mired in civil war. But he announced his resignation on Sunday, effective on Nov. 1, after a Sept. 25 referendum on independence backfired, prompting the central government to send troops to recapture territory held by the Kurds outside their autonomous region. The referendum and government backlash have also revealed deep divisions among the Kurds themselves. During his resignation speech, Masoud Barzani accused his political rivals of high treason for yielding territory without a fight. His nephew Nechirvan, 51, who has served as prime minister for all but three years since 2006, is seen in Kurdish politics as a less polarising figure, having warmer relations than his uncle with rival Kurdish parties. He also has a close working relationship with Turkey s President Tayyip Erdogan, who has backed Baghdad in the central government s dispute with the Kurds since the referendum. The Kurdish regional parliament voted on Sunday to divide the president s powers among parliament, the judiciary and the cabinet, until parliamentary and presidential elections are next held. The elections were originally scheduled for Nov. 1 but postponed last month until next year. Before the referendum, Barzani s son Masrour was seen as his likely successor, but he has been damaged by his backing of the secession vote, which soured relationships with Baghdad and regional powers who opposed it. On Monday, the United States commended Masoud Barzani for stepping down and said it would actively engage with Nechirvan Barzani and his deputy, Qubad Talabani, a member of the rival political faction with whom he maintains a good relationship. UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also spoke with Nechirvan Barzani on Monday to encourage dialogue with Baghdad. He also met with met with the French and Germany ambassadors to Iraq, Bruno Aubert and Cyrill Nunn, on Tuesday. As prime minister, Nechirvan Barzani has been central to brokering the semi-autonomous region s oil dealings, now in jeopardy following Iraq s recapture of disputed territories on Oct. 16, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Despite no longer being president, Masoud Barzani will not be retreating from public life, government officials said. In his televised address on Sunday announcing the end of his presidency, Barzani said that he would remain a Peshmerga, or Kurdish fighter, and will continue to battle for his people s lifelong dream of independence. He will also remain head of the ruling party and will still sit on the High Political Council, a non-governmental body which emerged after the referendum. Kurdish politics have been dominated for decades by the KDP, led by three generations of the Barzani family, and its main rivals the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by the family of Jalal Talabani, who died in October. The two parties fought a civil war against each other in the 1990s, but maintained an outward appearance of unity after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, with Jalal Talabani serving as Iraq s ceremonial president in Baghdad from 2005-2014 while Masoud Barzani ran the Kurdish autonomous region. | 0 |
Trump just can t get anything off the ground for his failing presidency. Every time his approval numbers start to inch up, he does something else and the next poll shows his approval in the tank again. And sometimes, like now, it slips below its previous crater.According to a Quinnipiac poll conducted May 4-9, only 36 percent of registered approve of the job Trump is doing. That s down from 40 percent in mid-April, and is a near-record low for his presidency. On April 4, his approval was 35 percent.This poll was conducted before Trump fired James Comey from his position as FBI Director, so that controversy hasn t hit the polls yet. This nosedive is in response to other things Trump and the Republicans have done over the last several weeks. But even without that, 61 percent of voters think Trump is a goddamn liar (he is), and 66 percent believe he s not levelheaded (he isn t).Trump s biggest drop was among white voters without a college education. These people are the same who voted for him because they bought his song and dance about being able to bring an unprecedented level of prosperity back to them. Just 47 percent approve of his job now, compared to 57 percent last month.10 percent is a huge drop for less than four weeks, particularly from Trump s own base.Another interesting aspect of this poll is that a majority of Americans now want the Democrats to take control of Congress in 2018 that number stands at 54 percent, compared to just 38 percent that want Republicans to retain control. The biggest thing people seem to be unhappy with is the GOP s very unpopular plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Neither Trump nor Republicans seem to care that even their own constituents want them to fix the ACA rather than repeal it.On April 19, Trump s approval rating among independents was 38 percent, and that has likewise plummeted. It stands at just 29 percent now.Remember, none of this includes the clusterfuck surrounding James Comey s termination. It ll be interesting to see what happens going forward that decision was extremely controversial, and Congressional Democrats, along with some Republicans, are unhappy and suspicious now.Featured image by Molly Riley-Pool via Getty Images | 0 |
2 cups carrots, roughly chopped 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled 3⁄4 cup ice cubes
Directions:
Add all ingredients and blend it.
Enjoy. Health Benefits of Drinking Carrot Juice Prevents Cancer
Eating antioxidant-rich foods helps in fighting against these free radicals and thereby preventing the possibilities of the development of cancerous cells. Studies reveal that carrots juice is great sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin B, which collectively help in the fight against free radicals. Protects Brain Health
Carrots and carrot juice benefits brain health by helping to prevent against Alzheimer’s disease, improving memory, and defending against other types of cognitive decline. This is due to carrot’s ability to lower oxidative stress in the brain that can weaken nerve signaling capacity. Increases Metabolism
Phosphorous in carrot juice boosts the body’s metabolic rate, ensures optimal use of energy in the body, and decreases pain after a workout. Carrot juice contains a large amount of vitamin B complex, which helps in breaking down glucose, fat, and protein. It helps in building muscle and increasing metabolism, thus helping in weight loss. Cleanses The Liver
Carrot juice can cleanse and detoxifies the liver. The regular consumption of this tasty juice can help in releasing toxins from the liver. The bloodstream cannot rid the body of toxins and bile through the kidneys. They have to be ejected from the skin. Carrot juice aids this process and ensures that the harmful bile is removed from the body. Prevents Aging
The beta-carotenoid in carrots instantly turns into vitamin A once it enters the body. Therefore, drinking carrot juice can help in reducing cell degeneration, and it can also slow down the aging process. Control Cholesterol & Blood Sugar
Carrot juice works like a miracle in maintaining cholesterol and blood sugar levels, thanks to its potassium content. It is low in calories, and sugar content, and the essential vitamins and minerals present in it collectively work to prevent diabetes. Treats Macular Degeneration
Drinking carrot juice regularly can help elderly people avoid the risks of macular degeneration. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which splits itself via an enzymatic reaction that leads to the formation of provitamin A. Strengthens the Bones
The vitamin K present in carrot juice contributes in the protein building process of the body. Aside from that, it also supports the binding of calcium, that can result in faster healing, especially if you have broken bones.
Sources: | 1 |
(Reuters) - Gasoline and diesel prices rose sharply in North Korea after its sixth nuclear test and as the U.N. Security Council imposed new sanctions capping fuel supply, market data analyzed by Reuters on Monday showed. The Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on Sept. 11 banning exports of condensates and natural gas liquids to the North and capping the annual supply of refined petroleum products at two million barrels and crude at its current levels. The price of gasoline sold by private dealers in the capital Pyongyang and northern border cities of Sinuiju and Hyesan spiked to $2.51 per kg as of Sept. 13, up 45.1 percent from $1.73 per kg on Sept. 5, according to Reuters analysis of data compiled by the Daily NK website. The website is run by North Korean defectors who collect prices via phone calls with traders in the North. Diesel prices also surged 61.5 percent from $1.30 per kg to $2.10 per kg during the same period. Lee Sang-yong, who speaks regularly to sources inside the North and supervises market data from them, said the price hikes were caused primarily by a cut in supplies as the regime scrambles to hoard fuel, wary of a potential fuel crunch. North Korean authorities are likely to have intentionally reduced supplies in the market after the nuclear test, thinking the U.N. Security Council sanctions would affect their own repository, Lee said. In addition, astute traders are cutting their supplies on the expectations that the prices would go up further, while there s some psychological effect among ordinary citizens who worry about war. U.N. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Sunday the Security Council has run out of options on containing the North s nuclear programmer and Washington may have to turn the matter over to the Defense Department. North Korea launched a missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday in defiance of the new Security Council. White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster said on Friday, after the latest North Korean missile launch, that the United States was running out of patience: We ve been kicking the can down the road, and we re out of road. The latest gasoline price represents a 70.7 percent and 153.5 percent surge compared with statistics posted on June 8 and Dec. 1, respectively, less than one week after the Security Council adopted its last two resolutions on North Korea. North Korea gets most of its fuel from China and some from Russia. U.S. and South Korean officials have said the North imports some 4.5 million barrels of refined petroleum products and two million barrels of crude oil each year. | 0 |
Freedom is not a gift from government. It is a gift from God. President Donald J. Trump, May 4, 2017The Little Sisters correctly insist that sterilizations, abortifacient chemical birth control and artificial contraception are all immoral. They are not only against the teaching of the scripture and Christian tradition but, as Catholics, the Sisters also maintain that they violate the Natural Moral Law.The Obama administration has asked the Court to compel these Little Sisters of the Poor to do indirectly what they refuse to do directly. They asked the Court to force Catholic nuns to sin, to act against conscience, to pursue an immoral course of action. The nuns were placed in a situation reminiscent of other times in the history of the Church when unjust rulers sought to compel the Church to bend the knee to Caesar.Here are what the Little Sisters Of The Poor are all about. One look at these lovely women who have devoted their lives to God and to helping others in need, and you will see why President Trump made helping them live their faith without fear of persecution a priority:President Donald Trump signed a religious liberty executive order today that would protect Christian organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor from being forced to pay for abortions.Today is the National Day of Prayer and the White House is celebrating the occasion with Christian leaders by scheduling the order signing today. The order is a promise to respect religious rights and could pave the way for the Trump administration dropping the lawsuit the Obama administration was fighting against the Little Sisters and dozens of Christian entities not wanting to pay for abortions or abortion-causing drugs.The order indicates the Trump administration will provide regulatory relief for religious objectors to Obamacare s burdensome preventive services mandate, a position supported by the Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins was at the White House for the signing ceremony of an executive order protecting religious liberty. He told LifeNews.com that the new order ensures the freedom of all Americans to believe and act in accordance with their beliefs. The executive order makes clear that the administration will pursue policies that protect and vigorously promote religious liberty. The President s executive order is a clear reflection of his campaign promise to protect the religious freedoms of Americans. President Trump is taking a significant first step to defending religious liberty. In working with the Trump administration, it is clear that they both recognize and understand the dangers of the anti-faith policies of the previous administration and are therefore committed to undoing those policies and restoring true religious freedom, he said. The freedom to live out faith in all areas of society without government punishment or intimidation is what has made America great. Life NewsWatch here: | 1 |
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said Moscow s message to the United States during a likely meeting of the parties to the Iran nuclear deal next week on the sidelines to the United Nations General Assembly was to stay in the deal. That is not only our message, but the rest of the participants and those that are outside are trying to send this message across, Nebenzia told reporters on Friday. | 0 |
ABC host Martha Raddatz proved once again why she is one of the best choices to be a Presidential Debate moderator on Sunday, when she grilled Kellyanne Conway about the Republican nominee s immigration plan.After Trump s campaign manager talked about how Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine supposedly don t answer questions correctly because they make it about Trump and are not forthcoming, Raddatz asked Conway to clear up some questions about Trump s plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, which she proceeded to answer by not really answering it. He said that the priority will be criminals and those who have overstayed their visas. That still amounts to between 5 million and 6.5 million people that he says will be quickly removed. The cost estimate for that is between $51 billion and $67 billion. How will he manage such a massive operation and who will pay for it? Conway replied by putting the onus on ICE officers and once again said Trump will build a wall and force Mexico to pay for it, completely avoiding answering for how Trump intends to pay for such a costly plan. He ll manage it the way it should have been managed all along, by enforcing the law and relying upon those law enforcement officers and those ICE officers to do their job, Conway said. They ve been completely hamstrung in their ability to do their job. He also has said that he will triple the number of ICE agents to try to help. Conway then did exactly what she whined about Kaine and Clinton supposedly doing by pivoting to talking about how they don t have an immigration plan.Except Hillary Clinton DOES have an immigration plan and you can find it on her website here.Raddatz then steered Conway back to Trump s plan. Back to immigration, he said there will be no amnesty; all immigrants here illegally will be subject to deportation, Raddatz said. So will they be subject to deportation and removal? This is where Conway really began to wither because Republican logic dictates that all undocumented immigrants are criminals, which means all 11 million would have to be deported. But Conway tried to have it both ways. If they re criminals, they re going immediately. And we don t know what that number is. We hear anything from 1 million to 2 million, Conway replied. And then, of course, he has also said, this being the most generous country to immigrants in the world, that if you want to come to America and immigrate here legally Raddatz s bullshit detector went off and she once again tried to pin Conway to the wall by asking her point blank that if these immigrants have not committed a crime in the United States will Trump still deport them. Well, Conway couldn t handle that question either. He has said that you should stand in line and immigrate legally, Conway said before Raddatz cut her off again. So you mean they have to go? Raddatz asked.Conway once again could not handle the question and made a series of gaffes in response. She once again falsely claimed that Hillary Clinton does not have an immigration plan while Trump has a ten-point plan. For the record, Hillary s plan is a nine-point plan and it is posted on her campaign website.Conway also said that Trump plans to rescind all those executive amnesties. So does that mean Trump will rescind any executive order that has ever granted amnesty to immigrants, including those issued by presidents that came before President Obama? Because that would be very worrying if that s the case as Trump s immigration plan could then affect millions and millions more people.Raddatz finally realized that Conway was not going to be forthcoming in her answers and proceeded to slam her for it.Here s the video via YouTube.This is why Martha Raddatz is considered one of the toughest interviewers in the media. She took Conway to the cleaners and made her look like the hypocrite and fool that she is. Donald trump s plan would be costly, not to mention an international incident between Mexico and the United States since you have to wonder how Trump will actually force Mexico to pay for something it has repeatedly refused to pay for.And the fact that Conway is literally lying about Hillary Clinton by claiming that she doesn t have a plan is equally infuriating. If there s one claim Raddatz should have challenged Conway on it s that one. Other than that, Conway crashed and burned because Raddatz is a pro, which should be making Trump very nervous since he will have to face her later this year when she moderates a debate.Featured image via screen capture | 0 |
Sarah Palin can hear Putin s knees knocking from her front porch President Obama addressed news that Russian President Vladimir Putin was sending Russian military advisers into Syria to bolster the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.Obama explained during a town hall event with members of the military that he warned Putin years ago not to support the tyrannical dictator. I remember a conversation I had with Mr. Putin four or five years ago where I told him that was a mistake he did not take my warnings and as a consequence things have gotten worse, he said.Obama said historically, Russia provided a lot of financial support to Assad and sold Syria weapons, even as the dictator continued to alienate his regime from the people. The bad news is that Russia continues to believe that Assad, who is their traditional partner, is somebody that is worthy of continuing support, Obama said.Obama acknowledged that Putin was now sending more military advisers to Assad as well as more military equipment. The strategy that they re pursuing now by doubling down with Assad, I think is a big mistake, he said. You can t continue to double down on a strategy that is doomed to failure. Obama said that the United States would continue talking with Russia to convince them that their actions were bad for Syria. He signaled that diplomacy was the primary vehicle for restoring order in Syria, encouraging the Russians to get a little smarter. They are threatened in may ways more than we are by ISIL. They ve got a large Muslim populations that historically have caused a lot of problems inside of Russian, he said.Via: Breitbart News | 0 |
(Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke by phone on Friday with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, the Trump transition team said in a statement. “The two men discussed the grave terrorism threats facing both countries and pledged to work more closely together in order to meet these growing threats,” the statement said. Trump also spoke on Friday with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. “The two men discussed the long history of good economic, political, and security relations between the United States and Singapore,” according to the statement. | 1 |
As much as we activists might wish otherwise, it s not always a good idea to talk politics. This is particularly true if you re a insecure idiot Trumpkin who just has to say something stupid and racist to the passenger next to you on a plane. This actually happened on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where a Trump supporter scared the passenger next to him by gloating about the Cheeto King s win.According to the caption on the YouTube video, this Trump fan was wearing a plaid shirt and a camo cap, and he just had to say something about being happy that he could keep his guns to the black woman next to him. She began to cry likely because that sounds an awful lot like a threat, and the racism and racist threats that have been oozing out of Trumpkins since Nov. 8 is just vile.The two were separated, and then the pilot gave the entire plane a very stern talking to, thanks to said Trump fan: We re going to be in a metal tube at 35,000 feet to bring up politics. Okay? I understand everybody has their opinions, that s fine.Nobody wants to argue, nobody s going to change their minds by arguing, and let s keep our opinions to ourselves on this particular matter at this particular time.If there s anybody that has a problem with this, that needs to vent or rant or rave, there s another flight tomorrow. You re not going to be on this one. I hope that s clear. He got a lot of cheers for that.While some might interpret his full remarks as insensitive and even pro-Trump, he actually did what he needed to do to defuse the situation. Furthermore, he took down the gloating Trumpkin in the process, much to the pleasure of the other passengers. Listen to his entire rebuke below:[ad3media campaign= 1352 ]Featured image by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images | 1 |
Fox News host Tucker Carlson is so desperate to defend assault weapons that he accidentally made the case for why they should banned.During the Sunday morning edition of Fox amd Friends, Carlson argued that it s useless to ban assault weapons because terrorists will just go out and use crock pots to kill people instead. This is an attempt to control and disarm the population. And they re using terror as a pretext to do it. And they should just admit that, Carlson said.The call to once again ban assault weapons has been strong ever since the mass shooting in Orlando that killed 50 people and wounded another 53. ISIS sympathizer Omar Mateen was able to buy his assault weapon because Republicans in Congress refuse to ban suspected terrorists from purchasing and owning guns.Even Fox News hosts Bill O Reilly and Gretchen Carlson have declared their support for banning assault weapons during their own programs on the conservative network.Anna Kooiman explained that supporters of an assault weapons ban reason that a person will do less damage if they are only able to carry a knife or something much less deadly than an AR-15, which is a weapon of war and not something that was designed for civilian use.But Carlson claimed that crock pots should also be banned because terrorists used them to kill people, too. Well, a crock pot caused those killings at the Boston Marathon. I think we need to regulate those or ban them. There s no reason you should be able to buy a crock pot at Walmart ever again. And that s not only wrong, it s a false equivalency.As Raw Story points out, the Boston Marathon bombers used a pressure cooker, not a crock pot, as their weapon of choice. And they were only able to kill THREE people with it. The Orlando shooter, on the other hand, used an assault weapon and ended the lives of 50 people. If Carlson really wants to compare a kitchen utensil to a gun, he should start looking for a better argument because if Mateen had been using a crock pot or a pressure cooker there would be more people alive today.Here s the video via YouTube.Featured image via screen capture | 0 |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s Defence Ministry on Sunday rejected allegations it had bombed U.S.-backed militias in Syria, saying its planes only targeted Islamic State militants and that it had warned the United States well in advance of its operational plans. U.S.-backed militias said they came under attack on Saturday from Russian jets and Syrian government forces in Deir al-Zor province, a flashpoint in an increasingly complex battlefield. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias fighting with the U.S.-led coalition, said six of its fighters had been wounded in the strike. But Major-General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defence Ministry, dismissed the allegations in a statement on Sunday. Konashenkov said Russian planes had only carried out carefully targeted strikes in the area based upon information that had been confirmed from multiple sources. The strikes had only hit targets in areas under the control of Islamic State, he said. To avoid unnecessary escalation, the commanders of Russian forces in Syria used an existing communications channel to inform our American partners in good time about the borders of our military operation in Deir al-Zor, Konashenkov said. In the last few days, Russian surveillance and reconnaissance did not detect a single clash between Islamic State and armed representatives of any third force on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, he added. Separately, Franz Klintsevich, a member of the upper house of parliament s security committee, said there was no proof to underpin the accusations against Moscow. | 0 |
The American Health Care Act (HR 1628) passed by the House today reduces taxes on the American people by over $1 trillion. The bill abolishes the following taxes imposed by Obama and the Democrat party in 2010 as part of Obamacare:-Abolishes the Obamacare Individual Mandate Tax which hits 8 million Americans each year.-Abolishes the Obamacare Employer Mandate Tax. Together with repeal of the Individual Mandate Tax repeal this is a $270 billion tax cut.-Abolishes Obamacare s Medicine Cabinet Tax which hits 20 million Americans with Health Savings Accounts and 30 million Americans with Flexible Spending Accounts. This is a $6 billion tax cut.-Abolishes Obamacare s Flexible Spending Account tax on 30 million Americans. This is a $20 billion tax cut.-Abolishes Obamacare s Chronic Care Tax on 10 million Americans with high out of pocket medical expenses. This is a $126 billion tax cut.-Abolishes Obamacare s HSA withdrawal tax. This is a $100 million tax cut.-Abolishes Obamacare s 10% excise tax on small businesses with indoor tanning services. This is a $600 million tax cut.-Abolishes the Obamacare health insurance tax. This is a $145 billion tax cut.-Abolishes the Obamacare 3.8% surtax on investment income. This is a $172 billion tax cut.-Abolishes the Obamacare medical device tax. This is a $20 billion tax cut.-Abolishes the Obamacare tax on prescription medicine. This is a $28 billion tax cut.-Abolishes the Obamacare tax on retiree prescription drug coverage. This is a $2 billion tax cut.As a presidential candidate in 2008, Barack Obama had promised repeatedly that he would not raise any tax on any American earning less than $250,000 per year. He broke the promise when he signed Obamacare. With the passage of the House GOP bill, tens of millions of middle income Americans will get tax relief from Obamacare s long list of tax hikes.Via: Americans For Tax Reform | 1 |
GENEVA (Reuters) - A round of Syria peace talks that ended on Thursday was a big missed opportunity but there may be more talks next month if ideas can be found to encourage President Bashar al-Assad s government to engage, U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura said. He said neither side had actually sabotaged the latest talks by refusing to attend, but he laid most of the blame for the failure of the round at the feet of the government side. De Mistura voiced milder disappointment with the Syrian opposition, after they arrived in Geneva ruling out any future role for Assad. But he said that tough public stance had been tempered by a mature position in the closed-door discussions. The goal we had was to bring about real negotiations, de Mistura told a news conference. Let me be frank. We did not achieve, we did not achieve these negotiations. In other words, negotiations in reality did not take place. I would conclude by saying (it was) a big missed opportunity. A golden opportunity at the end of this year when in fact there is a clear indication by many sides that the military operations are coming to a close, he added. De Mistura said he was leaving Geneva for consultations in New York with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, followed by a meeting with the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. I will probably need to come up with new ideas, parameters, about how to move the talks forward, particularly on constitution and elections, he said, adding that plans for a new round of Geneva talks in January depended on their outcome. Civil war has ravaged Syria for more than six years. Chief opposition negotiator Nasr Hariri said the international community needed to do more to persuade government negotiator Bashar al-Ja afari to come to the table, warning that the talks were in great danger . The international community needs to find a new approach, otherwise this stalemate will continue and unfortunately it will be at the expense of Syrians, he said. One European diplomat said the talks had been a charade because of the government s behavior. Although the regime has presented itself here, that is all that it has done. I would go further: it s not just a kind of disengagement that they ve shown, it s an extraordinary contempt, he said. I understand that a large amount of their time here was spent negotiating personal admin matters and expenses, rather than the substance of the talks. As he left the talks, Ja afari accused the opposition, backed by Western countries and Saudi Arabia, of sabotaging the round. Ja afari said Damascus did not want the talks to fail but the opposition had put down a precondition last month by concluding a conference known as Riyadh 2 with a declaration that Assad had no role in Syria s political transition. De Mistura said the Damascus government had wanted him to insist that the opposition withdraw the statement. That was not possible or a logical approach because to me it sounded like a precondition. The government engaged me with only on (discussions about) terrorism. The truth is there is not one single subject they accepted except that one. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two prominent U.S. Democratic senators are raising questions about President Donald Trump’s special adviser, Carl Icahn, asking in a letter on Thursday if the activist investor is attempting to persuade the government to lift its “too big to fail” tag from insurer American International Group. On Friday, the Financial Stability Oversight Council, comprising the chiefs of U.S. financial regulatory agencies, will discuss AIG’s designation as a “systemically important financial institution,” commonly known as one that is “too big to fail.” In an agenda for the meeting, the council did not say which institution it will discuss. However, there are only two non-banks designated as so large and interconnected that they would ruin the financial system if they failed - AIG and Prudential Insurance (PRU.N). The labels trigger stricter oversight and greater capital requirements. Trump has ordered a review of the designation process, currently at the heart of a lawsuit involving MetLife Inc. (MET.N), which many expect will lead his administration to rescind the current designations to try to lighten regulation it considers burdensome. In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sheldon Whitehouse said Icahn has retained “his massive business interests” while advising Trump on regulation, including his sizable investment in AIG (AIG.N). AIG company received a $182 billion taxpayer bailout during the 2007-09 financial crisis, which prompted Congress to call for the designations of non-banks in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law as systemically important. Icahn owned a 4.95 percent stake in AIG as of March 31. Concerned about compliance costs, Icahn had publicly pressed AIG to shrink, and tried to convince the FSOC that AIG no longer qualified for the label. Recently though, after AIG sold some assets and appointed a new chief executive, Icahn has not pushed the issue further. Senators Warren and Whitehouse also noted Icahn met with one current FSOC member, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Jay Clayton, after Clayton was nominated for the position. “Given Mr. Icahn’s recent modification of his position on the breakup of AIG, and his past interactions with administration officials, we write to seek assurances that Mr. Icahn has not provided input on or received information on the pending FSOC decision on AIG’s SIFI status,” they said. The two senators asked about any FSOC measures to ensure individuals with an interest in its decisions do not inappropriately influence its members. They also asked if any members are subject to recusal on AIG because of interactions with Icahn, and about any staff-level conversations regarding Icahn’s investments. AIG declined to comment, and the White House and Treasury did not respond to requests for comment. | 0 |
Our definitions of death may have to change in the very near future. Joining Jimmy Church ( ) in the first half, Ira S. Pastor, CEO of BioQuark and Reanima , discussed how neuro-reanimation after death will one day be a possibility. Followed by paranormal expert Ronny LeBlanc , who reported on strange occurrences in Leominster, Massachusetts, which is known as "Monsterland," home to sightings of UFOS, Bigfoot and orange orbs. Website(s): | 1 |
Sorry Leftists the DNA doesn t change because a boy wants to be a girl. What part of NOT fair don t you get?Alaskan mother Jennifer VanPelt is not happy that her daughter missed out on a podium appearance at a state track meet after a transgender girl was allowed to compete and got the third-best time in a 200-meter varsity final race.Here is the mother s Facebook post where she expresses her frustration with this clearly unfair rule:See video below:Pictured: Nattaphon Wangyot, KTVA/screenshotAccording to transgender.com, these 30 states allow athletes to compete in the sports based on gender they identify with:We discovered this by perusing the comment section of KTVA s story on Haines runner Nattaphon Wangyot, who finished the 100-meter in 13.14 and qualified for state. Via: Rare | 1 |
A new report has just revealed that Fox News patriarch Rupert Murdoch was so horrified by the idea of Donald Trump becoming president that he instructed former CEO Roger Ailes to do all he could to swing the election in favor of anyone but Trump even Hillary. The revelation came during an interview with Ailes that took place before his death, which was recently published in Hollywood Reporter to mark the one-year anniversary of Ailes firing from the network due to his long history sexual harassment.Michael Wolff reports the following in the Hollywood Reporter article, published on Wednesday:It was Ailes tacit support of Trump that, in part, made his removal from Fox all the more urgent for the Murdochs. And it was not just the liberal sons who were agitated by Ailes regard for Trump, but also the father, whose tabloid, the New York Post, helped create Trump, but who found him now, with great snobbery, not of our conservative class. ( When is Donald Trump going to stop embarrassing his friends, let alone the whole country? Murdoch senior tweeted the day after Trump officially declared himself a candidate.) Murdoch instructed Ailes to tilt to anyone but Trump, Ailes confided to me before he was fired, even Hillary. (Ailes, for his part, characterized Murdoch s periodic efforts at interference as similar to Nixon s instructions to bomb this or that country best ignored.)Wolff s report also reveals that after Trump s surprise win on election night, Murdoch had no choice but to fall in line and kiss Trump s a**.After the election, a confounded Murdoch had to call on his ex-wife Wendi s friends, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, to broker a rapprochement with the disreputable Donald. Now, to Trump s great satisfaction, a humbled Murdoch is a constant caller.Republicans have all done the same as Murdoch. Even those Never Trumpers who openly opposed him throughout his campaign have all silently accepted their fate since his win. And it seems that no matter what he does now, even cozying up to Putin as the Russia scandal continues to heat up, conservatives still can t seem to find the guts to kick his orange derriere out of the White House.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | 1 |
It s no secret that Donald Trump has some kind of boy crush on Russian president Vladimir Putin. Despite the fact that Putin is nothing more than a dictator and a murderer, Trump can t seem to find anything but good things to say about the guy. Well, one CNN guest has absolutely had it with Trump on that front. CNN host Poppy Harlow mentioned the fact that Putin had tweeted about how the Democrats were handling the unexpected November loss, repeating what Trump had tweeted: Vladimir Putin said today about Hillary and the Dems, in my opinion, it s humiliating. Harlow then went on to say: He is agreeing with Vladimir Putin on anything. It s just surprising given the Russian relations, Russian hacking. But that he is talking still about winning the election, the election he won, at a time, I mean, how many geopolitical issues were there in the last week that he could be tweeting about? That s when Harlow s guest, Washington Examiner Senior Correspondent David Drucker, piped up: Vladimir Putin is basically a quasi-dictator, and he s busy lecturing an American candidate about how to lose with dignity? When the man doesn t actually win or doesn t actually lose? He just runs the show. He s the last person! I think you can make an argument here in the U.S. we can all talk about whether Clinton and her team post-election can handle their loss properly. Some believe they have and some believe they haven t. Vladimir Putin is the last person on earth that should be lecturing our candidates about how to lose with dignity. Drucker is right. Putin knows nothing of losing with dignity, because he just murders and jails people who go against him. He s not a real president, as we have in this nation. No matter how much I might have disliked any number of presidents we ve had, I certainly recognized and respected the fact that they were duly elected, and certainly none of them killed people to keep themselves in power. These are things Putin knows nothing about. He would never be able to handle losing, which is why he will never allow it to happen. In the end, the biggest bullies are the real cowards, and yes that stretches to Vladimir Putin. That makes it all the more alarming that the incoming United States president admires such a man on this grand scale.Watch the video below:[ad3media campaign= 1400 ]Featured image via video screen capture | 1 |
The American Health Care Plan, a.k.a. AHCA or Trumpcare, didn t get the vote Thursday that it was supposed to because there are too many Republicans in Congress that won t vote for it. Trump has been trying to bully them into doing so, including threatening the jobs of Republicans who vote against it. Now, though, he s made what he no doubt thinks is his most terrifying threat yet, except it s really not.He s threatened to leave Obamacare in place if Trumpcare fails in Congress.If you re sitting there scratching your head, you aren t alone. The ACA, also known as the dreaded Obamacare, would remain in place and intact regardless of what Trump does. The question is who would be responsible for that, politically, and the answer is and has always been Republicans. Trump seems to think he can hold that over their heads to force a vote.Mick Mulvaney, the White House s budget director, has even told House Republicans that Trump is done with negotiations and just wants a vote now. He said that if they vote the bill down, then Trump will just proceed to work on other parts of his agenda. Which, really, is the obvious option.One has to ask: Does Trump really think that he s going to cow intransigent Republicans this way? Should Trumpcare fail, the ACA would remain the law of the land regardless of what Trump does because he can t repeal it all on his own.There are House Republicans that aren t part of the intransigent Freedom Caucus who have said they can t back the modified bill, which is considerably worse than the original bill. There s also the fact that Senate Republicans have already said they don t have the votes to pass Trumpcare.To appease one side, such as the Freedom Caucus, Republicans have to alienate another side, like moderates. They re stuck between a rock and a hard place on this and it s a situation that Trump s bullying can t really make worse.There s a small chance that the bill will pass the House tomorrow, but with the Freedom Caucus and moderates being unhappy with the bill, it will probably fail. If it fails, Obamacare will remain the law of the land. Republicans already know they ll bear the burden of that. Trump s threat is ridiculous.Featured image by Win McNamee via Getty Images | 0 |
November 22, 2016
Indigenous water protectors at the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site just got assistance from military veterans.
Between December 4 and December 7, veterans of various branches of the United States armed forces have scheduled a “deployment” to show solidarity and lend support to the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota. The event, called “ Veterans Stand for Standing Rock ,” already has 108 confirmed RSVPs on Facebook, and features several high-profile progressive activists who have served in the military, including U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Baltimore police officer-turned police brutality whistleblower Michael A. Wood, Jr .
“Bring Body armor, gas masks, earplugs AND shooting mufflers (we may be facing a sound cannon) but no drugs, alcohol or weapons,” the event page, organized by Wes Clark Jr., states.
The Facebook event is already being used to organize logistics for the veterans to come to Standing Rock, complete with rideshare registration and financial assistance for veterans scattered around the country who want to support the protest.
“My husband is a veteran Army Combat Medic,” wrote Morgan McClure on the event page. “He has been talking about doing this for so long.”
Clark has also launched a GoFundMe page for the deployment, which he says will be used to provide material and logistical support to all the veterans wanting to join the Standing Rock protest from around the country. As of this writing, approximately $30,000 has been raised toward the $100,000 goal in just 10 days.
“Everyday becomes more evident that the defenders of America must stand with the Water Protectors,” Clark wrote on the GoFundMe page. “Let’s stop this savage injustice being committed right here at home. If not us, who? If not now, when?”
Clark cited the need for veterans to support the indigenous protesters at the pipeline construction site due to the excessive and heavy-handed militarized police response to the protests.
Here are some of what the protesters at Standing Rock have faced: Mace, sound cannons. sniper guns pointed at unarmed civilians, journalists being shot with rubber bullets, journalists being arrested for covering the protests, attack dogs unleashed on groups including children, elder Natives getting tased and violently arrest[ sic ], protesters marked with numbers and kept in dog kennels after arrest…
The Dakota Access Pipeline, which would transport roughly half a million barrels of crude oil daily underneath the Missouri River, has had construction held up for months as protests continue to grow. Indigenous communities gathering at the construction site say the pipeline has the potential to permanently poison water supplies for millions of people who depend on the Missouri River for drinking, bathing, and farming. Part of the Dakota Access Pipeline construction route have been held up by the Obama administration, though that order has been ignored by pipeline builders.
“Most civilians who’ve never served in a uniform are gutless worms who’ve never been in a fight in their life,” Clark told Task & Purpose . “So if we don’t stop it, who will?”
Zach Cartwright is an activist and author from Richmond, Virginia. He enjoys writing about politics, government, and the media. Send him an email at [email protected] | 1 |
Over the past few months, McDonalds has been a target for protests in favor of the fast food franchise raising its minimum hourly wage. Now, the company has once again angered the public but for a much more noble cause.This time, McDonald s is taking hits from anti-gay religious groups that are absolutely fuming after McDonald s Taiwan posted an LGBT-friendly advertisement for McCafe onto its Facebook page.The ad, which features a young man coming out to his father, is 90 seconds of pure emotion, capturing a moment that is extremely scary and heart-wrenching for many LGBT youth and adults. In the ad, the young man passes a coffee cup to his father that says, I like boys. The father gets upset and jumps up from the table, leaving his son alone and fighting back tears. A few seconds later the father returns, picks up the same cup of coffee and writes on it I accept that you like boys, as translated by the Shanghaiist.Watch the subtitled ad called Acceptance below:The ad touched the hearts of many and went viral, with over 3.6 million views, more than 92,000 likes and thousands of shares. Unfortunately, not everyone enjoyed or appreciated the ad s accepting and equality-driven message. Chang Shou-yi, the secretary general of the Alliance of Taiwan Religious Groups for the Protection of Family, is actually calling for a boycott on the restaurant after seeing the ad. Shou-yi said: Because McDonald s is frequented by many children, it is especially important to oppose the promotion of same-sex behavior. The secretary general added that the religious group rebukes and boycotts all enterprises that are polluting the next generation. Now, even if you want to just take a leak at a McDonald s bathroom, you can t help but feel polluted. But regardless of the backlash against the ad, the social media response has been extremely supportive:TwitterFacebookIf religious groups want to keep opposing businesses that support LGBT rights, they re going to have very limited places to do business with it s a list that keeps getting shorter as the world moves further away from bigotry and the hateful conservative rhetoric. Even Chick-fil-A, a brand that infamously boasted its opposition to gay marriage, has a franchisee that donated food to a gay pride picnic last year. The religious right is seriously running out of places where their bigotry is welcome.Featured image via video screen capture | 0 |
HARARE (Reuters) - New President Emmerson Mnangagwa laid out a grand vision on Friday to revitalise Zimbabwe s ravaged economy and vowed to rule on behalf of all the country s citizens. Sworn in days after the overthrow of Robert Mugabe, the 75-year-old former security chief promised to guarantee the rights of foreign investors and to re-engage with the West, and said elections would go ahead next year as scheduled. In a 30-minute speech to tens of thousands of supporters in Harare s national stadium, Mnangagwa extended an olive branch to opponents, apparently aiming to bridge the ethnic and political divides exploited by his predecessor during his 37 years in charge. I intend, nay, am required, to serve our country as the president of all citizens, regardless of color, creed, religion, tribe or political affiliation, he said, in a speech that also hailed the voice of the people as the voice of god . Behind the rhetoric, some Zimbabweans wonder whether a man who loyally served Mugabe for decades can bring change to a ruling establishment accused of systematic human rights abuses and disastrous economic policies. He made clear that the land reforms that sparked the violent seizure of thousands of white-owned farms from 2000 would not be reversed, but promised that those who lost property would receive compensation. To some political opponents, the speech was a welcome contrast with the habitual belligerence of Mugabe and appeared to be drawing on Mnangagwa s knowledge and understanding of China as a model for running an economy. His model has been the Chinese, said David Coltart, a former education minister and MP from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. He will drive to make Zimbabwe a more attractive investment location, and more efficient, but like China will not tolerate dissent. If you behave , you will be secure. Those skeptical about the new president s commitment to change question his role in the so-called Gukurahundi massacres in Matabeleland in 1983, when an estimated 20,000 people were killed in a crackdown on Mugabe s opponents by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade. Mnangagwa was in charge of internal security at the time, but has denied any part in the atrocities. Many Zimbabweans, especially the ethnic Ndebele who bore the brunt of the Gukurahundi slaughter, will see his appeal on Friday to let bygones be bygones as an attempt to gloss over his nation s darkest chapter. Some critics have alleged harsh treatment by soldiers of opponents of the military intervention last week - a de facto coup against Mugabe, 93, and his 52-year-old wife Grace. Axed finance minister Ignatius Chombo was in hospital with injuries sustained from beatings during a week in military custody, his lawyer told Reuters. He was blindfolded throughout his time in detention, Lovemore Madhuku said. It was a very brutal and draconian way of dealing with opponents, he added. Asked to comment, police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said she had no information about Chombo. Separately, High Court Judge President George Chiweshe ruled that the military intervention last week was legal, following an application brought by two citizens who petitioned the court to confirm the military had been right to do what they did. Since his return to Zimbabwe this month after fleeing a Mugabe-led purge, Mnangagwa has been preaching democracy, tolerance and respect for the rule of law. Along with Mugabe, Grace - Mnangagwa s sworn enemy - has been granted immunity from prosecution and had her safety guaranteed, part of a deal that led to Mugabe s resignation on Tuesday, sources close to the negotiations said. For decades Mnangagwa was a faithful aide to Mugabe, who was widely accused of repression of dissent and election-rigging and under whose rule one of Africa s once most prosperous economies was wrecked by hyperinflation and mass emigration. Mnangagwa earned the nickname Ngwena , Shona for crocodile, an animal famed and feared in Zimbabwean lore for stealth and ruthlessness. In his speech, Mnangagwa called for the removal of Western sanctions and said he wanted to hit the ground running . He appeared to have initial support from neighboring states. South African President Jacob Zuma said he hoped he would steer Zimbabwe successfully through the transition from Mugabe s rule. The Southern African Development Community, an intergovernmental organization, said it was ready to work closely with Mnangagwa s government. Zimbabweans listening to his speech said they were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, but were also realistic about the chances of injecting life into an economy with 90 percent unemployment and banks devoid of cash. In the last 15 years, an estimated 3 million have emigrated to neighboring South Africa in search of a better life. I wanted to see for myself that Mugabe has really gone. He is the only president I ve known, said 33-year-old Lenin Tongoona. We have a new president who may try something a little different to improve the economy. I m excited today but tomorrow is uncertain because we don t know how he will turn out. He talks about creating jobs. How does he plan to do that? | 0 |
We ll never forget Karl Rove s meltdown at Fox News when President Obama was re-elected in November of 2012. It was a moment when he simply couldn t wrap his head around Fox declaring Obama the victor and he was in complete denial. It was as though his schemes to prevent Obama from winning didn t work, and now it seems as if his embarrassing moments didn t cease there.Now, in a new and pretty damn embarrassing video of him trying to say his clear establishment choice of Marco Rubio might still pull out a victory in Virginia, he s proven wrong in literally less than five seconds.When Chris Wallace asked Rove what he thought about the race in Virginia, Rove replied: Well, I think this race is going to continue to tighten However, it was then that Rove was abruptly cut off with Wallace saying: Wait, wait, hold on just a second Apparently we ve got a call in Virginia, so you can tell us after we get the call. And that call, as we all know by now, was for Donald Trump being declared the winner. Wallace then asks Rove while laughing: Karl, tell me, what does that mean for Marco Rubio and Donald Trump? What does it mean? It means Rubio can t win is what it means, and the GOP s only shot at an establishment candidate just went out the window. Sure, Rubio won Minnesota, but that s the only state he s won so far in the Republican primary battle. The chances of him securing the nomination are little to none.Rove, much like with what happened during his meltdown in 2012, is likely in utter disbelief. His puppet strings to control Republican elections are no longer working and he s probably in a deep panic. His party is disintegrating right before his very eyes into thousands of Trump-shaped pieces.Needless to say, this is pretty funny. Check it out for yourselves: Featured image via YouTube | 1 |
CAIRO (Reuters) - Armed militants killed at least 30 policemen in a shootout during a raid on a suspected militant hideout in Egypt s Western desert, security sources said on Friday. A number of suspected militants were also killed and security forces are combing the area, a statement by the Interior Ministry said. Egypt is facing an Islamist insurgency concentrated in the Sinai peninsula from two main groups, including an Islamic State affiliate, that has killed hundreds of security forces since 2013. Islamist militants have launched several major attacks, most recently targeting churches in Cairo and other cities with the loss of dozens of lives. The security sources said authorities were following a lead to a hideout deep in the desert thought to house eight suspected members of Hasm, a group which has claimed several attacks around the capital targeting judges and police since last year. A convoy of four SUVs and one interior ministry vehicle was ambushed from higher ground by militants firing rocket-propelled grenades and detonating explosive devices, a senior source in the Giza Security Office said. The number of dead was expected to rise, two security sources said. Two security sources said eight security personnel were injured in the clashes, while another source said that four of the injured were police and four others suspected militants. Egypt accuses Hasm of being the militant wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group it outlawed in 2013. The Muslim Brotherhood denies this. The Islamist insurgency in the Sinai peninsula has grown since the military overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule. The militant group staging the insurgency pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2014. It is blamed for the killing of hundreds of soldiers and policemen and has started to target other areas, including Egypt s Christian Copts. (This version of the story was refiled to say policemen in first paragraph from police officers as the rank of the dead was not immediately known) | 1 |
If you’re among the tens of millions of people affected by the winter storm, odds are you’re not going anywhere Tuesday. The good news: The Times has you covered. Below is your survival guide with everything you’ll need to stay entertained and a little jolly. Read on for how to make the best of your cozy night inside. (Maybe time for a little hygge?) Just to get this out of the way: No, being cold does not increase your odds of catching a cold. That is a myth that refuses to die, but research has shown that low temperatures do not increase one’s chances of getting sick. There are, however, other winter dangers to watch out for. For example, if you’re going to be out shoveling, make sure to get in a good stretch before you start, push the snow rather than lift it, use your legs and not your back, and stop right away if you feel dizzy or have any tightness in your chest. More blizzard advice from The Times: • 7 Tips for Making It Through the Winter • Our look at general winter safety • A safety checklist from last year’s January blizzard • Last year we asked readers for their best blizzard preparation ideas, and we heard everything from keeping bottle coffee on hand in case the power goes out and making sure you have board games to a simple recipe of “popcorn, red wine and ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show’ DVDs” • If you’re heading out to pick up some winter gear, check out this guide to gadgets compiled by our friends at The Sweethome. Being snowed in can be a great chance to put on your chef’s hat, so start out with our guide to cooking for the storm. Our guide to roasting chicken is another perfect option for a day inside, as is our guide on how to make soup. Other solid choices include: • Casseroles for cold nights • Cheery winter salads for dreary days • Warming stews and soups • Vegetarian soups • pasta dishes ready in an hour or less • Braises for chilly days You could also channel that cabin fever and pick up some French cooking skills with our new cooking guide here, or keep things simple and get back to basics with our classic chicken soup recipe or tomato soup (just add grilled cheese). The team at Watching, our film and TV recommendation website, have rounded up their picks for what to stream during a blizzard. You could also: • Check out what’s new on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and HBO this month • Catch up on this year’s Oscar winners • Binge these wonders • Stream these nature documentaries • Or watch the movies that influenced “Get Out” Still haven’t found something you like? Just tell Watching what you’re what you’re in the mood to watch, and they’ll give you a series of recommendations from across many streaming services. Looking for some background music while you cook? Check out our pop music team’s most recent Playlist and their Popcast podcast. You could also scroll through the Magazine’s delightful annual interactive music issue, featuring 25 songs that tell us where music is going. Or if you haven’t already, tumble down the rabbit hole of “Missing Richard Simmons,” currently the most downloaded podcast on iTunes. For many, it’s a winter tradition: An evening snowed in means an evening of high spirits, emphasis on the spirits. If you’re in the mood for a hot drink to keep you warm as the snow piles up outside, Cooking has rounded up 10 cocktails that will do the trick. Hot drinks not your thing? Try these: • Switch to wine and learn all about it with our guide to drinking wine • If you’d rather go your own way, brush up on your skills with our comprehensive guide on making cocktails • And if you’re skipping the booze tonight, check out this collection of nonalcoholic drink recipes. • Maybe even try a new type of hot chocolate? What better way to spend night in than catching up on some reading? Every week the Book Review puts together its list of favorite new reads, the most recent of which you can find here. If you’re still catching up on your reading list from last year, check out the 10 books our editors chose as the best reads of the year. You can also look over The New York Times Best Sellers list for ideas on what to dive into. | 0 |
BEIRUT, Lebanon — On the day after his 51st birthday, Bashar the president of Syria, took a victory lap through the dusty streets of a destroyed and empty rebel town that his forces had starved into submission. Smiling, with his shirt open at the collar, he led officials in dark suits past deserted shops and buildings before telling a reporter that — despite a announced by the United States and Russia — he was committed “to taking back all areas from the terrorists. ” When he says terrorists, he means all who oppose him. More than five years into the conflict that has shattered his country, displaced half its population and killed hundreds of thousands of people, Mr. Assad denies any responsibility for the destruction. Instead, he presents himself as a reasonable head of state and the sole unifier who can end the war and reconcile Syria’s people. That insistence, which he has clung to for years even as his forces hit civilians with gas attacks and barrel bombs, is a major impediment to sustaining a let alone ending the war. The new less than a week old, is already tenuous. On Saturday, the United States acknowledged carrying out an airstrike that killed Syrian government troops in eastern Syria. Attacks have resumed across the country, and aid meant for besieged residents of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, is still stuck at the Turkish border. Mr. Assad has become a central paradox of the war: He is secure and kept in place by foreign backers as his country splinters, although few see the war ending and Syria being put back together as long as he stays. Although he remains a pariah to the West, and scores of militant groups continue to fight to oust him, even his opponents acknowledge that he has navigated his way out of the immediate threats to his rule, making the question of his fate an intractable dilemma. The rebels are unlikely to stop fighting as long as the man they blame for the majority of the war’s deaths remains. But fear of what might emerge if Mr. Assad is ousted has deterred many Syrians from joining the insurrection and may have helped prevent countries like the United States from acting more forcefully against him. The result has been a crushing stalemate. Mr. Assad’s standing as leader of Syria is diminished — and yet stable. “The problem is that he cannot win, and at the same time he is not losing,” said Samir Altaqi, the director of the Orient Research Center in Dubai. “But at the end of the day, what is left of Syria? He is still the leader, but he lost the state. ” Indeed, recent events give the impression that Mr. Assad has succeeded in muddling through, without being held accountable. August came and went with little mention of the anniversary of the chemical attacks by his forces that killed more than 1, 000 people in 2013. Turkey, a key backer of the rebels, dropped its demand that he leave power immediately, and the United States has stopped calling for his removal. And the day before Mr. Assad’s birthday on Sept. 11, for which his supporters created a fawning website, the United States and Russia announced a new agreement with surprising benefits for Mr. Assad. Besides making no mention of his political future, the agreement brought together one of his greatest foes, the United States, with one of his greatest allies, Russia, to bomb the jihadists who threaten his rule. Years ago, few assumed that Mr. Assad would join the ranks of the world’s bloodiest dictators. and educated as an ophthalmologist, he had not planned on a political career but was summoned from London by his father and predecessor, Hafez Assad, when the heir apparent, Bashar’s elder brother, Bassel, died in a car accident in 1994. After Bashar succeeded his father as president in 2000, many hoped he would reform the country. But those hopes dwindled, evaporating entirely with the start of the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, when Mr. Assad sought to quell initially peaceful protests with overwhelming violence. The conflict escalated from there. Despite widespread opposition to his rule, a combination of factors has enabled Mr. Assad to persevere, analysts say. His foes have remained divided and have failed to convince many Syrians, especially religious minorities, that they would protect their rights or run the country better than Mr. Assad. As continuous battles have ground down his forces, Mr. Assad has been the beneficiary of significant military support from Iran, Russia and Lebanon’s Hezbollah — aid much more significant than what the United States and its allies have given the rebels. And the rise of jihadist organizations like the Islamic State and the Nusra Front, recently renamed the Levant Conquest Front, have led many Syrians and some of Mr. Assad’s international opponents to conclude that he is the lesser evil. While he may be brutal to his people, the thinking goes, he does not directly threaten the West. His victory tour on Monday showcased the desolation of the town of Daraya, a longtime rebel stronghold whose remaining residents were bused out last month after an extended siege by government forces. In videos released by the Syrian government, Mr. Assad arrived in town driving his own car, a silver Hyundai fidgeted though a sermon praising him for protecting Syria and performed prayers for the Muslim Eid holiday. Then, as martial music played, the camera jumped between images of the area’s destruction and scenes of Mr. Assad leading a determined entourage through town. A reporter stopped him for questions, and Mr. Assad spoke in soft tones about reconciliation and reconstruction. He mocked his foes as “rented revolutionaries,” a dig at their foreign backing, and laughed at his turn of phrase. His entourage got the cue and laughed as well. For many Syrians, the message was clear. “He is a man who wanted to show all Syrians that this would be their luck if they opposed him,” said Murhaf Jouejati, the chairman of the Day After organization, which aims to prepare Syrians for a democratic future. Malik Rifai, an antigovernment activist from Daraya now displaced to northern Syria, said he felt numb watching Mr. Assad walk the streets of his empty hometown, but shared a video of a flock of birds that had flown over as residents were leaving. He interpreted it as a sign that they would return, he said. “Those birds were a deep message from heaven, whereas Bashar’s presence was just a parade, showing the muscles of a weak person,” Mr. Rifai said in an online chat. Mr. Assad’s dark suits and calm tones have given him a public image more sophisticated than that of other Arab autocrats like Col. Muammar of Libya and Saddam Hussein of Iraq, who often brandished weapons and gave thundering speeches, threatening their enemies. “He’s a different kind of bloodthirsty dictator, the kind who shops online on his iPad,” said Nadim Houry, who oversaw the work of Human Rights Watch on Syria for a decade. “He’s sort of Arab dictator 2. 0. ” Colonel Qaddafi and Mr. Hussein were both killed after foreign interventions aimed at removing them from power — a fate Mr. Assad appears to have escaped, even though the death toll on his watch has exceeded that of his more colorful colleagues. His perseverance has frustrated those who feel Mr. Assad should be held accountable. “The fact that many leaders are considering or willing to deal with him today as if he has not gassed his own people or tortured thousands to death is an indictment of the current policy environment across the world,” Mr. Houry said. “There is a level of cynicism, a lack of ambition. ” But analysts note many weaknesses in Mr. Assad’s position. After years of war, he holds less than half of Syria’s territory and his forces are depleted, making it hard for them to seize and hold new areas. Military aid from Iran and Hezbollah on the ground and from Russia in the skies has held off rebel advances, but they have also made him more dependent on foreign powers looking out for their own interests. Diplomats who track Syria say that while Iran remains committed to Mr. Assad, the Russians could negotiate him away if their interests were protected. And signs of Russian displeasure with Mr. Assad have occasionally surfaced. In June, Sergei K. Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, visited Syria apparently without informing Mr. Assad that he was coming — a major embarrassment for a president who speaks often of national sovereignty. “A pleasant surprise!” a beaming Mr. Assad said in a video of the meeting. “I did not know that you were coming in person. ” But Mr. Assad still has significant support in areas he controls, including among many Syrians who want the war to end and see no alternative to his rule. “If God gives him life, I see that he’ll be president until Syria comes back the way that it was,” said Bouchra a Lebanese lawyer who meets regularly with Syrian officials and knows Mr. Assad. She dismissed the idea that the violence of Mr. Assad’s government would make Syrians reject him after the war. “People love their homeland,” she said. “All that hate and aggression will go away in the end. ” | 0 |
As Election Day continues to get closer on the calendar, some conservatives are already threatening to commit acts of violence if Hillary Clinton beats Donald Trump.In fact, conservatives, including Trump, have been laying the groundwork for months now to invalidate the election results in the event Donald Trump loses.The Republican nominee went to Pennsylvania in August and declared that the only way he can possibly lose Pennsylvania is if Hillary Clinton cheats to win the state. Ever since then, Trump s campaign and the Republicans that support him have been claiming that Clinton will somehow steak the election via election fraud, which suggests Trump and his conservative backers will refuse to gracefully accept defeat on Election Day and could go so far as to make threats and commit acts of violence in order to prevent Hillary from taking over as Commander-in-Chief.And such a move by conservatives would not only be unprecedented in the entire history of our nation, it would also be treason.Historian Dr. Ronald Feinman explained in an article published by History News Network that in all of our history, no losing presidential candidate has ever not accepted defeat in the wake of losing an election. There has never been a threat of a losing candidate refusing to accept the victory of his opponent, even in the midst of an oncoming Civil War, or in the midst of the Great Depression, or during the tensions of the Cold War years, Feinman wrote.There is absolutely no excuse or justification for even a perceived possibility that Donald Trump might cause a major threat to civil order by encouraging his supporters to refuse to accept his defeat. Yet, we have some Republicans, including Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin seemingly setting the stage for possible civil disobedience and even violence based on the argument that Bill and Hillary Clinton are totally corrupt, and that no victory by Hillary Clinton would be valid. It is truly terrifying to think of the possible threat to the new President and Vice President by crazed supporters who use Trump s vehement opposition and potential rejection of the results as an excuse for bloodshed and violence, including a possible threat to the health, safety, and lives of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine.During the Values Voter Summit last month, Bevin called for bloody rebellion if Hillary Clinton wins in November. Somebody asked me yesterday, I did an interview and they said, Do you think it s possible, if Hillary Clinton were to win the election, do you think it s possible that we ll be able to survive? That we would ever be able to recover as a nation? And while there are people who have stood on this stage and said we would not, I would beg to differ. But I will tell you this: I do think it would be possible, but at what price? At what price? The roots of the tree of liberty are watered by what? The blood, of who? The tyrants to be sure, but who else? The patriots. Whose blood will be shed? It may be that of those in this room. It might be that of our children and grandchildren. I have nine children. It breaks my heart to think that it might be their blood that is needed to redeem something, to reclaim something, that we through our apathy and our indifference have given away. Donald Trump has also suggested that Second Amendment people could do something to stop Hillary Clinton.This suggests that Trump and conservatives are planning to contest any election result that is not in their favor and are planning to cause chaos and commit violence if they don t get their way. This should be seen as a treasonable act, were it to occur, requiring the arrest, trial and incarceration of any Trump supporters, including the candidate himself, who represent a threat to constitutional order and American democracy, Feinman continued. Donald Trump would go down in history ever worse than his reputation has already been sullied by his actions and statements promoting division and chaos in America, and undermining its ability to protect national security. Being a sore loser who advocates or endorses violence and bloodshed would put him into a class with people such as Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr as traitors to the nation. Indeed, Trump and conservatives would be undermining our democracy and our tradition of peaceful transfers of political power which is why Americans must defeat Donald Trump by a landslide on November 8th in order to send a clear message to Trump and conservatives that their agenda is rejected and their behavior is totally unacceptable.Featured Image: Flickr | 0 |
BERLIN/MUNICH (Reuters) - The leader of Germany s Social Democrats (SPD) said on Monday he would launch talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives on forming a government next week if members of his center-left party gave him the green light at a congress this weekend. The remarks by Martin Schulz raised hopes that the two parties that suffered losses to the far right in an election in September could renew an alliance that has ruled Germany since 2013 and end the political deadlock in Europe s largest economy. Merkel turned to the SPD after failing to form a three-way alliance with the left-leaning Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, plunging Germany into a political impasse and raising doubt about her future after 12 years in power. We ll explore whether and how the formation of a government is possible in Germany, Schulz told journalists. The SPD party board leadership had earlier set down its key demands for coalition talks with the conservatives. On the divisive issue of immigration, one of the main reasons for the collapse of Merkel s first effort, the SPD said it opposed a conservative plan to extend a ban on the right to family reunions for some asylum seekers. Family reunions and family cohabitation lead to good integration, the SPD document said. That s why we are against extending the suspension of family reunions. In a sign of the tensions likely to bubble up between the parties, Horst Seehofer, leader of the arch-conservative Bavarian sister party to Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU), warned the SPD not to try to prevent attempts to extend the ban on family reunifications. That would lead to such a huge migrant influx again that Germany s ability to integrate them all would be completely overstretched, Seehofer, leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), told Bild newspaper. Merkel could also face complications from her own camp. Her arch-conservative CSU allies in Bavaria on Monday named right-winger Markus Soeder to be their candidate for the state premiership in a regional election next autumn, potentially weakening her hand as she negotiates with the SPD. Merkel s CDU and the CSU bled support to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) in September s federal election because of anger at the chancellor s decision in 2015 to open Germany s door to more than a million asylum seekers. The CSU now fears losing more votes at regional level. The future of Seehofer had been in question since the election. After the losses, Merkel reluctantly accepted a CSU demand to put a limit on the number of asylum seekers Germany will accept each year. Asked why he was clearing the stage for Soeder to lead the CSU in next year s vote in Bavaria, Seehofer said: The past doesn t win you any elections. Soeder, who has accused Merkel of pulling the conservatives to the left and took a hard line on Greece during the euro zone crisis, is likely to be a bigger thorn in Merkel s side than Seehofer, who is expected to remain party leader. For its part, the SPD, which has governed in coalition under Merkel since 2013, suffered its worst election result in postwar history in September, and had been reluctant to join another grand coalition . It dropped its pledge to go into opposition only after Merkel failed to form a government, bowing to pressure from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to ease the deadlock. The SPD will hold a party congress in Berlin this weekend, where it is expected to debate its position on coalition talks. Kevin Kuehnert, the head of the SPD s youth wing - which opposes another grand coalition - told Die Welt newspaper that the outgoing CDU-CSU-SPD government had been characterized by cheap and often quite bad compromises, such as on urgently needed investment in education and infrastructure . The SPD did not stake out a position on the conservatives upper limit on refugees in its policy document. But it did say Germany should work with French President Emmanuel Macron on strengthening the European project through policies geared to fight high youth unemployment. It did not mention key proposals by Macron that the euro zone should have its own budget and finance minister, but it did refer to his plan for closer defense cooperation. On the economy, the SPD s proposals for more rights for workers and employee-friendly regulation of the large temporary work sector could draw fire from the CSU. The long political impasse is starting to worry investors. An investor sentiment survey tracking Germany fell in December. The research group Sentix said investors wanted to know how expensive a tie-up with the SPD would be. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is very pleased with the draft healthcare bill Senate Republican leaders have unveiled and wants to continue to “push it forward,” the White House said on Friday. “The president is very supportive of the Senate bill. There’s a lot of ideas in there - he’s talked about having heart,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters when asked if Trump preferred the Senate’s draft to a bill to repeal Obamacare approved by the House of Representatives. “I think he’s very pleased with that (Senate) bill and he wants to continue to push it forward,” Spicer said. | 0 |
Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another LIVE broadcast of The Boiler Room starting at 6:00 PM PST | 8:00 PM CST | 9:00 PM EST for this special broadcast. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for barfly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join ACR hosts Hesher and Spore along with Andy Nowicki host of The Nameless Podcast, Jay Dyer of Jay s Analysis and Stewart Howe for the 91st episode of BOILER ROOM. Water the plants, put the kids to bed and get your favorite snuggy out so you can drop deep into the Boiler Room with the ACR brain-trust.Please like and share the program and visit our donate page to get involved!BOILER ROOM IS NOT A POLICTALLY CORRECT ZONE! LISTEN TO THE SHOW IN THE PLAYER BELOW ENJOY! Listen to Boiler Room EP #91 The Swear Jar Overfloweth on Spreaker.Reference Links: | 1 |
Your forthcoming book, “Tears We Cannot Stop,” is subtitled “A Sermon to White America. ” Which part of white America do you envision reading it? I envision the audience to be that ocean of white folk I encounter who are deeply empathetic to the struggles of minorities — they are the ones who ask me, “What can I do, as a white person?” This is my attempt to address them in the most useful and, hopefully, edifying manner. What’s your strategy for getting through to the white people who may not be particularly sympathetic? What I’ve seen under the wonderful presidency of Barack Obama is the tendency to not tell white people the truth, for obvious reasons — they don’t vote for you. But I’m not a politician. I don’t have that power or influence, but what I do wield is a different kind of bully pulpit. We have to have enough belief in white people to tell them the truth. They are grown! There are a lot of areas within race relations that seem like less of a conversation and more of an attempt to prove to white people that these issues — police brutality, for instance — are a real and present danger. I open this book with horror stories about my engagement with the police. These are the stories that have shaped me, that join me to the mass of people who, regardless of our station in life, regardless of educational attainment and achievement, have felt this. The president of the United States has these stories, the former attorney general has these stories and a prominent black intellectual like me has these stories. The reality is that this is part and parcel of what it means to be black in America, and I wanted to spend time talking and thinking about it from a number of different perspectives to show white brothers and sisters that we aren’t making this up. This is not fabricated. I can’t help but think that if the same levels of police brutality were happening to white people, we would just disband the police. Police brutality would not be seen as the price of keeping our society safe. Recently, I was outside of Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington at 3 a. m. and a young white kid is cursing the police, and I’m going, “Oh, my God, they’re going to shoot him. ” And then it occurred to me that they wouldn’t — he’s a white kid. And what did I hear the police say? “Now, son, you’re clearly inebriated. You need to go home and sleep this off. ” And I said to myself: “My God! This is what we want!” We can’t even afford a display of anger that many white people have. At the end of your sermon, you do a “benediction” section, in which you talk about making reparations on the local and individual level: donating to groups like the United Negro College Fund or a scholarship program, but also, to cite your example from the book, paying “the black person who cuts your grass double what you might ordinarily pay. ” That gave me pause! Good! I used to say in church, “If the sermon ain’t making you a little bit uncomfortable, it ain’t effective. ” Look, if it doesn’t cost you anything, you’re not really engaging in change you’re engaging in convenience. You’re engaged in the overflow. I’m asking you to do stuff you wouldn’t ordinarily do. I’m asking you to think more seriously and strategically about why you possess what you possess. I agree with reparations, but maybe this is my white privilege speaking: I can’t imagine actually doing that. That is what I meant by an I. R. A.: an individual reparations account. You ain’t got to ask the government, you don’t have to ask your local politician — this is what you, an individual, conscientious, “woke” citizen can do. But charity can’t be the end of it, right? The Koch brothers gave the United Negro College Fund $25 million, but I doubt you would consider them “woke. ” No. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that charity is a poor substitute for justice. But I ain’t turning $25 million down. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Evangelical Christian leader Jerry Falwell Jr. will head an education reform task force under U.S. President Donald Trump and is keen to cut university regulations, including rules on dealing with campus sexual assault, the school he heads said. Falwell, the son of the late televangelist Jerry Falwell Sr., was described by Trump as “one of the most respected religious leaders in our nation” last year after Falwell endorsed him during the Republican party primary race. READ MORE Trump vows end to prohibition on church political activity Vatican worried about Trump immigration order Falwell is president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, which bills itself as the world’s biggest Christian university. A school spokesman, Len Stevens, said on Wednesday it was not clear yet when the task force would start its work. Stevens said Falwell was interested in eliminating numerous regulations the U.S. Department of Education has placed on colleges and universities, adding that many college presidents felt the same, regardless of their political orientation. “It’s an autonomy issue for universities to be able to not be micromanaged by the Department of Education,” Stevens said in an email. Falwell also wants to cut federal rules on investigating and reporting sexual assault under Title IX, the federal law that bars sexual discrimination in education, according to Stevens. The Liberty University head believes on-campus sexual assault investigations are best left to police and prosecutors, Stevens said. Falwell told the Associated Press he turned down an offer from Trump to become education secretary, in part because Falwell did not want to move his family to Washington. When Falwell introduced Trump before a speech he gave at Liberty University early last year, Falwell said he saw similarities between Trump and his father, the founder of the Moral Majority organization, including a penchant to “speak his mind.” The Senate Education Committee sent Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVos, a charter school advocate, to be education secretary to the full Senate on Tuesday for a confirmation vote. | 1 |
For months now, Donald Trump has been leading the polls for the republican party s presidential nomination. His devoted followers hang on his every word, while he promises to do impossible things, like build a wall across the Mexican border and ban Muslims from entering the United States.Is Trump taking these voters for a ride?This twelve-minute video compilation, published by the non-profit foundation One World Voice, gives an interesting overview of Trump s many changing faces and contradictory political positions.The video includes clips of Trump praising Bill and Hillary Clinton, stating his pro-choice beliefs, supporting partial birth abortion, praising the Chinese, even giving democrats credit for creating a better economy than republicans have ever been able to create.After more than twelve minutes of video evidence that seems to contradict many of Donald Trump s recent statements on the campaign trail, the video s creators ask: Still think Trump is a true conservative? Why support him when we have other real conservatives? Watch the video below, courtesy of One World Voice on Facebook. // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]>The truth comes out !Posted by One World Voice on Saturday, December 12, 2015Does anyone really know what Donald Trump believes or stands for?As many people already know, Donald Trump is nothing more than a con man. He s been sued for fraud over everything from bogus real estate deals to his sham school, formerly known as Donald Trump University.It s likely Trump doesn t mean anything he says. Over the past several months what s become obvious is that he will say anything that is likely to get him publicity or attention, no matter how disgusting it is.Like Ben Carson s campaign, Donald Trump s bid for president is just another way to gain publicity and boost his bank own account.As Addicting Info reported here, Carson s campaign has been exposed as nothing more than a publicity stunt, designed to boost his book sales and increase the size of his own bank account. His staff began dropping like flies on New Year s Day, with more and more resignations rolling in all the time.Trump s campaign is not much different than Carson s. Donald Trump has been a money-grubbing attention whore for decades. A presidential bid is no doubt just a way to get his face on TV and his name in the press, all while bilking his devoted followers out of millions and millions of dollars.*Featured image credit: video screen capture One World Voice via Facebook | 1 |
VIENNA (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel s capital by the United States runs counter to common sense. This announcement runs counter to common sense, Lavrov told a news conference in Vienna, referring to an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump that Washington was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel s capital. | 0 |
A&Q is a special series that inverts the classic Q&A, taking some of the most frequently posed solutions to pressing matters of policy and exploring their complexity. In modern politics, nothing brings people together more than talking about how far apart they are. Twelve years ago, a speech denouncing political polarization thrust Barack Obama into the national spotlight, and that very premise will outlast him when he leaves the White House next January. The American public is divided—over economic policy, social policy, foreign policy, race, privacy and national security, and many other things. A host of factors, from partisan gerrymandering to exclusionary party primaries, are driving them further apart. Here we break down those factors behind our polarized politics, along with some of the most common proposals to fix it. Political polarization is worse now than it’s ever been. Let’s stop right there: Is this really true? It’s a common cry of politicians, government-reform advocates, pundits, journalists, and disaffected voters to bemoan the state of politics and declare that “Washington is broken,” perhaps irrevocably. But people often forget that American history is rife with examples of debilitating polarization that make the partisan battles of today pale by comparison. This was a key point President Obama made in his recent speech to the Illinois General Assembly, where he said that “it isn’t true that today’s issues are inherently more polarizing than the past.”
A fundamental dispute over the institution of slavery plunged the nation into a civil war a century-and-a-half ago. In 1856, violence over slavery erupted in the august chamber of the U.S. Senate, when an anti-slavery lawmaker from Massachusetts, Charles Sumner, was caned on the Senate floor by a member of the House from South Carolina, Preston Brooks. Fans of the Broadway hit, Hamilton, have also been reminded of another black mark on U.S. political history, when the nation’s first Treasury secretary was killed in a duel by the sitting vice president, Aaron Burr, in 1804. More recently, look at the emotional debates over racial equality and the Vietnam War during the 1960s and 1970s. The country witnessed the assassinations of John F. and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X. The segregationist former governor of Alabama, George Wallace, was shot and paralyzed while he campaigned for president in 1972. Rioting and civil unrest plagued major cities and college campuses across the countries for long stretches at a time. Fine, the 1860s and the 1960s were bad. But the fact that the nation hasn’t fallen into civil war and our leaders haven’t been gunned down is a pathetically low bar for a first-world country with the greatest military and strongest economy on Earth. Even during the tumult of the 1960s, Congress created Medicare and Medicaid, enacted landmark civil-rights legislation, and passed a sweeping education bill that still serves as the foundation for federal funding of public schools today.
Ever since Obama’s first two years in office, Congress hasn’t done anything except shut down the government and come close to tanking the economy with a near-default on the nation’s debt. Immigration reform stalled. Gun reform went nowhere. Congress can’t even agree to declare war on ISIS, and now that Antonin Scalia has died, it might leave the Supreme Court short-handed for more than a year. Congress is hopelessly gridlocked, and we need major political reform to fix it. What’s wrong with Congress? Or more precisely: Is anything actually wrong with Congress, or is it simply functioning how it was designed to function? The confrontations over the last few years have led to rampant complaints that the national legislature is “dysfunctional,” which in turn has contributed to a stunningly-low approval rating for Congress. (It sunk to single digits and has recently hovered in the low-to-mid teens.) For one, lawmakers in Washington have struggled not only to pass big bills, but they’ve had trouble completing even the most routine tasks of governance. In 2011, Republicans refused for months to raise the debt limit and nearly caused an unprecedented default that could have sunk the fragile economic recovery. Two years later, conservatives forced a two-and-a-half week government shutdown over funding for the healthcare law. In the Senate, both parties—and particularly Republicans until last year—have used the filibuster more frequently than ever before to stall legislation and presidential appointments. This has led to calls to either reform the filibuster or scrap it entirely as a way to speed up the legislative process and make it easier for Congress to reflect the will of the people. In 2013, Democrats did change the rules to make it easier to confirm executive and judicial appointees (below the Supreme Court), and Republicans didn’t bother to reverse those changes when they took control last year.
Yet for all of the consternation, if you are a Democrat, Congress functioned quite well in the first two years of Obama’s term. The House and Senate passed so much significant legislation—the stimulus bill, health care, student loans, and Wall Street reform—that the White House and congressional Democrats had trouble explaining it all to voters. Then came the Tea Party wave of 2010, and the American people elected a Republican House to serve as a check on the Obama administration. It’s only natural that divided government would lead to some gridlock, because Congress was designed to only pass laws if there is a consensus in favor of them—especially in the Senate, which was created as a check on the inflamed passions that would lead to political overreactions by the House. So if you don’t like how Congress is working, blame the Founders—which is exactly what my colleague Yoni Appelbaum did last year, when he wrote that the gridlock on display in recent years may be “a product of flaws inherent” in the Constitution’s design. Sure, but the Founders never imagined that partisan gerrymandering would render the House of Representatives so polarized that most lawmakers now fear a primary challenge from the right or left more than they fear losing to the other party in a general election. They have no incentive to compromise. We need non-partisan redistricting commissions to redraw the lines and make House members more accountable to people other than the extremes of each party.
Well, the Founders never imagined political parties at all—but that doesn’t mean the system can’t work. Is redistricting reform possible, and would redrawing House districts help reduce polarization? The 435 congressional districts are redrawn every 10 years after the Census, and historically, it has been the purview of state legislatures to determine the districts in their state. Naturally, the party in power tends to draw them to maximize its advantage, a process that over time has resulted in some totally ridiculous-looking districts that stretch horizontally or diagonally across states, or connect two population centers with a strip as thin as a single road. The Washington Post did a good rundown of the most oddly-shaped districts in 2014. The Republican wave election in 2010, which extended from Congress down to governorships and state legislatures, gave the GOP significant power in redistricting after the decennial Census that year. The results were obvious in 2012, when Republicans retained a large majority in House seats, 234-201, despite the fact that Democrats won 1.4 million more votes than GOP candidates in House races. Yet complaints about gerrymandering cross party lines. When Obama spoke in Illinois, it was the Republicans in the state legislature who cheered his call for reform, knowing that in the Land of Lincoln it is Democrats who draw the districts. And two retiring members of the GOP's Tea Party class of 2010, Representatives Richard Hanna of New York and Scott Rigell of Virginia, blamed gerrymandering for some of the hyper-partisanship they experienced during their years in Congress.
Good-government groups have been pushing for states to turn over their redistricting process to non-partisan—or at least truly bipartisan—commissions as a way to keep politicians from “picking their voters” rather than the other way around. This past June, the Supreme Court gave a boost to these efforts by upholding the congressional map drawn by an independent commission in Arizona that had been created through a successful ballot initiative. The Republican-controlled state legislature had tried to invalidate the commission's map by arguing that the Constitution vested the power to draw districts in the legislature’s hands, not the voters’. In a 5-4 opinion written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the high court sided with the voter-empowered commission. A dozen states, including California, currently use some form of a commission to draw districts, and New York will turn to one after the 2020 Census. According to NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice, there are “serious reform efforts” underway in an additional nine states. Given the intense interest state legislators have in keeping power over redistricting both on the local and federal level, even reform advocates acknowledge it is difficult to see the total elimination of partisan gerrymandering across the country anytime soon. As for whether redistricting commissions actually lead to less polarization, that answer also is likely a long way off. When California implemented its new map in 2012, there was a big increase in turnover in the state’s congressional delegation. But it will take a while to assess whether those new legislators are any less partisan or more accountable to their constituents than their predecessors.
It’s the parties themselves that are the problem. They were never supposed to have this much influence over elections. More and more voters consider themselves independent, but in many district and statewide elections in heavily Republican or Democratic areas, the only race that matters is the primary, and independent voters often find themselves shut out. Every state should follow the California and Nebraska model and adopt non-partisan elections, which empower more voters earlier in the electoral process. Would non-partisan elections, in place of party primaries, re-empower the political center by engaging more independent voters? That’s the argument from the advocates behind Open Primaries, a group that is pushing states nationwide to replicate the models in California, which went to a “top-two” primary system in 2012, and Nebraska, which has had a non-partisan state legislature since 1936. “Top-two” or “jungle primaries” are tailor-made for districts or states that are dominated by one party. In those elections, whether in deep-red rural areas or heavily-liberal urban districts, often the party primary is the only competitive race, and the general election becomes a one-sided affair. If the primaries are reserved only for registered Republicans or Democrats, independents are effectively shut out of the voting process, and the election becomes a race to the right or left, and rarely the center. The idea behind creating a top-two primary that’s open to everyone is that voters would have two opportunities to legitimately weigh in. And in districts or states where two members of the same party end up going up against each other, it would force them to compete in the general election for the votes of the entire electorate, not just the party base.
Advocates hold up Nebraska as an exemplar, citing the fact that even though it’s a conservative state, its non-partisan legislature has been able to reach agreement on bills to raise the gas tax, abolish the death penalty, and give driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants—policies that would be unthinkable in many Republican-dominated states. There are now efforts to enact non-partisan elections through ballot initiatives in Arizona and South Dakota, although supporters acknowledge that the idea hasn’t yet gained much support in Congress or reached a tipping point in many other states. And opponents argue that non-partisan elections would disproportionately benefit wealthy candidates who want to circumvent the party system, as Michael Bloomberg did when he was elected mayor of New York and promptly tried—and failed—to implement non-partisan elections in the city. The solution is automatic voter registration, or even compulsory voting like they have in Australia. Would more engagement decrease polarization? It’s possible. One big critique of the current state of politics is that because such a low percentage of people typically vote, those that do hold more power, and they are more likely to be either very liberal or very conservative. This is especially true in party primaries, which often determine the winner in lopsided states and districts and in which the most motivated people are likeliest to vote. Oregon and California have enacted laws to automatically register people who have driver’s licenses and who are otherwise eligible to vote. Hillary Clinton has endorsed the policy nationally. Why Americans Are So Polarized: Education and Evolution Two Versions of America Emerge in the Presidential Campaign In Australia, eligible citizens are required to vote and can face a fine or a court date if they don’t. Not surprisingly, the turnout rate there is more than 95 percent. In a 2010 policy paper, William Galston of the Brookings Institution recommended that states experiment with compulsory voting as a way to reduce polarization and force candidates to appeal to a broader electorate. Needless to say, that is unlikely to happen in the United States on a large scale anytime soon. Even the push for universal registration, with the potential to opt out, has drawn opposition from Republicans who argue that people shouldn’t be forced to participate if they don’t want to.
There is also skepticism among conservatives that the effort is more about Democrats trying to increase voting among minority and young voters, who tend to lean their way and who vote less frequently than older, white citizens. Let’s be honest. The real issue isn’t gerrymandering or the parties: It’s money. The influence of wealthy donors has only gotten more pronounced over the years, and the Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case only tilted the scales even more in the direction of corporations and billionaires. We need to overturn Citizens United and fully adopt public financing of elections. Isn’t money the root of all that’s wrong in politics today? Do we have any hope of reducing polarization if we can’t get rid of the corrupting influence of money? There’s no denying that politics is awash in money: The presidential campaign is now a billion-dollar industry, and it takes millions of dollars to win races for governor, senator, and even some for the House. The Citizens United decision allowed wealthy interests to spend unlimited sums of money to run ads in support of or in opposition to candidates, and the result has been an even greater flood of negative ads on television around election time. Yet while there are legitimate concerns about candidates being beholden to the billionaires supporting them, money in politics doesn’t flow entirely in the direction of polarization. Take Bloomberg, for example: Inarguably, the billionaire businessman would not have been mayor of New York without the tens of millions he spent to win his elections. But he is seen as a centrist figure in politics and has spent money on the national level decrying partisanship and dysfunction (even though he has taken partisan positions on certain issues, like guns and climate change).
Big-business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also spend large sums of money to influence elections. But while the Chamber ardently opposes Obamacare and environmental regulations costly to industry, it sides with the establishment against the Tea Party in other areas and has spent heavily to back compromises on things like infrastructure bills and immigration reform. Money may tip the scales in favor of corporate interests and the whims of the wealthy, but that doesn’t always benefit the extremes. In the end, there may not be any one-shot solutions or simple answers. The present degree of political polarization didn’t arise overnight, and seems unlikely to dissipate that quickly, either. But even if they don’t solve the entirety of the problem, many voters are drawn to particular solutions—and there’s evidence that some can make at least an incremental difference. These are some of the intriguing questions left to consider: What does the shocking popularity of Donald Trump say about political polarization? Is his success a reflection of a deep split, or does it actually transcend polarization because he is winning support among Republican voters despite having so many positions that contradict conservative orthodoxy? If the Republican Party really does split this summer, what are the chances of a viable third-party or independent candidacy, and what impact could that have on political polarization? Beyond this election, is the creation of a viable third party or centrist movement another possible solution to polarization? Is polarization strictly a national problem? Does the fact that we see more bipartisanship in state government offer hope that polarization in Washington will begin to soften? On what issues are Americans—and their elected representatives—actually not polarized? What are the remaining areas of consensus? Maybe there’s an answer we haven’t considered yet. Drop your thoughts into an email to [email protected]. | 1 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - The premier of Germany s most populous region warned that the Green party would have to step back from some of its environmentalist red lines if it wanted to join a mooted three-party coalition led by conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel. Armin Laschet, premier of the industrial heartland state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said in an interview with Handelsblatt newspaper that his and Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU) would not do a coalition deal at any price. Earlier, Christian Lindner, leader of the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), the likely third coalition partner, had also said the Greens would need to sacrifice a commitment to environmentalist subsidies and accept tax cuts. With a Jamaica coalition of the conservatives (black), the FDP (yellow) and the Greens the most plausible coalition after last Sunday s national vote, the parties that enjoy the overwhelming support of Germany s business community rushed to hem in the leftist Greens with red lines. A Jamaica coalition agreement must make clear that there will be no de-industrialization, said Laschet, whose state is home to one of Germany s largest concentrations of heavy industry. The Greens wish for fixed target dates for banning polluting combustion engines or coal-fired power stations would harm industry, he added. Lindner, whose party is popular among the family businesses traditionally seen as the backbone of the German economy, told mass-selling paper Bild am Sonntag that he would be happy to accept a tax-cutting Green as finance minister. It would be fine to have a Green finance minister who cuts the tax burden on the middle classes, said Lindner, seen as one of the leading candidates for the key finance job in a Jamaica coalition. The Greens voted on Saturday to start exploratory talks on a deal, indicating that they would like to see a softening of the FDP s tough line on immigration. Laschet said talks on a post-election three-way deal, the first in Germany since the 1950s, could last into next year, though he hoped for a deal before January. | 1 |
Friday during his “ ” segment on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” host Sean Hannity declared former FBI Director James Comey “humiliated” the media. Hannity, referring to Comey as “J. Edgar Comey,” pointed to parts of Comey’s testimony debunking reports of Trump collusion. Watch: Transcript as follows: So in a shocking turn of events, one of the biggest losers from yesterday’s Comey testimony was the propaganda media. We’re going to break down just how James Comey humiliated the mainstream press and why they are now facing a massive credibility crisis in tonight’s . So yesterday, the former FBI director James Comey, J. Edgar Comey, told the Senate Intel Committee that many of the media’s Russian collusion stories are just dead wrong. Watch this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: There have been many, many stories partly based on classified information about lots of stuff but especially about Russia that are just dead wrong. The challenge, and I am not picking on reporters, about writing stories about classified information is the people talking about it often don’t really know what’s going on. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: Now after that testimony, even Mr. Thrill up his left Chris Matthews, he himself came to this stunning conclusion. I was even shocked. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC HOST: The assumption of the critics of the president, of his pursuers you might say, is that somewhere along the line in the last years the president had something to do with colluding with the Russians, something to do, a helping hand, encouraging them, feeding their desire to affect the election in some way, some role they played, some conversation he had with Michael Flynn or Paul Manafort or somewhere. And yet what came apart this morning was that theory. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: “Pursuers. ” Now, the black helicopter crowd, the tinfoil hat Russia conspiracy theories being pushed by the media, the media, have now come apart at the seams. Now, it’s all been wrong. They have been lying to you, the American people. Of course, MSNBC was not the only outlet having to backtrack. “The Hill” is reporting that, quote, “CNN issues correction after Comey’s statement contradicts their reporting. ” And even ABC was also forced to update a story following Comey’s remarks. And then, of course, there is the paper of record, paper record, The New York Times. They were singled out yesterday for being flat out wrong, I would argue again. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That report by The New York Times was not true. Is that a fair statement? COMEY: In the main, it was not true. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On February 14, The New York Times published a story the headline of which was “Trump campaign aides had repeated contacts with Russian intelligence. ” You were asked earlier if that was an inaccurate story and you said: “in the main. ” Would it be fair to characterize that story is almost entirely wrong? COMEY: Yes. (END VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: “The New York Times” are desperately trying to save face, fist issuing a tweet that reads, quote “We are looking into James Comey’s statements, and we will report back with more information as soon as we can. ” And then later, publishing a full article entitled “Comey disputes “New York Times” article about Russia investigation,” where they tepidly stood by their reporting and openly wondered why Comey rebuked their coverage. I guess we won’t be holding our breath for a full retraction or apology. So despite some widespread embarrassment for all these people in the media following the Comey testimony, do think we can ever expect them to stop spreading their fake news? In other words, land the black helicopters and get back to reality? Or will the crisis and credibility continue to grow? Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top aides to President Donald Trump on Monday predicted the House of Representatives would move this week to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, though Republicans remained divided on how to protect sick Americans from insurance price hikes. The White House is eager to move forward on legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, to make good on a key campaign promise. Republicans tried but failed to pass a replacement bill in March in an embarrassing setback for the Trump Administration. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow states to opt out of Obamacare protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions - provisions that force insurers to charge sick people and healthy people the same rates. It was unclear when or if a vote would be scheduled. Trump told Fox News Channel that he would not set a deadline for the vote, and indicated he was open to improvements. “We’re either going to have a great plan or I’m not signing it,” he said in the interview. In a separate interview with Bloomberg News, Trump insisted that the new bill would maintain protections for pre-existing conditions. “I want it to be good for sick people. It’s not in its final form right now,” he told Bloomberg. “It will be every bit as good on pre-existing conditions as Obamacare.” Ten major patient advocacy groups said they opposed the reworked healthcare bill, including the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association. Other major medical groups such as the American Medical Association have also expressed concerns over coverage losses and unaffordable insurance for those with pre-existing conditions. Republican lawmakers have struggled to unite around legislation, with moderates and conservatives within the caucus divided over key provisions. Once a plan passes the Republican-controlled House, it is expected to face a tough fight in the Senate, where Republicans have a narrower majority and where some party senators have expressed misgivings about the House bill. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and White House economic adviser Gary Cohn on Monday said in separate interviews with CBS’ “This Morning” that they thought there were enough votes to pass the bill this week. House Republican leaders were more cautious. As of Monday afternoon, no vote had been scheduled and backers of the healthcare proposal had not released legislative language. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the House Republican conference, said Republican members needed time to understand new tweaks to the bill. “We are having those member-to-members conversations right now,” McMorris Rodgers told Fox News. Vice President Mike Pence made his way to Capitol Hill late on Monday to make the case to members who are on the fence, a Republican aide said on condition of anonymity, noting leaders are believed to be within five or six votes of having enough support to pass the bill. The Freedom Caucus, which brought down the previous effort to pass a healthcare bill, has endorsed the new measure. The Republican aide told Reuters all but one or two members of the group will support the reworked plan. “This bill doesn’t get all the way there but it’s a good step and is ... the best we can get out of the House right now,” Representative Jim Jordan, chairman of the group, told CNN. But several moderate Republicans were either undecided or opposed the bill for fear that it would not protect those with pre-existing conditions and cause millions to lose health insurance. Representative Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican from Pennsylvania, said he still had problems with the latest plan and suspected there were not enough votes to pass it. “Too many Americans are going to be without coverage,” Dent told MSNBC, adding that the plan could make things even worse for vulnerable Americans. | 0 |
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Catalonia s regional government said it would allow voters in Sunday s banned independence referendum to vote at any polling station they found open in the region, if their designated voting booth was closed. In a further step to make it easier to vote, voting slips printed at home will be accepted as valid, Jordi Turull, the regional government s spokesman told a news conference. After a court banned the vote, Spanish police arrested Catalan officials, seized campaign leaflets and sealed off many of the 2,300 schools designated as polling stations. | 1 |
Anchor @ChrisCuomo: ”There is something wrong with him [Trump] attacking a free press” https: . Monday on CNN’s “New Day,” host Chris Cuomo opined about President Donald Trump’s willingness to attack a “free press” in his public appearances. Cuomo acknowledged he was within his right to do so, but said given it is the role of the media to hold him accountable, there was something wrong with him criticizing the press. “There is a good chance the president of the United States is watching us right now,” Cuomo said. “He watches this show. He monitors the media. He criticizes it. All of that is within his right. But with power comes accountability. And there is something wrong with him attacking a free press. There is something wrong with him wanting to change the libel laws. ” Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor | 0 |
(Reuters) - About 146,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since violence erupted in Myanmar in late August, U.N. workers said on Wednesday. This has brought to 233,000 the number of Rohingya who have sought refuge in Bangladesh since October 2016. The exodus has put pressure on aid agencies and communities already helping hundreds of thousands of refugees from previous violence in Myanmar. Following are some details on the crisis gathered from U.N. sources working in the Cox s Bazar district of Bangladesh, on the Myanmar border. *Landmine injuries occurred on Sept. 5 with two children brought in for treatment at the Gundum border area. *The influx of refugees via marine routes has increased, with a sharp increase noted in Shamlapur from 1,090 individuals on Sept. 4 to 12,500 on Sept. 5. *Around 33,000 refugees have gathered at three new spontaneous settlements that have sprung up at Unchiprang, Moinar Ghona and Thangkhali. There are acute humanitarian needs in these rapidly expanding settlements, especially for emergency health, safe water, food and shelter support. *Four mobile medical teams are being deployed to different locations, and two more are planned. *No deliveries were performed by the midwives in the last two days for new arrivals, indicating that many may have delivered outside of available health facilities. *Strengthened family tracing mechanisms are needed for unaccompanied children and other separated families. Most children have arrived with their mothers as their fathers are missing or arrested. *A total of 177 incidents of gender-based violence have been reported in the refugee camps since Aug. 27. Eighteen survivors of this violence have been referred for life-saving medical care. About 240 women and 60 men, including survivors of gender-based violence, attended stress management sessions. *The community clinic in Kutupalong is overwhelmed with patients, resulting in long lines for waiting and inefficient service provision for survivors of gender-based violence seeking emergency health services. The cost of transport prohibits beneficiaries from travelling to health facilities where emergency sexual and reproductive health services are available, including clinical management of rape. | 0 |
Abby Martin Exposes What Hillary Clinton Really Represents ‹ › Since 2011, VNN has operated as part of the Veterans Today Network ; a group that operates over 50 plus media, information and service online sites for U.S. Military Veterans. Clinton Campaign Memo: “Let’s Troll Reddit” By VNN on October 25, 2016 If Donald Trump Wins The Election, It Will Be The Biggest Miracle In U.S. Political History
InvestmentWatch
A confidential memo from a Democratic Super PAC details a Clinton campaign strategy of trolling sites such as Reddit in order to cause “digital disruption”.
According to a Correct The Record memo, Clinton campaigners are being urged to disrupt and dominate the World Wide Web in order to stifle growing pro-Trump sentiment prevalent on sites such as Reddit .
The memo reads:
We are entering the final phase of the election and this is an all-hands-on-deck full-spectrum push for digital disruption and dominance. We are facing a decentralized leaderless emergent structure that can only be countered by our numbers with discipline and tactics. As such, these will be the scripts for Week 0 (through Week 3 to the vote)
REDDIT
Smart, but paranoid
Reddit is an important clearinghouse for Trump-momentum and intellectual capital. We must maintain dominance on promotion/demotion of stories and isolation of Trump-positive threads.
We are working to compromise moderators to improve our ability but will “operationalize” them in the final week of the campaign to try to make the board “go dark.”
Reddit is more intellectually rigorous than the chans and has fewer low-social-capital (loser) members (including many far-right non-American posters). We should be careful not to trigger moderator red-lines. Proscribed disruption vectors.
If Donald Trump Wins The Election, It Will Be The Biggest Miracle In U.S. Political History Read More | 1 |
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey s Justice Ministry said on Tuesday it had canceled a planned study visit to the United States due to the widening diplomatic row between the countries over the issuing of visas. Local media earlier reported that U.S. authorities had rejected visa requests from members of the delegation, but the Justice Ministry said it had taken the initiative and canceled the trip. Due to the recent visa crisis between the two countries, the visit was canceled by our Ministry, it said in a statement, adding that there were no visa applications to be rejected. The delegation had planned a study visit to the United States, at the invitation of U.S. authorities, between Oct. 29 and Nov. 4, the ministry said. The pro-government Daily Sabah newspaper said the delegation had planned to study the U.S. penal system and visit American prisons. Washington this month stopped issuing visas at its missions in Turkey, citing safety concerns for its staff following the arrest of two U.S. consular staff, both Turkish nationals. The crisis has weighed on the lira currency and alarmed some investors. On Tuesday, a group of leading Turkish and U.S. businesses urged both governments to resolve the dispute. In May, a translator at the U.S. consulate in the southern province of Adana was arrested and, more recently, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) worker was detained in Istanbul. Both are accused of links to last year failed coup. The U.S. embassy has said the accusations are baseless. Turkish police want to question a third worker based in Istanbul. His wife and daughter were detained over alleged links to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating the abortive putsch. They were later released. Turkey has been angered by what it sees as U.S. reluctance to hand over the cleric Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999. U.S. officials have said its courts require sufficient evidence to order his extradition Gulen denies any involvement in the failed coup. More than 150,000 people in the police, civil service and private sector have been sacked or suspended from their jobs in the crackdown that followed the failed putsch. Some 50,000 have been detained. Rights groups and Turkey s Western allies have expressed concern that Turkey using the coup as a pretext to quash dissent. Ankara says the measures are necessary, given the extent of the security threat it faces. Turkey has also been enraged by Washington s support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey regards the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). | 1 |
AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan will not allow Israel to reopen its embassy in Amman until it has launched legal proceedings against an Israeli security guard who shot dead two Jordanian citizens in July, a Jordanian diplomatic source said on Thursday. Israel must also be able to assure its Arab neighbor that justice has been served in the case, the senior source said, asking not to be named. The embassy was closed shortly after Israel hastily repatriated the guard under diplomatic immunity to prevent Jordanian authorities from interrogating him and taking any legal action against him. The Israeli ambassador and embassy staff were pulled out. Israeli sources said on Wednesday they were planning to replace Ambassador Einat Schlein at the Amman embassy in an effort to improve ties. However they did not address the long-standing Jordanian demand to take legal action against the security guard. They can look for a new ambassador but that ambassador will not be welcome in Jordan until a due legal process takes its course and justice is served, the diplomatic source said. Our position remains solid in Jordan.. The embassy will not reopen until these conditions are met... which is the position we took from the very beginning, he added. Jordan maintains that even if the guard had diplomatic immunity that did not mean he could not be punished. The guard enjoyed immunity and not impunity under Vienna conventions, the source said, referring to the Vienna Convention that specifies privileges given to diplomats. Jordan acted in compliance with its obligation under international law and Israel has to do the same, the source said. Jordanian officials have treated the shooting as a criminal case and say the two unarmed Jordanians, one a bystander and the other a teenage workman, were killed in cold blood by the armed guard. Israel said the armed guard opened fire after being attacked and lightly wounded by the workman, who was delivering furniture at his home within the embassy compound, and acted in self- defense, in what Israeli officials called a terrorist attack . A televised welcome and hero s embrace by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the guard enraged King Abdullah. In a rare outburst, the monarch accused Netanyahu of using the incident as a political show saying it was provocative on all fronts . The king called on Israel to put the guard on trial. From the very beginning they had addressed this issue in a disgraceful way to politically exploit it, the source said. The handling of the shooting has tested ties between Israel and Jordan, one of only two Arab states that has a peace treaty with Israel. They have a long history of close security ties. Many Jordanians, in a country where the peace treaty is unpopular and pro-Palestinian sentiment widespread, were outraged the guard was allowed to leave and staged protests calling on the authorities to scrap the 1994 peace treaty. Israel has said it is highly unlikely it would prosecute the security guard but has hinted at financial compensation to the family of one of the dead Jordanians. | 1 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Social Democrat challenger, Martin Schulz are still fighting hard for every vote as Sunday s national election nears, but they do have one thing common: neither is a gambler. Merkel, asked by the mass circulation newspaper Bild what she would do if she won millions of euros in the Lotto lottery, said, I personally don t play Lotto. The conservative leader, a trained physicist and daughter of a pastor who grew up in the former Communist east, Merkel told the paper she donated any money that she won in awards and prizes to charitable groups. Schulz, the former European Parliament president who never went to college, said he also didn t gamble. I ve never played Lotto in my life, he told Bild. I never wanted to leave the question of my success in life up to chance or a lottery drum. The two politicians also share similar views on prayer. Merkel, asked if she prayed to win the election, said she didn t pray for such concrete political results, adding: Prayers are a very personal matter. Schulz, whose party is trailing Merkel s conservatives by double digits, echoed that view. Politicians always have to know that there s something greater than their own success. | 1 |
SHOCKER! Great news that the EPA was shot down on their overreaching regulations. Justice Scalia got this one right when he wrote that it s not appropriate to impose billions of dollars of economic costs for little benefit in return.The Supreme Court has ruled against federal regulators attempt to limit power plant emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants.The rules began to take effect in April, but the court said by a 5-4 vote Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency failed to take their cost into account when the agency first decided to regulate the toxic emissions from coal- and oil-fired plants.The challenge was brought by industry groups and 21 Republican-led states.Writing for the court, Justice Antonin Scalia said it is not appropriate to impose billions of dollars of economic costs in return for a few dollars in health or environmental benefits.The case now goes back to lower courts for the EPA to decide how to account for costs. | 0 |
Pandering like crazy is what you see here. These people are so stuck and play the victim card like nobodies business Watch Hillary do the head bob like she s actually listening to these people: | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday to send the committee documents and provide a briefing on the resignation of President Donald Trump’s national security adviser. Citing reports that both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department were involved in events leading to Michael Flynn’s departure, Senators Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein said they raised “substantial questions” about Flynn’s discussion with Russian officials. | 1 |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. oil and gas industry workers have contributed only slightly more money to the campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton than to Republican Donald Trump since the two clinched their parties’ nominations for the White House, according to Reuters’ review of federal disclosures. The nearly even support suggests ambivalence in the industry between two rivals who have put forward wildly different energy visions. Trump calls for a drastic reduction in regulations to bolster drilling, while Clinton advocates tougher environmental protections and more renewables. Employees in the industry gave Clinton $114,141 and Trump $99,302 since July 1, Reuters found in reviewing individual campaign contributions exceeding $200 and donations funneled through their joint fundraising committees. Both were officially nominated by their parties in mid-July. Several oil and gas industry employees reached by Reuters said they did not donate just because of the candidates’ energy policies. Most requested anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the election. “I am moved by the disturbing nature of what I see in Trump’s vision for America on trade, the economy and national security,” said American Gas Association head Dave McCurdy, who has contributed to Clinton’s campaign. He added, however, that he agreed with Clinton on reducing carbon dioxide emissions blamed for climate change and felt natural gas would play a role in that effort. The association has not endorsed a candidate. Continental Resources Inc Chief Executive Officer Harold Hamm, who has contributed repeatedly to Trump’s campaign, has argued in favor of the candidate’s energy policies. Hamm has said bolstering U.S. drilling would reduce dependence on Middle East oil, whose proceeds he says finance terrorist attacks. A Continental official did not respond to a request for comment from Hamm. An energy lobbyist based in Washington said he understood the industry’s ambivalence. “Clinton is pro-regulation, which hurts,” he said, requesting anonymity. “And Trump has no record in the industry, so there’s no evidence he understands the issues.” Clinton had far exceeded Trump in campaign contributions from industry employees during the primaries, but donations to the Republican side of the ledger were split among a much larger number of candidates than on the Democratic side. During the Republican primaries, the industry had taken an early liking to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, giving him more than all his rivals combined, before he dropped out of the race in February. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has offered retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn the job of national security adviser, the Associated Press reported on Thursday, citing a senior Trump official. The official would not say whether Flynn, a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency who advised Trump during the campaign on national security issues, has officially accepted the job, according to AP. | 0 |
(CNN) First he ducks into the shower of his prison cell, fully clothed. Then he leans down, but it's not clear what the infamous drug lord is doing; the short shower wall blocks him from the surveillance camera.
Seconds later, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman gets back up, sits down on his cell bed and changes his shoes. He goes back into the shower and bends down again behind the wall -- but never resurfaces.
Guzman, Mexico's most notorious drug kingpin, slipped through a hole under the shower and escaped through a mile-long tunnel to freedom, authorities said.
And the newly released closed-circuit video shows how calmly and easily he did it.
Mexican Interior Minister Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong said Guzman's cell was videotaped 24 hours a day. But the surveillance had two blind spots for privacy -- the toilet and the shower.
Guzman didn't just evade the cameras; he also sidestepped another security measure with alarming ease.
Guzman had a bracelet that monitored his every move, the interior minister said. But he left the bracelet behind before he crawled into the tunnel.
'The hunt is back on'
Investigators on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border are searching for signs of the fugitive drug lord. But it's no easy task, a top Drug Enforcement Administration official said.
"The cartel headed by Chapo is probably the most well-financed, vicious, criminal entity we have ever seen, with unlimited resources both to bribe, corrupt and to transport," Deputy DEA Administrator Jack Riley said. "So our job in this particular case, as much as it was over year ago when we captured him, is to use every legal tool we can, cooperate with our counterparts, and hit the ground. The hunt is back on."
The United States and Mexico are exchanging intelligence -- including details from informants -- in the manhunt, and the United States is providing technical support, a Mexican official said.
Reports claiming authorities from the two countries aren't working together simply aren't true, Riley said.
"Chapo is hoping and planning on the fact that the good guys, the cops on both sides of the border, don't talk to each other, don't connect the dots," Riley said. "And I'm here to tell you we're doing that better now than we have ever done it. And if I was him, I'd be looking over my shoulder."
It's likely prison workers helped Guzman break out, the interior minister told reporters. Osorio Chong said he has already fired the prison director and other prison officials.
They released what they said was a recent picture of Guzman, showing him with a shaved head and face -- but without his trademark mustache.
How he did it
The tunnel began with a 50-by-50-centimeter (20-by-20-inch) opening inside the shower of Guzman's cell, Rubido said. The tunnel stretched for about a mile and ended inside a half-built house.
It's likely the Sinaloa cartel had spent years infiltrating the country's prison system, a Mexican official told CNN. Whoever helped in the plot likely had the architectural plans for the prison that pointed them toward the shower area, the official said.
And this wasn't the first time.
Nicknamed "Shorty" for his height, Guzman already had pulled off one elaborate escape from a maximum-security prison. In 2001, he managed to break free while reportedly hiding in a laundry cart. It took authorities 13 years to catch him -- closing in as he was sleeping at a Mexican beach resort.
The Sinaloa cartel moves drugs by land, air and sea, including cargo aircraft, private aircraft, buses, fishing vessels and even submarines, the U.S. Justice Department has said.
Guzman has been a nightmare for both sides of the border. He reigns over a multibillion-dollar global drug empire that supplied much of the marijuana, cocaine and heroin sold on the streets of the United States.
Chicago has labeled him the city's "Public Enemy No. 1."
And Riley, who spent years fighting Guzman's cartel there, said he's personally angered over the escape.
"I spent nearly five years fighting what he was doing to the city, what he was doing to the communities by bringing heroin in and working a business relationship with street gangs," he said. "For me, personally, it was a milestone to see him in jail. And when I got the call at 2:30 in the morning last Saturday, I about passed out."
But no matter what it takes, he said, investigators will find a way to capture him.
"I am sure his security is probably second to none in the country. But that's not going to deter us. It didn't deter us the first time," Riley said. "This guy is going to be back in jail." | 1 |
‹ › Arnaldo Rodgers is a trained and educated Psychologist. He has worked as a community organizer and activist. Donald Trump Tells Veterans He’s ‘Financially Brave’ By Arnaldo Rodgers on November 5, 2016 Also questioned whether Hillary would make a good commander-in-chief. "To think of her being their boss, I don't think so." Find Your Job Now at HireVeterans.com
By Tessa Berenson
Speaking in front of decorated veterans at a foreign-policy focused rally, Trump said members of the military are “so much braver” than he is.
“They’re so much braver than me. I wouldn’t have done what they did,” Trump said, going off-script in a foreign-policy focused address Thursday evening in Selma, NC. “I’m brave in other ways. I’m financially brave.”
The Republican nominee also argued that the ongoing investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State should make the military wary of promoting her to Commander-in-Chief.
Read the Full Article at time.com >>>> Related Posts: No Related Posts The views expressed herein are the views of the author exclusively and not necessarily the views of VNN, VNN authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors, partners, technicians or the Veterans Today Network and its assigns. Notices Posted by Arnaldo Rodgers on November 5, 2016, With 0 Reads, Filed under Veterans . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 . You can leave a response or trackback to this entry FaceBook Comments | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the House of Representatives tax committee said on Wednesday that achieving a permanent cut in the U.S. corporate tax rate could take “several steps.” Republican Representative Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee which is working to write a tax reform bill, told reporters: “That’s our goal and I think it’s going to take several steps through the process to achieve that.” Brady did not elaborate on his comment but said Senate rules for reconciliation bills were a concern. Under Senate rules, tax cuts must expire if they add to the federal deficit outside a 10-year budget window. | 1 |
Here s how Donald Trump reacted Donald Trump reacted Friday to a report that the Clinton Global Foundation provided millions to a power company partly owned by a rich, blond divorcee by saying that people have been whispering about her possible romantic ties to Bill Clinton for a long time.The commitment to Julie Tauber McMahon s firm from the Clinton Global Initiative was placed on its 2010 conference agenda at Clinton s urging, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.The initiative commits $2 million to support the work of Energy Pioneer Solutions, a company founded to deliver energy savings to communities in rural America, said a 2010 statement from the charity. People have been talking about this for years. I have no idea what went on. I certainly don t, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee said on Fox & Friends. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the Clinton Global Initiative doled out $2 million to Energy Pioneer Solutions, which is partly owned by Julie Tauber McMahon.The fit, blond mother of three, who lives just minutes from Bill and Hillary Clinton s home in Chappaqua, West chester, is the daughter of Joel Tauber, a millionaire donor to the Democratic Party.McMahon, 54, is rumored to be the woman dubbed Energizer by the Secret Service at the Clinton home because of her frequent visits, according to RadarOnline.Secret Service agents were even given special instructions to abandon usual protocol when the woman came by, according to journalist Ronald Kessler s tell-all book, The First Family Detail. You don t stop her, you don t approach her, you just let her go in, says the book, based on agents accounts. Energizer is described in the book as a charming visitor who sometimes brought cookies to the agents.The book describes one sun-drenched afternoon when agents took notice of the woman s revealing attire. It was a warm day, and she was wearing a low-cut tank top, and as she leaned over, her breasts were very exposed, an agent is quoted in the book as saying. Energizer reportedly timed her arrivals and departures around Hillary Clinton s schedule.When asked about whether there should be a probe into money directed from the foundation a charity to the company, Trump said: Well, I assume you put the word charity in quotes. The interviewer, who cited the New York Post s cover story, told Trump that Clinton helped steer an $812,000 federal grant to the company through then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu.The interviewer also pointed out that nonprofits are not supposed to act in anyone s private interests. For entire story: NYP | 1 |
(Translated from Russian, of course. Here is another translation of the same interview as well.)
We will certainly welcome anyone who wants to work with us, and no, we are not interested in quarrelling constantly with anyone, which only creates threats to oneself and the world, or at the very least makes it harder to achieve the desired results in the fight against terrorism.
We do not know what will happen after the election. We do not know whether or not presidential candidate Trump will follow through on his intentions, how far he will go in cooperation with us, whether Ms Clinton will stick to her harsh anti-Russian rhetoric if she is elected President, or maybe she will also adjust her position. We cannot know this now.
I will repeat this again: sacrificing Russian-American relations for the sake of internal political events in the US is harmful and counterproductive.
He’s always so full of reason. I like the way that he speaks without having to remember which opinion is public and which is private. Russia uses the US as a scapegoat for plenty of things but they generally seem to have good intentions, even if they conflict with ours. | 1 |
As Congress's vote on a resolution to disapprove the administration's nuclear deal draws ever nearer, the math for President Obama is looking better and better.
The magic number of Senate supporters the president needs to ensure that the deal stands is 34. Currently, he has 30. So he needs to pick up just four more to preserve the agreement — and there are still 14 remaining undecided Democrats in the chamber, several of whom have already made positive comments about the deal. So Obama has a lot of options.
And tellingly, after a month of intense criticism of the deal from the right and from pro-Israel groups, only two Senate Democrats have been swayed to oppose the deal so far: Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Bob Menendez of New Jersey. They'll be joined by, it appears, every single Senate Republican.
But that wouldn't be enough to sink the deal. If opponents want to block the sanctions relief that's crucial to the agreement, they need to assemble a two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate that can override a promised veto from Obama. And that's impossible to reach without a lot of Democratic votes, as I wrote in July:
Deal opponents once hoped that the agreement would become politically toxic, leading to many Democratic defections. But that hasn't happened. Instead, the key swing votes — including some of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate, like Claire McCaskill and Joe Donnelly — have been won over by the administration.
The state of play in the House is tougher for outsiders to gauge, but opponents appear to be well short of the 44 Democratic opponents they need there — just 14 Democrats have said they'll vote to kill the deal, according to the Hill. Again, the deal's opponents would need a veto-proof majority in both the Senate and the House to keep the sanctions in place.
According to a Friday report from Eli Lake and Josh Rogin of Bloomberg View, deal opponents have already resigned themselves to losing the vote eventually. Furthermore, they write, "Many Republicans now acknowledge in private that they were handed both a political and a policy defeat on the nuclear deal."
Now that the deal looks so likely to be upheld, the new question is whether Democrats can save President Obama from having to veto it in the first place.
There wouldn't be any policy stakes here — achieving this would simply save the president from the embarrassment of Congress passing a resolution condemning his administration's foreign policy.
For that to happen, 41 Senate Democrats would have to vote to filibuster the GOP's planned disapproval resolution — meaning Obama would need to win over 11 of the remaining 14 undecided Democrats in the chamber. That's a tall order, but given that only two Democratic senators have opposed the deal so far, it doesn't seem completely out of the question.
The vote will likely take place in mid-September. But if you want to keep track yourself beforehand, here are the remaining undecided Democratic senators. Again, the administration needs to win four of their votes to uphold the deal, and 11 for a filibuster that would make a veto unnecessary: | 1 |
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday all Muslim nations should work together to defend the rights of Palestinians following Donald Trump s decision last week to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital. Rouhani, attending an emergency meeting of Muslim leaders, said the U.S. president s move showed the United States lacked any respect for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian nation. Iran is ready to cooperate with all Muslim countries without any precondition to defend the legitimate rights of Palestinians, Rouhani told the gathering in the Turkish city Istanbul. Unity among Muslim countries is very important and Quds (Jerusalem) should become our top priority. Opposition to Israel and support for the Palestinian cause have been central to Iran s foreign policy since the Islamic revolution of 1979 that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. Iran, the leading Shi ite Muslim power, and Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia are competing for influence in the Middle East, where they support rival groups in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Tehran and Riyadh see each other as the paramount threat to regional peace and stability. Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations with Iran in 2016 after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran and the city of Mashhad following Riyadh s execution of a prominent Shi ite cleric. Rouhani said Muslim countries should resolve their disputes through dialogue and he also accused Israel of planting seeds of tension across the Middle East. On his Twitter account, Rouhani said Trump s move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital showed that Washington was not an honest mediator and never will be , adding that it only wanted to secure the interests of the Zionists . Iran does not recognize Israel and regards Palestine as comprising all of the holy land, including Israeli territory. Iranian leaders have repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel. Tehran backs several militant Islamist groups in their fight against Israel. | 0 |
As there is more and more demand by politicians and Electoral College electors for a bipartisan investigation into Russia s involvement in the 2016 election, our President-elect has very conveniently decided to go into hiding.According to Bloomberg, Trump is unable to handle the heat and rising suspicions so he has canceled his first press conference since his undeserved win. Bloomberg said: President-elect Donald Trump is postponing until next month a previously announced news conference to outline how he ll handle his far-flung business operations while in the White House, according to senior Trump transition officials.Trump had planned to make the announcement Dec. 15 but wants more time because he s been occupied with filling out his cabinet and top administration posts, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. He s preparing to reveal his choice for secretary of state as soon as Tuesday, they said. First of all, all you need to do is look at Trump s Twitter history to know that he hasn t been SO swamped with his cabinet appointments to have a press conference after all, he still has time to insult people on social media and attend his victory tour rallies! This is merely the pathetic excuse Trump s advisors are using to prevent Trump from screwing up even more before the Electoral College has to vote on him in a few days. And of course, Trump s team recognizes that having a press conference where Trump is supposed to address his conflicts of interests and business issues is probably not a good idea right now.The cancellation of this contest marks another first for Trump he s the first President-elect since 1978 who has not held a press conference after winning the election. In fact, Trump hasn t done any press conferences since July and ironically he invited Russia to hack Hillary Clinton and leak her emails during that press conference. Not suspicious at all, Trump!Featured image via Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images | 0 |
Amen!
GREED is a very real problem. So much so, that many an otherwise logical person will support such gouging exploits.
I DARE the makers of ‘provodite’ to release their cost of production. Look….people aren’t afraid to do it on the GREED fest that is the TV show, “shark tank” all the time…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL6AMBZfno0
Type in the phrase, “Miraculous Healing in Jesus Name” on youtube and see how God REALLY works. He doesn’t need the financial fruits of nutrition ‘science’ to get it done.
And He doesn’t require many dollars for a concoction of minerals that cost pennies on the dollar to produce.
Even water itself changes in molecular structure by FAITH….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDW9Lqj8hmc
There are those who are always seeking, yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of the Truth.
Paying providite makers and their network of distributors exorbitant sums of money to obtain health is the equivalent of paying the “stupid tax” at a VERY high tax rate.
Be WISE. Eat right. Play right, and PRAY right and often….
And everything will work out right.
Blessings in Yeshua, Jesus Christ | 1 |
By Justin Gardner The Colorado cannabis industry has quickly gone from bud to full flower, as indicated by a new in-depth data analysis by the... | 1 |
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During his final few months in the Senate, senile old Harry Reid has saved his most insane accusation for last.
He is accusing the FBI Director of treason due to his announcement that the department is searching additional documents that could provide information related to the Hillary Clinton email probe.
What a loony.
In a last ditch effort to save dirty Clinton, Reid accused the FBI chief of violating the Hatch Act, in other words, acting with political motives as a government official. Reid concluded that the FBI director violated this act by sending his letter to Congress days before Election Day.
Reid stated that according to CBS News ,“Your actions in recent months have demonstrated a disturbing double standard for the treatment of sensitive information, with what appears to be a clear intent to aid one political party over another,” Then he added that that through Comey’s “partisan actions, you may have broken the law.” Harry Reid: FBI Director Comey’s ‘Partisan Actions’ May Violate Federal Law – Letter: pic.twitter.com/agXy4D1igh
— Ryan Ruggiero (@RyanRuggiero) October 30, 2016
Violations of the Hatch Act are a serious offense (you might recall this, because numerous Obama Administration officials have been accused of violating the federal law with zero action taken against them.
“[Y]our highly selective approach to publicizing information, along with your timing, was intended for the success or failure of a partisan candidate or political group,” Reid wrote.
In providing examples of what he claims are a violation of the Hatch Act, Reid pointed to the “selective approach:” Comey’s refusal to of investigate Trump and his possible campaign ties to the Russian government.
“In my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government – a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States, which Trump praises at every opportunity,” he said. “I wrote to you months ago calling for this information to be released to the public… and yet, you continue to resist calls to inform the public of this critical information.”
“You’re rushed to take this step eleven days before a presidential election, despite the fact that for all you know, the information you possess could be entirely duplicative of the information you already examined which exonerated Secretary Clinton,” he said.
The Hatch Act is a federal law that was passed in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to limit federal agencies or its employees from interfering with political activities or federally funded programs.
This means federal employees can’t hold fund-raisers for politicians or receive donations, but they can vote for or against candidates running in an election, the law states.
Reid ended the letter reminding the director that he used to be a supporter of Comey’s – even when Republicans filibustered his nomination as FBI chief: “I led the fight to get you confirmed because I believed you to be a principled public servant,” Reid concluded. “With the deepest regret, I now see that I was wrong.”
In all actuality, Comey told Congress that even though he wasn’t “closing the case” in the FBI probe of Hillary’s emails, he was still ending the investigation.
Ironically can you imagine if he hadn’t sent the letter? With the recent revelations, had he not sent a letter to Congress, he would have been blamed for attempting to lie to Congress and cover-up further investigation. As it stands, by sending the letter, he is simply accused of partisanship by sending the letter.
I’d say he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.
I little suspicion that Comey has a backbone MUCH stronger than Harry Reid or any of his spineless Democratic accusers now.
What an act of desperation on the Democrats part. Hillary is doing nothing but grasping at straws, whether or not anything comes of this new investigation before the election, we’ll see, but to actually accuse Comey of treason, is utter idiocy. Related Items | 1 |
The Golden State Warriors have been defined by artistic ball movement and underrated defense. But at their core, they may be powered by something more abstract: an ability to motivate themselves just when they are being doubted. With the playoffs set to begin on Saturday and the Warriors coming in as heavy favorites after winning a record 73 games, the question is whether a tightly knit group of players that has come to dominate basketball the last two years can keep that edge through the next two months. In all likelihood, they can. Just consider how the regular season concluded: After a shocking home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 5 left the Warriors with a record, Golden State needed to win its last four games to break the mark established by the Michael Chicago Bulls in the season. Because two of those last four games would come against a very tough Spurs team, including one in San Antonio, where Golden State had not won since 1997, the consensus seemed to be that the Warriors would fall short — especially with Warriors Coach Steve Kerr talking about the importance of resting key players before the playoffs. But Draymond Green, Golden State’s forward and emotional leader, had other ideas. He became intensely vocal about his desire to get the wins record, and pressure from him and Stephen Curry seemed to get to Kerr, who allowed his starters to keep playing as long as the Warriors kept winning. And they did, including a difficult victory in San Antonio that broke the Spurs’ seasonlong home winning streak. The rest was history, as the Warriors snatched the wins record and Curry almost assuredly locked up his second consecutive Most Valuable Player Award. Now comes the postseason. Can anyone really challenge this Warriors team and somehow rattle it? The Cleveland Cavaliers, despite the murmurs of internal strife, can never be discounted as long as LeBron James is around. The Spurs had one of the best teams in N. B. A. history, even if it went somewhat unnoticed. Still, if the Warriors, a team perfectly constructed to succeed in this era, play to their potential, it is hard to see any team keeping up with them. Jalen Rose, a N. B. A. veteran who will be providing playoff analysis for ESPN, said one of the biggest reasons for that is Curry’s killer instinct. Rose called Curry a “ assassin” and said Curry is set apart by his ability to maintain an edge as a defending champion and defending M. V. P. “He is not playing around,” Rose said. If Curry is looking for slights to motivate him, he may find one if he is not the first N. B. A. player unanimously named M. V. P. (Shaquille O’Neal and James have come the closest, each falling one vote short.) Chris Webber, a who will be part of TNT’s broadcast team, said a few M. V. P. voters may choose someone other than Curry simply to be contrarian. “I don’t see how a true, humble basketball fan can vote against Steph,” Webber said. Curry is likely to be the dominant story line of the playoffs after leading the N. B. A. in scoring average along with total field goals, and steals despite playing in the fourth quarter in just 60 of his 79 games. The Warriors complement him with incredible depth in Green, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala on a roster that is largely unchanged from last season. Asked to imagine a team that could compete with the Warriors, Rose said that the Spurs are contenders but that people should also consider the star power and depth of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Beyond Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the Thunder also have a defensive ace in Serge Ibaka and an rotation at center in Steven Adams and Enes Kanter that can be remarkably effective. “If they’re clicking on all cylinders, I give them a punter’s chance obviously to put the kind of firepower out on the floor to go head to head with the Warriors four quarters,” Rose said, while acknowledging that Oklahoma City struggled in the fourth quarter this season. The quality of Oklahoma City’s front line could be a pivotal issue if it should face Golden State. Rose cited points in the paint as the Warriors’ biggest weakness and said teams would be wise to attack them inside. “While they defend really well, one of the best in the league, they’re short,” Rose said of Golden State’s Death Lineup in which Green plays center. “Draymond Green, when they have that lineup out there, he’s Harrison Barnes is or so you have to take advantage of that, try to get to the line, get them in foul trouble. ” For now, the Warriors will focus on the Houston Rockets, whom they beat in five games in last season’s Western Conference finals. It is a matchup that may not extend any longer this time around. But if an uninspiring matchup was not providing the team with the proper motivation, Jordan may have inadvertently put the chip right back on Golden State’s shoulder. When the Warriors broke the Bulls’ record earlier this week, Jordan issued a statement of congratulations. But he also included a line that seemed to be part jab and part reminder that their legacy is not yet secure. “I look forward to seeing what they do in the playoffs,” he said. For Curry and Green, that may be enough of a challenge to carry them all the way. | 0 |
More and more evidence is revealed every day, that points to the real possibility that murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich was the person who leaked the DNC emails to Wikileaks, and that there is an all-out effort to cover it up, or completely dismiss it as a tin-foil hat theory by social media platforms, the leftist media and the Democrat Party. Twitter just suspended the WND account for posting a story that suggested disgraced DNC chief and top Democratic strategist Donna Brazile may have interceded in the Seth Rich murder investigation. In the WND exclusive story titled:Alicia Powe and Liz Crokin wrote the story that was also posted to and deleted from the social media platform by Twitter: Former Democratic National Committee interim chairwoman Donna Brazile is the high-ranking DNC representative who allegedly called police and the family of murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich and demanded to know why a private investigator was snooping into Rich s death, the private eye revealed to WND Monday. The high-ranking DNC official that called the police after I inquired about Rich s case was Donna Brazile, veteran homicide detective Rod Wheeler told WND. Why shouldn t I reveal who it was? Brazile, who was also a CNN contributor and a Hillary for America donor at the time, was caught providing Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton with questions that would later be asked of Clinton at a televised CNN town hall. In an interview with Fox News before the election, Brazile denied leaking the questions to Clinton. But in a March 17, 2017, column for Time magazine, she finally admitted doing so, saying it was a mistake I will forever regret. According to WND, their Twitter account was suspended because of this Seth Rich investigation bombshell. And now, Big League Politics is reporting associations the DC police chief who resigned only a month after Seth Rich was murdered ran in the same circles as many close to Hillary and top DNC officials. The police chief who oversaw Seth Rich s unsolved murder case has socialized and been honored alongside key Hillary Clinton advisers and even Rich s own boss at the Democratic National Committee. Rich is widely reported to be the source of Wikileaks damning 2016 email release that showed the DNC colluding to hand the nomination to Clinton at the expense of Bernie Sanders. He was gunned down in D.C. 12 days before Wikileaks release.On Sunday, July 10, 2016, at approximately 4:19 am, members of the Fifth District DC MPD were patrolling the area when they heard gunshots. Upon arrival on the scene, members located an adult male victim conscious and breathing, and suffering from gunshot wounds. The victim was transported to an area hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.The decedent was identified as 27-year-old Seth Conrad Rich, of Northwest, DC.Controversy continues to swirl around the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich, that detectives working for the MPD under Chief Lanier called a botched robbery (even though nothing of any value appeared to have been stolen from Rich s body) after he was shot several times only blocks from his home.Former Metropolitan Police Department chief Cathy Lanier resigned from her post the month after Rich s murder to accept a position running security for the National Football League. She sits on the Washington Police Foundation board alongside Heather Podesta, the D.C. power broker who was married to Clinton campaign chief John Podesta s lobbyist brother Tony.In 2014, Lanier was honored on ELLE magazine s list of the ten most powerful women in Washington alongside top Hillary Clinton aide Cheryl Mills and longtime Clinton friend and informal adviser Neera Tanden. Other honorees included NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue and Obama Cabinet official Penny Pritzker.Lanier did attend ELLE and Hugo Boss 2015 Women in Washington Power List dinner at the German ambassador s house. Here she is chatting with Clinton crony and Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe.Who else was at the dinner? None other than Amy Dacey, the CEO of the Democratic National Committee at the time of Seth Rich s murder, who resigned one month after the killing as the DNC was rocked with scandal.Who else was at the dinner? None other than then-DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. | 1 |
Home › VIDEO › “CLINTON, INC”: WATCH HOW’S IT PAINS MSM TO REPORT CLINTON CORRUPTION “CLINTON, INC”: WATCH HOW’S IT PAINS MSM TO REPORT CLINTON CORRUPTION 0 SHARES Post navigation | 0 |
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha has been charged with treason and could face a jail term of 15 to 30 years if convicted, a court said on Tuesday. Kem Sokha was arrested on Sunday in an escalating crackdown on critics of Prime Minister Hun Sen s government, which accused the opposition leader of plotting with the United States to undermine the Southeast Asian country. Trials of senior political figures in recent years have resulted in convictions and international rights groups questioned whether proceedings against Kem Sokha would be fair. He had been charged with colluding with foreigners under Article 443 of Cambodia s penal code, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court said in a statement. The act of secret collusion with foreigners is an act of treason, it added. The evidence the government has presented is a video of Kem Sokha from 2013 in which he tells supporters of his Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) that he has had American support and advice for his political strategy to win power. One of the opposition leader s lawyers, Pheng Heng, said what appeared in the video clip was no crime. The legal procedure is wrong and the charge isn t correct, he said. What he talked about was elections in a multi-party democratic way. The arrest of Kem Sokha and growing pressure on independent media and rights groups have drawn condemnation from the United States and other Western countries, which have raised doubts over whether a general election next year can be fair. But Hun Sen, one of Asia s longest serving rulers, has won support from China, which has made him one of its closest regional allies and provided billions of dollars in infrastructure loans. Next year s election could represent the greatest challenge to Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People s Party (CPP) in the more than three decades he has ruled, but his critics accuse him of trying to shut down all opposition in advance. Pro-government website Fresh News said there could be further arrests of officials from the opposition party in the case. The government and the ruling CPP have manufactured these treason charges against Kem Sokha for political purposes, aiming to try and knock the political opposition out of the ring before the 2018 electoral contest even begins, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch. Kingsley Abott, senior international legal adviser for Southeast Asia at the Geneva-based International Committee of Jurists, said the allegations against Kem Sokha had the hallmarks of being politically motivated. The absence of an independent and impartial prosecution and judiciary makes the delivery of a fair trial impossible in most political cases, he said. Kem Sokha, was sentenced to five months in jail last September after failing to appear in court in connection with a case against two of his party colleagues, but he was later pardoned at Hun Sen s request. He had avoided prison on that occasion by taking refuge at his party headquarters. Kem Sokha s predecessor as party leader, Sam Rainsy, was found guilty of defamation in absentia. He lives in France to avoid the conviction, which he says was politically motivated. | 0 |
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Buzz Cut:
• No, Sanders wouldn’t be a better match for Trump
• Power Play: Senate flipping out?
• Reid tries to diffuse Dem tensions
• Fox News Latino poll: Hillary tops Trump by 39 points with Hispanics
• Look out below
NO, SANDERS WOULDN’T BE A BETTER MATCH FOR TRUMP
Bernie Sanders is looking a lot like John Kasich these days. And, no, not because of their hand gestures.
In the final round of “Super Sloppy Double Dare” that was the GOP nominating process, Kasich argued that he should be the nominee because he handily beat Hillary Clinton in hypothetical head-to-head matchups while now-presumptive nominee Donald Trump consistently lagged.
Now, Sanders who is, as Kasich was, out of the running for the nomination is asking his party to throw over the frontrunner for the sake of general election viability. And there’s data to back him up.
In this week’s Fox News poll and the most recent NYT/CBS News poll, Sanders outperforms Clinton against Trump. And it had been true for Kasich, too.
But it doesn’t really matter. First, any Democrat without her enormous negative ratings would match up better with Trump than Clinton does. Throw Martin O’Malley or even an imaginary candidate (insofar as those are different concepts) in a poll, and you might see a similar result.
And that’s because those candidates haven’t been the target of millions of dollars in attack ads or even garnered much in the way of media scrutiny. These are not just hypothetical matchups, they are, in many ways, hypothetical candidates.
Head-to-head matchup polls in primaries can be useful if you’re talking about frontrunners and/or candidates who have been substantially defined in the minds of voters.
Then there’s the question of how the process shapes the product. Competing for your party’s nomination definitely can damage your reputation. Lordy day, it can.
But, there is also a payoff at the end of the line, as the party swings in behind its man or woman. So it’s not just that Sanders’ head-to-head matchups with Trump aren’t reflective of the general-election reality, neither are Clinton’s.
The current Trump bump is real. The NYT/CBS News poll tells the tale: Eight in 10 Republicans said that the party should unite behind him, despite their disagreements. And in his battle with Clinton, Trump is getting the same post-victory boost his predecessor, Mitt Romney, got four years ago.
After a primary season of unrivaled acrimony, the realities of the binary choice of the general election are setting in.
The big question now is what Clinton’s bounce will look like.
It will certainly be there. Eighty percent of Democrats in the poll said that party unity was essential to victory and 83 percent said Clinton could do that. For Republicans, just 63 percent said unity was essential to victory and just 64 percent believed Trump could deliver on that task.
That discrepancy helps explain Trump’s deficit in this survey.
What we must wait to see is how big a boost Clinton will get – perhaps less than Trump considering that her party is already more united. We also can’t know whether the surge in partisan loyalty we see for Trump today will last, or if the party’s underlying fracture will reassert itself.
The answers to both sets of questions will depend on how well Clinton and Trump traverse the eight weeks until convention time.
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE…
The Scientist: “They don’t snore, but might creak during their slumbers. For the first time, trees have been shown to undergo physical changes at night that can be likened to sleep, or at least to day-night cycles that have been observed experimentally in smaller plants. Branches of birch trees have now been seen drooping by as much as 10 centimetres at the tips towards the end of the night. ‘It was a very clear effect, and applied to the whole tree,’ says András Zlinszky of the Centre for Ecological Research in Tihany, Hungary. ‘No one has observed this effect before at the scale of whole trees, and I was surprised by the extent of the changes.’”
POWER PLAY: SENATE FLIPPING OUT?
With the presidential picks in both parties essentially decided, party operatives are turning to the Senate as the next battle heading into the November election, and Republicans are on the defending side. Can they keep their majority, or will Democrats flip it back in their favor? National Republican Senatorial Committee National Spokeswoman, Alleigh Marre, gives her picks for seats she believes the GOP can maintain while Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Communications Director, Sadie Weiner, gives her take on seats she thinks Democrats can easily steal.
Reid tries to diffuse Dem tensions - WSJ: “Divisions within the Democratic Party, including the eruption of violence on the part of Bernie Sanders’s supporters at a state party convention in Nevada, have thrust Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid into the center of an intraparty brawl in his final months in office.”
[Matthew Continetti says Obama’s policy of non-intervention extends to his party’s own civil war.]
Fox News Latino poll: Hillary tops Trump by 39 points with Hispanics - Fox News Latino: “With less than six months to go before the presidential elections, Latinos overwhelmingly support Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton over presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, according to a Fox News Latino poll released on Friday. The poll found that 62 percent of registered Latino voters would head to the ballot box for Clinton in November, while only 23 percent would support Trump on Election Day – a finding that many experts say is not surprising given the two candidates’ differing stances on issues important to Latinos.”
[A new Fox News poll says that when it comes to most issues, Clinton comes out ahead of Trump, but trails badly on two of the most important: economy and terrorism.]
Fox News Sunday - Trump policy adviser Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, join guest host John Roberts on “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.” Check local listings for broadcast times in your area.
#mediabuzz - Host Howard Kurtz wraps the week’s media news. Watch Sunday at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Guests include Bob Woodward, Brit Hume and Tucker Carlson.
RACE NOTES
Thirty-five years ago, Trump released his taxes and showed he paid not one cent - WaPo
Trump helps pay off Chris Christie’s campaign debt, but mocks gubernatorial girth - NYDN
Minnesota State GOP trying to prevent funding for Trump - [St. Paul] Pioneer Press
WITHIN EARSHOT
“I’m 3 million votes ahead of [Bernie Sanders] and I have an insurmountable lead in pledge delegates and I’m confident that just as I did with Senator Obama, where I said, you know what? It was really close. Much closer. Much closer than it is between me and Senator Sanders right now.” -- Hillary Clinton talking on CNN about the state of the Democratic primary race between her and Bernie Sanders.
LOOK OUT BELOW
AP: “The San Diego County Department of Animal Services says a baby opossum is doing well after being rescued from a toilet. The soaking wet little creature is seen in photos posted on the department’s Facebook page. The agency says a Pacific Beach woman found the critter in her toilet on May 1 and Animal Control Officer Carlos Wallis responded and took it to the San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife. It will be released when it is old enough to survive on its own. A second opossum was found in the home later, along with a broken window which likely allowed the animals to enter. Animal Services Deputy Director Dan DeSousa says both opossums are doing OK.”
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Sally Persons contributed to this report. 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 |
Ever since Trump first seized on the flooding in Louisiana as an opportunity to pretend he s presidential, it has been abundantly clear that he has no idea what the f*ck he s doing. Though Gov. John Bel Edwards specifically asked Trump to volunteer or donate rather than show up for a photo op, The Donald has the biggest hands, the best brain, and the hugest ideas, so he popped by anyway to spend about a minute handing out Play Doh and other items to flood victims who were much in need of water, food, clothing, and other items typically needed by people who just lost everything in a natural disaster.Trump has spent a good deal of time whining that President Obama did not immediately rush off to Louisiana, but Obama was simply respecting the wishes of the Governor, who said he d rather he give us another week or two. And then he can visit. President Obama complied, while Trump showed up anyway. After all, he was busy crafting a narrative that Barack Obama hates flood victims. Isn t that more important?Trump, facing criticism for failing to donate money to help, ultimately gave $100 million to a church run by a hate group leader.On Tuesday, after respecting the Governor s wishes and the needs of the people, President Obama toured the flood-damaged areas. To him, this wasn t a photo op. To him, this was a tragedy whose victims needed as much support as they could get. We are heartbroken by the loss of life, Obama told reporters after surveying the devastation that left 13 dead, more than 60,000 homes damaged, and more than 106,000 residents in a position that they applied for aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. I think anybody who can see just the streets, much less the inside of the homes here, people s lives have been upended by this flood. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told CNN that $120 million in aid has already been approved. But President Obama made it clear that the effort to fix the damage is only just beginning: Sometimes once the flood waters pass, people s attention spans pass. This is not a one off. This is not a photo-op issue. This is how do you make sure that a month from now, three months from now, six months from now, people still are getting the help that they need. I need all Americans to stay focused on this. If you re watching this today, make sure that you find out how you can help. You can go to volunteers.louisiana.gov, or you can go to fema.gov, or you can go to whitehouse.gov. We ll tell you. We ll direct you how you can help. President Obama is correct. A natural disaster, especially of this scale, is not an excuse to rush there for a photo op. It s a reason for the community and the country to come together to fix things. It s a time for the President to step up and focus on the long-term response rather than looking good for the media and it s especially not the time to pander to Donald Trump s wishes.Let s hope Trump learns something about acting presidential from this. Watch the video below, and be sure to take the President s advice about helping:Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
The notoriously violent MS-13 street gang, known for slashing victims to death with knives and machetes, is reviving its brutal brand of violence to reassert its dominance in the Washington metropolitan area with authorities linking at least eight homicides in Virginia and Maryland in 2016 to the gang.The recent uptick in violence can be traced to a failed gang truce in El Salvador and, in part, to a surge of unaccompanied Central American children who entered the United States in 2015 to flee violence at home, according to gang analysts.There is concern over the degree to which MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, has exploited an immigration policy that over the past two years has allowed waves of migrant children to enter the United States.In one of the eight recent killings with MS-13 ties, three young men were charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old in Loudoun County, Virginia. They were identified as having entered the United States illegally in 2013 as unaccompanied children who later skipped immigration hearings.-Washington TimesWatch Tucker Carlson tell viewers that MS-13 is a far greater threat than ISIS: The police commissioner on Long Island s Suffolk County declared war on the MS-13 gang Thursday after the discovery of four mutilated bodies in a Central Islip parkThe slayings are a stark reminder that we are in the midst of a war, Timothy Sini said, standing across the street from where the bodies of four young men were found Wednesday night. We re going to continue that war. MS-13, already blamed for six Long Island slayings, emerged as the prime suspects because of the brutality of the executions.Wednesday s discovery came six weeks after 13 alleged MS-13 gang members were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for murders.MS-13 was founded in Los Angeles by immigrants seeking safe haven from a civil war in their native El Salvador during the 1980s. This is a long-term war, Sini said. And make no mistake about it, it s a war. UPI | 1 |
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko said on Thursday he was open to amending law reforms amid concerns they aided corruption and could lead to the end of probes into the shooting of protesters in the run-up up to the 2014 revolution. The eastern European nation, which is in a dispute with Russia over its annexation of Crimea, passed amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code last week that anti-corruption groups say severely limits the time investigators have to solve a crime and present a case in court. Petrenko said he had yet to go through the final text of the lengthy reforms, but he said that he was aware of the concerns. If there (are) some positions which make problems for the investigations process for old cases or for new cases I will give proposals to the parliament and president to change these positions, Petrenko told Reuters in an interview in Sydney, where he was attending a legal industry conference. The legislation still requires the sign-off from President Petro Poroshenko. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine said in a statement last week the new legislation could force investigators to present a criminal case before court within six months, or up to 12 months with a court extension. Corrupt officials could benefit, the law enforcement agency said, given the complexity of investigations that can involve international assistance. There are also fears that the legislation could prevent prosecutions for crimes committed during the Euromaidan street demonstrations in 2013 and 2014, where more than 100 protesters, demanding closer European integration, were gunned down. The popular uprising, that focused on corruption concerns and the country s Russian ties, culminated with the removal of the then president Viktor Yanukovych. More than three years on, Ukraine is still dealing with allegations of deep corruption with Transparency International earlier this year ranking it 131st of 176 countries in the World Ranking of Corruption Perception. Petrenko said on Thursday the country was intent on reforming its judicial system, which included the selection of more than 100 Supreme Court judges after a competition-style candidate process designed to root out corruption. Are all these people ideal? I think no, because the country is not ideal, Petrenko said. You cannot find some ideal people from Mars or from the moon and take them and put in these positions, but those people, they went through the objective, transparent and absolutely public competition. Ukraine is the recipient of an aid-for-reforms program from the International Monetary Fund. | 1 |
Stephen Hawking might be one of the most brilliant and highly respected scientists in the world, but that means nothing in Donald Trump s America. In fact, that sort of thing is a liability, and that s why Hawking has no plans on visiting for the next few years.After receiving the US Franklin medal for science and receiving the presidential medal of freedom from President Obama in 2009, Hawking fears the country s definite swing to a right-wing more authoritarian approach. He also fears that he wouldn t be welcome here anymore. I would like to visit again and to talk to other scientists, but I fear that I may not be welcome, he said in an interview with Good Morning Britain on Monday.Source: The GuardianNaturally, Trump s denial and inaction toward the biggest crisis to hit our planet, manmade climate change, is at the forefront of Hawking s mind. He should replace Scott Pruitt at the Environment Protection Agency, he said. Climate change is one of the great dangers we face, and it s one we can prevent. It affects America badly, so tackling it should win votes for his second term. God forbid. As a citizen of the U.K., which recently voted to leave the European Union for reasons very similar to the impetus behind Trump s election, he understands the feeling of being left behind and the fear of globalism, but he doesn t respect it. Trump was elected by people who felt disenfranchised by the governing elite in a revolt against globalisation, he told ITV1 s breakfast programme. His priority will be to satisfy his electorate, who are neither liberal nor that well informed. Here s the video: Hawking has reasons to be afraid. Trump s cabinet picks and budget are about as hostile to the scientific community as they can be, but we desperately need people like Hawking to stand up to Trump and to the ignorant masses who elected him. Universities, smart cities and smart rich people, please invite Hawking. The majority of the country doesn t agree with Trump. He will have a warm embrace, although not from our government.Featured image via Bryan Bedder | 0 |
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is bent on refusing to consider any nominee President Obama may submit to succeed late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. And if he doesn’t give ground, Obama may have only one option for an end-run: a recess appointment.
But Republicans can rest easy: GOP leaders have an ace up their sleeve.
The truth is, it doesn’t take much to prevent a recess appointment, as long as congressional leaders are watching the calendar. Closely.
If you’re trying to block the president from making one to the Supreme Court, all the Senate has to do is commence a session every three days. Because the Senate is only truly in recess after that three-day period.
The Constitution actually requires the House and Senate to meet every three days unless there’s an agreement between the two bodies to skip, and go on recess. With the battle over a Supreme Court pick heating up, don’t expect that to happen in the near future.
All McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., have to do is schedule what are called “pro-forma” sessions at three-day intervals for the rest of the year. Pro-forma sessions are brief meetings of the House and Senate, lasting but a minute or two – and sometimes, a matter of seconds. They help the House and Senate comport with the constitutional mandate of huddling every three days – even if they aren’t really doing anything.
The House and Senate don’t conduct any business during these confabs. In congressional parlance, they’re sometimes referred to as just “gavel-in, gavel-out.” No votes. No speeches. Few words are uttered at all.
The phrase “pro-forma” is derived from Latin, meaning “formality.”
Congress doesn’t consider itself adjourned or on recess if it’s “meeting” every three days. And that’s all it takes to block a recess appointment for the rest of the president’s term.
In 2011 and 2012, Democrats still controlled the Senate. But Republicans ran the show in the House. The GOP-controlled House refused to agree to an adjournment resolution in an effort to block Obama from scuttling a Senate filibuster of his nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Thus, the House and Senate met every three days.
In early 2012, the president made four recess appointments in the window between the three-day pro-forma sessions. But the Supreme Court later voided those appointments. The court said that was the point of the three-day sessions. The Senate was indeed in session. The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 against the administration’s brazen attempt to slip in appointments between the sessions every three days.
Ironically, Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito wrote a concurring opinion to the NLRB case. They argued “that recess appointments will remain a powerful weapon in the President’s arsenal.” They added it was “unfortunate because the recess power is an anachronism.”
When the roles were reversed, Democrats used the same tool.
For much of the final two years of President George W. Bush’s term, the Democrat-controlled Senate met every few days to block him from making a recess appointment.
In 2003, Senate Republicans blasted minority Democrats for holding up a number of judicial nominations. Democrats had particular trouble with the nomination of Judge Bill Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Georgia. Democrats didn’t like Pryor’s views on women’s issues and homosexuality. So they filibustered Pryor.
During a summertime adjournment (not amid the three-day, pro-forma theater discussed here), Bush went around the Senate and appointed Pryor without its advice and consent.
Democrats may try to force Republicans to take that vote this summer, too. But Republicans know that the best way to prevent a recess appointment later this year is to just meet every three days.
Capitol Attitude is a weekly column written by members of the Fox News Capitol Hill team. Their articles take you inside the halls of Congress, and cover the spectrum of policy issues being introduced, debated and voted on there. | 0 |
(Reuters) - Pope Francis’s remarks on Thursday that U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is “not Christian” due to his views on immigration sparked jokes on social media, and the pope quickly trended on Twitter in the United States. The businessman and former reality TV star called the pope’s comments “disgraceful” and said he was proud to be a Christian. Twitter users poked fun at the brouhaha. “Watching Trump fight with the Pope might be the most fun you can have with your clothes on,” tweeted actor Albert Brooks (@AlbertBrooks). Television comedy writer Wendy Molyneux (@WendyMolyneux) joked about the controversy by attributing a fake quotation to Trump that mocked the presidential candidate’s penchant for bawdy exaggeration. “‘You know, a lot of my friends are Popes, and they love what I’m doing. This one Pope is such a loser. And fat.’ - @realDonaldTrump,” Molyneux wrote Thursday. Paul Begala (@PaulBegala), a political consultant who is an adviser to a Super PAC helping Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, said: “How long before realDonaldTrump says the Pope is totally broke. Doesn’t own a single golf course. Never even dated a supermodel. #Loser.” “How dare the pope be concerned with the poor & disenfranchised! I mean Jesus never was!” tweeted actor Rainn Wilson (@rainnwilson). “The Late Show,” hosted by comedian Stephen Colbert, tweeted a poll Thursday in which it asked “How can Donald Trump get back in the Pope’s good graces?” The options listed were “Cabinet position,” “Purchase indulgences,” “Evict Protestants” and “Sensual back rub.” Trump, long the leader in national opinion polls, and five Republican rivals face off on Saturday in South Carolina’s primary. While the pope and Trump are now at odds, the real estate developer had previously praised the pontiff. In 2013, the year Francis began his papacy, Trump compared himself to the pope favorably. On Christmas Day 2013: Trump tweeted, “The new Pope is a humble man, very much like me, which probably explains why I like him so much!” The pope was not the only powerful figure to run afoul of the Republican candidate on Thursday. Media titan Rupert Murdoch weighed in on Twitter to contest Trump’s claims that Fox News is biased against him after a national poll by NBC and the Wall Street Journal showed Senator Ted Cruz inching ahead of Trump. “Trump blames me for WSJ poll, fights FoxNews,” tweeted Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch), executive chairman of both Fox News parent 21st Century Fox Inc (FOXA.O) and Journal owner News Corp (NWSA.O). “Time to calm down. If I running anti-Trump conspiracy then doing lousy job!” For more on the 2016 presidential race, see the Reuters blog, “Tales from the Trail” (here). | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration and top U.S. Senate Republicans pushed on Tuesday for action on a bill to dismantle Obamacare, but time was running out and they were still hunting for the votes needed to pass their latest attempt to gut the 2010 healthcare law. Vice President Mike Pence lunched with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill to urge them to approve the legislation introduced last week by Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy. Pence said President Donald Trump backs the bill. “Now is the time. We have 12 days” to pass it, Pence said before the lunch. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who fell a single vote short of securing passage of another healthcare overhaul bill in July, said the Graham-Cassidy legislation “has a great deal of support,” but would not commit to bringing it to the Senate floor for consideration. After Sept. 30, the last day of the fiscal year, procedural rules will make it much more difficult for Republicans. The bill after Oct. 1 would need 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate to be brought up for consideration, rather than a simple majority until the end of the month. Despite controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, Republicans this year have failed to make good on their seven-year effort to dismantle a law that was the top legislative achievement of Trump’s Democratic predecessor Barack Obama. Having suffered the humiliating failure in July, Republican congressional leaders only want to hold a vote on legislation they know can pass. “At the end of the day, I really believe we’re going to get 50 Republican votes,” Graham told reporters, but he would not say how many committed votes he has now in a Senate that his party controls 52-48. Dismantling the Affordable Care Act, known informally as Obamacare, was a central campaign promise last year by Trump. Republicans call that law a government overreach into the healthcare system. Democrats point out that it has expanded health insurance coverage to some 20 million more people. The new bill could give Republicans one last shot this year on healthcare. It proposes to replace Obamacare with a system giving states money in block grants to run their own healthcare programs. It would allow states to opt out of certain Obamacare protections for consumers and waive regulations requiring insurers to cover certain health benefits. It also would end the Obamacare expansion of the Medicaid insurance program for the poor and disabled. “Similar to proposals that were considered in the Senate in July, we believe the Graham-Cassidy amendment would result in millions of Americans losing their health insurance coverage, destabilize health insurance markets, and decrease access to affordable coverage and care,” said James Madara, chief executive of the American Medical Association. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Republicans were “grossly irresponsible” to consider the Cassidy-Graham legislation before getting a full assessment of its effects from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. Several Republicans, including the same three senators whose “no” votes blocked the earlier bill in July, are still undecided, including Graham’s close friend John McCain. A bipartisan group of 10 governors wrote a letter to Senate leaders asking them not to consider the Cassidy-Graham bill, and instead urged support for bipartisan talks on healthcare legislation now going on in the Senate health committee. Alaska Governor Bill Walker was among those who signed the letter. One of his state’s two senators, Republican Lisa Murkowski, is among those undecided on the Cassidy-Graham bill. Meanwhile the clock is ticking. The Senate will not be in session Wednesday through Sunday. The Senate Finance Committee said it will hold a hearing on the bill next Monday. Graham said House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan has told him that if the Senate passes the Cassidy-Graham bill, the House will, too. Ryan has told McConnell that the separate bipartisan healthcare effort in the Senate that aims to protect some subsidies being paid to insurance companies to help people buy insurance policies would not be viable in the House, according to a source familiar with the discussion who asked not to be identified. Trump’s administration has repeatedly threatened to cut off payments made directly to insurers, called cost-sharing reductions, that help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income consumers. It faced a deadline on Wednesday to make the payments for the month of September, and insurers expected to receive the payments. If the bill were to go through, it would likely affect revenue at most insurers, including small companies like Centene Corp (CNC.N) and Molina Healthcare (MOH.N) that focus on Medicaid, and larger more diversified companies like Anthem Inc (ANTM.N), Aetna Inc (AET.N) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N), Wall Street analysts said. Aetna shares were off 2.8 percent on Tuesday and UnitedHealth was down 2.3 percent while the stocks of hospital chains were also lower on the possibility of less government funding, including HCA Healthcare’s (HCA.N) decline of 2 percent. | 1 |
Just before the New Year, surveillance cameras captured photographs of Real Housewives of Atlanta‘s Kenya Moore standing outside with a gun as three suspects fled from her home. [Moore posted a surveillance image which appears to show the three suspects nonchalantly walking up her driveway toward her home. She followed up with another post containing two photos. One of the photos shows her standing outside with a gun and the second shows the suspects fleeing the scene. Moore wrote the following caption for the photos: I have a right to feel safe in my home and to protect myself. I don’t care if I’m on TV. What if 3 strangers banged on your front door … 2 of them being grown men wearing dark clothing knowing they could only get to you by jumping fences or trespassing onto other properties and mine? There are home invasions, robberies, rapist … What if your children or loved ones were threatened this way? Anyone who is bold enough to commit a crime, endanger themselves and others needs to be punished. According to the Atlanta Moore said the three suspects arrived in a white car and “the female was recording on her phone. ” Moore stressed, “It is never ok to violate anyone this way. It is not funny. Men showing up at your door is an immediate threat. Things could have ended badly and all 3 will be criminally prosecuted. ” AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart. com. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch warned on Tuesday of dire consequences if Congress fails to repeal Obamacare, including the collapse of health insurance markets. “Among other things, it means a congressional bailout of failing insurance markets, probably before the end of 2017,” Hatch said in a statement. “Frankly, that ship may have sailed on that one after last night’s developments. We’re probably looking at an insurance bailout one way or another.” | 0 |
Hillary Clinton told a joke. Speaking to a roomful of Goldman Sachs bankers in June 2013, Clinton said that Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein could leave the Wall Street firm that’s made him a billionaire to start a soup kitchen:
This exchange was written down by Clinton’s aides as they gathered information on what parts of her paid Wall Street speeches could prove damaging should they leak to the press. Her team filed it under the heading, "AWKWARD."
This "AWKWARD" quote and hundreds of other previously hidden nuggets about Clinton have spilled out into public view recently. Over the last two weeks, Julian Assange’s whistleblower platform WikiLeaks has published about 20,000 pages of emails illegally stolen from John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chair.
The strangest thing about the ensuing uproar is that none of the Podesta emails has so far actually broken any fresh scandals about the woman on track to be the next president. Instead, they’ve mostly revealed an underbelly of ugliness to the multiple Clinton controversies that we’ve already known about: the questionable relationship between the Clinton Foundation and its donors, Clinton’s ease with powerful interests on Wall Street, her ties to wealthy campaign contributors.
The Goldman soup kitchen joke is a perfect example. If there’s one thing to really get mad about here, it’s something we’ve known for years — that Clinton took millions from big Wall Street banks right before running for president. Seeing her and Wall Street titans share a laugh about helping the hungry might turn your stomach, but the most important question — was it wrong for Clinton to take big checks from Goldman right before running? — is in no way new. (Clinton’s campaign refused to comment on individual emails, instead blaming the Russians for hacking the emails and providing them to WikiLeaks.)
This is, from what we’ve seen so far, the real story of WikiLeaks’ Podesta emails. Yes, they have not found any major "bombshells." No, they’re not going to sink Clinton’s campaign. But by filling in the storylines that have long dogged her campaign with new and vivid detail, we are getting our clearest picture yet of how the sausage — or, if you prefer, the creamy risotto — gets made in Clinton-world.
It can be an ugly sight.
I’ve now read hundreds of the Podesta emails, as well as upward of 60 stories from across left-wing, mainstream, and conservative media outlets about what they entail.
I should stress that what I’ve found is far from all bad. Dozens of these emails show Clinton’s team genuinely striving to discover the correct position on an issue. Many of them show real, determined efforts to find the right solution to some public policy crisis. In general, especially compared to the vicious infighting that characterized her 2008 presidential run, you come away from the Podesta emails thinking that Clinton has assembled an admiringly loyal group of aides that believes in the candidate and the mission of the campaign. There’s some backbiting, but you could imagine far, far worse.
Then there’s the other stuff — the emails Podesta presumably wish never leaked. To help make sense of what we’ve learned, I’ve broken out the interesting new bits into what I think can be more-or-less characterized as four distinct categories:
Vox reached out to the Clinton campaign for comment, and spokesperson Glen Caplin replied that they are "still not authenticating any individual emails." The campaign also referred foundation-related questions to the foundation itself, and referenced several times that the leaks were tied to a "Russian attempt to influence our election." As it has to other reporters, the Clinton campaign did not dispute the accuracy of any of the individual emails.
We should be clear that these Podesta email leaks have nothing to do with the multiple other "Clinton email" scandals percolating over the past few years. So they aren’t, as some news outlets have incorrectly reported, related to the FBI investigation into Clinton’s private server or allegations that she went around transparency laws.
Instead, since these emails emerge from the private account of Clinton’s campaign chair, they tend to tell us far more about candidate Clinton than they do about Secretary of State Clinton.
There is, however, one exception to that general rule: the Clinton Foundation.
Since the campaign began, the Clinton Foundation has been at the center of an intense debate. The most extreme critics, like Donald Trump, have alleged that Clinton used the state department to transactionally reward the charity’s donors (there’s no evidence for that). Meanwhile, the campaign and foundation have fallen back on one consistent defense — that there’s been no proof of a quid pro quo between donor and foundation.
The Clinton Foundation really did do inarguably life-saving work. But good government experts have argued that the Clintons accepted private donations in a way that they should have known would have created dangerous conflicts of interest. This more nuanced attack faults the Clinton Foundation for dangerously blurring the distinction between private and public.
The Podesta leaks back up that story.
One way it does so is by uncovering a private audit conducted by a widely-respected New York City law firm. The review concluded that the Clinton Foundation’s board had failed to oversee potential conflicts of interest, and that some donors expected "quid pro quo benefits." "Interviewees reported conflicts of those raising funds or donors, some of whom may have an expectation of quid pro quo benefits in return for gift," the audit found.
It’s not clear they received them. but either way the audit is a striking confirmation that even the attorneys hired by Clinton recognized the danger in the relationship between donor and foundation.
Then there’s another disclosure emerging from the Podesta emails: that Qatari officials sought to present Bill Clinton with a $1 million gift on his birthday on during his wife’s tenure as secretary of state. As the New York Times noted, this revelation suggests that foreign governments were able to gain an audience with Bill Clinton in exchange for a check. (The Times couldn’t confirm if the $1 million check was ever cashed.)
The last revelation in the leaks about the foundation may also be the most unusual: Chelsea Clinton apparently was running around raising the alarm bell over possible conflicts of interest, suggesting the Clintons themselves were aware of the potential problems. (Politico’s Kenneth Vogel has a detailed blow-by-blow of Chelsea’s concerns over the overlapping roles of a consulting firm named Teneo.)
Nothing here represents a major revelation. If you weren’t bothered by the Clinton Foundation before, this probably isn’t going to trouble you. But if you were, having an audit and Chelsea Clinton share your fears will fuel the sense that something suspicious was afoot here.
Over the course of the election, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders leveled a similar critique of Clinton: that she’s too wedded to the "political establishment."
For Sanders, that usually meant that Clinton didn’t have the independence to challenge powerful actors on Wall Street and in Washington, DC. Trump has used similar rhetoric, going after "Crooked" Clinton for her big dollar campaign contributors.
Whatever you think of the merits of those attacks, it’s clear that the majority of the American people think it’s correct, at least in broad strokes. Seven in 10 voters consider Clinton part of the establishment. Just 30 percent trust her to take on special interests.
It’s an impression that the Podesta emails only deepen — even if they don’t provide ground-breaking new controversies around it.
Again, none of this is revelatory. Nobody who has closely followed Clinton will be shocked to find her campaign was attuned to the wishes of donors. Her affinity for Israel is well known. Critics of her approach to campaign finance are mad about the decision to take money from big donors — not the internal discussion over whether or not to do so.
But watching how all of this unfolded — seeing for yourself how Clinton spoke gently to Wall Street — won’t make the disclosures any easier for her detractors to swallow. It’s a confirmation of what we already know, but that doesn’t make it any less astonishing, at least for Clinton’s critics.
Clinton’s close ties to Wall Street and big donors are certainly part of the story revealed by the Podesta leaks. But only one part.
Indeed, dozens of interesting tidbits have also emerged that allow us to see inside the Clinton campaign’s infrastructure. They have showed that, at some times, the Clinton campaign openly discussed the "political" implications of her deciding to get behind one policy or another. They also show the Clinton campaign at other times responding to more high-minded policy concerns.
In one leak, for instance, Clinton’s team discussed at length whether they should endorse the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act, which would restrict commercial banks’ ability to engage in some investment activity.
Clinton aide Mandy Grunwald worries that reversing course and backing the law would lead to "phoniness charges," while not doing so could lead Sen. Elizabeth Warren to endorse Bernie Sanders. ("Jake" in the following exchange is Jake Sullivan, a top Clinton adviser):
Then there’s a lengthy exchange in Clinton-world about a carbon tax proposal. As Vox’s Brad Plumer explains, the emails show how fears of embracing an unpopular idea dominated the internal discussion. Robby Mook, a top Clinton aide, said that embracing the carbon tax would prove "lethal" in the general election:
But other revelations have pointed to how the Clinton campaign got behind positions it found genuinely worthwhile. In one exchange highlighted by the Washington Post, the Clinton team talked about forming the "signature pillars of a future progressive agenda" like a "significant middle-class tax cut."
The exchange about the carbon tax did involve frank political talk. But as Plumer also noted, Podesta elsewhere makes genuine efforts to convince his colleagues about the menace posed by climate change and the need for genuinely huge solutions to address it:
There are other examples. A debate over the "Cadillac Tax," which taxes the most expensive health insurance plans, showed twin impulses fighting against each other. As Vox has written, the tax is widely seen as an essential way to raise revenue for Obamacare. But it’s also hated by unions, whose votes and endorsements Clinton wanted to cultivate during the primary.
The emails reveal Clinton’s policy advisers arguing for a "fix it" strategy, while the "political team" pushed harder for her to call for a full repeal. (They ultimately came down fully on the political side):
None of Clinton’s critics will be surprised to find her team debating political ramifications of certain policies — it’s certainly widely understood that this is how almost all politicians make their decisions.
But a fair appraisal of the emails doesn't reduce Team Clinton to opportunism. Even behind closed doors, they appear motivated by a genuine embrace of progressive beliefs and causes. At least much of the time, that is. But not always.
Let's be honest: Everyone who has worked in a big enough office has said or written something about a co-worker he or she wouldn't say to that co-worker’s face.
Clinton-world is no exception. But most offices don’t have to deal with essentially all of their internal communications being dumped unceremoniously on the web. Team Clinton’s internal gossip and snipings have been neatly organized into a searchable database that the whole world can use.
These are, understandably, the best catnip for reporters. Like the other revelations, they also don’t tend to reveal anything genuinely earth-shattering. But by laying bare the bitter grievances we (generally) already knew about, these emails are fueling added frustration and old grudges. For instance, the emails include:
This kind of stuff, of course, has the least to do with public policy or the positions of the campaign.
But this category of emails is perhaps most interesting to people who work for Clinton. In a terrific article in Politico, Annie Karni and Glenn Thrush detailed the psychological impacts it’s having on the Clinton campaign:
As Karni and Thrush note, this should be a heady time for Clinton-world. She’s cruising to victory in the polls. Donald Trump has sunk in the polls, and Clinton has trounced him in three consecutive presidential debates.
In general, the critics most upset about the Podesta emails are the ones who have confirmed what Clinton’s inner-circle thought about them. Ironically, that dynamic now appears to apply to Clinton’s own team as well.
Two clear conclusions jump out when trying to determine what these emails tell us about a future Clinton presidency.
One is that Clinton appears genuinely responsive to pressure from outside groups. Her team has clear goals, but they’re also closely attuned to polls and to winning over the organizations (union backers, environmentalist groups, Black Lives Matter activists) whose support they think they need. In private conversations, Clinton tells the audiences in front of her more or less what they want to hear.
But while this appreciation for her listeners may reflect political savvy, it also suggests a flexibility that may worry those on her left. What happens if President Clinton gets polling suggesting a majority of voters support slashing entitlements? What if the country clamors for a war in Iran? What if she can win over Republican voters by tacking to the center?
And second, more than anything, the Podesta emails show how Clinton is the transactional politician many have long suspected. That’s a dispiriting conclusion for some who may wish she was a pure progressive. But it also helps clarify the battle lines for what looks like the coming Clinton administration — persuade her team they need you, and you might have a shot at getting them on your side. | 1 |
Matt Drudge has called Florida for Donald Trump. Major news channels still holding back on their call but have noted that she’s not making any gains as final votes are counted.
The race now comes down to Michigan.
Donald Trump is projected to win Michigan but the race is tight with 2.8 million votes remaining.
Michigan is not yet a win for Trump.
| 1 |
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner didn t tell his citizens to evacuate People are furious with him! Houstonians are now trapped 5 PEOPLE REPORTED DEAD This will only get worse with devastating flooding continuing to make waters rise even higher Gov. Abbott called for evacuations but local officials like the Houston mayor contradicted him. LOCAL LEADERS KNOW BEST, Francisco Sanchez, spokesman for the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, tweeted in response to Abbott s warning. There were no evacuation orders in Houston, and only ones in a few communities in Harris County, Sanchez stressed.In a follow-up tweet, Sanchez urged residents to heed the advice of local officials like Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, rather than Abbott.Local officials know best. Houston has no evacuation order. In Harris County: very limited to select communities. LOCAL LEADERS KNOW BEST. https://t.co/DpW11lb1En Francisco Sanchez (@DisasterPIO) August 25, 2017Things have gotten so bad in Houston that the the US Army Corps of Engineers has announced plans to begin releasing water into Buffalo Bayou from two flood-control dams in the attempt to prevent uncontrollable flooding downtown and near the Houston Ship Channel.Just horrific: Twitter is inundated with tweets from people begging for water rescues, as flood waters continue to rise across Houston. pic.twitter.com/SjFGWgQrWd Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) August 27, 201715 NURSING HOME RESIDENTS EVACUATED IN DICKINSON, TX:City authorities said Sunday night that they had rescued more than 1,000 people who had been trapped on their roofs or in their homes.SHERIFF S DEPUTIES RESCUE TRUCKER FROM DEEP FLOODING:Houston s mayor on Sunday defended the decision not to evacuate the city ahead of the storm insisting that to do so would have created an even worse nightmare. If you think the situation right now is bad, you give an order to evacuate, you are creating a nightmare. Especially when it s not planned, Mayor Sylvester Turner told ABC.HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEMThe Texas Governor said it s not the time to second guess the Houston mayor: Now is not the time to second-guess the decisions that were made, Abbott said. We re at the stage where we just need to respond to the emergencies and necessities the people of Houston have. The officials comments came as everyone from hospital patients to TV anchors and prison inmates were forced to flee the ravaged southeast part of the state.Patients at Houston s Ben Taub Hospital were being moved to other medical facilities when water seeped into the basement, damaging its electrical system.KHOU-TV anchorman Len Cannon was on the air Sunday morning when he spotted water coming into the station. He and his co-workers were forced into a second-floor conference room. | 1 |
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, offered sympathetic words to visiting U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife Melania on Monday, telling them that people still loved them despite negative media coverage. Standing on the red carpet and chatting minutes after Trump and the First Lady had arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport in Air Force One, Sara Netanyahu was caught on camera exchanging a few private words with the visitors. “The majority of the people of Israel, unlike the media, they love us, so we tell them how you are great and they love you,” Sara said to Trump and his wife. Trump then interjected: “We have something very much in common.” Trump’s presidency has received widespread negative coverage in the U.S. and international media, not least over his firing of FBI director James Comey and amid an investigation into ties between his administration and Russia. In Israel on the second leg of his first overseas trip since entering office, Trump is to hold talks separately with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a stopover lasting barely 28 hours. Speaking over the noise of the president’s jet, Sara Netanyahu added: “I talk every place about how great you are,” she said, and Netanyahu backed her up saying: “I can testify to that.” Netanyahu and his wife have a tense relationship with the Israeli media, which they have both described as biased against them. In January, Netanyahu described the media as “left-wing” and “Bolshevik” and said they were out to bring him down. Testifying in a libel suit the Netanyahus filed against an Israeli journalist, Sara Netanyahu told the court: “Everything that is published about me, it’s all lies, evil lies that bear no connection with who I really am ... The media uses me as a tool to try and topple the prime minister.” Sara’s red-carpet conversation soon began circulating on social media, along with another awkward arrival moment. As the Netanyahus strode along holding hands, as they often do, Trump, walking alongside them, reached out to grasp the First Lady’s hand, but video circulated on Twitter appeared to show Melania Trump briefly flicking his hand away. | 1 |
SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea fired several short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast early on Saturday, South Korea and the U.S. military said, as the two allies conducted annual joint military drills that the North denounces as preparation for war. The U.S. military s Pacific Command said it had detected three short-range ballistic missiles, fired over a 20 minute period. One appeared to have blown up almost immediately while two flew about 250 km (155 miles) in a northeasterly direction, Pacific Command said, revising an earlier assessment that two of the missiles had failed in flight. The test came just days after senior U.S. officials praised North Korea and leader Kim Jong Un for showing restraint in not firing any missiles since late July. The South Korean Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles were launched from the North s eastern Kangwon province into the sea. Later on Saturday, the South Korean Presidential Blue House said the North may have fired an upgraded 300-mm caliber multiple rocket launcher but the military was still analyzing the precise details of the projectiles. Pacific Command said the missiles did not pose a threat to the U.S. mainland or to the Pacific territory of Guam, which North Korea had threatened earlier this month to surround in a sea of fire . Tensions had eased somewhat since a harsh exchange of words between Pyongyang and Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump had warned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un he would face fire and fury if he threatened the United States. North Korea s last missile test on July 28 was for an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to fly 10,000 km (6,200 miles). That would put parts of the U.S. mainland within reach and prompted heated exchanges that raised fears of a new conflict on the peninsula. Japan s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the missiles did not reach its territory or exclusive economic zone and did not pose a threat to Japan s safety. The South Korean and U.S. militaries are in the midst of the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills involving computer simulations of a war to test readiness and run until Aug. 31. The region where the missiles were launched, Kittaeryong, is a known military test site frequently used by the North for short-range missile drills, said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. So rather than a newly developed missile, it looks to be short range missiles they fired as part of their summer exercise and also in response to the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drill, he said. The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with the North because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The North routinely says it will never give up its weapons programs, saying they are necessary to counter perceived U.S. hostility. Washington has repeatedly urged China, North Korea s main ally and trading partner, to do more to rein in Pyongyang. China s commerce ministry late on Friday banned North Korean individuals and enterprises from doing new business in China, in line with United Nations Security Council sanctions passed earlier this month. The White House said Trump had been briefed about the latest missiles but did not immediately have further comment. The U.S. State Department did not immediately comment about the Saturday launches. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier this week credited the North with showing restraint by not launching a missile since the July ICBM test. Tillerson had said he hoped that the lack of missile launches or other provocative acts by Pyongyang could mean a path could be opening for dialogue sometime in the near future. Trump also expressed optimism earlier this week about a possible improvement in relations. I respect the fact that he is starting to respect us, Trump said of Kim. North Korea s state media reported on Saturday that Kim had guided a contest of amphibious landing and aerial strike by its army against targets modeled after South Korean islands near the sea border on the west coast. The official KCNA news agency quoted Kim as telling its Army that it should think of mercilessly wiping out the enemy with arms only and occupying Seoul at one go and the southern half of Korea. A new poster on a North Korean propaganda website on Saturday showed a missile dealing a retaliatory strike of justice against the U.S. mainland, threatening to wipe out the United States, the source of evil, without a trace. On Wednesday, Kim ordered the production of more rocket engines and missile warheads during a visit to a facility associated with North Korea s ballistic missile program. Diagrams and what appeared to be missile parts shown in photographs published in the North s state media suggested Pyongyang was pressing ahead with building a longer-range ballistic missile that could potentially reach any part of the U.S. mainland including Washington. (For an interactive package on North Korea's missile capabilities click here) (For a graphic on North Korea missile trajectories, ranges click tmsnrt.rs/2vLMdVm) | 0 |
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