title
stringlengths 1
456
⌀ | text
stringlengths 1
143k
⌀ | label
class label 2
classes |
|---|---|---|
JUST IN: WaPo Reporter Who Broke News On Judge Roy Moore Story Has A Criminal History Of “Faking” | Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore is denying that he romantically pursued teenagers as young as 14 while he was in his 30s after a bombshell report. The women accusing Moore told the Washington Post that when they were between the ages of 14 and 18, he romantically pursued them.One woman, Leigh Corfman, told the Post that when she was 14 years old in 1979, a 32-year-old Moore took off her shirt and pants and removed his clothes. Corfman told the Post that Moore touched her over her bra and underpants, she says, and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear. The outspoken social conservative said in a statement the four women quoted by the Washington Post are lying. This garbage is the very definition of fake news and intentional defamation, Moore said.Former White House adviser Stephen Bannon helped Moore trounce establishment favorite Luther Strange in a September Republican primary, over President Trump s warning that Moore was less electable.Moore currently is in a close race against Democrat Doug Jones ahead of a Dec. 12 election. Washington ExaminerStephanie McCrummen, the reporters who co-wrote the Washington Post hit piece on Judge Roy Moore, apparently has a history of faking things like fake checks for instance According to the anti-Trump publication, Red State, McCrummen, who works for the Washington Post, (who many consider to be fake news, after using mulitple unnamed sources in an attempt to tie President Trump to the Russians), has a criminal record that involves writing a FAKE check.Ms. McCrummen has a rather interesting criminal history herself, as public criminal records in multiple states stretching across 4 time zones have shown.Ms. McCrummen s criminal history began with North Carolina Case # 1992 CR 00654, a violation of the Article 19 False Pretenses and Cheats section of the North Carolina Criminal Code. Ms. McCrummen was convicted of a crime punishable by up to six months of imprisonment for writing a hot check that was deemed worthless.Ms. McCrummen s other offenses are all traffic related and in 2010, she was tracked down by the courts after she had escaped Arizona s jurisdiction to D.C., and her case was assigned to the Fines/Fees and Restitution Enforcement (FARE) Program established to collect delinquent court ordered restitution, fines, fees, and surcharges . After the FARE team tracked her down at her Washington D.C. apartment, they finally appeared to get her attention and on October 23, 2010 she paid the defaulted fine to the criminal court, almost two months after her conviction. McCrummen has now found herself a four-time loser in the states criminal courts. She currently resides outside of the jurisdiction of the three states where she committed her crimes.Sean Hannity ripped into the media frenzy over the Judge Moore scandal on his show last night. The left is calling for his head today:.@seanhannity EVERYONE deserves the presumption of innocence before proven guilty. Not to mention these allegations coming out days before an election!#RoyMooreChildMolester pic.twitter.com/SEAC7GP0TU Shell Covfefe (@MichelleRMed) November 10, 2017When a reporter has a criminal history that essentially proves she gave false information to pay a debt or for services, shouldn t her character come into question when it comes to making a 40 year old sexual allegation against one of the most hated, Steve Bannon backed conservatives running for office in America, that may help to enhance her career? | 1real
|
IS HILLARY’S CAMPAIGN In YUGE Trouble? SHOCKING Statistics Show Number Of Votes In 2016 WAY DOWN From Election She LOST In 2008 | Meanwhile Trump is about to make history for claiming the most votes ever in the history of the GOP primaries. What was that the mainstream media keeps saying about Trump not being able to beat Hillary? Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has badly underperformed in 2016 compared with her first run for president in 2008, a new data analysis done exclusively by Breitbart News shows.It s particularly telling that she s gotten fewer votes in 2016 than she did in 2008, especially because of the fact that the 2008 race was a three-way race for some time between Clinton, now President Barack Obama, and ex-Sen. John Edwards. She was, despite being the frontrunner for some time, the ultimate loser of that race and she got more votes that year in a much more competitive primary that she ended up losing than she has this year against a devout, proud socialist in Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) of Vermont.Clinton is widely expected to be the Democratic nominee in 2016, but her poor performance in the primaries which many believe she should have wrapped up long ago may drag her down heading into the general election, as even many Democratic voters seem to distrust her. To win in November, Clinton will need a strong showing from the Democrat base. This data seems to suggest that she has significant problems with her own party s core voters, meaning that if whoever wins the Republican nomination is able to woo these disaffected Democrats into the GOP camp, there could be a blowout in November for the Republican nominee.In 2016, Clinton has received 12,437,734 votes so far. In the states that have already voted this cycle, when she ran and lost back in 2008, Clinton received 12,727,221 votes.Specifically, the data shows, Clinton has seen a decline of 273,321 votes from 2008 to 2016 among states that have already voted this cycle. That 2.15 percent decrease nationally is exacerbated in several key states that Clinton would need to win to secure the presidency in a general election, suggesting that she s extraordinarily weak on the electoral college scale nationally and that whoever wins the GOP nomination will likely be able to thump her in the general in November. Via: Breitbart News | 1real
|
Agencies dither over who leads A380 engine explosion probe | PARIS/TORONTO (Reuters) - Air accident investigators from both sides of the Atlantic have been struggling to decide who should lead a probe into an engine explosion that forced an Air France A380 to make an emergency landing in Canada, people familiar with the matter said. Two days after the damaged superjumbo landed at Goose Bay in Labrador with more than 500 people on board, a formal investigation had yet to be announced, a step that typically takes hours. Experts from the United States and France, as well as planemaker Airbus and U.S-based engine maker Engine Alliance, have been sent to Goose Bay. But a spokesman for France s BEA air accident agency said no investigation had yet been formally launched. Canada s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) said it was currently leading the work of investigators from Canada, France and the United States. It s a long process and we re still gathering data and assessing. Many significant elements remain to be determined at this point, TSB spokesman Alexandre Fournier said by phone from Ottawa. Fournier said a formal accident investigation had not been launched and jurisdiction remains to be confirmed. The flight data recorder and cabin voice recorder will be arriving in Ottawa on Tuesday for analysis, he added. The decision on who should lead an investigation depends on a number of factors including, first and foremost, the country where the incident took place. Airline sources said an uncontained explosion, which ripped off the outer-right engine s three-metre-wide fan together with its housing from the front of the engine, happened over Greenland, which comes under Danish jurisdiction. Under aviation law, Denmark would officially own the investigation but it can delegate it to another country, such as Canada. Denmark s accident agency was not available for comment. France and the United States would automatically be part of any investigation, since the aircraft and engine were made in those countries respectively. Nobody was injured in the incident, in which Air France Flight 66, originating in Paris and bound for Los Angeles, declared a mayday and diverted to Canada. Airbus has issued an alert to all operators of the aircraft that use the same type of engine, confirming the low-pressure compressor fan had been separated. No cause had yet been identified, it said, according to one recipient. In 2010, a Rolls-Royce engine on a Qantas A380 suffered mid-air damage after taking off in Singapore. An investigation blamed a leak from a badly made engine pipe. | 0fake
|
MN: SOMALI MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS Explain Why It’s Acceptable To Kill Anyone Who Insults Mohammed [VIDEO] | Ami Horowitz is a thought provoking filmmaker who took a lot of heat for exposing the truth about the horrific, violent no-go zones in Sweden in one of his recent documentary films. Horowitz is also very controversial because he doesn t shy away from asking tough questions of the people he randomly interviews on the streets.In fiscal year 2014, Minnesota took in 2,232 refugees, according to the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. Almost half of those were from Somalia.In the video below, Ami took to the streets in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, MN to talk a variety of Somali Muslim immigrants. Ami posed several questions to a large variety of random Somali Muslim immigrants. He asked young boys, teenagers, middle-aged men and even an older woman their thoughts on how they felt about living in the United States, and if they d rather living back in Somalia. Horowitz also asked if they would prefer to live under Sharia Law or American laws. Their answers may surprise you.The most shocking part of the video however, comes near the end when Horowitz begins to discuss freedom of speech in America. While one of the men being interviewed talks about how great it is to be in America and to be afforded rights like freedom of speech and freedom of religion, every single Muslim respondent believed that free speech is great unless it involves criticizing the prophet Mohammed. Horowitz took his question a step further and asked if was okay for Muslims to use violence against someone who disparaged or insulted Mohammed. Every Muslim he asked, believed that using violence, including killing a person who criticized or mocked Mohammed, would be justified.Watch:After a major dip in 2008, the year ly num bers of new So ma li refu gees in Minnesota have re bounded stead i ly. The num ber of So malis re set tled in the state has more than trip led in four years. As resettlements nationally have picked up, more So malis are also arriving here after brief stints in other states often trading early support from resettlement agencies for the company of more fellow Somalis. You tend to go some where you can con nect, said Mo ha mud Noor, the head of the Con fed er a tion of So ma li Community in Minnesota. Be fore peo ple even ar rive from Af ri ca, they know they are com ing to Minnesota. But without the Twin Cities family ties of earlier arrivals, these newcomers often can t lean as heavily on longer-term Somali residents. Mary s Place, a Minneapolis home less shel ter, has be come ground zero for fami lies like Ali and Mo ha med s. Somali participation in the state s public food assistance program doubled in the past five years. Meanwhile, the Minneapolis School District, its So ma li stu dent en roll ment up 70 percent since 2011, launched eight class rooms with in struc tion in both Eng lish and So ma li to help new comers catch up. Star Tribune | 1real
|
In Dropping Health Vote, Trump Swallowed Need for a Showdown - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — When Speaker Paul D. Ryan arrived at the White House on Friday to inform President Trump that the health care bill he had made his first major legislative push could not pass, Mr. Trump had one reaction: He wanted revenge. Furious at rebellious Republicans who refused to back the measure, Mr. Trump demanded that defectors cast “no” votes for all to see — even if it meant the measure’s defeat, broadcast live on television. But over a lunch of chicken, brussels sprouts and potatoes in the Oval Office, Mr. Ryan pleaded with Mr. Trump to reconsider. A loss could do lasting political damage to Republicans who supported the contentious bill, Mr. Ryan argued, especially those in competitive districts who were vulnerable to primary challenges. It would do nothing to isolate or punish the Freedom Caucus, the conservative faction that had resisted the measure all along, he added. And it could alienate Republicans needed to push through other challenging initiatives in the weeks to come, including an increase in the debt ceiling, a sweeping tax cut and the president’s promised $1 trillion infrastructure package. Mr. Trump remained unconvinced, but by midafternoon, armed with vote counts showing that the measure lacked a majority to pass, the president called the speaker to agree: You should pull the bill. The collapse of the measure dealt Mr. Trump — a professed master dealmaker who campaigned as an agent of change — a remarkable setback in his young presidency, threatening to sap his influence and imperil his ambitious agenda. It also highlighted the importance of a pairing that will shape the Trump era: a president inexperienced in the complexities of politics and uninterested in the nuance of policy, paired with a vulnerable speaker struggling to corral competing coalitions within the Republican Party. With repeal and replace now a hollow vow, Mr. Trump’s anger at the defiant members of the Freedom Caucus was undiminished. But trying to put the best possible face on a major defeat late Friday afternoon, he confined his public criticism to Democrats. “When you get zero from the other side — they let us down because they’re hurting the people,” Mr. Trump said in a telephone interview shortly after he had agreed to pull the measure. Asked whether he was worried the loss would hurt Republicans, he said, “I’ll let you know in a year. ” The demise of the American Health Care Act played out in a tense 24 hours that White House and congressional officials said proved a political education for Mr. Trump and his top advisers on the promise and peril of governing, even with unified Republican control. This account is based on government officials who were present during the negotiations and who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We all learned a lot,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday afternoon. “We learned a lot about loyalty, and we learned a lot about the process. ” “Certainly for me, it was a very interesting experience,” he added. Mr. Trump, who initially had little involvement in crafting the health care bill, became more deeply engaged in recent weeks, promoting it at rallies outside Washington and holding meetings in the West Wing with conservative and moderate coalitions whose support was crucial to its passage. But he made little secret of his ambivalence about addressing the issue — “I would have loved to have put it first, I’ll be honest,” Mr. Trump said of tax reform in Nashville last week — yet he told aides he believed the measure could not pass without a push from him. By Thursday afternoon, just hours before a scheduled vote, it had become clear that his efforts — along with those of Vice President Mike Pence and other senior White House officials — had fallen short. At a meeting in Mr. Ryan’s office in the Capitol with members of the recalcitrant Freedom Caucus, top White House officials laid out the changes they had made at the group’s behest, including stripping it of federal standards for benefits that must be provided in health insurance policies, including maternity and wellness care. Caucus members began outlining still more changes they needed to see before they could support the bill, angering Mr. Ryan and Mr. Trump’s aides. Stephen K. Bannon, the president’s chief strategist, and Mick Mulvaney, his budget director, told the group that the White House was finished negotiating and that the president wanted to know its position on the bill — yes or no. Called on in turn to state their positions, several members refused. As tensions rose, Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina said that he spoke for the group and that they were not ready to commit. That meant the votes would not be there. Mr. Ryan postponed the vote and called an evening meeting of House Republicans in the basement of the Capitol. Lawmakers munched on takeout as Mr. Mulvaney delivered the president’s ultimatum on the health measure: Fall in line behind it or accept that former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act would be the law of the land. The speaker emerged and told reporters there would be a vote in the morning, rushing away from the news cameras as he was asked if Republicans had the votes. In a telephone call Thursday evening between Mr. Trump and Mr. Ryan, the two commiserated over the demands of the caucus and strategized over the prospects for a vote on Friday. Even as the two spoke, some of Mr. Trump’s advisers were privately expressing frustration with Mr. Ryan, arguing that he had badly misjudged the situation and misled the president into tackling health care before a tax overhaul. The meeting with the Freedom Caucus had prompted a realization by Mr. Trump and his inner circle about how the group operated, and that offering it policy concessions would not win its support. By Friday, Mr. Trump was out for blood, eager to call the bluff of the Freedom Caucus and savage it if the health bill went down in defeat. Mr. Bannon and Marc Short, Mr. Trump’s legislative affairs director, both favored holding the vote. But Mr. Ryan, reluctant to suffer an embarrassing loss or to ask his fellow Republicans to take what could be a politically perilous vote on a measure that had little chance of passing, argued vigorously against it. White House officials still believed as much as half of the Freedom Caucus could be pressured into supporting the bill, and Mr. Bannon demanded to see a confidential list that demonstrated otherwise. The numbers were grim, and Mr. Trump called Mr. Ryan to acquiesce into calling off the vote. “I don’t blame him for a thing, I really don’t,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Ryan in the interview on Friday. “Look, he tried. He tried very hard. ” But one close adviser said that Mr. Trump, who hates looking weak or any form of embarrassment in public, was stewing. One ally of the president, however, said that he had learned from the process. Christopher Ruddy, the chief executive of Newsmax Media and a longtime friend of Mr. Trump, said he thought it was a “blessing in disguise” that the bill had died. “This bill was a political bullet aimed at the president and congressional Republicans running for office next year,” he said. “On future legislation, he won’t make the same mistakes. ” As Mr. Trump reflected on the health care debacle, the president who had predicted during the campaign that he would win so often that people would become “sick of winning” insisted that he was at peace with the day’s results. “I’m not disappointed,” he said in the interview. “If I were, I wouldn’t be calling you. ” He said that he was moving on to overhauling the tax system and trade, describing the experience with the health bill as not that different from some of his negotiations as a developer. But he acknowledged that he was pleased to have it all behind him. “It’s enough already,” he said. | 0fake
|
BLACK AMERICAN On How I Became A Republican: “If You’re Voting’ Democrat, It’s Cuz You Want The (Food) Stamps…Get Your A*S Up And Get To Work, ******* Make America Great Again” [VIDEO] | ***WARNING***GRAPHIC LanguageThis video contains very graphic language, but his message is spot on!Bentley Brandon, a conservative citizen journalist on Facebook conducted an interview with a random black man sitting on his front porch. Although his language is very rough, his message couldn t be more accurate. How did you become a Republican? You know, when I was in the first grade, my teacher asked me, Do you know who was the party of the Presidency when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation? And I said who? He was a Republican and his name was Abe Lincoln. I said, Shit! well I m votin with the Republicans then. So I falls back on, only thing mother F*cker, if you voting Democrat mother f*cker, that s because you want some g*d damn stamps. You know what I m saying? You want some mother f*ckin food aid and assist. You don t wanna get off your g*d damn ass and don t wanna get no more g*d damn ass and get some g*d damn work. Get your ass up and get to work mother f*cker, and make America great again! Can you please explain to me the time and era when America was great? When everyone was working WATCH: | 1real
|
Avoiding the Dreaded Middle Seat May Now Cost You - The New York Times | As flying goes, the only thing more uncomfortable than sitting next to a couple having a spat on an airplane, Maury Rogoff learned, is sitting between that couple — especially when one partner prefers bare feet. Ms. Rogoff, who owns a public relations firm with offices in New York and Florida and travels frequently, discovered what a growing number of travelers now know: The middle seat has become the third rail of flying — and it is getting harder to avoid. As planes fly at record capacity and new cabin configurations squeeze in ever more passengers, airlines are, intentionally or not, nudging fliers into paying extra to avoid drawing the proverbial short straw. “I was literally in the middle of their argument,” Ms. Rogoff said. “It was just that awful. ” Her discomfort was magnified when the husband kicked off his shoes and crossed his legs, thrusting a bare foot into Ms. Rogoff’s space. Her entreaties with his wife to swap seats fell on deaf ears. “Of course she had no interest because it was middle, and because it was a smelly foot,” Ms. Rogoff said. For travelers like Ms. Rogoff, airlines are making it harder than ever to avoid the middle seat based on luck alone. Southwest, which does not assign seats, raised the price of an pass to $15 from $12. 50 last month. For those who do not pay up, it is a mad rush when online opens 24 hours before the flight. Delta Air Lines’ Basic Economy fare, introduced last year, does not allow seat assignments to be made until after — when customers have had a chance to claim window and aisle seats. American Airlines and United Airlines plan to introduce similar fares this year. Neither would confirm whether selecting a seat would be one of the perks eliminated, but one airline analyst said it was likely, given the competition legacy airlines face from carriers. “It’s a way to compete,” said Max Rayner, a partner at Hudson Crossing, a consulting firm in New York. “If you want to go at premium times, there will be far fewer seats available at the lower end of prices. ” Mr. Rayner suggested that this shift in pricing models wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, saying it could be a boon for the most customers. “You can think of it actually as opening up choice,” he said. “You just want basic transportation — sure, here it is. ” But the crunch has left some travelers taking extreme measures to avoid getting stuck in the middle. Fliers said they have offered fellow travelers money or drinks to switch seats, paid the fee to upgrade to a premium or exit row, feigned illness or switched flights. Some travelers even report buying two seats, just to have an empty one next to them. Dr. Sachin Shridharani, a plastic surgeon in New York, found himself on an overbooked flight back from San Diego, and a middle seat was the only one available. “I told them I’d be willing to take another flight,” he said. “I’ll pretty much do just about anything to avoid sitting in that notorious, infamous middle seat. ” The was to wait in the airport for four hours, but Dr. Shridharani said it was worth it so he could work on the way home. “You can’t have someone looking over your shoulder,” he said. In the end, analysts say, airlines are selling a form of real estate, but they are trading in square inches, not square feet. “People buy work space that’s really what they buy on board,” said Robert W. Mann Jr. an airline industry consultant. “Some of those configurations may not give you enough room, for example, to take out a laptop and use it productively. ” One carrier, though, has tried to address the issue. Frontier Airlines recently installed new seats on its Airbus A319 and A320 planes, with the middle seats about an inch wider than the window and aisle seats. But for most passengers, the tight squeeze continues, and business travelers say counting on their status to avoid the middle seat is no longer a sure thing. “You can’t show up at the airport hoping to talk your way into an upgrade,” said Mark Jeffries, a corporate speaker and author. “You don’t see free seats anymore. ” Mr. Jeffries said he sometimes buys two seats — a window or aisle, and a middle. It’s cheaper than buying a or ticket on a legacy carrier, he said. “We find that people will pay for premium economy or any kind of seat assignment if they’re traveling solo to avoid the middle seat,” said Julia Douglas, owner and president of Jet Set World Travel in Chicago. Some travelers will spend hundreds of dollars more, she added. Another approach is to appeal to another traveler. “There have been instances where I’ve bought someone an upgrade,” said Michael Winston, who used to travel once or twice a week while working in management consulting. At times, he said, he had resorted to bargaining with seatmates to avoid the middle seat. It is not an uncommon transaction, frequent travelers say, with cash, upgrades and cocktails all serving as forms of currency. But that is assuming that the seats are available. Last year, airline capacity again hit a record high, just shy of 85 percent, meaning that a lot of flights are full. And that leaves flight attendants and travel agents acting as de facto referees for games of midair musical chairs. The excuses passengers use to avoid the middle seat are many, they say. “Long legs is always one,” Ms. Douglas said. She then listed the most common complaints: claustrophobia, a need for frequent trips to the bathroom, panic attacks and a penchant for airsickness. “I don’t know if any of them are truly medically founded,” she said. “I just think it’s anxiety about being in that middle seat. ” Of all the excuses, genuine or exaggerated, the one that seems most effective is the threat of gastrointestinal distress. William Bauer, who travels frequently as an executive at a manufacturer of leather goods, said that hinting at a medical need for quick access to the bathroom usually prompted either gate agents or fellow passengers to make the switch for him. “Make it clear that you need that aisle seat. Really convey a compelling sense of urgency,” he said. “Thus far, I’ve never been rejected. ” On one recent flight, though, the tables were turned when Mr. Bauer found himself on the receiving end of a plea to swap seats on a flight. “There was a woman I gave up my aisle seat for because she cried,” he said. “If you cry, you win. ” | 0fake
|
Hypocrites: Republican National Convention Will Be Designated A Gun-Free Zone | As Republicans stand firm about doing nothing to curtail gun violence even if that means letting terrorist suspects on watchlists purchase firearms they are sending a strong massage to the public at their 2016 convention in Cleveland: while your sons and daughters are being killed everyday, we will be safe and sound.The Republican National Committee will be banning firearms (and anything resembling such) from the grounds of their convention. So while they go on and on about how dangerous, unconstitutional, stupid and lawless gun-free zones are, they are instituting just that.Here s a full list of what the RNC will be banning. Not only are guns banned, but so are: whistles, noisemakers, strollers (sorry moms with children), umbrellas, flashlights, backpacks, binoculars, alcohol, drones, Wi-Fi signal grabbers, mace, tasers and so forth.So while Republicans (at the behest of the NRA) stall the conversation about curtailing the dangers of guns in society, they will be conducting business with armed guards while no one, not even the most ardent gun rights supporters, will be allowed to bring their precious weapons.If there is ever any evidence that the Republican Party is full of rank hypocrites, this certainly takes the cake. Conservatives love to chide liberal politicians who have armed security but can t see what s going on right in front of their faces: Republicans don t care about their lives, only their own. If that wasn t the case, Republicans would be supporting every gun measure by the Democrats while keeping their convention gun-free.So it shows that the NRA, which has dolled out tens of millions of dollars to the Republicans, really calls the shots. Their donations stall progress for all Americans. Republicans continue to protect themselves in their cozy arena. No doubt the issue of gun control will be uttered by their speakers, and the crowds will cheer and boo. But while those cheers and boos echo on primetime, they can rest assured they will be safe. But the 96 people who die everyday of gun violence? Not so much.Thanks for showing us your true colors, Republicans.Featured image via Scott Olson/Getty Images | 1real
|
Markets collapse as Donald Trump is projected to win | Markets collapse as Donald Trump is projected to win 09.11.2016 | Source: Pravda.Ru International stock indexes have declined against the backdrop of the news about Donald Trump's leadership in electoral votes in the US presidential election. Investors were counting on Hillary Clinton's victory. World stocks indices collapsed on Tuesday, 8 November, as Donald Trump is expected to win the battle and take office as the next President of the United States. Earlier, The New York Times has changed its forecast for Trump's victory from 80 to 95 percent. The futures on major US stock indices fell in the range of 3-4%, OTC trading data showed. Dow Jones fell by 3.5% (650 points), S&P 500 - by 4,26%, NASDAQ - by 4.1%. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell by 3.98% (to 682.88 points) China's Shanghai Composite dropped by 1.32% (to 41.66 points), the index of Chinese "blue chips" CSI300 - by 1.18% (39.65 points), the Hong Kong Hang Seng - by 2.85% (646.73 points). South Korea's KOSPI dropped by 2.43% (48.64 points). Australian ASX200 - by 1.64% (86.29 points). Donald Trump's projected victory in the US presidential election has led to the fall of the US dollar against other major currencies. The dollar has weakened against the Japanese yen by 3.46% and by 2.2% against the euro ($1.1265). The price of Brent crude oil fell to $ 44.5 per barrel. Futures for Brent fell by 3.75% and are currently trading at 43.9. The price of US Treasuries shows a positive dynamics, while gold futures have grown by 4%. Pravda.Ru | 1real
|
Declaring ‘That’s Me,’ and Empowering Latinas - The New York Times | A few months ago, Sarai Gonzalez’s proudest distinction was being a funny older sister. She hammed it up during dance parties in her family room in Green Brook, N. J. She wore studded pink and baked a mean cupcake. Now, Sarai, 11, is in a Get Out the Vote ad. Miranda is praising her on Twitter. She recently attended an event for Hispanic Heritage at the White House, where she hugged the president and was in high demand for selfies, wearing a blue satin gown. “It was like a flash,” Sarai said. In record time, she had gone from unknown little girl to Latina icon, all thanks to a viral music video: Sarai is the nerdy, round and confident tween who confronts bullies on the streets of Brooklyn in the video for “Soy Yo” or “That’s Me,” by the Colombian group Bomba Estéreo. If you’re Latina, chances are you’ve already seen her. The video, released by the band last month, got a million views in its first days. (It now has more than six million.) It was featured all over, from NBC News to Fusion. It spawned a hashtag, schoolchildren’’s art, and animated GIFs, which in turn became memes. “Soy Yo” seemed to appear at precisely the right moment — a defiant, and adorable, rebuke to the rhetoric of the Trump campaign, and haters in general. “Don’t worry if they don’t accept you,” goes the song’s chorus, in Spanish. “If they criticize you, just say, ‘That’s me.’ ” The video resonated particularly with Latinas. Rarely in American life, especially in an era of ugly debates over immigrants, had popular culture created a young, brown, character so heroic, free of victimhood, full of dignity. Sarai made Latinas visible. Real Latinas. And they responded, in a chorus of “yes, that’s me. ” “It’s a reminder that Latinos are part of American life, American space is Latino space,” said María Elena Cepeda, who studies Latino representations in popular culture and teaches at Williams College. “Right now, that is a pretty transgressive statement. ” For Sarai, the video became like a home movie forever on repeat. “My mom was always checking it,” Sarai said. “My dad was playing it when he was washing clothes. ” It all came together through a mix of accident and authenticity. Sarai’s father, Juan Carlos Gonzalez, is from Costa Rica. Her mother, Diana Gonzalez, is from Peru. They came to the United States when they were about Sarai’s age. Devout Catholics, they met in church. Mrs. Gonzalez is a computer analyst at a Newark hospital and Mr. Gonzalez left his job as a construction engineer to be a father. Sarai is the oldest of their three daughters, and as a child, “she would sing everywhere. ‘Mother Goose,’ ” Mrs. Gonzalez said. “The microphone, that was her best friend. ” And she was always . In her mostly pink bedroom, a sign says, “I am awesome!” Last year, recognizing her charisma, Sarai’s parents enrolled her in a program run by Actors, Models and Talent for Christ, or A. M. T. C. a Christian talent and modeling ministry. She traveled to Orlando, Fla. and was picked up by an agent in New York. But it was her father who saw the casting call for the video on an actors database. The director, Torben Kjelstrup, also entered the picture almost by chance. Mr. Kjelstrup, who lives in Copenhagen, won a contest to make the video for “Soy Yo,” which is off Bomba Estéreo’s 2015 album, “Amanecer. ” He didn’t intend to make a political statement. He was inspired by the message of the song — “about being yourself,” he said — and by a photo of his girlfriend from high school. “She had braces, red hair, this incredibly ugly track suit,” he said. “She just had something. ” He pictured “a story about her walking down the street, just emitting this that rubs off on the viewer. ” He wanted to “paraphrase a video,” so he headed to Brooklyn. (The video is shot in Williamsburg and Bushwick.) He held auditions over the summer that drew more than 100 young actors. “When I saw Sarai,” he said, “when she was waiting, the look on her face was just priceless. ” It was her first role, if you don’t count playing one of “The Three Little Pigs” in a school production. Mr. Kjelstrup had little trouble building out her character: short overalls, Crocs, big glasses and pigtail braids. That look, paired with Sarai’s attitude, was contagious. Immediately, thousands shared the video on social media many posted childhood photos. A woman who saw it in Montana, Alma Castillo, tweeted: “#Soyyo you have captured my infancia! Thank you for making me feel proud! #Latina” Melissa Zepeda, a student and barista in Austin, Tex. wrote on Instagram: “I wish this song and video was released when I was actually around this age, when I probably needed it the most. When I was too nerdy, too American, too fat, too Mexican. ” Jillian Báez, author of the forthcoming book “Consuming Latinas: Latina Audiences and Citizenship,” about how Latinas perceive media targeted toward them, said the response showed the therapeutic power of the video. “I absolutely think it can be recuperative for Latina audiences who may not have seen themselves when they were little girls. ” There have been startlingly few unconventional Latinas in popular culture. “Ugly Betty,” adapted from the Colombian telenovela “Yo Soy Betty, La Fea,” is virtually the only nerd Google “Latina girl nerds” or “Hispanic girl nerds” and the hits are for pornography. If Latinas are portrayed at all, said Isabel author of “Dangerous Curves: Latina Bodies in the Media,” “the expectation is that they are going to be sexual, they are going to be spectacle. ” Sarai’s character is empowered, without any of that baggage. She drives off two snickering white girls by playing a recorder to the track of Andean panpipes. She confronts older boys, busting out dance moves learned from watching clips of Will Smith on “The Fresh Prince of . ” If the video resonated most of all with Latinas, it may have been for this fluid blending of cultures, which came naturally to a little girl raised between them. “We would blast the music in our family room and my mom and dad would dance with me,” Sarai said. “It was pretty funny. ” Lately the family has a new ritual. At night, Sarai crawls into bed with her parents to look at the latest photos fans have posted. “I always cry,” her mother said. At Sarai’s age, Mrs. Gonzalez and her sister, recently arrived to the country from Peru, had to work in the Georgia tobacco fields with their parents. “I never saw myself on television,” she said. “I see myself finally on the big screen. And I don’t have to be a size 2 or have perfect skin or a certain color hair,” she added. “I can be myself. ” “This little girl is in every Latina woman,” said her husband. When her parents get emotional, Sarai tells them what to write. “Wow!! You look beautiful,” she wrote to the barista in Texas, who had never fit in. “Sarai sends a hug. ” Then she sent some hearts. Pink ones. | 0fake
|
The Nuclear Option: Obama Silent over Trump Tower Wiretaps - Breitbart | What is with this curious — now deafening — silence from former President Barack Obama on these charges that his administration spied on a political opponent at the very height of a presidential campaign? [Since President Trump first leveled the incendiary charges in early March, there have been thousands of press articles and endless hours of speculation on cable television about the accusations. Every word, character, and symbol of punctuation from Mr. Trump has been parsed and sussed and diagrammed. This is no small thing we are talking about here. We are talking about a sitting president’s administration using the terrifying powers of espionage of the United States government to conduct an intelligence operation against a political opponent before, during and after that target was elected president of the United States. So much for “peaceful transfer of power. ” This would be 10 times more serious than Watergate. We are talking a constitutional crisis the likes of which we have never seen in modern times. And all anybody around here seems to want to talk about is the exhaustively investigated — yet still unsubstantiated — conspiracy theories about Mr. Trump’s supposed ties to Russia. Well, what about Mr. Obama? Did he actually morph into Russian President Vladimir Putin himself? Did he turn the White House into the Kremlin? Those are much graver charges than whether somebody has “ties” to the Russians. And so many of the questions about Mr. Obama’s involvement in spying on his political enemy remain unanswered. Actually, they remain unasked at this point. And before you dismiss these questions as crazy tweets from a crazy dictator, remember that Mr. Trump’s national security adviser was fired after he was — indisputably — wiretapped and unmasked during the time he was serving on Mr. Trump’s transition team. This alone would be utterly unbelievable in a world before Oliver Stone’s movie “Snowden. ” So, what say you, Mr. Obama? Crickets. The only statement from Mr. Obama was a carefully worded issued by a spokesman. “A cardinal rule of the Obama Administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice,” the statement began. This would seem to merely confirm that Mr. Trump was being investigated by the Obama Administration — but that Mr. Obama’s fingerprints would not be found anywhere on that investigation. And, yes, this is the same corrupt administration that featured the attorney general meeting in a private plane on a tarmac with the husband of the woman who was supposed to be Mr. Obama’s successor — while she was under investigation by the FBI. The Obama spokesman’s statement went on to say: “As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U. S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false. ” Here again, they are playing a silly game. Instead of answering the real question, they are hiding behind the loose and imprecise language of Mr. Trump’s tweet where he shorthands the whole accusation in less than 140 digits by saying “Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower. ” Any logical human knows what Mr. Trump meant by this. I don’t think any serious person actually thought Mr. Obama himself in a hard hat and work gloves with wire snips was in the walls at Trump Tower twisting wires together. Obviously, Mr. Trump meant that he and his campaign and transition team had been spied upon by U. S. intelligence services at the behest of — or with knowledge of — the sitting U. S. president. Monumental charges. Yet no denial from the former president. On Mr. Obama’s Twitter feed, he has opined about Chuck Berry, International Women’s Day and even Valentine’s Day. But not a peep about the serious charges lodged against him. This, at a time when we are told that Mr. Obama plans to lead the political resistance against Mr. Trump. He should begin by “resisting” these charges. • Charles Hurt can be reached at churt@washingtontimes. com follow him on Twitter via @charleshurt. | 0fake
|
Barack Obama Tells Alexis Tsipras That Rising Tide Of Nationalism Will Be A Threat To Globalism | Barack Obama Tells Alexis Tsipras That Rising Tide Of Nationalism Will Be A Threat To Globalism Speaking at a joint news conference with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras by his side, Obama refrained from criticizing President-elect Donald Trump directly as he discussed the impact of his electoral victory last week. Obama warned Tuesday that Americans and people around the world “are going to have to guard against a rise in a crude sort of nationalism, or ethnic identity, or tribalism” taking root amid the populist movements that are gaining currency around the world.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Why did the British people vote for Brexit ? Why did Donald Trump win in a landslide ? Because free peoples from any nation, once woken, will rightly reject globalism as a threat to individual freedom. NWO elites like Obama hate displays of nationalism like Trump’s America First campaign because he doesn’t believe America should come first. The coming Trump presidency is America’s first ray of sunlight in over 8 years.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras by his side, Obama refrained from criticizing President-elect Donald Trump directly as he discussed the impact of his electoral victory last week. But the president made it clear that he sees a dark side to the kind of populist movements Trump’s campaign embodied — ideals that other conservative leaders are advocating in Europe and elsewhere. WHO IS ALEXIS TSIPRAS? – click here to visit the NTEB Archive
“We are going to have to guard against a rise in a crude sort of nationalism, or ethnic identity or tribalism that is built around an us and a them, and I will never apologize for saying that the future of humanity and the future of the world is going to be defined by what we have in common, as opposed to those things that separate us and ultimately lead us into conflict,” Obama said.
“Take Europe,” he continued. “We know what happens when Europeans start dividing themselves up and emphasizing their differences and seeing a competition between various countries in a zero-sum way. The 20th century was a bloodbath.” Obama Full Press Conference with Alexis Tsipras in Greece:
If you don’t wish to suffer through all the blather, fast-forward to 32:20 mark to hear his specific anti-America First mumbo-jumbo.
Obama, who made it clear during the course of the hour-long news conference that he did not view the recent U.S. election results as a referendum on his own tenure or world vision, suggested that targeting specific racial, religious ethnic groups could backfire.
“In the United States we know what happens when we start dividing ourselves along the lines of race or religion or ethnicity. It is dangerous. It is dangerous, not just for the minority groups that are subjected to that kind of discrimination, or in some cases in the past, violence, but because we then don’t realize our potential as a country when we are preventing blacks or Latinos or Asians or gays or women from fully participating in the project of building American life,” he said.
“So my vision is right on that issue, and it may not always win the day in the short term in any particularly political circumstance, but I am confident it will win the day in the long term,” Obama added. “Because societies which are able to unify ourselves around values and ideals and character, and how we treat each other, and cooperation and innovation, ultimately are going to be more successful than societies that don’t.”
Obama acknowledged that there was a common theme in the recent U.S. presidential election, Britain’s vote in June to leave the European Union, and other populist movements elsewhere.
“Globalization, combined with technology, combined with social media and constant information, have disrupted people’s lives, sometimes in very concrete ways,” he said. “But also psychologically, people are less certain of their national identities or their place in the world. It starts looking different and disorienting.” | 1real
|
Milo Responds to Ann Coulter Cancellation: ’I Will Bring an Army’ to Berkeley ’If I Have To’ - Breitbart | Former Breitbart Senior Editor Milo Yiannopoulos declared that he would “make sure” UC Berkeley would “become the free speech capital of the United States once again” in response to the cancellation of Ann Coulter’s event on campus. [“Awful to see my friend Ann Coulter forced to cancel her speech,” wrote Milo on his official Facebook page. “I don’t understand why Young America’s Foundation would capitulate so close to victory. Ann can hardly be expected to show up without insurance, security or a venue, so I completely understand why she had to cancel. She is Ann Coulter, after all. ” “My proposed Free Speech Week will proceed as planned later this year,” he continued, before adding, “I WILL BRING AN ARMY IF I HAVE TO. ” “We will ensure that Ann and others can speak and we will publicly, ritually humiliate UC Berkeley for its failure to meet its legal obligations until conservative speakers no longer fear violent mobs just for exercising their First Amendment rights,” Milo concluded. “Berkeley is going to become the free speech capital of the United States once again. I will make sure of it. ” Like Coulter, Milo’s event at UC Berkeley earlier this year was derailed after a mob of violent activists set fires, smashed windows, and assaulted attendees who were supposed to see him speak. Young America’s Foundation pulled out of the Ann Coulter event on Tuesday, blaming the college’s hostile environment towards conservatives. However, YAF and the UC Berkeley College Republicans are still in the process of suing the college, claiming that administrators put several limiting restrictions on the event in an effort to get it cancelled. The groups and their attorney Harmeet Dhillon referenced previous events featuring conservative speakers at the college which also faced similar scrutiny and restrictions, including Milo’s as well as conservative commentator David Horowitz. During a press conference about the lawsuit on Monday, Dhillon branded UC Berkeley’s policies on “acceptable speech” as “infinitely malleable” before criticizing the Mayor of Berkeley, Jesse Arreguin, for appearing to sympathize with, be friendly to, and act softly on the rioters who shut down Yiannopoulos’ event earlier this year. “If the Mayor of Berkeley cannot maintain control of his city, the Governor should call the National Guard, because that’s a serious public health issue,” Dhillon proclaimed. Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook. | 0fake
|
Greek police arrest Syrian suspected of terrorism overseas | ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police said they arrested a 32-year old Syrian man suspected of involvement in terrorist acts abroad. The man was arrested on Thursday in the northern city of Alexandroupolis and is expected to appear before a state prosecutor on Friday, police said in a statement. The man had requested asylum in northern Greece. A police official said he was arrested for violating a restriction order imposed after his wife accused him of participating in terrorist acts . We are investigating his participation, and its extent, in past terrorist acts outside Greece, police said. Authorities were also examining photographs found on his mobile phone, the police source said. | 0fake
|
WATCH: GEORGE W. BUSH Offers Somber Memorial Honoring Lives Of Murdered Dallas Police Officers…OBAMA Gives Speech About URGENT Need For GUN CONTROL [VIDEO] | These two Presidents could not be more different. George W. Bush is a natural born leader. He inspires others to consider someone other than themselves, to come together and to unite. He proves through his actions that we shouldn t be afraid to act as a humble servant of the Lord. Barack Obama s speech on the other hand, proves he is nothing more than a narcissistic, arrogant and condescending community agitator. As George W. Bush appeals to the better side of America and implores them to come together and heal in the face of heightened racial tensions, Obama remains laser focused on himself, and on his insatiable desire to take away our Second Amendment Right. Obama s speech was not geared towards healing a torn and divided community. His speech was about promoting his radical gun-control agenda. It was about sound bites, as he waited on cue for applause from a group of people who were there to mourn the loss of their father, their brother, their son or their trusted co-worker.Watch George W. Bush s eloquent unity speech, honoring the lives of the brave Dallas law enforcement officers who were killed at the hands of a racist inspired by the Obama-Holder-Sharpton war on cops and war on White Americans:Compare G.W. Bush s speech to the divisive, angry and condescending speech from a petulant Barack Hussein Obama who just can t seem to get Americans to buy into his final act: | 1real
|
PRESIDENT TRUMP SHOCKS PRESS CORP…Makes Unannounced Trip With Ivanka Trump | President Trump bolted from the White House Wednesday afternoon aboard Marine One to make a trip that was unannounced, and shocked the Press Corps but turns out it s be a very somber occasion. The President was with Ivanka Trump when he left, and reporters had no idea where he was going.The trip was not on Trump s public schedule. A small group of journalists traveled with Trump on the condition that the visit was not reported in advanceAbout 20 minutes after he lifted off in the chopper the White House revealed he was flying to Dover Air Force Base to greet the plane bringing back the remains of U.S. Navy Chief Special Warfare Operator William Ryan Owens.Chief Special Warfare Operator William Ryan Owens, a 36-year-old from Peoria, Illinois, was the first known U.S. combat casualty since Trump took office less than two weeks ago. Three other Americans were wounded in the operation, which was planned by former President Barack Obama s administration but approved by Trump.The White House says the ceremony will be held in private. | 1real
|
Non-secessionist solution to Catalan crisis possible, says ex-leader | MADRID (Reuters) - Catalonia s deposed president said he might consider a solution to Spain s political crisis that did not involve the region s secession, appearing to soften the staunchly pro-independence stance that cost him his leadership last month. In an interview with Belgian daily Le Soir, Carles Puigdemont was asked if a non-secessionist option was on the table to resolve a crisis triggered when Spain took over control of the region after its parliament declared independence on Oct. 27. I m ready, and have always been ready, to accept the reality of another relationship with Spain ... It (another solution) is still possible, Puigdemont said. I have, being pro-independence all my life, worked for 30 years to have another way of Catalonia being anchored to Spain, he added, giving no details of what form such a relationship could take. He posted a link to the interview, which was published on Monday, on his Twitter feed. The former president is in self-imposed exile in Belgium after running an independence campaign that prompted authorities in Madrid to fire his cabinet, dissolve the regional parliament and call new elections for December. Puigdemont, who had previously insisted the independence declaration should form the basis of any political negotiations with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, is under conditional release after an international arrest warrant was served against him. He and four other former members of the Catalan government with him in Belgium face charges of rebellion and sedition. Rajoy has said he was open to talks with Catalan leaders on resolving Spain s worst political crisis since its return to democracy four decades ago, but only within a legal framework and after the independence drive was dropped as a condition. In an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt published on Monday, Rajoy said the position of the former Catalan leaders focused on the independence vote and gave little room beyond that for debate. Many blame me for not seeking political solutions. But I ve been in politics for a long time and ... there was no alternative, Rajoy said, adding that the Catalan crisis was the largest problem he had had to face as prime minister. He said had tried to reach a compromise with the regional government, but it was impossible. The government of Catalonia had only one goal - the independence referendum, he said. The Spanish government has called regional elections for Dec. 21, and Puigdemont s PDeCAT has failed to agree on a united ticket with other secessionist party, the ERC, denting the pro-independence camp s hopes of uniting behind the secessionist cause. The head of the ERC and former deputy to Puigdemont, Oriol Junqueras, will campaign for his party from a prison cell after being detained with other cabinet members who remained in Spain and pending trial on sedition and rebellion charges. According to an opinion poll released last week, independence supporters would win the election if they ran on a joint ticket, though probably short of a parliamentary majority. | 0fake
|
Self-Driving Tesla Was Involved in Fatal Crash, U.S. Says - The New York Times | DETROIT — The race by automakers and technology firms to develop cars has been fueled by the belief that computers can operate a vehicle more safely than human drivers. But that view is now in question after the revelation on Thursday that the driver of a Tesla Model S electric sedan was killed in an accident when the car was in mode. Federal regulators, who are in the early stages of setting guidelines for autonomous vehicles, have opened a formal investigation into the incident, which occurred on May 7 in Williston, Fla. In a statement, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said preliminary reports indicated that the crash occurred when a made a left turn in front of the Tesla, and the car failed to apply the brakes. It is the first known fatal accident involving a vehicle being driven by itself by means of sophisticated computer software, sensors, cameras and radar. The safety agency did not identify the Tesla driver who was killed. But the Florida Highway Patrol identified him as Joshua Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio. He was a Navy veteran who owned a technology consulting firm. In a news release, Tesla on Thursday described him as a man “who spent his life focused on innovation and the promise of technology and who believed strongly in Tesla’s mission. ” Mr. Brown posted videos of himself riding in autopilot mode. “The car’s doing it all itself,’’ he said in one, smiling as he took his hands from the steering wheel. In another, he praised the system for saving his car from an accident. The death is a blow to Tesla at a time when the company is pushing to expand its product lineup from expensive electric vehicles to more mainstream models. The company on Thursday declined to say whether the technology or the driver or either were at fault in the accident. In its news release it said, “Neither autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied. ” The crash also casts doubt on whether autonomous vehicles in general can consistently make driving decisions on the highway. And other companies are increasing investments in technology. Google, for example, recently announced plans to adapt 100 Chrysler minivans for autonomous driving. Earlier this year, G. M. acquired the software firm Cruise Automation to accelerate its own applications. Even as the companies conduct many tests on autonomous vehicles at both private facilities and on public highways, there is skepticism that the technology has progressed far enough for the government to approve cars that totally drive themselves. The traffic safety agency said it was working with the Florida Highway Patrol in the inquiry into Mr. Brown’s fatal accident. The agency cautioned that the opening of an investigation did not mean it thought there was a defect in the vehicle being examined. The federal traffic safety agency is nearing the release of a new set of guidelines and regulations regarding the testing of vehicles on public roads. They are expected to be released in July. At a recent technology conference in Novi, Mich. the agency’s leader, Mark Rosekind, said cars should at least be twice as safe as human drivers to result in a significant reduction in roadway deaths. “We need to start with two times better,’’ Mr. Rosekind said. “We need to set a higher bar if we expect safety to actually be a benefit here. ” Karl Brauer, an analyst with the auto research firm Kelley Blue Book, said the accident served as a signal that the technology might not be as advanced and ready for the market as some proponents have suggested. “This is a bit of a call,” Mr. Brauer said. “People who were maybe too aggressive in taking the position that we’re almost there, this technology is going to be in the market very soon, maybe need to reassess that. ” Tesla said in its news release that it had informed the traffic safety agency about the accident “immediately after it occurred. ” But the company reported it publicly only on Thursday, after learning that the agency had begun to investigate. Mr. Brown had spent 11 years in the Navy and then founded a technology consulting company, Nexu Innovations, according to a May obituary of Mr. Brown in The Greensburg Tribune Review in Westmoreland County, Pa. where he had formerly lived. The Nexu Innovations website, describing Mr. Brown as founder and owner, said that in the Navy he had been on active duty as a “master explosive ordnance disposal technician,” including a stint with the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, which is commonly known as SEAL Team 6. Ricky Hammer, a retired Navy master chief who worked with Mr. Brown at the development group, said Mr. Brown had strong computer skills and “was the equivalent of an electrical engineer even though he didn’t have the degree. ” In Iraq in 2006, he said, Mr. Brown played a crucial role in preparing captured explosive projectiles for shipment to the United States to support efforts to improve the armor on military vehicles. “He did it by being very aggressive,” Mr. Hammer said, noting that Mr. Brown helped to collect the projectiles after raids on shops and would them to determine their contents. In the past, Elon Musk, the Tesla chief executive, has praised the company’s feature, introduced in the Model S last fall, as “probably better than a person right now. ” But in its statement on Thursday, the company cautioned that it was still only a test feature and noted that its use ‘‘requires explicit acknowledgment that the system is new technology. ’’ It noted that when a driver activated the system, an acknowledgment box popped up, explaining that the autopilot mode “is an assist feature that requires you to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times. ” | 0fake
|
World Watches On Helplessly As Americans America The Shit Out Of American Election | 0 Add Comment
VOTING continues across America today as the American electorate seeks to vote in a new president, and while the identity of the 45th president of the United States of America is not yet know, what is known is that Americans are currently Americaning the shit out of the American election.
“So many people are staunchly opposed to one another and their preferred candidate, but they are always in agreement that they will do their level best as Americans to America the shit of the election,” election expert Sebastian Cumstard explained to WWN.
“The beautiful thing about America is that no matter your race, creed, class or gender, whatever your barely researched opinion is, it will likely lead you to vote in an almost violently patriotic manner or to use the technical term it will see you ‘America the shit out of it'” added Cumstard.
The most recent polls have indicated that supporters of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump voted ‘in good conscience’ for their candidate and did so believing they ‘America’d the ever living shit out of it’. Asked to expand on what they meant by this, some 98% replied by screaming ‘America’ as loudly as humanly possible.
The world will continue to watch on helplessly with many confirming they will not be able to sleep until they know who America feels can America America the most; Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
Regardless of the result, alcohol experts expect a huge spike in alcohol consumption when the outcome is known, with people motivated to down the nearest thing to them out of despair or relief.
Elsewhere, an Afghan farmer has expressed no preference as to which candidate he would prefer to be in charge in three months time when he is killed by an erroneous missile strike, but conceded the whole thing would be ‘very American’. | 1real
|
What Marketing Obamacare Really Looks Like [Cartoon] | You are here: Home / political cartoon / What Marketing Obamacare Really Looks Like [Cartoon] What Marketing Obamacare Really Looks Like [Cartoon] October 28, 2016 Pinterest
C.E. Dyer reports that the disaster that is Obamacare is about to get worse for many people enrolled in the health insurance marketplace. On Monday, the Obama administration confirmed that premiums will skyrocket for many people next year, according to the Associated Press .
The AP reported:
Before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25 percent across the 39 states served by the federally run online market, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Some states will see much bigger jumps, others less.
Moreover, about 1 in 5 consumers will only have plans from a single insurer to pick from, after major national carriers such as UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Aetna scaled back their roles.
In some states, the premium increases are striking. In Arizona, unsubsidized premiums for a hypothetical 27-year-old buying a benchmark “second-lowest cost silver plan” will jump by 116 percent, from $196 to $422, according to the administration report.
But HHS said if that hypothetical consumer has a fairly modest income, making $25,000 a year, the subsidies would cover $280 of the new premium, and the consumer would pay $142. Caveat: if the consumer is making $30,000 or $40,000 his or her subsidy would be significantly lower.
Larry Levitt, who follows the health care law for the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, said of the increases: “Consumers will be faced this year with not only big premium increases but also with a declining number of insurers participating, and that will lead to a tumultuous open enrollment period.”
Donald Trump’s campaign spokesman, Jason Miller, said in a statement on Monday: “This shows why the entire program must be repealed and replaced.” Miller added, “While (Hillary) Clinton wants to expand the failed program known as Obamacare, Mr. Trump knows the only way to fix our nation’s failing health care system is complete and total reform.”
Reports have warned that this was coming down the pike for some time; however, HHS’s confirmation ahead of open enrollment beginning Nov. 1 — one week before the election — is likely to cause major headaches for many people.
This debacle is not unexpected either — it’s exactly what President Obama and Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton wanted to happen.
Obamacare was never the end goal. Rather, it was a stepping stone toward single-payer, government-run healthcare. That is a big reason why Obama wants Clinton to become president — his legacy is at stake.
Obama’s legacy is largely wrapped up in Obamacare and what it leads to. Clinton tried to push this first step during her time as first lady and failed, but the conditions will be ripe for her to go even further should she be elected.
If Clinton becomes president, there’s no doubt that her next step will be to move to single-payer healthcare. Obamacare is bad, there’s no doubt about it, but single-payer government healthcare would be even worse. | 1real
|
Joe Giambrone on Hollywood’s Shameless & Underhanded Assault on Political Truth | By the constant administration of lies, the media puppeteers manufacture wars, protect the super-wealthy, and destroy democracy. Joe Giambrone “ We like nonfiction, and we live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious President. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it’s the fiction of duct tape or the fictitious orange alerts, we are against this war, Mr. Bush.”–Michael Moore Oscar acceptance speech, moments before his mic was cut off. T his year may mark a turning point, where the moral bankruptcy was laid bare for all. I’m speaking of the Bernie Sanders flip-flop for Hillary Clinton, the predictable bait-and-switch, which Democrats never seem to imagine in real time. The rest of us have seen it so often that the ruse has become routine Standard Operating Procedure. A particularly notable case is Sarah Silverman (left) , the filthy-mouthed comedienne, who originally championed Bernie. But she quickly fell into lockstep for Hillary. Silverman had a soul empty enough to go and scold the United States to support a candidate whom she had just been fighting against , and who actually stole the nomination from her own candidate through back-room deals at the DNC and through apparent voting-machine hacking . The thief was rewarded instead of jailed for some reason, which Hollywood has had absolutely zero interest in, as if it didn’t happen. They moved on instantly to lambast us all about Donald Trump 24/7. Orwell couldn’t have written it better. Hollywood has a highly complex understanding of political philosophy and particularly of this presidential race: 1. Trump Bad 2. Hillary Woman 3. So-called “Lesser Evil” W e should acknowledge, those who are literate, that Hillary Clinton’s repeated threats to escalate World War 3 over Syria leave her as potentially the greater evil, not the lesser at all. The jury is very much out. “Goldwater Girl” Hillary Rodham Clinton has a lengthy record of supporting every US aggressive war and opposing none. She may have played a part in the killings of over 2 million human beings so far, merely tallying those casualties from the three countries of Iraq, Syria and Libya. One may opt to also add another half-million Iraqi children who died as a result of her husband’s eight years of sanctions. I noticed Hollywood’s widespread mindless support for Democrats back in 2000, when I kicked that shockingly corrupt party to the curb and joyfully cast a vote for Ralph Nader, an actual American hero whose efforts have saved lives. Die-hard whiners of the Democratic rank-and-file still falsely claim that big bad Ralph gave the election to Dubya Bush, when anyone with the ability to read can see that it was the Supreme Court which stopped the legitimate counting of Florida ballots. Add Bush’s brother Jeb purging nearly two-hundred thousand minority voters from rolls. But the mindless strategy of attacking third parties and attempting to delegitimize democracy itself persists among the ignorant (a majority of Democrats perhaps). This is by design; this is who they are. They do not believe in democracy, because the billionaires who fund them do not believe in any democracy they cannot control. But the mindless strategy of attacking third parties and attempting to delegitimize democracy itself persists among the ignorant (a majority of Democrats perhaps). This is by design; this is who they are. They do not believe in democracy, because the billionaires who fund them do not believe in any democracy they cannot control . George W. Bush’s theft of the presidency did help expose the moral bankruptcy of Democrats as well as Republicans. When Bush lied about Iraq, Hillary Clinton was right there with him embellishing and freestyling! She claimed Iraq’s non-existent “weapons of mass destruction” to be “undisputed.” Her lies helped sell the war to Congress, a war of aggression: what the Nazis did and were hung for at Nuremberg. Her role in aggressive war and in destroying International Law as a restraint against belligerence are profound crimes, grievous war crimes: “the supreme international crime” in the words of U.S. Judge Robert Jackson. When a handful of Democrats attempted to impeach the Bush junta for crimes relating to those wars, as well as to torture and cover-up, it was Democrat Nancy Pelosi who announced “Impeachment is off the table.” Criminal collusion, allowing the crimes to stand without recourse, that is what they did. The US federal government has served as a protection racket for international war crimes. The damage that Democrats inflicted upon the rule of law is equal to that of the Republicans. The former had a moral and legal responsibility to defend the Constitution, their oaths of office, but voluntarily opted not to. The Internet helped flood the world with information to pass around, both good and bad, but the crimes of both parties became difficult for them to wash away now that Google made all web searchers equal. Today, things have accelerated into realms of the absurd. CNN recently cut off a congressman in mid-sentence for uttering the word “Wikileaks.” This Soviet-style clampdown on dissent remains a shocker even in a society that’s pretty much seen it all. The media, distrusted by most , is only one aspect of the problem though. Americans get their views from joking heads as much as from stodgy teleprompter readers. Talk shows and comedy skits propagandize viewers every bit as much as do the Washington Post or New York Times . Celebrity endorsements matter. Documents recently emerged that confirm Oliver’s willingness to shill for Hillary. And he’s not alone among the so-called cutting-edge “perceptive” comedians. Bill Maher has long been a Democratic party loyalist, and recently Amy Schumer—for all her smarts and anti-status quo posturing—came out strongly for Hillary. Schumer may be a dupe and clueless about the true nature of the Hillary option, but Oliver cannot be so easily forgiven. A casual glance at those programs would reveal that democracy is non-existent in Hollywood today. All voices are not represented. Minority candidates cannot get air time, will not be interviewed, and will only be mocked in absentia as per John Oliver’s recent disgraceful hit piece on Green Party candidate Jill Stein , a cowardly move John. Shameful. But Oliver is far from alone. I single him out because he knows better and could have done justice to the Green Party and to its clear alternative to perpetual war, empire, and industrialized ecocide. But where would that have left him personally vis a vis the Hollywood political consensus? Nowhere is presidential candidate Jill Stein welcome, not on the debate stage where she belongs, not on the daily puff shows, not on the edgy comedy interview shows, and not on SNL. This blanket censorship is quite glaring, and clearly part and parcel of a system rigged in favor of Democrats―no matter who they are, nor how long their rap sheets happen to be. Hollywood’s strategy is as simple-minded as those who are easily programmed by it. They point the finger endlessly at the boogie-man, who happens to be Donald Trump this year―it’s the same every cycle. It was the evil Romney, the evil McCain and the evil Bush Jr. prior. In regimented fashion, the entire industry demonizes the enemy du jour , and so ensures that the crimes of their own candidate never receive any light of day. That’s the trick. In their manufactured hysteria over the latest Republican they omit the entire criminal history of the Democratic nominee, how she stole the nomination in the first place for instance, and they avoid mentioning all the non-criminal alternatives, who are not corrupted by Wall Street, the military-industrial-complex, and foreign tyrants. This manufactured hysteria is strategic, and it is a false dichotomy. The fake two-candidate only choice is never questioned by Hollywood. To do so would mark one as an aberration, a non-conformist, a free thinker. You would be outcast to hobnob with the likes of Charlie Sheen, Gary Busey, Roseanne Barr, and Randy Quaid. This conformism is a mechanism of social control, and it’s not a laughing matter. I use the word kakistocracy more often lately, rule by the worst. Only the worst, the most corrupt, the biggest liars can rise in this rigged system. A more formal study pegged it as “ oligarchy ,” but I find the term bland. It is very much rigged on numerous levels to keep out the honest and the moral. If that’s not a problem to you, Hollywood , then you are indeed living in a fantasy story: Michael Moore’s fictional times roll on. “ dems ? Do U have any thoughts on Obama’s transition from a progressive academic humanist 2 a regressive corporate warlord?” Joe Giambrone is an author and independent filmmaker . He publishes Political Film Blog mainly to store evidence of these ongoing crime sprees. Bonus Feature: Originally Posted on FEBRUARY 20, 2013 by JOE GIAMBRONE H ollywood likes to pretend that things aren’t political when they are. It’s that bi-partisan nationalist myth that if both corporate parties agree to cheer for the empire, then everyone cheers for the empire. It’s gotten so bad now that races like the Oscars and the Writer’s Guild screenwriting award are tight contests between one CIA propaganda film and another CIA propaganda film. The first one helps to demonize Iranians and set up the next World War scenario, while the second film fraudulently promotes the effectiveness of state-sanctioned torture crimes. If there ever was a time for loud disgust and rejection of the Hollywood / Military-Industrial-Complex, this would seem to be it ( contact@oscars.org ). Naomi Wolf made a comparison of Zero Dark Thirty ’ s creators Bigelow and Boal to Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl ( Triumph of the Will ). That, to me, seems inappropriately offensive to Leni Riefenstahl. The good German filmmaker never promoted torture through deception. Nor was Triumph a call to war. The film was simply an expression of German patriotism and strength, rebirth from the ashes of World War I. The current insidious crop of propaganda, as in the CIA’s leaking of fictional scenes about locating Osama Bin Laden through torture extraction, are arguably more damaging and less defensible than Riefenstahl’s upfront and blatant homage to Hitler’s leadership. The Zero Dark Thirty scandal should be common knowledge by now, but here is what the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence wrote to Sony Pictures about it: “We believe the film is grossly inaccurate and misleading in its suggestion that torture resulted in information that led to the location of Usama bin Laden… Instead, the CIA learned of the existence of the courier, his true name and location through means unrelated to the CIA detention and interrogation program.” The filmmakers had every opportunity to explore the issue more fully, instead of relying on the “firsthand accounts” of the torturers themselves , and/or their allies within the Central Intelligence Agency. Notably, torturers are felons and war criminals. Those who know about their crimes and help cover them up are guilty of conspiracy to torture. Thus, these self-serving fairy tales that illegal torture led to the desired results (bin Laden) are tangled up with the motivation to protect war criminals from prosecution. Not only does this claim of successful torture help insulate the guilty from legal prosecution, it also helps to promote further criminal acts of torture in the future. Once this red flag issue was raised by the Senate, the filmmakers could have taken a second look at what they had put up on screens and reassessed the veracity of their material and the way it was being sold to the world. Instead they doubled down. Bigelow and Boal want it both ways, extraordinary access to CIA storytellers for a documentary-like “factual” telling of the bin Laden execution, but they also want license to claim that it’s just a movie and can therefore take all the liberties they please. Jessica Chastain, who plays a state-employed torturer/murderer, who also allegedly located Osama bin Laden, said : “I’m afraid to get called in front of a Senate committee… In my opinion, this is a very accurate film… I think it’s important to note the film is not a documentary.” In a nutshell, that’s the Zero Dark Thirty defense. It’s a highly sourced “ very accurate film ,” but we can take all the liberties we like because it’s not a documentary, and so if we made up a case for torture based on the lies of professional liars in the CIA, then oops. Mark Boal went so far as to mock the Senate Intelligence Committee, at the NY Film Critic’s Circle : “In case anyone is asking, we stand by the film… Apparently, the French government will be investigating Les Mis.” Any controversy over the picture seems to help its box office, as more uninformed people hear about it. The filmmakers themselves suffer no penalty as a result of misleading a large number of people on torture, to accept torture, to accept a secretive criminal state that tortures with impunity. Kathryn Bigelow’s wrapped-in-the-flag defense of the film: “Bin Laden… was defeated by ordinary Americans who fought bravely even as they sometimes crossed moral lines, who labored greatly and intently, who gave all of themselves in both victory and defeat, in life and in death, for the defense of this nation.” (emphasis in original) Nice propaganda trick at the end equating those who “gave all of themselves” and “death” with the individuals who “ sometimes crossed moral lines.” Everyone’s dirty; you see. All heroes are torturers; so it’s okay. Bigelow’s half-assed response to getting called out by the Senate for putting false torture results into her film, is to say : “Torture was, however, as we all know, employed in the early years of the hunt. That doesn’t mean it was the key to finding Bin Laden. It means it is a part of the story we couldn’t ignore . War, obviously, isn’t pretty, and we were not interested in portraying this military action as free of moral consequences.” (emphasis added) Ignore? By her reasoning, because the Central Intelligence Agency tortured people, she was required to fit it into the plot somehow, whether it was relevant to the investigation or not. That’s her excuse. No matter that the scenes are fabrications, and the actual clues about bin Laden’s courier came from elsewhere (electronic surveillance, human intelligence, foreign services). Bigelow told Charlie Rose , when asked the same question about the torture: “ Well I think it’s important to tell a true story .” Unfortunately, when confronted with the Senate investigation, truth quickly takes a back seat. The truth Bigelow now clings to is that, “Experts disagree sharply on the facts and particulars of the intelligence hunt, and doubtlessly that debate will continue.” To Kathryn Bigelow, the fact that the so-called “experts” she has sided with are torturer criminals with a vested interest in her portrayal of their crimes never occurs to her. She can dismiss the entire matter as a “debate.” Perhaps she no longer finds it “ important to tell a true story?” Kathryn Bigelow basking in the spotlight secured by shilling for the imperialist state. Kathryn Bigelow, America’s Leni Riefenstahl, claims that Zero Dark Thirty tells “a true story,” even when confronted by evidence that it is a lie. She is unapologetic and completely divorced from the real world damage her propaganda encourages. If this film takes home the Best Picture Oscar, it should serve as the cherry on top of a brutal, deceptive, decrepit and immoral empire, and signal this reality to the rest of the world. If this is allegedly the “best” of America, then we are truly finished. As for Ben Affleck’s Argo, its sins aren’t so readily apparent. Both films show wonderful Central Intelligence “heroes” acting to further US interests and take care of imperial problems. The Argo scenario is a rescue, however, instead of a hit. The problem is that Iran, a country thrown into a bloodthirsty dictatorship after its nascent democracy was murdered by the very same CIA in 1953, is now the bad guy. There are clearly two sides, and the film takes sides with the people who destroyed democracy in Iran and propped up an illegitimate monarch in order to control its oil and its refineries. When this despotic monarch whose secret police disappeared, tortured and murdered the political opposition – with the help and training of the CIA – is overthrown, we are supposed to overlook all that, because America is always good. We rescue our people. We risk our lives, and we come up with elaborate creative plans to help our people. We are heroic and triumphant vs. the inferior wild-eyed Persians and Arabs of the world. Now I do believe there’s a real story there, and the situation is ripe for telling, but an extreme sensitivity to the political context would be required. As Jennifer Epps put it : “…[T]he Iran we see in the [ Argo ] news clips and the Iran we see dramatized are all on the same superficial level: incomprehensible, out-of-control hordes with nary an individual or rational thought expressed. … But we never go behind-the-scenes at this revolution. (Instead, Affleck and screenwriter Chris Terrio’s tempering historical introduction is soon outweighed by the visceral power of mobs storming walls, chador-clad women toting rifles, and banshees screaming into news cameras.) …The problem is that viewers who don’t already know their Chomsky or William Blum aren’t going to walk out of [ Argo ] muttering “gee, it’s more complicated than I thought.” Instead, they’ll leave with their fears and prejudices reaffirmed: that Middle Easterners create terror, that Americans must be the world’s policemen, and that Iranians cannot be trusted because they hate America. … Argo almost completely ignores individual Iranians; its portrait of an entire culture is neither refined nor sophisticated; and it does reinforce a simplistic, Manichean perspective.” Enough said? So why are Argo and Zero Dark Thirty receiving all these awards? Are the awarding bodies so full of hyper-patriots who believe pro-American films can deceive and demonize with impunity, that they want to send an unequivocal message of support for these practices? Is hyper-nationalist propaganda in vogue now? With the ascendancy of Barack Obama, there is no longer a moral anti-war voice of any significant size in America. Obama, the smooth talker, has soothed away morality, ethics, law and rights. The empire is beyond reproach because Obama runs it. So the liberal center/left says nothing. Nothing but empty blather and ignorant praise of the Democrats. Murder is being codified in secret as we speak. Bush’s wars are being publicly scaled down, only to ramp up new covert wars of conquest across Africa. Nothing substantial has changed since George W., only the style. There was a time when no one trusted the CIA. Far from heroes, they were the prime suspects in the assassination of president John F. Kennedy, and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy. CIA support of terrorists was well known, if not loudly opposed. This agency has sponsored Cuban exiles to commit acts of terrorism inside Cuba. Its Phoenix Program kidnapped and murdered Vietnamese villagers by the thousands, torturing and killing them for alleged communist sympathies. The CIA overthrew democracies from Iran to Gutemala to Chile, and was instrumental in waging a terror war against Nicaragua by employing drug-running mercenary terrorists called “Contras.” When the Church Committee investigated the agency in the mid-70s, lots of dirty laundry was aired. The agency was reined in for a time. Assassination was made technically illegal. In the 1980s, the CIA fought a proxy war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan by funneling money and arms to radical Islamic Jihadists – like Osama bin Laden – and creating an intelligence/military monster in Pakistan, known as the ISI. With untold billions of dollars of US tax money, plus Saudi oil money, the Pakistanis were propped up as a central hub for militant groups to operate throughout the region. Pakistan is where Osama bin Laden allegedly ended up living for the last decade of his life, half a mile from the Pakistani military academy. The CIA today is instrumental in the blitzkrieg of terror across Syria. It funnels arms and money to radical Islamic Jihadists, exactly as it did in Afghanistan in the 1980s. In 2011 it participated in the Libyan Crime Against the Peace doing much the same type of activity on behalf of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a group that helped take over that nation despite being included on the US State Department’s Terrorist List! The LIFG has sent its fighters over to Syria, after the fall of Qadaffi, to assist in the genocidal guerrilla war against the Syrian state, as well as civilians. The CIA assists in these activities. But of course those victims aren’t Americans. So none of that counts. “…Is it healthy for us to hold up images of Cold War CIA agents as selfless do-gooders?” –Jennifer Epps NOTE: ALL IMAGE CAPTIONS, PULL QUOTES AND COMMENTARY BY THE EDITORS, NOT THE AUTHORS PLEASE COMMENT AND DEBATE DIRECTLY ON OUR FACEBOOK GROUP INSTALLATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joe Giambrone is a filmmaker and author of Hell of a Deal: A Supernatural Satire . He edits The Political Film Blog , which welcomes submissions. polfilmblog at gmail. Note to Commenters Due to severe hacking attacks in the recent past that brought our site down for up to 11 days with considerable loss of circulation, we exercise extreme caution in the comments we publish, as the comment box has been one of the main arteries to inject malicious code. Because of that comments may not appear immediately, but rest assured that if you are a legitimate commenter your opinion will be published within 24 hours. If your comment fails to appear, and you wish to reach us directly, send us a mail at: editor@greanvillepost.com
We apologize for this inconvenience. =SUBSCRIBE TODAY! NOTHING TO LOSE, EVERYTHING TO GAIN.= free • safe • invaluable If you appreciate our articles, do the right thing and let us know by subscribing. It’s free and it implies no obligation to you— ever. We just want to have a way to reach our most loyal readers on important occasions when their input is necessary. In return you get our email newsletter compiling the best of The Greanville Post several times a week. Print this post if you want. Share This: | 1real
|
Macron to Lobby for Closer EU Integration on First Day as President | Emmanuel Macron plans to use his first full day as president of France to fly to Berlin to lobby for greater Eurozone integration. Macron wants a common budget and a joint finance minister for all 19 states to have adopted the euro. [In a gesture which will be interpreted by many as a demonstration that Macron’s priorities lie with the European Union rather than France, the new president will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the hopes of persuading her that greater European integration is in both of their countries’ interests. “The truth is that we must collectively recognise that the euro is incomplete and cannot last without major reforms,” Macron said in a speech delivered in Berlin in January. He continued: “It has not provided Europe with full international sovereignty against the dollar on its rules. It has not provided Europe with a natural convergence between the different member states. ” Arguing that a dysfunctional euro and ongoing trade surpluses were to Germany’s benefit, Macron said that lack of trust between France and Germany was acting as a roadblock to reforms which would increase solidarity between the 19 eurozone states. “The euro is a weak deutsche mark,” Macron insisted. “The status quo is synonymous, in 10 years’ time, with the dismantling of the euro. ” Macron plans to tackle the problems with the euro, as he sees them, with major reforms at the European level. Amongst his planned reforms is the creation of a common eurozone budget managed by a joint finance minister, and the creation of a ‘two tier’ EU, with the Eurozone countries moving ahead of the other member states. If enacted, the reforms would constitute the biggest step so far toward integration of European states into one entity. Many of the new president’s proposals are still nothing more than vague outlines. But Sylvie Goulard, one of Macron’s foreign policy advisers, says Macron is deadly serious in his ambitions. A series of domestic economic reforms, including a €60 billion cut in public spending over five years, a pledge to keep the country’s deficit to under three per cent of GDP, and a cut in corporation tax from the current rate of 33. 33 per cent to 25 per cent seem to have been designed with Berlin, rather than the French people, in mind. Macron’s hope is that building economic credibility at home will help to persuade Germany to back him on the European stage. “France must carry out structural reforms: it’s good for us and will reassure our partners, and chiefly Germany,” he said in February. “If we don’t have a brave plan of structural reforms, the Germans won’t follow us. ” But he may have a more difficult time persuading the people of France to back him. Only two candidates in the first round of presidential voting — Macron and Republican candidate François Fillon — made a case for structural reforms during the election campaign. “The good news is that Macron and Fillon won 50% of the vote, but the bad news is that 50% of the French people still have no idea about what needs to be done, and that poses questions about what happens next,” French economist Charles Wyplosz said. “France has been in the slow lane for decades, losing political influence in Europe, largely because there have been these arrangements where everyone has these privileges that they have been skilled at protecting. Macron has to confront powerful forces that often by putting 2 million people on the streets have won every battle in the last decade. ” Macron will be officially sworn in as president on Sunday morning after walking up the red carpet to the Élysée Palace. Amongst his first acts as president will be naming his prime minister, being briefed on the nuclear deterrent by the outgoing Socialist leader François Hollande, and making his first speech. On Monday, he flies to Berlin to meet with Mrs. Merkel, who has welcomed his victory over Front National leader Marine Le Pen in last week’s election. Macron carries “the hopes of millions of French people and also many in Germany and across Europe,” Merkel said. | 0fake
|
Militia Prepping For Post-Election Civil Unrest: “Last Chance To Save America From Ruin” |
What will happen on election day? Will there be riots, violence or attacks if the results appear to be dubious, or any number of divisive groups take to the streets? What if the election triggers an economic collapse?
There are any number of scenarios that could come to life, but it seems clear enough that America in 2016 is a nation on edge.
Civil unrest may now be only days away.
And militia groups are getting ready for the worst case scenarios – a fact that the mainstream media is happy to use to fuel the hysteria.
via Reuters :
As the most divisive presidential election in recent memory nears its conclusion, some armed militia groups are preparing for the possibility of a stolen election on Nov. 8 and civil unrest in the days following a victory by Democrat Hillary Clinton.
They say they won’t fire the first shot, but they’re not planning to leave their guns at home, either.
[…] Trump has repeatedly warned that the election may be “rigged,” and has said he may not respect the results if he does not win. At least one paramilitary group, the Oath Keepers, has called on members to monitor voting sites for signs of fraud
“This is the last chance to save America from ruin,” Hill [ of the Three Percent Security Force ] said.
The implication that militia members would incite violence or start a civil war is false and misleading, but the level of tension surrounding this hugely controversial election hold the perfect recipe for chaos. And if there is some event, the causes and provocations won’t be settled until well after the fact.
America is facing its darkest days, and the people are fed up with the criminality and corruption that controls the corporate and political sphere. Now, it appears that the bankers and powers that be are poised to use this divisive atmosphere to fuel a new era of instability. While things come unglued, those in power cross the line and take up even more power.
We are facing a level beyond just martial law, and may live to see the complete takeover of the seats of authority across the country.
The Oath Keepers, as one leading group of militia patriots, have been holding “scenarios and preparation” seminars to prepare the general public and the members of their organization to watch for suspicious election activity – and more importantly – the potential chaos that could result from a disputed election and an angry electorate. Founder Stewart Rhodes wrote :
Lots of talk of unrest on election day, cyber attacks and even possible terror attacks/false flags. In the face of all of this fear porn we here at Oath Keepers thought one of the best things we can do is take a little time, with some of our most experienced and well-trained leadership and talk with fellow Americans about how to prepare if any of these scenarios manifest. One of the motto’s that I try and live by and I hear echoed in the membership ranks of the Oath Keepers is “It is better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it” and that goes for skills as well as for gear. Get trained up, fast. Get geared up, fast, and stock up on food, water, fuel, medical, and spare batteries for all your electronics but especially your radios. Get your gear sorted out, organized, and ready to go. And then pray for the best even as you prepare for the worst.
My advice for election day is to vote early (days ahead if you can) and then get home and stay home (if home is safe!). Stay away from big cities and big crowds, and away from public places that may be targeted for terrorism. If you live in a big city that has the potential for civil unrest, violence, looting and arson, get away from it for a few days and don’t be there when it goes bad. As John Karriman put it, he’d rather sleep under a bridge for a week than be stuck in a riot. Go camping! Your stuff is not worth your life, and your stuff will not save your life, if your home is burned to the ground by arsonists. Get out. But if you stay, then prepare to repel boarders. Keep your family and friends close, and get ready. Go meet your neighbors and talk it over with them and prepare your own Neighborhood Protection Plan. Do it now. Got team Who’s on your buddy team? Who’s on your fire-team? Who’s on your squad?
[…]
Below is the video recording of the webinar we held on Thursday night, November 3, 2016 on the urgent topic of potential civil unrest surrounding the election and some critical steps you must take to prepare for it.
Civil Unrest Post Election Scenarios & Preparation
There is good cause to be prepared. The population is about to be tested. The rigging of elections is now out in the open, and for better or worse, Donald Trump has rallied people around that sad fact.
While the mainstream media keeps pretending that the soon-to-be-coronated presumed president-elect is infallible, it is clear to those who understand the deep state government that this has been a coup on the part of the Clinton faction to take over the government and suspend constitutional rights and the rule of law.
Dictators and autocrats are not the American way, after all, and this “election” has been anything but legitimate. The process, which has long been corrupt and broken, is now being completely manipulated by Team Hillary.
Former intelligence operative Steve Pieczenik claims, however, that patriots within the intelligence and military community are attempting to block her path via a counter-coup of some kind, which he claims is entirely non-violent.
According to Pieczenik in a video recording released last week, members within the FBI, NYPD and intelligence agency community are fighting back inside the system. What that really means, and whether or not it will come to fruition remains to be seen:
You are now witnessing a new type of American Revolution. The Clintons and Podesta initiated a silent coup to undermine the USG through corruption and co-optation of the elite political leaders. In turn, they were met by the silent counter-coup of our civilian/military Intelligence community.
As a way of counter-acting the Clinton’s silent coup of corruption, these brave men and women of the [intelligence Community ] have released a series of emails through Julian Assange and Wiki-Leaks which underscore the Clintons’ massive corruption attempts to take over our USG through the rigged electoral system.
However, email exposes and digital evidence of wrongdoing have proven to be insufficient for derailing this campaign.
Perhaps this is all the more reason that some are readying for defensive measure and last ditch efforts to save the country from outright tyranny.
Is this America’s last stand?
Read more:
Divided America Poised For Riots: “95% Chance of Widespread Post-Election Violence”
Second Night of Charlotte Police Riots Devolve Into “Chaos, Looting and Violence”
Homeland Trains Police for Riots, Civil Unrest: “This Training Has Never Been in Texas Before”
Strapped Americans Headed for “Civil Unrest and Riots,” With Poor Spending 60% on Bare Essentials
| 1real
|
Trump Win Jitters New World Order Financial Markets | Trump Win Jitters New World Order Financial Markets November 02, 2016 Trump Win Jitters New World Order Financial Markets
(LONDON) - World stocks, the dollar and oil fell on Wednesday, while safe-haven assets such as gold and the Swiss franc rose as investors were rattled by signs the U.S. presidential race was tightening just days before the vote. Investors were beginning to rethink their long-held bets of a Nov. 8 victory for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton amid signs her Republican rival Donald Trump could be closing the gap, deepening the recent decline across major stock markets. Asian stocks hit a seven-week low on Wednesday, while European bourses followed Wall Street's lead overnight and slid to a four-month low. Bonds rose alongside gold, the Swiss franc and Japanese yen, with the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries falling for the third day in a row. British gilts, which have recently been slammed by uncertainty surrounding the post-Brexit UK outlook, surged too.
"The lead up to the U.S. presidential election was always expected to be lively but the events of the last couple of days have seriously taken their toll on investor sentiment," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda in London.
Investor anxiety has deepened in recent sessions over a possible Trump victory given uncertainty on the Republican candidate's stance on key issues including foreign policy, trade relations and immigrants, while Clinton is viewed as a candidate of the status quo.
READ MORE: EUROPE IS HOPING FOR A CLINTON WIN BECAUSE THAT MEANS MORE DEALS WITH IRAN
Europe's index of leading 300 shares was last down 0.4 percent <.FTEU3>, having earlier hit a four-month low of 1,313 points. Britain's Britain's FTSE <.FTSE> and Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> fell 0.4 and 0.7 percent, respectively.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> dropped 1.1 percent to seven-week lows while the yen's rise to a two-week high helped push Japan's Nikkei <.N225> down 1.8 percent.
U.S. stock futures recovered earlier losses, pointing to a fall of only 0.1 percent at the open. This would still signify a fresh four-month low for Wall Street.
PRICING A TRUMP VICTORY
The tumultuous presidential race appeared to tighten after news that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was reviewing more emails as part of a probe into Clinton's use of a private email server.
While Clinton held a five-percentage-point lead over Trump, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Monday, some other polls showed her Republican rival ahead by 1-2 percentage points.
Barclays strategists estimate that a rise in Trump's polling odds to 50 percent could see the S&P 500 fall 4-5 percent, and potentially as much as 10-11 percent if he wins.
This has unnerved markets and the CBOE volatility index <.VIX>, often seen as investors' fear gauge, rose to a two-month high above 20 percent.
The tension in markets came as the Federal Reserve holds its two-day policy meeting, with its statement due later on Wednesday. While traders do not expect a rate hike just a week ahead of the presidential election, they are looking for signs that the Fed will move in December.
Investors have grown increasingly confident in recent weeks that the Fed will follow through next month, attaching an 80 percent probability to such a move, according to fed funds futures pricing.
But currency traders have sold the dollar this week in part because they suspect Trump would prefer a weaker dollar given his protectionist stance on international trade, and in part because the uncertainty surrounding a Trump win might lead to a more dovish stance from the Fed in the months ahead.
The dollar fell again on Wednesday, after posting its biggest one-day fall on Tuesday in two months.
The euro rose 0.4 percent to touch $1.11 for the first time in more than three weeks. It is up about two percent from its 7-1/2-month low of $1.0851 hit last week.
Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.8 percent to 103.24 yen from three-month high of 105.54 yen set on Friday.
"If you had a long dollar position on the view that the dollar would gain because Clinton would win, you would surely close that position because her victory is less certain," said Koichi Yoshikawa, executive director of financial markets at Standard Chartered Bank.
Other safe-haven assets also rose. The Swiss franc hit a four-month high of 1.0750 francs per euro , its highest level since late June, while gold reached a four-week high of $1,297 per ounce.
Oil prices fell for the fourth day in a row, sliding to one-month lows. Brent crude futures fell more than 1 percent to $47.53 per barrel, and U.S. crude was down as low as $46.06 . Oil has lost 10 percent in the last two weeks.
Story contribution by Reuters ; Commentary by TRUNEWS Article by Doc Burkhart , Vice-President, General Manager and co-host of TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles Got a news tip? Email us at Help support the ministry of TRUNEWS with your one-time or monthly gift of financial support. DONATE NOW ! DOWNLOAD THE TRUNEWS MOBILE APP! CLICK HERE! Donate Today! Support TRUNEWS to help build a global news network that provides a credible source for world news
We believe Christians need and deserve their own global news network to keep the worldwide Church informed, and to offer Christians a positive alternative to the anti-Christian bigotry of the mainstream news media Top Stories | 1real
|
‘I Was a Spy’: He Lived a Hidden Life, and Now Fears Deportation - The New York Times | One evening in February, a man entering the subway at Barclays Center in Brooklyn was detained by the police for using a discounted student MetroCard — his daughter’s, it turned out. It was, he would say later, a stupid mistake that would lead to absurd consequences: The man, Blerim Skoro, a citizen of Kosovo, now sits in jail, facing potential deportation. But Mr. Skoro was no mere hapless . “I was working for U. S. government,” he told a United States asylum officer in May, explaining his past life overseas and why he was now afraid of being sent back to Kosovo, a transcript shows. “I was trained for Washington. I was a spy. ” A native of the old Yugoslavia, Mr. Skoro, 45, appears to have lived a remarkable, if hidden, life that sprang from his arrest in 2000 on federal drug charges he began cooperating with prosecutors in his case and others, pleaded guilty and received a sentence. After Sept. 11, 2001, he says in an affidavit, he became a prison informer for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, providing leads on fellow inmates with terrorist ties. After completing his sentence, he said, he was deported in 2007, but agreed to continue working for the government overseas. He says he posed as a willing operative and insinuated himself with members of Al Qaeda in the Balkans, secretly supplying the Central Intelligence Agency with information about plots and the people behind them. After the C. I. A. cut ties with him in 2010, he says, he eventually returned to the United States via Canada — illegally, he admits — and last year, with the help of a lawyer, met separately with the F. B. I. and counterterrorism officials with the New York Police Department, trying unsuccessfully to offer clandestine assistance in the fight against the Islamic State. Spy stories, by their nature, are often unverifiable, and government officials are typically loath to discuss such accounts. Indeed, a bureau spokesman, asked about Mr. Skoro, said he could not “confirm or deny” any part of the story. The C. I. A. the Police Department and the United States attorney’s office in Brooklyn also declined to comment. Mr. Skoro, in several hours of interviews at the Bergen County Jail in northern New Jersey and by phone, showed a deep command of people, places and other facts, and said his information was corroborated through videos, photographs and copies of texts he had given his lawyers. Mr. Skoro, whose wife and three children, all American citizens, live in New York City, said he still had much to offer the authorities. “I dealt with the most ruthless, dangerous terrorists in Balkans and Middle East,” he said. Mr. Skoro, a practicing Muslim, said others of his faith should be willing to covertly assist in the fight against ISIS. But he suggested that his detention would send the opposite message. Muslims, he said, will ask, “How we can trust our government when you’re going to put the spies in the prison?” Mr. Skoro first entered the United States in 1994. In the 2000 drug importation case that led to his cooperation with the government, he transported at least 14 kilograms of heroin and cocaine and laundered about $670, 000 in drug proceeds, the judge said at his sentencing. Prosecutors recommended leniency, citing his assistance and noting he had provided significant intelligence about drug traffickers in the city’s Albanian community. Mr. Skoro says the F. B. I. promised he would be allowed to stay in the country after serving his sentence and acting as a prison informer. But after being told in 2007 that he would be deported, he said he left his bitterness behind and agreed to work for the agency abroad. He received training in a safe house in Macedonia, and took on assignments in Pakistan, the Balkans, Syria and elsewhere, he said, posing as a jihadist who had become radicalized in prison. “Nobody was ever suspicious of me,” he said. “I was . ” In Egypt, Mr. Skoro says in his affidavit, he befriended Betim Kaziu, a man who later told him of his plans to attack United States troops stationed in Kosovo, and had even recorded a martyrdom video. Mr. Skoro said he passed the information to the C. I. A. and Mr. Kaziu was later arrested, tried and convicted in Brooklyn and sentenced to 27 years. In 2010, Mr. Skoro says, he was shot and wounded on the way to a C. I. A. debriefing in Macedonia. He managed to escape, but the agency ended the relationship, paying him the equivalent of about $35, 000 to $40, 000 in euros, he said. The next year, while seeking asylum in Canada, Mr. Skoro was interviewed by the journalist Vincent Larouche for the online publication Rue Frontenac. The article, titled “The Fugitive With 1, 000 Secrets,” referred to him by the pseudonym Abu it characterized his story as “convincing” but noted that much of his account could not be confirmed. Aspects of his story also emerged in a 2015 court decision in Canada, related to an asylum request he had made that used his actual name, and cited his claim to have been a C. I. A. spy who had infiltrated Islamic terror cells. Stéphane Handfield, a Montreal lawyer who represented Mr. Skoro in Canada, said his asylum request was rejected in 2013, and a request to a federal court for review was dismissed in 2015. But Mr. Skoro had already slipped into the United States illegally in November 2014. In New York, he says, he made contact with several lawyers who said recently that they found his story to be credible. One, Rene A. Kathawala, who leads the pro bono practice at Orrick, Herrington Sutcliff, said his firm would do everything possible to assist Mr. Skoro and his immigration lawyer, Irwin Berowitz, in his deportation case. Mr. Berowitz said an asylum officer who recently interviewed Mr. Skoro found him credible and that he had established a “reasonable fear of persecution” if deported to Kosovo. That finding allowed the case to be sent to an immigration judge for further proceedings, Mr. Berowitz said. Mr. Skoro was also referred to Joshua L. Dratel, a lawyer who has developed a national security practice. Mr. Skoro approached him in April 2015, intent on providing “proactive undercover assistance to law enforcement” with respect to ISIS, Mr. Dratel said in a declaration that is also part of the immigration case. Mr. Skoro initially told Mr. Dratel that he would be receiving a call from an American official, who would refer to Mr. Skoro by a code name, the declaration says. Mr. Dratel said he received such a call. The caller asked whether Mr. Skoro was overseas, in which case he could “use him. ” But if he was in the United States, he was “off limits,” the caller said. When Mr. Dratel said Mr. Skoro was in the United States, the caller gave Mr. Dratel the name and number of a senior F. B. I. counterterrorism official in Washington. In June 2015, Mr. Dratel said, Mr. Skoro eventually met at his office with two F. B. I. agents one agent, Mr. Dratel recalled, said the C. I. A. had confirmed to the bureau that Mr. Skoro had a former relationship with the agency. In November, Mr. Dratel arranged for Mr. Skoro to meet with New York police officials, including John J. Miller, the deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism. But the bureau and the police ultimately declined to use Mr. Skoro. One senior government official said that officials who met with Mr. Skoro had questioned his reliability. The official declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. Jack Cloonan, a retired F. B. I. counterterrorism agent who was involved in the bureau’s investigation of Al Qaeda in the 1990s, said he had never heard of Mr. Skoro and had no idea if his claims were authentic. But he said the case underscored how important it was for the government to have someone who was Muslim and operational who could carry out acts that the intelligence agencies need. Mr. Cloonan also surmised that Mr. Skoro might have been considered unusable by the authorities because his identity had been divulged in Canada, or because there were questions about whether he could be trusted. But Mr. Cloonan said he also understood why officials would have wanted to meet with him. “There’s a clear indication that everybody is scrambling,” Mr. Cloonan said. “Everyone is trying to get information, because we don’t know if there’s going to be another attack on the homeland. ” After Mr. Skoro’s illegal arrest in March, he was jailed without bond after federal prosecutors in Brooklyn argued he might flee. But on March 23, one day after ISIS’ deadly attacks in Brussels, a prosecutor called Mr. Dratel and said the government was now interested in meeting with Mr. Skoro to determine whether he could be of assistance. Mr. Dratel said he met with prosecutors alone, outlining what his client knew and providing copies of screen shots of certain text messages between Mr. Skoro and a purported ISIS operative in Syria. Two days later, the government, without elaboration, moved to dismiss Mr. Skoro’s illegal charge. The prosecutors did not pursue a meeting with him directly, Mr. Dratel said. He was then moved into immigration custody, where he remains today. | 0fake
|
Russia denies it bombed U.S.-backed militias in Syria - RIA | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Defence Ministry on Monday denied its planes had bombed U.S.-backed militias in Syria s Deir al-Zor province earlier in the day, saying it was always careful to ensure its air strikes were accurate, the RIA news agency reported. RIA cited Major-General Igor Konashenkov as issuing the denial which followed allegations from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias fighting with the U.S.-led coalition, that Russia had killed one of its fighters and injured two others in the air strike. | 0fake
|
TUCKER CARLSON: How The Left Ruined My Alma Mater [Video] | Tucker Carlson and Jesse Waters both went to Trinity College Who knew! Carlson discussed the downfall of his college from a good college to a leftist indoctrination center Unreal! Please see our latest report on the professor who said let them f*cking die THE PROFESSOR WHO S BEEN A TRINITY FOR 20 YEARS SPEWING HATE SPEECH A Connecticut college professor has created a firestorm for calling white people inhuman a-holes who need to die following last week s shooting attack on congressional Republicans. Professor Johnny Eric Williams is a sociology professor! Who wants to send their child to Trinity College at $61,000 a year to have this jackwagon teach them? This is exactly how college kids are indoctrinated into hating their own race. This is sick and twisted!Trinity College s Johnny Eric Williams social media feed (his twitter feed is now set on private) after the June 14 shooting of Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise included racial tirades and commentary calling on minorities to confront white people and end this now, a reference to an alleged system of white supremacy. It is past time for the racially oppressed to do what people who believe themselves to be white will not do, put end to the vectors of their destructive mythology of whiteness and their white supremacy system. #LetThemF ingDie, the associate professor of sociology said June 18 in a series of Facebook posts. The time is now to confront these inhuman assholes and end this now. The educational watchdog Campus Reform and The Blaze both reached out to the professor for comment Tuesday to no avail. Trinity College offered no statement regarding the professor s action. Instead, the Hartford institution reiterated its right on Facebook to remove comments that are deemed inappropriate, profane, defamatory, or disrespectful to users of the page and/or members of the greater Trinity College community. Mr. Williams Facebook page also featured an anonymous article on Medium accusing Mr. Scalise of being a racist and one of the most anti-LGBTQ politicians in Washington. If you see [white people] drowning. If you see them in a burning building. If they are bleeding out in an emergency room. If the ground is crumbling beneath them. If they are in a park and they turn their weapons on each other: do nothing, a June 16 article by Son of Baldwin says. Let. Them. F-ing. Die. And smile a bit when you do. We included the link to Mr. Willians Facebook page but it appears as though he s set his page on private. He is in groups like Black Lives Matter on Facebook we re not surprised by that!Read more: Campus Reform | 1real
|
Wall Street, Populists, Fight Over Rules for Americans’ Pension Plans - Breitbart | Wall Street pension management companies are protesting a decision by agency officials to preserve a 2016 regulation which supporters say will protect retirees’ savings from sales managers. [On February 3, President Donald Trump directed officials at the Department of Labor to review the regulation “to determine whether it may adversely affect the ability of Americans to gain access to retirement information and financial advice. ” But officials postponed the review until late in the year and set June 9 as the start date for implementation of the regulation, which is dubbed the “diduciary duty” rule because it requires individuals who sell retirement plans to put their customers’ security above their employers’ interest in profits. In other words, salesmen and saleswomen have a “fiduciary duty” to their customers, just as a company’s CEO has a fiduciary duty to the shareholders. The pushback by agency officials to protect the regulation shows “the ‘Swamp’ is working behind the scenes to scuttle President [Donald] Trump’s agenda,” said Patrick Hynes, president of a D. C. advocacy group, Hynes Communications, which opposes the new regulation. Hynes declined to name the business groups who fund his advocacy. But the department’s postponement is good because it gives Trump and his populist aides another opportunity to support the rule amid opposition from greedy Wall Street investment companies, said Knut Rostad, president of the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard. The rule can be preserved “if somebody at the highest level gets the president’s ear and gives him the populist view that 95 percent of what he hears from Wall Street is total B. S.,” said Rostad. The agency’s delay “is the only way to change the [current] dynamic, otherwise it is a done deal” that the rule will be killed in late 2017 by Wall Street’s political pressure, he added. As required by the Administrative Procedure Act, federal officials must follow a complicated process when they are writing or replacing regulations. The new timeline set by the labor department means that the fiduciary rule regulation will operate from June until at least late in the year when the incoming Trump appointees at the department will have an opportunity to review and replace the regulation, said Rostad. The Department of Labor oversees retirement savings plans because the savings plans are often picked by employers. The rule has been criticized by major firms — such as Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America — but its most vigorous critics are small financial advice firms which are less able to shoulder the burden of increased regulatory costs. Some critics of the rule say it may force smaller firms to back away from providing advice on covered retirement plans. Some of the biggest Wall Street firms, such as Goldman Sachs, would hardly be touched by the role because they do not do a lot of business with the type of retirement plans covered by the new rule. The rule is opposed by the GOP. For example, no GOP legislators supported the fiduciary rule during an April 2016 House vote. “As someone who has spent decades in the financial services industry, I know the importance of providing all consumers — regardless of income — the opportunity to seek sound financial advice,” GOP Rep. French Hill said when the delay was announced this month. “The DOL’s Fiduciary Rule would greatly diminish access to professional retirement planning and guidance for those who need it the most. This is why a broad, bipartisan majority in Congress has called for the rule to be scrapped as written,” he said. The fiduciary regulation is strongly supported by Democrats, partly because it was developed and pushed by President Barack Obama’s top aides and other progressives. consumer groups are trying to keep the rule alive, according to an article in Politico Pro. Consumer advocacy groups on Wednesday launched a publicity campaign aimed at preserving the rule, including an event on Capitol Hill. It featured Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Stephen Wingate, a retired Vietnam veteran who is trying to recover damages through arbitration from a broker who he alleges steered him into illiquid investments. “Had I known my broker was held to the same standard as a car salesman, I wouldn’t have trusted him so much,” Wingate said. The AARP, which claims more than 37 million members, is also defending the fiduciary rule. “We look forward to continuing to advocate for the successful implementation of this rule so that advisers can no longer legally trick retirement savers into risky or investment vehicles,” said Nancy LeaMond, the organization’s executive vice president. But the rule also has support from some populists who want to help Americans grow their retirement . Brendan Maher, a plaintiff’s lawyer in L. A. for example, argued that the rule helps retirees, according to the BNA news service. “The future of this rule is interesting, because whatever we believe about Trump, he ran on a platform of economic populism,” Maher said. “This is actually a fairly easy place for him to score some points. ” Because the fiduciary rule is aimed at helping “little guy consumers” in the face of controversial financial industry practices, it presents Trump with an opportunity to curry favor with those who support his more populist tendencies, Maher said. He was quick to add that he’s “not that optimistic” this scenario will play out. “I think the future of the rule depends on the political will of the Trump administration, which is less predictable than we might expect,” Maher said. Rostad says the rule is doomed because Wall Street has huge sway in Washington and with the GOP. Even the June date set by the agency officials won’t save the rule if the White Hosue wants it dead, he said. “The Department of Labor have set the stage for being able to come back in December and repeal the whole damn thing,” he said, adding that the Wall Street companies are being greedy in demanding the rule’s demise even before it comes into force. Because of Wall Street’s influence, including with Trump’s economic policy director, Gary Cohn, Rostad said. “The outcome of the process is 95 percent forgone conclusion — [and] the 5 percent variable is whether somebody in the White House gets a different type of [ ] command down to the Department of Labor. ” | 0fake
|
Exclusive — White House Social Media Team: ‘Not Surprised’ President Trump Shattered Social Media Records in Joint Session Speech - Breitbart | White House social media director Dan Scavino tells Breitbart News he is “not surprised” that President Donald J. Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening shattered records on social media in terms of engagement with the American public. [On Twitter, for instance, a whopping three million people Tweeted about President Trump’s address — a record that even former President Barack Obama’s team could not hit. The previous record, under Obama, was 2. 6 million Tweets, according to Twitter per an Associated Press report. Facebook had millions of people engaged as well, a spokesman told Breitbart News. “7. 5 million people on Facebook generated 20. 5 million likes, posts, comments and shares about President Trump’s address to Congress,” Facebook’s Andy Stone said in an email. None of this surprises Scavino. He said in an emailed statement: President Trump loves communicating with the American people. I was not surprised to see him not break, but shatter the record of most Tweeted Joint Session or State of the Union address ever. Pundits and ‘experts’ have underestimated President Trump’s social media platforms from day one — the President’s numbers have outperformed those of Fortune 100 companies since all the way back when we began in the primaries. History in the making for social media has just begun. What’s more, the highly inaccurate network CNN — which the president has called a “very fake news” outlet, is attacking President Trump by literally running a countdown clock since the president has criticized someone on his Twitter account. How long has it been since Donald Trump attacked someone on Twitter? https: . pic. twitter. — CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 1, 2017, CNN is one of the leading “fake news” outlets in the country, and a leader in what the president calls the “opposition party” which is an “enemy of the American people. ” FAKE NEWS media knowingly doesn’t tell the truth. A great danger to our country. The failing @nytimes has become a joke. Likewise @CNN. Sad! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017, The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017, CNN is so bad, in fact, that the administration will not provide Vice President Mike Pence for an interview on the network — even though the Trump White House is making the vice president available for an interview on other networks. ”Trivial fights” should be ”behind us,” but hours later WH offers @VP Pence interviews to every major US TV broadcaster except @CNN https: . — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 1, 2017, But none of this from CNN will get President Trump down, Scavino says. If anything, the president plans to expand on his success on social media and continue doing what works. “The President has no plans of changing a thing on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram,” Scavino told Breitbart News. “In fact we will expand with some other platforms in the near future — as we begin to build out a great team. We are only just getting started. ” President Trump has been a giant on social media platforms, and during the campaign — Scavino previously detailed for a Breitbart News exclusive back in November — he generated tens of billions of impressions on various social media networks. Scavino has, after overseeing the president’s social media team during the campaign, taken over as the White House’s director of social media. It’s worth noting too that these performances during Trump’s speech come with just a social media team in the White House, much smaller than former President Obama’s team. | 0fake
|
Hayward: Who Needs the ’Resistance’ When You’ve Got the GOP Writing the Budget? - Breitbart | Why does the left bother with “Resistance” theatrics when the Republican Congress funds their entire wish list anyway? [That’s a bit of a trick question because the left still plans to seize more power and money by recapturing Congress and the White House. They’ll never stop attacking the legitimacy of the Trump administration. The only lingering mystery is why so many Republicans think they can counter this strategy by appeasing Democrats. At a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars in other people’s money, Republicans purchase a couple of sound bites that allow them to claim they aren’t heartless monsters because they funded every priority, from “sanctuary cities” to Planned Parenthood. In reality, these capitulations don’t win Republicans anything. Democrats will still depict them as tightwads on welfare spending, reactionaries on social policy, and footmen to the evil rich. As soon as the Republican “leaders” who meekly funded 100 percent of the Democrat agenda for 2017 object to 20, 30, or 50 percent increases in that agenda, they will be denounced as greedy pigs who want poor people to die. We won’t even have to wait that long because Democrats are already cranking up the machine to defeat Trump’s tax reform proposals. How can any GOP leader be dense enough to think that caving to the Democrats on spending will secure their cooperation, or even slightly mute their objections, for dramatic tax reform? Indeed, the flabby bulk of these spending deals will be used as an argument against tax cuts. How can Republicans propose cutting taxes after they just agreed to finance the entire Democrat wish list? Tax cuts are the one thing we’re told we can never, ever “afford. ” The GOP appears to have given up on even the minimal fiscal responsibility of serious budgeting. From here on in, we’ll have nothing but bloated omnibus spending bills, crammed with pork and passed in a feverish haze of shutdown panic. You’d risk shutting down the government for cuts to Planned Parenthood, green energy programs, or the EPA? You maniac! You can vote for Trump presidencies all you want, peons, but the GOP leadership has conceded that Democrats hold the ultimate budgetary trump card. It’s an article of Republican faith that they will lose any and all budget battles, no matter the size of the GOP majority, because in the final hours Democrats will simply shrug and say, “Give us what we want, or we’ll shut the government down and you’ll be blamed for it. ” The Democrats are so confident of their eternal whip hand in budget disputes that they openly threatened to shut the government down if their demands were not granted this time around, without bothering to conceal the threat at all. They know Republicans believe they will be held responsible for any such crisis. It doesn’t matter how many Democrat fingers are on the shutdown. It wouldn’t matter if Democrat senators and representatives were caught on video running around Washington and pulling the plugs out of government computers. Terrified Republican leaders are convinced the media will never, ever frame the crisis as “Democrats Shut Down Federal Government to Protect Illegal Alien Criminals. ” The GOP Establishment just emerged from a presidential primary in which Donald Trump bulldozed a huge field of Republican contenders, in no small part because the public was furious with Republican inability to make progress on a conservative agenda despite holding both House and Senate. They seem to have learned nothing from the experience. The GOP promised that if voters gave them the Senate in 2014 — an outcome deemed extremely unlikely going into the election cycle — they would march over former Majority Leader Harry Reid’s political grave and get things done at last. That didn’t happen. We were told the power of President Obama’s veto pen was unbeatable. But Obama didn’t even have to use that pen, because the revolutionary new GOP Congress immediately set about giving the Democrat minority control over the budget. The first item on the Republican leadership agenda in 2015 was sidelining every young Republican representative who took all that stuff seriously. By the end of the year, Democrats were crowing that House Speaker Paul Ryan and his allies “gave away the store. ” It’s funny how having a Republican president doesn’t slow down Democrat budget priorities a bit, isn’t it? In 2009, Republicans said they were helpless without congressional majorities. In 2010 they won the House, but said they were helpless without the Senate. Then they took the Senate, but said they were helpless without the White House. Democrats today are basically where Republicans were in 2009 … but they’re not helpless at all. They’re still writing the budget and treating the GOP leadership like Harry Potter’s house elves. Paul Ryan can only hope that one day Nancy Pelosi will mistakenly give him a sock and set him free. The winter of Republican triumph in 2014 gave us the horror of the “cromnibus” bill — a complete surrender to the losers of the midterm election. Democrats effectively wrote the first budget after the big GOP midterm triumph. After listing all of the Republican capitulations, including legislative tricks that made it easier for President Obama to shoot down every Republican idea he didn’t like, Senator Ted Cruz ( ) wrote in December 2015 that the only bright spot he could see were “significant” steps toward “repealing Obamacare and defunding Planned Parenthood. ” How significant do those steps look in retrospect? Angry and disappointed Republican voters sent an unmistakable message by turning to Trump in the GOP primary, even though every Establishment official and pundit assured them nominating Trump was tantamount to throwing the 2016 election away. The stunning upset of the 2014 midterm was surpassed by the even more stunning election of President Donald Trump in 2016. One hundred days in, the leaders of both party establishments and 90 percent of the punditocracy are still walking around like they use tasers on their temples in the shower every morning. And the result of all those shocking upsets is … this? A budget bill Barack Obama would cheerfully have signed, assuming he didn’t think he could squeeze a few billion more out of Republicans at the eleventh hour? Voters keep giving the GOP astounding election victories, and they keep responding with the same budget, over and over again. Nearly everything Trump proposed cutting is funded in full — in many cases with substantial increases? $1. 5 billion for border security, but not a nickel for the border wall — the single most concrete, unambiguous promise Trump made, both before and after the election? We were given endless excuses why the congressional “power of the purse” could not be used to thwart Obama’s agenda, but apparently, the Democrat minority can use it to thwart Trump’s with ease. The big achievement touted by the White House and congressional leaders is increased military spending. “We have boosted resources for our defense needs without corresponding increases in spending,” Speaker Ryan proclaimed. Those defense spending increases might be vitally needed, but what Ryan is saying here violates everything he previously stated about the need for fiscal discipline. The only enduring accomplishment of the Budget Control Act of 2011 was modestly restricting federal spending by menacing Republicans with military cuts and Democrats with domestic spending cuts — an Obama idea that was supposed to terrorize Republicans out of insisting on fiscal discipline at all. Here we are in 2017, and the big “achievement” is that Democrats agreed to let Republicans spend more on the military, while Republicans gave Democrats everything they wanted on domestic spending. Republicans ended up right where Obama wanted them to be all along. The message sent by this budget betrayal is that elections don’t really matter all that much. The special interests that demand lavish funding from taxpayers will not be denied. Most of the matters we have heated political arguments over are actually beyond debate — the left will be funded no matter how you vote. What’s the point of entering the arena of ideas, to do the hard work of arguing against the abortion lobby, when Planned Parenthood gets its bulging sack of taxpayer cash from a Republican House, Senate, and White House? Do Republicans have the faintest clue how hollow and insincere their rhetoric sounds when the budgets and resolutions dribble out, and everything they claimed to oppose with passionate fury is fully funded? They’re already reeling from the embarrassing “Obamacare Lite” debacle, after years of vowing to repeal the Affordable Care Act at every fundraiser — years of passing repeal bills they knew were doomed, folding them into paper airplanes, and tossing them at the window of Obama’s Oval Office. How often do they think they can get away with fighting for nothing before disgusted voters throw up their hands and walk away forever? | 0fake
|
U.S.-led forces acknowledge killing 61 more civilians in Iraq, Syria | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants said on Friday it had confirmed another 61 likely civilian deaths caused by its strikes in Iraq and Syria, raising to 685 the number of civilians it has acknowledged killing since the conflict began. The coalition said in a statement that during July, it had investigated 37 reports of civilian casualties. It found that only 13 of the reports were credible and there were an estimated 61 unintentional civilian deaths. The coalition is investigating another 455 reports of civilian casualties caused by its artillery or air strikes, the statement said. It has now acknowledged at least 685 civilian deaths due to its air and artillery strikes since the conflict began in August 2014. The deadliest incident investigated in July was a March 14 strike near Mosul, in which the coalition attacked an Islamic State position where fighters were firing at coalition allies. That strike is believed to have killed 27 civilians in an adjacent structure, the statement said. | 0fake
|
EMBARRASSING: [VIDEO] DNC DINGBAT CAN’T TELL MSNBC HOST The Difference Between A Democrat And Socialist | There used to be a difference. Of all people, Chris Matthews should have known he was asking his party s chairman a trick question The chair of the Democratic National Committee was momentarily speechless after being asked an awkward question about her party and socialism on Thursday. What is the difference between a Democrat and a socialist? MSNBC host Chris Matthews asked Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D., Fla.). Uh, Wasserman-Schultz responded. I used to think there was a big difference, Matthews said. What do you think? The difference between the real question is what s the difference between being a Democrat and being a Republican, Wasserman-Schultz said.Matthews didn t let her off easily. Yeah but what s the big difference between being a Democrat and being a socialist? Matthews said. You re the chairwoman of the Democratic Party. Tell me the difference between you and a socialist. https://youtu.be/fkr7DsQTwno The relevant debate that we ll be having over the course of this campaign is what s the difference between being a Democrat and being a Republican, Wasserman-Schultz repeated.Via: WFB | 1real
|
Reporter Reveals Just How Frightening A Trump Rally Is | Donald Trump is probably one of the most hateful presidential candidates this country has ever seen. But what makes him so unique is that he is not just a vile piece of trash, he is a vile piece of trash who millions of people are in love with. These Trump fanboys and fangirls make his rallies very dangerous for people whom they have deemed unloyal especially minorities.Jacki Schechner recently described what a former colleague told her about their scary experience at a Louisiana Trump rally, in a Facebook post:Friends, this is important. A former colleague and friend of mine was on assignment at Trump s rally in Louisiana today. She posted the following account of what happened. I know and trust her implicitly. If she says it was frightening, I believe her. That s the first time in my career I ve felt like press badges weren t given to grant access, but as an identifying, isolating mark. What you ve seen on TV is nothing compared to the real thing. Some 30 people were thrown out, with the mob pointing them out and cheering, the candidate yelling, Get them outta here! And, Louisiana, I m disappointed in this behavior. Why is it taking so long to remove these people? The question of who s going to pay for the wall? was met with a LOUD, gleeful response of, MEXICO! And then calling out the press (in their designated pen), saying they re the most dishonest people in the world. A chorus of boos followed.I had no idea how upsetting this assignment would be. And I am less concerned about the one man than I am the masses who support him. This rally that she spoke of was in New Orleans and tons of people were thrown out. Other news outlets described Trump as becoming increasingly irate when he was interrupted and NBC News reporter, Ali Vitali, called it the most intense rally she d been to.Tonight was the most intense rally I ve witnessed so far on the trail. This is just a clip: pic.twitter.com/SKE5TOQqz9 Ali Vitali (@alivitali) March 5, 2016His rallies are not just frightening because of his supporters propensity for violence, they are scary because we are given a glimpse into an embarrassing portion of our citizenry. Trump s crowds are huge and most of the people at the rallies wholeheardely support his viewpoints. I have been to one of them and his fans are some of the most ignorant, hateful, nasty Americans I ve ever run across. They hurl insults when you are doing nothing but standing there. It is like watching an army of zombies whose one goal is to destory everything this country was founded on.What s worse is that these people will continue to support him even in the face of mounting evidence that he is a pathological lying, narcassitic asshat and that is terrifying.Featured image via Flickr | 1real
|
Merkel Vows to Stay on Course Despite Party Setback - The New York Times | BERLIN — A day after voters in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political home state delivered what amounted to a strong rejection of her refugee policy, the German leader acknowledged on Monday that she was “very dissatisfied” with the result but insisted that she would stick with her chosen course. Ms. Merkel, who was attending a summit meeting in China, waited 18 hours before addressing the unprecedented finish of her party in state elections on Sunday in the impoverished northeastern state of where she has her own parliamentary constituency. The nationalist, Alternative for Germany finished in second place, with 21 percent of the vote, behind the Social Democrats, with almost 31 percent. Ms. Merkel’s Christian Democrats received 19 percent. Ms. Merkel’s bloc of Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, had never been overtaken on the right in any state or national election in the history of modern Germany, and the result prompted the chancellor’s critics from her own camp and across the spectrum to renew speculation about her future. “Right now, the chancellor is not hitting the right tone in almost all the areas that most concern her voters — refugees, Europe, public safety,” wrote Gabor Steingart, the publisher of the main business daily Handelsblatt, which has been among her strongest critics. “It is a remarkably pale light which is falling on the first stateswoman these days. This is what the twilight of a chancellorship looks like. ” Facing another election in two weeks in the of Berlin, and three more state ballots next year before national elections in the fall, Ms. Merkel insisted that voters would eventually come to support her refugee policy. Germany has taken in almost one million refugees, many of them Muslims fleeing war in the Middle East, over the past year. Integrating many and deporting those who have no claim on asylum is the right course, she said. In a hasty meeting with German reporters broadcast live from China, Ms. Merkel said that national themes — in particular migration and integration — had been dominant in the vote and that “many people do not have sufficient confidence in our ability to solve this. ” “Now the name of the game is to regain trust,” she said. “Only with time can we solve the problems,” not just those concerning migrants but also those dealing with fears for the future in a rapidly changing world, she added. Ms. Merkel, who has been in power since 2005 and is Europe’s head of government, indicated that she bore some responsibility for the result on Sunday because she is the leader of the Christian Democrats and chancellor in a coalition with the Social Democrats. “Everybody has to reflect on how can we win back trust, and above all, of course, me,” the German news agency DPA quoted her as saying in an aside to reporters at the Group of 20 summit meeting in Hangzhou, China. Her party’s general secretary, Peter Tauber, was almost the only leading Christian Democrat talking to reporters in Germany on Monday after he conceded “bitter” defeat in Sunday’s vote. “Angela Merkel has led Germany through several crises,” Mr. Tauber said. “People can rely on the fact that she will this time, too. ” But Ms. Merkel, while still enjoying ratings that many leaders would embrace, has lost popularity since the weekend exactly a year ago when she threw open German borders to migrants then trapped in Hungary. Hundreds of thousands of migrants poured in over the months that followed, prompting her conservative allies in Bavaria’s Christian Social Union, in particular, to demand a limit on the number of asylum seekers. Ms. Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor in Communist East Germany, insisted that there was no way to impose a quota on those fleeing war and oppression. Some Bavarian conservatives used the vote on Sunday to reiterate their demands, indicating that Ms. Merkel faces a tough fight, possibly even in her own camp, if she decides next year to seek a fourth term as chancellor. Ms. Merkel declined on Monday, as she has in the past, to say whether she would run in 2017. The leaders of Alternative for Germany, the group that finished ahead of Ms. Merkel’s party, were in a jubilant mood on Monday and vowed to keep up the pressure on the chancellor. Sunday’s loss “is even more bitter for the Christian Democrats because it comes on Merkel’s home turf,” said Frauke Petry, one of two national leaders of the party. “And we will see to it that she continues to lose that ground. ” An analysis of the vote showed that the far right was particularly attractive to people who had not voted in previous elections in the state. Turnout went from 51 percent in the last state elections in 2011 to 61 percent. But all the major parties — the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats, the Die Linke and even the Greens — lost voters to the Alternative for Germany. Jörg Meuthen, another leader of the rightist party, said the group’s showing proved that it had become a mainstream force. “In the long term, we want to govern this country,” he said. | 0fake
|
Abedin & Weiner to Testify Against Clinton |
Huma Abedin, Hillary’s Clinton’s top aide with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Sexter, the former Congressman, Anthony Weiner, are at the center of the most recent FBI investigation. Things are about to get very interesting.
P lease Donate to The Common Sense Show
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL AND DON’T FORGET TO “LIKE” US
This is the absolute best in food storage. Dave Hodges is a satisfied customer. Don’t wait until it is too late. Click Here for more information.
Click here for more information
The sane alternative to Facebook
Seen.Life-The Facebook alternative- no censorship, no spying– Sign up here
| 1real
|
Obama to keep 5,500 US troops in Afghanistan beyond 2016 | President Obama announced Thursday he will keep 5,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan beyond 2016, in a stark reversal from earlier pledges to end the war on his watch -- though Republicans still questioned whether the residual force will be enough to support Afghan forces and U.S. allies.
The decision follows months of appeals from military leaders to extend the drawdown timeline. And it marks an acknowledgement that, despite claims Al Qaeda is on the run, militants continue to pose a serious threat to the country.
Obama originally had planned to pull out all but a small, embassy-based U.S. military presence by the end of next year. But military leaders argued the Afghans needed additional assistance and support from the U.S. to beat back a resurgent Taliban and hold onto gains made over the last 14 years.
Under the new plan, the administration will keep the current force of 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through most of next year, then draw down to 5,500 troops in 2017, at a pace still to be determined by commanders.
"While America's combat mission in Afghanistan may be over, our commitment to Afghanistan and its people endures," Obama said at the White House, in announcing his decision.
The president stressed that he does "not support the idea of endless war," but said Afghan forces are "not as strong as they need to be" and the Taliban have "made gains," leading to a "very fragile" security situation in key areas of the country.
He called the new plan the "best possibility for lasting progress in Afghanistan," while saying the U.S. mission "will not change" even after 2016.
Concerns about Afghan security were reinforced when Taliban fighters took control of Kunduz late last month, prompting a protracted battle with Afghan forces on the ground, supported by U.S. airstrikes. During the fighting, a U.S. airstrike hit a hospital, killing 22 people, including 12 Doctors Without Borders staff and 10 patients.
U.S. commanders have also expressed concern about Islamic State fighters moving into the country and gaining recruits from within the Taliban. And on another front, the U.S. military launched a major operation against two Al Qaeda camps in Kandahar earlier this month; one of the camps reportedly was almost 30 square miles. The operation included dozens of airstrikes.
Republicans welcomed Obama's decision Thursday to keep more troops in the country to deal with these threats -- but questioned whether 5,500 troops would be enough.
"I am pleased that President Obama has decided to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan to perform the right missions beyond 2016, both in and outside of Kabul," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. "However, I am concerned that the number of troops will not be sufficient to perform the critical tasks being set for them: counterterrorism and continuing to train and advise our Afghan partners. ...
"The bottom line is that 5,500 troops will only be adequate to conduct either the counterterrorism or the train and advise mission, but not both. Our military commanders have said that both are critical to prevent Afghanistan from spiraling into chaos."
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., told Fox News there was "no way" Afghan forces could have tackled the Taliban if all U.S. forces withdrew. "This was a disaster waiting to happen," he said. But he called the president's compromise plan a "containment" strategy and questioned whether the "small number" would be enough.
"While this new plan avoids a disaster, it is certainly not a plan for success," Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. He also criticized the president for threatening to veto defense legislation "that provides their pay, benefits, and the authorities they need to get the job done" -- in reference to an ongoing dispute over a defense authorization bill that would bust budget caps.
U.S. officials have been hinting at the policy shift for weeks, noting that conditions on the ground in Afghanistan have changed since Obama's initial decision on a sharper troop withdrawal timeline was made more than two years ago. The White House has also been buoyed by having a more reliable partner in Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who succeeded the mercurial Hamid Karzai last year.
"The narrative that we're leaving Afghanistan is self-defeating," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday during a speech at the Association of the U.S. Army. "We're not, we can't, and to do so would not be to take advantage of the success we've had to date."
Asked Thursday if 5,500 troops is enough, Carter said, "We did a lot of homework on this." He maintained that the troop presence, along with continued financial assistance and training for the Afghan military, "are the ingredients to continue the prosecution of the mission."
The troops staying in Afghanistan beyond next year will continue to focus on counterterrorism missions and training and advising Afghan security forces, officials said. They will be based in Kabul and Bagram Air Field, as well as bases in Jalalabad and Kandahar.
The president's decision to keep the U.S. military in Afghanistan beyond his tenure thrusts the conflict into the 2016 presidential race. The next president will become the third U.S. commander in chief to oversee the war, with the options of trying to bring it to a close, maintaining the presence as Obama left it or even ramping up U.S. involvement in the conflict.
Officials said discussions on staying in Afghanistan longer began during Ghani's visit to Washington in March. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, recently presented the president with a range of options calling for keeping more troops there. Officials said NATO allies had expressed support for extending the troop presence in Afghanistan, but they did not outline any specific commitments from other nations.
Obama campaigned for the White House on a pledge to end America's involvement in the two wars he inherited, Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, he'll likely finish his presidency with troops back in both countries.
The president did withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq in late 2011, a moment he heralded as a promise kept to a war-weary nation. But the rise of the Islamic State drew the U.S. military back into Iraq last year to train and assist local security forces and launch airstrikes.
Obama announced the end of the Afghan war with similar fanfare last spring, saying it was time for the U.S. to "turn the page" on more than a decade of deadly conflicts.
In March, at a press conference with Ghani, he said, "The date for us to have completed our drawdown will not change."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 0fake
|
Pope heads for Bangladesh after diplomatic balancing act in Myanmar | YANGON (Reuters) - Pope Francis flew to Bangladesh on Thursday after a visit to Myanmar where he made no direct reference to the plight of Muslim Rohingya people to avoid a diplomatic incident with a Buddhist-majority country some have accused of ethnic cleansing. There will be no such balancing act for the pope in Bangladesh s capital, Dhaka, where he is expected to meet a group of Rohingya refugees from among the roughly 625,000 who have fled neighboring Myanmar since the end of August. The Vatican on Wednesday defended the pope s decision not to use the word Rohingya in public during his four-day Myanmar trip, saying his moral authority was unblemished and that his mere presence drew attention to the refugee crisis. But a Vatican news conference in Yangon to wrap up the visit only served to highlight the diplomatic minefield that the issue had presented for Francis. Spokesman Greg Burke said the pope s decision not to refer to the Rohingya did not take away from anything he has said in the past - he had mentioned them and their suffering before his Myanmar visit - but added that Vatican diplomacy was not infallible and others were entitled to their views. Muddying the waters for the Vatican delegation, a Myanmar regional bishop cast doubt at the same news conference about allegations of ethnic cleansing, suggesting other communities might be responsible for stoking them. When we speak of the truth, we should go to an authoritative source or a reliable source to get the news ... Those who criticize should go to the scene to study the reality and history, Bishop John Hsane Hgyi said. The Global New Light of Myanmar, a state-run daily, seized on the bishop s comments, putting a banner headline on its front page that read Reports of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine is not reliable: Myanmar church . The exodus of Rohingya people from Rakhine state to the southern tip of Bangladesh was sparked by a military crackdown in response to Rohingya militant attacks on an army base and police posts on Aug. 25. Scores of Rohingya villages were burnt to the ground, and refugees arriving in Bangladesh told of killings and rapes. The United Nations has accused Myanmar of ethnic cleansing and last week Washington said the military s campaign included horrendous atrocities aimed at ethnic cleansing . Myanmar s military has denied accusations of murder, rape and forced displacement. The government blames the crisis on the Rohingya militants, whom it has condemned as terrorists. Many people in Myanmar regard the largely stateless Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, they are excluded from the 135 national races recognized by law, and even using the name is considered inflammatory. Although Francis studiously avoided the term, following the advice of local Church officials who feared it could turn Myanmar s military and government against minority Christians, his calls for justice, human rights and respect were widely seen as applicable to the Rohingya. Francis held talks during his trip with Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate and longtime champion of democracy who in 2016 formed Myanmar s first civilian government in half a century. Suu Kyi has faced a barrage of criticism from Western nations in recent weeks for expressing doubts about reports of abuses against Rohingya and for failing to condemn the military. China has backed what Myanmar officials call a legitimate counter-insurgency operation in Rakhine, and stepped in to prevent a resolution on the crisis at the U.N. Security Council, support observers believe will draw Suu Kyi closer to Beijing. Myanmar s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Suu Kyi left on Thursday morning for China to join a forum of world leaders hosted by the Communist Party of China. Suu Kyi s defenders say she is hamstrung by a constitution written by the military that left the army in control of security and much of the apparatus of the state. The military s power was clear on Monday when Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, demanded to meet Pope Francis before Sun Kyi, upending a schedule that had her meeting the pontiff first. I m sure the pope would have preferred meeting the general after he had done the official visits, spokesman Burke said. | 0fake
|
GOP Senator Boldly Defies McConnell, Vows To Be The One To Kill Trumpcare | The GOP healthcare bill that would literally kill bunches of Americans is thankfully circling the drain. We haven t won the war on the GOP s cruel massive tax cut for the rich healthcare bill yet, but we re well on our way. Now, with more than enough Republican senators defying Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, we re almost there. Also, we ve found a strong and outspoken potential ally in this fight: Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.VA.). Speaking with Politico on Sunday, Senator Capito said: I only see it through the lens of a vulnerable population who needs help, who I care about very deeply. So that gives me strength. If I have to be that one person, I will be it. In these partisan times, this is an especially bold statement to make. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is known for putting a massive amount of pressure on his members to do what he wants even if it violates their conscience or harms their constituents. This bill definitely does that, as it will kick about 22 million people off of their healthcare if it becomes law, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. This would be an especially devastating for Senator Capito s state, because West Virginia is one of the states that is suffering the most from the nation s sweeping and deadly opioid crisis.That s to say nothing of the fact that people with disabilities who get their much-needed care through Medicaid would be relegated to institutions and nursing homes. One severely disabled man and his mother went on MSNBC s The Last Word with Lawrence O Donnell and told guest host Ari Melber just how devastating Trumpcare would be to their lives.Grow a heart and a spine, GOP, and say no to Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump s deadly bill. Did you really go to the United States Senate to make sure the people you are supposed to represent die? If not, you ll follow Shelley Moore Capito and say no to Trumpcare.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images | 1real
|
British firm aims to open immigration detention center near US-Mexico border | The British security firm Serco has moved a step closer to entering the controversial but lucrative immigration detention market in the US, as the company successfully lobbied public officials in a small Texas county near the Mexico border to propose that the federal government open a family detention centre in the jurisdiction.
The billion-dollar company, implicated in numerous immigration detention centre scandals in the UK and Australia, has been lobbying the US government for more than a year in an effort to win detention contracts, sparking sustained criticism from immigrant rights groups.
The firm is now proposing that a shuttered nursing home in Jim Wells County, Texas, be reopened as a family detention centre, which could hold up to 600 detainees and would become the third privately managed centre in the United States.
The Obama administration’s use of family detention centres that hold children and mothers has become one of the most contested elements of America’s border protection program.
Serco representatives first approached officials in the county last month, as the company ramped up its lobbying efforts, following an open pitching invitation announced by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) in April. On Monday, following a closed-door session between Serco lobbyists and the county’s five commissioners, the local government body voted to partner with Serco and pitch the proposal to Ice.
The company has employed a number of experienced lobbyists in America, including a former senior Ice staff member, Kate Mills, and has already listed a job opening for a communications and logistics staff member close to the proposed centre “in the event of a contract award”.
Judge Pedro Trevino Jr, the presiding member of the Jim Wells commissioners court, told the Guardian that Serco indicated up to 200 local jobs could be created at the centre. The county, with just over 40,000 residents, has had a spike in unemployment following the decline of the oil and gas industry in the region with the poverty rate climbing to 20%, according to census data.
“People are most interested in the jobs it would create,” said Trevino, of the county’s reaction to the proposed deal, adding that county attorneys were continuing to research the proposal, wary of the controversy it could bring.
“We know family detention centres are highly controversial and we want to put all our ducks in a row and gather facts before we make our final decision.”
Although Ice opened an “information” pitching round designed for “market research” purposes, it has not yet confirmed if it will move on to receive formal proposals from potential family detention contractors.
“There are several formalities that have to transpire with the [request for proposals] before we can begin to discuss,” an Ice public affairs officer told the Guardian.
About 38,000 people were apprehended crossing the US-Mexico border in April alone, including more than 10,000 unaccompanied children and “family units”, according to US Customs and Border Patrol. This is the highest number since a surge in arrivals in June 2014, and will add pressure to the already strained detention network.
Reports have also indicated that the Obama administration is planning raids that could lead to the detention and deportation of more Central American mothers and children who entered the country illegally.
Serco has operated the Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre in the UK since 2007 and endured a string of abuse allegations, including that members of staff sexually assaulted female detainees. In Australia, where Serco operates all of the country’s mainland immigration detention facilities under a multibillion-dollar contract, the company has suffered sustained criticism after riots have broken out in centres on Christmas Island, dozens of detainees have self-harmed and others have made sexual assault allegations against staff.
“Their actual track record is very different to what they say to people here in the US,” said Mohammad Abdollahi, director of advocacy for the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services not-for-profit group in Texas. “There is no ‘right’ way to detain families, but they have shown, around the world, everything that is wrong with how you do it.”
“Serco has international experience of managing immigration facilities. We are committed to looking after all those in our care with trust and respect,” said a US spokesman for the company in an emailed statement that confirmed Serco’s presence in Jim Wells County.
The centre would be the corporation’s first in the United States, completing a triangle of family detention centers in south Texas, where Geo Group operates the 679-bed Karnes County Residential Center, and Corrections Corporation of America runs the 2,400-bed Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. The only family facility outside of the state is a 96-bed facility in Pennsylvania that is operated by Berks County under an agreement with Ice.
Most of the women and children held at the three facilities are seeking refugee status and asylum amid a humanitarian crisis in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, which operated a pilot “alternative to detention” program last year, says it found that housing the families in a less restrictive setting was a more cost-effective way to ensure they attended their immigration court hearings.
“We saw that people seeking asylum have a huge stake in finishing the process that could give them a chance to potentially rebuild their life and live here in safety,” said Brittney Nystrom, LIRS director for advocacy. “We are creating additional trauma and pouring money down the drain.” | 0fake
|
The US May Soon Face an Apocalyptic Seismic Event | Today, an ever increasing number of earthquakes in the United States may soon bring the country to ruin, as geologists, journalists and politicians say.
Via UsualRoutine
The University of Washington has already presented seismological charts showing a gigantic geological rift that stretches across the central states of the US from north to south, and marks the region of a possible split of the North America continent in two. As it has been reported by geologists, for the first time this anomaly was discovered in 1960’s, when scientists found a strange underground rupture along the Lake Superior that would run south. The discovery surprised American scientists back then since there were no mountains in that area. Following studies showed that this anomaly was stretching across the whole continent, resembling in its form and shape the giant cracks in the east of Africa.
It’s been reported that the tectonic plate beneath the southeastern regions of the United States is being fragmented by the layers of earth above it, which may be the cause of future earthquakes in the Washington area and other cities on the east coast, where basically no preconditions for the emergence of aftershocks, according to Live Science.
According to Berk Biryol from the University of North Carolina, in recent years the Washington area and the areas around other large cities in the east of the country faced a pretty intense seismic activity, which at first puzzled seismologists since the east of the country is residing on a stable continental crust that must prevent any earthquake from occurring.
In recent years, the relationship between fracturing and the mounting number of earthquakes has been brought to light by the US Geological Survey (USGS), that would note that the number of earthquakes in the US has increased drastically over the last six years. In fact, it expects an abrupt increase in the number of seismic events in some regions of the country where fracturing is being used including Oklahoma, California, Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Ohio, Alabama and New Mexico.
But the split in the United States is not being predicted by the USGS alone, since the recent seismic political events aggravated the growing discord within the US society in the wake of the US presidential campaign.
Western journalists are sounding the alarm – America’s youth is now fascinated with the concepts of socialism and communism. According to the poll conducted by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), a half of all Americans under 35 years would love to be represented by a socialist president. Politicians who profess capitalist views doonly receive the support of 42% of the younger American generation. This explains the spectacular rise of DNC’s Bernie Sanders which would most certainly become the next president, if Hillary didn’t use her wealth and connections to replace him as the sole Democratic candidate.
The German newspaper Tagesspiegel points out that this election campaign “undermines the belief that most Americans share the idea about living in a democratic and constitutional state.” The newspaper notes that there’s been a lot of speculations about the possible armed resistance to the “US corrupt government system” lately, no matter how unlikely the future post-election violence may look now.
The latest poll conducted by USA Today and Suffolk University shows that only 40% of potential voters strongly believe in the peaceful transfer of power after the US presidential elections. With six in ten viewing the candidates unfavorably, Clinton andTrump are the two most unpopular presidential candidates in ABC/Post polls dating to the 1984 election. This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 1,165 likely voters.
The level of antipathy towards the two main presidential candidates in terms of party affiliation has also been at staggering level, with 97% of Trump supporters despising Hillary Clinton and 95% of Hillary’s loathing the Republican presidential candidate.
It’s no wonder that there’s been a rapidly increasing number of petitions on the separation of various states, which refer to the Declaration of Independence, where the Founding Fathers explicitly stated that “any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it” To date, the petitions on the separation from the US have been filled by a total of 40 states. Texas that is viewed as the last bastion of conservatism has already gathered more than 100 thousand signatures under its petition for obtaining the status of an independent state. Behind it are Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.
Therefore, aside from the major geological rift that may soon hit the US, there’s a deep social and political rift to be observed, which may, in case of loss of all confidence in the existing political system result in a major outbreak of violence.
Earth has already witnessed the existence of two supercontinent – Rodinia and Pangaea. First, the former continent formed about 800 million years ago, until the latter one appeared some 600 million years later. Scientists expect that in the future a new supercontinent will be formed that has it own name already – Amasia. This continent will be formed out of the modern North America and Asia, notes the Nature.
Who knows, maybe before Amasia even emerges we will witness a new state or even two that would replace the US?
| 1real
|
BREAKING: Clinton’s intelligence briefings suspended indefinitely following latest in email scandal | Christian Times Newspaper | 0 SHARE
Law enforcement and national intelligence officials have suspended Hillary Clinton’s weekly intelligence briefings after further information regarding the Democratic nominee’s use of private emails has surfaced.
According to sources familiar with the briefing process, senior officials notified the Clinton campaign on Sunday afternoon that several federal agencies “no longer believed it was either appropriate or prudent for a candidate to receive classified intelligence briefings while under a significant and ongoing investigation.”
“While the FBI and Department of Justice continue their independent investigations and while the law enforcement community continues to search for answers, it would be unwise to continue national security briefings amidst a very serious investigation concerning threats to national security.”
It is customary for the major party nominees to receive weekly classified intelligence briefings from senior defense and intelligence officials in order for the eventual president to be fully knowledgeable on matters of national security. Both Clinton and Donald Trump have received these briefings since their respective party conventions in June.
On Friday, the Director of the FBI, James Comey, notified Congress that the Bureau was effectively reopening its investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server while Secretary of State. Comey wrote that new emails had surfaced that led investigators to warrant further examination.
According to sources familiar with the investigation the newly-found emails were found on a device of Clinton’s personal aide Huma Abedin. Abedin is married to disgraced NY Congressman Anthony Wiener, and it is believed that the emails were discovered during an ongoing investigation into his sexting scandal.
This latest revelation, including the suspension of weekly intelligence briefings, does not bode well for the former Secretary of State in the final days of a heated election. Donald Trump has seized on the news, and he is expected to continue to do so in the coming week.”
| 1real
|
Trump Talk of Terror Listing for Muslim Brotherhood Alarms Some Arab Allies - The New York Times | CAIRO — In Morocco, it would tip a delicate political balance. In Jordan, it could prevent American diplomats from meeting with opposition leaders. In Tunisia, it could make criminals of a political party seen as a model of democracy after the Arab Spring. Of all the initiatives of the Trump administration that have set the Arab world on edge, none has as much potential to disrupt the internal politics of American partners in the region as the proposal to criminalize the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement with millions of followers. “The impact would be great,” said Issandr El Amrani, an analyst with the International Crisis Group based in Morocco, where a party won the last election in October. “It could destabilize countries where forces would be encouraged to double down. It would increase polarization. ” At issue is a proposal floated by Trump aides that the Brotherhood be designated as a foreign terrorist entity. The scope of any designation remains unclear, but its potential reach is vast: Founded in Egypt, the Brotherhood has evolved into a loose network that spans about two dozen countries. It has officially forsworn violence. For President Trump, the designation debate is an election promise made good. He has made no bones about taking an approach to the Middle East that is narrowly focused on counterterrorism, and that plays to domestic supporters who view all Islamist movements — or even all Muslims — as potentially hostile. In much of the Middle East, though, the rapid pace and embattled rollouts of Mr. Trump’s early orders have induced anxiety. Now many are following the potential indictment of the Muslim Brotherhood as a harbinger of things to come. “The Obama administration moved us away from the ‘clash of civilizations’ narrative,” said Emad Shahin, a dissident Egyptian academic who lectures at Georgetown University. “Trump is taking us deeper into it. ” Not all are unhappy about the move to list the Brotherhood. One leader the designation would surely delight is President Abdel Fattah of Egypt, the former general who has led a harsh crackdown on the Brotherhood since the military ousted a Brotherhood leader, Mohamed Morsi, as president in 2013. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also would support it. But in countries where parties are prominent in Parliament or are in power, experts say a sweeping indictment could have serious implications for domestic politics, American diplomacy and the broader fight against Islamist extremism. In Jordan, a crucial ally in the fight against jihadist groups, Islamists constitute a small but significant bloc in the Parliament. Tunisia’s Ennahda party, which has won wide praise for its democratic engagement and moderate stance since 2011, might be shunned. The prime minister of Morocco, technically, could be considered a criminal. “You would throw many babies out with the bath water,” said Gerald M. Feierstein, a former United States ambassador to Yemen, now at the Middle East Institute in Washington. The initial momentum toward such a designation appears to have slowed. A leaked assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency said isolating the Brotherhood would serve only to empower jihadist groups some experts doubt that a broad designation would pass legal muster. But the very fact that the ban is under consideration by Mr. Trump’s aides is being taken as an ominous sign in a region where religion and politics are carefully, and often precariously, balanced. The proposed designation has also reaffirmed Mr. Trump’s apparent embrace of Mr. Sisi, who has weathered a barrage of international criticism for his country’s dismal human rights record in recent years. Mr. Trump has hailed him as a “fantastic guy” with whom he shares “good chemistry. ” Since an initial meeting at the United Nations in September, the two leaders have spoken several times by phone — Mr. Sisi was the first foreign leader to congratulate Mr. Trump on his victory in November — and now a visit to Washington by Mr. Sisi is under preparation. Egypt wants the United States to resume a military financing program, frozen by President Barack Obama in 2015, that helps it make billions of dollars in purchases of weapons like warplanes and M1A1 Abrams tanks. More than anything, though, a handshake in the White House for Mr. Sisi would offer a stamp of legitimacy to a leader who had been kept at arm’s length by Mr. Obama. Tens of thousands of Mr. Sisi’s opponents languish in Egyptian prisons, human rights workers are routinely harassed, and his security forces have faced accusations of extrajudicial killings. To some, it suggests Mr. Trump is set to take an approach in the Middle East that will not just tolerate strongmen and monarchs but also actively seek to embrace them — a throwback that evokes American alignment with autocrats like the shah of Iran in decades past. “It’s easy to say you will stand by your friends,” said Mr. Feierstein at the Middle East Institute. “But authoritarian regimes are always brittle, always fragile. We thought we would stand by the shah of Iran until the day he got on an airplane and left the country. Now what do we have to show for it? We have 40 years of not being able to have a relationship with Iran. ” Brotherhood officials insist that the Trump administration has gotten it wrong. In a letter smuggled from the Egyptian prison where he is being held, the Brotherhood spokesman Gehad admitted that his party had made serious mistakes during its yearlong stint in power in Egypt from 2012 to 2013. Citing the “ lessons of the Arab Spring,” he said the Brotherhood had failed to heed loud opposition from millions of Egyptians who disliked Mr. Morsi’s actions. But, he insisted, the movement renounced bloodshed. “Our flaws are many,” he wrote. “Violence is not one. ” In other places, the reality can be harder to pin down. By nature secretive, the Brotherhood takes different forms around the world. In some places, its members have condoned or committed violent acts. Its Palestinian offshoot, Hamas, carries out suicide bombings in Egypt, angry young supporters have been accused of attacking Mr. Sisi’s security forces. But that does not make terrorists of the many millions of people who support the Brotherhood’s political ideology across many countries. One route for the Trump administration could be to narrowly designate specific Brotherhood branches as terrorists, said Mokhtar Awad, an expert on the group. But it would be better still, he argued, to “engage in a battle of ideas. ” The debate could prove an early lesson for the administration in doing business in the Middle East, which has long resisted prescriptions. Unpalatable as its ideas may be to Trump officials, the Brotherhood may become just one of many factors they will be forced to grapple with. “We engage with the Brotherhood knowing they are problematic actors, but they are also a reality,” said Michael Wahid Hanna of the Century Foundation. “And the alternative — ignoring or repressing them — leads to a very bad place. ” | 0fake
|
Honduran candidate says Nasralla won, urges president to concede | TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Luis Zelaya, the third-placed candidate in Sunday s Honduran presidential election, said on Monday that Salvador Nasralla was the country s new leader, and urged the U.S.-friendly incumbent Juan Orlando Hernandez to accept defeat. | 0fake
|
India's Modi remains overwhelmingly popular, says Pew poll | NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Nearly nine out of 10 Indians hold a favorable opinion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and more than two-thirds are satisfied with the direction he is taking the country, a Pew survey has found, two years before he heads into a general election. Modi s Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition won the biggest parliamentary majority in three decades in a 2014 election and the poll by the U.S.-based research center showed that his personal ratings remain high. Critics have accused hardline Hindu groups linked to the ruling coalition of promoting a partisan agenda, including targeting minority Muslims, since he came to power. They have also blamed Modi for slowing economic growth and for failing to generate the hundreds of thousands of jobs needed for young people joining the workforce each month. But the Pew poll found that 88 percent of Indians held a favorable view of Modi, a shade higher than the 87 percent who gave him a thumbs-up in 2015, a year after he swept to power promising to transform India into a high-growth economy. Such high ratings are unusual for political leaders three years into office in south Asia, where governments are more often voted out than retained as people become frustrated with broken campaign promises. Modi s favorable rating is 31 percentage points higher than that of Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the main opposition Congress party, and is 30 points more than that for her son, Rahul Gandhi, who is expected to take over the party leadership. Three years into Modi s five-year tenure, the honeymoon period for his administration may be over but the public s love affair with current conditions in India is even more intense, Pew said in comments on its findings. The survey was conducted in February and March, a few months after Modi withdrew most high-value bank notes in a shock move aimed at illegal wealth, but which put millions of people in difficulty as cash was sucked out of the economy. Modi defended the measure as an attack on the rich hiding their wealth from the taxman and said gains would come to the poor. Economic growth eased to a three-year low in the June quarter and experts said part of the reason was that the withdrawal of most of the currency had hurt consumer demand in a largely cash-driven economy. A poorly implemented goods-and-services tax that went into effect in July has further unsettled small businesses, many of which are part of the bedrock of the BJP s political base. But the poll found that more than 80 percent of those surveyed said economic conditions were good, up 19 percentage points since just before the 2014 election. Overall, seven-in-ten Indians are now satisfied with the way things are going in the country. This positive assessment of India s direction has nearly doubled since 2014, Pew said. The next general election is due in 2019. But several states are voting for new assemblies over the next few months including Modi s home state of Gujarat. | 0fake
|
WATCH: TEACHER CAUGHT ON VIDEO Calling Trump T-shirts “Swastika”…DEMANDS Students Turn Them Inside Out | This unhinged high school teacher was caught telling students to turn their Trump t-shirts inside out, because the Make America Great Again slogan is the same thing as a swastika. Come again?Watch:Teacher makes students flip MAGA shirts inside out because it's similar to a swastika & represents nazis! pic.twitter.com/hu0WRvwZ4D USA Association (@USAAssociation) September 4, 2017Example after example of intolerant radical educators threatning students who refuse to tow the liberal line have emerged over the past decade. One of our favorite examples took place less than 2 years ago when multiple professors at Washington State University explicitly told students their grades would suffer if they used terms such as illegal alien, male, and female, or if they failed to defer to non-white students.A Fresno State professor was actually caught on video bullying a student at the college where he teaches because she chalked a pro-life message on the sidewalk (after she received permission from the school to write the pro-life message on the sidewalk).Watch this male professor bully this young female student: | 1real
|
5 BIG LIES THE LEFTY MEDIA TOLD THIS WEEK…Then The Truth On Trump, Comey And Russia | We have very few favorites when it comes to reporting for obvious reasons: They lie all the time! Who hasn t read or heard something totally false about Trump and Russia? This past week was a banner week of lies from the main stream media so it s our pleasure to straighten things out for everyone We ve discovered a star news reporting organization that stands above most others in their reporting on the Trump/Russia investigation. CIRCA NEWS with Sara Carter and John Solomon are setting the record straight!Here s the skinny on the latest media lies and the truth via Circa:Aggressive news reporting can be a public service, like when courageous journalists exposed Richard Nixon s Watergate, the Catholic church s cover up of the sexual abuse and the U.S. intelligence failures that preceded 9-11.But breathless, half-baked reporting in times of tumult can also misserve the public, like when The Wall Street Journal retracted a false story that Bill Clinton had been seen in a compromising position with an intern in the White House or when NBC wrongly identified Richard Jewell as the Olympic Park bombing suspect.This past week, professional journalism offered us several new examples of breathless reporting during the brouhaha over Donald Trump, James Comey and Russia intelligence. At their least, some stories misled the public, and at their worst they outright misinformed.Here are some examples this week that should cause the media to search whether its current standards are doing enough to ensure the public gets the whole truth. You can review the facts and decide for yourself whether the media shamed itself.The Rosenstein Quitting Episode The Washington Post reported Wednesday night that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had threatened to resign after the narrative emerging from the White House on Tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover of the decision to fire Comey. The story cited an unnamed source close to the White House. But it did not have any comment or confirmation from the man who was alleged to have made the threat.When Sinclair Broadcast Group s Michelle Macaluso finally caught up to Rosenstein, a funny thing happened. He debunked the story. No, I m not quitting, he said.The reporter pressed on: Did you threaten to quit? No, Rosenstein said.The Post did not return a call for comment Friday on whether it stood by its story.The Comey resources requestThe New York Times and several other outlets reported Wednesday that Comey, just before he was fired, had asked the Justice Department s Rosenstein for more funding and personnel for the Russia intelligence probe. But when Comey s deputy got to Capitol Hill the next day, he denied there was any need for more resources. I believe we have the adequate resources to do it and I know that we have resourced that investigation adequately, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told lawmakers.McCabe said the FBI, if it needed more resources, wouldn t even go to the Justice Department but instead to Congress. We don t typically request resources for an individual case, he explained.CNN s claim that Trump is under investigation During the breaking story on Comey Tuesday night, respected CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin declared the FBI director s firing was a grotesque abuse of power and that it was a political act when the President is under investigation. Toobin is entitled to his opinion but he should have the right facts. Numerous sources confirm to Circa that Comey told Congress just last week that Trump is NOT a target of the Russia probe.CNN s connection of grand jury subpoenas to Comey s firingCNN went live with an exclusive the night Comey was fired, reporting that grand jury subpoenas were issued to associates of former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn seeking business records in the Russia case.But with one slight turn of hand, CNN s legitimate scoop was crafted to suggest there had been some correlation to Comey s firing. CNN learned of the subpoenas hours before President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey, the network reported.The multitude of media comparisons to WatergateCountless media outlets from Politico and The New York Times to Mother Jones have suggested the whole Russia scandal is akin to Watergate, right down to Comey s firing mirroring Nixon s efforts to axe the special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox.There s just one problem with that. Nixon was the target of the Watergate probe and he was accused of specific crimes.Via: Circa New/John Solomon | 1real
|
What Is a ‘Personal Benefit’ From Insider Trading? Justices Hear Arguments - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices offered hope to both prosecutors and traders on Wednesday during arguments in the first insider trading case to come before the nation’s high court in two decades. A ruling by the court could clarify one of the most hotly debated issues on Wall Street: what prosecutors must prove to secure insider trading convictions based on confidential tips. In their questioning, the justices grappled with where to draw the line. Even as they appeared sympathetic to the government’s interpretation of the high court’s past insider trading decisions, the justices were wary of radically expanding the government’s power and affording prosecutors too much of a free hand in these cases. The case now before the court, Salman v. United States, No. comes from California and centers on the insider trading conviction of Bassam Salman in 2013. According to prosecutors, Mr. Salman placed profitable stock trades based on confidential information leaked by his future Maher Kara, who had advance knowledge of corporate mergers because of his job in Citigroup’s health care investment banking group. For decades, courts have held that it is not inherently illegal to trade stocks based on material, nonpublic information like a merger or acquisition. For an insider to be guilty of sharing inside information, his leak must breach a duty to keep the information confidential and he must receive a personal benefit in exchange for the leak. By extension, the person who receives the information must generally know of that breach and benefit. The Salman case presents a question that has vexed federal appeals courts and left prosecutors and traders alike seeking clarity: What exactly amounts to a “personal benefit”? Prosecutors hope the court will afford them leeway in defining the benefit, arguing that if an insider provides a gift of information, that should count as a benefit. In the Salman case, Maher Kara did not receive any financial benefit, but arguably leaked the information as a gift. Mr. Salman’s lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, argued on Wednesday that the benefit must be more “tangible” — like cash or something that eventually can be monetized. Several of the justices, citing one of the court’s seminal insider trading decisions from three decades ago, seemed skeptical of her argument and poised to uphold Mr. Salman’s conviction. After all, as Justice Stephen Breyer noted, “to help a close family member is like helping yourself. ” Yet the court, often skeptical of prosecutors in crime cases, also questioned the government’s lawyer, Michael Dreeben, about where to draw the line. The justices seemed hesitant to afford prosecutors broad authority to apply the gift test to situations in which the insider and recipient are not family or close friends. The issue gained prominence after a 2014 decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan, United States v. Newman, that upended the Justice Department’s sweeping crackdown on insider trading. Mr. Salman’s argument for overturning his conviction hinges on the Newman decision, which tightened the standard for what constitutes a personal benefit by requiring prosecutors to show a tangible benefit rather than mere friendship between the tipper and recipient. The Second Circuit, in that 2014 decision, overturned the insider trading convictions of the hedge fund managers Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson, who were at the end of a long chain of information being passed along. In the aftermath, federal prosecutors in New York tossed out the convictions of nearly a dozen other traders and industry consultants. Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, whose office secured insider trading convictions against dozens of people in the nearly $3 trillion hedge fund industry, has been an outspoken critic of the Second Circuit ruling. Mr. Bharara, who attended Wednesday’s argument, has argued that the Second Circuit’s decision could create “a potential bonanza for friends and family of rich people with material nonpublic information. ” The Supreme Court denied the Justice Department’s request that it review that ruling, though the justices could indirectly rebuke it in deciding Mr. Salman’s case. In Mr. Salman’s case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco took a different approach. The Ninth Circuit upheld Mr. Salman’s conviction and adopted the view that giving inside information to a family member qualified as a benefit, creating what some legal observers saw as a split that only the Supreme Court could reconcile. Both the Newman and Salman appeals court decisions hinged on a Supreme Court case, Dirks v. Securities and Exchange Commission, that has long been the cornerstone of insider trading law. That decision directed courts to focus on “whether the insider receives a direct or indirect personal benefit from the disclosure, such as a pecuniary gain or a reputational benefit that will translate into future earnings. ” In overturning Mr. Newman’s conviction, the Second Circuit seized on that financial element. But when the Ninth Circuit upheld Mr. Salman’s conviction, it focused on another passage in the Dirks decision that allowed liability “when an insider makes a gift of confidential information to a trading relative or friend. ” That excerpt strikes at the heart of Mr. Salman’s case. Maher Kara passed the inside information, arguably as a gift, to his brother, Michael Kara, who in turn shared it with Mr. Salman. The two families were close Maher Kara was engaged to Mr. Salman’s sister. (While Maher Kara struck a plea deal and was sentenced to three months of home confinement, Mr. Salman was sentenced to three years in prison.) Some of the justices, appearing skeptical of Mr. Salman’s argument, highlighted the passage within the Dirks ruling that references gifts to family members. “You’re asking us to cut back significantly from something that we said several decades ago,” Justice Elena Kagan told Ms. Shapiro, adding that “the integrity of the markets are a very important thing for this country. And you’re asking us essentially to change the rules in a way that threatens that integrity. ” But a decision that just upholds Mr. Salman’s conviction — and reaffirms the Dirks decision with some clarity — would disappoint some prosecutors who argue that the current unsettled nature of the law has had a chilling effect on cases. The Justice Department’s ideal ruling would uphold the conviction of Mr. Salman and then take the Ninth Circuit’s ruling further so that the gift rule would not be limited to just family and close friends. Mr. Dreeben mentioned the case of a barber who could slip through the cracks. He also proposed an even looser standard that would allow charges whenever information is shared for a noncorporate purpose and the insider knows that the recipient will place trades based on the leak. The justices appeared to balk at that extension of prosecutorial power. “It doesn’t seem to me that your argument is much more consistent with Dirks than Ms. Shapiro’s,” Justice Samuel Alito told Mr. Dreeben. Justice Alito then proposed a hypothetical: “Now suppose someone, the insider is walking down the street and sees someone who has a really unhappy look on his face and says, I want to do something to make this person’s day. And so he provides the inside information” and allows the recipient to trade. Mr. Dreeben replied that such a case was indeed a violation. Later in the argument, however, as other justices expressed skepticism about the Justice Department’s position, Mr. Dreeben conceded that “if the court feels more comfortable given the facts of this case of reaffirming Dirks and saying that was the law in 1983, it remains the law today, that is completely fine with the government. ” Daniel Richman, a former federal prosecutor and now a professor at Columbia Law School, predicted that because insider trading law was almost entirely rather than set by Congress, the Supreme Court might be reluctant to radically revisit its Dirks ruling from three decades ago. It would be simpler to draw distinctions between cases involving family members and business associates. “If you were going to be a minimalist, this little bit of family relationship could be elaborated on without wholesale redevelopment,” he said. One of the most prominent critics of judges determining what constitutes insider trading was Justice Antonin Scalia, whose death earlier this year created the vacancy on the bench. Justice Scalia argued that only Congress — rather than agencies, prosecutors or judges — may define what conduct amounts to insider trading. Although Ms. Shapiro made a similar argument, the remaining eight justices seemed to be unswayed. They also seemed skeptical of her argument that Maher Kara turned over the information to Michael Kara for “the scant benefit of getting his brother off his back. ” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, for whom Ms. Shapiro was once a law clerk, remarked: “He’s no longer being pestered. Isn’t that a benefit?” | 0fake
|
“PRESIDENT TRUMP” IS STABBED TO DEATH In Central Park Production Of “Julius Caesar”…Where’s The Outrage? | Take a look at @PublicTheaterNY's first Shakespeare in the Park production of 2017, a Trump-inspired Julius Caesar https://t.co/iTPiJMSSaq pic.twitter.com/t5VfDfZVRe Playbill (@playbill) May 30, 2017In an interview with Mediaite, Laura Shaeffer who saw a recent performance of the play, which opened May 23 said that the character of Julius Caesar in the Public Theater adaptation wears a business suit and has his hair styled in a manner similar to Trump s.Sheaffer added that the character of Calpurnia, Caesar s wife, speaks with a Slavic accent similar to that of First Lady Melania Trump.As happens at the end of the original play, the (Trump-inspired) Caesar is brutally stabbed to death by his associates in the Senate. Sheaffer said Caesar s death scene was particularly graphic, with blood spewing everywhere, and an American flag hanging overhead. To be honest I thought it was shocking and distasteful, Shaeffer told Mediaite. If this had happened to any other president even as recently as Barack Obama or George W. Bush it would not have flown. People would have been horrified. The Trump connection in the Oskar Eustis-directed production was not intended to be subtle, though the president is reportedly never referred to by name during the show.The actor playing Caesar, Gregg Henry (who also happened to play a caricature of Trump in Shonda Rhimes ABC show Scandal), told Backstage in an interview last month that while the similarities between the Roman general and the current president don t always align exactly, there was still much to be gleaned from Trump s presidency and then injected into his portrayal of Caesar. The idea for me was to try and do some things that will represent and show you and I have great costumes and wigs that show you that this could be Trump, Henry told Backstage. But I m also trying to bring in the larger knowledge of tyrants. It s sort of a tyrant s greatest hits in [the way I play] the speeches and in the nature of the ego and belief that one man is more important, is above the law, is the law. Those tyrannical beliefs in terms of how to deal with power. For her part, Shaeffer told Mediaite that while she found the parallels between Trump and Caesar fascinating, the onstage murder of a character that so closely resembled Trump was a step too far. I don t love President Trump, but he s the president. You can t assassinate him on a stage, she told the outlet. BreitbartBy now, everyone knows how comedian Kathy Griffin expressed her opposition to our president, when she held his bloodied and decapitated head while making what turned out to be a career-ending video. So is this disgusting and violent behavior by the intolerant the left the new norm? Are Americans supposed to just accept this simply because the media refuses to report about it? | 1real
|
Libya and Italy to set up operations room to tackle migrant smuggling | TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya s U.N.-backed government agreed with Italy on Saturday to establish a joint operations room for tackling migrant smugglers and traffickers as part of efforts to curb migrant flows toward Europe, according to a statement. Libya is the main gateway for migrants trying to cross to Europe by sea, though numbers have dropped sharply since July as Libyan factions and authorities have begun to block departures under Italian pressure. More than 600,000 have made the journey over the past four years. The agreement to set up the operations room was announced after a meeting in Tripoli between the head of the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez Seraj, Libyan Interior Minister Aref Khodja, and his Italian counterpart Marco Minniti. A statement from Seraj s office said the center would consist of representatives from the coastguard, the illegal migration department, the Libyan attorney general and the intelligence services, along with their Italian counterparts. No details were given on the location of the center and how it would operate. In the past, migrant smugglers have worked with impunity in western Libya, where the GNA has little authority over armed groups that have real power on the ground. The Italian navy already has a presence in Tripoli port, providing technical assistance to Libya s coastguard, according to Italian and Libyan officials. The coastguard, which is receiving funding and training from the European Union, has become more assertive in recent months in intercepting migrants and bringing them back to Libya. Activists have criticized the policy, since migrants often face extreme hardship and abuse in Libya, including forced labor. Migrants who are caught trying to cross to Italy are put in severely overcrowded detention centers authorized by the interior ministry. The GNA has said it is investigating reports of migrants being auctioned as slaves in Libya, after CNN broadcast footage appearing to show such auctions. According to Saturday s statement, Seraj told Minniti that despite the successes achieved in the migration file, the number of illegal immigrants outside shelters remains large and we need more cooperation, especially in securing the borders of southern Libya through which these migrants flow . | 0fake
|
California College Professor Who Called Trump’s Win an ’Act of Terrorism’ Nominated for Campus Award - Breitbart | A California college professor who called President Trump’s election win an “act of terrorism” during class was nominated to become “faculty member of the year,” Campus Reform reported. [A panel of school administrators are in charge of selecting the professor for the award, which gives the chosen faculty member a chance to speak at Orange Coast College’s commencement ceremony. The professor in question, Olga Perez declined the award for an unspecified reason, according to Doug Bennet, executive director of college advancement at OCC. Even though Cox turned down the award, some people at the school think the faculty’s decision to nominate her was wrong in the first place, given what she said last semester. “The fact that the faculty chose professor Cox for the faculty member of the year award speaks volumes to how blind they are about what she did last semester,” said Joshua of OCC’s College Republicans group. On Saturday, campus police discovered graffiti targeting the OCC College Republicans and . “Doxx Joshua Martinez OCC Young Republicans = Fascists,” one graffiti message read, according to the Los Angeles Times. says that Cox probably did not accept the nomination because of these recent events. “She understood the impact that accepting the nomination could have on the campus climate, and that is why she refused,” said. ’s group is the same group responsible for posting the video of Cox’s comments on Facebook. In her comments, Cox blamed the Electoral College for Trump’s win and and said that the “act of terrorism” was committed by someone “among us. ” “It’s an act of terrorism. One of the most frightening things for me, and most people in my life, is that the people committing the assault are among us,” Cox said. The college recently rescinded the suspension of the student who recorded Cox in class. | 0fake
|
LOL! Watch Donald Trump’s Greatest Golf Shot [Video] | A perfect video to start your day! Here s a video of our wonderful POTUS taking the best shot ever: Donald Trump ~He's even good at Golfing!! Have a Fantastic Week My Deplorables ! #MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/Z8LBHl0BHM DeplorableGirl Bot (@eissolomon11) August 28, 2017By the way, Hillary is charging mega-bucks to hear her yammer on about why she thinks she lost to Trump.As if Texas hasn t had enough disasters! The Clinton Grifter Show is coming to Irving, Texas with prices ranging from $100 to a whopping $3,000! Honorable ? This is the same woman who used bleach bit to erase emails These two are so desperate to make a buck that they re not only hawking a book but charging people to promote the book Our prediction is that these events are quietly cancelled after low turnout.The Dems are trying to distance themselves from the Clinton dynasty. The word is that Barack has decided that former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick should be the next black president. Good luck with that | 1real
|
One Week, and Counting: Bottom-Fishing in America | Email
Webster: frequenting the bottom. When a right-wing cell (FBI), from its inception, at the heart of government, now appears to the Left of the leading candidate for president (Clinton), one knows that she is fishing on the shoreline of fascism. From a democratic standpoint, it doesn’t get any worse. Even her challenger, matching her stride for stride in vulgarian (pretentious, indecent), gut-authoritarianism, the two the Janus-faced expression of the Class-State, at least does not demonize Putin and Russia, as preparatory, in her case, to still wider confrontation, including China, as dangerously leading up to a catastrophic war, or at first the breakdown of the international order.
The FBI, from cops and robbers, to reds and fellow subversives, as television and popular opinion would have it, was a spearhead for McCarthyism and a practical annex of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Those were the days, from Baby-face Nelson to the Rosenbergs, and now, hardly chastened from its turbid (muddy, foul, opaque) past, still the guardian of American innocence, Director Comey makes one correct move to undo the legacy of J. Edgar Hoover, and the American political world falls apart. I am not a fan of Comey’s for his initial exoneration of Clinton in her use of a private server at State, but surely, this is an eye-opener, about how far the political spectrum has shifted to the Far Right.
Whomever wins the election, America digs itself deeper into the cesspool of hierarchical class-differentiation, wealth-concentration, a pervasive ideological atmosphere of solipsistic hatred at home for human difference, rancid hegemony abroad for any who seek an alternative path to modernization away from the example of US petrifying capitalism. This election reveals that America, like a broken record, is stuck, playing over and over again the themes of domestic repression and foreign counterrevolution, the ideal synthesis for the unilateral assertion of world power. Neither candidate nor major party distances itself from the latter goal.
Comey, perhaps against his will and ideological proclivities, achieves standing here, merely, as he should, by doing his duty. The bipartisan consensus maneuvering in place to chastise him reveals the dark reality of a nation so devoted to denial and untruth, possibly to cover over its sins of commission (war crimes, indigenous racism and xenophobia) and omission (failure to act on environmental degradation, an adequate system of health care, a military budget crowding out the general welfare), that it has lost its way and falsified its original promised constitutional existence. America is presently normless, and has been since capitalism inaugurated its take-off stage following the Civil War. And before that, with institutionalized slavery, internal genocidal expansion, and cap-in-hand deference to political ideologues not adverse to compromise with, if not actually representing, vested interests.
Scratch America from the democratic column, transposed now to an enlarged banana republic wherein one can expect, from either party and successful candidate, enhanced features of an already ripening Police State. Surveillance, proscription, total exclusion of viable methods, measures, and structural changes pointed toward democratization, America will formally become what it already is: a panicked response to the self-realization of its nihilistic core of moral values and systemic attributes—a nuclear-armed Goliath lacking soul and conscience, and for that reason a menace to world peace and self-renewal at home. No, Comey, by his actions, is not the enemy, but one who for the first time has put on his spectacles and looked around him. There are some things that even an ardent “patriot” cannot stomach.
I recall how in the 1960s, e.g., Mississippi Freedom Summer, the FBI would interrogate us, try to sow doubts in the hearts of the demonstrators, act as intimidators pure and simple, combined with its undercover role in breaking up antiwar protests throughout the decade, so I hardly have much hope that things have changed. Yet, my hat is off to Comey, even if only to anger Clinton, force Democrats into self-protective mode, and raise questions about the rotten stinking fish used to fertilize her and the party’s position on war and peace, capitalism (Wall Street’s Miss America), and the Clintons’ own mind-boggling accumulation of personal wealth—all of which is instinctively known by the public, but unable to extricate from the mental prison of submerged guilt for totalitarian ways and practices.
We await the election, a studied exercise in un-freedom, where tyranny of false consciousness defines the psychological mental set of America, what Adorno writing sixty-six years ago called authoritarian submission, a framework where the Leadership Principle comes to the foreground if it has not already. Parallels to the incipient stages of Nazism are not an exaggeration, and it is not a loud-mouthed Trump who is necessarily the greatest danger. He is predominantly all-surface. It is Clinton who plumbs the depths of arrogance, ambition, congealed militarism. America, R.I.P.
My New York Times Comment to its editorial, “James Comey’s Big Mistake,” 11-1-16, follows:
Comey acted honorably. Unlike Hoover, he is here depoliticizing the FBI. The Times has demonstrated such partiality to Clinton, in news selection as well as editorial opinion, that it is hard to take its criticism seriously. Endorsement is one thing, blind-siding the other side quite different. Are not emails a legitimate area of investigation? Does not the public have the right to know, especially in an election? If there is no smoking gun, this will redound to Clinton’s benefit; if there is, yes, it might change minds. But what is wrong with that?
Clinton invariably is treated with kid gloves. Even the initial issue, the use of a private server to transact government business, is forgotten. Rather than jump on Comey, why not revisit the whole question–which Comey had originally dismissed–of Clinton’s valuing of transparency, and from there (although it is now late in the game) her whole foreign policy framework and hostility, in particular, to Putin and Russia?
To criticize Clinton does not necessarily make one an apologist for Trump. Call the shots with equal endeavor; responsible journalism requires no less. | 1real
|
U.N. offers to help resolve Baghdad, Kurdistan region crisis: Iraq foreign ministry | BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United Nations has offered to help solve the problem between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over a Kurdish independence referendum held on Monday, the Iraqi foreign ministry said on Thursday. Jan Kubis, the top UN envoy in Iraq, made the offer at a meeting with Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari in Baghdad, the ministry said in a statement. Baghdad plans to impose punitive measures on the KRG in retaliation for holding the vote. It has given the KRG until Friday to hand over control of its international airports or face a ban on direct international flights to and from the Kurdish region. | 0fake
|
ACLU DEFENDS ILLEGALS? SUES DOJ, ICE Over Arrests of Illegal Alien Teen Gangs: “That was play-fighting” | WHO IS THE ACLU PROTECTING? Certainly not the legal citizens of America!After Obama allowed and even encouraged thousands upon thousands of unaccompanied illegal alien minors to flood America, we re now responsible for the mess he created. MS13 gang members have been going on killing sprees that have been terrorizing Americans. President Trump has a policy in place that simply enforces the law! Read below and let us know if you agree that the ACLU is protecting people who should have no rights in America.The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a class action lawsuit against President Trump s administration over the detention of immigrant teenagers for unsubstantiated claims of gang affiliation. The lawsuit, announced on Friday, targets Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement.In a press release, the ACLU accuses ICE and the Office of Refugee Resettlement of detaining children and transporting them to detention facilities without notifying their parents or lawyers.The organization also alleges that ICE is detaining and deporting the immigrant teens under the guise of a crackdown on transnational street gangs and accuses the federal agency of making arrests based on unreliable claims of gang affiliation and flawed reports of criminal history. We re talking about teens who were picked up for play-fighting with a friend, or for showing pride in their home country of El Salvador, Stephen Kang, an attorney with the ACLU Immigrants Rights Project, said in the release. The Office of Refugee Resettlement is accepting wholesale that young immigrants should be kept behind bars because of what they look like or where they come from. The lead plaintiffs in the case are from Suffolk County in Long Island, N.Y.In May, ICE announced it has arrested more than 1,300 people in a crackdown on gangs. Three of those arrested had Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals paperwork protecting them from deportation, according to a report at the time by The Washington Post.The crackdown on gangs coupled with the Trump administration s tough stance on legal and illegal immigration has raised alarms among activists that people with tenuous connections to gangs could come under unfair scrutiny.Fox News reported a surge in people seeking to remove tattoos that people believed could be used by ICE to link them to gangs.The ACLU class action lawsuit seeks the release of the teens who are the plaintiffs in the case as well as an injunction to prevent the government from further detaining immigrant children without cause.The ACLU has launched numerous lawsuits against Trump s administration since he took office, suing over Trump s travel ban and challenging the legality of his voter fraud commission.WHO IS THE ACLU PROTECTING? Certainly not legal U.S. citizens!Read more: The Hill | 1real
|
Netanyahu: Trump Visit Will ‘Strengthen Our Great Alliance’ | The Algemeiner reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed new US Ambassador David Friedman to the Jewish state on Tuesday at a meeting in Jerusalem. [Friedman had arrived in Israel the previous day, pointedly making the Western Wall in the Israeli capital’s Old City his first stop. “It’s a pleasure to see you and to welcome you to Jerusalem, our eternal capital,” Netanyahu said as he greeted Friedman. “I know you went to the Kotel [Western Wall]. It’s deeply appreciated by all our people. ” “There was no other place to go,” Friedman replied. Netanyahu told Friedman he was looking forward to President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to the Jewish state next week, which, in the words of the prime minister, would provide an opportunity to further “strengthen our great alliance. ” Read more here. | 0fake
|
Little-known facts about weapons | AP photo 1. Over the past 20 years, weapons have inundated America, but the rate of murder with the use of firearms and other crimes have fallen by 39% and 69% respectively.2. Almost all cases of mass murder in the United States have occurred in weapon-free zones.3. The United States is the world's leader on the number of weapons per capita. The country is ranked 28th on the number of murders per 100,000 people.4. The index of violent crimes in the United States fell from 757.7 per 100,000 people in 1992 to 386.3 in 2011. The index of murders fell from 9.3 to 4.7 per 100,000 people. 5. In the US, weapons are used 80 times more often to prevent crime rather than commit it.6. In spite of the tough arms legislation, the number of violent crimes in the UK is four times larger than the number of violent crimes committed in the US.7. In 2015, as many as 2,034 violent crimes were committed in the UK per 100,000 people.8. In the United States, the index made up 466.9. In the UK, the number of victims of rapists is 125% larger than in the US.10. In the UK, the number of victims of attacks is 133% larger than in the US.11. Great Britain comes second in the European Union in terms of the general crime indicator.12. In Australia, a weapon ban increased the number of homicide by 19% and robberies - by 69%.13. Chicago is a city with a very tough weapons legislation, where the number of murders has been increasing every year by approximately 10-15%. Today, Chicago is the most dangerous city in the world.14. In the city of Kennesaw, USA, local residents were obliged to arm themselves. As a result, the crime rate in the city has fallen in 23 years by 50% and robberies - by 89%.15. In the 20th century, the leaders of all countries of the world have killed more than 170 million people. How? They disarmed them. Electorat Info | 1real
|
Number of Rohingya fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh at 370,000: U.N. | COX S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - An estimated 370,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees have fled to Bangladesh from violence in Myanmar since late August, a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency, Vivian Tan, said on Tuesday. The government of Buddhist-majority Myanmar says its security forces are fighting Rohingya militants behind a surge of violence that began on Aug. 25. Many of the refugees say Myanmar authorities are intent on pushing Rohingya out of the country. | 0fake
|
U.S. lawmakers want to restrict internet surveillance on Americans | (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers unveiled legislation on Wednesday that would overhaul aspects of the National Security Agency’s warrantless internet surveillance program in an effort to install additional privacy protections. The bill, which will be formally introduced as soon as Thursday, is likely to revive debate in Washington over the balance between security and privacy, amid concerns among some lawmakers in both parties that the U.S. government may be too eager to spy on its own citizens. The legislation, written by the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, is seen by civil liberties groups as the best chance in Congress to reform the law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, before its expiration on Dec. 31. Senior U.S. intelligence officials consider Section 702 to be among the most vital tools they have to thwart threats to national security and American allies. It allows U.S. intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on and store vast amounts of digital communications from foreign suspects living outside the United States. But the program, classified details of which were exposed in 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, also incidentally scoops up communications of Americans, including if they communicate with a foreign target living overseas. Those communications can then be subject to searches without a warrant by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A discussion draft of the legislation, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, partially restricts the FBI’s ability to access American data collected under Section 702 by requiring the agency to obtain a warrant when seeking evidence of a crime. That limit would not apply, however, to requests of data that involve counterterrorism or counter-espionage. The narrower restriction on what some have called a “backdoor search loophole” has disappointed some civil liberties groups. Several organizations sent a letter this week saying they would not support legislation that did not require a warrant for all queries of American data collected under Section 702. The legislation would also renew the program for six years and codify the National Security Agency’s decision earlier this year to halt the collection of communications that merely mentioned a foreign intelligence target. But that codification would end in six years as well, meaning NSA could potentially resume the activity in 2023. The spy agency has said it lost some operational capability by ending so-called “about” collection due to privacy compliance issues and has lobbied against a law that would make its termination permanent. Republican senators introduced a bill earlier this year to renew Section 702 without changes and make it permanent, a position backed by the White House and intelligence agencies. But that effort is expected to face major resistance in the House, where an influential conservative bloc of Republicans earlier this year said it opposed renewal unless major changes were made, reflecting disagreement within the majority party. Separately, Senators John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, and Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein are working on Section 702 legislation that may also be introduced this week and include fewer reforms. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden and Republican Senator Rand Paul are also planning to introduce a bill that would require a warrant for any query of Section 702 involving data belonging to an American. | 0fake
|
Trump predicts 'very massive recession' in U.S. | MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump predicted that the United States is on course for a “very massive recession,” warning that a combination of high unemployment and an overvalued stock market had set the stage for another economic slump. “I think we’re sitting on an economic bubble. A financial bubble,” the billionaire businessman said in an interview with The Washington Post published on Saturday. Coming off a tough week on the campaign trail in which he made a series of missteps, Trump’s latest comments bring him back into the limelight ahead of Tuesday’s important primary in Wisconsin where he trails in the polls. The former reality TV star said that the real U.S. jobless figure is much higher than five percent number released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “We’re not at 5 percent unemployment,” Trump said. “We’re at a number that’s probably into the twenties if you look at the real number,” he said, adding that the official jobless figure is “statistically devised to make politicians — and in particular presidents — look good.” Trump said “it’s a terrible time right now” to invest in the stock market, offering a more bleak view of the U.S. economy than that held by many mainstream economists. The interview was bylined by the Post’s Robert Costa and famed Watergate reporter Bob Woodward. A real estate magnate, Trump has made appealing to blue-collar workers a hallmark of his bid for the Republican nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election, often blaming unemployment on the outsourcing of U.S. jobs and facilities to countries such as China and Mexico. Trump vowed in the interview to wipe out the more than $19 trillion national debt “over a period of eight years,” helped by a renegotiation of trade deals. “I’m renegotiating all of our deals, the big trade deals that we’re doing so badly on,” he said. After making controversial statements about abortion last week, Trump has shown little sign of heeding calls from fellow Republicans to adopt a more presidential tone so as to avoid alienating voters in the November general election if he wins the nomination. On Saturday, he questioned close U. S. ties to Saudi Arabia and again accused U.S. allies of not pulling their weight in the NATO military alliance. Trump told a campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin that partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization “are not paying their fair share” and called the 28-nation alliance “obsolete.” “Either they pay up, including for past deficiencies, or they have to get out. And if it breaks up NATO, it breaks up NATO,” Trump said. Tuesday’s Wisconsin nominating contest could be a turning point in the Republican race. Trump, 69, trails his leading rival, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, 45, of Texas in the state. A Cruz win would make it harder for Trump to reach the number of 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination before the Republican national convention in July. The winner will get to claim all of Wisconsin’s 42 delegates. | 0fake
|
‘MORNING JOE’ HOSTS Hail John Conyers as ‘Icon’…Who ‘Shows Up In His Pajamas’ [Video] | Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough agreed on Monday with Nancy Pelosi s defense of scandal-ridden Rep. John Conyers. Look I think it s really important that the words due process have come up in this conversation, not that it s possible in every situation, but in this situation Every situation that we ve covered in the past two months is different, Brzezinski said referring to numerous accusations of sexual misconduct that have been levied against celebrities and politicians. They all have different dynamics to them, they all have different levels of nasty to them or bad to them. And they all need to be treated differently. This one breaks my heart, it really does, Brzezinski said.In a report released last week, Conyers, 88-years-old and the longest currently serving congressman, was accused of settling a previous harassment claim, and further accused by other former staffers of misconduct. He subsequently stepped down as the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee. The congressman denies the allegations. Michigan Congressman John Conyers has been in the spotlight recently for being a repeat sexual harasser to women he works with. He even showed up for a meeting in his underwear! Yikes!Nancy Pelosi defended Conyers on Meet the Press when she called him an icon She went on to say that he deserves due process . That s pretty ironic when you think of how the left wants to lock up any Republican right away if they re accused of wrongdoing. Conyers gets a pass because he s an icon ? This is just more insanity from Pelosi who needs to retire with Conyers..@NancyPelosi: Accused Congressman Conyers is an "icon" in our country. #MTP pic.twitter.com/4QlKKJTIJP Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) November 26, 2017 SHOWED UP TO A MEETING IN HIS UNDERWEAR The Detroit Free Press reported:A lawyer who formerly worked for U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, and later ran an ethics watchdog group in the nation s capital confirmed for the Free Press on Thursday that Conyers verbally abused her, criticized her appearance and once showed up to a meeting in his underwear.Melanie Sloan, a well-known Washington lawyer who for three years in the 1990s worked as Democratic counsel on the House Judiciary Committee, where Conyers remains the ranking Democrat, told the Detroit Free Press that Conyers constantly berated her, screaming at her and firing her and then rehiring her several times.She said he criticized her for not wearing stockings on at least one occasion. On another, she said he ordered her backstage from a committee field hearing on crime she had organized in New York City to babysit one of his children. Sloan made clear that she did not feel she had ever been sexually harassed, but that she felt mistreated by this guy. | 1real
|
Rep. Adam Schiff’s Congressional Career Aided by Soros-Financed Groups - Breitbart | Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, was previously financially aided by the George MoveOn. org to win his Congressional seat. [Schiff was also awarded the Toll Fellowship, which is sponsored by the Council of State Governments, a nonprofit that monitors federal government activities and is heavily financed by Soros’s Open Society Foundations. The Open Society and groups have additionally supported a number of Schiff’s legislative efforts. Schiff has been helping to lead the Democrats’ unsubstantiated charges of alleged collusion between President Donald Trump and Moscow. Last month, Schiff delivered the opening statements at a Congressional hearing where he laid out the case for alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. This reporter previously documented serious problems with Schiff’s charges, which include wild conspiracy theories and heavy reliance on a questionable source. In largely forgotten history, Schiff’s 2000 Congressional campaign against Republican incumbent Jim Rogan was openly aided by MoveOn. org. On January 1, 2000, the Wall Street Journal reported on the radical group’s fundraising efforts for Schiff. The Congressional seat was particularly important since Rogan had gained fame after he was selected to be one of thirteen House Managers in the 1998 impeachment case of Bill Clinton. Rogan was supportive of Clinton’s impeachment and became a hero in the Republican Party. The Journal reported: If MoveOn were to achieve its ambitious goals, it just might have a big impact on this year’s struggle to control Congress, especially the House. Republicans hold only a slim majority there, and the outcome will “likely be determined in no more than three dozen congressional districts,” says Thomas Mann, director of governmental studies at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. And of course, most congressional impeachment proponents were Republicans. One of the most prominent among them, House impeachment manager James Rogan of California, faces a challenge this year from Democratic State Senator Adam Schiff, for whom MoveOn to date has raised $106, 000, Mr. Boyd says. CNN reported on the MoveOn. org money for Schiff’s 2000 campaign: “By 2000, MoveOn. org was raising $2 million for Democratic candidates, including more than $100, 000 to help California’s Adam Schiff beat Congressman James Rogan, one of the House managers during Clinton’s impeachment trial. ” MoveOn. org also sponsored a January 2010 rally in favor of health care reform outside Schiff’s office in Pasadena, California. Schiff’s 2000 campaign bio, meanwhile, relates that he was “awarded the prestigious Toll Fellowship, sponsored by The Council of State Governments. ” The bio continues: Nominated and endorsed by his peers in the Legislature, Schiff was selected from many outstanding applicants across the nation by a committee of state elected and appointed officials as one of the most promising new leaders of state government. In 1998, the California League of High Schools named Schiff Legislator of the Year. Schiff later said that the Toll Fellowship “helped me identify my own leadership strengths, work more effectively with my colleagues and strengthen my relationship with the media. ” The Council of State Governments, which sponsors the Toll Fellowship, is heavily financed by Soros. The Open Society provided the group with $320, 000 in 2003 $1 million in 2004 and another $100, 000 that year alone. In 2009, Schiff introduced the Criminal Justice Reinvestment Act. The bill was described by the Justice Center at the Council of State Governments — which gave Schiff the Toll Fellowship award — as providing “grants to state and local governments to design and advance strategies to reduce corrections spending and increase public safety. ” A press release from the Council of State Governments said that Schiff’s bill “builds on the justice reinvestment work done by the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center in Texas, Kansas, Vermont, Rhode Island and seven other states. ” The Justice Center’s justice reinvestment initiative was itself directly supported by Soros’s Open Society, the press release documents. In 2014, the Open Society released a statement publicly supporting legislation by Schiff “requiring the president to provide an annual public report on the total number of persons killed or injured in drone strikes. ” The Open Society further signed a joint statement with other leftwing groups, including organizations financed by Soros, supporting Schiff’s Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act. Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio. ” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook. With research by Brenda J. Elliott. | 0fake
|
Arizona governor declares victory in $3.5-billion education vote | PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona voters have narrowly approved a plan to pump $3.5 billion into education coffers over the next decade and put an end to a long-running legal battle, Republican Governor Doug Ducey said late on Thursday. The measure, approved by state lawmakers and Ducey last year, provides for Arizona to tap its land trust fund and provide an additional $300 for each student, from kindergarten through 12th grade, in public and charter schools. Arizona has historically ranked near the bottom of states in funding education. The latest unofficial results from Tuesday’s special election showed the measure garnering 50.82 percent of votes cast throughout the southwestern U.S. state, and while some 30,000 votes remained to be counted, Ducey declared victory. “This is a huge victory for public education in Arizona,” Ducey said in a statement. “After years of lawsuits and fighting, we are moving forward and funding our teachers, students and schools – instead of lawyers.” Voter approval was required because the measure involved a change to the state’s constitution. The narrow margin of the result proved that a sizeable number of voters disliked the plan, said Morgan Abraham, chairman of the “No” campaign. “This tells me that voters want to fund education the right way, not through the trust fund, but with general funds,” Abraham said, adding that he was disappointed by the outcome of the vote. Much of the controversy during the campaign centered on the funding, with critics saying Arizona was jeopardizing its future by taking too much money from its land trust fund. About 60 percent of the new money will come from the trust fund, and the rest from the state’s general fund. The governor’s office brokered the deal in a bid to end a 2010 lawsuit by a group of school districts and organizations that charged Arizona with failing to fund mandated inflation adjustments to schools during a recent recession. The state’s highest court already had ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and the court case was being appealed by the state at the time of the deal. | 0fake
|
Weak international solidarity pushing up numbers of displaced: U.N. | UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - About 66 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide and weak international cooperation and solidarity are behind the rising numbers, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, said on Thursday. Grandi, speaking to the United Nations Security Council, said the number of displaced is up from 42 million in 2009, the last time one of his predecessors addressed the 15-member group. The sharp rise in forced displacement reflects weaknesses in international cooperation and declining capacity to prevent, contain and resolve conflicts, Grandi said. The ongoing conflict in Syria and violence in Iraq account for about a fourth of those currently displaced, Grandi said, adding that a combination of poverty, lack of development, environmental degradation, inequality and persecution combine in poorly governed parts of the world to trigger more crises. He highlighted the importance of the U.N. s peace-keeping missions, whose role he called critical. Grandi criticized countries with closed borders and hurdles to asylum access and said some are often those least impacted by refugee flows, and often wealthy. Last month, Grandi singled out Europe, the United States, and Australia for increasingly unwelcoming policies. [nL8N1MD24C] Many refugee-hosting states, particularly those neighboring conflict zones, keep their borders open and generously host thousands sometimes millions of refugees, he said. Grandi asked the Security Council to find political solutions that could prevent even more people from being displaced. They, the uprooted people, Grandi said, are counting on your leadership to help deliver those solutions. | 0fake
|
STUNNER: CHRISTIANS BANNED FROM CHRISTIAN CHURCH | STUNNER: CHRISTIANS BANNED FROM CHRISTIAN CHURCH
For the same reason – a forced conversion to a mosque.
It’s happening as the Islamist agenda of Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan advances.
The recent forced move came against the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, often described as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
“Islamists have detested that fact for years,” reported Michael Van Der Galien at PJ Media.
“After all, it is a Christian church, and therefore a Christian symbol. That’s why the Ottoman Turks wasted little time transforming the church into a mosque when they invaded and conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) centuries ago. Christian symbols and works of art were destroyed or covered, and a dominating tower was built from which the Islamic call to prayer could be sung.”
He explained, “The Ottomans did that because they wanted to show Christians that, from then onwards, Islam was in power. Christianity would be subjugated.” Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/11/turkeys-descent-into-islamist-tyranny-deepens/#Du0BeTVXDtrtp7q5.99 | 1real
|
Report Exposes Inner Workings of Facebook and How Clinton Loyalists Control Your Newsfeed | posted by Eddie Censorship by Facebook has become a thorn in the side of nearly anyone with an opinion differing from the narrative touted by the corporate press — for instance, sentiments not praising Hillary Clinton — and now, through both a new report from Reuters and emails published by Wikileaks, we have insight into why certain posts are targeted. Facebook relies on a combination of artificial intelligence and human judgment to remove posts deemed offensive, violent, or otherwise unacceptable to its community standards — but precisely how the ultimate call to take down posts, pages, and groups are made remains unknown. And Facebook takedowns, no matter the improvements to the process the social media behemoth claims to make, have been no less controversial or questionable — and those whose posts are censored have little if any recourse to argue their case. Recent examples of head-scratchers which led to an international uproar, include Facebook’s removal of the iconic Vietnam War photograph of Phan Thị Kim Phúc — who, at just 9-years-old, was captured on film by an Associated Press photographer fleeing the aftermath of an errant napalm attack near a Buddhist pagoda in the village of Trang Bang. That photograph helped cement in the collective American mind the horrors of the war, and ultimately fueled the success of the anti-war effort — but Facebook arbitrarily pulled the image for nudity — and proceeded even to ban the page of the Conservative prime minister of Norway for also posting the image. Ultimately, the social media company reversed course in that case — but not before also taking down the equally iconic image of civil rights leader Rosa Park’s arrest. But taking down of the image of Kim Phúc might not have been simply an error of AI, since it had been used as a specific example in training the teams responsible for content removal, two unnamed former Facebook employees told Reuters . “Trainers told content-monitoring staffers that the photo violated Facebook policy, despite its historical significance, because it depicted a naked child, in distress, photographed without her consent, the employees told Reuters.” In the final decision to reverse that censorship, Facebook head of the community operations division, Justin Osofsky, admitted it had been a “mistake.” According to Reuters , to whom many current and former Facebook employees spoke on condition of anonymity, the process of judging which posts deserve to be remove and which should be allowed will, in certain instances, be left to the discretion of a small cadre of the company’s elite executives. In addition to Osofsky, Global Policy Chief Monika Bickert; government relations chief, Joel Kaplan; vice president for public policy and communications, Elliot Schrage; and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg make the final call on censorship and appeals. “All five studied at Harvard, and four of them have both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the elite institution. All but Sandberg hold law degrees. Three of the executives have longstanding personal ties to Sandberg,” the outlet notes. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg also occasionally offers guidance in difficult decisions. But there are others. Company spokeswoman Christine Chen explained, “Facebook has a broad, diverse and global network involved in content policy and enforcement, with different managers and senior executives being pulled in depending on the region and the issue at hand.” For those on the receiving end of what could only be described as lopsided and inexplicable censorship, recourse is generally limited and can be nearly impossible to come by. Often, the nature of posts and pages removed insinuates political motivations on the part of the censors. Indeed, and once again flaring international controversy, Facebook disabled , among others, the accounts of editors of Quds and Shehab New Agency — prominent Palestinian media organizations — without explanation or even a specific example given for justification. Although three of four Palestinian-focused accounts were restored, Facebook refused to comment to either Reuters or the accounts’ owners why the decision was reversed, except to say it had been an ‘error.’ In fact, although Chen and other Facebook insiders spoke with Reuters directly about contentious content removal policies and procedures, many details of the processes remain covert and sorely intransparent to the public who is so often forced to cope with the consequences. Earlier this year, an exposé by Gizmodo showing Facebook’s suppression of conservative outlets via its “Trending Topics” section appeared to evidence extreme bias in favor of liberal and corporate media mainstays. Alternative media, too, which provides reports counter to the mainstream political and foreign policy paradigm, has often been the subject of controversial take-downs, censorship, and suppressive tactics — either directly by Facebook, or through convoluted algorithms and artificial intelligence bots. However, considering Sheryl Sandberg and her loyalists populate the top-level group deciding the fate for content removal complaints, it would appear Wikileaks could provide answers for both post censorship and suppression of outlets not vowing complete fealty to the preferred, left-leaning narrative. In a June 4, 2015, email to Clinton campaign chair John Podesta — an enormous cache of whose emails are still being published on a daily basis by Wikileaks — penned by Sandberg in response to condolences on the death of her husband, states , in part, “And I still want HRC to win badly. I am still here to help as I can. She came over and was magical with my kids.” After a wave of post removals and temporary page bans, it appears Facebook has begun to come to its senses for what actually violates community standards — and what might have political worth contrary to the views of its executives. Senior members of Facebook’s policy team recently posted about the laxing of rules governing community standards, which — though welcome — might only provide temporary relief. Quoted by the Wall Street Journal , they wrote : “In the weeks ahead, we’re going to begin allowing more items that people find newsworthy, significant, or important to the public interest—even if they might otherwise violate our standards.” While the social media giant deems itself a technology, and not news, platform, Facebook is still the bouncing off point for issues of interest for an overwhelming percentage of its users. Although it perhaps has some responsibility in regard to the removal of certain content, putting censorship in the hands of only a few individuals in certain instances is a chilling reminder of the fragility — and grave importance — of free speech. source: | 1real
|
Police Turn In Badges Rather Than Incite Violence Against Standing Rock Protesters | At least two police officers turned in their badges today after acknowledging that attacking peaceful protesters is not what they signed up for.
Via TrueActivist
It should be evident if you’re following news concerning the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota that tension continues to escalate between protesters supporting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and riot police. The big deal? A four-state Dakota Access Pipeline which threatens to uproot sacred burial ground, poison the Missouri river, and make null an 1881 treaty ensuring the property belongs to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
In addition to being maced and beaten with batons, activists have been tased and even shot with rubber bullets. Despite the violence taking place, tribal leaders continue to ask all “water protectors” to maintain peaceful relations and rely on prayer as the only weapon used to halt construction of the DAPL.
After watching videos of the mass arrests and beating that have taken place, many have asked how those employed by the State can continue to terrorize weaponless protesters. Surely, some form of cognitive dissonance must be taking place? For some, most likely, and that’s undoubtedly what inspired at least two officers to turn in their badges today. According to an activist named Redhawk, there have been reports of at least two officers turning in their badges after acknowledging that the battle against the American people is not what they signed up for.
On Facebook, the activist wrote:
“You can see it in some of them, that they do not support the police actions. We must keep reminding them they are welcome to put down their weapons and badge and take a stand against this pipeline as well.
Some are waking up.”
The comments on the ordeal have been quite positive. Charlotte Holywater Vincent wrote,
“Brave to stand up for what is right ! To hand over years of training and service in a little metal badge and then stand on the side of humanity.”
Ron Hemming, who reportedly is a retired deputy in Washington, shared his thoughts:
“As a retired deputy in Washington state, I would have refused to go on a detail such as this. As I am also part native blood, I stand with my relatives on the front line protecting the water from the black snake. Be safe, stay strong.”
| 1real
|
BREAKING – Investigative Journalist Found Dead, Was Working For… | BREAKING – Investigative Journalist Found Dead, Was Working For…
Talk about Hillary and a bad way and there is a very good chance you could wind up dead. Is that what happened here?
Gavin MacFadyen, the WikiLeaks Director and Founder of the Center for Investigative Journalism, has died. WikiLeaks has officially confirmed it on their Twitter by posting a tribute to the man, saying that he is now taking “his fists and his fight to battle God.” ( inquisitr.com )
This Twitter message was signed JA, referring to the WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange. Somehow even with massive restrictions, Assange was able to post his message.
Wikileaks also shared a statement from MacFadyen’s wife, Susan Benn. The statement was published on MacFadyen’s Center for Investigative Journalism site where she noted that he was a “fierce defender of justice and human rights around the world.”
Susan states her husband was a strong force behind the ever-changing world of journalism, and had always been committed to ethical, yet hard-hitting, journalism. She even quoted him, saying, “Good journalism is always political journalism.”
This man was Assange’s mentor and closest friend, as well as the mentor for many other people in the industry.
FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK LINK | 1real
|
Expert On Voting Fraud DESTROYS Trump’s Lies In BLISTERING Twitter Attack (TWEETS) | Terrified and unable to accept that he s destroyed almost all chances of winning this election, Republican nominee Donald Trump is STILL whining that everything is rigged from claims of media bias, sabotaged debate microphones, dishonest polls, and voter fraud. Trump isn t letting it go, and even his own party isn t willing to support him on his ridiculous claims anymore. Earlier Monday, Trump tweeted: Of course there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before election day. Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on? So naive! Well, someone came forward to put Trump s lies to rest once and for all. Election law expert Rick Hasen finally had enough of Trump s idiocy and issued some brutal fact-checking on Twitter. Hasen was the perfect person to come forward and annihilate Trump he s spent his career studying voter fraud, and was more than qualified to drop this brilliant truth bomb on unsuspecting Trump. In an epic Tweetstorm, Hasen ripped Trump a new one and proved that Trump s fear mongering about voter fraud has been taken way out of proportion and is a blatant exaggeration:TwitterTwitterTwitterTwitterTwitterAnd these are only a FEW of the tweets of Hasen slamming Trump. You can see the full sh*tshow here. Hasen didn t stop with a social media rant, either he wroteHasen didn t stop with a social media rant, either he wrote a scathing op-ed on Talking Points Memo: Claims of voter fraud are often exaggerated by orders of magnitude. Consider the claims about non-citizen voting. Matt Drudge recently had a headline stating: Report: 1,000+ Illegal Voters in Virginia. And Dan Scavino, Jr. tweeted: Terrible. We know who the 1,000+ illegal aliens ARE NOT VOTING FOR! A fixed presidential election in the making .will we ever know!?!? But if you look at the underlying report, they have identified only 31 actual non-citizen voters in Virginia over the last 10 years. No doubt there are some more, as not all the counties have responded yet. But it is not 1,000 plus non-citizens voting in Va. ( In the 8 jurisdictions that provided us with lists of aliens recently removed from their voter rolls, we discovered that 31 non-citizens had cast a total of 186 votes between 2005 and 2015. The most alien votes were cast in 2012 followed by 2008, the year President Obama was elected to his first term. (emphasis omitted)). Don t believe all the hype. Non-citizen voting is a real, but pretty small, problem (because the penalties are high and the payoff low). Unfortunately, we know Trump isn t going to shut up because he only gets louder after being proven wrong. Thank goodness we only have to tolerate a few more weeks of him.Featured image via Jeff Swensen / Getty Images | 1real
|
Thousands of Wild Bison Appear At Standing Rock Out Of Nowhere! A Sign From Mother Earth? | Alternative News Thousands of Wild Bison Appear At Standing Rock Out Of Nowhere! A Sign From Mother Earth?
For those of you who may not know, the largest Native American protest in HISTORY is happening right now . Over 500 Native American tribes from all over North, Central, and South America as well as Canada, all uniting under one cause: Protection of our water from greedy corporate interests.
It certainly hasn’t been easy. Just this week alone hundreds of innocent people have been assaulted and arrested just for occupying the land the corporation behind the Dakota Access Pipeline stole using imminent domain.
Its been a major struggle for our water protectors. Not just because of the rampant violence they’ve had to face from police hired by the pipeline builders, but also because they are literally living in a camp set up in a field right now. Do you have any idea how cold it’s already getting there and it’s not even winter yet? TOO COLD.
They’ve certainly been needing a pick-me-up.. And they just got one! (Video at the bottom of this article)
According to White Wolf Pack , a Native American website:
“The great bison or buffalo of North America is a very powerful symbol to American Indians. Though best suited to cooler climates, bison roamed virtually in entire continent.
The smaller woodlands bison and its bigger cousin, the plains bison were revered and honored in ceremony and everyday life. To the plains Indian, our Bison Brother meant sacred life and the abundance of the Creator’s blessing on Mother Earth.
The bison is powerful medicine that is a symbol of sacrifice and service to the community. The bison people agreed to give their lives so the American Indian could have food, shelter and clothing.
The bison is also a symbol of gratitude and honor as it is happy to accept its meager existence as it stands proud against the winds of adversity.
The bison represents abundance of the Creator’s bounty and respect for all creation knowing that all things are sacred.” The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe criticized law enforcement’s “militarized” response to the camp and called for demonstrations to remain peaceful, but stressed that activists would not give up their cause.
“Militarized law enforcement agencies moved in on water protectors with tanks and riot gear today. We continue to pray for peace,” Dave Archambault II said in a statement Thursday evening.
“We won’t step down from this fight,” he added. “As peoples of this earth, we all need water. This is about our water, our rights, and our dignity as human beings.””
| 1real
|
Trump, after meeting Ryan, says will move fast on healthcare, immigration | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday after a meeting with House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan that after his inauguration he will work very rapidly on issues like healthcare and immigration. Speaking in Ryan’s office, Trump told reporters: “We are going to lower taxes, as you know,” and added: “I think we are going to do some absolutely spectacular things for the American people.” | 0fake
|
America Is Now At Its Greatest Risk Of a False Flag Attack | By Rahul Manchanda, Esq. on October 30, 2016 The Neo-Con/Communist natives are restless, they desperately want their World War 3, and they are wanting to move their wealth and power to their next world empire, which will be the final one in their sick deluded minds, unopposed and permanent.
Never in America’s history has she been in more danger of a “false flag” attack from her enemies, both foreign and domestic, than she is now.
The contemporary term “false flag” describes covert operations that are designed to deceive in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by entities, groups, or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them.
Historically, the term “false flag” had its origins in naval warfare where the use of a flag other than the belligerent’s true battle flag before (but not while) engaging the enemy has long been accepted as a permissible ruse de guerre ; by contrast, flying a false flag while engaging the enemy constitutes “perfidy.”
Operations carried out during peace-time by civilian organizations, as well as covert government agencies, can (by extension) also be called false flag operations if they seek to hide the real organization behind an operation.
America has been thoroughly infiltrated by a mighty and wealthy foreign power and menace, while her people are suffering financially, and she is now poised to be sacrificed on the altar of history for a one world government headquartered overseas.
The Neo-Con/Communist natives are restless, they desperately want their World War 3, and they are wanting to move their wealth and power to their next world empire, which will be the final one in their sick deluded minds, unopposed and permanent.
Now that Hillary Clinton has been “theoretically re-indicted” by the FBI for the email scandals (although they are being obstructed by our very own US Department of “Justice” under Attorney General Loretta Lynch) this has effectively ruined her chances of becoming President through legal channels, so they only have one more option – and that is a false flag attack leading us directly into World War 3 in a nuclear war, using all of their carefully placed traitors in the Pentagon, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, and cooperative local police departments all throughout the United States, with a declaration of a state of emergency in both the United States, and abroad.
This is why it is vitally important that all Americans, both in the private and public sector, start watching their government and elected leaders like “hawks.”
Americans need to use the Neo-Con’s mantra of “See Something, Say Something” against them.
The Neo-Con/Stasi/Communist’s Zersetzung (organized gang-stalking under Bill Clinton’s Community Oriented Policing “COPS” program) needs to be turned by the People against them, and the American People need to watch each and every single one of them like they would watch a lunatic holding an AK-47 in a mall.
The Neo-Cons simply can not be trusted, as they work for the Plutocrats, who desperately want to hold on to their power, and will not willingly relinquish it to the People by way of Donald Trump and his Populist Revolt and Uprising.
Some examples of real false flags throughout history having routinely disastrous results, wherein the “winners” re-wrote history, include the:
(1) 1914 Battle of Trindade fought between the British auxiliary cruiser RMS Carmania and the German auxiliary cruiser SMS Cap Trafalgar which had been altered to look like Carmania;
(2) World War II German commerce raider Kormoran which surprised and sank the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney in 1941 while disguised as a Dutch merchant ship, causing the greatest recorded loss of life on an Australian warship;
(3) trial of Otto Skorzeny, who planned and commanded Operation Greif, by a U.S. military tribunal at the Dachau Trials included a finding that Skorzeny was not guilty of a crime by ordering his men into action in American uniforms;
(4) 1788 incident wherein the head tailor at the Royal Swedish Opera received an order to sew a number of Russian military uniforms to stage an attack on Puumala, a Swedish outpost on the Russo-Swedish border allowing King Gustav III of Sweden, who lacked the constitutional authority to initiate unprovoked hostilities without the Estates’ consent, to launch the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790);
(5) September 1931 incident wherein Japanese officers fabricated a pretext for invading Manchuria by blowing up a section of railway;
(6) Gleiwitz incident in 1939 involving Reinhard Heydrich fabricating evidence of a Polish attack against Germany to mobilize German public opinion for war with Poland;
(7) November 26, 1939 incident wherein the Soviet army shelled Mainila, a Russian village near the Finnish border blaming Finland for the attack using the incident as a pretext to invade Finland, starting the Winter War, four days later;
(8) 1962 Operation Northwoods plot by the U.S. Department of Defense for a war with Cuba involving scenarios such as fabricating the hijacking or shooting down of passenger and military planes, sinking a U.S. ship in the vicinity of Cuba, burning crops, sinking a boat filled with Cuban refugees, attacks by alleged Cuban infiltrators inside the United States, and harassment of U.S. aircraft and shipping and the destruction of aerial drones by aircraft disguised as Cuban MiGs to be blamed on Cuba and a pretext for an invasion of Cuba and the overthrow of Fidel Castro’s communist government;
(9) Reichstag fire which was an arson attack on the Reichstag building in Berlin on February 27, 1933 using as “evidence” by the Nazis that the Communists were beginning a plot against the German government, whereby Adolf Hitler, who was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany four weeks before, on 30 January, urged President Paul von Hindenburg to pass an emergency decree to counter the “ruthless confrontation of the Communist Party of Germany” – with civil liberties suspended, the government instituted mass arrests of Communists, including all of the Communist parliamentary delegates;
(10) April 4 1953 incident wherein the CIA was ordered to undermine the government of Iran over a four-month period, as a precursor to overthrowing Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh by carrying out false flag attacks “on mosques and key public figures” to be blamed on Iranian communists loyal to the government, code-named “TP-Ajax,” the tactic of a “directed campaign of bombings by Iranians posing as members of the Communist party” involving the bombing of “at least” one well known Muslim’s house by CIA agents posing as Communists;
(11) 2008 shooting of two minibuses carrying Georgians who lived in Abkhazia who wanted to cross the border so they could go and vote in the parliamentary election that day, in a volatile area on the border of Abkhazia and the Republic of Georgia, wherein President Saakashvili indicated that the attack had been an attempt to disrupt the election, implying that it had been Abkhaz or Russian forces who had been behind it, providing a favorable opportunity for the president to focus the nation’s attention on an external enemy, leading attention away from his domestic critics, as well as making use of his position as leader to rally the Georgians around his candidates in the election;
(12) assassination of Charlemagne Péralte of Haiti in 1919, after checkpoints were passed by military disguised as guerrilla fighters;
(13) Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s, wherein captured Mau Mau members who switched sides and specially trained British troops initiated the pseudo-gang concept to successfully counter Mau Mau;
(14) Algerian civil war in the middle of 1994 wherein death squads composed of Département du Renseignement et de la Sécurité (DRS) security forces disguised themselves as Islamist terrorists and committed false flag terror attacks;
(15) Mexican wars of 1819 and 1846-48;
(16) Spanish-American War of 1898 involving the surprise explosion of the battleship Maine at Havana, Cuba wherein the Hearst Press accused the Spanish and the USA declared war on Spain conquering the Philippines, Guam and Cuba;
(17) World War I in 1914-1918 wherein a U-boat torpedo hit ocean liner Lusitania near Britain and some 1200 people, including 128 Americans, on board lost their lives, and subsequent investigations revealed that the major explosions were inside the Lusitania, as it was secretly transporting 6 million pounds of artillery shells and rifle ammunition, as well as other explosives on behalf of Morgan Banking Corporation to help Britain and France;
(18) World War 2 in 1939-1945 where a U-boat torpedo hit the ocean liner Athenia near Britain with some 1100 passengers, of which 311 were Americans;
(19) US naval intelligence planning and suggesting “8 insults” to bring Japan into war with the US, and where President Roosevelt executed this plan immediately and also added some other insults, enraging Japan, such as a total blockade of Japanese oil imports, as agreed between the Americans, British and the Dutch – FDR also declared an all-out embargo against Japan and forbade them the use of the Panama Canal impeding Japan’s access to Venezuelan oil;
(20) one of many incidents provoking Japan to attack Pearl Harbor some 6 months later;
(21) Korean War in 1950-1953 wherein South Korean incursions (the Tiger regiment etc.) into North Korea (1949) led to contrary claims and into war – the cause of this war was covert action involving leaders of Taiwan, South Korea and the US Military Industrial Complex (John Foster Dulles has been mentioned as an organizer of the hostilities);
(22) Vietnam War in “The Gulf of Tonkin Incident” wherein the American destroyer Maddox was supposedly attacked twice by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats in 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin – but which never happened;
(23) Grenada invasion whereby the Grenadian leader, Maurice Bishop, who favored the left and invited Cubans to build infrastructure to accommodate long range Soviet aircraft was deposed and executed in October 19, 1983 – six days later the US invaded, with the supposed reason that American medical students studying in Grenada were in danger due to a “Cuban presence”– and of course the new leader supported by the US favored more traditional values and the right;
(24) Panama invasion wherein an incident between American and Panamanian troops led to invasion and the earlier Carter administration plan to hand control of the canal over to Panama was cancelled;
(25) US-Israeli sponsored wars between Iraq and Iran from 1980-1988;
(26) Desert Storm War (First Gulf War) in 1991 wherein Saddam Hussein asked for permission from the US (via their ambassador April Gillespie) to invade Kuwait, and got an answer that the US was not concerned with “Arab quarrels” – this was a trap, and after Saddam occupied Kuwait, George Bush Sr. mobilized a coalition of some 40 nations to “liberate Kuwait” and smash the recently-built Iraqi military power base – this incident also involved a media hoax wherein the daughter of a Kuwaiti US Ambassador played a nurse on TV and testified to “witnessing” Iraqi soldiers throwing babies out of incubators in Kuwait;
(27) War on Terror launched by the Bush administration in October 2001 – claimed to be the response to terrorism, especially the 9-11 incidents;
(28) Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan invasion);
(29) Enduring Justice (Second Gulf war); and
(30) countless others.
Paragraph 43 of the Field Manual published by the War Department, United States Army, on 1 October 1940, under the entry Rules of Land Warfare states:
“National flags, insignias and uniforms as a ruse – in practice it has been authorized to make use of these as a ruse. The foregoing rule (Article 23 of the Annex of the IVth Hague Convention), does not prohibit such use, but does prohibit their improper use. It is certainly forbidden to make use of them during a combat. Before opening fire upon the enemy, they must be discarded.”
The American Soldiers’ Handbook states:
“The use of the enemy flag, insignia, and uniform is permitted under some circumstances. They are not to be used during actual fighting, and if used in order to approach the enemy without drawing fire, should be thrown away or removed as soon as fighting begins.”
The 1977 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 (Protocol I) states:
Article 37. – Prohibition of perfidy – 1. It is prohibited to kill, injure, or capture an adversary by resort to perfidy. Acts inviting the confidence of an adversary to lead him to believe that he is entitled to, or is obliged to accord, protection under the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, with intent to betray that confidence, shall constitute perfidy. The following acts are examples of perfidy: (a) The feigning of an intent to negotiate under a flag of truce or of a surrender; (b) The feigning of an incapacitation by wounds or sickness; (c) The feigning of civilian, non-combatant status; and (d) The feigning of protected status by the use of signs, emblems or uniforms of the United Nations or of neutral or other States not Parties to the conflict. 2. Ruses of war are not prohibited. Such ruses are acts which are intended to mislead an adversary or to induce him to act recklessly but which infringe no rule of international law applicable in armed conflict and which are not perfidious because they do not invite the confidence of an adversary with respect to protection under that law. The following are examples of such ruses: the use of camouflage, decoys, mock operations and disinformation.
Article 38. – Recognized emblems – 1. It is prohibited to make improper use of the distinctive emblem of the Red Cross, Red Crescent or Red Lion and Sun or of other emblems, signs or signals provided for by the Conventions or by this Protocol. It is also prohibited to misuse deliberately in an armed conflict other internationally recognized protective emblems, signs or signals, including the flag of truce, and the protective emblem of cultural property. 2. It is prohibited to make use of the distinctive emblem of the United Nations, except as authorized by that Organization.
Article 39. – Emblems of nationality – 1. It is prohibited to make use in an armed conflict of the flags or military emblems, insignia or uniforms of neutral or other States not Parties to the conflict. 2. It is prohibited to make use of the flags or military emblems, insignia or uniforms of adverse Parties while engaging in attacks or in order to shield, favour, protect or impede military operations. 3. Nothing in this Article or in Article 37, paragraph 1(d), shall affect the existing generally recognized rules of international law applicable to espionage or to the use of flags in the conduct of armed conflict at sea.”
It is vitally important to note that while the United States may have these codes and regulations, her enemies, both foreign and domestic, are not bound by these Rules.
The American People (and indeed the rest of the world) need to be exceptionally on guard and vigilant before the upcoming November 2016 election, and even many months afterwards, because the Neo-Cons/Communists may still try and get their World War 3, even if Donald Trump is elected.
After all, September 11, 2001 took place a full 9 months after George W Bush was sworn in at his Inauguration in January 2001, and this was blamed on Osama Bin Laden who was a known CIA Asset and who allegedly declared War on America in 1998 – he might have been the Neo-Cons’ insurance plan, cooked up during the 8 year Clinton Administration from 1992-2000.
And of course, 9-11 is what led to the wholesale bloodshed and regime changing wars for the past 15 years, leaving the Middle East in flames, with countless millions of innocent lives and refugees lost forever, the greatest genocide and bloodbath the world has ever known.
And don’t think that these crazed Neo-Con psychopaths won’t do it again, especially when there are only a few more countries left to “take out” now – Russia, Iran, and North Korea – as opposed to 20. Related Posts: No Related Posts The views expressed herein are the views of the author exclusively and not necessarily the views of VNN, VNN authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors, partners, technicians or the Veterans Today Network and its assigns. Notices Posted by Rahul Manchanda, Esq. on October 30, 2016, With | 1real
|
Snowflake Trump Demands An Apology From The Media And The Internet Laughs At Him | Donald Trump went on a whining rant about the media on Tuesday morning and got totally humiliated.As he usually does, Trump woke up and immediately took to Twitter to attack Democrats, the courts, and the media.He accused Democrats of being obstructionists and once again declared that the Affordable Care Act is in a death spiral, a spiral he himself caused by attacking the law through executive orders.Trump also bitched about the 9th Circuit Court blocking his Muslim ban.But he saved most of his vitriol for the media.The Fake News Media has never been so wrong or so dirty. Purposely incorrect stories and phony sources to meet their agenda of hate. Sad! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2017Fake News is at an all time high. Where is their apology to me for all of the incorrect stories??? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2017< /script></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Heading to the Great State of Wisconsin to talk about JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! Big progress being made as the Real News is reporting.</p> <p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/874619861019840512">June 13, 2017</a></p> </blockquote> <p>Yep, Trump literally demanded an apology from the media for doing their jobs, which drew a belly laugh from Twitter users, who proceeded to mock Trump for being a snowflake.Like the time where they said Ms Universe had a sex tape and everyone should watch it even though it didn t exist? Evan Dashevsky (@haldash) June 13, 2017Or the time the Fake News said your birth certificate was a fraud they STILL haven t apologized to you for that one! What gives? Evan Dashevsky (@haldash) June 13, 2017Also, remember when the Fake News said your dad assassinated JFK. Still waiting for them to apologize on that one. Evan Dashevsky (@haldash) June 13, 2017Where is your apology for trying to ban muslims, taking billions away from healthcare, destroying the environment, and betraying the USA? Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) June 13, 2017Translation: Why won t the media worship me properly? kim (@kim) June 13, 2017Where is your apology to the voters for claiming you won the popular vote? Morten verbye (@morten) June 13, 2017Where is your apology to Muslims in New Jersey for claiming they celebrated on 9 11? Morten verbye (@morten) June 13, 2017Where is your apology to John McCain for saying he is not a war hero? Morten verbye (@morten) June 13, 2017We ve officially stepped through the looking glass Man who has never apologized for anything in his life is Whining about wanting apology. Dana Smith (@Brady5thOrBust) June 13, 2017#Trump claimed Obama was born in Kenya and he complains about fake news. Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) June 13, 2017And that Obama put a tapp on his lines at trump tower. Angela Jackson (@butterbeangabs) June 13, 2017Don t forget Microwave Spying! Jamie (@xochewie) June 13, 2017And the proof of 3-5 million illegal votes! Dana Smith (@Brady5thOrBust) June 13, 2017And the largest Inauguration crowd since Obama D backl (@DanBackl) June 13, 2017It sounds like Donald Trump is the one who better start apologizing. He can do it all at once by resigning and turning himself in to federal authorities.Featured Image: Mario Tama/Getty Images | 1real
|
Trump: military option for North Korea not preferred, but would be 'devastating' | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump warned North Korea on Tuesday that any U.S. military option would be devastating for Pyongyang, but said the use of force was not Washington s first option to deal with the country s ballistic and nuclear weapons program. We are totally prepared for the second option, not a preferred option, Trump said at a White House news conference, referring to military force. But if we take that option, it will be devastating, I can tell you that, devastating for North Korea. That s called the military option. If we have to take it, we will. Bellicose statements by Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent weeks have created fears that a miscalculation could lead to action with untold ramifications, particularly since Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3. Despite the increased tension, the United States has not detected any change in North Korea s military posture reflecting an increased threat, the top U.S. military officer said on Tuesday. The assessment by Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, about Pyongyang s military stance was in contrast to a South Korean lawmaker who said Pyongyang had boosted defenses on its east coast. While the political space is clearly very charged right now, we haven t seen a change in the posture of North Korean forces, and we watch that very closely, Dunford told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his reappointment to his post. In terms of a sense of urgency, North Korea certainly poses the greatest threat today, Dunford testified. A U.S. official speaking on the condition of anonymity said satellite imagery had detected a small number of North Korean military aircraft moving to the North s east coast. However the official said the activity did not change their assessment of Pyongyang s military posture. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho on Monday accused Trump of declaring war on the North and threatened that Pyongyang would shoot down U.S. warplanes flying near the Korean Peninsula after American bombers flew close to it last Saturday. Ri was reacting to Trump s Twitter comments that Kim and Ri won t be around much longer if they acted on their threats toward the United States. North Korea has been working to develop nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the U.S. mainland, which Trump has said he will never allow. Dunford said Pyongyang will have a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile soon, and it was only a matter of a very short time . We clearly have postured our forces to respond in the event of a provocation or a conflict, the general said, adding that the United States has taken all proper measures to protect our allies including South Korean and Japan. It would be an incredibly provocative thing for them to conduct a nuclear test in the Pacific as they have suggested, and I think the North Korean people would have to realize how serious that would be, not only for the United States but for the international community, Dunford said. South Korean lawmaker Lee Cheol-uoo, briefed by the country s spy agency, said North Korea was bolstering its defenses by moving aircraft to its east coast and taking other measures after the flight by U.S. bombers. Lee said the United States appeared to have disclosed the flight route intentionally because North Korea seemed to be unaware. U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers, escorted by fighter jets, flew east of North Korea in a show of force after the heated exchange of rhetoric between Trump and Kim. The United States has imposed sanctions on 26 people as part of its non-proliferation designations for North Korea and nine banks, including some with ties to China, the U.S. Treasury Department s Office Of Foreign Assets Control Sanctions said on Tuesday. The U.S. sanctions target people in North Korea and some North Korean nationals in China, Russia, Libya and Dubai, according to a list posted on the agency s website. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit China from Thursday to Saturday for talks with senior officials that will include the crisis over North Korea and trade, the State Department said on Tuesday. Evans Revere, a former senior diplomat who met with a North Korean delegation in Switzerland this month, said that Pyongyang had been reaching out to organizations and individuals to encourage talks with former U.S. officials to get a sense of the Trump administration s thinking. They ve also been accepting invitations to attend dialogues hosted by others, including the Swiss and the Russians, he said. Revere said his best guess for why the North Koreans were doing this was because they were puzzled by the unconventional way that President Trump has been handling the North Korea issue and were eager to use informal and unofficial meetings to gain a better understanding of what is motivating Trump and his administration . During a visit to India, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said diplomatic efforts continued. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said war on the Korean Peninsula would have no winner. We hope the U.S. and North Korean politicians have sufficient political judgment to realize that resorting to military force will never be a viable way to resolve the peninsula issue and their own concerns, Lu said. South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged Kim Jong Un to resume military talks and reunions of families split by the 1950-53 Korean War to ease tension. Like I ve said multiple times before, if North Korea stops its reckless choices, the table for talks and negotiations always remains open, Moon said. In Moscow, Russia s Foreign Ministry said it was working behind the scenes to find a political solution and that it plans to hold talks with a representative of North Korea s foreign ministry who is due to arrive in Moscow on Tuesday, the RIA news agency cited the North s embassy to Russia as saying. The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea after the 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce and not a peace treaty. | 0fake
|
The End of the Federal Reserve hegemony - 2017? [Video] |
November 10th, 2016 - Fort Russ News -
PolitRussia - Translated by Inessa Sinchougova
The 'creature from Jekyll island' (the aptly named organisation "Federal Reserve Bank" is neither federal, nor a full reserve as such!) is on its last legs as it struggles to retain the US dollar hegemony. Why worry about the $19 trillion debt level, the highest in the world, when you've got the dollar printing machine?
Follow us on Facebook!
Follow us on Twitter!
Donate!
| 1real
|
U.S. special envoy encouraged that Kurds could embrace plan to delay referendum | ERBIL (Reuters) - Brett McGurk, the U.S. special envoy to the coalition against Islamic State, on Thursday said he was encouraged that the Iraqi Kurdish leadership could embrace a plan to delay an independence referendum. Moving forward with the referendum on Sept. 25 would be a risky move for Iraq s autonomous Kurdish region because there was no international support for it at this moment, McGurk said in a news conference. | 0fake
|
Charlotte, Yahoo, U.S. Presidential Race: Your Thursday Evening Briefing - The New York Times | (Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. The police chief in Charlotte, N. C. said a video of the fatal shooting that set off two nights of violent protests did not offer “absolute, definitive visual evidence” that the victim, Keith Scott, was pointing a gun. A lawyer for the dead man’s family said the video showed his hands were by his side when he was shot. In another fatal shooting that has prompted anger over race and policing, Officer Betty Shelby, who killed Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Okla. was charged with manslaughter. _____ 2. Donald Trump, set to speak about fracking in Philadelphia, opened with comments about the unrest in Charlotte and, more broadly, about violence in largely black urban areas. “Drugs are a very, very big factor in what you’re watching on television at night,” he said. Hillary Clinton, who has called the recent spate of police killings of black suspects “unbearable,” had a day off from campaign events. But she did appear on the mock celebrity interview show “Between Two Ferns,” answering the oblivious questions of Zach Galifianakis, who asked how fast she typed as secretary, and how President Obama liked his coffee. _____ 3. Yahoo reported a vast email breach by an unnamed “ actor” dating to 2014. Some 500 million accounts were hacked — a number larger than the population of the United States — yielding names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, passwords, and in some cases security questions. Yahoo said it had begun notifying potentially affected users. Here’s what you can do to protect yourself. _____ 4. The father of the man accused of carrying out bombings last weekend in New York and New Jersey spoke to our reporters, clarifying the warnings he gave to federal agents about his son two years ago. He said he explicitly warned agents that Ahmad Rahami was interested in terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and fascinated by jihadist music, poetry and videos. “In two months, the F. B. I. came back to me and said he’s clean,” the father said. “They didn’t find anything on him. But they didn’t interview him. ” _____ 5. President Obama honored some of the country’s top filmmakers, artists and musicians at the White House, including Mel Brooks, above, Audra McDonald, Wynton Marsalis and 21 other luminaries. “We’ve got Terry Gross,” Mr. Obama said, referring to the “Fresh Air” host, “and a whole bunch of people who Terry Gross has interviewed. ” The MacArthur Foundation also awarded its “genius” grants. Among the 23 recipients of the fellowship — $625, 000 over five years — are a few relatively figures, like the poet Claudia Rankine. Many appeared to be hard to categorize, working across existing genres, disciplines and institutions. _____ 6. “After what happened I had no short or long term plans, I just figured out how to get my life back together, to regain trust and hope that this world wasn’t a horrible place. ” That was the woman above, one of 11 women who were brutally sexually assaulted during protests in Mexico State a decade ago. International human rights officials are demanding an investigation, which would sweep in President Enrique Peña Nieto, who ordered the crackdown as governor of the state. _____ 7. Scientists are warning of a surprisingly invasive species you may be familiar with — from your aquarium. Improperly released pet goldfish have spawned, swollen to the size of footballs, migrated, interbred with other species and become an ecological nightmare in places ranging from Australia to Nevada. So, the experts say, if you’re tired of your goldfish, give it back to the store or to a friend, or kill it in an ice slurry. Don’t toss it in a stream or flush it. _____ 8. Baseball fans — and regulators — want to know: What’s with all the home runs? A surprisingly long list of players are at or near 30 for the season, including previously unspectacular hitters like shortstop Brad Miller of the Tampa Bay Rays, above. Possible explanations: “juiced” balls, with interiors, a rush of doping — or maybe just the game’s turn toward raw power for both pitchers and hitters. _____ 9. No less a reviewer than the novelist Richard Ford (“The Sportswriter,” “Independence Day”) offers high praise for Bruce Springsteen’s memoir, which comes out next Tuesday. Writing as one of “nine jillion” fans, he says “Born to Run” helps, as much as anything can, explain how the singer went from a New Jersey backwater to going “in front of 90, 000 people for years in 40 different countries. ” He also says: “You’d think a guy who wrote “Spanish Johnny drove in from the underworld last night’ ’u2009With bruised arms and broken rhythm and a old Buick . ’u2008. ’u2008. ” could navigate his way around a complete and creditable American sentence. And you’d be right. ” _____ 10. Nine arrests in a corruption case dealt a serious blow to the inner circle of New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo. A former aide, Joseph Percoco, above with Mr. Cuomo, was among those accused of bribery, extortion and fraud linked to “hundreds of millions of dollars in state contracts and other official state benefits” in economic development programs. The case, the latest in a string of corruption cases plaguing Albany and Mr. Cuomo’s associates, spared the governor himself. _____ 11. Finally, it’s the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, so happy fall. And if you’re feeling a little less than fulfilled, here’s a lesson from one of Stanford University’s most popular courses, Designing Your Life. Try using the same approach that goes into making successful products: prototyping, building teams and bias to action (meaning rapid decision making). “The question of ‘What do I do with the rest of my one wild and wonderful life?’ is on everyone’s mind,” said one of the course’s two professors. _____ Martin Tsai contributed reporting. _____ Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s last night’s briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes. com. | 0fake
|
Manchester concert venue shattered by bomb attack to reopen | LONDON (Reuters) - The Manchester music venue where a suicide bomber killed 22 people as they left an Ariana Grande concert in May will reopen on Saturday for the first time since the attack. A benefit concert entitled We Are Manchester will raise money for a charitable trust in charge of establishing a permanent memorial in the northern English city. The victims of the May 22 attack at the Manchester Arena included many young girls, who make up a large part of U.S. singer Grande s fan base. The youngest, Saffie Roussos, was aged eight. Parents who had come to pick up their children after the show were also among those killed in the attack carried out by Salman Abedi. May s events will never be forgotten, but they will not stop us, or Mancunian music fans, from coming together to enjoy live music, James Allen, the venue s general manager, said in a statement. The line-up for Saturday s concert, which was sold out, included Noel Gallagher, formerly of Oasis, one of the most successful bands to emerge from Manchester. Also performing will be local poet Tony Walsh, known as Longfella, who moved crowds to tears at a vigil in central Manchester the day after the attack with his poem This Is The Place which celebrates the spirit of the city. Grande will not take part, having performed at a previous benefit concert, One Love Manchester , which raised funds for victims. The June 4 concert, which took place at a cricket ground in Manchester, also featured artists including Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Miley Cyrus and Pharrell Williams. | 0fake
|
Schools All Over America Are Closing On Election Day Due To Fears Of Violence | Email
Will this be the most chaotic election day in modern American history? All across the nation, schools are being closed on election day due to safety fears. Traditionally, schools have been very popular as voting locations because they can accommodate a lot of people, they usually have lots of parking, and everyone in the community knows where they are and can usually get to them fairly easily. But now there is a big movement to remove voting from schools or to shut schools down on election day so that children are not present when voting takes place. According to Fox News , “voting has been removed or classes have been canceled on Election Day at schools in Illinois, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and elsewhere.” Just a couple days ago , I shared with you a survey that found that 51 percent of all Americans are concerned about violence happening on election day, and all of these schools closing is just another sign of how on edge much of the population is as we approach November 8th.
Many officials are being very honest about the fact that schools are being shut down on election day because they are afraid of election violence. The following comes from Fox News …
Several schools across the nation have decided to close on Election Day over fears of possible violence in the hallways stemming from the fallout from the heated rhetoric that consumed the campaign trail.
The fear is the ugliness of the election season could escalate into confrontations and even violence in the school hallways, endangering students.
“If anybody can sit there and say they don’t think this is a contentious election, then they aren’t paying much attention,” Ed Tolan, the Falmouth, Maine police chief, said Tuesday. His community has already called off classes on Nov. 8 and an increased police presence will be felt around town.
And without a doubt, voting locations are “soft targets” that often have little or no security. We have been blessed to have had such peaceful elections in the past, but we also need to realize that times have changed. I believe that there is wisdom in what Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp told reporters …
“There is a concern, just like at a concert, sporting event or other public gathering that we didn’t have 15 or 20 years ago,” said Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, co-chairman of the National Association of Secretaries of State election committee. “ What if someone walks in a polling location with a backpack bomb or something? If that happens at a school, then that’s certainly concerning.”
All it is going to take is a single incident to change everything.
Let us hope that it is not this election day when we see something like that.
Another reason why polling locations are under increased scrutiny this election season is because of concerns about election fraud. This is something that Donald Trump has alluded to repeatedly on the campaign trail. For instance, just consider what he told a rally in Pennsylvania …
“We don’t want to lose an election because you know what I’m talking about,” Trump told an overwhelmingly white crowd in Manheim, Pa., earlier this month. “Because you know what? That’s a big, big problem, and nobody wants to talk about it. Nobody has the guts to talk about it. So go and watch these polling places .”
And of course reports are already pouring in from around the country of big problems with the voting machines. In Illinois this week, one candidate personally experienced a machine switching his votes from Republicans to Democrats…
Early voting in Illinois got off to a rocky start Monday, as votes being cast for Republican candidates were transformed into votes for Democrats.
Republican state representative candidate Jim Moynihan went to vote Monday at the Schaumburg Public Library.
“I tried to cast a vote for myself and instead it cast the vote for my opponent,” Moynihan said. “You could imagine my surprise as the same thing happened with a number of races when I tried to vote for a Republican and the machine registered a vote for a Democrat.”
In addition, if you keep up with my work on The Economic Collapse Blog , then you already know that a number of voters down in Texas have reported that their votes were switched from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton .
Well, it turns out that those voting machines appear to have a link to the Clinton Foundation …
According to OpenSecrets, the company who provided the alleged glitching voting machines is a subsidiary of The McCarthy Group.
The McCarthy group is a major donor to the Clinton Foundation – apparently donating 200,000 dollars in 2007 – when it was the largest owner of United States voting machines. Or perhaps the 200,000 dollars went to paying Bill Clinton for speeches?
Either way, it doesn’t look good.
After everything that we saw in 2012 , I am convinced that there is good reason to be concerned about the integrity of our voting machines.
But Democrats don’t like poll observers, because they think that having too many poll observers will intimidate their voters…
“It’s un-American, but at the same time we have a long history of doing things like that ,” Ari Berman, author of the 2016 book “ Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America ,” previously told The Christian Science Monitor. “Voting was very, very dangerous. I don’t think anyone’s suggesting that we’re at the same place today. I just think the loss of the [official poll observers] is going to be really problematic.”
Without a doubt, this has been the craziest election season that we have seen in decades, and I have a feeling that it is about to get even crazier.
But will the end result be the election of the most corrupt politician in the history of our country ?
If that is the outcome after all that we have been through, it will be exceedingly depressing indeed.
Take a look at the future of America: The Beginning of the End and then prepare Don't forget to Like Freedom Outpost on Facebook , Google Plus , & Twitter . You can also get Freedom Outpost delivered to your Amazon Kindle device here . | 1real
|
Melania Trump: From Small-Town Slovenia to Doorstep of White House - The New York Times | SEVNICA, Slovenia — On days when Melanija Knavs could not play outside or grew tired of knitting her navy blue sweaters, she and her friends would exchange notes along the lines of yarn they strung between their apartment block balconies. In clear handwriting, Melanija mused about the boys of her dreams. She could not have seen what was coming. Melanija Knavs is now Melania Trump, and she is one election away from being the first first lady since Louisa Adams. She addressed millions of Americans on Monday night in a televised speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. But interviews with her former classmates, friends of her family and others who knew them during her youth in Slovenia suggest that her transformation owes less to chance than to the Knavs family’s determination to seize openings and avoid getting stuck. Her father, a personality who reminds her childhood friends of Mr. Trump, belonged to the Communist Party, an exclusive club whose members sometimes joined because of career ambitions as much as ideology. Her mother, an industrious and striking woman, went from harvesting red onions on her family’s farm to a career in the town’s textile factory. She always found time to make sure her two daughters dressed to impress, sewing clothes for them after her work shift ended. Ms. Trump herself trained her bright eyes on the next thing. Once she left Sevnica for high school in Ljubljana, now Slovenia’s capital, she rarely came back to see her old friends. Once she left Ljubljana for a modeling career in Milan and then elsewhere in Europe, Slovenia receded from view. And once she moved to New York, where she caught the eye of Donald J. Trump, 24 years her senior, during a Fashion Week party at the Kit Kat Club, she never looked back. “She tried to find opportunities,” said Damijan Kracina, 46, a high school classmate. “And took them. ” Ms. Trump, born in 1970, grew up in this hilly town of 4, 500 best known around Slovenia, at least until Mr. Trump entered the presidential race, for its medieval castle and annual salami festival. Then, Slovenia was the northern region of Yugoslavia, ruled by Josip Broz Tito, a Communist dictator who kept his distance from the Soviet Union and allowed more freedoms than did other Eastern bloc leaders. But under Tito, there were clear benefits to being a member of the Communist Party, to which only a tiny percentage of Slovenians belonged. Some inherited membership through parents, particularly if they had resisted the Nazis, as Tito had others by exhibiting unusual talent. While it is not clear how Ms. Trump’s father, Viktor, joined — available records in Ljubljana simply list him as a member — others from the Sevnica Communist Party mentioned his work as a driver for a neighboring mayor and then for the director of the textile factory, Jutranjka, across the river, as possible entry points. While the Knavses, along with Ms. Trump, declined to be interviewed about their years in Slovenia, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, Hope Hicks, said that Mr. Knavs had never been an “active member” of the party. Mr. Trump, in an interview last month, said he had never discussed the topic with his . “But he was pretty successful over there,” he said. “It’s a different kind of success than you have here. But he was successful. ” After being introduced by her husband on Monday night as “the next first lady of the United States,” Ms. Trump spoke about her love of the United States and her home country. “I was born in Slovenia, a small and country,” she said, adding that her parents instilled in her a love of fashion, beauty and business, and — in a part of her speech that appeared to be copied nearly from a 2008 speech by Michelle Obama — the value of working hard “for what you want in life. ” In 1972, the Knavses moved into a larger apartment in a new housing block for workers of the textile factory, including Melania’s mother, Amalija, nicknamed Malci. She drew patterns for children’s clothes and later designed them, crossing the bridge to the factory every day in heels. Mr. Knavs, a traveling car salesman, spent a lot of time on the road. But when he was home, he was noticed. Friends say he had a jocular personality and a fondness for his Mercedes sedans and his coveted Maserati. Ms. Trump’s childhood friends recalled him incessantly washing the cars, but also carrying himself in a way that now reminded them of Mr. Trump. “Donald and Melania are similar to Viktor and Amalija,” said Nena Bedek, who was close to Ms. Trump in childhood, and who added that she was “not surprised” that her friend had married someone similar to her father. “Melania was closer to her mother than her father. Viktor was often away, and Malci and the girls were often alone. ” Social life centered on the school down the block. Melania wrapped her notebooks in magazine perfume ads and kept her knitted sweaters in purple lockers. Friends say that she enjoyed geography lessons in a room adorned with maps of the world, and that she adored art class. The future creator of the QVC collection “Melania Timepieces Jewelry” made bracelets there. When Tito died in 1980, her weeping classmates threw flowers as a train carrying his body rolled past on the way to Yugoslavia’s capital, Belgrade. In 1985, Melania left Sevnica, traveling on the narrow roads along the Sava River, green from the reflection of the wooded hills, and through coal mining towns on the way to Ljubljana. There she attended the Secondary School of Design and Photography, housed in an arcaded Renaissance monastery. She lived in an apartment that her father, who had opened a bicycle and car parts shop in Ljubljana, had bought a few years earlier on the outskirts of the city. The building superintendent, Joze Vuk, lived on their floor, and he recalled that Mr. Knavs was displeased that after he had paid for his unit, the government decided to set aside some of the apartments as rentals for construction workers. “We were all angry because most of the residents were not prepared to invest in the block,” said Mr. Vuk, who also owned an apartment. “They were renters of a public property and did not care. ” Mr. Knavs sought to distinguish himself from his neighbors. “He always wore a tie, smart clothes and carried a briefcase,” Mr. Vuk said. “You could not avoid noticing him. ” Melania and her older sister, Ines, also stood out, for their looks, their wardrobe and the makeup they put on whenever they left the apartment. At school, Melania kept her distance from peers listening to the Cure or Metallica, Mr. Kracina said, and gravitated toward a clique of pop music fans who hung out at the Horse’s Tail bar by the Triple Bridge in Ljubljana. It was there that Peter Butoln, who prided himself on having Ljubljana’s only metallic blue Vespa, noticed Melania one night among the regulars dressed in bleached jeans and Benetton shirts, drinking Mish Mash (Fanta and wine) and chatting each other up. Now 17, Melania was abstemious and more wholesome than the other girls, he said, and they started dating. He would pick her up on weekends and drive her around on his Vespa, and they would dance badly to Wham in “a nice discothèque” by the cathedral. Mr. Butoln soon went into the army, and, after sending him a friendly postcard in her exact, handwriting, Melania started dating one of his friends. “He had a red Vespa,” Mr. Butoln said, shrugging. Melania had also begun a process that would carry her away from Slovenia. In January 1987, the photographer Stane Jerko spotted her and asked if she would be interested in modeling. She proved somewhat wooden, but “pridna — diligent, obedient,” Mr. Jerko said. She told him she wanted to get better. Mr. Jerko passed the photographs he snapped of Melania — hair up, hair down, gym clothes, flowing dress — to a Slovenian cultural center, which admitted her to a fashion course for models in the fall of 1987. Melania’s entire family sensed potential in her modeling. After high school, she concentrated on her career, dropping out of architecture school. (She still claims on her website to have graduated.) On one occasion, Mr. Kravs drove his Mercedes to the shop of the seamstress Silva Njegac, hours from Ljubljana, to order leather dresses for Melania that his wife had designed. In 1992, a year after Slovenia’s independence, Mr. Jerko saw Melania on the catwalk at the Grand Hotel Toplice on Lake Bled. Twenty years later, she and Mr. Trump dined there with her parents. That day trip amounted to Mr. Trump’s only visit to Slovenia. “At least I can say that I went,” Mr. Trump said. When asked if his wife, who he said spoke warmly about her Slovenian youth, hoped for him to see her hometown, he added: “I went to Slovenia. The fact that I even went there was very much appreciated. ” A finish in Jana magazine’s Slovenian Face of the Year contest in 1992 expanded Melania’s ambitions. In a fashion video for a Slovenian label, she wore a skirt suit, exited a plane shadowed by bodyguards and signed papers at the national library. “She was acting like the president of the United States,” said Andrej Kosak, the director. She would soon Germanize her name to Melania Knauss and become an international model. These days in Sevnica, where Ms. Trump made a $25, 000 contribution to a hospital after her 2005 wedding, residents are fascinated by tales of their local girl made great. The Slovenian news media brings the latest word of the Trump campaign, especially details from a recent article in GQ that revealed that Mr. Knavs had, before his marriage to Melania’s mother, fathered a child out of wedlock and then fought attempts to claim child support all the way to the country’s highest court, where he lost. The GQ reporter then began receiving messages. “Because of story about half brother Denis, journalist is targeted by anonymous Trump supporters,” read a headline, accompanied by a photograph of a Melania in a plunging dress, on the cover of the tabloid Svet 24. Ms. Trump’s parents spend much of the year with their daughter and her son, Barron, at Trump Tower in Manhattan or at Mr. Trump’s Club in Palm Beach, Fla. where they enjoy the pool. But they have also brought a whiff of the campaign back to Sevnica, where they now own a handsome house. Alongside the sloping lawn and the beige Mercedes, one finds security guards to turn away unwanted visitors. In Sevnica, Mr. Knavs has confided in Matej Novsak, his longtime mechanic, and complained recently about Mr. Trump’s inconsistency. “ ‘One time it is this, the other time that,’ ” Mr. Novsak said Mr. Knavs had told him. The mechanic said that Mr. Knavs had also said that Mr. Trump was unwanted by Republicans and that he did not understand his wealthy ’s need to pursue the presidency. “ ‘Why does he have to do it?’ ” the mechanic said Mr. Knavs had told him. When told of his ’ bewilderment, Mr. Trump said, “They are not the only ones. ” Mr. Knavs is close enough to his five years his junior, to accept his . A few years ago, Mr. Knavs took two of Mr. Trump’s leather jackets — one black, one dark brown — to Ms. Njegac’s shop in Slovenia for alterations. The sleeves were too long. Meanwhile, his daughter, who is now an American citizen, has fit well into life with Mr. Trump. She has echoed his doubts about President Obama’s place of birth, given his campaign a touch of glamour and domesticity, and fully embraced his extravagant lifestyle. Mirjana Jelancic, a classmate of Ms. Trump’s who is now the principal of their old school, recalled a conversation she had over coffee last August with Ms. Trump’s mother. Ms. Knavs told Ms. Jelancic that she had asked her daughter what to do with all the sweaters she had knitted as a child. “ ‘Throw them away,’ ” Ms. Trump told her mother, who said she replied, testily, “Come home, pick some out and throw them away yourself. ” Ms. Jelancic suggested a compromise. Ms. Knavs now intends to donate those old clothes to a planned exhibit at the school dedicated to Melania Trump, the town’s most famous brand name. | 0fake
|
Trump Trolls Try KILLING Megyn Kelly’s Book And Amazon Isn’t Having Any Of Their Sh*t | Megyn Kelly s new book, Settle For More, seems to have Trump s fans in a tizzy. She doesn t paint him in a very flattering light, so obviously the book is politically motivated and she had no business writing it, let alone selling it on Amazon. Trump s trolls decided they would try to shut down, or at least depress, sales, and Amazon decided they weren t having it at all. Amazon pulled a ton of one-star reviews that all came from a pro-Trump Reddit. While USAToday reported early this morning that 17 percent of the reviews on Kelly s book were one-stars at one point, 76 percent of those reviews were one star ratings. There were more than 400 reviews total that came in over the weekend, which means that a lot of people were trying to kill the book s sales because they love Trump and despise anyone who makes him look even slightly less than godlike.These reviews consisted of things like: This woman is not a journalist She is an attention seeker She is also paid by the DNC to report fake stories that have no truth to them whatsoever. Megyn Kelly is getting paid by the DNC to report fake news? Not hardly, but unfortunately, Amazon does not require anyone to source their accusations when they leave a bad review.Another said: Wow get over yourself. Your [sic] not that good! Your treatment of Newt and Trump was inexcusable. The Reddit forum that many of these reviews came from is simply called, The_Donald, and now they re mad that they ve been shut down. One man known only as Tim from MD whined that over 120 one-star reviews had been deleted. Then he said: Are we living in a free country anymore? Trump is president, but she wrote the book certain that Clinton would win. Now the book and her shows and advertisers are getting boycotted. So apparently her attorneys have called to get negative reviews deleted. And they succeeded. I m shocked. Because that s totally what happened. While the publisher, Harper-Collins, did contact Amazon over the fact that these reviews had all the hallmarks of an orchestrated effort to discredit Megyn Kelly, her own attorneys may or may not have contacted Amazon as well. Whether that s what happened or not, Trump fans have shown, time and again, that they re willing to force issues over to their liking simply by banding together.It s ridiculous. While it s true that Amazon has likely deleted reviews it shouldn t have all across their site, the problem of fake reviews designed to artificially inflate someone s reputation, or destroy something that a certain group of people can t stand (like conservatives who can t stand anything remotely resembling facts) was a major one and they did have to do something about it. When many of the reviews are all coming from one source, that s a pretty good sign that they aren t genuine reviews. Plus, Amazon didn t delete all of the negative reviews just the ones that were obviously part of a concerted effort by Trump trolls to destroy Megyn Kelly and her book.If anyone needs to get over it, they do. As the one reviewer above stated, Trump won, so what s the deal here? Grow up, guys.Featured image by Jemal Countess via Getty Images | 1real
|
"Гражданам мира" нужно не Отечество, а собственное спокойствие" | 0 комментариев 0 поделились Герман Греф. Фото: Fotodom.ru/Коммерсантъ
"Настоящие патриоты — те люди, которые пытаются все время очень много работать над собой, над своим бизнесом, над своими учреждениями с тем, чтобы соответствовать и даже немного опережать время. Это очень тяжело, это не всегда популярно, это всегда связано с тем, что приходится меняться самому и менять окружающих, влиять на изменение окружающих", — заявил Герман Греф.
Прокомментировал его слова председатель правления советов директоров Pravda.Ru Вадим Горшенин:
- Вот определение того же слова от словаря Ушакова: "человек, преданный своему народу, любящий свое отечество, готовый на жертвы и совершающий подвиги во имя интересов своей родины".
А это по словарю Даля: "любитель отечества, ревнитель о благе его, отчизнолюб, отечественник или отчизник".
Обратили внимание, что из определения Грефа выпало, как абсолютно ненужное, даже упоминание Отечества ?
На мой взгляд, Греф с этим определением — один из того распространенного типа чиновников в России на высоких постах, которые являются "гражданами мира" и смогут нормально себя чувствовать при любом государственном режиме: демократическом, авторитарном, оккупационном — каким угодно.
Когда-то, если помните, в конце восьмидесятых — начале девяностых прошлого века в стране, с подачи партии старовойтовых, ельциных, бурбулисов "Демократической России" резко поменялись все политические определения. И традиционно левых коммунистов, выступающих за равные возможности для всех, общественную собственность и т. д., начали называть "правыми", а тех, кто продвигал частную собственность на средства производства, землю, природные ресурс, — "левыми".
В результате "левые" совершили переворот с помощью руцких и теперь стесняются так называться. Спросите того же Грефа — левый он или правый политик. Как думаете, что ответит?
И сейчас есть у меня такое чувство, что "граждане мира", они же космополиты, пытаются сделать то же самое, но уже с более глубокими понятиями для каждого человека, любящего свое Отечество (как в России, так и в Америке, Франции, Германии, Сирии и т. д.)…
Обратите внимание, как сейчас в либеральных изданиях начнут распространять эту откровенную идеологическую чушь от главы Сбербанка, как начнут ее цитировать оппозиционные блогеры. А когда обратите, попробуйте ответить на вопрос: почему ее никогда не повторят, например, Сергей Лавров или Сергей Шойгу. Почему она дико смотрелась бы, припиши ее кто-то Суворову, Кутузову, Екатерине II, Столыпину?
Или я опять пытаюсь отстаивать "замшелые истины", как мне указали в одном из комментариев?
Читайте последние новости Pravda.Ru на сегодня Нужен ли патриотизму тюнинг? | 1real
|
How Common Core quietly won the war | Argentine president Mauricio Macri's office rebutting a report from an Argentinian journalist that set off waves in the American media. | 0fake
|
Why America might elect a president it doesn't like | Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have among the highest unfavorability ratings of recent presidential candidates. Their success shows how US politics is changing.
Will Trump's plan to register Muslims make it to The White House?
Tesla under Trump: How will electric cars fare under the next president?
John McCain defies Donald Trump on torture: 'We will not waterboard'
Audience members listen as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Clinton Middle School Saturday in Clinton, Iowa.
It is possible, perhaps even probable, that this fall’s election will be contested between two of three most disliked presidential candidates of at least the past quarter century.
And it is possible, perhaps even probable, that this is not a coincidence.
A Gallup survey released Saturday shows that Donald Trump has the highest unfavorability rating (60 percent) of any presidential candidate since the polling firm started tracking the figure in 1992. For her part, Hillary Clinton ranks third (52 percent) with the no-new-taxes-breaking George H.W. Bush of 1992 at No. 2.
In other words, the 2016 presidential election could be decided between two people that the majority of Americans, according to Gallup, don’t like politically.
How is this possible?
Actually, it makes complete sense. In fact, one could argue that such a contest would perfectly befit the current political era.
At a time when partisanship has taken new and more rigid forms, the result has been an America increasingly wary of the other side. Many Americans are increasingly motivated to vote against candidates rather than for them.
Mr. Trump and former Secretary of State Clinton symbolize this shift in different ways, but they speak to the shrinking middle of American politics. As the national parties have less and less in common, their national candidates likewise have less in common, leaving voters with a starker choice that they are just as likely to oppose as embrace.
Indeed, political scientists note that Americans are more neatly “sorted” into the two parties than they have been in recent history. In other words, conservatives support Republicans and liberals support Democrats.
No more “blue dog” Democrats who want to reform welfare. No more Northeast Republicans who want to address climate change.
It means there is a brighter line between the national Democratic and Republican Parties than there has been in decades, because there is less internal pressure to moderate. If, increasingly, everyone in the party is left-of-center (or right-of-center), the party naturally shifts left (or right).
The result is two sharply different visions for America, two sharply different sets of solutions.
Another result is the vanishing swing voter. (See the Monitor’s Cover Story on the subject.) A larger share of American voters might register as independents than as Democrats or Republicans, but they don’t act that way. Those independents who reliably turn out to vote tend to take sides just like the partisans, voting in consistently partisan ways.
“People are more confident in their opinions when they see polarized parties,” Corwin Smidt, a Michigan State University political scientist, told the Monitor. “They think, ‘Well, if the choices are so stark, it’s just not a gray area at all.’ ”
And so they worry about the “other side” winning, according to research by Emory University political scientists Alan Abramowitz and Steven Webster. They found that voting behavior is increasingly guided by this “negative partisanship.”
This fall, it seems, American voters might have a lot to vote against.
Trump has become the Republican front-runner precisely because of his lack of broader appeal, argues pollster Frank Luntz in the Financial Times.
“No high-polling presidential candidate in the modern era has so intrepidly drawn the ire of so many within the American electorate,” he writes. “Yet in rendering one voting bloc utterly apoplectic, he has appealed viscerally to another. The balance of middle ground politics is not, shall we say, Mr. Trump’s bailiwick.”
His calls for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and a temporary ban on all noncitizen Muslims entering the country are antithetical to those outside his conservative base, which partly explains their appeal within it.
“He’s simply raising an important issue nobody else has the courage to talk about,” Mr. Luntz adds, paraphrasing the Trump voters’ reasons for supporting the billionaire.
For Clinton, the issue is less ideological than historical. She is facing a perceived lack of trustworthiness that dates back to her husband’s administration – and has been exacerbated by her handling of State Department e-mails.
Yet the same trends that have vaulted Trump to front-runner status are apparent in the Democratic primary process, too.
Bernie Sanders could topple Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire. And he is an avowed socialist talking about a revolution.
“In Sanders’s vision, a massive grassroots uprising will shatter the constricting limits of today’s political debate and thrust forward long-time liberal goals such as single-payer health care and free public-college tuition,” writes Ronald Brownstein in The Atlantic. “For Sanders’s growing army, it’s an exhilarating prospect.”
For Republicans, it is appalling.
To some degree, this is what primaries do: push candidates toward the extremes. But there is a mounting sense that, as the parties move further apart, this year represents something new – or at least more intense.
While the experience might be temporarily cathartic, evidence suggests it might not be ultimately satisfying. As Congress has become more sorted, Americans’ confidence in it has declined. Americans have less confidence in Congress than they do in any other major American institution – and have since 2010 – according to a Gallup survey.
After all, a revolution entails one side “winning” – not likely in a political environment where each side is becoming more entrenched to stop the other.
“On both sides, the energy is with candidates … offering the dream of a clean sweep and a blank sheet on which to rewrite the nation’s priorities,” writes Mr. Brownstein. “Yet because the candidates offering such fundamental change are largely misdiagnosing the reasons for today’s impasse, it’s unlikely they could break it even if they capture the presidency.”
Their misdiagnosis? Brownstein suggests that it’s unlikely one side can ignore the other to rewrite the nation’s priorities.
“Given the nation’s underlying partisan divisions, the only way to advance bigger ideas may be through compromises across party lines that neither side is discussing much yet.”
What this primary campaign has done, perhaps, is highlight the shifting political topography and distance between those party lines. | 0fake
|
WOW! STARBUCKS CEO JUST ACCUSED Whites Of Committing Senseless Violence Against “people who are not white”…And He’s Getting DESTROYED On Social Media | Thousands of Starbucks customers cut up their gold cards and boycotted their favorite coffee spot after Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz stuck his foot in his mouth, when he defended immigration of unvetted Muslims from terror hotbed nations to the US. Schultz was hammered on social media after offering to hire Syrian immigrants before Americans to prove his point about how inclusive he is.Well, it appears as though the arrogant leftist CEO of Starbucks has done it again. Howard Schultz tweeted from the Starbucks account: I know we re better than this. The bigotry, hatred, and senseless violence against people who are not white cannot stand. Howard Schultz "I know we're better than this. The bigotry, hatred, and senseless violence against people who are not white cannot stand. Howard Schultz pic.twitter.com/JWpOmIV0H0 Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) August 16, 2017Who is we re Howard? Who exactly are you calling racists or bigots? Who has actually been committing the violence at pro-Trump and pro-freedom of speech rallies across America?Maybe it s these guys?Maybe he was referring to this white guy punching this black guy because he s supporting our president or because he s holding an American flag:Oops! Never mind that s a black guy punching a white guy.So tell us again Howard, what was it again you wanted your customers to know about violence against people who are not white?Here are just a few responses Schultz s ignorant and offensive tweet provoked:Howard Shultz violence against ANYONE can not stand! Anything less inclusive is bigotry. Anna-May Smith (@AnnaMaySmith1) August 17, 2017"against people who are not white cannot stand. Implies only whites are to blame. It is about a specific group, no backpeddaling. Michael (@wouldabeen) August 17, 2017Violence against whites is okay. No one cares about whites, they are just trash. White lives DON'T matter. So says Howard Schultz. Captain Skywarn (@n0jaa) August 17, 2017 | 1real
|
#VeryFakeNews CNN BRAGS ABOUT RATINGS To President Trump On Twitter After CNN Producer Is Caught On Video Admitting Trump-Russia Stories Are Fake News…Only About The RATINGS! | James O Keefe s Project Veritas reporters went undercover at CNN to investigate the #VeryFakeNews network to determine the motivation behind CNN s Trump-Russia collusion obsession. Since the inauguration, CNN has mentioned Russian story nearly 16,000 times.Project Veritas reporters can be seen in the video below having a conversation with CNN s supervising producer John Bonifield. The reporter talked to Bonifield first about the constant barrage of Trump-Russia stories on CNN. Bonifield admitted that although CNN has no evidence or proof of Trump involvement with Russia, they continue to make it their top story on CNN simply for ratings and to make money. Bonifield actually confessed to the undercover Project Veritas journalist that President Trump is correct when he says the media is on a witch hunt to take him down. Bonifield told the reporter: I think the President is right to say, like, look you are witch hunting me You have no real smoking gun, you have no proof. Bonifield told the undercover reporter for Project Veritas that CNN is biased and is playing to their audience by attacking President Trump, and actually admitted that Trump is good for business right now. The Project Veritas reporter asked Bonifield, But honestly, you think the whole Russia shit is bullshit? to which Bonifield replied: Could be bullshit. I mean, it s mostly bullshit right now. Like, we don t have any big, giant proof. The way these leaks happen, they d leak it. It d leak. If it was something really good, it would leak. President Trump took to Twitter this morning to call out CNN. In his tweet, Trump hinted that Fake News CNN would likely be replacing the top brass at the dishonest and discredited network. Trump also mentioned CNN s failing ratings, to which CNN Communications boasted that after months of reporting lies about a phony Trump-Russia collusion story, their ratings have actually increased. In other words, because we dragged your name through the mud and falsely accused you of collusion with the Russians without a shred of evidence, our ratings have actually gone up with our liberal viewers who are desperate for any negative Trump news. CNN just posted it's most-watched second quarter in history. Those are the facts. CNN Communications (@CNNPR) June 27, 2017President Trump didn t stop at calling out the OBVIOUS Very Fake News network CNN, he also asked when the other fake news networks would be exposed, specifically NBC, CBS, ABC, the New York Times and the Washington Post:So they caught Fake News CNN cold, but what about NBC, CBS & ABC? What about the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost? They are all Fake News! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2017 | 1real
|
U.S. Intelligence Says Details Of Russian Dossier Exposing Trump Are Checking Out (VIDEO) | When the bombshell dossier exposing Donald Trump s shady ties to Russia became public, it was easy to question the validity of the document. Although the golden shower accusation was the least important detail of the report, it certainly caught the attention of the public and was enough to make just about anyone say no way this can be legit. But according to CNN, U.S. intelligence agencies have been investigating the dossier and the document is gaining credibility because some of the details it contains are actually checking out.CNN reports:Law enforcement and U.S. intelligence agencies are continuing their investigation, but they say the corroboration of intercepted communications gives them a greater confidence in the dossier s validity.Naturally, Trump s team is already screaming fake news again. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told CNN, We continue to be disgusted by CNN s fake news reporting. He then called back to add this:This is more fake news. It is about time CNN focused on the success the President has had bringing back jobs, protecting the nation, and strengthening relationships with Japan and other nations. The President won the election because of his vision and message for the nation.Intelligence officials emphasized that the conversations they intercepted were between foreign nationals and came from routine information gathering. They also noted that some of the communications were from people who were known to be heavily involved in digging up dirt on Hillary Clinton to help Trump.U.S. intelligence agencies have still not come to any final conclusions regarding whether or not Russia really has any compromising information on Trump that they can use to blackmail him. They have also not confirmed any of the more salacious claims made in the dossier. In other words, they still don t know if Trump paid Russian prostitutes to drain the swamp for him.You see more on this here, via The Young Turks:.@CNN is reporting that an investigation into the Pee-gate dossier is gaining credibility. pic.twitter.com/j6CEHZJktN The Young Turks (@TheYoungTurks) February 11, 2017Featured image via Andrew Harrer Pool/Getty Images | 1real
|
Conservative Columnist Asks CRUCIAL Question About Trump’s State Of Mind, And We NEED An Answer | The Wall Street Journal is anything but liberal, and most of its columnists are likewise anything but liberal. But this not-at-all liberal publication does have writers, reporters and columnists who can see reality, and one sees the reality of Trump s deteriorating mental state to the point where he actually called it out. Yes, a Wall Street Journal columnist literally went there on the state of Trump s mind.Bret Stephens, the columnist in question, asked Twitter something interesting: When will Republicans acknowledge that the President of the United States is mentally ill? He then linked to a WSJ story about Trump s latest tantrum, which includes accusing former President Obama of wiretapping him during his campaign. He likened the activity to both Watergate and McCarthyism, but failed to produce any evidence. It s illegal for the President of the United States to order wiretaps in fact, the FISA court (which grants or denies warrants for just such surveillance) very likely would not go along with a presidential order to grant a warrant for tapping someone.He also called Obama a bad (or sick) guy, for it:How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017Trump quickly drew the ire of Republicans and Democrats alike with that, and many are rightfully calling on him to produce his evidence or shut the fuck up. Stephens, fed up, was essentially doing the same thing, but he caught a lot of flak for saying Trump is mentally ill without a degree in psychology or evaluating Trump himself. That perpetuates the stigma against mental illness.Because of that, he later deleted his tweet (but screencaps live forever):The truth is that we do need an answer about Trump s state of mind soon. How stable is Donald Trump? His behavior does suggest a serious problem. There are any number of things that this could be (that may or may not be mental illness), but nobody can address this without knowing what it is.Featured image by Jim Lo Scalzo via Getty Images | 1real
|
Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Fail to Make Cut for First Debate - The New York Times | The first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump this month will exclude two leading nominees — Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and the Green Party’s Jill Stein — the Commission on Presidential Debates announced on Friday. The failure to be invited to the Sept. 26 debate at Hofstra University deals a significant blow to Mr. Johnson and Ms. Stein, who are desperate for national exposure to promote their bids for the White House. Their running mates will also not be allowed to participate in the debate on Oct. 4, the commission said. Mr. Johnson and Ms. Stein were excluded because they did not reach an average of 15 percent support in the five national polls that the commission used as a benchmark. Mr. Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico who is polling in in many state polls, reached 8. 4 percent and Ms. Stein reached 3. 2 percent. Candidates from smaller parties have complained to the commission, arguing that the threshold is too high for candidates who lack vast resources or name recognition. Mr. Johnson, who has acknowledged that he has little chance of becoming president if he is not allowed to debate, has started a petition that collected more than 800, 000 signatures urging the commission to include him. In a statement Friday, Mr. Johnson said: “I would say I am surprised that the C. P. D. has chosen to exclude me from the first debate, but I’m not. After all, the commission is a private organization created 30 years ago by the Republican and Democratic parties for the clear purpose of taking control of the only nationally televised presidential debates voters will see. ” Some polls have found that a majority of the American public would like to see more options on the debate stage, and prominent Republicans such as Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, have said publicly that the Libertarian ticket should be part of the mix. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who ran against Mrs. Clinton in the Democratic primary contest, said in a recent interview that he thought the 15 percent criteria was too onerous. The chance of Mr. Johnson and Ms. Stein debating this fall have not been completely eliminated, however. The commission will run the numbers on its polls two more times and could potentially invite them to the second or third debates if their support swells. | 0fake
|
WATCH: Fox Host Calls For A ‘Cleansing’ Of The FBI, And To Arrest Everyone Investigating Trump | Judge Jeanine Pirro has continued her screamy ragey meltdown over special counsel Robert Mueller s investigation into any possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. The Fox host is trying to discredit the FBI and we re wondering where the Blue Lives Matter crowd is as she tries to take down law enforcement officials. On Saturday night, Pirro said there needs to be a cleansing at the FBI and the Department of Justice.Pirro claims that quite a few officials are protecting Hillary Clinton who does not hold public office or are destroying Donald Trump, and singled out Deputy Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe, FBI official Peter Strzok, former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, former FBI Director James Comey and you guessed it: Special Counsel Robert Mueller all of whom she says need to be arrested and placed in handcuffs. There have been times in our history where corruption and lawlessness were so pervasive, that examples had to be made, she shrieked. This is one of those times. There is a cleansing needed in our FBI and Department of Justice it needs to be cleansed of individuals who should not just be fired. But who need to be taken out in cuffs, Pirro declared.Watch:.@JudgeJeanine: There have been times in our history where corruption and lawlessness were so pervasive, that examples had to be made. This is one of those times. pic.twitter.com/I2a1Uz5DGK Fox News (@FoxNews) December 10, 2017Pirro has been trying to work Trump up into a frenzy over Hillary Clinton by using conspiracy theories. She got so out of hand that even Trump became visibly agitated and walked out on her during her rant.Pirro s husband was convicted of conspiracy and tax evasion in 2000. For that, he was sentenced to spend over two years locked up in prison for improperly deducting $1.2 million of his personal expenses as business write-offs while living a lavish lifestyle. Mr. Pirro was convicted on all 34 counts.Pirro split with her hubby after he admitted to fathering a child with another woman. He told the press and Pirro failed to give him enough attention. I know! Maybe if he changed his name to Hillary Clinton then he d get all the attention he needs.Pirro s hatred for Hillary Clinton goes way back and it appears to stem from jealousy.Maybe Pirro should heed the advice from Pirro in 2016 when she said, We cannot have a country run by a president subject to ongoing criminal investigations, potential indictments and never-ending hearings [W]hether she s indicted or even guilty, it doesn t matter. I ll just leave this here:When you re attacking FBI agents because you re under criminal investigation, you re losing https://t.co/SIoAxatCjp Sarah Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) November 3, 2016Image via screen capture. | 1real
|
OBAMA Defends Black Lives Matter But Does He Really Want To Support What’s In This Video? | But he s pointing the finger at the wrong aspect of violence and death in the black community. If he would focus on the REAL problem of black on black crime he d get somewhere. How can anyone take Obama seriously when he skips over this HUGE issue? Once again, it s all about politics and division with this president. Pitiful! #NYC: #PeoplesMonday on the streets chanting #FTP! #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/KRRrRaHGHs Ash J (@AshAgony) October 20, 2015Meanwhile, in St. Louis, police escorted a gaggle of BLM protesters and some of the demonstrators tried to justify President Obama s faith in them by screaming Pigs in a blanket. Fry em like bacon at their protectors: | 1real
|
Kenya opposition wants vote planned for Saturday canceled | NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya s main opposition party warned the election commission against reorganizing voting in four western counties where polls did not open on Thursday due to violence and said supporters should boycott any process that goes ahead. We advise the people not to walk into this trap of death. We call on the residents of these counties to stay away from these planned polls, Musalia Mudavadi, a senior member of the NASA coalition, told reporters. | 0fake
|
Aid Convoy Is Hit in Syria as Cease-Fire Falters and Bombings Resume - The New York Times | BEIRUT, Lebanon — A humanitarian aid convoy was attacked in Syria on Monday after the Syrian military declared that a partial was over and immediately began intensive bombardments in areas of Aleppo, the divided city that has come to symbolize the ravages of the war. The convoy attack, military declaration and bombings were the strongest signs yet of the gradual unraveling of a broader agreement between Russia and the United States aimed at restarting peace talks to end the conflict in Syria, which has killed an estimated 500, 000 people and displaced millions. Minutes after the Syrian military declared the over around sunset, aerial attacks began pummeling neighborhoods of Aleppo, residents reported. The few remaining hospitals were back to overflowing, and rescuers struggled to find people in the dark, with the electricity out. By midnight, 34 people were reported killed. United Nations officials were dumbfounded by the attack on the convoy of 31 trucks, which was escorted by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and was carrying food, medicine and supplies bound for areas of western Aleppo Province. The convoy was among the first to try to deliver humanitarian aid to these areas, a relief plan permitted under the agreement. “Our outrage at this attack is enormous,” said Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special representative on Syria. “The convoy was the outcome of a long process of permission and preparations to assist isolated civilians. ” At least 18 of the trucks were hit, United Nations officials said. Jan Egeland, a United Nations aid adviser to the Syria peace effort, said in a Twitter post: “Many killed and injured. ” Members of the Red Crescent and local activists said at least 12 people were killed, including the local head of the organization, Omar Barakat. Witnesses and rescuers said the convoy appeared to have been hit by multiple airstrikes, first destroying trucks and then two more hitting rescue workers as they helped the wounded. The tactic, known as a “ ” strike, has been used by Syrian and Russian warplanes. The rebels have no aircraft. The attack appeared to be the first airstrike to hit an aid convoy since the conflict began in 2011. The United Nations also reported the disruption of a second convoy that had finally received travel permits but was stopped in Homs Province by government forces that removed its medical supplies. Secretary of State John Kerry challenged the Syrian military’s declaration that the was over, suggesting that the United States would hold Russia responsible for seeing that President Bashar of Syria, one of its principal allies, implemented it. “The Syrians didn’t make the deal the Russians made the agreement,” Mr. Kerry said during meetings in New York before the annual United Nations General Assembly session. “The important thing is the Russians need to control Assad who evidently is indiscriminately bombing, including of humanitarian convoys. ” Mr. Kerry planned to meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, before the International Syria Support Group, the multinational body that has designed the plans for a reduction in violence and a political solution for Syria, assembles in New York on Tuesday morning. Still, a senior Obama administration official said Monday evening that it was unclear if the agreement could be salvaged. He also noted that the United States did not know if Syrian or Russian aircraft had carried out the attack In any case, a second administration official said, the attack cast doubt on the viability of the American goals. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic discussions. The Russians, however, defended the Syrian military. A senior Defense Ministry official in Moscow said it was “senseless” for the Syrian government to respect a that he said had been repeatedly violated by Mr. Assad’s enemies. The Russian official, Lt. Gen. Sergei F. Rudskoi, accused Syrian rebel groups of joining forces with extremists who have been denounced as terrorists by both Moscow and Washington. In a statement published in state news media, the Syrian Army’s general command placed blame on insurgents, saying they had violated the and that the foreign powers backing them were supporting terrorism. After the Syrian military statement, residents in sections of Aleppo reported intense aerial attacks, shattering the relative calm that the partial had provided for the past week. Medical workers and residents reported at least 25 barrel bombs falling in less than an hour. Two were described as larger than usual, similar to garbage Dumpsters packed with shrapnel, and another attack was described as a ballistic missile strike. It had already become clear that the was in trouble. It was not close to achieving the ambitious goals — notably the renewal of moribund talks about a political transition — that the United States and Russia set out when they declared the truce without clear endorsements from the combatants in Syria. What was meant to be a measure, between Russia and the United States as much as between the groups in Syria, instead became a new source of acrimony. The new developments cast doubt on a plan by Russia and the United States to jointly attack groups in Syria that both countries consider terrorist threats. The situation worsened on Saturday night when airstrikes killed more than 60 people that Russia and Syria said were Syrian soldiers. The United States called the episode a mistake, but the Syrian government called it proof that Washington was siding with terrorists. “Terrorist groups did not adhere to any of the points of the agreement,” the Syrian Army said in a statement. It added that the military, which refers to all armed opponents as terrorists, had shown great restraint in the face of what it said were 300 truce violations by insurgents. The opposition said the government had committed 250 violations. The government’s resumption of aerial attacks included strikes on Idlib, Daraa, the Damascus suburbs and other locations, with reports of multiple casualties, including children. Russia has repeatedly accused the United States of failing to draw a clear line between the more moderate rebel groups it supports and extremist groups like the Islamic State and the Nusra Front, now known as the Levant Conquest Front, which are also fighting against the Syrian government. In recent days, Moscow has escalated the tone of its assertions, saying that Washington was supporting terrorists. In Washington, the Pentagon said it was investigating the exact makeup of the Syrian troops who were killed on Saturday. A Defense Department official said that the strikes occurred at a Syrian military encampment where certain Syrian soldiers who had fallen out of favor with the military, and who were not wearing uniforms, were being detained. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still underway, said no conclusions had yet been reached. | 0fake
|
Fifth Mexican Journalist Murdered in 90 Days | Suspected cartel gunmen killed another journalist. This year, reporters exposing drug cartels and their ties to Mexican politicians have become targets with five murders taking place in 2017. [Mexico’s Rio Doce confirmed the murder of its founder, Javier Valdez, an investigator and author who had been reporting on Mexico’s organized crime. Valdez was driving a red Toyota Corolla along a city street in Culiacan, Sinaloa, when unidentified gunmen shot him, Rio Doce reported. The local print weekly and online publication is one of the few news outlets that continues to carry out investigations in Mexico exposing the deep ties between Mexican politicians and drug cartels. Valdez’s murder comes just weeks after cartel gunmen murdered respected journalist Maximino Rodriguez Palacios in Baja California Sur as he drove with his wife to a shopping center, Breitbart Texas reported. The murder remains unsolved. Just days before the murder of Rodriguez, cartel gunmen from the La Linea faction of the Juarez Cartel killed journalist Miroslava Breach, Breitbart Texas reported. Breach’s death occurred after her work exposed how the of one of the La Linea leaders was going to be running for mayor in the state of Chihuahua. Mexico’s Network of Journalists from the Northeast expressed their condemnation and demanded that Mexico’s government stop turning a blind eye to the escalating violence. “We come once again and as many times as necessary to harshly demand that authorities carry out their duty of protecting citizens from criminals and punish criminals according to the Rule of Law,” a prepared statement from the network revealed. Ildefonso Ortiz is an journalist with Breitbart Texas. He the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. Brandon Darby is managing director and of Breitbart Texas. He the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart. com. This article has been updated to reflect the correct first name spelling for the murdered journalist, Javier Valdez. | 0fake
|
Hacker Guccifer 2.0 Says Election Could Be Rigged, Promises To Monitor ‘From Inside’ | Videos Hacker Guccifer 2.0 Says Election Could Be Rigged, Promises To Monitor ‘From Inside’ “I’d like to warn you that the Democrats may rig the elections on November 8. This may be possible because of the software installed in the FEC networks by the large IT companies. A vote counter inserts a tally card from an electronic voting machine into a card readers as they count votes at the Lake County Government Center in Crown Point, Ind., Nov. 4, 2008.
Before the recent torrent of daily Podesta email dumps brought renewed attention to Wikileaks (and accusations Julian Assange was working with the Kremlin despite his recent denial, which ultimately cost him his internet access), the media’s attention was closely focused on the recently emerged hacker known as Guccifer 2.0, who claimed to be behind the hacking of the nearly 20,000 Democratic National Committee emails and other documents distributed over the summer by WikiLeaks, and who likewise was accused of cooperating with Russia.
Earlier today, after a two week silence, Guccifer 2.0 reemerged, with a post on his blog , in which he alleges that he has information from inside the Federal Election Commission, according to which “democrats may rig the elections.” He then adds “this may be possible because of the software installed in the FEC networks by the large IT companies.” “INFO FROM INSIDE THE FEC: THE DEMOCRATS MAY RIG THE ELECTIONS “I’d like to warn you that the Democrats may rig the elections on November 8. This may be possible because of the software installed in the FEC networks by the large IT companies. “As I’ve already said, their software is of poor quality, with many holes and vulnerabilities. “I have registered in the FEC electronic system as an independent election observer; so I will monitor that the elections are held honestly. “I also call on other hackers to join me, monitor the elections from inside and inform the U.S. society about the facts of electoral fraud.”
It is unclear what FEC information the hacker was in possession of, or was referring to, and how he intends to observe the elections. A recent video by Bev Harris of BlackBoxVoting provided a real-time demo of the GEMS vote-fraud system, “fraction magic,” an election theft mechanism with context and explanation. There is much more detail on the BlackBoxVoting website .
The demonstration below used a real voting system and real vote databases and takes place in seconds across multiple jurisdictions. Over 5000 subcontractors and middlemen have the access to perform this for any or all clients. It can give contract signing authority to whoever the user chooses. All political power can be converted to the hands of a few anonymous subcontractors. It’s a product. It’s scaleable. It learns its environment and can adjust to any political environment, any demographic. It runs silently, invisibly, and can produce plausible results that really pass for the real thing.
It is possible that this is the process that Guccifer is referring to, although we are merely speculating. We are confident he will provide more detail shortly.
While we wait, watch the following video explaining how elections can be (and perhaps are) rigged. | 1real
|
German minister warns on Washington trip against 'politics of fear' | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Germany’s foreign minister warned during a trip to Washington on Tuesday about a rise in the use of populist fear tactics by politicians on both sides of the Atlantic, describing this as a threat to Europe, the United States and transatlantic relations. Speaking at George Washington University on Super Tuesday, the biggest single day of state-by-state presidential nominating contests, Frank-Walter Steinmeier did not refer to Donald Trump or other candidates by name but he said he was concerned about the tone of the U.S. campaign. “In Germany and in Europe, something is gaining momentum in our domestic politics - and to be honest, I am also seeing it here in the United States during the primary campaigns. It’s the politics of fear,” Steinmeier said. Politicians in Germany and elsewhere in Europe have watched nervously as businessman and reality TV star Trump has moved from a long shot to the front-runner among Republicans seeking the party’s nomination to run in the Nov. 8 general election. Trump has described Chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcoming policy towards refugees as “insane” and predicted it would cause rioting in Germany. He has also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been at odds with Europe since Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region two years ago. Germany does not face a federal election until next year. But a new anti-immigrant party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), has emerged as a threat to Merkel’s conservatives. The AfD wants Germany to shut its border to migrants and use force to repel them if necessary. “They pretend that we can seal ourselves off and leave the world outside to deal with its own problems. But that’s wrong,” Steinmeier said, referring to politicians in Europe and the United States. “The worst thing we could do is seal ourselves off,” he said. In a subtle dig at Trump, who has promised to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and make the Mexicans pay for it, the German foreign minister added: “So if you ask me: building walls is a very bad idea - no matter who pays for them.” | 0fake
|
Millionaire Palin And Billioniare Trump Beg Gullible Supporters To Pay For Sarah’s Travel Costs | If you ve ever noticed how Donald Trump brags more about how much money he s made than how much he s given away, that s because he s notoriously uncharitable. Apparently that same level of pennypinching applies to the people who come out to endorse him even conservative celebrity Sarah Palin.According to a new fundraising email sent from Sarah Palin s controversial Political Action Committee (SarahPAC), Palin needs her supporters to break out their checkbooks and give as much as they can to the one time vice presidential candidate so she can attend political events to support endorsed candidates like Trump. The email, captured by Politico reporter Ken Vogel shamelessly tells Palin s loyal fans to visit the PAC s website to [contribute] what you can because Palin went all in for Donald Trump. As bizarre as it is for Trump to not offer to cover travel expenses for his new best friend and political ally, it s downright offensive to suggest Palin herself can t afford to pay her own way, either. This is the same person, after all, who recently put her $2.5 million Arizona mansion on the market. She s also the person who quit her job as governor in order to cash in on a book deal and a Fox News gig that earned her around $12 million. She may not be Donald Trump rich, but she s wealthy enough to buy a ticket or two from Travelocity.Longtime followers of Sarah Palin s grift machine won t be surprised by this latest moneygrab. SarahPAC has consistently operated like a personal bank account for Palin. The millions of dollars pulled in by gullible conservatives rarely go to meaningful political campaigns. Instead, the fiscal conservative uses the money to fund her lifestyle and promote her brand.As political watchdog group Open Secrets noted in 2014:What did SarahPAC spend most of its money on, then, in the third quarter? Many of the same consultants she has used all along for speechwriting, fundraising, logistics and research. There s even someone paid to consult on coalitions. Travel, presumably for Palin, is part of the equation; a PAC like this is useful for keeping a high profile nationally without having to pay those pesky airline and hotel tabs out of personal funds. And the PAC sent $10,885 to HarperCollins publisher of all three of Palin s books for books for donor fulfillment. That wasn t the only book purchase by the committee: A lump sum of $13,000 was listed as being spent for lodging, SUV rental, books for donors. In other words, Palin s SuperPAC is designed exclusively to (legally) steal money from conservatives hoping to get involved in the political process. Instead of using that money to fulfill her commitment, she spends it on SUV rentals and buying her own book in bulk to boost her sales. Now she says she needs more to keep up with Trump s traveling circus.In the interest of transparency, let s consider what one would get should they decide to give Palin some traveling money:It s been less than 24 hours Featured image: screengrab | 1real
|
US vs. Russia in Syria: A Battle to Control the Truth | US vs. Russia in Syria: A Battle to Control the Truth Source: Truth Out
The US corporate media never fail to report on Russian opportunism and its atrocities in various world conflicts. Objectively speaking, Putin's actions are not that different from Obama's, but Americans tend to see their presidents as benevolent.
President Obama during a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the opening day of the United Nations General Assembly, on September 28, 2015. (Photo: Doug Mills / The New York Times)
There is a dangerous leader heading an irrational state who is deploying forces to Syria he insists are fighting terrorists. His decisions have led to numerous civilian casualties and the threatening of nuclear confrontation with his nation's ideological foe. Domestically, his administration has jailed journalists and silenced critics in government , and since WWII, his country's intelligence services have meddled in the elections of dozens of countries and are now contemplating a cyberattack on its hegemonic rival. His administration maintains alliances with corrupt juntas and religious fundamentalists while championing domestic and foreign policies that have done little to rein in the country's violent nationalism, intolerant nativism, police brutality and enriching of the few at the expense of the many.
His name is Barack Obama. One could certainly be forgiven in thinking it was Vladimir Putin, since his justifications for Russian policy are strikingly similar.
While the US corporate media frantically reports on Russia's actions in Ukraine and Syria, it appears content with the havoc wreaked by its Nobel Peace Prize president in sundry countries across three continents. For well-established reasons rooted in exceptionalism and indoctrination, the US mainstream media cannot refer to Obama and his administration in the same terms used to describe Putin.
Whereas The New Yorker can run a headline that states, " Putin, Syria, and Why Moscow Has Gone War Crazy ," it is unfathomable to think of the US press referring to the Obama administration's policies in similar language. In fact, the article's author, Joshua Jaffe, appears bewildered with Russia's policies in the Middle East and Europe, especially the Russian Defence Ministry's announcement on October 8 that it had deployed nuclear warheads to Kaliningrad. The fact that Kaliningrad is part of Russia aside, Jaffe writes that, "Projecting a half-lunatic readiness to blow up the world is, in essence, a cover operation: a way to make a lot of noise while the Kremlin goes about creating a lot of new facts on the ground, whether in Syria or the Baltics."
If this Russian move is irrational, wouldn't Obama's actions -- supporting ill-defined rebel groups in Syria, signature strikes in Pakistan and indiscriminate Saudi bombing in Yemen -- be irrational as well? And in any state where the press was doing its job, wouldn't a look at US nuclear policy -- by sheer quantity of warheads, one that could be categorized as "readiness to blow up the world" -- and its citizens' attitudes toward weapons of mass destruction be prudent? It is unlikely that such a critical look will come anytime soon from the submissive US mainstream media, however. Though much has been written about Putin's clampdown and control of the Russian press, corporate US media outlets are hamstrung by the monopoly that six corporations have on the American "marketplace of ideas."
This is not to exonerate or extoll Putin. On the contrary, Putin is an opportunist bent on increasing his power and influence. But so is Obama and any other (future) US president, be it Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. One can only dream that the same measures that the US press takes in detailing Russian atrocities in Syria could be applied to US atrocities there, and also in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen and Somalia. But the US corporate media and populace seem to believe that Russia's intentions are malicious, while the United States' intentions are benevolent. This why US bombings of civilians in Syria are described as "mistakes," whereas the aim of Russian bombing can only be "terror." For example, the bombing of a UN convoy in September that Russia says was accompanied by terrorist elements was reported in the US press as a targeted strike against civilians.
Russia may very well target civilians. The tragedy of Aleppo is well-documented. The point here is not to justify Russian actions. It is to question why the US mainstream media accept the Obama administration's assertions that Russia's bombs are aimed at civilians, while US bombs are not. One could argue that both Russia and the US are guilty of civilian bombings, since distinctions between rebel, terrorist and civilian are blurred in civil war. But this would challenge the notion of benevolent intentions that are at the core of American exceptionalism. Interestingly, those who have bothered to look into Obama's abovementioned signature strikes will find that tolerance of civilian casualties is at the heart of that policy. And if a Martian -- bereft of any understanding of nationalism or exceptionalism, but well-versed in international Human Rights Law -- were to take a cursory look at the last 50 years of US foreign policy, he might conclude that the US does, in fact, target civilians .
A cynic would claim that the truth here does not matter. It is what people believe to be the truth that reigns supreme. To this end, both the American and Russian mainstream media and governments are presenting a one-sided version of atrocities that aims to vilify the other.
To address this dangerous trend, I presented a paper at Penza University in southern Russia on October 12, examining the language the Western media use to castigate and dehumanize Putin. The paper, " Language as a Weapon: How Western Journalists Portray Russian Policy ,"was given at a conference titled, "Language. Law. Society." After completing my talk, I fielded a question from a Russian academic regarding the role of the US as a world police force. This is a common question in the former Soviet Union and is trumpeted in the Russian press. My answer was that the US would never be a world police force, as it intervenes only in those areas where its vital economic interests are at stake. The main point being that the US corporate media do not accurately describe these interventions as power moves that waste large amounts of civilian life. Instead, the corporate media too often act as a public relations firm for the US government, repeating hollow rhetoric about freedom, liberty, democracy and the open market. The man responded that I should move to Russia, since the Russian press also make similar hollow claims in support of Putin.
Nobody would argue that Putin does not control the Russian media, and that his distorted version of the truth prevails. But one should question why, in a "free" society like the US, Obama's distorted version does, too. Share This Article... | 1real
|
New family in Coronation Street to ‘keep themselves to themselves’ | Glazebrooks, a family of three who last week moved into a semi-detached house in Coronation Street, say they have little interest in getting involved with the community in their new home in Weatherfield.
‘We like the quiet life,’ said 48-year-old Barry, an insurance underwriter. ‘We got the place at a knock-down price thanks to that recent thing we read in the local news about a tram crashing into a nightclub and killing four people. I only chose Weatherfield for the easy commute – which hopefully it will be, once the trams are up and running again.’
As a near-teetotaller, Barry added that he does not envisage spending much time in the local pub, the Rovers Return Inn. ‘Besides, what with the last four landlords packing it in in acrimonious circumstances, lorries crashing into it and it being burnt to the ground, an attempted murder in the cellar and arguments going on there most nights, it doesn’t sound like my sort of place,’ he added.
His 17-year-old son Philip, who has now settled in well at the local fee-paying academy Oakhill School, said that he had no plans for romantic entanglements. ‘Don’t get me wrong,’ he told reporters, ‘I’ve seen that Tracey Barlow from down the road and I definitely would, and I’ve heard there’s some lesbian action going on down at the Websters’, but I just have no time for that sort of thing with my A-levels coming up.’
Meanwhile, Mary Glazebrook, 45, who decided against seeking work at the local clothing factory because she doesn’t believe it’s healthy to spend all her time closeted in a single small street, is reluctant to mix with her neighbours.
‘I mean, take that Gail McIntyre,’ she said. ‘She seemed nice enough when she said hello to me, but it turns out she has a long history of feuding with her mother-in-laws, her first husband was murdered, her second one was a serial killer who tried to kill her whole family by driving her car into a canal, her daughter got pregnant at 13, her son is a borderline psychopath, her long-last father came back after 30 years and turned out to be gay, then to top it all she married the debt-ridden father of the son’s girlfriend and ended up in prison accused of his murder when he fell off a boat. Honestly, you couldn’t make it up.’
As of today, the Glazebrooks have no plans to have a housewarming. ‘To be honest,’ continued Mary, ‘I don’t think we could fit it in, what with hosting our swingers parties and sacrificing animals to Satan. Besides, I really need to have that conversation with Barry about how he’s not actually Philip’s dad – his brother is.’ Share this story...
Posted: Nov 19th, 2016 by Oxbridge Click for more article by Oxbridge .. More Stories about: From The Archives 0 | 1real
|
Soldier’s Widow Finally Speaks: ‘It Made Me Cry Even More’ — Trump Calls Her A Liar IMMEDIATELY | Monday morning, things got much worse for Donald Trump and his version of what happened during the phone call he made to Myeshia Johnson, the pregnant widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed in the Nigerian ambush orchestrated by ISIS.Appearing on ABC s Good Morning America, the grieving widow confirmed the account of the Florida Representative, Frederica Wilson, who was accompanying her on her way to meet her husband s remains when Trump s call came in. Not only did she repeat exactly what Wilson had recalled, but she said it made her very upset and hurt, and made her cry even worse on what must have been the worst day of her young life.She said that she has nothing to say to President Trump.Johnson was sucked into a bitter, public dispute over the call when Wilson recounted what Trump had said as she listened on speakerphone. The timeline of events just spirals from there, with Trump, his spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and his Chief of Staff retired 4-Star General John F. Kelly all taking swipes at Representative Wilson in lieu of overtly calling Myeshia Johnson herself a liar.All of that changed Monday morning.After Mrs. Johnson s appearance on GMA, Trump went back to Twitter one more time. It is now impossible to view what he s saying as anything other than calling her a liar directly.I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2017The spoke his name part of the tweet refers to something very specific that Johnson said in the GMA interview that the President could not remember Sgt. Johnson s name:"[Pres. Trump] couldn't remember my husband's name. That's what hurt me the most." Myeshia Johnson, widow of Sgt. La David Johnson pic.twitter.com/px5io2RbJB Good Morning America (@GMA) October 23, 2017It seems bizarre at this point that Donald Trump would continue to defend himself over his statements, but it s important to remember that the details of this terrorist ambush are still very, very unclear. If the whole affair turns out to be something akin to Benghazi the attack that killed four Americans in 2012 then public perception will play a big role in who the American public blames for every aspect what happened, including how he handled the deaths.Trump seems pretty eager to shift that blame off himself and onto literally anyone else.Even the widow of a dead soldier.Watch Myeshia Johnson s interview here:Featured image via Joe Raedle/Getty Images | 1real
|
Egypt not considering measures against Lebanon's Hezbollah: CNBC | CAIRO (Reuters) - President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said that Egypt is not considering taking any measures against Hezbollah despite Saudi Arabia s call for sanctions against the Lebanese Shi ite political and military group. Saudi Arabia, main backer of Egypt, has said Hezbollah should be disarmed and kept out of the Lebanese government. The subject is not about taking on or not taking on, the subject is about the status of the fragile stability in the region in light of the unrest facing the region, Sisi told CNBC in an interview when asked if Egypt would consider its own measures against Hezbollah. The region cannot support more turmoil, he said. Riyadh blames Hezbollah for the resignation of Lebanon s preeminent Sunni politician, accusing it of hijacking Lebanese politics. But Saudi Arabia is also criticized Lebanon as a whole, saying it too has declared war on the kingdom. The resignation on Saturday of Saudi-allied Lebanese prime minister Saad al-Hariri, announced from Riyadh and blamed on Iran and Hezbollah, is seen by many as the first step in a Saudi intervention in Lebanese politics. Sisi told Lebanon s speaker of parliament on Sunday Egypt is opposed to any interference in Lebanon s internal affairs. The president expressed Egypt s interest in preserving security and stability in Lebanon ...and affirmed the importance of avoiding all forms of sectarian and religious tensions or violence, and its opposition to attempted interference in Lebanon s internal affairs, Sisi s office said in a statement after he met Speaker Nabih Berri in Cairo. It s up to the Lebanese to reach the political settlement of their choice, the statement said. Sisi came to power when as military commander he led the overthrow of former President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests. Saudi Arabia backed the move and subsequently showered Egypt with aid. | 0fake
|