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Re: Some guy in his underwear was caught on camera torching a Donald Trump sign

Some guy in his underwear was caught on camera torching a Donald Trump sign Posted at 9:23 Tell us more about how it’s Donald Trump supporters who are unhinged? Here’s surveillance camera video of some guy dressed only in his underpants torching a Trump-Pence sign in Wisconsin: Man wearing only his underwear takes blowtorch to his neighbors' Trump sign — and they caught it all on camera https://t.co/XxdHdjAveM pic.twitter.com/mwWFZAwlBI — NBC News (@NBCNews) October 26, 2016 Here’s the worst part: there were witnesses to the arson who did nothing to stop it! Trending 'Steve Star' Reports are that the homeowners won’t be deterred by the vandalism and will put up an even bigger sign: HOT STUFF: Man in underwear torches Trump yard sign in Wisconsin, couple tells CNN they've put up a bigger sign https://t.co/5XtKcQDgHE — Marlena Baldacci (@MarlenaTV) October 26, 2016 ***

1real

WATCH: Bill Maher Hilariously Mocks Libertarians To Their Presidential Nominee’s Face

On Friday, during an interview on Real Time with Bill Maher, Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson sat down with Bill Maher and tried to make the case for a libertarian president. Maher brutally mocked Johnson and his party s economic beliefs saying that their economic theory is like Mad Max takes your gas and you die. The Libertarian Party would be more aptly named the Neoliberalist Party. They are both radically conservative on economic issues and radically liberal on social issues. As Maher described their views on government saying, I saw your convention. The vision of government is somewhere between colonial Williamsburg and Atlantis. Both Maher and Johnson cited examples of some of the more unorthodox views some people hold within the Libertarian Party. Johnson mentioned that he was booed at the Libertarian National Convention for stating that he believes that people should be required to get a driver s license in order for them to be able to drive. Maher mentions that the question as to whether 5-year-olds should be able to purchase heroin legally is a major debate between libertarians.As nutty as that sounds, Johnson insists that here are extremists and loons in every party, while posturing himself as an alternative to people who might be voting for the presumptive Republican nominee this November. Johnson insists that he is the best non-major party candidate to take votes away from Trump due to his predicted status of being on the ballot in all fifty states in the 2016 general election.The left has fervently hoped that a serious non-major candidate would run against Trump in the general election. With Republicans begrudgingly beginning to rally around Trump, it is looking more unlikely that either a serious or protest candidate backing a moderately conservative agenda will come from the Republican Party.Whether Johnson can run a serious campaign in November will mostly be determined by whether he can make his way into the debates. Candidates must be polling at 15% in order to make it into the debates. Johnson is currently polling at 10%. It s unlikely that Johnson is going to reach the necessary threshold to join the debates. That being said, he does seem like a reasonable choice for conservatives who cannot hold their nose to vote for Hillary Clinton and are adamantly a part of the #NeverTrump camp.You can watch the interview below, in full.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rK3IDl8RY8Featured image from video screenshot

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Brilliant!

1real

Syrian opposition SNC wont participate in Russia-sponsored congress: spokesman

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian National Coalition, a group fighting the Syrian government, said on Wednesday it opposed a Russian-sponsored congress of Syrian groups, calling it an attempt to circumvent U.N.-backed Geneva peace talks that aim for a political transition for the war-torn country. The Coalition will not participate in any negotiations with the regime outside Geneva or without U.N. sponsorship, SNC spokesman Ahmad Ramadan told Reuters. Russia s call for a conference for Syrians in Sochi is an attempt to circumvent Geneva and the international desire for a political transition in Syria in accordance with U.N. security council resolutions, the Turkey-based SNC said.

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CNN’S DON LEMON LOSES IT: Screams No! No! No! When Hillary, Huma, Weiner Scandal Brought Up [Video]

CNN host Don Lemon continues to show his extreme bias when it comes to Democrats vs Republicans. His most recent show of bias was his interview with a panel that included Ben Ferguson. When Ferguson brought up the Hillary, Huma, Weiner scandal, Lemon screamed No! over and over again. He thinks this is old news but it s a fact that the emails from Weiner s laptop are coming out today. We took a screenshot of Lemon s smirk at the end of the video (SEE BELOW) showing his irritation at the direction Ferguson took during the interview.EMAILS TO BE RELEASED TODAY THIS ISN T OLD NEWS!.@StateDept will publish releasable portions of 2800 government docs that @FBI found on Anthony Weiner laptop tomorrow (Dec. 29th). Again, thanks to @JudicialWatch lawsuits. Will @RealDonaldTrump DOJ finally take action on Clinton/Abedin misdeeds? https://t.co/8X4p0srBa9 Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) December 28, 2017A screenshot from the last moment of the interview shows Lemon s disgust and frustration with the fact that Ben Ferguson brought up a topic the Dems would like to forget:ONE OF OUR ALL TIME FAVORITES WITH LEMON IS WHEN ROY MOORE S ATTORNEY TROLLED HIM ON-AIR SO FUNNY!Roy Moore s attorney just called political hack Don Lemon a funny name on air. The CNN host was not pleased with the attorney s quip of Don Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Roy Moore attorney calls CNN host 'Don Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy' pic.twitter.com/dDyvj81xnO Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) November 12, 2017

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Executive actions ready to go as Trump prepares to take office

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump is preparing to sign executive actions on his first day in the White House on Friday to take the opening steps to crack down on immigration, build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border and roll back outgoing President Barack Obama’s policies. Trump, a Republican elected on Nov. 8 to succeed Democrat Obama, arrived in Washington on a military plane with his family a day before he will be sworn in during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. Aides said Trump would not wait to wield one of the most powerful tools of his office, the presidential pen, to sign several executive actions that can be implemented without the input of Congress. “He is committed to not just Day 1, but Day 2, Day 3 of enacting an agenda of real change, and I think that you’re going to see that in the days and weeks to come,” Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said on Thursday, telling reporters to expect activity on Friday, during the weekend and early next week. MORE FROM REUTERS  * Trumponomics may be wrong medicine for U.S. economy today  * Graphic: The presidential touch on markets  * Politics Live: Latest on Trump's inauguration Trump plans on Saturday to visit the headquarters of the CIA in Langley, Virginia. He has harshly criticized the agency and its outgoing chief, first questioning the CIA’s conclusion that Russia was involved in cyber hacking during the U.S. election campaign, before later accepting the verdict. Trump also likened U.S. intelligence agencies to Nazi Germany. Trump’s advisers vetted more than 200 potential executive orders for him to consider signing on healthcare, climate policy, immigration, energy and numerous other issues, but it was not clear how many orders he would initially approve, according to a member of the Trump transition team who was not authorized to talk to the press. Signing off on orders puts Trump, who has presided over a sprawling business empire but has never before held public office, in a familiar place similar to the CEO role that made him famous, and will give him some early victories before he has to turn to the lumbering process of getting Congress to pass bills. The strategy has been used by other presidents, including Obama, in their first few weeks in office. “He wants to show he will take action and not be stifled by Washington gridlock,” said Princeton University presidential historian Julian Zelizer. Trump is expected to impose a federal hiring freeze and take steps to delay a Labor Department rule due to take effect in April that would require brokers who give retirement advice to put their clients’ best interests first. He also will give official notice he plans to withdraw from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, Spicer said. “I think you will see those happen very shortly,” Spicer said. Obama, ending eight years as president, made frequent use of his executive powers during his second term in office, when the Republican-controlled Congress stymied his efforts to overhaul immigration and environmental laws. Many of those actions are now ripe targets for Trump to reverse. Trump is expected to sign an executive order in his first few days to direct the building of a wall on the southern border with Mexico, and actions to limit the entry of asylum seekers from Latin America, among several immigration-related steps his advisers have recommended. That includes rescinding Obama’s order that allowed more than 700,000 people brought into the United States illegally as children to stay in the country on a two-year authorization to work and attend college, according to several people close to the presidential transition team. It is unlikely Trump’s order will result in an immediate roundup of these immigrants, sources told Reuters. Rather, he is expected to let the authorizations expire. The issue could set up a confrontation with Obama, who told reporters on Wednesday he would weigh in if he felt the new administration was unfairly targeting those immigrants. Advisers to Trump expect him to put restrictions on people entering the United States from certain countries until a system for “extreme vetting” for Islamist extremists can be set up. During his presidential campaign, Trump proposed banning non-American Muslims from entering the United States, but his executive order regarding immigration is expected to be based on nationality rather than religion. Another proposed executive order would require all Cabinet departments to disclose and pause current work being done in connection with Obama’s initiatives to curb carbon emissions to combat climate change. Trump also is expected to extend prohibitions on future lobbying imposed on members of his transition team. Washington was turned into a virtual fortress ahead of the inauguration, with police ready to step in to separate protesters from Trump supporters at any sign of unrest. As Obama packed up to leave the White House, Trump and his family laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery and attended a concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Trump spoke earlier to lawmakers and Cabinet nominees at a luncheon in a ballroom at his hotel, down the street from the White House, announcing during brief remarks that he would pick Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets of the National Football League, as U.S. ambassador to Britain. “We have a lot of smart people. I tell you what, one thing we’ve learned, we have by far the highest IQ of any Cabinet ever assembled,” Trump said. Trump has selected all 21 members of his Cabinet, along with six other key positions requiring Senate confirmation. The Senate is expected on Friday to vote to confirm retired General James Mattis, Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, and retired General John Kelly, his homeland security choice. Senate Republicans had hoped to confirm as many as seven Cabinet members on Friday, but Democrats balked at the pace. Trump spokesman Spicer accused Senate Democrats of “stalling tactics.” Also in place for Monday will be 536 “beachhead team members” at government agencies, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said, a small portion of the thousands of positions Obama’s appointees will vacate. Trump has asked 50 Obama staffers in critical posts to stay on until replacements can be found, including Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and Brett McGurk, envoy to the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State. The list includes Adam Szubin, who has long served in an “acting” capacity in the Treasury Department’s top anti-terrorism job because his nomination has been held up by congressional Republicans since Obama named him to the job in April 2015. The Supreme Court said U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, who will administer the oath of office on Friday, met with Trump on Thursday to discuss inauguration arrangements.

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Twitter DESTROYS Trump After He Whines That Eric Can’t Sell Access To His Administration (TWEETS)

In case you haven t heard, Eric Trump recently had to cancel an auction in which he was using his charity as a front to sell access to his father s administration. Recently the Eric Trump Foundation announced an auction for coffee with his sister, incoming First Lady Ivanka, who will be serving as an adviser to her father and occupying the space in the White House normally reserved for the President s spouse.To any casual onlooker, this is exactly the sort of situation that used to cause Trump to scream lock her up, but now that he s President, the obvious conflict of interest presented by the sale of access to those closest to the President-elect doesn t matter much to him. On Friday, The Donald took to Twitter to whine that his family can t sell access to his administration:My wonderful son, Eric, will no longer be allowed to raise money for children with cancer because of a possible conflict of interest with Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2016my presidency. Isn't this a ridiculous shame? He loves these kids, has raised millions of dollars for them, and now must stop. Wrong answer! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2016Now, nothing is stopping any of the Trumps from donating their own money, or encouraging direct donations to St. Jude, the organization that was allegedly going to receive the money (anytime the Trumps and charity are mentioned, allegedly is appropriate until it actually happens). But for them to think it is in any way OK to sell access to Ivanka no matter the reason is just asinine. It s conflicts like this that caused Obama to prohibit members of his family from directly raising money for anyone, no matter the cause:The Obama administration prohibited any member of the first family from directly soliciting charitable donations, said Norm Eisen, who served as an ethics lawyer early in President Obama s tenure. Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, have attended occasional charitable fund-raising events, including the Congressional Black Caucus annual dinners. The Obamas also allowed their daughters high school to auction off magazines they had signed, Mr. Eisen said, but they did not auction off access to themselves. You never, ever want to have government officials using their public office for the private gain, even for a worthy charity, Mr. Eisen said. That was how we did it. Eric Trump, like his father, whined that he can t raise money by selling his sister despite getting by just fine without that sort of thing in the past. I get that people will try to use anything they can for their own interests, Trump said. The reality is, I ve been raising money for sick kids far longer than his dad has been involved in politics, Eric Trump told the New York Times, though he did explain that he understands the quagmire presented by what he had hoped he would not get caught doing.Naturally, in what is almost becoming a daily ritual, Twitter swarmed Trump s morning bloviating whinefest and once again hammered him into oblivion:@realDonaldTrump Sorry your children can't get the tax deduction on your name. But people should donate DIRECTLY to St. Jude. Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) December 23, 2016@realDonaldTrump remember when you used Trump foundation money to buy a big picture of yourself? Sell it. Give the kids the cash. Emma Kennedy (@EmmaKennedy) December 23, 2016@realDonaldTrump You could always quit and let him continue his stellar work. The world will thank you. Cameron Atfield (@CameronAtfield) December 23, 2016@realDonaldTrump Just an idea. Maybe spend some of that nuke money on helping kids? Matt Peterson (@mattbpete) December 23, 2016@realDonaldTrump Your "wonderful son" was trying to sell access to you in the name of charity. SHAME! #draintheswamp Neal Gottlieb (@nealhgottlieb) December 23, 2016.@realDonaldTrump Yeah quit your bullshit, and quit using sick kids to do it. Write a fucking check like the rest of us.@EricTrump NastyCoCo (@HeadOColettuce) December 23, 2016@realDonaldTrump @realDonaldTrump BEFORE YOU GO ANY FURTHER he was selling access to you, exactly what you railed on Hillary about Buster (@Americas_Dad) December 23, 2016@realDonaldTrump He is no longer allowed to auction off access to a powerful family. Do you really not understand this? Quit whining. Lead. Kim Wright (@Kim_Wright_W) December 23, 2016@realDonaldTrump No, it's not wrong and you ragged on Clinton you early stage dementia patient. Andrew Mastrandonas (@AndrewMinDC) December 23, 2016@realDonaldTrump YES was the wrong answer to "Do you want to be president" if you wished your grifter family to avoid high profile conflicts Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) December 23, 2016@realDonaldTrump HRC's foundation brings HIV treatment drugs to thousands of Africans and you painted it as beyond evil. #hypocriteTrump Doug (Jax) Taylor (@DougyLuvFoxy) December 23, 2016Interestingly, Trump neglected to mention that Eric Trump s foundation was busted funneling nearly $1 million to his father s businesses, nor did he tell people about the fact that his son lies about where the money goes or the fact that the ETF spent $25,000 on a painting of Eric s dad. The Daily Beast reports:Though the Eric Trump Foundation s website says, We exclusively support St. Jude Children s Research Hospital, that isn t the case. In 2012, ETF began donating in earnest to other causes, cutting small checks to 40 individual charities in addition to the outsize donation given to the children s hospital. Some of these small donations like the $1,600 to the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, a California wine industry organization where Eric Trump once gave a keynote address have seemingly little to do with the charity s mission of helping sick children.By 2013, it had given $15,000 to The Little Baby Face Foundation, a controversial charity run by a Manhattan plastic surgeon that provides surgery for children with big noses, large ears, and other more serious facial deformities so they can face bullies at school one which critics have warned sends a warped message to such young children.Despite the claim that all the gifts in ETF s silent auction would be donated, the foundation also paid $25,000 to an artist s foundation in exchange for a portrait of Donald Trump that was sold at the 2012 Golf Invitational to Eric Trump, who hung it over his livingroom sofa. Eric Trump did not respond to a request for comment seeking the purchase price.Would the money have actually gone to St. Jude? There s truly no way of knowing given the previous lies and shady dealings but it is never OK for the President s family to sell access, period.Featured image via screengrab/Getty Images (Jeff J. Mitchell)

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OSAMA BIN LADEN’S YOUNGEST WIFE Speaks Out For First Time: Tells Chaotic Story Of Night U.S. Navy SEALs Killed Her “Frightened” Husband

The family of Osama bin Laden has spoken out for the first time about what it was like to watch the 9/11 mastermind and al-Qaeda terrorist die in a hail of US military gunfire.Amal bin Laden, the fourth and youngest wife of the man who was at the top of the US s most wanted list for over a decade, has recounted the story of the night he died at the hands of SEAL special forces.She and their six children lived in their safe house in the mountains of Abbottabad in Pakistan when bin Ladin was killed on May 11, 2011.Amal bin Laden told the story of the night to Cathy Scott-Clarke and Adrian Levy for their book The Exile: The Flight of Osama bin Laden, which has been excerpted in the Sunday Times UK.Along with Amal bin Laden and her children, also living in the house was bin Laden s second wife Khairiah and third wife Seham and son Khalid, 22.First wife Najwa had married him as a teen and bore him 11 children, but left him two days before the 9/11 attacks.By 11pm on May 1, 2011, after dinner, the dishes, and prayer, bin Laden was fast asleep while his fourth wife lie next to him.Outside, the streets were dark due to an electricity shortage, something that was a common occurrence in the area, but Amal awoke uneasily just past midnight.She heard a chop chop chop sound and thought she saw shadows dancing on the windows.Bin Laden sat up, looking frightened. Americans are coming, he said, panting. Then there was a loud screeching noise and the house rocked.The pair clutched at each other and crept to the balcony. It was a moonless night and difficult to see, Amal said.On the lawn, out of their sight, were two US military Black Hawks, and 24 SEALs were stealthily rushing over the lawn and towards the compound.Up on the second floor balcony, Seham and Khalid could see the Americans approaching.Bin Laden called to his son to come to him and, still in his pajamas, Khalid grabbed an AK-47, which Amal knew he hadn t fired since he was 13.Amal and Seham comforted the children, who were crying. They all went to the top floor and huddled.They heard a blast as the SEALs blew off the gate to the house. They want me, not you, bin Laden finally said, telling his family to go downstairs. But oldest daughters Miriam and Sumaiya hid on the balcony while Seham and son Khalid went downstairs.Upstairs, Amal, bin Laden and their young son Hussein remained in the room and prayed. Amal said she realized someone within their inner circle had betrayed them.The SEALs were now in a hallway and blasted a locked door before heading upwards.One of the forces members, who spoke Arabic and knew what Khalid looked like, called to him, and when Khalid glanced over the balcony, he was shot.Sumaiya and Miriam rushed the SEALs but they were quickly flicked against a wall by the Arabic-speaking man.SEAL Robert O Neill walked past them and entered the room. Amal was in front of her husband. She rushed O Neill and was shot by someone as other SEALs entered the room.Amal felt pain tear through her leg and she collapsed onto the bed and passed out.O Neill would later describe shooting bin Laden, and thinking He s going down .More SEALS crashed into the room and fired rounds into bin Laden.Meanwhile, Amal said she awoke but knew she had to play dead. She closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing.Little Hussein, who had witnessed everything, was grabbed by a SEAL, and water was thrown in his face, according to Amal.She remained motionless as Miram and Sumaiya were grabbed by the forces and held over the bodies of their father, and voices demanded that they make an identification.At first Miriam gave a fake name, but Sumaiya said Tell them the truth, they are not Pakastanis . My father, Miriam said. Osama bin Laden. Safiyah, then 11, was hiding on the balcony when he was also grabbed by a SEAL and told to make an identification. Safiyah was crying hysterically but told the men it was her father.Khairiah, who was in the hallway, was also grabbed by a SEAL. Stop f***ing with me, the SEAL yelled, according to the account. Who s that? Osama, she murmured. For entire story: Daily MailNavy SEAL Robert O Neill who tells his story of how they found and how he killed Osama Bin Laden to FOX News here:

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Iraqi Kurdish official says Iraqi vote rejecting Kurdish independence referendum is non-binding

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - A vote by Iraq s parliament to reject the results of this month s Iraqi Kurdish independence vote was non-binding, a high-ranking Kurdish official told Reuters on Tuesday. The Kurdish parliament will definitely have a response to the resolution when it convenes on Thursday, said Hoshyar Zebari, former Iraqi foreign and finance minister and now a senior adviser to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani. Zebari said Kurdish lawmakers would convene for the first time since October 2015.

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Attorney General Sessions brushes off Trump criticism

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday brushed off sharp criticism from President Donald Trump over his recusal from the Justice Department’s Russia investigation, saying he loved his job and planned to continue serving. “We love this job, we love this department, and I plan to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate,” Sessions said at a news conference announcing a cyber crime bust. Sessions was flanked by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Acting Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Andrew McCabe, who were both also criticized by the president in an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday. Trump took a broad swipe at his administration’s top law officers in the interview, saying he would not have appointed Sessions as attorney general if he had known he would recuse himself. The Republican president also noted Rosenstein’s connection to Democratic Baltimore and that McCabe’s wife took money from a leading Democrat during a political campaign. The public lashing came after a turbulent first six months in office during which Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn and FBI Director James Comey, then the top official leading the probe into whether Russian meddled in the 2016 presidential election and possible ties to the Trump campaign. Sessions recused himself in March from the Russia criminal investigation. He did so after failing to disclose at his confirmation hearing that he had held meetings last year with Russia’s ambassador. “Sessions should have never recused himself and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else,” the Times quoted Trump as saying. White House spokesman Sarah Sanders said later on Thursday that, while Trump was disappointed in the recusal, “clearly he has confidence in him or he would not be the attorney general.” Sessions was Trump’s first supporter in the U.S. Senate and helped shape his political team throughout the campaign and into the transition after the Nov. 8 election. He declined on Thursday to acknowledge Trump’s criticism. “I have the honor of serving as attorney general. It’s something that goes beyond any thought I would have ever had for myself,” Sessions said. Similarly, Rosenstein declined to comment when asked about Trump’s remarks that there were very few Republicans in Baltimore, where he was a former federal prosecutor. “I was proud to be here yesterday, I’m proud to be here today, I’ll be proud to work here tomorrow,” he said. They took only a few questions before a spokesman asked if there were any questions about the department’s dismantlement of AlphaBay, a “dark web” market. Seeing no hands, Sessions left as reporters shouted questions about whether he would resign. An aide to Sessions said the recent disparaging remarks from Trump are “nothing new,” given news media reports last month that the president was upset with the attorney general over the Russia recusal. A federal special counsel has been appointed to take over the Russia investigation, and several congressional committees are conducting probes. Next week, Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner, and the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., are scheduled to testify before Senate panels, as well as former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. The Kremlin says it did not interfere in the election, and Trump has denied any collusion. In the Times interview, the president also took aim at the special counsel appointed to take over the Russia investigation, Robert Mueller, saying Mueller would be crossing a “red line” if he began investigating Trump’s personal finances. “I think that’s a violation. Look, this is about Russia,” Trump told the Times. At the White House, Sanders said Trump has no intention of firing Mueller at this time. The Times also reported on Wednesday that Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) has been in contact with federal investigators about Trump’s accounts, citing two people briefed on the matter. And the bank was expecting to eventually have to provide information to Mueller, they said. Deutsche Bank, which has loaned the Trump Organization family business millions of dollars for real-estate ventures, late last month rejected demands by Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives to provide details of Trump’s finances, citing privacy laws. On Capitol Hill, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Trump’s pick to replace Comey at the FBI, Christopher Wray. The full Senate was expected to confirm Wray before its August recess. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said at the hearing that Trump’s latest comments raised troubling questions about the independence and credibility of the Justice Department. “Now what happens next as members close to the president, his own administration, and his family are being asked critical questions?” Durbin asked. “We have to make it clear that no one in this country, including the president of the United States, is above the law.”

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CalPERS says considering making own private equity investments

MONTEREY, Calif. (Reuters) - The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) on Monday said it was considering making direct investments in private companies, a potential major shift in strategy that would be the first such action by a U.S. public pension fund. The change, discussed at a meeting of CalPERS board in Monterey, would be closely watched by other U.S. public pensions as they look to improve returns on their investments, in part by cutting fees. The $323 billion pension fund, the largest in the country and a trend setter, has been under increasing pressure to achieve returns closer to the fund’s assumed rate of return of 7 percent by 2020. In the fiscal year ended June 30, private equity investment returned 13.9 percent, the second best performer behind public equities, or stock portfolio. The asset class helped to boost the fund’s total year-end returns to 11.2 percent, exceeding expectations for the first time since 2014. Private equity has been CalPERS’ best performing asset class in the past two decades and accounts for about $26 billion of its portfolio. But CalPERS mainly invests in private equity funds and has been criticized for accepting the high fees and limited disclosures typically associated with the asset class. The shift in strategy, if adopted, is likely to require a considerable investment in staff and expertise in the years ahead to handle the strategic shift. CalPERS Chief Investment Officer Ted Eliopoulos told Reuters he would recommend CalPERS “explore setting up a separate vehicle” for direct investments and expand the current co-investment program. Eliopoulos suggested CalPERS focus on opportunities that do not compete with its current private equity investments, such as owning companies for longer than 10 years, and investing in technology and life science companies. “CalPERS has a unique opportunity to be a leader in the co-investment space,” Sandra Horbach, U.S. buyouts co-head at The Carlyle Group, told the board on Monday. CalPERS’ massive size would make it a formidable player and allow the fund to dictate some investment terms, Horbach said. Most U.S.-based funds shy away from such investments, while Canadian pension funds are considered leaders in the strategy. By its own account, CalPERS has developed somewhat of a negative image among private equity firms as being difficult to work with and slow to make decisions, John Cole, CalPERS investment director, told the board at Monday’s meeting. A number of funds “have told us that we have become too unpredictable to do business with, and many larger general partners are cutting back the amounts that they are willing to allocate to us in their new funds”, Cole said.

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After a Breakup, an App to Help Breathe, Then Run - The New York Times

“When was the last time you breathed properly?” the therapist asked me. His name was Allan. Thirty minutes into my first visit, I was still waiting for him to reach the part where he would help me get over the end of my relationship. “I’m not sure what you mean,” I said. “Easy, open breathing. Big lungfuls of air. ” “I don’t know,” I said. “I breathe all the time. ” I tried steering the conversation myself. “I just think I need to work out what happened — — ” “I’m not interested in what happened,” he said. “I’m interested in the last time you breathed normally. You’re a young, healthy woman. But your paperwork tells me you’re struggling at work, haven’t eaten a full meal in weeks and can’t sleep. You need to fix that. ” I thought therapy would help convince me that the loss of the person I had been devoted to for years was a good thing. Instead, something in Allan’s blunt insistence on the symptoms and not the cause had put me on my heels. He peered over his notepad. “You’re all hunched up,” he said. “You look miserable. Your homework for next week is to do the exercises I’ll email you. You’ve got six sessions, and I want you breathing and sleeping properly by the end of it. ” Cycling home afterward, I had already dismissed Allan’s words and returned to my regular programming: raking through the seven years since I had met my ex, mining memories for details of where it went wrong. We had started with two years of silent longing (me) and dating other people (him) before finally feeling our way into a life and home together in London. Until one painful, protracted summer, he left. I had always prided myself on being strong, on being able to bounce back, but here I was, months later, wrestling with questions without answers at night and awakening to a frightening bleakness. Lying awake that evening, I wondered if I was making a mistake in outsourcing my problems. Allan’s focus on breathing sounded suspiciously like mindfulness to me. I had another long night ahead, though, so I groped around the bedsheets for my phone, and that’s when I saw his promised email. “Download the app in the link below,” it read. “When you use it, imagine a place you feel happy and safe. Hold that image in your mind. Then focus on your breathing. Use the app each night before you go to sleep. Exercise. ” My mind cast around for the prescribed happy place, settling on a pebble beach on the south coast of England where I had spent childhood summers. I tried to remember its hard, smooth stones, the sounds of my brother yelling from the sea. The app, Positivity with Andrew Johnson, started. In a Scottish burr, a man counted down from 10. With a twinge of curiosity, I tried breathing in. Allan had a point: My chest was tight with tension. I attempted to push the air down, and my tummy distended like a child’s. As I tried to synchronize my breathing, the vision of the beach kept escaping and then reappearing, interrupted by jags of thought. Still, I kept trying every night. Learning how to breathe was at least something different, a quick break from analyzing my own love story with exhausting precision. When I visited Allan a few weeks later, our conversation turned to intuition. “What does your gut tell you about what you should be doing?” he asked. “My gut?” I felt embarrassed. “I don’t feel anything in there. ” I looked down hopefully at my stomach. Privately, I had always wondered what people meant by intuition. “You mentioned that you were nervous, that you often experienced anxiety from the start of the year,” he said. “Why do you think that was?” I have always relied on the flush of adrenaline to get stuff done. Yet a deeper, more frantic energy than usual had seeped in during the months before my boyfriend left. This tension pushed the vacuum cleaner faster round the living room and infused the meals I had started to make from cookbooks. Our apartment had never looked so tidy. On rainy Sundays, I urged him to make plans for a trip to Paris, which he wasn’t keen on. “I find it hard to believe that my body knew something was up before my brain did,” I said, petulance creeping into my voice. “Intuition is a sense developed from your past experiences, books you’ve read, sounds on the street, conversations, facial expressions,” Allan said. “All valuable information. It can help you to distinguish between what is real and what is fake, to notice something dangerous. Perhaps you trust your thoughts more, though. ” “Thoughts are all I have, surely,” I said. “That’s where all that information ends up getting used. ” “There’s plenty of research that would disagree with you. Why not try listening to your body instead of your head? That’s where all your feelings have been coming from. ” Feelings. We hadn’t talked about feelings at all. But as the weeks passed, I found that painful emotions, long ossified and remote, began overtaking me in humiliating ways. Tears streamed down my face in supermarkets my shoulders heaved silently on family car trips. My feelings were like the drunk who shows up too late to the party, misjudging the mood. Yet it was a strange relief to find I was capable of them. The tears were new, and they felt animal. Salt burned a rash around my eyelids in a way that I suspected wasn’t entirely about the end of a relationship. The breakup had done something else: It had caused a crack, and the breathing only seemed to be making it wider. Earlier, secrets and disasters found the fissure and out they came, noisily, messily. They had been quiet for years, but now they wanted water and air. In Allan’s company, I seemed to spend increasing amounts of time feeling like an idiot. “I’m not trying to be difficult — — ” He suddenly sounded kind. “I don’t think you are,” he said. “But deep down, people often know when something is coming. When something has to change. ” The last time I spoke to Allan was on the phone I had work I couldn’t get out of. He was as unrepentantly to the point as ever. “It’s fine,” he said as I apologized. “You’ll be fine. But I wanted to say, if your comes back, think seriously. Good luck. And don’t forget to fill in the feedback form. ” Later that day, from across my office desk, my phone pinged. It was a message from my ex: “Do you want to meet up? I’d like to speak to you. ” How had Allan foreseen that? The old love drew me back in, even when reduced to digital form. “When?” I replied. “Where do you want to meet up?” A few days later, after an evening of stilted small talk in a pub, we stood together on a London street streaming with people. It was a sharp, clear November night. I felt blindsided. Ten minutes earlier he had stared cryptically into my face and said: “I think we should try again. I miss you. ” Words I had been willing him to say. “I understand this is a surprise,” he said. “I’ll wait for you to decide. ” “I don’t know what to say,” I mumbled. But then there was the beach. I had found that the more time I spent imagining that beach, the better I felt, the more I noticed things. That afternoon, for example, I had enjoyed how the cold air smelled of bonfires. Even now, flooded with fear, I had briefly thought how cheerful the city’s scarlet buses looked as they slid past in the dark. I could see him waiting for a response, but I stood dumb. The traffic roared and I could feel my feet vibrating with the pavement. Cold wind brushed past, goading me. It was all in league with a new, internal voice, one that spoke quietly and unexpectedly. “Leave him,” it said. “Take what you have and run. ” So with hardly a word, I turned and ran for the bus. That was a couple of years ago. Allan gave me no cure for heartbreak, but he did teach me some things. To look after my body, to pay it respect. To question my mind, which doesn’t understand half as much as it thinks it does. To understand that the time spent in the gap between the endless stories we tell ourselves is the present. These days, I care more about being peaceful and happy than about being in love. I’m not sure love is love if it consumes you, if it dominates your thoughts. Perhaps that’s something else: obsession, limerence. While it’s a trip to get lost in a relationship, finding yourself again can prove and costly. But breathing freely, feeling alert to the world and being in touch with your emotions? Just $2. 99 at the app store. And a lot of work. Next I’d like to try having love and happiness at the same time, though. I’ve heard it’s possible.

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Who Are The “Protesters” Going After Trump Hotel In DC? Communist Lunatics Of Course!

1real

[VIDEO] SHERIFF CLARKE EXPOSES THE LEFT: “This (Ferguson protests) Is Nothing More Than An Attempt To Try To Energize and Mobilize The Black Vote Through The 2016 Election”

A bunch of thugs, a bunch of creeps, criminals, race hustlers with a scattering of law abiding people converged in this area and ripped the town up again. I would ve like to think this phony (#BlackLivesMatter) Movement Would ve Come Back To Apologize To The Good Law-Abiding People Of Ferguson, MO, but instead, we get this whole phony movement. In the first round there was an over-reliance by the police on avoiding confrontation. Look, the police are not looking for confrontation, but if someone s gonna bring the fight, then they have to respond quickly. If there s looting, if there s gun fire like last night, if there s rioting, if there s other sort of criminal behavior, law enforcement needs to use the resources they have. Respond quickly and crush it. And give the impression to these individuals that this stuff is not gonna stand. They re (the left) gonna keep this thing going and it s an unfortunate thing. Because look, this isn t Selma, Alabama this isn t Montgomery, it isn t the civl rights movement. Mike Brown was engaged in felonious conduct.This is a slap in the face to people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. They oughta go back and study Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I don t remember gun fire and rioting breaking out at a protest that he held.

1real

THE TRUTH About APPLE vs The US Government…And Why Americans Should Care Who Wins

Americans need to know the truth about Apple and what the government is asking them to do. They need to know what Apple has already agreed to do for the incompetent government. This article spells it all out Before we get into too much detail about the Apple VS US Government dispute, we thought it was important to share with you a letter from Apple CEO Tim Cook to their customers:February 16, 2016 The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers. We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand.This moment calls for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around the country to understand what is at stake.Smartphones, led by iPhone, have become an essential part of our lives. People use them to store an incredible amount of personal information, from our private conversations to our photos, our music, our notes, our calendars and contacts, our financial information and health data, even where we have been and where we are going.All that information needs to be protected from hackers and criminals who want to access it, steal it, and use it without our knowledge or permission. Customers expect Apple and other technology companies to do everything in our power to protect their personal information, and at Apple we are deeply committed to safeguarding their data.Compromising the security of our personal information can ultimately put our personal safety at risk. That is why encryption has become so important to all of us.For many years, we have used encryption to protect our customers personal data because we believe it s the only way to keep their information safe. We have even put that data out of our own reach, because we believe the contents of your iPhone are none of our business.We were shocked and outraged by the deadly act of terrorism in San Bernardino last December. We mourn the loss of life and want justice for all those whose lives were affected. The FBI asked us for help in the days following the attack, and we have worked hard to support the government s efforts to solve this horrible crime. We have no sympathy for terrorists.When the FBI has requested data that s in our possession, we have provided it. Apple complies with valid subpoenas and search warrants, as we have in the San Bernardino case. We have also made Apple engineers available to advise the FBI, and we ve offered our best ideas on a number of investigative options at their disposal.We have great respect for the professionals at the FBI, and we believe their intentions are good. Up to this point, we have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them. But now the U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create. They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone.Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation. In the wrong hands, this software which does not exist today would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone s physical possession.The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a backdoor. And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control.Some would argue that building a backdoor for just one iPhone is a simple, clean-cut solution. But it ignores both the basics of digital security and the significance of what the government is demanding in this case.In today s digital world, the key to an encrypted system is a piece of information that unlocks the data, and it is only as secure as the protections around it. Once the information is known, or a way to bypass the code is revealed, the encryption can be defeated by anyone with that knowledge.The government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that s simply not true. Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks from restaurants and banks to stores and homes. No reasonable person would find that acceptable.The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers including tens of millions of American citizens from sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals. The same engineers who built strong encryption into the iPhone to protect our users would, ironically, be ordered to weaken those protections and make our users less safe.We can find no precedent for an American company being forced to expose its customers to a greater risk of attack. For years, cryptologists and national security experts have been warning against weakening encryption. Doing so would hurt only the well-meaning and law-abiding citizens who rely on companies like Apple to protect their data. Criminals and bad actors will still encrypt, using tools that are readily available to them.Rather than asking for legislative action through Congress, the FBI is proposing an unprecedented use of the All Writs Act of 1789 to justify an expansion of its authority.The government would have us remove security features and add new capabilities to the operating system, allowing a passcode to be input electronically. This would make it easier to unlock an iPhone by brute force, trying thousands or millions of combinations with the speed of a modern computer.The implications of the government s demands are chilling. If the government can use the All Writs Act to make it easier to unlock your iPhone, it would have the power to reach into anyone s device to capture their data. The government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone s microphone or camera without your knowledge.Opposing this order is not something we take lightly. We feel we must speak up in the face of what we see as an overreach by the U.S. government.We are challenging the FBI s demands with the deepest respect for American democracy and a love of our country. We believe it would be in the best interest of everyone to step back and consider the implications.While we believe the FBI s intentions are good, it would be wrong for the government to force us to build a backdoor into our products. And ultimately, we fear that this demand would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect.Tim Cook, Apple CEORush Limbaugh explains how our incompetent government is responsible for the mess in which they find themselves: The terrorists phones were not owned by the terrorist. Mr. Syed Farook Skyhook did not own his phone. San Bernardino County owned the phone.Do you know that over the weekend we learned the FBI told San Bernardino to change the password on this phone? They thought that they would be able to find out information if they changed the Well, not the password. The Apple ID password. It s just it s an absolute mess. Nobody knows what s going on or how to use these things.Since San Bernardino County owned the phone, they could have had total control over it. If you are a business right now and you deploy iPhones and I m gonna stick with iPhones in this case cause that s what I know, but it s true of any others. If you re a small business, a corporation, and you provide phones for your employees and you own those phones, there is something called Digital Device Management. It is software that allows you to control everything on their phone.You can put restrictions on what they can do with it. You can put restrictions on which apps work and which apps won t. In other words, you can stop them from using the phone personally. In addition to that, you, because you own the phone, have the ability to erase it at any time and find out what s on it. You can reset the pass code yourself as the owner of the phone. You can do it with four clicks.If the people in San Bernardino County had ever taken the time to find out what they could do with the phones that they were giving to employees, if they had just taken the time to have somebody come in and teach them, we wouldn t be here. Because there already is a way for the FBI and San Bernardino to get what they want in the circumstance where somebody s using a phone owned by a business: It s called MDM. Mobile Device Management. And in the case of Apple, it s free. Other software, $4 a phone is what it averages out but with OS X server which is simply what you would need. It s an app, a server operating system. You can deploy All you have to do is set up the profiles for the phones that you want that are under your management. This is why you have an IT guy. It s why you hire one. And there is a specific opportunity for owners of phones in this like San Bernardino County, they could have gone in.It costs about $4 per phone and you have your IT manager research it and learn how to operate it, and you control and manage every phone that you deploy, remotely. You don t have to have it in your possession to set up these restrictions. It just has to be signed in to the proper ID, Apple ID, and whatever other identification systems a company uses.The moment this incident happened, they could have locked Farook and whoever out of the phone, anybody else, and only allowed themselves in. They could have gone in, they could have gotten every bit of data they wanted off that phone via a backup or a dump. They could have changed the password themselves. They could have done any number of these things. But they didn t know they could. They had no idea. And I ll wager that 95% of companies or organizations that give away phones or provide them for businesses have no clue about any of this.Apple doesn t need to add anything, and the FBI doesn t need to have Apple rewrite software for all of us because what they want exists in a large number of circumstances and did exist in this San Bernardino situation. But I m sure the people at San Bernardino were clueless and had no idea how to do this. They even confused the passcode to unlock phone and the passport for the Apple ID connecting the phone to iCloud. They got confused over that. They literally had no idea what they were doing. It s stunning what they did not know.

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BARACK OBAMA’S NSA Susan Rice Ordered Spies To Provide “Detailed Spreadsheets” Of Trump Calls…”That’s A Felony”…Brother Of CBS News President Also Involved [VIDEO]

While Obama hangs out in Tahiti, his NSA director Susan Rice and her deputy director Ben Rhodes, brother of David Rhodes CBS News president, appear to be two of the key figures behind the surveillance of Donald Trump s campaign. What was Hillary s role in this massive scandal? Why is the media not questioning her? Does anyone really believe she had nothing to do with this? Meanwhile, not surprisingly at CBS News you can find the latest headline:The CBS News headline is followed up by two paragraphs citing the Washington Post (one of the news publications who sat on the Susan Rice spying story). The story is clearly a distraction from the real news, which is that Susan Rice and the CBS News president s bother were behind the surveillance of Trump s campaign. Apparently, CBS News thinks that an alleged secret meeting between a DONOR of President Trump and a Russian close to Putin with an agenda that remains unclear is somehow supposed to be relevant or important to the American people in the midst of a spying case that makes President Nixon look like an amateur:WASHINGTON The United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between an American businessman supporting then President-elect Trump and a Russian close to President Vladimir Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and the incoming president, The Washington Post reports.Citing U.S., European and Arab officials, the Post said the UAE agreed to broker the meeting in part to explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its relationship with Iran, including in Syria, a Trump administration objective that would be likely to require major concessions to Moscow on U.S. sanctions. The full agenda remains unclear, the newspaper said.Daily Caller Former President Barack Obama s national security adviser Susan Rice ordered U.S. spy agencies to produce detailed spreadsheets of legal phone calls involving Donald Trump and his aides when he was running for president, according to former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova. What was produced by the intelligence community at the request of Ms. Rice were detailed spreadsheets of intercepted phone calls with unmasked Trump associates in perfectly legal conversations with individuals, diGenova told The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group Monday. The overheard conversations involved no illegal activity by anybody of the Trump associates, or anyone they were speaking with, diGenova said. In short, the only apparent illegal activity was the unmasking of the people in the calls. Also on Monday, Fox News and Bloomberg News, citing multiple sources reported that Rice had requested the intelligence information that was produced in a highly organized operation. Fox said the unmasked names of Trump aides were given to officials at the National Security Council (NSC), the Department of Defense, James Clapper, President Obama s Director of National Intelligence, and John Brennan, Obama s CIA Director.Joining Rice in the alleged White House operations was her deputy Ben Rhodes, according to Fox.Critics of the atmosphere prevailing throughout the Obama administration s last year in office point to former Obama Deputy Defense Secretary Evelyn Farkas who admitted in a March 2 television interview on MSNBC that she was urging my former colleagues, to get as much information as you can, get as much intelligence as you can, before President Obama leaves the administration. Farkas sought to walk back her comments in the weeks following: I didn t give anybody anything except advice. Col. (Ret.) James Waurishuk, an NSC veteran and former deputy director for intelligence at the U.S. Central Command, told TheDCNF that many hands had to be involved throughout the Obama administration to launch such a political spying program. The lawyers and counsel at the NSA surely would be talking to the lawyers and members of counsel at CIA, or at the National Security Council or at the Director of National Intelligence or at the FBI, he said. It s unbelievable of the level and degree of the administration to look for information on Donald Trump and his associates, his campaign team and his transition team. This is really, really serious stuff. Michael Doran, former NSC senior director, told TheDCNF Monday that somebody blew a hole in the wall between national security secrets and partisan politics. This was a stream of information that was supposed to be hermetically sealed from politics and the Obama administration found a way to blow a hole in that wall. That s a felony, he told TheDCNF. And you can get 10 years for that. It is a tremendous abuse of the system. We re not supposed to be monitoring American citizens. Bigger than the crime, is the breach of public trust. We re looking at a potential constitutional crisis from the standpoint that we used an extremely strong capability that s supposed to be used to safeguard and protect the country, he said. And we used it for political purposes by a sitting President. That takes on a new precedent. For entire story: Daily Caller

1real

Republican senator Graham says Trump's race remarks dividing U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham on Wednesday called out fellow Republican President Donald Trump, saying his remarks in the wake of last weekend’s violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, were dividing the nation and at odds with many Republicans’ views. “Your words are dividing Americans, not healing them,” Graham said in a statement. On Tuesday, Trump “took a step backward by again suggesting there is moral equivalency between the white supremacist neo-Nazis and KKK members who attended the Charlottesville rally and” others opposed to such groups.

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Painted as EpiPen Villain, Mylan’s Chief Says She’s No Such Thing - The New York Times

America has a new pharmaceutical villain. Her name is Heather Bresch. As the chief executive of Mylan, the owner of the severe allergy treatment EpiPen, Ms. Bresch is at the center of the latest public outrage over high drug prices, excoriated for overseeing a fourfold price increase on EpiPen while taking a huge pay raise. From talk shows to Twitter, her name is being mentioned alongside Martin Shkreli, the Pharma Bro who ignited anger last fall over raising the price of the drug Daraprim, and J. Michael Pearson, the onetime McKinsey consultant who took over Valeant Pharmaceuticals International and sharply raised prices on lifesaving drugs. But Mr. Shkreli and Mr. Pearson were outliers trying to upend the industry. At one point, the pharmaceutical industry’s main lobbying group disavowed them. Not so with Ms. Bresch. In many ways, she is an ultimate insider. Her father is a United States senator. She runs one of the largest generic drug companies in the world. She also oversees the Generic Pharmaceutical Association — the generic industry’s lobbying group. Now the question is whether her different position will give her a different result. Both Mr. Shkreli and Mr. Pearson were forced out of their companies. Already, Ms. Bresch, 47, has moved more quickly than they did to quell public furor over prices. On Thursday, she announced that the company was increasing financial assistance to patients to reduce their costs. But the company did not say it would lower the list price — which has risen to about $600 for a pack of two EpiPens, from about $100 when Mylan acquired the product in 2007. In an interview, Ms. Bresch said the price increases on EpiPen weren’t even in the “same hemisphere” as what Mr. Shkreli did when he raised the price of Daraprim by 50 times overnight. Over the years, her brash leadership style has bruised egos but also, some say, improved access to drugs and raised quality standards. Her company, Mylan, also has a reputation for tactics that have angered competitors and investors alike. “I think we mean what we say: You can do good and do well, and I think we strike that balance around the globe,” Ms. Bresch said. Still, she was unapologetic that Mylan’s actions were driven by profit. “I am running a business. I am a business. I am not hiding from that. ” How the company, and Ms. Bresch, strikes that balance seems to be quickly changing. Generic drug companies once dealt almost exclusively in making cheap copies of pills and railed passionately against the anticompetitive tactics of competitors. Now, through a series of acquisitions and mergers, the handful of large generic companies that are left are increasingly investing in expensive drugs, and in doing so, are embracing many of the tactics they once scorned. “It’s like talking out of both sides of your mouth,” said Dinesh Thakur, an advocate for generic drug quality. “To me, I think, it’s opportunistic. ” In the interview, Ms. Bresch said the company’s latest actions would do the most to help patients where it mattered, by reducing their costs. And she said that the $600 list price was necessary for the company to recoup its investment in the EpiPen, which includes raising awareness for severe allergic reaction and making improvements to the way the product works. But she also sought to shift blame away from Mylan, saying that patients are feeling the pain in part because insurers have increased the amount that customers must pay in recent years. “What else do you shop for that when you walk up to the counter, you have no idea what it’s going to cost you?” she said. “Tell me where that happens anywhere else in the system. It’s unconscionable. ” To some, the company’s response seemed to ring hollow. “It’s a real challenge to understand how a management team sits around a board table and makes a decision to raise the price of a lifesaving medication over and over and over, and when the P. R. storm hits, decides to blame someone else for that price increase,” said David Maris, an analyst for Wells Fargo. He had warned investors in June that Mylan’s price increases on EpiPen and other drugs could soon draw unwanted media scrutiny. The company is not a stranger to controversy. Robert J. Coury, Mylan’s chairman who served as chief executive until 2011, came under scrutiny in 2012 for using the company’s corporate jet to travel to his son’s music concerts. And last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that one of the board members had undisclosed ties to the land where the company built its new Pittsburgh offices. Ms. Bresch has also weathered her share of controversy, like when it was discovered that West Virginia University awarded her a business degree 10 years after she had attended the school, even though she had completed only about half of the coursework. A report by the university later concluded that officials wrongly awarded her the degree because she was the daughter of the Joe Manchin, now a Democratic senator representing West Virginia. Mr. Manchin and Ms. Bresch have said they did nothing wrong. The company also angered shareholders when it switched its headquarters to the Netherlands, and then used a provision in Dutch law to block a takeover by the pharmaceutical giant Teva, which many investors had favored. The move to the Netherlands in 2014, called an inversion, also reduced the company’s tax rate. Mylan is one of a string of pharmaceutical companies that have done inversions in recent years, prompting outcry in Washington and calls to limit the practice. Ms. Bresch’s rising salary has also fueled anger over the EpiPen price increase. Since 2007, when EpiPen was acquired and she was the company’s chief operating officer, she earned about $2. 5 million in total compensation. In 2015, her compensation was nearly $19 million. Mylan’s board has said in company filings that it believes her pay is justified because she has contributed significantly to the company’s growth in recent years. Ms. Bresch, who has worked at Mylan for 25 years, said her West Virginia upbringing had informed her approach to serving as chief executive. “There is a work ethic and grit about that that allows me to help make a difference,” she said. Some of the chafing at her style, she said, is because people are resistant to change. Her top accomplishments, she said, include getting a federal law passed that required more inspections of overseas drug manufacturers, and improving access to AIDS drugs for patients overseas. “To make change happen, to make a difference, mediocrity doesn’t get you there,” she said. Even as they have ruffled feathers within the industry, Ms. Bresch and Mylan have earned measured praise from consumer advocates, who said she wielded her influence in ways that helped consumers. James Love, director of the consumers group Knowledge Ecology International, said Ms. Bresch opened doors at the Office of the United States Trade Representative when his group and others were working to change provisions in the proposed Partnership that they said would have limited access to drugs by people overseas. Mylan, as a seller of generic drugs, shared their interest, he said. “They came in with some very talented people in the negotiations, and they knew what was going on politically,” Mr. Love said. Still, he said, he opposes their position on the EpiPen and said his group was composing a letter of complaint to the Federal Trade Commission. “I’m appalled at the price increase,” he said. “I don’t want to sugarcoat that. ”

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Kentucky lawmaker a 'probable suicide' amid sexual misconduct accusations

(Reuters) - Kentucky state Representative Dan Johnson, who was facing sexual assault accusations, died in a probable suicide on Wednesday, Bullitt County Coroner Dave Billings said. Johnson, 57, also the leader of the Louisville-area Heart of Fire Church, held a news conference on Tuesday at which he denied accusations contained in a report by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting. The report, published earlier in the week, included accusations from a woman that Johnson molested her in 2013 when she was a teenager. Johnson, whose press conference was widely reported by local media, also defied calls by some legislators to step down. On Wednesday evening, Johnson was found dead in a probable suicide from a single gunshot wound near Louisville, the coroner said, adding that an autopsy would be performed on Thursday. Billings said law enforcement officials had been searching for Johnson after someone read a post on his Facebook page, became concerned and contacted police. The post has since been taken down, but the Courier-Journal reported that it appeared to be a farewell and read in part, “the accusations from NPR are false, GOD and only GOD knows the truth. Nothing is the way they make it out to be.” The death comes amid a national reckoning over sexual harassment and abuse that has included allegations of misconduct in a number of state legislatures, including in Kentucky. Kentucky Republican Jeff Hoover recently resigned his post as Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives under a cloud of sexual harassment allegations. “Saddened to hear of tonight’s death of KY Representative Dan Johnson,” Kentucky Republican Gov. Matt Bevin wrote on Twitter. “My heart breaks for his family tonight...these are heavy days in Frankfort and in America...may God indeed shed His grace on us all...we sure need it.” Michael Skoler, President of Louisville Public Media, which operates the investigative reporting center, said in a statement on social media that the organization reached out to Johnson numerous times during its seven-month investigation but that he declined to discuss the group’s findings. Johnson was elected in 2016 despite becoming known for a 2016 Facebook post comparing President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama to monkeys, WDRB-TV has reported.

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EU's Tusk says agreed with U.S. Pence on need for close ties

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Council President Donald Tusk said on Monday that U.S. Vice President Mike Pence agreed with him on the need to preserve close cooperation between the United States and Europe, including Washington’s support for NATO and a united Europe. “After such a positive declaration, both the Europeans and the Americans must simply practice what they preach,” Tusk said after hosting Pence in Brussels.[nL8N1G51L3]

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German SPD leader says EU must stop accession talks with Turkey

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany s Social Democrat (SPD) leader Martin Schulz told a television debate with Chancellor Angela Merkel that he would stop Turkey s bid to join the European Union if he was elected leader of Europe s most populous country. When I m chancellor, I ll cancel ... the accession talks of Turkey with the European Union, Schulz said in the debate. No German citizen can travel safely to Turkey anymore, Schulz said, referring to the detention of 12 German citizens on political charges in the past months. Whoever is the next chancellor has the task to tell Turkey in order to protect the Federal Republic of Germany: all red lines have now been crossed, and therefore this country can no longer become a member of the EU, Schulz said. Merkel repeated her standard position that she was in favour of stopping further discussions with Ankara about its participation in a EU customs union. But she cautioned against pulling the plug on Turkey s accession talks right now, adding such a step should be considered cautiously.

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Loser Trump Fails Miserably Again As ‘Monday Night Football’ Ratings Soar

Wow, it s like a president can t even get a boycott going anymore. Donald Trump tried to launch a boycott on the NFL over black athletes who choose to kneel instead of stand during the national anthem in protest of racial inequality and police brutality. Trump wasn t having any of that, so he took to his Twitter account after calling the African-American athletes sons of bitches, to promote a boycott. Conservatives have never been very good at boycotts anyway.The Cowboys versus Cardinals game featured Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones taking a knee in solidarity with his players. Pushing things even further, Trump tweeted that he heard boos from the crowd. The booing at the NFL football game last night, when the entire Dallas team dropped to its knees, was loudest I have ever heard, Trump tweeted. Great anger. The booing at the NFL football game last night, when the entire Dallas team dropped to its knees, was loudest I have ever heard. Great anger Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017Instead of addressing the devastation in Puerto Rico, Trump has been on a mission to attack athletes. Even this morning, Trump called for banning the practice of kneeling.The NFL has all sorts of rules and regulations. The only way out for them is to set a rule that you can't kneel during our National Anthem! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017He has called out the NFL over its ratings, but he really should worry about his own dismal approval ratings.Shareblue reports: This is a huge victory for MNF after a day and full weekend of coverage of the U.S. President openly criticizing protesting athletes, calling some sons of bitches, noted the Hollywood Reporter. That big increase Monday night meant that ratings for the league s entire slate of games during the Trump controversy were up compared to last year s Week 3.The Cowboys versus Cardinals match-up posted a massive rating boost, with 63 percent more viewers tuning in. The Dallas Cowboys 28-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals earned a 9.3 overnight rating according to Nielsen, according to ESPN.Instead of a big wall on our southern border, fences are being mended. Instead of giving healthcare to all Americans, Trump tried to take it away from millions and that, too, failed. Trump promised to have Hillary Clinton locked up, but instead, he s found himself plagued with scandals. Hell, Trump can t even get a boycott going.Image via Twitter

1real

Responding to criticism, Trump calls on Justice Ginsburg to resign

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential contender Donald Trump called on Wednesday for the resignation of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, describing her as mentally unfit after she lambasted him in a series of media interviews. “Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me,” Trump said in a Twitter post. “Her mind is shot - resign!” The New York billionaire chided Ginsburg, 83, for criticizing him this week and expressing concern for the country’s future if he is elected in November. Trump said it was inappropriate for Supreme Court justices to weigh in on political campaigns. He told the New York Times on Tuesday that he thought it was a disgrace to the court and that Ginsburg should apologize to her colleagues on the bench. Trump was not alone in the rebuke. In an editorial on Wednesday, the New York Times urged Ginsburg to uphold the court’s tradition of silence in political campaigns. “Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs to drop the political punditry and the name-calling,” the editorial said. The Times said there was no legal requirement that Supreme Court justices keep silent on political campaigns, but it expressed concern that Ginsburg would jeopardize her own commitment to impartiality. Ginsburg was not immediately available for comment on Trump’s remarks and the editorial. In a CNN interview posted on Tuesday, Ginsburg called Trump “a faker.” “He has no consistency about him,” she said. “He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego. “How has he gotten away with not turning over his tax returns? The press seems to be very gentle with him on that.” Earlier, Ginsburg joked about moving to New Zealand if Trump wins the White House. “I can’t imagine what this place would be - I can’t imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our president,” she said in a New York Times interview published on Sunday. Trump adviser Sam Clovis told CNN on Wednesday that Ginsburg’s comments were out of character for Supreme Court justices but should not have been surprising. “She has always been a firebrand,” he said. (This story has been refiled to correct spelling of Ginsburg in penultimate paragraph)

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“BILL CLINTON IS A RAPIST” MOVEMENT EXPLODES…Watch Awesome Truth-Tellers Hijack Mainstream Media, Leftist Cable Audiences With Brutal Message [VIDEO]

Infowars Alex Jones is offering a $1,000 reward for anyone who can get on TV with his Bill Clinton RAPE t-shirt clearly displayed for viewers to see. If they can display a Bill Clinton Is A Rapist T-shirt and clearly proclaim, Bill Clinton is a racist they will get a $5,000 reward. He plans to spend up to $100,000 to get this important message out to America. Why is it important? It s important because not only is Bill a sexual predator who has no business entering our White House ever again, Hillary has been acting as his enabler, threatening and intimidating victims of Bill s for years The mainstream media has declared war on Donald Trump, while providing cover fro Hillary and her multiple crimes and offenses. We re in a war with a collective media and a radical leftist government. Thank goodness for people like Alex Jones who aren t afraid to get into the trenches and pass along a message that the mainstream media will never expose.

1real

Sentenced to Death: A Look at Dylann Roof’s Rampage and Its Aftermath - The New York Times

Update: A federal jury has unanimously sentenced Dylann S. Roof to die. The white supremacist showed no remorse for killing nine members of a black church in South Carolina. Read more » • Mr. Roof, a white supremacist with no known ties to any organized group, was convicted of the assault on Dec. 15 by the same federal jury. • Mr. Roof’s guilt was never in question in the trial, and the jury deliberated for about three hours before assessing the death penalty. • Judge Richard M. Gergel has scheduled a formal sentencing hearing for Wednesday at 9:30 a. m. “We want to express our sympathy to all of the families who were so grievously hurt by Dylann Roof’s actions. Today’s sentencing decision means that this case will not be over for a very long time. We are sorry that, despite our best efforts, the legal proceedings have shed so little light on the reasons for this tragedy. ” “We are Dylann Roof’s family. We will always love Dylann. We will struggle as long as we live to understand why he committed this horrible attack, which caused so much pain to so many good people. We wish to express the grief we feel for the victims of his crimes, and our sympathy to the many families he has hurt. We continue to pray for the Emanuel A. M. E. families and the Charleston community. ” “No verdict can bring back the nine we lost that day at Mother Emanuel. And no verdict can heal the wounds of the five church members who survived the attack or the souls of those who lost loved ones to Roof’s callous hand. But we hope that the completion of the prosecution provides the people of Charleston — and the people of our nation — with a measure of closure. ” On the evening of Wednesday, June 17, 2015, Mr. Roof, a white man, walked into the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S. C. and asked for the pastor, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney. Mr. Roof was directed to a Bible study session, where he sat down next to the pastor, and for nearly an hour, listened and took part in the discussion. Mr. Roof then pulled out a . Glock semiautomatic pistol, loaded with bullets, and according to witnesses, told the minister and parishioners, “You are raping our women and taking over our country. ” He shot and killed nine people, including Mr. Pinckney, before fleeing the church. He shot each victim multiple times, reloading his gun several times. Mr. Roof told investigators and friends that he had hoped to start a race war. He complained of what he saw as black corruption and takeover of the United States and what he said was an epidemic of crime. He owned a website that included an essay on his belief in the danger and inferiority of blacks and the value of segregation. In the essay, Mr. Roof, a dropout with few friends and no steady work, also gave his reasons for the attack: “We have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the internet. Well someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me. ” The gunman could not have chosen a target more laden with symbolism about the nation’s tortured racial history, and he apparently knew it, singling out the church for that reason. Emanuel A. M. E. lies in the historic heart of Charleston, the capital of the slave trade in the United States, the cradle of the Confederacy and the place where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. The church, known as Mother Emanuel, occupies a place of pride in southern black history it is one of the oldest black congregations in the South, dating back two centuries. Many people were shaken because the shooting happened in a place of sanctuary and because of who the victims were: nine people who were described as gentle and deeply religious. Three of them were over age 70, and four were pastors. At Mr. Roof’s first court appearance a few days later, victims’ family members stunned and moved millions of Americans by speaking of forgiveness and redemption, rather than anger and vengeance. Black churches have been frequent targets of racist attacks for generations, and for people old enough to remember, the shooting carried reminders of the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, Ala. that killed four black girls. One of the Charleston dead, Mr. Pinckney, 41, was also a Democratic state senator and a leader of South Carolina’s black community whose warmth won him friends even among political adversaries. At his funeral, President Obama gave the eulogy, an impassioned plea to recognize and oppose prejudice, saying, “For too long, we’ve been blind to the way past injustices continue to shape the present. ” After decades of debate, a Confederate battle flag was removed from the grounds of South Carolina’s state Capitol with remarkable swiftness, lowered for good less than a month after the shooting, following an emotional debate in the Legislature. In previous fights over the flag, white conservatives defended it staunchly, but this time, conservative Republicans like Gov. Nikki Haley, Senator Lindsey Graham and State Senator Paul Thurmond — son of the United States senator and onetime segregationist champion Strom Thurmond — publicly opposed the flag, sealing its fate. But calls for stricter gun controls, including tighter background checks for buying weapons, fell flat. Under federal law, Mr. Roof’s record of drug abuse might have barred him from buying the gun he used, but the balky background check system failed to produce the needed information within three days, so he was able to go ahead with the purchase. Mr. Roof confessed to investigators soon after he was arrested, and more recently, he offered to plead guilty in return for a sentence of life in prison. But federal prosecutors decided to go to trial and seek the death penalty. At his trial last month, his lawyers conceded that he had committed the attack. A jury found him guilty of all 33 counts against him, including hate crimes resulting in death. The case then moved to the penalty phase, to determine whether Mr. Roof should be executed. (If he had not been sentenced to die, he could have still faced capital punishment in state court.) Acting as his own lawyer in the penalty phase, Mr. Roof declined to present any defense, and he refused any argument or evidence suggesting mental illness. In a journal he kept before the shooting, he had written: “I am morally opposed to psychology. It is a Jewish invention. ” The vast majority of capital sentences and executions stem from state courts, not federal. Of about 2, 900 people on death rows in the United States, just 68 face sentences meted out by federal courts, including six by military courts. The federal inmates under death sentences include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the brothers who carried out the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 and Nidal Hasan, who committed the Fort Hood shooting in 2009. When Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, was executed in 2001, he was the first federal inmate put to death in 38 years. There have been just two federal executions since then — in 2001 and 2003. It would be hard to find another crime where the toll was as high, the victims were as sympathetic, the premeditation was as evident and the defendant’s guilt was as . But Mr. Roof’s case has prompted a debate over whether he should be put to death. Some commentators and editorial boards have argued that a crime of this magnitude cries out for execution. Even some with doubts about how the death penalty is used say that if capital punishment is to continue, Mr. Roof warrants it. Death penalty opponents agree that if any defendant deserves the ultimate punishment, it is Mr. Roof, but they insist that the case against capital punishment should still outweigh the anger and revulsion over any particular case. They argue that its use has been wildly inconsistent and even arbitrary, and exonerations of convicted inmates show that the risk of putting an innocent person to death is high. A twist in this case is that a common argument against the death penalty is that it is more likely to be used when the victims are white and the accused are black — the reverse of the circumstances in the Charleston shooting. Another is that even some family members of those who were murdered have spoken out against executing Mr. Roof. Much less common than it used to be. States carried out 20 executions last year, the lowest figure in 25 years. Courts handed down just 30 new death sentences, down from more than 300 in 1996, the lowest figure since the early 1970s.

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Raising Money for Clinton, Cher Sounds Off (and Not Just About Trump) - The New York Times

She compared him to Hitler, likened his campaign to a “racist” version of “Fun with Dick and Jane” and even said he evoked the murderous child star in “The Bad Seed. ” “I just think he’s” an idiot, Cher said of Donald J. Trump, adding a decidedly unprintable modifier. The crowd on Sunday in Provincetown, Mass. one of the country’s gay capitals, roared its approval at Cher’s succinct and salty assessment. But the famed singer and actress was not just riffing between songs at a concert: She was introducing Hillary Clinton at a for her presidential campaign. Cher did more than just blister Mr. Trump. She also offered a blunt appraisal of Mrs. Clinton’s strengths and weaknesses. “This chick is just tougher than Chinese algebra,” Cher said of the Democratic nominee. Prompting a mix of nervous laughter and applause, she added, “She is shy, and she’s not the greatest speaker in the world. ” Cher said Mrs. Clinton had told her of being deeply affected by her failed effort to spearhead an overhaul of the nation’s health care system in 1993. “She got so crushed by the G. O. P. just for trying to set up health care, and she never thought it would be so personal, and she said it made her kind of pull in. ” “I hope she doesn’t mind my telling this story,” Cher said, adding: “Too late now!” Her remarks, recorded by an attendee and posted on Facebook, offered a colorful glimpse at a part of the presidential campaign that has been mainly to the general public and journalists this election cycle. Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump have generally barred reporters from attending their . As Cher demonstrated, the language used in private settings like the event on Cape Cod — which brought in more than $1 million for Mrs. Clinton’s campaign — can be more inflammatory and raw than what is said with a bank of television cameras present. And it was not just the entertainer, whose Twitter posts often employ a toilet emoji instead of Mr. Trump’s name, who spoke bluntly. Mrs. Clinton, who often discusses how well she was able to work with Republicans during her tenure in the Senate, took the stage and acknowledged former Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, noting that he has been promoting a new bumper sticker. “I think it is something like, ‘Democrats Aren’t Perfect — but They’re Nuts! ’” said Mrs. Clinton. “You understand that. ” But Mrs. Clinton, a portion of whose remarks was also posted online, was not onstage when Cher, 70, arrived to loud applause, a few lines of her song “Woman’s World. ” Cher warned that Mr. Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” was only a guise for a more divisive message. “He means, ‘We want to make America straight and white,’” she said. And she belittled Mr. Trump for his stumbling reference at the Republican convention to the “L. G. B. T. Q. ” community. “It’s like he just learned it, you know?” she said to laughter. Speaking without notes, Cher’s performance was more of an routine than a traditional political speech. “Do you remember ‘Fun with Dick and Jane? ’” she asked, referring to the 1970s comedy. “It’s like ‘Racist Fun with Dick and Jane.’ We’re going to build walls!” Mr. Trump, she added, reminded her of the pigtailed blond actress Patty McCormack from “The Bad Seed. ” “Consummate liar, doesn’t care who she hurts, insane and, you know, sociopathic narcissist,” she said. “I just wish he’d fall off the face of the earth. ” Veering into more incendiary territory, Cher invoked “old despots” and received a subdued response when she mentioned Hitler and Stalin. “We’re going to make Germany great again,” she said, before digressing to a bit on Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. Even as she sought to use her closing comments to praise Mrs. Clinton — “I believe in her so much,” she said — Cher could not help but return to the object of her ire, Mr. Trump. “I know that if he got into office, our world would be the worst place,” Cher said. “I don’t think we could imagine how bad it could get. ” She added that, “if breaking news ever happened and he had to go to the podium, we would just all go . .. ” She finished her thought with a expression of disgust. Then she walked off to a roar of applause.

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RACIST OBAMA BASHES WHITEY As The “Old Boys Network”…”Give Women and Minorities A Chance” [Video]

OH MY GOSH! Obama bashes the old boys network and says they need to give women and minorities a chance to lead . What the heck is wrong with this president? He must really detest white male Americans! Unreal!

1real

White Man Yells ‘F*cking N*****s,’ Shoots At Crowd In Black Candidate’s Campaign HQ (VIDEO)

On Monday, as a crowd of supporters gathered inside the campaign headquarters of Zena Stephens, an African-American woman who is running for Sheriff of Jefferson County, Texas, a man opened fire on the building.According to local CBS affiliate KFDM, witnesses say a white man fired shouted fucking niggers, before opening fire from the passenger side of a white jeep.No one was injured during the attack, but the glass doors leading into Stephens campaign headquarters were shattered. Stephens said the weapon appeared to be either a BB gun or an air rifle.Someone from Stephens campaign headquarters followed the vehicle, helping police to locate and apprehend the suspects.Five people have been detained in connection with the incident.During an interview with KFDM, Stephens referred to the attack an example of ignorance. Whether we re getting ready for an election or not, the candidate said, it s just an example of ignorance. Anytime you try to hurt somebody it s just ignorance. Here s more on the story from KFDM.This is a clear case of voter intimidation. Whomever fired that shot should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.The words the shooter, reported as either fucking niggers, or fuck them niggers, leave no room for doubt as to whether or not this was a racially-motivated hate crime.Ahead of Super Tuesday, white supremacists began placing robocalls supporting Donald Trump, claiming that whites in the U.S. and Europe are under attack from people of color.After the candidate refused to call the Ku Klux Klan a hate group earlier this week, Trump s son stumped for him on Fox and Friends, where he offered to pay to ship Black people out of the country.Trump s almost singular message, that non-whites are responsible for all of the problems facing his narrow-minded, bigoted supporters, has done nothing to make America great again.As everyone with a conscience and a soul has been saying for months, Trump s message is making America hate again.The right-wing is taking America back, alright. They re taking the country back to the days of Jim Crow, and racially motivated voter suppression and voter intimidation.Featured image via video screen capture KFDM

1real

“Brexit means Clusterfuck” confirms Prime Minister

“Brexit means Clusterfuck” confirms Prime Minister Theresa May has clarified that Brexit actually means one giant, steaming clusterfuck. The reincarnation of Emperor Palpatine made the statement following the High Court ruling that Parliament would have to give the go-ahead for Britain to officially tell the EU to piss right off. “Brexit does indeed mean clusterfuck,” said the Prime Minister, giving the pained smile of a woman who knows she’s going to be the historical equivalent of Basil Fawlty. “But it is the clusterfuck that the people voted for, and by God, we shall see to it that this clusterfuck gets done right and proper. “I mean, I’d rather not, because it’s going to be dreadful and tedious, but that’s democracy for you.” Brexiter, Simon Williams, said,”If ‘clusterfuck’ means ‘taking back control’ then I say bring on the clusterfuck and damn the consequences. “We’ve already told the experts where to go; there is no going back. Brexit means clusterfuck, and I demand to be clusterfucked immediately.” Get the best NewsThump stories in your mailbox every Friday, for FREE! There are currently

1real

Equatorial Guinea leader's son found guilty of embezzlement by French court

PARIS (Reuters) - Millions of euros of assets belonging to the son of Equatorial Guinea s president were ordered to be seized by a French court that found him guilty in absentia on Friday of using money plundered from his country to buy property and luxury cars. The Paris court found Teodorin Obiang, 48, guilty of embezzlement, and ordered the confiscation of more than 100 million euros worth of his French assets. Obiang denied the charges. Obiang, eldest son of President Teodoro Obiang and a vice president himself, was also handed a three-year suspended prison sentence and a suspended 30 million euros ($34.78 million) fine. The court president cited the slow response from parts of the French banking system in contributing to those penalties being suspended and hence more lenient. The case is the first of several to reach court in a broader judicial investigation into allegations of illicit acquisitions in France by long-time leaders and family relatives in several African countries including Gabon and Congo Republic. Obiang s luxury residence on Paris Avenue Foch - a grand, sweeping road near the Arc de Triomphe often favoured by wealthy African expatriates and politicians - was among the assets scrutinised during the trial. The property, bought for 25 million euros in 2005, had 101 rooms, a gym, hair-dressing studio and disco with cinema screen. Paris prosecutor Jean-Yves Lourgouilloux said Obiang s fraudulent spending amounted to more than 150 million euros. The court was critical of Societe Generale, France s second biggest bank, and the Bank of France, deeming them complacent towards Obiang s finances and too slow to react. The role of the two banks was taken into account to justify the suspended sentences for Obiang, the court said. The attitude of Societe Generale, similar to that of the Bank of France, may have led (Obiang) to think for a long period of time that there was, in France, some kind of tolerance for these practices, Benedicte de Perthuis, the most senior judge sitting in the case, told the court. Societe Generale said it had not been a party in the trial and therefore we don t have any particular comment to make . Officials at the Bank of France did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Obiang was first put on trial in January but the case, 10 years in the works, was postponed after his lawyers argued they had not had enough time to prepare his defence. His father, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has ruled Equatorial Guinea - a former Spanish colony - for more than three decades, making him one of Africa s longest-serving leaders, and rights groups have labelled his administration as one of the world s most corrupt.

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China's Xi lays out vision for 'new era' led by 'still stronger' Communist Party

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday laid out a confident vision for a more prosperous nation and its role in the world, stressing the importance of wiping out corruption and curbing industrial overcapacity, income inequality and pollution. Opening a critical Communist Party congress, Xi pledged to build a modern socialist country for a new era that will be proudly Chinese and steadfastly ruled by the party but open to the world. Although his wide-ranging address made clear there were no plans for political reform, Xi said China s development had entered a new era , using the phrase 36 times in a speech that ran nearly 3-1/2 hours. With decades of hard work, socialism with Chinese characteristics has crossed the threshold into a new era, Xi said. The twice-a-decade event, a weeklong, mostly closed-door conclave, will culminate in the selection of a new Politburo Standing Committee to rule China s 1.4 billion people for the next five years, with Xi expected to consolidate his control and potentially retain power beyond 2022, when the next congress takes place. The 64-year-old Xi, widely regarded as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, spoke to more than 2,000 delegates in Beijing's cavernous, red-carpeted Great Hall of the People, including 91-year-old former president Jiang Zemin. Security was tight on a rainy, smoggy day in the capital. As expected, the speech was heavy on aspiration and short on specific plans. On the economy, Xi said China would relax market access for foreign investment, expand access to its services sector and deepen market-oriented reform of its exchange rate and financial system, while at the same time strengthening state firms. During Xi s first term, China disappointed many investors who had expected it to usher in more market-oriented reforms, especially in the debt-laden state sector. If Xi gets the political mandate that he is expected to out of the congress, then my hope is that the state sector reforms actually get done, Damien Ma, fellow and associate director at U.S. thinktank the Paulson Institute, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum. If not, then I would also revise my assessment of the state of reforms in China. There have been talks in Beijing that the state sector will be a focus after the 19th party congress, so we need to see. The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said it welcomed commitments to open wider the door and treat all companies equally, but said European companies operating in China continued to suffer from promise fatigue . The only cure for this is promise implementation, it said in a statement. In what was probably an indirect reference to U.S. President Donald Trump s America First policy, Xi promised that China would be fully engaged with the world, and reiterated pledges to tackle climate change. Trump this year opted to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate pact. No country can alone address the many challenges facing mankind; no country can afford to retreat into self-isolation, Xi told the delegates, among them Buddhist monks, Olympic medallists, farmers and at least one astronaut. Xi set bold long-term goals for China s development, envisioning it as a basically modernised socialist country by 2035, and a modern socialist strong power with leading influence on the world stage by 2050. But he signalled there would be no significant political reforms, calling China s system the broadest, most genuine, and most effective way to safeguard the interests of the people. Xi has overseen a sweeping crackdown on civil society, locking up rights lawyers and dissidents and tightening internet controls as he has sought to revitalise the Communist Party and its place in contemporary China. We should not just mechanically copy the political systems of other countries, he said. We must unwaveringly uphold and improve party leadership and make the party still stronger. Xi praised the party s successes, particularly his high-profile anti-graft campaign, in which more than a million officials have been punished and dozens of former senior officials jailed, saying it would never end as corruption was the gravest threat the party faces. On self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by Beijing as its own, Xi said China would never allow the island to separate from China, adding that China would strive to fully transform its armed forces into a world-class military by the mid-21st century. He made no mention of neighbouring North Korea, which has angered Beijing with repeated nuclear and ballistic missile tests in defiance of U.N. sanctions. Pyongyang sent a congratulatory message ahead of the meeting. Xi has consolidated power swiftly since assuming the party leadership in 2012, locking up rivals for corruption, restructuring the military and asserting China s rising might on the world stage. Focus at the congress will be on how Xi plans to use his expanded authority, and moves to enable him to stay on in a leadership capacity after his second term ends in 2022. That could include resurrecting the position of party chairman, a title that would put him on par with Mao, the founding father of modern China. In all aspects he is on the right track to be our next Chairman Mao, Su Shengcheng, a delegate from the northwestern province of Qinghai, told Reuters. He will lead the party and Central Committee to continue its way to success. As with other major set-piece events in the capital, Beijing has been blanketed with security in the run-up to the congress, with long queues of passengers at some subway stations waiting to go through metal detectors and be patted down. Large red banners plastered around Beijing trumpet the congress, while censors have stepped up already tight monitoring of the internet. Tencent Holdings Ltd s WeChat, China s top social media platform with more than 960 million users, said late on Tuesday that system maintenance would render users unable to alter profile pictures, nicknames and tag lines until month-end. The disabled features are sporadically used to show solidarity for popular social and political causes.

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U.S. State Department criticizes Cuban municipal vote as 'flawed'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that municipal elections in Cuba over the weekend were flawed because authorities used intimidation, arcane technicalities and false charges to keep independent candidates off of the ballot. The elections that took place further demonstrate how the Cuban regime maintains an authoritarian state while attempting to sell the myth of a democracy around the world, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told a briefing. Despite courageous efforts by an unprecedented number of independent candidates this year, none were allowed on the ballot.

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Trump Just Bailed On His Own Pittsburgh Not Paris Rally, The Reason Why Is Infuriating

This week, Donald Trump disappointed the entire world by pulling out of the Paris climate deal. It was a decision that was condemned by several world leaders, and marked yet another way that Trump had ruined America s standing as a global leader. To celebrate his horrible decision, Trump organized a Pittsburgh not Paris rally to celebrate America s exit from the deal. There was just one major problem Trump blew it off.The Trump campaign had hyped up this event so much, and even organized it to be located right across the street from the White House put Donnie wasn t there. He bailed, and decided to play golf instead. So much for being a dedicated POTUS and showing his dwindling number of supporters that he appreciates them, as his approval ratings continue to plummet to historic lows.The White House Press Pool told PoliticusUSA: After an uneventful ride along highways and byways toward Sterling, Virginia, motorcade pulled up to the Trump National Golf Club at 10:42 a.m.Motorcade split off and pool is now holding in a spectacular clubhouse overlooking indoor tennis courts. If any of Trump s supporters still think Trump cared about and appreciated them, this is a pretty rude awakening. When Trump s campaign announced the rally, it certainly sounded like Trump would actually be present. However, the event invitation was a little more cryptic. It said: As you know, the President has been under siege from the mainstream media and the Democrats, especially now that he put American jobs first by withdrawing from the Paris Accord. Therefore, we are organizing a group to demonstrate our support for President Trump and his fearless leadership. Either way, these Trump supporters expected Trump to be there, and he wasn t because he was playing golf his main hobby when he wants to avoid doing his job. Trump must know that his presidency is doomed, because blowing off a rally full of supporters when his popularity is suffering is a bold move. To make matters worse, this rally couldn t have been more convenient it was just across the street! And yet, Trump couldn t be bothered.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

1real

More than half of Britons now want to stay in EU - poll

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - A poll has found that 51 percent of Britons would now keep European Union membership while 41 percent want to leave the bloc, a near reversal of last year s referendum result. The BMG poll of 1,400 people for The Independent published on the newspaper s website on Saturday came as Britain moves into a second phase of negotiations on exiting the EU, which will focus on trade. The Independent said the lead for remain over leave was the biggest in any poll so far since the vote in June 2016. But the head of polling at BMG, quoted in the Independent, said that the reason for the change was a shift in opinion among those who did not vote in last year s referendum, while around nine in 10 leave and remain voters were unchanged in their views. The survey was carried out from December 5 to 8. In the referendum last year, 52 percent of Britons voted to leave the EU and 48 percent voted to remain. Mike Smithson, an election analyst who runs the www.politicalbetting.com website who is also a former Liberal Democrat politician, said on Twitter it was the biggest lead for Remain since (the EU referendum). Prime Minister Theresa May this week secured an agreement with the EU to move Brexit talks on to trade and a transition pact, but some European leaders warned that negotiations, which have been arduous so far, could now become tougher.

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Boehner vows fight to scuttle Iran nuclear deal

House Speaker John Boehner vowed Wednesday to do "everything possible" to stop the newly struck Iran nuclear deal, as Congress formally begins consideration of the hard-fought pact. "While the president's Iran deal may have been applauded at the United Nations, I think he faces serious skepticism here at home," Boehner told reporters at a briefing. "Let me just assure you that members of Congress will ask much tougher questions this afternoon when we meet with the president's team, because a bad deal threatens the security of the American people." The warning comes just days after the U.N. Security Council endorsed the deal, over the objections of many in Congress. Republicans, and some Democrats, had wanted the administration to wait until Congress reviews it before seeking approval from the United Nations. Congress nevertheless will have its say. Fox News has learned the administration formally sent the deal to Capitol Hill on Sunday -- this starts a 60-day clock for lawmakers to consider it, and then vote to approve or disapprove it or take no action. The White House has launched an aggressive campaign in recent days, trying to sway wavering Democrats while publicly ripping Republicans for opposing the deal. In an appearance on "The Daily Show" Tuesday, Obama portrayed the controversial deal as the best compromise the government could achieve. In a jab at the George W. Bush administration, he joked that his critics think if only former Vice President Dick Cheney had been on the U.S. negotiating team, "then everything would be fine." But Congress is facing pressure from both sides of the issue. While the White House lobbies for approval, Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer, a foe of the Iran nuclear, is telling Republicans that Congress must stop the pact. Dermer met Wednesday morning with some 30 to 40 Republicans -- part of the Conservative Opportunity Society -- at the invitation of Rep. Steve King of Iowa, the group's chairman. Dermer told the group that Congress is the last backstop and no deal is better than a bad deal. The U.N. action would not take effect for 90 days. Congress technically has limited leverage over the international aspects of the agreement. Still, Obama does not want Congress to kill any part of the deal, and has vowed to veto any such effort. The agreement itself would roll back sanctions in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear program, with the ultimate goal of blocking Tehran's pathway to a nuclear weapon for as long as the deal's in place. Critics argue that Iran could still be well-positioned to pursue a nuclear weapon after a decade, all the while reaping billions in economic benefits. Further, they're concerned the deal gives Iran too much leeway to stall when international inspectors want to visit suspected nuclear sites. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., said in a statement Tuesday that they learned from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that two "side deals" between Iran and the IAEA will remain secret from Congress and the public. According to the lawmakers, one agreement covers inspection of the Parchin military complex, and the other concerns potential military aspects of Iran's nuclear program. On the former, they said, Iran would be able to strike a separate arrangement with the IAEA concerning inspections at Parchin. "In failing to secure the disclosure of these secret side deals, the Obama administration is asking Congress and the American people to trust, but not verify," Cotton said in a statement. "What we cannot do is trust the terror-sponsoring, anti-American, outlaw regime that governs Iran and that has been deceiving the world on its nuclear weapons work for years." Fox News' Chad Pergram and Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Fatah, Hamas to discuss security in Gaza under unity deal

GAZA/RAMALLAH (Reuters) - Negotiators from rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Islamist group Hamas will discuss security in the Gaza Strip at unity talks in Cairo on Tuesday, including a proposal that would see Fatah security personnel deployed to Hamas-dominated territory. The plan for 3,000 Fatah security officers to join a Gaza police force over the course of a year, part of a unity deal mediated by Egypt in 2011, would restore much of the influence of Fatah leader President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza and further loosen Hamas grip. The deal was never implemented. The Western-backed mainstream Fatah party lost control of the enclave to Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the West and Israel, in fighting in 2007. The loss damaged Abbas credibility in the eyes of the West and Israel, after years of being their main Palestinian diplomatic counterpart. But under Egypt s mediation, major steps have been made toward narrowing rifts since Hamas handed administrative powers in Gaza to a Fatah-backed government last month. The move was a major reversal for Hamas and was partially prompted by the group s fears of potential financial and political isolation after its main donor Qatar suffered a major diplomatic crisis with key allies. The sides will discuss the security issue, especially in Gaza, in the way that serves the home front, enforces the rule of law in a professional and national way and is not factional, said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. Under the deal, Hamas would still have the most powerful armed Palestinian faction, whose estimated 25,000 well-equipped fighters have fought three wars with Israel since 2008. The issue of arms of resistance is not up for discussion, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters. Israel s enmity with Hamas means greater unity with Fatah is unlikely to help any future efforts for a peace deal with Israel. But both sides hope that the deal s proposed deployment of security personnel from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority to Gaza s borders will encourage Egypt and Israel to ease their tight restrictions at border crossings, a badly needed step to help Gaza revive its economy and improve the living standards of its two million residents. Officials said that apart from the implementation of the 2011 agreement and security, the Cairo talks would also cover issues such as setting a date for presidential and legislative elections and reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is in charge of long-stalled peace efforts with Israel. What happened in the past days is something like a declaration of principles while the two sides have postponed final status issues to the talks in Cairo, said Gaza political analyst Akram Attallah. Abbas has pledged there would be one authority, one law, one administration, one weapon in the Gaza Strip, a statement seeming to challenge Hamas continued security dominance. But Tayseer Nasrallah, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, told Reuters: There are difficult challenges and it will take time to overcome them. Outstanding issues include the fate of 40,000 to 50,000 employees hired by Hamas over the past 10 years and its demand Abbas lift economic sanctions he imposed in recent months to try to pressure the group to compromise. (This refiled version of the story inserts dropped words in paragraph eight).

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WATCH: George Clooney Is A Complete Idiot

One month before the election, political activist and Hillary supporter Amal Clooney traveled to Texas to warn Americans about our elected President Donald J. Trump and his tough immigration policies. Today, she and her open-borders, Hollywood liberal husband George, who arrogantly claimed There will never be a President Trump, are reportedly moving back to the U.S. According to Breibart, a Clooney insider says they no longer feel secure in England. What could possibly make them feel unsafe about living in a country overrun by Muslim refugees from terror-hotbed nations?Actor and immigration activist George Clooney will be moving to Los Angeles with his wife Amal and newborn twins Ella and Alexander citing security concerns at his England estate, according to a report.Life & Style magazine reported last week that the 56-year-old Oscar-winner will move his newly-expanded family to his mansion in Studio City, California, after deeming his 17th century mansion in Sonning, England to be not sufficiently safe for them.Paul Joseph Watson of Infowars DESTROYS the embarrassing hypocrisy of Hollywood leftist George Clooney in this brilliant video:

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U.S. House panel to begin hearings on tax reform next week

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The tax-writing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives will begin holding hearings on a Republican tax reform proposal next week, the panel’s chairman said on Tuesday, even as the timeline for overhauling the tax code slips toward late 2017. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady told Fox News he would soon announce a hearing schedule to examine his House tax reform blueprint with its proposal to tax imports, a plan that appears to have lost ground as the White House works to unveil its own approach. The investment consulting firm Veda Partners advised clients on Tuesday to expect an April 27 hearing on the import tax proposal known as the border adjustment tax, or BAT. Brady’s committee could not confirm the date or topic, but he told Fox News the committee “will soon be announcing congressional hearings on our blueprint starting next week.” He also acknowledged that the tax reform timeline could slip as House Republicans try to reach agreement to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, following their failed attempt to pass healthcare legislation in March. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this week that tax reform may not get done before an August deadline. “We probably ought not be focused on the month but the year that it happens, which is this year,” Brady said. “If it moves a little past August and still lands in this year, it’s going to be an incredible achievement.” Much of the debate has focused on the House Republican BAT proposal, which would impose a 20 percent tax on imports, while exempting exports from taxation. The proposal is opposed by import-dependent industries and Republicans who worry it could lead to higher consumer prices. Tax experts say the proposal’s future depends on whether the White House backs it. President Donald Trump, who dislikes the term “border adjustment,” said on Tuesday his tax reform plan would create “a level playing field” for U.S. industry - a phrase widely viewed as referring to some kind of border tax. Brady identified the critical elements of legislation as significant rate reduction, full and immediate expensing for capital investments and a simplified tax code. He cautioned against straightforward rate reductions of the kind that some in Congress have begun to consider. “A rate cut alone would have worked in the 1980s. It doesn’t in 2017 if we’re going to be competitive,” Brady said.

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Gary Johnson Mourns Harambe, Asks: "Why Did They Have To Kill The Gorilla?"

Share on Twitter LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - Politicians often try to relate to the common man and fail miserably. However, in a moment of blunt candor and honesty, Libertarian candidate for President Gary Johnson spoke for all of us when he openly mourned the loss of majestic Harambe. “Why did they have to kill the gorilla?” Johnson lamented in an exclusive interview with Independent Journal Review. The former New Mexico Governor and nature enthusiast was visibly moved when asked about his feelings on Harambe, a celebrated Western Lowlands Gorilla living peacefully in the Cincinnati Zoo before he was cruelly cut down in the prime of his life after a child fell into his enclosure this past May. “I'm sure it was a difficult decision for everyone involved,” Johnson said before ultimately bemoaning the cruel fate of the endangered, peaceful animal. Harambe's legacy has become a cultural and even political phenomenon. Green Party candidate Jill Stein has tweeted her defense of sweet Harambe and there is now an official Harambe Super PAC registered with the FEC called 'Justice For Harambe.' The Super PAC's creator Ryan Hall spoke with IJR last month describing what his PAC will be committed to doing: We will endorse any candidate who is willing to honor Harambe's legacy. Harambe represents all Americans and what it truly means to be an American. We will back candidates who will work toward legislation which ensures that innocent gorillas can live in peace and not be shot. We want candidates who support safe enclosures for majestic gorillas. We also will support candidates who will fight for nationwide Harambe memorials, so our children may learn the story of his life. We have reached out to Hall to see if the PAC, which had raised $20 at last reporting, would now be backing Gov. Johnson's Presidential run.

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Even Trump Voters Think Obama’s Economy Is Doing Great

Democrats and a lot of Republicans are scratching our heads trying to figure out the appeal of the braggadocios billionaire. Democrats say that the appeal is very basic; his message of nationalism, xenophobia, sexism and racism makes aging white people feel like they are losing all their power. Trump voters say it s something different; they say it s the economy, unless it s their economy. While Obama has apparently screwed up the economy, they think their local economies are doing just great.It s not terribly surprising. To hear Trump speak, we are in some sort of post apocalyptic hellscape that only the Orange One can take us out of. You know he s trying to justify the economy. It s the slowest recovery in our history, and it s not a recovery, he said.Source: The HillTrump calls the economy a disaster. Trump even repeats the bogus claim that the unemployment rate is over 40 percent. That would be apocalyptic.Now, delegates are supposed to be (supposed to be) a cross section of the American people. If anything, they should be a little smarter than the average bear, at least the average Republican bear, but even they seem to excel at compartmentalizing. They are individually very happy with the economy, but they also believe Trump when the billionaire tells them they are suffering. Actually, we re doing great, says Donna Gottschall, a human resources consultant in Greenville, S.C. Employment s up. Housing s up. Everything s green in Greenville! Oh, yeah, unemployment is way down, says Al Baldasaro, a state legislator and retired Marine from Londonderry, N.H. Obviously, it s gotten better. Things are wonderful in our town, says Ranae Lentz, a Republican county chair from Bellefontaine, Ohio. We can t fill all the job openings. Source: PoliticoWhile it s unlikely that any Trump supporter would credit Obama with anything at all, some do credit Bush.Tina Harris, a longtime realtor in Palm Harbor, Florida, told me the housing market is booming. But she argued that this was a troubling data point, because buyers were liquidating their 401(k) accounts and taking money out of the real economy to purchase homes. Have you checked your 401(k) lately? asked her friend Nancy Riley, another veteran realtor in the St. Petersburg area. I said I hadn t, but I did know the stock market had just hit an all-time high, and I didn t see why jobs in construction and real estate like theirs shouldn t count as the real economy. I m not saying everything is horrible, Harris said. But it was George W. Bush who put in the policies that got the economy going. Obama did nothing. Strangely, even Trump himself has accidentally given a thumbs up to Obama s economy. In announcing his running mate, Indiana s governor, Mike Pence, Trump bragged that the unemployment rate has gone from 8.4 percent to 5 percent. Well, under Obama, the nation s unemployment rate has gone from 10 percent to under 5 percent.No one is claiming the economy is perfect. Thanks in part to Republican policies, like refusing to raise the minimum wage, wages have been stagnant, and also thanks to Republican policies, the income gap has only grown. There s still a lot of work to be done, but Trump s policies won t do it. In fact, the chief economist at Moody s predicts that Trump s protectionist platform will lose us 3.5 million jobs.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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BREAKING: TRUMP Announces “Phenomenal” Tax Cut Plan For Businesses In Next 2-3 Weeks…Stock Markets Respond [VIDEO]

President Donald Trump said his administration would be announcing a big league tax cut that would lower the burden on businesses within the next two or three weeks.The revelation saw the Dow Jones industrial average rise around 115 points to a record, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most gains. Lowering the overall tax burden on American business is big league, that s coming along very well, Trump said at the top of a White House meeting with airline industry executives Thursday. We re way ahead of schedule, I believe. And we re going to be announcing something I would say over the next two or three weeks that will be phenomenal. The president s comment had an immediate effect on the value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies.The administration had gotten pushback a day earlier from conservative web site proprietor Matt Drudge, an influential media figure who Trump regularly lauded during the campaign. Republican party should be sued for fraud. NO discussion of tax cuts now. Just lots of crazy. Back to basics, guys! Drudge tweeted, on a day filled with fallout from the Senate effort to silence liberal Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.Tax reform has also been a top priority for House Speaker Paul Ryan and others in the GOP congressional majority, which has been anxious to slash taxes and regulations now that it finally has an ally in the White House.Trump has pledged to cut the top corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 15 per cent, but he offered no details on what his proposal might be. The value of the dollar against the Japanese yen jumped by 1 percentage point after the president s comments, Reuters reported. Airline stocks also spiked after the meeting. All three major market indexes jumped on news of the tax cut timetable. Daily Mail

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In Nairobi slum, rock-throwers, police keep voters at bay

NAIROBI (Reuters) - It had all the trappings of a proper polling station - ballot-boxes, pots of indelible ink, registration lists and a dozen election officials dutifully seated behind school desks. The only things missing were the voters. In Nairobi s Kibera slum, a hot-bed of support for veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, many young men failed to heed his call for a peaceful stay-away from Thursday s election, a re-run of an August presidential vote annulled by the courts. After opening six hours late because of a lack of security, the polling station at Kibera s Olympic Primary School came under attack from stone-throwing youths determined to ward off any voters. Police at the gates responded with volleys of tear gas followed by live rounds, sending gangs of youths chanting slogans against President Uhuru Kenyatta scurrying for cover in the warren of streets and tin-shacks next to the school walls. Riot officers then sealed off the area, making it impossible for even residents to get through, let alone would-be voters prepared to run the gauntlet of pro-Odinga peer pressure. I don t want to vote. I just want to go to my home, said 24-year-old Kevin Ouma-Sigiria, after being turned back by armed riot police blocking the rubble-strewn road 500 metres (1500 feet) from the school. As he spoke, another man tried to talk his way through the road-block, only to receive a prod in the chest from a wooden club, followed by a nonchalant whack around the ankles. There is a crisis up there, one of the riot officers, who idenitified himself only as Kevin, said. If they come one-by-one, that s OK. But if they gather again, the crisis will get bigger. Moments later, 35-year-old Said Mohammed scurried down the street in the opposite direction with his wife and three small children to pack them off to relatives living up-country. It s not good for their health, he said, clutching his children s hands as the pop of exloding tear-gas grenades echoed across the tin roof-tops. Other opposition strongholds in western Kenya saw similar unrest, causing the election commission to postpone voting there until the weekend - although there is little prospect of a 48-hour delay yielding a different outcome. In Kibera, polling station staff should have slept overnight at the Olympic school but were unable to do so because of fear of being attacked. As it was, they arrived under armed escort at 10am - four hours after voting was meant to start. The ballot boxes, also escorted by a heavily armed police contingent, arrived an hour after that - not that there was any chance of them being used. Nobody is going to vote here today, said Olympic deputy presiding officer Jaqueline Onuko, blithely tucking into a sandwich as rocks clanged against the metal roof of the classroom-cum-polling station. The first time around was very busy...They were here queueing at 3 in the morning. Now nobody is going to come. They are scared of both the police and their neighbors.

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This BRILLIANT Tweetstorm Shows How Senate Democrats Can Save SCOTUS

The worst part about the GOP controlling all three branches of the federal government is that they are about to hand the Supreme Court over to fascists and right-wing ideologues like themselves for a generation. However, there is one way to stop them if only Senate Democrats have the cajones to do it. On January 3, for just a few precious moments, the Democrats will control the Senate prior to the newly elected Republican Senators being sworn in. During that time, according to Senatorial procedure expert David Waldman, Vice President Joe Biden could have the Senate come to order for a vote on Merrick Garland, the Obama nominee that the Senate Republicans have refused to give a hearing and a vote to. Here are Waldman s tweets explaining the whole thing:Send Biden to the Senate on Jan. 3 w Garland's renomination & instructions to recognize Durbin before swearing in. https://t.co/KUNbf8qF8a David Waldman (@KagroX) November 25, 2016Dem Senators can force approval of Merrick Garland on Jan. 3: Crazy!Trump supporters recite Nazi propaganda & give fascist salute: Dapper! David Waldman (@KagroX) November 22, 2016@CatrionaMDW On 1/3, before new Sens. are sworn, 67 seated Sens. & Biden are in the chamber. Biden turns to Durbin instead of McConnell. Go. David Waldman (@KagroX) November 22, 2016@CatrionaMDW Schumer's not involved. He's among the Sens. who wouldn't be sworn at the time. And no, pro forma sessions predate them all. David Waldman (@KagroX) November 22, 2016Now, will Democrats actually do this? Hopefully so. It might take all of us calling important Senators like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders to make it happen, but this is our only shot to save the Court. Garland s confirmation would stack it 5-4 in our favor here. The GOP has declared war on us, and it s time for the gloves to come off. We MUST put pressure on Democrats to make this happen. It s our only hope for a generation.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Pence voices U.S. concern to Turkish prime minister about arrests

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence expressed “deep concern” to Turkey’s prime minister on Thursday about the arrests of American citizens and local staff of U.S. missions in Turkey, the White House said. The matters raised by Pence are some of the issues that have created tension between the two NATO allies in recent months, along with a dispute over a Turkish cleric living in the United States whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup in Turkey last year. In a White House meeting with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Pence voiced “deep concern over the arrests of American citizens, Mission Turkey local staff, journalists, and members of civil society under the state of emergency and urged transparency and due process in the resolution of their cases,” the White House said in a statement. In May, a translator at the U.S. consulate in the province of Adana in southern Turkey was arrested. More recently, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration worker was detained in Istanbul. Both are accused of links to last year’s coup attempt. The U.S. embassy has said the accusations are baseless. Before leaving for the United States, Yildirim had said Turkey’s demand for the United States to hand over cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999, would be discussed during his visit. U.S. officials have said courts require sufficient evidence to order Gulen’s extradition. Another issue to be raised, Yildirim had said, was the fate of some Turkish citizens arrested in the United States - a reference to a wealthy gold trader who was arrested over Iran sanctions evasion last year and an executive at a state-owned bank arrested this year. The White House statement made no mention of any discussions about either subject. It said the two officials “expressed hope that their meeting would help to usher in a new chapter in U.S.-Turkey relations and agreed on the need for constructive dialogue, as friends and allies, on bilateral challenges.” Pence reaffirmed the “enduring strategic partnership” between the two countries and stressed the U.S. commitment to stand with Turkey against the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) “and other terrorist threats.” The United States partially resumed issuing visas in Turkey on Monday after getting what it said were assurances about the safety of staff at its missions following a number of detentions. Turkey said it would relax a visa ban of its own.

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As Turkey Coup Unfolded, ‘the Whole Night Felt Like Doomsday’ - The New York Times

ISTANBUL — Thousands of soldiers and officers purged from the military. A helicopter shot down over the capital. Hundreds of people lying dead on city streets. As dawn broke Saturday, the citizens of Turkey emerged and after a night of violence that felt more like life in neighbors like Syria or Iraq. And trying to assert control was President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, targeting plotters in the previous night’s coup and other perceived enemies of the state. The embattled president, after a confusing absence in the early hours of the coup, appeared to speak to the nation early Saturday. He exhorted his followers with the FaceTime app from his cellphone, resorting to the kind of medium he has long sought to suppress. That stunning scene, televised nationwide, at first seemed an embarrassment for a leader who presents himself as and suggested his end. But it was actually the turning point, as Mr. Erdogan called on his followers to take to the streets and gather at the airport in Istanbul, which the military had shut down, to resist the coup. By the afternoon, after a standoff in Ankara, the capital, the government had wrested back an army headquarters building held by coup plotters. Mr. Erdogan, who had frequently talked of conspiracies afoot to undermine his power, was back in control, seemingly as powerful as ever, and perhaps even more paranoid. The attempted coup, as it unfolded, suggested an alarming unraveling for a country that is seen in the West as a crucial partner in the fight against terrorism and an anchor of stability in a region full of trouble. The United States has sought close cooperation with Turkey in the fight against the Islamic State, while Europe has relied on Turkey to help stem the flow of refugees from countries of the Middle East to the Continent. “The whole night felt like doomsday,” said Sibel Samli, an independent film producer in Istanbul. “People flocked to the markets to get bread, eggs and water. People were going to cash machines to draw out cash. ” A steamy Friday was just getting going when the first hint came that something was not right: The military sealed off two bridges across the Bosporus. Then, fighter jets and helicopters began flying low over Istanbul and Ankara, rattling residents enjoying a night on the town, and sporadic gunshots rang out. Suddenly, Turks were transfixed by their cellphones, or the televisions in bars and restaurants, trying to figure out what was going on. No one seemed to know where the president was. As rumors swirled that the military was maneuvering to thwart a terror plot, or that a hijacked airliner was in the sky, many Turks, given their nation’s history of military meddling in politics, began to wonder if a coup was afoot. Soon enough, they had their answer: The prime minister, Binali Yildirm, spoke on television and said a renegade faction within the military was trying to mount a coup. And a military group, later calling itself the Peace at Home Council — a reference to a mantra of Turkey’s secular founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk — issued a statement saying it had seized control of the country. And so began a surreal evening that stretched until daybreak, punctuated by violence that killed at least 265 people, most of them members of the security forces, as various factions fought each other for control of the country. The night seemed to encapsulate the many dramas and conflicts that have roiled Turkey in recent years: street protests the bitter fight between Mr. Erdogan, an Islamist, and a onetime ally, the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the president late in the night blamed for the coup attempt and rising political violence and terrorism. Ms. Samli had been sitting with friends at a rooftop bar of a chic hotel on the European side of Istanbul when a helicopter passed low over their heads. “We didn’t think anything of it at first because we knew the city was on high terror alerts following recent attacks,” she said. “Then we started getting the calls and WhatsApp notifications about the start of a military coup. People were calling one another telling them go home. ” The first signs that the coup might not succeed came as it become clear that the military failed to secure important government buildings, or to seize elected officials, normally the first actions of a putsch. Later it was learned that the conspirators had sought out Mr. Erdogan at the seaside town of Marmaris, where he was apparently vacationing, but were too late. And then Mr. Erdogan himself appeared, from an undisclosed location, and spoke to the nation on FaceTime. Once again — as he did when he faced down a widespread street revolt in 2013 and to win elections, for himself as president and in Parliament for his Islamist Justice and Development Party — Mr. Erdogan relied on his power base of Turkey’s religious conservatives. Mosque preachers joined Mr. Erdogan’s call to resist. “We will not let Turkey fall!” men shouted in the conservative Istanbul neighborhood of Istinye on Saturday morning, firing guns in to the air. “God is greatest!” The scariest hour was the one just before Mr. Erdogan’s jet landed in Istanbul after 3 a. m. Fighter jets flew low over Istanbul, setting off sonic booms that felt like airstrikes. Gunfire crackled throughout the city and in Ankara, where soldiers seized civilian cars to use as barricades. Several explosions were reported at Parliament, and a helicopter used by the plotters was blown from the sky, officials said. A helicopter landed at the offices of CNN Turk, and soldiers, apparently coup plotters, tried to seize the station during a live broadcast. “Around 3 a. m. we heard loud fighter jets and explosions,” said Ms. Samli, the film producer in Istanbul. “That’s when I felt scared. And this morning, everyone is in shock. Everyone is trying to work out what happened. ” Late in the night, as the sounds of war mixed with muezzins at mosques exhorting people to go into the streets and people chanting “Allahu akbar,” or “God is greatest,” Turkey’s cities felt like besieged cities in Iraq or Syria. When Mr. Erdogan landed in Istanbul, chaos was still gripping Istanbul and Ankara, with more explosions and gunshots, but his very appearance seemed to signify that the conspiracy was reaching its end. In characteristic fashion, as he has when confronted with street protests and a corruption investigation, he vowed to root out the conspirators. “This attempt, this move, is a great favor from God to us,” he said. “Why? Because this move will allow us to clean up the armed forces, which needs to be completely clean. ” It was becoming clear, by the time Mr. Erdogan landed in Istanbul, that those behind the coup did not have enough support within the military, even as the whole episode exposed deep divisions within the military that had not been so apparent. While the Turkish military has a history of intervening in politics — it carried out three coups in the past five decades — Mr. Erdogan and his allies had systematically sought to the army through a series of sensational trials, and it was thought not able to mount a takeover of the government. Officials said the main plotters were from the gendarmerie, a police force the air force and some elements of the land forces. Several generals and colonels were arrested — none figures recognizable to the public — and thousands of officers and soldiers were rounded up Saturday in a purge that is likely to go one for some time. “All of these guys will go to prison for life,” said Ilnur Cevik, an aide to Mr. Erdogan, in a telephone interview Saturday afternoon. As the night wore on, some Turks, underscoring the hold that conspiracy theories have on Turkish society, believed the whole thing was a hoax or something staged by Mr. Erdogan so he could ride to the rescue. That would give himself a pretext to crack down even further on his perceived enemies and pursue more power by establishing an executive presidency. “We didn’t know if it was real or a hoax,” Ms. Samli said. “People around us were saying that it was a staged coup orchestrated by President Erdogan to help him obtain more power over the country. ” Younger Turks panicked after seeing older Turks, who have lived through coups and the street violence that has come with them, react with horror. “We had barely recovered from the Istanbul airport terrorist attack and now everyone has started talking about a civil war,” said Esra Goksu, 32, an artist who lives in Istanbul. “Hundreds of people died for what? One man’s ego? It breaks my heart. I don’t recognize my country anymore. I want to leave. ” After daybreak on Saturday, when it was apparent that the coup attempt had failed, central Istanbul was eerily quiet. There was little sign of security forces, which are usually out in force at any sign of trouble, sealing streets and lining up at intersections while backed by armored vehicles. But there were signs of life, as workers hauled trash, shops and cafes began opening, and a group of religious men on mopeds motored down Istiklal Avenue, the city’s main pedestrian street, waving the Turkish flag and chanting, “Allahu akbar!” Across the city, the police began rounding up suspected plotters, and soldiers who had taken control of the Bosporus Bridge the night before began surrendering, leaving equipment and clothing strewn about. “When I was waking up, I was thinking, ‘Was this a nightmare, or did we really witness these things? ’” said Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat who is the chairman of the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, a research organization in Istanbul. Mr. Ulgen said of the intrigue Friday night and Saturday morning: “It was clearly a junta within the military that staged a botched coup attempt. ” But, he said, given that those arrested so far did not appear to be of the highest rank in the military, “it shows how little support the coup had within the top brass of the military. ” With Turkish society so deeply polarized, with about half the country supporting Mr. Erdogan and the other half bitterly opposed, a refusal to return to the dark days of military coups seemed to be one thing that united them as the episode unfurled over night. While the military factions clearly did not have enough support within the military to finish the job, they also appeared to miscalculate how the plot would be received by those who have long wished to see the end of Mr. Erdogan and his government. The coup plotters, Mr. Ulgen said, appeared to “grossly misjudge the sentiments of the Turkish people, which over time, despite Turkey’s own democratic shortcomings, have turned very intervention. ” Under Mr. Erdogan, Turkey has cracked down severely on journalists, sending many to jail and charging others with insulting Mr. Erdogan, a crime in Turkey. But ultimately, in many ways, it was modern media that helped Mr. Erdogan fend off the coup. As the coup unfolded, he was able to communicate with the country over FaceTime, and it was coverage of a number of Turkish outlets that, analysts said, helped sway the tide of public opinion and allow government officials a platform to communicate with the public. Among those outlets was CNN Turk, which has faced the wrath of the government over coverage officials believe to be . The coup plotters seemed stuck in the 1970s, having seized, for a time, the state broadcaster TRT, while other news channels continued coverage, opposing the coup. Turks were able to communicate over social media, sometimes using a VPN when Twitter or Facebook seemed to be inaccessible. “It’s a total media story,” said Asli Aydintasbas, a Turkish journalist and writer. “This was about not being able to control the message. ” Ms. Aydintasbas was attending a dinner party Friday when guests were alerted to messages on Twitter about the intrigue unfolding. Someone joked that it might be a coup. “We all laughed, because it’s not an option in Turkey these days,” she said. “The idea of a coup is so retro. ”

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Republican Gov Wrecked Economy So Bad He’s Started Censoring Reports

Kansas is bleeding money and jobs and Governor Sam Brownback doesn t want the people to know how devastating his economic policies have been.In 2011, the Tea Party governor was so confident that his economic policy of massive tax cuts for the wealthy and reduced spending would turn Kansas into an economic powerhouse that he created a special group charged with writing reports on the results.But Brownback s experiment has failed so spectacularly that the state is billions of dollars in debt, education funding is suffering, and job growth is pathetic. So pathetic that Kansas is losing more jobs than it has gained.In January, Brownback couldn t handle a report put together by his group that admitted Kansas sometimes was faring worse than it had before Brownback became governor, so he made every effort to cover it up.In other words, he censored it because his group was supposed to report that the economy is soaring, not falling to the ground like a rock.Kansas Center for Economic Growth executive director Heidi Holliday blasted Brownback for killing the report. He specifically asked the council to hold him accountable through rigorous performance metrics. Five years later, the metrics clearly show his tax experiment has failed while business leaders and local chambers of commerce across the state openly ask him to change course. In fact, Brownback is so desperate to keep the people of Kansas from calling for tarring and feathering him in a public square that he is turning to the federal government. Instead of writing their own independent reports, the group is now restricted to getting their information from the Federal Reserve, which conservatives often claim is responsible whenever economic issues occur.That particularly surprised Kansas House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs, who was quick to point out the irony. The missed revenue marks, missed job reports, missed projections shed light on his failed policies. I kind of find it a little ironic they chose to go to a federal government report after they blamed President Obama for our economic problems. Governor Brownback s economic experiment is a complete failure and a joke. Kansas economy is now in shambles and Republicans have no one to blame but themselves. They believed that by implementing an extreme conservative fiscal policy without interference from Democrats that they would prove trickle-down economics as a total success. Instead, it failed miserably and now they want to censor any results from being reported.By all rights, Brownback should have ousted by voters in 2014. But now Kansas is stuck with him and his failed policies for at least another two years. Meanwhile, the wealthy are laughing all the way to the bank.Featured image via Liberalbias.com

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Belgium eyes British, U.S. jets; French offer under legal scrutiny

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium has received proposals from Britain and the United States to replace its ageing fleet of fighter jets, while a French proposal that was not part of the tender process will be looked at separately, Belgium s defense minister said. Belgium invited government-led proposals in March for the replacement of its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16 planes with 34 new fighters, in a deal that could be worth more than 3.5 billion euros ($4.2 billion). Last month, France proposed a wide-ranging military deal with Belgium instead of responding to the tender. The deal goes beyond the terms of the tender whilst including the sale of Rafale fighter jets. While the French offer would be discussed by the government, it could open Belgium to criticism that it was not treating candidates equally, Vandeput said. To be very clear, the French offer is not part of the contest, minister Steven Vandeput told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday. Offers from the U.S. for Lockheed F-35 Lightning II planes and British offers for the Eurofighter Typhoon did meet the tender rules, the minister added. A spokeswoman for the defense ministry said the French proposal was being checked by its legal services and forwarded to the government which would decide at a later stage whether or not to respond. The Rafales are made by France s Dassault Aviation which declined to comment on Thursday. Boeing pulled out of the race last spring. The French government said that its proposal was in line with Belgium s request. We have made an extended proposal which is legally relevant and we are waiting for a proposal by the Belgian government, a spokeswoman for the French defense ministry said. Belgium will make a decision on which jet fighter to pick next year. The 34 jets are to be delivered from 2023, at a rate of 4-5 aircraft a year.

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Finnish president says joining NATO would require referendum

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Any move by Finland to join NATO would need public approval via a referendum, President Sauli Niinisto told a panel debate on Monday ahead of elections in January. The Nordic country is a member of the European Union but has stayed outside the NATO military alliance in line with its tradition of avoiding confrontation with Russia, with which it shares an 833 mile (1,340 km) border and a difficult history. It has forged closer ties with NATO in recent years, however, sharing information and taking part in military exercises, reflecting concerns in Finland about the Ukraine crisis and increased East-West tensions in the Baltic Sea. Niinisto, who is expected to easily win a second six-year term in the Jan. 28 election, did not indicate whether he favoured joining NATO but said a decision to apply for full membership would require a referendum. I am convinced that (membership) decision would require legitimacy, a wide acceptability... I would warn against making decisions where a significant part of citizens would get deep wounds, Niinisto said in a panel discussion in Helsinki. Only 21 percent of Finns support joining NATO, while 51 percent are opposed, a poll by YLE showed in February. Niinisto, 69, who will stand as an independent candidate after previously representing the conservative National Coalition Party, is known for cultivating good relations with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Finland s president is in charge of foreign and defence policy together with the government. Nils Torvalds, the only one of seven presidential candidates who advocates joining NATO, said politicians needed to show leadership on the issue. The thesis of a referendum blocks the discussion on membership. Everybody s waiting for a referendum and are not taking a stance on the real question ... We do have a parliament to decide on issues. To apply for a membership when a crisis is knocking on the door, forget that. The membership must be applied for when the weather is still rather beautiful. Torvalds, a politician for Swedish People s Party of Finland, had 1 percent support in a recent opinion poll while Niinisto had 76 percent. Finland s centre-right government has said it will monitor the security situation in the region and retain the option of joining NATO. Russia, which has opposed NATO s eastward expansion has said any move by Helsinki to join would be of special concern .

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PICTURE OF Cop Walking Son To School On Day He Was Murdered Appears On Social Media Same Day MEDIA TRASHED TRUMP Over Joke He Made To Cops About Getting Tough On Criminals Who Kill Innocent People

So what s worse, Barack Obama remaining silent about the slaughter of innocent cops, while meeting behind closed doors in the White House with Black Lives Matter leaders advocating for violence against innocent cops, or President Trump making a joke about cops being tougher on criminals who kill innocent people? Does anyone remember Al Sharpton leading a hateful chant: What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want it? Now! in a pro-violence against cops rally in the city of New York? Does anyone remember then President Barack Obama denouncing this hateful rhetoric against innocent law enforcement officers?Shortly after these protests, 2 New York City cops were killed in cold blood by a black lives matter supporter. Donald Trump, who was not yet a candidate for president, spoke out on the culpability of Al Sharpton, who is a close friend of former President Barack Obama for the murders of these innocent cops:President Trump didn t make any secret of the fact that he was pro-police while he was running for office. He also didn t make any secret of the fact that he believed Al Sharpton was doing what he was doing to racially divide our nation.President Trump made a joke while speaking to law enforcement officers that was portrayed in the media as an endorsement of police brutality.Meanwhile, the heartbreaking picture of slain Indiana cop Lt. Aaron Allen walking his young son to the bus on the day he was murdered by one of the victims in a car crash he was responding to, has appeared on several social media sited. You will be hard pressed to find it in the media however, because it doesn t fit their liberal, anti-cop narrative.This is a photo of Lt. Aaron Allen walking his son to the bus stop hours before he was killed in the line of duty. Teared up looking at this pic.twitter.com/tJRNEaTWjJ Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) July 29, 2017Daily Caller While speaking about violent gang-members in a speech to law enforcement officers that focused on MS-13, Trump said officers shouldn t be too nice when putting violent criminals in the paddy wagon. He added: Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you re protecting their head, you know, the way you put the hand over. Like, don t hit their head and they ve just killed somebody, don t hit their head. I said, You can take the hand away, OK. Trump s comment was clearly a joke and, as liberal website Slate pointed out, resembled a famous Jerry Seinfeld joke on the same topic.Liberal journalists said the joke was an open endorsement of police brutality.Here s the clip of Trump making a joke to the law enforcement officers:President urges officers to commit acts of brutality, officers laugh and cheer wildly. Beginning to think problem isn't a few bad apples. pic.twitter.com/o1sSgw6lGy Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) July 28, 2017 TRUMP ENDORSES POLICE BRUTALITY, blared HuffPost s front page, featuring a story titled: Donald Trump Endorses Police Brutality In Speech To Cops. Other outlets took a similar tone. Trump promotes police brutality in speech to cops, reported The Daily Dot. Trump praises police violence to audience of laughing cops, left-wing ThinkProgress reported. Trump endorsed police brutality in a speech to law enforcement while officers laughed and cheered, claimed Huffington Post editor Emma Gray. In a country that already has a pretty pervasive problem with police brutality, Trump endorses their behavior, wrote HuffPo editor Phillip Lewis. Trump just called for cops to rough up suspects more in front of a crowd of cops, they cheered, claimed Daily Beast writer Colin Jones. President Trump is openly and explicitly calling for, to wild applause just moments ago, cops to commit more police brutality, claimed Daily Beast writer Asawin Suebsaeng. This is vile, and shame on every officer who cheered and whooped, said liberal MSNBC host Chris Hayes. MSNBC producer Kyle Griffin claimed the video showed Trump suggesting that it s OK for police to rough up the people that they arrest. President Trump spent his Friday afternoon publicly praising police brutality, claimed left-wing news outlet NowThis.Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro was quick to push back against claims that Trump was endorsing police brutality. This is all exaggeration. Is it appropriate for Trump to encourage police not to be too nice to suspects? Not really. But it s not police brutality to refrain from putting your hand on the head of a suspect to prevent them from bumping it on a car door. It s police brutality if you slam their head into the car door, Shapiro wrote.

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OBAMA TO VISIT MOSQUE WHERE RADICAL IMAM Condones Suicide Bombings…Even MORE Unbelievable Is List Of Muslims Who Committed Horrific Acts Of Terror Against Americans Who Prayed There

Our Imam In Chief told America he was a Christian when he wanted us to elect him in 2007. His Black Liberation Theology Pastor of hate later revealed that Barack only used the church as a way to boost his status as a community organizer. He s been openly mocking Christianity for years now and now, of all the mosques in America he feels compelled to visit, it just happens to be one with a radical Imam and ties to several terrorists who have committed atrocities against Americans.All is forgiven with ignorant liberals who believe terror organization CAIR, when they say Obama just wants to send a message of inclusion and mutual respect. President Obama is set to speak next week at a mosque which was led for over a decade by an Imam who justified suicide bombings in some circumstances and who helped found a mosque with ties to Al Qaeda.The President will visit the Islamic Society of Baltimore on Wednesday and deliver remarks there, the White House confirmed on Saturday. This will be the first time the President has paid an official visit to a mosque during his seven years as President. However, Obama has toured mosques while on overseas trips. The president believes that one of our nation s greatest strengths is our rich diversity, White House spokesman Keith Maley said, confirming reports. As the president has said, Muslim Americans are our friends, and neighbors; our co-workers, and sports heroes and our men and women in uniform defending our country. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) which has been declared a terrorist organization in the United Arab Emirates and was named by federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation s Hamas-funding operation welcomed Obama s decision. For a number of years we ve been encouraging the president to go to an American mosque, said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper. With the tremendous rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in our country, we believe that it will send a message of inclusion and mutual respect. But critics of Obama s decision may question his choice of the Islamic Society of Baltimore, where Mohamad Adam el-Sheikh, a native of Sudan and former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, led the institution for eighteen years as its Imam.Before becoming Imam there, el-Sheikh helped found the Muslim American Society, an outfit created by Muslim Brotherhood members.In 2004, he told the Washington Post, commenting on Palestinian suicide bombers: If certain Muslims are to be cornered where they cannot defend themselves, except through these kinds of means, and their local religious leaders issued fatwas to permit that, then it becomes acceptable as an exceptional rule, but should not be taken as a principle. El-Sheikh also helped found the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque, which was once led by the deceased infamous Al Qaeda terrorist Anwar Al Awlaki.When he left the Islamic Society of Baltimore, El Sheikh became the Imam of Dar Al-Hijrah, following Awlaki s escape from the U.S. after the September 11 attacks.The Dar Al-Hijrah mosque was founded thanks, in part, to a large grant from Saudi Arabia s Embassy in the United States, which allowed for the large facility to accommodate some 5,000 Muslims.Dar Al-Hijrah, which is located right outside Washington, D.C., is connected to several high-profile Islamic terrorists who prayed there, including Major Nidal Hassan the Ft. Hood massacre jihadi, two September 11 hijackers, and an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.Via: Breitbart News

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FANTASTIC! TRUMP'S 7 POINT PLAN To Reform Healthcare Begins With A Bombshell! » 100percentfedUp.com

Email HEALTHCARE REFORM TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN Since March of 2010, the American people have had to suffer under the incredible economic burden of the Affordable Care Act—Obamacare. This legislation, passed by totally partisan votes in the House and Senate and signed into law by the most divisive and partisan President in American history, has tragically but predictably resulted in runaway costs, websites that don’t work, greater rationing of care, higher premiums, less competition and fewer choices. Obamacare has raised the economic uncertainty of every single person residing in this country. As it appears Obamacare is certain to collapse of its own weight, the damage done by the Democrats and President Obama, and abetted by the Supreme Court, will be difficult to repair unless the next President and a Republican congress lead the effort to bring much-needed free market reforms to the healthcare industry. Congress must act. Our elected representatives in the House and Senate must: 1. Completely repeal Obamacare. Our elected representatives must eliminate the individual mandate. No person should be required to buy insurance unless he or she wants to. 2. Modify existing law that inhibits the sale of health insurance across state lines. As long as the plan purchased complies with state requirements, any vendor ought to be able to offer insurance in any state. By allowing full competition in this market, insurance costs will go down and consumer satisfaction will go up. 3. Allow individuals to fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns under the current tax system. Businesses are allowed to take these deductions so why wouldn’t Congress allow individuals the same exemptions? As we allow the free market to provide insurance coverage opportunities to companies and individuals, we must also make sure that no one slips through the cracks simply because they cannot afford insurance. We must review basic options for Medicaid and work with states to ensure that those who want healthcare coverage can have it. TRENDING ON 100% Fed Up

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BREAKING: SOURCE TELLS HOW Anthony Weiner Accidentally Got The 650,000 Emails The FBI Discovered [Video]

A source close to Anthony Weiner s legal team says it seems the laptop containing the emails was used to backup his estranged wife s Smartphone contacts in the process. The computer apparently backed up all of the emails as well.

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Re: Election Not Over? Money Is Being Raised To Challenge The Election Results In Wisconsin, Michigan And Pennsylvania

Michael On Television Election Not Over? Money Is Being Raised To Challenge The Election Results In Wisconsin, Michigan And Pennsylvania 23rd, 2016 Just when you thought it was safe to celebrate Trump’s victory, the left is hatching a plan to try to steal the election right from under his nose. A group composed of “prominent computer scientists” and “election lawyers” is urgently asking the Clinton campaign to challenge the election results in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. They claim that there is “persuasive evidence” that the election results in those states were “manipulated or hacked”, and they are pushing Clinton to file formal challenges to those results while there is still time to do so. As I write this article, the final result in Michigan could still go either way, and if Hillary Clinton does end up winning Michigan all she would have to do would be to flip the results in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to become the next president of the United States. Many on the left are absolutely incensed that Donald Trump is going to be the next president even though it looks like Hillary Clinton is going to win the popular vote by a very wide margin. In fact, as I write this article Hillary Clinton’s lead in the popular vote has expanded to more than 1.8 million votes . After all of the votes have been counted, it is entirely possible that Hillary Clinton may finish more than 2 million votes ahead of Donald Trump. In a desperate bid to try to salvage the election, an attempt is being made to push for recounts in the key swing states that Clinton lost. This is being talked about all over the mainstream media today, but it was first reported by New York Magazine … Hillary Clinton is being urged by a group of prominent computer scientists and election lawyers to call for a recount in three swing states won by Donald Trump , New York has learned. The group, which includes voting-rights attorney John Bonifaz and J. Alex Halderman, the director of the University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society, believes they’ve found persuasive evidence that results in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania may have been manipulated or hacked . The group is so far not speaking on the record about their findings and is focused on lobbying the Clinton team in private. Last Thursday, the activists held a conference call with Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and campaign general counsel Marc Elias to make their case, according to a source briefed on the call. The academics presented findings showing that in Wisconsin, Clinton received 7 percent fewer votes in counties that relied on electronic-voting machines compared with counties that used optical scanners and paper ballots. Based on this statistical analysis, Clinton may have been denied as many as 30,000 votes; she lost Wisconsin by 27,000. The race in Michigan is even closer, and the truth is that Clinton may be able to close the gap of about 11,000 votes there without a recount. In Pennsylvania, the gap is currently about 68,000 votes, and so that would present much more of a challenge for the Clinton campaign. At this point it is questionable whether Hillary Clinton is willing to formally request recounts in those states before the deadlines arrive, but she doesn’t have to be the one to do it. In fact, according to MSN another presidential candidate is already raising the money needed to submit her own requests for recounts in those key battleground states… Jill Stein, the Green party’s presidential candidate, is prepared to request recounts of the election result in several key battleground states, her campaign said on Wednesday. Stein launched an online fundraising page seeking donations toward a $2m fund she said was needed to request reviews of the results in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Stein said she was acting due to “compelling evidence of voting anomalies” and that data analysis had indicated “significant discrepancies in vote totals”. But if Stein wants to do something, she needs to act very quickly. The deadline to officially file for a recount in Wisconsin is Friday, in Pennsylvania it is Monday, and in Michigan it is next Wednesday. Meanwhile, six former Bernie Sanders supporters are engaged in a last ditch effort to use the Electoral College to deny Trump the presidency on December 19th. Just like the attempt to recount the votes in key battleground states, this plan is not likely to work either, but right now it is receiving a lot of attention from the mainstream media. The following comes from a Daily Caller article entitled “ Sanders Electors Vow To Vote Against Clinton In Wild Attempt To Keep Trump From White House “… The group asserts that in order to succeed in their goal, they would have to convince 37 Republican electors to vote against Trump, a number the groups understands is unlikely. The ultimate goal, the group says, is to reduce the overall faith the average american voter has in the electoral college system. Until the actual votes are tallied, it will be very difficult for either Democrats or Republicans to ascertain just how effective the movement is, because there is no organized whip effort to gauge how many electors intend to vote they way they are instructed. There is no remedy for a faithless elector. It is extremely unlikely that 37 Republican electors would betray Trump at this point. What is far more likely is that these former Bernie Sanders supporters will bring enough attention to “faithless electors” that it will cause an even bigger push to abolish the Electoral College. But because it would require changing the Constitution in order to abolish the Electoral College, it is something that is not likely to happen any time soon. Ultimately, all of these last minute moves by the left seem destined to fail, and there doesn’t seem to be anything that they can do at this point to keep Donald Trump out of the White House. And the truth is that so many of the things that I warn are coming to America in my new book are far more likely to happen if Trump is in the White House rather than if a Democrat is residing there. We have reached a critical moment in U.S. history, and right now optimism about the future of this country among conservatives is off the charts . But is that optimism justified? We shall see, but without a doubt this optimism is not shared by Democrats, and many on the left are preparing to fight against Trump every step of the way. November 23rd, 2016 | Tags: 2016 , 2017 , Debt , Debts , Donald Trump , Extreme Pain , Intense Pain , Lawyers , Michigan , Pain , Painful , Pennsylvania , Trump , Wisconsin | Category: Commentary Half Of The Population Of The World Is Dirt Poor – And The Global Elite Want To Keep It That Way » Cinderella Man Fear mongering…it’s not gonna happen jeez there’s no way in hell they steal this from us..they think protests from leftist crybabies is bad just wait and see 60 million pissed off Deplorables not gonna happen James Staten

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MEDIA WON’T SHOW VIDEO Of Trump Telling Matt Lauer David Duke Is A “Bigot” and A “Racist…IGNORES HILLARY’S Ties To Former KKK Leader, Democrat Senator Robert Byrd

It is awfully ironic how the liberals are bashing President Trump for placing blame on both sides for the violence in the Charlottesville incident and not condemning just the white supremacists, considering they conveniently overlooked Hillary and Obama s close friendship with former KKK member, Robert Byrd.Following the Charlottesville incident involving a car crashing into a crowd of people, President Trump seemed to be one of the only figures in the country condemning both sides for their displays of violence and bigotry. It was not clear who, exactly, was behind the attack, or which group was responsible.Trump waited until the dust settled and condemned both sides, as both sides warrant condemnation in this situation: from the white supremacists to the black supremacists, to the Communists, to Antifa, the situation was hardly one-sided.David Duke attempted to link Trump to the bigotry and hatred that was present in Charlottesville, however, it would be a far cry to say that the President is in any way happy with or affiliated with Duke or those he associates with, and to say so is to insult the President and his supporters.However, President Trump, back when he was dropping out of the Reform Party primary in 2000, condemned David Duke.When pressed by Matt Lauer on why he saw the Reform Party as self-destructing, Trump commented: Well, you ve got David Duke just joined, a bigot, a racist, a problem, I mean, this is not exactly the people you want in your party. Gateway PunditWatch Trump s 2000 interview with Lauer here:Despite mounting criticism for Donald Trump s failure to disavow former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke s support, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton once heaped praise for late Klan leader Sen. Robert Byrd.In a video uploaded to the State Department s official YouTube page on June 28, 2010, Clinton commemorated late Sen. Byrd by saying, Today our country has lost a true American original, my friend and mentor Robert C. Byrd. Via: Daily CallerAnd when the former KKK member, Senator Robert Byrd died, Barack Obama gave the eulogy:President Obama lauded the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd today for keeping faith with his family, his state of West Virginia and his beloved U.S. Constitution. He was a Senate icon, he was a party leader, he was an elder statesman, and he was my friend, Obama told thousands who gathered for Byrd s funeral on the steps of the golden-domed West Virginia statehouse. That s how I ll remember him.

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Genius Kid Trolled White House Halloween Party, Idiot Obama Didn’t Notice

Genius Kid Trolled White House Halloween Party, Idiot Obama Didn’t Notice Posted on November 1, 2016 by Robert Rich in Politics Share This During certain holidays, Barack and Michelle Obama invite a few kids to the White House to join them in the festivities. However, the most recent incident wasn’t like all the rest as one kid decided to troll everyone there with a genius costume idea – and our idiot president didn’t even seem to notice what he did. Yesterday, a few kids were invited to the White House Rose Garden in order to dress up for the annual Halloween trick-or-treat event. Although most kids were there for the candy and games, there was one costume that stood above the rest – a duck. Now, this wasn’t exactly your typical duck costume with a kid inside, and he wasn’t your ordinary kid either. As can be seen in a picture posing with Obama, the duck was actually bandaged with its arm in a sling, thereby actually making it a “ lame duck .” Obama meets kid dressed as "lame duck" for Halloween at WH pic.twitter.com/5q4l04b5pM — Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 31, 2016 Of course, Obama is about to adopt that name after the election as he begins the home stretch of his presidency. Although he hasn’t done anything except for forcing his legacy down America’s throat, these are the few months where slacking off is actually accepted from a man in his position. At this point, a few things are unclear, including whether this kid was suggesting that Obama was a lame duck for his entire presidency or if our so-called Commander-in-Chief actually caught the genius pun. While some say he took the comedic jab with a bit of humor, others suggest the moron missed the subtle trolling entirely as it was just one of the endless droves of children in costumes that he took a picture with. It’s unknown who was actually in the costume or if the idea came from the child or their father, but it’s being shared around social media for good reason. Obama has been nothing but a lame duck for the past 8 years after idiot voters actually believing the “hope and change” spiel voted for the man twice. Fortunately, his days of freeloading and kicking back are about to become a thing of the past. Although nothing will change during his “lame duck” months, freeloaders of our nation are about to get a kick in the backside when Donald Trump is elected. We have been doing nothing for far too long – it’s time we kick things into high gear and actually do some great things, just like we used to do.

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TODAY: LIST OF U.S. CITIES Where “DAY OF RAGE” Is Reportedly Planned…Scott Air Force Base Posts Warning

Isn t it great when the day after a major terror attack in France, citizens can wake up in America, and fear more organized chaos and violence in cities across the nation? A group claiming to be the hacktivist group Anonymous, along with a number of other radical activist groups, is calling for a nationwide day of protesting on Friday, July 15th. Day of Rage protests are being planned by various groups in dozens of major cities throughout the country and police are gearing up for some major problems. Off Grid SurvivalScott Air Force Base has posted a warning to Facebook about a possible protest this Friday at the St. Louis Arch. The Day of Rage protests are planned at the same time in cities across the United States. A group calling itself part of Anonymous is planning protests on Friday, July 15th to stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. Other members of Anonymous say the planned protests are not going to happen.Scott Air Force Base origionally posted this message to Facebook at around 10am Thursday: Please be advised that the Air Force Office of Special Investigations has posted a safety warning not to be at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, at 6 p.m. on Friday, July 15 due to potential protests and criminal activity. Please be safe and avoid this area during that time. They have updated the post since it went viral with this message:The potential protests are in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and the victims of police brutality. It is a reaction to last week s officer involved shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. Anonymous posted a YouTube warning on Saturday: We are calling on a collective day of rage. A day of action centered around civil disobedience and the right to protest.To police departments across the United States. We are not your enemy. However, it is in your hands if you want us to stay that way or not. We will not be silenced and we will not be intimidated.To the St. Anthony and the Baton Rouge Police Departments, we ve already launched attacks on your virtual infrastructure. We are prepared to release every single piece of evidence that will expose your corruption and blatant disregard for human life.Once again we are calling upon the citizens of the United States, in conjunction with the Black Lives Matter movement as well as other civil rights activists, to participate in a day of action against the injustices of corrupt officers. On Friday, July 15th, we will all flood the streets at strategic locations in order to maximize our voice. The locations and times will be located in the description below. Tell your family, tell your friends. We will change the world together. Our freedom depends on it. Fox2NowHere is the list of cities where the #DayOfRage is supposedly planned:Please be careful if you live in these cities, and you may want to consider getting out of town on Friday:Phoenix: 5:00PM (EASTLAKE PARK, 1549 E Jefferson St , Phoenix, AZ 85034) Tuscon: 5:00PM (CATALINA PARK, 900 N 4th Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85705) Little Rock: 6:00PM (OUTSIDE STATE CAPITOL BUILDING, Dr Martin Luther King Jr Dr., Little Rock, AR 72201) San Francisco: 4:00PM (CIVIC CENTER PLAZA, 355 Mcallister St, San Francisco, California 94102) Oakland: 4:00PM (FRANK OGAWA PLAZA, 1 Frank H Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA 94612) Los Angeles: 4:00PM (LEIMERT PLAZA PARK, 4395 Leimert Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008) Denver: 5:00PM (CIVIC CENTER PARK, 100 W 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver, Colorado 80204) Washington DC: 7:00PM (OUTSIDE WHITE HOUSE, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500) Atlanta: 7:00PM (OLD DECATUR COURTHOUSE, 101 E Court Sq, Decatur, GA 30030) Tampa: 7:00PM (OUTSIDE HILLSBOROUGH COURTHOUSE, 800 E Twiggs St, Tampa, FL) Orlando: 7:00PM (LAKE EOLA PARK, 195 N Rosalind Ave, Orlando, Florida 32801) Miami: 7:00PM (GWEN CHERRY PARK, NW 71 St., Miami, Florida, 33147) Chicago: 6:00PM (RICHARD J DALEY CENTER, 50 W Washington St, Chicago, Illinois 60602) Des Moines: 6:00PM (IOWA STATE CAPITOL, 1007 E Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50319) New Orleans: 6:00PM (LAFAYETTE SQUARE, New Orleans, LA 70130) Baltimore: 7:00PM (201 E Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21202) Boston: 7:00PM (MASSACHUSETTS STATE HOUSE, 24 Beacon St, Boston, MA 01233) Detroit: 7:00PM (Campus Martius Park, Detroit, Michigan 48226) Lansing: 7:00PM (STATE CAPITOL BUILDING, Capitol Avenue at Michigan Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933) Ann Arbor: 7:00PM (THE DIAG, Burns Park, Ann Arbor, MI 48109) Minneapolis: 6:00PM (MINNEAPOLIS URBAN LEAGUE, 2100 Plymouth Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55411 St. Louis: 6:00PM (GATEWAY ARCH, St. Louis 63102) Carson City: 4:00PM (NEVADA STATE CAPITOL BUILDING, 101 N Carson St, Carson City, Nevada 89701) Manhattan, NY: 7:00PM (TIMES SQUARE, Manhattan, NY, 10036) Newark: 7:00PM (NEWARK CITY HALL, 920 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102) Durham: 7:00PM (200 E. Main St. Durham, North Carolina) Columbus: 7:00PM (GOODALE PARK, Columbus, Ohio 43215) Cleveland: 7:00PM (CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY, 325 Superior Ave E, Cleveland, Ohio 44114) Portland: 4:00PM (PIONEER COURTHOUSE SQUARE, 701 SW 6th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97204) Philadelphia: 7:00PM (LOVE PARK, 1599 John F Kennedy Blvd, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102) Pittsburgh: 7:00PM (PITTSBURGH CITY-COUNTY BUILDING, 414 Grant St, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219) Nashville: 6:00PM (801 Broadway Nashville, TN 37203 Estes Kefauver Federal Building) Memphis: 6:00PM (Health Sciences Park Memphis, TN) Austin: 6:00PM (TEXAS STATE CAPITOL, Outside South Gate-11th and Congress Ave.) Salt Lake City: 5:00PM (SALT LAKE CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, 4600 S Redwood Rd, Salt Lake City, Utah 84123) Seattle: 4:00PM (QUEEN ANNE BAPTIST CHURCH, 2011 1st Ave N, Seattle, Washington 98109) Milwaukee: 5:00PM (DINEEN PARK, Milwaukee, Wisconsin)h/t Off Grid Survival

1real

Indonesia arrests nine with alleged Islamic State links

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities arrested nine men suspected of having links to a militant network loyal to Islamic State and planning a series of attacks on police posts, said a police spokesman. Counter-terrorism police have grappled with a recent resurgence in homegrown radicalism in the world s largest Muslim-majority country, inspired by extremist group Islamic State. Police said eight men were arrested on Tuesday in Riau province and one man in South Sulawesi province. They were alleged to have links to Indonesia s most high-profile militant network Jemaah Asharut Daulah (JAD) which is loyal to Islamic State. They were planning attacks on police stations from the district level all the way to the provincial level, national police spokesman Rikwanto said of the men arrested in Riau. He added that the men were suspected of joining a training camp in a neighboring province where they learned to shoot guns and assemble bombs. Detachment 88, the country s elite counter-terrorism police unit usually steps up surveillance and raids near the end of the year, foiling militant plots targeting New Year s Eve and Christmas celebrations and popular tourist spots. Authorities suspect there are hundreds of Islamic State sympathizers in Indonesia, some of whom have traveled to Syria to fight alongside the group. There are heightened concerns over the return of battle-hardened militants as Islamic State loses territory in the Middle East. Four people were killed when Islamic State-linked militants launched a gun-and-bomb attack in the heart of the capital Jakarta in January, 2016.

0fake

Trump expected to pick investor Wilbur Ross as U.S. commerce secretary

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Wilbur Ross, a billionaire known for his investments in distressed industries, to head the Commerce Department, a Republican source familiar with the decision told Reuters on Tuesday. An announcement on Ross to lead the department, which pursues anti-dumping cases against cheap foreign imports, could come as early as Wednesday, NBC News said. Ross declined to comment to Reuters on Tuesday. Ross, 78, a staunch supporter of Trump and an economic adviser, has helped shape the Trump campaign’s views on trade policy, blaming the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico and the 2001 entry of China into the World Trade Organization for causing massive U.S. factory job losses. “I think there’s a big difference between the impact of trade agreements on corporate America and the impact on Mr. and Mrs. America,” Ross told CNBC in an interview earlier this year. “Corporate America has adjusted to them by investing lots of capital offshore.” Ross, whose net worth was pegged by Forbes at about $2.9 billion, heads the private equity firm, W.L. Ross & Co in New York. Ross’ connections to Trump date back to 1990, when as a turnaround expert for Rothschild and Co he worked on behalf of bondholders to help engineer a restructuring of hundreds of millions of dollars in debt owed on Trump’s Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 2002, by then in charge of his own private equity firm, Ross formed International Steel Group to consolidate several bankrupt steelmakers, including Bethlehem Steel, Acme Steel and LTV Steel. He sold the company in a $4.5 billion deal two years later to Mittal Steel. Ross retains a stake in what is now part of the world’s largest steel company, Arcelor Mittal, and sits on its board of directors. His various business interests, which also include automotive components and textiles, could make avoiding conflicts of interest a complicated prospect as the head of an agency with broad influence over trade cases and U.S. industrial policies. Arcelor Mittal has benefited from several recent anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties imposed by the Commerce Department against a wide range of steel products from China, South Korea, Japan, Britain, Turkey and other countries. Those have helped lift domestic steel prices, boosting the company’s bottom line. Ross may also face questions from lawmakers over the January 2006 Sago coal mine disaster in West Virginia that killed 12 miners in an explosion and collapse. Owned by a subsidiary of one of his companies, International Coal Group, the mine had been cited for more than 200 safety violations International Coal was sold for $3.4 billion in 2011 to No. 2 U.S. coal miner Arch Coal, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January amid plummeting coal prices. He could be questioned as well over a $2.3 million fine his firm agreed to pay in August to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle accusations it did not properly disclose some fees that it charged investors.

0fake

Rouhani says Iran will keep producing missiles, state TV reports

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will continue to produce missiles for its defense and does not consider that a violation of international accords, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday in a speech broadcast on state television. Rouhani spoke days after the U.S. House of Representatives voted for new sanctions against Iran s ballistic missile program, part of an effort to clamp down on Tehran without immediately moving to undermine an international nuclear agreement. He also meet the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog in Tehran, who again vouched for Iran s compliance with the 2015 accord that curbed its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief, which has drawn fire from U.S. President Donald Trump. We have built, are building and will continue to build missiles, and this violates no international agreements, Rouhani said in a speech in parliament. The United States has already imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, saying its missile tests violate a U.N. resolution, that calls on Tehran not to undertake activities related to missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says it has no plans to build nuclear-capable missiles. Rouhani also criticized the United States over Trump s refusal this month to formally certify that Tehran is complying with the accord on Iran s nuclear program, even though international inspectors say it is. You are disregarding past negotiations and agreements approved by the U.N. Security council and expect others to negotiate with you? Rouhani said. Because of the behavior it has adopted, America should forget any future talks and agreement with other countries, Rouhani added, referring to unnamed countries in East Asia, an apparent reference to North Korea. Yukiya Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), met Rouhani, President of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran, an IAEA statement said. Director General Amano reiterated that the nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran are being implemented, and that the JCPOA represents a clear gain from a verification point of view, it said, using an abbreviation for the 2015 accord. For the future, he stressed the importance of full implementation by Iran of its nuclear-related commitments in order to make the JCPOA sustainable. Trump s decision not to certify Iranian compliance with the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers means Congress now has less than 60 days to decide whether to re-impose sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the agreement that Amano s agency is in charge of policing. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Tehran will stick to the agreement as long as the other signatories do, but will shred the deal if Washington pulls out, as Trump has threatened to do. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has pressed the IAEA to seek access to Iranian military bases to ensure that they are not concealing activities banned by the nuclear deal. Asked whether Amano had made any requests for new inspections, Salehi said after meeting Amano: He has no request in this area, Iran s state news agency IRNA reported. Salehi said Iran could resume production of 20 percent enriched uranium in four days, but did not want the Iran deal to fall apart. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday that he could not imagine the United States ever accepting a nuclear North Korea, and stressed during a week-long trip to Asia that diplomacy was America s preferred course.

0fake

Trump and Kelly ’Dismantle’ Obama’s ’Progress’ for Illegal Immigrants

A former Obama Administration official responsible for the detention of illegal immigrants said President Donald Trump and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly are “dismantling the progress we had made. ”[Kevin Landy, President Barack Obama’s director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Detention Policy and Planning, took exception to President’s Trump’s decision to shut down his department. Under Secretary Kelly, the DHS is poised to change some of the conditions illegal immigrants, including criminals, receive while in detention. As an example, illegal immigrants in two Orange County, California, detention facilities have daily clothing and bedding changes performed by a jail employee. The standard for other criminal facilities is a weekly change. “That one seems a little overkill,” detaining center Commander Jon J. Briggs told the New York Times. “Jail is jail,” Butler County, Ohio, Sheriff Richard Jones told the New York newspaper. “It’s fair and it’s human, but we don’t put chocolates on the pillows. ” Landy reacted to the Trump Administration’s efforts to toughen standards in the detention centers and claimed, “a decision to simultaneously abandon detention standards could have disastrous consequences for the health and safety of these individuals. ” He said he hoped Secretary Kelly, “wouldn’t want to dismantle the progress we had made,” but didn’t really detail what “progress” he was referencing. The New York Times detailed some of the “progress” he might have been referencing. The ever growing list of requirements call for: Notify immigration officials if a detainee spends two weeks or longer in solitary confinement. Check on suicidal inmates every 15 minutes, and evaluate their mental health every day. Inform detainees, in languages they can understand, how to obtain medical care. In disciplinary hearings, provide a staff member who can advocate in English on the detainee’s behalf. ICE officials declined to comment on Landy’s claims, stating only that the agency responsible for enforcing immigration law is “in the midst of examining a variety of detention models to determine which models would best meet anticipated detention needs. ” The Clinton Administration established the initial standards in 2000. Since that time, they expanded under President George W. Bush in 2008 and again under President Obama in 2011. The current guidelines now fill 455 pages and go into “granular detail on subjects including the minimum number of toilets — one for every 12 detainees in male facilities or eight detainees in female facilities — and trash bag thickness (at least 1. 5 millimeters),” the New York Times reported. With the crackdown on criminal aliens and other deportable individuals under the Trump Administration, more detention facilities will be required and costs will be an increasing concern. Commander Briggs told the reporter from the New York Times the Trump Administration has already requested 500 additional beds. They warned that more will be coming in the months ahead. The commander said he currently can take only 120 at this time. Breitbart Texas Managing Director and Brandon Darby contributed to this article. Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.

0fake

ISIS Abducts 75 Civilians Southwest of Kirkuk, Ties ‘Iraqi Army Spies’ to Trees and Beheads Them

7 Shares 1 5 0 1 Leader at al-Hashd al-Shaabi in Hawija district, Hassan al-Sawfi, announced on Thursday, that the Islamic State extremist group abducted 75 civilians, southwest of Kirkuk for leaving the land of Caliphate. Sawfi said in a press statement, “This evening, ISIS militants abducted 75 civilians from Hawija district, while fleeing the district,” adding that, “The civilians were abducted for leaving the land of caliphate and helping other civilians to flee the ISIS-held areas toward Kirkuk and Salahuddin.” “The abduction took place in the area between Hamrin Mountains and southwest of Kirkuk,” Sawfi explained. “ISIS militants are collapsing and lost their ability to fight,” Sawfi added. Sawfi also called on officials to accelerate the battles to liberate the district of Hawija to rescue the civilians who are used as human shields. Meanwhile, a new photo report purportedly released by the ISIS shows Iraqi Army "spies" mass beheaded in "Wilayat Kirkuk," southeast of the current Mosul military operation. The photo report was released on ISIS terrorist channels on November 17. Viewer discretion is advised. Recommended For You ISIS Executes Scores and Hangs Their Bodies from Electrical Poles around Mosul: U.N. ISIS terrorists have executed scores more people around the northern Iraqi city of Mosul this week and are reported to be stockpilin... By AHT Staff ISIS Uses 600 Suicide Dogs to Restrain Iraqi Army’s Advance in Mosul Fahmi Abbas, an officer in Iraqi Armored Units had an interview with IRNA and said: “ISIS terrorists have equipped 600 dogs wi... By AHT Staff Mosul Civilians Stormed City Main Prison and Free 45 ISIS Prisoners Iraq's al-Sumaria satellite television Quote: d an unnamed security source that claimed Mosul residents on Friday evening killed ISIS terror... By AHT Staff Iraqi Soldier Battling ISIS in Mosul Reunited with His Family After Two Years of Estrangement

1real

Viral NASA Photographs Show Mysterious Blue Sphere in Front of the Sun

On November 17, NASA’s STEREO satellites photographed a giant blue sphere moving in front of the Sun. The strange images quickly went viral and the internet is full of theories trying to explain the highly unusual occurrence. Is the Blue Star Kachina finally here? The mysterious image was first uploaded to Facebook by Pamela Johnson and immediately received the attention it deserved. Intrigued by the appearance of the sphere, she dug deeper and quickly made some troubling findings. Although NASA’s archives contained images of the enigmatic sphere taken on November 17, several frames were missing from the feed; images taken on November 15 and November 16 were nowhere to be found. Does this scream ‘NASA cover-up’ or not? One YouTube user commented: “I have downloaded the images from SECCHI HI1 and this is strange. This ‘anomaly’ can only be seen on images from 11.17. But there are several missing frames both before and after its appearance.” The STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) satellite array is officially meant to study the “structure and evolution of solar storms” but in this case it was able to provide us with what some call definitive proof of a massive and unknown presence in our solar system. What’s more intriguing is the fact that the image was uploaded to NASA’s science center servers without any accompanying explanation. Furthermore, as Pamela Johnson pointed out, NASA tried to cover their mistake by trying “to use EUVI 171 images of the Sun to hide the sphere.” Not good. When things started going south, NASA forwarded an official explanation that failed to sway the belief of conspiracy theorists: “On rare occasions, the SECCHI image processor on board STEREO becomes overloaded, and produces corrupted images,” NASA explained. “Because the images from the Heliospheric Imager (HI) telescopes are built up from a large number of exposures added together, this sometimes results in ‘double exposures,’ where data from several telescopes appear in the same image.” WATCH THE VIDEO: Not taking NASA’s word for it, the internet floated other explanations out there. UFO hunters are convinced the blue sphere was actually an enormous UFO and due to its sheer size, it could have been responsible for the missing frames by creating an electromagnetic anomaly. When it left the area, the satellites resumed their normal activity. “Whether the object is one of the giant extraterrestrial or interdimensional spacecraft, which are accessing our solar system, using the Sun as a Stargate or an unknown celestial body like the famed planet Nibiru, it is clear what happened on the 17th was not the result of an equipment failure,” one conspiracy theorist wrote. Others believe the strange sphere was actually the result of malevolent human beings, an expression of the infamous Blue Beam Project. This perverse and apocalyptic-inclined venture –if real– would seek to cause mayhem among Earth’s population by instilling fear and simulating the thing we all fear most: doomsday. If this theory is correct, one logical conclusion would be that NASA is either in cahoots with or being run by the NWO. Other theories attempting to explain the blue sphere mention Nibiru or an enormous stargate; both possibilities are ominous and disconcerting. But there could be another meaning behind this incident and, as far as I know, it hasn’t been forwarded yet. An ancient Hopi prophecy states that “when the Blue Star Kachina makes its appearance in the heavens, the Fifth World will emerge.” It also speaks about the manifestation of nine signs foretelling this world-changing event. Could it be happening right now? The Hopi (meaning Peaceful People) have been living in northeastern Arizona since they can remember and are believed to be descendants from cultures to the south, east and north. The Anasazi are forefathers of the Hopi, which creates a direct link to the ancient Aztec culture. Though many civilizations around the globe support religious beliefs of “white gods” descending from the sky, the Hopi tribe believe their ancestors came from within the ground. One of the many Hopi myths specifically describes strange beings who reside inside the heart of the Earth and are called the Ant People. Drawings displaying the Ant People firmly resemble illustrations found in modern grey alien encounter reports. Another connection exists between the Hopi’s Ant People and the Mesoamerican legend of Quetzalcoatl. It is believed that the Ant People had helped the “White God” discover corn on a mountain packed full of grain and seeds. The Hopi believe the Star People and their star knowledge will return at the end of the current period of time, as they have in past times. Their entire mythology is built upon the assumption that the world goes through successive cycles separated by cataclysmic events. According to their legends, at the time of the Blue Kachina, the Star People retreated to the heart of the Earth, seeking shelter during the world’s destruction. Passed down from generation to generation, their intriguing mythology describes the event: First, the Blue Kachina would start to be seen at the dances, and would make his appearance known to the children in the plaza during the night dance. This event would tell us that the end times are very near. Then the Blue Star Kachina would physically appear in our heavens which would mean that we were in the end times.” When the First World was destroyed, people returned from the ground to the outer world to live as ants for the continuation of the Second World. The Third World tells of an advanced civilization with “flying shields” and wars between far – off cities ultimately destroyed by terrible floods, narratives very similar to those found in Babylonian mythology. Hopi Indians are now wardens of the Fourth World in exchange for the benefit of living on Earth. They consider the coming of the Fifth World is near and will begin when members of the Fire Clan return. “In the Final days we will look up in our heavens and we will witness the return of the two brothers who helped create this world in the birthing time. Poganghoya is the guardian of our North Pole and his brother Palongawhoya is the guardian of the South Pole.” “In the final days the Blue Star Kachina will come to be with his nephews and they will return the Earth to its natural rotation which is counterclockwise. Not far behind the twins will come the Purifier – The Red Kachina, who will bring the Day of Purification. On this day the Earth, her creatures and all life as we know it will change forever.” The legend of the Blue Kachina also corresponds with Mayan prophecies and the Planet – X theory, suggesting an interdependence between Hopi assumptions and those of the Mayan civilization. Furthermore, another link is formed between the Hopi legend of Pahana and the Mesoamerican myth of Quetzalcoatl, connecting the Hopi to certain North American Indian cultures who worship the Horned/Feathered Serpent. Other ancient mysteries tend to relate with many genesis stories and religious beliefs of other archaic civilizations in both South and North America. The Hopi claim that four stone tablets of creation exist. In ancient times, these tablets were given to them by Massau – The Guardian of the Underworld, who requested that the tablets be kept until a number of signs were fulfilled at the end of the fourth world and the beginning of the fifth. When the signs appeared, the Hopi were advised to reveal the tablets and their prophecies to the world regarding the purification of Earth. The Nine Signs of Destruction were described by author Bob Frissell in Something in this Book is True. The signs were described to him in 1958 by a Hopi elder named White Feather. This is the First Sign: We are told of the coming of the white-skinned men, like Pahana, but not living like Pahana, men who took the land that was not theirs. And men who struck their enemies with thunder. This is the Second Sign: Our lands will see the coming of spinning wheels filled with voices. In his youth, my father saw this prophecy come true with his eyes. This is the Third Sign: A strange beast like a buffalo but with great long horns will overrun the land in large numbers. These White Feather saw with his eyes. This is the Fourth Sign: The land will be crossed by snakes of iron. This is the Fifth Sign: The land shall be crisscrossed by a giant spider’s web. This is the Sixth Sign: The land shall be crisscrossed with rivers of stone that make pictures in the sun. This is the Seventh Sign: You will hear of the sea turning black, and many living things dying because of it. This is the Eighth Sign: You will see many youth, who wear their hair long like my people, come and join the tribal nations, to learn their ways and wisdom. The Ninth sign , as White Feather told Frissell, is a herald of destruction: “You will hear of a dwelling-place in the heavens, above the Earth, that shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of my people will cease. Many believe the first eight signs have already been fulfilled. The First Sign can be interpreted as the arrival of Europeans on the North American continent. The Second is a reference to the early exploration of America, using the wagon as a primary means of locomotion. The next three Signs point to other European influences, such as the arrival of cattle, and the emergence of railroads and telephone lines. The “rivers of stones” mentioned in the Sixth Sign can only be roads and highways. The Eight Sign is pretty self-explanatory and encapsulates the symptoms of worldwide pollution. The Hopi believe the increased toxicity levels in the Earth’s oceans are a clear indication that the second-to-last sign is already upon us. Is this yet another wrongfully-interpreted prophecy, a metaphoric cow milked to exhaustion by authors with no other interest than to sell their books? Or are the peaceful Hopi really the keepers of ancient sacred knowledge, passed down from a time when man walked alongside the gods? The first eight Signs have come and passed and the Hopi are waiting for the Blue Kachina as a signal that the current world is nearing its end. If they were to see the recent NASA image, what would they say? UFOholic SOURCE

1real

Legal Fears Push Newsweek to Delete Eichenwald’s Articles Used to Smear Sputnik News

21st Century Wire says Failing US magazine Newsweek once again finds itself on the ropes.For the last year, US mainstream media outlets have given themselves license to freely spray any and all slanderous accusations regarding Russia into the public domain, and about Russian-based media outlets in particular. One of the primary motivations for this festival of defamation is of course political. Early on in the general election the Russian conspiracy theory was promulgated by the White House and the Clinton campaign and the mainstream media in order to damage Trump s credibility. After Clinton s epic loss, legions of Democratic Party affiliated journalists and Hillary Clinton supporters in the media are still angry and upset about their election loss and do not accept Donald Trump as their President. As a result, many journalists are still using their positions in media to act out in public, and mostly with the full backing of their like-minded editors and media executives.While most of the endless scapegoating and lies about Russia and Trump continue as annoying background noise, some of the US liberal establishment s fake news and libelous claims, like stories made-up by CNN are beginning to be challenged in the courts which is causing a panic on many mainstream editorial news desks across America.This latest challenge to Newsweek and its shamed staff writer Kurt Eichenwald follows on the current blow-back trend line RT International reports Sputnik and RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan commented on the removal by Newsweek of false stories about Trump conspiring with Russia, saying it deleted the lies about us, fearing court proceedings. We ll continue explaining to various newsweeks that lying is bad, Simonyan told Sputnik.Her comments come after Newsweek was forced to take down two erroneous articles by journalist Kurt Eichenwald, claiming that US President Donald Trump had conspired with Russia, as well as smearing former Sputnik editor William Moran.On Friday, Moran said that a settlement had been reached, but did not provide any further details, saying that the deal was confidential between the two sides.In October, Moran mistakenly attributed an article by Eichenwald to Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal and, realizing his mistake, deleted the article 20 minutes later. However, while the piece was online, Eichenwald saw it and imagined collusion between the Trump campaign, Sputnik, and Wikileaks.At the time, numerous media outlets (some usually quite critical of Russia) spoke out against Eichenwald. The Washington Post said that Eichenwald is at best misleading, while BuzzFeed proved that Trump and Moran quoted the same erroneous tweet, which was widespread online.Moran then contacted Eichenwald, attempting to clarify the situation and expecting Eichenwald to retract the story.That, however, did not happen. Instead, Eichenwald asked him to stay silent in exchange for a job as political reporter with The New Republic, and warned him about the potential consequences if the young journalist refused. Moran turned down the offer and went public with his version of events.Moran has left the field of journalism and is currently pursuing a law degree, Sputnik news agency said. Newsweek is an established brand of 80 years and yet it is not even in Sputnik s league in terms of global web traffic and performance, Patrick Henningsen, geopolitical analyst and executive editor at 21stCenturyWire.com, said. News outlets like RT and Sputnik are winning in the ratings battle with many US and UK English language media platforms, he said, and explained why this is happening. It is simply because the Russia-based English language outlets are filling a demand for real international news and edgy opinion. They are simply feeding a massive audience out there which has been intentionally neglected for decades by Western establishment media conglomerates who have always enjoyed a monopoly on the global English language market. A network like RT, and a website like Sputnik, are only filling a demand which was always there. READ MORE ABOUT MSM DISINFORMATION AT: 21st Century Wire Media Cog FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV

1real

Another US False Flag?

By Joachim Hagopian October 29, 2016 The Western media seizes every chance to twist the truth in favor of another round of Putin-bashing as it’s worn out flimsy excuse to escalate further hostilities against Moscow in order to trigger World War III. The pathological liars of the West never fail to deceitfully add fuel to their propaganda war machine fire. The latest hype is blaming a Russian airstrike for destroying a school in the rebel-held Idlib Province in northern Syria, killing 22 children and six teachers. Immediately the UN as the Washington vassal it is, through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for added sensational effect no less began opportunistically milking the tragedy for all it‘s worth, denouncing the killing as “an outrage” and probable war crime, adding that it’s the deadliest attack on a school in the near six years Syrian conflict. What’s being left out of this heavily biased narrative is that the war in Syria was maliciously started by the United States, specifically, the CIA funding protests in 2011 (actually as far back as 2005 ) targeting Assad as part of its infamous Arab Spring uprising in accordance with Empire’s illegal regime change policy. As an independent, secular leader unwilling to succumb to Empire’s pressure to allow a 2009 proposed Qatar gas pipeline to Europe be built through his country, the fixated neocons have been gunning for Assad’s removal ever since. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov explained that after closer examination and careful analysis, the video released to Western media allegedly depicting the airstrike in Idlib Province consists of more than ten separate pieces of footage fragmented together. Thus, it appears to be a hoax designed to incriminate the Russian aerospace group for killing innocent kids. He added: As one can see on a photo from the Russian drone, the roof of the school is not damaged and there are no bomb craters in the area adjacent to the school… All this means that the UNICEF leadership fell a victim to a new deception of swindlers in White Helmets. That is why, before making loud statements, UNICEF officials should check sources of their information in order not to undermine the reputation of a respected organization. Of course this latest false flag isn’t the first time Russia’s been falsely blamed for attacks in Syria. Through CIA and military intelligence, the West has an elaborate network of anti-Russian and anti-Assad provocateurs waging staged events to implicate and vilify Putin and Assad as the enemy. General Konashenkov mentioned the White Helmets as part of the organized setup of US false flag operations in Syria. A former UK military intelligence officer owns the private security company responsible for training and handling the so-called White Helmets, discredited Syrian provocateurs pretending to be Syria’s Civil Defense corps regularly staging fake photo-ops after US-backed terrorist groups kill innocent civilians making it appear that Assad and Putin are willfully and inhumanely murdering them. This latest school tragedy appears no different as incident after incident has been exposed in recent months. Like last month’s attack on that UN humanitarian aid convoy north of Aleppo several weeks ago, engineered by Western intelligence working with the terrorists to accuse Russia of yet another airstrike that didn’t happen, covering up the a rocket attack perpetrated by the US-backed al Nusra Front (forget their recent name change designed to distance themselves from being US proxy war terrorists no different from al Qaeda or ISIS/Daesh/Islamic State). Bottom line, Terrorists-R-US, Inc . In this latest propaganda ploy, on-the-ground eyewitness reports vis-à-vis White helmets state that 10 airstrikes around midday on Wednesday were responsible for striking the residential compound containing two schools in session at the time resulting in the bloodbath. Of course the go-to propagandist organization out of London that the Western media never fails to quote, the already outed fraudulent Syrian Observatory for Human Rights consisting of one anti-Assad expatriated Syrian, began immediately pointing the finger at Russia, like Clinton, Obama and all the Western axis-of-evil liars determined to demonize Putin and Russia as false justification for starting their next world war . In response to the tragedy, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Thursday called for an urgent international investigation without delay. She had this reaction to the Western presstitutes blaming her nation: This is not surprising, but at the same time, it deserves the strongest criticism. Al-Jazeera, The Independent, and other mass media sharing the same attitude to the journalistic profession at once blamed the tragedy on Russia, on the Russian aerospace group and on the Syrian armed forces. They claimed outright that it was a bombardment carried out by Russia and Syria. This is a lie. Russia has nothing to with that terrible tragedy, with that attack. Zakharova also mentioned a concern that the UN humanitarian relief in Syria has not nearly been enough to evacuate the wounded and sick from East Aleppo after Russia and Syria agreed to a humanitarian pause there several days ago. However, US backed rebels and snipers fired on civilians attempting to leave the city. Moreover, the US took full advantage of the lull in the Russian-Syrian fighting by opportunistically resupplying their terrorists on the ground with 50-ton airdrops of fresh ammo and weapons. Again, clearly it’s the US that’s the war crime culprit, needlessly causing only more war and more deaths in the war-ravaged nation reeling from nearly a half million lives lost. Another reality check for the Washington neocon war maniacs determined to blame Russia for all the ills of the world (including the corrupt US political system responsible for the rigged election ) as their deceptive sleight of hand brainwash to feebly cover up their own slaughterhouse carnage raping our planet, just one day prior to the Idlib school violence, the Beirut branch of Amnesty International (AI) chastised the US-led coalition pretending to fight the terrorists for its wanton killing of civilians in Syria as “collateral war damage.” The inhumanities that Empire commits is never admitted or acknowledged but instead constant lies claiming that Russian and Syrian forces are cold-bloodedly mowing down innocents continue nonstop. The hubris and hypocrisy stemming from Washington’s rotten core are American exceptionalism at its diabolical worse. Deputy Director for research at the Beirut Amnesty International office Lynn Maalouf , stated: It’s high time the US authorities came clean about the full extent of the civilian damage caused by coalition attacks in Syria. We fear the US-led coalition is significantly underestimating the harm caused to civilians in its operations in Syria. AI estimates that in 11 US coalition airstrikes since September 2014 killed more than 300 civilians in Syria. Maalouf maintains that in each case, “the coalition forces failed to take adequate precautions to minimize harm to civilians and damage to civilian objects.” So who’s really the inhumane kid-killing bad guy in Syria? Definitely not Russia nor the Syrian government but once again the enemy of the world US Empire. Ultimately to silence this never-ending US blame game against Moscow, the Russian ambassador to the UN on Thursday began circulating the original September 9 th US-Russian peace treaty to the UNSecurity Council as well as to the UN Geneva branch. This document clearly shows that Russia has exhausted every sincere effort to bring an end to the war in Syria and stop global terrorism but the United States and its Western lackeys have willfully and deceitfully sabotaged that process at every turn in order to save their precious terrorists and endless war on terror. The evildoers behind the lifted curtain are exposed and guilty as charged. Or how can we forget the Obama staged false flag attack in August 2013 when the liar-in-chief falsely blamed Assad for sarin gassing his own Syrian children in the nearby Damascus suburb of Ghouta . Despite the real child murderers being Obama and his backed rebels he and Hillary created soon to be named ISIS, the Manchurian president given the mission to destroy America and his then recently resigned Secretary of State designated to be his successor to finish the job were trying to launch airstrikes on Syria to start World War III over three years ago. Putin outsmarted the US traitors in charge by brokering the last minute deal for Assad to turn in his chemical weapons arsenal. But with White House approval, US-backed terrorists guilty of the Ghouta massacre are still using their Saudi and Turkish supplied chemical weapons to kill Syrian civilians even to this very day. Where are the humanitarian cries about those war crime atrocities? Or what about all the civilians dying in Syria from mortar shelling of residential neighborhoods in West Aleppo? A mere one day after the Idlib school bombing, the US-backed al Nusra fired rockets in two locations in West Aleppo, one a school killing six children under the age of 16 and injuring more than a dozen others. In response to the Thursday school bombing in West Aleppo by US-backed terrorists, the Aleppo police chief Zuher Said Aldin commented: There are no military units there, only schools. Nevertheless, militants carried out a strike in this area, moreover, when classes were underway. Innocent children were killed, they just wanted to study. But where are all the humanitarian cries against the US financed and supported terrorists constantly murdering innocents throughout the Middle East and North Africa? Conveniently absent, because the US plotters of wars around the world couldn’t care less about any dead children anywhere on this planet. Or the 10,000 civilians in Yemen slaughtered by the US-backed Saudi coalition consisting of US Special Force boots on the ground and more al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists deployed there as well, in addition to Israeli and Gulf State airstrikes and now US destroyers pounding the Yemen coast killing more civilians with cruise missiles after yet more US false flag claims that the Houthis fired missiles at the US Navy without any evidence to prove it. Where are the sanctimonious humanitarian cries over dead Yemen children? This historic, incessant use of false flags designed to bring about yet more war, terror and carnage to further destabilize the world for Empire hegemonic unipolar control needed to usher in the elite’s one world government tyranny that the puppet masters have been plotting for over a century has been and currently is Washington’s fulltime modus operandi. Because the globalists are getting desperate knowing that the world is now onto their demonic genocidal bloodletting and is now seeking justice and accountability in their relentless crimes against humanity, they’re racing against time to bring us all down with Hillary as their rigged presidential choice launching WWIII and their preplanned global economy collapse as justification to finalize global governance using the climate change hoax and the Trojan horse excuse of protecting survivors with Agenda 2030 mass relocation as their prime vehicles to make it happen. By the way, this elitist plan includes preemptive nuclear first strikes against the Eastern nuke powered nations Russia and China while leaving humanity at the earth’s surface to die from fatal exposure to radioactive fallout. For decades they’ve been planning for this nightmarish endgame scenario, quietly building their subterranean luxury bunkered homes that include several years of survival supplies, deep underground military bases (DUMB’s) and elaborate transcontinental transport systems. The Best of Joachim Hagopian Tags: Joachim Hagopian [ ] is a West Point graduate and former US Army officer. He has written a manuscript based on his unique military experience entitled “Don’t Let The Bastards Getcha Down.” It examines and focuses on US international relations, leadership and national security issues. After the military, Joachim earned a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and worked as a licensed therapist in the mental health field for more than a quarter century. In recent years he has focused on his writing, becoming an alternative media journalist. His blog site is at http://empireexposed.blogspot.com .

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Senate confirms Huntsman as ambassador to Russia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate confirmed former Utah governor Jon Huntsman on Thursday to be President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Russia, sending an experienced diplomat to fill the crucial post in Moscow. The Senate confirmed Huntsman, who also served as ambassador to China under former Democratic President Barack Obama, by voice vote. Huntsman served as ambassador to Singapore under former Republican President George H.W. Bush. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee had approved Huntsman unanimously earlier this week, as members from both parties praised his qualifications and experience. The Senate also confirmed three other diplomatic positions by voice vote: John Bass, currently the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, to be envoy to Afghanistan; career diplomat Justin Siberell to be ambassador to Bahrain and Wess Mitchell, a think-tank founder, to be Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Huntsman takes on the post in Moscow as congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller investigate allegations that Russia sought to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election on Trump’s behalf, as well as potential collusion with Moscow by Trump associates. Moscow denies such activity and Trump dismisses any talk of collusion. Huntsman said at his confirmation hearing that there was no question Russia interfered during the 2016 campaign.

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WATCH: Hitler EXPLODES At Trump Campaign In Hilarious Video Mocking White Supremacist Rage

As white supremacists whine about Donald Trump s flip-flop on immigration, someone kindly created a video of Adolf Hitler going batshit crazy about it.During an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, who has become the Republican nominee s chief propagandist, Trump backed away from his core promise to round up and deport 11 million undocumented immigrants.Of course, all of the racists who support Trump s campaign immediately lost their small minds, with some even going so far as to threaten Trump if he doesn t keep his original promise.Ann Coulter even threw a fit about it and complained that Trump is talking about amnesty. So it looks like Coulter and the rest of Trump s hardcore supporters have lost a little trust in their candidate, which is hysterical since Coulter s new book is titled In Trump We Trust.To mock Trump s supporters, RINO Pundit used the Hitler biopic film Downfall and changed all of the subtitles to show the Nazi leader furiously throwing a temper tantrum over Trump s new immigration flap. Hannity, Coulter, Reince Priebus, Chris Christie, and Matt Drudge are all not spared from Hitler s wrath in this hilarious video.It begins with one of Hitler s advisers telling him that Trump could get through a full week without committing a gaffe since Coulter is starting her book tour.Hitler is relieved that Trump may finally be in the clear as long as he doesn t pivot on immigration too drastically. Then he is told of Trump s Hannity interview. Trump went full-blown amnesty on a Hannity special, an adviser reluctantly informs the Fuhrer.Then the fun begins as Hitler asks everyone who predicted that Trump would flip-flop to leave the room. All but five leave. Hitler then loses his shit and just about every major Trump supporter gets mocked.Here s the video via YouTube.This is going to make every white supremacist in America throw a hissy fit. So thank you, RINO Pundit. We salute you.Featured image via screen capture

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Obama Finally Takes Action: Kicks 35 Russian Diplomats Out Of U.S. Over Election Tampering

The Obama Administration is finally taking action after Russia interfered in the presidential election. The White House has announced that 35 intelligence operatives are being ejected from the country. In addition, sanctions will be placed on Russia s two leading intelligence services, including four top officers of the military intelligence unit.On Thursday, Obama signed an executive order which grants the president the authority to impose travel bans and asset freezes on those who tamper with, alter, or cause a misappropriation of information, with a purpose or effect of interfering with or undermining election processes or institutions. The New York Times reports:Mr. Obama used that order to immediately impose sanctions on four Russian intelligence officials: Igor Valentinovich Korobov, the current chief of a military intelligence agency, the G.R.U., and three deputies: Sergey Aleksandrovich Gizunov, the deputy chief of the G.R.U.; Igor Olegovich Kostyukov, a first deputy chief, and Vladimir Stepanovich Alekseyev, also a first deputy chief of the G.R.U The administration also put sanctions on three companies and organizations that it said supported the hacking operations: the Special Technologies Center, a signals intelligence operation in St. Petersburg; a firm called Zor Security that is also known as Esage Lab; and the Autonomous Non-commercial Organization Professional Association of Designers of Data Processing Systems, whose lengthy name, American officials said, was cover for a group that provided special training for the hacking.It is unclear at the moment how much of an impact these measures will actually have. The move may end up being largely symbolic, but as the Times points out, the actions would amount to the strongest American response ever taken to a state-sponsored cyberattack aimed at the United States. U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security, all agree that Russia was behind the DNC hacks and the subsequent slow release of damaging information obtained in those hacks during the presidential campaign. They have also concluded that Russia interfered with the election for one reason: to help Donald Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.Trump has blown off the findings of the U.S. intelligence community as ridiculous. Because the punishments Obama imposed today are an executive order, Trump will have the option of nixing the sanctions when he takes office next month. If he chooses to do so, it is likely that members of Congress, including Republicans, will be furious as they have been calling for an official investigation into the matter.The White House is also planning to release a joint analytic report from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security which will give more insight into the information that has been gathered by the National Security Agency. The report is expected to be published before Obama leaves office in three weeks.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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HARVARD BULLIED INTO Dropping 80 Year Old “Racist” Law School Emblem

Harvard is agreeing to erase the history of their Law School founder to satisfy individuals or groups who don t agree with him. Didn t we see something similar to this happening in the Middle East? It wasn t that long ago that ISIS destroyed all symbols of Christianity in Iraq and other countries because they represented the history of Christ and was offensive to the Islamic terrorists. Did Americans think that was okay? This politically incorrect nonsense needs to stop before every ounce of history has been sanitized from our public and private schools, colleges and universities Harvard University has decided to drop its famous law school emblem after a handful of students said it was racist because it was tied to an 18th-century family of slave holders.The Harvard Corporation, the body that governs the university, voted in favor of a Harvard Law School committee recommendation to drop the seal. Harvard s president, Drew Faust, told the dean of the law school, Martha Minow, he approved the idea, Reuters reported.The emblem has been around since 1936. It shows three sheaves of wheat with the motto, Veritas, the Latin word for truth, scrolled across the top.The image comes from the coat of arms used by the family of Isaac Royall, a man the media paints as the son of an Antiguan slaveholder who was also the endower of the first law professorship at the university, Reuters said. Via: WNDThe university denied it was revising history.Maybe they were just caving to threats or threatening behavior like this protest that took place on campus. Students can be seen here protesting at Harvard University over death of thug, Michael Brown:Harvard protestors crowd at the Law School to rally against the #Ferguson decision, yelling "no justice, no peace." pic.twitter.com/cHMSaM1KNY Meg Bernhard (@meg_bernhard) December 1, 2014 In light of recent events, Drew Faust shows her support. pic.twitter.com/p8ej81vxZa Harvard University (@Harvard) December 11, 201412-11-14 Harvard President Drew Faust declared via Twitter that black lives matter. Harvard s official Twitter account posted an image Wednesday of Faust wearing a t-shirt with the movement s slogan and the statement, In light of recent events, Drew Faust shows her support. In November, 2015, Portraits of black Harvard Law School faculty members were defaced on a day after a campus rally for black students, according to the law school. Several portraits were discovered Thursday with black strips of tape placed diagonally over the black faculty members faces. The portraits were on the first floor of Wasserstein Hall, which houses two hallways with more than 180 framed portraits of law professors.Harvard Law School Dean Michele Minow said in a statement The Harvard University Police Department is investigating the incident as a hate crime. Harvard Law School students started a Facebook page with the following stated mission: We are a movement of students calling for the decolonization of our campus, the symbols, the curriculum and the history of Harvard Law SchoolHere is a post from that page: While we accept the request to change the shield, we do so on the understanding that the school will actively explore other steps to recognize rather than to suppress the realities of its history, mindful of our shared obligation to honor the past not be seeking to erase it, but rather by bringing it to light and learning from it, Faust said, Reuters reported. Via: WNDIn the end, we can t help but wonder how much this former Harvard Law School student, turned Commuity Agitator in Chief had to do with their decision to erase history at Harvard:

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Six dead after ambush on Malian High Court's president

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Five Malian soldiers and one civilian were killed in central Mali on Tuesday during an ambush on a convoy of the president of the High Court of Justice, the defense ministry said in a statement. It was not clear who was responsible for the attack, but the high level target and army deaths point to the deteriorating security situation in Mali due to the growing reach of jihadist groups that roam country s vast desert expanses. The convoy of Abdrahamane Niang was traveling between the towns of Dia and Diafarab in the Mopti region, about 500 kilometers (311 miles) northeast of the capital Bamako, when it was attacked. Mr. Niang and his wife were recovered by the army. However, we report 6 deaths: five soldiers of the Malian army and the driver of the Honorable Niang, the statement said, adding that others had been wounded. No other details of the attack were given. The rise of jihadist groups some linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State continues to destabilize Mali, four years after French troops beat back an Islamist insurgency that began in 2012. Around 4,000 French soldiers remain as part of Operation Barkhane, where they work alongside around 10,000 U.N. peacekeepers in Mali. But attacks on peacekeepers, aid workers and the Malian military are common. Four U.S. Special Forces troops were killed earlier this month in neighboring Niger by fighters believed to belong to a local Islamic State affiliate operating out of Mali. The G5 Sahel, an anti-terrorism taskforce of soldiers from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania, plans to launch its first joint operations this month to target Islamists in the Sahel.

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Senate Democrats want changes to House Republican bill on Puerto Rico

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and 10 other Senate Democrats on Wednesday called for significant changes to a Republican-crafted bill in the House of Representatives aimed at helping Puerto Rico overcome its debt crisis. “Senate Democrats are united in our belief that any legislation to solve this crisis must include an effective restructuring process that allows Puerto Rico to adjust all of its debt,” the group said in a statement. They said an oversight board proposed in the legislation would be too powerful and that the bill did not include “appropriate safeguards for pension holders and retirees.”

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Hillary Clinton FREAKED OUT Her Entire Campaign With This ONE MOVE

Pinterest It was over a year ago that the Clinton Campaign knew that Hillary Clinton had regularly used a private email server for official use, and they knew how incredibly stupid it was. In an email released by WikiLeaks , the now infamous Clinton staffer John Podesta sent a message to Clinton surrogate Neera Tanden. Podesta told her she’d be shown a new poll showing how Clinton is doing against Hillary and Jeb Bush. Tanden said she wasn’t familiar with what the poll results would be, but she thought the email would be rough, IJR is reporting . “PS can you imagine what the Republicans would do to [Bernie] if he were the nominee?” To which Tanden replied: “Well, let’s see what the poll actually says. Let’s hope the Democratic party is not suicidal.” Then Podesta dropped the hammer: “Do we actually know who told Hillary she could use a private email? And has that person been drawn and quartered? Like whole thing is fucking insane.” "Do we actually know who told Hillary she could use a private email? And has that person been drawn and quartered?" https://t.co/jXc1mHi5vn — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 27, 2016 There have been 33,000 emails released from Podesta’s server. They haven’t confirmed their accuracy, but they certainly haven’t denied them. It's been 3 weeks since @WikiLeaks began publishing Podesta emails. Not one doc has been claimed – let alone demonstrated – to be doctored. — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 27, 2016 There’s more coming. We will have to see what comes of them, but there’s one takeaway from this: Clinton’s people have known for a long time that she was using a personal server.

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U.S. vetoes U.N. call for withdrawal of Trump Jerusalem decision

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States was further isolated on Monday over President Donald Trump s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital when it blocked a United Nations Security Council call for the declaration to be withdrawn. The remaining 14 council members voted in favor of the Egyptian-drafted resolution, which did not specifically mention the United States or Trump but which expressed deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem. What we witnessed here in the Security Council is an insult. It won t be forgotten, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said after the vote, adding that it was the first veto cast by the United States in more than six years. The fact that this veto is being done in defense of American sovereignty and in defense of America s role in the Middle East peace process is not a source of embarrassment for us; it should be an embarrassment to the remainder of the Security Council, Haley said. The U.N. draft resolution affirmed that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council. Trump abruptly reversed decades of U.S. policy this month when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel s capital, generating outrage from Palestinians and the Arab world and concern among Washington s western allies. In the wake of the decision of the United States ... the situation has become more tense with an increase in incidents, notably rockets fired from Gaza and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, U.N. Middle East peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council ahead of the vote. Trump also plans to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. The draft U.N. resolution had called upon all countries to refrain from establishing diplomatic missions in Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Haley and Trump for the veto in a video clip posted on his Facebook page. Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there. Palestinians want the capital of an independent Palestinian state to be in the city s eastern sector, which Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move never recognized internationally. Following the U.S. veto, Egypt s Foreign Ministry said Arab states, which had agreed earlier this month to seek a Security Council resolution, would meet to evaluate the situation to determine what their next steps might be. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the Palestinians would seek a rare emergency special session of the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Trump s decision. Under a 1950 resolution, an emergency special session can be called for the General Assembly to consider a matter with a view to making appropriate recommendations to members for collective measures if the Security Council fails to act. Only 10 such sessions have been convened, and the last time the General Assembly met in such a session was in 2009 on Israeli actions in occupied Palestinian territories. Any outcome of such a session is non-binding, but carries political weight.

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Obama to focus on future in State of the Union speech

(CNN) As White House officials began preparing for President Barack Obama's final State of the Union speech, they dug up past "eighth-year" speeches and found something in common -- nearly all of them looked back. It was tempting for the President to follow the lead of his predecessors, take a victory lap and mainly tout his administration's achievements. But Obama's instruction to his team was simple: Don't do that. "Don't take our foot off the gas," the President told a group of West Wing aides and speechwriters preparing drafts of the speech, according to a senior White House official who attended meeting. As his top aides have described it, Obama has chosen to deliver a "nontraditional" State of the Union. Gone is the laundry list of policy proposals funneled into the White House from agencies across the federal government. No more "MyRA's," one official quipped, pointing to the previous idea for a new government savings account that was inserted into a past State of the Union. "It's not going to be 'check the box,' " explained one senior White House official, insisting that the annual retrieval of recommendations from Cabinet members will not be shoehorned into the speech. Obama previewed his plan to talk about his vision for the future in a video teaser tweeted by White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough. "The big things that will guarantee an even stronger, better, more prosperous America for our kids. The America we believe in," Obama said in the video. Vision for U.S. leadership around the world One of those "big things" will be the President's vision for U.S. leadership in the world in the post-Obama years. A senior White House official said Obama will urge the nation to follow his preferred foreign policy approach of diplomacy and multilateralism. To illustrate that call, the President is likely to tout the administration's response to the Ebola outbreak, the climate change agreement in Paris and his decision to normalize relations with Cuba. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, Obama will also seek to reassure Americans once again about their safety. Senior administration officials said Obama plans to devote part of the speech to his vow to protect the American home front and put the nation on a path to destroying ISIS, a mission aides concede likely won't be accomplished on his watch. The war on ISIS "will be the overarching focus of everything we do this year," deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters earlier this year. Still, Obama will dedicate much of the speech to his late second-term agenda. In the coming weeks, the President is expected to deliver a plan to Congress for closing the terror detention center at Guantanamo. Obama will likely threaten to act on his own to shut down the facility if lawmakers balk at the proposal. In what will be an emotional high point in the speech, the President will also defend his executive actions aimed at tightening the nation's background check system for gun buyers. Obama will then point to the first lady's box at the address where an empty seat will represent the victims of gun violence. Still, a nod to the past Given that this is Obama's final State of the Union, aides believe the President will still take a few moments to look back on his two terms in office, especially its tumultuous beginning. Obama was sworn into office as the nation was on the verge of slipping into a second Great Depression, his aides often remind reporters. The President has already begun to recall his administration's handling of the financial crisis, pointing to the recovery of the U.S. auto industry in his weekly address to the nation on Saturday. There will also be a heavy dose of nostalgia in Obama's speech. Inside the West Wing, top officials who are veterans of the President's first campaign for the White House can hardly believe Obama's time in office is almost up. In a nod to those one-time campaign aides who made the transition to the administration and the scores of volunteers during both election cycles, Obama will point to Edith Childs, who will be sitting in the first lady's box during the speech. Childs, a county council member in Greenwood, South Carolina, coined the popular chant, "Fired up! Ready to go!" at one of Obama's rallies in 2007. Then-Sen. Obama was so struck by the cheer it was adopted as an unofficial campaign slogan for the rest of his White House run. "This is going to be an incredibly emotional moment," said Van Jones, a leading environmental official in Obama's first administration and now a CNN political contributor. "You think about speech after speech, and this is the last one. This is the last State of the Union. And there's no deceleration in this guy. There's no deceleration. This is the guy that we voted for," Jones added. Despite that rich election lore waiting to be tapped, the President won't spend too much time reliving his election glory years, aides insist. Top officials describe the graying but still youthful 54-year-old President as almost restless, eager to squeeze every moment he can from his remaining year in office. "The question is what are the kinds of decisions that we are going to make right now that are going to ensure that we're going to pass on our to kids and their kids the most prosperous, the most secure, the most fair United States that has ever existed," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Friday. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has also signaled an ambitious agenda for 2016, joked that Obama should spend his final State of the Union apologizing for his past policies. " 'I take it all back -- that health care was wrong, we shouldn't have done Dodd-Frank, I want to actually lower tax rates, clear out crony capitalism and restore the Constitution to its rightful place in American life.' That's what I would encourage him to say," quipped Ryan.

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KING OBAMA THREATENS CONGRESS TO NOT MESS WITH IRAN DEAL: Will Congress Have Will To Pull White Flag From Obama’s Hands? [Video]

Tough talk from Washington does not solve problems says our Thug in Chief as he threatens Congress not to cross him on this dangerous Iran deal Here is why FOX News Britt Hume says Obama doesn t need to sell this Iran deal to Congress:

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THIS ONE PICTURE Tells You Everything You Need To Know About The Muslim Refugee Invasion

There is a particular photo of a little refugee boy lying dead on the beach that went viral last year.It is true that the photo is very sad and makes you reflect on the distress of people fleeing their country at the risk of their lives.The above photo shows people walking to reach their final objective, life in a European country. Even if this photo were to make it around the world, only 1% of the people would notice the truth.In the photo, there are seven men and one woman. This should tell you everything you need to know about who is really being left behind to face unimaginable persecution by radical Muslim terrorists.Look a bit closer, and you ll notice that the woman has bare feet. She is accompanied by three children, and of the three, she is carrying two. Notice that none of the men are helping her. Why? Because in their culture the woman represents nothing. She is only good enough to be a slave to the men. Do you really believe that these men could integrate in our society and respect our customs and traditions?Now you know why this picture is worth 1,000 words.-100% FED Up!

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Typhoon batters Hong Kong and south China, three dead in Macau

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Typhoon Hato, a maximum category 10 storm, slammed into Hong Kong on Wednesday lashing the Asian financial hub with wind and rain that uprooted trees and forced most businesses to close, while in some places big waves flooded seaside streets. There were reports of 34 people injured in Hong Kong while in the city of Macau, across the Pearl River estuary, three people were killed, authorities there said. In Hong Kong, more than 450 flights were canceled, financial markets suspended and schools closed as Hato bore down, the first category 10 storm to hit the city since 2012. I ve never seen one like this, Garrett Quigley, a longtime resident of Lantau island to the west of the city, said of the storm. Cars are half submerged and roads are impassable with flooding and huge trees down. It s crazy. Many skyscrapers in the usually teeming streets of Hong Kong were empty and dark as office workers stayed at home. Hato, that means sky pigeon in Japanese, churned up Hong Kong s Victoria Harbor and triggered large swells and big waves on some of the city s most popular beaches, with serious flooding in low-lying areas. In residential districts such as Heng Fa Chuen on densely populated Hong Kong island, waves smashed against the sides of oceanfront buildings and surged over a promenade, sweeping away walls and benches and swamping vehicles parked nearby. Construction cranes swayed at the tops of skyscrapers, windows imploded and nearly 200 trees were uprooted, while some people used canoes to venture out into flooded streets. Authorities downgraded the storm to a category three by late-afternoon with government services, the courts, financial markets and companies set to resume normal business on Thursday. The storm also caused a power blackout across most of the gambling hub of Macau for about two hours, residents said, with disruption to mobile phone and internet networks. There was severe flooding on the streets, with some cars almost completely submerged, and the water supply was affected in some districts. The three men who died included a 45-year-old Chinese tourist who was hit by a heavy truck, according to a government statement. The former Portuguese colony s casinos, however, had backup power, two casino executives told Reuters. The storm also made landfall in China s Guangdong province, in Zhuhai city adjacent to Macau, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported. Numerous flights and trains were canceled in Guangdong province, with Shenzhen s International Airport particularly badly hit. Thousands of residents along the Chinese coast were evacuated and fishing vessels were called back to port. Maximum winds near Hato s center were recorded at a destructive 155 kph (95 mph) as it continued to move west across Guangdong in the general direction of Hainan island. A senior scientific officer for the Hong Kong observatory warned that sea levels could rise several meters in some places, with the government issuing flood alerts and opening 27 shelters across the city. Trading in Hong Kong s financial markets was halted for the day, the stock exchange said. Typhoon Nida in August last year was the last storm to close the exchange for the whole day. The city s flagship carrier, Cathay Pacific, and Hong Kong Airlines said the majority of their flights to and from Hong Kong between 2200 GMT Tuesday and 0900 GMT Wednesday would be canceled. Other transport services, including ferries to Macau and outlying islands in Hong Kong, were suspended.

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SHAMEFUL: Weather Channel Using Children In New Video To Promote Climate Change Hoax

NTEB Ads Privacy Policy SHAMEFUL: Weather Channel Using Children In New Video To Promote Climate Change Hoax The Weather Channel released a climate change video featuring young children attempting to convince their parents of the seriousness of the issue. The video, entitled ‘When Kids are Talking Climate – Maybe it’s Time to Listen!’ was released on November 1, 2016. by Geoffrey Grider November 3, 2016 There are lots of people who don’t agree with man-made climate change. Weather Channel founder John Coleman is one of those people. “Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.” Job 38:3,4 (KJV) Listen to what he thinks of his former channel’s use of indoctrinating children to promote Climate Change propaganda: “Right or wrong, using children to promote a point of view borders on immoral. Even knowing that climate change is not happening, it is far beneath my values to use children to promote this truth,” Coleman told Climate Depot. “I know without a doubt that there is no significant threat to the future climate of Earth from the industrialized civilization we have created and the drastic climate changes predicted by the Al Gore clan and the UN’s IPCC are not occurring and are based on an invalid theory. But I will not stoop to the use children to promote my position.” Weather Channel using children to promote Climate Change hoax: The Weather Channel released a climate change video featuring young children attempting to convince their parents of the seriousness of the issue. The video, entitled ‘When Kids are Talking Climate – Maybe it’s Time to Listen!’ was released on November 1, 2016. Kids : ‘Dear Mom and Dad: ‘The science is clear’

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U.S. weighs whether to stay in Iran nuclear deal

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it is weighing whether the Iranian nuclear deal serves its security interests even as Iran said it did not expect Washington to abandon the agreement. A collapse of the 2015 deal, which U.S. President Donald Trump has called an embarrassment but which is supported by the other major powers that negotiated it with Iran, could trigger a regional arms race and worsen Middle East tensions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed that his country would not be the first to violate the agreement under which Tehran agreed to restrict its nuclear program in return for the loosening of economic sanctions that had crippled its economy. We don t think Trump will walk out of the deal despite (his) rhetoric and propaganda, Rouhani told reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders. He also ruled out the idea of renegotiating the pact. Trump told reporters he had made a decision on what to do about the agreement but would not say what he had decided. Matters were no clearer after Iran and the world powers that negotiated the deal - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - met for talks that a European source said included a long discussion between the U.S. and Iranian foreign ministers. It was the first time that the two men, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, had met since Trump took office on Jan. 20. The EU s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said all sides believed there had been no violations to the deal but she was unable to say after the roughly hour and 20-minute meeting whether the United States would stick to it. We already have one potential nuclear crisis. We definitely (do) not need to go into a second one, she told reporters, alluding to North Korea s pursuit atomic weapons. Asked if the United States had committed to staying in the pact, she appeared to be at a loss and said: Another question. Tillerson told reporters Trump did not wish to leave the Iran nuclear issue to the next president. That is the reason he is very, very carefully considering the decision of whether we find the JCPOA to continue to serve the security interests of the American people or not, he said, referring to the pact formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The U.S. president, who on Tuesday called the deal one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into, told reporters he had made up his mind whether to keep the pact but declined to disclose his decision. Trump must decide by Oct. 15 whether to certify that Iran is complying with the pact, a decision that could sink the deal. If he does not, the U.S. Congress has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions waived under the accord. A senior U.S. official said Trump is leaning toward not certifying that Iran is complying with the pact and letting Congress effectively decide whether to kill the agreement. The official said Trump could always change his mind before the deadline and noted he publicly and privately has fumed about the deal, feeling the United States was taken advantage of. A source familiar with the U.S. discussions said the Trump administration is also considering ways to leave the agreement intact, sanction Iran for its missile tests and support for extremist groups, and then seek to strengthen the pact. The prospect of Washington reneging on the agreement has worried some U.S. partners that helped negotiate it, especially as the world grapples with North Korea s nuclear and ballistic missile development. French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters it would be a mistake to pull out of the pact. However, he also appeared to open the door for tougher action on Iran, saying the deal was insufficient given Iran s growing regional influence since 2015. Is this agreement enough? No. It is not, given the evolution of the regional situation and increasing pressure that Iran is exerting on the region, and given ... increased activity by Iran on the ballistic level since the accord, he said. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the recent tension on the Korean peninsula underlined the importance of the Iranian deal, and that China would continue to support and safeguard it, Chinese state media said. An official from a Gulf nation suggested that his country could accept the deal s collapse. Should Trump either not certify Iranian compliance or withdraw from the deal entirely, the Gulf official said: I think we can live with that.

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$7 Million in Donations to Go Directly to Orlando Kin and Survivors - The New York Times

ORLANDO, Fla. — The city announced Friday that the $7 million it collected after the nightclub shooting would be given directly to family members and survivors instead of being distributed through charities and nonprofit groups. The change was necessary, Mayor Buddy Dyer said, because survivors of the nightclub attack and relatives needed help immediately with expenses like rent and groceries. “We are working through exactly the way they are going to do that,” Mr. Dyer said. “The most important thing is to do it right, do it transparently and make sure our funders are comfortable with how we are doing this. ” A charitable and advocacy organization, the National Center for Victims of Crime, which is based in Washington, had criticized Orlando’s plan to distribute money via nonprofits, saying that too little money donated in that manner had made its way to victims and their families after similar tragedies. Of the $7 million collected for the OneOrlando fund, Mr. Dyer said, $6. 5 million came from corporations. With the move, Orlando is the latest to shift away from established charities and opt for direct donations, a move that has become increasingly common, in part because of questions about how some charities use donations. The shooting early Sunday at Pulse, a gay nightclub, left 49 people dead and more than 50 wounded. The gunman, Omar Mateen, 29, claimed allegiance to the Islamic State during a phone call to the authorities in the midst of the attack. Mr. Mateen was killed in a gunfight. Here in Orlando, the families of victims are already receiving help with funerals and airfare, Mr. Dyer said. In Puerto Rico, a representative of the governor’s office said each family was receiving $7, 500 to bury loved ones. Mr. Dyer made the announcement at the Camping World Stadium, once known as the Citrus Bowl, where 35 agencies have set up to offer services to the family members. Already 94 families and 256 people have received help, Mr. Dyer said. The city has also established a board led by Alex Martins, chief executive of the Orlando Magic basketball team, to develop a plan to distribute the money. The outpouring for Orlando has raised millions through traditional charities and online campaigns, including through crowdfunding websites. On one such site, GoFundMe, more than 300 campaigns have raised $6. 2 million, including $5. 2 million by Equality Florida, an advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, a GoFundMe spokesman, Dan Pfeiffer, said. “There is a real power to being able to give to an individual story and being able to follow that story,” Mr. Pfeiffer said. “It is the power of those individual stories. ” Charity officials said the individual campaigns were also a reflection of the public’s concern that their donations get to the people for which they were intended. After the terrorist attacks in September 2001, the American Red Cross came under intense criticism for collecting millions of dollars in the name of the victims and then making plans to use the money elsewhere. Eventually, the Red Cross agreed to use all of its $543 million Liberty Disaster Fund to assist those affected by the attacks. Specialists in charitable giving said Orlando’s decision could alter how local governments handle the sudden outpouring of money from the public after natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and mass shootings like the one in Newtown, Conn. “There have been so many scandals we’ve seen after these sorts of situations, so it is a big deal that they’ve bypassed nonprofits because it shows a distrust in how nonprofits are doing things,” said Stacy Palmer, editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy. “This sends a big message, too, because other cities might decide to use this as a model in the future. ” Mai Fernandez, executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, said Friday that the group, as well as some family members, had told city officials that they feared donations from OneOrlando would not get to victims if a traditional nonprofit was placed in charge. The organization founded a charity, the National Compassion Fund, in 2014, to ensure that donations made after tragedies go to victims. The group has raised about $5 million for Orlando’s victims, Ms. Fernandez said, and will start to distribute the money in the next several weeks. Kenneth Feinberg, a lawyer who oversaw the federal government’s victim compensation fund and has become the administrator for a number of such accounts, said Friday that he had consulted with officials in Orlando but had not taken a formal role. Mr. Feinberg said he believed that people who donate money after tragedies intend it to go directly to victims. “There is the understanding that it is a special fund for a special tragedy requiring a special effort,” he said.

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New earthquake rocks Italy, buildings collapse but no deaths reported

Reuters A powerful earthquake struck Italy on Sunday in the same central regions that have been rocked by repeated tremors over the past two months, with more homes and churches brought down but no deaths reported. The quake, which measured 6.6 according to the U.S. Geological Survey, was bigger than one on Aug. 24 that killed almost 300 people. Many people have fled the area since then, helping to avoid a new devastating death toll. The latest quake was felt across much of Italy, striking at 7.40 a.m. (0640 GMT), its epicenter close to the historic Umbrian walled town of Norcia, some 100 km (60 miles) from the university city of Perugia. Panicked Norcia residents rushed into the streets and the town’s ancient Basilica of St. Benedict collapsed, leaving just the facade standing. Nuns, monks and locals sank to their knees in the main square in silent prayer before the shattered church. “This is a tragedy. It is a coup de grace. The basilica is devastated,” Bishop Renato Boccardo of Norcia told Reuters. “Everyone has been suspended in a never-ending state of fear and stress. They are at their wits end,” said Boccardo, referring to the thousands of tremors that have rattled the area since August, including two serious quakes on Wednesday. Italy’s Civil Protection unit, which coordinates disaster relief, said numerous houses were destroyed on Sunday in the regions of Umbria and Marche, but either they were deserted at the time or most of the residents managed to escape beforehand. “No deaths have been reported, but there are a number of people injured,” said Civil Protection chief Fabrizio Curcio, adding that just one person was in a serious condition. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Italy was living through extremely difficult times, but promised a massive reconstruction effort in the years ahead regardless of any possible objections from the European Union over the eventual costs. “We will rebuild everything, the houses, the churches and the businesses,” Renzi told reporters. “Everything that needs to be done to rebuild these areas will be done.” Local authorities said towns and villages already battered by August’s 6.2 quake had suffered further significant damage. “This morning’s quake has hit the few things that were left standing. We will have to start from scratch,” Michele Franchi, the deputy mayor of Arquata del Tronto, told Rai television. Experts said Sunday’s quake was the strongest here since a 6.9 quake in Italy’s south in 1980 that killed 2,735 people. ARTISTIC LOSS The destruction of the Norcia basilica was the single most significant loss of Italy’s artistic heritage in an earthquake since a tremor in 1997 caused the collapse of the ceiling of the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi, which is 80 km to the north. The frescoed basilica, which is the spiritual, historic and tourist heart of Norcia, was built over the site of the home where the founder of the Benedictine order and his Sister St. Scolastica were born in 480. The basilica and monastery complex dates to the 13th century, although shrines to St. Benedict and his sister had been built there since the 8th century. Benedict founded the Benedictine order in Subiaco, near Rome. He died in 530 in the monastery at Monte Cassino, south of Rome, which was destroyed during World War Two. That monastery was later rebuilt. A number of other churches were also ruined on Sunday, Italian media reported, including Norcia’s Cattedrale di Santa Maria, which was built in the 16th century, while the town hall belltower had deep cracks running through its walls. However, most of Norcia’s homes appeared to have withstood the prolonged tremor, with residents praising years of investment by local authorities in anti-seismic protection. In the nearby city of Rieti patients were evacuated from a hospital to allow experts to check on structural damage, while hillroads across the region were littered with fallen rocks. Sunday’s earthquake was felt as far north as Bolzano, near the border with Austria and as far south as the Puglia region at the southern tip of the Italian peninsula. It was also felt strongly in the capital Rome, where transport authorities shut down the metro system for precautionary checks. Authorities also toured the city’s main Roman Catholic basilicas looking for possible damage. Italy sits on two geological fault lines, making it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe. Gianluca Valinsese, a scientist at Italy’s National Institute for Geophysics and Vulcanology, warned the latest series of quakes could continue for weeks in a domino effect along the central Apennine fault system. Italy’s deadliest quake since the start of the 20th century came in 1908, when a tremor followed by a tsunami killed an estimated 80,000 people in the southern regions of Reggio Calabria and Sicily. (Writing by Crispian Balmer and Philip Pullella; Additional reporting by Steve Scherer, Gavin Jones and Mark Bendeich; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Trump criticized for tweet on London mayor after bridge attacks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump came under fire on Sunday for criticizing London’s mayor in the aftermath of attacks in the city that killed seven people and injured at least 48 others. In a tweet, Trump seized on comments by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who said Britons should not be alarmed to see more police in the streets after three men drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing others nearby. “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’” Trump tweeted. “We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don’t get smart it will only get worse,” Trump said. In response, a spokesperson for the London mayor said Khan “is busy working with the police, emergency services and the government to coordinate the response to this horrific and cowardly terrorist attack.” “He has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks urging Londoners not to be alarmed when they saw more police - including armed officers - on the streets,” the spokesperson said. Former Vice President Al Gore, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” program, said he thought Trump’s tweet misrepresented what the mayor had said. “I don’t think that a major terrorist attack like this is the time to be divisive and to criticize a mayor who’s trying to organize his city’s response to this attack,” Gore, a Democrat, said. Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN that it “troubles” him to see the kinds of tweets Trump has put out in the aftermath of the London attacks. Trump did not mention the mayor when speaking after a gala event at Washington’s Ford’s Theatre later on Sunday, where he condemned the attacks as an “evil slaughter.” He said the United States would do everything in its power to assist the UK in bringing those responsible to justice. “This bloodshed must end. This bloodshed will end,” Trump said, adding he would “do what is necessary” to prevent the threat from reaching the United States. Islamic State on Sunday claimed responsibility for the London attack. Trump also spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May to offer condolences and offered Washington’s “full support,” the White House said in a statement. Earlier in the day, Trump cited the London attacks to push his March 6 executive order that would temporarily ban entry into the United States of people from six predominantly Muslim countries. The ban has been blocked in the courts and Trump’s legal team has asked the Supreme Court to reinstate it. Trump has said the travel ban is needed to protect Americans from terrorist attacks. Critics say his reasoning is flawed and assail the ban as discriminatory. Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program, former Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday: “A travel ban will be cannon fodder to the recruiters. It’s the worst thing we could do.” Republican Senator Susan Collins told the CBS program “Face the Nation” that she thought Trump’s travel ban was “not the right way to go” because it was too broad. The U.S. State Department said it was monitoring the security situation and advised Americans in Britain to heed the advice of local authorities and maintain their security awareness. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a statement late on Saturday saying: “At this time, we have no information to indicate a specific, credible terror threat in the United States.” Law enforcement officials in major U.S. cities said they were not aware of any threats but were on alert.

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U.S. House Democratic women seek probe of Trump misconduct accusations

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 50 female Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives called on Monday for a congressional investigation into allegations by various women of sexual misconduct against President Donald Trump, who has denied the accusations. “We cannot ignore the multitude of women who have come forward with accusations against Mr. Trump,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter, though a formal inquiry was unlikely to result because Republicans control the agenda in Congress. The letter, spearheaded by the Democratic women’s working group, which is composed of all the party’s female members in the House, was signed by 56 lawmakers. It followed a call earlier on Monday by three women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct for a congressional investigation into his behavior. The lawmakers’ request for a probe was sent to leaders of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the main investigative committee in the House. Over the past two years, more than a dozen women have accused Trump of making unwanted sexual advances against them in the years before he entered politics. Monday’s letter from the Democrats said there were at least 17 accusers and listed names. “The president’s own remarks appear to back up the allegations,” the letter said, saying Trump had boasted “that he feels at liberty to perpetrate such conduct against women.” “The president should be allowed to present evidence in his own defense,” said the lawmakers. The letter was addressed to oversight panel Chairman Trey Gowdy, a Republican, and top Democrat Elijah Cummings. Trump last year apologized for talking about groping women in a 2005 tape recording that surfaced weeks before the presidential election, and said he had not done the things he talked about. More recently, Trump has told allies that the voice on the recording was not his, The New York Times reported recently. Trump and White House officials have denied the sexual misconduct allegations against him, some of which date back to the 1980s. “These false claims, totally disputed in most cases by eyewitness accounts, were addressed at length during last year’s campaign, and the American people voiced their judgment by delivering a decisive victory,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.

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Trump delegate indicted on weapons, child pornography charges

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Maryland man who is a delegate for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been indicted for illegally shipping explosives, owning a machine gun and producing child pornography, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday. Caleb Bailey, 30, was indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Wednesday. He was elected to be a delegate for Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and is still listed as one on the state’s board of elections website. Joe Cluster, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party, confirmed Bailey had been indicted and told Reuters the party was asking Bailey to resign from the delegation. “I don’t know too much about him beyond what I’ve read,” said Cluster, who declined to comment further. Bailey had hundreds of illegal weapons stored in a bunker beneath his garage, including dozens of machine guns, smokeless grenades and gas canisters, along with ready-to-eat meals, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. Telephone calls and emails seeking comment from Bailey, from the Trump campaign and from the Maryland board of elections were not returned on Thursday. Trump has been working to unify the Republican party going into its presidential nominating convention in Cleveland in July. In March, a New Hampshire man who co-chaired Trump’s veterans coalition in the state was extradited to Nevada to face charges of helping organize the high-profile 2014 armed standoff with federal agents at the ranch of Cliven Bundy. The four-count indictment against Bailey alleges that he used a minor to “engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce child pornography” and illegally owned a machine gun. Authorities became aware of Bailey after he tried to ship explosives and ammunition from Maryland to Wisconsin through the U.S. mail in February, said an affidavit filed by a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Some of the types of cartridges Bailey was sending to Wisconsin are no longer used by the U.S. military because they are too dangerous, the law enforcement official said, so shipping them was “not only illegal, but posed a significant public risk.” The Wisconsin recipient is under investigation as well, according to the official. Bailey attempted to ship five such packages in total, but one broke open at the post office, prompting the facility to call law enforcement, according to the affidavit.

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JUST IN: ROY MOORE Accuser ADMITS to FORGING Yearbook

The credibility of Beverly Young Nelson, the woman who accused Roy Moore of making sexual advances toward her when she was a teen, has been shattered. Shortly after Nelson appeared on television with leftist attorney Gloria Allred, her stepson made the difficult decision of coming out and saying that his stepmother was lying in a Facebook video he made to set the record straight about his father s wife.Watch video:(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.11'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));My official statementPosted by Darrel Nelson on Tuesday, November 14, 2017Meanwhile, Twitter user Thomas Wictor made his case through a series of tweets that the alleged Roy Moore signature in a high school yearbook Nelson used as evidence of her story was forged. Conservative media outlets began to demand that the yearbook was examined by a neutral party. Nelson and her attorney, Gloria Allred refused. Nelson remained silent for weeks while the controversy about the allegedly forged high school yearbook continued to catch fire in the media.Breitbart News reports that Beverly Young Nelson has finally admitted that she forged a portion of the infamous high school yearbook that she and attorney Gloria Allred used as proof of her accusations against U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore.And in yet another blow to the credibility of ABC News, the disgraced, left-wing network downplayed the bombshell by presenting this admission of forgery as adding notes to the inscription. Worse still, the reporter actually coaches Nelson, puts words in her mouth, downplay the enormous significance of her deceit.Beverly Young Nelson, one of the women accusing GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, tells @GMA it sickens her to think what might happen if Moore is elected. https://t.co/wuEGWr0kng pic.twitter.com/lcp5OY4x3A ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 8, 2017 Nelson admits she did make notes to the inscription, ABC News tells us. But the message was all Roy Moore. ABC News reporter Tom Llamas just couldn t help himself, as he coaches Nelson to make sure she is still able to cling to a portion of her story:Llamas: Beverly, he signed your yearbook. Nelson: He did sign it. Llamas, for his part encouraged her to get her story straight: And you made some notes underneath. Nelson replied: Yes. And then, after a woman admits to forging a document used in a campaign to destroy the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Alabama, ABC News quickly moves on as though it is not news of extraordinary consequence.Llamas also fails to ask any follow-ups, such as If the explanation is this simple, why wait all these weeks to offer it? Or, Why did you lie? Nelson is accusing Moore of attempting to assault her when she was just 16-years-old. With the election just four days away, this admission of forgery could not come at a better time for Moore. Nelson and Allred are planning a news conference Friday, but nothing will overcome the forgery admission.How can anyone believe anything she says after admitting to such a thing? Early reports are that Nelson and Allred will produce an expert to prove the rest of the yearbook is not a forgery. So a proven forger is bringing in her own expert. What an insult to the people of Alabama.Another problem with Nelson is that she has a motive to lie and forge: as a circuit judge, Moore ruled against her in a 1999 divorce case.The Moore campaign has been pressuring Nelson and Allred for weeks to submit the yearbook for independent handwriting analysis. Now everyone knows why that request was rejected and ignored.With Nelson now thoroughly discredited, this leaves two accusers against Moore.One is Leigh Corfman, who claims Moore molested her as a 14-year-old child. She is the most credible of the three, but the narrative behind her story, that Moore s abuse resulted in Corfman s living a troubled life of drinking, drugs, boyfriends, and a suicide attempt, is directly contradicted by contemporaneous court records.Moore s final accuser is Tina Johnson, a woman who claims Moore groped her butt in his office in 1991. But, again, as was the case with Corfman and Nelson, the left-wing media outlets reporting these allegations (the Washington Post, AL.com) either failed to fully vet the accusers or withheld crucial context.Thanks to New Media s going behind these discredited outlets to fact check the reporting, we now know that Johnson did not tell the entire truth. She was not in Moore s office on business. If she was in Moore s office at all, it was due to a bitter custody battle where Moore represented Johnson s mother, who was trying to gain custody of Johnson s 12-year-old son based on the claim that Johnson was an unfit, absent, and unstable mother. If the media and the accusers and Gloria Allred told the full truth to begin with, they would all be more credible.Here are close up versions of the signatures. Note, that when viewed close up, the signature is signed in both black and blue ink.Here is a closer version of the yearbook signature:Here is Wictor s explanation for the different colors of ink:(4) The LIGHT is reflecting off of the ink.The ink that LOOKS blue is actually black. It's DIFFERENT ink than the ORIGINAL ink.Therefore it reflects light differently. Thomas Wictor (@ThomasWictor) November 16, 2017(11) So, to recap:The signature is a forgery, and everything after the name "Roy-Ray" was added later with different ink. pic.twitter.com/1sPv6aABge Thomas Wictor (@ThomasWictor) November 15, 2017Just like the "TH" doomed Dan Rather, "DA" will doom the anti Roy Moore forces. They copied his signature on Nelsons divorce order not realizing "DA" was his assistants initials, not his title. The sheer stupidity! pic.twitter.com/oWJ5fzM6fr TruthHurts (@tru768) November 15, 2017After the yearbook signature came into question, Moore s attorney came out with a statement regarding the signature in the high school yearbook. Here s what he had to say:Roy Moore's Attorney: "[Nelson & Gloria Allred] said that Ms. Nelson after the allegations had never seen or had any contact with Judge Moore In 1999, Ms. Nelson filed a divorce action The judge assigned was Roy S. Moore." pic.twitter.com/Bv5ZV0CMvc Fox News (@FoxNews) November 15, 2017

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Another Arab supremacist masturbation fantasy. The world map was re-shaped after the fall of the Ottoman empire almost 100 years ago. And the Palestine Arabs refused several very good offers since then to share the area with the Jews, who are native to the area called Palestine. And that conflict continues to this day. The Israelis have bent over backwards to try and accommodate them, and many Arabs would like to end the conflict, but the current politicos and lunatic blood-seeking writers like Baroud won't be happy without another war, seeking a Jew-free Palestine. Perhaps their next generation of leaders will want to look forward rather than backwards.

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UK's May to visit China around Jan. 31: Sky News

(Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May will visit China around the end of January to promote her vision of a global Britain whose economy is strongly placed to succeed after Brexit, Sky News reported on Wednesday. May s office has pencilled in a trip on or around Jan. 31. She will be accompanied by a delegation of business leaders drawn from across the UK economy, Sky reported, citing insiders. China is one of the countries with which Britain hopes to sign a free trade pact once it leaves the EU. Plans for the trip have not been finalised and remain subject to change, Sky added.

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VIRAL VIDEO: UNIV OF WI Students Busted Agreeing With Discrimination Against Christians…But NOT OKAY With Discrimination Against Muslims

Watch the hypocrisy in action:

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U.S. House panel to consider self-driving car legislation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. House subcommittee will vote on Wednesday on a sweeping proposal to allow automakers to deploy up to 100,000 self-driving vehicles without meeting existing auto safety standards and bar states from imposing driverless car rules. The measure, which would be the first significant federal legislation aimed at speeding self-driving cars to market, would require automakers to submit safety assessment reports to U.S. regulators, but would not require pre-market approval of advanced vehicle technologies. Automakers would have to show self-driving cars “function as intended and contain fail safe features” but the Transportation Department could not “condition deployment or testing of highly automated vehicles on review of safety assessment certifications,” the draft measure unveiled late Monday said. Last month, a U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee held a hearing on a draft plan to allow U.S. regulators to exempt up to 100,000 vehicles a year per manufacturer from federal motor vehicle safety rules that prevent the sale of self-driving vehicles without human controls and bar states from setting rules that could block their use. Automakers must meet nearly 75 auto safety standards, many of which were written with the assumption that a licensed driver will be in control of the vehicle. The 30-page draft bill would also require the Transportation Department within two years to adopt rules requiring automakers to add a driver alert to check rear seating in an effort to prevent children from being left behind and consider setting performance standards for headlights. “This legislation puts important benchmarks into place that will prioritize consumer safety technologies and enhance mobility opportunities for people across the country,” said Republican U.S. Representative Robert Latta, who chairs the panel that will vote on the measure Wednesday. Democrats had sought a number of new safety requirements during negotiations over the measure. The bill also includes automakers to take steps to ensure the cybersecurity of self-driving cars. General Motors Co, Alphabet Inc, Tesla Inc and others have been lobbying Congress to pre-empt rules under consideration in California and other states that could limit self-driving vehicle deployment. States could still set rules on registration, licensing, liability, insurance and safety inspections, but could not set self-driving car performance standards, under the proposal. The administration of former Democratic President Barack Obama last year unveiled voluntary guidelines on self-driving cars that asked automakers to submit a 15-question safety assessment. President Donald Trump’s transportation secretary, Elaine Chao, said she plans to update those in the coming months. The issue has taken new urgency after U.S. road deaths rose 7.7 percent in 2015 over the previous year to 35,200, the highest annual jump since 1966. Traffic deaths climbed nearly 8 percent in the first nine months of 2016, government data shows. Automakers also say that without changes in regulations, U.S. self-driving car testing could move to Europe and elsewhere.

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Police Violence Escalates As Provocateurs Infiltrate Standing Rock, #NoDAPL Protests

Videos Police Violence Escalates As Provocateurs Infiltrate Standing Rock, #NoDAPL Protests While reporting from the Dakota Access pipeline protests, MintPress News reporter Derrick Broze witnessed the actions of destructive forces which have infiltrated the peaceful Native-led movement and provoked increasingly violent responses from law enforcement. | November 6, 2016 Be Sociable, Share! The remnants of a vehicle burned on North Dakota Highway 1806 on the night of Oct. 27. Non-peaceful forces embedded on the side of the water protectors were seen burning the vehicle and two armored vehicles over the protests of water protectors. (Derrick Broze for MintPress) STANDING ROCK SIOUX RESERVATION, North Dakota — Police violence has escalated and destructive forces have entered the fray in recent weeks as “water protectors” in North Dakota have continued their fight against the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. On Nov. 2, police targeted water protectors from the Sacred Stone, Oceti Sakowin, and Red Warrior camps with pepper spray and rubber bullets in response to their peaceful efforts to stop the destruction of the gravesites Alma Parkin and Matilda Galpin, Indigenous women who once owned the nearby Cannonball Ranch. “Water protectors building a makeshift bridge across the Cannonball River were met by riot police firing less-than-lethal munitions at point blank range and indiscriminately blasting OC Spray on peaceful unarmed people,” the Camp of the Sacred Stones reported on Nov. 3. The Native communities who oppose the pipeline prefer to call themselves water protectors as a way to signify that their fight is one in defense of the health of the water in the pipeline’s path, specifically the Missouri River. “The bridge was torn down per the orders received by Morton County from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . Morton County police then unleashed pepper spray and tear gas on water protectors standing in the river with their hands in the air.” More than 100 people were injured in the violence which came just one day after President Barack Obama told Now This News that he was monitoring the situation closely and exploring possible ways to “reroute” the pipeline. “We’re going to let it play out for several more weeks and determine whether or not this can be resolved in a way that I think is properly attentive to the traditions of First Americans,” Obama said. Watch “President Obama says they’re examining ways to ‘reroute’ the Dakota Access Pipeline” from 2016 NowThis Election: Police and protesters turn violent The week preceding Obama’s statement took a violent turn, as law enforcement raided camps and destructive forces positioned on the side of the water protectors made themselves known. Militarized riot police raided two frontline camps on Oct. 27, making 107 arrests as they deployed pepper spray, stun guns, and physical force in response to a crowd of unarmed water protectors who were blocking the path of pipeline construction. The water protectors attempted to keep police and pipeline workers from accessing the construction site by setting fires to barricades, but police were able to eventually remove everyone from the frontline camps and reclaim the land where the pipeline is slated to be built. Water protectors face off with a police line off North Dakota Highway 1806. Law enforcement wear riot gear as they prepare to remove the frontline camp. Oct. 27, 2016 (Derrick Broze for MintPress) Later that night, a bridge on North Dakota Highway 1806, just north of the Red Warrior and Oceti Sakowin camps in Mandan, was the scene of another standoff between law enforcement and citizens opposed to the pipeline. Although stationed on the water protectors’ side of the bridge, a small group of individuals did not seem to hold the same values or practice the same tactics as the larger, Native-led movement against the pipeline. Watch “Water Protectors face off with police #NoDAPL” from MintPress News: In stark contrast to the water protectors’ many actions of peaceful prayer and ceremony, the atmosphere at the bridge the night of Oct. 27 was more reminiscent of an outdoor rave. The protesters on the bridge set fire to an SUV, and threw rocks and other objects at a row of armored vehicles operated by law enforcement. This small faction of non-peaceful protesters and officers briefly tossed smoke bombs back and forth. Officers eventually lit two smoke bombs on the north side of the bridge before parking two armored vehicles at the exit to the bridge, preventing water protectors and protestors from evacuating in that direction. All law enforcement vehicles were gone within a matter of minutes, and protesters climbed aboard the armored vehicles before setting fire to them. When several water protectors came to the bridge, they told those setting the fires and instigating violence that this isn’t what they want for the movement. “If you feel uncomfortable, if you don’t like this action, go back to camp,” one of the men shouted back at the water protectors. Saying prayer had failed, the small group of non-peaceful protesters said they were now fighting “by any means necessary.” The fires they set burned throughout the night, as neither law enforcement nor fire department personnel ever arrived at the scene to extinguish the flames. Gabriella Scarlett, a water protector from Canada, signals for peace as a fire barricade burns off County Road 134. Behind her, water protectors establish a fire barricade to hold police back from the site of construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. Oct. 27, 2016 (Derrick Broze for MintPress) Agitators make their presence known On Oct. 28, water protectors and elders arrived on the scene to retake the bridge from the agitating faction in all-black clothing, a tactic for protests and marches known as “black bloc.” There were no more than 20 of these provocateurs, and they all traveled together in five older pick-up trucks. Several fights broke out on the bridge as the agitators clashed with those calling strictly for prayer and ceremony, and the agitators were run off the bridge and back to the camps within an hour. Siouxz, the head of security on the frontline camp off North Dakota Highway 1806, said those who started the fires were not with the water protector movement. “ Seven Council has came and they are very ashamed of the behavior of some of the non-traditional people here who can’t respect our ways and how we want to make this prayerful,” Siouxz told MintPress News. “We’re here to protect the water, not initiate a riot or some violent protest, which is the image that the whole world is getting right now. Our elders have come together to condemn all of these wrongful actions like catching things on fire.” Apparently intent on forcing their tactics upon the movement, these outside forces appeared uninterested in listening to the Standing Rock Sioux or other Native water protectors. Although the black bloc tactic has been used as a legitimate way for protesters to shield their identities from law enforcement, it has also been exploited by law enforcement. Police masquerading as black bloc activists have been exposed at the 2001 G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy , and at protests in 2007 in Quebec , and police posed as activists to infiltrate the Occupy movement. A water protector stares down police along County Road 134, in Mandan, North Dakota, north of Red Warrior Camp. Law enforcement wear riot gear as they prepare to remove the frontline camp. Oct. 27, 2016 (Derrick Broze for MintPress) “Solidarity becomes the hijacking or destruction of competing movements, which is exactly what the Black Bloc contingents are attempting to do with the Occupy movement,” Chris Hedges, a progressive independent journalist and activist, wrote in a scathing criticism of the black bloc’s presence during the Occupy movement. Law enforcement isn’t the only institution going undercover to infiltrate activist groups. Corporate entities also have a history of attempting to spy on peaceful, law-abiding activists . A 2013 report by the Center for Corporate Policy found that a large number of corporations are hiring former law enforcement, CIA, NSA, FBI, and military employees to act as spies. In the report, titled “ Spooky Business ,” Gary Ruskin wrote: “Many of the world’s largest corporations and their trade associations — including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Walmart, Monsanto, Bank of America, Dow Chemical, Kraft, Coca-Cola, Chevron, Burger King, McDonald’s, Shell, BP, BAE, Sasol, Brown & Williamson and E.ON — have been linked to espionage or planned espionage against nonprofit organizations, activists and whistleblowers.” Considering what is known about corporate agitation, it is possible that the provocateurs were hired by Energy Transfer Partners , the company behind the pipeline, the banks financing the pipeline, or, really, any company that benefits from the pipeline in any way. Ultimately, though, whether the agitators were police, corporate lackeys, or activists practicing a failed strategy, their actions do not represent the whole of the water protector movement and should not be used to discredit or delegitimize it. Be Sociable, Share!

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NYT Admits Key Al Qaeda Role in Aleppo

EDITOR'S CHOICE | 08.11.2016 NYT Admits Key Al Qaeda Role in Aleppo Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s As much as The New York Times and the mainstream U.S. media have become propaganda outlets on most foreign policy issues, like the one-sided coverage of the bloody Syrian war, sometimes the truth seeps through in on-the-ground reporting by correspondents, even ones who usually are pushing the “propo.” Such was the case with Anne Barnard’s new reporting from inside west Aleppo, the major portion of the city which is in government hands and copes with regular terror rocket and mortar attacks from rebel-held east Aleppo where Al Qaeda militants and U.S.-armed-and-funded “moderate” rebels fight side-by-side. Samantha Power, Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN, addresses the Security Council meeting on Syria, Sept. 25, 2016. Power has been an advocate for escalating U.S. military involvement in Syria. (UN Photo) Almost in passing, Barnard’s article on Sunday acknowledged the rarely admitted reality of the Al Qaeda/”moderate” rebel collaboration, which puts the United States into a de facto alliance with Al Qaeda terrorists and their jihadist allies, fighting under banners such as Nusra Front (recently renamed Syria Conquest Front) and Ahrar al-Sham. Barnard also finally puts the blame for preventing civilians in east Aleppo from escaping the fighting on a rebel policy of keeping them in harm’s way rather than letting them transit through “humanitarian corridors” to safety. Some of her earlier pro-rebel accounts suggested that it wasn’t clear who was stopping movement of civilians through those corridors. However, on Sunday, she reported: “We had arrived at a critical moment, as Russia said there was only one day left to pass through a corridor it had provided for people to escape eastern Aleppo before the rebel side was flattened, a corridor through which precious few had passed. The government says rebels are preventing civilians from leaving. Rebels refuse any evacuation without international supervision and a broader deal to deliver humanitarian aid.” Granted, you still have to read between the lines, but at least there is the acknowledgement that rebels are refusing civilian evacuations under the current conditions. How that is different from Islamic State terrorists in Mosul, Iraq, preventing departures from their areas – a practice which the Times and other U.S. outlets condemn as using women and children as “human shields”– isn’t addressed. But Barnard’s crimped admission is at least a start. Barnard then writes: “Instead [of allowing civilians to move through the humanitarian corridors], they [the rebels] are trying to break the siege, with Qaeda-linked groups and those backed by the United States working together — the opposite of what Russia has demanded.” Again, that isn’t the clearest description of the situation, which is stunning enough that one might have expected it in the lede rather than buried deep inside the story, but it is significant that the Times is recognizing that Al Qaeda and the U.S.-backed “moderates” are “working together” and that Russia opposes that collaboration. She also noted that “Three Qaeda-linked suicide bombers attacked a military position with explosive-packed personnel carriers on Thursday, military officials said, and mortar fire was raining on neighborhoods that until now had been relatively safe. It was among the most intense rounds in four years of rebel shelling that officials say has killed 11,000 civilians.” While she then throws in a caveat about the impossibility of verifying the numbers, the acknowledgement that the U.S.-backed “moderate” rebels and their Al Qaeda comrades have been shelling civilians in west Aleppo is significant, too. Before this, all the American people heard was the other side, from rebel-held east Aleppo, about the human suffering there, often conveyed by “activists” with video cameras who have depicted the conflict as simply the willful killing of children by the evil Syrian government and the even more evil Russians. More Balance With the admission of rebel terror attacks on civilians in west Aleppo, the picture finally is put into more balance. The Al Qaeda and U.S.-backed rebels have been killing thousands of civilians in government-controlled areas and the Syrian military and its Russian allies have struck back only to be condemned for committing “war crimes.” The second plane about to crash into the World Trade Center towers in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001 Though the human toll in both sides of Aleppo is tragic, we have seen comparable situations before – in which the U.S. government has supported, supplied and encouraged governments to mount fierce offensives to silence rockets or mortars fired by rebels toward civilian areas. For instance, senior U.S. government officials, including President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, have defended Israel’s right to defend itself from rockets fired from inside Gaza even though those missiles rarely kill anyone. Yet, Israel is allowed to bomb the near-defenseless people of Gaza at will, killing thousands including the four little boys blown apart in July 2014 while playing on a beach during the last round of what the Israelis call “mowing the grass.” In the context of those deaths, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, who has built her career as a supposed humanitarian advocating a “responsibility to protect” civilians, laid the blame not on the Israeli military but on fighters in Gaza who had fired rockets that rarely hit anything besides sand. At the United Nations on July 18, 2014, Power said , “President Obama spoke with [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning to reaffirm the United States’ strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself…. Hamas’ attacks are unacceptable and would be unacceptable to any member state of the United Nations. Israel has the right to defend its citizens and prevent these attacks.” But that universal right apparently does not extend to Syria where U.S.-supplied rockets are fired into civilian neighborhoods of west Aleppo. In that case, Power and other U.S. officials apply an entirely different set of standards. Any Syrian or Russian destruction of east Aleppo with the goal of suppressing that rocket fire becomes a “war crime.” Perhaps it’s expected that the U.S. government, like other governments, will engage in hypocrisy regarding affairs of state: one set of rules for U.S. allies and another for countries marked for U.S. “regime change.” Statements by supposed “humanitarians”– such as Samantha Power, “Ms. R2P”– are no exception. But double standards are even more distasteful when they come from allegedly “objective” journalists such as those who work at The New York Times, The Washington Post and other prestige American news outlets. When they take the “U.S. side” in a dispute and become crude propagandists, they encourage the kind of misguided “group thinks” that led to the criminal Iraq War and other disastrous “regime change” projects over the past two decades. Yet, that is what we normally see. A thoughtful reader can’t peruse the international reporting of the U.S. mainstream media without realizing that it is corrupted by propaganda from both government officials and from U.S.-funded operations, often disguised as “human rights activists” or “citizen journalists” whose supposed independence makes their “propo” even more effective. So, it’s worth noting those rare occasions when The New York Times and the rest of the MSM let some of the reality peek through. When evaluating the latest plans from Hillary Clinton and other interventionists to expand the U.S. military intervention in Syria – via prettily named “safe zones” and “no-fly zones”– the American people should realize that they are being asked to come to the aid of Al Qaeda.

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Howard Dean: Democratic Party’s Tent Not Big Enough For Pro-Lifers But All About Social Justice [Video]

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Euro zone enlargement call sparks backlash in Germany

TALLINN (Reuters) - After years of bailing out Greece, the idea of letting more poorer states into the euro zone has sparked controversy, particularly in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking re-election in two weeks time. The backlash came after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called on Wednesday for non-euro zone countries to quickly adopt the single currency so that the European Union can find new unity in the euro after Britain leaves in 2019. Juncker promised to propose technical and financial help for the willing, quickly triggering concern from influential German members of the European Parliament, like the deputy chairman of the economic committee Markus Ferber. Juncker s call was interpreted by some in Germany as meaning the Commission would be lenient in assessing the readiness for the single currency of the mostly former communist and poorer eastern European countries like Bulgaria or Romania. Greece, which adopted the euro in 2001, later turned out not to have been ready because of falsified deficit statistics. The country triggered a massive debt crisis in the euro zone and had to be bailed out three times by other euro zone governments. Euro for all EU countries? There are clear criteria and rules for joining. Greece can not repeat itself, Ferber tweeted after the Juncker speech. EU officials became concerned that the misreading of the Juncker speech in Germany could fuel support for populist and eurosceptic parties and Juncker aides took to Twitter on Friday to try and counter that effect. They stressed that countries would only be allowed into the single currency if they met economic and governance criteria. In German language-only tweets they also pointed out that some, like keen would-be member Bulgaria, already meet many, though not all, of the economic standards for entry. To adopt the euro, a European Union country has to have low inflation, interest rates and debt, a deficit within the EU limits, as well as a stable exchange rate, proven by two years spent in the Exchange Rate Mechanism II without severe tensions. The exchange rate of the Bulgarian Lev is absolutely stable to the euro since 2006, Juncker s head of cabinet Martin Selmayr tweeted. The Inflation rate of Bulgaria is just at 0.2 pct and much lower than in the euro area. Addressing German sensitivity to debt, he tweeted: German debt is almost 66 pct of GDP, more than twice as high as the Bulgarian one. Romania and Bulgaria meet all the nominal criteria to join the euro except the two-year exchange rate stability test in the ERM II and the compatibility of their central bank laws with euro zone requirements. They are also far from meeting the soft criterion of real economic convergence with euro zone economies a factor that could prevent them getting the go-ahead for adopting the euro. Countries outside the euro zone include Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Denmark and Britain, but the last two have a formal opt-out from joining. Others have a legal obligation to adopt the euro when they meet all the criteria, but there are no deadlines for that. Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said Bulgaria had expressed to him a clear desire to join the euro zone. Romania has expressed a similar sentiment. But some of the biggest and more wealthy non-euro members of the EU like Sweden, Poland or the Czech Republic and Hungary have no plans to adopt the currency in the foreseeable future, preferring to keep the economic flexibility provided by control over their own exchange rate.

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Merkel sees no military solution to U.S. dispute with North Korea

BERLIN (Reuters) - There is no military solution to the United States’ dispute with North Korea, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday, adding that a war of words between the two countries was the wrong approach. “I don’t see a military solution to this conflict,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin. “I see the need for enduring work at the U.N. Security Council ... as well as tight cooperation between the countries involved, especially the U.S. and China”. “Germany will be intensively involved in any non-military solutions,” Merkel said. “But an escalation of the rhetoric is the wrong answer.”

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EU not working on 'no deal' scenario for Brexit

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is negotiating the terms of Britain s exit from the bloc in good faith and is not working on a scenario where there is no agreement on the separation, the chairman of EU leaders Donald Tusk said on Tuesday. Britain is keen to start negotiating as quickly as possible the terms of its future relationship with the EU, including a transition period, after it leaves the bloc in March 2019. But the EU does not want to start such negotiating until London and Brussels agree the terms of the divorce - citizen s rights, border issues in Northern Ireland and, crucially, how much money Britain owes the EU. We hear from London that the UK government is preparing for a no deal scenario. I would like to say very clearly that the EU is not working on such a scenario, European Council President Tusk said in a speech in Brussels. We are negotiating in good faith, and we still hope that the so-called sufficient progress will be possible by December. However, if it turns out that the talks continue at a slow pace, and that sufficient progress hasn t been reached, then together with our UK friends we will have to think about where we are heading, he said.

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WATCH: Congressman Invokes Impeachment Power On House Floor In Response To Trump’s Muslim Ban

Donald Trump s executive order barring people from entering the United States from seven countries in the Middle East exposed his violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.And a House Democrat took him to task for it on Thursday during a speech on the House floor.When Trump signed the executive order last Friday, he targeted people traveling for nations that are not responsible for any deaths of American citizens on American soil, despite claiming that his order is meant to protect Americans from terrorists.Trump even invoked 9/11 to justify the order, but left countries off the list where many of the hijackers came from, such as Saudi Arabia, which also helped fund them and their operation.The nations Trump conveniently left off the list also have something else in common. They all have business ties with the Trump Organization.In other words, Trump is a complete hypocrite and is making foreign policy decisions based on whether they will hurt his family s business or not.And Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan absolutely hammered Trump for it on the House floor with a devastating speech. These countries were excluded from the executive order despite being home to many of the terrorists who carried out 9/11, Pocan pointed out. I m not saying we should ban people from these countries. I firmly oppose any ban based on nationality or religion. But it is unacceptable that business interests have played potentially a role in such a destructive policy, a policy that also makes our country less safe in the long run. Pocan explained that Trump s business interests in the countries left off the list influenced his decision to not include them even though Trump repeatedly declared that he would make America safe by blocking nations where terrorists come from to attack us. Trump clearly believes that maintaining his business interests are more important than banning travel from Saudi Arabia, the country where most of the 9/11 attackers were from and received their funding. It s time for the president to stop defending his divisive and unconstitutional executive order and start being transparent about his business interests, Pocan said. Every president in the modern era has released tax records to ensure the American people that their actions will not be impacted by financial holdings. Indeed, Richard Nixon was the first president to release his tax records to the public, and that set a precedent that all presidential candidates have followed over the decades. Trump broke that precedent and refused to release his taxes because he is hiding his numerous business connections with nations like Russia that would expose him and his treachery to the American people. Trump now says he won t release his taxes at all despite promising that he would do so after an audit is completed, even though an audit does not prevent someone from releasing their tax records.Pocan then demanded that Trump release his taxes, divest himself from his company, and repeal his executive order or else face legislative action, including the possibility of impeachment. Mr. President, it s time for you to fix this. One, divest your business holding immediately to remove any suggestion of conflicts in your decision making. Two, show us your tax returns so financial interests are transparent to the American people. And three, get rid of your unconstitutional executive order, which will make us less safe and only serve to embolden our enemies. Short of that, we ll have to take other actions, including legislative directives, resolutions of disapproval and even explore the power of impeachment. The Speaker then whined about Pocan threatening impeachment as if Republicans hadn t been calling for impeaching President Obama over the last eight years.Here s the video via YouTube.Donald Trump is a liar and a traitor who is putting his business interests ahead of the best interests of the American people. Not only should he be impeached, his entire administration should be removed. And Democrats could get the chance to do exactly that if Americans vote in 2018 to take the House away from the Republican majority.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images

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Six Latin King Gangsters Charged in Street Stabbing, Beating of Crippled Man

Prosecutors charged six members of the violent Latin Kings street gang with stabbing and beating a handicapped man. The gang members allegedly punched, repeatedly stabbed, and beat the victim with his own cane. [District Attorney Richard A. Brown said that the defendants are each accused of brutally attacking a young man for no reason other than he was not a part of the Latin Kings. “Gang violence will not be tolerated in Queens County,” Brown said. “The defendants’ poor choice in pursuing gang membership and the violence that are a part of that lifestyle have led them to be charged with serious felonies that carry the possibility of lengthy prison sentences. ” A Queens County grand jury indicted six members of the violent Latin Kings street gang. They are charged with attempted murder and gang assault stemming from an October 2016 attack on a man, according to a statement from Queens County District Attorney. The six defendants — Michael Aragundi, Jonathan Duy, Jordan Leon, Wilson Matute, Luis Mayancela, and Luis Minchala — were each charged with one count of attempted murder, one count of gang assault, one count of assault, two counts of robbery, one count of robbery and one count of assault. Brown said that the six Latin Kings members approached the outside a bar during the early morning hours of October 29, 2016, and began attacking him — allegedly punching him and stabbing him. The Latin Kings used a cane that the victim had with him as a weapon against him. They proceeded to beat him mercilessly with it, prosecutors stated. Following the attack, the six gang members fled the scene. Emergency responders transported the victim to a nearby hospital where he received treatment for multiple stab wounds and lacerations to his head and neck. Brown said that the victim suffered nerve damage to his left arm which has left him with numbness in his arm and hand. The judge in the case ordered the six defendants back to court on July 10, 2017. The gang members each face up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Ryan Saavedra is a contributor for Breitbart Texas and can be found on Twitter at @RealSaavedra.

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House Democrat says Republican undermines intel probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee Democrat said on Wednesday he had “grave concerns” about the committee’s ability to conduct a credible investigation after its Republican chairman suggested President Donald Trump’s communications may have been collected during surveillance. “I have expressed my grave concerns with the Chairman that a credible investigation cannot be conducted this way,” U.S. Representative Adam Schiff said in a statement. The House intelligence panel is conducting one of the main congressional investigations of possible ties between Trump associates and Russia during the 2016 U.S. president election. Republican Representative Devin Nunes, the committee’s chairman, announced at a news conference on Wednesday that an anonymous source had provided him with information that communications by associates of Trump’s and possibly Trump’s had been swept up during routine surveillance.

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Irish postage stamp homage to Che Guevara stokes criticism

DUBLIN (Reuters) - The unlikely choice of Argentinian communist guerrilla leader Ernesto Che Guevara, hero of the Cuban revolution, as the face of the new 1-euro postage stamp in Ireland is stoking controversy on both sides of the Atlantic. The traditionally Catholic country, which has never had a left-wing government, only established diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1999, 40 years after Guevara helped lead the Cuban revolution with Fidel Castro. However Guevara s father, Ernesto Guevara Lynch, was a civil engineer of Irish descent and the iconic red and black print of the long-haired Che known from t-shirts and posters around the world was produced by an Irish artist, Jim Fitzpatrick. On this basis Ireland s postal service this week issued the new stamp featuring Fitzpatrick s image of Guevara to mark the 50th anniversary of his death. The postal service described Guevara, killed by CIA-backed Bolivian soldiers in Bolivia in 1967, as the quintessential left-wing revolutionary. It said demand for the stamp has rivaled that of its two previously most popular releases, commemorating the sinking of the Titanic and Ireland s 1916 Rising against British rule. But it was quickly reminded that Guevara remains for many symbol of the violent abuses of Cuba s communist government, with one Irish senator describing Guevara as a barbaric interrogator, jailer and executioner of hundreds of supposed class enemies . It is my belief that he is most definitely not a suitable candidate for such an honor, said Neale Richmond, a member of Irish governing party Fine Gael in a letter to Ireland s communications minister. Cuban-American radio host Ninoska Perez Castellon joined the fray urging listeners to write to the postal service to ask for the stamp to be scrapped. Fitzpatrick, whose 1968 print based on a picture taken by Cuban photographer Alberto Korda was adopted by left-wing students on t-shirts and posters, turning it into a global sign of rebellion, said he was not surprised by the response. Irish anti-communists threatened to throw a brick through a local shop window when it displayed the image when he first produced it half a century ago. It s not totally unexpected. It was a revolution and you have two parties of opposites and we had the same after the Civil War in this country, Fitzpatrick told Reuters at his Dublin home, where the front room doubles as a studio with old drawings and sketches scattered about the desk. I thought it was amazing that they (the postal service) wanted to do a stamp of Che and It was a great honor for me, he said. Fitzpatrick, who has designed album covers for Irish rock star Sinead O Connor and the band Thin Lizzy, said in 2011 that he was seeking to obtain the copyright to his image of Che, to prevent crass, commercial use of it. A spokesman for the postal service said neither Fitzpatrick nor the estate of the photographer Korda was being paid for the use of the image on the stamp.

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Ex-U.S. Attorney Bharara signs book deal after firing by Trump

(Reuters) - Former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who earned a reputation for fighting crime on Wall Street and public corruption before President Donald Trump fired him in March, has signed a book deal with Alfred A. Knopf. The book, as yet untitled, is about “the search for justice, not just in criminal cases but in life and society in general,” Knopf said in a statement on Thursday. Publication is expected in January 2019. Bharara said his book would be about the law, “integrity, leadership, decision making, and moral reasoning.” “It addresses what it means to do the right thing, how to avoid doing the wrong thing, and the role of thoughtfulness in making the best choice,” Bharara said in a statement. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Bharara to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which includes Manhattan. During seven and a half years as the chief federal prosecutor in that region, Bharara oversaw several notable corruption and white-collar criminal cases, as well as prosecutions of terrorism suspects. “Preet Bharara’s life experience, coupled with his standing as a U.S. Attorney and the cases he tried as prosecutor, makes him uniquely qualified to write this book,” said Sonny Mehta, editor-in-chief for Knopf, which is a division of Penguin Random House. Bharara, now a distinguished scholar in residence at New York University’s law school, was unexpectedly fired by Trump on March 11 after refusing to step down. He had been among 46 U.S. attorneys who were told a day earlier to submit their resignations. In November, Bharara met with Trump at Trump Tower in New York City, three weeks after the presidential election, and said at the time that they had a “good meeting” and he agreed to remain in his post as a federal prosecutor.” He was fired a few months later. This month, Bharara told ABC News in an interview that he received “unusual” phone calls from Trump after the election that made him uncomfortable. He said he was fired after declining to take the third call. Bharara said he believed Trump’s calls to him violated the usual boundaries between the executive branch and independent criminal investigators. Knopf spokesman Paul Bogaards said on Thursday that Bharara “addresses the circumstances of his firing in the book proposal.” Whether the book itself goes into the details of Bharara’s firing “remains an open question,” Bogaards said.

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#RESIST as Marketing: ’Fearless Girl’ Statue Taking Home Awards at Cannes - Breitbart

The “Fearless Girl” statue which stands opposite of the iconic charging bull on Wall Street is racking up awards this week at Cannes Lions, the largest annual gathering of marketing executives. [The statue was commissioned on behalf of asset manager State Street and advertising agency McCann New York as a way of encouraging firms to hire more female executives. “Its simplicity in the use of symbolism transcends geography, it transcends language, it transcends culture,” Wendy Clark, CEO of DDB North America, told Adweek. “For us, while it is a girl, it elegantly captures women’s journeys and our path to empowerment. And it also encapsulates our hopes and our ambitions for every little girl in the world. ” Clark also serves as the jury president of the Cannes Lions awards week, which was inspired by the Cannes Film Festival and takes place at the same conference center in Cannes, France. The “Fearless Girl” statue took home the Grand Prix in the Glass, PR and Outdoor Lions categories on the festival’s first day. The statue was sculpted by artist Kristen Visbal in an effort to encourage gender diversity amongst corporate executives. “The girl is standing there like this in front the bull, saying, ‘Now, what are you going to do?’ Arturo Di Modica said, who sculpted the Charging Bull statue. Di Modica argues that the “Fearless Girl” statue violates his artistic rights as it changes the meaning of the bull statue. “Remove her and place her somewhere else in the city,” Di Modica’s attorney said. “We’ve got lots of ideas. And damages must be awarded to Arturo for violation of his legal, statutory rights. ” Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about economics and higher education for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart. com

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