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Bangladesh detains leaders of Islamist party for militant 'plot'

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh police have detained several top leaders of the country s largest Islamist party in a crackdown against the opposition that the government blames for inciting militancy but which says it is being unfairly targeted. Eight leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, including party chief Maqbul Ahmad and secretary general Shafiqur Rahman, were detained in Dhaka on Monday night, police said. They were formally arrested on Tuesday and ordered held on remand for 10 days while police investigate. The detentions followed information that the leaders were meeting to plot and carry out some destructive activities , a senior police official said. Jamaat-e-Islami denied the allegations and called for demonstrations on Tuesday to protest. It said in a statement that its leaders were in an informal meeting. The government is continuously arresting our innocent activists just to stay in power, the party said. The detentions follow a years-long crackdown on the opposition by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina s government and come ahead of general elections expected next year. Opposition leaders deny any link to Islamic militants and say the crackdown can be traced to a bitter rivalry, which has long poisoned politics in the country, between Hasina s ruling Awami League and its main rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), as well as Jamaat-e-Islami. Police and army commandos have killed more than 60 suspected militants and arrested hundreds since a deadly attack on a Dhaka cafe in July last year. Twenty-two people were killed, most of them foreigners.

NO WONDER HE’S SMILING: Michigan’s Most Liberal College Awards President Salary Increase To $772,500

The average cost for an out of state student to attend the University of Michigan is around $45,000/year. But let s talk about how the government taxpayer should be subsidizing the tuition of college students in America The University of Michigan Board of Regents voted Thursday to give President Mark Schlissel a 3 percent pay raise, his first since taking office last year.The increase, approved unanimously and with little fanfare, means $22,500 will be added to his base salary of $750,000, raising it to $772,500.Regent Andrew Richner gave an overview of the president s accomplishments, including dealing with athletic controversies, elevating the university s profile and commissioning the university s first sexual misconduct survey. He has hit the ground running, Richner said.Schlissel took office in July 2014 as UM s 14th president.Via: Detroit News

BRILLIANT! DANIEL HANNAN WARNS AMERICA: “Honor The Genius Of The Founding Fathers”[VIDEO]

A journalist and author, Daniel Hannan has been a British member of the European Parliament since 1999. He first came to wide notice in the United States when he made a speech on the floor of the European Parliament addressing the then-prime minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown, about his disastrous economic policies. Hannan s latest book is A New Road to Serfdom: A Letter of Warning to America.Daniel Hannan warns that the United States is Europeanizing, with all the inherent dangers that come with the expansion of the welfare state. This expansion doesn t just reduce economic growth, it tends to squeeze out personal morality. Hannan, who connects the decline of the European family and society with the rise of cradle-to-grave welfare in Europe, has a special warning about the dangers of Obamacare Once politicians assume responsibility for health care, they find that they have made an almost irreversible decision. Hannan concludes that this drift to Europeanization is not inevitable if Americans honor the genius of the Founding Fathers.

China says foreign firms welcome benefits from internal Communist Party cells

BEIJING (Reuters) - Foreign companies in China have welcomed the ruling Communist Party to set up cells in their firms, a senior official said on Thursday, though some executives have expressed concern about the party s growing role in their operations. The presence of party units has long been a fact of doing business in China, where the law requires companies, including foreign firms, to set up a party organization. Many executives had long seen the measure as symbolic. But as President Xi Jinping s efforts to strengthen the party s role throughout society have reached the local operations of foreign companies, some executives told Reuters earlier this year that they were concerned about the resulting demands they face. Party cells in foreign firms were well-received as a way of helping them understand Chinese policies and resolving disputes, Qi Yu, a deputy head of the Communist Party s Organisation Department, told a news briefing on the sidelines of a key twice-a-decade party congress in Beijing. Senior executives at some foreign invested companies say party organizations can help them to understand in a timely manner Chinese policies, to resolve salary disputes, and provide positive energy for the company s development, said Qi. The vast majority of investors welcome and support party organizations to have activities in their company, he said. In July, executives from more than a dozen top European companies in China met in Beijing to discuss their concerns about the growing role of the party in their local operations, Reuters reported. One senior executive whose company was represented at the meeting told Reuters some firms were under political pressure to revise terms of their joint ventures with state-owned partners to allow the party the final say over business operations and investment decisions. The executive declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter. But Supervision Minister Yang Xiaodu, who is also a deputy at the party s graft-busting Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said a U.S. executive had told him that his best workers were party members. So he said, I hope the company can have more Communist Party members and that party organizations can do more, said Yang, who was seated beside Qi on Thursday.

HAWKISH DOVE: The Enigma of Donald Trump in Volatile Race to the White House

Shawn Helton 21st Century WireGOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump is a populist candidate among a bevy of warhawk rivals yet many still wonder how the real estate mogul has marched virtually unabated towards the 2016 Republican nomination.Undoubtedly, the stir Trump has caused this election season is already historic. Love him or hate him, the well-known businessman and reality TV star turned American political juggernaut is emerging as a surprising voice for US national interests in the face of an ever-increasing globalized world.Below we ll examine Trump s shocking rise in American politics, his strengths, his weaknesses and what he s up against HAWKISH DOVE Who s the real Donald Trump? (Photo illustration Shawn Helton of 21WIRE)The Curious Case of Donald Trump Back in 1993, brothers David and Tom Gardner founded The Motley Fool stockbroker consultancy, and at the time, it took the investment world by storm. Their mantra was simple: in business (as it is most everything else in life) timing is everything, and when a market or system becomes insular and stagnant, the conditions are ripe for a rule breaker , and eventually, the rule breakers becomes the rule makers. This spirit of guerilla business also underpinned the Silicon Valley revolution in the 1990s and 2000s.Likewise, Donald Trump read the tea leaves and saw an opportunity in 2016.If you believe the United States is ruled by an elite establishment or is a country taken hold by statism, endless foreign intervention and crony corporatism, chances are you might be considering Donald Trump as your candidate of choice in the 2016 presidential election and you wouldn t be alone. Similar sentiments are felt on the left-wing by supporters of Democratic Party outsider Bernie Sanders.Trump s outsider tag and anti-establishment veneer, is what seems to be resonating most among a broad base across America, as many believe that the country has been in a decline following two failed administrations in the White House under both Bush and Obama.This is the nature of populist campaigns and whether you like Trump or not, he s run one of the most effective presidential campaigns in American history, despite major backlash from the media and various political pressure groups attempting to stop his rise.The New PopulistsMuch like former Republican congressman Ron Paul in 2012, and to a lesser degree with Bernie Sanders, Trump has seemingly tapped into a cultural zeitgeist rarely seen in American politics as this year s preeminent populist choice.While Paul s staunch constitutional and libertarian beliefs propelled his popularity in 2012, it s Trump s cross-spectrum political thinking that s drawing supporters to his campaign marked by an ability to reach the average blue-collar worker, as well as successful entrepreneurs by bringing up issues concerning economic growth, immigration and global trade.To some critics however, Trump is not conservative enough, even though he s already unveiled one of the most comprehensive plans to uphold gun rights in modern history. The plan includes a proposal for nationwide concealed carry without placing a ban on certain types of guns or magazines something which has become a hot button particularly for those on the left after a string of strange mass shooting events during much of 2015.On the other side of the political fence, many have criticized Trump s antiquated views on expanding torture techniques in the military, as well as his tough talk on internet security, privacy concerns and heavy stance on illegal immigration.The term super-nationalistic is being batted around to describe Trump s perspective, causing some to fear the unknown.Ironically, what has led to Trump s success has also hindered him and has arguably become a major weak point for the shrewd businessman.Trump s fiery rhetoric concerning certain issues facing America today, in some cases has worked against him, and has painted a target on him, opening the door for the media to spin anything he says, or doesn t say, or what others say about him.This is perhaps best exemplified with his tough talk on illegal immigration, along with his media counter attack against professional agitators and protesters at his events following several clashes at some of his rallies over the past few weeks.Unfortunately, his detractors and political rivals have already used these social triggers to attack the GOP frontrunner, as his Chicago rally was cancelled after erupting into a chaotic scene, leading to at least 5 arrests. Similarly, his St. Louis rally was also stormed, leading to 32 arrests, with much of the media joining in condemnation of the embattled businessman.While no one should condone the violence that results from Trump supporters clashing with outside political agitators at Trump s campaign events, critics insist that Trump has somehow escalated these volatile protests through his own incendiary language and for not using his powers of persuasion to calm things down. Later on in this article, we ll take an even closer look at what s behind these seismic uprisings at Trump s campaign rallies.The Manhattan mogul s political story has only just begun and there are many things to consider concerning the embattled GOP frontrunner WAR LIES Former Secretary of State, Colin Powell and the Bush administration s findings revealed a highly coordinated disinformation campaign that led to over half a million deaths in the US-led invasion in Iraq in 2003. (Photo link foreignpolicyjournal)Alternative To War?Recently, Trump was pressed again on matters concerning the Middle East and his response has been surprisingly diplomatic with a non-interventionist platform. Trump s open condemnation of the Bush administration for the Iraq war and the Obama White House for the destruction of Libya, has resonated across the board for voters on both sides of the political spectrum. Trump has asserted that 2003 s invasion in Iraq and the blitzkrieg in Libya via NATO members in 2011, is further evidence of failed US foreign policy throughout the world.Doubling down, the GOP frontrunner Trump, has also refused to pick a side between Israel and Palestine and in true form to his business pedigree, stating that he would rather attempt to broker a peace deal in the ages old conflict, rather than tow the party line.Calling Out Bad Global Trade TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP US leaders vote in favor of cloaked trade deal involving Asia pacific countries and America in 2015. Trump has been the only presidential candidate talking about the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal and its vast implications on the global economy.The Trans Pacific Partnership or TPP trade deal, is something we ve covered extensively at 21WIRE over the past two years, as international trade law for new trade treaties appear to be a way for private corporations to exempt themselves from the laws of sovereign nations under the guise of a so-called free-trade agreement.As global policy makers continue to merge with the interests of multinational or transnational corporations to achieve their goals, we could view the TTP or the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) as having zero national loyalty to any existing nation-state or its set of laws.These multi-national and transnational free trade deals have been vigorously opposed by Trump during many GOP debates this election cycle. Other critics of these deals have suggested they are being used as a way to gain a foothold on property rights in the future, in addition to having lasting implications on intellectual property.21WIRE previously outlined the role that the United States Trade Representative has played in facilitating these deals between different industries: Understanding the power structure behind these draconian trade deals reveals the global chess play at work and the behind-the-scenes corporate merger s, under the watch of a biased government entity, the USTR. The USTR has been doing heavy lifting through its corporate connections with the likes of Haliburton (ESG and KBR) and Monsanto Corp, and political insider ties for a massive trade deal that will consolidate our future all done outside of the democratic process. This past week, Huffington Post published an article entitled At Secretive Meeting, Tech CEOs And Top Republicans Commiserate, Plot To Stop Trump, : Billionaires, tech CEOs and top members of the Republican establishment flew to a private island resort off the coast of Georgia this weekend for the American Enterprise Institute s annual World Forum, according to sources familiar with the secretive gathering. The article goes on to say that the participants couldn t help discussing Trump but he was not the sole purpose of the meeting. Here s some of the list of attendees as reported by HuffPo: Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google co-founder Larry Page, Napster creator and Facebook investor Sean Parker, and Tesla Motors and SpaceX honcho Elon Musk all attended. So did Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), political guru Karl Rove, House Speaker Paul Ryan, GOP Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.), Cory Gardner (Colo.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Ben Sasse (Neb.), who recently made news by saying he cannot support Donald Trump. Recently, it was reported by Cleveland.com that Ohio lost 112,500 jobs in 2015 resulting from the United States trade deficit with countries that are part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. Additionally, the EPI s findings state that an estimated 2 million jobs have already been lost due to the TPP and that half of those were in manufacturing industry.Above all else, Trump s non-interventionist outlook on the Middle East and his diplomatic approach to Israel and Palestine, as well as his strong position on free trade deals such as the TPP and TTIP, have all contributed to placing the outspoken candidate on the political chopping block.Such is the curious case of Donald J. Trump AMERICAN PSYCHO? Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney propelled Trump s campaign despite his desperate appeal to the public last week in a staged pre-debate speech. (Photo link cowgernation)Political Attack DogsThe anti-Trump coalition consists of the Republican Party establishment, the Leftwing and the mainstream media and each of these factions are presently at war with Trump and his campaign.From the onset, you could see the horror in TV broadcasters eyes when confronted by Trump a media mogul himself who knows how to conduct a symphony on the airwaves. In many respects, he s their worst nightmare a politician who can outplay them in their media manipulation game.For the American Leftwing, he induces revulsion, and for good reason his ability to tame the media has enabled him to discard the political correctness which governs US media discourse.The most sustained attack however, is coming from his own party. In the September of 2015, here at 21WIRE, we discussed how neoconservatives within the Republican Party were incensed when Trump first launched his presidential campaign bid over the summer. Flashing forward to now, it s even more apparent that the media and the dying GOP party elite have attempted to shanghai Trump and the public during his unexpected political rise.Since last summer, there s been a host of media pundits and Washington figureheads looking to take on Trump in a kinda of metaphorical Thunderdome, something which has routinely played out before millions of TV viewers and one by one, each has become politically castrated, spayed or otherwise cast aside by the outspoken tycoon.You don t have to take my word for it, just ask Meghan Kelley, Lindsay Graham, Jeb Bush, as well as former FOX News favorite and PNAC (Project for a New American Century) waving neocon, Marco Rubio a list, that may now include Mitt Romney, following his dirty, scripted propaganda speech meant to quell Trump s primary rise.It seems this year more than any other, the American public has peeled away at the politically fixed halls of FOX, CNN and others, as mainstream networks have deliberately attempted to derail Trump through a plethora of designer media attacks, timely gotcha questions, ambush-style interviews and scripted debate forums working in concert to keep the apparent GOP outsider off-balance throughout the entire presidential nomination process. Astute observers of the GOP nomination process, might conclude that many media personalities, political insiders and beltway lobbyists are comfortable with America s long ago chartered cruise towards global ambiguity and perpetual stagnation, rather than to take a chance on new blood.In fact, The Grand Old Party pet-parade nearly flatlined last week after enlisting Bain Capital businessman and former Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney to unleash a scathing nationally televised assessment of Trump s presidential qualifications.Bain Capital, is an investment firm with a rich history of litigation concerning claims of disgruntled investors over profits, as well as a global company with big ties to military defense, aerospace and big agricultural giants like Monsanto.Romney s recent pre-GOP debate speech appeared to be a last-ditch effort directed by neoconservative strategists to silence Trump s campaign but it led to a huge backlash and in the process, revealed the former governor s role as political spoiler (and thus damaged goods), as evidenced by his support of Bush-approved candidate John Kasich.Romney s speech, piggy-backed anti-Trump hashtag campaigns (#nevertrump and #stoptrump) that emerged in the weeks following an article by well-known neoconservative strategist, Peter Wehner on why he wouldn t support a Trump presidency.Here s a You Tube clip of Fox News contributor Judge Jeanine Pirro condemning Romney for awakening a sleeping giant among the US electorate The Shape of ThingsMitt Romney and the billionaire boys club are out for blood.Trump is using big media to put out some dangerous ideas like the prospect for a peace deal between Israel and Palestine, and d tente with Russia, and also calling out the clear fraud of the Iraq War, as well as NATO s bombardment in Libya as Trump stated, Libya would be better off if we had left Gaddafi in power. If the politicians had gone to the beach instead, and did nothing, we d be better off in Libya and Iraq than we are today. Romney represents the financial and investment wing of the military industrial complex and an Israel first foreign policy. Along with John McCain, Romney is one of their inside men embedded inside the US political establishment.This is what Trump is really up against.It doesn t stop there, the dirty politricks continued this week as Rubio urged his supporters to vote for rival presidential candidate and Governor of Ohio John Kasich (a close Bush-family friend), with the Florida Senator stating, If you re a Republican primary voter in Ohio, and you don t want Donald Trump to be the nominee, John Kasich is your best bet. Incidentally, Jeb Bush met with three non-Trump candidates (Cruz, Rubio Kasich?) in Miami this week, a month after dropping out of the presidential race, due to his poor campaign results. The situation was described by the Wall Street Journal as the following: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who ended his 2016 candidacy last month after months of sparring with Mr. Trump, met with each of the three non-Trump candidates this week in Miami, though he hasn t offered direction on how to block Mr. Trump s path. On another interesting note, early in March, according to The Hill, CEO of FOX News, Roger Ailes, dropped his support for Rubio, if true, the move would signify this latest strategy to use Romney and Kasich as a way to undermine Trump s campaign. Here s the excerpt reported by The Hill: We re finished with Rubio, Roger Ailes told one of the network s hosts recently, according to three unnamed sources. We can t do the Rubio thing anymore. Flashing forward to this past week, Trump loyalist Roger Stone, wrote a revealing article entitled Ted Cruz, A Bush By Another Name, which detailed GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz s close relationship to the Bush family. Here s a passage from Stone s recent piece at The Daily Caller: Neil Bush, the son of President George H. W. Bush, who defrauded U.S. taxpayers out of $1.5 billion dollars in the savings and loan scam, and later peddled influence for the Chinese government, (who plied him with Chinese prostitutes) has formally endorsed Senator Ted Cruz for president. You can t make this stuff up. The Bush-Cruz connection is clear. Ted was George W. s brain when he ran for president. A top policy adviser, Ted maneuvered for Solicitor General in Bush World but settled for a plum at the Federal Trade Commission. Ted s a Bush man with deep ties to the political and financial establishment. Ted and wife Heidi brag about being the first Bush marriage they met as Bush staffers. SEE ALSO: Ted Cruz comes up empty on Obamacare as government continues debt scamAs the political claws are fully out now, the recent words of Pulitzer prize nominated journo, Jon Rappoport, comes to mind: A true populist leader would accept the fact that working through usual channels, to bring about stunning changes, is a loser. The enemy is entrenched. The enemy controls the landscape. The enemy controls the machinery. Where is the populist s strength coming from? Only one place: the people who are supporting him. So he has to go back to that well, over and over again. And now he can. While pondering Trump s rivals and populism, there s a deeper agenda concerning 2016 and beyond, something which was recently pointed out here at 21WIRE.In October of 2014, The Boston Globe published a stirring article rarely seen in the mainstream entitled Vote all you want. The secret government won t change. The Globe piece covered Tufts University political scientist Michael J. Glennon s detailed perspective on the political process in America. The article included an in-depth discussion about Glennon s book National Security and Double Government, a book that gives the public an inside look into the collusion between neoconservative and neoliberal political strategy on the global stage in particular, counterterrorism policies that are routinely followed by president after president.The idea of concealed policy between neoconservatives and neoliberals was further confirmed when Robert Kagan, a co-founder and co-author of The Project for the New American Century, recently endorsed Hillary Clinton for President.This was a big story, but it barely kept the media s attention span for longer than a week.Indeed, Kagan s endorsement should provide a window for people to see the so-called (neo) conservative players behind the scenes that might have helped Clinton escape the Benghazi scandal and might step in to rescue her from her ongoing national security related email case with the FBI.Clinton s exploits in Libya are well documented and her recent endorsement by neocon strategist Kagan, is just one more glaring example of political complicity, no matter who gets elected as the president of America, the foreign policy machinations are controlled by the same operators.Coincidentally or not, Kagan also appears to be linked to Romney s anti-trump plea to the public.In a catchy call to arms, a deeply biased political plea was published on the website called War On The Rocks. The piece featured an impassioned rant from those directly connected to the military industrial complex. In fact, many war party operatives, put their seal of approval on the message including Robert Kagan, as well as Former Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, (the Chertoff Group manufactured the TSA body scanners used in most major airports) as well as over hundred other political operatives.To those aware of these tactics, the War On The Rocks Trump hit-piece, read like a foreign policy business as usual dossier, with a heavy-handed characterization of mogul, while completely misrepresenting some of Washington s most notorious military interventions in recent memory. TRUMP CARD Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump posters adorn Trump s Nevada caucus rally. (Photo link ulinet)Socially Engineered Flash Mobs Go Viral The political game changers are fully after the Trump campaign now, as the George Soros funded advocacy group MoveOn, played a large role in the Chicago University student organized shutdown at the Trump rally this past Friday, as well as a host of other splinter groups associated with Black Lives Matter (BLM) and supporters for Bernie Sanders. BLACK BLOC Black bloc provocateurs, have violently escalated protest movements since the 1980 s, including 2011 s Occupy Wall Street Movement. (Photo link examiner)The echoes are still felt from the Soros funded protests in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 and the Baltimore riots of 2015, something which immediately recalls the misguided machinations of The Occupy Movement (aka OWS) in 2011, an event that turned out to be a think-tank-spun divide and conquer stratagem designed to push naive participants into violent action. CHICAGO CHAOS Bernie Sanders supporters join Black Lives Matter linked groups to shutdown Trump rally. (Photo link twitter)Back in January, MoveOn publicly endorsed the Bernie Sanders campaign in what appeared to be a call to action for BLM associated groups seen backing Sanders. It s worth mentioning, that MoveOn, also supported the Obama campaign in 2008, according to the website, Sanders is the only other candidate to threshold for an endorsement. From here on out, professional political agitator flash mobs, will be mobilized at future Trump campaign events, making it very difficult to run a normal campaign taking away Trump s strength in numbers at his rallies. This was confirmed in Ohio recently, after a BLM activist and Sanders supporter, stormed the stage, shortly after Trump started speaking.In a Politico article entitled Major donors consider funding Black Lives Matter, we gain deeper insight into the political funding for BLM and the Soros linked Democratic Alliance: Major donors are usually not as radical or confrontational as activists most in touch with the pain of oppression, said Steve Phillips, a Democracy Alliance member and significant contributor to Democratic candidates and causes. He donated to a St. Louis nonprofit group called the Organization for Black Struggle that helped organize 2014 Black Lives Matter-related protests in Ferguson, Missouri, over the police killing of a black teenager named Michael Brown. And Phillips and his wife, Democracy Alliance board member Susan Sandler, are in discussions about funding other groups involved in the movement. It worth noting Soros, a long time contributor to Hillary Clinton, donated $2 million in PAC money in 2015 and January of 2016, Soros reportedly gave $8 million to boost Clinton s campaign. Soros also recently funded $15 million to Latino groups looking to stop Trump s rise towards a potential GOP nomination and beyond.Any bloodshed at the hands of vigilante mobs at Trump rallies, should be the responsibility of those who of have sought to politicize and fund this agenda from the very beginning.Look for these political engineers, to pit choreographed conservative and liberal groups against each other at Trump s rallies or events in the future as all of these hostile uprisings are by design.During the Days of Rage in 1969, the FBI was said to have been tracking specific members of the Students for a Democratic Society. The SDS was heavily connected to 60 s political agitators turned domestic terrorists, The Weather Underground. Many concluded that the group s leader, Bill Ayers, was an interloper looking for new recruits that were easily manipulated into hostile action.This begs the question: Are government agencies still infiltrating political advocacy groups to push social change?The disruptions at Trump rallies are a form of modern class warfare, one that disguises its true intentions, eroding national sovereignty through a series of upheavals, while presenting shock and awe imagery in order to manipulate the public s political perspective.Amazingly through it all, Trump s still been able to confound his opposition in the aftermath of a barrage of attacks, propelling his popularity even to even higher levels.The Ides of March primaries will be a good barometer to see what impact these chaotic clashes may have on Trump s campaign moving forward.It still remains to be seen if Trump s dynamic political vision for America will push the country further into authoritarianism or whether he can unite an embattled nation by restoring international relations throughout the world.But one thing is for sure there s no doubt now that a systematic design is in place to unseat the GOP frontrunner and the public should question why READ MORE ELECTION NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire 2016 Files

Republicans Turn On Trump, Throw Him Under The Bus For F*cking Up Health Care Plan (DETAILS)

When Republicans celebrated Donald Trump s undeserved election victory, they probably never imagined he d damage the party as badly as he already has in just nine weeks.This week, Trump once again embarrassed the GOP by messing up their first attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare. Not only did Trump fail to sell the disastrous American Health Care Act, but he pulled the bill on Friday. Understandably, Republicans are pissed that Trump conducted things this way, and are distancing themselves from him more than ever. In fact, they re blaming him and saying that he and the White House had been an obstacle from the start, setting them up for failure. One House Republican (who wanted to remain anonymous) said: Their heart was not in the healthcare battle. Think about the level of intensity on the executive orders for the travel ban, or on the wiretapping claims. He certainly checked the boxes on healthcare, to his credit. But it s self-evident there was not a certain level of intensity devoted to this. Trump and his minions have countered this claim, with Press Secretary Sean Spicer issuing a statement on Saturday: The president and vice president left everything on the field They were making calls and having members to the White House all week. In total, we spoke or met with over 120 members of Congress. And yet, this doesn t seem to add up, considering that Trump s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner were nowhere to be found as sh*t was hitting the fan on Friday. Kushner, who is one of Trump s key advisors, was actually skiing with Ivanka in Aspen as House Republicans tried to pass their horrible health care bill and failed. And it s not just Kushner they re pissed at it s Trump himself.According to House staffers and other GOPers, Trump didn t seem focused when in meetings concerning the Obamacare repeal. Another unnamed Republican said: Halfway through that meeting, he stopped to talk about Gorsuch. His mind was bouncing around. I never felt they were dialed into this. Maybe next time the GOP will think twice about letting a five-year-old become their party s nominee. What we re witnessing here is the breakdown of the Republican Party, and it s so humiliating that we almost feel bad for them. Almost.Featured image is a screenshot

Australian lawmaker proposes to same-sex partner on floor of parliament

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - An Australian conservative politician on Monday proposed to his long-term partner on the floor of parliament, ahead of the expected passage of a measure for same sex couples to marry. Australians overwhelmingly voted for same-sex marriage in a postal vote in September and a marriage equality bill that passed the senate last week is being debated in the lower house, where it is expected to pass this week. Liberal member of parliament Tim Wilson proposed to his partner Ryan Bolger in the capital of Canberra, the two having already exchanged rings but having pledged to wait for the country to pass the legislation before they wed. This debate has been the soundtrack to our relationship, an emotional Wilson said to his partner, seated in parliament s public viewing area above. In our first speech I defined our bond by the ring that sits on both of our left hands, that they are the answer to the question we cannot ask. So there s only one thing left to do - Ryan Patrick Bolger, will you marry me? asked Wilson, who was formerly Australia s human rights commissioner. Bolger nodded yes, to applause. Both Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull s Liberal-National coalition government and the main opposition Labor Party have said they aim to pass the law by Dec. 7, but any proposed amendments could stretch out that timeline. Passage of the bill will make Australia the 26th nation to legalize same-sex marriage, a watershed for a country in which some states considered homosexual activity illegal until 1997. This is an issue of fundamental fairness, Turnbull said to parliament later on Monday. A society that promotes freedom and equality under the law should accord gay men and women the right to marriage. About 80 percent of eligible voters participated in the voluntary survey, a turnout larger than for Britain s Brexit vote and Ireland s same-sex marriage referendum. The message today, to every gay person in this nation, is clear, Turnbull added. We love you, we respect you, your relationship is recognized by the Commonwealth as legitimate and honorable as anybody else s.

Trump's Pentagon choice says U.S. needs to be ready to confront Russia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon put Russia at the top of a list of threats to U.S. interests on Thursday and told Congress that America must be ready to confront Moscow where necessary, even as he backed Trump’s bid for better relations. The remarks by retired Marine General James Mattis were the latest by one of Trump’s Cabinet picks that veered away from the president-elect’s campaign rhetoric, which included praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin and pledges to improve ties with him. Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson on Wednesday also expressed views at odds with Trump on key foreign policy issues like nuclear proliferation, trade deals, climate change and relations with Mexico. Mattis said Russia, China and Islamist militants were presenting the biggest challenge to the U.S.-led world order since World War Two, and called for Congress to lift spending caps undermining military readiness. “I’m all for engagement but we also have to recognize reality in what Russia is up to,” Mattis said, adding there were a “decreasing number of areas” where the United States might cooperate with Moscow. Asked about the main threats to U.S. interests, Mattis said: “I would consider the principle threats to start with Russia.” Mattis said he wanted to meet with the new Trump national security team to “craft a strategy to confront Russia for what it’s done,” when questioned about the possibility of new U.S. sanctions. Due to enter the White House in eight days, Trump on Wednesday acknowledged that Russia likely hacked the Democratic National Committee and emails of top Democrats during the 2016 presidential election campaign, a conclusion reached by U.S. spy agencies. Mattis cited Russian involvement in hacking and information warfare among the challenges posed by Moscow. Others include treaty violations, destabilizing activities abroad and “alarming messages from Moscow regarding the use of nuclear weapons.” He also accused Russia of trying to undermine NATO. Unlike Trump, who appeared to question the alliance during his campaign, Mattis strongly embraced it — calling NATO central to America’s defense. “We recognize that he (Putin) is trying to break the North Atlantic alliance,” Mattis said. Senator John McCain, the Republican chairman of the committee, said he “could not be happier” about Mattis’ nomination. He warned sternly against optimism about engaging with Putin. “Putin wants to be our enemy. He needs us as his enemy. He will never be our partner,” McCain exclaimed. Mattis also singled out China for its activities in the South China Sea, where it has been building man-made islands with anti-aircraft and anti-missile batteries. Together with Russian activities and the threats of Islamist extremists, Mattis said China was part of mounting assault on global stability, and the relationship with Beijing needed to be carefully managed. “I think it (the world order) is under the biggest attack since World War Two, sir, and that is from Russia, from terrorist groups, and with what China is doing in the South China Sea,” he said. Mattis railed against defense spending caps imposed by Congress and, when pressed, said he did not believe the U.S. military was strong enough to properly deter potential adversaries. Mattis, who retired from the military in 2013, is technically ineligible for the job since he has not been a civilian for at least seven years. That means Congress would need to grant him a waiver, something it has not done since 1950, but appears inclined to do now. After Mattis’ testimony, the waiver cleared its first hurdle in Congress when the Senate Armed Services Committee approved it. The full Senate later backed the waiver by an overwhelming 81-17 vote, reflecting the strong support Mattis enjoys in Congress. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he expected bipartisan support for Mattis would help him overcome limited opposition. “The other thing he has going for him is that he may be a restraint on some of Trump’s more extreme impulses,” Cancian said. Mattis, 66, has tried to persuade Trump privately against the use of waterboarding, which simulates drowning, as an interrogation tactic. Top U.S. officials, many lawmakers and human rights groups have denounced waterboarding as torture. Trump’s pick for CIA director took a similar line during his confirmation hearing on Thursday, saying he would stand firm if necessary against Trump on the issue of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques. Mattis was fiercely critical of Iran, cautioning that Tehran’s “malign influence” in the region was growing. “Iran is the biggest destabilizing force in the Middle East and its policies are contrary to our interests,” Mattis said in written responses to the committee. Still, Mattis did not echo Trump’s campaign threat to rip up a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, under which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions. Mattis said the deal was imperfect but that the United States should uphold it. “When America gives our word, we have to live up to it,” Mattis said.

BOOM! TED CRUZ, DESANTIS PUSH For Term Limits: “It is well past time to put an end to the cronyism and deceit…”

We are supposed to have a government of the people, by the people and for the people, but instead we have a government of the elite, by the elite and for the elite. Most people do not realize this, but today most members of Congress are actually millionaires. The disconnect between members of Congress and average Americans has never been greater than it is right now, and I think that is a very troubling sign for the future of this nation.Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) are pushing for an amendment to the Constitution to place term limits on lawmakers, arguing the move will help overhaul Washington. The American people resoundingly agreed on Election Day, and President-elect Donald Trump has committed to putting government back to work for the American people, Cruz said in a statement on Tuesday. It is well past time to put an end to the cronyism and deceit that has transformed Washington into a graveyard of good intentions. Under an amendment the two GOP lawmakers filed on Tuesday, House members would be allowed to serve three two-year terms and senators would be able to serve two six-year terms. The HillJohn Conyers Jr., Mich. Jan. 4, 1965 Charles B. Rangel, N.Y. Jan. 21, 1971 Steny H. Hoyer, Md. May 19, 1981 Marcy Kaptur, Ohio Jan. 3, 1983 Sander M. Levin, Mich. Jan. 3, 1983 Peter J. Visclosky, Ind. Jan. 3, 1985 Peter A. DeFazio, Ore. Jan. 6, 1987 John Lewis, Ga. Jan. 6, 1987 Louise M. Slaughter, N.Y. Jan. 6, 1987 Nancy Pelosi, Calif. June 2, 1987 Frank Pallone Jr., N.J. Nov. 8, 1988 Eliot L. Engel, N.Y. Jan. 3, 1989 Nita M. Lowey, N.Y. Jan. 3, 1989 Richard E. Neal, Mass. Jan. 3, 1989 Jos E. Serrano, N.Y. March 20, 1990 David E. Price, N.C. Jan. 7, 1997 Also served 1987-95 Rosa DeLauro, Conn. Jan. 3, 1991 Collin C. Peterson, Minn. Jan. 3, 1991 Maxine Waters, Calif. Jan. 3, 1991 Jerrold Nadler, N.Y. Nov. 3, 1992 Jim Cooper, Tenn. Jan. 7, 2003 Also served 1983-95 Xavier Becerra, Calif. Jan. 5, 1993 Sanford D. Bishop Jr., Ga. Jan. 5, 1993 Corrine Brown, Fla. Jan. 5, 1993 James E. Clyburn, S.C. Jan. 5, 1993 Anna G. Eshoo, Calif. Jan. 5, 1993 Gene Green, Texas Jan. 5, 1993 Luis V. Gutierrez, Ill. Jan. 5, 1993 Alcee L. Hastings, Fla. Jan. 5, 1993 Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas Jan. 5, 1993 Carolyn B. Maloney, N.Y. Jan. 5, 1993 Lucille Roybal-Allard, Calif. Jan. 5, 1993 Bobby L. Rush, Ill. Jan. 5, 1993 Robert C. Scott, Va. Jan. 5, 1993 Nydia M. Vel zquez, N.Y. Jan. 5, 1993 Bennie Thompson, Miss. April 13, 1993 Sam Farr, Calif. June 8, 1993 Lloyd Doggett, Texas Jan. 4, 1995 Mike Doyle, Pa. Jan. 4, 1995 Chaka Fattah, Pa. Jan. 4, 1995 Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Jan. 4, 1995 Zoe Lofgren, Calif. Jan. 4, 1995 As you looked over those lists, you probably noticed that they contain many of the members of Congress that Americans complain about the most.Unfortunately, because the vast majority of these individuals come from states or congressional districts that are basically a lock to vote a certain way, there is very little hope of ever removing them. That means that most of these Congress critters are going to get to keep coming back for as long as they want.No matter which political party you prefer, this should greatly disturb you.Our founders certainly never intended for a permanent class of elitists to rule over us.But that is what we have. Zero Hedge

Federal Judge Tells Anti-Vaxxers To Go F*ck Themselves, Upholds Strict California Vaccination Law

Anti-vaccination advocates were hoping they could continue exposing the general public to diseases that had been largely wiped out by vaccines, but a judge dashed that hope on Friday.In 2015, California dealt with a months long measles epidemic stemming from a person who was visiting Disneyland.According to the Los Angeles Times:131 California residents were believed to have been infected with measles during the outbreak that began at Disneyland, as well as at least 26 people who resided in seven other states, Canada or Mexico, after visiting the Anaheim theme park or catching the virus from someone who went there.The outbreak created a health crisis in the state, especially since some schools have immunization rates around 50 percent or lower according to state epidemiologist, Dr. Gil Chavez.Measles had been eradicated in America by 2000, but because some crackpot researcher in England published a terribly flawed study claiming that vaccines cause autism, a claim that has been thoroughly debunked by scientists, many paranoid and ignorant parents have decided not to vaccinate their kids, which is why 7 in 10 Californians who got the measles were unvaccinated. If we had higher levels of immunity in the community, this outbreak would not have happened, Chavez said.And the risk of exposure was not just in California schools. Public health officials contacted thousands of Californians in 12 counties potentially exposed to measles, leading to warnings in airports, malls, schools, clinics and hospitals, the Times reported. In one hospital alone, a single person with measles exposed 14 pregnant women and 98 infants, including 44 in the neonatal intensive care unit. After California quelled the epidemic, state lawmakers went to work to make sure such an epidemic never happens again. To that effort, they took particular aim at personal and religious exemptions that anti-vaxxers have taken advantage of over the years to decline to vaccinate their kids. They soon passed a law requiring all children to be vaccinated. The only exemption allowed is if the child has a medical condition, such as a suppressed immune system, that would prevent them from getting the vaccine.But anti-vaxxers threw a hissy fit and filed a lawsuit last month in order to prevent lawmakers from protecting the public health and safety.And U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw ruled that they can go f*ck themselves and laughed them out of court because state lawmakers have a long history of requiring children to be vaccinated as a condition to school enrollment and plaintiffs have not made a showing that they are entitled to the extraordinary remedy of a preliminary injunction. In short, the law will go into effect this year and now every child will be required to be vaccinated if they want to be enrolled.And that s a good thing.We cannot let irresponsible parents put the public health at risk just because they disagree with science. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to man and is even more contagious and deadlier than Ebola.Sixteen years ago this country had wiped out the disease within our shores, and all that effort went to waste because some parents listen more to celebrities like Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy than they do to doctors and scientists. That needs to change, and this California law is the first step.Featured image via CBS News

CAUGHT ON VIDEO: FEDERAL EMPLOYEES Tell How They Scammed Two WWII Vets Out Of Millions [Video]

A Park Service employee is caught on tape telling how she swindled two WWII vets out of land worth millions more. Federal land grabs aren t funny but this woman thinks it s just hysterical. We went out to the mine and the owners were two little guys that had been in the Second World War, a California park service employee recalls at a retirement celebration for Mojave National Preserve Superintendent Mary Martin in 2005. The employee brags about how the veterans mine was appraised by the federal government at $40 million, and acquired for a paltry $2.5 million. We did get it appraised and we did acquire it for $2.5 million which I stole the money from Washington to acquire it, the employee in the video admits, adding that it s sometimes hard to bamboozle property owners due to the agency s reputation. Lands isn t always supported because we re the bad guys. We come in, and we take this land. And we always take it for less than it s worth. Later during the celebration dinner, another park service employee reveals that the acquisition of more than a hundred thousand private acres in the Mojave National Preserve were procured under Martin s leadership, who he labels the acquisition queen. Acres acquired under the acquisition queen s regime, 111,550.54 acres, an employee announces in an extended clip of the dinner. The employee then shows two other numbers, 5.66 and 106,375.36, which correlate with the park where Martin would be relocating, the Lassen Volcanic National Park. He indicates that the larger number is the acreage of Lassen National Park, while the smaller number is acreage privately owned. If you own those 5.66 acres, would you be sweating right now? the man jests referring to Martin s acquisition power. The employees jaw-dropping admissions amid joyful applause, smiles and celebration over the confiscation of two World War II veterans and others private land goes to prove the federal government is not at all concerned with land preservation and focuses mainly on predatory land grabs.

Paul Ryan Responds To Dem’s Sit-In On Gun Control In The Most DISGUSTING Way (VIDEO)

On Wednesday, Democrats took a powerful stance against the GOP s refusal to vote on gun control measures by staging a sit-in. While Republican politicians called a recess and took a lunch break, Dems stayed put on the floor and fought for the safety of America s citizens.Hours after the sit-in, House Speaker Paul Ryan weighed in on the event in an interview with CNN, and his comments were just as disappointing as they were disgusting. His response to a sit-in, which follows the deaths of almost 50 innocent Americans that lost their lives in a tragic mass shooting in Orlando a week ago, was this brutal sentence: This is nothing more than a publicity stunt. Seriously a genuine attempt to get Congress to support gun control measures that will protect American citizens from senseless gun violence like mass shootings is considered a publicity stunt by a leading Republican. The Speaker of the House added that the Democrats involved in the sit-in were trying to rob Americans of their rights, insisting that we should not be focusing on gun control and that the real threat is terrorism. In saying this, Ryan has completely ignored the fact that there have been several mass shootings in the United States that have zero connection to terrorism and were caused by individuals that never should have been able to get their hands on a gun so effortlessly.To prove just how backwards Ryan s logic is, he accused the hard-working Democrats fighting for gun control legislation of doing the sit-in for attention instead of creating solutions (clearly, he forgot that his GOP colleagues were EATING LUNCH while this was happening which definitely doesn t solve anything). When Wolf Blitzer asked Ryan if it was the NRA that was the major obstacle standing in the way of gun control legislation, Ryan said, No, the Constitution is because Americans have a guaranteed Second Amendment right to firearms.You can watch Ryan s horrific comments below:The entire interview is infuriating, but truly proves that the GOP cares more about guns than Americans right to safety.Featured image via Allison Shelley / Getty Images

Burkina Faso recalls ambassador to Libya over 'slave markets' report

OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - Burkina Faso s foreign minister said on Monday it had recalled its ambassador to Libya over a report that black African migrants were being auctioned as slaves there. The decision by the West African nation followed the broadcast by CNN of footage of what it said was an auction of men offered to Libyan buyers as farmhands and sold for $400, a chilling echo of the trans-Saharan slave trade of centuries past. Libya s ambassador to Burkina Faso said his country was being unfairly blamed for a global problem that all nations affected must come together to solve. Foreign Minister Alpha Barry announced the decision by President Roch Marc Kabore in a news conference. The president of Burkina Faso has decided to recall the ambassador to Tripoli, General Abraham Traore, for a consultation, Barry said. He had also summoned the Libyan charge d affairs in (Burkina Faso s capital) Ouagadougou to express our indignation at these images that belong to other centuries, images of the slave trade . In a news conference on Wednesday, Libya s ambassador to Burkina Faso, Abdul Rahman Khameda, appealed for help from both the European Union and African Union to help Libya reach a lasting resolution of the migrant crisis. Libya alone can not solve this problem, he said. We call on the international community to intensify efforts to help Libya cope with this danger (illicit migration), which is tearing at its social fabric. African and European leaders are due to meet next week in Ivory Coast s main city, Abidjan, where migration and Europe s efforts to tackle it by co-opting Libya will be high on the agenda. Adopting an effective solution will prevent certain parties from exploiting such unfortunate events to tarnish Libya s name, Khameda said. An agreement between Europe and Africa to stem the flow of migrants coming through Libya to Europe had failed to tackle the severe abuses they face, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra ad al-Hussein wrote in an article published in September.

Exiting 2016 race, Republican Cruz leaves himself a path forward

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Ted Cruz carefully left the door open to a future run for president on Tuesday after a campaign that outlasted a long list of rivals but could not overcome the anti-establishment appeal of Donald Trump. Cruz, who still holds his U.S. Senate seat from Texas for another two years before facing re-election in 2018, told supporters in Indiana where he lost badly in the state’s primary, that his campaign was suspended but that his role in the future of the party was not over. “I am not suspending our fight for liberty,” Cruz said. He could be among several Republicans who may resurface in the 2020 presidential campaign after failed bids this time, should the presumptive nominee this year, Donald Trump, falter in the Nov. 8 election. The 45-year-old Cruz became a favorite of evangelicals and the party’s conservative wing after he won Iowa’s caucuses, the first nominating contest of the race. He built the best organization of any other Republican campaign this year, but his zealous conservatism fell victim to Trump’s outsider appeal. In the days leading up to the Indiana vote, Republicans were reminded of Cruz’s take-no-prisoners approach in the Senate when former House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner called him “Lucifer in the flesh” and the “most miserable son of a bitch” he had ever worked with on Capitol Hill. The next test for Cruz will be determining what role he will play in the general election and whether, after months of attacks, he will throw his support behind Trump. Trump clearly would like his support as he tries to unite the Republican Party after a bitter primary battle. “I want to congratulate Ted Cruz,” Trump said in New York at a victory rally. “He’s a tough, smart competitor.” Cruz, the son of a Cuban immigrant, gained prominence in conservative circles as the Texas solicitor general, arguing cases on religious liberty and states’ rights. After he was elected to the Senate in 2012, he alienated colleagues but drew national attention for his role in the 2013 government shutdown. In a 21-hour talkathon, in which he sought to convince lawmakers to cut funding for President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law, Cruz chided the “cheap suits” and “bad haircuts” of some politicians and read the children’s book “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss. Cruz cast himself as the leader of a grassroots conservative army when he jumped into the White House race in March 2015, and he argued he was the only candidate who could unite disparate groups of the Republican Party, such as social conservatives and libertarians. He was buoyed by early wins in Iowa and at home in Texas, and Cruz claimed he was the Republican best suited to take on Trump after candidates favored by the party’s establishment, such as Jeb Bush, left the race. As Cruz ended his campaign, vendors hawking campaign-themed apparel outside the Indianapolis event quickly discounted the merchandise bearing Cruz’s campaign slogan, lowering prices from $20 a shirt to just $5. Supporters lingered in the remodeled train station where Cruz held his rally, some crying and others hugging one another as the news sunk in. Despite having long odds when he announced his candidacy, Cruz beat expectations. “Cruz certainly performed better than anyone in Washington expected, and he still has Texas wired. However, no one is stopping the Trump machine now,” Texas-based Republican strategist Joe Brettell said.

Argentina Congress suspends pension reform vote due to protests

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina s lower house on Thursday suspended a vote on President Mauricio Macri s pension reform plan, after the debate became a shouting match and protesters and police clashed violently outside Congress. The bill, which passed the Senate last month, is crucial for Macri s efforts to cut the fiscal deficit but has drawn criticism from opposition politicians and labor unions, who say it will hurt retirees and welfare recipients. Before Thursday s scheduled vote, the country s top union called a general strike for the following day. Demonstrators threw stones at metal barriers set up outside parliament, and security forces responded with rubber bullets and tear gas. The incident showed strong obstacles remain for Macri s pro-business agenda, which includes tax and labor reforms. While his Let s Change coalition swept October s legislative midterm vote, he lacks a majority in either chamber. We will not back down, opposition lawmaker Mirta Tundis told local television. It is outrageous that year after year, those who have less are affected most. The pension reform would change the formula used to calculate benefits. Payments would adjust every quarter based on inflation, rather than the current system of twice-yearly adjustments linked to wage rises and tax revenue. Economists say the current formula means benefits go up in line with past inflation. Left unchanged, that could harm Macri s efforts to cut the fiscal deficit. Under the new formula, benefits would increase by 5 percentage points above inflation, according to Cabinet Chief Marcos Pena. The plan would take effect at a time of lower inflation expectations, hence slowing the pace of pension benefit increases. This formula guarantees the sustainability of the system and that retirees will not lose to inflation, Macri-allied lawmaker Luciano Laspina told reporters. Macri is aiming to cut the fiscal deficit to 3.2 percent of gross domestic product next year from 4.2 percent this year, and to reduce inflation to 8-12 percent from above 20 percent this year. ($1 = 17.4300 Argentine pesos)

Boston Brakes? How to Hack a New Car With Your iPhone or Android

21st Century Wire says For those who still refuse to entertain any Michael Hastings Boston Breaks conspiracy theories, this latest story offers yet more proof that hacking a vehicle is not only possible it s relatively easy to do. Everyone has seen or heard those annoying ads on TV and radio, for those new smart monitoring devices that insurance companies are trying hard to convince you to install in your car. They tell us, If you are a safe driver, then we ll be sure to pass on premium discounts to safe drivers. To even the most mild skeptic, this little invention reeks of Big Brother tech.According to crafty insurance moguls, their revolutionary smart plug-in device connects to your car s computer port which is normally located just beneath the steering wheel. They claim that it only records drivers when they accelerate, brake and steer. They claim that this data will reveal how erratic a driver you are, which in turn will determine your road risk actuary and how much you will have to pay for auto insurance. SMART? Munic Box plug-in technology allows an access portal into your car s computer functions.Most smart people realize that this smart device will not save you money, as much as it will give insurance companies like Progressive an easy metric by which to raise your rates, not lower them.If that isn t bad enough, now cyber researchers in America have shown how hackers can send a simple text message to manipulate your car s functions even interfere your car s brakes.The hack was performed by engineering students Karl Koscher and Ian Foster from the University of California, San Diego, remotely hijacked a lovely cherry Corvette through a smart device used by auto insurer Metromile. Watch The team of researchers presented their findings at the Usenix computer conference in Washington, D.C. Mobile Devices did not respond to CNNMoney requests for comment. However, Stefan Savage, the college engineering professor that oversaw the research project, said that the device maker has since issued a software update. Do you agree with us that there is nothing smart about this technology?Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below READ MORE SCI-TECH NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Sci-Tech Files

Tillerson consulted Britain, China, France, Russia on Iran

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has spoken with senior officials of Britain, China, France and Russia in recent days to discuss President Donald Trump s planned announcement on Iran on Friday, the State Department said without giving details. I would describe them as listening calls, consulting calls and having conversations about the overall rollout, if you will, of the plan ... which the president will announce tomorrow, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters, saying Tillerson spoke to the French and Russian foreign ministers and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Thursday and to British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in recent days.

Florida School Overreacts To Prank By Pressing Felony Charges

Three 12-year-old girls have been charged with first-degree felonies in the latest example of America s insane rush to criminalize children:Three seventh-graders at Deltona Middle School are facing criminal charges after allegedly putting crushed red pepper flakes in their teacher s can of Mountain Dew, a Volusia County sheriff s spokesman said.The three 12-year-old girls were arrested are being held at the Volusia Regional Juvenile Detention Center.Two face charges of poisoning food or water and tampering with consumer products. The third faces charges of tampering with consumer products and being a principal to poisoning food or water.I m not defending the actions of these three students but let s get a little perspective here: It was red pepper. You know, the stuff you put on your pizza to give it a little (emphasis on little ) zing? Two weeks of detention, a week of suspension, one month of community service or even the drastic step of expulsion would have been a more reasonable course of action. Instead, they got this not-at-all-extreme response:One Florida law the girls are facing charges under makes it illegal to add poison, bacterium, radioactive material, virus, or chemical compound to food or drinks, intending to kill or injure another person. It is a first-degree felony. The students also face a first-degree felony charge under Florida s Anti-Tampering Act,which prohibits changing consumer products with reckless disregard for another person s health and safety.Again, we re talking about RED PEPPER which, last I looked, was not capable of killing or injuring a person unless ingested by the pound (and maybe not even then).This growing trend of criminalizing children for behaving like children stems from our War on Everything mentality. We used to look at problem children and think How can I help this kid grow into a productive adult? Now, we look at these same kids and think, Putting them in prison will be better for society. That s not just cruel, it s certifiably insane. But we re still doing it. We ve flooded our schools with cops and cameras and metal detectors and random locker searches all in the name of safety. At best, we re conditioning children to accept a police state in which those in authority can violate their civil rights without consequence. At worst, we re conditioning them to think of themselves as criminals. This is especially true of the minority students that bear the brunt of zero tolerance policies and are the primary beneficiaries of the School-to-Prison pipeline. Funny how that worked out, right?How s that old saying go? Get em while they re young and you ll have a customer for life? It s nauseating that we ve applied that to mass incarceration. Murika.Featured image via google plus

FEDS ISSUE TERROR ALERT FOR JULY 4TH…WAIT, I THOUGHT OBAMA SAID ISIS IS JUST A JV TEAM?!

FBI and Homeland Security are sending out warning regarding terror threats on July 4th. If you re traveling during this very American holiday, please keep your eyes and ears open. See something SAY SOMETHING!WAIT WHAT? I THOUGHT OBAMA SAID ISIS IS JUST A JV TEAM!Federal authorities have warned local law enforcement officials across the country about a heightened concern involving possible terror attacks targeting the July 4th holiday, a U.S. law enforcement official said.While there was no specific or credible threat of attack, the official said the intelligence bulletin prepared by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI alerted local colleagues to the ongoing threats posed by the Islamic State and other homegrown extremists. The official was not authorized to comment publicly.The bulletins are frequently issued in advance of major U.S. holidays out of an abundance of caution and concern that operatives may exploit the timing to generate greater attention.The warning comes as federal investigators have worked to disrupt a number of Islamic State-inspired plots, including a planned assault earlier this month on police officers in Boston. In that case, authorities fatally shot Usaamah Rahim as he allegedly planned to attack police with military-style knives.Also this month, a New York suspect in a Islamic State-related terror investigation was arrested after attacking an FBI agent with a kitchen knife during a search of his home.Fareed Mumuni, 21, was charged with attempted murder, after he emerged as a suspect in alleged plots to use pressure-cooker explosives and knives to attack police.In a statement Friday following attacks in Tunisia, France and Kuwait, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said local law enforcement was being encouraged to be vigilant and prepared in preparation for July 4th celebrations. We will also adjust security measures, seen and unseen, as necessary to protect the American people, Johnson said. We continue to encourage all Americans to attend public events and celebrate this country during this summer season, but always remain vigilant. Via: USA Today

#BlackLivesMatter Supporters Say No Connection To Cop Killers…Why We Beg To Differ

THE COMMON THREAD IN ALL THIS IS HATE THE HATE COMING FROM: Black Lives Matter, Nation Of Islam and New Black Panthers. They all have a common theme of hate for cops and for white people. The shooter today took the life of fathers, sons and husbands .Here s a BLUE LIFE that mattered. In fact, he mattered a LOT. He mattered to his baby boy who was only months old. He mattered to everyone who loved him and to the neighborhoods and communities he courageously patrolled https://twitter.com/CajunKangaroo/status/754769486310506496 Baton Rougue Police Spokesman L Jean McKneely said in the above press conference that it was not clear how the shooting started on Sunday morning. The shooting took place near a B-Quick Convenience Store on Airline Highway, near Old Hammond Highway. One of the shooters was found dead near the story, reports The Advocate. Police used a robot to find out if there was an explosive device inside the store.CNN reports, citing a source close to the investigation, that police were called to the area when there was a report of a suspicious person walking down Airline Highway. The shooting started when police arrived. Shooting was first reported around 8:40 a.m.Baton Rouge Chief Administrative Officer William Daniel told The Advocate that two of the deceased officers were Baton Rouge police officers and the third is an East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff s deputy. HeavySo who will accept responsibility for this horrific act of hate? Will Black Lives Matter supporters who openly chant Pigs In a Blanket Fry Like Bacon assume responsibility? What about our Community Organizer in Chief? What about his lawless AG and the lawless AG before her whose job it is to ensure justice in America, but instead works with Obama to encourage BLM protesters to carry on with their violent protests and disruptions across America And who can forget the ever-popular "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon." #BatonRouge https://t.co/d4MKWeSst2 https://t.co/GUJxkJvSiA Elizabeth Alexander (@McSillyson) July 17, 2016Speaking of Community Agitators #BlackLivesMatter chants: "Pigs [cops] in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon!" But Obama defends BLM. #BatonRouge pic.twitter.com/YnDyxKLA3s Dutch Deacon Blues (@ddeaconblues) July 17, 2016Here s a Twitter user reminding BLM of their now famous chants:Well BLM looks like your chants Pigs in a Blanket Fry Em Like Bacon and What Do We Want? Dead Cops . Appears to be working #BatonRouge YouAreFakeNews (@JeffErick1234) July 17, 2016Here s a Twitter user who takes to Twitter to express his over-the-top hate for our law enforcement:https://twitter.com/SavionWright/status/752021245399412738And then there s this hateful little punk who tweeted this to us:Via: Heavy

U.S. House passes sanctions on Iran-backed Hezbollah

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday backed new sanctions on Lebanon s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, part of an effort to take a tough line against Tehran without immediately moving to undermine an international nuclear agreement. Three Hezbollah-related measures passed by voice vote, without opposition. The House will vote on Thursday on another bill, to impose additional sanctions on Iran related to its ballistic missiles program. President Donald Trump said on Oct. 13 he would not certify Iran is complying with an international agreement on its nuclear program, and threatened that he might ultimately terminate the accord. Trump s action opened a 60-day window for Congress to act to reimpose sanctions on Iran s nuclear program that were lifted under the agreement, but there has been no move to do so in the House or Senate. Aides said that, for now, House lawmakers are focusing on clamping down on Iran in other ways such as the Hezbollah and missile-related sanctions. The first of the Hezbollah-related measures passed on Wednesday would impose new sanctions on any entities found to support the group, such as by providing weapons to Hezbollah. The second imposes sanctions on Iran and Hezbollah for using civilians as human shields. The third was a resolution urging the European Union to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The United State named Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. Earlier this month, Washington offered multimillion-dollar rewards for two of its officials as the Trump administration developed its strategy for countering Iran s growing regional influence. These critical measures will impose new sanctions to crack down on Hezbollah s financing, and hold it accountable for its acts of death and destruction, said Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. However, winning international support for an intensified campaign against Hezbollah could prove difficult. The powerful organization is part of Lebanon s fragile coalition government and commands enormous support for the social services it provides.

German government believes Trump would ravage U.S. economy: Spiegel

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s economy ministry believes a Donald Trump presidency would severely damage the U.S. economy, according to an internal memorandum reported by Der Spiegel magazine on Saturday. The ministry expects “shrinking gross domestic product, fewer jobs and higher unemployment,” in the United States if the Republican candidate were to implement his campaign pledges, the magazine cited the memo as saying. Trump, a billionaire businessman seeking his first public office, has proposed tax cuts worth $4.4 trillion and wants to curb government regulation and take a tougher stance on negotiating trade deals. He says his economic plan would produce annual economic growth of 3.5 percent and create 25 million jobs over a decade. But some economists have questioned the assumptions underpinning the plan. Trump’s pledges are “not feasible”, Spiegel cited the memorandum as saying. Moreover, the plans would violate international or U.S. law and could be “no basis for a realistic economic policy.” A spokeswoman for the German Economy Ministry declined to comment on the Spiegel report. Last month, economic research firm Oxford Economics projected the U.S. economy could be $1 trillion smaller than otherwise expected in 2021 if Trump becomes president. Trump faces Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election.

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link hey people i always enjoy your threads though i think you focus too much on a singular belief issue or pattern and then it becomes self affirming for you in your research first this but voices actual voices in your head is always mental illness sorry maybe a stress reaction not to be judgmental happens to the best and such just really not what i am trying to convey here though i believe you are quite intelligent i dont think you are qualified exactly to make that wholesale definitive judgement you even contradict that by referencing dr vinods channeling of the nine in channeling by definition from dictionarycom means in one sense the practice of professedly entering a meditative or trancelike state in order to convey messages from a spiritual guide surely this process would involve the sensory structure of hearing i dont wish to debate voice to skull tech with you because i dont sense this is really what your thread is about but there have been lawsuits waged and won over such technology being used to harass people who dont test as schizophrenic or any other dsm related diagnosis that would explain auditory hallucinations indicating mental illness now thats not to say that anyone hearing voices is being technologically harassed but saying definitively its always mental illness does a disservice to the search for knowledge and stopping such technology being used on people link to lawsuit psychotronic weaponsspace preservation acthouse resolution bill brain manipulation from a distance last year in october the congressman dennis j kucinich introduced in the american congress a bill obliging the american president to get engaged in the negotiations aimed at the ban of space based weapons in this bill the definition of a weapon system includes any other unacknowledged or as yet undeveloped means inflicting death or injury on or damaging or destroying a person or the biological life bodily health mental health or physical and economic wellbeing of a person through the use of landbased seabased or spacebased systems using radiation electromagnetic psychotronic sonic laser or other energies directed at individual persons or targeted populations or the purpose of information war mood management or mind control of such persons or populations as in all legislative acts quoted in this article the bill counts with sound light or electromagnetic stimulation of human brain psychotronic weapons remain at least for a layman uninformed of secret military research in the sphere of science fiction since so far none of the published scientific experiments was presented in the way which would allow for its replication that it is feasible to manipulate human behavior with the use of subliminal either sound or visual messages is now generally known this is why in most of the countries the use of such technologies without consent of the user is banned devices using light for the stimulation of the brain show another way how the light flashing in certain frequencies could be used for the manipulation of human psychic life as for the sound a report on the device transmitting a beam of sound waves which can hear only persons at whom the beam of sound waves is targeted appeared last year in the world newspapers the beam is formed by a combination of sound and ultrasound waves which causes that a person targeted by this beam hears the sound inside of his head such a perception could easily convince the human being that it is mentally ill the acts presented in this article suggest that with the development of technology and knowledge of the functioning of human brain new ways of manipulation of human mind keep emerging one of them seems to be the electromagnetic energy though in the open scientific literature only some experiments were published supporting this assumption already in in the ussr after successful testing with military unit in novosibirsk the installation radioson radiosleep was registered with the government committee on the matters of inventions and discoveries of the ussr described as a method of induction of sleep by means of radio waves dear senatorattorney letter included we seek your offices assistance in initiating hearings and a factfinding congressional inquiry into the government agencies andor private companies that are targeting citizens many citizens are desperate to be freed from the disturbing intrusive and oppressive targeting evidence supports the conclusion that weapons exist that could be used against individuals based on us patent and trademark office filings public releases by agencies and other technologies that indicate the level of technological sophistication the weapons are believed to be based on electromagnetism microwaves sonic waves lasers and other types of directed energy and were characterized as psychotronic in rep dennis kucinichs draft of house resolution the space preservation act of furthermore it is undeniable that government agencies have tested citizens without permission in the past for example the cias human experimentation discussed in orlikow v us fsupp ddc secretly administered lysergic acid diethylamide discussed in united states v stanley us and military chemical experimentation as discussed in congressional committee report d congress d session s prt dec lastly the sheer numbers of people complaining of being targeted including people with postgraduate degrees and a lifetime of achievements and the similarities in symptoms tend to outweigh a dismissive response based on charges of anecdotal evidence or group paranoia there is a certain risk of sounding too conspiratorial however common denominators such as physical symptoms and medical reports surveillance scenarios harassment techniques and more can be readily established i highly recommend reading in full the details of this lawsuit containing a great deal of verifiable information the military has admitted for some time to having at the least a non lethal lol weapon called active denial but this rabbit hole goes much much deeper having said all that as ive said before in one of your threads i think it wise to consider that its not just one thing or another its many things there could be aliens for instance and then there could be milabs leaving the person with the memory of an alien abduction rather than their being used for human experimentation which is supposed to be against our constitution and most certainly against our human rights and then people can also suffer from temporal lobe seizure like hallucinations but one must also remember that these can most certainly be induced artificially as well in short i think your rabbit hole is only making it to the gopher level regards

U.S. ATTORNEY ON FIRE: Why FBI Director Comey “Is A Danger To This Country” [Video]

Did you see the testimony from FBI Director Comey yesterday? The two words that stand out are the words mildly nauseous :FBI director James Comey said he s mildly nauseous about the possibility that his announcement about reopening an investigation into Hillary Clinton s emails influenced the outcome of the election Tessa Berenson, Time (time.com), 3 May 2017Tucker Carlson interviewed US Attorney Joe diGenova:DOES THE FBI DIRECTOR HAVE TOO MUCH POWER?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzdGKmo3-A8diGenova was on fire during this interview: I got mildly nauseous listening to his testimony one more time, diGenova said, referring to Comey s own feelings about possibly affecting the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. James Comey is a danger to the country, diGenova said. He surrounds himself with his own cult of personality. He believes that he is the last righteous man left standing. When Comey held a news conference July 5, 2016 where he accused Hillary Clinton and then exonerated her, diGenova said, he violated every rule and regulation of the department of justice. He should have been fired that day. President Donald Trump should not have kept him after his inauguration, he added. He should be fired for the testimony that he has given over the last few months, diGenova added. That July 5 news conference was the original sin. From it, everything else followed. In answer to Comey s question to his critics of what they would have done differently, diGenova said, Mr. Director, I would have done nothing, because I never would have held the July 5 news conference, which forced you to send two letters to Congress. Comey, as FBI director, is a cop, he said, but instead took on the role of a prosecutor, stealing the job of the Justice Department. But the Justice Department, headed then by Attorney General Loretta Lynch, was left unable to respond because of Lynch s private meeting with Clinton s husband, former President Bill Clinton, in Clinton s plane at the Phoenix airport. The entire Department of Justice was so frightened of Jim Comey because of the way they had politically mishandled the Hillary Clinton email server investigation, that they were afraid to contradict him, he said. That is what you call a disaster in a government of accountability. He stole the work of the Department of Justice in a single day, and they sat there and watched it. A pox on all of their houses. Both sides of the aisle are angry with Comey He s got 7 more years with the FBI.Should Trump fire him now or keep him for another 7 years?Via: NewsMax

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wmd announcement just a reminder that this site continues to be attacked by the crybaby hackers so if you cannot reach it wait a couple minutes and try again thought for the day it is a terrible situation when the government to insure the national wealth must go in debt and submit to ruinous interest charges at the hands of men who control the fictitious value of gold interest is the invention of satan thomas edison your random dhs monitored phrase of the day chemical burn paid advertising at what really happened may not represent the views and opinions of this website and its contributors no endorsement of products and services advertised is either expressed or implied the death of john kennedy by michael rivero there have been two official investigations one concluded oswald acted alone the other that there was a conspiracy after half a century many of the key documents which could tell the whole story remain classified john f kennedys brain is still missing from the national archives why if it is an open and shut case why the secrecy if oswald was just a crazed lone gunman the house select committee on assassinations concluded that john f kennedy was the victim of a conspiracy based on the recording of the gunshots fired in dealey plaza captured over a police radio a total of impulses were caught on the tape but citing budgetary constraints the hsca only had of them analyzed the analysis concluded that all were gunshots two of them occurring within a second of each other too close to be fired by one man comparisons of the echoes with test shots fired in dealey plaza confirmed that at least one of the recorded shots had indeed been fired from the grassy knoll needless to say the existence of rather than just gunshots destroyed the oswald as lone gunman coverup warren supporters quickly tried to dismiss the audio record of the gunshots by claiming that the recording was actually of gunshots in another part of the city and confused for dealey plaza shots because of a timing error without explaining just where the other shots had occurred or why the echo patterns exactly matched the test shots fired in dealey plaza the warren supporters declared victory new research has shown that the report that dismissed the audio recording of the gunshots was itself deeply flawed and ignored evidence that confirmed both the location and time of the recording as being in dealey plaza at the time of the jfk assassination this means that the original house select committee on assassinations conclusion is the correct one there were at least five gunshots in dealey plaza two of them within second of each other and at least one of the shots came from the grassy knoll update the deathbed confession of cia agent e howard hunt to his son on the jfk assassination update numerous witnesses had reported a large obvious exit wound in the back of kennedys head consistent with the reports of a gunshot from the grassy knoll the warren commission dismissed the exit wound and reports of a shooter on the grassy knoll and published in their report photographs of the back of kennedys head that showed no damage now it has been revealed that the warren commission did not publish the actual autopsy photos but substituted photos taken after morticians had reconstructed kennedys head an anticipation of a possible open casket viewing prior to the funeral as had been done with lincoln although described as a mixup the simplest explanation is deliberate deception by the warren commission dan rathers fib dan rather at the time an unknown newscaster from a small market texas tv station viewed the zapruder film then described it to america on the cbs network as this recording of that broadcast shows rather lied to all of america in claiming that the head shot pushed john f kennedys head forward rather makes the claim that kennedys head rocketed forward at in the above video he also makes a point of saying there were only three shots in total rathers meteoric rise to network status and stardom soon followed this broadcast when the zapruder film was finally shown publicly during jim garrisons trial of cia agent clay shaw rathers lie was revealed for all to see a revealing wink most americans who lived through the kennedy assassination are very familiar with the above photo of vice president lyndon johnson being sworn in as president aboard air force one but very few people are aware of another photograph snapped just seconds later in this photo congressman albert thomas winks back at the brandnew president

In Shocking Interview, Donald Trump Admitted That Killing Political Enemies Is No Big Deal (VIDEO)

It s tough these days to keep track of exactly how many shadow governments are propping up Donald Trump. Steve Bannon is the de facto President. Mike Pence is reportedly the puppet master behind all the LGBT hate and anti-abortion positions. But let s not forget that the ultimate Trump puppet master isn t even an American, it s Russian President Vladimir Putin and on an edition of The O Reilly Factor that will appear on Super Bowl Sunday, Trump refused to say anything bad about Putin at all.Bill O Reilly is rarely the voice of reason, but this is a time of such absurdity that even Glenn Beck is warning us of the insanity of Trump. Still, compared to Trump, O Reilly is downright sane. Even he recognized the dangers of having Putin s hand up the you know what of the person who s supposed to be the leader of the Western World.In the interview, Trump was asked about Putin. He s still trying to claim that he never met the Russian leader, despite that being widely debunked. He once said that he met with Putin in Russia and the man could not have been nicer. When O Reilly talked about Putin, though, Trump played dumb: I do respect him, I respect a lot of people, Trump says in a clip of the interview released Saturday. That doesn t mean I m going to get along with him. Trump goes on to say that if Russia aids the U.S. in the fight against ISIS, then that s a good thing. Source: Hollywood ReporterWhen asked about the fact that Putin is a killer, Trump merely shrugged it off and said that the United States isn t so innocent.O Reilly, host of Factor, retorts with about Putin, he s a killer, though. Putin s a killer. There are a lot of killers. We got a lot of killers, Trump says. What, you think our country is so innocent? Here s the video:It s becoming increasingly more clear every day that Donald Trump absolutely loathes the United States. No, our country is certainly not innocent, but we don t have recent evidence of any of our presidents poisoning those who disagree with him. (The worst similar thing, that we know of, is the outing of a CIA agent who disagreed with Dick Cheney and the weapons of mass destruction claim). It s definitely not too early to rule that possibility out when it comes to Trump, though. The way he lashes out at anyone who dares say anything against him is straight from the playbook of a third rate dictator and Trump s puppet master Putin is far from just third rate. Watch for Trump to be following in Putin s footsteps and with tacit approval of killing political enemies, it s apparent that nothing is off limits for this new administration. Be afraid. Be very afraid.Featured image via video screen capture

FEDS, CA STATE OFFICIALS IGNORED OROVILLE DAM WARNINGS…While Obama, CA Gov Brown Obsessed Over Spending $15 BILLION To Dig Two Controversial Tunnels

No less to blame are the water agencies, including the powerful Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which argued that paying for the upgrades a decade ago was unnecessary.The 180,000 people forced to evacuate Sunday, running for their lives, beg to differ.Can Californians trust the decision-makers who control state water policy? We would not suggest it.California s population of 38.8 million people relies on a 60-year-old water delivery system consisting largely of aging dams and aqueducts that have not been maintained adequately and now are unreliable.Gov. Jerry Brown s obsession with spending $15 billion to dig two Delta tunnels is preventing the state from spending that money to upgrade the Delta levees, the sinking California Aqueduct and doing basic maintenance to the state s dams. Mercury NewsTwo weeks before President Barack Obama left office, his administration vowed to move full speed ahead on California s controversial Delta tunnels project, calling it essential for the state s water supply as well as its environment.Rejecting the call by fishermen, Tribes, conservationists, family farmers and environmental justice advocates to terminate the Delta Tunnels plan, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on January 4 issued a Secretarial Order that will mandate the completion of Governor Jerry Brown s controversial California WaterFix process in a timely manner. The Obama administration order directs the Department of Interior and its agencies to take timely actions to help address the effects of drought and climate change on California s water supply and imperiled wildlife. What are the Delta water tunnels?They re two, 30-mile water tunnels that would be built in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, east of the San Francisco Bay Area. Each tunnel would be 40 feet in diameter, larger than the tunnels that carry BART trains under San Francisco Bay. The project, dubbed California WaterFix, would be buried 150 feet below ground.What s the California Delta, again?It s a huge, inland estuary where Northern California s major rivers converge before the water flows out to San Francisco Bay. It used to be mostly wetlands and marshes, but much of the land was converted to farming.Who would get water from the tunnels?The tunnels would be part of the state s major water system that serves about 25 million Californians, from the Bay Area to San Diego. Built more than 50 years ago, the network of reservoirs, canals and aqueducts stretches hundreds of miles.It s designed to fix a tricky problem that state planners ran into a century ago. Most of the rain and snow falls in Northern California, but most of the state s population (and many farms) reside in Central and Southern California.Proposed Route of Delta Water TunnelsHuge underground project would divert water from the Sacramento River for export to Central and Southern California.Why Does the Brown Administration want to build them?The recent drought may have brought water battles to the forefront, but those battles are a perennial feature of California politics. That s because the central hub of this water system, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, is in bad shape.Water is drawn from the Delta by two massive pumping facilities that can move millions of gallon per minute. They re so powerful that they ve been shown to entrap endangered fish, like Chinook salmon and Delta smelt. When those species are at greatest risk, regulations require slowing down the pumps, potentially limiting how much water reaches cities and farms.The twin tunnels would take water from farther north near the Sacramento River, and deliver it to the pumping facilities. State officials say that would make the water system more reliable, because the pumps would be used less, avoiding the impacts on endangered species.How much would the tunnels cost and who would pay for them?They aren t cheap. Construction could cost $14.9 billion. Add in mitigation costs for construction impacts, operations and maintenance and the tab runs to about $17 billion over 50 years and that doesn t count paying off the bonds that would finance the project. -KQED SciencePresident Donald Trump wants to invest $550 billion on the nation s infrastructure needs. Brown agrees that California should jump on the opportunity, but the money has to be used wisely. Neglect of the Oroville Dam, despite multiple alarms sounding over the years, does not inspire confidence.The Bay Area News Group s Paul Rogers reported Monday that three environmental groups the Friends of the River, the Sierra Club and the South Yuba River Citizens League filed a motion with the federal government on Oct. 17, 2005, as part of Oroville Dam s relicensing process, urging federal officials to require that the dam s emergency spillway be armored with concrete rather than remain as just a hillside.If we get through this winter without loss of lives and many more billions of dollars in property loss expected from the failure of the Oroville spillway, then we can take this as a fortuitous warning to prevent other disasters. But that s still a big if. Storm clouds return Thursday. Mercury News

HILLARY’S HORRIFYING ANSWER To This Question Might Be The Best Reason EVER To Not Vote For Her [VIDEO]

On Jan. 26, 2016, Hillary was asked a very interesting question. After seven years with a President who has done everything in his power to circumvent the law, her answer to this very timely question should send chills down the spine of every American President Obama would make a terrific Supreme Court justice, though it could be difficult to get him confirmed by the current Senate, Hillary Clinton said here Tuesday.The Democratic presidential candidate was responding to a question from a voter, who noted that the next president probably will have several Supreme Court appointments to make. The man wondered aloud if Obama might be one of them if Clinton moves into the White House. Wow! What a great idea! Clinton exclaimed as the crowd of 450 people roared approval and applauded. I ll be sure to take that under advisement, she said. I mean, he s brilliant. He can set forth an argument, and he was a law professor, so he s got all the credentials. Now, we do have to get a Democratic Senate to get him confirmed. Via: USA Today

Tillerson ends China trip with warm words from President Xi

BEIJING (Reuters) - With warm words from Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ended his first trip to Asia since taking office with an agreement to work together with China on North Korea and putting aside trickier issues. China has been irritated at being repeatedly told by Washington to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and the U.S. decision to base an advanced missile defense system in South Korea. Beijing is also deeply suspicious of U.S. intentions toward self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own, with the Trump administration crafting a big new arms package for the island that is bound to anger China. But meeting in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, those issues were brushed aside by Xi and Tillerson, at least in front of reporters, with Xi saying Tillerson had made a lot of efforts to achieve a smooth transition in a new era of relations. “You said that China-U.S. relations can only be friendly. I express my appreciation for this,” Xi said. Xi said he had communicated with President Donald Trump several times through telephone conversations and messages. “We both believe that China-U.S. cooperation henceforth is the direction we are both striving for. We are both expecting a new era for constructive development,” Xi said. “The joint interests of China and the United States far outweigh the differences, and cooperation is the only correct choice for us both,” Xi added, in comments carried by China’s Foreign Ministry. China and the United States must strengthen coordination of hot regional issues, respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, and protect the broad stability of ties, Xi said. Tillerson replied that Trump looks forward to enhancing understanding with China and the opportunity for a visit in the future. Tillerson said Trump places a “very high value on the communications that have already occurred” between Xi and Trump. “And he looks forward to enhancing that understanding in the opportunity for a visit in the future,” Tillerson said. “We know that through further dialogue we will achieve a greater understanding that will lead to a strengthened, strengthening of the ties between China and the United States and set the tone for our future relationship of cooperation.” Trump has so far been an unpredictable partner for China, attacking Beijing on issues ranging from trade to the South China Sea and in December by talking to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. Before Tillerson arrived in Beijing on Saturday, Trump said North Korea was “behaving very badly” and accused China of doing little to resolve the crisis over the North’s weapons programs. Speaking in Seoul on Friday, Tillerson issued the Trump administration’s starkest warning yet to North Korea, saying in Seoul that a military response would be “on the table” if Pyongyang took action to threaten South Korean and U.S. forces. Still, China and the United States appeared to have made some progress or put aside differences on difficult issues, at least in advance of a planned summit between Xi and Trump. Both Tillerson and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi struck a more conciliatory tone in their meeting, with Tillerson saying the United States and China would work together to get nuclear-armed North Korea take “a different course”. Underscoring the tensions, North Korea conducted a test of a new high-thrust engine at its Tongchang-ri rocket launch station and leader Kim Jong Un said the successful test was “a new birth” of its rocket industry, Pyongyang’s official media said on Sunday. North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests and a series of missile launches, in defiance of U.N. sanctions, and is believed by experts and government officials to be working to develop nuclear-warhead missiles that could reach the United States. Washington wants China, the North’s neighbor and main trading partner, to use its influence to rein in the weapons programs. China says it is committed to enforcing U.N. sanctions on North Korea, but all sides have a responsibility to lessen tensions and get back to the negotiating table. Chinese official also repeatedly say they do not have the influence over North Korea that Washington and others believe, and express fears poverty-struck North Korea could collapse if it were cut off completely, pushing destabilizing waves of refugees into northeastern China.

Dozens barred from flying out of Istanbul airport after Trump ban

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Dozens of people were stopped from flying to the United States from Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Sunday, Turkish airport officials said, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a ban on refugees and nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries. In his most sweeping action since taking office, Trump on Friday put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travelers from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. He said the moves would protect Americans from terrorism. Although NATO member Turkey is not on the list, Ataturk airport is a major regional hub frequently used by travelers from the Middle East heading to Europe or the United States. Officials at Ataturk, Europe’s third-busiest airport, told Reuters they had stopped “dozens” of people from traveling on Sunday, due to the ban. One official said the number was fewer than 80, but declined to give further details. One 32-year-old Syrian man, Nail Zain, told Reuters he arrived at the airport expecting to fly to Los Angeles, but officials prevented him from boarding, saying his visa was canceled. “My wife and my son are in the United States. My son has American nationality. And we have been waiting for this moment for two years. Finally when I got the chance, they prevented me as a Syrian passport holder from traveling,” Zain said. He was later taken out of the terminal by authorities. It was not immediately clear whether the ban would have an impact on flagship carrier Turkish Airlines. Officials for the airline were not immediately available to comment on Sunday. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said about 375 travelers had been affected by the order, 109 of whom were in transit and were denied entry to the United States. Another 173 were stopped by airlines before boarding.

reminders to ignore the trump is doomed polls

independents tilt decisively to trump october daniel greenfield independents are the largest political group in the country larger than either democrats or republicans and theyre tilting toward trump and the gop adding in ideology the tracking poll shows clinton going from percent support among liberal democrats early in the tracking poll to percent now while trumps gone from percent among conservative republicans to percent now independents sometimes swing voters in past elections albeit inconsistently also merit attention theyve gone from a scant points in clintons favor in the first four nights of tracking percent to a substantial trump lead now percent clintontrump a key element here is the partisan preferences of independents who emerge as likely to vote they were points more likely to lean toward the republican party rather than the democratic party at the start of tracking but are points more apt to do so now hillary clinton tried to win over independents by positioning her brand as a moderate centrist who can work with republicans and can get things done while portraying trump as dangerous and irresponsible it certainly worked to a degree trumps pitch was that hes not a conventional republican and he can overturn a rigged system the drain the swamp speech was a key element the latter is more likely to ultimately appeal to people who identify as none of the above because theyre disgusted with both parties

German soldier accused of planning to kill politicians, frame refugees

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German soldier was charged on Tuesday with plotting to kill senior politicians because of their support for refugees and trying to make it look like asylum seekers carried out the murders. The officer, named only as Franco Hans A., was arrested in April in a case that shocked Germans and stirred a debate about the depth of right-wing radicalism in the Bundeswehr military. Motivated by a nationalist attitude, he planned to carry out an attack at an unknown time on high-ranking politicians and public figures who stood up for what the accused regarded as an especially refugee-friendly policy, the federal prosecutor s office said. He wanted people to believe that his attacks were related to radical Islamist terrorism committed by somebody who had been granted asylum, it added. The statement did not say whether the soldier had denied the charges or include any statement from his lawyer. Among the targets were Justice Minister Heiko Maas, a senior Social Democrat, Greens politician Claudia Roth as well as human rights activists and journalists, the prosecutor s office added. Prosecutors suspect that Franco Hans A., along with two accomplices, wanted to implicate refugees in their planned attack by posing as an asylum seeker. The case had put pressure on centre-right Chancellor Angela Merkel s government - with her close ally Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen facing criticism for first failing to deal with right-wing extremism in the army and then implying that most soldiers were right-wing radicals. The federal prosecutor s office said the soldier was accused of committing a serious act of violent subversion and violating the military weapons control law, as well as gun and explosives laws. Franco Hans A., who served with an army battalion stationed in France, had used a fake identity to register as a Syrian refugee and moved into a shelter for migrants in Bavaria even though he speaks no Arabic, the prosecutors said. The soldier had previously been detained in late January by Austrian authorities on suspicion of having hidden an illegal gun in a bathroom at Vienna s main airport, they added.

Australia's High Court rejects challenge to vote on same-sex marriage

Melbourne (Reuters) - Australia s High Court rejected two legal challenges on Thursday against a proposed postal ballot on whether to legalize same-sex marriage, clearing the way for a vote on an issue that has wide support but which has also threatened to divide the government. Australians will now begin voting in the non-compulsory ballot as early as next week, with a result expected some time in November. The court s decision to reject the legal challenges, both of which argued that the center-right government needed the support of parliament to hold the ballot, comes as a welcome relief for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Turnbull supports same-sex marriage, as do two-thirds of Australians, but his government holds a razor-thin majority and more conservative elements in his Liberal-National coalition have used the issue to threaten his leadership. Some conservative lawmakers threatened to resign if the court ruled against the proposal, while more liberal members said they would side with the Labor opposition to secure same-sex marriage before Turnbull offered the postal vote as an alternative. A rejection would have led to increased pressure on Turnbull to hold a vote in parliament, which has already twice rejected a national ballot. Every Australian can have a say and we can, as a Commonwealth of Australia, embrace this important social change, Turnbull told parliament in Canberra after the court s decision was announced. Turnbull has said Australia s Marriage Act would be changed by the end of the year if the public backed same-sex marriage in the postal ballot. Although the court s verdict provides a viable pathway to same-sex marriage, advocates fear an escalation in an already vitriolic campaign. Turnbull called for mutual respect last month as the issue gathered heat. Opponents of same-sex marriage launched a contentious No campaign advertisement last week that the government immediately rejected as inaccurate. Activists fear a surge in malicious campaigning for the ballot, which is not a formal election and is therefore not subject to the usual rules on political advertisements. Many supporters of same-sex marriage in Australia had backed the legal challenges, insisting that the campaign would hurt people who were already vulnerable, but said they would now support the ballot. We now get out there and campaign long and hard for a Yes vote, Alex Greenwich, co-chair of Australian Marriage Equality, told reporters in Melbourne. When we win this, we can all come together, having finally achieved marriage equality.

TWO BALTIMORE POLICE OFFICERS CHARGED In Brutal Beating Of 16 Yr Old Caught On VIDEO…Why Al Sharpton And Black Lives Matter Terrorists Won’t Care

This story will fade quickly to back page news in the mainstream media. Two black officers supposedly physically abused a 16 year old black boy. Yawn If these police officers were white you d be seeing this story ad nauseum until those officers lives were threatened, they lost their jobs and were behind bars. Black Lives Matter terrorists and Obama s Race War Czar, Al Sharpton wouldn t be satisfied until a city was burned to the ground, the entire police force was called out for being racists and someone (preferably a white person) in the police department was fired for not preventing this from happening. AP Two officers who police Baltimore s public schools walked out of jail Wednesday pending trial for assault and misconduct after their violent confrontation with a student was recorded by another teenager.Both have checkered records, prompting parents and authorities alike to question whether enough is being done to prevent violent people from being hired to keep schoolchildren peaceful and safe.Here s the assault caught on tape:https://youtu.be/zZPX_bzka40Police said Wednesday that Saverna Bias allegedly told her fellow officer, Anthony Spence, to use force against the teen.According to a witness, she said, You need to smack him because he s got too much mouth, police said. The video shows Spence shouting profanities as he repeatedly slaps and kicks the boy, telling him to leave the school and go home.Spence was not trying to arrest the 10th grader, neither was he acting in reasonable self-defense, city police said.In the cellphone video, Spence is heard shouting while he repeatedly slaps the 16-year-old student and kicks him at REACH Partnership School, while Bias looks on.Spence s attorney Mike Davey told the Baltimore Sun on Thursday that his client believed the 16-year-old and his friend was trespassing on school grounds. Both said they were students at REACH, but Davey said they were not wearing uniforms and could not provide the principal s name when questioned.The 16-year-old was later confirmed as a student at REACH, his attorney told the newspaper. BuzzfeedAt a packed school board meeting Tuesday night, some parents and principals implored officials to keep officers in the schools for everyone s safety. Students and their advocates countered that having armed police with insufficient oversight in schools can be damaging and dangerous.Tim Martin, an administrator at the New Hope Academy, said he understands the frustration, but believes most officers show enough patience to therapeutically de-escalate students in crisis and help school personnel maintain a safe school environment. Spence, 44, and Bias, 53, turned themselves in Tuesday night and were released on bond on charges of second-degree assault and misconduct in office. Spence also is charged with second-degree child abuse. Both officers have been suspended, and Spence is being denied pay, since he faces a felony.Baltimore School Police Chief Marshall Goodwin, whose department is separate from the city s police force, also went on leave, for personal reasons, as the video began circulating a day after the March 1 confrontation. A week later, as city police and prosecutors continue investigating, Baltimore City Schools CEO Gregory Thornton has refused to explain his absence.

Black GOP Candidate: Party Bosses Told Me ‘You Sound Too Black’

Former Republican Party chairman and U.S. Senate candidate Michael Steele, who is black, has made some interesting revelations about what it s like to be a black Republican running for office. Steele spoke to The Huffington Post for their series Candidate Confessional, where past candidates reveal the inner workings of their campaigns.Steele notes that while he was the party chairman the RNC took back the house in 2010, but a series of controversies ensured that he would not be re-elected to the position, now held by Reince Priebus who remains party chairman even after the RNC lost in a major way against President Obama in 2012. During his time at the RNC, Steele says members of the committee told him You sound too black. Steele also explains that it was a problem for members of the party that his chief of staff was black. I had a black chief of staff and everyone threw a hissy fit, didn t know how to deal with the brother, Steele said. I m like, Dude, he s a political operative like everybody else. He s a chief of staff. Just deal with him. But that was a problem. In 2006, Steele attempted to run for Senate in Maryland, eventually losing by 10% to now-Senator Ben Cardin. In that run, Steele was picked to be pushed by the party because he was a black candidate in a state with a large black population. But they had problems finding black staffers for his campaign.Steele, for example, said he knew there d be questions about why there weren t any African Americans on his campaign staff. The reason was easy to explain. The [Republican] party s never taken the time to actually groom blacks to be political operatives, to be campaign managers, political directors, communication directors, finance directors, Steele said. So when I have to go as a candidate into a statewide campaign, or even if I m running for local sheriff, what pool of talent am I gonna pull from? I m gonna pull from the established talent that has been developed by the white infrastructure, which is largely white males. In the almost post-Obama era, Steele s revelations almost feel quaint. After the post-2012 election that warned the GOP that they need to appeal to minority voters in order to be a viable presidential party, the GOP has gone even more anti-minority, expressed in the campaign of current Republican front runner Donald Trump, who has egged his supporters on to beat up black protesters while himself smearing the Black Lives Matter movement. Featured image from Wikimedia Commons

Tillerson urges long halt to North Korea weapons tests before any talks

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday urged North Korea to carry out a sustained cessation of weapons testing to allow the two countries to hold talks about Pyongyang s nuclear and missile programs. Tillerson s remarks were a retreat from his position earlier this week when he offered to begin direct talks with North Korea without preconditions, backing away from a key U.S. demand that Pyongyang must first accept that giving up its nuclear arsenal would be part of any negotiations. But the White House distanced itself from those remarks by Tillerson and said now is not the time for negotiations. North Korea must earn its way back to the table. The pressure campaign must and will continue until denuclearization is achieved, Tillerson told a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on North Korea s weapons programs. He did not specify how long the lull should last. He told reporters after the meeting that the United States would not accept any preconditions for talks with North Korea. Tillerson had raised hopes this week that the United States and North Korea could negotiate to resolve their standoff when he said that the United States was ready to talk any time North Korea would like to talk. North Korea s ambassador to the United Nations on Friday made no mention of Tillerson s call for a halt to testing when he addressed the same U.N. meeting. Ambassador Ja Song Nam said his country would not pose a threat to any state, as long as its interests were not infringed upon. He described the Security Council session as a desperate measure plotted by the United States being terrified by the incredible might of our Republic that has successfully achieved the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force. North Korea has made clear it has little interest in negotiations with the United States until it has developed the ability to hit the U.S. mainland with a nuclear-tipped missile, something most experts say it has yet to prove. North Korea conducted missile tests at a steady pace since April, then paused in September after firing a rocket that passed over Japan s Hokkaido island. But it renewed tests in November when it fired a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-15, which flew higher and further than previous tests. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told the Security Council that North Korea was nowhere near ready to abandon its nuclear and missile programs and was not interested in a meaningful dialogue. He said any lull in missile tests did not mean that North Korea was sitting idly. The latest launch was conducted 75 days after North Korea s provocations in September. Some optimistic views labeled 75 days of silence as a positive signal. However, the missile launch in November made it clear that North Korea was continuing to relentlessly develop its nuclear and missile programs even while they were seemingly silent, Kono said. Tillerson also urged China and Russia on Friday to increase pressure on North Korea by going beyond the implementation of U.N. sanctions, but the two countries were wary of the idea. China s deputy U.N. ambassador, Wu Haitao, said all parties must implement U.N. sanctions, but said that unilateral sanctions undermine the unity of the Security Council and hurt the legitimate right and interests of other countries and should therefore be abandoned. Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow was committed to implementing U.N. sanctions on North Korea and echoed China s concerns about unilateral sanctions. U.S. President Donald Trump wants China, North Korea s main ally and trading partner, to impose an oil embargo on Pyongyang, over and above Beijing s adherence to U.N. sanctions. The Security Council has ratcheted up sanctions on North Korea over its weapons programs since 2006. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Friday it was time to immediately re-establish and strengthen communication channels with North Korea, including inter-Korean and military-to-military channels, to reduce the risk of a misunderstanding escalating into conflict.

Top U.S. Senate Democrat says he will support Puerto Rico bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday that he will support a bill to address Puerto Rico’s financial crisis when it comes up for an important procedural vote on Wednesday, but he could not say how many other Democrats are for the legislation.

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maggie hassan left and kelly ayotte hassan declares victory in us senate race with ayotte by paul feelynew hampshire union leader update am gov maggie hassan declared shes won new hampshires us senate race unseating republican sen kelly ayotteduring a hastilycalled press conference outside the state house hassan said shes ahead now by enough votes to survive returns from the few outstanding towns that are lefti am proud to stand here as the next united states senator from new hampshire hassan said to cheers from a large group of supporters led by congresswoman annie kuster and hassans husband tomthe twoterm governor said she hadnt spoken with ayotteits clear we have maintained the lead in and have won this race hassan saidsen ayotte issued a brief statement after hassans event but did not concede and deferred to secretary of state bill gardners final resultsthis has been a closely contested race from the beginning and we look forward to results being announced by the secretary of state and ensuring that every vote is counted in this race that has received an historic level of interest ayotte saidhassan said she called to congratulate govelect chris sununu a newfields republican and vowed to work together on a smooth transition of power in the states corner officewith percent of the vote counted hassan led ayotte a nashua republican by votes or much less than percent there were only two voting precincts left to reporta recount of this statewide race seems like a real possibility the margin is small enough that ayotte will not have to pay for it an earlier story follows concord republican incumbent sen kelly ayotte told supporters early wednesday she is feeling really upbeat about her chances in one of the most closely watched and expensive us senate races in the country but wasnt ready to claim victory over democratic challenger gov maggie hassan to earn a return to washington representing the granite stateat am ayotte took to the podium at the grappone conference center in concord to address supporters at her victory party in a dead heat with hassan percent to percent or votes to votes with percent of precincts in the state reportingjoe and i are so excited to see all of you her tonight said ayotte we feel really upbeat tonightayotte went on to thank supporters and our next gov sununuwe know how hard you have all worked we are so grateful we are humbled by the fact that you would believe in us right now we are very upbeat about where this race is but i believe strongly in the fact that we want to have every vote in before we come out and talk to you every vote matters because every person matters in this stategov hassan said while the race was too close to call the campaign maintained a vote lead according to numbers compiled by her staffwe still have a small but sustainable lead she saidhassan told the crowd that a number of smaller towns had yet to report numbers but was confident the lead would hold the campaign said its numbers show hassan has a vote of to ayottes in over percent of vote the campaign said these numbers include results from big communities the associated press had yet to count like salem derry lebanon and portsmouth the cities of manchester nashua and concord are included in the hassan numbersthe governor headed home for the night and urged supporters to go home and get some sleepelection day marked the end of a long campaign cycle in the granite state that kicked off nine months ago with the presidential primaries nine months ago and didnt let up until the final ballots were cast around pm tuesdaythe ayottehassan contest the most expensive political race ever in new hampshire with over million spent took center stage this cycle alongside the presidential race between republican nominee donald trump and democratic nominee hillary clinton cementing new hampshires status as a battleground state with its four electoral votes up for grabs the race is one of about a half dozen around the us being closely watched on tuesday with the outcome likely playing a part in deciding if the republicans retain control of the senate or if democrats regain the majority they lost two years agoit has been a great night for republicans not just in new hampshire but across the country said nh gop chair jennifer horn in new hampshire we know that when republicans stand together when republicans fight together we win

China says no excuses for foreign officials meeting Dalai Lama

BEIJING (Reuters) - Foreign leaders can t think they can get away with meeting exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama just because they are doing it in a personal capacity, as they still represent their government, a senior Chinese official said on Saturday. China considers the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, to be a dangerous separatist. The Nobel Peace Prize winning monk says he simply seeks genuine autonomy for his Himalayan homeland. Visits by the Dalai Lama to foreign countries infuriate China, and fewer and fewer national leaders are willing to meet him, fearing the consequences of Chinese anger, though some have tried to placate Beijing by saying they are meeting him in a personal not official capacity. Zhang Yijiong, who heads the Communist Party s Tibet working group, told reporters on the sidelines of a party congress that there could be no excuses to meeting the Dalai Lama. Although some people say, the Dalai is a religious figure, our government didn t put in an appearance, it was just individual officials, this is incorrect, said Zhang, who is also a vice minister at the United Front Work Department, which has led failed talks with the Dalai Lama s representatives. Officials, in their capacity as officials, attending all foreign-related activities represent their governments. So I hope governments around the world speak and act with caution and give full consideration their friendship with China and their respect for China s sovereignty, he added. China took control of Tibet in 1950 in what it calls a peaceful liberation and has piled pressure on foreign governments to shun the Dalai Lama, using economic means to punish those who allow him in. China strongly denies accusations of rights abuses in Tibet, saying its rule has brought prosperity to what was a remote and backward region, and that it fully respects the religious and cultural rights of the Tibetan people. China also insists that Tibet in an integral part of its territory and has been for centuries. Zhang, who worked in Tibet from 2006-2010 as a deputy Communist Party boss, said that Tibetan Buddhism was a special religion born in our ancient China . It s a Chinese religion. It didn t come in from the outside, he said.

WOW! IVANKA TRUMP Was The Best Speech Yet At The RNC! [Video]

The expectations were high for Ivanka Trump s speech and she far exceeded them with her grace, class and great delivery of an introduction of her father. Brava!

Tillerson says U.S., China call on North Korea to stop nuclear weapons program

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said after talks with top Chinese diplomats and defense chiefs on Wednesday that both sides call on North Korea to “halt its illegal nuclear weapons program and its ballistic missile tests.” “We reiterated to China that they have a diplomatic responsibility to exert much greater economic and diplomatic pressure on the regime if they want to prevent further escalation in the region,” Tillerson told reporters.

podesta who told hillary she could use private email

three quarters of americans oppose gun control record numbers say no to proposed handgun ban steve watson infowarscom october comments a new poll released by gallup has found that a record amount of americans are opposed to gun control measures the survey found that percent of respondents over three quarters believe that a ban on civilian ownership of handguns should not be made law the findings represent a fourpoint increase on the same survey from last year in addition to an alltime high for the past three decades the poll also found that almost two thirds percent are against a ban on semiautomatic rifles or assault weaponsas the corporate media refers to them that figure represents a full tenpoint increase on previous findings and is an all time record high since polling began on the issue years ago just percent less than a third say they support a ban on handgun ownership while only percent support a semiautomatic ban an eightpoint decline on previous findings in addition gun sales have been hitting record highs for months on end in a summary of the new poll gallup seemed surprised by the findings describing waning support for a gun ban as a paradox perhaps paradoxically opposition toward a ban has increased against a backdrop of multiple mass shootings and terrorist attacks in which the perpetrators used assault rifles these guns were used in highprofile incidents including the terrorist attacks in san bernardino california and orlando and the mass shootings in aurora colorado and newtown connecticut the findings reveal just how out of step hillary clintons position on gun control is with the majority of americans hillary is a staunch gun control proponent wikileaks releases have revealed that hillary plans to implement strict gun control measures by executive order clinton purportedly plans to open gun manufacturers to lawsuits by crime victims a move that critics say would do nothing to reduce crime but would bankruptand eventually endgun manufacturing in the united states newsletter sign up get the latest breaking news specials from alex jones and the infowars crew related articles

Bangladesh to turn island into temporary home for 100,000 Rohingya refugees

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh approved a $280 million project on Tuesday to develop an isolated and flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal to temporarily house 100,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in neighbouring Myanmar. The decision came just days after Bangladesh sealed a deal aiming to start returning Rohingya to Myanmar within two months to reduce pressure in refugee camps. A Bangladeshi government committee headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved the plan to develop Bhashan Char island, also known as Thenger Char, despite criticism from humanitarian workers who have said the island is all but uninhabitable. Planning Minister Mustafa Kamal said it would take time to repatriate the refugees, and in the meantime Bangladesh needed a place to house them. The project to house 100,000 refugees on the island would be complete by 2019, he said. Many Rohingya people are living in dire conditions, he said, describing the influx of refugees as a threat to both security and the environment . More than 620,000 Rohingya Muslims have sought sanctuary in Bangladesh after the military in mostly Buddhist Myanmar launched a harsh counter-insurgency operation in their villages across the northern parts of Rakhine State, following attacks by Rohingya militants on an army base and police posts on Aug. 25. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali appealed in September for international support to transport Rohingya to the island. There were already about 300,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh before the most recent exodus. Bangladesh, one of the world s poorest and most crowded nations, plans to develop the island, which emerged from the silt off Bangladesh s delta coast only 11 years ago and is two hours by boat from the nearest settlement. It regularly floods during the June-September monsoons. When seas are calm, pirates roam the nearby waters to kidnap fishermen for ransom. A plan to develop the island and use it to house refugees was first proposed in 2015 and revived last year. Despite criticism of the conditions on the island, Bangladesh says it has the right to decide where to shelter the growing numbers of refugees.

Saudi Crown Prince calls Iran leader 'new Hitler': NYT

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia s powerful Crown Prince called the Supreme Leader of Iran the new Hitler of the Middle East in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday, sharply escalating the war of words between the arch-rivals. The Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shi ite Iran back rival sides in wars and political crises throughout the region. Mohammed bin Salman, who is also Saudi defense minister in the U.S.-allied kingdom, suggested the Islamic Republic s alleged expansion under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei needed to be confronted. But we learned from Europe that appeasement doesn t work. We don t want the new Hitler in Iran to repeat what happened in Europe in the Middle East, the paper quoted him as saying. Iran reacted harshly by saying that Salman was discredited internationally by his immature behavior, state television reported. No one in the world and in the international arena gives credit to him because of his immature and weak-minded behavior and remarks, Iran s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying. Now that he has decided to follow the path of famous regional dictators ... he should think about their fate as well. Tensions soared this month when Lebanon s Saudi-allied Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned in a television broadcast from Riyadh, citing the influence of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and risks to his life. Hezbollah called the move an act of war engineered by Saudi authorities, an accusation they denied. Hariri has since suspended his resignation. Saudi Arabia has launched thousands of air strikes in a 2-1/2-year-old war in neighboring Yemen to defeat the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement that seized broad swaths of the country. Salman told the Times that the war was going in its favor and that its allies controlled 85 percent of Yemen s territory. The Houthis, however, still retain the main population centers despite the war effort by a Saudi-led military coalition which receives intelligence and refueling for its warplanes by the United States. Some 10,000 people have died in the conflict. The group launched a ballistic missile toward Riyadh s main airport on Nov. 4, which Saudi Arabis decried as an act of war by Tehran. Bin Salman said in May that the kingdom would make sure any future struggle between the two countries is waged in Iran . For his part, Khamenei has referred to the House of Saud as an accursed tree , and Iranian officials have accused the kingdom of spreading terrorism, an accusation it denies.

BREAKING: House Dems Have HAD IT With Trump And Are Fighting Back With Protests And Lawsuits (DETAILS)

House Democrats have had it with Donald Trump s unlawful Muslim ban and are planning to fight back against the bigoted executive order. To make their point loud and clear, they are planning to fight not just through legislation but are also staging a protest in front of the Supreme Court.According to a press release obtained by Addicting Info, Democrats are condemning Trump s Muslim ban as a betrayal of everything the Statue of Liberty and our nation stand for and insist that the order is not only unconstitutional but immoral. They have vowed to continue pressing for answers and are demanding that the federal court injunction issued last night be honored. Proving just how important our efforts to resist as citizens really are, the statement said that lawmakers were moved and inspired by the scenes of Americans, including Members of our Caucus, rallying to airports across the nation to demand justice for the men, women and children detained and/or deported under the President s order. As a result, on Monday night at 6 p.m. Democratic House and Senate members will gather for a press event in front of the steps of the Supreme Court to demand the President withdraw his disreputable executive order. We are witnessing an historic injustice unfold, and we must keep the pressure on, said the release.In addition, Immigration Subcommittee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren and others will introduce legislation to rescind the Muslim ban this week. Dems intend to continue reviewing the president s actions to determine if there are any other legal actions that can be taken to fight the bigoted ban.A high-level source tells Addicting Info that House Dems are engaging outside counsel to file an amicus brief against Trump s illegal Muslim Ban. We are also exploring all legal options, including an Amicus Brief in support of the ACLU, the statement read. As Members of Congress, we take a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Democrats intend to honor that oath by fighting the unconstitutional injustice of the President s Muslim ban. Donald Trump passed his bigoted and unconstitutional Muslim Ban on Friday. Over the weekend, people from the seven forbidden countries were detained and deported when they landed at U.S. airports. Widespread protests broke out and attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit. A temporary stay was granted by a federal judge but it does not seem that it is being followed as intended.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images

Zimbabwe's Mnangagwa adds to calls for Mugabe to go

HARARE (Reuters) - Ousted Zimbabwean vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa added his voice on Tuesday to those demanding 93-year-old President Mugabe resign, saying he needed to heed the clarion call of his people and step down. Mnangagwa, who said he fled Zimbabwe because of a threat to his life after being purged from the ruling party, said he had been in contact with Mugabe and invited to return but would not do so until his personal security could be guaranteed. I told the President that I would not return home now until I am satisfied of my personal security, because of the manner and treatment given to me upon being fired, he said in a statement.

Puerto Rico could face financial chaos without Congress plan: Lew

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Tuesday said Puerto Rico’s financial crisis risks turning the commonwealth into a chaotic mess unless the U.S. Congress can enact a plan to restructure its debt. “The challenge is for Congress to act fast enough so that the unfolding crisis in Puerto Rico doesn’t cascade out of control,” Lew said during an on-stage interview at the annual Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. The island faces $70 billion in debt overall, a staggering 45-percent poverty rate and a shrinking population. It owes another $1.9 billion on July 1 that Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla says it cannot pay. On Monday the Government Development Bank defaulted on a $422 million debt payment while it agreed to a tentative restructuring framework with some large creditors who promised to hold back from taking legal action for 30 days. Congress is debating a bill to put the island’s finances under federal oversight and allow it to restructure debt in a bankruptcy-like process. The bill has faced criticism from conservative and liberal wings of both parties. Lew reiterated there was so far little spillover from Puerto Rico’s problems into the $3.7 trillion U.S. municipal bond market where it is a major issuer of triple-tax-free debt. “In the absence of a restructuring, what you will end up with is a chaotic unwinding which does enormous harm to millions of Americans, including veterans who served loyally in our military. That I believe is something that has more of a potential spillover risk to the municipal bond market than anything else,” Lew said. As a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico cannot file for bankruptcy protection. It is struggling to pay for basic services like police and firefighters as well as combat the spread of the Zika virus. Lew reiterated that putting in place an independent oversight authority to work out an orderly restructuring would also ensure fairness to all stakeholders. Some investors are concerned that if all bondholders are treated the same, there is a risk of eroding well established rules governing who gets paid and when in a restructuring. “The cost of delay is that you get to a point where there is nothing to restructure. If you get to a point where the restructuring can’t work, then you either let chaos happen or you have a bailout. I believe restructuring is the alternative to a bailout,” Lew said.

Trump’s Biggest, Most Pansy-A** Apologist Now Says He Is ‘Unacceptable’

Very few of Donald Trump s fans are more blindly loyal to him than former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, but Trump s behavior of late has really pissed some people off, including Newt Gingrich. Trump has denigrated the family of a fallen Iraq soldier, he s kicked a mother with a crying baby out of a rally, bashed his fellow Republicans, accepted a Purple Heart from a soldier for no other reason than to show it off, and said he thinks his own daughter should just get a new job if she s being sexually harassed at work.In short, Trump is imploding, taking the GOP with him, and to Gingrich, that is unacceptable. In fact, he used that very word when describing what s happening: The current race is which of these two is the more unacceptable, because right now neither of them is acceptable.Trump is helping [Hillary] to win by proving he is more unacceptable than she is. He also dropped this bomb on Trump s election chances: He cannot win the presidency operating the way he is now. [Hillary] can t be bad enough to elect him if he s determined to make this many mistakes. Now, Gingrich isn t saying he ll endorse or vote for Hillary. But he stopped being Trump s apologist for a moment, and is even one of the Republicans that s working on staging an intervention for Trump. They re hoping to get him to change course before the damage to their party is irreversible.Trump has also refused to endorse either Paul Ryan or John McCain in their re-election races, proving yet again that he would rather pick petty fights over imagined slights than actually focus on running for president. To Gingrich, he s still acting like it s primary season, and like he s still competing against 17 other candidates.Don t let Trump hear him say any of this, though! Gingrich so pansy-assed about this that he furiously tried to backpedal on Twitter. Maybe he thinks that Trump won t notice his comments if he pretends the media is making this up?Media has wildly misinterpreted my critique of a bad week for Trump. Trump is vastly better than Hillary as President. Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) August 3, 2016Please.Featured image via John Moore/Getty Images

Trump to give State of the Union address on Jan. 30: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has accepted an invitation by Congress to deliver a State of the Union address on Jan. 30, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Thursday. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan extended the invitation to Trump earlier on Thursday to make the address to Congress. The speech, typically given every year of a president’s term except the first, reports on the current condition of the United States and allows the leader to outline legislative and other priorities. (This story corrects date of address in 1st paragraph to Jan. 30, not Jan. 20)

Vaccination begins in Bangladesh camps to head off cholera outbreak

COX S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) began distributing 900,000 doses of cholera vaccine on Tuesday in Bangladesh s camps for Rohingya refugees fleeing from Myanmar, as authorities rush to prevent a major outbreak of the deadly disease. More than 10,000 cases of diarrhea have been reported in the past week alone, the WHO said. Doctors in two clinics have told Reuters that there have been several cases of patients with the symptoms of cholera, a virulent diarrhea that kills within 36 hours if not treated. Cholera has not been identified in testing of patient samples by Bangladesh s health ministry, although clinics say they are waiting for results for some samples sent last week. There is a clear risk for cholera, said Dr N. Paranietharan, the WHO s representative in Bangladesh. Sporadic cases are inevitable (but) we are not expecting a major outbreak like Yemen, he said. War-torn Yemen is in the grip of a cholera crisis, with more than 750,000 sufferers afflicted by the bacteria, which is spread when contaminated faeces is ingested by humans, usually through the water supply. The cholera vaccination campaign in Bangladesh, the second largest in history, will be crucial to containing any outbreak, said Paranietharan. More than 1,000 people will fan out across the sprawling camps on the southern tip of Bangladesh that are home to more than 519,000 Rohingya Muslims. The Rohingya fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar when government forces launched a ferocious offensive, denounced by the United Nations as ethnic cleansing, in response to a series of Rohingya militant attacks on security posts on Aug. 25. In pounding heat and stifling humidity, traumatized and malnourished refugees are crammed into bamboo and canvas huts packed across muddy hillsides. Faeces lies in lanes that flood in the pouring rain. More than 3,000 latrines have been installed but many overflow and sit above pools and creeks where refugees bathe. Many new wells for drinking water are shallow and have become contaminated by sewage, said Paranietharan. While we are doing this vaccination, it is not an alternative to fixing the water, sanitation and hygiene intervention, it just buys us time, he said. Sanitary facilities and hygiene promotion have still not met the standards. They need to be improved quickly. In a dysentery clinic in Kutupalong camp run by the Medical Teams International group, patients with severe diarrhea lie motionless, moaning as intravenous fluid flows into them. I believe we are facing a tsunami. We just don t know if it s going to be 10 feet or 50 feet, said Bruce Murray, a physician at the clinic. Cholera is known to be endemic in Bangladesh and now we are bringing in half a million people in squalid conditions and it s got to be inevitable. It s a matter of when it hits, rather than if, he said. Murray said there could be tens of thousands of victims in an outbreak. Paranietharan said his organization had the capacity to handle 70,000 cholera cases. As well as a handful of clinics, mobile teams are ready to go to inaccessible parts of the camps with oral rehydration salts that can save cholera patients if they can t get access to intravenous fluids. Aid workers worry they lack the staff to get the vaccines out quickly, while the WHO says it urgently needs $10.2 million to do the job properly. The first round of the vaccination campaign will cover 650,000 people aged one year and older. A second round will target 250,000 children aged between one and five with an additional dose for extra protection.

TRUMP WAS RIGHT! Why The Heck Is This Liberal Political Hack Moderating Tonight’s Debate?

If you watch CNBC at all you know John Harwood is a HUGE liberal political hack so why the heck is it ok for him to moderate tonight s debate? Couldn t they find anyone else? Look out for lots of jabs and unfair tactics focusing on the two frontrunners. It s fine to ask questions but these liberal animals will hit below the belt. Watch for it Why in the world is liberal journalist John Harwood moderating Wednesday s Republican debate? And where the heck is his conservative media partner? Wednesday night s debate will be hosted by CNBC at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. It will be moderated by Harwood along with CNBC s Carl Quintanilla and Becky Quick and is supposed to focus on economic issues, though previous CNBC debates have strayed far from that topic. Harwood frequently angers conservatives for his partisan takes on the news. I mostly laugh off his predictably liberal views because I don t take him that seriously. But that only leads us back to figuring out why he s moderating this Wednesday s debate. Let s just look at a few examples of how he covers news. The Headlines Below Tell You Most of What You Need to Know: Harwood works for both CNBC and The New York Times. You can get something of a feel for his predictable but conventional liberal takes from the headlines of just his most recent pieces: *On the Economy, Republicans Have a Data ProblemTax *Plans of G.O.P. Favor the Rich Despite Populist Talk *Timing Gives Sanders a Lift in His Quest *Republicans Vow to Erase Obama s Record, but Such *Promises Are Rarely Kept *Outsiders Stir Politics, but Often Fail to Win or Govern Well *Angry Bent of Party Let Trump Rise *Bernie Sanders: A Revolution With an Eye on the Hungry Children Read more: The Federalist

Former Trump girlfriend rebuts NY Times story on history with women

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A woman at the center of a New York Times piece detailing Republican Donald Trump’s history with women took issue with the story on Monday, saying she never had a negative experience with the billionaire and does not believe he ever mistreated women. Rowanne Brewer Lane, a former model who dated Trump for several months starting in the late 1990s, said her words were mischaracterized in the Times article, which used dozens of interviews to show what it said was a pattern of unsettling personal behavior by the presidential candidate with women. The Times story said Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 election, asked Lane to change into a bikini shortly after meeting her at a pool party at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. According to the article, he then introduced her to the crowd outside, saying, “That is a stunning Trump girl, isn’t it?” On Monday, Lane told the same story in a series of television interviews but said she had been flattered by his comment. “They spun it to where it appeared negative,” Lane said on Fox News. “I did not have a negative experience with Donald Trump.” Lane said that during the time she and Trump were dating, he “never made me feel like I was being demeaned in any way.” She also said she supports Trump’s presidential run. The New York Times responded to Lane’s accusations by saying she was quoted “fairly, accurately and at length.” “The story provides context for the reader including that the swimsuit scene was the ‘start of a whirlwind romance’ between Ms. Brewer Lane and Mr. Trump,” Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said in a statement. Trump has deflected criticism about his attitude toward women throughout his campaign. On Monday, he called the New York Times “so dishonest.” “Their hit piece cover story on me yesterday was just blown up by Rowanne Brewer, who said it was a lie!” Trump posted on Twitter. Times reporters Michael Barbaro and Megan Twohey defended their story in several television interviews on Monday, saying it showed how Trump behaved privately with women and revealed common themes including unwelcome advances, aggression and commentary on their appearance. “People can evaluate the story ... on its own merits,” Barbaro said on CBS “This Morning.”

China complains about Taiwan content in U.S. defense act

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it had complained to the United States about the signing into law of an act which authorizes the possibility of mutual visits by navy vessels between self-ruled Taiwan and the United States. Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a daily news briefing that China was firmly opposed to the Taiwan content in the act.

Palestinian envoy says U.S. recognition of Jerusalem is 'declaring war'

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump would effectively be making a declaration of war if he recognizes Jerusalem as Israel s capital, the Palestinians chief representative to Britain said on Wednesday. If he says what he is intending to say about Jerusalem being the capital of Israel, it means a kiss of death to the two state solution, Manuel Hassassian said in a BBC radio interview. He is declaring war in the Middle East, he is declaring war against 1.5 billion Muslims (and) hundreds of millions of Christians that are not going to accept the holy shrines to be totally under the hegemony of Israel, Hassassian added. Senior U.S. officials said on Tuesday that Trump will recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital on Wednesday and set in motion the relocation of the U.S. embassy to the city.

Army chief had no advance knowledge of Trump's transgender ban

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief of staff of the U.S. Army, General Mark Milley, said on Thursday he had no advance knowledge of President Donald Trump’s decision to ban transgender individuals from the military before his announcement via Twitter on Wednesday, but added that was not unusual. “I personally did not, but nor would I have expected to,” Milley said.

Hillary Clinton's 'What Happened' fends off O'Reilly in bestsellers

(Reuters) - “What Happened,” Hillary Clinton’s memoir of her unsuccessful bid to win the 2016 U.S. presidential election, topped the U.S. non-fiction bestsellers list on Thursday, fending off a challenge from the latest book by former Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly. Data released by independent, online and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors across the United States was used to compile the list. Hardcover Fiction Last week 1. “To Be Where You Are” - Jan Karon (Putnam, $28) 2. “Haunted” - Patterson/Born (Little, Brown $28) 3. “A Column of Fire” 1 Ken Follett (Viking, $36) 4. “The Cuban Affair” - Nelson DeMille (Simon & Schuster, $28.99) 5. “The Girl Who Takes An Eye For An Eye” 2 David Lagercrantz (Knopf, $27.95) 6. “A Legacy of Spies” 6 John le Carré (Viking, $28.00) 7. “Enemy of the State” 4 Kyle Mills (Atria/Bestler, $28.99) 8. “The Romanov Ransom” 3 Cussler/Burcell (Putnam, $29) 9. “Secrets in Death” 5 J.D. Robb (St. Martin’s, $27.99) 10. “Little Fires Everywhere” 10 Celeste Ng (Penguin Press, $27) Hardcover Non-Fiction 1. “What Happened” 1 Hillary Rodham Clinton (Simon & Schuster, $30) 2. “Saving England” - O’Reilly/Dugard (Holt, $30) 3. “The TB12 Method” - Tom Brady (Simon & Schuster, $29.99) 4. “Braving The Wilderness” 2 Brene Brown (Random House, $28) 5. “The Paradigm” - Jonathan Cahn (Frontline, $21.99) 6. “Principles” - Ray Dalio (Simon & Schuster, $30) 7. “The Autobiography of Gucci Mane” - Gucci Mane (Simon & Schuster, $27) 8. “Unbelievable” 3 Katy Tur (Dey Street, $26.99) 9. “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” 7 Mark Manson (HarperOne, $24.99) 10. “Anxious For Nothing” 4 Max Lucado (Thomas Nelson, $22.99)

JUST IN: CLOSE FRIEND of Hillary Clinton Who Planned To “Step Away From Politics” Found DEAD In Apparent Suicide

Houston, Texas trial lawyer and Democrat mega-donor Steve Mostyn died on Thursday in what authorities are saying was a suicide, according to the Houston Chronicle. Mr. Mostyn was only 46, he left behind a wife and several children, and earlier this year had announced that he was going to be stepping away from politics to spend more time with his family.Details about how Mr. Mostyn allegedly committed suicide are slim. However, his family said that it happened after he suddenly became afflicted with some sort of mental illness then took his own life, although they weren t clear as to what type of mental illness he suffered from.But it is worth noting that Mr. Mostyn had never suffered from mental illness in the past, according to his family, further raising suspicions over the manner in which he died.Mr. Mostyn was a progressive powerhouse who was heavily involved in politics throughout his career. He made his fortunes off of suing insurance companies after hurricanes ravaged his state, and used his wealth to fund numerous Democrat and progressive causes, including the Super PAC Ready for Hillary, which he and his wife co-founded with Susie Tompkins Buell, a radical environmentalist and member of George Soros s Democracy Alliance.Mr. Mostyn s wife, Amber, was also a member of the Democracy Alliance and a close friend of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was the keynote speaker at a 2010 Annie s List event honoring Amber. The Mostyns were close to the Clintons in general, having held numerous high-dollar fundraisers for Hillary s failed 2016 presidential run at their Houston home.Houston Chronicle In 2012 alone, Mostyn donated $5.2 million to various pro-Democratic Super PACs ranging from Planned Parenthood to Texans for America s Future to Priorities USA Action, a pro-Barack Obama PAC, according to the Center for Public Integrity.In 2014, he and his wife donated approximately $3 million to Democratic candidates, including state Sen. Wendy Davis, who we running against Republican Greg Abbott. Davis lost. I am heartbroken, Davis tweeted Thursday. Texas has lost an extraordinary person. Steve was a committed and effective fighter for justice, a wonderful husband, father and friend. He leaves behind a lasting impact on everyone who s life he touched. Mostyn and his wife, Amber, were co-founders of the Ready for Hillary PAC, a political action committee supporting Clinton s unsuccessful campaign for president. At the same time, state campaign finance records show he also contributed to a police-affiliated PAC that supported Republican primary candidates.Mostyn also help fund the Texas Organizing Project and Battleground Texas, two Democratic comeback strategies for the party that has not won a statewide election in two decades. It s hard to really quantify the hole it leaves for progressives. He s probably the first true financial benefactor for progressives in Houston, and I say that because it s really different than supporting individual candidates the way trial lawyers have collectively in the past. He really supported the underlying causes, which is a different kind of take, and I m not sure that gets filled, certainly not immediately. Despite the Mostyns and the law firm s high-profile political activism they contributed more than $1.8 million to Texas politicians in 2016 Mostyn told the Texas Tribune in a September interview that he was growing tired of almost single-handedly funding Democratic candidates in a state that was solidly Republican.He said he intended to downscale his political giving to Democrats in Texas elections to encourage others to step forward. We ve asked other people to do it and they want to do it and I want other people to get credit for doing it, the Tribune quoted him as saying. I mean this is a giant, giant state, if we were trying to flip Vermont we d be done. However, their relationship came under stress in 2015, when ethics watchdog group Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a formal complaint against Hillary and her campaign for illegal coordination with the Ready for Hillary Super PAC, the Daily Caller reported. FACT has also asked the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to look into an April 21 meeting in which Clinton campaign aides attended a weekly meeting of Senate Democrats. FACT asserts that the meeting violates ruleThis wasn t the first time the Clinton and Mostyns found themselves being questioned over unethical practices. In 2010, Hillary Clinton s State Department pushed through a multi-billion dollar deal for Boeing in Russia, and just two months later the company gave nearly a million dollars to the Clinton Foundation.Just a short time later, Boeing s top lobbyist and former Bill Clinton aide Tim Keating partnered with Mr. Mostyn s Super PAC to do a joint fundraising venture for Hillary s planned presidential campaign. America s Freedom FightersFrom FOX News When Hillary Clinton was America s top diplomat, she also appeared at times like a top salesperson for America s biggest airplane maker, Boeing.Traveling abroad on official business as secretary of state, Clinton often visited Boeing facilities and made a pitch for the host country to buy Boeing jets. During one visit to Shanghai in May 2010, she boasted that more than half the commercial jetliners operating in China are made by Boeing. A sales plug in Russia in 2009, though, may have proved especially fruitful. While touring a Boeing plant, Secretary of State Clinton said, We re delighted that a new Russian airline, Rossiya, is actively considering acquisition of Boeing aircraft, and this is a shameless pitch. In 2010, Boeing landed the Russian deal, worth $3.7 billion. And two months later, the company donated $900,000 to the Clinton Foundation.This chain of events is raising new questions for Clinton, and Boeing, as the former secretary of state launches her 2016 presidential campaign. The Boeing deal only adds to a growing list of business deals involving Clinton Foundation donors now coming under scrutiny.Boeing shareholder David Almasi recently confronted CEO James McNerney about the ethics of it. That opens the door to charges of honest services fraud, that there was a quid pro quo between the Clinton Foundation, the State Department, and Boeing, Almasi said.In prepared answers to questions posed to Boeing by Fox News, a spokesman defended the company s actions. Our contribution to the Clinton Foundation to help the people of Haiti rebuild was a transparent act of compassion and an investment aimed at aiding the long-term interests and hopes of the Haitian people, the spokesman said. The company also pointed out that it gave the American Red Cross $1.3 million after the devastating 2010 earthquake.Clinton defenders say there is no smoking gun. There s zero evidence that Hillary Clinton went to bat for Boeing for any reason other than to benefit the U.S. economy and U.S. workers, said former Clinton/Gore adviser Richard Goldstein.But the financial connections don t end there. Boeing also paid former President Bill Clinton $250,000 for a speech in 2012. It was a speech that was approved by the State Department s Ethics Office which according to an Associated Press report often approved the ex-president s speaking engagements within days.Here is a list of mysterious deaths tied to the Clinton s:1 James McDougal Clinton s convicted Whitewater partner died of an apparent heart attack, while in solitary confinement. He was a key witness in Ken Starr s investigation.2 Mary Mahoney A former White House intern was murdered July 1997 at a Starbucks Coffee Shop in Georgetown. The murder happened just after she was to go public with her story of sexual harassment in the White House.3 Vince Foster Former white House counselor, and colleague of Hillary Clinton at Little Rock s Rose Law firm. Died of a gunshot wound to the head, ruled a suicide.4 Ron Brown Secretary of Commerce and former DNC Chairman. Reported to have died by impact in a plane crash. A pathologist close to the investigation reported that there was a hole in the top of Brown s skull resembling a gunshot wound. At the time of his death Brown was being investigated, and spoke publicly of his willingness to cut a deal with prosecutors.5 C. Victor Raiser II and Montgomery Raiser, Major players in the Clinton fund raising organization died in a private plane crash in July 1992.6 Paul Tulley Democratic National Committee Political Director found dead in a hotel room in Little Rock, September 1992 Described by Clinton as a Dear friend and trusted advisor. 7- Ed Willey Clinton fund raiser, found dead November 1993 deep in the woods in VA of a gunshot wound to the head. Ruled a suicide. Ed Willey died on the same day his wife Kathleen Willey claimed Bill Clinton groped her in the oval office in the White House. Ed Willey was involved in several Clinton fundraising events.8 Jerry Parks Head of Clinton s gubernatorial security team in Little Rock. Gunned down in his car at a deserted intersection outside Little Rock. Park s son said his father was building a dossier on Clinton. He allegedly threatened to reveal this information. After he died the files were mysteriously removed from his house.9 James Bunch Died from a gunshot suicide. It was reported that he had a Black Book of people which contained names of influential people who visited prostitutes in Texas and Arkansas.10 James Wilson Was found dead in May 1993 from an apparent hanging suicide. He was reported to have ties to Whitewater.11- Kathy Ferguson, ex-wife of Arkansas Trooper Danny Ferguson, was found dead in May 1994, in her living room with a gunshot to her head. It was ruled a suicide even though there were several packed suitcases, as if she were going somewhere. Danny Ferguson was a co-defendant along with Bill Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit. Kathy Ferguson was a possible corroborating witness for Paula Jones.12 Bill Shelton Arkansas State Trooper and fiancee of Kathy Ferguson. Critical of the suicide ruling of his fiancee, he was found dead in June, 1994 of a gunshot wound also ruled a suicide at the grave site of his fiancee.13 Gandy Baugh Attorney for Clinton s friend Dan Lassater, died by jumping out a window of a tall building January, 1994. His client was a convicted drug distributor.14 Florence Martin Accountant & sub-contractor for the CIA, was related to the Barry Seal Mena Airport drug smuggling case. He died of three gunshot wounds.15 Suzanne Coleman Reportedly had an affair with Clinton when he was Arkansas Attorney General. Died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head, ruled a suicide. Was pregnant at the time of her death.16 Paula Grober Clinton s speech interpreter for the deaf from 1978 until her death December 9, 1992. She died in a one car accident.17 Danny Casolaro Investigative reporter. Investigating Mena Airport and Arkansas Development Finance Authority. He slit his wrists, apparently, in the middle of his investigation.18 Paul Wilcher Attorney investigating corruption at Mena Airport with Casolaro and the 1980 October Surprise was found dead on a toilet June 22, 1993 in his Washington DC apartment. Had delivered a report to Janet Reno three weeks before his death19 Jon Parnell Walker Whitewater investigator for Resolution Trust Corp. Jumped to his death from his Arlington, Virginia apartment balcony August15, 1993. He was investigating the Morgan Guarantee scandal.20 Barbara Wise Commerce Department staffer. Worked closely with Ron Brown and John Huang. Cause of death unknown. Died November 29, 1996. Her bruised, nude body was found locked in her office at the Department of Commerce.21- Charles Meissner Assistant Secretary of Commerce who gave John Huang special security clearance, died shortly thereafter in a small plane crash.22 Dr. Stanley Heard Chairman of the National Chiropractic Health Care Advisory Committee, died with his attorney Steve Dickson in a small plane crash. Dr. Heard, in addition to serving on Clinton s advisory council personally treated Clinton s mother, stepfather and brother.23 Barry Seal Drug running pilot out of Mena, Arkansas, death was no accident.24 Johnny Lawhorn Jr. Mechanic, found a check made out to Bill Clinton in the trunk of a car left at his repair shop. He was found dead after his car had hit a utility pole.25 Stanley Huggins Investigated Madison Guarantee. His death was a purported suicide and his report was never released.26- Hershell Friday Attorney and Clinton fund raiser died March 1, 1994 when his plane exploded.27 Kevin Ives and Don Henry Known as The boys on the track case. Reports say the boys may have stumbled upon the Mena Arkansas airport drug operation. A controversial case, the initial report of death said, due to falling asleep on railroad tracks. Later reports claim the two boys had been slain before being placed on the tracks. Many linked to the case died before their testimony could come before a Grand Jury.THE FOLLOWING PERSONS HAD INFORMATION ON THE IVES/HENRY CASE:28 Keith Coney Died when his motorcycle slammed into the back of a truck, July 1988.29 Keith McMaskle Died stabbed 113 times, November 198830 Gregory Collins Died from a gunshot wound January 1989.31 Jeff Rhodes He was shot, mutilated and found burned in a trash dump in April 1989.33 James Milan Found decapitated. However, the Coroner ruled his death was due to natural causes. 34 Jordan Kettleson Was found shot to death in the front seat of his pickup truck in June 1990.35 Richard Winters A suspect in the Ives / Henry deaths. He was killed in a set-up robbery July 1989.THE FOLLOWING CLINTON BODYGUARDS ARE DEAD: 36 Major William S. Barkley Jr. 37 Captain Scott J. Reynolds 38 Sgt. Brian Hanley 39 Sgt. Tim Sabel 40 Major General William Robertson 41 Col. William Densberger 42 Col. Robert Kelly 43 Spec. Gary Rhodes 44 Steve Willis 45 Robert Williams 46 Conway LeBleu 47 Todd McKeehan48 -World-renowned space economist Molly Macauly was brutally murdered in Baltimore park.49-John Ashe- The former President of the UN General Assembly was awaiting trial on bribery charges when he turned up dead in June, apparently having crushed his own windpipe while lifting weights in his home 50-Victor Thorn-Prominent CLINTON Critic VICTOR THORN Found Dead Of Apparent Suicide On His Birthday51-Seth Rich-Still No Clues in Murder of DNC s Seth Rich, As Conspiracy Theories Thicken52- Joe Montano-Filipino American activist and aide to Sen. Kaine, dies at 4753-Shawn Lucas-Death of DNC Lawsuit Processor Shawn Lucas Adds to Seth Rich Conspiracy Theories54-Seth Rich-Family s private investigator: There is evidence Seth Rich had contact with WikiLeaks prior to death55-Klaus Eberwein Found Dead Before Testifying Against Clinton Foundation in HAITI COVERUP56-Man who sought Clinton s emails from Russian hackers committed suicideDoes anyone in the media wonder why everyone around the Clinton s seems to commit suicide, disappear or dies under mysterious circumstances? The Clintons are either the luckiest people in the world, or they are guilty of taking down an awful lot of people who could either rat them out or take them down.

Exclusive: At a Russian polling station, phantom voters cast ballots for the 'Tsar'

VLADIKAVKAZ/IVNYA, Russia (Reuters) - At polling station no. 333 in the Russian city of Vladikavkaz, Reuters reporters only counted 256 voters casting their ballots in a regional election on Sunday. People were voting across Russia in what is seen as a dress rehearsal for next year s presidential vote. Kremlin candidates for regional parliaments and governorships performed strongly nationwide. When the official results for polling station no. 333 were declared, the turnout was first given as 1,331 before being revised up to 1,867 on Tuesday. That is more than seven times higher than the number of voters counted by Reuters - with 73 percent of the votes going to United Russia, the party of President Vladimir Putin. Election officials at the polling station said their tally was correct and there were no discrepancies. Reuters reporters were there when the polls opened at 08:00 until after the official count had been completed. They saw one man, who said he was a United Russia election observer, approaching the ballot box multiple times and each time putting inside voting papers. We must ensure 85 percent for United Russia. Otherwise, the Tsar will stop providing us with money, the man, Sergei Lyutikov, told a reporter, in an apparent reference to Putin. Putin is the strong favorite to win re-election next year. Many voters credit him with restoring national pride. However, with the economy forecast to grow only 1 percent this year enthusiasm for Putin is not as strong as it has been. Political analysts say that could result in a weak election turnout. Reuters reporters observed the vote at six polling stations on Sunday. At all six the reporters found discrepancies, of varying sizes, between the official vote tally and the number of voters the reporters counted. The reporters were present for the entire voting day except for in one place where a reporter missed the start because they were initially not allowed in. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, responding to a Reuters request for comment, said: On the whole, no one has any doubts about the legitimacy of the elections, not the observers, not journalists. There were some incidents, probably. After all, it s a big country. But neither we nor journalists have the right to describe something as a violation until the central election commission describes it as such, he said. There were observers there. So in this case there probably should be complaints from them. So one needs to see if there were complaints from them. Russia s central election commission, asked about the discrepancies witnessed by Reuters, did not immediately respond. Ella Pamfilova, chair of the commission, told a news conference after polls closed that the irregularities that had been reported to her commission would be investigated. United Russia s party headquarters, in a statement sent to Reuters, said it gave no orders to anyone to stuff ballots or falsify results. It said all violations would be examined by election commissions and, if the law was broken, those responsible would be punished. The six polling stations the Reuters reporters visited were in three regions but there were thousands of polling stations operating in Russia on Sunday so the events only offer a small snapshot of what happened. Reuters reporters are unable to assess if such practices were widespread, or whether they had a material bearing on the outcome of the election. Opinion polls consistently show that United Russia has more support than any other Russian party. Golos, a non-governmental organization whose volunteers monitored the voting in 36 regions, said late on Monday it had received reports of 825 violations of election rules. They included multiple reports of inflated turnout figures and ballot-stuffing. However, the NGO said violations were down compared to previous elections. At polling station no. 333, located in a further education college in Vladikavkaz, capital of the North Ossetia region, voters on Sunday were electing a new regional parliament. Lyutikov was there throughout the day. He works as an aide to Vadim Suanov, a United Russia deputy in the outgoing North Ossetia regional legislature, according to the legislature s website. Suanov, who was running for re-election on Sunday, told Reuters he knew nothing about what his employee did in the polling station. Lyutikov cast his ballot in the first hours of voting but later inserted ballot papers about 10 times, according to the Reuters witnesses. Lyutikov told a Reuters reporter not to document him at the ballot box, threatening to break her mobile phone if the pictures and video footage were not deleted. At one point, he showed a reporter his passport, with his name, Sergei Ivanovich Lyutikov and his date of birth, April 17 1984. While he was approaching the ballot box, he was in sight of Yelena Khadonova, the chair of the election commission for polling station no.333. Asked about Lyutikov s actions, she said: I have nothing to comment on. I haven t seen anything. At a parliamentary election last September, Reuters reporters at several polling stations found cases of inflated turnout and ballot-stuffing. Russia election chiefs said they would investigate, and the police launched their own investigation. After Sunday s vote, Kremlin candidates were on track to win in all 16 regions where governors were being elected, according to preliminary results. In the six regions where parliaments were being elected, including in North Ossetia, United Russia was in comfortable first place. United Russia was less dominant in municipal elections in parts of Moscow, where support for opposition candidates is traditionally stronger. At another location, polling station no. 618 in Belgorod region, a Reuters reporter accompanied election officials on their visits to voters houses to administer home voting. The number of home voters was equal to about a quarter of those who voted at the polling station. Under Russia s electoral rules, voting at home is reserved for cases where a voter has specifically requested a visit, because for health reasons they are unable to make it to a polling station. Kremlin opponents and independent monitors say home voting is open to abuse because it is not subject to the same scrutiny as voting in a polling station, where monitors from several parties, and journalists, are often present. Despite the rule that home voting is only offered on request, several of the people visited by the election officials at their homes said they had not asked to vote at home. The election officials entered most of houses without knocking on the door. One man in his sixties was smoking a cigarette in his backyard when the election officials arrived. First build a road and then we ll talk, he told the officials, pointing at a bumpy path leading to his house. He denied he asked them to come, but still cast his vote. The officials said a relative or neighbor may have made the request on his behalf. Over the course of two hours, during which the reporter was with the officials at all times, they collected 14 filled ballot papers. When the officials returned to the polling station, they had 18 filled ballot papers. The officials who made the trip said the tally was correct. The head of the election commission at polling station no. 618, Lyubov Grushko, said: The difference in numbers is a provocative issue, we won t discuss it.

Vietnam court sentences to death PetroVietnam ex-chairman in mass trial

HANOI (Reuters) - A court in Vietnam sentenced to death a former chairman of state -run PetroVietnam on Friday after finding him guilty in a mass trial of 51 officials and bankers accused of graft and mismanagement that led to losses of $69 million. The death sentence for ex-PetroVietnam chairman Nguyen Xuan Son was the first time in years it had been given to such a senior former official and comes amid an intensifying corruption crackdown and maneuvering within the ruling Communist Party. Son maintained his innocence and would appeal against the verdict from the People s Court of Hanoi, his lawyer, Le Minh Tam, told Reuters. The death penalty had been recommended by the state prosecution. Vietnam is among the world s biggest executioners, according to Amnesty International. In recent years it has replaced firing squads with lethal injections. Son was on trial as both the former chairman of PetroVietnam and the former chief executive of Ocean Group s banking unit, Ocean Bank, which was taken over by the central bank in 2015 after being unable to pay its debts. The court in Hanoi also sentenced Ha Van Tham, founder of Ocean Group and once one of Vietnam s most high profile tycoons, to life imprisonment. He was found guilty of embezzlement, violations of bank lending regulations and abuse of power. Dozens of other banking and energy officials were also jailed. These harsh sentences are mainly for public effect, said Carl Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian Defense Force Academy. But they would have little effect without improving governance in the one-party state, he said. The ruling Communist Party has taken a tougher stance on corruption since Vietnam s security establishment emerged stronger from a power struggle last year in which ex-Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung lost out. Some critics have accused Vietnam s rulers of a witch-hunt following the launch of investigations implicating increasingly senior figures. Son was arrested in 2015, under the previous administration. On Friday, he was found guilty of embezzlement, intentional breaches of state rules over economic management leading to serious consequences and abuse of position and power. The head of a unit of state-run shipping firm Vinashin was sentenced to death over losses in February, but he was much less senior than Son. Investigations into PetroVietnam have seen a Politburo member who was a former PetroVietnam chairman, a vice trade minister sacked from their positions and a former deputy central bank governor prosecuted. The PetroVietnam investigations also grabbed global attention when Germany accused Vietnam of kidnapping former executive Trinh Xuan Thanh in Berlin last month to face trial over a separate case. Thanh had been cleared under Dung s government, official documents reviewed by Reuters showed. Dung lost out last year in the battle to secure the post of Communist Party General Secretary, Vietnam s most powerful position. The post remained in the hands of Nguyen Phu Trong, who has a more modest public profile. The court finished hearing the case against Son on Monday, when he pleaded for the court not to give an unjust verdict and said he could not believe he was being prosecuted for embezzlement and had become like a soulless person. Tham admitted the charge of lending violations at Ocean Bank, but denied graft allegations. Neither he nor Son were given a chance to speak after the verdict on Friday. Amnesty International said in April that Vietnam had executed more people than any country except China and Iran over the period from August 2013 to June 2016 after official figures showing 429 executions were published in local media.

Austrian conservative leader sees many options on coalitions

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian conservative leader Sebastian Kurz, who secured victory in Sunday s parliamentary election but fell well short of a majority, does not rule out the possibility of forming a minority government once the final result comes in. I would of course like to form a stable government. If that cannot be done then there are other options, he told broadcaster ORF, adding that he planned to talk to all parties in parliament but would first wait for a count of postal ballots that begins on Monday. That count will settle the close race for second place between the Social Democrats and the far-right Freedom Party.

Elementary School Goes On Lockdown After Right-Wing Dad Threatens Teachers Over Sex Ed Class

If there is one thing conservatives hate more than President Obama, it is the thought of their children receiving a well-rounded education especially one that involves comprehensive sex education. In fact, an Iowa father was so enraged about the health class being taught that he caused an elementary school and others to go into lockdown.Decorah police say Bruce Deano Divers, Jr. has been arrested and charged with three counts for causing the lockdown when he threatened two teachers on Facebook and sent an email promising to retaliate against the school because of health classes. The Decorah School District released a statement on Sunday night telling parents that schools would be in lockdown on Monday as a precautionary measure.According to KWWL News after they ran the original story, Divers reached out to them and sent them a copy of the email he sent the school. It read: Decorah schools spiritually declared war against my house today. When I retaliate Monday morning Apparently, this right-wing nutjob believes that a holy war has been waged because his child was given health information. Ironically, he could have avoided the entire situation if he d done his job as a parent months ago, according to Superintendent Mike Haluska. Interestingly enough, we have paper work available at the beginning of the school year for anyone who wishes to have their children exempted from any conversations that have to do with that type of subject matter. So what exactly were the kids learning about that pissed him off so much? It had to be about sex, right?WRONG.Superintendent Haluska said that the fourth-grade students were learning about puberty and human body growth. He freaked out because his kid was taught about puberty. Seriously. That s how crazy science-hating conservatives are. Let s forget for a minute that comprehensive sex education is vital to reducing the occurrence of sexually transmitted diseases and reducing the rate of teen pregnancy, learning about their bodies in a health class is absolutely vital to be able to function in society.We ve all seen the movie Carrie, do you remember when she got her period but had no idea what the hell it was because of her crazy religious mother kept her sheltered?That s what right-wing, anti-education parents what to subject their kids to.Featured image via screenshot

Czech police ask parliament to allow prosecution of prospective PM Babis

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech police have requested parliament lift the immunity of prospective prime minister Andrej Babis to allow prosecution in a case involving alleged fraud in tapping European Union subsidies, the lower house s press office said on Tuesday. Babis, whose ANO party was the runaway winner in a parliamentary election in October on pledges to run the state better and fight corruption among traditional parties, denies any wrongdoing and has called the charges politically motivated. Police suspect the billionaire businessman hid ownership of the Stork s Nest farm and convention center almost a decade ago to get a two million euro EU subsidy that was part of a program aimed at small businesses. Lawmakers already voted in September to allow his prosecution, but Babis won immunity again with his re-election. He said on Tuesday the new request to lift immunity was further evidence of a campaign against him. The speed at which they are coming after me again only shows what huge fear the corrupt system has; how much this old system is afraid of me and how tenaciously they are trying to get me, Babis was quoted by CTK news agency as saying. President Milos Zeman has tasked Babis with forming a government, but the case has hurt his chances of assembling a coalition as almost all of the other eight parties in the lower house have refused to work with him if he faces police charges. Babis instead is aiming for a minority cabinet, which may be appointed in the coming weeks, but still faces the prospect he may lose a vote of confidence in the 200-seat lower house. His party won 78 seats in the election and he has not found other support than possible tolerance from the Communist party with 15 seats. A failure to win confidence would trigger two more attempts to form a cabinet, which could take months, while Babis s team would hold office in the meantime. Most parties have said they would vote to lift immunity again but it was not clear if a majority would be found. The case also involves ANO s deputy chairman Jaroslav Faltynek, who has denied wrongdoing. Babis entered politics in 2011 and had sat in the outgoing center-left government. He moved his holding in his business empire - valued at $4 billion and comprising numerous companies in food processing, agriculture, chemicals and media - to trust funds earlier this year.

americas primal scream david icke explains reason for trumps election result

st century wire says mexicos billionaire tycoon carlos slim saw a large chuck of his wealth evaporate literally overnight after news of a donald trump election victory hit the currency and stock markets on wednesday morning according to bloomberg financial analysts slim mexicos wealthiest person and rated fifth on the global rich list took a stinging billion haircut after the mexican peso went into a free fall after trumps stunning upset over democratic hillary clinton slims loss amounted to a staggering percent of his total fortune in the week before polls showed hillary clinton as the odds on favorite netting the billionaires a staggering billion in total wealth increase across world markets however according to the bloomberg billionaires index oligarchs lost a total of billion during wednesdays epic slide with slim being the biggest loser

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shawn please dont send him to canada we have enough of our prime minister who is trying to ruin our country it is bad in shape we are sinking into debt by the minute shawn you are the best on fox

Polish legal experts say Poland can demand German reparations

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish parliamentary legal experts ruled on Monday that Warsaw has the right to demand reparations from Germany for its actions in the country during World War Two, although Poland s foreign minister indicated that no immediate claim would be made. The issue of reparations, revived by Poland s eurosceptic ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) after decades of improving relations with Germany, could escalate tensions between the two European Union governments. In a non-binding ruling, the experts said a decision by Poland s communist authorities in the 1950s to relinquish all claims against Germany over damages caused by its invasion and occupation of much of Poland was unconstitutional and invalid. (The communist government) was forced into this by the Soviet Union, and Poland was not a sovereign state at the time, said Arkadiusz Mularczyk, a PiS deputy who had commissioned the study. Poland has a legal basis to demand reparations. The PiS government deeply distrustful of Germany has raised calls for wartime compensation in recent weeks but it has yet to officially demand reparations. Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said on Monday that discussions on the issue may not yield the appropriate result . But they should take place to inform the German side about the enormity of destruction it has caused, he told public broadcaster TVP1. Waszczykowski added further analysis was needed before any claims were lodged. Six million Poles, including three million Polish Jews, were killed during the war, and the capital Warsaw was razed to the ground in 1944 after a failed uprising in which 200,000 civilians died. Relations between Germany and Poland had warmed following the 1989 collapse of communism, particularly under the previous centrist government in Warsaw. But they have sunk to a decade low since the nationalist-leaning PiS won a parliamentary election in 2015. It says Berlin wields too much influence within the EU. PiS also frequently invokes Poland s suffering under the German occupation as part of a broader effort it says aims to promote patriotism at home, and to counter accusations that some Poles were also perpetrators of wartime crimes against the Jews. Under communism, Poles were taught to believe that, with a few exceptions, the nation had conducted itself honorably during a war that killed a fifth of the Polish population. But a series of books and films have questioned this self-image in recent years, opening a painful debate over collective guilt and reconciliation. German parliamentary legal experts said last month that Warsaw had no right to demand reparations.

BREAKING: DEMOCRATS Get Bad News…Why PA Recount Case Won’t Be So Easy To Pull Off

Tick tock! Time is running out for Hillary Clinton and George Soros to steal the Presidency from Donald Trump. Too bad they didn t get this little snag worked out ahead of time. It looks like it may not be as easy as Jill Stein, (the Green Party candidate who appears to be doing Hillary s dirty work, after getting only got 1% of the vote) thought it would be to throw the election Oops! Jill Stein forgot to mention to her donors that she cannot file a direct request for a recount in Pennsylvania.Stein would have to present a case showing voter fraud took place.Trump won Pennsylvania by 70 thousand votes. Stein would have to prove that fraud was probable. That does not seem likely. Then again, we are talking about the Clintons here. GPThe Inquisitr reported, via Free Republic:Per Pennsylvania regulations, there is only one way remaining for Jill Stein to get a recount in Pennsylvania and it is a complicated process. BillyPenn reports that Stein would have to file for a court appeal and present a prima facie case showing that voter fraud took place. While prima facie has a lower burden of proof threshold than beyond reasonable doubt, it is still significant. Stein would have to prove in court that fraud was probable. This is going to be very difficult given that even the computer specialists recommending the recount say there is no proof of hacking or fraud.

KEY DEMOCRATS MOCKED In Saturday Night Live Skit: ‘We’re Baaack!’ [Video]

Saturday Night Live usually hits the Republicans with mocking skits Usually it s something about President Trump, Sarah Sanders or Sean Spicer Former Press Secretary Sean Spicer was brutalized on on the show. He even remarked about how it stung when he was mocked mercilessly in skit after skit. Alex Baldwin usually plays President Trump in skits that really are unfunny. When it crosses the line to nasty , you ve lost your audience. The president is not a fan tweeting last year that the impression just can t get any worse and calling the show unwatchable. Maybe keeping politics out of the show would be a smart tactic but they just can t seem to do that What they did do last night was surprising They flipped the script to bash the DNC. Shocker! Tell us what you think about this mocking skit aimed at the key players in the Democrat Party:MELANIA TRUMP JUST ZINGED ALEC BALDWIN:MELANIA TRUMP never hesitates to call someone on the carpet for lying about her Alec Baldwin knows now that he can t mess with the First Lady!A spokesperson for the first lady fired back at the actor after he claimed that she loves my impersonation of President Donald Trump. That is not true, which is why Mr. Baldwin has no actual names to go with his bizarre assertion, the spokeswoman told The Hill on Monday.The Saturday Night Live star had made the remarks on WYNC s The Brian Lehrer Show Monday. Someone told me who s friends with someone in the White House, or formerly in the White House that Melania Trump loves SNL and she loves my impersonation, Baldwin said in the interview.The 59 year-old actor claimed the first lady told this person, very high up in the White House brass there, that, That s exactly what he s like. Baldwin has been doing his impersonation of Trump for well over a year now on NBC s late-night sketch comedy show and won an Emmy Award in September for his portrayal of Trump.The president is not a fan, however, tweeting last year that the impression just can t get any worse and calling the show unwatchable. in a tweet from December of last year:Just tried watching Saturday Night Live unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Baldwin impersonation just can't get any worse. Sad Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016THE BIG LIE FROM BALDWIN: Apparently, Trump is horrified and beside himself that his wife actually thinks it s funny, Baldwin claimed Monday.The 30 Rock star was promoting his new book, You Can t Spell America Without Me: The Really Tremendous Inside Story of my Fantastic First Year as President Donald J. Trump. (A So-Called Parody). READ MORE: BPR

Lockheed Martin says company already cut F-35 costs

NEVATIM AIR BASE, Israel (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin has invested large sums of money to reduce the price of the F-35 stealth fighter program, a company executive said in Israel on Monday, responding to criticism from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump about costs. “Since the beginning, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce the price of the airplane by about 70 percent since its original costing, and we project it to be about 85 million dollars in the 2019 or 2020 time frame”, said Jeff Babione, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program leader. Babione was in Israel for the arrival of the first F-35s ordered by the Israeli air force. Trump wrote on Twitter earlier on Monday that the F-35 program and cost is “out of control” and that billions of dollars can be saved on military and other purchases once he is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

the latest clinton to unveil antibullying plan

democrats are racist for calling black trump supporters uneducated red necks page link its ok to call us white trump supporters all that but when you mess with our black friends then thats another issue democrats need to realize that some black folks and white folks all grew up with different opportunities and school zones that is so racist to call them uneducated its fine to call us whites that but not our black brothers and sisters the hispanics and all other non whites how dare the clintons offend our black and other minority members im sure some liberal will come along and say something totally ignorant like trump doesnt have and black supporters well he does over of them true the democrats didnt single out the blacks and minorities they referred to all of us as lots of things all of us americans that werent equal in our financial upbringings you see i see all of us trump supporters as colors red white and blue i see us all as ameicans and not trying to divide people like the democrats

Immigration hardliner says Trump team preparing plans for wall, mulling Muslim registry

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An architect of anti-immigration efforts who says he is advising President-elect Donald Trump said the new administration could push ahead rapidly on construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall without seeking immediate congressional approval. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who helped write tough immigration laws in Arizona and elsewhere, said in an interview that Trump’s policy advisers had also discussed drafting a proposal for his consideration to reinstate a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries. Kobach, who media reports say is a key member of Trump’s transition team, said he had participated in regular conference calls with about a dozen Trump immigration advisers for the past two to three months. Trump’s transition team did not respond to requests for confirmation of Kobach’s role. The president-elect has not committed to following any specific recommendations from advisory groups. Trump, who scored an upset victory last week over Democrat Hillary Clinton, made building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border a central issue of his campaign and has pledged to step up immigration enforcement against the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants. He has also said he supports “extreme vetting” of Muslims entering the United States as a national security measure. Kobach told Reuters last Friday that the immigration group had discussed drafting executive orders for the president-elect’s review “so that Trump and the Department of Homeland Security hit the ground running.” To implement Trump’s call for “extreme vetting” of some Muslim immigrants, Kobach said the immigration policy group could recommend the reinstatement of a national registry of immigrants and visitors who enter the United States on visas from countries where extremist organizations are active. Kobach helped design the program, known as the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, while serving in Republican President George W. Bush’s Department of Justice after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by al Qaeda militants. Under NSEERS, people from countries deemed “higher risk” were required to undergo interrogations and fingerprinting on entering the United States. Some non-citizen male U.S. residents over the age of 16 from countries with active militant threats were required to register in person at government offices and periodically check in. NSEERS was abandoned in 2011 after it was deemed redundant by the Department of Homeland Security and criticized by civil rights groups for unfairly targeting immigrants from Muslim- majority nations. Kobach said the immigration advisers were also looking at how the Homeland Security Department could move rapidly on border wall construction without approval from Congress by reappropriating existing funds in the current budget. He acknowledged “that future fiscal years will require additional appropriations.” Congress, which is controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans, could object to redirecting DHS funds designated for other purposes. Kobach has worked with allies across the United States on drafting laws and pursuing legal actions to crack down on illegal immigration. In 2010, he helped draft an Arizona law that required state and local officials to check the immigration status of individuals stopped by police. Parts of the law, which was fiercely opposed by Hispanic and civil rights groups, were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011. Kobach was also the architect of a 2013 Kansas law requiring voters to provide proof-of-citizenship documents, such as birth certificates or U.S. passports, when registering for the first time. A U.S. appeals court blocked that law after challenges from civil rights groups. Kobach said in the interview he believed that illegal immigrants in some cases should be deported before a conviction if they have been charged with a violent crime. Trump said in an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired on Sunday that once he took office, he would remove immigrants with criminal records who are in the country illegally. Kobach said the immigration group had also discussed ways of overturning President Barack Obama’s 2012 executive action that has granted temporary deportation relief and work permits to more than 700,000 undocumented people or “dreamers” who came to the United States as children of illegal immigrants.

Sixteen people killed in Russia after train collides with bus

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Sixteen people were killed on Friday when a train slammed into a bus that had broken down at a level crossing near Moscow, Russia s investigative committee said in a statement. The bus, which was carrying migrant workers from Uzbekistan, was shunted several hundred metres down the track, Russia s Rossiya 24 TV channel reported. Footage showed fragments of what was left of the bus strewn across the track. The train itself appeared to have sustained no visible damage. The bus stalled on the track, Vladimir Myagkov, a spokesman for Russian Railways, told Rossiya 24 at the crash site. Some people say the passengers tried to push the bus off the track. At that moment the train approached and a collision occurred, he said. Though carrying workers from the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, the bus had a license plate registered in Kazakhstan, Russian news agencies reported.

Veteran Spy: Trump Trading Secret Info With Russians

The connection between Donald Trump s presidential campaign and Vladimir Putin s government in Russia has been denied by the Republican nominee repeatedly. Despite praising him and at times defending his actions (like the annexation of Ukraine), Trump has rejected reporting and accusations linking him to the Russian strongman.But a new report from Mother Jones appears to shed new light on the Trump-Russia connection.In June, the former Western intelligence officer who spent almost two decades on Russian intelligence matters and who now works with a US firm that gathers information on Russia for corporate clients was assigned the task of researching Trump s dealings in Russia and elsewhere, according to the former spy and his associates in this American firm. This was for an opposition research project originally financed by a Republican client critical of the celebrity mogul. (Before the former spy was retained, the project s financing switched to a client allied with Democrats.) It started off as a fairly general inquiry, says the former spook, who asks not to be identified. But when he dug into Trump, he notes, he came across troubling information indicating connections between Trump and the Russian government. According to his sources, he says, there was an established exchange of information between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin of mutual benefit. The spy tells the magazine that the Trump-Putin exchange is an extraordinary situation. According to the report (reviewed by Mother Jones): Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting TRUMP for at least 5 years. Aim, endorsed by PUTIN, has been to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance. Trump s former manager Paul Manafort is currently the subject of an FBI inquiry, probing his connection to foreign governments associated with Putin. Manafort, a Republican fixer, worked on behalf of pro-Putin government forces while in Ukraine.At the same time as these connections have been uncovered and probe, Russian media has been amplifying revelations found in the email hack of Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta that have been published via WikiLeaks.U.S. intelligence agencies have tracked those hacking attacks back to Russian forces as well.Many roads in this election are leading to Russia.Featured image via Flickr

Twitter Has The ULTIMATE Way For SNL To Get Under Trump’s Skin; It Involves ROSIE O’DONNELL

It s no secret to anyone not living under a rock that there is no love lost between Donald Trump and Rosie O Donnell. It s also no secret that Alec Baldwin s brutal and spot-on mockery of Trump on Saturday Night Live is really getting under Trump s skin, and has been for some time now. However, the ultimate blow came this past Saturday night, when SNL featured a surprise appearance by actress Melissa McCarthy as Trump s bumbling, lying, combative press secretary Sean Spicer. The portrayal stole the show and went viral.While Trump has yet to tweet about it, the word on the street is that what bothered him the most about SNL s treatment of Spicer wasn t the mockery itself, but rather that Spicer was portrayed by a woman. To Trump, that equals making his press secretary look weak.Given this perfect storm of facts sure to be causing the notoriously thin-skinned president wannabe to seethe, Trump s own favorite social media platform, Twitter, has come up with a BRILLIANT way to have SNL finally make Trump REALLY blow his stack: Have Rosie O Donnell portray either Trump himself or even better top Trump political strategist Steve Bannon.Bannon is the former head of the white supremacist website Breitbart News, and is clearly the one who is in Trump s ear and pulling the strings behind the scenes. To have him portrayed by the woman Trump hates most in the world would be EPIC. Here are just a few tweets on this subject:I'm begging you @SNL please get Rosie O'Donnell to play "President Bannon" over #BLOTUS. He'll melt like the Wicked Witch! #TheResistance pic.twitter.com/DhaZuvgtvH Captain Janeway (@CaptJaneway2017) February 7, 2017SNL it's time. Cast Rosie O'Donnell as Bannon, the world needs this. We will never ask for another thing again. pic.twitter.com/54jj62ZFni Shop Politics (@Shop_Politics) February 7, 2017Know what I would love? If SNL would replace Alec Baldwin with Rosie O'Donnell in all of their Trump sketches Evan Peterson (@evan_up) February 7, 2017America, I promise you: nothing will get Steve Bannon out of the White House faster than Rosie O'Donnell playing https://t.co/YpehUKqDgG ((( Glenn Hauman ))) (@GlennHauman) February 7, 2017@DaveKingThing @JuddApatow SNL should have Trump in gimp suit with Rosie O'Donnell as Steve Bannon holding leash. Hit him where it hurts. Matthew Lee Myers (@themattylee) February 7, 2017Nothing against Alec Baldwin, he's been doing a great job. But imagine the steam shooting out of Trump's ears if Rosie O'Donnell plays him. Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) February 7, 2017Rosie O'Donnell as Steve Bannon on @nbcsnl would be INCREDIBLE. B (@BrianCHarnick) February 7, 2017Apparently, O Donnell herself is game as well:Rosie O'Donnell has already said yes. Now the ball's in SNL's court. @SNL https://t.co/zbiv0oGDFW emigre80 (@emigre80) February 7, 2017EW: Rosie O'Donnell nominated herself to play Donald Trump s controversial chief strategist on #SNL. https://t.co/FAeacsuO7R Jack Merphy (@ProfInvproduct) February 7, 2017And that s just for starters, for the trend just started as of this writing. Keep it up, Twitter. If Rosie plays either Trump OR Bannon, the real Trump s head just might LITERALLY explode.Featured image via Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images (Trump)/Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc (O Donnell)

Trump Supporters Threaten Bloody Rebellion And Assassination If They Lose On Election Day (DETAILS)

President Obama should put the National Guard and other military units on standby on Election Day.Because if Trump supporters don t get the results they want, they are going to try to kill Hillary Clinton and anyone else standing in the way of their party taking over the government.The Boston Globe attended a Donald Trump rally in Ohio last week and talked to several suppporters of the Republican nominee about what they will do if their candidate loses.To them, however, the only way Trump can lose is if their is election fraud, which Trump has already accused Hillary Clinton of committing.In Pennsylvania in August, Trump declared that the only way he can lose is if Hillary Clinton cheats, thus setting the stage for massive complaints of election fraud if Hillary wins the election on November 8th, even by a landslide.Trump has made his crowd of middle-aged white supporters very angry and very paranoid.Scott Webb is taking his command from Trump to watch polling places very seriously. Trump said to watch your precincts, the 61-year-old said. I m going to go, for sure. I ll look for well, it s called racial profiling. Mexicans. Syrians. People who can t speak American. I m going to go right up behind them. I ll do everything legally. I want to see if they are accountable. I m not going to do anything illegal. I m going to make them a little bit nervous. In other words, Webb is going to try to intimidate anyone who doesn t have the same skin color as he does because Trump supporters believe that only minorities commit voter fraud.65-year-old Jeannine Bell Smith is already predicting unprecedented amounts of voter fraud this election even though it is very rare in this country. We re going to have a lot of election fraud, she said. They are having illegals vote. In some states, you don t need voter registration to vote. We can t have that lying bitch in the White House. Judy Wright doesn t care if Hillary wins in a squeaker or by a landslide. If Hillary wins, it s rigged, she said. All I know is our country is not going to be a country anymore. I ve heard people talk about a revolution. I ve heard people talk about separation of states. I don t even like to think about it. But I don t think this movement is going away. We don t have a voice anymore, and Donald Trump is giving us a voice. Indeed, many Trump supporters are ready to overthrow the government and assassinate Hillary Clinton if Trump doesn t win. That s what 50-year-old Dan Bowman told the Boston Globe in the scariest quote they obtained. If she s in office, I hope we can start a coup. She should be in prison or shot. That s how I feel about it. We re going to have a revolution and take them out of office if that s what it takes. There s going to be a lot of bloodshed. But that s what it s going to take I would do whatever I can for my country. Donald Trump and his supporter are the most dangerous threat against America and our democracy. Trump has already called for Second Amendment people to do something about Hillary Clinton if she wins and nominates Supreme Court Justices that conservatives don t approve of. He has also called for her to be imprisoned.And his fanatical supporters are starting to foam at the mouth at the thought to attempting to violently overthrow the government.Even Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin has called for a bloody revolt if Trump doesn t win.Trump supporters claim they are oppressed, but that s just because they aren t allowed to oppress black people, gays, and Muslims. They literally think they are being oppressed because they can t legally oppress others.The fact is that if any Trump supporters who attempt a coup will be guilty of treason and should pay major consequences for their actions. That being said, the federal government and law enforcement need to take these threats seriously. We cannot not tolerate such an attack on our democracy and the peaceful transition of power that has existed in this country since its founding. So no matter how many votes Trump loses by, even if it comes down to a few thousand, Trump s supporters need to accept that they lost fair and square.Featured Image: Screenshot

Trump Surrogate: Carter Page Being A Russian Agent Isn’t Evidence Of ‘Collusion’ (VIDEO)

If you haven t heard, former Trump advisor Carter Page was the subject of a successfully-executed FISA warrant because of his dealings with Russia. Former FBI agent Asha Rangappa notes that the bar to obtain a warrant is extremely high and that the process of obtaining one includes too many layers of approval to be granted without strong evidence. Nevertheless, Trump and his associates continue to complain that members of his campaign and administration became the subject of investigations because of their illegal activity.On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that Page became the focus of an investigation because a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge was thoroughly convinced that there was probable cause to believe Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power, in this case Russia. Appearing on CNN, braindead Trump lemming Kayleigh McEnany worked hard to dispel any idea that Page colluding with Russia is evidence that members of the campaign colluding with Russia. I don t think it s evidence of the Trump campaign colluding with Russia at all, she said. He was a brief adviser on the campaign, and the campaign [was] trying to distance themselves from him. In reality, Page was one of the first foreign policy advisors Trump named. But look, I don t think we have any evidence to suggest that President Trump knew that this guy was a foreign agent, and he wanted him on his campaign because he wanted to collude with Russia, he said. That is another step that you have to make, and I don t think there are facts there to show that. Here s the thing: whether or not Trump knew is a nonissue. When Trump was warned about Michael Flynn s shady dealing with Russia, he brushed it off and kept the disgraced General on as national security advisor. He even fired the person who warned him. It would not have mattered to Trump if he knew about Page, because for some reason it s cool to work with Russia under President* Trump.Watch the interview below:Featured image via screengrab

WATCH: President Obama ZINGS The Hell Out Of Trump On Jimmy Kimmel

One of the more popular segments on Jimmy Kimmel Live is Celebrities Read Mean Tweets. Sometimes Kimmel runs special editions, like sports editions, film editions, creator editions, and more. Last night, Kimmel had President Obama on his show to read mean tweets the second time that Obama has done that. Most of the tweets are pretty standard, vanilla hate, right up until the end, when he gets to a tweet from none other than one Donald J. Trump.Trump takes potshots at Obama all the time on Twitter that s nothing new. His Twitter feed is a cesspool of self-congratulations, pseudo-gratitude for his loyal subjects, and insults at everyone who bothers him. The tweet that Obama read said: President Obama will go down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States! It was Obama, though, who got the last laugh on that one with a truth that the Donald will never acknowledge: Really? Well, @realDonaldTrump, at least I will go down as a president. Bam! Right in Trump s bright orange face! That s one thing that Obama will always have that Trump is less and less likely to ever get. His zinger is at the end of the video below:[ad3media campaign= 1231 ]Featured image via screen capture from embedded video

OBAMA POKES THE BEAR: ‘We Will’ Retaliate Against Russia For “Election Hacking”…RUNS OFF On 5-Star Family Vacation To Hawaii

On November 26, 2016 the Obama administration demanded there was no evidence of hackers tampering with the election:The Russians may not have hacked our elections, but that didn t stop Obama from blaming them for affecting Hillary s chances of winning the election. Never mind Hillary s recent use of an unsecured email server while she was serving as Sec of State, or the fact that she has spent most of her adult life under some sort of criminal investigation, or that over half of America said they didn t trust her. It s the damn Russians fault. Anything to taint the legitimacy of soon to be President Trump. President Obama said the United States will retaliate against Russia over its malicious cyberactivity during this year s election, in an interview that will air Friday on NPR. I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections . . . we need to take action, the president said. And we will at a time and place of our own choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be. Speaking to Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep, Obama said there are still a whole range of assessments taking place among the agencies, and he is waiting for the report on cyberattacks he has ordered to be delivered by Jan. 20. And so when I receive a final report, you know, we ll be able to, I think, give us a comprehensive and best guess as to those motivations, Obama said. But that does not in any way, I think, detract from the basic point that everyone during the election perceived accurately that in fact what the Russian hack had done was create more problems for the Clinton campaign than it had for the Trump campaign. There s no doubt that it contributed to an atmosphere in which the only focus for weeks at a time, months at a time were Hillary s emails, the Clinton Foundation, political gossip surrounding the DNC, he added. Washington PostRussia responded Friday morning. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin s spokesman, said the U.S. needs to show some proof or quit talking. It is necessary to either stop talking about it, or finally produce some evidence, he told Interfax, per the New York Times. Otherwise, it all begins to look quite unseemly. Obama said his goal is for a definitive White House report on the matter to be issued before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. He was also careful to say that while the Russian hacks benefited Trump, he is not suggesting Trump s campaign helped coordinate the attacks or played any role in them, other than to exploit them for political advantage. They understood what everybody else understood, which was that this was not good for Hillary Clinton s campaign, the president said.Obama discussed cybersecurity with Vladimir Putin during a 90-minute meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit held in China in early September. The president characterized the meeting at the time as candid, blunt, businesslike. While Obama is threatening to retaliate against Russia, he has only about five weeks left in the Oval Office. Trump has dismissed in fact, mocked intelligence assessments tying the DNC and Podesta hacks to Russia, and he campaigned on improving the U.S. relationship with the country.In his interview with NPR, Obama appeared mystified by that stance. The irony of all this, of course, is that for most of my presidency, there s been a pretty sizable wing of the Republican Party that has consistently criticized me for not being tough enough on Russia, he said. Some of those folks during the campaign endorsed Donald Trump, despite the fact that a central tenet of his foreign policy was we shouldn t be so tough on Russia. And that kind of inconsistency I think makes it appear, at least, that their particular position on Russia on any given day depends on what s politically expedient. NPR

wh press secretary says obamas denial about clinton server was entirely factual

trump victory for sure

More Networks Join in the Boycott of New Trump Ad

If you were not ready to give thought to anything other than politics, you are in luck as the campaign for 2020 has already begun. The Trump/Pence team has already put out its first ad, in which they decry the fake news. This has caused several of the main news networks to say they will not air the new ad.CNN, ABC and NBC has cited a graphic that shows the words fake news over the faces of a number of anchors. The rest of the ad is devoted to listing President Donald Trump s accomplishments over the first 100 days that he has been in the White House. The ad goes on to flame the fake news for not covering everything the president has done since assuming office.All networks that are not running the ad say that it is inaccurate. ABC News reported that the ad was a personal attack against the network. The reporters who were targeted by the Trump ad were Rachel Maddow, Wolf Blitzer, Andrea Mitchell, Scott Pelley and George Stephanopoulos.Trump s daughter in law weighed in. Lara Trump, Eric s wife, said, Apparently, the mainstream media are champions of the First Amendment only when it serves their own political views. She is working on the president s reelection efforts.The campaign is not just making misleading ads, however. They are also actively working on donations and are courting high level donors.The ad also lists the problems the campaign has seen with press coverage of the president and his team. For example, Sean Hannity did a press interview with 60 Minutes and he had a beef with the way they edited the piece. Another example of fake news coverage was a segment on The Rachel Maddow Show where a copy of the president s 2005 tax return.The ad will run on FOX News and the FOX Business Network.Featured image via the Trump/Pence campaign.

WATCH: PRESIDENT TRUMP’S Beautiful Video Honoring The Life Of Rosa Parks Reminds Everyone Of DISGUSTING Way President Obama Made Anniversary of Parks’ Brave Act About Him 

Yesterday, President Trump took to Twitter to honor the 62-year anniversary of civil rights icon, Rosa Parks. President Trump tweeted, 62 years ago this week, a brave seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama uttered one word that changed history His message was accompanied by a beautiful video narrated by the President that featured the courageous act of defiance against a bigoted bus driver who attempted to make her sit at the back of the bus, simply because she was black. President Trump s video is a beautiful tribute to a woman who, much like Donald Trump, was a fighter. She wasn t looking for someone else to fight for her, she wasn t organizing a mob to fight back against injustice, she stood alone, she fought back, and because of her, America won. (Sound familiar?)62 years ago this week, a brave seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama uttered one word that changed history pic.twitter.com/eOvCBcMIKX Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2017Five years ago, President Obama also honored the legacy of Rosa Parks. Obama, however, took a much different approach. Instead of focusing on Rosa Parks, and her contribution to the civil rights movement, Barack Obama posted a narcissistic photo of himself sitting on the bus, that s parked at the Henry Ford Museum, in Dearborn, MI. Apparently, Barack Obama felt that he deserved the spotlight on the 57th and again on the 58th anniversary of Rosa Parks brave act of defiance.Here s how the former President Barack Obama honored Rosa Parks on her 57th anniversary:Today is the 57th Anniversary of the day Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. Pic: President Obama on Rosa Parks bus pic.twitter.com/cFaKOYDt White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) December 1, 2012Here s how President Barack Obama honored Rosa Parks again, on her 58th anniversary:Michelle was so impressed by her husband s arrogance, that she too, tweeted a picture of her husband to honor the life of Rosa Parks:For the record, there are plenty of photos of Rosa Parks that were available for the President and First Lady to use in their tweets.But somehow, the Obama s always seemed to take a moment that should belong to someone else, and make it about them.It s not the first time Barack Obama honored himself instead of the person he claimed to be honoring. We ve posted several images of Barack Obama honoring himself instead of the activist, hero or legend he was supposed to honoring.Here are just a few examples:Although he never mentions him by name or even bothers to circle him in this photo, where Barack Obama is clearly the center of attention, this tweet was supposed to be honoring the late golf icon, Arnold Palmer:Here's to The King who was as extraordinary on the links as he was generous to others. Thanks for the memories, Arnold. pic.twitter.com/UlyfpIBOL2 President Obama (@POTUS44) September 26, 2016In this tweet, Barack Obama says, He shook up the world, and the world s a better place for it. Fortunately, he added Rest in Peace , otherwise, his social media followers would have no reason to believe that this tweet was supposed to be a tribute to the deceased boxing legend, Muhammad Ali, as once again, Obama appears to be the focus of the image with a photo of Ali in the background.He shook up the world, and the world's better for it. Rest in peace, Champ. pic.twitter.com/z1yM3sSLH3 President Obama (@POTUS44) June 4, 2016The former President honored Nelson Mandela by posting a picture of himself in the jail cell where Mandela was imprisoned:Compassion, understanding, and reconciliation on #MandelaDay, we are reminded of the promise for a better world. pic.twitter.com/vOpRlM4gwf White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) July 18, 2016And finally, on Pearl Harbor Day in Barack Obama honored the dead, by posting a picture of himself on Facebook walking down the stairs next to the Pearl Harbor Memorial.

Austria's Freedom Party suspends member over Nazi allegations

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria s far right Freedom Party, days before parliamentary elections which are expected to catapult it into government, has suspended a low-level party official over allegations he used a Nazi salute. The party is poised to become part of a coalition after the Oct. 15 vote with the conservatives expected to gain around a third of the vote. Both parties campaign with tough rhetoric on fighting immigration and closed Islamic communities. Austrian newspaper Der Standard reported, without citing names, that an independent local councillor in the province of Styria complained to her mayor about having seen her Freedom Party colleague raising his right arm in Nazi-fashion and saying the Nazi salute Heil Hitler . Owning objects or making statements that glorify Nazism is illegal in Austria, where Hitler was born and which was annexed into his Third Reich. Josef Riemer, the Freedom Party parliamentarian for the constituency, said in an emailed statement the party was taking the accusations very seriously and had suspended the official s membership until the case was resolved. He added the official rejects the allegations and had already hired a lawyer. The mayor s lawyer Dieter Neger, who declined to identify the town or anyone involved, said he would officially hand the case, which he said included two witness statements, to prosecutors in the city of Graz later on Tuesday. The Freedom Party, which was founded by former Nazis but says it has left its past behind, has repeatedly thrown out officials in recent years over Nazi allegations. Party chief Heinz-Christian Strache, who says anti-Semitism is a crime, has said Christian Europe shares an enemy with Israel in political Islam. Austria s anti-fascist Mauthausen Komitee, named after a Nazi concentration camp, published a brochure this year detailing 60 cases of Nazi-related incidents involving Freedom Party members.

Henningsen: ‘US Anti-Trump Protests Similar to Soros Color Revolutions Abroad’

21st Century Wire says Organized efforts are underway by Democratic Party affiliated NGO s to try and somehow delegitimize the results of this week s US Presidential Election. On the eve of the US Election before voters went to the polls, 21WIRE political affairs analyst Patrick Henningsen accurately predicted this week s unrest when he said: If Trump wins, expect the likes of Soros and MoveOn.org to unleash wave after wave of flash mobs, who will protest, riot, smash and burn their way on to CNN s 24 hour news rotation. Expect Occupy 2.0, and #BlackLivesMatter to rage. On Friday, Henningsen talked to RT International about the post-elections protests that were coordinated in part by Democratic Party community organizing online platform MoveOn.org. Watch: SEE ALSO: (VIDEO) Female College Students Protesting Because Trump is a Rapist 21WIRE Associate Editor Shawn Helton recently revealed more details about how the near exact same methods used in CIA and Soros-funded color revolutions overseas are now being deployed on US domestic shores by similar NGO front organizations: has been the driving force behind nationwide protests against the election of Donald Trump. Overseas, Washington tends to use the same cast of NGO fronts to build-up pro-US political opposition groups, as well as plan and generate civil unrest. They include the Albert Einstein Institute (AEI), National Endowment for Democracy (NED), International Republican Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute (NDI), Freedom House and later the International Center for Non-Violent Conflict (ICNC), and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the financial and contractor arm of the Department of State. Inside the US, deep state actors in Washington generally work through Democratic Party affiliated organizations like MoveOn.org, as well as through labor union organizations like AFL-CIO, and UNITE HERE. These, along with many other similar organizations have been involved in organizing this week s protests, says Helton. Helton also raised the question as to why President Obama has stayed silent in the face of street protests, opting instead to lead from behind. He explains: Certainly, judging by President Obama and Hillary Clinton s total silence over their own party s role in fomenting this week s unrest one can only conclude that both party leaders approve of the protests and riots. The political motivation is undeniable to help delegitimize a new Trump presidency. Stay tuned for more updates here at 21WIRE.READ MORE ELECTION NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire 2016 FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV

Targeting U.S. automaker signals possible China retaliation over Trump talk

WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s plan to punish a U.S. automaker accused of price-fixing is a sign of how Beijing could retaliate if President-elect Donald Trump upends decades of relations between the two nations. Trump’s assertion that the United States need not be bound by the policy that Taiwan is part of “one China” would erode a bedrock of U.S.-China ties that has underpinned the vast increase in trade and cooperation between what are now the world’s two largest economies. Few expect the disagreement will lead to outright military confrontation, nor even the kind of economic war that many feared could be launched by Trump’s threat during the U.S. presidential campaign to slap tariffs of up to 45 percent on Chinese imports. However, a rising China has plenty of other ways to push back hard if Trump presses on the Taiwan question, which most analysts see as the most sensitive part of the U.S.-China relationship. In what might be a shot across the bow of the Trump administration, due to take office on Jan. 20, the official China Daily newspaper quoted a state planning official saying China will soon penalize an unnamed U.S. automaker for monopolistic behavior. While the official said no one should read “anything improper” into this, shares of General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co skidded. Auto industry sources have told Reuters this specific investigation was already underway before Trump’s recent comments. However, the manner in which it was announced, by saying only that it was a U.S. automaker before a formal announcement of fines, has raised questions around whether officials might be seizing on the case to send a shot across the bow of the incoming Trump administration. Jason Miller, a spokesman for Trump, said on Wednesday Trump’s team was aware of the report but it would be premature to comment. In Washington, a Democratic congressional aide said China’s threat to fine the automaker was a “good sharp reminder” to Trump that “they have cards to play too and that if he is thinking that he can enter into negotiations - be it on Taiwan, trade, North Korea, whatever - as if the United States is the sole global superpower ... then he is going to need to think again.” China’s state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, did not responded to Reuters requests for comment on the China Daily story. China’s Foreign Ministry said it did not know any details about the case. “China welcomes foreign companies, including American ones, to invest in and operate in China. At the same time they must respect China’s laws and rules. This point is very clear,” ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said when asked if this was China sending a message to Trump. Pressure on other U.S. companies, such as Boeing Co (BA.N) and General Electric Co (GE.N), with large interests in China could be one of the most tangible tools of retaliation, together with new limits on access to the country’s huge markets. U.S. business interests in China are estimated at more than $500 billion. Wider economic steps - such as China, America’s biggest creditor, selling a significant part of its $1.16 trillion of U.S. Treasuries, or weakening its currency - seem unlikely, the first because it would slash the value of China’s U.S. bond portfolio and the second because it could accelerate capital flight, experts said. Beijing could speed up a military build-up that had begun to slow along with Chinese economic growth, carry out naval exercises close to Taiwan - which it regards as a renegade province - and withhold diplomatic cooperation on issues such as Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs. “Taiwan policy is what China considers a core interest ... and it’s prepared to go to great lengths to defend it,” said Eric Altbach, senior vice president at the Albright Stonebridge Group consultancy in Washington and a former deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for China affairs. The consensus within the Obama administration is that Trump, who irked China by taking a phone call from Taiwan’s president, was not fully aware of the potential backlash from Beijing over his questioning of the “one China” policy, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The hope is that by the time Trump takes over from President Barack Obama, he will recognize that China has advanced so far economically, diplomatically and militarily that it is unwise to pick fights with Beijing over such a bedrock principle, he added. A former senior U.S. official took a more pessimistic view. “Trump has basically guaranteed that the first year in the China relationship will be a combative, competitive one, and the question is how bad it will get,” he said. “The Chinese now are basically putting together their list on how to retaliate.” There are at least three ways in which the matter could play out, U.S. China experts said. Trump could backtrack over time, much as former U.S. President George W. Bush did. A second track would be if Trump goes on questioning the “one China” policy without taking concrete action. The third, considered unlikely by U.S. officials past and present, would be a drift toward military confrontation. Asked if Trump’s “one China” stance could lead to this, a source with ties to the Chinese leadership told Reuters: “We will see what Trump says and does after he becomes president.” A second source with leadership ties said they expected tensions with the United States over Taiwan. But the source said Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has sounded a more nationalistic line than his recent predecessors, could also use the issue to further cement his grip on power. “If (Taiwan) is emboldened by the U.S. support and does something drastic, it could be an opportunity for us. There will be just cause to dispatch troops,” the second source said. While the possibility of Taiwan declaring independence and hence triggering a Chinese invasion seems low, the mere softening in the U.S. commitment to the policy would likely play out in China’s defense posture. “It will alter Chinese defense priorities. I think that’s inevitable now,” said Dennis Wilder, a former CIA China analyst. He said Xi may increase Chinese military spending for 2017 and place new emphasis, over time, on gaining the amphibious capabilities necessary to actually invade Taiwan. “Xi Jinping has to respond to this internally, domestically, and while he doesn’t want an open fight with Trump, he will have to show ... resolve,” he said, citing higher military spending, more defense exercises and tougher rhetoric on Taiwan. “We can anticipate that unless this issue is taken off the table.”

OBAMA UNDERMINES AMERICA…Plans To Slash Nuclear Stockpiles…Again

Dinesh D Sousa warned us about Obama s reduction of our nation s nuclear stockpile in his movie, 2016, Obama s America. Shortly after his blockbuster movie appeared in theaters across America, Dinesh D Souza was charged with violating federal campaign finance laws and was sentenced to five years of probation, a $30,000 fine, and eight months in a San Diego community confinement center where he was forced to undergo therapeutic counseling. Here is what Dinesh D Souza predicted:Driven by the alleged anti-colonialist ideology of a father he barely met, President Barack Obama systematically is undermining America economically and militarily leaving it vulnerable to financial collapse, and even as unlikely as the possibility may seem, nuclear attack.And it charges as he slashes the defense budget, Obama is simultaneously pushing to reduce the nation s nuclear stockpile to as low as a few hundred missiles even as other countries like China, Russia and North Korea are modernizing and expanding their arsenals, and Iran widely believed to be close to developing nuclear weapons is threatening to annihilate Israel. From Dinesh D Sousa s controversial 2010 book, The Roots Of Obama s Rage WNDHere is what is actually happening today:The United States cut its nuclear stockpiles by 20 percent between 1996 and 2013, with more reductions likely to come, according to recently declassified information released by the White House.Stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, or HEU, which is used to fuel a nuclear weapon, were cut from 740.7 metric tons to 586.6 metric tons from 1996 to 2013, according to recently declassified information made available by the Obama administration. This reflects a reduction of over 20 percent, the White House announced. Moreover, further reductions in the inventory are ongoing; the U.S. Department of Energy s material disposition program has down-blended 7.1 metric tons of HEU since September 30, 2013, and continues to make progress in this area. The stockpile reductions are part of an effort by the Obama administration to eliminate nuclear materials and move away from these types of weapons.The move comes as countries such as Russia and North Korea move to increase their nuclear stockpiles. Russia, for instance, has made several announcements about its intent to boost its nuclear stockpile and number of weapons.However, the United States is moving in the opposite direction.Via:WFB

CNN Host Cuts Interview After Trump Supporter PATHETICALLY Tries To Link Hillary To Child Rapist (VIDEO)

On Tuesday morning, CNN Carol Costello completely shut down an interview when a conservative guest (and passionate Donald Trump supporter) went off on a ridiculous rant about Hillary Clinton.The CNN Newsroom With Carol Costello interview started to go south toward the end when one of Costello s guests, Trump fan and Newsmax host Steve Malzberg, tried to derail a discussion about the Republican front runner s misogyny and sexist rhetoric by targeting Clinton and her husband. Malzberg bragged about the business mogul s approach with women: When you get one-on-one, especially if it s Hillary Donald Trump will go places nobody is willing to go, where the media at this point isn t willing to go. Bringing up Clinton s women who say they were intimidated by Hillary. Having them come forward and speak. A litany of issues that you can t even imagine. Costello interrupted Malzberg and said, I m thinking that might not be a winning argument for Donald Trump right at this moment. Which is absolutely correct, considering that Trump has been pummeled for his recent comments that women should be punished for seeking abortions.But Malzberg foolishly continued on, even though Costello s objections were backed up by fellow guest Judson Phillips (who is a Ted Cruz supporter). Malzberg added: Do you know how many young women in this country don t even know that Bill Clinton was impeached? No. Maybe they ve heard of Monica Lewinsky. They don t know the women that have accused Bill Clinton of sexual improprieties and that say they have been threatened and intimidated by Hillary Clinton. Then, Malzberg decided to bring up another truly bizarre talking point Clinton s involvement in an old child abuse court case from 1975. Malzberg started: A girl who was raped by a pedophile that Hillary Clinton bragged about getting off. Shocked that Malzberg would even mention this, Costello started to shut him down, saying, Oh, come on. Malzberg cried, Wait, wait, let me finish! while Costello refused to entertain the conversation. He argued: What do you mean? You don t want to hear it? That Hillary Clinton is on tape bragging about, as a lawyer getting off on a technicality. That woman now says, Hillary ruined my life. That s not fair. Costello had had enough of the insane conversation, and said, I m going to leave it there, and goodbye. Thanks for joining me before ending the interview abruptly. You can watch the awkward moment unfold below, at about the 5:45 mark:In Clinton s memoir, Living History, Clinton addressed that 1975 case, confessing that she had only been out of law school for two years when she was assigned that case. She said that although she didn t feel comfortable with the case, she couldn t very well refuse the judge s request. Clinton knew she had an ethical and legal obligation to defend him to the fullest extent of the law , and did her best. After that case, Clinton went on to set up Arkansas first rape hotline.Featured image via screencapture

Trump expected to make VP announcement on Friday: sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is expected to announce his choice for running mate at a campaign event on Friday, campaign sources said on Tuesday. Among the possible picks are former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, according to media reports and Republican sources. “I have it down to five people,” Trump told Fox News on Tuesday. Pence introduced Trump at a campaign rally in Westfield, Indiana, on Tuesday evening. “I don’t know if he’s going to be your governor or your vice president. Who the hell knows,” Trump told the rally. Gingrich and Christie have also campaigned with Trump in recent weeks. The Republican National Convention, where Trump is set to be formally nominated as the party’s candidate for the Nov. 8 election, begins on Monday in Cleveland.

The Worst Environmental Disaster Since The BP Oil Spill Is Happening And The Media Is IGNORING It

One of the largest environmental disasters in American history is happening right now, and there is a great chance that you never heard of it thanks to corporate-owned media.There is a colossal leak of methane gas currently pouring out of the ground in Aliso Canyon, California, at an astonishing rate of 110,000 pounds per hour. The fallout is intense. 1700 homes in the area have been evacuated so far, prompting many lawsuits to be filed against the corporation that owns the faciliy.Southern California Gas Company is the entity that s responsible for the disaster, which began in October of 2015. A statement by SCGC in December said that stopping the leak would take at least 2 more months.Below you can see video footage of just how bad the leak is:[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exfJ8VPQDTY&w=420&h=315]The severity of this can t understated. This single leak is accounting for 25 percent of the entire state s methane emissions, and has been classified as the worst environmental disaster since the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Methane is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas as well, marking this as a signicant ecological threat.Anne Silva, spokesperson for SCGC, made the following statement: Our efforts to stop the flow of gas by pumping fluids directly down the well have not yet been successful, so we have shifted our focus to stopping the leak through a relief well.The relief well process is on schedule to be completed by late February or late March. Source: MotherboardThe part that is making it so difficult to deal with, is the fact that the well is 8,000 feet deep. This is preventing the normal disaster recovery method of plugging the leak with fluids from working, due to too much pressure coming up from underground. The hope is that the relief well will drain off some pressure from the main well, allowing the fluid plug to work as intended.If you thought this was the only methane leak in California, you were wrong. The reality is far worse.In Pasadena, 35 miles from the Aliso Canyon leak, investigators found a cluster of leaks at 4 miles or less from each other. Below is a map of them, courtesy of Earth Defense Fund:Image credit: EDFWhere the hell is the accountability for this? The map above should be a criminal offense.The story of Southern California Gas Company is a pretty damning one. EDF has found that more than 38 percent of the methane pipes that SCGC manages are more than 50 years old, and 16 percent are made from sub standard materials prone to leaks and corrosion. Over 150 million pounds of methane have been released by the leak so far, and that isn t counting the huge cluster of leaks shown above.Lets put this into perspective. If 1700 families had to evacuate a California town because of volcano suddenly springing up, it would be everywhere in the media. There would be a nightly obsession over it on cable news. Politicians on every level would be pledging to help, and doing everything they can to hasten relief efforts.If we had a terrorist act that caused 1700 people to have to evacuate an American town, we would already be invading multiple middle eastern countries that had nothing to do with it.Instead, we have 1700 people displaced by an ecological disaster caused by a corporation, and the media response is What disaster? Featured image via Flickr

DISABLED VET WITH CANE FORCED TO WALK To Trump Rally…Pictures Of Supporters Walking 3 Miles After Protesters Shut Down Roads

It s absolutely heartbreaking that a disabled veteran walking with a cane, after being shot serving our country is FORCED to walk to an event to hear a presidential candidate speak in America. He fought for our nation, and this is the respect he gets from these thugs? Shutting down free speech in America is NOT okay. In a normal world, our president would be holding a press conference to tell people they will be held accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, many Americans believe it is more likely our President is helping to organize these events behind the scenes with the major players in this threatening movement like George Soros and Black Lives Matter terrorists.Army vet who has a cane bc of nerve damage from when he was shot while serving walking to Trump rally. pic.twitter.com/aRk2eJFCRj Seema Mehta (@LATSeema) March 19, 2016Trump supporters are now abandoning cars and walking three miles to rally. pic.twitter.com/Jb0UPKVm1R Seema Mehta (@LATSeema) March 19, 2016Sheriff Joe's folks are on the scene. pic.twitter.com/oFgE3ASrNq Seema Mehta (@LATSeema) March 19, 2016And now the fallout from radical anti-Trump protesters can be seen with voters like these (below) all over America. As a side note, my parents were Rubio and Cruz supporters until the night the paid Soros protesters tried to shut down his rally in Chicago. The next day they went to the polls and BOTH voted for Trump. This movement will backfire. Trump will likely win in a landslide thanks in part to these throw back anarchists from the Occupy movement, Black Lives Matter terrorists, Pro-Palestinians (Jew haters), radical Muslim groups like CAIR, Soros paid protesters and misguided kids looking for something meaningful to do with their spare time:Scott & Rie Caswell drove 4 hrs to see Trump, can't get into rally, say undecided before but now voting for him pic.twitter.com/rxaJZO7XS2 Seema Mehta (@LATSeema) March 19, 2016

Brexit progress needed by early December to unlock talks: EU's Tusk

GOTHENBURG, Sweden (Reuters) - European Council President Donald Tusk said he told British Prime Minister Theresa May that the European Union wants progress on Irish border and financial issues by early December to move Brexit talks forward. The EU summit chair told reporters after meeting May in Sweden: While good progress on citizens has been made, we need to see much more progress on Ireland and on the financial settlement. In order to avoid any ambiguity about our work calendar, I made it very clear to Prime Minister May that this progress needs to happen at the beginning of December at the latest. Tusk will chair another EU summit on Dec. 14-15 which could give a green light to launching negotiations on a future trade deal with London. But EU officials say that they need a couple of weeks to prepare such a summit decision once London meets their conditions.

Putin hails Russia's destruction of chemical weapons, accuses U.S.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said Russia was destroying its last supplies of chemical weapons on Wednesday, three years ahead of schedule, hailing the development as an historic event . In televised remarks broadcast by the Rossiya 24 TV channel, Putin also complained that the United States had not fulfilled its own obligations to destroy chemical weapons, saying it had put off doing so three times citing a lack of financial resources.

ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE IN FRANCE…

How socialism and political correctness are destroying a nation We reported about the crime and chaos taking place in France, as Muslim migrants who have no intention of assimilating, have flooded their country. The border town of Calais is a disaster, with migrants camping in the jungle hoping to catch a ride across the border into the UK. France is also seeing a massive increase in rapes and sexual assault crimes by the grateful refugees. Every day 33 rapes are reported in France, that s one every 40 minutes! So far today, 20 have been arrested in French taxi driver, air traffic controller and teacher protests as riots are taking place in 2 major cities. Farmers blocked roads and burned tires, as they protested only yesterday against the prices of dairy and meat products in the province of Brittany. It would appear to the casual observer, that socialism and political correctness are not working out too well for France. What do you think? Taxi drivers in France are blockading roads with burning tires in protest at the low-cost Uber app, resulting in at least 20 arrests. Air traffic controllers are also staging a demonstration, leading to dozens of canceled flights.At least 20 arrests had already been made by 10 a.m. local time, following taxi driver protests around major cities including Paris and Marseille.Drivers blocked roads with burning tires, prompting the arrival of riot police and firefighters. Some drivers had set pre-dawn bonfires which authorities had to put out.Des pneus br lent sur le p riph rique #PorteMaillot pic.twitter.com/CfMyOKhyJQ Paul Louis (@paul_louis11) January 26, 2016Hundreds of taxis, joined by a few from Belgium and Spain, blocked a massive intersection leading into western Paris, causing huge disruption to the area.The taxi drivers are protesting over working conditions and competition from non-traditional services such as Uber.Uber drivers vandalize professionals who are paying taxes, who respect the rules, Rachid Boudjema, president of the taxi drivers union in Marseille, told AP.In response to the protests, Uber sent a message to its French customers which said that the goal of the demonstrations was to put pressure on the government to limit competition. Here is an example of a violent clash today in Paris:Meanwhile, a planned walkout from air traffic controllers prompted the French civil aviation authority, DGAC, to call on airlines to cancel one in five flights.EasyJet said it had cancelled 35 flights, although Air France said it would operate more than 80 percent of its short and medium-haul flights in France and Europe. It did, however, stress that last-minute delays or cancellations cannot be ruled out. Hundreds of thousands of civil servants and teachers also went on strike on Tuesday, protesting against a pay freeze and poor salaries. Teachers are scheduled to march in cities across the country on Tuesday afternoon.It s the newest challenge to Francois Hollande s Socialist government and its stop/start efforts to modernize the economy, in response to low economic growth and record-high unemployment. Earlier this month, Hollande announced what he called a state of economic and social emergency, involving a 2 billion (US$2.1 billion) plan to revive hiring and catch up with the world s economy.The protests come just one day after French farmers demonstrated against the prices of dairy and meat products in the province of Brittany, blocking roads and burning tires. The farmers demanded that prices be increased because the proceeds from their sale don t cover the cost of production. Via: RTWatch shocking video of Calais residents attacked by migrants in front of their home:

SICK: KKK Holding Trump Victory Parade

The racist Ku Klux Klan is very pleased that Donald Trump has been elected president of the United States in the 2016 election and one chapter of the terrorist group is holding a parade to celebrate his victory.The website for Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan located in North Carolina announced that they will hold a klavalkade Klan parade on December 3rd in order to hail the occasion of the Republican nominee winning.They write:Our goal is to help restore America to a White Christian nation, founded on God s word. This does not mean that we want to see anything bad happen to the darker races we simply want to live separate from them As GOD intended. (Lev.20:24-25) It is a simple fact that whenever these races try to integrate themselves into White society, that society is damaged immensely perhaps even destroyed altogether. Everything that we do as Klan members is in furtherance of our ultimate goal. We are not evil; hateful people as our enemies would have you believe. We are common white people from all walks of life who have recognized the problems that our race is facing. We have chose to stand and fight for those things that we hold dear to our people. Won t you stand with us, while there is still time! It is the duty of all white Christian men and women to fight against the Communist who have stolen our Nation The Trump campaign spent a lot of time courting and promoting white supremacists. They invited white supremacists radio shows to broadcast from campaign stops and on the floor of the Republican Convention, while members of the Trump family also appeared on those programs. Trump himself has promoted tweets from white supremacists, and received an endorsement from former klansman and Republican candidate David Duke.Featured image via screen capture

ers fans care more about victories than kaepernick

dutch antiislam mp wilders to snub hate speech trial afp october defiant dutch antiislam politician geert wilders said friday he will refuse to attend his hate speech trial next week dubbing it a travesty aimed at silencing him as the country prepares for elections the trial opens on monday before a threejudge bench with the farright politician facing charges of insulting a racial group and inciting racial hatred for comments he made about moroccans living in the netherlands it is my right and my duty as a politician to speak about the problems in our country wilders said in a statement friday dubbing the case a political trial in which i refuse to cooperate it comes as opinion polls have shown his farright freedom party pvv doing well ahead of march elections after riding high amid the migrant crisis the party is now polling neckandneck with prime minister mark ruttes liberals each predicted to win between to seats in the seat parliament set to last until november the trial focuses on a comment made at a march rally when wilders asked supporters if they wanted fewer or more moroccans in your city and in the netherlands when the crowd shouted back fewer fewer wilders answered were going to organise that snip wilders said friday he would leave his defence in the hands of his lawyer geertjan knoops and instead go to work in the parliament in the hague snip judges earlier this month dismissed arguments by wilders lawyers that the trial was politically motivated adding they did not believe it will impact the pvvs election campaign politicians are granted broad freedoms of expression because of their official position the judges ruled last month precisely therefore politicians have an important role to avoid feeding intolerance by making these kind of public statements wilders hit back friday saying it is a travesty that i have to stand trial because i spoke about fewer moroccans millions of dutch citizens percent of the population want fewer moroccans he claimed not because they despise all moroccans or want all moroccans out of the country but because they are sick and tired of the nuisance and terror caused by so many moroccans snip

EU parliament backs starting next phase of Brexit talks

STRASBOURG (Reuters) - The European Parliament urged EU leaders on Wednesday to allow the next phase of Brexit negotiations to start, backing a motion that recognised the talks had advanced sufficiently as a well a line criticising Britain s lead negotiator David Davis. European Union leaders are almost certain to judge on Friday that sufficient progress has been made on the rights of citizens, the Brexit divorce bill and the Irish border to allow negotiations to move to the next phase. The EU executive recommended last week that leaders approve the start of trade talks. The European Parliament will have to approve any Brexit deal, although its motion on Wednesday, backed by 556 votes for to 62 against, was not binding. The EU s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told lawmakers the next phase of talks would focus on a short and defined transition period and initial discussions on a future relationship. Future talks, he said, would be no less difficult. They are tough, very tough because the issues are extremely complicated and because the consequences of Brexit are very serious, he said, adding that British Prime Minister Theresa May was courageous and deserved respect. Nigel Farage of the anti-EU UKIP party called her Theresa the appeaser and said she had yielded on virtually everything. Barnier stressed that Britain could not renege on commitments made to ensure the talks moved on. The agreement presented in a joint report last Friday was, in the view of some in Brussels, undermined by Davis s comment that it was more a statement of intent than legally binding. Davis has subsequently said he wants the accord swiftly translated into a legal text. We will not accept any going back on this joint report. This progress has been agreed and will be rapidly translated into a withdrawal accord that is legally binding in all three areas and on some others that remain to be negotiated, Barnier said. A lot more steps were required to secure an orderly withdrawal, he added. We are not at the end of the road, neither regarding citizens rights nor for the other subjects of the orderly withdrawal. We remain vigilant, Barnier told the parliament.

SOCIOPATHIC LIAR HILLARY TELLS RIDICULOUS LIE: Chelsea “Has A PHD In Public Health” [VIDEO]

Sociopathic LiarsSociopaths are defined as someone who lies continuously in an attempt to get their own way, without showing care or concern for others. These individuals are goal-oriented.Even though it might seem hard to believe, lying is focused they are focused on getting their own way. Sociopaths don t have a lot of respect or regard for the feelings and rights of others. They tend to be charismatic and charming, but they will use their exceptional social skills in a self-centered and manipulative manner.WATCH Hillary tell the world that her daughter (who works for the same crooked slush fund organization as her father) has a PHD in Public Health:The younger Clinton, a special correspondent for NBC News, is a graduate of Stanford University and holds master s degrees from Oxford and Columbia University s Mailman School of Public Health.Chelsea was trained at age 6 to be numb to lies about her parents:When Chelsea was just six years old, Hillary and Bill forced her to listen to them act out mock attacks on Bill over and over as she sobbed. This drill did not end until she learned to listen to them without sobbing.The exercise was in preparation for people that might even tell lies about her father in order to win during his 1986 campaign to be governor of Arkansas.It is unclear whether these training sessions properly prepared Chelsea for the accusations of philandering and sexual assault that would be hurled at Bill during his presidency, especially when she was forced by Hillary to listen to Bill admit to her that many of the attacks were not lies. One of Hillary s punishments for Bill after he confessed his role in the Monica Lewinsky scandal was to have him confess his sins directly to the daughter who idolized him and had defended him, writes Halper. Via: Free Beacon

Tax-cut debate in U.S. Congress swings to Senate bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate tax-cut bill, differing from one in the House of Representatives, was expected to be unveiled on Thursday, complicating a Republican tax overhaul push and increasing skepticism on Wall Street about the effort. As the House tax committee worked on its bill, members of the Senate weighed new approaches to corporate taxes, deductions for state and local taxes and the estate tax on inherited assets, senators said, providing few details. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters that senators would be briefed on the bill on Thursday before its release. House and Senate Republicans are working on separate plans for the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax code since the 1980s. President Donald Trump and his House allies have proposed slashing the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent, one of the costliest features of the wide-ranging House plan. The tax overhaul is a priority for Trump, who says it will boost economic growth and create jobs. Republicans have yet to score a major legislative win since he took office in January, although they control Congress as well as the White House. Democrats have blasted the proposals in the Republican tax legislation as giveaways to large corporations and the rich. Senator Orrin Hatch, chairman of the tax-writing finance committee, told reporters he would prefer not to delay a corporate tax cut by a year, which some lawmakers said was a possibility. “I’d prefer to get it done,” he said. Financial markets have rallied since Trump’s stunning election victory in November 2016, partly on expectations that he and Congress would slash taxes on businesses. Stock markets closed little changed on Wednesday, with investors focused on chances for a tax bill becoming law. “I do think there’s disappointment with Republicans kicking the tax bill around. ... Some of the things leaking out are not encouraging,” said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama. The latest version of the House bill would add $1.7 trillion to the federal deficit over 10 years, said the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which tallies the costs of legislation. That would violate a rule requiring the legislation to add no more than $1.5 trillion to the deficit. But Representative Kevin Brady, Republican chairman of the House tax committee, said he would revise the legislation on Thursday to bring it into compliance. A report from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center think tank said the biggest tax cuts would go to high-income households under the current bill, which would raise taxes on more than one in four taxpayers by 2027 because of the expiration of certain benefits including a $300 family credit, Top earners with incomes of more than $730,000 would get 21 percent of the benefits in 2018 and nearly 50 percent in a decade, the report said. The House bill would repeal a tax deduction Americans can now take for state and local income and sales taxes, but preserve it for business owners. It would cap the deduction for state and local property tax paid at $10,000. Republican Senator David Perdue told reporters the Senate bill could repeal the entire state and local tax (SALT) deduction, a concern for people in heavily Democratic high-tax states such as California, New York and New Jersey. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said victories for Democrats in state elections on Tuesday should be a warning to Republicans. “The Republicans should look at the elections last night, and it should be a giant stop sign for their tax bill,” Schumer said. There are enough Republicans from high-tax states in the House to torpedo the tax bill, given that Democrats broadly oppose it. Republicans, who have a slim 52-48 majority in the Senate, also may need support from Democrats to pass their version. The House and Senate must agree on a single version before it can be sent to the president. Republican Senator Susan Collins, whose vote is crucial, declined to say if the Senate bill would duplicate the House’s proposed estate tax repeal. But she told reporters: “It’s certainly true that I expressed reservations about having complete repeal.” A Washington tax expert raised concern about a House provision to create a 25 percent tax rate for “pass-through” businesses, saying it would do little to help small business and be vulnerable to abuse. Pass-through businesses, which include mom-and-pop enterprises and large private companies, are not organized as publicly traded corporations. Profits are passed through to their owners as individual income and taxed at rates as high as 39.6 percent. Steven Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, said the new pass-through rate “would add great complexity” and “provide plenty of opportunity for clever investors and business owners ... to game the system.” In addition, a proposed 20 percent excise tax meant to discourage foreign companies from shifting U.S. profits offshore “appears dead,” said Chris Krueger, an analyst at financial firm Cowen’s Washington Research Group. The tax was amended by the House committee after complaints from multinational companies. “Now, the one real safeguard in the plan ... is all but gone,” said Clark Gascoigne, deputy director of the FACT Coalition, a liberal tax activist group in Washington.

Exclusive: Crowded Bangladesh revives plan to settle Rohingya on isolated island

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh, one of the world s poorest and most crowded nations, plans to go ahead with work to develop an isolated, flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal to temporarily house tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in neighboring Myanmar, officials say. Dhaka says the Rohingya are not welcome, and has told border guards to push back those trying to enter the country illegally. But close to 125,000 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh in just 10 days, joining more than 400,000 others already living there in cramped makeshift camps. (For a graphic on Bangladesh's refugee relocation plan click tmsnrt.rs/2k7ZAZy) We are stopping them wherever we can, but there are areas where we can t stop them because of the nature of the border; forests, hills, said H.T. Imam, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina s political adviser. We have requested international agencies for help for shifting the Rohingya temporarily into a place where they can live - an island called Thengar Char. Developing Thengar Char should be given serious consideration, he said. Leonard Doyle, chief spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration, said the idea of moving refugees to the island has been talked about for years, but he hadn t heard anything new in the past few days. The island, which only emerged from the silt off Bangladesh s delta coast 11 years ago, is two hours by boat from the nearest settlement. It regularly floods during June-September monsoons and, when seas are calm, pirates roam the nearby waters to kidnap fishermen for ransom. Flat and featureless, Thengar Char has no roads or buildings. When Reuters visited in February, a few buffalo grazing along its shores were the only sign of life. (For a graphic on Thengar Char click tmsnrt.rs/2wE9Tcu) The plan to develop the island and use it to house refugees was criticized by humanitarian workers when it was proposed in 2015 and revived last year. Bangladesh, though, insists it alone has the right to decide where to shelter the growing numbers of refugees. The honorable prime minister wants to resettle them in Thengar Char, though some people say that island will not be a suitable place for them, said another Hasina aide, who declined to be named. But there are many such areas in Bangladesh, where Bangladeshis live. It s our country, and we decide. Officials say no one could have foreseen just how many refugees would arrive so swiftly after violence in northern Myanmar last year sent more than 75,000 Rohingya fleeing across the border. The latest unrest in Myanmar s northwestern Rakhine state began on Aug. 25, when Rohingya insurgents attacked dozens of police posts and an army base, prompting an army counter-offensive that has killed at least 400 people and forced entire villages to flee. Myanmar says its security forces are fighting a legitimate campaign against terrorists . The country s leader and Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, has come under international pressure for not speaking out against the persecution of roughly 1.1 million Muslim Rohingya in the Buddhist-majority country. Makeshift camps in Cox s Bazar, in southeast Bangladesh, have grown so rapidly they have run out of space - even for the tiny tarpaulin and bamboo shacks the Rohingya refugees typically throw together. With hundreds of new refugees streaming in every day, Kutupalong and Nayapara camps are at breaking point, Duniya Aslam Khan, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said in a statement. Imam, the adviser to Hasina, said a lack of space was the biggest concern right now, adding Bangladesh could not continue to house refugees in its schools and madrassas indefinitely. We are waiting for Thengar Char to be developed. Once that s done we will shift them, he told Reuters, reflecting a growing sense of hostility towards the Rohingya even in a Muslim-majority country. The islands gradually come up because of silting. That s continuing, and that s how Bangladesh has been created. If there are people there, why can t the Rohingya live there? he said. Some officials in Bangladesh s interior ministry are concerned that settling the refugees on the island would give them a sense of permanent residency, making it harder to send them back to Myanmar. Residents of Sandwip, the nearest island to Thengar Char, say the Rohingya are not welcome. Mizanur Rahman, the administrator of Might Bangha village, the closest settlement to Thengar Char, said local residents who have lost their land to erosion should be relocated first, ahead of the Rohingya. The UNHCR s local office did not respond to an email seeking comment about the relocation plan. Rohingya camped out in Cox s Bazar said they don t want to move to the island, fearing they could die there during the monsoon season and there won t be any work. The violence and refugee exodus have ratcheted up tensions between the two neighbors, and Bangladeshi officials said fighter jets were scrambled last week in response to several Myanmar defense helicopters violating its air space.

superbugs big pharma to blame for coming death of people annually

reasons to drink lemon water on an empty stomach wednesday november by amy goodrich tags lemon water detox digestive health naturalnews fruitinfused water is extremely trendy right now celebrities such as gwyneth paltrow jennifer aniston and beyonce swear by lemon water first thing in the morning there are even entire diets based on this fruit according to some health advocates drinking lemon water on an empty stomach takes you one step closer to optimal healthbut does swapping your morning coffee for this fashionably healthy lifestyle choice offer any significant benefit or is this just another health fad lets take a closer look at ten incredible reasons why you should start your day with a glass of lemon water nutrient powerhouse while low in calories lemons are loaded with healthpromoting essential nutrients including vitamin c bcomplex vitamins calcium iron magnesium potassium and fiber boosts immune system vitamin c plays a major role in our immune system and lemons are loaded with it a strong and healthy immune system will help you keep bacterial and viral infections at bay digestion aid the citric acid in lemon interacts with enzymes and acids involved in digestion it stimulates digestion and the secretion of gastric juice furthermore lemon juice loosens toxins in the digestive tract and may help relieve symptoms of indigestion such as bloating burping and heartburn detoxifies your body every day we are subjected to a wide variety of chemicals and toxins present in the air we breathe the water we drink and the food we eat while our body has its own cleansing systems it is a good idea to put less stress on your already overworked body and give these cleansing mechanisms a boost lemon juice stimulates the liver by enhancing its enzyme function thus helping your body to flush out more waste materials and toxins boosts heart and brain health thanks to its high level of potassium lemon juice aids in the proper functioning of the nervous system furthermore it has been shown to lower blood pressure which is a major risk factor for a heart attack promotes glowing skin lemons are packed with antioxidants these little free radical fighting substances help to decrease blemishes and wrinkles for a rejuvenated radiant skin when applied to the skin lemons can also reduce the appearance of scar tissue and age spots weight loss aid while lemon juice might not be a weight loss miracle on its own its high levels of pectin fibers curb the appetite and will help you to eat less at main meals fights inflammation lemon water possesses strong antiinflammatory properties to soothe a sore throat or inflamed tonsils additionally it removes uric acid from the joints which is one of the main contributors to chronic pain and inflammation boosts energy levels lemons energize the body and fight feelings of depression and anxiety so instead of having a coffee in the morning why not try a glass of lemon juice instead hydrates your body after a night of hard work your body is dehydrated and in desperate need of water lemon juice provides your body with the muchneeded water and electrolytes potassium calcium and magnesium to rehydrate body tissue and flush out more toxins and waste materialswhile lemon water seems to be the perfect drink to prevent or cure a myriad of our daily aches and pains not all that glitters is gold lemon juice can be hard on teeth enamel therefore its important to dilute it with water and rinse your mouth thoroughly with filtered water after drinking lemon juice sources for this article include

Trump considering Dr. Scott Gottlieb to head FDA

(Reuters) - Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a partner at one of the world’s largest venture capital funds and a former deputy commissioner at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is being considered by President-elect Donald Trump to run the agency, according to sources close to the transition team. Gottlieb, 44, a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates and resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank based in Washington, is well known in health policy circles and is a frequent commentator on television and in print. Gottlieb is being considered alongside Jim O’Neill, a self-declared libertarian and colleague of Peter Thiel, the co-founder of Mithril Capital Management who was an early Trump supporter and is now advising his transition team. Bloomberg News first reported that Trump was looking at O’Neill. Trump, a Republican, takes office on Jan. 20. Michael Gaba, federal policy leader of law firm Holland & Knight’s national Healthcare & Life Sciences Team, said Gottlieb would be more palatable to more people than O’Neill, who believes drugs should be allowed on the market before their efficacy has been established, as long as they are safe. Even the drug industry would likely oppose that stance, Gaba said, since companies want to be able to make credible claims that their products are effective in treating the diseases they say do. “They want the FDA’s Good Housekeeping seal of approval,” Gaba said last week, adding, however, that drug makers would like to provide less data to get it. Gottlieb would be a more traditional choice than O’Neill and fits the profile of what Trump’s administration seems to be looking for, he said. “He leans right, he’s got experience in the agency, he’s got the M.D. credential, and he’s outspoken,” Gaba said. The FDA historically has named someone with medical credentials to head the agency. O’Neill has none, though he served as principal associate deputy secretary of health and human services under the George W. Bush administration. Gottlieb’s ties to the pharmaceutical industry run deep. He sits on the boards of multiple companies and advises others, including the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline Plc. He is also a managing director of investment banking at T.R. Winston & Co, a Los Angeles-based, privately held investment bank that focuses on healthcare, clean energy and consumer technology. According to its website, the firm provides services to a range of healthcare clients, “including companies engaged in the clinical development of new therapeutic compounds, drug discovery techniques, medical technologies, and devices.” Between 2003 and 2004 Gottlieb was a senior adviser to the FDA commissioner and then the agency’s director of medical policy development. In 2004 he also acted as senior adviser to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. From 2005-2007 he was the FDA’s deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs. Gottlieb has a medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wesleyan University. He advises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a member of the Federal Health Information Technology Policy Committee.

StanChart closed accounts linked to South Africa's Gupta family in 2014

LONDON (Reuters) - Standard Chartered closed some bank accounts linked to the Gupta family in South Africa in 2014, a spokeswoman for the bank said on Thursday. We are not able to comment on the details of client transactions, but can confirm that after an internal investigation, accounts were closed by us by early in 2014, the spokeswoman said by email. The Gupta family, a trio of Indian-born businessmen, are under scrutiny for their close ties to South African President Jacob Zuma. Britain s Financial Conduct Authority separately said it is in contact with StanChart and HSBC following reports in British newspapers that Britain s finance minister has asked regulators to investigate the lenders possible ties to the Gupta family and Zuma. The FCA is already in contact with both banks named and will consider carefully further responses received, the regulator said. The FBI in the U.S. is also investigating the matter. HSBC declined to comment.