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Comment on Philippine Government To ‘Take Back The Internet’ From Maria Ressa And Rappler? by adobochron

adobochron 2 Comments MANILA, Philippines ( The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Rappler CEO Maria Ressa’s widely-quoted statement, “Time to take back the Internet” might just come back to haunt her. Just in time for Halloween. Ressa has been very vocal about the proliferation of “fake” news sites and trolls that have left her online news organization lagging behind in terms of followers and reader engagements. She was particularly critical of entertainer-turned-political blogger, Mocha Uson, who has more than 4 million followers, twice that of Rappler. Now, the Philippine government may soon ‘take back the Internet’ from Rappler because it appears it has violated the Philippine Constitution. Article XVI, Section 11 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution specifically states that the mass media must be wholly-owned and managed by citizens of the Philippines. But Rappler is partly-owned by a foreign company, Omidyar Network. How do we know? Rappler itself told us so way back on November 5, 2015: So, before Rappler can take back the Internet, it may first have to give it up! Rate this:

1real

Introducing The Run-Up, Our New Election Podcast - The New York Times

It’s three months until Election Day. To guide you through this final, delirious phase of the presidential campaign, The New York Times is drawing on our team of reporters, columnists, magazine writers and analysts to create a new podcast. It’s called The . I will be your host. I’ve covered every twist and turn of the last two presidential campaigns for The Times — from Mitt Romney’s infamous “47 percent” remark to Barack Obama’s sudden shift on gay marriage, Marco Rubio’s debate night meltdown to Hillary Clinton’s inability to build trust. (Before that, I covered Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s City Hall, and that other cutthroat business: the American retailing industry.) Twice a week on The my colleagues and I will make sense of a campaign that has baffled, shocked and reordered the political world. We’ll also bring you interviews with some of the election’s most influential figures. You’ll be able to listen to a new episode of The each Tuesday and Friday on the digital platforms of The New York Times, as well as on iTunes, Google Play Music, Stitcher or the podcast app of your choice. If you have never listened to a podcast before, scroll down for some assistance. For our first episode, we explore whether Hillary Clinton, the most distrusted Democratic presidential nominee in a generation, is heading for an legitimate landslide — and if she is, or if she comes close, what that would mean for the future of both parties. Our guests: Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House Amy Chozick, who covers Mrs. Clinton for The Times and Nate Cohn, a data whiz from The Upshot. A teaser from the Gingrich conversation about Trump: Take a listen, and let us know what you think. You can reach us at therunup@nytimes. com, or find me on Twitter. From a desktop or laptop you can listen by pressing play on the button above. Or if you’re on a mobile device, the instructions below will help you find and subscribe to the series. 1. Open your podcast app. It’s a app called “Podcasts” with a purple icon. 2. Search for the series. Tap on the “search” magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen, type in “The ” and select it from the list of results. 3. Subscribe. Once on the series page, tap on the “subscribe” button to have new episodes sent to your phone free. You may want to adjust your notifications to be alerted when a new episode arrives. 4. Or just sample. If you would rather listen to an episode or two before deciding to subscribe, just tap on the episode title from the list on the series page. If you have an internet connection, you’ll be able to stream the episode. On your Android phone or tablet: 1. Open your podcast app. It’s a app called “Play Music” with an icon. 2. Search for the series. Click on the magnifying glass icon at the top of the screen, search for the name of the series, and select it from the list of results. You mightmay have to scroll down to find the “Podcasts” search results. 3. Subscribe. Once on the series page, click on the word “subscribe” to have new episodes sent to your phone for free. 4. Or just sample. If you ’would rather listen to an episode or two before deciding to subscribe, just click on the episode title from the list on the series page. If you have an internet connection, you’ll be able to stream the episode.

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Kenya vote in balance as crisis deepens after Odinga quits

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya lurched deeper into political confusion on Wednesday as a court ruling and a parliamentary vote appeared to ease Uhuru Kenyatta s path to a second term as president, a day after his chief rival quit an election they were to contest. Kenyatta and Raila Odinga were due to face off in a repeat election on Oct. 26, after the Supreme Court annulled their August ballot - in which the president was declared the winner. But Odinga pulled out of the re-run on Tuesday, fuelling doubts about whether it would be contested at all. Wednesday s interventions by the judiciary and legislature added to the uncertainty. As police used teargas to disperse opposition protesters demanding electoral reform, the High Court approved a petition by Ekuru Aukot, who polled less than 1 percent in the August vote, to contest the second ballot. The election board later issued a statement saying that all eight candidates who competed in August would be on the ballot. It also said although Odinga had notified them of his withdrawal by letter, he had not yet submitted the official form to do so. The developments suggested that the second election would go ahead, with Kenyatta the likely winner against a plethora of weaker candidates. No challenger except Odinga polled more than 1 percent. Further muddying the political waters, parliament passed an election law amendment stating that if one candidate withdrew from the re-run vote, the remaining one would automatically win. The vote was boycotted by opposition lawmakers. The law aimed to ensure Kenyatta could be declared president if he faced no challengers. The events stoked confusion among voters and fears that politically-driven violence might escalate. Months of political uncertainty have already blunted growth in East Africa s richest nation, a long-time ally of the West. There s a real atmosphere of confusion and uncertainty. There seems to be dozens of opinions of what should come next, said Murithi Mutiga, a senior Horn of Africa analyst for the global thinktank International Crisis Group. Justifying his pullout on Tuesday, Odinga said the election would not be free and fair and renewed calls for the electoral board (IEBC), which he blamed for the procedural irregularities identified in the first ballot, to be replaced. Opposition supporters on Wednesday renewed their protests for electoral reform. Demonstrators lit bonfires in Kisumu, an Odinga stronghold in the country s west, while more than a thousand supporters marched through the central business district in the capital Nairobi. Police used teargas to disperse them in both cities, witnesses said. Juliana Otieno, the chief executive of the Oginga Odinga Hospital in the city, said 17 people had been admitted with injuries suffered during the protests. A Reuters witness counted at least five of them with bullet wounds. Kisumu s police commander, Titus Yoma, said he had no information on the bullet wounds and his officers were still quelling the protests, which were centered around two slums in the lakeside city. At least 37 people were killed in protests immediately following the August vote, almost all of them by police, a Kenyan rights group said on Monday. Ethnic clashes killed 1,200 people following a disputed presidential poll in 2007. We want a reformed IEBC, said Elisha Odhiambo, an opposition legislator, referring to the electoral board, which has frequently relied on riot police dispersing protests outside its offices in recent weeks. Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho, a key opposition player, told protesters in Uhuru Park: Our voices must be heard. We have no war with anyone but we will not allow anyone to stifle us. After the High Court ruling in his favor, Aukot told reporters that he still had concerns about the board and would issue a statement in a day or two giving clarity about his plans. It was unclear if other candidates from the first ballot with little support would also seek to be included, but the election board said it still had time to print ballot papers. The Sept. 1 Supreme Court judgment that nullified Kenyatta s 1.4 million vote win also stipulated elections had to be held within 60 days. If that schedule is not met, the constitution provides for the speaker of parliament, a member of Kenyatta s party, to take power. With two weeks to go until the elections, it is still unclear who will stand. I would expect one of the parties will try to seek an authoritative announcement from the Supreme Court, International Crisis Group s Mutiga said. Amid the political uncertainty, the government has trimmed this year s GDP growth forecast from 5.9 percent to 5.5 percent last month. The country s equity markets slid further on Wednesday. Kenya s all share index closed down 0.67 percent while the blue chip index fell 1.41 percent.

0fake

Senior senators want to amend Saudi September 11 law

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two senior U.S. senators said on Wednesday they want to amend a law allowing lawsuits against Saudi Arabia over the Sept. 11 attacks to narrow the scope of possible lawsuits. Lindsey Graham and John McCain, two of the Republican party’s congressional foreign policy leaders, said they would introduce an amendment to the law so that a government could be sued only if it “knowingly” engages with a terrorist organization. “All we’re saying to any ally of the United States (is), you can’t be sued in the United States for an act of terrorism unless you knowingly were involved, and the same applies to us in your country,” Graham said in a Senate speech. In September, the Senate and House of Representatives overwhelmingly rejected President Barack Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, known as JASTA, making it U.S. law. However, lawmakers said almost as soon as they did so that they wanted the scope of the legislation narrowed to ease concerns about its potential effect on Americans abroad, which was one reason Obama vetoed the measure. The law grants an exception to the legal principle of sovereign immunity in cases of terrorism on U.S. soil, clearing the way for lawsuits seeking damages from the Saudi government. Riyadh denies longstanding suspicions that it backed the hijackers who attacked the United States in 2001. However, it was not immediately clear whether Graham and McCain’s proposal would go anywhere. A group of Sept. 11 families, who lobbied intensely for the bill and have strong support in Congress, immediately objected to their suggestion because it would weaken the law.

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Mauritanian blogger who faced death penalty for apostasy to be freed

NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - A Mauritanian blogger condemned to death in 2014 for apostasy in a Facebook post about Islam will be freed because an appeals court on Thursday overturned his sentence, his lawyer said. Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir has spent nearly four years in jail after a high-profile case surrounding a post in which he criticized the use of religion to justify social discrimination. The case has highlighted tempestuous social divisions in the desert West African country, often based on ethnicity. Thousands protested in the capital Nouakchott and other cities during the trial demanding Mkhaitir be put to death. Mauritania has not carried out a death penalty sentence since 1987, but last year a group of influential Muslim clerics urged authorities to apply the harshest punishment. The court reduced Mkhaitir s sentence to two years in prison and a fine of 60,000 ouguiyas ($170). He will be allowed to go free because of time already served in prison, his lawyer Me Mohamed Ould Moine told Reuters. This is a great victory for Mauritanian justice, Moine said after the appeal hearing in the northern city of Nouadhibou. The judges respected Mauritanian law taking into account his regrets and repentance. The streets of Nouakchott were calm immediately after the hearing, though there was extra security in place there and in Nouadhibou. His lawyer and rights groups have expressed concerns about Mkhaitir s safety following death threats to him and his friends.

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Meet The INCREDIBLY Racist GOP Senator That Just Endorsed Trump (VIDEO)

After failing to denounce or renounce an endorsement from the Ku Klux Klan, Donald Trump topped off his Sunday with the announcement of an endorsement from Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama).Sessions said he would be backing Trump thanks to his harsh anti-immigration policies. You have asked for 30 years, and politicians have promised for 30 years, to fix illegal immigration, said Mr. Sessions at the rally, held at an outdoor stadium filled with thousands of Trump supporters. We have an opportunity Tuesday it may be the last opportunity we have for the people s voice to be heard. He concluded, I am pleased to endorse Donald Trump for the presidency of the United States. But Senator Sessions has a history of alleged racial insensitivity that fits right in with Trump s white supremacist campaign.In 1986 Sessions was nominated for a federal judgeship, but the nomination failed after allegations of racial insensitivy surfaced. J. Gerald Hebert, a lawyer from the Department of Justice who had worked with Sessions, testified to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that Sessions had referred to the NAACP and the ACLU as un-American and Communist-inspired because they had forced civil rights down the throats of people. Hebert also testified that Sessions had complained that a white lawyer was a disgrace to his race because he had litigated voting rights cases.Sessions himself admitted that he described the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as a piece of intrusive legislation. Another assistant U.S. Attorney testified that Sessions told him he used to think the KKK was okay until he found out some of them were pot smokers. The same attorney said Sessions called him boy and told him, be careful what you say to white folks. Sessions racial problems resurfaced during the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Sessions whined that the judge had referred to herself as a wise Latina, then complained that she did not vote like other Puerto Ricans.Featured image via YouTube

1real

So, About That ‘Stand Down’ Order In Benghazi From Hillary– IT NEVER HAPPENED (VIDEO)

That dreadful night in Benghazi, Libya in September of 2012 when the lives of four Americans were lost will be one that we shall never forget. We shall never forget it for two reasons: because of the tragedy that occurred and the loss of life, and because Republicans and Fox News insist that there was some sort of wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton in her reaction to events that took place.Clarifying one of the longest held myths by Fox News and conservatives, Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta spoke to MSNBC s Andrea Mitchell. Not only did he debunk the myth of a stand down order so many on the right like to claim was said in an effort to prove Hillary as uncaring and incompetent, but he also explained how everything that could have been done, was done.Mitchell first asks Panetta about some existing circulating theories about that dreadful night in Benghazi:Now you re here in Washington because you re going to be testifying to the Benghazi Select Committee tomorrow. You have already testified to other committees, but to this committee, and there s a new movie coming out, 13 Hours, and it s about to be released. It is accusing the CIA operatives on the ground of being ordered to stand down and not go to the rescue in time. And the suggestion is that, if not for that order to stand down, that Chris Stevens and the others might have been saved. First of all, you were at the Pentagon at the time, I believe. Was there any order to stand down that you know of?Panetta responds:Absolutely not. You know, I m sure there are going to be movies and books and there will be all kinds of theories that will be presented, but from my experience, and from the role that I played as secretary of defense, there was never any order to stand down. On the contrary, the whole effort was to do everything possible to try to save lives.Delving further into if there were any sort of Hillary Clinton misstep, Mitchell asks if there were any sort of stand down order:There s also a report, several reports, that the Pentagon made an offer of a rescue effort, military effort to the State Department, and that someone, the suggestion is Hillary Clinton, said, no thanks, we don t need the help or stand down or stand back. Was there any effort by the Pentagon to intervene that the State Department rejected and would she have even been in the role?Panetta offers an answer that many right-wingers are not going to like whatsoever, the truth:I m not aware of any such effort at all. As a matter of fact, after meeting with the president, I immediately went back and we made decisions to deploy forces, to put them in place to be able to go in and provide help to those involved, and we in fact put forces in place. The problem was that [the] attack ended quickly and because of time and distance we never had a chance to get there. This is a tragic event. It s tragic in a number of ways. But most importantly, it s tragic because it s now become a political football that unfortunately, I think, doesn t do service to all of those that were committed to trying to protect lives.Panetta is exactly right. This tragedy has become even more tragic by how it has been wrongfully perpetuated by conservatives to try to score political points against Hillary Clinton. We need to learn from what happened in Benghazi and make sure it never happens again. We also need to, once and for all, put the myth to bed that Hillary was incompetent. She, of all people, is quite aware of the loss that happened that day. She s also one of the best qualified to make sure it never happens again. Video/Featured image: MMFA

1real

U.S. Senate Republican leader delays Senate's August recess

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday announced a delay in the Senate’s planned August recess until the third week of the month to provide more time to work on legislation and approve nominees. “In order to provide more time to complete action on important legislative items and process nominees that have been stalled by a lack of cooperation from our friends across the aisle, the Senate will delay the start of the August recess until the third week of August,” McConnell said in a statement.

0fake

IT JUST GOT REAL! GOP Rep. Jim Jordan Tells Judge Jeanine Key Players in anti-Trump Scam Will Be Subpoenaed [Video]

One of the big players in trying to get to the truth about the bias against President Trump just told Judge Jeanine that this is getting serious and very real. Four key players will be subpoenaed!FIREWORKS! GOP Rep. Jim Jordan reveals the House Judiciary Committee will subpoena Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Bruce and Nellie Ohr pic.twitter.com/PO8o6nsI0k Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) December 17, 2017OUR PREVIOUS REPORT ON JORDAN: Rep. Jordan is firm in his desire to get to the bottom of what is going on at the FBI and DOJ:GOP Rep. Jim Jordan on Lou Dobbs: Listen you can t make this stuff up. It gets worse each and every day. What deep down scares me, if this actually happened the FBI had a concerted effort with the people at the top to go after one party s nominee to help the other party s nominee. If that actually happened in the United States of America and everything each and every day points to more and more likely that that is what took place, it is sad for our country if that took place. And I think it did based on everything I am seeing. All the evidence points to that..@Jim_Jordan on Peter Strzok: "In case the American people, in his mind, are crazy enough to elect Donald Trump we need something else to stop Trump. That's what this guy was thinking at the highest levels at the FBI." pic.twitter.com/vNWUhDvDuE FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) December 14, 2017The Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testified yesterday about the clear case of corruption and political bias in our intel agencies. Changing Hillary s charge from grossly negligent to extremely careless is disturbing enough but it s clear that Jim Jordan knows this goes much deeper. Hillary was protected by the political hacks in the intel agencies but a target was put on President Trump s back using the FISA court to open up spying on the him and those around him using a doctored up opposition research document that was never proven to be anywhere close to true The questioning from Jordan is well worth watching:BYRON YORK:An insurance policy? From the Strzok-Page texts. https://t.co/Ru5P1dWFXI pic.twitter.com/hiyApwb7Jg Byron York (@ByronYork) December 13, 2017BRET BAIER:Text-from Peter Strzok to Lisa Page (Andy is Andrew McCabe): "I want to believe the path u threw out 4 consideration in Andy's office-that there's no way he gets elected-but I'm afraid we can't take that risk.It's like an insurance policy in unlikely event u die be4 you're 40" Bret Baier (@BretBaier) December 13, 2017ANDREW MCCARTHY COMMENTED ON THE TWEET THAT EXPOSED THE AGENTS FOR THEIR POLITICAL BIAS:Obviously, this is not political banter. Clearly indicates professional duties infected by political viewpoints, which is disqualifying. I was going on the published accounts I'd seen, which didn't include this one. Should follow my own advice to wait til all facts in. https://t.co/fXk7GPnk5U Andrew C. McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy) December 13, 2017

1real

CIA Report Released: Trump maintains DNC Leaks had “Absolutely no effect on outcome of election”

21st Century Wire says Despite the mass media distraction of the improbably Active Shooter attack at Fort Lauderdale Airport earlier this afternoon today was the big day, the dramatic release of the unclassified portion the US Intelligence report of the alleged Russian Hack of the 2016 US Election. Meanwhile, at Trump Tower, President-Elect Donald Trump was given the full classified version of the report today, and was unimpressed, declaring that the alleged hacking of the Democrat National Committee (DNC) had absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election. Note that it is still an alleged hack because US intelligence agencies Have yet to produce any actual evidence that the Russian government were involved in either the DNC Leaks or the Podesta Email dump on Wikileaks.Instead, the report s main thrust is accusing the Russians of running all of the so-called fake news articles that flooded Facebook and social media during the 2016 election cycle claiming that it all traces back to St. Petersburg, Russia despite earlier investigative reports published by both The Guardian and Buzzfeed which placed the fake news empire in Macedonia, where teenagers netted small fortunes by pumping out imaginary stories on hundreds of cut-out websites during the 2016 election. Putin Aspired to Help Trump CNN and other US media outlets were quick to down-shift their headlines away from saying that the Russian government Hacked the US Elections, now saying that Putin Aspired to Help Trump. After a 90-minute briefing at Trump Tower with national intelligence chiefs, Donald Trump, under pressure from his party and the US media, issued a statement seeming to acknowledge some hacking of the cyber-infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat National Committee, but was clear to ad the caveat that whatever happened had absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election. While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber-infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines. There were attempts to hack the Republican National Committee, but the R.N.C. had strong hacking defenses and the hackers were unsuccessful. STAY TUNED FOR MORE UPDATESREAD MORE RUSSIAN HACK NEWS AT: 21WIRE Russian Hack FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER@ 21WIRE.TV

1real

ABC NEWS Gets DESTROYED On Twitter For Waiting Several Hours To Admit They Got Major Detail In Flynn Story Wrong…#FakeNewsABC

After ABC News broke the General Flynn-Trump story, the stock market began its freefall, Americans were stunned by the news, and the media, who s been searching for blood in the water since Trump s inauguration, was in a feeding frenzy over the prospect of President Trump being caught directing General Flynn to meet with the Russians when he was actively campaigning. As it turns out, ABC News got it wrong. But no worries, several hours later, they clarified how the story should have read ABC News major report on Michael Flynn and President Trump s direction on reaching out to the Russians has been corrected. Hours later. And Twitter is ripping the network over it.Per multiple reports earlier, Brian Ross report that Flynn is expected to testify Trump directed him to meet with Russians as a candidate was followed minutes later by a drop in the stock market.But as Ross clarified on World News Tonight (video here), it was as President-elect, not as a candidate, and that is kind of a major difference. MediaiteABC News also tweeted out a clarification and deleted its earlier tweet:CLARIFICATION of ABC News Special Report: Flynn prepared to testify that President-elect Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians *during the transition* initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria, confidant now says. https://t.co/ewrkVZBTbc pic.twitter.com/GQAKwT1Eda ABC News (@ABC) December 2, 2017Twitter users responded to the clarification by ABC News, who should NEVER have gotten this story wrong in the first place. Jim VandeHei, CEO and co-founder of Axio slammed ABC for moving the markets and setting off a frenzy with their massive mistake:Astonishing. The story moved markets, set off a media frenzy, suggested worst possible outcome. This is called a massive correction, or retraction, not clarification. https://t.co/uVUamf4jYY Jim VandeHei (@JimVandeHei) December 2, 2017Associate editor of the Daily Caller reminded ABC News that their clarification was actually a huge correction. That's a huge correction https://t.co/EIMaE0EkGu Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) December 1, 2017David Rubin reminded ABC News why no one trusts them anymore: Reason nobody trusts the mainstream media 14,761 .Reason nobody trusts the mainstream media 14,761 https://t.co/1RQ7FRbava Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) December 2, 2017Twitter user Echo Lew called out ABC News for blaming their source and not Brian Ross, their reckless reporter who actually made the mistake:Blame it on a source and not your reckless reporter @BrianRoss 'on air' tremendous mistake. Echo Lew (@PhinsnNoles) December 2, 2017ABC News has apparently earned a new name to go along with their acronym.ABC Always Broadcasting Crap BNL NEWS (@BreakingNLive) December 2, 2017And then, finally, Twitter user Jake Blum called ABC News out for reporting fake news :This is so incredibly irresponsible and reckless. Sowing damage to the legitimacy of our government. Hard for you all to push back on the fake news label when this is so damn common. Jake Blum (@RealJakeBlum) December 2, 2017

1real

Trump to begin tax reform push next week, White House adviser tells FT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will begin a major push next week to convince the public of the need for tax reform, shifting his focus to fiscal policy in an effort to win a big legislative victory by the end of the year, The Financial Times reported on Friday. Trump would begin the effort next Wednesday with a speech in Missouri, the first in a series of addresses to generate public support on the issue, Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, told the newspaper. “We are completely engaged in tax reform,” Cohn told the FT in an interview. “Starting next week the president’s agenda and calendar is going to revolve around tax reform. He will start being on the road making major addresses justifying the reasoning for tax reform.” Although Cohn stressed that tax reform would be front and center of Trump’s agenda, the Republican-controlled Congress faces two other pressing issues when it returns from its August recess on Sept. 5. Lawmakers need to approve an increase in the U.S. debt ceiling to allow the federal government to keep borrowing money and paying its bills, including its debt obliterations. Separately they need to pass at least stop-gap spending measures to keep the government operating. Deadlines on both issues will loom within weeks after lawmakers return from their break. Asked by the FT whether the debate over the debt ceiling could derail the tax reform drive, Cohn said that “at the end of the day, Congress has to increase the debt ceiling - that is just the reality.” He added that this would be in September, before tax reform legislation. “The key point is this: tax reform is the White House’s number one focus right now,” he added. Cohn said White House officials had been working with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and other leading congressional Republicans on “an outline and skeleton” for the tax reform proposal, “and we have a good skeleton that we have agreed to.” The details Cohn discussed were similar to those mentioned by Ryan at a meeting with Boeing employees on Thursday. Asked whether the focus on tax reform had been complicated by Twitter attacks by the Republican president on McConnell and Ryan, Cohn said the White House officials worked well with the two “and we have made a massive amount of progress” on taxes. Cohn said the House Ways and Means Committee would put more “flesh and bone” on the tax reform plan when lawmakers return from the recess. He said he believed a bill could pass tax committees in both chambers and be passed by both the House and Senate by the end of 2017. In the case of individual taxpayers, Cohn said the president’s reform plan would protect the three big deductions that people can claim on taxes: for home mortgages, charitable giving and retirement savings. Beyond that, it would increase the caps for the standard deduction while eliminating most other personal deductions, Cohn said. The plan also aims to get rid of taxes on estates left when people die. Cohn said for businesses, the administration is proposing to lower corporate tax rates, while eliminating many of the deductions that businesses use to reduce the amount of tax they must pay. Asked whether the corporate tax rate could be cut to 15 percent as previously suggested by Trump, Cohn said, “I would like to get the tax rate as low as possible so that businesses want to create jobs here.” He said the administration would propose going to a system where American companies would not have to pay additional tax when they bring profits earned overseas back to the United States. “Today, they often have to pay extra taxes for bringing profits back to the U.S.,” Cohn said. “Our current system basically creates a penalty for headquartering in the U.S.” He said the administration did envision a one-time low tax rate on all overseas profits.

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Russia, digesting U.S. diplomatic retaliation, pledges 'harsh' response

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday it would respond harshly to any U.S. measures designed to hurt it, a day after the United States told Moscow to close its San Francisco consulate and buildings in Washington and New York. The warning, from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, came as Russia said it was weighing a response to the U.S. move that will force it to shutter two trade missions in the United States as well as the San Francisco consulate by Sept. 2. “We’ll react as soon as we finish our analysis,” Lavrov told students in Moscow. “We will respond harshly to things that damage us.” Separately, a top Kremlin aide complained the U.S. demarche pushed bilateral ties further into a blind alley and fuelled a spiral of tit-for-tat retaliatory measures. U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, saying he wanted to improve U.S.-Russia ties which were at a post-Cold War low. But since then, ties have frayed further after U.S. intelligence officials said Russia had meddled in the presidential election, something Moscow denies. Trump, himself battling allegations his associates colluded with Russia, grudgingly signed new sanctions on Moscow into law this month which had been drawn up by Congress. When it became clear those measures would become law, Moscow ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people. Lavrov hinted on Friday that Russia might look at ordering further reductions in U.S. embassy staff, suggesting Moscow had been generous last time by allowing Washington to keep “more than 150” extra people. He said Russia had cut the U.S. numbers to tally with the number of Russian diplomats in the United States, but that Moscow had generously included more than 150 Russian staff who work at Russia’s representation office at the United Nations. Lavrov said Moscow still hoped for better relations and blamed Trump’s political foes for the deteriorating situation. “I want to say that this whole story with exchanging tit-for-tat sanctions was not started by us,” Lavrov said. “It was started by the Obama administration to undermine U.S.-Russia relations and to not allow Trump to advance constructive ideas or fulfil his pre-election pledges.” Barack Obama, then outgoing president, expelled 35 suspected Russian spies in December and seized two Russian diplomatic compounds. President Vladimir Putin paused before responding, saying he would wait to see how Trump handled Russia. “We thought this administration could exercise common sense, but unfortunately the Russophobes in Congress are not allowing it to,” said Lavrov, who complained that the United States had only given Moscow 48 hours to comply with its latest demands.

0fake

‘He’s Been Possessed By Sarah Palin!’: Hannity’s INSANE Late-Night Twitter Ramble Goes VIRAL (VIDEO)

This election is causing millions of Americans a lot of stress. However, some are cracking under pressure more than most. Take for example Fox News’ Sean Hannity, who last week decided to express himself in some weird variant of “Palin-speak” over something to do with Josh Ernest, President Obama,”DT,” the “liberal media,” Canada, and finally Kenya. Image via Mediaite . Mediaite used its team of scientist to try and decipher this strange message that many theorize (actually probably just me) may have originated from an ancient extra-terrestrial right-wing alien entity. “Hey, liberal media. It was White House press secretary Josh Earnest who refused to answer the question: will Obama stay in the US if Donald Trump wins? I said I’d pay a charter to any country they chose . I mentioned Canada, where the satire piece was written , and Kenya, where he once visited. Also, I am in need of serious professional help.” By the way, the link that Hannity sent belongs to a site run by professional alt-right Twitter troll, Chuck Johnson, who was suspended from Twitter in May for threatening a civil rights activist. Since then Hannity has unfortunately deleted the gloriously “drunken tweet” in question. However, that didn’t stop the heartless, ruthless bastards on Twitter from trolling poor Hannity like there was no tomorrow. He's been possessed by Sarah Palin! https://t.co/k7N06DWfQK

1real

Trump administration amends travel ban date to keep legal battle alive

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Wednesday moved to amend the starting date of its proposed 90-day travel ban on people entering the United States from six Muslim-majority countries in a bid to keep its legal battle alive. The amendment appears intended to avoid the administration’s legal case at the U.S. Supreme Court becoming moot on grounds that parts of the executive order have expired. Challengers to the ban, who say the order is intended to discriminate against Muslims, have said in court papers that it should expire on Wednesday, 90 days after the executive order was due to take effect on March 16. A memo issued by the White House, as the Supreme Court considered two challenges to the ban, said parts of the order put on hold would not expire before they can go into effect, and the start date would be when court injunctions were lifted. The move is part of administration efforts to have the high court rule that the controversial ban should immediately go into effect after Trump’s first attempts to impose travel restrictions were blocked by lower courts. Omar Jadwat, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which has challenged the ban, said the need for the revision was a sign of the ban’s legal flaws. “And yet again, these revisions underline that the one thing the president has consistently wanted throughout is a Muslim ban,” he added. Lawsuits by Hawaii and Maryland challengers argued that the order violated federal immigration law and a section of the Constitution’s First Amendment, which prohibits the government favoring or disfavoring any particular religion. The Trump administration has said it is needed to protect national security. Soon after the memo was issued, Acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall filed court papers saying that it resolved “any doubt” about the order’s effective date. If the case was moot, the nine justices would have no reason to rule on it and lower court rulings against the administration would remain in place. The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the Trump administration more time to file papers responding to an appeals court ruling on Monday that upheld a block on the travel ban. The court’s action likely delayed any decision on administration requests for the ban to go into effect until at least next week. Federal judges in Maryland and Hawaii blocked Trump’s 90-day ban on travelers from Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The Hawaii judge also blocked a 120-day ban on refugees entering the United States. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld the Hawaii injunction on Monday. In the second case, the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, on May 25 upheld the Maryland judge’s ruling.

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Do You Know What It Means To Be An Introvert?

Leave a reply Kate Bartolotta – In this day and age where the constant use of social media demands that we label and define ourselves to others in every way possible, it’s important to understand the true meaning and use of the word introvert. A lot of people use the words “introverted” and “shy” interchangeably; they don’t mean the same thing. As someone who works with people all the time, you’d think I’d be an extrovert. I’m friendly. I’m not shy. But when I get close to my “people time” limit, it’s time to shut down, be quiet and hole up with a good book. I love helping people, but there’s a huge reason that I balance that type of work with work where I get to be quiet and dive in to working with words instead of being bombarded with interaction. It’s because—although I don’t fall into some of the old stereotypes—I’m an introvert. I spent years feeling guilty if I wanted to spend time alone instead of doing things with friends. I learned to make the best of it, and often pushed myself to be social—even when it felt exhausting. Many people do this, as extroversion tends to be prized in our society, while introversion is seen as a “second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology.” It is none of those things. It’s the way an estimated two-thirds to one-half of us are wired, and it can be our greatest asset. As I mentioned, being introverted isn’t the same thing as being shy (though there’s nothing wrong with being shy either) . Many shy people are also introverted, but one doesn’t really have much to do with the other. The best explanation I was ever given (and maybe one of the biggest “aha!” moments of my adult life) was that while extroverts are energized by connecting and spending time with others, introverts need inward-focused, alone time to recharge. Being introverted has nothing to do with lack of confidence. Many confident people are introverted, and gather their strength from the time they spend alone rather than from the input of others. In some ways, I believe that the ability to enjoy being by yourself says a great deal about your confidence. It isn’t that introverts don’t like social time—it’s that for us, social time is giving out energy rather than receiving energy. A lot of us fall somewhere in the middle between the two, and some interactions take more out of people than others. A few things to consider if someone you care about falls more on the introverted end of the spectrum: 1. Think of each of us as having a cup of energy available. For introverts, most social interactions take a little out of that cup instead of filling it the way it does for extroverts. Most of us like it. We’re happy to give and love to see you. When the cup is empty, though, we need some time to refuel. We aren’t mad. We don’t stop caring about you. We’ll be so happy to see you and talk to you again when we’ve had some time to decompress. 2. Silence isn’t a bad thing. Really. It’s not an insult. It’s the introvert’s way of conserving energy and restoring him or herself. If we can be quiet with you (and you can be content being quiet with us) it’s a huge compliment and a huge relief. Other times the quiet really does need to be spent alone. We come back when we’re ready. It’s worth the wait. 3. Just because someone is friendly, she isn’t necessarily an extrovert; just because someone is quiet doesn’t mean he’s an introvert. If you pay attention to people you care about, often you can see what energizes them and what drains them. If you aren’t sure, ask. If you notice a friend seems wiped out, ask if spending time together sounds like fun or if they’d like some down time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve become almost giddy because plans were cancelled—even with people I love. When you know someone needs some space in order to re-energize, be respectful and give it to them. It isn’t rejection. 4. Text. Write letters. Email. We love it. There are times that you can’t beat a face to face conversation, I’d agree 100%. But for introverts, sometimes being able to stay connected and stay in touch in a less intense and less draining way is a huge help. Being in crowds is tough. Even long conversations can be tough if we’re already “peopled out.” Having the freedom to respond when we are ready is a great feeling. Sometimes, it’s right away. If it’s not, don’t be offended. (It’s not you…it’s me. Really!) 5. All of this really comes down to respect. Each of us has our own set of boundaries, our own way of communicating and our own needs. When you care about someone, you choose to communicate with him or her in ways that show you love and respect them. If your cup is filled by lots of interaction with others, go for it! Be in tune with your own needs, and enjoy the way that time with others energizes you. If someone you love is an introvert, and needs time to him or herself, tune into and respect that as well. We don’t do activities alone because we are sad, or negative or depressed; we do it because that’s what fills our cup back up. We’ll be even happier to see you when we come back. Kate Bartolotta –“One of the best things I’ve read on the subject was the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain. The shorter 12-question quiz on her site can give you some good insights into your own personal introversion or extroversion that bypasses some of those long held stereotypes (P.S. I’m 12 for 12).” SF Source Dreamcatcher Reality

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Home Invasion Suspect Wearing Only Underwear Shot, Killed After Attacking Pastor and Family - Breitbart

An alleged home invader wearing only underway was shot and killed after breaking into a pastor’s home and attacking the pastor and pastor’s wife. [The incident occurred around 2 a. m. in Cypress, Texas. According to ABC 13, Harris County Sheriff’s Sgt. Felipe Rivera said, “The door is kicked in and that’s how the family wakes up to discover the intruder in the residence. ” Pastor Lorenzo Martinez and his wife, Gloria Martinez, were home — as were members of their extended family. Pastor Martinez’s daughter, Naarai Olvera, said, “[The suspect] just started hitting my dad then he hit my mom, then my brother woke up and my brother started hitting him. ” Olvera said the suspect punched her mother in the nose numerous times and was not fazed when her brother intervened to try to stop him. She said, “He just kept attacking, he would not stop. ” Sgt. Rivera said, “He wasn’t running from anybody. He was attacking. In my opinion, he was in an attacking mode. ” Olvera said the suspect eventually allegedly kicked in the door to the room in which her his wife, and children slept. At that point the shot and killed the suspect. She added, “We are a Christian family, we don’t believe in killing anybody. But we had to do what we had to do to protect our family and protect our little kids. ” Investigators believe the suspect parked a Lincoln sedan about half a mile from the house, then walked to the house and attacked. AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart. com.

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NOT FUNNY! What These “MORONS” Did For Crooked Hillary Should FRIGHTEN Every American [VIDEO]

It s easy to see why there are so many Americans who would rather keep their heads firmly buried in the sand than know the truth about how inept our government officials really are Hillary Clinton is facing damaging new revelations about the lax security surrounding her emails.Watch Hillary try to make voters believe she is a victim in this insane security risk she has subjected our entire nation to:A Daily Mail Online investigation has found that a second firm hired to store a back-up of Clinton s secret server was so lax in its security employees failed to change passwords frequently and left computers logged in, unattended for extended periods and its own clients stumbled upon other clients data.Datto Inc, the company in question, was hired to store Hillary s emails by Platte River, the mom-and-pop company contracted to maintain her homebrew email system.Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Online on condition of anonymity, one former employee at Datto, said the company was woefully exposed to being hacked. If you re talking about high-level data security, at the political, presidential level, the security level of data [at Datto] hired by Platte River, was nowhere near something that could have been protected from a good hacker that knows how to spread out their points at which to infiltrate, he said.The emails emails, 30,000 of which Clinton deleted, are now part of an FBI investigation into her handling of classified material while she was Secretary of State.A total of 22 have been deemed to contain top secret material out of 2,075 found to contain classified material and questions have mounted about whether her account was successfully hacked, which the Clinton campaign claims did not happen.The existence of the emails only came to light because of a House investigation into the deaths of four American in an Islamist attack on the mission in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11 2012.The probe concluded this week with an excoriating report by the majority Republican members of the committee, who accused her of shameful conduct with her secret email account.Clinton dismissed the report, saying it was time to move on and went to California to launch her policies on the tech industry.But now it can be disclosed that Datto Inc is accused of major security failings by people who worked for it and also those who used its services.The failings included allegations that security was so lax that customers warned the firm they had stumbled on other clients data; that in 2010, the company s internal servers were hacked; and that staff were not required to regularly change passwords, seen as a basic requirement for keeping systems secure.Staff computers which had access to servers holding confidential client information were left logged in while unoccupied for extended periods of time, whistleblowers said.And Datto headquarters were easily accessible and had no security guards on their floor, while employees opened and held doors open for others which should only have been accessible with a security pass.A longtime Datto partner, Marc Tamarin, told Daily Mail Online: Those guys were really morons. They weren t qualified to handle our back-up and that was the biggest concern for us. The former employee speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Online on condition of anonymity, spent three years at Datto, and said the company was woefully exposed to being hacked. It s not something that Datto was focused on. It was more about getting the data off-site quickly and cost-effectively than securing the data and keeping it from being hacked. There s no doubt in my mind that someone could easily hack them even today. Datto was named last October as the second data storage company to be investigated by the FBI over what threat Clinton s server posed to national security.One of the Datto insiders told Daily Mail Online that around 2010, the startup had its internal network hacked, leading to the authorities being called. Via: Daily Mail

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Ted Cruz: Some of the Trump Damage Is ‘Self Inflicted’ - Breitbart

Friday at the Colinas Chamber of Commerce in Irving, TX, Sen. Ted Cruz ( ) said some President Donald Trump political problems were “ . ” Cruz said, “What I’m trying to do is just ignore the circus. ” He continued, “There are a great many people in Washington that want the Trump presidency to fail,” he added, “Unfortunately, some of the damage is . I wish that was not the case. ” ( Right Scoop) Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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British PM May disagrees with U.S. decision to move embassy to Jerusalem: spokesman

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May disagrees with the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel because it is unlikely to help efforts to bring peace to the region, her spokesman said on Wednesday. Jerusalem should ultimately be shared between Israel and a future Palestinian state, the spokesman said. We disagree with the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem and recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital before a final status agreement, the spokesman said. We believe it is unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region. President Donald Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy on Wednesday and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite warnings from around the world that the gesture further drives a wedge between Israel and the Palestinians. Trump sparked outrage in Britain last week after he issued a sharp rebuke of May on Twitter after she criticized him for retweeting British far-right anti-Islam videos. May s spokesman welcomed Trump s desire to end the conflict and his acknowledgement that the final status of Jerusalem, including boundaries within the city, must be subject to negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. We encourage the US Administration to now bring forward detailed proposals for an Israel-Palestinian settlement, he said.

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U.S. sanctions Chechen leader, four others under Magnitsky Act

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on five Russians and Chechens, including the head of the Russian republic of Chechnya, for alleged human rights abuses. The new sanctions blacklisted Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Treasury Department said in a statement. U.S. authorities accused Kadyrov of overseeing an administration involved in disappearances and extrajudicial killings . On a conference call with reporters Wednesday, a senior U.S. State Department official said that one or more of Kadyrov s political opponents were killed at his direction. Kadyrov reacted to news of the sanctions with his usual defiance. A sleepless night is waiting for me, Kadyrov wrote, apparently sarcastically, on his Instagram social media account. I can be proud that I m out of favor with the special services of the USA. In fact, the USA cannot forgive me for dedicating my whole life to the fight against foreign terrorists among which there are bastards of America s special services. He also wrote that he would not be visiting the United States. The U.S. Treasury Department imposed the sanctions, which freeze the banks accounts of those targeted, under a 2012 law known as the Magnitsky Act. The Magnitsky Act imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials linked to the death in prison of Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old Russian auditor and whistleblower. The act also seeks to hold responsible those U.S. authorities allege orchestrated or benefited from the death of Magnitsky. Treasury remains committed to holding accountable those involved in the Sergei Magnitsky affair, including those with a role in the criminal conspiracy and fraud scheme that he uncovered, Director of the Treasury Department s Office of Foreign Assets Control John Smith said in a statement. Magnitsky was arrested and died in a Moscow jail in 2009 after discovering a $230 million tax fraud scheme, according to U.S. authorities. Supporters of Magnitsky say the Russian state murdered him by denying him adequate medical care after he was imprisoned on tax evasion charges. The Kremlin denies the allegation. In addition to Kadyrov and one other Chechen official, the Treasury s action on Wednesday targeted three Russians that U.S. authorities say were involved in the complex tax fraud scheme that Magnitsky exposed. The Magnitsky sanctions have been a point of tension between Moscow and Washington, even before Russia s annexation of Crimea sent relations spiraling. In retaliation for the Magnitsky Act, Putin signed a bill halting U.S. adoptions of Russian children. It had been unclear to sanctions experts whether President Donald Trump s administration, which has signaled a desire to rebuild ties with Moscow, would continue to target people under the law. The Magnitsky Act attracted greater public attention when it emerged that the president s son Donald Trump Jr., had met with a Russian lawyer and a lobbyist - both strident opponents of the law - in New York ahead of the 2016 U.S. elections. When asked about the June 2016 meeting, Trump Jr. later said they discussed the adoptions issue. On a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, State Department officials said that despite the new sanctions the Trump administration wants a constructive relationship with Moscow. We believe a Russia that takes care of the human rights of its own citizens will be an even more effective partner, a senior State Department official said.

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Saudis pledge $100 million to African anti-jihadist force: Mali

DAKAR (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has pledged $100 million to a new regional military force battling jihadist groups in West Africa s Sahel region, force member Mali said on Monday. The contribution would be a major boost to the cash-strapped force and bring pledged commitments to more than half the roughly $500 million the G5 Sahel says it needs for its first year of operations. The G5 Sahel - composed of the armies of Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad - launched its first military campaign in October amid growing unrest in the Sahel, whose porous borders are regularly crossed by jihadists, including affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State. Those groups have stepped up attacks on civilian and military targets, including tourist attractions in regional capitals, raising fears the zone will become a new breeding ground for militants. Mali s foreign ministry said Saudi Arabian authorities made the pledge during a visit to the kingdom late last month by Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop. Saudi Arabia s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Sunni Muslim kingdom is competing with its main rival, Shi ite power Iran, for influence across West Africa and other parts of the Muslim world. Donors from both countries have given money to mosques and other causes there. France, the G5 s most vocal foreign backer, has pressed Saudi Arabia to take concrete actions to fight Islamist militants. French President Emmanuel Macron asked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to contribute to the G5 when he saw him in Riyadh last month. The European Union, France, the United States and each of the G5 countries have also promised to fund the force.

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Kurdish leader Barzani's dream of independence led to downfall

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Masoud Barzani, who spent decades leading the long-oppressed Kurds, confirmed on Sunday he was stepping down as president of the Kurdistan Regional Government after his drive for independence backfired. After decades of struggle, critics say Barzani made one of his biggest mistakes by pushing hard for a Sept. 25 referendum. Kurds voted overwhelmingly for independence, but won little sympathy outside their region. As well as the Iraqi government, Turkey and Iran threatened to take tough action against any move towards secession, fearing it would encourage their own restive Kurdish populations to follow suit. The United States and other Western powers joined the chorus of opposition to the vote. The Baghdad government rejected it as illegal and sent troops to seize the oil city of Kirkuk, which the Kurds regard as the heart of any future homeland. In just a few hours, the city the Kurds regard as sacred was gone, along with other Kurdish-held territory across the north. Some accused Barzani of having led his people to disaster. For many years, he had used cunning and patience to help the Kurds survive long years of brutality under Saddam Hussein. After the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam in 2003, Barzani became a central figure in the drive to create an autonomous Kurdish state in northern Iraq. Kurdish leaders kept their territory relatively free of the sectarian bloodshed that plagued most of Iraq. Western oil executives flocked to the region seeking deals. Kurds showed their military capability by joining Iraqi government troops and Iranian-backed paramilitary forces to drive Islamic State militants out of Mosul. Confident that the time was right for an independent homeland, Barzani pursued the referendum. It resulted in overwhelming support for secession. But the joy was short-lived as Iraqi government forces and Shi ite paramilitaries shattered the Kurds dreams with a series of lightning military advances. Barzani was born in 1946, soon after his legendary father founded a party to fight for the rights of Iraqi Kurds. Deeply influenced by his father, Mulla Mustafa Barzani, known as the Lion of Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani joined the Kurdish guerrilla forces known as the Peshmerga at the age of 16 and gained fighting experience in the mountains. The younger Barzani would become familiar with one of the popular themes in Kurdish history - betrayal by regional and Western powers. Exiled and dying of cancer in a Washington hospital in 1976, Mulla Mustafa lamented that he had ever trusted the United States. A year earlier, Mulla Mustafa had been fighting a guerrilla war against Baghdad backed by Iran s pro-Western shah, but he was left high and dry when then-U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger brokered a deal that allowed Saddam to crush the Kurds. During the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, Masoud Barzani allied the Kurdistan Democratic Party that he had inherited from his father with Tehran once more. It did not go well. Some 8,000 Barzani tribesmen were rounded up and paraded through Baghdad before being executed. In Saddam s words: They went to hell. Despite the massacres, and Iraqi chemical attacks, Barzani retained enough of a fighting force to respond to President George Bush s appeal for an uprising during the 1991 Gulf War. Taking Bush at his word, the Kurds rose up against Saddam, and Barzani and his Peshmerga - known as those who face death - came down from the mountains to join the uprising and capture several cities in the north. But the victorious allies balked at the prospect of a Kurdish split from Baghdad and did nothing to stop Saddam s troops and helicopter gunships from crushing the rebellion. While more than a million Kurds fled to Turkey and Iran, many dying of hunger and exposure on the way, Barzani stayed to fight on. He was saved by a U.S. and British no-fly zone established over the north in 1991 which allowed him and his Kurdish rival, Jalal Talabani, to retake the area. This was followed by the longest period of Kurdish autonomy in modern history, but it was scarred by civil war between Barzani and Talabani s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in the mid-1990s. Barzani invited Iraqi government tanks into the region in 1996 to seize the regional capital Erbil, sending not only Talabani, but dozens of CIA personnel and their local employees fleeing before them. Talabani died barely a week after last month s referendum. Barzani s exit will leave the Kurds lacking direction, with their two main leaders gone.

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2 Valedictorians in Texas Declare Undocumented Status, and Outrage Ensues - The New York Times

When Mayte Lara Ibarra, the valedictorian of her high school’s graduating class, revealed her plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin on a scholarship, she did what any graduate would do: She shared her excitement on social media. Ms. Lara also declared, proudly, that she is undocumented. “Valedictorian, 4. 5GPA, full tuition paid for at UT, 13 nice legs, oh and I’m undocumented,” she wrote in a tweet posted last week, hours after she gave her valedictory speech to fellow graduates at David Crockett High School in Austin. In an era where the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, has vowed to build a wall to keep out undocumented immigrants and many Latinos are rushing to seek citizenship to vote against him, others are finding ways to raise their voices or step out of the shadows. Ms. Lara, whose path to the United States was not immediately clear and who didn’t mention her undocumented status in her speech, chose instead to talk about AP tests, proms and pep rallies. But on the same day, a few hours north in McKinney, Tex. another valedictorian, Larissa Martinez, did. Speaking to her class, Ms. Martinez, who says she’s headed to Yale, declared that she is undocumented, and indirectly addressed sentiments voiced by Mr. Trump. According to the website Mic, she crossed the border in 2010 from Mexico with her mother and sister. “America can be great again without the construction of a wall built on hatred and prejudice,” said Ms. Martinez, according to WFAA, a local ABC affiliate. She told the station that she had a full scholarship to Yale with plans to study medicine. But some observers saw the students’ decision to express pride in being undocumented as an affront, and criticized them on social media. In Ms. Lara’s case, the outrage over her tweet led her to delete her Twitter account. One critic, Hillary Shay Davis, who has a daughter who graduated with Ms. Lara, said she believed that the teenager was proud of “taking advantage of the system. ” “I have never thought about deporting a child who graduated from a U. S. high school and fought against the odds to be successful. Until this moment,” Ms. Davis wrote on Facebook. She added, “Something else that I have NEVER thought I would support until this moment is Trump and #buildthatwall. ” Versions of this sentiment echoed throughout social media. Ms. Lara is departing the Austin Independent School District, where 58 percent of students are Hispanic, and entering a college system where Hispanic students are the share of the population. The University of Texas also offers support services for undocumented students. Gary Susswein, a spokesman for the University of Texas, said that federal law prevented him from discussing the cases of individual students, but he offered a statement that said that the university grants tuition waivers to all valedictorians of Texas public high schools regardless of their residency status. “State law also does not distinguish between documented and undocumented graduates of Texas high schools in admissions and financial aid decisions,” the statement said. “University policies reflect that law. ” Jose Antonio Vargas, the Pulitzer journalist and immigration activist who revealed that he is undocumented in The New York Times Magazine in 2011, said that gestures like Ms. Lara’s were part of a larger effort on behalf of undocumented people to be open and upfront about their status. “Being undocumented is part of her identity, as is being a Latina,” he said Thursday. He added, “For many undocumented people, this is our way of telling people that we are not who people think we are. ” Define American, a project Mr. Vargas started in 2011, holds events and online campaigns where people can share their immigration status, an effort, he said, that was meant to shape the conversation around immigration “so it’s a more ‘human’ one. ” Although people have been using Twitter and YouTube to make their immigration status public for years, Mr. Vargas said he thought the criticism of Ms. Martinez and Ms. Lara was coming at a tense time in the election cycle. In the case of Ms. Lara, he said that people were circulating misinformation, and he referred to the state law granting the waivers to valedictorians. “This young woman is not taking somebody else’s spot,” he said of the waivers. “She’s not getting special treatment. She is getting that because she graduated as valedictorian, and that’s how it is in Texas. ”

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WTF!!! There is not a simgle thread about the Podsesta ET topic after this morning's leak

WTF!!! There is not a simgle thread about the Podsesta ET topic after this morning's leak I have encouraging news for White House Counselor John PodestaDear John Podesta,I recently surmised upon viewing and listening to a DVD I received unexpectedly earlier this week that you are an advocate for U.F.O. Disclosure. Well, I have got some very good news for you which you will see and hear from the enclosed VHS tape, which I personally edited with you in mind. Please review the two hours of footage and let me know what you think. Thank you, (name redacted) Just saw the below this morning. You are right Tom. Wikileaks did mess some stuff up. They showed the attempt to s*** spin the whole ET Disclosure by You, Barrack Obama, John Podesta and Hillary Clinton to just half tell the truth and then control the narrative to suit their own political goals.

1real

Megyn Kelly, Contract Set to Expire Next Year, Is Primed for the Big Show - The New York Times

Barbara Walters is retired, Oprah Winfrey is running a network and Megyn Kelly sees an opening. “It’s there for the taking right now,” she said in a recent interview. And what is there for the taking? What those famous hosts had accomplished: conducting the sort of interviews that could transfix a nation. “Those were the biggest spots to go for an interview if you had something you wanted to get off your chest, if you were in the middle of a scandal or a major news story and you wanted to do a to get past it or to go on the record,” she said. She quickly added: “And I’m here!” Making the Oprah or Barbara Walters leap is a remarkably tricky business. Many have tried before, with daytime shows or specials, only to run into a wall and return to a more comfortable corner of television. And the interview special is a relic from a time on television when what was broadcast on the Big Four networks was what mattered most. But on Tuesday, Ms. Kelly, the Fox News anchor and host of “The Kelly File,” will take her first crack at a special on Fox — the broadcast network, not the cable news station — with “Megyn Kelly Presents. ” There is certainly one big hook to draw viewers: She will confront the likely Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, a man who over the last nine months has kept Ms. Kelly in the middle of a running news story by relentlessly attacking her. And though Mr. Trump represents the get, she will also interview two actors (Michael Douglas and Laverne Cox) and a lawyer (Robert Shapiro) who is back in the news after the successful O. J. Simpson anthology “American Crime Story” on FX. Mr. Trump aside, it is with those interviews that Ms. Kelly hopes to accomplish something new: prove that she can do much more than simply host a nightly news show. If all goes well, she will display range and versatility at a convenient time. Her contract with Fox News is set to expire in a little more than a year. “I would like to prove to myself that I have these other muscles,” she said, as she sat in her cramped office on Sixth Avenue. “It doesn’t all have to be level of difficulty. It can be other kinds of questioning where you get more to somebody’s humanity and tell their story. ” She said that one of her benchmarks for success was if viewers said: “I saw Megyn in a new light. ” Her Fox News show, “The Kelly File,” has been a hit for more than two years, but Ms. Kelly, who is 45, is in the middle of a big moment in her career. Since Mr. Trump began attacking her after the first Republican debate in August, Ms. Kelly has approached something close to genuine celebrity status. She was on the cover of Vanity Fair in February, she has made the rounds of the circuit over the last three months. She also made her first appearance at the Met Gala in early May, the lavish Manhattan event that effectively serves as the year’s social register for the rich and famous. There is also a book in the works — she is handing in the manuscript to her editor at HarperCollins later this month and spent the last week writing the Trump section. It comes out the week after Election Day in November, and Tuesday will bring her the first special. There are real questions whether the “special” can attract a meaningful audience and lift a career. Long gone are the days when Ms. Walters could attract an audience of about 50 million people, as her exclusive interview with Monica Lewinsky did in 1999. But even in a fragmented TV landscape, they can occasionally break through. Last year, Caitlyn Jenner’s revelation that she was transgender in an interview with Diane Sawyer drew nearly 17 million viewers, which qualifies as a huge hit these days. Ms. Kelly was reluctant to discuss a ratings goal. The producer for “Megyn Kelly Presents,” the veteran TV newsman Bill Geddie, pointed out that Fox did not ordinarily run these type of news specials and that expectations should be managed accordingly. “Megyn said it right: We’re looking for a single here,” he said. The special can accomplish other goals for her instead. The news cycle has been relentlessly focused on politics and Ms. Kelly said she was more than happy to take a break from that. She is not a political junkie. “That’s not all I am,” she said “I love covering the news, but I’m not a political person, so I don’t know that I get the jones out of immersing myself in politics all day, every day the way some others do. ” She added, “You look out at the news landscape, and there isn’t the one perfect job that would service the soul. ” If that turn of phrase makes her sound a little like Oprah, it is probably not by accident. She pointed to Ms. Winfrey and Charlie Rose to illustrate her broader goals. “Oprah’s a bit more spiritual and helps improve people’s lives, which I also would like to do,” she said. “Charlie has a thing that I don’t have. He will sit down with Brian Dennehy, who’s got an amazing show on Broadway, and talk to him about it. He’ll sit down with business executives like Tim Cook and talk to him about what’s happening in his life. ” And if Ms. Kelly wants to be part Oprah, part Charlie Rose and also fill the Barbara Walters vacuum (“Who in their right mind would reject that?” she said of Ms. Walters) she got the right producer. Mr. Geddie produced more than 100 of Ms. Walters’s specials. “Megyn Kelly Presents” will be quite a departure from her regular show: Say goodbye to the talking heads and cuts, and cue a gauzier look, with two comfortable chairs and a contemplative head nod. “It’s nice to step outside of it every once in a while and try out the Louis Vuitton luggage,” she said. This is, of course, leads to the question: What will happen when her contract expires next year? Whether or not the special is a success, she will have plenty of suitors lined up. And Fox News is keen to keep her. The special was the brainchild of the Fox News chairman, Roger Ailes, Ms. Kelly said. And she expressed loyalty to Mr. Ailes when asked about her future. “The number of times he’s had my back, given me opportunities, stuck his own neck out there to protect me, I feel very grateful to him. ” She continued: “Having said that, this is a fickle business, and you never say never. Every time I’ve been up for a contract negotiation I’ve been to what possibilities exist. ” Though the special may show how adept she is at interviewing a celebrity, much of the attention on Tuesday night will ultimately be on Mr. Trump, who made her his No. 1 media nemesis with his famous description of “blood coming out of her … wherever. ” Ms. Kelly said she planned to contact him for months but the attacks on her kept coming (Mr. Trump tweeted regularly about her, calling her “Crazy Megyn,” and he skipped the second Fox News debate in late January because of Ms. Kelly’s involvement). She wanted him for this special, but it was not an easy assignment. Even Mr. Geddie, who has known Mr. Trump for 20 years, reached out and was given a flat no. It was not until April that Ms. Kelly reached out to Mr. Trump for the first time since the debate in August. She later met him alone at the Trump Tower to discuss the interview. Less than two weeks later, he was in. Though she concedes that Mr. Trump has made her “name better known,” she also refers to the last year as a dark one. There have been security concerns, and the stream of tweets from Mr. Trump and his supporters has been unpleasant. “This is one of the things that I get into with Trump in the interview,” she said. “Not about me but about whether he realizes the power his words have on the lives of his targets. Not just Megyn Kelly. ” In a campaign cycle in which the news media has been roundly criticized for kowtowing to Mr. Trump, Ms. Kelly has mostly been above it all. She even said on a March show: “I’m the show in all of cable news and I haven’t had Trump on in seven months. It can be done without him too. ” With the apparent rapprochement, is Ms. Kelly worried about the perception that she, too, is doing whatever needs to be done to get him for an interview? “Listen, if I weren’t a journalist, would I have called up Trump and said ‘Let’s meet’? No, I would not,” she said. “But it’s because I’m a journalist he was attacking me to begin with. So, no, you cannot compare me trying to put an end to his barrage so that I can cover him like a normal journalist with the obsessive coverage we have seen of his candidacy. ” Ms. Kelly expressed some frustration that she had been in the news for so long. Asked whether she thought Mr. Trump’s attacks would end after the special was broadcast, she took a long pause, and said, without a great deal of confidence: “I hope so. One never knows. ”

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Did Hillary Clinton Seriously Criticize Bernie Sanders’ Grandchildren? (VIDEO)

The short answer? I don t think so, but it s possible.The other day on Morning Joe, the Democratic presidential frontrunner said the following during a phone-in interview with the MSNBC morning show hosts: I guess at the end of the day, for me you know, people talk about their extraordinary grandchildren, but I actually have one and we re going to do everything we can to give her opportunities. And we re going to do everything we can to give her opportunities. But it s not enough.And I think too many people are forgetting what are some of the biggest determinants as to what happens to your children and grandchildren. The first being what kind of country we are and whether we re still providing the opportunities to realize your promise and potential and what kind of world s going to be out there waiting.And I feel passionately that just because we had it in the past, doesn t mean we re going to keep it in the future. You shouldn t have to be the granddaughter of a former president to have your American Dream realized. I think every kid should have a chance to live up to her god-given potential. A debate has erupted online in which Bernie Sanders supporters are suggesting that Clinton s remarks about how she actually has a grandchild is a not-so-subtle jab at the fact that Sanders has seven grandchildren through his current wife of 27 years, Jane O Meara Sanders, whose three children were from her previous marriage.To be clear, Clinton launched into a long answer to a question from Mika Brzezinski that began with something about the contrast between her and the other Democratic candidates plural. But there was a long section preceding her grandchildren remarks about what she intends to do and what her qualifications are. Then the thing about the grandkids. So, there wasn t an explicitly Sanders-oriented context for her remarks.But if this was, in fact, a cut at Sanders, it s confounding as to why she would make such an esoteric remark. What does she gain with Democratic voters by implying that her grandchild is legitimate, while Sanders grandchildren somehow aren t? I mean, how many primary voters know that much about Sanders family? I ve been following Sanders career for ten years now, and I had no idea he was even married until recently much less that he had three step-kids and seven step-grandchildren. I also didn t know until today that three of his grandkids were adopted from China.One blogger, Shane Ryan, observed that Sanders, during his stump speeches, often refers to his grandkids as extraordinary. I tried to confirm this, but didn t turn up any transcripts or pullquotes to verify it. So, chances are if true very, very, very few people know that Sanders uses the word extraordinary to describe his grandkids, making Clinton s jab if intentional even more obscure.Is Clinton capable of lashing out when backed into a corner? Sure. Is it possible she intended to randomly criticize Sanders grandkids via some sort of twisted political calculation? Absolutely. But it d be terrible politics. You don t mention families much less criticize the origins of an opponent s children. The topic is off limits. By doing so, she d only make herself look like terrible human being.One thing enemies and fans alike can agree upon: she s smart enough and experienced enough to understand blowback. Seriously, what kind of Democratic primary voter would get her attack and then vote against Sanders because his seven grandkids aren t biological, while Clinton s grandchild is blood-related? It seems like there s more risk than reward in such a gambit.So what do you think?[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0iaI3YRCiw] Featured image via video screen grab.

1real

Republican’s Excuse For Cutting Food Stamps: The Bible Says Unemployed ‘Shall Not Eat’

Republican lawmakers love using the Bible to dictate their policies. They especially love using it to justify pushing spending cuts to social programs even if it means intentionally misreading their favorite passages.In Texas, Rep. Jodey Arrington decided his support for cutting parts of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program needed a bit of New Testament spin. How does one defend taking the food out of mouths of hungry people using the Bible? By cherrypicking this quote: If a man will not work, he shall not eat. During a debate on whether or not Republicans will further gut SNAP benefits, Arrington cited the biblical verse in response to a Jewish anti-hunger group pleading with Congress not to do something so foolish as to further dismantle food stamps. He probably thought he was being pretty clever.Arrington isn t the first to use the line. It s extremely popular with conservatives. So popular, in fact, that the Daily Kos once devoted an entire article to debunking the misinterpretation of the quote.What s important to understand is working was secondary in this context, this is not so much a moral decree about work, the main message is a warning not to take advantage of the Christian obligation to feed the hungry, especially if you are screwing up the church and community tasked with doing that by behaving like a twelve year-old socialite.In other words, the real meaning is to judge a man by his heart, not by his employment status. And as the Washington Post points out, in today s economy, being unemployed doesn t mean lazy, unmotivated, or being a leech. As the economy continues to separate between the haves and the have-nots, finding employment can be hard.The verse in question applies specifically to people who can work or otherwise contribute to society but choose not to, said theologians from several denominations who spoke to The Post. There is a perception, among some voters and lawmakers, that many adult SNAP recipients are exactly this sort of freeloader. But policy experts say that is not the case. Many unemployed adults on SNAP simply cannot work, they say. Those include the mentally ill, the borderline disabled and veterans.Here s economist Justin Wolfers putting the sad reality of America s employment into a stunning graph:It takes a certain kind of mind to look at these trends and conclude that tax cuts for the top 1% are an urgent national priority. pic.twitter.com/6s9Jwr0a8w Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) March 31, 2017Arrington has both biblical and economic reasons to doubt his own reasoning. Instead, his real ideology the Church of Conservative Magical Thinking led him to ignore it all in favor of more cuts to the poor to benefit the very richest in the country.And as if voters needed yet another reminder of why elections matter: Arrington has only been on the job two months. He was voted into office this year. He barely moved into his office and already he s going after the most disadvantaged people in his district. Hats off to his efficiency, but then, institutionalized cruelty often is.Featured image via the Washington Post

1real

Donald Trump Attacked Stephen Colbert, So Colbert Shoved A Boot up His Trumphole (VIDEO)

In an interview with TIME, Donald Trump pussygrabber extraordinaire went after Stephen Colbert for referring to The Donald s mouth as a place where Russian dictator Vladimir Putin keeps his d*k warm. You see a no-talent guy like Colbert. There s nothing funny about what he says. And what he says is filthy. And you have kids watching. And it only builds up my base. It only helps me, people like him. The guy was dying. By the way they were going to take him off television, then he started attacking me and he started doing better, Trump said. But his show was dying. I ve done his show. But when I did his show, which by the way was very highly rated. It was high highest rating. The highest rating he s ever had. On Thursday, the late night host shot back at Trump, and it just had to be painful. The president of the United States has personally come after me and my show. And there s only one thing to say: Yay! Colbert said during his monologue. I won! Mr. Trump, there s a lot you don t understand, but I never thought one of those things would be show business, Colbert said. Don t you know I ve been trying for a year to get you to say my name? Oh, please, don t make me trend on Twitter again! Don t throw me in that #briarpatch! Making jokes about you has been good for ratings. It s almost as if the majority of Americans didn t want you to be President, Colbert informed The Orange One. But you know who s got really bad ratings these days? You do. Terrible approval numbers. I hear they re thinking about switching your time slot with Mike Pence. Colbert s takedown of Trump was blistering, but the most painful part was when the comedian pointed out that the Trump show was not the highest-rated. As for who was? Let s just say his name rhymes with Neb Kush. Watch it below:featured image via screengrab

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Trump Blames Computer Failure For Worldwide Chaos He Caused With Muslim Ban

In yet another morning rant, Donald Trump blamed anyone and anything but himself for the constitutional crisis and global chaos caused by his Muslim ban.On Friday, Trump signed an executive order banning travelers from seven countries where Trump thinks terrorists come from. However, the countries listed are not responsible for any deaths on American soil, unlike Saudi Arabia, where the 9/11 attackers were from and received their funding.Trump s ban has caused chaos at airports around the world as thousands of people have been detained, even children, the elderly, and permanent American citizens who hold green cards.It s a nightmare that could have been avoided simply by not being racist dick.But Trump took to Twitter on Sunday to defend his ban.Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world a horrible mess! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017And on Monday, he decided to blame a computer system, protesters, and Senator Chuck Schumer for the chaos and claimed that bad dudes would have rushed into the country had he given the world time to prepare for the order.Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage, .. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017protesters and the tears of Senator Schumer. Secretary Kelly said that all is going well with very few problems. MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017There is nothing nice about searching for terrorists before they can enter our country. This was a big part of my campaign. Study the world! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the bad would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad dudes out there! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017Except that bad dudes would not have been able to rush into our country because our system of vetting is already the best in the world, which is why it can take up to two years for someone to immigrate here. Also, the bad dudes who committed the mass shootings in Orlando, Ft. Hood, and San Bernardino that Trump points to in order to justify his ban were all born in America. So unless Trump is capable of finding out whether babies are bad or good, he has no justification for the ban.Also, blaming machines and other people for the chaos your executive order is causing is very weak. The Delta computer outage occurred late Sunday, nearly two full days after the executive order was signed. Protesters and Senator Schumer were not responsible for the many people who were detained or blocked from entering this country to reunite with family. That included two Christian families from Syria who were sent back to the war-torn country where they face persecution and possible death despite Trump promising that Christian refugees would not be impacted by the ban.Twitter users were quick to pound Trump into oblivion..@realDonaldTrump You re the President, not a Ninja Turtle. James Martin (@Pundamentalism) January 30, 2017@realDonaldTrump You separates mothers and fathers from their children. Grandparents from grandchildren. For hours. Without representation. Mike P Williams (@Mike_P_Williams) January 30, 2017@realDonaldTrump Some who d moved 100% legally, might I add were turned away from entering the US and sent back. You ve ruined lives. Mike P Williams (@Mike_P_Williams) January 30, 2017@realDonaldTrumpYou need to start asking more questions like this one you did back in 2014 we re here to help u figure it out! pic.twitter.com/40HhjFaW9h William LeGate (@williamlegate) January 30, 2017.@realDonaldTrump Good lord, Donald! Bad dudes? Honey you do not sound like a statesman who knows what he s talking about. Bess Kalb (@bessbell) January 30, 2017@realDonaldTrump I think more problems were caused by your racist Muslim ban. Just a hunch. kind of a symb-? (@JustinCaffier) January 30, 2017@realDonaldTrump when all else fails, blame the computers? You have no idea what you re doing Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) January 30, 2017@realDonaldTrump The big problem was the ban of people from 7 countries primarily Muslim. Even with Green Cards. And one man helped the US Government. Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) January 30, 2017@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/K4LMg8yWvO yosub kim (@yosub) January 30, 2017It s time for Donald Trump to be impeached along with every member of his team. The future of our country depends on it.Featured image via Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images

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Facebook Faces High Profile Lawsuit Regarding Facial Recognition Technology ‘DeepFace’

at 3:02 pm Leave a comment As the technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous and far more accurate, facial recognition and the lack of any laws or regulations around the practice is slowly starting to enter mainstream consciousness. It’s a very important issue that isn’t getting the attention it deserves. For example, as I highlighted in the recent post, Half of American Adults Exist in a Government Accessible Facial Recognition Network : Half of all American adults are already in some sort of facial recognition network accessible to law enforcement, according to a comprehensive new study. Conducted over a year and relying in part on Freedom of Information and public record requests to 106 law enforcement agencies, the study , conducted by Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology, found American police use of facial recognition technology is a scattered, hodgepodge network of laws and regulations. “Looking at the sum total of what we found, there have been no laws that comprehensively regulate face recognition technology, and there’s really no case law either,” Clare Garvie, an associate at the CPT, told Vocativ. “So we find ourselves having to rely on the agencies that are using that technology to rein it in. But what we found is that not every system — by a long shot — has a use policy.” With that in mind, Bloomberg published an interesting article yesterday covering a couple of lawsuits against Facebook and Google regarding their facial recognition practices. Here’s some of what we learned: While millions of internet users embrace the tagging of family and friends in photos, others worried there’s something devious afoot are trying block Facebook as well as Google from amassing such data. As advances in facial recognition technology give companies the potential to profit from biometric data, privacy advocates see a pattern in how the world’s largest social network and search engine have sold users’ viewing histories for advertising. The companies insist that gathering data on what you look like isn’t against the law, even without your permission. If judges agree with Facebook and Google, they may be able to kill off lawsuits filed under a unique Illinois law that carries fines of $1,000 to $5,000 each time a person’s image is used without permission — big enough for a liability headache if claims on behalf of millions of consumers proceed as class actions. A loss by the companies could lead to new restrictions on using biometrics in the U.S., similar to those in Europe and Canada. Facebook declined to comment on its court fight. Google declined to comment on pending litigation. Facebook encourages users to “tag” people in photographs they upload in their personal posts and the social network stores the collected information. The company uses a program it calls DeepFace to match other photos of a person. Alphabet Inc.’s cloud-based Google Photos service uses similar technology. The billions of images Facebook is thought to be collecting could be even more valuable to identity thieves than the names, addresses, and credit card numbers now targeted by hackers, according to privacy advocates and legal experts. And just how good is Facebook’s technology? According to the company’s research, DeepFace recognizes faces with an accuracy rate of 97.35 percent compared with 97.5 percent for humans — including mothers. Rotenberg said the privacy concerns are twofold: Facebook might sell the information to retailers or be forced to turn it over to law enforcement — in both cases without users knowing it. Now here’s some history on Facebook and facial recognition. Facebook v. Privacy Law December 2005 — Facebook introduces photo tagging October 2008 — Illinois adopts Biometric Information Privacy Act June 2012 — Facebook acquires Israeli facial recognition developer Face.com September 2012 — Facebook ceases facial recognition in Europe 2015-2016 — Facebook, Google, Shutterfly and Snapchat sued under Illinois biometrics law. Shutterfly settles confidentially. May 2016 — Illinois lawmaker proposes excluding photos from biometrics law, then shelves bill after privacy advocates complain October 2016 — Facebook makes second attempt to get biometrics lawsuit thrown out The Facebook case is In re Facebook Biometric Information Privacy Litigation, 15-cv-03747, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco). The Google cases are Rivera v. Google, 16-cv-02714, and Weiss v. Google, 16-cv-02870, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago). For prior articles on the topic, see:

1real

Australia creates photo ID database to help track terror suspects

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police will create a national photo database using existing identification records held by state authorities to identify terror suspects, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Thursday, fanning privacy concerns among rights groups. Turnbull said the database was intended to accelerate the process of identifying potential terror suspects, replacing a time-consuming system that could take up to a week when national authorities requested information from their state counterparts. It shouldn t take seven days to be able to verify someone s identity or seek to match the photo of someone who is a person of interest, Turnbull told reporters in Canberra. It should be done seamlessly and in real time, he said. The biometric database stops short of enabling real-time detection of suspects by scanning large crowds and alerting authorities when people on a security watch list are identified, similar to a system in place in China. China leads the world in the use of facial detection, even allowing education authorities to use the system to catch students cheating on exams, but Australia will limit the new database to police and intelligence agencies only. Turnbull said the system would not be connected to Australia s existing network of closed-circuit televisions, easing fears that authorities were seeking to create an automated system of detection. Australia, a staunch U.S. ally, is on heightened alert after a series of lone wolf attacks in recent years, and has sent troops to fight alongside the United States and other allies in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is also on alert for dozens of home-grown radicals returning after fighting for Islamic State and other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq. Turnbull said police were hampered by the current outdated, state-based system but Fergus Hanson, head of international cyber policy center at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the new biometric system raised concerns about potential abuses of power. I think most Australians would agree that using facial recognition to track down terrorists is a good idea, he said. People might say using it for tracking down murderers is a good idea, but what about people who haven t paid their parking fine? Hanson said. The new database was unveiled as Turnbull met state leaders and announced Australia would now double the length of time terror suspects could be held by police to two weeks after their arrest. Australia s detention laws came into focus earlier this year with the arrest of four men on suspicion of planning an Islamic inspired plot to bring down a passenger plane.

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PRESIDENT TRUMP Blasts Phony Climate Change Crybabies: “I Was Elected to Represent the Citizens of Pittsburgh, Not Paris” [VIDEO]

With his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, President Trump just gave the #ResistTrump crowd a new reason to hate him. Meanwhile, his supporters can add another check mark in the promised kept category. We all know how rare it is for a politician to actually do what he promised he d do while campaigning for office. Now it s up to Trump supporters to make sure they have his back President Trump said he was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris, during remarks Thursday explaining his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement. We want fair treatment for our taxpayers, he said. We don t want other leaders and other countries laughing at us anymore, and they won t be. They won t be. I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris. Trump appeared to name-drop Pittsburgh because of its historic ties to the coal and manufacturing industries.However, Democratic Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto rejected Trump s words, saying his city would follow the guidelines of the agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions. WFBThe mayor of Pittsburg, Bill Peduto, took to Twitter to show his opposition to and disrespect for our president who dodged a major bullet by his brave decision to not go along with the Paris Agreement:As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future. https://t.co/3znXGTcd8C bill peduto (@billpeduto) June 1, 2017Apparently not everyone who follows the radical mayor of Pittsburg agreed with his tweet. Here are some of the responses he received:Enjoy your last term Mr mayor Ed Serrano (@bugkiller7803) June 1, 2017You're more likely to be shot or killed in Pittsburgh than in Chicago. Maybe mayor Peduto should fix that before the climate @PressSec #MAGA pic.twitter.com/uigrOKxHxQ Democrats are NAZIs (@iResistAll) June 1, 2017

1real

The Iraqi Christians Who Are Struggling to Survive After Isis

Here's In the half-burned church of St Mary al-Tahira in Qaraqosh, several dozen Syriac Catholics are holding a mass in Aramaic amid the wreckage left by Isis . The upper part of the stone columns and the nave are scorched black by fire and the only artificial light comes from three or four candles flickering on an improvised altar. Isis fighters used the courtyard outside as a firing range and metal targets set at one end of it are riddled with bullets. In his sermon, the Syriac Catholic Bishop of Baghdad Yusuf Abba calls for the congregation to show cooperation and goodwill to all. But the people of Qaraqosh, an overwhelmingly Christian town 20 miles south east of Mosul , wonder just how much goodwill and cooperation they can expect in return. . The Christians are still traumatised by the disasters of the last two-and-a-half years. When Isis took Qaraqosh on 8 August 2014 it had a population of 44,000, almost all Syriac Catholics, who fled for their lives to Irbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government. Some 40 per cent of these have since migrated further to countries like Australia and France or, within the Middle East, to Istanbul and Lebanon. But the 28,000 people from Qaraqosh who stayed inside Iraq have understandable doubts about going home, even if Isis is fully defeated and loses Mosul. “There is no security while Isis is still in Mosul,” says Yohanna Towara, a farmer, teacher and community leader in the town, but even when Isis is gone the Christians will be vulnerable. He says that “the priority is for us to control our local affairs and to know who will rule the area in which we live.” He adds that the need for permanent security outweighs the need to repair the destruction wrought primarily by Isis but also by US-led air strikes. This destruction is bad enough, though it is not total. Isis fighters set fire to many ordinary houses in addition to the churches in the days before they left, but – possibly because there was no furniture left to burn since it all had been looted – most of these houses look as if they could be made habitable after extensive repairs. It will take time because not only has the furniture gone, but cookers and fridges so, even if light fittings or taps are still in place, there is no water or electricity. Isis did not fight for Qaraqosh and there are no booby traps or improvised explosive devices. But they must at one time have thought of doing so because they dug networks of tunnels in the nearby Christian village of Karemlash as if they intended to wage an underground guerrilla war against the Iraqi army. In the event, there are few signs of Isis resistance, except the rather pathetic remains of burned out tyres which they set fire to in order to create a smoke haze to impede the visibility of the aircraft of the US-led coalition. There were not many air strikes, but where they did take place the results devastated whole buildings reducing them to heaps of rubble. Visiting Qaraqosh from Irbil 40 miles away, it is easy to understand why people displaced from Qaraqosh and in the rest of the Nineveh Plain feel insecure and dubious about returning to their old homes, even where they are still standing. They know that if they do they will be at the mercy of Arab and Kurdish authorities eager to fill the vacuum left by the fall of Isis and wishing to stake new claims to territory and power. Arriving at a Kurdish Peshmerga checkpoint on the main road from the Kurdish region to Mosul at 9am, we make our way through crowds of people originally from Qaraqosh waiting to pass through. “See how they are treating people,” says a critical Christian observer. “People have been waiting here since 5 or 6am, but the Peshmerga say they need a senior officer to give permission for them to pass.” After another two Peshmerga checkpoints, we reach an Iraqi army checkpoint with whom the Christians have better relations. The Nineveh Plain east of Mosul was home to a mosaic of minorities and its abandoned villages show various levels of destruction, depending on their sectarian and ethnic complexion. For instance, some had once contained Sunni and Shia Shabak (a heterodox sect speaking a dialect of Kurdish), but Isis had destroyed the houses of the Shia but left the Sunni. Closer to Qaraqosh the checkpoints are manned by soldiers of the Iraqi Army and local Christian members of the Nineveh Protection Units (NPU) with their multi-coloured red, white and blue flags. Relations between the NPU and the army appear good, but the soldiers are Shia and at one checkpoint they had laid out a table and were serving sweet tea and biscuits as part of the Shia Arbaeen commemoration. The diversity of officially-sanctioned armed groups appears never-ending: at some checkpoints there were also visible the dark uniforms of federal police, whom locals say are recruited from the Shabak and Turkmen communities. Fear of Isis had united diverse groupings and communities, but that unity is showing signs of fraying. The Peshmerga are excluded from fighting inside Mosul city, but are building a rampart and ditch to denote their front line. The Kurds may be pleased to see Isis defeated in Mosul, but if it is defeated by a reconstituted and effective Iraqi army – very different from the large but ill-commanded and corrupt army that fled from Isis in 2014 – then the balance of power in northern Iraq will change against the Kurds. The outcome of the war all over Iraq and Syria has ensured that minorities that were once spread throughout the two countries, now only feel secure if they can rule their own territory. But in Iraq the Christians do not have the numbers to defend themselves. (Reprinted from The Independent by permission of author or representative)

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Germans most afraid of terrorism, secure about finances: study

BERLIN (Reuters) - Fear of terrorism, political extremism and social tension due to mass migration are Germans top concerns as they prepare to vote in a federal election, a survey showed on Thursday. Worries about jobs and the economy have meanwhile fallen to record lows, according to the annual study by insurer R+V. Having presided over an economic upswing that has boosted wages and created jobs, Chancellor Angela Merkel is widely expected to win a fourth term in the Sept. 24 election. Some voters from her conservative alliance have however defected to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) over her decision in 2015 to open Germany s borders to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war in Syria and Iraq. The R+V study showed terrorism remained the top fear, worrying 71 percent of Germans compared to 73 percent last year, Security officials have said the country should brace for further violence by Islamist militants after it was hit by five attacks in 2016, including one in December on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people. The fear of terror attacks is clearly in first place and is at one of the highest levels that has ever been measured, said Brigitte Roemstedt, who heads the R+V Info Centre that surveyed around 2,400 Germans. Political extremism was the second biggest worry, troubling 62 percent of Germans compared with 68 percent last year, while 61 percent fear that immigration could provoke social tension, down from 67 percent. R+V said fear of unemployment and a poor economic situation were at record lows, while concerns about natural disasters and contaminated food had increased.

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Former GOP Congressman Goes Full Trump, Encourages Armed Revolt If Clinton Wins

By Sean Colarossi on Wed, Oct 26th, 2016 at 7:36 pm This type of language from someone who used to be a member of the United States Congress is abhorrent, but it's also to be expected in the Trump era of American politics. Share on Twitter Print This Post Hopefully, as a country, we’ll return to a time in our politics when violent language is shocking and rare. But this year, when the man at the top of the Republican ticket has repeatedly encouraged his supporters to revolt if he loses, isn’t likely to be that time. On Wednesday, former GOP Congressman Joe Walsh, a right-wing extremist who now hosts a talk radio show, followed his nominee’s lead and told urged his Twitter followers to grab their guns on Nov. 9 if Hillary Clinton is elected. Tweet: On November 8th, I’m voting for Trump. On November 9th, if Trump loses, I’m grabbing my musket. You in? — Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) October 26, 2016 This type of language from someone who used to be – and thankfully no longer is – a member of the United States Congress is abhorrent, but it’s also to be expected in the Trump era of American politics. After all, not long ago Trump himself instructed his supporters to revolt if Clinton decides to fulfill her constitutional duty and nominate Supreme Court judges. “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” the Republican nominee said. “Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.” More recently, Trump said that he’d like to see what happens if Clinton’s bodyguards were disarmed. “I think her bodyguards should drop all weapons. Disarm immediately,” he said. “Take their guns away, let’s see what happens to her.” Not only does Walsh’s rhetoric align perfectly with what Trump has suggested at various points throughout this campaign, but it’s also a continuation of dangerous language that the former Republican congressman seems to enjoy using. Earlier in the year, when five police officers were gunned down in Dallas, Walsh blamed President Obama, tweeting: “This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you.” Before Trump hit the scene, this type of rhetoric existed, but it often only came from the most extreme elements in either party. Now it has the encouragement of a major party presidential nominee. On Nov. 9, we shouldn’t hope that people take up arms to protest the results of the election. We should hope that when Trump loses, he’ll take a lot of this dangerous rhetoric with him.

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Seth MacFarlane Just Told Johnson And Stein Supporters EXACTLY What They Need To Hear (TWEET)

In a perfect democracy, there would be multiple viable parties to choose candidates from. Each one would have to work hard and strive for our vote, and each one would have an equal chance at winning. Unfortunately, because of the way election laws and funding are currently in the United States, we re pretty much stuck with a two-party system and any third-party vote goes to help one of the two major parties.Think Ralph Nader in 2000 and how his votes in Florida gave us George W. Bush. Well, Nader and the Supreme Court.It s imperfect, but until laws are changed, it is what it is. No amount of whining or sitting elections out is going to change that. What we need are legislators willing to change the laws, but that s never going to happen if people keep having hissy fits.This year s election is so critical not just for the nation, but the entire world. A Donald Trump presidency would be catastrophic on so many levels, both with domestic and foreign policy.Reminding everyone how important this election is, and how a third-party vote will give us a President Trump, is none other than the legendary writer/producer and creator of Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane.MacFarlane tweeted: Remember: This November you can help elect President Donald Trump just by voting for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein! Happy Election Year! Remember: This November you can help elect President Donald Trump just by voting for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein! Happy Election Year! Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) September 19, 2016His sarcasm is more a terrifying wake-up call than just witty banter on the Twitter machine.Does this mean you shouldn t vote for Stein or Johnson? No, of course not. However, it needs to be brought to people s attention that their vote for a third party isn t actually going to put their candidate into office, but rather have the possibility of ushering in the apocalypse with Trump.A conscience vote does not do anyone any good with a Fascist in the White House, and it goes much deeper than just feeling good about yourself on election day.So, do what you do. That s your freedom to do so, but remember the unintended consequences of that vote and what will be in store for the entire world.Featured Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

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Russian diplomats vacate three properties on U.S. orders

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Russian diplomats vacated three properties in the United States on Saturday including the six-story consulate in San Francisco, complying with a U.S. order issued in retaliation for Moscow cutting the American diplomatic presence in Russia. Staff at the San Francisco consulate were seen moving equipment, furniture and small items from the building into minivans and driving away, before coming back for more 20 to 30 minutes later. A group of men in plainclothes and suits were seen on the roof of the consulate looking around, some wearing rubber gloves. The closure ordered by the Trump administration of the consulate in San Francisco and two buildings housing Russian trade missions in Washington and New York was the latest in tit-for-tat measures between the two countries that have helped plunge relations to a new post-Cold War low. Accusations made by the Russian government, including that U.S. officials threatened to break down doors in the relevant properties or that the FBI is clearing the premises, are untrue, a senior U.S. State Department official said in a statement. The State Department said the Russian government had complied with the order to shutter those operations by Saturday and said no diplomats were being expelled as result of the closures. Russia will no longer be permitted to use these facilities for diplomatic or consular purposes, the department official said. In July, the Kremlin ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people, to match the number of Russian diplomats in the United States, after the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions against Russia. Those U.S. sanctions were imposed as punishment for what U.S. intelligence agencies concluded was Moscow s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election as well as Russia s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine. As of early Saturday afternoon, the Russian flag was still seen atop the consulate in San Francisco. Someone opened a window above the main entrance and wedged a small Russian flag there. A small contingent of news media and curious passersby gathered below the building. Images posted on social media on Friday showed black smoke billowing from a chimney of the consulate on the hottest day in San Francisco s recorded history. The smoke prompted speculation that diplomatic staff inside the consulate were burning sensitive documents. Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said the fire was part of a mothballing. Russia s foreign ministry said on Saturday it had summoned a U.S. diplomat in Moscow to protest what it called plans to conduct searches in Russia s trade mission complex in Washington, another of the buildings ordered closed. Images posted on social media on Friday showed smoke and flames visible outside the trade mission building in Washington.

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MUSLIM REFUGEES GO ON HUNGER STRIKE: Demand $2000 Euros Per Month…What They Do Next Is More Outrageous…

Hunger strikes for the oppressed seem to be all the rage, both at home and abroad The refugee crisis has many faces. Alongside the urgent need of many, there are also some who believe they can exploit this Culture of Welcoming to make shameless demands, said Christian Ragger who represents the Carinthia branch of the Freedom Party of Austria in the regional parliament.He is making reference to events currently underway in St. Kanzian. On Tuesday 20 asylum seekers went on hunger strike because they were given residency permits, as the law provides for, and not passports, and because they are not receiving 2000 euros of pocket money each month.The most bizarre thing is that these striking asylum seekers also want to hold a press conference. They apparently assume that related reports in the media will ensure their demands are met. Via: APA

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Paul Ryan And Trump Go Head-To-Head As GOP Civil War Brews

It s no secret that House Speaker Paul Ryan only grudgingly accepted Donald Trump as the GOP nominee. After all, Trump has made Ryan s life a living hell for the last year and a half, as he has repeatedly been forced to defend, explain away, and distance himself from Trump s inexcusable behavior in any number of directions. This time, though, it seems that Ryan has had enough.Of course, we re all aware of the extraordinarily lewd tape of Trump boasting of sexual assault on an Access Hollywood bus with the then-host of the show, Billy Bush. As if that weren t enough to make Paul Ryan s head explode over the weekend, there s the fact that Trump kicked off the second presidential debate not only with that tape as the scandalous backdrop, but also by digging up women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct of one kind or another in the 1990 s, or accused Hillary Clinton of threatening them into silence. After that gutter-level nonsense from his nominee, Ryan held a conference call with elected with Republicans with one instruction and one instruction only: to save their own asses. Don t let Trump drag them down and make them lose their seats. Further, Ryan himself will not be campaigning with Trump, and he will not be defending anymore of Trump s antics.Because Trump is a thin-skinned, bullying, sniveling little boy in a dirty old man s body, he could not resist going after Ryan on Twitter. Trump tweeted: Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not spend his time fighting Republican nominee. Here is the tweet:Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2016When asked about Trump s childish tweeting, one of Ryan s spokeswomen completely avoided Trump, saying: The speaker is going to spend the next month focused entirely on protecting our congressional majorities in order to advance our Better Way agenda. Ryan, of course, is in a tough spot of his own making. He, Mitch McConnell, and all the rest of the GOPers who lined up behind Trump had to know that something of this nature was coming. Now, the whole party has the stench of the racist, misogynist, all-around bigoted pig that is Donald Trump.Time to cash in your life insurance policy and make some funeral arrangements, GOP. By the time November 8 rolls around, there will be nothing left of the Republican Party, and this is all your own faults.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images

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Could Trump switch gears? The line of attack against Hillary that could hurt her path to the White House

On Wednesday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump delivered a planned speech on his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, and according to Slate columnist and Clinton supporter Michelle Goldberg, it was “probably the most unnervingly effective one he has ever given,” in which he skillfully combined “truth and falsehood into a plausible-seeming picture meant to reinforce listeners’ underlying beliefs.” Though packed with fabrications as usual, the Republican presidential nominee avoided blatant and obvious lies, bizarre conspiracy theories (although he did claim that foreign governments may have a “blackmail file” on Clinton while discussing the email scandal, which is entering Alex Jones territory), and personal insults — all of which he had previously employed in his attacks on Clinton. Again, the speech was extremely dishonest in many parts, but the falsehoods were more subtle and less downright loony, and thus much more effective. Over the past couple of weeks, Trump has done a lot to sabotage his own campaign — from his racist attacks on the Hispanic judge overseeing the class-action lawsuit against Trump University to his shameless Tweet congratulating himself after the Orlando mass shooting. This has led some to conclude that the billionaire doesn’t really want to be president (and really, who can blame him?) and is deliberately running his campaign into a wall. Since becoming the nominee almost two months ago, his already atrocious favorability ratings have continued to drop, and according to a Bloomberg survey from last week, 66 percent of Americans now view him unfavorably. There is no doubt that the election is Clinton’s to lose. The former Secretary of State’s campaign is a well-oiled machine that currently has about forty times as much cash on hand as the Trump campaign. And while Clinton is overwhelmingly distrusted (and disliked) by the public, the idea of a Donald Trump presidency tends to scare more than half of Americans, and he has done a great job at repelling women and people of color over the past year. However, if Trump can refrain from attacking Bill Clinton’s infidelities and accusing the couple of plotting the murder of a friend and colleague (Vince Foster), and instead make substantive criticisms (and there are plenty of substantive criticisms to be made), he could potentially make Clinton’s life much more difficult in the months ahead. Of course, it is unlikely that Trump will actually do this — he has proven time and again that he has a natural aversion towards substantive debate, and prefers touting conspiracy theories and making personal attacks. He is an impulsive bully whose propensity for pettiness knows no bounds. But the sheer political baggage of Clinton does make her very vulnerable indeed. From her ties to big Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs (whether in campaign contributions or paid speeches) to the Clinton Foundation’s financial connections to foreign governments like Saudi Arabia, along with ugly and inconvenient truths — like the fact that Clinton’s state department approved massive arms deals with the aforementioned country after it had donated millions to her and Bill’s non-profit, or the fact that Bill earned the highest paid speeches of his post-presidency career while his wife was Secretary of State, most of which were sponsored by foreign governments and foreign organizations. If Trump sticks to these kinds of facts in his criticisms of Clinton — without straying into Alex Jones (or Donald Trump the mindless bully) territory — Hillary’s path to the White House could become increasingly complicated. It does make you wonder: after being dogged by scandals and conspiracy theories ever since they entered the national spotlight, did Hillary and Bill think that giving high-priced speeches for publicly despised  companies like Goldman Sachs and General Electric, accepting millions of dollars from foreign governments and organizations for their foundation, or cozying up with shady donors like Sant Chatwal and Frank Giustra (all of these companies, individuals, and governments are interested in buying influence, and to say otherwise is delusional) would be ignored by their opponents? As I have previously noted, it takes a special kind of arrogance to think this way, although it’s possible that Hillary expected her Republican opponent to be even more tainted by big donors (being a Republican and all). Of course, Donald Trump is an entirely different kind of corrupt. He hasn’t been in politics his entire life and doesn’t have a history of accepting big donations from Wall Street and corporate America. Instead, the billionaire is simply a charlatan and a fraud — whether it’s swindling vulnerable working people into buying sham Trump University degrees or fear-mongering, bullying and flagrantly lying his way to the nomination. Trump is the lovechild of P.T. Barnum and George Wallace; a shameless self-promoter with an ego that makes Kanye West look humble and a temperament that makes Joe McCarthy seem refined. And these qualities will probably get the better of him in the months ahead. The buffoonish billionaire will most likely continue rambling incoherently about conspiracy theories that he’s read on Infowars.com and mocking Bubba’s infidelities, and for this, Clinton should be grateful.

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Rural Nepal devastated by earthquake still awaits aid

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepali citizens frustrated and angered by their government's chaotic and bureaucratic response to aiding earthquake victims are doing it themselves. They've hired their own trucks and stuffed vehicles with plastic sheets for shelter and bags of rice and lentils for food. Yet as each day passes since the magnitude-7.8 earthquake hit April 25, this self-help effort is becoming more complicated. Youth belonging to various political parties are putting up impromptu checkpoints on the road to the hardest hit areas or just chasing down vehicles with their motorbikes on narrow, isolated mountain roads and demanding the aid be handed over to them for distribution. Such political maneuvering is not uncommon, but it is angering many Nepalis. "I have nothing left. One daughter is buried under my house. my other daughter was sent to a hospital," said Bhampagiri, 72, who lives in the hamlet of Pawachok, a two-hour drive from this capital city. "I have no food. Nothing. My house has collapsed so I sit here by the road and wait hoping someone will pass and help me," said Bhampagiri, who goes by one name. In the past week, the Nepali government has delayed customs clearance of international aid at Nepal's only international airport in Kathmandu and has been levying duty on truckloads of tarps being bused in from India by Nepali Good Samaritans. At the same time, the Nepali government has asked international donors to help with an additional 400,000 tents and tarpaulins, as well as blankets. The death toll is above 7,000 and is expected to rise significantly when hard hit but remote areas are reached. This week, the airport in Kathmandu received some much needed help from about 150 U.S. Marines. Commanded by Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy, the Marines are helping to ease the piled up backup of aid material. They have brought in a UH-17 helicopter and four MV-22 Ospreys capable of short landing and takeoffs with a maximum load of 20,000 pounds of cargo so they can access remote rural areas. The Ospreys should help break the logistics bottleneck. They will be used to deliver food and plastic sheets to drop off points in the mountains, where relief teams will distribute them. "Nepal is the worse case scenario," said Kennedy, who has worked on natural disasters and knows Nepal well. "It's landlocked, it's high altitude, it is going to tax even our military assets." Access to food and shelter is critical in the coming days for hundreds of thousands of Nepalis in the mountains. The epicenter of the earthquake is an area with just a few narrow and unstable dirt roads carved out of sheer mountain sides, making access exceedingly difficult. Mud and brick houses are perched on tiny terraced fields with meandering goat trails leading to them. The earthquake not only flattened villages, hamlets and towns but it also cut them off from the rest of the country with massive landslides. Many now can only be accessed on foot or by helicopter. Before the arrival of the U.S. aircraft, Nepal had been using for relief operations 27 helicopters — seven belonging to the Nepal army, six from private companies and 14 from the Indian government. There is also a critical need for more trucks that can carry relief goods as far as the roads go into the mountains. This is just the beginning of what disaster experts call "the sexy phase," the first response period when the world is focused on the disaster and donations pour in. It is very important to get this phase right so that reconstruction can take off, said Bill Berger the head of USAID's Disaster Assistance Response Team . "There is not enough capacity in the world to get everything to all the people of Nepal right now," Berger said. "It has to move out based on need. We also have to plan the long-term." Nearly all the Nepalis in the mountains are farmers. Every village has lost most of its young men to the Middle East and Malaysia, where they go for years to work as menial migrant workers, leaving behind parents, wives and sisters who now must fend with the overwhelming recovery challenges ahead. Sindhupalchok, Nepal's hardest hit district, is a scene of total devastation. Some houses are just mounds of bricks, others are missing walls and roofs, and concrete buildings have fallen on their sides. While some aid has reached the devastation in the district's capital, Chautara, no one has stopped to help the villages and hamlets along the way.

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Putin to meet with security council after U.S. missile strikes on Syria

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting of his security council later on Friday to discuss the U.S missile strikes on Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Russia has suspended its Syria air safety agreement with the United States following the missile strikes. Peskov said Russia would keep technical and military channels of communication open with Washington, but would not exchange any information through them. “In light of the missile strikes, risks (of collisions between Russian and U.S. aircraft) are significantly higher,” the spokesman told reporters. The strikes were carried out in interests of Islamic State and other radical groups operating in Syria, Peskov added.

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U.S. asks U.N. to blacklist 10 ships over banned North Korea cargo

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States has proposed that the United Nations Security Council blacklist 10 ships for transporting banned items from North Korea, according to documents seen by Reuters on Tuesday. The vessels are accused of conducting illegal ship-to-ship transfers of refined petroleum products to North Korean vessels or illegally transporting North Korean coal to other countries for exports, the United States said in its proposal. If none of the 15 members of the Security Council s North Korea sanctions committee object to the ships being designated by Thursday afternoon, the U.S. proposal will be approved. Countries are required to ban blacklisted ships from entering their ports. Four ships were designated for carrying coal from North Korea by the council s North Korea sanctions committee in October. North Korea is under a U.N. arms embargo and the Security Council has banned trade in exports such as coal, textiles, seafood, iron and other minerals to choke funding for Pyongyang s missile and nuclear programs. In September, the council put a cap of 2 million barrels a year on refined petroleum products exports to North Korea. The ships proposed to be blacklisted are: Xin Sheng Hai (flag unknown); Hong-Kong-flagged Lighthouse Winmore; Togo-flagged Yu Yuan; Panama-flagged Glory Hope 1 (also known as Orient Shenyu), Kai Xiang, and Billions No. 18; and North Korean-flagged Ul Ji Bong 6, Rung Ra 2, Rye Song Gang 1, and Sam Jong 2. Reclusive North Korea has boasted of developing a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching the mainland United States in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions and international condemnation. 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. He did not specify how long the lull should last. 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, which flew higher and further than previous tests.

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Gov. Kasich enters GOP White House race touting 'skills and experience'

Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Tuesday announced he will join the 2016 Republican primary race for the White House, telling voters he has the “skills and experience” to restore the American dream. “I am here to ask you for your prayers, your support, your efforts because I have decided to run for president of the United States,” said Kasich, a two-term governor who also spent 18 years in Congress. The 63-year-old Kasich became the 16th GOP candidate -- and perhaps not the last -- when he declared his candidacy at the Ohio State University. “The American Dream is pivotal to the future of our country,” he said. “But I have to tell you, a lot of people are not sure that dream is still possible, not sure that dream is still alive. … I have the skills and experience” to restore that dream. Kasich, known for his bluntness, was overwhelmingly re-elected last year to a second term as governor, winning bipartisan support for cutting taxes and improving the state economy. Prior to becoming governor, Kasich served in the U.S. House from 1983 to 2001, where in 1995 he ascended to chairman of the chamber’s Budget committee. In 1997, he helped seal a federal balanced budget deal. Kasich also made a White House bid in 2000, but dropped out before the Iowa Straw Poll. "He's certainly going to be a viable candidate," Republican campaign strategist Ed Rollins told FoxNews.com on Monday. "No one's more qualified than he is. No one has more knowledge about the federal government. ... He was an extraordinary governor." Kasich enters the race facing long odds. But he will likely use the situation to his advantage -- telling voters he understands tough challenges, considering he was the only Republican elected to Congress in 1982, and that he's eager to lead the fight for the middle class. He was also the youngest person to be elected to the Ohio Senate, when he won a seat in 1979 as a 26-year-old. On Monday, Kasich was ranked No. 12 among the top 15 GOP candidates with 1.5 percent of the vote, according to an averaging of polls by the nonpartisan website RealClearPolitics.com. Former New York Gov. George Pataki is not listed in the poll average. Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore is also expected to enter the GOP race. No Republican has won the White House without carrying Ohio. Kasich, a former Fox News Channel commentator, is now one of four governors in the GOP field -- joining New Jersey’s Chris Christie, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin’s Scott Walker. One of his biggest challenges will be getting into the top tier of Republican candidates to qualify for some early debates. And he must convince primary voters who question his conservative credentials that his decision to expand ObamaCare in Ohio was a moral imperative to help the poor. "John Kasich’s decision to expand Medicaid in Ohio in 2013 was a costly mistake,” said David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth. “Medicaid enrollment in Ohio has far outpaced Kasich’s projections and more than doubled in cost. The Club for Growth is concluding its research into Kasich’s broader record on issues of economic freedom. But, our presidential white paper on the Ohio governor will, no doubt, warn of the long-lasting consequences from his decision to burden Ohio with an ever-growing price tag for Medicaid expansion.” Unions that turned back an effort by Kasich and fellow Republicans to limit public workers' collective bargaining rights say Kasich's successes have come at a cost to local governments and schools, and that new Ohio jobs lack the pay and benefits of the ones they replaced. They plan a protest outside Tuesday's launch. Kasich’s parents were killed by a drunken driver in 1987, an event that purportedly strengthened his religious faith. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State in 1974. As a freshman political science major in 1970, he audaciously wrote a letter that landed him a 20-minute audience with President Richard Nixon. New Day for America, the group supporting Kasich's White House bid, recently said it has raised more than $11.5 million in just over eight weeks. That's in line with several of the better known Republican presidential contenders, though former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's team recently announced a fundraising haul exceeding $114 million. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Dozens of U.S. lawmakers request briefing on Yahoo email scanning

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of 48 lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday asked the Obama administration to brief Congress “as soon as possible” about a 2015 Yahoo YHOO.O program to scan all of its users’ incoming email at the behest of the government. The request comes amid scrutiny by privacy advocates and civil liberties groups about the legal authority and technical nature of the surveillance program, first revealed by Reuters last week. Custom software was installed to search messages to hundreds of millions of accounts under an order issued by the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. “As legislators, it is our responsibility to have accurate information about the intelligence activities conducted by the federal government,” according to the letter, organized by Republican Representative Justin Amash of Michigan and Democratic Representative Ted Lieu of California. “Accordingly, we request information and a briefing as soon as possible for all members of Congress to resolve the issues raised by these reports.” Investigators searched for messages that contained a single piece of digital content linked to a foreign state sponsor of terrorism, sources have told Reuters, though the nature of the content remains unclear. Intelligence officials said Yahoo modified existing systems used to stop child pornography and filter spam messages on its email service. But three former Yahoo employees told Reuters the court-ordered search was done by a module buried deep near the core of the company’s email server operation system, far below where mail sorting was handled. The Senate and House intelligence committees were given a copy of the order when it was issued last year, sources said, but other members of Congress have express concern at the scope of the email scanning. Some legal experts have questioned the breadth of the court order and whether it runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches. Half of registered U.S. voters believe the Yahoo program violated the privacy of customers, according to a poll of 1,989 people conducted last week by Morning Consult, a polling and media company. Twenty-five percent were supportive of the program because of its potential to stop criminal acts, the survey found, while another quarter did not know or had no opinion. The congressional letter is addressed to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

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U.S. condemns Russia veto of probe into Syria chemical weapons use

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is “very disappointed” that Russia on Tuesday cast a veto at the United Nations Security Council against renewing a mandate to continue an investigation into who was responsible for the use of chemical weapons during Syria’s civil war. “We are disappointed, we are very disappointed that Russia put what it considered to be political considerations over the Syrian people who were so brutally murdered,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told a regular briefing.

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Trump Will Prove Bill Clinton Was Jack the Ripper

Tuesday, 1 November 2016 Back in those days, Bill would do anything to get away from Hillary's watchful eyes. Gross, Nebraska From the campaign trail, Trump delivered the news that he said has recently been discovered by historians hired by the Trump organization, that Bill Clinton was, in fact, Jack the Ripper! "We have learned of some documents that will irretrievably prove that, while he was President of the United States, Bill Clinton used a prototype of a time machine invented by a consortium of Linus Pauling, Stephen Hawking, and Brian Mays in the 1990s to go back to the 18th Century, in the Whitechapel area of London, to commit the Jack the Ripper murders. "In fact, when we submit the proof, I think you'll all agree that it couldn't be anyone else!" trumpeted Trump. Make Al N.'s

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Anderson Cooper Informs Viewers CNN Just Minutes Away From First Significant Piece Of Information Of Day - The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Trump Raises Concern Over Members Of Urban Communities Voting More Than Zero Times ATKINSON, NH—Warning supporters that the troubling practice could affect the outcome of the election, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump expressed strong concern Friday that members of urban communities were voting more than zero times, sources reported. Nation Puts 2016 Election Into Perspective By Reminding Itself Some Species Of Sea Turtles Get Eaten By Birds Just Seconds After They Hatch WASHINGTON—Saying they felt anxious and overwhelmed just days before heading to the polls to decide a historically fraught presidential race, Americans throughout the country reportedly took a moment Thursday to put the 2016 election into perspective by reminding themselves that some species of sea turtles are eaten by birds just seconds after they hatch. Report: Election Day Most Americans’ Only Time In 2016 Being In Same Room With Person Supporting Other Candidate WASHINGTON—According to a report released Thursday by the Pew Research Center, Election Day 2016 will, for the majority of Americans, mark the only time this year they will occupy the same room as a person who supports a different presidential candidate. Most Hotly Contested Down-Ballot Measures Of 2016 As Americans head to the polls, they will be presented with a number of issues to vote on besides choosing their representatives. The Onion gives voters an advance look at which measures will be included on the ballots in which states. New Heavy-Duty Voting Machine Allows Americans To Take Out Frustration On It Before Casting Ballot WASHINGTON—Saying the circumstances of this year’s presidential race made the upgrade necessary, election commissions throughout the country were reportedly working to install new heavy-duty voting machines this week that will allow Americans to physically take out their frustrations on the devices before casting their votes. Clinton Staff Readies EMP Launch To Disable All Nation’s Electronic Devices NEW YORK—In an effort to prepare for any new revelations that might emerge about her emails during her tenure as secretary of state, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton reportedly told her staff Tuesday to ready the launch of several electromagnetic pulses to disable all of the nation’s electronic devices. End Of Section More News Up Next

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The Amish In America Commit Their Vote To Donald Trump; Mathematically Guaranteeing Him A Presidential Victory - ABC News

18 SHARE The Amish in America have committed their vote to Donald Trump guaranteeing him the Presidency. (AP Photo / Dennis System) COLUMBUS, OH (AP) — History was made today in Columbus, Ohio when more than 3 million Amish poured into the city to see the American Amish Brotherhood (AAB), an organization which acts as an informal governing body for the Amish community, endorse Donald Trump for president. That number represents a significant portion of the total Amish population, which the United States Census Bureau says numbers more than 20 million men and women nationwide all pledging their vote to Trump for President. With the full force of the Amish community behind him, Donald Trump is now mathematically guaranteed to win the presidency in November. The organization typically meets once a year and the meetings usually consist of about 300 Amish leaders who meet to discuss the challenges, such as urban sprawl, that face the community. This year, however, the organization wanted as many people in attendance as possible so they can effectively instruct all Amish men and women of legal voting age to cast their vote for the flamboyant Republican nominee. The Amish, who are direct descendants of the protestant reformation sect known as the Anabaptists, have typically stayed out of politics in the past. As a general rule, they don’t vote, serve in the military, or engage in any other displays of patriotism. This year, however, the AAB has said that it is imperative that they get involved in the democratic process. “Over the past eight years, the Democratic Party has launched a systematic assault on biblical virtues,” said AAB chairman Menno Simons. “We have seen more and more Christians being persecuted for their faith; we have seen the state defile the institution of marriage. Now, they want to put a woman in the nation’s highest leadership role in direct violation of 1 Timothy 2:12. We need to stop this assault and take a stand for biblical principles. Donald Trump has shown in both action and deed that he is committed to restoring this country to the Lord’s way.” According to statistician Nate Silver of the website fivethirtyeight.com, there are no possible scenarios in which Hillary Clinton can win with Donald Trump carrying the Amish vote. “The Amish have their highest numbers in perennial swing states like Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa,” Silver noted. “They also have strong numbers in reliably Democratic states like Michigan, Illinois, and New York, meaning that Hillary will lose those states as well. There is also a sizeable community in Florida which, while not as large as it is in the Midwest, is still large enough to turn Florida for Trump. Over the next two weeks, you can expect Hillary to enter into a state of freefall in all of my predictive models.” The Clinton campaign issued a written statement to the AAB asking them to reconsider their decision. “I don’t believe that Donald Trump is the person who best represents your interests,” Clinton wrote to the AAB. “As a career real estate developer, he represents a clear threat to your simple way of life. As former first lady of Arkansas, I understand the concerns of rural Americans more than any candidate in this election. I implore you to consider all of the facts before voting for my opponent.” Most pundits believe that Mrs. Clinton’s plea is too little too late. During a press conference in Manhattan, Trump thanked the AAB for their support and promised to put the Amish to work maintaining government buildings, which he said would save taxpayers millions because “the Amish do great work for a very low price.” Though Clinton has pledged to stay in the race until the very end, many of her campaign workers have already resigned. According to the Associated Press, it is expected that the Clinton campaign will lose 50% of its staff over the next two weeks. There is a general mood of hopelessness and despair in the Clinton camp, and many simply want to cut their losses. “It looked like she was going to win this election easily,” said Paul Horner, a campaign worker in Ohio, “But this is what happens when you wake a sleeping giant. Cleary, Mrs. Clinton took far too much for granted in this race, and we are all now paying the price. It’s really sad to see the campaign end this way.” If you are interested in learning more about the Amish community and the AAB, you can contact the Pennsylvania Amish Heritage Museum at (785) 273-0325. TAGS

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Myanmar military appoints general to probe mass grave in Rakhine state

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar s army said on Wednesday that it had appointed a senior officer to investigate whether any members of the security forces were involved in the killing of 10 people whose bodies have been uncovered in a mass grave in Rakhine State. A violent crackdown by the security forces in response to attacks by militants in the western state has caused around 650,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh in recent months. The discover of the grave, at the village of Inn Din, about 50 km (30 miles) north of the state capital Sittwe, was announced by the military two days ago. In a statement posted on the Facebook page of the military s commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the army said a five-member investigation team had left the capital Naypyitaw on Wednesday. The team, led by Lieutenant General Aye Win, would investigate whether the security forces took part or not, in relation to the unidentified dead bodies found in Inn Din village graveyard . It gave no further details and military officials were not immediately available for comment. General Aye Win is the same officer who led a wider probe into the conduct of troops in a conflict that began in late August, which concluded in a report last month that no atrocities took place. Myanmar s armed forces launched what they termed clearance operations in northern Rakhine, where many of the stateless Muslim minority lived, after Rohingya militants attacked 30 police posts and an army base on Aug. 25. Rights monitors have accused troops of abuses, including killings, mass rape and arson during those operations. The United States has said it amounted to ethnic cleansing . Myanmar s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has faced fierce international criticism for failing to do more to protect the Rohingya. The civilian government, which has no control over the military, has said the army was engaged in legitimate counter-insurgency operations. It has promised to investigate allegations of abuses in Rakhine if it is given evidence.

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RUSSIAN HACKERS? No, We Found What Lost The Election For Hillary [Video]

It wasn t a #russianhack that lost the election for Hillary. It was this. pic.twitter.com/yzT2Dzb1zp Rep. Steven Smith (@RepStevenSmith) December 12, 2016

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U.S. lawmakers may change September 11 law after rejecting veto

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers expressed doubts on Thursday about Sept. 11 legislation they forced on President Barack Obama, saying the new law allowing lawsuits against Saudi Arabia could be narrowed to ease concerns about its effect on Americans abroad. A day after a rare overwhelming rejection of a presidential veto, the first during Obama’s eight years in the White House, the Republican leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives opened the door to fixing the law as they blamed the Democratic president for not consulting them adequately. “I do think it is worth further discussing,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, acknowledging that there could be “potential consequences” of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, known as JASTA. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Congress might have to “fix” the legislation to protect U.S. troops in particular. Ryan did not give a time frame, but Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he thought JASTA could be addressed in Congress’ “lame-duck” session after the Nov. 8 election. The law grants an exception to the legal principle of sovereign immunity in cases of terrorism on U.S. soil, clearing the way for lawsuits seeking damages from the Saudi government. Riyadh denies longstanding suspicions that it backed the hijackers who attacked the United States in 2001. Sept. 11 families lobbied intensely for the bill, getting it passed by the House days before the 15th anniversary of the 2001 attacks earlier this month after years of effort. “We have to understand the political environment we’re in right now and the tremendous support the 9/11 victims have in the United States,” said Robert Jordan, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is one of Washington’s longest-standing and most important allies in the Middle East and part of a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. The Saudis lobbied furiously against JASTA, and the Saudi foreign ministry condemned its passage in a statement on Thursday. “The erosion of sovereign immunity will have a negative impact on all nations, including the United States,” said the statement, which was carried on state news agency SPA. Still, the new law is not expected to have a lasting effect on the two countries’ strategic relationship. Saudi-U.S. ties have endured “multiple times of deep outrage” over 70 years, said Thomas Lippman of the Middle East Institute. “The two countries need each other as much today as they did before the day before yesterday,” he said. White House spokesman Josh Earnest mocked lawmakers for shifting “within minutes” from overwhelmingly voting to override Obama’s veto to wanting to change the law. “I think what we’ve seen in the United States Congress is a pretty classic case of rapid onset buyer’s remorse,” Earnest told a White House briefing. Corker said he had tried to work out a compromise with the White House, but Obama administration officials declined a meeting. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, who championed JASTA in the Senate, said he was open to revisiting the legislation. “I’m willing to look at any proposal they make but not any that hurt the families,” he said at a news conference. He said he would oppose a suggestion that the measure be narrowed to only apply to the 2001 attacks on Washington and New York. “You know what that does? It tells the Saudis to go ahead and do it again, and we won’t punish you,” Schumer said. Corker said another suggestion was establishing an international tribunal so experts could determine whether there was culpability. He said the Saudis were been willing to work on a compromise, and denied they had threatened retaliation. Trent Lott, a former Republican Senate Majority Leader now at a Washington law firm lobbying for the Saudis, said attorneys would look carefully at JASTA’s language. “I do feel passionately this is a mistake for a variety of reasons, in terms of threats to troops, diplomats, sovereignty, there’s serious problems here. Hopefully we can find a way to change the tenor of this,” Lott said.

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Chicago sues Trump administration over sanctuary city plan

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago on Monday sued to prevent the Trump administration from enforcing new policies that would withhold money from so-called sanctuary cities that deny U.S. immigration officials access to local jails. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, said the federal policies force the nation’s third largest city to choose between its constitutional rights and funding for law enforcement. “These new conditions also fly in the face of longstanding City policy that promotes cooperation between local law enforcement and immigrant communities,” the lawsuit said. The policies also include a requirement that local law enforcement agencies give federal authorities 48 hours notice before releasing anyone wanted for immigration violations. Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Sunday that the city would sue, escalating a pushback against an immigration crackdown launched by Republican President Donald Trump’s administration. “We are bringing this legal challenge because the rhetoric, the threats from this administration embodied in these new conditions imposed on unrelated public safety grants funds are breeding a culture and climate of fear,” Emanuel’s senior legal adviser, Corporation Counsel Ed Siskel, said on Monday.The conditions from the Justice Department apply to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants, which provide money to hundreds of cities. Chicago is expected to receive $3.2 million this year for purchasing equipment. Siskel said the city will follow the initial complaint with a motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the government’s imposition of the new conditions. The city will request a decision from the judge before the Sept. 5 deadline to apply for the Byrne grant, Siskel said. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Monday that Chicago officials have shown an “open hostility” to enforcing laws designed to reduce crime and protect law enforcement. He added that more Chicagoans were murdered last year than residents of Los Angeles and New York combined, and that Chicago needed to reverse a “culture of lawlessness.” “This administration will not simply give away grant dollars to city governments that proudly violate the rule of law and protect criminal aliens at the expense of public safety,” Sessions said in a statement. The lawsuit is the first to challenge the Justice Department over the Byrne program but is not the first legal attack on the administration’s sanctuary city policies. Emanuel said on Sunday that the lawsuit would prevent the administration from setting a precedent that could be used to target other funding. Sanctuary cities in general offer illegal immigrants safe harbor by declining to use municipal resources to enforce federal immigration laws. Dozens of local governments and cities, including New York and San Francisco, are part of the sanctuary movement. “Sanctuary city” is not an official designation. The lawsuit came nearly two weeks after Sessions said the Justice Department would bar cities from the Byrne program unless they allowed immigration authorities unlimited access to local jails and give the 48 hours pre-release notice. Chicago and its high murder rate have been frequently criticized by Trump, and cracking down on illegal immigration was a theme of his 2016 presidential campaign.

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China air force drills in Sea of Japan and again around Taiwan

BEIJING (Reuters) - China s air force carried out another round of long-range drills on Monday, flying into the Sea of Japan and prompting South Korean and Japanese jets to scramble, and again around self-ruled Taiwan amid growing tension over China s assertiveness. China has in recent months ramped up its long-range air force drills, particularly around Taiwan, claimed by China as its own. The air force said in a statement that fighter and bomber aircraft flew through the Tsushima Strait that separates South Korea from Japan and into international waters in the Sea of Japan. The Sea of Japan is not Japan s, and the drills were lawful and reasonable, air force spokesman Shen Jinke said in the statement, describing the exercises as routine and pre-planned. The Japanese Defence Ministry said in a statement that the aircraft - two SU-30 fighters, two H-6 bombers and one TU-154 reconnaissance plane - had not violated Japan s airspace. In Seoul, South Korea s Joint Chiefs of Staff said five Chinese military planes were spotted entering the Korean Air Defence Identification Zone, and fighter jets scrambled in response. The Chinese aircraft also flew through Japan s Air Defence Identification Zone, they said. Our fighter planes took normal tactical measures, identifying the models of the Chinese planes and flying aerial surveillance until they left, the South Korean statement said. Chinese air force spokesman Shen alluded to the scrambled aircraft, saying they responded to interference from foreign military aircraft but were able to achieve the aim of their drill. Taiwan s military said that China had staged a separate drill at the same time, flying a plane through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines and then returning to base through the Strait of Miyako, to Taiwan s north and near Japan s southern islands. Taiwan monitored Japan sending F-15 fighters to intercept, Taiwan s defence ministry added in its statement. The Japanese Defence Ministry identified the plane as Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft. There was no violation of Japan s airspace in this instance either, the ministry said. China s air force last week conducted island encirclement patrols near Taiwan, after a senior Chinese diplomat threatened that China would invade the self-ruled island if any U.S. warships made port visits there. China suspects Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who leads the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, wants to declare the island s formal independence. Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China but will defend Taiwan s security. China s air force exercises also come amid regional tensions over North Korea s nuclear and missile programmes, with bellicose rhetoric from both North Korea and U.S. President Donald Trump.

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Fox Sports’ Shannon Sharpe Urges Patriots to Boycott White House Visit After Super Bowl LI Win - Breitbart

Shannon Sharpe, of Fox Sports’ “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed,” advised members of the New England Patriots to boycott the visit to the White House they earned by winning Super Bowl LI. [During his Wednesday broadcast, Sharpe and Skip Bayless discussed the dilemma some members of the Patriots have expressed over their visit to Donald Trump’s White House. During the discussion Sharpe said that the entire team should unite with a boycott and send a message by breaking the Super Bowl championship tradition. The hosts revealed that two members of the Patriots have already said they won’t be going to Washington both Martellus Bennett and Devin McCourty have announced their intention to skip the team’s White House visit. Sharpe said that McCourtney in particular had given “very sound, resonating ” reasons for his decision. Sharpe excused his thought to turn the Super Bowl into a platform for Black Lives politics, insisting that athletes don’t want to “stick to sports” any more. “Athletes in today’s time, we’re starting to see athletes saying ‘I do not only want athletic greatness, I want moral greatness as well.’ See, he’s thinking with his conscience and his heart,” Sharpe said. “A lot of the things going on, a lot of the policies being implemented doesn’t necessarily affect him directly,” Sharpe continued. “He’s financially secure, the NFL pays for his insurance. So currently, he’s really not affected by this — but these athletes of today’s time say ‘there’s something greater,’ there’s no more ‘just stick to sports.’ You hear that a lot, Skip. ‘Just stick to sports. ’” Sharpe claimed that many athletes are simply acting like “prudent human beings” and have decided what is going on in American society today is “not acceptable. ” And I cannot in good conscience, although we won this as a team — and I would love to share in this moment as a team — I cannot in good conscience go. Because what I think this president is standing for, what he’s saying, the policies he’s implementing are harming the minority communities. I am a minority. Whether it be black, the Latino community, the immigration ban, LGBT — whatever it may be, you’re starting to see athletes take a much more of a stance. Because in the past, if you had a brand, you were making money, you do not do anything to upset the or the people that’s buying that product. You keep your mouth shut. Ultimately, Sharpe decided that being on the “wrong side of history” needs to be avoided. Now, with this president, President Trump, in office, he’s going to ask you to ask an honest question of yourself. ‘What side of history do you want to be on?’ Are you going to be on the side of history that’s a bridge and that’s trying to bring people together, or are you a part of the wall, that’s trying to tear people apart? That’s the question that athletes are asking themselves, and you’re starting to see more and more saying ‘you know what? I want to be on the side of history that’s positive, that’s bringing people together. ” Sharpe said that the members of the Patriots refusing to go to the White House “are to be commended. ” Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com.

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Seahawks Star Has Even MORE To Protest Before Games After Police Brutality In Vegas

One of the most feared defensive ends in football, Michael Bennett of the Seattle Seahawks, posted an account on Twitter Wednesday of his own story of police brutality, and it happened less than three weeks ago.Bennett was in Las Vegas the day after his team bested the Kansas City Chiefs in a preseason matchup. Before that game, as Bennett has the entire preseason, he sat during the national anthem in protest against police brutality nationwide. Number 72 has been an outspoken activist for years, but this year he has elected to actually join other players in protest of the treatment of people of color at the hands of police.As he did previous 2 weeks, Michael Bennett sits during national anthem. As last week, teammate Justin Britt stands at his side. #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/5ko7KG4jT2 Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) August 26, 2017Ironic doesn t begin to cover what happened to him the very next day. With a statement far too large to fit into even a series of tweets, Bennett posted his account of what happened after the much-hyped fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor in Las Vegas on August 26th:To be clear, Michael Bennett is a very big man. At six-foot-four and 275 pounds of pure muscle, Bennett wears a smaller version of standard NFL shoulder pads so they don t get in his way as he crushes his opponents on the field. But this beast of a man, compliant in every way, finally encountered something that made him fear for his life: The police.Any Seahawks fan and I am one of the biggest will tell you that Michael Bennett is the last person that would ever be a suspect in any kind of violent crime. If he seems like a monster when he gears up, it is in polar opposite to his life off the field. He lives in Hawaii with his wife and three young daughters. His brother Martellus, a tight end for the Packers, writes children s books. Michael collaborates with his brother s business, The Imagination Agency. He is a happy man.But today he is not happy. If NFL fans thought they were going to get players to stop protesting during the national anthem by complaining about their patriotism, they should seek out Michael Bennett and ask him how much he loves this country. Bennett is a proud American, standing up against the police brutality that has claimed so many young black lives, and almost claimed his own.Featured image via Elsa (Staff)/Getty Images

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Senate confirms Trump nominee to be Israel envoy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, an outspoken bankruptcy lawyer aligned with the Israeli right. The vote was 52 to 46, almost exclusively along party lines. Only two Democrats, Senators Robert Menendez and Joe Manchin, joined Trump’s fellow Republicans in backing Friedman. That amount of opposition is highly unusual for a nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel, a close ally of the United States. For decades, nominees from both Democratic and Republican presidents have been approved without objection, via unanimous consent or voice votes. Friedman, who has no diplomatic experience, is a longtime friend of Trump who worked for the Republican former New York businessman as a bankruptcy lawyer. In addition to investing in settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians, Friedman favors moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The relocation is strongly opposed by many U.S. allies because both Israel and the Palestinians claim the city as their capital. Friedman is also known for using inflammatory language against those with whom he has political disagreements, such as describing former President Barack Obama as anti-Semitic. Democrats said his approach could risk security in a volatile region. “Our ambassador should not be the kind of person who uses language to fuel violence, hate, instability,” Democratic Senator Brian Schatz said on the Senate floor before the final confirmation vote. Trump’s selection of Friedman reflects his shift in policy toward Israel after years of friction between Obama and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Unlike Obama, Trump has wavered on the U.S. commitment to a two-state solution, long a bedrock of Washington’s Middle East policy, and backed the embassy’s relocation. When Friedman was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also largely along party lines, Republican Senator Bob Corker, the panel’s chairman, praised him as an “impassioned advocate” for strong U.S.-Israeli ties. “He understands the complexity of issues at stake for the United States and the necessity to support a democratic ally in an important and unstable part of the world,” Corker said. Thursday’s vote meant that Trump will have an ambassador in place in time for next week’s annual conference in Washington of the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC.

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Chinese academics prod Beijing to consider North Korea contingencies

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese academics are publicly broaching the idea that China and the United States should share plans on how to deal with a potential conflict on the Korean Peninsula, a sign some say of how North Korea s weapons test may be making Beijing more open to the once taboo subject. Chinese officials have rebuffed top U.S. military brass for years in their efforts to share contingencies for war or regime collapse in Pyongyang, suspicious over Washington s intentions and fearful that such engagement could further alienate North Korea, their once steadfast wartime ally. Jia Qingguo, the dean of the School of International Studies at China s elite Peking University and a respected advisor to Chinese leaders, said in an article this week that with the chances of war increasing daily, it might be time for China to prepare for the worst . When war becomes a real possibility, China must be prepared. And, with this in mind, China must be more willing to consider talks with concerned countries on contingency plans, Jia wrote in an article first published on the online East Asia Forum run out of Australian National University. Given recent developments, Beijing may have no better choice than to start talking with Washington and Seoul , Jia said. Ties between China and North Korea have deteriorated sharply in recent years, to the point some diplomats and experts fear Beijing may become, like Washington, a target of its neighbor s ire. Jia s comments, at the forefront of what is still a sensitive debate in China, were made before North Korea on Friday fired a missile that flew over Japan s northern Hokkaido far out into the Pacific Ocean. That test came after the U.N. Security Council s latest round of sanctions on Monday banning North Korea s textile exports and capping fuel supplies in response to Pyongyang s accelerated effort to target the United States with a powerful, nuclear-tipped missile. Xie Tao, associate dean at the School of English and International Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said Chinese academics in years past would typically only express their opinions on whether China should be sharing plans with Washington behind closed doors. Now you can get all sorts of people from the left and right and they are allowed to make their views public, Xie told Reuters. You could interpret that as a signal that the Chinese government is perhaps willing now to consider, if not actually join up to, contingency plans, Xie said. My sense is that there must be some in-depth discussion about what could potentially happen if there is a collapse or internal chaos how Beijing and Washington should respond to this. During a trip to China in August, Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended Chinese military drills at China s Northern Theater Command in the city of Shenyang, which covers China s border with North Korea. Some analysts perceived that as China opening a crack in the door to its own preparations, but neither side are showing their cards to the public. Dunford said in Beijing during that visit that despite Washington s urgings the conditions aren t set for such a detailed conversation between the two militaries. U.S. military officials have privately voiced frustration that previous channels established for direct military communications line are essentially unstaffed on the Chinese side. Dunford said creating a round-the-clock responsive communications link that could be used in a crisis was a top priority for military ties. For a graphic on North Korea's missile and nuclear tests, click: here

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Iran sends tanks to border with Iraq's Kurdish region, Kurdish official says

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iran deployed a dozen tanks supported by artillery at its border with Iraq s autonomous Kurdish region on Monday, a Kurdish official said, adding that the move was a dangerous escalation in the crisis triggered by Iraqi Kurdistan s independence vote. The tanks can be seen from the Kurdish side, an official from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) security council told Reuters, adding that the move was a dangerous escalation. Iraq s Kurds overwhelmingly voted for independence in a referendum held one week ago, defying the central government in Baghdad as well as neighboring Turkey and Iran, which fear Kurdish separatism within their own borders. The deployment at the Parviz Khan border point on Monday was part of joint military drills conducted by the Iranian and the Iraqi armed forces in response to the referendum, state media in Tehran said. The exercises began last Sunday, according to Iran s Mehr news agency. The KRG says it plans to use the referendum s result as a mandate to negotiate the peaceful secession of the Kurdish region through talks with Baghdad. KRG President Masoud Barzani said on Monday it was legitimate to hold the vote in the Kurdish areas, including in the multi-ethnic oil city of Kirkuk, also claimed by Baghdad. Kirkuk is a Kurdistani city which should become an example for the coexistence of nations and religions, he said during a visit to Kirkuk. But Baghdad has rejected any talks with the KRG over independence. It demanded that the KRG relinquish control over its external border crossings with Turkey, Iran and Syria. It also demanded the KRG hand over its airports to federal control. When the KRG turned down those demands, Iraq s central government imposed a ban on international flights to and from the region s two international airports on Friday. The interior ministry said on Monday foreigners stranded in the Kurdish region by the ban would be allowed to exit through Baghdad s airport without having to wait for an Iraqi visa. Many nationalities, especially westerners, were allowed into the KRG without a visa. Baghdad gained the support of Cairo s al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Muslim learning, on Monday. It issued a statement rejecting invitations to divide Iraq. Al-Azhar s position could help Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a Shi ite, rally some support among Iraq s large Sunni minority against the Kurds, who are also largely Sunni. In another effort to present the government as inclusive for all Iraqis, including Kurds, state TV announced on Monday that it will be broadcasting a daily news bulletin in Kurdish. Iraq s defense ministry said on Friday the Iraqi authorities planned to take control of the borders of its autonomous Kurdistan region in coordination with Iran and Turkey. The statement did not give details. Nor did it indicate whether Iraqi forces would move toward the border posts controlled by the KRG from the Iranian and Turkish side, or set up checkpoints in the vicinity of these posts in order to control the crossings. Iranian state television on Saturday quoted a military spokesman as saying Iran and Iraq agreed on measures to establish border security and receive Iraqi forces that are to be stationed at border posts . We have always respected our borders with our neighbors and any (military) move will be in coordination with Baghdad and our allies, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Iran has vowed to stand alongside Baghdad in the fallout following the referendum. Allowing Iraq to seize border posts from Kurdish control would further cement Iran s stance to renounce dealings with the Kurdistan region in favor of the central government in Baghdad. Backed by Ankara and Tehran, the Iraqi government has demanded that the Kurdish leadership cancel the result of the referendum or face the prospect of sanctions, international isolation and possibly a military intervention. A small Iraqi force is also deployed on the Turkish side of the border as part of joint drills with the Turkish army. Iran s military chief, General Mohammad Baqeri, met Turkish Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar in Tehran on Monday. Iran and Turkey share the same stance on the referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan and both insist on the sovereignty of Iraq, Baqeri was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA after his meeting with Akar. The armed forces of both countries will increase cooperation in training and war games, he was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

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Turkey's Erdogan tells Muslim summit Jerusalem is capital of Palestine

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called on world powers to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine on Wednesday and said the United States should reverse a decision recognizing the city as Israel s capital. Addressing a summit of Muslim leaders in Istanbul, Erdogan described Washington s decision last week as a reward for Israeli terror acts and said the city was a red line for Muslims.

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Seattle Judge Was Ignorant About Jihad Convictions Prior to Imposing Refugee Reform Ban - Breitbart

The Seattle judge who temporarily banned the White House’s refugee reform plan acted after mistakenly claiming the federal government has not arrested jihadi migrants from the seven Muslim countries covered by the reform. [But the federal government has arrested and jailed at least 76 people since 2001 from the seven countries covered in the first stage of the president’s reform, which was announced late January. That fact means there is a huge error in the judge’s rationale for imposing a “Temporary Restraining Order” ban on the president’s popular reform of the expensive refugee and immigration programs. In a hearing before the decision, Judge James Robart told a lawyer from the Department of Justice that the federal government has not arrested people since 2001 from any of the seven countries named in the reform, since the 20o1 atrocity in New York. “How many arrests have there been of foreign nationals for those seven countries since ?” he asked. The justice department’s lawyer replied, “Your Honor, I don’t have that information,” prompting Robart to answer his own question: Let me tell, you, the answer to that is none, as best I can tell. You’re here arguing on behalf of someone that says we have to protect the United States from these individuals coming from these countries and there’s no support for that. But according to a database built by the Senate’s immigration subcommittee, the federal government has arrested and convicted at least 73 people from the seven countries of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen. The Senate’s database was assembled despite repeated refusals by Obama’s deputies to provide data to the Senate subcommittee in 2016. However, by reviewing public data, “at least 380 of the 580 individuals convicted of terrorism or offenses between September 11, 2001 and December 31, 2014, were born abroad,” the report concluded in June 2016. The committee’s report also added: At least 380 of the 580 were (71 were confirmed and the remaining 129 are not known). Of the 380 at least 24 were initially admitted to the United States as refugees, and at least 33 had overstayed their visas. Additionally, of those born abroad, at least 62 were from Pakistan, 28 were from Lebanon, 22 were Palestinian, 21 were from Somalia, 20 were from Yemen, 19 were from Iraq, 16 were from Jordan, 17 were from Egypt, and 10 were from Afghanistan. A check by Breitbart News shows that the people convicted include five Iranians, 19 Iraqis, two Libyans, 21 Somalians, six Syrians, three Sudanese and 20 Yemenis. That’s a total of 76 people, at least. The committee’s review of arrestees was overseen by Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, of the Senate immigration panel. Sessions is expected to become the nation’s Attorney General, and will likely reverse the justice department’s 2016 policy of hiding information about terrorists’ immigration status from the public. A review of the Senate’s data in 2016 by Breitbart News showed that at least 100 men named for Mohammed have been arrested and convicted for crimes since 2001.

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Rex Tillerson on Being Secretary of State: ’I Didn’t Want This Job’

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in an interview published Tuesday that he did not want or seek the position and only took it because his wife convinced him to do it. [“I didn’t want this job. I didn’t seek this job,” Tillerson told IJR in an interview with the sole reporter allowed to accompany him on his recent Asia trip. “My wife told me I’m supposed to do this. ” Tillerson said he never met with President Trump before the election, but Trump asked to meet with him at Trump Tower after winning the presidential election to talk “about the world” and Tillerson’s experience as CEO of ExxonMobil. “When he asked me at the end of that conversation to be secretary of state, I was stunned,” Tillerson shared. When Tillerson told his wife about the offer, he said she responded, “I told you God’s not through with you. ” “I was supposed to retire in March, this month. I was going to go to the ranch to be with my grandkids,” Tillerson added. Tillerson stated that he serves in the role “at the pleasure of the president. ” “My wife convinced me,” he said. “She was right. I’m supposed to do this. ” Tillerson was confirmed as secretary of state in February in a Senate vote. Reuters reported that Tillerson is skipping a NATO meeting next month to stay in the U. S. for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting with the president at Trump’s resort in Florida.

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Democrats SUE Republicans Over Plot To Rig Election

Democrats appear to be completely fed up with Donald Trump s bizarre conspiracy theory where he alleges without evidence that the presidential election will be rigged. Trump has also called on his supporters to show up in minority-heavy voting precincts in a move that many believe is an attempt to suppress the vote, to rig things in his favor.Now Democrats are suing the Republicans.The Democratic National Committee is suing the Republican National Committee for aiding GOP nominee Donald Trump as he argues that the presidential election is rigged, claiming that Trump s argument is designed to suppress the vote in minority communities.The suit, filed Wednesday in US District Court in New Jersey, argues that the RNC has not sufficiently rebuked Trump for the line of attack, which he has used as a rallying cry and is assumed to be a way to explain away a potential loss on Election Day.The Democrats argue in the filing that Trump has falsely and repeatedly told his supporters that the November 8 election will be rigged based upon fabricated claims of voter fraud in certain areas or certain sections of key states. Republicans are still bound under a consent decree due to a previous court case, which limits their ability to officially send people to polling stations to intimidate voters. At the same time, outside fringe right wing armed militia groups like The Oath Keepers have recently sent out calls to patrol voting booths on Trump s behalf.Knowing how vital the votes of Latinos, blacks, and others are to Democratic hopes especially with President Obama off the ballot Republicans appear to be highly invested in any and all schemes focused on cutting down the number of voters. If they can suppress minority turnout, which has always been anti-Republican but could now form the foundation of a landslide, Republicans think they could pull out a (tainted) victory.Featured image via Flickr

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China paves way for prosecuting disgraced senior politician

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China s largely rubber stamp parliament has expelled disgraced senior politician Sun Zhengcai, once considered a contender for top leadership, state media said on Saturday, paving the way for formal criminal charges to be laid against him. The expulsion removes Sun s immunity from prosecution as a member of parliament. The announcement, carried by the official Xinhua news agency, gave no other details. Sun was abruptly removed from his post as Chongqing party chief in July and replaced by Chen Miner, who is close to President Xi Jinping. Later that month, he was put under investigation and in September, the party announced he would be prosecuted for corruption. Sun was accused of leaking secrets, bribery and abusing his power. Chongqing is perhaps best known outside China for its association with Bo Xilai, its disgraced former party boss. He, too, was once a contender for top leadership. He was jailed for life in 2013 after a dramatic corruption scandal. It has not been possible to reach Sun or a representative for comment since he was put under investigation. It s unclear if he has been allowed to retain a lawyer.

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U.S. condemns Russia veto of probe into Syria chemical weapons use

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is very disappointed that Russia on Tuesday cast a veto at the United Nations Security Council against renewing a mandate to continue an investigation into who was responsible for the use of chemical weapons during Syria s civil war. We are disappointed, we are very disappointed that Russia put what it considered to be political considerations over the Syrian people who were so brutally murdered, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told a regular briefing.

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Summit on euro zone future in December still on despite no German government: Tusk

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A summit of euro zone leaders will go ahead as planned in the middle of December, the chairman of European Union leaders said on Wednesday, dispelling speculation it might be postponed because of the collapse of German coalition talks. Just to be clear: The December Euro Summit is on. As part of the Leaders Agenda we need to discuss what, how and when to move forward on the EMU (European Monetary Union) and the Banking Union, Tusk said on Twitter. He said he discussed the agenda of the meeting over the phone on Wednesday with the chairman of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem. German government coalition talks collapsed on Sunday night as the liberal FDP party pulled out after weeks of exploratory talks, plunging the euro zone s most important economy into political uncertainty and raising the prospect of new elections. Euro zone leaders are to set a direction for deeper euro zone economic integration at a summit in the middle of December, at which Germany s input is crucial. The summit is to launch six months of work that would lead decisions in June 2018 on whether or not the single currency area should have a budget, a finance minister and a separate euro zone assembly within the European Parliament. The deeper integration push, championed by French President Emmanuel Macron, also includes the transformation of the euro zone bailout fund into a European Monetary Fund and the creation of a sovereign insolvency mechanism.

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New French Law Makes It Illegal To Contact Employees After Work Hours

posted by Eddie The new “right to disconnect” law mandates that a company with 50 employees or more cannot email an employee after typical work hours. If you’ve ever been with friends or family members over the weekend then received an urgent email from work, you’re aware of the dread that fills your stomach and causes your mood to dip. Being unable to fully disconnect from work can have mental and physical health implications, which is why unwarranted contact by the workplace is soon to become illegal in France. Already, the country gives its employees 30 days off a year and 16 weeks of full-paid family leave; this latest initiative is only making France more popular. According to BBC News , the new “right to disconnect” law will mandate that a company with 50 employees or more cannot email an employee after typical work hours. The amendment is largely a result of studies showing that people have an increasingly difficult time distancing themselves from the workplace. Good relays that the law seeks to make sure the French citizens are able to fully enjoy their time off. Said Benoit Hamon of the French National Assembly: “All the studies show there is far more work-related stress today than there used to be, and that the stress is constant. Employees physically leave the office, but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic leash— like a dog. The texts, the messages, the emails — they colonize the life of the individual to the point where he or she eventually breaks down.” Stipulations of the new law include that companies must negotiate policies that limit the spillover of work into the private lives of their employees. There are no penalties for companies that violate the amendment, but the businesses are required to establish “charters of good conduct” that specify the times which employees are completely free from being contacted by their workplace. When the law was first proposed, it received plenty of criticism and mockery. According to Linh Le, a partner at Elia management consultants in Paris, however, the amendment is necessary, particularly because it could benefit citizens’ mental and physical well-being. She says that burnout, described as ”physical, psychological and emotional distress caused by a total inability to rest”, can result from never being fully free from work, which is why time away from the office is required. Some are concerned that the amendment – passed as part of a controversial French labor law – will weaken unions and enhance employee job insecurity. It is worth noting, however, that the digital disconnect amendment was the one part of the law that’s been viewed favorably by French citizens. What are your thoughts? Please comment and share this news! source:

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How To Repair Strained Or Broken Relationships

A subject not often discussed is the topic of how to repair strained or broken relationships. It is one that comes up in everyone’s life, so it will be useful to make a few suggestions about it here. We will talk about relationships from friends, family, and lovers. Relationships among friends we will treat first. The first step in this process is to make an evaluation to determine whether the relationship is worth saving or rehabilitating. It is a simple fact of life that some relationships have an expiration date; when two people no longer have anything in common, or their paths take them in divergent directions, it may be difficult to find common ground. In this situation, it is always better to let the relationship die a natural death slowly, rather than rapidly. Abrupt terminations may leave the other party with negative feelings, and this should be avoided if at all possible. There are some instances where repair is not possible. When someone has committed a fundamental violation of trust or respect, this is a warning sign that the person was never a friend in the first place. Another point to keep in mind is that repair of a broken relationship requires—no, demands—the participation of both parties. If the other person is unwilling to participate in the process, then your efforts will be futile, and will come to nothing. Once we have determined that the friendship is worth repairing or sustaining, the next step is to decide how to make the first approach to the other party. In this we must try to evaluate the reasons for the problems in the first place. We should make an honest assessment about how things got to where they are. Did someone say or do something that caused hard feelings on the other side? Was there some intervening cause that made the two parties diverge in plans and activities? These types of questions must be honestly and repeatedly asked. We have a tendency to minimize our own hurtful actions and exaggerate those of others, and this must be kept in mind. The key rule at this point is to try to put ourselves in the shoes of the other party. We must try to see things from our friend’s perspective. For many people this can be difficult, as it involves getting past our own feelings of hurt or rejection and into the shoes of the other person. And yet it is essential. Very frequently the reasons for strained or broken friendships lies in the fact that there is some problem going on in the other person’s life. Only by being a perceptive student of human nature can we divine the cause. Sometimes the only thing that caused the strained relationship was some misunderstanding that was easily curable. Keep in mind that we must try—at least in our own minds—to discover the source of the other person’s problem. This is not always possible, as human beings are not always rational. But we can at least make the effort. I remember in the film Hoffa that there was a great line from Jack Nicholson. He told one of his men, “Real problems, real grievances can be resolved. They can be negotiated. But imaginary grievances? That man is going to hate you for life.” I have no idea if Jimmy Hoffa every actually said this, but it sounds like something he would have said. He meant that we should avoid hurting the pride of our friends. We should be acutely aware how it is sometimes the intangible slights that can most rankle with a man. When you have decided to make the first step, it is always better to initiate contact directly. Do not wait for the other person to do it. Depending on the circumstances, this should be done discreetly and without too much in the way of overpowering insistence. There is a certain type of finesse that a man should have at critical times, and this is one of them. The approach should be direct, but neither insistent nor demanding. A fish is best hooked with a lure gently laid. Of vital importance here is that the approach be sincere. One should genuinely want to contact the other party. Sincerity is the glue that binds friendships together and permits their longevity. There should be no hypocrisy or falsity in any of our dealings with friends. This kind of thing is immediately apparent and, once detected, its whiff surrounds the offending party like a permanent cloud. If the other party is receptive to the approach, we can then gradually feel our way forward, taking care to avoid the reasons why the friendship became strained in the first place. Things may never quite go back to what they were, but at least we can find solid ground for a new frame of reference. Two examples will suffice here. The historian William Shirer worked closely with famed correspondent Edward R. Murrow when the two were in Germany in the 1930s. Yet after the war was over, the two grew apart. Shirer’s account of the estrangement suggests that he was repelled by Murrow’s enthusiastic adoption of the anticommunist hysteria of the time. Shirer found himself gradually blackballed from most major news networks before being forced out completely. He broke with Murrow over these events. Many decades later, he approached Murrow; all venom spent, the two were able to find common ground again. Another example makes the same point. Theodore Roosevelt was a strong-willed, insistent man, to say the least. He was in a position to choose his successor as president, and to this end he selected a man very different from him, the affable and rotund William Howard Taft. Taft eventually began to find Roosevelt an overbearing and unwelcome presence in his life. The two men eventually broke completely, a result of their personality differences and different conceptions of leadership. To his credit, Roosevelt eventually approached his old friend privately to patch things up. They were never the same, of course, but at least some cordiality was restored. Relationships with family are of a fundamentally different sort. Because we are linked by bonds of blood (or perhaps marriage), it will be more difficult to disentangle ourselves from those with whom we have become estranged. On the other hand, it may be easier to repair such grievances, or at least find common ground, since there may be more shared experiences with the other party that act in our favor. The key here is not to expect too much. Although shared history and common blood may work in our favor, they can be counterbalanced to some extent by the fact that irrational family antagonisms can run deeper than those from strained friendships. Patience and persistence are most important here, perhaps more so than friendships with those unrelated to us. Repairing strained relationships with lovers is perhaps the most difficult. When a man and woman have been united in the past through the coital act, an entirely different set of emotions and motivations come into play. Relationships between lovers can fail or become strained for an infinite number of reasons, and it would be impossible to discuss all of them here. It is enough for me to state my opinion that it is nearly impossible to bring an intimate sexual relationship back to what it was after it has been broken. Strained is one thing; broken is quite another. My own experience leads me to believe that once a sexual relationship is done, it is done. One cannot really go back to what it was before. Amicable dealings are certainly possible, and happen all the time; but I would not call this friendship. I would call it an uneasy equilibrium. Love’s inflammatory presence scorches all it leaves in its wake. Read More : 5 Proven Ways To Stop Obsessive Thoughts

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Coordinated Bombs in Kabul Kill Senior Afghan Officials at Defense Ministry - The New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — A pair of coordinated Taliban bombings targeted the Afghan Defense Ministry in a crowded neighborhood of Kabul on Monday, officials said, killing at least 24 people and wounding dozens, among them senior security officials. Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said an army general and a police colonel in charge of the area’s security were among the dead. Other officials said the deputy director of President Ashraf Ghani’s elite protection force had also been killed. At least 50 people were wounded, Mr. Sediqqi said. A spokesman for the Health Ministry put that number at 91. Hours later, just before midnight, a third explosion shook much of the city. Witnesses said that a car bomb had exploded outside a guesthouse near Kabul Bank, in the downtown Naw neighborhood, and that gunmen had then tried to enter the house. Police special forces rushed to the scene, and sporadic gunfire could be heard. The Defense Ministry is near a crowded bazaar along the Kabul River, and the earlier explosions happened just as official hours were ending and government employees were heading home. The presidential palace and several other government agencies are also in the area. Mohammad Radmanish, a Defense Ministry spokesman, said both blasts had been suicide bombings. The first bomber detonated his explosives by a bridge outside the entrance to the ministry around 3:30 p. m. “When people and security forces arrived for help, the second attacker blew himself up among the crowd,” Mr. Radmanish said. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said in a statement to the news media that his group was responsible for the explosions. The Taliban’s statement said that the first blast had been caused by placed explosives and that the second one had been a suicide bombing. The bombings were the latest in a wave of attacks on government or Western targets in the capital, including a complex attack by gunmen with suicide vests on the American University that killed 13 people a week and a half ago. But the explosions on Monday had many in Kabul particularly worried. The loss of senior security personnel suggested that the Taliban had studied the Afghan forces’ response to their assaults. After most attacks in Kabul and the provinces, senior officials — sometimes even ministers — rush to the scene. The Taliban’s repeated assaults on targets at the heart of the capital have added to the pressure on the already burdened security forces. The insurgency is not their only worry in the chaotic city: They have been stretched not only by regular crime, but also by street protests as well as by skirmishes between rival political groups. Even as blood from the first two bombings was being washed away on Monday, bodyguards for rival strongmen got into a shootout in a different corner of the city. Before the police reached the scene and cordoned off the area, one person was killed and three were wounded.

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Two Candidates. Two Speeches. One Cliché After Another From Clinton and Trump. - The New York Times

It was a historic night that called for soaring rhetoric and unvarnished authenticity. Instead, Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump delivered victory speeches on Tuesday that leaned heavily on campaign clichés — in many cases, the same ones. On the page, anyway, the ideological and stylistic chasms that separate them start to dissolve in a sea of overlapping oratorical devices, similar phrases and at times identical word choice. Are their speechwriters out of juice? Or is the hackneyed phrase just too irresistible? We identified the passages that sounded the most alike: TRUMP: Tonight we close one chapter in history and we begin another. CLINTON: Now you are writing a new chapter of that story. It’s a country, not a book. But this speechmaking construct won’t die. Mrs. Clinton tries to infuse the familiar trope with the concept of inclusivity. Mr. Trump just trots out the same old wooden metaphor. _____ TRUMP: This is not a testament to me, but a testament to all of the people who believed real change . .. CLINTON: Tonight’s victory is not about one person . .. So we all owe so much to those who came before and tonight belongs to all of you. It’s not really about me, it’s about you! But let’s be honest: it’s really about them. This device is a clever way to claim a mandate without sounding . Mr. Trump makes the most direct claim of humility. Mrs. Clinton makes a richer historical reference to previous barrier breakers. _____ TRUMP: And our country will never, ever back down. CLINTON: Our history has moved in that direction, thanks to generations of Americans who refuse to give up or back down. There’s no backing down from this bromide. _____ TRUMP: I’ve traveled to many of our states and seen the suffering in people’s eyes. CLINTON: And I learned about those persistent problems and the unfinished promise of America that you’re living with. Ever since Bill Clinton found the most economical way to say it in 1992, speechwriters have striven to complicate the sentiment: “I feel your pain. ” _____ TRUMP: This election isn’t about Republican or Democrat, it’s about who runs the country. The special interests or the people. CLINTON: We want a government that listens to the people, not the power brokers . .. Everyone is a populist in 2016, even residents of Fifth Avenue and Chappaqua, N. Y. _____ TRUMP: Our campaign received more primary votes than any G. O. P. campaign in history. CLINTON: The first time in our nation’s history that a woman will be a major party’s nominee. Everyone wants to make history. Mrs. Clinton’s breakthrough carries greater weight, but Mr. Trump — not to be outdone — tosses in his own milestone. _____ TRUMP: To those who voted for someone else, in either party, I’ll work hard to earn your support. CLINTON: But whether you supported me or Senator Sanders or one of the Republicans, we all need to keep working toward a better, stronger America. The olive branch. Both extend it to their skeptics, without much creativity. _____ TRUMP: I’m going to fight for you, the American people. I’m going to be your champion. I am going to be America’s champion. CLINTON: I hear you. I see you. And as your president, I will always have your back. Two approaches to the same trite message. Mr. Trump, ever the pugilist, deploys a slightly more combative construction — “fight for you. ” Mrs. Clinton takes a gentler and more supportive approach: “I will have your back. ” _____ TRUMP: The beauty of America is that it brings us all together. CLINTON: Because we are stronger together. Let’s say it together, folks: These campaigns need a thesaurus. _____ (Want to watch the full speeches? Here’s Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump.)

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EU's top diplomat defends Iran deal after Trump speech

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States cannot unilaterally cancel the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Friday in reaction to President Donald Trump’s decision not to certify the accord. “We cannot afford as the international community to dismantle a nuclear agreement that is working,” said Mogherini, who chaired the final stages of the landmark talks. “This deal is not a bilateral agreement ... The international community, and the European Union with it, has clearly indicated that the deal is, and will, continue to be in place,” Mogherini told reporters. Mogherini said she spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson immediately after Trump’s speech on Friday.

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BRILLIANT! LT COL TONY SHAFFER: How Trump Should Fight Back Against “Deep State” [Video]

Former CIA analyst and retired U.S. Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Tony Shaffer told Lou Dobbs on Tuesday President Trump needs to understand deep state has declared war against his administration. He needs to fire top two levels in intelligence to clean house.THE DEEP STATE:Never in American history has there been a more highly organized group of people, the deep state , attempting to subvert the will of the American people, in this case, the Trump presidency. Peter Schweizer discusses the efforts of the deep state , their conspiracy campaign against Donald Trump and its potential impact on President Trump s administration.

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London authorities failing people displaced by deadly fire: lawmaker

LONDON (Reuters) - Hundreds of people displaced by a fire that killed about 80 people in London in June are still living in hotels or friends houses because of a failure by local authorities to rehouse them, the lawmaker representing the area said on Monday. The 24-storey Grenfell Tower, a social housing block in a deprived area within the wealthy borough of Kensington and Chelsea, was destroyed on June 14 in a blaze that left hundreds bereaved and homeless. A criminal investigation is under way into the causes of the fire, while a separate public inquiry is also going on to establish whether there were failures in planning, construction, maintenance or other aspects of the tower s history. The council and the government are failing in their duty of care to Grenfell survivors, evacuees and near neighbors every day, said Emma Dent Coad, a member of parliament from the opposition Labour Party who represents Kensington. In a report on housing and inequality in the borough, she wrote that most children displaced by the fire were still in emergency accommodation five months later even though it was unlawful to keep them in such accommodation for longer than six weeks. The Conservative-run local authority, Kensington and Chelsea Council, denied that the slow pace of re-housing people was due to any failure on its part. A spokesman said the process was tailored to the bereaved and going at their own pace. Of the 206 households from the tower itself and from nearby Grenfell Walk who needed new homes, 28 have moved into permanent homes while 49 have moved into temporary ones, the council said. It said a total of 178 children were still in emergency accommodation, including living with friends, in hotels or in serviced apartments. Dent Coad dismissed the suggestion that any of the families were still in emergency accommodation out of choice. She said she had visited many families and they were all desperate to move into a permanent home. The problem, she said, was that they were not being offered suitable homes. A lot of people are losing their minds, Dent Coad said, describing visits to families in cramped hotel rooms where children had nowhere to do their homework and parents broke down in tears when they talked about their situation.

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Canoes Reek of Genocide, Theft and White Privilege, Says Canadian Professor

Lukas Mikelionis, Heat Street, October 24, 2016 {snip} According to Misao Dean, Professor of English at the University of Victoria, the canoe can be a symbol of colonialism, imperialism and genocide due to history. She also accused the canoers of cultural appropriation because they are primarily white men and have a privileged place in society. In a radio interview for CBC Radio , which wasn’t picked up by the Internet until several months later, she claimed “we have a whole set of narratives that make the canoe into a kind of morally untouchable symbol, something that seems natural, that seems ordinary, and seems to promote values that we ascribe to.” “But I think if you look a little further that narrative obscures or erases another narrative–and that narrative is about, to be blunt, it’s about theft and genocide”, the professor said. {snip} “It’s not a coincidence that it was white men of a certain age . . . Certainly the majority of wilderness canoers are people who have a very privileged place in society. They’re frequently highly educated people. They’re almost completely white,” she said. CBC Radio host Jim Brown then asked a question: “Should we look at the canoe as a non-controversial symbol or should we look at it as a symbol of colonialism?” To which the academic replied: “Absolutely a symbol of colonialism. It seems to me that this narrative we tell ourselves about the canoe about how canoeing makes us in touch with nature, how canoeing makes us in some way guiltless of the terrible things that the Canadian government and Canadians in general did to First Nations people.” {snip} Either way, somebody should break the news to Canada’s woke Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about this. It’s 2016, after all. Thrilled to let you know we’re going to need another seat in our canoe: Sophie is pregnant! #threeisthenewtwo pic.twitter.com/gm76BwAe4p

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As Wind Power Lifts Wyoming’s Fortunes, Coal Miners Are Left in the Dust - The New York Times

GILLETTE, Wyo. — After Kullin Orcutt lost his job at the Peabody coal mine this spring, he knew what he needed to do: join the exodus. “Leave Gillette, leave the state,” he said. Mr. Orcutt is a miner and one of 592 coal workers who have been laid off here since January. Thousands more job cuts are expected this summer. More people will follow Mr. Orcutt. While many businesses in Gillette are struggling to stay open, a dealer has been nearly sold out since the school year ended this month. But 200 miles to the southwest, in Carbon County, where Wyoming’s first coal mine opened a century ago, the mood is different. The last coal mine closed a decade ago, but the county may soon be home to the largest wind farm in North America, if not the world. “Coal is hurting, but wind power is our bright spot on the horizon,” said Cindy Wallace, the director of the Carbon County Economic Development Corporation. “Eventually, we could be the wind capital of Wyoming, the U. S. the world. ” In Wyoming, the country’s biggest state, the energy landscape is transforming along with the nation’s, but in a state of 584, 000 people, that change is happening at hyperspeed. That transition has left men like Mr. Orcutt behind. The new positions and financial opportunities offered by wind and other industries are not replacing all the jobs going up in coal smoke. Many of the current jobs are out of state, at wind turbine factories in Colorado and Iowa. Millions of dollars’ worth of investments are flowing into Wyoming’s wind projects, but much of the profit will flow out of state, as well. The thousands of coal workers who will probably lose their jobs do not necessarily have the technical skills to operate wind farms. In any case, new wind jobs will number in the hundreds, not the thousands. So when Mr. Orcutt left Gillette this spring, he did not head for the wind fields of Carbon County. Instead, he moved to Shelby, Mont. for a job at a privately run prison, leaving behind his wife and son in a groaning apartment that they share with Mr. Orcutt’s sister, her husband — a welder who was laid off from the coal mines — and that couple’s three children. “It’s hard being here without them, but here I have a job,” he said. “In Gillette, those jobs are gone forever. ” The numbers bear out his decision, said Robert W. Godby, an energy economist and professor at the University of Wyoming. “Wind energy is certainly lucrative,” he said. “That’s why so many investors are interested. But it doesn’t create nearly the economic impact of the fossil fuel industry. ” Today, about 66 percent of the electricity in the United States is produced by coal and natural gas, and just 7 percent is produced by renewable sources such as wind and solar. But market forces and government regulations are rapidly changing that picture. A glut of inexpensive natural gas has cut into coal’s dominance of America’s power market. And President Obama’s climate change regulations, known as the Clean Power Plan, take direct aim at coal, the No. 1 cause of greenhouse gases. The Department of the Interior has already declared a halt on new coal mining on public lands, a move with an outsize impact on Wyoming, where a majority of mines are on federal property. And the international Paris agreement on climate change could make the efforts to end the burning of coal a global campaign. All of these policies are closing the remaining plants and freezing the construction of new ones, but they also aim to aggressively increase the production of renewable power. The Clean Power Plan contains a goal for 20 percent of the nation’s electricity to come from wind, solar and other clean sources by 2030. Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has pledged to raise that amount to 33 percent by 2027. Companies from around the world are looking to Wyoming’s wind to meet that demand. “There’s enough wind in Wyoming to power the entire country,” said Michael Goggin, the senior director of research at the American Wind Energy Association. Wyoming’s Republican governor, Matt Mead, is skeptical of climate change, and has been an outspoken opponent of Mr. Obama’s climate change agenda. Still, he also sees economic opportunity in wind power. “We’ve been a state, exporting energy to the rest of the country,” Mr. Mead said in an interview in his office. “With the advances in wind turbines, why shouldn’t we be leading that at the University of Wyoming? Why don’t we do more to bring wind manufacturing to the state?” Perhaps the biggest winner in Wyoming’s wind boom will be one man: Philip F. Anschutz, a Colorado billionaire and major Republican donor. His company, the Anschutz Corporation, is building the Carbon County wind farm on 2, 000 acres owned by Mr. Anschutz and the federal government. When completed, the site will be the largest wind power producer in North America, generating enough electricity to light a million homes — far more than Wyoming needs. Mr. Anschutz is also planning to build the TransWest Express, a power line that would take Wyoming’s wind energy to Las Vegas and California. Construction on both projects is expected to begin late this year or early 2017. On a recent day, Bill Miller, senior vice president of energy and land resources for the Anschutz Corporation, drove his truck through the Carbon County site’s rocky mesas, which channel wind across the green plain. The only visible inhabitants were cows, antelopes, prairie dogs and rattlesnakes. Although wind power has traditionally been more expensive than fossil fuels, Mr. Miller said the Anschutz wind project will be large enough to make wind as cheap, if not cheaper, than coal power. “We can produce wind power here that’s competitive with anything: coal, natural gas,” Mr. Miller said. Mr. Miller estimates that the construction of the wind farm will create about 900 seasonal jobs over the decade it will take to build it, and about 150 jobs to operate and maintain it. In the nearby town of Rawlins, he said, a branch of Western Wyoming Community College has already started programs to train wind power technicians. “You’ll be able to take a coal miner from Gillette — he can go to the community college here for the skills, and get a job as a wind technician,” Mr. Miller said. But, he conceded, “Am I going to replace 800 lost coal jobs in Gillette with new wind jobs? No. ” Another big winner in the Wyoming wind boom may be a Venezuelan company, Viridis Eolia Corporation, which also plans to build a wind farm near Carbon County, one second in size in North America only to the Anschutz project. “It’s the wave of the future,” Juan Carlos Carpio Delfino, Viridis Eolia’s chief executive, said at an energy conference at Little America, a golf resort outside Cheyenne. “With Obama’s clean power regulations, and the signing of the Paris agreement, it creates a stable market for wind — and this is the best wind in North America. ” That remains cold comfort to Wyoming’s coal community. Mr. Godby estimates that in the coming years, Wyoming could lose up to 10, 000 jobs related to the coal industry. Last month, officials from the Interior Department held a public hearing in Casper to gather input on the current halt on new coal mining on the state’s public lands. During the meeting, Jillian Balow, the Wyoming superintendent of public instruction, spoke before a crowd of hundreds, her voice cracking. “We have reached the point where the restrictions and regulations for the industry are past our ability to adapt,” she said. “It has put thousands of people out of work and is devastating families. ” “Give us a chance,” she pleaded.

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U.N. rights rapporteur condemns harassment of journalists in Iran

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. special rapporteur said on Thursday there had been little change in the human rights situation in Iran over the past year, voicing outrage over the harassment of journalists and adding that progress on women s rights was extremely slow. A day after submitting her report to the world body, Asma Jahangir, the U.N. special rapporteur on the Iran rights situation, told reporters that torture was widespread in Iran and that some people were imprisoned for seeking justice. Jahangir said she had not attempted to assess the impact of sanctions on human rights in Iran in her report because she had not been allowed to visit the country, which does not recognize her mandate. Iran rejected Jahangir s report as biased. The report is politically-motivated, illegitimate, rancorous and disreputable, Iranian state TV channel IRINN quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying on Thursday. Iran says Western countries use the issue of human rights as a political tool to apply pressure on it.

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Trump Will HATE This Mexican Magazine For Unmasking Him On Their Cover (IMAGE)

Mexico does not like Donald Trump, and for good reason. He s accused their people of being rapists and killers, said that the country is deliberately sending their trash up to us to deal with, and we all know about the wall he wants to force Mexico to pay for. One Mexican literary magazine, called Letras Libres, decided to illustrate what they think of Trump after all of this. Their October issue features him on the cover, and it s not in a flattering light:En nuestro n mero de octubre: pic.twitter.com/xhMFnU9ttR Letras Libres (@Letras_Libres) September 28, 2016That stache is reminiscent of Hitler s mustache and reads fascista Americana, or, American fascist. Suffice it to say, the editors at Letras Libres aren t thrilled with Trump, either.One expert on the history of fascism said that Trump s nonstop, offensive ethnic stereotyping, and his fear-the-foreigners rhetoric are textbook fascism. Mexico is a foreign country. Their people are foreigners, and Trump likes to claim they re stealing our jobs, both inside and outside our borders. He hates them and he wants us to hate them.His ability to convince his loyal subjects that the country is in serious decline, when it isn t, is likewise textbook fascism. He s got the entire world worried, confused as to how he could even have gotten this far in a U.S. election cycle, and just generally pissed the hell off.One thing he did recently was complain that Mexico forces us to pay a tax to sell products there, but they can sell their products here without paying the same tax. Mexico has a value-added tax that American companies must pay when they sell products there, but Mexican companies have to pay that same tax to sell in their own country, even though they don t have to pay it here. Our companies don t pay it here either.Trump listed that as one of his millions of reasons that NAFTA is needs to be torn up. Trump doesn t know what he s talking about. But that is, in fact, just another claim that Mexico is stealing from us, and must be stopped.In other words, Letras Libres sees Trump for what he is. He may not quite be Hitler or Mussolini (yet, mostly because he s not in charge yet), but he s definitely got a very strong fascist streak.Featured image by Win McNamee/Getty Images

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African Americans Deserve ‘New Deal’ From Republican Party - Trump

Get short URL 0 13 0 0 The 40-million strong African American community deserved "new deal" to transform their communities, safety and economic prospects as well as the future of their children, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The city of Charlotte was the site of a mass-murder that shocked the United States last year when nine African Americans holding a Bible study in their church were shot dead. A young white racist Dylann Storm Roof is facing trial charged with the crime. © REUTERS/ Mike Segar Half of US Voters Concerned About Potential Violence on Election Day "[It is time for] a new deal for black America," Trump said in on Wednesday. "I am asking for the honor of your vote and the privilege of serving as your president and I will not let you down… Whether you vote for me or not , I will be your greatest champion." © AP Photo/ Don Ryan Black Lives Matter Activist Endorses Clinton for US President in Opinion Article Trump said he proposed a three-point plan for the African American community that focused on creating safe communities, great education and high paying jobs. "My vision rests on a principle that has defined this campaign right from the beginning: It is called America First… Every African American citizen in this country is entitled to a job that puts them first… I work for you and I work only for you," Trump noted. ...

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Swiss woman abducted in Sudan by criminal gang for ransom: official

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese authorities believe a criminal gang is responsible for the abduction of a Swiss humanitarian worker who disappeared outside her home in Sudan s troubled Darfur region on Friday. Authorities have intensified the search in and around the city of al-Fashir and believe the gang is looking for a ransom, North Darfur s Deputy Governor Mohamed Birama told Reuters on Monday. We expect that she will be found very soon, he said. Switzerland on Sunday called for a rapid and unconditional release of the woman but did not give any other details about her. Sudan will extend a unilateral ceasefire with rebels until the end of December, state news agency SUNA reported on Sunday, days after the United States lifted 20-year-old sanctions tied to progress on resolving ongoing conflicts. The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribes took up arms against Sudan s Arab-led government.

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Obama to visit U.S. mosque to counter Republican rhetoric about Muslims

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama was set on Wednesday to make his first visit to a U.S. mosque, a trip the White House said was aimed at countering rhetoric from Republicans on the presidential campaign trail exploiting some Americans’ fears about Muslims. In the trip to the Islamic Society of Baltimore, Obama wants to highlight the American right to freedom of religion for all, including Muslims, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “We’ve seen an alarming willingness on the part of some Republicans to try to marginalise law-abiding, patriotic Muslim Americans. And it is offensive,” Earnest told reporters. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States after a California couple who killed 14 people last December were described by authorities as radicalised Muslims inspired by Islamic State militants. Republicans vying to be the party’s candidate for the Nov. 8 presidential election also argued against Obama’s plan to accept 10,000 refugees fleeing Syria’s war, saying it raised national security risks. Republican candidate Ben Carson has said Muslims were unfit for the presidency of the United States. “It has been a transparent strategy on the part of Republicans to play on people’s anxieties, to target religious minorities to advance their political ambition,” Earnest said. Obama has called the comments a betrayal of American values, and said discrimination against Muslims “plays into the hands” of extremist groups like Islamic State. Muslim civil rights leaders have expressed alarm about anti-Muslim backlash, pointing to recent incidents where vandals have thrown bacon and even a pig’s severed heads at mosques. Obama, who has visited mosques outside the United States on trips abroad, will first meet privately with a small group of Muslim community leaders before delivering remarks at the mosque at 12:05 p.m. ET. He is set to speak to the nation’s Christian leaders at the annual National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, and last week warned against the rise of religious intolerance during a ceremony at the Israeli Embassy.

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BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: BLACK REPUBLICAN Fired From Radio Station After Spending Time With Trump In Detroit

For just a little over four months, Wayne Bradley could be heard spreading the conservative message on Detroit s 910AM Superstation. Then GOP nominee Donald Trump came to town, and things changed drastically.We ve known soft-spoken conservative, Wayne Bradley for several years. He s never been afraid of controversy and has always stood up for his conservative beliefs.On Friday, Bradley told us in an exclusive interview that local media had reached out to him when Trump came due to his position as State Director of African American Engagement for the Republican National Committee. Bradley who was unpaid during his time at the station didn t mention his affiliation with 910AM, which, he said, he generally doesn t do when discussing political issues with the media.He also met Trump and posted a photo of him with the candidate. When asked, Bradley said he had nothing to do with Trump s visit and was at at the rally with a pastor.The station, which was well aware of his work with the GOP, informed him by email that he was on hiatus that Friday, leading him to believe he would be back on the air shortly. But that wasn t the case.He received clarification on Monday that the show was canceled for good.It s not clear why station management decided to cancel the show.A station representative told 100 Percent FED UP, It was a business decision on the back-end. We contacted 910AM and spoke to an administrative assistant who refused to provide her name. According to the person we spoke to, no one at the station was available for comment because they were, very, very busy with meetings about Bradley s dismissal.The unnamed assistant told us that a statement would be released, but she was unsure when that might happen.But that s not what station owner Kevin Adell told the Detroit News. According to that report, Bradley was allegedly fired for violating corporate policy. He violated corporate policy, that s why he got fired. He was let go for insubordination. But it s not clear what policy Bradley allegedly violated. Bradley suggested it may have been due to the fact he didn t plug the station during interviews with the press.Regardless of the reason, Bradley said he appreciated the opportunity to have a dialogue with the community and was very grateful to have the air time.Moreover, he said that he understands the left-wing political climate in Detroit and respects the owner s decision.While he respects the decision, he told us he was disappointed with management for silencing the dialogue. Others weren t happy with the decision and made their feelings known on the station s Facebook page. 910AM where blacks are kept on the Gov ment PLANTATION and other views of them PROSPERING on their own merits is not allowed, one person said. Your way or the hiway-not the station I want to listen to-I m out!!! another person added. I would like to know where Wayne Bradley is at? Why is he not on the air? Shameless, commented a third critic.Bradley, who has been in radio off and on for about six years, says he s not worried and knows that something better will come along.And, he added, he appreciates the support of the listeners who reached out to the station.Meanwhile, the Oakland County Republican Party has offered their support for Wayne Bradley and asked fellow Republicans to call Superstation 910AM at:Station Phone: (248) 278-0910 Fax: (248) 350-3422 Studio Phone: (313) 209-9000Attention: Kevin Adell, Owner of 910 AM Dody Johnson, Station ManagerIn the meantime, Bradley said he ll continue his daily outreach efforts something he s been doing since September 2013. It s a different battle in Detroit, he told us. The key, he added, is to stay positive. As for the incident with 910AM, Bradley said he views it as a minor speed bump.

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OBAMA INCITING A SECOND COLD WAR? 35 Russian Diplomats Expelled For False Flag Of Hacking

Reuters reports:The United States expelled 35 Russian diplomats and closed two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland in response to a campaign of harassment against American diplomats in Moscow, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.The move against the diplomats from the Russian embassy in Washington and consulate in San Francisco is part of a series of actions announced on Thursday to punish Russia for a campaign of intimidation of American diplomats in Moscow and interference in the U.S. election.In fact, this morning The Hill wrote that the Obama administration is under intense pressure to release evidence confirming Russian interference in the presidential election before leaving office. The administration has provided exactly zero documentation, but that has not stopped the media machine from parroting the claims and repeating it ad nauseam, in hopes the emotional appeals through repetition will make it factual.Just as bad, the Hill also writes that nor has Obama corroborated subsequent leaks from anonymous officials contending that the CIA believes the campaign was an attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to ensure Donald Trump s victory.

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BRAVO! WATCH TED CRUZ SLAM The Lies Of Leftists Attacking Senator Jeff Sessions [Video]

Watch Ted Cruz completely annihilate the Leftist false attacks on Jeff Sessions character! #confirmationhearing pic.twitter.com/tBaz5rdRoI John Binder (@JxhnBinder) January 10, 2017

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Putin, Trump speak by phone, aim for cooperation: Kremlin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday agreed to work toward “constructive cooperation”, including on fighting terrorism, the Kremlin said. In their first phone call since Trump won the Nov. 8 election, they agreed to “channel” relations between Russia and the United States and “combine efforts to tackle international terrorism and extremism”. “The importance of creating a solid basis for bilateral ties was underscored, in particularly by developing the trade-economic component,” the Kremlin said in its statement. It added that the countries should “return to pragmatic, mutually beneficial cooperation, which would address the interests of both countries as well as stability and safety the world over.” Trump’s team issued a statement saying Putin called to offer congratulations. The statement said Trump told Putin he was looking forward to a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and its people. The two men will maintain contact by phone and seek to meet each other in person, the statement said. Trump will succeed President Barack Obama on Jan. 20. Obama’s relations with Putin have become tense over issues that include Syria and Ukraine.

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CLASS ACT: Watch Betsy DeVos Respond While Students At Black College Yell, Heckle, Turn Backs On Her During Commencement Speech [VIDEO]

Betsy DeVos just proved to America why President Trump chose her among so many qualified candidates to reform our broken education system. Full-grown men would have crumbled under the kind of pressure and hate she was facing during her graceful commencement speech. Let s face it, most of us would have walked off the stage, but Betsy DeVos, firm in her resolution to deliver the speech she was invited to share, stood at the podium, and against all odds, addressed an angry group of students railing against the injustice at a college where 95% of the students receive some form of state or federal grant money.During the roughly 25-minute speech, DeVos took time to address the criticism that s come her way since she was unveiled as the university s graduation speaker, telling the crowd it was important to converse with and learn from people despite disagreements.The natural instinct is to join in the chorus of conflict, to make your voice louder, your point bigger and your position stronger, DeVos said. But we will not solve the significant and real problems our country faces if we cannot bring ourselves to embrace a mindset of grace. We must first listen, then speak with humility to genuinely hear the perspectives of those with whom we don t immediately or instinctively agree, she continued.While DeVos spoke, the students continued to heckle and yell over DeVos as she persevered through her speech. The University president who was clearly embarrassed by the behavior of the graduates finally stepped up to the microphone to address the students in hopes of getting the disrespectful group under control telling them, If this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you. Choose which way you wanna go. He then implored the students to be seated.The students chose to continue with their embarrassing behavior, at which time DeVos began to once again address the crowd:Many Bethune-Cookman University students, alumni and supporters made their disapproval of DeVos appearance known well before she took the stage.On Tuesday, Bethune-Cookman University students and alumni delivered thousands of signatures to the school s president, Edison O. Jackson, and the university s Board of Trustees in a last-ditch effort to try and change their minds about inviting DeVos to speak.DeVos, a West Michigan native, initially drew ire from students and supporters from historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, throughout the country after she connected HBCUs to the school choice movement in February. MLiveDeVos recently met with presidents and chancellors of historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, at the White House. Following that meeting, she said in a statement that a key priority for the administration was to help develop opportunities for underserved communities, and praised HBCUs for fulfilling that mission all along. They started from the fact that there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education, she said in the statement. They saw that the system wasn t working, that there was an absence of opportunity, so they took it upon themselves to provide the solution. DeVos continued: HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice. They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Critics were quick to point out on social media that HBCUs were initially founded in part because black students often did not have the option to enroll in existing public institutions in the South.Others noted public HBCUs were generally not offered the same amount of funding and resources predominantly white colleges and universities received.In an interview with The Chronicle of Higher Education about the controversy, Dillard University President Walter Kimbrough said similar comments she made in the listening session didn t come across as ill-spirited, but was a poor analogy. I think she was honestly trying to find a way to connect her experience with HBCUs, he told The Chronicle of Higher Education. MLive

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CASTRO DEMANDS THE RETURN OF “ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED” GITMO BEFORE RESTORING DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

Obama must have added this to the deal so he can move to close GITMO. He s just itching to release more terrorists and close GITMO because it s clear his legacy is more important than the safety and security of Americans. As President Obama announced that Cuba was restoring full diplomatic relations, reopening embassies in Washington and Havana after more than five decades, Cuba was once again demanding the U.S. return Guantanamo to the country. To achieve normalization [of diplomatic relations] it will be essential also that the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base is returned, read a declaration posted on Granma, the official organ of the Communist Party in the island.The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, home to Guantanamo Bay detention camp since 2012, is located on 45 square miles of a bay the U.S. leased for use as a coaling and naval station in 1903.In the 700-word declaration, the Cuban government also demands the U.S. end the transmission of anti-Castro radio and television broadcasts on the island.The demands echo, almost word by word, those made by President Raul Castro back in January, during the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States summit on Costa Rica. Radio and television transmissions to Cuba ( ) are in violation of international law and are harmful to our sovereignty policies, the declaration reads, while demanding also that programs aimed at promoting internal subversion and destabilization be stopped. Obama announced Wednesday that the U.S. and Cuba will reopen their embassies in Havana and Washington, heralding a new chapter in relations after a half-century of hostility. We don t have to be imprisoned by the past, Obama said from White House Rose Garden. Americans and Cubans alike are ready to move forward. Read more: FOX NEWS LATINO

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John McCain Just Savaged Trump On Twitter (TWEET)

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), fresh off a brain cancer diagnosis that he is statistically unlikely to beat, is apparently all out of f*cks to give. Today, he tweeted an article in the opinion section of the Washington Post, calling it a must-read. The article in question? Trump s breathtaking surrender to Russia. And the op-ed holds absolutely nothing back. Here are a couple of my favorite excerpts from the piece:But once again, President Trump after extended personal contact with Vladimir Putin and the complete surrender to Russian interests in Syria acts precisely as though he has been bought and sold by a strategic rival. The ignoble cutoff of aid to American proxies means that Putin won in Syria, as an administration official was quoted by The Post. Concessions without reciprocation, made against the better judgment of foreign policy advisers, smack more of payoff than outreach. If this is what Trump s version of winning looks like, what might further victory entail? The re- creation of the Warsaw Pact? The reversion of Alaska to Russian control? There is nothing normal about an American president s subservience to Russia s interests and worldview. It is not the result of some bold, secret, Nixonian foreign policy stratagem the most laughable possible explanation. Does it come from Trump s bad case of authoritarianism envy? A fundamental sympathy with European right-wing, anti-democratic populism? An exposure to pressure from his checkered financial history? There are no benign explanations, and the worst ones seem the most plausible. The problem is the damage to U.S. interests done in the meantime. It now seems that the Russians by meddling in a presidential election and by playing down such aggression have achieved an intelligence coup beyond the dreams of the Soviet era. The result is an America strategically and morally disarmed.The fact that John McCain is posting such a strongly worded article about Trump s surrender to Russia is extremely telling, and begs the question: Behind closed doors, how many other Republicans feel this way? In public, it s obvious that Republicans feel they must present a united front against the Democratic Party and forces of the left. However, despite recent silence from #NeverTrump conservatives, it wasn t even a year ago that leadership figures such as Paul Ryan were dead set against him. Given the fact they are spineless, how much pressure will it take to get them to turn against him?If Donald Trump s numbers keep dropping, primarily among Republicans, I think you ll see it happen. And if that s the case, it might not take until 2018 to bring him down.Here s Senator McCain s tweet:Must-read @MJGerson @washingtonpost: Trump s breathtaking surrender to #Russia https://t.co/SkWocuF8dM John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) July 21, 2017Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images

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Trump agrees 'in principle' to scrap South Korean warhead weight limit: White House

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in principle to scrap a warhead weight limit on South Korea s missiles in the wake of North Korea s sixth nuclear test, the White House said on Monday. During a call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Trump also gave conceptual approval for South Korea to buy billions of dollars of weapons from the United States, the White House said in a statement. Separately, South Korea s presidential office said the two leaders had agreed to scrap the weight limit and to apply the strongest sanctions and pressure on North Korea through the United Nations. In a separate phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin also on Monday, Moon said the U.N. Security Council should seek ways to sever North Korea s foreign currency income, including from its workers employed abroad and oil shipments, according to the South Korean statement. Under the existing missile pact between the United States and South Korea, Seoul s warheads currently face a cap of 500 kg (1100 lb). The agreement, last amended in 2012, was in the process of being changed in the wake of a series of missile tests by North Korea this year after Moon took office in May, including two intercontinental ballistic missile launches. North Korea said it tested an advanced hydrogen bomb for a long-range missile on Sunday, prompting global condemnation and a U.S. warning of a massive military response if it or its allies were threatened. An unlimited warhead weight allowance would enable the South to strike North Korea with greater force in the event of a military conflict. The missiles would still be bound by a flight range cap of 800 km. No changes to the flight range were mentioned in the Blue House statement. Most analysts and policymakers agree cutting off supplies of oil to North Korea would hurt its economy. It remains to be seen whether China, the North s biggest ally and trade partner, would cooperate. South Korea said earlier in the day it was talking to the United States about deploying aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Korean peninsula after signs North Korea might launch more missiles.

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Recused House Russia Investigation Committee Member Didn’t Really Recuse Himself At All

About 163 Trump scandals ago, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) recused himself from the House Russian investigation for feeding information to Donald Trump. A report from CNN, though, shows that he s still receiving intelligence.As you may recall, just a few weeks ago, Nunes came under fire for visiting the White House grounds after learning that Donald Trump may have been swept up in surveillance before he took office. Nunes denies that he delivered the intel to Trump but nonetheless, he recused himself from the investigation at least he appeared, until now, to have recused himself.Nunes, a California Republican, took a trip to the CIA this week to review Russia intelligence, according to House intelligence committee sources. As word of Nunes trip trickled out among lawmakers this week, it angered Democrats who thought that they had moved past the chaos spurred by Nunes coordination with the White House.Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, shrugged when asked if he was concerned that Nunes had not completely removed himself from the House Russia investigation. He recused himself, so he can set those limits, Quigley said.A senior House Republican aide noted that Nunes is still the chairman of the House intelligence committee and has duties, which still require him to review classified intelligence. The aide added that House Speaker Paul Ryan is not setting the terms of Nunes recusal from the leadership of the investigation.Source: CNNRecusal, it appears, is all relative, at least if you re a Trump loving Republican. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, but still played a role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey.Democrats in both the House and the Senate are taking the investigation of Trump and his Russian ties very seriously, but Republicans, as Nunes and Sessions are proving, are doing everything in their power to obstruct the investigation. While it might be legal for Nunes to have the intel, it s certainly against the spirit of his recusal. If House leadership had a spine, they d be taking him off the committee altogether.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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6 Steps to Becoming the Best Leader Possible

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter What does it mean to be a leader? This is a question I have been asking myself repeatedly over the past few weeks. The 2016 presidential election is but a few weeks away and I am left feeling confused, disgusted, and outright angry at what has been demonstrated as leadership. If I am honest, I feel embarrassed to be a citizen of a country that is most certainly causing many eyes to roll and jokes to be made. We are better than this. As I continue to grow, fall down, pick myself back up, and evolve as a leader, I am constantly exploring what the word means to me and how I can embody that meaning from a grounded and heart-centered place. I come back time and time again to the same process — a process that is not weighted or influenced by that which is outside of me, but rather by that which lives deep inside of me. It’s about self-inquiry, self-reflection, self-accountability, and self-responsibility. It’s a process that asks me to drop to my knees, to stretch, to get uncomfortable, to ask more of myself. It’s a process that in times like these, we uncompromisingly appoint ourselves to undergo because we have no choice but to stand firmly in our own leadership. Whether you are a butcher, baker, or a candlestick maker — you are a leader. And the world needs as many honest, honourable, and integrity-filled leaders as it can get right now. Here are my six strategies for stepping firmly into your own embodied leadership. I invite you to get comfy with a notebook, pen, and cup of warm tea and walk yourself through this process step-by-step. 1. Identify Your Value System What matters most to you? Where do you feel unwilling to compromise? Your integrity? Loyalty? Ambition? Transparency? Your values are the foundational parts of yourself that guide your behaviours, choices, and actions. When these are in alignment and you are living your values, you feel at peace inside of yourself. You are operating not from your head or your gut, but from your heart. You are discerning in your decisions and steadfast in your commitments. Not only does it feel good inside of yourself, it is overwhelmingly obvious to the outside world that you’ve got something groovy going on. 2. Acknowledge and Understand What Makes You, You I hope this step doesn’t scare you, because this one takes a little bit of work, as it is an ongoing unfolding process. Although many of us know parts of ourselves, we also have blind spots. Part of stepping into your leadership is to see and understand all of yourself: the good, the bad, and the ugly. For me, the most helpful resource I have found is the Enneagram . This highly evolved personality typing system helps you to better understand your strengths, your stressors, your fears, your areas for growth, and your opportunities to develop. Using this system, you can become clearer on who you are, while learning how other people operate in the world. This information can be unbelievably helpful when learning how to be mindful and aware as a leader. As an Enneagram Type 2, the Healer, I am well-versed in knowing that my superpower is my ability to be compassionate, empathetic, and helpful, but I also lose my power and can become insecure when I do not feel needed. This does not make me weak or invaluable as a leader, but rather pushes me to rise up and push my edges whenever I experience this feeling so that I can meet my own boundless potential. 3. Cultivate a Network of Mentors Want to know something crazy? You don’t know everything and you can’t do it all on your own. I know how disappointing this may sound, but let me tell you something: It’s a damn godsend! Not needing to know it all or have all of the answers gives you space to be vulnerable, approachable, real, and ever-changing. A network of mentors helps you to not feel alone when you are up against the wall and aren’t quite sure how to navigate your next steps. Over the past few years I have worked hard to create my network of mentors. Currently, my network consists of one spiritual mentor and two professional mentors. Oh, and I also have a therapist. That’s right, I have four older, wiser, more evolved humans in my life that I can regularly call upon when in need. And they aren’t my friends. I don’t call them to gab, or simply catch up. I call them when I need to get in deep and unpack some serious personal, professional, or spiritual shit. This wolf pack is a group of individuals who have been around the sun once or twice and take their role as a mentor seriously. If you are feeling lost or misguided in your leadership, I greatly encourage you to reach out to people who inspire you and are living and leading lives that you admire. Don’t be shy. Don’t hold back. Be willing to pay a bit of money for it. Be willing to be rejected. But most of all, be willing to ask. 4. Act from Authenticity A few months back I wrote an article about my 5 Tips on Being Genuine . It almost makes me laugh to think that we need to be reminded to be authentic in our actions. However, the truth is that we have become used to cropping our lives into a series of photographs, 140 characters, or neat blog entries and Facebook posts. We have become buttoned up, edited, and the image of perfection. So, let me show you my leadership by revealing some of my imperfections. I often have no idea what I’m doing. I felt sad for almost all of last week and I couldn’t totally put my finger on why or what to do other than get lots of sleep, exercise, and eat well. I have lots of little blonde hairs on my upper lip that I pluck when I remember. Sometimes I watch TV on my computer in bed. Other times I eat peanut butter toast and scrambled eggs for dinner when I feel too wiped out to cook. I’ve been called bossy. My boyfriend and I fight. I can get anxious when work is slow. Evolve Your Inbox & Stay Conscious Daily Inspiration and all our best content, straight to your inbox. Writing these words, I can feel my own power grow. I’m not hiding anything. I’m not putting on a face or trying to be put together; I’m just being human. And whenever I read or watch someone else show me their messiness, I feel their power and their leadership. Being human is sexy. Show the world what you’re working with. 5. Constantly Work on Your Communication Skills Let me repeat this one: CONSTANTLY WORK ON YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS. Communication is a basic life skill and your ability to communicate largely determines your happiness. When you communicate effectively, you make and keep friends. You are valued at work. Your family respects and trusts you. Your needs get met. When you communicate effectively, people listen and hear you, and you learn how to listen to and hear other people. This is when magic happens. Strong, compassionate communication is something that is learned; you’re not born with it. If you are looking for resources on how to better communicate, I highly recommend the books Messages: The Communication Skills Book by Matthew McKay, Martha Davis, and Patrick Fanning and Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall B. Rosenberg. Additionally, be open to uncovering the underlying reasons of why you react or feel triggered (another blog post coming soon on that) by certain types of communication as well as receiving feedback from others on ways that you communicate well and areas for growth. 6. Commit Yourself to Lifelong Learning Whether you are a CEO at a company, a full-time parent, a caretaker, just starting out your career, or saving the world, you are a leader. And any truly great leader is always learning. Leaders are strengthening their strengths, finding opportunity in their obstacles, and discovering new ways to be the best versions of themselves. Whether it is a book, workshop, therapy session, class, or travel experience, commit yourself to a lifelong learning process and you will forever feel empowered in your leadership. We are currently witnessing a national crisis, where the proposed future leaders of our country are being caught in webs of lies, immoral behaviours, cruel words, disrespectful communication, and dishonourable action. I know it’s easy to sit here, pointing fingers and placing blame. Instead, I am asking you to rise up and embrace your own, unique, and powerful leadership so that we can all come together, one by one, and stand up for what we believe in. Truth. Peace. Integrity. Compassion. Equality. Loyalty. Honesty. And Love. If you are doing it right, you will feel like you are revealing too much. The Sacred Science follows eight people from around the world, with varying physical and psychological illnesses, as they embark on a one-month healing journey into the heart of the Amazon jungle. You can watch this documentary film FREE for 10 days by clicking here. "If “Survivor” was actually real and had stakes worth caring about, it would be what happens here, and “The Sacred Science” hopefully is merely one in a long line of exciting endeavors from this group." - Billy Okeefe, McClatchy Tribune

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Trump blasts CEOs who quit advisory panels as 'grandstanders'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed company executives who have resigned from one of his presidential advisory committees in reaction to his response following weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. “For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!” Trump wrote on Twitter after the chief executives of Merck & Co Inc, Under Armour Inc and Intel Corp left his Presidential Manufacturing Council.

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The Winter of Our Discontent: Survival | Survival

(Before It's News) A new year coming up, a new administration being sworn in, and new threats emerging, so will this be a winter like no other? Ice storms, power outages, mass shootings, financial crisis’s, possible attacks by other countries and civil unrest all loom large in the new year. The nation’s power grids, yes plural because there are three of them are in disrepair, and much of the grid system relies entirely on computer systems, which it seems, are hacked on a daily basis. Russia is stirring and making war noises, North Korea has failed to launch but they keep trying and they will get it right soon enough, and then there is Iran running their fingernails down the chalkboard trying to get our attention. Iran wants a war because it takes the focus off of just how badly treated their people are and it always ends up being about money and power, so why not start a war is their thinking. All in the name of something are wars started, wars are profitable, and they cover up a lot of atrocities committed by all parties, the fog of war, and all that. This winter we may or may not be in a war much may depend on just how the new administration handles things, however. You cast your vote and pray for the best, of course, there is much more you must do. You as an individual and as a family or even as a community must prepare, because you may have to go it alone for days, weeks, or even months if the grid is hacked and shut down, or if we are attacked or if a natural disaster strikes. The world is in turmoil and much of what happens is simply out of your control, what you can control, however, is how you prepare and react. You have to be prepared to live without your local, state or federal governments help. No garbage pickup, no clean water piped in, no natural gas for heat or cooking, and no snowplows patrolling the streets. Police will prioritize so that recent break-in with no injuries goes to the bottom of the list. Firefighters may be responding to fires set by violent protesters and ambulance services may have to respond to a mass shooting or injuries caused by rioting. You, the average citizen may very well be on your own, on your own in the dark in some cases for a very long time, in the winter of our discontent. The weather will have an influence on you, and it must be dealt with along with the other threats looming. It may be time that you grocery shop for two weeks instead of stopping every night or every other night to grab something quick. This way you stand a good chance of having a week to a 10-day supply of food on hand for emergencies. We generally recommend several months, and in some cases, several years’ worth of food, but the prepping landscape is changing, and finances are the biggest factor. For most Americans, it is not realistic to have a 6-month supply of food on hand, and with that being the case, you will have to adjust your shopping habits and meal preparation habits, so you do have some food reserves on hand at all times. It may not be much but it may be enough to get past many local disasters. If you can afford to have a 6-month supply on hand do so, but for many this is financially out of reach. The problem with stockpiling food, however, is that it will need to be prepared and many today simply do not have the time or skills to properly prepare a meal, but during a crisis is not the time to try and learn to cook. There is more to being prepared than having a spare bedroom filled with dehydrated foods, lanterns, batteries, tents, and sleeping bags. You also need skills, such as cooking, fire starting, how to stay warm outside when the wind chill factor is well below zero and how to prepare fresh foods like wild game or fish, for example, without making the family sick. We have written dozens of articles about the skills needed, and it is well worth your time to review a few. This article is more about reminding you that regardless of what may be going on in the world, the biggest threat to you is usually local. Snow storms, local power outages, broken water mains, which means no clean water unless you boil it, or you lose a few days of work because of a snowstorm, or you experience icy road conditions and end up in the ditch or down a ravine. Local threats and national and world threats all have to be dealt with, but you start with the most likely at the time. The Simplest Of Things Matter The Most Keep your vehicle fueled up can save your life. If you run off into the ditch almost on empty, you can’t stay warm. You need a winter survival kit as well. Warm clothing and shoes for walking in snow and wet conditions, blankets and food and water protected from freezing. You don’t have to run out and buy emergency blankets, use one or two from the house and toss a spare jacket in the back and those old snow boots you never wear around the house. The simple things matter. Buy a box of protein bars , and a case of water. For less than 12 bucks, you have water and food for a few days. Toss in some matches, a flashlight, gloves, a small shovel and hat and you are almost there without breaking the bank. You know what you need, it is just a matter of taking the time to do it, and if you look around the house you will find you may not have to run out and buy anything because you already have what you need. You, of course, have to focus on the big picture as well, the threats from abroad, nuclear war, armed invasions and a major grid collapse but it is likely you will meet a snowstorm or icy roads before the other threats manifest themselves. Of course, we never know for sure, but life is always about the most likely and what is the most realist way of living your life day-to-day. The post The Winter of Our Discontent: Survival appeared first on Preparing for shtf . Source: prepforshtf.com

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Fucking Amazing. That people regurgitate this shit. Is there nothing real anymore? We live in an illusion.

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Ted Cruz Cries ‘Unprecedented Persecution’ Because Gay People Can Get Married (AUDIO)

Right-wing Christians are always talking about how LGBT people having equal protections under the law will mean the end of Christianity. Well, the Supreme Court s ruling Obegefell v. Hodges, which made marriage equality legal nationwide was the worst fears of bigots everywhere becoming a reality but not because of any actual anti Christian elements to the ruling. The ruling simply says that anyone and everyone can marry whatever consenting adult they like. However, many bigoted Christians see the ability of anyone to do anything they don t like is persecution. On that list of morons who think that way is religious conservative and presidential candidate Ted Cruz.Cruz sat down to speak with right-wing radio host Janet Mefford on Thursday, and of course the conversation turned to his bigoted views on LGBT people. First, he bragged about being endorsed by hate groups such as the Family Research Council and The National Organization for marriage. Then, he went on along rant about how marriage equality was illegitimate, and how the Obergefell ruling was nothing short of disastrous Here is the quote (emphasis mine): I believe that decision was fundamentally illegitimate, it was lawless, it was unconstitutional and it will not stand. And I would note, that is precisely why Dr. James Dobson has endorsed me in this campaign, it is why Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council has endorsed me in this campaign, it s why the National Organization on Marriage [sic] has endorsed me on this campaign and has said it cannot support Donald Trump or Marco Rubio because if we re not willing to defend marriage, we are giving up the foundational building blocks of the family, we re giving up the Judeo-Christian values that built this great nation. And that is where you are dead wrong, Senator Cruz. This nation was not built upon Christianity. In fact, our Founding Fathers put explicit walls into our founding documents to ensure a complete separation between church and state. If you do not know that basic fact of our history and of our laws, then you have no business being in any public office, much less the presidency.This is what makes Cruz so dangerous. He is determined to turn America in a giant church via the law should he make it to the White House. That is why it is so important to make sure you VOTE BLUE in November 2016.Listen to the audio below, via Right Wing Watch:[soundcloud url= https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/247707760 params= color=ff5500 width= 100% height= 166 iframe= true /]Featured image from Gage Skidmore/Flickr

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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.”

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U.S. says Trump order will not undermine data transfer deals with EU

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - An executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump to crack down on illegal immigration will not undermine two data transfer agreements between the United States and the EU, Washington wrote in a letter to allay European concerns. An executive order signed by Trump on Jan. 25 aiming to toughen enforcement of U.S. immigration law rattled the European Union as it appeared to suggest Europeans would not be given the same privacy protections as U.S. citizens. The order directs U.S. agencies to “exclude persons who are not United States citizens or lawful permanent residents from the protections of the Privacy Act regarding personally identifiable information.” Securing equal treatment of EU citizens was key to agreeing the Umbrella Agreement which protects law enforcement data shared between the United States and the EU. And the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield - which makes possible about $260 billion of trade in digital services - was only clinched after Washington agreed to protect the data from excessive surveillance and misuse by companies. In the first written confirmation since the executive order stoked uncertainty over transatlantic data flows, the U.S. Department of Justice said the executive order did not affect either the Umbrella Agreement or the Privacy Shield. “Section 14 of the Executive Order does not affect the privacy rights extended by the Judicial Redress Act to Europeans. Nor does Section 14 affect the commitments the United States has made under the DPPA (Umbrella Agreement) or the Privacy Shield,” Bruce Swartz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, wrote to the European Commission in a letter seen by Reuters. EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova, who will travel to the United States at the end of March, said she was “not worried” but remained vigilant. The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield is used by almost 2,000 companies including Google (GOOGL.O), Facebook (FB.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) to store data about EU citizens on U.S. servers. Its predecessor was struck down in 2015 by the EU’s top court for allowing U.S. agents unfettered access to Europeans’ data, forcing an acceleration of difficult talks to find a replacement.

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Syrian Kurdish militia attacks Turkish outpost in Syria's Idlib, no casualties: Anadolu

ANKARA (Reuters) - The Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia has attacked a Turkish military observation post in Syria s Idlib with mortars, the state-run Anadolu news agency said on Monday, adding that there were no casualties. The Turkish military retaliated after the attack, which hit the observation post in the Darat Izza region and some civilian settlements with five mortars, Anadolu said.

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Venezuela arrests top oil executive, eight other PDVSA employees: sources

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela has arrested the state oil company s boss for the western region and eight other executives at PDVSA, according to an internal company memo and a half-dozen sources in the OPEC member s oil industry. It was not immediately clear why Gustavo Malave and the other employees were apprehended, though a series of corruption probes are under way at PDVSA and have entangled other employees. The sources said Malave was arrested on Monday in Zulia state, Venezuela s traditional oil-producing region near Colombia, in what would be one of the highest-profile detentions of a PDVSA executive. PDVSA, the prosecutor s office, and Malave did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Separately, Venezuela s new chief prosecutor Tarek Saab on Thursday announced he was investigating spectacular overpricing in a dozen contracts in the nation s Orinoco oil belt, on the other side of the country. The reputation of PDVSA - short for Petroleos de Venezuela SA - has been tarnished in recent years by graft investigations involving high-profile staff. The company has blamed the problems on a small group of employees and executives, and promised a war on corruption. Last year, the opposition-led congress said $11 billion was lost at PDVSA between 2004 and 2014, when Rafael Ramirez was in charge of the company. He denied the allegations. The Caracas-based company is the financial motor of leftist President Nicolas Maduro s government, but is reeling from low oil prices, mismanagement, and lack of investments.

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FULL INTERVIEW: PRESIDENT TRUMP Nails It On Immigration, Obamacare, US Military, Jobs And “Incompetent” Nancy Pelosi [Video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNPX8ZCIfc0&t=26s

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