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At a prestigious Boston school, they have a pretty strict dress code. No gang-related colors, no cut-offs, nothing too offensive or revealing.
Women at Boston Latin School can’t wear skirts whose hemlines are more than four inches above the knee and their bra straps can’t be the “spaghetti” style, where they’re so thin they’re barely there. This is a middle and high school folks … not a college for adults.
It’s a way of showing a little decorum – a little respect for yourself and for the school.
And it promotes rape culture .
Because for radical feminists, telling them not to dress provocatively is telling them that men are sexist pigs who simply can’t resist the wiles of a woman.
They call it “victim-blaming” and while there’s a point to it – you can’t blame a woman for being assault if she’s jogging alone in a park, but certainly you can bring up a woman’s attire if it is specifically designed to attract attention from the opposite sex.
Let’s be honest: Women sometimes dress for attention. They want guys to look at them.
But under leftist-feminist theory, they shouldn’t.
So, as HeatStreet reports, there’s a Change.org petition that claims this dress code sends the message that “we live in a patriarchal society where men can decide whether a female’s clothing is appropriate or inappropriate.”
The dress code, they claim, creates a “a sense of shame towards girls [sic] bodies” and reinforces the notion that “yes, it is our fault when girls get raped because they should have covered up and avoided the situation by dressing in a way that does not attract another person.”
I’m not sure what these women want. Do they want to be able to attend school wearing micro-miniskirts and just bras? Pasties? Maybe we shouldn’t have a dress code at all?
In reaction to the idiotic controversy, Boston Latin School changed their policy, allowing women to wear “leggings” as long as they’re not “see-through.” The rest of the policy will stay in place until Nov. 1 – then it will probably be changed again.
Here’s how their “petition” reads: By allowing the school to dress code us, we are telling the school several things: Yes, we still live in a patriarchal society where men can decide whether a female’s clothing is appropriate or inappropriate. Yes, a body should be covered in order to be attractive. Establishing a sense of shame towards girls bodies is okay and perfectly acceptable. Yes, a girl’s body is a sinful temptation that needs to be covered up at all costs for others to focus on their education. Yes, a female’s body is more tempting and sexual than a male’s body. Yes, it is our fault when girls get raped because they should have covered up and avoided the situation by dressing in a way that does not attract another person. Are these statements correct to you? Is it okay to assign a dress code in this manner? If the answer is NO! then sign this petition to tell Mr. Contompasis to reconsider his dress code restrictions.
What a bunch of nonsense. These are CHILDREN. They do not get a say in establishing a school’s dress code. PERIOD. | 1 |
Share This: By Joe Giambrone What if everything printed this year about Donald J. Trump was 100% true, yet Hillary Clinton still wound up being the greater evil? What then America?
If the American people are to purchase a product, then do they not have a right to know just how much lesser this “evil” actually weighs versus the name brand?
Like those seasonal Cadbury Cream Eggs that old familiar product has returned to the shelves: lesser evil, with more fat and toxins this year than ever. This repackaged, re-branded item is what many Americans claim to want every four years, the only thing they ever want or care about politically, and they attack those who refuse to purchase it. It’s rather like a Black Friday zombie frenzy descending on Walmart, but we are told by TV that this is “democracy.” It’s not. It’s oligarchy with bread and circuses.
The so-called “lesser evil” political philosophy is the only political philosophy these people seem to comprehend, but the core of the concept is overlooked. Their candidate of choice will admittedly commit evil acts. Do they not want to know what this alleged lesser evil entails?
Seems like self-deception is intrinsic to supporting this little house of cards. Perhaps if the phrase was amended to “evil but possibly lesser,” which is in fact more accurate, the public would spend a few seconds thinking about it when these Novembers inevitably roll around.
Is a nuclear holocaust “evil?” I suppose that’s the crux of the debate we face today. One of those big two evil candidates has repeatedly, and irrationally, tried to provoke hostilities against nuclear-armed Russia, as part of some unstated agenda: the real agenda that has been torching the Middle East for decades. Wars of western conquest, which turned millions into hamburger, didn’t just happen by themselves. Certain interests wanted to dismantle the oil-rich nations that considered themselves independent of Washington and the EU. The chaos of failed states was preferred to organized regimes that could form an independent bloc or fight back in any way.
According to Hillary R. Clinton, we should all be frothing at the Russians, and at Vladimir Putin for some set of vague claims without the substance that evidence would provide. Hillary and the Democratic National Committee were caught bloody-handed stealing the 2016 Democratic Party primary election from Bernie Sanders. Fraud. The only response she has mustered is the single word “Putin.” Yeah, sure: Putin did it. Repeated so often the word has lost all meaning here in the states, but abroad these quite undiplomatic slights do not pass unnoticed.
T he Russians unveiled their next generation ICBM , “Satan 2,” capable of wiping out the central east coast of America, or all of France, or the UK, or most of California. You get the idea, but does Hillary Clinton ?
She insists on a “no-fly zone” in Syria, which the Russian military has already imposed against the invading US coalition , the one which has been arming and funding multiple armies of mass-murdering terrorists!
Clinton privately told Goldman Sachs : “ They’re getting more sophisticated thanks to Russian imports. To have a no-fly zone you have to take out all of the air defense, many of which are located in populated areas. So our missiles, even if they are standoff missiles so we’re not putting our pilots at risk you’re going to kill a lot of Syrians… So all of a sudden this intervention that people talk about so glibly becomes an American and NATO involvement where you take a lot of civilians.”
In the name of protecting civilians HRC wants to kill a lot of civilians and attack Russian-supplied air defense systems, and Russian military personnel of course. The fraud that Hillary Clinton and the interests she represents care in any way about dead Syrian civilians is laughable on its face. US foreign policy has never, ever been based upon protecting the lives of foreign nobodies. To believe such a fairy tale would require complete, absolute historical ignorance. But then again we’re talking about the American public.
How “Evil” is Hillary Clinton already? A merican corporate media refuses to call US war crimes war crimes. One can be impeached for a blowjob, but not for killing Nazi-level numbers of foreigners. There is no death count too high for the US Congress not to condone, if not to encourage. US foreign policy has never, ever been based upon protecting the lives of foreign nobodies. To believe such a fairy tale would require complete, absolute historical ignorance. But then again we’re talking about the American public.
Hillary Rodham Clinton has already played an instrumental role in the mass murders of approximately two million people, give or take. The Third Reich didn’t bother with accurate tallies of its victims either. This figure shocks self-styled “liberal” Americans so thoroughly that they simply refuse to believe it.
Clinton, as Senator, not only voted for an illegal war on Iraq (command responsibility), but she told “weapons of mass destruction” lies , selling the fraud to Democrats (lying to Congress). Estimates of Iraqi casualties range from half a million to a million and a half. The carnage continues to this day, and Crimes Against the Peace attribute responsibility for all the evil that results from initiating a war of aggression . This is codified in the UN Charter, and that makes Hillary Clinton also an international war criminal, just like Bush, just like Cheney. The hypocrisy of those who condemned Bush and yet joyfully cast a vote for HRC is staggering (yet commonplace).
That was only one war. As Secretary of State Clinton took on even more responsibility for international crimes, notably the assault on Libya , another war of aggression.
As the Russians noted , there was never any permission to bomb ground targets and help Al Qaeda linked rebels take over the country. “We’re witnessing a large number of violations of the resolutions of the UN Security Council. Over the last few days, there have been reports of the NATO air force bombing civilian targets, including hospitals… This is an unacceptable situation; the United Nations Security Council did not authorize any such thing. Attempts to justify what’s happening by claiming that the coalition does not go beyond the mandate are insufficient.”
-Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov…
“Regime change” is a war crime , not an item on a menu for neocons to simply order up. Between 10 and 30,000 Libyans were massacred in the NATO-assisted destruction of Libya. Hillary Clinton displayed a gloating psychosis at the climax of the bloodletting.
Onto Syria, with a current corpse count of 470,000. What was Hillary Clinton’s role? Seymour Hersh’s reporting contrasts against the endless lies of politicians:
“ A highly classified annex to the report, not made public, described a secret agreement reached in early 2012 between the Obama and Erdogan administrations. It pertained to the rat line. By the terms of the agreement, funding came from Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia and Qatar; the CIA, with the support of MI6, was responsible for getting arms from Gaddafi’s arsenals into Syria… The annex didn’t tell the whole story of what happened in Benghazi… ‘The consulate’s only mission was to provide cover for the moving of arms,’ the former intelligence official, who has read the annex, said. ‘It had no real political role.’”
Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State, was deeply involved in this covert “regime change” plot, and the sequential wars resulting from it. To this day she insists on continuing the plot to overthrow Bashar Al Assad, the elected President of Syria.
During her husband’s administration another half-million Iraqi children were killed as a result of US imposed sanctions on medicine and water filtration components. That UN death toll figure was deemed “worth it” by Madeleine Allbright in one of the most shocking news clips of the modern age. This unindicted yet confessed mass murderer campaigns openly for Hillary Clinton .
There are other flash points where Hillary Clinton had a role, Haiti and Honduras for example. Scandals and atrocities have been reported, but this does not faze her supporters, nor most Americans who care nothing about the illegitimate actions of the US empire abroad.
So Donald Trump’s a pig, and the free world must play pretend that Hillary R. Clinton is not a proven and dangerous war criminal. Hollywood leads the charge and attacks dissenters.
How deluded is America this year and how evil?
Jill Stein of the Green Party is the peace candidate. | 0 |
The comic book author and screenwriter Marc Andreyko felt unfathomable horror when he heard the news of the June 12 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Feeling compelled to help, he posted on Facebook a suggestion to create a comic book that would benefit the victims. The result is “Love Is Love,” a anthology filled with original work by contributors both familiar and unexpected. The book, which will be available Dec. 28, includes pages from the documentarian Morgan Spurlock, the actor Matt Bomer, the comedians Patton Oswalt and Taran Killam, and other entertainers. “I went through my Rolodex — to use a word for something that doesn’t even exist anymore — and looked for people who I’m friends with and had name value,” Mr. Andreyko said. “I want this book to be in as many hands as possible. ” Proceeds from the book, which will cost $9. 99 and be available in comic stores and for download online (with additional pages) will benefit Equality Florida, which has set up a fund for the victims of the Pulse shooting and their families. Mr. Andreyko, 46, said the inspiration for the book could be traced to his childhood. He fondly recalled the musical acts that came together for benefit concerts such as Band Aid and Live Aid and the song “We Are the World. ” He noted that the format of the book — no story is over two pages long — had been chosen to help lure contributors who had tight schedules. But Mr. Andreyko found the biggest motivator was the act of expression. “It was therapeutic,’’ he said. “By doing the art, it was purging for us. ” The offerings are diverse: There are stories that directly address the victims, some pinups, wistful ruminations and more. Brian Michael Bendis, one of Marvel’s most prolific writers, teamed up with his oldest daughter, Olivia, to capture a glimmer of a moment from the shooting at Pulse. They came up with a spread of revelrous dancers and a lone person in shadow looking upon them. “The idea that someone could stand in the middle of that club full of joy and fun and be drowning in madness was something we couldn’t get past,” Mr. Bendis said. Michael Avon Oeming drew the artwork, and Taki Soma colored it. Mr. Spurlock, who is working on a documentary about superheroes for the History Channel, wrote a story, with art by Kieron Dwyer, in support of the nation’s dedicated police officers. Mr. Spurlock said officers were sometimes tarnished as a group because of the actions of a few. “These guys still have to show up and do their jobs,” he said. One of the most unusual contributions comes by way of J. K. Rowling, who allowed the use of a quote from “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. ” It serves as a caption to an image of Harry and his friends drawn by Jim Lee, a of DC Comics. The pairing seemed only natural, Mr. Andreyko said. “If we get the author on the planet, we need the biggest artist,” Mr. Andreyko said. Mark Chiarello, a senior vice president of art and design at DC, added a watercolor rainbow flag to the drawing. The quote is by Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Harry’s school, who Ms. Rowling has said is gay, and drives home the point of the anthology: “Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open. ” | 0 |
Recently, President Bannon s underling, Donald Trump, called the American news media the enemy of the American people in a quickly-deleted tweet.Obviously, this did not go over well, given that there are very few leaders who have classified the press as the enemy of the people and none of them were or are nice people.As most of us mock Easy D for his transparent effort to delegitimize all but himself and his approved (friendly) news sources, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg managed to shame Trump in the most classy way possible and he didn t even have to mention The Donald by name.On Monday, Zuckerberg posted that he and his wife Priscilla had spent their day stopping by local newspapers in Alabama where the folks there were working hard over President s Day weekend to keep their communities informed. It seems like a good time to say thank you to all the journalists around the world who work tirelessly and sometimes put their lives in danger to surface the truth, Zuckerberg continues. I don t always agree with everything you say, but that s how democracy is supposed to work. In other words, he doesn t scream FAKE NEWS every time someone reported unflattering information about him. I know I join many people in America and across the world in thanking you for your work, Zuckerberg confluded. He even posted a lovely photo of the two of them in front of the Selma Times-Journal.(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'));Today Priscilla and I stopped by some local newspapers as we drove through Alabama. The folks there were working hard Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Monday, February 20, 2017The media is not the enemy. Trump is. The sooner we all realize that the better.Featured image via Getty Images (David Ramos)/screengrab | 1 |
This is 1 of 7 anti-Trump rallies raging across America. Wouldn t it make sense for Obama and Soros to prey on the anger so many Americans are feeling right now over Trump s win?According to social media posts by KOMO-TV and other sources, multiple people were shot Wednesday in Seattle during protests over election results.At least five people have reportedly been shot and all are said to have critical injuries.Seattle Asst. Chief says that a lone suspect was in a crowd near or watching the anti-Trump protests, when an argument of some sort developed. One of the people in the argument stepped away, fired back into the crowd at the person or people with whom he was arguing.At least some of the wounded are believed to be innocent bystanders waiting for a bus. Only one man is seriously injured. The four other injuries are believed to be to the lower extremities.VICTIM UPDATE: All five people shot were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg told The Associated Press that two men and one woman were in critical condition and that two men were in serious condition Wednesday night. Later Wednesday, Gregg said the condition of the woman had been upgraded to serious.Authorities were on the scene within 60 seconds, as police and EMS were staged just down the street due to the protests.The suspect is still at large. Bearing ArmsSEATTLE, WA NOW REPORTED 5 SHOOTING VICTIMS ALL REPORTED W/CRITICAL INJURIES MCI DECLARED #BREAKING https://t.co/7c1rakpPAg https://t.co/DFFUsmar4M Alertpage Inc. (@alertpage) November 10, 2016LIVE on #Periscope: Anti-Trump protest takes to the streets in downtown Seattle #komonews https://t.co/QclXVo02ol KOMO News (@komonews) November 10, 2016Here is a Craig s List ad that was sent to us looking for Hillary supporters to join protesters to join them in NYC: | 1 |
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History should tell us that writing scolding, even scornful letters, to electorates as part of a conversation for persuasion do not work. They are even less effective when coming from outside that electorate, however well-intentioned. Non-voters should be careful to judge and lecture.
Consider the attempt on the part of The Guardian to mount its electoral high horse prior to the 2004 Presidential elections in the United States. The prospect of another four years of George W. Bush was hard to stomach for the editors, hence their disruptive project. Operation Clark County was advertised as an effort to write “to undecided voters in the crucial state of Ohio.” The experiment had more than a degree of condescension, slanted, as it were, to the superior across the pond wisdom.
Instead of providing a platform of sobriety, it simply supplied patriotic fuel to US voters to confirm their positions. No one was going to be telling them what to do. Their president was a fool, but was their fool. As one letter went, “We Ohioans are an ornery sort and don’t take meddling well, even if it comes from people we admire and with their sincere goodwill. We are a fairly closed community overall.” Even the New York Times came forth with an unmistakably frank headline: “British Two Cents Draws, in Sum, a Two-Word Reply: Butt Out.”
Nobel Prize winner and former president of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, should be more attuned with that recent history. But instead, he has decided to wade into the US elections with another letter of scorn, another experiment in persuasion. To add weight and magnification to the appeal, he is seeking the signatures of fellow Nobel Prize laureates. The direction of this letter promises to be simple: whatever you do, people of the US, don’t vote for Donald Trump next month.
During a brief visit to the northern Australian town of Darwin, Ramos-Horta explained how he and his friends, “Nobel Peace Prize laureates, are extremely concerned with the tone of a presidential candidate Donald Trump in making disparaging remarks about migrants, about Muslims, and refugees.”
Ramos-Horta insisted that the rise of such a figure was “extremely worrying for all of us and it does not serve US interests.” Along with his fellow laureates, he was hoping to pen a letter that would “alert American public opinion that the world … cannot afford extremism coming from the White House itself.”
Ramos-Horta provides us a fairly typical, if rusted view, of world power. Empires need the wise and clever to lead them, being repositories of responsibility. Lunacy has no place. “The US is an indisputable global power and global powers have to be led with prudence, with enormous wisdom.”
What of the brakes of moderation and restraint offered by a critical, at times unreasonable Congress, including other measures so carefully thought through by the Republic’s Founding Fathers? We have seen such brakes bringing the Republic to a screeching halt on occasions, notably during the Obama years. These are polarised times in US politics, and not even the supply of finance to public servants is sacred.
This is of little interest to Ramos-Horta, who is convinced that a Trump presidency would have Congress in his deceptively deep pocket to wage war with impunity and engage in a pattern of global mischief making.
“Whatever the US president and US congress may decide on some measure of issues internationally can enhance peace, but can provoke instability and world disorder.” Not that the record book on peace, stemming from US foreign policy in recent years, has been particularly enhancing.
Having dumped generously on Trump, Ramos-Horta admits a swooning admiration for Hillary Clinton, his preferred White House occupant. If there is a candidate bound to embark on more aggressive stances, be it towards Iran or Russia, few could come close. Her recipe is for greater, not lesser belligerence. Free world boisterousness indeed.
Taking leave of his senses, Ramos-Horta suggested that she was “outstanding” and “sensitive to the rest of the world”. With baffling adolescent gullibility, the Nobel Prize laureate saw a Clinton “extremely sensitive to education for poor people, for children”.
A sense of balance might have been appropriate at that point: questionable donations from despotic regimes to the same, supposedly helpful foundation open to helping the indigent and illiterate; or security breaches; or compromised arrangements with Wall Street. The world of power is dark, and maze ridden, and at the end of it usually lurks a Clinton apology.
A Clinton presidency would hardly be that prudent, nor particularly wise, but that is the Ramos-Horta verdict, his own variant of an external endorsement that is bound to fall on deaf ears in the United States. Any ears who receive the message will be dismissive. From a man whose country suffered an occupation that will, in time, find its way into the books of notable genocides, endorsing such a Clinton can hardly be prudent. But then again, power of the massive sort rarely is. | 1 |
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India s home ministry said on Monday it would confidentially share intelligence information with the Supreme Court showing Rohingya links with Pakistan-based militants, in a bid to get legal clearance for plans to deport 40,000 Rohingya Muslims. The Supreme Court is hearing an appeal lodged on behalf of Rohingya against the deportation plan proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi s Hindu nationalist government. India s home ministry submitted an affidavit to the court arguing that the hardline stance was justified by the security threat posed by illegal immigrant Rohingya, hundreds of thousands of whom have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh, from where many have crossed into India. The ministry said the illegal influx of large numbers of Rohingya into India began four to five years ago, long before an exodus that saw more than 400,000 Rohingya flee to Bangladesh since Aug. 25 to escape a Myanmar military counter-insurgency offensive that the United Nations has called ethnic cleansing . The affidavit went on to say the government had reports from security agencies and other authentic sources indicating linkages of some of the unauthorized Rohingya immigrants with Pakistan-based terror organizations and similar organizations operating in other countries. It also said there was information on Rohingya involvement in plots by Islamic State and other extremist groups to ignite communal and sectarian violence in India. Senior home ministry official Mukesh Mittal said the Indian government would privately show the court material gathered from sensitive investigations to substantiate the claims in its affidavit. Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who filed the plea on behalf of two Rohingya men, will file a rejoinder to the government s affidavit, his office told Reuters. The court will next hear the matter on Oct. 3. Meantime, police said on Monday that they had arrested a suspected member of al Qaeda who they believed was trying to recruit Rohingya living in the country to fight security forces in Myanmar. Senior police officer Pramod Kushwaha told Reuters that British national Shauman Haq, 27, was arrested near a bus stop in Delhi on Sunday. He had come to India via Bangladesh. Rohingya in India voiced worries that they were being unfairly tainted by the allegations and sought more understanding for their plight. We feel helpless and hopeless, said Rohingya youth leader Ali Johar, who came to India in 2012 and lives with his family in a Delhi settlement. The world s largest democracy has given us shelter but they should handle this situation more empathetically. Modi s government has been criticized by activists for not speaking out against Myanmar s recent military offensive against Rohingya insurgents, and right-wing groups in India have begun vilifying Rohingya living there. The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and regarded as illegal immigrants, despite claiming roots that date back centuries. More than 800,000 Rohingya currently live in Bangladesh. | 0 |
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Caracas.
What happened last week in Venezuela has the appearance of a demolition derby. President Nicolás Maduro, whose PSUV socialist party is something like a rickety 1970s Thunderbird, picked up speed on Friday and smashed into the opposition’s equally crusty ride as it was lurking around the edges of the field, lost in daydreams about an easy transition.
It was a good move. As a result of the collision, a few doors fell off Maduro’s already scrappy vehicle. The opposition, on the other hand, was left with an almost completely crippled and useless chassis. Moreover, Maduro had formerly assured that the Vatican’s hulking Impala station wagon — experienced in all kinds of fairground acts — was at hand to steamroll whatever remained in the field.
As always, Venezuelan politics offers stunning demonstrations about how to struggle radically for power. Years of sitting on what is possibly the planet’s largest oil reserves have provided a rich training ground in power games that far exceed the imagination of most of the world’s politicians. This latest move on the part of the government was one that required careful balancing and timing, despite the smashup nature of its concluding step.
Here is how the whole thing happened. The government had been facing the ugly prospect of a referendum to revoke the president in 2017. This voting process, even if it wouldn’t take Chavism out of power (since the constitution dictates that the vice president will assume power if the president is revoked during the last two years of his term), would almost surely have showed high disapproval of the government. What to do? It was a burning question since the Venezuelan opposition had already won an ample majority of votes in last year’s parliamentary elections.
The headquarters of actually-existing Chavism was not going to passively let itself be immolated. First, it worked out a way to slow the opposition’s apparently inexorable advance toward the referendum by having the Supreme Court rule that the twenty percent of the voting population’s signatures needed to go forward with this process should be collected in every one of Venezuela’s twenty-three states. This is something hard, though not impossible, for the opposition to do in states with dispersed populations.
However, it also worked on another more daring angle: that of claiming that the one-third of fraudulent or questionable signatures in the more than a million and a half signatures already collected to initiate the referendum process should invalidate the whole procedure and require the referendum’s indefinite postponement.
This latter was a bold and dangerous move. So first the government bloc began testing the ground, by having the invalidation decision confirmed by lower penal courts. It only had the National Electoral Council pronounce once it had secured the support of the head of the military, Vladimir Padrino López. With that key piece in place, it revved up the apparatus’s engines and went barreling into the opposition with the new ruling, smashing up its prospects of a referendum.
Maduro is an experienced driver and knew that sparks would fly: that there would be yelps about violation of the rule of law, protests, international commotion, etc. Indeed, there was smoke and fire but in the end the Socialist Thunderbird, however clipped in the wings, would be sitting in the middle of the field with almost nothing else budging.
This is all very interesting and surely worth studying in poli-sci departments worldwide. But is it good for anything except maintaining power?
The truth is that the left finds itself up against the ropes globally. For that reason, the consensus in Cuba, China and Venezuela today seems to be that one must maintain power and sovereignty at any price. Even if it means smashing up your own apparatus and adopting two-thirds of the program of your enemy. In a radical revision of traditional leftist politics, today’s rebellious governments hope that by preserving a minimally sovereign platform, they will at some later day be able to resume advancing on the social front.
This is a hope, but it is far from being a certainty. From their celestial repose, Marx and Lenin may be peering down at today’s leftist governments and be genuinely puzzled by their bizarre, even desperate politics. Yet those who have boots on the ground can look to Maduro and recognize that at least he is not doing nothing. Despite a few bruises on his forehead, the President is now humming My Way in a battered machine that undoubtedly dominates the field. | 1 |
There are some people you probably shouldn t cross. Donald Trump is one, and conservative author and political analyst Ann Coulter is the other one Conservative columnist Ann Coulter flew into a fit of fury Saturday after Delta Airlines booted her from her reserved Comfort+ seat which comes with 3 additional inches of legroom and gave it to another passenger.In a two-hour tweeting tantrum,she quoted her exchange with a flight attendant: Why are you taking me out of the extra room seat I specifically booked? she asked.Their answer, she said, was I don t know. Before Coulter posted a picture of the woman Delta gave her extra-legroom reserved seat to, she tweeted this:Suckiest @Delta moved me from my PRE-BOOKED SEAT & gave it to some woman, not elderly, child, or sick. I have pictures so don t lie, @Delta! Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 16, 2017But at least @Delta was nice @ it, summarily snatching my ticket from my hand & ordering me to move w/o explanation, compensation or apology Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 16, 2017The 6-foot-tall Coulter, who is 55, tweeted a picture of the woman who got her aisle seat on the flight from LaGuardia to Florida, noting, Delta didn t give my extra room seat to an air marshal or tall person. NYP.@Delta didn t give my extra room seat to an air marshall or tall person. Here s the woman given my PRE-BOOKED seat: pic.twitter.com/iDNB8xXXOd Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 15, 2017The long-legged Coulter, who still appeared to furious about Delta s decision to boot her from her reserved seat with extra legroom, tweeted again to Delta about the daschund-legged woman who they gave her seat to:So glad I took time investigate the aircraft & PRE-BOOK a specific seat on @Delta, so some woman could waltz at the last min & take my seat. Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 15, 2017Hey @Delta, if it was so important for the dachshund-legged woman to take my seat, she should have BOOKED THE SEAT IN ADVANCE. Like I did. Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 16, 2017The sharp-tongued conservative firebrand continued to rip into Delta Airlines in a series of tweets criticizing their customer service:.@Delta motto: "How can we make your flight more uncomfortable?" Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 16, 2017.@Delta employee questionnaire: What is your ideal job: Prison guard? Animal handler? Stasi policeman? All of the above: HIRED! Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 16, 2017A Delta spokesman said it appeared Coulter was in the same extra-room row, just in a different seat. But he promised to look into it. | 1 |
YANGON/NAYPYITAW (Reuters) - Members of the U.S. Congress said on Tuesday operations carried out against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar had “all the hallmarks” of ethnic cleansing, while the country’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi expressed doubts about allegations of rights abuses. The U.S. Senate members also said they were disturbed by a “violent and disproportionate” security response to Rohingya militant attacks that have driven more than 600,000 people from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh. Human rights monitors have accused Myanmar’s military of atrocities, including mass rape, against the stateless Rohingya during so-called clearance operations following insurgent attacks on 30 police posts and an army base. Myanmar’s government has denied most of the claims, and the army last week said its own probe found no evidence of wrongdoing by troops. “We are not hearing of any violations going on at the moment,” Suu Kyi told reporters in response to a question about human rights abuses at the end of the Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw. “We can’t say whether it has happened or not. As a responsibility of the government, we have to make sure that it won’t happen.” Nobel laureate Suu Kyi said she hoped talks with Bangladesh’s foreign minister this week would lead to a deal on the “safe and voluntary return” of those who have fled. Suu Kyi’s less than two-year old civilian government has faced heavy international criticism for its response to the crisis, though it has no control over the generals it has to share power with under Myanmar’s transition to power after decades of military rule. While a top UN official has described the military’s actions as a textbook case of “ethnic cleansing”, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on a visit to Myanmar last week refused to label it as such. In early November, U.S. lawmakers proposed targeted sanctions and travel restrictions on Myanmar military officials. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who was among the sponsors of the legislation introduced in the Senate, led a congressional delegation that visited Rakhine this week, but was blocked from traveling to the violence-hit north of the state and to Rohingya camps. The group also traveled to Cox’s Bazar district in Bangladesh, where Rohingya refugees are huddled into makeshift camps and fed by overstretched aid agencies. “Many refugees have suffered direct attacks including loved ones, children and husbands being killed in front of them, wives and daughters being raped, burns and other horrific injuries. This has all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing,” Merkley told reporters in Myanmar on Tuesday. “We are profoundly disturbed by the violent and disproportionate response against the Rohingya by the military and local groups,” he said. The delegation called for Myanmar to allow an investigation into the alleged atrocities that would involve the international community. “We want to emphasize that the world is watching,” Merkley said, adding that it was important Myanmar allow anyone who wants to come back to return to their homes and their farms. Merkley said the delegation was “not here today to recommend…what the U.S. government would do or should do,” when asked about the legislation introduced in the Congress. Myanmar officials have so far said they plan to resettle most returnees in new “model villages”, rather than on the land they previously occupied, an approach the United Nations has criticized in the past as effectively creating permanent camps. “Individuals cannot be coming back…simply to return to camps where there would be continued discrimination, restrictions on full participation in the economy and society,” said Merkley. He warned that isolating people in camps creates a “two-tier society that is fundamentally incompatible with the future of democracy and it guarantees perpetuation of suspicions and misunderstandings and conflicts.” Speaking earlier on Tuesday, Suu Kyi said discussions would be held with the Bangladesh foreign minister on Wednesday and Thursday about repatriation. Officials from both countries began talks last month on how to process the Rohingya wanting to return. “We hope that this would result in an MOU signed quickly, which would enable us to start the safe and voluntarily return of all of those who have gone across the border,” Suu Kyi said. The Rohingya are largely stateless and many people in Myanmar view them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Suu Kyi said Myanmar would follow the framework of an agreement reached in the 1990s to cover the earlier repatriation of Rohingya, who had fled to Bangladesh to escape previous bouts of ethnic violence. That agreement did not address the citizenship status of Rohingya, and Bangladesh has been pressing for a repatriation process that provided Rohingya with more safeguards this time. “It’s on the basis of residency...this was agreed by the two governments long time ago with success, so this will be formula we will continue to follow,” Suu Kyi said. Earlier talks between the two countries reached a broad agreement to work out a repatriation deal, but a senior Myanmar official later accused Bangladesh of dragging its feet in order to secure funding from aid agencies for hosting the refugees. | 0 |
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday Saudi Arabia was blaming Iran for the consequences of its own wars of aggression , after his Saudi counterpart accused Tehran of threatening regional security. KSA (Saudi Arabia) is engaged in wars of aggression, regional bullying, destabilizing behavior (and) risky provocations. It blames Iran for the consequences, Zarif said on his Twitter account. | 1 |
In her victory speech in South Carolina, Hillary decides to take a swipe at Donald Trump but misses the mark! | 1 |
Offensive Aims to Reopen Supply Lines to Nusra-Held East by Jason Ditz, October 28, 2016 Share This
With al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front losing territory in recent weeks around Aleppo, and seeing their main stronghold in the city’s east increasingly surrounded, the group and some of its allies have launched a new offensive south of the city aimed at opening the supply lines back up.
Clashes have been reported throughout the day in several areas around government-held western Aleppo , with the attackers coming from further west, likely reinforcements from Nusra’s main territory, the Idlib Province. Locals described substantial fighting.
This has been a recurring feature in the battle over Aleppo since 2012, but particularly over the past several months, with each side getting a sizeable advantage only to lose it to a sudden counterattack from the other, leaving the civilian population trapped within.
Over the past few weeks, however, it had seemed like Aleppo was really going to be reunified by the military, with Nusra forces on their heels and Russia feeling confident enough to put their airstrikes on hold. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the ceasefire to continue, despite calls from the military to resume attacks.
Exactly how far the latest offensive has gotten is a major of debate, with Nusra claiming they’d captured a suburb that amounts to the whole southwestern corner of Aleppo, and government officials denying that they’d lost anywhere near so much. As usual, it will take some time for this to shake out and become clear what territory changed hands. Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz | 1 |
The White House honored hundreds of illegal students and a dozen illegal teachers at a big celebration last week. The CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE AND REACH HIGHER programs celebrate overcoming obstacles to go to college or to teach. The problem with this entire thing is that people that broke our laws and are using our tax dollars for education are being celebrated by our lawless President. That s disturbing but very typical of a leader who constantly puts illegals before legal Americans.HERE S MORE INFO ABOUT THIS EVENT: MICHELLE OBAMA FLYING COLLEGE-BOUND ILLEGALS TO D.C. FOR SPECIAL CELEBRATION HEADLINED BY A DROPOUT RAPPERWHITE HOUSE HONORS NINE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TEACHERS INCLUDING 4 TEXANSThe entire group was flown with a companion to Washington for a celebration headlined by a college dropout rapper yes, I thought this was about education too. Obama quipped that he can t rap but likes rap anyway yep, yada, yada, yada What a tool! Just check out the picture from the event:Nice picture with the prez, huh? Can you believe how low we ve gone with goofballs like these two in the White House? It makes you want to gag.Two other attendees were two radical Obama administration appointees: Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Cecilia Mu oz, a former senior vice president of the civil rights activist organization, the National Council of La Raza. Yes, Munoz is from the very RADICAL group that pushes for open borders.The cost to U.S. taxpayers every year to educate K-12 illegal children is HUGE:Estimated Cost of K-12 Public Education for Unaccompanied Alien Children | 0 |
by Lambert Strether
I will add my thanks to Yves’ for a highly successful fundraiser. But if you are able, you can still help us make next year the best one ever for Naked Capitalism! We still had donations coming in after the formal close of our fundraiser, and they most assuredly are still welcome. Please visit our fundraiser page to see how to contribute by check, credit or debit card, or PayPal. And thanks again for all your support!
By Lambert Strether of Corrente .
TTP, TTIP, TISA
CETA: “‘I trust that an agreement will be reached in the course of today with Belgium, Wallonia and other parts of the country,’ Mr Juncker told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France” [ Business Times ]. “Some two hours of Belgium negotiations broke up without an apparent agreement early Wednesday, following six hours of similar talks the previous evening.” Reading all the Eurocrat statements, it looks to me like “an” agreement, to Juncker, means an agreement to sign the agreement, CETA, at some future date (so that Thursday’s summit with Justin Trudeau can proceed).
CETA: “What’s Wallonia’s deal? A primer on its role in CETA’s crisis” [ Globe and Mail ]. ” [Walloon Premier Paul Magnette’s] Socialist Party is under growing political pressure within Wallonia, an economically depressed rust-belt region. The Marxist party has been steadily gaining ground in recent polls, pushing the Socialists further to the left on issues such as trade.” There needs to be a left equivalent for “Always Be Closing.”
CETA: “CETA has bigger problems than not-so-‘tiny’-after-all Wallonia” [ Rabble. ca ]. “[B]y EU standards it is not all that small. Wallonia’s population is 3.5 million, almost a third of the Belgian total of somewhat more than 11 million. There are seven EU countries with smaller populations. Each of the EU’s 28 member states has veto power over CETA. That is how the EU works – on the Three Musketeers principle, one for all and all for one. If one or more of the smaller member states, such as Slovenia or Estonia, or one of the tiny island states with far fewer than a million people, Cyprus or Malta, vetoed the deal, would we be calling them tiny and insignificant?”
CETA: “Corporate Sovereignty Helps To Bring EU-Canada Trade Deal To Brink Of Collapse” [ TechDirt ]. This looks like what’s on offer to Wallonia:
The fact that CETA’s ISDS/ICS remains the most problematic area can be seen from a fascinating CETA document (pdf) that was recently leaked. It’s called the “Joint Interpretative Declaration on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union and its Member States,” and is an attempt to offer additional guarantees that are enough to convince Magnette and other CETA skeptics to allow its signing and ratification:
This interpretative declaration aims to provide a clear and unambiguous statement of what Canada and the European Union and its Member States agreed in a number of CETA provisions that have been the object of public debate and concerns. This includes, in particular, the impact of CETA on the ability of governments to regulate in the public interest, as well as the provisions on investment protection and dispute resolution, and on sustainable development, labour rights and environmental protection.
The section on Investment Protection is by far the longest, reflecting the seriousness of the problems there. Here’s a key paragraph: CETA clarifies that governments may change their laws, regardless of whether this may negatively affect an investment or investor’s expectations of profits. Furthermore, CETA clarifies that any compensation due to an investor will be based on an objective determination by the Tribunal and will not be greater than the loss suffered by the investor.
As that demonstrates, there is nothing new in the declaration. Nobody is claiming that CETA will stop governments changing their laws, just that the massive fines that can be imposed by supra-national tribunals are likely to discourage them from doing so. Similarly, claiming that those fines will be “based on an objective determination by the Tribunal and will not be greater than the loss suffered by the investor” simply confirms the untrammelled power of the tribunal to impose whatever fine it thinks is appropriate.
Lipstick on a pig.
TPP: “If the trade deal comes up during the lame-duck session this fall, the two [Vice Presidents] could play leading roles on opposite sides of the debate: Kaine as a potentially significant “no” vote should the pact come up for a vote while he’s still in the Senate, and Biden as President Barack Obama’s go-to guy for shoring up Senate support and casting the tie-breaking vote if need be” [ Politico ].
TPP: “The TPP ‘provides no guarantee of equal rights and remedies to migrants for labor violations, no regional task force or other solution to address region-wide trafficking issue and no region-wide restrictions on abusive behaviors by recruiters who prey on desperate workers simply trying to feed their families,’ Celeste Drake, the AFL-CIO’s trade and globalization specialist, said during a call with reporters. While the broader deal does not contain migrant worker protections advocated by the labor group, Malaysia is obligated through a separate ‘consistency plan’ to undertake certain reforms for protecting migrant workers” [Politico]. Weak-ass framing from the AFL-CIO (no surprise here) and terrible reporting from Politico (ditto). The issue with Malaysia is not “certain reforms to protect migrant workers,” and not even “trafficking.” The issue is slavery , which Obama is enabling in order to get the deal passed. Use the word!
TPP: “Australia could face a growing number of expensive legal claims from foreign corporations if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) comes into force, a new report has warned” [ Guardian ]. “Dr Kyla Tienhaara, from the Australian National University, said Australia ought to learn from Canada’s experience after it signed the North America Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), which came into force in 1994 and led to dozens of legal cases against Canada by US corporations [under ISDS].”
“Selected Government Statements and Actions Against Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS)” (PDF) [ Public Citizen ]. Lots of good quotes (the US is at the end) for you to use when you write your Congresscritter.
2016
Days until: 12. That’s less than two weeks!
Corruption
” But Trump’s biggest local political donation [in Chicago] was the $50,000 he donated to Emanuel’s first mayoral campaign” [ Chicago Reader (DG)]. “That donation came on December 23, 2010, a couple months before Rahm was elected. In 2011, Emanuel’s administration approved the god-awful 20-foot-high “T-R-U-M-P” sign that the Donald felt compelled to plaster on his building overlooking the Chicago River. But Mayor Emanuel’s not Trump’s only Democratic pal in town. Trump also hired Alderman Burke’s law firm to handle his tax appeals to Assessor Berrios’s office. Burke then won Trump several million dollars worth of property tax breaks.” There don’t seem to be many degrees of separation between the elites. I suppose that’s why they’re elites…
Policy
” A hotelier’s guide to the 2016 presidential election” [ Hotel News Now ]. “Many hotels in the U.S. rely on a flow of legal immigrants to fill a variety of positions. Hoteliers want that pipeline of potential employees to remain open, while avoiding additional red tape to verify their statuses.”
“Battlegrounds: The Fight for Mosul and Election Day Disruptions” (podcast) [ Foreign Policy Editor’s Roundtable ]. If you want to get a good reading on the insanity that is The Blob , this is the podcast for you. The speakers spend a good twenty minutes discussing the details of Syria and Iraq, concluding that historians will look back on it as “a forty year’s war,” without ever once giving a reason for us to be there . Soothing NPR voices, no anger, a lot of laughter. Smart people.
War Drums
“Hillary Clinton Promises A More Muscular Foreign Policy As President” [ HuffPo ]. “As secretary of state, Clinton was an early supporter of arming and training members of the Syrian opposition to fight Assad, a plan that faced resistance out of concern that it would be difficult to appropriately vet fighters and ensure that weapons didn’t fall into the hands of extremists. Today, the program is off to a slow start, with only 54 graduates from the first class, several of whom scattered after coming under attack by an al Qaeda affiliate in Syria. As commander-in-chief, Clinton would dramatically escalate the program, she said. ” Who was in charge of the training program? Ira Magaziner?
The Voters
“What Do Trump and Marx Have in Common?” [Jochen Bittner, New York Times ]. This is another piece along the lines of the article from the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal that Yves linked to this morning, although it’s not a piece of outright hackery. For example: “When Hillary Clinton calls half of Mr. Trump’s voters a ‘basket of deplorables,’ she sounds as aloof as Marie Antoinette, telling French subjects who had no bread to ‘eat cake.'” But both articles deploy the “angry populists of left and right” vs. the “sensible center” trope (remember that in the Beltway you should never display anger; it’s a strong taboo). Bittner concludes: “Mrs. Clinton has the chance to change, by leading a political establishment that examines and processes anger instead of merely producing and dismissing it.” Obama destroyed hope by not delivering change. And now Clinton is holding the bag for the anger that caused. From the Department of Schadenfreude…
Downballot
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The Trail
“But academic research has picked up something that thousands of hours of campaign punditry has missed completely: Donald Trump talks like a woman” [ Politico ]. “Donald Trump is a stunning outlier. His linguistic style is startlingly feminine, so much so that the chasm between Trump and the next most feminine speaker, Ben Carson, is about as great as the difference between Carson and the least feminine candidate, Jim Webb. And Trump earns his ranking not just because he talks a lot about himself or avoids big words (both of which are true); according to Jones, he also shows feminine patterns on the more subtle measures, such as his use of prepositions and articles. The key then is not what Trump talks about—making Mexico pay for the wall or bombing the hell out of ISIL—but rather how he says it.” Readers?
Well, well:
— Bugei Nyaosi (@bnyaosi) October 25, 2016
Realignment
“This party was dead before Lincoln got here” [ USA Today ]. “Pity the poor Republican Party, which has been on its deathbed since the age of 2. Never mind that Republicans currently control both houses of Congress, 30 state legislatures and 31 governors’ mansions — this split between Establishment Republicans and Trump Republicans is a sure sign the party will be flatlining any day now. ny day now …”
Democrat Email Hairball
“Hillary’s 33,000 emails might not be ‘missing’ after all” Like a MacGuffin in a Hitchcock movie? [ New York Post ]. Important!
“Richard Nixon could only wish he got Hillary’s FBI treatment” [ New York Post ]. True! Sadly, I have to quote the New York Post twice in a row. It is what it is. We are where we are.
And then there’s this: LOL. If Neera thinks Hillary is going to forget about that one, she's fooling herself. https://t.co/ovVrqZJws6
— Billmon (@billmon1) October 25, 2016
Hopefully, Our Neena can kiss that chief of staff position goodbye.
“New Research Blames Insiders, Not North Korea, for Sony Hack” [ Time ]. The obvious parallel being…
Stats Watch
New Home Sales, September 2016: “New home sales in September, up 3.1 percent to a 593,000 annualized rate, proved very solid though sharp downward revisions to both August (575,000 from 609,000) and also July (629,000 from 659,000) do lower the degree of what is still, however, solid strength in the new home market” [ Econoday ]. And: “Overall I view this as a good report, which was slightly below market expectations. Dispite the fact the data jumps around, the three month rolling averages are solidly improving” [ Econintersect ]. And: ” The glass is more than half full. This is very solid year-over-year growth” [ Calculated Risk ]. But: “Data from the monthly NAHB survey has continued to suggest that there are shortages of available lots and labour shortages have also been an increasingly important feature in recent surveys. The new home sales data will reinforce these concerns and there will also be concerns over affordability issues” [ Economic Calendar ]. “[L]abour shortages”… If only there were something… like an invisible hand… to solve this problem!
MBA Mortgage Applications, week of October 21, 2016: “Purchase applications for home mortgages fell a seasonally adjusted 7 percent in the October 21 week to the lowest level since January” [ Econoday ].
International Trade in Goods, September 2016: “In a positive for Friday’s third-quarter GDP report, the nation’s trade gap in goods narrowed sharply in September” [ Econoday ]. “In a negative indication of retail expectations for the holidays, imports of consumer goods fell 1.8 percent following a 0.6 percent decline in August. And in a negative indication for domestic business investment, imports of capital goods fell 3.6 percent… [I]n a negative indication for domestic business investment, imports of capital goods fell 3.6 percent.” And we are a capitalist society…
Purchasing Managers’ Index Services Flash, October 2016: “Markit Economics’ U.S. samples are reporting a sharp upturn in business this month, first with Monday’s manufacturing report and now with the service flash where the headline index is up nearly 3 points” [ Econoday ]. “The sharp gains for Markit’s samples are a surprise but are still only anecdotal indications. Definitive data on October will be posted next week with the month’s unit auto sales and of course the monthly employment report. ” However: “Even with the stronger than expected surge in business activity, cautious staff hiring continued this month” [ Economic Calendar ].
Globalization: “Sluggish global trade is taking its toll on one of the world’s biggest ports operators. DP World reported just 1% growth in container volumes over the first nine months of 2016 at ports it’s owned for at least a year. Modest increases in traffic in Europe were offset by a sharp decline in the United Arab Emirates, where the company is based” [ Wall Street Journal ]. “DP World operates marine terminals on six continents, insulating it from economic slowdowns in individual countries or whole regions. But the company’s geographic reach can’t protect it from weak economic growth around the world, plus the ongoing commodities bust.”
Shipping: “The Suez Canal’s managers are opening a new front in their fight with the Panama Canal for a greater share of global shipping. Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority is negotiating with large shipping lines to secure payment of tolls three to five years in advance and with a break on pricing, the WSJ’s Costas Paris reports. Egypt has spent billions of dollars deepening the canal and opening it to two-way traffic, but the number of vessels passing through has barely grown amid a slowdown in global shipping” [ Wall Street Journal ].
Shipping: “Fundamentals of shipping are changing, warns Danish shipowners boss” [ Splash 247 ]. “Global trade will not double by 2030 as [ Anne Steffensen, director general of the Danish Shipowners’ Association’ and the other organisers of the [third annual Danish Maritime Forum] originally thought at the first forum back in 2014…. [T]he age old link between GDP growth and world trade has broken.”
Retail: “More than 90% of ‘genuine’ Apple chargers & cables sold on Amazon are fake, says Apple” [ 9to5Mac ]. I bought some and they fried. I figured it was the house’s electrical system. What a relief!
Retail: “How Amazon counterfeits put this man’s business on brink of collapse” [ CNBC (DK)]. “Once a thriving product for movers and contractors available at a dozen big-box retailers including Wal-Mart, Target and AutoZone, Forearm Forklift has been ravaged over the past half-decade by counterfeiters, mostly selling on Amazon. Scores of merchants have copied the patented product, using its name, images and labels and undercutting the real Forearm Forklift on price.”
The Bezzle: “Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings Inc. are cutting companies slack on mergers and acquisitions, an analysis of credit-ratings data by Bloomberg News found” [ Bloomberg ]. “Over the past year and a half, both have bumped up their ratings by two, three or even six levels on a majority of the biggest deals, the analysis found…. Some investors warn the approach has encouraged an epic debt binge that could pose dangers as years of near-zero interest rates come to an end.”
“In a clear nod to major market-makers’ concerns about the effect of more transparency on cash market liquidity and their own profit margins, Antonio Weiss, a counselor to U.S. Treasury Sec. Jack Lew, told an audience at a market structure conference on Monday that the Treasury market information transparency debate ‘should shift from whether to seek increased transparency to how, when, and on what basis'” [Francine McKenna, MarketWatch ]. “Information on activity in cash Treasury markets is not readily accessible, and regulators lack visibility into dealer-to-customer activity, which, according to some estimates, is over 50% of the cash market.”
Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 47 Neutral (previous close: 55, Neutral) [ CNN ]. One week ago: 39 (Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Oct 25 at 5:31pm.
Police State Watch
“AT&T Is Spying on Americans for Profit, New Documents Reveal” [ Daily Beast ]. “The telecom giant is doing NSA-style work for law enforcement—without a warrant—and earning millions of dollars a year from taxpayers.” Not sure what’s new here….
“The day when police zap suspects from the sky with drones carrying stun guns may be nearing” [ Wall Street Journal ].
Black Injustice Tipping Point
“The U.N. Caused Haiti’s Cholera Epidemic. Now the Obama Administration Is Fighting the Victims” [ The New Republic ]. 2014, still relevant today.
Geographic Information Systems can be empowering: @BmoreDoc Anyhoo, this Bikeshare thing is only the tip of the bicycle iceberg. pic.twitter.com/zg43T3jkIb
— Cham Green (@Cham10101) October 26, 2016
Water
“A perfect storm of aging infrastructure, stretched municipal budgets, and changing climate conditions are putting even more of the country’s water systems under pressure. Faced with the steep cost of fixing their broken and ill-prepared infrastructure, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are turning to private money in their search for an answer to the country’s water woes. While the record of private companies handling water supplies has been mixed, this trend toward water privatization seems to be some kind of tacit acknowledgment that local governments can’t fix the problem on their own” [ Quartz ]. Ideal infrastructure projects, eh?
Gaia
“Far beyond the eight planets of the solar system, beyond even Pluto and the diminutive dwarf planets, may lurk a major new world called ‘Planet Nine.’ Few if any discoveries can be as sensational as finding another planet orbiting our sun, making the feat a Holy Grail for astronomers, who have managed to pull it off only a few times over the centuries. No one yet knows exactly where this ephemeral world might be—or even if it really exists at all” [ Scientific American ].
“Tilting, sinking San Francisco high-rise raises alarm” [ AP ]. Best quote ever: “What concerns me most is the tilting.”
Class Warfare
“Don’t Diss the Dark Ages” [ Of Two Minds ]. ” New modes of production and new social /political orders do not arise fully formed. They are pieced together by trial and error and numerous cycles of adaptation, innovation and failure.” Salutary reminder!
“This issue brief explains how monopsony, or wage-setting power, in the labor market can reduce wages, employment, and overall welfare, and describes various sources of monopsony power. It then reviews evidence suggesting that firms may have wage-setting power in a broad range of settings and describes several trends in recent decades consistent with a growing role for monopsony power in wage determination. It concludes with a discussion of several policy actions taken by the Obama Administration to help promote labor-market competition and ensure a level playing field for all workers” [ Council of Economic Advisors ]. How I hate that dead “level playing field” metaphor. Generally, playing fields are level. It’s the refs and the crooked guys with their hands in the till in the front office that I worry about.
“In late 2007, before the recession started, the prime-age employment-to-population ratio in the U.S. was about the same as in other Group of Seven developed nations (which also include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.K.). The U.S., however, experienced a much larger decline during the recession, and remains much farther from undoing the damage. As of June, the G-7 as a whole had recovered almost completely, while the U.S. was only 60 percent back from its lowest point” [ Bloomberg ]. “Prime-age” like “prime beef”…
News of the Wired
“#WeAreTwitter” [ The Internet of Ownership ]. “Twitter is up for sale. Big companies are circling around looking to buy. But what about us, Twitter users? This proposal to turn one of the world’s most important platform utilities into a platform co-op has started spreading from a mere idea to an organizing campaign. Read, spread, and organize!”
“Only governments can safeguard the openness of the internet” [ Aeon ].
“Opia, sonder, liberosis: The dictionary for all the emotions you feel but can’t express” [ Quartz ]. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows .
____. n. The despondency that steals over you when you’re committed to inventing an election drinking game but have just realized that no rules can possibly be adequate to the task.
* * *
Readers, feel free to contact me with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, and (c) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here . And here’s today’s plant (KR):
KR writes: “A nice profile of bee on untidy flower.” Winter is coming… 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 1 |
Just when you think things can t get any more bizarre than they already are regarding Donald Trump and his choices for his administration, he goes and ups the ante.According to Reuters: Entertainer Steve Harvey says he will team up with Housing Secretary-designate Ben Carson on inner city initiative. JUST IN: Entertainer Steve Harvey says he will team up with Housing Secretary-designate Ben Carson on inner city initiative Reuters U.S. News (@ReutersUS) January 13, 2017Yes, that Steve Harvey. The same guy who is an entertainer, comedian and game show host. The same guy who f**ked up Miss Universe, which probably explains the Trump connection. The same guy who makes fun of people on The Family Feud.Steve Harvey will be working with Ben Carson with the department of Housing and Urban Development. So, basically, it would seem Trump is putting all the black people he may know in charge of the position with urban in the title. Although, it s surely just coincidence.It seems as if Harvey is excited for the role and is looking forward to working with Ben Carson to bring positive change to inner cities. Comedian Steve Harvey says he'll work with Ben Carson to bring "positive change to inner cities" at Trump Tower pic.twitter.com/oHrHPK4U2c CBS News (@CBSNews) January 13, 2017All in all, let s hope Carson and Harvey do a good job and bring about positive change within the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and to the inner cities they will be directly working with.Yet, it can t be overlooked that this choice is rather mind-boggling.Featured Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 0 |
“The people have the power, all we have to do is awaken that power in the people. The people are unaware. They’re not educated to realize that they have power. The system is so geared that everyone believes the government will fix everything. We are the government .” —John Lennon
How do you balance the scales of justice at a time when Americans are being tasered, tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed, hit with batons, shot with rubber bullets and real bullets, blasted with sound cannons, detained in cages and kennels , sicced by police dogs, arrested and jailed for challenging the government’s excesses, abuses and power-grabs?
Politics won’t fix a system that is broken beyond repair.
No matter who sits in the White House, the shadow government will continue to call the shots behind the scenes.
Relying on the courts to restore justice seems futile.
Indeed, with every ruling handed down, it becomes more apparent that we live in an age of hollow justice, with government courts, largely lacking in vision and scope, rendering narrow rulings focused on the letter of the law. This is true at all levels of the judiciary, but especially so in the highest court of the land, the U.S. Supreme Court, which is seemingly more concerned with establishing order and protecting government agents than with upholding the rights enshrined in the Constitution.
Even so, justice matters.
It matters whether you’re a rancher protesting a federal land-grab by the Bureau of Land Management, a Native American protesting an oil pipeline that will endanger sacred sites and pollute water supplies, or an African-American taking to the streets to protest yet another police shooting of an unarmed citizen.
Unfortunately, protests and populist movements haven’t done much to push back against an authoritarian regime that is deaf to our cries, dumb to our troubles, blind to our needs, and accountable to no one.
It doesn’t matter who the activists are (environmentalists, peaceniks, Native Americans, Black Lives Matter, Occupy, or the Bundys and their followers) or what the source of the discontent is (endless wars abroad, police shootings, contaminated drinking water, government land-grabs), the government’s modus operandi has remained the same: shut down the protests using all means available, prosecute First Amendment activities to the fullest extent of the law, and discourage any future civil uprisings by criminalizing expressive activities, labeling dissidents as extremists or terrorists, and conducting widespread surveillance on the general populace in order to put down any whispers of resistance before it can take root.
Thus, if there is any means left to us for thwarting the government in its relentless march towards outright dictatorship, it may rest with the power of juries and local governments to invalidate governmental laws, tactics and policies that are illegitimate, egregious or blatantly unconstitutional.
Just recently, in fact, an Oregon jury rejected the government’s attempts to prosecute seven activists who staged a six-week, armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
In finding the defendants not guilty—of conspiracy to impede federal officers, of possession of firearms in a federal facility, and of stealing a government-owned truck—the jury sent its own message to the government and those following the case: justice matters.
The Malheur occupiers were found not guilty despite the fact that they had guns in a federal facility (their lawyers argued the guns were “as much a statement of their rural culture as a cowboy hat or a pair of jeans”). They were found not guilty despite the fact that they used government vehicles (although they would argue that government property is public property available to all taxpayers). They were found not guilty despite the fact that they succeeded in occupying a government facility for six weeks, thereby preventing workers from performing their duties (as the Washington Post points out, this charge has also been used to prosecute extremist left-wingers and Earth First protesters ).
Many other equally sincere activists with eloquent lawyers and ardent supporters have gone to jail for lesser offenses than those committed at the Malheur Refuge, so what made the difference here?
The jury made all the difference.
These seven Oregon protesters were found not guilty because a jury of their peers recognized the sincerity of their convictions, sympathized with the complaints against an overreaching government, and balanced the scales of justice using the only tools available to them: common sense, compassion and the power of the jury box.
Jury nullification works.
As law professor Ilya Somin explains, jury nullification is the practice by which a jury refuses to convict someone accused of a crime if they believe the “law in question is unjust or the punishment is excessive .” According to former federal prosecutor Paul Butler, the doctrine of jury nullification is “premised on the idea that ordinary citizens, not government officials, should have the final say as to whether a person should be punished.”
Imagine that: a world where the citizenry—not the government or its corporate controllers—actually calls the shots and determines what is just.
In a world of “ rampant overcriminalization ,” where the average citizen unknowingly breaks three laws a day, jury nullification acts as “ a check on runaway authoritarian criminalization and the increasing network of confusing laws that are passed with neither the approval nor oftentimes even the knowledge of the citizenry.”
Indeed, Butler believes so strongly in the power of nullification to balance the scales between the power of the prosecutor and the power of the people that he advises :
If you are ever on a jury in a marijuana case, I recommend that you vote “not guilty” — even if you think the defendant actually smoked pot, or sold it to another consenting adult. As a juror, you have this power under the Bill of Rights ; if you exercise it, you become part of a proud tradition of American jurors who helped make our laws fairer.
In other words, it’s “we the people” who can and should be determining what laws are just, what activities are criminal and who can be jailed for what crimes.
Not only should the punishment fit the crime, but the laws of the land should also reflect the concerns of the citizenry as opposed to the profit-driven priorities of Corporate America.
This is where the power of jury nullification is so critical: to reject inane laws and extreme sentences and counteract the edicts of a profit-driven governmental elite that sees nothing wrong with jailing someone for a lifetime for a relatively insignificant crime.
Of course, the powers-that-be don’t want the citizenry to know that it has any power at all.
They would prefer that we remain clueless about the government’s many illicit activities, ignorant about our constitutional rights, and powerless to bring about any real change.
In an age in which government officials accused of wrongdoing—police officers, elected officials, etc.—are treated with general leniency, while the average citizen is prosecuted to the full extent of the law, jury nullification is a powerful reminder that, as the Constitution tells us, “we the people” are the government.
For too long we’ve allowed our so-called “representatives” to call the shots. Now it’s time to restore the citizenry to their rightful place in the republic: as the masters, not the servants.
Nullification is one way of doing so.
Various cities and states have been using this historic doctrine with mixed results on issues as wide ranging as gun control and healthcare to “ claim freedom from federal laws they find onerous or wrongheaded .”
Where nullification can be particularly powerful, however, is in the hands of the juror.
The reality with which we must contend is that justice in America is reserved for those who can afford to buy their way out of jail.
For the rest of us who are dependent on the “fairness” of the system, there exists a multitude of ways in which justice can and does go wrong every day. Police misconduct. Prosecutorial misconduct. Judicial bias. Inadequate defense. Prosecutors who care more about winning a case than seeking justice. Judges who care more about what is legal than what is just. Jurors who know nothing of the law and are left to deliberate in the dark about life-and-death decisions. And an overwhelming body of laws, statutes and ordinances that render the average American a criminal, no matter how law-abiding they might think themselves.
If you’re to have any hope of remaining free—and I use that word loosely—your best bet remains in your fellow citizens.
Your fellow citizens may not know what the Constitution says (studies have shown Americans to be abysmally ignorant about their rights), they may not know what the laws are (there are so many on the books that the average American breaks three laws a day without knowing it), and they may not even believe in your innocence, but if you’re lucky, those who serve on a jury will have a conscience that speaks louder than the legalistic tones of the prosecutors and the judges and reminds them that justice and fairness go hand in hand.
That’s ultimately what jury nullification is all about: restoring a sense of fairness to our system of justice. It’s the best protection for “we the people” against the oppression and tyranny of the government, and God knows, we can use all the protection we can get. It’s a powerful way to remind the government—all of those bureaucrats who have appointed themselves judge, jury and jailer over all that we are, have and do—that we’re the ones who set the rules.
We could transform this nation if only Americans would work together to harness the power of their discontent.
Unfortunately, the government’s divide and conquer tactics are working like a charm.
Despite the laundry list of grievances that should unite “we the people” in common cause against the government, the nation is more divided than ever by politics, by socio-economics, by race, by religion, and by every other distinction that serves to highlight our differences.
The real and manufactured events of recent years—the invasive surveillance, the extremism reports, the civil unrest, the protests, the shootings, the bombings, the military exercises and active shooter drills, the color-coded alerts and threat assessments, the fusion centers, the transformation of local police into extensions of the military, the distribution of military equipment and weapons to local police forces, the government databases containing the names of dissidents and potential troublemakers—have all conjoined to create an environment in which “we the people” are more divided, more distrustful, and fearful of each other.
What we have failed to realize is that in the eyes of the government, we’re all the same.
In other words, when it’s time for the government to crack down—and that time is coming—it won’t matter whether we supported Hillary or Trump, whether we stood with the pipeline protesters or opposed BLM, or whether we spoke out against government misconduct and injustice or remained silent.
When the government cracks down, we’ll all suffer.
Here’s the thing: the government wants a civil war.
The objective: compliance and control.
Its strategy: destabilize the economy through endless wars, escalate racial tensions, polarize the populace, heighten tensions through a show of force, intensify the use of violence, and then, when all hell breaks loose, clamp down on the nation for the good of the people and the security of the nation.
The government has been anticipating and preparing for such a civil uprising for some time now.
Those protests in Ferguson , Baltimore and Baton Rouge to protest police brutality? The militarized police “ clad in Kevlar vests, helmets, and camouflage, armed with pistols, shotguns, automatic rifles, and tear gas ” turning towns into war zones? The kenneling of pipeline protesters in North Dakota?
Those were just dress rehearsals for the government to work out the kinks in its operating manual on how to deal with civil unrest.
They were also previews of what’s in store if we continue to challenge the powers-that-be.
After all, it’s hard to persuade anyone to stand against tyranny when all you can promise them as a reward is persecution, prosecution and a one-way trip to the morgue. And when the outcome seems to be a foregone conclusion—the government always wins—it can seem pointless, even foolhardy, to dare to challenge the system.
So how do you not only push back against the police state’s bureaucracy, corruption and cruelty but also launch a counterrevolution aimed at reclaiming control over the government using nonviolent means?
You start by changing the rules and engaging in some (nonviolent) guerilla tactics.
Employ militant nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience , which Martin Luther King Jr. used to great effect through the use of sit-ins, boycotts and marches.
Take part in grassroots activism, which takes a trickle-up approach to governmental reform by implementing change at the local level (in other words, think nationally, but act locally).
And then, as I explain in more detail in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People , nullify everything. Nullify the court cases. Nullify the laws. Nullify everything the government does that is illegitimate, egregious or blatantly unconstitutional. Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
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Contributed by John W. Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute .
Since 1996, John W. Whitehead has taken on everything from human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, protection of religious freedom, and child pornography, to family autonomy issues, cross burning, the sanctity of human life, and the war on terrorism in his weekly opinion column. A self-proclaimed civil libertarian, Whitehead is considered by many to be a legal, political and cultural watchdog—sounding the call for integrity, accountability and an adherence to the democratic principles on which this country was founded.
Time and again, Whitehead hits the bull’s eye with commentaries that are insightful, relevant and provocative. And all too often, he finds himself under fire for his frank and unadulterated viewpoint. But as he frequently remarks, “Anytime people find themselves under fire from both the liberal left and the conservative right, it means that that person is probably right on target.”
Mr. Whitehead’s commentaries have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times and USA Today. | 1 |
Washington One week after we moved Nevada and Florida from "battleground" to "lean Democratic," both states appear to be snapping back to their traditional toss-up status. Our new CNN electoral outlook places both states back in the "battleground" category and increases the up-for-grabs turf to six states and two congressional districts worth a total of 87 electoral votes.
Note: The split congressional district ratings are symbolized with diagonal lines.
Clinton had not yet finished her two-day swing through the Sunshine State before her campaign let it be known that she would be back in Florida this weekend.
Florida is also one of the handful of states where the Clinton campaign remains heavily on the air with campaign advertising and where it announced today that two closing argument ads will begin to be seen across the state.
Florida's 29 electoral votes are the biggest prize on the map among competitive states and both campaigns plan to fight it out there all the way through November 8.
In Nevada, polls continue to show it is a margin-of-error race between Clinton and Trump and both candidates are expected back in the Silver State before Election Day.
As Trump continues to shore up his Republican support and improve his standing among Hispanics (though still losing this group by a wide margin), he is ensuring Nevada remains competitive all the way through Election Day.
With the new changes to the CNN electoral outlook, our current snapshot has Clinton at 272 electoral votes from states either solidly or leaning in her direction. Trump has a total of 179 electoral votes from the states either solidly or leaning in his direction. That leaves 87 electoral votes currently up for grabs in the remaining battleground states.
The full rundown is below:
California (55), Connecticut (7), Delaware (3), DC (3), Hawaii (4), Illinois (20), Maine (3), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (11), New Jersey (14), New York (29), Oregon (7), Rhode Island (4), Vermont (3), Washington (12), Minnesota (10), New Mexico (5) (200 total) | 0 |
UN special rapporteur on Palestine blasts Israe By Stephen Lendman
How many years of illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine are too many? How long will the international community tolerate its vicious persecution of millions of defenseless people?
How long will its longstanding slow-motion genocide policy be allowed to continue unchallenged?
Every day is Kristallnacht in Palestine, especially in lawlessly blockaded Gaza under siege, subject to Israeli terror-bombing and incursions at its discretion, slaughtering civilians indiscriminately because who’ll intervene responsibly to stop the horrors Palestinians endure.
In his first report to the UN General Assembly, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Palestine Michael Lynk described deplorable conditions, unacceptable, yet persisting, with nothing in prospect likely to change things without international community intervention.
Calling for an end to nearly half a century of illegal occupation, he said that “[t]he Palestinian economy is without parallel in the modern world. Israel’s occupation is denying Palestine’s right to development and severely hampering its ability to attain even the minimum targets of the Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ).”
Israel systematically breaches fundamental international laws unaccountably. Apartheid worse than South Africa’s is institutionalized. State terror is official policy. Israel treats Palestinians the way Hitler persecuted Jews.
“Poverty is rising,” said Lynk. “Unemployment is rising to epic levels. Food insecurity is becoming more acute. The Palestinian economy is becoming more stifled and less viable under the occupation. Israel’s deliberate fragmentation of [Occupied Palestine] and lack of development has negatively impacted human rights.”
Conditions are “seriously deficient in its respect for the legal principles and obligations embedded within the right to development.”
“The deepening of the occupation, the constriction of basic human rights and the utter absence of a political horizon leading to self-determination for the Palestinians have reinforced an atmosphere of despair and hopelessness.”
Praising regional human rights groups for their courage and commitment to justice, Lynk explained that “[t]hey face scorn and worse . . . If a just and compassionate peace is ever to come to the Middle East, we will owe much to these fearless advocates.”
In mid-October, in testimony before Security Council members, B’Tselem Executive Director Hagai El-Ad called for UN action to end nearly half a century of illegal Israeli occupation.
Israeli UN envoy Danny Danon accused him of “defam[ing] us in front of the international community.” Israel threatened to revoke his citizenship.
Human rights workers for Palestinian liberation risk life and liberty. El-Ad concluded his remarks, saying: “For most of my country’s existence, the world has allowed it to occupy another people. I have lived my entire life, every single day of it, with that reality.”
“Millions of Israelis and Palestinians know no other reality. We need your help. Fifty years of ‘temporary’ occupation are too long for even a single person on this planet to accept such a contradiction in terms.”
“The rights of Palestinians must be realized; the occupation must end; the UN Security Council must act; and the time is now.”
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. His new book as editor and contributor is “ Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III .” Visit his blog at sjlendman.blogspot.com . Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. Commentary . Bookmark the permalink . | 1 |
Last December a report surfaced that Barack Obama intercepted communications between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US lawmakers. The Obama White House targeted Netanyahu because he opposed their insane nuclear deal with the Iranian regime.Last October Obama ordered Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Ambassador Samantha Power to snub Netanyahu at the UN.Lower level US State Department officials attended the Israeli Prime Minister s speech at the UN.The Obama administration spent $350,000 trying to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office.In May 2011 Barack Obama urged Israel to hand over half of Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall, The Temple Mount, Old Jerusalem, and the tomb of Jesus Christ to the Hamas-Fatah terrorist organizations.In his deluded mind, handing over ancient Christian and Jewish holy sites to violent Islamists will bring peace to the region.In December 2013, Barack Obama again urged Israel to hand over ancient Christian and Jewish holy sites to Islamist terrorists. Gateway PunditLast week, Israel accused Obama of colluding with Palestinians at the UN:An Israeli official on Friday accused President Barack Obama of colluding with the Palestinians in a shameful move against Israel at the U.N. after learning the White House did not intend to veto a Security Council resolution condemning settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem the day before. President Obama and Secretary Kerry are behind this shameful move against Israel at the U.N., the official said. The U.S administration secretly cooked up with the Palestinians an extreme anti-Israeli resolution behind Israel s back which would be a tail wind for terror and boycotts and effectively make the Western Wall occupied Palestinian territory, he said calling it an abandonment of Israel which breaks decades of US policy of protecting Israel at the UN. APWe cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but . Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016 | 0 |
The Senate Republicans unveiled their disastrous health care bill on Thursday, and it was immediately shot down by everyone from Republicans to Democrats to former President Barack Obama. Now, former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has broken her silence to weigh in on the bill and the GOP is going to HATE it.On Friday, Clinton urged her supporters to speak out against the Obamacare replacement plan, encouraging them to choose people over politics. As the Republicans health care plan will strip tens of millions of Americans of their life-saving health coverage, her message is surely an important one.Clinton took to Twitter to take her message public. In solidarity with the words of former President Barack Obama, Clinton slammed the GOP bill: @BarackObama is right. This is a critical moment about choosing people over politics. Speak out against this bill. The Senate Republicans have been creating this bill in absolute secrecy, and it s no wonder why. This health care bill is a monstrosity and an assault on the lives of most Americans. Thanks to the GOP s proposal, cuts would be made to Medicaid and federal funding for Planned Parenthood would be prohibited, which has made even conservatives voice their concerns.Yesterday, Obama called the Senate s pathetic attempt at replacing his health care bill a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America. He also said it was not a health care bill at all. Clinton called the GOP out even more viciously by following up her first tweet with this: Forget death panels. If Republicans pass this bill, they re the death party. We could not have said that any better. The GOP s health care bill proves that they don t give a sh*t about the lives of Americans, and this measure must be stopped in its tracks.Featured image via Bryan Thomas / Getty Images | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered construction of a U.S.-Mexican border wall and punishment for cities shielding illegal immigrants while mulling restoring a CIA secret detention program as he launched broad but divisive plans to reshape U.S. immigration and national security policy. A draft executive order seen by Reuters that Trump is expected to sign in the coming days would block the entry of refugees from war-torn Syria and suspend the entry of any immigrants from Muslim-majority Middle Eastern and African countries Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen while permanent rules are studied. Less than a week into his presidency, Trump has moved aggressively to put his stamp on a range of policies, including steps to gut the healthcare system devised by his predecessor, and make clear that as president he is not turning toward more moderate positions than he took as a candidate. His directives on Wednesday signaled a tough action toward the roughly 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States, most from Latin America, whom he already has threatened to deport. In a move critics called a slight to the integrity of American democracy, Trump also said on Wednesday he would seek a “major investigation” into what he believes was voter fraud in the November election, despite overwhelming consensus among state officials, election experts and politicians that it is rare in the United States. “We are going to restore the rule of law in the United States,” Trump told an audience that included relatives of people killed by illegal immigrants at the Department of Homeland Security after signing two executive orders. The directives ordered the construction of a multibillion-dollar wall along the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) U.S.-Mexico border, moved to strip federal funding from “sanctuary” states and cities that harbor illegal immigrants, and expanded the force of American immigration agents. His plans prompted an outcry from immigrant advocates and Democratic lawmakers who said Trump was jeopardizing the rights and freedoms of millions of people while treating Mexico as an enemy, not an ally, and soiling America’s historic reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants of all stripes. “The border wall is about political theater at the expense of civil liberties,” said Christian Ramirez, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition immigrant advocacy group. “It is not national security policy. Border communities are among the safest in the nation, and patrolling them with tens of thousands of heavily armed, poorly trained, unaccountable agents puts lives at risks. This will turn these communities into de facto military zones,” Ramirez said. The White House said the wall would stem the flow of drugs, crime and illegal immigration into the United States. “We are in the middle of a crisis on our southern border: The unprecedented surge of illegal migrants from Central America is harming both Mexico and the United States,” Trump said, adding: “A nation without borders is not a nation.” The immigration crackdown has sparked fear among so-called “dreamers,” whose parents brought them to the United States illegally and who received temporary deportation relief and work permits from President Barack Obama. Trump said the dreamers should not fear deportation. “They shouldn’t be very worried,” Trump told ABC News in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.. “Where you have great people that are here that have done a good job, they should be far less worried,” he said, adding: “We’ll be coming out with policy on that over the next period of four weeks.” House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan also said the “dreamers” should not be worried. “We’re focused on physical security of the border, we’re focused on those who are coming to do us harm from terrorist states and things like that,” he told MSNBC. Trump is also expected to order a review that could lead to bringing back a CIA program for holding terrorism suspects in secret overseas “black site” prisons where interrogation techniques often condemned as torture were used during former Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, two U.S. officials said. Trump’s actions could further test relations with Mexico. The wall plan has infuriated Mexicans. Trump’s policies, including his demand that the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada be renegotiated or scrapped, have put Mexico’s government on the defensive. Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto are due to meet next week. Pena Nieto said on Wednesday night that he “regrets and disapproves” of the push by Trump to build a new wall along the border. Officials in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, Washington, San Francisco and Seattle offer some forms of protection to illegal immigrants. Billions of dollars in federal aid to those cities, often governed by Democrats, could be at risk under Trump’s move. In the ABC News interview, Trump said construction on the wall would start within months, with planning starting immediately, and that Mexico would pay back to the United States “100 percent” of the costs. Mexican officials have said they will not pay for the wall. The White House said Trump’s goal was to get the wall started as quickly as possible using existing government funds and then work with the Republican-led Congress on further appropriations. Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration a key element of his presidential campaign, with supporters at his rallies often chanting: “Build the wall.” The cost, nature and extent of the wall remain unclear. Trump last year put the cost at “probably $8 billion,” although other estimates are higher, and he said the wall would span 1,000 miles (1,600 km) because of the terrain of the border. Trump’s directives would end the practice known by critics as “catch and release” in which authorities apprehend illegal immigrants on U.S. territory but do not immediately detain or deport them. The directives also include hiring 5,000 more U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents used to apprehend people seeking to slip across the border and tripling the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents used to arrest and deport immigrants living in the United States illegally. They also create more detention space for illegal immigrants along the southern border to make it easier to detain and deport them. The intent of the proposals regarding refugees and immigrants from the seven Muslim-majority nations is to head off Islamist violence in the United States. The draft directive on immigration also suspends the U.S. refugee program for four months while determining whether permanent changes to the system are needed. | 0 |
It was almost inevitable, really. We were bound to find out just how much better than us the Trumps think they are. After all, Donald himself hails from a long line of Trumps who have never had to work a day in their lives. Why would his own family be any different? And possibly the most spoiled of all is, of course, Ivanka, in whom Donald clearly sees all of the traits he thinks are good about himself.But there s no way to be prepared for the nickname that the president s aides have given her because it is absolutely maddening. According to a long-form piece in the upcoming October edition of Vanity Fair, West Wing advisers have taken to calling her Princess Royal. That s a name that came up during the G20 Summit when Trump gave her his seat at the conference table between England and China. The move angered even some insider fans of Trump, with one saying at the time, This is not a royal family. They ve got that right. America was founded by people who believed in democracy, who wanted to get away from a king. Sure, we love to watch the British royal family because it all seems like a fantasy. In fact, America s obsession with the Windsors mostly began with Princess Diana, the first in the royal house whose marriage did not include a vow to obey her husband.The unnamed advisers to Trump may call his daughter that behind her back, but there is little doubt that both she and her father see things that way. Her appointment to a position inside the White House was essentially a coronation, and the veins of nepotism that course through Trump s administration carry blood as blue as the states Trump lost last November.In the pages of the upcoming article, another anonymous member of the inner circle outlines the problem with Ivanka and even Prince Jared:What is off-putting about them is they do not grasp their essential irrelevance. They think they are special.Let s hope the House of Trump is short-lived.Featured image via Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Lord & Taylor | 0 |
The shooter at the Congressional baseball practice has been identified. His name is James Hodgkinson The 66-year old white male from Illinois is a Bernie Sanders supporter. His Facebook and Twitter accounts are full of anti-Trump/pro-Bernie Sanders posts and pictures:UPDATE: PRESIDENT TRUMP just announced that Hodgkinson has died from his injuries. His Facebook page and Twitter have been inundated with angry conservatives who are so sick of the vile and hateful rhetoric from the left. He s a huge leftist who clearly hastes President Trump calling him a traitor on Facebook:This man clearly represents Trump Derangement Syndrome The left is still so angry that Trump was elected. It s sick and twisted!From the shooter s Facebook page:We just reported last weekend on protests across the country that got violent and even saw Antifa attacking a police horse with a weapon:A female Antifa member was arrested after using a flag pole w/ a silver nail at the end to stab a police horse in the neck during a riot. pic.twitter.com/yBMThRyUdn /pol/ News Forever (@polNewsForever) June 12, 2017 The violence on social media and on the streets must stop. Conservatives have been attacked starting with the Trump campaign rallies and are still being attacked. Supporters of our president are even afraid to wear hats or t-shirts with his slogans. Anyone who wears a Trump item could be a target of violence.Leaders of the Democrat party need to stop with the hateful rhetoric NOW! Tom Perez WE RE TALKING TO YOU! | 1 |
It was a surreal moment at Thursday night s NFL season opener when NBC announcer Al Michaels provided commentary on who didn t stand for the playing of the national anthem. Watch below:It s the trend that needs to end Colin Kaepernick started this whole kneeling thing and now some other NFL players have sat or kneeled during the national anthem at games. It s caused many Americans to turn away from supporting the NFL which hurts the players in the end. Bringing politics into football needs to end if the NFL wants a future. People are fed up with this attitude.The Washington Free Beacon reported: Life imitates South Park The NFL season kicked off Thursday night with the New England Patriots hosting the Kansas City Chiefs. After Maren Morris concluded singing The Star Spangled Banner, Michaels immediately said, For the record, the only player we saw not standing was cornerback Marcus Peters of Kansas City. The 20th season opener of South Park last year satirized NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick s national anthem protests, which have drawn considerable media attention. At the beginning of the episode, announcers provide breathless commentary as to which athletes at a grade-school volleyball game will stand or kneel for the national anthem.They just need to get back to playing the game enough already! | 1 |
TMZ caught up with Mavericks owner and Hillary supporter Mark Cuban yesterday to ask what he thought of President Donald J. Trump. Arizona citizens must be thrilled to hear billionaire Mark Cuban who has personal security surrounding him talk about how ridiculous Trump s efforts to secure our borders and keep our nation safe from foreigners who sneak in with actual refugees with a goal of doing harm to our nation.WATCH CUBAN S SOUR GRAPES INTERVIEW HERE:Well, that s not exactly what happened now is it Cuban?Here s what REALLY happened to the stock market after Trump s election: Market Watch U.S. stocks rallied Wednesday, with the Dow industrials jumping 257 points, led by a surge in financial, health-care and industrial stocks, as investors bet on the infrastructure spending policy promised by President-elect Donald Trump.The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.40% gained as much as 316 points, briefly surpassing the all-time closing high set in August. The index closed 256.95 points, or 1.4%, higher at 18,589.69, its highest level since Aug. 18. Pfizer Inc. PFE, +7.07% and Caterpillar Inc CAT, +7.70% led the gains, rallying more than 7%.Way to go Cuban you just reminded us of how little you know about economics or choosing the right candidate for President Keep up the great work Mark. You re really helping out your brand. | 0 |
On the show, Sunday Morning Futures, a far left activist ranted on about how the wor terror should be banned because it may offend muslims.Richard Fowler: Here s what DeBlasio tried to do yesterday, right? Yes, it was an intentional act. Yes, it was an act of terror. The problem is when you say the word terror because of word association it automatically assumes you are talking about people of the Muslim faith. And that is why he said an intentional act and not terrorism because we don t know if it was Muslim. None of these organizations have taken credit for it. So before we go out and start to blame and shame a whole religion we ought to be very careful and get all the facts first. Well, Mr. Fowler, that is the most ridiculous thing ever spewed from a leftists mouth. There have been over 29,236 ISLAMIC TERRORIST attacks since 9/11. Maybe muslims wouldn t need to be offended by the word terror of they simply stopped committing acts of terror! As an American, anyone that is a citizen has the freedom of speech, so to dictate that any word we use that is in fact the correct word to describe attacks such as the Manhattan bombing, the New Jersey Bombing, and even the Minnesota Mall attack, is well within our rights as said American citizens.If anyone, muslim or otherwise, doesn t like that word they are free to not use it, but no one is free to strip the right to use it from everyone else.H/T [ Gateway Pundit ] | 1 |
“The public’s voice will be heard,” Poland’s president declared, as he vowed a referendum on the European Union’s (EU) migrant quota amidst growing pressure from Brussels. [Describing the question of whether Poland should be forced to accept a quota of migrants from the third world as “of vital importance” for its future security, Andrzej Duda said the referendum could be held during parliamentary elections in 2019. “That would allow the new government to hear the clear voice of the nation on the issue,” said the president. The conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government’s position on the quota system is “clear and unambiguous” Duda said. He said maintaining the party “does not agree with the [plan] and asserted that “Poland does not consent to the forced relocation of refugees on our territory”. Holding a referendum will also enable the public’s voice to be heard over the voices of international organisations, Duda asserted. “If Brussels continues to raise [the issue of migration] attempting to exert pressure and force on the Polish authorities, then public opinion will be extremely important,” Duda promised. Poland’s latest display of opposition to the redistribution plan comes as the Czech Republic announced its withdrawal from the scheme, which has been fiercely contested in Central and Eastern Europe, with Hungary and Slovakia challenging the plans in court. In an interview with Czech tabloid Blesk published Tuesday, EU president Juncker demanded all nations in Europe shoulder “solidarity and responsibility” when it comes to migration. Brussels was left humiliated last year when Hungarians were asked what they thought of EU plans to force on their nation migrants from the third world, as 95 per cent said they rejected the scheme. Earlier this month, Breitbart London reported that senior Polish MEP Ryszard Czarnecki announced the “only proven method” to avoid Islamist terror attacks is not to import Muslim migrants. “When it comes to reducing the chances of Poland being hit by [Islamist] terror attacks, the only proven method is to not allow in Muslim migrants,” the MEP told local radio after the London Bridge terror attack, which killed eight and injured at least 48 others. | 0 |
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump emerged victorious in blowout wins in their home state of New York on Tuesday. In a field of three, Trump managed to capture just over 60 percent while Clinton, in a field of two, captured just under 58 percent.With Clinton and Trump gaining in delegates, it s becoming increasingly likely the two will face off in the November general election (should there be no contested conventions).And if Trump emerges the nominee and so does Clinton, that spells very bad news for the Republicans.Real Clear Politics, which gathers daily polling from multiple sources and finds a median, shows that as more Americans are exposed to Trump s campaign, the more likely they are to back Hillary Clinton.As Vox puts it:This is, according to political scientists, around the time when general election polling becomes predictive of the actual vote. Were this a few months ago, I d say, What s the big deal?' Christopher Wlezien, a political science professor who s done a lot of work on election polling, told Vox back in March. But polls today are much more meaningful than they were 90 days ago. And the polls today are much less favorable for Trump. Around this time, Mitt Romney was more popular than Donald Trump is, and he was within 2.5 percent of President Obama who obviously won. Right now, Clinton is about ten points higher than the Donald.As general election polling becomes more representative of the actual outcome, Vox and Real Clear Politics estimate that at this rate Democrats not only would win the presidency and take back the Senate, they could even take back the House.One reason the Republicans are having such a hard time catching up to Clinton is because they aren t united, and are quite fractured. Democrats, while having their own differences, are nowhere near the breaking point the Republicans are, and that is a huge advantage heading into the general election.Republicans should be terrified. If they were smart, they would broker their convention and nominate Kasich, who consistently beats Hillary Clinton in the polls. But since when has the Republican Party done the smart thing?Years of fear mongering and peppered racism has not, nor will it, pay off for the GOP. They created this monster, now they have to deal with it. Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty | 0 |
Bernie Sanders just picked up one of the most important endorsements of his campaign. No, it isn t a politician, pundit, or, celebrity. It is Eric Garner s eldest daughter, Erica Garner. She, like too many others, is a family member of one of the victims of police brutality, and the racism that drives it. Her father s death helped catalyze the Black Lives Matter movement. Erica Garner has since worked as an activist. She is the founder of the Garner Way Foundation.Garner s endorsement comes in the form of a powerful essay, published in the Washington Post. In the endorsement, she writes about her disillusionment with a system that has for so long been able to pretend that the life of her father, her own, and all people of color s lives have mattered.She writes that: If our lives really mattered, we d have equal access to decent jobs, good schools and affordable housing. If our lives mattered in this country, we d have equal access to clean air, clean water and real investment in black neighborhoods. If black lives mattered in America, those who routinely brutalize us wouldn t be the ones paid, with our tax dollars, to keep us safe.I trusted establishment Democrats who claimed to represent me, only to later watch them ignore and explain away the injustice of my father s death. I trusted the system; then I watched as politicians on both sides of the aisle from Chicago s Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel to Michigan s Republican Gov. Rick Snyder disregard the will of the people they were elected to represent and abdicate their responsibility to protect them. I ve watched as our system criminalizes blackness while allowing Wall Street to bilk the American people with impunity. Sanders has met with quit a few family members of family members of high-profile victims of anti-black state violence. After taking a tour of the neighborhood Freddie Gray lived in, Sanders was disturbed, if unsurprised, by the deplorable economic conditions that people survive in. Anyone who took the walk that we took around this neighborhood would not think you are in a wealthy nation. You would think you are in a third world country, Sanders said after the tour.Then of course, there is the chance meeting with the mother and sister of Sandra Bland that occurred, and was not initially reported to the media, where Sanders promised to keep saying Bland s name. Sanders was the only candidate to say her name during the first Democratic debate. The lawyer for Walter Scott s family publicly endorsed Sanders.In her endorsement, Garner lays out who she think s will be the best candidate to serve black people, by saying: Who will address the criminalization of our people? Who understands that we re experiencing an economic crisis made worse by structural barriers to jobs and education? Who will bring us closer to real safety, freedom and power? Who has clearly shown us where they stand?The answer is someone who started this work well before campaign season, who understands our deaths as tragedies not political talking points and someone who will speak out against the wars being waged against our communities. Not someone who only pays attention to our concerns when it s time to collect our votes. Not someone who gives us bread crumbs and expects us to be full.Black Americans all Americans need a leader with a record that speaks for itself. And to me, it s clear. Of all the presidential candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders is our strongest ally. Earlier in January, Eric Garner s mother, Gwen Carr, endorsed Hillary Clinton. Her endorsement was put our in the form of a press release by the Clinton campaign. In the press release, Carr writes: Hillary seems to be the only candidate right now who s talking about how we can be strategic in trying to solve this problem. That s why I m endorsing her for president. In contrast, Garner sees Sanders as similar to President Obama. She writes that President Obama was decried as being too extreme and too inexperienced. I remember another candidate who dared me to believe in hope and change. His opponents said he wasn t ready for leadership. They said he couldn t win. He said, Yes, we can. And we did. I still believe we can. That s why I endorse Bernie Sanders for president. There has been a stark generational divide between Clinton and Sanders supporters, this divide between two different members of the Garner family fits that pattern and shouldn t shock anyone. Both candidates have had some trouble when it comes to racial justice issues. Sanders has had trouble recognizing the non-economic ways that violence is inflicted on people of color. Clinton, (somewhat unfairly) has had to distance herself between the policies that her husband, former president Bill Clinton, ushered in in the 1990 s. Those policies led to the dismantlement of welfare as it was known, and in some ways helped create our current era of mass incarceration. Both candidates have put out criminal justice reform packages. Here is Clinton s and here is Sanders .For some, the idea that anyone who works within the current political system will truly be an ally for people of color may be seen as wishful thinking. The politics of any movement that built on a collection of diasporic communities can be hard to nail down. Black Lives Matter is no different. But one thing is for sure, for many the black vote is no longer a guarantee for the Democratic Party. That isn t to say that people of color are jumping ship to vote for Republicans. However, with snake people, especially those in more radical activist communities, you have to earn people s votes, and support. Garner feels that Sanders has earned the title of being people of color s strongest ally. That status has a lot to do with Sanders reaction to criticism of his racial justice package.Whether that proves to be true or not, only time will tell. Regardless of who is the eventual nominee, the public must continue to work towards pushing candidates to do more than pay lip service to traditionally marginalized communities. Change does not always come easy, but it does come when people remain persistent that their communities matter. You can read Garner s full endorsement here.Featured Image Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr | 0 |
Elizabeth Warren is one of the most popular liberals in the country. She brought us the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has savagely attacked Wall Street at every opportunity, and her name is floated for VP more than anyone else by liberals desperate to see her in the Oval Office.But now she is an Enemy of the Revolution because she didn t endorse Bernie Sanders which, according to the True Believers, cost Sanders the hotly contested Massachusetts primary. To forestall the usual whining: Bernie True Believers are not EVERY Bernie supporter. Most of them are normal, rational people that want Bernie but will vote blue no matter who wins because a Republican president is unthinkable right now. On the other hand, True Believers are all about purity and would happily watch the country burn so they can sit on their high horse, sneering at the millions of people that dared to not back their perfect candidate. That their high horse would be burning along with everyone else never seems to occur to them. But at least their soul is unsullied so who cares? Got it, #NotAllBernieSupporters, now get over it and move on.After pleas from Bernie supporters for Warren to endorse Sanders went unanswered, angry True Believers swarmed her facebook pages to denounce her:Dennis Flannigan: I m losing all respect for you.You re showing yourself to be just another wave-riding professional politician.That means you re part of the problem.Endorse Bernie now or go away!JoAnne Tyler: I am done with you, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. Bernie was our best chance to change things, and you turned your back on him. I, for one, won t forget. If you really cared about the values you espouse, you d have endorsed Bernie long ago. Go to hell.Ricky Cox: I am taking my Like back from this page. It s easy to talk tough on wanting to fix the problems in this country but when it was time to back the guy trying to do it you stayed quiet before your home state s primary. Pathetic. From now on when you give your little talks about fixing the broken system we will all know it is for show.John Michael Sandernista: I m done with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren for not endorsing Bernie. None of her rhetoric means anything if she won t stand up to Clinton and the DNC. DONE. Unfollow.Here s a good one that shows just how unhinged the True Believers are:Drew Phillips: So it turns out you re just like all the other politicians bought off by Wall Street. You could ve endorsed Bernie before today and made an actual difference in this election but you were too scared. All that tough talk is nothing without action. Taking my money and endorsements elsewhere.Elizabeth Warren is possibly the most hated person on Wall Street. So of COURSE she s been bought off by the banksters because she didn t endorse Sanders. Makes perfect sense.Every time I post about the True Believers and how very much like the Tea Party sounded as they were getting started, I get chastised for cherry picking just a few random malcontents. But guess what? There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of these posts and stop by any pro-Bernie group and you ll find an unending stream of the same vitriol. It s even worse on the pro-Bernie pages because there s so little push back inside their little bubble. If they were such a tiny minority, they would be shouted down. Buuuuuuuuut they re not.The worst part about all of this is that Bernie himself has made it absolutely clear that he d vote for Clinton in a heartbeat before allowing any Republican in the White House. But that s the problem with True Believers, they stop hearing what the object of their devotion says and instead chase the idealized fantasy while constantly looking for heretics to burn a the stake. Featured image via video screen capture | 1 |
Karma It seems to be biting a lot of anti-Trump libs pretty hard in the a*s lately A movie is in the works about Hillary Clinton and her amazing criminal life, and legendary actress Glenn Close has been chosen to play the former first lady and presidential candidate! Glenn and Meryl [Streep] s names were both mentioned a lot but after Meryl got so political at the Golden Globes, producers thought it might be better to go with Close, sources said.-RadaronlineStreep was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award earlier this year for her lifetime achievements at the Golden Globes. She went on a 6-minute long tirade against Trump just days before he was sworn into office.Not everyone thought Streep s Trump bashing speech was so clever or honest for that matter.Watch: | 1 |
The state of Oregon is hoping to get 5,000 volunteers for a program that tracks every mile you drive and then charges your credit card for every mile driven. The kicker is that this program might cost more than it takes in because the vendor takes 40% of the profits. I d like to know how much the device costs the taxpayers and if they ve already purchased 5,000. Then there s the privacy issue when the state tracks your every move. Oregon is using an experimental program to become the first state to tax drivers based on the miles they travel on state roads rather than the gas they purchase.The voluntary program, called OReGo, is designed to capture taxes from hybrid and electric car drivers who have been able to skirt gas taxes.Oregon s Department of Transportation is hoping to get 5,000 people to volunteer to install a small device under their steering wheels that will track their mileage and charge drivers credit cards one and a half pennies for each mile driven, Fox News reported Friday.Transportation officials say the growing numbers of electric and hybrid cars has left the gas tax flat and unable to fund road maintenance. We re trying to make up for a growing deficit, really, because inflation s eating away at our ability to buy asphalt and rebar and the things we need to maintain the roads, Tom Fuller of the Oregon Department of Transportation told Fox News.Oregon was the first state to impose a gas tax in 1919. That tax has now reached 30 cents per gallon.Some Oregon drivers want the program to go national to make the tax more fair for all drivers. I ve been free-loading on the highways for 20 years driving electric cars or hybrid cars, getting at least 40 miles to the gallon. So I haven t been paying my fair share, said Oregon resident David Hastings, Fox reported.But others are raising questions about privacy. Two of the three OReGO systems track and store a car s every move. To put a GPS monitor in everybody s car, the government already knows too much about us as it is, said Jeff Kruse, a Republican lawmaker, Fox reported.There is also growing concern about the cost of the program. OReGO vendors will collects up to 40 cents of every dollar drivers are charged, and green car drivers could be in for some serious sticker shock every month.Read more: WT | 0 |
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden will raise the minimum age at which workers can take their state pension over the coming years, a move designed to match an increase in average life spans, the major political parties said on Thursday. Workers can currently choose to take their state pension from the age of 61. This will be raised successively to 64 by 2026. The current pension system was designed around 20 years ago and Swedes now live around 2.5 years longer on average. That is positive but it means that pensions ... have to last a longer time, the parties said in a statement. In order to maintain a good and sustainable pension level, therefore, people need to work longer. The reforms will also make it harder for companies to get rid of people who want to continue to work after the mandatory pension age and tighten requirements for funds providers in the pension system after a number of scandals. [L8N1CU16Y] The deal, which will not affect state finances either positively or negatively, was agreed between the minority coalition of the Social Democrats and Greens, the Moderates - the biggest opposition party - and the Center, Liberal and Christian Democrat parties. | 0 |
COLUMBUS, Ohio — So here we are, nearing the end of 2016’s race to the bottom. Through it all, through his ugly caricatures of Mexicans and Muslims, through her pretzel contortions to explain her emails, through the Russian hacking and the 3 a. m. Twitter rants and the rest, this was always going to be a “hold your nose and vote” election. But at Tommy’s Diner, a colorful Columbus institution in a neighborhood once known as The Bottoms, “hold your nose and vote” is giving way, for some people, to “hold your nose and don’t vote. ” The distaste for the presidential election is obvious almost anywhere you look here in the capital of a swing state where in July 2015 Gov. John Kasich of Ohio (remember him?) became the 16th of 17 Republicans who hoped to succeed President Obama. Aaron Burnside, 23, a law student at Ohio State University, was at the student union that day, listening with optimism as Mr. Kasich declared that “the sun is rising” in America — words that now seem so quaint. Never for a minute did Mr. Burnside, who described himself as a “ fiscally conservative, socially liberal” Republican, imagine himself not casting a ballot on Election Day. But on Thursday, with early voting underway here and Mr. Trump and President Obama in town, Mr. Burnside had no idea whether he would vote for president. “It depends on how I feel that morning,” he said. He will go to the polls — it’s his civic duty — to back his party in races Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, is fending off a challenge from Ted Strickland, a Democrat and former governor. Mrs. Clinton seems too far to the left for him, he said never a Trump fan, he found the Republican nominee’s vulgar boasts of grabbing women’s genitals “disgusting. ” So he feels stuck, as do many voters. As early voting begins in Ohio and elsewhere, many Americans are approaching the election with a sense of dread. In a CBS News poll released earlier this month, just 46 percent of likely voters said they were very enthusiastic about going to the polls, down from 62 percent in late October 2012, according to a New York News poll. What’s uncertain this year is how many people will cast reluctant votes and how many won’t vote at all. At the diner, Tommy is a gregarious Greek immigrant and American citizen named Tom Pappas, who loves politics but keeps his business nonpartisan. The walls are covered with photos of Democrats and Republicans in equal numbers, and of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Tommy’s grandchildren and Ohio State football stars. Mr. Pappas, 63, and his wife Kathy, 57, have owned the diner for 28 years. Kathy Pappas, who bakes the baklava and bread pudding, pays little heed to politics (she leaves that to Tommy) but this year finds it impossible to escape. “I turn on the radio, looking for the traffic or the weather,” she said, “and what do they talk about?” Mrs. Pappas said she has always voted. “But I don’t know if I’m going to this year,” she said. “I just don’t care for either one, and I don’t trust either one. There’s just not a good feeling either way you look, and that’s sad. ” Every day 400 to 500 people pass through Tommy’s customers run the gamut. Breakfast on Thursday brought a group of retirees, white men in red who had spent the morning building tables and chairs at a furniture bank for the needy two retired social studies teachers with their daughter, an acupuncturist (also an herbalist) and her boyfriend, a tattoo artist a group of bus drivers a retired firefighter, plus the usual smattering of lawyers and state workers. The acupuncturist, Keri Ondrus, 31, has given up on voting altogether she has taught English in Costa Rica, and was involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement, describing herself as a “total idealist” and ‘‘anarchist’’ who feels there must be another way to repair the world. Her parents, Charlotte and Bill Ondrus, the retired teachers, will vote for Mrs. Clinton. “You guys are not enthusiastic about Hillary,” their daughter said. “I know,” her mother replied, “but I’m scared to death of Donald Trump. ” Lunchtime brought a team of bail bondsmen an Air Force veteran and gun rights enthusiast wearing one of Mr. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” ball caps and a pistol in a sleek, black Velcro case on his belt and a young artists, preparing for a show at Wright State University in Dayton. “Why would I waste my time?” Kyle Steed, 23, a composer with the group, said of voting, adding that he would rather spend his time helping the homeless as a volunteer. His friend Shamere Griffin, 21, another of the artists, shook her head wordlessly, seeming to fight back tears. She said she could never vote for Mr. Trump, given his characterizations of blacks, Muslims, Mexicans and women. She wants an America in which she doesn’t have to remind “my little brother, when he walks down the street, to walk with his hood down,” and has no confidence that Mrs. Clinton can deliver that. She will stay home. “Let’s just be real,” Ms. Griffin said. “What has she done for us? That’s what I want to know. What has she done for my people?” Ohio is politically engaged in 2012, when President Obama ran against Mitt Romney, 70. 5 percent of registered voters cast ballots, compared with 57. 5 percent nationwide, and one in three voted early. Some election offices reported long lines when early voting began here Wednesday David Pepper, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, called Mr. Trump a “turnout machine” for Democrats. But an Street Journal poll released Thursday — and conducted after the emergence of a videotape showing Mr. Trump saying he groped women — found the Ohio race virtually tied. “I’m very motivated,” declared Robert Tannous, a lawyer in a dark blue suit, as he navigated his way around a waitress during the lunchtime rush. Motivated to vote for whom? “Hillary Clinton,” Mr. Tannous said. “And the sad thing is, I’m a lifelong Republican. ” George Wolf, a 73, a retired firefighter who owns a small heating and air conditioning business here, comes to Tommy’s every morning for the crispy corned beef and a dose of friendship. A longtime Republican, he says he “cannot allow Hillary Clinton to get in,” and proceeds to tick off the reasons. “When you mention Benghazi, I get really upset,” he said, referring to the 2012 attack on a United States diplomatic mission in Libya. “Four people died she doesn’t seem to care. ” Then there are her emails. And her paid speeches: “I just don’t like the fact that a politician is out to make money,” Mr. Wolf said, adding that he would vote for Mr. Trump, which he views as better than not voting at all. He does not feel good about it. “He went bankrupt as a man, that doesn’t help me pay my bills,” said Mr. Wolf, who added that he did not like Mr. Trump’s nasty nicknames — “Crooked Hillary,” for example. “That’s a child talking,” Mr. Wolf said. He backed Mr. Kasich in the primary, but came around to Mr. Trump after the Ohio governor dropped out of the race. Roughly a third of all Clinton and Trump backers say the main reason for their choice is that they oppose the other candidate, a recent Pew Research Center survey found. Millennial voters, ages 18 to 29, are especially discouraged and looking for a political outsider who can inspire them — one reason they rallied around Mrs. Clinton’s primary opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Picking at his chili and sandwich, Mr. Burnside sounded absolutely deflated. His dining partner was his mentor, Steve Fitch, 68, a Clinton supporter. They were talking about Mr. Fitch’s work as a commercial litigator Mr. Burnside was seeking guidance on how he could use a career in law to “resolve conflicts. ” The 2016 campaign seemed antithetical to the younger man’s dreams. Mr. Burnside was asked if he ever thought about that. “Oh,” he said. “All the time. ” | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran has made important progress in its effort to implement the international agreement to curtail its nuclear program, but its actions must still be independently verified, the White House said on Friday. “We want to make sure they don’t cut any corners,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a briefing. He said Iran would not receive sanctions relief until the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirms it has complied with the agreement. Earnest said he had no update on the timing of the implementation of the nuclear deal. | 0 |
MANCHESTER, N.H. (Reuters) - A stronger-than-expected U.S. economic report on Friday came at a good time for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, although Republican contender Donald Trump’s campaign blasted the numbers as “dismal.” The Commerce Department reported that the economy grew at a 2.9 percent annual rate in the third quarter, its fastest pace in two years and higher than the expected 2.6 percent, thanks to a surge in exports and a rebound in investment. With just 11 days to go before the Nov. 8 election, the report bolstered Clinton, who has positioned herself as the best candidate to continue years of economic expansion under President Barack Obama. More Americans say jobs and the economy are their No.1 priority when they decide who to vote for than any other issue. Trump argues that as a successful businessman and political outsider, he is the best person to take a new approach to rebuilding an economy that has sent too many jobs overseas and left many Americans struggling to find decent jobs. His campaign said the figures are still not good enough. “America can do better than the modest growth of 2.9 percent recorded for the 3rd quarter and the dismal growth of 1.5 percent for the past year,” Dan Kowalski, Trump’s deputy policy director, said in a statement. “Growth hasn’t risen above 3 percent for a full year in any year of the Obama presidency,” he said. While many voters do not follow economic indicators closely, outside experts said the release was still a good one for Clinton. She is seeking to solidify her lead in opinion polls as the Democratic Party works to win as many seats as possible in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, where Republicans now control majorities. “Today’s release will likely improve the perception of economic conditions in the U.S. and slightly increase the odds of a Democratic president remaining in the White House,” said Brian Schaitkin, senior economist at the Conference Board. Clinton’s camp said Friday’s report showed “real progress” since Obama took office in 2009, when the country was struggling to emerge from economic recession. “With more than 15 million jobs created since early 2010 and real median incomes growing more than 5 percent last year, it’s clear we’ve made real progress coming back from the crisis,” Clinton senior policy advisor Jacob Leibenluft said in a statement. But he added that there is still more that can be done. Clinton was campaigning on Friday in Iowa, where polls show she and Trump running neck-and-neck, and in Michigan, a traditionally Democratic state hit hard by the movement offshore of many formerly well-paying American manufacturing jobs. Trump was holding rallies in Iowa as well as in another closely contested swing state, New Hampshire, and in Maine, where his campaign sees a chance to grab one of four electoral votes. In the last weeks of the campaign, Clinton has dramatically widened her advantage over Trump in ad spending, amid questions over the celebrity businessman’s pledge to contribute more than $100 million of his own money. He spent $56 million through the end of September, and only $31,000 since, according to filings. Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News reports that the candidate has stopped putting his own money into his campaign are not true. “He has said publicly many times he is in for $100 million and he is happy to invest in his campaign,” she said. | 1 |
LIMA (Reuters) - A leading Peruvian opposition lawmaker on Monday called for the country s Vice President Martin Vizcarra to govern the country if Congress ousts President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski over graft allegations he denies. Enough political parties have committed to backing a motion to oust Kuczynski in a scheduled vote in the opposition-run Congress on Thursday. Kuczynski has repeatedly said there was nothing improper about recently disclosed business ties that he once denied having with Odebrecht [ODBES.UL], a Brazilian builder at the center of Latin America s biggest corruption scandal. If Kuczynski does depart, Vizcarra would be authorized to carry out the rest of Kuczynski s scheduled 2016-2021 term. Congresswoman Luz Salgado denied her party, Popular Force, which has a majority in Peru s single-chamber Congress, would seek to topple Vizcarra as charged by opponents. If he (Vizcarra) does his job well and assumes the role that history if offering to him, he ll have our corresponding support, said Salgado, a key leader in the party. We re thinking about what s best for the country. We re not trying to find fault in anyone. Kuczynski and Vizcarra s offices declined requests for comment. No major policy changes are expected if Kuczynski were replaced by Vizcarra, a former governor of a copper-rich Andean region and Peru s current ambassador to Canada. But the political crisis has spooked investors in one of Latin America s most stable economies. It s going to have an important impact on the economy. Investments are going to be delayed, said Carlos Galvez, the chief financial officer of Peruvian miner Buenaventura. A 79-year-old former Wall Street banker, Kuczynski was part of a rightward shift in South American politics when he was elected last year. His fight for survival underscores the risks facing political leaders with long business resumes as graft scandals roil the region. Kuczynski has described Popular Force s efforts to unseat him as an authoritarian attack on institutions, and criticized the party for not giving him more time to defend himself. We look like a banana republic. Without a proper procedure, Congress is just usurping the presidency, Housing Minister Carlos Bruce told journalists on Monday. Popular Force said it only hopes to uproot corruption and was acting within the bounds of the constitution. The party emerged from the right-wing movement started by the country s former authoritarian president Alberto Fujimori, who is now in prison for graft and human rights crimes. It is now led by Kuczynski s defeated electoral rival Keiko Fujimori. New elections, which would be the worst-case scenario for investors, would only be called if both Vizcarra and Second Vice President Mercedes Araoz leave office before 2021, a scenario Araoz ruled out in an interview with Reuters on Sunday. | 0 |
SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump suffered another legal setback on Monday as a second federal appeals court refused to revive his travel ban on people entering the United States from six Muslim-majority nations in a dispute headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals used narrow grounds to reject the Trump administration’s bid to undo a Hawaii federal judge’s decision blocking the temporary ban. It said the Republican president’s March 6 order violated existing immigration law. But the three-judge panel - all Democratic appointees - did not address whether it was unconstitutional discrimination against Muslims. A second court, the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, on May 25 upheld a Maryland judge’s ruling that also blocked Trump’s 90-day ban on travelers from Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The 4th Circuit had ruled that the ban, which replaced an earlier Jan. 27 one also blocked by the courts, “drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination” aimed at Muslims. The 9th Circuit largely left in place a nationwide injunction by Judge Derrick Watson that stopped parts of the order, which Trump said was urgently needed to prevent terrorism in the United States. That ruling came in a lawsuit challenging the order brought by the state of Hawaii, which stated the ban would harm its universities and tourism industry. Even before Monday’s ruling, the case was on the fast track to the Supreme Court, where the administration on June 1 filed an emergency request seeking to reinstate the order and hear its appeal of the 4th Circuit ruling. The Supreme Court could act on the administration’s request as soon as this week. Trump has been on the losing side in all four court rulings on the March order. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the administration is reviewing Monday’s decision and expressed continued confidence that the order is fully lawful and ultimately will be upheld by the Supreme Court. “I think we can all attest that these are very dangerous times and we need every available tool at our disposal to prevent terrorists from entering the United States and committing acts of bloodshed and violence,” Spicer told a briefing. The 9th Circuit upheld the block on Trump’s three-month travel ban for the six countries and four-month suspension of all refugee admissions. But the court pared back part of Watson’s injunction in order to allow the government to conduct internal reviews on vetting procedures for these travelers. The administration said the travel ban was needed to allow time to implement stronger vetting measures, although it has already rolled out some new requirements not blocked by courts, including additional questions for visa applicants. Rather than focusing on Trump campaign statements as the Virginia-based court did, the 9th Circuit said the language in the executive order itself did not make a rational case for why a travel ban was needed. “The order does not offer a sufficient justification to suspend the entry of more than 180 million people on the basis of nationality,” the court wrote, referring the combined populations of the six countries. Under immigration law, the administration was required to make findings that entry of the people in question would be detrimental to the United States but failed to do so, the court said. Stephen Vladeck, a professor at University of Texas School of Law, said the 9th Circuit provided an easier path for the Supreme Court to keep the travel ban on hold, because it avoided entirely the controversy over Trump’s campaign statements. “It provides a very attractive way to leave the injunction in place without setting broader doctrinal rules about which they may have pause,” Vladeck said. Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Monday was the deadline for the ban’s challengers to respond to the administration’s request that the order be allowed to go into effect. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents people challenging the ban in the separate Maryland suit handled by the 4th Circuit, filed court papers urging the court not to take up the case, saying the order will become moot on Wednesday, 90 days from when Trump issued it. Lawyers for Hawaii called the order a “thinly veiled Muslim ban.” Trump’s earlier Jan. 27 order also included Iraq among the countries targeted and a total ban on refugees from Syria. The March order was intended to overcome the legal issues posed by the original ban, but was blocked before it could go into effect on March 16. The suits by Hawaii and the Maryland challengers argued that the order violated federal immigration law and a section of the Constitution’s First Amendment that prohibits the government from favoring or disfavoring any particular religion. Hawaii’s court papers mentioned a series of Trump Twitter posts on June 5. Trump described the order as a “watered down, politically correct” version of his original one. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A public feud between President Donald Trump and influential fellow Republican Bob Corker could narrow the path for a tax overhaul in the U.S. Senate, where a Republican go-it-alone effort is already showing signs of disunity. Days after the Republican-controlled Congress took important steps toward advancing tax legislation, Trump’s Twitter attacks on Senator Corker over the weekend threatened to further alienate the president from other key Republicans such as Senator John McCain, whose “No” vote was pivotal in the party’s failure to repeal Obamacare in July. Although a foreign policy specialist, Corker is also a key player in the tax debate. He helped the Senate move closer to legislation by agreeing to a budget resolution that would allow tax reforms to reduce government revenue by up to $1.5 trillion over a decade, but he wants savings elsewhere and has vowed not to vote for a tax package that adds to the federal deficit. Republicans hope Corker will ultimately vote for tax reform in hopes of boosting economic growth. But Trump’s tweets do not help, especially now that Corker has decided against seeking re-election next year and is free to vote whichever way he wants without having to face voters again. Republicans are desperate to push through tax reform, seeing it as their last good chance to get a major legislative victory in the first year since 2006 that the party has controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress. Trump and top Republican lawmakers have unveiled a plan to slash taxes for businesses and individuals, the first comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. tax code since 1986. They hope to get it done by January. The tax push has been dogged by delays and distractions such as Trump’s criticisms of his own party’s leaders, including Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan. The latest incident erupted on Sunday when Trump lashed out at Corker in a series of derisive tweets saying the lawmaker had “begged” him for his endorsement ahead of the midterm election next year and announced his retirement after being turned down. Corker replied by describing the White House as an adult day care center, and told the New York Times that Trump risks setting the country on the path to “World War Three”. The spat complicates things for Republicans as they try to move tax legislation through the Senate, which they control by a slim 52-48 margin. Most Democrats oppose the plan, and Republicans cannot pass it if they lose support from more than two lawmakers of their own party. “This is a delicate balance,” said Stephen Moore, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation who helped write Trump’s campaign tax plan. “It all comes down to whether you can get 50 votes in the Senate. Right now, by my count, they’re at about 48. A few votes short.” Divisions have emerged over proposals to repeal the federal inheritance tax and a popular deduction for state and local taxes. Senate Republican Rand Paul has expressed unhappiness over reports that Trump’s tax plan could raise taxes on some middle-class Americans. Republicans need to keep Corker on board and prevent him from becoming a maverick like McCain, known for his sharply independent streak. “Bob Corker, at this point, is as free as John McCain is to do what he thinks is right,” said William Galston, who was a domestic policy adviser to former President Bill Clinton. Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist with close ties to Congress and the White House, said he thinks most Republican senators will get in line despite their concerns over Trump’s treatment of their colleagues. “While it may really bother other Senate Republicans and it’s unnerving that one of their own is being attacked, most aren’t retiring and know they must still work with the White House or answer to frustrated voters,” Bonjean said. | 1 |
Andrew Korybko The DuranTrump was more aggressive than usual yesterday when he said that he s not ruling out a military option in Venezuela, and the international media went haywire speculating that the President was considering an invasion. Nothing justifies what Trump said, but taking aside all moral considerations, his statement shouldn t have been surprising, and interestingly enough, it might even backfire on him.All US Presidents routinely restate the rhetoric that all options are on the table when dealing with the crises that their country provoked abroad, which in this case is the Hybrid War on Venezuela that seeks to attain proxy control over the world s largest oil reserves in the Orinoco River Belt and smash the socialist-multipolar ALBA grouping.Venezuela s preexisting socio-political vulnerabilities and institutional weaknesses were exploited by the US economic machinations against the country in order to trigger a Color Revolution against the government. When that failed, the regime change movement transformed into an urban insurgency and recently expanded its operations by staging a terrorist attack against a military base in the central part of the country.It s very likely that the situation will devolve into an externally triggered civil war with the eventual intent of sparking a military coup attempt against President Maduro, but the odds of the US directly intervening in this scenario are slim. Rather, Trump s threatened military option probably relates to the Lead From Behind role that the US is slated to play in using Colombia as its regional partner for funneling weapons and other forms of assistance to the moderate rebels in Venezuela just as it used Turkey to do vis-a-vis Syria for the past six years. Additionally, it can be confidently assumed that the CIA is hard at work trying to engineer its desired military coup, though the chances of its success are unlikely unless the Hybrid War becomes a full-fledged externally triggered civil war like in Syria. These two interconnected reasons explain what Trump meant by refusing to rule out a military option , though there s admittedly the extreme case that can t be discounted whereby a humanitarian intervention of varying scale is unleashed in the final stages of the crisis in order to decisively topple the government at its weakest moment.No matter what the US ultimately does or doesn t do, however, Trump s braggadocious statement might actually backfire on him by increasing President Maduro s appeal among the on-the-fence members of the so-called opposition . It s one thing to detest an elected leader and hope for his downfall, but it s another to actively support the foreign invasion of one s country by the hemisphere s traditional hegemon, especially given the US bloody history of military activity in the Americas across the past century.Trump s comments therefore put the US regime change proxies in a bind because they re now caught in a dilemma between supporting what the world at large perceives to be a threat to invade their country or to support its legitimate leader whom they ve been rioting against for months already. The average anti-government supporter can be presumed to be equally against Maduro, a speculated US invasion of their country, and the opposition s riots, wanting only to hold snap elections in the hope of peacefully carrying out regime change.They ve been backing the opposition up until this point, however, because they saw them as the least-bad option available, but Trump s implied military threat essentially exposes them in acting as the tip of the spear in a possible invasion, seeing as how the chaotic civil war conditions in which the US could conventionally intervene in Venezuela would be due to their intensified Hybrid War actions.This fact should rightly give pause to self-identifying patriotic opposition members and prompt them to reconsider their least-bad normative assessment that they previously gave to the opposition . If they engage in some serious self-reflection, they ll see that it s actually President Maduro who s the least bad of the two, and that the best way to achieve their objective of regime change is to begrudgingly wait until the next democratic vote is scheduled to be held.Continuing to throw one s weight behind the opposition at this point is tantamount to openly supporting the steps that are needed to create the conditions for Trump s media-hyped military options against their country, up to and including a humanitarian intervention . It s not known what proportion of the opposition satisfies the patriotic criteria that these points would apply to, but if their numbers are large enough, then their passive defection from the anti-government movement s ranks in response to Trump s threat could deal a blow to the regime change effort.On the other hand, and approaching the subject from a cynical angle as the devil s advocate , it might not tangibly change much at all if the US already has its mind dead-set on escalating the Hybrid War on Venezuela to a Syrian-like level, though it would nevertheless represent an important moral victory for the legitimate government by further exposing the opposition s treasonous connivance with the US.In any case, regardless of what Trump really meant in his military options comment and despite whatever the patriotic opposition members decide to do, all indications suggest that Venezuela is at a fateful turning point and that the coming weeks will decide its future for what might end up being the years to come.*** Author and geopolitical analyst Andrew Korybko and contributor to 21st Century Wire. He studied international relations at the Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO), and is as a member of the expert council for the Institute of Strategic Studies and Predictions at the People s Friendship University of Russia. He also works as a current affairs writer for Sputnik News and is host of Trend Storm on Sputnik Radio. His book, Hybrid Wars: The Indirect Adaptive Approach To Regime Change , extensively analyzes the situations in Syria and Ukraine and claims to prove that they represent a new model of strategic warfare being waged by the US.DISCLAIMER: The author writes for this publication in a private capacity which is unrepresentative of anyone or any organization except for his own personal views. Nothing written by the author should ever be conflated with the editorial views or official positions of any other media outlet or institution.READ MORE VENEZUELA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Russia FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1 |
Does anyone else get the sense Hillary is not quite as popular with Americans as the media would like us to believe? She can barely fill a phone booth with supporters at her rallies and the activity with her social media accounts pale in comparison to Donald Trump s. Will the media be able to convince enough Americans that voters actually like or trust Hillary by November? Flashback to 2014, before the full-force of Hillary s reckless handling of highly classified emails put our national security at risk: People magazine has been a propaganda arm of the Left for decades. The June 16, 2014 cover promoting Hillary as our next President is no exception. Unfortunately, the propagandists at People Magazine underestimated the disinterest and dislike Americans had for Hillary Clinton when they made the decision to place her on their cover.According to AdWeek s report on the best and worst covers of 2014, the Clinton cover was People s most unpopular cover of the year, selling only 503,890 copies.Considering that 70% of People magazine s readers are women, this embarrassing cover flop should be of great concern to the campaign of the first female candidate for President Watch:The most successful cover? Unsurprisingly, Robin Williams memorial issue from August sold a total of 1,169,800 copies.- Huffington PostThis is just more proof of how UNpopular Hillary Clinton truly is with American voters and most especially with a demographic she can t afford to lose women voters. | 0 |
GAZA (Reuters) - The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas named as its new deputy chief on Thursday a formerly Turkey-based commander whom Israel has accused of orchestrating a lethal triple kidnapping that helped trigger the 2014 Gaza war. Saleh al-Arouri s promotion comes as Hamas seeks to close ranks with U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after a decade-old schism, in an entente Israel says will not revive peace talks unless Hamas recognizes its right to exist and disarms. The Palestinian Information Center, a Hamas-linked news site, said Arouri, who was born in the occupied West Bank and was exiled by Israel in 2010 after long stints in its prisons, had been elected as deputy to the group s leader Ismail Haniyeh. He (Arouri) is now the Hamas movement s No. 2 man, the site said. Twenty-three years of detention and expulsion have not weakened the resolve of the leader Saleh al-Arouri, 51. After three Israeli teens were abducted and killed in the West Bank in June 2014, Arouri - then in Istanbul - claimed responsibility in the name of Hamas. Israel responded with a West Bank security sweep which, along with the revenge killing of a Palestinian youth from Jerusalem by a group of Israelis, spiraled into a 50-day war in the Gaza Strip, Hamas fiefdom. Gaza health officials say 2,100 Palestinians were killed in the conflict, while Israel put the number of its dead at 67 soldiers and six civilians. Israel also pressed Ankara s Islamist-rooted government to crack down on Arouri, describing him as the mastermind of the kidnappings and other Hamas militant attacks. Hamas sources said Arouri left Turkey in late 2015 for Qatar and later Lebanon. They declined to give his current location. | 0 |
The latest liberal meltdown comes from Minnesota This reminds of the mayor who was stopped by the police and had a fake meltdown too (see below). Do these liberals all have a meltdown handbook ?SDA reports:If you re a Social Justice Warrior, here s a standard set of tactics to get your way:Proclaim anything you wish, no matter how ludicrous.If anyone dares disagree with you, call them a racist, bigot, homophobe, or Islamophobe.If they dare object, scream at them that they are out of order and to stop interrupting you.Start shaking and crying, proclaiming how passionate you are about what you re saying.Do whatever you need to do to make yourself out to be the victim.Now that you understand this playbook, watch New Brighton, Minnesota mayor Val Johnson follow this script:Vote this crazy liberal lunatic out THAT S WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS LIBERAL LUNATIC: Thank goodness a police camera captured a Democratic county lawmaker bizarrely screaming, begging, invoking for special privileges, saying she s broke, claiming to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and panting like she s about to keel over while she received a routine speeding ticket for driving 13 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. The legislator in the disturbing dash-cam video is Jennifer Schwartz Berky, a member of the Ulster County Legislature in Ulster County, New York.Becky obviously doesn t think the rules apply to her The incident occurred back in May. The video is coming out now just in time for local elections in response to a Freedom of Information Law request (and in spite of appeals by Berky s lawyer to suppress it).You owe it to yourself to watch this woman s epic freakout. There s groaning and whimpering. There are excuses galore.Mere words cannot do any sort of justice to the groaning, the whimpering, the excuse-making, the lamentation and the gnashing of teeth over a speeding ticket for going 43 miles per hour in a zone where the posted speed limit is 30 miles per hour.The New York Post has published an even shorter version sort of a CliffsNotes summary of Berky s amazing encounter with local police.Berky who claims in the video that she suffers from PTSD has an undergraduate degree in art history and a graduate degree in urban planning from Columbia University, according to a lengthy biography at the website of Ulster County s local government.She was born and raised in New York City but has lived for several years abroad during her career and studies, and is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian. She lists three party affiliations in her bio. In addition to the Democratic Party, there is the Green Party and the Working Families Party, an ultra-progressive leftist group.She has been very been active in supporting her fellow Democrats and Working Families Party candidates in federal, state and local elections. Wow! Koo Koo!Read more: Daily Caller | 1 |
THE BOSTON GLOBE ran a Sunday edition with a fake cover slamming Donald Trump for his desire to secure our border with Mexico. It was kind of a look at how supposedly horrible life would be with a president who actually puts Americans first. Fake news is happening everywhere these days but it s a big deal when a major newspaper does it. This is yet another example of how the media is so desperate to hurt Trump.The great thing is that there s the new media that responded almost immediately with a cover of Obama. The different in this cover is that these horrible things are REALLY happening under Obama! Way to go! | 1 |
During Watergate, the line became follow the money. In the Trump, Russia scandal, you can bet that investigators are following the money. In fact, the for-profit scheme is so brazen that the Trump administration, which is packed with oligarchs, is flaunting it.Not only is the Trump administration blatantly profiting off of the office of the presidency, but Exxon Mobil, the company that used to have Trump Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at its helm, is asking for a waiver so they can profit in Russia.This is beginning to sound a bit like deja vu; a Trump meets with a foreign leader and mysteriously, new business ventures open for Trumpsters.Of course, it s one thing is that country is actually a trading partner then only the Emoluments Clause is brought into question but when members of the Trump administration attempt to do business with Russia, a country with whom our relationship can best be defined as it s complicated, (we have sanctions againt them) more than a few eyebrows are raised. They aren t even pretending anymore. Exxon wants to drill in Russia and you can be sure that if it were just up to the Trump administration, they would be granted their application, despite the fact that they were denied just two years ago.Exxon has been seeking U.S. permission to drill with Rosneft in several areas banned by sanctions and renewed a push for approval in March, shortly after its most recent chief executive, Rex Tillerson, became secretary of state on Feb. 1, according to one of these people. The company originally applied for a waiver to gain access to the Black Sea in July 2015 but its application wasn t approved, the person said.Source: Wall Street JournalWhile Tillerson has recused himself for two years on anything regarding his old company, the people who work for him in the State Department will be processing the application.The only thing standing in the way of the application is our very corporate friendly Republican Congress, although, at a time when they are investigating Russian ties, granting permission might not be the best way to win over voters. They are investigating connections between Trump s administration and Russia. It certainly doesn t look good that right after Trump snatches Tillerson from Exxon Mobil, they ask for favors from the government. Did I mention that Tillerson has what the Wall Street Journal describes as a close working relationship with Russia s President Vladimir Putin?The best response to the request did come from one Republican, though. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) tweeted Are they crazy? Are they crazy? @WSJ: Exxon Seeks U.S. Waiver to Resume #Russia Oil Venture https://t.co/CHKS3sjOa8 John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) April 19, 2017No, they aren t crazy. They are seeing exactly how much they can get away with, and so far, they are getting away with everything.Featured image via Brian Harkin/Getty Images | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A White House official on Sunday attacked a U.S. court ruling that blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration as a “judicial usurpation of power” and said the administration was considering a range of options, including a new order. Sustained criticism of the judiciary from the White House comes amid concern among Democrats and legal scholars over Trump’s view of the constitutional principle of judicial independence as the administration seeks to overcome legal setbacks to its travel ban issued on Jan. 27. It has also become the backdrop against which U.S. senators consider Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, for a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court. The Republican president said on Friday that he may issue a new executive order rather than go through lengthy court challenges to the original one, which temporarily barred entry to the United States of people from seven Muslim-majority countries. “We have multiple options and we are considering all of them,” White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller said on ABC’s “This Week.” Miller sharply criticized the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on Thursday that upheld a Seattle federal judge’s suspension of Trump’s executive order. He accused the San Francisco-based court of having a history of overreaching and of being overturned. “This is a judicial usurpation of power,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” “The president’s powers here are beyond question.” The Trump administration has defended the travel ban on grounds it will prevent potential terrorists from entering the country, although no acts of terrorism have been perpetrated on U.S. soil by citizens of the targeted countries. The ban’s announcement, late on a Friday, sparked a weekend of confusion at airports around the globe and within the federal agencies charged with enforcing it. It also triggered widespread protests and legal challenges. Aware that a new executive order would allow critics to declare victory against the travel ban, the White House has deflected blame and intensified its criticism of the judiciary. “I think it’s been an important reminder to all Americans that we have a judiciary that has taken far too much power and become in many cases a supreme branch of government,” Miller said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “One unelected judge in Seattle cannot make laws for the entire country. I mean this is just crazy,” he said. Miller’s performance on several Sunday news shows won a plaudit on Twitter from Trump, who has himself attacked individual judges and called the courts “so political.” “Great job!” Trump tweeted. Gorsuch condemned the attacks on the judiciary as “disheartening” in private meetings last week with a number of U.S. senators, who pressed the judge to go public. Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist, confirmed the conversations. Legal experts said the Trump administration statements could undermine respect for the constitutional division of powers. Cornell University law professor Jens David Ohlin said that accusing the judiciary of usurping the president’s powers demonstrated “an absurd lack of appreciation for the separation of powers.” “Miller is coming dangerously close to reviving a discredited and dangerous theory that each branch of government, including the president, has independent authority to decide what the law and Constitution mean,” Ohlin said in an interview on Sunday. “In our system of government, the commander in chief executes the laws, but it is the judiciary which interprets both the laws and statutes passed by Congress and the Constitution. That’s their solemn duty,” he added. Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said Trump’s remarks could diminish popular respect for institutions of law and order by making Americans think “the government’s a joke, that you don’t have to follow what judges say.” Immigration laws give the U.S. president broad powers to restrict who enters the country on national security grounds. But the same laws forbid discrimination based on race, sex, nationality or place of birth or residence. The case also could involve First Amendment protections involving religion. Trump’s executive order banned entry into the United States to refugees and citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days and all refugees for 120 days, except refugees from Syria, who were banned indefinitely. Options for the administration include formulating a new executive action, appealing the 9th Circuit panel’s decision to the full appeals court and appealing the emergency stay to the U.S. Supreme Court, Miller said. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and House of Representatives leaders pushed on Wednesday for votes for their plan to overhaul Obamacare and said they were making progress in their efforts to win over conservative Republicans who have demanded changes to the legislation. With a vote on the bill possible as soon as Thursday, members of the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative Republican faction, said they had been negotiating alterations to the plan with the White House. Much of the discussion hinged on conservatives’ desire to scrap what are labeled “essential health benefits” - services that insurance plans are required to cover under the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, such as mental health help. “I can tell you that we’re making great progress,” Mark Meadows, chairman of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus, told reporters. “We’re not there yet. But we’re hopeful.” Trump was to meet at the White House with members of the Freedom Caucus on Thursday at 11:30 a.m, the White House said. But while the president courted conservatives, the bill appeared to be losing traction among Republican moderates, some of whom attended a meeting late Wednesday in House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office. Representative Charlie Dent, a leader of the “Tuesday Group” of House Republican moderates, issued a statement saying he could not back the bill. “I believe this bill, in its current form, will lead to the loss of coverage and make insurance unaffordable for too many Americans, particularly for low- to moderate-income and older individuals,” Dent said in the statement. The chairman of the House Rules Committee, which met all day Wednesday to set the rules for the bill’s consideration on the House floor, said late on Wednesday that the panel would resume its meeting on Thursday, having made no definite decision on the timing of the floor vote. Repealing and replacing Democratic former President Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act is a first major test of Trump’s legislative ability and whether he can keep his big promises to business. Plans aired by Trump during his election campaign and his first two months in office lifted U.S. stock markets to new highs. But stocks fell back sharply on Tuesday as investors worried that a rough ride for the healthcare legislation could affect his ability to deliver on other big pieces of his agenda, from cutting taxes and regulation to boosting infrastructure. Major stock indexes wobbled on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending slightly down and the S&P 500 slightly higher. Investors are eagerly awaiting Thursday’s healthcare vote, which could be pivotal for Trump’s broader plans. The Freedom Caucus has objected to the bill because its members believe it is still too close to Obamacare. Representative Steve King, a conservative who was among lawmakers who met Trump on Wednesday morning at the White House, said he would now vote for the bill because he got a commitment from Trump to publicly advocate a change to the legislation when it reaches the Senate, eliminating the essential benefits, which also include emergency room visits and maternity and newborn care. “I have a full and firm commitment with many witnesses from President Trump,” King said in a video statement on YouTube. Meadows said the members of the Freedom Caucus had also discussed the essential benefits with the administration. Conservatives say reducing or scrapping the mandates would bring down insurance premiums. On the other side, patient advocates say that not requiring the coverage would hurt both individuals and healthcare providers. “It could leave countless people with too little coverage to meet their health care needs and drive higher rates of uncompensated care at hospitals already struggling to cover their costs,” Bruce Siegel, president of America’s Essential Hospitals, said in a statement. Earlier on Wednesday, a Freedom Caucus aide said more than 25 of its members were opposed, enough to stop the bill from passing. Republicans cannot afford to lose more than 21 votes from their own party, since Democrats are united in opposition. Democrats, meanwhile, said amending the bill in the Senate would affect procedure, and increase the amount of votes Republicans would need in that chamber. Currently, Republicans intend to pass the plan through budget reconciliation, a process with little room for changes that only requires a simple majority to pass. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders also gave signs negotiations were making headway late on Wednesday. “We are continuing to move forward and adding new supporters constantly,” she said. “As we have indicated previously we are open to changes to the bill that make it better and grow its support.” The primary aim of Obama’s signature legislation, passed in 2010, was reducing the numbers of Americans with no health coverage. Twenty million people gained insurance under the law. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated 14 million people would lose coverage under the Republican plan by next year. It also said 24 million fewer people would be insured by 2026. The Republican plan would also rescind taxes created by Obamacare, repeal penalties for not buying coverage, slash funding for the Medicaid program for the poor, and modify subsidies that help individuals buy plans. In the two weeks since it was unveiled, shares of some hospital operators and health insurers have fallen more than 10 percent. If the healthcare bill passes the House, the Senate could take it up next week. Republican leaders hope that if the Senate acts quickly, the bill could go back to the House for a final vote by mid-April, possibly allowing Trump to sign it into law by Easter, April 16. Opponents of the overhaul have been fiercely vocal, and on Wednesday protesters, many in wheelchairs or with serious medical conditions, blocked the Capitol rotunda for about an hour. “Rather go to jail than die without Medicaid,” they chanted. Capitol police said they made 54 arrests and later released the protesters. ACA vs. AHCA: tmsnrt.rs/2n0ZMKf Where senators stand on the AHCA: tmsnrt.rs/2mUE4Xf How Americans feel about the AHCA: tmsnrt.rs/2n7f3e4 | 0 |
Later this week, Pope Francis will reportedly make a moral case for combating climate change, arguing that it is mostly a problem created by humans and that we must make fundamental lifestyle and energy consumption changes to reverse course — on behalf of the world’s poor, but also on behalf of all of us. This, among other factors, could help push climate change on to the national political agenda, giving it more relevance to this cycle than it has enjoyed in previous years.
But if anything, the partisan and ideological divide over global warming is as wide as ever, and perhaps is getting worse.
That’s what a new Pew poll indicates. The Pew poll finds that worry about global warming is on the rise: Some 69 percent of Americans now say it is a “very” or “somewhat” serious problem. However, Pew also finds: “views about the significance of global warming as a problem continue to diverge.”
The Pew poll finds that 68 percent of Americans think there is solid evidence of global warming. But the partisan divide is stark: 86 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of independents say there is evidence of it, while Republicans are split, 45-48, on the question.
That’s driven (not surprisingly) by conservative Republicans, the only ideological group that says there’s no solid evidence of climate change — and when you get deeper into the partisan and ideological breakdown, the differences get more stark:
Today, roughly nine-in-ten liberal Democrats (92%) say that there is solid evidence the earth’s average temperature is rising, and 76% attribute this rise mostly to human activity. Very few liberal Democrats (5%) say there is not solid evidence of warming. A clear 83% majority of conservative and moderate Democrats also say the Earth is warming, but just 55% say this is the result of human activity. By contrast, just 38% of conservative Republicans say that there is solid evidence of global warming. Reflecting a divide within the GOP, conservative Republicans stand out as the only ideological group in which a majority (56%) says that there is not solid evidence of a rise in the earth’s temperature (a 61% majority of moderate and liberal Republicans say the earth is warming).
Meanwhile, as David Leonardt notes, skepticism about global warming is running high among GOP voter groups, such as older voters, whites, men, and white evangelicals.
While there are reasons to doubt that Hillary Clinton will be quite the climate hawk that some advocates hope for, in her Saturday kick-off speech she leaned harder than expected into arguments for robust action to combat climate change and transition towards a clean energy economy and future. It’s often said that climate is not a motivating issue for voters, and it’s true that Democrats and advocates have not cracked this problem yet. That said, whatever the impact on the electoral outcome, it’s still plausible that climate will have a significantly higher profile this cycle than it has in previous ones.
It’s not just that Clinton appeared to signal that she will campaign on climate, as part of a broader bet on the Obama coalition of millennials, non-whites, and socially liberal college educated whites. It’s also a confluence of other factors: The Obama administration will roll out new EPA rules for existing power plans this summer, and the court battles over them will intensify. Meanwhile, President Obama will be trying to negotiate a global climate deal later this year in Paris. All indications are he’ll be talking about the issue more and more, as a key piece of his legacy. These developments may coincide with the intensifying GOP presidential primary, in which the candidates will all be showcasing the zeal with which they’d roll back Obama’s agenda — the climate piece included.
All of which seems likely to only make polarization around climate change worse. No matter what Pope Francis has to say about it.
UPDATE: I should also have noted that the Pew poll finds that worry about global warming is on the rise: Some 69 percent of Americans say it is a “very” or “somewhat” serious problem. I’ve edited the above to add that. | 1 |
A Mexican national was busted attempting to smuggle highly lethal narcotics into the United States. [Tucson Sector Custom and Border Protection officers made a large seizure on Wednesday when they discovered 23 pounds of fentanyl. The Mexican man’s Chevrolet SUV was flagged for secondary inspection while traveling through the Dennis DeConcini crossing. A narcotics alerted officers to the drugs hidden in the vehicle’s dashboard. The 23 pounds of fentanyl recovered was estimated to be worth approximately $378, 000. Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more than heroin. Some estimates suggest that as little as . 25 milligrams of fentanyl can kill a human, although most estimates consider a lethal dose to be in the range of 2 milligrams to 3 milligrams. The latest statistics from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) indicate that fentanyl is the largest drug threat in the United States, killing 44 people per day. Ryan Saavedra is a contributor for Breitbart Texas and can be found on Twitter at @RealSaavedra. | 0 |
DAHIYAT AL BARID, West Bank — At 4:15 a. m. on a street, a Palestinian man came running from the shadows between buildings with a rickety wooden ladder. He slapped it against the hulking concrete wall and climbed up, hoisting himself the last six feet because the ladder was too short. The wall, which Israel began building more than a decade ago to thwart the suicide bombers of the second intifada, is supposed to prevent Palestinian residents of the occupied West Bank from entering into Israel outside military checkpoints where their papers can be examined. But the Palestinian man perched in a gap in the concertina wire that tops much of the snaking route of the wall. He motioned to a white Daewoo sedan that had lurched to a stop below, and one by one, four young men stepped out of the car, climbed the ladder, and slid down a rope on the other side. Within minutes, another car was speeding the men to construction sites in Israel, where they did not have permits to work, and the man with the ladder was leaving to look for more willing to pay to scale the wall. “In the West Bank, you have hustlers,” said the man, who, like more than two dozen other Palestinians interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was breaking the law. “You can either call them hustlers, or you can call them brokers. ” This furtive predawn crossing is part of a thriving smuggling industry that allows untold numbers of people to pass over, under, through or around what Israelis call the security barrier — for a price. The industry offers economic benefits for everyone involved: Palestinian workers earn double or quadruple the wages they can in the West Bank Israeli contractors and restaurant owners pay less for illegal labor than for Palestinians with permits and the smugglers collect $65 to $200 for each person that passes. Punishment for those caught is generally being sent back to the other side. The system punches a hole in Israel’s system for regulating Palestinians’ access to work inside Israel, and has security implications: Attackers like the two Palestinian men who fatally shot four people this month at a Tel Aviv cafe sneak through as well. The two men lived in Yatta, a village in the West Bank’s south, near where the unfinished barrier consists mostly of a metal fence with numerous gaps and holes. Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said they had entered Israel illegally, “most probably via one of the areas which are open or not completed. ” The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, says that from Oct. 1 of last year to Feb. 1, 21 Palestinians who attacked Israelis were in the country illegally. Since the Tel Aviv attack, Israel’s Defense Ministry has promised to extend a more effective form of the barrier to the south, an area heavily trafficked by smugglers. But the government’s other response to the shooting, the cancellation of 83, 000 special permits for Palestinians to cross during the holy month of Ramadan, may reveal how difficult it will be to stanch the flow. At the Qalandiya checkpoint outside the city of Ramallah on the Friday after the attack, men stood at the edge of the restive crowds no longer able to pass through, shouting “tahreeb, tahreeb” — Arabic for “smuggling, smuggling. ” “We have to understand that you will never solve the problem,” said Nitzan Nuriel, a retired Israeli brigadier general and the former head of the prime minister’s counterterrorism bureau. “Whenever you have illegal workers, it is part of the reality, it is part of the economy. ” The challenge, said Mr. Nuriel, now a counterterrorism expert at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, is filtering potential terrorists from ordinary workers. “You have to decide,” he said, “which fish to catch and which fish you can allow to swim. ” The economics of the smuggling business are straightforward — and irresistible. Unemployment among West Bank Palestinians is about 20 percent over all, and is even higher for young people. Starting wages per day, according to Khalil Shikaki, the director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah, are 70 to 80 shekels, or $20. Numerous Palestinians working illegally at Israeli construction sites said they made $80 to $100 a day. That is still a major bargain for Israeli companies, who have to treat Palestinians with work permits similar to Israeli workers in terms of wages and benefits, covering sick days, vacations, health insurance and pensions. There are currently about 55, 000 Palestinians with permits working legally in Israel, and an estimated 20, 000 in the settlements, according to Palestinian Labor Ministry. That is down from a peak of 140, 000 before the second intifada in 2000, the ministry says (when the population was about the size). Estimates vary widely on the number of illegal workers. Mr. Shikaki said 30, 000 was a reasonable guess Mr. Nuriel said it was closer to 60, 000, depending on the time of year. Most work in construction, agriculture or restaurants. Mr. Rosenfeld, the police spokesman, said that hundreds of illegal workers were picked up each week, but that the authorities were “focusing on arresting those that are attempting to bring in the Palestinians illegally. ” The first time someone is caught in Israel illegally, he said, the police simply record the incident and release the worker back to the West Bank. Repeat offenders “will appear before the courts” and may face other penalties, Mr. Rosenfeld said, adding that anyone suspected of links to terrorism is referred to the military. But Palestinian workers who have been arrested multiple times said in interviews that the most serious consequences they have faced have been an interrogation and being dropped off at a checkpoint as far as possible from where they were picked up. Mr. Nuriel, the counterterrorism expert, said that it would be too costly to keep such a large population in jail and that even widespread arrests were impractical, asking, “Who is going to interrogate them?” At a large construction site in Israel, an illegal worker in a yellow hard hat who goes by the name Abu Khalid estimated that he had gone over the wall dozens of times in the last year alone. Like many others interviewed, he said his routine was to cross the wall, work inside Israel for a few days or weeks, and then go back to the West Bank for a short rest. Some employers house workers in trailers, some workers stay with relatives or friends, and some, like Abu Khalid, camp outside. At 50, he has a lined, deeply tanned face and, the sign of his seniority on the job, a in his pocket. Abu Khalid said that a package deal for the jump over the wall and transportation to his work site costs about 800 shekels for a solo trip when three men go in together, he said, they can cross for perhaps 300 shekels each. “That’s a lot of money,” Abu Khalid said. Workers “punch in” as soon as they arrive at a job site, he added, and both Israeli and Palestinian contractors know they have no permits. At day’s end, Abu Khalid continued, “we go find a water pipe to take a shower, and then we find a nice tree and sleep under it. ” Passage is not always as simple as going up a ladder and down a rope. Two young workers — Ahmad, 19, and Bassem, 21 — sat on a terrace in their village, north of Ramallah, and chuckled about a time when tight security forced them to go under the wall, not over it. “We used to go through a water main like snakes,” Bassem said. Ahmad’s father, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of legal repercussions, said his son provided a prime source of income for the family. But Ahmad is also a source of deep anxiety because of how he travels to work. “When he goes and he comes, I have my hand on my heart in fear of something happening,” the father said. Nowhere is passage more perilous than the West Bank’s south, where the Tel Aviv suspects, who are cousins, most likely crossed. “You don’t know who you are walking with,” said Mahmoud Khalil, 19, a Palestinian who was working at an Israeli construction site but had no permit. Mr. Khalil is from Yatta, like the suspects, but he said he did not know the cousins and came to Israel only to earn money for his family. He said he paid 250 shekels for safe passage through a large gap in the barrier near the village of Dahriya, southwest of Yatta, and transportation to the work site. One recent day near Dahriya and neighboring Ramadin, pickups jammed with illegal workers played with Israeli military Humvees, racing from gap to gap as smugglers chattered on phones nearby. Workers and smugglers alike understand that terrorism is bad for business. A driver for the smugglers in Dahriya who spoke on the condition that he be identified only as Abu Ramzi said that he and his colleagues alert Palestinian security forces at the first hint that a client intends to commit violence in Israel. He complained that the Israeli military had stepped up patrols of the southern barrier since the Tel Aviv shootings. “Before this last attack, the army would act as if nothing was going on — 30 or 40 workers would cross into Israel all at once,” said Abu Ramzi, 34. “This last attack has temporarily complicated our operation. ” Still, he said, “we will always find ways to get these workers in. ” That resolve was tested after nightfall last Monday, when five pickups and a Mazda sedan filled with workers massed in the center of Dahriya. With their lights off, the vehicles made two attempts to cross the web of rutted, rocky dirt roads and reach gaps in the fence, but they turned back because spotters saw Israeli Army Humvees converging on the same areas. Finally, the smugglers’ vehicles roared toward another spot, throwing up thick billows of dust and bouncing the workers mercilessly in the beds of the trucks. At the bottom of the hill, two lookouts were talking on their cellphones under an olive tree. To the west, past the fence, nothing was visible but the distant lights of Israeli towns and cities. Then the lights of the cars sent to pick up the workers on the Israeli side could be seen approaching on the bare hills. A smuggler yelled, “Yalla, yalla!” — “Go, go!” — and workers leapt from the trucks and began running toward a gap in the fence that had been flimsily repaired. Someone pulled it open, and someone else carefully lifted a few strands of razor wire that had been tossed in the dirt to make the passage more difficult. The workers, many toting backpacks stuffed with clothing, slid under the razor wire and met the cars. The last man lifted the razor wire himself, slipped under and ran toward the cars, which drove off toward job sites among the distant lights. | 0 |
Not that it matters, but since it appears that no one has read the bill, it s probably not that unlikely that Democrat senator Ron Wyden misspoke In a speech on the Senate floor on May 22, Democratic senator Ron Wyden of Oregon ridiculed those who thought climate change regulation would be part of Obamatrade:We ve heard suggested, for example, that it s a backdoor route to immigration reform or action on climate change . My sense is that the rate these hypotheticals are going, you re bound to hear that a future president working on a trade deal might have second thoughts about the Louisiana purchase.But in an interview on NPR s Marketplace yesterday (June 3), President Obama said that enforcing climate change regulations will indeed be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Obamatrade pact that he is currently negotiating with Malaysia and 10 other countries. He said:If we want to solve something like climate change, which is one of my highest priorities, then I ve got to be able to get into places like Malaysia, and say to them, this is in your interest. What leverage do I have to get them to stop deforestation? Well part of the leverage is if I m in a trade relationship with them that allows me to raise standards.In December, Obama will negotiate a multi-country climate agreement in Paris. We already know from Obama s joint announcement with China that he will commit the United States to a huge reduction in carbon emissions of 26%-28% from 2005 levels, but he will let China, already a much larger carbon emitter, continue to expand its carbon emissions until 2030.Via: American Thinker | 1 |
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has just sent the Trump campaign a message that is going to make them furious, especially coming from one of the largest investment banks in the country.Recently, the bank banned all of its top officials from donating to Trump s campaign which is kind of hilarious considering how much Trump s campaign is struggling. In a memo right now, the bank instructed its highest ranking employees: Effective Thursday, September 1, all partners across the firm are considered restricted persons as defined by the firm s Policy on Personal Political Activities in the US. As outlined below, restricted persons are prohibited from engaging in political activities and/or making campaign contributions to candidates running for state and local offices, as well as sitting state and local officials running for federal office.The policy change is meant to prevent inadvertently violating pay-to-play rules, particularly the look-back provision, when partners transition into roles covered by these rules. The penalties for failing to comply with these rules can be severe and include fines and a ban on the firm from doing business with government clients in a particular jurisdiction for a period of at least two years.The policy change is also meant to minimize potential reputational damage caused by any false perception that the firm is attempting to circumvent pay-to-play rules, particularly given partners seniority and visibility. All failures to pre-clear political activities as outlined below are taken seriously and violations may result in disciplinary action. Damn! And to make this even more brilliant, Goldman Sachs SPECIFICALLY called out the Trump campaign when they described the types of donations that are banned: any federal candidate who is a sitting state or local official (e.g., governor running for president or vice president, such as the Trump/Pence ticket, or mayor running for Congress), including their Political Action Committees (PACs). TwitterTwitterThe interesting thing here is that both Trump and Clinton s running mates hold a position in a political office yet only Trump s VP pick, Indiana governor Mike Pence, is mentioned. To make matters even worse, these rules don t restrict donations to Clinton s campaign because Kaine is a U.S. Senator for Virginia and not considered a local official according to Goldman Sachs rules (although the memo does say employees cannot donate to the Virginia Democratic party).Although Goldman Sachs CEO hasn t officially said who he is voting for, it s public knowledge that he s a long-time Clinton fan, and had donated to her campaign when she ran against Obama in 2008.You can read the full memo here, as obtained by Fortune.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images | 0 |
Yes, you read the title correctly. Trump s pick for attorney general has seriously said that children with disabilities attending public schools are the problem with America s education system.In May 2000, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), gave a speech about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act on the floor of the Senate. He argued that one of the main reasons public schools in America are failing miserably at educating our children is because kids with disabilities have been mainstreamed. We have created a complex system of federal regulations and laws that have created lawsuit after lawsuit, special treatment for certain children, and that are a big factor in accelerating the decline in civility and discipline in classrooms all over America. I say that very sincerely, Sessions said.Sessions insisted that he had received letters from teachers all over the country who said they weren t allowed to properly discipline troubled or disruptive students because of the Disabilities Education Act. We have children we cannot control because of this federal law, he said.As the Huffington Post explains: The law, which passed in 1975, was enacted to protect children with disabilities from the school administrators that Sessions cited. It required schools to grant students with disabilities an education in a general classroom when possible, and encouraged the parents of those children to be more intimately involved in their education. The legislation, which has been reformed various times since, is credited with providing millions of children with mainstream public school access and support. Sessions could care less that education advocates, even from his own state, have made it clear that the only way they have been abe to get fair treatment for disabled students is through federal regulations and the threat of lawsuits.According to Candace Aylor, a veteran parent advocate and appointee to Texas health commission s Behavioral Health Advisory Committee, Session s arguments are not only nauseating, they are heartless and misguided. If he doesn t recognize the need for schools to be required to provide a free and appropriate public education to all students regardless of disability what kind of society does he intend for us to live in? she said. What should we do? Should we put them in asylums again? How far back in history should we go? Are they not worthy? Are they defective in his mind? It isn t likely that Trump gives a hoot that his choice for attorney general thinks we should keep children with disabilities hidden in a back room and not waste our precious time educating them. After all, Trump himself thinks it is perfectly acceptable to mock people with disabilities.Featured image via Active For Life | 0 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Monday called for urgent dialogue between Catalonia and Spain, and said it was vital to prevent events from spiraling out of control after a violent police crackdown on an independence vote in the region. The images that reached us yesterday from Spain show how important it is to interrupt the spiral of escalation, Gabriel said in a statement in which he echoed calls by European Union officials for dialogue between Spain and Catalonia. Gabriel urged both sides to keep calm and work toward a lasting political solution that maintained the rule of law, which he said was one of the key pillars that united EU members. | 0 |
Shawn Helton 21st Century WireThe 1994 cult film Natural Born Killers, is an examination of media manipulation, archetypal psychology and the violence embedded within American pop culture.Although it s been more than two decades since Natural Born Killers (NBK) first shocked viewers with its adrenaline fueled brutality, biting satire and darkly ironic media montages, the enigmatic picture s overall depiction of the American media complex is just as effective today. CHAOS ROAD Mickey and Mallory Knox are depraved icons in the twisted world of NBK. (Photo illustration: Shawn Helton)On the film s jarring surface, we see Micky (portrayed by Woody Harrelson) and Mallory Knox (Juliet Lewis) metaphorically reborn (from their violent past) as outlaw-lovers embarking on a psychopathic cross country murder spree but as well come to find out, there s much more to this psychologically challenging piece of cinema.Over the years, NBK has seen comparisons to Hollywood crime classics such as the Badlands (1973), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), the serial killer mockumentary , Man Bites Dog (1992), as well as the dystopian mind-bender, A Clockwork Orange (1971). NBK has also been thematically linked to Network (1976), another motion picture with a scathing appraisal of mass media, as well as the 1960 s road-film Easy Rider (1969), and the strikingly similar dark thriller Kalifornia (1993), which also starred Juliet Lewis playing a near identical role.In many ways, much of the media driven subtext of NBK has never seemed more relevant than now, as the film recognized mass media s growing obsession with violence and trashy entertainment all at once. The film also acknowledged the public s fixation with reality TV in all of its incarnations, perhaps envisaging the multi platform information craze in the age of social media.To this day, the Oliver Stone directed controversial feature Natural Born Killers (Based on a story by Quentin Tarantino) remains a harsh critique of American media and pop culture, as it casts a spotlight on the lurid agitprop used to steer public perception through various forms of infotainment.Over the course of this analysis, we ll explore some of the underlying aspects of Natural Born Killers, as well as contextualize its relation to real-life violence seen in the modern era CULT OF PERSONALITY Natural Born Killers reflects the heartless transformation of mass media.On The Road: Tragedy & SatireFrom the outset, sight, sound and mood take precedence over a traditional narrative structure throughout NBK. The film begins with a roadside montage of predatory animals (coyote, eagle rattlesnake) struggling to survive while Leonard Cohen s classic song Waiting for the Miracle slowly fades in creeping along to the foreboding imagery. The sequence subliminally conjures the all too familiar eugenics based survival of the fittest axiom something which reflects the ruinous and fractured socio-political environment that has become so pervasive in modern America.All the while, the action shifts dramatically from grainy black-and-white footage of America s Southwest, to a red filtered glow, then back to full color, as elliptical-style editing (as well as cross-cutting and parallel) sets the tone for the illusory motion picture magnified by its tension inducing dutch-style camera angles.18 different film formats were used to create NBK in addition to many unusual lighting techniques everything from black-and-white to dusty old 8mm, to 16mm, to 35mm stock, to CCTV video and animation. DINE & DASH NBK sees Mickey Knox on a quest to become Nietzsche s Overman. When the establishing sequence of NBK finally settles inside the 5 to 2 Cafe, we see a television rapidly changing channel to channel going from the all-american series Leave It to Beaver, to 77 Sunset Strip, a late 1950 s secret agent crime drama, to the resignation speech of President Richard Nixon, which is juxtaposed against an old horror film relic featuring Boris Karloff.The short panning shot is emblematic of America s dark evolution during the 20th century and serves as a stark bell weather for the rest the high paced surreal picture. In fact, strategically placed images, products and objects are seen throughout the entirety of NBK, evoking a strong emotional response in the viewer bringing to mind the psychology behind propaganda. DAEMON Subliminal dissolves bring a mystical depth to NBK.In the movie s first scene, the camera slips across the cafe, sliding past a character later revealed to be Owen Traft (Arliss Howard), who is a guardian angel or daemon, linked to the Knox pair. Traft vanishes before our eyes (Traft is later seen in the film s prison break sequence) while reading a newspaper about the highway 666 murders, prefiguring the dark media frenzy soon to envelop the Knox outlaws.Celebrating after a fresh deer kill, a pack of foul-mouthed cowboys file into the 5 to 2 Cafe. We then see Mickey order a key lime pie, as his partner in crime Mallory, looking part prostitute, part Pocahontas, seductively dances to the jukebox. Mickey surveys the room and a bright toxic green is contrasted against some of the action within the scene. While some green tones traditionally have a calming restorative quality, the kind used in NBK denotes a sickness inside the mind. SPIRIT ANIMAL NBK s cafe cowboys run over a scorpion on the road, impacting their fate when facing Mallory and her quasi-totem.Shortly thereafter, Mallory challenges one of the boozed-up misogynistic buckaroos to hand to hand combat just as L7 s Shit List kicks in on the jukebox. The cafe scene erupts into chaos as the soon-to-be famous fugitives dispatch all but one person (the pinball cowboy) in the roadside cafe. The pinball cowboy is kept alive to tell the tale of Mickey and Mallory, in a twisted version of the counting game Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.Following the murderous cafe ruckus, the Knoxes ride out into the desert as wild dissolves intertwine with projected news clippings, images of past crimes and the Hydra myth in the form of a monster flick clip. Additionally, there s a musical schizophrenia to NBK, with a collection of modern and classic songs intermixed with fragmented and atmospheric snippets, signifying a faded, yet stitched together memory in the Trent Reznor/Jane Hamsher selected soundtrack.Later on during a roadside pit stop, Mallory invokes the Book of Revelations and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as she describes seeing a vision of Mickey riding a red (war) horse, while suggesting the star-crossed lovers might be fallen angels. At that same moment, a floating image of a multi-armed Mallory is seen in the sky, bringing to mind the devouring Hindu goddess Kali. CUPID S REVENGE NBK s dingy satire of TV sitcoms of old in I Love Mallory serves as a dysfunctional backdrop to Mickey and Mallory s hard-edged romance.Oedipal, Electra & the Hidden OrderContinuing by the roadside, the scene drifts into a dream sequence/flashback in the form of a 1950 s style sitcom parody entitled I Love Mallory. Here we see Mallory s dysfunctional family completely controlled by her abusive and incestuous father Ed Wilson (Rodney Dangerfield). The scene is an inversion of the soft TV sitcoms dominating the airwaves in real-life, as the lecherous Wilson unleashes a disturbing diatribe amid a background laugh-track.During the same scene, a deliveryman named Mickey enters the frame, falling in love with Mallory at first sight. Mickey leaves with Mallory and in the process steals Ed s car. Later, Mickey is arrested and imprisoned, managing to escape from a prison work farm during a tornado. NBK s tornado prison break, may be seen as a reference to the classic film The Wizard of Oz a storm system which forever alters Mickey s future world.Mickey and Mallory return to the Wilson residence, seeking revenge on Mallory s father and mother, in what could be seen as a loose interpretation of the dark lyrical finish to the enigmatic song The End by The Doors. The Wilson s are murdered in a shocking home invasion scene and the house is set ablaze, while Mallory s brother Kevin (Sean Stone) is set free during the inferno.With each new set of kills, Mickey and Mallory grow closer and after their demented Oedipal/Electra complex resolution at the Wilson residence, the two get hitched in a blood ritual ceremony filmed on the scenic Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in Taos, New Mexico. Here Mickey proclaims the couple s marriage is sanctified because he is the god of his world, conjuring Friedrich Nietzsche s Overman concept, as well as a Apollonian/Dionysian influence within the killer s process.In an analysis entitled, The Dionysian and the Apollonian in Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy, by Alexander Gatherer of Cardiff University, we are provided a more detailed look at both the Apollonian and Dionysian philosophical concepts: The opposing concepts of the Dionysian (hereon DI) and Apollonian (hereon AP) are central themes within Nietzsche s first major work, The Birth of Tragedy (hereon BT). His contemplation of such opposing forces of nature are primarily used to analyse Greek culture in general, and Greek art in particular, stating that its role in Greek attic tragedy places these plays at Greece s cultural pinnacle. Continuing, Gatherer s essay analyzes critical aspects of AP and DI: Nietzsche s concepts of the AP and DI, along with the entirety of BT, were not well received initially: the author himself called the book badly written, ponderous, embarrassing, image-mad and image-confused (Sweet, 1999, p.49). However, the ideas have left a notable legacy and are still discussed in matters of ethics, politics and art. Indeed, Michael Motta (1991) likens the opposing forces to mental illness, stating how stages of mania in bipolar artists can be likened to that of the DI ( The urge to create is great, but the ability to step back, to control the process is reduced ), with depressive phases linked to the AP ( Critique and reflection take precedence over impulsivity, inhibition holds sway over exhibitionism ). With this in mind, we can interpret Mickey and Mallory s unresolved tension between AP and DI, as a philosophical reason for their dissent into madness.Although in Stone s view, Mickey and Mallory are tragically flawed because of a failed system, which frames the prison system, the police system and mass media, as the true American criminals. However, this ideological stance of the film is itself a false paradigm stuck in a social justice vortex, while masked in Carl Jung s rebel archetype pointing to Stone s sometimes radical political perspective.Returning to NBK, we see Mickey and Mallory make a blood pact and exchange snake rings presented by Mickey, who is connected to the reptilian realm via his Caduceus chest tattoo. At significant points during NBK, snake imagery is observed, recalling the occult and mythological associations of the serpent. Additionally, there seems to be a Shiva/serpent attachment linked to Mickey as a counterpart to Mallory s Kali connection, with an underlying current of the symbol of immortality, Ouroboros. Other distorted biblical themes are also echoed during NBK, such as the Book of Genesis and the Garden of Eden exemplified by Mickey s assisted escape from prison by a rattlesnake.Many associations are often seen throughout NBK, which reflect a deeper archetypal presence contained within the film.In Anton Ehrenzweig s The Hidden Order of Art, we can explore a deeper analysis of the unconscious mind many elements that relate to the main characters in NBK: Some evidence of creative work and poemagogic phantasy points to incomplete superego maturation as an important source of mental illness. The ego has not absorbed the death instinct into the mute workings of the creative process so that self-destruction goes rampant to destroy entire itself. In other words, Mickey and Mallory lack any mature ethical component, which leads to their shared self-destructive psychosis, which in turn, is acted out in their murderous rage. Ehrenzweig, coined the phrase poemagogic, which is interpreted as an aspect emblematic of inducing the ego s creativity in a layered dream state. The nightmare/dream state of Mickey and Mallory visually comes to life in the strewn together time-worn scenes of NBK, like fragmented vitriolic memories. BLOOD BOND A ritualistic roadside marriage filmed on the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.Media Made Political AgitatorsWhen NBK continues, all of the berserker-like chaos is captured by Wayne Gale (Robert Downey Jr.), a ratings consumed tabloid host on the fictitious television series American Maniacs. A show which obsessively covers the violent action of Mickey and Mallory at any cost. Gale is an amalgam of Australian TV s investigative host Steve Dunleavy and the long time reporter and talk show host Geraldo Rivera.American Maniacs uses the image of cult leader Charles Manson, University of Texas shooter Charles Whitman, and the sadistic killer Richard Ramirez during its credits, setting the tone for a sordid crime show reminiscent of The Current Affair and Hard Copy. NBK s representation of popular true crime programming, gives the film another disturbing art imitates life layer. In one scene, Gale describes the targeted killing of several law enforcement officers at the hands of the Knoxes which ironically, reflects many real-life crimes we see plastered across today s headlines in America.All in all, American Maniacs very well could have been a template for the seedy video-stringer film Night Crawler, while packaged in the marketing gloss of American Gladiators. In a world of news makers, Gale says repetition works, and when questioned over reusing reenacted death scenes by producers, he callously exclaims do you think those nitwits out there in zombieland remember anything. This is where we see Gale s mind warping programming taking shape for maximum psychological impact.This is what Stone s film is truly about, showcasing the often cold-hearted and calculating nature of mass media s carefully engineered narrative.With media analysis in mind, we might also consider this passage from Cult of Distraction in The Mass Ornament by film theorist, sociologist and writer, Siegfried Kracauer: Here, in pure externality, the audience encounters itself; its own reality is revealed in the fragmented sequence of splendid sense impressions. Were this reality to remain hidden from the viewers, they could neither attack nor change it; its disclosure in distraction is therefore of moral significance. Whether its banal programming intermixed with mass media s terror lens, the viewer has a choice to accept the media manipulated distractions at wholesale or attempt to unpack them through critical thinking, questioning the very nature of reportage. AMERICAN MANIAC Gale s American Maniacs glorifies tragedy for ratings.As NBK moves forward, we see the media trail and trial of Mickey and Mallory after the duo has been taken into custody. In a mockumentary style scene centered around super-fans and tacit supporters of the Knoxes, there s a decidedly social justice flair to a series of fictitious man on the street interviews.The whole segment relates to various political agitator groups that we see today like Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and the controversial identity focused activism of Black Lives Matter (BLM), as well as the FBI and the CIA s various counter-intelligence programs from the 1960 s and 1970 s. Both OWS and BLM alliances, are neo-liberal think-tank/NGO designed gatherings, meant to divide and control participants over class, identity and other socio-political concerns.NBK s court house scene featuring fervid group-think supporters, could be seen as another signal of social strife in America at the turn of the century marked pointedly by the polarizing corruption of the 1992 L.A. riots, the gross federal negligence of both the Ruby Ridge incident and the Waco siege, as well as the heavily publicized Menendez murder case (the strange and salacious trials of Lorena Bobbit and Tonya Harding) and the show trial of O.J. Simpson, an all-time ratings bonanza not counting the 95 million who watched Simpson s car chase on live TV.Interestingly though, the choreographed bombing of the World Trade Center (1993) carried out by FBI handlers and federal informants, was a curiously under reported event at the time. Which could be a reason for its absence from the media montages seen throughout NBK.The volatility of the 1990 s, proved to be an ideal backdrop for NBK, a picture made during a wave of high-profile sensationalized crime. MOTEL MAYHEM The murderous bride and groom conjuring the death of Mickey s innocence at the Lodge. Later on in NBK, with symbols fully on display, we see close camera shots of the pair s tattoos Mickey s light and dark Yin and Yang symbol and crudely drawn Christ-like tattoo are contrasted against Mallory s scorpion ink, as they ride along to abduct a hostage. As they make their way to the neon-lit Log Cabin Lodge, there very well could be a subtle reference to Freemasonary, when we witness the ritualistic behaviour shown at the Lodge. Stylistically, the motel resembles something out of the macabre cinematic world of David Lynch.In the background while Mickey and Mallory are on the motel bed, projected images on a window pane range from clips of raging dictatorships, to a young Mickey haunted by his father s suicide and a pale horse recalling the book of revelations once again. All of this takes place while a violent torture scene from the Hollywood film Scarface (written by Oliver Stone) plays out on the TV in front of their hostage.When love turns dark, Mickey and Mallory argue as time-lapse imagery of a Pray Mantis is seen symbolizing the need for contemplation during their chaos. The two separate briefly, as shamanic chanting cascades over their turbulent night crimes with visions of terror projected onto the sides of buildings.Whether its quick cut edits of opposing and often disturbing montages mixing vitriolic live action, clever special effects, absurdly horror filled projections or startling animated graphics reminiscent of Pink Floyd s The Wall NBK is a conceptual master work.As the hallucinogenic and often kinetic film progresses, a massive manhunt for the deranged Knoxes is launched by Detective Jack Super Cop Scagnetti, a masochistic vigilante law-man (Tom Sizemore) who has his own repressed demons to contend with, which manifest in his psychotic behavior towards prostitutes.We later learn that Scagnetti s mother was gunned down by the infamous shooter Charles Whitman at the University of Texas in 1966. ROADSIDE SHAMAN The Knoxes come face to face with themselves during Red Cloud s vision.Shifting mood once again, we hear the haunting piano-driven History Repeats Itself by A.O.S, (named after the 60 s counterculture chemist and sound engineer, Augustus Owsley Stanley III) which atmospherically plays in the background as Mickey and Mallory high on hallucinogens, are lost, out of gas and at odds with one another. This is the first time Mallory questions Mickey and nature of events that led to her becoming a spree killer.While looking for gas, the Knoxes approach Red Cloud and his grandson, first passing by Jacob (four-horned) sheep, revealing another biblical reference with the presence of the rare breed of sheep guardians. This is another significant scene in NBK, as the sovereign Oglala Lakota activist Russell Means, adds unique depth to the sequence playing the Navajo, Warren Red Cloud (perhaps a reference to US Marine Mitchell Red Cloud).Once inside Red Cloud s hut, the inner turmoil of the Knoxes is exposed. We then learn that Red Cloud served in the Vietnam War, reminding one of the staged Gulf of Tonkin false flag that led to the war. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted President Lyndon B. Johnson the ability to militarily engage in a full-scale conflict with North Vietnam, was made possible due to the fabrication of a crime.During the latter half of the Vietnam War, the development of controversial counter-terrorism techniques was at the utmost importance for then Director of the CIA, William Colby. One such program materialized named The Phoenix Program (Operation Phoenix), which employed various terror tactics to destabilize the North Vietnamese leadership, claiming to have eradicated the Vietcong through the use of psy-ops, extortion, the release of criminals and random targeting of civilians to achieve its aims. Some geopolitical critics believe that this template for destabilization has been used in Afganistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria in recent years.Given that Stone himself was a Vietnam veteran in the US Army, we can view that the deliberate inclusion of Red Cloud s service record was a significant aspect to the story, perhaps reflecting the false premise that the Vietnam War was based upon. SKIN-WALKER Mickey s inner demons come to the surface prior to killing Red Cloud.The pivotal scene with Red Cloud dramatically altered the emotionally unhinged killers, who were taken on a shamanic journey and forced to face their own reality during a cleansing ritual involving chanting, fire and snakes. Here Mickey s torment and abuse comes to the surface with vivid drug induced flashbacks and after being haunted by his past, he awakens and shoots Red Cloud. The tragic death of Red Cloud, is the first time both Mickey and Mallory feel the weight of their actions.With an axe to grind against mass murders Mickey and Mallory, Scagnetti, manages to apprehend the pair in a dramatic shootout at the Drug Zone pharmacy after they were bitten by rattlesnakes following their quasi-spiritual pilgrimage conducted by Red Cloud. While observing the Drug Zone s logo we see the Caduceus image (winged staff wrapped with two snakes) often inappropriately used in medicine, as it is said to be the conductor of the dead. DRUG ZONE subconscious slogans envelop Mickey in the Drug Zone shootout with police. This neon green filtered scene also represents the poisonous consumer culture, as Mickey and Mallory, drugged and snake bitten, stalk to store for anti-venom like the walking dead. Mike Smith s energetic cartoon animation is also featured, as the pharmacist ID s the pair while watching Gale s American Maniacs. Mickey revels in his newfound celebrity catching himself on TV, before he and Mallory are taken in by Scagnetti. WATCHTOWER Charles Whitman opened fire on the 27th story of the University of Texas clock tower on August 1st, 1966 in one of the most well-known mass shootings in American history. (Image Source: hartford courant)Scagnetti later hatches a scheme to kill Mickey and Mallory with the fast-talking neurotic Warden Dwight McClusky (Tommy Lee Jones), who plans his own twisted brand of justice inside the riotous Batonga Penitentiary. When Scagnetti s plot fails during NBK s prison riot scene, Mallory executes him in her cell.Scagnetti s fictitious link to a well-known true crime, merges the illusory world of NBK with the UT shooting, subconsciously grafting fantasy onto a traumatic event. In effect, the concept mimics the way news stories sometimes strangely and unexpectedly overlap within a blended hyper-reality of fact and fiction.In recent years, there has been a series of surreal and unreal news stories since the Smith-Mundt Act was effectively rendered obsolete by US lawmakers on July 2nd 2013, as confirmed by RT below: Until earlier this month, a longstanding federal law made it illegal for the US Department of State to share domestically the internally-authored news stories sent to American-operated outlets broadcasting around the globe. All of that changed effective July 2, when the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was given permission to let US households tune-in to hear the type of programming that has previously only been allowed in outside nations. The Smith-Mundt Act has ensured for decades that government-made media intended for foreign audiences doesn t end up on radio networks broadcast within the US. An amendment tagged onto the National Defense Authorization Act removed that prohibition this year. There has been an unprecedented increase in propaganda over the years, despite claims that the NDAA provision offered more transparency to the American public.On another note, there are other uncanny historical elements associated with NBK Fresh off his fame from the hit sitcom Cheers, Woody Harrelson was an intriguing choice to play the character Mickey Knox, as it emerged that his father Charles Harrelson, was a contract killer linked to organized crime. Charles was convicted in the murder of a grain dealer named Sam Degelia Jr in 1968. Later in 1981, he received two life sentences for the murder of US District Judge John H Wood. THREE TRAMPS Charles Harrelson (ID d by forensic experts on the left) is believed to be one of three arrested in Dealey Plaza after JFK s assassination in 1963. (Image Source: jfkmurdersolved)It has been stated that after a six-hour suicidal standoff with police in 1980, Charles, apparently high on cocaine admitted to killing Judge Wood, while also claiming to be involved in President John F. Kennedy s assassination.When considering the Harrelson-Kennedy connection, the 1989 book Crossfire comes to mind.Crossfire, written by the well-known researcher Jim Marrs, was also adapted for the highly controversial and successful Oliver Stone film JFK. Below is a passage from Crossfire, as it relates to the apparent Harrelson-Kennedy link: Aside from being twice convicted of murder for hire, Harrelson the father of actor Woody Harrelson had a long history of involvement with Dallas underworld characters linked directly to Jack Ruby. Continuing, the Crossfire also stated: The late Fort Worth graphics expert Jack White, who testified before the House Select Committee on Assassinations, already had noticed the resemblance of Harrelson to the youngest tramp. In a 1981 interview with Chuck Cook, Harrelson claimed to have the biggest story the reporter would ever have, when questioned about Kennedy s death. Additionally, Jo Ann Harrelson noted the similarities between the tramp photos and her husband. All this coupled with the fact Diane Lou Oswald (the mother of Woody), who had also been married to Charles Harrelson in Midland, Texas, made for a strange background concerning the JFK saga.Throughout 1981, more questions materialized regarding the assassination of Judge Wood in a UPI article, as Defense lawyers maintained [Charles] Harrelson was framed by police and the informant. Charles an ex-felon, said a friend, Hampton Robinson III, who failed to show up to testify, had driven the car. He suggested someone, possibly federal agents, had planted the guns so he could be arrested. He denied telling [Department of Public Safety agent] Pagel he carried a gun. Below, in a KDFW-TV interview in 1982, Charles Harrelson back tracks somewhat on his claims of killing Kennedy but does point directly to a larger conspiracy concerning the US government s involvement in the death of Kennedy as well as their alleged link to drug trade in America.The interview is a startling revelation, adding to the enigmatic JFK mystery and in the process provides another strange backdrop to NBK Do you believe Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy alone We ll get back to that alone, without any aid from a rogue agency of the US government or at least a portion of that agency? I believe your very naive if you do. Charles HarrelsonOn Independence Day in 1995, Charles along with two other inmates, Gary Settle and Michael Rivers, tried to escape from Atlanta Federal Penitentiary later surrendering after warning shots were fired by guards. ENTROPY & ECSTASY - NBK s mass murder mayhem hits prime time TV.Fragmented Psyche, the Death Drive & Mind ControlWhen exploring the concept of Sigmund Freud s Death Drive and its relation to NBK, we should consider a thoughtful essay by Jon Mills entitled Reflections on the Death Drive. Here we can gain a better understanding of the tension at play within the psyche of Mickey and Mallory: Freud did not argue that death [thantos] was the only aim of life, only that it maintained a dialectical tension in juxtaposition to a life principle under the ancient command of Eros, yet the two forces of mind remained ontologically inseparable. In this relational age, the death drive appears to be a drowning man. Through this analysis, we can see the tug of war within the main characters of NBK caught within a life and death cycle.Also observed throughout the nonlinear narrative of NBK, are the media mobs and throngs of onlookers mesmerized by the murderous duo s violent deeds during the course of the film, arguably revealing a Schadenfreude (joy derived from the misfortune of others).In essence, the abused become the abusers within the fragmented framework of NBK. This twist to the story pushes the observer into accepting and perhaps identifying with the malevolent turn of the Knoxes because of their own flawed and tragic upbringing. This reality is recognized in the rise against perceived corruption (particularly law enforcement) in the form of social justice group think.However, this is where the film purposely presents a false paradigm to those subconsciously seeking their own radical retribution something which further fractures the viewer s perception by utilizing stereotypical patterns or in this case violent molds to excuse the rampage carried out by Mickey and Mallory Knox.This type of false paradigm forms a preconditioned response in favor of vigilantism; preventing the viewer s ability to see things in an unbiased way, which induces a type of cognitive dissonance in passive audiences, blocking one from considering a rational outlook in the aftermath of trauma.These concepts are central to understanding the nature of NBK, as it stirs questions about morality, societal behavior and the role played by both media and the public in an ongoing celebration of violence. In this sense, we can view NBK s excessive use of trauma-based imagery as statement about the modern age, a culture perpetually inundated by destructive media programming.In many ways, mind control abuse is heavily present within the topsy-turvy world of NBK. However, its presence in the film should be seen not necessarily as an indoctrination of the viewer but perhaps as a warning to those unaware of the psychic assault on their senses from all kinds of media.The film is laced with references to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), conjuring the CIA s mind-warping military backed program, MK-Ultra, an illegal project that used hypnosis, sensory deprivation and other forms of torture to coerce an individual psychologically. This is represented in the film s main characters, as they vacillate between periods of ultra-violent behaviour and delusional wishful daydreaming, something which reflects a complex background of abuse.Here s an in-depth ABC news documentary examining Project MK-Ultra and the role played by Scottish-American psychiatrist Donald Ewen Cameron The heart of MK-Ultra is also seen in the controversial paper entitled From PSYOP to MindWar: The Psychology of Victory , written in part by the avowed satanist Michael Aquino, a high ranking security official, who was stated to have been inspired by Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander s article on pyschotronics, the employment of extrasensory perception, the transmission and reception of information via the mind.NBK s use of disturbing content might be best understood through its critique of mass media and the larger role that media has played in forcing trauma-based imagery on the public in a manner similar to that of covert military projects. In other words, NBK s volatile imagery is meant to be a savage attack on media itself and should be observed as a critique on media abuse as a whole not something that overtly supports cruelty.Other aspects of abuse are also present in NBK, whether it s Mallory s unseen abuse by her father Ed, the hostage held captive by the psychotic pair at the Lodge motel or Scagnetti s deranged and vile coping mechanism for his own tragic upbringing.Towards the end of the film, under a Stockholm Syndrome spell, crack reporter Gale, attempts to transform himself for the sake of Mickey and Mallory. This later leads to his demise, when he discovers he s not truly a natural born killer. We see the camera capture the action to tell the tale of Mickey and Mallory one more time. In the film s final surreal sequence, we see Mickey and Mallory driving in an RV as parents. The idea here is that the Knoxes represent a future society, a future nuclear family, one without traditional moral values, transformed by the death of American culture. This is something which is echoed by Leonard Cohen s song The Future at the end of the film. PRISON BREAK Mickey waxes poetic until a prison riot is sparked after talking to Gale. During the prison scene, Stone enlisted some 200 hardened criminals for the realistic riot scene.Cult Crimes & The Daily ShooterWhen concerning America s cult crimes, investigative journalist Maury Terry, and his book The Ultimate Evil, comes to mind. Winding down a dark and treacherous path, Terry s research uncovered the dark details about the so-called Helter Skelter killings, also known as the Tate-LaBianca murders, the Son of Sam shootings and other bizarre ritually crafted murders cascading across America from the 1960 s throughout the 1980 s.In an article published by Los Angeles Magazine, writer Michael Bendrix, discussed Terry s controversial book and the web of terror surrounding the apparent satanic ritual abuse (SRA) cult cases connected from coast to coast: Although Manson and David Berkowitz never knew each other, they both belonged at different times and on different coasts to the same umbrella satanic-cult organization, called the Process. The Process Church s dark history (splintered off from Scientology), also recalls the Temple of Set church, a reboot of Anton Levay s Church of Satan, as well as Jim Jones and the People s Temple. Interestingly, Jones friend Dan Mitrione, was an operative trained in advanced counterinsurgency techniques, working with both the FBI and CIA, adding to the prevailing mystery of the Brian Jonestown massacre.According to the researcher John Judge, Jones, once a poor preacher, started People s Temple after meeting Mitrione. Judge uncovered much of the media manipulation in the aftermath of the Brian Jonestown massacre. Much of which, was used to besiege the American public through a distortion of facts something that we see reflected in many high profile cases today.In the arresting book Programmed to Kill by writer and researcher David McGowan, we see an examination of the American media and government agency propelled serial killer saga in a chapter entitled The Myth of the Serial Killer. Here is a passage that directly relates to the narrative of NBK and in some cases, crimes occurring in America today: Most Americans are probably familiar with what is considered the classic serial killer profile. This was a notion first put forth by the venerable FBI, which coined the term serial killer, and pioneered the concept of profiling, in an alleged attempt to understand the phenomenon of mass murder. It appears to be the case though the concept of the serial killer profile was put forth largely to misinform the public. In the case of Henry Lee Lucas, few if any of the elements of the serial killer profile apply. For instance, serial killers are said to act alone, driven to do so only by their own private demons. So far removed from ordinary behavior are their actions that they would not, indeed could not, share their private passions with others. In Henry s case, this is a patently false notion. It has been officially acknowledged that Lucas worked with not just one, but at times as many as three accomplices Later, McGowan links the CIA s politically motivated counter-insurgency campaign within Vietnam (Operation Phoenix) to a domestic version (Operation CHAOS) of terror, featuring serial killings throughout the 1960 s, in order to create a climate of fear to push for a police state crackdown.The CIA s Operation CHAOS collected substantial amounts of information on domestic dissidents from 1967 to 1973, as admitted by the CIA.Over 40 years ago, a horrific crime spree took place sometime between 1972 -1974 that was dubbed the Zebra Murders. It was a shocking crime spree that shook the San Francisco area to the core.The murders were supposedly refered to as Zebra , because the radio communications channel that police talked over was channel Z. Reportedly, four Black Muslim men calling themselves the Death Angels were spawned from a known cointelpro hangout, Nation of Islam.The Death Angels were said to have shot future Mayor of San Francisco Art Angos. Some researchers on the subject have suggested that the Death Angels were trained counter-intelligence assassins tasked with fomenting a race war in America.In the 1990 s the idea of the lone serial killer phenomena faded into the background, exploding with the revamped media-driven image of the mass murder around every tabloid corner. When the decade came to a close, tabloid news produced the ratings that networks like ABC, CBS and NBC were starving for. The news world changed after the O. J. Simpson trial, opening the door for larger outlets to run the type of sensational TV programming previously reserved for popular shows like A Current Affair, Hard Copy and Inside Edition everything from salacious soft feature celebrity pieces, to murder stories and courtroom dramas such as Divorce Court and Judge Judy seeped into regular television fair.Similarly in the world today, the public has become reprogrammed by the fear-based odyssey of the War On Terror era and in more recent happenings such as the barrage of Daily Shooter mass casualty incidents rippling across America and Europe in the form of Gladio-style operations, we see another phase in the assault on reality. These cases have risen to the forefront in media as there is only a passing footnote concerned about serial killings, largely due to the public s desensitization.This new kind of crimescape injects the collective hive mind with a host of socio-political concerns over race, religion, reform and security, while obscuring the forensic synopsis of a crime itself.The notion that serial killers have in fact not acted alone under the lone wolf banner, coincides with findings about many of today s mass-shooters, who in a number of cases covered here at 21WIRE, have involved multiple suspects, actors and drills. Most recently in America, the events surrounding the Orlando Pulse night club were called into question, as eye-witness accounts suggested multiple suspects in the alleged lone wolf attack and that the authorities themselves may be to blame for some of the apparent deaths.Additionally, back in 2013, the alleged Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen, was placed under a terror watch list for 10 months (interviewed three times by the FBI between 2013-14) having worked for one of the largest security firms (G4S Secure Solutions, headquartered in Jupiter, Florida) in the US and around the world since 2007. The firm was formerly part of a CIA-linked government contractor and security firm, Wackenhut Corporation. Mateen s extensive background with G4S, reveals another yet another curious connection between security and terror.When discussing the mass shooter phenomena as it relates to terror and security, writer and researcher Jay Dyer of Jay s Analysis, stated the following: The purpose of organized black op events is the psychological warfare effect of mass shootings. All warfare is psychological warfare, as the intent of the attacking party or army desires to bring about the acquiescence of the enemy. Warfare itself is merely a tool to bring about the psychological submission of the other side, while the intention of wiping out the enemy forces are secondary. Why deplete one s own forces and resources if the enemy can be molded to think accordingly? In this sense, terrorism is the purposeful display of chaos and fear that arises from the radical disturbance of the normal, daily patterns and social routines of the enemy with the intent of achieving an alteration in the psyche of the target populace. Indeed, as critical pieces of Daily Shooter events come together evidence often suggests a highly organized and coordinated event involving many players. Those players then craft the three dimensions of how we are to view the event carrying out the event are as follows: members of the police and security services, and most crucially, members of the global media. The last and most important group provides the fourth dimension of this reality, and that is you the public.How you view any questionable event is the pinnacle for the architects of any impressive psy-op.A fifth dimension is based on the fourth, which is how the architects and social engineers observe your reactions to the event. From this, data is collected, social media is monitored, then metered, opinions are analyzed, and public reactions are measured. The conclusions will be used to form the baseline and design of future shock and awe operations reacting directly to the public s response. CASTING CRISIS Media fed madness hits the front page.Reality RebornIn an exploratory essay entitled Critical Theories of Mass Media: Then and Now, written by Paul A. Taylor and Jan Ll. Harris, we can see clearer role of NBK and how it relates to the modern era: The shock of the modern urban environment is figured in terms of a welter of new micro-perceptions, disorientating cuts and contingent images a realm of experience that also characterizes the cinematic experience. Cinema thus trains the sensorium and helps the subject adapt to this new technological social reality. While NBK covers some dark and sometimes philosophical territory, it often hints at something much darker than our imaginations can comprehend. In this sense, the viewer feels like a guilty voyeur in a culture of violence, reliving trauma gratuitously through the callous and obsessive lens of mass media.In the past critics and media have accused NBK itself of giving rise to copycat crimes as well as the Columbine High School massacre, and the Dunblane massacre. But interestingly, these two high profile shootings from the 1990 s have a number of questionable elements forensically, such as conflicting eyewitness testimony and how they were apparently carried out.NBK can be thought of as an ultra or hyper-reality, an unreality more real than reality. While critics of the film cite NBK s dangerous content and presentation, it employs a heavy dose of artificial reality in order to inject certain universal truths about the nature of man and media. In an article for Ceasefire magazine, Andrew Robinson deconstructs Jean Baudrillard s hyper-reality. A concept prominently observed while watching NBK: Hyperreality is a special kind of social reality in which a reality is created or simulated from models, or defined by reference to models a reality generated from ideas. The term has implications of too much reality everything being on the surface, without mystery; more real than reality too perfect and schematic to be true, like special effects; and para-reality , an extra layer laid over, or instead of, reality. It is experienced as more real than the real, because of its effect of breaking down the boundary between real and imaginary. It is a real without origin or reality , a reality to which we cannot connect. In an informative piece by Randy Laist, Ph. D., entitled, Murder and Montage: Oliver Stone s Hyperreal Period, we see a complex blended reality at play during NBK: Mickey and Mallory are the icons of the new reality: the image ripped out of its context, the innocent killer, the fictional character roaming free across the video prairies of the new manmade nature. Natural Born Killers elicits our own complicity with the cultural tendency it satirizes, blending critique with enactment in a way that collapses the border between character and audience as well as between moralistic valuations of guilt and innocence. In this perpetual age of terror, highly sophisticated methods are used to alter, distort and reform the public mind. NBK was able to pull back the curtain on mass media s scripted reign READ MORE ALTERNATIVE HOLLYWOOD NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Hollywood Files | 0 |
(Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told a congressional panel on Tuesday that he does not support the privatization of Medicare and defended his ethics record. Speaking before the Senate Committee on Finance, one of two committees that oversee the health department, Representative Tom Price said his position was consistent with that of Trump, who has stated he does not want to cut the federal health program for the elderly. Price, a Georgia orthopedic surgeon, previously supported privatization of Medicare. But he told lawmakers his role as health secretary would be very different from his role as a congressman and that his job would be to execute the wishes of Congress. “I would just convey to the Medicare population of this nation, they don’t have reason to be concerned,” he said. “We look forward to assisting them in getting the care and coverage that they need.” Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the committee, questioned Price about his stock trading while a lawmaker, including in health industry stocks that could be affected directly by legislation. “It is hard to see this as anything but a conflict of interest and an abuse of position,” Wyden said. Price defended the stock holdings, saying “everything that I did was ethical, above board, legal and transparent.” Separately, Republican lawmakers began dismantling former President Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Two House of Representatives committees held hearings on Tuesday. Others will follow with the goal of putting in place “thoughtful, step-by-step reforms that offer Americans more choices, greater access, and higher-quality care at lower costs,” the chairman of the Ways and Means committee, Kevin Brady, said in remarks to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Price sidestepped questions about the impact of an executive order Trump signed on his first day in office targeting Obamacare but said he is committed to carrying out “the law of the land.” Democrats also grilled Price on his plans for the Medicaid health program covering poor Americans. A senior Trump adviser, Kellyanne Conway, said in an interview on NBC’s “Sunday Today” show that Trump’s plan to replace Obamacare will include fixed payments from the government to the states to care for Medicaid patients. These payments, known as block grants, contrast with the current system in which states share the actual cost of Medicaid enrollees with the federal government. Conway said converting to a block grant system would ensure that people in charge of administering the program are “those who are closest to the people” who need care. Price has long advocated block grants for Medicaid but declined on Tuesday to overtly re-state his position, saying only that he would work to make sure “people have better healthcare, not less healthcare.” Tuesday’s hearing followed a similar hearing last week by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which also oversees the health department. Only the finance committee members will vote on the nomination. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tiny basement in a house in suburban Washington, D.C. reverberates with music from the Spanish region of Catalonia. A heavy metal rendition of the Catalonian national anthem Els Segadors, or The Reapers has turned a virtually unknown Virginia-based band, A Sound of Thunder, into celebrities in the politically sensitive region in northeastern Spain. Within days of its release, the song racked up more than a million hits on YouTube, making it the band s most popular single since they started in 2008. Thousands of Catalonians voted for independence from Spain during a banned referendum in October that ended in violence and spurred a constitutional crisis in the euro zone s fourth-biggest economy. Back in Manassas, Virginia, Nina Osegueda, the band s lead singer, made a quick decision to release a video of the band s version of Els Segadors on Youtube. Osegueda, whose mother is Catalan, has strong ties to the region and originally recorded the anthem as a tribute to her mother. The song was never intended to be released as a single, but instead was part of the band s new full-length album, It Was Metal, to be released in March 2018. The violence that surrounded the referendum vote changed all that. We have a couple other singles that we were planning on releasing in advance to show people what the new album is going to sound like, she said. But then the vote happened and 800 people were injured by the police trying to vote. So I said we should try and just put the song out to show our support against police brutality. Suddenly it was spreading all over the place... And then I noticed that someone shared us on Twitter and it wound up actually being a Catalan politician, Osegueda said. Music stations in Catalonia picked up the song and Osegueda was interviewed on several radio shows. The attention she has received has spread to her relatives as her Catalonian uncle was interviewed on local radio. On the band s YouTube page, fans have left messages saying they prefer the metal version to the original and many have said the song has struck an emotional chord. Osegueda recorded some parts of the song in Catalan. She doesn t speak the language and singing with proper pronunciation was intimidating, but she says the enthusiasm and support from her new found fans has been humbling. I think the biggest emotional response we ve gotten has been, it brought me to tears which is not normal for a heavy metal song . So for us that was like a big deal, Osegueda said. You know, we re not on a label. We do everything ourselves. So when we see this many people responding it s like it s overwhelming. The band, whose albums have been crowdfunded through various Kickstarter campaigns, will tour Catalonia for the first time in December, just days before regional elections on Dec. 21. They have shows planned in Barcelona, Tarragona and other Catalonian cities. For Osegueda, who has traveled to Catalonia a number of times, the upcoming visit feels different. I ve always enjoyed going there on vacation. But now it s a lot deeper because there s so many people out there who saw our song as inspiration. So I feel like I definitely have a deeper connection now, she said. | 1 |
In a direct assault on the free press, one of Donald Trump s top advisers literally called for putting the editor of the New York Times in jail for publishing Trump s tax returns.As you may recall, the New York Times came into possession of Trump s 1995 tax return that showed he wrote off a $900 million business loss that may have allowed him to not not any federal income taxes for two decades.Trump notoriously refused to release his tax returns throughout the entire campaign so it was only a matter of time before a media platform got hold of them and published them for everyone to see. After all, it s the duty of the free press to get information to the people, and most Americans wanted Trump to release his tax documents.Baquet and Washington Post legend Bob Woodward both said they would risk jail by publishing Trump s taxes if they ever got possession of them.Not publishing Trump s tax returns would have been a disservice to the American people and would have basically been a cover-up on Trump s behalf.But Corey Lewandowski says that not only should the New York Times have buried the story, executive editor Dean Baquet should be put behind bars for doing his job.During a Harvard University conference on Thursday, Lewandowski attacked the media, accused the New York Times of committing a felony and said Baquet should be jailed, thus signaling that Trump and his team intend to violate the First Amendment at will when he assumes power in January. We had one of the top people at the New York Times come to Harvard University and say, I m willing to go to jail to get a copy of Donald Trump s taxes so I can publish them, Lewandowski said. Dean Baquet came here and offered to go to jail. You re telling me, he s willing to commit a felony on a private citizen to post his taxes, and there isn t enough scrutiny on the Trump campaign and his business dealings and his taxes? It s egregious. He should be in jail. So one of Trump s top minions literally wants to jail journalists for doing their job, especially if they publish stories that Trump does not like. We re talking about publishing the facts here.When the New York Times criticized Hillary Clinton you didn t hear Trump call for jailing journalists then. And that because he s okay with using the media to attack his opponents. He only wants to silence journalists when they publish negative stories about him. That s what dictators do, and that is exactly what Trump wants to be.Featured Image: Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 1 |
DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain condemned as inaccurate a report by the Amnesty International rights group accusing the Bahraini government of crushing dissent and violently cracking down on protests over the last year. Amnesty said in a report on Thursday that it had documented how the Bahraini government, from June 2016 to June 2017, had arrested, tortured, threatened or banned from travel at least 169 activists and opponents or their relatives. It also accused in particular Britain and the United States, who both have military facilities in Bahrain, of turning a blind eye to abuses. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of Kingdom of Bahrain regrets inaccuracies contained in Amnesty International s report, the ministry said on its twitter account. It gave no details. MoFA stresses commitment of Kingdom of Bahrain to respect and promote freedoms and human rights principles. Amnesty International said it had documented security officers beating protesters, firing tear gas, shotguns and semi-automatic rifles directly at protesters and driving armored vehicles and personnel carriers into protests. Bahrain has been a flashpoint since the Sunni-led government put down Arab Spring protests in 2011. The kingdom, most of whose population is Shi ite, says it faces a threat from neighboring Shi ite theocracy Iran. Entitled No one can protect you: Bahrain s year of crushing dissent , the Amnesty report said at least six people had been killed, including a child, in the crackdowns. Bahrain has intensified a crackdown on critics, shutting down two main political groups, revoking the citizenship of the spiritual leader of the Shi ite Muslim community and jailing rights campaigners. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After U.S. President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, Democratic members of Congress denounced the move and renewed calls for an independent investigation of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. Democrats likened the dismissal to President Richard Nixon’s firing of an independent special prosecutor during the Watergate investigation and discounted Trump’s contention that the move was related to the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe of the emails of Hillary Clinton, Trump’s rival for the presidency. Some Republicans defended the firing, saying new leadership was needed at the law enforcement agency. Here are reactions from Democrats and Republicans to Comey’s firing: “No one should accept President Trump’s absurd justification that he is now concerned that FBI Director Comey treated Secretary Clinton unfairly. ... This is nothing less than Nixonian.” - Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy “Today’s action by President Trump completely obliterates any semblance of an independent investigation into Russian efforts to influence our election and places our nation on the verge of a constitutional crisis.” - Democratic Representative John Conyers “Given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well.” - Republican Senator Lindsey Graham “This is Nixonian. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein must immediately appoint a special counsel to continue the Trump/Russia investigation.” -Democratic Senator Bob Casey “I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey’s termination ... His dismissal, I believe, is a loss for the bureau and the nation.” - Republican Senator Richard Burr, head of the Senate committee investigating Russia role in the election “The decision ... raises profound questions about whether the White House is brazenly interfering in a criminal matter ... The same president who has called the investigation into the Russian hacking of our democracy and the potential complicity of his campaign a ‘fake,’ cannot pretend to have made such a decision uninfluenced by his concerns over Comey’s continued involvement in the investigation.” - Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House committee looking into possible Russian connections “Any suggestion that today’s announcement is somehow an effort to stop the FBI’s investigation of Russia’s attempt to influence the election last fall is misplaced. The president did not fire the entire FBI; he fired the director.” - Republican Senator Susan Collins “Earlier this afternoon, President Trump called me and informed me he was firing Director Comey. I told the president: ‘Mr. President, with all due respect, you are making a big mistake’ ... Given the way the president has fired Director Comey, any person who he appoints to lead the Russia investigation will be concerned that he or she will meet the same fate as Director Comey if they run afoul of the administration.” - Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer in remarks to reporters “There is now a crisis of confidence at the Justice Department and President Trump is not being held accountable because House Republicans refuse to work with us to do our job.” - Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, who called for immediate emergency hearings “Many, including myself, have questioned his actions more than once over the past year. I believe new leadership at the FBI will restore confidence in the organization and among the people who do the hard work to carry out its mission.” - Republican Senator Roy Blunt in a statement “The president’s actions today are shocking. ... The only way this administration can begin to demonstrate a commitment to the rule of law ... is to cooperate fully with the ongoing congressional investigations and to support the appointment of an independent special counsel.” - Democratic Senator Mark Warner “This FBI director has sought for years to jail me on account of my political activities. If I can oppose his firing, so can you.” - Fugitive former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked intelligence documents and is now living in Russia, on Twitter “Over the course of the last several months, Director Comey’s decisions on controversial matters have prompted concern from across the political spectrum and from career law enforcement experts.” - Republican Senator Charles Grassley “There can be no question that a fully independent special counsel must be appointed to lead this (Russia) investigation. At this point, no one in Trump’s chain of command can be trusted to carry out an impartial investigation.” - Democratic Senator Ron Wyden on Twitter “I find it deeply troubling that this decision comes a day after damning testimony by former acting Attorney General Sally Yates on Russia’s ties to the Trump campaign and just days before Comey was scheduled to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee.” - Independent Senator Bernie Sanders “It is essential that ongoing investigations are fulsome and free of political interference until their completion, and it is imperative that President Trump nominate a well-respected and qualified individual to lead the bureau at this critical time.” - Republican Senator Bob Corker “James Comey is a man of honor and integrity ... I have long called for a special congressional committee to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. The president’s decision to remove the FBI director only confirms the need and the urgency of such a committee.” - Republican Senator John McCain “The need for a special prosecutor is now crystal clear. President Trump has catastrophically compromised the FBI’s ongoing investigation of his own White House’s ties to Russia. Not since Watergate have our legal systems been so threatened.” - Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal “Mr. Comey did not seem to understand some of the laws he was asked to investigate and unfortunately politicized his sensitive position as the FBI director.” - Conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch “FUN FACT: President Nixon never fired the Director of the FBI #FBIDirector #notNixonian” - Official Twitter account of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum | 0 |
Republican Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) spoke with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins yesterday, on the radio show Washington Watch, where they discussed Obama s diplomatic victory in the peaceful release of Iranian prisoners.Perkins was very upset over the idea that we got Americans returned home by talking to Iran and using diplomacy. He suggested that America has hit a dangerously slippery slope in regards to Americans being held abroad in prisons, because the fact we did something to get our people home would only invite more and more demands in future incidents.Poe agreed that it was a very sad state of affairs for the nation. The price as he put it, that America had paid was simply too high. What price is acceptable, he didn t say. He only continued on to lament the fact that the days of Ronald Reagan and not negotiating with terrorists were gone from the country.Since he brought up Ronald Reagan and his policy of not negotiating with terrorists, let s take a closer look at that.During Reagan s second term, officials of his administration and very likely Reagan himself secretly and illegally sold weapons to Iran. Iran was under an arms embargo at the time because they were considered a terrorist state. The sale was done in order to bribe Iran to help facilitate the release of American hostages in Lebanon.The Republican revisionism and selective memory, when it comes to the legacy of Ronald Reagan is nothing short of amazing. The Iran-Contra scandal happened when practically every establishment Republican was alive and old enough to be able to watch the news or read the newspaper. It s like Germany insisting World War 2 never happened, and instead the entire nation was on vacation for 6 years.President Obama did everything right, getting our people home, not firing one bullet to do it, while not sending more weapons into the hands of those who can do us harm, and the first reaction from the right is to attack him for it.I m sure Republicans wish the prisoners were still being held so they had a political football, but can t they just try to repeal Obamacare again?[soundcloud url= https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/242909973 params= color=ff5500 width= 100% height= 166 iframe= true /]featured image via YouTube screen capture | 0 |
Instead of honoring Purple Heart Day, Trump began his morning by launching a vicious attack against Richard Blumenthal.Interesting to watch Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut talking about hoax Russian collusion when he was a phony Vietnam con artist! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017Never in U.S.history has anyone lied or defrauded voters like Senator Richard Blumenthal. He told stories about his Vietnam battles and . Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017 conquests, how brave he was, and it was all a lie. He cried like a baby and begged for forgiveness like a child. Now he judges collusion? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017Trump later followed that up by posting an image of himself with a Purple Heart recipient.On #PurpleHeartDay?I thank all the brave men and women who have sacrificed in battle for this GREAT NATION! #USA?? pic.twitter.com/QmfdLSLp6p Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017And then he attacked Blumenthal again.I think Senator Blumenthal should take a nice long vacation in Vietnam, where he lied about his service, so he can at least say he was there Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017This despicable attack against a man who actually wore the uniform of his country for six years as a United States Marine is just the latest example of Trump insulting members of our armed forces.Here s are five more.Early on in his campaign, Trump insulted Senator John McCain, who spent years as a prisoner of war during Vietnam suffering gruesome torture that affects him to this day. He chose to undergo that torture rather than be released before other soldiers, because he had connections they did not. He s not a war hero, Trump said. He s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren t captured. McCain is a recipient of the Purple Heart and a Silver Star among many other decorations in recognition of his service and sacrifice.In the final months of the campaign, Trump attacked a Gold Star family for simply challenging him to read the Constitution.Khizr and Ghazala Khan spoke to the Democratic National Convention in opposition to Trump and his racism against Muslims. Trump responded by smearing the Khans, suggesting that Ghazala was forbidden from speaking.Their son, Captain Humayun Khan, was killed in Iraq while saving the lives of his fellow soldiers. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his sacrifice.A month prior to the election, Trump appeared to suggest that veterans with PTSD are weak. When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and you re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can t handle it. In August 2016, Trump once again belittled the service of wounded veterans by taking a Purple Heart as a gift from a veteran, remarking that getting one this way was much easier than getting one the hard way. I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier. The worst insult to veterans is the fact that Trump repeatedly dodged the draft during Vietnam. He received five deferments during the war despite being physically fit and having gone to military school.Trump was finally declared medically unfit because of a supposed bone spur in his foot, a condition that even seasoned professional athletes play through.It should also be noted that Trump has failed to produce any evidence proving that his bone spur was real.Trump would later remark that his personal Vietnam was sleeping around and not getting a sexually transmitted disease. Trump s personal Vietnam was taking place at the same time John McCain was still working to recover from his injuries during the real Vietnam War.And those examples are just the tip of the iceberg. Since taking office, Trump insulted World War II veterans by ranting on Twitter instead of honoring the anniversary of D-Day and insulted veterans across the nation by attacking transgender service members.Donald Trump can say he loves the troops all he wants. His past words and actions make it clear that he is lying every time he makes such a declaration. Trump only cares about himself.Read more:Featured Image: Screenshot | 0 |
From the USSR to Venezuela, experience reveals Sanders' policies wouldn't enrich anyone but a ruling elite.
It is a common misconception that socialism is about helping poor people. Actually, what socialism does is create poor people, and keep them poor. And that’s not by accident.
Under capitalism, rich people become powerful. But under socialism, powerful people become rich. When you look at a socialist country like Venezuela, you find that the rulers are fabulously wealthy even as the ordinary citizenry deals with empty supermarket shelves and electricity rationing.
The daughter of Venezuela’s socialist ruler, Hugo Chavez, is the richest individual in Venezuela, worth billions of dollars, according to the Miami-based Diario Las América. In Cuba, Fidel Castro reportedly has lived — pretty much literally — like a king, even as his subjects dwelt in poverty. In the old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, as Hedrick Smith reported in his The Russians, the Communist Party big shots had lavish country houses and apartments in town stocked with hand-polished fresh fruit, even as the common people stood in line for hours at state-run stores in the hopes of getting staples.
There’s always a lot of talk about free health care, but it’s generally substandard for the masses and fancy for the elite. (The average Cuban or Venezuelan peasant — or Soviet-era Russian — doesn’t get the kind of health care that people at the top get.)
In the old Soviet Union, the new communist nobility, whose positions and influence seemed to run in families somehow, were called the Nomenklatura (from the Latin word for a list of names). Despite all the talk about equality, etc., they generally did a lot better than people who didn’t have the right connections. Dissident Milovan Djilas referred to these managers and apparatchiks (another Soviet-era word) as the “New Class.” Where socialist equality was supposed to eliminate the distinction between exploited workers and peasants and their capitalist exploiters, it instead produced a new distinction, between exploited workers and peasants and their “New Class” socialist oppressors.
Well, this is old news: George Orwell explained the phenomenon in his Animal Farm many decades ago. But people keep falling for it: Like Ponzi schemes, socialism is an evergreen form of fraud, egged on by suckers eager to believe the lies hucksters tell them.
Which brings me to Bernie Sanders. The Washington Post recently ran a piece originally entitled "Bernie Sanders’ plans have surprisingly small benefits for America’s poorest people." Among other things, it noted that “in general, though, Sanders’ health care plan would benefit affluent households more than it would poorer ones.”
Likewise, a paper from the left-leaning Brookings Institution notes that the biggest beneficiaries of Bernie’s free-college proposal would be rich kids: "Families from the top half of the income distribution would receive 24% more in dollar value from eliminating tuition than students from the lower half of the income distribution.”
Well, America isn’t socialist — though, these days, we’re not really capitalist, either, if by capitalist you mean a free-market economy without much government direction — but we do have our own New Class. And those people tend to be Bernie supporters.
America’s New Class isn’t the super rich (they tend to donate to Hillary Clinton); it's the upper-middle-class employees of non-profits, universities and government agencies. They benefit twice from the kinds of programs that Bernie supports: Often, they’re employed to administer them, or receive funds for providing services (think college administrators who, unsurprisingly, heavily support Bernie and Hillary), and then they also receive the benefits because their kids are more likely to go to college than, say, a Kroger cashier’s. (And if we ever wind up with government-run health care, ask yourself who’ll get the hip replacement first — a woman who works as a cashier at Kroger or a senior bureaucrat in the Department of Health and Human Services.)
Higher up the political scale, of course, the powerful really do become rich: Bill and Hillary Clinton are likely worth about $45 million, paid a lot for boring speeches given to people who are really just buying influence. But at least in America, becoming powerful isn’t the only way to become rich. Under socialism, you’re either powerful, or you’re poor.
But poverty isn’t a byproduct of socialism: It’s a requirement, as illustrated by Cato Institute analyst Juan Carlos Hidalgo's report concerning Venezuela:
As the Rainmakers sang, back in the 1980s, “They’ll turn us all into beggars 'cause they’re easier to please.” That’s socialism in a nutshell. The “equality” talk? That’s just for the suckers. Don’t be a sucker.
Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor and the author of The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education from Itself, is a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.
In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors. To read more columns, go to the Opinion front page and follow us on Twitter @USATOpinion. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Pakistan s cooperation in securing the release of a U.S.-Canadian couple and their children who had been held by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network signaled a new respect for the United States by Islamabad. The Pakistani government s cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America s wish that it do more to provide security in the region, Trump said at a White House event. They worked very hard on this and I believe they are starting to respect the United States again. | 1 |
Donald Trump really needs to keep his mouth shut because that s apparently the only way he ll be able to act presidential instead of petty.Prior to a performance of Hamilton on Broadway Friday night, the crowd booed as Mike Pence walked into theater. At the end, the cast read a message to Pence telling him that they hope he learned something from seeing the play.But rather than let it go at that, Donald trump lashed out when he heard about the booing and the message.Trump whined that the theater is supposed to be a safe space and demanded that Hamilton apologize to Mike Pence for being rude. Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing.This should not happen! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016Trump s temper tantrum was so pathetic that Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Aaron Burr in the play, responded.@realDonaldTrump conversation is not harassment sir. And I appreciate @mike_pence for stopping to listen. Brandon Victor Dixon (@BrandonVDixon) November 19, 2016And other Twitter users piled on.@realDonaldTrump oh no! Someone got their feelings hurt! Want me to hold your hand next time? Jonathan Redding (@jonathanredding) November 19, 2016@jonathanredding if he s offended by that, it s going to be a long four years for him. Sergio Tovar (@sergiotovar) November 19, 2016@spannerjaxs @HeyJudeLetitbe1 @realDonaldTrump @mike_pence I ve literally never seen or read of a grown man who whines more than trump. Bridget Fitzgerald (@BridgettheBrave) November 19, 2016@PhillyD I know I really shouldn t be surprised with this man anymore but wow. If he can t handle that how can he handle when shit gets real Ashley (@OpTicMiDNiTE) November 19, 2016.@realDonaldTrump Actually what WAS rude was driving a motorcade thru the Lincoln Tunnel during Rush Hour. To get to your golf course. Jim Roberts (@nycjim) November 19, 2016@realDonaldTrump Wait, I think I m on to something: You think politely and calmly expressing your desired to be treated equally is rude. 1/2 Terrence O Brien (@TerrenceOBrien) November 19, 2016@realDonaldTrump But screeching hate from a stage isn t. You have some sort of mental disease where you see the opposite of reality! 2/2 Terrence O Brien (@TerrenceOBrien) November 19, 2016@realDonaldTrump They read a respectful prepared statement. Grow up. Erik Anderson (@erianderson) November 19, 2016There s a lot more where those came from, but the bottom line is that Trump spent a year and a half using divisive, hateful, bigoted, and disrespectful rhetoric and now he is whining about Pence being booed. Seriously, Donald Trump is going to be a petty tyrant in the White House and he continues to demonstrate that he doesn t have the temperament and is too thin-skinned to be president.Featured Image: Ethan Miller/Getty Images | 0 |
Waking Times
Politics in America has devolved into a contest of personalities, where policy, history, and reality are rejected in favor of style, skin color, gender and celebrity factor. This is unsurprising, though, in a nation that has for generations been weened on television and state indoctrination. We’ve been trained to look to politicians for leadership, but the real heroes and change makers in our world are the fearless truth-tellers who work to free our minds and inspire us to greatness by setting an example with their words and deeds.
As we stare down the barrel of a critically divided society under the thumb of an all-powerful government and police state, righteous voices of non-partisan, no-bullshit truth who apply logic, common sense, and critical-thinking in defense of community and humanity are needed now more than ever. One such example is hip-hop artist, civic leader, social activist, and entrepreneur Michael Render, aka Killer Mike . His articulation of the problems we all face, accompanied with real ideas for meaningful action, make for an excellent reminder of what true leadership can look like.
He’s done a ton of interviews in recent years, and although he mentions being a conservative, even advocating for the 2nd Amendment in response to public shootings, he played a big role in Bernie Sanders’ campaign for the Democratic nomination in an effort to help educate and awaken black voters. Consider the following clips of Killer Mike speaking on a number of today’s critical issues.
Firstly, he talks to TMZ about the importance of participating in local elections and in using your vote to hold political parties accountable, while helping to see through the phony logic of voting for the lesser of two evils.
“Scaring me with the boogie man is not going to work as effectively as giving my community something that helps.” ~Killer Mike
In his song, ‘ Reagan, ‘ he rails against Obama, along with all the other authoritarian presidents we’ve had, as a member of an organization of war and profit, saying what so many Obama supporters are afraid to acknowledge.
“Ronald Reagan was an actor, not at all a factor Just an employee of the country’s real masters Just like the Bushes, Clinton and Obama Just another talking head telling lies on teleprompters If you don’t believe the theory, then argue with this logic Why did Reagan and Obama both go after Qaddafi We invaded sovereign soil, going after oil Taking countries is a hobby paid for by the oil lobby Same as in Iraq, and Afghanistan And Ahmadinejad say they coming for Iran They only love the rich, and how they loathe the poor If I say any more they might be at my door”
~Killer Mike, Reagan
As a leader in the black community, he is keenly aware of the affects of racism and police brutality today, but rather than advocating for protests or riots as an expression of justifiable anger, he breaks down how black people can overcome systemic corruption and racism by using the one weapon that is most effective in a capitalist culture: money.
Furthermore, on the Bill Maher show on HBO , he goes into relationship between politicians and police, pointing out how politicians themselves use police as pawns. Final Thoughts
The President of the United States of America is the figurehead of an authoritarian and corporatized organization that masquerades as benevolent, but POTUS is a puppet, not a leader. As Americans go at each other’s throats over about the election, it may serve us well to remember that individuals are the true leaders in our community and in our world.
“My criteria is probably Libertarian views, where you just let the free market reign, you let people do what they want to, and the government takes care of protecting us from foreign interests and one another.” ~ Killer Mike About the Author
Dylan Charles is a student and teacher of Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Qi Gong, a practitioner of Yoga and Taoist arts, and an activist and idealist passionately engaged in the struggle for a more sustainable and just world for future generations. He is the editor of WakingTimes.com , the proprietor of OffgridOutpost.com , a grateful father and a man who seeks to enlighten others with the power of inspiring information and action. He may be contacted at . This article ( Killer Mike Proves Real Leaders are Truth-Tellers by Saying What Most People Won’t ) was originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Dylan Charles and WakingTimes.com . It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement.
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ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court has freed on bail a British citizen facing charges of joining a terrorist organization, Turkey s Ihlas news agency said on Friday. Joseph Robinson, a former British soldier, is accused of fighting with the Syrian Kurdish YPG milita. He was arrested in July while on holiday in the southwestern Turkish town of Didim, Ihlas said. Robinson denies the charge and said during his defense at an initial hearing that he went to Syria to help provide medical assistance to victims of the civil war there, Ihlas said. Turkey considers the YPG to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey s southeast and is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union as well as Turkey. Robinson faces a jail sentence of up to 10 years if found guilty, local media said. His Bulgarian fiance, who is accused of terrorist propaganda in the same case, was released before the start of the trial but imposed with a travel ban. The next hearing in the case is set for March 12. | 0 |
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate a third retired general for a top job in his new administration with the choice of a battle-hardened Marine commander to lead the agency set up after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to protect the U.S. homeland. Trump is expected to name former Marine General John Kelly, 66, as head of the Department of Homeland Security, a source familiar with the decision told Reuters on Wednesday. Kelly told Fox News on Wednesday that he has “been asked and would consider it an honor.” If confirmed by the Senate, Kelly will be in charge of the agency tasked with securing borders against illegal immigration, protecting the president, responding to natural disasters, coordinating intelligence and counterterrorism. Like Trump, Kelly is believed to hold strong views on stopping illegal immigration. The four-star general told a congressional committee last year that the lack of security on the U.S.-Mexican border represents a national security threat. As former head of the military’s Southern Command, Kelly was responsible for U.S. military activities and relationships in Latin America and the Caribbean. He was a proponent of keeping open the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Kelly, whose son was killed fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, retired in January after a 45-year military career. CBS first reported that Trump would nominate Kelly to the position, which would put him in charge of more than 240,000 employees. Those include Secret Service and Border Patrol agents as well as the agency that clears refugees for resettlement in the United States. Under Democratic President Barack Obama, the department’s Border Patrol and immigration enforcement agents were criticized by civil rights groups for acting as a paramilitary force that neglected the humanitarian mission of helping immigrants escaping violence. With a retired general as chief, the department risks furthering that image and facing backlash from Democrats and immigrant rights groups. Trump energized voters in the election campaign by promising to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border in order to keep out Mexican immigrants he described as rapists and murderers. In testimony last year before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kelly said people-smuggling activities on the southern border were a dire threat. “Terrorist organizations could seek to leverage those same smuggling routes to move operatives with intent to cause grave harm to our citizens or even bring weapons of mass destruction into the United States,” Kelly said. Such sentiments may have endeared him to Trump, who warned repeatedly during his presidential campaign of dangers from illegal immigration, and pledged to make Mexico pay for the wall along the border. The Republican president-elect, who has no military experience, also plans to nominate retired General James Mattis to lead the Pentagon and picked retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn to be his national security adviser. Trump may be forced to look to generals to fill key positions because he lacks a relationship with Republican establishment figures, said former White House and State Department official P.J. Crowley. “He never served in government, so until the campaign, he didn’t have an established bench,” said Crowley. “He’s forming a pickup team on the fly. On an individual basis, they have a lot of international operational experience but far less domestic political experience. How well they will gel together remains to be seen,” said Crowley, author of “Red Line,” a book on U.S. foreign policy. Trump’s transition team is also said to be considering former Army General David Petraeus for secretary of state. Kelly served in Iraq several times, and in 2003 was the first Marine in more than 50 years to be promoted to the rank of brigadier general while in a combat zone. In 2010, his son, Marine 1st Lieutenant Robert M. Kelly, was killed in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. Human rights groups had feared someone would be appointed to Homeland Security with a stronger anti-immigration position, such as Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who is a proponent of reinvigorating a system to track Muslims entering the United States on visas. Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice Education Fund, an immigrant rights advocacy group, said he was hopeful Kelly’s experience in Central America would make him sympathetic to migrants fleeing violence in the region. But Sharry said he was concerned over the number of generals Trump has appointed. “At times Trump’s Cabinet looks like a military junta. There’s been a securitization of migration that is out of whack with reality,” said Sharry. “But I’ll take a general with knowledge of the Americas over a radical like Kobach.” The National Border Patrol Council, an early Trump backer that represents some 18,000 Border Patrol agents and other employees, noted that Kelly had no immigration experience but had “stellar credentials.” It said in a statement that his popularity with troops boded well for morale problems at the Department of Homeland Security, but added that “we believe no other cabinet level nominee will be under more pressure to produce.” Kelly questioned the Pentagon’s decision to allow women to serve in combat, and differed publicly with Obama over the president’s attempt to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. “There are no innocent men down there,” Kelly said of Guantanamo in a January interview with the Military Times newspaper. The Republican-controlled Senate must confirm Kelly for the Homeland Security post. | 0 |
America keeps waiting for word that Hillary will be indicted. Is Obama waiting for the right moment or will the FBI be allowed to do their job and put Hillary behind bars? Are Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren standing by in the wings? One thing we know for sure, with this corrupt administration, anything could happen. Obama seems to have mastered the art of punishing America. Will the most corrupt President to ever occupy our White House, be the one responsible for finally putting end to the Clinton Crime Syndicate or does she know too much?Hillary Clinton posted and shared the names of concealed U.S. intelligence officials on her unprotected email system. Federal records reveal that Clinton swapped these highly classified names on an email account that was vulnerable to attack and was breached repeatedly by Russia-linked hacker attempts. These new revelations reminiscent of the Valerie Plame scandal during George W. Bush s tenure could give FBI investigators the evidence they need to make a case that Clinton violated the Espionage Act by mishandling national defense information through gross negligence. Numerous names cited in Clinton s emails have been redacted in State Department email releases with the classification code B3 CIA PERS/ORG, a highly specialized classification that means the information, if released, would violate the Central Intelligence Act of 1949.The State Department produced a document to Judicial Watch in April 2014 that identifies different types of (b)(3) redactions, including CIA PERS/ORG, which it defines as information Specifically exempted from disclosure by statute Central Intelligence Act of 1949. That s what it suggests, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton told Breitbart News, referring to the indication that Clinton disclosed the names of CIA-protected intelligence sources, based on the B3 redactions.The CIA justifies (b)(3) redactions with this description: (b)(3) Applies to the Director s statutory obligations to protect from disclosure intelligence sources and methods, as well as the organization, functions, names, official titles, salaries, or numbers of personnel employed by the Agency, in accord with the National Security Act of 1947 and the CIA Act of 1949, respectively. The State Department declined to comment. Per the colleague who handles this issue, we are not speaking to the content of emails, State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson told Breitbart News.Here are some examples of (b)(3) redactions;Naming the defense attach in MaltaOn October 16, 2011, recent U.S. Ambassador to Malta Douglas Kmiec sent an email to Cheryl Mills with the subject line TIME SENSITIVE AND CONFIDENTIAL Malta Trip Backgrounder for the Secretary Confidential. Kmiec wrote to Mills, I know from current events that your life must be a whirlwind. I know that if there ever was someone who could tame the whirlwind, it would be you. Just read the news report of the Secretary s stop in Malta next week. Thank you for arranging this. This letter and the accompanying clips I believe will help make the Secretary s visit a highly successful and well received one. In the memo, Kmiec revealed the name of a top defense attach in the country. That name was later classified by the State Department with three different classifications: 1.4 (D) to connote Foreign relations or foreign activities of the US, including confidential sources, B1 to connote Information specifically authorized by an executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy, and B3 CIA PERS/ORG. The largest part of our US team in the embassy is the navy/coast guard/ ncis contingent that has established a Maritime training program with the AFM to good success. The defense attach there now is new [REDACTED] beloved and hardworking and to good effect, patrolling the waters and the ports for [illegible] traffickers and terror related figures, Kmiec wrote.Mills forwarded the memo directly to Clinton s private email account at clintonemail.com with the note Fyi background. Clinton replied to Mills and CC ed Huma Abedin with the confidential information, writing, I need enough time there to meet. Hague is there today and doing all the right meetings. So, I m copying Huma to reinforce my desire to squeeze more out of a too quick trip. When he sent the memo to Mills, Douglas Kmiec had been out of his Ambassador to Malta job for several months. Kmiec was a big supporter of President Obama. He garnered criticism in a 2011 inspector general report for ignoring directives from Washington and for spending too much time writing articles about religion. Iran Insights On September 2, 2009, Jackie Newmyer of Long Term Strategy Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts sent an email directly to Clinton s private account with the subject line Iran Insights From [Redacted] that included the B3 redaction code:Secretary Clinton,Last week I traveled to Israel [REDACTED] in an Iran-related seminar and simulation exercise with the IDF general who is likely to become Israel s next chief of military intelligence and his team and, separately, [REDACTED]. Yesterday, [REDACTED] Iran workshop in Washington involving DoD and think tank experts. Despite the fact that the meetings were with defense [REDACTED] personnel, there was universal sentiment that a strike on Iran s nuclear facilities would be counterproductive, on the one hand, and that incremental measures would be perceived by Iran as an indication of weakness, on the other.The email included sensitive information including the following:If Iran acquires a nuclear capability, no single American/allied countermeasure will be adequate. Something like the flexible response posture from the Cold War will be required, necessitating a range of actions from enhancing the US deterrent presence nuclear submarines carrying ballistic missiles in the Arabian Sea to bolstering regional actors defenses.Israeli leaders should be able to contain the damage to the Israeli population s morale from an Iranian bomb, but this will require careful management of public statements. There is a tension between building up support for action against the Iranian nuclear program now and delivering the kind of reassurance that will be necessary once the capability has been acquired.Clinton replied that she would like to discuss the matter with Jackie.Jackie replied:I will be in Washington for a day-long meeting on Thursday this week [B3 REDACTED] and my travel plans are flexible, so I could meet you any time on Wednesday afternoon, after 5 pm on Thursday, or any time on Friday morning. If those times do not work, I would be happy to come down at your convenience.Clinton and Jake Sullivan then set up a meeting with Jackie.For entire story: Breitbart News | 0 |
Dear America,
Whether you voted for Trump or not, surely you can join me in admitting the past few years have been devoid of optimism. We’ve been pessimistic on the economy, on the social foundation of our country, our standing in the world, our concern over potential for war, our healthcare, our jobs and generally speaking… our future.
For some of you Barack Obama may be a likable character. While many of us believe he’s corrupt and wrong in his way of thinking, it’s understandable that many of his voters found him to be generally likable. For those who do, the truth is he betrayed you. He betrayed all of us.
His healthcare law was sold to you as a law that would make healthcare affordable and wouldn’t change the plan/doctor you have. Most of us are now finding that was a lie. We’re losing our plans and doctors, and costs are skyrocketing.
His economic policy enriched the mega rich while crushing jobs. His environmental policy has pumped billions of our dollars into the pockets of special interests, killed off jobs and did absolutely nothing for the environment. His tax policy is painful. If you pay taxes you know this to be the case.
He spends money like it grows on trees. For him it’s not an issue. He lives in the high castle and will never have to worry about money. But you and I? Yeah, it’s an issue.
He dragged us nearly into world war with Russia. He collapsed the Middle East in a way that has rippled across the globe.
We can disagree on issues, but surely we can agree this hasn’t been a good situation. Something has to change. Hillary Clinton wasn’t going to change anything. She was going to take Obama’s burning agenda and throw gasoline on it.
We now have an opportunity. Donald Trump has his flaws. We all have concerns about it. No secret there. But his plan is something we should all get excited about. That is, of course, provided he actually follows through with it.
Trump is likely to relax tensions with Russia. He’s likely to pull back our nonsensical involvement in the Middle East. He’s likely to repeal and replace Obamacare. He’s likely to initiate a tax and economic policy that WILL invigorate business growth.
For businesses, Trump has a plan that will help create spenders. And for consumers his plan will help us earn and retain more financial stability.
This is a good thing. It’s good for liberals, conservatives and independents. It’s good for America.
Not long ago there was a time when Americans were optimistic, hungry for success and excited to work hard for it. We’ve exiting a period of time where that mentality has been non-existent. We’re entering a time where it can exist again.
We’ve got a mess on our hands. There is much work to do to clean it up. But it can be cleaned up, and we can flourish as a result of it.
That is, if we unify and optimistically strive for success as a nation.
It’s time, America. It’s long overdue.
Let’s make America great again.
-Eric Odom
| 0 |
On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s Trump tax return story was “worse than a nothingburger, it was a help Trump burger. ” Maher said, “I’m a big fan of Rachel Maddow. I want her on the air. ” He added that the tax return story “turned out to be a big nothingburger, worse than a nothingburger, it was a help Trump burger. ” Maher further stated that the amount of taxes Trump paid is “well within respectful. This is probably the best tax return he’s ever filed, which makes me think this came from Donald Trump. … This is getting played. ” Maher concluded, “[L]et’s not weaponize Rachel Maddow. ” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett | 0 |
It doesn t matter how many times President Trump has shown himself to be a man of the people, a man of honor, or a man of principle, the media refuses to cover the truth about him. This story should be on every TV and in every news publication, but by now, we ve come to expect that stories like these are usually buried by the anti-Trump media. Help us to spread this heartwarming story about how President Trump responded to an injured police officer who was a victim of a motorcycle accident while he was tasked with protecting the President on his trip to Indianapolis.Initial reports said Trump called the officer during the flight back to Washington, but the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police tweeted Thursday that the president delayed the flight.The official Twitter of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department shared this video of the officer s reaction to President Trump s call: #BREAKING: Thank you @Potus for delaying wheels up to speak with injured Officer Turner. #ThankYou, the tweet read.#BREAKING: Thank you to @POTUS for delaying wheels up to speak with injured Officer Turner. #ThankYou pic.twitter.com/nJ1TtkP9Bx IMPD (@IMPDnews) September 28, 2017Robert Turner, a police officer from Indianapolis, broke an ankle in the fall on Interstate 70. A photographer captured the officer on the ground with his uniform ripped.Police released a cellphone video of Turner in the hospital taking the call from the president. He was wearing a neck brace, but laughed and appeared to be in good spirits.The White House initially said Trump called during the flight back to Washington to check on the officer s condition and thank him for his service. FOX News | 1 |
TORONTO (Reuters) - Black people in Canada s most populous province spent longer behind bars awaiting trial than white people charged with many of the same categories of crimes in each of the past five years, according to data obtained by Reuters. Between April 2015 and April 2016, the most recent period in which data is available, black people awaiting trial in Ontario jails were there longer, on average, than white people charged with the same crime in 11 of 16 offense categories Reuters examined. There were approximately 6,000 black people and nearly 26,000 white people remanded to pre-trial detention during the period. The data showed similar patterns in the four prior years. (Graphic: Racial disparities in pre-trial detention - tmsnrt.rs/2z18vS7) Among the categories examined, black people spent almost twice as long in remand in 2015-2016 for weapons offenses, equivalent to an additional 38 days. They also spent 46 percent longer for serious violent offenses and 36 percent longer on charges of obstructing justice. In three categories, white people awaiting trial were held longer in remand during the same period. Those included drug possession, theft and traffic offenses. In two categories, the difference was 1 percent or less. The data also showed black people arrested and held in custody between 2011 and 2016 were more likely than white people to spend more than a year in pre-trial detention. Reuters obtained the previously unreported data through access-to-information requests from Ontario, which asks inmates to indicate their race when they enter jail. Other provinces do not collect this data or categorize it differently. A spokesman for Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi said the province takes systemic racism seriously and is working to address racial inequities, but declined to comment on the data. The Ontario Crown Attorneys Association, which represents the province s prosecutors, and the Association of Justices of the Peace, which represents the people who decide most of Ontario s bail cases, declined to comment. More than a dozen defense lawyers as well as prosecutors, criminologists, and a judge interviewed by Reuters said shortcomings in Canada s bail system appeared to play a role in the racial disparities shown in the data. Unlike the United States, Canada virtually eliminated cash bail almost half a century ago. Instead, courts often require prisoners awaiting trial to secure a surety, meaning a relative or close friend who can appear in court and subsequently monitor them. A surety needs assets to pledge, a crime-free record and, often, a home where the accused person can live until the case is complete. A surety cannot represent more than one defendant at a time. Current and former prosecutors interviewed for this story said securing a surety can be onerous and the requirement is perhaps relied upon too often; but some said sureties remain the best way to protect the public and ensure defendants show up for trial. Critics of the system say the poor are less likely than middle-class or wealthy people to have connections to provide the assets to pledge or housing to act as a surety. They add that this has an outsized impact on minorities, who are over-represented among Canada s poor. Surety is a huge issue in Ontario, said Nicole Myers, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. If you are from a marginalized community or a criminalized community, it can be very difficult to find a surety the court deems appropriate. The data did not take into account specifics of each case, the person s criminal record, the frequency of plea deals, whether the person had a bail hearing and why bail may have been denied. Reuters focused on offenses with the largest pre-trial populations when comparing the average periods in remand, to minimize the impact of outliers. Inmates charged in multiple offense categories were counted in only the more serious one; multiple charges could affect someone s chances of getting bail. Studies, including one published last year by the Ottawa police, have found Ontario s black communities are more heavily policed than white ones. This makes black people more likely to be caught breaching bail and makes it harder to find a surety without a criminal record who is not serving as surety for someone else, said Chris Sewrattan, a defense lawyer who represents many young black men from eastern Toronto. In a ruling this year, Canada s Supreme Court called sureties one of the most onerous forms of release, not to be used unless other options have been considered, such as programs that assign a case worker and require the accused to check in regularly with the courts. The court did not address race in its ruling. At least six provincial governments in Canada, including those of Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba, have said they are reviewing bail practices. An earlier Reuters investigation found inmates awaiting trial are more likely to die behind bars than their sentenced counterparts. | 1 |
Yesterday, after Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called for the vote on the GOP s health care bill to be delayed until after the July 4 recess, Donald Trump met with GOP senators in a closed-door meeting to discuss how the failing bill might be saved. There s just one major problem: Trump doesn t know what the f*ck he s talking about! In fact, he probably doesn t even know what is in the bill.The New York Times recapped the meeting, and hidden in the report was a certain gem from an anonymous senate staffer who was present in the meeting. The account from this staffer truly proves that Trump is running the country blind and has no idea what s going on. The staffer said: A senator who supports the bill left the meeting at the White House with a sense that the president did not have a grasp of some basic elements of the Senate plan and seemed especially confused when a moderate Republican complained that opponents of the bill would cast it as a massive tax break for the wealthy. This senate staffer also said that Trump seemed oblivious to the fact that the health care bill had tax implications, because in the meeting the POTUS said he would handle tax reform at a later time. Considering that Trump doesn t read and is incapable of focusing his attention on anything besides tweets, it s highly possible that Trump hasn t even looked at this health care bill.To make matters even worse, Trump demonstrated a delusional sense of comfort when he declared the meeting a success on Twitter. Trump tweeted: I just finished a great meeting with the Republican Senators concerning HealthCare. They really want to get it right, unlike OCare! This proves that Trump is absolutely insane, and his incompetency has become a major threat to the well-being of all Americans. He doesn t even know what s in his own legislation.Featured image via Win McNamee / Getty Images | 0 |
Sorry, David Daleidin and Sandra Merritt, even if you don t like your first Grand Jury, you can keep it.On Wednesday, lawyers for the pair of anti-abortion activists who were recently indicted on multiple felony counts in a surprise twist to a case conservatives hoped would end Planned Parenthood forever, argued that the Grand Jury that handed out indictments was absolutely out of control. Unfortunately, things didn t quite go as the lying liars who produced the heavily edited, fraudulent baby parts videos that prompted Robert Lewis Dear to attack a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado, and Carly Fiorina to redefine stupid in her almost incoherent ravings about the health organization, had planned.Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said that she does not intend to cave to the whims of the right-wing activists, explaining that the inconvenient truth of a criminal investigation is that it doesn t always lead where you want it to go. Anderson, a Republican who is against abortion, explained that she understands that every single one of her personal beliefs does not have to interfere with her ability to perform her job:While the Grand Jury indicted the activists the subject of the proceedings, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, was cleared of all wrongdoing.Reuters reports:Documents filed in Harris County court showed fake California driver s licenses for the pair when they were making the video. Lawyers for the two did not dispute the fake IDs.The court papers said the pair unlawfully used a fake government record with the intent to defraud or harm others. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.Terry Yates, an attorney for the two, said in Houston: The grand jury has over reached, obviously a runaway grand jury would do that. This decision, of course, is shocking in a state whose Republicans recently gutted Planned Parenthood s HIV prevention program in a desperate attack against the organization. Both Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who ordered their own proceedings, say that this latest vindication of Planned Parenthood will have no impact on their individual attempts to destroy the health organization. The fact remains that the videos exposed the horrific nature of abortion and the shameful disregard for human life in the abortion industry, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told the Houston Press Monday. The state s investigation of Planned Parenthood is ongoing. Planned Parenthood is celebrating this as a win. It s great news because it demonstrates what we have said from the very beginning, which is that Planned Parenthood is following every rule and regulation, and that these people came into our buildings under the guise of health when their true intentions were to spread lies, said Rochelle Tafolla, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, after the decision.Sorry, David and Sandra. It must be terrible not to have a choice in the matter.Featured image via Allen West Republic/LifeNews | 0 |
(Before It's News)
Here (£)
and
Here (Some free articles)
So, is £45Bn the true cost of the National Living Wage? | 1 |
Marvel Comic fans will be excited to hear that Marvel Entertainment, Disney|ABC, and IMAX Corporation has announced their unprecedented agreement to premiere the new ABC series, “The Inhumans” in IMAX commercial theaters. This will mark the first time that a live-action television series debuts in this way. The series will be shown in a two-week window, with its first two episodes slated to air in the late summer of 2017.
Marvel Comics is producing their first two episodes in conjunction with ABC studios. “The Inhumans” was filmed entirely with IMAX digital cameras. Following the premiere on the big screen, ABC will release the weekly series in the fall.
Who are The Inhumans? The Inhumans were first introduced into the Marvel Comics, in 1965, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. During the Kree-Skrull War, which occurred millions of years ago in Earth time, the Kree alien species set up a station on Uranus. As they worked on the station they noticed life on Earth had genetic potential. The Kree started experimenting with humans by splicing Eternals DNA into Cro-Magnons.
The Krees’ goal was two-fold; they wanted to stop their own evolutionary stagnation, as well as create a powerful mutant race of soldiers, to help them fight the Skrulls. Though they were successful in their experiments, the Kree abandoned it.
However, their test subjects, the Inhumans, survived and formed their own society. They thrived in seclusion and developed advanced technology. After experimenting with the mutagenic Terrigen Mist, they found that although they acquired various powers, the mist also caused genetic damage and deformities.
The Unspoken was once the leader of the Inhumans but was dethroned by the current king, Black Bolt. Bolt’s royal family consists of Maximus the Mad, Triton, Medusa, Karnak, Gorgon, Crystal, and their dog Lockjaw. Moreover, Medusa and Crystal were members of Marvel Comics, Fantastic Four and Crystal also teamed with the Avengers. “The Inhumans” will surround the never been told story and epic adventures of Black Bolt.
ABC’s Other Marvel Comic Series “The Inhumans” marks the latest series to join the ABC network lineup. Unfortunately, last season, the network canceled “Agent Carter,” after two seasons. They also passed on a spin-off of “Agents of SHIELD.”
However, Marvel Comics is teaming up with Hulu on one of their other comic book-based series, which is in development. Other projects include the upcoming “X-Men” spin-off of “Legion,” on FX.
IMAX Marks Its First Debut With ‘Marvel’s The Inhumans’ Marvel Comic’s presentation of “The Inhumans” was originally slated for release in 2018, as a movie, rather than a series. However, it was pushed back to 2019, to make room for the Marvel Comic movie, “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” before it was pulled from the schedule, in April 2016.
IMAX is setting an unprecedented first, by hosting the premiere of the Marvel Comics television series. The reason being, IMAX is financing the pilot. Co-chairman of Disney Media Networks Ben Sherwood stated:
This unprecedented alliance represents a bold, innovative approach to launching great TV content for a worldwide audience. It highlights Disney|ABC’s unrelenting commitment to finding new and creative ways to showcasing our very best programming and increasing global engagement and reach.
After the series premiere in IMAX theaters, Marvel Comics’ “The Inhumans” will move to ABC for the remaining six episodes.
By Tracy Blake
Edited by Jeanette Smith
Sources:
News Everyday: Marvel Comics Partners With ABC For ‘Inhumans’ Series In Summer 2017
Marvel: ‘Marvel’s The Inhumans’ Coming to IMAX & ABC in 2017
The Hollywood Reporter: Marvel, ABC Set ‘The Inhumans’ TV Series
Image Courtesy of Dennis Amith’s Flickr Page – Creative Common License
IMAX , Marvel comics , spot | 1 |
BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa s Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday upheld a High Court ruling to reinstate nearly 800 corruption charges filed against Jacob Zuma before he became president. Zuma, who has faced and denied numerous other corruption allegations since taking office, said he was disappointed by the court s decision and asked the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to consider representations before deciding whether to proceed against him. It was unclear when the NPA would make a decision on the charges, which relate to a 30 billion rand ($2 billion) government arms deal arranged in the late 1990s. The ruling is likely to amplify calls for Zuma, 75, to step down before his term as president ends in 2019 and diminish his influence over who succeeds him when the ruling African National Congress (ANC) chooses a new leader in December. It is going to make it a lot more difficult for his camp to get their presidential candidate elected, said Gary van Staden, political analyst with NKC African Economics. Friday s unanimous Supreme Court ruling upheld a High Court decision in April 2016 that the charges against Zuma should be reinstated. They had been set aside in April 2009 by the then-head of the prosecuting authority, paving the way for Zuma to run for president later that year. Rejecting an appeal brought by Zuma and the NPA, Judge Lorimer Leach said it was irrational for the NPA to have set the charges aside the same word used by the High Court. It is difficult to understand why the present regime at the NPA considered that the decision to terminate the prosecution could be defended, the Supreme Court s Leach said. NPA spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku said prosecutors would need to consider the judgment but would at all times do the right thing within the confines of the rule of law and in the interest of proper administration of justice . In a separate statement, the NPA said Zuma s lawyers had asked the state prosecutor not to serve an indictment on his client nor to re-enrol the matter prior to the representations having been considered . The prospect that Zuma s removal may be inching closer lifted the rand against the dollar. Zuma is unpopular with many investors after sacking respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan in March, a move that hit South African financial assets and helped tip the country s credit ratings into junk territory. Zuma has faced persistent corruption allegations, most recently over leaked emails that suggest his friends the Gupta family may have used their influence to secure lucrative state contracts for their companies. Reuters has not independently verified the emails, and Zuma and the Guptas have consistently denied any wrongdoing. Mmusi Maimane, leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance, said he would write to the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Shaun Abrahams, to demand he indict Zuma. The charges have been formulated and the evidence is ready. We now await a trial date, Maimane told reporters. Asked by reporters whether Zuma should resign, the African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said the party would allow that process to take its course. The first thing is whether the NPA will decide to charge the president, he said. You re putting the cart before the horse. National prosecutor Mokotedi Mpshe s decision in 2009 to drop the 783 charges against Zuma in what has become known as the Spy Tapes case was based on phone intercepts presented by Zuma s legal team. They suggested the timing of the charges in late 2007 may have been part of a political plot to stop Zuma, then deputy president, running for the top job. Zuma was linked to the 1990s arms deal through his former financial adviser, who was jailed for corruption. Analysts said the credibility of Zuma and the NPA were in question after the ruling. One lawyer, Ulrich Roux, who speaks to media as a legal analyst, said a private prosecution could be instituted if charges are not brought. | 0 |
For Rabbi Gerald Sussman of Temple on Staten Island, the Obama administration’s recent confrontation with Israel was a stunning turn for a president who had enjoyed support from many members of his congregation. “The word ‘betrayed’ would not be too strong a word,” he said. But in Los Angeles, Rabbi John L. Rosove of Temple Israel of Hollywood, who is the chairman of the Association of Reform Zionists of America, felt differently. He applauded the speech delivered on Wednesday by Secretary of State John Kerry explaining the decision by the United States not to block a United Nations Security Council resolution that condemned the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Rabbi Rosove also suggested that many American Jews were broadly supportive of the Obama administration. “I felt Kerry was exactly right,” he said. “The people who will criticize him will take a leap and say he’s just as some American Jews are saying Obama is an . This is ridiculous. They recognize and cherish the state of Israel. ” The relationship between Israel and the United States, historically the Jewish state’s closest ally, has seen periods of strain and tension almost from the day of Israel’s creation in 1948. But rarely has the situation between the two countries been this stressed, with President Obama under attack not only from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but also from Donald J. Trump. The events of the past few days have renewed a longstanding debate over whether American Jews must always stand with the Israeli government, and under what circumstances should they criticize a friend. “There’s a very clear values clash going on,” said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the executive director of T’ruah, a rabbinical human rights organization. “On the one hand, we have a small but vocal minority of American Jews who believe that supporting Israel means supporting the agenda, the current government. And on the other, there is a larger percentage of American Jews who are committed to Israel and committed to democracy and want to see it as a safe place that reflects our values. ” This is a community that is hardly monolithic. For one thing, younger Jews are seen as less likely to identify themselves as religious or supportive of Israel, and do not share memories of the Holocaust or the wars with Israel’s Arab neighbors. American Jews are also overwhelmingly Democratic Jews voted for Hillary Clinton over Mr. Trump, 71 percent to 24 percent, according to exit polls. Yet the most influential and vocal organizations that represent Jews in Washington tend to be more conservative and supportive of Mr. Netanyahu, who has had a combative relationship with Mr. Obama, and has made little secret of his happiness over the changing of the guard that is about to take place in Washington. Mr. Trump has signaled that his administration would upend the nation’s policies toward Israel, promoting rather than discouraging settlement construction and moving the American embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. “These days the right wing has a louder voice in Israel, and, in some ways, it also has a louder voice in America, because the people who are most actively and publicly Jewish, sectarian Jewish, share the right wing point of view, and are very ” said Samuel Heilman, a sociology professor of at Queens College specializing in Jewish life. “But it’s not the mainstream point of view. ” Steven M. Cohen, a research professor at Hebrew Union College and a consultant to a recent Pew study of American Jews, said that Mr. Kerry’s speech represents the viewpoints of most American Jews. “On survey after survey, American Jews are opposed to Jewish settlement expansion. They tend to favor a solution and their political identities are liberal or moderate,” he said. Some Jews said they thought Mr. Kerry’s speech, even if delivered in harsh terms, actually reaffirmed the best hope for a lasting peace in Israel: a solution. “This administration has been ” said Paula Greene, 65, a retired nurse in Hollywood, Fla. “Like Kerry said, you can still be friends, still be allies and still have disagreements. ” But for others, even those who support a solution and object to Israeli settlement policy, the decision by the United States not to shield Israel at the United Nations — which is widely viewed among many American Jews as hostile to Israel — was a mistake. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, a Democrat with a large Jewish constituency, called the Security Council action unnecessary and inappropriate, adding: “I don’t think you can solve a problem with a friend by flogging them publicly. ” The Security Council’s vote a week ago condemned Israel’s construction of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a “flagrant violation under international law” and an obstacle to peace in the region. The United States chose to abstain rather than use its veto, as it has done in the past to quash resolutions it considered . Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, the largest Jewish movement in North America, said it was “a miscalculation in our minds. I think a majority of American Jews would agree, no matter how one feels about settlements, that the idea that the U. N. is an honest broker when it comes to Israel is laughable. ” For Shira Greenberg, a public school teacher in Florida, Mr. Obama’s rebuke of Mr. Netanyahu confirmed her worst assumptions about the president. “Throughout the whole Obama administration, people were trying to guess where he stood,” she said after morning services at her conservative synagogue on Thursday. “At this point, it’s pretty clear. ” And at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, a large and politically divided congregation, Rabbi David Wolpe said Mr. Obama had “pulled the rug out from under people who said the president’s intentions toward Israel was positive and strong. ” The public display of rancor is unsettling. “Nobody in the community can be happy when you have this public spat between the prime minister and the president, and the kind of language the prime minister has been using about the president,” said Daniel C. Kurtzer, who has served as the United States ambassador to both Israel and Egypt. David Zwiebel, the executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America, which represents Jews, said that there is a general sense among Orthodox Jews, who tend to be more conservative, “that the outgoing administration is outgoing and should be outgoing, and it’s time for an approach that is more openly supportive of Israel. ” For all the controversy created by the vote, few Jewish leaders think there is any chance that Mr. Kerry and Mr. Obama might, in the next three weeks, strike the deal that has eluded negotiators for years. That said, some supporters of a solution applauded Mr. Kerry for trying. “I think it’s a question of legacy,” said Jeremy the head of J Street, a liberal Jewish lobbying group. “And you have to have the long view on this issue. Donald Trump will be president for X years. And then there will be someone else and the chances are it will go back to where we are today. And Bibi will lose someday,” he said, referring to Mr. Netanyahu. “Someday down the line this is the way it’s got to go. ” | 0 |
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has reportedly produced a fake animal abuse video to “raise awareness” of the issue online. [“The animal rights group has produced a disturbing new video that depicts a cat suffering at the hands of its owner. It’s difficult to watch. It’s also completely fake,” reports Mashable. “But it looks real it is a skilled CGI work clearly meant to deceive viewers. Now, PETA is trying to enlist complicit media organizations to knowingly publish the fake video in an effort to make the lie go viral. ” “Through this marketing effort, PETA is trying to convince the media to report and share a fake video as if it’s real, in hopes of deceiving the public to create manufactured outrage,” Mashable continued. “As animal lovers, this is offensive. As a media outlet with a responsibility to truthfulness, this is unethical. As people with basic moral values, WTF?” Mashable claims PETA’s involvement in the fake video is shown in a clip that was also emailed to them by a public relations firm allegedly working with the animal activists: What we’d like to do is have Mashable debut this video of a cat, created with imagery (CGI) being abused, which will have been planted on YouTube anonymously by the ad agency who created it for PETA. Your posting of the provocative piece would simply be to acknowledge that it’s in circulation — not to make any claims about its authenticity. … When the video has drawn the critical response and the number of views we’re anticipating (ideally, into the millions) we would then have you reveal to the world that the cat was NOT harmed, but was actually created with CGI by posting this video. It reveals the reasons for the creation of the first video and asks people to avoid circuses that use lions, tigers, or any other live animals. Mashable called the plan to create a viral video “wrong and irresponsible,” while one Twitter user called them “unethical” for the trick. “Anyone surprised?” asked Daily Mail U. S. political editor David Martosko on Twitter. Anyone surprised? https: . — David Martosko (@dmartosko) June 7, 2017, “PETA is pitching literal fake news because PETA is terrible,” added BuzzFeed reporter Tyler Kingkade. PETA is pitching literal fake news because PETA is terrible https: . — Tyler Kingkade (@tylerkingkade) June 7, 2017, PETA has previously faced criticism for deceptive tricks, including the time they hired musician Jona Weinhofen to hold a fake plastic sheep covered in blood in a deceptive attempt to turn people against sheep shearing. The image was refuted by sheep farmers, with one claiming, “In two decades of living on a sheep farm, I have seen nothing resembling the images put forward by Peta in its campaign against the wool industry. ” Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook. | 0 |
KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomb attack in the Afghan capital near a meeting of supporters of an influential regional leader on Thursday killed at least nine people and wounded many, the interior ministry said. Islamic State claimed responsibility, according to Amaq, its official news agency. The Taliban denied involvement. Atta Mohammad Noor, governor of the northern province of Balkh and a leader of the mainly ethnic Tajik Jamiat-i-Islami party, was not at the meeting at the time of the attack, members of the party said. Political tensions are rising as politicians have begun jockeying for position ahead of presidential elections expected in 2019 and thousands of civilians have been killed in attacks this year. The bomber approached the hotel hosting the gathering on foot but was spotted by a police official, Sayed Basam Padshah, as he neared a security checkpoint, an interior ministry spokesman said. The attacker triggered his explosives vest before he could get any further, Kabul police chief Basir Mujahid told Reuters. Padshah was among the seven policemen and two civilians killed. He saved many lives by sacrificing his life, Mujahid said. The northern-based Jamiat-i-Islami was for years the main opponent of the Taliban, who draw their support largely from the southern-based ethnic Pashtun community. A witness to Thursday s bombing said: We are proud to be martyred because of our country and our rights. This gathering was for the sake of our country to raise our voice. In June, a suicide bomber attacked a meeting of Jamiat-i-Islami leaders, including Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. Abdullah, who is supported by ethnic minority leaders including Noor who fought against the Taliban s hard-line Islamist regime in the 1990s, formed a coalition government with President Ashraf Ghani after a disputed 2014 presidential election. Ghani on Wednesday sacked the chairman of the Independent Election Commission, raising doubts over whether parliamentary and council ballots scheduled for next year will take place as planned. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is considering closing its embassy in Havana in response to an alleged sonic attack on U.S. personnel in Cuba, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Sunday. We have it under evaluation, Tillerson said on CBS Face the Nation program. It s a very serious issue with respect to the harm that certain individuals have suffered. Five Republican senators on Friday called for the Trump administration to retaliate against the Cuban government by expelling Cuban diplomats and possibly shuttering the U.S. embassy there over attacks that began in late 2016. The State Department said in August that Americans linked to the U.S. embassy in Havana had experienced physical symptoms from incidents involving sound waves. Five Canadians were also affected. Symptoms included nausea, dizziness and temporary loss of hearing or memory. Cuba, the United States and Canada have investigated the attacks, but the probe has not yielded any answers about how they were carried out or who was responsible for them. Cuba has denied involvement. The U.S. State Department has not blamed Havana for the attacks but asked two Cuban diplomats to leave Washington in May. | 0 |
If you ever wondered what racist conservatives would like to eat for breakfast, Twitter has the answer.White nationalist website Breitbart is throwing a hissy fit because Kellogg s pulled advertising from the site to ensure our ads do not appear on sites that aren t aligned with our values as set forth in our advertising guidelines. In other words, the cereal maker does not want their company associated with a racist sexist publication that spews hateful right-wing propaganda.And they can t be blamed for that. After all, companies like Kellogg s want to sell their products to as diverse a consumer base as possible and giving a racist company like Breitbart adverting dollars only alienates.So Breitbart decided to get revenge by declaring war on Kellogg s and calling for a boycott. You know, because conservative boycotts always work.Yeah, that was sarcasm. In reality, conservative boycotts rarely work. In fact, they are usually mocked relentlessly and humiliated. Breitbart definitely learned that overnight because Twitter users started a new hashtag and #BreitbartCereals has been trending ever since.The Fascist Monster cereals: Count Trumpula and Boo Bannon #BreitbartCereals Carlos Pecciotto (@EEgreenbunny) December 1, 2016Hooded Bunches of Oafs #BreitbartCereals Adam Stillman (@Stillyman11) December 1, 2016Children of the Corn Flakes#BreitbartCereals pic.twitter.com/i1RYbOOvBB Christian Greco (@Jolly_Esquire) December 1, 2016Chex (and Balances are Gone) #BreitbartCereals Portmanteau Jones (@SadlyCatless) December 1, 2016#BreitbartCereals Frosted Fake News Michael K. Ferrante (@MKFerrante) December 1, 2016Corn-flicts of Interest #BreitbartCereals Bo Lenerf (@BoLenerf) December 1, 2016Apple Jack Boots #BreitbartCereals kara bishop (@AnaisNincompoop) December 1, 2016Republican Nut Bran #BreitbartCereals LizMcNabb (@LizabethMcNabb) December 1, 2016Cocoa Stop-and Friskies #BreitbartCereals Kirk (@WorkWithKirk) December 1, 2016#BreitbartCereals Tony the alt-Righter says Thiiiiiiird REICH! (((Jake Turk))) (@71djt) December 1, 2016#BreitbartCereals pic.twitter.com/l00It7umuq Marcus Hawkins (@HawkinsUSA) December 1, 2016Special KKK: Start Your Day Alt-Right #BreitbartCereals pic.twitter.com/1ItBv4ibCu Joshua Zitser (@mrjoshz) December 1, 2016Honey Bunches of A-Holes #BreitbartCereals Boycott Trump SCION (@puppymnkey) December 1, 2016Honey Nut GestapOoos! So good, the Nazis will kick your door down for them!#BreitbartCereals pic.twitter.com/0918g8A7Wo Nathan Ralph (@thenateralph) December 1, 2016Breitbart is literally trying to bully Kellogg s out of business simply because the company disagrees with them. Kellogg s decision to blacklist one of the largest conservative media outlets in America is economic censorship of mainstream conservative political discourse, Breitbart whined. That is as un-American as it gets. Except that it s not un-American at all. Just like Breitbart is exercising their right to be total dicks, Kellogg s is exercising their right to not associate with them. It s called the free market.Despite being humiliated, conservatives are already crowing because Kellogg s stock price coincidentally dropped after Breitbart called for a boycott. So those of us who hate racists should go out and support Kellogg s by buying their cereal and other products to make sure Kellogg s is rewarded for rejecting hate. Because if Breitbart is allowed to successfully bully Kellogg s into supporting them, they ll do it to other companies who also do the right thing.Featured image via Twitter | 0 |
Bryan Pagliano is in hot water with this and he knows it. Is water boarding an option here? Seriously, they need his testimony but he s obviously not going to incriminate himself so he pleads the fifth.The State Department IT worker who managed Hillary Clinton s private email server while she was secretary of state will plead the Fifth Amendment if called to testify about his work on the Democratic presidential candidate s mysterious email setup, his attorney informed the House Select Committee on Benghazi this week. The committee subpoenaed Bryan Pagliano on Aug. 11, according to The Washington Post. In addition to testifying on Sept. 10, committee chairman Trey Gowdy asked Pagliano to produce documents related to the servers he managed on behalf of Clinton. Pagliano worked on Clinton s 2008 presidential campaign before moving over to the State Department in May 2009, several months after Clinton took office. He left the agency at the same time as Clinton, in Feb. 2013. But in a letter to the Benghazi Committee on Monday, Mark MacDougall, Pagliano s attorney, said that his client would assert his constitutional right against self-incrimination if called to testify. Pagliano is one of numerous Clinton aides that Gowdy s panel intends to interview. Two of Clinton s top aides will testify this week. Clinton herself is scheduled to publicly testify next month. | 0 |
It s only logical that the people who supported Bernie Sanders, the anti-establishment candidate would be more attracted to a successful business man who s never spent a day of his life as a politician. Making the decision to support Donald Trump, who said he would only run if our nation got so bad he couldn t take it any longer, to a woman who s spent her entire life scratching and clawing her way to the top, and harming anyone who got in her way of her ultimate goal seems like a no-brainer. The $21 million Hillary pulled down from speaking engagements on Wall Street over a 2 year period might have something to do with it as well .This week at the Democratic National Convention, much of the focus was not on nominee Hillary Clinton, but on Bernie Sanders and his enthusiastic contingent of young supporters.While some had speculated that Sanders supporters would fall in line after his endorsement of Clinton, it appears that this consolidation has yet to gain any momentum.Bernie supporters, emboldened by the recent DNC email leak, took to the streets in Philadelphia to voice their displeasure with Hillary and the Democrat party as a whole.With chants of Hell no DNC, we won t vote for Hillary and Lock her up, the protesters made it clear they would not be casting their votes for Hillary Clinton. But who would they be voting for instead?Campus Reform went to the DNC to speak with these protestors about how they planned to vote in November, and the results will be shocking to many. I m throwing this race to Trump! said one protester I was strong for Bernie, and now I m taking a stand for Trump, said another.When asked why he would be voting for Donald Trump, one protester noted that, as he spent time talking to Trump supporters, we agree on a lot of the major issues that we re facing in this country. We re both mad about the same things. Citing the anti-establishment nature of the Sanders and Trump campaigns, one protester pointed out that, for some people, Bernie is the person they stuck with, but there are some anti-establishment things they want, and they ll go with Trump. Via: Campus Reform | 1 |
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma made a close associate energy minister on Tuesday as his government tries to push through a big nuclear deal but his sacking of another minister was seen undermining his ANC party s ruling alliance. The rand currency and South African bonds fell in value after Zuma s second Cabinet reshuffle in seven months, with the rand 1 percent lower on the day against the dollar. The market is taking it slightly negative, said Rand Merchant Bank fixed income specialist Michelle Wohlberg. Zuma is unpopular with many investors after sacking respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan in March, a move that hit South African financial assets and helped tip the country s credit ratings into junk territory. He changed six ministers in all on Tuesday, including those for home affairs, education and communications. Blade Nzimande, a fierce critic of Zuma whose South African Communist Party (SACP) is a key ally of the ruling African National Congress, was axed as higher education minister. The appointment of David Mahlobo, formerly state security minister, to head the energy ministry will heighten speculation that the 75-year-old president is trying to push through the nuclear deal before his second term ends in 2019. The appointment of Mr Mahlobo to head up the energy department needs to be seen in the context of the President wanting to push ahead with the proposed nuclear energy program, Jeffrey Schultz and Nic Borain, analysts at BNP Paribas South Africa said. South Africa is preparing to add 9,600 megawatts of nuclear capacity equivalent to up to 10 nuclear reactors in a contract that could be worth tens of billions of dollars and would be one of the biggest nuclear deals anywhere in decades. Companies including Russia s Rosatom, South Korea s Kepco, France s EDF and Areva, Toshiba-owned Westinghouse, and China s CGN are eyeing the project, which has been criticized by South African civil society groups and the opposition for lacking transparency. Investors are also worried about the potential impact of the project on South Africa s already strained public finances. Former energy minister Mmamaloko Kubayi, who was only appointed in March, was moved to the communications ministry. Contrary to speculation, Zuma did not appoint Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, his ex-wife and former African Union chair, to a Cabinet position ahead of the ANC s December conference to choose a new leader. Zuma is said to favor Dlamini-Zuma to take over from him at the party s helm, instead of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. But his removal from the cabinet of Nzimande, a vocal critic of Zuma s scandal-plagued presidency, risked widening a rift with ANC allies the SACP and trade union group COSATU ahead of national elections in 2019. Nzimande is general secretary of the SACP, which has 17 members of parliament. He has criticized Zuma over his links with the Guptas, a family of Indian-born businessman who have been accused of using their influence to secure lucrative state contracts for their companies. Zuma and the Guptas have consistently denied any wrongdoing. This is a clear declaration of war on the SACP by President Zuma, the SACP s first deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila said, although he did not indicate the party would leave the ruling alliance. ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe acknowledged that Nzimande s sacking would have a negative effect on relations with the SACP and said relations within the alliance were at their lowest at this point in time . | 0 |
Buckle up America Obama still has 6 months to fundamentally transform America. If the media and #NeverTrump crowd manages to convince voters to support Crooked Hillary, it will be the end of America as we know it Who will be vetting the unlimited number of potential terrorists refugees Obama is bringing to America? The White House announced last week that it is launching a Call to Action asking private businesses to help with the resettlement of refugees. This could be done without regard to the government cap of 85,000 total refugees, including 10,000 Syrian refugees, in 2016.Fifteen founding corporations have teamed up with the Obama administration on the effort. These are: Accenture, Airbnb, Chobani, Coursera, Goldman Sachs, Google, HP, IBM, JPMorgan Chase & Co., LinkedIn, Microsoft, Mastercard, UPS, TripAdvisor, and Western Union. The Call to Action initiative is not only to help refugees in the United States, but all over the world.In Europe for example, Mastercard worked with Mercy Corps to distribute prepaid debit cards to eligible refugees traveling through Serbia. Approximately $75,000 was distributed to nearly 400 families and individuals. The three main facets of this private partnership program are: education, employment, and enablement. Education includes facilitating refugee children and young adults education by ensuring that refugee students can access schools of all levels. The employment facet includes increasing employment opportunities for refugees. Through those two parts of the initiative refugees can be settled in the United States without limit as they wouldn t fall under the purview of the government cap on refugee resettlement. Through work and education visas refugees would not actually be considered as refugees for their immigration status. One of the companies already partnered with the Obama administration, Chobani, currently has a work force in the United States that is roughly 30 percent resettled refugees. A White House fact sheet states 66 percent of refugees are of working age.Outside of employment and education, under the enablement part of the initiative, the White House mentions that companies can help refugees get access to financial services, technology, housing and transport. This also includes covering costs of charter flight to bring resettled refugees to the United States (or to another country of resettlement). These refugees will be coming outside the refugee resettlement program so they would not be counted under the government cap of 10,000. These alternative legal pathways or sponsorships will be under employment visas, training, student visas and scholarships, visiting scholars etc, Nayla Rush, senior researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies, told The Daily Caller.Rush added, remember, the aim is to bring as many Syrian refugees as possible. 10,000 is the limit this [Fiscal Year] under the refugee resettlement program. No limit to these private sponsorships , more importantly, to traceability. At a United Nations summit on September 20, Obama is going to push for double the number of resettlement slots and alternative legal pathways for admission that are available to refugees, and increase the number of countries accepting significant numbers of refugees. Via: Daily Caller | 0 |
Unless you ve been living under a rock since January, you know that Republicans across the country have been slowly but slowly waking up to the horror that is their giant November mistake. In tale after tale, unfortunate conservatives, once defiant in their hatred of all things left of Hannity, are beginning to see what dyed-in-the-wool Republican policy looks like, and it ain t pretty.But with the disgusting Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill just around the corner and racing toward its September 30th finish line, Trumpcare is everything that MAGA-wearing troglodytes feared: They are just finding out that their diabetes will no longer be covered, their kid s heroin addiction is an afterthought, and their ailin mama s Medicare is fixin to be plowed over.Those folks I actually feel kind of bad for. I mean, not really. Most of them voted Trump because they hate Mexicans and gay people. But at least they have the decency to be sick over how nasty it s going to be to get sick under Trumpcare.The ones I have no sympathy for are the self-proclaimed intellectuals in the conservative realm. Like one Sassy Gay Republican on Twitter. His name is Alex, and if you visit his Twitter right now, it s a bit of a mess, because he s busy soaking in the fame and glory that comes with a BuzzFeed interview and someone calling you the next Tomi Lahren (which I don t think Alex has really thought through).But Bill Armagh felt kinda bad for Sassy Alex when he saw that he d been involved in a terrible car accident. We all did, really. But that doesn t stop any of us from drinking down some delicious schadenfreude at how fast life came at poor Sassy.A Sassy Gay Republican DRAMA in Four Acts. ?? pic.twitter.com/O3tNiTg56A Billy, Just Billy (@BillyArmagh) September 20, 2017It started with a simple question that many Republicans have asked:Sassy may have a point! Go on, Sassy:But then Sassy hits a snag in the pantyhose of life, and is forced to re-think some things:That can t be good. If only there was a way you could be covered in situations like this. Hmm And even Billy was surprised to find out there was more to the story of the Sassy Gay Republican. It turns out his conservative friends didn t have as much sympathy for him as he thought they might in his time of need:And it looks like Sassy himself may be having some serious second thoughts about how well conservative policies serve his interests:Welcome to the club, Sassy Gay Republican. It s terrifying in here.Note: I have not included a link for Alex s GoFundMe page, because there is some question as to whether the picture may be from an accident in the past, and I am not down with helping anyone, no matter how sassy they are, scam the public for sympathy dollars.Featured image via Twitter/composite | 1 |
20 Foods That Naturally Unclog Arteries and Prevent Heart Attacks http://blogs.naturalnews.com/20-foods-naturally-unclog-arteries-prevent-heart-attacks/
By Twain Yobra
Posted Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 03:53pm EDT
Arteries play a vital role in the body. They transport nutrients and oxygen throughout the body. And they can cause heart attacks if they’re clogged. Well, you can unclog them naturally by eating foods rich in antioxidants, soluble fiber and healthy fats.
Here are 20 foods that will unclog your arteries and prevent heart attacks.
1. Pomegranate: Pomegranate is rich in antioxidants which prevents the arteries from being damaged. Research also shows that pomegranate improves heart health by reducing bad cholesterol.
2. Spirulina: Spirulina is regulates fat levels in the blood. And it’s rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which studies show prevents heart disease.
3. Asparagus: This vegetable is rich in vitamins and minerals that prevent blood clots and lower blood pressure.
4. Turmeric: Inflammation is one of the main causes of arteriosclerosis, and as you may know, turmeric fights inflammation.
5. Cranberries: The potassium in cranberries can lower blood pressure and reduce risk of heart disease by up to 40 percent.
6. Watermelon: One study found that L-citrulline (found in watermelon) can widen blood vessels and lower blood pressure. This can actually benefit men with mild erectile dysfunction.
7. Avocado: Research shows that eat avocados every day can clean your arteries, lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol.
8. Broccoli: Broccoli contains vitamin K which prevents calcium from damaging the arteries. It’s also rich in soluble fiber which lowers cholesterol.
9. Cinnamon: This spice unclogs the arteries of plaque build-up. Its antioxidant properties also improve cardiovascular health.
10. Green tea: This powerful herb contains catechins which prevent absorption of cholesterol. This consequently prevents blockage of arteries. Drink 2-3 cups a day.
11. Coconut oil: Taking coconut oil regularly can unclog the arteries and even convert bad cholesterol to good.
12. Persimmon: Persimmon has antioxidants that reduce blood-lipid. It’s also rich in fiber which helps clean the arteries.
13. Coffee: Research shows that drinking 2 cups of coffee a day can lower risk of heart disease by 20 percent. But excess consumption can increase blood pressure and cause anxiety.
14. Cold-water fish: Eating these fish will fight inflammation and unclog your arteries. They include, mackerel, tuna, salmons, and sardines.
15. Olive oil: Studies show that olive oil can reduce risk of cardiovascular disease by 41 percent. This is attributed to its ability to reduce oxidative stress and cholesterol.
16. Spinach: This vegetable unclogs arteries because of its folate, potassium and fiber content.
17. Orange juice: Oranges are rich in vitamin C which cleans the arteries and prevents oxidation of blood.
18. Flaxseeds: Flaxseeds have been proven to fight inflammation, lower blood pressure and improve heart health.
19. Raw nuts: Nuts like almonds will reduce blood pressure and fight inflammation. Use them to keep hunger at bay.
20. Whole grains: Whole grains are rich in soluble fiber which lowers cholesterol and risk of high blood pressure.
For more information on eating healthy and staying fit, download your FREE 3 Weeks Flat Stomach Guide to help you improve your health and physique. And like our Facebook page . You might also like… | 1 |
Our weekly documentary screening curated by the editorial team at 21WIRE.Editor s Note: Although this is not an actual documentary film, this powerful interview segment is a must-see in order to grasp the concept of the Deep State in America, and further into the international arena. In this seminal interview segment, author Mike Lofgren, a congressional staff member for 28 years, talks to veteran broadcaster Bill Moyers about Washington s shadow government now commonly referred to as the Deep State, where elected and unelected figures collude to protect and serve powerful vested interests. It is how we had deregulation, financialization of the economy, the Wall Street bust, the erosion or our civil liberties and perpetual war, says Lofgren. Watch:Run time: 26 min Host: Bill Moyers Program: Moyers & Company Production: Public Affairs Television (2014)Also read Mike Lofgren s powerful essay, The Anatomy of the Deep State SEE MORE SUNDAY SCREENINGS HERESUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @ 21WIRE.TV | 1 |
While the R(In Name Only)NC doesn t appear to consider Ben Carson a threat and have largely left him alone, there is no question they are coming at Trump and Cruz with both barrels blazing. Even the most casual observer of the last two debates was caught a bit off guard with the insane enthusiasm they seemed to express for low energy jeb! and the GOP candidate most willing to reach across the aisle and cut a deal with the Democrat Party, in my state of Ohio Governor John Kasich. We re not questioning whether or not Rubio had supporters in the audience, as we can actually see what voters may find appealing about him, but the level of applause for his repetitive answers was not consistent with his poll numbers compared to the other top contenders. GREENVILLE, South Carolina The chairman of the local Republican Party here confirmed to local television that 2016 frontrunner billionaire Donald Trump s concerns and those of his closest competitor Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) with the Republican National Committee (RNC) allocation of debate audience tickets are well-placed.Chad Groover, the chairman of the Greenville County Republican Party here, told WYFF the local NBC News station that party donors get tickets to the debate. You ll have a good mix of people who are donors, people who are donors and workers, and people who are just workers, Groover said, noting that he got a couple of dozen of tickets to hand out to the party s faithful donors. I didn t have hundreds of tickets. I had a couple of dozen tickets, Groover said.That means a significant proportion of his stack of approximately 24 tickets went to monied interests backing the GOP not to actual voters in the upcoming election.Sources close to the process who work for the RNC, but are not authorized to speak on the record, confirmed to Breitbart News throughout the evening on Saturday that that is standard operating procedure for the RNC and the party as a whole for all debates: Donors get tickets while voters have to watch on TV at home.As such, the same appears to have been true party-wide. One well-placed source who works for one of the GOP presidential campaigns and was in attendance at the debate on Saturday evening here but was not authorized to speak on record about the matter told Breitbart News that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley were personally given scores of tickets to distribute. Both despise Trump and have said so publicly Haley even using the platform of the official GOP response to the State of the Union to do so and it would be no surprise if they did aim to stack the audience with anti-Trump sentiment. I ve never seen anything like it, said another source in the audience, someone who has attended several of the GOP debates. That source said the anti-Trump and anti-Cruz audience members who were thoroughly cheering for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and his mentor former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush when they made passionate cases for amnesty for illegal aliens, something entirely non-representative of South Carolina s electorate were behaving unlike any audience he d ever seen in his lifetime of attending GOP presidential debates.The Republican National Committee s Sean Spicer confirmed to Breitbart News pre-debate that the RNC proper distributed 367 tickets while the state party and locally elected officials received 550 tickets. Meanwhile the debate partners CBS News, the Peace Center, and Google received another 100 tickets. That means more than 1000 tickets 1,017 by Spicer s admission went not to voters in the upcoming election and not to campaigns for equal distribution to their supporters but to special interest distribution of those connected to the party, mostly high dollar donors. Only 600 tickets were distributed equally among the six remaining GOP campaigns, which to be fair to the RNC is the highest number of tickets distributed as such so far this election cycle.But Trump s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, is calling for the RNC to drop all donor tickets and stop handing them out to special and monied interests entirely. Lewandowski says at all the rest of the debates from here on out, Spicer and the RNC must equally allocate all tickets among the various campaigns so they can distribute them equally and fairly to their supporters and cut out all the donors and special interests who get tickets. I think the RNC does a terrible job in allocating the tickets, to be honest with you, There s an opportunity there s 2,000 seats out there, there s six candidates on stage, they should just divide them evenly so everyone has them, but instead they just give them to the donor class, they give them to the lobbyists and to all the special interests, Lewandowski said in the spin room. It s not fair, it s not equitable. So I think what they should do moving forward is take the total number of seats available, allocate them across the board and let the candidates bring their people in, because that s who should be here, not the donors. Spicer has refused repeatedly over the course of several emails on Saturday and Sunday morning to answer whether the RNC will comply with Lewandowski s request to drop all RNC and state and local party ticket allocation and just allow the campaigns to equally distribute all debate tickets fairly to their supporters in the future.Trump s and Cruz s concerns are even being confirmed by many across the political spectrum. In fact, even the left-of-center Huffington Post confirms that the RNC s ticket allocation system seems to have been behind the excessive and unwarranted booing of Trump and Cruz and cheering of the donor class supported Rubio and Bush. The audience at Saturday s CBS News Republican presidential debate was more boisterous than unusual booing, clapping and generally making its feelings known during several exchanges between candidates on stage in Greenville, South Carolina, the Huffington Post s Igor Bobic wrote. At various points, attendees seemed to favor former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and to be very much against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and real estate mogul Donald Trump the two candidates currently leading the race. The way the Republican National Committee distributed the tickets may have been behind the heightened reactions. Vox, another left-of-center outlet, ran a headline that made it even clearer: The Republican establishment packed the debate audience with Donald Trump haters. In the piece, author German Lopez noted that the audience s pro-Rubio and pro-Bush cheering was very peculiar as was the booing of Trump and Cruz. Something very peculiar happened at the Republican debate on Saturday night: When Donald Trump talked, the audience booed. Yet when Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and even John Kasich talked, they got loud cheers and applause, Lopez wrote. This happened again and again. It even led a spike in Google searches for Why are people booing? Vox even admits that Trump s claim on stage that the odd and unrepresentative of the party s voting base audience was made up of Jeb s special interests and lobbyists was really not that far-fetched. Prior to the debate, the Republican Party decided not to use a lottery system to decide who should be in the audience, Lopez wrote. Instead, most tickets went to elected Republican officials, donors, and other workers for the party picked by local, state, and national party officials. The result, it seems, is the room was packed with Republican voters who overwhelmingly dislike Trump. Via: Breitbart News | 1 |
Ted Cruz on Saturday won all 14 delegates in the Wyoming GOP convention -- a relatively small number but enough for the Texas senator to declare victory and keep GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump from securing the nomination.
“We are likely to have a battle in Cleveland to decide who is the nominee,” Cruz told party members before they picked the delegates. “If you don’t want to see Donald Trump as the nominee, … then I ask you to please vote for the men and women on this slate.”
The Wyoming process mirrored that of Colorado, which was engulfed by political controversy after hosting a similar convention last week.
Cruz’s campaign ran circles around the Trump operation there, prompting Trump to slam the multi-tiered caucus system as “rigged.”
Cruz was expected to do well in Wyoming because his campaign had been lining up support there for months, too.
“The ground game is starting early and starting at your most local, smallest enclave,” said Ed Buchanan, Cruz’s Wyoming chairman.
After being tapped by Cruz in February, Buchanan started drafting activists across the state. His efforts were bolstered by two days of Cruz campaign stops in Wyoming last August.
Trump did not actively campaign in either state, while Cruz put in face-time in both.
“You are going to hear this from me more and more: We have to bring our country together. We are a divided nation,” Trump said at a rally in upstate New York, ahead of the state’s primary Tuesday in which 95 GOP delegates are up for grabs.
Before Saturday, Trump had 742 delegates, followed by Cruz with 529 and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 143. The winner needs 1,237 delegates to win the nomination. (Kasich is running second in the New York primary, according to polls.)
Senior Trump adviser Alan Cobb said about Colorado and Wyoming: "Candidates that have allies that are party insiders have advantages in states that have a pyramid process of selecting their delegates. These folks have worked this process for years."
Mindful of potential accusations, Wyoming GOP leaders are ready. Their message: The rules were set long before anyone announced their candidacy.
“Every presidential candidate for the last 40 years has managed this process and has worked through this process and has followed the process that we have in Wyoming,” state GOP Chairman Matt Micheli said in an interview with Fox News. “We are simply following the rules that are in place and that have been in place for a long time.”
Fox News' Dan Gallo, Mike Emanuel and John Roberts contributed to this report. | 0 |
ABUJA (Reuters) - A key community leader from Nigeria s tense Delta oil-producing region called on militants on Sunday not to resume their attacks until they had further time to negotiate their demands with the government. Chief Edwin Clark, who leads the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), which has been holding peace talks with the government since last year, called on the Niger Delta Avengers militant group to be patient. The Avengers, whose attacks last year wrought havoc on the nation s oil output, promised on Friday a brutish, brutal and bloody return to violence because they said they had lost faith in local leaders to get what they wanted from the government. This is not the time to resume hostilities, Clark said in a statement issued by the Presidential Amnesty Programme. It is true that the federal government has not been quite serious about the negotiations, but we are asking the Niger Delta Avengers to maintain the peace. He added that PANDEF was sending a delegation to meet the group s leaders. The Avengers, like many in the Niger Delta, say they want a greater share of Nigeria s energy wealth to stay in the impoverished swampland region, which produces the bulk of the oil but is largely underdeveloped. The statement came after a government delegation led by Brigadier General Paul Boroh, special adviser to the president on the Niger Delta, visited Clark at his Abuja home on Sunday. Clark said Boroh assured him that the talks were back on track , and that PANDEF leaders would meet soon in Warri. The 2016 attacks slashed oil output to close to 1 million barrels per day from roughly 2.2 million bpd. That along with low oil prices pushed the nation into its first recession in 25 years. | 0 |
How is a man with ties to a US based terror organization, who according to authorities, was caught planning to deliver a large cache of weapons to a secretive Islamic compound in upstate New York allowed to roam the streets while he awaits a trial that won t take place until November? This incredible story should make every American wonder how serious we are about fighting homegrown terrorism in the United States A long-time associate of a U.S.-based Islamist terrorist organization, Muslims of America (MOA), was arrested in New York following the discovery of a large cache of weapons that were intended for MOA s Islamberg headquarters in Hancock, NY.Ramadan Abdullah, 64, was arrested in Johnson City, NY, and is no stranger to law enforcement. Abdullah was previously arrested along with another man in 1977 for attempting to rob a Brooklyn candy store, resulting in a murder.At the time, police searched Abdullah s home and discovered enough material to build 50 bombs. Even so, the charges against Abdullah were ultimately reduced.Abdullah was arrested on May 31 after attempting to steal four boxes of ammunition from a local Gander Mountain store. When asked by police about the purpose of the ammunition, Abdullah s answers raised suspicion among police who obtained a search warrant for a storage locker he was renting in the town of Union.During the search, the police discovered the following:8 assault weapons 4 loaded handguns 1 loaded shotgun 2 rifles 64 high-capacity ammunition feeding devices flak jacketsThousands of rounds of ammunition, including .50-caliber armor-piercing roundsPolice searched other residences linked to Abdullah and found a loaded handgun, and more high-capacity ammunition feeding devices and ammunition, including .38-caliber rounds.New York State Police Major Jim Barnes declined to confirm whether Abdullah was associated with terrorist groups or organizations but noted that police believe Abdullah had traveled overseas. There s no indications there was a plan in place to commit an act of violence. However, it begs the question, what was he doing with all this and what were his intentions down the road? Barnes said.Johnson City Police Chief Brent Dodge said, It s just a tremendous blessing to be able to take all these high power weapons and high power ammunition off the streets, and who knows what kind of large scale tragedy that this investigation may have prevented later down the road. Abdullah is a longtime associate of the U.S.-based Islamist cult Muslims of America.Apparently, a Muslim man with a large cache of weapons set to be delivered to a secretive Islamic compound in upstate New York, who also has a prior criminal record, doesn t pose enough of a security threat in the eyes of the judge, to keep him in jail until he is tried. The Johnson City man facing 16 charges in a massive weapons bust was granted release on bond Tuesday, as he awaits a Nov. 13 trial in Broome County Court.Ramadan Abdullah, 64, has pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging more than a dozen felonies connected to his arrest in June, which police described as being one of the area s largest gun takedowns in recent memory.Judge Kevin Dooley granted Abdullah s release from jail on bond Tuesday, after defense lawyer Matthew Ryan presented the court with two Binghamton properties that would be put up for collateral.(MOA), which has been described as a terrorist organization in documents from the FBI and other agencies. A 2003 file says MOA is linked to terrorists in Pakistan, including Al-Qaeda affiliates.The group s headquarters is a 70-acre compound in Hancock, NY called Islamberg. It is just a 50-minute drive from where Abdullah was arrested.Dennis Michael Lynch visited Islamberg to see what was really going on in the remote Islamic compound. Here is a clip from his visit:MOA is led by a radical cleric in Pakistan named Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, who demands a cultish loyalty from his followers in America. Gilani indoctrinates them to follow a hate-filled extremist ideology that includes violent jihad against perceived enemies of Islam and a belief that they are fulfilling apocalyptic prophecies.The group has claimed to have 22 Islamic villages across the U.S., mostly in rural areas, which have been used as guerilla training compounds. The group also has a history of committing acts of terrorism and crimes including murder, gun smuggling, narcotics trafficking and money laundering.A 2007 FBI report warns that MOA possesses an infrastructure capable of planning and mounting terrorist campaigns overseas and within the U.S. It says members of the MOA are encouraged to travel to Pakistan to receive religious and military/terrorist training from [Sheikh] Gilani. Confidential sources inside MOA say that Ramadan Abdullah has been a significant member of the group since it first formed in the United States in 1980 and helped buy the land that became Islamberg. Additional research substantiates their information that he is close to MOA members.They say that he is an elder and often visits Islamberg to spend time with older members but does not live inside the commune. He s also provided firearms instruction for MOA, they report.The sources say that Abdullah s weapons were destined for the group, specifically Islamberg.Via: Clarion Project | 0 |
Remember that time Michael Flynn led lock her up chants at a rally for Donald Trump, and also said that he would be in jail if he had done a tenth of what Hillary Clinton did? Well, that was last year. It s 2017 and the disgraced former Trump administration national security adviser is begging for donations to help with expenses to defray costs connected to the investigations into Russian election meddling. The various investigations arising out of the 2016 presidential election have placed a tremendous financial burden on our brother Mike and his family. The enormous expense of attorneys fees and other related expenses far exceed their ability to pay, Flynn s siblings, Joe Flynn and Barbara Redgate, said in a statement, according to CNN. To help ensure that he can defend himself, we have set up a legal defense fund, and we are asking Mike s supporters, veterans and all people of goodwill to contribute whatever amount they can to this fund., the statement continued.On Twitter, Flynn wrote, Lori and I are very grateful to my brother Joe and sister Barbara for creating a fund to help pay my legal defense costs, and added, We deeply appreciate the support of family and friends across this nation who have touched our lives. Flynn included a link to donate so that he will not be locked up. Isn t karma a wonderful thing?We deeply appreciate the support of family and friends across this nation who have touched our lives. https://t.co/O08co3DRpn 2/2 General Flynn (@GenFlynn) September 18, 2017Twitter users are drinking Flynn s tears.#LOCKHIMUP Joe H-man?? ? ? ?? (@HallmanComposer) September 18, 2017 pic.twitter.com/NHtRJektAa Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) September 18, 2017Do you accept rubles? TJ (@TJishsh) September 18, 2017You mean you already spent all the money you got for selling out your country??? Bente Klinge (@BenteKlinge) September 18, 2017You're a traitor. Grant Stern (@grantstern) September 18, 2017 pic.twitter.com/RuIhRiYexe Rule of Law (@BaconJoel) September 18, 2017have fun in prison Lee Perry (@likeleeperry) September 18, 2017Nice to know you'll have the support of family on visiting days. StuckinIL (@mjamgb22) September 18, 2017I wish I could SPIT through twitter, you disgust me. ????? pic.twitter.com/ppe3fynMaH cold war vet (@katkel_ga) September 18, 2017You could have saved the trouble of having to set up a defense fund by not being a traitor. kat kl (@madkatkl) September 18, 2017Espionage is a tough charge to defend against eh Mike? Pinche-GOP Meltdown (@Pinche_Pi) September 18, 2017Wait, this was the guy yelling "lock her up"Karmas attacked to a blowtorch Thirtysixmiles (@thirtysixmiles) September 18, 2017 pic.twitter.com/vXZbuZx2dW SeriouslyUS? (@USseriously) September 18, 2017Maybe you should have saved some of that foreign money you lied about receiving GatorOs (@GatorOs) September 18, 2017There are some Trump supporters on Twitter who are heralding Flynn as a hero who has been undermined by the Deep State . We encourage those conservatives to donate every penny they have stashed away to help this traitorous arsehole while Special Counsel Robert Mueller buries him. Meanwhile, our donations can go to candidates who will help us to drain Trump s murky swamp which strangely seems to have a Russia accent now, thankyouverymuch.Photo by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images. | 0 |
Nate Cohn, The Upshot’s elections analyst, based in Washington, and Toni Monkovic, an Upshot editor in New York, discussed a big day of polling results, posting a lightly edited transcript of their written exchange. Toni After a quiet period, the polls poured in over 24 hours. What are the big takeaways? Nate I think the quick ones are that Hillary Clinton’s standing has deteriorated a bit since last month, but that she still has an advantage. Toni Let’s start by looking at the bad news for her. The first polls of the day, from Quinnipiac, probably panicked a lot of Democrats. FLORIDA: Trump 42, Clinton 39 PENNSYLVANIA: Trump 43, Clinton 41 OHIO: Clinton 41, Trump 41 Nate Yeah, the Quinnipiac polls aren’t great for Clinton. Quinnipiac polling has generally tilted toward the G. O. P. all year, so it’s reasonable to suppose that Clinton’s standing in those states would be a bit better in other polls. But they’re still consistent with a narrower race than the one suggested by most polls over the last month. The polls were in that category as well. Their numbers were better for Clinton than the Quinnipiac surveys, but they were still weaker for Clinton than their past surveys. Toni Despite that Republican lean from Quinnipiac, it’s not as if it’s a terrible pollster. Yes, it’s just one poll, but it can’t be dismissed. Nate Well, I do think their Republican lean is a bit concerning. They conduct a lot of polls and they have big samples. As a result, it’s unusually clear that they have a real Republican tilt. But it’s not really clear why they should tilt that way, and that gives me pause. That said, you’re right that the polls shouldn’t be dismissed: Add them to the average. Toni There’s another bit of bad news for Clinton. Again, the mantra is to focus on the polling average, not on one poll. In this case it’s the poll. It hasn’t been released to the public as we write this Wednesday night, but it will be by the time this is published. It will show her tied with Trump, which is one of her worst recent national results. (Sure, Rasmussen had Trump up by 2, but that’s actually a rare poll that can be disregarded, as you wrote Wednesday.) Nate You certainly can’t dismiss the poll: It’s a very survey. And yes, you really can dismiss the Rasmussen poll (unlike Quinnipiac). But as you said, it’s best to focus on the average. Right now, the balance of data remains consistent with a modest Clinton lead. A single poll showing a tied race isn’t enough to change that: If Clinton is up by, say, 3 or 4 points, you would expect a few polls to show a very tight contest, while others would show a larger Clinton lead. It’s also possible that the result is and a wave of new data will confirm a closer race than the balance of recent evidence. I’m not sure we’ll get to find out, since the convention is just around the corner. Toni This is the speculative part of the program. Her lead is shrinking. Why? On the one hand, you have the rebuke from the F. B. I. director over the emails, and you also have a calamity in which an killed five police officers in Dallas amid a sense of racial strife. On the other hand, Bernie Sanders endorsed her, although that was very recent (so it wasn’t captured by the polling). Nate Well, I think the F. B. I. is the easiest explanation. I wouldn’t discount racial tension, either. I’d note that Obama’s approval rating in Gallup dipped to 48 percent today, the lowest in a while. I’ll be interested to see whether other polls show that, too. Toni Stating the obvious, but there are more whites than so strife is not normally a political winner for Democrats. When we talk about whites favoring Trump, we tend to skip the explanation. Republicans have won whites for decades, but readers should take a look at Nick Confessore’s article for how Trump is taking white identity politics to a new level. Or read Jamelle Bouie in Slate, who’s been writing about this a lot. Nate I certainly agree that racial polarization would be bad for the Democrats. But Trump isn’t doing much better than Mitt Romney among white voters, if at all. He’s losing as many white voters as he’s gaining among less educated white voters. I think Clinton’s polling numbers may be particularly vulnerable to these sorts of fluctuations in the media environment. She’s counting on the support of a lot of people who simply don’t like her very much. I’d guess a lot of them know, deep down, that they’ll support her eventually. But right now, the act of telling a pollster that they intend to support someone they don’t really want to support might be fairly agonizing. Toni Election 2016: “Fairly agonizing. ” That’s a great summation. Nate One further thought on this: I think it’s relevant that Clinton is falling in these polls more than Trump is gaining. Toni Why? Nate We know that these voters have supported Clinton, even if in modestly more favorable conditions. There’s no way to be sure they’ll return to her side, but surely they’re more likely to revert to her in a more neutral media climate than to support Trump. Toni And the email issue may not resonate quite as much four months from now, especially if Republicans batter it into the ground. Nate It might still resonate quite a bit, but it’s hard for it to resonate much more. I think it’s going to be interesting to see where she’s at after the convention, after she gets some strong character witnesses in President Obama and Elizabeth Warren. Toni Earlier, you mentioned, “I’m not sure we’ll get to find out” about a better measure of the race “since the convention is just around the corner. ” We’re heading into a “noisy” season with polling. Can you explain? Nate Generally, a candidate gets a “bounce” of a few points after a convention. This year, it’s pretty messy. The two conventions basically happen back to back. It’ll be hard to read too much into the polls for a few weeks with the conventions (unless Trump leads coming out of Clinton’s convention, which would obviously be a very strong sign for him). The good news, though, is that the polls start getting fairly accurate a few weeks after the conventions. So that’s something to look forward to. Toni Let’s turn to some of her positive results, and they got more positive as the day wore on. Colorado was particularly a bright spot. Fox had her up by 10 points, and Monmouth by 13. Nate Yeah, that’s a great result for her. It’s not hard to see why it could be a good state for her: It’s very well educated and it has an Latino vote. The same story basically holds in Virginia, where the Fox poll also showed her doing well. And I think it’s worth remembering that Virginia and Colorado would basically be almost enough to get Clinton over the top. If you give her all of the states carried by Obama where she’s not airing advertisements (which includes Wisconsin and Pennsylvania) then Colorado and Virginia would get her to 269 electoral votes. It would only take one more, and she has a lot of options. It’s hard to look at the polling right now and say that Trump has a discernible edge in any battleground, even if a few — like Ohio and Iowa — look very close. Toni I was going to ask you about Ohio and Iowa. We’ve gotten quite a few polls from those states recently, and they seem dead even. Nate It does seem that way. Iowa and Ohio are two states where Democrats are heavily dependent on white voters. Same story in Wisconsin, where Clinton was up by just 4 points today. In all three states, Clinton is running about 3 or 4 points worse than Obama four years ago. It’s kind of the reverse of Colorado and Virginia. Toni But a slight difference with Wisconsin it has been consistently leaning for Clinton. Nate True. My point is just that it’s a state where she’s underperforming Obama, unlike the states where Romney was more dependent on voters like Colorado and Virginia. Toni The map you discussed supposes she’ll win Pennsylvania, and we had some divergent results in the state today. We also had this tidbit: Pennsylvania white voters: Trump, 40% — Clinton, 40% Pennsylvania black voters: Trump, 0% — Clinton, 91% It cannot be possible that Trump is getting 0 percent support from black voters. I mean, he made a big production of “my ” a while back. Nate well, he’s probably not actually getting zero percent of the black vote. But here, let’s use some data. I have this polling data from 2012 loaded on my computer. It’s 20, 000 interviews, or about 24 times more respondents than the poll in Pennsylvania. In that data set, there are 1, 881 black respondents, and just 55 of them supported Romney. So in 2012 you would have expected there to be about two voters who were black and supported Mitt Romney in an national poll. With numbers like that, you’re going to get more than a few polls where there are no black voters for the G. O. P. And here’s a flashback from 2012, from the poll heading into the G. O. P. convention: Obama ahead among black voters. Sound familiar? Toni That makes sense, but maybe you’re ruining it — the zero somehow seems more meaningful. (Like turning the stereo up to 11.) Nate Here’s something fun: In my data set, which includes 880 respondents from Pennsylvania, the black vote was for Obama (and that’s with 60 black respondents). I don’t think it’s very meaningful. We know that Clinton is up by a huge margin among black voters. There are going to be polls where Trump gets zero black voters. Toni One thing that’s very meaningful is whether Clinton can win Pennsylvania. You mentioned one overall path to victory, through Colorado and Virginia. It’s also true that if the Democrats hold onto Pennsylvania and win Virginia and Florida, it’s essentially game over. But we didn’t learn that much from the Pennsylvania results today, did we? Nate No, it was a split decision, with Quinnipiac showing a tight race and showing a considerable Clinton lead. I’m inclined to lean toward considering that the Clinton campaign isn’t taking Pennsylvania especially seriously [no ad spending, although a super PAC is spending money there]. But it’d be nice to have more data there. Toni It was a rich day of polling. If you had to assess Clinton’s national lead right now, what would you say, 3 points? Four points? That’s a pretty close race against a candidate who has struggled in many ways. Nate I’d probably say 4 or 5 points, but that’s not very . The newest data does provide reason to pause and wonder whether the race has gotten even tighter, even if the preponderance of evidence doesn’t point that way quite yet. The only other thing I’d say, though, is that we know Clinton has had a rough week or two. The polls are going to bump around, and I think there’s reason to think this is a relatively low point. On Wednesday, Nate and Toni looked at the groups Donald Trump would win if the election were held today. | 0 |
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who has spent nearly a week at a Houston hospital where he is being treated for pneumonia, watched the inauguration of President Donald Trump from the intensive care unit, a family spokesman said. Bush, who at 92 is the nation’s oldest living ex-president, was breathing on his own after a breathing tube was removed on Friday, spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement. He is in stable condition in the intensive care unit of Houston Methodist Hospital, he added. “He was extubated this morning, and is breathing well on his own with minimal supplemental oxygen,” McGrath said. Former first lady Barbara Bush, 91, was admitted to the same hospital on Wednesday as a precaution after experiencing fatigue and coughing, McGrath has said. She is being treated for bronchitis and is expected to remain in the hospital over the weekend as a precaution, he said. “Mrs. Bush, meanwhile, continues to feel better and is focusing on spending time with her husband,” the spokesman said. The Bushes marked their 72nd wedding anniversary on Jan. 6. Prior to being hospitalized, they had said they would not attend the inauguration of Republican Trump due to health concerns. He was the only living former president who did not attend the inauguration in Washington, DC. In a letter to the then president-elect, Bush said he and his wife would be with Trump in spirit at the inauguration and wished him the best. Bush, a Republican, did not endorse Trump in his race against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. | 1 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - German police detained a 29-year-old man suspected of trading narcotic drugs internationally over the internet through anonymous websites and sending them by mail to customers in Germany, police said on Wednesday. In cooperation with Dutch authorities, police seized 400,000 euros ($470,840) and 75 kg (165 lb) of ecstasy, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamine and heroin at the apartments of the suspect and at his mother in the Netherlands. The dealer and his partners, using the pseudonyms Mr. Drug Commander and Drugs Squad , were receiving orders mostly from German customers on black market websites such as Hansa Market and Dream Market , federal criminal police said. The man, who was not identified, was arrested on Nov. 9 while entering Germany to mail 34 shipments of drugs. A day earlier, in Ingolstadt in Bavaria, police had arrested a man who had ordered marijuana and amphetamines. Dutch authorities are still looking for other gang members. Police said online drug shops are boosting drug consumption and trafficking, requiring a shift in approach by German authorities. The supposedly anonymous ordering on the Internet motivates more young people to buy, consume or even sell drugs for profit, said federal criminal police in a statement. Police said the investigation began in August, leading to the initial arrest in October of six people in the Bavarian town of Coburg, which in turn helped identified 12 other buyers. German customs police in July said they expected far more cocaine to flood into Europe in the future, and had seized nearly five tonnes of the drug in northern sea ports so far this year, more than three times their total in 2016. [L5N1KF3CV] | 1 |
A Nazi sympathizer was recently buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the sacred burial ground for American servicemen and woman and the last resting place for historical figures like John F. Kenney, William Howard Taft, Ted Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy.By contrast, Willis Carto was a notorious Nazi sympathizer who renounced World War II, which he fought in. His service in the Philippines earned him a purple heart and the right to be buried at Arlington, despite the reprehensible views he held until he died.Through a number of initiatives including the Liberty Lobby, a white supremacist organization Carto founded, and the Institute for Historical Review, a group he started to promote Holocaust denial Carto enjoyed influence among a marginal but significant population of American bigots especially motivated by anti-Jewish hysteria.At the height of the Liberty Lobby s popularity in the 1980s, there were 400,000 subscribers to its newsletter, according an obituary for Carto in The New York Times.Todd Blodgett, who managed advertising for the Liberty Lobby and spied on Carto for the FBI from 2000 to 2002, said the deceased anti-Semitic leader wanted to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery because of the irony, given his pro-Nazi views.Even those who went to Arlington to see Carto buried shared his sick world view. One man told The Huffington Post that Carto stood up for the best interests of this country and against all the special interests, and clarified that by these interests he meant Jewish people.Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center described Carto s presence in the cemetery as a national disgrace and pointed out that the former soldier would have been a perfect candidate to be a cabinet member in Hitler s government. Perhaps the absurdity of Carto s burial, next to men and women who fought to defeat the ideals he was a proponent of, will change the military criteria for burial at Arlington. Perhaps, instead of simply taking into account commendations received while in combat, the views and affiliations of prospective Arlington burial subjects throughout their whole lives will have to be considered.The cemetery is a place for war heroes, not Nazi sympathizers.Featured image via YouTube | 1 |
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