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Aleppo Close to Falling Under Complete Control of Syrian Government - The New York Times

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The siege in Aleppo is almost over. Advances by Syrian government forces and their allies have squeezed the fighters and civilians remaining in parts of the city into a sliver of territory, spokesmen for the government and the opposition forces said on Monday. The last civilians caught in the shrinking antigovernment enclave issued panicked calls for help. Late Monday, several residents reported via text and voice messages that they were crowded into abandoned apartments and rainy streets, exposed to shelling and afraid they would be killed or arrested if forces reached them, as antigovernment activists circulated reports of scores of summary killings in retaken areas. The United Nations secretary general, Ban said in a statement on Monday that he was alarmed by reports of atrocities against a large number of civilians, including women and children. It appeared increasingly likely that the government would gain control of the whole of Aleppo, the largest city in Syria, within days, if not hours. Videos from districts showed people celebrating in the streets, waving flags and honking horns. That would be a turning point in the civil war, cementing government control over all of Syria’s most important cities and forcing the opposition and its backers to reckon with whether their movement, especially the armed rebellion, has failed. It also raises questions about how an increasingly confident President Bashar will govern a deeply wounded and divided country where war still rages. Mr. Assad’s recent military successes have depended heavily on help from Russia, Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which are reviled by many of Mr. Assad’s Sunni opponents, and viewed with unease even by some of his supporters because of their growing power in the country. Large areas of Aleppo and other cities and towns have been reduced to rubble by the fighting. And rebel forces, Kurdish militias and Islamic State fighters are still operating in large areas of northern and eastern Syria. That has been vividly clear in recent days, with Islamic State fighters advancing in the desert city of Palmyra, amid its ancient ruins, as the government focused on Aleppo. For civilians trapped behind the battle lines in Aleppo, though, more urgent questions loomed. Time appeared to be running out to strike a deal to allow them to evacuate. Rebel and opposition leaders want evacuees to be given an option to go to territory they control. Many of the remaining civilians refuse to go to territory because they are afraid they would be jailed and tortured there. Others say the bombardment in their districts is too intense to allow any escape. There were also reports in state news media of rebel shelling of areas. According to the Russian government, Mr. Assad’s main foreign backer, more than 100, 000 people have fled from the rebel enclave to areas, and 2, 200 rebel fighters have surrendered. At least 13, 000 people have fled in the past 24 hours, it said. But there are still believed to be thousands of civilians trapped in districts that have been bombarded for more than 24 hours, while the army and its militia allies seized most of the southern part of the city. “An important call in the name of civilians to help them,” Abdelkafi a teacher and antigovernment activist, said in a text message to a group of journalists. “Stop bombing. Take them out. ” The situation was so desperate, residents said, that it was unclear whether rebels and civilians there could even hold a meeting to decide whether to surrender and evacuate. “Believe me, no one rejects the safety evacuation,” one resident, Yasser Abu said in a text message to the journalists’ group. “All of us are waiting, dying now in the last neighborhoods. ” Hisham is a civilian member of the local council that had tried to govern the areas of Aleppo, which once included half the city. Mr. Skeif expressed frustration that while international officials were in contact with rebel leaders, no one appeared to be talking directly to the trapped civilians. “All the political activists and the media, the relief workers, the unarmed, we are about 1, 000, including our families,” he said. Though the government has said it would offer amnesty to anyone who surrenders, “if the regime entered, we will be slaughtered,” he said. “Of course everybody is negotiating with those who are armed, but we are not armed. ” “The armed can defend themselves, but we can’t,” he added. Mr. Hamdo said in a series of text messages that families in Aleppo were “waiting death together. ” “People are running, don’t know where,” he wrote. “People are under the rubble alive, and no one can save them. Some people are injured in the streets, and no one can go to help them cuz the bombs are always on the same place. ” Some rebel leaders have said that the United States, which backs some rebel groups, sent them a proposal that would allow evacuees their choice of destination, under security guarantees from Russia. But trust has eroded, and no agreement had emerged by Monday night. Syrian and Russian officials say the offensive in Aleppo will continue until rebels surrender or die. “The issue of withdrawing militants is the subject of separate agreements,” Sergei Ryabkov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, told the Ria news agency on Monday. “This agreement has not yet been reached, largely because the United States insists on unacceptable terms. ” The sticking point for months has been a dispute between Russia and the United States over what to do about fighters linked with Al Qaeda who are among the rebel groups in eastern Aleppo. The United Nations estimates that about 10 percent of the 8, 000 rebel fighters in the city belong to a group, the Levant Conquest Front. The rebels and their international backers say the figure is much lower the government says it is much higher. Before the government broke through the rebel defenses, the United Nations was proposing that the Levant Conquest Front leave Aleppo in exchange for three main broad concessions from the government side: an end to bombardment protection and aid for remaining civilians and some form of local administration for rebel areas. But the government rejected any form of saying that it would “reward terrorists,” while the rebels rejected versions of the deal that did not include it. Now, there is no meaningful rebel territory left for the local opposition council to govern. “We are hearing terrifying S O S calls from the civilians, but we can’t do anything,” said Bassem a spokesman for Nour one of the main rebel groups in Aleppo. “The fighters are defending, but they are retreating under pressure. Unfortunately, the situation is very bad. ” The focus has now shifted to ending the bombardment and protecting the remaining civilians from reprisals, a reasonable fear in a country where, throughout the conflict, people have been tortured and killed in prison for opposing the government. “Understand this,” Mr. Hamdo, who said his wife and small daughter were cowering in their apartment with him, wrote on Twitter. “I can’t simply surrender and being captive. I am speaking out, and this is a crime. I might then ask death, and not got it. ” Malek, an activist who asked to be identified only by his first name for fear that he would soon find himself in government territory, said he had moved on Monday to a safer place for the 10th time since the offensive began, along with his cats, Rocky and Loz, the Arabic word for almond. “Why should I lie? I’m not well,” he said in a series of voice messages. “We are people, are being deleted from the human map. We have two neighborhoods and one street, and the regime will keep bombing this small area. ” Bodies were stuck under the rubble, Malek said, and even members of the White Helmets civil defense group could not rescue anyone, because the group’s equipment had been destroyed and their members scattered by the shelling. Still attempting to find humor, he said that his cat Rocky had lost “his fiancée” along the way. “Now he’s lonely,” Malek said. Dr. Salem, a dentist who had kept his clinic open until last week, finally moved to one of the last rebel neighborhoods as his own was taken by government forces. He said he walked through streets shrouded in smoke, and littered with the dead and wounded, to a small area where thousands were crowded in a shrinking space. “There will be a massacre if one rocket falls here,” said Dr. Salem, using only his first name.

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Trump: 'We Must Replace Globalism with Americanism'

Hillary Clinton is back on the campaign trail after three days off. She courted Hispanic voters in Washington as Donald Trump talked economics in New York. Trump unveiled more details of his plan to move the U.S. economy forward. "We must replace the present policy of globalism, which has just taken so many jobs out of our communities and so much wealth out of our country, and replace it with a new policy of Americanism," he explained. Trump said as president, he will act to tap into the "un-realized potential" of American workers and their dreams. He pledged to create 25 million new jobs and grow the economy over 10 years at an average annual rate of 3.5 percent. U.S. economic growth under President Barack Obama has never reached 3 percent in any one year -- something that's never happened under any other U.S. president. "I am going to lower your taxes very, very substantially. I am going to get rid of massive amounts of unnecessary regulation. All of these regulations on your business, and in your life," Trump insisted. Afterwards, Trump appeared on the "Tonight Show." In a lighter moment, host Jimmy Fallon made one request of the Republican presidential nominee, asking him,  "Can I mess your hair up? Did you say yes?" Trump responded, "Go ahead!" Fallon then proceeded to dishevel Trump's hair. Meanwhile, Clinton was back on the campaign trail in the nation's capital, with the James Brown tune, "I Feel Good," blasting from loud speakers. Fresh from three-and-a-half days off resting from pneumonia, she spoke to the National Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C. Clinton wasted little time renewing her attacks against Trump, going after him for telling the Washington Post he didn't want to answer the question right now of whether or not the president was born in the United States. "This man wants to be our next president? When will he stop this ugliness, this bigotry?" she asked rhetorically. "If we just sigh, shake our heads and accept this, then what does that tell our kids about who we are?" The Trump campaign later conceded that he does believe the president was born in the United States. Even though polls show many voters don't like either candidate, Clinton is facing an enthusiasm gap. Only 50 percent of Trump's supporters say they're excited to vote for him. The percentage of Clinton supporters is even less, with only 43 percent saying they're excited about her. Enthused or not, with less than two months to go before Election Day, both candidates know independent voters hold the key to winning the White House. And Clinton says there's another important factor. "What matters is who registers to vote and who is motivated and mobilized to turnout to vote," she said.

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Obamacare Architect on Rising Premiums: It’s Not a Big Increase

Washington Free Beacon October 26, 2016 Dr. Ezekiel Emmanuel, a chief architect of Obamacare, described the recent announcement of rising health care premiums under the Affordable Care Act as “not a big increase.” Emmanuel served as a special health care policy adviser to the director of the Office of Management and Budget in the White House at the beginning of President Obama’s first term. Emmanuel spoke with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on Tuesday and was asked about a recent government report that stated health care premiums were slated to rise by 25 percent next year in the 39 states served by the federal online exchanges. Ruhle started by asking Emmanuel, “Why should Americans have faith in the Affordable Care Act?” This article was posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 7:36 am Share this article

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Commercial Dairy Industry Dumping Millions of Gallons of Surplus Milk

by Dr. Mercola The U.S. food system is set up to protect industrialized, centralized food production and distribution, while efforts to decentralize food are kept strictly under wraps. There are many problems with this system, including the fact that food production is often out of sync with demand, leading to excessive amounts of waste. In 2016, for instance, the industrial dairy industry has dumped 43 million gallons of milk due to a massive milk glut. The glut is the result of a 2014 spike in milk prices, which encouraged many dairy farmers to add more milk cows to their farms. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data shows that dairy cows have increased by 40,000 in 2016, with a 1.4 percent increase in production per cow. With too much milk and nowhere to sell it, prices have tanked. Milk prices declined 22 percent in recent months to $16.39 per 100 pounds — a price so low some farmers can no longer afford to even transport it to the market. [1] The milk glut isn’t only affecting the U.S., either. It’s been felt globally, which means milk producers can’t export their surplus milk. What’s a dairy farmer to do with a surplus of milk? Dump it — on fields, into animal feed or added to manure lagoons. USDA Steps in to Bail Out Dairy CAFOs At its foundation, the milk glut is the result of dairy operations in the U.S. consolidating into concentrated feeding operations (CAFOs) — massive industrial “farms” with the sole goal of producing as much food as possible for the greatest profit. As reported by Yale Environment 360: [2] While milk carton imagery pictures bucolic, small farms, more than 50 percent of U.S. milk is now produced by just 3 percent of the country’s dairies — those with more than 1,000 cows, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).The very largest U.S. dairies now have 15,000 or more cows. The USDA, meanwhile, is coming to bail out these massive industrial enterprises. They’ve offered to buy $20 million of cheddar cheese from private sources, while milk producers try to get fast food outlets to add more cheese-heavy products to their menus. [3] The USDA already purchased $20 million of cheddar cheese in August 2016. 1 in 4 US Dairy Cows Contracts Mastitis Dairy cows raised in confinement and fed unnatural diets of genetically engineered (GE) grain are at high risk of illness, as are all animals raised in CAFOs. It’s estimated that one-fifth of livestock are lost due to diseases, which is an unrecognized source of food waste. [4] In the U.S. alone, 1 in 4 dairy cows contracts mastitis, which is a painful and serious udder disease. The result of producing large quantities of low-quality milk, mastitis is also the leading cause of therapeutic antibiotics treatment in U.S. dairy animals. In an era where antibiotic-resistant disease is taking millions of lives, any preventable causes of antibiotics usage should be curbed. Mastitis is also preventable with clean, humane living conditions and proper diet, which lead to healthy cows. Mastitis is also another source of food waste. Milk with antibiotic residues cannot be sold, so milk from cows being treated with antibiotics for mastitis must be poured down the drain — to the tune of 1.2 billion servings a year (not to mention the addition of more antibiotics into the environment). [5] As noted by one study on antibiotics usage on a dairy CAFO in New York state, “One of the best options to decrease antibiotic usage is to prevent the infection in the first place …” [6] Indeed, which again brings us back to the way cows are raised. CAFOs are literal breeding grounds for infection. Further, according to the 2016 Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Report prepared by the Global Harvest Initiative, once a cow contracts mastitis, she will probably not produce as much milk as before: [7] In addition, the cow’s level of milk production through her entire life cycle will likely fall below her potential as she is more susceptible to contracting mastitis on a recurring basis. The need for alternatives to protect the health of animals and preserve the long-term effectiveness of shared-class antibiotics has never been greater. As Dairy CAFOs Grow in Size, so Too Does Related Pollution In Wisconsin, the heart of dairy country in the Midwest, farm consolidation is growing at an alarming rate. While the number of overall dairy farms in the state dropped by about one-third in the last decade, the number of such farms with more than 500 cows grew by 150 percent — and those with 2,000 or more cows grew at the fastest rate of all. [8] In addition to concerns like mastitis and milk gluts, such operations produce mind-boggling amounts of waste that represent one of the top sources of pollution in the U.S. Yale Environment 360 reported: [9] According to the EPA, a 2,000-cow dairy generates more than 240,000 pounds of manure daily or nearly 90 million pounds a year. The USDA estimates that the manure from 200 milking cows produces as much nitrogen as sewage from a community of 5,000 to 10,000 people. … Milking cows … produce more manure than beef cattle and the Holsteins that dominate the U.S. dairy industry produce almost twice as much manure as Jerseys. Cows that give more milk per cow also produce more manure and per-cow milk production has almost doubled since the 1970s. Manure spills and leaching of waste from storage “lagoons” contaminate waterways and drinking water, posing serious environmental risks in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the U.S. Grass-Fed Dairy: Better for the Environment, the Animals and Human Health Demand for grass-fed dairy products is growing at an impressive rate, which is excellent news for the environment, animal welfare and human health. Grass is a cow’s natural food. When cows eat grains, as they do on CAFOs that produce the milk used for most U.S. dairy products, their body composition changes. Most importantly for you, these changes include an alteration in the balance of essential fats. Milk (and meat) from cows raised primarily on pasture has been repeatedly shown to be higher in many nutrients, including vitamin E, beta-carotene and the healthy fats omega-3 and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). According to a study published in the journal PLOS One: [10] Milk from cows consuming significant amounts of grass and legume-based forages contains higher concentrations of ω-3 FAs [omega-3 fats] and CLA than milk from cows lacking routine access to pasture and fed substantial quantities of grains, especially corn. In turn, lactating women consuming such milk have an increased CLA concentration in their breast milk … This study confirms earlier findings that milk from cows consuming significant amounts of grass and legume-based forages contains less LA [omega-6 linoleic acid] and other ω-6 Fas [omega-6 fats] and higher concentrations of ALA, CLA and the long-chain ω-3s EPA and DPA, compared to cows lacking routine access to pasture and fed substantial quantities of grains. Grass-Fed Dairy is a Solution to the Problems Created by Industrial Dairy Unfortunately, only about 22 percent of U.S. dairy cows have access to pasture and even then access tends to be very limited. [11] Grass-fed dairy producer Maple Hills Creamery further shared reasons why grass-fed dairy is better: [12] When a cow eats corn and grain, the pH of the rumen (the first chamber of the cow’s stomach) becomes acidic; this destroys some flora and increases systemic inflammation, shortening the cow’s lifespan and increasing her risk of infection Raising grass-fed cows requires fewer resources than growing grain crops to feed CAFO cows, along with fewer chemical fertilizers and pesticides On a 100 percent grass-fed farm, manure is spread over pastures naturally as the cows roam; there is no need for environmentally destructive manure lagoons Grass-fed dairy farming works best with small herds, which in turn helps support local economies and small farmers, who are able to claim a premium price for their premium dairy products “In short,” Maple Hills Creamery writes, “100 [percent] grass-fed organically produced dairy is a viable solution to the industrial dairy system, focusing on holistic care of both the animals and land, rather than an end goal of highest production and maximizing the bottom line at the cost of animal welfare and environmental concerns.” Support Raw, Grass-Fed Milk Products Raw milk dairy products from organically raised pasture-fed cows rank among some of the healthiest foods you can consume. They’re far superior in terms of health benefits compared to CAFO-produced, pasteurized milk products, and if statistics are any indication, safer, too. While many believe that milk must be pasteurized before it can be safely consumed, it’s worth remembering that raw milk was consumed for thousands of years before the invention of pasteurization. It’s also important to realize that pasteurization is only really required for certain kinds of milk, specifically that from cows raised in crowded and unsanitary conditions, which is what you find in CAFOs. Your dairy products should ideally be pasture-raised, NOT pasteurized. Organically raised cows that are allowed to roam free on pasture where they can graze for their natural food source produce very different milk. Their living conditions promote and maintain their health and optimize their milk in terms of the nutrients and beneficial bacteria it contains. Getting your raw grass-fed milk and other food from a local organic farm or co-op is one of the best ways to ensure you’re getting high-quality food. Read the full article at Mercola.com. References

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Paul Ryan Under Fire as Health Care Is Delayed Again

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s ( ) leadership was called into question by new voices Thursday night as hopes expire of passing a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare before President Donald Trump’s first 100 days end on Saturday. [At a meeting on the Hill late Thursday night, the speaker and his House Republican leadership team decided to further delay the vote. With what appeared to be the acquiescence of conservatives in the Freedom Caucus and like Club for Growth and FreedomWorks, who took much of the blame for the failure of the first attempt to pass the American Health Care Act (AHCA) in March, hopes were buoyed that passage was imminent. Instead, according to Politico, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy ( ) told reporters as he left the meeting, “We are not voting on health care tomorrow. We’re still educating members. ” Syndicated radio host Laura Ingraham joined Fox News’s Hannity to vent her frustration with House Republicans. “This is another loss for Paul Ryan,” she told host Sean Hannity: Paul Ryan was given this assignment to quarterback this legislation through the House. It wasn’t easy. It was going to be difficult. You have a lot of different factions, different people, different values, different personalities, but this is something you had to do. If you can’t get health care done, and done right, eight years after saying you were gonna do it … I don’t even know what to say about that. What does that say about your ability to lead at a critical time for our economy? Ingraham then hinted she may be at the end of her patience with Speaker Ryan’s leadership. “I’m not gonna sugarcoat this. This is an embarrassment that this couldn’t get done,” she fumed. “You’ve got to get better communications. You have to know your caucus. Otherwise, just give it to someone who can do it. That’s all I can say”: Hannity’s next guest, fellow Fox host Lou Dobbs, went even further in his condemnation of Ryan’s handling of healthcare legislation. “Laura, bless her heart, is trying to be nice to Paul Ryan,” he said. “I think the man is absolutely a disaster. He’s become nothing less than a caricature as House speaker. He’s inept, and the conference, if they don’t get rid of him, we’re going to watch this nonsense go on in perpetuity. ” Dobbs explained that, in his view, President Trump was doing all he could to move his political agenda along and that House GOP leadership had to be held responsible for the sluggish pace on legislative priorities. He then explicitly called for Speaker Ryan’s ouster and replacement by Rep. Mark Meadows ( ) chairman of the Freedom Caucus, or his predecessor in that position, Rep. Jim Jordan ( ): Paul Ryan is not a conservative, never has been. His leadership team is a mixed bag of conservatives [and] moderates. The Freedom Caucus are traditional conservatives and great Americans, all of them. … You and I both know Mark [Meadows] and Jim Jordan … for the great Republicans they are. I think either one of those two would make such a terrific speaker. Dobbs’s suggestion would not be the first time Paul Ryan and the Freedom Caucus found themselves in contention. Members of the Freedom Caucus themselves have called Ryan’s continuation as speaker of the House into question. The entire Freedom Caucus leadership also refused to endorse Ryan in his 2016 primary challenge from the right by businessman Paul Nehlen, although they did assent to Ryan’s speakership the previous year. Ingraham and Dobbs’s comments add to a growing chorus of voices on the right of the Republican Party calling for Ryan to relinquish the speaker’s mace in the wake of the failure to see through the key GOP platform plank of repealing and replacing Obamacare.

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WATCH CHUCK SCHUMER FAKE CRY Over Muslim Policy…Don’t Forget He Voted To Bomb Libya Killing Thousands Of Muslims [Video]

Chuck Schumer s crying over Muslim refugees.After supporting the attack on Libya that led to the deaths of thousands of Muslim refugees. pic.twitter.com/vELee6v7cp Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) January 29, 2017

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Romania's upper house approves judiciary bill critics say is too political

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian lawmakers voted on Tuesday to enact judicial changes that critics say will undermine graft investigations by weakening the president s oversight. The move brings the country, ranked as one of the bloc s most corrupt, in line with eastern European Union peers Hungary and Poland in defying EU concerns over the independence of judiciaries and the rule of law. Ruling Social Democrat senators approved the bill by 80-0 with all opposition groupings boycotting the vote. It now goes to the president, who has expresses scepticism about it. He can sign it or send it back for more discussion. The opposition, however, has already said it plans to contest the bill at the constitutional court, which could prolong its adoption by early 2018. Contested elements of the bill include weakening the president s right to vet prosecutor candidates, as well as amending the definition of prosecutors activity to exclude the word independent. The president can refuse to appoint (prosecutors) only once..., reads the bill. Prosecutors carry out their work according to the principles of legality, impartiality, hierarchical control, under the authority of justice minister. Prosecutors are independent in proposing solutions, the bill stipulates. Critics say this amounts to political control. The bill also refers to the finance ministry s obligation to recoup losses triggered by a judicial error from the judge who issued the sentence, instead of from state funds. Experts have said this would could distort court judgments. The bill is are part of a wider judiciary overhaul that has triggered street protests across the country in recent weeks. Romanian prosecutors have investigated thousands of public officials in an unprecedented crackdown on graft in recent years. The lower house and senate speakers, both leaders of the ruling coalition, are on trial in separate cases.

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White House defends deportations after Democratic complaints

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday defended its deportation policy after complaints from Democratic presidential candidates and congressional leaders that a sweep targeting Central American illegal immigrants is inhumane. Reuters reported on Thursday that U.S. immigration officials plan a month-long series of raids in May and June to deport hundreds of Central American mothers and children found to have entered the country illegally. White House spokesman Josh Earnest acknowledged that the deportation operations were consistent with President Barack Obama’s policy to focus on deporting criminals and recent immigrants who crossed the U.S. border illegally after Jan. 1, 2014. “No one is removed if they have an ongoing, pending claim or appeal for asylum or some other form of humanitarian relief,” Earnest told reporters at a briefing. “If this serves to discourage people from considering to make this journey, that would be a good thing,” Earnest said. In 2014, a wave of children fleeing violence in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala surged across the U.S. border, inflaming the debate over how to deal with the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The planned new raids are in response to a renewed surge of illegal entries by Central American women traveling with their children. In January, immigration officers rounded up 121 people, mostly women and children, in three states. That sparked criticism from Democrats running to replace Obama in the Nov. 8 presidential elections. On Thursday, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton reiterated her concerns about the new plans. “I’m against large-scale raids that tear families apart and sow fear in communities,” Clinton said. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders said he opposed “the painful and inhumane business of locking up and deporting families” trying to escape violence in other countries. In Congress, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid called on Obama to reconsider the plans and focus on addressing the instability in Central America. Democratic representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, a critic of the Obama administration’s deportation policies, complained the administration was leaking word of the deportations to scare people away from coming to the United States. “The last time they did this, people called my office about raids that were not existent because it creates panic, it creates fear, it’s terrible, it’s a terrible way to bring about policy on this issue,” Gutierrez told reporters. “Stop talking about them as illegal immigrants. They are asylum seekers,” he said.

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Will Barack Obama Delay Or Suspend The Election If Hillary Is Forced Out By The New FBI Email Investigation?

The Economic Collapse – by Michael Snyder Just when it looked like Hillary Clinton was poised to win the 2016 election , the FBI has thrown a gamechanger into the mix. On Friday, FBI Director James Comey announced that his agency has discovered new emails related to Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified information that they had not previously seen. According to the Associated Press , the newly discovered emails “did not come from her private server”, but instead were found when the FBI started going through electronic devices that belonged to top Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her husband Anthony Weiner. The FBI has been looking into messages of a sexual nature that Weiner had exchanged with a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina, and that is why they originally seized those electronic devices. According to the Washington Post , the “emails were found on a computer used jointly by both Weiner and his wife, top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, according to a person with knowledge of the inquiry”, and according to some reports there may be “potentially thousands” of emails on the computer that the FBI did not have access to previously. Even though there are less than two weeks to go until election day, this scandal has the potential to possibly force Clinton out of the race, and if that happens could Barack Obama delay or suspend the election until a replacement candidate can be found? Let’s take this one step at a time. On Friday, financial markets tanked when reports of these new Clinton emails hit the wires. The following comes from CNN … After recommending earlier this year that the Department of Justice not press charges against the former secretary of state, Comey said in a letter to eight congressional committee chairmen that investigators are examining newly discovered emails that “appear to be pertinent” to the email probe. “In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear pertinent to the investigation,” Comey wrote the chairmen. “I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.” At this point, we do not know what is contained in these emails. But without a doubt Huma Abedin is Hillary Clinton’s closest confidant, and I have always felt that she was Clinton’s Achilles heel. Journalist Carl Bernstein (of Watergate fame) is fully convinced that the FBI would have never made this move unless something significant had already been discovered … We don’t know what this means yet except that it’s a real bombshell. And it is unthinkable that the Director of the FBI would take this action lightly, that he would put this letter forth to the Congress of the United States saying there is more information out there about classified e-mails and call it to the attention of congress unless it was something requiring serious investigation. So that’s where we are… Is it a certainty that we won’t learn before the election? I’m not sure it’s a certainty we won’t learn before the election. One thing is, it’s possible that Hillary Clinton might want to on her own initiative talk to the FBI and find out what she can, and if she chooses to let the American people know what she thinks or knows is going on. People need to hear from her… If the FBI has indeed found something explosive, would they actually charge her with a crime right before the election? It is possible, but we also have to remember that government agencies (including the FBI) tend to move very, very slowly. If there are thousands of emails, it is going to take quite a while to sift through them all. And of course Barack Obama has lots of ways that he could influence, delay or even shut down the investigation. So those that are counting on this to be the miracle that Donald Trump needs should not count their chickens before they hatch. But if Hillary Clinton were to be forced out of the race by this FBI investigation, the Democrats would have to decide on a new candidate, and that would take time. The following is from a U.S. News & World Report article that examined what would happen if one of the candidates was forced out of the race for some reason… If Clinton were to fall off the ticket, Democratic National Committee members would gather to vote on a replacement. DNC members acted as superdelegates during this year’s primary and overwhelmingly backed Clinton over boat-rocking socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. DNC spokesman Mark Paustenbach says there currently are 445 committee members – a number that changes over time and is guided by the group’s bylaws, which give membership to specific officeholders and party leaders and hold 200 spots for selection by states, along with an optional 75 slots DNC members can choose to fill. But the party rules for replacing a presidential nominee merely specify that a majority of members must be present at a special meeting called by the committee chairman. The meeting would follow procedures set by the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee and proxy voting would not be allowed. It would be extremely challenging to get a majority of the members of the Democratic National Committee together on such short notice. If Clinton were to drop out next week, it would be almost impossible for this to happen before election day. In such a scenario, Barack Obama may attempt to invoke his emergency powers . Since the election would not be “fair” until the Democrats have a new candidate, he could try to delay or suspend the election. There would be a lot of controversy as to whether this is legal or not, but Barack Obama has not let the U.S. Constitution stop him in the past. Meanwhile, new poll numbers show that the Trump campaign was already gaining momentum even before this story about the new emails broke. According to a brand new ABC News/Washington Post survey, Donald Trump is now only trailing Hillary Clinton by 4 points after trailing her by as much as 12 points last weekend. And CNBC is reporting on a highly advanced artificial intelligence system that accurately predicted the outcomes of the presidential primaries and which is now indicating that Trump will be the winner in November… An artificial intelligence system that correctly predicted the last three U.S. presidential elections puts Republican nominee Donald Trump ahead of Democrat rival Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House. MogIA was developed by Sanjiv Rai, founder of Indian start-up Genic.ai. It takes in 20 million data points from public platforms including Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in the U.S. and then analyzes the information to create predictions. The AI system was created in 2004, so it has been getting smarter all the time. It had already correctly predicted the results of the Democratic and Republican Primaries. Without Hillary at the top of the ticket, the odds of a Trump victory would go way, way up. So if Hillary is forced out of the race by this investigation, Barack Obama and the Democrats will want to delay or suspend the election for as long as possible if they can. At this point there is probably not a high probability that such a scenario will play out, but in this crazy election year we have already seen that just about anything can happen.

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’Dota 2,’ ’Counter-Strike’ Repeat as the Most Played Games on Steam in 2016 - Breitbart

Unsurprisingly, Valve’s own titles still reign on their digital platform Steam, but notably none of the top five games of 2016 by average player count were released last year. [Four out of the five games sitting at the top of Steam by average player count per hour were there last year as well. Dota 2, : Global Offensive, Team Fortress 2, and Grand Theft Auto V were at #1, #2, #4, and #5 respectively in 2015. Only Fallout 4 was replaced, which fell from its #3 spot in 2015 and was replaced by Sid Meier’s Civilization V. Dota 2 636, 607 avg. players per hour (#1 in 2015) : Global Offensive 360, 600 avg. players per hour (#2 in 2015) Team Fortress 2 50, 802 avg. players per hour (#4 in 2015) Grand Theft Auto V 40, 258 avg. players per hour (#5 in 2015) Sid Meier’s Civilization V 37, 885 avg players per hour (#9 in 2015) According to GitHyp’s report, the devastating disappointment that was No Man’s Sky had the highest number of simultaneous players for new releases in 2016, reaching 212, 000 simultaneous players in an hour. It didn’t last. XCOM 2 and Dark Souls III may not have peaked anywhere near Hello Games’ disasterpiece, but they still managed robust concurrent player counts within their release windows. However, they didn’t make it into the top five for games with the highest average player count for the year. Not everyone fared so well. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare experienced a devastating 76% drop from 2015’s Black Ops III peak player count of 63, 681, managing only 15, 280 concurrent players at any point. The awkwardly hipster Watch Dogs 2 attracted no more than 39% of the players that purchased the original at launch as well. Studio’s dark horse hero shooter Paladins that was a surprising winner in 2016, averaging more than 22, 000 players per hour on Steam alone. Despite people incorrectly attempting to frame it as a clone of Blizzard’s Overwatch, it’s gained more overall traction than any other game released on Steam in 2016. Not a bad haul for the innovative independent studio behind multiplayer experiences like Global Agenda, Tribes, and SMITE. Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.

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Obama Visits Wounded Warriors After Trump Uses Soldiers As Campaign Props

On Tuesday President Obama visited wounded and ill soldiers receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.Obama spent about an hour making the rounds Tuesday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.The White House says Obama met with eight Army members, two Marines and one member each from the Navy and Air Force. He also met with veterans and family members.CBS reporter Mark Knoller pointed out the visit was President Obama s 27th to a military hospital since becoming commander-in-chief in 2009.There aren t any photos of the President inside the facility because he considers these trips private. During the presidential campaign in 2008, Republicans tried to use the lack of photos as evidence then-Senator Obama had snubbed the troops. It was a lie.Obama s reverence for the troops stands in strong contrast to the recent episode with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.While feuding with Fox News during the Republican primaries, Trump threw a temper tantrum about debate moderator Megyn Kelly and skipped a debate on Fox News. Instead, Trump threw what he claimed was a fundraiser for military charities and announced at the event that he had raised several million dollars for those groups.Trump proceeded to congratulate himself at several campaign events in the following days.But the Washington Post looked into it, and could find no evidence that Trump had made the donations, despite using them to promote himself.Trump was eventually pressured into donating to the groups, months after he claimed he had done so in the first place, and held a defensive, petty press conference claiming that nothing had gone wrong, despite the ample evidence to the contrary.While President Obama, who is tasked with the decision of whether to put the military in harm s way, quietly honors military service and sacrifice, Trump used them as human shields and as a cheap and tawdry campaign gimmick.Featured image via Flickr

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Domestic U.S. Politics of War with Russia

Eric Zuesse First, the context in which the issue of war against Russia has been raised: Syria’s government is allied with Russia’s government, and ‘The West’ is trying to overthrow Syria’s government and is bringing into Syria, and arming, tens of thousands of jihadists there, as the footsoldiers to do it. Syria and Russia are bombing the people that we are bringing in. The Presidential candidate of the U.S. Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, is a longstanding and ardent proponent of the U.S. establishing a “no-fly zone” over at least the parts of Syria where non-ISIS jihadists — the jihadists that are financed and armed by the U.S. and its allies (mainly by the Sunni fundamentalist royal families who own Saudi Arabia and Qatar) — have conquered territory from Syria’s (legitimate and internationally recognized) government. It’s conquest of Syria, that the U.S. is backing. The U.S., in both law and fact, is already participating in an invasion of Syria. Syria’s government is run by the ideologically committed anti-Sharia-law and non-sectarian Ba’ath Party, under President Bashar al-Assad, who happens to be nominally an Alawite Shiite (and fundamentalist Sunnis hate Shiites, and all of the jihadists are fundamentalist Sunnis, just as the royal Saudi and Qatari families are ), and Assad has always crushed jihadists in Syria — until Barack Obama became the U.S. President. As soon as Obama came into power, he and Hillary Clinton were working behind the scenes for the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. Clinton has committed herself clearly to completing what President Obama has started. And she intends to do it by means of instituting in Syria a no-fly zone like she did in Libya ( a big win for her ). But there is a big difference: Russian planes weren’t defending Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan government. Russian planes are defending Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian government. For the U.S. government to institute a no-fly zone in Syria would mean that the U.S. would shoot down Syrian government planes that are bombing the U.S.-backed jihadists who are fighting to overthrow and replace Assad’s government. Of course many civilians are getting bombed by both the U.S. and Syrian sides, and some of the victims of the Syrian government’s side are publicized on U.S.-allied television in order to stir hatred against Assad and help (the non-ISIS, U.S.-backed) jihadists (such as Al Qaeda in Syria), but this is the way of war — and the propaganda for war — and no “no-fly zone” will improve that situation, but could possibly make it far worse. Russia’s participation in the Syrian war is not an invasion, but America’s is. The Syrian government had requested assistance from the Russian government to help kill all of the jihadist groups (not only ISIS but Al Qaeda in Syria and all the others, all of which are backed by the U.S. and by the royals who own Saudi Arabia and Qatar). The jihadists are trying to overthrow and replace Syria’s secular government. On 30 September 2015, Russia started its bombing campaign there, which continues. Consequently, the U.S.-established no-fly zone in Syria would also be shooting down Russian bombers. At that point, where the U.S. and Russia are at war against each other in Syria due to America’s no-fly zone (in a country where we’re invaders , not invited in by the nation’s government, such as the Russian planes are), either one side or the other would surrender, or else nuclear war would result. How likely would Syria and Russia be to surrender Syria? How likely would the U.S. be to surrender to Russia and Syria? (After all: Hillary Clinton is passionately anti-Russian and anti-Syrian.) In other words, and in short: nuclear war is the likely outcome if Hillary Clinton becomes elected President of the United States . It would be practically unavoidable, if she is elected. The domestic U.S. politics that are associated with this shocking but clear fact are complex, but are likewise clear: The American public simply don’t know or understand these facts; and the reason they don’t is that these facts are hidden from them, as will be exemplified in the following ways: On October 26th, the U.S.-allied propaganda-agency Reuters headlined “Britain, U.S. sending planes, troops to deter Russia in the east” and pretended (without even acknowledging the actual facts of the matter) that this NATO action is a response to ‘deter’ Russia because Russia had accepted in 2014 the overwhelming desire of the residents of Crimea to become Russian citizens after the coup that U.S. President Barack Obama’s Administration had perpetrated in Ukraine during February 2014 , overthrowing the democratically elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, for whom 75% of Crimeans had voted . Even Western-sponsored polls that were taken of Crimeans both before and after the resulting Crimean 16 March 2014 referendum on whether Crimea should be restored to being again a province of Russia (which Crimea was until the Soviet dictator Khrushchev had arbitrarily transferred Crimea to Ukraine in 1954) showed that over 90% of Crimeans wanted to do this and that even a higher percentage of them were mad as hell against what America was doing and extremely supportive of Russia’s position on this matter, but the U.S. government’s position is that it was instead ‘conquest of land’ by Russia, and the U.S. and its allies are pouring troops and weapons onto and near Russia’s borders in order to defend against ‘ Russian aggression’ . The power of sheer propaganda! It’s crucial in politics. The way the Reuters ‘news’ report phrased this matter was “NATO’s aim is to make good on a July promise by NATO leaders to deter Russia in Europe’s ex-Soviet states, after Moscow orchestrated the annexation of the Crimea peninsula in 2014.” That’s not as much of a lie as the U.S. President’s use of the word ‘conquest’ to describe Russia’s role there is, but it’s close. Reuters’s report opened with “Britain said on Wednesday it will send fighter jets to Romania next year and the United States promised troops, tanks and artillery to Poland in NATO’s biggest military build-up on Russia’s borders since the Cold War.” But in order to play down the danger here, they refused to headline their ‘news report’ with that, it’s real, actual, news, which was: “NATO’s biggest military build-up on Russia’s borders since the Cold War.” That headline would have attracted far more readers, but in the ‘news’ business in a dictatorship , that’s not the main objective when reporting news that the government wants to bury instead of to go viral. It’s part of ‘news’-management, which includes burying what is important. Then, Reuters quoted the U.S. Secretary of ‘Defense’, who said: “It’s a major sign of the U.S. commitment to strengthening deterrence here.” After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, and in the same year terminated its Warsaw Pact military alliance that had been set up by the Soviet Union to mirror America’s NATO alliance, NATO expanded right up to Russia’s borders and is therefore highly aggressive and threatening toward the people of Russia , who don’t like missiles minutes away, any more than Americans would like if Russia took over Mexico and placed troops and missiles on our border. But, according to the U.S.-and-allied propaganda-line, this strangulation of Russia by NATO is ‘deterrence’ against Russia. Then, when Russia responds to such U.S.-aggression by positioning troops and weapons to their side of their border, that’s called ‘aggressive’. And NATO is ‘responding’ to ‘Russia’s aggressive moves’. It’s like blaming a raped woman for trying to defend against her rapist. Hillary Clinton’s actions (never her rhetoric) show that she wants more of that type of thing, especially regarding the Russian people, whom the U.S. government wants to conquer by eliminating their international allies, one by one — and then by eliminating their own leader Vladimir Putin himself, after the original ‘regime change in Iraq’ (whose Saddam Hussein was the first Russia-friendly leader to be eliminated; then Muammar Gaddafi, then Bashar al-Assad, then Viktor Yanukovych ). The pattern is clear. And now NATO is going in for the kill. But this reality is not how America’s ‘impartial’ press reports what is actually a buildup toward a possible NATO invasion of Russia. Of course, America’s Republican Party (or conservative) press have long been controlled by neoconservatives (they were all supportive of ‘regime-change in Iraq’, and the American public never punished them for that — mega-criminal deceit goes unpunished), and so they don’t even pretend to be anything more than nationalistic mouthpieces for the U.S. government’s conquests. However, the Democratic Party’s (or liberal) press do need to cater to some progressive anti-nationalistic audiences. Yet still neoconservatism dominates at such newspapers as The New York Times and the Washington Post , as well as in magazines such as The Atlantic , The New Republic , and Foreign Policy , all of which are, if anything, neoconservative Democratic Party organs. All of them endorse Hillary Clinton. But there is a small progressive wing to American ‘journalism’; and, so, here is how one of the progressive sites, Common Dreams, handles this crucial matter, which might soon end the world as we know it: they headlined on October 26th, “NATO Preps ‘Biggest Military Build-Up on Russia’s Borders Since Cold War’,” and opened (quoting from Reuters and other Western sources): Playing “a dangerous game,” NATO pushes allies to send more troops and military equipment to Eastern Europe. NATO is pushing all allies to deploy more troops and military equipment to Russia’s borders, further ratcheting up tensions as the West prepares for “its biggest military build-up on Russia’s borders since the Cold War,” as Reuters observed. “France, Denmark, Italy and other allies are expected to join the four battle groups led by the United States, Germany, Britain, and Canada to go to Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, with forces ranging from armored infantry to drones,” Reuters reported. “Yet with the U.S. openly talking [about] a war with Russia, the continued deployments seem far from a purely defensive measure,” argued Antiwar.com’s Jason Ditz [who said]: ”Diplomats also suggested it was only partly about sending a message to Russia, and that the real point of the latest push is to get a bunch of nations involved as a ‘message’ to U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has complained the U.S. is spending too much defending Europe and that Europe isn’t doing enough on its own. That underscores the cynical nature of the deployments, and indeed the sort of thing adding to the sense of NATO being obsolete, that they feel they can afford to organize major deployments just for the sake of scoring political points in member nations’ elections.” These moves are shortsighted, to say the least, wrote Gilbert Doctorow of the American Committee for East-West Accord [by saying]: “America’s steady campaign of expanding NATO, […] its vilification of Russia, and its information war based on lies” are part of “a dangerous game” that is pulling all sides inevitably closer to war, Doctorow argued. Nothing was provided there that highlighted the stark contrast between the strongly anti-invasion Republican Presidential candidate Trump, versus the strongly pro-invasion Democratic candidate Clinton. In other words, no essential context was provided — no context of a policy-decision that America’s voters will have to make, choosing the one or the other to be the next President. Instead, ‘progressive’ news-sites treat their readers and audiences as mere fools who think that voting for a third-party candidate in a U.S. Presidential contest is not a wasted vote, like refusing to vote at all is. The overwhelming majority of the 100+ reader-comments to that Common Dreams report, who expressed a Presidential choice said “Vote Green” or “Jill Stein,” referring to a third-party candidate who stands no chance of winning even one of the 50 U.S. states. In other words: the readers at this progressive site are so unconcerned about the future of the world, that they don’t even care whether the next U.S. President would be Hillary Clinton who would cause nuclear war, or Donald Tump who has consistently argued against her neoconservatism and emphasized the necessity of ending the U.S. government’s rabid hostility toward Russia and ending expansion of NATO up to Russia’s borders. In other words: despite progressive rhetoric, they’re actually oblivious to the world’s future — oblivious to the most important thing of all. And, so, that is the domestic politics of the war that the U.S. elite are determined to wage against Russia. The fix is in for nuclear war. To the owners of the media, the people who hire and fire — and promote and demote — the “news’ people, and thus who shape what the public know and understand and what the public don’t, it’s better that the outcome of the U.S. election be determined by whether or not Donald Trump is a rapist, than by whether or not Hillary Clinton will bring about nuclear war with Russia. So, it’s the way things are. In the U.S.-allied nations such as Britain, the ‘news’ media are similar. For example, Britain’s liberal Guardian headlined on October 27th, “Nato and Russia playing dangerous game with military build-up: Russia wants to detract from problems at home and position itself as a superpower, and Nato troop movements can only help.” It said that, “amid western suspicions the Russian fleet will be used to flatten civilians in Aleppo, Nato’s apparent goal here is to deter future acts of aggression on European territory by Vladimir Putin’s revanchist Russia.” That might as well have been written by the Obama Administration, as by some ‘news’ person. ‘The West’ is clearly behind the plan. Of course, the American public haven’t yet spoken.

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LOL! “THE VIEW’S” CLASSY Co-Host JOY BEHAR Tells Van Jones: “You Don’t Deal With White Supremacists”…“When They Go Low…We Need To Go Lower”…”F**K Your Kumbaya” [VIDEO]

The View s unhinged co-host Joy Behar, who is one step away from being committed to an institution, after suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome for well over a year, made an appearance on the fellow Trump-hater, Bill Maher s comedy show. CNN political commentator Van Jones was also a guest on the Bill Maher show. Jones recently wrote a book about how if Democrats ever want to win another race, they need to find ways to reach common ground with Trump supporters.Bill Maher started out his interview with Joy Behar by complimenting her because she s one of the only Democrats to agree with him that Democrats are too nice . When he asked Behar how she felt about Michelle Obama s famous (and ridiculous) quotes at the DNC convention where she claimed that, When they (Republicans) go low, we (Democrats) go high. Behar then said, No! When they go low we should go lower. She then looked out at Van Jones and called him out, Van, listen, you re the first perpetrator of this. He wants the kumbaya. F**k the kumbaya! These people on this side are crazy. Dont you understand? They re crazy! And then, quite hilariously, Behar told Jones You don t deal with white supremacists! And Behard does?Watch:When Joy Behar told Jones to F**k your kumbaya , she was referring the CNN political commentator Van Jones recent appearance on ABC s The View to discuss his new book. Joy Behar was barely able to contain herself when Jones talked about how leftist Democrats need to work to find common ground. Jones criticized fellow liberals for being mad at every single person who voted for President Donald Trump.Watch:

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Watch President Obama Full Speech on Donald Trump Win

Watch President Obama Full Speech on Donald Trump Win Video Obama has extended an invitation to president-elect Donald Trump to meet with him at the White House on Thursday. Speech begins at 2 minutes in

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A semi-radical plan to elect more moderates to Congress

With ideological extremism on the rise in Congress, President Barack Obama argued during his State of the Union that America must reform its elections. "If we want a better politics, it’s not enough to just change a congressman or a senator or even a president," Obama said. "We have to change the system to reflect our better selves." Obama was less clear on how, exactly, America might pull this off. The president criticized gerrymandering — the process by which parties draw oddly shaped, highly partisan congressional districts — and called for campaign finance reform and repealing restrictions to voter access. These reforms, however, have gone nowhere. In the meantime, the incentives have only increased for politicians to stake out maximalist positions, with little structural reward for moderates who anger their bases. It raises the question: Does anybody out there have a better idea? Anne Kim, a policy editor at Washington Monthly and a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, has proposed a new way to help fight polarization of Congress. In an essay published in the winter 2016 issue of Democracy, Kim calls for the creation of one "at-large" congressional seat in every state, chosen by voters statewide. We currently determine our House seats by slicing up a state's map into a bunch of different smaller segments, except for states with very small populations that only get one at-large representative. Under Kim's plan, every state with more than two representatives would get an "at-large" House member — someone who would be accountable to the whole state, rather than a narrow sliver of it. Vox's Matthew Yglesias has already advanced the idea of using at-large districts to reduce polarization. These plans envision treating the representatives as one at-large group, to be doled out proportionately after a statewide vote. Kim's proposal is more modest and perhaps more practical. By only asking for states to add one at-large seat, the plan preserves the benefits of the basic idea without requiring a wholesale transformation of how we conduct congressional elections. Federal and state law would have to be changed to make it possible. But doing so, Kim says, would likely create several dozen House seats that are by definition not gerrymandered — and, as a result, are more responsive to the actual demands of their constituents. "This seems like a simple and easy-to-understand mechanism to get moderate Americans a little more excited about a way for their voices to actually be heard," Kim says. Voters across a state are significantly more moderate than those in a gerrymandered district. Having a bloc of House members picked through statewide elections, Kim says, would make it at least more likely that there's an institutional incentive for politicians to move to the center. "The creation of new 'plurality-moderate' at-large seats in many states would increase the number of competitive seats while bolstering the odds for moderate candidates," Kim writes in her Democracy essay. "Challenging the status quo might be an excellent and concrete opportunity to test moderate muscle." There's also precedent for these kinds of seats. Before 1967, at-large districts existed in southern states as a way to prevent African Americans from getting elected to Congress. But that doesn't mean they couldn't be brought back now to serve a new purpose, Kim says. It would take an act of Congress — and thus a rare moment of bipartisan consensus — for the plan to be enacted. But in our interview, Kim argued that her plan could help an embattled Republican leadership that wants to regain control of a nomination process increasingly ceded to hardcore conservatives. "It's a way to defang the Tea Party. ... I'm not sure the GOP has gotten any favors by allowing that wing of the party to get as powerful as it has been," Kim says. She added: "If the GOP has learned anything about reasserting the power of the establishment, this is certainly the way to do it. Because it would give GOP moderates a voice." The idea sounds interesting, but it's unclear if at-large House members would reduce political polarization even if it were somehow implemented, according to experts interviewed for this story. "I think most political scientists would tell you that this is a nonstarter. For one thing, we already have 50 at-large districts — states — and the Senate is just as polarized as the House," said Morris Fiorina, a political science professor at Stanford University who has done extensive research on polarization. American politics is moving inexorably to the margins, and even in a statewide vote the candidate will have to win a primary, Fiorina noted. In other words, there's just not much reason to believe gerrymandering is the main culprit here. "Single-member or at-large, safe district or competitive, the candidate has to win a primary dominated by the wingnuts," Fiorina said. Matthew Dickinson, a professor of political science at Middlebury College, had a more measured response to the idea. He, too, noted that the Senate is highly polarized, and questioned the premise that gerrymandering was the key contributing factor to the rise of extremism in Congress. "It's an interesting proposition," Dickinson said of Kim's proposal, "but I suspect it will have less of an impact in reducing polarization than the author thinks." But Dickinson raised a possible counterargument to the counterargument. Yes, the Senate is very polarized. But is the Senate polarized at least in part because the House is? Dickinson pointed to an academic paper from 2011 that argued this point, noting that many of the highly partisan senators of today began as highly partisan members of the House. "The polarization in the House has directly contributed to polarization in the Senate," write Sean M. Theriault, of the University of Texas Austin, and David Rohde, of Duke University. In addition, Kim, the author of the Democracy piece, also pushed back on the idea that the Senate and the House were equally driven by party factionalism. "The Senate is polarized, but it's not nearly as polarized as the House," she said. "The most extreme member of the Senate is not as extreme as the most extreme member of the House." Kim also acknowledged that the plan would not represent a "silver bullet" for the problem. But with Democrats and Republicans in Congress moving further apart than ever before, she said, it seems worth trying.

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Colossal White House Screw Up Leads To Trump Endorsing Child Labor In New Ad (VIDEO)

If there is one thing going for the American people against Trump s assault on decency, liberties, and intelligence it s that he and his team are so incompetent that they can t even do the simplest things without humiliating themselves. An obvious example of that sheer stupidity comes at us from this pro-Trump ad, which he recently proudly posted to his Facebook page.Thanks to the crack team over at the White House, a simple spelling mistake turned Trump s coal fetish into a call to relax child labor laws. In boasting about his efforts to kill clean energy and bring back coal, he promised to put our minors back to work. The word he was looking for was miners. Apparently, nobody at Trump s White House noticed the typo. It s been six hours and nobody has bothered to fix it, either.This would be a funny gaffe if it weren t so depressingly common. Trump has issued statements misspelling the names and titles of foreign leaders. Trump has misspelled words as simple and varied as Denmark (Denmakr), honored (honered), among (amoung), and unprecedented (unpresidented).A White House statement bragging about Betsy DeVos spelled education wrong. She s the Secretary of Education.The Library of Congress gift shop had to pull a poster honoring Trump s inauguration when people noticed it, too, had an ridiculously simple typo.No joke: Purchasable copy of Trump's Inauguration Print, direct from the Library of Congress site. A 5th grader would've spotted this typo. pic.twitter.com/zomWsMojYV Jules Winnfield (@paulm4749) February 12, 2017Meanwhile, Trump s minor/miner gaffe has another unfortunate side effect for his administration reminding us that his good friend Newt Gingrich actually wants to repeal child labor laws. As writer Parker Molloy points out, Newt, a full-time moron who moonlights as a part-time shithead on evenings and weekends, once called child labor laws truly stupid and suggested poor kids be encouraged to become janitors at their schools, picking up the trash of their classmates to earn lunch money.Speaking at the John F. Kennedy school, Gingrich said that children in the poorest neighborhoods are trapped in child laws that prevent them from earning money. Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school, Gingrich said according to a CNN video.Trump hasn t gone that far. He s only hinted that he would prefer children work. During Obama s administration when he was eager to pretend the unemployment rate was sky high he would sometimes count children as part of his inflated unemployment figures.Instead of worrying about coal miners and school-aged minors, Trump, who was born rich and stayed that way, might want to invest in some additional schooling for himself. Basic grammar and spelling would be a good place to start.Featured image via Scott Olson/Getty Images

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NFL PLAYER POSTS Picture Of Cop’s Throat Being Slit On Social Media

When Black Lives Matter supporters use the same tactics as an ISIS terrorist, America has a serious problem. Black Lives Matter continues to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, they re a terrorist organization.After Beyonce s racist halftime Super Bowl 2016 show, this disgusting terrorist type post from an active NFL player shouldn t come as a surprise to anyone NFL Cleveland Browns running back posted this on Instagram this weekend:Because dead cops is cool. GPUnder the vile picture he posted in ebonics: They give polices all types of weapons and they continuously choose to kill us. Communist Disney s ESPN had Cowell s back after the outrage he received on social media:Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell apologized and said his social media reaction to last week s killing of two black men by police was very wrong. Crowell said he made an extremely poor decision when he posted a drawing that graphically showed a hooded individual putting what looks like a machete into the throat of a police officer. It was an extremely poor decision and I apologize for that mistake and for offending people, Crowell said in a statement released by the team. My values and beliefs do not match that image. The post went up after the police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and before the killing of five Dallas police officers Thursday night.Crowell wrote that he was outraged and upset by the killing of Sterling and Castile, and outraged and saddened by the killing of the five Dallas police officers. He called last week an emotional and difficult week, but said his post was wrong. We have to be better as a society, Crowell said. It s not about color, it s about what s right and wrong. I was very wrong in posting that image. Every single life matters, every death as a result of violence should be treated with equal outrage and penalty.

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Republicans offer few tax plan details at high-profile event

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Reuters) - Republican tax writers from the U.S. House of Representatives promoted their legislative goals at a special gathering in California on Wednesday, but offered few new details about provisions that may end up in their long-sought overhaul plan. As Wall Street analysts warned that President Donald Trump’s controversial statements about Virginia protests on Saturday that turned deadly were hurting Republicans’ prospects for progress on domestic policy, the lawmakers assembled in Santa Barbara to say their tax reform agenda is moving forward. Kevin Brady, chairman of the tax-writing U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, spoke in broad brushstrokes about the effort at Rancho del Cielo, the country home of former President Ronald Reagan, a Republican who oversaw the last major tax code overhaul in 1986. “If you look at today’s tax code you can’t even recognize the principles that made the Reagan reforms such a triumph for the American people,” Brady said. Asked whether the plan would have specific provisions, Brady said: “We’re working through the details of the overall tax plan with the White House, President Trump, and Senate tax writers as well.” “We have more work to do. I anticipate continuing to work through August with the White House and Senate, bring forward a tax reform plan at the Ways and Means Committee after we return,” Brady said, adding he wanted to get legislation to Trump before the end of the year. Brady was joined by Representatives Peter Roskam, David Schweikert and Carlos Curbelo, all Republican committee members. Market expectations for tax reform have declined in recent weeks, analysts said, and dimmed further after Trump’s Tuesday press conference, where he said both sides were to blame for a deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, between neo-Nazis, white supremacists and counter-protestors. Before the event, Curbelo, the son of Cuban exiles who emigrated to the United States, told reporters that Trump’s remarks marked “the lowest point yet” in his presidency. “In a way we’ve become accustomed to working in a very distracting environment. That’s not new. Now this is on a whole different scale,” he said. “While you have all of these other headlines, the public isn’t going to be paying very much attention to the legislative agenda.” Still searching for his first major legislative achievement after 208 days in office, Trump has refocused on overhauling the tax code, but he has been constantly distracted by controversies involving North Korea, race relations and investigations of possible ties between his 2016 campaign and Moscow. Trump was forced to disband two high-profile business advisory councils on Wednesday after corporate CEOs quit the committees in protest over his remarks about the violence in Charlottesville. Brady has remained bullish on the chances for a tax overhaul even after a Republican push to dismantle Obamacare collapsed in July. At Wednesday’s event he told reporters the differences between a healthcare and tax overhaul are “just about everything.” As they did with Obamacare, the party has launched a nationwide publicity campaign for tax reform without first hammering out the final details of their proposal. The 1986 tax overhaul under Reagan was the result of a multi-year, bipartisan negotiation. Republicans are seeking to do key portions of tax reform within months, without Democratic support. Republicans have not yet introduced tax legislation and party leaders have already discarded key pieces of their initial, ambitious plan. No revenue-raising provisions have been agreed upon to replace those that were discarded. Corporate lobbyists and independent experts have said Congress and Trump are far apart on critical issues, such as how to slash rates without ballooning the federal deficit. Brady downplayed those differences on Wednesday, saying they planned to unify behind “one bold plan.”

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NEW HANDGUN DESIGN Folds Up Like Smartphone…But Is This Really A Good Idea?

Tell us your thoughts about this new gun design in the comment section below. Is this compact, folding gun a great idea or will it make going through security a nightmare? While gun control remains one of the biggest debates in the country, one man wants to make concealing guns easier. He created a pistol that folds into what looks like a smartphone easy to carry and hard to detect.CNN Money spoke with the creator of the Ideal Conceal Pistol, Kirk Kjellberg of Minnesota, who said he got the inspiration for the handgun after a little kid saw his concealed pistol in a restaurant and told his mom, bringing unwanted attention to the fact that he was packing heat.The problem with his product is it may stoke fears rather than quell them.The pistol itself is a double-barreled .380-caliber derringer that only holds two bullets and can only be fired when it is folded out. It isn t available for sale yet and the patent is still pending, but it looks like Ideal Conceal has the intention of producing it.Because the gun is disguised even when it isn t concealed, it may require a concealed carry permit even if you aren t hiding it depending on your state s laws. In New York, weapons that are disguised to look like something other than a firearm are illegal.While this may seem like a great idea for gun owners who don t want to alarm people with the presence of their firearm, what about the people who have bad intentions? The Ideal Conceal Pistol can easily be brought anywhere, making it past metal detectors and security pat downs under the guise of being a phone. If anything, the existence of this weapon could make security even more of a pain to get through imagine if everybody s smartphones had to be inspected on top of everything else. Via: Mashable

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14 Days to Do 14 Things, If Hillary’s Indicted-Extreme Violence Expected

14 Days to Do 14 Things, If Hillary’s Indicted-Extreme Violence Expected UPDATE: HILLARY CLINTON IS AGAIN UNDER INVESTIGATION BY THE FBI. IF SHE IS INDICTED, HER PEOPLE WILL UNDOUBTEDLY LAUNCH A CYBER ATTACK ON THE ELECTIONS AND BLAME THE RUSSIANS. HILLARY HAS TIPPED HER HAND MANY TIMES. IF THIS HAPPENS, YOU MUST HASTEN YOUR PREPARATIONS. IF HILLARY SKATES, AGAIN, WE STILL ONLY HAVE A SHORT WINDOW TO ALL HELL BREAKING LOOSE. PLEASE PREPARE NOW! The Common Sense Show issued an alert yesterday with regard to the likelihood of widespread violence, regardless of who wins the election. The violence may not be dramatic on November, but I believe that a crescendo will be reached by the holidays. There are literally dozens of troop movements and a number of martial law events taking place as I write these words. The bottom line is, half of the country hates the other half of the country and pressure valve is ready to blow. And if Trump wins, the violence factor will escalate exponentially as evidenced by the firebombed GOP building in North Carolina. When these events come to fruition, it could potentially paralyze this nation and bring the economy to a standstill. Subsequently, the grocery store shelves could be empty within two days and food riots would likely commence by sundown of the second day. All Americans would instantly be in danger. Local law enforcement would be overwhelmed. What would be your chances of survival? Yesterday, I wrote about the fact that FEMA has conducted research studies on America’s level of preparedness and the news is not good. FEMA concluded that 72% of all Americans are not prepared to survive what is coming In other words, when society begins to fragment, you and your fellow preppers are outnumbered by a 3 to 1 margin. Are you prepared for 3 out of 4 of your neighbors climbing through your windows in search of life-saving supplies? The FEMA Preparedness Reports In response to concerns about strengthening the nation’s ability to protect its population and way of life (i.e., security) and ability to adapt and recover from emergencies (i.e., resilience), the President of the United States issued Presidential Policy Directive 8: National Preparedness (PPD-8). PPD-8 is a directive for the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate a comprehensive campaign to encourage Americans to practice national preparedness. Despite efforts by FEMA and other organizations to educate American citizens on becoming prepared, growth in specific preparedness behaviors has been limited. Government programs to this end are nearly nonexistent. I have spent the past week illustrating how a coming economic collapse is unavoidable and how the elite have conspired to steal as many of your assets as possible prior to the collapse. This article presents some common sense things one can do which could increase the chances of surviving a major societal meltdown resulting from an economic collapse. If you have any doubts as to what is coming, I strongly encourage you to read what I have written about on this topic over the past several months. Even Ray Charles could see that our economy will not be around much longer in its present form. It is always best to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. For the purposes of this article, it is possible that society will not totally collapse even if the dollar does. However, large segments of societies always collapse when an economic collapse happens. Surviving the worst case scenario is the purpose behind what will be covered here. We have about 14 days to do the following 14 things: 1. The Creation of a Pseudo-Identity It may be necessary to become invisible in the event you think you believe that your name could be on a (Red) list because roundups will usually occur in dire situations. Therefore, the creation of a pseudo-identity could become very important. 2. It Takes Money to Prepare If you have read the articles at the above links, you should have concluded that it is the height of stupidity to leave your life savings in an institution that is planning to steal from you. You need to divert your cash, other than the ability to pay basic bills, in preparation for what is coming. Getting your money out of the bank has become an art form and you need to be careful. There is a barrier to your ability to procure some of these life-saving and life-extending supplies. Right now, you do not have full access to your money. As you move to withdraw the bulk of your money, there are three federal banking laws that you should be cognizant of, namely, Cash Transaction Report (CTR), a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) and structuring. Cash Transaction Reports Federal law requires that the bank file a report based upon any withdrawal or deposit of $10,000 or more on any single given day.The law was designed to put a damper on money laundering, sophisticated counterfeiting and other federal crimes. To remain in compliance with the law, financial institutions must obtain personal identification, information about the transaction and the social security number of the person conducting the transaction. Before proceeding with the planned withdrawal of your money, I would strongly suggest that you read the following federal guidelines as it relates to CTR’s as produced by the The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). All the federal regulations contained in this article are elucidated in this series of federal reports. Structuring and SAR There will undoubtedly be some geniuses whose math ability will tell them that all they have to do is to withdraw $9,999.99 and the bank and its protector, the federal government will be none the wiser. It is not quite that simple. The bank is required to file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) which serves to notify the federal government of an individual’s attempt to structure deposits or withdrawals by circumventing the $10,000 reporting requirement. Structuring transactions to prevent a CTR from being reported can result in imprisonment for not more than five years and/or a fine of up to $250,000. If structuring involves more than $100,000 in a twelve month period or is performed while violating another law of the federal government, the penalty is doubled. Enforcement Much like the enforcement of our tax laws, the federal government’s enforcement of its banking laws as it relates to CTR’s, SAR’s and subsequent structuring is quite draconian. Civilian asset forfeiture laws come into play. The government can seize your bank accounts while it determines if a crime has been committed. The government can literally seize your assets in perpetuity without an order of the court. Of course, you could try and sue but you will be up against the deep pockets of the federal government and the case could take years. By the time your case is decided, the financial banking crisis that you are so desperately trying to avoid by withdrawing your money, could be over. So, proceed with caution. Withdrawing Your Money From the Bank The best way to avoid getting your money caught in the bank in the midst of a bank run would be to not let the lion’s share of your money ever cross the bank. The simplest way to accomplish this is to prevent any form of deposit from going automatically into your account, as much as it is possible. Secondly, you need to begin to pay cash for everything. Let’s say that every 30 days, Bob cashes his check at the bank from his work worth $5,000 net pay. Bob leaves just enough in the bank to be able to conduct normal banking business. Bob walks out of the bank every month with the majority of the cash from his check. Bob should begin to pay cash for as much as he can, such as eating out, paying the electric bill (pay the bill in person), buying groceries, etc. When it becomes necessary to make a “big ticket” purchase, Bob could temporarily leave more in the bank to cover the writing of a check. You would also be wise to open multiple banking accounts ranging from the big five megabanks to your local credit unions. You could withdraw much smaller amounts until the sum total of your accounts is greatly diminished and is in your possession. To open the accounts, simply write a personal check from your home bank. Of course, in these cases, the bank could hold the check for 15-30 days. I cannot promise you that if you become the target of federal investigators, that you will not have your every financial move scrutinized and the feds will eventually discover the aggregate patterns of withdrawal. People who I interviewed told me that they believe that the federal government is in the process of getting the banking computers to “talk” to each other in a way that would reveal structuring, but that technology is not yet online. If you ever become the target of a federal investigation, do not, under any circumstances, allow yourself to be interviewed by federal officials without an attorney present. In many cases, people go to jail and pay huge fines, not because they have committed a federal crime, but because federal officials state that they have lied or misled them. And if you do not have an attorney present, it is your word versus the federal government. There are other sources besides banks that you can tap into for money which can be used to prepare for what is coming. 4o1K’s, IRA, et al If you were 100% convinced of an imminent crash, you would be foolish not to take your money out. However, the prepayment penalty of 50% is steep if you withdraw your funds before you are 59.5 years old. If you are retiring soon, take the lump sum option and convert all of these retirement monies to survival supplies and gold which you will need as the world emerges from the crash. The moral of the story is to become as liquid as possible, from a cash perspective. Getting access to your money is only the first part of being prepared to survive an economic crash. 3. Make a List Buy a good prepper book. Holly Deyo is an excellent source for this information (www.standdeyo.com). In the interim, procure your food, water, guns, ammo and home security adjustments. If you do not have a big dog, consider obtaining a pair. These animals will be your companion, home security system and ally if someone attempts to breach your home with bad intent. Of course, you will have to store dog food as well. Sit down and construct a list of what you will need after reading a good prepper book. Make all of you purchases in cash! You do not want to let the wrong people know what you are up to. 4. Rural Vs. Urban We have to live our lives for today and it may not be possible to move to a rural area because of your job. However, one survivalist that I was speaking with estimates that the rate of survival for a country in economic chaos would be 10 times higher for rural residents as opposed to urban residents. Consider buying a place in an isolated area and commuting to work in the interim. 5. Pay Off Your Mortgage and Car Loans If you have a CD, a 401k or any other long-term investment, you might want to consider taking the penalty and executing a withdrawal and apply what’s left of the principal, usually about 50% of the original value, and paying down your major debts. After an economic collapse, you most likely will not have a job and your retirement and savings will likely be wiped out and confiscated. That is why it would be wise to pay down your debt while you can afford to do so because after the collapse, there will still be foreclosures and repossessions and if you and your family survive, you could be on the street if you cannot pay your bills. 6. Buy Gold and Silver While You Can Afford It Goldman Sachs has been shorting gold. The elite have been hording gold as have the BRICS. These entities are telling you, by action, what medium of exchange is going to be of value following the collapse that is coming. Storing gold and silver is an economic survival strategy which will pay dividends after the smoke begins to clear in the post-collapse era. 7. Practice Austerity Before Austerity Is Imposed On You It is critical to immediately eliminate all unnecessary expenses. Give yourself some operating capital. You may be able to purchase a bug-out residence in a rural area. You will certainly be able to afford more survival gear. In order to increase your immediate cash flow, start an at-home business. Start a business which has virtually no upfront and startup costs. Even if you are not able to generate much income, you will create a legal tax evasion strategy in which you can legally deduct many of your present activities and expenses (e.g. mileage, the purchase of any office supply, etc.) including survival gear. 8. Create and Store Your Own Food With regard to storing food, you need to do so immediately. I recommend storing two years worth of food. However, you need to master the art of growing food inside your home. There are plenty of resources which can teach you how to do that. However, you would be wise if you would create a hiding place in which you can store food and water safely in a hidden location . If you are ever robbed, you will not have exhausted your food supplies. You are most likely to be robbed by FEMA or one of their mercenary groups (e.g. Academia) during the beginning of the crisis because food and water will be used as weapons to control you. I am personally aware of FEMA going to selected homeowners to catalogue their reserve food and water supplies. Remember, water is sunlight and temperature sensitive. There are plenty of prepper manuals that you can consult for instructions on how to meet these needs. The time to do these things is yesterday. The biggest threat to survival is death due to dehydration and starving to death. Contaminated water will also pose a threat. There are plenty of places to purchase large drums and obtain water tablets for water purification purposes. Obtain a pair of water filters in case you have to go mobile to survive. Finally, learn to grow your own food within your residence. Your garden will likely be raided by humans and hungry animals alike. There are plenty of prepper manuals which can teach you how to accomplish this task. 9. Personal Supplies Of course you will need toothpaste, toiletries, eating utensils, feminine hygiene supplies, etc. For a complete list of personal items see Steve Quayles list on his website . 10. Horde Medicines and Medical Supplies If you or your family has a chronic health condition, it is critical that you have 6 months to a year in medicine. Also, you should research natural alternatives to treatment for health conditions in case you are not able to meet this goal due to the inability to obtain prescriptions. Don’t forget to obtain some pain medication and antibiotics in case of unforeseen emergencies. Make a trip to Mexico and sneak across medication in old pill bottles in order to escape detection by the Border Patrol who will ask you if you obtained medication in Mexico when you come back across the border. If you can safely ration your existing medication doses, do so and store the excesses. Make sure you also have a first aid kit. Take a First Aid class including CPR at your local fire station. Some are thinking that this is a lot of work. My response would be, how bad do you want you and your family to survive? 11. Guns and Ammunition Regardless of your moral convictions, ask yourself if you want your family to survive. Buy your guns off the books from private parties and at gun shows. “Keep guns for show and guns for go”. In other words, have a safe location that you can bury guns so that when gun confiscation begins, you will not be left totally defenseless. America needs to not only create safe and secure homes, but to create as many Warsaw ghettos as possible (look it up). We need to make ourselves a hard country to conquer and occupy. We cannot stop a treasonous leader from handing off the country to some foreign entity (e.g. the UN). However, occupation of America should be problematic for the blue-helmet wearing Russians, Chinese and other proxy forces training on our soil to occupy us. It is recommended that you have 3 types of weapons: (1) pistols for close in fighting; (2) shotguns for defense of the entrance to your home; and, (3) a rifle with a scope in order to fight back against long-range snipers that do not want to storm your home because you appear to be prepared. Immediately, obtain weapons instruction for you and your family, firearms training and then practice! Conduct mock raids on your residence so that you can see your vulnerabilities. An armed populace makes a people more feared by an abusive government. Do not forget about gas masks for each member of your family and make sure to store extras. If you have the means to obtain body armor, do so now, because Congress is preparing to outlaw the private use of body armor. 12. Prepare to Survive in the Raw Elements and Build a Way of Life It is possible that you can learn to survive in the raw elements without heating and central air conditioning. You may not have lights. Obtain flashlights, many batteries and a hand crank radio. Make sure you have clothes befitting all weather that you may encounter because a crisis that begins in January, may not be over by August. Take a weekend and pretend the grid is down. This will allow you to see firsthand what supplies you will need. When should you perform this drill? There is no time like the present. To people with generators, congratulations on your foresight. However, if you are the only house on the block with lights, how long do you think it will be until you have unwanted visitors with bad intent? Get in shape, begin to walk, jog or run. The better shape you are in, the better. Don’t forget about procuring non-electronic forms of entertainment. This should include board games and educational materials for your children. You will want to establish some normalcy for the sake of your children. You are preparing to adopt a new way of life. Make the new life worth living. I would also recommend that every personal library contain The Constitution of the United States. After the chaos subsides, we will need to rebuild. You will not want to live in a “might makes right” society. 13. For Goodness Sake, Do Not Tell Anyone If your four adjacent neighbors broach the topic of preparedness, gauge the situation and then make an informed decision. If your neighbors are on board with preparing, that will help you form a defensive perimeter and a mutual alliance pact. Otherwise, tell nobody of your preparation plans. Do not tell your friends, family members, and co-workers. Make your preparations in cash or cashier’s checks as much as possible. Limit the paper trail to you. You do not want the government to know that you are prepared because you could be the first one on your block that is visited at 3AM. You and your mate should prepare in stealth. Kids talk and so do their friends. 14. PRAY! Survival is never guaranteed, salvation is! And do not forget one of your most important resources, your Bible. In a post-collapse America, it is likely that a religion will be forced upon the survivors and that religion will not be Christianity. Conclusion In an upside-down world in which the banks legally own your money, getting your money away from these criminal banks has become an art form. I cannot promise you that you will be able to retrieve all of your assets. However, I can promise you that if you do not act, you will lose everything and you will lack needed supplies to weather what is coming. I would strongly suggest that you keep your gas tank filled and you have plenty of cash, food and ammunition on hand. It is better to be safe than sorry. Breaking News: FBI Investigation Reopens The elite may be pulling their support for Hillary. She is, again, under investigation by the FBI. IF her plug is pulled, the violence may come sooner than we anticipated- Get to work America, we do not have long.

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Vicious Trump Fans Send BLOODCURDLING Threats To California Mosques In Boldest Move Yet

Several mosques in California have received threatening letters from some of Trump s loyal subjects, which boldly proclaim that Trump is going to clean up America starting with Muslims. They want him to, in their own words, do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews [sic]. The letters were addressed to the children of Satan, and just got worse from there: Your day of reckoning has arrived, the letter states, according to CAIR-LA. There s a new sheriff in town President Donald Trump. He s going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he s going to start with you Muslims. Perhaps they think Trump will be happy to deputize them in whatever crusade he launches against Muslims, and, well, pretty much everyone who isn t obviously white.This group is signing these letters as, Americans For A Better Way, because of course that s what they think they are.This is part of the rash of hate incidents and crimes that have occurred at the hands of Trumpkins since the Nov. 8 election. In fact, the Southern Poverty Law Center says that there had been more than 700 recorded hate incidents and crimes between the election and Nov. 18. That s more than seventy such incidents per day, compared to a little more than two anti-Trump incidents per day. And it s disgusting. It s terrifying.The Counsel for American-Islamic Relations in L.A. came forward with the letters that went to two mosques there after they learned that a mosque in Northern California had likewise gotten one. Executive Director Hassam Alyoush said: [People at the mosques are] disheartened that anyone would address fellow Americans, fellow human beings, in such a hateful, dehumanizing way.You always want to trust that most people are good, that your neighbors have been good, and that has been our experience. Sadly, for a growing number of people, believing that people are generally good is going to become a relic of the past if this keeps up. While CAIR and other organizations recognize that Trump didn t create racism (and neither did Obama), he did normalize it. He made it okay. He vindicated the lunatic fringe and now they re trying to work their way into mainstream dialogue. Ayloush said the irresponsible, hateful rhetoric of the Trump campaign has fueled a level of vulgarity, vile hatred and anger among many self-proclaimed Trump supporters.' We can expect more mosques to receive letters like this (or worse), even as police in California begin investigating these incidents and stepping up protection where it s needed. Trump spends an awful lot of time railing against the media and against Democrats and his enemies, but he needs to rail against this. Otherwise he s truly the president of hate.Featured image by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

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WATCH LIBERAL CNN LAWYER Skewer “Village Idiot” Hillary Clinton: “Clear Violations Of Federal Records Act”

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Trump on Twitter (May 3): Betsy Devos, Mahmoud Abbas

The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS. The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy. @realDonaldTrump : - It was an honor to stop by a #SchoolChoice event hosted by @VP Pence and @usedgov Secretary @BetsyDeVosED at the @WhiteHouse today. [1757 EDT] - An honor to host President Mahmoud Abbas at the WH today. Hopefully something terrific could come out it between the Palestinians & Israel. [1801 EDT] - Join me along w/ @VP Pence & @BetsyDeVosED at a school choice event in the Roosevelt Room, here at the @WhiteHouse: 45.wh.gov/Laipqh [1106 EDT] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR)

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Juba Gripped by Renewed Violence as Factions Clash in South Sudan - The New York Times

JUBA, South Sudan — Armed clashes between two factions and waves of heavy gunfire spread across South Sudan’s capital on Sunday, a day after the nation’s fifth anniversary of its independence. Military helicopters swooped over the city, Juba, and armored vehicles rolled through streets, witnesses said. People took shelter in their homes and hid beneath their beds as the sounds of guns and heavier weapons rose, fell and rose again. “We are fighting at Gudele, Rock City and Jebel,” said William Gatjiath Deng, a spokesman for Vice President Riek Machar, referring to neighborhoods and suburbs of Juba. “There are a lot of bodies. I can’t even count them. ” Each side blamed the other for initiating the new outburst of violence. Michael Makuei, South Sudan’s information minister, said President Salva Kiir would soon declare a “unilateral . ” The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country wrote on Twitter that a “heavily armed exchange” had occurred near its base around 8:30 a. m. “The heavy artillery has been continuing since morning,” Shantal Persaud, a spokeswoman for the mission, said late Sunday afternoon. “The civilians have not been able to move from our accommodation” at the mission’s base near Jebel. Even as people sought refuge in their homes, witnesses reported that officers were knocking on doors in some neighborhoods, checking identity cards. The renewed violence broke a short and uneasy calm on Saturday, after fighting had erupted Friday. That violence is reported to have killed at least 150 people, with the toll expected to rise because casualties were still being counted. Factions of the South Sudanese Army loyal to Mr. Kiir and those backing Mr. Machar, who until this year led a rebellion against the government, have been fighting throughout the capital since Thursday, when the two sides confronted each other at a roadside checkpoint. Five government soldiers were killed in those exchanges. Fighting broke out again the next day as the two leaders were meeting. The United States said it had met with representatives of the South Sudanese leadership on Saturday and had received assurances that the fighting would stop. The United States helped engineer South Sudan’s independence from Sudan and still wields influence in the country. On Sunday, however, gunfire erupted again, spreading to different parts of the capital, including near the main army barracks and Juba International Airport. In New York, the United Nations Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon to address the South Sudan crisis, the council announced on Twitter. In an email, J. Peter Pham, the director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said it was unclear how much sway Mr. Kiir and Mr. Machar and other faction leaders in the “ transition government” had over their fighters. “Between the collapse of oil prices and the destruction they themselves wrought in the civil war, South Sudan is so destitute that there are no resources with which the country’s rulers might employ to bring their followers to heel,” Mr. Pham said.

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NC School District Fights to Keep Pro-Transgender Message in First-Grade Curriculum - Breitbart

Public pressure has forced officials at the school district (CMS) to withdraw a book for kids — but the officials are now mandating a book with a disguised version of the same message. [A teacher raised concerns about the book, Jacob’s New Dress, at a school board meeting. The book celebrates a young boy who wears dresses to school, and it stigmatizes boys who urge their peers to wear boys’ clothes. After lawmakers in Raleigh heard the concerns, the book was removed from the “ ” curriculum — but it was replaced with Red: A Crayon’s Story, which focuses on a red crayon that believes itself to be blue, reports WFXB. But both books are included in the campaign known as Welcoming Schools by the LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, an effort to help elementary schools become “ ” and “ . ” According to the Amazon review, the Red: A Crayon’s Story book “can be read at any levels. ” The review says: Red has a bright red label, but he is, in fact, blue. His teacher tries to help him be red (let’s draw strawberries!) his mother tries to help him be red by sending him out on a playdate with a yellow classmate (go draw a nice orange!) and the scissors try to help him be red by snipping his label so that he has room to breathe. But Red is miserable. He just can’t be red, no matter how hard he tries! Finally, a friend offers a perspective, and Red discovers what readers have known all along. He’s blue! This funny, heartwarming, colorful picture book about finding the courage to be true to your inner self can be read on multiple levels, and it offers something for everyone. Also, Amazon shows the two books are often bought by the same buyers and are matched with sales of a book about a boy who wants to be a girl named “Jazz. ” Other books, including “Toni the Tampon,” push the same transgender claim that a person’s sex is changeable, regardless of biology. “The purpose of our elementary schools is to teach writing, reading, and arithmetic, not to encourage boys to wear dresses,” Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of NC Values Coalition, said in a statement. “I read the book online,” she told the New York Times. “It’s clearly geared to young children. The book is meant as a tool of indoctrination to normalize transgender behavior. I think a lot of parents would object to that. ” Schools should be focused on helping young children to achieve the building blocks of learning, not indoctrinating them in progressive social values, she said in her statement: CMS is failing our children in the recent 2016 state academic ratings, 43 of 165 CMS schools achieved overall pass rates below 50% and a majority (59%) earned a grade of C or below when measuring student proficiency and growth. These lessons found in the book, Jacob’s New Dress and My Princess Boy and other transgender curriculum are not appropriate for any child whose parents support traditional family values. There is no question that this attempt by CMS staff to mandated training is nothing more than putting a dress on CMS’s Gender Unicorn. We encourage CMS to refocus on their mission of maximizing academic achievement instead of advancing this controversial curriculum. The “Gender Unicorn” message tells children that sexual attitudes can be chosen, diverse and fluid, despite the risk of derailing some children’s normal maturation into healthy and stable young men and young women. The CMS school board is currently preparing to add sexual orientation and “gender ” to its policy on multiculturalism, reports the Charlotte Observer, along with such things as race, religion and national origin. “The proposed new policy … calls for CMS to “intentionally incorporate diversity throughout the curriculum, instruction and professional development,” says the report. Fitzgerald continued: As Charlotte’s City Council passed an outrageous ordinance last year that made it necessary for the State to correct the mistake with HB2, schools was working on rolling out a new policy that seeks to indoctrinate students in the school district by normalizing transgender behavior. Both Charlotte’s ordinance and the CMS transgender indoctrination were advanced by the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBT activist group, in conjunction with its NC affiliates, Equality NC and Time Out Youth. They provided the curriculum, the training, and the lesson plans for mandated transgender training for our children, complete with the Gender Unicorn, all while the Bank of America funded the program and the groups that support it. Last year, the Charlotte City Council passed the ordinance that allowed anyone who simply declared they had changed their gender to use the restrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex. The ordinance was pushed forward by registered sex offender Chad and national groups during the tenure of Mayor Jennifer Roberts. Former Gov. Pat McCrory (R) however, signed the HB2 privacy and public safety bill into law to nullify the Charlotte ordinance. HB2 required people to use the bathroom that matched the official documentation of their sex. The documents could be their original birth certificate, or a modified birth certificate after surgical changes, so allowing people who want to live as members of other sex to use bathrooms reserved for the other sex. Following the passage of HB2, progressive groups pushed major universities, sports organizations, businesses, and celebrities to boycott the state. The resulting boycotts helped the state’s establishment media to portray the law as an economic hazard. In general, gay groups opposed the HB2 law because they seek to blur the social and legal recognition of the two male and female sexes. In general, transgender and gay groups opposed the HB2 law because they want to blur the social and legal recognition of the two male and female sexes. The overall goal is to get government support for the “transgender ideology,” which says that Americans should sacrifice their institutions — such as bathrooms, sports leagues, women’s shelters, and normal practices — to validate the relatively few people who want to live as members of the other sex. groups and their progressive political allies are trying to shape the early development of children, but are being rejected by the public and resisted by mainstream professional and groups. To learn more about the public’s opposition to the transgender ideology, click here.

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Memo To Congress: Bring Back Earmarks!

Written by Daniel McAdams Thursday November 17, 2016 One of the essential battles in the effort to move toward a more peaceful and prosperous United States is the effort to restore the proper balance among the three branches of our government. The rapid concentration of power in the Executive Branch has led to more wars with less Congressional oversight, trampling of our civil liberties with no resistance from our Representatives, and out of control military spending. Contrary to what many people believe, the Congressional ability to earmark spending to specific projects was an important function of the Legislative Branch. When earmarks were abolished, spending did not decrease. It was just hidden. We discuss the need for their return in today's Liberty Report: Copyright © 2016 by RonPaul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.

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Syrian government to blame for April sarin attack: U.N. report

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad is to blame for a chemical attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens of people last April, according to a report sent to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday. The Syrian Arab Republic is responsible for the release of sarin at Khan Sheikhoun on 4 April 2017, the report from the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) said. The attack prompted a U.S. missile strike against a Syrian air base which Washington said was used to launch the strike. Time and again, we see independent confirmation of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime, Nikki Haley, the United States U.N. ambassador, said in a statement. The Security Council must send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons by anyone will not be tolerated, and must fully support the work of the impartial investigators. The report also said ISIS was to blame for the use of sulfur mustard in the Syrian town of Umm Hawsh on Sept. 15 and 16, 2016. The JIM was unanimously created by the 15-member U.N. Security Council in 2015 and renewed in 2016 for another year. Its mandate is due to expire in mid-November, and Russia on Tuesday vetoed a proposal to further extend its mandate. Russian ambassador to the U.N. Vassily Nebenzia said earlier this week Russia would consider revisiting the mandate extension after Thursday s report is discussed. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China hopes that the conclusions of any investigation have a basis in conclusive proof and are professional, objective and fair. The continuing use of chemical weapons, including by non-State actors, is deeply disturbing, said the report. If such use, in spite of the prohibition by the international community, is not stopped now, a lack of consequences will surely encourage others to follow. The JIM has already found Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015. Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States. The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons during the country s more than six-year civil war.

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Elizabeth Warren HUMILIATES Trump For His Sexist Late Night Temper Tantrum

Senator Elizabeth Warren just responded to Donald Trump s 3am temper tantrum by dropping the hammer on him.Early Friday morning, the Republican nominee threw a hissy fit on Twitter about Hillary Clinton and Alicia Machado instead of simply apologizing for his sexism and moving on. The results were more insults against the two women and a claim that his tweets prove he is ready to take the 3am phone call as president.Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an angel without checking her past, which is terrible! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT! Hillary was set up by a con. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016For those few people knocking me for tweeting at three o clock in the morning, at least you know I will be there, awake, to answer the call! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016Well, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is no stranger when it comes to kicking Trump s ass on Twitter so when she fired back on Friday afternoon she went for the jugular.Is this what keeps you up at night, @realDonaldTrump? Thinking of new & interesting ways to call women fat or ugly or sluts? Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016You never tweet at 3am with ways to help students getting crushed by debt or seniors struggling on Social Security, @realDonaldTrump. Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016You never tweet at 3am with ways to create new jobs for workers or hold Wall Street accountable, @realDonaldTrump. Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016Nope, @realDonaldTrump: the only things that keep your mind racing at night are your next racist, sexist tweets & disgusting lies. Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016A thin-skinned bully who thinks humiliating women at 3am qualifies him to be President does not understand America & is not fit to lead. Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016Once again, Warren wins the Internet by a devastating knock-out.Featured Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

1real

Hillary Responds To Bernie Calling Her Unqualified, And It’s Kinda Perfect

It seems there s a bit of infighting happening between the Democratic candidates that really isn t called for. While Hillary Clinton was pressed to say if she thought Bernie Sanders is qualified to be president, she time and time again has said that it s up to the voters to decide, but has never said he s not qualified. Yet, this seemingly was taken as an attack and Bernie responded in slight, and it kind of goes against his promise to run a clean campaign.Sanders, quite literally said, I don t believe that she is qualified, in regards to Clinton. He then went on to list reasons he believes she s not qualified, all of which were just positions he just disagrees with her on, but not a means of disqualification. If anything, Clinton may be the most qualified candidate in modern history, so his remarks were clearly uncalled for.While the internet went into a tizzy slamming Sanders for saying Clinton is unqualified, everyone was waiting for what the Democratic front-runner would say in response.Speaking with reporters Thursday morning, Clinton, being no beginner in receiving uncalled for jabs, shrugged off the attack, saying: Well, it s kind of a silly thing to say. But I m going to trust the voters of New York who know me and have voted for me three times twice for Senate and once in the presidential primary. Adding: Look, I don t know why he s saying that, but I will take Bernie Sanders over Donald Trump or Ted Cruz any time, so let s keep our eye on what s really at stake in this election. Reiterating that as far as New York is concerned, that s up to the voters. The voters will decide that. Clinton could have gone negative, but she chose to take the high road and reiterate that if Bernie happens to take the nomination, he s a far better choice than anything the Republicans have to offer. Something Sanders used to say himself about Hillary.This is what every Democrat voting needs to remember, all this bickering back and forth will amount to nothing if a Republican wins in November. Both Hillary and Bernie are FAR better options, and that is clear. Please remember, no matter who, vote blue.Featured Photo by Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images

1real

It’s Become Obvious Trump Is Filming PR Video With Hurricane Shelter Visit (VIDEO)

One thing is for certain when it comes to Donald Trump s *presidency, he s failing miserably and his approval rating is reflecting exactly that. According to Gallup Daily, Trump s approval rating has plummeted to 34% with 61% of the country disapproving of the job Trump is doing.via GallupWhat better way to make himself at least look like he s doing a good job than to appear to be helping the people of Texas after Hurricane Harvey. Of course, he could just go and help, but it appears that he s brought along quite the press team and perhaps even a video production team to record his actions.Watch the video here:WATCH: President Trump loads a man s pickup truck with supplies in Houston https://t.co/GDf559LNXI NBC News (@NBCNews) September 2, 2017Don t be surprised that if in the coming days we see a PR video come out on Trump s Twitter feed that will show all the good work Trump is doing for the people of Texas. And of course, people will fall for it, as they fall for most of his schtick. However, it s clear he s trying to rebound from a dismal approval rating that continues to sink fast. Pretty sad that he s going to such great lengths to make it look like he s doing a good job. He could, you know, actually do a good job. But that s unlikely.(*pending ongoing investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election)Featured image via video screen capture

1real

Trump to nominate former Senate aide Peirce for SEC commissioner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate former Senate Republican aide Hester Maria Peirce to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the White House said on Tuesday. Peirce is a former Senate Banking Committee staff member and currently is the director of the Financial Markets Working Group at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. She was nominated to the SEC last year by President Barack Obama, but the full Senate never acted on her nomination. Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee attempted to block her nomination when she declined to fully commit to work as a commissioner on requiring corporations to publicly disclose their political donations. She ultimately won the committee’s blessing but her nomination stalled in the Senate as Republicans dragged their feet on approving names put forward by Obama, a Democrat. Peirce could face a rocky time again in the chamber. Liberal firebrand Senator Elizabeth Warren is highly critical of Peirce, who is a member of the Federalist Society, an organization of conservative and libertarian lawyers. Peirce could be instrumental in carrying out Trump’s plan to reform regulations imposed after the 2007-09 financial crisis and recession. She recently edited and contributed to a book published by the right-leaning Mercatus Center that called for totally restructuring the country’s financial regulation. Peirce would fill one of two vacancies on the five-member commission. If Trump follows tradition, he will suggest a Democrat for the other open slot at the top U.S. securities regulator. Columbia University law professor Robert Jackson is a leading contender to fill the Democratic slot, people familiar with the matter said last month.

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Constitutional Law Expert: Comey Did NOT Violate Law By Announcing Email Investigation

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid alleges that FBI Director Comey has violated the law by announcing the re-opened investigation into Clinton emails so close to the presidential election. Is he right? One of the top constitutional law experts in the United States (and a liberal), Professor Jonathan Turley, says no : [Reid’s] allegation is in my view wildly misplaced. Reid is arguing that the actions of FBI Director James B. Comey violates the Hatch Act . I cannot see a plausible, let alone compelling, basis for such a charge against Comey. In his letter to Comey, Reid raised the the Hatch Act, which prohibits partisan politicking by government employees. 5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(1) prohibits a government employee from “us[ing] his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.” Reid argued: “Your actions in recent months have demonstrated a disturbing double standard for the treatment of sensitive information, with what appears to be a clear intent to aid one political party over another. I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act, which bars FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election. Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law.” The reference to “months” is curious. Comey has kept Congress informed in compliance with oversight functions of the congressional committees but has been circumspect in the extent of such disclosures. It is troubling to see Democrats (who historically favor both transparency and checks on executive powers) argue against such disclosure and cooperation with oversight committees. More importantly, the Hatch Act is simply a dog that will not hunt. Richard W. Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and the chief ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush White House from 2005 to 2007, has filed a Hatch Act complaint against Comey with the federal Office of Special Counsel and Office of Government Ethics. He argues that “We cannot allow F.B.I. or Justice Department officials to unnecessarily publicize pending investigations concerning candidates of either party while an election is underway.” However, Comey was between the horns of a dilemma. He could be accused of acts of commission in making the disclosure or omission in withholding the disclosure in an election year. Quite frankly, I found Painter’s justification for his filing remarkably speculative. He admits that he has no evidence to suggest that Comey wants to influence the election or favors either candidate . Intent is key under the Hatch investigations. You can disagree with the timing of Comey’s disclosure, but that is not a matter for the Hatch Act or even an ethical charge in my view. Congress passed the Hatch Act in response to scandals during the 1938 congressional elections and intended the Act to bar federal employees from using “[their] official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.” Comey is not doing that in communicating with Congress on a matter of oversight. Such violations under the Hatch Act, even if proven, are not criminal matters . The Office of Special Counsel -can investigate such matters and seek discipline — a matter than can ultimately go before the Merit Systems Protection Board. CNN confirms : violators aren’t going to jail: the Hatch Act is not a criminal statute. Instead, it is an administrative constraint on government employees. The law is enforced by a special independent federal agency — the Office of Special Counsel — which is charged with investigating complaint allegations and, where found to be meritorious, either pursuing a settlement with the offending employee or prosecuting their case before the federal agency that oversees internal employment disputes — the Merit Systems Protection Board. And for presidential appointees like Comey, the Office of Special Counsel submits a report of its findings along with the employee’s response to the President , who makes a decision on whether discipline is warranted . *** The Hatch Act provision most commonly invoked in discussions of Comey’s letter is 5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(1), which prohibits a government employee from “us[ing] his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.” The key text is the emphasized phrase — which conditions a violation of the statute on whether the employee’s purpose was to interfere with or affect the result of an election. Thus, the Hatch Act does not focus on the effect of the employee’s conduct, but the intent. To that end, if Comey did not intend to interfere with or affect the upcoming election through his letter to Congress, then he did not violate the letter of the Hatch Act.

1real

Clinton leads Trump by 6 points after Democratic confab: Reuters/Ipsos poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton held a 6- percentage-point lead over Republican rival Donald Trump, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll with new wording that was released on Friday, the day after she formally accepted her party’s nomination for the Nov. 8 election. Nearly 41 percent of likely voters favor Clinton, 35 percent favor Trump, and 25 percent picked “Other,” according to the new July 25-29 online poll of 1,043 likely voters, which overlapped with the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The poll has a credibility interval of 4 percentage points. DON’T MISS: McCain slams Trump over attack on dead Muslim soldier's parents FBI employee accused of being Chinese agent to plead guilty: prosecutors Rio's Olympic air: Dirtier and deadlier than expected The presidential tracking poll reflects a slight change of wording from previous surveys, replacing the “Neither/Other” option given to respondents with just “Other.” An internal review had found the word “Neither” has, at times, siphoned support away from one or the other candidate. Former Secretary of State Clinton delivered an upbeat keynote address at the Democratic convention on Thursday night, as she became the first woman to accept the presidential nomination from a major party. In the biggest speech of her more than 25-year-old career in the public eye, Clinton, 68, cast herself as a steady leader at a “moment of reckoning” for the country, and contrasted her character with what she described as Trump’s dangerous and volatile temperament. Trump, a 70-year-old New York businessman and former reality TV show host who has never held political office, responded in a Twitter post late on Thursday that “Hillary’s vision is a borderless world where working people have no power, no jobs, no safety.” Both candidates were on the campaign trail on Friday, kicking off what is expected to be a hotly contested general election battle. A separate Reuters/Ipsos survey that provided respondents with the option to choose from Clinton, Trump, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, has Clinton and Trump tied at 37 percentage points. Of the alternative party candidates, Johnson came in third with 5 percentage points, followed by Stein at 1 percentage point, according to the July 25-29 survey of 1,426 likely voters, which has a credibility interval of 3 percentage points.

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Head of Syrian opposition's HNC resigns: statement

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The head of the Syrian opposition s High Negotiations Committee (HNC) resigned on Monday, nearly two years after he was picked to chair the Saudi-backed umbrella group that brings together the armed and political opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. Riyad Hijab, a former Syrian prime minister under Assad, did not explain his reasons for stepping down in a statement posted on social media. The HNC has been the main representative of the Syrian opposition since its formation at a meeting in Saudi Arabia in December, 2015, and has taken part in U.N.-led diplomacy aimed at ending the conflict that erupted in 2011. The war has been going Assad s way since Russia sent its air force to support him militarily in 2015. The Damascus government has been steadily regaining control of territory, thanks also to the support of Iran-backed forces such as Lebanon s Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia is due to host an expanded conference for the Syrian opposition this month, aiming to unify its position ahead of more U.N.-backed peace talks, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported last week. Previous rounds of Geneva peace talks have failed to make headway towards a resolution of the war.

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Richmond Fed President Resigns, Admitting He Violated Confidentiality - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Jeffrey M. Lacker, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond in Virginia, resigned abruptly on Tuesday, saying that he had broken the Fed’s rules in 2012 by speaking with a financial analyst about confidential deliberations. Mr. Lacker said he also failed to disclose the details of the conversation even when he was questioned directly in an internal investigation. The confession and resignation shed light on a nearly mystery. In October 2012, Medley Global Advisors, a firm that tracks policy developments for financial investors, sent a note to its clients describing previously undisclosed details of the Fed’s plans for a new phase in its campaign. The information was potentially valuable to investors, who could have made money by anticipating the market’s reaction when the Fed’s plans were publicly disclosed. The Fed conducted an inconclusive investigation into the source of the leak. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission opened an insider trading investigation and referred the matter to the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan, which then began a criminal investigation, two people briefed on the matter said. But the investigation stalled in the past couple of years, one of the people said. As the various government authorities sought to resolve the matter, negotiations heated up about six weeks ago. The statute of limitations on the case was due to expire in the fall. Mr. Lacker decided to announce his resignation after being told by the authorities that they had completed their investigation into his role, a lawyer representing him said. “Dr. Lacker has cooperated with the Department of Justice and has been informed that no charges will be brought and that the investigation as to him is complete,” said the lawyer, Richard Cullen, a partner at McGuireWoods. (Mr. Lacker has a doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin.) The Fed’s Office of the Inspector General said Tuesday that its investigation also was now complete. It is not clear whether any other investigations are in progress. The episode occurred after the Fed said in September 2012 that it would begin to accumulate mortgage bonds until job growth improved substantially, a new chapter in its campaign to stimulate economic growth in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. On Oct. 3, a day before the Fed released an account of its deliberations, Regina Schleiger, a Medley analyst, sent a note to clients saying the Fed was likely to announce in December that it would buy Treasuries too. The note also said that Fed officials were considering a statement that the central bank would not raise interest rates before the unemployment rate fell below a threshold of 6. 5 percent. The information was accurate and valuable. On the day Ms. Schleiger published her memo, the yield on the benchmark Treasury was 1. 61 percent. After the Fed’s official account was published the next day, the benchmark yield rose to 1. 74 percent on the day. Investors who saw the memo — titled “Fed: December Bound” — could have profited by anticipating that movement. Mr. Lacker said Tuesday in his statement — issued by McGuireWoods rather than the Richmond Fed — that he had not provided any confidential information about the Fed’s deliberations to Ms. Schleiger, whom he did not name. Instead, he said that Ms. Schleiger mentioned the information and that he had failed to make clear that he could not comment. The next day, after seeing Ms. Schleiger’s memo, Mr. Lacker said, “I realized that my failure to decline comment on the information could have been taken by the analyst, in the context of the conversation, as an acknowledgment or confirmation of the information. ” He added, “I deeply regret the role I may have played. ” After the leak, the C. F. T. C. pursued an investigation under its “Eddie Murphy rule. ” This rule was a nod to Mr. Murphy’s 1983 movie “Trading Places,” which humorously exposed the legality of insider trading in commodities. In 2010, the Act adopted some restrictions on federal employees intentionally providing nonpublic government information to help other people trade in certain markets. Yet the investigation stalled as the agency and Manhattan federal prosecutors were unable to serve a subpoena on Medley because it considers itself to be a news organization, the people briefed on the matter said. The Justice Department generally avoids issuing subpoenas to news organizations. Separate from the insider trading rules, the Fed had announced a new policy in 2011 restricting contact between policy makers and market intelligence firms like Medley, which traded on the perception that analysts had access to inside information. Officials were instructed to avoid conversations that might contribute to such impressions. Mr. Lacker said Tuesday that in speaking with Ms. Schleiger he may have violated this policy, too, regardless of the contents of the conversation. He acknowledged speaking with her multiple times. Mr. Lacker, 61, was the member of the Fed’s committee. He became president of the Richmond Fed in August 2004. He had previously announced that he planned to resign in October. The Richmond Fed said it would continue to search for a new president, and that its first vice president, Mark L. Mullinix, would lead the bank in the interim. Mr. Lacker was not a voting member of the Fed’s policy committee this year. The Fed has sought to limit leaks in recent years both by sharing more information with the public and by tightening its communications policies. In a statement, the Fed said, “We appreciate the diligent efforts made to bring this matter to its conclusion. ”

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Beyond Syria and Iraq: ISIS is losing ground around the world

Libyan fighters are celebrating a major victory on Tuesday: They've driven ISIS out of parts of Benghazi, eastern Libya's largest city, building on advances in and around the city on Sunday. ISIS isn't just losing in Benghazi. In its home base in Syria and Iraq, it's lost up to 30 percent of its territory from its peak in August 2014. And it's tried expanding abroad, officially declaring a wilayat — which literally means "province" and refers to ISIS's foreign franchises — in roughly a dozen countries. These ISIS franchises showed some initial successes, for example in Libya, but since mid-2015 they have been struggling. Many of ISIS's wilayat have stopped growing and begun shrinking. Some ISIS affiliates have been wiped out altogether. "The Islamic State has encountered one serious obstacle after another as it has tried to expand its presence beyond Syria and Iraq," Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and CEO of the consulting firm Valens Global, writes with threat analyst Nathaniel Barr in War on the Rocks on Tuesday. "These stumbles have gone largely unnoticed by the international media." Gartenstein-Ross and Barr examined seven ISIS expansion attempts and found that each had serious problems. In every case, the ISIS franchise they looked at has either suffered a major battlefield defeat, had members targeted and killed in significant numbers by rival jihadist groups, or was defeated outright. "Overall, [ISIS] is having significant troubles expanding. Joining ISIL can be a fatal decision," Gartenstein-Ross told me, using another name for ISIS. The first example he pointed to was a group called the Islamic Movement in Uzbekistan (IMU). IMU is a decades-old jihadist group with ties to the Taliban and al-Qaeda. In August, it formally pledged itself to ISIS, working with the already-established Afghanistan-based ISIS franchise. Over the course of the next several months, the Taliban, once IMU's ally, sought out and killed IMU fighters in a targeted campaign aimed at destroying the group. This culminated in a November purge, wherein the Taliban killed 100 IMU fighters and allegedly captured its leader, wiping out the group entirely. "What America and its agents could not do in 14 years, the Taliban did in 24 hours," one IMU supporter tweeted at the time. ISIS's troubles in Algeria are, if anything, more dramatic. The group officially recognized a wilayat there, largely made up of former al-Qaeda fighters, in 2014. In October 2014, ISIS's Algerian branch captured a French mountain climber and beheaded him on tape. The beheading attracted the attention of Algerian security forces, which shortly thereafter killed the group's leader. Later, in May 2015, Algerian forces killed five ISIS commanders and the overwhelming majority of its ground fighters in two days of fighting. Today, Gartenstein-Ross says, ISIS in Algeria is a "paper wilayat," with only six or seven fighters to its name. ISIS's Yemen wilayat is in even worse shape. You'd think Yemen would be the perfect opportunity for ISIS: It has no functional government and is in the midst of a civil war with major sectarian overtones. But the group has been riven by public infighting; Gartenstein-Ross and Barr documented roughly 100 defections in the past several months — out of a force estimated to be at most 1,000, and possibly much less. "This outfit in Yemen is not very strong," Will McCants, director of the Project on US Relations With the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution, tells me. "They're, at the moment, a pretty bit player in that conflict." Even relatively powerful ISIS franchises are having problems. The Libya branch lost its hold on the Libyan city of Derna in December, pushed out by a coalition of rival militant groups. Today, it controls only one major population center — the town of Sirte — and about 173 miles of coastal territory. "In Libya, where they're strongest, they only control a thin strip along the coast," McCants says. "It's not nothing, but it's not nearly as impressive as what they control in Syrian and Iraq." These cases, according to Gartenstein-Ross and Barr, are representative of ISIS's struggles to expand beyond Iraq and Syria. "The group has stumbled or even fallen flat in almost every country where it has tried to establish a new wilayat," Gartenstein-Ross and Barr write. "The group’s failures as it tries to expand beyond Syria and Iraq could cast doubt on its entire global caliphate project." ISIS's struggles to expand reveal some major weaknesses inherent in the group's "DNA," as Gartenstein-Ross puts it, that limit its efforts to expand. First, the group makes enemies out of other jihadist groups. Its ideological and strategic model depends on its claim to be the prophesied Islamic caliphate and its ability to prove that claim by holding territory. Other militant groups, in ISIS's mind, must submit to ISIS and hand over their territory — or be destroyed. "That's a constant — they don't play well [with others]," McCants says. This leads to conflict with other jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Taliban, which perceive ISIS as a threat and so move to crush new franchises as they're forming. This is particularly problematic for ISIS because it thrives most in civil wars with sectarian elements — places where other jihadist groups already operate. "Derna was always gonna be a tough nut to crack, because that's jihadist central in Libya," McCants says. "AQAP [al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] has long roots in Yemen, and has been more successful in exploiting the chaos." Second, ISIS's showiness — the penchant for ghoulish murders and slick social media — can attract the attention of enemies before ISIS is really ready to take them on. "That's one of the things that got them into trouble in Algeria," Gartenstein-Ross says. "The ostentatious beheading of [the French mountain climber] drew counterinsurgent resources down on them in a way that they weren't ready for." Finally, ISIS is, weirdly enough, too top-down and bureaucratic. It isn't very good at selecting leaders who work well with locals or mediating internal, local disputes in its franchises. "Despite their rebellious nature, they're a very rigid organization internally," Gartenstein-Ross explains. "In Yemen, the central leadership ended up contributing to that branch falling apart under the weight of a leader that the ISIL members don't agree with." Despite ISIS's defeats in the Libyan cities of Benghazi and Derna, the group is still deeply entrenched in Sirte — and getting a number of new recruits. Its Egypt branch has withstood repeated assaults from the Egyptian government and has managed to pull off a number of high-profile terrorist attacks. And that's to say nothing of Boko Haram, which pledged itself to ISIS last year and is now recognized as Wilayat Nigeria. "Around January 2015, when I finished the first draft of [my ISIS] book, it was laughable," McCants says of the franchises. "Then when I had to go back and revise four months later, I had to completely change the section. In that short time, they had made such a rapid advance. They've gotten stronger since then." So the point is not to dismiss the franchises entirely. Rather, it's to recognize that they are not, as is often portrayed in the media, a sign of ISIS sweeping across the globe. It's an attempt by a terrorist group with very serious problems to try to create some breathing room outside of its troubled core holdings. ISIS thrives on a narrative of victory. Now that the group's defeats in Iraq and Syria are too numerous and prominent for anyone to reasonably deny, the group has increasingly turned to the franchises to continue selling its narrative of constant territorial growth. "They have this narrative of momentum; it's clearly very important to drawing people to the group, drawing organizations to ISIS," Gartenstein-Ross says. "This is an area of great vulnerability if [the truth] were widely known." ISIS's affiliates help "maintain the fiction that this is an empire on the march," McCants says. No matter how you judge the success of the franchises — and here, McCants is less optimistic than Gartenstein-Ross — both agree that any victories abroad don't come close to outweighing the losses the group has taken in Iraq and Syria.

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BRILLIANT MOVE: MIKE ROWE Calls Out LIBERAL Celebs When Asked Why He Doesn’t Use Fame For ‘Get Out The Vote’

Mike Rowe of Discovery Channel s show Dirty Jobs took to Facebook to answer a fan s request to encourage your huge following to go out and vote this election. Jeremy Schneider writes Hey Mike, I have nothing but respect for you. Your no-nonsense outlook and incredible eloquence have really had a profound impact in my life. Can you please encourage your huge following to go out and vote this election? I would never impose on you by asking you to advocate one politician over another, but I do feel this election could really use your help. I know that there are many people out there who feel like there is nothing they can do. Please try to use your gifts to make them see that they can do something that their vote counts. Hi Jeremy Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it. I also share your concern for our country, and agree wholeheartedly that every vote counts. However, I m afraid I can t encourage millions of people whom I ve never met to just run out and cast a ballot, simply because they have the right to vote. That would be like encouraging everyone to buy an AR-15, simply because they have the right to bear arms. I would need to know a few things about them before offering that kind of encouragement. For instance, do they know how to care for a weapon? Can they afford the cost of the weapon? Do they have a history of violence? Are they mentally stable? In short, are they responsible citizens? I would need to know a few things about them before offering that kind of encouragement, he told the reader. For instance, do they know how to care for a weapon? Can they afford the cost of the weapon? Do they have a history of violence? Are they mentally stable? In short, are they responsible citizens? And responsibility is what it all comes down to. Casting a ballot is not so different. It s an important right that we all share, and one that impacts our society in dramatic fashion. But it s one thing to respect and acknowledge our collective rights, and quite another thing to affirmatively encourage people I ve never met to exercise them. And yet, my friends in Hollywood do that very thing, and they re at it again, he observed.He said that liberal celebrities urge their fans to get out and vote during every presidential election cycle, calling it our most important civic duty, noting that they speak as if the very act of casting a ballot is more important than the outcome of the election. Calling those pleas somewhat hysterical, Rowe said there s an ulterior motive behind them. Does anyone actually believe that Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen DeGeneres, and Ed Norton would encourage the masses to vote, if they believed the masses would elect Donald Trump? he asked.He described voting as a right, not a duty, and not a moral obligation, which carries with it a responsibility on the part of the voter. But even the irresponsible are allowed to cast a ballot. If you believe aliens from another planet walk among us, you are welcome at the polls. If you believe the world is flat, and the moon landing was completely staged, you are invited to cast a ballot. Astrologists, racists, ghost-hunters, sexists, and people who rely upon a Magic 8 Ball to determine their daily wardrobe are all allowed to participate. In fact, and to your point, they re encouraged. Rowe reasoned that encouraging everyone to vote regardless of their mental state or knowledge of issues and current events is crazy. When they tell us that everybody in the country should get out there and vote, regardless of what they think or believe, I gotta wonder what they re smoking. Read more: BPR

1real

WATCH: GERALDO RIVERA’S Trip To Puerto Rico Opened His Eyes About “WICKED” and “NEGATIVE” Treatment Of Trump By LYING Media and Democrats

Geraldo Rivera said his trip to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria confirmed how badly biased the press is against President Trump. Having seen how he was treated in Puerto Rico and then seeing the press about how he was treated in Puerto Rico it was almost an absolute 100 percent disconnect, the Fox News contributor told Fox & Friends on Saturday.Rivera visited Puerto Rico and interviewed the president and first lady as they surveyed storm relief efforts in the devastated country.He remembered crowds who were ebullient about the president s visit.The federal government s response to Hurricane Maria has been far better than it is given credit for, he continued. This president has the worst relationship not only with the press but with those on the other side of the aisle that I have seen since Richard Nixon, Rivera said.This wasn t the first time Geraldo Rivera exposed the lies and mischaracterizations of Trump and his actions. Watch Geraldo tell Fox and Friends about Trump s actual handling of the Puerto Rican crisis versus the media s false narrative: He does not get the benefit of the doubt for anything. Anything he does is construed in the most wicked, negative way possible. FOX News

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Comment on Police Officer’s Wife Caught Faking a Robbery In a Scheme To Frame Black Lives Matter by The Cat's Vagina (Nasty Woman)

Home / Blue Privilege / Police Officer’s Wife Caught Faking a Robbery In a Scheme To Frame Black Lives Matter Police Officer’s Wife Caught Faking a Robbery In a Scheme To Frame Black Lives Matter The Free Thought Project October 30, 2016 1 Comment ( RT ) A Boston police officer’s wife has been charged with faking a robbery which she attempted to frame the Black Lives Matter Movement for. Maria Daly reported a burglary at her home in Millbury on October 17 and claimed her jewelry and some money had been stolen. She told police her home had been graffitied with the letters, “BLM.” “Something wasn’t quite right,” Millbury Police Chief Donald Desorcy said . “I think that was pretty obvious and as a result of that investigation, the officers did their due diligence and followed through with the investigation that we had.” This is white supremacist Maria Daly, the wife of Boston cop Daniel Daly.She staged a fake robbery of her home, and tried to blame #BLM pic.twitter.com/vrdqg1cM6r — Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) October 29, 2016 CBS Boston reports Daly took to social media soon after the fabricated robbery, saying, “We woke up to not only our house being robbed while we were sleeping, but to see this hatred for no reason.” “If you would of [sic] asked me yesterday about this blue lives and black lives matter issue my response would of [sic] been very possitive [sic],” the now private Facebook account continues. “Today on the other hand I have so much anger and hate that I don’t like myself. This is what we have to deal with these days and it makes me sick that this is what was on the side of my house.” Despite Daly’s best efforts, the police were able to tell no robbery took place. @crystalhaynes The poor lady just needs some help.. — Mark Scanlon (@markscanlon50) October 28, 2016 “Basically we came to the conclusion that it was all fabricated,” said Desorcy. “There was no intruder, there was no burglary.” Police concluded Daly fabricated the robbery due to financial difficulty. Daly confessed and returned the items she claimed were missing, which amounted to $10,000 in jewelry. Desorcy told reporters, “We weren’t going to sweep this under the rug,” and that he felt sorry for the family. Daly’s husband Dan is not suspected of being involved in his wife’s crime. Share Google + The Cat’s Vagina (Nasty Woman) So, is she going to be brought up on the same charges that any one of us would be for staging a crime and lying to police, or will she avail herself of Blue (Dick Holster) Privilege? Social

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AFL-CIO leader resigns from Trump's council, says president 'tolerates bigotry'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Deputy Chief of Staff Thea Lee resigned on Tuesday from President Donald Trump’s manufacturing council, slamming his remarks about protests in Virginia and saying he “tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism.” The statement by the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the United States, cited Trump’s remarks at a news conference earlier Tuesday in which he said both left- and right-wing groups were to blame for violence in Virginia after a white supremacist rally on Saturday. “President Trump’s remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis. We must resign on behalf of America’s working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups,” Trumka and Lee said in a statement.

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China gets an early win off Trump, but many battles remain

BEIJING (Reuters) - Combining public bluster with behind-the-scenes diplomacy, China wrested a concession from the United States as the two presidents spoke for the first time this week, but Beijing may not be able to derive much comfort from the win on U.S. policy toward Taiwan. Several areas of disagreement between the superpowers, including currency, trade, the South China Sea and North Korea, were not mentioned in public statements on Thursday’s telephone conversation between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. In getting Trump to change course on the “one China” policy, Beijing may have overplayed its hand. Trump had upset Beijing before he took office by taking a call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, then casting doubt on the “one China” policy, under which Washington acknowledges the Chinese position that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of it. Trump changed tack and agreed to honor the “one China” policy during the call, prompting jubilation in China. Beijing had been working on diplomatic ways to engage Trump’s team and largely blaming Taiwan for stirring things up. [nL4N1FV21K] Laying the foundation for that call had been the low-key engagement of China’s former ambassador to Washington and top diplomat, the urbane and fluent English-speaking Yang Jiechi, with Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn. “China was pragmatic and patient. It made every effort to smooth out the relationship, and it paid off,” said Jia Qingguo, dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, who has advised the government on foreign policy. But China also made very clear Taiwan was not up for negotiation, unleashing state media to threaten war and punishment for U.S. firms if that bottom line was breached. China has long described self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by Beijing as its sacred territory, as the most sensitive issue in Sino-U.S. relations. Its military had become alarmed after the Trump-Tsai call and was considering strong measures to prevent the island from moving toward independence, sources with ties to senior military officers told Reuters in December. [nL4N1ES0VR] A source familiar with China’s thinking on relations with the United States, speaking to Reuters last month, said China had actually not been too bothered with Trump’s Taiwan comments before he took office as he was not president then and was only expressing his personal view. “If he continues with this once he becomes president then there’s no saying what we’ll do,” the source said. Despite the U.S. concession, military tensions remain. On Saturday, the overseas edition of the ruling Communist Party’s People’s Daily placed a picture on its front page of Chinese warships about to embark on a new round of drills in the South China Sea, right next to an upbeat commentary about the Xi-Trump call. The paper’s WeChat account took a harsher line, saying that with Trump getting back with the program on “one China”, Taiwan had better watch out. “The heart of that Madame Tsai on the other side of the Taiwan Strait must at this moment be chilled to the core,” it said. One senior Western diplomat said China had been redoubling its efforts to win over the Vatican, one of a handful of countries to retain official ties with Taiwan. Taiwan says it hopes for continued U.S. support, and one ruling Democratic Progressive Party official told Reuters that the “one China” policy had not affected previous U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, even as U.S. presidents’ commitment to the island have waxed and waned. Xi has put great personal political capital into seeking a solution over Taiwan, an issue that has festered since 1949 when defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island after losing the civil war to the Communists. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. But in its relations with Washington, the risk for Beijing remains that its diplomatic win over “one China” will be short lived, as Trump will not want to be seen as having caved in. “What he’s shown the Chinese is he’s willing to touch the ‘third rail’ of U.S.-China relations,” said Dean Cheng, China expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington. “Beijing can’t predict what he’ll do next – and he’s only been in office three weeks. What is he going to do on trade and other economic issues?” U.S. officials said the affirmation of the “one China” policy was an effort to get the relationship back on track and moving forward. [nL1N1FV1RU] But Trump’s change of tack may be seen by Beijing as a climbdown, said Tom Rafferty, the China Regional Manager for the Economist Intelligence Unit. “Mr Trump is erratic and will not appreciate the suggestion that he has been weak.”

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Tillerson stresses diplomacy on North Korea amid threats: ABC

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday acknowledged that escalating tensions with North Korea were challenging but said diplomatic efforts will continue amid harsh rhetoric and threats of military confrontation. “We are quite challenged but our diplomatic efforts continue unabated,” Tillerson said in an interview with ABC. “We have put in place the strongest economic sanctions ever to have been assembled against (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Un.” “So he is being tested with the sanctions, voices from every corner of the world.”

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Fair elections in Poland at risk from ruling party bill, opposition says

WARSAW (Reuters) - A bill sponsored by Poland s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party will undermine the fairness of elections, opposition deputies said in parliament on Thursday. The proposal would introduce live web feeds from polling stations, but also replace all current members of the State Electoral Commission, a body responsible for conducting and overseeing elections, as well as all election commissioners, giving political parties more say in naming new ones. The PiS has said its bill would make voting more transparent, but critics said the real aim is to boost the electoral prospects of the party, which has been accused by the European Commission of eroding democratic standards. This bill is a thuggish project. This is a mine placed under elections in Poland, the head of opposition PSL party, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said in parliament. The socially conservative PiS, in power since late 2015, is already at loggerheads with fellow members of the European Union over its push to bring the courts and state media under more direct government control, as well as over migration. According to the 72-page long amendment that did not undergo any public consultations, seven of the nine members of the State Electoral Commission would be chosen by parliament for 9-year terms, with PiS set to directly appoint three members and the remaining parties four. The remaining two members would be judges chosen by the head of the Constitutional Tribunal and the Supreme Administrative court. PiS deputies have already appointed the head of the Tribunal following changes in the law that opposition parties said violated the constitution, a charge PiS denies. The changes proposed in the bill will destabilize the election system and are a serious threat to the effective carrying out of the local elections in 2018, the State Election Commission said in a statement last week. Head of the Commission Wojciech Hermelinski said on Thursday the amendment would also give an advantage to political parties at the expense of independent candidates. The bill would require the newly-chosen Commission to appoint nearly 400 election commissioners within 60 days of the bill coming into force, removing the requirement for the commissioners to be independent from political parties. Lawmakers are expected to initially vote on the bill early on Friday. If finally passed by the PiS-dominated parliament, the bill would still have to be signed into law by President Andrzej Duda, who could potentially veto it.

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Trump vs. Congress: Now What? - The New York Times

On Monday, Jan. 9, less than two weeks before President Trump’s inauguration, the House speaker, Paul Ryan, hosted a dinner at his office in the Capitol with members of Trump’s inner circle. The guests included the ’s chief White House strategist, Stephen K. Bannon his and family consigliere, Jared Kushner his chief of staff, Reince Priebus his economic adviser, Gary Cohn his nominee for Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin his incoming deputy chief of staff, Rick Dearborn and his director, Marc Short. The ostensible purpose of the dinner was to discuss the details of Trump’s legislative agenda — in particular, the prospects for a sweeping measure that Republicans, and especially Ryan, have been coveting for the past decade. It was hoped that the dinner could also establish some sort of common ground between Ryan and Bannon, the two figures who would arguably wield the greatest influence over how Trump’s campaign promises became law — or didn’t. Ryan was a fixture among establishment Republicans even before joining Mitt Romney’s presidential ticket in 2012, his previous labors on the House Budget Committee cementing his reputation as the wizard of fiscal conservatism. Bannon, by contrast, was a renegade autodidact who read Plato and had seemingly materialized from nowhere to become the intellectual architect of Trump’s campaign and, later, administration. Up to this point, Ryan had epitomized to Bannon everything that was wrong with the Republican Party. Discussing the two parties’ shortcomings, Bannon later told me, “What’s that Dostoyevsky line: Happy families are all the same, but unhappy families are unhappy in their own unique ways?” (He meant Tolstoy.) “I think the Democrats are fundamentally afflicted with the inability to discuss and have an adult conversation about economics and jobs, because they’re too consumed by identity politics. And then the Republicans, it’s all this theoretical Cato Institute, Austrian economics, limited government — which just doesn’t have any depth to it. They’re not living in the real world. ” Breitbart News, the media outlet Bannon ran before becoming the chief executive of the Trump campaign in August, had described Ryan, referring to his position on immigration, as “arguably the most G. O. P. lawmaker in Congress” — an apostasy of nearly impeachable proportions from Bannon’s perspective. Worst of all, Ryan all but abandoned Trump during the 2016 campaign. After the leak in October of the damaging “Access Hollywood” tape, Ryan told fellow Republican House members on a conference call, “I am not going to defend Donald Trump — not now, not in the future. ” A Republican lawmaker on the call told Trump what Ryan had said, yet another reason for Bannon to regard himself as Ryan’s worst enemy. But as the dinner progressed, it became clear that Bannon and Ryan actually had some ideas in common. Over memorably bad chicken Parmesan, Ryan described his vision for a “ tax,” which would levy taxes on imports while offering exemptions for exports. His tax package would include “immediate expensing,” he explained, in which capital expenditures would be written off against profits in the first year rather than over time. It also would abolish the alternative minimum tax and the estate tax. These were ideas Ryan had been pushing since 2008. Now they had Bannon’s attention. Taken together with a drastic reduction in corporate taxes, Bannon believed, Ryan’s scheme would spur a renaissance of a export economy, producing labor in keeping with Trump’s populism. “I would actually say,” Bannon remembers observing admiringly, “that this tax reform comes as close to a first step of economic nationalism as there is. ” “I would call it ‘responsible nationalism,’’u2009” Ryan said, according to Bannon. Bannon laughed. “You’re going to have a lot of folks in the Senate say this is breathtakingly radical. ” He meant it as a compliment. To Bannon, the entire world order — from the two political parties to the Wall Street reliance on leveraging to multiculturalism — was undergoing an extraordinary realignment, one made manifest in the 2016 election. According to Bannon’s vision, economic nationalism would reorient priorities to the working class’s benefit. Trade deals, jobs programs, tax incentives, immigration restrictions, environmental deregulation and even foreign policy would ultimately serve to restore the primacy of those Trump called “the forgotten Americans. ” In March, when I spoke to Trump by phone, I asked him what the term “economic nationalism” meant to him. Compared with Bannon’s revolutionary fervor, his reply was surprisingly cautious. “Well, ‘nationalism’ — I define it as people who love the country and want it to do good,” he said. “I don’t see ‘nationalism’ as a bad word. I see it as a very positive word. It doesn’t mean we won’t trade with other countries. ” Trump’s tone was genial but also a touch defensive. His postelection honeymoon had been short, if it existed at all. There were the administrative intrigues and Twitter drama, along with the questions about his campaign’s contacts with Russia, which had already forced the resignation of his national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Still, Trump’s legislative liaisons and their counterparts on Capitol Hill were doggedly negotiating a rollout of the Trump Era, one that would fulfill his most significant campaign promises — those that could not be done with just a stroke of Trump’s own pen but required acts of Congress. First, Obamacare would be repealed and replaced. Next, an austere budget would be passed, with emergency funds allotted for the construction of a wall along the Southern border. Then would come a plan, presumably of the type Ryan and Bannon discussed. And finally, a bipartisan coalition would deliver a infrastructure plan to Trump’s desk. If all this came to pass by the end of 2017, it would lend some credence to Trump’s pledge that this would be “the busiest Congress we’ve had in decades. ” But by March, this timetable was looking like a formidable “if. ” Trump himself seemed prone to distraction as he spoke to me from the Oval Office. Though I was asking about his policy aims, his musings swerved off to other vexations. More than once he denounced as “fake news” reports about his administration’s supposed disharmony. He brought up his speech before the joint session of Congress in February, “which I hope you liked, but I certainly have gotten great reviews — even the people who hate me gave me the highest review. ” During the call, I could hear Priebus nearby, occasionally murmuring encouragement. Trump sounded more clipped and less jaunty on the call than he did during the discursive chats I had with him last year on the campaign trail. The business of governing had little to do with any trade he had previously practiced. In Congress, he was grappling with an arcane and famously inefficient ecosystem over which he had little if any control — and people he incessantly derided on the campaign trail as being “all talk and no action. ” I asked him if he still felt that way. “It’s like any other industry,” he replied, somewhat morosely. “I’ve met some great politicians and some, to be honest, who aren’t so hot. ” Trump wanted to make sure that he was given adequate credit for his achievements, even in his administration’s infancy. “We’ve only been here for a tiny speck of time,” he said, “and what I’ve done with regulations, moving jobs back into the country, what I’ve done with airplane pricing and buying is amazing. We’ve done a lot. I think we’ve done more than anybody for this short period of time. ” Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson would take exception to this claim. And Trump’s significant actions to date have consisted entirely of executive orders. What he has not yet demonstrated is his ability to actually shepherd a bill into law. The only major legislation that congressional committees have even seen thus far is a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, which met with a stunning rebuke from Trump’s own party, forcing Ryan to withdraw the measure on the afternoon of March 24. At this stage of his presidency, Barack Obama had already signed into law his $787 billion package and had moved on to holding White House meetings on health care. It’s conceivable that Trump could hit Day 100 with only minor symbolic legislative achievements to his name. For him to avoid this ignominy, the 45th president will have to develop a rapport with Washington’s 535 federal deal makers, including the ones who “aren’t so hot. ” Whether Trump’s agenda succeeds will also depend in no small measure on the ability of Bannon to expand his game beyond 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. At 63, and with a fortune reported to be in the tens of millions of dollars — partly through his investment in the company that owns the syndication rights to “Seinfeld” — Bannon is regarded by Trump as a peer in the way that, say, the lifelong politico Priebus is not. He is also approvingly seen as a fellow workaholic by the president (whose only known hobbies are golf and CNN). And he is a deft operator who has learned from the successes and failures of other Trump advisers. He has carefully not claimed credit that the president would wish for himself and avoids giving expansive interviews on his own controversial views that might detract from his boss’s celebrity. Like the former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, Bannon understands that power in Trump World derives mainly from close and sustained physical proximity to the boss. Unlike Lewandowski, Bannon immediately grasped the importance of maintaining close relations with Jared Kushner, who factored heavily in Lewandowski’s dismissal from the Trump campaign last summer. But like Kushner, Bannon has never worked in government or at a institute and has no meaningful experience when it comes to getting legislation passed. On the Hill, he has a few random associations — Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Representative John Culberson of Texas among them. Otherwise, he remains a looming but indistinct presence to the lawmakers who will be needed to pass most of Trump’s agenda. Bannon’s interest in this agenda predated his association with Trump. One evening in January 2013, two guests showed up for dinner at the Capitol Hill townhouse that Bannon liked to call the Breitbart Embassy. One was the man Bannon would later describe to me as his “mentor”: Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama. The other was Sessions’s top aide and protégé, a jittery named Stephen Miller. Two months earlier, Obama decisively defeated Mitt Romney in the presidential election, prompting Priebus, then the chairman of the Republican National Committee, to commission an analysis of the state of the party and its future, known colloquially in Washington as the “autopsy,” which would be delivered that spring. The only certainty was that the report would urge Republicans to court the growing Latino electorate — which had voted for Obama by a margin that November — by championing comprehensive immigration reform. The three men at the dinner table that night were among the few Republicans in town who thoroughly rejected that conclusion. Bannon wanted to talk to Sessions and Miller about a different report: an article written by Sean Trende, the senior elections analyst for the website RealClearPolitics, titled “The Case of the Missing White Voters. ” Trende observed that Obama’s victory was less a function of increased minority turnout than of the fact that 6. 6 million white voters who participated in the 2008 election stayed home in 2012. The reason for this drop, Trende argued, was that white voters who did not approve of Obama but were alienated by Romney’s perceived elitism had not voted. These votes were gettable, Bannon believed. As he would later tell me: “The working class, and in particular the lower middle class, understands something that’s so obvious — which is that they’ve basically underwritten the rise of China. Their jobs, their raises, their retirement accounts have all fueled the private equity and venture capital that built China. Because China’s really built on investments and exports, right? People are smart enough to know that they’re getting played by both political parties. The two may be different on social issues, but when it comes to fundamental economics, they’re both the same. That’s why the American working class is interested in trade. It’s linked to their lives. ” Sessions shared Bannon’s belief that the Republican Party needed to emphasize immigration reduction, border security and the preservation of jobs through trade policy rather than courting Latino voters with a bill he regarded as “amnesty. ” As Sessions would write in a memorandum to his Republican colleagues six months later, “This humble and honest populism — in contrast to the administration’s cheap demagoguery — would open the ears of millions who have turned away from our party. ” At some point during the dinner, Bannon recalls blurting out to Sessions, “We have to run you for president. ” Just two years earlier, in 2011, he made a similar pitch to Sarah Palin, after completing a documentary about her called “The Undefeated. ” Palin demurred. She was enjoying her life of celebrity and wealth, she had done little to immerse herself in policy minutiae and she was no doubt unsettled by Bannon’s warning that she stood little chance of defeating Obama. Now he delivered a similar message to Sessions. “Look, you’re not going to win,” he recalls saying. “But you can get the Republican nomination. And once you control the apparatus, you can make fundamental changes. Trade is No. 100 on the party’s list. You can make it No. 1. Immigration is No. 10. We can make it No. 2. ” Acknowledging that the drawling Alabama senator lacked Palin’s charisma, Bannon said, “You’ll be the . ” But Sessions told Bannon he did not see himself running for president. “It was pretty obvious by the end of the night,” Bannon recalled, “that another candidate would have to do it. ” Two months later, on March 15, 2013, Bannon happened to be attending the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington when Trump took the stage. Trump had been a marginal figure at most in politics up to that point, entertaining a Reform Party run in the 2000 election — when he speculated that he would probably take more votes from the Democratic candidate than the Republican one — and leading a conspiratorial crusade in 2011 to force Obama to release his birth certificate. The possibility that he might be a suitable host body for Bannon’s worldview had not occurred to Bannon before Trump spoke. But Trump’s grousing references to China’s economic superiority, to 11 million “illegals” and to the erosion of America’s manufacturing sector were right out of Bannon’s playbook. From his desk in the Russell Senate Office Building, Stephen Miller, too, watched Trump’s speech. By 2014, Miller was sending emails to friends expressing the hope that Trump would run for president. By the time Trump announced his candidacy, in June 2015, Sessions was officially uncommitted but privately of the view that Trump was best suited to tap into the movement that he, Miller and Bannon discussed over dinner more than two years earlier. Bannon’s early support for Trump was manifest in Breitbart’s breathless coverage of his candidacy. In an email he sent on Aug. 30, 2015, to his former filmmaking partner Julia Jones, Bannon explained that while Republican candidates like Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina were “all great,” Trump represented a superior choice, because he “is a nationalist who embraces Senator Sessions’s plan” on immigration. Still, recalls Sam Nunberg, Trump’s first campaign strategist, “Steve kept all of his cards. ” He added: “He was respectful to some of the other ones who were running, like Walker and Cruz and Carson. He didn’t want to be seen as . ” When Trump publicly disparaged John McCain’s credentials, Bannon — himself a Navy veteran — called Nunberg and demanded that Trump issue an apology. (Trump did not.) Bannon was well positioned as a supportive but not sycophantic observer by Aug. 13, 2016, when the Trump donor Rebekah Mercer read with alarm a New York Times account of the Trump campaign’s inability to handle its mercurial candidate. At Mercer’s behest, Bannon (whose website Mercer’s family helped underwrite) and Kellyanne Conway (who at that point was receiving money from both a Mercer family political action committee and the Trump campaign) flew out that day to East Hampton, N. Y. where Trump was attending a dinner at the home of the New York Jets’ owner, Woody Johnson. After the dinner, Bannon and Conway huddled with the candidate. Bannon remembers telling Trump, who at the time was trailing Hillary Clinton by double digits in the polls, “As long as you stick to the message” — by which he meant economic nationalism — “you have a 100 percent probability of winning. ” A week after the election, in an interview with the journalist Michael Wolff, Bannon offered a bold, sweeping sketch of what the vision might mean in policy terms: “Like [Andrew] Jackson’s populism, we’re going to build an entirely new political movement. It’s everything related to jobs. The conservatives are going to go crazy. ” Of course, some of the conservatives Bannon intended to drive crazy possessed the congressional votes Bannon and Trump would need to advance this agenda. Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a leading conservative in the House, told me in March, “I would argue that populism, as long as it’s rooted in conservative principle, is a darn good thing. ” Jordan was smiling as he said it, but the note of warning was hard to mistake. The last time the Republican Party controlled all branches of government in Washington was from 2003 to 2007. During that period, the United States military toppled Saddam Hussein, Congress delivered tax cuts for the wealthy and President George W. Bush appointed the reliably conservative jurist Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court. But in the collective view of conservatives, these years of the Bush presidency were mostly characterized by betrayal and disappointment. Goaded by Bush, congressional Republicans passed into law a new federal entitlement (prescription drugs for senior citizens, also known as Medicare Part D) ran up the deficit, promoted democratic ideals overseas in the feckless manner of Woodrow Wilson, considered a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and confirmed a Supreme Court chief justice, John G. Roberts Jr. whose swing vote would later save Obamacare from judicial evisceration. “My line when I first ran in 2008 was, ‘Republicans had the House, the Senate and the White House — and they blew it,’’u2009” Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told me. “Now we’ve got all three again, and I’m the guy who’s in Congress, not running for it. I don’t want to be in a position where we’re going to blow it one more time. ” Chaffetz and other House conservatives freely acknowledge that Trump is not cut from their cloth, but they say they could not care less as long as he gives them what they want. Selecting Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the Supreme Court seat once held by Justice Antonin Scalia was “the best thing the president did in his first 50 days,” Chaffetz told me. He and his conservative colleagues have been cheered by Trump’s recruitment of former House colleagues and conservative stalwarts like Vice President Mike Pence Tom Price, the health and human services secretary and Mick Mulvaney, the Office of Management and Budget director. When Chaffetz and I spoke in March, he had met with the president twice so far — access he considered “such a huge sea change” from the stony silence Republicans say they encountered from the Obama White House. Most important, the Trump agenda’s first three projected legislative moves — the Obamacare repeal and replacement, an austere budget and tax reform — were intended to keep conservatives happily in Trump’s camp. In turn, when the agenda moved on to less conservative items like infrastructure and trade agreements, Trump and Bannon would fully expect Republicans, including Ryan, to remember whose message resonated most with voters last year. Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, is Trump’s chief point of contact on the Hill. When McCarthy was a college student and budding entrepreneur in Bakersfield, Calif. in the late 1980s, his girlfriend at the time, now his wife, Judy, gave him an autographed copy of Trump’s “The Art of the Deal. ” “I thought it was great,” he told me. In McCarthy’s view, Trump is a master of today’s media, much as Lincoln and Kennedy were in their own times. “He’s mastered instantaneous Twitter,” he said. “It’s like owning newspapers. ” Trump has found a kindred spirit in McCarthy, a coastal extrovert of ambiguous ideological portfolio who (unlike Ryan) would far rather talk about personalities than the tax code. And as the former minority leader in the California Legislature during the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, McCarthy is experienced in the care and feeding of celebrity egos. Since Trump’s nomination, the two have spoken frequently by phone — to date, Trump has never been known to directly email or text anyone — about the cast of 535 characters with whom the president must now deal. But in the end, what Trump needs from the majority leader is not gossip but votes — 216 of them, to be exact, in the House. And McCarthy’s recent track record in obtaining majorities has not been the greatest. In his previous capacity as House whip, he was thwarted by members of his own party when it came to subjects as diverse as reauthorizing a Patriot Act they deemed too intrusive, a farm bill they considered too expensive and a bill they regarded as too lenient. His most reliable obstacles have been the three dozen or so House conservatives known as the Freedom Caucus, a group of fiscal . Early this year, McCarthy predicted to me that the new president would quickly subjugate the Freedom Caucus. “Trump is strong in their districts,” McCarthy told me. “There’s not a place for them to survive in this world. ” When we spoke on the morning of March 7, Trump assured me that he would not bully the bill’s loudest Republican critics, like the Freedom Caucus chairman, Representative Mark Meadows, on Twitter: “No, I don’t think I’ll have to,” he said. “Mark Meadows is a great guy and a friend of mine. I don’t think he’d ever disappoint me, or the party. I think he’s great. No, I would never call him out on Twitter. Some of the others, too. I don’t think we’ll need to. Now, they’re fighting for their turf, but I don’t think they’re going to be obstructionists. I spoke to Mark. He’s got some ideas. I think they’re very positive. ” But on March 21, in a meeting with the Freedom Caucus about the bill, Trump called out Meadows by name, saying, “I’m going to come after you, but I know I won’t have to, because I know you’ll vote ‘yes. ’’u2009” Meadows remained a “no” on the bill, and among conservatives, he was far from alone. One of the Freedom Caucus’s most outspoken members, Representative Raúl Labrador of Idaho, believes that the Trump White House was led astray by Ryan’s confidence that he knew what conservatives wanted when drafting the bill. “The legislation has to go through the body, not the top,” Labrador told me. “And if our leadership thinks now that we’re a unified body, that they can do things while ignoring us, that’s not going to happen. ” Labrador is an affable but decidedly stubborn Mormon and former immigration lawyer who moved as a child with his single mother from Puerto Rico to Las Vegas. He was interviewed by the for the post of interior secretary at Trump Tower last December — though Trump selected Labrador’s House colleague Ryan Zinke for the post a few days later. For now, Labrador and other Freedom Caucus members have been willing to blame House leaders like Ryan and McCarthy for drafting a health care bill that was not to conservatives’ liking. They aspire to remain philosophical whenever Trump’s daughter Ivanka persuades her father to propose initiatives like paid family leave, as he did during his speech. “I didn’t stand up when he said that,” Labrador said. “That’s the only part of the speech where I thought, That’s not even close to what my party stands for. ” To House conservatives like Labrador, the Republican Party stands for limited government. To Trump and Bannon, items like a border wall and infrastructure take priority over shrinking America’s debt. As Chaffetz admitted to me, “On the spending front, things could slip away really quickly. ” Trump’s budget blueprint is regarded by deficit hawks as fundamentally unserious, because it does not touch entitlements. Instead, it ravages perennial (and already ) conservative piñatas like foreign aid, public broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts, in addition to downsizing the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department — cuts that focus on the 27 percent of the federal budget that is not mandatory spending or devoted to defense. And for all the Republicans’ chesty rhetoric on cuts like these over the years, as a top House Republican staff member told me, “even the cabinet secretaries at the E. P. A. and Interior are saying these cuts aren’t going to happen. They’re going to protect their grant programs, their payments to states, their Superfunds. So how do you cut 31 percent of the E. P. A. out of the 5 percent that isn’t protected? And a bill that cuts all money for the N. E. A. will not pass. For Republicans in the West” — states whose vast rural areas benefit disproportionately from N. E. A. grants — “that’s a killer. The campaign commercials write themselves. ” Labrador says he would defend Trump’s cuts but doubts that many of his colleagues would. “What he’s going to learn is that members of Congress are unwilling to take the tough votes,” he told me. “When he learns that, what’s going to be the next step?” In Labrador’s view, Trump’s only sane recourse will be to accept the need for entitlement reform. “At some point, the reality of the budget is going to have to hit him,” he said. “You can have this economic nationalism — Bannon is very smart, he clearly helped him with his messaging, it was so successful — but at some point, that theory is going to hit reality. ” When I spoke with Trump, I ventured that, based on available evidence, it seemed as though conservatives probably shouldn’t hold their breath for the next four years expecting entitlement reform. Trump’s reply was immediate. “I think you’re right,” he said. In fact, Trump seemed much less animated by the subject of budget cuts than the subject of spending increases. “We’re also going to prime the pump,” he said. “You know what I mean by ‘prime the pump’? In order to get this” — the economy — “going, and going big league, and having the jobs coming in and the taxes that will be cut very substantially and the regulations that’ll be going, we’re going to have to prime the pump to some extent. In other words: Spend money to make a lot more money in the future. And that’ll happen. ” A clearer elucidation of Keynesian liberalism could not have been delivered by Obama. The one clear point of agreement between the Trump economic nationalists and the House conservatives is the one Ryan and Bannon identified over dinner in January: tax reform. But in so doing, they will be picking a fight that may prove perilous to Republicans. The proposal that Ryan floated to Bannon has never been able to get past K Street lobbyists and wealthy Republican donors like the Koch brothers. When I asked Trump if he was a fan of the tax, he replied: “I am. I’m the king of that. ” Almost no other country grafts an import tax onto a corporate tax, and it’s possible that enacting a tax might well be in violation of the World Trade Organization’s agreements. Of course, Bannon has openly advocated abandoning the W. T. O. anyway, because of China’s membership in it. Still, the specter of new taxes on American corporations, higher prices for consumers and a jump in the dollar’s value may compel an unusual confederacy against the plan. Labrador predicts that the tax “will have very little political legs” in the conservative House, while Senator Lindsey Graham said in February that even in the Senate, Ryan’s tax plan “won’t get 10 votes. ” Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a North Dakota Democrat who has been outspoken in her willingness to work with Trump in spite of the broader stance of her party, says, “Let me tell you, I represent farmers, and anyone who tells me that farm country benefits from a high dollar needs to have a discussion with me. ” Perhaps the Republican faction most alarmed by Bannon’s economic nationalism is Washington’s military hawks. John McCain is among those not mollified by Trump’s pledge of enacting “one of the largest increases in spending in American history. ” McCain scoffed when I brought this up to him. “Of course that’s simply not true,” he said. “When you look at 1981 and Reagan’s commitment to rebuilding the military, there’s no comparison to this 3 percent increase. It’s a shell game, my friend. ” Despite his obvious differences with Trump, McCain was willing to work with him — but Bannon’s presence seemed to confound such prospects. “It’s kind of interesting,” McCain said, “because I have decades of experience with Kelly, with Mattis, with Dan Coats, McMaster,” referring to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly Defense Secretary James Mattis Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence and H. R. McMaster, the national security adviser. “We discuss issues all the time. I think this is probably the finest team that I’ve ever observed. It’s almost schizophrenic, in that I obviously don’t have conversations with Steve Bannon, but I do with Reince Priebus — he was my Republican chair in Wisconsin in my 2008 presidential campaign. So it’s almost a schizophrenic — that’s not the right word. A very divided kind of relationship. Paradoxical. ” McCain acknowledged to me that economic nationalism was a global movement and therefore not entirely “the making of some members of the Trump entourage. ” He then said: “But it is an articulation that I believe is strongly reminiscent of the 1930s. It certainly has unsettled our allies and friends around the world, there’s no doubt about that. ” Already, the senator asserted, the new administration’s bellicosity toward Mexico has increased the likelihood that its citizens will elect “a very president. ” As for an import tax of the sort favored by Bannon and Ryan, “talk about harkening back to the 1930s,” he said. “It’s unbelievable to me that they somehow think if we start taxing goods coming across the border, that that’s somehow not going to be responded to by the Mexicans. Please. History shows this sort of action gets you into a trade war. ” Listening to McCain’s tirade, I found it evident that the Bannon Effect might well cost the Trump White House at least one Republican Senate vote on a number of central issues — this at a time when Republicans are clinging to a slender majority in the upper chamber. In such cases, Trump could find himself asking for something Obama was never able to count on: votes from the opposition. Early in the afternoon of Feb. 9, several Democratic senators met with Trump in the Roosevelt Room of the White House to discuss the Gorsuch nomination and other matters. Among them were Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana. All four are moderates who are up for in 2018 in states Trump carried in 2016 by titanic margins — the least of which, in Donnelly’s state, was nearly 20 points. If Democrats are to nurture any hopes of retaking the Senate majority, they will need to hold these four seats. But if Donnelly, Heitkamp, Manchin and Tester need to be seen back home as willing to work with Trump, the president needs them as well. Republicans enjoy a precarious advantage in the Senate. On matters like the Supreme Court, Trump can count on all 52. On votes requiring a simple majority, any two of those Republicans could fall away, and Pence could preserve the win with a tiebreaking vote. But a trio of fiscal (like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Mike Lee) military hawks (John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio) or social moderates (Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Shelley Moore Capito) could deny Trump a majority, unless he could swing at least one Democrat to his side. That February afternoon in the Roosevelt Room, Donnelly thanked Trump for negotiating with Carrier, the manufacturing company based in Indiana that had threatened to move jobs to Mexico before Trump it into keeping many of them in Indiana. But Donnelly urged him not to view that episode as a “ . ” He requested the president’s support for his End Outsourcing Act, which would give preferential treatment in awarding federal contracts to businesses that kept jobs in America. The words were scarcely out of Donnelly’s mouth before Trump said, “I’m 100 percent for that, and I’ll do everything I can to help get it passed. ” He then asked Pence, who was in the room, “What do you think, Mike?” Trump was apparently unaware that Pence, as the governor of Donnelly’s state, had refused to back the senator’s initiative, claiming instead that burdensome federal regulations were to blame for outsourcing. According to Donnelly, Pence gamely replied, “If it’s like what Joe describes, I’ll do everything I can to help. ” Donnelly, a Irish Catholic with a barroom guffaw, had met Trump once before. In January 2011, he was among the Blue Dog Coalition, composed of conservative House Democrats — what remained of them, anyway, after the previous November’s disastrous midterms — who traveled to New York for their annual retreat. At a hotel conference room in Midtown Manhattan, the 20 or so Blue Dogs received a procession of guests, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former President Bill Clinton. Only one of their scheduled appointments required that they go to their guest — and so they did, by bus, to Trump Tower. Trump greeted them in his boardroom, with its commanding view of Central Park. He was charming but also brash. “Remember, at that point he wasn’t really talking about running for office,” recalls one attendee, former Representative Dan Boren of Oklahoma. “But what strikes me was how he talked about the same issues — the wall, China — that became his stump speech years later. ” It was evident to the Blue Dogs that Trump was no Clinton or Bloomberg when it came to the issues. Says former Representative Ben Chandler of Kentucky, who was also in attendance: “The difference in terms of detailed knowledge of policy was stark. Trump just made bald assertions, really. ” Particularly memorable to Chandler was Trump’s insistence “that one of the best things the country could do was slap a massive tariff on the Chinese. ” Chandler continued: “He seemed not to understand that this would probably cause the entire world economy to melt down by causing a huge trade war. What I remember more than anything else was our general reaction afterward. And it was one of disbelief. ” Today Donnelly remains offended by what he calls Trump’s “crazy stuff,” as well as the alternative to Obamacare that Trump supported. But he does not begrudge Trump his showmanship. “He came to the Carrier plant,” Donnelly said. “I’ve been working on that issue since Day 1. I was begging people in the Obama administration to come out and talk to our workers. Donald Trump came out there. And Donald Trump talked to our workers. You can tell people you care. But it matters if you show up. ” The Senate Democrat who, to outward appearances, seems closest to Trump is Joe Manchin, who met face to face with the in Trump Tower in December. Before the meeting, Bannon took the West Virginia senator aside. “The thing you need to know about Trump,” Bannon said, “is he doesn’t care about the Republican Party and he doesn’t care about the Democratic Party. He just wants to put some wins on the board for the country. ” In the meeting, Trump asked Manchin what could be done for coal miners. Manchin replied that he should support his Miners Protection Act, which would secure health benefits and pension funds for retired miners. According to Manchin, Trump replied that he would thoroughly support such a measure. Later that month, Manchin went on “Morning Joe” — the one show on MSNBC that Trump has been known to watch — to discuss, on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the Newtown school massacre, the need to expand background checks on gun purchases. Within an hour after Manchin was offscreen, his cellphone rang. It was Trump. Manchin was not completely forthcoming about the conversation, but he did tell me that he envisioned “a complete opportunity” for new legislation. Unlike with Obama, he said, “no one thinks President Trump would do anything that would take away your gun rights. ” In his conversations with Manchin and Donnelly, Trump was essentially throwing his support behind a Democratic initiative without first checking with the Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, to ask what he thought of those proposals. Had he done so, the answer in each case would have been: not much. (Though on the coal miners’ legislation, Manchin said: “We’re seeing Mitch McConnell go from a ‘No, no and hell no’ to now dropping his own bill. Which is fine, so long as we get it. ”) Still, Trump may have little choice but to indulge Democrats on some of their pet issues, given that he will need their votes on two of the most critical pieces of his agenda: infrastructure and trade deals. Until now, Trump has divulged few details about this infrastructure venture. On the campaign trail, he frequently cited America’s crumbling roads and bridges. He bemoaned the potholes defiling the runways at La Guardia Airport, where he parked his two planes. During Donnelly’s visit with Trump in the Roosevelt Room, the president “talked about the Tunnel with the tiles falling off, which he would see on his way to La Guardia,” Donnelly recalled. (The Metropolitan Transportation Authority denies that tiles are falling off the tunnel.) When I asked Trump for more specifics, he gingerly offered a few morsels: “This is something that’s going to be a real infrastructure bill, where real work is going to be done on bridges and roads and airports and things that we’re supposed to be doing. So it’s not just a political piece of paper. We’re going to do infrastructure, and it’s going to be a very big thing. ” Trump’s description struck me as uncharacteristically modest. Bannon had evoked a more gleaming vision when he told me: “Look, economic nationalism is predicated on a infrastructure for the country, right? Broadband as good as Korea. Airports as good as China. Roads as good as Germany. A rail system as good as France. If you’re going to be a power, you’ve got to have a infrastructure. ” When I asked the president if his initiative might include such features, he replied: “Yes. It could, it could. You look at Japan and China, where they have the fast trains, and we don’t have any. You look at other countries where we used to be the leader, and now we’re the laggard. It’s not going to happen anymore. ” What also may not happen is House Republicans’ supporting a bill that is at least somewhat reminiscent of the stimulus bill they unanimously opposed eight years ago. It’s also possible that even moderate Democrats in swing states may face pressure not to come to Trump’s rescue. After all, the president remains intensely unpopular among Democrats, who continue to nurture hopes that Trump is one Russia connection away from impeachment. As a senior White House official told me of Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court: “The comment we often get from Democrats is, ‘That’s a great nominee.’ Oh, so you’re voting for him? ‘I can’t.’ Why not? ‘My base would go crazy, and I’d be primaried.’ That environment has to change before we can have any of these conversations. ” On the morning of Feb. 2, two Democratic leaders on trade issues, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon and Representative Richard Neal of Massachusetts — the ranking members of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees — met with Trump, along with a few of his advisers and Republican lawmakers. Trump had already greeted the day by threatening to yank federal funding from the University of California at Berkeley after acts of violence had forced the cancellation of the Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos’s speech on campus, and by taunting Arnold Schwarzenegger’s poor ratings on “The Apprentice” during the National Prayer Breakfast. Disquiet lingered from Trump’s travel ban on refugees and his surly phone conversation with the Australian prime minister the previous week. Amid this chaos — entirely to Bannon’s liking and grating to nearly everyone else in Washington — actual legislative activity was slowly unfolding. Trump began the meeting by condemning the trade deals negotiated by his predecessors. The press pool was then ushered out before the Democrats could say anything in front of the cameras. When Neal was given a chance to speak, he informed Trump, Pence, Bannon, Kushner and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that America had in fact prospered as a result of past trade deals. Neal emphasized the crucial role that the Panama Canal played in the economic vitality of the Eastern Seaboard. Other than Ross, no one on Trump’s team seemed aware of this. “They were a bit surprised,” Neal later told me. He was also struck by the White House’s abhorrence of multilateral pacts, which seemed to him to be naïve. “The idea that you’re going to negotiate 148 bilateral agreements with W. T. O. members does not seem realistic,” Neal said. “The idea that we’re all of a sudden going to have a agreement with Great Britain, that’s going to take years to do. ” Later, Neal said, Ross privately assured him that the Trump administration “would not give up on multilateral deals. ” Neal’s lecture signified the start of what is likely to be a long and at times contentious reckoning on the part of Trump and Bannon with the limits of their nationalist rhetoric. Of all the legislative lifts, none will be heavier than renegotiating trade agreements, which require a simple majority approval by both the Senate and the House. Scrounging up 15 Democratic senators who are willing to vote along with 52 Republicans would be a formidable enough task on any issue. But just as Democrats like Neal in the Northeast would fight for a trade deal that benefits their region, so will Republican lawmakers along the Southern border rebel at an effort to repeal Nafta. As McCain told me, “If you negated Nafta, it would send my state into a severe recession. ” He assured me that Trump’s nationalist posture would not provoke only regional opposition. He conjured up another Republican era — not Reagan’s, not Bush’s, but instead that of Herbert Hoover, when two Republican lawmakers joined with a Republican president to design a protectionist initiative that ultimately caused American exports to plummet during the Great Depression. “Somewhere,” McCain said with a dark chuckle, “Mr. Smoot and Mr. Hawley are smiling. ” On Thursday, March 23, Trump hosted a morning meeting of Freedom Caucus holdouts in the Cabinet Room. Jeff Duncan, a congressman from South Carolina who was present, told me that Trump told them: “I need you guys. We need to put up a win. It’s not just about needing to repeal Obamacare — though we do. It’s also that a win here sets up a win for tax reform and gives us momentum going into infrastructure. And if the bill fails, it could derail all of that. ” With customary bravado, Trump told the conservative members that he didn’t want to squeak by with just a victory. “I want all 237 of you,” he said, according to Duncan, referring to the entire House Republican conference. That included the more moderate members, who had told Trump they felt that the White House wasn’t paying sufficient attention to their concerns. Later in the day, Trump hosted another meeting with the moderates, where Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania informed Trump that he remained a “no. ” According to an attendee, Trump angrily informed Dent that he was “destroying the Republican Party” and “was going to take down tax reform — and I’m going to blame you. ” Until that day, Duncan had been an unyielding “no” on the bill. The previous week, he delivered an impassioned speech to the vice president and other Republicans, insisting that this vote constituted “our generation’s rendezvous with destiny — a real chance to roll back the size and scope of the federal government, returning some liberty back to the people through our actions to repeal Obamacare. ” In a text to me, Duncan pointed to history: “39 men in a hot room in 1787 had the courage to break from the norm and empower a nation. ” But now the congressman was, for the first time in his life, sitting across the table from a president who was personally appealing for his support. The White House was offering concessions and agreeing to them in writing. Duncan left the meeting and spent a few hours pondering, as he would later put it, “the greater opportunity we as Republicans have. ” By that evening, Trump had won Jeff Duncan’s vote. It wasn’t enough. The next afternoon, Ryan pulled the House health care bill, conceding that neither he nor the White House could muster enough votes. “You get about nine months to do the big things,” Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, told me at the beginning of the year. Nine months seemed like a long time then, the calendar spacious and the legislative possibilities plentiful. But more than two of those months are gone already — and the path to future wins, as Trump foresaw in his meeting with the Freedom Caucus, is now more complicated. When he took office, Trump relished the prospect of becoming a new kind of deal maker in the White House. By the time I spoke with him in early March, however, he already seemed to be taking stock of the limits to his powers. He still saw himself as the closer in chief — but then that was “typical, I would think, of a president,” he mused. “Some more than others. ”

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Sean Hannity Loses His Sh*t After Getting His Ass Handed To Him By New York Times Writers

It s time for Sean Hannity to join Bill O Reilly in the unemployment line.On Saturday, the New York Times published an article reporting that Donald Trump gets policy advise from Sean Hannity among many others outside the White House. Sean Hannity tells the president that keeping promises on core Republican issues is crucial Presidents always deploy surrogates to appear on television to spout their talking points, but Mr. Trump has expanded on that by developing relationships with sympathetic media figures like Mr. Hannity who also serve as advisers. Mr. Hannity, the Fox News host, defends Mr. Trump s most controversial behavior in public, but privately, according to people close to Mr. Trump, he urges the president not to get distracted, and advises him to focus on keeping pledges like repealing the Affordable Care Act. Indeed, Hannity served as Trump s chief propagandist during the 2016 campaign and often did interviews with Hannity in order to get the kid gloves treatment.Of course, Hannity had a complete meltdown on Twitter over the article and proceeded to accuse the New York Times of colluding with Hillary Clinton and referred to them as fake news, which is something Trump would do.@nytimes You colluded with HRC in 2016. It s none of your business who i do or do not talk too. Total fake news speculation about me/@POTUS Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 22, 2017Hannity even accused the Times of spying on his private conversations.@nytimes Any conversation I have with ANYONE is supposed to be PRIVATE. I have NEVER talked to you. Was I surveilled and unmasked by u/NSA? Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 22, 2017That s when several New York Times writers jumped in to defend their publication.Maggie Haberman fired back by informing Hannity that sourced cited him as a person Trump talks to for advise and further informed Hannity that Fox News did not object to the story when the New York Times reached out to the network.W all due respect, we were interested in who POTUS talks to, not you, and several ppl close to him cited you https://t.co/sb9y4nDJYt Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 22, 2017Also reached out to Fox News pr, who took no issue w it. And it was hardly critical of you. Not sure why the reax https://t.co/sb9y4nDJYt Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 22, 2017Hannity then claimed that he doesn t talk to the New York Times and said that he doubts Trump does either.The @nytimes has no clue who I talk to as I refuse to EVER TALK TO THEM! @POTUS knows you are FAKE NEWS and I doubt he talks to u either. Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 22, 2017But he s wrong. It turns out Trump has done two in-depth interviews with the New York Times in the last month.Then Glenn Thrush chimed in.I was once sitting with a Republican elected official preparing for an interview when he got an email from u giving him political advice https://t.co/lhn4UFQn7I Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) April 22, 2017Apparently, Hannity forgot about that. He also forgot that he has, indeed, spoken with the New York Times and Nick Corasaniti was kind enough to provide a link to the interview.Here s an interview I did with Sean last year: https://t.co/uUMU1yGcoe https://t.co/QzNFgNxSMi Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) April 22, 2017Yeah, that has to be embarrassing.Anyway, the night passed and Hannity was apparently still pissed off so he imploded on Sunday morning in a series of tweets directed at the trio of writers.Maggie have you ever publicly commented on how @wikileaks revealed the @nytimes colluded with HRC? And then hired @GlennThrush also exposed https://t.co/xPLZpLLzy6 Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 23, 2017Maggie, why should people ever accept several people close to him as a source, especially when you never contacted me. Did you ask @POTUS https://t.co/xPLZpLLzy6 Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 23, 2017 Several people close to him Everyone knows people at every WH and every corp. have agendas and leak. Maybe a new standard. On the record https://t.co/xPLZpLLzy6 Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 23, 2017Not critical of me, but @nytimes has a Biased Anti Trump agenda, and by suggesting @POTUS takes advice from me, is meant to diminish him! https://t.co/vxoNrCkZuX Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 23, 2017During the campaign I can CONFIRM I and & others suggested he stop tweeting. He never did. He is his own man. In retrospect I now agree. https://t.co/vxoNrCkZuX Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 23, 2017Yes Nick, I did talk you. Frankly one of the few times the @nytimes was fair to me At some point I decided the @nytimes is Fake News-gave up https://t.co/YiD2nB3OPB Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 23, 2017Maggie that s called Humor . I don t believe the @nytimes surveilled me. But I am happy people at the @nytimes believe in the Lord! Amen! https://t.co/OcrvOXvsVz Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 23, 2017Yes KRM is brilliant and successful, but he also runs FNC (hated by @nytimes )and according to @nytimes yesterday he is old school on Issues https://t.co/nGFns5H6ai Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 23, 2017So anonymous sources should be taken with a grain of salt. People might manipulate say the @nytimes by offering such quotes? We agree!! https://t.co/hghQjfATGk Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 23, 2017The highlight of your career!! Best Sean https://t.co/jWMcY9ffEj Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 23, 2017Seriously, Fox News should ditch Sean Hannity as well. He has far too many embarrassing meltdowns in public.Featured Image: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

1real

Stephen King And Hundreds Of Other Writers Pen Open Letter Rejecting Donald Trump

The keepers of the written word in America are so abhorred by the prospect of Donald Trump becoming president that they penned a letter to the country declaring their opposition.Hundreds of writers and authors, many of whom are world renowned, wrote and signed a letter listing the many reasons why they refuse to support the presumptive Republican nominee.Among those who signed the letter include horror author Stephen King, author of The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan, and novelist Daniel Handler, better known to audiences as Lemony Snicket.The letter condemns Trump for abusing language to advocate for violence, bigotry, sexism, and division all in the pursuit of power, which the authors point out has created many a dictatorship. They also declare that wealth and celebrity do not qualify anyone to speak for all Americans, much less lead the military.And in a final flourish, the writers declare that they unequivocally oppose Trump s candidacy as a matter of conscience. Here s the full letter via Lit Hub.Because, as writers, we are particularly aware of the many ways that language can be abused in the name of power;Because we believe that any democracy worthy of the name rests on pluralism, welcomes principled disagreement, and achieves consensus through reasoned debate;Because American history, despite periods of nativism and bigotry, has from the first been a grand experiment in bringing people of different backgrounds together, not pitting them against one another;Because the history of dictatorship is the history of manipulation and division, demagoguery and lies;Because the search for justice is predicated on a respect for the truth;Because we believe that knowledge, experience, flexibility, and historical awareness are indispensable in a leader;Because neither wealth nor celebrity qualifies anyone to speak for the United States, to lead its military, to maintain its alliances, or to represent its people;Because the rise of a political candidate who deliberately appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society, who encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters, and denigrates women and minorities, demands, from each of us, an immediate and forceful response;For all these reasons, we, the undersigned, as a matter of conscience, oppose, unequivocally, the candidacy of Donald J. Trump for the Presidency of the United States.450 writers and authors signed the letter. And a petition has been included so that other Americans can their own names in opposition to Trump.You can add your name by clicking here.What began as a joke has grown to become a threat to our nation and our democratic values. Donald Trump is a disgrace who never should have been allowed to get this far. But he has by appealing to the worst that the conservative base has to offer, including racist white supremacists, misogynists, and gullible evangelicals who think Trump is the new Jesus.As the authors wrote, this is not the time to stay at home while the rest of the country votes. This is the time for an immediate and forceful response that makes it clear that any political party who puts the country in this kind of danger will be deprived of capturing political power. That means we all need to use our right to vote while we still have it and overwhelmingly reject Trump and Republicans in November.Featured Image: Getty/Isaac Brekken

1real

MUST WATCH VIDEO: HERE’S WHY “DEEP STATE” Is At War With Trump As Democrats Cheer [Video]

One of our biggest concerns is that so many Americans don t realize the magnitude of just how much our nation is in deep trouble. With the election of Trump, the shadowy foes have been coming out and showing themselves to attack Trump. Glenn Greenwald does a great job of explaining what s going on:Co-founding editor of The Intercept says opponents have used the media in open warfare against the President-elect, and the CIA wanted Hillary Clinton to win the presidency:Look no further than Buzzfeed to see what he s talking about:BUZZFEED S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Attempts Lame Explanation Of Why He Published Fake News On Trump: This was absolutely the right thing to do [Video]GREENWALD:The Deep State Goes to War with President-Elect, Using Unverified Claims, as Democrats Cheer:This is the faction that is now engaged in open warfare against the duly elected and already widely disliked president-elect, Donald Trump. They are using classic Cold War dirty tactics and the defining ingredients of what has until recently been denounced as Fake News. Their most valuable instrument is the U.S. media, much of which reflexively reveres, serves, believes, and sides with hidden intelligence officials. And Democrats, still reeling from their unexpected and traumatic election loss as well as a systemic collapse of their party, seemingly divorced further and further from reason with each passing day, are willing eager to embrace any claim, cheer any tactic, align with any villain, regardless of how unsupported, tawdry and damaging those behaviors might be READ MORE: THE INTERCEPT

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6 neo-Nazis arrested in Motorola assassination case, SBU plot exposed - Fort Russ

6 neo-Nazis arrested in Motorola assassination case, SBU plot exposed November 12, 2016 - Fort Russ News - RusVesna - translated by J. Arnoldski - The Ministry of State Security (MGB) of the Donetsk People’s Republic has announced the arrest of six neo-Nazis from Misanthropic Division, whose leaders earlier claimed responsibility for the murder of Sparta battalion commander Arsen Pavlov (Motorola). The counter-espionage department of the ministry has reported that those arrested have already given confessions and evidence of the “circumstances of the committing of such a terroristic and extremist crime.” The neo-Nazis had maintained contact with employees of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and operated on the territory of the DPR in its interests. “It has been established that all terrorist and subversive actions in the DPR and LPR are carried out by the SBU in the framework of an approved operational plan, the purpose of which is to intensify internal contradictions between the leaders of the Donbass republics, creating the preconditions and circumstances for confrontation between them,” the Ministry of State Security emphasized, adding that the detainees are being further investigated. Follow us on Facebook!

1real

EU officials reach draft deal on more North Korea sanctions: sources

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU ambassadors have reached an initial agreement to impose more economic sanctions on North Korea, going beyond the latest round of UN measures, officials and diplomats said on Thursday. Today the PSC (EU member states ambassadors) agreed on a package of new autonomous measures, an EU official said. An EU diplomat said around eight new North Korean officials were likely to be added to the EU sanctions list. The decision is likely to be adopted by EU foreign ministers at their next regular meeting on Oct. 16.

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Poll: 60 Percent of Adults ’Hopeful and Optimistic’ About America’s Future - Breitbart

Sixty percent of adults feel “hopeful and optimistic” about the future of the country, a Wall Street News poll released Sunday shows, while President Trump’s net approval rating is negative — for now. [When asked, “When you think about the future of the country, would you say that you are mainly hopeful and optimistic or mainly worried and pessimistic,” sixty percent of 1, 000 adults surveyed from Feb. 18 t0 Feb. 22 said they were hopeful, not pessimistic. That’s a steady upward drift from 53 percent in August, and 56 percent in December. Pollsters note the margin of error is plus or minus 3. 1 percentage points. Meanwhile, Trump himself fares slightly less well: 44 percent approve of the job he’s doing as president, while 48 percent disapprove. The surge in optimism is driven in part by Trump voters’ enthusiasm, according to what pollster Bill McInturff told the Washington Examiner: “This is a strong number being driven by very high numbers among Trump voters who express optimism across a number of measures on the poll, including higher economic confidence. ” But other groups are feeling hopeful, too. Over half, or 52 percent, of Hispanics are hopeful about the future of America, not worried. So are 65 percent of whites. (Among blacks, only 36 percent feel optimistic.) Nearly all Republicans, or 87 percent, are hopeful about the future, as well as 56 percent of independents. And so are 37 percent of Democrats. So, Trump has broad appeal with whites and Hispanics, along with a significant minority of Democrats — and a majority of independent voters. That’s solid enough of a coalition to sustain power and encourage a younger generation of Republican leaders, such as Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, to champion a populist, nationalist agenda. Trump’s approval ratings may be low at the moment, but his administration is still brand new and voters outside centers of concentrated, Democratic power are still cautiously warming to him. The losers of the globalization game were stigmatized as bigoted or hateful for protesting policies enabling cheap labor, low wages, mass immigration, communities, family disintegration, drug addiction, suicide. The years leading up to the election were marked by an incredible expansion of the labor pool and a $ wealth transfer to Wall Street. Every job created from 2000 to 2014 went to the large, population residing in the U. S. which stands at roughly 42. 4 million people. Coincidentally, morality rates “from drug poisoning, alcohol poisoning, and suicide increased by 52 percent between 2000 and 2014,” according to one university study. “Nearly half of all young white male deaths are caused by drugs, alcohol, or suicide,” wrote the author, compared to roughly a quarter of young Hispanic male deaths and 13 percent of young black deaths. The Economist found that 41 percent of white, working class men have given up looking for work. Over 47, 000 people died from deaths in 2014 alone, and heroin overdose deaths have more than tripled between 2010 and 2015. The wave of death washing over American communities elicited little notice, let alone outrage, from the political establishment and mega media outlets. Immigration also fueled this surge of : Nearly all of the heroin used in the U. S. is brought across the border by Mexican traffickers. But the globalist class plowed ahead with its agenda anyway, deepening the sense of alienation many felt, particularly those drawn to Trump. “The sacredness of mass immigration is the mystic chord that unites America’s ruling and intellectual classes,” as one pseudonymous essayist wrote in the in the Claremont Review of Books. Many sensed they were being denied a say in the way their lives were being shaped, and in many cases, destroyed by the globalists’ preferred policies: Before Trump assumed office, 84 percent of white, voters told pollsters that U. S. government did not represent their views. “The archipelago of constituencies loyal to Democrats is small geographically. But it has lately set close to 100 percent of the agenda, and did so even in the 2016 election,” writes the Weekly Standard‘s Christopher Caldwell. “The important cultural innovations of the Obama Administration can fairly be said to have been introduced without debate, or at least in disregard of what debate had been going on,” Caldwell writes. “Gay marriage was this way, as was the complex of issues surrounding transgender bathrooms. Where did the movement Black Lives Matter come from, with its mix of street violence and campus political correctness? … Why was no one in authority talking about the heroin and opioid epidemic, even as it was killing more Americans than any drug wave in American history, more even than car accidents?” “Perhaps the main thing voters were trying to do in 2016 was to restore democratic scrutiny to actors who had long managed to evade it. We will never know, because for many years Americans have felt unable to talk about such things in public at all,” he said. And now, Trump has an opportunity to build a lasting governing coalition out of voters ignored or mocked by the globalist class. “The globalists gutted the American working class and created a middle class in Asia,” White House Chief strategist Steve Bannon said during a November interview. “The issue now is about Americans looking to not get f — ed over. ” “If we deliver, we’ll get 60 percent of the white vote, and 40 percent of the black and Hispanic vote and we’ll govern for 50 years,” he said. “That’s what the Democrats missed … They lost sight of what the world is about. ”

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Iran has 'all options on table' if U.S. blacklists Revolutionary Guards: ISNA

LONDON (Reuters) - A top aide to Iran s Supreme Leader warned the United States on Tuesday against designating the elite Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group, saying Tehran has all options on table , news agency ISNA reported. The Americans are supporting Daesh (Islamic State). That s why they are angry with the Revolutionary Guards. But they are too small to be able to harm the Revolutionary Guards, Ali Akbar Velayati, the top adviser to Iran s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by ISNA. Whatever they do we will take reciprocal measures. We have all options on the table, he added.

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Pakistan blocks off roads into capital as blasphemy law supporters stage sit-in

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan on Friday blocked off roads into Islamabad, the capital, as an Islamist party that backs strict blasphemy laws staged a sit-in on a key highway, demanding the resignation of a minister it blames for changes to an electoral oath. Dozens of Pakistanis are on death row, convicted of having insulted Islam s prophet, a charge that carries a mandatory death sentence, although no executions have been carried out. More than 500 supporters of the Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan party, or Movement of the Prophet s Followers, chanted slogans as speakers addressed them from atop a cargo truck, pledging their lives to protect Pakistan s blasphemy laws. The protesters demanded the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid, whom they hold responsible for the law change, and denounced him as a blasphemer. Immediately appear before us and beg for forgiveness, said one speaker. Two high court lawyers who joined the sit-in said they would work to advance Labaik s agenda in the courts. He (Hamid) has insulted the blasphemy laws, the punishment for which is death, said one of the lawyers. Pakistan s interior ministry did not immediately answer telephone calls from Reuters to seek comment. The ruling Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) unexpectedly set off a firestorm last month after voting through the alteration of the oath, among seemingly small changes to the nation s electoral law. The changes prompted accusations of blasphemy from religious parties and the government retreated, apologizing in parliament for what it called a clerical mistake. But the apology did not satisfy Tehreek-e-Labaik, triggering the sit-in, as the culmination of a march of nearly 400 km (249 miles) from the eastern city of Lahore. The party rose to prominence in September, after placing third in a by-election in Lahore, edging out a major opposition party to pick up 6 percent of the vote. Last month, it gained nearly 8 percent in a by-election in the northwestern city of Peshawar. While Tehrik-e-Labaik is unlikely to break out of single digits in coming votes, its rapid rise could present a challenge for the PML-N. On a bridge overlooking the highway demonstration site, drivers of trucks halted by blockades erected by city authorities complained about cargo delivery delays. One commuter unable to take public transport to work told Reuters his business had suffered. I run a tailoring shop and can t go to work today, said Mohammad Altaf. I have lost a day s earnings.

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Trump’s Sexist Overnight Tweet Storm Was So Offensive, One Of His Top Advisers QUIT (VIDEO)

Like millions of Americans, Donald Trump appears to suffer from insomnia, especially when things are going horribly wrong for his campaign. Trump obviously didn t get much sleep Thursday night/Friday morning, since he was up at least half the night insulting the media, Hillary Clinton and slut shaming former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado. All of this is proving too much for Trump s senior press person, Healy Baumgardner, who quit.Trump started the early morning off with an attack on the media.Anytime you see a story about me or my campaign saying sources said, DO NOT believe it. There are no sources, they are just made up lies! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016Then, instead of apologizing for fat shaming Machado, as he has continuously done since the debate, Trump doubled down into slut shaming.Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an angel without checking her past, which is terrible! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT! Hillary was set up by a con. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016What is this past, you ask? Well, according to Trump, there s a sex tape:Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016All of that proved too much for Trump s now former senior press rep, Healy Baumgardner, who just a month or so ago, was defending Trump s insults:Still, this latest round proved to be too much for Baumbardner, who resigned, saying, It is clear the campaign is now going in a direction I am no longer comfortable with and I have decided to move on. Source: PoliticoNot that it s a huge loss for the Trump campaign. Baumgardner was hardly the sharpest tool:[ad3media campaign= 972 ]Apparently, though, she was smart enough to read the writing on the wall. Trump is in a real hole with women and his constant fat shaming is not helping.Featured image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

1real

Arise President Trump (or Why it's not the End of the World as We Know it)

10 Shares 4 5 0 1 "USA! USA! USA!" they chanted together in the Hilton Ballroom as the results came in. Who needs polls? They never gave him a chance but now we have it: President Donald Trump. Not only were the polls spectacularly wrong (who will ever trust this particularly bankrupt form of moralising presumptive analysis and telling us how we do and should feel?) but also the pundits who were not just arrogant about the fact that Trump had no chance but also were hopelessly out of touch with what America was thinking across its societal spectrum, what it wanted, what was felt deep in its blood. It is a rejection of the liberal consensus the entire West has wallowed in since the 90's and a rejection of Obama and the false hope he decried, the impotent nature of US political leverage around the world and the rejection of brazen corruption and questionable ethics as typified by "Crooked Hillary". The world must live with it; democracy has spoken and they're going to have to get over the words President Trump. Some will head for the hills, some will run to Canada, others will continue to cry but as Obama said yesterday, regardless of the result "tomorrow the sun will still shine." This is a cry for American exceptionalism and like him or not Trump typifies that. He is committed to education, and demands high performance. Selling well is an admirable skill for a President to have. Negotiating with Congress, internationally, etc., is exceptionally useful. Trump has taken beatings financially and come out smelling like a rose. Trump's business experience involves negotiations with business leaders and even governments around the world, and he likely has connections behind the scenes that surpass those of simply purely political candidates -- this gives him keen, realistic insights into economics in different parts of the world, as well as additional avenues to pursue trade agreements, and even perhaps some nuanced insights of particular financial weaknesses of possible global competitors, not to mention experience and insight into the partnerships and/or antagonism between different industries and particular governments. MORE... Trump's sexual predator characteristics - His Grandfather was a pimp, but at least he paid the women he hired The significance of the GOP's attempted purge of Donald Trump Trump, Turkey, and police tyranny: The crisis of Imperialism finds political expression An America in denial This vote comes down to the reckoning that for too long, politicians have sold the American people out to foreign nations and global industry. What Donald Trump is doing is representing the absolute heartbreak and anger and frustration at a government gone mad and it seems the Left completely underestimated that in their vitriol in crying #NeverTrump and portraying him as the devil incarnate. Although it is entirely true that Trump is ostentatious and has his mistakes, he brings something to the Presidential table no other candidate had before; he speaks his mind. America clearly is sick of weasel politicians who are too afraid to say what people want to hear, they want the facts straight. President Trump isn't cut from the political class, that class which is entrenched in its self-interest and has let the country down time and time again. Ross Perot once said that we need somebody to clean out the stables, a corrupted, ethically questionable President is therefore not the answer in order to accomplish that and I'm not talking about Donald Trump. Trump is a pragmatist in an era of rapidly approaching chaos, he is not a social engineer, a think tanker who wants to please those lining his bank accounts. The liberal Democratic policies of Obama, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and their company created a climate that has led to this decision today. So what if his language is intemperate and insulting? Even lacking in nobility from time to time? How can a true changemaker be straitjacketed by politically correct chains if he or she must express the will of the people, uncomfortable concerns that lie dormant for far too long? Obama won because conservative voters stayed home. He had promise and he let so many down, what did Clinton have? And that is why conservative voters had to get out and vote. Trump prefers isolationism on a world scale, Clinton voted to take us to war in Iraq and to overthrow Libya's Gaddafi, all in the guise of being "muscular." Perhaps today's landmark and historic decision is not so much about Trump's strengths and power but more about the crippled weakness of the country in 2016 and you simply cannot blame him for that.

1real

Oregon Judge Sticks It To Ammon Bundy, Plans To Charge Him $70,000 A Day For Security Costs

An Oregon judge has had enough of the hillbilly Bundy militia and is now saying that he plans to bill the leader, Ammon Bundy, up to $70,000 a day for security costs.The armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by the anti-government group has caused major disruptions in Harney County, and it doesn t seem like the merry band of imbeciles plan to leave anytime soon. According to reports, the group has used federal equipment to remove fences that separated the federal property from a local rancher.In addition to the damage they have caused on the property, the militants forced 800 kids to miss a week of school because the school board was worried about the safety of students.Police also report that they have had to relocate the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife employees from their homes out of an abundance of caution because the group possibly found out their personal information. The group has been accused of illegally accessing the government computers in the building. Reporters with Oregon Public Radio claim that they say the computers on screensaver mode and a list of social security numbers out on the desks.Harney County Judge Steve Grasty spoke at a town hall meeting on Monday night and said that the militia is costing taxpayers between $60,000 to $70,000 a day. We re going to send Mr. Bundy the bill, said Grasty.It s ironic that this group of jackasses, who claim to love the citizens of this country, are wasting taxpayer dollars every single day with this nonsense. Tea Party Republicans claim to be fiscally responsible and then waste $700,000. What s even worse is that GOP lawmakers are supporting the continued occupation of federal land and that is costing Harney County so much money. While these lawmakers encourage this behavior, they actively deny all sorts of social programs to low-income families because they claim that we cannot afford it. Seems legit, right? Featured image via Twitter

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Donald Trump Thanks InfoWarriors & ALT Media For The Win

Find UFOs, The Apocalypse, New World Order, Political Analysis, Alternative Health, Armageddon, Conspiracies, Prophecies, Spirituality,Home Schooling, Home Mortgages and more, in: The Rumor Mill News Reading Room Donald Trump Thanks InfoWarriors & ALT Media For The Win !! vid Posted By: [ Send E-Mail ]Date: Saturday, 12-Nov-2016 01:55:03 Trump calls Alex Jones to thank him and all those that helped get the truth out to make this election victory happen. those that passed on information are "Info Warriors", and are deeply appreciated. Kings and Presidents from all over the world called trump to congratulate him and Trump took time to than all of us personally. If you enjoyed this article, Please consider a monthly subscription to Rumor Mill News!! RMN is an RA production. The only pay your RMN moderators receivecomes from ads. Please consider putting RMN inyour ad blocker's whitelist.

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China says situation on Korean peninsula very dangerous

BEIJING (Reuters) - The situation on the Korean peninsula is at a very dangerous stage, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told counterparts from the BRICS group of nations, China s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. The urgent task is to prevent North Korea s nuclear and missile programs progressing and to avoid a further escalation in tensions and to especially prevent resorting to arms, Wang said, speaking in New York on the sidelines of a United Nations meeting.

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Trump campaign star Conway named as his presidential counselor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Kellyanne Conway, a Republican pollster who was widely credited with bringing a more disciplined approach to Donald Trump’s presidential election campaign, will become White House counselor when he takes office next month. In her new post, Conway will play a key advisory role, helping to manage Trump’s messaging and legislative priorities, the transition team said in a statement on Thursday. It praised Conway, 49, as the first woman campaign manager to guide a winning U.S. presidential campaign. Trump also tapped three loyalists to lead his communications team. The Republican National Committee’s Sean Spicer will be press secretary, while Hope Hicks, Jason Miller and Dan Scavino will round out the communications team. Both before the Nov. 8 election and after, Conway, as a senior adviser on the transition team, has been a frequent presence on U.S. television news programs, often called upon to defend or explain Trump’s thinking. Conway “played a crucial role in my victory,” Trump said in the transition team statement. “She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message.” Trump, a New York businessman, takes office on Jan. 20. Conway, interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” shortly after the announcement, was asked when Trump would hold his first news conference. She avoided directly answering the question. Trump has held several rallies since winning the election but has not taken formal questions from reporters. He canceled a Dec. 15 news conference to discuss how he would handle his vast business interests once in the White House and said he would reschedule that for January. Conway told ABC that Trump was focusing on forming his Cabinet. “He’s been very busy doing that,” she said. Because of her prominent role in the campaign and transition team, there had been considerable speculation over what post Conway, a veteran political strategist, might occupy in Trump’s administration. Conway, who has four children, said she did not immediately accept a position offered to her early on in the transition period because she had to weigh her family obligations. “I would say that I don’t play golf and I don’t have a mistress so, I have a lot of time that a lot of these other men don’t,” Conway told Fox Business Network. “I see people on the weekend spending an awful lot of time on their golf games and that’s their right, but the kids will be with me, we live in the same house, and they come first.”

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Trump was wrong to pardon controversial sheriff, Ryan says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump should not have pardoned a former Arizona sheriff who was convicted of criminal contempt in a case of racial profiling, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, said on Saturday. Trump announced on Friday he was pardoning Joe Arpaio, an anti-immigration hardliner found guilty last month for flouting a 2011 court order that barred officers from detaining Latino motorists solely on the suspicion they were illegal immigrants. “Law-enforcement officials have a special responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this pardon,” Ryan said in a statement. “The speaker does not agree with the decision,” Ryan’s spokesman Doug Andres said. Some other prominent Republicans, including Arizona Senator John McCain and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, have also criticized Trump for the controversial pardon. Arpaio, 85, was an outspoken supporter of Trump’s presidential campaign and both men have argued for tougher policies against illegal immigration. As president, Trump has broad powers to issue pardons and he had said Arpaio was convicted for “doing his job”. Arpaio lost his own bid for re-election in Arizona’s Maricopa County in November, after 24 years in office.

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Homage to the MiG 15 [1 hour 8 minute video]

MiG 15: The plane that panicked the West Mikhail Gurevich, Artëm Mikoyan Your translating contributing editor needed a break. Then the thought: Fort Russ readers need a break too! Sit back, click on the video below. Enjoy! -- Tom Winter After the credits (at 43:57) and the interview with the North Korean defector, a newsreel “We Flew the MiG” begins at 56:56. Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Donate!

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“White Boys”–The NYT Celebrates Neera Tanden,’s Slurs, Because Her Targets Are White

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Trump open to signing Russia sanctions legislation: official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump was open to signing legislation toughening sanctions on Russia after Senate and House leaders reached agreement on a bill late last week. Congressional Democrats said on Saturday they had agreed with Republicans on a deal allowing new sanctions targeting Russia, Iran and North Korea in a bill that would limit any potential effort by Trump to try to lift sanctions against Moscow. “We support where the legislation is now and will continue working with the House and Senate to put those tough sanctions in place on Russia until the situation in Ukraine is fully resolved and it certainly isn’t right now,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” program. A White House official said the administration’s view of the legislation evolved after changes were made, including the addition of sanctions on North Korea. The official said the administration “supports the direction the bill is headed, but won’t weigh in conclusively until there is a final piece of legislation and no more changes are being made.” Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s new communications director, said Trump had not yet decided whether he would sign the bill. “My guess is ... that he’s going to make that decision shortly,” Scaramucci told CNN’s “State of the Union.” Trump has faced resistance from Republican and Democratic lawmakers for his pledge to pursue warmer relations with Moscow. His administration has been bogged down by investigations of possible ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia. Trump has said his campaign did not collude with Russia. With the bill, Republicans and Democrats are seeking to punish Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and for meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied any interference in the U.S. democratic process last year. The House is expected to vote on the sanctions bill on Tuesday. The legislation would require the president to submit to Congress a report on proposed actions that would “significantly alter” U.S. policy toward Russia, including easing sanctions or returning diplomatic properties in Maryland and New York that former President Barack Obama ordered vacated in December. Congress would have at least 30 days to hold hearings and then vote to uphold or reject Trump’s proposed changes. If Trump were to veto the bill, he would run the risk of an embarrassing political setback if Congress were to override his veto. In recent weeks, Trump administration officials have met with lawmakers to argue against parts of the Senate version of the bill, including the requirement that Trump obtain Congress’ permission before easing sanctions. The sanctions bill, known as the Countering Iran’s Destabilizing Activities Act, was passed by the Senate a month ago but held up in the House of Representatives after Republicans proposed including sanctions on North Korea. Lawmakers, including Republican Senator John Thune and Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Sunday the bill had broad bipartisan support. “I think (it) will pass probably overwhelmingly again in the Senate and with a veto-proof majority,” Thune, a member of the Republican leadership, told “Fox News Sunday.” In Brussels, the European Union has sounded an alarm about the U.S. moves to step up sanctions on Russia, urging Washington to coordinate with its Group of 7 partners. The European Commission, the EU executive, will consider its next steps at a meeting on Wednesday in Brussels if Trump signs the bill into law, and is willing to consider retaliation, according to an EU official. After warning against unilateral U.S. sanctions at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is concerned Congress’ legislation could hit European companies upgrading pipelines in Russia that feed into Ukraine’s gas transit system. The measures could also target European companies doing legitimate business with Russia in rail transport, financial, shipping and mining, the EU official said. Any significant EU retaliation would need the support, however, of the EU’s 28 governments and would face resistance from members of the bloc, such as Britain and Hungary, that are reluctant to upset the Trump administration.

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China tightens control of chat groups ahead of party congress

BEIJING (Reuters) - China issued new rules on instant messaging chat groups on Thursday, tightening control over online discussions ahead of a sensitive leadership reshuffle next month. Beijing has been ramping up measures to secure the internet and maintain strict censorship, a process that has accelerated ahead of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party, when global attention will be on the world s No.2 economy. Group chats on instant messaging apps and online commenting threads have seen a surge in popularity in China in recent years as forums for discussion, partly because they are private for members and so in theory are subject to less censorship. Internet chat service providers must now verify the identities of their users and keep a blog of group chats for no less than six months, the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement released on its website The rules, which take effect on Oct 8, just before the congress is due to begin, will cover platforms provided by China s internet titans, such as Tencent s WeChat and QQ, Baidu s Tieba and Alibaba s Alipay chat. The regulations also require companies to establish a credit system, and to provide group chat services to users in accordance to their credit rating, CAC said. Chat group participants who break the rules will see their credit scores lowered, their rights to manage group chats suspended or revoked and should be reported to the relevant government department, it added. The CAC did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment sent after office hours on Thursday. The administration also said the owner of the chat group should bear responsibility for the management of the group. Whoever owns the group should be responsible, and whoever manages the group should be responsible, it said. The new rules are the latest requirement for China s internet giants, who have already been subject to investigations from the CAC into their top social media sites for failing to comply with cyber laws. The administration has already taken down popular celebrity gossip social media accounts and extended restrictions on what news can be produced and distributed by online platforms, and has embarked on a campaign to remove virtual private network apps, which allow users to access websites blocked by the authorities.

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Iraqi forces launch offensive to recapture last town in Islamic State control

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi forces launched an offensive on Saturday to capture Rawa, the last remaining town under Islamic-State control, leaving the group s self-proclaimed caliphate on the verge of complete defeat. The capture of the town would mark the end of Islamic State s era of territorial rule over a so-called caliphate that it proclaimed in 2014 across vast swathes of Iraq and Syria. Syria s army declared victory over the militants on Thursday, after seizing the last substantial town on the border with Iraq. The army and its allies were still fighting Islamic State in desert areas near Albu Kamal, the last town the militant group had held in Syria. Two Iraqi infantry divisions and Sunni tribal forces are participating in the offensive to recapture the small town of Rawa and its surrounding areas along the border with Syria, the Joint Operations Command said in a statement. Last week, Iraqi forces recaptured the larger town of al-Qaim, in what Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called record time , leaving just a few small pockets of land in Islamic State s hands. Iraq has been carrying out its final campaign to crush the Islamic State caliphate while also mounting a military offensive in the north against the Kurds who held an independence referendum in September.

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Donald Trump: Press Lying About Inauguration Crowd Size

President Donald Trump told the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at their headquarters in Langley, Virginia, on Saturday that he is engaged in “a running war” with the “dishonest media,” noting that their latest lies include misleading reports about the size of the crowd at his ceremony on Friday.[ “And the reason you’re my first stop is that, as you know, I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth,” Trump said. The approximately 400 CIA employees broke out into applause after Trump said this. In addition to making it seem, falsely, like he was in a feud with the intelligence community, Trump said the media “showed an empty field” during his inauguration. “We had a massive field of people. You saw that, packed,” Trump said. He then noted that when he woke up Saturday morning, he turned on the TV and noticed, “I get up this morning, I turn on one of the networks and they show an empty field. I said, wait a minute. I made a speech. I looked out. The field was, it looked like a million — a million and a half people. They showed a field where there were practically nobody standing there. And they said, ‘Donald Trump did not draw well. ’” He added, “We have something that’s amazing because we had it looked — honestly, it looked like a million and a half people. Whatever it was, it was. But it went all the way back to the Washington Monument. And I turn on [the tv] and by mistake I get this network, and it showed an empty field. ” “So, we caught them,” he said. “And we caught them in a beauty, and I think they’re going to pay a big price. ” Trump went on to note yet another lie perpetuated by the media. Specifically, Zeke Miller of Time magazine falsely reported that Trump removed the bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Oval Office. The bust of the esteemed, late civil rights leader was never removed. (President Barack Obama had removed the bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office shortly after he moved in and replaced it with MLK Jr. ’s). “In the Oval Office, there’s a beautiful statue of Dr. Martin Luther King,” Trump said. “And, I also happen to like Churchill … He doesn’t come from our country, but had a lot do with it. He helped us, real ally. ” Trump had requested that Churchill’s bust be replaced in the Oval Office upon his move into the White House. “But there was a cameraman that was right in front of it. So Zeke, Zeke from Time Magazine” wrote a fake news story, Trump said. “I would never do that. I have great respect for Dr. Martin Luther King. And it was right there. But this is how dishonest the media is. ” Trump added, “I love honesty. I like honest reporting. ” And finally, he told the CIA, “I love you. I respect you. There’s nobody I respect more. you’re going to do a fantastic job. And we are going to start winning again, and you are going to lead the charge. Thank you. I’ll be back. ” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer also pointed out the lies perpetuated by the media during his emergency press conference Saturday. “Some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting,” Spicer said. “Photographs of the Inauguration proceeding were intentionally framed in a way to minimize the enormous support it had gathered on the National Mall,” he said. He noted earlier how Miller of Time magazine “falsely tweeted out that the bust of MLK, Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office. “This was just plain wrong. ”

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Briton pleads guilty to weapons charge over Trump rally incident

(Reuters) - A British tourist who caused a security scare at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Las Vegas in June by trying to grab a gun from a police officer pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges of illegal weapon possession and disorderly conduct, court papers showed. Michael Steven Sandford, 20, admitted as part of his plea deal with prosecutors that he had approached a policeman at the event, saying he wanted an autograph from the presidential candidate, then tried to pull the officer’s gun from his holster with both hands, the papers said. Sandford, who had by then overstayed his tourist visa by about 10 months, was immediately arrested and removed from the rally. He also acknowledged having visited a Las Vegas gun range the day before the June 18 incident at the Treasure Island casino-hotel, to take shooting lessons with a rented Glock handgun, firing 20 rounds at a paper target, court papers showed. No mention was made in the plea agreement about whether Sandford intended to harm Trump, then the presumptive Republican nominee in the U.S. presidential race. In the initial June 20 criminal complaint stemming from the incident, prosecutors said Sandford had told a U.S. Secret Service agent he had driven to Las Vegas from California with the aim of shooting Trump. On June 29, Sandford was charged with felony counts of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and disrupting government business, but he was not accused of plotting to kill Trump. At Tuesday’s hearing in federal court in Las Vegas, Sandford pleaded guilty to those two charges, each of which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 13. Brenda Weksler, one of Sandford’s federal public defenders, declined to comment.

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Live from New York, it's a Trump-Clinton rematch - of sorts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Veteran actor and frequent host Alec Baldwin returned to “Saturday Night Live” on Saturday, debuting his new gig playing a scowling, blustering Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for U.S. president. The late night NBC comedy show, kicking off its 42nd season, opened with an extended sketch featuring Baldwin as Trump facing off with a calculating, cunning and smug Hillary Clinton, with Kate McKinnon reprising her turn as the Democratic nominee. Much of the routine was lifted from the opponents’ Monday debate, including references to talk show host and Trump nemesis Rosie O’Donnell, and vocal Trump backer, Fox News’ Sean Hannity. Baldwin began his Trump routine promising “I’m going to be so good tonight,” before issuing a perfunctory response on jobs and economics. “End of story, I won the debate, I stayed calm just like I promised, and it, is, over. Goodnight,” he proclaimed before walking away. Told by the moderator there were still 88 minutes left, “Trump” responded, “My microphone is broken,” adding “She broke it. With Obama.” Asked what she thought of Trump’s rambling discourse, a smirking McKinnon-as-Clinton replied “I think I’m going to be president.” The audience for the live show applauded wildly. After a few more minutes of Baldwin-as-Trump’s increasingly bizarre remarks, a swaggering Clinton asks “Can America vote right now?” Later, fighting tears, she explained, “This is going so well. It’s going exactly how I always dreamed.” The show’s writers made sure to take shots at the Democrat as well, including her referencing beauty queen Alicia Machado as “a political prop that I almost forgot to mention”. In her closing statement, Clinton said “Listen America, I get it, you hate me.” She then threatened that “If you don’t elect me, I will continue to run for president until the day I die.” Baldwin, who has hosted Saturday Night Live more than anyone in its storied history, will be back as Trump until the November election, likely providing a ratings spike for the show that has mined U.S. elections and politics for comic fodder since 1975. Trump himself appeared on the show as host in November 2015, when he was campaigning to win the Republican nomination.

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Hillary, The Political Scientist

Happy Birthday, Hillary. You were destined to great things. And you knew it. *** I am astounded . I graduated in political science from the University of Naples, the university of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Giambattista Vico, and Benedetto Croce, in something like the 750 th graduating class; I have tried to keep up with the field as much as I could, even though I have preferred to concentrate on economics and political economy. I have always gotten along with the assumption that politics is "the art of the possible." But, let us give a good look at it. What is in this formula, if not a put down; a downgrading, so downgrading, characterization of this noble science? No wonder politics has become the art of bickering; the art of discord; the art of grasping at reefs, while we are drowning in perilous waters. No wonder, politics in the United States and much around the world has become polarized between two factions that fight for supremacy to the death. Not the death of the political class, but to the psychological and physical death of millions of people--in this country, the richest of the countries, the last best hope for mankind. Let alone the millions overseas. No wonder both the right and the left are focused on this set of policies: "Deny them their rights; take their dignity away; give them a warm soup in a cold winter night; and go to sleep in peace." What to say of this debasement of charity? What to say of this debasement of high morality? What to say of this debasement of politics? And there I was the other night, hearing and seeing the following words written on the screen of CNN, in their documentary on Hillary Clinton: - Advertisement - "Politics is not the art of the possible" politics is the art of making the impossible" possible." These are the words, not of Hillary of today or yesterday. These are the words of a young woman who breaks with tradition at the stodgy prestigious Wellesley College and becomes the first valedictorian in the history of that college. This is Hillary who is called to lead her class, not via invitation by academicians or administrators at Wellesley, but by her classmates who recognized the force of her leadership. This is Hillary Rodham, later to become Clinton, who throws away her prepared speech and delivers her oration extemporaneously: "Politics is not the art of the possible" politics is the art of making the impossible" possible." This is Hillary who is immediately recognized in the national press as a force of nature: woman's nature. This is a woman who could have been researching and writing and talking about political science for a lifetime. - Advertisement - This is a woman who could have climbed the rungs of academia with grace and ease. Instead" She preferred to practice what she had discovered at such a young age. She rolled up her sleeves and went to work to make it possible for children to have a better life than the one to which they were clearly doomed by a society in thrall of control and scarcity and fear .

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PUERTO RICO: Local Cop Calls US Radio Station Tells Shocking Reason Aid Isn’t Getting To People [Video]

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT! The transcript and video below should be shared by everyone because the lying politicians and media are in full anti-Trump mode right now. A female police officer from Puerto Rico s police department in Guaynabo called in to a U.S. spanish speaking radio station to tell listeners what is going on in Puerto Rico. The police woman is very upset, crying and sobbing often, and shares how the Mayor of San Juan is politicizing the situation and not offering help.Note that the politicization of this disaster is on steroids with American celebrities claiming genocide by Trump and just outright lies by the politicians who are using this to score votes while the people suffer.The most visible of the politicians is the lying mayor who stood in front of supplies saying she needs help. Well, help is right behind you! What she didn t say is that truckers are not showing up to take the aid to the people! As it turns out, she hasn t been doing HER job and hasn t shown up for meetings with FEMA and the US military on sight. Here s just one of many ridiculous comments by this lying politician: The world will see how we are treated not as second-class citizens, but as animals that can be disposed of, said Mayor Carmen Yul n Cruz.The call and video was recorded September 28th, and highlights the corruption within government within Puerto Rico and the Municipal authority of San Juan. The video is English closed captioned (hit CC option) and a transcript is below:Transcript:Radio Announcer: What is your name?Police Caller: I cannot give my name because I work for Puerto Rico s Police Department. I need to pass this information out because the stuff that is being brought from the U.S. is not being distributed. They are not allowing the Puerto Rican people to receive the donations.Radio Announcer: What part of Puerto Rico are you calling us from right now?Police Caller: I am right now in Guaynabo.Radio Announcer 2: Wow.Radio Announcer 3: But what information do you have? What have you seen?Police Caller: The Mayor, Carmen Yulin, is not allowing anyone to distribute We need what Puerto Ricans need is that the U.S. armed forces come in and distribute the aid. And that they stop the governor, Rosello, and the mayor, Yulin, on doing what they are doing It s an abuse, it looks like communism, in our own island (sobbing) (sobbing continues, inaudible translation due to cries) Police Caller (cont.): People are helping us, but they are not accepting it, they are not accepting anymore help supposedly: they have to wait for the license, that there are no buses. Let me tell you something Boricuas (Puerto Ricans) are dying of hunger (crying continues) This is a bureaucracy, everything has to be protocol, the lines are stretched. We can only give one box of water per person (sobbing continues). The medics here, people are dying, the hospitals are in crisis.Police Caller (cont.): I am embarrassed, as a Boricua to work for Puerto Rico s police and see that we cannot do anything. There are dozens and thousands and thousands of food and when people ask we cannot give anything away because [Mayor] Carmen Yulin says that we cannot take anything out; because everything is a soap opera, everything is a show and there have to be cameras here and there. .Because you know they are just looking for votes for the upcoming years.Radio Announcer 2: WowPolice Caller: And the governor won t move unless there is a camera behind him; [Mayor] Carmen Yulin won t move unless there is a camera behind her. This is how we are living in Puerto Rico, meanwhile artists are giving money and the people of Florida are sending stuff, and I don t know how many more people are helping because we have very limited communication, very limited, and we have no idea what s going on outside; and the people who are sending stuff, they have to come in; they have to come to help Puerto Rico and distribute what is being wasted because what else are we going to do? You tell me, what are we going to do?Radio Announcer #2: Of course the desperation..Radio Announcer #3: We are with our hearts broken listening to you describing this situation which is heartbreaking when we know that so many people are helping this is a police officer speaking.Police Caller: I ve been for one hour and a half just trying to download an application because the phones that they give to us I cannot use them as a police officer due to security measures. But I need to speak for the people because the people are suffering. Because I, as a cop, and other partners are seeing it. A lot of people have been posting videos (sobbing inaudible) and no-one is paying attention.Radio Announcer #3: We are truly sorry for this situation, we did not know that..Police Caller: If Cuba and Venezuela want to help and we are grateful for that; and that the government denies their help, the government denies Cuba s help. That they reject Venezuela s help, Look for God s sake! Tell me how is that possible, we need help.Radio Announcer #3: We are going to send this message out so that it gets to where it needs to get to Police Caller: We want the U.S. to come in, that the strongest forces come in and take the governor out, he is not doing anything, he is just going around and around, and everyone is like: oh, look how nice, the governor, he is going in the mud, he is going in the water , And where is it? Pardon the expression: WHERE IS THE FOOD?Police Caller (cont.): Look, grab the food, grab the sausage can and take it to the families! Stop the show! The governor is just doing a show, is all a show. There are many mayors that are suffering because they cannot do anything for their people.Radio Announcer #2: What are they doing with the food? Is it being kept in storage because they are not allowing to give it out?Police Caller: They are not doing anything, and they tell the harbors (ports) that they cannot bring stuff anymore. If the U.S. government doesn t get involved they will finish us. We are going to end up worse. Worse than Cuba, Africa, or worse than Haiti. We are living in an era that you don t want to see, people are desperate. The gasoline, people are already killing each other. Not to rob you, they are doing it so they can be the firsts to get food and take it to their families.Police Caller (cont.): Do you know what it is when a woman approaches me and tells me I don t have any more. I don t know what else to give my kids because I don t have anymore. Water and crackers !Radio Announcer #1: Sweetie, thank you for calling us and using this medium to denounce this situation; and good thing that it was you who explained this so that people don t think that we are making up stuff; because this has nothing to do with politics. This is a very serious situation.Police Caller: Very Serious (sobbing continues)Audio/video cuts offRead more: Conservative Treehouse

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President Of Planned Parenthood Compared To ISIS, The Mob And Drug Dealers

Because the rabidly insane American right wing is no stranger to hyperbole and nonsense comparisons, Fr. Frank Pavone, an anti-choice fanatic, has compared Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood to terrorists, mobsters and drug lords. Why? Because she was invited to speak at Georgetown University by some of the students and letting Planned Parenthood speak is just plain crazy!While on an AM Hate Radio show, Pavone let loose with this gem:He said he didn t buy the argument that inviting someone like Richards to speak was allowing inquiry into all different positions. I mean, do we inquire, do we try to understand terrorism by inviting representatives of ISIS to come and speak? he asked. Or let s get some of the biggest drug dealers in the country to come and talk about their business because, after all, we have to understand both sides of the issue of drug abuse. Why don t we invite the biggest mobsters to come in because we have to understand both sides of the debate about organized crime? Are they doing that? Maybe I m missing it, but do these universities invite these kinds of people too? What Pavone is actually saying is that the only side we should be listening to is the one that says a fertilized egg is a person and that Baby Jesus cries whenever a hell-bound baby killer abortion doctor performs an abortion. Also, that abortion is the moral equivalent of terrorism. That would be a perfectly reasonable argument to make except for the fact that it s pure bullshit.The burning desire for conservative Christians to impose their religious doctrine on the entire country is never more clear than in the abortion debate. I say debate because there really isn t one. The pro-life movement is all about control and, for the most part, completely unconcerned with what happens to the precious life they re willing to murder to defend. The pro-choice movement, on the other hand, is perfectly fine with common sense restrictions placed on late-term abortions, a fact that theocratic monsters refuse to acknowledge.Normally, what Pavone said would be just the ravings of a madman, but these are not normal times. The right has whipped up such a storm of hate and rage against Planned Parenthood that violence is both inevitable and ongoing. This kind of rhetoric only increases the chances that someone will declare themselves a Soldier of God and lash out. Shootings, arson, death threats and all other manner of terrorism have been a common occurance in a country that s supposedly at War with terrorism. But I guess as long as the terrorism is white and Christian, it s acceptable. Murika.Featured image via Getty

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Are Trump Supporters Too Dumb To Know They’re Dumb? Science Says “Probably”

How the hell can anybody call themselves intelligent when they re supporting Donald Trump? It s a question that baffles people who are able to think critically, able to read and comprehend both history and current events, and able to see through Trump s thin fa ade of know-it-all-ism and deep into what he is an ignorant, narcissistic, and dangerous conman.Trump supporters not only don t see this, they re happy that there s someone running for president that thinks exactly like them. Take Melanie Austin, of Brownsville, Pennsylvania. She thought her beliefs about Obama being a gay Muslim from Kenya and Michelle being transgender were just fringe beliefs right up until she started hearing similar stuff from Trump and other right-wing extremists.Now she knows she s right about all of this. You can t tell her that she s ignorant and dumb if she can t figure this out for herself. You can t tell her she s delusional. You can sit there with her, and countless others like her, and present facts, figures, charts, studies, and more, all from the most reputable sources there are, and prove that her lord and savior is wrong, and you ll still get shot down.There s more to this than the problem of confirmation bias. Austin gets much of her information from fringe right-wing blogs and conspiracy sites, but that s not all of it. Many of Trump s supporters are seriously too dumb to know they re dumb. It s called the Dunning-Kruger effect, and it s an unshakeable illusion that you re much smarter, and more skilled and/or knowledgeable, than you really are.People like Austin labor under the illusion that their knowledge about things is at least as good as, if not better than, the actual facts. For these people, though, their knowledge isn t just superior it s superior even to those who have intimate and detailed knowledge of the subject at hand. Trump himself has exemplified this countless times, such as when he claimed he knows more about ISIS than even our military generals do.His fans simply take his word for it, and believe that because he knows, they know. They are literally incapable of seeing that they don t know.To be sure, the Dunning-Kruger effect is present everyone all across the political spectrum, and indeed, in every walk of life. We all overestimate our abilities and knowledge somewhere. However, the effect is especially pronounced in people with limited intellectual and social skills: [P]eople who are unskilled in [intellectual and social domains] suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. So basically, yes, it s possible to be too dumb to realize you re dumb.In four separate studies, people who scored in the bottom quarter on tests involving everything from humor to logic, and even to grammar, grossly overestimated where they thought they would score. They averaged scores in the 12th percentile, while their average estimate of their own scores was the 62nd percentile.The researchers attribute that huge discrepancy to a literal inability to distinguish accuracy from error. Or, to put it another way, those who are the most lacking in skills and knowledge are the least able to see it.Take the case of McArthur Wheeler, a man who robbed two banks in 1995 and was caught rather easily. He thought he would get away with it because he rubbed his face with lemon juice, which is used in invisible ink. To test the theory that lemon juice would turn him invisible, he rubbed it on his face, took a Polaroid, and his face wasn t in the picture! So he thought he was safe from security cameras because he could make his face invisible.He was shocked when police caught him because of that, saying, But I wore the juice. He literally couldn t see the ridiculousness of that line of thought. David Dunning, one of the first to catalog the Dunning-Kruger effect (hence its name), has studied human behavior including voter behavior for decades. He penned an op-ed in Politico that explains why this effect is so pronounced in Trump s supporters: It suggests that some voters, especially those facing significant distress in their life, might like some of what they hear from Trump, but they do not know enough to hold him accountable for the serious gaffes he makes. They fail to recognize those gaffes as missteps. Again, the key to the Dunning-Kruger Effect is not that unknowledgeable voters are uninformed; it is that they are often misinformed their heads filled with false data, facts and theories that can lead to misguided conclusions held with tenacious confidence and extreme partisanship, perhaps some that make them nod in agreement with Trump at his rallies. Trump is completely inept, and his supporters are way too poorly-informed to know that he s inept, and too dumb themselves to know how dumb they are. That s why Trump s supporters are so sure they re smart and their president is smart that they won t listen to reason. The effect is strong in these people.Featured image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

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Florida Continues For-Profit Juvenile Prisons After Years Of Abuses, Corruption

The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice has finally decided to terminate its relationship with the for-profit prison company, Youth Services International, whose name couldn t be more misleading. For years the company has been embroiled in controversies involving covering up youth sex abuses by staff, falsifying records, and starving inmates, among a litany of other allegations occurring over the past few years.The company settled on paying the state of Florida $2 million to get a lawsuit thrown out, which they continue to deny has any merit.Florida s entire Juvenile Prison system is privatized, exposing it to abuse and corruption so the companies who hold the government contracts can squeeze out as much profits as possible. Despite the rampant problems with Youth Services International, the state of Florida is merely accepting new applications from other for-profit prison companies. These private prisons interfere with the administration of justice. And they re driving inmate populations skyward by corrupting the political process, wrote Senator Bernie Sanders in a Huffington Post article last year. No one, in my view, should be allowed to profit from putting more people behind bars whether they re inmates in jail or immigrants held in detention centers. In fact, I believe that private prisons shouldn t be allowed to exist at all, which is why I ve introduced legislation to eliminate them. Senator Sanders went on to explain how the for-profit prison system facilitates prisoner abuses, harms minorities, victimizes immigrants, influences prison policy and immigration policy while corrupting politicians to favor the interests of the for-profit prison industrial complex. The state of Florida has clearly seen the problems posed by placing the management and control of their prison system in the hands of a private company, yet they are continuing to place the livelihood of thousands of teenagers who need help in the hands of companies who just see them as profit. The Justice is not for Sale Act proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders would ban private prisons in America, but in the meantime, states, such as Florida need to start taking action on prison reform by not using the criminal justice system as a means for profit.Featured image via Flickr

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U.S. lawmakers aim to comply with Iran nuclear deal: EU

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers signaled they plan to ensure the United States complies with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal despite U.S. President Donald Trump s misgivings about the pact, the European Union s foreign policy chief said on Tuesday. I got clear indications that the intention is to keep the United States compliant with the agreement, the EU s Federica Mogherini said at a press conference on a visit to Washington. Trump on Oct. 13 dealt a blow to the pact by refusing to certify that Tehran was complying with the accord even though international inspectors said it was. Under the deal Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions. Trump s decision has thrown into doubt the future of the pact negotiated by Iran, the EU and six major powers - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Congress has until mid-December to decide whether to reimpose sanctions lifted under the deal, something few diplomats expect. Mogherini sought to avoid publicly becoming embroiled in the U.S. congressional debate about what kind of legislation, if any, to pass even as she stressed the EU s desire to see the United States stick with the nuclear agreement. I made clear any outcome of any process ... has to be, at the end of the day, compliant with the deal, Mogherini said. She said she had voiced her readiness to help lawmakers find solutions that are compatible with U.S. compliance under the agreement. Separately, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog told reporters it would be a pity if Iran were to cease to provisionally implement the Additional Protocol, which gives the agency more tools to verify a country s nuclear compliance. The Additional Protocol is the most ... important tool for us in the verification. So if it happens, it s a pity, said International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano. Under the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to provisionally implement the Additional Protocol. Amano told reporters that if Iran were to discontinue the protocol, the IAEA would not be able to get access to undeclared potential nuclear sites. Amano said that on a visit to Iran last month, Iranian officials had assured him they would continue implementing the nuclear deal and would not be the first to abandon it. The Additional Protocol was created in the 1990s as a way to smoke out covert, arms-related activities after the discovery of Iraq s secret nuclear weapons program and revelations that North Korea and Romania had separated plutonium. Asked if the Iranians had given him any sign that they might abandon the Additional Protocol, Amano replied: They don t say what will happen, but anything can happen. That is my sense.

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The Case of Hongxiang and the US Pressure on China | New Eastern Outlook

N20160922000251315.html ). We prohibit everything unless it can be demonstrated conclusively that it is to support humanitarian purposes.” In this context, the USA and China are engaged in another conflict related to coal trade between Beijing and Pyongyang. The USA is trying to stop this supply but, as the official representative of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of China Geng Shuang announced on September 28, this trade has been carried out in accordance with the regulations and resolutions, as well as the national laws and regulations of the PRC, and does not violate international law and UN resolutions on sanctions against Pyongyang, which permits the coal trade with the North. This statement was made in response to the speech of the Assistant US Secretary of State Daniel Russel who announced that the USA was working to block the loopholes the North used to obtain foreign currency. In this context, Russel noted that the North had earned 1 billion dollars from coal sales to China every year, which was a third of the total sum of North Korean exports. However, an item on the possible export of the North Korean coal was included in the UN Security Council resolution with due account for China’s opinion. While the South is trying to present the case so that the Resolution 2270 adopted by the UN Security Council in March 2016 generally prohibits the import of North Korean coal, it actually concerns a ban on the supply that provides income that could be used for the development of nuclear and missile programs. As a result, the export volume of coal to China is increasing. On September 24, the Japanese Nihon Keizai Shinbun published an article, which stated that the import volume of coal from North Korea to China sharply dropped by 38% in April 2016 when compared to the same period of the previous year, and this trend had lasted until July. However, this indicator started to grow in August having increased by 27.5% year-on-year. The overall trade volume between North Korea and China has also increased by 30%. South Korean experts believe that the restoration of imports of North Korean goods to China has taken place due to the Chinese government relaxing its level of control, which reflects their dissatisfaction with THAAD missile defense system placement on the Korean Peninsula. Thus, the attempt to dictate unilateral sanctions to Beijing has failed so far. In addition, they often emphasize that “Beijing opposes unilateral sanctions that do not help in solving the issue.” This was announced on September 15 by the Foreign Affairs Minister of China Wang Yi during a telephone conversation with his Japanese colleague Fumio Kishida. The same position was expressed on September 22 during a meeting with the special representatives of China’s and the Republic of Korea’s governments, where they discussed countermeasures in respect of the fifth nuclear test conducted by Pyongyang. The South Korean party is reported to have demanded the adoption of stricter sanctions against Pyongyang from China, including the ban of the land transportation of cargo, but China refused. The concealed disagreement was reflected in the statement made by the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon who expressed his dissatisfaction with the delay in the adoption of additional sanctions in response to the fifth nuclear test of the DPRK. He stated that the UN Security Council had spent too much time on it. Meanwhile, China’s attitude in respect of the sanctions against the North is quite clear. According to a report by a Senior Research Fellow of the Sejong Institute Chun Jae-hon presented at the Forum in Seoul “Korean Unification and Security Issues”, China is not willing to support the sanctions against the DPRK, which will result in the fall of the current regime and deterioration of the living standards of North Koreans. According to the speaker, the fall of Kim Jong-un regime “is fraught with unpredictable consequences,” including integration of the both Koreas under the guidance of Seoul. Beijing does not want a united Korea, that would be an ally of the USA, to appear in on its border and it will do everything possible to prevent it. In fact, the Chinese government has restricted the level of sanctions in respect of Pyongyang all the while implementing the UN resolutions and not exceeding them by imposing additional unilateral measures, as the United States or its allies do. And it will not go beyond this level under any circumstance. Konstantin Asmolov, Ph.D. in History, Chief Research Fellow at the Center for Korean Studies of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, exclusively for the online magazine “ New Eastern Outlook ”.

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Kentucky clerk opposed to gay marriage to run for 2018 re-election

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Reuters) - The Kentucky county clerk who drew worldwide attention for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples two years ago will run for re-election next year, her attorney said on Tuesday. Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis will run to retain her seat in 2018 despite suggestions from some people that she run for a higher local or statewide political position, said Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel. Davis spent five days in jail in September 2015 after refusing a court order to issue marriage licenses following the Supreme Court’s decision legalizing same-sex marriage. Davis claimed same-sex marriage went against her Apostolic Christian beliefs. Staver’s organization represented Davis in the resulting lawsuit filed by four couples against her. “She’s not interested in any other office,” Staver said. Last month, Davis and a representative of Liberty Counsel traveled to Romania, where those against same-sex marriage seek a referendum on the issue this fall, to meet with religious and political leaders, Staver said. Davis’ case in 2015 drew hundreds of protesters and supporters to her office in Morehead, in rural eastern Kentucky. While she was in jail, then-Republican presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz visited her. Less than a month after she was released from jail, Davis, who won election to the office in 2014 as a Democrat, changed her affiliation to the Republican Party. Rowan County Democratic party officials could not be reached for comment. Prior to her election, Davis served as a deputy to her mother, Jean Bailey, who served as the county clerk for nearly four decades. After her case, Kentucky lawmakers removed all county clerks’ names from the state marriage license form. A federal judge later ruled that while the new law made the suits against her moot, the couples’ attorneys were still entitled to legal fees. The earliest Davis will be able to file for re-election is Wednesday, according to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office.

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Russian communists drop veteran, select surprise candidate to challenge Putin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Communist Party on Saturday unexpectedly dropped its veteran leader Gennady Zyuganov as its presidential candidate to challenge President Vladimir Putin next year, choosing instead a largely unknown businessman with links to the farm sector. Zyuganov, 73, an evergreen of the post-Soviet political scene, had been widely expected to contest his sixth consecutive presidential election next March. But instead the party picked Pavel Grudinin, 57, a mechanical engineer who has run a farm on the outskirts of Moscow since the mid-1990s, as its candidate to take on Putin in an election which the 65-year-old Kremlin leader is expected to win comfortably. Zyuganov congratulated Grudinin on his nomination at an annual gathering of the party on Saturday, the Communist Party said on its website. By ditching one of the communist old guard as candidate and choosing someone from a new generation, the party appeared to be attempting to widen its political appeal. Its main support base has been from an age group that is fast disappearing. Speaking at the meeting where Grudinin was nominated, Zyuganov said voter apathy, which many independent analysts say is on the rise, was now Russia s biggest misfortune . The communists came second after the ruling party United Russia, which backs Putin, in parliamentary elections in 2016 - but winning only 19.2 percent of the vote. Separately on Saturday, United Russia pledged its full support for Putin in what is expected to be a one-sided presidential contest.

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EMAILS SHOW OBAMA’S EPA Planned To Let Flint Residents Drink Poison Water Until 2016

It s fascinating that even before any facts related to the Flint water crisis were available, the Hollywood liberal elite and Leftist s across America were calling for the head of Michigan s Republican Governor. Now that the evidence is overwhelmingly pointing to a corrupt and incompetent EPA along with incompetent Democrat public officials in Flint, MI., will the media start correctly placing the blame where it belongs? WATCH big mouth activist Michael Moore attempting to inject his rancor into the Flint water crisis, as a way to draw attention to himself and place blame on Republican Governor Rick Snyder instead of the actual culprit, the incompetent EPA:Four months after being notified about high lead levels in a Flint home, the Environmental Protection Agency was prepared to let the city continue giving lead-contaminated water to customers until at least 2016, emails released Friday show.Jennifer Crooks, the Michigan program manager for the EPA s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, sent out an agenda on June 8, 2015, for a planned call with Michigan Department of Environmental Quality officials.In that email, Crooks said it was known that Flint had not been adding any corrosion-control chemicals to its water to prevent lead from leaching from the pipes into drinking water since April 2014. She said the city was in its second six-month testing period.It didn t make sense for the city to start a corrosion control program in June 2015, Crooks wrote. Since Flint has lead service lines, we understand some citizen-requested lead sampling is exceeding the Action Level, and the source of drinking water will be changing again in 2016, so to start a Corrosion Control Study now doesn t make sense, Crooks wrote. The idea to ask Flint to simply add phosphate may be premature; there are many other issues and factors that must be taken into account which would require a comprehensive look at the water quality and the system before any treatment recommendations can/should be made. The email was sent almost four months after EPA researcher Miguel Del Toral was made aware of high lead in Flint s water.Via: Washington Examiner

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FBI fear of leaks drove decision on emails linked to Clinton: sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI Director James Comey was driven in part by a fear of leaks from within his agency when he decided to tell Congress the FBI was investigating newly discovered emails related to Hillary Clinton, law enforcement sources said on Thursday. The examination of the email traffic is now being carried out under the tightest secrecy by a team at Federal Bureau of Investigations headquarters in Washington, the sources said, requesting anonymity because of the inquiry’s sensitivity. Several sources said it was unclear whether the FBI would make any further public disclosures about its latest review before Tuesday’s presidential and congressional elections. Two sources said such disclosures were unlikely. Another source, recently in contact with top investigators, said: “It depends on how it goes and what they find.” The source said that, as of Thursday, “nobody really knows” whether the FBI will have anything further to say before the election. Dropping like a bombshell on the U.S. presidential campaign, Comey’s disclosure last Friday in a letter to senior lawmakers just days before the elections raised questions about his motives and drew criticism from some over his timing. Comey disclosed that the FBI was looking at emails as part of a probe into Clinton’s use of a private email system while secretary of state, without describing the emails’ content or how long the inquiry might take. The FBI normally does not comment on ongoing inquiries. The latest emails examination was moving forward “expeditiously,” said one source close to the review. The new emails turned up as FBI investigators were examining electronic devices used by former Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner in connection with an alleged “sexting” scandal. Weiner’s estranged wife, Huma Abedin, is a Clinton confidante. Two law enforcement sources familiar with the FBI’s New York Field Office, which initially discovered the emails, said a faction of investigators based in the office is known to be hostile to Hillary Clinton. A spokeswoman for the FBI’s New York office said she had no knowledge about this. Democratic Party sources said such a faction was likely responsible for a recent surge in media leaks on alleged details of an ongoing FBI investigation of the Clinton Foundation. The FBI has made preliminary inquiries into Clinton Foundation activities and alleged contacts between Trump and associates with parties in Russia, according to law enforcement sources. But these inquiries were shifted into low gear weeks ago because the FBI wanted to avoid any impact on the election. The FBI previously had spent about a year investigating Clinton’s use of the unauthorized server at her home in Chappaqua, New York, instead of the State Department system after classified government secrets were found in some of her emails. Comey had said in July that while there was “evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.”

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New Trump CIA Director: Let’s Dump The Iran Deal

Donald Trump’s pick to be the new director of the CIA, Rep. Mike Pompeo, has minced no words about the Iran nuclear deal:

1real

South African Supreme Court upholds reinstating 783 corruption charges against Zuma

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa s Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday upheld a High Court ruling to reinstate nearly 800 corruption charges filed against Jacob Zuma before he became president. Zuma, who has faced and denied numerous other corruption allegations since taking office, said he was disappointed by the court s decision and asked the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to consider representations before deciding whether to proceed against him. It was unclear when the NPA would make a decision on the charges, which relate to a 30 billion rand ($2 billion) government arms deal arranged in the late 1990s. The ruling is likely to amplify calls for Zuma, 75, to step down before his term as president ends in 2019 and diminish his influence over who succeeds him when the ruling African National Congress (ANC) chooses a new leader in December. It is going to make it a lot more difficult for his camp to get their presidential candidate elected, said Gary van Staden, political analyst with NKC African Economics. Friday s unanimous Supreme Court ruling upheld a High Court decision in April 2016 that the charges against Zuma should be reinstated. They had been set aside in April 2009 by the then-head of the prosecuting authority, paving the way for Zuma to run for president later that year. Rejecting an appeal brought by Zuma and the NPA, Judge Lorimer Leach said it was irrational for the NPA to have set the charges aside the same word used by the High Court. It is difficult to understand why the present regime at the NPA considered that the decision to terminate the prosecution could be defended, the Supreme Court s Leach said. NPA spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku said prosecutors would need to consider the judgment but would at all times do the right thing within the confines of the rule of law and in the interest of proper administration of justice . In a separate statement, the NPA said Zuma s lawyers had asked the state prosecutor not to serve an indictment on his client nor to re-enrol the matter prior to the representations having been considered . The prospect that Zuma s removal may be inching closer lifted the rand against the dollar. Zuma is unpopular with many investors after sacking respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan in March, a move that hit South African financial assets and helped tip the country s credit ratings into junk territory. Zuma has faced persistent corruption allegations, most recently over leaked emails that suggest his friends the Gupta family may have used their influence to secure lucrative state contracts for their companies. Reuters has not independently verified the emails, and Zuma and the Guptas have consistently denied any wrongdoing. Mmusi Maimane, leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance, said he would write to the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Shaun Abrahams, to demand he indict Zuma. The charges have been formulated and the evidence is ready. We now await a trial date, Maimane told reporters. Asked by reporters whether Zuma should resign, the African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said the party would allow that process to take its course. The first thing is whether the NPA will decide to charge the president, he said. You re putting the cart before the horse. National prosecutor Mokotedi Mpshe s decision in 2009 to drop the 783 charges against Zuma in what has become known as the Spy Tapes case was based on phone intercepts presented by Zuma s legal team. They suggested the timing of the charges in late 2007 may have been part of a political plot to stop Zuma, then deputy president, running for the top job. Zuma was linked to the 1990s arms deal through his former financial adviser, who was jailed for corruption. Analysts said the credibility of Zuma and the NPA were in question after the ruling. One lawyer, Ulrich Roux, who speaks to media as a legal analyst, said a private prosecution could be instituted if charges are not brought.

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Sex Bombshell Exposed After Hillary Couldn’t Hide What She Did Back In 2011

Sex Bombshell Exposed After Hillary Couldn’t Hide What She Did Back In 2011 Posted on October 31, 2016 by Robert Rich in Politics Share This Hillary Clinton is backpedaling these days, but her past isn’t making things any easier on her. In fact, it seems that her dirty deeds from 2011 just came to the surface in the form of a sex bombshell – and not even she could hide it forever. With the FBI reopening its investigation into Hillary’s emails and private server, on account of another case into Anthony Weiner’s sexting of an alleged minor, it seems that there are some startling details coming forward. Although we all know that Weiner is a long-time pervert and sexual predator, it looks like things have been going on for longer than we thought – and Hillary knew about it all along. Everyone who knew Anthony Weiner targeted underage girls back in 2011: John Podesta, Neera Tanden, and Hillary Clinton (left), and Jennifer Palmieri (right) According to Mail Online , Hillary’s camp knew that Weiner was talking to and sending sexually graphic images to an underage girl all the way back in 2011, yet they did nothing to stop him. In fact, Jennifer Palmieri, the campaign communications director in 2011, sent an email to John Podesta, now chair of Clinton’s presidential campaign, and Neera Tanden, another Clinton adviser, detailing Weiner’s predatory and criminal behavior. Married to Hillary’s current top aide, Huma Abedin, at the time, Weiner’s indiscretions were made public knowledge to Hillary’s camp and only met with a mere “oof” from Podesta. Further reports indicate that police were sent to the 17-year-old girl’s home at the time to interview both the child and her parents. Anthony Weiner and his sex pics Of course, as we all know now, Weiner has come under official investigation after sending lewd messages to a different 15-year-old girl more recently. However, one can only wonder if Weiner’s most recent victim could have been spared if his predatory behavior was addressed back in 2011 rather than swept under the rug. Although he’s been widely deemed the black sheep of the political realm, it certainly appears that his divorce and early resignation was the least of concern pertaining to the fallout of his behavior. Seeing how the most recent of Weiner’s consequences just slapped Hillary, it doesn’t take much to imagine the hell he’s living in right now. Anthony Weiner and steamy messages he sent to a woman other than his wife However, it is good to have these things out in the open as it helps show the true Hillary Clinton – the one she never wanted you to know about. There’s no question that Hillary would do whatever it took to remain in power, but this is just ridiculous. Because of her neglect and the blind eye turned by her staff, an underage girl was allowed to be victimized because the truth would have a negative effect on them. There really is no jail cell that’s suited for what Hillary deserves but she will most certainly have to answer for her misdeeds after she’s dead and gone from this earth – and suffering for an eternity sounds rather fitting for the vile things she’s done.

1real

U.S. Congress members decry 'ethnic cleansing' in Myanmar; Suu Kyi doubts allegations

YANGON/NAYPYITAW (Reuters) - Members of the U.S. Congress said on Tuesday operations carried out against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar had “all the hallmarks” of ethnic cleansing, while the country’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi expressed doubts about allegations of rights abuses. The U.S. Senate members also said they were disturbed by a “violent and disproportionate” security response to Rohingya militant attacks that have driven more than 600,000 people from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh. Human rights monitors have accused Myanmar’s military of atrocities, including mass rape, against the stateless Rohingya during so-called clearance operations following insurgent attacks on 30 police posts and an army base. Myanmar’s government has denied most of the claims, and the army last week said its own probe found no evidence of wrongdoing by troops. “We are not hearing of any violations going on at the moment,” Suu Kyi told reporters in response to a question about human rights abuses at the end of the Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw. “We can’t say whether it has happened or not. As a responsibility of the government, we have to make sure that it won’t happen.” Nobel laureate Suu Kyi said she hoped talks with Bangladesh’s foreign minister this week would lead to a deal on the “safe and voluntary return” of those who have fled. Suu Kyi’s less than two-year old civilian government has faced heavy international criticism for its response to the crisis, though it has no control over the generals it has to share power with under Myanmar’s transition to power after decades of military rule. While a top UN official has described the military’s actions as a textbook case of “ethnic cleansing”, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on a visit to Myanmar last week refused to label it as such. In early November, U.S. lawmakers proposed targeted sanctions and travel restrictions on Myanmar military officials. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who was among the sponsors of the legislation introduced in the Senate, led a congressional delegation that visited Rakhine this week, but was blocked from traveling to the violence-hit north of the state and to Rohingya camps. The group also traveled to Cox’s Bazar district in Bangladesh, where Rohingya refugees are huddled into makeshift camps and fed by overstretched aid agencies. “Many refugees have suffered direct attacks including loved ones, children and husbands being killed in front of them, wives and daughters being raped, burns and other horrific injuries. This has all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing,” Merkley told reporters in Myanmar on Tuesday. “We are profoundly disturbed by the violent and disproportionate response against the Rohingya by the military and local groups,” he said. The delegation called for Myanmar to allow an investigation into the alleged atrocities that would involve the international community. “We want to emphasize that the world is watching,” Merkley said, adding that it was important Myanmar allow anyone who wants to come back to return to their homes and their farms. Merkley said the delegation was “not here today to recommend…what the U.S. government would do or should do,” when asked about the legislation introduced in the Congress. Myanmar officials have so far said they plan to resettle most returnees in new “model villages”, rather than on the land they previously occupied, an approach the United Nations has criticized in the past as effectively creating permanent camps. “Individuals cannot be coming back…simply to return to camps where there would be continued discrimination, restrictions on full participation in the economy and society,” said Merkley. He warned that isolating people in camps creates a “two-tier society that is fundamentally incompatible with the future of democracy and it guarantees perpetuation of suspicions and misunderstandings and conflicts.” Speaking earlier on Tuesday, Suu Kyi said discussions would be held with the Bangladesh foreign minister on Wednesday and Thursday about repatriation. Officials from both countries began talks last month on how to process the Rohingya wanting to return. “We hope that this would result in an MOU signed quickly, which would enable us to start the safe and voluntarily return of all of those who have gone across the border,” Suu Kyi said. The Rohingya are largely stateless and many people in Myanmar view them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Suu Kyi said Myanmar would follow the framework of an agreement reached in the 1990s to cover the earlier repatriation of Rohingya, who had fled to Bangladesh to escape previous bouts of ethnic violence. That agreement did not address the citizenship status of Rohingya, and Bangladesh has been pressing for a repatriation process that provided Rohingya with more safeguards this time. “It’s on the basis of residency...this was agreed by the two governments long time ago with success, so this will be formula we will continue to follow,” Suu Kyi said. Earlier talks between the two countries reached a broad agreement to work out a repatriation deal, but a senior Myanmar official later accused Bangladesh of dragging its feet in order to secure funding from aid agencies for hosting the refugees.

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ILLEGAL ALIEN ACCUSED Of KIDNAPPING and MURDERING 18-Yr Old Girl Is Protected By Obama’s DACA Program

He was such a nice boy He was just looking for a better life. Why don t we just give all of these young illegal aliens a chance to prove that they can be contributing members of society? Is anyone else getting tired of hearing how it s not fair that Americans don t want to give over 1 million people living illegally in America blanket citizenship? A man accused of killing a South Carolina high school student had been protected from deportation under the DACA program, U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News Thursday evening.Daniel De Jesus Rangel-Sherrer, 19, is accused of murder, kidnapping, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime in connection with the death of 18-year-old Diana Martinez-Gonzalez.Martinez-Gonzalez, a junior at Greenville High School, was found dead in a wooded area Oct. 4. Officials said she had been forced into the woods and shot multiple times in the head. Immediately upon contact, [Rangel-Sherrer] confessed to one of the deputies, Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis told reporters.Investigators said a friend of Martinez-Gonzalez was also held against her will by the suspect, but she managed to escape and contact authorities. It s not clear how Rangel-Sherrer and Martinez-Gonzalez knew each other.The day after Rangel-Sherrer s arrest, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a detainer order for the suspect, who was in the U.S. illegally from Mexico. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) later confirmed that Rangel-Sherrer was a DACA recipient. Fox NewsWatch here to see Tucker Carlson s stunning interview with CIS s (Center for Immigration Study) Mark Krikorian, who explains what DACA really means, and how the FACTS about DACA affect every American taxpaying citizen:

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Senate panel plans hearing on Russia hacking in January: spokeswoman

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans a closed briefing and a public hearing on the Russia hacking issue as soon as the Senate returns from its year-end recess in the first week of January, a spokeswoman said. “The committee plans to systematically look at this issue and will begin with both a classified briefing and an open hearing in early January when the Senate returns,” said Micah Johnson, a spokeswoman for the panel’s Republican chairman, Senator Bob Corker.

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Trump Just Met With Airline Execs, RUINS Meeting With INSANELY Unpresidential Rant (VIDEO)

Donald Trump has turned yet another meeting in which he should have been focusing on being America s president and getting sh*t done into an absolute circus and embarrassment.During a meeting with airline executives, Trump decided that he was bored and could no longer focus, so he went on a completely incoherent rant about things his personal pilot had told him. As you can imagine, everyone in the room was shocked as Trump continued to hijack the meeting and went on babbling, making it impossible to actually get anything accomplished until he was finished.According to the White House pool report, Trump commended airlines for succeeding despite the bad equipment that the airport gives you, in many cases. Then he started complaining about the equipment, stating that he had a pilot who s a real expert who once told him that airlines are often given the wrong stuff. Trump continued: Let s order the right equipment. Probably the wrong equipment cost more. Here are some more gems from his rant: We want the traveling public to have the greatest customer service and with an absolute minimum of delays. We spent six trillion dollars in the Middle East, we got nothing. And we have an obsolete plane system, we have obsolete airports. As you can imagine, most of this rant made zero sense. This has become a pattern for Trump he continues to meet with industry CEOs, but he doesn t actually accomplish anything. He doesn t tackle policy, and he spends most of his time talking about himself or complaining. This shouldn t be too surprising, considering that we elected a former reality television star who knows NOTHING about policy, so he s obviously doing whatever he can to pass the time in these meetings.You can watch Trump go completely off track in the meeting below:Read more:Featured image via Win McNamee / Getty Images

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Alec Baldwin at War with Producer Over Underage Sex Scene Claims

An war has broken out on social media between Alec Baldwin and film producer Dana Brunetti over claims that the actor did not know actress Nikki Reed was underage when she and Baldwin filmed sex scenes for the 2006 movie Mini’s First Time. [Baldwin writes in his new book, Nevertheless, that he didn’t realize Reed was underaged until the end of filming. “When I found out, just as we finished, that she was 17, I flipped out on the producers, who had told me something different,” he writes. Brunettti fired back at Baldwin on Twitter Tuesday, confirming that the actor “knew Reed was 16, didn’t find out AFTER filming, and did not yell at us. ” Brunettti — who has since produced the Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey film franchises — further refuted Baldwin’s claims in a interview published Wednesday morning with the Hollywood Reporter. “Of course he totally knew how old she was,” Brunetti told THR. “That’s why there’s no nudity in the movie. He knew before we even cast the movie. I think he’s been method acting Trump too much and he doesn’t know difference between fake news anymore. ” By Wednesday night, the Hollywood were trading personal insults in what has descended into a very public, social media war of words. A lengthy Twitter battle broke out between Baldwin and Brunetti, with both stars threatening to bury the other. @TatianaSiegel27 @DanaBrunetti @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am And Hollywood producers like Brunetti never do anything shady or unethical? — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Name something I’ve done shady or unethical, Alec. You lied, face it, admit it and move on. I’m not afraid of bullies like you. — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, Baldwin challenged Brunetti to release SAG paperwork required when shooting physical scenes with minors. @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am SAG rules require releases for scenes involving physical contact with minors. I take you have a copy of that? — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am If required, I’m sure there is one. But really, are you going to continue to deny that you didn’t know she was 16?? I’ll bury you. — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, Baldwin continued to insist that he was unaware of Reed’s age until the end of filming. Brunetti asked Mini’s First Time producer Evan Astrowsky and director Nick Guthe to weigh in. @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am I was told she was 16 by her hairdresser. At the end of the shoot. You’re already buried. — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am You’re a fool. She just came off a movie called 13!! Do I need to bring in the other crew to vouch that you knew?? @NickGuthe wanna weigh in, — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, @DanaBrunetti @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NikkiReed_I_Am 1) Because she was 16 we had to submit storyboards to her parents, agents and managers of all scenes with physical contact. — Nick Guthe (@NickGuthe) April 5, 2017, Baldwin then suggested that Bruneti use the public feud as publicity for his Fifty Shades of Grey. To which Brunetti responded in kind. @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Look at it as good publicity for that stunning work of yours on 50 SHADES OF GRAY, — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Look at it as good publicity for your book of lies that you have already admitted wasn’t properly vetted. — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, The battle devolved further into and the two stars trading attacks involving their personal and professional lives. The problem with Hollywood is they cower to blowhard bullies like @ABFalecbaldwin. He can’t handle when someone like me stands up to him. — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, @DanaBrunetti No wonder Spacey fired you. — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin More lies. No wonder Kim divorced you. — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Produce the union required release form and your problems are over. For now. — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Don’t threaten me you douche, — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am As the president of the Film Actors Guild, you should be able to easily access them. #TeamAmerica, — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Dana, produce the releases, you Hollywood zombie, and you’re all good, — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am I’m sure SAG has them. Contact them. You’re the one maligning me and will need to defend and retract your lies. — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Put down that 50 Shades part 9 script you’re reading and trot on over to SAG! Pronto! — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017, @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Also, u should make a movie of this. Get @NickGuthe to direct. Get those waivers signed, though! — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am Don’t be jealous. I may have a part for you in it. — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am I’m doing @matchgameabc so I don’t have to work w guys like u … — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc You mean my Oscar nominated films? Nice plug by the way. When are you gonna come out to the 310 with a chain and show us how it’s done? — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc Do me 1 favor? Just teach me how to bankrupt a company like Relativity. I want to put it in a screenplay I’m working on. Oh. Get the waiver. — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc Again, you don’t know what you’re talking about. It was BK before I got there. What else you got angry man? — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc The sad truth is I like you, however when slandered ina lie I will call it out. If you were a man you’d admit the truth and own it. — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, @DanaBrunetti @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc What else? I present you w the first ever Dan Brunetti award. You know what that’s for … — ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc Please elaborate, douche nozzle. — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, @ABFalecbaldwin @TatianaSiegel27 @NickGuthe @NikkiReed_I_Am @matchgameabc And again, I suggest you contact your agent @MattDelPiano so he can warn you of the waters you’re wading into. — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017, How have I only gained 12 followers from all of this? — Nick Guthe (@NickGuthe) April 6, 2017, @DJD @ABFalecbaldwin Best role and acting he’s done in years. — Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 6, 2017, Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson

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U.N. evacuates first group of refugees from Libya to Niger

TUNIS (Reuters) - A group of 25 refugees have been evacuated from Libya to Niger to have resettlement claims processed, in the first operation of its kind from the North African country, the United Nations said on Sunday. The move is part of efforts to provide protection for refugees and other vulnerable migrants who travel to Libya, often intending to attempt the dangerous sea crossing to Italy. Many are trapped in smuggling networks or detention centers where they are exposed to a range of abuses including rape and torture that have been widely documented by human rights organizations and U.N. agencies. About 43,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered by U.N. refugee agency UNHCR are now in Libya. It is hard to resettle refugees directly from Libya partly because most countries closed their embassies in Tripoli after fighting escalated there in 2014. The initial group evacuated by air from Tripoli to Niamey on Saturday was made up of 15 women, six men and four children from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan, according to the United Nations. Today s evacuation symbolizes hope in finding safe solutions for vulnerable refugees in Libya, Roberto Mignone, the UNHCR representative for Libya, said in a statement. The operation was the result of a joint initiative by UNHCR and the governments of Libya and Niger, and Niger has agreed to host the group until their claims to be resettled in third countries are dealt with, it said. We hope to be able to carry out more evacuations in the near future, said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR s Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean. But he said the scheme would remain limited in scale as long as commitments to resettle refugees remained insufficient . These refugee evacuations can only be part of broader asylum-building and migration management efforts to address the complex movement of migrants and refugees who embark on perilous journeys across the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea, he said. Most migrants traveling through Libya towards Europe come from sub-Saharan African countries. Many fleeing poverty, repression or conflict journey across the desert through Niger, Algeria or Sudan. The Libya to Italy crossing has become the main migrant route to Europe since an agreement between the EU and Turkey shut down smuggling through Greece last year. More than 600,000 have crossed by boat to Italy since 2014. European states have pledged tens of millions of euros to Libya, Niger and migrants countries of origin in an effort to stem the flows. Departures from Libya have dropped since July due to changes in smuggling activity and increased activity by Libya s European-backed coastguard. European policy has drawn criticism from human rights groups that say it traps migrants in Libya, exposing them to further abuse there. UNHCR is seeking to open a refugee transit center in Tripoli early next year to shelter some of the most vulnerable refugees as they await evacuation or resettlement. The International Organization for Migration carries out voluntary repatriations of migrants from Libya, flying home more than 10,600 so far this year.

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Re: 55 Reasons Why California Is The Worst State In America

55 Reasons Why California Is The Worst State In America December 12th, 2012 Why in the world would anyone want to live in the state of California at this point? The entire state is rapidly becoming a bright, shining example of everything that is wrong with America. It is so sad to watch our most populated state implode right in front of our eyes. Like millions of Americans, I was quite enamored with the state of California when I was younger. The warm weather, the beaches, the great natural beauty of the state and the mystique of Hollywood all really appealed to me. At one point I even thought that I wanted to move there. But today, hordes of Californians are racing to get out of the state because it has become a total nightmare. It is the worst state in the country in which to do business, taxes were just raised even higher, unemployment is more than 20 percent higher than the national average and the state government is drowning in debt. Meanwhile, poverty, gang activity and crime just seem to get worse with each passing year. On top of everything else, the insane politicians in Sacramento just keep on passing more laws that make the problems that the state is facing even worse. Unfortunately, what is happening in California may be a preview of what is coming to the entire nation. The old adage, “as California goes, so goes the nation”, has been proven to be true way too many times. In dozens of different ways, the state of California is showing the rest of us what not to do. Will we learn from their mistakes, or will we follow them into oblivion? Please share the list below with as many people as you can. In addition to a large amount of new research, this list also pulled heavily from one of my previous articles and from outstanding research done by Richard Rider . The following are 55 reasons why California is the worst state in America… 1. One survey of business executives has ranked California as the worst state in America to do business for 8 years in a row . 2. In 2011, the state of California ranked 50th out of all 50 states in new business creation. 3. According to one recent study, California is the worst-governed state in the entire country. 4. Thanks to Proposition 30 , California now boasts the highest state income tax rate in the nation. 5. Even though California just raised taxes dramatically on the wealthy, state revenues are falling like a rock . State revenue for November 2012 was 10.8 percent below projections. 7. California has the 8th highest corporate income tax rate in the country. 8. California has the highest “minimum corporate tax” in the country. Each corporation must pay at least $800 to the state even if a corporation does not make a single dollar of profit. 9. California is tied with New York for the highest gasoline tax rate in the country. 10. California is the only state in America that taxes carbon emissions . 11. The state of California issues some of the most expensive traffic tickets in the nation. This is another form of taxation. 12. As of October, only Nevada and Rhode Island had higher unemployment rates than California. 13. The unemployment rate in California is more than 20 percent higher than the overall unemployment rate for the rest of the nation. 14. The state of California requires licenses for 177 different occupations (the most in the nation). The national average is only 92. 15. California teachers are the highest paid in the nation, but California students rank 48th in math and 49th in reading . 16. California accounts for 12 percent of the U.S. population, but a whopping 33 percent of Americans that receive TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) live there. 17. Only the state of Illinois has a lower bond rating than the state of California does. 18. Including unfunded pension liabilities, the state of California has more than twice as much debt as any other state does. 19. Average pay for California state workers has risen by more than 100 percent since 2005. That is good news for those state employees, but it is bad news for the taxpayers that have to pay their salaries. 20. More than 5,000 California state troopers made more than $100,000 last year. 21. One highway patrol officer ended up bringing home almost $484,000 in 2011. 22. One state psychiatrist in California was paid $822,000 in 2011. 23. Since 2007, the number of children living in poverty in the state of California has increased by 30 percent . 24. Sadly, an astounding 60 percent of all students attending California public schools now qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches. 25. The American Tort Reform Association has ranked the state of California as the worst “judicial hellhole” in America. 26. Businesses all over the state of California are being absolutely suffocated to death by ridiculous regulations. 27. According to the Milken Institute, operating costs for California businesses are 23 percent higher than the national average. 28. According to CNN , the state of California had the worst “small business failure rate” in America in 2010. It was 69 percent higher than the national average. 29. The number of people unemployed in the state of California is roughly equivalent to the populations of Nevada, New Hampshire and Vermont combined . 30. Residential customers in California pay about 29 percent more for electricity than the national average. 31. So many poor people and illegal aliens have taken advantage of the “free” healthcare at emergency rooms that many of them have been forced to shut down in California. As a result, the state of California now ranks dead last out of all 50 states in the number of emergency rooms per million people. 32. Political correctness is totally out of control in California. 33. One California town is actually considering making it illegal to smoke in your own backyard . 34. The traffic around the big cities is horrific. 35. Los Angeles 40. The rampant gang activity in the state gets even worse with each passing year. 41. Crime continues to rise all over the state. 42. Just recently, the city attorney of San Bernardino, California told citizens to “ lock their doors and load their guns ” because there is not enough money to pay for adequate police protection any longer. 43. The murder rate in San Bernardino is up 50 percent this year. 44. In Oakland, burglaries are up 43 percent so far this year. 45. Today, Oakland is considered the 5th most violent city in the United States. 46. There have been more than 250 gold chain robberies in Stockton, California just since the month of April. 47. In Stockton, the police budget cuts got so bad that the police union put up a billboard at one point with the following message : “Welcome to the 2nd most dangerous city in California. Stop laying off cops.” 48. Jerry Brown. 49. The absolutely insane California state legislature. 50. Wildfires. 51. Mudslides. 52. The state of California lies directly along the infamous “ Ring of Fire “. Approximately 90 percent of all the earthquakes in the entire world happen along the Ring of Fire and the “Big One” could hit the state at any moment. 53. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 100,000 more people moved out of the state of California in 2011 than moved into it. 54. During 2011, more than 58,000 people moved from California to the state of Texas . 55. Overall, the state of California has experienced a net loss of about four million residents to other states over the past 20 years. Sorry Protesters: Your Jobs Are Being Sent To China And They Aren’t Coming Back » Mark We left California in 2001. That was the best move we ever made. California would be a beautiful place with about 5 million people. Give then all to texas. Mondobeyondo California is a beautiful state. Nice place to visit. Wouldn’t want to live there though. Jagrick It sure is. Northern California is about the most beautiful place in this country. I would never want to live in LA. I have been there several years ago and it had a creepy feeling so nowadays i assume it’s even worse. San Diego back in the 80’s was absolutely beautiful. Joseph Kool You don’t get out much do you Jarrett Wilson was going to say the same thing! California is UGLY, it’s bests and I mean absolute best is up north. rest is crap The Truth Yeah Yosemite is such crap isn’t it? Only perhaps the most beautiful place in the lower 48 but yeah it’s crap. richard DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU LIVE. I WOULD AVOID THE BIG CITIES BUT TO BE HONEST THE BIG CITIES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY HAVE TROUBLE. THE PROBLEM WITH CALIF IS THERE ARE 37,+ MILLION PEOPLE LIVING HERE.AND THERE ARE QUITE A FEW BIG CITIES!! WERE OVER RAN WITH ILLEGALS THAT CAN’T SPEAK ENGLISH AND THERE KIDS ARE BEHIND BECAUSE OF THAT, THIS IS THE REASON OUR TESTS SCORES ARE SO LOW. I HAVE LIVED ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND CALIF HAS IT’S BAD POINTS BUT I WOULDN’T LIVE ANY PLACE ELSE. I CAN BE AT THE BEACH IN 45 MIN. I CAN GO TO THE SNOW IN 45 MIN AND LEAVE IT THERE AND GO TO THE DESERT IN 45 MINS. ELECT RATES ARE HIGHER BUT WE DON’T USE AS MUCH GAS I SPENT 15 DOLLARS THIS MONTH CAN ANYONE ELSE OUT OF STATE SAY THAT..MY ELECT WAS 48 DOLLARS AND I DON’T LIVE IN A SHACK,. I THINK THIS BLOG IS A LITTLE UNFAIR..I THINK GASOLINE IS HIGHER IN HAWAII THEN NEW YORK OR CALIF #41 CRIME IS GOING UP EVERYWHERE. #50-51-52 YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MUDSLIDES IF YOU DON’T LIVE IN THE HILLS. FIRES, DIDN’T HALF OF COLORADO BURN DOWN THIS YEAR HOW ABOUT NEW MEXICO.VERY FEW FIRES HERE THIS YEAR. EARTH QUAKES YEP WE GET THEM. WE DON’T GET FLOODS VERY MUCH HERE AND NOT TO MANY TORNADO’S. YOU HAVE YOUR PROS AND CONS Handog You can get your point across without using all caps. Easier to reed as well. quercus454 As a Calif native much of what you say is true. Population increases by a mostly low educated foreign population is probably one of the biggest contributors to the state’s decline. While many people rightfully assume that Ca is the illegal alien capital of the country, legal immigrants contribute a larger amount towards population growth. With current immigration rules not refining who we allow in, many legal immigrants are not much better educated then the illegal variety. Lack of education means lower incomes that pay little in the way of taxes and because an immigrant is legal they are eligible for social services. The children of foreign born immigrants, both legal and illegal often require special ESL classes that cost the taxpayer extra. Some districts have ESL teachers for more then 4 or 5 languages. Population growth has rewarded California with over crowded class rooms and failing students. Increased population has swamped government resources that were designed to handle a population half today’s size. Whether it be social services, infrastructure needs, health care or the judicial system, all have been adversely affected by increased numbers of people. More people needing more resources leads to two things: rising costs and shortages. California is the canary in the coal mine. It is a perfect example of what happens when you continually add more and more people who contribute less then they take. Along with feel good government policies to garner votes and the high taxes to support those policies you have California, a failing state. Who is to blame? The people of not only California, but the people of the entire country. While the voter’s in Ca certainly carry a majority of the blame, immigration is supposedly a federal concern. The Federal government is supposed to regulate immigration and secure the border. Current and past politicians have neglected and even obstructed meaningful enforcement of immigration laws.The repeated re-election of the same inept/corrupt people has put California in the hole and the rest of the country on the edge. California is a warning. Continually electing people who have no regard for the citizens of this country, who place their own careers above what is best, the rest of the country will mirror Ca. arizonadiane Excellent post. You are so right, and the blame really does go back to our increasingly inept and wasteful federal governement Randy Townsend CA resident here who agrees with your take on the situation. The government, however, accurately reflects the public’s embrace of the leftist agenda. Higher taxes, enormous deficits, and greater spending are exactly what Obama is going to give the rest of the country. Take a good look, America: CA is YOUR future. liberranter Now if only you could keep them confined to the state that they’ve made such a mess of. They made their proverbial bed hard, now LET THEM SLEEP IN IT! molon_labe Lot of them moving to Texas, and immediately try to turn it to commiefornia. So, you move because commieforniaI a disaster, and now you wamt to do the same thing here? Roaches I tell you. Feed and move on is what they do. Durgys Ramirez Totally AGREE with You on the Roaches part. Mike McCormack I hope those that try to escape the blight leave behind their voting habits. Donald We do vote against this crap but we are over run by voter fraud, illegals and libtard indoctrinated schools. Now they just voted for $15 an hour to flip burgers which = Junior Web Developer right out of college. I’m moving to Texas because I feel I have better support numbers and don’t feel like such an outkast. By moving to Texas I will help make sure Libtard philosophies don’t spread to the other states. PS I wasn’t born in california either! Plus I love Guns! JustanOguy And take a look at how many people are bailing out of California. 600,000+ population decrease last year. It’s obviously not working out too well… Just to be clear: I’m not endorsing it. As an extreme conservative, I haven’t been represented in government for years. DW Your numbers are all wrong. That many may have left, but they were replaced by the 1 mill illegals welcomed in by Obama and company. Your mama Sounds good, lets burn one to celebrate LazyIke This is a good commentary. What we have seen is thousands of former Midwesterners who moved here after WWII leave and being replaced will illegals from south of the border many of whom are illiterate in Spanish and drop out of high school at high rates and reproduce at high rates. Sugarsail1 good post, but another major contributor is the same thing that killed Detroit; unfunded union pension liabilities is a GIANT expense as well. Unions hijacked the government long ago and we are reaping what we sow. kayaker Good grief….you don’t have a freaking clue what’s going on if this is what you actually think. No wonder the country’s in such deep trouble. Durgys Ramirez Totally AGREE with your Post. cherylmeril Don’t write in all caps, it’s hard on the eyes. You aren’t being read richard Ana Hernandez in all honesty, lol. I skipped over your post to. read hers and went back to find out what she was referring to. i don’t care either way, but in my case it was true, I skipped over the post in all caps. sorry. it makes you seem angry so people don’t listen [or read] what you said. honestly…i still haven’t read it.lol richard it is easy for me to type with the cap locks on. broke my pinkie in a motor cycle accident about 14 years ago and it really hurts to reach that shift key with that finger. sorry i have offended so many. i will just type with out it on. of course i won’t capitalize like a lot of you. hope that doesn’t offend anyone. CHiP Wait, you only have one pinkie? Or, one of those crappy keyboards, with only one shift key. I don’t like those keyboards – you can’t even type a capital letter if you’ve got a broken pi… oh, wait. (Pssss, Richard, we won’t tell anybody, but “motor cycle” is one word.) Marian I read your post in caps. I didn’t give a hoot how you wrote it. lol…it’s just letters. I was planning on moving there.. was interested to see what people had to say. I already live somewhere with the highest taxes and fuel consumption, but starting a business here is amazing. I figured I’d go there once my business can settle me down. I live in Quebec. I don’t capitalize always.If I missed it then it stays lower case. richard sounds good to me. Life is to short to worry about the small stuff. danny Who the %@#! writes in all caps anymore! I refuse to even read it. JustanOguy I love California…. to visit. I live in Nevada and visit California all the time but it’s really gone downhill over the past 20 years and I don’t see it getting any better. (Quite frankly, I’m visiting less and less nowadays because all of the taxes on everything is going through the roof.) I guess the 600,000+ other people that bailed out of California last year don’t see it getting any better either. Rod I was born in SoCal. Family left when I was about to enter elementary school. My two older sisters were already in the horrible schools system with rampant gang activity even back in the mid 60’s! I went back after graduating college to start a career. Left again in 1992 and have never looked back. I lived in the Bay Area (San Jose), LA area (Long Beach) and San Diego. I will NEVER live there again and do not even like to visit. Sugarsail1 I’m a Cali native and very disappointed with my home state as well. Other than my elderly mother and the nice weather I have no reason to be here and have been looking to move but I don’t know where. I’ve seriously considered Mexico…any recommendations? BGenie Good for You to Never Look Back. California is All Corrupted anyways. Willowville The illegals are there to fill the low-wage employment gap. Education has little to do with it. There are plenty of college-educated people earning low pay. Jordan WERE OVER RAN WITH ILLEGALS THAT CAN’T SPEAK ENGLISH AND THERE KIDS ARE BEHIND BECAUSE OF THAT, THIS IS THE REASON OUR TESTS SCORES ARE SO LOW. Really? With this grammar, punctuation, and spelling you are targeting those who are learning a second language as being problematic? Work out your past participles, your contractions, the difference between “their” and “there,” and your English syntax in general before you start blaming others for low test scores. Andrew Taylor Broken caps lock key? Or do you simply believe bigger=better? Personally I find it annoying, grammatically incorrect, lazy and space consuming without a proper reason. I’d have to say I disagree with your logic on California. By agreeing with it I feel like you are agreeing with the problem with this country. Uncontrolled debt, corruption, lawful theft and crime is everywhere in California. How can you agree with that? CitizenX Don’t want you here. thomas moloian and i agree with you since my wife and i stuck here for now but will change within next 5 yrs. davidmpark Any chance Disnelyland might relocate to a better place? Like Texas or South Utah? It’d make life easier. Mondobeyondo Maybe Phoenix? We could use a decent amusement park around here. I’m tired of hunting lizards as a recreational activity. liberranter What, no rattlesnakes up in your neighborhood to hunt (I didn’t find any this year on my property either)? mleblanc138 I’m happy as long as California doesn’t send their problems and policies up north to Utah. SLC/Provo is about a 10 hour drive away from SoCal, and yet the two are worlds apart. Unfortunately, Mexican drug cartels have set up grows on some remote land across Southern Utah. richard I LOVE SOCAL I WOULDN’T LIVE ANY OTHER PLACE BUT I LIVE 50 MILES EAST OF L.A. IN A SMALL AG COMMUNITY. Mondobeyondo Michael’s human, and being a human being, he has his hits and misses. Just like any of the rest of us. Believe me, I’ve had some misses as well. Not everyone is going to hit a home run 100 percent of the time. San Francisco has this reputation for being the liberal capital of America. Perhaps that’s true. I don’t know. I’ve never been up there. SoCal, I know rather well. Yeah, it’s different there – from what I understand, Los Angeles is to San Francisco, as Phoenix is to Flagstaff. Same states, vastly different communities. And no, I don’t believe everyone in San Francisco is gay or liberal. [Common misperception of an entire community]. MeMadMax Up in north california you have all the insane white people, down in the southern areas, you have, basically, mexico… What could POSSIBLY go wrong? lololololololol! And yes, I do live there, in Van Nuys, a sub of Los Angeles chilller A fence should be erected around CA to keep them all from leaving and bringing their poisonous ideas into Texas and other neighboring states. Those people moved there because they agreed with CA’s insane ideas. They’re only leaving because they have to but they still have those insane ideas stuck in their heads. Syrin Amen. We need to wall liberals in their own states and keep people from leaving and destroying their neighbors. Up north they’re called Massholes. They leave MA, then keep voting democrat in their new haven only to have the same end result. Liberals are truly too stupid to understand cause and effect, history, facts, figures or basic economic analysis. Bad_Mr_Frosty We need to put a scarlet letter on liberals so no matter where they go we know who they are and what they stand for. liberranter No tattooing is needed. Just spend sixty seconds in the company of one, and you’ll know by what they vomit out of their mouths what kind of creature you’re dealing with. Sheryl You’ve hit the nail on the head, Syrin (hope that reference isn’t considered too offensive or PC-incorrect, or deemed as promoting toolshed violence, for all you uber Liberals out there) Zen They have already ruined Nevada. My advise is keep them out! They are like a parasite. They have damn near killed their host and so they are leaving it and bringing their liberal disease with them. Next thing you know you’re a blue state. JustanOguy Spot on… they have ruined Clark Country / Las Vegas but the backlash has started. Libs are not welcomed in Nevada. The Dude Be careful what you wish for. As someone who lived in California I understand the sentiment. Living their transformed my political outlook. A poor man can live better in Montana, then a rich man can in California. name you know texas doesnt border california, right? Mondobeyondo True. It’s sad to see what’s happening on the Left Coast. Syrin When these liberal douche bags come to US for a bail out for their fiscal INSANITY, all endorsed by GARY, that’s when secession talks take on a SERIOUS tone. I for one think we should wall in the entire state. We would allow anyone or any business that did not vote for Obama or contribute to his campaign to leave. Otherwise, they have to STAY in their cesspool, and not go pollute their neighboring states, because as we all know, liberals are too stupid to understand cause and effect. We’d allow anyone to ENTER the state, but leaving would be very very difficult. 2Gary2 secession is treason. How many dies in the civil war and now you d-bad repubes want to take your toys and go home. Grow the F up. Bad_Mr_Frosty Um, stealing all the wealth of the middle class and giving away all the nation’s jobs to Chinese and Mexicans is treason. If it takes secession or a revolution to end this nightmare, so be it. liberranter Please, don’t dignify the moron’s verbal vomiting by arguing with him. It’s beneath us. Jobless_1 I don’t know about you, but I sure have a hard time finding a job in California. I don’t think that the state was a place to earn/find a living. I don’t know how to do gangsta stuff either so I suck. I guess I would have to join the military as the ticket out. I would settle in a colony/territory if necessary. SOS! One warning, beware of its ripping debt, it’s one of its plagues. Handog 58 watch the video. “Chief Economist says CA. Is going in the right direction. LOL Thanks, I needed a good laugh since I just lost my job recently. The reverse gold rush will turn TX. Into CA. It’s a temporary safe haven at best. By the way, if you think the cost of living is cheap here in TX. Your in for a rude awakening. Rent, food, gas is sky high. Toll roads taxing you to death…. liberranter Having lived in various localities around the country over the last 30 years, I’ve come to the conclusion that the idea of disparate “costs of living” in Amerika is a myth. Honestly, I have not seen evidence of significant cost of living differences between, say, Arlington, Virginia and Albuquerque, New Mexico. The cost of living ANYWHERE in Amerika has become almost prohibitive – thanks in large measure to that moron Ben Bernanke and his Federal Reserve counterfeiting machine, aided and abetted by state and local political machines, Kalifornia’s being the absolute worst. Davethewave I had to comment on your job loss. Sorry you got fried. What could the reason be that you were canned. It must be because of your winning positive personality that we have observed. Perhaps it was your world views. Maybe your ideas on those God given rights you love to spew on about.It must have be great to be with you at lunch. I am sure your former co-workers miss you. Handog Liberals always use petty insults when they lose a debate. Pathetic. Davethewave If that comment is all you got then I just handed em to you. you still have not replied to my other question. Where can I find out about your God Given Rights. Handog Whatever Captain Kirk. Or should I say captain numnuts. LoL Davethewave You got nothiin get a job! Handog I give Michael an A + I don’t need statistics on everything. Perhaps you were truant the day your 8th grade class talked about the San Andreas fault. The one that runs right thru SF. It’s a real threat. Erin Then get the hell out and give the rest of us our much needed space. Oklahoma sounds like a good place for you… Richard “17. Only the state of Illinois has a lower bond rating than the state of California does.” Does what?? Again, don’t you mean, “Only the state of Illinois has a lower bond rating than that of California”? Richard “18. Including unfunded pension liabilities, the state of California has more than twice as much debt as any other state does.” Does what?? Don’t you mean, “Including unfunded pension liabilities, the state of California has more than twice as much debt than that of any other state”? El Pollo de Oro 2Gary2: Thanks for that link. Thirty years ago, I would have laughed my head off if someone described the USA as a banana republic. Now, I call it The Banana Republic of America because in so many respects, that’s exactly what it has become. As I’ve often said, Canadians who want a visit a Third World banana republic needn’t travel far. All they have to do is keeping driving south until they cross the border. Gerald Celente is right: this is an UN-developing country. By the way, I noticed that Chile is the highest ranking South American country on that list. That makes sense because Chile and Uruguay are the least banana republic countries in South America (Argentina, sadly, shot itself in the foot, like the BRA). Hoppytoo Surely you know that JFK believed that lower taxes result in greater revenue. otter1111 Gary, if you just read the article above, you can read about the state the liberals have been in charge of for many years. Many of the above facts are due to the liberal policies. California is in no way conservative, it’s pretty much completely run by liberals. Just like Detroit. This country really hasn’t been run by conservatives either. Obama had complete control in his first two years in office, with the house and senate having strong democrat majorities. Really Bush was not a fiscal conservative, and Obama is out of control as far as spending. What policies exactly are you talking about, anyway? And shouldn’t Obama have fixed them after 4 years? arizonadiane I was born and raised in Pacific Beach part of San Diego. In the 50’s-70’s it was wonderful. Then more people began to move in. Who wouldn’t want to live in beautiful San Diego. Unfortunately, we see the results. Especially bad on all the oceanfront properties. Can’t even see the ocean. I left there in the 70’s but still had parents there. They moved to the “country”– which is now Rancho Bernardo. Wall to wall houses. I now have no reason to go back because everyone is gone, but the last few times was there, was 2010. HORRIBLE traffic, horrible influx of illegals and you name it. It is sad. And then, what idiots put Jerry Brown in for the 3’rd time? He was the one who started the mess in his first term. Some people just don’t get it. cherylmeril San Francisco’s a booming city. Its politicians are idiots but you shouldn’t have listed this city as a reason why California is the worst state. No credibility. cherylmeril Elections may be manipulated with hackers. cherylmeril I agree however San Francisco is very dangerous for pedestrian and bicylists injuries and deaths. It’s an epidemic level here, the #1 city for these kind of accidents . cherylmeril The court system in California is full of a lot of corruption, particularly bad is San Diego. The courts are also entrapping victims they suspect have money through mentally ill people in a desperate attempt to bring money into the legal community. The courts play politics like never before and anything goes, the law and procedure is secondary much of the time. Court’s also rely on those who obviously commit perjury not giving it a second thought. It’s all about cash flow. arizonadiane However, so far none of the cities are looking like Detroit, but few may start. The ones that have already gone bankrupt. Don’t like California? Don’t live here. A far easier solution than whining. Don’t be so negative, Kurt. Remember, “your kind” needs someone to steal from. Ingrates that they are, many prosperous people will choose not to pay for your free lunch — and will reluctantly follow your advice. El Pollo de Oro California is a mess, but then, so is The Banana Republic of America in general. And California’s woes are not only bad for California—they’re also bad for the rest of the country because California is the world’s 9th largest economy. When an economy of that size is in deep trouble, the pain will be felt thousands of miles away. It’ll be felt here in the Northeastern BRA 3000 miles away, and for that matter, it’ll be felt in Europe. This is a global economic nightmare with one major economy after another sinking into the Third World abyss. California’s in trouble, the rest of the BRA is in trouble, big chunks of Europe are in trouble. All this economy misery around the world will lead to violent unrest, major riots, violent crime galore, political extremism, and World War III (which might go nuclear). “The presstitutes aren’t reporting this, but there are massive demonstrations going on in Spain, in Portugal and in Greece. Tens of millions of people in dozens of different cities are taking to the streets. It’s breaking down worldwide.”—Gerald Celente Yes, it is breaking down worldwide. No doubt. And the worse the misery becomes, the bloodier the future will be. The money, as Celente says, is not flowing down to the man in the streets, and the blood will flow in the streets. It will flow like tidal waves. Say a prayer for Europe and a prayer for The Banana Republic of America because we need all the help we can get. liberranter …California is the world’s 9th largest economy. Amazing that that’s still true, given the lengths to which Kalifornians have gone in trying to destroy their own economy. Given the deteriorating present conditions, methinks that the “world’s 9th largest economy” standing won’t be true for very much longer. Shahhe Californians* I hate to be the one to say that, but you can’t even spell. So your not really in the position to be saying what you think is going to happen to California’s standing as the 9th largest economy in the world. Alice Donati So goes California, so goes the nation? We know that California is too big to fail, so a huge bailout is coming. Everyone will get bailed out at the expense of the States who live within their means…Dah….Responsiblity is for fools, right? Cose dell’altro mondo…. I left my home state of California in 1993. The place is beyond repair… give it to Mexico and seal the border… permanently. JustanOguy Sell California to China to pay off the debt and make them work!! Durgys Ramirez The problem is the mobility of the rich. While few will leave the U.S. for tax purposes, they often WILL leave a state. And do. And are. You may not like such facts, but don’t let such facts change your mind. liberranter Since the economic tyranny in Amerika is spreading like cancer through all 50 states, I predict that those with money will soon be leaving the country once they run out of states to flee to. Richard Rider You may be right — eventually. But most CA departees will first move to more friendly states. LATER as the country deteriorates, they may try to flee the good old U.S. of A. But remember, the U.S. is the only developed country in the world that all but criminalizes anyone permanently leaving the country. All appreciated property is IMMEDIATELY taxed, even if not sold. We operate like a banana republic. Moving to another state triggers no such penalties. Yet. MichaelfromTheEconomicCollapse Your research was excellent Richard. Hopefully my little plug sent a lot of extra traffic to your outstanding article. Michael Undecider Now, for Californians who leave the state, embrace your destination. If you’re going to Texas, don’t turn it into California. If you’re going to Nevada, don’t turn it into California. However, I’m sure if you’re reading this article, you’re likely not part of the population that would do that. liberranter If you’re going to Texas, don’t turn it into California. As long as enough REAL TEXANS remain in Texas, that will NEVER be allowed to happen. Adam I agree. Michael gets more stupid with each post. I believe he is running out of posts. You know, he needs one the US is about to end’ post a day. Talk about a negative idiots! Sure some of what he posts is true, but plenty of it is inflated overly negative crap. Mudslides? What a tool. I wonder what his post will be tomorrow? I can see the title now: ‘The US will collapse at any minute even though I have been wrong over and over, time and time again, seriously, I will be right this time, trust me. Maybe he will just post: ‘You will die someday, so why even live?’ He is running out of overly negative things to say to keep his sheep coming to his site. Again, Michael is a crazy Christian, out of touch, overly negative tool. liberranter Thank you for helping prove that all of the negative stereotypes about the creatures that populate the most dysfunctional state in the union are 100 percent true. Deborah I disagree Micheal Deborah Michael, I am a teacher and I have SERIOUS problems with the factor of my failure. can u please do an article about how difficult our jobs as teachers have become during the downturn of society? I am a big fan. Thanks in advance… liberranter You are wrong on about every level, here are a just a few of your factual errors. 1. What Survey? The Bureau of Disgruntled Bloggers? 2. Yet Silicon Valley is here. Chevron Oil is here. The movie and television is here.The agriculture industry is here. Yet people start companies every day. You know why? BECAUSE ALL THE PEOPLE ARE HERE! 4. We are not afraid of taxes. We know our schools suck so were are willing to pay a little more for them. We especially are smart enough to know that the rich need to pay their fair share. 7. I agree this is wrong. It should be number one. 10. You didn’t live in LA in the ‘60’s. You could cut the air with a knife. Taxing polluters is the reason we can breath. 11. Tickets are NOT a tax. They are a fine. They are optional. Don’t wanna pay them? Don’t do anything wrong. 14. Call me crazy, but I want my hair-cutter and my chiropractor and yes, even my tattoo artist to be licensed. I’m funny like that. 16. How many of the TANF recipients are illegal aliens? 20. I agree with this one too. $100k a year for anyone who puts his life on the line for us is too little. It should be a least doubled. 22. Talk radio’s been foaming at the mouth over this one. I don’t have enough time to go over how wrong you are. Our prisons are bursting, in no small part to the deplorable lack of mental health care for those at risk. Yet you would fault the pay for an MD who would care for these people? I know it ‘s Christmas, but have you checked to see if your heart is two sizes too small? 41. Crime is down overall in Los Angeles. 52. Yet Japan, Chile, Italy,Mexico, Washington DC and New Jersey have had bigger earthquakes than we have.And don’t get me started on Hurricanes and blizzards. I’m too tired to go through the rest, but I suggest this. If you don’t like it, leave. yes, people are leaving. what remains are illegals, criminals, and hollywood bizzaros 2Gary2 Former Republican: 6 Reasons the GOP Is Doomed The formerly Grand Old Party needs to change to survive. But all we’re seeing are botox solutions. Thank God the country could move forward with out the conservatives trying to pull us back to the 17th century. LMAO, you are a racist democrat Bad_Mr_Frosty The liberals and conservatives are both right. It’s the over-sized soviet government (conservatives) and the over-sized soviet corporations (liberal) that are killing the middle-class. The system will not allow people to vote for candidates that would address the problem (Ron Paul). Bad_Mr_Frosty Democrats are far-leftists, Republicans are a center-left party. There hasn’t been conservatives in US politics for decades. Apparently, they’re all “racist”. i still want to visit there. atlanta sucks Ralphieboy Pretty much all you state is true. We moved our business from California to Texas in 2000 – best decision we ever made. No, we are not liberals who are foisting our ideas on Texas– just two conservatives who were smart enough to know that California would eventually kill our business. We still maintain a home in Newport Beach – where 87% are registered as republicans. Spend almost six months a year there – especially to escape Texas summers. Beach is a one minute walk from our house, and the weather is as close to perfect as is possible. No, we don’t fight traffic, and yes, we pay no California state income tax. In fact, I bet that most of our neighbors pay no California income tax either. Many are folks who maintain “vacation” homes there – but were smart enough to put their primary homes our of state. Of course, the morons in Sacramento – like liberal morons everywhere, never understand that when the rich are taxed, the rich always find ways to legally avoid it. Of course, California lost us as taxpayers when we fled the state in 2000. The state also lost our employees and that tax base as well – and they continue to lose by chasing small business away. Guess I will never understand why Californians continue to vote these idiots in. Prior to moving to Newport Beach, we lived in a suburb just south of here. All of our neighbors were liberals save one or two. Once our neighbors discovered we were conservative/libertarian – they had absolutely nothing to do with us, and quite frankly, some got downright nasty. Then again, we are small business owners – and they are corporate or government workers who never have had to make payroll. liberranter Guess I will never understand why Californians continue to vote these idiots in. Because most Kalifornia “voters” are lazy, freeloading, economically ignorant sheepletards, like most of the rest of the nation. Obviously they’re just present in greater numbers in KA than in the rest of the country. Shahhe California* Yet again, you insult a whole category of people’s intelligence, yet your spelling is that akin of a 2nd grader. pentachronic Kalifornia is a mockery word to show communism and California as one and the same. Maybe you should stop being overly PC like the rest of Kalifornia. YOU are the problem. PC-ness allows politicians to make stupid laws and add stupid taxes on the premiss of doing the ‘right’ thing for everyone !! mh if you’re going to live here half the year, pay income taxes. all of you are complaining about the “illegals” who drain the system by not contributing tax money, etc – yet here you are, making a significant income, splitting your life between two states, and only contributing to one. dilligaf They’re taking advantage of the system, just like the illegals are. So what? Is there a separate set of rules? Austin My family spends all our time here but for a couple year (since we still own out GA home) d not pay the CA income tax… Why? It’s ridiculously expensive. We do now unfortunately Frank Lucci I am Los Angelean, born and raised. As a kid, I saw this great state get bombarded by folks like you. Yah- you wanted the beaches and the weather, and I guess you thought it was for the taking. However you came, you saw, and you destroyed whatever you could. So good-ridden to the millions who came, saw and destroyed. It would be a welcomed event for those of us natives to purge the rest of you non-natives, including the representatives you brought with you. Whoever wrote this must have had a really bad experience here. The good news is it is about time! Like I used to say as a kid while the planes flew overhead, “Go home and don’t come back!” Kathy Frank, I’m guessing you are Italian American from your name. I too am Italian American, the great grand child of immigrants . So you may be a native of Los Angeles but your ancestors and mine weren’t born here my friend. They are from Italy. Don’t you feel that people coming here to Cali LEGALLY or any place in the US to work hard should be welcomed? They can contribute to the state’s economy just as hard working, driven immigrants who are now third or fourth generation helped make this country great. When immigrants first came to the US many people spat at them because they weren’t “natives”. They said “go home!” Now you want to do the same? drbuzzsaw Can the rest of us, VOTE California OUT of the union??? liberranter 53. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 100,000 more people moved out of the state of California in 2011 than moved into it. And, having rendered their own state uninhabitable, they’re looking for new places to destroy by polluting neighboring states with Nanny-State nonsense and high-handed arrogance. We’re flooded with Kalifornia refugees here in SE Arizona and I do my part to make them feel as unwelcome as possible. liberranter Another Kalifornia Krazy in denial. Sorry, pal, but it doesn’t wash. Go bark your delusions up some other tree. pcmustgo One reason- They let in too many Mexicans who are illegal, don’t earn much, if they work at all, don’t value education, are prone to gangs and theft and corruption, have too many children out of wedlock , born into poverty , at way too young an age,e tc. MAIN REASON- SHIFTED FROM A MAJORITY WHITE PLACE TO A MAJORITY BROWN, LOW IQ KIND OF PLACE. THIRD WORLD POPULATION CREATES THIRD WORLD CONDITIONS. No offense to Mexicans, but it’s the truth. Mexicans and their behavior/genetics are why Mexico is Mexico. Terry Smith CALIFORNIA IS THE BEST STATE IN THE UNION!!!! PEOPLE WHO HATE IT, CAN’T AFFORD IT!!! AND THATS OK, MOVE YOUR BROKE @SS TO THE TRAILER TRASH CRAPPY MIDWEST, OR THE SMELLY TRAILER TRASH RUSTBELT! IF YOUR NOT PULLING IN OVER A $100K ANNUALLY .LOL,LOL,LOL Lily I hear ya. Brother. Right on. I love ca Mark Marky its time to rotate the tires on your mama’s single wide! Mark Your not, lmao Lynn I live in San Diego, where almost year round I am able to take in a beautiful walk. Neighbors are friendly. There’s a sense of community, and we all watch out for each other. Crime in San Diego is way down from the ’80s and ’90s, I don’t live in a planned urban development, but in the heart of the city. I love the diversity, the languages, the people. Traffic is heavy, but at least it moves, and most drivers I find are polite. The state is still beautiful… Our city, state and national parks are gems. Sure, we have our problems, but Californians are feisty and independent. I’m sure Michael could write the same article on any of the other 49 states and list their problems. I for one love the uniqueness of CA. And you haven’t lived until you’ve tried a fish taco. Richard Rider Bad as our CA taxes are, that’s just ONE factor. We are extremely anti-business, have sky-high utility costs (not even counting AB32 increases) and are now rated the “worst judicial hellhole” in the nation. Aside from the weather (which is great along the coastal zone), there is EVERY reason to leave this state — especially if one is engaged in commerce. California? It’s politics, fruit cakes, liberals, entitlement infested population, taxes, and rules! Doesn’t even rate a comment! Dominik Yes all of this is true, but don’t forget about the successful companies here. California is the most unique state in the union. From the food to the fashion. Of course the most beautiful state (in my opinion) gets stuck with all the insane politicians and way to many regulations and…well everything stated above. California still does have the largest textile factory that makes clothes in America by American workers and nothing is shipped from other countries to American Apparel Inc. which is the last great American clothing company. kurt cobain I like how someone else other than me is identifying the illegals by what they are; mexicans. Or is the term mexicans too politically incorrect? Sandra Bell Many are central and south american too. W Dawes Actually there is a lot of Illegal Chinese in California too Danny_Sunset and a lot of illegal Israelis and other middle easterners. nimrod Born and raised in Socal during the golden period (1960-1980’s) left in 1988, returned in 1994-2002, then left for good. Low crime, nice people, great place to live, go to school, safe to walk around back then….But since early-mid 1990’s this is all gone. My old high school turned into a prison camp, my old city into a little Tijuana, the traffic is bad 24-7, high costs for everything! Moved to the southeast: low crime, low cost of living, 10 minutes to work, low/no traffic, morals and values are taught and practiced. I went out for an interview in CA lately, even Norcal looks like Tijuana now. The freeways were littered with trash, the beach cities were unkept, people were not friendly, businesses were run down. I told them don’t bother making me an offer as I was not interested in living in the state. So not only is CA losing businesses, they are now becoming uncompetitive for the best employees. because of the squalor, it will get much worse, maybe NEVER get better. we need to flush the system clean, stop attracting freeloaders and get on with life without being dragged down. There is no reason that we need to provide any free lunches and bring in more legal or illegals until we find jobs for the 25Million people that are out of work. lou California is overpopulated, period….. due mostly to foreigners, especially mexicans and koreans here illegally. They trashed their own countries and are now doing the same in California David Salter You forgot one very important fact, and one that the rest of the world is looking at with bemusement; California had the chance recently, with Prop 37, to catch up with Europe (I live in UK) and enforce labelling of GMO foods. And they blew it! Why on earth would you not want to know what is in the food you eat? This shows complacent trust in a government that continues to screw you over at every opportunity. And a complete failing to notice the corruption between big business, government and the media. Brian Johann Schuler California sucks the list is endless also the weather even along the coast its either really hot really cold super windy really dry or really wet the weather is terrible and boring its all extremes its too dry and it does not snow in la i cant wait to leave Jimi If it wasn’t for the fiscally socialist welfarism I’d move to California in a heartbeat. Bogmire Sure its pretty, but its full of self-righteous fools who have shown how poorly they run a government, I WANT OUT, As soon as I am out of college, Im out of Cali. Shahhe No seriously, we want you gone. girlswagger NOTICE HOW THIS IS THE ONLY SITE THAT STATES HOW HORRIBLE CALI IS. LMFAO openeye There is more.then nust Mexicans, if that someone else wasnt blind, there are, chinese, russians, and many different race coming here, also from way down south past Mexico. Unless your a reneck “ahmercin”.then you should understand that there is alot more people who come.here illegaly. angel Hey im not mexican but not all mexicans are undocumnted as u think…. Anon I don’t care if they are or not. It’s terrible that they come in to help ruin (note the help) the country. We don’t need anymore migrant workers that dodge taxes while having the state spend thousands on them. I say this as an unfortunate hypocrite who has one clean the house every Friday. Steven P Chiolan At least you’re honest. Tom Don’t forget about all the Indians and Chinese that come to our universities and then stay in our country and take the top paying jobs. pentachronic The educated people are not an issue. They pay large amounts of taxes as they are typically high-end workers who have good qualifications. The problem is that the State puts nothing back into Education. They reap what they sew. Bad Government is the key issue. The-Truth-Hurters You sound like just another ignorant white Republican spewing hate without knowing any real facts. First of all, you’re an immigrant in this country too because you stole it from the Native Americans don’t forget that redneck joe. Second, your country was built by immigrants in the first place like the Chinese who came here and built the railroads and ifrastructure, and the Indians are the only reason you even have a Silicon Valley at all. Third, no one is stealing your jobs… You are losing them because these people are more qualified, smarter, and work harder than fat/racist/ignorant/poorly educated white hick Americans. You can’t blame an Indian or Chinese for taking your jobs when they study and work hard all day long while you’re out drinking beer and eating burgers, and riding around in your pickup truck saying “America f**k yeah!” while demanding higher salaries for doing less work and more vacation time. What has happened is that the world today is a lot more interconnected with the advent of social media, the internet, gloablization, and many of the new technologies… This makes it easier for people from all over the world to migrate where they will have a better life just like you honky Americans did when you came from the UK to America. The only difference is that for years you have been saying America is the best everything and now you can’t just simply say that anymore; now you actually have to back it up and all you uneducated Republican Americans are finding out you’re actually not the best at anything and that most of the world is quite smarter and harder working than you are and you simply can’t deal with it so you blame the immigrants, eventhough you yourself are immigrants in the first place. The truth is that many of the immigrants that come here have had much worse circumstances and a far harder life which has taught them a good work ethic. We as Americans have been spoiled by our luxuries and now when these people that have a better work ethic than us come here we find it hard to compete and all we do is bitch and moan. If you want your jobs back then work harder and learn to compete with those that are better qualified and you will get them back. Lastly, the people that are hiring the the immigrants who are better qualified and that work for less are the white people anyway, so it’s actually your own kind whos selling you out. glorp wow the-truth-hurters appears to be a hate mongering ignorant liberal…. so sad you call someone ignorant and hateful but ignore your own hate you spew from your poisoned mind… Ben Liberals like the truth hunters are destroying this country. Illegal immigrants are taken food off legal Americans plates . These corrupt politicians are destroying are legal system. No legal citizen that own an real property is safe stand up dont support this don’t buy into this! If u don’t feed it it can’t survive The-Truth-Hurters Yeah, anyone who has actual knowledge and some coherent logic of whats really going on in the US; and who doesn’t just find some one to point their fingers at is a “liberal.” What a well put together argument you made, that’s exactly why you’re kind is become obsolete. You’re just another entitled white american conservative, who cant open their eyes and adapt to change… By the way I’m not a liberal either, so try again. The greedy and immoral investment banks/corporations/corrupt politicians (conservative & liberal alike) are what has ruined this country, not immigration. If you have any education you’d understand the complexity behind whats going on behind the scenes. It’s wealthy white CEO’s and investment bankers who control Washington, the FDR, our policies and politicians; and they are the ones who are selling your own kind out. The truth is you’re misinformed and uneducated on how your government really works, and you are being brainwashed by your false american patriotism; which is exactly what the powers that be are depending on to control and manipulate you. I have nothing against you personally, and you don’t have to agree with me and you’re entitled to your own opinion… But come on, how can an immigrant who has no establishment/resources in a new country affect or control anything… That’s ludicrous and things are not so black and white as you make them out to be. Corporate white America and investment banks are the cause of all this. Wake up! The Vile Maxim by Adam Smith is what has ruined our country, not a handful of immigrants. Pedro A Lopez I like the way you think. I am not illegal but I am from central, born an rase and the ignorance in this great country is sad. Charles Diemont They come here for work, and then send all the money back south. The-Truth-Hurters LOL! No they don’t. Do you have any empirical data to prove your ignorant claim? Any statistics to show? By the way, are you even aware that your avatar is an afghan fighter holding an ak47; which ironic since you’re against foreigners. No personal offense intended, but it seems that you’re not very bright or observant. And so what if immigrants send money back home to help their families? I’m a US born American and I would too if I was in the same situation. Nothing comes before family, definitely not patriotism to a country that’s selling out its own citizens for corporate greed. If you were struggling in your home land and could have a better life in another country, don’t tell me that you wouldn’t migrate to where you could have a better life and do whats best your family… After all, that’s what America’s founders did in the first place when they founded this country. THIS LAND WAS THE NATIVE AMERICANS LAND, AND EVERYONE ELSE IS AN IMMIGRANT HERE! Let’s see you prove that wrong… You have no right to say who can be here and who can’t because this is not your country to do so! Furthermore, you’re so concerned about immigrants sending what little money they make back home, yet your “American” corporations and investment banks are evading taxes and siphoning billions of dollars offshore… Yet that’s fine! What an immigrant makes has no affect on the economy, however dirty companies like Apple and Google have enough money to end poverty and hunger worldwide (look it up -its a fact) and yet they don’t put anything back into our economy and that’s the real reason behind our crumbling economy. Your lack of education is scary especially when considering a lot of “patriotic” Americans like you are so uneducated and full of hate; and then they go and vote being completely misinformed. Please open a book and read about how our economy works and what the Vile Maxim is. Understand what’s going on behind the scenes and how the privately owned FDR manipulates currency and inflation. Learn about how corporate and special interest lobbyists have demolished the ideals that this country was founded on, and you’ll start to see that immigrants are nothing but a scapegoat and that you are being brainwashed and led astray by your gov. The population of this country is so dumb that a hateful fear monger like Trump may actually win the election! Why, because this is a nation of uneducated morons who have no clue about how their country really works. Southpark totally nailed it with their “Dey toook r jobs!” Pull your head out of the sand and LEARN THE TRUTH! I love my country, but I hate the people in charge and the rampant ignorance among the general population. molon_labe Do you have any empirical data to prove your ignorant claim that I’m uneducated? And speaking of ignorant, it’s a red dawn avatar dumbass lol get back to your bull prepping kayaker It’s the CORPORATIONS and the WEALTHY that do the tax dodging. Wake up!!!! The-Truth-Hurters Yes I agree 100%. The greedy and immoral obscenely wealthy individuals/corporations/investment banks are the real problem. You are one of the few enlightened ones out there and that gives me hope that others will catch up and see also see the truth. Pedro A Lopez Wow help ruin the country. You are so stupid but whatever makes you happy at night. molon_labe Then they are American. Not Mexican. And you saying other wise is why we have the problems we do with immigration from Mexico. John Republicans Californiarules California is the greatest place to live and work. Economy was and is the largest in the U.S., and your opinions are not shared. Jealousy and unhappiness is comes through your ariticle. WE LOVE CALIFORNIA. Alexbella In the words of my science teacher, “I rathef be in an 8.5 earthquake than a stage 1 tornado”. Californias the best, 20 minutes from everything! I can snowboard and go to the beach in one day! Each weekend I have 10 amusment parks to choose from, the beach, venice, concerts, snowboarding, ect! Maybe it costs more to live here but I moved away for a year, and never again will I live anywhere other than California. frog get a life or get off of the computer frog stop picking on other states where all a nation and that’s coming from a 13 year old ya’ll just got served nockout99 I AGREE WITH FROG Oklahoma Yes..it’s a canary…like China, India and Africa “perfect example[s] of what happens when you continually add more and more people”…to the planet. vic All people talk about is the weather. I have lived in Mexifornia for 42 years and the people who run this state have killed it. What’s sad is that the UNIONS have taken control and these sheeple keep believing their lies so they keep voting for bull crap. Pelosi, Boxer, Feinstein, Moon-Beam Brown, Newsom, Waters, these are some of the biggest morons to ever hold office. They even shut down our farm lands to save a freaken fish. Stupid people and I can’t wait to leave…. B Meh, the author doesn’t live here. More than half of that rant is opinion, another 45% doesn’t make sense/is not substantiated. Plenty of work, the state govt isn’t broke (in fact we now have a surplus), people here are still alive, lots of big business STILL here (intel, apple, google, Levi’s, Tesla, Hollywood, Napa Valley, thd entire central Cali agricultural business, and so on…). We STILL have TWO world class cities, so much natural beauty that songs, movies, poetry, have been created about it, people travel from the other side of the earth to see it, and residents get to see it daily. You can travel thru 5 climates in less than 3 hours. Nothing’s free bitch. If u like nice things ya gotta pay for ’em. California is one of the largest states, is THE most populous, and by far the best looking – that’s gotta be maintained… If ur a cheap-ass, move to fugly-ass Texass or some other Midwestern/southern donkey-#%€er state where taxes are cheap but half the state is on welfare and in poverty and “edumacation” is not a priority according to the state representatives… So, Californians aren’t leaving in “droves” (so stupid). We are still here in CA enjoying life and laughing at the fools who are jealous and therefore feel the need to knock this awesome and crazy, delicious and beautiful, one-of-a-kind place. Erin RIGHT ON BABY! YOU TELL ‘EM! Austin I moved to California 3 years ago this month, my sophomore year of highschool. I love it here and am not leaving for any reason other than travel when I can afford to. I have now graduated highschool and I’m attending college in a quaint costal city. The first 15 years of my life was spent in a suburb of Atlanta and it is much better here IMO. I live on the border of Encinitas and south carlsbad (la costa) and use the beach as a daily getaway. While the tourism gets annoying its wonderful meeting so many people everyday. There are very few cops away from the freeway I drive at least 30 minutes a day and usually see one cop but there is very very little crime in this area of San Diego county. I know big cities can be fun if you’re visiting but they are the majority of reasons you have listed to not live here. I definitely felt more of a sense of community where I’m from in Georgia but once you make friends out here and fall in love with the ocean and bays/activities you can do around them you realize it’s a different kinda love. & where I live there are very few Mexicans. Just find the right area if you wanna live here (preferably on the coast not in a major city) and you may love it like me. I’m 18 and hope to live past 50 stayin in this beautiful state. Most importantly if you want to get away from people there are canyons even in the coastal cities with trails all over the place and there’s few to none people and they’re usually gorgeous. Checkout Encinitas if you want to get away from big city lifestyle. Later everyone! Fr33th1nk3r The biggest thing I cannot stand since moving here from Pennsylvania 10 years ago– is the overwhelming conformity and materialism here. Everybody in California seems to listen to the same terrible mainstream music, the same crappy trendy movies and TV reality shows, and they all spend more time talking about their iPads and mobile devices than worrying about education or the nation as a whole.– Everything here, from the pizza to the beaches, is overhyped and made out to be the best thing to happen since sugarless gum– but in reality, you will get the cheapened, watered down, overmarketed and overpriced California version.– Everything is overregulated. You can’t even enjoy a beer on the beach without getting a citation. You can’t even change a doorknob in your house without some local government code enforcement type trying to tack on fees and fines for your troubles.– The graduation rate for public schools in California is abyssmal. Rai Hey, could you do me a favor and link reliable sources and stuff that actually backs up your claims more often? Because when I see breitbart and articles that don’t really prove your point upon closer inspection I tend to think you’re a liar. The carbon tax article you linked had “could” in the title, meaning it doesn’t prove it’s even happening in the first place. Then again, when I look at this blog title you’re probably just as reliable as breitbart. Anonymous I am a fifth generation northern Californian and all I have to say is that some of these issues can happen ANYWHERE. For example, you can’t prevent earthquakes, mudslides, or wildfires and its not like we WANT them to happen, we just can’t control them. I’m not trying to rag on anyone, so please keep the negative comments out of this. I do agree that at this point in time our government and school systems are screwed up and that illegal immigrants are also screwing up our state’s balance, but everyone just focuses on CA with immigrants… What about Arizona, New MEXICO, and Texas? While I’m at it, the traffic is only bad in SOUTHERN CA (I know this because I’ve lived in the Bay Area my ENTIRE LIFE, never moved never wanted to) and this whole thing is blown out of proportion. By the way, I know about that city that banned smoking and it was for the good of the people, smoking causes lung cancer and cigs have such harmful things in them that they should be banned ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. I also know that Oakland is one of the worst cities in CA and that its also one of the most dangerous cities, too, but that doesn’t mean that ALL of CA is dangerous. Also, even though it doesn’t state it here, keep your stereotypes to yourself! Californians aren’t blonde moron surfers with nose jobs and Botox, we are actual people, not the fake characters on tv shows. pysco I forwarded the article to Boxer, Brown and Feinstein, and told them have a nice day. I urge everyone to do the same. Vaggieburger I L❤VE CALIFORNIA! I have lived in the sf Bay Area ALL my life, BORN & RAISED! (3rd generation San Franciscan 😉 I dont agree w/what our Government is doing, nor do I feel good about it BUT I love Ca w/all my heart! WEST SIII-EEED! Lol Lol jelous much? Now name the great things about cali Ahmed illegals? The whole country is illegal, so stop being a republican about it. “This country was founded by a group of slave owners who wanted to be. Am I right? A group of slave owners who wanted to be free! So they killed a lot of white English people in order to continue owning their black African people, so they could wipe out the rest of the red Indian people, in order to move west and steal the rest of the land from the brown Mexican people, giving them a place to take off and drop their nuclear weapons on the yellow Japanese people.” Carlin, G. commonsense thank you for posting a/b a subject almost over 200 years old, as if it pertains anyway what so ever to the present decline of California… Anon Immigrants built this country but that does not mean they can tear it down. Get off your historically correct high horse and see what they are doing NOW. molon_labe Funny how they always bring up we’re a nation of immigrants. Yes, of course we are. But look at the difference the two brought to the table. Built some of the largest cities in the world. These immigrants from south of our border, well, one just go to a once thriving city to see the effect they have. Utter filth and destruction. Educated_Person_101 Because Geroge Carlin is the final word on perfect political harmony. You are influenced by the wrong people. Comedians’ opinions on politics are worthless. molon_labe Everyone in this room is now dumber from having read that. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul. You must have learned that in a California school. During white privilege class. MA I am a native to California, and I still live here. I do not plan to leave or move any where else any time soon mainly because I love this state. There is so much to do. I would hate living in, for example, Georgia. Not only is there nothing to do there, but there are racist people, and well I would not want to deal with that considering that I’m not white. It is more excepting here. Mainly in Southern California, because there is everyone. I would hate to be surrounded just be one race. Plus, weather is unbeatable compared to other states. It does get hot, and cold, but not nearly as much compared to other states. I love California (Mostly Southern) and I am not leaving. Blue Blooded Californian Wow so biased its funny. No state is perfect, that being said this person failed to talk about some other things. California accounts for 15% of the U.S gdp, this state alone makes more then Canada, or Russia. If California was a country it would be the eight largest economy in the world. Texas as everyone seem to be talking about, let me say some things about that. Highest un-insured rate, and one of the highest poverty rate, No state minim wage which means that they follow the fed min wage, which is $7.25 (San Francisco min wage $10.75) oh and lets not forget how much federal aid Texas has and still keep getting. Where as for California, who does have problem (I admit that) is giving more back to the govt then its taking in. Based on several economist California is on track for a surplus in 2014. California has movies, tech, agriculture, its own cuisine I can go on and on. Texas and every other conservative states takes more then its gives out. Which really makes one to rethink, the premise about takers and givers does it!! So stop your bitching because everyone who has every come to California would love to move here, they just can’t afforded it. If you don’t like it, leave. CitizenX I’m still waiting for the rest of the people that don’t like California to move out of the state. Please. anonymous Not sure how everyone in the comments can’t see what how blatantly ignorant and completely absurd this article is… for example “32. Political correctness is totally out of control in California”. Great use of evidence there, not biased at all! I can acknowledge that the economy in California is suffering, but at least educate yourself on what’s really going on before you mindlessly bash all the “liberal douchebags”. Bob Dole not just liberals, we have plenty of douchbag republicans, in fact most of our states problems were caused by republicans and their corporate interests, not liberals. Anon And yet our state has been run by liberals for the last couple of decades, AT LEAST. Now, we have a Democrat super majority in the state… Re-read the list and see what they have done to drive businesses out of the state. Most of that was because of the liberals. The cities with the most liberal policies (in California) are the most expensive and crime-ridden places to live in. Also, some of the most successful businesses in California tend to be Democrat-leaning. www dot goodguide dot com slash contributions. sinjonsmith If its so bad, then why to real estate values continue to go through the roof? Real Estate is like any other market or commodity. People pay high prices for highly desired goods. People pay high prices for California real estate because its a desirable place to live and although it has a LOT of problems, I can name 10 other states with worse problems including all the rust belt states (iowa, wisconsin, mich, indiana, ohio, illinois) where there is an exodus of people to get away from failing infrastructure, corruption and rising taxes to pay for it all..not to mention bad weather..and extremely poor southern states that have NO economy..mississippi, alabama, south carolina and Florida where the education system is worse than california…as well as some states with huge budget problems out east like Jersey…I’ll take california any day over any of these other states..California’s economy alone is the 12th largest in the WORLD and the US would take a huge hit if it didn’t exist..I don’t live in CA, but imo if you want to start a page on how much a state sux, start elsewhere…oh another thing about everyone crying about illegals…like cali is the ONLY place where that happens…its the ONLY place where people come over the border…Its a National issue idiots..and we have plenty in Chicago…I own real estate and without them, id have to pay some other white fat dude 5 times as much to work half as hard and do 1/10 as quality of work who’s probably in a union…oh which this page ironically hates because probably because unions are left leaning… James Every time the state legislature de-funds or disapproves a highway/bridge/public university repair project on the annual budget, people pass a $1B bond ballot measure during the next election to get the state into more debt and re-fund that particular effort. Voters in CA fail to realize that a new university center or highway overpass is nice, but somebody has to pay for it by raising state debt (often paid for with new taxes). I used to live there, and every election had millions of new bonds to be raised for somebody’s pet project on the ballot. My rule when voting was 99% of the time “No” if it required a new municipal bond to be raised, especially if it was an attempt to circumvent the regular budget process in Sacramento. James CA is also one of the few states where a $100K income may not be enough to buy real estate. A down-payment on a CA home can pay the loan in full for an average home in many other states. People in high cost living areas (LA, SF, SD, etc…) take out huge mortgages and cram 10 people in a small home to pay their mortgage every month. It’s no coincidence that many of the homes shown being flipped on HGTV are located in CA. Unless you’re rich, bought a home 25 years ago, or inherited property from a relative, or resort to shady funding methods (i.e. share mortgage payment with 6 people, take out multiple loans, etc…) it’s tough to buy real estate in CA. Fornian’ Ok first of all California is the best state of all. Second you are unworthy. bynx110 1. It’s California not KALIFORNIA. 2. Do you know how ignorant and prejudice you sound? It’s disgusting really. Yes our state has major problems but we are ALL U.S citizens. Treat others as you wish to be treated. Did it ever cross your small mind that maybe people from California treated you poorly because of the way you decided to treat them? Treat people with respect, we all come from different places and different walks of life. Do you agree with the Holocaust, slave trade, Native American treatment, and all the other major in tolerances in history? Think before you write….because you are clearly defining how NOT to be a decent human being. EmeraldStar I’ve lived in Southern Cali all my life. After graduating college and going on to graduate school I decided it was time to leave. I moved to MI six months ago! Yes Detroit is bad, but it’s like that one city is pulling the entire states reputation down. No matter how bad Detroit is, the rest of the state is SO much better than anywhere I’ve been in southern Cali. Yes, I miss the diversity of people but here are some reasons a person my age would leave. The U’s in Cali can take up to six months to let you know if you’ve even been accepted. WMU let me know in less than two weeks. The cost of tuition and books are ridiculous when compared to the type of education you will be receiving (a BAD one). About 75% of students care about taking their education seriously and the rest are there for the financial aid. In SoCal it can take you months if not years (depending on what you do) to find a job, I found a job in less than a week in MI. The weather in amazing in CA and I miss the different cultures and their awesome food, but the pace is too fast, too many people are stressed out and are either jaded or jerks (not all, but there is a overhanging stress level you can’t really escape) When your worried about being laid off or making ends meat no wonder… Also, the crime! Theft is a huge issue in SoCal. Be it car, private property, or downright armed robbery. Gangs are a major problem in the L.A. area especially. Taxes are ridiculous and because larger companies know jobs are slim pickings they use it as an excuse to treat you like garbage. What are you going to do? Quit? Too bad you have kids to feed. Welcome to Cali, the suck it up things aren’t getting any better soon state. Don’t get me wrong, if it wasn’t for the people and the politics Cali is my home and I love it in a weird “that’s MY ugly baby” kind of way lol. Beautiful beaches, amazing deserts and mountains. I miss it sometimes. Then I read about a family that was murdered two miles from the high school I went to and NOPE! Glad I left. Best place to visit, but once you get past the fascination with this glamorous Hollywood lifestyle you’ll realize that it’s all a lie. Hollywood and L.A. are full of hobo’s and the whole city smells like urine and garbage. Except that small complex in little tokyo, then it smells like amazing asian food lol! Get the Golden state idea out of your head, that golds been tarnished for years : Shahhe Oh good god. I’m fairly certain your what’s causing the poor education rating in whatever part of California your living in. Please leave this wonderful state and the education rating will probably rise in literacy at least by tenfold. stassia Please stay there and everyone will be happy. Shahhe It is spelled with a C. And one wonders why Arizona scores lower than the rest on literacy. Shahhe You keep saying that yet you’ve yet to leave. I don’t think you realize that your wanted gone, please, feel free to go to Oklahoma or Utah, or even Texas or Florida. It matters not! All that matters is that you are to leave, as you claim you wish to, and as you are deeply wanted to by those in California before people like you came here hoping for free everything, then shocked when it turned out that the presence of so many like you tarnished it. So hopefully, with you gone, and staying gone this time, California will become fully back to the days of yore. So please, leave and don’t come back once that happens. Not ever. Sorry. Davis Rivas The best thing about California is all the Freebies you can get, welfare, food-stamp, medicaid, free lunches, housing, etc.. Even prisoners in California live better than middle classes in other countries. The tax payers in CA are SO generous. Thanks guys. john BOTTOM LINE–Those that can’t afford the California luxuries move to lesser states than bash California, cause THEY could not make it or be happy. I would NEVER leave California. Enjoy the snow, rain and cold. I WILL NOT! Have fun with all that. We have the best weed, the best weather and the hottest women. BOTTOM LINE–There is always a story behind the story when someone bashes California. Some crazy people move from California to Oregon and convince themselves that 290 days of rain a year is better, GIVE ME A BREAK! lol @ the true Californians like me that laugh at you all. Have fun in your other state and remember when you are complaining about the cold or snow or grey sky, I’m smiling with my shirt off smoking weed laughing at you fools. Melissa I was born in San Diego 45 years ago and have never left. Oh, I wish you would get the word out so more people would leave California, and less people would come here. Then I could have less crowds, more parking, more room at the beach. Me and the millions of Mexicans will stay here in San Diego, we get along fine. Everyone who doesn’t like it, please go awa . It’s great because whenever I visit anywhere else I always notice: the weather really sucks and everything is so cheap! No sales tax? No state income tax? I am always blown away by states like this. That makes my dollar go a lot farther when I travel so fine by me. Orisha The drought is caused by The Hight Priest of the world in Solidarity against Gov. Brown and all the states unions in Solidarity against AwoGbade. He is a shaman from Sacramento California who created a crime prevention youth program that Ex. Gov. Choose as his personal legacy program. Multiple murder attempts were made on this innocent High Priest and his father was murdered on Jan.5th 2013. The high pressure system blocking rain in Pacific Ocean are the Ancestors spirits in Solidarity against the injustice of Gov. Brown and police/corrections union and the denial of civil rights to AwoGbade over last 8 year period. This is only the start to what the Myans forecast. Since 12-12-12. The date Union members in Californias Department Of Justice tracked Awogbade and hitmen inserted Aids blood into him. No Justice No Water! It’s only starting in California. Without a thorough FBI investigation into Yeshua Awogbade court case in Sacramento…the forces of nature will wipe Americas Slate Clean. Miaeka Thanks, as an European this post convinced me that California is definitely less retarded than rest of America. I’m looking forward to supporting their economy by visiting them some day. I love the stable and civilized societies we Europeans have managed to create through high taxation. I hope California will reach the same level of civilization some day. Bob Dole You can keep it, we prefer liberty and freedom, and yes we will invade you no questions asked if you threaten that. Shango!!! YESHUA AWOGBADE is my son. Ive had full custody 4 years because Shoshana Robertson in a active alcoholic and meth addict. According to Shoshana she was molested by her first cousin Mayor Kevin Johnson since age 12. After her July 2nd suicide attempt she told the Mayor, my son is his and if she dont get custody back and 2 million dollars she woukd expose him. The Police Union got behind there Mayor and multiple attempts have been made on my life. After the first attempt on my life I called upon the forces of nature for protection and punishment to those responsible. Last year was the worst drought on record because of police union actions and violation of my civil rights for 8 years. WITHOUT A REAL FBI INVESTIGATION THE NATIONS WEATHER WILL BE THE WORST. Jack The state stinks for real…its a commie-liberal pisshole. Callie Honestly CALIFORNIA lifestyle is the best in the country. No where else will ever compare. As someone who has traveled and lived in other places, I can honestly testify that there’s no better place to spend this precious life in. It’s a beautiful place with beautiful souls. Not California The best thing I ever did was to move my family and company out of California. I tried for years to sell my company, few were interested but none would buy it as long as it remained in California, and to be honest, selling it in California would has set us back two careers. Found out by moving to Nevada we saved all the tax money California would have robbed from us. After a year in Nevada company was sold. we no longer live in Nevada but I will say we did leave Nevada a better place, and Nevada made us better people, Nevada gave use back the humanity California stole at every chance it could take. California has the worst schools, the worst people the worst cops, the worst opportunity, brought on by the worst government, the worst everything you could image, it just plain sucks. I went to court one time my attorney had everything laid out and the judge said I don’t recognize that law, the attorney said here is a brief, judge said I don’t recognize that law. attorney said here is the law book already marked all you need to do is read it, judge said,,, you got it. he didn’t recognize the law. To the judge my attorney said, you have already decided haven’t you, the judge smiled, to make it short we won on appeal, the money held by the state was returned I moved it into Nevada, my company and my family, the guy that bought my company divested all the California holdings, big loss to the people of the state. I have a buddy that is doing the same thing, pulling his company out of California and going to headquarters it in Nevada then divest all California holdings at a loss of another 900 jobs to the state. When you look up the word looser, California is on the top of the list. I should say I was born and raised in California, what I used to think was the best place on earth, Santa Clara, Then as we did better Dad moved us to Los Altos Hills. I went for a visit to Northern California to see some friends, I bought a truck that ran on propane with a big tank, I didn’t have to spend a dime on anything in that state. I hate that state so much I will never spend a dime there. JULIA Dunkee III The Disney Hall Complex on that picture is usually under sold for concerts. The bar is lame, the restaurant prentious and overpriced, and it has all the chic of an airplane hanger. It has good acoustics and some great people come through but it is like mostly closed up during week. Poor Mex student work the usher roles and the mostly older elite types aren’t interesting and dress like 1800’s. It has these Sheriff deputies guarding I guess the 1% and they always look at me with why am I here faces. Sad place. Homeless vets live underneath bridge it sits on. That says it all. JULIA Dunkee III Hollywood is supported by the economic engine of Nail Salons, Tattoo Parlors, Weed Shops, and Hooker Wear type stores. At night it has some Blade Runner type nightclubs that are from the low level to Hollywood crowds, but unlike other cities the PAPS can do whatever so it’s always crazy that way. Tourists keep coming though it is grimy, dirty and no stars except on premieres which are hugely policed and controlled. All Hollywood Blvd. has hidden cams that are watched from a special station. The LA is considered a “gateway” city and employs the TrapWire Surveillance system. Plus it is usung drones now to like Arizona. JULIA Dunkee III It is not well understood by most but the Hollywood smarter money has left LA or is trying to. It is more than taxes. Many people come in for the Media Industry but there is a sizable exodus judging by home listings in any real estate listing service. The LA TImes is total BS propaganda that even locals call out all the time. It is strange because a lot of the moneyed are exiting fast. ANd it gives me creeps cause these people already can avoid most things. I think some event is scheduled here. I think others are aware of that too. Stephanie S I moved to the Midwest a year ago from L.A. and just went back for a visit. Yes, it’s nice and pretty and the weather is great. Cool place to visit, I don’t want to live there again. Crime, “diversity”, materialism, frantic pace, traffic…no thanks. A short visit is pleasant but living there was becoming a nightmare. Calilove I’ve lived in CA most of my life and I have to say I have never seen a Mexican beggar asking for money or food or anything. Selling oranges, flowers, etc by the freeway? Absolutely! I just had to point out observation after reading all of these racist comments. If you’re not a CA resident, you are reading some random stats that do not necessarily reflect the economic status of my neighborhood. Also, CA is a “horrible” state because of wildfires and earthquakes?! Get real! I haven’t witnessed any awful blizzards, huge hail storms or tornados destroying huge trailer parks in CA. Oh wait! Not many trailers here, our homes are constructed to withstand earthquakes & are built on a foundation! Christian so much hate against the mexicans, have you ever been in a migration office? there’s many asian people middle eastern, also European people, so take your comment back and insert it inside your butt hole. molon_labe I don’t see Asian, Arab or European migrants leaving ghettos of once great cities in their wake. Monsatan Never been across the pond, I take it? BGenie You missed the Russian and Ukrainian immigrants here in N.CA. They are productive, going to college, taking ESL classes, working and opening stores. The Mexicans come here, expect us to learn their language, live off welfare, spray-paint graffiti, rob stores/banks, and deal drugs. I worked in an ER; a mexican family on welfare brought in a 10y/o girl who was ‘feeling sick’. Turns out she was pregnant… by her uncle, and they were happy because they were purposely breeding her for more welfare money. Mexicans are parasites, we need to close the border. Mike McCormack ewww gross. Uncle daddy. Sandra Bell Did you report this situation to child abuse authorities? The girl should have been legally and permanently removed from the home and the rest of the family deported as criminals with no chance of future citizenship. DW I hope to hell you sterilized her Christian nope, cali is very nice, your life sucks haha Michael Hansson Why do Californians keep voting on these politician that is turning their beautiful state into a hellhole? Funruffian The physical geography of California is vast and beautiful. The terrain and natural landscapes are magnificent. Unfortunately, it has too many crappy people and crappy leaders. rogersan You forgot the epic drought going on right now… allfab A reason why it is one of the best: the writer of this article doesn’t live here. taylor This articles retarded. Its repeats the sames stuff over and over again. We have higher wages anyhow to hiving higher taxes makes sense, derrr. sdreal Wow, I might as well just leave the CA after reading this. Haha. – I love living in Southern CA and I have a well paying job selling software to high tech industries. I can travel anywhere in the west, but I mostly choose to stay in CA because that is where most of the money is… and who wants to go anywhere else unless absolutely necessary? Certainly, Texas is always lowest on my list of places to visit. Outside of Austin, it’s a cultural vacuum and in the summer it’s hotter than an oven. Plus, outside of oil, the industries aren’t nearly as robust and dynamic as those in CA. – Don’t you think it’s interesting that some of the biggest and most innovative companies on the planet, like Apple and Google, are based in California? Guest As all those people leave, the nutty liberals remain behind and their power grows. The growing number of poor will go along with whatever they say so long as the benefits keep coming and increasing. Eventually the state is going to bust and then they’ll howl for DC to bail them out, and DC probably will. Anon Arizona especially is awful. You want to talk about a piece of trash, it’s Phoenix burning rubber smell and angry, flaring inferno environment in July. izzycafe We have a democratic super majority and they are driving our great state into the likes of Detroit city.. only it will be the whole state. The thinking is tax and put fees and regulations on everything.. they need, more and more and more, they think it will produce more revenue to help with the unsustainable retirement and pensions of government worker. The thing is, that never ever works.. and like a horrible cancer it kills all things that are good. molon_labe Been there. Beautiful state, nice people up north, but the cities, I wouldn’t go near there if you paid me 7 figures. I was so disgusted I will literally cheer if an earthquake breaks it off into the ocean. I’ll stick to the lone star state and the south where the people have manners. Chin Sims No, New Jersey is the worst. Way f__king worse. christopher umsted dont even need to read this to say that california life sucks only reason y i did cuz of a hw assignment even though me and my fellow classmates are living it Smeagel4T Odd how housing prices just keep rising, and rising, and rising… which is a very clear free market indication of demand. Lee I can create a list about every state in the union and tell you why it’s the worst state….it’s not hard to do. To me it just looks like this website is about fear. It promotes the idea that the world economy it’s going to collaps and so you need to buy Good and Silver. Sugarsail1 Born and raised in California…it sucks for all the reasons mentioned above. Too many socialist politically correct fascist enviro-whack jobs from the bay area running the show and the anti-business regulation has killed the middle class and the job market. The only people that do well here is people on some kind of government subsidized business, like healthcare, welfare, or green boondoggles or Limousine Liberals in Hollywood with more money than brains. Sooner or later they will run out of other people’s money and they will have to build a wall to keep Californians from escaping to Mexico. The only reason to live here is the weather and the weed and even the weather sucks in the North (the weed doesn’t). molon_labe Californians. Since your voted for it, please keep yourself confined within it’s borders. It’s only right to make you deal with the issues you brought upon yourselves. Moving to a different place and dragging that down too isn’t fair to people whovote with common sense. inverse137 There are some good points in this article and a lot of stupid personal opinions. You are better off sticking with facts than conjecture. Conjecture makes you look stupid and weak. 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 48 and 51 are just whining without facts. NUMBERS. You cannot dispute hard numbers. I would have listed it like: the average commute time in california is XX and the national average is YY. What is listed in those instances is just filling space. New York boy Everyone dissing California sounds like a bunch of bitches! And would lay out your incredible boring lives. kayaker What a biased piece of propaganda. CA is way ahead of the rest of the nation in addressing climate change, re-localizing of food growing, promoting solar, etc., etc., etc. It has lots of problems, but at least is doing things a lot smarter than the vast majority of the U.S. which is going backwards. Tyler Are these statistics even real? Some seem a little bias. However I am California Native, Los Angeles to be exact and will all of the problems that we do have going on, I love my state! When I travel people are amused and want to be surrounded by beaches and celebs. Many others states hate and I can’t relate. Vacationing to other states is wonderful however, I will NEVER ever move out of California. Guest Have you Californians ever thought about independence? you are an economic global power house on your own! (the state has the 8th largest economy on the planet even larger than India and nearly as large as Russia!!!) cgoofies It is very competitive, with people I don’t believe should be holding these jobs I went to school for. Then they can’t leave because they are like sardines usually commuting and not spending quality time working. Beautiful I agree, needs to be demolished and rebuilt, possibly. jackass you can say that about any politician, not all dems are bad, not all reps are bad. DW All Dems are bad in California, because there is no competition for them and they know they will be re-elected no matter what as long as they hold out that welfare check and keep on letting in illegals. Working class families are in the minority now, so the welfare and public assistance crowd are in charge of who gets elected. In other words, the inmates have taken charge of the mental institute. TangoWhiteTrash #54 though. Why is it so hard to understand, we don’t want you! I’m sure you’re all wonderful people, but bringing the same ideologies which caused the problems you’re now running from with you will only ruin us too. Please, solve your problems, we’ve got our own things to worry about. Thor According to Californians, Cupernicus was wrong. All of the planets ,moons, stars, etc. do not revolve around the sun…. The sun, moon, planetss and all of the heavens revolve around california!! I dont live there and wouldnt want to visit since california attempts to control how every other state operates, why bother TheTruthburns I lived in California when it Was The Golden State – I now refer to it as the Golden Toilet Bowl. Sadly if enough states act like California then those of us who can’t take it will have to move to another Country. Man – what the hell ever happened to the Good Ole USA? Gregory Chandler California’s government leaders tend to have the attitude, this is California so we do as you please. This attitude is the same among liberals and conservatives. Many people who live in California conduct a substantial amount of business elsewhere. Therefore, you get the beauty of California without all of the silliness. Craig Hempfling Can’t wait for a good 9.9 quake to get rid of Gov. Brown and the rest of you idiots a-0 I have been traveling to Nor cal for years for work. I consider all of california north mexico at this point. I conceal a firearm against state laws due to the out of control crime situation. I am also starting to pull all of my buisness out of state, if only i could do it sooner. Jules Forgot one huge thing on this list. California has the worst worker’s compensation in the country. It’s pro employer and con injuried worker. 90% of all major claims are denied even though multiple doctors including state issued QMEs (Qualified Medical Evaluator) agree that care is needed. In addition after a claim is denied an anonymous IMR (independent medical review) can deny the claim without reasoning nor can ever be identified. Also worker’s compensation payouts are the worst in the country even though we pay the most into it and have one of the highest cost of living. TexanForever After working there for 40 years I retired back to west-central rural Texas and haven’t regretted it one moment. I miss the beaches, ocean, “Catalina Eddy,” and the sound of seals barking at night as I go to sleep. But the crazyness brought on by the gang-bangers, the crazy Southbay Curve on the 405, the feel-good looney libs, the overly complex rules, the taxes, and Governor Moonbeam (not once but twice), makes it just not worth it. Deer now come up into my yard at night to graze on the bermuda grass lawn. People drive down the streets at an unhurried laid-back 20 mph and wave at each other, whether sitting on porches or in pick-ups. … even though they might not know each other. Kids say “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am,” and adults do too, regardless of age differences. It’s a more civil way of life. There are loaded pistols, rifles, and shotguns in every house but there is virtually no crime, and no one ever gets shot. I can go to town and leave all my doors open and unlocked. Can’t say I don’t miss California, but it’s the old California I miss, not the insane place it has become, thanks entirely to the Marxist liberals. Fembot220 i don’t like California that much. Nor cal is a hard place to live and off the charts when it comes to cost of living. I’m moving to the Midwest where people are conservative and you can rent a house for what you would pay for a crappy closet sized apartment out here. Wayne baumback Sounds like a little jealousy. Facebook, Apple, twitter, google, tesla, Intel, eBay, craigslist, oracle, and can go on forever are doing so poorly, high taxes and govt regulations. Even mitt Romney campaigned against high taxes and govt regulation, then lost the election and moved to calif.

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Trump’s Latest Tweet Has A GLARING Mistake That Shows How Stupid (Or PSYCHOTIC) He Is (TWEET)

It was hard to imagine Donald Trump getting any dumber during his presidential campaign, but he s truly outdone himself in the weeks after winning the election. Not only has the President-elect been unintelligently tweeting up a storm, ditching protocol press pools and making every attempt to hide the $25 million lawsuit he just settled for fraud, but he is letting America know that he has no idea what presidents actually do.We ve seen Trump s complete ignorance of widely known facts before, like the time he told his own supporters the incorrect voting date. At a Florida rally, Trump had with full confidence told his fanbase to vote on November 28th, a full 20 days off from the real voting date. Today, Trump reminded us of this moment when he reinforced the fact that he STILL doesn t know what s going on.This morning, Trump notified everyone over Twitter that there would be a meeting at Trump Tower today with the people (aka the white supremacists) who will run our government for the next EIGHT years. Huh? Great meetings will take place today at Trump Tower concerning the formation of the people who will run our government for the next 8 years. TwitterEither Trump is completely unaware that a President s term is only four years, or he s completely delusional about how long he s actually going to last in the White House. We wouldn t be surprised if Trump thinks one term is actually 8 years, considering how clueless he is and his lack of knowledge about the United States Constitution, which clearly says: The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term For him to think that he s going to have the success that President Obama had and be elected for two terms is hilarious. Obama has a tremendously high approval rating, and Trump s approval rating is historically LOW. He s certainly in for a rude awakening if he thinks he s got eight years of dictatorship ahead of him.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images

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Trump’s Gettysburg Address against the New World Order

Tweet Home » Headlines » Finance News » Trump’s Gettysburg Address against the New World Order The Trump movement is an existential threat to the established order that consistently adopts the agenda and practices from the demonic cabal of the NWO globalists. Submitted by James Hall : If not now, WHEN? Only the most dedicated Totalitarian Collectivist would want to keep the NWO in power. Those who are so dim-witted to believe that the governance elites are legitimate rulers, exercising moral authority are so ignorant and illiterate that they deserve the fate of sheep taken to the slaughter. The Sheeple designation is apt for a society mired in a distorted reality of serfdom. The New World Order moved from a century’s old scheme to enslave humanity into a consolidated “ international community ”, when the central banksters organized the Bank for International Settlements, with the adoption of the Bretton Woods system of monetary management, the reorganization of nation states with the end of World War II, the creation of the globalist United Nations and the establishment of the centralized bureaucracy of the European Union. The Trump movement is an existential threat to the established order that consistently adopts the agenda and practices from the demonic cabal of the NWO globalists. It is because of this opposition to the transnational ruling despots that the vicious, deceitful and unending assault on Trump and his followers has been unleashed, since real meaningful change cannot be allowed that would reverse the systematic destruction of Western Civilization. READ the Entire pledge of action that was presented as the 21 st century Gettysburg Address or watch the video . DONALD J. TRUMP CONTRACT WITH THE AMERICAN VOTER What follows is my 100-day action plan to Make America Great Again. It is a contract between myself and the American voter – and begins with restoring honesty, accountability and change to Washington. Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, DC: FIRST, propose a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress; SECOND, a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce federal workforce through attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health); THIRD, a requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated; FOURTH, a 5 year-ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service; FIFTH, a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government; SIXTH, a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections. On the same day, I will begin taking the following 7 actions to protect American workers:  FIRST, I will announce my intention to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205  SECOND, I will announce our withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership  THIRD, I will direct my Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator  FOURTH, I will direct the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately  FIFTH, I will lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars’ worth of job producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal.  SIXTH, lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward  SEVENTH, cancel billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to fix America’s water and environmental infrastructure Additionally, on the first day, I will take the following five actions to restore security and the constitutional rule of law:  FIRST, cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama  SECOND, begin the process of selecting a replacement for Justice Scalia from one of the 20 judges on my list, who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States  THIRD, cancel all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities  FOURTH, begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back  FIFTH, suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur. All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered extreme vetting. Next, I will work with Congress to introduce the following broader legislative measures and fight for their passage within the first 100 days of my Administration: Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act. An economic plan designed to grow the economy 4% per year and create at least 25 million new jobs through massive tax reduction and simplification, in combination with trade reform, regulatory relief, and lifting the restrictions on American energy. The largest tax reductions are for the middle class. A middle-class family with 2 children will get a 35% tax cut. The current number of brackets will be reduced from 7 to 3, and tax forms will likewise be greatly simplified. The business rate will be lowered from 35 to 15 percent, and the trillions of dollars of American corporate money overseas can now be brought back at a 10 percent rate. End The Offshoring Act Establishes tariffs to discourage companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free. American Energy & Infrastructure Act. Leverages public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over 10 years. It is revenue neutral. School Choice And Education Opportunity Act. Redirects education dollars to gives parents the right to send their kid to the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their choice. Ends common core, brings education supervision to local communities. It expands vocational and technical education, and make 2 and 4-year college more affordable. Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act. Fully repeals Obamacare and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines, and lets states manage Medicaid funds. Reforms will also include cutting the red tape at the FDA: there are over 4,000 drugs awaiting approval, and we especially want to speed the approval of life-saving medications. Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act. Allows Americans to deduct childcare and elder care from their taxes, incentivizes employers to provide on-side childcare services, and creates tax-free Dependent Care Savings Accounts for both young and elderly dependents, with matching contributions for low-income families. End Illegal Immigration Act Fully-funds the construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding that the country Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall; establishes a 2-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a previous deportation, and a 5-year mandatory minimum for illegally re-entering for those with felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior deportations; also reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying and to ensure open jobs are offered to American workers first. Restoring Community Safety Act. Reduces surging crime, drugs and violence by creating a Task Force On Violent Crime and increasing funding for programs that train and assist local police; increases resources for federal law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders behind bars. Restoring National Security Act. Rebuilds our military by eliminating the defense sequester and expanding military investment; provides Veterans with the ability to receive public VA treatment or attend the private doctor of their choice; protects our vital infrastructure from cyber-attack; establishes new screening procedures for immigration to ensure those who are admitted to our country support our people and our values Clean up Corruption in Washington Act. Enacts new ethics reforms to Drain the Swamp and reduce the corrupting influence of special interests on our politics. On November 8th, Americans will be voting for this 100-day plan to restore prosperity to our economy, security to our communities, and honesty to our government. This is my pledge to you. And if we follow these steps, we will once more have a government of, by and for the people. Publishing the entire list of all these positive measures, which challenge the elitist consortium of a criminal syndicate that impose a neo-feudal enslavement of humanity, documents the essence of the Trump vow of revolutionary nonviolent combat against the forces of satanic evil. The ironic symbolism of presenting this restoration of national greatness at the site of the historic betrayal of the original American Revolution, one must not forget that Abraham Lincoln embarked upon the initial destruction of the legitimate States’ Right essence that created the country. This apocalyptic step, set into motion the underpinnings of a global empire of which, America was never intended to pursue. Let’s hope that Donald Trump can rectify some of the damage done to the individual rights embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Gettysburg was not a victory for a union of free men, but was the launching of a lustful hegemony for an Imperium international order. Only this contract with American citizens can offer any hope of reestablishing a legitimate administration of a limited national government.

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Head of Russian general staff reassures NATO over war games: RIA

MOSCOW (Reuters) - General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia s general staff, told Curtis Scaparrotti, a U.S general who is NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, that Moscow s latest military exercise was purely defensive, the RIA news agency reported. RIA said that Gerasimov was referring to the exercise, codenamed Zapad , or West , which began on Thursday and will last until Sept. 20. It is being conducted on military ranges in Belarus, western Russia, Russia s exclave of Kaliningrad and in the Baltic Sea. NATO is closely watching the exercises and says they are larger than the 12,700 servicemen Moscow has publicized, actually numbering some 100,000 troops, and involve firing nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.

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Why Mike Bloomberg Running For President Will Bring Us President Trump

While having a third independent option for president is surely a democratic thing to do, the implications surrounding someone like former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg jumping into the race are huge.What would Bloomberg running as an independent on the ticket mean? Well, it would pull votes from a major party candidate, and in this election, that candidate will be the Democratic one. Because while Bloomberg could appeal to wealthy conservatives, he s staunchly pro-heavy gun regulations, which will turn the remainder of the Republican base off in a heart beat. So, any votes he pulls will be from moderate to right-leaning Democrats, as well as independents who may be leaning towards the Democratic candidate. This is especially true if Bernie Sanders is the nominee and people are apprehensive about a Democratic Socialist in the White House. However, it d be true of Hillary Clinton as well.So with the center votes missing from the Democratic candidate, and surely not enough votes for Bloomberg taken from either side, this leaves the Republicans with a clear path to victory, and with Donald Trump trouncing his opposition in the polls, we re looking at a Trump presidency.Now, unless Bloomberg has some secret, backdoor deal with Trump that no one is keenly aware of, the former mayor of New York City needs to put his dreams of the Oval Office on the shelf, and likely keep them there for good. The last thing this nation needs is a President Trump. A person, who as president, would alienate not only all the minorities in his own country, but would alienate the United States from the rest of the world. We d be an embarrassment. Even more so than when George W. Bush was president.So, please, Bloomberg, if you happen to read this, take all that was just said to heart and think about what you really, truly want for the nation. If you want President Trump, then by all means, run. However, if not, please don t. Not just for you and the nation, but for the entire world.Featured image: Flickr/Flickr

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GOVERNMENT HIDING UNPRECEDENTED TB INFECTION RATES AMONG RELOCATED REFUGEES

Home › HEALTH › GOVERNMENT HIDING UNPRECEDENTED TB INFECTION RATES AMONG RELOCATED REFUGEES GOVERNMENT HIDING UNPRECEDENTED TB INFECTION RATES AMONG RELOCATED REFUGEES 0 SHARES [10/26/16] J.D. HEYES- More Americans might be accepting of President Barack Obama’s zealous push to flood the country with refugees from war-torn parts of the world, if only he, along with federal and state officials, were more transparent about the entire process. Like for instance being up front with Americans about the health threat posed by many of these refugees. Breitbart News is reporting that officials at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, county health departments throughout the state and local offices of refugee resettlement agencies – all of whom are working closely with the Obama administration – have taken to hiding the latent tuberculosis infection rates among refugees from the general public. The website noted further that the “culture of concealment” in Michigan contrasts with how several other states deal with latent TB infection rates among refugees. As Breitbart News has reported in the past , the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services doesn’t collect latent TB infection rate information from county health departments or local resettlement agencies it hires to perform initial medical screenings of newly-arrived refugees. Also, the state agency obviously does not honor its legal obligation to do so under provisions of the Refugee Act of 1980. Michigan officials not keeping TB data required by law When the news service asked MDHHS officials for data about latent TB infection rates based on the full population of refugees screened, a spokesman for the agency, Bob Wheaton, said, “We do not have that data.” Breitbart noted that the agency has hired a number of county health departments, and in some counties private refugee health screening services, all working in cooperation with local resettlement officials for the purpose of conducting initial medical screenings of all new refugee arrivals. Under guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and MDHHS, all refugees who complete initial health screenings are tested for latent TB infection. However, MDHHS officials said that neither the counties nor private agencies are sharing screening data. What’s more, the counties and private refugee health screeners who do have the TB data will not make that information available to the public. As Breitbart News noted further: “In the case of at least one private refugee health screening service, the Arab American and Chaldean Council, which MDHHS has hired to conduct refugee health screenings in Wayne County, Macomb County, and Oakland County, that data is also not being shared with health departments in those counties.” Again, the provision of the data is a requirement of federal statutes regarding the health screening status of refugees. One-third of the rest of the world has latent TB Many states have made this information public in annual reports. They include Minnesota, where the latent TB infection rate among newly-arrived refugees in 2014 was 22 percent; Indiana (26 percent); Arizona (18 percent); Utah (18 percent), Texas (15 percent); California (12 percent) and Florida (12 percent). In addition, Breitbart News noted, other states made information available to the news service after repeated requests. They include Tennessee (27 percent); Vermont (35 percent); and Idaho (21 percent). It is vital to identify refugees coming into the United States with latent TB infections, because treatment must begin immediately in order to prevent the spread of the disease. Also, studies – including one from the University of California, San Diego in 2013 – have shown that higher rates of latent TB infection among resettled refugees pose a greater health risk to the general public in regions where they have been sent. Latent TB turns into a public health risk when it activates into infectious TB, a process that is generally associated with lower levels of immunity among those with latent TB. In the U.S., 4 percent of the general population has latent TB; 10 percent of those develop active TB at some point during their lives. By contrast, fully one-third – 33 percent – of the rest of the world has latent TB, Breitbart News reported. Post navigation

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The Most Interesting Chart In The World – Part 1

The Most Interesting Chart In The World - Part 1 By Lee Adler. The most important chart you may ever see on the current US market is one derived from data on the European banking system. Why would a chart of European banking data would have anything to do with the US markets? Because in this interconnected world, "liquidity anywhere is liquidity everywhere." And some of that liquidity flows to and through Wall Street sooner or later because US securities markets are the Last Ponzi Game Standing.

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Nikki Haley Inadvertently Supports Obama’s Refugee Policy While Exploiting The Charleston Massacre (VIDEO)

Tuesday night, after President Obama gave his final State of the Union Address, Governor Nikki Haley (R-SC) delivered the Republican rebuttal. During her speech, though, she accidentally supported the Democratic Party s Syrian refugee policy while trying to exploit the Charleston massacre to take political shots at Donald Trump.After she was finished calling President Obama a failure, Governor Haley turned her attention to our immigration problem and the Syrian refugee crisis, saying: At the same time, that does not mean we just flat out open our borders. We can t do that. We cannot continue to allow immigrants to come here illegally. And in this age of terrorism, we must not let in refugees whose intentions cannot be determined. That line about refugees is one Republicans often say to justify their refusal to help the desperate families fleeing from unthinkable violence in Syria. While this comment was not surprising, later on she said something that sounded an awful lot like a contradiction.Towards the middle of her speech, Governor Haley spoke about the Mother Emanuel massacre that took the lives of nine black churchgoers when a white supremacist decided that he wanted to start a race war. She said: This past summer, South Carolina was dealt a tragic blow. On an otherwise ordinary Wednesday evening in June, at the historic Mother Emanuel church in Charleston, twelve faithful men and women, young and old, went to Bible study. That night, someone new joined them. He didn t look like them, didn t act like them, didn t sound like them. They didn t throw him out. They didn t call the police. Instead, they pulled up a chair and prayed with him. For an hour. She went on to take a not-so-subtle shot at Donald Trump: We didn t turn against each other s race or religion. We turned toward God, and to the values that have long made our country the freest and greatest in the world. So, while trying to exploit the Charleston massacre and taking shots at Trump, she accidentally supported Obama s policies. She said even though Dylann Roof did not look like the Mother Emanuel churchgoers, they embraced him because those are real American values. Haley is absolutely right! That is what our country is all about.The United States was built on the intrinsic belief that we are a free nation that welcomes everyone especially the desperate, downtrodden souls of other nations. We are also a nation the does not let the fear of others overcome us and scare us into not helping people. Obviously, by this statement, she understands that the Syrian refugees perfectly fit this description and we should open our arms just like the beautiful victims of the Charleston did. I m sure that if you ask her if she meant her comments in this way, she ll say no and THAT is what makes them so great.Thanks for the support, Governor Haley! Obama appreciates it!Watch her rebuttal below:Featured image via video screenshot

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We Now Have Proof Obamacare Was Designed to Fail… and Here’s Why [Video]

Leave a reply Melissa Dykes – The oligarchy runs our society with Problem – Reaction – Solution. We all knew our government was disgustingly corrupt… but now it’s blatantly in-your-face written proof disgustingly corrupt at a time when most of us didn’t think it could get much worse. If anything, these leaks have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the two-party system is an illusion and the whole construct is one huge pay-for-play corporate sham. Obamacare was always meant to destroy the private health care system and usher in single-payer, government run socialist medicine. It was designed that way… and it’s “working”. Aaron Dykes and Melissa Melton created Truthstream Media.com as an outlet to examine the news, place it in a broader context, uncover the deceptions, pierce through the fabric of illusions, grasp the underlying factors, know the real enemy, unshackle from the system, and begin to imagine the path towards taking back our lives, one step at a time, so that one day we might truly be free… SF Source The Daily Sheeple Oct 2016 Share this:

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Jake Tapper, Tom Price Battle Over Medicaid ’Broken Promise’ - Breitbart

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Jake Tapper pressed Health Secretary Tom Price on the American Health Care Act’s cuts from Medicaid. The exchange opened with Tapper asking, “According to the congressional budget office, the health care bill that just passed the house would cut $880 billion over ten years from Medicaid. I know that the trump Administration is excited that Medicaid will go back to the states where they have more control and can experiment and be more efficient, but without question, $880 billion fewer dollars is a cut. How is this not a broken promise?” Price answered, “Look at the Medicaid promise that program that we have right now and of physicians that should be seeing Medicaid patients aren’t. There a flaw in the program. Imagine a system that works better for patients. Medicaid deals with disabled, elderly, healthy moms and kids. and yet the federal government has said to the states up to this point you have to treat every sink gel one of those individuals exactly the same. That doesn’t make sense to anybody. So what we’re fashioning is a system that would allow the states to tailor that Medicaid program to those specific individuals saving money but also a higher level of care than they currently do. Sounds like it makes a lot of sense. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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Obama Confronts Complexity of Using a Mighty Cyberarsenal Against Russia - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Over the past four months, American intelligence agencies and aides to President Obama assembled a menu of options to respond to Russia’s hacking during the election, ranging from the obvious — exposing President Vladimir V. Putin’s financial ties to oligarchs — to the innovative, including manipulating the computer code that Russia uses in designing its cyberweapons. But while Mr. Obama vowed on Friday to “send a clear message to Russia” as both a punishment and a deterrent, some of the options were rejected as ineffective, others as too risky. If the choices had been better, one of the aides involved in the debate noted recently, the president would have acted by now. In his last weeks in office, that Situation Room debate has confronted a naturally cautious president with a complex calculus that Donald J. Trump will soon inherit: how to use the world’s most powerful cyberarsenal at a moment when the United States, as the election showed, remains highly vulnerable. “Is there something we can do to them, that they would see, they would realize 98 percent that we did it, but that wouldn’t be so obvious that they would then have to respond for their own honor?” David H. Petraeus, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency under Mr. Obama, asked on Friday, at a conference here sponsored by Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. “The question is how subtle do you want it, how damaging do you want it, how do you try to end it here rather than just ratchet it up?” The idea of exposing Mr. Putin’s links to oligarchs was set aside after some aides argued that it would not come as a shock to Russians. Still, there are proposals to cut off leaders in Mr. Putin’s inner circle from their hidden bank accounts in Europe and Asia. There is an option to use sanctions under a executive order to ban international travel for senior officials in the G. R. U. the Russian military intelligence unit that American spy agencies say stole emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, then doled them out to WikiLeaks, betting that media outlets eager for insider details would amplify them, doing the Kremlin’s work for it. The National Security Agency and its military cousin, the United States Cyber Command, which is responsible for warfare, have worked up other ideas, officials said, though some have been rejected by the Pentagon. Those plans could deploy the arsenal of cyberweapons assembled at a cost of billions of dollars during Mr. Obama’s tenure to expose or neutralize some of the hacking tools favored by Russia’s spies — the digital equivalent of a strike. But the selection of targets by Americans and the accuracy of that retaliation could also expose software “implants” that the United States has patiently inserted and nurtured in Russian networks, in case of future cyberconflicts. And the revelation in August about some of the N. S. A. ’s own tools for breaking into foreign computer networks has raised the possibility that the Russians are already inside American networks and are sending a warning that they can respond in kind. All of this has led Mr. Obama to ask how the Russians might escalate the confrontation, and whether the United States in the end may have more to lose than Russia. “He doesn’t have great options,” said Michael D. McFaul, formerly one of Mr. Obama’s top national security aides and then his ambassador to Moscow. Mr. Obama is the president who, in his first year in office, reached for some of the most sophisticated cyberweapons on earth to blow up parts of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Now, at the end of his presidency, he has run headlong into a different challenge in the cyberwarfare arena. The president has reached two conclusions, senior officials report: The only thing worse than not using a weapon is using it ineffectively. And if he does choose to retaliate, he has insisted on maintaining what is known as “escalation dominance,” the ability to ensure you can end a conflict on your terms. Mr. Obama hinted as much at his news conference on Friday, as he was set to leave for his annual Hawaii vacation, his last as president. “Our goal continues to be to send a clear message to Russia or others not to do this to us because we can do stuff to you,” he said. “But it is also important to us to do that in a thoughtful, methodical way. Some of it, we will do publicly. Some of it we will do in a way that they know, but not everybody will. ” He rejected calls for a big, symbolic show of power, dismissing the idea that if the United States “thumped our chests about a bunch of stuff, that somehow that would potentially spook the Russians. ” The goal, Mr. Obama said, was to come up with a response “that increases costs for them for behavior like this in the future but does not create problems for us. ” There is not much new in tampering with elections, except for the technical sophistication of the tools. For all the outrage voiced by Democrats and Republicans in the past week about the Russian action — with the notable exception of Mr. Trump, who has dismissed the intelligence findings as politically motivated — it is worth remembering that trying to manipulate elections is a American art form. The C. I. A. got its start trying to influence the outcome of Italy’s elections in 1948, as the author Tim Weiner documented in his book “Legacy of Ashes,” in an effort to keep Communists from taking power. Five years later, the C. I. A. engineered a coup against Mohammad Mossadegh, Iran’s democratically elected leader, when the United States and Britain installed the Shah. “The military coup that overthrew Mosaddeq and his National Front cabinet was carried out under CIA direction as an act of U. S. foreign policy, conceived and approved at the highest levels of government,” the agency concluded in one of its own reports, declassified around the 60th anniversary of those events, which were engineered in large part by Kermit Roosevelt Jr. a grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt. There were similar interferences over the years in Guatemala, Chile and even in Japan, hailed as a model of War II democracy, where the Liberal Democratic Party owes its early grip on power in the 1950s and 1960s to millions of dollars in covert C. I. A. support. The only differences this year are that the effort was directed at the United States, and that it was cyberenabled, giving Moscow a tool to amplify its efforts through the echo chamber of social media and news organizations that quoted from the leaked emails. “What has changed is that this was using cyberspace for advancing a political objective,” said Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. who served as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until he retired last year. Cybertechniques, he said, have amplified an old form of “political warfare, and the issue is not whether it successfully influenced the election — but the fact that they did it. ” Over the past few months, an administration that prided itself on its work on cyberoffense and cyberdefense has learned a hard lesson: When it came to the 2016 election, an economically failing Russia, dismissed by Mr. Obama on Friday for its inability to grow or to innovate, exploited giant holes in the American system. Mr. Obama conceded that he first heard about the attack on the Democratic National Committee “early last summer,” or nine months after the F. B. I. first alerted D. N. C. officials about what had happened. That now appears to be critical lost time. If Mr. Obama had confronted the Russians immediately, in public or in the kind of private warning he said he delivered to Mr. Putin only three months ago during a meeting in China, the United States might have derailed the hacking campaign before it harvested and revealed thousands of emails. But the election hacking also raised questions about whether the American fixation on a “cyber Pearl Harbor” — a devastating attack on the power grid, cellphone network, financial system or gas pipelines — overlooked a more obvious vulnerability. As a detailed account in The New York Times last Wednesday revealed, the D. N. C. had virtually no protections for its electronic systems, and Mrs. Clinton’s campaign chairman, John D. Podesta, had failed to sign up for the “ authentication” on his Gmail account. Doing so probably would have foiled what Mr. Obama called a fairly primitive attack. Now the question facing Mr. Obama is how public a retaliation to execute. The president laid out a case on Friday for acting with subtlety, so as not to start a conflict. But as Joseph Nye, a strategist on soft power, noted on Friday, “The reason to make some of this public is not just to deter the Russians, it is to deter others as well,” in future elections. It is possible, said Mr. McFaul, the former ambassador to Russia, that Mr. Obama’s most lasting contribution may be to get the details of the Russian hack declassified and to publish a report he has instructed the intelligence community to assemble before he leaves office. “Given that Obama only has a few more weeks in office, I think he needs to focus his remaining time on attribution — that is declassification of intelligence so that there is no ambiguity about the Russian actions,” Mr. McFaul said. That “is completely within his powers,” he added, and would spur more congressional investigations regardless of the stance taken by Mr. Trump on the hack. Mr. Obama’s comments on Friday have led Democrats to demand further action. Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the response should mix “additional economic sanctions along with our allies, and clandestine means of exacting a cost on the Russians for their flagrant meddling in our election. ” “I have little confidence,” he continued, “that the incoming president will take the actions necessary to make the Russians pay any price for the most consequential ‘active measures’ campaign against us in history. ”

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Islamic State targets Iranian aid convoy in eastern Syria

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State mortar shells on Wednesday targeted an Iranian aid convoy to areas recently captured by the Syrian army and its allies in Deir al-Zor in eastern Syria, a military media unit run by the government s ally Hezbollah said. The mortar injured one person and caused material damage, Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar television reported, but the convoy, carrying over 1,000 tonnes of aid, was not damaged, it said.

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Michael Brown’s Father on Ferguson Riots: ’They Asked for It’

The father of Michael Brown accused the City of Ferguson of “asking for” the riots that plagued the city following his son’s death. [His comments came in response to the release of a film, “Stranger Fruit,” during Austin, Texas’ South by Southwest Film Festival. The film reportedly reveals new video footage taken from a market in Ferguson Michael Brown was accused of robbing, CNN reported. Director Jason Pollock claims Brown did not rob the store as widely reported, but was simply picking up some cigarillos the clerks had given him in exchange for marijuana. The film’s producers accuse the City of Ferguson of hiding this video and only releasing the later video with claims Brown was robbing the store. “Maybe the City of Ferguson wouldn’t have gotten tore up like that,” Michael Brown Sr. said during a press conference about the video. “It’s almost like they asked for it, if you ask me, for not keeping no truth in there. ” Ferguson police responded to the claim by the senior Brown, stating that Michael Brown was not initially stopped in connection with the incident at the store. He was stopped for walking in the middle of the road, CNN stated. The riots that erupted following the shooting death of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer had nothing to do with anything that happened at the store, or even the facts of Brown’s encounter with the police officer. Rather, the riots broke out following a false “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” narrative put forward by politically motivated activists. The riots were further fueled by the Obama Administration’s fanning the flames with rhetoric that supported the false narrative, Breitbart News reported in 2015. “Now the campaign of terror against police has come back to where the great lie started. Obama and Holder will not finish until they have destroyed Ferguson — destroyed it, in the parlance of the Vietnam era, in order to save it, razed it to rebuild it in the stylized image of Selma 1965, razed it in order to fit the delusions of an Attorney General who thinks we have made no progress since the era of Malcolm X and a President who once promised — incredibly! — to unite America,” Breitbart’s Joel Pollock wrote at the time. Breitbart News reported extensively on the aftermath of the shooting in Ferguson and the subsequent riots and political chaos that arose over the next several months. The release of the new video sparked a new round of protests in Ferguson over the weekend, CNN reported. During a protest Sunday night, a Ferguson police officer’s nose was broken after a female protester punched him in the face. Brandon Darby contributed to this report. Darby serves as Breitbart Texas Managing Director and . He the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. 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.

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