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Re: The 80s called! Hillary-defending Howard Dean puts FBI director in same league as … (wait for it … )

The 1980s called! Hillary-defending Howard Dean puts FBI director in same league as … (wait for it … ) Posted at 11:10 am on October 29, 2016 by Doug P. Many Dems are beside themselves over the FBI’s continued investigation surrounding Hillary Clinton, Huma Abedin (and her husband). Former Vermont governor and Dem presidential candidate Howard Dean is among those seeing red: Ironically Comey put himself on the same side as Putin. — Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) October 29, 2016 Sure, it couldn’t have anything to do with the lawlessness, recklessness and perversion surrounding the Hillary Clinton campaign — must be the Russians! @GovHowardDean Why are you putting yourself on the same side as a candidate whose surrogates got immunity deals and invoked the 5th? — DC Dude (@DCDude1776) October 29, 2016 2016: When leading Democrats say the #FBI doing its job = being on the side of a foreign dictator who hates America. https://t.co/Ezz87ZxPW8 — John Schindler (@20committee) October 29, 2016 @GovHowardDean you people have lost it

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Political temperature has cooled down

By Brig Asif H. Raja on November 3, 2016 Asif Haroon Raja The political temperature that had begun to boil from 28 October onward became menacing on the following three days, but mercifully it scaled down dramatically on the evening of November 01 after Imran Khan (IK) decided to call off his much hyped foray into Islamabad (Isbd) on November 2. IK led PTI had been drumming up the Panama papers scandal since April 2016 and straining their lungs to demean Nawaz Sharif (NS) and implicate him and his family on charges of corruption and money laundering. Earlier on, IK had made rigging in 2013 elections into a big issue and undertaken 126-day sit-in at D-Chowk Isbd to implicate PML-N and topple the govt. Despite the physical assault on the parliament, PM House and the PTV, the protest fizzled out without achieving any results. IK had to tender an apology to the judicial commission when his legal team failed to produce any evidence to prove the rigging charge. IK covered up his embarrassment by saying that “rigging was just a political stunt for point scoring”. He then shifted his goal post from rigging to corruption and in that Panama scandal came as a godsend opportunity to push his chief rival against the wall and possibly unseat him. Irrespective of the fact that NS name was absent from the list of account holders in the offshore company in Panama, and several of his party’s leading lights including himself were maintaining offshore accounts, he insisted that accountability should start from NS and his two sons based in London and daughter Marium only and none else. He emphasized on immediate resignation of NS and quoted weak examples of PM of Iceland who had resigned and PM UK who presented himself for accountability. Other political parties like the PPP, JI, PML-Q and AML joined his battle to put NS in the dock. The two sides got locked over the issue of Terms of Reference (ToRs), the opposition demanding commencement of investigation by Supreme Court from NS and his family, while the govt maintained that NS name should be excluded since he had not been named, and that accountability should be across the board. The tussle consumed 6-7 months without any breakthrough. Feeling frustrated, IK once again decided to show muscle power on the streets and after several public meetings held a big gathering at Raiwind on Sept 30. He had all the intentions to move forward and organize a sit-in in front of Jati Umra (private residence of NS), but truculence expressed by PML-N activists and reluctance of other political parties to join him, coupled with heating up of LoC and threat of surgical strike by India restrained him, and he decided to wrap it up the same night. He however, pledged to invade and lock down Isbd on October 30 and force NS to quit or offer himself for accountability. He built up the tempo throughout October and made efforts to take as many political parties on board. Social media and electronic media in particular demonized NS and made him into an object of hate. Most political parties and saner elements advised IK to change his plan of confrontation in the wake of acceptance of case of Panama scandal for hearing by the Supreme Court, but he refused and remained adamant. Having discovered the foul intentions of PTI, the govt announced that all out efforts will be made to prevent the activists of PTI and their partners from besieging Isbd on October 30. Punjab Police and Frontier Constabulary were requisitioned to bolster the strength of Isbd Police and containers from all over Punjab were impounded to block the roads leading to Isbd. Hawks within the ruling party also flexed their muscles and showed readiness for the combat. In the meanwhile, GHQ’s annoyance over security leak gave a shot in the arm to the agitators and it was assumed that the Army would be on their side and Gen Raheel would raise his finger once the desired chaos was stoked. To neutralize one front, NS hastened to sack Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid and a high powered inquiry was ordered to trace the culprits and punish them. Pervaiz ouster was rejoiced by PTI but the sacrifice was considered too small. They wanted a bigger head to be rolled and their obvious target was NS and none else. Quite a few critics of Pervaiz are now shedding tears of sympathy. The date of incursion was advanced to November 2. Refusal of PPP and PAT to join up for the D Day was a setback for the PTI, but it decided to once again take the suicidal plunge single-handed. Its main dependence was on the main effort launched from KP by the PTI workers under the command of Chief Minister (CM) Pervez Khattak. IK repeatedly underlined that a force of one million will assemble in Isbd. Armed Tiger Force had been trained to deal with the police and paramilitary forces. Secondary effort was to be launched from the direction of Lahore and PML-Q activists under Ch brothers were to join the party from Gujrat. Purpose was to flood the capital city with people, choke the city, paralyze the administration, parliament and judiciary and give a fait-accompli to NS to either voluntarily step down peacefully, or be ready to be brought down forcibly. Tahirul Qadri’s zealots were expected to join the gathering to dig the last nail. NS ouster on yet to be proven corruption charges in their view would cook the goose of PML-N and victory will be theirs. Knowing that the Panama case didn’t have required strength to convict NS, they wanted to decide the case their way through street agitation. They also understood that each passing day was tilting the balance in favor of PML-N due to fast paced developments and CPEC and in next elections PTI’s chance of winning will become very bleak. For them, this was the only chance to get rid of NS, and hence decided to take a huge risk without constitutional and legal cover. Like in 2014, they assumed that Army was on their side. Blinded by their quest for power, they turned a blind eye to the possible socio-political turmoil that may erupt as a result of their reckless venture to scuttle the democratic process. They ignored the possibility of takeover by the Army in the wake of commotion. IK’s bellicosity and rashness was motivated by his rancor with NS family, and his obsession to acquire the coveted seat of PM. In every speech, he and Sheikh Rashid used foul language and ridiculed the PM brazenly. Many are of the view that IK may be having hidden malicious intentions to pursue sinister goals at the behest of hostile forces to Pakistan. His detractors particularly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who himself has a shady past, dubs him as an agent of Israel. Others say that his fascist methods resemble MQM’s fascism and give strength to Indo-US-Israel-Western agenda to foment chaos. They have seen the fate of Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Syria and know that Pakistan is the next target. They particularly noted the ill-timed attack on Isbd when India and Afghanistan are breathing fire, the US is in highly rasping mood and China is getting worried over political uncertainty. Last time the sit-in was timed with the scheduled visit of President of China which got postponed for six months and this time the Peshawar-Isbd road blockade coincided with the passage of first convoy from Kashgar-Khunjarab to Gwadar along the western route. They ask as to why IK and his ilk cannot wait for May 2018 elections and gain power through a legitimate course rather than using high handed tactics. The preliminary offensive was intended to be launched under the garb of youth convention in Isbd on October 28. This gathering was to exert pressure from within the city once the pincers from KP and Punjab reached the premises of Isbd. Leaders and foot soldiers started collecting at Bani Gala which was to act as the command and control centre for “Operation Lockdown Isbd”. Having gained intelligence about the sinister plans afoot, the govt machinery sprang into action and ordered positioning of containers on all entry points into Isbd as well as in Bani Gala. When the protesters became rowdy, the police baton charged and arrested PTI workers of both genders. The scuffle and hide-and-seek which went on the whole night created a big scene and gave plentiful of grist to the media to sensationalize the event to the hilt. Planned meeting of Shiekh Rashid in front of his residence Lal Haveli could not take place on October 30 but the Sheikh managed to reach Committee Chowk riding a bike and delivered a short speech to the few people present there. This act of his was glorified by the media. The situation took a serious turn when the CM KP Pervaiz Khattak started a caravan from Swabi on October 31 and not only hurled highly jingoistic statements but made things nasty by adding ethnic color to his diatribe against the govt. Unmindful of his skinny and frail physique, he behaved like a conquering Rambo ready to trounce any hurdle placed in his way. He expressed his determination to reach Bana Gala at all cost on the following day. He has nothing impressive to brag about in KP. Most of development funds of the last year could not be spent and lapsed and no headway has been made on corruption. As regards the PTI, there are visible cracks within the party and several top leaders like Javed Hashmi and justice Wajihuddin have left the party. PTI leaders have tainted past and several leading lights are the turncoats of other parties. Performance of PTI in bye-elections, local bodies, Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK has been dismal. These factors when seen in the backdrop of impressive performance of PML-N in tackling energy crisis and existential threat of terrorism and in improving economic indicators, gives no plausible reason to the PTI to maneuver its premature downfall through hooliganism. The govt in anticipation had placed series of containers on the three interchanges along the motorway at Swabi, Hazro and Burhan and deployed heavy contingent of police equipped with heavy stocks of tear gas shells. Khattak made use of the cranes to remove the containers but the barrage of tear gas shells and baton charge by police had a toll on the PTI tigers. The caravan lost its steam and was ultimately grounded at Burhan. It was in this timeframe that the first cargo convoy of 100 vehicles was to cross the interchanges to reach the motorway of CPEC. Cognizant of its importance the Army soldiers helped in clearing the mess on critical interchanges. When IK realized that he and other leaders of his party stranded in his house in Bani Gala cannot move out and join party workers braving the hardships and that Khattak led men will not be able to reach Isbd, he was in a dilemma. Possibility of a bigger clash at Burhan resulting in casualties couldn’t be ruled out. The govt was in no mood to soften up its stance. The other factor was failure to mobilize the party workers and bring them to Isbd in sufficient numbers. The total strength didn’t exceed 20-25000. IK and his colleagues wanted to call off the sit-in but not the party men. The Supreme Court gave the much needed face saving formula by offering to frame the ToRs in case the govt and opposition parties failed to do so and also promised to start hearing the Panama case and expedite its completion as early as possible. IK was allowed to hold a peaceful meeting at parade ground. The court also ordered removal of containers. These offers were promptly accepted and IK announced the withdrawal on a triumphant note saying that November 2 will be celebrated as ‘Thanksgiving Day’ with fanfare. Rather than appreciating his decision, hyper media sank into a pool of sadness. Same was the case with opposition parties and PTI activists that were expecting the party to remain in full swing for full month if not more. Eight RAW/IB agents based in Indian High Commission in Isbd in the garb of diplomats having dangerous plans up their sleeves felt so depressed that they became indiscreet and got exposed. IK once again boasted of assembling one million but had to eat his words. True to commitment, the Supreme Court held its first session on November 3 in which NS and IK appeared. Next hearing of the court will be on Monday in which children of NS would also appear. IK and his team are very hopeful that the court would give verdict in their favor but in case of unfavorable decision, he will again come on the roads. Relations of PTI with PPP and PAT have become frosty, while Sheikh Rashid is also feeling out of sorts. Reportedly an understanding has been forged between PML-N, PPP and MQM-Altaf, but apparently the PPP is trying to change its posture from friendly to genuine opposition to outdo PTI. The writer is retired Brig, war veteran, defence analyst, columnist, author of 5 books, Vice Chairman Thinkers Forum Pakistan, DG Measac Research Centre, Member Executive Council PESS. aifharoonraja@gmail.com

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TV EXECUTIVES In Discussion About CANCELLING Thursday Night NFL Games

Capitalism at work. It s funny how the loss of real money has a way of helping to remind NFL owners and the networks who support them, who are writing the checks. One hint it s not the guys disrespecting our flag.Network executives are scrambling to solve the growing problem of crashing ratings for the National Football League, by cutting games to end the perceived over-saturation of football on TV.To put an end to the sliding ratings, the executives are proposing that fewer games may be the ticket to stop that over-saturation, with one idea being to cut Thursday Night Football by a whopping ten games.The idea to trim Thursday Night Football from 18 games a season to only eight was first reported by Sports Business Journal and was part of a plan to reverse the ratings crash that also includes pulling games played in the U.K. back to 1 PM eastern time (6PM London time).Indeed the amount of football on TV has exploded in the last decade.Ratings are still down despite the small rise seen in Week 7. NBC Sports is off 21 percent from 2015, CBS Sports is down 14 percent compared to 2015, and ESPN s Monday Night Football has sunk 17 percent over 2015. -BreitbartRasmussen reports that nearly one-third (32 percent) of adults say they re less likely to watch NFL game telecasts because of the Kaepernick-led player protests against racial injustice. The telephone/online survey of 1,000 American adults was conducted Oct. 2-3.This letter from a die-hard Pittsburg Steelers fan hits the nail on the head, as it relates to how NFL fans feel about the players who continue to disrespect our flag: I want to thank you for freeing up my Sundays. Some of the earliest memories of my life are watching Steelers games with my dad. I was once a season-ticket holder. I have occasionally missed a few games on TV through the years due to scheduling conflicts, but I can honestly say in my 44 years of living, I have never intentionally turned off a Steelers game. That changed today. As I sat down to watch the Steelers-Bears game today, I learned from the sideline reporter that the Steelers chose not to participate in the national anthem. I realize that there is a lot of injustice in our country. I realize that there are a lot of people upset at the current administration. I realize that we live in a free country where people have the freedom to not participate in the national anthem. I also have the freedom to not spend another minute or dollar on your product. I am of the opinion that this is quite possibly the worst way to go about protesting. If you want to hold a rally at Heinz Field to allow your players to voice their opinions, that would be fine. If you want all the Steelers and NFL players to march on Washington D.C., fine. But to not participate in the national anthem is an insult to every serviceman who has served or has passed away defending this country. If you are truly that unhappy with the country, feel free to play for the CFL. So thank you, Steelers and NFL, for freeing up my Sundays. I will no longer waste my time or money watching your product. The weather today the in Pittsburgh area is beautiful and I can not think of a better day to spend it outside, away from the TV. Jim Coletti, former fan

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Two Dead in Protests as South Korea Formally Ousts President - Breitbart

South Korea’s Park has become the first president in its history to be ousted from power via impeachment following allegations of granting inappropriate government access to a senior member of a organization. [Koreans took to the streets after the announcement of the impeachment both to protest and celebrate, with one Seoul rally leaving two dead and two critically injured. Koreans took to the streets after the announcement of the impeachment both to protest and celebrate, with one Seoul rally leaving two dead and two critically injured. After an extended investigation process, the nation’s Constitutional Court ruled that Park would be immediately stripped of her power as chief executive. South Korea will hold a presidential election within 60 days to replace her, one that many believe will benefit the leftist opposition party. Park is the first South Korean president to be removed in such a way. The announcement triggered assemblies — both protests and rallies — almost immediately, as some had begun congregating before the ouster became public to share the moment. In Seoul, two senior citizens were killed amid the chaos. According to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, the victims were two men named Kim (no relation) one aged 72 and the other, 66. The elder Kim died after being bludgeoned in the head with a large speaker. “Kim was found bleeding from his head near the court at around 1 p. m.,” Yonhap reports. The younger Kim “was found unconscious at a subway station,” but police have not identified a cause of death publicly yet. Police arrested one man in relation to the death of the elder Kim, who was seen ramming a vehicle into the police car carrying that speaker that ultimately hit Kim. Yonhap reports that two others are “in critical condition” but has not revealed any more information. The outlet added that, while one of the deaths appears accidental, many protesters took the streets of Seoul carrying “makeshift weapons, such as wooden sticks” to use against police. CNN reports that Seoul placed 21, 000 police officers on standby in case protests turned violent. That reality appeared to materialize rapidly, as dozens of protesters attempted to break police lines to storm into the courthouse where the impeachment decision was announced. While many lamented the end of Park’s tenure as president, leftists took Seoul’s streets to celebrate. Yonhap reports that some businesses offered free food and drink to celebrate, while a movie theater offered free viewings. Leftist did not appear fully satisfied, however, as they chanted “Arrest Park !” following the impeachment announcement. Also among those celebrating is the government of North Korea. Pyongyang had long reviled Park, an aggressive opponent of the Communist dictatorship whose parents were both assassinated by North Korean agents. On Friday, the government propaganda newspaper Rodong Sinmun published a final farewell to Park, addressing her as the “witch of Chongwadae [the Blue House, South Korea’s presidential palace]. ” “Nothing is more foolish than the efforts of the traitor and her group to stem the trend of the times,” a Rodong editorial read. “With the publication of the special investigation results, Park is fated to be recorded as the worst ‘president’ and meet the most shameless end in the south Korean history of politics. ” What Park’s ouster means for the volatile relations between North and South Korea remains unclear. The leftist opposition in Seoul has long called for more diplomacy with Pyongyang and less cooperation with allies like the United States. America began deploying the first parts of a defense system known as THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) this week, intended to protect from rogue North Korean rockets. Should South Korea elect a leftist president, such defenses may no longer be in the cards for that nation. The South Korean Unification Ministry issued a statement Friday insisting it would “maintain steady preparedness” following her removal. Park was impeached following the revelation that a close friend of hers, Choi had been privy to classified information and given the opportunity to edit Park’s nationals security speeches. Choi has ties to a group called the “Eternal Life Church,” which many in South Korea consider a cult. Park issued multiple apologies following the revelation, while Choi issued a statement insisting that her illicit government involvement “deserves death. ”

0fake

INDIAN-AMERICAN, Inventor Of Email Announces Run Against FAKE INDIAN, Radical Politician Elizabeth Warren For US Senate Seat

Boston-based entrepreneur and inventor of Email V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai announced his candidacy for the US Senate seat currently occupied by Elizabeth Warren.Today, ShivaRatri, when Light overcame Darkness, we launched my campaign for US SENATE against @SenWarren. Defend the American Dream! Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai (@va_shiva) February 25, 2017Ayyadurai is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is best known for his claim to have invented email.V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai, an Indian-American, will take on the only fake Indian in the US Senate, Elizabeth Warren.Shiva announced his candidacy last night at a private event hosted by Mike Cernovich and Jeff Giesea in suburban Maryland.Folks, THIS is the guy who is going to beat @SenWarren. He is the REAL Indian. @va_shiva. @Cernovich #BullMoose pic.twitter.com/6z5BdWpkPY Lynni Megginson (@LynniMegginson) February 25, 2017Elizabeth Warren lied to jump over other candidates and land a position at Harvard. Elizabeth Warren was listed as the Harvard Law s first woman of color in 1997 law review piece on diversity and affirmative action!Elizabeth Warren pushed back hard on questions about a Harvard Crimson piece in 1996 that described her as Native American, saying she had no idea the school where she taught law was billing her that way and saying it never came up during her hiring a year earlier, which others have backed up.But a 1997 Fordham Law Review piece described her as Harvard Law School s first woman of color, based, according to the notes at the bottom of the story, on a telephone interview with Michael Chmura, News Director, Harvard Law (Aug. 6, 1996). Warren was listed as a woman of color in the 1993 Harvard student journal. GPTime to take fight right into the belly of the beast in MA, the epi-center of Fake News, Fake History & Fake Science! @nntaleb @Cernovich Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai (@va_shiva) February 25, 2017Honored to be with REAL patriots #BullMoose who are uniting as one force to bring Truth and Freedom, exposing the Fake News! @Cernovich Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai (@va_shiva) February 25, 2017He s the inventor of email and polymath, holds four degrees from MIT, is a world-renowned systems scientist, inventor and entrepreneur.His love of medicine and complex systems began in India when he became intrigued with medicine at the age of five as he observed his grandmother, a farmer and healer in the small village of Muhavur in South India, apply Siddha, India s oldest system of traditional medicine, to heal and support local villagers. These early experiences inspired him to pursue the study of modern systems science, information technology and eastern and traditional systems of medicine to develop an integrative framework linking eastern and western systems of medicine.In 1978, as a precocious 14-year-old, after completing a special program in computer science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Science at NYU, Ayyadurai was recruited by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) as a Research Fellow, where he developed the first electronic emulation of the entire interoffice mail system (Inbox, Outbox, Folders, Address Book, Memo, etc.), which he named EMAIL, to invent the world s first email system, resulting in him being awarded the first United States Copyright for Email, Computer Program for Electronic Mail System, at a time when Copyright was the only protection for software inventions.Ayyadurai went on to receive four degrees from MIT, including a bachelors in electrical engineering and computer science, and a dual master s degree in mechanical engineering and visual studies from the MIT Media Laboratory.

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PROPAGANDA: Star Trek Beyond – Social Justice Warriors in Space

Jay Dyer 21st Century WireThe last Star Trek reboot saw Benedict Cumberbatch as Kahn, the berserk super soldier who was angry about the Federation doing some such nefarious thing to his people group. This installment included curious references to false flags which I detailed here.Before that, in the initial reboot, there was an angry alien who attacked the Federation over his tribal group being shat upon (or, Shatnered upon!). So, for the third time in a row, we have roughly the same plot of dispossessed discontent tribalists and unique people groups who become terrorists when their way of life is encroached upon by the United Nations, er, NATO, er, New World Order, er Federation.We have seen this pattern often in the Star Trek, but in the recent installment, it s even more pronounced as we discover the character Sulu is gay. Indeed, trans-specism and the destruction of people groups under liberal tyranny has always been the worldview of Star Trek Gene Roddenberry was a rabidly atheistic globalist (or, as an even darker possibility, was Roddenberry a member of an occultic group known as The Nine, ?).There is some interesting evidence connecting Roddenberry (connected to the Esalen Institute which I covered here) to esoteric groups, mind control and the Rand Corporation. This would explain the many gnostic, scientistic, platonic and at times interestingly philosophical episodes, in the original series and its Next Generation successor.Secret Sun blog explains: So if you were hawking a sci-fi religion, who better to approach than the creator of the sci-fi sensation of the early/mid 70s? From 2008:In early 1975, a broke and depressed Roddenberry was approached by a British former race car driver named Sir John Whitmore, who was associated with a strange organization called Lab-9. Though unknown to the public, Lab-9 were ostensibly a sort of an independent version of the X-Files, dedicated to the research of paranormal phenomena. However, Lab-9 had another, more complex agenda- they later claimed to be in contact with a group of extraterrestrials called the Council of Nine Lab-9 had wanted to hire Roddenberry to write a screenplay based on the Council of Nine s imminent return .Lab-9 flew him out to their headquarters, located on a large estate in Ossining, NY. There, Roddenberry met and interviewed several psychics, and prepared the groundwork for his script.Roddenberry wrote a script called The Nine, in which he fictionalized his experiences at Lab-9 and the message for humanity that the Council of Nine wished to convey Beam me up, RAND!(T)his was no ragtag bunch of hippie phreaks that Roddenberry was dealing with Roddenberry biographer Joel Engel noted that Whitmore introduced Roddenberry to several key figures in the British Broadcasting Corp. as well. In regard to the connection to RAND, Opsecnews states:According to the TrekPlace website Harvey P. Lynn, Jr. (?-1987), a member of the prestigious RAND Corporation, provided Star Trek original series creator Gene Roddenberry with scientific and technical advice during preproduction of the series.On the Rand Corporation s website the question is asked whether a RAND researcher designed the initial bridge of the Enterprise. The answer given is, A Rand researcher, Harvey Lynn, was consulted, but as a private citizen, not as part of a RAND project. However in an interview from 1965 Jeffrey Hunter, who played captain Christopher Pike in the Star Trek pilot The Cage and preceded William Shatner as first captain of the Enterprise stated, The things that intrigues me the most is that it is actually based on the Rand Corporation s projection of things to come. Except for the fictional characters, it will be like getting a look into the future and some of the predictions will surely come true in our lifetime. The inherent contradiction that Star Trek continually demonstrates is the contradiction of the liberal philosophy and I mean in this in the classically liberal sense, that radical egalitarianism and atomistic individualism creates a horrid collective gathered around nothing more than liberalism itself. In this way, liberalism and its epistemic and cultural relativism can only allow for itself, and must destroy and exclude all other options, including even non-liberal democracy.In numerous Star Trek episodes, we even see the Prime Directive of the Federation s commitment to not violating an existing culture violated under the pretended facade of liberal rights and values. Western NGOs and foundations fulfill this very role today, with a cover of aiding the downtrodden, while secretly working for western political ends, as we see in the Soros-funded White Helmets scam. (If anyone doubts RAND connections to Hollywood, let s not forget the 2014 faux scandal of The Interview). Ironically, the new film demonstrates this toxic cultural imperialism explicitly. GlobalResearch explains: Aside from not addressing the darker side of US foreign policy, Hollywood movies like Forrest Gump carry subliminal messages. In the words of the US culture and entertainment magazine Rolling Stone: The message of Forrest Gump was that if you think about the hard stuff too much, you ll either get AIDS or lose your legs. Meanwhile, the hero is the idiot who just shrugs and says Whatever! whenever his country asks him to do something crazy. What Rolling Stone is saying that listen to what you are commanded to do.Then there are movies like American Sniper that collapse US foreign policy into the simplistic notion of individual characters. What this does is collapse the event and the soldiers into one, which means that if ones criticize a US war that you are attacking the soldiers and their convictions. This is hiding behind the soldiers and detracting from the real issue of an illegal invasion and occupation. Nor is there any mention of Abu Ghraib or the false weapons of mass destruction lies. Rolling Stone had this to say about American Sniper: Sniper is a movie whose politics are so ludicrous and idiotic that under normal circumstances it would be beneath criticism. The only thing that forces us to take it seriously is the extraordinary fact that an almost exactly similar worldview consumed the walnut-sized mind of the president who got us into the war in question. It s the fact that the movie is popular, and actually makes sense to so many people, that s the problem, it also adds. In fact, as a result of the movie there was an increase in hate crimes in the US and negative feelings towards Arabs and Muslims. I was tempted to draw up an elaborate analysis of symbols and deeper meanings, but depth was absent in this film. Other than an odd similarity between the terrorist character as a former soldier who went mad from radicalism (traditionalism!) being similar to the D.C. sniper event, Admiral Krall is merely a representation of any cultures or people groups who want a more traditional, organic existence and reject the Federation s globalism. As such, they are terrorists who are impelled by their fury and insanity to bomb the glorious, multi-cultural megalopolis space city Yorktown. In other words, all groups that aren t on board with globalism and liberal, inverted monoculture are terrists destined to attack New York.Krall thus represents the life-extension inherent in the damned traditionalism that will not die in the face of globalism. Krall is a grotesque icon of the film s view of patriarchal, honor-based societies as a perpetual reptilian madness that humans must evolve beyond. If you don t accept homo-mono-globo-liberalism, you are a terrorist that will unleash bioweapons in New York.The Holy United Nations and the space brothers have told the Pentagon humanity must evolve beyond distinctions and borders, and Gene and the pope are is its prophets. By the way if the citizens of the multi cultural Yorktown space station can beam about at will, why didn t they just beam Admiral Krall into space when he had the bio weapon?Oops! #StarCuck #captainJamesTKuckREAD MORE HOLLYWOOD NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Hollywood FilesTo hear Jay s full podcasts, see more information and learn how you can become a subscriber to JaysAnalysis.Jay Dyer is the author of the forthcoming title, Esoteric Hollywood: Sex, Cults and Symbols in Film from Trine Day. Focusing on film, philosophy, geopolitics and all things esoteric, JaysAnalysis and his podcast, Esoteric Hollywood, investigates the deeper meanings between the headlines, exploring the hidden aspects of our sinister synthetic mass media matrix.

1real

Pacific Islanders may have DNA of unknown human species

Science Alert Tue, 25 Oct 2016 Hints of an unidentified, extinct human species have been found in the DNA of modern Melanesians – those living in a region of the South Pacific, northeast of Australia. According to new genetic modelling, the species is unlikely to be Neanderthal or Denisovan – two ancient species that are represented in the fossil record – but could represent a third, unknown human relative that has so far eluded archaeologists. “We’re missing a population, or we’re misunderstanding something about the relationships,” Ryan Bohlender, a statistical geneticist from the University of Texas, told Tina Hesman Saey at Science News. Bohlender and his team have been investigating the percentages of extinct hominid DNA that modern humans still carry today, and say they’ve found discrepancies in previous analyses that suggest our mingling with Neanderthals and Denisovans isn’t the whole story. It’s thought that between 100,000 and 60,000 years ago, our early ancestors migrated out of Africa, and first made contact with other hominid species living on the Eurasian landmass. This contact left a mark on our species that can still be found today, with Europeans and Asians carrying distinct genetic variants of Neanderthal DNA in their own genomes. And that’s not all they’ve given us. Earlier this year, researchers investigated certain genetic variants that people of European descent inherited from Neanderthals , and found that they’re associated with several health problems, including a slightly increased risk of depression, heart attack, and a number of skin disorders. And a separate study published earlier this month found evidence that modern genital warts – otherwise known as the human papillomavirus (HPV) – were sexually transmitted to Homo sapiens after our ancestors slept with Neanderthals and Denisovans once they left Africa. While our relationship with Neanderthals has been widely researched, how we interacted with the Denisovans – the distant cousins of Neanderthals – is less clear. The problem is that Neanderthals are well represented in the fossil record, with many remains having been uncovered across Europe and Asia, but all we have of the Denisovans is a lone finger bone and a couple of teeth that were found in a Siberian cave in 2008 . Using a new computer model to figure out the amount of Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA carried by modern humans, Bohlender and his colleague found that Europeans and Chinese people carry a similar amount of Neanderthal DNA: about 2.8 percent. That result is pretty similar to previous studies have estimated that Europeans and Asians carry, on average, between 1.5 and 4 percent Neanderthal DNA. But when they got to Denisovan DNA, things were a bit more complicated, particularly when it came to modern populations living in Melanesia – a region of the South Pacific that includes Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, West Papua, and the Maluku Islands. As Hesman Saey explains for Science News: “Europeans have no hint of Denisovan ancestry, and people in China have a tiny amount – 0.1 percent, according to Bohlender’s calculations. But 2.74 percent of the DNA in people in Papua New Guinea comes from Neanderthals. And Bohlender estimates the amount of Denisovan DNA in Melanesians is about 1.11 percent, not the 3 to 6 percent estimated by other researchers. While investigating the Denisovan discrepancy, Bohlender and colleagues came to the conclusion that a third group of hominids may have bred with the ancestors of Melanesians.” “Human history is a lot more complicated than we thought it was,” he told her. This find is supported by a separate study by researchers from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, who analysed DNA from 83 Aboriginal Australians and 25 locals from the Papua New Guinea highlands. As we reported last month, this was the most comprehensive genetic study of Indigenous Australians to date, and it indicated that they are the oldest continuous civilisation on Earth, dating back more than 50,000 years ago. But the results revealed something else – DNA that was very similar to that of the Denisovans, but distinct enough for the researchers to suggest that it could have come from a third, unidentified hominid . “Who this group is we don’t know,” lead researcher Eske Willerslev told Hesman Saey. Until we have more concrete evidence of this hypothesised third human species (some fossils would be nice), we can’t prove this , and we should point out that Bohlender’s estimates have yet to be formally peer-reviewed , so they might shift with further scrutiny. And it could be that our identification of Denisovan DNA is more ambiguous than we think, given that our only source is a finger bone and a couple of teeth. But the evidence is mounting that our interactions with ancient humans were far more complex than we’d assumed, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise, when you think about it. Just because we don’t see them in the fossil record doesn’t mean they didn’t exist – preserving the remains of something for tens of thousands of years isn’t easy, and then someone has to be in the right place at the right time to dig them up. Hopefully, the more we investigate the genetic make-up of our most ancient societies, the more hints we’ll get of the rich and complicated history our species shared with those that didn’t make it to modern times. The results of Bohlender’s analysis were presented last week at the 2016 American Society of Human Genetics meeting in Canada. © Guido Amrein Switzerland/Shutterstock Melanesian children of Papua New Guinea Share:

1real

Tillerson says U.S., Russia can settle problems, ease tension

MANILA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Monday he believes Washington and Russia can find a way to ease tensions, saying it wouldn’t be useful to cut ties over the single issue of suspected Russian meddling in the U.S. election. Tillerson said Russia had also expressed some willingness to resume talks about the crisis in Ukraine, where a 2015 ceasefire between Kiev’s forces and Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country is regularly violated. “We should find places we can work together... In places we have differences we’re going to have to continue to find ways to address those,” Tillerson told reporters. Tillerson met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of an international gathering in Manila on Sunday, where he also asked about Moscow’s retaliation against new U.S. sanctions. Tillerson said he told Lavrov the United States would respond to the Kremlin’s order for it to cut about 60 percent of its diplomatic staff in Russia by September 1. “We have not made a decision on how we will respond to Russia’s request to remove U.S. diplomatic personnel. I asked several clarifying questions...I told him we would respond by September first,” Tillerson said. The meeting was their first since President Donald Trump reluctantly signed into law the sanctions that Russia said amounted to a full-scale trade war and ended hopes for better ties. Lavrov on Sunday said he believed his U.S. colleagues were ready to continue dialogue with Moscow on complex issues despite tensions. Tillerson said he discussed Russia’s suspected meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election with Lavrov to “help them understand how serious this incident had been and how seriously it damaged the relationship” between the two nations. But Tillerson said that should not irreversibly damage ties. “The fact that we want to work with them on areas that are of serious national security interest to us, and at the same time having this extraordinary issue of mistrust that divides us, that is just what we in the diplomatic part of our relationship are required to do,” Tillerson said. The United States sent its special representative on Ukraine, Kurt Volker, a former U.S. envoy to NATO, to Ukraine last month to assess the situation in the former Soviet republic. Washington cites the conflict as a key obstacle to improved relations between Russia and the United States. “We appointed a special envoy to engage with Russia but also coordinating with all parties. This is full visibility to all parties. We are not trying to cut some kind of deal on the side,” Tillerson said.

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Trump’s VP Pick Attacked Animated Disney Movie For Being Pro-Woman

Mike Pence, the presumptive Republican nominee for vice president, once penned a screed attacking the Disney animated musical Mulan as liberal propaganda.Before he was a member of Congress and a Governor, Pence was the host of a right-wing radio show. As part of that show, Pence wrote the column in 1999 attacking the musical. As a part of the hardcore religious right, Pence was angry about the main character serving in the military.He complained: Despite her delicate features and voice, Disney expects us to believe that Mulan s ingenuity and courage were enough to carry her to military success on an equal basis with her cloddish cohorts, wrote Pence. Obviously, this is Walt Disney s attempt to add childhood expectation to the cultural debate over the role of women in the military. He later wrote: I suspect that some mischievous liberal at Disney assumes that Mulan s story will cause a quiet change in the next generation s attitude about women in combat and they just might be right, Pence continued. (Just think about how often we think of Bambi every time the subject of deer hunting comes into the mainstream media debate.) Pence went on to claim that Mulan proves that women shouldn t serve in combat: It is instructive that even in the Disney film, young Ms. Mulan falls in love with her superior officer! Me thinks the politically correct Disney types completely missed the irony of this part of the story. Yet in the film, while she does strike up a romance, she is also key to the victory of China over the invading Hun, repelling his attempted invasion and defending the life of the emperor, who rewards her for her bravery.Since the film s release, women have more options to them in the military. Under President Obama, all military positions are now open to women who are able to qualify for them, including in front line combat.Despite Pence s hostility to a cartoon character, he obviously doesn t hold a grudge as he has decided to run on a presidential ticket with one, albeit one less intelligent and capable than Mulan.Featured image via YouTube/Flickr

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WATCH: Mark Cuban SLAYS Trump For Scamming The Working Class

Donald Trump is an unpatriotic loser, says real billionaire Mark Cuban, because true patriots actually pay their damn taxes.In 1995, the Republican nominee wrote off a $915 million loss on his tax returns in order to get away with not paying any federal income taxes for the next 18 years while he continued to make hundreds of millions of dollars annually.As we all should know, taxes pay for a lot of the things that make our society great such as police, firefighters, hospitals, the military, roads, education, and many other things that are too numerous to mention. But Trump got to enjoy the benefits of the things taxes pay for without having to contribute a single penny to pay for them. The rest of us, including Hillary Clinton and Mark Cuban picked up that tab.So Cuban phoned in to CNN on Tuesday, and while he conceded that what Trump did is legal, he proceeded to blast him for failing to explain his actions. The key question, after showing a $915 million loss, is how much money does he owe still, who does he owe it to, was that debt forgiven because if it was forgiven, that s going to eat up that net operating loss, Cuban said. Debt forgiveness is the same as income. He hasn t explained any of those things in any way, shape or form. That s a problem. Cuban then dinged Trump for not taking personal responsibility for his mistakes and declared that Trump is unfit to be president because of that refusal. The problem with Donald Trump and why he s unfit to be president, is that he won t own his mistakes. We all make mistakes. I ve had companies go belly-up. I say it all the time: It doesn t matter how many times you fail, you only have to be right one time and everybody will tell you how lucky you are. Just own the mistake and explain it. The problem is there s no transparency, and he won t own his mistakes, and we don t want someone like that who s ashamed of what they ve done in the business world. Being president means the buck stops at your desk, which means Trump can t blame his underlings for all the bad decisions will likely make as president. We need a president that takes responsibility, not one that makes excuses.But Cuban continued slamming Trump for referring to himself as a smart for not paying taxes. That s just wrong. I say it all the time: After military service, the most patriotic thing you can do as a wealthy person is pay your taxes, because that keeps the roads paved, the military paid and kids going to school. He obviously doesn t understand the concept. Here s the video via Twitter.Mark Cuban responds to a report that Donald Trump may have legally avoided paying taxes for about two decades https://t.co/mwkQ1f7nVr CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 3, 2016Cuban is absolutely right. Trump should pay his taxes like everyone else does because it would be unAmerican to not pay them. Former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that by paying taxes we buy civilization. By not paying taxes, Trump is freeloading off the rest of us.Featured image via screenshot

1real

Carl Bernstein: Donald Trump Is A Fascist Strongman And A Pathological Liar (VIDEO)

Carl Bernstein, the legendary journalist who is most famous for his original coverage of the Watergate scandal, had some strong words for Donald Trump Sunday morning. Bernstein appeared on CNN s Reliable Sources to discuss Trumps campaign s media blackballing of several major news outlets.Trump has refused to give media passes to several major publishers from Politico to The Washington Post, where Bernstein worked for most of his career.The panel featured in the segment was made up of current editors from a few of the media organizations that Trump has put a wall up between them and his campaign. They wasted no time lamenting how hard it has been to deliver news coverage of Trump s campaign and expressed worry for the media under a Trump administration, given his blatant disregard for first amendment rights.It was Bernstein though who had the most critical things to say about Trump and his campaign. Really, this is about a candidate for president of the United States who does not believe in a free press, said Bernstein. He keeps talking about changing libel laws and suing the press and has instituted many, many lawsuits throughout his career. The underlying story here is who is Donald Trump? And I will say, and have said, that we are seeing the nominee of a major political party for the first time in our history, who is a neofascist, a particular kind of neofascist a strongman who doesn t believe in democratic institutions. Bernstein suggests that there is not enough reporting and analysis of Trump in the media that shows that accurately puts Trump into the context of elections historically. His bigotry is evident and we need to keep looking at it, but this is a story of a candidate who is a total break in our history and we need to be doing reporting on it, not just debating it on television. You can watch the panel discussion below.Featured image from video screenshot

1real

House Democrats seek probe of FCC chairman's treatment of Sinclair

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. House Democrats on Monday asked the Federal Communications Commission inspector general to probe whether FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was biased in favor of Sinclair Broadcast Group, which is seeking approval of a $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media Co. Representatives Frank Pallone and Elijah Cummings cited FCC decisions that benefited Sinclair, the largest U.S. television broadcast group, and a media report last year that the election campaign of President Donald Trump struck a deal with Sinclair for favorable coverage. “All of these actions – when taken in context with reported meetings between the Trump administration, Sinclair, and Chairman Pai’s office – have raised serious concerns about whether Chairman Pai’s actions comply with the FCC’s mandate to be independent,” the pair wrote. Advocacy group Free Press said in an FCC filing in August that Sinclair forces its stations to “air pro-Trump propaganda and then seeks favors from the Trump administration.” A spokeswoman for Pai said the “request appears to be part of many Democrats’ attempt to target one particular company because of its perceived political views ... Any claim that Chairman Pai is modifying the rules now to benefit one particular company is completely baseless.” Politico, citing unnamed sources, reported in December that Trump’s campaign made a deal with Sinclair to get favorable coverage in exchange for more access to Trump. Sinclair did not respond to a request for comment on Monday. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, told a congressional committee last month, “All of our media policy decisions seem to be custom-built for this one company.” Sinclair announced plans in May to acquire Tribune’s 42 TV stations in 33 markets as well as cable network WGN America, extending its reach to 72 percent of American households. The FCC is set to vote Thursday on Pai’s plan to eliminate the ban on cross-ownership of a newspaper and TV station in a major market and make it easier for media companies to buy additional TV stations in the same market. Approval would make it easier for Sinclair to acquire more TV stations. The FCC will also vote Thursday on Pai’s proposal to allow broadcasters to use new technology to improve picture quality and allow better reception on mobile phones, but it could force consumers to eventually buy new equipment. Sinclair holds some patents for the TV technology and Rosenworcel said Sinclair and others could profit.

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Trump Just Demanded The New York Times APOLOGIZE For Exposing Treason; It Didn’t Go Well For Him (TWEETS)

Donald Trump s slow and visibly painful meltdown over his administration (and campaign) getting caught colluding with the Russian government continued Thursday, with The Donald once again attacking the media for reporting it. Leaking, and even illegal classified leaking, has been a big problem in Washington for years. Failing @nytimes (and others) must apologize! Trump demanded.Leaking, and even illegal classified leaking, has been a big problem in Washington for years. Failing @nytimes (and others) must apologize! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 16, 2017The New York Times was instrumental in bringing much of the information we know so far about the Trump administration s criminal dealings with Russia to light. Naturally, the LOSERS on Twitter were quick to BIGLY Point out that he s full of Bannon:.@realDonaldTrump Remember when you said that @nytimes was "very nice"? https://t.co/B7ymYb33Yb Simon Hedlin (@simonhedlin) February 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump @nytimes Just as soon as you apologize for your *light treason* Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) February 16, 2017.@jules_su true: pic.twitter.com/Rj66MLFOA4 Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) February 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump ALSO, are you now verifying everything the Times reported about your Russia contacts? Evan Dashevsky (@haldash) February 16, 2017.@realDonaldTrump No, you should apologize for your collusion with the Russians! Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) February 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump @nytimes You are blaming a check engine light for a blown motor. Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) February 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump @nytimes do you think the press apologized for watergate leaks?? Impeach Donald Trump (@Impeach_D_Trump) February 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump @nytimes I'm confused. Why should the press apologize for reporting facts from solid sources? Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) February 16, 2017@realdonaldtrump Facts > your lies. pic.twitter.com/LuXBVzfZBl Ben Lang (@benln) February 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump The @nytimes is still not failing. Record subscriptions since the election. Stock STILL at a 52 week high. KILLING IT! pic.twitter.com/XITt2JJe1H MatthewDicks (@MatthewDicks) February 16, 2017@realDonaldTrump @nytimes When you keep asking whistleblowers to apologize, that means you're hiding something. We'll find it! Ben Berkon (@BenBerkon) February 16, 2017But Trump wasn t done. He vowed that he will catch those responsible for exposing the corruption in his administration:The spotlight has finally been put on the low-life leakers! They will be caught! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 16, 2017And, of course, The Donald slammed the fake news media for writing stories using sources. FAKE NEWS media, which makes up stories and "sources," is far more effective than the discredited Democrats but they are fading fast! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 16, 2017Ultimately, Trump says, this whole Russia thing the one that has been confirmed by 17 U.S. intelligence agencies is just fake news made up by the Democrats to explain away Hillary Clinton s massive popular vote win (and Trump s victory-by-technicality):The Democrats had to come up with a story as to why they lost the election, and so badly (306), so they made up a story RUSSIA. Fake news! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 16, 2017Pay attention to the way he is acting. When Trump wakes up and rambles incoherently, it means that he is worried. It means that he is lying.He also thinks he will get away with it. It is up to us to make sure he doesn t. Never stop leaking. Never stop telling the truth. Never stop resisting. Never submit.Featured image via Getty Images (Chip Somodevilla)/screengrab

1real

Anti-Trump U.S. coalition tells U.N. climate talks: 'we're still in'

BONN (Reuters) - A coalition of U.S. cities, companies and other groups said on Thursday that many in the United States remained committed to the 2015 Paris climate agreement despite plans by U.S. President Donald Trump to pull out. The we are still in coalition opened a 2,500-square meter (27,000-square foot) tent pavilion outside a venue in Bonn, Germany, where delegates from almost 200 nations are working on details of the pact aimed at ending the fossil fuel era by 2100. By contrast, the U.S. government delegation office at the talks covers only 100 square meters. There is a tradition of non-partisanship for protecting our planet, said James Brainard, Republican mayor of the town of Carmel, Indiana, at an opening event. It is unfortunate we have moved away from it. Trump, who doubts mainstream scientific findings that global warming is primarily caused by man-made greenhouse gases, said in June he would pull out of the Paris Agreement and promote the U.S. coal and oil industries. The we are still in coalition of states, cities, universities, faith groups and environmental activists, aims to show delegates from other nations at the Nov. 6-17 U.N. talks that many Americans are working to cut greenhouse gas emissions. It says its signatories represent more than 130 million Americans and $6.2 trillion of annual economic output. Fiji, which is presiding at the U.N. talks, welcomed the coalition as a perfect example of how the Paris accord aims to widen action beyond national governments. I am confident that coalitions like yours will scale up because they are noble and inspiring, Inia Seruiratu, the Fijian minister for agriculture and disaster management, told the meeting. And Jeff Moe, director of product advocacy for Ingersoll-Rand(IR.N), said the company was seeking to halve its greenhouse gas emissions. The we are still in pavilion is funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Hewlett Foundation and NextGen America. California Governor Jerry Brown also urged more action on climate change. Relative to the threat, the urgency is not there ... and nobody is in charge. That s the biggest problem, he told a news conference in Brussels. Brown travels to Bonn on Saturday.

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Stephen Colbert Trolls Trump By Announcing Run For President – On Russian TV (VIDEO)

Is he really going to do it this time? With Stephen Colbert, it s hard to tell but he made an appearance on Russian television and dropped a bombshell that could affect the 2020 election you know, if he s serious..@realDonaldTrump Don't worry, Mr. President. I'm in Russia. If the "tapes" exist, I'll bring you back a copy! pic.twitter.com/v5flvAMtFY Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) June 22, 2017 To the beautiful and friendly Russian people, Colbert said on Russian late night show Evening Urgent, I don t understand why no members of the Trump administration can remember meeting you. I am here to announce that I am considering a run for president in 2020, and I thought it would be better to cut out the middleman and just tell the Russians myself, Colbert continued. If anyone would like to work on my campaign in an unofficial capacity, please just let me know. While this seems unbelievable, this wouldn t be the first time Colbert has thrown his hat into the ring. He once ran for president as his alter-ego, but the campaign ended with the primary.Americans for years have been urging Colbert to actually run for president preferably with Jon Stewart as his running mate and if there s one thing we have learned from the reality show host currently in the White House it s that anything is possible.Watch Colbert s announcement below:Featured image via screengrab

1real

TRUMP’S CHOICE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL Doesn’t Come From The Obama School Of Chicago Thug Justice

The good news is, now that Obama s released all the criminals from jail, there should be plenty of room for Hillary, Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, Lois Lerner, Barack Obama and his tax cheat buddy, Al Sharpton Even though he s just a presidential hopeful, Donald Trump has wasted no time telling America his top pick is for attorney general. And, if you were somehow involved in the Benghazi scandal or Hillary Clinton s email debacle, you d better watch out.In a Tuesday tweet, Trump said that he would pick South Carolina representative and chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi Trey Gowdy as his attorney general, were he to be elected president. @HillaryClinton s toast. Dems had better get the B Team off the bench. @TGowdySC (Trey Gowdy s Twitter username) for Attorney General under President Trump, Trump tweeted.Rep. Gowdy, whose tenacious manner with liberals and Obama administration officials has earned him the nickname The Bulldog, has been a conservative favorite for quite some time now. In fact, before the 2014 Republican sweep of Congress, political action group the Tea Party Leadership Fund endorsed Gowdy to take over John Boehner s position as speaker of the House.While Gowdy didn t get that job, it might be even more satisfying seeing the South Carolina bulldog at Eric Holder s old desk, prosecuting all of those Democrats let slide during the Obama administration.Via: Conservative Tribune

1real

What Does it Take to Bring Hillary Clinton to Justice?

What Does it Take to Bring Hillary Clinton to Justice? By Pepe Escobar RT " - Virtually the whole planet holds its collective breath at the prospect of Hillary Clinton possibly becoming the next President of the United States (POTUS). How’s that humanly possible, as the (daily) Bonfire of The Scandals – relentlessly fed by WikiLeaks revelations and now converging FBI investigations - can now be seen from interstellar space? It’s possible because Hillary Clinton, slouching through a paroxysm of manufactured hysteria, is supported by virtually the whole US establishment, a consensual neocon/neoliberalcon War Party/Wall Street/corporate media axis. But History has a tendency to show us there’s always a straw that breaks the camel’s back. This could be it – as revealed by WikiLeaks ; March 2, 2015, the day when John Podesta wrote, “we are going to have to dump all those emails.” That happened to be the exact same day it was revealed Hillary Clinton had used a personal email server as Secretary of State. Yet this reveals only part of the puzzle. There’s got to be a response to Podesta’s email – which WikiLeaks may, or may not, leak in the next few days before the election. If the back and forth clearly shows intent (to mislead), then we’ve got a 100 percent smoking gun: the whole Clinton (cash) machine narrative – according to which Hillary just deleted "personal" emails – crumbles like the ultimate House of Cards. Moreover, that would unveil what was from the start the privileged Clinton machine strategy: to thwart the subsequent internal State Dept. and FBI investigations. As far as the Clinton machine is concerned, an interlocking influence peddling pile up is the norm. John Podesta also happens to be the founder of the Center for American Progress – a George Soros operation and prime recruiting ground for Obama administration officials, including US Treasury operatives who decided which elite Too Big To Fail (TBTF) financial giants would be spared after the 2008 crisis. DCLeaks.com , for its part, has connected Soros Open Society foundations to global funding rackets directly leading to subversion of governments and outright regime change (obviously sparing Clinton Foundation donors.) Exceptional bananas, anyone? The perfectly timed slow drip of WikiLeaks revelations, for the Clinton machine, feels like a sophisticated form of Chinese torture. To alleviate the pain, the relentless standard spin has been to change the subject, blame the messenger, and attribute it all to “evil” Russian hacking when the real source for the leaks might have come straight from the belly of the (Washington) beast. At the Valdai discussion club last week, it took President Putin only a few sentences to debunk the whole Clinton machine narrative with a bang: “Another mythical and imaginary problem is what I can only call the hysteria the USA has whipped up over supposed Russian meddling in the American presidential election. The United States has plenty of genuinely urgent problems, it would seem, from the colossal public debt to the increase in firearms violence and cases of arbitrary action by the police.You would think that the election debates would concentrate on these and other unresolved problems, but the elite has nothing with which to reassure society, it seems, and therefore attempt to distract public attention by pointing instead to supposed Russian hackers, spies, agents of influence and so forth. I have to ask myself and ask you too: Does anyone seriously imagine that Russia can somehow influence the American people’s choice? America is not some kind of ‘banana republic’, after all, but is a great power. Do correct me if I am wrong.” Reality, though, continues to insist on offering multiple, overlapping banana republic instances, configuring a giant black hole of transparency. Anthropologist Janine Wedel has been one of the few in Clinton-linked US mainstream media acknowledging how Bill Clinton, while Hillary was Secretary of State, perfected his version of “philantro-capitalism” (actually a money laundering “pay to play” racket), a practice “by no means confined to the Clintons”. And the racket prospered with inbuilt nuggets, such as Hillary being perfectly aware that prime Clinton Foundation donors Qatar and Saudi Arabia were also financing ISIS/ISIL/Daesh. Huma, the Fall Princess Now, less than a week before the election, we have come to the crucial juncture where the WikiLeaks revelations are merging with the FBI investigations - all three of them. Exhibit A is this WikiLeaks bombshell ; Peter Kadzik, who’s now in charge of the Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into the 650,000 emails found on the laptop shared by Clinton’s right-hand woman Huma Abedin and her estranged, pervert husband Anthony Wiener, is a Clinton asset. Not only Kadzik was an attorney for Marc Rich when he was pardoned by Bill Clinton; Podesta – as also revealed by WikiLeaks - thanked Kadzik for keeping him “out of jail” ; and it was Kadzik who gave Podesta a secret heads up on the Clinton email investigation. The Clinton machine, starring a self-described virtuous Madonna, is actually a pretty nasty business. Huma and her family’s close connections to Saudi Arabia – and the Muslim Brotherhood – are legendary (that includes her brother Hassan, who works for Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi). Podesta, by the way, is a handsomely remunerated lobbyist for Saudi Arabia in Washington; that’s part of the Clinton Foundation connection. Yet now, with Huma in the spotlight – still maintaining she didn’t know all those emails were in her and Wiener’s laptop - it’s no wonder Hillary has instantly downgraded her, publicly, to “one of my aides” . She used to be Hillary’s ersatz “daughter” ; now she’s being framed as The Fall Princess. And that brings us to the intersection of those three FBI investigations; on Hillary’s Subterranean Email Server (in theory closed by FBI’s Comey last summer); on the Clinton Foundation; and on Wiener’s sexting of minors. The FBI has been investigating the Clinton Foundation for over a year now. Let’s try to cut a long story short. Follow the evidence Last July, the DOJ – under Clinton/Obama asset Loretta Lynch - decided not to prosecute anyone on Emailgate. And yet FBI director Comey – who nonetheless stressed Hillary’s “extreme carelessness” – turbo-charged his no-denial mode on another investigation, as in the FBI “sought to refocus the Clinton Foundation probe.” Soon we had Clinton Foundation FBI investigators trying to get access to all the emails turned over in the Emailgate investigation. The East District of New York refused it. Very important point; up to 2015, guess who was the US attorney at the East District; Clinton/Obama asset Lynch. Enter an extra layer of legalese. Less than two months ago, the Clinton Foundation FBI investigators discovered they could not have access to any Emailgate material that was connected to immunity agreements. But then, roughly a month ago, another FBI team captured the by now famous laptop shared by Huma and Wiener - using a warrant allowing only a probe on Weiner’s sexting of a 15-year-old girl. Subsequently they found Huma Abedin emails at all her accounts – from Humaabedin@yahoo.com to the crucial huma@clintonemail.com . This meant not only that Huma was forwarding State Dept. emails to her private accounts, but also that Hillary was sending emails from the “secret” clintonemail.com to Huma at yahoo.com. No one knew for sure, but some of these emails might be duplicates of those the Clinton Foundation FBI investigators could not access because of the pesky immunity agreements. What’s established by now is that the metadata in the Huma/Wiener laptop was duly examined. Now picture both teams of FBI investigators – Clinton Foundation and pervert Wiener – comparing notes. And then they decide Huma’s emails are “relevant”. Key questions apply; and the most pressing is how the emails were deemed “relevant” if the investigators could only examine the metadata. What matters is that Comey certainly was made aware of the content of the emails – a potential game-changer. That’s why one of my sources insists his decision to go public came from above. The other key question now is whether the DOJ – via Kadzik? - will once again thwart another investigation, this time on the Clinton Foundation. Senior, serious FBI agents won’t take that – massive euphemism – kindly. The FBI has been on the Clinton Foundation for over a year. Now, arguably, they are loaded with evidence – and they won’t quit. Winning the presidency now seems to be the least of Hillary Clinton’s Bonfire of Scandals’ problems. Pepe Escobar is an independent geopolitical analyst. He writes for RT, Sputnik and TomDispatch, and is a frequent contributor to websites and radio and TV shows ranging from the US to East Asia. He is the former roving correspondent for Asia Times Online. Born in Brazil, he's been a foreign correspondent since 1985, and has lived in London, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles, Washington, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

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European Commission says 'ball still rolling' on trade deal with U.S.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union’s executive said on Monday it had a unanimous mandate from the bloc’s 28 members to finalize negotiations on a free trade deal with the United States, a day after Germany’s economy minister said the talks had “de facto failed”. Sigmar Gabriel of Germany, the EU’s biggest economy, said on Sunday that negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) had failed because Europe rejected some U.S. demands. Asked to comment on Gabriel’s remarks, a European Commission spokesman said: “The ball is still rolling” on TTIP. “Although trade talks take time, the ball is rolling right now and the Commission is making steady progress in the ongoing TTIP negotiations,” Margaritis Schinas told a news conference. The White House also disputed Gabriel’s contention, saying it was still aiming to reach a deal by the end of the year. “It’s going to require the resolution of some pretty thorny negotiations, but the president and his team are committed to doing that,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in Washington. In Berlin, Germany’s leading industry associations were critical of Gabriel’s remarks and urged the German government to show greater commitment to free trade deals. The head of industry association BDI, Ulrich Grillo, said it was “astonishing” that Gabriel, who is also vice chancellor and head of the co-governing Social Democrats, had declared the TTIP talks a failure when negotiations were still going on. Top officials of other industry associations such as VDMA and the Auto Industry Association VDA also spoke out against Gabriel’s comments, which highlighted growing divisions within Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition ahead of next year’s elections. Three years of negotiations have failed to resolve multiple differences, including over food and environmental safety, with critics saying the pact would hand too much power to big multinationals at the expense of consumers and workers. Backers of a sweeping U.S.-EU free trade deal see it bringing economic gains on both sides of the Atlantic. EU trade ministers will discuss the issue in Bratislava on Sept. 22. Schinas said the Commission was still ready to finalize the deal by the end of the year but not at the expense of “Europe’s safety, health, social and data protection standards, or our cultural diversity”. Commenting separately on Gabriel’s remarks, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said he believed arriving at a deal would benefit both the EU and the United States. “It would be better for all sides to agree,” he said. “Of course, not at an expense of our interests. We have to defend our interests, but we also have to negotiate and conclude this agreement. It would be a big boost for economies, jobs, trade.” Britain’s June vote to leave the EU has further clouded the picture, although Schinas said Brussels was still negotiating on behalf of all 28 members of the bloc, including London.

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Supporters of Hungarian Jobbik opposition party protest over crackdown

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - About a thousand Hungarians protested on Friday against a crackdown on the main opposition party Jobbik which has been threatened by a record political campaign fine that the party leader describes as a death sentence for democracy. Despite the gloomy rhetoric and Jobbik saying it was fighting for survival, support for the demonstration was well down on other similar rallies over the past year. Hungarians will vote for a new parliament in April and Prime Minister Viktor Orban s conservative, anti-migrant Fidesz party is far ahead in the polls, with Jobbik its nearest rival. Jobbik, once on the far right, has turned toward the center in a bid to attract more support and is now campaigning nationwide against Orban, depicting him as the leader of a criminal gang. Orban, rejecting the charges, says his financial standing is an open book . Last week the state audit office (ASZ) ruled Jobbik had bought political posters far below market prices, breaching rules on political funding, then it slapped a 663 million forint ($2.5 million) penalty on the party. The protesters, waving Jobbik flags and posters deriding the ruling elite, gathered outside the headquarters of Orban s Fidesz party. What we see unfolding is not an audit office investigation. It is not an official penalty. This is a death sentence with Jobbik s name on it. But in reality, it is a death sentence for Hungarian democracy, Jobbiik leader Gabor Vona told the crowd. A government spokesman could not comment immediately on his remarks. ASZ chairman Laszlo Domokos is a former Fidesz lawmaker, whom Jobbik and other critics accuse of making decisions in favor of Orban. The audit office denies that. On Friday, ASZ again called on Jobbik to submit information that would challenge its findings, saying it acted fully within its rights throughout the probe. The ruling Fidesz party and the government have denied any involvement in the ASZ probe. This case has nothing to do with the election campaign, Orban aide Janos Lazar said on Thursday. For over a year Fidesz has targeted Jobbik, whose move to the center could upend the longstanding status quo of a dominant Fidesz with weaker opponents to its left and its right, said analyst Zoltan Novak at the Centre for Fair Political Analysis. Gyorgy Illes, a 67-year-old pensioner attending the rally, said he used to be a Socialist supporter but got disillusioned as the party struggled to overcome its internal divisions. This ASZ probe is a clear sign that Orban is way past any remedy. It is a ruthless attack on everything we hold dear. Democracy, the rule of law, equality, you name it, he said.

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Back on Her Feet at 85, Thanks to a Chair - The New York Times

In the middle of Marilyn Oshman’s otherwise cozy apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, between an antique candelabra, curtains and framed family photos, was a hospital bed. “I was dying,” Mrs. Oshman, 85, said. “I felt like I was in a prison in that lousy hospital bed. I couldn’t get out. ” She was bedridden and unable to walk because of venous stasis and cellulitis, a painful bacterial infection that covered the lower half of her body with large, sores. Ordinary tasks, like getting out of bed every morning, became impossible. It was a drastic setback for someone who loved to move around on her own. As a child born and raised on Monroe Street on the Lower East Side, she loved exploring the city by foot. When she was 20, she had a job at a toy factory on Broadway, and it was there that she met her husband, David Oshman. They divorced in the late 1980s after 35 years of marriage, but Mrs. Oshman recounted fond memories of their active, early years together: Dancing the jitterbug on Fridays and Sundays at a club on the Lower East Side (“And he was some jitterbug dancer!” she said) fishing for pogies off a Coney Island pier and when they had children, a son and a daughter, taking family vacations to the mountains. Most of all, though, she said she loved doing the simpler things around the house: washing the walls, scrubbing the floors and cooking her favorite Jewish delicacies, stuffed cabbage and pot roast. But her health took a bad turn around 50 and deteriorated over the last three decades. For the last two years, Mrs. Oshman has made many trips between Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital at 16th Street and First Avenue, and Gouverneur Health on the Lower East Side, and then back to her apartment. “Two years of hell,” she said. “And I mean hell. ” The back and forth became so strenuous that her doctor helped Mrs. Oshman get a hospital bed — not the centerpiece she would have preferred — so that she could receive medical care in her apartment. She was home, but she was miserable she could not lie comfortably in the new bed and often resorted to sleeping upright in a wheelchair. The ordeal became a dangerous cycle: She struggled to stand on her own, meaning she spent more time bedridden and immobile, which intensified the swelling, redness and pain. “I don’t want money, I don’t want jewelry,” Mrs. Oshman said, glancing at her still swollen legs, wrapped in compression socks. She added, through tears: “The only thing I want, at this stage in my life, is to be able to walk again. ” Over the summer, Mrs. Oshman’s doctor recommended a special recliner that could help her stand up, but Mrs. Oshman could not afford it. Every month she receives $1, 251 in Social Security benefits and $180 in food stamps, which is not enough to cover her monthly grocery bills. She pays $406 a month to Medicaid for the home care services, and $350 monthly toward her apartment. She was 62 when she retired from Citibank, where she was a greeter and an assistant to bankers, after she got too sick to continue working. Mrs. Oshman left with no retirement savings and does not receive financial support from her children. She has been getting help from the Educational Alliance, an organization that offers a social service program for people over 60. The Educational Alliance is a beneficiary agency of of New York, one of the eight organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. When the Alliance learned of Mrs. Oshman’s need for the recliner, the group used $799 from the Neediest funds to buy it. It arrived in August. “This chair saved my life, and I’m not kidding when I tell you that,” Mrs. Oshman said. “I was suffering with the hospital bed, and because of this chair, I’m able to walk again. It’s a blessing. I’m doing more for myself than I ever did. I’m changing myself. ” She has had to relearn tasks once taken for granted: standing up on her own, dressing herself and getting into the kitchen. “I’m living since I got this chair,” she said, tilting it up and down. It even has a massage function and heated seats. “What should we name it?” she asked, referring to the chair draped in a bright purple sheet and blanket. Mrs. Oshman has been able to get out of the apartment more in recent months than she ever did during the last few years. She is again walking the streets of the Lower East Side, where she grew up. “I was a familiar face around the neighborhood then, and until this day, I still am,” she said. “I was away from here for two years, and when the aide took me downstairs one day recently, people stopped me in the street saying, ‘What happened to you? Where were you?’ And all I said was, ‘I’m back. ’”

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Five Women Donald Trump Allegedly Slept With And How They Utterly Humiliated Him

Donald Trump obviously has a knack for purchasing beautiful women. His first wife, Ivana, was a model from the Czech Republic who was famous for gaudy accessories and over-spending. Trump cheated on her and eventually married Marla Maples, who may have actually loved him for some reason but grew tired of him and moved on with a good chunk of his money. His current wife, Melania, is yet another Eastern European model who loves the lavish lifestyle he provides for her.In between the women who have allowed him to buy them, after the millions of dollars in divorce costs, Trump has always declared himself something of a ladies man. He and his ahem giant hands have been telling stories of his conquests for decades. The problem is, just like everything else about Trump, the stories are mostly exaggerations, outright lies or rumors that he enjoyed a little bit too much to dispel in good conscience like a decent human being. Go figure. Here s a list of five of the famous women Donald Trump has lied about dating and how they humiliated him when they had made his list:The former Olympic champion ice-skater was 41-years-old and happily married when her supposed affair with The Donald happened. After The New York Daily News reported her as a possible Trump fling, she felt she needed to respond since Trump decided not to dispel the rumor: The reason I m going public with my outrage over this allegation is that I had hoped that Donald Trump would issue his own statement of the rumor being completely unfounded, and that has not happened quickly enough, she said. I ve been around Donald Trump four times in my life. I wouldn t even call him a good friend. Ouch. Even though that happened in 1990, you just know it still stings the orange man s ego.The Dynasty Star who played Princess Diana in two TV movies told People that there was no truth at all to the rumors she and Trump were an item. Again Trump remained silent, allowing himself to be associated with yet another beautiful woman far out of his league: [He s] a complete joke as far as I m concerned. I hardly know the man, Oxenburg told People in 1990.And another one down. No wonder he allowed his actual affair with Maples to go public. His reputation was taking a severe beating.The cosmetics mogul refused to give any credence to the rumor she and Trump were a thing, dispelling it with a simple I don t know what you re talking about, when asked by People. Trump never attempted to call her out, because the rumors he allowed to continue were obviously not true.The prominent swimsuit model and wife of NHL star Ron Greschner never bothered to answer the allegations she was into Trump. She allowed her manager, Steve Gutstein, to do it for her instead: Donald Trump is a fortunate man, but he s not that fortunate. That s another one that had to just hurt. Trump could very well have avoided all of the humiliation by telling the truth about these rumors when they happened or by not starting them if he was the source but he instead rode the wave of ignorance that has carried him towards the Republican nomination 26 years later.The socialite and designer who was married to Trump s billionaire acquaintance Henry Kravitz (it s a well-established fact that Trump doesn t have friends), said the rumors were ridiculous. She added, I m married to the greatest man in the world. Those are words Trump has probably heard quite often himself after he buys something extravagant.To his credit, there was one rumor Trump decided to debunk on his own. In the prime of Mike Tyson s career, Trump was accused of a fling with Robin Givens. It s not too difficult to figure out why. Featured image From Getty Images, modified

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MEDIA BUSTED! 2003 VIDEO Of TRUMP Proving His Claim That He Was Against The Iraq War [Video]

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5 Reasons Why You Should Never Use Dryer Sheets Again

Share on Facebook Most commercial dryer sheets are loaded with all sorts of toxic chemicals including Benzyl Acetate, Benzyl Alcohol, Chloroform and Linalool; none of which are good for your health. In addition to all the chemicals that end up on your skin, when heated, the fumes are also toxic. These toxins go straight to their brain's most sensitive neurological centers and wreck havoc. 5 Killer Reasons to Ditch Dryer Sheets Artificial Fragrances When people use dryer sheets, they are coating their clothes with artificial chemical perfumes. These fragrance chemicals are extremely toxic. They are known carcinogens that cause liver damage and cancer in mammals. In a recent study performed by UW professor Dr. Anne Steinemann, a research team conducted a small study to understand the effects of fragrances in laundry products (both detergent and dryer sheets). The results discovered more than 25 VOCs emitted from dryer vents, with highest concentrations of acetaldehyde, acetone, and ethanol (two of which are considered carcinogenic). To put it into context, one of the carcinogenic VOCs, acetaldehyde, had emissions that would represent 3% of total acetaldehyde emissions from automobiles in the study area. This is a major omission of toxic chemicals. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry-generated Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) from the 1990s, the following is a list of chemicals in fabric softener products, most in untested combinations. 1. Alpha-Terpineol–This chemical has been linked to disorders of the brain and nervous system, loss of muscle control, depression, and headaches. 2. Benzyl acetate–Benzyl acetate has been linked to cancer of the pancreas. 3. Benzyl alcohol–This upper respiratory tract irritant can cause central nervous system (CNS) disorders, headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and dramatic drops in blood pressure. 4. Chloroform–Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic. Really toxic to your brain. Inhaling its vapors may cause loss of consciousness, nausea, headache, vomiting, and/or dizziness, drowsiness. 5. Ethanol– Another fabric softener ingredient which is on the EPA's Hazardous Waste list and linked to CNS disorders. 6. Ethyl Acetate–causes headaches and is on the EPA Hazardous Waste list. 7. Linalool–in studies, this chemical caused loss of muscle coordination, nervous system and brain disorders, and depression. 8. Pentane–causes headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, drowsiness, and depression. What's the alternative to toxic dryer sheets? Wool balls. They are 100% natural and are effective at getting rid of static cling and wrinkles, soften clothes.

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Trump Is FUMING Over Bad Charlottesville Press, Becomes A Terror In The White House (TWEET)

Once again, Donald Trump is having a completely disappointing, inappropriate reaction to the racially motivated violence that happened in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend.Apparently, instead of being outraged about the murder of one counter protester and the injuries of several others, Trump is all bent out of shape because he has gotten a lot of negative press coverage for his weak, pathetic response to the incident. According to White House officials, Trump is coming apart at the seams over this, as Robert Costa reported: Person close to Kelly framed it to me this way: POTUS fuming at press, coverage of C ville handling. In no mood for talk about moderation. Seriously, what did Trump expect to happen after he ignored America s pleas to denounce the violence for two whole days, before issuing a scripted, half-ass statement on Monday? Not even the white supremacists Trump targeted in his response believed that he was actually denouncing racism.If Trump wanted positive press coverage, he should have actually done his job and condemned the white supremacist values and bigotry from the start. Speaking up against racism and the violence that broke out of that white nationalist rally was possibly the easiest task a President could ask for, and Trump failed miserably at executing that. Instead, Trump protected and defended the racist attackers, making his approval rating only plummet further and giving the media even more things to criticize.Trump can blame the media all he wants, but it is his own lack of competency that is responsible for his failure as president. He never does the right thing, even when it is blatantly obvious what actions he should be taking. What happened in Charlottesville was an opportunity for Trump to emerge as a different president than most Americans expect him to be, and he completely blew it. There is something very wrong when a leader cares more about his press coverage than the lives of his constituents.Featured image via Branden Camp / Getty Images

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SUPER TUESDAY PROJECTION MAP FROM REAL CLEAR POLITICS

Here s the projection from Real Clear Politics for tomorrow s Super Tuesday:

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FBI INVESTIGATION Into HILLARY’S Email Server Entering “Very, very dangerous phase” [VIDEO]

Perhaps the pundits should start changing course and measuring Trump s chances of defeating Bernie Sanders in the general The investigation into Hillary Clinton s private email server is entering a very, very dangerous phase for the Democratic presidential front-runner, Judge Andrew Napolitano said on Varney & Co today.As federal prosecutors prepare to interview several of Clinton s closest aides, it s a sign that they re finished gathering and corroborating evidence, Judge Napolitano explained.He said that most criminal defense attorneys will not let their clients be interviewed by the FBI and federal prosecutors, because the government is not obligated to reveal what evidence they have. Via: FOX News

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Trump In Puerto Rico Disgustingly Tells Puerto Ricans It’s Costing Too Much To Save Them

Just when you thought he couldn t possibly get worse, Donald Trump lowers the bar. While in Puerto Rico, Donald Trump just told American citizens you re throwing our budget out of whack. Read below:Mick [Mulvaney] is in charge of a thing called budget. Now, I hate to tell you Puerto Rico, but you re throwing our budget a little out of whack, because we ve spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico.If you look at real catastrophe like Katrina, and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds of people that died. And you look at what happened here with really a storm that was totally overpowering nobody s ever seen anything like this. What is our death count this morning? 16, certified.The certified death count in Puerto Rico may be misleading nobody actually knows how many uncertified deaths there are in Puerto Rico. There could be hundreds. The death count hasn t been updated in days, and many people are missing. Yet, once again, Trump s chief concern is his public image.Here s the video:President Trump: "Now I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you've thrown our budget a little out of whack" https://t.co/3DSMX2ysAx NBC News (@NBCNews) October 3, 2017In the responses to NBC s tweet, the vast majority of replies called him out for his lies: Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images

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NOT KIDDING: Call A Transexual “He” If He Wants To Be Called “She” In Communist NYC…Pay Staggering $250,000 Fine

The LGBT mafia has never been more threatening or powerful Did you call a transsexual person he or she when they preferred to be called zhe? According to a newly updated anti-discrimination law in New York City, you could be fined an eye-watering $250,000.In the latest, astonishing act of draconian political correctness, the NYC Commission on Human Rights have updated a law on Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Expression to threaten staggering financial penalties against property owners who misgender employees or tenants.Incidents that are deemed wilful and malicious will see property owners face up to $250,000 in fines, while standard violations of the law will result in a $125,000 fine. For small business owners, these sums are crippling.It s not as simple as referring to transmen he or transwomen as she, either. The legislation makes it clear that if an individual desires, property owners will have to make use of zhe, hir and any other preferred pronoun. From the updated legislation:The NYCHRL requires employers and covered entities to use an individual s preferred name, pronoun and title (e.g., Ms./Mrs.) regardless of the individual s sex assigned at birth, anatomy, gender, medical history, appearance, or the sex indicated on the individual s identification. Most individuals and many transgender people use female or male pronouns and titles.Some transgender and gender non-conforming people prefer to use pronouns other than he/him/his or she/her/hers, such as they/them/theirs or ze/hirOther violations of the law include refusing to allow individuals to use single-sex facilities such as bathrooms that are consistent with their gender identity, failing to provide employee health benefits for gender-affirming care and imposing different uniforms or grooming standards based on sex or gender. Examples of such illegal behaviour include: requiring female bartenders to wear makeup, Permitting only individuals who identify as women to wear jewellery or requiring only individuals who identify as male to have short hair, and permitting female but not male residents at a drug treatment facility to wear wigs and high heels. In other words, if a bar owner prevents male bartenders from wearing lipstick and heels, they ll be breaking the law. They ve now got a choice between potentially scaring off customers, and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. Regardless of the establishment s client le or aesthetic, every property owner will be forced to conform to the same standard.This is the latest in what Spiked Online editor-in-chief Brendan O Neill calls The Crisis of Character in the west, in which identities become grounded in subjective interpretation rather than objective reality. The state is now forcing society to recognise the subjective identities of individuals, regardless of how absurd or surreal they may seem. In New York City, recognising someone s identity is no longer a matter of case-by-case common sense and courtesy. It s zir way or the highway.

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WOW! HERE ARE FOUR LAWS Hillary Clinton Appears To Have Broken [Video]

Former Attorney General Michael McKasey lists 4 laws Hillary Clinton appears to have broken: There s one that says you can t put classified information in an unclassified setting. That s the one that General Petraeus was convicted of on his own plea. There s one that says that you can t expose national secrets through gross negligence. Then there s one that says you can t destroy government information. And then there s one that says you can t obstruct justice.

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Eying snap election, Japan's Abe to focus on education, security

TOKYO (Reuters) - Pledges to spend on education and child care, stay tough on North Korea and revise the pacifist constitution are likely to be pillars of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe s campaign in a snap election next month, government sources said on Tuesday. Abe is expected to announce on Monday that he will call a general election on Oct. 22 to take advantage of a rebound in his damaged approval ratings and disarray in the opposition, ruling party and government sources said. The prime minister, whose ratings have recovered from below 30 percent in July, is betting his ruling bloc can at a minimum retain a simple majority in the chamber and at best keep the two-thirds super-majority needed to achieve his long-held goal of revising the constitution to clarify the military s role. A solid victory would boost Abe s chances of a third term as ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader in a party election next September, putting him on track to become Japan s longest-serving premier. That is his biggest goal, said veteran independent political analyst Minoru Morita. Abe s support rose 6.5 points to 50.3 percent in a poll conducted over the weekend by the Sankei newspaper and the Fuji News Network, while backing for the LDP was at 38 percent compared to 6.4 percent for the main opposition Democratic Party. Abe wants to go ahead with a planned rise in the nation s sales tax to 10 percent from 8 percent and use some of the revenue to create a social security system for all generations , which would invest in education while decreasing the proportion of sales tax revenue used to pay down government debt, the sources said. Japan s social welfare system is weighted toward spending on the elderly, with people aged 65 and over accounting for a whopping 27.7 percent of the population according to the latest government data. You can promise anything you want - make a nod toward a more equitable society, empowering women, work-life balance, welfare for all generations, said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University Japan. He s got a strategy that is going to win. Using less tax revenue to pay down debt, however, would make more difficult an already ambitious pledge to balance the budget - excluding debt-servicing and new bond sales - by the year through March 2021. That could in turn raise concerns about less rigid fiscal discipline. We have to maintain fiscal discipline, regardless, Finance Minister Taro Aso told reporters when asked about reports of such a shift. Abe has said he will decide on a snap election after he returns from the United States on Friday. The opposition Democrats are struggling not only with single-digit support but also a raft of defections. And while the nascent Japan First party, which boasts ties to popular Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, could attract votes, it has yet to draft a platform, pick candidates or formally register as a party. That means the LDP and its junior coalition partner, the Komeito, have a shot at retaining their two-thirds majority in the lower house, political analysts said. However, some analysts believe Abe s electoral base could be undermined by voter distaste over suspected cronyism scandals and concerns about creating a political vacuum even as North Korea raises tensions with its nuclear and missile tests. I don t dismiss the possibility of the voters giving Abe a nasty surprise, said Gerry Curtis, professor emeritus at Columbia University in New York.

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Trump booster apologizes for Clinton 'blackface' tweet

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pastor Marks Burns, a prominent supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, apologized on Tuesday for sending out a tweet that showed a cartoon image of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in blackface. Burns, an African-American who is frequently one of the warmup speakers at Trump rallies, sent out the tweet on Monday to bolster the Trump campaign’s contention that Clinton is pandering for the black vote but will ignore the community if elected on Nov. 8. “I ain’t no ways pandering to African Americans,” the cartoon image says. The tweet emerged at a time when Trump has been trying to broaden his appeal to African-American voters by saying he wants to create more jobs and make black neighborhoods safe so people can walk down the street without getting shot. After Burns began taking fire for the tweet, he deleted it and apologized for the image but not his message. “I’m so sorry for the offensive #Blackface image of @HillaryClinton but stand by the message that we Blacks ARE being Used by #Dems for VOTES,” Burns said.

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CONTROVERSY OVER CHRISTIAN FLAG ENGULFS SMALL TOWN

Local residents supported the flag but national groups said they had received complaints about the flag. So this one is a good case of separation of church and state debate away!A month after a North Georgia county caught hell for raising the Confederate battle flag over its courthouse, another flag controversy has engulfed a small Middle Georgia town.Only this time, it has nothing to do with the Civil War.A traditional Christian flag flying over Cochran will come down Friday, after city officials bowed last week to threats of legal action and concerns over its impact on the city s fiscal resources. The controversy began early last month, when the Cochran City Council voted against the advice of its attorney to fly the flag at city hall to help promote a local Bible-reading marathon sponsored by the International Bible Reading Association.While city officials have said local residents supported the decision, national groups including the D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State said they have received several complaints over the matter. The group recently sent letters to both the city and Bleckley County which has flown the flag in the past declaring that flying the Christian flag on public property violates the First Amendment.The group in part cited a recent legal case in which a North Carolina city agreed to stop displaying the Christian flag, which includes a Latin cross, at a government-sponsored veterans memorial.In a statement on its website, the city said it has decided to take the flag down after reviewing further input from the community, detailed written legal opinions from our city attorney and a second legal opinion from a constitutional lawyer. In the future, the city said it would only fly the U.S. and state flags at city hall.Via: ajc

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Financial adviser sentenced to four years for bilking NBA's Tim Duncan

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A wine industry businessman and financial manager was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday for defrauding millions of dollars from former National Basketball Association star Tim Duncan. Charles Banks, 49, had faced up to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in April to one count of wire fraud regarding an investment he urged Duncan to make in a firm called Gameday Entertainment, which Banks headed. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery also ordered Banks pay $7.5 million to Duncan in restitution. San Antonio Spurs great Duncan, who is now retired, said in a statement he was afraid that without a strong sentence, financial advisers would feel they were free to prey on young, impressionable and suddenly wealthy athletes. “Judge Biery, you may not understand how difficult it is for me to be in the public light in this horrible way, as the poster child for a dumb athlete whose financial advisor took his money,” Duncan said in a statement read into the court record by prosecutors. “I hate it and am embarrassed by it more than you can imagine.” Several NBA players were in the courtroom to support Duncan, including former teammates Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. After the hearing, Duncan told reporters he was satisfied with the sentence. In a brief statement before sentencing, Banks apologized to Duncan for “breaking his trust,” by tricking him into agreeing to make loans to a failing sports merchandise company headed by Banks. According to court documents, Duncan’s losses totaled $13.5 million in investments and loan guarantees made to Gameday, which went out of business this year. Prosecutors said much of that money went into Banks’ pockets.Defense lawyers said in court in April that some of that money has been forgiven by the banks that provided the original loans. Banks is also the founder of Terroir Capital, a financial management fund that works in the wine and hospitality industry. Duncan retired at the end of last season after 19 seasons with the Spurs. The scam was discovered when Duncan’s divorce lawyer consulted a financial planner to put together a property settlement for the basketball star’s divorce, court documents said.

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WAS KILLER OF FEMALE NYPD Officer, HILLARY Supporter Inspired By Democrat Leaders, Black Lives Matter Anti-Cop Rhetoric?

An NYPD officer was assassinated early Wednesday by an ex-con who marched up to her NYPD vehicle and pumped a bullet into the helpless cop s head, authorities said.Officer Miosotis Familia, 48, was mortally wounded by the 12:30 a.m. gunshot on a Bronx street as she neared the end of her Fourth of July shift, cops said.Cop-killer Alexander Bonds, dressed in black from head to toe, was then shot to death in a gunfight with two cops responding to a desperate call for help from Familia s partner. Shots fired! the officer screamed moments after the gunshot. I need a f ing bus! 10-85 10-85! My partner s shot! My partner s shot! My partner s shot! Hurry up central! Police Commissioner James O Neill said there was no doubt the paroled gunman targeted the 12-year NYPD veteran for execution at E. 183rd St. and Creston Ave. NY Daily NewsSo why is the same media who blames President Trump for violence committed against Republicans not asking if cop-killer Alexander Bonds was inspired by Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Al Sharpton, Black Lives Matter and Hillary Clinton, who made her support for the cop-hating movement a focal-point of her campaign for president?Only two years ago, Black Lives Matter supporters were filmed chanting Pigs in a blanket, fry em like bacon! at the MN State Fair. President Barack Obama and his radical AG were silent."Pigs in a blanket, fry em like bacon" #BlackFair #BlackLivesMatter #FTP #ACAB pic.twitter.com/NaQNehnd5g EMP THY (@MrNikoG) August 29, 2015President Barack Obama actually lectured mourners on bigotry, slavery and oppression at the memorial service for slain police officers who were killed by a Black Lives Matter supporter. Instead of using the opportunity to condemn the growing, violent movement, he actually appeared to be condoning it. While paying tribute to the fallen officers for sacrificing their lives to protect others from a sniper, Mr. Obama also called on law enforcement agencies to root out bigotry. We have all seen this bigotry in our lives at some point, Mr. Obama told an audience of several hundred at a concert hall in Dallas. None of us is entirely innocent. No institution is entirely immune. And that includes our police departments. We know this. The officers Michael Smith, Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Brent Thompson and Patrick Zamarripa were killed by a black sniper who told police he targeted white officers during a Black Lives Matter protest.The day after the memorial service for the Dallas cops who were murdered by a Black Lives Matter supporter, President Barack Obama invited BLM leaders to the White House for a private meeting:It should come as no surprise to anyone that the most recent assassination of an innocent cop was at the hands of Hillary Clinton supporter Alexander Bonds, given her outreach to the Black Lives Matter terror group during her campaign. Wikileaks even released an email showing how radical group Center For American Progress was advising her on how to fake empathy for parents of kids killed by cops. Wikileaks released an email from Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden, coaching Hillary on how to best gain the trust of the Black community by going directly to the victims being held up by Black Lives Matter movement as heroes, and faking empathy with the parents. She also mentions it would be a good idea to use the idea that their grief should be magnified because it happened at the hands of law enforcement officers (the state).Given all that has happened over the last few days with the Black Lives Matter movement, I thought it would be a good idea for Hillary to pen an op ed, discussing the pain people feel as parents at the loss of their children to these incidents of police brutality, how as a parent, she knows that pain is magnified because it happens at the hands of the state, and her commitment to solve the problem as President.Given her strong words on Charlotte, it could serve as a reminder that she gets it that racism isn t like everything else. She wouldn t have to mention Bernie s name, but I think it could really respond to the sense of continual injured dignity .I think, but others will know better, that it will move around the social media networks. > > Anyway, just thought I d share with you guys . >> Thanks! > > Neera >While Barack Obama was in office, radical activist, hate-monger and racial division expert Al Sharpton was a regular visitor. Obama s former AG Eric Holder was caught using taxpayer funds to pay protesters to march against George Zimmerman during the Trayvon Martin case in Sanford, FL. Upon the unbelievable discovery, the media was predictably silent.The culprit behind a shocking unprovoked attack on a female police officer had spouted anti-cop rhetoric in the past and urged people to vote for Hillary Clinton.Bonds, who the source said boasts up to six different aliases, recently spoke critically of law enforcement on Facebook. He said police in Oakland, Calif., were wrong to stop a child riding a bicycle.Authorities are trying to piece together a motive after NYPD officer and mother of three Miosotis Familia was brutally gunned down in cold blood by Alexander Bonds early Monday morning while she sat in a temporary headquarters vehicle at East 183rd Street and Morris Avenue in Fordham Heights.Bonds was subsequently killed by two other officers called to the scene while Familia died in hospital. This is absolutely an unprovoked attack, said NYPD Commissioner James P. O Neill. Police say surveillance footage shows Bonds pulling up his hoodie before purposefully walking up to the vehicle and shooting through the passenger side. Speculation as to why 34-year-old Bonds, who had previously served seven years in prison for a Syracuse robbery, gunned down Familia has begun to center on his political beliefs.Bonds Facebook page reveals that days before the presidential election, he posted a video of a woman alleging that voting machines were switching Hillary Clinton votes to Donald Trump.Watch video Bonds made below, where he tells his Facebook followers about his hate for cops. He calls police faggots and accuses them of raping children. He also says he s up and ready for the cops, using his time in jail as an example of how he got ready for them. He posted the words Mad as hill above the video.On the same day he urged people to get mad about the election and vote. When asked who he was voting for, Bonds responded that he couldn t vote (due to his felony conviction), but said people should vote for Hillary Clinton.Bonds also posted Malcolm X memes as well as videos of confrontations between black people and police officers. Previous ambush-style murders of police officers have been motivated by extremist anti-cop Black Lives Matter -style rhetoric, as well as mass shootings of police officers like the Dallas massacre, which was celebrated by BLM sympathizers. Infowars

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Hmm, free college, now that's an idea.

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LAWYER FOR FBI INFORMANT: My Client Knows What Russians Were Saying During Bribery of Clintons [VIDEO]

The lawyer for the FBI informant under a gag order that prevents him from going before Congress spoke out about what s to come with the Clinton/Russia Uranium story:Fox Business reported: An informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is under a gag order that prevents him from testifying before the United States Congress that Russian nuclear officials were involved in fraudulent dealings in 2009 before the Uranium One deal was approved.Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch blocked the informant from testifying last year and threatened criminal action against him if he were to do so.In an interview with FOX Business Lou Dobbs, Victoria Toensing, the attorney representing the FBI informant, said she has never heard of a criminal penalty for breaching a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). If it does and it is unconstitutional and it s invalid, if it prohibits my client from giving information to the legislature, the executive cannot say to people, Hey, you can t give information to another body of the government, Toensing said.KEY POINTS: The Republican leadership was blocking the investigation into both Benghazi and the Russia uranium scandal involving Clinton.Senator Grassley called on Sessions to release the info on the gag order by November 1st This should be interesting.The NDA (gag order) is unconstitutional and Toensing says this type of gag order has a criminal penalty. She says she s never heard of this type of gag order.Victoria Toensing is one of the best lawyers in DC and will get to the bottom of this one way or another. The plot thickens on this one

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Letters From Jacqueline Kennedy to the Man She Didn’t Marry - The New York Times

LONDON — In November 1967, four years after her husband’s assassination, Jacqueline Kennedy traveled to the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia on a trip with David Ormsby Gore, a friend of her husband and himself a recent widower. There was much speculation of a romantic attachment. A few months later, Mr. Ormsby Gore, a former British ambassador to Washington, proposed marriage. She turned him down. In a handwritten letter, filled with anguish and a touch of cruelty, she explained her decision to marry Aristotle Onassis instead. “If ever I can find some healing and some comfort — it has to be with somebody who is not part of all my world of past and pain,” she wrote. “I can find that now — if the world will let us. ” The letter was part of a set of papers found in locked cases discovered only last month in Wales at the family home of Mr. Ormsby Gore, who died in 1985. They are being auctioned in London next month by his grandson to help restore the house. The letters point to the depth of feeling behind the public mask of one of the most celebrated women of her time. Among them is the letter to Mr. Ormsby Gore, also known as Lord Harlech, dated Nov. 13, 1968, a month after her marriage to Mr. Onassis and five months after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. In it, Mrs. Kennedy spoke of the love and bond she felt for Mr. Ormsby Gore, whose wife had died in a car crash in May 1967. “We have known so much shared lost so much together — Even if it isn’t the way you wish now — I hope that bond of love and pain will never be cut. ” Writing from Mr. Onassis’ yacht in Greece, on stationery with the ship’s crest, a clear if cold message, Mrs. Kennedy told Mr. Ormsby Gore: “You are like my beloved beloved brother — and mentor — and the only original spirit I know — as you were to Jack. ” Mr. Ormsby Gore had expressed incredulity at her choice of Mr. Onassis, and she tried to respond. “Please know — you of all people must know it — that we can never really see into the heart of another,” she wrote. “You know me. And you must know that the man you write of in your letter is not a man that I could marry. ” Mr. Onassis, she wrote, is “lonely and wants to protect me from being lonely. And he is wise and kind. Only I can decide if he can, and I decided. “I know it comes as a surprise to so many people,” she continued. “But they see things for me that I never wanted for myself. ” Mr. Ormsby Gore was an old friend of John F. Kennedy, whose younger sister Kathleen, or Kick, married Mr. Ormsby Gore’s first cousin. After the election of the young president in 1960, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan sent Mr. Ormsby Gore to Washington as Britain’s ambassador. The two men, a year apart in age, were extremely close, and President Kennedy consulted with him on every key issue of foreign policy, especially during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, and in discussions of Vietnam and nuclear disarmament. Robert Kennedy said that Mr. Ormsby Gore was “almost a part of the government,” adding that the president “would rather have his judgment than that of anybody else. ” Among the letters is one in which President Kennedy praised the ambassador: “I appreciate as you know, in all these critical matters your judgment — which I have found to be uniformly good and true. ” Mr. Ormsby Gore inherited the noble title, Lord Harlech, when his father died in 1964. His grandson Jasset, who inherited the title a year ago, is the one selling the papers, along with other possessions, at Bonhams, London, in an auction scheduled for March 29. Some of the letters will be on view on March 2 in New York at the Bonhams showroom, at 580 Madison Avenue. In total, there are 18 handwritten letters and one typed letter from Mrs. Kennedy to Mr. Ormsby Gore, as well as other papers. Those include a pass admitting him to the White House on Nov. 23, 1963, one day after the assassination a jocular 1963 letter from Robert Kennedy, signed “Bobby” and instructions for pallbearers for Robert Kennedy’s funeral. The papers also include a letter Mrs. Kennedy wrote to Mr. Ormsby Gore after the death of his wife, Sylvia, known as Sissie, which seemed to foreshadow his desire to marry her. “Your last letter was such a cri de coeur of loneliness — I would do anything to take that anguish from you,” she wrote. “You want to patch the wounds match the loose pairs — but you can’t because your life won’t turn out that way. ” One of the most moving documents is a draft letter Mr. Ormsby Gore wrote to Mrs. Kennedy after she turned down his proposal. “All the pathetic plans I had brought with me for visits to Cyrenaica, holidays near one another and a whole variety of solutions to our marriage problem, including one for a secret marriage this summer — plans which I saw us eagerly discussing, calmly and with complete frankness as we did at the Cape and in Cambodia for the next wonderful ten days — all had become irrelevant trash to be thrown away within a few hours of my landing in New York,” he wrote. “As for your photograph I weep when I look at it. Why do such agonizing things have to happen? Where was the need for it?” The Kennedys and the Ormsby Gores socialized frequently, even stirring resentment among other diplomats and members of the administration. There were small dinners at the White House and shared vacations. One “incoherent letter as written on Martini” from Mrs. Kennedy, in the spring of 1962, discusses their coming vacation at the America’s Cup races. Others mention her love of dance. Matthew Haley, the head of fine books and manuscripts at Bonhams, said that “you just don’t get this quantity of insight into Jackie’s personal life and that level of intimacy. ” Mr. Ormsby Gore was her husband’s great friend, but “the fact that they developed such an intimate friendship in such a short space of time is important,” he said, even if built on shared sadness. Contacted about the letters on Friday, a representative of the Kennedy family said that they had decided not to comment. Barbara Leaming, who has written biographies of President and Mrs. Kennedy, said that Mr. Ormsby Gore was “the pivotal relationship Jack had in the presidency,” a man he trusted almost as much as Robert Kennedy. “Jackie loved in Jack the man he wanted to be, and David was the man helping him, in her eyes, to be the man Jack wanted to be,” she said. The distress that followed Robert Kennedy’s assassination in June 1968 was one reason she turned to the security of Mr. Onassis, Ms. Leaming said. “It was the second great trauma for her,” Ms. Leaming said. “She was very clear it was not a marriage of love, as she said to Joe Alsop in a letter. She was seeking safety. ” As for Mr. Ormsby Gore, “of course he fell in love with her — she understood him so well,” Ms. Leaming said. “But I have no idea if it was consummated or not. ” Mr. Ormsby Gore did marry again, in December 1969, to Pamela Colin, an American who bore more than a passing resemblance to Mrs. Onassis. He died in 1985, at 66, after a car crash. Mrs. Onassis attended his funeral.

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Facing long odds in California, Cruz courts state's Republicans

BURLINGAME, Calif. (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Ted Cruz made a plea to the California Republican Party on Saturday to line up behind him in the state’s June primary in his uphill battle to stop front-runner Donald Trump from grabbing the nomination. At the same party convention that was the backdrop for chaotic protests against Trump on Friday, Cruz tried to woo party members with support for their long-time issues, such as lower taxes and a harder line on immigration. Former California Governor Pete Wilson gave Cruz his endorsement as he introduced the senator from Texas. Cruz received more applause at the convention than either Trump or third-place candidate Ohio Governor John Kasich, who also spoke on Friday. “If we’re fractured and we’re divided, Hillary Clinton wins and the campaign is lost,” he said, referring to the Democratic Party’s front-runner in the Nov. 8 election for the White House. Now mathematically eliminated from securing the nomination on the first ballot at the party’s convention in Cleveland in July, Cruz aims to stop Trump from receiving the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination outright, forcing a contested convention. However, the prospect of him being able to do so has grown increasingly slim. Trump, a billionaire businessman and former reality TV star, has continued to notch up wins in the nation’s nominating contests, including a five-state sweep of the latest string of contests last Tuesday. Cruz has downplayed the severity of the losses and in his speech Saturday looked forward to upcoming contests, which he has said will put him on the path to thwarting Trump. “California is going to decide this Republican primary,” he said, referring to the state’s June 7 contest. Trump has been at odds with the party’s establishment and has called the system for nominating its candidate “rigged.” Critics say he has played on the fears of his supporters, especially about immigration, by proposing a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country and accusing illegal Mexican immigrants of being rapists and criminals. On Thursday and Friday, anti-Trump protests erupted outside the candidate’s California events. On Friday, he was forced to halt his motorcade and go through a back entrance to a hotel to give a speech to the convention and avoid several hundred loud protesters gathered outside. Cruz hopes to slow Trump’s march toward the nomination in Indiana’s primary on Tuesday. The state awards its 57 delegates on a winner-take-all basis by congressional district, possibly granting Cruz a windfall of pledged delegates. A Real Clear Politics polling aggregation in the state shows Cruz just behind Trump, 35.2 percent to 37.5 percent. Polls show Cruz has more of a challenge in delegate-rich California, where he lags Trump 28.3 percent to 45.7 percent. In an indication of efforts to court the state, Cruz on Wednesday made the unusual move of naming a vice presidential running mate, onetime presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina, who was formerly a chief executive of the California technology company Hewlett-Packard Co. On Saturday night, she urged the crowd of party faithful, many of whom had backed her as the party’s nominee in a failed bid for U.S. senate in 2010, to join her in supporting Cruz. In a dynamic and combative speech, she urged Kasich to get out of the race, and challenged the idea that Trump had locked up the nomination. “Donald Trump was here yesterday and he was telling you it’s over,” Fiorina said. “But the 30-yard line ain’t a touchdown.”

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VIDEO : MICHIGAN REVS UP FOR TRUMP! – TruthFeed

VIDEO : MICHIGAN REVS UP FOR TRUMP! VIDEO : MICHIGAN REVS UP FOR TRUMP! Breaking News By Amy Moreno November 7, 2016 I am originally from Michigan, so my heart leaped with JOY when I watched Trump’s rally. I have spent many a summer nights at Freedom Hill (back when it was called Pine Knob) catching a concert – and I can honestly say that I have never in my life seen that amphitheater look so ENERGIZED and rock SO HARD as I did when I watched Sunday night’s Trump rally. It was AMAZING beyond words and made me SO PROUD to be from Michigan. What we’re witnessing is more than a movement, folks. It’s a REVOLUTION. Watch the video: 500+ days of campaigning across America – comes down to just 2 days before the biggest election of our lifetime. This was MICHIGAN tonight. pic.twitter.com/BoUQoz3HJV — Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) November 7, 2016 This is a movement – we are the political OUTSIDERS fighting against the FAILED GLOBAL ESTABLISHMENT! Join the resistance and help us fight to put America First! Amy Moreno is a Published Author , Pug Lover & Game of Thrones Nerd. You can follow her on Twitter here and Facebook here . Support the Trump Movement and help us fight Liberal Media Bias. Please LIKE and SHARE this story on Facebook or Twitter.

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Construction executives detained in Peru in graft probe

LIMA (Reuters) - Four former and current executives of Peruvian construction companies were detained pending trial on Monday, accused of colluding with Brazilian builder Odebrecht [ODBES.UL] to bribe a former president. Judge Richard Concepcion ordered the men, who deny wrongdoing, to be held in pre-trial jail to ensure they do not flee or obstruct the law, as prosecutors prepare criminal charges. The decision marked the first time executives from major Peruvian companies have been jailed in the Car Wash scandal, Brazil s largest-ever corruption probe that has widened to include other Latin American countries. Odebrecht has admitted to bribing local officials in 12 countries to secure public works contracts over the course of a decade and promised authorities that it would provide details. Prosecutor Hamilton Castro accused Jose Alejandro Grana and Hernando Alejandro Grana, who once headed Peru s biggest construction group Grana y Montero, and Fernando Gonzalo and Jose Fernando Castillo, who work for two private contractors, of providing $15 million of a $20 million bribe that Odebrecht paid. The money was paid to ex-president Alejandro Toledo to secure highway contracts that the companies partnered together on a decade ago and had been disguised on company books as the cost of additional risks covered by Odebrecht, Castro said at a court hearing. The judge also ordered Gonzalo Ferraro, a former Grana y Montero manager who was in local hospital, to be placed under house arrest. All five men deny any wrongdoing and are appealing the judge s ruling, said Ferraro s attorney Roger Yon. Grana y Montero, and the two private companies, JJC Contratistas Generales and Ingenieros Civiles y Contratistas Generales, declined to comment. The three companies have previously denied knowing about or taking part in Odebrecht s bribes. Grana y Montero s U.S.-listed shares closed 6.9 percent lower on Monday. The corruption probe has shaken up the local construction sector as the government prepares to award nearly $8 billion in contracts for rebuilding infrastructure and housing destroyed by flooding. President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who served in Toledo s cabinet when the highway contracts were awarded, has said he knew nothing about the alleged bribe for Toledo. Toledo, ordered to pre-trial detention in February, has denied taking bribes from Odebrecht. Peru is seeking his extradition from the United States. A second former President, Ollanta Humala, has been in pre-trial detention since July and denies allegations he took illicit funds from Odebrecht.

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WATCH: Trump Issues Bizarre Response To Leak Of Groping Audio, And It’s A Total DISASTER (VIDEO)

Donald Trump issued a strange video after midnight on Friday night to address the leaked audio of him making crude jokes about sexually assaulting women. The video, released via his Facebook page had all the appearance of a hostage video, and the actual content was almost as bad.Referencing his comment that he would grab them by the p y and that he was in favor of pushing himself on women and kissing them, Trump said, Anyone who knows me knows these words don t reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize. He then went on to say, Hillary Clinton and her kind have run our country into the ground, and made the allegation that Bill Clinton has actually abused women. The comments come as condemnations continue to pile up against Trump from his fellow Republicans, and some have also called for him to completely drop out of the race. Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois, stuck in a tight race against Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth, called for Trump to leave the race, as did former New York Governor George Pataki.Other Republicans, while not calling for Trump to drop out, issued condemnations, including Speaker Paul Ryan (who disinvited him from a joint campaign event), Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Marco Rubio, former Governor Jeb Bush, and Senator Kelly Ayotte, among others.Trump was roundly condemned by Hillary Clinton s campaign, and her spokesperson issued a statement: This is horrific. We cannot allow this man to become president. Her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine also responded to Trump s remarks: This kind of behavior is disgusting. It makes me sick to my stomach. Some reports have indicated that senior officials hastily arranged meetings on Friday night to discuss possible scenarios in which Trump would be removed from the ticket. But doing so is nearly impossible at this point, and several states that allow early voting have already had ballots cast.This is unquestionably a disaster for the Republican Party, and Trump s crazed, petulant video does not help.Featured image via screen capture

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India lobbies Trump administration to avert visa threat

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has stepped up its lobbying effort against moves in the U. S. Congress to impose curbs on visas for skilled workers that threaten the South Asian nation’s tech sector, which employs more than 3.5 million people. Speaking to Reuters, Trade Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said New Delhi had reached out to the administration of President Donald Trump to stress the importance of India’s $150-billion IT services industry to U.S. citizens. “India’s investments in the United States have provided jobs to U.S. citizens,” she said in an interview. “That has to be brought to the notice of the U.S. administration.” The comments come days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Washington to keep an open mind on admitting skilled Indian workers. Indian software companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Ltd and Wipro Ltd shot to prominence in the 1990s by helping Western firms stamp out the “Y2K” bug. Trump’s “America First” rhetoric on jobs, however, has put their biggest market under threat. A bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress last month to more than double the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders, which could significantly boost costs for IT companies, whose margins are already being squeezed. New Delhi has backed a move by NASSCOM, India’s high-tech industry association, to lobby U.S. lawmakers and companies to urge the administration not to crack down on allowing its skilled workers into the United States. A NASSCOM delegation is now in the United States to make its case to officials on Capitol Hill and in the White House. “We will have to engage with the new administration,” Sitharaman said. “Our engagement at every level is intact and continuing.” The United States is India’s biggest trading partner, but trade in goods between the two countries has been stagnant, at around $67 billion, for the last three years. Indian software exports to the U.S. rose more than 10 percent, to $37 billion, in the last fiscal year from a year earlier. Indian nationals are by far the largest group of recipients of the 65,000 H-1B visas issued annually to new applicants under a cap mandated by Congress. More than 60 percent of the U.S. employees of Infosys hold H-1B visas. A global pact on services trade would go a long way towards settling disputes over professional visas, Sitharaman said. “If only there is a framework...you will know how movement can happen and how certain restrictions can or cannot come,” she said. “It’s time for countries to sit together and look at it.”

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The Smoking Gun: Cheryl Mills Tells Podesta “We Need To Clean This Up – Obama Has Emails From Her” (VIDEO)

By: Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge | Recall that in a March 2015 interview with CBS, just after the NYT reported of Hillary’s use of a private email server, president Obama told the American public he had only learned about Hillary’s “unusual” arrangement from the press. As we further reminded readers one month ago, CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante asked Mr. Obama when he learned about her private email system after his Saturday appearance in Selma, Alabama. “ The same time everybody else learned it through news reports ,” the president told Plante. “ The policy of my administration is to encourage transparency, which is why my emails, the BlackBerry I carry around, all those records are available and archived ,” Mr. Obama said. “I’m glad that Hillary instructed that those emails about official business need to be disclosed.” Unfortunately, the “transparency” of the Obama administration was severely tarnished in late September , when in the FBI’s interview notes with Huma Abedin released by the FBI it was first revealed that Obama had used a pseudonymous email account: “Once informed that the sender’s name is believed to be pseudonym used by the president, Abedin exclaimed: ‘How is this not classified?'” the report says. “Abedin then expressed her amazement at the president’s use of a pseudonym and asked if she could have a copy of the email.” To be sure, this was not definitive evidence that Obama was aware of Hillary’s email server, nor that there may have been collusion between the president and the Clinton campaign. That changed today, however, when in the latest Podesta dump we learn that in an email from Cheryl Mills to John Podesta , the Clinton aide upon learning what Obama had just said… … countered with something quite stunning: we need to clean this up – he has emails from her – they do not say state.gov That, ladies and gentlemen, is proof that the president not only lied, but did so with the clear intention of protecting the Clinton campaign. As a further reminder, Politico previously reported that the State Department had refused to make public that and other emails Clinton exchanged with Obama. Lawyers cited the “presidential communications privilege,” a variation of executive privilege, in order to withhold the messages under the Freedom of Information Act. It is therefore unknown what the president’s “alternative” email account was, or who hosted it. This also explains why in a prior Wikileak, Podesta told Mills in an email titled “Special Category” that she thinks “ we should hold emails to and from potus? That’s the heart of his exec privilege. We could get them to ask for that. They may not care, but I(t) seems like they will. ” Mills did not respond by email. The Clinton-Obama emails were turned over to the State Department, which later announced it would not release them. * * * So just how did Mills and Podesta “clean up” the fact that Obama lied to the American people, a tactic some could allege is evidence of an attempt to cover up a presidential lie to protect Hillary Clinton. What we do know, and we assume this is completely unrelated, between March 25-31, just a couple of weeks after Mills said “we need to clean this up,” Bleachbit was used to wipe Hillary’s private server clean. But of course, that is purely a coincidence. Since we are confident others will also demand an answer, in light of the latest revelation hinting at a collusive cover up extending to the very top of US government, or as Cheryl Mills dubbed it a “clean up”, perhaps it is time for the State Depratment to unveil just what was said between the president and the Clinton campaign? Submit your review

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Leading Democrat: Critics can't conclude Trump is impaired

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday that it was premature to try to remove U.S. President Donald Trump by claiming he is physically or mentally impaired. Schiff told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” program that it did not make sense for Trump’s opponents to focus on the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which two Democratic lawmakers invoked against the president after his controversial comments about a white nationalist rally in Virginia. Under the 25th Amendment, the vice president takes over as acting president if he and a majority of either Cabinet officials or “such other body as Congress may by law provide” declare in writing that the president “is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” “I think we’re still far from concluding that that’s the case,” Schiff said, “even though we find, many of us, his conduct anathema and there to be a serious problem here.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. California Representative Zoe Lofgren on Friday introduced a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s Cabinet to have medical and psychiatric professionals examine the president to help determine whether he can do his job. “Many Americans, including many Republicans, have observed the President’s increasingly disturbing pattern of actions and public statements that suggest he may be mentally unfit to execute the duties required of him,” Lofgren said in a statement. Representative Jackie Speier, also of California, said in a Twitter post on Tuesday that Trump was “showing signs of erratic behavior and mental instability that place the country in grave danger. Time to invoke the 25th Amendment.” Speier wrote the post after Trump’s explosive news conference on Tuesday, when he blamed violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, not just on white nationalist rally organizers but also on counter-protesters. Trump said there were “very fine people” in both groups. Those comments also provoked criticism from Republican Senator Bob Corker, who told reporters on Thursday that Trump “has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful,” according to a Tennessee local news website. Corker did not refer to the 25th Amendment in his remarks.

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Turkish and Iraqi militaries discuss Kurdish independence vote

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The heads of the Turkish and Iraqi armed forces discussed the illegitimate Iraqi Kurdish referendum on Saturday and stressed the importance of maintaining Iraq s territorial integrity, the Turkish military said. It issued a written statement after the Iraqi army s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanmi, met his Turkish counterpart, General Hulusi Akar, in Turkey on Saturday, two days ahead of the planned referendum.

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Putin says U.S. hacking scandal not in Russia's interests

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The scandal that erupted in the United States over allegations Russia hacked Democratic Party emails has not been in Moscow’s interests and both sides in the U.S. election campaign are just using Russia to score points, Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. The U.S. government on Friday formally accused Russia for the first time of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election. And the White House said on Tuesday it would consider a variety of responses to the alleged hacks. “They started this hysteria, saying that this (hacking) is in Russia’s interests. But this has nothing to do with Russia’s interests,” President Putin told a business forum in Moscow. Putin said the accusations were a ploy to divert U.S. voters’ attention at a time when public opinion was being manipulated. “Everyone is talking about ‘who did it’ (the hacking),” said Putin. “But is it that important? The most important thing is what is inside this information.” The Kremlin said earlier on Wednesday it took a negative view of White House statements about a planned “proportional” response to the alleged cyber attacks. Putin complained that all sides in the U.S. presidential race were misusing rhetoric about Russia for their own ends, but said Moscow would work with whoever won the election “if, of course, the new U.S. leader wishes to work with our country”. “About a decade ago, they wouldn’t mention Russia at all, because it was not even worth talking about, such a third-rate regional power and not interesting at all. Now Russia is problem number one in the entire election campaign,” said Putin. “All they do is keep talking about us. Of course it’s pleasant for us, but only partly because all participants are misusing anti-Russian rhetoric and poisoning our bilateral relations.”

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KARMA: Federal Judge Slaps Texas GOP Bush Donor With Billion Dollar Fine For Tax Fraud

One of the most notorious Republican donors over the last 40 years has been busted for tax fraud and slapped with a hefty penalty.Billionaire businessman Sam Wyly has been a Republican since the 1960s and contributed heavily to the presidential campaigns of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.After backing Bush 41 in 1988, they helped Bush 43 build his own political power by supporting his campaign to be Texas Governor in 1994 and contributed to his presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004.Wyly even contributed to the Swift Boat campaign that slandered Democratic candidate John Kerry s service in the Vietnam War.In short, Wyly is one of the reasons why George W. Bush became president for eight years and why we ended up with two wars in the Middle East and an economic collapse.Well, karma has finally caught up to Wyly and it bit him right on the ass.As it turns out, Wyly is a tax dodger who shielded much of his fortune through a series of trusts in the Cayman Islands to hide stock sales from the IRS for more than ten years between 1992 and 2004.That s right. one of George W. Bush s biggest financial supporters was committing tax fraud the whole time while he simultaneously gave millions of dollars to Republican campaigns.And a federal judge smacked him for it on Monday.According to Reuters:A federal bankruptcy judge in Texas on Monday ordered former billionaire Sam Wyly to pay $1.11 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties after finding he committed tax fraud by shielding much of his family s wealth in offshore trusts.U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Barbara Houser in Dallas calculated the payout after ruling on May 10 that Wyly and his late brother Charles conducted a deceptive and fraudulent scheme to cheat the Internal Revenue Service.The payout includes roughly $135.5 million of taxes, $402.1 million of interest, and $570.1 million of penalties.It definitely makes one wonder what other big Republican donors like the Koch brothers have been hiding all this time. After all, they hate the federal government so much that they are buying conservative lawmakers to destroy it from within, and the IRS is a major target that Republicans have been particularly keen on eliminating. Sam Wyly getting busted for tax fraud gives a little insight into why they may be so obsessed with completing that goal.Featured image via Twitter

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Cities Vow to Fight Trump on Immigration, Even if They Lose Millions - The New York Times

LOS ANGELES — Here in Los Angeles, where nearly half of the city’s residents are Latino, Mayor Eric Garcetti has vowed to do everything he can to fight widespread deportations of illegal immigrants. In New York, with a large and diverse Latino population, Mayor Bill de Blasio has pledged not to cooperate with immigration agents. And Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago has declared that it “will always be a sanctuary city. ” Across the nation, officials in sanctuary cities are gearing up to oppose Donald J. Trump if he follows through on a campaign promise to deport millions of illegal immigrants. They are promising to maintain their policies of limiting local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration agents. In doing so, municipal officials risk losing millions of dollars in federal assistance for their cities that helps pay for services like fighting crime and running homeless shelters. Mr. Trump has vowed to block all federal funding for cities where local law enforcement agencies do not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. But as Mr. Trump prepares to take office, Democratic bastions, including Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco, have reaffirmed plans to defy the administration and act as a kind of bulwark against mass deportations. “I like to compare this to conscientious objector status,” said Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland, Calif. “We are not going to use our resources to enforce what we believe are unjust immigration laws. ” Supporters of tougher immigration policies, however, expect a swift response. Dan Stein, the president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which opposes legalization for unauthorized immigrants, predicted “a very aggressive, support for using the full power of the federal government to discourage this kind of interference. ” “These local politicians take it upon themselves to allow people who have been here for a long time to stay here and receive services,” Mr. Stein said. “The Trump administration is basically saying, ‘If you want to accommodate, don’t expect the rest of us to pay for your services. ’” Some believe Mr. Trump could go further than simply pulling federal funding, perhaps fighting such policies in court or even prosecuting city leaders. “This is uncharted territory in some ways, to see if they’re just playing chicken, or see if they will relent,” said Jessica Vaughan, the director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports reduced immigration. Cities have “gotten away with this for a long time because the federal government has never attempted to crack down on them,” Ms. Vaughan said. The fight could also signal a twist in the struggle over the power of the federal government, as this time liberal cities — rather than conservative states — resist what they see as federal intervention. Cities “may not have the power to give people rights,” said Muzaffar Chishti, the director of the Migration Policy Institute’s office at the New York University School of Law. “But they have a lot of power of resistance, and that’s what they’re displaying right now. ” No legal definition of sanctuary cities exists, and many mayors dislike the label, saying it unfairly describes policies that merely stop local law enforcement from acting as immigration deputies. Generally, the term refers to jurisdictions that have placed limits on when local law enforcement agencies comply with federal requests to hold undocumented immigrants for detention and turn them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those requests greatly increased after the Obama administration extended nationwide an electronic monitoring system by which the fingerprints of every person booked by local or state police are sent to the Department of Homeland Security for checking against immigration databases. More than 500 counties and cities have some kind of policy limiting cooperation with the immigration authorities, according to an estimate from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, an advocacy and legal assistance group in San Francisco and Washington. The latest fight is beginning to play out much like one that occurred in the when activists in the nation’s big cities resisted the immigration policies of the Reagan administration. Central Americans had become the subject of fierce political jockeying, and scores of churches opened their doors as sanctuaries to flout the Reagan White House. Members of churches and synagogues are again offering their houses of worship as sanctuaries for undocumented people fearing deportation, according to groups that work with immigrants and refugees. A network known as the “sanctuary movement” was revived in the past few years to take in those at risk of deportation by the Obama administration. In Oakland, a site of resistance a generation ago, Ms. Schaaf has no doubt that the community will again marshal its resources to help undocumented immigrants. The city is exploring ways to offer legal services to immigrants. “We do have many undocumented immigrants, but often these are residents who came to our city as toddlers. They have grown up here and gone to our public schools,” Ms. Schaaf said. “These are not illegal aliens, they are friends’ children, people sitting next to us in our church pews and on the bus. Here it feels much more personal. ” Oakland stands to lose as much as $140 million in federal funding for homeless shelters, meals for the elderly and preschool programs. Ms. Schaaf has started asking local philanthropists if they will put up money to replace any lost federal funds. “This is our highest priority as far as our response to this election,” she said. In the past, conservatives have embraced the notion that state and city officials can assert themselves with immigration laws. One of Mr. Trump’s immigration advisers is Kris W. Kobach, who helped write a law in Arizona that allowed the police to question people they detained about immigration status. That provision was upheld by the Supreme Court. Rudolph W. Giuliani, an adviser to Mr. Trump who is expected to join his administration, unsuccessfully sued the government in 1996, when he was the mayor of New York, over a federal law he said infringed on local protections for undocumented immigrants. The latest clash will be most acutely felt in California, home to an estimated 2. 3 million of the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants. Not only does the state allow such immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, but it also offers them college tuition and allows them to hold professional licenses to work as lawyers, architects and nurses. A state law passed in 2014 limits counties’ cooperation with federal officials. The policies came under renewed attack last year, after a young woman was shot by an immigrant with a criminal record who lived in the state illegally and had been released by the authorities in San Francisco. Los Angeles, which in 1979 became the first city to specifically bar officers from stopping people to ask about their immigration status, could lose as much as $500 million of its $9 billion budget. The amount includes money for antiterrorism programs and community health centers. “Taking away funding because our law enforcement will not act as federal agents would not only be irresponsible but immoral,” Mr. Garcetti said. “It would be an unprecedented overreach of federal executive power to take even more of our taxes away. ” Mr. de Blasio in New York has signaled that he will look for more ways to fight widespread deportations, and the city is directing undocumented immigrants to its free legal services. New York has the country’s largest municipal identification program and maintains a database of nearly a million people. Mr. de Blasio has pledged not to give any information from the program to the federal government. Melissa Keaney, a lawyer at the National Immigration Law Center, said the federal government could not compel states to carry out immigration enforcements. “Anything that tries to coerce a local government is going to be challenged because these agencies are only responsible for local arrests,” Ms. Keaney said. “Their responsibility is for carrying out public safety criminal law, and it is not within their responsibility or authority to act as federal agents. ” How much cities can fight off deportations, however, remains unclear. Legal experts say that city officials cannot bar immigration agents and that it is unlikely that they could declare a physical sanctuary on public property. Much of their resistance may lie in simply not cooperating. Rick Su, a law professor at the University at Buffalo who has researched immigration and local government, said that unless Mr. Trump ratchets up the number and reach of federal immigration agents, “it is difficult to see how he can achieve the two to three million removals that he has proposed without state and local assistance in identifying and detaining suspected unauthorized immigrants. ” For now, many city leaders are focusing on calming undocumented immigrants’ frayed nerves. Jorge Elorza, the mayor of Providence, R. I. and the son of undocumented Guatemalan immigrants who were eventually naturalized, stood behind a lectern one recent evening to reassure about 150 people who had filled a high school cafeteria. “Folks may feel threatened by what they hear,” Mr. Elorza told them, addressing the crowd in English and Spanish. “We will protect our communities and our families so they can continue to live their lives free of fear and safe in our communities. ”

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Anti Soros Law? Hungary Tightens Rules On Foreign-Funded NGOs

The Hungarian government has passed a new regulatory law on foreign organisations (NGOs) such as those funded by billionaire George Soros. The law means tougher rules to make the organisations more transparent. [The new legislation, passed by 130 votes to 44 in the Hungarian parliament, will see NGOs with an annual revenue of more than 7. 2 million Hungarian forints ($ £20, 000) be made to register as a “ organisation. ” The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) has expressed outrage at the new law and has already announced plans for civil disobedience the Budapest Business Journal reports. The spokesman for the Hungarian government Zoltan Kovacs defended the new law noting the government had gone to the European Commission for Democracy through Law, also known as the Venice Commission, who had seen no problems with it. The Venice Commission wrote a report on the new law saying it, “pursues a prima facie legitimate aim and can be considered to be necessary in a democratic society in the interest of national security or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. ” Kovacs also rejected accusations that the law was mimicking a similar law in Russia saying that the Hungarian law does not require NGOs to register as “foreign agents” and does not take away their public funding. The does, however, force NGOs to say where their funds are coming from and be more transparent. The law is largely seen by many as a continuation of the Hungarian government’s crackdown on international NGOs financed by billionaire George Soros. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has slammed Soros in the past saying that he has agitated within Hungary through NGOs to open the borders for the mass migration of millions into Europe. In a speech at the European Parliament in April, Orban said, “George Soros and his NGOs want to transport one million migrants to the EU per year. He has personally, publicly announced this programme and provides a financial loan for it. You could read this yourselves. ” The Hungarian government has also passed a law that some have charged as targeting the Central European University (CEU) which was founded by Soros. Orban said that it was unfair for the university to be able to issue U. S. degrees without having a campus in the U. S. as it gave it an advantage over all other Hungarian universities. Hungary joins a growing number of other Eastern European countries who have come out against Soros and his NGO network including establishment figures in Romania, Poland, Serbia, Bulgaria and Slovakia. The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) have said they will plan civil disobedience in reaction to the NGO law saying it goes against the constitution of Hungary itself.

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From Jakarta to Lagos, many Muslims voice dismay at Trump win

JAKARTA/ISLAMABAD/CAIRO (Reuters) - Many Muslims around the world expressed dismay on Wednesday at Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president, saying they feared it might raise tensions between the West and Islam and contribute to radicalization. While Egypt’s president made an early congratulatory call to Trump, ordinary Muslims were worried that his victory would be a propaganda gift to jihadist groups. Others were apprehensive that the president-elect will implement campaign pledges to clamp down on Muslims entering the United States. “Trump has espoused highly inflammatory rhetoric against Muslims. Voters there will expect him to fulfill his promises. That makes me worry about the impact on Muslims in the U.S. and in the rest of the world,” said Yenny Wahid, a prominent mainstream Muslim figure in Indonesia. The world’s 1.6 billion Muslims follow a multitude of sects and schools of thought, constitute a majority of the population in countries as varied as Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Albania, and hold a vast array of political views. Yet Trump’s previous comments about Muslims, that those from abroad should be barred entry or intensely scrutinized beforehand, and the presence of vocal anti-Islam activists among his supporters, has alarmed many. During a bitter election campaign, Trump also attacked his opponents for what he characterized as their denial about the threat posed by militant Islam, which he said was “coming to our shores”, adding that he would quickly form a commission on it. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was the first world leader to congratulate Trump on the phone, Sisi’s office said. Many other Egyptians also welcomed his victory, saying his opponent Hillary Clinton’s record in office had won her few friends in the most populous Arab country. Clinton, Secretary of State during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, is unpopular with many Egyptians. Many of those who backed the revolt saw her as a long-standing supporter of Hosni Mubarak, the autocrat they toppled from power. But elsewhere, other Muslims saw Trump as a hostile figure. “Whatever happens to America affects everybody and with all these promises of doom by Trump to the blacks, to the Muslims, the minority, so it’s not something we’re happy about,” said Ganiu Olukanga, a Muslim resident of the Nigerian capital Lagos. Some Muslims, including Wahid, said they feared his election as president might encourage a view that the United States held enmity for Muslims and that this would hinder efforts in Islam to counter radicalization. “Trump’s victory will be an enormous gift to a failing jihadist movement, that will have now have a renewed rallying cry,” said Ammar Rashid, an academic and member of Pakistan’s Awami Workers Party on Twitter. “If jihadi ideology has a source of sustenance, it is the image of the US as the evil anti-Muslim crusader. They will milk Trump’s win dry,” he added. In jihadist social media forums, militants said Trump’s election had merely revealed the true position of the United States toward Muslims. “The masks have slipped,” one wrote. But some other Muslims were more hopeful, including Umer Daudzai, former Afghan minister of interior, citing the record of Ronald Reagan who was U.S. president from 1981-89. “Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War. I hope Donald Trump will end all wars and become hero of peace in the world,” he told Reuters. Among some officials, there were also expressions of concern but the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the body that represents Muslim states, issued no statement early on Wednesday. In Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation, an official from the faith’s top clerical body there said Trump’s election could create new tension between the United States and the Islamic world.     Trump had made “negative, cynical” comments about Muslims in the past, Din Syamsuddin, a senior official at the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), told reporters in Jakarta. “He had forgotten that many Americans are immigrants.” Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally that is both birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest places, issued a statement that it had congratulated Trump on his election win without making further comment. However, Awad al-Qirni, one of its most popular clerics with a Twitter following of two million, said in a social media post after the election - but without referring to Trump directly - that “America declines into collapse” and that “its internal crisis will grow severely”. In Pakistan, Sherry Rehman, a senator and former ambassador to Washington, said Trump’s proposal last year to bar Muslims from entering the U.S. had disturbed many. “Pakistan obviously cannot rule out engaging with whomever America elects but his anti-Muslim rhetoric may cast a shadow on relations in times of uncertainty,” he told Reuters on Wednesday. And in Bangladesh, a government official who asked not to be named said: “I can’t think what awaits us. Donald Trump was talking about fighting against Muslims. Are we going to see more wars?” Among private citizens in Dhaka, some said they hoped the pressure of office would temper Trump’s views. “It is just unbelievable and I am a bit tense. I hope there will be a difference between Donald Trump and President Donald Trump. President Trump will be more mature than individual Trump,” Asif Iqbal, a private sector employee, said.

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Ukrainian lawmaker blames Russia for deadly Kiev blast

KIEV (Reuters) - A Ukrainian lawmaker wounded in an explosion in Kiev that killed two people blamed Russia on Thursday for the blast while investigators said they were considering various motives for what they called an act of terrorism. Ihor Mosiychuk, a member of the populist opposition Radical Party, was hospitalized but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, while his bodyguard and a passerby were killed. Two others were wounded. Since fighting with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014, the number of incidents involving explosives outside the conflict zone has increased. There has been a spate of vehicle bombings over the past 18 months in Kiev, the capital, and elsewhere, but investigators have failed to find those responsible. Ukraine s state security service (SBU) said that unknown perpetrators had rigged a motorcycle with explosives on Wednesday that detonated as the lawmaker left a TV station. Radical party leader Oleg Lyashko said he had no doubt the incident was politically motivated, while Mosiychuk blamed Russia. I believe that the initiators are in Moscow, the executors are in Kiev, Mosiychuk said on Facebook. Russian involvement is one of the possible motives being investigated, deputy Kiev prosecutor Pavlo Kononenko told journalists. Another explanation is Mosiychuk s political activity, his public position within our country, he said. A third explanation is an attempt on Mosiychuk s life for personal reasons. The Kremlin dismissed the accusations as a product of anti-Russian sentiment. Beyond all doubt, these are new signs of this anti-Russian campaign which has unfortunately swept across Ukraine and Kiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. Relations between Kiev and Moscow collapsed in 2014 after Russia seized Ukraine s Crimea peninsula and backed a pro-Russian separatist insurgency in eastern Ukrainian regions. Radical Party lawmaker Evhen Deidei posted photos on his Facebook page from the scene of Wednesday s attack which showed the burnt-out shell of a motorcycle in front of a damaged vehicle. Judging by the damage to the car and the shrapnel holes in the doors, the power of the explosion was pretty strong, he said. There is a lot of blood on the stairs, where Ihor was situated at the time of the explosion. The interior ministry s Shkiryak said political analyst Vitaliy Bala was one of the three wounded in the blast. In June, a colonel in Ukraine s military intelligence was killed by a car bomb in central Kiev. In 2016 a prominent investigative journalist, Pavel Sheremet, was killed by an explosive device in his car.

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CBO Posts Review Of Republican Healthcare Plan, It’s A Bloodbath: 24 Million+ Uninsured (DETAILS)

The Congressional Budget Office, tasked with providing Congress with a nonpartisan assessment of the effects of proposed legislation, has finally released its analysis of the Republican healthcare replacement plan and it s abundantly clearly why Paul Ryan tried to pass the bill before the CBO was able to take a look. It s a bloodbath.For starters, the CBO calculates that as many as 14 million people will lose their insurance within the year, many of which only recently started having health insurance thanks to the ACA. As a replacement this plan is clearly inferior. Even worse, by 2026, 24 million more people will be uninsured as compared to this very moment. America will see a near total collapse of the health care system as we currently understand it.Republicans argue that tens of millions more without health insurance is okay because they are saving America money. The CBO suggests the savings would be almost nonexistent relative to the costs (not to mention the human suffering). They calculate that GOP s bill will only save around $300 billion over a decade. Compared to the trillions of dollars that are budgeted out each year, that s a rounding error.#CBO is out 24 million more uninsured by 2026, $337 billion of budget savings over a decade. https://t.co/WlDNX8LEMy Marc Goldwein (@MarcGoldwein) March 13, 2017They also argue that this disruption will actually cost America around a trillion dollars in lost revenue, offsetting much of the savings it hopes to gain by cutting spending.CBO and JCT estimate that enacting the legislation would reduce federal deficits by $337 billion over the 2017-2026 period. That total consists of $323 billion in on-budget savings and $13 billion in off-budget savings. Outlays [i.e. what the government spends] would be reduced by $1.2 trillion over the period, and revenues would be reduced by $0.9 trillion.Yeah, this is very, very bad.And Republicans did not want the American people to see this.WH reading CBO pic.twitter.com/lLkWPXkZei Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) March 13, 2017Ryan s response will likely be the same one that he s been giving all week. The tens of millions who are about to lose their insurance are actually enjoying the benefits of choice. Choice, in his mind, translates to being rich and having health insurance (also a tax break) or poor and not having health insurance. That s freedom to Paul Ryan. What a guy.The CBO s review only reinforces the fact that the Republicans had 8 years to come up with a replacement plan, failed to do so, and when pressed quickly created one that is inferior to the ACA in every single way. The level of incompetence and cruelty required to draft something like this continues to remain astonishing.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images

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There’s Something Very Weird About Nearly Half Of Trump’s Twitter Followers

To Donald Trump, his popularity is everything, which may be why his favorite mode of communication is Twitter. Twitter s model of having people follow other Twitter accounts, rather than having a mutual friendship gives celebrities and notables opportunities to collect thousands or even millions of followers.Trump s personal account has about 31 million followers, which is nothing to sneeze at. Then again Katy Perry has nearly 100 million and Barack Obama nearly 90 million. You have to know that drives Trump absolutely crazy.Trump has been doing some housecleaning recently by blocking some of his more contentious followers (I know several who were blocked just last week). Still, his Twitter following dramatically increased on Tuesday, and there s something very weird about many of those followers. They don t have pictures and they ve never tweeted.Trump s Twitter acc has suddenly gained 3 mil followers and has been blocking lots of people. New followers look like this pic.twitter.com/uzYkeNsjUC John Niven (@NivenJ1) May 30, 2017John Niven wasn t cherry picking. If you click on Trump s recent followers, more of them have no pictures and no tweets than those who are active Twitter users. They re an oddly international (given Trump s nationalism) group of followers as well.These followers are likely bots. They aren t people at all. According to Twitter Audit, only 51 percent of Trump s followers are real. Nearly half are fake, and that s not just the new ones.The number of fake accounts has gotten a lot worse since Trump took office.This isn t the first time someone has pointed out that a good portion of Trump s Twitter following is fake, but what s interesting is that its fakeness seems to be increasing. In January, journalist Yashar Ali ran an audit on Trump s Twitter account and found that 68 percent of his then-20 million followers were real. Now he s at 30 million followers, but only 51 percent are real, which means of 10 million followers Trump has gained since January, about 8.3 million are fake. Compare that to Barack Obama. 79 percent are real.In April 2016, when Trump was beginning to gain traction as a serious candidate to at least win the Republican presidential nomination, the former reality TV star had a mere 7.58 million followers, only 8 percent of which were fake, according to FiveThirtyEight. It s not surprising that as Trump s global profile has skyrocketed in the past 13 months, so too have the number of bots attached to his Twitter account but it s astonishing how much the percentage of his followers that are fake has risen.Source: NewsweekWhile fake followers are a pretty serious problem on Facebook, and not one that the user can always control, it is easy to buy Twitter followers and it s a big problem.Automated adding to lists or collections: You may not add Twitter users to lists or add Tweets to collections in a bulk or indiscriminate manner. Adding a large number of unrelated users to lists is a violation of the Twitter Rules.If Trump did pay for the followers (and perhaps even if he didn t), he s violating Twitter s rules and his account should be banned.Featured image via Pool/Getty Images.

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Trump Supporters Attacked By Liberal Protesters: Taking Political Violence to New Level

21st Century Wire says Trump protests are getting out of hand, yet again. This time in Portland Oregon. Liberal progressive protesters have taken to the streets in opposition to the President s latest controversial executive order instituting a 7 nation travel ban. Lets see how it turned out:Protesters surrounded Trump supporters outside the Portland airport and bullhorned in their faces bumper sticker slogans like, No Fear, No Hate! and then Peaceful Protest! Anyone who s not seen the full video at this point might still think this was a protest and not a violent mob bordering on a riot.The extreme left protestors chased the Trump supporters into the Portland airport and things got ugly. One of the Trump supporters was sucker punched, which seems to be an escalation of violence among protesters, similar to the recent sucker punch of Alt-Right leader, Richard Spenser in Washington DC last week.As the man who was assaulted hit the ground the protestors gathered around him and proceeded to continue to taunt, chant and ridicule the injured Trump supporter. Phrases like, That s how you talk to a Nazi! That s right! were said by anti-Trump activists, Your boy got knocked out! and Wooo! Hunt the Nazis! The victim of the assault, Grant Chisholm, 39 year old from Portland says that he was hit three times in the head with something metallic in the assault. They almost killed me tonight, said Chisholm.Chisholm claims he dropped in and out of consciousness while other protesters attempted to kick him, according to a report at Oregonlive.com, although this is not verifiable in the video footage.The extreme left has always claimed to be the tolerant and accepting of political identities, but look how they behave when they lose the election. Is this tolerance, acceptance of different views when their protests consist of violence, cowardly sucker punch assaults and hateful chants accusing anyone with a remotely conservative world view of being a Nazi?Watch the assault happen in the video below:. READ MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Trump FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV

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U2’s Bono Has BRUTAL Words For Donald Trump (VIDEO)

While rock band U2 s Bono has had a career of being politically outspoken, his priorities have generally been focused primarily on improving living conditions in underdeveloped countries. Heck, the liberal Bono even found common ground with George W. Bush. There s no common ground to be found with Donald Trump, though, who the U2 singer called potentially the worst idea that every happened to America. In an interview with CBS This Morning, Bono gave credence to the idea of American exceptionalism, but he feels that Trump destroys that. In fact, Bono says, Trump could destroy the very idea of America: Look, America is like the best idea the world ever came up with, Bono, whose real name is Paul David Hewson, told CBS This Morning in an interview broadcast Tuesday. But Donald Trump is potentially the worst idea that ever happened to America. Potentially. Bono pointed to nations like Ireland and Great Britain as great countries but suggested that America is different because it s an idea, one that Trump is trying to hijack. That idea is bound up in justice and equality for all equality and justice for all, you know, he continued. I think he s hijacked the party. I think he s trying to hijack the idea of America. And I think it s bigger than all of us. I think it s it s this is really dangerous. Source: PoliticoHere s the video:Say what you want about the often controversial Bono, but he has seen the world and he s right. The idea of America, as a melting pot, as a place where with hard work, anyone can be a success, is not completely incompatible with Donald Trump s ideas. Trump is a xenophobe. He and his supporters want to turn our nation into a solitary island. That s never been what our nation is about.Featured image via Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images.

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Trump renews criticism of London Mayor Khan over attack

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump once again criticized London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Monday over his response to a deadly attack on the city, while the British public and politicians lauded the mayor for his handling of the aftermath. Trump accused Khan of making a “pathetic excuse” over his statement urging Londoners not to be alarmed by the presence of additional police on the streets in response to the attack. But British Prime Minister Theresa May said Khan was doing a “good job”, echoing public sentiment across London. Three jihadis drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge on Saturday night before running into the bustling Borough Market area where they slit people’s throats and stabbed them indiscriminately. Police shot dead all three attackers. Khan had said on Sunday morning that people would see an increased police presence on the streets of the capital and should not be alarmed by that. Trump mocked Khan’s comment on Sunday, suggesting in a tweet that the mayor was downplaying the attacks. A spokesman for Khan responded that the mayor “has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context” his remarks. Trump’s comments drew widespread scorn in Britain but the U.S. leader went on the attack again on Monday, saying in a tweet: “Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his ‘no reason to be alarmed’ statement. MSM is working hard to sell it!” Trump wrote. MSM referred to mainstream media. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said she did not think it was fair to characterize Trump’s tweets as “picking a fight” with Khan, who is the first Muslim elected as London mayor. “The point is, there is a reason to be alarmed. We have constant attacks going on, not just there but across the globe, and we have to start putting national security and global security at an all time high,” she told a White House briefing. Khan said he had been too busy dealing with the fallout from the attack to respond directly to the tweet. Khan, who belongs to the opposition Labour Party, is popular in London and his response to Saturday’s killings has been widely praised as dignified. Prime Minister May, the Conservative Party leader, was asked earlier on Monday about Trump’s criticism of Khan. “I think Sadiq Khan is doing a good job and it is wrong to say anything else,” she said. Khan’s statement on Sunday morning condemned the attack and gave a number of details about what had happened and what measures were being taken in response. “Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. No reason to be alarmed. One of the things the police, all of us need to do is make sure we’re as safe as we possibly can be,” Khan said. In his Sunday tweet, Trump commented: “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!’” It was met with a barrage of criticism in both Britain and the United States, with former Vice President Al Gore among many public figures who accused Trump of misrepresenting what Khan had said. A YouGov poll of 1,000 Londoners published on Monday found that Khan was more trusted than both May and national Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to make the right decisions about keeping Britain safe from terrorism. “My focus from Saturday night has been working with the police the emergency services and the government to deal with the horrific attack on Saturday,” Khan told Sky News, when asked about Trump’s latest tweet. “I just haven’t got time to respond to tweets from Donald Trump. I’ve got better and more important things to focus on.” The two men have history. During the U.S. presidential election campaign, Khan was among many people who spoke out against Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States, an idea he said would play into the hands of extremists. During a visit to Chicago in September last year, Khan endorsed Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton. In March, after an attack by an Islamic militant that left five people dead in Westminster, central London, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. issued a tweet that criticized Khan. Trump Jr. wrote “You have got to be kidding me?!” above a link to an article reporting comments Khan had made months earlier. In the article, Khan was reported as saying that being prepared for terror attacks was “part and parcel” of living in a major city.

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Factbox: Quotes on Suu Kyi's handling of Myanmar's Rohingya crisis

(Reuters) - Nearly 400,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to neighboring Bangladesh since a surge in violence in Myanmar s Rakhine state began on Aug 25. The exodus of refugees, sparked by a fierce military response to a series of Rohingya militant attacks, is the most pressing crisis Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has faced since becoming leader last year. She has been the target of criticism from fellow Nobel laureates and religious leaders across the world, for failing to condemn the human rights abuses against the Rohingya. Here are a selection of quotes about her reticence: AUNG SAN SUU KYI - 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, Myanmar leader "We have to take care of our citizens. We have to take care of everybody who is in our country, whether or not they are our citizens." (Sept 7 - reut.rs/2x1S4Ey) DESMOND TUTU - 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, anti-apartheid leader, addressing Suu Kyi: "My dear sister: If the political price of your ascension to the highest office in Myanmar is your silence, the price is surely too steep." (Sept 7 - bit.ly/2xQIV0P) MALALA YOUSAFZAI - 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, women s rights activist Over the last several years, I have repeatedly condemned this tragic and shameful treatment. I am still waiting for my fellow Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to do the same. "The world is waiting and the Rohingya Muslims are waiting." (Sept 4 - bit.ly/2eRtMZq) NOBEL WOMEN S INITIATIVE - Open letter to Aung San Suu Kyi from five Nobel Peace laureates "How many Rohingya have to die; how many Rohingya women will be raped; how many communities will be razed before you raise your voice in defense of those who have no voice? (Sept 11 - bit.ly/2wWrA7u) PETITION HOSTED ON CHANGE.ORG - Online petition urging Nobel committee to revoke Suu Kyi s peace prize gathers more than 420,000 signatures. "Until this second, the de facto ruler of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, has done virtually nothing to stop this crime against humanity in her country." (bit.ly/1WBrfjn)

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Millions Gather Under Times Square Countdown Clock To Celebrate End Of 2016 Election - The Onion - America's Finest News Source

More Election Coverage Millions Gather Under Times Square Countdown Clock To Celebrate End Of 2016 Election More than 10,000 balloons and nearly two tons of red, white, and blue confetti were released at the moment polls closed. Close More than 10,000 balloons and nearly two tons of red, white, and blue confetti were released at the moment polls closed. NEWS November 8, 2016 Vol 52 Issue 44 · News · Politics · Election 2016 NEW YORK—Marking the joyous occasion with singing, dancing, and a chorus of ecstatic cheers, an estimated 2 million citizens gathered beneath the Times Square countdown clock Tuesday night to celebrate the end of the 2016 election season, sources reported. The crowd of revelers—many of whom had arrived in the early morning to stake out prime viewing locations—reportedly swelled in volume throughout the night, spilling over into nearby streets as many popped bottles of champagne, embraced loved ones, and finally joined together in a boisterous countdown seconds before the polls were scheduled to close. “God, this is so amazing,” said local man Mark Edwards, gazing up at a fireworks display signaling the conclusion of the incessant media coverage, debates, stump speeches, and campaign advertisements of the election cycle. “I can’t even begin to describe how excited everyone is here. It’s really unbelievable.” “W !” he shouted, his voice nearly drowned out by the sound of Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration” emanating from loudspeakers situated on buildings around the square. According to witnesses, the scene was one of unbridled merriment, with roars of delight sweeping through the crowd every time the enormous LED screens in Times Square showed that voting had ended in another state. As vote totals began to come in, thousands in attendance reportedly raised their arms in jubilation, unfurled homemade banners, or placed calls to family members, often yelling to be heard over the sound of whistles, noisemakers, and the exuberant din of the crowd. Throughout the night’s revelry, celebrants were also seen craning their necks and hoisting children onto their shoulders to view the One Times Square Astrovision screen displaying live feeds of equally raucous celebrations in downtown Los Angeles, Chicago’s Loop, Miami Beach, Market Square Park in Houston, and other locations throughout the country “We stood out in the cold all day to get a good spot, but what’s a few extra hours of discomfort when you’ve been looking forward to this for so long?” said Alice Castillo, who told reporters she had driven there from Baltimore with her two daughters to be part of the excitement. “Could we have stayed home and watched it all on TV? Of course. But nothing compares to the thrill of sharing this incredible moment with so many other people.” “When the clock struck zero and everyone erupted into cheers, it was pretty magical,” Castillo added. While the crowd was said to have thinned after the polls closed along the East Coast, a reported 250,000 remained well into the night to take in the joyful atmosphere and pack the area’s overflowing bars. One of the Times Square celebrants, 36-year-old Brett Cleaver, said the night’s festivities had caused him to reflect on the past year and consider how tonight represented a fresh start. “Beginning tomorrow, I’m going to try to cherish every second I have where I don’t hear the phrase ‘swing state’ or see footage from a campaign rally,” Cleaver told reporters, beaming at the prospect of never again looking at an article that speculated on how undecided voters would react to Donald Trump’s or Hillary Clinton’s latest statements. “For tonight, though, I’m just soaking up as much of this moment as I can.” Added Cleaver, “I’m already excited to come back and do this again in 2020.” Share This Story: WATCH VIDEO FROM THE ONION Sign up For The Onion's Newsletter Give your spam filter something to do. Daily Headlines

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U.S. Republican senator moves toward re-election despite Trump tiff

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Another U.S. Republican senator has moved closer to re-election while keeping some distance from Donald Trump, and experts say this suggests the party’s presidential candidate may be having little down-ballot impact, at least at the primary stage. Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire still faces a tough general election challenge on Nov. 8 but she crushed a pro-Trump, Republican challenger in a primary contest on Tuesday, winning close to 80 percent of the vote. Ayotte has refused to endorse Trump although, like a number of Republicans, she has said she will vote for him. Some Republicans, such as Ohio Senator Rob Portman, have endorsed Trump but excluded him from their campaigns. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska won her primary in August although she had said she did not know whether she would vote for Trump. Trump, a New York businessman who has never held elected office, at first criticized Ayotte. Then he changed course early last month and endorsed her, along with fellow Republicans House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator John McCain. With Ayotte’s victory, all incumbent Republican senators running for re-election have won their primaries this year. This is not uncommon but it is unusual for so many senators to hold their party’s presidential nominee at arm’s length. U.S. senators serve six-year-terms. One-third of the 100-member Senate faces voters every two years. The outcome so far shows some voters are distinguishing this year between Trump and the rest of the ballot, said Nathan Gonzales, editor of The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, a non-partisan newsletter. “His impact has been less dramatic than what was initially expected, but there is still time for things to get worse for the Republican Party,” Gonzales said in a telephone interview. “At a time when Republicans in presidential primaries basically rejected everybody from the status quo, they are not doing that in Senate or House primaries,” Norman Ornstein, a political scientist at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said by telephone. Republicans are still worried that voters who do not like Trump will not turn out to vote for other Republicans in the general election on Nov. 8, Gonzales said. “Is there a Trump drag (on down-ballot candidates)? There doesn’t appear to be much of one,” said Jennifer Duffy, senior editor at the non-partisan Cook Political Report. Ohio’s Portman, who has not appeared with Trump on the campaign trail, easily beat his primary opponent and has opened up a lead over his Democratic challenger in the general election. McCain and Ryan have had very public differences of opinion with Trump but they also prevailed in their primary races. Ayotte beat a field of four challengers in New Hampshire, receiving nearly 80 percent of the vote, according to election results posted online by the state. She must still take on Democratic New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan in the general election. Ayotte was leading Hassan by 52 percent to 44 percent in a Sept. 6-8 NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll, according to the website RealClear Politics. “I think you probably have a lot of people in the primary who were not going to pay as close attention to what she was saying about Trump,” Ornstein said of Ayotte. “In the fall it may be a different matter, as certainly Maggie Hassan is going to try to tie her to Trump.”

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Newt Gingrich goes berserk when Fox News Megyn Kelly referred to Trump as a sexual predator

License DMCA In an explosive interview, Newt Gingrich became completely unhinged, verbally attacking Fox News' Megyn Kelly for referring to Trump as a sexual predator. Throughout the interview, Newt Gingrich seemed to live in an alternate state of reality. He continued to discount polls that show Trump losing badly. He refused to acknowledge that all the tossup states are moving towards Clinton. The interview was already contentious when a couple of words from Megyn Kelly turned it explosive. (Video here .) "You want to know why Trump has had a rough time?" Newt Gingrich asked. "If Trump is a sexual predator," Megyn Kelly said. "That is ..." - Advertisement - "He is not a sexual predator," Newt Gingrich shouted. "That's your opinion," Kelly said. "I am not taking a position on it." "You could not defend that statement," an unhinged Gingrich shouted. "Now I am sick and tired of people like you, using language that's inflammatory, that's not true." "Excuse me Mr. Speaker," Kelly interjected. "You have no idea whether it is true or not. What we know is that at least ..." "Neither do you," Gingrich shouted. - Advertisement - "That's right," Kelly replied. "And I am not taking a position on it unlike you. So what I said is incorrect?" "Yes you are," Gingrich replied. "When you use the words you took a position. And that is very unfair of you Megyn. I think that is exactly the bias people are upset by." "I think that your defensiveness on this may speak volumes, sir," Kelly replied. "What I said is if -- no, no, no, -- let me make my point and then I will give you the floor. What I said is if Trump is a sexual predator, then it is a big story. And what we saw on that tape was Trump himself saying that he likes to grab women by the genitals and kiss them against their will. That's what we saw. Then we saw ten women come forward after he denied actually doing it at the debate to say that was untrue. 'He did it to me. He did it to me.' We saw reporters. We saw people who had worked with him; people from Apprentice and so on and so forth. He denies it all, which is his right. We don't know what the truth is. My point to you is, as a media story we don't get to say the ten women are lying. We have to cover that story, sir." Gingrich then went into full spin mode. He attempted to characterize the media as biased for covering more about the growing Trump sexual predator scandal than Clinton speeches to banks, a false equivalency. He then unleashed his anger and abuse again.

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Soda Tax Passes in Philadelphia. Advocates Ask: Who’s Next? - The New York Times

PHILADELPHIA — Forty times, city or state governments had proposed taxes on sugary soft drinks, failing each time. Then, in 2014, liberal Berkeley, Calif. passed such a tax, but most people saw it as an aberration. Several measures, including one in New York, never won much support. But on Thursday, a measure to tax sweetened drinks passed in Philadelphia, one of the country’s largest cities — and also one of its poorest. Indeed, raising revenue was the winning argument in Philadelphia. Jim Kenney, the mayor, took a different tack from that of politicians who have tried and failed to pass taxes. He didn’t talk about the tax as a measure designed to discourage soft drinks. And he didn’t promise to earmark the proceeds for health programs. Instead, he cast the soft drink industry as a tantalizing revenue source that could be tapped to fund popular city programs, including universal prekindergarten. “This is the beginning of a process of changing the narrative of poverty in our city,” he said in a news conference after the vote. The advocates who have pushed for the policy say the victory is a sign of growing public acceptance of soft drink taxes and presages more such measures around the country. Though city officials didn’t talk much about the health consequences of soda, experts said that sugary drinks’ increasingly bad reputation made it an appropriate political target. “If we go five years ahead and look back, I think this is going to be a watershed moment,” said Jim Krieger, executive director at Healthy Food America, an organization that is helping cities around the country that are considering soda taxes. “This is going to really provide momentum. ” San Francisco Oakland, Calif. and Boulder, Colo. are considering soft drink taxes this year. Mr. Krieger said the list of interested cities included some that were as large and diverse as Philadelphia. Mr. Kenney said he hadn’t yet spoken directly with officials from other cities, but he had advice for them. “Tie your efforts to tangible initiatives that people care about,” he said in his news conference. “When it comes up, acknowledge that it is a good thing to drink less beverages, but tie it to things that people care about. ” The Philadelphia tax of 1. 5 cents an ounce will apply to all sugary or artificially sweetened drinks sold by distributors in the city. It is expected to increase prices — the tax is about 30 cents for a drink, or $2. 16 for a . If passed on to consumers, the increase is expected to substantially reduce sales of sweetened drinks. The city finance department estimates it will raise $91 million a year. Sugary drinks have been linked to health problems, including obesity, diabetes and tooth decay, but the public health effects of the taxes are still unclear. Philadelphia is likely to become the site of public health research. Thomas Farley, the city’s health commissioner, said the city had already planned to measure the tax’s immediate effects on sales. studies will measure any impact on obesity. The soft drink industry and its allies, including the Teamsters union and local grocers, spent nearly $5 million on lobbying and advertising to fight the tax in Philadelphia. They held rallies and demonstrations downtown and ran ads on television and the radio, right up until Thursday’s final vote. They branded the drinks tax measure a “grocery tax,” suggesting that more food products were next. The soda industry has argued that Philadelphia’s politics are unusual and that the vote here can’t be seen as predictive. The American Beverage Association, a trade group, has vowed to fight the measure in the courts. “It’s still a bad idea,” said Lauren Kane, a spokeswoman for the group. “People still oppose it. Nothing has changed. ” Thursday, the industry and its allies vented frustration. Daniel Grace, the secretary and treasurer of the Teamsters local, said advocates had “snookered City Council,” and he described the tax as a “brazen cash grab from one industry. ” The promise of prekindergarten energized the city’s education advocates, who joined with public health advocates. The coalition spent about $2 million on advertisements, according to Kevin Feeley, a spokesman for Philadelphians for a Fair Future, a group supporting the tax. That total included $1. 6 million in donations from Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York mayor, who has long supported soda taxes. But Mr. Kenney’s focus on revenue also allowed him to help cut deals with skeptical city councilors. Ultimately, the soft drink tax revenue won’t pay just for prekindergarten, but for a host of city programs, reflecting the priorities of the council members who voted for it.

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U.S. military dismisses chance of massive troop surge in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday dismissed chances of a return to the major U.S. troop deployments to Afghanistan that characterized the early years of the Obama administration, a day after the White House gave him power to set troop levels. Asked whether he expected to hike U.S. troop levels, now at about 8,400 in Afghanistan, to anywhere near America’s 2011 peak of more than 100,000 troops, Mattis said: “No, sir, I do not.”

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Georgia Republican Threatens To ‘Disappear’ Democrat Over Monuments To Slavery

A furious Georgia Republican issued a horrifying threat to a Democrat over her push to remove Confederate statues. In an ominous social media post, State Rep. Jason Spencer warned that if former state Rep. LaDawn Jones doesn t abandon her fight against monuments to slavery, she might go missing. In a contentious back and forth on Facebook, Spencer told Jones that people in South Georgia are people of action, not drama and then added that people who don t understand that will go missing in the Okefenokee. Too many necks they are red around here, he wrote. Don t say I didn t warn you about em. Jones, a black woman who represented an Atlanta-based district from 2012 to 2016, did not back down from Spencer s threat of physical violence. Enjoy but know WINTER IS COMING, Jones wrote back. You know it too otherwise you wouldn t have found a need to even make this post or those hollow threats of not coming to south GA. Spencer now swears that he really wasn t threatening Jones. Of course. No, to the contrary, he was just trying to keep her safe by giving a warning to her of how people can behave about this issue. (Insert eye roll here.) She is from Atlanta and the rest of Georgia sees this issue very differently, Spencer said. Just trying to keep her safe if she decided to come down and raise hell about the memorial in the back yards of folks who will see this as an unwelcome aggression from the left. Jones later said in an interview that she and Spencer had developed a friendship during their time representing the people of Georgia and that she wasn t worried about his online threat. If it were anybody other than Jason Spencer, then I would be alarmed. But we had a unique relationship in the Georgia Legislature, Jones said. If that had come from anybody else, I d take it as a serious threat. But she did say that she was very concerned by his appalling reaction to her efforts to remove the statues of people who fought against the U.S. in their quest to continue the practice of owning people based on skin color. Because if that s representative of what people in south Georgia think, then yikes. You can read the tense exchange in its entirety here:Featured image via screenshot

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Televisión: lo más visto ayer

TVE La 1 de Televisión Española redondeó ayer un mes fantástico y volvió a ser la cadena más vista. “Cruz y Raya: el Reencuentro” congregó a millones de espectadores que disfrutaron como nunca de las mejores actuaciones de José Mota y el otro señor. El minuto de oro se produjo cuando el otro señor intentó besar a José Mota pero éste se abstuvo. Antena 3 rozó la gloria al situarse como la segunda opción elegida por los españoles. La cadena de Atresmedia apostó por un formato nuevo consistente en emitir durante horas vídeos cortos donde diferentes marcas presentaban sus últimos productos a través de pequeñas recreaciones de la vida cotidiana. La apuesta surtió efecto consiguiendo un 17% de cuota de pantalla. Telecinco también obtuvo cifras muy buenas atrayendo al 15% de la audiencia gracias al plano fijo de la barra de un bar español con risas enlatadas y una gorda chillándole a su esposo. Cuatro se quedó lejos de las cifras esperadas en su nueva versión de Primeras Citas . En esta ocasión, los participantes del programa eran enfermos que acudían a su primera visita con el médico en búsqueda de un diagnóstico. Aburrido, por lo general, salvo el momento final de la colonoscopia. Equipo de Investigación de La Sexta ya investiga cuáles han sido las causas de sus bajos números en su emisión de ayer. La audiencia no acompañó a pesar de que el programa ofreció imágenes exclusivas de un portal cualquiera del centro de Madrid y subtituló y tapó la cara a una señora que no tenía absolutamente nada que decir sobre el tema que se estaba investigando. Ni siquiera remontó cuando Gloria Serra relató dramáticamente cómo un Honda Civic aparcaba en doble fila sin poner los intermitentes. La 2 de TVE apostó por la película Le film subvencioné avec des immigrants qui souffrent , tan independiente que todavía no se ha terminado de rodar. Canal Sur fue la opción preferida de los andaluces tanto por la tarde, con su tercera edición de Con ese de Siesta , como en el prime time con su ya legendaria Noche de Siesta . La posibilidad de ver a algunos andaluces durmiendo siempre es muy atractiva para el resto de andaluces que se están durmiendo. La Televisión de Galicia emitió fuego para calentar los hogares del 14% de los gallegos que ya tiene televisor. Netflix no pasó datos de audiencia, lo que es una mala señal. La cadena estadounidense emite muchas cosas a la vez , obligando a la gente a elegir y haciendo que todo sea muy confuso. Si quieren ser competitivos en el panorama televisivo español, deberían empezar por centrarse y elegir un único programa cada hora.

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HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley’ Stars Harassed By Trump Supporters In Los Angeles Bar (TWEETS)

After the election of Donald Trump, albeit not the popular vote by a long shot, many bigots everywhere are taking this as their cue to be as awful as possible. That somehow, just because a racist and misogynist got elected, that is their permission slip to verbally, or worse, physically assault people.It also looks that even liberal safe havens such as Los Angeles aren t even immune to this sort of bigotry that now seems justified to some.HBO s Silicon Valley stars Kumail Nanjiani and Thomas Middleditch were out at a bar in Silverlake, which is predominantly full of young liberal hipsters, and were approached by two men using white supremacist terminology.Nanjiani is Pakistani-American, and these two men apparently thought they could harass him and who he was with. Was it because of the color of his skin? Or was it just because they re actors who stood against Trump? Really, who s to know, but I bet most of us can take a wild guess.Here s Nanjiani s thread explaining the altercation with Middleditch chiming in:Was at a bar last night with @Middleditch. At the end of the night, 2 white dudes, 20's, who'd been there for hours came up to us. Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016"We're big fans of you guys. (To Thomas) I trolled you on twitter yesterday." He goes on to say how we're wrong about Trump. Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016I go "Hey we don't wanna discuss politics right now." His friends goes "oh they're cucks." Then starts yelling at us. "CUCKS CUCKS CUCKS!" Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016Btw, "cuck" is an Alt Right term. Look it up, it's not positive. Thomas Middleditch (@Middleditch) November 12, 2016He starts getting in my face. Thomas puts his hand on the dude's chest to stop him. "Don't touch me you cuck. Wanna go outside?" Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016At this point, the bouncer runs over, grabs them, kicks them out. The bartender is awesome & apologetic. Thomas & I are stunned. Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016This happened at a bar in LA surrounded by ppl. I can't imagine what it must be like to be someone who looks like me in other parts. Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016.@Tallarico @Thesixler @kumailn This was in Silver Lake. Gentrification central. Unbelievable. Thomas Middleditch (@Middleditch) November 12, 2016@Pidgejen Just expected it somewhere else. I could've worded it better. Thought Silver Lake was full of peaceful hipsters. Thomas Middleditch (@Middleditch) November 12, 2016We can't let hate/racism/bigotry/sexism be normalized. If something happens, be safe, but let it be known we won't stand for this. Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016.@kumailn Yes! Either you agreed with the sketchy rhetoric or you turned a blind eye to it. Bad news either way. Thomas Middleditch (@Middleditch) November 12, 2016We thought Internet would give us access to ppl w different points of view. Instead it gives us access to many ppl w the same point of view. Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 12, 2016This can t be the America we live in. We need to stand up against hate where it stands and not allow these hateful individuals to think they can be as horrendous as they want. Not today. Not ever.Featured Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

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Comment on There Has To Be a Cheaper Way To Find The Worst People — 2016 Elections Will Cost Over $6 Billion by doucyet

Watch: Aerial Footage Catches Man Stopping at a Drive Thru — While Being Chased By Police Home / Be The Change / Government Corruption / There Has To Be a Cheaper Way To Find The Worst People — 2016 Elections Will Cost Over $6 Billion There Has To Be a Cheaper Way To Find The Worst People — 2016 Elections Will Cost Over $6 Billion Claire Bernish October 30, 2016 2 Comments This presidential election cycle has been nothing, if not a controversy-laden shit show of the bizarre — and a monumentally pricey one, at that. It’s now estimated the stupefying cost for the duopoly to provide us with two altogether unappealing candidates — possibly the least liked in American electoral history — as well as congressional minions, totals no less than $6.6 billion. And that’s a conservative figure. Despite nearly a century of anti-marijuana propaganda inundating schools, ads, and politics, in fact, legalizing cannabis has greater approval from the public than either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Yet, the two candidates, their respective political parties, outside groups, and individual donors will, all told, spend around 86.5 million inflation-adjusted dollars more than on the 2012 presidential election. There simply must be a cheaper way to find two people no one wants to vote for. Hell, Giant Meteor — the satirical no-party candidate whose slogan, “Just end it already,” speaks volumes to weariness — has amassed a sizeable following in recent months, as the public apparently abandons all pretense of hope. To wit, 70 percent of voters likely to support Hillary Clinton, and a stunning 41 percent of all likely voters, would re-elect President Barack Obama if a third term were legal, Rasmussen reports. So, if the public harbors only negligible fondness for Clinton and Trump, who deems them worthy of such colossal sums? Unsurprisingly in both cases, it’s the elite — the billionaires and millionaires directly, indirectly, and sometimes shadily channeling their fortunes in hopes their chosen nominee will conform policy favorable to their interests from the helm of the White House. OpenSecrets.org reports : “Candidates and news outlets have decried the outsized influence of a small number of donors throughout the election season. Here’s a startling statistic: The top 100 families have given about 11.9 percent to the total $5.5 billion raised at this point, compared to 5.6 percent in all of 2012. Their names are familiar — Thomas and Kathryn Steyer have given $57.2 million to liberal causes, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson have doled out $47.3 million to GOP-allied forces, and Donald Sussman has so far provided $34.4 million to groups helping Democrats. Expect to see this list shift a bit: Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz pledged an additional $35 million to defeat Donald Trump earlier this month.” Perhaps surprisingly to some, billionaire globalist and avid political influencer, George Soros, ranked only 9th in the list of top donors, contributing ‘just’ $17,689,038. And this election cycle hasn’t been devoid of grassroots political donors, either, although their chosen ‘voice of the people’ candidate, Bernie Sanders, has since dropped out and endorsed Hillary Clinton — leaving a legacy of heartbroken, if not embittered, young voters scrambling for options — and an older, wiser generation hardly able to contain its I told you so’s . OpenSecrets continues: “The Obama re-election campaign floored campaign finance experts with his knack for tapping into the small donor pool — an impressive 32 percent of the campaign’s total funds came from people giving $200 or less in 2012. But Bernie Sanders topped that. More than half of his contributions, or 59 percent, came from small donors, totaling $134.6 million, which is about one and half times as much as Clinton and more than twice as much as Trump.” Clearly, the so-called ‘little guy’ has nary the clout enjoyed by the privileged, moneyed class — and though that might be widely understood — the reminder dark horse candidates rarely make it to the big race seems more pronounced than ever in recent years. As an Independent, Sanders’ decision to run on the Democratic ticket against the all-powerful Clinton, as a Democratic Socialist, no less, seemed fated to fail from the start — after all, groundbreaking though his bid was, a populist David vowing to disassemble the corporate, banking Goliath could never reap the billionaire financing to endure. “In a campaign that has broken new ground in lots of ways, there’s at least one thing we can depend on, and that’s record-breaking spending on U.S. elections,” explained Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. “While this campaign saw the rise of the small donor and a fall in spending reported by groups that hide their donors, overall, important trends hold true: More money is still coming from a tiny set of elite donors. It’s going to super PACs that are scarcely independent of the campaigns they support. And it’s targeting competitive races where the vote will be closest and the opportunity to have an impact, greatest.” In effect, the elite doles out its fortunes on elite candidates who will best serve the elite’s interests — but, nah, take it from Hillary: the Russians might rig the election. Money is proportionate to influence, it could justifiably be argued, and in an election cycle costing upwards of $7 billion, the overwhelming majority of us pull literally zero weight. Finagling the popular vote constitutes little more than a distraction for the political heavyweights, whose insider connections and corporate and industry backers effectively usurped what little import the average American voter maintained when the Supreme Court ruled in their favor with the notorious corporations are people Citizens United decision in 2010. Whatever vociferous contention Clinton and Trump might garner from an unusually alert populace this election season, don’t be fooled — the elite ultimately pull the strings — the vote is merely an illusory construct of a severely limited choice between two candidates of their choosing. Not ours. All told, just remember the words of Mark Twain: “If voting made any difference they wouldn’t let us do it.” Share

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In Historic First, ICC Preparing to Investigate US War Crimes in Afghanistan

In Historic First, ICC Preparing to Investigate US War Crimes in Afghanistan An employee of Doctors Without Borders stands among the charred remains of a hospital hit by a U.S. airstrike in Kunduz, Afghanistan. (Najim Rahim / AP) The International Criminal Court (ICC) is preparing to initiate a full investigation into potential war crimes in Afghanistan, including those committed by U.S. military personnel, Foreign Policy exclusively reported Tuesday. The magazine writes: Multiple sources have indicated that the chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, will seek to initiate an investigation in the coming weeks, likely after the U.S. presidential election but before the end of the year. U.S. officials visited The Hague recently to discuss the potential investigation and to express concerns about its scope. A formal investigation of U.S. activities would be the first in the history of the ICC, to which the U.S. is not a party. But because Afghanistan is a member, an investigation is “certainly possible,” Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies told Common Dreams. “Afghanistan joined the ICC in 2003, so all actions after that time are subject to ICC jurisdiction,” Bennis said. “But then you get to the question of political will,” Bennis added. The ICC has famously failed to investigate powerful Western nations while prosecuting African dictators, a disparity so glaring that several African countries recently quit the court, condemning it as the “International Caucasian Court.” “Is the prosecutor concerned enough about the accusations of discrimination levied against the ICC that she’s willing to go after U.S. clients and U.S. officials?” Bennis asked. Rights advocates hope that Bensouda may be willing to take aim at powerful nations. The prosecutor was behind the preliminary ICC report published last year, “Report on Preliminary Examination Activities,” which suggested that the U.S. was “responsible for ‘physical and psychological’ violence and torture that ‘debased the basic human dignity’ of those detained” in Afghanistan, as Common Dreams reported . Indeed, photos released by the Pentagon earlier this year demonstrated the brutal abuse of detainees at the hands of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Bensouda may also probe the deadly bombing by U.S. forces of a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Foreign Policy reports. MSF has characterized the airstrike as a war crime, and rights groups have harshly criticized the Pentagon for its light punishment of those responsible for the attack. Despite the looming investigation, Foreign Policy observes that prosecution of U.S. forces for war crimes is still a long way away and may not happen: [Prosecution] would require significantly more evidence than the prosecutor’s office currently possesses. The ICC normally does not interview witnesses, take testimony, or gather forensic evidence during its preliminary examinations, and that work would be just the beginning. In order to charge Americans with war crimes, Bensouda would likely also have to demonstrate a link between the conflict in Afghanistan and U.S. detention policies, which may not be easy; the United States reportedly brought several detainees to Afghanistan from other parts of the world. Perhaps most controversial, the prosecutor’s office would have to determine that the United States has failed to address allegations of torture through its own domestic prosecutions, investigations, and reviews. Moreover, any indictments related to Afghanistan would be months if not years away. Because no ICC member has referred the situation to the court, Bensouda will need the approval of a three-judge panel before launching an investigation. ICC judges have approved all three previous investigative requests from the prosecutor (in Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, and Georgia), but their review can take several months, and the judges might request additional information before authorizing an investigation. “Still, the readiness of the prosecutor’s office to open an investigation represents a sharp setback for President Barack Obama’s administration, which has sought several times to discourage an investigation in Afghanistan and even to avoid ICC mention of possible U.S. crimes,” Foreign Policy notes. And once an investigation is underway, Bennis noted, the ICC prosecutor will be faced with “the question of how far up the chain of command do you go.” “Do you start and stop with the soldier who tortured and abused detainees? This is what happened with Abu Ghraib,” Bennis explained. “Individual soldiers were slapped on the wrist. Their commanders who set the standards that said it was okay to humiliate and sexually abuse people, to tie them up naked in a dog collar and take pictures of it—the commander establishes the tone of what their work entailed, but that was never considered.” Bennis observed: “One of the questions that will have to be dealt with by the prosecutor if she decides to go forward is: do you go all the way up? Do you go after George W. Bush for using torture as a part of U.S. strategy? TAGS:

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Colbert Shreds The GOP For Creating Trump And This One Fact They Forgot (VIDEO)

During a segment on the Late Show, host Stephen Colbert ripped the GOP for creating the monster that is Donald Trump. Republicans are right now working double time to slay the beast.Right now, the GOP s strategy is to urge people to vote for any candidate who they think can win enough delegates to take down Trump. Mocking this strategy, Colbert says: What an inspiring message for the world s greatest democracy. Don t vote for who you think should be president, vote for whichever candidate in your state has the best chance of keeping Trump from getting enough delegates. It s a system often employed by bros in bars that rhymes with clock block. The GOP has cast Mitt Romney as their knight in Republican red. The Republican establishment thinks that Romney s anti-Trump political crusade might be what is needed to halt Trump in his tracks. However, as Colbert notes, there is something that the GOP seems to have forgotten Trump isn t a politician. This guy says that s the only way to save democracy from the voters. After you vote, maybe they ll give you a sticker that says, I did what Mitt Romney told me to do. This game of ganging up on the popular guy that s actually winning, that s not democracy that s a reality show strategy. And that s Trump s home turf. Do you honestly think you re going to be better at this than him? Trump is not running a political campaign, Colbert continues. He s a reality show contestant who has established himself as a villain to polarize the audience and then do whatever it takes to get to the final tribal council to get the rose that lets him have sex with the top chef. Then you get to name a Supreme Court justice in the fantasy suite. It looks like the only thing that will take down Trump s campaign is the Democratic nominee. Fortunately, polls indicate that there is an almost guaranteed chance of a Dem trouncing Trump in the general election.You can watch the segment below.Featured image from video screenshot

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Rick Santorum: Obama Was a Vindictive Bully - Breitbart

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” former Sen. Rick Santorum said, “President Obama was probably one of the most vindictive presidents that we’ve ever dealt with,” adding, “This president has been a bully. ” Partial transcript as follows: TAPPER: That was Donald Trump talking about Russian President Putin and his hopes for a better relationship with him and with Russia. Others on Capitol Hill are worried about just how much Putin likes Trump and what that might have meant during the election. The panel is back with me and Senator Santorum, I rudely cut you off. I want you to respond. Mayor Morial was talking about how well President Obama took the slings and arrows when he was president — you take issue. SANTORUM: Yes. I take big issue because President Obama was probably one of the most vindictive presidents that we’ve ever dealt with in going after individual members of Congress and anybody who disagreed with him, and that was one of his hallmarks. One of the things that made it him hard for him — I’ll be honest — hard for him to get things done was going after Paul Ryan while Paul Ryan is sitting right in front of him and trying to embarrass him. TAPPER: On Medicare. SATORUM: Yes, on Medicare and going after the Supreme Court during the State of the Union address where the Supreme Court — trying to bully the Supreme Court. This president has been a bully. This president has been tough. He’s done it in a cool way, I’ll give you that. The guy has style, but it’s not because he’s been — he’s been light handed or he’s been soft touch. He’s been a very tough touch. Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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SHOCK STATEMENT: Anthony Weiner SPEAKS, Drops LEGAL NUKE On Hillary

Did Anthony Weiner say these things as part a deal to save himself? Anthony Weiner has spoken! One year ago, we all that that Donald Trump was just being funny, just being Trump, when he said that Hillary Clinton was showing poor judgement in letting Huma Abedin, wife of “perf sleaze” Anthony Weiner have access to government information. Trump called the couple a security risk, but again, we thought he was just making fun of them. As it turns out, Donald Trump’s words were eerily prophetic. Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you have heard by now that the FBI is reopening the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email problems after finding evidence on devices at Anthony Weiner’s home. Earlier, we reported that FBI Director James Comey had tricked Obama’s Department of Justice and the Clintons in sending the investigation announcement letter to Congress. Some believe that Comey was attempting to force the DOJ to issue a warrant so that his agents can start reading the 10,000+ emails on Weiner’s device. Here Is How FBI Director Comey BAMBOOZLED The DOJ, CONGRESS, And The CLINTONS All At Once Now, Anthony Weiner has spoken and he may have made Comey’s job even easier, while completely bypassing the Department of Justice altogether. According to reports, Weiner has given permission for the FBI to access all of the information on his electronic devices, including his wifi router. . @BretBaier emails Chris Wallace while he’s on air: Weiner has given FBI permission to search computer so no warrant needed. @FoxNewsSunday — Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) October 30, 2016 I emailed that 2 sources say Weiner is cooperating w/ FBI- & co-owned laptop. Also NY FBI had info 4 a few weeks- pressure was building https://t.co/AHbQVtvQzg — Bret Baier (@BretBaier) October 30, 2016 In essence, Weiner is singing like a bird, and the FBI can conduct a thorough review of the emails in question. If there is criminality found on Weiner’s devices, they have a shot at it. Is there anything that the Department of Justice or the Clintons can do? Time will tell, but many believe that WikiLeaks and others are about to drop more incriminating evidence on Hillary later this week. Comey may have saved himself. Weiner may be trying to cut a plea deal to save himself. Hang on, as this ride is still picking up steam! Related Items

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Senate to vote on final tax bill Tuesday evening: McConnell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate will vote on final tax legislation on Tuesday evening, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said, potentially allowing President Donald Trump to sign the bill into law as early as Wednesday. “Congress is standing at the doorstep of a historic opportunity,” McConnell said on the floor of the Senate as he announced the vote’s timing. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the same legislation at 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT). If both chambers of Congress pass the bill, Trump will be able to meet his goal of signing it into law before Christmas.

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WOW! JILL STEIN’S ‘FIRESIDE CHAT’ Exposes Her Delusion On Recount [Video]

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Let’s Compare President Obama’s Memorial Day Statement To Donald Trump’s

The mere thought that Donald Trump could succeed President Obama is mindboggling. If you need any visual representation to figure this out, look no closer than the two s personal twitter statements honoring Memorial Day.First we have the Commander in Chief s:This Memorial Day, I hope you ll join me in acts of remembrance. The debt we owe our fallen heroes is one we can never truly repay. President Obama (@POTUS) May 30, 2016And now Donald Trump s wonderful tribute: Have a great Memorial Day and remember that we will soon MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2016So one honors America s fallen and the other decides to use it as a campaign pitch that eerily resembles Hitler s slogan. How fitting for a Memorial Day tribute. While President Obama lays the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Trump decides to spend his day railing against Hispanic immigrants, complaining about Bernie Sanders rally sizes, and of course pledged to build the wall.So instead of actually honoring those who have fallen, Trump continued to bloat his ego and echo his stupid campaign slogans to a group of angry bikers.But the best Tweet Donald Trump ever sent out on Memorial Day is from last year when he decided to use the day to attack those who don t support him:I would like to wish everyone, including all haters and losers (of which, sadly, there are many) a truly happy and enjoyable Memorial Day! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2015So there s that. President Obama, the Democrat, honors those who gave their lives for us while Trump, the Republican, insults his haters and those he perceives to be losers.The difference is night and day. The fact Republicans really think their people care about veterans is laughable especially now that Trump is their nominee.Should Trump win the presidential election, veterans and service members alike will be missing President Obama something fierce.Featured image via Pool/Getty Images

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100 Notable Books of 2016 - The New York Times

The year’s notable fiction, poetry and nonfiction, selected by the editors of The New York Times Book Review. This list represents books reviewed since Dec. 6, 2015, when we published our previous Notables list. ALL THAT MAN IS. By David Szalay. (Graywolf, $26.) Szalay writes with voluptuous authority about masculinity under duress in this novel in stories. ANOTHER BROOKLYN. By Jacqueline Woodson. ( $22. 99.) Girlhood and the of its memory are the subjects of this intense, moving novel, Woodson’s first for adults (she is a Newbery Honor winner) in years. THE ASSOCIATION OF SMALL BOMBS. By Karan Mahajan. (Viking, $26.) Mahajan’s smart, devastating novel traces the fallout over time of a terrorist attack at a market in Delhi. BARKSKINS. By Annie Proulx. (Scribner, $32.) Tracing two families and their part in the destruction of the world’s forests, Proulx’s latest novel is a tale of shortsighted greed. BEFORE THE FALL. By Noah Hawley. (Grand Central, $26.) A crash leads to a media firestorm in Hawley’s readable thrill ride of a novel. BEHOLD THE DREAMERS. By Imbolo Mbue. (Random House, $28.) In Mbue’s bighearted debut, set against the backdrop of the American financial crisis, a Cameroonian family makes a new life in Harlem. BLACK WATER. By Louise Doughty. (Sarah Straus Giroux, $26.) Expecting to be assassinated, the hero of this excellent novel grapples with guilt over his actions in Indonesia. CHILDREN OF THE NEW WORLD. By Alexander Weinstein. (Picador, paper, $16.) The terror that technology may rob us of authentic experience — that it may annihilate our very sense of self — is central to this debut collection of short stories. COLLECTED POEMS . By Adrienne Rich. (Norton, $50.) Work from seven decades displays Rich’s evolution from careful to free verse, and her embrace of lesbian feminism and radical politics. COMMONWEALTH. By Ann Patchett. ( $27. 99.) An engaging family portrait, tracing the lives of six stepsiblings over half a century. DO NOT SAY WE HAVE NOTHING. By Madeleine Thien. (Norton, $26. 95.) A professor probes the mystery of her father’s life amid upheavals in China in this ambitious novel. DON’T LET MY BABY DO RODEO. By Boris Fishman. ( $26. 99.) A family from the former Soviet Union embarks on an American road trip in a novel that is a joy to read. END OF WATCH. By Stephen King. (Scribner, $30.) The gloriously fitting final installment of King’s trilogy featuring the retired police detective Bill Hodges is a big romp. EVERYBODY’S FOOL. By Richard Russo. (Knopf, $27. 95.) This sequel to “Nobody’s Fool,” set 10 years later in the same upstate New York town, presents engaging characters and benign humor. THE FORTUNES. By Peter Ho Davies. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $27.) This novel, a meditation on 150 years of the experience, asks what it means to be a . A GAMBLER’S ANATOMY. By Jonathan Lethem. (Doubleday, $27. 95.) A backgammon hustler with telepathic powers returns to Berkeley, Calif. for surgery in Lethem’s inventive 10th novel, the theme of which is remaining open to possibilities. THE GLOAMING. By Melanie Finn. (Two Dollar Radio, paper, $16. 99.) A woman tries to remake her life in Africa in Finn’s intricately plotted novel. GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS. By Max Porter. (Graywolf, paper, $14.) A father and his sons struggle with a death in this luminous novel. HERE COMES THE SUN. By Nicole . (Liveright, $26. 95.) ’s tale of life in the impoverished neighborhoods of Montego Bay, Jamaica, sheds light on the island’s disenfranchised. HERE I AM. By Jonathan Safran Foer. (Farrar, Straus Giroux, $28.) Private and public crises converge for four generations of a Jewish family in this ambitious, often brilliant novel, Foer’s third. HOMEGOING. By Yaa Gyasi. (Knopf, $26. 95.) This wonderful debut by a novelist follows the shifting fortunes of the progeny of two half sisters, unknown to each other, in West Africa and America. Gyasi was one of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 honorees in 2016. HOT MILK. By Deborah Levy. (Bloomsbury, $26.) In Levy’s evocative novel, dense with symbolism, a woman struggles against her hypochondriacal mother to achieve her own identity. HOUSE OF LORDS AND COMMONS. By Ishion Hutchinson. (Farrar, Straus Giroux, $23.) Exuberant work from a young poet who looks to the island’s teeming life and fractured past. I MUST BE LIVING TWICE: New and Selected Poems, . By Eileen Myles. ( $29. 99.) Charming and confounding poems from a provocative voice. IZA’S BALLAD. By Magda Szabo. Translated by George Szirtes. (New York Review, paper, $16. 95.) A meditative Hungarian novel about grief and history by the author of “The Door. ” LAROSE. By Louise Erdrich. ( $27. 99.) A man who accidentally killed his best friend’s son gives the man his own child in this powerful story about justice and forgiveness, set in and near a North Dakota Ojibwe reservation. THE . By David Constantine. (Biblioasis, paper, $14. 95.) A widow immerses herself in the letters her late husband received from an earlier lover in Constantine’s lyrical novel. THE LITTLE RED CHAIRS. By Edna O’Brien. (Little, Brown, $27.) In her harrowing, boldly imagined novel, O’Brien both explores Irish provincial life and offers an unsettling fabulist vision. LOOK: Poems. By Solmaz Sharif. (Graywolf, paper, $16.) Sharif’s skillful debut collection draws on a Defense Department lexicon of military terms. THE MIRROR THIEF. By Martin Seay. (Melville House, $27. 95.) Linked narratives and various Venices reflect one another in this clever first novel. MISCHLING. By Affinity Konar. (Lee Brown, $27.) Konar uses the unsettling and grievous history of Dr. Josef Mengele’s experiments on children, particularly twins, to riveting effect in her debut novel. MISTER MONKEY. By Francine Prose. ( $26. 99.) The dreadful revival of a musical based on a children’s novel about an orphaned chimp is observed through various points of view in this fresh, Chekhovian novel. MOONGLOW. By Michael Chabon. ( $28. 99.) In this beautifully written hybrid, a San Francisco writer named Mike presents a memoir about his grandparents, a World War II soldier and a Holocaust survivor. THE MORTIFICATIONS. By Derek Palacio. (Tim Duggan, $27.) This sweeping debut novel limns the exile and return of a family. MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON. By Elizabeth Strout. (Random House, $26.) A writer and her estranged mother attempt to reconnect during a brief visit in a Pulitzer Prize winner’s exquisite novel of careful words and vibrating silences. STORIES OF GOD. By Joy Williams. (Tin House, $19. 95.) This collection of is a treasure trove of tiny wry masterpieces. THE NIX. By Nathan Hill. (Knopf, $27. 95.) In this entertaining debut novel, full of postmodern digressions, a young professor tries to write a biography of his political activist mother. THE NORTH WATER. By Ian McGuire. (Holt, $27.) In McGuire’s darkly brilliant novel, the crew of a doomed whaling ship bound for the Arctic Circle must reckon with fierce weather, pure evil, and the shadows of Melville and Conrad. NUTSHELL. By Ian McEwan. (Nan A. $24. 95.) An unborn baby overhears his mother and her lover plotting to murder his father in McEwan’s compact, captivating novel. REPUTATIONS. By Juan Gabriel Vásquez. Translated by Anne McLean. (Riverhead, $25.) A slender but impactful Colombian novel about a political cartoonist who his accusations against a politician. THE SPORT OF KINGS. By C. E. Morgan. (Farrar, Straus Giroux, $27.) Three Kentucky dynasties — black, white and equine — converge in this vitally written if melodramatic novel. STILL HERE. By Lara Vapnyar. (Hogarth, $26.) In this novel, four Russian friends try to make their way in New York. SWING TIME. By Zadie Smith. (Penguin Press, $27.) Two multiracial girls in North London dream of becoming dancers (one has talent, the other doesn’t) in Smith’s exuberant new novel about friendship, music, race and global politics. TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT. By Maria Semple. (Little, Brown, $27.) In this brainy, seriously funny novel by the author of “Where’d You Go, Bernadette,” a Seattle woman confronts private school parents, a husband’s secret life and more. THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. By Colson Whitehead. (Doubleday, $26. 95.) Whitehead’s stunningly daring novel turns the historical freedom network from metaphor to reality, complete with tracks, locomotives and platforms. The winner of this year’s National Book Award for fiction. VALIANT GENTLEMEN. By Sabina Murray. (Grove, $27.) An audacious historical novel about the Irish revolutionary martyr Roger Casement. THE VEGETARIAN. By Han Kang. Translated by Deborah Smith. (Hogarth, $21.) This novella in three parts is both thriller and parable. The winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. WAR AND TURPENTINE. By Stefan Hertmans. Translated by David McKay. (Pantheon, $26. 95.) A masterly novel about memory, art, love and war, based on the author’s grandfather’s notebooks. WEATHERING. By Lucy Wood. (Bloomsbury, $26.) This poetic debut novel, set in a damp house near a roaring river, explores the relationship between mothers and daughters. ZERO K. By Don DeLillo. (Scribner, $27.) In the future of DeLillo’s moving, mysterious 16th novel, a man joins his billionaire father at a desert compound where people can be preserved forever. ALL THE SINGLE LADIES: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation. By Rebecca Traister. (Simon Schuster, $27.) A deeply researched and examination of the role of single women throughout history. AMERICAN HEIRESS: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst. By Jeffrey Toobin. (Doubleday, $28. 95.) In this riveting account, even the S. L. A. is shown some compassion. AT THE EXISTENTIALIST CAFÉ: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails. By Sarah Bakewell. (Other Press, $25.) A lucid joint portrait of the writers and philosophers who embodied existentialism. BLOOD AT THE ROOT: A Racial Cleansing in America. By Patrick Phillips. (Norton, $26. 95.) How a Georgia county drove out its black citizens in 1912 and remained for 80 years: a timely and important account. BLOOD IN THE WATER: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy. By Heather Ann Thompson. (Pantheon, $35.) A masterly — and heartbreaking — history, based in part on new materials about the Attica prison uprising and its terrible aftermath. BORN TO RUN. By Bruce Springsteen. (Simon Schuster, $32. 50.) Springsteen’s autobiography, explaining how he rose from Freehold, N. J. to international fame is both and eloquent. CITY OF DREAMS: The Epic History of Immigrant New York. By Tyler Anbinder. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $35.) A richly textured guide to the past of the nation’s chief immigrant city. DARK MONEY: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right. By Jane Mayer. (Doubleday, $29. 95.) A formidable account of how the Koch brothers and their allies have bought their way to political power. THE DEFENDER: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America From the Age of the Pullman Porters to the Age of Obama. By Ethan Michaeli. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $32.) A powerful, elegant history of the influential paper. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT: The War Years and After. Volume Three: . By Blanche Wiesen Cook. (Viking, $40.) The conclusion of a monumental and inspirational biography. THE ENGLISH AND THEIR HISTORY. By Robert Tombs. (Knopf, $45.) A Cambridge historian’s clearsighted retelling of English history also analyzes how the English themselves have viewed their past. EVICTED: Poverty and Profit in the American City. By Matthew Desmond. (Crown, $28.) A sociologist shows what the lack of affordable housing means as he portrays the desperate lives of people who spend most of their incomes in rent. THE FACE OF BRITAIN: A History of the Nation Through Its Portraits. By Simon Schama. (Oxford University, $39. 95.) A splendid book to accompany a BBC series hosted by the eminently readable historian and art critic. FAR AND AWAY. REPORTING FROM THE BRINK OF CHANGE: Seven Continents, Years. By Andrew Solomon. (Scribner, $30.) Some 30 travel pieces, in prose sparkling with insight, describe “places in the throes of transformation. ” FROM THE WAR ON POVERTY TO THE WAR ON CRIME: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America. By Elizabeth Hinton. (Harvard University, $29. 95.) A study of the bipartisan embrace of punishment after the 1960s. THE GENE: An Intimate History. By Siddhartha Mukherjee. (Scribner, $32.) With scope and grandeur, the Pulitzer author of “The Emperor of All Maladies” presents the history of the science of genetics and examines the philosophical questions it raises. GHETTO: The Invention of a Place, the History of an Idea. By Mitchell Duneier. (Farrar, Straus Giroux, $28.) Duneier offers a stunningly detailed, timely survey of scholarly work on the topic. HERO OF THE EMPIRE: The Boer War, a Daring Escape and the Making of Winston Churchill. By Candice Millard. (Doubleday, $30.) Imperialism and courage are on display as Churchill fights the Boer War in Millard’s readable, enjoyable book. HIS FINAL BATTLE: The Last Months of Franklin Roosevelt. By Joseph Lelyveld. (Knopf, $30.) A gripping, deeply human account of Roosevelt’s last 16 months in office, when the president fought to create lasting global peace — despite having received a diagnosis of acute congestive heart failure. HITLER: Ascent . By Volker Ullrich. Translated by Jefferson Chase. (Knopf, $40.) The first volume of a timely new biography focuses on Hitler the man, seeing him as a consummate tactician and an actor aware of his audience. HOW EVERYTHING BECAME WAR AND THE MILITARY BECAME EVERYTHING: Tales From the Pentagon. By Rosa Brooks. (Simon Schuster, $29. 95.) A disturbing exploration of the erosion of boundaries between war and peace. HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS. By David France. (Knopf, $30.) A remarkable account of how activists and patients won the funding that led to AIDS treatment from a reluctant government. I CONTAIN MULTITUDES: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life. By Ed Yong. ( $27. 99.) A science journalist’s first book is an excellent, vivid introduction to the realm of our secret sharers. IN THE DARKROOM. By Susan Faludi. ( $32.) Faludi offers a rich and ultimately generous investigation of her father, who suddenly contacted her from his home in Hungary after undergoing surgery at the age of 76. IN GRATITUDE. By Jenny Diski. (Bloomsbury, $26.) In her final memoir before her death, Diski, who was by Doris Lessing, examines the origin, and the close, of her life as a writer. AN IRON WIND: Europe Under Hitler. By Peter Fritzsche. (Basic, $29. 99.) A deep reflection about World War II’s moral challenges for civilians. LAB GIRL. By Hope Jahren. (Knopf, $26. 95.) A geobiologist with a literary bent makes her science both accessible and lyrical, and offers a gratifying and moving chronicle of the scientist’s life. THE LIMOUSINE LIBERAL: How an Incendiary Image United the Right and Fractured America. By Steve Fraser. (Basic Books, $27. 50.) An incisive history of a metaphor and its effects. THE MAN WHO KNEW: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan. By Sebastian Mallaby. (Penguin Press, $40.) This thorough account of the former Fed chairman’s rise depicts him as political to a fault. NEW ENGLAND BOUND: Slavery and Colonization in Early America. By Wendy Warren. (Liveright, $29. 95.) Warren enlivens her study of Northern slavery with new research and a fresh approach. ORSON WELLES. Volume 3: Band. By Simon Callow. (Viking, $40.) Expertly and convincingly, Callow rejects the common disdain for Welles’s career. THE PEOPLE AND THE BOOKS: 18 Classics of Jewish Literature. By Adam Kirsch. (Norton, $28. 95.) Detailed and lucid accounts of seminal texts highlight the variety of Jewish experience. PLAYING TO THE EDGE: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror. By Michael V. Hayden. (Penguin Press, $30.) The former C. I. A. director makes the case for security measures. PRETENTIOUSNESS: Why It Matters. By Dan Fox. (Coffee House, paper, $15. 95.) A nimble case for pretentiousness as a willingness to take risks. PUMPKINFLOWERS: A Soldier’s Story. By Matti Friedman. (Algonquin, $25. 95.) Friedman has written a striking memoir about his stint in the Israeli Army in southern Lebanon in the 1990s. A RAGE FOR ORDER: The Middle East in Turmoil, From Tahrir Square to ISIS. By Robert F. Worth. (Farrar, Straus Giroux, $26.) The story of the 2011 Arab Spring and its slide into autocracy and civil war, beautifully told by a veteran correspondent. THE RETURN: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between. By Hisham Matar. (Random House, $26.) In this extraordinary history, Matar describes his search for his father, who disappeared into a Libyan prison in 1990. THE RISE AND FALL OF AMERICAN GROWTH: The U. S. Standard of Living Since the Civil War. By Robert J. Gordon. (Princeton University, $39. 95.) An economic historian’s magisterial assessment of the past and future of American living standards. SECONDHAND TIME: The Last of the Soviets. By Svetlana Alexievich. Translated by Bela Shayevich. (Random House, $30.) The Nobel winner offers a powerful oral history of Russia, . SHIRLEY JACKSON: A Rather Haunted Life. By Ruth Franklin. (Liveright, $35.) This thorough biography traces Jackson’s evolution as an artist and makes a case for her importance. SING FOR YOUR LIFE: A Story of Race, Music, and Family. By Daniel Bergner. (Lee Brown, $28.) A portrait of Ryan Speedo Green, an opera singer who overcame terrible childhood poverty and abuse. This season he has a lead role in the Metropolitan Opera’s “La Bohème. ” STRANGERS IN THEIR OWN LAND: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. By Arlie Russell Hochschild. (New Press, $27. 95.) A Berkeley sociologist takes a generous but disconcerting look at Tea Party backers in Louisiana to explain the way many people in this country live now, often to the astonishment of everyone else. TRUEVINE. Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother’s Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South. By Beth Macy. (Little, Brown, $28.) A riveting account of two albino brothers who were exhibited in a circus. UNFORBIDDEN PLEASURES. By Adam Phillips. (Farrar, Straus Giroux, $25.) Linked essays examine the idea that forbidden pleasures have a tendency to obscure the meaningfulness to our lives of the unforbidden ones. WEAPONS OF MATH DESTRUCTION: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy. By Cathy O’Neil. (Crown, $26.) A frightening look at the risks of the algorithms that regulate our lives, by a former hedge fund “quant” (she got her Ph. D. in math at Harvard) who became an Occupy Wall Street activist. WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR. By Paul Kalanithi. (Random House, $25.) A brilliant young neurosurgeon reckons with the meaning of life and death when he learns he has advanced lung cancer a moving and courageous account. WHEN IN FRENCH: Love in a Second Language. By Lauren Collins. (Penguin Press, $27.) Collins, a New Yorker staff writer married to a Frenchman, writes a very personal memoir about love and language, shrewdly assessing how language affects our lives. WHITE RAGE: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide. By Carol Anderson. (Bloomsbury, $26.) A timely and urgent call to confront the forces opposed to black progress since the Civil War. WHITE TRASH: The Untold History of Class in America. By Nancy Isenberg. (Viking, $28.) A masterly and ambitious cultural history of changing concepts of class and inferiority. YOU’LL GROW OUT OF IT. By Jessi Klein. (Grand Central, $26.) Humorous riffs on being a woman by Amy Schumer’s head writer.

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Carson Doubles Down on 'Muslim' Comments: 'Sharia Inconsistent with Constitution'

The Islamic faith isn’t “consistent” with the U.S. Constitution, and a Muslim shouldn’t be president, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said. “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation,” Carson said on NBC’s 'Meet the Press' on Sunday. Late Sunday, he doubled down on those comments in an interview with The Hill. “I do not believe Sharia is consistent with the Constitution of this country,” Carson told The Hill. “Muslims feel that their religion is very much a part of your public life and what you do as a public official, and that’s inconsistent with our principles and our Constitution.” Editor's Note: Is Ben Carson Your Candidate for 2016? Vote Here. Earlier, Carson told NBC's Chuck Todd that the religious beliefs of a president would matter if his or her faith was inconsistent with U.S. values. His view contrasted with that of Donald Trump, the billionaire front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, who said on the program that a Muslim as president is something that could happen in the future. Trump said he knows many Muslims who are “fabulous,” but there’s “a very severe problem” with some Muslims around the world -- comments he repeated on other Sunday broadcasts. Special: Dr. Ben Carson's Vision for America, See It “This is the first I’ve ever gotten into hot water for not saying anything,” Trump said. Trump and Carson both said they believe Obama is a Christian. Story continues below video.

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21WIRE.TV Members Newsletter – Sept 9, 2016

21st Century Wire says If you have only recently joined us as a subscriber and member at 21WIRE.TV let me take this opportunity to say THANK YOU for coming on board your support is helping us to continue building and improving this independent media operation SEE OUR MEMBERS NEWSLETTER & GLOBAL REPORT HERESupport Our Work by Subscribing and Becoming a Member @21WIRE.TV

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Aiming to break ISIS, dollar by dollar

A UN meeting aims to coordinate financial efforts against the Islamic State. It can't deliver a knockout blow, but it can make an impact. How SNL's 'the bubble' sketch about polarization is all too true Smoke rises as Iraqi security forces and allied Popular Mobilization Forces shell Islamic State group positions at an oil field outside Beiji, Iraq, 155 miles north of Baghdad last month. The United States and Russia are going after the Islamic State group’s oil industry, destroying refineries and hundreds of tanker trucks transporting oil from eastern Syria in a heavy bombardment in recent days aiming to break the extremists’ biggest source of income. The finance ministers set to meet at the United Nations can’t put the Islamic State in a financial vise. But they can deliver some critical blows to an organization already showing signs of financial strain. And for a UN Security Council often at odds, the meeting of its finance ministers next week comes at an opportune moment, when terrorists attacks worldwide have created a sense of shared purpose – even, it seems, between the United States and Russia. The core of the Islamic State’s wealth is, in many respects, beyond the reach of next week’s meetings, hosted by the US. Only Turkey can shut its borders to the smugglers who carry Islamic State oil and other contraband, and only military force can deprive the group of the territory it uses for extortion and taxation. But a more coordinated effort at targeting the Islamic State’s finances can pay dividends. The US and others, for example, have used bank reports of suspicious financial transactions to more effectively target locations where the Islamic State is producing and loading oil products. Ramping up this coordination is akin to “squeezing the balloon” of Islamic State finances – though “not yet hard enough to pop it,” says Matthew Levitt, director of the counterterrorism and intelligence program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. And it is vital to defeating the Islamic State, he says. “Any opportunity to get this level of attention and cooperation on an issue that will be central to destroying ISIS should be seized and built upon.” Terrorist attacks linked to the Islamic State in Beirut, Paris, and San Bernadino, Calif., appear to have galvanized the international community. “What is reassuring is how much the nations of the world are taking this threat more and more seriously and working together with greater unity,” said Farhan Haq, a spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to journalists earlier this week. Particularly promising are indications the US and Russia “agree that the effort to dry up ISIS funding can and must be toughened up,” says Mr. Levitt, using another acronym for the Islamic State. Both the US and Russia are pushing for a new council resolution on terror financing and could agree on one text by the Dec. 17 summit. Already, there are indications that the Islamic State is feeling a financial pinch. Holding the finance ministers summit at the Security Council underscores the importance world leaders are placing on both terror financing and the coordination of financial, intelligence, and military efforts. The summit will mark the first time that a council session will be chaired by a financial official – US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. The finance ministers can work to apply greater scrutiny across the board – from financial transactions that offer crucial clues about the Islamic State economy to money brought into the Islamic State by foreign fighters and donors around the region. But the summit can only do so much. Half or more of the Islamic State’s financial resources are generated from taxation or extortion within the territories the group controls in Syria and Iraq. That means that successfully cutting Islamic State funding is directly linked to the international military campaigns aimed at shrinking its territory. “There are a number of actions that can be taken to reduce the financial streams, but one thing is clear: If you want to deprive ISIS of cash, you deprive it of territory,” says Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington. Moreover, the Islamic State trafficks much of its oil and antiquities across Turkey’s border with Syria, experts say. The US has been pressing Turkey for months – mostly behind closed doors – to do more, while Russia has been much more public with its accusations. Next week’s meetings are an opportunity for the international community to get on the same page to tackle some of these bigger funding streams. “We’re not going to get anywhere on a critical issue like terror financing if it all sinks into a lot of finger-pointing and recriminations,” says Levitt. “If you can get beyond the bickering, then a lot more good can be done if you focus on helping Turkey shut down that border.”

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Rubio’s Campaign Just Committed Suicide In This State For Good Reasons (VIDEO)

Marco Rubio has officially joined the anti-Trump squad. Rubio is now urging his supporters in Ohio to vote for their governor John Kasich.Ohio is Kasich s home state and is the only candidate who has a shot of taking down Trump in their primary election. Michigan proved that Kasich has wide support in the rust belt region of the Midwest, though he did not have enough support in the peninsula to actually take down Trump.Rubio s campaign director, Alex Conant, told CNN that he and the campaign recognize that rallying behind Kasich is their best chance of keeping Ohio s 66 delegates out of Trump s hands. Polls show Trump ahead in Ohio but if non-Trump supporter Republicans go all in on Kasich, it might be enough for the candidate to take the state. If you are a Republican primary voter in Ohio and you want to defeat Donald Trump, your best chance in Ohio is John Kasich, Conant told CNN on Friday.Like any good communications director would Conant took the opportunity to drive the point home that what holds true for Kasich in Ohio, is also true of Rubio in Florida. If you re a voter and Marco Rubio is not necessarily your first choice if you like John Kasich or you like Ted Cruz and you re here in Florida, you need to vote for Marco Rubio because he s the only one who can deprive Donald Trump of those 99 delegates, Conant went on to say. And if we stop Donald Trump here in Florida, we can stop him in Cleveland. He will not be the Republican nominee. Rubio does stand the best chance to steal away with Florida s 99 delegates. That s actually a huge problem for Republicans. Polls show Trump blowing Rubio out of the water in the gator state. In order for Rubio to take Florida, Both Ted Cruz and Kasich supporters would have to go all in for Rubio.That doesn t seem likely. Cruz s campaign has burned many bridges with Rubio s campaign during the election. As the runner-up, Cruz also has to maintain the posturing that comes with that position.One thing is for sure, next Tuesday s elections will probably decide who will take the Republican presidential nomination. For Rubio, it will almost certainly be the end of his significance in the race, if not the end for him altogether.You can watch the relevant portion of the interview below.Featured image from Gage Skidmore via Flickr

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WATCH: Trump Doesn’t Want Us To Remember What He Said About Russia In 2014

As time goes on, it becomes ever clearer that Trump is Russia s puppet. There s every possibility he owes them money, and he s repeatedly blasted our intelligence community for daring to say that Russia did, indeed, engage in a concerted campaign to influence our election in Trump s favor. But did he always feel this way? Was he always Russia s puppet?It seems not, and it s by his own words that we know this. As recently as 2014, he said, in a series of interviews, that Mitt Romney was right to say that Russia was our greatest geopolitical foe: [Mitt] said [Russia is] a hell of a problem, and everybody laughed at him, including certain media, by the way. They laughed. It turned out that he s absolutely right. You look at what Russia s doing with Iran, how they controlled the situation, and Syria, and virtually every other place. He also insinuated that Obama was Putin s puppet because he felt we being meek and cowardly in the face of such a threat. We should definitely be strong, we should definitely do sanctions, and we have to show some strength. I mean, Putin has eaten Obama s lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long period of time. Now he says he s open to lifting our sanctions on Russia if we can all just get along, which is never going to happen because Russia is ruled by an autocrat. If we lift the sanctions, Russia will pull Trump s puppet strings even more. He also seems to like to kiss Putin s ass, mouth, and dick he doesn t criticize Russia at all, and staunchly defends them against other criticisms and revelations.Here s his stance back in 2014:In other words, this is another position on which he s flip-flopped. He just says whatever his strongest manhandlers want him to say. Whether they re his supporters, or foreign powers hoping to use him for their own gain, he says whatever he thinks will win him the most points.Featured image by Spencer Platt via Getty Images

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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]

Here s @chucktodd s interview with @BuzzFeedBen about BuzzFeed s decision to publish that dossier https://t.co/Oa7Fs6IVLT Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) January 11, 2017

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WATCH: GOP Chair Says ‘People Don’t Care’ About Trump’s Treatment Of Women, Gets Destroyed By Fox Host

Well you really have to hand it to Trump. Now that he s destroyed every establishment candidate, the GOP is left with him as the presumptive nominee. Although some in the GOP establishment continue to kick and scream at the thought of the billionaire businessman being crowned the new king of the party, many are now coming to grips and even defending the demagogue in public and that s quite hard to do given Trump s rhetoric and history.In a sign that the GOP is surrendering to the new face of the GOP, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus defended Trump, even going as far as saying that people just don t care about Trump s alleged terrible treatment of women.Watch video here:[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEbXW2LzjWY]During an interview, Fox host Chris Wallace asked Priebus about a New York Times report that found repeated instances of Trump insulting women and making unwanted advances even in the workplace. Priebus response was odd given that he is the RNC chair. He said, Well, you know, a lot of things bother me. And obviously, I m the wrong person to be asking that particular question. Wallace quickly pounced on the chairman, saying, Wait a minute, why are you the wrong person? You re the chairman of the party. This is your nominee, and they re saying he has mistreated women. Priebus response was ridiculous. He said: People just don t care. I think people look at Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and say, Who is going to bring an earthquake to Washington, D.C.? I don t think Donald Trump and his personal life is something that people are looking at and saying, Wow, I m surprised that he s had girlfriends. That s not what people look at. Chris Wallace quickly interjected saying: Whoa, forgive me, sir. It s not whether or not he had girlfriends. The question is whether or not he mistreated women, whether he made unwanted advances, whether he humiliated women in the workplace. It s disturbing to see that the Republican moral compass is non-existent. They would rather support a sexist megalomaniac who disrespects women and minorities than say the truth: Donald Trump is not the right choice to be president of the United States.Featured image via video screenshot.

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GERMAN LEFTIST USES NUDITY ON FACEBOOK To Fight Back Against “Right-Wing” News Outlets Exposing Truth About Muslim “Refugees”

***Warning*** Image is not appropriate for all ages.How very progressive A German photographer has started a campaign to have right wing propaganda censored on Facebook, but pornographic images of women allowed. He s calling it nipples instead of incitement. Photographer Olli Waldhauer kicked off his campaign by posting an image on Facebook of a topless woman stood beside a man holding a placard with racist slogan written on it. One of these people is against the rules of Facebook, reads the slogan on the image.Moderators deleted the image after 21 minutes. Good people, I had to change my profile. Facebook did not come clear with the amount of friend requests. Thank you for your feedback and support, wrote Mr Waldhauer on his page afterwards. What madness from a small image can be everything. Thank you all! Always remember #nippleinsteadbaiting! he added later.Mr Waldhauer is now encouraging his follower to download the image and post it on their own pages, in the hope of pressuring Facebook moderators in the spirit of the #freethenipple campaign.The #freethenipple campaign aims to end the discriminatory banning of female breasts on social media, and so stop men finding breasts attractive by exposing them more often (according to their logic).From his social media profile, Mr Waldhauer appears to be strongly in favor of mass migration, and has previous started a campaign labeled #iamnotaterrorist to challenge animosity towards migrants from the Middle East.Perhaps Mr. Waldhauer s time and effort would be better spent focusing on the Muslim caliphate taking place in his country and not on those trying to spread the truth about these refugees. His dream of censoring political debate on Facebook is less outlandish. In September German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she wanted more Facebook to filtering hateful and racial posts. Journalists overheard the comments as she conversed with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at a UN summit. Via: Breitbart

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Trump outlines plans for first day in office, meets with Cabinet hopefuls

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump outlined plans on Monday for his first day in office, including withdrawing from a major trade accord and investigating abuses of work visa programs, and met with Cabinet hopefuls at his Manhattan office tower. Trump met with Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, Democratic U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard and former Texas Governor Rick Perry. But he announced no further appointments, keeping candidates and the public guessing about the shape of the administration that will take office on Jan. 20. Fallin, Gabbard and Perry were the latest of dozens of officials who have made their way across the opulent lobby of Trump Tower for talks with the Republican president-elect in a relatively open - and unconventional - transition process since his election victory on Nov. 8. Trump, who has not held a news conference since his election, issued a video on Monday evening outlining some of his plans for his first day in office, including formally declaring his intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, trade deal, which he called “a potential disaster for our country.” The 12-nation TPP is Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature trade initiative and was signed by the United States earlier this year but has not been ratified by the U.S. Senate. The president-elect said he would replace the accord with bilaterally negotiated trade deals that would “bring jobs and industry back onto American shores.” “My agenda will be based on a simple core principle: putting America first. Whether it’s producing steel, building cars or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here on our great homeland, America, creating wealth and jobs for American workers,” he said. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday the TPP “would be meaningless without the United States.” Trump said he would cancel some restrictions on producing energy in the United States on his first day in office, particularly shale oil and “clean coal,” which he said would create “many millions of high-paying jobs.” He promised to direct the Labor Department to investigate abuses of visa programs for immigrant workers. The main U.S. visa program for technology workers could face tough scrutiny under Trump and his proposed attorney general, U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions, a longtime critic of the program. Trump had made eliminating regulations and withdrawing from the TPP central to his campaign, but he sent mixed signals during the campaign about his views on visa programs including the main H-1B visa for high-tech industry workers. Trump has so far picked two Cabinet members and three top White House advisers, but aides said he was not expected to make further announcements on Monday. “They could come this week, they could come today, but we’re not in a rush to publish names,” Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser, told reporters. “We’ve got to get it right.” Trump spoke often with reporters camped out at his New Jersey golf course over the weekend, but has not held a traditional news conference to talk about his priorities. He held an off-the-record meeting with a group of television anchors and executives on Monday afternoon and was scheduled to meet with print media representatives on Tuesday. The Washington Post reported that four participants at Monday’s meeting described it as a contentious but generally respectful session. They told the Post that Trump singled out reporting of his campaign by CNN and NBC that he considered to be unfair. Trump also returned to Twitter on Monday night, saying “many people” would like to see Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage as British ambassador to the United States. “He would do a great job!” Farage, who helped lead the successful referendum fight for Britain to leave the European Union, spoke at a Trump rally during the U.S. campaign and visited the president-elect after his victory. Trump’s first meeting on Monday was with Iraq war veteran Gabbard, a representative from Hawaii who backed U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in his unsuccessful 2016 Democratic presidential nominating contest against Hillary Clinton. The “frank and positive” discussion focused on the war in Syria, counterterrorism and other foreign policy issues, Gabbard said in a statement. She did not say whether a Cabinet role was part of the discussion. Gabbard has veered from Democratic Party positions at times, backing policies cracking down on immigration to the United States by Muslims. Fallin told reporters she was not offered a position but discussed “a wide range of topics” with Trump. The Republican governor’s spokesman said that included a focus on the Interior Department, an agency whose responsibilities include oversight of oil and gas leases on public lands. Former Republican U.S Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts told reporters he had a “great” meeting about veterans’ issues with Trump. Trump also met with former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich and Elaine Chao, the U.S. labor secretary under former President George W. Bush, advisers said. Trump’s transition team said Perry, the former Texas governor, was being considered for Cabinet posts including defense, energy and veterans affairs. Trump, a New York businessman who has never previously held public office and who was the surprise winner over Clinton this month, has so far named senior leaders of his national security and law enforcement teams. In addition to Sessions, they are U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas as CIA director, and retired Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as White House national security adviser. For Thanksgiving, Trump planned to travel on Tuesday to Mar-a-Lago, a golf resort he owns in Florida, a spokesman said.

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China, Pakistan to look at including Afghanistan in $57 billion economic corridor

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Pakistan will look at extending their $57 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday, part of China s ambitious Belt and Road plan linking China with Asia, Europe and beyond. China has tried to position itself as a helpful party to promote talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan, both uneasy neighbors ever since Pakistan s independence in 1947. Their ties have been poisoned in recent years by Afghan accusations that Pakistan is supporting Taliban insurgents fighting the U.S.-backed Kabul in order to limit the influence of its old rival, India, in Afghanistan. Pakistan denies that and says it wants to see a peaceful, stable Afghanistan. Speaking after the first trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Wang said China hoped the economic corridor could benefit the whole region and act as an impetus for development. Afghanistan has urgent need to develop and improve people s lives and hopes it can join inter-connectivity initiatives, Wang told reporters, as he announced that Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed to mend their strained relations. So China and Pakistan are willing to look at with Afghanistan, on the basis of win-win, mutually beneficial principles, using an appropriate means to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, he added. How that could happen needs the three countries to reach a gradual consensus, tackling easier, smaller projects first, Wang said, without giving details. Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said his country and China were iron brothers , but did not directly mention the prospect of Afghanistan joining the corridor. The successful implementation of CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) projects will serve as a model for enhancing connectivity and cooperation through similar projects with neighboring countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and with central and west Asia, he said. India has looked askance at the project as parts of it run through Pakistan-administered Kashmir that India considers its own territory, though Wang said the plan had nothing to do with territorial disputes. China has sought to bring Kabul and Islamabad together partly due to Chinese fears about the spread of Islamist militancy from Pakistan and Afghanistan to the unrest-prone far western Chinese region of Xinjiang. As such, China has pushed for Pakistan and Afghanistan to improve their own ties so they can better tackle the violence in their respective countries, and has also tried to broker peace talks with Afghan Taliban militants, to limited effect. A tentative talks process collapsed in 2015. Wang said China fully supported peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban and would continue to provide necessary facilitation . The Belt and Road infrastructure drive aims to build a modern-day Silk Road connecting China to economies in Southeast and Central Asia by land and the Middle East and Europe by sea.

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In Macau, Skipping the Casinos, but Embracing the Past - The New York Times

As we bumped along in the No. 25 bus on Estrada do Istmo, it was impossible not to notice the Venetian Macau, a mountain of steel and glass, shining in the distance in the afternoon sun. Opened in 2007, it’s home to one of the largest casinos on earth. And it’s not alone: Of the 10 biggest casinos in the world in 2014 (based on revenue) a staggering eight were in Macau, a tiny region on the southern coast of China, where over half a million people are packed into fewer than 12 square miles. But I wasn’t there to gamble. Following a precedent I’d established in my very first Frugal Traveler column, when I toured Las Vegas without going to the famed Strip, I was determined to break the shell of Macau’s opulent exterior and see what lay beneath the surface. During a quick trip, taking the ferry across the Pearl River Estuary, I found it was the perfect place for a getaway from the noise and intense urban compactness of Hong Kong. Owing to its colonial past, Macau, with its cobblestone streets, old Catholic churches and narrow alleyways, has an almost European feel to it, along with an interesting local cuisine that fuses Portuguese and Chinese flavors. And my focus, naturally, was putting this trip together without causing undue strain on my budget. Macau was one of the first Asian settlements to be forced into the yoke of European colonization and the last to shed it, achieving full independence from Portugal in 1999. As with Hong Kong, China administers Macau but employs a somewhat approach. There are no visa requirements for Americans staying in Macau fewer than 30 days (you will need to bring your passport). The TurboJet ferry ride from Hong Kong (150 to 200 Hong Kong dollars for an economy fare, about $20 to $25) is reasonably quick and comfortable. Ferries leave from various spots in Hong Kong regularly, so if you miss one, there’s no need to worry. (Be more cautious when you’re leaving Macau — it’s easier to end up on the wrong ferry.) My attack plan was simple: to see as much as I could, by foot and by public transportation. Macau is traditionally divided into three sections: the peninsula and the islands of Coloane and Taipa. (A fourth “region” of land reclaimed from the ocean, Cotai, now connects Coloane and Taipa and is the home to many of the newer casinos.) I particularly had my eye on rustic Coloane Village in the south. Though I had no plans to indulge in the casinos, one lesson I’ve learned in my travels is that where there’s gambling, cheap rooms follow — it’s how they lure you in. I was able to land a very comfortable, relatively luxurious room at the Sofitel on the western side of the peninsula for 650 Hong Kong dollars, a little over $80. Close to the center of the city, it was an ideal point. I was able to check another essential off the list by walking to Yin He Dian Xun (roughly, Galaxy Telecommunications) and purchasing a SIM card from a very helpful young woman for 50 Macanese patacas (about $6). Ah, yes, the currency. The Macanese pataca and Hong Kong dollar are separate currencies but virtually interchangeable in Macau. Change will sometimes come in patacas, sometimes in Hong Kong dollars. A dollar is, however, slightly more valuable than a pataca. If you’re considering making a big souvenir purchase (like gold or jade jewelry, which is plentiful on the main drag of Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro) either use a credit card with no foreign transaction fee, or walk into a bank to exchange for patacas — I was able to do both without difficulty. Senado Square, within walking distance of my hotel, was a good place to begin exploring. Beautiful old yellow and pink pastel buildings with arched doorways and green shuttered windows frame the historic square, which is paved with small tiles. It was a perfect place to stroll and enjoy the egg tart I’d purchased for 9 dollars from Koi Kei Bakery. The egg tart is one of Macau’s signature delicacies, a local interpretation of the Portuguese pastel de nata — perfectly creamy custard with a pleasantly caramelized top, encased within a delicate, flaky pastry cup. Another distinctive item is the pork chop bun. I stopped into the celebrated Tai Lei Loi Kei, a nearly Macanese chain, and paid 48 dollars for a small, pork chop that had been slapped somewhat unceremoniously onto a buttered white roll. Fortunately the meat was simply seasoned and well cooked (just be careful not to break a tooth). In addition to its cuisine, Macau has memorable architecture. Catholic influence is still very much present, at least aesthetically. St. Dominic’s Church, a beautifully restored, structure, is free to enter, as is a art museum housed in the church’s bell tower. I looked over the icons and relics of the church on display, including beautiful old wooden carvings. Other worthy architectural attractions include the Ruins of St. Paul, a grand stone facade that is one of the few remaining pieces of a complex. While there, I made the steep hike up to the adjacent Fortaleza do Monte, which provided an excellent view of the city. I could walk to the ruins and St. Dominic’s from my hotel, but despite Macau’s compact size, not everything is walkable. I would not recommend driving in Macau, nor riding one of the city’s ubiquitous scooters. I found a bike rental shop called Si Toi in Taipa that charged 20 dollars per hour (only $2. 50, remember) but I ultimately decided on the bus: I found it cheap and fairly reliable. Unless you have something called a Macaupass (which I did not, and purchase locations are annoyingly scarce) you will need coins. Lots of coins. And they don’t make change on the buses, so get used to walking around with a pocketful of patacas. (Local businesses and banks can help you make change if you’re hard up.) I hopped the 26A bus to Coloane, eager to see the rustic, more peaceful side of Macau. (A quick note on signage: Every official sign in Macau will be in both Portuguese and Chinese. I found this somewhat curious, as I didn’t hear a word of Portuguese my entire stay. I asked Neal, a server at the cute Cafe Cheri, if he spoke Portuguese or knew anyone who did. “Well,” he hesitated, “No, not really. ” Did anyone in Macau speak Portuguese? “Yes, I think in some restaurants. ”) Coloane Village was quiet, almost sleepy, when I hopped off the bus by the roundabout near Eanes Park. It was, in other words, exactly what I was seeking. I began walking north up the coast, stopping for another excellent egg tart at Lord Stow’s Bakery. Colorfully painted houses stood on stilts in the bay, China a mere 1, 000 feet to the west. Fishermen hung their catch outside their homes, and every now and then there was the distinctive clack of tiles. I wound my way down Avenida de Cinco de Outubro, in the shade of ficus rumphii trees with aerial roots, like banyan trees. I eventually found myself in a beautiful cobblestone plaza with a fountain on one end and the beautiful, bright yellow Chapel of St. Francis on the other. I dined al fresco at Cafe Nga Tim on a dish of rice and curried prawns and watched evening set in. The casinos? Didn’t need them. They do provide a useful benefit, though: When it came time to head back to the ferry terminal, I happily used the hotel’s free shuttle bus.

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UK PM May says Donald Trump was wrong to retweet far-right videos

AMMAN (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump was wrong to retweet a video from a far-right British group which she said was “hateful” and spreads division. Trump sparked outrage in Britain with a sharp rebuke of May on Twitter after she criticized him for retweeting anti-Islam videos from the deputy leader of Britain First. “The fact that we work together does not mean that we’re afraid to say when we think the United States has got it wrong, and be very clear with them,” May told reporters in Amman. “And I’m very clear that retweeting from Britain First was the wrong thing to do,” May said.

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Presidential debate moderators announced

The official list of debate moderators is out and it includes anchors from all the major networks. The full list, from the Commission on Presidential Debates, is below: Elaine Quijano is the first anchor of a digital network. She covers news for CBS' 24-hour digital streaming network) to moderate a debate. Not everyone was happy with the line-up. Randy Falco, the president and CEO of Univision, wrote a letter to the executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates, Janet H. Brown, slamming the decision not to include a Hispanic journalist on the presidential stage. The letter was tweeted by Politico media reporter Hadas Gold. "I am writing to express disappointment, and frankly disbelief, that the Commission Presidential Debates has not chosen a Hispanic journalist to moderate the presidential debates. The inclusion of CBS’ Elaine Quijano as a moderator for the Vice Presidential debate is certainly a welcome addition but seems insufficient when taking into account past presidential cycles, future demographic trends and the important role Latinos play in the economic and social fabric of this great nation. Simply put: it’s an abdication of your responsibility to represent and reflect one of the largest and most influential communities in the U.S." While both candidates have said they would do the debates, Donald Trump has expressed concern over who will moderate and the timing of the debates.

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Sprint, OneWeb say 8,000 jobs announced by Trump are part of SoftBank pledge

PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said telecommunications group Sprint Corp (S.N) and a U.S. satellite company OneWeb will bring 8,000 jobs to the United States, and the companies said the positions were part of a previously disclosed pledge by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. SoftBank (9984.T) holds stakes in both companies and its chief, billionaire businessman Masayoshi Son, earlier in December said he would invest $50 billion in the United States and create 50,000 jobs. Sprint in January said it had cut 2,500 jobs as part of its plan to cut $2.5 billion in costs. On Wednesday it said it would create 5,000 jobs in areas including sales and customer care by the end of its fiscal year ending in March 2018. Sprint spokesman Dave Tovar said the jobs were part of the pledge made by Son but would be funded by Sprint. SoftBank and OneWeb had announced on Dec. 19 that the Japanese company was leading a $1.2 billion funding round. OneWeb plans to use the funds to build a plant in Florida to produce low-cost satellites, creating almost 3,000 jobs at the company and its suppliers. SoftBank described its $1 billion share of the funding as the first tranche of the $50 billion promised by Son in a meeting with Trump. It is not clear whether the $50 billion SoftBank investment would be part of a $100 billion tech investment fund that the head of SoftBank and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund had announced earlier in the year. “I was just called by the head people at Sprint and they are going to be bringing 5,000 jobs back to the United States, they are taking them from other countries,” Trump told reporters outside his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “And also OneWeb, a new company, is going to be hiring 3,000 people. So that’s very exciting,” he added. Shares of Sprint Corp, which is 82 percent owned by SoftBank, were barely changed in after-hours trading.

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Stock Market Rally Continues, With Records for Dow and S.&ampP. 500 - The New York Times

The markets reached another milestone on Tuesday as the Dow Jones industrial average closed at a record high. The broader Standard Poor’s index, a widely used benchmark for index funds, added to the record high it set on Monday. Both indexes have eclipsed peaks set in May 2015. The Dow, which is made up of just 30 stocks, is an older and barometer of the market, but professional investors generally pay closer attention to the S. P. 500. The Dow rose 120. 74 points, or 0. 7 percent, to 18, 347. 67. That is 35 points higher than its previous record on May 19, 2015. The S. P. 500 gained 14. 98 points, or 0. 7 percent, to 2, 152. 14. The Nasdaq composite rose 34. 18 points, or 0. 7 percent, to 5, 022. 82. The Dow and S. P. 500 are each up 5. 3 percent for 2016, having roared back after a big drop in January and early February. The S. P. has soared 17. 7 percent since reaching a low of the year of 1, 829 on Feb. 11. The Nasdaq still lags the other two main United States stock market indexes. But the index, which is heavily weighted with technology and biotech stocks, erased its losses for the year on Tuesday. Investors continued to show an appetite for taking on risk. The biggest gainers included materials companies, banks and energy companies, which have been benefiting from a recovery in the price of oil. Financial companies, which have lagged the market this year, have been rising in recent days as interest rates move higher in the bond market. Higher rates mean banks can make more money from lending. Citigroup gained $1. 15, or 2. 7 percent, to $43. 44. Despite recent increases, however, bond yields remain near historical lows, a worrisome sign to many analysts. Just last week, the yield on the Treasury note touched a record low. “I wish we can be celebrating, but it’s a little disconcerting,” said Rob Bartenstein, chief executive of Kestra Private Wealth Services. “You’ve got government bonds at historical lows and equity markets at historical highs. That’s not something you see at the same time. ” He added: “I feel underinvested, but I’m not willing to chase stocks. ” Sectors that investors tend to favor when they’re nervous — including utilities, phone companies and makers of consumer staples — all fell as investors moved money out of assets. Bond prices also fell sharply, sending yields higher. Shares of AMC Entertainment, the owner of the AMC theater chain, were up 7 percent after it said it would buy the European movie theater operator Odeon UCI Cinemas Group from private equity firm Terra Firma in a deal valued at about 921 million pounds, or $1. 22 billion. AMC said the transaction would make it the biggest movie theater operator in the world. Seagate Technology surged $5. 26, or 21. 8 percent, to $29. 35 after forecasting strong sales. It also announced it would cut 6, 500 jobs, about 14 percent of its total work force. Benchmark United States crude added $2. 04 to close at $46. 80 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a standard for international oil prices, rose $2. 22 to $48. 17 a barrel in London. In other energy trading in New York, wholesale gasoline rose 5 cents, to $1. 43 a gallon heating oil rose 5 cents, to $1. 46 a gallon and natural gas rose 3 cents, to $2. 73 per 1, 000 cubic feet. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index jumped 2. 5 percent, a day after soaring 4 percent. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised new government spending to help jolt Asia’s economy back to life now that his Liberal Democratic Party has won in parliamentary elections. Investors are betting that he will keep flooding the market with money by expanding bond purchases. The Kospi in South Korea edged up 0. 1 percent, and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1. 7 percent. In Europe, the CAC 40 in France rose 1. 6 percent, and the DAX in Germany added 1. 3 percent. The British FTSE 100 was flat. Shares of Nintendo jumped 12. 8 percent in Tokyo, fueled by the craze for Pokémon Go, a smartphone game that has become the app in the Apple Store less than a week after its release in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. United States government bond prices fell. The yield on the Treasury note rose to 1. 51 percent from 1. 43 percent. The yield last week plunged as low as 1. 32 percent, a record, according to Tradeweb. The dollar rose to 104. 785 yen from 102. 83 yen. The euro rose to $1. 106 from $1. 1055. The price of gold fell $20. 90, to $1, 334. 10. Silver fell 13 cents, to $20. 17 an ounce, and copper rose 7 cents, to $2. 21 a pound.

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‘Bernie Sanders is on a Mission’

21st Century Wire says But he can he accomplish his objective?In the following episode of CrossTalk, a panel gets into a very heated discussion on that very question.Sanders is the only candidate who has a chance of beating Trump, as Hillary is now consistently losing to him in head-to-head polls.Watch the full episode here: EVERYTHING ON ELECTION 2016: 21st Century Wire Election Files

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Trump administration officials may be deposed over immigration order

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said on Sunday he will depose Trump administration officials to uncover “what truly motivated” President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration if the case he brought against it goes to trial. Documents and emails authored by administration officials may contain evidence that the order was an unconstitutional attempt to ban Muslims from entering the United States, and Ferguson will use “every tool” at his disposal to bring those to light, he told ABC’s “This Week.”

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Bank of England: EU, Not UK, Has Most to Lose from Brexit

The Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has told MPs that leaving the European Union (EU) is not the biggest threat to financial stability in Britain, and that Brexit actually poses a bigger risk to the continent than it does to the UK. [He said “I am not saying there are not financial stability risks in the UK … but there are greater short term risks on the continent in the transition than there are in the UK” reports the Daily Telegraph. This constitutes a substantial for the Goldman Sachs alumnus, who argued during that referendum that voting to leave the EU could hit growth and tip the country into a technical recession. Following the vote, however, the UK economy has performed strongly. Growth in the construction, services, and manufacturing sectors are at and highs, respectively, according to the purchasing managers indices (PMIs) for each sector. PMIs are among the leading indicators for the economic health of a country. Ewen Stewart, a director at the Global Britain think tank and leading Scottish economist, welcomed Carney’s apparent change of heart, telling Breitbart London he was “baffled” by the central bank’s gloomy forecasts. “The risks of Brexit do indeed lie with the EU and not the UK … because of the inherent contradictions within the Eurozone,” he confirmed. “The EU have far more to lose than the UK, especially as it becomes ever more apparent that the UK is well positioned to strike free trade deals with the US, Australia, and other regions. ” Andrew Haldane, the Bank of England’s chief economist, has described the Bank’s inaccurate forecasts as a “Michael Fish” moment, recalling the BBC weatherman’s infamous dismissal of a hurricane prediction hours before the Great Storm of 1987 struck Britain. Richard Tice, of the Leave Means Leave campaign, told Breitbart London that Carney was simply “catching up with what we Brexiteers knew all along”. “The UK will thrive, we have the upper hand and nothing to fear. He should offer to resign given his woeful forecasting track record. ”

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Justice Department antitrust nominee Makan Delrahim's hearing delayed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The confirmation testimony expected on Wednesday for Makan Delrahim, who was nominated to head U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, has been delayed by missing paperwork, Senator Charles Grassley said in a hearing. Delrahim is a member of President Donald Trump’s transition team. “I’m disappointed we couldn’t go forward with Mr. Delrahim’s hearing this morning. We are still waiting on one piece of paperwork, which we understood we’d have by now. And I imagine that will be transmitted to us within another day or two, and we look forward to including him on our next hearing,” Grassley told the Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley, an Iowa Republican who chairs the committee, did not say which paperwork was missing. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, called the missing document a “snag.” Delrahim was expected to move to the Justice Department after finishing up in the White House counsel’s office, where he worked to steer Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch through the Senate confirmation process. The Senate must vote to confirm Delrahim. As the proposed chief of the Antitrust Division, Delrahim would review corporate mergers at a time when many investors and corporate executives are anticipating a more relaxed view of deal-making. Former President Barack Obama’s administration faced a large number of megadeals in what one enforcer called a “merger tsunami” and blocked many of them. Before going to work at the White House after Trump’s inauguration in January, Delrahim was a lobbyist with the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP. One client in 2016 was health insurer Anthem Inc, which this year lost a court fight with the Justice Department over whether it would be allowed to merge with Cigna. Anthem has appealed the loss.

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Ukraine wants UN to label Russia as a sponsor of terrorism

Ukraine wants the United Nations to brand Russia a terrorism sponsor amid bloody clashes between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government troops. The Ukrainian ambassador to the UN told Fox News he plans to submit a draft resolution asking the UN General Assembly to formally label “Russia as a sponsor of terrorism." Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev gave no timetable for when he would present the resolution to the UN. He said government officials in Kiev are working on the text. Sergeyev told Fox News the resolution will mirror the Ukrainian parliament’s declaration this week, designating the Moscow-backed separatists in East Ukraine as a terrorist group. Kiev believes that by defining the separatists as terrorists it eliminates any notion that it would engage in peace talks with them. Sergeyev warned of a “huge war” if the separatists take more territory or build a corridor to southern Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed almost a year ago. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of backing the rebels with troops and weapons, which Russia denies. Meanwhile, artillery fire killed at least 12 civilians in the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Friday amid fierce fighting between pro-Russia separatists and government troops as hopes for a break in hostilities were dashed when an attempt to call a new round of peace talks failed. Five people were killed as they were waiting for humanitarian aid outside a community center and two people were killed in the same neighborhood when a mortar shell landed near a bus stop. By the time an Associated Press journalist arrived at the community center, the bodies were taken away. Nearby trees were cut down by what could have been a projectile. Five other people died Friday in sporadic artillery fire in the west of Donetsk. Full-blown fighting between the Russian-backed separatists and government forces erupted anew earlier this month following a period of relative tranquility. Fox News' Jonathan Wachtel and The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Iraq builds up forces south of Kurdish oil export pipeline: security sources

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi forces are deploying tanks and artillery south of a Kurdish-held area of northern Iraq where a section of a Kurdish oil export pipeline is located, security sources said on Monday. The buildup is taking place northwest of Mosul, an official from the Kurdistan Regional Government s (KRG) security council said by phone from the Kurdish capital, Erbil. An Iraqi government security advisor said the Fish-Khabur area, northwest of Mosul, is the location of crossings into Turkey and Syria that Baghdad wants to bring under its control. But he declined to say if a military move was being prepared. A pipeline carrying crude across Iraqi Kurdistan connects to a metering station in Fish-Khabur before feeding another pipeline that takes the crude to the Turkish Mediterranean coast for exports. The military buildup is taking place around Rabi a, 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the Fish-Khabur, the Kurdish security official said. Turkey and Iran both support measures taken by the Iraqi government to isolate the KRG after it held a referendum on Kurdish independence on Sept. 25 and to bring the Kurdistan region s oil exports and land crossings under Baghdad s authority. Iraq has shown zero signs of de-escalating, said a statement by the KRG Security Council about the deployment, adding that units being brought to the region include Iranian-backed Popular Mobilisation paramilitaries. The Fish-Khabur crossing has been under Kurdish control since 1991, when the United States and western powers imposed a no-fly zone over northern Iraq to protect the Kurds from Saddam Hussein s army. The Syrian side of the border in the region is now under the control of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces.

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Rubio says he regrets getting personal with Donald Trump

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio voiced regret on Wednesday about making personal attacks against front-runner Donald Trump, a strategy that has failed to slow the New York billionaire’s momentum.Rubio, Trump, Ohio Governor John Kasich and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the four remaining Republican presidential candidates, participated in a round of Fox News-sponsored town hall events a day before they meet for another debate on Thursday in Miami. Rubio, whose campaign is fighting for survival after a series of disappointing performances in nominating contests for the Nov. 8 election, has drawn fire for a line of attack in recent weeks in which he got personal with Trump. He called him a con artist and said among other things that he had small hands, a charge that Trump took to mean as questioning the size of his manhood. Until Rubio got personal, the U.S. senator from Florida had largely stayed above the fray and had focused his assault on Trump from a policy standpoint. He told Fox News’ “The Kelly File” that if he had to do it over again, he would handle the issue differently. “My kids were embarrassed by it. My wife didn’t like it. I don’t think it reflects good. That’s not who I am. That’s not what my campaign is going to be about or will ever be about again,” Rubio said. “I’d do it differently – on the personal stuff. I’m not telling you he didn’t deserve it, but that’s not who I am and that’s not what I want to be,” he added. Rubio, 44, fared poorly when Michigan, Mississippi, Idaho and Hawaii voted on Tuesday. He needs to win his home state of Florida next Tuesday or face calls for him to exit the race. He said opinion polls showing him lagging far behind Trump in Florida were not accurate. “The fact of the matter is the only poll that counts is the one they’ll take on Tuesday when they count the votes that these people are going to cast and we’re going to win in Florida,” he said. Cruz, 45, looking to emerge as the main Trump alternative should Rubio and Kasich falter, said he would keep the focus of the campaign on substantive issues. “I don’t have any views on Donald Trump’s anatomy,” Cruz said at his Fox News town hall. Kasich, at his Fox News town hall, said he believed he had a path forward if he wins his home state of Ohio on Tuesday, but that it involved a convention fight when Republicans gather to officially pick their nominee in Cleveland in July. A contested convention would result if Trump, 69, does not win the required 1,237 delegates, forcing delegates to decide whether to back him at the convention or find a consensus candidate such as Kasich, 63. President Gerald Ford and challenger Ronald Reagan staged a spirited nomination fight at the 1976 Republican National Convention, but no Republican convention has gone beyond a single ballot since Thomas Dewey’s third-ballot win in 1948. Trump, who has come under withering attack by mainstream Republicans for his statements on Muslims, illegal immigrants and trade policy, said at his Fox News town hall he had attracted many new voters to the Republican Party with his crossover appeal. He said establishment Republicans would be risking the energy he had brought to the race by trying to prevent him from winning. “They would be so foolish to throw it away,” he told host Sean Hannity. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Peter Cooney) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.

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Peru's Kuczynski acknowledges having advised Odebrecht project

LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski acknowledged that he worked as a financial adviser for an irrigation project owned by the Brazilian builder Odebrecht [ODBES.UL] on Saturday, contradicting his previous denials of having any links to the company. Odebrecht is at the center of Latin America s biggest graft scandal and has admitted to paying about $30 million in bribes to secure contracts in Peru over a decade. Kuczynski worked in the Cabinet of former President Alejandro Toledo, who prosecutors say took a $20 million bribe from Odebrecht during his 2001-2006 term. However, Kuczynski has not been named as a suspect in the far-reaching graft probe by the attorney general s office. In a televised interview with local broadcaster RPP, Kuczynski denied being a partner in an investment fund that allegedly had links to Odebrecht. However, he said he had worked as a financial adviser for several companies that needed to raise funds for big projects, including an Odebrecht firm. They use bankers, said Kuczynski, a 79-year-old former Wall Street banker elected president in 2016. I ve been a banker, in New York, for a very prestigious bank. I ve been one of the founders of what s called project financing. So sometimes, I was hired. For H2Olmos, an irrigation project. Odebrecht owns H2Olmos SA, which was formed in 2009 to build and operate one of its landmark projects in Peru - carving a 20-kilometer (12-mile) tunnel through the Andes to transport water to irrigate agricultural fields in the desert. Kuczynski s comments could provide more ammunition for the opposition-controlled Congress as it targets him in its probe into Odebrecht s links to politicians. Kuczynski had previously denied reports in local media that Odebrecht hired him as an adviser a decade ago to mend ties with him after he opposed highway contracts awarded to the company in Toledo s government. Kuczynski did not provide additional details about his work for H2Olmos, and his office did not respond to requests for comment. However, he stressed in the interview that the advising work was done when he was a private citizen and denied favoring any company while in public office. Odebrecht reached a deal to sell H2Olmos to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP and Suez SA a year ago. However, the sale has not closed. While the attorney general s office reopened a preliminary probe related to Odebrecht and Kuczynski a year ago, it has not accused Kuczynski of wrongdoing.

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Lebanon's president rejects terrorism suggestion

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Lebanese president appeared to defend Hezbollah as necessary to resist Israel on Monday, after an Arab League statement accused the group of terrorism and noted it is part of Lebanon s coalition government. Israeli targeting still continues and it is the right of the Lebanese to resist it and foil its plans by all available means, President Michel Aoun s office quoted him as saying in a Tweet. The heavily armed Shi ite Muslim Hezbollah, formed by Iran s Revolutionary Guards, fought Israel s occupation of Lebanon in the early 1980s and says its weapons are still needed against Israel. Saudi Arabia, a regional rival of Iran, opposes Hezbollah s role as a military force in Syria and has accused it of helping the Houthi group in Yemen and militants in Bahrain. The Arab League met on Sunday to discuss what it called Iranian interference in Arab countries, and accused Tehran s ally Hezbollah of terrorism. Aoun said that Lebanon could not accept suggestions that its government was a partner in acts of terrorism, another Tweet quoted him as saying after meeting Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Beirut. Aboul Gheit said in Beirut that nobody was accusing Lebanon s government of terrorism or wanted to harm Lebanon. One of the ruling partners is accused of this...It is an indirect means of asking the Lebanese state to talk to this partner and convince them to restrain their acts on Arab land, he said. Everyone acknowledges the particularity of the Lebanese situation. Lebanon faces a political crisis after its prime minister Saad al-Hariri suddenly resigned on Nov. 4 in a statement broadcast from Saudi Arabia. His resignation statement accused Iran and Hezbollah of sowing strife in Arab countries.

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U.N. Secretary General Complains That The ‘Masses Have Rejected Globalism’ In Favor Of Nationalism

U.N. Secretary General Complains That The ‘Masses Have Rejected Globalism’ In Favor Of Nationalism Antonio Guterres, elected in October to take over as U.N. secretary general next year, told a conference in his native Lisbon that this trend had undermined the willingness to receive refugees in Europe this year. He said the world must re-establish international protection for refugees coming from war zones such as Syria, but it would not be easy as developed countries were turning to nationalist agendas. 22, 2016 The incoming head of the United Nations warned on Tuesday that ‘losers of globalization’ in rich countries have felt ignored by establishment politicians, prompting them to turn to nationalist agendas, as in the U.S. election and Brexit referendum. “Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.” Zephaniah 3:8 (KJV) EDITOR’S NOTE: The Bible clearly says that God’s desire is to “gather all the nations of the world together”, in order to “pour His fury” upon them. The United Nations, something unique in world history, has been created by the will of God, and things are going to end exactly how the Bible says they will end. All Muslims will be driven out of Israel as prophesied in Zechariah 14:21 (KJV), Israel will expand its borders to cover the size of the original land grant to Abraham , and Jesus will rule the world from Jerusalem . And that will be the “new” world order. Antonio Guterres, elected in October to take over as U.N. secretary general next year , told a conference in his native Lisbon that this trend had undermined the willingness to receive refugees in Europe this year. He said the world must re-establish international protection for refugees coming from war zones such as Syria, but it would not be easy as developed countries were turning to nationalist agendas. Antonio Guterres formally elected as UN chief: Europe has struggled to handle a huge influx of refugees, many of whom displaced by the war in Syria. The United States has accepted only a very small number of refugees and may take in even fewer next year. “In 2016, we have witnessed a dramatic deterioration of that international protection regime (for refugees),” Guterres said. “This example started in the developed world, it started essentially in Europe, it is spreading now like a virus into other parts of the world.” Guterres, who was U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees until last year, linked the growing resistance to accepting refugees to wider concerns about globalism. “I don’t think we can look strictly at the refugee issue, I think the problem is a broader problem,” he told the conference on Europe’s refugee crisis. There was a consensus in the mid-1990s that globalization would benefit all, he said. “But a lot of people were left behind … In the developed world, (there are) those who have been losers in globalization,” he said. “The recent analysis of the rust belt in the United States, I think, is a clear demonstration of that, when we speak about the elections.” Donald Trump won this month’s election in the United States in part thanks to support from voters who have seen their jobs lost to countries with cheaper labor. “So globalization has not been as successful as we had hoped and lots of people became not only angry with it, but feeling that political establishments and international organizations are not paying attention, were not taking care (of them),” he said. This led to what he called “a kind of evolution” in which anti-establishment parties now tended to win elections and referendums tended to attract majorities against whatever was put to a vote. source SHARE THIS ARTICLE

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Sound in Atlantic not from missing Argentine submarine: navy spokesman

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina/BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A sound detected on Monday in the South Atlantic, near where an Argentine navy submarine with 44 crew went missing five days ago, is not believed to have come from the ill-fated vessel, a navy spokesman said. The sound detected by probes initially raised hopes that crew members aboard the ARA San Juan submarine, which disappeared after reporting an electrical malfunction, may have been intentionally making noise to attract rescuers. But an analysis by Argentine authorities, on the fourth day of a search-and-rescue mission, showed that it was highly unlikely it had come from the German-built submarine, navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told reporters in Buenos Aires. It does not correspond to a pattern that would be consistent with bangs against the walls in morse code, Balbi said. He described whatever had been detected as a continuous, constant sound. The disappointment followed another letdown earlier in the day, when the navy said satellite calls detected over the weekend did not in fact come from the vessel. (tmsnrt.rs/2zQ8HGZ) The vessel reported an electrical problem and was headed back to its base in the port of Mar del Plata when it disappeared on Wednesday, the navy said. Storms have complicated search efforts as relatives wait anxiously. More than a dozen boats and aircraft from Argentina, the United States, Britain, Chile and Brazil have joined the search effort. Authorities have mainly been scanning the sea from the sky, as storms have made it difficult for boats. The navy said on Monday night that two boats belonging to French oil company Total SA, which has offshore operations in Argentina, arrived at the Patagonian port of Comodoro Rivadavia to transport rescue equipment the U.S. Navy brought to the country, including a remote-operated vehicle, a mini-submarine, and a submarine rescue chamber. Gabriel Galeazzi, a naval commander, told reporters that the submarine had come up from the depths and reported the unspecified electrical malfunction before it disappeared nearly 300 miles off the coast. The submarine surfaced and reported a malfunction, which is why its ground command ordered it to return to its naval base at Mar del Plata, he said. The malfunction did not necessarily cause an emergency, Galeazzi added. The craft was navigating normally, underwater, at a speed of five knots toward Mar del Plata when it was last heard from, he said. A warship has a lot of backup systems, to allow it to move from one to another when there is a breakdown, Galeazzi said. One of the crew is Argentina s first female submarine officer, Eliana Maria Krawczyk, 35, who joined the navy in 2004 and rose to become the master-at-arms aboard the ARA San Juan. The families of crew members have gathered at the Mar del Plata naval base awaiting news. They were joined on Monday by President Mauricio Macri. We continue to deploy all available national and international resources, to find the submarine, Macri said on Twitter. Intermittent satellite communications were detected on Saturday and the government had said they were likely to have come from the submarine. But the ARA San Juan sent its last signal on Wednesday, according to Balbi. The calls that were detected did not correspond to the satellite phone of the submarine San Juan, he said on Monday, adding that the craft had oxygen for seven days. After that, he said, it would have to surface or get near the surface to replenish air supply. The ARA San Juan was inaugurated in 1983, making it the newest of the three submarines in the navy s fleet. Built in Germany, it underwent maintenance in 2008 in Argentina. That maintenance included the replacement of its four diesel engines and its electric propeller engines, according to specialist publication Jane s Sentinel.

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